H^wm!^S**rUVt? | *fliS 
 
 lWi*J 
 
 ornia 
 al 
 
 
 I* 
 
 THOMAS 
 JEFFERSON 
 
 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 AND 
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 W
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 WILLIAM B. PARKER 
 
 Lecturer in English, Columbia University 
 
 JONAS VILES 
 
 Assistant Professor of History, University of Missouri 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE SUN DIAL CLASSICS CO. 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
 1908
 
 COPYRIGHT 1905 BY 
 THE UNIT BOOK PUBLISHING Co. 
 
 THE TROW PRESS NEW YORK
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 7 
 
 JEFFERSON'S INSCRIPTION FOR HIS TOMBSTONE .... 290 
 
 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 291 
 
 THE STORY OF THE BOOK 294 
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 296 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES 309 
 
 INDEX . 310
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 On a Juvenile Experience 
 
 To John Page 
 
 F AIRFIELD, December 25, 1762. 
 
 Dear Page: This very day, to others the day of greatest 
 mirth and jollity, sees me overwhelmed with more and 
 greater misfortunes than have befallen a descendant of 
 Adam for these thousand years past, I am sure; and per- 
 haps, after excepting Job, since the creation of the world. 
 I think his misfortunes were somewhat greater than mine; 
 for, although we may be pretty nearly on a level in other 
 respects, yet, I thank my God, I have the advantage of 
 brother Job in this, that Satan has not as yet put forth his 
 hand to load me with bodily afflictions. You must know, 
 dear Page, that I am now in a house surrounded with ene- 
 mies, who take counsel together against my soul; and when 
 I lay me down to rest, they say among themselves, come let 
 us destroy him. I am sure if there is such a thing as a 
 Devil in this world, he must have been here last night and 
 have had some hand in contriving what happened to me. 
 Do you think the cursed rats (at his instigation, I sup- 
 pose) did not eat up my pocket-book, which was in my 
 pocket, within a foot of my head ? And not contented with 
 plenty for the present, they carried away my jemmy- 
 worked silk garters, and half a dozen new minuets I had 
 just got, to serve, I suppose, as provision for the winter. 
 But of this I should not have accused the Devil, (because, 
 
 7
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 you know rats will be rats, and hunger, without the addi- 
 tion of his instigations, might have urged them to do this), 
 if something worse, and from a different quarter, had not 
 happened. You know it rained last night, or if you do not 
 know it, I am sure I do. When I went to bed, I laid my 
 watch in the usual place, and going to take her up after I 
 arose this morning, I found her in the same place, it's true, 
 but Quantum mutatus ab illo! all afloat in water, let in at 
 a leak in the roof of the house, and as silent and still as 
 the rats that had eat my pocket-book. Now, you know, 
 if chance had had anything to do in this matter, there were 
 a thousand other spots where it might have chanced to 
 leak as well as at this one, which was perpendicularly over 
 my watch. But I'll tell you, it's my opinion that the Devil 
 came and bored the hole over it on purpose. Well, as I 
 was saying, my poor watch had lost her speech. I should 
 not have cared much for this, but something worse at- 
 tended it; the subtle particles of the water with which the 
 case was filled, had, by their penetration, so overcome the 
 cohesion of the particles of the paper, of which my dear 
 picture and watch-paper were composed, that, in attempt- 
 ing to take them out to dry them, good God ! Mens horret 
 referre! My cursed fingers gave them such a rent, as I 
 fear I never shall get over. This, cried I, was the last 
 stroke Satan had in reserve for me; he knew I cared not for 
 anything else he could do to me, and was determined to 
 try his last most fatal expedient. "Multis fortunes vulneri- 
 bus percussus, huic uni me imparem sensi, et penitus suc- 
 cubui!" I would have cried bitterly, but I thought it be- 
 neath the dignity of a man, and a man too, who had read 
 Ttov OVTWV, TO. fj.ev ffif/fuv, TO. 8' K c<j>->)fuv. However, what- 
 ever misfortunes may attend the picture or lover, my hearty 
 prayers shall be, that all the health and happiness which 
 Heaven can send may be the portion of the original, and 
 
 8
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 that so much goodness may ever meet with what may be 
 most agreeable in this world, as I am sure it must be in the 
 next. And now, although the picture be defaced, there is 
 so lively an image of her imprinted in my mind, that I shall 
 think of her too often, I fear, for my peace of mind; and 
 too often, I am sure, to get through old Coke this winter; 
 for God knows I have not seen him since I packed him up 
 in my trunk in Williamsburg. Well, Page, I do wish the 
 Devil had old Coke, for I am sure I never was so tired of 
 an old dull scoundrel in my life. What! are there so few 
 inquietudes tacked to this momentary life of ours, that we 
 must need be loading ourselves with a thousand more? Or, 
 as brother Job says, (who, by the by, I think began to 
 whine a little under his afflictions), "Are not my days few? 
 Cease then, that I may take comfort a little before I go 
 whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and 
 the shadow of death." But the old fellows say we must 
 read to gain knowledge, and gain knowledge to make us 
 happy and admired. Mere jargon! Is there any such 
 thing as happiness in this world? No. And as for ad- 
 miration, I am sure the man who powders most, perfumes 
 most, embroiders most, and talks most nonsense, is most 
 admired. Though to be candid, there are some who have 
 too much good sense to esteem such monkey-like animals 
 as these, in whose formation, as the saying is, the tailors 
 and barbers go halves with God Almighty; and since these 
 are the only persons whose esteem is worm a wish, I do not 
 know but that, upon the whole, the advice of these old 
 fellows may be worth following.
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On an Affair of the Heart 
 
 To John Page 
 
 SHAD WELL, July 15, 1763. 
 
 Dear Page: Yours of May 30th came safe to hand. The 
 rival you mentioned I know not whether to think formida- 
 ble or not, as there has been so great an opening for him 
 during my absence. I say has been, because I expect there 
 is one no longer. Since you have undertaken to act as my 
 attorney, you advise me to go immediately and lay siege 
 in form. You certainly did not think, at the time you wrote 
 this, of that paragraph in my letter wherein I mentioned 
 to you my resolution of going to Britain. And to begin 
 an affair of that kind now, and carry it on so long a time 
 in form, is by no means a proper plan. No, no, Page; 
 whatever assurances I may give her in private of my es- 
 teem for her, or whatever assurances I may ask in return 
 from her, depend on it they must be kept in private. Ne- 
 cessity will oblige me to proceed in a method which is not 
 generally thought fair ; that of treating with a ward before 
 obtaining the approbation of her guardian. I say necessity 
 will oblige me to it, because I never can bear to remain in 
 suspense so long a time. If I am to succeed, the sooner 
 I know it, the less uneasiness I shall have to go through. 
 If I am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know 
 it, the more of life I shall have to wear it off; and if I do 
 meet with one, I hope in God, and verily believe, it will be 
 the last. I assure you, that I almost envy you your pres- 
 ent freedom; and if Belinda will not accept of my service, 
 it shall never be offered to another. That she may, I pray 
 most sincerely; but that she will, she never gave me reason 
 to hope. With regard to my not proceeding in form, I do 
 
 10
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 not know how she may like it. I am afraid not much. That 
 her guardians would not, if they should know of it, is very 
 certain. But I should think that if they were consulted 
 after I return, it would be sufficient. The greatest incon- 
 venience would be my not having the liberty of visiting 
 so freely. This is a subject worth your talking over with 
 her; and I wish you would, and would transmit to me your 
 whole confab at length. I should be scared to death at 
 making her so unreasonable a proposal as that of waiting 
 until I return from Britain, unless she could first be pre- 
 pared for it. I am afraid it will make my chance of suc- 
 ceeding considerably worse. But the event at last must be 
 this, that if she consents, I shall be happy; if she does not, 
 I must endeavor to be as much so as possible. I have 
 thought a good deal on your case, and as mine may perhaps 
 be similar, I must endeavor to look on it in the same light 
 in which I have often advised you to look on yours. Per- 
 fect happiness, I believe, was never intended by the Deity 
 to be the lot of one of his creatures in this world; but that 
 he has very much put in our power the nearness of our ap- 
 proaches to it, is what I have steadfastly believed. 
 
 The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, 
 frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may 
 greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the 
 attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one 
 of the principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The 
 only method of doing this is to assume a perfect resignation 
 to the Divine will, to consider that whatever does happen, 
 must happen; and that, by our uneasiness, we cannot pre- 
 vent the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its 
 force after it has fallen. These considerations, and others 
 such as these, may enable us in some measure to surmount 
 the difficulties thrown in our way; to bear up with a toler- 
 able degree of patience under this burthen of life; and to 
 
 11
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 V .';:: ~'l **".'. ~. 
 
 Page, will be til* 
 
 ." V-.s ..:: .r _ -:... ?. -. . ;: :.~. - -.~.T-"~' - 
 
 M tike itttsrc of it will adnuL Few things will disturb 
 
 On 
 
 Ta fio6rf Stipmtk 
 
 Atrccnr S, 1771. 
 
 We never refieet wbether the statr we read be truth or 
 fiction. If the paiafing be lirely, and a tolerable pietnre 
 <rf natsre, we are lAuwwB into a rerene, froot whien if we 
 awaken ft is die fault of the writer. I appeal to every 
 
 MtfM&aVB* Jtf w'avavwWfe^v anaMl 
 
 tf^T O A^ODCatB. P*y 
 
 in hiat as great a horror of riHainT, as die real one of 
 Henry IT. by RarafDae as related by Darila? And 
 
 ^vnetneT' tnc noexn>^ ox ^V exson and cenerosxt^ 01 JSjancuoroi 
 in jtlannontd do not wnftr Ins Mcast and derate his sen* 
 
 : irnish? Does he not, in fact, fed himself a be lit i man 
 while reading them*, and prrratdy coiinani. to copy tie fair 
 cxanvpler We neither know nor care whether Laurence 
 Sxeme really wuil to ranee, whether be was there ac- 
 hy die r raneisean, at first rebuked him uiai imlly, 
 gare him a peace-ofering; or whether die whole 
 be not ftlitm. In gilhri ease we equally are sorrowf ol at 
 
 12
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSOX 
 
 the rebuke, and secretly resolve we wffl 
 pleased with the subsequent atonement, 
 
 lation a soul candidly **1 nam Wgmg its fault an 
 a just reparation. Considering lu&lury as A iral exercise, 
 her lessons wotdd be too infrequent if confined to real life. 
 Of those recorded by historians few mriAmfa have been 
 attended wilh such rtmnmtyriffff as to eiicitr in any high 
 degree this sympathetic emotion of virtue. We are, there- 
 fore, wisely framed to be as warmly interested for a fieti- 
 tkras as for a real personage. The field of """ is 
 thus laid open to our use and lessons may be formed to fl- 
 Instrate and carry home to the heart every aoral rale of life. 
 Thus a lively and lasting sense of filial duty is more effect- 
 ually impressed on the nml of a son or daughter br reading 
 King Lear, than by all the dry volumes of ethics, end drrin- 
 itv that ever were written. 
 
 Jefferson's Opinion of Osaan 
 
 To CTuu. McPkertom 
 Ai.imnr.E, or VntoxiA, February 25. 177S. 
 
 Dear Sir: Encouraged by the small 
 I had the pleasure of baring contracted with yon dmnig 
 your residence in this counlrj, I take the liberty of unking 
 
 the present application to yon. I understood yon veie re 
 lateol to tiM* ffentAeman 01 voor name C JAr. Jsmes JriLdrner 
 son), to whom the world is so much indebted for the ele- 
 gant collection, arrangement, and translation of Ossian's 
 poems. These pieces have been and will, I think, daring 
 m v .lite, ^fl^rtij^^^^ to be to me toe sources ot diiiv and ei 
 sited plraJHiH'i-. The ^'"V" **A th* snblime emotions off 
 die mind were never before so wrought up by the human 
 
 IS
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 hand. I am not ashamed to own that I think this rude bard 
 of the North the greatest poet that has ever existed. Merely 
 for the pleasure of reading his works, I am become desir- 
 ous of learning the language in which he sung, and of pos- 
 sessing his songs in their original form. Mr. McPhersor, 
 I think, informs us he is possessed of the originals. In- 
 deed, a gentleman has lately told me he had seen them in 
 print; but I am afraid he has mistaken a specimen from 
 "Temora," annexed to some of the editions of the transla- 
 tion, for the whole works. If they are printed, it 
 will abridge my request and your trouble, to the send- 
 ing me a printed copy; but if there be more such, 
 my petition is, that you would be so good as to use your 
 interest with Mr. McPherson to obtain leave to take a 
 manuscript copy of them, and procure it to be done. I 
 would choose it in a fair, round hand, on fine paper, with 
 a good margin, bound in parchments as elegantly as 
 possible, lettered on the back, and marbled or gilt on 
 the edges of the leaves. I would not regard expense 
 in doing this. I would further beg the favor of you 
 to give me a catalogue of the books written in that 
 language, and to send me such of them as may be neces- 
 sary for learning it. These will, of course, include a 
 grammar and dictionary. The cost of these, as well as the 
 copy of Ossian, will be (for me), on demand, answered by 
 Mr. Alexander McCaul, sometime of Virginia, merchant, 
 but now of Glasgow, or by your friend Mr. Ninian Minzees, 
 of Richmond, in Virginia, to whose care the books may be 
 sent. You can, perhaps, tell me whether we may ever 
 hope to see any more of those Celtic pieces published. 
 Manuscript copies of any which are in print, it would at 
 any time give me the greatest happiness to receive. The 
 glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. 
 I hear with pleasure from your friend that your path 
 
 14
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 through life is likely to be smoothed by success. I wish 
 the business and the pleasures of your situation would admit 
 leisure now and then to scribble a line to one who wishes 
 you every felicity, and would willingly merit the appella- 
 tion of, dear sir, 
 
 Your friend and- humble servant. 
 
 Attitude toward England 
 
 To John Randolph 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, November 29, 1775. 
 Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a 
 man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain 
 than I do. But by the God that made me, I will cease to 
 exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the 
 British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the 
 sentiments of America. We want neither inducement nor 
 power, to declare and assert a separation. It is will, alone, 
 which is wanting, and that is growing apace under the fos- 
 tering hand of our King. One bloody campaign will prob- 
 ably decide, everlastingly, our future course; and I am 
 sorry to find a bloody campaign is decided on. If our 
 winds and waters should not combine to rescue their shores 
 from slavery, and General Howe's re-enforcements should 
 arrive in safety, we have hopes he will be inspirited to come 
 out of Boston and take another drubbing; and we must 
 drub him soundly, before the sceptred tyrant will know 
 we are not mere brutes, to crouch under his hand, and kiss 
 the rod with which he designs to scourge us. 
 
 15
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Declaration of Independence' 
 
 A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States 
 of America, in General Congress assembled 
 
 JUNE 20, 1776. 
 
 When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces- 
 sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 
 have connected them "with another, and to assume among 
 the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to 
 which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, 
 a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
 they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
 separation. 
 
 We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are 
 created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
 [inherent and] certain inalienable rights; that among these 
 are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to se- 
 cure these rights, governments are instituted among men, 
 deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
 erned; that whenever any form of government becomes de- 
 structive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter 
 or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its 
 foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers 
 in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
 their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate 
 that governments long established should not be changed 
 for light and transient causes; and accordingly all expe- 
 rience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer 
 while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol- 
 
 1 The passages in brackets [ ] were included in the original draft, but 
 omitted by the Committee or by Congress ; those in italics, not in the 
 original, were inserted by the same authorities. The last two para- 
 graphs are printed in full in both their original and final form. 
 
 16
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
 a long train of abuses and usurpations, [begun at a dis- 
 tinguished period and] pursuing invariably the same object, 
 evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, 
 it is their right, it is their duty to throw off" such govern- 
 ment, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
 Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and 
 such is now the necessity which constrains them to [ex- 
 punge] alter their former systems of government. The 
 history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of 
 [unremitting] repeated injuries and usurpations, [among 
 which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform 
 tenor of the rest, but all have] all having in direct object 
 the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. 
 To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world [for 
 the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by false- 
 hood.] 
 
 He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
 and necessary for the public good. 
 
 He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
 diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
 operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so 
 suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 
 
 He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation 
 of large districts of people, unless those people would re- 
 linquish the right of representation in the legislature, a 
 right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 
 
 He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
 usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of 
 their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
 into compliance with his measures. 
 
 He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [and 
 continually] for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 
 on the rights of the people. 
 
 17
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to 
 cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, 
 incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
 large for their exercise, the state remaining, in the mean- 
 time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without 
 and convulsions within. 
 
 He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
 states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza- 
 tion of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage 
 their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new 
 appropriations of lands. 
 
 He has [suffered] obstructed the administration of jus- 
 tice [totally to cease in some of these states] by refusing 
 his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 
 
 He has made [our] judges dependent on his will alone 
 for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment 
 of their salaries. 
 
 He has erected a multitude of new offices, [by a self- 
 assumed power] and sent hither swarms of new officers to 
 harass our people and eat out their substance. 
 
 He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies 
 [and ships of war] without the consent of our legislatures. 
 
 He has affected to render the military independent of, 
 and superior to, the civil power. 
 
 He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdic- 
 tion foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our 
 laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation 
 for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for 
 protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any 
 murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 
 these states; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
 world; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for 
 depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury; 
 for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
 
 18
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 offences; for abolishing the free system of English laws in 
 a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
 government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it 
 at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the 
 same absolute rule into these [states] colonies; for taking 
 away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and 
 altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for 
 suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
 invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what- 
 soever. 
 
 He has abdicated government here [withdrawing his gov- 
 ernors, and declaring us out of his allegiance and protec- 
 tion] by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war 
 against us. 
 
 He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
 our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 
 
 He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
 mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 
 tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and 
 perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
 totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 
 
 He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on 
 the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become 
 the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall 
 themselves by their hands. 
 
 He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and lias 
 endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
 merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is 
 an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and condi- 
 tions [of existence]. 
 
 [He has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow- 
 citizens, with the allurements of forfeiture and confiscation 
 of our property. 
 
 Pie has waged cruel war against human nature itself, vio- 
 
 19
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 lating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the per- 
 sons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating 
 and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to 
 incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This 
 piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the 
 warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Deter- 
 mined to keep open a market where men should be bought 
 and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing 
 every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this 
 execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors 
 might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting 
 those very people to rise in arms among us, and to pur- 
 chase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by mur- 
 dering the people on whom he also obtruded them: thus 
 paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of 
 one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit 
 against the lives of another.] 
 
 In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned 
 for redress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions 
 have been answered only by repeated injuries. 
 
 A prince whose character is thus marked by every act 
 which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free 
 people [who mean to be free. Future ages will scarcely 
 believe that the hardiness of one man adventured, within 
 the short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation 
 so broad and so undisguised for tyranny over a people fos- 
 tered and fixed in principles of freedom]. 
 
 Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
 brethren. We have warned them from time to time of at- 
 tempts by their legislature to extend [a] an unwarrantable 
 jurisdiction over [these our states] us. We have reminded 
 them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement 
 here, [no one of which could warrant so strange a preten- 
 sion; that these were effected at the expense of our own 
 
 20
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 blood and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength 
 of Great Britain; that in constituting indeed our several 
 forms of government, we had adopted one common king, 
 thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league and amity 
 with them; but that submission to their parliament was no 
 part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be 
 credited; and,] we have appealed to their native justice and 
 magnanimity [as well as to] and we have conjured them by 
 the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations 
 which [were likely to] would inevitably interrupt our con- 
 nection and correspondence. They too have been deaf to 
 the voice of justice and of consanguinity, [and when occa- 
 sions have been given them, by the regular course of their 
 laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our 
 harmony, they have, by their free election, re-established 
 them in power. At this very time too, they are permitting 
 their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers of our 
 common blood, but Scotch and foreign mercenaries to invade 
 and destroy us. These facts have given the last stab to ago- 
 nizing affection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce for- 
 ever these unfeeling brethren. We must endeavor to forget 
 our former love for them, and hold them as we hold the rest 
 of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. We might 
 have been a free and a great people together; but a com- 
 munication of grandeur and of freedom, it seems, is below 
 their dignity. Be it so, since they will have it. The road 
 to happiness and to glory is open to us, too. We will tread 
 it apart from them, and] we must therefore acquiesce in 
 the necessity which denounces our [eternal] separation 
 and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in 
 war, in peace friends. 
 
 We therefore the representatives of the United States of 
 America in General Congress assembled, do in the name, 
 
 21
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 and by the authority of the good people of these [states re- 
 ject and renounce all allegiance and subjection to the kings 
 of Great Britain and all others who may hereafter claim 
 by, through, or under them ; we utterly dissolve all political 
 connection which may heretofore have subsisted between us 
 and the people or parliament of Great Britain; and finally 
 we do assert and declare these colonies to be free and inde- 
 pendent states,] and that as free and independent states, 
 they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
 alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and 
 things which independent states may of right do. 
 
 And for the support of this declaration, we mutually 
 pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
 honor. 
 
 We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
 America in General Congress assembled, appealing to the 
 supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our inten- 
 tions, do in the name, and by the authority of the good peo- 
 ple of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that 
 these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and 
 independent states; that they are absolved from all alle- 
 giance to the British crown, and that all political connection 
 between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought 
 to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and independent 
 states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
 contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other 
 acts and things which independent states may of right do. 
 
 And for the support of this declaration, with a firm re- 
 liance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually 
 pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
 honor.
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On Retiring from Public Life 
 
 To Colonel James Monroe 
 
 MONTICELLO, May 20, 1782. 
 
 Before I ventured to declare to my countrymen my de- 
 termination to retire from public employment, I examined 
 well my heart to know whether it were thoroughly cured 
 of every principle of political ambition, whether no lurking 
 particle remained which might leave me uneasy, when 
 reduced within the limits of mere private life. I became sat- 
 isfied that every fibre of that passion was thoroughly eradi- 
 cated. I examined also, in other views, my right to with- 
 draw. I considered that I had been thirteen years engaged 
 in public service that, during that time, I had so totally 
 abandoned all attention to my private affairs as to permit 
 them to run into great disorder and ruin that I had now a 
 family advanced to years which reqiiire my attention and 
 instruction that, to these, was added the hopeful offspring 
 of a deceased friend, whose memory must be forever dear 
 to me, and who have no other reliance for being rendered 
 useful to themselves or their country that by a constant 
 sacrifice of time, labor, parental and friendly duties, I had, 
 so far from gaining the affection of my countrymen, which 
 was the only reward I ever asked or could have felt, even 
 lost the small estimation I had before possessed.
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On American Genius 
 
 From Notes on Firginia 
 
 (1782) 
 
 "America has not yet produced one good poet." When 
 we shall have existed as a people as long as the Greeks 
 did before they produced a Homer, the Romans a Virgil, 
 the French a Racine and Voltaire, the English a Shake- 
 speare and Milton, should this reproach be still true, we 
 will inquire from what unfriendly causes it has proceeded, 
 that the other countries of Europe and quarters of the 
 earth shall not have inscribed any name in the roll of 
 poets. But neither has America produced "one able math- 
 ematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single 
 science." In war we have produced a Washington, whose 
 memory will be adored while liberty shall have votaries, 
 whose name shall triumph over time, and will in future 
 ages assume its just station among the most celebrated 
 worthies of the world, when that wretched philosophy 
 shall be forgotten which would have arranged him among 
 the degeneracies of nature. In physics we have produced 
 a Franklin, than whom no one of the present age has made 
 more important discoveries, nor has enriched philosophy 
 with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phenomena 
 of nature. We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to 
 no astronomer living; that in genius he must be the first, 
 because he is self taught. As an artist he has exhibited 
 as great a proof of mechanical genius as the world has 
 ever produced. He has not indeed made a world; but 
 he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker than 
 any man who has lived from the creation to this day. As 
 in philosophy and war, so in government, in oratory, in 
 
 24
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 painting, in the plastic art, we might show that America, 
 though but a child of yesterday, has already given hopeful 
 proofs of genius, as well as of the nobler kinds, which 
 arouse the best feelings of man, which call him into ac- 
 tion, which substantiate his freedom, and conduct him to 
 happiness, as of the subordinate, which serve to amuse 
 him only. We therefore suppose that this reproach is as 
 unjust as it is unkind; and that, of the geniuses which 
 adorn the present age, America contributes its full share. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 Proposed Revision of Constitution of Virginia 
 From Notes on Virginia 
 
 To establish religious freedom on the broadest bottom. 
 
 To emancipate all slaves born after the passing the act. 
 The bill reported by the revisers does not itself contain this 
 proposition; but an amendment containing it was prepared, 
 to be offered to the legislature whenever the bill should be 
 taken up, and further directing, that they should continue 
 with their parents to a certain age, then to be brought up, 
 at the public expense, to tillage, arts, or sciences, according 
 to their geniuses, till the females should be eighteen, and 
 the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be 
 colonised to such place as the circumstances of the time 
 should render most proper, sending them out with arms, 
 implements of household and of the handicraft arts, seeds, 
 pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c., to declare them a 
 free and independent people, and extend to them our al- 
 liance and protection, till they have acquired strength; and 
 to send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world 
 for an equal number of white inhabitants; to induce them 
 to migrate hither proper encouragements were to be pro- 
 
 25
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 posed. It will probably be asked, Why not retain and 
 incorporate the blacks into the State, and thus save the ex- 
 pense of supplying by importation of white settlers, the va- 
 cancies they will leave? Deep-rooted prejudices enter- 
 tained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the 
 blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provoca- 
 tions; the real distinctions which nature has made; and 
 many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and 
 produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in 
 the extermination of the one or the other race. To these ob- 
 jections, which are political, may be added others, which 
 are physical and moral. 
 
 . . . They seem to require less sleep. A black, after 
 hard labor through the day, will be induced by the slightest 
 amusements to sit up till midnight, or later, though know- 
 ing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning. 
 They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome. But 
 this may perhaps proceed from a want of forethought, 
 which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present. 
 When present, they do not go through it with more coolness 
 or steadiness than the whites. . . . Love seems with them 
 to be more an eager desire, than a tender, delicate mixt- 
 ure of sentiment and sensation. Their griefs are transient. 
 Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful wheth- 
 er Heaven has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less 
 felt, and sooner forgotten with them. In general, their ex- 
 istence appears to participate more of sensation than re- 
 flection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep 
 when abstracted from their diversions, and unemployed in 
 labor. An animal whose body is at rest, and who does not 
 reflect must be disposed to sleep of course. Comparing 
 them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, 
 it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the 
 whites ; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarce- 
 
 26
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 ly be found capable of tracing and comprehending the in- 
 vestigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are 
 dull, tasteless, and anomalous. . . . Never yet 
 could I find that a black had uttered a thought above 
 the level of plain narration; never saw even an ele- 
 mentary trait of painting or sculpture. In music they 
 are more generally gifted than the whites with accurate 
 ears for tune and time, and they have been found capa- 
 ble of imagining a small catch. Whether they will be 
 equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, 
 or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved. Misery is 
 often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. 
 Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no 
 poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their 
 love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagi- 
 nation. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phyllis Whately; 
 but it could not produce a poet. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 From Notes on Virginia 
 
 There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the 
 manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery 
 among us. The whole commerce between master and slave 
 is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the 
 most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading 
 submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn 
 to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality 
 is the germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his 
 grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a par- 
 ent could find no motive either in his philanthropy or his 
 self-love, for restraining the intemperance of passion tow- 
 ard his slave, it should always be a sufficient one that his 
 
 27
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 child is present. But generally it is not sufficient. The par- 
 ent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of 
 wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller slaves, 
 gives a loose to the worst of passions, and thus nursed, edu- 
 cated, and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped 
 by it with odious peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy 
 who can retain his manners and morals undepraved by such 
 circumstances. And with what execration should the states- 
 man be loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus 
 to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into 
 despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the 
 one part, and the amor patrice of the other. For if a 
 slave can have a country in this world, it must be any other 
 in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor 
 for another; in which he must lock up the faculties of his 
 nature, contribute as far as depends on his individual en- 
 deavors to the evanishment of the human race, or entail his 
 own miserable condition on the endless generations proceed- 
 ing from him. With the morals of the people, their indus- 
 try also is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man will 
 labor for himself who can make another labor for him. 
 This is so true, that of the proprietors of slaves a very small 
 proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. And can the lib- 
 erties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed 
 their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people 
 that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are 
 not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble 
 for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his 
 justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nat- 
 ure and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of 
 fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events; 
 that it may become probable by supernatural interference! 
 The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us 
 in such a contest But it is impossible to be temperate and 
 
 28
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 to pursue this subject through the \ r arious considerations of 
 policy, of morals, of history natural and civil. We must be 
 contented to hope they will force their way into every one's 
 mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin 
 of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abat- 
 ing, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition 
 mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices 
 of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is dis- 
 posed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the 
 masters, rather than by their extirpation. 
 
 On Religion 
 
 From Notes on Virginia 
 
 The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts 
 only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury 
 for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. 
 It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be 
 said, his testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on, 
 reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may 
 make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never 
 make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his 
 errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free inquiry are 
 the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose to 
 them, they will support the true religion by bringing every 
 false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation. 
 They are the natural enemies of error and of error only. 
 Had not the Roman Government permitted free inquiry, 
 Christianity could never have been introduced. Had not 
 free inquiry been indulged at the era of the Reformation, 
 the cormptions of Christianity could not have been purged 
 away. If it be restrained now, the present corruptions will 
 
 29
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 be protected, and new ones encouraged. Was the Govern- 
 ment to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies 
 would be in such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in 
 France the emetic was once forbidden as a medicine, and 
 the potato as an article of food. Government is just as in- 
 fallible, too, when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was 
 sent to the Inquisition for affirming that the earth was a 
 sphere; the government had declared it to be as flat as a 
 trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his error. This 
 error, however, at length prevailed, the earth became a 
 globe, and Descartes declared it was whirled round its axis 
 by a vortex. The government in which he lived was wise 
 enough to see that this was no question of civil jurisdiction, 
 or we should all have been involved by authority in vortices. 
 In fact, the vortices have been exploded, and the Newtonian 
 principle of gravitation is now more firmly established, on 
 the basis of reason, than it would be were the government 
 to step in, and to make it an article of necessary faith. 
 Reason and experiment have been indulged, and error has 
 fled before them. It is error alone which needs the support 
 of government. Truth can stand by itself. Subject opin- 
 ion to coercion : whom will you make your inquisitors ? Fal- 
 lible men ; men governed by bad passions, by private as well 
 as public reasons. And why subject it to coercion? To 
 produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desira- 
 ble? No more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed 
 of Procrustes then, and as there is danger that the- large 
 men may beat the small, make us all of a size, by lopping 
 the former and stretching the latter. DifFerence of opinion 
 is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the 
 office of a censor morum over such other. Is uniformity 
 attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and chil- 
 dren, since the introduction of Christianity, have been 
 burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not ad- 
 
 30
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 vanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the 
 effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools, and 
 the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error 
 all over the earth. Let us reflect that it is inhabited by a 
 thousand millions of people. That these profess probably 
 a thousand different systems of religion. That ours is but 
 one of that thousand. That if there be but one right, and 
 ours that one, we should wish to see the nine hundred and 
 ninety-nine wandering sects gathered into the fold of truth. 
 But against such a majority we cannot effect this by force. 
 Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instruments. 
 To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged ; and 
 how can we wish others to indulge it while we refuse it our- 
 selves. But every State, says an inquisitor, has established 
 some religion. No two, say I, have established the same. 
 Is this a proof of the infallibility of establishments? Our 
 sister States of Pennsylvania and New York, however, have 
 long subsisted without any establishment at all. The ex- 
 periment was new and doubtful when they made it. It has 
 answered beyond conception. They flourish infinitely. 
 Religion is well supported ; of various kinds, indeed, but all 
 good enough; all sufficient to preserve peace and order; or 
 if a sect arises, whose tenets should subvert morals, good 
 sense has fair play, and reasons and laughs it out of doors, 
 without suffering the State to be troubled with it. They 
 do not hang more malefactors than we do. They are not 
 more disturbed with religious dissensions. On the contrary, 
 their harmony is unparalleled, and can be ascribed to noth- 
 ing but their unbounded tolerance, because there is no other 
 circumstance in which they differ from every nation on 
 earth. They have made the happy discovery, that the way 
 to silence religious disputes, is to take no notice of them. 
 
 31
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 On Education 
 
 To Martha Jefferson 
 
 ANNAPOLIS, November 28, 1783. 
 
 Dear Patsy: After four days' journey, I arrived here 
 without any accident, and in as good health as when I 
 left Philadelphia. The conviction that you would be more 
 improved in the situation I have placed you than if still 
 with me, has solaced me on my parting with you, which my 
 love for you has rendered a difficult thing. The acquire- 
 ments which I hope you will make under the tutors I have 
 provided for you will render you more worthy of my love; 
 and if they cannot increase it, they will prevent its diminu- 
 tion. Consider the good lady who has taken you under her 
 roof, who has undertaken to see that you perform all your 
 exercises, and to admonish you in all those wanderings 
 from what is right or what is clever, to which your inexpe- 
 rience would expose you: consider her, I say, as your 
 mother, as the only person to whom, since the loss with 
 which Heaven has pleased to afflict you, you can now look 
 up ; and that her displeasure or disapprobation, on any occa- 
 sion, will be an immense misfortune, which should you be so 
 unhappy as to incur by any unguarded act, think no con- 
 cession too much to regain her good-will. With respect to 
 the distribution, of your time, the following is what I should 
 approve: 
 
 From 8 to 10, practise music. 
 
 From 10 to 1, dance one day and draw another. 
 
 From 1 to 2, draw on the day you dance, and write a 
 letter next day. 
 
 From 3 to 4, read French. 
 
 From 4 to 5, exercise yourself in music.
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 From 5 till bedtime, read English, write, etc. 
 
 Communicate this plan to Mrs. Hopkinson, and if she 
 approves of it, pursue it. As long as Mrs. Trist remains in 
 Philadelphia, cultivate her affection. She has been a valua- 
 ble friend to you, and her good sense and good heart make 
 her valued by all who know her, and by nobody on earth 
 more than me. I expect you will write me by every post. 
 Inform me what books you read, what tunes you learn, and 
 enclose me your best copy of every lesson in drawing. 
 Write also one letter a week either to your Aunt Eppes, 
 your Aunt Skipwith, your Aunt Carr, or the little lady from 
 whom I now enclose a letter, and always put the letter 
 you so write under cover to me. Take care that you never 
 spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, 
 consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember it, 
 turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to 
 spell well. I have placed my happiness on seeing you 
 good and accomplished; and no distress this world can now 
 bring on me would equal that of your disappointing my 
 hopes. If you love me, then strive to be good under every 
 situation and to all living creatures, and to acquire those 
 accomplishments which I have put in your power, and which 
 will go far toward insuring you the warmest love of your 
 affectionate father. 
 
 P. S. Keep my letters and read them at times, that you 
 may always have present in your mind those things which 
 will endear you to me. 
 
 S3
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On Expenses in Paris 
 
 To Colonel Monroe 
 
 PARIS, June 17, 1785. 
 
 I thank you for your attention to my outfit. For the ar- 
 ticles of household furniture, clothes, and a carriage, I have 
 already paid twenty-eight thousand livres, and have still 
 more to pay. For the greatest part of this, I have been 
 obliged to anticipate my salary, from which, however, I 
 shall never be able to repay it. I find, that by a rigid econ- 
 omy, bordering, however, on meanness, I can save perhaps 
 five hundred livres a month, at least in the summer. The 
 residue goes for expenses so much of course and of neces- 
 sity, that I cannot avoid them without abandoning all re- 
 spect to my public character. Yet I will pray you to touch 
 this string, which I know to be a tender one with Congress, 
 with the utmost delicacy. I had rather be ruined in my 
 fortune than in their esteem. If they allow me half a year's 
 salary as an outfit, I can get through my debts in time. If 
 they raise the salary to what jt was, or even pay our house 
 rent and taxes, I can live with more decency. 
 
 On the Screw Propeller 
 
 To Dr. Styles 
 
 PARIS, July 17, 1785. 
 
 A man in this city has invented a method of moving a 
 vessel on the water, by a machine worked within the vessel. 
 I went to see it. He did not know himself the principle of 
 his own invention. It is a screw with a very broad thin 
 
 34
 
 worm, or rather it is a thin plate with its edge applied spi- 
 rally round an axis. This being turned, operates on the air, 
 as a screw does, and may be literally said to screw the ves- 
 sel along; the thinness of the medium, and its want of re- 
 sistance, occasion a loss of much of the force. The screw, 
 I think, would be more effectual if placed below the surface 
 of the water. I very much suspect that a countryman of 
 ours, Mr. Bushnel, of Connecticut, is entitled to the merit 
 of a prior discovery of this use of the screw. I remember 
 to have heard of his submarine navigation during the war, 
 and, from what Colonel Humphreys now tells me, I conject- 
 ure that the screw was the power he used. He joined to 
 this a machine for exploding under water at a given mo- 
 ment. If it were not too great a liberty for a stranger to 
 take, I would ask from him a narration of his actual experi- 
 ments, with or without a communication of his principle, 
 as he should choose. If he thought proper to communi- 
 cate it, I would engage never to disclose it, unless I could 
 find an opportunity of doing it for his benefit. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 To Dr. Price 
 
 PARIS, August 7, 1785. 
 
 In Maryland, I do not find such a disposition to begin 
 the redress of this enormity [slavery] as in Virginia. This 
 is the next State to which we may turn our eyes for the in- 
 teresting spectacle of justice, in conflict with avarice and 
 oppression; a conflict wherein the sacred side is gaining 
 daily recruits, from the influx into office of young men 
 grown, and growing up. These have sucked in the princi- 
 
 35
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 pies of liberty, as it were, with their mother's milk; and it 
 is to them I look with anxiety to turn the fate of this ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Letter of Advice 
 
 To Peter Carr 
 
 PARIS, August 19, 1785. 
 
 Make these, then, your first object. Give up money, 
 give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all 
 it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never sup- 
 pose, that in any possible situation, or under any circum- 
 stances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, how- 
 ever slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are 
 to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, 
 ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking 
 at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous 
 dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity 
 arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exer- 
 cise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make 
 them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you 
 may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts 
 in every moment of life, and in the moment of death. If 
 ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and per- 
 plexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how 
 to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that 
 that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. 
 Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will 
 be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and 
 never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth, in the 
 easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a 
 Gordian one, will untie itself before you. Nothing is so 
 
 86
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 mistaken as the supposition, that a person is to extricate 
 himself from a difficulty, by intrigue, by chicanery, by dis- 
 simulation, by trimming, by an untruth, by an injustice. 
 This increases the difficulties tenfold; and those, who pur- 
 sue these methods, get themselves so involved at length, 
 that they can turn no way but their infamy becomes more 
 exposed. It is of great importance to set a resolution, not 
 to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so 
 mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits him- 
 self to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second 
 and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells 
 lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's 
 believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that 
 of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions. 
 An honest heart being the first blessing, a knowing head 
 is the second. It is time for you now to begin to be choice 
 in your reading; to begin to pursue a regular course in it; 
 and not to suffer yourself to be turned to the right or left 
 by reading anything out of that course. I have long ago 
 digested a plan for you, suited to the circumstances in 
 which you will be placed. This I will detail to you, from 
 time to time, as you advance. For the present, I advise you 
 to begin a course of ancient history, reading everything in 
 the original and not in translations. First read Goldsmith's 
 history of Greece. This will give you a digested view of 
 that field. Then take up ancient history in the detail, read- 
 ing the following books, in the following order: Herodo- 
 tus, Thucydides, Xenophontis Anabasis, Arrian, Quintus 
 Curtius, Diodorus Siculus, Justin. This shall form the first 
 stage of your historical reading, and is all I need mention 
 to you now. The next will be of Roman history. From 
 that, we will come down to modern history. In Greek and 
 Latin poetry, you have read or will read at school, Virgil, 
 Terence, Horace, Anacreon, Theocritus, Homer, Euripides, 
 
 37
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Sophocles. Read also Milton's "Paradise Lost/' Shake- 
 speare, Ossian, Pope's and Swift's works, in order to form 
 your style in your own language. In morality, read Epicte- 
 tus, Xenophontis Memorabilia, Plato's Socratic dialogues, 
 Cicero's philosophies, Antoninus, and Seneca. In order to 
 assure a certain progress in this reading, consider what 
 hours you have free from the school and the exercises of the 
 school. Give about two of them, every day, to exercise ; for 
 health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body 
 makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I 
 advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the 
 body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the 
 mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that 
 nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character 
 on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant com- 
 panion of your walks. Never think of taking a book with 
 you. The object of walking is to relax the mind. You 
 should therefore not permit yourself even to think while 
 you walk; but divert yourself by the objects surrounding 
 you. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate 
 yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves 
 on having subdued the horse to the uses of man ; but I 
 doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained 
 by the use, of this animal. No one has occasioned so much 
 the degeneracy of the human body. An Indian goes on foot 
 nearly as far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled 
 white does on his horse; and he will tire the best horses. 
 There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking 
 far without fatigue. I would advise you to take your exer- 
 cise in the afternoon, not because it is the best time for ex- 
 ercise, for certainly it is not, but because it is the best time 
 to spare from your studies; and habit will soon reconcile 
 it to health, and render it nearly as useful as if you gave to 
 that the more precious hours of the day. A little walk of 
 
 38
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 half an hour, in the morning, when you first rise, is ad- 
 visable also. It shakes off sleep, and produces other good 
 effects in the animal economy. Rise at a fixed and an early 
 hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also. Sitting 
 up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to 
 the mind. Having ascribed proper hours to exercise, divide 
 what remain (I mean of your vacant hours) into three por- 
 tions. Give the principal to History, the other two, which 
 should be shorter, to Philosophy and Poetry. Write to me 
 once every month or two, and let me know the progress you 
 make. Tell me in what manner you employ every hour in 
 the day. The plan I have proposed for you is adapted to 
 your present situation only. When that is changed, I shall 
 propose a corresponding change of plan. I have ordered 
 the following books to be sent to you from London, to the 
 care of Mr. Madison: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's 
 Hellenics, Anabasis, and Memorabilia, Cicero's works, 
 Baretti's Spanish and English Dictionary, Martin's Phil- 
 osophical Grammar, and Martin's Philosophia Britannica. 
 I will send you the following from hence: Bezout's Mathe- 
 matics, De la Lande's Astronomy, Muschenbrock's Physics, 
 Quintus Curtius, Justin, a Spanish Grammar, and some 
 Spanish books. You will observe that Martin, Bezout, 
 De la Lande, and Muschenbrock are not in the preceding 
 plan. They are not to be opened till you go to the Univer- 
 sity. You are now, I expect, learning French. You must 
 push this; because the books which will be put into your 
 hands when you advance into Mathematics, Natural philoso- 
 phy, Natural history, etc., will be mostly French, these 
 sciences being better treated by the French than the 
 English writers. Our future connection with Spain renders 
 that the most necessary of the modern languages, after the 
 French. When you become a public man, you may have oc- 
 casion for it, and the circumstance of your possessing that 
 
 39
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 language, may give you a preference over other candidates. 
 I have nothing further to add for the present, but husband 
 well your time, cherish your instructors, strive to make 
 everybody your friend; and be assured that nothing will be 
 so pleasing as your success to, Dear Peter, 
 
 Yours affectionately. 
 
 On Superiority of Agriculture to Commerce 
 
 To John Jay 
 
 (PRIVATE) 
 
 PARIS, August 23, 1785. 
 
 The present is occasioned by the question proposed in 
 yours of June the 14th: "Whether it would be useful to us, 
 to carry all our own productions, or none?" 
 
 Were we perfectly free to decide this question, I should 
 reason as follows: We have now lands enough to employ 
 an infinite number of people in their cultivation. Cultiva- 
 tors of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are 
 the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, 
 and they are tied to their country, and wedded to its liberty 
 and interests, by the most lasting bonds. As long, there- 
 fore, as they can find employment in this line, I would not 
 convert them into mariners, artisans, or anything else. But 
 our citizens will find employment in this line, till their num- 
 bers, and of course their productions, become too great for 
 the demand, both internal and foreign. This is not the case 
 as yet, and probably will not be for a considerable time. As 
 soon as it is, the surplus of hands must be turned to some- 
 thing else. I should then, perhaps, wish to turn them to 
 the sea in preference to manufactures ; because, comparing 
 
 40
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the characters of the two classes, I find the former the most 
 valuable citizens. I consider the class of artificers as the 
 panders of vice, and the instruments by which the liber- 
 ties of a country are generally overturned. However, we 
 are not free to decide this question on principles of theory 
 only. Our people are decided in the opinion that it is nec- 
 essary for us to take a share in the occupation of the ocean, 
 and their established habits induce them to require that the 
 sea be kept open to them, and that that line of policy be 
 pursued, which will render the use of that element to them 
 as great as possible. I think it a duty in those intrusted 
 with the administration of their affairs, to conform them- 
 selves to the decided choice of their constituents ; and that, 
 therefore, we should, in every instance, preserve an equality 
 of right to them in the transportation of commodities, in the 
 right of fishing, and in the other uses of the sea. 
 
 But what will be the consequence? Frequent wars with- 
 out a doubt. Their property will be violated on the sea, 
 and in foreign ports, their persons will be insulted, impris- 
 oned, etc., for pretended debts, contracts, crimes, contra- 
 band, etc., etc. These insults must be resented, even if we 
 had no feelings, yet to prevent their eternal repetition; or, 
 in other words, our commerce on the ocean and in other 
 countries, must be paid for by frequent war. The justest 
 dispositions possible in ourselves, will not secure us against 
 it. It would be necessary that all other nations were just 
 also. Justice indeed, on our part, will save us from those 
 wars which would have been produced by a contrary dis- 
 position. But how can we prevent those produced by the 
 wrongs of other nations ? By putting ourselves in a con- 
 dition to punish them. Weakness provokes insult and in- 
 jury, while a condition to punish, often prevents them. 
 This reasoning leads to the necessity of some naval force; 
 that being the only weapon by which we can reach an 
 
 41
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 enemy. I think it to our interest to punish the first insult, 
 because an insult unpunished is the parent of many others. 
 We are not, at this moment, in a condition to do it, but we 
 should put ourselves into it, as soon as possible. If a war 
 with England should take place, it seems to me that the 
 first thing necessary would be a resolution to abandon the 
 carrying trade, because we cannot protect it. Foreign na- 
 tions must, in that case, be invited to bring us what we 
 want, and to take our productions in their own bottoms. 
 This alone could prevent the loss of those productions to 
 us, and the acquisition of them to our enemy. Our seamen 
 might be employed in depredations on their trade. But 
 how dreadfully we shall suffer on our coasts, if we have 
 no force on the water, former experience has taught us. 
 Indeed, I look forward with horror to the very possible 
 case of war with a European power, and think there is no 
 protection against them, but from the possession of some 
 force on the sea. Our vicinity to their West India posses- 
 sions, and to the fisheries, is a bridle which a small naval 
 force, on our part, would hold in the mouths of the most 
 powerful of these countries. I hope our land office will 
 rid us of our debts, and that our first attention then, will 
 be, to the beginning, a naval force of some sort. This 
 alone can countenance our people as carriers on the water, 
 and I suppose them to be determined to continue such. 
 
 On the Superiority qf the United States to 
 France 
 
 To Mr. Bellini 
 
 PARIS, September 30, 1785. 
 
 Behold me at length on the vaunted scene of Europe ! It 
 is not necessary for your information, that I should enter 
 
 42
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 into details concerning it. But you are, perhaps, curious 
 to know how this new scene has struck a savage of the 
 mountains of America. Not advantageously, I assure you. 
 I find the general fate of humanity here most deplorable. 
 The truth of Voltaire's observation, offers itself perpet- 
 ually, that every man here must be either the hammer or 
 the anvil. It is a true picture of that country to which 
 they say we shall pass hereafter, and where we are to see 
 God and his angels in splendor, and crowds of the damned 
 trampled under their feet. While the great mass of the peo- 
 ple are thus suffering under physical and moral oppression, 
 I have endeavored to examine more nearly the condition 
 of the great, to appreciate the true value of the circum- 
 stances in their situation, which dazzle the bulk of spec- * 
 tators, and, especially, to compare it with that degree of 
 happiness which is enjoyed in America, by every class of 
 people. Intrigues of love occupy the younger, and those 
 of ambition, the elder part of the great. Conjugal love 
 having no existence among them, domestic happiness, of 
 which that is the basis, is utterly unknown. In lieu of 
 this, are substituted pursuits which nourish and invigorate 
 all our bad passions, and which offer only moments of 
 ecstasy, amid days and months of restlessness and tor- 
 ment. Much, very much inferior, this, to the tranquil, per- 
 manent felicity with which domestic society in America 
 blesses most of its inhabitants ; leaving them to follow stead- 
 ily those pursuits which health and reason approve, and 
 rendering truly delicious the intervals of those pursuits. 
 
 In science, the mass of the people are two centuries be- 
 hind ours; their literati, half a dozen years before us. 
 Books, really good, acquire just reputation in that time, 
 and so become known to us, and communicate to us all their 
 advances in knowledge. Is not this delay compensated, by 
 our being placed out of the reach of that swarm of nonsen- 
 
 43
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 sical publications which issues daily from a thousand 
 presses, and perishes almost in issuing? With respect to 
 what are termed polite manners, without sacrificing too 
 much the sincerity of language, I would wish my country- 
 men to adopt just so much of European politeness, as to be 
 ready to make all those little sacrifices of self, which really 
 render European manners amiable, and relieve society from 
 the disagreeable scenes to which rudeness often subjects it. 
 Here, it seems that a man might pass a life without encoun- 
 tering a single rudeness. In the pleasures of the table, 
 they are far before us, because, with good taste they unite 
 temperance. They do not terminate the most sociable meals 
 by transforming themselves into brutes. I have never yet 
 seen a man drunk in France, even among the lowest of the 
 people. Were I to proceed to tell you how much I enjoy 
 their architecture, sculpture, painting, music, I should want 
 words. It is in these arts they shine. The last of them, 
 particularly, is an enjoyment, the deprivation of which, with 
 us, cannot be calculated. I am almost ready to say, it is the 
 only thing which from my heart I envy them, and which, 
 in spite of all the authority of the Decalogue, I do covet. 
 But I am running on in an estimate of things infinitely 
 better known to you than to me, and which will only serve 
 to convince you, that I have brought with me all the preju- 
 dices of country, habit, and age. But whatever I may al- 
 low to be charged to me as prejudice, in every other in- 
 stance, I have one sentiment, at least, founded on reality: 
 it is that of the perfect esteem which your merit and that 
 of Mrs. Bellini have produced, and which will forever en- 
 able me to assure you of the sincere regard with which I 
 am, dear sir, your friend and servant. 
 
 44-
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 On Education 
 
 To J. Bannister, Jr. 
 
 PARIS, October 15, 1785. 
 
 Let us view the disadvantages of sending a youth to Eu- 
 rope. To enumerate them all, would require a volume. I 
 will select a few. If he goes to England, he learns drink- 
 ing, horse-racing, and boxing. These are the peculiarities 
 of English education. The following circumstances are 
 common to education in that, and the other countries of Eu- 
 rope. He acquires a fondness for European luxury and 
 dissipation, and a contempt for the simplicity of his own 
 country; he is fascinated with the privileges of the Euro- 
 pean aristocrats, and sees, with abhorrence, the lovely equal- 
 ity which the poor enjoy with the rich, in his own country; 
 he contracts a partiality for aristocracy or monarchy; he 
 forms foreign friendships which will never be useful to 
 him, and loses the seasons of life for forming, in his own 
 country, those friendships which, of all others, are the most 
 faithful and permanent; he is led, by the strongest of all 
 the human passions, into a spirit for female intrigue, de- 
 structive of his own and others' happiness, and learns to 
 consider fidelity to the marriage-bed as an ungentlemanly 
 practice, and inconsistent with happiness ; he recollects the 
 voluptuary dress and arts of the European women, and 
 pities and despises the chaste affections and simplicity of 
 those of his own country; he retains, through life, a fond 
 recollection, and a hankering after those places, which were 
 the scenes of his first pleasures and of his first connections; 
 he returns to his own country, a foreigner, unacquainted 
 with the practices of domestic economy, necessary to pre- 
 serve him from ruin, speaking and writing his native tongue 
 
 45
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 as a foreigner, and therefore unqualified to obtain those dis- 
 tinctions, which eloquence of the pen and tongue insures 
 in a free country; for I would observe to you, that what is 
 called style in writing or speaking is formed very early in 
 life, while the imagination is warm, and impressions are 
 permanent. I am of opinion, that there never was an in- 
 stance of a man's writing or speaking his native tongue 
 with elegance, who passed from fifteen to twenty years of 
 age out of the country where it was spoken. Thus, no in- 
 stance exists of a person's writing two languages perfectly. 
 That will always appear to be his native language, which 
 was most familiar to him in his youth. It appears to me, 
 then, that an American, coming to Europe for education, 
 loses in his knowledge, in his morals, in his health, in his 
 habits, and in his happiness. I had entertained only doubts 
 on this head before I came to Europe: what I see and hear, 
 since I came here, proves more than I had even sus- 
 pected. Cast your eye over America: who are the men of 
 most learning, of most eloquence, most beloved by their 
 countrymen and most trusted and promoted by them? 
 They are those who have been educated among them, and 
 whose manners, morals, and habits, are perfectly homo- 
 geneous with those of the country. 
 
 On New States 
 
 To Colonel Monroe 
 
 PARIS, July 9, 1786. 
 
 With respect to the new States, were the question to stand 
 simply in this form: How may the ultramontane territory 
 be disposed of, so as to produce the greatest and most im- 
 mediate benefit to the inhabitants of the maritime States of 
 
 46
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the Union? The plan would be more plausible, of laying 
 it off into two or three States only. Even on this view, 
 however, there would still be something to be said against 
 it, which might render it at least doubtful. But that it is a 
 question which good faith forbids us to receive into dis- 
 cussion. This requires us to state the question in its just 
 form: How may the Territories of the Union be disposed 
 of, so as to produce the greatest degree of happiness to their 
 inhabitants? With respect to the maritime States, little or 
 nothing remains to be done. With respect, then, to the ul- 
 tramontane States, will their inhabitants be happiest, di- 
 vided into States of thirty thousand square miles, not quite 
 as large as Pennsylvania, or into States of one hundred and 
 sixty thousand square miles, each, that is to say, three times 
 as large as Virginia within the Alleghany? They will not 
 only be happier in States of moderate size, but it is the only 
 way in which they can exist as a regular society. Consid- 
 ering the American character in general, that of those peo- 
 ple particularly, and the energetic nature of our govern- 
 ments, a State of such extent as one hundred and sixty 
 thousand square miles, would soon crumble into little ones. 
 These are the circumstances which reduce the Indians to 
 such small societies. They would produce an effect on our 
 people, similar to this. They would not be broken into such 
 small pieces, because they are more habituated to subordi- 
 nation, and value more a government of regular law. But 
 you would surely reverse the nature of things, in making 
 small States on the ocean, and large ones beyond the moun- 
 tains. If we could, in our consciences, say, that great 
 States beyond the mountains will make the people happiest, 
 we must still ask, whether they will be contented to be laid 
 off into large States ? They certainly will not ; and, if they 
 decide to divide themselves, we are not able to restrain 
 them. They will end by separating from our confederacy. 
 
 47
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 and becoming its enemies. We had better, then, look for- 
 ward, and see what will be the probable course of things. 
 This will surely be a division of that country into States 
 of a small, or, at most, of a moderate size. If we lay them 
 off into such, they will acquiesce, and we shall have the ad- 
 vantage of arranging them, so as to produce the best combi- 
 nations of interest. What Congress have already done in 
 this matter is an argument the more in favor of the revolt 
 of those States against a different arrangement, and of 
 their acquiescence under a continuance of that. Upon this 
 plan, we treat them as fellow-citizens ; they will have a j ust 
 share in their own government; they will love us, and pride 
 themselves in an union with us. Upon the other, we treat 
 them as subjects; we govern them, and not they themselves; 
 they will abhor us as masters, and break off from us in 
 defiance. 
 
 Doctrine of Force in Barbary States 
 
 To Colonel Monroe 
 
 PARIS, August 11, 1786. 
 
 There is little prospect of accommodation between the 
 Algerines, and the Portuguese and Neapolitans. A very val- 
 uable capture, too, lately made by them on the Empress of 
 Russia, bids fair to draw her on them. The probability is, 
 therefore, that these three nations will be at war with them, 
 and the probability is, that could we furnish a couple of 
 frigates, a convention might be formed with those powers 
 establishing a perpetual cruise on the coast of Algiers, 
 which would bring them to reason. Such a convention, be- 
 ing left open to all powers willing to come into it, should 
 have for its object a general peace, to be guaranteed to 
 
 18
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 each, by the whole. Were only two or three to begin a con- 
 federacy of this kind, I think every power in Europe would 
 soon fall into it, except France, England, and perhaps 
 Spain and Holland. Of these, there is only England, who 
 would give any real aid to the Algerines. Morocco, you 
 perceive, will be at peace with us. Were the honor and 
 advantage of establishing such a confederacy out of the 
 question, yet the necessity that the United States should 
 have some marine force, and the happiness of this, as the 
 ostensible cause for beginning it, would decide on its pro- 
 priety. It will be said, there is no money in the Treasury. 
 There never will be money in the Treasury, till the confed- 
 eracy shows its teeth. The States must see the rod; per- 
 haps it must be felt by some one of them. I am persuaded, 
 all of them would rejoice to see every one obliged to fur- 
 nish its contributions. It is not the difficulty of furnishing 
 them, which beggars the Treasury, but the fear that others 
 will not furnish as much. Every rational citizen must wish 
 to see an effective instrument of coercion, and should fear 
 to see it on any other element than the water. A naval 
 force can never endanger our liberties, nor occasion blood- 
 shed; a land force would do both. It is not in the choice 
 of the States, whether they will pay money to cover their 
 trade against the Algerines. If they obtain a peace by 
 negotiation, they must pay a great sum of money for it; 
 if they do nothing, they must pay a great sum of money, in 
 the form of insurance ; and in either way, as great a one as 
 in the way of force, and probably less effectual.
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 On the Cincinnati 
 
 To General Washington 
 
 PARIS, November 14, 1786. 
 
 The author of the political part of the "Encyclopedic 
 Methodique" desired me to examine his article, "Etats 
 Unis." I did so. I found it a tissue of errors, for, in 
 truth, they know nothing about us here. Particularly, how- 
 ever, the article "Cincinnati" was a mere philippic against 
 that institution, in which it appeared that there was an 
 utter ignorance of facts and motives. I gave him notes on 
 it. He reformed it, as he supposed, and sent it again to 
 me to revise. In this reformed state, Colonel Humphreys 
 saw it. I found it necessary to write that article for him. 
 Before I gave it to him, I showed it to the Marquis de La 
 Fayette, who made a correction or two. I then sent it to 
 the author. He used the materials, mixing a great deal of 
 his own with them. In a work, which is sure of going 
 down to the latest posterity, I thought it material to set 
 facts to rights as much as possible. The author was well 
 disposed, but could not entirely get the better of his origi- 
 nal bias. I send you the article as ultimately published. 
 If you find any material errors in it, and will be so good as 
 to inform me of them, I shall probably have opportunities 
 of setting this author to rights. What has heretofore 
 passed between us on this institution, makes -:t my duty to 
 mention to you, that I have never heard a person in Europe, 
 learned or unlearned, express his thoughts on this institu- 
 tion, who did not consider it as dishonorable and destructive 
 to our governments; and that every writing which has 
 come out since my arrival here, in which it is mentioned, 
 considers it, even as now reformed, as the germ whose de- 
 
 50
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 velopment is one day to destroy the fabric we have reared. 
 I did not apprehend this, while I had American ideas only. 
 But I confess that what I have seen in Europe has brought 
 me over to that opinion; and that though the day may be at 
 some distance, beyond the reach of our lives, perhaps, yet 
 it will certainly come, when a single fibre left of this in- 
 stitution will produce an hereditary aristocracy, which will 
 change the form of our governments from the best to the 
 worst in the world. To know the mass of evil which flows 
 from this fatal source, a person must be in France; he must 
 see the finest soil, the finest climate, the most compact State, 
 the most benevolent character of people, and every earthly 
 advantage combined, insufficient to prevent this scourge 
 from rendering existence a curse to twenty-four out of 
 twenty-five parts of the inhabitants of this country. With 
 us, the branches of this institution cover all the States. The 
 Southern ones, at this time, are aristocratical in their dis- 
 positions; and that that spirit should grow and extend it- 
 self, is within the natural order of things. I do not flatter 
 myself with the immortality of our governments, but I 
 shall think little also of their longevity, unless this germ 
 of destruction be taken out. When the society themselves 
 shall weigh the possibility of evil, against the impossibility 
 of any good to proceed from this institution, I cannot help 
 hoping they will eradicate it. I know they wish the perma- 
 nence of our governments, as much as any individuals com- 
 posing them. 
 
 51
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On the Simple Life 
 
 To Colonel Monroe 
 
 PARIS, December 18, 1786. 
 
 You wish not to engage in the drudgery of the bar. You 
 have two asylums from that. Either to accept a seat in the 
 Council, or in the judiciary department. The latter, how- 
 ever, would require a little previous drudgery at the bar, 
 to qualify you to discharge your duty with satisfaction to 
 yourself. Neither of these would be inconsistent with a 
 continued residence in Albemarle. It is but twelve hours' 
 drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to Richmond, keeping 
 a fresh horse always at the half-way, which would be a 
 small annual expense. I am in hopes that Mrs. M. will 
 have in her domestic cares, occupation and pleasure, suffi- 
 cient to fill her time, and insure her against the tedium vitce; 
 that she will find, that the distractions of a town, and the 
 waste of life under these, can bear no comparison with the 
 tranquil happiness of domestic life. If her own experience 
 has not yet taught her this truth, she has in its favor the 
 testimony of one who has gone through the various scenes 
 of business, of bustle, of office, of rambling, and of quiet 
 retirement, and who can assure her, that the latter is the 
 only point upon which the mind can settle at rest. Though 
 not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly situation is so, 
 they are fewer in number, and mixed with more objects of 
 contentment than in any other mode of life. But I must not 
 philosophize too much with her, lest I give her too se- 
 rious apprehensions of a friendship I shall impose on her. 
 I am with very great esteem, dear Sir, your sincere friend 
 and servant.
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On Newspapers 
 
 To Colonel Edward Carrington 
 
 PARIS, January 16, 1787. 
 
 The way to prevent irregular interpositions of the people, 
 is to give them full information of their affairs through the 
 channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those pa- 
 pers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The 
 basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, 
 the very first object should be to keep that right; and were 
 it left to me to decide whether we should have a govern- 
 ment without newspapers, or newspapers without a govern- 
 ment, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. 
 But I should mean that every man should receive those pa- 
 pers, and be capable of reading them. 
 
 On the Theory of Government and on Louisiana 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 JANUARY SO, 1787. 
 
 Dear Sir: I am impatient to learn your sentiments ori 
 the late troubles in the Eastern States. So far as I have 
 yet seen, they do not appear to threaten serious conse- 
 quences. Those States have suffered by the stoppage of 
 the channels of their commerce, which have not yet found 
 other issues. This must render money scarce, and make 
 the people uneasy. This uneasiness has produced acts ab- 
 solutely unjustifiable; but I hope they will provoke no 
 severities from their governments. A consciousness of 
 
 53
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 those in power that their administration of the public affairs 
 has been honest, may, perhaps, produce too great a degree 
 of indignation; and those characters, wherein fear predom- 
 inates over hope, may apprehend too much from these in- 
 stances of irregularity. They may conclude too hastily, 
 that nature has formed man insusceptible of any other gov- 
 ernment than that of force, a conclusion not founded in 
 truth nor experience. Societies exist under three forms, 
 sufficiently distinguishable. 1. Without government, as 
 among our Indians. 2. Under governments, wherein the 
 will of every one has a just influence; as is the case in Eng- 
 land, in a slight degree, and in our States, in a great one. 
 3. Under governments of force; as is the case in all other 
 monarchies, and in most of the other republics. To have 
 an idea of the curse of existence under these last, they must 
 be seen. It is a government of wolves over sheep. It is a 
 problem, not clear in my mind, that the first condition is 
 not the best. But I believe it to be inconsistent with any 
 great degree of population. The second state has a great 
 deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that, en- 
 joys a precious degree of liberty and happiness. It has its 
 evils, too; the principal of which is the turbulence to which 
 it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of 
 monarchy, and it becomes nothing. Malo periculosam li- 
 bertatem quam quietam servitutem. Even this evil is produc- 
 tive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government, 
 and nourishes a general attention to the public affairs. I 
 hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good 
 thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in 
 the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally 
 establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, 
 which have produced them. An observation of this truth 
 should render honest republican governors so mild in their 
 punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too 
 
 54
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of 
 government. 
 
 If these transactions give me no uneasiness, I feel very 
 differently at another piece of intelligence, to wit, the pos- 
 sibility that the navigation of the Mississippi may be aban- 
 doned to Spain. I never had any interest westward of the 
 Alleghany; and I never will have any. But I have had 
 great opportunities of knowing the character of the people 
 who inhabit that country; and I will venture to say that the 
 act which abandons the navigation of the Mississippi is an 
 act of separation between the eastern and western country. 
 It is a relinquishment of five parts out of eight, of the ter- 
 ritory of the United States ; an abandonment of the fairest 
 subject for the payment of our public debts, and the chain- 
 ing those debts on our own necks, in perpetuum. I have the 
 utmost confidence in the honest intentions of those who con- 
 cur in this measure ; but I lament their want of acquaintance 
 with the character and physical advantages of the people, 
 who, right or wrong, will suppose their interest sacrificed 
 on this occasion to the contrary interests of that part of the 
 confederacy in possession of present power. If they de- 
 clare themselves a separate people, we are incapable of a 
 single effort to retain them. Our citizens can never be in- 
 duced, either as militia or as soldiers, to go there to cut the 
 throats of their own brothers and sons, or rather, to be 
 themselves the subjects, instead of the perpetrators of the 
 parricide. Nor would that country quit the cost of being 
 retained against the will of its inhabitants, could it be done. 
 But it cannot be done. They are able already to rescue the 
 navigation of the Mississippi out of the hands of Spain, 
 and to add New Orleans to their own territory. They will 
 be joined by the inhabitants of Louisiana. This will bring 
 on a war between them and Spain ; and that will produce the 
 question with us, whether it will not be worth our while to 
 
 55
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 become parties with them in the war, in order to reunite 
 them with us, and thus correct our error? And were I to 
 permit my forebodings to go one step further, I should pre- 
 dict that the inhabitants of the United States would force 
 their rulers to take the affirmative of that question. I wish 
 I may be mistaken in all these opinions. 
 
 Character of John Adams 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 PARIS, January 30, 1787. 
 
 You know the opinion I formerly entertained of my 
 friend, Mr. Adams . . . and the Governor were the first 
 who shook that opinion. I afterward saw proofs which 
 convicted him of a degree of vanity, and of a blindness to 
 it, of which no germ appeared in Congress. A seven months' 
 intimacy with him here, and as many weeks in London, have 
 given me opportunities of studying him closely. He is vain, 
 irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable ef- 
 fect of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill 
 which can possibly be said of him. He is as disinterested 
 as the being who made him: he is profound in his views, 
 and accurate in his judgment, except where knowledge of 
 the world is necessary to form a judgment. He is so amia- 
 ble, that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become 
 acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man 
 in Congress.
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 A Letter of Courtesy 
 
 To Mrs. Bingham 
 
 PARIS, February 7, 1787. 
 
 I know, Madam, that the twelvemonth is not yet expired ; 
 but it will be, nearly, before this will have the honor of 
 being put into your hands. You are then engaged to tell 
 me, truly and honestly, whether you do not find the tran- 
 quil pleasures of America, preferable to the empty bustle of 
 Paris. For, to what does that bustle tend? At eleven 
 o'clock, it is day, chez madame. The curtains are drawn. 
 Propped on bolsters and pillows, and her head scratched 
 into a little order, the bulletins of the sick are read, and the 
 billets of the well. She writes to some of her acquaintance, 
 and receives the visits of others. If the morning is not very 
 thronged, she is able to get out and hobble round the cage 
 of the Palais Royal; but she must hobble quickly, for the 
 coiffeur's turn is come ; and a tremendous turn it is ! Hap- 
 py, if he does not make her arrive when dinner is half 
 over ! The torpitude of digestion a little passed, she flut- 
 ters half an hour through the streets, by way of paying 
 visits, and then to the spectacles. These finished, another 
 half hour is devoted to dodging in and out of the doors of 
 her very sincere friends, and away to supper. After sup- 
 per, cards; and after cards, bed; to rise at noon the next 
 day, and to tread, like a mill-horse, the same trodden circle 
 over again. Thus the days of life are consumed, one by 
 one, without an object beyond the present moment; ever fly- 
 ing from the ennui of that, yet carrying it with us; eter- 
 nally in pursuit of happiness, which keeps eternally be- 
 fore us. If death or bankruptcy happen to trip us out of 
 the circle, it is matter for the buzz of the evening, and is 
 
 57
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 completely forgotten by the next morning. In America, on 
 the other hand, the society of your husband, the fond cares 
 for the children, the arrangements of the house, the im- 
 provements of the grounds, fill every moment with a healthy 
 and a useful activity. Every exertion is encouraging, be- 
 cause, to present amusement, it joins the promise of some 
 future good. The intervals of leisure are filled by the so- 
 ciety of real friends, whose affections are not thinned to 
 cobweb, by being spread over a thousand objects. This is 
 the picture, in the light it is presented to my mind; now let 
 me have it in yours. If we do not concur this year, we shall 
 the next; or if not then, in a year or two more. You see 
 I am determined not to suppose myself mistaken. 
 
 Art et la Politesse 
 
 To Madame la Comtesse de Tesse 
 
 NISMES, March 20, 1787. 
 
 Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison 
 Quarree, like a lover at his mistress. The stocking-weavers 
 and silk-spinners around it consider me a hypochondriac 
 Englishman, about to write with a pistol the last chapter of 
 his history. This is the second time I have been in love 
 since I left Paris. The first was with a Diana at the Cha- 
 teau de Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolois, a delicious morsel 
 of sculpture, by M. A. Slodtz. This, you will say, was in 
 rule, to fall in love with a female beauty ; but with a house ! 
 it is out of all precedent. No, Madam, it is not without a 
 precedent in my own history. While in Paris, I was vio- 
 lently smitten with the Hotel de Salm, and used to go to the 
 Tuileries almost daily, to look at it. The loueuse des chaises, 
 inattentive to my passion, never had the complaisance to 
 
 58
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 place a chair there, so that, sitting on the parapet, and 
 twisting my neck round to see the object of my admiration, 
 I generally left it with a torti-colli. 
 
 From Lyons to Nismes I have been nourished with the 
 remains of Roman grandeur. They have always brought 
 you to my mind, because I know your affection for what- 
 ever is Roman and noble. At Vienna I thought of you. 
 But I am glad you were not there ; for you would have seen 
 me more angry than, I hope you will ever see me. The 
 Praetorian Palace, as it is called, comparable, for its fine 
 proportions, to the Maison Quarree, defaced by the barba- 
 rians who have converted it to its present purpose, its beau- 
 tiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out, in part, to make 
 space for Gothic windows, and hewed down, in the residue, 
 to the plane of the building, was enough, you must admit, 
 to disturb my composure. . . . 
 
 Loving, as you do, madam, the precious remains of antiq- 
 uity, loving architecture, gardening, a warm sun and a clear 
 sky, I wonder you have never thought of moving Chaville 
 to Nismes. This, as you know, has not always been deemed 
 impracticable ; and, therefore, the next time a Sur-intendant 
 des bailments du roi, after the example of M. Colbert, 
 sends persons to Nismes to move the Maison Quarree to 
 Paris, that they may not come empty-handed, desire them 
 to bring Chaville with them, to replace it. ... 
 
 From a correspondent at Nismes, you will not expect 
 news. Were I to attempt to give you news, I should tell 
 you stories one thousand years old. I should detail to you 
 the intrigues of the courts of the Caesars, how they affect 
 us here, the oppressions of their praetors, prefects, etc. I 
 am immersed in antiquities from morning to night. For me, 
 the city of Rome is actually existing in all the splendor of 
 its empire. I am filled with alarms for the event of the ir- 
 ruptions daily making on us, by the Goths, the Visigoths, 
 
 59"
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Ostrogoths, and Vandals, lest they should reconquer us to 
 our original barbarism. If I am sometimes induced to look 
 forward to the eighteenth century, it is only when recalled 
 to it by the recollection of your goodness and friendship, 
 and by those sentiments of sincere esteem and respect with 
 which I have the honor to be, Madam, 3 7 our most obedient 
 and most humble servant. 
 
 Travel and Science 
 
 To the Marquis de La Fayette 
 
 APRIL , 1787. 
 
 From the first olive fields of Pierrelatte, to the orange- 
 ries of Hieres, has been continued rapture to me. I have 
 often wished for you. I think you have not made this jour- 
 ney. It is a pleasure you have to come, and an improve- 
 ment to be added to the many you have already made. It 
 will be a great comfort to you, to know, from your own in- 
 spection, the condition of all the provinces of your own 
 country, and it will be interesting to them at some future 
 day, to be known to you. This is, perhaps, the only moment 
 of your life in which you can acquire that knowledge. And 
 to do it most effectually, you must be absolutely incognito; 
 you must ferret the people out of their hovels as I have 
 done, look into their kettles, eat their bread, loll on their 
 beds under pretence of resting yourself, but in fact to find 
 if they are soft. You will feel a sublime pleasure in the 
 course of this investigation, and a sublimer one hereafter, 
 when you shall be able to apply your knowledge to the soft- 
 ening of their beds, or the throwing a morsel of meat into 
 their kettle of vegetables. 
 
 60
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On Rice Culture 
 
 To Edward Rutted ge, Esq. 
 
 PARIS, July 14, 1787. 
 
 Dear Sir: I was glad to find that the adaptation of your 
 rice to this market was considered worth attention, as I had 
 supposed it. I set out from hence impressed with the idea 
 the rice-dealers here had given me, that the difference be- 
 tween your rice and that of Piedmont proceeded from a dif- 
 ference in the machine for cleaning it. At Marseilles I 
 hoped to know what the Piedmont machine was, but I could 
 find nobody who knew anything of it. I determined, there- 
 fore, to sift the matter to the bottom, by crossing the Alps 
 into the rice country. I found their machine exactly such a 
 one as you had described to me in Congress in the year 1783. 
 There was but one conclusion then to be drawn, to wit, that 
 the rice was of a different species, and I determined to take 
 enough to put you in seed ; they informed me, however, that 
 its exportation in the husk was prohibited, so I could only 
 bring off as much as my coat and surtout pockets would 
 hold. I took measures with a muleteer to run a couple of 
 sacks across the Apennines to Genoa, but have not great 
 dependence on its success. The little, therefore, which I 
 brought myself, must be relied on for fear we should get no 
 more; and because, also, it is genuine from Vercilli, where 
 the best is made of all the Sardinian Lombardy, the whole 
 of which is considered as producing a better rice than the 
 Milanese. 
 
 61
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On the Suppression of the Slave Trade 
 
 To Edward Rutledge, Esq. 
 
 PARIS, July 14, 1787. 
 
 I congratulate you, my dear friend, on the law of your 
 State, for suspending the importation of slaves, and for the 
 glory you have justly acquired by endeavoring to prevent 
 it forever. This abomination must have an end. And there 
 is a superior bench reserved in heaven for those who 
 hasten it. 
 
 On the National Character 
 
 To Alexander Donald 
 
 PARIS, July 28, 1787. 
 
 Among many good qualities which my countrymen pos- 
 sess, some of a different character unhappily mix themselves. 
 The most remarkable are, indolence, extravagance, and infi- 
 delity to their engagements. Cure the two first, and the 
 last would disappear, because it is a consequence of them, 
 and not proceeding from a want of morals. I know of no 
 remedy against indolence and extravagance but a free 
 course of justice. Everything else is merely palliative; but 
 unhappily, the evil has gained too generally the mass of the 
 nation, to leave the course of justice unobstructed. The 
 maxim of buying nothing without the money in our pockets 
 to pay for it, would make of our country one of the happiest 
 upon earth. Experience during the war proved this; as I 
 think every man will remember, that under all the priva- 
 tions it obliged him to submit to, during that period, he 
 
 62
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 slept sounder, and awaked happier than he can do now. 
 Desperate of finding relief from a free course of justice, I 
 look forward to the abolition of all credit, as the only other 
 remedy which can take place. I have seen, therefore, with 
 pleasure, the exaggerations of our want of faith, with which 
 the London papers teem. It is, indeed, a strong medicine 
 for sensible minds, but it is a medicine. It will prevent 
 their crediting us abroad, in which case we cannot be cred- 
 ited at home. 
 
 Division of Authority in Government 
 
 To Edward Carrington 
 
 PARIS, August 4, 1787- 
 
 My general plan would be, to make the States one as to 
 everything connected with foreign nations, and several as 
 to everything purely domestic. But with all the imperfec- 
 tions of our present government, it is without comparison 
 the best existing, or that ever did exist. Its greatest defect 
 is the imperfect manner in which matters of commerce have 
 been provided for. It has been so often said, as to be gen- 
 erally believed, that Congress have no power by the Con- 
 federation to enforce anything; for example, contributions 
 of money. It was not necessary to give them that power ex- 
 pressly; they have it by the law of nature. When two par- 
 ties make a compact, there results to each a power of com- 
 pelling the other to execute it. Compulsion was never so 
 easy as in our case, where a single frigate would soon levy 
 on the commerce of any State the deficiency of its contribu- 
 tions; nor more safe than in the hands of Congress, which 
 has always shown that it would wait, as it ought to do, to 
 the last extremities, before it would execute any of its pow- 
 
 63
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ers which are disagreeable. I think it very material to sep- 
 arate, in the hands of Congress, the executive and legisla- 
 tive powers, as the judiciary already are, in some degree. 
 This, I hope, will be done. The want of it has been the 
 source of more evil than we have experienced from any 
 other cause. Nothing is so embarrassing or so mischiev- 
 ous, in a great assembly, as the details of execution. The 
 smallest trifle of that kind occupies as long as the most im- 
 portant act of legislation, and takes place of everything 
 else. Let any man recollect, or look over, the files of Con- 
 gress; he will observe the most important propositions 
 hanging over, from week to week, and month to month, till 
 the occasions have passed them and the things never done. 
 I have ever viewed the executive details as the greatest cause 
 of evil to us, because they in fact place us as if we had no 
 federal head, by diverting the attention of that head from 
 great to small subjects; and should this division of power 
 not be recommended by the convention, it is my opinion 
 Congress should make it itself by establishing an executive 
 committee. 
 
 In Defence of Rebellions 
 
 To Colonel Smith 
 
 PARIS, November 13, 1787. 
 
 Where did it [anarchy] ever exist, except in the single 
 instance of Massachusetts? And can history produce an 
 instance of rebellion so honorably conducted? I say noth- 
 ing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not 
 wickedness. God forbid we should ever be twenty years 
 without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and 
 always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be 
 
 ft
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts 
 they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such miscon- 
 ceptions, it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the 
 public liberty. We have had thirteen States independent 
 for eleven years. There has been one rebellion. That 
 comes to one rebellion in a century and a half, for each 
 State. What country before, ever existed a century and a 
 half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve 
 its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, 
 that this people preserve the spirit of resistance ? Let them 
 take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, 
 pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in 
 a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed 
 from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. 
 It is its natural manure. Our convention has been too 
 much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts; and 
 on the spur of the moment, they are setting up a kite to 
 keep the hen-yard in order. 
 
 On Emancipating Slaves 
 
 To Edward Bancroft 
 
 PARIS, January 26, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have deferred answering your letter on the 
 subject of slaves because you permitted me to do it till a 
 moment of leisure, and that moment rarely comes, and be- 
 cause, too, I could not answer you with such a degree of cer- 
 tainty as to merit any notice. I do not recollect the con- 
 versation at Vincennes to which you allude, but can repeat 
 still, on the same ground on which I must have done then, 
 that as far as I can judge from the experiments which 
 
 65
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 have been made, to give liberty to, or rather abandon, per- 
 sons whose habits have been formed in slavery is like aban- 
 doning children. Many Quakers in Virginia seated their 
 slaves on their lands as tenants; they were distant from me, 
 and therefore I cannot be particular in the details because 
 I never had very particular information. I cannot say 
 whether they were to pay a rent in money or a share of the 
 produce, but I remember that the landlord was obliged to 
 plan their crops for them, to direct all their operations dur- 
 ing every season and according to the weather; but, what 
 is more afflicting, he was obliged to watch them daily and 
 almost constantly to make them work and even to whip them. 
 A man's moral sense must be unusually strong if slavery 
 does not make him a thief. He who is permitted by law to 
 have no property of his own can with difficulty conceive 
 that property is founded on anything but force. These 
 slaves chose to steal from their neighbors rather than work ; 
 they became public nuisances, and in most instances were re- 
 duced to slavery again. But I will beg of you to make no 
 use of this imperfect information (unless in common con- 
 versation). I shall go to America in the spring and return 
 in the fall. During my stay in Virginia I shall be in the 
 neighborhood where many of these trials were made. I 
 will inform myself very particularly of them and communi- 
 cate the information to you. 
 
 Besides these there is an instance since I came away of a 
 young man (Mr. Mays) who died and gave freedom to all 
 his slaves, about 200; this is about a year ago. I shall 
 know how they have turned out. Notwithstanding the dis- 
 couraging result of these experiments I am decided on my 
 final return to America to try this one. I shall endeavor to 
 import as many Germans as I have grown slaves. I will 
 settle them and my slaves on farms of fifty acres each, in- 
 termingled, and place all on the footing of the Metayers 
 
 66
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 (Medictani) of Europe. Their children shall be brought 
 up as others are in habits of property and foresight, and I 
 have no doubt but that they will be good citizens. Some of 
 their fathers will be so ; others I suppose will need govern- 
 ment; with these all that can be done is to oblige them to 
 labor as the laboring poor of Europe do, and to apply to 
 their comfortable subsistence the produce of their labor, re- 
 taining such a moderate portion of it as may be a just equiv- 
 alent for the use of the lands they labor and the stocks and 
 other necessary advances. 
 
 Philosophy of Life 
 
 To Alexander Donald 
 
 PARIS, February 7, 1788. 
 
 I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my 
 books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple 
 bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to oc- 
 cupy the most splendid post, which any human power can 
 give. I shall be glad to hear from you often. Give me the 
 small news as well as the great. Tell Dr. Currie, that I be- 
 lieve I am indebted to him in a letter, but that like the mass 
 of our countrymen, I am not, at this moment, able to pay all 
 my debts. 
 
 On the Adoption of the Constitution 
 
 To Mr. A. Donald 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1788. 
 
 I wish with all my soul, that the nine first conventions 
 may accept the new Constitution, because this will secure to 
 
 67
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 us the good it contains, which I think great and important. 
 But I equally wish, that the four latest conventions, which- 
 ever they be, may refuse to accede to it, till a declaration 
 of rights be annexed. This would probably command the 
 offer of such a declaration, and thus give to the whole fab- 
 ric, perhaps, as much perfection as any one of that kind 
 ever had. By a declaration of rights, I mean one which 
 shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, 
 freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in 
 all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing 
 armies. These are fetters against doing evil, which no 
 honest government should decline. There is another strong 
 feature in the new Constitution, which I as strongly dislike. 
 That is, the perpetual reeligibility of the President. Of 
 this I expect no amendment at present, because I do not see 
 that anybody has objected to it on your side the water. 
 But it will be productive of cruel distress to our country, 
 even in your day and mine. The importance to France and 
 England, to have our government in the hands of a friend 
 or a foe, will occasion their interference by money, and even 
 by arms. Our President will be of much more consequence 
 to them than a King of Poland. We must take care, how- 
 ever, that neither this, nor any other objection to the new 
 form, produces a schism in our Union. That would be an 
 incurable evil, because near friends falling out, never re- 
 unite cordially; whereas, all of us going together, we shall 
 be sure to cure the evils of our new Constitution, before 
 they do great harm. 
 
 68
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 Potomac Canal European Affairs The 
 Constitution 
 
 To General Washington 
 
 PARIS, May 2, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir: I am honored with your Excellency's letter by 
 the last packet, and thank you for the information it con- 
 tains on the communication between the Cayahoga and Big 
 Beaver. I have ever considered the opening a canal be- 
 tween those two watercourses as the most important work 
 in that line which the State of Virginia could undertake. 
 It will infallibly turn through the Potomac all the com- 
 merce of Lake Erie, and the country west of that, except 
 what may pass down the Mississippi; and it is important 
 that it be soon done, lest that commerce should, in the 
 meantime, get established in another channel. Having, in 
 the spring of the last year, taken a journey through the 
 southern parts of France, and particularly examined the 
 canal of Languedoc, through its whole course, I take the lib- 
 erty of sending you the notes I made on the spot, as you 
 may find in them something, perhaps, which may be turned 
 to account, some time or other, in the prosecution of the 
 Potomac canal. Being merely a copy from my travelling 
 notes, they are undigested and imperfect, but may still 
 perhaps give hints capable of improvement in your 
 mind. . . . 
 
 I had intended to have written a word to your Excellency 
 on the subject of the new Constitution, but I have already 
 spun out my letter to an immoderate length. I will just ob- 
 serve, therefore, that according to my ideas, there is a great 
 deal of good in it. There are two things, however, which I 
 dislike strongly: 1. The want f a declaration of rights. I 
 
 69
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 am in hopes the opposition of Virginia will remedy this, and 
 produce such a declaration. 2. The perpetual reeligibility 
 of the President. This, I fear, will make that an office for 
 life, first, and then hereditary. I was much an enemy to 
 monarchies before I came to Europe. I am ten thousand 
 times more so, since I have seen what they are. There is 
 scarcely an evil known in these countries, which may not 
 be traced to their king, as its source, nor a good, which is 
 not derived from the small fibres of republicanism existing 
 among them. I can further say, with safety, there is not a 
 crowned head in Europe, whose talents or merits would en- 
 title him to be elected a vestryman by the people of any 
 parish in America. However, I shall hope, that before there 
 is danger of this change taking place in the office of Presi- 
 dent, the good sense and free spirit of our countrymen, will 
 make the changes necessary to prevent it. 
 
 National Credit 
 
 To Mr. James Madison 
 
 PARIS, May 3, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir: The existence of a nation having no credit is 
 always precarious. The credit of England is the best. 
 Their paper sells at par on the exchange of Amsterdam the 
 moment any of it is offered, and they can command there 
 any sum they please. The reason is, that they never borrow, 
 without establishing taxes for the payment of the interest, 
 and they never yet failed one day in that payment. The 
 Emperor and Empress have good credit enough. They use 
 it little and have been ever punctual. This country cannot 
 borrow at all there; for, though they always pay their in- 
 terest within the year, yet it is often some months behind. 
 
 70
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 It is difficult to assign to our credit its exact station in this 
 scale. They consider us as the most certain nation on earth 
 for the principal, but they see that we borrow of them- 
 selves to pay the interest, so that this is only a conversion 
 of their interest into principal. Our paper, for this reason, 
 sells for from four to eight per cent, below par, on the ex- 
 change, and our loans are negotiated with the Patriots only. 
 But the whole body of money-dealers, Patriot and Stadt- 
 holderian, look forward to our new government with a great 
 degree of partiality and interest. They are disposed to have 
 much confidence in it, and it was the prospect of its estab- 
 lishment, which enabled us to set the loan of last year into 
 motion again. They will attend steadfastly to its first 
 money operations. If these are injudiciously begun, cor- 
 rection, whenever they shall be corrected, will come too late. 
 Our borrowings will always be difficult and disadvantageous. 
 If they begin well, our credit will immediately take the first 
 station. Equal provision for the interest, adding to it a cer- 
 tain prospect for the principal, will give us a preference to 
 all nations, the English not excepted. The first act of the 
 new government should be some operation, whereby they 
 may assume to themselves this station. Their European 
 debts form a proper subject for this. Digest the whole, 
 public and private, Dutch, French, and Spanish, into a table, 
 showing the sum of interest due every year, and the portions 
 of principal payable the same year. Take the most certain 
 branch of revenue, and one which shall suffice to pay the in- 
 terest, and leave such a surplus as may accomplish all the 
 payments of the capital, at terms somewhat short of those 
 at which they will become due. Let the surpluses of those 
 years, in which no reimbursement of principal falls, be ap- 
 plied to buy up our paper on the exchange of Amsterdam, 
 and thus anticipate the demands of principal. In this way, 
 our paper will be kept up at par ; and this alone will enable 
 
 71
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 us to command in four and twenty hours, at any time, on 
 the exchange of Amsterdam, as many millions as that capi- 
 tal can produce. The same act which makes this provision 
 for the existing debts, should go on to open a loan to their 
 whole amount; the produce of that loan to be applied, as 
 fast as received, to the payment of such parts of the exist- 
 ing debts as admit of payment. The rate of interest to be 
 as the government should privately instruct their agent, be- 
 cause it must depend on the effect these measures would 
 have on the exchange. Probably it could be lowered from 
 time to time. Honest and annual publications of the pay- 
 ments made will inspire confidence, while silence would con- 
 ceal nothing from those interested to know. 
 
 Navigation of the Mississippi 
 
 To John Brown 
 
 PARIS, May 26, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir: The navigation of the Mississippi was, per- 
 haps, the strongest trial to which the justice of the federal 
 government could be put. If ever they thought wrong 
 about it, I trust they have got to rights. I should think it 
 proper for the western country to defer pushing their right 
 to that navigation to extremity, as long as they can do with- 
 out it tolerably; but that the moment it becomes absolutely 
 necessary for them, it will become the duty of the maritime 
 States to push it to every extremity, to which they would 
 their own right of navigating the Chesapeake, the Delaware, 
 the Hudson, or any other water. A time of peace will not 
 be the surest for obtaining this object. Those, therefore, 
 who have influence in the new country, would act wisely to 
 
 72
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 endeavor to keep things quiet till the western parts of Eu- 
 rope shall be engaged in war. 
 
 On Foreign Affairs Commerce 
 
 To General Washington 
 
 PARIS, December 4, 1788. 
 
 Sir: I have seen, with infinite pleasure, our new Consti- 
 tution accepted by eleven States, not rejected by the 
 twelfth, and that the thirteenth happens to be a State of 
 the least importance. It is true, that the minorities in most 
 of the accepting States have been very respectable ; so much 
 so as to render it prudent, were it not otherwise reasonable, 
 to make some sacrifice to them. I am in hopes, that the an- 
 nexation of a bill of rights to the Constitution will alone 
 draw over so great a proportion of the minorities as to leave 
 little danger in the opposition of the residue; and that this 
 annexation may be made by Congress and the Assemblies, 
 without calling a convention, which might endanger the 
 most valuable parts of the system. Calculation has con- 
 vinced me that circumstances may arise, and probably will 
 arise, wherein all the resources of taxation will be necessary 
 for the safety of the State. For though I am decidedly of 
 opinion we should take no part in European quarrels, but 
 cultivate peace and commerce with all, yet who can avoid 
 seeing the source of war, in the tyranny of those nations, 
 who deprive us of the natural right of trading with our 
 neighbors? The produce of the United States will soon 
 exceed the European demand; what is to be done with the 
 surplus, when there shall be one? It will be employed, 
 without question, to open, by force, a market for itself, 
 with those placed on the same continent with us, and who 
 
 73
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 wish nothing better. Other causes, too, are obvious, which 
 may involve us in war, and war requires every resource of 
 taxation and credit. The power of making war often pre- 
 vents it, and in our case would give efficacy to our desire of 
 peace. If the new government wears the front which I 
 hope it will, I see no impossibility in the availing ourselves 
 of the wars of others, to open the other parts of America to 
 our commerce, as the price of our neutrality. . . . 
 
 In every event, I think the present disquiet will end 
 well. The nation [France] has been awaked by our 
 Revolution, they feel their strength, they are enlight- 
 ened, their lights are spreading, and they will not retro- 
 grade. The first States-General may establish three im- 
 portant points, without opposition from the court: 1. Their 
 own periodical convocation. 2. Their exclusive right of 
 taxation (which has been confessed by the king). 3. The 
 right of registering laws, and of previously proposing 
 amendments to them, as the parliaments have, by usurpation, 
 been in the habit of doing. The court will consent to this, 
 from its hatred to the parliaments, and from the desire of 
 having to do with one, rather than many legislatures. If the 
 States are prudent, they will not aim at more than this at 
 first, lest they should shock the dispositions of the court, and 
 even alarm the public mind, which must be left to open itself 
 by degrees to successive improvements. These will follow, 
 from the nature of things ; how far they can proceed, in the 
 end, toward a thorough reformation of abuse, cannot be 
 foreseen. In my opinion, a kind of influence which none of 
 their plans of reform take into account, will elude them all ; 
 I mean the influence of women, in the Government. The 
 manners of the nation allow them to visit, alone, all persons 
 in office, to solicit the affairs of the husband, family, or 
 friends, and their solicitations bid defiance to laws and reg- 
 ulations. This obstacle may seem less to those who, like 
 
 74
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 our countrymen, are in the precious habit of considering 
 right, as a barrier against all solicitation. Nor can such an 
 one, without the evidence of his own eyes, believe in the des- 
 perate state to which things are reduced in this country from 
 the omnipotence of an influence which, fortunately for the 
 happiness of the sex itself, does not endeavor to extend it- 
 self in our country beyond the domestic line. . . . 
 
 I have laid my shoulder to the opening of the markets of 
 this country to our produce, and rendering its transporta- 
 tion a nursery for our seamen. A maritime force is the 
 only one, by which we can act on Europe. Our navigation 
 law (if it be wise to have any) should be the reverse of that 
 of England. Instead of confining importations to home- 
 bottoms, or those of the producing nation, I think we should 
 confine exportations to home-bottoms, or to those of nations 
 having treaties with us. Our exportations are heavy, and 
 would nourish a great force of our own, or be a tempting 
 price to the nation to whom we should offer a participation 
 of it, in exchange for free access to all their possessions. 
 This is an object to which our Government alone is ade- 
 quate, in the gross; but I have ventured to pursue it here, 
 so far as the consumption of our productions by this coun- 
 try extends. Thus, in our arrangements relative to tobacco, 
 none can be received here, but in French or American bot- 
 toms. This is employment for near two thousand sea- 
 men, and puts nearly that number of British out of employ. 
 By the Arret of December, 1787, it was provided, that our 
 whale oils should not be received here, but in French or 
 American bottoms; and by later regulations, all oils, but 
 those of France and America, are excluded. This will put 
 one hundred English whale vessels immediately out of em- 
 ploy, and one hundred and fifty erelong, and call so many 
 of French and American into service. We have had six 
 thousand seamen formerly in this business, the whole of 
 
 75
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 whom we have been likely to lose. The consumption of rice 
 is growing fast in this country, and that of Carolina gain- 
 ing ground on every other kind. I am of opinion, the whole 
 of the Carolina rice can be consumed here. Its transporta- 
 tion employs two thousand five hundred sailors, almost all of 
 them English at present, the rice being deposited at Cowes, 
 and brought from thence here. It would be dangerous to 
 confine this transportation to French and American bottoms, 
 the ensuing year, because they will be much engrossed by 
 the transportation of wheat and flour hither, and the crop 
 of rice might lie on hand for want of vessels; but I see no 
 objections to the extensions of our principle to this article 
 also, beginning with the year 1790. 
 
 American Influence on the French Revolution 
 
 To Dr. Price 
 
 PARIS, January 8, 1789- 
 
 You say you are not sufficiently informed about the nature 
 and circumstances of the present struggle here. Having 
 been on the spot from its first origin, and watched its move- 
 ments as an uninterested spectator, with no other bias than 
 a love of mankind, I will give you my ideas of it. Though 
 celebrated writers of this and other countries had already 
 sketched good principles on the subject of government, yet 
 the American war seems first to have awakened the think- 
 ing part of this nation in general from the sleep of despot- 
 ism in which they were sunk. The officers, too, who had 
 been to America, were mostly young men, less shackled by 
 habit and prejudice, and more ready to assent to the dictates 
 of common sense and common right. They came back im- 
 pressed with these. The press, notwithstanding its shack- 
 
 76
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 les, began to disseminate them; conversation, too, assumed 
 new freedom; politics became the theme of all societies, 
 male and female, and a very extensive and zealous party 
 was formed, which may be called the Patriotic party, who, 
 sensible of the abusive government under which they lived, 
 longed for occasions of reforming it. This party compre- 
 hended all the honesty of the kingdom, sufficiently at its 
 leisure to think; the men of letters, the easy bourgeois, the 
 young nobility, partly from reflection, partly from mode; 
 for those sentiments became a matter of mode, and as such 
 united most of the young women to the party. 
 
 On Party 
 
 To Francis Hopkinson 
 
 PARIS, March 13, 1789. 
 
 I am not a federalist, because I never submitted the 
 whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of 
 men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in 
 anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. 
 Such an addiction, is the last degradation of a free and 
 moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, 
 I would not go there at all. Therefore, I am not of the 
 party of federalists. But I am much farther from that 
 of the antifederalists. ... I am neither federalist nor 
 antif ederalist ; I am of neither party, nor yet a trimmer 
 between parties. ... I never had an opinion in politics 
 or religion, which I was afraid to own. A costive reserve 
 on these subjects might have procured me more esteem from 
 some people, but less from myself. My great wish is, to go 
 on in a strict but silent performance of my duty; to avoid 
 attracting notice, and to keep my name out of newspapers, 
 
 77
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 because I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is 
 unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise. 
 
 On the Character of Washington 
 
 To Francis Hopkinson 
 
 PARIS, March 13, 1789. 
 
 I would wish it [the Constitution] not to be altered dur- 
 ing the life of our great leader, whose executive talents are 
 superior to those, I believe, of any man in the world, and 
 who, alone, by the authority of his name and the confidence 
 reposed in his perfect integrity, is fully qualified to put the 
 new government so under way, as to secure it against the 
 efforts of opposition. But, having derived from our error 
 all the good there was in it, I hope we shall correct it, the 
 moment we can no longer have the same name at the helm. 
 
 On Canals 
 
 To General Washington 
 
 PARIS, May 10, 1789. 
 
 Sir: The details you are so good as to give me on the 
 subject of the navigation of the waters of the Potomac and 
 Ohio, are very pleasing to me, as I consider the union of 
 these two rivers, as among the strongest links of connection 
 between the eastern and western sides of our confederacy. 
 It will, moreover, add to the commerce of Virginia, in par- 
 ticular, all the upper parts of the Ohio and its waters. An- 
 other vast object, and of much less difficulty, is to add, also, 
 all the country on the lakes and their waters. This would 
 
 78
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 enlarge our field immensely, and would certainly be effected 
 by a union of the upper waters of the Ohio and Lake Erie. 
 The Big Beaver and Cuyahoga offer the most direct line, 
 and according to information I received from General 
 Hand, and which I had the honor of writing you in the year 
 1783, the streams in that neighborhod head in lagoons, and 
 the country is flat. With respect to the doubts which you 
 say are entertained by some, whether the upper waters of 
 Potomac can be rendered capable of navigation on account 
 of the falls and rugged banks, they are answered, by ob- 
 serving, that it is reduced to a maxim, that whenever there is 
 water enough to float a bateau there may be navigation for 
 a bateau. Canals and locks may be necessary, and they are 
 expensive, but I hardly know what expense would be too 
 great, for the object in question. Probably, negotiations 
 with the Indians, perhaps even settlement, must precede 
 the execution of the Cuyahoga Canal. The States of Mary- 
 land and Virginia should make a common object of it. The 
 navigation, again, between Elizabeth River and the Sound, 
 is of vast importance, and in my opinion, it is much better 
 that these should be done at public than private expense. 
 
 On Political Consistency 
 
 To General Washington 
 
 PARIS, May 10, 1789. 
 
 I am in great pain for the Marquis de La Fayette. His 
 principles, you know, are clearly with the people; but 
 having been elected for the Noblesse of Auvergne, they 
 have laid him under express instructions, to vote for the de- 
 cision by orders and not persons. This would ruin him with 
 the Tiers Etat, and it is not possible he could continue long 
 
 79
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 to give satisfaction to the Noblesse. I have not hesitated to 
 press on him to burn his instructions, and follow his con- 
 science as the only sure clew, which will eternally guide a 
 man clear of all doubts and inconsistencies. If he cannot 
 effect a conciliatory plan, he will surely take his stand man- 
 fully, at once with the Tiers Etat. He will in that case be 
 what he pleases with them, and I am in hopes that base is 
 now too solid to render it dangerous to be mounted on it. 
 
 On his Appointment as Secretary of State 
 
 To the President 
 
 CHESTERFIELD, December 15, 178Q. 
 
 Sir: I have received at this place the honor of your let- 
 ters of October the 13th and November the 30th, and am 
 truly flattered by your nomination of me to the very digni- 
 fied office of Secretary of State; for which, permit me here 
 to return you my humble thanks. Could any circumstance 
 seduce me to overlook the disproportion between its duties 
 and my talents, it would be the encouragement of your 
 choice. But when I contemplate the extent of that office, 
 embracing as it does the principal mass of domestic admin- 
 istration, together with the foreign, I cannot be insensible 
 of my inequality to it; and I should enter on it with gloomy 
 forebodings from the criticisms and censures of a public, 
 just indeed in their intentions, but sometimes misinformed 
 and misled, and always too respectable to be neglected. I 
 cannot but foresee the possibility that this may end disa- 
 greeably for me, who, having no motive to public service but 
 the public satisfaction, would certainly retire the moment 
 that satisfaction should appear to languish. On the other 
 hand, I feel a degree of familiarity with the duties of my 
 
 80
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 present office, as far at least as I am capable of understand- 
 ing its duties. The ground I have already passed over, en- 
 ables me to see my way into that which is before me. The 
 change of government, too, taking place in a country where 
 it is exercised, seems to open a possibility of procuring 
 from the new rulers, some new advantages in commerce 
 which may be agreeable to our countrymen. So that as far 
 as my fears, my hopes, or my inclinations might enter into 
 this question, I confess they would not lead me to prefer a 
 change. 
 
 But it is not for an individual to choose his post. You 
 are to marshal us as may best be for the public good; and 
 it is only in the case of its being indifferent to you that I 
 would avail myself of the option you have so kindly offered 
 in your letter. If you think it better to transfer me to an- 
 other post, my inclination must be no obstacle; nor shall it 
 be, if there is any desire to suppress the office I now hold, 
 or to reduce its grade. In either of these cases, be so good 
 only as to signify to me by another line your ultimate wish, 
 and I shall conform to it cordially. If it should be to re- 
 main at New York, my chief comfort will be to work under 
 your eye, my only shelter the authority of your name, and 
 the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and implicitly 
 executed by me. Whatever you may be pleased to decide, I 
 do not see that the matters which have called me hither, will 
 permit me to shorten the stay I originally asked; that is to 
 say, to set out on my journey northward till the month of 
 March. As early as possible in that month, I shall have the 
 honor of paying my respects to you in New York. In the 
 meantime, I have that of tendering you the homage of 
 those sentiments of respectful attachment with which I am, 
 Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 On Hamilton s Finance Post-roads 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 MONTICELLO, March 6, 1790. 
 
 Dear Sir: I do not at all wonder at the condition in 
 which the finances of the United States are found. Hamil- 
 ton's object from the beginning, was to throw them into 
 forms which should be utterly undecipherable. I ever said 
 he did not understand their condition himself, nor was 
 able to give a clear view of the excess of our debts beyond 
 our credits, nor whether we were diminishing or increasing 
 the debt. My own opinion was, that from the commence- 
 ment of this Government to the time I ceased to attend to 
 the subject, we had been increasing our debt about a million 
 of dollars annually. If Mr. Gallatin would undertake to 
 reduce this chaos to order, present us with a clear view of 
 our finances, and put them into a form as simple as they 
 will admit, he will merit immortal honor. The accounts of 
 the United States ought to be, and may be made as simple 
 as those of a common farmer, and capable of being under- 
 stood by common farmers. . . . 
 
 P. S. Have you considered all the consequences of your 
 proposition respecting post-roads? I view it as a source 
 of boundless patronage to the Executive, jobbing to mem- 
 bers of Congress and their friends, and a bottomless abyss 
 of public money. You will begin by only appropriating 
 the surplus of the post-office revenues; but the other reve- 
 nues will soon be called into their aid, and it will be a source 
 of eternal scramble among the members, who can get the 
 most money wasted in their State; and they will always get 
 most who are meanest. We have thought, hitherto, that the 
 roads of a State could not be so well administered even by 
 
 82
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the State legislature as by the magistracy of the county, on 
 the spot. How will they be when a member of New Hamp- 
 shire is to mark out a road for Georgia? Does the power 
 to establish post-roads, given you by the Constitution, mean 
 that you shall make the roads, or only select from those al- 
 ready made, those on which there shall be a post? If the 
 term be equivocal (and I really do not think it so), which 
 is the safest construction? That which permits a majority 
 of Congress to go to cutting down mountains and bridging 
 of rivers, or the other, which, if too restricted, may be re- 
 ferred to the States for amendment, securing still due meas- 
 ures and proportion among us, and providing some means 
 of information to the members of Congress tantamount to 
 that ocular inspection, which, even in our county determina- 
 tions, the magistrate finds cannot be supplied by any other 
 evidence? The fortification of harbors was liable to great 
 objection. But national circumstances furnished some 
 color. In this case there is none. The roads of America 
 are the best in the world except those of France and Eng- 
 land. But does the state of our population, the extent of 
 our internal commerce, the want of sea and river navigation, 
 call for such expense on roads here, or are our means ade- 
 quate to it? Think of all this, and a great deal more which 
 your good judgment will suggest, and pardon my freedom. 
 
 On the Control of the Mississippi 
 
 To William Carmichael 
 
 NEW YORK, August 2, 1790. 
 
 The unsettled state of our dispute with Spain, may give a 
 turn to it very different from what we would wish. As it is 
 important that you should be fully apprised of our way of 
 
 83
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 thinking on this subject, I have sketched, in the enclosed 
 paper, general heads of consideration arising from present 
 circumstances. These will be readily developed by your 
 own reflections, and in conversations with Colonel Hum- 
 phreys, who, possessing the sentiments of the executive on 
 this subject, being well acquainted with the circumstances 
 of the Western country in particular, and of the state of 
 our affairs in general, comes to Madrid expressly for the 
 purpose of giving you a thorough communication of them. 
 He will, therefore, remain there as many days or weeks as 
 may be necessary for this purpose. With this information, 
 written and oral, you will be enabled to meet the minister 
 in conversations on the subject of the navigation of the Mis- 
 sissippi, to which we wish you to lead his attention imme- 
 diately. Impress him thoroughly with the necessity of an 
 early, and even an immediate settlement of this matter, and 
 of a return to the field of negotiation for this purpose; and 
 though it must be done delicately, yet he must be made to 
 understand unequivocally that a resumption of the negotia- 
 tion is not desired on our part, unless he can determine, in 
 the first opening of it, to yield the immediate and full en- 
 joyment of that navigation. (I say nothing of the claims 
 of Spain to our territory north of the thirty-first degree, and 
 east of the Mississippi. They never merited the respect of 
 an answer; and you know it has been admitted at Madrid, 
 that they were not to be maintained.) It may be asked, 
 What need of negotiation, if the navigation is to be ceded at 
 all events? You know that the navigation cannot be prac- 
 tised without a port, where the sea and river vessels may 
 meet and exchange loads, and where those employed about 
 them may be safe and unmolested. The right to use a thing, 
 comprehends a right to the means necessary to its use, and 
 without which it would be useless. The fixing on a proper 
 port, and the degree of freedom it is to enjoy in its opera- 
 
 84
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 tions, will require negotiation, and be governed by events. 
 There is danger, indeed, that even the unavoidable delay of 
 sending a negotiator here, may render the mission too late 
 for the preservation of peace. It is impossible to answer 
 for the forbearance of our Western citizens. We endeavor 
 to quiet them with the expectation of an attainment of their 
 rights by peaceable means. But should they, in a moment 
 of impatience, hazard others, there is no saying how far we 
 may be led ; for neither themselves nor their rights will ever 
 be abandoned by us. 
 
 You will be pleased to observe; that we press these mat- 
 ters warmly and firmly, under this idea, that the war between 
 Spain and Great Britain will be begun before you receive 
 this; and such a moment must not be lost. But should an 
 accommodation take place, we retain, indeed, the same ob- 
 ject and the same resolutions unalterably; but your discre- 
 tion will suggest, that in that event, they must be pressed 
 more softly, and that patience and persuasion must temper 
 your conferences, till either these may prevail, or some other 
 circumstance turn up, which may enable us to use other 
 means for the attainment of an object which we are deter- 
 mined, in the end, to obtain at every risk. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear sir, your 
 most obedient and most humble servant. 
 
 On the Constitutionality of a National Bank 
 
 FEBRUARY 15, 1791. 
 
 The bill for establishing a National Bank undertakes 
 among other things: 
 
 1. To form the subscribers into a corporation. 
 
 2. To enable them in their corporate capacities to receive 
 grants of land ; and so far is against the laws of Mortmain. 
 
 85
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 3. To make alien subscribers capable of holding lands; 
 and so far is against the laws of alienage. 
 
 4. To transmit these lands, on the death of a proprietor, 
 to a certain line of successors ; and so far changes the course 
 of Descents. 
 
 5. To put the lands out of the reach of forfeiture or es- 
 cheat; and so far is against the laws of Forfeiture and Es- 
 cheat. 
 
 6. To transmit personal chattels to successors in a certain 
 line; and so far is against the laws of Distribution. 
 
 7. To give them the sole and exclusive right of banking 
 under the national authority; and so far is against the laws 
 of Monopoly. 
 
 8. To communicate to them a power to make laws para- 
 mount to the laws of the States; for so they must be con- 
 strued, to protect the institution from the control of the 
 State legislatures; and so, probably, they will be construed. 
 
 I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on 
 this ground: That " all powers not delegated to the United 
 States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
 are reserved to the States or to the people." (Xllth 
 amendment.) To take a single step beyond the boundaries 
 thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to 
 take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer 
 susceptible of any definition. 
 
 The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by 
 this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the 
 United States, by the Constitution. 
 
 I. They are not among the powers specially enumerated : 
 for these are: 1st. A power to lay taxes for the purpose 
 of paying the debts of the United States; but no debt is 
 paid by this bill, nor any tax laid. . . . 
 
 2d. " To borrow money." But this bill neither borrows 
 money nor insures the borrowing it. ... 
 
 86
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 3d. To " regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
 among the States, and with the Indian tribes." To erect 
 a bank and to regulate commerce, are very different acts. 
 . . . Still less are these powers covered by any other of 
 the special enumerations. 
 
 II. Nor are they within either of the general phrases, 
 whioh are the two following: 
 
 1. To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the 
 United States, that is to say, " to lay taxes for the purpose 
 of providing for the general welfare." For the laying of 
 taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for 
 which the power is to be exercised. They are not to lay 
 taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to 
 pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. In 
 like manner, they are not to do anything they please to pro- 
 vide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that 
 purpose. To consider the latter phrase, not as describing 
 the purpose of the first, but as giving a distinct and inde- 
 pendent power to do any act they please, which might be 
 for the good of the Union, would render all the preceding 
 and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. 
 
 It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, 
 that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever 
 would be for the good of the United States; and, as they 
 would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would 'be 
 also a power to do whatever evil they please. 
 
 It is an established rule of construction where a phrase 
 will bear either of two meanings, to give it that which will 
 allow some meaning to the other parts of the instrument, 
 and not that which would render all the others useless. 
 Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given 
 them. It was intended to lace them up straitly within the 
 enumerated powers, and those without which, as means, 
 these powers could not be carried into effect. It is known 
 
 87
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 that the very power now proposed as a means was rejected 
 as an end by the Convention which formed the Constitution. 
 A proposition was made to them to authorize Congress to 
 open canals, and an amendatory one to empower them to 
 incorporate. But the whole was rejected, and one of the 
 reasons for rejection urged in debate was, that then they 
 would have a power to erect a bank, which would render the 
 great cities, where there were prejudices and jealousies on 
 the subject, adverse to the reception of the Constitution. 
 
 2. The second general phrase is, " to make all laws neces- 
 sary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated 
 powers." But they can all be carried into execution without 
 a bank. A bank therefore is not necessary, and consequent- 
 ly not authorized by this phrase. 
 
 It has been urged that a bank will give great facility or 
 convenience in the collection of taxes. Suppose this were 
 true: yet the Constitution allows only the means which are 
 " necessary," not those which are merely " convenient " for 
 effecting the enumerated powers. If such a latitude of con- 
 struction be allowed to this phrase as to give any non-enu- 
 merated power, it will go to every one, for there is not one 
 which ingenuity may not torture into a convenience in some 
 instance or other, to some one of so long a list of enumer- 
 ated powers. It would swallow up all the delegated powers, 
 and reduce the whole to one power, as before observed. 
 Therefore it was that the Constitution restrained them to 
 the necessary means, that is to say, to those means without 
 which the grant of power would be nugatory. . . . 
 
 Can it be thought that the Constitution intended that for 
 a shade or two of convenience, more or less, Congress should 
 be authorized to break down the most ancient and funda- 
 mental laws of the several States; such as those against 
 Mortmain, the laws of Alienage, the rules of descent, the 
 acts of distribution, the laws of escheat and forfeiture, the 
 
 88
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 laws of monopoly? Nothing but a necessity invincible by 
 any other means, can justify such a prostitution of laws, 
 which constitute the pillars of our whole system of juris- 
 prudence. Will Congress be too straitlaced to carry the 
 Constitution into honest effect, unless they may pass over 
 the foundation-laws of the State government for the slight- 
 est convenience of theirs? 
 
 The negative of the President is the shield provided by 
 the Constitution to protect against the invasions of the leg- 
 islature: 1. The right of the Executive. 2. Of the Ju- 
 diciary. 3. Of the States and State legislatures. The 
 present is the case of a right remaining exclusively with the 
 States, and consequently one of those intended by the Con- 
 stitution to be placed under its protection. 
 
 It must be added, however, that unless the President's 
 mind on a view of everything which is urged for and 
 against this bill, is tolerably clear that it is unauthorized 
 by the Constitution ; if the pro and the con hang so even as 
 to balance his judgment, a just respect for the wisdom of 
 the legislature would naturally decide the balance in favor 
 of their opinion. It is chiefly for cases where they are 
 clearly misled by error, ambition, or interest, that the Con- 
 stitution has placed a check in the negative of the President. 
 
 On Frankliniana 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, February 19, 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir: I feel both the wish and the duty to commu- 
 nicate, in compliance with your request, whatever, within 
 my knowledge, might render justice to the memory of our 
 great countryman, Dr. Franklin, in which Philosophy has 
 
 89
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 to deplore one of its principal luminaries extinguished. But 
 my opportunities of knowing the interesting facts of his 
 life, have not been equal to my desire of making them 
 known. I could, indeed, relate a number of those bon- 
 mots, with which he used to charm every society, having 
 heard many of them. But these are not your object. Par- 
 ticulars of greater dignity happened not to occur during his 
 stay of nine months, after my arrival in France. 
 
 A little before that, Argand had invented his celebrated 
 lamp, in which the flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, 
 and thus brought into contact with the air within as well as 
 without. Dr. Franklin had been on the point of the 
 same discovery. The idea had occurred to him; but he had 
 tried a bulrush as a wick, which did not succeed. His oc- 
 cupations did not permit him to repeat and extend his trials 
 to the introduction of a larger column of air than could pass 
 through the stem of a bulrush. 
 
 The animal magnetism, too, of the maniac Mesmer, had 
 just received its death wound from his hand in conjunction 
 with his brethren of the learned committee appointed to un- 
 veil that compound of fraud and folly. But after this, 
 nothing very interesting was before the public, either in 
 philosophy or politics, during his stay; and he was prin- 
 cipally occupied in winding up his affairs there. 
 
 I can only therefore testify in general, that there ap- 
 peared to me more respect and veneration attached to the 
 character of Dr. Franklin in France, than to that of any 
 other person in the same country, foreign or native. I had 
 opportunities of knowing particularly how far these senti- 
 ments were felt by the foreign ambassadors and ministers 
 at the court of Versailles. The fable of his capture by the 
 Algerines, propagated by the English newspapers, excited 
 no uneasiness, as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up 
 to the palate of their readers. But nothing could exceed 
 
 90
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren, on a subsequent re- 
 port of his death, which, though premature, bore some 
 marks of authenticity. 
 
 I found the ministers of France equally impressed with 
 the talents and integrity of Dr. Franklin. The Count de 
 Vergennes particularly gave me repeated and unequivocal 
 demonstrations of his entire confidence in him. 
 
 When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost 
 its patriarch. On taking leave of the court, which he did by 
 letter, the King ordered him to be handsomely compli- 
 mented, and furnished him with a litter and mules of his 
 own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his health 
 could bear. 
 
 No greater proof of his estimation in France can be 
 given than the late letters of condolence on his death, from 
 the National Assembly of that country, and the community 
 of Paris, to the President of the United States and to Con- 
 gress, and their public mourning on that event. It is, I be- 
 lieve, the first instance of that homage having been paid 
 by a public body of one nation to a private citizen of 
 another. 
 
 His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at 
 some time or other. We have reason to be thankful he was 
 so long spared ; that the most useful life should be the long- 
 est also; that it was protracted so far beyond the ordinary 
 span allotted to man, as to avail us of his wisdom in the 
 establishment of our own freedom, and to bless him with a 
 view of its dawn in the east, where they seemed, till now, 
 to have learned everything, but how to be free. 
 
 The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the Court of France, 
 was an excellent school of humility. On being presented to 
 any one as the minister of America, the commonplace ques- 
 tion used in such cases was, " c'est vous, Monsieur, qui rem- 
 place le Docteur Franklin? " " it is you, sir, who replace 
 
 91
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Dr. Franklin?" I generally answered, "no one can re- 
 place him, Sir; I am only his successor." 
 
 These small offerings to the memory of our great and 
 dear friend, whom time will be making greater while it is 
 sponging us from its records, must be accepted by you, Sir, 
 in that spirit of love and veneration for him, in which they 
 are made; and not according to their insignificance in the 
 eyes of a world, who did not want this mite to fill up the 
 measure of his worth. 
 
 I pray you to accept, in addition, assurances of the sin- 
 cere esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, 
 sir, most obedient, and most humble servant. 
 
 On the Control of the Mississippi 
 
 To William Carmichael 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, March 12, 179*. 
 
 We cannot omit this occasion of urging on the court of 
 Madrid, the necessity of hastening a final acknowledgment 
 of our right to navigate the Mississippi; a right which has 
 been long suspended in exercise, with extreme inconvenience 
 on our part, merely with a desire of reconciling Spain to 
 what it is impossible for us to relinquish. An accident at 
 this day, like that now complained of, would put further 
 parley beyond our power; yet to such accidents we are 
 every day exposed by the irregularities of their officers, and 
 the impatience of our citizens. Should any spark kindle 
 these dispositions of our borderers into a flame, we are in- 
 volved beyond recall by the eternal principles of justice to 
 our citizens, which we will never abandon. In such an 
 event, Spain cannot possibly gain, and what may she not 
 lose ? 
 
 92
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 A Letter of Explanation 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 17, 1791- 
 
 Dear Sir: I have a dozen times taken up my pen to write 
 to you, and as often laid it down again, suspended between 
 opposing considerations. I determined, however, to write 
 from a conviction that truth, between candid rninds, can 
 never do harm. The first of Paine's pamphlets on the 
 rights of man, which came to hand here, belonged to Mr. 
 Beckley. He lent it to Mr. Madison, who lent it to me; 
 and while I was reading it, Mr. Beckley called on me for it, 
 and, as I had not finished it, he desired me, as soon as I 
 should have done so, to send it to Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, 
 whose brother meant to reprint it. I finished reading it, 
 and, as I had no acquaintance with Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, 
 propriety required that I should explain to him why I, a 
 stranger to him, sent him the pamphlet. I accordingly 
 wrote a note of compliment, informing him that I did it at 
 the desire of Mr. Beckley, and, to take off a little of the 
 dryness of the note, I added that I was glad it was to be re- 
 printed here, and that something was to be publicly said 
 against the political heresies which had sprung up among 
 us, etc. I thought so little of this note, that I did not even 
 keep a copy of it; nor ever heard a tittle more of it, till, the 
 week following, I was thunderstruck with seeing it come 
 out at the head of the pamphlet. I hoped, however, it would 
 not attract notice. But I found, on my return from a jour- 
 ney of a month, that a writer came forward, under the sig- 
 nature of Publicola, attacking not only the author and prin- 
 ciples of the pamphlet, but myself as its sponsor, by name. 
 Soon after came hosts of other writers, defending the pam- 
 
 93
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 phlet, and attacking you, by name, as the writer of Pub- 
 licola. Thus were our names thrown on the public stage as 
 public antagonists. That you and I differ in our ideas of 
 the best form of government, is well known to us both; but 
 we have differed as friends should do, respecting the purity 
 of each other's motives, and confining our difference of 
 opinion to private conversation. And I can declare with 
 truth, in the presence of the Almighty, that nothing was 
 further from my intention or expectation than to have 
 either my own or your name brought before the public on 
 this occasion. The friendship and confidence which have so 
 long existed between us, required this explanation from me, 
 and I know you too well to fear any misconstruction of the 
 motives of it. Some people here, who would wish me to be, 
 or to be thought, guilty of improprieties, have suggested 
 that I was Agricola, that I was Brutus, etc., etc. I never 
 did in my life, either by myself or by any other, have a 
 sentence of mine inserted in a newspaper without putting 
 my name to it; and I believe I never shall. 
 
 On a National Indian Policy 
 
 To General Knox 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, August 10, 
 Dear Sir: I have now the honor to return you the pe- 
 tition of Mr. Moultrie on behalf of the South Carolina 
 Yazoo Company. Without noticing that some of the high- 
 est functions of sovereignty are assumed in the very papers 
 which he annexes as his justification, I am of opinion that 
 Government should firmly maintain this ground; that the 
 Indians have a right to the occupation of their lands, inde- 
 pendent of the States within whose chartered lines they
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 happen to be; that until they cede them by treaty or other 
 transaction equivalent to a treaty, no act of a State 
 can give a right to such lands; that neither under the 
 present Constitution, nor the ancient confederation, had 
 any State or person a right to treat with the Indians, with- 
 out the consent of the General Government; that that con- 
 sent has never been given to any treaty for the cession of 
 the lands in question ; that the Government is determined to 
 exert all its energy for the patronage and protection of the 
 rights of the Indians, and the preservation of peace be- 
 tween the United States and them; and that if any settle- 
 ments are made on lands not ceded by them, without the pre- 
 vious consent of the United States, the Government will 
 think itself bound, not only to declare to the Indians that 
 such settlements are without the authority or protection of 
 the United States, but to remove them also by the public 
 force. 
 
 On Obligations and Discomforts of Public Office 
 
 To the President of the United States 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May 23, 1792. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have determined to make the subject of a 
 letter what for some time past has been a subject of in- 
 quietude to my mind, without having found a good occasion 
 of disbursing itself to you in conversation, during the 
 busy scenes which occupied you here. Perhaps, too, you 
 may be able in your present situation, or on the road, to 
 give it more time and reflection than you could do here at 
 any moment. 
 
 When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring 
 from the Government, though I felt all the magnitude of the 
 
 95
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 event, I was in a considerable degree silent. I knew that, to 
 such a mind as yours, persuasion was idle and impertinent; 
 that before forming your decision you had weighed all the 
 reasons for and against the measure, had made up your 
 mind on full view of them, and that there could be little 
 hope of changing the result. Pursuing my reflections, too, 
 I knew we were some day to try to walk alone, and if the 
 essay should be made while you should be alive and look- 
 ing on, we should derive confidence from that circum- 
 stance, and resource, if it failed. The public mind, too, was 
 calm and confident, and therefore in a favorable state for 
 making the experiment. Had no change of circumstances 
 intervened, I should not, with any hopes of success, have 
 now ventured to propose to you a change of purpose. But 
 the public mind is no longer confident and serene; and that 
 from causes in which you are no ways personally mixed. 
 Though these causes have been hackneyed in the public pa- 
 pers in detail, it may not be amiss, in order to calculate the 
 effect they are capable of producing, to take a view of them 
 in the mass, giving to each the form, real or imaginary, 
 under which they have been presented. 
 
 It has been urged, then, that a public debt, greater than 
 we can possibly pay, before other causes of adding new debt 
 to it will occur, has been artificially created by adding to- 
 gether the whole amount of the debtor and creditor sides of 
 accounts, instead of only taking their balances, which could 
 have been paid off in a short time ; that this accumulation of 
 debt has taken forever out of our power those easy sources 
 of revenue which, applied to the ordinary necessities and 
 exigencies of government, would have answered them ha- 
 bitually, and covered us from habitual murmurings against 
 taxes and tax-gatherers, reserving extraordinary calls for 
 those extraordinary occasions which would animate the 
 people to meet them; that though the calls for money have 
 
 96
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 been no greater than we must expect generally, for the 
 same or equivalent exigencies, yet we are already obliged 
 to strain the impost till it produces clamor, and will produce 
 evasion and war on our own citizens to collect it, and even 
 to resort to an excise law of odious character with the peo- 
 ple, partial in its operation, unproductive unless enforced 
 by arbitrary and vexatious means, and committing the au- 
 thority of the Government in parts where resistance is most 
 probable and coercion least practicable. They cite propo- 
 sitions in Congress, and suspect other projects on foot still 
 to increase the mass of debt. They say, that by borrowing 
 at two-thirds of the interest, we might have paid off the 
 principal in two-thirds of the time; but that from this we 
 are precluded by its being made irredeemable but in small 
 portions and long terms; that this irredeemable quality 
 was given it for the avowed purpose of inviting its trans- 
 fer to foreign countries. They predict that this transfer 
 of the principal, when completed, will occasion an exporta- 
 tion of three millions of dollars annually for the interest, 
 a drain of coin, of which, as there has been no examples, 
 no calculation can be made of its consequences : that the 
 banishment of our coin will be complicated by the creation 
 of ten millions of paper-money, in the form of bank-bills 
 now issuing into circulation. They think the ten or 
 twelve per cent, annual profit paid to the lenders of this 
 paper medium taken out of the pockets of the people, 
 who would have had without interest the coin it is ban- 
 ishing: that all the capital employed in paper speculation 
 is barren and useless, producing, like that on a gaming- 
 table, no accession to itself, and is withdrawn from com- 
 merce and agriculture, where it would have produced addi- 
 tion to the common mass: that it nourishes in our citizens 
 habits of vice and idleness, instead of industry and moral- 
 ity: that it has furnished effectual means of corrupting 
 
 97
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 such a portion of the legislature as turns the balance be- 
 tween the honest voters, whichever way it is directed: that 
 this corrupt squadron, deciding the voice of the legislature, 
 have manifested their dispositions to get rid of the limita- 
 tions imposed by the Constitution on the general legislature, 
 limitations, on the faith of which, the States acceded to 
 that instrument: that the ultimate object of all this is to 
 prepare the way for a change from the present republican 
 form of government to that of a monarchy, of which the 
 English Constitution is to be the model: that this was con- 
 templated by the convention is no secret, because its parti- 
 sans have made more of it. To effect it then was imprac- 
 ticable, but they are still eager after their object, and are 
 predisposing everything for its ultimate attainment. So 
 many of them have got into the Legislature, that, aided by 
 the corrupt squadron of paper dealers, who are at their de- 
 votion, they make a majority in both houses. The repub- 
 lican party, who wish to preserve the government in its 
 present form, are fewer in number; they are fewer even 
 when joined by the two, three, or half dozen antifederal- 
 ists, who, though they dare not avow it, are still opposed to 
 any General Government ; but, being less so to a republican 
 than a monarchical one, they naturally join those whom they 
 think pursuing the lesser evil. 
 
 Of all the mischiefs objected to the system of measures 
 .before mentioned, none is so afflicting and fatal to every 
 honest hope, as the corruption of the Legislature. As it 
 was the earliest of these measures, it became the instrument 
 for producing the risk, and will be the instrument for pro- 
 ducing in future a king, lords and commons, or whatever 
 else those who direct it may choose. Withdrawn such a dis- 
 tance from the eye of their constituents, and these so dis- 
 persed as to be inaccessible to public information, and par- 
 ticularly to that of the conduct of their own representatives, 
 
 98
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 they will form the most corrupt government on earth, if the 
 means of their corruption be not prevented. The only hope 
 of safety hangs now on the numerous representation which 
 is to come forward the ensuing year. Some of the new 
 members will be, probably, either in principle or interest, 
 with the present majority; but it is expected that the great 
 mass will form an accession to the republican party. They 
 will not be able to undo all which the two preceding Leg- 
 islatures, and especially the first, have done. Public faith 
 and right will oppose this. But some parts of the system 
 may be rightfully reformed, a liberation from the rest un- 
 remittingly pursued as fast as right will permit, and the 
 door shut in future against similar commitments of the na- 
 tion. Should the next Legislature take this course, it will 
 draw upon them the whole monarchical and paper interest; 
 but the latter, I think, will not go all lengths with the form- 
 er, because creditors will never, of their own accord, fly off 
 entirely from their debtors ; therefore, this is the alternative 
 least likely to produce convulsion. But should the majority 
 of the new members be still in the same principles with the 
 present, and show that we have nothing to expect but a con- 
 tinuance of the same practices, it is not easy to conjecture 
 what would be the result, nor what means would be resorted 
 to for correction of the evil. True wisdom would direct that 
 they should be temperate and peaceable ; but the division of 
 sentiment and interest happens unfortunately to be so geo- 
 graphical, that no mortal can say that what is most wise and 
 temperate would prevail against what is most easy and ob- 
 vious. I can scarcely contemplate a more incalculable evil 
 than the breaking of the Union into two or more parts. Yet 
 when we consider the mass which opposed the original 
 coalescence; when we consider that it lay chiefly in the 
 Southern quarter; that the Legislature have availed them- 
 selves of no occasion of allaying it, but on the contrary, 
 
 99
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 whenever Northern and Southern prejudices have come into 
 conflict, the latter have been sacrificed and the former 
 soothed; that the owners of the debt are in the Southern, 
 and the holders of it in the Northern division ; that the anti- 
 federal champions are now strengthened in argument by 
 the fulfilment of their predictions; that this has been 
 brought about by the monarchical federalists themselves, 
 who, having been for the new government merely as a 
 stepping-stone to monarchy, have themselves adopted the 
 very constructions of the Constitution, of which, when advo- 
 cating its acceptance before the tribunal of the people, they 
 declared it unsusceptible; that the republican federalists 
 who espoused the same government for its intrinsic merits, 
 are disarmed of their weapons; that which they denied as 
 prophecy, having now become true history, who can be sure 
 that these things may not prosel} r te the small number which 
 was wanting to place the maj ority on the other side ? And 
 this is the event at which I tremble, and to prevent which I 
 consider your continuing at the head of affairs as of the 
 last importance. The confidence of the whole Union is cen- 
 tred in you. Your being at the helm will be more than an 
 answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and 
 lead the people in any quarter, into violence and secession. 
 North and South will hang together if they have you to 
 hang on ; and if the first correction of a numerous represen- 
 tation should fail in its effect, your presence will give time 
 for trying others, not inconsistent with the union and peace 
 of the States. 
 
 I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which 
 your present office lays your mind, and of the ardor with 
 which you pant for domestic life. But there is sometimes 
 an eminence of character on which society have such pecul- 
 iar claims as to control the predilections of the individual 
 for a particular walk of happiness, and restrain him to that 
 
 100
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 alone arising from the present and future benedictions of 
 mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law im- 
 posed on you by Providence in forming your character, and 
 fashioning the events on which it was to operate; and it is 
 to motives like these, and not to personal anxieties of mine 
 or others who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, 
 that I appeal, and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of 
 change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority 
 result from the new and enlarged representation; should 
 those acquiesce whose principles or interest they may con- 
 trol, your wishes for retirement would be gratified with less 
 danger, as soon as that shall be manifest, without awaiting 
 the completion of the second period of four years. One or 
 two sessions will determine the crisis ; and I cannot but hope 
 that you can resolve to add more to the many years you 
 have already sacrificed to the good of mankind. 
 
 The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive of contin- 
 uance in office may enter into this solicitation on my part 
 obliges me to declare that no such motive exists. It is a 
 thing of mere indifference to the public whether I retain or 
 relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with the first pe- 
 riodical renovation of the Government. I know my own 
 measure too well to suppose that my services contribute any- 
 thing to the public confidence, or the public utility. Multi- 
 tudes can fill the office in which you have been pleased to 
 place me, as much to their advantage and satisfaction. I 
 have, therefore, no motive to consult but my own inclina- 
 tion, which is bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of 
 my family, my farm, and my books. I should repose among 
 them, it is true, in far greater security, if I were to know 
 that you remained at the watch ; and I hope it will be so. To 
 the inducements urged from a view of our domestic affairs, I 
 will add a bare mention, of what indeed need only to be 
 mentioned, that weighty motives for your continuance are to 
 
 101
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 be found in our foreign affairs. I think it probable that 
 both the Spanish and English negotiations, if not completed 
 before your purpose is known, will be suspended from the 
 moment it is known, and that the latter nation will then use 
 double diligence in fomenting the Indian War. 
 
 On the French Revolution 
 
 To William Short 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 1793. 
 
 The liberty of the whole earth was depending on the issue 
 of the contest [the French Revolution], and was ever such 
 a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own affec- 
 tions have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to 
 this cause, but rather than it should have failed I would 
 have seen half the earth desolated; were there but an Adam 
 and an Eve left in every country, and left free, it would be 
 better than as it now is. 
 
 On Obligations to Public Service and the Simple 
 
 Life 
 
 To Jamet Madison 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, June 9, 1793. 
 
 I acknowledge . . . that a tour of duty, in whatever 
 line he can be most useful to his country, is due from every 
 individual. It is not easy perhaps to say of what length 
 exactly this tour should be, but we may safely say of what 
 length it should not be. Not of our whole life, for instance, 
 for that would be to be born a slave not even of a very 
 
 102
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 large portion of it. I have now been in the public service 
 four and twenty years ; one-half of which has been spent in 
 total occupation with their affairs, and absence from my 
 own. I have served my tour then. No positive engage- 
 ment, by word or deed, binds me to their further service. 
 No commitment of their interests in any enterprise by me 
 requires that I should see them through it. I am pledged 
 by no act which gives any tribunal a call upon me be- 
 fore I withdraw. Even my enemies do not pretend this. 
 I stand clear then of public right on all points my 
 friends I have not committed. No circumstances have at- 
 tended my passage from office to office, which could lead 
 them, and others through them, into deception as to the 
 time I might remain, and particularly they and all 
 have known with what reluctance I engaged and have con- 
 tinued in the present one, and of my uniform determina- 
 tion to return from it at an early date. If the public 
 then has no claim on me, and my friends nothing to justify, 
 the decision will rest on my own feelings alone. There has 
 been a time when these were very different from what they 
 are now; when perhaps the esteem of the world was of 
 higher value in my eye than everything in it. But age, ex- 
 perience and reflection preserving to that only its due value, 
 have set a higher on tranquillity. The motion of my blood 
 no longer keeps time with the tumult of the world. It leads 
 me to seek for happiness in the lap and love of my family, 
 in the society of my neighbors and my books, in the whole- 
 some occupations of my farm and my affairs, in an interest 
 or affection in every bud that opens, in every breath that 
 blows around me, in an entire freedom of rest, of motion, 
 of thought, owing account to myself alone of my hours and 
 actions. What must be the principle of that calculation 
 which should balance against these the circumstances of my 
 present existence worn down with labors from morning to 
 
 103
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 night, and day to day; knowing them as fruitless to others 
 as they are vexatious to myself, committed singly in desper- 
 ate and eternal contest against a host who are systemati- 
 cally undermining the public liberty and prosperity, even 
 the rare hours of relaxation sacrificed to the society of per- 
 sons in the same intentions, of whose hatred I am conscious 
 even in those moments of conviviality when the heart 
 wishes most to open itself to the effusions of friendship 
 and confidence, cut off from my family and friends, my 
 affairs abandoned to chaos and derangement, in short, giv- 
 ing everything I love in exchange for everything I hate, 
 and all this without a single gratification in possession or 
 prospect, in present enjoyment or future wish. Indeed, my 
 dear friend, duty being out of the question, inclination cuts 
 off all argument, and so never let there be more between 
 you and me, on this subject. 
 
 From the Report of Secretary of State on Trade 
 and the Tariff 
 
 DECEMBER 16, 1793. 
 
 The following principles, being founded in reciprocity, 
 appear perfectly just, and to offer no cause of complaint 
 to any nation: 
 
 1. Where a nation imposes high duties on our produc- 
 tions, or prohibits them altogether, it may be proper for us 
 to do the same by theirs ; first burdening or excluding those 
 productions which they bring here, in competition with our 
 own of the same kind; selecting next, such manufactures as 
 we take from them in greatest quantity, and which, at the 
 same time, we could the soonest furnish to ourselves, or ob- 
 tain from other countries; imposing on them duties lighter 
 
 104-
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 at first, but heavier and heavier afterward as other channels 
 of supply open. Such duties having the effect of indirect 
 encouragement to domestic manufactures of the same kind, 
 may induce the manufacturer to come himself into these 
 States, where cheaper subsistence, equal laws, and a vent 
 of his wares, free of duty, may insure him the highest 
 profits from his skill and industry. And here, it would be 
 in the power of the State governments to cooperate essen- 
 tially, by opening the resources of encouragement which are 
 under their control, extending them liberally to artists in 
 those particular branches of manufacture for which their 
 soil, climate, population and other circumstances have ma- 
 tured them, and fostering the precious efforts and progress 
 of household manufacture, by some patronage suited to the 
 nature of its objects, guided by the local informations they 
 possess, and guarded against abuse by their presence and 
 attentions. The oppressions on our agriculture, in foreign 
 ports, would thus be made the occasion of relieving it from 
 a dependence on the councils and conduct of others, and of 
 promoting arts, manufactures, and population at home. 
 
 2. Where a nation refuses permission to our merchants 
 and factors to reside within certain parts of their dominions, 
 we may, if it should be thought expedient, refuse residence 
 to theirs in any and every part of ours, or modify their 
 transactions. 
 
 3. Where a nation refuses to receive in our vessels any 
 productions but our own, we may refuse to receive, in theirs, 
 any but their own productions. The first and second clauses 
 of the bill reported by the committee, are well formed to 
 effect this object. 
 
 4-. Where a nation refuses to consider any vessel as ours 
 which has not been built within our territories, we should 
 refuse to consider as theirs, any vessel not built within their 
 territories. 
 
 105
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 5. Where a nation refuses to our vessels the carriage 
 even of our own productions, to certain countries under 
 their domination, we might refuse to theirs of every descrip- 
 tion, the carriage of the same productions to the same coun- 
 tries. But as justice and good neighborhood would dictate 
 that those who have no part in imposing the restriction on 
 us, should not be the victims of measures adopted to defeat 
 its effect, it may be proper to confine the restrictions to ves- 
 sels owned or navigated by any subjects of the same domi- 
 nant power, other than the inhabitants of the country to 
 which the said productions are to be carried. And to pre- 
 vent all inconvenience to the said inhabitants, and to our 
 own, by too sudden a check on the means of transportation, 
 we may continue to admit the vessels marked for future ex- 
 clusion, on an advanced tonnage, and for such length of 
 time only, as may be supposed necessary to provide against 
 that inconvenience. 
 
 The establishment of some of these principles by Great 
 Britain alone, has alreadj^ lost us in our commerce with that 
 country and its possessions, between eight and nine hun- 
 dred vessels of near 40,000 tons burden, according to state- 
 ments from official materials, in which they have confidence. 
 This involves a proportional loss of seamen, shipwrights, 
 and ship-building, and is too serious a loss to admit forbear- 
 ance of some effectual remedy. 
 
 It is true we must expect some inconvenience in practice 
 from the establishment of discriminating duties. But in 
 this, as in so many other cases, we are left to choose be- 
 tween two evils. These inconveniences are nothing when 
 weighed against the loss of wealth and loss of force, which 
 will follow our perseverance in the plan of indiscrimination. 
 When once it shall be perceived that we are either in the 
 system or in the habit of giving equal advantages to those 
 who extinguish our commerce and navigation by duties and 
 
 106
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 prohibitions, as to those who treat both with liberality and 
 justice, liberality and justice will be converted by all into 
 duties and prohibitions. It is not to the moderation and jus- 
 tice of others we are to trust for fair and equal access to 
 market with our productions, or for our due share in the 
 transportation of them; but to our own means of indepen- 
 dence, and the firm will to use them. Nor do the inconven- 
 iences of discrimination merit consideration. Not one of 
 the nations before mentioned, perhaps not a commercial na- 
 tion on earth, is without them. In our case one distinction 
 alone will suffice: that is to say, between nations who favor 
 our productions and navigation, and those who do not favor 
 them. One set of moderate duties, say the present duties, 
 for the first, and a fixed advance on these as to some arti- 
 cles, and prohibitions as to others, for the last. 
 
 Still, it must be repeated that friendly arrangements are 
 preferable with all who will come into them; and that we 
 should carry into such arrangements all the liberality and 
 spirit of accommodation which the nature of the case will 
 admit. 
 
 On Rural Life 
 
 To George Washington 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 25, 1794. 
 
 Dear Sir: I am to thank you for the book you were so 
 good as to transmit me, as well as the letter covering it, 
 and your felicitations on my present quiet. The difference 
 of my present and past situation is such as to leave me 
 nothing to regret, but that my retirement has been post- 
 poned four years too long. The principles on which I cal- 
 culated the value of life, are entirely in favor of my present 
 
 107
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 course. I return to farming with an ardor which I scarcely 
 knew in my youth, and which has got the better entirely of 
 my love of study. Instead of writing ten or twelve letters 
 a day, which I have been in the habit of doing as a thing in 
 course, I put off answering my letters now, farmer-like, till 
 a rainy day, and then find them sometimes postponed by 
 other necessary occupations. 
 
 On Political Theory 
 
 To Monsieur D'lvernois 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 6, 1795. 
 
 I suspect that the doctrine, that small States alone are 
 fitted to be republics, will be exploded by experience, with 
 some other brilliant fallacies accredited by Montesquieu and 
 other political writers. Perhaps it will be found, that to 
 obtain a just republic (and it is to secure our just rights 
 that we resort to government at all) it must be so extensive 
 as that local egoisms may never reach its greater part; that 
 on every particular question, a majority may be found in its 
 councils free from particular interests, and giving, there- 
 fore, an uniform prevalence to the principles of justice. 
 The smaller the societies the more violent and more con- 
 vulsive their schisms. We have chanced to live in an age 
 which will probably be distinguished in history, for its ex- 
 periments in government on a larger scale than has yet 
 taken place. But we shall not live to see the result. The 
 grosser absurdities, such as hereditary magistracies, we 
 shall see exploded in our day, long experience having al- 
 ready pronounced condemnation against them. But what is 
 to be the substitute? This our children or grandchildren 
 will answer. We may be satisfied with the certain knowl- 
 
 108
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 edge that none can ever be tried, so stupid, so unrighteous, 
 so oppressive, so destructive of every end for which hon- 
 est men enter into government, as that which their fore- 
 fathers had established, and their fathers alone venture to 
 tumble headlong from the stations they have so long abused. 
 It is unfortunate, that the efforts of mankind to recover the 
 freedom of which they have been so long deprived, will 
 be accompanied with violence, with errors, and even with 
 crimes. But while we weep over the means, we must pray 
 for the end. 
 
 On Education, Rogues, and Honest Men 
 
 To Mann Page 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 30, 1795. 
 
 If anything could ever induce me to sleep another night 
 out of my own house, it would have been your friendly in- 
 vitation and my solicitude for the subject of it, the educa- 
 tion of our youth. I do most anxiously wish to see the 
 highest degrees of education given to the higher degrees 
 of genius, and to all degrees of it, so much as may enable 
 them to read and understand what is going on in the world, 
 and to keep their part of it going on right: for nothing 
 can keep it right but their own vigilant and distrustful 
 superintendence. I do not believe with the Rochefou- 
 caults and Montaignes, that fourteen out of fifteen men are 
 rogues: I believe a great abatement from that proportion 
 may be made in favor of general honesty. But I have al- 
 ways found that rogues would be uppermost, and I do not 
 know that the proportion is too strong for the higher or- 
 ders, and for those who, rising above the swinish multitude, 
 always contrive to nestle themselves into the places of power 
 
 109
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 and profit. These rogues set out with stealing the people's 
 good opinion, and then steal from them the right of with- 
 drawing it, by contriving laws and associations against the 
 power of the people themselves. Our part of the country 
 is in considerable fermentation, on what they suspect to be 
 a recent roguery of this kind. They say that while all 
 hands were below deck mending sails, splicing ropes, and 
 every one at his own business, and the captain in his cabin 
 attending to his log-book and chart, a rogue of a pilot has 
 run them into an enemy's port. But metaphor apart, there 
 is much dissatisfaction with Mr. Jay and his treaty. For 
 my part, I consider myself now but as a passenger, leaving 
 the world and its government to those who are likely to live 
 longer in it. That you may be among the longest of these 
 is my sincere prayer. 
 
 On the Jay Treaty 
 
 To Col. James Monroe 
 
 MONTICELLO, March 21, 1796. 
 
 All America is a-tiptoe to see what the House of Repre- 
 sentatives will decide on it [the Jay Treaty] . We conceive 
 the constitutional doctrine to be, that though the President 
 and Senate have the general power of making treaties, yet 
 wherever they include in a treaty matters confided by the 
 Constitution to the three branches of Legislature, an act of 
 legislation will be requisite to confirm these articles, and 
 that the House of Representatives, as one branch of the 
 Legislature, are perfectly free to pass the act or to refuse 
 it, governing themselves by their own judgment whether it 
 is for the good of their constituents to let the treaty go into 
 effect or not. On the precedent now to be set will depend 
 
 110
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the future construction of our Constitution, and whether the 
 powers of legislation shall be transferred from the Presi- 
 dent, Senate, and House of Representatives, to the Presi- 
 dent and Senate, and Piamingo or any other Indian, Alge- 
 rine, or other chief. It is fortunate that the first decision is 
 to be in a case so palpably atrocious, as to have been prede- 
 termined by all America. The appointment of Ellsworth 
 Chief Justice, and Chase one of the judges, is doubtless 
 communicated to you. 
 
 On Party Lines 
 
 To Phillip Mazzei 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 24, 1796. 
 
 The aspect of our politics has wonderfully changed since 
 you left us. In place of that noble love of liberty and re- 
 publican government which carried us triumphantly through 
 the war, an Anglican monarchical aristocratical party has 
 sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us the sub- 
 stance, as they have already done the forms, of the British 
 government. The main body of our citizens, however, re- 
 main true to their republican principles ; the whole landed 
 interest is republican, and so is a great mass of talents. 
 Against us are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of 
 three branches of the Legislature, all the officers of the gov- 
 ernment, all who want to be officers, all timid men who pre- 
 fer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty, 
 British merchants and Americans trading on British capital, 
 speculators and holders in the banks and public funds, a 
 contrivance invented for the purposes of corruption, and for 
 assimilating us in all things to the rotten as well as the 
 sound parts of the British model. It would give you a fever 
 
 111
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to 
 these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solo- 
 mons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by 
 the harlot England. In short, we are likely to preserve the 
 liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and 
 perils. But we shall preserve it; and our mass of weight 
 and wealth on the good side is so great, as to leave no dan- 
 ger that force will ever be attempted against us. We have 
 only to awake and snap the Lilliputian cords with which 
 they have been entangling us during the first sleep which 
 succeeded our labors. 
 
 On Adams for President 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 MONTICELLO, December 17, 1796. 
 
 Your favor of the 5th came to hand last night. The first 
 wish of my heart was, that you should have been proposed 
 for the administration of the government. On your declin- 
 ing it, I wish anybody rather than myself; and there is 
 nothing I so anxiously hope, as that my name may come out 
 either second or third. These would be indifferent to me; 
 as the last would leave me at home the whole year, and the 
 other two-thirds of it. I have no expectation that the East- 
 ern States will suffer themselves to be so much outwitted, as 
 to be made the tools for bringing in P. instead of A. I pre- 
 sume they will throw away their second vote. In this case, 
 it begins to appear possible, that there may be an equal di- 
 vision where I had supposed the republican vote would have 
 been considerably minor. It seems also possible, that the 
 Representatives may be divided. This is a difficulty from 
 which the Constitution has provided no issue. It is both my 
 
 112
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 duty and inclination, therefore, to relieve tlie embarrass- 
 ment, should it happen; and in that case, I pray you and 
 authorize you fully, to solicit on my behalf that Mr. Adams 
 may be preferred. He has always been my senior, from 
 the commencement of our public life, and the expression of 
 the public will being equal, this circumstance ought to give 
 him the preference. And when so many motives will be 
 operating to induce some of the members to change their 
 vote, the addition of my wish may have some effect to pre- 
 ponderate the scale. 
 
 On his Relations to Adams 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 30, 1797. 
 
 Yours of the 18th came to hand yesterday. I am very 
 thankful for the discretion you have exercised over the let- 
 ter. That has happened to be the case, which I knew to be 
 possible, that the honest expression of my feelings toward 
 Mr. Adams might be rendered malapropos from circum- 
 stances existing, and known at the seat of government, but 
 not known by me in my retired situation. Mr. Adams and 
 myself were cordial friends from the beginning of the Rev- 
 olution. Since our return from Europe, some little incidents 
 have happened, which were capable of affecting a jealous 
 mind like his. His deviation from that line of politics on 
 which we had been united, has not made me less sensible of 
 the rectitude of his heart; and I wished him to know this, 
 and also another truth, that I am sincerely pleased at hav- 
 ing escaped the late draft for the helm, and have not a 
 wish which he stands in the way of. That he should be con- 
 vinced of these truths, is important to our mutual satisfac- 
 
 113
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 tion, and perhaps to the harmony and good of the public 
 service. But there was a difficulty in conveying them to 
 him, and a possibility that the attempt might do mischief 
 there or somewhere else ; and I would not have hazarded the 
 attempt, if you had not been in place to decide upon its ex- 
 pediency. It has now become unnecessary to repeat it by a 
 letter. 
 
 On his Relations with Adams and Attitude 
 toward England 
 
 To Elbridge Gerry 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May 13, 1797. 
 
 I entirely commend your dispositions toward Mr. Adams, 
 knowing his worth as intimately and esteeming it as much 
 as any one, and acknowledging the preference of his claims, 
 if any I could have had, to the high office conferred on him. 
 But in truth, I had neither claims nor wishes on the sub- 
 ject, though I know it will be difficult to obtain belief of 
 this. When I retired from this place and the office of Sec- 
 retary of State, it was in the firmest contemplation of never 
 more returning here. There had indeed been suggestions 
 in the public papers, that I was looking toward a succession 
 to the President's chair, but feeling a consciousness of 
 their falsehood, and observing that the suggestions came 
 from hostile quarters, I considered them as intended merely 
 to excite public odium against me. I never in my life ex- 
 changed a word with any person on the subject, till I found 
 my name brought forward generally, in competition with 
 that of Mr. Adams. Those with whom I then communi- 
 cated, could say, if it were necessary, whether I met the call 
 
 114
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 with desire, or even with a ready acquiescence, and whether 
 from the moment of my first acquiescence, I did not devoutly 
 pray that the very thing might happen which has happened. 
 The second office of the Government is honorable and easy, 
 the frst is but a splendid misery. 
 
 You express apprehensions that stratagems will be used, 
 to produce a misunderstanding between the President and 
 myself. Though not a word having this tendency has ever 
 been hazarded to me by any one, yet I consider as a cer- 
 tainty that nothing will be left untried to alienate him from 
 me. These machinations will proceed from the Hamil- 
 tonians by whom he is surrounded, and who are only a little 
 less hostile to him than to me. It cannot but damp the 
 pleasure of cordiality, when we suspect that it is suspected. 
 I cannot help thinking, that it is impossible for Mr. Adams 
 to believe that the state of my mind is what it really is ; that 
 he may think I view him as an obstacle in my way. I have 
 no supernatural power to impress truth on the mind of an- 
 other, nor he any to discover that the estimate which he may 
 form, on a just view of the human mind as generally consti- 
 tuted, may not be just in its application to a special consti- 
 tution. This may be a source of private uneasiness to us ; I 
 honestly confess that it is so to me at this time. But neither 
 of us is capable of letting it have effect on our public duties. 
 Those who may endeavor to separate us, are probably ex- 
 cited by the fear that I might have influence on the exec- 
 utive councils ; but when they shall know that I consider my 
 office as constitutionally confined to legislative functions, 
 and that I could not take any part whatever in executive 
 consultations, even were it proposed, their fears may per- 
 haps subside, and their object be found not worth a machi- 
 nation. 
 
 I do sincerely wish with you, that we could take our stand 
 on a ground perfectly neutral and independent toward all 
 
 115
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 nations. It has been my constant object through my public 
 life; and with respect to the English and French, particu- 
 larly, I have too often expressed to the former my wishes, 
 and made to them propositions verbally and in writing, offi- 
 cially and privately, to official and private characters, for 
 them to doubt of my views, if they would be content with 
 equality. Of this they are in possession of several written 
 and formal proofs, in my own handwriting. But they have 
 wished a monopoly of commerce and influence with us ; and 
 they have in fact obtained it. When we take notice that 
 theirs is the workshop to which we go for all we want; that 
 with them centre either immediately or ultimately all the 
 labors of our hands and lands; that to them belongs either 
 openly or secretly the great mass of our navigation; that 
 even the factorage of their affairs here, is kept to them- 
 selves by factitious citizenships; that these foreign and 
 false citizens now constitute the great body of what are 
 called our merchants, fill our seaports, are planted in every 
 little town and district of the interior country, sway every- 
 thing in the former places by their own votes, and those of 
 their dependents, in the latter, by their insinuations and the 
 influence of their ledgers; that they are advancing fast to a 
 monopoly of our banks and public funds, and thereby plac- 
 ing our public finances under their control; that they have 
 in their alliance the most influential characters in and out of 
 office; when they have shown that by all these bearings on 
 the different branches of the government, they can force it 
 to proceed in whatever direction they dictate, and bend the 
 interests of this country entirely to the will of another; 
 when all this, I say, is attended to, it is impossible for us to 
 say we stand on independent ground, impossible for a free 
 mind not to see and to groan under the bondage in which 
 it is bound. If anything after this could excite surprise, it 
 would be that they have been able so far to throw dust in 
 
 116
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the eyes of our own citizens, as to fix on those who wish 
 merely to recover self-government the charge of subserving 
 one foreign influence, because they resist submission to an- 
 other. But they possess our printing-presses, a powerful 
 engine in their government of us. At this very moment, 
 they would have drawn us into a war on the side of England, 
 had it not been tor the failure of her bank. Such was their 
 open and loud cry, and that of their gazettes till this event. 
 After plunging us in all the broils of the European nations, 
 there would remain but one act to close our tragedy, that is, 
 to break up our Union ; and even this they have ventured se- 
 riously and solemnly to propose and maintain by arguments 
 in a Connecticut paper. I have been happy, however, in 
 believing, from the stifling of this effort, that that dose was 
 found too strong, and excited as much repugnance there as 
 it did horror in other parts of our country, and that what- 
 ever follies we may be led into as to foreign nations, we 
 shall never give up our Union, the last anchor of our hope, 
 and that alone which is to prevent this heavenly country 
 from becoming an arena of gladiators. Much as I abhor 
 war, and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind, and 
 anxiously as I wish to keep out of the broils of Europe, I 
 would yet go with my brethren into these, rather than sepa- 
 rate from them. But I hope we may still keep clear of 
 them, notwithstanding our present thraldom, and that time 
 may be given us to reflect on the awful crisis we have passed 
 through, and to find some means of shielding ourselves in 
 future from foreign influence, political, commercial, or in 
 whatever other form it may be attempted. I can scarcely 
 withhold myself from joining in the wish of Silas Deane, 
 that there were an ocean of fire between us and the Old 
 World. 
 
 A perfect confidence that you are as much attached to 
 peace and union as myself, that you equally prize inde- 
 
 117
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 pendence of all nations, and the blessings of self-govern- 
 ment, has induced me freely to unbosom myself to you, and 
 let you see the light in which I have viewed what has been 
 passing among us from the beginning of the war. And I 
 shall be happy, at all times, in an intercommunication of 
 sentiments with you, believing that the dispositions of the 
 different parts of our country have been considerably mis- 
 represented and misunderstood in each part, as to the other, 
 and that nothing but good can result from an exchange of 
 information and opinions between those whose circum- 
 stances and morals admit no doubt of the integrity of their 
 views. 
 
 On the Position of the United States 
 
 To Edward Rutledge 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, June 24, 1797. 
 
 They [the peace party] believe the present is the last 
 campaign of Europe, and wish to rub through this fragment 
 of a year as they have through the four preceding ones, 
 opposing patience to insult, and interest to honor. They 
 will, therefore, immediately adjourn. This is, indeed, a 
 most humiliating state of things, but it commenced in 1793. 
 Causes have been adding to causes, and effects accumulating 
 on effects, from that time to this. We had, in 1 793, the most 
 respectable character in the universe. What the neutral na- 
 tions think of us now, I know not; but we are low indeed 
 with the belligerents. Their kicks and cuffs prove their 
 contempt. If we weather the present storm, I hope we shall 
 avail ourselves of the calm of peace, to place our foreign 
 connections under a new and different arrangement. We 
 must make the interest of every nation stand surety for 
 
 118
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 their justice, and their own loss to follow injury to us, as 
 effect follows its cause. As to everything except commerce, 
 we ought to divorce ourselves from them all. But this sys- 
 tem would require time, temper, wisdom, and occasional sac- 
 rifice of interest; and how far all of these will be ours, our 
 children may see, but we shall not. The passions are too 
 high at present, to be cooled in our day. You and I have 
 formerly seen warm debates and high political passions. 
 But gentlemen of different politics would then speak to each 
 other, and separate the business of the Senate from that of 
 society. It is not so now. Men who have been intimate all 
 their lives, cross the streets to avoid meeting, and turn their 
 heads another way, lest they should be obliged to touch their 
 hats. This may do for young men with whom passion is en- 
 joyment. But it is afflicting to peaceable minds. Tranquil- 
 lity is the old man's milk. I go to enjoy it in a few days, 
 and to exchange the roar and tumult of bulls and bears, for 
 the prattle of my grandchildren and senile rest. Be these 
 yours, my dear friend, through long years, with every other 
 blessing, and the attachment of friends as warm and sin- 
 cere, as yours affectionately. 
 
 On Farming 
 
 To 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, March 23, 1798. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your fa- 
 Vors of August 16th and 18th, together with the box of seed 
 accompanying the former, which has just come to hand. 
 The letter of the 4th of June, which you mention to have 
 committed to Mr. King, has never been received. It has 
 most likely been intercepted on the sea, now become a field 
 
 119
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 of lawless and indiscriminate rapine and violence. The first 
 box which came through Mr. Donald, arrived safely the 
 last year, but being a little too late for that season, its con- 
 tents have been divided between Mr. Randolph and myself, 
 and will be committed to the earth now immediately. The 
 peas and the vetch are most acceptable indeed. Since you 
 were here, I have tried that species of your field pea which 
 is cultivated in New York, and begin to fear that that plant 
 will scarcely bear our sun and soil. A late acquisition too 
 of a species of our country pea, called the cow-pea, has 
 pretty well supplied the place in my husbandry which I 
 had destined for the European field pea. It is very pro- 
 ductive, excellent food for man and beast, awaits without 
 loss our leisure for gathering, and shades the ground very 
 closely through the hottest months of the year. This with 
 the loosening of the soil, I take to be the chief means by 
 which the pea improves the soil. We know that the sun in 
 our cloudless climate is the most powerful destroyer of fer- 
 tility in naked ground, and therefore that the perpetual fal- 
 lows will not do here, which are so beneficial in a cloudy cli- 
 mate. Still I shall with care try all the several kinds of 
 pea you have been so good as to send me, and having tried 
 all hold fast that which is good. Mr. Randolph is pecul- 
 iarly happy in having the barleys committed to him, as he 
 had been desirous of going considerably into that culture. J 
 was able at the same time to put into his hands Siberian bar- 
 ley, sent me from France. I look forward with considerable 
 anxiety to the success of the winter vetch, for it gives us a 
 good winter crop, and helps the succeeding summer one. It 
 is something like doubling the produce of the field. I know 
 it does well in Italy, and therefore have the more hope here. 
 My experience leaves me no fear as to the success of clover. 
 I have never seen finer than in some of my fields which 
 have never been manured. My rotation is triennial, to wit: 
 
 120
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 one year of wheat and two of clover in the stronger fields, 
 or two of peas in the weaker, with a crop of Indian corn 
 and potatoes between every other rotation, that is to say 
 once in seven years. Under this easy course of culture, 
 aided with some manure, I hope my fields will recover their 
 pristine fertility, which had in some of them been complete- 
 ly exhausted by perpetual crops of Indian corn and wheat 
 alternately. The atmosphere is certainly the great work- 
 shop of nature for elaborating the fertilizing principles and 
 insinuating them into the soil. It has been relied on as the 
 sole means of regenerating our soil by most of the land- 
 holders in the canton I inhabit, and where rest has been re- 
 sorted to before a total exhaustion, the soil has never failed 
 to recover. If, indeed, it be so run down as to be incapable 
 of throwing weeds or herbage of any kind, to shade the soil 
 from the sun, it either goes off in gullies, and is entirely 
 lost, or remains exhausted till a growth springs up of such 
 trees as will rise in the poorest soils. Under the shade of 
 these and the cover soon formed of their deciduous leaves, 
 and a commencing herbage, such fields sometimes recover in 
 a long course of years ; but this is too long to be taken into 
 a course of husbandry. Not so, however, is the term within 
 which the atmosphere alone will reintegrate a soil rested in 
 due season. A year of wheat will be balanced by one, two, 
 or three years of rest and atmospheric influence, according 
 to the quality of the soil. It has been said that no rotation 
 of crops will keep the earth in the same degree of fertility 
 without the aid of manure. But it is well known here that 
 a 'space of rest greater or less in spontaneous herbage, will 
 restore the exhaustion of a single crop. This then is a ro- 
 tation ; and as it is not to be believed that spontaneous herb- 
 age is the only or best covering during rest, so may we ex- 
 pect that a substitute for it may be found which will yield 
 profitable crops,. Such perhaps are clover, peas, vetches, 
 
 121
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 etc. A rotation then may be found, which, by giving time 
 for the slow influence of the atmosphere, will keep the soil 
 in a constant and equal state of fertility. But the advant- 
 age of manuring, is that it will do more in one than the 
 atmosphere would require several years to do, and conse- 
 quently enables you so much the oftener to take exhausting 
 crops from the soil, a circumstance of importance where 
 there is more labor than land. I am much indebted. 
 
 On Newspaper Libels 
 
 To James Lewis, Jr. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May 9* 1798. 
 
 Party passions are indeed high. Nobody has more rea- 
 son to know it than myself. I receive daily bitter proofs of 
 it from people who never saw me, nor know anything of me 
 but through Porcupine and Fenno. At this moment all the 
 passions are boiling over, and one who keeps himself cool 
 and clear of the contagion, is so far below the point of 
 ordinary conversation, that he finds himself insulated in 
 every society. However, the fever will not last. War, 
 land tax and stamp tax, are sedatives which must cool its 
 ardor. They will bring on reflection, and that, with infor- 
 mation, is all which our countrymen need to bring them- 
 selves and their affairs to rights. They are essentially Re- 
 publicans. They retain unadulterated the principles of 
 '75, and those who are conscious of no change in them- 
 selves have nothing to fear in the long run. It is our duty 
 still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take 
 place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend our- 
 selves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it 
 was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish 
 
 122
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 it. In that, I have no doubt, we shall act as one man. But 
 if we can ward off actual war till the crisis of England is 
 over, I shall hope we may escape it altogether. 
 
 On Sectional Politics Possibility of Division 
 
 To John Taylor 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, June 1, 1798. 
 
 Mr. New showed me your letter on the subject of the pat- 
 ent, which gave me an opportunity of observing what you 
 said as to the effect, with you, of public proceedings, and 
 that it was not unwise now to estimate the separate mass of 
 Virginia and North Carolina, with a view to their separate 
 existence. It is true that we are completely under the sad- 
 dle of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and that they ride 
 us very hard, cruelly insulting our feelings, as well as ex- 
 hausting our strength and subsistence. Their natural 
 friends, the three other Eastern States join them from a 
 sort of family pride, and they have the art to divide certain 
 other parts of the Union, so as to make use of them to gov- 
 ern the whole. This is not new, it is the old practice of 
 despots; to use a part of the people to keep the rest in 
 order. And those who have once got an ascendancy, and 
 possessed themselves of all the resources of the nation, their 
 revenues and offices, have immense means for retaining their 
 advantage. But our present situation is not a natural one. 
 The republicans, through every part of the Union, say, that 
 it was the irresistible influence and popularity of General 
 Washington played off by the cunning of Hamilton, which 
 turned the Government over to anti-republican hands, or 
 turned the republicans chosen by the people into antire- 
 publicans. He delivered it over to his successor in this 
 
 123
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 state, and very untoward events since, improved with great 
 artifice, have produced on the public mind the impressions 
 we see. But still I repeat it, this is not the natural state. 
 Time alone would bring round an order of things more cor- 
 respondent to the sentiments of our constituents. But are 
 there no events impending which will do it within a few 
 months ? The crisis with England, the public and authentic 
 avowal of sentiments hostile to the leading principles of our 
 Constitution, the prospect of a war, in which we shall stand 
 alone, land-tax, stamp-tax, increase of public debt, etc. Be 
 this as it may, in every free and deliberating society, there 
 must, from the nature of man, be opposite parties, and vio- 
 lent dissensions and discords; and one of these, for the 
 most part, must prevail over the other for a longer or short- 
 er time. Perhaps this party division is necessary to induce 
 each to watch and delate to the people the proceedings of 
 the other. But if on a temporary superiority of the one 
 party, the other is to resort to a scission of the Union, no 
 federal government can ever exist. If to rid ourselves of 
 the present rule of Massachusetts and Connecticut, we break 
 the Union, will the evil stop there ? Suppose the New Eng- 
 land States alone cut off, will our nature be changed? Are 
 we not men still to the south of that, and with all the pas- 
 sions of men? Immediately, we shall see a Pennsylvania 
 and a Virginia party arise in the residuary confederacy, and 
 the public mind will be distracted with the same party 
 spirit. What a game too will the one party have in their 
 hands, by eternally threatening the other that unless they do 
 so and so, they will join their Northern neighbors. If we 
 reduce our Union to Virginia and North Carolina, immedi- 
 ately the conflict will be established between the representa- 
 tives of these two States, and they will end by breaking 
 into their simple units. Seeing, therefore, that an associa- 
 tion of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing 
 
 124
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 which never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of 
 nations down to a town meeting or a vestry; seeing that we 
 must have somebody to quarrel with, I had rather keep our 
 New England associates for that purpose, than to see our 
 bickerings transferred to others. They are circumscribed 
 within such narrow limits, and their population so full, that 
 their numbers will ever be the minority, and they are 
 marked, like the Jews, with such a perversity of character, 
 as to constitute, from that circumstance, the natural division 
 of our parties. A little patience, and we shall see the reign. 
 of witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people 
 recovering their true sight, restoring their government to its 
 true principles. It is true, that in the meantime, we are 
 suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a 
 war, and long oppressions of enormous public debt. But 
 who can say what would be the evils of a scission, and when 
 and where they would end? Better keep together as we 
 are, haul off from Europe as soon as we can, and from all 
 attachments to any portions of it; and if they show their 
 power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the 
 happiest situation in which we can exist. If the game runs 
 sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till 
 luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of win- 
 ning back the principles we have lost. For this is a game 
 where principles are the stake. Better luck, therefore, to us 
 all, and health, happiness and friendly salutations to your- 
 self. Adieu. 
 
 125
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 On Public Debt 
 
 To John Taylor 
 
 MONTICELLO, November 26, 1798. 
 
 I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to 
 our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that 
 alone for the reduction of the administration of our govern- 
 ment to the genuine principles of its Constitution; I mean 
 an additional article, taking from the federal government 
 the power of borrowing. I now deny their power of making 
 paper money or anything else a legal tender. I know that 
 to pay all proper expenses within the year, would, in case of 
 war, be hard on us. But not so hard as ten wars instead of 
 one. For wars would be reduced in that proportion ; besides 
 that the State governments would be free to lend their 
 credit in borrowing quotas. For the present, I should be 
 for resolving the alien and sedition laws to be against the 
 Constitution and merely void, and for addressing the other 
 States to obtain similar declarations ; and I would not do 
 anything at this moment which should commit us further, 
 but reserve ourselves to shape our future, measures or no 
 measures, by the events which may happen. It is a sin- 
 gular phenomenon, that while our State governments are 
 the very best in the world, without exception or comparison, 
 our General Government has, in the rapid course of nine 
 or ten years, become more arbitrary, and has swallowed 
 more of the public liberty than even that of England. I in- 
 close you a column, cut out of a London paper, to show you 
 that the English, though charmed with our making their 
 enemies our enemies, yet blush and weep over our sedition 
 law. 
 
 126
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Laws 
 
 1. Resolved, That the several States composing the 
 United States of America, are not united on the principle 
 of unlimited submission to their General Government; but 
 that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution 
 for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they 
 constituted a General Government for special purposes, 
 delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserv- 
 ing, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their 
 own self-government; and that whensoever the General 
 Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are un- 
 authoritative, void, and of no force: that to this compact 
 each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its 
 co-States forming, as to itself, the other party : that the gov- 
 ernment created by this compact was not made the exclu- 
 sive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to 
 itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not 
 the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in 
 all other cases of compact among powers having no com- 
 mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge for it- 
 self, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of 
 redress. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, 
 having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, 
 counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United 
 States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, 
 and offences against the law of nations, and no other crimes 
 whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and 
 one of the amendments to the Constitution having also de- 
 clared, that "the powers not delegated to the United States 
 by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
 reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," there- 
 
 127
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 fore the act of Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 
 1798, and intituled "An Act in addition to the act inti- 
 tuled An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against 
 the United States," as also the act passed by them 
 on the day of June, 1798, intituled "An Act to 
 punish frauds committed on the bank of the United States," 
 (and all their other acts which assume to create, define, or 
 punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Con- 
 stitution), are altogether void, and of no force; and that the 
 power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is re- 
 served, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to 
 the respective States, each within its own territory. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it is true as a general principle, and is 
 also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the 
 Constitution, that "the powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
 are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" ; 
 and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of 
 speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the 
 United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
 States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right 
 remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: 
 that thus was manifested their determination to retain to 
 themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness 
 of speech and of the press may be abridged without les- 
 sening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses 
 which cannot be separated from their use should be toler- 
 ated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also 
 v they guarded against all abridgment by the United States 
 of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and 
 retained to themselves the right of protecting the same, 
 as this State, by a law passed on the general demand of 
 its citizens, had already protected them from all hu- 
 man restraint or interference. And that in addition to this 
 
 128
 
 general principle and express declaration, another and 
 more special provision has been made by one of the amend- 
 ments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that 
 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
 religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridg- 
 ing the freedom of speech or of the press : " thereby guard- 
 ing in the same sentence, and under the same words, the free- 
 dom of religion, of speech, and of the press : insomuch, that 
 whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which 
 covers the others, and that libels, falsehood, and defamation, 
 equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from 
 the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, the 
 act of Congress of the United States, passed on the 14th 
 day of July, 1798, intituled "An Act in addition to the act 
 intituled An Act for the punishment of certain crimes 
 against the United States," which does abridge the freedom 
 of the press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no 
 force. 
 
 4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction 
 and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are: 
 that no power over them has been delegated to the United 
 States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from 
 their power over citizens. And it being true as a general 
 principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution 
 having also declared, that "the powers not delegated to 
 the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it 
 to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or 
 to the people," the act of the Congress of the United 
 States, passed on the day of July, 1798, intituled "An 
 Act concerning aliens," which assumes powers over alien 
 friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is 
 altogether void, and of no force. (. . . .) 
 
 7. Resolved, That the construction applied by the Gen- 
 eral Government (as is evidenced by sundry of their pro- 
 
 129
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United 
 States which delegate to Congress a power "to lay and col- 
 lect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and 
 provide for the common defence and general welfare of the 
 United States," and "to make all laws which shall be nec- 
 essary and proper for carrying into execution the powers 
 vested by the Constitution in the government of the 
 United States, or in any department or officer thereof," goes 
 to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by 
 the Constitution: that words meant by the instrument to be 
 subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not 
 to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, 
 nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of 
 that instrument: that the proceedings of the General Gov- 
 ernment under color of these articles, will be a fit and neces- 
 sary subject of revisal and correction, at a time of greater 
 tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolu- 
 tions call for immediate redress. 
 
 8. Resolved, That a committee of conference and corre- 
 spondence be appointed, who shall have in charge to com- 
 municate the preceding resolutions to the legislatures of the 
 several States; to assure them that this commonwealth con- 
 tinues in the same esteem of their friendship and union 
 which it has manifested from that moment at which a com- 
 mon danger first suggested a common union: that it consid- 
 ers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly 
 to those specified in their late federal compact, to be friend- 
 ly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States: 
 that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent 
 and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by 
 the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preserva- 
 tion: that it does also believe, that to take from the States 
 all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a 
 general and consolidated government, without regard to the 
 
 130
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in 
 that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity 
 of these States; and that therefore this commonwealth is 
 determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to 
 undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, 
 or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the 
 delegated powers, the members of the General Government, 
 being chosen by the people, a change by the people would 
 be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are as- 
 sumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the 
 act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural 
 right in cases not within the compact, (casus non fcederis), 
 to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power 
 by others within their limits: that without this right, they 
 would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of 
 whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them: 
 that nevertheless, this commonwealth, from motives of re- 
 gard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communi- 
 cate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is 
 proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the 
 compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort 
 of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a 
 party, but merely the creature of the compact, and sub- 
 ject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment 
 of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its 
 powers were all created and modified : that if the acts be- . 
 fore specified should stand, these conclusions would flow 
 from them; that the General Government may place any 
 act they think proper on the list of crimes, and punish 
 it themselves whether enumerated or not enumerated by the 
 Constitution as cognizable by them: that they may trans- 
 fer its cognizance to the President, or any other person, 
 who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge and jury, 
 whose suspicions may be the evidence, his order the sen- 
 
 131
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 tence, his officer the executioner, and his breast the sole 
 record of the transaction: that a very numerous and valua- 
 ble description of the inhabitants of these States being, by 
 this precedent, reduced, as outlaws, to the absolute dominion 
 of one man, and the barrier of the Constitution thus swept 
 away from us all, no rampart now remains against the pas- 
 sions and the powers of a majority in Congress to protect 
 from a like exportation, or other more grievous punishment, 
 the minority of the same body, the legislatures, judges, gov- 
 ernors, and counsellors of the States, nor their other peacea- 
 ble inhabitants, who may venture to reclaim the constitu- 
 tional rights and liberties of the States and people, or who 
 for other causes, good or bad, may be obnoxious to the views, 
 or marked by the suspicions of the President, or be thought 
 dangerous to his or their election, or other interests, public 
 or personal: that the friendless alien has indeed been se- 
 lected as the safest subject of a first experiment; but the 
 citizen will soon follow, or rather, has already followed, for 
 already has a sedition act marked him as its prey : that these 
 and successive acts of the same character, unless arrested at 
 the threshold, necessarily drive these States into revolution 
 and blood, and will furnish new calumnies against republi- 
 can government, and new pretexts for those who wish it to 
 be believed that man cannot be governed but by a rod of 
 iron: that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confi- 
 dence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the 
 safety of our rights : that confidence is everywhere the par- 
 ent of despotism free government is founded in jealousy, 
 and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence 
 which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those 
 whom we are obliged to trust with power : that our Constitu- 
 tion has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no fur- 
 ther, our confidence may go; and let the honest advocate of 
 confidence read the alien and sedition acts, and say if the 
 
 132
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the govern- 
 ment it created, and whether we should be wise in destroy- 
 ing those limits. Let him say what the government is, if it 
 be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have con- 
 ferred on our President, and the President of our choice 
 has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangers to 
 whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws have 
 pledged hospitality and protection: that the men of our 
 choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the Presi- 
 dent, than the solid right of innocence, the claims of justifi- 
 cation, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and sub- 
 stance of law and justice. In questions of power, then, let 
 no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down 
 from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this 
 commonwealth does therefore call on its co-States for an 
 expression of their sentiments on the acts concerning aliens, 
 and for the punishment of certain crimes hereinbefore 
 specified, plainly declaring whether these acts are or are not 
 authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that 
 their sense will be so announced as to prove their attach- 
 ment unaltered to limited government, whether general or 
 particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co- 
 States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked 
 in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur 
 with this commonwealth in considering the said acts as so 
 palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undis- 
 guised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the 
 measure of the powers of the General Government, but that 
 it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all pow- 
 ers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the 
 rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of 
 the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the 
 States (not merely as the cases made federal, casus feeder- 
 is), but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their 
 
 133
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 consent, but by others against their consent: that this would 
 be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, 
 and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and 
 not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to 
 their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in 
 declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take 
 measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, 
 nor any others of the General Government not plainly and 
 intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exer- 
 cised within their respective territories. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the said committee be authorized to 
 communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any 
 times or places whatever, with any person or persons who 
 may be appointed by any one or more co-States to corre- 
 spond or confer with them; and that they lay their pro- 
 ceedings before the next session of Assembly. 
 
 On Yellow Fever and Growth of Cities 
 
 To Dr. Benjamin Rush 
 
 MONTICELLO, September 23, 1800. 
 
 Dear Sir: I congratulate you on the healthiness of your 
 city. Still Baltimore, Norfolk and Providence admonish 
 us that we are not clear of our new scourge. When great 
 evils happen, I am in the habit of looking out for what 
 good may arise from them as consolations to us, and Provi- 
 dence has in fact so established the order of things, as that 
 most evils are the means of producing some good. The yel- 
 low fever will discourage the growth of great cities in our 
 nation, and I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, 
 the health and the liberties of man. True, they nourish 
 some of the elegant arts, but the useful ones can thrive else-
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 where, and less perfection in the others, with more health, 
 virtue and freedom, would be my choice. 
 
 First Inauguration Address March 4, 1801 
 
 Friends and Fellow Citizens: Called upon to undertake 
 the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail 
 myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens 
 which is here assembled, to express my grateful thanks for 
 the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward 
 me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above 
 my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and 
 awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and 
 the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising na- 
 tion, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the 
 seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in 
 commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, ad- 
 vancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye 
 when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see 
 the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved 
 country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, 
 I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before 
 the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly indeed, should 
 I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see 
 remind me, that in the other high authorities provided by 
 our constitution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, 
 and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, 
 then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign func- 
 tions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look 
 with encouragement for that guidance and support which 
 may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we 
 are all embarked amid the conflicting elements of a troubled 
 world. 
 
 135
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 During the contest of opinion through which we have 
 passed, the animation of discussion and of exertions has 
 sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers 
 unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they 
 think ; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, 
 announced according to the rules of the constitution, all 
 will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, 
 and unite in common efforts for the common good. - All, too, 
 will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will 
 of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be 
 rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their 
 equal rights, which equal laws must protect, nad to violate 
 which would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, 
 unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social 
 intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty 
 and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect 
 that having banished from our land that religious intolerance 
 under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet 
 gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as 
 despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody per- 
 secutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient 
 world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seek- 
 ing through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it 
 was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should 
 reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should 
 be more felt and feared by some and less by others; that 
 this should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But 
 every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. 
 We have called by different names brethren of the same 
 principle. We are all republicans we are federalists. If 
 there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this 
 Union or to change its republican form, let them stand un- 
 disturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of 
 opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat 
 
 136
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a repub- 
 lican government cannot be strong; that this government is 
 not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full 
 tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which 
 has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and vi- 
 sionary fear that this government, the world's best hope, 
 may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust 
 not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest govern- 
 ment on earth. I believe it is the only one where every man, 
 at the call of the laws, would fly to the standard of the law, 
 and would meet invasions of the public order as his own 
 personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be 
 trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be 
 trusted with the government of others? Or have we found 
 angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history 
 answer this question. 
 
 Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own 
 federal and republican principles, our attachment to our 
 union and representative government. Kindly separated by 
 nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of 
 one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the 
 degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, 
 with room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and 
 thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our 
 equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisi- 
 tions of our industry, to honor and confidence from our fel- 
 low-citizens, resulting not from birth but from our actions 
 and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, 
 professed, indeed, and practised in various forms, yet all 
 of them including honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and 
 the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling 
 Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it de- 
 lights in the happiness of man here and his greater happi- 
 ness hereafter ; with all these blessings, what more is ncces- 
 
 137
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 sary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one 
 thing more, fellow citizens a wise and frugal government, 
 which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which 
 shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pur- 
 suits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from 
 the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the 
 sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the 
 circle of our felicities. 
 
 About to enter, fellow citizens, on the exercise of duties 
 which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is 
 proper that you should understand what I deem the essen- 
 tial principles of our government, and consequently those 
 which ought to shape its administration. I will compress 
 them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating 
 the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and 
 exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, re- 
 ligious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship, 
 with all nations entangling alliances with none; the sup- 
 port of the state governments in all their rights, as the most 
 competent administrations for our domestic concerns and 
 the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the 
 preservation of the General Government in its whole con- 
 stitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home 
 and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by 
 the people a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are 
 lopped by the sword of the revolution where peaceable reme- 
 dies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions 
 of the majority the vital principle of republics, from 
 which there is no appeal but to force the vital principle and 
 immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia 
 our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, 
 till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil 
 over the military authority; economy in the public expense, 
 that labor may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of 
 
 108
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; en- 
 couragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its hand- 
 maid; the diffusion of information and the arraignment of 
 all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; 
 freedom of the press ; freedom of person under the pro- 
 tection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially 
 selected these principles form the bright constellation 
 which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an 
 age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our 
 sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their 
 attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith 
 the text of civil instruction the touchstone by which to 
 try the services of those we trust; and should we wander 
 from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to 
 retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to 
 peace, liberty, and safety. 
 
 I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have as- 
 signed rne. With experience enough in subordinate offices 
 to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I 
 have learned to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of 
 imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation 
 and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions 
 to that high confidence reposed in our first and great revolu- 
 tionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled 
 him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for 
 him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask 
 so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to 
 the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go 
 wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall 
 often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not 
 command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indul- 
 gence for my own errors, which will never be intentional; 
 and your support against the errors of others, who may con- 
 demn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The 
 
 139
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 approbation implied by your suffrage is a consolation to 
 me for the past; and my future solicitude will be to retain 
 the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, 
 to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in 
 my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and free- 
 dom of all. 
 
 Relying, then, on the patronage of your good-will, I ad- 
 vance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it 
 whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is 
 in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which 
 rules the destinies of the universe, lead our councils to what 
 is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and 
 prosperity. 
 
 First Message to Congress 
 
 DECEMBER 8, 1801. 
 
 Sir: The circumstances under which we find ourselves 
 placed rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore prac- 
 tised of making by personal address the first communica- 
 tion between the legislative and executive branches, I have 
 adopted that by message, as used on all subsequent occa- 
 sions through the session. In doing this, I have had prin- 
 cipal regard to the convenience of the legislature, to the 
 economy of their time, to their relief from the embarrass- 
 ment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully before 
 them, and to the benefits thence resulting to the public af- 
 fairs. Trusting that a procedure founded in these motives 
 will meet their approbation, I beg leave, through you, sir, to 
 communicate the inclosed message, with the documents ac- 
 companying it, to the honorable the senate, and pray you 
 to accept, for yourself and there, the homage of my high 
 respect and consideration. 
 
 The Hon. the President of the Senate. 
 140
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 Tribute to Samuel 'Adams 
 
 WASHINGTON, March 29, 1801. 
 
 I addressed a letter to you, my very dear and ancient 
 friend, on the 4th of March : not indeed to you by name, but 
 through the medium of some of my fellow-citizens, whom 
 occasion called on me to address. In meditating the matter 
 of that address, I often asked myself, is this exactly in the 
 spirit of the patriarch, Samuel Adams? Is it as he would 
 express it? Will he approve of it? I have felt a great 
 deal for our country in the times we have seen. But indi- 
 vidually for no one so much as yourself. When I have been 
 told that you were avoided, insulted, frowned on, I could 
 but ejaculate, "Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do." I confess I felt an indignation for you, 
 which for myself I have been able, under every trial, to 
 keep entirely passive. However, the storm is over, and we 
 are in port. The ship was not rigged for the service she was 
 put on. We will show the smoothness of her motions on her 
 republican tack. I hope we shall once more see harmony 
 restored among our citizens, and an entire oblivion of past 
 feuds. Some of the leaders who have most committed them- 
 selves cannot come into this. But I hope the great body of 
 our fellow-citizens will do it. I will sacrifice everything but 
 principle to procure it. A few examples of justice on offi- 
 cers who have perverted their functions to the oppression 
 of their fellow-citizens, must, in justice to those citizens, be 
 made. But opinion, and the just maintenance of it, shall 
 never be a crime in my view, nor bring injury on the indi- 
 vidual. Those whose misconduct in office ought to have pro- 
 duced their removal even by my predecessor, must not be 
 protected by the delicacy due only to honest men. How 
 much I lament that time has deprived me of your aid! It 
 
 141
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 would have been a day of glory which should have called 
 you to the first office of the administration. But give us 
 your counsel, my friend, and give us your blessing; and be 
 assured that there exists not in the heart of man a more 
 faithful esteem than mine to you, and that I shall ever bear 
 you the most affectionate veneration and respect. 
 
 On the Policy as to Purchase of Louisiana 
 
 To the United States Minister to France 
 (Robert E. Livingston) 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 18, 1802. 
 
 The cession of Louisiana and the Floridas by Spain to 
 France, works most sorely on the United States. On this 
 subject the Secretary of State has written to you fully, yet 
 I cannot forbear recurring to it personally, so deep is the 
 impression it makes on my mind. It completely reverses all 
 the political relations of the United States, and will form a 
 new epoch in our political course. Of all nations of any 
 consideration, France is the one which, hitherto, has oifered 
 the fewest points on which we could have any conflict of 
 right, and the most points of a communion of interests. 
 From these causes, we have ever looked to her as our 
 natural friend, as one with which we never could have an 
 occasion of difference. Her growth, therefore, we viewed as 
 our own, her misfortunes ours. There is on the globe one 
 single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habit- 
 ual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce 
 of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market, and 
 from its fertility it will erelong yield more than half of our 
 whole produce, and contain more than half of our inhabi- 
 tants. France, placing herself in that door, assumes to us 
 
 142
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the attitude of defiance. Spain might have retained it quiet- 
 ly for years. Her pacific dispositions, her feeble state, 
 would induce her to increase our facilities there, so that her 
 possession of the place would be hardly felt by us, and it 
 would not, perhaps, be very long before some circumstance 
 might arise, which might make the cession of it to us the 
 price of something of more worth to her. Not so can it ever 
 be in the hands of France: the impetuosity of her temper, 
 the energy and restlessness of her character, placed in a 
 point of eternal friction with us, and our character, which, 
 though quiet and loving peace and the pursuit of wealth, is 
 high-minded, despising wealth in competition with insult or 
 injury, enterprising and energetic as any nation on earth; 
 these circumstances render it impossible that France and 
 the United States can continue long friends, when they meet 
 in so irritable a position. They, as well as we, must be 
 blind if they do not see this; and we must be very improvi- 
 dent if we do not begin to make arrangements on that hy- 
 pothesis. The day that France takes possession of New Or- 
 leans, fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever 
 within her low-water -mark. It seals the union of two na- 
 tions, who, in conjunction, can maintain exclusive possession 
 of the ocean. From that moment, we must marry ourselves 
 to the British fleet and nation. We must turn all our atten- 
 tion to a maritime force, for which our resources place us on 
 very high ground; and having formed and connected to- 
 gether a power which may render reinforcement of her set- 
 tlements here impossible to France, make the first cannon 
 which shall be fired in Europe the signal for the tearing up 
 any settlement she may have made, and for holding the two 
 continents of America in sequestration for the common pur- 
 poses of the United British and American nations. This is 
 not a state of things we seek or desire. It is one which this 
 measure, if adopted by France, forces on us as necessarily, 
 
 143
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 as any other cause, by the laws of nature, brings on its nec- 
 essary effect. It is not from a fear of France that we de- 
 precate this measure proposed by her. For however greater 
 her force is than ours, compared in the abstract, it is noth- 
 ing in comparison of ours, when to be exerted on our soil. 
 But it is from a sincere love of peace, and a firm persuasion, 
 that bound to France by the interests and the strong sympa- 
 thies still existing in the minds of our citizens, and holding 
 relative positions which insure their continuance, we are se- 
 cure of a long course of peace. Whereas, the change of 
 friends, which will be rendered necessary if France changes 
 that position, embarks us necessarily as a belligerent power 
 in the first war of Europe. In that case, France will have 
 held possession of New Orleans during the interval of a 
 peace, long or short, at the end of which it will be wrested 
 from her. Will this short-lived possession have been an 
 equivalent to her for the transfer of such a weight into the 
 scale of her enemy ? Will not the amalgamation of a young, 
 thriving nation, continue to that enemy the health and force 
 which are at present so evidently on the decline? And will 
 a few years' possession of New Orleans add equally to 
 the strength of France? She may say she needs Louisiana 
 for the supply of her West Indies. She does not need it in 
 time of peace, and in war she could not depend on them, be- 
 cause they would be so easily intercepted. I should suppose 
 that all these considerations might, in some proper form, be 
 brought into view of the Government of P'rance. Though 
 stated by us, it ought not to give offence; because we do not 
 bring them forward as a menace, but as consequences not 
 controllable by us, but inevitable from the course of things. 
 We mention them, not as things which we desire by any 
 means, but as things we deprecate; and we beseech a friend 
 to look forward and to prevent them for our common inter- 
 est. 
 
 144
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 If France considers Louisiana, however, as indispensable 
 for her views, she might perhaps be willing to look about 
 for arrangements which might reconcile it to our interests. 
 If anything could do this, it would be the ceding to us the 
 island of New Orleans and the Floridas. This would cer- 
 tainly, in a great degree, remove the causes of jarring and 
 irritation between us, and perhaps for such a length of time, 
 as might produce other means of making the measure per- 
 manently conciliatory to our interests and friendships. It 
 would, at any rate, relieve us from the necessity of taking 
 immediate measures for countervailing such an operation 
 by arrangements in another quarter. But still we should 
 consider New Orleans and the Floridas as no equivalent 
 for the risk of a quarrel with France, produced by her 
 vicinage. . . . 
 
 Every eye in the United States is now fixed on the affairs 
 of Louisiana. Perhaps nothing since the revolutionary war, 
 has produced more uneasy sensations through the body of 
 the nation. Notwithstanding temporary bickerings have 
 taken place with France, she has still a strong hold on the 
 affections of our citizens generally. I have thought it not 
 amiss, by way of supplement to the letters of the 
 Secretary of State, to write you this private one, to impress 
 you with the importance we affix to this transaction. I pray 
 you to cherish Dupont. He has the best disposition for the 
 continuance of friendship between the two nations, and 
 perhaps you may be able to make a good use of him. 
 
 Accept assurances of my affectionate esteem and high 
 consideration. 
 
 145
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On the Colonization of Slaves in Sierra Leone 
 
 To Rufus King 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 13, 1802. 
 
 Dear Sir: The course of things in the neighboring isl- 
 ands of the West Indies, appear to have given a consider- 
 able impulse to the minds of the slaves in different parts 
 of the United States. A great disposition to insurgency 
 has manifested itself among them, which, in one instance, 
 in the State of Virginia, broke out into actual insurrec- 
 tion. This was easily suppressed; but many of those con- 
 cerned (between twenty and thirty, I believe) fell victims 
 to the law. So extensive an execution could not but excite 
 sensibility in the public mind, and begat a regret that the 
 laws had not provided for such cases, some alternative, 
 combining more mildness with equal efficacy. The Legis- 
 lature of the State at a subsequent meeting took the sub- 
 ject into consideration, and have communicated to me 
 through the Governor of the State, their wish that some 
 place could be provided, out of the limits of the United 
 States, to which slaves guilty of insurgency might be trans- 
 ported; and they have particularly looked to Africa as 
 offering the most desirable receptacle. We might, for this 
 purpose, enter into negotiations with the natives, on some 
 part of the coast, to obtain a settlement; and, by estab- 
 lishing an African company, combine with it commercial 
 operations, which might not only reimburse expenses, but 
 procure profit also. But there being already such an 
 establishment on that coast by the English Sierra Leone 
 company, made for the express purpose of colonizing civ- 
 ilized blacks to that country, it would seem better, by in- 
 corporating our emigrants with theirs, to make one strong, 
 
 146
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 rather than two weak colonies. This would be the more 
 desirable because the blacks settled at Sierra Leone, hav- 
 ing chiefly gone from the States, would often receive* 
 among those we should send, their acquaintances and rela- 
 tives. The object of this letter, therefore, is to ask the 
 favor of you to enter into conference with such persons 
 private and public as would be necessary to give us per- 
 mission to send thither the persons under contemplation. 
 It is material to observe that they are not felons, or 
 common malefactors, but persons guilty of what the safety 
 of society, under actual circumstances, obliges us to treat 
 as a crime, but which their feelings may represent in a far 
 different shape. They are such as will be a valuable 
 acquisition to the settlement already existing there, and 
 well calculated to cooperate in the plan of civilization. 
 
 As the expense of so distant a transportation would be 
 very heavy, and might weigh unfavorably in deciding be- 
 tween the modes of punishment, it is very desirable that it 
 should be lessened as much as practicable. If the regula- 
 tions of the place would permit these emigrants to dispose 
 of themselves, as the Germans and others do who come to 
 this country poor, by giving their labor for a certain time 
 to some one who will pay their passage; and if the master 
 of the vessel could be permitted to carry articles of com- 
 merce from this country and take back others from that, 
 which might yield him a mercantile profit sufficient to 
 cover the expenses of the voyage, a serious difficulty would 
 be removed. I will ask your attention therefore to ar- 
 rangements necessary for this purpose. 
 
 The consequences of permitting emancipations to become 
 extensive, unless the condition of emigration be annexed 
 to them, furnish also matter of solicitation to the Legis- 
 lature of Virginia, as you will perceive by their resolution 
 inclosed to you. Although provision for the settlement of 
 
 14?
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 emancipated negroes might perhaps be obtainable nearer 
 home than Africa, yet it is desirable that we should be 
 free to expatriate this description of people also to the 
 colony of Sierra Leone, if considerations respecting either 
 themselves or us should render it more expedient. I will 
 pray you therefore to get the same permission extended to 
 the reception of these as well as the first mentioned. Nor 
 will there be a selection of bad subjects; the emancipations, 
 for the most part, being either of the whole slaves of the 
 master, or of such individuals as have particularly de- 
 served well; the latter is most frequent. 
 
 On Indian Policy 
 
 To General Andrew Jackson 
 
 WASHINGTON, February 16, 1803. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your favor of the 14th was received on the 
 same day, and will be duly attended to in the course of 
 our affairs with the Creeks. In keeping agents among the 
 Indians, two objects are principally in view: 1. The pres- 
 ervation of peace. 2. The obtaining lands. Toward ef- 
 fecting the latter object, we consider the leading the Ind- 
 ians to agriculture as the principal means from which we 
 can expect much effect in future. When they shall cul- 
 tivate small spots of earth, and see how useless their 
 extensive forests are, they will sell, from time to time, 
 to help out their personal labor in stocking their farms 
 and procuring clothes and comforts from our trading 
 houses. Toward the attainment of our two objects of 
 peace and lands, it is essential that our agent acquire that 
 sort of influence over the Indians, which rests on confidence. 
 
 148
 
 On Religion 
 
 To Doctor Benjamin Rush 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 21, 1803. 
 
 Dear Sir: In some of the delightful conversations with 
 you, in the evenings of 1798-99, and which served as an 
 anodyne to the afflictions of the crisis through which our 
 country was then laboring, the Christian religion was 
 sometimes our topic; and I then promised you, that one 
 day or other, I would give you my views of it. They 
 are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very 
 different from that anti-Christian system imputed to me 
 by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the cor- 
 ruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not 
 to the genuine precepts of Jesus Himself. I am a Chris- 
 tian, in the only sense in which He wished any one to be: 
 sincerely attached to His doctrines, in preference to all 
 others; ascribing to Himself every human excellence; and 
 believing He never claimed any other. At the short in- 
 terval since these conversations, when I could justifiably 
 abstract my mind from public affairs, the subject has been 
 under my contemplation. But the more I considered it, the 
 more it expanded beyond the measure of either my time 
 or information. In the moment of my late departure from 
 Monticello, I received from Dr. Priestley, his little treatise 
 of "Socrates and Jesus Compared." This being a section 
 of the general view I had taken of the field, it became a 
 subject of reflection while on the road, and unoccupied 
 otherwise. The result was, to arrange in my mind a 
 syllabus, or outline of such an estimate of the compara- 
 tive merits of Christianity, as I wished to see executed by 
 some one of more leisure and information for the task, 
 
 149
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 than myself. This I now send you, as the only discharge 
 of my promise I can probably ever execute. And in 
 confiding it to you, I know it will not be exposed to the 
 malignant perversions of those who make every word from 
 me a text for new misrepresentations and calumnies. I am 
 moreover averse to the communication of my religious 
 tenets to the public, because it would countenance the pre- 
 sumption of those who have endeavored to draw them be- 
 fore that tribunal, and to seduce public opinion to erect 
 itself into that inquisition over the rights of conscience, 
 which the laws have so justly proscribed. It behooves 
 every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to 
 resist invasions of it in the case of others, or their case 
 may, by change of circumstances, become his own. It 
 behooves him, too, in his own case, to give no example of 
 concession, betraying the common right of independent 
 opinion, by answering questions of faith, which the laws 
 have left between God and himself. Accept my affection- 
 ate salutations. 
 
 Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of 
 Jesus, compared with those of others 
 
 In a comparative view of the ethics of the enlightened 
 nations of antiquity, of the Jews and of Jesus, no notice 
 should be taken of the corruptions of reason among the 
 ancients, to wit, the idolatry and superstition of the vul- 
 gar, nor of the corruptions of Christianity by the learned 
 among its professors. 
 
 Let a just view be taken of the moral principles incul- 
 cated by the most esteemed of the sects of ancient phi- 
 losophy, or of their individuals; particularly Pythagoras, 
 Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca, Antoninus. 
 
 150
 
 1. Philosophers. 1. Their precepts related chiefly to 
 ourselves, and the government of those passions which, un- 
 restrained, would disturb our tranquillity of mind. In this 
 branch of philosophy they were really great. 
 
 2. In developing our duties to others, they were short 
 and defective. They embraced, indeed, the circles of kin- 
 dred and friends, and inculcated patriotism, or the love of 
 our country in the aggregate, as a primary obligation: tow- 
 ard our neighbors and countrymen they taught justice, 
 but scarcely viewed them as within the circle of benevo- 
 lence. Still less have they inculcated peace, charity, and 
 love to our fellow men, or embraced with benevolence the 
 whole family of mankind. 
 
 II. Jews. 1. Their system was Deism; that is, the be- 
 lief in one only God. But their ideas of Him and of His 
 attributes were degrading and injurious. 
 
 2. Their ethics were not only imperfect, but often ir- 
 reconcilable with the sound dictates of reason and morality, 
 as they respect intercourse with those around us; and 
 repulsive and anti-social, as respecting other nations. They 
 needed reformation, therefore, in an eminent degree. 
 
 III. Jesus. In this state of things among the Jews, 
 Jesus appeared. His parentage was obscure; His condition 
 poor; His education null; His natural endowments great; 
 His life correct and innocent; He was meek, benevolent, 
 patient, firm, disinterested, and of the sublimest eloquence. 
 
 The disadvantages under which His doctrines appear are 
 remarkable. 
 
 1. Like Socrates and Epictetus, He wrote nothing Him- 
 self. 
 
 2. But He had not, like them, a Xenophon or an Arrian 
 to write for Him. I name not Plato, who only used the 
 name of Socrates to cover the whimsies of his own brain. 
 On the contrary, all the learned of His country, intrenched 
 
 151
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 in its power and riches, were opposed to Him, lest His 
 labors should undermine their advantages; and the com- 
 mitting to writing His life and doctrines fell on unlettered 
 and ignorant men, who wrote, too, from memory, and not 
 till long after the transactions had passed. 
 
 3. According to the ordinary fate of those who attempt 
 to enlighten and reform mankind, He fell an early victim 
 to the jealousy and combination of the altar and the throne, 
 at about thirty-three years of age, His reason having not 
 yet attained the maximum of its energy, nor the course of 
 His preaching, which was but of three years at most, pre- 
 sented occasions for developing a complete system of 
 morals. 
 
 4. Hence the doctrines which He really delivered were 
 defective as a whole, and fragments only of what He did 
 deliver have come to us mutilated, misstated, and often un- 
 intelligible. 
 
 5. They have been still more disfigured by the corrup- 
 tions of schismatizing followers, who have found an in- 
 terest in sophisticating and perverting the simple doctrines 
 He taught, by engrafting on them the mysticisms of a 
 Grecian sophist, frittering them into subtleties, and ob- 
 scuring them with jargon, until they have caused good 
 men to reject the whole in disgust, and to view Jesus Him- 
 self as an impostor. 
 
 Notwithstanding these disadvantages, a system of 
 morals is presented to us which, if filled up in the style 
 and spirit of the rich fragments He left us, would be the 
 most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught by man. 
 
 The question of His being a member of the Godhead, 
 or in direct communication with it, claimed for Him by 
 some of His followers, and denied by others, is foreign 
 to the present view, which is merely an estimate of the 
 intrinsic merits of His doctrines. 
 
 152
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 1. He corrected the Deism of the Jews, confirming them 
 in their belief of one only God, and giving them juster no- 
 tions of His attributes and government. 
 
 2. His moral doctrines, relating to kindred and friends, 
 were more pure and perfect than those of the most correct 
 of the philosophers, and greatly more so than those of the 
 Jews; and they went far beyond both in inculcating uni- 
 versal philanthropy, not only to kindred and friends, to 
 neighbors and countrymen, but to all mankind, gathering 
 all into one family, under the bonds of love, charity, peace, 
 common wants, and common aids. A development of this 
 head will evince the peculiar superiority of the system of 
 Jesus over all others. 
 
 3. The precepts of philosophy, and of the Hebrew code, 
 laid hold of actions only. He pushed His scrutinies into 
 the heart of man; erected His tribunal in the region of his 
 thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain-head. 
 
 4. He taught, emphatically, the doctrines of a future 
 state, which was either doubted, or disbelieved by the Jews ; 
 and wielded it with efficacy, as an important incentive, sup- 
 plementary to the other motives to moral conduct. 
 
 On the Constitutionality of the Louisiana 
 Purchase 
 
 To Wilson C. Nicholas 
 
 MONTICELLO, September 7, 1803. 
 
 Dear Sir: I inclose you a letter from Monroe on the 
 subject of the late treaty. You will observe a hint in it, 
 to do without delay what we are bound to do. There is 
 reason, in the opinion of our ministers, to believe, that if 
 the thing were to do over again, it could not be obtained, 
 
 153
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 and that if we give the least opening they will declare the 
 treaty void. A warning amounting to that has been given 
 to them, and an unusual kind of letter written by their 
 minister to our Secretary of State, direct. Whatever Con- 
 gress shall think it necessary to do, should be done with 
 as little debate as possible, and particularly so far as re- 
 spects the constitutional difficulty. I am aware of the 
 force of the observations you make on the power given by 
 the Constitution to Congress, to admit new States into the 
 Union, without restraining the subject to the territory 
 then constituting the United States. But when I consider 
 that the limits of the United States are precisely fixed by 
 the treaty of 1783, that the Constitution expressly declares 
 itself to be made for the United States, I cannot help 
 believing the intention was not to permit Congress to admit 
 into the Union new States, which should be formed out of 
 the territory for which, and under whose authority alone, 
 they were then acting. I do not believe it was meant that 
 they might receive England, Ireland, Holland, etc., into it, 
 which would be the case on your construction. When an 
 instrument admits two constructions, the one safe, the 
 other dangerous, the one precise, the other indefinite, I 
 prefer that which is safe and precise. I had rather ask an 
 enlargement of power from the nation, where it is found 
 necessary, than to assume it by a construction which would 
 make our powers boundless. Our peculiar security is in 
 the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make 
 it a blank paper by construction. I say the same as to 
 the opinion of those who consider the grant of the treaty- 
 making power as boundless. If it is, then we have no 
 Constitution. If it has bounds, they can be no others than 
 the definitions of the powers which that instrument gives. 
 It specifies and delineates the operations permitted to the 
 federal government, and gives all the powers necessary to 
 
 154-
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 carry these into execution. Whatever of these enumerated 
 objects is proper for a law, Congress may make the law; 
 whatever is proper to be executed by way of a treaty, the 
 President and Senate may enter into the treaty; whatever 
 is to be done by a judicial sentence, the judges may pass 
 the sentence. Nothing is more likely than that their enu- 
 meration of powers is defective. This is the ordinary case 
 of all human works. Let us go on then perfecting it, by 
 adding, by way of amendment to the Constitution, those 
 powers which time and trial show are still wanting. But 
 it has been taken too much for granted, that by this rigor- 
 ous construction the treaty power would be reduced to 
 nothing. I had occasion once to examine its effect on the 
 French treaty, made by the old Congress, and found that 
 out of thirty odd articles which that contained, there were 
 one, two, or three only which could not now be stipulated 
 under our present Constitution. I confess, then, I think 
 it important, in the present case, to set an example against 
 broad construction, by appealing for new power to the 
 people. If, however, our friends shall think differently, 
 certainly I shall acquiesce with satisfaction; confiding, that 
 the good sense of our country will correct the evil of con- 
 struction when it shall produce ill effects. 
 
 Third Annual Message October 17, 1803 
 
 Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordi- 
 nary agitation produced in the public mind by the suspen- 
 sion of our right of deposit at the port of New Orleans, no 
 assignment of another place having been made according 
 to treaty. They were sensible that the continuance of that 
 privation would be more injurious to our nation than any 
 consequences which could flow from any mode of redress, 
 
 155
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 but reposing just confidence in the good faith of the Gov- 
 ernment whose officer had committed the wrong, friendly 
 and reasonable representations were resorted to, and the 
 right of deposit was restored. 
 
 Previous, however, to this period, we had not been un- 
 aware of the danger to which our peace would be perpetu- 
 ally exposed while so important a key to the commerce of 
 the Western country remained under foreign power. Diffi- 
 culties, too, were presenting themselves as to the navigation 
 of other streams, which, arising within our territories, pass 
 through those adjacent. Propositions had therefore been 
 authorized for obtaining, on fair conditions, the sover- 
 eignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that 
 quarter interesting to our quiet, to such extent as was 
 deemed practicable; and the provisional appropriation of 
 two millions of dollars, to be applied and accounted for 
 by the President of the United States, intended as part of 
 the price, was considered as conveying the sanction of Con- 
 gress to the acquisition proposed. The enlightened Gov- 
 ernment of France saw, with just discernment, the im- 
 portance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as 
 might best and permanently promote the peace, friendship, 
 and interests of both; and the property and sovereignty of 
 all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, have on 
 certain conditions been transferred to the United States 
 by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When 
 these shall have received the constitutional sanction of the 
 Senate, they will without delay be communicated to the 
 representatives also, for the exercise of their functions, as 
 to those conditions which are within the powers vested by 
 the Constitution in Congress. While the property and 
 sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an in- 
 dependent outlet for the produce of the Western States, 
 and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, 
 
 156
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 free from collision with other powers and the dangers to 
 our peace from that source, the fertility of the country, 
 its climate and extent, promise in due season important 
 aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, 
 and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom and 
 equal laws. 
 
 With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those 
 ulterior measures which may be necessary for the immedi- 
 ate occupation and temporary government of the country; 
 for its incorporation into our Union; for rendering the 
 change of government a blessing to our newly adopted 
 brethren ; for securing to them the rights of conscience and 
 of property; for confirming to the Indian inhabitants their 
 occupancy and self-government, establishing friendly and 
 commercial relations with them, and for ascertaining the 
 geography of the country acquired. Such materials for 
 your information, relative to its affairs in general, as the 
 short space of time has permitted me to collect, will be 
 laid before you when the subject shall be in a state for 
 your consideration. 
 
 On Learning and Agriculture 
 
 To David Williams 
 
 WASHINGTON, November 14, 1803. 
 
 Sir: The greatest evils of populous society have ever 
 appeared to me to spring from the vicious distribution of 
 its members among the occupations called for. I have no 
 doubt that those nations are essentially right, which leave 
 this to individual choice, as a better guide to an advan- 
 tageous distribution than any other which could be devised. 
 But when, by a blind concourse, particular occupations are 
 
 157
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ruinously overcharged, and others left in want of hands, 
 the national authorities can do much toward restoring the 
 equilibrium. On the revival of letters, learning became the 
 universal favorite. And with reason, because there was 
 not enough of it existing to manage the affairs of a nation 
 to the best advantage, nor to advance its individuals to the 
 happiness of which they were susceptible, by improvements 
 in their minds, their morals, their health, and in those con- 
 veniences which contribute to the comfort and embellish- 
 ment of life. All the efforts of the society, therefore, were 
 directed to the increase of learning, and the inducements 
 of respect, ease, and profit were held up for its encourage- 
 ment. Even the charities of the nation forgot that misery 
 was their object, and spent themselves in founding schools 
 to transfer to science the hardy sons of the plough. To 
 these incitements were added the powerful fascinations of 
 great cities. These circumstances have long since produced 
 an overcharge in the class of competitors for learned oc- 
 cupation, and great distress among the supernumerary 
 candidates; and the more, as their habits of life have dis- 
 qualified them for re-entering into the laborious class. 
 The evil cannot be suddenly, nor perhaps ever entirely 
 cured; nor should I presume to say by what means it may 
 be cured. Doubtless there are many engines which the 
 nation might bring to bear on this object. Public opinion, 
 and public encouragement are among these. The class 
 principally defective is that of agriculture. It is the first 
 in utility, and ought to be the first in respect. The same 
 artificial means which have been used to produce a com- 
 petition in learning, may be equally successful in restor- 
 ing agriculture to its primary dignity in the eyes of men. 
 It is a science of the very first order. It counts among 
 its handmaids the most respectable sciences, such as 
 Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Mechanics, Mathematics 
 
 158
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 generally, Natural History, Botany. In every College and 
 University, a professorship of agriculture, and the class of 
 its students, might be honored as the first. Young men 
 closing their academical education with this, as the crown 
 of all other sciences, fascinated with its solid charms, and 
 at a time when they are to choose an occupation, instead of 
 crowding the other classes, would return to the farms of 
 their fathers, their own, or those of others, and replenish 
 and invigorate a calling, now languishing under contempt 
 and oppression. The charitable schools, instead of storing 
 their pupils with a lore which the present state of society 
 does not call for, converted into schools of agriculture, 
 might restore them to that branch qualified to enrich and 
 honor themselves, and to increase the productions of the 
 nation instead of consuming them. A gradual abolition of 
 the useless offices, so much accumulated in all governments, 
 might close this drain also from the labors of the field, and 
 lessen the burdens imposed on them. By these, and the 
 better means which will occur to others, the surcharge of 
 the learned, might in time be drawn off to recruit the labor- 
 ing class of citizens, the sum of industry be increased, and 
 that of misery diminished. 
 
 Among the ancients, the redundance of population was 
 sometimes checked by exposing infants. To the moderns, 
 America has offered a more humane resource. Many, who 
 cannot find employment in Europe, accordingly come here. 
 Those who can labor do well, for the most part. Of the 
 learned class of emigrants, a small portion find employ- 
 ments analogous to their talents. But many fail, and re- 
 turn to complete their course of misery in the scenes where 
 it began. Even here we find too strong a current from the 
 country to the towns; and instances beginning to appear of 
 that species of misery, which you are so humanely en- 
 deavoring to relieve with you. Although we have in the 
 
 159
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 old countries of Europe the lesson of their experience to 
 warn us, yet I am not satisfied we shall have the firmness 
 and wisdom to profit by it. The general desire of men to 
 live by their heads rather than their hands, and the strong 
 allurements of great cities to those who have any turn for 
 dissipation, threaten to make them here, as in Europe, the 
 sinks of voluntary misery. I perceive, however, that I 
 have suffered my pen to run into a disquisition, when I had 
 taken it up only to thank you for the volume you had been 
 so kind as to send me, and to express my approbation of 
 it. After apologizing, therefore, for having touched on a 
 subject so much more familiar to you, and better under- 
 stood, I beg leave to assure you of my high consideration 
 and respect. 
 
 On the Danger of the National Bank to the 
 Government 
 
 To Albert Gallatin 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 13, 1803. 
 
 From a passage in the letter of the President, I ob- 
 serve an idea of establishing a branch bank of the United 
 States in New Orleans. This institution is one of the 
 most deadly hostility existing, against the principles and 
 form of our Constitution. The nation is, at this time, so 
 strong and united in its sentiments, that it cannot be 
 shaken at this moment. But suppose a series of untoward 
 events should occur, sufficient to bring into doubt the com- 
 petency of a republican government to meet the crisis of 
 great danger, or to unhinge the confidence of the people 
 in the public functionaries; an institution like this, pene- 
 trating by its branches" every part of the Union, acting by 
 
 160
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 command and in phalanx, may, in a critical moment, upset 
 the government. I deem no government safe which is 
 under the vassalage of any self-constituted authorities, or 
 any other authority than that of the nation, or its regular 
 functionaries. What an obstruction could not this bank of 
 the United States, with all its branch banks, be in time 
 of war! It might dictate to us the peace we should ac- 
 cept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to give further 
 growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile? That it is 
 so hostile we know: 1, from a knowledge of the principles 
 of the persons composing the body of directors in every 
 bank, principal or branch; and those of most of the stock- 
 holders; 2, from their opposition to the measures and 
 principles of the government, and to the election of those 
 friendly to them; and 3, from the sentiments of the 
 newspapers they support. Now, while we are strong, it 
 is the greatest duty we owe to the safety of our Constitu- 
 tion, to bring this powerful enemy to a perfect subordina- 
 tion under its authorities. The first measure would be to 
 reduce them to an equal footing only with other banks, as 
 to the favors of the government. But, in order to be able 
 to meet a general combination of the banks against us, in 
 a critical emergency, could we not make a beginning tow- 
 ard an independent use of our own money, toward hold- 
 ing our own bank in all the deposits where it is received, 
 and letting the treasurer give his draft or note for pay- 
 ment at any particular place, which, in a well-conducted 
 government, ought to have as much credit as any private 
 draft, or bank-note, or bill, and would give us the same 
 facilities which we derive from the banks ? 
 
 161
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Advance toward Reconciliation with John 
 Adams 
 
 To Mrs. John Adams 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 13, 1804. 
 
 Dear Madam: The affectionate sentiments which you 
 have had the goodness to express in your letter of May 
 the 20th, toward my dear departed daughter, have awak- 
 ened in me sensibilities natural to the occasion, and re- 
 called your kindnesses to her, which I shall ever remember 
 with gratitude and friendship. I can assure you with 
 truth, they had made an indelible impression on her mind, 
 and that to the last, on our meetings after long separa- 
 tions, whether I had heard lately of you, and how you did, 
 were among the earliest of her inquiries. In giving you 
 this assurance I perform a sacred duty for her, and, at 
 the same time, am thankful for the occasion furnished 
 me, of expressing my regret that circumstances should 
 have arisen, which have seemed to draw a line of separa- 
 tion between us. The friendship with which you honored 
 me has ever been valued, and fully reciprocated; and al- 
 though events have been passing which might be trying to 
 some minds, I never believed yours to be of that kind, 
 nor felt that my own was. Neither my estimate of your 
 character, nor the esteem founded in that, has ever been 
 lessened for a single moment, although doubts whether 
 it would be acceptable may have forbidden manifestations 
 of it 
 
 Mr. Adams' friendship and mine began at an earlier 
 date. It accompanied us through long and important 
 scenes. The different conclusions we had drawn from our 
 political reading and reflections, were not permitted to les- 
 
 162
 
 sen personal esteem, each party being conscious they were 
 the result of an honest conviction in the other. Like 
 differences of opinion existing among our fellow-citizens, 
 attached them to one or the other of us, and produced a 
 rivalship in their minds which did not exist in ours. We 
 never stood in one another's way; for if either had been 
 withdrawn at any time, his favorers would not have gone 
 over to the other, but would have sought for some one of 
 homogeneous opinions. This consideration was sufficient 
 to keep down all jealousy between us, and to guard our 
 friendship from any disturbance by sentiments of rival- 
 ship; and I can say with truth, that one act of Mr. Adams' 
 life, and one only, ever gave me a moment's personal dis- 
 pleasure. I did consider his last appointments to office as 
 personally unkind. They were from among my most 
 ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful co-opera- 
 tion could ever be expected, and laid me under the embar- 
 rassment of acting through men whose views were to de- 
 feat mine, or to encounter the odium of putting others in 
 their places. It seems but common justice to leave a suc- 
 cessor free to act by instruments of his own choice. If my 
 respect for him did not permit me to ascribe the whole 
 blame to the influence of others, it left something for 
 friendship to forgive, and after brooding over it for some 
 little time, and not always resisting the expression of it, 
 I forgave it cordially, and returned to the same state of 
 esteem and respect for him which had so long subsisted. 
 Having come into life a little later than Mr. Adams, his 
 career has preceded mine, as mine is followed by some 
 other; and it will probably be closed at the same distance 
 after him which time originally placed between us. I 
 maintain for him, and shall carry into private life, an uni- 
 form and high measure of respect and good-will, and for 
 yourself a sincere attachment. 
 
 163
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 I have thus, my dear Madam, opened myself to you 
 without reserve, which I have long wished an opportunity 
 of doing; and, without knowing how it will be received, 
 I feel relief from being unbosomed. And I have now 
 only to entreat your forgiveness for this transition from a 
 subject of domestic affliction, to one which seems of a dif- 
 ferent aspect. But though connected with political events, 
 it has been viewed by me most strongly in its unfortunate 
 bearings on my private friendships. The injury these 
 have sustained has been a heavy price for what has never 
 given me equal pleasure. That you may both be favored 
 with health, tranquillity, and long life is the prayer of one 
 who tenders you the assurance of his highest consideration 
 and esteem. 
 
 On the Loss of his Daughter 
 
 To Governor John Page 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 25, 1804. 
 
 Others may lose of their abundance, but I, of my want, 
 have lost even the half of all I had. My evening pros- 
 pects now hang on the slender thread of a single life. 
 Perhaps I may be destined to see even this last cord of 
 parental affection broken! The hope with which I had 
 looked forward to the moment, when, resigning public 
 cares to younger hands, I was to retire to that domestic 
 comfort from which the last great step is to be taken, 
 is fearfully blighted. When you and I look back on the 
 country over which we have passed, what a field of 
 slaughter does it exhibit! Where are all the friends who 
 entered it with us, under all the inspiring energies of 
 health and hope ? As if pursued by the havoc of war, they 
 
 Ifi-t
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 are strewed by the way, some earlier, some later, and 
 scarce a few stragglers remain to count the numbers 
 fallen, and to mark yet, by their own fall, the last foot- 
 steps of their party. Is it a desirable thing to bear up 
 through the heat of the action, to witness the death of all 
 our companions, and merely be the last victim? I doubt 
 it. We have, however, the traveller's consolation. Every 
 step shortens the distance we have to go; the end of our 
 journey is in sight, the bed wherein we are to rest, and 
 to rise in the midst of the friends we have lost. "We 
 sorrow not then as others who have no hope" ; but look 
 forward to the day which "joins us to the great majority." 
 But whatever is to be our destiny, wisdom, as well as 
 duty, dictates that we should acquiesce in the will of Him 
 whose it is to give and take away, and be contented in the 
 enjoyment of those who are still permitted to be with us. 
 Of those connected by blood, the number does not depend 
 on us. But friends we have, if we have merited them. 
 Those of our earliest years stand nearest in our affections. 
 But in this, too, you and I have been unlucky. Of our 
 college friends (and they are the dearest) how few have 
 stood with us in the great political questions which have 
 agitated our country; and these were of a nature to justify 
 agitation. I did not believe the Lilliputian fetters of that 
 day strong enough to have bound so many. Will not Mrs. 
 Page, yourself and family, think it prudent to seek a 
 healthier region for the months of August and September? 
 And may we not flatter ourselves that you will cast your 
 eye on Monticello? We have not many summers to live. 
 While fortune places us, then, within striking distance, let 
 us avail ourselves of it, to meet and talk over the tales of 
 other times. 
 
 165
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On Politics 
 
 To Judge John Tyler 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 28, 1804. 
 
 The terms in which you are so good as to express your 
 satisfaction with the course of the present administration 
 cannot but give me great pleasure. I may err in my meas- 
 ures, but never shall deflect from the intention to fortify 
 the public liberty by every possible means, and to put it 
 out of the power of the few to riot on the labors of the 
 many. No experiment can be more interesting than that 
 we are now trying, and which we trust will end in estab- 
 lishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and 
 truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open 
 to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual 
 hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, there- 
 fore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation 
 of their actions. The firmness with which the people have 
 withstood the late abuses of the press, the discernment they 
 have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that 
 they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and 
 false, and to form a correct judgment between them. As 
 little is it necessary to impose on their senses, or dazzle 
 their minds by pomp, splendor, or forms. Instead of this 
 artificial, how much surer is that real respect, which re- 
 sults from the use of their reason and the habit of bringing 
 everything to the test of common sense. 
 
 166
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 Qualifies Condemnation of Cities and Manu- 
 factures 
 
 / 
 
 To Mr. Lithson 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 4, 1805. 
 
 Mr. Duane informed me that he meant to publish a new 
 edition of the "Notes on Virginia/' and I had in contempla- 
 tion some particular alterations which would require little 
 time to make. My occupations by no means permit me at 
 this time to revise the text, and make those changes in it 
 which I should now do. I should in that case certainly 
 qualify several expressions in the nineteenth chapter, 
 which have been construed differently from what they were 
 intended. I had under my eye, when writing, the manu- 
 facturers of the great cities in the old countries, at the 
 present time, with whom the want of food and clothing 
 necessary to sustain life, has begotten a depravity of 
 morals, a dependence and corruption, which renders them 
 an undesirable accession to a country whose morals are 
 sound. My expressions looked forward to the time when 
 our own great cities would get into the same state. But 
 they have been quoted as if meant for the present time 
 here. As yet our manufacturers are as much at their ease, 
 as independent and moral as our agricultural inhabitants, 
 and they will continue so as long as there are vacant lands 
 for them to res&rt to; because whenever it shall be at- 
 tempted by the other classes to reduce them to the mini- 
 mum of subsistence, they will quit their trades and go to 
 laboring the earth. A first question is, Whether it is de- 
 sirable for us to receive at present the dissolute and 
 demoralized handicraftsmen of the old cities of Europe? 
 A second and more difficult one is, when even good handi- 
 
 167
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 craftsmen arrive here, is it better for them to set up their 
 trade, or go to the culture of the earth? Whether their 
 labor in their trade is worth more than their labor on the 
 soil, increased by the creative energies of the earth? Had 
 I time to revise that chapter, this question should be dis- 
 cussed, and other views of the subject taken, which are 
 presented by the wonderful changes which have taken 
 place here since 1781, when the "Notes on Virginia" were 
 written. Perhaps when I retire, I may amuse myself 
 with a serious review of this work; at present it is out of 
 the question. Accept my salutations and good wishes. 
 
 Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1805 
 
 Proceeding, fellow-citizens, to that qualification which 
 the Constitution requires before my entrance on the charge 
 again conferred upon me, it is my duty to express the deep 
 sense I entertain of this new proof of confidence from my 
 fellow-citizens at large, and the zeal with which it inspires 
 me, so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just 
 expectations. 
 
 On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared 
 the principles on which I believed it my duty to administer 
 the affairs of our commonwealth. My conscience tells me 
 that I have, on every occasion, acted up to that declaration, 
 according to its obvious import, and to the understanding 
 of every candid mind. 
 
 In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have en- 
 deavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and 
 especially of those with which we have the most important 
 relations. We have done them justice on all occasions, 
 favored where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual in- 
 terests and intercourse on fair and equal terms. We are 
 
 168
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 firmly convinced, and we act on that conviction, that with 
 nations, as with individuals, our interests soundly cal- 
 culated, will ever be found inseparable from our moral 
 duties; and history bears witness to the fact, that a just 
 nation is taken on its word, when recourse is had to arma- 
 ments, and wars to bridle others. 
 
 At home, fellow-citizens, you best know whether we 
 have done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary 
 offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us 
 to discontinue our internal taxes. These covering our land 
 with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had 
 already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which, 
 once entered, is scarcely to be restrained from reaching 
 successively every article of produce and property. If 
 among these taxes some minor ones fell which had not 
 been inconvenient, it was because their amount would not 
 have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if 
 they had any merit, the state authorities might adopt 
 them, instead of others less approved. 
 
 The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign 
 articles, is paid cheerfully by those who can afford to add 
 foreign luxuries to domestic comforts, being collected on 
 our seaboards and frontiers only, and incorporated with 
 the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the 
 pleasure and pride of an American to ask, What farmer, 
 what mechanic, what laborer, ever sees a tax-gatherer of 
 the United States? These contributions enable us to sup- 
 port the current expenses of the Government, to fulfil 
 contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native 
 right of soil within our limits, to extend those limits, and 
 to apply such a surplus to our public debts, as places at 
 a short day their final redemption, and that redemption 
 once effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just 
 repartition among the States, and a corresponding amend- 
 
 169
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ing of the Constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to 
 rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and 
 other great objects within each State. In time of war, if 
 injustice, by ourselves or others, must sometimes produce 
 war, increased as the same revenue will be increased by 
 population and consumption, and aided by other resources 
 reserved for that crisis, it may meet within the year all the 
 expenses of the year, without encroaching on the rights of 
 future generations by burdening them with the debts of 
 the past. War will then be but a suspension of useful 
 works, and a return to a state of peace a return to the 
 progress of improvement. 
 
 I have said, fellow-citizens, that the income reserved 
 had enabled us to extend our limits; but that extension 
 may possibly pay for itself before we are called on, and 
 in the meantime, may keep down the accruing interest; in 
 all events, it will repay the advances we have made. I 
 know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disap- 
 proved by some, from a candid apprehension that the en- 
 largement of our territory would endanger its union. But 
 who can limit the extent to which the federative principle 
 may operate effectively? The larger our association, the 
 less will it be shaken by local passions ; and in any view, 
 is it not better that the opposite bank of the Mississippi 
 should be settled by our own brethren and children, than 
 by strangers of another family? With which shall we be 
 most likely to live in harmony and friendly intercourse? 
 
 In matters of religion, I have considered that its free 
 exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the 
 powers of the General Government. I have therefore un- 
 dertaken, on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises 
 suited to it, but have left them, as the Constitution found 
 them, under the direction and discipline of State or Church 
 authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies. 
 
 170
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have re- 
 garded with the commiseration their history inspires. En- 
 dowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breath- 
 ing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and 
 occupying a country which left them no desire but to 
 be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population 
 from other regions directed itself on these shores; with- 
 out power to divert, or habits to contend against, they have 
 been overwhelmed by the current, or driven before it; now 
 reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter's state, 
 humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the 
 domestic arts; to encourage them to that industry which 
 alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence, 
 and to prepare them in time for that state of society, which 
 to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and 
 morals. We have therefore liberally furnished them with 
 the implements of husbandry and household use; we have 
 placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity ; 
 and they are covered with the aegis of the law against 
 aggressors from among ourselves. 
 
 But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which 
 awaits their present course of life, to induce them to ex- 
 ercise their reason, follow its dictates, and change their 
 pursuits with the change of circumstances, have powerful 
 obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of 
 their bodies, prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and 
 the influence of interested and crafty individuals among 
 them, who feel themselves something in the present order 
 of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These 
 persons inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the cus- 
 toms of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did, must be 
 done through all time; that reason is a false guide, and to 
 advance under its counsel, in their physical, moral, or 
 political condition, is perilous innovation; that their duty 
 
 171
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance being 
 safety, and knowledge full of danger ; in short, my friends, 
 among them is seen the action and counteraction of good 
 sense and bigotry; they, too, have their anti-philosophers, 
 who find an interest in keeping things in their present 
 state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties 
 to maintain the ascendancy of habit over the duty of im- 
 proving our reason, and obeying its mandates. 
 
 In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow-citizens, 
 to arrogate to myself the merit of the measures; that is 
 due, in the first place, to the reflecting character of our 
 citizens at large, who, by the weight of public opinion, 
 influence and strengthen the public measures ; it is due to 
 the sound discretion with which they select from among 
 themselves those to whom they confide the legislative 
 duties; it is due to the zeal and wisdom of the characters 
 thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness 
 in wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains 
 for others ; and it is due to the able and faithful auxiliaries, 
 whose patriotism has associated with me in the executive 
 functions. 
 
 During this course of administration, and in order to dis- 
 turb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against 
 us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise 
 or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to 
 freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch 
 as they tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its safety; 
 they might, indeed, have been corrected by the wholesome 
 punishments reserved and provided by the laws of the sev- 
 eral States against falsehood and defamation; but public 
 duties more urgent press on the time of public servants, 
 and the offenders have therefore been left to find their 
 punishment in the public indignation. 
 
 Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment 
 172
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of dis- 
 cussion, unaided by power^ is not sufficient for the propa- 
 gation and protection of truth whether a government, 
 conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with 
 zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be un- 
 willing the whole world should witness, can be written 
 down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has 
 been tried; you have witnessed the scene; our fellow-citi- 
 zens have looked on, cool and collected; they saw the latent 
 source from which these outrages proceeded; they gathered 
 around their public functionaries, and when the Constitution 
 called them to the decision by suffrage, they pronounced 
 their verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and 
 consolatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be 
 intrusted with his own affairs. 
 
 No inference is here intended, that the laws, provided 
 by the state against false and defamatory publications, 
 should not be enforced; he who has time renders a service 
 to public morals and public tranquillity, in reforming these 
 abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the ex- 
 periment is noted to prove that, since truth and reason 
 have maintained their ground against false opinions in 
 league with false facts, the press, confined to truth, needs 
 no other legal restraint; the public judgment will correct 
 false reasonings and opinions, on a full hearing of all 
 parties ; and no other definite line can be drawn between 
 the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing 
 licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this 
 rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in 
 the censorship of public opinion. 
 
 Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested 
 so generally, as auguring harmony and happiness to our 
 future course, I offer to our country sincere congratula- 
 tions. With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, 
 
 173
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 the disposition to do so is gaming strength ; facts are pierc- 
 ing through the veil drawn over them, and our doubting 
 brethren will at length see, that the mass of their fellow- 
 citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to 
 principles and measures, think as they think, and desire 
 what they desire; that our wish, as well as theirs, is, that 
 the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public 
 good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty 
 unassailed, law and order preserved, equality of rights 
 maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal, 
 which results to every man from his own industry, or that 
 of his fathers. When satisfied of these views, it is not in 
 human nature that they should not approve and support 
 them; in the meantime, let us cherish them with patient 
 affection; let us do them justice, and more than justice, in 
 all competitions of interest; and we need not doubt that 
 truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length pre- 
 vail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and 
 will complete their entire union of opinion, which gives to 
 a nation the blessing of harmony, and the benefit of all its 
 strength. 
 
 I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow-citi- 
 zens have again called me, and shall proceed in the spirit 
 of those principles which they have approved. I fear not 
 that any motives of interest may lead me astray; I am 
 sensible of no passion which could seduce me knowingly 
 from the path of justice; but the weakness of human nature 
 and the limits of my own understanding, will produce errors 
 of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests. I shall 
 need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experi- 
 enced the want of it will certainly not lessen with increas- 
 ing years. I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in 
 whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of 
 old, from their native land, and planted them in a country 
 
 174
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who 
 has covered our infancy with His providence, and our riper 
 years with His wisdom and power; and to whose goodness 
 'I ask you to join with me in supplications, that He will so 
 enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, 
 and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do, shall 
 result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, 
 friendship, and approbation of all nations. 
 
 On the Conduct of a Newspaper 
 
 To John Norvell 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 11, 1807. 
 
 To your request of my opinion of the manner in which 
 a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful, 
 I should answer, "by restraining it to true facts and sound 
 principles only." Yet I fear such a paper would find few 
 subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression 
 of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of 
 its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to 
 falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in 
 a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being 
 put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state 
 of misinformation is known only to those who are in situa- 
 tions to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies 
 of the day. I really look with commiseration over the great 
 body of my fellow-citizens, who, reading newspapers, live 
 and die in the belief, that they have known something of 
 what has been passing in the world in their time; whereas 
 the accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true 
 a history of any other period of the world as of the pres- 
 ent, except that the real names of the day are affixed to 
 
 175
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 their fables. General facts may indeed be collected from 
 them, such as that Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte 
 has been a successful warrior, that he has subjected a great 
 portion of Europe to his will, etc., etc. ; but no details can 
 be relied on. I will add, that the man who never looks into 
 a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, 
 inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than 
 lie whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. He 
 who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the 
 details are all false. 
 
 Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some 
 such way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters, 
 heading the 1st, Truths. 2d, Probabilities. 3d, Possi- 
 bilities. 4th, Lies. The first chapter would be very 
 short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers, 
 and information from such sources, as the editor would be 
 willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The 
 second would contain what, from a mature consideration of 
 all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be prob- 
 ably true. This, however, should rather contain too little 
 than too much. The third and fourth should be profess- 
 edly for those readers who would rather have lies for their 
 money than the blank paper they would occupy. 
 
 Such an editor, too, would have to set his face against 
 the demoralizing practice of feeding the public mind 
 habitually on slander, and the depravity of taste which this 
 nauseous aliment induces. Defamation is becoming a nec- 
 essary of life; insomuch, that a dish of tea in the morning 
 or evening cannot be digested without this stimulant. Even 
 those who do not believe these abominations, still read them 
 with complaisance to their auditors, and instead of the 
 abhorrence and indignation which should fill a virtuous 
 mind, betray a secret pleasure in the possibility that some 
 may believe them, though they do not themselves. It 
 
 176
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 seems to escape them, that it is not he who prints, but he 
 who pays for printing a slander, who is its real author. 
 
 On Torpedoes 
 
 To Col. Robert Fulton 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 16, 1807- 
 
 Sir: I consider your torpedoes as very valuable means 
 of the defence of harbors, and have no doubt that we should 
 adopt them to a considerable degree. Not that I go the 
 whole length (as I believe you do) of considering them as 
 solely to be relied on. Neither a nation nor those intrusted 
 with its affairs, could be justifiable, however sanguine its 
 expectations, in trusting solely to an engine not yet suffi- 
 ciently tried, under all the circumstances which may occur, 
 and against which we know not as yet what means of parry- 
 ing may be devised. If, indeed, the mode of attaching 
 them to the cable of a ship be the only one proposed, modes 
 of prevention cannot be difficult. But I have ever looked 
 to the submarine boat as most to be depended on for at- 
 taching them, and though I see no mention of it in your 
 letter, or your publications, I am in hopes it is not aban- 
 doned as impracticable. I should wish to see a corps of 
 young men trained to this service. It would belong to the 
 engineers if at hand, but being nautical, I suppose we must 
 have a corps of naval engineers, to practise and use them. 
 I do not know whether we have authority to put any part 
 of our existing naval establishment in a course of training, 
 but it shall be the subject of a consultation with the Sec- 
 retary of the Navy. General Dearborn has informed you 
 of the urgency of our want of you at New Orleans for the 
 locks there. I salute you with great respect and esteem. 
 
 177
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 Proposed Alliance with Great Britain 
 
 To the Secretary of State 
 (James Madison) 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 27, 1805. 
 
 I think you have misconceived the nature of the treaty 
 I thought we should propose to England. I have no idea 
 of committing ourselves immediately or independently of 
 our further will to the war. The treaty should be provi- 
 sional only, to come into force on the event of our being 
 engaged in war with either France or Spain during the pres- 
 ent war in Europe. In that event we should make com- 
 mon cause, and England should stipulate not to make peace 
 without our obtaining the objects for which we go to war, 
 to wit, the acknowledgment by Spain of the rightful boun- 
 daries of Louisiana (which we should reduce to our mini- 
 mum by a secret article) and indemnification for spolia- 
 tions, for which purpose we should be allowed to make 
 reprisal on the Floridas and retain them as an indemnifica- 
 tion. Our co-operation in the war (if we should actually 
 enter into it) would be sufficient consideration for Great 
 Britain to engage for its object; and it being generally 
 known to France and Spain that we had entered into treaty 
 with England, would probably insure us a peaceable and 
 immediate settlement of both points. But another motive 
 much more powerful would indubitably induce England to 
 go much further. Whatever ill-humor may at times have 
 been expressed against us by individuals of that country, 
 the first wish of every Englishman's heart is to see us once 
 more fighting by their sides against France; nor could the 
 King or his ministers do an act so popular as to enter into 
 an alliance with us. The nation would not weigh the con- 
 sideration by grains and scruples. They would consider it 
 
 178
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 as the price and pledge of an indissoluble friendship. I 
 think it possible that for such a provisional treaty they 
 would give us their general guarantee of Louisiana and the 
 Floridas. At any rate we might try them. A failure would 
 not make our situation worse. If such a one could be ob- 
 tained we might await our own convenience for calling up 
 the casus fcederis. I think it important that England 
 should receive an overture as early as possible, as it might 
 prevent her listening to terms of peace. If I recollect 
 rightly, we had instructed Moreau, when he went to Paris, 
 to settle the deposit; if he failed in that object to propose a 
 treaty to England immediately. We could not be more en- 
 gaged to secure the deposit then than we are the country 
 now, after paying fifteen millions for it. I do expect, 
 therefore, that, considering the present state of things as 
 analogous to that, and virtually within his instructions, he 
 will very likely make the proposition to England. 
 
 Introducing his Grandson Estimate of 
 Character 
 
 To Dr. Benjamin Rush 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 3, 1808. 
 
 Dear Sir: In the ensuing autumn, I shall be sending on 
 to Philadelphia a grandson of about fifteen years of age, 
 to whom I shall ask your friendly attentions. Without 
 that bright fancy which captivates, I am in hopes he pos- 
 sesses sound judgment and much observation; and, what I 
 value more than all things, good humor. For thus I esti- 
 mate the qualities of the mind : 1 , good humor ; 2, integrity ; 
 3, industry; 4, science. The preference of the first to the 
 
 179
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 second quality may not at first be acquiesced in; but cer- 
 tainly we had all rather associate with a good-humored, 
 light-principled man, than with an ill-tempered rigorist in 
 morality. 
 
 Urging Him to Run for Congress 
 
 To William Wirt, Esq. 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 10, 1808. 
 
 Dear Sir: I pray you that this letter may be sacredly 
 secret, because it meddles in a line wherein I should myself 
 think it wrong to intermeddle, were it not that it looks to 
 a period when I shall be out of office; but others might 
 think it wrong notwithstanding that circumstance. I sus- 
 pected, from your desire to go into the army, that you dis- 
 liked your profession, notwithstanding that your prospects 
 in it were inferior to none in the State. Still I know that 
 no profession is open to stronger antipathies than that of 
 the law. The object of this letter, then, is to propose to 
 you to come into Congress. That is the great commanding 
 theatre of this nation, and the threshold to whatever de- 
 partment of office a man is qualified to enter. With your 
 reputation, talents, and correct views, used with the neces- 
 sary prudence, you will at once be placed at the head of 
 the republican body in the House of Representatives; and 
 after obtaining the standing which a little time will insure 
 you, you may look, at your own will, into the military, the 
 judiciary, diplomatic, or other civil departments, with a cer- 
 tainty of being in either whatever you please. And in the 
 present state of what may be called the eminent talents of 
 our country, you may be 'assured of being engaged through 
 life in the most honorable employments. If you come in at 
 
 180
 
 the next election, you will begin your course with a new 
 administration. That administration will be opposed by a 
 faction, small in numbers, but governed by no principle but 
 the most envenomed malignity. They will endeavor to bat- 
 ter down the Executive before it will have time, by its pur- 
 ity and correctness, to build up a confidence with the people, 
 founded on experiment. By supporting them you will lay 
 for yourself a broad foundation in the public confidence, 
 and indeed you will become the Colossus of the republican 
 government of your country. I will not say that public life 
 is the line for making a fortune. But it furnishes a decent 
 and honorable support, and places one's children on good 
 grounds for public favor. The family of a beloved father 
 will stand with the public on the most favorable ground 
 of competition. Had General Washington left children, 
 what would have been denied to them? 
 
 Reasons for Refusing to Proclaim a Fast 
 
 To the Rev. Samuel Miller 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 23, 1808. 
 
 Sir: I consider the Government of the United States as 
 interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with re- 
 ligious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. 
 This results not only from the provision that no law shall 
 be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of 
 religion, but from that also which reserves to the States the 
 powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly, no 
 power to prescribe any religious exercise, or to assume 
 authority in religious discipline, has been delegated to the 
 General Government. It must then rest with the States, 
 as far as it can be in any human authority. But it is only 
 
 181
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 proposed that I should recommend, not prescribe a day of 
 fasting and prayer. That is, that I should indirectly as- 
 sume to the United States an authority over religious exer- 
 cises, which the Constitution has directly precluded them 
 from. It must be meant, too, that this recommendation is 
 to carry some authority, and to be sanctioned by some pen- 
 alty on those who disregard it; not indeed of fine and 
 imprisonment, but of some degree of proscription, perhaps 
 in public opinion. And does the change in the nature of 
 the penalty make the recommendation less a law of conduct 
 for those to whom it is directed? I do not believe it is for 
 the interest of religion to invite the civil magistrate to direct 
 its exercises, its discipline, or its doctrines ; nor of the re- 
 ligious societies, that the General Government should be 
 invested with the power of effecting any uniformity of time 
 or matter among them. Fasting and prayer are religious 
 exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every 
 religious society has a right to determine for itself the 
 times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, 
 according to their own particular tenets ; and this right can 
 never be safer than in their own hands, where the Consti- 
 tution has deposited it. 
 
 On Public Ownership 
 
 To William B. Bibb 
 
 MONTICELLO, July 28, 1808. 
 
 Sir: I received duly your favor of July 1st, covering 
 an offer of Mr. McDonald of an iron mine to the public, 
 and I thank you for taking the trouble of making the com- 
 munication, as it might have its utility. But having always 
 observed that public works are much less advantageously 
 
 182
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 managed than the same are by private hands, I have thought 
 it better for the public to go to market for whatever it 
 wants which is to be found there; for there competition 
 brings it down to the minimum of value. I have no doubt 
 we can buy brass cannon at market cheaper than we could 
 make iron ones. I think it material, too, not to abstract the 
 high executive officers from those functions which nobody 
 else is charged to carry on, and to employ them in super- 
 intending works which are going on abundantly in private 
 hands. Our predecessors went on different principles; 
 they bought iron mines, and sought for copper ones. We 
 own a mine at Harper's Ferry of the finest iron ever put 
 into a cannon, which we are afraid to attempt to work. 
 We have rented it heretofore, but it is now without a tenant. 
 
 Advice as to Conduct and Character 
 
 To Thomas Jefferson Randolph 
 
 WASHINGTON, November 24, 1808. 
 
 My dear Jefferson: . . . Your situation, thrown at 
 such a distance from us, and alone, cannot but give us all 
 great anxieties for you. As much has been secured for 
 you, by your particular position and the acquaintance to 
 which you have been recommended, as could be done 
 toward shielding you from the dangers which surround 
 you. But thrown on a wide world, among entire stran- 
 gers, without a friend or guardian to advise, so young, too, 
 and with so little experience of mankind, your dangers are 
 great, and still your safety must rest on yourself. A de- 
 termination never to do what is wrong, prudence, and good- 
 humor, will go far toward securing to you the estimation 
 of the world. When I recollect that at fourteen years of 
 
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 age, the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on 
 myself entirely, without a relation or friend qualified to ad- 
 vise or guide me, and recollect the various sorts of bad 
 company with which I associated from time to time, I am 
 astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and become 
 as worthless to society as they were. I had the good fort- 
 une to become acquainted very early with some characters 
 of very high standing, and to feel the incessant wish that I 
 could ever become what they were. Under temptations and 
 difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr. Small, Mr. 
 Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What 
 course in it will insure me their approbation? I am cer- 
 tain that this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more 
 to correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed. 
 Knowing the even and dignified line they pursued, I could 
 never doubt for a moment which of two courses would be 
 in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object 
 through a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaun- 
 diced eye of youth, I should often have erred. From the 
 circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the 
 society of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, scientific 
 and professional men, and of dignified men; and many a 
 time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of the 
 death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue of 
 a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great 
 council of the nation, well, which of these kinds of reputa- 
 tion should I prefer? That of a horse-jockey, a fox- 
 hunter, an orator, or the honest advocate of my country's 
 rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little 
 returns into ourselves, this self-catechising habit, is not 
 trifling nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection and 
 steady pursuit of what is right. 
 
 I have mentioned good-humor as one of the preservatives 
 of our peace and tranquillity. It is among the most effect- 
 
 184
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 ual, and its effect is so well imitated and aided, artificially, 
 by politeness, that this also becomes an acquisition of first- 
 rate value. In truth, politeness is artificial good humor, it 
 covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering 
 habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue. 
 It is the practice of sacrificing to those whom we meet in 
 society, all the little conveniences and preferences which 
 will gratify them, and deprive us of nothing worth a mo- 
 ment's consideration; it is the giving a pleasing and flatter- 
 ing turn to our expressions, which will conciliate others, and 
 make them pleased with us as well as themselves. How 
 cheap a price for the good will of another ! When this is 
 in return for a rude thing said by another, it brings him to 
 his senses, it mortifies and corrects him in the most salutary 
 way, and places him at the feet of your good nature in the 
 eyes of the company. But in stating prudential rules for 
 our government in society, I must not omit the important 
 one of never entering into dispute or argument with another. 
 I never saw an instance of one of two disputants convinc- 
 ing the other by argument. I have seen many, on their 
 getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one another. 
 Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasoning, 
 either in solitude, or weighing within ourselves, dispas- 
 sionately, what we hear from others, standing uncommit- 
 ted in argument ourselves. It was one of the rules which, 
 above all others, made Dr. Franklin the most amiable 
 of men in society, "never to contradict anybody." If he 
 was urged to announce an opinion, he did it rather by ask- 
 ing questions, as if for information, or by suggesting 
 doubts. When I hear another express an opinion which is 
 not mine, I say to myself, He has a right to his opinion, as 
 I to mine; why should I question it? His error does me 
 no injury, and shall I become a Don Quixote, to bring all 
 men by force of argument to one opinion? If a fact be 
 
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 misstated, it is probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and 
 I have no right to deprive him of the gratification. If he 
 wants information, he will ask it, and then I will give it 
 in measured terms ; but if he still believes his own story, 
 and shows a desire to dispute the fact with me, I hear him 
 and say nothing. It is his affair, not mine, if he prefers 
 error. There are two classes of disputants most frequently 
 to be met with among us. The first is of young students, 
 just entered the threshold of science, with a first view of 
 its outlines, not yet filled up with the details and modifica- 
 tions which a further progress would bring to their knowl- 
 edge. The other consists of the ill-tempered and rude men 
 in society, who have taken up a passion for politics. (Good- 
 humor and politeness never introduce into mixed society, 
 a question on which they foresee there will be a difference 
 here of opinion.) From both of these classes of dispu- 
 tants, my dear Jefferson, keep aloof, as you would from 
 the infected subjects of yellow fever or pestilence. Con- 
 sider yourself, when with them, as among the patients of 
 Bedlam, needing medical more than moral counsel. Be a 
 listener only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to estab- 
 lish with yourself the habit of silence, especially on politics. 
 In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result 
 from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to 
 rights, either in fact or principle. They are determined 
 as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which 
 they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by 
 an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the 
 road with such an animal. You will be more exposed 
 than others to have these animals shaking their horns at 
 you, because of the relation in which you stand with me. 
 Full of political venom, and willing to see me and to hate 
 me as a chief in the antagonist party, your presence will 
 be to them what the vomit grass is to the sick dog, a 
 
 186
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 nostrum for producing ejaculation. Look upon them ex- 
 actly with that eye, and pity them as objects to whom 
 you can administer only occasional ease. My character is 
 not within their power. It is in the hands of my fellow- 
 citizens at large, and will be consigned to honor or infamy 
 by the verdict of the republican mass of oui country, ac- 
 cording to what themselves will have seen, not what their 
 enemies and mine shall have said. Never, therefore, con- 
 sider these puppies in politics as requiring any notice 
 from you, and always show that you are not afraid to 
 leave my character to the umpirage of public opinion. 
 Look steadily to the pursuits which have carried you to 
 Philadelphia, be very select in the society you attach 
 yourself to, avoid taverns, drinkers, smokers, idlers, and 
 dissipated persons generally; for it is with such that 
 broils and contentions arise, and you will find your path 
 more easy and tranquil. The limits of my paper warn me 
 that it is time for me to close with my affectionate adieu. 
 
 Valedictory to Congress December, 1808 
 
 Last Annual Message 
 
 Availing myself of this the last occasion which will 
 occur of addressing the two houses of the Legislature at 
 their meeting, I cannot omit the expression of my sincere 
 gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence manifested 
 to me by themselves and their predecessors since my call 
 to the administration, and the many indulgences experi- 
 enced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments 
 are due to my fellow-citizens generally, whose support 
 Las been my great encouragement under all embarrass- 
 ments. In the transaction of their business I cannot have 
 
 187
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 escaped error. It is incident to our imperfect nature. But 
 I may say with truth, my errors have been of the under- 
 standing, not of intention; and that the advancement of 
 their rights and interests has been the constant motive for 
 every measure. On these considerations I solicit their in- 
 dulgence. Looking forward with anxiety to their future 
 destinies, I trust that in their steady character unshaken 
 by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law, 
 and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guar- 
 antee of the permanence of our Republic; and retiring 
 from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me the con- 
 solation of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for 
 our beloved country long ages to come of prosperity and 
 happiness. 
 
 Advice to Indian Chiefs 
 
 To Captain Hendrick, the Delarvares, Mohicans, and 
 Munries 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 21, 1808. 
 
 My Son and my Children: I am glad to see you here, to 
 receive your salutations, and to return them by taking you 
 by the hand, and renewing to you the assurances of my 
 friendship. I learn with pleasure that the Miamis and 
 Powtawatamies have given you some of their lands on the 
 White River to live on, and that you propose to gather there 
 your scattered tribes, and to dwell on it all your days. 
 
 The picture which you have drawn, my son, of the in- 
 crease of our numbers and the decrease of yours is just, 
 the causes are very plain, and the remedy depends on 
 yourselves alone. You have lived by hunting the deer and 
 buffalo all these have been driven westward; you have 
 
 188
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 sold out on the sea-board and moved westwardly in pur- 
 suit of them. As they became scarce there, your food has 
 failed you; you have been a part of every year without 
 food, except the roots and other unwholesome things you 
 could find in the forest. Scanty and unwholesome food 
 produce diseases and death among your children, and 
 hence you have raised few and your numbers have de- 
 creased. Frequent wars, too, and the abuse of spirituous 
 liquors, have assisted in lessening your numbers. The 
 whites, on the other hand, are in the habit of cultivating 
 the earth, of raising stocks of cattle, hogs, and other 
 domestic animals, in much greater numbers than they could 
 kill of deer and buffalo. Having always a plenty of food 
 and clothing they raise abundance of children, they double 
 their numbers every twenty years, the new swarms are 
 continually advancing upon the country like flocks of 
 pigeons, and so they will continue to do. Now, my chil- 
 dren, if we wanted to diminish our numbers, we would give 
 up the culture of the earth, pursue the deer and buffalo, 
 and be always at war; this would soon reduce us to be as 
 few as you are, and if you wish to increase your numbers 
 you must give up the deer and buffalo, live in peace, and 
 cultivate the earth. You see then, my children, that it 
 depends on yourselves alone to become a numerous and 
 great people. Let me entreat you, therefore, on the lands 
 now given you to begin to give every man a farm; let him 
 enclose it, cultivate it, build a warm house on it, and when 
 he dies, let it belong to his wife and children after him. 
 Nothing is so easy as to learn to cultivate the earth; all 
 your women understand it, and to make it easier, we are 
 always ready to teach you how to make ploughs, hoes, and 
 necessary utensils. If the men will take the labor of the 
 earth from the women they will learn to spin and weave 
 and to clothe their families. In this way you will also 
 
 189
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 raise many children, you will double your numbers every 
 twenty years, and soon fill the land your friends have given 
 you, and your children will never be tempted to sell the 
 spot on which they have been born, raised, have labored 
 and called their own. When once you have property, you 
 will want laws and magistrates to protect your property 
 and persons, and to punish those among you who commit 
 crimes. You will find that our laws are good for this 
 purpose; you will wish to live under them, you will unite 
 yourselves with us, join in our Great Councils and form 
 one people with us, and we shall all be Americans; you 
 will mix with us by marriage, your blood will run in our 
 veins, and will spread with us over this great island. In- 
 stead, then, my children, of the gloomy prospect you have 
 drawn of your total disappearance from the face of the 
 earth, which is true, if you continue to hunt the deer and 
 buffalo and go to war, you see what a brilliant aspect is 
 offered to our future history, if you give up war and hunt- 
 ing. Adopt the culture of the earth and raise domestic 
 animals; you see how from a small family you may become 
 a great nation by adopting the course which from the small 
 beginning you describe has made us a great nation. 
 
 My children, I will give you a paper declaring your right 
 to hold, against all persons, the lands given you by the 
 Miamis and Powtawatamies, and that you never can sell 
 them without their consent. But I must tell you that if 
 ever they and you agree to sell, no paper which I can give 
 you can prevent your doing what you please with your 
 own. The only way to prevent this is to give to every one 
 of your people a farm, which shall belong to him and his 
 family, and which the nation shall have no right to take 
 from them and sell; in this way alone can you insure the 
 lands to your descendants through all generations, and that 
 it shall never be sold from under their feet. It is not the 
 
 190
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 keeping your lands which will keep your people alive on 
 them after the deer and buffalo shall have left them; it 
 is the cultivating them alone which can do that. The hun- 
 dredth part in corn and cattle will support you better than 
 the whole in deer and buffalo. 
 
 My son Hendrick, deliver these words to your people. 
 I have spoken to them plainly, that they may see what is 
 before them, and that it is in their own power to go on 
 dwindling to nothing, or to become again a great people. 
 It is for this reason I wish them to live in peace with all 
 people, to teach their young men to love agriculture, 
 rather than war and hunting. Let these words sink deep 
 in their hearts, and let them often repeat them and consider 
 them. Tell them that I hold them fast by the hand, and 
 that I will ever be their friend to advise and to assist them 
 in following the true path to their future happiness. 
 
 On Manufactures 
 
 To Thomas Leiper 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 21, 180Q. 
 
 I have lately inculcated the encouragement of manufact- 
 ures to the extent of our own consumption, at least, in all 
 articles of which we raise the raw material. On this the 
 federal papers and meetings have sounded the alarm of 
 Chinese policy, destruction of commerce, etc.; that is to 
 say, the iron which we make must not be wrought here 
 into ploughs, axes, hoes, etc., in order that the ship- 
 owner may have the profit of carrying it to Europe, and 
 bringing it back in a manufactured form, as if after manu- 
 facturing our own raw materials for our own use, there 
 would not be a surplus produce sufficient to employ a due 
 
 191
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 proportion of navigation in carrying it to market and ex- 
 changing it for those articles of which we have not the 
 raw material. Yet this absurd hue and cry has contributed 
 much to federalize New England; their doctrine goes to 
 the sacrificing agriculture and manufactures to commerce ; 
 to the calling all our people from the interior country to 
 the sea-shore to turn merchants, and to convert this great 
 agricultural country into a city of Amsterdam. But I trust 
 the good sense of our country will see that its greatest 
 prosperity depends on a due balance between agriculture, 
 manufactures, and commerce, and not in this protuberant 
 navigation which has kept us in hot water from the com- 
 mencement of our Government, and is now engaging us 
 in war. That this may be avoided, if it can be done with- 
 out a surrender of rights, is my sincere prayer. Accept 
 the assurances of my constant esteem and respect. 
 
 On the Annexation of Cuba 
 
 To the President of the United States 
 (James Madison) 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 27, 1809- 
 
 As to Bonaparte, I should not doubt the revocation of his 
 edicts were he governed by reason. But his policy is so 
 crooked that it eludes conjecture. . . . He ought the 
 more to conciliate our good will, as we can be such an ob- 
 stacle to the new career opening on him in the Spanish 
 colonies. That he would give us the Floridas to withhold 
 intercourse with the residue of those colonies, cannot be 
 doubted. But that is no price; because they are ours in 
 the first moment of the first war; and until a war they are 
 of no particular necessity to us. But, although with diffi- 
 culty, he will consent to our receiving Cuba into our Union, 
 
 192
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 to prevent our aid to Mexico and the other provinces. That 
 would be a price, and I would immediately erect a column 
 on the southernmost limit of Cuba, and inscribe on it a ne 
 plus ultra as to us in that direction. We should then have 
 only to include the North in our Confederacy, which would 
 be of course in the first war, and we should have such an 
 empire for Liberty as she has never surveyed since the 
 creation; and I am persuaded no constitution was ever be- 
 fore so well calculated as ours for extensive empire and 
 self-government. As the Mentor went away before this 
 change, and will leave France probably while it is still a 
 secret in that hemisphere, I presume the expediency of pur- 
 suing her by a swift sailing despatch was considered. It 
 will be objected to our receiving Cuba, that no limit can 
 then be drawn to our future acquisitions. Cuba can be de- 
 fended by us without a navy, and this develops the prin- 
 ciple which ought to limit our views. Nothing should ever 
 be accepted which would require a navy to defend it. 
 
 On the Choice of a Profession 
 
 To Judge David Campbell 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 28, 1810. 
 
 Law is quite overdone. It is fallen to the ground, and a 
 man must have great powers to raise himself in it to either 
 honor or profit. The mob of the profession get as little 
 money and less respect than they would by digging the 
 earth. The followers of Esculapius are also numerous. 
 Yet I have remarked that wherever one sets himself down in 
 a good neighborhood, not pre-occupied, he secures to himself 
 its practice, and if prudent, is not long in acquiring whereon 
 to retire and live in comfort. The physician is happy in the 
 
 193
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 attachment of the families in which he practises. All think 
 he has saved some one of them, and he finds himself every- 
 where a welcome guest, a home in every house. If, to the 
 consciousness of having saved some lives, he can add that of 
 having at no time, from want of caution, destroyed the boon 
 he was called on to save, he will enjoy, in age, the happy 
 reflection of not having lived in vain; while the lawyer has 
 only to recollect how many, by his dexterity, have been 
 cheated of their right and reduced to beggary. 
 
 On his Manner of Life 
 
 To General Thaddeus Kosciusko 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 26, 1810. 
 
 So much as to my country. Now a word as to myself. 
 I am retired to Monticello, where, in the bosom of my fam- 
 ily, and surrounded by my books, I enjoy a repose to which 
 I have been long a stranger. My mornings are devoted to 
 correspondence. From breakfast to dinner, I am in my 
 shops, my garden, or on horseback among my farms; from 
 dinner to dark, I give to society and recreation with my 
 neighbors and friends; and from candle-light to early bed- 
 time, I read. My health is perfect; and my strength con- 
 siderably reenforced by the activity of the course I pursue; 
 perhaps it is as great as usually falls to the lot of near 
 sixty-seven years of age. I talk of ploughs and harrows, 
 of seeding and harvesting, with my neighbors, and of poli- 
 tics, too, if they choose, with as little reserve as the rest of 
 my fellow-citizens, and feel, at length, the blessing of being 
 free to say and do what I please, without being responsible 
 for it to any mortal. A part of my occupation, and by no 
 means the least pleasing, is the direction of the studies of 
 
 194
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 such young men as ask it. They place themselves in the 
 neighboring village, and have the use of my library and 
 counsel, and make a part of my society. In advising the 
 course of their reading, I endeavor to keep their attention 
 fixed on the main objects of all science, the freedom and 
 happiness of man. So that coming to bear a share in the 
 councils and governments of their country, they will keep 
 ever in view the sole objects of all legitimate government. 
 
 On the Breeding of Kings 
 
 To Governor John Langdon 
 
 MONTICELLO, March 5, 1810. 
 
 When I observed, that the King of England was a cipher, 
 I did not mean to confine the observation to the mere indi- 
 vidual now on that throne. The practice of Kings marry- 
 ing only in the families of Kings has been that of Europe 
 for some centuries. Now, take any race of animals, confine 
 them in idleness and inaction, whether in a sty, a stable, 
 or a state-room, pamper them with high diet, gratify all 
 their sexual appetites, immerse them in sensualities, nourish 
 their passions, let everything bend before them, and banish 
 whatever might lead them to think, and in a few generations 
 they become all body and no mind ; and this, too, by a law of 
 nature, by that very law by which we are in the constant 
 practice of changing the characters and propensities of 
 the animals we raise for our own purposes. Such is the reg- 
 imen in raising Kings, and in this way they have gone on 
 for centuries. While in Europe, I often amused myself 
 with contemplating the characters of the then reigning sov- 
 ereigns of Europe. Louis the XVI. was a fool, of my own 
 knowledge, and in despite of the answers made for him at 
 
 195
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 his trial. The King of Spain was a fool, and of Naples the 
 same. They passed their lives in hunting, and despatched 
 two couriers a week, one thousand miles, to let each 
 other know what game they had killed the preceding days. 
 The King of Sardinia was a fool. All these were Bourbons. 
 The Queen of Portugal, a Braganza, was an idiot by nature. 
 And so was the King of Denmark. Their sons, as regents, 
 exercised the powers of government. The King of Prussia, 
 successor to the great Frederick, was a mere hog in body as 
 well as in mind. Gustavus of Sweden, and Joseph of 
 Austria, were really crazy, and George of England, you 
 know, was in a strait-waistcoat. There remained, then, 
 none but old Catharine, who had been too lately picked up 
 to have lost her common sense. In this state Bonaparte 
 found Europe; and it was this state of its rulers which lost 
 it with scarce a struggle. These animals had become with- 
 out mind and powerless; and so will every hereditary mon- 
 arch be after a few generations. Alexander, the grandson 
 of Catharine, is as yet an exception. He is able to hold his 
 own. But he is only of the third generation. His race is 
 not yet worn out. And so endeth the book of Kings, from 
 all of whom the Lord deliver us, and have you, my friend, 
 and all such good men and true, in His holy keeping. 
 
 Account of Break with Adams 
 
 To Doctor Benjamin Rush 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 16, 1811. 
 
 Dear Sir: I receive with sensibility your observations on 
 the discontinuance of friendly correspondence between Mr. 
 Adams and myself, and the concern you take in its restora- 
 tion. This discontinuance has not proceeded from me, nor 
 
 196
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 from the want of sincere desire and of effort on my part, to 
 renew our intercourse. You know the perfect coincidence of 
 principle and of action, in the early part of the Revolution, 
 which produced a high degree of mutual respect and esteem 
 between Mr. Adams and myself. Certainly no man was 
 ever truer than he was, in that day, to those principles of 
 rational republicanism which, after the necessity of throw- 
 ing off our monarchy, dictated all our efforts in the estab- 
 lishment of a new government. And although he swerved, 
 afterward, toward the principles of the English constitution, 
 our friendship did not abate on that account. While he was 
 Vice-President, and I Secretary of State, I received a letter 
 from President Washington, then at Mount Vernon, desir- 
 ing me to call together the heads of departments, and to in- 
 vite Mr. Adams to join us (which, by the bye, was the only 
 instance of that being done) in order to determine on some 
 measure which required despatch; and he desired me to 
 act on it, as decided, without again recurring to him. I in- 
 vited them to dine with me, and after dinner, sitting at our 
 wine, having settled our question, other conversation came 
 on, in which a collision of opinion arose between Mr. Adams 
 and Colonel Hamilton, on the merits of the British constitu- 
 tion, Mr. Adams giving it as his opinion, that, if some of its 
 defects and abuses were corrected, it would be the most per- 
 fect constitution of government ever devised by man. Ham- 
 ilton, on the contrary, asserted that, with its existing vices, 
 it was the most perfect model of government that could be 
 formed; and that the correction of its vices would render it 
 an impracticable government. And this you may be as- 
 sured was the real line of difference between the political 
 principles of these two gentlemen. Another incident took 
 place on the same occasion, which will further delineate Mr. 
 Hamilton's political principles. The room being hung 
 around with a collection of the portraits of remarkable men, 
 
 197
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 among them those of Bacon, Newton, and Locke, Ham- 
 ilton asked me who they were. I told him they were my 
 trinity of the three greatest men the world had ever pro- 
 duced, naming them. He paused for some time: "The 
 greatest man," said he, "that ever lived, was Julius Caesar." 
 Mr. Adams was honest as a politician, as well as a man ; 
 Hamilton honest as a man, but, as a politician, believing in 
 the necessity of either force or corruption to govern men. 
 
 You remember the machinery which the federalists played 
 off, about that time, to beat down the friends to the real 
 principles of our Constitution, to silence by terror every 
 expression in their favor, to bring us into war with France 
 and alliance with England, and finally to homologize our 
 Constitution with that of England. Mr. Adams, you know, 
 was overwhelmed with feverish addresses, dictated by the 
 fear, and often by the pen, of the bloody buoy, and was se- 
 duced by them into some open indications of his new prin- 
 ciples of government, and, in fact, was so elated as to mix 
 with his kindness a little superciliousness toward me. Even 
 Mrs. Adams, with all her good sense and prudence, was sen- 
 sibly flushed. And you recollect the short suspension of our 
 intercourse, and the circumstance which gave rise to it, 
 which you were so good as to bring to an early explanation, 
 and have set to rights, to the cordial satisfaction of us all. 
 The nation at length passed condemnation on the political 
 principles of the federalists, by refusing to continue Mr. 
 Adams in the Presidency. On the day on which we learned 
 in Philadelphia the vote of the city of New York, which it 
 was well known would decide the vote of the State, and 
 that, again, the vote of the Union, I called on Mr. Adams 
 on some official business. He was very sensibly affected, 
 and accosted me with these words: "Well, I understand 
 that you are to beat me in this contest, and I will only say 
 that I will be as faithful a subject as any you will have." 
 
 198
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 "Mr. Adams," said I, "this is no personal contest between 
 you and me. Two systems of principles on the subject of 
 government divide our fellow-citizens into two parties. 
 With one of these you concur, and I with the other. As we 
 have been longer on the public stage than most of those now 
 living, our names happen to be more generally known. One 
 of these parties, therefore, has put your name at its head, 
 the other mine. Were we both to die to-day, to-morrow two 
 other names would be in the place of ours, without any 
 change in the motion of the machinery. Its motion is from 
 its principle, not from you or myself." "I believe you are 
 right," said he, "that we are but passive instruments, and 
 should not suffer this matter to affect our personal disposi- 
 tions." But he did not long retain this just view of the sub- 
 ject. I have always believed that the thousand calumnies 
 which the federalists, in bitterness of heart, and mortifica- 
 tion at their ejection, daily invented against me, were carried 
 to him by their busy intriguers, and made some impression. 
 When the election between Burr and myself was kept in 
 suspense by the federalists, and they were meditating to 
 place the President of the Senate at the head of the Govern- 
 ment, I called on Mr. Adams with a view to have this des- 
 perate measure prevented by his negative. He grew warm 
 in an instant, and said with a vehemence he had not used 
 toward me before, "Sir, the event of the election is within 
 your own power. You have only to say you will do jus- 
 tice to the public creditors, maintain the navy, and not dis- 
 turb those holding offices and the Government will instantly 
 be put into your hands. We know it is the wisli of the peo- 
 ple it should be so." "Mr. Adams," said I, "I know not 
 what part of my conduct, in either public or private life, can 
 have authorized a doubt of my fidelity to the public engage- 
 ments. I say, however, I will not come into the Government 
 by capitulation. I will not enter on it, but in perfect free- 
 
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 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 dom to follow the dictates of my own judgment." I had 
 before given the same answer to the same intimation from 
 Gouverneur Morris. "Then," said he, "things must take 
 their course." I turned the conversation to something else, 
 and soon took my leave. It was the first time in our lives 
 we had ever parted with anything like dissatisfaction. And 
 then followed those scenes of midnight appointment, which 
 have been condemned by all men. The last day of his po- 
 litical power, the last hours, and even beyond the midnight, 
 were employed in filling all offices, and especially permanent 
 ones, with the bitterest federalists, and providing for me the 
 alternative, either to execute the Government by my enemies, 
 whose study it would be to thwart and defeat all my meas- 
 ures, or to incur the odium of such numerous removals from 
 office, as might bear me down. A little time and reflection 
 effaced in my mind this temporary dissatisfaction with Mr. 
 Adams, and restored me to that just estimate of his virtues 
 and passions, which a long acquaintance had enabled me to 
 fix. And my first wish became that of making his retire- 
 ment easy by any means in my power, for it was understood 
 he was not rich. I suggested to some republican members 
 of the delegation from his State, the giving him, either 
 directly or indirectly, an office, the most lucrative in that 
 State, and then offered to be resigned, if they thought he 
 would not deem it affrontive. They were of opinion he 
 would take great offence at the offer ; and moreover, that the 
 body of Republicans would consider such a step in the out- 
 set as auguring very ill of the course I meant to pursue. I 
 dropped the idea, therefore, but did not cease to wish for 
 some opportunity of renewing our friendly understanding. 
 Two or three years after, having had the misfortune to 
 lose a daughter, between whom and Mrs. Adams there had 
 been a considerable attachment, she made it the occasion of 
 writing me a letter, in which, with the tenderest expressions 
 
 200
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 of concern at this event, she carefully avoided a single one 
 of friendship toward myself, and even concluded it with 
 the wishes "of her who once took pleasure in subscribing 
 herself your friend, Abigail Adams." Unpromising as was 
 the complexion of this letter, I determined to make an effort 
 toward removing the cloud from between us. This brought 
 on a correspondence which I now enclose for your perusal, 
 after which be so good as to return it to me, as I have 
 never communicated it to any mortal breathing, before. I 
 send it to you, to convince you I have not been wanting 
 either in the desire, or the endeavor to remove this misunder- 
 standing. Indeed, I thought it highly disgraceful to us 
 both, as indicating minds not sufficiently elevated to prevent 
 a public competition from affecting our personal friendship. 
 I soon found from the correspondence that conciliation was 
 desperate, and yielding to an intimation in her last letter, I 
 ceased from further explanation. I have the same good 
 opinion of Mr. Adams which I ever had. I know him to 
 be an honest man, an able one with his pen, and he was 
 a powerful advocate on the floor of Congress. He has been 
 alienated from me, by belief in the lying suggestions, 
 contrived for electioneering purposes, that I perhaps mixed 
 in the activity and intrigues of the occasion. My most 
 intimate friends can testify that I was perfectly passive. 
 They would sometimes, indeed, tell me what was going 
 on; but no man ever heard me take part in such conversa- 
 tions ; and none ever misrepresented Mr. Adams in my pres- 
 ence, without my asserting his just character. With very 
 confidential persons I have doubtless disapproved of the 
 principles and practices of his administration. This was 
 unavoidable. But never with those with whom it could do 
 him any injury. Decency would have required this conduct 
 from me, if disposition had not; and I am satisfied Mr. 
 Adams's conduct was equally honorable toward me. But 
 
 201
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 I think it part of his character to suspect foul play in 
 those of whom he is jealous, and not easily to relinquish 
 his suspicions. 
 
 I have gone, my dear friend, into these details, that you 
 might know everything which had passed between us, might 
 be fully possessed of the state of facts and dispositions, 
 and j udge for yourself whether they admit a revival of that 
 friendly intercourse for which you are so kindly solicitous. 
 I shall certainly not be wanting in anything on my part 
 which may second your efforts, which will be the easier with 
 me, inasmuch as I do not entertain a sentiment of Mr. 
 Adams, the expression of which could give him reasonable 
 offence. And I submit the whole to yourself, with the 
 assurance that whatever be the issue, my friendship and 
 respect for yourself will remain unaltered and unalterable. 
 
 Personalia 
 
 To Dr. Benjamin Rush 
 
 POPLAR FOREST, August 17, 1811. 
 
 Dear Sir: I write to you from a place ninety miles from 
 Monticello, near the New London of this State, which I 
 visit three or four times a year, and stay from a fortnight 
 to a month at a time. I have fixed myself comfortably, 
 keep some books here, bring others occasionally, am in the 
 solitude of a hermit, and quite at leisure to attend to my 
 absent friends. I note this to show that I am not in a 
 situation to examine the dates of our letters, whether I 
 have overgone the annual period of asking how you do? 
 I know that within that time I have received one or more 
 letters from you, accompanied by a volume of your intro- 
 ductory lectures, for which accept my thanks. I have read
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 them with pleasure and edification, for I acknowledge 
 facts in medicine as far as they go, distrusting only their 
 extension by theory. Having to conduct my grandson 
 through his course of mathematics, I have resumed that 
 study with great avidity. It was ever my favorite one. We 
 have no theories there, no uncertainties remain on the mind ; 
 all is demonstration and satisfaction. I have forgotten 
 much, and recover it with more difficulty than when in the 
 vigor of my mind I originally acquired it. It is wonderful 
 to me that old men should not be sensible that their minds 
 keep pace with their bodies in the progress of decay. Our 
 old Revolutionary friend Clinton, for example, who was a 
 hero, but never a man of mind, is wonderfully jealous on 
 this head. He tells eternally the stories of his younger days 
 to prove his memory, as if memory and reason were the 
 same faculty. Nothing betrays imbecility so much as the 
 being insensible of it. Had not a conviction of the danger 
 to which an unlimited occupation of the executive chair 
 would expose the republican Constitution of our Govern- 
 ment, made it conscientiously a duty to retire when I did, 
 the fear of becoming a dotard and of being insensible of it, 
 would of itself have resisted all solicitations to remain. I 
 have had a long attack of rheumatism, without fever and 
 without pain while I keep myself still. A total prostra- 
 tion of the muscles of the back, hips, and thighs, deprived 
 me of the power of walking, and leaves it still in a very 
 impaired state. A pain when I walk, seems to have fixed 
 itself in the hip, and to threaten permanence. I take mod- 
 erate rides, without much fatigue; but my journey to this 
 place, in a hard-going gig, gave me great sufferings which 
 I expect will be renewed on my return as soon as I am 
 able. The loss of the power of taking exercise would be 
 a sore affliction to me. It has been the delight of my re- 
 tirement to be in constant bodily activity looking after my 
 
 203
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 affairs. It was never damped, as the pleasures of reading 
 are, by the question of cui bono? for what object? I hope 
 your health of body continues firm. Your works show that 
 of your mind. The habits of exercise which your calling 
 has given to both, will tend long to preserve them. The 
 sedentary character of my public occupations sapped a con- 
 stitution naturally sound and vigorous, and draws it to an 
 earlier close. But it will still last quite as long as I wish 
 it. There is a fulness of time when men should go, and 
 not occupy too long the ground to which others have a 
 right to advance. We must continue while here to ex- 
 change occasionally our mutual good wishes. I find friend- 
 ship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the 
 true old man's milk and restorative cordial. God bless you 
 and preserve you through a long and healthy old age. 
 
 Federalists and Republicans 
 
 To John Melish 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 13, 1812. 
 
 The candor with which you have viewed the manners 
 and condition of our citizens, is so unlike the narrow preju- 
 dices of the French and English travellers preceding you, 
 who, considering each the manners and habits of their own 
 people as the only orthodox, have viewed everything differ- 
 ing from that test as boorish and barbarous, that your work 
 will be read here extensively, and operate great good. 
 
 Amid this mass of approbation which is given to every 
 other part of the work, there is a single sentiment which 
 I cannot help wishing to bring to what I think the correct 
 one; and, on a point so interesting, I value your opinion 
 too highly not to ambition its concurrence with my own. 
 
 204
 
 Stating in volume one, page sixty-three, the principle of 
 difference between the two great political parties here, you 
 conclude it to be, "whether the controlling power shall be 
 vested in this or that set of men." That each party en- 
 deavors to get into the administration of the Government, 
 and exclude the other from power, is true, and may be 
 stated as a motive of action; but this is only secondary, the 
 primary motive being a real and radical difference of 
 political principle. I sincerely wish our differences were 
 but personally who should govern, and that the principles 
 of our Constitution were those of both parties. Unfortu- 
 nately, it is otherwise; and the question of preference 
 between monarchy and republicanism, which has so long 
 divided mankind elsewhere, threatens a permanent division 
 here. 
 
 Among that section of our citizens called federalists, 
 there are three shades of opinion. Distinguishing between 
 the leaders and people who compose it, the leaders consider 
 the English constitution as a model of perfection, some, 
 with a correction of its vices, others, with all its corruptions 
 and abuses. This last was Alexander Hamilton's opinion, 
 which others, as well as myself, have often heard him de- 
 clare, and that a correction of what are called its vices, 
 would render the English an impracticable Government. 
 This Government they wished to have established here, and 
 only accepted and held fast, at first, to the present Con- 
 stitution, as a stepping-stone to the final establishment of 
 their favorite model. This party has therefore always 
 clung to England as their prototype and great auxiliary 
 in promoting and effecting this change. A weighty MI- 
 NORITY, however, of these leaders, considering the vol- 
 untary conversion of our Government into a monarchy as 
 too distant, if not desperate, wish to break off from our 
 Union its Eastern fragment, as being, in truth, the hot-bed 
 
 205
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 of American monarchism, with a view to a commencement 
 of their favorite Government, from whence the other States 
 may gangrene by degrees, and the whole be thus brought 
 finally to the desired point. For Massachusetts, the prime 
 mover in this enterprise, is the last State in the Union 
 to mean a final separation, as being of all the most de- 
 pendent on the others. Not raising bread for the suste- 
 nance of her own inhabitants, not having a stick of timber 
 for the construction of vessels, her principal occupation, nor 
 an article to export in them, where would she be, excluded 
 from the ports of the other States, and thrown into de- 
 pendence on England, her direct, and natural, but now in- 
 sidious rival? At the head of this MINORITY is what is 
 called the Essex Junto of Massachusetts. But the MAJOR- 
 ITY of these leaders do not aim at separation. In this, they 
 adhere to the known principle of General Hamilton, never, 
 under any views, to break the Union. Anglomany, mon- 
 archy, and separation, then, are the principles of the Essex 
 federalists ; Anglomany and monarchy, those of the Hamil- 
 tonians, and Anglomany alone, that of the portion among 
 the people who call themselves federalists. These last are 
 as good Republicans as the brethren whom they oppose, 
 and differ from them only in their devotion to England and 
 hatred of France, which they have imbibed from their 
 leaders. The moment that these leaders should avowedly 
 propose a separation of the Union, or the establishment 
 of regal government, their popular adherents would quit 
 them to a man, and join the republican standard; and the 
 partisans of this change, even in Massachusetts, would thus 
 find themselves an army of officers without a soldier. 
 
 The party called Republican is steadily for the support 
 of the present Constitution. They obtained at its com- 
 mencement all the amendments to it they desired. These 
 reconciled them to it perfectly, and if they have any ulterior 
 
 206
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 view, it is only, perhaps, to popularize it further by short- 
 ening the senatorial term and devising a process for the 
 responsibility of judges, more practicable than that of 
 impeachment. They esteem the people of England and 
 France equally, and equally detest the governing powers of 
 both. 
 
 This I verily believe, after an intimacy of forty years 
 with the public councils and characters, is a true statement 
 of the grounds on which they are at present divided, and 
 that it is not merely an ambition for power. An honest 
 man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over 
 his fellow-citizens. And considering as the only offices of 
 power those conferred by the people directly, that is to 
 say, the executive and legislative functions of the General 
 and State Governments, the common refusal of these, and 
 multiplied resignations, are proofs sufficient that power is 
 not alluring to pure minds, and is not, with them, the pri- 
 mary principle of contest. This is my belief of it; it is 
 that on which I have acted; and had it been a mere con- 
 test who should be permitted to administer the Government 
 according to its genuine republican principles, there has 
 never been a moment of my life in which I should have 
 relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, 
 my friends, and books. 
 
 You expected to discover the difference of our party prin- 
 ciples in General Washington's valedictory, and my in- 
 augural address. Not at all. General Washington did not 
 harbor one principle of federalism. He was neither an 
 Angloman, a monarchist, nor a separatist. He sincerely 
 wished the people to have as much self-government as they 
 were competent to exercise themselves. The only point on 
 which he and I ever differed in opinion, was, that I had 
 more confidence than he had in the natural integrity and 
 discretion of the people, and in the safety and extent to 
 
 207
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 which they might trust themselves with a control over their 
 Government. He has asseverated to me a thousand times 
 his determination that the existing Government should have 
 a fair trial, and that in support of it he would spend 
 the last drop of his blood. He did this the more repeatedly, 
 because he knew General Hamilton's political bias, and my 
 apprehensions from it. It is a mere calumny, therefore, 
 in the monarchists, to associate General Washington with 
 their principles. But that may have happened in this case 
 which has been often seen in ordinary cases, that, by oft 
 repeating an untruth, men come to believe it themselves. 
 It is a mere artifice in this party to bolster themselves up 
 on the revered name of that first of our worthies. If I 
 have dwelt longer on this subject than was necessary, it 
 proves the estimation in which I hold your ultimate opin- 
 ions, and my desire of placing the subject truly before 
 them. In so doing, I am certain I risk no use of the com- 
 munication which may draw me into contention before 
 the public. Tranquillity is the summum bonum of a 
 Septagenaire. 
 
 On Reconciliation 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 21, 1812. 
 
 A letter from you calls up recollections very dear 
 to my mind. It carries me back to the times when, be- 
 set with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow-laborers 
 in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to 
 man, his right of self-government. Laboring always at 
 the same oar, with some wave ever a head, threatening to 
 overwhelm us, and yet passing harmless under our bark, 
 
 208
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 we knew not how we rode through the storm with heart 
 and hand, and made a happy port. Still, we did not ex- 
 pect to be without rubs and difficulties; and we have had 
 them. First, the detention of the western posts, then the 
 coalition of Pilnitz, outlawing our commerce with France, 
 and the British enforcement of the outlawry. In your day, 
 French depredations; in mine, English, and the Berlin and 
 Milan decrees; now, the English orders of council, and the 
 piracies they authorize. When these shall be over, it will be 
 the impressment of our seamen or something else ; and so we 
 have gone on, and so we shall go on, puzzled and prospering 
 beyond example in the history of man. And I do believe we 
 shall continue to grow, to multiply and prosper until we ex- 
 hibit an association, powerful, wise, and happy, beyond 
 what has yet been seen by men. As for France and Eng- 
 land, with all their preeminence in science, the one is a den 
 of robbers, and the other of pirates. And if science pro- 
 duces no better fruits than tyranny, murder, rapine and 
 destitution of national morality, I would rather wish our 
 country to be ignorant, honest, and estimable, as our neigh- 
 boring savages are. But whither is senile garrulity leading 
 me? Into politics, of which I have taken final leave. I 
 think little of them and say less. I have given up news- 
 papers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton 
 and Euclid, and I find myself much the happier. Some- 
 times, indeed, I look back to former occurrences, in remem- 
 brance of our old friends and fellow-laborers, who have 
 fallen before us. Of the signers of the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, I see now living not more than half a dozen on 
 your side of the Potomac, and on this side, myself alone. 
 You and I have been wonderfully spared, and myself with 
 remarkable health, and a considerable activity of body and 
 mind. I am on horseback three or four hours of every day; 
 visit three or four times a year a possession I have ninety 
 
 209
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 miles distant, performing the winter journey on horseback. 
 I walk little, however, a single mile being too much for me, 
 and I live in the midst of my grandchildren, one of whom 
 has lately promoted me to be a great-grandfather. I have 
 heard with pleasure that you also retain good health, and 
 a greater power of exercise in walking than I do. But I 
 would rather have heard this from yourself, and that, writ- 
 ing a letter like mine, full of egotisms, and of details of 
 your health, your habits, occupations, and enjoyments, I 
 should have the pleasure of knowing that in the race of 
 life, you do not keep, in its physical decline, the same 
 distance ahead of me which you have done in political 
 honors and achievements. No circumstances have lessened 
 the interest I feel in these particulars respecting yourself; 
 none have suspended for one moment my sincere esteem for 
 you, and I now salute you with unchanged affection and 
 respect. 
 
 On Foreign Affairs 
 
 To James Maury 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 25, 1812. 
 
 My dear and ancient Friend and Classmate: Often 
 has my heart smote me for delaying acknowledgments to 
 you, receiving, as I do, such frequent proofs of your kind 
 recollection in the transmission of papers to me. But in- 
 stead of acting on the good old maxim of not putting off 
 to to-morrow what we can do to-day, we are too apt to 
 reverse it, and not to do to-day what we can put off to to- 
 morrow. But this duty can be no longer put off. To-day 
 we are at peace; to-morrow, war. The curtain of separa- 
 tion is drawing between us, and probably will not be with- 
 
 210
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 drawn till one, if not both of us, will be at rest with our 
 fathers. Let me now, then, while I may, renew to you the 
 declarations of my warm attachment, which in no period 
 of life has ever been weakened, and seems to become 
 stronger as the remaining objects of our youthful affections 
 are fewer. 
 
 Our two countries are to be at war, but not you and 
 I. And why should our two countries be at war, when by 
 peace we can be so much more useful to one another? 
 Surely the world will acquit our Government from having 
 sought it. Never before has there been an instance of a 
 nation's bearing so much as we have borne. Two items 
 alone in our catalogue of wrongs will forever acquit us of 
 being the aggressors: the impressment of our seamen, and 
 the excluding us from the ocean. The first foundations of 
 the social compact would be broken up, were we definitively 
 to refuse to its members the protection of their persons and 
 property, while in their lawful pursuits. I think the war 
 will not be short, because the object of England, long 
 obvious, is to claim the ocean as her domain, and to exact 
 transit duties from every vessel traversing it. This is the 
 sum of her orders of council, which were only a step in this 
 bold experiment, never meant to be retracted if it could be 
 permanently maintained. And this object must continue 
 her in war with all the world. To this I see no termina- 
 tion, until her exaggerated efforts, so much beyond her 
 natural strength and resources, shall have exhausted her to 
 bankruptcy. The approach of this crisis is, I think, visible 
 in the departure of her precious metals, and depreciation 
 of her paper medium. We, who have gone through that 
 operation, know its symptoms, its course, and consequences. 
 In England they will be more serious than elsewhere, be- 
 cause half the wealth of her people is now in that medium, 
 the private revenue of her money-holders, or rather of her 
 
 211
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 paper-holders, being, I believe, greater than that of her 
 land-holders. Such a proportion of property, imaginary 
 and baseless as it is, cannot be reduced to vapor but with 
 great explosion. She will rise out of its ruins, however, 
 because her lands, her houses, her arts will remain, and the 
 greater part of her men. And these will give her again 
 that place among nations which is proportioned to her nat- 
 ural means, and which we all* wish her to hold. We believe 
 that the just standing of all nations is the health and 
 security of all. We consider the overwhelming power of 
 England on the ocean, and of France on the land, as de- 
 structive of the prosperity and happiness of the world, and 
 wish both to be reduced only to the necessity of observing 
 moral duties. We believe no more in Bonaparte's fighting 
 merely for the liberty of the seas, than in Great Britain's 
 fighting for the liberties of mankind. The object of both 
 is the same, to draw to themselves the power, the wealth, 
 and the resources of other nations. We resist the enter- 
 prises of England first, because they first come vitally home 
 to us. And our feelings repel the logic of bearing the lash 
 of George the III. for fear of that of Bonaparte at some 
 future day. When the wrongs of France shall reach us 
 with equal effect, we shall resist them also. But one at 
 a time is enough; and having offered a choice to the cham- 
 pions, England first takes up the gauntlet. 
 
 The English newspapers suppose me the personal enemy 
 of their nation. I am not so. I am an enemy to its 
 injuries, as I am to those of France. If I could permit 
 myself to have national partialities, and if the conduct of 
 England would have permitted them to be directed to- 
 ward her, they would have been so. I thought that in the 
 administration of Mr. Addington, I discovered some dis- 
 positions toward justice, and even friendship and respect 
 for us, and began to pave the way for cherishing these 
 
 212
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 dispositions, and improving them into ties of mutual good- 
 will. But we had then a federal minister there, whose 
 dispositions to believe himself, and to inspire others with a 
 belief, in our sincerity, his subsequent conduct has brought 
 into doubt; and poor Merry, the English minister here, had 
 learned nothing of diplomacy but its suspicions, without 
 head enough to distinguish when they were misplaced. Mr. 
 Addington and Mr. Fox passed away too soon to avail the 
 two countries of their dispositions. Had I been personally 
 hostile to England, and biassed in favor of either the char- 
 acter or views of her great antagonist, the affair of the 
 Chesapeake put war into my hand. I had only to open it 
 and let havoc loose. But if ever I was gratified with the 
 possession of power, and of the confidence of those who 
 had intrusted me with it, it was on that occasion when 
 I was enabled to use both for the prevention of war, tow- 
 ard which the torrent of passion here was directed almost 
 irresistibly, and when not another person in the United 
 States, less supported by authority and favor, could have 
 resisted it. And now that a definitive adherence to her 
 impressments and orders of council renders war no longer 
 avoidable, my earnest prayer is that our Government may 
 enter into no compact of common cause with the other bel- 
 ligerents, but keep us free to make a separate peace, when- 
 ever England will separately give us peace and future 
 security. But Lord Liverpool is our witness that this can 
 never be but by her removal from our neighborhood. 
 
 I have thus, for a moment, taken a range into the field 
 of politics, to possess you with the view we take of things 
 here. But in the scenes which are to ensue I am to be 
 but a spectator. I have withdrawn myself from all politi- 
 cal intermeddlings, to indulge the evening of my life with 
 v/hat have been the passions of every portion of it, books, 
 science, my farms, my family and friends. To these every 
 
 213
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 hour of the day is now devoted. I retain a good activity 
 of mind, not quite as much of body, but uninterrupted 
 health. Still the hand of age is upon me. All my old 
 friends are nearly gone. Of those in my neighborhood, 
 Mr. Divers and Mr. Lindsay alone remain. If you could 
 make it a partie quarree, it would be a comfort indeed. We 
 would beguile our lingering hours with talking over our 
 youthful exploits, our hunts on Peter's mountain, with a 
 long train of et cetera, in addition, and feel, by recollection, 
 at least, a momentary flash of youth. Reviewing the course 
 of a long and sufficiently successful life, I find in no por- 
 tion of it happier moments than those were. I think the 
 old hulk in which you are, is near her wreck, and that, 
 like a prudent rat, you should escape in time. However, 
 here, there, and everywhere, in peace or in war, you will 
 have my sincere affections and prayers for your life, health, 
 and happiness. 
 
 On the English Common Law in America 
 
 To Judge John Tyler 
 
 MONTICELLO, June 17, 1812. 
 
 Dear Sir: On the other subject of your letter, the ap- 
 plication of the common law to our present situation, I de- 
 ride with you the ordinary doctrine, that we brought with us 
 from England the common law rights. This narrow notion 
 was a favorite in the first moment of rallying to our rights 
 against. Great Britain. But it was that of men who felt 
 their rights before they had thought of their explanation. 
 The truth is, thnt we brought with us the rights of men 
 of expatriated men. On our arrival here, the question 
 would at once arise, By what law will we govern ourselves ? 
 
 214
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 The resolution seems to have been, by that system, with 
 which we are familiar, to be altered by ourselves occasion- 
 ally, and adapted to our new situation. The proofs of this 
 resolution are to be found in the form of the oaths of the 
 judges, 1. Hening's Stat. 169, 187; of the Governor, ib. 
 504; in the act for a provisional government, ib. 372; in the 
 preamble to the laws of 1661-62; the uniform current of 
 opinions and decisions, and in the general recognition of 
 all our statutes, framed on that basis. But the state of 
 the English law at the date of our emigration, constituted 
 the system adopted here. We may doubt, therefore, the 
 propriety of quoting in our courts English authorities sub- 
 sequent to that adoption; still more, the admission of au- 
 thorities posterior to the Declaration of Independence, or 
 rather to the accession of that King, whose reign, ab initio, 
 was the very tissue of wrongs which rendered the Declara- 
 tion at length necessary. The reason for it had inception 
 at least as far back as the commencement of his reign. 
 This relation to the beginning of his reign, would add the 
 advantage of getting us rid of all Mansfield's innovations, 
 or civilizations of the common law. For however I admit 
 the superiority of the civil over the common law code, as a 
 system of perfect justice, yet an incorporation of the two 
 would be like Nebuchadnezzar's image of metals and clay, 
 a thing without cohesion of parts. The only natural im- 
 provement of the common law is through its homogeneous 
 ally, the chancery, in which new principles are to be ex- 
 amined, concocted, and digested. But when, by repeated 
 decisions and modifications, they are rendered pure and cer- 
 tain, they should be transferred by statute to the courts of 
 common law, and placed within the pale of juries. The 
 exclusion from the courts of the malign influence of all 
 authorities after the Georgium sidus became ascendant, 
 would uncanonize Blackstone, whose book, although the 
 
 215
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 most elegant and best digested of our law catalogue, has 
 been perverted more than all others, to the degeneracy of 
 legal science. A student finds there a smattering of every- 
 thing, and his indolence easily persuades him that if he 
 understands that book, he is master of the whole body of 
 the law. The distinction between these, and those who 
 have drawn their stores from the deep and rich mines of 
 Coke and Littleton, seems well understood even by the un- 
 lettered common people, who apply the appellation of 
 Blackstone lawj'ers to these ephemeral insects of the law. 
 
 Whether we should undertake to reduce the common law, 
 our own, and so much of the English statutes as we have 
 adopted, to a text, is a question of transcendent difficulty. 
 It was discussed at the first meeting of the committee of 
 the revised code, in 1776, and decided in the negative, by 
 the opinions of Wythe, Mason, and myself, against Pendle- 
 ton and Thomas Lee. Pendleton proposed to take Black- 
 stone for that text, only purging him of what was inap- 
 plicable or unsuitable to us. In that case, the meaning of 
 every word of Blackstone would have become a source of 
 litigation, until it had been settled by repeated legal de- 
 cisions. And to come at that meaning, we should have had 
 produced, on all occasions, that very pile of authorities 
 from which it would be said he drew his conclusion, and 
 which, of course, would explain it, and the terms in which 
 it is couched. Thus we should have retained the same 
 chaos of law-lore from which we wished to be emancipated, 
 added to the evils of the uncertainty which a new text and 
 new phrases would have generated. An example of this 
 may be found in the old statutes, and commentaries on 
 them, in Coke's second institute, but more remarkably in 
 the institute of Justinian, and the vast masses explanatory 
 or supplementary of that which fill the libraries of the 
 civilians. We were deterred from the attempt by these 
 
 216
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 considerations, added to which, the bustle of the times did 
 not admit leisure for such an undertaking. 
 
 Your request of my opinion on this subject has given 
 you the trouble of these observations. If your firmer mind 
 in encountering difficulties would have added your vote to 
 the minority of the committee, you would have had on your 
 side one of the greatest men of our age, and, like him, 
 have detracted nothing from the sentiments of esteem and 
 respect which I bore to him, and tender with sincerity the 
 assurance of to yourself. 
 
 On Practical Politics 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 MONTICELLO, June 15, 1813. 
 
 One of the questions, you know, on which our parties 
 took different sides, was on the improvability of the human 
 mind in science, in ethics, in government, etc. Those who 
 advocated reformation of institutions, part passu with the 
 progress of science, maintained that no definite limits 
 could be assigned to that progress. The enemies of re- 
 form, on the other hand, denied improvement, and advo- 
 cated steady adherence to the principles, practices, and 
 institutions of our fathers, which they represented as the 
 consummation of wisdom, and acme of excellence, beyond 
 which the human mind could never advance. Although in 
 the passage of your answer alluded to, you expressly dis- 
 claim the wish to influence the freedom of inquiry, you 
 predict that that will produce nothing more worthy of 
 transmission to posterity than the principles, institutions, 
 and systems of education received from their ancestors. I 
 do not consider this as your deliberate opinion. You pos- 
 
 217
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 sess, yourself, too much science, not to see how much is 
 still ahead of you, unexplained and unexplored. Your 
 own consciousness must place you as far before our an- 
 cestors as in the rear of our posterity. I consider it as an 
 expression lent to the prejudices of your friends; and 
 although I happened to cite it from you, the whole letter 
 shows I had them only in view. In truth, my dear sir, we 
 were far from considering you as the author of all the 
 measures we blamed. They were placed under the protec- 
 tion of your name, but we were satisfied they wanted much 
 of your approbation. We ascribed them to their real 
 authors, the Pickerings, the Wolcotts, the Tracys, the 
 Sedgwicks, et id genus omne, with whom we supposed you 
 in a state of duresse. I well remember a conversation with 
 you in the morning of the day on which you nominated to 
 the Senate a substitute for Pickering, in which you ex- 
 pressed a just impatience under "the legacy of secretaries 
 which General Washington had left you," and whom you 
 seemed, therefore, to consider as under public protection. 
 Many other incidents showed how differently you would 
 have acted with less impassioned advisers ; and subsequent 
 events have proved that your minds were not together. 
 You would do me great injustice, therefore, by taking to 
 yourself what was intended for men who were then your 
 secret, as they are now your open enemies. Should you 
 write on the subject, as your propose, I am sure we shall 
 see you place yourself farther from them than from us. 
 
 218
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On Finance National Debt Paper Money 
 
 To John W. Eppes 
 
 MONTICELLO, June 24, 1813. 
 
 It is a wise rule, and should be fundamental in a gov- 
 ernment disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same 
 time to restrain the use of it within the limits of its facul- 
 ties, "never to borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the 
 same instant for paying the interest annually, and the 
 principal within a given term; and to consider that tax 
 as pledged to the creditors on the public faith." On such 
 a pledge as this, sacredly observed, a government may al- 
 ways command, on a reasonable interest, all the lendable 
 money of their citizens, while the necessity of an equivalent 
 tax is a salutary warning to them and their constituents 
 against oppressions, bankruptcy, and its inevitable conse- 
 quence, revolution. But the term of redemption must be 
 moderate, and at any rate within the limits of their 
 rightful powers. But what limits, it will be asked, does 
 this prescribe to their powers? What is to hinder them 
 from creating a perpetual debt? The laws of nature, I 
 answer. The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead. 
 The will and the power of man expire with his life, by 
 nature's law. Some societies give it an artificial continu- 
 ance, for the encouragement of industry; some refuse it, 
 as our aboriginal neighbors, whom we call barbarians. 
 The generations of men may be considered as bodies or 
 corporations. Each generation has the usufruct of the 
 earth during the period of its continuance. When it ceases 
 to exist, the usufruct passes on to the succeeding genera- 
 tion, free and unincumbered, and so on, successively, from 
 one generation to another forever. We may consider each 
 
 219
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of 
 its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the suc- 
 ceeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another 
 country. Or the case may be likened to the ordinary one 
 of a tenant for life, who may hypothecate the land for 
 his debts, during the continuance of his usufruct; but at his 
 death, the reversioner (who is also for life only) receives 
 it exonerated from all burthen. The period of a generation, 
 or the term of its life, is determined by the laws of mor- 
 tality which, varying a little only in different climates, 
 offer a general average, to be found by observation. I 
 turn, for instance, to Buffon's tables, of twenty-three 
 thousand nine hundred and ninety-four deaths, and the 
 ages at which they happened, and I find that of the num- 
 bers of all ages living at one moment, half will be dead 
 in twenty-four years and eight months. But (leaving out 
 minors, who have not the power of self-government) of 
 the adults (of twenty-one years of age) living at one mo- 
 ment, a majority of whom act for the society, one-half 
 will be dead in eighteen years and eight months. At nine- 
 teen years, then, from the date of a contract, the majority 
 of the contractors are dead, and their contract with them. 
 Let this general theory be applied to a particular case. 
 Suppose the annual births of the State of New York to 
 be twenty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-four, 
 the whole number of its inhabitants, according to Buffon, 
 will be six hundred and seventeen thousand seven hundred 
 and three, of all ages. Of these there would constantly 
 be two hundred and sixty-nine thousand two hundred and 
 eighty-six minors, and three hundred and forty-eight 
 thousand four hundred and seventeen adults, of which last, 
 one hundred and seventy-four thousand two hundred and 
 nine will be a majority. Suppose that majority, on the 
 first day of the year 1794, had borrowed a sum of money 
 
 220
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 equal to the fee-simple value of the State, and to have 
 consumed it in eating, drinking, and making merry in their 
 day; or, if you please, in quarrelling and fighting with 
 their unoffending neighbors. Within eighteen years and 
 eight months, one-half of the adult citizens were dead. Till 
 then, being the majority, they might rightfully levy the in- 
 terest of their debt annually on themselves and their fellow- 
 revellers or fellow-champions. But at that period, say at 
 this moment, a new majority have come into place, in their 
 own right, and not under the rights, the conditions, or laws 
 of their predecessors. Are they bound to acknowledge the 
 debt, to consider the preceding generation as having had 
 a right to eat up the whole soil of their country, in the 
 course of a life, to alienate it from them, (for it would 
 be an alienation to the creditors), and would they think 
 themselves either legally or morally bound to give up their 
 country and emigrate to another for subsistence? Every 
 one will say no; that the soil is the gift of God to the 
 living, as much as it had been to the deceased generation; 
 and that the laws of nature impose no obligation on them 
 to pay this debt. And although, like some other natural 
 rights, this has not yet entered into any declaration of 
 rights, it is no less a law, and ought to be acted on by 
 honest governments. It is, at the same time, a salutary 
 curb on the spirit of war and indebtment, which, since 
 the modern theory of the perpetuation of debt, has 
 drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants 
 under burdens ever accumulating. Had this principle been 
 declared in the British bill of rights, England would have 
 been placed under the happy disability of waging eternal 
 war, and of contracting her thousand millions of public 
 debt. In seeking, then, for an ultimate term for the re- 
 demption of our debts, let us rally to this principle, and 
 provide for their payment within the term of nineteen 
 
 221
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 years at the farthest. Our Government has not, as yet, 
 begun to act on the rule of loans and taxation going hand 
 in hand. Had any loan taken place in my time, I should 
 have strongly urged a redeeming tax. For the loan which 
 has been made since the last session of Congress, we 
 should now set the example of appropriating some particu- 
 lar tax, sufficient to pay the interest annually, and the 
 principal within a fixed term, less than nineteen years. 
 And I hope yourself and your committee will render the 
 immortal service of introducing this practice. Not that it 
 is expected that Congress should formally declare such a 
 principle. They wisely enough avoid deciding on abstract 
 questions. But they may be induced to keep themselves 
 within its limits. 
 
 I am sorry to see our loans begin at so exorbitant an 
 interest. And yet, even at that you will soon be at the 
 bottom of the loan-bag. We are an agricultural nation. 
 Such an one employs its sparings in the purchase or im- 
 provement of land or stocks. The lendable money among 
 them is chiefly that of orphans and wards in the hands 
 of executors and guardians, and that which the farmer 
 lays by till he has enough for the purchase in view. In 
 such a nation there is one and one only resource for loans, 
 sufficient to carry them through the expense of a war, 
 and that will always be sufficient, and in the power of 
 an honest government, punctual in the preservation of its 
 faith. The fund I mean, is the mass of circulating coin. 
 Every one knows, that although not literally, it is nearly 
 true, that every paper dollar emitted banishes a silver one 
 from the circulation. A nation, therefore, making its pur- 
 chases and payments with bills fitted for circulation, 
 thrusts an equal sum of coin out of circulation. This is 
 equivalent to borrowing that sum, and yet the vendor re- 
 ceiving payment in a medium as effectual as coin for his 
 
 222
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 purchases or payments, has no claim to interest. And so 
 the nation may continue to issue its bills as far as its 
 wants require, and the limits of the circulation will admit. 
 Those limits are understood to extend with us at present 
 to two hundred millions of dollars, a greater sum than 
 would be necessary for any war. But this, the only re- 
 source which the Government could command with cer- 
 tainty, the States have unfortunately fooled away, nay, 
 corruptly alienated to swindlers and shavers, under the 
 cover of private banks. Say, too, as an additional evil, 
 that the disposal funds of individuals, to this great amount, 
 have thus been withdrawn from improvement and useful 
 enterprise, and employed in the useless, usurious, and de- 
 moralizing practices of bank directors and their accomplices. 
 In the war of 1755, our State availed itself of this fund 
 by issuing a paper-money bottomed on a specific tax for 
 its redemption, and, to insure its credit, bearing an interest 
 of five per cent. Within a very short time, not a bill of 
 this emission was to be found in circulation. It was 
 locked up in the chests of executors, guardians, widows, 
 farmers, etc. We then issued bills bottomed on a redeem- 
 ing tax, but bearing no interest. These were readily re- 
 ceived, and never depreciated a single farthing. In the 
 Revolutionary War, the old Congress and the States issued 
 bills without interest, and without tax. They occupied the 
 channels of circulation very freely, till those channels were 
 overflowed by an excess beyond all the calls of circulation. 
 But although we have so improvidently suffered the field 
 of circulating medium to be filched from us by private 
 individuals, yet I think we may recover it in part, and 
 even in the whole, if the States will co-operate with us. If 
 treasury bills are emitted on a tax appropriated for their 
 redemption in fifteen years, and (to insure preference in 
 the first moments of competition) bearing an interest of 
 
 223
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 six per cent., there is no one who would not take them in 
 preference to the bank paper now afloat, on a principle of 
 patriotism as well as interest and they would be withdrawn 
 from circulation into private hoards to a considerable 
 amount. Their credit once established, others might be 
 emitted, bottomed also on a tax, but not bearing interest; 
 and if ever their credit faltered, open public loans, on 
 which these bills alone should be received as specie. 
 These, operating as a sinking fund, would reduce the quan- 
 tity in circulation, so as to maintain that in an equilibrium 
 with specie. It is not easy to estimate the obstacles which, 
 in the beginning, we should encounter in ousting the banks 
 from their possession of the circulation; but a steady and 
 judicious alternation of emissions and loans, would reduce 
 them in time. But, while this is going on, another measure 
 should be pressed, to recover ultimately our right to the 
 circulation. The States should be applied to, to transfer 
 the right of issuing circulating paper to Congress ex- 
 clusively, in perpetuum, if possible, but, during the war, at 
 least, with a saving of charter rights. I believe that every 
 State west and south of Connecticut River, except Dela- 
 ware, would immediately do it, and the others would follow 
 in time. Congress would, of course, begin by obliging un- 
 chartered banks to wind up their affairs within a short 
 time, and the others as their charters expired, forbidding 
 the subsequent circulation of their paper. This they would 
 supply with their own, bottomed, every emission, on an 
 adequate tax, and bearing or not bearing interest, as the 
 state of the public pulse should indicate. Even in the non- 
 complying States, these bills would make their way, and 
 supplant the unfunded paper of their banks, by their 
 solidity, by the universality of their currency, and by their 
 receivability for customs and taxes. It would be in 
 their power, too, to curtail those banks to the amount of 
 
 224
 
 their actual specie, by gathering up their paper, and run- 
 ning it constantly on them. The national paper might thus 
 take place even in the non-complying States. In this way, I 
 am not without a hope, that this great, this sole resource for 
 loans in an agricultural country, might yet be recovered for 
 the use of the nation during war, and, if obtained in per- 
 petuum, it would always be sufficient to carry us through 
 any war; provided, that in the interval between war and 
 war, all the outstanding paper should be called in, coin be 
 permitted to flow in again, and to hold the field of circula- 
 tion until another war should require its yielding place 
 again to the national medium. 
 
 But, it will be asked, are we to have no banks? Are 
 merchants and others to be deprived of the resource of 
 short accommodations, found so convenient? I answer, let 
 us have banks; but let them be such as are alone to be 
 found in any country on earth, except Great Britain. 
 There is not a bank of discount on the Continent of 
 Europe (at least there was not one when I was there) 
 which offers anything but cash in exchange for discounted 
 bills. No one has a natural right to the trade of a money- 
 lender, but he who has the money to lend. Let those then 
 among us, who have a moneyed capital, and who prefer 
 employing it in loans rather than otherwise, set up banks, 
 and give cash or national bills for the notes they discount. 
 Perhaps, to encourage them, a larger interest than is legal 
 in the other cases might be allowed them, on the condition 
 of their lending for short periods only. It is from Great 
 Britain we copy the idea of giving paper in exchange for 
 discounted bills; and while we have derived from that 
 country some good principles of government and legisla- 
 tion, we unfortunately run into the most servile imitation 
 of all her practices, ruinous as they prove to her, and with 
 the gulf yawning before us into which these very practices 
 
 225
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 are precipitating her. The unlimited emission of bank 
 paper has banished all her specie, and is now, by a depreci- 
 ation acknowledged by her own statesmen, carrying her 
 rapidly to bankruptcy, as it did France, as it did us, and 
 will do us again, and every country permitting paper to be 
 circulated, other than that by public authority, rigorously 
 limited to the just measure for circulation. Private fort- 
 unes, in the present state of our circulation, are at the 
 mercy of those self-created money-lenders, and are pros- 
 trated by the floods of nominal money with which their 
 avarice deluges us. He who lent his money to the public 
 or to an individual, before the institution of the United 
 States Bank, twenty years ago, when wheat was well sold 
 at a dollar the bushel, and receives now his nominal sum 
 when it sells at two dollars, is cheated of half his fortune; 
 and by whom? By the banks, which, since that, have 
 thrown into circulation ten dollars of their nominal money 
 where was one at that time. 
 
 On Political History 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 MONTICELLO, June 27, 1813. 
 I8av es iroXvBevSpov avrjp 'uXi/To/iOS eX6wv 
 ~n.airraj.vf 1^ irapcovros aS^v, iroOev apera.i epyta 
 Tt irparov KaraXcfrti; errci irapa pvpia ftmjv. 
 
 And I, too, my dear sir, like the wood-cutter of Ida, 
 should doubt where to begin, were I to enter the forest of 
 opinions, discussions, and contentions which have occurred 
 in our day. I should say with Theocritus, Ti irparov 
 *caToAew; CTree irapa pvpia etmjv. But I shall not do it. 
 
 226
 
 The summum bonum with me is now truly Epicurean, ease 
 of body and tranquillity of mind; and to these I wish to 
 consign my remaining days. Men have differed in opinion, 
 and been divided into parties by these opinions, from the 
 first origin of societies, and in all governments where they 
 have been permitted freely to think and to speak. The 
 same political parties which now agitate the United States, 
 have existed through all time. Whether the power of the 
 people or that of the apwrroi should prevail, were ques- 
 tions which kept the States of Greece and Rome in eternal 
 convulsions, as they now schismatize every people whose 
 minds and mouths are not shut up by the gag of a despot. 
 And, in fact, the terms of whig and tory belong to natural 
 as well as to civil history. They denote the temper and 
 constitution of mind of different individuals. To come to 
 our own country, and to the times when you and I became 
 first acquainted, we will remember the violent parties which 
 agitated the old Congress, and their bitter contests. There 
 you and I were together, and the Jays, and the Dickinsons, 
 and other anti-independents, were arrayed against us. 
 They cherished the monarchy of England, and we the 
 rights of our countrymen. When our present Government 
 was in the mew, passing from Confederation to Union, how 
 bitter was the schism between the Feds and Antis ! Here 
 you and I were together again. For although, for a mo- 
 ment, separated by the Atlantic from the scene of action, 
 I favored the opinion that nine States should confirm the 
 Constitution, in order to secure it, and the others hold off 
 until certain amendments, deemed favorable to freedom, 
 should be made. I rallied in the first instant to the wiser 
 proposition of Massachusetts, that all should confirm, and 
 then all instruct their delegates to urge those amendments. 
 The amendments were made, and all were reconciled to the 
 Government. But as soon as it was put into motion, the 
 
 227
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 line of division was again drawn. We broke into two 
 parties, each wishing to give the Government a different 
 direction: the one to strengthen the most popular branch, 
 the other the more permanent branches, and to extend 
 their permanence. Here you and I separated for the first 
 time, and as we had been longer than most others on the 
 public theatre, and our names therefore were more familiar 
 to our countrymen, the party which considered you as 
 thinking with them, placed your name at their head; the 
 other, for the sane reason, selected mine. But neither 
 decency nor inclination permitted us to become the advo- 
 cates of ourselves, or to take part personally in the violent 
 contests which followed. We suffered ourselves, as you 
 so well expressed it, to be passive subjects of public dis- 
 cussion. And these discussions, whether relating to men, 
 measures, or opinions, were conducted by the parties with 
 an animosity, a bitterness, and an indecency which had 
 never been exceeded. All the resources of reason and of 
 wrath were exhausted by each party in support of its own, 
 and to prostrate the adversary opinions; one was up- 
 braided with receiving the anti-federalists, the other the old 
 tories and refugees, into their bosom. Of this acrimony, 
 the public papers of the day exhibit ample testimony, in 
 the debates of Congress, of State Legislatures, of stump- 
 orators, in addresses, answers, and newspaper essays; and 
 to these, without question, may be added the private cor- 
 respondences of individuals; and the less guarded in these, 
 because not meant for the public eye, not restrained by the 
 respect due to that, but poured forth from the over- 
 flowings of the heart into the bosom of a friend, as a mo- 
 mentary easement of our feelings. In this way, and in 
 answers to addresses, you and I could indulge ourselves. 
 We have probably done it, sometimes with warmth, often 
 with prejudice, but always, as we believed, adhering to 
 
 228
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 truth. I have not examined my letters of that day. I 
 have no stomach to revive the memory of its feelings. But 
 one of these letters, it seems, has got before the public, 
 by accident and infidelity, by the death of one friend to 
 whom it was written, and of his friend to whom ft had been 
 communicated, and by the malice and treachery of a third 
 person, of whom I had never before heard, merely to make 
 mischief, and in the same satanic spirit in which the same 
 enemy had intercepted and published, in 1776, your letter 
 animadverting on Dickinson's character. How it happened 
 that I quoted you in my letter to Dr. Priestley, and for 
 whom, and not for yourself, the strictures were meant, has 
 been explained to you in my letter of the 15th, which 
 had been committed to the post eight days before I re- 
 ceived yours of the 10th, llth, and 14th. That gave you 
 the reference which these asked to the particular answer 
 alluded to in the one to Priestley. The renewal of these 
 old discussions, my friend, would be equally useless and 
 irksome. To the volumes then written on these subjects, 
 human ingenuity can add nothing new, and the rather, as 
 lapse of time has obliterated many of the facts. And 
 shall you and I, my dear sir, at our age, like Priam of old, 
 gird on the "arma, diu desueta, trementibus cevo humeris?" 
 Shall we, at our age, become the Athletas of party, and ex- 
 hibit ourselves as gladiators in the arena of the newspa- 
 pers ? Nothing in the universe could induce me to it. My 
 mind has been long fixed to bow to the judgment of the 
 world, who will judge by my acts, and will never take 
 counsel from me as to what that judgment shall be. If 
 your objects and opinions have been misunderstood, if the 
 measures and principles of others have been wrongfully 
 imputed to you, as I believe they have been, that you 
 should leave an explanation of them, would be an act of 
 justice to yourself. I will add, that it has been hoped that 
 
 229
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 you would leave such explanations as would place every 
 saddle on its right horse, and replace on the shoulders of 
 others the burdens they shifted on yours. 
 
 But all this, my friend, is offered merely for your con- 
 sideration and judgment, without presuming to anticipate 
 what you alone are qualified to decide for yourself. I 
 mean to express my own purpose only, and the reflections 
 which have led to it. To me, then, it appears that there 
 have been differences of opinion and party differences, f^om 
 the first establishment of governments to the present day, 
 and on the same question which now divides our own coun- 
 try; that these will continue through all future time; that 
 every one takes his side in favor of the many or of the 
 few, according to his constitution and the circumstances in 
 which he is placed; that opinions, which are equally honest 
 on both sides, should not affect personal esteem or social 
 intercourse; that as we judge between the Claudii and the 
 Gracchi, the Wentworths and the Hampdens of past ages, 
 so of those among us whose names may happen to be re- 
 membered for a while, the next generations will judge, 
 favorably or unfavorably, according to the complexion of 
 individual minds and the side they shall themselves have 
 taken; that nothing new can be added by you or me to 
 what has been said by others, and will be said in every age 
 in support of the conflicting opinions on government; and 
 that wisdom and duty dictate an humble resignation to the 
 verdict of our future peers. In doing this myself, I shall 
 certainly not suffer moot questions to affect the sentiments 
 of sincere friendship and respect consecrated to you by so 
 long a course of time, and of which I now repeat sincere 
 assurances. 
 
 2SO
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On Term of Office and Massachusetts Politics 
 
 To James Martin 
 
 MONTICELLO, September 20, 1813. 
 
 Sir: Your quotation from the former paper alludes, as 
 I presume, to the term of office to our Senate; a term, like 
 that of the judges, too long for my approbation. I am for 
 responsibilities at short periods, seeing neither reason nor 
 safety in making public functionaries independent of the 
 nation for life, or even for long terms of years. On this 
 principle I prefer the Presidential term of four years, to 
 that of seven years, which I myself had at first suggested, 
 annexing to it, however, ineligibility forever after; and I 
 wish it were now annexed to the second quadrennial election 
 of President. 
 
 The conduct of Massachusetts, which is the subject of 
 your address to Mr. Quincy, is serious, as embarrassing the 
 operations of the war, and joepardizing its issue; and still 
 more so, as an example of contumacy against the Constitu- 
 tion. One method of proving their purpose, would be to 
 call a convention of their State, and to require them to 
 declare themselves members of the Union, and obedient to 
 its determinations, or not members, and let them go. Put 
 this question solemnly to their people, and their answer 
 cannot be doubtful. One-half of them are republicans, and 
 would cling to the Union from principle. Of the other 
 half, the dispassionate part would consider: 1st. That they 
 do not raise bread sufficient for their own subsistence, and 
 must look to Europe for the deficiency, if excluded from 
 our ports, which vital interests would force us to do. 2d. 
 That they are navigating people without a stick of tim- 
 ber for the hull of a ship, or a pound of anything to ex- 
 
 231
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 port in it, which would be admitted at any market. 3d. 
 That they are also a manufacturing people, and left by 
 the exclusive system of Europe, without a market but ours. 
 4th. That as the rivals of England in manufactures, in 
 commerce, in navigation, and fisheries, they would meet her 
 competition in every point. 5th. That England would feel 
 no scruples in making the abandonment and ruin of such a 
 rival the price of a treaty with the producing States, whose 
 interest, too, it would be to nourish a navigation beyond the 
 Atlantic, rather than a hostile one at our own door. And 
 Cth. That in case of war with the Union, which occurrences 
 between coterminous nations frequently produce, it would 
 be a contest of one against fifteen. The remaining portion 
 of the federal moiety of the State would, I believe, brave 
 all these obstacles, because they are monarchists in prin- 
 ciple, bearing deadly hatred to the republican fellow- 
 citizens, impatient under the ascendancy of republican 
 principles, devoted in their attachment to England, and 
 preferring to be placed under her despotism, if they cannot 
 hold the helm of government here. I see, in their separa- 
 tion, no evil but the example, and I believe that the effect 
 of that would be corrected by an early and humiliating re- 
 turn to the Union, after losing much of the population of 
 their country, insufficient in its own resources to feed her 
 numerous inhabitants, and inferior in all its allurements to 
 the more inviting soils, climates, and governments of the 
 other States. Whether a dispassionate discussion before the 
 public, of the advantages and disadvantages of separation 
 to both parties, would be the best medicine for this dialytic 
 fever, or to consider it as sacrilege ever to touch, the ques- 
 tion, may be doubted. I am, myself, generally disposed to 
 indulge, and to follow reason; and believe that in no case 
 would it be safer than in the present. Their refractory 
 course, however, will not be unpunished by the indignation 
 
 232
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 of their co-States, their loss of influence with them, the 
 censures of history, and the stain on the character of their 
 State. 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine Foreshadowed 
 
 Baron Alexander von Humboldt 
 
 MONTPELIER, December 6, 1813. 
 
 I think it most fortunate that your travels in those 
 countries were so timed as to make them known to the 
 world in the moment they were about to become actors 
 on its stage. That they will throw off their European de- 
 pendence I have no doubt, but in what kind of government 
 their revolution will end I am not so certain. History, I 
 believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people 
 maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest 
 grade of ignorance, of which their civil as well as religious 
 leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes. 
 The vicinity of New Spain to the United States, and their 
 consequent intercourse, may furnish schools for the higher, 
 and example for the lower classes of their citizens. And 
 Mexico, where we learn from you that men of science are 
 not wanting, may revolutionize itself under better auspices 
 than the Southern provinces. These last, I fear, must end 
 in military despotisms. The different castes of their in- 
 habitants, their mutual hatreds and jealousies, their pro- 
 found ignorance and bigotry, will be played off by cunning 
 leaders, and each be made the instrument of enslaving the 
 others. But of all this you can best judge, for in truth we 
 have little knowledge of them to be depended on, but 
 through you. But in whatever governments they end they 
 will be American governments, no longer to be involved in 
 the never-ceasing broils of Europe. The European nations 
 
 233
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 constitute a separate division of the globe; their localities 
 make them part of a distinct system; they have a set of 
 interests of their own in which it is our business never to 
 engage ourselves. America has a hemisphere to itself. It 
 must have its separate system of interests, which must not 
 be subordinated to those of Europe. The insulated state 
 in which nature has placed the American continent, should 
 so far avail it that no spark of war kindled in the other 
 quarters of the globe should be wafted across the wide 
 oceans which separate us from them. And it will be so. 
 In fifty years more the United States alone will contain 
 fifty millions of inhabitants, and fifty years are soon gone 
 over. The peace of 1763 is within that period. I was 
 then twenty years old, and of course remember well all the 
 transactions of the war preceding it. And you will live to 
 see the epoch now equally ahead of us; and the numbers 
 which will then be spread over the other parts of the Ameri- 
 can hemisphere, catching long before that the principles of 
 our portion of it, and concurring with us in the maintenance 
 of the same system. You see how readily we run into ages 
 beyond the grave; and even those of us to whom that grave 
 is already opening its quiet bosom. I am anticipating 
 events of which you will be the bearer to me in the Elysian 
 fields fifty years hence. 
 
 On the Character of Washington 
 
 To Dr. Walter Jones 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 2, 1814. 
 
 I think I knew General Washington intimately and 
 thoroughly; and were I called on to delineate his character, 
 it should be in terms like these. 
 
 234
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 His mind was great and powerful, without being of the 
 very first order; his penetration strong, though not so acute 
 as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke; and as far as he 
 saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in opera- 
 tion, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure 
 in conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers, 
 of the advantage he derived from councils of war, where 
 hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best; and 
 certainly no general ever planned his battles more judi- 
 ciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, 
 if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden cir- 
 cumstances, he was slow in re -adjustment. The conse- 
 quence was, that he often failed in the field, and rarely 
 against an enemy in station, as at Boston and York. He 
 was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the 
 calmest unconcern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his 
 character was prudence, never acting until every circum- 
 stance, every consideration, was maturely weighed; refrain- 
 ing if he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going 
 through with his purpose, whatever obstacles opposed. His 
 integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I 
 have ever known, no motives of interest or consanguinity, 
 of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. 
 He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, 
 and a great man. His temper was naturally irritable and 
 high toned; but reflection and resolution had obtained a 
 firm and habitual ascendancy over it. If ever, however, it 
 broke its bonds, he was most tremendous in his wrath. In 
 his expenses he was honorable, but exact; liberal in con- 
 tributions to whatever promised utility; but frowning and 
 unyielding on all visionary projects, and all unworthy calls 
 on his charity. His heart was not warm in its affections; 
 but he exactly calculated every man's value, and gave him 
 a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know, 
 
 235
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 was fine, his stature exactly what one would wish, his de- 
 portment easy, erect and noble; the best horseman of his 
 age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on 
 horseback. Although in the circle of his friends, where 
 he might be unreserved with safety, he took a free share 
 in conversation, his colloquial talents were not above medioc- 
 rity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of 
 words. In public, when called on for a sudden opinion, 
 he was unready, short and embarrassed. Yet he wrote 
 readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and correct style. This 
 he had acquired by conversation with the world, for his edu- 
 cation was merely reading, writing and common arithmetic, 
 to which he added surveying at a later day. His time was 
 employed in action chiefly, reading little, and that only 
 in agriculture and English history. His correspondence 
 became necessarily extensive, and, with journalizing his 
 agricultural proceedings, occupied most of his leisure hours 
 within doors. On the whole, his character was, in its mass, 
 perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it 
 may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune com- 
 bine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him 
 in the same constellation with whatever worthies have 
 merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his 
 was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies 
 of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the 
 establishment of its independence ; of conducting its councils 
 through the birth of a government, new in its forms and 
 principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly 
 train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the 
 whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history 
 of the world furnishes no other example. 
 
 How, then, can it be perilous for you to take such a man 
 on your shoulders? I am satisfied the great body of re- 
 publicans think of him as I do. We were, indeed, dis- 
 
 236
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 satisfied with him on his ratification of the British treaty. 
 But this was short-lived. We knew his honesty, the wiles 
 with which he was encompassed, and that age had already 
 begun to relax the firmness of his purposes; and I am con- 
 vinced he is more deeply seated in the love and gratitude 
 of the republicans, than in the Pharisaical homage of the 
 federal monarchists. For he was no monarchist from pref- 
 erence of his judgment. The soundness of that gave him 
 correct views of the rights of man, and his severe justice 
 devoted him to them. He has often declared to me that he 
 considered our new Constitution as an experiment on the 
 practicability of republican government, and with what 
 dose of liberty man could be trusted for his own good; that 
 he was determined the experiment should have a fair trial, 
 and would lose the last drop of his blood in support of it. 
 And these declarations he repeated to me the oftener and 
 more pointedly, because he knew my suspicions of Colonel 
 Hamilton's views, and probably had heard from him the 
 same declarations which I had, to wit, "that the British 
 constitution, with its unequal representation, corruption and 
 other existing abuses, was the most perfect government 
 which had ever been established on earth, and that a ref- 
 ormation of those abuses would make it an impracticable 
 government." I do believe that General Washington had 
 not a firm confidence in the durability of our government. 
 He was naturally distrustful of men, and inclined to gloomy 
 apprehensions; and I was ever persuaded that a belief that 
 we must at length end in something like a British constitu- 
 tion, had some weight in his adoption of the ceremonies of 
 levees, birthdays, pompous meetings with Congress, and 
 other forms of the same character, calculated to prepare us 
 gradually for a change which he believed possible, and to 
 let it come on with as little shock as might be to the public 
 mind. 
 
 237
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 These are my opinions of General Washington, which I 
 would vouch at the judgment seat of God, having been 
 formed on an acquaintance of thirty years. I served with 
 him in the Virginia legislature from 1769 to the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and again, a short time in Congress, until he 
 left us to take command of the army. During the war 
 and after it we corresponded occasionally, and in the four 
 years of my continuance in the office of Secretary of State, 
 our intercourse was daily, confidential and cordial. After 
 I retired from that office, great and malignant pains were 
 taken by our federal monarchists, and not entirely without 
 effect, to make him view me as a theorist, holding French 
 principles of government, which would lead infallibly to 
 licentiousness and anarchy. And to this he listened the 
 more easily, from my known disapprobation of the British 
 treaty. I never saw him afterwards, or these malignant in- 
 sinuations should have been dissipated before his just judg- 
 ment, as mists before the sun. I felt on his death, with my 
 countrymen, that "verily a great man hath fallen this day 
 in Israel." 
 
 More time and recollection would enable me to add many 
 other traits of his character; but why add them to you who 
 knew him well? And I cannot justify to myself a longer 
 detention of your paper. 
 
 Vale, proprieque tuum, me esse tibi persuaded*. 
 
 On the Basis of Morality 
 
 To Thomas Law 
 
 POPLAR FOREST, June 13, 1814. 
 
 Of all the theories on this question, the most whim- 
 sical seems to have been that of Wollaston, who con- 
 
 238
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 siders truth as the foundation of morality. The thief who 
 steals your guinea does wrong only inasmuch as he acts a 
 lie in using your guinea as if it were his own. Truth is 
 certainly a branch of morality, and a very important one 
 to society. But presented as its foundation, it is as if a 
 tree taken up by the roots, had its stem reversed in the 
 air, and one of its branches planted in the ground. Some 
 have made the love of God the foundation of morality. 
 This, too, is but a branch of our moral duties, which are 
 generally divided into duties to God and duties to man. 
 If we did a good act merely from the love of God and a 
 belief that it is pleasing to Him, whence arises the morality 
 of the Atheist? It is idle to say, as some do, that no such 
 being exists. We have the same evidence of the fact as 
 of most of those we act on, to wit: their own affirmations, 
 and their reasonings in support of them. I have observed, 
 indeed, generally, that while in Protestant countries the 
 defections from the Platonic Christianity of the priests is 
 to Deism, in Catholic countries they are to Atheism. Did- 
 erot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have 
 been among the most virtuous of men. Their virtue, then, 
 must have had some other foundation than the love of 
 God. 
 
 The To KaXov of others is founded in a different faculty, 
 that of taste, which is not even a branch of morality. We 
 have indeed an innate sense of what we call beautiful, but 
 that is exercised chiefly on subjects addressed to the fancy, 
 whether through the eye in visible forms, as landscape, ani- 
 mal figure, dress, drapery, architecture, the composition of 
 colors, etc., or to the imagination directly, as imagery, style, 
 or measure in prose or poetry, or whatever else constitutes 
 the domain of criticism or taste, a faculty entirely distinct 
 from the moral one. Self-interest, or rather self-love, or 
 egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of 
 
 239
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 morality. But I consider our relations with others as consti- 
 tuting the boundaries of morality. With ourselves we stand 
 on the ground of identity, not of relation, which last, re- 
 quiring two subjects, excludes self-love confined to a single 
 one. To ourselves, in strict language, we can owe no duties, 
 obligation requiring also two parties. Self-love, therefore, 
 is no part of morality. Indeed it is exactly its counterpart. 
 It is the sole antagonist of virtue, leading us constantly by 
 our propensities to self-gratification in violation of our 
 moral duties to others. Accordingly, it is against this 
 enemy that are erected the batteries of moralists and re- 
 ligionists, as the only obstacle to the practice of morality. 
 Take from man his selfish propensities, and he can have 
 nothing to seduce him from the practice of virtue. Or sub- 
 due those propensities by education, instruction or restraint, 
 and virtue remains without a competitor. Egoism, in a 
 broader sense, has been thus presented as the source of 
 moral action. It has been said that we feed the hungry, 
 clothe the naked, bind up the wounds of the man beaten 
 by thieves, pour oil and wine into them, set him on our 
 own beast and bring him to the inn, because we receive 
 ourselves pleasure from these acts. . . . These good acts 
 give us pleasure, but how happens it that they give us 
 pleasure? Because nature hath implanted in our breasts a 
 love of others, a sense of duty to them, a moral instinct, 
 in short, which prompts us irresistibly to feel and to 
 succor their distresses. . . . The Creator would indeed 
 have been a bungling artist, had he intended man for a 
 social animal, without planting in him social dispositions. 
 It is true they are not planted in every man, because there 
 is no rule without exceptions ; but it is false reasoning which 
 converts exceptions into the general rule. Some men are 
 born without the organs of sight, or of hearing, or without 
 hands. Yet it would be wrong to say that man is born 
 
 240
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 without these faculties, and sight, hearing, and hands may 
 with truth enter into the general definition of man. 
 
 The want or imperfection of the moral sense in some 
 men, like the want or imperfection of the senses of sight 
 and hearing in others, is no proof that it is a general char- 
 acteristic of the species. When it is wanting, we endeavor 
 to supply the defect by education, by appeals to reason and 
 calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily con- 
 formed, other motives to do good and to eschew evil, such 
 as the love, or the hatred, or rejection of those among whom 
 he lives, and whose society is necessary to his happiness and 
 even existence; demonstrations by sound calculation that 
 honesty promotes interest in the long run; the rewards and 
 penalties established by the laws; and ultimately the pros- 
 pects of a future state of retribution for the evil as well 
 as the good done while here. These are the correctives 
 which are supplied by education, and which exercise the 
 functions of the moralist, the preacher, and legislator; and 
 they lead into a course of correct action all those whose 
 disparity is not too profound to be eradicated. Some have 
 argued against the existence of a moral sense, by saying 
 that if nature had given us such a sense, impelling us 
 to virtuous actions, and warning us against those which are 
 vicious, then nature would also have designated, by some 
 particular ear-marks, the two sets of actions which are, in 
 themselves, the one virtuous and the other vicious. Where- 
 as, we find, in fact, that the same actions are deemed virt- 
 uous in one country and vicious in another. The answer 
 is, that nature has constituted utility to man, the standard 
 and test of virtue. Men living in different countries, under 
 different circumstances, different habits and regimens, may 
 have different utilities; the same act, therefore, may be 
 useful, and consequently virtuous in one country which is 
 injurious and vicious in another differently circumstanced. 
 
 241
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 I sincerely, then, believe with you in the general existence 
 of a moral instinct. I think it the brightest gem with which 
 the human character is studded, and the want of it as more 
 degrading than the most hideous of the bodily deformities. 
 
 Comparison of Great Britain and the United 
 
 States 
 
 To Dr. Thomas Cooper 
 
 MONTICELLO, September 10, 1814. 
 
 A comparison of the conditions of Great Britain and 
 the United States, which is the subject of your letter 
 of August 17th, would be an interesting theme indeed. 
 To discuss it minutely and demonstratively would be far 
 beyond the limits of a letter. I will give you, therefore, 
 in brief only, the result of my reflections on the subject. 
 I agree with you in jour facts, and in many of your re- 
 flections. My conclusion is without doubt, as I am sure 
 yours will be, when the appeal to your sound judgment is 
 seriously made. The population of England is composed 
 of three descriptions of persons (for those of minor note 
 are too inconsiderable to affect a general estimate). These 
 are, 1. The aristocracy, comprehending the nobility, the 
 wealthy commoners, the high grades of priesthood, and the 
 officers of government. 2. The laboring class. 3. The elee- 
 mosynary class, or paupers, who are about one-fifth of the 
 whole. The aristocracy, which have the laws and govern- 
 ment in their hands, have so managed them as to reduce the 
 third description below the means of supporting life, even 
 by labor; and to force the second, whether employed in 
 agriculture or the arts, to the maximum of labor which the 
 construction of the human body can endure, and to the 
 minimum of food, and of the meanest kind, which will 
 
 242
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 preserve it in life, and in strength sufficient to perform its 
 functions. To obtain food enough, and clothing, not only 
 their whole strength must be unremittingly exerted, but the 
 utmost dexterity also which they can acquire; and those of 
 great dexterity only can keep their ground, while those of 
 less must sink into the class of paupers. Nor is it manual 
 dexterity alone, but the acutest resources of the mind also 
 which are impressed into this struggle for life; and such as 
 have means a little above the rest, as the master-workmen, 
 for instance, must strengthen themselves by acquiring as 
 much of the philosophy of their trade as will enable them to 
 compete with their rivals, and keep themselves above ground. 
 Hence the industry and manual dexterity of their journey- 
 men and day-laborers, and the science of their master-work- 
 men, keep them in the foremost ranks of competition with 
 those of other nations; and the less dexterous individuals, 
 falling into the eleemosynary ranks, furnish materials for 
 armies and navies to defend their country, exercise piracy 
 on the ocean, and carry conflagration, plunder and devasta- 
 tion, on the shores of all those who endeavor to withstand 
 their aggressions. A society thus constituted possesses cer- 
 tainly the means of defence. But what does it defend? 
 The pauperism of the lowest class, the abject oppression 
 of the laboring, and the luxury, the riot, the domination and 
 the vicious happiness of the aristocracy. In their hands, 
 the paupers are used as tools to maintain their own wretch- 
 edness, and to keep down the laboring portion by shooting 
 them whenever the desperation produced by the cravings of 
 their stomachs drives them into riots. Such is the happi- 
 ness of scientific England; now let us see the American side 
 of the medal. 
 
 And, first, we have no paupers, the old and crippled 
 among us, who possess nothing and have no families to take 
 care of them, being too few to merit notice as a separate 
 
 2-13
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 section of society, or to affect a general estimate. The 
 great mass of our population is of laborers; our rich, who 
 can live without labor, either manual or professional, being 
 few, and of moderate wealth. Most of the laboring class 
 possess property, cultivate their own lands, have families, 
 and from the demand for their labor are enabled to exact 
 from the rich and the competent such prices as enable them 
 to be fed abundantly, clothed above mere decency, to labor 
 moderately and raise their families. They are not driven 
 to the ultimate resources of dexterity and skill, because their 
 wares will sell although not quite so nice as those of Eng- 
 land. The wealthy, on the other hand, and those at their 
 ease, know nothing of what the Europeans call luxury. 
 They have only somewhat more of the comforts and de- 
 cencies of life than those who furnish them. Can any 
 condition of society be more desirable than this? Nor in 
 the class of laborers do I mean to withhold from the com- 
 parison that portion whose color has condemned them, in 
 certain parts of our Union, to a subjection to the will of 
 others. Even these are better fed in these States, warmer 
 clothed, and labor less than the journeymen or day-laborers 
 of England. They have the comfort, too, of numerous 
 families, in the midst of whom they live without want, or 
 fear of it; a solace which few of the laborers of England 
 possess. They are subject, it is true, to bodily coercion; 
 but are not the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers 
 and seamen subject to the same, without seeing, at the end 
 of their career, when age and accident shall have rendered 
 them unequal to labor, the certainty, which the other has, 
 that he will never want? And has not the British seaman, 
 as much as the African, been reduced to this bondage by 
 force, in flagrant violation of his own consent, and of his 
 natural right in his own person? and with the laborers of 
 England generally, does not the moral coercion of want 
 
 244
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 subject their will as despotically to that of their employer, 
 as the physical constraint does the soldier, the seaman, or 
 the slave? But do not mistake me. I am not advocating 
 slavery. I am not justifying the wrongs we have com- 
 mitted on a foreign people, by the example of another na- 
 tion committing equal wrongs on their own subjects. On 
 the contrary, there is nothing I would not sacrifice to a 
 practicable plan of abolishing every vestige of this moral 
 and political depravity. But I am at present comparing 
 the condition and degree of suffering to which oppression 
 has reduced the man of one color, with the condition and 
 degree of suffering to which oppression has reduced the 
 man of another color; equally condemning both. Now let 
 us compute by numbers the sum of happiness of the two 
 countries. In England, happiness is the lot of the aristoc- 
 racy only, and the proportion they bear to the laborers 
 and paupers, you know better than I do. Were I to guess 
 that they are four in every hundred, then the happiness of 
 the nation would be to its misery as one in twenty-five. In 
 the United States it is as eight millions to zero, or as all 
 to none. But it is said they possess the means of defence, 
 and that we do not. How so? Are we not men? Yes; 
 but our men are so happy at home that they will not hire 
 themselves to be shot at for a shilling a day. Hence we 
 can have no standing armies for defence, because we have 
 no paupers to furnish the materials. The Greeks and 
 Romans had no standing armies, yet they defended them- 
 selves. The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the 
 spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of 
 their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing 
 army. Their system was to make every man a soldier, and 
 oblige him to repair to the standard of his country when- 
 ever that was reared. This made them invincible; and the 
 same remedy will make us so. 
 
 245
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On Courses of Study 
 
 To Dr. Thomas Cooper 
 
 MONTICELLO, October 7, 1814. 
 
 I agree with yours of the 22d, that a professorship of 
 Theology should have no place in our institution. But 
 we cannot always do what is absolutely best. Those with 
 whom we act, entertaining different views, have the power 
 and the right of carrying 'them into practice. Truth ad- 
 vances, and error recedes step by step only; and to do to 
 our fellow men the most good in our power, we must lead 
 where we can, follow where we cannot, and still go with 
 them, watching always the favorable moment for helping 
 them to another step. Perhaps I should concur with you 
 also in excluding the theory (not the practice) of medicine. 
 This is the charlatanerie of the body, as the other is of the 
 mind. For classical learning I have ever been a zealous 
 advocate; and in this, as in his theory of bleeding and 
 mercury, I was ever opposed to my friend Rush, whom I 
 greatly loved ; but who has done much harm, in the sincerest 
 persuasion that he was preserving life and happiness to 
 all around him. I have not, however, carried so far as you 
 do my ideas of the importance of a hypercritical knowledge 
 of the Latin and Greek languages. I have believed it suf- 
 ficient to possess a substantial understanding of their 
 authors. 
 
 246
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 On Banks 
 
 To Albert Gallatin 
 
 MONTICELLO, October 16, 1815. 
 
 We are undone, my dear Sir, if this banking mania 
 be not suppressed. Aut Carthago, aut Roma delenda 
 est. The war, had it proceeded, would have upset our 
 government; and a new one, whenever tried, will do it. 
 And so it must be while our money, the nerve of war, is 
 much or little, real or imaginary, as our bitterest enemies 
 choose to make it. Put down the banks, and if this coun- 
 try could not be carried through the longest war against 
 her most powerful enemy, without ever knowing the want 
 of a dollar, without dependence on the traitorous classes of 
 her citizens, without bearing hard on the resources of the 
 people, or loading the public with an indefinite burden of 
 debt, I know nothing of my countrymen. Not by any 
 novel project, not by any charlatanerie, but by ordinary and 
 well-experienced means; by the total prohibition of all pri- 
 vate paper at all times, by reasonable taxes in war aided by 
 the necessary emissions of public paper of circulating size, 
 this bottomed on special taxes, redeemable annually as this 
 special tax comes in, and finally within a moderate period 
 even with the flood of private paper by which we were 
 deluged, would the treasury have ventured its credit in bills 
 of circulating size, as of five or ten dollars, etc., they would 
 have been greedily received by the people in preference to 
 bank paper. But unhappily the towns of America were 
 considered as the nation of America, the dispositions of the 
 inhabitants of the former as those of the latter, and the 
 treasury, for want of confidence in the country, delivered 
 itself bound hand and foot to bold and bankrupt advent- 
 
 247
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 urers and pretenders to be money-holders, whom it could 
 have crushed at any moment. Even the last half -bold, 
 half -timid threat of the treasury, showed at once that these 
 jugglers were at the feet of government. For it never was, 
 and is not, any confidence in their frothy bubbles, but the 
 want of all other medium, which induced, or now induces, 
 the country people to take their paper; and at this moment, 
 when nothing else is to be had, no man will receive it but to 
 pass it away instantly, none for distant purposes. We are 
 now without any common measure of the value of prop- 
 erty, and private fortunes are up or down at the will of 
 the worst of our citizens. Yet there is no hope of relief 
 from the legislatures who have immediate control over this 
 subject. As little seems to be known of the principles of 
 political economy as if nothing had ever been written or 
 practised on the subject, or as was known in old times, when 
 the Jews had their rulers under the hammer. It is an evil, 
 therefore, which we must make up our minds to meet and 
 to endure as those of hurricanes, earthquakes and other 
 casualties: let us turn over therefore another leaf. 
 
 On Local Government 
 
 To Joseph C. Cabell 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 2, 1816. 
 
 No, my friend, the way to have good and safe gov- 
 ernment, is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it 
 among the many, distributing to every one exactly the 
 functions he is competent to. Let the national government 
 be intrusted with the defence of the nation, and its foreign 
 and federal relations; the State governments with the civil 
 rights, laws, police, and administration of what concerns 
 
 248
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 the State generally; the counties with the local concerns of 
 the counties, and each ward direct the interests within itself. 
 It is by dividing and subdividing these republics from the 
 great national one doAvn through all its subordinations, until 
 it ends in the administration of every man's farm by him- 
 self; by placing under every one what his own eye may 
 superintend, that all will be done for the best. What has 
 destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every govern- 
 ment which has ever existed under the sun? The general- 
 izing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body, 
 no matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, 
 or of the aristocrats of a Venetian senate. And I do be- 
 lieve that if the Almighty has not decreed that man shall 
 never be free (and it is a blasphemy to believe it), that 
 the secret will be found to be in the making himself the 
 depositary of the powers respecting himself, so far as he 
 is competent to them, and delegating only what is beyond 
 his competence by a synthetical process, to higher and 
 higher orders of functionaries, so as to trust fewer and 
 fewer powers in proportion as the trustees become more 
 and more oligarchical. The elementary republics of the 
 wards, the county republics, the State republics, and the 
 republic of the Union, would form a gradation of author- 
 ities, standing each on the basis of law, holding every one 
 its delegated share of powers, and constituting truly a sys- 
 tem of fundamental balances and checks for the govern- 
 ment. Where every man is a sharer in the direction of his 
 ward-republic, or of some of the higher ones, and feels 
 that he is a participator in the government of affairs, not 
 merely at an election one day in the year, but every day; 
 when there shall not be a man in the State who will not 
 be a member of some one of its councils, great or small, he 
 will let the heart be torn out of his body sooner than his 
 power be wrested from him by a Caesar or a Bonaparte. 
 
 249
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 How powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization 
 in the case of embargo? I felt the foundations of the gov- 
 ernment shaken under my feet by the New England town- 
 ships. There was not an individual in their States whose 
 body was not thrown with all its momentum into action; 
 and although the whole of the other States were known 
 to be in favor of the measure, yet the organization of this 
 little selfish minority enabled it to overrule the Union. 
 What would the unwieldy counties of the Middle, the South, 
 and the West do? Call a county meeting, and the drunken 
 loungers at and about the court-houses would have collected, 
 the distances being too great for the good people and the 
 industrious generally to attend. The character of those 
 who really met would have been the measure of the weight 
 they would have had in the scale of public opinion. As 
 Cato, then, concluded every speech with the words, "Car- 
 thago delenda est" so do I every opinion, with the injunc- 
 tion, "divide the counties into wards." Begin them only 
 for a single purpose; they will soon show for what others 
 they are the best instruments. 
 
 On Aiding the South American Colonies of Spain 
 
 To James Monroe 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 4, 1816. 
 
 The ground you have taken with Spain is sound in 
 every part. It is the true ground, especially, as to the 
 South Americans. When subjects are able to maintain 
 themselves in the field, they are then an independent power 
 as to all neutral nations, are entitled to their commerce, and 
 to protection within their limits. Every kindness which can 
 be shown the South Americans, every friendly office and aid 
 
 250
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 within the limits of the law of nations, I would extend to 
 them, without fearing Spain or her Swiss auxiliaries. For 
 this is but an assertion of our own independence. But to 
 join in their war, as General Scott proposes, and to which 
 even some members of Congress seem to squint, is what we 
 ought not to do as yet. On the question ot our interest in 
 their independence, were that alone a sufficient motive of 
 action, much may be said on both sides. When they are 
 free, they will drive every article of our produce from every 
 market, by underselling it, and change the condition of our 
 existence, forcing us into other habits and pursuits. We 
 shall, indeed, have in exchange some commerce with them, 
 but in what I know not, for we shall have nothing to offer 
 which they cannot raise cheaper; and their separation from 
 Spain seals our everlasting peace with her. On the other 
 hand, so long as they are dependent, Spain, from her jeal- 
 ousy, is our natural enemy, and always in either open or 
 secret hostility with us. These countries, too, in war, will 
 be a powerful weight in her scale, and, in peace, totally 
 shut to us. Interest then, on the whole, would wish their 
 independence, and justice makes the wish a duty. They 
 have a right to be free, and we a right to aid them, as a 
 strong man has a right to assist a weak one assailed by 
 a robber or murderer. That a war is brewing between us 
 and Spain cannot be doubted. When that disposition is 
 matured on both sides, and open rupture can no longer be 
 deferred, then will be the time for our joining the South 
 Americans, and entering into treaties of alliance with them. 
 There will then be but one opinion, at home or abroad, that 
 we shall be justifiable in choosing to have them with us, 
 rather than against us. In the meantime, they will have 
 organized regular governments, and perhaps have formed 
 themselves into one or more confederacies; more than one 
 I hope, as in single mass they would be a very formidable 
 
 251
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 neighbor. The geography of their country seems to indi- 
 cate three: 1. What is north of the Isthmus. 2. What is 
 south of it on the Atlantic; and 3. The southern part on 
 the Pacific. In this form, we might be the balancing power. 
 
 On the Philosophy of Life 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 8, 1816. 
 
 You ask, if I would agree to live my seventy or rather 
 seventy-three years over again? To which I say, yea. I 
 think with you, that it is a good world on the whole; that 
 it has been framed on a principle of benevolence, and 
 more pleasure than pain dealt out to us. There are, indeed, 
 (who might say nay) gloomy and hypochondriac minds, in- 
 habitants of diseased bodies, disgusted with the present, and 
 despairing of the future; always counting that the worst 
 will happen, because it may happen. To these I say, how 
 much pain have cost us the evils which have never hap- 
 pened! My temperament is sanguine. I steer my bark 
 with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern. My hopes, 
 indeed, sometimes fail; but not oftener than the forebod- 
 ings of the gloomy. There are, I acknowledge, even in the 
 happiest life, some terrible convulsions, heavy set-offs 
 against the opposite page of the account. I have often 
 wondered for what good end the sensations of grief could 
 be intended. All our other passions, within proper bounds, 
 have an useful object. And the perfection of the moral 
 character is, not in a stoical apathy, so hypocritically 
 vaunted, and so untruly too, because impossible, but in a 
 just equilibrium of all the passions. I wish the pathol- 
 ogists then, would tell us what is the use of grief in the 
 
 252
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 economy, and of what good it is the cause, proximate or 
 remote. 
 
 On Educational Qualifications 
 
 To Monsieur Dupont de Nemours 
 
 POPLAR FOREST, April 24, 1816. 
 
 In the Constitution of Spain, as proposed by the late 
 Cortes, there was a principle entirely new to me, and 
 not noticed in yours, that no person, born after that 
 day, should ever acquire the rights of citizenship until he 
 could read and write. It is impossible sufficiently to esti- 
 mate the wisdom of this provision. Of all those which have 
 been thought of for securing fidelity in the administration 
 of the government, constant ralliance to the principles of 
 the Constitution, and progressive amendments with the pro- 
 gressive advances of the human mind, or changes in hu- 
 man affairs, it is the most effectual. Enlighten the people 
 generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind 
 will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. Although 
 I do not, with some enthusiasts, believe that the human con- 
 dition will ever advance to such a state of perfection as 
 that there shall no longer be pain or vice in the world, 
 yet I believe it susceptible of much improvement, and most 
 of all, in matters of government and religion; and that the 
 diffusion of knowledge among the people is to be the in- 
 strument by which it is to be effected. 
 
 253
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On the True Republic 
 
 To John Taylor 
 
 MONTICELLO, May 28, 1816. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, that the term republic is of 
 very vague application in every language. Witness the 
 self-styled republics of Holland, Switzerland, Genoa, 
 Venice, Poland. Were I to assign to this term a pre- 
 cise and definite idea, I would say, purely and simply, 
 it means a government by its citizens in mass, acting di- 
 rectly and personally, according to rules established by the 
 majority; and that every other government is more or less 
 republican in proportion, as it has in its composition more 
 or less of this ingredient of the direct action of the citizens. 
 Such a government is evidently restrained to very narrow 
 limits of space and population. I doubt if it would be 
 practicable beyond the extent of a New England township. 
 The first shade from this pure element, which, like that of 
 pure vital air, cannot sustain life of itself, would be where 
 the powers of the government, being divided, should be ex- 
 ercised each by representatives chosen either pro hac vice, 
 or for such short terms as should render secure the duty of 
 expressing the will of their constituents. This I should 
 consider as the nearest approach to a pure republic, which 
 is practicable on a large scale of country or population. 
 And we have examples of it in some of our State Constitu- 
 tions, which, if not poisoned by priest-craft, would prove its 
 excellence over all mixtures with other elements; and, with 
 only equal doses of poison, would still be the best. Other 
 shades of republicanism may be found in other forms of 
 government, where the executive, judiciary and legislative 
 functions, and the different branches of the latter, are 
 chosen by the people more or less directly, for longer terms 
 
 254
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 of years, or for life, or made hereditary ; or where there are 
 mixtures of authorities, some dependent on, and others in- 
 dependent of the people. The further the departure from 
 direct and constant control by the citizens, the less has the 
 government of the ingredient of republicanism; evidently 
 none where the authorities are hereditary, as in France, 
 Venice, etc., or self-chosen, as in Holland; and little, where 
 for life, in proportion as the life continues in being after 
 the act of election. 
 
 The purest republican feature in the government of our 
 own State, is the House of Representatives. The Senate is 
 equally so the first year, less the second, and so on. The 
 Executive still less, because not chosen by the people di- 
 rectly. The Judiciary seriously anti-republican, because 
 for life; and the national arm wielded, as you observe, by 
 military leaders, irresponsible but to themselves. Add to 
 this the vicious constitution of our county courts (to whom 
 the justice, the executive administration, the taxation, police, 
 the military appointments of the county, and nearly all our 
 daily concerns are confided), self-appointed, self-continued, 
 holding their authorities for life, and with an impossibility 
 of breaking in on the perpetual succession of any faction 
 once possessed of the bench. They are in truth, the execu- 
 tive, the judiciary, and the military of their respective coun- 
 ties, and the sum of the counties makes the State. And add, 
 also, that one-half of our brethren who fight and pay taxes, 
 are excluded, like Helots, from the rights of representation, 
 as if society were instituted for the soil, and not for the 
 men inhabiting it; or one-half of these could dispose of the 
 rights and the will of the other half, without their consent. 
 
 "What constitutes a State? 
 Not high-raised battlements, or labor'd mound, 
 
 Thick wall, or moated gate ; 
 
 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd ; 
 255
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 No : men, high-minded men ; 
 Men, who their duties know ; 
 
 But know their rights ; and knowing, dare maintain. 
 These constitute a State." 
 
 In the General Government, the House of Representa- 
 tives is mainly republican; the Senate scarcely so at all, as 
 not elected by the people directly, and so long secured even 
 against those who do elect them; the Executive more re- 
 publican than the Senate, from its shorter term, its election 
 by the people, in practice, (for they vote for A only on an 
 assurance that he will vote for B), and because, in practice 
 also, a principle of rotation seems to be in a course of estab- 
 lishment; the judiciary independent of the nation, their co- 
 ercion by impeachment being found nugatory. 
 
 If, then, the control of the people over the organs of 
 their government be the measure of its republicanism, and 
 I confess I know no other measure, it must be agreed that 
 our governments have much less of republicanism than 
 ought to have been expected; in other words, that the peo- 
 ple have less regular control over their agents, than their 
 rights and their interests require. And this I ascribe, not 
 to any want of republican dispositions in those who formed 
 these Constitutions, but to a submission of true principle 
 to European authorities, to speculators on government, 
 whose fears of the people have been inspired by the popu- 
 lace of their own great cities, and were unjustly entertained 
 against the independent, the happy, and therefore orderly 
 citizens of the United States. Much I apprehend that the 
 golden moment is past for reforming these heresies. The 
 functionaries of public power rarely strengthen in their 
 dispositions to abridge it, and an unorganized call for 
 timely amendment is not likely to prevail against an or- 
 ganized opposition to it. We are always told that things 
 are going on well; why change them? "Chi sta bene, non 
 
 '256
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 si muove," said the Italian, "let hirn who stands well, stand 
 still." This is true; and I verily believe they would go 
 on well with us under an absolute monarch, while our pres- 
 ent character remains, of order, industrj' and love of peace, 
 and restrained, as he would be, by the proper spirit of the 
 people. But it is while it remains such, we should provide 
 against the consequences of its deterioration. And let us 
 rest in the hope that it will yet be done, and spare our- 
 selves the pain of evils which may never happen. 
 
 On this view of the import of the term republic, instead 
 of saying, as has been said, "that it may mean anything 
 or nothing," we may say with truth and meaning, that gov- 
 ernments are more or less republican, as they have more or 
 less of the element of popular election and control in their 
 composition; and believing, as I do, that the mass of the 
 citizens io the safest depositary of their own rights and 
 especially, that the evils flowing from the duperies of the 
 people, are less injurious than those from the egoism of 
 their agents, I am a friend to that composition of govern- 
 ment which has in it the most of this ingredient. And I 
 sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are 
 more dangerous than standing armies; and that the prin- 
 ciple of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the 
 name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large 
 scale. 
 
 Concerning his Religion 
 
 To Mrs. M. Harrison Smith 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 6, 181 6. 
 
 I have ever thought religion a concern purely between 
 our God and our consciences, for which we were aq- 
 
 257
 
 LETTERS AND -ADDRESSES 
 
 countable to Him, and not to the priests. I never told 
 my own religion, nor scrutinized that of another. I never 
 attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change an- 
 other's creed. I have ever judged of the religion of others 
 by their lives, and by this test, my dear Madam, I have 
 been satisfied yours must be an excellent one, to have pro- 
 duced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For 
 it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion 
 must be read. By the same test the world must judge me. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 To Dr. Thomas Humphreys 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 8, 1817. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your favor of January 2d did not come 
 to my hands until the 5th instant. I concur entirely in 
 your leading principles of gradual emancipation, of estab- 
 lishment on the coast of Africa, and the patronage of our 
 nation until the emigrants shall be able to protect them- 
 selves. The subordinate details might be easily arranged. 
 But the bare proposition of purchase by the United States 
 generally, would excite infinite indignation in all the 
 States north of Maryland. The sacrifice must fall on the 
 States alone which hold them; and the difficult question will 
 be how to lessen this so as to reconcile our fellow citizens 
 to it. Personally I am ready and desirous to make any 
 sacrifice which shall insure their gradual but complete re- 
 tirement from the State, and effectually, at the same time, 
 establish them elsewhere in freedom and safety. But I 
 have not perceived the growth of this disposition in the 
 rising generation, of which I once had sanguine hopes. No 
 symptoms inform me that it will take place in my day. 
 
 258
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 I leave it, therefore, to time, and not at all without hope 
 that the day will come, equally desirable and welcome to us 
 as to them. Perhaps the proposition now on the carpet at 
 Washington to provide an establishment on the coast of 
 Africa for voluntary emigrations of people of color, may 
 be the corner stone of this future edifice. Praying for its 
 completion as early as may most promote the good of all, 
 I salute you with great esteem and respect. 
 
 On Internal Improvements 
 
 To Albert Gallatin 
 
 , MONTICELLO, June 16, 1817. 
 
 You will have learned that an act for internal im- 
 provement, after passing both Houses, was negatived by 
 the President. The act was founded, avowedly, on the prin- 
 ciple that the phrase in the Constitution which authorizes 
 Congress "to lay taxes, to pay the debts and provide for 
 the general welfare," was an extension of the powers spe- 
 cifically enumerated to whatever would promote the general 
 welfare; and this, you know, was the federal doctrine. 
 Whereas, our tenet ever was, and, indeed, it is almost the 
 only landmark which now divides the federalists from the 
 republicans, that Congress had not unlimited powers to pro- 
 vide for the general welfare, but were restrained to those 
 specifically enumerated; and that, as it was never meant 
 they should provide for that welfare but by the exercise of 
 the enumerated powers, go it could not have been meant 
 they should raise money for purposes which the enumera- 
 tion did not place under their action; consequently, that the 
 specification of powers is a limitation of the purposes 
 for which they may raise money. ' I think the passage 
 
 259
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 and rejection of this bill a fortunate incident. Every State 
 will certainly concede the power; and this will be a national 
 confirmation of the grounds of appeal to them, and will 
 settle forever the meaning of this phrase, which, by a mere 
 grammatical quibble, has countenanced the General Gov- 
 ernment in a claim of universal power. For in the phrase, 
 "to lay taxes, to pay the debts and provide for the general 
 welfare," it is a mere question of syntax, whether the two 
 last infinitives are governed by the first or are distinct and 
 co-ordinate powers; a question unequivocally decided by the 
 exact definition of powers immediately following. It is 
 fortunate for another reason, as the States, in conceding 
 the power, will modify it, either by requiring the federal 
 ratio of expense in each State, or otherwise, so as to secure 
 us against its partial exercise. Without this caution, in- 
 trigue, negotiation, and the barter of votes might become 
 as habitual in Congress, as they are in those Legislatures 
 which have the appointment of officers, and which, with us, 
 is called "logging," the term of the farmers for their ex- 
 changes of aid in rolling together the logs of their newly- 
 cleared grounds. 
 
 On the Tax on Wine 
 
 To M. de Neuville 
 
 MONTICELLO, December 13, 1818. 
 
 I rejoice, as a moralist, at the prospect of a reduction 
 of the duties on wine, by our national legislature. It is 
 an error to view a tax on that liquor as merely a tax on 
 the rich. It is a prohibition of its use to the middling 
 class of our citizens, and a condemnation of them to the 
 poison of whiskey, which is desolating their houses. No 
 
 260
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober, 
 where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the 
 common beverage. It is, in truth, the only antidote to the 
 bane of whiskey. Fix but the duty at the rate of other 
 merchandise, and we can drink wine here as cheap as we 
 do grog; and who will not prefer it? Its extended use will 
 carry health and comfort to a much enlarged circle. Every 
 one in easy circumstances (as the bulk of our citizens are) 
 will prefer it to the poison to which they are now driven 
 by their government. And the treasury itself will find that 
 a penny apiece from a dozen, is more than a groat from a 
 single one. ' 
 
 Personal Regimen 
 
 To Dr. Vine Vtley 
 
 MONTICELLO, March 21, 1819. 
 
 Sir: The request of the history of my physical habits 
 would have puzzled me not a little, had it not been for 
 the model with which you accompanied it, of Dr. Rush's 
 answer to a similar inquiry. I live so much like other peo- 
 ple, that I might refer to ordinary life as the history of 
 my own. Like my friend the Doctor, I have lived tem- 
 perately, eating little animal food, and that not as an ali- 
 ment, so much as a condiment for the vegetables, which 
 constitute my principal diet. I double however, the Doc- 
 tor's glass and a half of wine, and even treble it with a 
 friend; but halve its effects by drinking the weak wines 
 only. The ardent wines I cannot drink, nor do I use ardent 
 spirits in any form. Malt liquors and cider are my table 
 drinks, and my breakfast, like that also of my friend, is 
 of tea and coffee. I have been blessed with organs of di- 
 
 261
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 gestion which accept and concoct, without ever murmuring, 
 whatever the palate chooses to consign to them, and I have 
 not yet lost a tooth by age. I was a hard student until 
 I entered on the business of life, the duties of which leave 
 no idle time to those disposed to fulfil them; and now, 
 retired, and at the age of seventy-six, I am again a hard 
 student. Indeed, my fondness for reading and study re- 
 volts me from the drudgery of letter-writing. And a stiff 
 wrist, the consequence of an early dislocation, makes writ- 
 ing both slow and painful. I am not so regular in my sleep 
 as the Doctor says he was, devoting to it from five to eight 
 hours, according as'my company or the book I am reading 
 interests me; and I never go to bed without an hour, or half 
 hour's previous reading of something moral whereon to 
 ruminate in the intervals of sleep. But whether I retire to 
 b,ed early or late, I rise with the sun. I use spectacles at 
 night, but not necessarily in the day, unless in reading small 
 print. My hearing is distinct in particular conversation, 
 but confused when several voices cross each other, which 
 unfits me for the society of the table. I have been more 
 fortunate than my friend in the article of health. So free 
 from catarrhs that I have not had one, (in the breast, I 
 mean) on an average of eight or ten years through life. 
 I ascribe this exemption partly to the habit of bathing my 
 feet in cold water every morning, for sixty years past. A 
 fever of more than twenty-four hours I have not had above 
 two or three times in my life. A periodical headache has 
 afflicted me occasionally, once, perhaps, in six or eight years, 
 for two or three weeks at a time, which seems now to have 
 left me; and except on a late occasion of indisposition, I 
 enjoy good health; too feeble, indeed, to walk much, but 
 riding without fatigue six or eight miles a day, and some- 
 times thirty or forty. I may end these egotisms, therefore, 
 as I began, by saying that my life has been so much like 
 
 262
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 that of other people, that I might say with Horace, to every 
 one "nomine mutato, narratur fabula de te." I must not 
 end, however, without due thanks for the kind sentiments 
 of regard you are so good as to express toward myself; 
 and with my acknowledgments for these, be pleased to 
 accept the assurances of my respect and esteem. 
 
 On the Supreme Court 
 
 To Judge Spencer Roane 
 
 POPLAR FOREST, September 6, 1819- 
 Dear Sir: In denying the right they [the judiciary] 
 usurp of exclusively explaining the Constitution, I go 
 further than you do, if I understand rightly your quotation 
 from the Federalist, of an opinion that "the judiciary is the 
 last resort in relation to the other departments of the gov- 
 ernment, but not in relation to the rights of the parties 
 to the compact under which the judiciary is derived." If 
 this opinion be sound, then indeed is our Constitution a com- 
 plete felo de se. For intending to establish three depart- 
 ments, co-ordinate and independent, that they might check 
 and balance one another, it has given, according to this 
 opinion, to one of them alone, the right to prescribe rules 
 for the government of the others, and to that one, too, which 
 is unelected by, and independent of the nation. For ex- 
 perience has already shown that the impeachment it has 
 provided is not even a scare-crow; that such opinions as the 
 one you combat, sent cautiously out, as you observe also, 
 by detachment, not belonging to the case often, but sought 
 for out of it, as if to rally the public opinion beforehand 
 to their views, and to indicate the line they are to walk in, 
 have been so quietly passed over as never to have excited 
 
 263
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 animadversion, even in a speech of any one of the body 
 intrusted with impeachment. The Constitution, on this 
 hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the 
 judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form 
 they please. It should be remembered, as an axiom of eter- 
 nal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government 
 is independent, is absolute also; in theory only, at first, 
 while the spirit of the people is up, but in practice, as fast 
 as that relaxes. Independence can be trusted nowhere but 
 with the people in mass. They are inherently independent 
 of all but moral law. My construction of the Constitution 
 is very different from that you quote. It is that each de- 
 partment is truly independent of the others, and has an 
 equal right to decide for itself what is the meaning of the 
 Constitution in the cases submitted to its action; and espe- 
 cially, where it is to act ultimately and without appeal. 
 
 On the Possibility of Secession 
 
 To John Holmes 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 22, 1820. 
 
 I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind 
 as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the Mis- 
 souri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I had 
 for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any 
 attention to public affairs, confident they were in good 
 hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the 
 shore from which I am not distant. But this momentous 
 question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled 
 me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the 
 Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this 
 is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical 
 
 264
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and politi- 
 cal, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of 
 men, will never be obliterated ; and every new irritation will 
 mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth, 
 that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more 
 than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in 
 any practicable way. The cession of that kind of prop- 
 erty, for so it is misnamed, is a bagatelle which would not 
 cost me a second thought, if, in that way, a general eman- 
 cipation and expatriation could be effected; and, gradually, 
 and with due sacrifices, I think it might be. But as it is, 
 we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, 
 nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self- 
 preservation in the other. Of one thing I am certain, that 
 as the passage of slaves from one State to another, would 
 not make a slave of a single human being who would not 
 be so without it, so their diffusion over a greater surface 
 would make them individually happier, and proportionally 
 facilitate the accomplishment of their emancipation, by 
 dividing the burden on a greater number of coadjutors. An 
 abstinence too, from this act of power, would remove the 
 jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress to regulate 
 the condition of the different descriptions of men compos- 
 ing a State. This certainly is the exclusive right of every 
 State, which nothing in the Constitution has taken from 
 them and given to the General Government. Could Con- 
 gress, for example, say, that the non-freemen of Connecti- 
 cut shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into 
 any other State? 
 
 I regret that I am now to die in the belief, that the use- 
 less sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to 
 acquire self-government and happiness to their country, 
 is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions 
 of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that 
 
 265
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 I live not to weep over it. If they would but dispassion- 
 ately weigh the blessings they will throw away, against 
 an abstract principle more likely to be effected by union 
 than by scission, they would pause before they would per- 
 petrate this act of suicide on themselves, and of treason 
 against the hopes of the world. To yourself, as the faith- 
 ful advocate of the Union, I tender the offering of my high 
 esteem and respect. 
 
 On Religion 
 
 To William Short 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 4,. 1820. 
 
 Dear Sir: I owe you a letter for your favor of June the 
 29th, which was received in due time; and there being no 
 subject of the day, of particular interest, I will make this 
 a supplement to mine of April the 13th. My aim in that 
 was to justify the character of Jesus against the fictions of 
 His pseudo-followers, which have exposed Him to the in- 
 ference of being an impostor. For if we could believe that 
 He really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods, and the 
 charlatanisms which His biographers fatber on Him, and 
 admit the misconstructions, interpolations, and tbeorizations 
 of the fathers of the early, and fanatics of the latter ages, 
 the conclusion would be irresistible by every sound mind, 
 that He was an impostor. I give no credit to their falsifica- 
 tions of His actions and doctrines, and to rescue His char- 
 acter, the postulate in my letter asked only what is granted 
 in reading every other historian. . . . This free exercise 
 of reason is all I ask for the vindication of the char- 
 acter of Jesus. We find in the writings of His biographers 
 matter of two distinct descriptions. First, a ground-work 
 
 66
 
 of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, 
 fanaticisms, and fabrications. Intermixed with these, 
 again, are sublime ideas of the Supreme Being, aphorisms, 
 and precepts of the purest morality and benevolence, sanc- 
 tioned by a life of humility, innocence, and simplicity of 
 manners, neglect of riches, absence of worldly ambition 
 and honors, with an eloquence and persuasiveness which 
 have not been surpassed. These could not be inventions 
 of the grovelling authors who relate them. They are far 
 beyond the powers of their feeble minds. They show that 
 there was a character, the subject of their history, whose 
 splendid conceptions were above all suspicion of being in- 
 terpolations from their hands. Can we be at a loss in 
 separating such materials, and ascribing each to its genuine 
 author? The difference is obvious to the eye and to the 
 understanding, and we may read as we run to ach his 
 part; and I will venture to affirm, that he who, as I have 
 done, will undertake to winnow this grain from the chaff, 
 will find it not to require a moment's consideration. The 
 parts fall asunder of themselves, as would those t>f an 
 image of metal and clay. 
 
 There are, I acknowledge, passages not free from ob- 
 jection, which we may, with probability, ascribe to Jesus 
 Himself; but claiming indulgence from the circumstances 
 under which He acted. His object was the reformation 
 of some articles in the religion of the Jews, as taught by 
 Moses. That sect had presented for the object of their 
 worship, a Being of terrific character, cruel, vindictive, 
 capricious, and unjust. Jesus, taking for His type the 
 best qualities of the human head and heart, wisdom, 
 justice, goodness, and adding to them power, ascribed all 
 of these, but in infinite perfection, to the Supreme Being, 
 and formed Him really worthy of their adoration. Moses 
 had either not believed in a future state of existence, or 
 
 267
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 had not thought it essential to be explicitly taught to his 
 people. Jesus inculcated that doctrine with emphasis and 
 precision. Moses had bound the Jews to many idle cere- 
 monies, mummeries, and observances, of no effect toward 
 producing the social utilities which constitute the essence of 
 virtue; Jesus exposed their futility and insignificance. The 
 one instilled into his people the most anti-social spirit tow- 
 ard other nations; the other preached philanthropy and 
 universal charity and benevolence. The office of reformer 
 of the superstitions of a nation, is ever dangerous. Jesus 
 had to walk on the perilous confines of reason and religion; 
 and a step to right or left might place Him within the 
 grasp of the priests of the superstition, a bloodthirsty 
 race, as cruel and remorseless as the Being whom they 
 represented as the family God of Abraham, of Isaac and 
 of Jacob, and the local God of Israel. They were con- 
 stantly laying snares, too, to entangle Him in the web of 
 the law. He was justifiable, therefore, in avoiding these 
 by evasions, by sophisms, by misconstructions and misap- 
 plications of scraps of the prophets, and in defending 
 Himself with these their own weapons, as sufficient, ad 
 homines, at least. That Jesus did not mean to impose 
 Himself on mankind as the Son of God, physically speak- 
 ing, I have been convinced by the writings of men more 
 learned than myself in that lore. But that He might con- 
 scientiously believe himself inspired from above, is very 
 possible. The whole religion of the Jew, inculcated on 
 Him from His infancy, was founded in the belief of divine 
 inspiration. The fumes of the most disordered imagina- 
 tions were recorded in their religious code, as special com- 
 munications of the Deity; and as it could not but happen 
 that, in the course of ages, events would now and then 
 turn up to which some of these vague rhapsodies might 
 be accommodated by the aid of allegories, figures, types, 
 
 268
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 and other tricks upon words, they have not only preserved 
 their credit with the Jews of all subsequent times, but 
 are the foundation of much of the religions of those who 
 have schismatized from them. Elevated by the enthusiasm 
 of a warm and pure heart, conscious of the high strains 
 of an eloquence which had not been taught Him, He might 
 readily mistake the coruscations of His own fine genius 
 for inspirations of a higher order. This belief carried, 
 therefore, no more personal imputation, than the belief of 
 Socrates, that himself was under the care and admonitions 
 of a guardian Daemon. And how many of our wisest men 
 still believe in the reality of these inspirations, while per- 
 fectly sane on all other subjects. Excusing, therefore, on 
 these considerations, those passages in the Gospels which 
 seem to bear marks of weakness in Jesus, ascribing to Him 
 what alone is consistent with the great and pure character 
 of which the same writings furnish proofs, and to their 
 proper authors their own trivialities and imbecilities, I 
 think myself authorized to conclude the purity and distinc- 
 tion of His character, in opposition to the impostures which 
 those authors would fix upon Him; and that the postulate 
 of my former letter is no more than is granted in all other 
 historical works. 
 
 On the Spoils System 
 
 To James Madison 
 
 POPLAR FOREST, November 29, 1820. 
 Dear Sir: The enclosed letter ... is a sample of the 
 effects we may expect from the late mischievous law vacat- 
 ing every four years nearly all the executive offices of the 
 government. It saps the constitutional and salutary func- 
 
 269
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 tions of the President, and introduces a principle of in- 
 trigue and corruption, which will soon leaven the mass, not 
 only of Senators, but of citizens. It is more baneful than 
 the attempt which failed in the beginning of the govern- 
 ment, to make all officers irremovable but with the consent 
 of the Senate. This places, every four years, all appoint- 
 ments under their power, and even obliges them to act on 
 every one nomination. It will keep in constant excitement 
 all the hungry cormorants for office, render them, as well 
 as those in place, sycophants to their Senators, engage 
 these in eternal intrigue to turn out one and put in an- 
 other, in cabals to swap work; and make of them what all 
 executive directories become, mere sinks of corruption and 
 faction. This must have been one of the midnight signa- 
 tures of the President, when he had not time to consider, 
 or even to read the law; and the more fatal as being ir- 
 repealable but with the consent of the Senate, which will 
 never be obtained. 
 
 On the Kentucky Resolutions 
 
 To Mr. Nicholas 
 
 MONTICELLO, December 11, 1821. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter of December the ipth places me 
 under a dilemma, which I cannot solve but by an exposi- 
 tion of the naked truth. I would have wished chis rather 
 to have remained as hitherto, without inquiry; but your 
 inquiries have a right to be answered. I will do it as 
 exactly as the great lapse of time and a waning memory 
 will enable me. I may misremember indifferent circum- 
 stances, but can be right in substance. 
 
 At the time when the republicans of our country were 
 270
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 so much alarmed at the proceedings of the federal ascend- 
 ancy in Congress, in the executive and the judiciary de- 
 partments, it became a matter of serious consideration how 
 head could be made against their enterprises on the Con- 
 stitution. The leading republicans in Congress found 
 themselves of no use there, browbeaten, as they were, by 
 a bold and overwhelming majority. They concluded to 
 retire from that field, take a stand in the State legisla- 
 tures, and endeavor there to arrest their progress. The 
 alien and sedition laws furnished the particular occasion. 
 The sympathy between Virginia and Kentucky was more 
 cordial, and more intimately confidential, than between any 
 other two States of republican policy. Mr. Madison came 
 into the Virginia legislature. I was then in the Vice- 
 Presidency, and could not leave my station. But your 
 father, Colonel W. C. Nicholas, and myself happening to 
 be together, the engaging the co-operation of Kentucky in 
 an energetic protestation against the constitutionality of 
 those laws, became a subject of consultation. Those gen- 
 tlemen pressed me strongly to sketch resolutions for that 
 purpose, your father undertaking to introduce them to that 
 legislature, with a solemn assurance, which I strictly re- 
 quired, that it should not be known from what quarter they 
 came. I drew and delivered them to him, and in keeping 
 their origin secret, he fulfilled his pledge of honor. Some 
 years after this, Colonel Nicholas asked me if I would have 
 any objection to its being known that I had drawn them. 
 I pointedly enjoined that it should not. Whether he had 
 unguardedly intimated it before to any one, I know not; 
 but I afterwards observed in the papers repeated imputa- 
 tions of them to me; on which, as has been my practice 
 on all occasions of imputation, I have observed entire si- 
 lence. The question, indeed, has never before been put to 
 me, nor should I answer it to any other than yourself; see- 
 
 271
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ing no good end to be proposed by it, and the desire of 
 tranquillity inducing with me a wish to be withdrawn from 
 public notice. Your father's zeal and talents were too 
 well known, to derive any additional distinction from the 
 penning these resolutions. That circumstance, surely, was 
 of far less merit than the proposing and carrying them 
 through the legislature of his State. The only fact in 
 this statement, on which my memory is not distinct, is the 
 time and occasion of the consultation with your father and 
 Colonel Nicholas. It took place here, I know; but whether 
 any other person was present, or communicated with, is 
 my doubt. I think Mr. Madison was either with us, or 
 consulted, but my memory is uncertain as to minute details. 
 
 On the Annexation of Cuba 
 
 To the President of the United States 
 (James Monroe) 
 
 MONTICELLO, June 23, 1823. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have been lately visited by a Mr. Miralla, 
 . . . resident in Cuba for the last seven or eight years ; 
 a person of intelligence, of much information, and frankly 
 communicative. I believe, indeed, he is known to you. 
 I availed myself of the opportunity of learning what was 
 the state of public sentiment in Cuba as to their future 
 course. He says they would be satisfied to remain as they 
 are ; but all are sensible that that cannot be ; that whenever 
 circumstances shall render a separation from Spain neces- 
 sary, a perfect independence would be their choice, pro- 
 vided they could see a certainty of protection; but that, 
 without that prospect, they would be divided in opinion be- 
 tween an incorporation with Mexico, and with the United 
 
 272
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 States Colombia being too remote for prompt support. 
 The considerations in favor of Mexico are that then Havana 
 would be the emporium for all the produce of that im- 
 mense and wealthy country, and, of course, the medium of 
 all its commerce; that having no ports on its eastern coast, 
 Cuba would become the depot of its naval stores and 
 strength, and, in effect, would, in a great measure, have 
 the sinews of the government in its hands. That in favor 
 of the United States is the fact that three-fourths of the 
 exportations from Havana come to the United States, that 
 they are a settled government, the power which can most 
 promptly succor them, rising to an eminence promising 
 future security; and of which they would make a member 
 of the sovereignty, while as to England, they would be 
 only a colony, subordinated to her interest, and that there 
 is not a man in the island who would not resist her to the 
 bitterest extremity. Of this last sentiment I had not the 
 least idea at the date of my late letters to you. I had 
 supposed an English interest there quite as strong as that 
 of the United States, and therefore, that, to avoid war, 
 and keep the island open to our own commerce, it would 
 be best to join that power in mutually guaranteeing its in- 
 dependence. But if there is no danger of its falling into 
 the possession of England, I must retract an opinion 
 founded on an error of fact. We are surely under no 
 obligation to give her, gratis, an interest which she has not; 
 and the whole inhabitants being averse to her, and the 
 climate mortal to strangers, its continued military occupa- 
 tion by her would be impracticable. It is better then to 
 lie still in readiness to receive that interesting incorporation 
 when solicited by herself. For, certainly, her addition to 
 our confederacy is exactly what is wanting to round our 
 power as a nation to the point of its utmost interest. 
 
 273
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 On Religion 
 
 To John Adams 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 11, 182S. 
 
 Dear Sir: The wishes expressed in your last favor, that 
 I may continue in life and health until I become a Cal- 
 vinist, at least in his exclamation of "Mon Dieu! jusqu'a 
 quand!" would make me immortal. I can never join Cal- 
 vin in addressing his God. He was indeed an atheist, 
 which I can never be ; or rather his religion was daemonism. 
 If ever man worshipped a false God he did. The Being 
 described in his five points, is not the God whom you and 
 I acknowledge and adore, the Creator and benevolent Gov- 
 ernor of the world; but a daemon of malignant spirit. It 
 would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than 
 to blaspheme Him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin. 
 Indeed, I think that every Christian sect gives a great 
 handle to atheism by their general dogma, that, without a 
 revelation, there would not be sufficient proof of the being 
 of a God. . . . The truth is, that the greatest enemies 
 to the doctrines of Jesus are those, calling themselves the 
 expositors of them, who have perverted them for the struct- 
 ure of a system of fancy absolutely incomprehensible, and 
 without any foundation in His genuine words. And the 
 day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by 
 the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, 
 will be classed with the fable of the generation of Mi- 
 nerva, in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the 
 dawn of reason, and freedom of thought in these United 
 States, will do away all this artificial scaffolding, and re- 
 store to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this the 
 most venerated Reformer of human errors. 
 
 274
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 So much for your quotation of Calvin's "Mon Dieu! 
 jusqu'a quand!" in which, when addressed to the God of 
 Jesus, and our God, I join you cordially, and await His 
 time and will with more readiness than reluctance. May 
 we meet there again, in Congress, with our ancient col- 
 leagues, and receive with them the seal of approbation, 
 "Well done, good and faithful servants." 
 
 On Home and Foreign Missions 
 
 To Michael Megear 
 
 MONTICELLO, May 29, 1823. 
 
 I thank you, Sir, for the copy of the letters of Paul and 
 Amicus, which you have been so kind as to send me, and 
 shall learn from them with satisfaction the peculiar tenets 
 of the Friends, and particularly their opinions on the in- 
 comprehensibilities (otherwise called the mysteries) of the 
 Trinity. I think with them on many points, and especially 
 on missionary and Bible societies. While we have so many 
 around us, within the same social pale, who need instruc- 
 tion and assistance, why carry to a distance, and to 
 strangers what our own neighbors need? It is a duty cer- 
 tainly to give our sparings to those who want; but to see 
 also that they are faithfully distributed, and duly appor- 
 tioned to the respective wants of those receivers. And why 
 give through agents whom we know not, to persons whom 
 we know not, and in countries from which we get no ac- 
 count, when we can do it at short hand, to objects under 
 our eye, through agents we know, and to supply wants we 
 see? I do not know that it is a duty to disturb by mis- 
 sionaries the religion and peace of other countries, who 
 may think themselves bound to extinguish by fire and fagot 
 
 275
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 the heresies to which we give the name of conversions, and 
 quote our own example for it. Were the Pope, or his 
 holy allies, to send in mission to us some thousands of 
 Jesuit priests to convert us to their orthodoxy, I suspect 
 that we should deem and treat it as a national aggression 
 on our peace and faith. I salute you in the spirit of peace 
 and good will. 
 
 On the Monroe Doctrine 
 
 To the President of the United States 
 (James Monroe') 
 
 MONTICELLO, October 24, 1823. 
 
 Dear Sir: The question presented by the letters you 
 have sent me, is the most momentous which has ever been 
 offered to my contemplation since that of Independence. 
 That made us a nation, this sets our compass and points the 
 course which we are to steer through the ocean of time 
 opening on us. And never could we embark on it under 
 circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fundamental 
 maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils 
 of Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe to inter- 
 meddle with cis-atlantic affairs. America, North and South, 
 has a set of interests distinct from those of Europe, and 
 peculiarly her own. She should therefore have a sys- 
 tem of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe- 
 While the last is laboring to become the domicile of despot- 
 ism, our endeavor should surely be, to make our hemisphere 
 that of freedom. One nation, most of all, could disturb 
 us in this pursuit; she now offers to lead, aid, and accom- 
 pany us in it. By acceding to her proposition, we detach 
 her from the bands, bring her mighty weight into the scale 
 
 276
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 of free government, and emancipate a continent at one 
 stroke, which might otherwise linger long in doubt and 
 difficulty. Great Britain is the nation which can do us the 
 most harm of any one, or all on earth; and with her on 
 our side we need not fear the whole world. With her then, 
 we should most sedulously cherish a cordial friendship; 
 and nothing would tend more to knit our affections than 
 to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause. 
 Not that I would purchase even her amity at the price of 
 taking part in her wars. But the war in which the present 
 proposition might engage us, should that be its conse- 
 quence, is not her war, but ours. Its object is to intro- 
 duce and establish the American system, of keeping out 
 of our land all foreign powers, of never permitting those 
 of Europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nations. 
 It is to maintain our own principle, not to depart from 
 it. And if, to facilitate this, we can effect a division in the 
 body of the European powers, and draw over to our side 
 its most powerful member, surely we should do it. But I 
 am clearly of Mr. Canning's opinion, that it will prevent 
 instead of provoking war. With Great Britain withdrawn 
 from their scale and shifted into that of our two continents, 
 all Europe combined would not undertake such a war. For 
 how would they propose to get at either enemy without 
 superior fleets? Nor is the occasion to be slighted which 
 this proposition offers, of declaring our protest against the 
 atrocious violations of the rights of nations, by the inter- 
 ference of any one in the internal affairs of another, so 
 flagitiously begun by Bonaparte, and now continued by the 
 equally lawless Alliance, calling itself Holy. 
 
 But we have first to ask ourselves a question. Do we 
 wish to acquire to our own confederacy any one or more 
 of the Spanish provinces? I candidly confess, that I have 
 ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which 
 
 277
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 could ever be made to our system of States. The control 
 which, with Florida Point, this island would give us over 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus border- 
 ing on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, 
 would fill up the measure of our political well-being. Yet, 
 as I am sensible that this can never be obtained, even with 
 her own consent, but by war; and its independence, which 
 is our second interest (and especially its independence of 
 England), can be secured without it, I have no hesitation 
 in abandoning my first wish to future chances, and accept- 
 ing its independence, with peace and the friendship of 
 England, rather than its association, at the expense of war 
 and her enmity. 
 
 I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration pro- 
 posed, that we aim not at the acquisition of any of those 
 possessions, that we will not stand in the way of any 
 amicable arrangement between them and the Mother coun- 
 try; but that we will oppose, with all our means, the 
 forcible interposition of any other power, as auxiliary, sti- 
 pendiary, or under any other form or pretext, and most 
 especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession, 
 or acquisition in any other way. I should think it, there- 
 fore, advisable, that the Executive should encourage the 
 British government to a continuance in the dispositions 
 expressed in these letters, by an assurance of his concur- 
 rence with them as far as his authority goes; and that 
 as it may lead to war, the declaration of which requires 
 an act of Congress, the case shall be laid before them 
 for consideration at their first meeting, and under the rea- 
 sonable aspect in which it is seen by himself. 
 
 278
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 On Amendments to the Constitution 
 
 To Robert J. Garnett 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 14, 1824. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have to thank you for the copy of Colonel 
 Taylor's "New Views of the Constitution/' and shall read 
 them with the satisfaction and edification which I have ever 
 derived from whatever he has written. But I fear it is 
 the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Those who 
 formerly usurped the name of federalists, which, in fact, 
 they never were, have now openly abandoned it, and are 
 as openly marching by the road of construction, in a direct 
 line to that consolidation which was always their real 
 object. They, almost to a man, are in possession of one 
 branch of the government, and appear to be very strong 
 in yours. The three great questions of amendment now 
 before you, will give the measure of their strength. I 
 mean, 1st, the limitation of the term of Presidential 
 service; 2d, the placing the choice of President effectually 
 in the hands of the people; 3d, the giving to Congress the 
 power of internal improvement, on condition that each 
 State's federal proportion of the moneys so expended, shall 
 be employed within the State. The friends of consolidation 
 would rather take these powers by construction than ac- 
 cept them by direct investiture from the States. Yet, as to 
 internal improvement particularly, there is probably not a 
 State in the Union which would not grant the power on 
 the condition proposed, or which would grant it without 
 that. 
 
 The best general key for the solution of questions of 
 power between our governments is the fact that "every 
 foreign and federal power is given to the federal govern- 
 
 279
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 ment, and to the States every power purely domestic." 
 I recollect but one instance of control vested in the federal, 
 over the State authorities, in a matter purely domestic, 
 which is that of metallic tenders. The federal is, in truth, 
 our foreign government, which department alone is taken 
 from the sovereignty of the separate States. 
 
 The real friends of the Constitution in its federal form, 
 if they wish it to be immortal, should be attentive, by 
 amendments, to make it keep pace with the advance of 
 the age in science and experience. Instead of this, the 
 European governments have resisted reformation, until the 
 people, seeing no other resource, undertake it themselves 
 by force, their only weapon, and work it out through blood, 
 desolation and long-continued anarchy. Here it will be by 
 large fragments breaking off, and refusing re-union but on 
 condition of amendment, or perhaps permanently. If I 
 can see these three great amendments prevail, I shall con- 
 sider it as a renewed extension of the term of our lease, 
 shall live in more confidence, and die in more hope. And 
 I do trust that the republican mass, which Colonel Taylor 
 justly says is the real federal one, is still strong enough 
 to carry these truly federo-republican amendments. With 
 my prayers for the issue, accept my friendly and respect- 
 ful salutations. 
 
 Concerning Party Names and Purposes 
 
 To William Short 
 
 MONTICELLO, January 8, 1825. 
 
 He [Harper] takes great pains to prove, for instance, 
 that Hamilton was no monarchist, by exaggerating his own 
 intimacy with him, and the impossibility, if he was so, that 
 
 280
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 he should not, at some time, have betrayed it to him. This 
 may pass with uninformed readers, but not with those who 
 have had it from Hamilton's own mouth. I am one of 
 those, and but one of many. At my own table, in presence 
 of Mr. Adams, Knox, Randolph, and myself, in a dis- 
 pute between Mr. Adams and himself, he avowed his 
 preference of monarchy over every other government, 
 and his opinion that the English was the most perfect 
 model of government ever devised by the wit of man, Mr. 
 Adams agreeing "if its corruptions were done away." 
 While Hamilton insisted that "with these corruptions it was 
 perfect and without them it would be an impracticable 
 government." Can any one read Mr. Adams's defence of 
 the American Constitutions without seeing that he was a 
 monarchist? And J. Q. Adams, the son, was more explicit 
 than the father, in his answer to Paine's "Rights of Man." 
 So much for leaders. Their followers were divided. Some 
 went the same lengths; others, and I believe the greater 
 part, only wished a stronger Executive. 
 
 When I arrived at New York in 1790, to take a part in 
 the administration, being fresh from the French Revolu- 
 tion, while in its first and pure stage, and consequently 
 somewhat whetted up in my own republican principles, 
 I found a state of things, in the general society of the 
 place, which I could not have supposed possible. Being 
 a stranger there, I was feasted from table to table, at 
 large set dinners, the parties generally from twenty to 
 thirty. The revolution I had left, and that we had just 
 gone through in the recent change of our own government, 
 being the common topics of conversation, I was astonished 
 to find the general prevalence of monarchical sentiments, 
 insomuch that in maintaining those of republicanism, I 
 had always the whole company on my hands, never scarcely 
 finding among them a single co-advocate in that argument, 
 
 281
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 unless some old member of Congress happened to be pres- 
 ent. The furthest that any one would go, in support of 
 the republican features of our new government, would be 
 to say, "the present Constitution is well as a beginning, and 
 may be allowed a fair trial; but it is, in fact, only a step- 
 ping-stone to something better." Among their writers, 
 Denny, the editor of the Portfolio, who was a kind of 
 oracle with them, and styled the Addison of America, 
 openly avowed his preference of monarchy over all other 
 forms of government, prided himself on the avowal, and 
 maintained it by argument freely and without reserve, in 
 his publications. I do not, myself, know that the Essex 
 junto of Boston were monarchists, but I have always heard 
 it so said, and never doubted. 
 
 These, my dear Sir, are but detached items from a great 
 mass of proofs then fully before the public. They are 
 unknown to you, because you were absent in Europe, and 
 they are now disavowed by the party. But, had it not 
 been for the firm and determined stand then made by a 
 counter-party, no man can say what our government would 
 have been at this day. Monarchy, to be sure, is now de- 
 feated, and they wish it should be forgotten that it was 
 ever advocated. They see that it is desperate, and treat 
 its imputation to them as a calumny; and I verily believe 
 that none of them have it now in direct aim. Yet the 
 spirit is not done away. The same party takes now what 
 they deem the next best ground, the consolidation of the 
 government; the giving to the federal member of the gov- 
 ernment, by unlimited constructions of the Constitution, a 
 control over all the functions of the States, and the con- 
 centration of all power ultimately at Washington. 
 
 The true history of that conflict of parties will never 
 be in possession of the public until, by the death of the 
 actors in it, the hoards of their letters shall be broken up 
 
 9R9 
 
 A*O<W
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 and given to the world. I should not fear to appeal to 
 those of Harper himself, if he has kept copies of them, 
 for abundant proof that he was himself a monarchist. I 
 shall not live to see these unrevealed proofs, nor probably 
 you; for time will be requisite. But time will, in the end, 
 produce the truth. And, after all, it is but a truth 
 which exists in every country, where not suppressed by 
 the rod of despotism. Men, according to their constitu- 
 tions, and the circumstances in which they are placed, differ 
 honestly in opinion. Some are Whigs, Liberals, Demo- 
 crats, call them what you please. Others are Tories, Ser- 
 viles, Aristocrats, etc. The latter fear the people, and 
 wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society; 
 the former consider the people as the safest depository 
 of power in the last resort; they cherish them, therefore, 
 and wish to leave in them all the powers to the exercise 
 of which they are competent. This is the division of 
 sentiment now existing in the United States. It is the 
 common division of Whig and Tory, or according to our 
 denominations of republican and federal; and is the most 
 salutary of all divisions, and ought, therefore, to be fos- 
 tered, instead of being amalgamated. For, take away this, 
 and some more dangerous principle of division will take 
 its place. 
 
 Rules of Conduct 
 
 To Thomas Jefferson Smith 
 
 MONTICELLO, February 21, 1825. 
 
 This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The 
 writer will be in the grave before you can weigh its 
 counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has re- 
 
 283
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 quested that I would address to you something which might 
 possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life 
 you have to run, and I too, as a namesake, feel an interest 
 in that course. Few words will be necessary, with good 
 dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and 
 cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and 
 your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. 
 Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life 
 into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal 
 and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to 
 care for the things of this world, every action of your 
 life will be under my regard. Farewell. 
 
 The Portrait of a Good Man by the most Sublime of Poets, 
 for your Imitation 
 
 Lord, who's the happy man that may to Thy blest courts repair, 
 Not stranger-like to visit them, but to inhabit there ? 
 'Tis he whose every thought and deed by rules of virtue moves. 
 Whose generous tongue disdains to speak the thing his heart dis- 
 proves. 
 
 Who never did a slander forge, his neighbor's fame to wound, 
 Nor hearken to a false report, by malice whispered round. 
 Who vice, in all its pomp and power, can treat with just neglect ; 
 And piety, though clothed in rags, religiously respect. 
 Who to his plighted vows and trust has ever firmly stood, 
 And though he promise to his loss, he makes his promise good. 
 Whose soul in usury disdains his treasure to employ, 
 Whom no rewards can ever bribe the guiltless to destroy. 
 The man who, by this steady course, has happiness insur'd. 
 When earth's foundations shake, shall stand, by Providence secur'd. 
 
 A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life 
 
 1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 
 
 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 
 
 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 
 
 284
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap ; 
 it will be dear to you. 
 
 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 
 
 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 
 
 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 
 
 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have 
 never happened. 
 
 9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 
 
 10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very 
 angry, an hundred. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 To Miss Frances Wright 
 
 MONTICELLO, August 7, 1825. 
 
 My health is very low, not having been able to leave 
 the house for three months, and suffering much at times. 
 In this state of body and mind, your letter could not have 
 found a more inefficient counsellor, one scarcely able to 
 think or to write. At the age of eighty-two, with one foot 
 in the grave, and the other uplifted to follow it, I do not 
 permit myself to take part in any new enterprises, even 
 for bettering the condition of man, not even in the great 
 one which is the subject of your letter, and which has 
 been through life that of my greatest anxieties. The march 
 of events has not been such as to render its completion 
 practicable within the limits of time allotted to me; and 
 I leave its accomplishment as the work of another genera- 
 tion. And I am cheered when I see that on which it is 
 devolved, taking it up with so much good-will, and such 
 minds engaged in its encouragement. The abolition of the 
 evil is not impossible; it ought never therefore to be 
 
 285
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 despaired of. Every plan should be adopted, every ex- 
 periment tried, which may do something toward the ul- 
 timate object. That which you propose is well worthy 
 of trial. It has succeeded with certain portions of our 
 white brethren, under the care of a Rapp and an Owen; 
 and why may it not succeed with the man of color? An 
 opinion is hazarded by some, but proved by none, that 
 moral urgencies are not sufficient to induce him to labor; 
 that nothing can do this but physical coercion. But this 
 is a problem which the present age alone is prepared to 
 solve by experiment. It would be a solecism to suppose 
 a race of animals created, without sufficient foresight and 
 energy to preserve their own existence. It is disproved, 
 too, by the fact that they exist, and have existed through 
 all the ages of history. We are not sufficiently acquainted 
 with all the nations of Africa, to say that there may not 
 be some in which habits of industry are established, and 
 the arts practised which are necessary to render life com- 
 fortable. The experiment now in progress in St. Domingo, 
 those of Sierra Leone and Cape Mesurado, are but begin- 
 ning. Your proposition has its aspects of promise also; 
 and should it not answer fully to calculations in figures, 
 it may yet, in its developments, lead to happy results. 
 These, however, I must leave to another generation. The 
 enterprise of a different, but yet important character, in 
 which I have embarked too late in life, I find more than 
 sufficient to occupy the enfeebled energies remaining to me, 
 and that to divert them to other objects, would be a de- 
 sertion of these. You are young, dear Madam, and have 
 powers of mind which may do much in exciting others 
 in this arduous task. I am confident they will be so ex- 
 erted, and I pray to Heaven for their success, and that 
 you may be rewarded with the blessings which such efforts 
 merit. 
 
 286
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 On State Rights 
 
 To William B. Giles 
 
 MONTICELLO, December 26, 1825. 
 
 Dear Sir: I wrote you a letter yesterday, of which you 
 will be free to make what use you please. This will con- 
 tain matters not intended for the public eye. I see, as 
 you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides 
 with which the federal branch of our Government is ad- 
 vancing toward the usurpation of all the rights reserved 
 to the States, and the consolidation in itself of all powers, 
 foreign and domestic; and that too, by constructions which, 
 if legitimate, leave no limits to their power. Take to- 
 gether the decisions of the federal court, the doctrines of 
 the President, and the misconstructions of the constitu- 
 tional compact acted on by the legislature of the federal 
 branch, and it is but too evident, that the three ruling 
 branches of that department are in combination to strip 
 their colleagues, the State authorities, of the powers re- 
 served by them, and to exercise themselves all functions 
 foreign and domestic. Under the power to regulate com- 
 merce, they assume indefinitely that also over agriculture 
 and manufactures, and call it regulation to take the earn- 
 ings of one of these branches of industry, and that, too, 
 the most depressed, and put them into the pockets of the 
 other, the most flourishing of all. Under the authority to 
 establish post roads, they claim that of cutting down moun- 
 tains for the construction of roads, of digging canals, and 
 aided by a little sophistry on the words "general welfare," 
 a right to do, not only the acts to effect that, which are 
 specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they 
 shall think, or pretend will be for the general welfare. 
 
 287
 
 LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 And what is our resource for the preservation of the Con- 
 stitution? Reason and argument? You might as well rea- 
 son and argue with the marble columns encircling them. 
 The representatives chosen by ourselves? They are joined 
 in the combination, some from incorrect views of govern- 
 ment, some from corrupt ones, sufficient voting together to 
 outnumber the sound parts; and with majorities only of 
 one, two, or three, bold enough to go forward in defiance. 
 Are we then to stand to our arms, with the hot-headed 
 Georgian? No. That must be the last resource, not to 
 be thought of until much longer and greater sufferings. 
 If every infraction of a compact of so many parties is 
 to be resisted at once, as a dissolution of it, none can ever 
 be formed which would last one year. We must have pa- 
 tience and longer endurance then with our brethren while 
 under delusion; give them time for reflection and experi- 
 ence of consequences ; keep ourselves in a situation to profit 
 by the chapter of accidents; and separate from our com- 
 panions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dis- 
 solution of our Union, with them or submission to a govern- 
 ment without limitation of powers. Between these two 
 evils, when we must make a choice, there can be no hesita- 
 tion. But in the meanwhile, the States should be watch- 
 ful to note every material usurpation on their rights; to 
 denounce them as they occur in the most peremptory terms ; 
 to protest against them as wrongs to which our present 
 submission shall be considered, not as acknowledgments 
 or precedents of right, but as a temporary yielding to the 
 lesser evil, until their accumulation shall overweigh that of 
 separation. I would go still further, and give to the 
 federal member, by a regular amendment of the Constitu- 
 tion, a right to make roads and canals of intercommunica- 
 tion between the States, providing sufficiently against cor- 
 rupt practices in Congress, (log-rolling, etc.) by declaring 
 
 288
 
 OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 that the federal proportion of each State of the moneys 
 so employed, shall be in works within the State, or else- 
 where with its consent, and with a due salvo of jurisdiction. 
 This is the course which I think safest and best as yet. 
 
 On Slavery 
 
 To the Honorable Edward Everett 
 
 MONTICELLO, April 8, 1826. 
 
 Dear Sir: I thank you for the very able and eloquent 
 speech you have been so kind as to send me on the amend- 
 ment of the Constitution, proposed by Mr. McDuffie. I 
 have read it with pleasure and satisfaction, and concur 
 with much of its contents. On the question of the law- 
 fulness of slavery, that is of the right of one man to ap- 
 propriate to himself the faculties of another without his 
 consent, I certainly retain my early opinions. On that, 
 however, of third persons to interfere between the parties, 
 and the effect of conventional modifications of that pre- 
 tension, we are probably nearer together. I think with 
 you, also, that the Constitution of the United States is 
 a compact of independent nations subject to the rules 
 acknowledged in similar cases, as well that of amendment 
 provided within itself, as, in case of abuse, the justly 
 dreaded but unavoidable ultimo ratio gentium. 
 
 289
 
 Jefferson's Inscription for his Tombstone 
 
 HERE WAS BURIED 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
 OF THE DECLARATION OF 
 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA 
 
 FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND 
 
 FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 BORN APRIL 2o, 
 
 1743 O. S. 
 
 DIED [JULY 4] 
 
 [1826] 
 
 290
 
 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Va., on the 
 second of April, 1743. He came of a good family. The 
 Jeffersons, like the Washingtons, were landed proprietors, 
 men of standing and influence in the community, Thomas 
 Jefferson the elder being Justice of the Peace and Vestry- 
 man in his county, and holding at the time of his death 1,900 
 acres of land and thirty slaves. Thomas was the third of 
 ten children and, though only fourteen when his father died, 
 had given promise of such unusual powers that strict pro- 
 vision was made in the will for his education. At fifteen he 
 entered William and Mary College where he graduated four 
 years later and entered upon the study of the law. 
 
 From the first he showed aptitude as well as ambition for 
 public affairs. When he came of age he was elected Justice. 
 At twenty-five he was chosen to the House of Burgesses and 
 remained a member until the Assembly was closed by the 
 Revolution. Then he was sent to Congress and in 1779 
 was elected Governor of Virginia. From that time until 
 near the close of his life he was almost constantly engaged 
 in the public service, acting successively as Member of 
 Congress, Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice- 
 President, and President. 
 
 When he was fifty-seven he drew up a brief statement in 
 the nature of an apologia pro vita sua which forms a modest 
 account of his achievements up to that time. 
 
 "I have sometimes asked myself, whether my country is 
 the better for my having lived at all? I do not know that 
 ft is. I have been the instrument of doing the following 
 things; but they would have been done by others; some of 
 them, perhaps, a little better: 
 
 291
 
 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 
 
 "The Rivanna had never been used for navigation; 
 scarcely an empty canoe had ever passed down it. Soon 
 after I came of age, I examined its obstructions, set on foot 
 a subscription for removing them, got an Act of Assembly 
 passed, and the thing effected, so as to be used completely 
 and fully for carrying down all our produce. 
 
 "The Declaration of Independence. 
 
 "I proposed the demolition of the church establishment 
 and the freedom of religion. It could only be done by de- 
 grees; to wit, the Act of 1776, c. 2, exempted dissenters 
 from contributions to the Church, and left the Church clergy 
 to be supported by voluntary contributions of their own 
 sect, was continued from year to year, and made perpetual 
 1779, c. 36. I prepared the act for religious freedom in 
 1777, as part of the revisal, which was not reported to the 
 Assembly till 1779, and that particular law not passed till 
 1785, and then by the efforts of Mr. Madison. 
 
 "The act of putting an end to entails. 
 
 "The act prohibiting the importation of slaves. 
 
 "The act concerning citizens, and establishing the natural 
 right of man to expatriate himself at will. 
 
 "The act changing the course of descents, and giving the 
 inheritance to all the children, etc., equally, I drew as part 
 of the revisal. 
 
 "The act for apportioning crimes and punishments, part 
 of the same work, I drew. . . . 
 
 "In 1 789 and 1 790, I had a great number of olive plants, 
 of the best kind, sent from Marseilles to Charleston, for 
 South Carolina and Georgia. They were planted, and are 
 flourishing; and, though not yet multiplied, they will be the 
 germ of that cultivation in those States. 
 
 "In 1790, 1 got a cask of heavy upland rice, from the river 
 Denbigh, in Africa, about lat. 9 SO' north, which I sent 
 to Charleston, in hopes it might supersede the culture of the 
 
 292
 
 LIFE OF JEFFERSON 
 
 wet rice, which renders South Carolina and Georgia so pes- 
 tilential through the summer. It was divided, and a part 
 sent to Georgia. I know not whether it has been attended 
 to in South Carolina, but it has spread in the upper parts 
 of Georgia, so as to have become almost general, and is 
 highly prized. Perhaps it may answer in Tennessee and 
 Kentucky. The greatest service which can be rendered any 
 country is to add a useful plant to its culture, especially 
 a bread grain; next in value to bread is oil." 
 
 This list of achievements necessarily omits the Purchase 
 of Louisiana historically of only less importance than the 
 Declaration since that was not accomplished until two 
 years later. 
 
 The true importance of Jefferson does not depend, how- 
 ever, upon these specific acts, but rather, as Lincoln pointed 
 out in a letter written in 1859, upon his general influence: 
 
 "All honor to Jefferson to the man, who in the con- 
 crete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a 
 single people, had the coolness, forecast, and sagacity to 
 introduce into a merely revolutionary document an abstract 
 truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so embalm 
 it there that to-day and in all coming days it shall be a re- 
 buke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of reap- 
 pearing tyranny and oppression." 
 
 293
 
 THE STORY OF THE BOOK 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was a statesman not an author. In 
 fact, few public men have had so little desire to appear in 
 print. Writing in 1809 to a Mr. Campbell, he said: 
 
 "In answer to your proposition for publishing a complete 
 edition of my different writings, I must observe that no 
 writings of mine, other than those merely official, have been 
 published, except the 'Notes on Virginia' and a small pam- 
 phlet under the title of 'A Summary View of the Rights of 
 British America.' 
 
 "I do not mention the 'Parliamentary Manual/ published 
 for the use of the Senate of the United States, because it 
 was a mere compilation, into which nothing entered of my 
 own but the arrangement and a few observations necessary 
 to explain that and some of the cases. 
 
 "I do not know whether your view extends to official 
 papers of mine which have been published. Many of these 
 would be like old newspapers, materials for future his- 
 torians, but no longer interesting to the readers of the day. 
 They would consist of reports, correspondences, messages, 
 answers to addresses; a few of my reports while Secretary 
 of State, might, perhaps, be read by some as essays on ab- 
 stract subjects. Such as the report on measures, weights, 
 and coins, on the mint, on the fisheries, on commerce, on the 
 use of distilled sea-water, etc. The correspondences with 
 the British and French ministers, Hammond and Genet, 
 were published by Congress. The messages to Congress, 
 which might have been interesting at the moment, would 
 scarcely be read a second time, and answers to addresses 
 are hardly read a first time. 
 
 "So that on a review of these various materials, I see 
 nothing encouraging a printer to a republication of them. 
 
 294
 
 THE STORY OF THE BOOK 
 
 They would probably be bought by those only who are in 
 the habit of preserving state papers, and who are not many." 
 
 In spite of his indifference to fame of this sort, his "Notes 
 on Virginia," first published in 1784, ran through sixteen 
 editions during his life time and has been reprinted a num- 
 ber of times since. 
 
 The first collected edition of Jefferson's works was that 
 published in 1854 by order of Congress. A more complete 
 and carefully edited edition was prepared by Paul Leicester 
 Ford in 189299, and in 1904 was published the very full 
 and elaborate edition of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial 
 Society of America, upon which this volume has principally 
 been based. 
 
 Jefferson has always been the prophet of American 
 Democracy, and the interest in his writings is unlikely ever 
 to cease, were it only for the political theory they contain. 
 But a glance over the contents of this selection from his 
 letters and papers will disclose a nature rich and many- 
 sided, profoundly interested in science, in commerce, in edu- 
 cation, no less than in government in fact, a nature so opu- 
 lent in resources that it may be taken as an epitome of 
 his age. 
 
 295
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 8 A Youthful Attachment. The "picture and watch- 
 paper" was that of Rebecca Burwell, who is referred to 
 also in the letter which follows this on page 10. She was 
 married in 1764 to Jacqueline Ambler. 
 
 16 Declaration of Independence. The action of the 
 Continental Congress on the Declaration of Independence 
 was as follows. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, 
 acting on instructions from the Virginia Assembly, intro- 
 duced a resolution that "these United Colonies are, and of 
 Right ought to be, Free and Independent States." On 
 June 11 Congress appointed to draft a Declaration a 
 Committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
 Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert A. Liv- 
 ingston. Jefferson drafted the Declaration, which, after 
 slight alteration by Adams and Franklin, was accepted by 
 the Committee. On July 2, Congress adopted Lee's orig- 
 inal resolution, and on July 4, Jefferson's Declaration with 
 some omissions and changes, the most important of which 
 were the omission of the denunciation of the British peo- 
 ple (page 21) and of the slave-trade (pages 1920). The 
 Declaration was not signed by the Congress until August 2. 
 
 23 On Retiring from Public Life. This letter seems 
 to refer to Jefferson's refusal of a reappointment to Con- 
 gress in December, 1781. At that time he was being very 
 severely criticised for his conduct as Governor of Virginia 
 during the invasion of Cornwallis. 
 
 24 "Notet on Virginia." This, the most extensive of 
 the separate works of Jefferson, was compiled in response 
 to the inquiries of Marbois, the French agent, as to the 
 resources of the states. Written during Jefferson's retire- 
 
 296
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 ment (1781-2), the "Notes" are of a remarkable frankness 
 and freedom of expression, which make them invaluable as 
 a revelation of character. They were published in French 
 at Paris in 1784, translated, and repeatedly republished. 
 They gave to Jefferson a place in the scientific world of 
 Europe second only to Franklin, and are to-day the best 
 account of Revolutionary Virginia. 
 
 24 The American Genius. The instrument proper to 
 them is the Ban jar, which they brought hither from Africa, 
 and which is the original of the guitar, its chords being 
 precisely the four lower chords of the guitar. 
 
 24 On Slavery. Throughout his life Jefferson was out- 
 spoken in his condemnation of slavery, for its ill effects 
 on the whites (page 26) as well as on the blacks. Like 
 Washington and the other opponents of slavery in the 
 South, Jefferson saw that the fundamental difficulty was 
 to find a place for the negro in society. Slavery was one 
 solution, but, he believed, wasteful, injurious to the whites, 
 and unjust to the blacks. He advocated gradual emanci- 
 pation (with compensation) and the colonization of the 
 free negroes. He heartily supported the later project of 
 transporting the free negroes to Sierra Leone. For fur- 
 ther information as to his attitude, compare the selections 
 on pages 26, 34, 63, 146, 258, 285, 289. 
 
 30 Martha Jefferson. Born Oct. 19, 1748, daughter 
 of John Wayles. Married Jefferson in 1772, being at that 
 time a widow, her first husband, Bathurst Skelton, having 
 died several years previously. She died at Monticello in 
 1782. 
 
 34 Peter Carr. A nephew of Jefferson, and one of 
 the six children of Dabney Carr. They were brought up 
 by Jefferson after the premature death of their father. 
 
 38 Inferiority of Commerce and Manufactures to Agri- 
 culture. In letters of 1805 (page 167) Jefferson explained 
 
 297
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 that he condemned manufactures and commerce because of 
 the wretched conditions of city life in Europe, but that, 
 as these conditions did not exist in a new country like 
 America, the condemnation did not as yet apply there. 
 (Compare page 191.) 
 
 41 Superiority of the United States to France. It 
 should be noted that Jefferson's belief in the absolute de- 
 pendence of a people's happiness on its political freedom 
 inevitably darkened his pictures of European life. Com- 
 pare selections on pages 43, 242. 
 
 45 On New States. The organization of the western 
 territory into states and their admission into the Union 
 were subjects of the deepest interest to Jefferson. In 
 1784, when Virginia had completed the cession of her west- 
 ern claims to the Confederacy, Jefferson introduced an 
 Ordinance into Congress which (1) forbade slavery in the 
 territory after 1800; (2) divided it into small states with 
 geographical names Pelisipia, Metropotamia, etc.; (3) 
 provided for a temporary territorial government and 
 speedy admission to the Union. The third section alone 
 was adopted, but it became the foundation of the territorial 
 policy of the United States. The prohibition of slavery 
 reappears in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. 
 
 47 Force in the Barbary States. Not until Jefferson 
 was President, in the Barbary wars 1802-6, were these 
 pirates and blackmailers compelled by force to respect the 
 United States. 
 
 48 The Society of the Cincinnati. The native and for- 
 eign officers of the Revolutionary Army organized this so- 
 ciety on May 13, 1783 to "perpetuate the remembrance of 
 this vast event [the Revolution] and . . . mutual friend- 
 ship." The membership was restricted to the officers and 
 their male heirs in direct line. The exclusive character of 
 the membership and the hereditary element suggested to 
 
 298
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 the supersensitive public opinion of the time an hereditary 
 aristocracy and aroused widespread fear and dislike. The 
 society still exists, with the thirteen original chapters. 
 
 53 The Navigation of the Mississippi. The claim of 
 Spain to the control of the Mississippi furnished one of 
 the most difficult problems of the Confederacy. The river 
 was the only outlet for the products of the settlers in the 
 Ohio valley, and the indifference of the Northern and East- 
 ern States very nearly drove these to open revolt. Jeffer- 
 son fully appreciated the importance of the free navigation 
 of the Mississippi and as Minister to France and as Secre- 
 tary of State (see pages 81, 92) used his utmost endeavors 
 to secure it. 
 
 61 Congress of the Confederation. The weakness of 
 Congress was due to the lack of a separate executive, and 
 to its very limited power. It could not take any important 
 action without the agreement of nine States; it could not 
 impose a tax of any sort, or enforce its laws except through 
 the State authorities. 
 
 62 Shay's Rebellion. After the Revolution the States 
 passed through a time of profound economic depression. 
 The circulating medium was in hopeless confusion, paper 
 money nearly worthless, specie withdrawn from circulation. 
 The markets were glutted with English goods, the taxes 
 high, and the laws against debtors very severe. Popular 
 risings occurred in Pennsylvania, New York, New Hamp- 
 shire, and especially in Western Massachusetts under Dan- 
 iel Shay in 1786-7. The object of this rebellion was to 
 close the courts, to stop the collection of debts and taxes, 
 and to secure favorable legislation. The State militia put 
 down the rising without bloodshed. 
 
 65 Adoption of the Constitution. Jefferson later (see 
 page 227) enthusiastically adopted a modification of the 
 absolute rejection of the Constitution by the four latest 
 
 299
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 conventions, by which the States adopted the Constitution, 
 but recommended amendments equivalent to a Declaration 
 of Rights. These were later adopted as the first ten Amend- 
 ments. Jefferson at first (see page 231) advocated a Presi- 
 dential term of seven years, without reelection, and later a 
 term of four years, with two terms as the maximum. (See 
 also pages 67, 2790 
 
 72 The French Revolution. Jefferson's political the- 
 ories were profoundly modified by his contact with the 
 French Revolution in its earlier and better stages. (See 
 page 74.) 
 
 80 Hamilton's Finance Post-Roads. This first extract 
 in which the opposition of Hamilton and Jefferson appears, 
 should be read, like many of those which follow, in the 
 light of that opposition. Jefferson was not a great finan- 
 cier, and his criticism, though perfectly sincere, is of minor 
 value from a financial point of view. The apprehensions 
 of Jefferson as to the abuse of public improvements have 
 proved only too well founded; his attitude toward their 
 constitutionality plainly foreshadows the strict construc- 
 tionist policy. But compare pages 170, 259, 279- 
 
 85 On the Constitutionality of a National Bank. The 
 divergence in political theory between Hamilton and Jeffer- 
 son came to a head on this question. Washington asked 
 his Cabinet to express their opinions in writing, and Jef- 
 ferson's is given in the selection. It was the first definite 
 statement of the strict constructionist view of the Consti- 
 tution and served as a party platform. The practical dan- 
 gers of a strong National Bank are well stated on pages 
 160-161. 
 
 95 Party Politics. This letter, which purports to be a 
 petition to Washington to serve a second term, was really 
 an attack on the Federalist policy of Hamilton. It is of 
 great importance as outlining the specific issue between 
 
 300
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 Hamilton and Jefferson in 1792, when the political parties 
 were just crystallizing. Jefferson's belief that a National 
 Debt was a tremendously dangerous means of corruption 
 appears repeatedly in his writings (e.g. page 126) ; 
 the injustice of such debt to posterity is forcibly pre- 
 sented on page 219- Gallatin, Jefferson's Secretary of the 
 Treasury, reduced the debt to a minimum, but the commer- 
 cial difficulties leading to the war of 1812 prevented its 
 extinction. 
 
 103 Twenty-four Years of Public Service. 1769-1775, 
 Virginia House of Burgesses; 1775, Virginia Convention; 
 1775-1776, Continental Congress; 1776-1778, Virginia 
 Assembly; 1779-1781, Governor of Virginia; 1782-1784, 
 Congress of the Confederation; 17841789, Minister to 
 France; 1790-1793, Secretary of State. 
 
 104 Report on Trade and the Tariff. Interesting as 
 indorsing a tariff that was to be incidentally protective in 
 character. Protection did not become a political issue until 
 after the war of 1812. 
 
 110 Jay Treaty. This treaty with Great Britain was 
 intrinsically very unsatisfactory, but probably the most 
 favorable that could be procured at the time, and as such 
 the Senate ratified it. The House, however, very nearly 
 succeeded in defeating it by withholding the appropriations 
 to carry it out. Jefferson's theory of the participation 
 of the House in the treaty-making power has not found 
 favor with constitutional writers nor been established in 
 practice. 
 
 111 Mazzei Letter. This extract, the end of a long 
 letter of a personal nature, was published in the Federalist 
 newspapers, and served as a text for some of the most vio- 
 lent denunciations of his career. He was charged with 
 referring to Washington, Adams, and others as "apostates" 
 and supporters of monarchy. 
 
 SOI
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 112 "P instead of A." The reference is an intrigue 
 of Hamilton to withhold votes from Adams and thus secure 
 the election of Thomas Pinckney, the Federalist candidate 
 for Vice-President. 
 
 115 Relations with Great Britain. In 1797 relations 
 both with Great Britain and France were very strained 
 because of depredations on American commerce, and in the 
 case of England, the imprisonment of American sailors. 
 The Federalists clamored for war with France, while the 
 Republicans regarded England as the chief offender. (See 
 page 118.) 
 
 1 22 Newspaper Libels. The license of the press, from 
 which Washington himself was not exempt, was almost un- 
 limited in the early years of the Republic. The private 
 characters of the leading men were blackened by the most 
 barefaced libels. Porcupine and Fenno were the leading 
 Federalist editors and pamphleteers, at whose attacks Jef- 
 ferson suffered keenly despite his attempt at philosophic 
 calm. (See also page 175.) 
 
 123 ... "unwise" . . . This is the reading of the 
 edition of 1829 and of the Congressional edition. But 
 George Tucker, in the Southern Literary Magazine for 
 May 1838 (vol. iv. p. 344) asserts that the correct reading 
 was "unusual," and that the error was due to the fading 
 of the letter. Jefferson's copy of the letter was destroyed 
 before that date, so the emendation cannot be fully estab- 
 lished. 
 
 123 Sectional Politics. For an explanation of the con- 
 ditions to which this letter refers, see the note on "Kentucky 
 Resolutions," page 127. 
 
 127 Kentucky Resolutions. The way in which Jeffer- 
 son came to draft these resolutions for the Kentucky Legis- 
 lature is clearly explained by Jefferson in the selection on 
 page 270. The occasion for the resolutions was the legis- 
 
 302
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 lation referred to in the text; legislation unwise, unjust, 
 and probably unconstitutional. These laws were directed 
 primarily against the small but very active group of French 
 and English refugees who were the main-stay of the Repub- 
 licans in the newspaper world. Besides making naturaliza- 
 tion very difficult, the laws empowered the President to 
 transport aliens in time of peace, provided for the exile 
 of aliens in time of war, and widened the definition of 
 sedition to include newspaper attacks on the Executive or 
 Congress. The resolutions were adopted in their entirety 
 by Kentucky in 1799- With the more moderate Virginia 
 Resolutions of Madison, they were the armory of the strict 
 constructionist and State Rights party until the Civil War. 
 It is not clear that Jefferson regarded secession as a 
 peaceful and legal remedy; certainly he did not advo- 
 cate secession in 1798; the doctrine of peaceful seces- 
 sion, however, could be and was logically deduced from 
 them. In 1798, however, the Resolutions were intended 
 as a formal protest (see page 123). Two copies of 
 these resolutions are preserved among the manuscripts 
 of the author, both in his own handwriting. One is 
 a rough draft, and the other very neatly and carefully 
 prepared. The probability is, that they are the orig- 
 inal of the celebrated Kentucky Resolutions on the same 
 subj ect. 
 
 135 First Inaugural Address. This was perhaps the 
 most characteristic address of Jefferson, revealing at once 
 the far-sighted statesman and the wonderful political tac- 
 tician. The policy or ideal of government outlined on pages 
 138 and 139 would be enthusiastically subscribed to by 
 Americans of all periods, while the graceful appeal to 
 forget party differences, and the studious avoidance of the 
 earlier doctrines of 1798 were well calculated to disarm 
 his opponents. 
 
 303
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 140 Letter to the Senate. In communicating his first 
 message to Congress, President Jefferson addressed this 
 letter to the presiding officer of each branch of the national 
 legislature. 
 
 153 The Constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase. 
 Jefferson always believed that the purchase of Louisiana 
 was necessary, but unconstitutional, because beyond the 
 delegated powers. On receiving the news of the successful 
 negotiations he at once drafted an elaborate amendment to 
 the Constitution; in August, 1803, another and briefer one. 
 But his own Cabinet and leading supporters dissuaded him 
 from appealing to Congress, and Monroe at Paris urged 
 a speedy ratification. Jefferson reluctantly sacrificed his 
 own beliefs to the good of the nation, and contented him- 
 self with the tacit consent of the people. The Purchase 
 was the death blow of strict construction in the original, 
 literal sense. 
 
 160 The Danger of the National Bank to the Govern- 
 ment. The arguments here presented were practically 
 identical with those on which Jackson later successfully 
 attacked the second Bank. In both cases the arguments 
 were sound although the hostility was the more bitter be- 
 cause the Bank was controlled by the enemies of the Ad- 
 ministration. In his suggestion that the United States do 
 its own banking, Jefferson anticipated the principle of the 
 present Independent Treasury system. 
 
 162 Death of daughter. Jefferson's daughter Mary, 
 born at Monticello, Aug. 1, 1778, was described by Mrs. 
 John Quincy Adams as "one of the most beautiful and 
 remarkable children she had ever seen." She married her 
 cousin John Wayles Epps, but her health was delicate and 
 she died at the age of 26, on Apl. 17, 1804. (Compare 
 page 164.) 
 
 162 Attempted reconciliation with Adams. Mrs. Adams 
 304
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 proved implacable, and refused to respond to the advances 
 of Jefferson. The circumstances of the quarrel are ex- 
 plained in the note on page 196. 
 
 168 Second Inaugural Address. It is interesting to 
 note how four years of power had broadened Jefferson's 
 conception of the legitimate activity of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. National aid, through the states, was now advo- 
 cated for public improvements, manufactures, and educa- 
 tion. The letter of strict construction was preserved in 
 the demand for a specific amendment to the Constitution, 
 but the ideal of government differs little from that of 
 Washington and Adams. See pages 259, 279- 
 
 178 Proposed Alliance with Great Britain. The dispute 
 with Spain referred to arose over the indefinite boundaries 
 of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States claiming 
 West Florida, and desiring East Florida. As Spain's re- 
 fusal to yield was backed up by Napoleon, Jefferson pro- 
 posed that Great Britain fight our battles for us. The 
 proposal came to nothing. 
 
 183 Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Grandson of Jeffer- 
 son and editor of his "Memoirs, Correspondence and Mis- 
 cellanies," 4 vols., published in Boston 1830. 
 
 196 The Break with Adams. This account of the 
 unfortunate estrangement between Adams and Jefferson is 
 supplemented by the selections on pages 54, 112, 113, 114, 
 162. Dr. Rush and other mutual friends finally succeeded 
 in bringing these two old friends together (page 208) and 
 they remained firm friends and constant correspondents. 
 Their deaths on the same day, July 4, 1826, was a dra- 
 matic ending of the friendship. 
 
 204 Federalists and Republicans. This description of 
 political parties in 1812 shows the progress of the fusion 
 of parties so ardently desired by Jefferson in his first In- 
 augural. It shows also the fundamental political convic- 
 
 305
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 tions of Jefferson better than the Kentucky Resolutions 
 (page 127). 
 
 208 Reconciliation with Adams. See note on page 196. 
 
 214 English Common Law in America. This was en- 
 tirely consistent with Jefferson's views in 1776, that the 
 Colonists had all the rights of men and of Englishmen, 
 and that the Colonies were not dependent on King or Par- 
 liament, but coordinate parts of the British Empire. 
 
 217 Practical Politics. The improvability of the hu- 
 man mind and of institutions was the very foundation of 
 Jeffersonian democracy. He himself believed that the 
 progress of science and knowledge was the chief factor in 
 such improvement. 
 
 219 Finance, Debt, etc. The national finances had 
 fallen into hopeless confusion during the war of 1812, and 
 under existing circumstances Jefferson's proposal of no 
 loan without a specific tax and drastic reform of paper 
 money were probably sound. His theory of the limitation 
 of the liability for the National Debt to nineteen years 
 must, of course, be taken as applying to the morality and 
 justice of the obligation, not as a plea for repudiation. 
 
 226 Political History. Compare pages 217 and 280. 
 
 231 Massachusetts Politics. The war of 1812, although 
 waged to protect American commerce, was exceedingly un- 
 popular in the commercial states of New England. The 
 action of Massachusetts referred to was her refusal to 
 furnish militia for service outside of the state. The New 
 England opposition culminated in the Hartford Conven- 
 tion, which dissolved amid general ridicule on the conclusion 
 of peace in 1815. 
 
 233 The Monroe Doctrine Foreshadowed. In this let- 
 ter, as in the farewell address of Washington, may be 
 seen the principle of the specific declaration of Monroe 
 America for Americans, and no entanglements with 
 
 306
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 Europe. Jefferson heartily commended Monroe's message 
 (page 276). 
 
 242 Comparison of Great Britain and the United States. 
 Compare note on page 41. 
 
 246 "Our Institution." The University of Virginia, to 
 whose foundation and success Jefferson devoted the last 
 years of his life. 
 
 247 The Banking Mania. In the financial confusion 
 and depression during and following the war of 1812 the 
 people sought relief in the multiplication of banks and 
 paper money. These banks were chartered by the states 
 without any restriction as to specie reserve or emission of 
 bank notes, and collapsed by the hundred in the panic of 
 1819. After that sound banking principles were gradually 
 established by the states by general legislation. 
 
 248 Local Government. The local government of Vir- 
 ginia was practically unaltered by the Revolution, and the 
 parish and county governments were still in the hands of 
 the leading families. Jefferson's last years were devoted 
 to three objects closely related in his own mind: The 
 University of Virginia (page 246) ; a comprehensive public 
 school system, adopted in principle; and a system of local 
 government directly controlled by the people. The last 
 was not fully developed until reconstruction times. 
 
 250 The South American Colonies. During the Na- 
 poleonic regime the Spanish Colonies in America were 
 practically independent, and after the restoration of the 
 Bourbon king in Spain in 1815 revolted against his arbi- 
 trary rule. The younger statesmen of the United States, 
 particularly Henry Clay, clamored for an immediate recog- 
 nition of their independence, if not for open assistance to 
 them, but recognition was wisely deferred until 1821. 
 
 259 The proposition under consideration at Washington 
 was national aid to the National Colonization Society. In 
 
 307
 
 NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
 1819 Congress appropriated $100,000 to carry back to 
 Africa slaves captured on the high seas, and in 1821 
 founded the negro colony of Liberia. 
 
 259 Public Improvements. See note on the Second In- 
 augural Address (page 168). 
 
 263 The Supreme Court. Jefferson's criticism of the 
 Supreme Court arose from three sources: He regarded the 
 court as essentially anti-republican because the judges were 
 not immediately dependent on the people (compare selec- 
 tion on page 254) ; he believed that power of the court to 
 pass on the constitutionality of the acts of the Executive 
 and the Legislature was contrary to the principle of the 
 separation of the departments ; he saw clearly that the court 
 as it existed, dominated by John Marshall, was undermin- 
 ing the principle of strict construction. 
 
 264 Possibility of Secession. The reference, of course, 
 was to the struggle over the admission of Missouri to the 
 Union. 
 
 267 Corruption of the Teachings of Jesus. Jefferson 
 himself winnowed out of the New Testament what he con- 
 sidered the genuine teachings of Jesus, and the compilation 
 has been published as "Jefferson's Bible." His religious 
 views exposed him to the charge of atheism in his own time, 
 but to-day would not excite especial comment. 
 
 269 The Spoils System. The "mischievous law" was 
 the law usually known as "Crawford's Act," passed in 
 1820, limiting the term of appointment of attorneys, col- 
 lectors, etc., to four years. This is considered the beginning 
 of the "Spoils System" in national politics, although the 
 officials were ordinarily reappointed until the inauguration 
 of Jackson. 
 
 279 Proposed amendments to the Constitution. These 
 amendments were not even adopted by Congress. 
 
 308
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES 
 
 Memoirs, Correspondence and Miscellanies. By Thomas 
 Jefferson Randolph. 4 vols. Boston 1830. 
 
 Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Henry A. Wash- 
 ington. 9 vols. Washington 1853. 
 
 Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by Paul Leicester 
 Ford. 10 vols. New York 1892-99- 
 
 Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Published under the au- 
 spices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Society. 
 20 vols. Washington 1904. 
 
 Life of Jefferson. George Tucker. 2 vols. Philadelphia 
 1837. 
 
 Life of Jefferson. H. S. Randall. 3 vols. New York 
 1858. 
 
 Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson. S. N. Randolph. 
 New York 1871. 
 
 Life of Thomas Jefferson. James Parton. Boston 1874. 
 
 Life of Thomas Jefferson. J. T. Morse Jr. Boston 1883. 
 
 Life of Thomas Jefferson. J. Schouler. New York 1897. 
 
 Life of Thomas Jefferson. H. C. Merwin. Boston 1901. 
 
 The True Thomas Jefferson. W. E. Curtis. Philadelphia 
 1901. 
 
 Works of Alexander Hamilton. Edited by Henry Cabot 
 Lodge. 
 
 Life of Alexander Hamilton. By Henry Cabot Lodge. 
 
 309
 
 INDEX 
 
 Adams, John, characterization of, 
 56, 201-202; accused of being 
 "Publicola," 94; candidate for 
 President, 112; influenced by 
 Hamilton, 115; relations with 
 Jefferson, 113, 114-115; Jeffer- 
 son advances reconciliation, 162- 
 164 ; account of break with Jeffer- 
 son, 196-202, 228-229; on con- 
 stitution of Great Britain, 197. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy; answer to 
 "Rights of Man," 281. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, tribute to, 141- 
 142. 
 
 Admiration, clothes and, 9. 
 
 Advice, ethics of, 36. 
 
 "Agricola," Jefferson accused of 
 being, 94. 
 
 Agriculture, commerce and, 40-42; 
 science of first order, 158. 
 
 D'Alembert, mentioned, 239. 
 
 Alexander of Russia, characteriza- 
 tion of, 196. 
 
 Alien and sedition laws, 271 ; draft 
 of resolutions, 127-134; constitu- 
 tionality of, 126. 
 
 Alien influence in American com- 
 merce, 116. 
 
 Alienage, laws of, national bank 
 and, 86. 
 
 American character, 62. 
 
 American commerce, trade in home 
 bottoms, 75; alien influence in, 
 116. 
 
 American finance, 219-226, 247- 
 248; internal revenue, 169. 
 
 American genius, art of war, 24; 
 astronomy, 24; physics, 24. 
 
 American men, 46. 
 
 American poetry, 24. 
 
 American politics, 217-218, 226- 
 230; monarchical tendencies, 
 111; in 1798, 122; sectional dis- 
 sensions, 123 ; danger of disunion, 
 124; in 1790, 281. 
 See also Antif ederalists, Federal- 
 ists, Republican party. 
 
 American system, 277. 
 
 Anglo-American alliance, 178-179; 
 in event of French taking 
 New Orleans, 143; desirable, 
 277. 
 
 Annexation, constitutionality, 154. 
 
 Antifederalists, join Republicans, 
 98. 
 
 Arbitration, 49. 
 
 Argand, lamp of, 90. 
 
 Argument, Jefferson on, 185. 
 
 Artisan, as a citizen, 40. 
 
 Atheism, morality of, 238. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 85-89, 
 160. 
 
 Bank notes, unlimited emission de- 
 preciates specie, 226; prohibition 
 of, 247. 
 
 Banks, danger to Government, 160- 
 161; alienators of nation's re- 
 
 310
 
 INDEX 
 
 sources, 223; evil influence of, 
 247-248. 
 
 Barbary States, European peace 
 alliance, 49. 
 
 Beaujolois, France, chateau de 
 Laye-Epinaye, 58. 
 
 Beckley, John, mentioned, 93. 
 
 Blackstone, characterization of, 
 215-216. 
 
 Books, reality and, 12. 
 
 Bourbon, house of; characteriza- 
 tion, 196. 
 
 Boys, education of, 36-40. 
 
 Brutus, Jefferson accused of being, 
 94. 
 
 Buffon's tables, 220. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, mentioned, 199. 
 
 Burwell, Rebecca, loved by Jeffer- 
 son, 11. 
 
 Bushnell, Mr., of Connecticut, 
 mentioned, 35. 
 
 Calvinism, 274. 
 
 Canals, congressional authority to 
 open, 88. 
 
 Canning, opinion on Anglo-Ameri- 
 can alliance, 277. 
 
 Carr, Mrs. Dabney, mentioned, 
 33. 
 
 Catherine of Russia, characteriza- 
 tion of, 196. 
 
 Celtic language, Jefferson's at- 
 tempt to acquire, 14. 
 
 Centralization of government, 249. 
 
 Chase, Samuel, appointment as 
 judge of Supreme Court, 111. 
 
 Chateau de Laye-Epinaye, Beaujo- 
 lois, 58. 
 
 Chesapeake affair, 213. 
 
 Christian VII, King of Denmark, 
 
 estimate of, 196. 
 Church and State, 29. 
 Cincinnati, Order of, European 
 
 conception of, 50-51; influences 
 
 monarchical tendencies in Amer- 
 
 ica, 51. 
 Cities, corruption of, 134, 160, 167; 
 
 growth of, 134. 
 Citizens, most valuable classes of, 
 
 Citizenship, educational qualifica- 
 
 tion for, 253. 
 Civil jurisdiction, over food, in 
 
 France, 30; over medicine, in 
 
 France, 30; over expression of 
 
 scientific theories in France, 30; 
 
 in Italy, 30; over religion in 
 
 Rome, 29. 
 
 Climate, effect of warm climates, 28. 
 Clinton, George, mentioned, 203. 
 Coke, mentioned, 8, 216. 
 Colbert, mentioned, 59. 
 Commerce, 104-107; agriculture 
 
 and, 40-42. 
 
 See also American commerce. 
 Common law of England in Amer- 
 
 ica, 214-217. 
 
 Condorcet, mentioned, 239. 
 Conduct, Jefferson on, 283-284. 
 Connecticut, political influence in 
 
 1798, 123-124. 
 Constitution, adoption of, 67-69; 
 
 objections to, 69-70. 
 Constitutional amendment, pro- 
 
 hibiting Federal Government to 
 
 borrow, 126; on slavery, 289. 
 Constitutional amendments, Jeffer- 
 
 son on, 279-280. 
 
 311
 
 INDEX 
 
 Constitutionality of alien and sedi- 
 tion laws, 126; of annexation, 
 154 ; of Federal power for internal 
 improvement, 88, 259-260, 280, 
 288; of the Louisiana purchase, 
 153-155; of a national bank, 85- 
 89; of prescribing religious exer- 
 cises, 181-182. 
 
 Cow-pea, agricultural advantages 
 of, 120. 
 
 Credit, national, American, 71; 
 English, 70. 
 
 Credit system, American, 62. 
 
 Creek Indians, 148. 
 
 Crop rotation, Jefferson on, 120- 
 121. 
 
 Cuba, annexation of, 192-193, 272- 
 273. 
 
 Cuyahoga canal, 79. 
 
 Deane, Silas, mentioned, 117. 
 
 Dearborn, General Henry, men- 
 tioned, 177. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, text 
 of, 16-22. 
 
 Declaration of rights, 68-73. 
 
 Deism, 239. 
 
 Denny, editor of "Portfolio," 
 monarchical preferences of, 282. 
 
 Descartes, mentioned, 30. 
 
 Descents, course of, national bank 
 and, 86. 
 
 Diderot, mentioned, 239. 
 
 Discriminating duties, 106. 
 
 Disputation, Jefferson on, 185. 
 
 Distribution, laws of, national bank 
 and, 86. 
 
 Divers, Mr., mentioned, 214. 
 
 Domestic pleasures, Jefferson on, 
 
 52, 67, 103-104. 
 Donald, Alexander, mentioned, 
 
 120. 
 Dupont de Nemours, mentioned, 
 
 145. 
 
 Education, 109; of girls, 32; of 
 boys, 36-40; English, 45; Euro- 
 pean, 45-46. 
 
 Egoism, 239-240. 
 
 Ellsworth, Oliver, appointed as 
 chief justice, 111. 
 
 Emigrants, German, 147; learned 
 vs. laboring classes, 159, 167. 
 
 Encyclopedic methodique, prints 
 misleading article on the Cincin- 
 nati, 50. 
 
 English interference in American 
 commerce and finance, 116. 
 
 " Entangling alliances " phrase, 
 138. 
 
 Eppes, Mrs. Francis, mentioned, 
 33. 
 
 Escheat, law of, national bank and, 
 86. 
 
 Essex junto, 206, 282. 
 
 Ethics, comment on, 36; study of, 
 38. 
 
 European alliance against Barbary 
 states, 49. 
 
 European politeness, 45; morals, 
 45; women, 45. 
 
 European war, Jefferson on, 115. 
 
 Farmer, as a citizen, 40. 
 Farming, Jefferson on, 119-122. 
 Fast day, Jefferson refuses to pro- 
 claim] 181-182. 
 
 312
 
 INDEX 
 
 Federalists, Jefferson's opposition 
 to, 77-78; majority in Congress, 
 98 ; monarchical party and seces- 
 sion, 100; influence in securing 
 presidency for Adams, 198; 
 Jefferson on, 204-208. 
 
 Fenno, John, mentioned, 122. 
 
 Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, 
 estimate of, 196. 
 
 Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, 
 estimate of, 196. 
 
 Fiction, power of, 12; history and, 
 13. 
 
 Floridas, cession of, 192; com- 
 pensation for French possession 
 of Louisiana, 145. 
 
 Food, government control, 30. 
 
 Foreign missions, 274-275. 
 
 Forfeiture, law of, national bank 
 and, 86. 
 
 France, civil jurisdiction in, 30; 
 compared with United States, 
 42^14; domestic happiness in, 
 43; music of, 44; and Barbary 
 states, 49; influence of women in 
 government, 74; court hatred of 
 parliaments, 74; power of States 
 General, 74; commerce with 
 United States, 75 ; Lafayette and 
 the Tiers-fitat, 79-80; relations 
 with United States, 142-145. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, estimate of, 
 24; lamp invented by, 90; Mes- 
 mer and, 90 ; French people's re- 
 spect for, 90; Vergennes' regard 
 for him, 91 ; amiability of, 185. 
 
 Frankliniana, 89-92. 
 
 Freedom of religion, 29, 170. 
 
 Freedom of the press, 166. 
 
 French interference in American 
 
 commerce and finance, 116. 
 French language, value of knowing, 
 
 39. 
 
 French literature, 43. 
 French manners, 44. 
 French people, temperate habits of, 
 
 44. 
 French revolution, 102; American 
 
 influence on, 76-77. 
 French women, life of, 57 ; influence 
 
 in government, 74. 
 Friends, Society of, 275. 
 Friendship, Jefferson on, 204. 
 
 Galileo, mentioned, 30. 
 
 Gallatin, Albert, and American 
 finance, 82. 
 
 George III, of England, characteri- 
 zation of, 196. 
 
 German colonization in Virginia, 
 66; immigrants, 147. 
 
 Girls, education of, 32. 
 
 Government, theory of, 54. 
 
 Government control; see Civil 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 Gravitation, law of, mentioned, 
 30. 
 
 Great Britain, Barbary states and, 
 49; war with Spain, 85; inter- 
 ference in American affairs, 102; 
 negotiations with United States 
 affected by Washington's retire- 
 ment, 102; trade with United 
 States, 106; Anglo- American 
 alliance, 178-179; Adams and 
 Hamilton on British constitution, 
 197; sea power, 211; relations 
 with United States, 212-214;
 
 INDEX 
 
 compared with United States, 
 
 242-245. 
 Grief, 252. 
 
 Growth of cities, Jefferson on, 134. 
 Gustavus of Sweden, estimate of, 
 
 196. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, financial 
 policy, 82; influence on Adams, 
 115; anti-republican influence, 
 123; on British constitution, 197; 
 Julius Caesar greatest man in 
 opinion of Hamilton, 198; politi- 
 cal theories of, 205; monarchical 
 preferences, 281. 
 
 Hand, General, mentioned, 79. 
 
 Happiness, estimate of, 9, 11. 
 
 Harper, Dr., monarchical prefer- 
 ences, 283. 
 
 Hereditary magistracies, 108. 
 
 History, lesson of, 13; study of, 37. 
 
 D'Holbach, mentioned, 239. 
 
 Holland, and Barbary states, 49. 
 
 Holy Alliance, 277. 
 
 Home consumption, 191. 
 
 Home and foreign missions, 274- 
 275. 
 
 Homogeneity of population, de- 
 pendent on territorial division, 
 47-48. 
 
 Honesty, 37, 109. 
 
 Hopkinson, Mrs. Francis, men- 
 tioned, 33. 
 
 Horse, utility of, 38. 
 
 Hotel de Salm, Paris, 58. 
 
 Howe, General, mentioned, 15. 
 
 Humphreys, Colonel David, men- 
 tioned, 35, 50, 84. 
 
 Hunting, as an exercise, 38. 
 
 Imports, tariff on, 169. 
 
 Impressment of seamen, 211. 
 
 Incorporation, congressional power 
 of, 88. 
 
 Indian policy of the United States, 
 94-95, 148. 
 
 Indians, degeneracy, 170-172; fut- 
 ure of , 188-191. 
 
 Internal improvements, constitu- 
 tionality of Federal promotion of, 
 259-260, 288. 
 
 Internal revenue, 169. 
 
 Italy, civil jurisdiction in, 30. 
 
 Jay treaty, 110. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, in love with 
 Rebecca Burwell, 10; interest in 
 Celtic language, 14; attitude 
 toward England, 15; retirement 
 from public life, 23; private 
 affairs, 23 ; ambassador in France 
 34; contributes article to En- 
 cyclopedic methodique on the 
 Cincinnati, 50 ; has no interest in 
 country west of Alleghany, 55, 
 at Nismes, 58; Secretary of State; 
 80-81 ; attacked by "Publicola," 
 93; accused of using pen name of 
 "Agricola" and "Brutus," 94; 
 urges Washington to reconsider 
 contemplated retirement, 100- 
 101; public service of, 102-103; 
 retirement of, 103-104; rural 
 life, 107; relations with John 
 Adams, 113, 114-115; as Presi- 
 dent, inaugurates custom of pre- 
 senting annual message in writ- 
 ing, 140 ; advances reconciliation 
 with Adams, 162-164; death of 
 
 . 314
 
 INDEX 
 
 his daughter, 164-165; reasons 
 for refusing to proclaim day of 
 fasting and of prayer, 181-182; 
 comment on his political op- 
 ponents, 186; daily routine at 
 Monticello, 194-195; account of 
 break with Adams, 196-202, 
 228-229; personalia, 202-204, 
 261-263; reconciliation with 
 Adams, 208-210; anticipates 
 Monroe doctrine, 233-234; phi- 
 losophy of life, 252-253; religion 
 of, 257-258. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 to John Adams, 1791, July 17. 
 Letter of explanation, 93; 1811, 
 January 21. On reconciliation, 
 208-210; 1813, June 15. On 
 practical politics, 217-218; 
 July 27. On political history, 
 226-230; 1816, April 8. On 
 the philosophy of h'fe, 252-253; 
 1823, April 11. On religion, 
 274-275. 
 
 to Mrs. John Adams, 1804, June 
 13. Advance toward recon- 
 ciliation with John Adams, 
 162-164. 
 
 to Samuel Adams, 1801, March 
 29. Tribute to Samuel Adams, 
 141-142. 
 
 to Edward Bancroft, 1788, Jan- 
 uary 26. On emancipating 
 slaves, 65. 
 to J. Bannister, jr., 1785, October 
 
 15. On education, 45. 
 to Bellini, 1785, September 30. 
 On the superiority of United 
 States to France, 42. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 to William B. Bibb, 1808, July 
 28. On public ownership, 182- 
 183. 
 
 to Mrs. Bingham, 1787, February 
 7. Letter of courtesy, 57. 
 
 to John Brown, 1788, May 26. 
 Navigation of the Mississippi, 
 72-73. 
 
 to Joseph C. Cabell, 1816, Febru- 
 ary 2. On local government, 
 248-250. 
 
 to David Campbell, 1810, Janu- 
 ary 28. On choice of a pro- 
 fession, 193-194. 
 
 to William Cannichael, 1790, 
 August 2. On the Missis- 
 sippi, 83-85; 1791, March 12. 
 Control of the Mississippi, 
 92. 
 
 to Peter Carr, 1785, August 19. 
 Letter of advice, 36. 
 
 to Edward Carrington, 1787, 
 January 16. On newspapers, 
 53; August 4. Division of 
 authority in government, 63. 
 
 to Thomas Cooper, 1814, Sep- 
 tember 10. Comparison of 
 Great Britain and United 
 States, 242-245; October 7. 
 On courses of study, 246. 
 
 to D'lvernois, 1795, February 6. 
 Political theory, 108. 
 
 to Alexander Donald, 1787, July 
 28. On the national character, 
 62; 1788, February [?]. On 
 philosophy of life, 67; Feb. 
 ruary 7. On the adoption of 
 the Constitution, 67. 
 
 315
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 to Dupont de Nemours, 1816, 
 April 24. On educational 
 qualification, 253. 
 
 to John W. Eppes, 1813, July 24- 
 On finance national debt 
 paper money, 219-226. 
 
 to Edward Everett, 1826, April 8. 
 On slavery, 289. 
 
 to Robert Fulton, 1807, August 6. 
 On torpedoes, 177. 
 
 to Albert Gallatin, 1803, De- 
 cember 13. Danger of banks 
 to the Government, 160-161; 
 1815, October 16. On banks, 
 247-248; 1817, June 16. On 
 internal improvements, 259- 
 260. 
 
 to Robert J. Garnett, 1824, 
 February 14. On amend- 
 ments to the Constitution, 
 279-280. 
 
 to Elbridge Gerry, 1797, May 13. 
 On his relations with Adams 
 and attitude toward England, 
 114-118. 
 
 to William B. Giles, 1825, De- 
 cember 26. On State rights, 
 287-289. 
 
 to Captain Hendrick, 1808, De- 
 cember 21. Advice, 188- 
 191. 
 
 to John Holmes, 1820, April 22. 
 On the possibility of secession, 
 264-266. 
 
 to Francis Hopkinson, 1789, 
 March 13. On character of 
 Washington, 78. On party, 
 77-78. 
 
 316 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters, 
 to Alexander v. Humboldt, 1813, 
 December 6. Monroe doc- 
 trine foreshadowed, 233-234. 
 to Dr.Thornas Humphreys, 1817, 
 February 8. On slavery, 258- 
 259. 
 
 to Andrew Jackson, 1803, Feb- 
 ruary 16. On Indian policy, 
 148. 
 
 to John Jay, 1785, August 23. 
 On superiority of agriculture 
 to commerce, 40. 
 to Martha Jefferson, 1783, No- 
 vember 28. On education, 32. 
 to Walter Jones, 1814, January 2. 
 On character of Washington, 
 234-238. 
 
 to Rufus King, 1802, July 13. 
 Colonization of slaves in Sierra 
 Leone, 146-148. 
 
 to General Knox, 1791, August 
 10. On a national Indian 
 policy, 94. 
 
 to Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1810, 
 Fe! ruary 26. On his manner 
 of life, 194-195. 
 to Lafayette, 1787, April [?]. 
 
 Travel and science, 60. 
 to John Langdon, 1810, March 5. 
 On the breeding of kings, 195- 
 196. 
 
 to Thomas Law, 1814, June 13. 
 
 On basis of morality, 238-242. 
 
 to Thomas Leiper, 1809, January 
 
 21. On manufactures, 191- 
 
 192. 
 
 to James Lewis, jr., 1798, May 9. 
 On newspaper libels, 122-123.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 to Mr. Lithson, 1805, January 
 4. Qualifies condemnation of 
 cities and manufactures, 167- 
 168. 
 
 to Robert E. Livingston, 1802, 
 April 18. Policy as to pur- 
 chase of Louisiana, 142-145. 
 
 to Charles McPherson, 1773, 
 February 25. Opinion of 
 Ossian, 13. 
 
 to James Madison, 1787, January 
 30. On theory of government 
 and on Louisiana, 53; Char- 
 acter of John Adams, 56; 1788, 
 May 3. National credit, 70- 
 72; 1790, March 6. On Hamil- 
 ton's finance, post-roads, 82- 
 83; 1793, June 9. On obliga- 
 tions to public service and the 
 simple life, 102; 1796, Decem- 
 ber 17. On Adams for Presi- 
 dent, 112; 1797, January 80. 
 On his relations to Adams, 113; 
 1805, August 27. Proposed 
 alliance with Great Britain, 
 178-179; 1809, April 27. On 
 annexation of Cuba, 192-193; 
 1820, November 29. On the 
 spoils system, 269-270. 
 
 to James Martin, 1813, Sep- 
 tember 20. On term of office 
 and Massachusetts politics, 
 231-233. 
 
 to James Maury, 1812, April 
 25. On foreign affairs, 210- 
 214. 
 
 to Philip Mazzei, 1796, April 26. 
 On party lines, 111. 
 
 317 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 to Michael Megear, 1823, May 
 29. On home and foreign 
 missions, 275-276. 
 
 to John Melish, 1812, January 
 13. On Federalists and Re- 
 publicans, 204-208. 
 
 to Samuel Miller, 1808, Janu- 
 ary 23. Reasons for refusing 
 to proclaim a fast, 181-182. 
 
 to James Monroe, 1782, May 
 20. On retiring from public 
 life, 23; 1785, June, 17. On 
 expenses in Paris, 34; 1786, 
 July 9. On new States, 46; 
 August 11. Doctrine of force 
 in Barbary states, 48; De- 
 cember 18. On the simple life, 
 52; 1796, March 21. Jay 
 treaty, 110; 1816, February 4. 
 On aiding South American 
 colonies of Spain, 250-252. 
 1823, June 23. On annexa- 
 tion of Cuba, 272-273; Octo- 
 ber 24. On the Monroe 
 doctrine, 276-2', 8. 
 
 to John Page, 1762, December 
 25. On a juvenile experience, 
 7; 1763, July 15. On an 
 affair of the heart, 10; 1804, 
 June 25. On the loss of his 
 daughter, 164-165. 
 
 to Mann Page, 1795, August 
 30. Education, rogues, and 
 honest men, 109. 
 
 to Dr. Richard Price, 1785, Au- 
 gust 7. On slavery, 35; 1789, 
 January 8. American influence 
 on French Revolution, 76-77.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 to John Randolph, 1775, No- 
 vember 29. Attitude toward 
 England, 15. 
 
 to Dr. Spencer Roane, 1819, 
 September 6. On the Supreme 
 Court, 263-264. 
 
 to Benjamin Rush, 1800, Sep- 
 tember 23. On yellow fever 
 and growth of cities, 134; 
 1803, April 21. On religion, 
 149; 1808, January 3. In- 
 troducing his grandson; esti- 
 mate of character, 179; 1811, 
 January 16. Account of break 
 with Adams, 196-202; August 
 17. Personalia, 202-204. 
 
 to Edward Rutledge, 1787, July 
 14. On rice culture, 71. Sup- 
 pression of slave trade, 62; 
 1797, June 27. On the posi- 
 tion of the United States, 118- 
 119. 
 
 to William Short, 1793, Janu- 
 ary 3 . On the French Revolu- 
 tion, 102; 1820, August 4. 
 On religion, 266-269; 1825, 
 January 8. Concerning party 
 names and purposes, 280- 
 283. 
 
 to Robert Skipwith, 1771, August 
 3. On books, 12. 
 
 to Colonel Smith, 1787, No- 
 vember 13. Apropos Shay's 
 rebellion, 64. 
 
 to Mrs. M. Harrison Smith, 
 1816, August 6. Concerning 
 his religion, 257-258. 
 
 to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 1825, 
 
 318 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 February 21. Rules of con- 
 duct, 283-285. 
 
 to Hyde de Neuville, 1818, De- 
 cember 13. On the tax on 
 wine, 260-261. 
 
 to George Nicholas, 1821, De- 
 cember 11. On the Kentucky 
 resolutions, 270-272. 
 
 to Wilson C. Nicholas, 1803, 
 September 7. Constitutional- 
 ity of Louisiana purchase, 153- 
 155. 
 
 to John Norvell, 1807, June 11. 
 Conduct of a newspaper, 175- 
 176. 
 
 to Dr. Ezra Styles, 1785, July 17. 
 On the screw propeller, 34. 
 
 to John Taylor, 1798, June 1. 
 On sectional politics, possi- 
 bility of division, 123-125; 
 November 26. On public 
 debt, 126; 1816, May 28. On 
 the true republic, 254-257. 
 
 to Comtesse de Tesse, 1787, 
 March 20. Art et la politesse, 
 58. 
 
 to John Tyler, 1804, June 28. 
 On politics, 166; 1812, June 
 17. On the English common 
 law in America, 214-217. 
 
 to Dr. Nine Utley, 1819, March 
 21 . On personal religion, 261- 
 263. 
 
 to George Washington, 1786, No- 
 vember 14. On the Cincin- 
 nati, 50; 1788, May 2. Po- 
 tomac canal, European affairs 
 and the Constitution, 69-70;
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, Letters. 
 
 December 4. On foreign af- 
 fairs, commerce, 73-76; 1789, 
 May 10. On political consis- 
 tency, 79-80. On canals, 
 Congress, returns, 78-79; 
 December 15. On his ap- 
 pointment as Secretary of 
 State, 80-81; 1792, May 23. 
 Obligations and discomforts 
 of public office, 95-102; 1795, 
 April 25. Rural life, 107. 
 
 to David Williams, 1803, No- 
 vember 14. On learning and 
 agriculture, 157-160. 
 
 to William Wirt, 1808, January 
 10. Urging him to run for 
 Congress, 180-181. 
 
 to Miss Frances Wright, 1825, 
 August 7. On slavery, 285. 
 
 Messages, 
 
 1st inaugural, 135-140. 
 2d inaugural, 168-175. 
 3d annual, 155-157. 
 8th annual, valedictory, 187. 
 
 Notes on Virginia; see that 
 
 title. 
 Jesus Christ, syllabus on estimate 
 
 of the merit of doctrines of, 150- 
 
 153; character of, 266. 
 Jews, character of, 125; religious 
 
 rites of, 268; religious system 
 
 of, 151. 
 Joseph I, of Austria, estimate of, 
 
 196. 
 Justinian's institutes, 216. 
 
 Kentucky, political sympathy with 
 Virginia, 271. 
 
 Kentucky resolutions, Jefferson on, 
 
 270-272. 
 Kings, breeding of, 195-196. 
 
 Lafayette, mentioned, 50; Repub- 
 lican principles, 79-80. 
 Language, impossible to write two 
 
 languages perfectly, 46. 
 Languedoc canal, 69. 
 Law, profession of, 193. 
 Legal tender, paper money not a, 
 
 126. 
 
 Libels, newspaper, 122, 172-173. 
 Liberty of conscience, 29, 170; of 
 
 the press, 166. 
 
 Lindsay, Mr., mentioned, 214. 
 Littleton E., mentioned, 216. 
 Loans and taxation, 222. 
 Local government, 248-250. 
 Log rolling, 288. 
 Louis XVI, of France, estimate of, 
 
 195. 
 Louisiana purchase, 55, 142-145, 
 
 156, 170; constitutionality of, 
 
 153-155. 
 Love, emotion of, among negroes, 
 
 26. 
 
 McCaul, Alexander, mentioned, 14. 
 
 McDonald, Mr., offers iron mine 
 to Government, 182. 
 
 McDuffie, speech on slavery, 289. 
 
 McPherson, James, characteriza- 
 tion of, 13. 
 
 Maison Quarree, Nismes, 58. 
 
 Man, imitative faculty, 27. 
 
 Manufactures, encouragement of, 
 191-192. 
 
 319
 
 INDEX 
 
 Maria, Queen of Portugal, estimate 
 
 of, 196. 
 
 Mariner, as a citizen, 40. 
 Maritime rights, 41. 
 Massachusetts, Shay's rebellion, 
 
 64; political influence of, in 1798, 
 
 123-124; leads Federalist party, 
 
 206; politics of, 231-232. 
 Mays, Mr., Virginian slave-holder, 
 
 mentioned, 66. 
 Medicine, government supervision, 
 
 30; profession of, 193; study of, 
 
 246. 
 Melish, John, "Travels through the 
 
 United States," comment on, 204. 
 Mercantile marine, American, 41- 
 
 42. 
 Merry, Anthony, British envoy in 
 
 United States, estimate of, 213. 
 Mesmer, Franklin and, 90. 
 Mexico, incorporation with United 
 
 States, 272. 
 
 Minzees, Ninian, mentioned, 14. 
 Misfortune, resignation under, 11. 
 Mississippi River, abandonment of 
 
 navigation to Spain, 55; sover- 
 eignty over, 72-73, 84, 92, 156- 
 
 157. 
 Monarchical tendencies in United 
 
 States; see American politics. 
 Monarchies, Jefferson's opposition 
 
 to, 70. 
 Monopoly, laws of, national bank 
 
 and, 86. 
 Monroe doctrine, Jefferson on, 
 
 233-234, 276-278. 
 Montaigne, criticism of, 109. 
 Montesquieu, political theories, 
 
 108. 
 
 Morality, Jefferson on, 238-212. 
 Morals, European, 45. 
 Moreau, mentioned, 179. 
 Morocco and United States, 49. 
 Morris, Gouverneur, mentioned, 
 
 200. 
 Martmain, laws of, national bank 
 
 and, 85. 
 
 Mosaic faith, 267. 
 Moultrie, W., mentioned, 94. 
 Music, French, 44. 
 
 Naples, kingdom, and Barbary 
 states, 48. 
 
 Napoleonic policy, 192. 
 
 National bank, 160; constitutional- 
 ity of, 85-89. 
 
 Negro colonization, 25; citizen- 
 ship, 26; emotional faculties, 26, 
 27; mental faculties, 26; musical 
 faculty, 27. 
 
 Neutrality, desirability, 115-116. 
 
 New, Mr., mentioned, 123. 
 
 New Orleans, strategic commercial 
 position, 142. 
 
 Newspapers, value of, 52; libels, 
 122; abuses of, 172-173; conduct 
 of, 175-176. 
 
 Newton, Isaac, mentioned, 30. 
 
 New York, sectarianism in, 31. 
 
 Nicholas, W. C., mentioned, 271. 
 
 Nismes, France, Maison Quarree, 
 58. 
 
 Notes on Virginia, extracts from; 
 revision of Virginia constitution, 
 25; American genius, 24; on re- 
 ligion, 29-31 ; new edition of, 167. 
 
 Ossian, estimate of, 13. 
 
 320
 
 INDEX 
 
 Paine, Thomas, Rights of Man, 93; 
 attacked by "Publicola," 93. 
 
 Paper money, 219-226; induces 
 legislative corruption, 97-98; 
 not a legal tender, 126; issues of 
 1755, 223. 
 
 Paris, expense of living in, 34; 
 women of, 57; Hotel de Salm, 58. 
 
 Party politics, Jefferson on, 77-78; 
 see also Antifederalists, Fed- 
 eralists, Republican party. 
 
 Peace, war and, 49. 
 
 Pennsylvania, sectarianism in, 31. 
 
 Physical exercise, Jefferson on, 33. 
 
 Pickering, T., mentioned, 218. 
 
 Pinckney, C. C., candidate for 
 presidency, 112. 
 
 Plato, mentioned, 151. 
 
 Poetry, Ossian, the greatest poet, 
 14; American, 24; negro, 27; 
 study of, 37. 
 
 Politeness, 185. 
 
 Political consistency. 79-80. 
 
 Political patronage, 82-83. 
 
 Political theory, 108-109. 
 
 Population, homogeneity of, de- 
 pendent on territorial division, 
 47-48. 
 
 "Porcupine," mentioned, 122. 
 
 Portugal and Barbary states, 48. 
 
 Post-roads, 82. 
 
 Potomac canal, 69, 78. 
 
 Praetorian palace, Vienna, 59. 
 
 President of United States, re- 
 eligibility to office tends to 
 monarchy, 70; veto power, 89; 
 Jefferson inaugurates custom of 
 presenting message in writing, 
 140; terra of office, 231, 279. 
 
 Press; see Newspapers. 
 
 Priestley, Dr. Joseph, "Socrates and 
 Jesus Compared," mentioned, 
 149. 
 
 Privateering, 119-120. 
 
 Public debt, 126, 219-226. 
 
 Public ownership, 182-183. 
 
 Public service, measure of, 10-2- 
 103. 
 
 " Publicola," attacks on Paine and 
 Jefferson, 93; John Adams ac- 
 cused of being, 94. 
 
 Quakers, 275; as slave-holders, 66. 
 
 Randolph, Peyton, mentioned, 120, 
 184. 
 
 Reading, for boys, 37, 39. 
 
 Reason and religion, 29-30. 
 
 Rebellion, value of, 54, 65. 
 
 Reciprocity, 104-107. 
 
 Religion, 149, 266-269, 274-275; 
 freedom of, 29, 170: and reason, 
 29; uniformity of, 30; sectarian- 
 ism, 31. 
 
 Republican party, 111; minority in 
 Congress, 98; accessions to, in 
 third Congress, 99; minority of, 
 in 1798, 123; Jefferson on, 204- 
 208. 
 
 Republics, territorial division of, 
 108; theory of, 254-257. 
 
 Resignation, 11. 
 
 Rice, culture, 61 ; trade in, 76. 
 
 " Rights of Man," Paine's, 93. 
 
 Rittenhouse, David, estimate of, 
 24. 
 
 Rochefoucauld, criticism of, 109. 
 
 321
 
 INDEX 
 
 Rotation of crops, Jefferson on, 
 
 120-122. 
 
 Royalty, degeneracy, 195-196. 
 Rural life, 107. 
 Hush, Benjamin, theory of bleeding 
 
 and of mercury, 246. 
 
 Screw-propeller, 34-35. 
 
 Sea power, American, 41, 49, 75; 
 British, 211, 212. 
 
 Secession, possibility of, 100, 264- 
 266. 
 
 Sectarianism, 31. 
 
 Sedgwick, Theodore, mentioned, 
 218. 
 
 Senate of United States, term of 
 office too long, 231. 
 
 Shay's rebellion, 64. 
 
 Siberian barley, experiments with, 
 120. 
 
 Sierra Leone, colonization of slaves 
 in, 146-148. 
 
 Simple life, Jefferson on, 52, 67, 
 103-104. 
 
 Skipwith, Mrs., mentioned, 33. 
 
 Slavery, abolition in Virginia, 25; 
 influence on manners, 27; eman- 
 cipation of slaves, 29, 65; in 
 Maryland, 35; in Virginia, 35; 
 suppression of, 62; colonization 
 in Sierra Leone, 146-148; coloni- 
 zation, 258-259; abolition of, 
 285; constitutional amendment, 
 289. 
 
 Slodtz, A., Diana of, 58. 
 
 Small, Dr. William, mentioned, 
 184. 
 
 Smith, Jonathan B., mentioned, 93. 
 
 Soils, renewal of, 121. 
 
 South Carolina Yazoo Company, 
 94. 
 
 Spain, and Barbary states, 49; 
 dispute with United States, 83- 
 85; claims to territory north of 
 31, 84; war with England, 85; 
 control of Mississippi River, 92; 
 negotiations with United States 
 affected by Washington's retire- 
 ment, 102; educational qualifica- 
 tions for citizenship, 253. 
 
 Spanish-American colonies, Ameri- 
 can aid to, 250-252. 
 
 Spanish language, value of knowl- 
 edge of, 39. 
 
 Spoils system, 269-270. 
 
 State and Church, 29. 
 
 State control ; see Civil jurisdiction. 
 
 State governments, American, best 
 in the world, 126. 
 
 State rights, 280, 287-289. 
 
 Study, courses of, 246. 
 
 Style, 46. 
 
 Submarine boats, 177. 
 
 Suffrage, educational qualification, 
 253. 
 
 Supreme Court of the United States, 
 263-264. 
 
 Tariff, 104-107; discriminating 
 duties, 106; on imports, 169. 
 
 Taxation, constitutional provision, 
 87; collection of taxes facilitated 
 by national bank, 88; and loans, 
 222. 
 
 Taylor, "New Views of the Con- 
 stitution," mentioned, 277. 
 
 Theocritus, quoted, 226. 
 
 Theology, study of, 246. 
 
 322
 
 INDEX 
 
 Tobacco, American trade in, 75. 
 Torpedoes, 177. 
 
 Tracy, Nathaniel, mentioned, 218. 
 Trade, see Commerce. 
 Travel, pleasure of, 60. 
 Treasury notes, issue, 247. 
 Treaty-making power, 154-155. 
 Trist, Mrs. N. P., mentioned, 33. 
 Truthfulness, 37. 
 
 United States, sea power, 41, 49, 
 75; mercantile marine, 41-42; 
 war with European powers, 42, 
 73-74; compared with France, 
 42-44; territorial division, small 
 vs. large States, 40-47; and 
 Morocco, 49; credit system, 62; 
 government authority in, 63; 
 public debt, 71, 96-97; Euro- 
 pean interest in Constitution of, 
 71 ; post-roads in, 82 ; finances of, 
 82; Indian policy, 94-95; paper 
 money, 97-98 ; legislative corrup- 
 tion, 98; secession, 99, 100, 264- 
 266; foreign relations, 118; with 
 France, 142-145, 154, 155; with 
 Great Britain, 154, 210-214; 
 compared with Great Britain, 
 242-245 ; see also American Poli- 
 tics; Anglo-American alliance; 
 President of United States; sen- 
 
 ate of United States; supreme 
 court of United States. 
 
 Veto power, 89. 
 
 Vergennes, Count de, regard for 
 
 Franklin, 91. 
 Victor Emmanuel I, King of 
 
 Sardinia, estimate of, 196. 
 Vienna, Praetorian palace in, 59. 
 Virginia, abolition of slavery in, 25; 
 
 revision of Constitution, 25; 
 
 negro insurrection, 146; political 
 
 sympathy with Kentucky, 271. 
 Voltaire, quoted, 43. 
 
 Walking, as an exercise, 38. 
 
 War and peace, 49; Jefferson on, 
 
 117, 122-123. 
 Washington, George, estimate of, 
 
 24; characterization of, 78, 234- 
 
 238; retirement of, 95, 100-101; 
 
 and Federalism, 207. 
 Whately, Phyllis, mentioned, 27. 
 William III, of Prussia, estimate of, 
 
 196. 
 
 Wine, tax on, 260-261. 
 Wolcott, Oliver, mentioned, 218. 
 Wollaston's theory of morality, 238. 
 Women, European, 45. 
 Wythe, George, mentioned, 184. 
 
 Yellow fever, Jefferson on, 134. 
 
 323
 
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 THOMAS 
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