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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Thomas Jefferson
+       The Apostle of Americanism
+
+Author: Gilbert Chinard
+
+Release Date: November 21, 2011 [EBook #38073]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THOMAS JEFFERSON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Transcriber's note: The second edition is still under copyright,
+  but contained a few corrections. The quote attributed to Jefferson
+  on pages 80-82 is from Thomas Paine and has a different plate.
+  The text on pages 82-85 and in the introduction were significantly
+  revised. The last paragraph on page 375 was reworded to be less
+  critical of John Adams.
+
+  The original text includes Greek characters, which have been replaced
+  with transliterations for this text version. Also, certain words use
+  "oe" ligature in the original. Carat (^) character has been used to
+  represent subscript in this text version.]
+
+
+
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+  _The Apostle of Americanism_
+
+
+
+
+  Books by Gilbert Chinard
+
+    VOLNEY ET L'AMÉRIQUE
+    JEFFERSON ET LES IDÉOLOGUES
+    LES RÉFUGIÉS HUGUENOTS EN AMÉRIQUE
+    THE COMMONPLACE BOOK OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
+    LES AMITIÉS FRANÇAISES DE JEFFERSON
+    THE LITERARY BIBLE OF JEFFERSON
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON
+
+  _In the possession of the New York Historical Society_]
+
+
+
+
+  THOMAS
+  JEFFERSON
+
+  THE APOSTLE OF AMERICANISM
+
+  _By_
+
+  GILBERT CHINARD
+
+
+  _With Illustrations_
+
+  BOSTON
+  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+  1929
+
+
+  _Copyright, 1929_,
+  BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+  Published September, 1929
+
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This study of Jefferson's mind is the indirect outcome of an ambitious
+undertaking on which I launched about ten years ago. My original purpose
+had been to determine more exactly than had heretofore been done the
+contribution of the French thinkers to the political philosophy of
+Thomas Jefferson.
+
+The points of similarity were obvious: the parallelism between the
+theory of natural rights and the _Déclaration des droits de l'homme_ is
+patent; the American statesman shared with the French "doctrinaires" the
+same faith in the ultimate wisdom of the people, the same belief in the
+necessity of a free press and religious freedom. Many of his utterances
+had a sort of French ring and countless Gallicisms could be discovered
+in his letters. He spent in France the five years immediately preceding
+the Revolution of 1789; he knew Madame d'Houdetot, Madame Helvétius,
+Lafayette, Condorcet, Cabanis, Du Pont de Nemours, l'Abbé Morellet and
+Destutt de Tracy. He was accused of bringing back from France the
+"infidel doctrines" of the philosophers and to some of his
+contemporaries he appeared as the embodiment of Jacobinism. How could
+such a man have failed to be influenced by the political, social and
+economic theories which brought about the great upheaval of the end of
+the eighteenth century?
+
+A rapid survey of the Jefferson papers in the Library of Congress and in
+the Massachusetts Historical Society soon convinced me that the subject
+had scarcely been touched, notwithstanding the controversy that had been
+raging about the origin of Jefferson's political ideas for more than a
+century. Hundreds of letters written to Jefferson by French
+correspondents were preserved in the precious archives, and had
+apparently never been consulted. Many days were spent in the rotunda of
+the Manuscript Division, turning the leaves of the two hundred and
+thirty volumes of the Jefferson papers. Documents after documents threw
+a new light on the mind of the great American--letters hastily written,
+rough drafts corrected and recorrected, press copies blurred and hardly
+decipherable, yellowed scraps of paper crumbling to pieces but piously
+restored; more letters in a regular, precise hand, the hand of a man who
+had been a surveyor and who drew rather than wrote. Fifty years of the
+most eventful period of American history, told by the chief
+participants, rose from the old documents, and day by day was revealed
+more clearly the clean-cut figure of Jefferson the American.
+
+First of all, the tall, lanky boy, born in a frame dwelling by the
+Rivanna,--not a farmer boy by any means, but the son of an ambitious,
+energetic and respected surveyor, a landowner and a colonel in the
+militia, and of a mother in whose veins ran the best blood of Virginia.
+The stern and pious education received in the family, the reading of the
+Bible and Shakespeare, the lessons of Reverend Maury, the son of a
+Huguenot who took the boy as a boarding student, the years at William
+and Mary College in the brilliant, animated, but small capital of
+Virginia, the conversations with Mr. Small, Mr. Wythe and Governor
+Fauquier, the Apollo tavern, the first love affair, and the long
+roamings in the hills surrounding Shadwell. More years as a student of
+law and as a law practitioner, quickly followed by his marriage with a
+Virginia "belle", and Thomas Jefferson had settled down, a promising
+young man, a talented lawyer, a respectable landowner, an omnivorous
+reader who culled from hundreds of authors moral maxims, bits of poetry,
+historical, legal and philosophical disquisitions and copied them in a
+neat hand in his commonplace books. But curiously enough during these
+formative years, the direct influence of the French philosophers was
+almost negligible. He knew Montesquieu's "Esprit des Lois" and
+Voltaire's "Essai sur les moeurs", but he used both books as
+repertories of facts rather than as founts of ideas. His masters were
+the Greeks of old, Homer and Euripides, then Cicero and Horace, finally
+Bolingbroke and above all the historians of the English law in whose
+works he studied the principles, development and degeneration of free
+institutions.
+
+The choice of the abstracts made by this young Virginian who was still
+in his twenties already reveals an extraordinary capacity for absorbing
+knowledge and a most remarkable independence of thought. As he had
+planned to build a house according to his own plans, he had likewise
+decided to construct for himself, with material just as carefully
+chosen, the intellectual house in which he intended to live. Had not the
+Revolution intervened, Thomas Jefferson would probably have spent his
+years in his native colony, become a successful member of the Virginia
+bar, perhaps a judge learned and respected, a wealthy landowner adding
+constantly to the paternal acres. He had no ambition and little
+suspected his own latent genius, and yet, during all these years which
+he might have passed in leisurely and pleasant idleness, he never
+ceased, unknowingly as it were, to prepare himself for the great part he
+was to play.
+
+When the call came he was ready. The ideas expressed in the Declaration
+of Independence were common property, but their felicitous wording was
+not due to a sudden and feverish inspiration. The young Virginian
+expressed only the definite conclusions he had slowly reached in reading
+the historians and the old lawyers. The principles there proclaimed were
+not abstract and _a priori_ principles; they were distinctly the
+principles that had directed his Saxon forefathers in their "settlement"
+of England. They were the legitimate inheritance of their descendants
+and continuators who had brought over with them to America the rights
+of their ancestors to settle in sparsely inhabited land, there to live
+freely and happily under institutions chosen by themselves. To go back
+to a primitive past, to the good old times, had been the dream of many
+political philosophers; but Jefferson's vision of that ancestral past
+was no dream, for it had originated in the only part of the inhabited
+earth where it could become a reality. This was the true background of
+the Declaration of Independence, the background of Jeffersonian
+democracy--a curious justification of the pioneer spirit by a student of
+history who cared little for abstract reasoning and philosophical
+constructions.
+
+Thus far the national consciousness of Thomas Jefferson had been
+somewhat hazy. Born in Virginia and intensely devoted to the Old
+Dominion, he had never left his native habitat until he was sent as a
+delegate to Congress. There only did he realize the divergences of the
+different colonies and the imperious necessity for them to organize
+their life and to agree to some sort of a permanent compact. No dealings
+with foreign nations could be transacted, no efficient measures of
+protection against the common foe could be devised, unless the several
+States were held together by some sort of a common bond and had achieved
+some sort of a unity. While the Articles of Confederation were being
+discussed, he puzzled over the essence and meaning of these "natural
+rights" so often mentioned in the different committees on which he sat,
+and he preserved the result of his meditations in an unpublished
+document I had the good fortune to discover in the Library of Congress.
+First of all, he was led to establish a distinction between the
+fundamental natural rights, which the individual can exercise by
+himself, and another class of rights which cannot be safely enjoyed
+unless society provides adequate protection. In forming a society and in
+accepting a social compact, the first rights were to be reserved and to
+remain inalienable; rights of the second class, on the contrary, were
+partly given up in exchange for more security. This very simple
+distinction enabled the young delegate to do away with the old antinomy
+so perplexing to many political philosophers and to solve the difficulty
+against which Rousseau had vainly struggled in his _Contrat social_. The
+individual remained in full possession of certain rights; society was
+granted only part of the others, a part to be determined strictly in
+forming a social compact: the citizen no longer had to sacrifice all his
+rights on the altar of the country; he remained sovereign in a sovereign
+society.
+
+What was true of individuals was true of the States coalescing to form a
+union or confederation. Each individual State remained sovereign and
+yielded only part of certain rights in order to obtain more security
+against foreign aggressors. To the right of expatriation for the
+individual corresponded the right of secession for the State. But from
+this recognition of the right to denounce the compact, it did not follow
+that Jefferson would have encouraged either the individual or the States
+to withdraw from the society thus formed in order to resume a precarious
+life by themselves. Even if he had been an anarchistic instead of being
+a truly "socialistic" political thinker, a few meetings of the
+committees on which he sat would have sufficed to demonstrate that, to
+the necessity of society for the individuals, corresponded the necessity
+of a union for the individual States. The Virginian had developed into a
+true American. Jefferson was thinking nationally and not sectionally; he
+was ready for the great rôle he was about to assume.
+
+His five-year stay in Europe confirmed him in the opinion that there
+existed in America the germ of something infinitely precious, if
+somewhat precarious, and he realized that his country had really become
+the hope of the world. He was too fond of good music, good architecture,
+good dinners, good wines and long conversations not to appreciate fully
+the good points of life while in Paris. He praised the French for their
+achievements in the arts and sciences, and formed with many of them
+long-enduring friendships; but neither France, nor England, and even
+less Italy or Spain, were countries toward which men could turn their
+eyes when looking for a political "polar star." Traditions were too
+deeply rooted, prejudices of too long standing, class distinctions too
+sharply defined to leave room for any hope of ever seeing them establish
+within a reasonable time a tolerable form of government. On the
+contrary, unhampered by such hoary traditionalism and free to shape her
+destinies, America, provided she carefully avoided the dangers under
+which Europe was laboring, could not only establish the best possible
+form of government, but set an example to be followed by the rest of
+mankind.
+
+These dangers were patent; they resulted from the existence of
+privileged classes or hereditary aristocracies, of State religions,
+censorship of the press and books, centralization and concentration in a
+few hands of all the financial and economic resources of the country.
+Anything that smacked of the European system was to be fought with the
+utmost energy, not only for the sake of America, but for the sake of the
+world. Such were the real reasons that justify the fight waged by
+Jefferson after his return from Europe against the tendencies
+represented by Hamilton. Not out of any sympathy for the Jacobins did he
+seem to favor the French Revolution; but, since America herself had
+become the battlefield of two opposed ideals, he sided with the one
+which, in his opinion, presented the smaller danger for the existence of
+his country.
+
+Throughout the long-drawn-out battle, he remained convinced that only by
+avoiding any entanglement with European politics could America fulfill
+her destiny. The great obstacle to such an isolation was foreign
+commerce, for Jefferson clearly understood that economic and commercial
+bonds or dependence would necessarily entail political bonds and
+political dependence. America was to live in her own world, to pay her
+debts as soon as possible, to become industrially independent of
+Europe, to manufacture at home enough for her own consumption "and no
+more." She was also to seize every opportunity to eliminate dangerous
+neighbors, not that she really coveted any territory or colony held by
+foreign powers, not that she needed new land for a surplus of
+population; but she could not keep out of European politics if Europe
+remained at her doors and used her colonies as a "fulcrum for her
+intrigues." Spain was so weak that nothing had to be feared directly
+from her, but her colonies could be seized at any time by more powerful
+enemies; France should not be permitted again to set her foot on the
+American continent. As to England, she was to be expelled from her
+continental dominions whenever America would be strong enough to enforce
+the "_American jus gentium_", and the sea was to be neutralized.
+
+Having removed all causes for foreign frictions and aggressions, America
+would be free to develop along her own lines. She was to remain for long
+years to come an agricultural nation; she would grow towards the west by
+attaching to herself new territories as their population increased. The
+Federal Government was to retain a minimum of power and attributions. It
+was to be carefully and constantly watched for fear of concentrating too
+much power in a few hands and in one place. Federal legislation was to
+be kept down, for the more laws, the worse the republic--"_plurimae
+leges, pessima republica_." There was nothing intangible, however, in
+the government which had been hastily put together at the close of the
+Revolution. It was desirable and necessary to preserve the main
+principles embodied in the Constitution in so far as they expressed the
+permanent and inalienable rights of the people and the States, but each
+generation had a right to determine anew the details of the legislation
+and how they chose to be governed. The different articles adopted in
+1787 were not to be considered as sacred as the Tables of the Law, they
+were the work of fallible and changing human beings, and the essence of
+the American government did not rest on a written document but on the
+dispositions of the individual citizens and on enlightened public
+opinion.
+
+This being the case, it became necessary to prepare each citizen for the
+part he was called upon to play in the life of the country. The great
+mass of the American people had a "cool common sense" and a certain
+degree of instruction which fitted all of them to do certain things, but
+not everything. A farmer could not overnight and by virtue of the
+popular choice become qualified to judge of fine legal points, to settle
+complicated economic problems, or to conduct difficult diplomatic
+negotiations with foreign courts. All this required more than ordinary
+common sense and ordinary education: the country needed leaders and
+experts to be carefully trained in special institutions--in a national
+university or, if this proved impossible, in State universities. As to
+the great mass of the common people, they could be trusted to judge of
+facts and to sit on a jury; they were also good judges of men and
+properly could choose between candidates for the different offices. A
+free press would keep them informed of the conduct of the men thus
+selected; primary and secondary schools would help in the diffusion of
+knowledge, and enlightened self-interest would prevent them at any time
+from making grievous mistakes.
+
+Such a system constituted the best form of government ever established
+by man; but it did not ensue that it was immediately to be adopted by
+all the nations of the earth. It embodied certain permanent principles
+susceptible of general application, for they did nothing but express the
+unalienable rights of man. All men, however, were not to be intrusted at
+once with the full enjoyment of their rights. There were certain
+countries which for generations had been priest-ridden and king-ridden
+and in which men unaccustomed to use their judgment were swayed by
+emotions, hatreds and prejudices. A time might come when the sacred
+contagion of liberty would spread to these unfortunate populations, but
+it would take many revolutions, much bloodshed and a slow and painful
+process of education to enable them to shake off their shackles and to
+enjoy the full benefits of self-government. America, on the contrary,
+because of her geographical remoteness from Europe, because of the
+quality of the people who had settled in the English colonies, had
+fought, not to destroy an old order of things, but to preserve and to
+extend already existing liberties. Among the nations of the world she
+stood as an example and a hope. She was the living evidence that under a
+free government a large nation could grow prosperous and powerful,
+simply by existing, and without preaching any new gospel she fulfilled
+her duty to mankind.
+
+Whatever may be the shortcomings of this political philosophy, it was
+distinctly an American doctrine; one cannot imagine it to have
+originated in any European country, for what would have been a Utopian
+and chimerical dream in the Old World was within the reach of man in
+America. Whether it corresponds to present conditions is still another
+question; it is nevertheless true that by emphasizing the uniqueness of
+America and the political superiority of his native land for more than
+fifty years, Thomas Jefferson did more than any other man of his
+generation to formulate the creed of Americanism. The man who was
+accused of being denationalized stands as the most integrally and truly
+American among his contemporaries.
+
+This does not mean, however, that Jefferson did not occasionally depart
+from the policies he had thus drawn. No man can remain in public life
+for half a century without ever falling into contradictions and
+inconsistencies. Only "closet politicians" and mere theorists never
+accept any compromise, and Jefferson was a very practical politician
+with a keen sense of possibilities and realities. Trained as a
+small-town lawyer, then placed on many committees in Congress, forced to
+wrest war measures out of a reluctant Assembly, even managing to hold
+his own with the resourceful diplomats of Europe, Thomas Jefferson knew
+how to handle men and how "to take things by their smooth handle." There
+was nothing quixotic about him and he never tried to fight against
+windmills, nor did he break his head against blank walls. But he was
+singularly apt to bide his time, to wait for a favorable opportunity
+and, whenever he saw a chance, he never failed to come back to his
+original line of conduct and to his original policies.
+
+He seldom indulged in undue display of emotions and personal feelings,
+but he was no mere thinking machine. In his youth he loved and suffered;
+later he was perplexed by the riddle of the world; he studied the old
+philosophers in order to find the moral props which religion could no
+longer give him and, in his older age, came back to the morals of Jesus.
+His encyclopedic curiosity and the versatility of his mind won for him
+the admiration of his contemporaries, and, in that sense--the
+eighteenth-century sense--he was truly "a philosopher." But he was too
+practical-minded to waste much time in mere theorizing or in theological
+and metaphysical "disquisitions." Firmly convinced that the business of
+life was with matter, he considered science as an instrument and a tool
+to master the blind forces of nature. He was more interested in
+applications than in disinterested research, and in that respect, as in
+many others, he was not only an American, but, above all, an
+eighteenth-century man. Intensely nationalistic as he was when it came
+to politics, he was truly cosmopolitan in the realm of intellectual
+achievements, and thus was created the legend of a denationalized
+Jefferson; for the popular mind, fond of generalizations, is unable to
+recognize such distinctions. Among his friends he counted all the
+leading scientists of the time and through them--particularly through
+his French friends of the Museum--he exerted an influence of which he
+himself was perhaps not fully aware. To his European correspondents he
+appeared the embodiment of what was best in the American character. His
+influence on the development of liberalism and democratic ideas
+throughout the world can hardly be estimated, and separate
+investigations will have to be carried out before his exact contribution
+to the growth of democracy can be rightly estimated. Through his letters
+he encouraged his friends to keep their faith, but better still he
+demonstrated that self-government and democracy, as he understood it,
+were practical and workable schemes and not the idle dreams of
+philosophers shut in their closets.
+
+I hardly dare mention here the names of the many friends and colleagues
+who gave me most generously their assistance and encouragement. To
+Doctor J. C. Fitzpatrick, untiring, most patient and helpful in his
+suggestions, I owe a particular debt. Mr. W. C. Ford afforded me all
+possible facilities for consulting the letters of Jefferson in the
+Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. I
+discussed more than once with Professors Willoughby, Latané and Lovejoy
+and with President Goodnow of the Johns Hopkins University the
+perplexing problems that confronted me, and submitted several hypotheses
+to the History of Ideas Club of the University. Doctor L. P. Shanks gave
+me his time and friendly assistance in the revision of the manuscript.
+But none of my counselors and friends are to be held responsible for the
+ideas here expressed, some of which they would probably refuse to
+indorse.
+
+In the course of this investigation I consulted too many books to list
+them all. Randall is still very useful and has not been completely
+superseded by more modern biographies. I found the books of Beveridge
+fascinating though having somewhat of a tendency, and could not
+completely agree with Mr. Beard on the economic origins of the
+Jeffersonian democracy. I naturally made use of Mr. Becker's study of
+the Declaration of Independence. I read the biography of Mr. Hirst with
+great interest, though our points of view were very different, and I
+almost decided to abandon my undertaking when the more recent work of
+Mr. Nock appeared. Incomplete and unsatisfactory as they are in some
+respects, the Ford Edition and the Memorial Edition are very useful
+tools, the best available at the present time. Much to my regret, I had
+to omit many documents still unpublished which are preserved in the
+Jefferson papers.
+
+The collections of the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts
+Historical Society constitute the richest treasure house of historical
+information ever left by a single man. It would take several lives and a
+fortune to edit them properly; but since Monticello has now become again
+a national shrine and will be safely preserved, it may not be out of
+place to express the wish that the day will soon come when a national
+association will undertake to publish an integral edition of the
+Jefferson papers,--a most fitting monument to the greatest political
+philosopher of America and one of her greatest sons.
+
+                                                     GILBERT CHINARD
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+BOOK ONE: _The Virginian_
+
+    I A VIRGINIA BOYHOOD                                     3
+   II AN AMERICAN DISCIPLE OF GREECE AND OLD ENGLAND        19
+  III A VIRGINIA LAWYER                                     34
+
+BOOK TWO: _Jefferson and the American Revolution_
+
+    I THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE                       59
+   II THE REVISION OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA                  86
+  III GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA--THE "NOTES ON VIRGINIA"        108
+   IV A STATESMAN'S APPRENTICESHIP                         137
+
+BOOK THREE: _An American View of Europe_
+
+    I SOCIETY AND TRAVEL                                   159
+   II GALLO-AMERICAN COMMERCE AND THE DEBT QUESTION        176
+  III UNION AND ISOLATION                                  194
+   IV JEFFERSON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION                  215
+
+BOOK FOUR: _Monocrats and Republicans_
+
+    I THE QUARREL WITH HAMILTON                            245
+   II JACOBIN OR AMERICAN?                                 274
+  III MONTICELLO--AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS                 298
+   IV "THE DICTATES OF REASON AND PURE AMERICANISM"        321
+    V POLITICAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST                      343
+
+BOOK FIVE: _The Presidency_
+
+    I "ALL REPUBLICANS, ALL FEDERALISTS"                   379
+   II PROTECTIVE IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION     396
+  III "SELF-PRESERVATION IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL LAW"          425
+   IV "PEACE AND COMMERCE WITH EVERY NATION"               440
+
+BOOK SIX: _The Sage of Monticello_
+
+    I "AMERICA HAS A HEMISPHERE TO ITSELF"                 467
+   II DEMOCRATIC AMERICA                                   489
+  III THE PHILOSOPHY OF OLD AGE                            513
+
+  INDEX                                                    533
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON                      _Frontispiece_
+    _In the possession of the New York Historical Society_
+
+  A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION  80
+    _From the manuscript in the possession of the Library
+    of Congress_
+
+  A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S "COMMONPLACE BOOK"                         102
+    _From the manuscript in the possession of the Library
+    of Congress_
+
+  LAFAYETTE                                                          206
+    _After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon_
+
+  ALEXANDER HAMILTON                                                 256
+    _From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession
+    of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass._
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON                                                   290
+    _From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale_
+
+  MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY                                    314
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON                                                   468
+    _From the portrait by Kosciuszko_
+
+
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+_The Virginian_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A VIRGINIA BOYHOOD
+
+
+The peoples of the Old World worship at the birthplaces of their
+national heroes and bury their mortal remains in splendid mausoleums,
+pantheons or Westminster Abbeys. By a significant and symbolic contrast,
+the memories of Washington and Jefferson are enshrined in no ancestral
+homes, but in the mansions planned with loving care, in which they so
+expressed themselves that their very spirit seems to haunt the deserted
+rooms of Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are buried according to their
+wishes on their own land, at the very center of the acres they had
+themselves surveyed and reclaimed from the wilderness, close to nature
+and Mother Earth. However great may be their debt to the past and their
+remote ancestors, they stand by themselves at the threshold of America's
+national history,--master builders who wrestled with gigantic tasks and
+first thought of their country as the future home of unborn millions.
+
+The boy who was born on April 2, 1743, in the recently erected farmhouse
+at Shadwell, on the bank of the Rivanna, never gave much thought to his
+lineage in his later life. Yet Virginians of good stock were always
+proud of their ancestry, and more than once he was told by his mother
+that the Randolphs could "trace their pedigree far back in England and
+Scotland." Jefferson's mother and John Marshall's grandmother were
+descended from William Randolph and Mary Isham, both of the English
+gentry, and Jane Randolph, issued from the best blood in the Old
+Dominion, had married when she was nineteen a man without means, whose
+education had been neglected, but sturdy and industrious and belonging
+to one of the proudest and most aristocratic lines of old Virginians.
+
+Of his mother, Jefferson has told us very little either in his letters
+or in his "Autobiography." We may surmise she had the refined, modest,
+unobtrusive and yet efficient qualities so marked in the Virginia girls
+of the Colonial days and so often noticed by travelers. Sons are apt to
+mold their feminine ideal on the memory of their mother, and Jefferson
+may have been thinking both of her and of his wife when, many years
+later, he contrasted French frivolity with Virginian virtues:
+
+  In America, the society of your husband, the fond cares for the
+  children, the arrangements of the house, the improvements of the
+  grounds, fill every moment with a useful and healthy activity....
+  The intervals of leisure are filled by the society 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.[1]
+
+The fond cares for her children would have been ample to fill all the
+minutes of Jefferson's mother. Large families were the rule in Virginia;
+fifteen children were born to Thomas Marshall and Mary Keith, and
+Jefferson's family was no exception to the rule. Between 1740 and 1755,
+Jane Randolph gave ten children to Peter Jefferson; Thomas was the third
+child and the first son.
+
+What information he gave about his father has to be completed from other
+sources. The tradition in the family was that "the first paternal
+ancestor came from Wales, and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the
+highest in Great Britain." Peter Jefferson, landowner, practical
+surveyor, of gigantic stature and strength, had the sturdy qualities and
+ambition of the pioneer. He received a colonelcy in the militia, became
+a member of the House of Burgesses in 1755, and in 1749 had been chosen
+with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in William and Mary College,
+to continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina. "He
+was afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry to make the first map of
+Virginia which was ever made." Besides his association with Fry, from
+whom he drew the theoretical knowledge of mathematics in which he was
+lacking, Peter Jefferson improved himself by much reading, not novels,
+but the serious and sound books which constituted the ordinary family
+library in colonial Virginia,--historians, essayists, and most of all
+Shakespeare. For in Virginia as well as in New England, Shakespeare and
+the Bible were the two books found in every household, the two richest
+springs of the modern English language. Religion took up as much of
+their life as in New England. Prayers were said three and sometimes four
+times a day, and from his earliest infancy, Jefferson became familiar
+with the liturgy of the Church of England, and had stamped in his memory
+the strong old words, vigorous phrases and noble speech of King James'
+version.
+
+He was only five years old when his father, already planning to give him
+the education of which he himself had been deprived, decided to send the
+boy to the best school in the neighborhood. He stayed two years at the
+English school; then, when nine, he went to the school of Mr. Douglas, a
+Scotch clergyman, who taught him French and the rudiments of Latin and
+Greek. Most of his childhood was spent away from home, as a boarding
+student, and the silence maintained by Jefferson with reference to his
+parents is thus easily explained. It explains also the lack of
+spontaneity and the awkwardness which always prevented him from
+expressing freely his emotions and sentiments. What may seem in him a
+national characteristic was largely a matter of training and early
+discipline.
+
+He was fourteen when his father died, with a last recommendation that
+his son be given a classical education. Still a mere boy, Thomas
+Jefferson had become the oldest living male of the family and to a
+certain extent its head. Whether he was at first fully aware of his new
+responsibility is very doubtful. He could not remember without a
+retrospective fear in his later years how close he had come to wasting
+his whole life:
+
+  When I recollect that at fourteen years of age, the whole care and
+  direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without a relation
+  or friend, qualified to advise 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.[2]
+
+The next two years were spent as a boarding student with Reverend Mr.
+Maury, "a correct classical scholar"--probably not a very inspiring one,
+if we interpret rightly the adjective used by Jefferson. We may well
+imagine him at sixteen, a tall, slim boy, with auburn hair and clear
+eyes, fond of fowling, horse-riding and outdoors, fond of reading also,
+but disposing of very few books; for his father's library was not large
+and, if the Reverend Mr. Maury followed the tradition of many old
+schoolmasters, he seldom opened his library to his students. Still, he
+knew his Bible, had read a few English classics, was well grounded in
+Greek and Latin, and had perfected his knowledge of French; but it is
+doubtful whether he was acquainted with any French writer except the old
+standard authors--"Télémaque", Berquin, perhaps "Gil Blas" and Pascal's
+"Pensées." But, even at that age, Jefferson necessarily knew something
+of the many duties of a landowner; for the slaves he was the young
+master, and during the summer he had to become somewhat acquainted with
+the management of a large estate. The education he had received was not
+exactly a frontier education with the usual connotations of that word.
+He had not been brought up in a log cabin, he had never engaged in
+back-breaking tasks of felling trees or of splitting rails; he probably
+had never put his hand to the plow except as an experiment.
+
+He had heard his father tell of long journeys in the wilderness and of
+treacherous Indians, but no Red Men roamed the forests near Shadwell.
+The only Indians he knew were peaceful, almost romantic characters who
+stopped at the house of Colonel Jefferson on their way to Williamsburg.
+
+  I knew much--he said--of the great Ontasseré, the warrior and orator
+  of the Cherokees; he was always the guest of my father on his
+  journeys to and from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when he made
+  his great farewell oration to his people, the evening before his
+  departure for England. The moon was in full splendor, and to her he
+  seemed to address himself in his prayers for his own safety on the
+  voyage, and that of his people during his absence; his sounding
+  voice, distinct articulation, animated action, and the solemn silence
+  of his people at their several fires, filled me with awe and
+  admiration.[3]
+
+This youthful impression left an indelible mark on his mind and was not
+without some influence on the "Notes on Virginia" as well as on the
+letters he wrote to Indian chiefs when he was President.
+
+Nor was Shadwell exactly in the "howling wilderness", even if there was
+no large city near it. It was located on the road to Williamsburg, and
+many travelers stopped at the house on their way to the capital.
+Hospitality to friends and strangers was a sacred rite and most
+scrupulously observed. Much visiting was done in Virginia, and men
+particularly spent considerable time traveling from house to house;
+slaves were put up, horses were sent to the stable, while the best was
+spread on the table for the master. During the summer months, when roads
+were not made impassable by deep mudholes, one visitor had hardly left
+when another came. They had to be entertained, sometimes at a
+considerable expense, always at a considerable loss of time. Young
+Jefferson soon realized, after returning to Shadwell, that he would
+never amount to much and would probably become an idler, if he stayed on
+the estate like so many of his young friends. The wasting of precious
+moments irritated and disturbed him when he wanted to do some reading or
+some study, and he felt that the condition of the estate hardly
+warranted such a generous hospitality. He therefore decided to leave,
+and the letter he wrote on this occasion to his guardian, Mr. John
+Hervey of Bellemont, shows him fully aware of his responsibilities and
+perfectly definite in his plans.[4]
+
+In the spring of 1760, the young man, then exactly seventeen, went to
+Williamsburg and enrolled in the College of William and Mary. Quite
+possibly it was his first visit to the capital of Virginia, his first
+contact with urban life. It was, for the time, a place of very
+respectable size and considerable activity. Old Professor Hugh Jones, a
+man much traveled and much read, described it enthusiastically in his
+"Present State of Virginia", published in London in 1724:
+
+  Williamsburg is a market town, and is governed by a mayor and
+  aldermen. It is a town well stocked with rich stores, all sorts of
+  goods, and well furnished with the best provisions and liquors. Here
+  dwell several good families, and more reside here in their own houses
+  at publick times. They live in the same neat manner, dress after the
+  same modes, and behave themselves exactly as the Gentry in London;
+  most families of note having a coach, chariot, Berlin, or chaize....
+  Thus they dwell comfortably, genteely, pleasantly, and plentifully in
+  this delightful, healthful, and (I hope) pleasant city of Virginia.
+
+Great occasions were receptions given by the Governor, meetings of the
+Assembly, occasional performances by regular companies from New York,
+semi-professional players and later, by the Virginian Company of
+Comedians. Horse races attracted every year a large concourse of
+people, for every true Virginian is a lover of horseflesh. Betting was
+active and large sums of money changed hands, particularly for the
+four-mile heat race given each year on the course adjoining the town.
+
+Ladies in all the glory of their imported dresses, gentlemen in
+brilliantly colored knee breeches and coats, with elegantly chased
+swords at their sides and the best beaver hats made in London under
+their arms, attended the receptions, the dances, the theater, and more
+than once adjourned to the famous Apollo room in the Raleigh Tavern,
+where they indulged in much drinking of "punch, beer, Nantes rum,
+brandy, Madeira and French claret." The first time young Jefferson went
+to the Raleigh he was probably shown the largest punch bowl in the
+house, which had played a part in the purchase of Shadwell, for had not
+Colonel Jefferson bought the site from William Randolph of Tuckahoe, for
+"Henry Weatherbourne's biggest bowl of arrack punch"?
+
+The college itself was no less an attraction than the town. Built
+originally on the plans of Christopher Wren, it had unfortunately been
+remodeled after a fire, "a rude, misshapen pile, which but it had a roof
+would be taken for a brick-kiln", wrote Jefferson in his "Notes on
+Virginia." Such as it was, however, with the Capitol, of much better
+style, it was the first large building and monument the young man had
+ever seen and he probably admired it at the time as much as most
+Virginians did.
+
+It was by no means a university, not even a real college. Like most
+institutions of learning in the colonies, it had been established "to
+the end that the church of Virginia may be furnished with a seminary for
+ministers of the gospel, and that the youth may be piously educated in
+good letters and manners, and that the Christian faith may be propagated
+amongst the Western Indians, to the glory of the Almighty."
+
+The lack of preparation of the students, the fact that the sons of the
+wealthiest were sent to England to finish their education, perhaps also
+an aristocratic scorn for specialized and intensive learning among the
+gentry of Virginia, all had contributed to keep down the standards of
+the institution. Much to his disgust, Jefferson found
+
+  ... that the admission of the learners of Latin and Greek had filled
+  the college with children. This rendering it disagreeable and
+  degrading to young gentlemen, already prepared for entering on the
+  sciences, they were discouraged from resorting to it, and thus the
+  schools for mathematics and moral philosophy, which might have been
+  of some service, became of very little. The revenues, too, were
+  exhausted in accommodating those who came only to acquire the
+  rudiments of the sciences.[5]
+
+Thus the problem of caring for the many, the danger of keeping together
+in college the prepared and the unprepared students, which is still with
+us, existed already in America one hundred and fifty years ago.
+Evidently Jefferson considered himself as one of those young gentlemen
+who were prepared for entering upon the study of the sciences; he was
+certainly more mature for his years than most of his fellow students and
+looked down upon them as well, we may surmise, as upon the teachers
+themselves. On the other hand, the town offered many temptations and he
+probably yielded to some of them. He was often thrown into the society
+of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, and at the end of his first
+year in college it appeared to him that he had spent more than his share
+of the income of the estate. He therefore wrote to his guardian to
+charge his expenses to his share of the property: "No," Colonel Walker
+is reported to have said,--"if you have sowed your wild oats thus, the
+estate may well afford to pay the bill."
+
+We possess no precise information upon the amount spent by Jefferson nor
+any account book for that year, but we may surmise that Colonel Walker
+would not have been so lenient if the total sum had been spent in
+reprehensible dissipations. Williamsburg boasted of a large bookstore,
+and in 1775 Dixon and Hunter published a list of more than three hundred
+titles in their stock. Book lovers are born and not made. Jefferson had
+never been able to satisfy fully his passion for books, and as the
+college library offered him only very meager resources, he must have
+plunged with delight in the bookshop of Williamsburg and bought
+extravagantly, an expense the estate "could well afford to pay." But the
+fact remained that what he had learned he had learned by himself, and
+that college life had not furnished him the guidance and direction he
+was looking for.
+
+It was at this juncture that Doctor Small, professor of mathematics, was
+appointed _ad interim_ professor of philosophy and soon developed an
+interest in the young Virginian. Jefferson himself paid a grateful
+tribute to the man who just in time rescued him from his frivolous
+companions and brought back to his mind the serious purpose he had
+entertained when he entered William and Mary.
+
+  It was my good fortune and that probably fixed the destinies of my
+  life, that Doctor William Small of Scotland was then Professor of
+  Mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of
+  science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and
+  gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most
+  happily for me, became soon attached to me, and made me his daily
+  companion when not engaged in the school; and from his conversation I
+  got my first views of the expansion of science, and of the system of
+  things in which we are placed. Fortunately, the philosophical chair
+  became vacant soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed
+  to fill it _per interim_: and he was the first who ever gave, in that
+  college, regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres.[6]
+
+For Jefferson Doctor Small was the prime awakener and inspirer. Through
+him the young man was introduced to George Wythe who soon accepted him
+as a student of law, and through him again he was received by Governor
+Fauquier.
+
+Such were the first really cultured men with whom Jefferson ever came in
+contact: William Small, the mathematician and philosopher, would not
+have been a true Scot if he had not had that passionate love for
+discussion and logic which seems the innate gift of so many sons of the
+Highlands. Francis Fauquier, "the ornament and delight of Virginia",
+generous, liberal, elegant in his manners and requirements, was the son
+of Doctor Fauquier of Floirac, near Bordeaux, who had worked under
+Newton in the mint and become a director of the Bank of England. His
+early biographer Burke, the Virginia historian, has chiefly emphasized
+his propensity to gaming. But Fauquier was an economist of no mean
+distinction and had written an important tract on the basis of taxation.
+He was interested in physics or natural philosophy and had become a
+Fellow of the Royal Society. He was a student of natural phenomena and
+sent to the Society the description of a hail-storm in Virginia.
+Finally, there was George Wythe, whose virtue was of the purest tint,
+his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact. Last and most important
+of all his qualities, perhaps, was the characteristic peculiarity
+mentioned by Jefferson in the sketch he wrote after the death of his old
+master: "he was firm in his philosophy, and neither troubling, nor
+perhaps trusting any one with his religion."
+
+Such were the true masters of Thomas Jefferson, and from their
+conversations around the table, after bottles of port had been brought,
+he learned more than any student at William and Mary ever acquired in
+college. It was a rare privilege for a young man of Jefferson's age to
+be admitted to the "_parties carrées_", and he must have already given
+singular promise to have been invited at all into the society of these
+three luminaries of Virginia. What topics were discussed among them can
+easily be imagined. Fauquier would speak of old England, the theaters of
+London, the monuments and works of art, of his colleagues of the Royal
+Society, or discuss a problem of taxation or a recent meteorological
+phenomenon. A man of the world, a friend of Admiral Anson whom he had
+met after his circumnavigation of the globe, a director of the South Sea
+Company, he would speak of ships, strange lands, and reveal to the young
+man the existence of a world extending far beyond his native Virginia.
+Thus was born in Jefferson that ardent desire to travel and most of all
+to see England which appears in some letters written in the early
+sixties.
+
+Philosophical and religious subjects perhaps were introduced, although
+that is rather doubtful, in my opinion. The passage on George Wythe,
+already quoted, mentions his reticence on religion. Whatever may have
+been the propensity of Fauquier to gaming, he was never accused by his
+contemporaries of being a religious libertine. It is also very doubtful
+whether any of the group would naturally have discussed such subjects,
+particularly in the presence of a young student whose education had been
+deeply religious. Finally it must be remembered that in Virginia, as
+well as in New England, there always existed some "reserved questions",
+that it was not good form to criticize established institutions and
+current beliefs. It is quite possible that Fauquier may have lent to
+Jefferson certain volumes of Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke, but in spite
+of the contrary opinion expressed by some biographers of Jefferson, it
+seems very unlikely that any of the three older men should have
+undertaken to shake the foundations of his faith. The "_parties
+carrées_" could not have lasted very long, since William Small went back
+to Scotland in 1762. But Jefferson's acquaintance with Fauquier and
+Wythe was continued for many years after the departure of the
+philosopher and, in both cases, until the death of the older men.
+
+The master of Shadwell had sown his wild oats; he had had his brief
+flight of dissipation and had reformed; but he had by no means become a
+hermit. He had not entirely given up attending horse races and fox
+hunts.
+
+  Many a time--he wrote in 1808--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 councils of the nation. Well, which of these kinds of
+  reputation would I prefer? That of a horse jockey? a fox hunter? an
+  orator? or the finest advocate of my country's rights?[7]
+
+What young man has not thus dreamed of serving his country and devoting
+himself to some noble cause, what student preparing for the bar has not
+pictured himself winning a difficult case, forcing the judge's attention
+and swaying a reluctant jury? The ambition to become an orator may have
+been awakened in his mind by the acquaintance he had made of the
+"uncultured Demosthenes" of the Old Dominion. In the winter of
+1759-1760, he had met at the house of Mr. Dandrige, in Hanover, a tall,
+ascetic-looking fellow, rather disdainful of finery and careless in his
+wearing apparel, but "with such strains of native eloquence as Homer
+wrote in"--"I never heard anything that deserved to be called by the
+same name with what flowed from him," wrote Jefferson later, "and where
+he got that torrent of language is unconceivable. I have frequently shut
+my eyes while he spoke, and, when he was done, asked myself what he had
+said, without being able to recollect a word of it. He was no logician.
+He was truly a great man, however--one of enlarged views."
+
+His name was Patrick Henry. Far less uncultured than Jefferson's
+portrait would lead us to believe, related to very good families,
+although poor and a complete failure as a merchant, Patrick Henry had
+suddenly decided to enter the legal profession, and after borrowing a
+"Coke upon Littleton" and a "Digest of the Virginia Acts", he had
+appeared after six weeks' preparation before the board of examiners. He
+won his diploma through logic, clear presentation and common sense
+rather than through his knowledge of the law, and commenced practicing
+in the fall of the same year. Whenever a case appeared before the
+General Court sitting at Williamsburg and consisting of the Governor and
+his council, "he used to put up" with Jefferson, borrowing books which
+he seldom read, always ready with stories of the backwoods. Fame came to
+him soon after, when his fiery eloquence in the "parson's case" drew
+down upon him clerical hostility and public admiration. "Instead of
+feeding the hungry and clothing the naked," he cried out in the
+courtroom, "these religious harpies would, were their powers equal to
+their will, snatch from the hearth of their honest parishioner his last
+hoe-cake, from the widow and her orphan children their last milch cow,
+the last bed, nay, the last blanket, from the lying-in woman."[8] Not
+even in the days of the Convention did the halls of Paris echo with more
+vehement vituperations and more indignant denunciations. A magnetic
+power, an emotional appeal to elementary passion, to a sense of justice
+in the mass rather than to the letter of the law fitted him for
+political life. He was soon to have his opportunity; in the meantime he
+awoke in Jefferson a revolt against clerical usurpations that was to
+bear its fruit in time. Usually passed over by Jefferson's biographers,
+the plea made by Patrick Henry in the "parson's case" seems to have been
+the incident that called the young man's attention to the position
+occupied by the established Church in its relations to the civil power.
+It started in him the train of thought that culminated in the "Bill for
+religious freedom."
+
+It has been sometimes said that Jefferson used to spend fourteen hours a
+day in study when he was at Williamsburg; his correspondence with John
+Page shows him in a very different light. He was not in any sense a
+bookworm, even though he read enormously, but he played as strenuously
+as he studied. A good horseman, a good violin player, a good dancer, he
+was a much-sought-after young man. He had a keen eye for the ladies, and
+very early in 1762 he had fallen in love with Miss Rebecca Burwell, the
+_Bell-in-day, Belinda, campana in die, Adnileb_ of his letters to Page.
+The young lady had given him her profile cut in black paper which he
+carried in his watch case. Far from her, life lost all interest: "all
+things appear to me to trudge in one and the same round: we rise in the
+morning that we may eat breakfast, dinner and supper, and to go to bed
+again, that we may get up the next morning and do the same, so that you
+never saw two peas more alike than our yesterday and to-day." He had in
+mind to go back to Williamsburg, to propose, receive his sentence and be
+no longer in suspense: "but reason says, if you go, and your attempts
+prove unsuccessful, you will be ten times more wretched than ever."[9]
+Spring, then summer came, and he could not muster up enough courage to
+declare himself. Madly in love as he was, he was not intending to marry
+at once. He had formed great plans for traveling. He was dreaming of
+hoisting his sail and visiting England, Holland, France, Spain, Italy
+(where I would buy me a good fiddle), and Egypt, and return home through
+the British provinces to the northward. This would take him two or three
+years. Was it fair to ask Belinda to wait so long for him? And yet he
+could not leave without speaking and remain in suspense and cruel
+uncertainty during the whole trip. "If I am to meet with a
+disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to
+wear if off ... If Belinda will not accept of my service, it will never
+be offered to another. That she may I pray most sincerely: but that she
+will, she never gave me reason to hope."[10]
+
+When college opened again at the beginning of October, he had made up
+his mind to make his position clear. A dance was to be given in the
+Apollo room of the Raleigh Tavern. He dressed up in all his finery, he
+rehearsed in his head such thoughts as occurred to him and made a
+complete fiasco. "A few broken sentences, uttered in great disorder, and
+interrupted with pauses of uncommon length were the too visible marks of
+my strange confusion" (October 7, 1763). Belinda did not say a word to
+relieve him in his embarrassment, did not manifest in any way that she
+understood his purpose, and several months were to elapse before
+Jefferson had another opportunity to express himself. This time he had
+learnt his piece perfectly, and from what we know of him already it is
+probable that he made a very clear presentation of his case, too clear
+and too logical even, for he concluded by saying that the decision
+rested with her and that a new interview would not serve any purpose. A
+strange lover indeed, apparently as madly in love as a young man could
+be, and yet too respectful of the free will of his beloved to attempt to
+sweep her off her feet by too frequent interviews and too passionate
+pleas! Belinda listened attentively but did not give any indication that
+Jefferson's speech had convinced her and won her heart. A few weeks
+later the bashful suitor heard indirectly of her answer when she
+announced her marriage to Mr. B ... Whether it was "for money, beauty,
+or principle will be so nice a dispute, that no one will venture to
+pronounce", wrote Jefferson at the time. To crown the joke, his happy
+rival, who evidently had been kept in blissful ignorance of Jefferson's
+sentiments, asked him to act as a best man at the wedding. A more
+ironical trick of fate could scarcely be imagined; but, all considered,
+Belinda was not altogether to blame.
+
+Thomas Jefferson did not think of committing suicide, he did not swear
+revenge, nor did he curse the ungrateful one in any of his letters. We
+have some reason to believe, however, that his affair with Belinda
+marked a decisive turn in his life. It killed whatever romantic strains
+may have existed in his heart; it matured him, and it was probably at
+that time that the long-belated metaphysical crisis took place, the
+disappointed lover evolving a certain philosophy of life which he was to
+retain to the end of his days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER  II
+
+AN AMERICAN DISCIPLE OF GREECE AND OLD ENGLAND
+
+
+Until very recently the material for a study of the formative years of
+Thomas Jefferson was very scanty. Many of his earliest letters have
+disappeared and he always felt a strong disinclination to analyze
+himself in writing. It was also contrary to his training and to the
+customs of his milieu to discuss personal matters too frankly and too
+openly. An American Jean-Jacques Rousseau baring his heart to posterity
+would have been as out of place as a man from the moon in New England or
+Virginia. But what he did not express as his personal feelings, he
+copied from the philosophers and poets he read during his studious
+nights or when resting under a tree on one of the hills surrounding
+Shadwell. The two commonplace books I have recently published, written
+by Jefferson during his student days and consulted by him throughout his
+life, could rightly be called "Jefferson self-revealed."[11] They enable
+us at any rate to determine with a fair degree of certainty the
+sentimental and intellectual preoccupations that filled his mind when
+examining the problems of society and the universe.
+
+It does not seem that, until 1764, that is to say until the unfortunate
+ending of his love affair with Belinda, Jefferson had ever been touched
+by any religious doubt. When, in July, 1763, he foresaw the possibility
+of being rejected, he wrote to Page a long letter in which he appears
+still strongly marked by the Christian training he had received in his
+family and at the hand of Mr. Douglas and the Reverend Mr. Maury:
+
+  Perfect 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 approaches 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 prevent
+  the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after it
+  has fallen. These considerations, and such others as these, may
+  enable us in some measure to surmount the difficulties thrown in our
+  way; to bear up with a tolerable degree of patience under this burden
+  of life; and to proceed with a pious and unshaken resignation, till
+  we arrive at our journey's end, when we may deliver up our trust into
+  the hands of him who gave it, and receive such reward as to him shall
+  seem proportioned to our merit. Such, dear Page, will be the language
+  of the man who considers his situation in life, and such should be
+  the language of every man who would wish to render that situation as
+  easy as the nature of it will admit. Few things will disturb him at
+  all: nothing will disturb him much.[12]
+
+This note of Christian stoicism is exactly what might be expected from a
+young Protestant whose mind was not particularly perturbed by
+metaphysical problems. At that time Jefferson did not even conceive that
+there might exist a code of ethics resting on a different basis. If
+Doctor Small had helped him to find his exact relation to "the system of
+things in which we are placed", he was satisfied that complete
+resignation to Divine Will was the only wisdom. It may be safely
+assumed that three years after meeting Governor Fauquier, Thomas
+Jefferson had retained intact the faith of his youth.
+
+What brought a change in his attitude and disturbed his equilibrium is
+certainly not the influence of the "infidel French philosophers." The
+volume of extracts which I published under the title of "The Literary
+Bible of Thomas Jefferson" does not contain a single quotation from
+Voltaire, Diderot, or Rousseau, and French literature is represented
+only by a few insignificant lines from Racine. It is more likely that
+the first doubts were injected into his mind by the reading of
+Bolingbroke. He did not even need the assistance of Fauquier to lead him
+to the English philosopher. The catalogues of the old libraries of
+Virginia frequently mention Shaftesbury's "Characteristics" and
+Bolingbroke's "Works."[13]
+
+Whether it was from the town bookstore or from Fauquier's own library,
+the fact remains that sometime, when still a student, but certainly
+after 1764, Jefferson obtained a copy of Bolingbroke and came to
+question the authenticity of the Bible as a historical document. It may
+have been due to the sentimental shock he had suffered, or simply to the
+critical attitude developed in him by his study of legal texts and
+decisions, but there is little doubt that he put into practice at that
+time the advice he gave later to Peter Carr, when he told him to
+"question with boldness the existence of a God; because, if there be
+one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of
+blindfold fear. You will naturally examine first, the religion of your
+own country. Read the Bible, then, as you would read Livy or
+Tacitus."[14] He therefore went systematically through Bolingbroke,
+learned from him methods of historical criticism and scientific doubt,
+weighed the evidence with a legal mind and came to very definite
+conclusions. At this decisive turn in his life, Jefferson might easily
+have become a sceptic and a cynic, like so many men of the eighteenth
+century. As a matter of fact, a careful study of his "Literary Bible"
+indicates that at least for a time he was extremely cynical in his
+attitude towards women. This may have been due to the cruelty of
+Belinda, but it was more than a passing mood, for as late as 1770, two
+years before his marriage, he scribbled on the margin of his account
+book a Latin doggerel clearly indicating his distrust of the female
+kind:
+
+  _Crede ratem ventis, animum ne crede puellis
+  Namque est foeminea tutior unda fide.
+  Foemina nulla bona est, sed si bona contigit ulla
+  Nescio quo fato mala facta bona est._
+
+From Euripides particularly he collected with a sort of waggish pleasure
+the strongest denunciations of women in the old poet and repeated with
+him "Mortals should beget children from some other sources, and there
+should be no woman-kind: thus there would be no ill for man"--and again,
+"O Zeus, why hast thou established women, a curse deceiving men, in the
+light of the sun?"
+
+In Milton he found an echo of Euripides' misogynism and from "Paradise
+Lost" and "Samson Agonistes", he compiled a pretty set of accusations
+against female usurpations. His conclusion at that time was probably
+that of the old English poet, and he affirmed his superiority over the
+treacherous sex by repeating after him:
+
+  Therefore God's universal law
+  Gave to man despotic power
+  Over his female in due awe.[15]
+
+His outlook on life must have been very gloomy, if we are to trust
+certain quotations from Greek and Latin authors. To matters of
+mythology, descriptions of battles, and grandiose comparisons in Homer,
+Jefferson apparently paid no attention. He saw in the old poet a
+repository of ancient wisdom and the ancient philosophy of life. From
+him he collected verses in which he found expressed views on human
+destiny,--a courageous, stoic, yet disenchanted philosophy, summed up in
+two lines from Pope's translation:
+
+  To labour is the lot of man below
+  And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe.
+
+When he read from Cicero's "Tusculanae" he selected passages with a view
+to confirm the deistic and materialistic principles towards which he was
+leaning at the time: "All must die; if only there should be an end to
+misery in death. What is there agreeable in life, when we must reflect
+that, at some time or other we must die." This particular piece of
+reasoning seems to have struck Jefferson quite forcibly, for he repeated
+it again and again fifty years later in his letters to John Adams: "For
+if either the heart, or the blood, or the brains, is the soul, then
+certainly the soul, being corporeal, must perish with the rest of the
+body; if it is air, it will perhaps be dissolved; if it is fire, it will
+be extinguished."[16]
+
+It was then that he copied and evidently accepted the statement of
+Bolingbroke that "it is not true that Christ revealed an entire body of
+ethics, proved to be the law of nature."
+
+The "law of nature"--what was meant by the word? Was it the Epicurean
+maxim of Horace,--"enjoy to-day and put as little trust as possible in
+the morrow?" If such had been the conclusion reached by Jefferson he
+could have followed the line of least resistance and enjoyed the good
+things of life, the good wines of the Raleigh Tavern, the pretty girls
+and all the social dissipations of many of his contemporaries. Such
+would have been Jefferson's destiny, had he been born in the Old World.
+Had he been made of weaker stuff he would have become one of the
+fox-hunters, horse-racers and card-players of the Virginian gentry. But
+he was saved by his aristocratic pride and the stern teaching of the old
+Stoics.
+
+He was conscious that he was of good stock, and he had read in Euripides
+that "to be of the noble born gives a peculiar distinction clearly
+marked among men, and the noble name increases in lustre in those who
+are worthy."[17]
+
+To be ever upright and to be worthy of one's good blood, this was the
+simplest, most obvious and most imperious duty. It would have been very
+difficult for Jefferson to believe any longer that "at the end of the
+journey we shall deliver up our trust into the hands of him who gave it
+and receive such reward as to him shall seem proportionate to our
+merit", which was his belief in 1763. There was not even much to obtain
+in our life as a reward, for most societies are so organized that
+"whenever a man is noble and zealous, he wins no higher prize than baser
+men."[18] Still the fact remained that, after the collapse of all the
+religious superstructure, the foundations of morality were left
+unshaken, so Jefferson undertook to rebuild his own philosophy of life
+according to Bolingbroke's advice, with the material at hand. For it was
+evident that "a system thus collected from the writings of ancient
+heathen moralists, of Tully and Seneca, of Epictetus, and others, would
+be more full, more entire, more coherent, and more clearly deduced from
+unquestionable principles of knowledge."[19]
+
+But he would take nobody's word for it, he would accept the teachings of
+no professor of moral philosophy; every man had to think for himself and
+to formulate once for all his own philosophy. When writing to his
+nephew, who he thought might go through the same crisis, Jefferson
+declared some forty years later that:
+
+  Man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be
+  formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right and
+  wrong, merely relative to this. This sense is as much part of his
+  nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true
+  foundation of morality and not the TO KALON, truth, etc. as fanciful
+  writers have imagined. The moral sense, or conscience is as much a
+  part of man, as his leg or arm.
+
+But this is the Jefferson of 1808, the mature man, almost the aged sage
+of Monticello. How far he was from having reached that poise and that
+clear vision of the moral world, appears in the confusion and
+contradictions of the abstracts collected in the "Literary Bible." Yet
+when he read Homer, Euripides, Cicero, Shakespeare, and even Buchanan,
+Jefferson had a clear and single purpose. He was reading more for profit
+than for pleasure, to gather material with which to build anew, by
+himself and for himself, a moral shelter in which he could find refuge
+for the rest of his days. He was not thinking then of devoting his life
+to his country; if he had any patriotism, it was dormant, and if he had
+any sense of abstract justice it is nowhere manifest. And yet, quite in
+contrast with the general run of quotations in the "Literary Bible" are
+some maxims scribbled in one of his unpublished Memorandum books under
+the year 1770. He had already levelled the top of the hill on which he
+was to build Monticello and was digging the cellar. But one day, after
+noting carefully that "4 good fellows, a lad and two girls, of about 16
+each, have dug in my cellar a place in 8 hrs. 1/2, 3 feet deep, 8 feet
+wide and 16½ feet long," he stopped to recapitulate the most striking
+maxims by which he intended to regulate his life:
+
+  ... no liberty no life--endure and abstain--_bonum est quod honestum,
+  macte virtute esto, nil desperandum, faber suae quisque fortunae,
+  fari quae sentiat_, what is, is right--_ex recto decus_--_ne cede
+  malis sed contra audientior ito_--long life, long health, long
+  pleasure and a friend--_non votum nobis sed patriae_--_fiat justitia
+  ruat coelum_.
+
+Clearly between the time he compiled his "Literary Bible" and this entry
+in the Memorandum book, a considerable change had taken place in
+Jefferson's mental world. What was dormant had been awakened, what was
+non-existent had been created. Let those who are looking for influences
+hunt for pale reflections of these maxims in the writings of the French
+philosophers. I cannot perceive any. I would even say that there is no
+distinct influence of Bolingbroke, for Jefferson borrowed from
+Bolingbroke methods of approaching certain problems rather than definite
+ideas. The young Virginian made use, for a short time only, of the
+critical reasoning employed by the English philosopher, but when it came
+to building anew, he gathered all the material, stone by stone and maxim
+by maxim, from the old Greek Stoics. It was a pessimistic yet courageous
+philosophy of life, far different from eighteenth-century optimism. By a
+strange anomaly, the son of the pioneer, the young man supposedly
+brought up under frontier influence, felt more kinship with Greece and
+republican Rome than with the philosophers of London, Paris or Geneva.
+During this early period of his life and when he had rejected the
+Christian system of ethics, the young Virginian found the moral props he
+needed in Homer's simple code of honor and friendship; in echoes from
+the Greek Stoics discovered in Cicero; and through them also was
+revealed to him a conception of patriotism and devotion to public duty
+which was to mold the rest of his life.
+
+In the transformation that took place in Jefferson's attitude towards
+life, it would be unjust to leave out the influence exerted by Patrick
+Henry. The young student was present when Henry delivered his famous
+speech in the House of Burgesses in 1765 and ended the speech with the
+defiant declaration, "If this be treason make the most of it." "He
+appeared to me," wrote Jefferson, "to speak as Homer wrote; his talents
+were great indeed, such as I never heard from any man." From Henry he
+did not receive any particular political philosophy, but from him he
+learned the value of those striking formulas which remain in the memory
+of men, become mottoes and battle cries of political campaigns. He liked
+the vehemence and completeness of Henry's affirmation and when, in 1770,
+he wrote in his memorandum that maxim of all revolutionists and radicals
+of every age--_fiat justitia ruat coelum_, let there be justice, even
+if the heavens should crumble down--he was thinking as much of the
+Virginia orator as of the Romans of old.
+
+A last item in the same memorandum book of 1770 may justify the
+supposition that still another influence had entered Jefferson's life.
+By that time he had forgotten the fickle Belinda who had played with his
+heart, but he was no longer a woman-hater. When he quoted from Pope "the
+sleepy eye that speaks to the melting soul", he was already thinking of
+the young and attractive widow he was to marry two years later.
+
+In the meantime he had been pursuing assiduously his law studies and his
+readings of political philosophers. Very early after entering college,
+he had decided that he would not be satisfied with the study of
+belles-lettres, or the life of a gentleman managing a large country
+estate. The clergy and the law were the only two professions open to a
+young man of distinctly aristocratic tendencies. He chose the law and
+began his training under the direction of Mr. Wythe. This training was
+markedly different from the instruction he would have received in
+Europe. There was no regularly organized law school at Williamsburg;
+candidates for the Bar had to prepare themselves under the direction of
+an old practitioner; they attended the sessions of the court and
+prepared briefs for their master; they studied by themselves and
+consequently were much more familiar with the practice than with the
+theory of jurisprudence. No examination was given by a regular faculty;
+but a license to practice law and to hang out his shingle was obtained
+by the candidate after appearing before a special board of examiners. In
+the case of Patrick Henry, the examiners had been John Randolph,
+afterward Attorney-general for the Colony, Peyton Randolph, Mr. Wythe
+and perhaps Robert C. Nicholas. If Henry "got by" after six months'
+study, thanks to his phenomenal fluency and "aplomb", it took Jefferson
+six years before he considered himself sufficiently prepared to appear
+before the examiners. A large part of his time however was spent at
+Shadwell in agricultural pursuits and independent study; but he came
+regularly to Williamsburg to consult Mr. Wythe, to attend the sessions
+of the Court, to buy books, and also to attend during the winter the
+many functions given by the brilliant society of the capital of
+Virginia. These years, the most important of all in the formation of
+Jefferson's political theories, can now be studied in the "Commonplace
+Book", long thought destroyed, which even Randall had not been able to
+find, but which is now safely deposited in the Library of Congress. It
+is a most revealing compilation and throws an unexpected light on the
+origin of Jefferson's political doctrines.
+
+It contains first of all no less than five hundred fifty-six articles
+analyzing special cases from the Reports of Cases in the King's Bench,
+George Andrews, Robert Raymond, William Salkeld and Coke's "Institutes",
+for in a colony where no attempt had been made to codify the body of
+existing laws, and where the common law was the supreme law of the land,
+the first prerequisite to becoming a good lawyer was to assimilate an
+enormous number of cases and precedents. Jefferson proceeded, like all
+the law students of his time, to dig in "Coke upon Littleton" and
+others, putting down in his "Commonplace Book" decisions, discussions,
+definitions, matters of importance to a country lawyer, such as wills,
+devises, commercial contracts, cases on larceny, trespassing, debts,
+damages, bankruptcy, leases, libels; and he did it with his customary
+thoroughness and clarity. A detailed study of the "Commonplace Book"
+would be most illuminating for those who, in spite of all evidence to
+the contrary, still maintain that Jefferson was an impractical
+philosopher, interested only in abstract principles and in theory. On
+the other hand, he was not simply a country lawyer, either. If he had
+not seemed to manifest any interest in the abstract study of the
+principles of law, in what he used to call "metaphysical disquisitions",
+he was keenly interested in the historical development of the legal
+structure on which rested modern society and particularly the colonial
+society of Virginia.
+
+He carefully went through Lord Kames' "Historical Law Tracts" and
+studied from him the history of criminal law, promises and covenant,
+property, securities upon land, courts, briefs. It is in Kames that he
+found a definition of society which he could have written himself and
+which expresses his political individualism and subordination to law:
+
+  Mutual defence against a more powerful neighbor being in early times
+  the chief, or sole motive for joining society, individuals never
+  thought of surrendering any of their natural rights which could be
+  retained consistently with their great aim of mutual defence.
+
+This is elaborated upon in the passage quoted from the "History of
+Property":
+
+  Man, by his nature, is fitted for society, and society by its
+  conveniences is fitted for man. The perfection of human society
+  consists in that just degree of union among the individuals, which to
+  each reserves freedom and independency, as far as is consistent with
+  peace and good order. The bonds of society where every man shall be
+  bound to dedicate the whole of his industry to the common interest
+  would be of the strictest kind, but it would be unnatural and
+  uncomfortable, because destructive of liberty and independence;
+  so would be the enjoyment of the goods of fortune in common.
+
+I am perfectly aware of the undeniable influence of Locke upon the
+theory of Kames; and it would be very unlikely that Jefferson had not
+read at that date Locke's "Treatise on Civil Government." The fact
+remains, however, that neither Locke, nor so far as I know any political
+thinker of the period, had yet so clearly defined that particular
+combination of individualism and respect for peace and order so
+characteristic of American democracy. We shall see in one of the
+following chapters how Jefferson, elaborating on this statement of
+Kames, derived from it all his conception of natural rights. The
+Scottish Lord was for him a master and a guide.
+
+In Sir John Dalrymple, author of an "Essay Towards a General History of
+Feudal Property", in Francis Stoughton Sullivan's "An Historical
+Treatise of the Feudal Laws and the Constitution of the Laws of
+England", Jefferson studied the history of primogeniture and of entails
+and came to the conclusion that both of them had foundation neither in
+nature nor in law, and certainly did not appear in England before the
+Norman Conquest. He reached to the same finding in his long dissertation
+on the original common law, and thus we can trace directly through the
+"Commonplace Book" the sources of the Bill on Primogeniture, of the Bill
+for Religious Freedom, and of the Law to Abolish Entails, which
+Jefferson considered as forming a system "which would eradicate every
+fibre of ancient or future aristocracy and lay a foundation for a
+government truly republican."
+
+Some of the entries in the "Commonplace Book" were evidently made after
+the period with which we are dealing in this chapter, although most of
+them can be dated before 1776. We have no means of determining whether
+Jefferson had undertaken a systematic study of federative governments
+when he was still a student, or at what time he copied the many extracts
+and quotations from Montesquieu. Nor can we enter here into a detailed
+discussion of all the articles. One or two facts, however, stand out
+even after a superficial glimpse of this repertory of ideas on
+government and society. The first is that Jefferson at that date, and
+indeed during most of his life, was not interested in abstract
+principles or in theoretical discussions. His was eminently the mind of
+a lawyer, and it is not for a lawyer to arrive at a definition of
+justice but to determine what the law says on a particular point. Yet in
+a country where law is not codified and the common law is the basis of
+the legal structure, it is impossible to find out what the law is
+without undertaking a historical study of the cases at hand in the
+different repertories. Men are either fallible or dishonest, false
+interpretations creep in, texts are distorted from their original
+meaning, and thus it becomes necessary to apply to legal decisions the
+rules of historical evidence formulated by Bolingbroke.
+
+After undertaking such a study, Jefferson arrived at a very curious
+conclusion; that at a time which was not buried in a mythological past,
+the Anglo-Saxons had lived under customs and unwritten laws based upon
+the natural rights of man and permitting the individual to develop
+freely, normally and happily. In the course of time, these free
+institutions deteriorated through the nefarious influences of several
+agencies. Unwritten law became written law and jurists succeeded in
+concealing under their sophistry and verbiage the primitive intent of
+natural legislation. Priests, striving to extend their domination over a
+realm which primitively was foreign to them, introduced religious
+prescriptions into civil laws and thus diminished the rights of the
+individual. Conquerors and a long lineage of hereditary kings further
+modified primitive institutions in order to provide an apparently legal
+foundation for their usurpations, until the people, no longer able to
+withstand patiently the evils of tyranny, arose and recovered at least
+some of their rights.
+
+Such a conspectus of the history of England was neither new nor
+original; it was one of the favorite contentions of English jurists
+during the eighteenth century, and nowhere perhaps is it more forcibly
+developed than in the last chapter of Blackstone's "Commentaries", "Of
+the rise, progress and gradual improvements of the laws of England." It
+is fundamentally also the doctrine of Jefferson, who went much farther
+than any of the English political thinkers in his revindication of the
+Saxon liberties.
+
+One may see already how such a conception differs from the theories of
+Rousseau and the French philosophers, and indeed from those of the
+English philosophers. And this is easily explained, even if too seldom
+realized. Born in the eighteenth century, Jefferson is in some respects
+a man of the eighteenth century, but no greater mistake could be made
+than to apply to him the same standards that apply to European political
+thinkers. The very fact that he was born and grew up in a remote colony
+prevented him from joining any particular school of political
+philosophy. He had comparatively few books at his disposal, certainly
+fewer gazettes, and only faint echoes of the philosophical battles
+raging in Europe reached the capital of Virginia. During the long winter
+evenings at Shadwell, he had ample time to think, to sift from the books
+he was reading, not matter of passing interest, but matter of practical
+value and principles susceptible of being applied to the society which
+he knew and in which he lived. He could not have the cosmopolitan and
+universal outlook of thinkers who had traveled and met with
+representatives of many nationalities. His "Literary Bible", as well as
+his "Commonplace Book", contains many examples which might be used to
+illustrate his provincialism or, if one prefers, his regionalism.
+
+No man can become genuinely interested in things he has never seen and
+cannot imagine. He had never seen the English countryside and so, when
+he copied from Thomson's description of spring, he selected only
+passages that could apply as well to the landscape of Virginia as to the
+scenery of old England. Even when he read Horace he eliminated verses
+with too much local color, unknown plants, unfamiliar dishes and
+beverages, until the descriptions of a Roman farm by the old poet would
+fit a typical Virginia plantation with the slaves singing in the great
+courtyard after the day's work is done. He knew Latin and Greek, French
+and Italian, and perhaps even German; for the time and place his library
+was rich and varied. He had read Milton, Shakespeare, Dryden, Buchanan,
+Thomson, Thomas Moss; he had studied Kames, Pelloutier, Stanyan, Eden,
+Baccaria, Montesquieu and possibly Voltaire's "Essai sur les Moeurs",
+but from each of these he had culled facts and definitions rather than
+principles and theories. He had read some books of travel and listened
+with enjoyment to Fauquier's accounts of his long voyages. He was
+dreaming of visiting England, the continent and the Mediterranean, but
+the only form of society he knew was the colonial society of Virginia.
+No cosmopolitan tendencies would develop in such surroundings. Superior
+as he was in intelligence and culture to his fellow students and to the
+young gentry of Williamsburg, Jefferson, at the age of twenty-five, was
+not yet an American; he was distinctly a Virginian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A VIRGINIA LAWYER
+
+
+In 1767, Thomas Jefferson, then twenty-four years of age, was "led into
+the practice of the law at the bar of the General Court" by his friend
+and mentor, Mr. Wythe. He was the owner of a substantial estate
+inherited from his father, and he managed the family property of
+Shadwell, but he had already formed plans for an establishment of his
+own and begun preparations to build Monticello on the other side of the
+Rivanna. The only future open to him seemed to be that of any young
+Virginian of his social class. He occasionally joined them in
+fox-hunting and attended the races, enjoyed a dance, a concert, and a
+good play at the theater. The following year was particularly brilliant
+at Williamsburg. The governor held stately receptions and the Virginian
+Company of Comedians presented a rich program: "The Constant Couple or a
+Trip to Jubilee", a farce called "The Miller of Mansfield", "The
+Beggar's Opera", "The Anatomist or Sham Doctor", besides the ordinary
+plays of the repertory, were given during the spring and summer of that
+year.[20]
+
+Jefferson had his share of all these social pleasures, together with
+others, but there were also simpler and more austere occupations. First
+of all he had to look after his plantation. Agriculture, so long a
+haphazard and empirical affair, was making great strides in Europe,
+particularly in England. Treatises on the subject and special magazines
+were read eagerly in Virginia; the choice of cultures, the improvement
+of seeds, the introduction of new crops greatly concerned the minds of
+progressive planters like Colonel Washington and the young master of
+Shadwell.
+
+The "Garden Books" kept by Jefferson and now published only in part,
+reveal him as a forerunner of modern efficiency engineers. Fences,
+walls, roads and bridges had to be built on the 1900-acre estate left
+him by his father; trees had to be planted and vegetables raised for the
+large family at Shadwell, for the slaves and for the many travelers and
+visitors who continued to drop in. If all the seeds planted in
+Jefferson's vegetable garden and orchards did well, he must have had an
+extraordinary variety of produce, considerably larger than is to be
+found on the best appointed farms of to-day. For he was not satisfied
+with the staple vegetables which appear on the American table with
+clocklike regularity; he sowed "salsifia, peppergrass, sorrel, salmon
+radishes, nasturtium, asparagus, all sorts of lettuce, cresses, celery,
+strawberries, snap-beans, purple beans, white beans, sugar beans,
+cucumbers, watermelons, cherries, olive stones, raspberries, turnips",
+and--horrors!--garlic. He was led into many such experiments by his
+neighbor and friend Philip Mazzei, formerly of Tuscany and now of
+Albemarle County, for many of the entries in the Garden Book are in
+Italian and "_aglio de Terracina_ (_vulgo_ garlic), _radiocchio di
+Pistoia_ (succory or wild endive), _cavolo broccolo Francese di Pisa,
+fragole Maggese_ (May strawberries)" and dozens of other imported
+varieties appear in his garden lists. Then there were the horses, for,
+true to the Virginia tradition, Jefferson kept no less than half a dozen
+blood mares of good pedigree. Above all, the regular crops of wheat,
+corn and especially tobacco had to be looked after; for tobacco was the
+only crop that could be marketed for solid cash or sent to London to be
+exchanged for books, furniture, fine clothes, musical instruments, and
+the choice wines of Europe. As a practical farmer Jefferson was rather
+successful, since during these early years his land brought him an
+average return of two thousand dollars. This was ample for his needs.
+But his main resources were procured from the practice of law.
+
+He kept a complete memorandum of all the cases in which he appeared
+before the courts of Virginia and opposite each case entered the fee
+received for his professional services.[21] These fees would seem very
+moderate to the least ambitious practitioner of our days. In many cases
+no fee is mentioned at all, and we are at liberty to suppose that
+Jefferson took some charity cases, or that the defendants were not
+always scrupulous in paying their bills. Yet, altogether, the total
+averaged close to three thousand dollars a year, a nice fat addition to
+the income from Shadwell and Monticello. Starting with one hundred and
+fifteen cases in 1768, Jefferson was retained as attorney or counsel in
+no less than four hundred thirty cases in 1771, and it is no
+exaggeration to state that no day passed during the twelve years he
+remained engaged in the practice of law without his giving considerable
+time to his profession. The moderate amount of these fees and the large
+number of cases indicate the kind of practice in which Jefferson was
+employed. Trespassing of cattle on a neighbor's field, destruction of
+fences, robbery committed by a clerk, wills, administration of estates,
+interest, quarrels between two goodwives, with a lively exchange of
+actionable words, assault and battery, all the seamy, sordid, petty side
+of life, constituted for these twelve years the daily practice of Thomas
+Jefferson, an apprenticeship of life and a training in the knowledge of
+human nature enjoyed by very few abstract philosophers.
+
+In the old days of the bar, one of the earmarks of most lawyers was a
+fluency of speech, unsurpassed except perhaps by the ministers. But
+words never came easily to Jefferson, or in great abundance. His voice,
+pleasant and modulated in ordinary conversation, "sank in his throat",
+if raised higher, and became husky. He was clearly a business lawyer,
+an office lawyer, whose clear, precise, meticulous presentation of facts
+fitted him particularly for appearing before a court of appeals like the
+General Court, rather than for moving and emotionally convincing a jury
+of twelve men good and true.
+
+His scorn for oratory, long sentences, images, apostrophes may have been
+a case of sour grapes, for in his youth he admired tremendously Patrick
+Henry. As we have seen, he was wise enough not to aim higher than he
+could reach. Not only did he never crave the fame of the popular orator,
+but, conscious of his limitations, he always showed a real repugnance to
+addressing a large assembly. Particularly brilliant in conversation, he
+was destined to be a committee man, to win his ends by the pen rather
+than by the silver tongue of the politician. Yet if he had been fond of
+rhetoric, rhetoric would have found its way into his writings, but no
+man of the period wrote less figuratively, employed fewer artifices of
+style; metaphors, comparisons were unknown to him. Ideas remained ideas
+and were never clad in the flowing garments of mythology; facts remained
+facts and never became allegories. Liberty never appeared before his
+eyes and was never represented by him as a goddess, and neither America
+nor Britannia were majestic figures of heroic size that passed in his
+dreams. He was neither emotional nor imaginative, yet his eyes were keen
+and quick to note and establish distinctions between different varieties
+of plants or animals. His mind was alert and always on the lookout for
+new facts to add to his store of knowledge, after proper cataloguing.
+Surely he was not the man to make startling discoveries in the realm of
+natural history, or to propose a new system of the universe, nor was he
+one to conceive, in a moment of inspiration, a new political gospel and
+a new system of society; when he took up the practice of law in
+Williamsburg, the greatest future that destiny had in store for him,
+promising as he was, seemed to become as upright and sound a lawyer as
+Mr. Wythe, and a legal authority as good and learned as Mr. Pendleton.
+
+He was admitted to the Bar in 1767, and two years later was chosen as a
+member of the House of Burgesses and placed on the committee appointed
+to draw up an answer to the Governor's speech. His draft was rejected,
+however, and Colonel Nicholas' address substituted.[22] A few days later
+Governor Botetourt, unable to endorse the spirited remonstrance to the
+King on the subject of taxation, dissolved the Assembly.
+
+  The next day--wrote Jefferson--we met in the Apollo of the Raleigh
+  Tavern, formed ourselves into a voluntary convention, drew up
+  articles of association against the use of any merchandise imported
+  from Great Britain, signed and recommended them to the people,
+  repaired to our several counties, and were re-elected without any
+  other exception than of the very few who had declined to follow our
+  proceedings.[23]
+
+A spirit of discontent was abroad and had spread throughout the
+colonies, but it was neither disloyalty nor rebellion. Easily satisfied
+with this gesture, which for many remained a mere gesture, the
+Virginians paid little attention to public affairs during the next two
+years. In the words of Jefferson "nothing of particular excitement
+occurring for a considerable time, our countrymen seemed to fall into a
+state of insensibility and inaction." His private life was more
+eventful. The first of February, 1770, the house at Shadwell in which he
+lived with his mother, his brother and his unmarried sisters, was burnt
+to the ground, and with it every paper he had and almost every book.
+
+On reasonable estimate--he wrote to Page--I calculate the _cost_ of the
+books burned to have been £200 sterling. Would to God it had been the
+money, then it had never cost me a sigh. To make the loss more sensible,
+it fell principally on my books of Common law, of which I have but one
+left, at that time lent out. Of papers too of every kind I am utterly
+destitute. All of these whether public or private, of business or of
+amusement, have perished in the flames.
+
+The disaster had not been quite so complete as Jefferson indicates. His
+"Commonplace Book" was saved, his account books, garden books and many
+memoranda and family papers escaped the flames and were discovered again
+in 1851 at the bottom of an old trunk.[24] Even as far as books were
+concerned, the loss was not altogether irretrievable. Jefferson wrote at
+once to Skipwith for a catalogue of books, sent orders to London, and
+two years later he could proudly enter in a diary not yet published that
+his library consisted on August 1, 1773, of twelve hundred and fifty
+books, not including volumes of music or "his books in Williamsburg." A
+very substantial store of printed matter for the time.
+
+Another event of quite a different order took place in his life.
+Jefferson had lost a home, but he was building another, soon to be ready
+for occupancy, on the hill of Monticello, and he already knew that the
+house would not be left long without a mistress. On the third day of
+December, 1771, he filled out a formal application for a marriage
+license in the court of Charles City County and on the first of January
+he was married to Martha Skelton, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and
+daughter of John Wayles, then twenty-three years old. John Wayles of
+"The Forest" was a lawyer with a large practice, a man of worth if not
+of eminence, a boon companion welcomed in every society, who had amassed
+quite a large fortune. His daughter Martha, a true type of Virginia
+girl, of medium height and well-formed figure, had been well educated
+and possessed all the social accomplishments of the time. She danced
+gracefully, played the harpsichord and the spinet, was well read and,
+above all, was a very efficient housekeeper, for she knew how to manage
+the slaves and care for them in their illnesses, knew how to keep
+accounts and to arrange for a reception. If the family tradition is
+true, she was receptive to music, for Jefferson had won out over two
+rivals because of his talent on the violin and his ability to sing
+duets. It was a _mariage de raison_, to be sure, and two years later
+Jefferson noted with undisguised satisfaction that, following the death
+of his father-in-law, the portion that came to Martha was equal to his
+own patrimony and consequently "doubled the ease of our circumstances."
+But it was also a marriage of love, not without romantic color, with a
+wedding trip from Charles City to Monticello through a snowstorm, and a
+late arrival at night in the cold new house. Jefferson did not take any
+of his friends into his confidence and did not celebrate his connubial
+bliss; but at the very end of the pages given to Milton in his "Literary
+Bible", as an afterthought and a recantation from his misogynism, are
+found the following lines copied, we may surmise, during his honeymoon:
+
+  Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles
+  Wanted, nor youthful dalliance, as beseems
+  Fair couple, linkt in happy league
+  Alone as they....[25]
+
+Belinda had been forgotten, and the young woman-hater had found his fair
+conqueror.
+
+But death again took its toll and cast its cloud over Monticello. With
+Page, Dabney Carr, Jefferson's fellow student at William and Mary, had
+been his closest friend. Carr, a frequent visitor at Shadwell, had
+married in 1764 Jefferson's sister Martha. Not a wealthy man, he was
+described by his brother-in-law as living in a very small house, with a
+table, half a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, but the happiest
+man in the universe.[26] He died when hardly thirty and Jefferson had
+him buried beneath the shade of their favorite tree at Monticello under
+which they had so often read, dreamed and discussed; and such was the
+origin of the little cemetery in which Jefferson was to bury so many of
+his dear ones before he joined them himself in his last sleep. For Carr
+he went to his "Literary Bible", as he himself felt unable to write a
+fitting tribute, and copied from Mallet's "Excursion" an inscription to
+nail on the tree, by the grave of the friend "who of all men living
+loved him most."
+
+Honored by the Royal Government and made by Botetourt "Lieutenant of the
+County of Albemarle, and Chief Commander of all His Majesty's Militia,
+Horse and Foot in the said county of Albemarle"; honored also by his
+Alma Mater and appointed by the President of William and Mary "Surveyor
+of Albemarle County",[27] a member of the Assembly, one of the richest
+landowners of his county, one of the most successful lawyers of
+Virginia, happily married, busy with his estate, his books, his violin,
+his law practice, Jefferson could look forward to a long, quiet and
+moderate life, the ideal life of a farmer, a gentleman and a scholar.
+For a man who took his duties seriously it was by no means an existence
+of idleness, in nowise to be compared with the life of an English
+gentleman farmer. Every planter was to some extent a captain, and every
+plantation was to a large extent self-sufficient and self-supporting. In
+the case of Jefferson, who had recently increased his domain,
+difficulties and new problems requiring inventiveness, resourcefulness
+and ingenuity arose every day. Slaves had to be taught new trades and
+trained, the wilderness had to be reclaimed. Thus were developed
+qualities of leadership and qualities of class pride. A young planter
+related to the best families of the colony felt that he belonged to a
+ruling class, above which could only exist the remote power of the
+British Parliament and the majesty of the king represented by a governor
+who never really belonged, and who in spite of his exalted position,
+always remained a stranger.
+
+An English tourist, Burnaby, traveling in Virginia in 1760, had already
+noted signs of impatience and restlessness among the colonists of
+Virginia. "They are haughty," he wrote, "and jealous of their liberties;
+impatient of restraint and can scarcely bear the thought of being
+controlled by superior power. Many of them consider the Colonies as
+independent states, not connected with Great Britain otherwise than by
+having the same common King."[28]
+
+When the delegates from Virginia were sent to the first Continental
+Congress, Silas Deane noted that "the Virginia, and indeed all the
+Southern delegates appear like men of importance...they are sociable,
+sensible, and spirited men. Not a milksop among them."[29]
+
+They were aristocrats wont to give orders and resentful of any
+interference; they were lords and almost supreme rulers on their
+plantations; they were owners of many slaves and they had been
+accustomed to call no man master; and Jefferson was one of them.
+
+The change in the situation had come very abruptly. It is not the
+purpose of this book to present an elaborate discussion of the causes of
+the American Revolution, whether they were economic or political or
+philosophical, or whether they were of mixed motives, varying with each
+colony and in each colony with every man, did not impel the colonies to
+revolt against the mother country. I am aware of the present tendency to
+attribute most of the agitation preceding the revolution to purely
+economic causes; it must be remembered however, that, if the ulterior
+motives of the promoters of the American Revolution were selfish and
+interested, Jefferson was one of those who were moved by entirely
+different considerations, as were, as a matter of fact, most of the
+members of the First Continental Congress.
+
+While life was still moving easily and happily in Virginia, where in
+1772 the theatrical season had been particularly brilliant, things were
+coming to a head in New England. News of the Bill closing the Port of
+Boston on the first of June, 1774, reached the Virginia Assembly during
+the spring session; how it was received had better be told in the words
+of Jefferson. As so often happens in history at the decisive turn of
+events, the leadership was taken by a very small group of men who made
+up their minds at once, assumed responsibility and changed the course of
+the ship of state. So far no strong protest had been made by Virginia to
+the British Government. Dunmore was far from being tyrannical; the order
+imposing duties on many English products had been largely rescinded,
+except on tea, but it may not be sacrilegious to state that the Virginia
+gentry were more partial to French wines, Madeira and Nantes rum than to
+the English national beverage. If Virginia had not declared at that
+particular time her solidarity, if Jefferson and his friends had not
+taken the right steps and found the right words to "arouse the people
+from the lethargy into which they had fallen", even New England
+steadfastness and stanchness of heart would have been unequal to the
+task. It was on this occasion, rather than on the Fourth of July, 1776,
+that the fate of the British colonies of America was decided.
+
+According to Jefferson's own statement, leadership in these subjects was
+no longer left to the old members of the Assembly, but Patrick Henry, R.
+H. Lee, F. L. Lee, three or four other members and he himself met in the
+library after agreeing that they must take "an unequivocal stand in the
+line with Massachusetts." They decided that the best means of calling
+the seriousness of the situation to the attention of the public was to
+appoint a day of general fasting and prayer, quite an unprecedented
+measure in Virginia; but they rummaged in old books "for revolutionary
+precedents and forms of the Puritans", and they finally "cooked up a
+resolution, somewhat modernizing their phrases, for appointing the 1st
+day of June on which the port-bill was to commence, for a day of
+fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the
+evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in support of our
+rights, and to turn the hearts of the King and Parliament to moderation
+and justice."[30] Clearly the day of fasting and prayer did not appear
+to any of the members of the unofficial committee as springing from a
+profound religious sentiment, but they knew how strong over the people
+was the power of the Church, and how impossible it was to unite them
+except by giving a religious appearance to a purely political
+manifestation. These young Virginia lawyers knew their people and were
+not totally unacquainted with mass psychology; they knew how to play the
+game of practical politics, despite their high and disinterested ideal.
+
+The next day Governor Dunmore pronounced the usual English remedy in
+such circumstances: the dissolution of the Assembly. Once more the
+members met in the Apollo room, and "they agreed to an association, and
+instructed the committee of correspondence to propose to the
+corresponding committees of the other colonies to appoint deputies to
+meet in Congress at such place _annually_ as would be convenient, to
+direct, from time to time, the measures required by the general
+interest."
+
+This passage in the "Autobiography" has led historians into a spirited
+controversy as to whether the proposal to form a Congress originated in
+Virginia or in Massachusetts, and whether such a plan had not been
+discussed in Boston as early as 1770. Whatever the case may be, the most
+important part of the resolution passed in the Raleigh Tavern was not
+the establishment of a coördinating organism; it was the declaration
+recorded by Jefferson, "that an attack on any one colony should be
+considered as an attack on the whole." This last part was not a simple
+administrative provision, it was more than a promise of a union; it was
+the constitution of a new society, since according to Kames as quoted by
+Jefferson in his "Commonplace Book" "mutual defence against a more
+powerful neighbor is in early times the chief, or sole motive for
+joining society."
+
+The deputies went back home and, on the first of June, met the
+assemblies of the people "to perform ceremonies of the day and to
+address to them discourses suited to the occasion. The people met
+generally, with anxiety and alarm in their countenance, and the effect
+of the day, through the whole colony was like a shock of electricity,
+arousing every man and placing him erect and solid on his centre."[31]
+
+As a result of the train of thought started by the meeting, the
+freeholders of Albemarle County adopted on June 26 a series of
+resolutions evidently written by Jefferson. Here for the first time
+Jefferson declared that:
+
+  The inhabitants of the several States of British America are subject
+  to the laws which they adopted at their first settlement, and to such
+  others as have been since made by their respective Legislatures, duly
+  constituted and appointed with their own consent. That no other
+  Legislature whatever can rightly exercise authority over them; and
+  that these privileges they as the common rights of mankind, confirmed
+  by the political constitutions they have respectively assumed, and
+  also by several charters of compact from the Crown.
+
+The originality of this theory cannot be determined without comparison
+with the resolutions adopted a few days before by the Assembly of
+Fairfax County presided over by Colonel George Washington. These came
+from the pen of George Mason and they stated with equal emphasis the
+contractual theory of the government of the British colonies. Whether
+Jefferson knew them or not, the similarity with the views expressed by
+the freeholders of Albemarle is most striking.
+
+The first article averred the principle also found in Jefferson's
+"Commonplace Book" that "this colony and Dominion of Virginia cannot be
+considered as a conquered country, and as it was, that the present
+inhabitants are not of the conquered, but of the conquerors." It added
+that:
+
+  Our ancestors, when they left their native land, and settled in
+  America, brought over with them, even if the same is not confirmed by
+  Charters, the civil constitution and form of Government of the
+  country they came from and were by the laws of nature and nations
+  entitled to all its privileges, immunities and advantages, which have
+  descended to us, their posterity, and ought of right to be as fully
+  enjoyed as if we had still continued with the realm of England.
+
+The second article enunciated the most essential and "fundamental
+principle of government", that the people "could be governed by no laws
+to which they had not given their consent by Representatives freely
+chosen by themselves."
+
+The third article declared that the colonies had some duty to fulfill
+towards the mother country and admitted that the British Parliament
+might, "directed with wisdom and moderation", take measures to regulate
+"American commerce", although such action was in some degree repugnant
+to the principles of the Constitution.[32]
+
+Whether or not Jefferson had received the Fairfax resolutions before
+writing the Albemarle declaration, this is the capital difference
+between the two documents and the two doctrines. On the one hand, George
+Mason accepted the theory that the first settlers had brought over with
+them the civil constitution and form of government of the mother
+country, and consequently admitted a permanent connection between the
+colony and the metropolis. Jefferson, on the contrary, asserted with
+great strength and clarity the complete independence of the colonists
+from the British constitution. They were subject to no laws except those
+they had freely adopted when they had consented to a new compact and
+formed a new society. He was perfectly justified when he declared in his
+"Autobiography":
+
+  Our other patriots, Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas, Pendleton, stopped
+  at the half-way house of John Dickinson, who admitted that England
+  had a right to regulate our commerce, and to lay duties on it for the
+  purpose of regulation, but not of raising revenue. But for this
+  ground there was no foundation in compact, in any acknowledged
+  principles of colonisation, nor in reason; expatriation being a
+  natural right, and acted on as such by all nations, in all ages.
+
+This was really the core of the question. Jefferson had reached that
+conclusion, not from following a certain line of abstract reasoning, but
+after studying the history of the Greek colonies in Stanyan, and the
+history of the Saxon settlement of Great Britain in many authors, as may
+be seen in his "Commonplace Book", and he was soon to reaffirm the
+doctrine of expatriation as the fundamental principle on which rested
+all the claims of the American colonies.
+
+The Virginia Convention was to meet at Williamsburg on August 1, to
+select delegates to a General Congress of the colonies. With all his
+books at hand, all his legal authorities, the precious "Commonplace
+Book" and all the repertories he had gathered in his library, Jefferson
+proceeded to draft a project of instructions for the future delegates.
+He was taken ill on his way to Williamsburg but forwarded the plan to
+Peyton Randolph and Patrick Henry. Henry never mentioned it; Randolph
+informed the convention that he had received such a paper from a
+member, prevented by sickness from offering it, and laid it on the table
+for perusal. It was read generally by the members, approved by many,
+though thought too bold for use at that time; but they printed it in
+pamphlet form, under the title of "A Summary View of the Rights of
+British America."
+
+In some respects it is a more original and more important document than
+the Declaration of Independence itself. With the detailed account of the
+grievances enumerated by Jefferson we cannot deal here. A few points,
+however, deserve special attention. The difficulties that had arisen
+between the colonies and the home government had occasioned the
+publication of many pamphlets dealing with the situation. Most of
+Jefferson's predecessors, however, had attempted to define _in jure_ the
+rights of the British colonies. Thus George Mason had made his
+"Extracts" from the Virginia charters, "with some remarks on them" in
+1773, and he had come to the conclusion already given in the "Fairfax
+resolves", that "the ancestors of the colonists when they had left their
+native land and settled in America had brought with them, although not
+confirmed by Charters, the civil government and form of government of
+the country they came from."[33] But he had gone back no farther in
+history and had not formulated the principles of the "constitution" of
+England. Not so with Jefferson, who emphatically denied that the
+colonists had anything to do with the British constitution or with its
+form of government. He had studied the history of the settlement of
+England in Molesworth, in Pelloutier, in Sir William Temple, in
+Dalrymple, and had come to the conclusion enunciated in the "Rights of
+British America":
+
+  That our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free
+  inhabitants of the British Dominions in Europe, and possessed a right
+  which nature has given to all men of leaving the country in which
+  chance, not choice, had placed them, and of seeking out new
+  habitations, and there establishing new societies, under such laws
+  and regulations as, to them, shall seem most likely to promote public
+  happiness.
+
+  That their Saxon ancestors had, under this universal law, in like
+  manner, left their native wilds and woods in the North of Europe,
+  possessed themselves of the Island of Britain, then less charged with
+  inhabitants, and established there a system of laws which has been so
+  long the glory and protection of that country.
+
+On another and not less important point, Jefferson was indebted to his
+"Commonplace Book." He had taken great care to determine through
+historical and judicial authorities the origin of land tenures in the
+kingdom of England and he had found that in the good old Saxon times,
+"upon settling in the countries which they subdued, the victorious army
+divided the conquered lands. That portion which fell to every soldier he
+seized as a recompense due to his valour, as a settlement acquired by
+his own sword. He took possession of it as a freeman in full property.
+He enjoyed it during his own life and could dispose of it at pleasure,
+or transmit it as an inheritance to his children." It was not until
+after the fifth century that the king, because as general he was thought
+fittest to distribute the conquered lands to each according to his
+merits, assumed to himself and was quietly allowed the entire power of
+the partition of lands. This abominable system however was not
+introduced into England before the Norman Conquest, and thus was spread
+the false notion that all lands belonged to the crown.[34] Against this
+last claim, which he believed to rest on a false conception of history,
+Jefferson raises an emphatic protest. Backed by his knowledge of the
+gradual encroachment of the feudal system on the natural rights of his
+Anglo-Saxon ancestors, he claimed for the American colonists the same
+rights as belonged in the good old Anglo-Saxon days to those who had
+acquired a settlement by their own sword.
+
+  It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+  declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+  nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+  limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+  are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this may
+  be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+  legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+  and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+  the society, may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds
+  vacant, and occupancy will give him title.
+
+According to this theory, one of the mainstays of the doctrine of
+Americanism, of which Jefferson made himself the advocate, is the right
+of conquest. But here Jefferson would have introduced a distinction
+borrowed from Lord Kames, for "the northern nations who overran Europe
+fought not for glory or dominion but for habitation" and invaded only
+countries which were sparsely populated.[35] Whether such a position was
+tenable historically is quite another matter. The important point
+maintained by Jefferson is that when the first settlers left Great
+Britain for the shores of America, they were not colonists but free
+agents. By the mere fact of expatriating themselves they had severed all
+ties with the mother country, they had recovered full possession of all
+their natural rights and were at liberty to agree on a new social
+compact; they derived their rights of property not from the king but
+from their occupancy of a new and unsettled territory. All considered,
+this curious doctrine was nothing but a sort of sublimation and legal
+justification of the pioneer spirit.
+
+This historical and legal demonstration, in which Jefferson had gone
+back to the very beginnings of Anglo-Saxon society, transcended all
+contemporary discussions on the Rights of the British Parliament.
+Jefferson was perfectly aware of its originality and not a little proud
+of it. It was in his opinion
+
+  the only orthodox or tenable doctrine--that our emigration from
+  England to this country gave her no more rights over us, than the
+  emigration of the Danes and Saxons gave to the present authorities of
+  the mother country, over England. In this doctrine, however, I have
+  never been able to get any one to agree with me but Mr. Wythe. He
+  concurred in it from the first dawn of the question, What was the
+  political relation between us and England?
+
+Once the question was clearly put, Jefferson went at it with the methods
+used by a lawyer to prove the title to a piece of property. The first
+point to be settled was to determine who was the legitimate owner of the
+territory occupied by the American "colonists", the king or the
+colonists themselves; thus presented, the question became very simple:
+
+  For it is thought that no circumstance has occurred to distinguish
+  materially, the British from the Saxon emigration. America was
+  conquered, and her settlements made and firmly established, at the
+  expense of individuals, and not of the British public. Their own
+  blood was spilt in acquiring lands for their settlement, their own
+  fortunes expanded in making this settlement effectual. For themselves
+  they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone
+  they have a right to hold.
+
+This was the keystone of Jefferson's social system at that time. It is
+not unimportant to note that it was a doctrine that could apply only to
+Anglo-Saxon colonies, more particularly to American colonies, and not a
+doctrine susceptible of universal application. Whether or not the
+principle might also be advanced by other peoples or nations, Jefferson
+did not state and did not care. His was not a mind to generalize and to
+extend universally any given principle. For the present, at least, he
+was satisfied to claim for the American settlers not the rights of man,
+but the rights of their Saxon ancestors. His position was legal and
+historical, not philosophical.
+
+It was also to some extent an aristocratic position. Since the land was
+theirs by right of conquest, it almost necessarily ensued that only
+landowners, or to use the old colonial word, freeholders, were entitled
+to the rights, privileges, and happiness of self-government. The
+consequence was not expressed but it was implied. The analogy with the
+doctrine of the Physiocrats strikes one at first; but this analogy is
+only superficial. True enough, only freeholders are really worth
+considering and can raise a legitimate protest; but in a country as new
+and as extensive as America, it is within the power of every inhabitant
+to become a freeholder. For it is another iniquity to suppose that the
+Crown has the right to give grants of land:
+
+  It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+  declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+  nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+  limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+  are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this may
+  be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+  legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+  and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+  the society may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds vacant,
+  and occupancy gives him title.
+
+Thus spoke the pioneer, a pioneer who had studied law and history and
+could express in clear and forcible terms what the pioneers had felt
+only confusedly. Unless I am much mistaken, it is the first enunciation
+of one of the cardinal principles of Americanism; but, as far as
+Jefferson is concerned, it did not rest upon any political philosophy,
+either Hooker's or Locke's. The American settlers resumed and
+resurrected on a new soil the tradition interrupted by Parliamentary and
+kingly usurpations. By a sort of curious primitivism they renounced
+their immediate and degraded British forbears to claim as their true
+ancestors the Saxon conquerors of the British Isles. Can any one imagine
+anything farther from the theory of Rousseau in the "Discourse on the
+Origin of Inequality", or in the "Social Contract", anything farther
+from the universal humanitarianism of the French philosophers? In a last
+analysis, American society as it existed, and as it expressed its will
+to exist through its young spokesman, rested essentially not on an _a
+priori_ principle but on the right of conquest, or more exactly, of
+discovery.
+
+The best student of William and Mary, the young artist who wanted to
+make Monticello a thing of beauty, the lover of the literature of Greece
+and Rome, proclaimed loudly that "our ancestors who migrated hither were
+laborers, not lawyers." His was not a political philosophy dealing with
+"fictitious principles", it was the harsh, hard-headed, practical and
+fierce determination of the pioneer who stakes out a piece of land in
+the wilderness, ready to hold it against all claim jumpers.
+
+The Virginia convention dominated by "Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas,
+Pendleton" was not ready to go so far as the young master of Monticello.
+The instructions to the delegates finally adopted and printed in an
+appendix to Jefferson's own "Autobiography" were exceedingly tame, but
+his declaration was printed, widely circulated among the people, and
+even reached England. It was just what was needed to set afire the
+public mind, for no people will rise, fight and die for an economic
+doctrine or in defense of its commercial interests. They have to be
+provided with mottoes which appeal to their imagination, they have to be
+raised above the ordinary trend of things; they must have a banner, a
+flag and a battle cry, and such was the object of Jefferson's
+peroration, which no Pendleton and no Lee could have written:
+
+  That these are our grievances, which we have just laid before his
+  Majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a
+  free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature,
+  and not as the gift of their Chief Magistrate. Let those flatter, who
+  fear: it is not an American art. To give praise where it is not due
+  might be well from the venal, but it would ill beseem those who are
+  asserting the rights of human nature. They know and will, therefore,
+  say, that Kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people.
+
+Congress assembled at Philadelphia on September 4, 1774, under the
+presidency of Peyton Randolph of Virginia and adjourned in October, not
+without a recommendation "to discountenance every species of
+extravagance and dissipation, especially all horse racing, all kinds of
+gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other diversions
+and entertainments."[36] The colonies were girding their loins for the
+fight, society life came to a standstill; the brilliant days of the
+little capital of Virginia were over.
+
+When the counties organized committees of safety, Jefferson was at the
+top of the list of appointees in his county. He was again sent to the
+second convention of Virginia as representative from Albemarle. The
+convention met in Richmond, March 20, 1775, and it was then that Patrick
+Henry poured out in a fierce outburst the famous speech ending with the
+war cry of "Give me liberty or give me death." The resolution to arm
+passed with a decided majority and a plan of defense was adopted.
+Collisions threatened between the militia and the regulars on several
+occasions. But when Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition" was
+received, Lord Dunmore convened the House of Burgesses on the first of
+July to take it into consideration. Peyton Randolph was then recalled
+from Congress and Jefferson appointed to succeed him. He did not leave,
+however, before an answer to the proposition had been drafted. The
+Virginians did not close the door to a compromise, but insisted that the
+final answer did not depend on them, for they considered that they were
+"bound in honor as well as interest, to share their general fate with
+their sister Colonies, and should hold themselves base deserters of that
+Union to which they had acceeded, were they to agree to any measure
+distinct and apart from them."
+
+A few days later Lord Dunmore left the city and took refuge on board a
+man-of-war lying at York, declaring he had taken this step for his
+safety. Jefferson departed from Williamsburg for Philadelphia on the
+eleventh of June, 1775, and reached the capital of Pennsylvania on the
+twentieth. The national rôle of the young Virginia lawyer and landowner
+was about to begin.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+_Jefferson and the American Revolution_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+When Thomas Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia and took lodgings with
+"Ben Randolph" on Chestnut Street, he was only thirty-three years old,
+"the youngest member of Congress but one." But he was already known as
+the author of the "Summary View of the Rights of British America", he
+was bringing with him Virginia's answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory
+Proposition," and he had been appointed to succeed as delegate the
+former President of Congress. Most of all he had behind him, not only
+the first colony in population, but also, to a large extent, all the
+Southern colonies, which were bound to follow the course of Virginia.
+
+Unassuming and straightforward, he was at once welcomed with open arms
+by the New England leaders, and years later John Adams still remembered
+the first impression he made upon him:
+
+  Mr. Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775, and brought with
+  him a reputation for literature, science and a happy talent of
+  composition.... Though a silent member in Congress, he was so prompt,
+  frank, explicit and decisive upon committees and in conversation--not
+  even Samuel Adams was more so--that he soon seized upon my heart.
+
+Five days later, he was placed on the committee appointed to draw up a
+"Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms." Through deference for the
+authority of Dickinson, leader of the conservative party, he withdrew a
+draft he had prepared and in the final text he claimed as his only the
+last four paragraphs. But these last paragraphs contained some of the
+sharply coined sentences that impress themselves on the mind, the final
+expression of so many ideas ever since repeated in political speeches
+whenever an attempt is made to define America's ideal policies. To a
+certain extent Jefferson, as well as most of his contemporaries, may
+have been influenced by Thomas Paine, whose "Common Sense", a pamphlet
+addressed to the inhabitants of America, had taken the city by fire. For
+the first time the colonists had been told that "the cause of America is
+in a great measure the cause of all _Mankind_. Many circumstances, have
+and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which
+the Principles of all lovers of mankind are affected and in the event of
+which this affection is interested." It also contained a rather vague
+plan for a confederation, a "Continental charter", but Paine's pamphlet
+was essentially an eloquent appeal to elemental feelings; it exalted the
+cause of the colonists calling on them as the last defenders of
+oppressed liberty; it had all the fire and passion of an evangelical
+message:
+
+  O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny, but
+  the tyrant, stand forth. Every spot of the old world is over-run with
+  oppression. Freedom hath been hunted around the globe. Asia and
+  Africa have long expelled her.--Europe regards her like a stranger;
+  and England hath given her warning to depart. O receive the fugitive,
+  and prepare in time an asylum for mankind!
+
+But greatly as he admired Paine's eloquence, Jefferson did not try to
+emulate it; impassioned as it was, his appeal to the inhabitants of the
+British colonies sounded more like the summing-up of a lawyer before the
+jury than an emotional sermon.
+
+  Our cause is just. Our union is perfect--our internal resources are
+  great.... We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to
+  mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by provoked
+  enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offense. They
+  boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder
+  condition than servitude or death.
+
+Thus was the uniqueness of America's position emphasized and called to
+the attention of her own people. Nor was it forgotten that the country
+was particularly favored by God, for it declared that:
+
+  We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instance of the Divine towards
+  us, that His providence would not permit us to be called into this
+  severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength,
+  had been previously exercised in warlike apparatus, and possessed of
+  the means of defending ourselves.
+
+Finally, Jefferson reiterated once more his favorite contention, the
+theory which has become one of the fundamental axioms of the doctrine of
+Americanism: that America did not owe anything to the older civilization
+of Europe, and was a self-made country:
+
+  In our native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright,
+  and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of it; for the
+  protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of
+  our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we
+  have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall
+  cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being
+  renewed shall be removed, and not before.
+
+Then came a perfunctory appeal to conciliation, and a final religious
+note strictly nonsectarian; for of his religious faith the young
+delegate had retained the form and the tone which scarcely concealed his
+deism:
+
+  With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial
+  Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his divine
+  goodness to conduct us happily through this great conflict, to
+  dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and
+  thereby to relieve the empire from the calamity of civil war.
+
+No wonder this "Declaration" was read amid thundering huzzas in every
+market place and amid fervent prayers in nearly every pulpit in the
+colonies. With an extraordinary "felicity of expression", with a unique
+sense of fitness, Jefferson had struck every chord susceptible of
+response in every American heart. He had drawn for the people an ideal
+picture of the nation and themselves, he had portrayed them as they
+yearned to be looked upon by posterity and the nations of the world: he
+had formulated the creed of Americanism.
+
+Far more judicial in tone was the neat state paper prepared by Jefferson
+to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition." The committee
+appointed consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams
+and Richard H. Lee. The youngest member of the committee was chosen to
+draw up the document, the answer of the Virginia Assembly he had brought
+with him having been approved. Not for nothing had Jefferson attended
+the courts of justice of Albemarle County and Williamsburg for more than
+ten years and listened to decisions from the bench. The answer strives
+to be a cold, dispassionate enumeration of facts, with its short
+paragraphs beginning: "we are of opinion"--recalling the "Whereases" of
+legal documents. But there is an undertone of indignation, cropping up
+in every sentence, which belies the studied reserve. The conclusion, one
+might call it a peroration, is a genuine specimen of revolutionary
+eloquence:
+
+  When it considers the great armaments with which they have invaded
+  us, and the circumstances of cruelty with which these have commenced
+  and prosecuted hostilities; when these things, we say, are laid
+  together and attentively considered, can the world be deceived into
+  an opinion that we are unreasonable? Or can it hesitate to believe
+  with us, that nothing but our own exertions may defeat the
+  ministerial sentence of death or abject submission?
+
+Truly Jefferson might have become a great orator had he chosen to
+correct his handicap in speech and train his voice. Historians who
+attribute much importance to racial traits and inherited characteristics
+may believe that this was due to the Welshman that reappeared in him at
+times; but the Welsh temperament was suppressed and checked by the
+puritanical restraint of Mr. Small, Mr. Maury, the judicial reserve of
+Mr. Wythe, the example of Mr. Peyton Randolph; and, carried away as he
+was by Patrick Henry's oratory, Jefferson saw in him impulsive and
+emotional qualities to be admired but to be shunned. More than any of
+his contemporaries, however, he was unconsciously influenced by
+reminiscences of speeches he had read and memorized in Livy, Cicero and
+perhaps Demosthenes. These sentences have a classical ring; his true
+models were the Greek and Latin orators, and if a critical edition of
+Jefferson's early papers were ever attempted, a careful investigation
+could not fail to bring to light the classical sources of his
+inspiration.
+
+The report was adopted on July 31, and Congress adjourned the next day.
+Jefferson returned at once to Monticello, to stay in Virginia until the
+opening of Congress. In spite of the fiery tone of the answer to Lord
+North's proposition, it seems that neither he nor any of his friends
+seriously entertained nor even considered the possibility of the
+colonies separating entirely from the mother country. War had already
+begun, but it was a civil war. There still remained some hope that an
+"everlasting avulsion from Great Britain would be avoided." Yet it could
+be avoided only on one condition: that the British Government should
+accept, without reservation or restriction, the minimum terms of
+Congress. Jefferson then wrote to his friend, John Randolph, who had
+decided to remove to England:
+
+  I would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, properly limited,
+  than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of
+  those, too, who, rather than submit to the rights of legislation for
+  us, assumed by the British Parliament, and which late experience has
+  shown they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the
+  whole island in the ocean.[37]
+
+The manuscript letter in the Library of Congress is not the one that was
+used in the different editions of Jefferson's "Works." It is a much
+corrected and written-over draft, containing several passages which have
+disappeared in the published text.[38] It contained particularly a
+request to John Randolph who was going to "the hub of literature", to
+buy him "books of parliamentary learning." It also included a request to
+Randolph to sell him his fine violin, to which Randolph acceded,
+averring that "Tho we _may politically_ differ in sentiments, yet I see
+no reason, why _privately_ we may not cherish the same esteem for each
+other which formerly I believe subsisted between us. We both of us seem
+to be steering opposite courses: the success of either lies in the womb
+of Time."[39]
+
+Such letters are very significant, for they express better than long
+dissertations the state of mind of the leading men of the day. The
+question at issue was still a political question; it was a question of
+internal politics on which men could differ without necessarily becoming
+enemies or losing each other's esteem and affection. Less than a year
+before the Declaration of Independence, independence seemed to Jefferson
+the worst possible solution, to be delayed and avoided if it were
+possible.
+
+Chosen again as delegate to Congress, but delayed by the illness and
+death of his second child, Jefferson reached Philadelphia on September
+25, twenty days after the opening of the session. He stayed only until
+the twenty-eighth of December, and resumed his seat on May 13 of the
+following year. In the meantime events were moving rapidly. Congress had
+been advised of the king's refusal even to notice their second petition;
+and Jefferson, writing a second time to John Randolph, could declare:
+
+  Believe me, my 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 sentiment 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 fostering
+  hand of our King.[40]
+
+On the sixth of December, a declaration was adopted repudiating
+allegiance to the king, and the British Constitution was proclaimed "our
+best inheritance." Four days previously Jefferson had drafted a
+declaration concerning Ethan Allen, when news arrived of his being
+arrested and sent to Britain in irons to be punished for pretended
+treason. For the first time the delegate from Virginia referred to the
+British as "our enemies" and called upon them to respect "the rights of
+nations."
+
+At this juncture and shortly after being appointed on an important
+committee, Jefferson abruptly left Congress and set out for home. The
+reason for his sudden departure has never been satisfactorily explained.
+It may have been due to news of the bad health of his mother: she died
+on March 31, 1776, and this is the only explanation that Randall could
+offer. It was more probably due to his anxiety about the fate of his
+family. Communications with Virginia were rare and difficult. He wrote
+home regularly every week, but on October 31 he had not yet received a
+word "from any mortal breathing", and on November 7 he repeated:
+
+"I have never received the script of a pen from any mortal in Virginia
+since I left it, nor been able by any inquiries I could make to hear of
+my family. I had hoped that when Mrs. Byrd came I could have heard
+something of them. The suspense under which I am is too terrible to be
+endured. If anything has happened, for God's sake let me know it!" Two
+weeks later he urged his wife to keep herself "at a distance from Ld.
+Dunmore", and he was planning to meet Eppes "as proposed."
+
+There seems to be very little doubt that he yielded to his anxiety and
+to the entreaties of Eppes who seems to have urged him to come back. He
+had left at Monticello a sick mother, his sisters, a wife who had
+recently lost a child and had hardly recovered from the blow, and he was
+in constant fear that a raid from the British troops, who had already
+burnt Norfolk, should endanger the lives of his dear ones. Furthermore
+he believed that his presence in Philadelphia was not indispensable; for
+he was never one who overrated himself. Finally, a document overlooked
+by his biographers informs us that on September 26, 1775, he had been
+appointed by the Committee of Safety for the Colony of Virginia,
+Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia of the County of
+Albemarle.[41] In view of Lord Dunmore's impending attacks his presence
+was evidently required to organize local forces. All these are reasons
+enough to explain why he left Philadelphia. We do not even know that he
+hesitated at all or experienced any conflict of duties. National
+patriotism was still limited by family duty, and local patriotism was
+stronger in him than obligations to a country which did not yet exist.
+
+So it happened that the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence
+was to miss many of the preliminary steps and discussions that preceded
+it. He did not resume his seat in Congress until May 14, 1776. Five days
+before, a resolution framed by Adams and R. H. Lee had been adopted,
+instructing the colonies to form governments. It was passed the very day
+Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia. Not only had he come back rather
+reluctantly, but he was anxious to return to Virginia in order to
+participate in the work of the Colonial Convention, as appears from his
+letter to Thomas Nelson, Junior:
+
+  Should our Convention propose to establish now a form of government,
+  perhaps it might be agreeable to recall for a short time their
+  delegates. It is a work of the most interesting nature and such as
+  every individual would wish to have his voice in.... But this I
+  mention to you in confidence, as in our situation, a hint to any
+  other is too delicate however anxiously interesting the subject is to
+  our feelings.
+
+With all his attention turned towards the Old Dominion and in his
+anxiety to participate in establishing a model form of government for
+his "country", he then decided to send to Pendleton, President of the
+Assembly, the draft of a proposed constitution for Virginia, or rather,
+as he termed it, "A Bill for new modelling the form of government and
+for establishing the Fundamental principles of our future
+constitution."[42] This is a capital document for the history of
+Jefferson's political thought. For the first time he had the opportunity
+to develop fully his views on society and government. How clear in his
+mind were the theories of which he later became the advocate will be
+easily perceived. The draft started with a recital of the grievances of
+the colony against "George Guelph King of Great Britain", which
+Jefferson was to utilize in the Declaration of Independence. It declared
+that "The Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary shall be forever
+separate" and continued with a description of the three branches of
+government. For the Legislative, Jefferson proposed a bicameral system,
+consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House was to
+be elected by "all male persons of full age and sane mind having a
+freehold estate in (one fourth of an acre) of land in any town or in 25
+acres of land in the county and all persons resident in the colony who
+shall have paid scot and lot to government the last two years." The
+Senate was to be appointed by the House of Representatives. The death
+penalty was abolished for all crimes except murder and offences in the
+military service; torture was abolished in all cases whatsoever. Some of
+these provisions were incorporated later in the "Bill for Apportioning
+Crimes and Punishment." The Administrator was to be appointed by the
+House of Representatives, as well as the Attorney-general and the Privy
+Council. Judges were to be appointed by the Administrator and Privy
+Council; the High Sheriffs and Coroners of counties were to be elected
+annually by the voters, but all other officers, civil and military, to
+be appointed by the Administrator. The bill proposed that "descents
+shall go according to the laws of Gavelkind, save only that females
+shall have equal rights with males."--"All persons shall have full and
+free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to support
+or maintain any religious institution." "Printing presses shall be free
+except so far as by commission of private injury cause may be given of
+private action. There shall be no standing army but in time of actual
+war." The introduction of slaves into the State was forbidden. Finally
+provisions were made for the revision of the Constitution.
+
+Truly most of the reforms advocated by Jefferson are already contained
+in this document, not implicitly but explicitly: religious freedom,
+freedom of the press, abolition of slavery, the laws of descent and the
+bill to abolish entail, the "Bill for Proportioning Crimes and
+Punishment" are all here. It was a bold and radical proposal, and no
+wonder the young delegate from Virginia was anxious to go home in order
+to defend it before his colleagues of the Assembly. The delegates, after
+much wrangling, had come to practical agreement on the most important
+points. It was too late and they were too "tired" of the subject to
+resume the discussion. From Jefferson's plan they simply borrowed the
+long recital of grievances which became the preamble to the Virginia
+Constitution.[43]
+
+As finally adopted, the Constitution was far less liberal than the plan
+proposed by Jefferson, and this may explain his severe criticism of it
+in his "Notes on Virginia" (Query XIII). It embodied, however, some of
+the same essential principles; it proclaimed the separation of powers
+and established two Chambers. It retained the name of governor, redolent
+of the English régime, instead of "administrator"; it made no mention of
+slavery, entails, descents and freedom of the press, but in some
+respects it was even more democratic than the Jefferson plan since both
+houses were directly elected. In the meantime things were coming to a
+head in Philadelphia, and on June 7 certain resolutions concerning
+independence being moved and adopted, it was
+
+  _Resolved_, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be,
+  free and independent States, that they are absolved from all
+  allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection
+  between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be,
+  totally dissolved.
+
+  That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures
+  for forming foreign Alliances.
+
+  That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the
+  respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.[44]
+
+On June 10, it was
+
+  _Resolved_, That the consideration of the first resolution be
+  postponed to this day, three weeks (July 1), and in the meanwhile,
+  that no time be lost in case the Congress agree thereto, that a
+  committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the
+  said first resolution.
+
+  The next day it was resolved, That the committee to prepare the
+  declaration consist of five members: The members chosen, Mr. [Thomas]
+  Jefferson, Mr. J[ohn] Adams, Mr. [Benjamin] Franklin, Mr. [Roger]
+  Sherman, and Mr. R[obert] R. Livingston.[45]
+
+Jefferson's biographers have indulged in a great many discussions about
+the reasons which determined the selection of the committee. Jefferson
+certainly did not seek the honor, and little did he dream at the time
+that it would bring him such fame. Without renewing the old controversy
+on the participation of the other members of the committee in the
+drawing up of the famous document, a few facts have to be considered.
+First of all it was not an improvisation. The committee appointed on
+June 10 reported only on June 28. A written draft was submitted to Adams
+and Franklin, whose advice could not be neglected, and they suggested
+several modifications, additions and corrections. Furthermore, Jefferson
+was too good a harmonizer not to discuss many points with his colleagues
+of the committee, so as to ascertain their views before writing down the
+first draft. Even the desirability of having a declaration was a highly
+controversial question, and Jefferson himself, in the detailed notes he
+took of the preliminary discussion, indicates that when the committee
+was appointed "the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
+Delaware and South Carolina were not yet matured for falling from the
+parent stem."[46]
+
+On June 28, the committee appointed to prepare a declaration brought in
+a draft which was read and "_Ordered_ to lie on the table." On July 2,
+Congress resumed the consideration of the resolution agreed to by and
+reported from the committee of the whole; and the same being read, was
+agreed to as follows.
+
+  _Resolved_, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to
+  be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from
+  allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion
+  between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be,
+  totally dissolved.
+
+Properly speaking this is, as Mr. Becker has remarked, the real
+Declaration of Independence. But the principle once adopted, it remained
+to proclaim and explain the action taken by Congress not only to the
+people of the Free and Independent States, but to the world at large.
+Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, only to
+decide that it was too late in the day to take up such a momentous
+question. The discussion continued on the next day but Harrison reported
+that the committee, not having finished, desired leave to sit again. On
+July 4, Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole to take
+into further consideration the Declaration; and after some time, the
+president resumed the chair. "Mr. (Benjamin) Harrison reported, that the
+committee of the whole Congress have agreed to a Declaration, which he
+delivered in. The Declaration being again read, was agreed to." Congress
+then ordered that the Declaration be authenticated and printed, and the
+committee appointed to prepare the Declaration "to superintend and
+correct the press."
+
+Such is briefly told from the "Journals of Congress" the story of the
+momentous document in its external details. It has been too well related
+by Mr. Becker and Mr. Fitzpatrick to leave any excuse for a new account.
+Writing many years later, John Adams declared "there is not an idea in
+it but what had been hackneyed in Congress two years before," and
+replying to Adams' insinuations, Jefferson admitted that:
+
+  Pickering's observations, and Mr. Adams' in addition, that it
+  contained no new ideas, that it is a commonplace compilation, its
+  sentiments hacknied in Congress for two years before ... may be all
+  true. Of that I am not judge. Richard H. Lee charged it as copied
+  from Locke's treatise on Government ... I only know that I turned to
+  neither book nor pamphlet while writing it. I did not consider it as
+  any part of my charge to invent new ideas altogether and to offer no
+  sentiment which had never been expressed before.
+
+In another letter to Lee, written in 1825, a year before his death,
+Jefferson had given, as his last and final statement on the subject:
+
+  Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before
+  thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said
+  before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject,
+  in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.... Neither
+  aiming at originality of principles or sentiments, nor yet copied
+  from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an
+  expression of the American mind.... All its authority rests on the
+  harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation,
+  in letters, printed essays, on the elementary books of public right,
+  as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.
+
+Two phrases in this letter deserve particular notice, "an expression of
+the American mind" and "the harmonizing sentiments of the day." This is
+truly what Jefferson had attempted to express in his "felicitous
+language"--the confused yearnings, the inarticulate aspirations, the
+indefinite ideals of the speechless and awkward masses. He did it in
+words so simple that no man could fail to understand it, in sentences so
+well balanced and so rhythmic that no artist in style could improve upon
+them. The Declaration of Independence is not only a historical document,
+it is the first and to this day the most outstanding monument in
+American literature. It does not follow, however, that Jefferson had no
+model. Mr. Becker in his masterly study has demonstrated that it was the
+final development of a whole current of thought, the origins of which
+can be traced back in history even farther than he has done. The
+Declaration of Independence is essentially of Lockian origin, but it
+does not ensue that Jefferson had memorized Locke, nor even that he was
+conscious, when he wrote the document, that he was using a Lockian
+phraseology. As a matter of fact, even if he remembered Locke, it is
+more than probable that reminiscences from two other more modern
+expressions of the same idea haunted his mind. The first was a pamphlet
+of James Wilson, written in 1770, published in Philadelphia in 1774 and
+entitled "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative
+Authority of the British Parliament." Mr. Becker has pointed out the
+similarity between a passage in Wilson and the preamble. Since then I
+have found that, in his "Commonplace Book", Jefferson copied passages
+from Wilson's pamphlet, although for reasons which I could not determine
+he omitted the very passage which presents the most striking
+resemblance:
+
+  All men are, by nature, equal and free: No one has a right to any
+  authority over another without his consent: All lawful government is
+  founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: Such consent
+  was given with a view to ensure and to increase the happiness of
+  the governed above what they could enjoy in an independent and
+  unconnected state of nature. The consequence is, that the happiness
+  of the society is the First law of every government.
+
+A Lockian theory to be sure, but Wilson in the footnote to this
+paragraph quoted Burlamaqui to the effect that "This right of
+sovereignty is that of commanding finally but in order to procure real
+felicity; for if this end is not obtained, sovereignty ceases to be
+legitimate authority." But this is not all! The Declaration of Rights of
+1774 ("Journal of Congress", I, 373) stated in somewhat similar terms
+the rights of the inhabitants of the English colonies. Finally the
+"Virginia Bill of Rights" written by George Mason, adopted by the
+Virginia Assembly on June 12 and necessarily forwarded to the delegates
+in Congress, contained articles resembling more closely those of the
+Declaration of Independence:
+
+  I. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have
+  certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of
+  society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive their posterity;
+  namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of
+  acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining
+  happiness and safety.
+
+  II. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from the
+  people; that Magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all
+  times amenable to them.
+
+  III. That government is or ought to be, instituted for the common
+  benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community;
+  of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best, which
+  is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety,
+  and is most effectually secured against the danger of
+  mal-administration; and that when any government shall be found
+  inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community
+  has the undubitable, unalienable right, to reform, alter, or abolish
+  it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public
+  weal.[47]
+
+This time it is no longer a question of analogy, or similarity of
+thought--the very words are identical, "Unalienable rights" is the
+expression which finally replaced "undeniable" in the final form--and
+"pursuing and obtaining happiness" has become the well-known "pursuit of
+happiness." Does it mean that Jefferson should be accused of plagiarism?
+Not in the least, since, as the French author said, "_l'arrangement est
+nouveau_", and, in a work of art, "_l'arrangement_" constitutes true
+originality, according to the formula of the classical school.
+Furthermore, it was clearly Jefferson's rôle and duty as a delegate from
+Virginia to incorporate in the Declaration as much as he could of the
+"Bill of Rights" recently adopted by his native dominion. The only fault
+that could be found is that he did not more clearly acknowledge his
+indebtedness to George Mason. But his contemporaries, and particularly
+the Virginians, could not fail to recognize in the national document the
+spirit and expression of the State document. Jefferson had expressed the
+American mind but he had above all expressed the mind of his fellow
+Virginians.
+
+Whether the doctrine enunciated in the Declaration of Independence is
+founded in fact and is beyond question "undeniable", is a problem which
+cannot even be touched upon here. We cannot dismiss it, however, without
+mentioning a feature which seems to have escaped most American students
+of political philosophy, probably because it has become such an integral
+part of American life that it is not even noticed. I do not believe that
+any other State paper in any nation had ever proclaimed so emphatically
+and with such finality that one of the essential functions of government
+is to make man happy, or that one of his essential natural rights is
+"the pursuit of happiness." This was more than a new principle of
+government, it was a new principle of life which was thus proposed and
+officially indorsed. The most that could be asked from governments of
+the Old World was to promote virtue and to maintain justice; honor,
+"_amor patriae_" and fear were the essential principles on which rested
+the governments described by Montesquieu. But in spite of the eternal
+and unquenchable thirst for happiness in the heart of every man, what
+European, what Frenchman particularly, could openly and officially
+maintain that the "pursuit of happiness" was a right, and that happiness
+could be reached and truly enjoyed. This quest of happiness had been the
+main preoccupation of French philosophers during the eighteenth century,
+but in spite of their philosophical optimism, they were too thoroughly
+imbued with pessimism ever to think that it was possible to be happy;
+the most they could hope for was to become less unhappy. The whole
+Christian civilization had been built on the idea that happiness is
+neither desirable nor obtainable in this vale of tears and affliction,
+but as a compensation Christianity offered eternal life and eternal
+bliss. The Declaration of Independence, on the contrary, placed human
+life on a new axis by maintaining that happiness is a natural right of
+the individual and the whole end of government. To be sure, the idea was
+not original with Jefferson, it had been mentioned more than once in
+official or semi-official documents, it was in James Wilson, as in the
+Bill of Rights, but I cannot quite conceive that such a formula could
+have originated in New England. I cannot conceive either that it could
+have been proclaimed at that date anywhere except in a new country where
+the pioneer spirit dominated, where men felt that they could live
+without being crowded or hampered by fierce competition, traditions, and
+iron-bound social laws.
+
+In his plan for a _Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen_,
+Lafayette some twelve years later included "_la recherche du bonheur_",
+in memory of the American Declaration of Independence, but "_la
+recherche du bonheur_" disappeared in the committee and was never
+mentioned again in any of the three Declarations of the French
+Revolution. The nearest approach to it is found in the first article of
+the Declaration of June 23, 1793; but it simply states that the aim of
+society is common happiness--and this is quite a different idea. Whether
+it was right or not, Jefferson, when he reproduced the terms used by
+George Mason in the Virginia Bill of Rights, gave currency to an
+expression which was to influence deeply and even to mold American life.
+
+In that sense, it may be said that the Declaration of Independence
+represents the highest achievement of eighteenth-century philosophy, but
+of one aspect of that philosophy that could not develop fully in Europe.
+Trees that are transplanted sometimes thrive better under new skies than
+in their native habitat and may reach proportions wholly unforeseen.
+
+Thus the Declaration of Independence written to express the sentiments
+of the day probably shaped the American mind in an unexpected manner. It
+was essentially a popular document planned to impress the masses, to
+place before the young nation at its birth a certain ideal and a certain
+political faith, but it was also a legal and judicial document intended
+to make more precise the reasons why the united American colonies had
+finally resolved to separate from the mother country.
+
+For this part of the Declaration Jefferson drew largely from the
+"Constitution" he had drafted for Virginia and sent to Randolph by Mr.
+Wythe. He was his own source--the more so as he substantially repeated
+many of the grievances enumerated two years earlier in the "Rights of
+British America." But here again he markedly improved the first version,
+which was a monotonous recital of dry facts, starting with a legal
+"Whereas" and beginning each article with a clumsy participle. "By
+denying his Governor permission:... By refusing to pass certain other
+laws ... By dissolving Legislative Assemblies," became in the
+Declaration the dramatic presentation of facts by a prosecuting attorney
+and not the summing-up of a case by a judge. But the final renunciation
+of the mother country has an unsurpassed dignity, a finality more
+terrible in its lofty and dispassionate tone than any curse:
+
+"We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
+Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
+War, in Peace Friends." There again one is reminded of the well-known
+French formula: "_beau comme l'antique_." Twice in its history the
+supposedly young and uncultured people had the rare fortune to find
+spokesmen who, without effort and laborious preparation, reached the
+utmost heights. The Declaration of Independence, with its solemn
+renunciation of ties of consanguinity, reminds one of the tone of the
+Greek tragedy; while the only parallel to the Gettysburg address is the
+oration pronounced by Pericles over the warriors who had laid down their
+lives during the first war of Peloponnesus.
+
+Such heights can only be reached if the author is moved to his innermost
+depths. Singularly unimaginative in ordinary circumstances, for once in
+his life Jefferson was superior to himself: the student of Greece, the
+refined Virginian, became truly the voice of the people. But great
+effects often have small causes. We may wonder if he would have spoken
+with that same suppressed emotion, fiercely burning and yet controlled,
+if at that very time he had not been laboring under an emotional stress
+that never recurred in his life.
+
+While he was in Philadelphia, writing the first draft in which he opened
+to the people of America "the road to glory and happiness", he could
+well wonder whether his personal happiness was not about to be
+destroyed.--His mother had recently died, he had just lost a child and
+had left in Monticello a beloved companion dangerously ill. "Every
+letter brings me such an account of the state of her health, that it is
+with great pain I can stay here," he wrote to Page (July 20, 1776), and
+for those who knew how reserved he was in the expression of personal
+feelings, the restraint in his expression hardly conceals the anxiety
+and distress by which he was torn.
+
+There were also other reasons for his desiring to go home. Jefferson had
+always understood that as a delegate to Congress his duty was not so
+much to make a record for himself as to voice the _sentiments of the
+people he represented and to carry out their instructions_.[48] He was
+much worried about his standing with the Virginia Convention and
+suspected that some members were trying to knife him in the back. The
+Convention had just proceeded to elect delegates for the next Congress.
+Harrison and Braxton had failed to be reappointed, and Jefferson was
+"next to the lag."--"It is a painful situation," he wrote to William
+Fleming, on July first, "to be 300 miles from one's county, and thereby
+opened to secret assassination without a possibility of
+self-defence."[49]
+
+A week later, he wrote to Edmund Pendleton to decline his new
+appointment as a delegate to Congress:
+
+  I am sorry that the situation of my domestic affairs, renders it
+  indispensably necessary that I should solicit the substitution of
+  some other person here in my room. The delicacy of the House will not
+  require me to enter minutely into the private causes which render
+  this necessary. I trust they will be satisfied. I would not urge it
+  again, were it not unavoidable.[50]
+
+On July 8 he announced to R. H. Lee that he would return to Virginia
+after the eleventh of August. It was not until September 2 that, his
+successor having arrived, he considered himself as free to go. His final
+reason, possibly not the least important, is given by Jefferson himself
+in his "Autobiography":
+
+  Our delegation had been renewed for the ensuing year, commencing
+  August 11; but the new government was now organized, a meeting of the
+  legislature was to be held in October, and I had been elected a
+  member by my county. I knew that our legislation, under the regal
+  government, had many vicious points which urgently required
+  reformation, and I thought I could be of more use in forwarding that
+  work. I therefore retired from my seat in Congress on the 2d of
+  September, resigned it and took my place in the Legislature of my
+  State, on the 7th of October.
+
+"My state," wrote Jefferson in 1818, but in his letters to William
+Fleming he was speaking of Virginia as his "country", and at that time
+constantly referred to the colonies and not the United States.
+
+The necessity of some sort of a union or confederacy had been keenly
+realized for a long time, but the ways and means were far from receiving
+unanimous support. As a matter of fact, union had been obtained just on
+the point of secession, or as Jefferson had it "avulsion from Great
+Britain"; but the consciousness of solidarity, the community of ideals
+and interests which constitute an essential part of patriotism hardly
+existed at that date. Thus the man who had just been the voice of
+America probably felt himself more of a Virginian than of an American,
+for local patriotism was very strong, while national patriotism was
+still in a larval stage. Curiously enough the independence of the
+_United States_ had been proclaimed before the Articles of
+Confederation, which really constituted the United States, had been
+adopted or even reported. When they were drafted the name "colonies" was
+used and this was not changed to "states" until the second printing.[51]
+The only official bond that united the colonies was loyalty to the
+Crown. That bond once severed, each of them became a separate unit and
+returned to a sort of "state of nature." For a student of government
+this was the most fascinating situation that could be devised, since he
+was going to witness the actual formation of a new society and the
+signing of a social compact. Jefferson attended all the meetings of
+Congress in which the Articles of Confederation were discussed, without
+actively participating in the debates. He took copious notes and
+inserted them in his "Autobiography" but for reasons presently to be
+seen, he refrained from expressing his own opinion on the matter. Only
+when he was back in Virginia could he collect his ideas and formulate to
+his own satisfaction a theory on the formation of society. He then sat
+at his table and sent to a friend his reflections on the debates he had
+just attended. I had the good fortune to discover this document in the
+Library of Congress. It is of such importance that it must be given here
+in full.
+
+[Illustration: A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE ARTICLES OF
+CONFEDERATION
+
+_From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress_]
+
+  After I got home, being alone and wanting amusement I sat down to
+  explain to myself (for there is such a thing) my Ideas of natural and
+  civil rights and the distinction between them--I send them to you to
+  see how nearly we agree.
+
+  Suppose 20 persons, strangers to each other, to meet in a country not
+  before inhabited. Each would be a sovereign in his own natural right.
+  His will would be his Law,--but his power, in many cases, inadequate
+  to his right, and the consequence would be that each might be
+  exposed, not only to each other but to the other nineteen.
+
+  It would then occur to them that their condition would be much
+  improved, if a way could be devised to exchange that quantity of
+  danger into so much protection, so that each individual should
+  possess the strength of the whole number. As all their rights, in the
+  first case are natural rights, and the exercise of those rights
+  supported only by their own natural individual power, they would
+  begin by distinguishing between these rights they could individually
+  exercise fully and perfectly and those they could not.
+
+  Of the first kind are the rights of thinking, speaking, forming and
+  giving opinions, and perhaps all those which can be fully exercised
+  by the individual without the aid of exterior assistance--or in other
+  words, rights of personal competency--Of the second kind are those of
+  personal protection of acquiring and possessing property, in the
+  exercise of which the individual natural power is less than the
+  natural right.
+
+  Having drawn this line they agree to retain individually the first
+  Class of Rights or those of personal Competency; and to detach from
+  their personal possession the second Class, or those of defective
+  power and to accept in lieu thereof a right to the whole power
+  produced by a condensation of all the parts. These I conceive to be
+  civil rights or rights of Compact, and are distinguishable from
+  Natural rights, because in the one we act wholly in our own person,
+  in the other we agree not to do so, but act under the guarantee of
+  society.
+
+  It therefore follows that the more of those imperfect natural rights,
+  or rights of imperfect power we give up and thus exchange the more
+  securely we possess, and as the word liberty is often mistakenly put
+  for security M^r Wilson has confused his Argument by confounding the
+  terms.
+
+  But it does not follow that the more natural rights of _every kind_
+  we resign the more securely we possess,--because if we resign those
+  of the first class we may suffer much by the exchange, for where the
+  right and the power are equal with each other in the individual
+  naturally they ought to rest there.
+
+  M^r Wilson must have some allusion to this distinction or his
+  position would be subject to the inference you draw from it.
+
+  I consider the individual sovereignty of the States retained under
+  the Act of Confederation to be of the second Class of rights. It
+  becomes dangerous because it is defective in the power necessary to
+  support it. It answers the pride and purpose of a few men in each
+  state--but the State collectively is injured by it.
+
+Unless I am much mistaken we have here the key to the whole democratic
+system of government evolved by Jefferson and the solution of the
+apparent contradictions often pointed out in his system. Starting from
+the hypothesis of Hobbes that in a state of nature men are free agents
+and have no other law but their own will, Jefferson attributes to the
+surrounding dangers the urge to form some sort of a society, a theory
+also found in Locke. But what follows is more original: in forming a
+social compact, men do not abdicate all their sovereignty as in the
+hypothesis of Rousseau; they do not even abdicate a certain portion of
+all their rights. On the contrary, they reserve entire a certain class
+of rights, all those they can exercise fully without the aid of exterior
+assistance, and they exchange for more security those they cannot
+exercise themselves. Thus the social compact is no longer a _pactum
+subjectionis_. It is no longer a question of deciding whether in a
+society the individual or the society are sovereign, since both are
+sovereign in their respective domains. How far Jefferson was from being
+a demagogue is clearly indicated by the sentence in which he refers to
+James Wilson. Liberty, except liberty of speech and thought, cannot be
+unlimited and unrestricted in any society; it is a matter of bargain and
+exchange. Thus Jefferson proposed a definition of liberty entirely
+different from the French conception as found in Rousseau and reproduced
+in the "Déclaration des droits de l'homme" of May 29, 1793: "_La liberté
+consiste à pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas à autrui._" With him,
+on the contrary, liberty consists in the free enjoyment of our will
+except in certain specific cases, to be enumerated at the time we form a
+social compact. Hence the necessity of a Bill of Rights, in which the
+individual accepts certain limitations in order to obtain a
+corresponding amount of security, and specifically denominates those of
+his natural rights he means to keep integrally and wholly.
+
+This explains clearly why Jefferson, who is represented as the champion
+of State rights, not only accepted the abridgment of State sovereignty
+but declared that the retention by the States of certain rights was
+dangerous and illogical. One of the first cases arises when dealing with
+foreign nations. Here the individual State is clearly unable to protect
+itself against foreign aggressions and foreign encroachments, and
+foreign policies must properly be placed in the hands of the Federal
+Government. This applies not only to questions of protection, but to
+questions of commerce, and for two reasons, both of them practical and
+not theoretical. Commerce is one of the great causes of war. In order to
+protect the confederation the government has the right to levy taxes,
+and the most convenient form is that of imposts or taxes on
+importations. Secondly, the Federal Government is evidently in a better
+situation than the individual States for obtaining favorable treatment
+of their commerce by foreign nations. Hence the insistence of Jefferson
+throughout his life on the prerogatives of the Federal Government in all
+matters referring to foreign policies, and his reiterated declarations
+in favor of State rights.
+
+Incidentally, this document explains two otherwise unexplainable
+incidents in Jefferson's career.
+
+The Declaration on Violation of Rights adopted by the First Continental
+Congress had specified the rights of the inhabitants of the British
+colonies:
+
+"_Resolved_, That they are entitled to life, liberty, & property, and
+they have never ceded to any sovereign power whatever, a right to
+dispose of either without their consent."[52] The Virginia Bill of
+Rights had similarly declared that among the inherent natural rights
+was the means of acquiring and possessing property.
+
+Now, in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, which follows
+so closely the Bill of Rights, the word "property" does not appear,
+while the other rights are reasserted.
+
+Nor was this an unintentional omission, for when Lafayette submitted to
+Jefferson his "Déclaration des droits de l'homme", Jefferson put in
+brackets the words "droit à la propriété", thus suggesting their
+elimination from the list of natural rights.
+
+Yet he was not in any way a communist, and it would be a serious error
+to see in that systematic omission the influence of Rousseau's "Discours
+sur l'Origine de l'Inégalité." The fact is that, with his mind
+accustomed to draw fine legal distinctions, he had come to the
+conclusion that the right of possessing and acquiring property had to be
+protected by society in order to be enjoyed securely. It is one of those
+rights which are at the same time abridged and made more secure by
+society, since in any society it may be found necessary to levy taxes on
+the property of any citizen and even to condemn his property in the
+interests of the community.
+
+Such a philosophy of natural rights had never before been expressed by
+any political philosopher I have been able to refer to, with one
+possible exception. While Locke had said that one divests oneself of his
+liberty in assuming the bonds of civil society--while Rousseau had
+declared that man sacrifices all his natural rights on the altar of
+society--a Scottish jurist had maintained that "Mutual defence against a
+more powerful neighbor being in early times the chief, or sole motive
+for joining in society, individuals never thought of surrendering any of
+their natural rights which could be retained consistently with their
+great aim of mutual defence." Not only had Jefferson read Kames, but he
+had copied extensively from his "Historical Law" tracts in his
+"Commonplace Book", where this very passage is to be found. He had also
+seen in the tract on history of property the fine distinction
+established by Kames between possession and property, the two terms
+being coextensive among savages, while in more refined society the
+relation of property was gradually evolved and disjoined from
+possession.[53]
+
+Thus if Jefferson borrowed from any one the main principles of his
+philosophy, it was not from any of the eloquent and famous thinkers of
+France and England. Locke he had certainly read, he had abstracted
+Montesquieu, he may have known Rousseau's theory, although this is
+doubtful, but he had read and summarized the tracts of a Scottish jurist
+whom he had probably discovered through Doctor Small. His conception of
+the social compact is not the conception of a philosopher; it is
+essentially the conception of a jurist and a lawyer. The social compact
+is not a metaphysical hypothesis, nebulous and lost in the night of
+ages, it is a very specific and very precise convention to be entered
+into or to be denounced by men who retain their "rights inherent and
+unalienable", who remain free and yet agree to submit themselves to
+certain rules and a certain discipline in order to obtain more security.
+And thus was evolved and defined by Jefferson a combination of liberty
+and order, individualism and discipline which lies at the basis of
+American civilization, an object of wonder to most foreigners, often
+discussed but never so satisfactorily elucidated as in the document
+written by Jefferson when, "wanting amusement", he sat down to explain
+to himself his ideas of natural and civil rights and the distinction
+between them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE REVISION OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA
+
+
+At the meeting of July 4, 1776, Congress, after adopting the Declaration
+of Independence,
+
+  "_Resolved_, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, be a
+  committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of
+  America."[54]
+
+Among the several suggestions made in the committee, the one proposed by
+Jefferson, according to John Adams, deserves particular attention: "Mr.
+Jefferson proposed, the children of Israel in the wilderness led by a
+cloud by day, and a pillar by night--and on the other side, Hengist and
+Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being
+descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have
+assumed."
+
+None of the suggestions made by the committee, or their final report,
+was ever adopted, but the device proposed by Jefferson is a significant
+indication that his thoughts were still running in the same channel.
+"The children of Israel" would remind one of the favorite contention of
+the settlers, piously preserved by their descendants to this day, that
+they were a chosen people; but the other side of the seal reminds one
+that Jefferson's great ambition at that time was to promote a
+renaissance of Anglo-Saxon primitive institutions on the new continent.
+Thus presented, the American Revolution was nothing but the reclamation
+of the Anglo-Saxon birthright of which the colonists had been deprived
+by "a long trend of abuses." Nor does it appear that there was anything
+in this theory which surprised or shocked his contemporaries; Adams
+apparently did not disapprove of it, and it would be easy to bring in
+many similar expressions of the same idea in documents of the time.
+
+The principle once established, there remained to put it into effect,
+and to make a beginning in Virginia. This was the thought uppermost in
+Jefferson's mind when he went back to the Old Dominion. "Are we not the
+better for what we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system," he
+wrote to Edmund Pendleton. "Has not every restitution of the ancient
+Saxon laws had happy effects? Is it not better now that we return at
+once into that happy system of our ancestors, the wisest and most
+perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man, as it stood before the 8th
+century?"[55] This is the true foundation of Jefferson's political
+philosophy. No greater mistake could be made than to look for his
+sources in Locke, Montesquieu, or Rousseau. The Jeffersonian democracy
+was born under the sign of Hengist and Horsa, not of the Goddess Reason.
+
+On September 26, 1776, Congress proceeded to the election of
+commissioners to the Court of France, and the ballots being taken, Mr.
+Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Silas Deane, and Mr. Thomas Jefferson were
+chosen. This was a signal recognition of the prestige of the young
+author of the Declaration of Independence. An express was sent at once
+to Jefferson to inform him of his appointment. For the first time he was
+offered an opportunity to visit the Old World. His desire to go was so
+strong that he remained undecided for three days before he made up his
+mind to decline the nomination and to send his refusal to Hancock. In
+the letter he then wrote, he alleged that "circumstances very peculiar
+in the situation of my family, such as neither permit me to leave nor to
+carry it compel me to ask leave to decline a service so honorable and at
+the same time so important to the American cause."[56] His biographer
+Randall observes on this occasion that "the private causes" were the
+precarious situation of his wife's health. The family record contains
+the following entry: "a son born May 28th, 1777, 10 h. P.M."[57] The
+true reason, however, is to be found in the "Autobiography", as given
+before.
+
+The very day Jefferson answered Hancock, he was put on several
+committees, and the next day he obtained leave to bring in a bill "To
+enable tenants in taille to convey their land in fee simple." The Bill
+to Abolish Entails was reported on October 14, and after discussion and
+amendments passed by the House on October 23, and approved by the Senate
+on November first.
+
+The bill was no improvisation and Jefferson intended by it "to strike at
+the very root of feudalism in Virginia." On August 13, 1776, he had
+already written to an anonymous correspondent, probably Edmund
+Pendleton:
+
+  The opinion that our lands were allodial possessions is one which I
+  have very long held, and had in my eye during a pretty considerable
+  part of my law reading which I found always strengthened it.... This
+  opinion I have thought and still think to prove if ever I should have
+  time to look into books again.... Was not the separation of the
+  property from the perpetual use of lands a mere fiction? Is not it's
+  history well known, and the purposes for which it was introduced, to
+  wit, the establishment of a military system of defense? Was it not
+  afterwards made an engine of immense oppression?... Has it not been
+  the practice of all other nations to hold their lands as their
+  personal estate in absolute dominion? Are we not the better for what
+  we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system?[58]
+
+It was the first great blow at the landed hereditary aristocracy of
+Virginia. The abolition of patrimonial estates, rendering them subject
+to all the obligations of personal property "susceptible to be sold,
+conveyed, seized, exchanged and willed" as ordinary property, meant the
+rapid abolition of that refined class of Virginia planters which
+constituted such a distinguished feature of colonial life. It was a bold
+step to take, since it meant the antagonism of a powerful class, the
+beginning of hatred that pursued Jefferson during his whole life and
+long after his death. Yet he had the courage to do it and was no little
+proud of it.[59] He was opposed by both Mr. Pendleton and Patrick Henry,
+"but the bill passed finally for entire abolition."
+
+With the Bill to Abolish Entails Jefferson introduced another bill on
+the naturalization of foreigners, containing an expressed recognition of
+the right of expatriation already defended in the "Summary View" of
+1774,--another remarkable instance of Jefferson's persistency and
+relentless efforts to win his point by legal means.
+
+Simultaneously a committee on religion had been appointed "to meet and
+adjourn from day to day, and to take into their consideration all
+matters and things relating to religion and religious morality." Besides
+Jefferson, there were seventeen members on the committee, including
+Fleming, Page, and Nicholas. Being in a minority, Jefferson began the
+struggle which was to end in the famous Bill for Religious Freedom,--a
+long hard fight of which more will be said later. For the time being,
+however, Jefferson had to be satisfied with a partial success:
+
+  We prevailed so far only, as to repeal the laws which rendered
+  criminal the maintenance of any religious opinions, the forbearance
+  of repairing to church, or the exercise of any mode of worship; and
+  further, to exempt dissenters from contributing to the support of the
+  established church; and to suspend, only until next session, levies
+  on the members of that church for the salaries of their own
+  incumbents.[60]
+
+Yet this was a very significant victory since, from the days of Sir
+Walter Raleigh, there had been an express proviso that the laws of the
+colony "should not be against the true Christian faith, now professed in
+the Church of England." Dissenters as well as members of the Established
+Church were assessed for the support of the Anglican ministers, and
+although other denominations, particularly Presbyterians, had succeeded
+in gaining more than a foothold in some parishes, a majority of
+dissenters were still obliged to pay for the support of the minority.
+
+But important as they were, these constituted only minor points. The
+whole structure of laws had to be remodelled to fit new conditions; a
+new legal monument had to be erected. Jefferson's practice of law had
+convinced him of the obscurities, contradictions, absurdities, and
+iniquities of the assemblage of English laws on top of which had been
+superimposed local regulations. The Bill for a General Revision of the
+Laws passed October 26. The fifth of November five revisors were
+appointed by ballot in the following order: Thomas Jefferson, Edmund
+Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, Thomas Ludwell Lee. As this is a
+more important contribution of Jefferson, we may omit here the part he
+played on many committees of the House, drafting and reporting on
+"Declaring what shall be treason"; bills "For raising six additional
+battalions of infantry", "For establishing a Court of Appeals", "For
+establishing a High Court of Chancery", "For establishing a General
+Court and Courts of Assize", "For establishing a Court of Admiralty",
+"For better regulating the proceedings of the County Courts." He plunged
+into the work of the complete reorganization of the State judicial
+machinery, with all the enthusiastic zeal of a born jurist, and his
+capacity for precise, minute work was once more brought into play.
+
+The committee of revisors met at Fredericksburg to determine on a manner
+of procedure and to distribute the work between the five members. First
+of all a question of methods had to be settled: "It had to be determined
+whether we should propose to abolish the whole existing system of laws,
+and prepare a new and complete Institute, or preserve the general
+system, and only modify it to the present state of things."
+
+Pendleton and Lee stood for the former methods, Wythe, Mason, and
+Jefferson for the latter, and this was the procedure finally adopted.
+Rather than the account given by Jefferson in his "Autobiography" we
+shall follow the contemporary account drawn up at the time by George
+Mason.
+
+  Plan settled by the committee of Revisors in Fredericksburg, January,
+  1777.
+
+  (1) The common law not to be meddled with, except where alterations
+  are necessary. The statutes to be revised and digested, alterations
+  proper for us to be made; the diction where obsolete or redundant, to
+  be reformed; but otherwise to undergo as few changes as possible. The
+  acts of the English Commonwealth to be examined. The statutes to be
+  divided into periods; the acts of Assembly made on the same subject
+  to be incorporated into them. The laws of other colonies to be
+  examined, and any good ones to be adopted.
+
+In the margin is here written:
+
+  General rules in drawing provisions &c., which would do only what the
+  law would do without them, to be omitted. Bills to be short; not to
+  include matters of different natures; not to insert an unnecessary
+  word; nor omit a useful one. Laws to be made on the spur of the
+  present occasion, and all innovating laws to be limited in their
+  duration.[61]
+
+Truly an admirable plan! Not the scheme of rash reformers, of _a
+priori_-minded legislators, deriving a code of laws from a certain
+number of abstract principles. It was not their purpose to make a
+_tabula rasa_ of the old structure which had slowly grown stone by
+stone, statute by statute and to rebuild entirely on new plans. The old
+house resting on solid Anglo-Saxon foundations was still substantial
+and safe and it could serve its purpose if only a few partitions were
+torn down, a few useless annexes demolished, and better ventilation
+provided. Nothing was farther from the mind of the committee than to
+erect in Virginia a Greek or Roman temple of Themis.
+
+The statutes were divided into five parts. Jefferson was to take "the
+first period in the division of statutes to end with 25th, H. 8th";
+Pendleton the second period "to end at the Revolution"; Wythe the third
+"to come to the present day"; G. Mason the fourth, "to consist of the
+residuary part of the Virginia laws to which is added the criminal law
+and land law." The fifth, attributed to Lee, "to be the regulation of
+property in slaves, and their condition; and also the examination of the
+laws of the other colonies."[62] Mason soon retired, "being no lawyer",
+and Lee having died, the work was redistributed which explains the
+somewhat different allotment indicated by Jefferson in the
+"Autobiography." On the other hand, he seems to have claimed for himself
+in the "Autobiography" an honor and an attitude that really belonged to
+the committee:
+
+  I thought it would be useful, also, in new draughts to reform the
+  style of the later British statutes, and of our own arts of Assembly;
+  which, from their verbosity, their endless tautologies, their
+  involution of case within case, and parenthesis within parenthesis,
+  and their multiplied efforts at certainty, by _saids_ and
+  _aforesaids_, by _ors_ and by _ands_, to make them more plain, are
+  really rendered more perplexed and incomprehensible, not only to
+  common readers, but to the lawyers themselves.
+
+The notes taken by G. Mason leave no doubt that this was also the
+attitude of the committee and their definite policy. It was a slow,
+painstaking, meticulous task, requiring common sense, good judgment, a
+good sense for words and erudition. To make laws intelligible and clear
+is no small achievement. But certainly it was not the sort of work that
+an _a priori_ philosopher, fond of generalizations and universal
+principles, would have relished, or would have been willing to submit
+himself to for more than two years. If in some political matters
+Jefferson differed from Mr. Pendleton, he admired him and later paid him
+a handsome tribute in the "Autobiography." Pendleton--cool, smooth and
+persuasive, quick, acute and resourceful--was a remarkable debater.
+
+  George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom, of expansive mind,
+  profound judgment, cogent in argument, learned in the lore of our
+  former constitution, and earnest for the republican change on
+  democratic principles ... his virtue was of the purest tint; his
+  integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and,
+  devoted as he was to liberty, and to the natural and equal rights of
+  man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country without the
+  avarice of the Roman.[63]
+
+When the preliminary work was done, the reviewers met at Williamsburg in
+February, 1779, and "day by day" they examined critically their several
+parts, sentence by sentence, scrutinizing and amending, "until they had
+agreed on the whole." "The Revised Laws", comprehending one hundred and
+twenty-six bills, were reported to the General Assembly June 18, 1779;
+bills were taken out occasionally from time to time, and because of
+Madison's efforts fifty-six out of the one hundred and twenty-six were
+after amendments made laws at the sessions of 1785, 1786. Among the
+bills reworded or initiated by Jefferson several stood out
+conspicuously.
+
+The Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments is a particularly good
+example of the methods used by Jefferson in rewriting the old
+legislation. On sending it to George Wythe he wrote:
+
+  I wished to exhibit a sample of reformation in the barbarous style
+  into which our modern statutes have degenerated from their ancient
+  simplicity. In its style, I have aimed at accuracy, brevity,
+  simplicity, preserving however the words of the established law,
+  wherever their meaning had been sanctioned by judicial decision, as
+  rendered technical by usage.[64]
+
+The transformation undergone by the old statutes can more easily be
+observed because Jefferson was careful to indicate in footnotes his
+authorities from the old texts, in Latin, and even in French and
+Anglo-Saxon. But the very title of the bill indicates that Jefferson's
+purpose went farther than a mere codification of the old law. He could
+not be entirely satisfied with the scale of punishments determined by
+the committee; he regretted particularly the maintainance of the _Lex
+Talionis_, "an eye for an eye and a hand for a hand" (Section XV), and
+he attempted to restrict the penalty of death to a few limited cases,
+for it was "the last melancholy resource against those whose existence
+is become inconsistent with the safety of their fellow citizens." His
+preamble reflects to a large extent the views of Montesquieu and
+Beccaria which he copied in the "Commonplace Book." But it could hardly
+be called humanitarian in the modern and sometimes derogatory sense of
+the word. The provisions of the code itself are far from showing any
+weakness or sentimentality: the death penalty is provided for treason
+against the Commonwealth and for whomsoever committeth murder by way of
+duel; manslaughter, previously "punishable at law by burning in the
+hands, and forfeiture of chattels", is punished by hard labor for seven
+years in the public works, and the murderer "shall forfeit one half of
+his lands and goods to the next of kin of the person slain, the other
+half to be sequestered during such times, in the hands, and to the use,
+of the commonwealth." Rape, polygamy, or sodomy "shall be punished if a
+man by castration, if a woman by boring through the cartilage of her
+nose a hole of one half inch in diameter at least." Witchcraft,
+conjuration, or sorcery "shall be punished by ducking and whipping, at
+the discretion of a jury, not exceeding fifteen stripes", and, most
+extraordinary for modern readers, "Whenever sentences of death shall be
+pronounced against any person for treason or murder, execution thereof
+shall be done on the next day but one, after such sentence, unless it be
+Sunday, and then on Monday following" (Section XIII). Truly enough the
+law of nature is once mentioned in a footnote to the effect that if a
+prisoner tries to escape from prison he shall not be considered as a
+capital offender. "The law of nature impels every one to escape from
+confinement; he should not therefore be subjected to punishment. Let the
+legislature restrain his criminal by walls, not by parchment." If there
+is "philosophy" in this statement it is common sense and certainly not
+sentimentality.
+
+The Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge is far more
+philosophical in its terms. There for the first time will be found a
+picture of democracy as Jefferson pictured it to himself at that date.
+The general statement at the beginning may be an echo from Montesquieu;
+but while the French philosopher had not indicated any remedy for such a
+situation, Jefferson was interested in it only in so far as it could be
+amended.
+
+  Experience has shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted
+  with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into
+  tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of
+  preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the
+  minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them
+  knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth,... and whereas it
+  is generally true that people will be happiest whose laws are best,
+  and are best administered, and that laws will be wisely formed, and
+  honestly administered, in proportion as those who form and administer
+  them are wise and honest; whence it becomes expedient for promoting
+  the publick happiness that those persons, whom nature hath endowed
+  with genius and virtue, should be rendered by liberal education
+  worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the
+  rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, and that they should
+  be called to that charge without regard to wealth, birth or other
+  accidental condition or circumstance; but the indigence of the
+  greater number disabling them from so educating, at their own
+  expence, those of their children whom nature hath fitly formed and
+  disposed to become useful instruments for the public, it is better
+  that such should be sought for and educated at the common expence of
+  all, than that the happiness of all should be confined to the weak or
+  wicked.
+
+Is this a democratic view in the modern sense of the word? At any rate
+it is not the democratic phraseology of a modern politician. There is no
+protest at all in the name of immanent justice against the unequality of
+conditions, there is no desire to give every boy a fair chance in life,
+no indication that men being born equal, all children should have equal
+opportunities. We are perfectly free to believe that Jefferson
+entertained such sentiments at that date. Historically, however, there
+is no evidence that he did so. All we have here is a hard-headed
+proposition with the corrective that, under the new system, a child of
+genius or great talent was to be given an opportunity to develop his
+native qualities, for it was both the duty and the interest of society
+to prevent such a waste of intellectual potentialities. Furthermore,
+Jefferson was manifestly of the opinion that no man could properly
+participate in the government of society unless he had been rendered
+worthy to receive and able to guard the _sacred_ deposit of the rights
+and liberties of his fellow citizens. Neither wealth, birth, nor
+accidental circumstances should determine who is fit for public office,
+but education should be the criterion. As he was doing his utmost to
+abolish the last privileges and prestige of the landed hereditary
+aristocracy of Virginia, Jefferson was striving to constitute and to get
+recognition for another aristocracy, an aristocracy of learning and
+intelligence, a true ruling class, or more exactly a governing and
+legislative class; for he was persuaded that the business of the
+legislator cannot be learned in a day, that it requires, besides native
+qualities of mind, a certain expert knowledge of the subject.
+
+The provisions of the bill are most extraordinary for the time.
+Jefferson provided for the division of the State into a certain number
+of districts or hundreds; in each hundred a schoolhouse was to be built
+and so located that all the children within it might daily attend the
+school.
+
+  In each of the schools shall be taught reading, writing, and common
+  arithmetick, and the books which shall be used therein for
+  instructing the children to read shall be such as will at the same
+  time make them acquainted with Graecian, Roman, English and American
+  history. At these schools all the free children, male and female,
+  resident within the respective hundred, shall be entitled to receive
+  tuition gratis for the term of three years.
+
+In addition, the bill provided that a certain number of grammar schools
+would be erected, "their situation to be as central as possible for the
+inhabitants of the said counties, the schools to be furnished with good
+water, convenient to plentiful supplies of provision and fuel and above
+all things that it be healthy." In all of these grammar schools, which
+shall receive boarders
+
+  shall be taught the Latin and Greek languages, English Grammar,
+  geography, and the higher part of numerical arithmetick, to wit.,
+  vulgar and decimal fractions, and the extrication of the square and
+  cube roots. In order to provide proper facilities for children of
+  particular ability, the overseer of the hundred schools (one for ten
+  schools) shall appoint from among the boys who shall have been two
+  years at the least at some one of the schools under his
+  superintendance and whose parents are too poor to give them farther
+  education some one of the best and most promising genius and
+  dispositions to proceed to the grammar schools.
+
+At the end of the first year one third of the boys shall be discontinued
+as public foundations after examination; "all shall be discontinued at
+the end of two years save one only, the best in genius and disposition,
+who shall be at liberty to continue there four years longer on the
+public foundation, and shall thence forward be deemed a senior."
+Finally, "the visitors will select one among the said seniors of the
+best learning and most hopeful genius and disposition who shall be
+authorized by them to proceed to William and Mary College; there to be
+educated, boarded, and clothed three years: the expense of which shall
+be paid by the Treasurer."
+
+This rigorous selective process looks very familiar to any one
+acquainted with the modern French system of free elementary schools,
+boarding _colléges_ and _lycèes_, and the system of competitive
+scholarships and fellowships of the French. But it was not fully
+developed in France before the Third Republic and it was not even
+dreamed of before the Revolution. Many times the French have been
+criticized for the undemocratic features of an educational system which
+reserves secondary education to those who are able to pay and to the
+small number of children who win scholarships. There is no possibility
+that this scheme was ever borrowed by Jefferson from any French
+theorician, and there is, on the contrary, some reason to believe that
+in France it owes its beginning to the publication of Jefferson's plan
+in the "Notes on Virginia" printed in Paris and in French in 1786.
+
+The educational structure of the State would not have been complete if
+Jefferson had not provided for a reorganization of William and Mary
+College. Such is the purpose of the next bill (Bill LXXX) in the Report
+of the Committee of Revisors. There he was more ruthless and more
+radical. After a first section which recounts the foundation of the
+college and its history, Jefferson concluded that "the said college,
+thus amply endowed by the public has not answered their expectation, and
+there is reason to hope, that it would become more useful, if certain
+articles in its constitution were altered and amended." By one stroke
+of the pen, Jefferson abolished the school of theology, took the
+administration out of the hands of the former trustees to place it in
+the hands of visitors appointed by the Legislature and "not to be
+restrained in their legislation by the royal prerogatives, or the laws
+of the kingdom of England, or the canons of the constitution of the
+English Church, as enjoined in the Charter." The president and faculty
+were to be dismissed, and six professorships created; to wit, one of
+moral law and police; one of history, civil and ecclesiastical; one of
+anatomy and medicine; one of natural philosophy and natural history; one
+of the ancient languages Oriental and northern; and one of modern
+languages.--
+
+  A missionary will be appointed to the several tribes of the Indians,
+  whose business will be to investigate their laws, customs, religion,
+  traditions, and more particularly their languages, constructing
+  grammar thereof, as well as may be, and copious vocabularies, and on
+  oath to communicate, from time to time, to the said President and
+  Professors the material he collects.
+
+Thus the college was to become the training school in which "those who
+are to be the future guardians of the rights and liberties of their
+country may be endowed with science and virtue, to watch and preserve
+the sacred deposit." It was not a democratic institution, but the
+finishing school of the future legislators and experts in the science of
+government.
+
+As to disinterested "researches of the learned and curious", they were
+to be encouraged by the establishment at Richmond of a Free Public
+Library with yearly appropriation of two thousand pounds for the
+purchase of books and maps.
+
+One may state here without any fear of contradiction that no system so
+complete, so logically constructed and so well articulated had ever been
+proposed in any country in the world. It already embodied the ideas for
+which Jefferson stood during all his life, it preceded by more than
+fifteen years the plans of the French Convention. As the first charter
+of American public education it is an astonishing document and deserves
+more attention than it has hitherto received.
+
+The Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Jefferson's opinion
+ranked in importance with the Declaration of Independence. It was not
+intended to be a revolutionary document, but simply a common-sense
+adjustment of the situation brought about by the repeal of several
+provisions of the old Virginia laws. Jefferson took care to explain the
+true purpose of the bill in the "Notes on Virginia" (Query XVII). The
+Virginia Bill of Rights had proclaimed "it to be a truth, and a natural
+right that the exercise of religion should be free." On the other hand,
+no mention of it had been made in the Convention and no measure had been
+adopted to protect religious freedom. The Assembly, however, had
+repealed, in 1776, "all _acts_ of Parliament which had rendered criminal
+the maintaining any opinion in matters of religion", and suspended the
+laws giving salaries to the clergy. This suspension was made perpetual
+in October, 1779. But religious matters still remained subject to common
+law and to acts passed by the Assembly. At Common Law, heresy was a
+capital offence, punishable by burning, according to the writ _de
+haeretico comburando_. Furthermore, by an act of the Assembly of 1705,
+"if a person brought up in the Christian religion denies the being of a
+God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more gods than one, or denies
+the Christian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of divine
+authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold
+any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military: on the
+second by disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian,
+executor, or administrator, and by three years' imprisonment without
+bail."[65]
+
+This being the situation, the article of the Bill of Rights concerning
+religious freedom remained a dead letter until provisions could be made
+to take religious matters out of the jurisdiction of the Common Law.
+
+Historians seem to have been somewhat misled both by the lofty and
+philosophical tone of the Bill for Religious Freedom and the comments
+made by Jefferson in the "Notes on Virginia", specially written by him,
+as we always must remember, for a group of French philosophers and the
+French public. A philosopher he was, but before all he was a purist and
+a historian of law. For him the main question was first to determine
+whether the jurisdiction of the Common Law in matters of religion was
+founded in law. He had already studied minutely the history of Common
+Law and made copious extracts in his "Commonplace Book"; he had noticed
+in Houard's "Coutumes Anglo-Normandes" that some pious copyist had
+prefixed to the laws of Alfred four chapters of Jewish law. "This
+awkward Monkish fabrication makes the preface to Alfred's genuine laws
+stand in the body of the Work; and the very words of Alfred himself form
+the frauds, for he declares in that preface that he has collected these
+laws from those of Ina, of Offa, Ethelbert, and his ancestors, saying
+nothing of any of them being taken from the scripture." Consequently the
+pretended laws of Alfred were a forgery.
+
+  Yet, palpable as it must be to a lawyer, our judges have piously
+  avoided lifting the veil under which it was shrouded. In truth, the
+  alliance between Church and State in England, has ever made their
+  judges accomplices in the frauds of the clergy; and even bolder
+  than they are: for, instead of being contented with these four
+  surreptitious chapters of _Exodus_, they have taken the whole leap,
+  and declared at once, that the whole Bible and Testament, in a lump,
+  make part, of the Common law.... Finally in answer to Fortescue
+  Aland's question why the Common law of England should not now be a
+  part of the Common law of England? We may say that they are not,
+  because they never were made so by legislative authority; the
+  document which imposed that doubt on him being a manifest
+  forgery.[66]
+
+[Illustration: A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S "COMMONPLACE BOOK"
+
+_From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress_]
+
+Bolstered up with his texts, references, and authorities, Jefferson
+could now, if need be, confute the redoubtable Mr. Pendleton in the
+Committee of Revisors, but such a legal technical presentation of the
+facts would evidently not appeal either to the Assembly at large or to
+the public. These had to be approached in an entirely different way; for
+to speak of frauds, forgeries, and monkish fabrication would not do at
+all in a public document and, on the contrary, might create a revulsion
+of feeling. It became necessary to present the reform in an entirely
+different light and Jefferson did so in the first section of the bill.
+
+The phrasing of these lofty principles is well known; still it may not
+be out of place to reproduce them once more:
+
+  Well aware that the opinions of belief of men depend not on their own
+  will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds;
+  that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his
+  supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether
+  susceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by
+  temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend
+  only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness ... to compel a man to
+  furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which
+  he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical;... that our
+  civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more
+  than our opinions in physics or geometry;... that the opinions of men
+  are not the object of civil government.
+
+In Section II, after that preamble, the religious independence of the
+individual was proclaimed:
+
+  We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be
+  compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or
+  ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested,
+  or burthened in his body or goods, or shall otherwise suffer, on
+  account of his religious opinions or beliefs; but that all men shall
+  be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in
+  matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,
+  enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
+
+Furthermore, in the first section, Jefferson gave the first and final
+expression of his understanding of freedom of thought:
+
+  That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government
+  for its offices to interfere when principles break out into overt
+  acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great
+  and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and
+  sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the
+  conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural
+  weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous
+  when it is permitted freely to contradict them.
+
+It is not surprising that the bill was savagely attacked in the Assembly
+and did not pass until 1786. It simply shows that the Church of England
+had more supporters than Jefferson led us to believe, when he wrote in
+the "Notes on Virginia" that "two-thirds of the people had become
+dissenters at the commencement of the present revolution." The remaining
+third, if such was the proportion, were at least well organized and
+offered a strong resistance. This bill marked the beginning of the
+accusations of impiety and infidelity so often launched at Jefferson.
+Whatever his private sentiments on the matter may have been, he was not
+the man to discriminate against any one because of religious beliefs;
+and at the very time when he was engaged in preparing his bill, he took
+the initiative of starting a subscription towards the support of the
+Reverend Mr. Charles Clay of Williamsburg. The document, never before
+published, is entirely written in his hand and is of such importance
+that I may be permitted to reproduce it here:
+
+  Whereas, by an act of General assembly, freedom of Religious opinion
+  and worship is restored to all, and it is left to the members of
+  each religious society to employ such Teachers they think fit for
+  their own Spiritual comfort and instruction and to maintain the same
+  by their free and voluntary contributions. We the subscribers
+  (professing the most Catholic affection for other religious sectaries
+  who happen to differ from us in points of conscience,) yet desirous
+  of encouraging and supporting (a church in our opinion so truly
+  Apostolick as) the Protestant Episcopalian Church, and of deriving to
+  ourselves, through the ministry of it's teachers, the benefits of
+  Gospel-knowledge and Religious improvement, and at the same time of
+  supporting those, who, having been at considerable expence in
+  qualifying themselves by regular education for explaining the holy
+  scriptures, have dedicated their time and labor to the service of the
+  said church (and moreover approving highly the conduct of the rev^d
+  Charles Clay, who early rejecting the tyrant and tyranny of Britain,
+  proved his religion genuine by its harmony with the liberties of
+  mankind and conforming his public prayers to the spirit and the
+  injured rights of his country, addressed the god of battles for
+  victory to our arms, while others impiously prayed that our enemies
+  might vainquish and overcome us) do hereby oblige ourselves our heirs
+  executors and administrators on or before the 25th day of December in
+  this present year 1777, and likewise on or before the 25th day of
+  December in every year following until we shall withdraw our
+  subscription in open vestry, or until the legislature shall make
+  other provision for the support of the said clergy, to pay to the
+  (reverend) said Charles Clay of Albemarle his executor or
+  administrators the several sums affixed to our respective names: in
+  Consideration whereof we expect that the said Charles Clay shall
+  perform divine service and preach a sermon in the town of
+  Charlottesville on every fourth Sunday, or oftener, if a regular
+  rotation with the other churches that shall have put themselves under
+  his care will admit a more frequent attendence.
+
+  And we further mutually agree with each other that we will meet at
+  Charlottesville on the 1^{st} day of March in the present year, and
+  on the second Thursday in ---- in every year following so long as we
+  continue our subscriptions and there make choice by ballot of three
+  wardens to collect our said subscriptions, to take care of such books
+  and vestments as shall be provided for the use of our church, to
+  call meetings of our Congregation when necessary, and to transact
+  such other business relating to our Congregation as we shall
+  hereafter confide to them.
+
+  Th. Jefferson, six pounds; Jno Harvie, four pounds; Randolph
+  Jefferson, two pounds ten schillings; Thos. Garth, fifteen
+  schillings; Philip Mazzei, sixteen schillings eight pence.[67]
+
+Far more important than the local reception of the revised laws, since
+most of them were adopted only years later, and thanks to the efforts of
+Madison, during the sessions of 1785 and 1786, is the fact that
+Jefferson had already formulated at that time for himself and his fellow
+citizens the most essential principles of his doctrine. He was not
+unaware of this, and stated it himself in his "Autobiography" when he
+declared: "I considered four of these bills, passed or reported as
+forming a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of ancient or
+future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a government truly
+republican."[68]
+
+The ideal government he had in mind at the time could perhaps be
+described as a democracy, but he did not use the word himself, not even
+many years later in his "Autobiography" where he simply spoke of "a
+government truly republican." He was much opposed to the perpetuation of
+an hereditary landed gentry, but I do not see that he would have
+approved or even conceived the possibility of a government placed
+entirely under the control of unenlightened men. The Bill for the more
+General Diffusion of Knowledge makes clear that only through a liberal
+education can men be "rendered worthy to receive and able to guard the
+sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens",
+and the Bill for Amending the Charter of William and Mary proclaims
+even more emphatically that the old college must "become the seminary,
+in which those who are to be the future guardians of the rights of
+liberty of their country may be endowed with science and virtue, to
+watch and preserve the sacred deposit." Jefferson was a friend of the
+people, but no admirer and no flatterer of the "plain people", nor did
+he entertain any illusion about their participation in all the forms of
+government. For the present it was enough, as he wrote in the
+"Autobiography", if they were qualified through elementary education "to
+exercise with intelligence _their_ parts in self-Government." If he
+rebelled against aristocracy of wealth, he would have reacted with equal
+vehemence against mob tyranny. Neither was he radical enough to admit
+_propagandistes par le fait_ and to forbid society the right to
+intervene "when principles break out into overt acts against peace and
+good order." (Bill for Religious Freedom.) For freedom of speech does
+not entail freedom of action: and the civil rights or rights of compacts
+are necessarily subject to civil regulations.
+
+It is easily seen now that Jefferson so far remained perfectly
+consistent, and followed in practice the distinction between natural
+rights and rights of compact he had established in order to clarify his
+own mind, in the meditation quoted at the end of the preceding chapter.
+If this theory is accepted, it is evident that society being founded
+upon a legal compact, the ideal form of government is one in which both
+parties, the individual on the one hand and society on the other,
+scrupulously live up to its terms. A breach of contract can no more be
+condoned in the individual than in society. On the other hand, natural
+rights remain always truly "inalienable" and apart from civil rights.
+When any individual comes to the conclusion that the sacrifice he has
+made of certain rights in order to enjoy more security is not
+compensated for by sufficient advantages, he has the right to denounce
+the compact: hence the right of expatriation always so energetically
+maintained by Jefferson. This is the very reason why Jefferson could not
+and did not blame John Randolph for going to England in August, 1775,
+since "the situation of the country had rendered it not eligible to him
+to remain longer in it." Thus the conflict seen by so many political
+philosophers between man and society disappears entirely. The individual
+cannot stand against society when he is free to break the social bond at
+any time--nor can society oppress the individual without endangering its
+very existence. Such a theory was more than a "philosophical
+construction." It was largely based upon facts and observation; it
+expressed the current political philosophy of the colonies. It was
+eminently the juridistic explanation of the pioneer spirit.
+
+Granting what is undoubtedly true, that Jefferson aroused antagonism and
+enmities in the Assembly, he certainly had also his admirers and
+followers. If the prophet had preached in the desert, he would not have
+gained the prompt recognition that came to him when he was chosen
+Governor of Virginia, the first of June, 1779, to succeed Patrick Henry.
+He was then thirty-six years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA--THE "NOTES ON VIRGINIA"
+
+
+Jefferson served two years as Governor of the Commonwealth and when he
+wrote his "Autobiography" he gave only a short paragraph to this episode
+of his eventful career, referring for more details to Girardin's
+continuation of Burk's "History of Virginia." The student of law, the
+erudite jurist, and classical scholar was by the choice of the Assembly
+entrusted with the duties and responsibilities of a war chief, and it
+cannot be said that Jefferson enjoyed the experience. The duties of
+governor were not only exacting but almost impossible to fulfill
+satisfactorily. For more than two years, Virginia, without money, with a
+poorly equipped militia reënforced with an inadequate number of Federal
+troops, had been overrun by the enemy and had known all the atrocities
+of the war. The governor had to honor the continuous requests of the
+general in chief for more ammunition, more equipment and provision, and
+at the same time had to keep under arms, and as much as possible in
+fighting condition, militiamen anxious to go back to their farms for the
+harvest or the plowing, so as to protect the territory of the State
+against the raids of the invader and prevent Indian uprisings on the
+western border. Last, but not least, he had to take into consideration
+the general attitude of the people of the State and the measures adopted
+by the legislature. Jefferson's correspondence with Lafayette during the
+first months of 1781 is most illuminating in this respect. When, after
+Arnold's treason, Lafayette was sent by Washington to apprehend the
+traitor and give some assistance to the Old Dominion, he found that
+there were neither boats, wagons, nor horses to carry his equipment from
+Head of Elk to the siege of operations. The treasury was empty, the
+Assembly most chary in granting impressment warrants, and practically
+all the governor could offer in the way of help was his unlimited good
+will. Lafayette had to use oxen for his artillery and to mount cannon on
+barges; but even after powers of impressment were granted to the
+Marquis, Jefferson had to remind him of the necessity of not impressing
+stallions or brood mares, so as not to kill the "goose with the golden
+eggs."[69]
+
+Jefferson's attitude in these critical circumstances reveal his true
+character to a degree, and without entering into a detailed account of
+the campaign, a few illustrations may be included here. It may be
+remembered that four thousand British troops, taken prisoners at the
+battle of Saratoga, had been ordered by Congress to Charlottesville. The
+problem of housing and feeding them soon became acute, and Jefferson was
+called upon to assist in finding a proper solution. The life imposed
+upon the captive soldiers was comparatively mild. Barracks were erected,
+while the officers, well provided with money, rented houses in the
+vicinity of the camp and bought some of the finest horses in Virginia.
+For most of them the Charlottesville captivity was a very pleasant
+_villégiature_. On the other hand, some of the inhabitants did not view
+without alarm this sudden increase in the population of the county, and
+application was made to Governor Patrick Henry to have at least part of
+the prisoners removed to another section of the State. This, according
+to Jefferson, would have been a breach of faith, since the articles of
+capitulation provided that the officers should not be separated from
+their men. On this occasion he wrote a very vehement letter to the
+governor, March 27, 1779, protesting that such a measure "would suppose
+a possibility that humanity was kicked out of doors in America, and
+interest only attended to." Yet the governor could not entirely neglect
+interested consideration, and Jefferson once more revealed that curious
+mixture of high principles and hard, practical common sense, to which we
+already called attention. He was aware that the circulation of money was
+increased by the presence of these troops "at the rate of $30,000 a week
+at least." The rich planters, "being more generally sellers than
+buyers", were greatly benefited by these unexpected customers, although
+the poor people were much displeased by inroads made by them upon the
+amount of supplies and provisions available in the county.
+
+Never were prisoners better treated or made more welcome, and if
+Jefferson reflected the feelings of his neighbors there was no animosity
+against the soldiers in the field:
+
+  The great cause which divides our countries is not to be decided by
+  individual animosities. The harmony of private societies cannot
+  weaken national efforts. To contribute by neighbourly intercourse and
+  attention to make others happy is the shortest and surest way of
+  being happy ourselves. As these sentiments seem to have directed your
+  conduct, we should be as unwise as illiberal, were we not to preserve
+  the same temper of mind.[70]
+
+Truly this was a war of philosophers and gentlemen, and the courtly
+generals of Louis XV would not have expressed more elegantly their
+consideration for the enemy. Jefferson's declaration was no mere
+gesture, for he struck up lasting friendships with several of the
+prisoners. He was particularly interested in a young German officer,
+Louis de Unger, who showed a remarkable talent for philosophy, in Baron
+de Geismer with whom he kept up a correspondence for more than ten
+years,[71] and in Major General Baron de Riedesel who, with his wife,
+was a frequent guest at Monticello. To many of them Jefferson opened
+his house, his library, and his dining room. He discussed philosophy and
+agriculture with them, played duets on his violin, and sincerely
+regretted the loss of that pleasant society when he had to leave after
+his appointment as governor.[72]
+
+Yet a sterner trait in his character was soon to be revealed. While the
+British prisoners were described as "having thus found the art of
+rendering captivity itself comfortable, and carried to execution, at
+their own great expense and labor, their spirits sustained by the
+prospect of gratifications rising before their eyes", the American
+prisoners and noncombatants were receiving harsher treatment at the
+hands of the British. War had become particularly atrocious after Indian
+tribes had been encouraged to attack the insurgents, and this was an
+offense that Jefferson could not condone. When Governor Hamilton of
+Kaskakias, with his two lieutenants, Dejean and Lamothe, who had
+distinguished themselves by their harsh policy, surrendered to Clark and
+were brought to Virginia, Jefferson ordered them confined in the dungeon
+of the public jail, put in irons and kept incommunicado. On General
+Philips' protest Jefferson wrote to Washington to ask him for advice,
+but added that in his opinion these prisoners were common criminals and
+that he could "find nothing in Books usually recurred to as testimonials
+of the Laws and usages of nature and nations which convicts the opinion
+I have above expressed of error."[73] To Guy Carleton, Governor of
+Canada, he answered that "we think ourselves justified in Governor
+Hamilton's strick confinement on the general principle of National
+retaliation", and no punishment was too severe for a man who had
+employed "Indian savages whose known rule of warfare is an
+indiscriminate butchery of men, women and children."[74]
+
+When a few weeks later, upon Washington's request, the irons were taken
+from the prisoners and a parole offered to them, Jefferson obeyed very
+reluctantly and informed the general that "they objected to that part of
+it which restrained them from _saying_ anything to the prejudice of the
+United States" and insisted on "freedom of speech"; they were in
+consequence remanded to their confinement in the jail, "which must be
+considered as a voluntary one until they can determine with themselves
+to be inoffensive in words as well as deeds."[75]
+
+Even when the prisoners were freed, Jefferson wrote again to Washington:
+
+  I shall give immediate orders for having in readiness every engine
+  which the Enemy have contrived for the destruction of our unhappy
+  citizens captivated by them. The presentiment of these operations is
+  shocking beyond expression. I pray heaven to avert them: but nothing
+  in this world will do it but a proper conduct in the Enemy. In every
+  event I shall resign myself to the hard necessity under which I shall
+  act.[76]
+
+Writing the same day to Colonel George Mathews, Jefferson defined with
+more precision what he understood by these "operations" when he declared
+that "iron will be retaliated by iron, prison ships by prison ships, and
+like for like in general."[77]
+
+The faults of his own people did not find him any weaker, for he
+declared: "I would use any powers I have for the punishment of any
+officer of our own who should be guilty of excesses injustifiable under
+the usages of civilized nations." He was not slow either in punishing
+mutineers, in having the ringleaders seized in their beds "singly and
+without noise" and in recommending cavalry, "as men on horseback have
+been found the most certain Instrument of public punishment."[78]
+
+This trait of Jefferson's character, hardly ever noticed, was no passing
+mood. It was little apparent in ordinary circumstances, but it was to
+reappear with the same stern inflexibility during the prosecution of
+Aaron Burr twenty-five years later. The dreamer, the theorist, the
+"philosopher" does not appear in the letters written by Jefferson during
+his governorship. He was punctual, attentive to details and careful to
+abide by the measures taken by the legislature. Yet he was subjected to
+bitter criticism and a sort of legend grew up about his lack of
+efficiency. He was approaching the end of his second term, which expired
+on June 2, 1781, and the legislature, feeling that the present danger
+required desperate action, was thinking of appointing a temporary
+dictator. Although most decidedly opposed to the creation of such an
+office, Jefferson believed that the appointment of a military leader was
+highly desirable (Letter to Washington, May 28), and according to his
+wishes General Nelson in command of the State troops was elected in his
+place. But before the Assembly could come to a decision an unexpected
+incident happened. It has been related at great length, and I am afraid
+with some embellishments, by Randall, who reconstructed it from
+Jefferson's papers and from the family traditions. Virginia was
+literally overrun by the enemy, and the raids of the British cavalry
+were a common occurrence. During one of these raids Tarleton attempted
+to capture the legislature and almost succeeded in taking the governor.
+The account of the incident, as I found it written by Jefferson, is far
+less picturesque, but probably more reliable than the highly colored
+narration of the biographer:
+
+  This was the state of things when, his office having expired on the
+  2^d June, & his successor not yet in place, Col. Tarlton, with his
+  regiment of horse, was detached by L. Cornwallis, to surprise him
+  (supposed to be still governor) & the legislature now sitting in
+  Charlottesville, the Speakers of the two houses, & some other members
+  of the legislature, were lodging with him at Monticello. Tarleton,
+  early in the morning of June 4. when within 10 miles of that place,
+  detached a company of horse to secure him & his guests, & proceeded
+  himself rapidly with his main body to Charlottesville, where he hoped
+  to find the legislature unapprised of his movement. notice of it
+  however had been brought both to Monticello & Charlottesville about
+  sunrise, by a Mr Jouett from Louisa, who seeing them pass his
+  father's house in the evening of the 3.^d and riding through the
+  night along by-ways, brought the notice. The Speakers, with their
+  Colleagues returned to Charlottesville, & with the other members of
+  the legislature, had barely time to get out of the way.[79]
+
+A few days later Jefferson left Amherst and returned to Monticello which
+he found practically undamaged; it was then that, riding to Poplar
+Forest, he was thrown from his horse and so seriously hurt that he could
+not ride horseback for several months. Shortly afterwards he learned
+that some members of the legislature, probably irked by the humiliation
+of having fled before the British raiders, not once, but several times,
+were not unwilling to accuse the governor of having neglected to take
+proper measures of defense. As I have found nowhere any indication to
+contradict Jefferson's account of the incident, it had better be given
+here in his simple words:
+
+  I returned to Monticello July 26. & learning some time after that Mr
+  George Nicholas, than a young man, just entered into the legislature
+  proposed to institute some enquiry into my conduct before the
+  legislature, a member from my county vacated his seat, & the county
+  elected me, in his room, that I might vindicate myself on the floor
+  of the house. thro' the intervention of a friend, I obtained from Mr.
+  Nicholas a written note of the charges he proposed to bring forward &
+  I furnished him in return the heads of the answers I should make. on
+  the day appointed for hearing his charges he withdrew from the house;
+  & no other undertaking to bring them forward, I did it myself in my
+  place, from his paper, answering them verbatim to the house. the
+  members had been witnesses themselves to all the material facts, and
+  passed an unanimous vote of approbation, which may be seen on their
+  journals. Mr. Nicholas was an honest and honorable man, & took a
+  conspicuous occasion, many years after, of his own free will, & when
+  the matter was entirely at rest, to retract publicly the erroneous
+  opinions he had been led into on that occasion, and to make just
+  reparation by a candid acknowledgment of them.[80]
+
+This unfortunate incident revealed another fundamental trait of
+Jefferson's character,--his total incapacity to accept public criticism
+with equanimity. It was not until December 19, 1781, that he had the
+opportunity of presenting his case before the legislature and of
+receiving the vote of thanks intended "to obviate and remove all
+unmerited censure." In the meantime, and because he did not wish to
+leave a free field to his enemies, he had to decline a new appointment
+from Congress, when on the fifteenth of June he was designated to join
+the four American plenipotentiaries already in Europe. The letter was
+transmitted through Lafayette, and to Lafayette alone Jefferson confided
+his deep mortification at having to
+
+  lose an opportunity, the only one I ever had and perhaps ever shall
+  have, of combining public service with public gratification, of
+  seeing countries whose improvements in science, in arts and
+  civilization it has been my fortune to admire at a distance but never
+  to see and at the same time of lending further aid to a cause which
+  has been handed on from it's first organization to its present stage
+  by every effort of which my poor faculties were capable. These
+  however have not been such as to give satisfaction to some of my
+  countrymen & it has become necessary for me to remain in the state
+  till a later period, in the present year than is consistent with an
+  acceptance of what has been offered me.[81]
+
+A letter written to Edmund Randolph hints at other considerations which
+"that one being removed, might prevent my acceptance." The family
+record shows that Mrs. Jefferson was then expecting a child who was born
+on November, 1781, and died in April of the following year. Jefferson
+himself was far from being well and had not yet recovered from his
+accident; but there is little doubt that he would have gladly seized the
+opportunity to fulfill one of his earliest dreams and to visit Europe,
+had he been free to go. However this may be, it was on this occasion
+that he reiterated once more, but not for the last time, his wish to
+return entirely and definitively to private life:
+
+  Were it possible for me to determine again to enter into public
+  business there is no appointment whatever which would have been so
+  agreeable to me. But I have taken my final leave of everything of
+  that nature. I have retired to my farm, my family and books from
+  which I think nothing will evermore separate me. A desire to leave
+  public office with a reputation not more blotted than it deserved
+  will oblige me to emerge at the next session of our assembly &
+  perhaps to accept of a seat in it, but as I go with a single object,
+  I shall withdraw when that has been accomplished.[82]
+
+I must confess that Jefferson's determination can scarcely be understood
+or excused. He was not yet forty and, for a man of that age, his
+achievements were unusual and many, but he had by no means outlived his
+usefulness or fulfilled the tasks he had mapped out for himself. Even
+supposing he had done enough for the United States and did not feel any
+ambition to return to Congress, there was much to be done in Virginia.
+For one thing the war was not over and the situation of his native
+State, his "country", as he still called it, was as precarious as ever.
+Even supposing the war to be of short duration and destined to end in
+victory, the work of reconstruction loomed considerable upon the
+horizon. Not only had plantations been burned, houses destroyed, cattle
+killed off, Negroes decimated in many places, but the financial
+resources of Virginia were nil, the currency depreciated and valueless.
+Above all, republican institutions were far from secure, Jefferson was
+not at all satisfied with the Constitution as adopted, there remained
+many bills on the Revised Laws to be presented, defended, and approved.
+The laws adopted so far might have laid the foundations of true
+republican government, but the task was still enormous. Was Jefferson
+irritated and despondent at the ingratitude of his fellow citizens who
+had not rejected at once the charges made by Nicholas? Was he so alarmed
+by the health of his wife that he did not feel that he could leave her
+even for a few days? Was he not rather a victim of overwork and
+overexertion? He had been severely shaken by his accident and seems to
+have suffered at the time a sort of nervous breakdown, for on October
+28, 1781, when writing to Washington to congratulate him on Cornwallis'
+capitulation at Yorktown he deplores the "state of perpetual
+decrepitude" to which he is unfortunately reduced and which prevents him
+from greeting Washington personally.
+
+Several of his best friends were unable to understand or condone his
+retirement. Madison himself wrote to Edmund Randolph:[83]
+
+  Great as my partiality is to Mr. Jefferson, the mode in which he
+  seems determined to revenge the wrong received from his country does
+  not appear to me to be dictated either by philosophy or patriotism.
+  It argues, indeed, a keen sensibility and strong consciousness of
+  rectitude. But his sensibility ought to be as great towards the
+  relenting as the misdoings of the Legislature, not to mention the
+  injustice of visiting the faults of this body on their innocent
+  constituents.
+
+Monroe, ardent friend and admirer of Jefferson's, was even more direct
+when writing to acquaint his "master" with the criticism aroused by his
+retirement. To which Jefferson answered with a letter in which he poured
+out the bitterness of his heart. He first recited all his different
+reasons for making his choice; the fact that after scrutinizing his
+heart he had found that every fiber of political ambition had been
+eradicated; that he had the right to withdraw after having been engaged
+thirteen years in public service; that his family required his
+attention; that he had to attend to his private affairs. But the true
+reasons came only in the next paragraph:
+
+  That however I might have comforted myself under the disapprobation
+  of the well-meaning but uninformed people, yet that of their
+  representatives was a shock on which I had not calculated.... I felt
+  that these injuries, for such they have been since acknowledged, had
+  inflicted a wound on my spirit which only will be cured by the
+  all-healing grave.
+
+The man who wrote these lines had an epidermis far too sensitive to
+permit him to engage in politics and least of all in local politics.
+Jefferson in these particular circumstances forgot the lesson of his old
+friends the Greek and Latin philosophers--truly he was no Roman.
+
+Yet we cannot regret very deeply Jefferson's determination to retire
+from public life at that time, since to his retirement we owe his most
+extensive literary composition, one of the first masterpieces of
+American literature. During the spring of 1781 he had received from the
+secretary of the French legation, Barbé-Marbois, a long questionnaire on
+the present conditions of Virginia. During his forced inactivity, he
+drew up a first draft which was sent to Marbois, but extensively
+corrected and enlarged during the following winter. A few manuscript
+copies were distributed to close friends, but the "Notes on Virginia"
+were not published until 1787 and after they had been rather poorly
+translated into French by Abbé Morellet.[84]
+
+No other document is so valuable for a complete conspectus of
+Jefferson's mind and theories at that time. But two important
+observations must be made at the very outset. First of all the "Notes"
+were not intended for publication, and as late as 1785 Jefferson wrote
+to Chastellux that:
+
+  the strictures on slavery and on the constitution of Virginia ... are
+  the parts I do not wish to have made public, at least till I know
+  whether their publication would do most harm or good. It is possible
+  that in my own country these strictures might produce an irritation
+  which would indispose the people towards the two great objects I have
+  in view, that is the emancipation of their slaves & the settlement of
+  their constitution on a firmer and more permanent basis.[85]
+
+The second point is that the "Notes" were written for the use of a
+foreigner of distinction, in answer to certain queries proposed by him.
+Jefferson, therefore, is not responsible either for the plan of the
+work, or the distribution into chapters, and he necessarily had to go
+into more details than if he had written solely for his fellow
+countrymen.
+
+The twenty-three Queries cover such an enormous range of information and
+contain such a mass of facts that it would have been physically
+impossible for any one to complete the work in so short a time, if it
+had been an impromptu investigation. We can accept without hesitation
+the statement of the "Autobiography" on the methods of composition
+employed in the "Notes":
+
+  I had always made a practice whenever an opportunity occurred of
+  obtaining any information of our country, which might be of use
+  in any station public or private to commit it to writing. These
+  memoranda were on loose papers, bundled up without order, and
+  difficult of recurrence when I had occasion for a particular one.
+  I thought this a good occasion to embody their substance, which I
+  did in the order of Mr. Marbois' queries, so as to answer his wish
+  and to arrange them for my own use.
+
+The book was printed in France, in England, in Germany, and went through
+many editions in America. It probably did more than any other
+publication to propagate the doctrine of Americanism, for, in his
+retreat of Monticello, Jefferson formulated the creed and gave final
+expression to the hopes, aspirations, and feelings that were to govern
+his country for several generations. It also gives a complete picture of
+the mind of Jefferson at that date, when he thought he had accomplished
+the task assigned to him and felt he could stop to take stock, not
+merely of his native "country", but of the whole United States of
+America.
+
+Unimaginative, unpoetical, unwilling to express personal emotions as he
+was, he had always been deeply moved by certain natural scenes. His
+description of the Natural Bridge, the site of which he owned, is well
+remembered.
+
+  You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet,
+  and peep over it. Looking down from this height about a minute, gave
+  me a violent head ache. If the view from the top be painful and
+  intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme. It is
+  impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime to be felt
+  beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so
+  light, and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of the
+  spectator is really indescribable!
+
+The "passage of the Patowmac through the Blue ridge" is even more
+famous, and the broad, peaceful, almost infinite scene is painted by the
+hand of a master:
+
+  It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and
+  delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being
+  cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small
+  catch of small blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain
+  country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring
+  around, to pass through the breach to the calm below.
+
+Only Bartram a few years later, and Chateaubriand at the beginning of
+the next century, with much longer and more elaborate descriptions,
+could equal or surpass these few strokes of description. Jefferson was
+truly the first to discover and depict to Europeans the beauty of
+American natural scenery, and to proclaim with genuine American pride
+that "this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic--and is perhaps
+one of the most stupendous in nature." It matters little that he
+followed Voltaire in the origin of fossils, to decide timidly in 1787
+that we must be contented to acknowledge that "this great phenomenon is
+as yet unsolved." I shall not even remark on the completeness and
+exactness of his list of plants, "medicinal, esculent, ornamental or
+useful for fabrication", of which he gives the popular names as well as
+the _Linnæan_, "as the latter might not convey precise information to a
+foreigner", or on his list "of the quadrupeds of North America"; nor
+shall I mention his long dissertation on "the bones of Mamoths" found on
+the North American continent and his refutation of Buffon. Far more
+interesting is his protest against the assertion of the great French
+naturalist that "the animals common both to the old and new world are
+smaller in the latter, that those peculiar to the new are in a smaller
+scale, that those which have been domesticated in both have degenerated
+in America." He composed with much tabulation a complete refutation of
+Buffon's error, and demonstrated that plants as well as animals reached
+a development hitherto unknown under the new conditions and the
+favorable circumstances of the American climate.
+
+When it came to the aborigines, he had little to say of the South
+American Indians, but of North American Indians he could speak "somewhat
+from his own knowledge" as well as from the observations of others
+better acquainted with them and on whose truth and judgment he could
+rely.
+
+  Not only they are well formed in body and in mind as the _homo
+  sapiens Europaeus_, but from what we know of their eloquence it is of
+  a superior lustre.... I may challenge the whole orations of
+  Demosthenes and Cicero, and of many more prominent orators, if
+  Europe has furnished any more eminent, to produce a single passage,
+  superior to the speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore when
+  Governor of this State.
+
+But his temper was thoroughly aroused when he discovered that Abbé
+Raynal had undertaken to apply the theory of Buffon to the white men who
+had settled in America.
+
+  If this were true and if climateric conditions were such as to
+  prevent mental and physical growth there would be little hope for the
+  newly constituted country to ever become a great nation. Nature
+  itself pronouncing against the Americans what chance could they have
+  to be able to ever come up to the level of the older nations.
+  Sentenced to remain forever an inferior race, this struggle to
+  conquer independence would have proved futile, and sooner or later,
+  they would fall the prey of superior people.
+
+Never before had Jefferson been so deeply stirred and moved, never
+before had he felt so thoroughly American as in his spirited answer to
+Raynal, when he claimed for the new-born country not only unlimited
+potentialities, but actual superiority over the mother country:
+
+  "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 Shakespeare 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 poet. But neither has America
+  produced "one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art
+  or science." In war we have produced a Washington, whose memory will
+  be adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name will 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 phaenomena of nature.... As in philosophy and war, so in
+  government, in oratory, in painting, in the plastic arts, 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 action, 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 her full share....
+  The present war having so long cut off all communications with Great
+  Britain, we are not able to make a fair estimate of the state of
+  science in the country. The spirit in which she wages war, is the
+  only sample before our eyes, and that does not seem the legitimate
+  offspring either of science or civilization. The sun of her glory is
+  fast descending to the horizon. Her Philosophy has crossed her
+  channel, her freedom the Atlantic, and herself seems passing to that
+  awful dissolution whose issue is not given human foresight to scan.
+
+This is the fullest and most complete expression of national
+consciousness and national pride yet uttered by Jefferson. The American
+eagle was spreading her wing and preparing to fly by herself. The
+American transcended the Virginian and looked confidently at the future.
+
+In Query VIII, we come again to a question of national importance. The
+country being what it is, it would take at least one hundred years for
+Virginia to reach the present square-mile population of Great Britain.
+The question then arises whether a larger population being desirable,
+the State should not encourage foreigners to settle in as large numbers
+as possible. To unrestricted immigration, Jefferson, fearful for the
+integrity of the racial stock, fearful also for the maintenance of
+institutions so hardly won and yet so precariously established, was
+unequivocally opposed. In a most remarkable passage he stated the very
+reasons that after him were to be put forth again and again, until a
+policy of selective and restrictive immigration was finally adopted. I
+would not say that he was a hundred and fifty years ahead of his time,
+but a hundred and fifty years ago he formulated with his usual "felicity
+of expression", feelings and forebodings which existed more or less
+confusedly in many minds. When he spoke thus he was more of a spokesman
+than a prophet of America:
+
+  Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours perhaps
+  are more peculiar than those of any other in the universe. It is a
+  composition of the freest principles of the English constitution,
+  with others derived from natural right and natural reason. To these
+  nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies.
+  Yet from such we are to expect the greatest number of immigrants.
+  They will bring with them the principles of the governments they
+  leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able to throw them off,
+  it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as
+  is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were
+  they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These
+  principles, with their language, they will transmit to their
+  children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us the
+  legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its
+  directions, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted
+  mass.... Is it not safer to wait with patience 27 years and three
+  months longer for the attainment of any degree of population desired
+  or expected? May not our government be more homogeneous, more
+  peaceable, more durable? Suppose 20 millions of republican Americans
+  [were] thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the
+  condition of that kingdom? If it would be more turbulent, less happy,
+  less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of
+  foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect
+  here.... I mean not that these doubts should be extended to the
+  importation of useful artificers.... Spare no expence in obtaining
+  them. They will after a time go to the plough and to the hoe; but in
+  the mean time they will teach us something we do not know.
+
+Everything is there! That America is essentially and should remain an
+Anglo-Saxon civilization; the fear that unassimilated immigration may
+corrupt the institutions of the country and bring into it uneradicable
+germs of absolutism; the admission even that America needs a certain
+class of immigrants, of specialists to develop new arts and new
+industries. In 1781, Jefferson was not only an American, but a hundred
+per cent. American, and the sentiments he expressed then were to reëcho
+in the halls of Congress through the following generations whenever the
+question was discussed.
+
+The government as it was presently organized was far from perfect--it
+even had "very capital defects in it." First of all, it was not a truly
+representative government since, owing to the representation by
+counties, it happened that fourteen thousand men living in one part of
+the country gave law to upwards of thirty thousand living in another; in
+spite of the theoretical separation of powers, all the powers of
+government, legislature, executive, and judiciary, were vested in the
+legislative body. "The concentrating these in the same hands is
+precisely the definition of despotic government." Assuming that the
+present legislators of Virginia were perfectly honest and disinterested,
+it would not be very long before a change might come, for "mankind soon
+learn to make interested uses of every right and power which they
+possess, or may assume."
+
+  "With money we will get men," said Caesar, "and with men we will get
+  money." ... They should look forward to a time, and that not a
+  distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country from which
+  we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of the government,
+  and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will
+  purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human
+  nature is the same in every side of the Atlantic and will be alike
+  influenced by the same causes. The time to guard against corruptions
+  and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold of us.
+
+Before proceeding any further, it may be well to pause, in order to
+analyze more carefully these statements of Jefferson's. It will soon
+appear that they do not form a perfectly logical construction and are
+not part of an _a priori_ system. He had proclaimed his faith in the
+ultimate recognition of truth, but he did not believe that unaided truth
+should necessarily prevail, for human nature being very imperfect, very
+narrow and very selfish, the best institutions have a permanent tendency
+to degenerate. Jefferson had already clearly in mind the famous maxim
+"eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." It is this curious
+combination of unshakable faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and
+healthy pessimism as to the present possibilities, that distinguishes
+Jefferson from the "closet politicians" and theoretical philosophers. It
+is an alliance of the contraries which seems absurd to many Frenchmen,
+but is often found in English statesmen, and is probably more common in
+America than in any other nation. In this respect as in many others
+Jefferson was typically American.
+
+His criticism of the legislature came clearly from two different
+motives. He attempted first of all to demonstrate to himself that the
+Assembly that had listened to charges against him was not a truly
+representative body, not only because the attribution of two delegates
+to each county, irrespective of the population, was iniquitous, but also
+because, owing to emergencies, the Assembly had come to decide
+themselves what number would constitute a quorum. Thus an oligarchy or
+even a monarchy could finally be substituted for a regular assembly by
+almost imperceptible transitions. "_Omnia mala exempla a bonis orta
+sunt; sed ubi imperium ad ignaros aut minus bonos pervenit novum illud
+exemplum ab dignis et idoneis ad indignos et non idoneos fertur._"
+
+This is nothing but a re-affirmation of the aristocratic doctrine of the
+"Literary Bible." Once more, the aristocrat of mind revolts, for "when
+power is placed in the hands of men who are ignorant or not so good, it
+may be taken from those who are deserving and truly noble to be
+transferred to unworthy and ignoble men." This is the constant
+undercurrent which runs through Jefferson's political theories and
+unexpectedly reappears at the surface from time to time. A government of
+the best minds, elected by a populace sufficiently enlightened to select
+the best minds,--such is at that time Jefferson's ideal of government.
+
+On the other hand his attitude towards dictatorship, as it appears in
+the "Notes on Virginia", is no less significant for a true estimate of
+his character. Unless the views expressed there are carefully considered
+and kept well in mind, we might fall into the common error of
+attributing to some mysterious influence of the French Revolution and
+the French philosophers the opinions expressed by Jefferson on
+presidential tenure, during the debate on the Constitution and his
+famous quarrel with Hamilton. As a matter of fact, he had expressed the
+very same views already and even more emphatically on a previous
+occasion, when George Nicholas had proposed in the Assembly "that a
+Dictator be appointed in this Commonwealth who should have the power of
+disposing of the lives and fortunes of the Citizens thereof without
+being subject to account"; the motion seconded by Patrick Henry "been
+lost only by a few votes."[86] One may even wonder if the accusation of
+inefficiency against Jefferson had not been introduced by the same
+George Nicholas, in order to clear the way for the appointment of a
+dictator. Hence the impassioned tone of Jefferson's refutation. Deeply
+stirred and deeply hurt in his _amour-propre_, Jefferson incorporated in
+the "Notes on Virginia" the speech he would have made on the occasion
+had he been an orator.
+
+  How must we find our efforts and sacrifices abused and baffled, if
+  we may still, by a single vote, be laid prostrate at the feet of
+  one man. In God's name, from whence have they derived this power?
+  Is it from any principle in our new constitution expressed or
+  implied? Every lineament of that expressed or implied, is in full
+  opposition to it.... Necessities which dissolve a government, do not
+  convey its authority to an oligarchy or monarchy. They throw back
+  into the hands of the people the powers they had delegated, and leave
+  them as individuals to shift for themselves. A leader may offer, but
+  not impose himself, nor be imposed on them. Much less can their necks
+  be submitted to his sword, their breath be held at his will or
+  caprice.... The very thought alone was treason against the people;
+  was treason against mankind in general; as rivetting forever the
+  chains which bow down their necks, by giving to their oppressors a
+  proof which they would have trumpetted through the universe, of the
+  imbecillity of republican government, in times of pressing danger, to
+  shield them from harm. Those who assume the right of giving away the
+  reins of government in any case, must be sure that the herd, whom
+  they hand on to the rods and hatchet of the dictator, will lay their
+  necks on the block when he shall nod to them. But if our assemblies
+  supposed such a resignation in the people, I hope they mistook their
+  character.... Searching for the foundations of this proposition, I
+  can find none which may pretend a colour of right or reason, but the
+  defect before developed, that there is no barrier between the
+  legislative, executive, and judiciary departments.... Our situation
+  is indeed perilous, and I hope my countrymen will be sensible of it,
+  and will apply, at a proper season, the proper remedy; which is a
+  convention to fix the constitution, to amend its defects, to bind up
+  the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they
+  transgress, their acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary
+  an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every
+  infraction of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescence
+  shall be construed into an intention to surrender those rights.
+
+This is much more than an occasional outburst written under a strong
+emotional stress. Jefferson had discovered in his own country the
+existence of a group of men stanchly opposed to the republican form of
+government, ready in an emergency to go beyond the powers that had been
+delegated to them--not necessarily dishonest men, but dangerous because
+they did not have a correct conception of their rights and duties. All
+the controversy with the Federalists already exists in germ, in this
+declaration, and Jefferson from the very first had taken his position.
+The immediate effect was to sever the last bonds which still tied him to
+the aristocratic spirit of the social class to which he belonged by
+birth, and to make him raise a protest against the fact that, "the
+majority of men in the state, who pay and fight for its support are
+unrepresented in the legislature, the roll of freeholders entitled to
+vote, not including generally the half of those on the roll of militia,
+or of the tax gatherers."
+
+"It has been thought that corruption is restrained by confining the
+right of suffrage to a few of the wealthier people"; but experience has
+shown, irrespective of any consideration of justice or right, that a
+truly republican form of government is not safe in their hands. What
+will be the conclusion? That suffrage must be extended so as to become
+universal. The people themselves are the only safe depositories of
+government. "If every individual which composes this mass participates
+of the ultimate authority, the government will be safe; because the
+corruption of the whole mass will exceed any private resources of
+wealth." But if the people are the ultimate guardians of their
+liberties, they must also be rendered the safe guardians of it. Hence
+the necessity of providing for them an education adapted to the years,
+the capacity, and the conditions of every one, and directed toward their
+freedom and happiness. On this occasion Jefferson reproduced the view
+already expressed in the Bill for the More General Diffusion of
+Knowledge, as well as the tenor of the first section of the Bill for
+Religious Freedom, but with new considerations which could scarcely be
+incorporated in a statute.
+
+Then comes a conclusion unexpected and revealing, a sort of pessimism
+little in accordance with the supposed democratic faith of the writer;
+there is no inherent superior wisdom in the people, but it happens that
+under stress they so rise as to be superior to themselves, and it is for
+those who direct the course of the State to make the best of this
+fugitive opportunity:
+
+  The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become
+  corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence
+  persecutions, and better men be his victims. It can never be too
+  often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right on a
+  legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united.
+  From the conclusion of this war we shall go down hill. It will not
+  then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support.
+  They will be forgotten therefore and their rights disregarded. They
+  will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and
+  will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights.
+  The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the
+  conclusion of this war, will remain on us long, will be made heavier
+  and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.
+
+Is this a dreamer, a philosopher, a mere theorician, or a very alert and
+keen politician with a high ideal and an exact realization of the
+people's limitations? This pessimistic view of human nature and human
+society did not make Jefferson entirely cynical, since he kept his faith
+in his ideal and never questioned the eminent superiority of the
+republican form of government. But he knew men too well to have faith in
+their collective intelligence and disinterestedness, the naïve faith of
+so many French philosophers. If in this passage Jefferson reminds one of
+any French writers, it is not Rousseau, nor Helvétius, nor even
+Montesquieu, but of Montaigne, the Mayor of Bordeaux, who after the
+pestilence retired to his "Library" and composed his famous "Essais."
+One may well understand why Jefferson took such care to recommend his
+friends not to let the "Notes" out of their hands, and not to permit it
+to be published in any circumstances. The French like to say "_toutes
+les vérités ne sont pas bonnes à dire_"--these were truths that should
+not be permitted to leak out and to circulate broadcast among the
+people: at most they were good only to be disclosed to this élite who
+had at heart the gradual betterment of the "plain people."
+
+Jefferson's opposition to slavery rests on the same calculating motives.
+The existence of slavery is as degrading for the master as for the
+slave; it is destructive of the morals of the people, and of industry.
+
+  And can the liberties 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 the gift of God? That they are not to
+  be violated but with his wrath?... It is impossible to be temperate
+  and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of
+  policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.
+
+But it does not ensue that Negroes should ever be placed on a footing of
+equality with the whites. To pronounce that they are decidedly inferior
+would require long observation, and we must hesitate
+
+  to degrade a whole race of men from the work in the scale of beings
+  which their Creator may _perhaps_ have given them.... I advance it
+  therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a
+  distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstance, are
+  inferior to the whites in the endowment both of body and mind. It is
+  not against experience to suppose that different species of the same
+  genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different
+  qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history then, one who
+  views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye of
+  philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man
+  as distinct as nature has formed them.
+
+However the case may be, the blacks cannot be incorporated into the
+State, and the only solution after they are emancipated and educated is
+to "colonize them to such places as the circumstances of the time shall
+render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of household
+and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful animals, etc.,
+to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our
+alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength." But
+the freed slave "is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture", and the
+purity of the white stock must be preserved.
+
+Throughout the book Jefferson untiringly harps on the fact that American
+civilization is different from any other that has developed in Europe,
+and that principles of "economy" which apply to European nations should
+not be transferred "without calculating the difference of circumstance
+which should often produce a difference of results." The main difference
+lies in the fact that while in Europe "the lands are already cultivated,
+or locked up against the cultivator, we have an immensity of land
+courting the industry of the husbandman." America is essentially
+agricultural, and agricultural it must remain:
+
+  Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever
+  he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar
+  deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which
+  he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from
+  the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of
+  cultivators is a phaenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished
+  an example.... While we have land to labour then, let us never wish
+  to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or twirling a distaff.
+  Carpenters, masons, smiths, are wanting in husbandry: but, for the
+  general operations of manufacture, let our work-shops remain in
+  Europe. It is better to carry provisions and materials to work men
+  there, than bring them to the provisions and materials, and with them
+  their manners and principles.
+
+This vision of an American entirely given to agricultural pursuits may
+look Utopian in the extreme, and would be Utopian if Jefferson had
+really believed that it was susceptible of becoming an actual fact. But,
+in practice, this ideal was on the contrary subject to many adjustments
+and modifications.
+
+Jefferson's relativism is even more clearly marked in the last chapter,
+which forms the real conclusion of the book. It outlines the future
+policy of the United States with regard to foreign nations; it
+formulates a peaceful ideal which has remained on the whole the ideal of
+America. Once more it illustrates that curious balancing of two contrary
+principles so characteristic of the philosopher of Americanism as well
+as of the country itself.
+
+  Young as we are, and with such a country before us to fill with
+  people and with happiness, we should point in that direction the
+  whole generative force of nature, wasting none of it in efforts of
+  mutual destruction. It should be our endeavour to cultivate the peace
+  and friendship of every nation, even of that which has injured us
+  most, when we shall have carried our point against her. Our interest
+  will be to open the doors of commerce, and to knock off all its
+  shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the want of
+  whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same
+  in theirs. Never was so much false arithmetic employed on any
+  subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations that it
+  is their interest to go to war. Were the money which it has cost to
+  gain, at the close of a long war, a little town, or a little
+  territory, the right to cut wood here, to catch fish there, expended
+  in improving what we already possess, in making roads, opening
+  rivers, building ports, improving the arts and finding employment for
+  their idle poor, it would render them much stronger, much wealthier
+  and happier.
+
+"This," adds Jefferson, "I hope will be our wisdom." But it is only a
+hope and circumstances which cannot be changed by pious hopes exist and
+have to be confronted. In order to avoid every cause of conflict it
+would be necessary to abandon the ocean altogether, and "to leave to
+others to bring what we shall want, and to carry what we shall spare."
+This unfortunately is impossible, since a large portion of the American
+people are attached to commerce and insist on following the sea. What
+then is the answer?--Preparedness.--"Wars then must sometimes be our
+lot; and all the wise can do, will be to avoid that half of them which
+would be produced by our own follies, and our own acts of injustice; and
+to make for the other half the best preparations one can."
+
+One would not have to search long in the speeches of Woodrow Wilson to
+find the same idea expressed in almost identical terms. Even a
+Republican president such as Mr. Coolidge did not speak differently,
+when he simultaneously proposed conferences of disarmament and
+recommended that appropriation for the navy be enormously increased.
+This combination of will to peace, these reiterations of the pacific
+policies of the United States have been since the early days combined
+with the fixed determination to maintain a naval force adequate to cope
+with any attacking force. For such is the policy advocated by Jefferson.
+One should not be deceived by his very modest statement, "the sea is the
+field on which we should meet an European enemy. On that element it is
+necessary that we should possess some power." What he proposes is simply
+the building in one year of a fleet of thirty ships, eighteen of which
+might be ships of the line, and twelve frigates, with eighteen hundred
+guns. And he significantly adds, "I state this only as one year's
+possible exertion, without deciding whether more or less than a year
+should be thus applied." But, so as not to leave any potential aggressor
+in doubt as to the resources of America, he mentions that this naval
+force should by no means be "so great as we are able to make it."
+
+After stating categorically his principles, Jefferson did not object to
+minor modifications when it came to practice. As early as the winter of
+1781 he had found and determined the main tenets of his political
+philosophy. It was essentially American and practical. The idea never
+entered his mind that in order to establish an American government it
+was necessary to make a _tabula rasa_ of what existed before. As a
+matter of fact, Americans had certain vested rights through several
+charters enumerated by Jefferson in answer to Query XIII; they had
+revolted in defense of these rights, but the principles of their
+government, "perhaps more peculiar than those of any other in the
+universe", were simply "a composition of the freest principles of the
+English constitution, with others derived from natural right and natural
+reason." Essentially "founded in common law as well as common right", it
+was not necessarily the best possible form of government or the only one
+imaginable, "for every species of government has its specific
+principle." But despite its imperfections, it was better adapted to
+American conditions than any other that could be devised. At that time,
+at least, Jefferson did not seem to suspect that it could be taken as a
+model by any other nations, or that its main principles would prove so
+"contagious." The situation of America was unique. Unlimited
+agricultural lands extended to the west, and one could estimate that it
+would take at least a century to reach a density of population
+comparable to that of the British Isles. For a long time America would
+remain mainly agricultural, with a population scattered in farms instead
+of being concentrated in large cities, and would keep many of the
+virtues inherent in country life. In addition, the country would be
+practically free from any attack by land, as she had no powerful
+neighbors. She was geographically isolated from the rest of the world,
+and even if she were attacked by sea, it would be by a fleet operating
+far from its base and therefore at a disadvantage. No permanent army had
+to be maintained and a comparatively small fleet would suffice for
+protection. Free from the ordinary "sores" of civilization, not yet
+wealthy but prosperous, for, says Jefferson "I never saw a native
+American begging in the streets or highways", a country peaceful and
+with hatred towards none, not even to "that nation which has injured us
+most",--such is the ideal picture of America drawn by Jefferson for
+himself and his French correspondent during the winter of 1781-1782.
+
+Whatever faults existed would be corrected in time. If slavery could be
+abolished and the last vestiges of an hereditary aristocracy eradicated,
+little would be left to be desired. Yet it would not be a complete
+Arcadia, for Jefferson did not believe that a state of perfection once
+reached could be maintained without effort. Several dangers would always
+threaten America. The influx of foreigners might alter the character of
+her institutions. In spite of her peaceful ideals, dangers from the
+outside might threaten her prosperity. But on the whole, the country,
+even in its "infant state", was in no wise inferior to any European
+nation. In all the sciences it gave promise of extraordinary
+achievements. In architecture, to be sure, it seemed that "a genius has
+shed its malediction over this land", but artists and artisans could be
+induced to come, and even if America never reached the artistic
+proficiency of some European nations, it was and would remain more
+simple, more frugal, more virtuous than nations whose population
+congregate in large cities.
+
+Such, briefly told, is the conception of Americanism reached by
+Jefferson when he wrote the "Notes on Virginia." He had not had any
+direct contact with Europe, but he had read enormously and he had come
+to the conclusion that, reasonably secure against foreign aggressions,
+keeping her commerce at a minimum, America could develop along her own
+lines and, reviving on a new land the old Anglo-Saxon principles
+thwarted by kingly usurpations and church fabrications, bring about an
+Anglo-Saxon millennium which no other country might ever dream of
+reaching. It now remains to see to what extent and under what influences
+Jefferson came to modify certain of his conclusions, following his
+prolonged contact with Europe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A STATESMAN'S APPRENTICESHIP
+
+
+The year 1782 was for Jefferson a year of trial and suffering. A child
+was born to Mrs. Jefferson on May 8; she never recovered fully and soon
+it appeared that she was irrevocably doomed. This tragic, touching story
+had better be told in the simple words of his daughter Martha, then nine
+years of age:
+
+  As a nurse no female had ever more tenderness nor anxiety. He nursed
+  my poor mother in turn with aunt Carr and her own sister--sitting up
+  with her and administering her medicines and drink to the last. For
+  four months that she lingered he was never out of calling; when not
+  at her bed-side, he was writing in a small room which opened
+  immediately at the head of her bed. A moment before the closing
+  scene, he was led from the room in a state of insensibility by his
+  sister, Mrs. Carr, who with great difficulty, got him into the
+  library, where he fainted, and remained so long insensible that they
+  feared he never would revive. The scene that followed I did not
+  witness, but the violence of his emotion, when, almost by stealth, I
+  entered his room by night, to this day I dare not describe to myself.
+  He kept his room three weeks, and I was never a moment from his side.
+  He walked almost incessantly night and day, only lying down
+  occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted, on a pallet that
+  had been brought in during his long fainting fit. My aunts remained
+  constantly with him for some weeks--I do not remember how many. When
+  at last he left his room, he rode out, and from that time he was
+  incessantly on horseback, rambling about the mountain, in the least
+  frequented roads, and just as often through the woods. In those
+  melancholy rambles I was his constant companion--a solitary witness
+  to many a burst of grief, the remembrance of which has consecrated
+  particular scenes of that lost home beyond the power to obliterate.
+
+In Jefferson's prayer book is found this simple entry:
+
+"Martha Wayles Jefferson died September 6, 1782, at 11 o'clock 45
+minutes A.M."
+
+She was buried in the little enclosure in which rested already three of
+her children; on a simple slab of white marble her husband had the
+following inscription engraved:
+
+  To the memory of
+  Martha Jefferson,
+  Daughter of John Wayles:
+  Born October 19th, 1748 O.S.
+  Intermarried with
+  Thomas Jefferson
+  January 1st 1772;
+  Torn from him by death
+  September 6th 1782
+  This monument of his love is inscribed
+
+  [Greek: Ei de thanontôn per katalêthont' ein Haidao,
+  Autar egô kakeithi philou memnêsom' hetairou.][87]
+
+  If in the house of Hades men forget their dead
+  Yet will I even there remember my dear companion.
+
+Whether, as Tucker thought, Jefferson selected a Greek quotation so as
+not to make any display of his feelings to the casual passer-by, or
+whether Greek had so really become his own habit of thought that he
+could not think of any better way to express his grief, is a matter of
+conjecture. He was not the man to speak of himself and his sorrows, even
+to his closest friends. But it was probably at this time that he wrote
+these lines found after his death in his pocketbook: "There is a time in
+human suffering when exceeding sorrows are but like snow falling on an
+iceberg", and in Latin, "_Heu quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam
+tui meminisse._"
+
+At thirty-nine he was left a widower with a house full of children.
+Martha, born in 1772, Mary born in 1778, Lucy Elizabeth, the baby just
+born, who was to die two years later, and in addition the children of
+his friend and brother-in-law Carr, whom he had adopted at the death of
+their father. As soon as he had recovered from the first shock,
+Jefferson went with the children to the house of Colonel Archibald Cary,
+at Ampthill, in Chesterfield County, where he had them inoculated for
+the smallpox. "While engaged as their chief nurse on the occasion, he
+received notice of his appointment by Congress as Plenipotentiary to
+Europe, to be associated with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams in negotiating
+peace (November 13,1782)."[88]
+
+He was just emerging from the stupor of mind which had rendered him "as
+dead to the world as she whose loss occasioned it."[89] It appeared to
+him that "public interest and the state of his mind concurred in
+recommending the change of scene proposed; and he accepted the
+appointment."[90]
+
+The next three months were spent in preparing for the journey. He made
+arrangements for his children and wrote a very touching letter to
+Washington, evincing once more that reluctance to express affectionate
+feeling so often found in Americans, a result of early education and
+training as much as of the national temperament: "Were I to indulge
+myself in those warm effusions which this subject forever prompts, they
+would wear an appearance of adulation very foreign to my nature; for
+such is the prostitution of language, that sincerity has no longer
+distinct terms in which to express her own truths."[91]
+
+The ship that was to carry him to France was caught in the ice at the
+entrance of the Chesapeake, with no prospect of sailing before the
+beginning of March. When news came early in February that the
+negotiations were making satisfactory progress, he felt some doubts
+about the desirability of a voyage which entailed so much expense, and
+placed the matter in the hands of Congress. It was not until April 1,
+however, that he was informed that the object of his appointment was "so
+far advanced as to render [it] unnecessary for him to pursue his
+voyage." He left for Virginia a few days afterwards. For the third time
+his plans for visiting Europe had been thwarted, but he does not seem to
+have resented it so deeply as previously.
+
+The wounds inflicted to his _amour-propre_ by the Virginia Assembly were
+healing. He had renewed his contact with public affairs, and when, on
+June 6, he was chosen as delegate to Congress, with Samuel Hardy, John
+F. Mercer, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, he accepted without hesitation.
+The two years which were to elapse between June, 1782, and July 5, 1784,
+the date of his final departure from France on the _Ceres_, are not the
+most eventful or the most picturesque of Jefferson's career. In many
+respects, however, they are the fullest and the most important for a
+true understanding of his mind and character. In the absence of Franklin
+and Adams he stood out in Congress, head and shoulders above his
+colleagues; he was placed on most of the important committees, he
+completed his acquaintance with the internal and foreign policies of the
+United States, he reported on measures of vital importance and
+crystallized his opinion on fundamental problems.
+
+Before being chosen as a delegate to Congress, Jefferson had already
+decided "to lend a hand to the laboring oar" and to participate in the
+affairs of his State, if not as a legislator at least as an adviser and
+counsellor. From the conversation he had held in Richmond with "as many
+members" of the Assembly "as he could",[92] he had concluded that
+Virginia was ready to call a convention to revise the Constitution of
+1776. On June 17 he wrote again to Madison, inclosing his ideas on the
+"amendments necessary." No convention was called at that time, but
+Jefferson's memorandum was printed in pamphlet form later in Paris, and
+he added it to his "Notes on Virginia." First of all he reassured that
+the Constitution of 1776 had no legal permanent value, being simply the
+result of the deliberation of a General Assembly, in no way different
+from the succeeding Assemblies. A power superior to that of the ordinary
+legislature could alone have authority to decide on a constitution. This
+could only be done by recommending "the good people of the State" to
+choose delegates "with powers to form a constitution of government for
+them, and to declare those fundamentals to which all our laws present
+and future shall be subordinate." Many of the provisions of the proposed
+constitution were not original and, as indicated by Jefferson himself in
+his letter to Madison, had been tried in other States. The document,
+however, may serve to illustrate the progress accomplished by Jefferson
+in the science of government since he had written his first State paper,
+and to show how far he still remained from his reputed views on
+democracy.
+
+Although still a free State, Virginia was no longer completely
+independent, since she had entered a society of States, and it was
+acknowledged that: "The confederation is made a part of this
+constitution, subject to such future alterations as shall be agreed to
+by the legislature of this State, and by all the other confederating
+States."
+
+Almost universal suffrage was granted, the vote being given to "All free
+male citizens of full age, and sane mind, who for one year before shall
+have been resident in the country, or shall through the whole of that
+time have possessed therein real property to the value of ----, or shall
+for the same time have been enrolled in the militia."
+
+This was an immediate consequence of the contractual concept of society
+and it is not without some interest to remark that this principle stood
+in direct contradiction to the physiocratic doctrine; for it was the
+contention of the Physiocrats that, society resting essentially on real
+property, those who own the land can alone participate in the government
+of the country. If, on the contrary, society is considered as an
+association of men who agree to live together in order to secure fuller
+enjoyment of their fundamental rights, all the signatories to the
+compact must have the same rights as well as the same obligations in the
+government of the association thus formed.[93]
+
+Yet it remained understood that the voters were not to be intrusted with
+all the details of government, and Jefferson thought it desirable to
+establish certain safeguards against the possible lack of knowledge of
+the electors. They chose delegates and senators, but the governor was to
+be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the Assembly, and the
+same procedure was to be followed in choosing a Council of State to
+advise the governor, the judges of the High Court of Chancery, the
+General Court and Court of Admiralty, while the judges of inferior
+courts were to be appointed by the governor on recommendation of the
+Council of State. The powers of the governor were to be strictly limited
+and it was made clear that although the old English title was preserved,
+the chief executive of the State had "none of the powers exercised under
+our former government by the Crown": "We give him those powers only
+which are necessary to execute the laws (and administer the government),
+and which are not in their nature either legislative or judiciary." The
+governor had a sort of suspensive veto. The military was to be
+subordinate to the civil power, and the printing press to be subject to
+no other restraint but liability to legal prosecution for false facts
+printed and published. The plan provided also for the gradual abolition
+of slavery after the year 1800.
+
+The most remarkable feature of this scheme was the strict imitation of
+popular participation in the government. The only power recognized as
+belonging to the people was that of selecting delegates to both Houses,
+and of appointing delegates to a constitutional convention whenever "any
+of the three branches of the government, concurring in opinion each by
+the voice of two-thirds of their existing number, decided that such a
+convention is necessary for amending the constitution." We are very far
+from government by referendum and even by periodic elections, since none
+of the State officials were directly appointed by the people. Jefferson
+had not at that time departed from his fundamental idea that government
+must be placed in the hands of well-qualified experts, carefully
+selected and appointed. The "Constitution of Virginia" was a "true form
+of Republican government", but by no means demagogical or even truly
+democratic. Curiously enough, and through mere coincidence, the
+essential features of the present constitution of France closely
+resemble the general outline of the plan proposed by Jefferson. This
+alone should suffice to demonstrate how far he was at that time from
+accepting and propounding some of the main tenets of the so-called
+Jeffersonian democracy. But Virginia was not yet ready for a change; the
+constitutional convention was not called, and nothing had been done when
+Jefferson left the State late in November, arriving at Annapolis on the
+twenty-fourth.
+
+Much to his disgust, he found that, after a fortnight, the delegates
+from only six States had appeared and that it was impossible to transact
+any serious business. The Treaty of Commerce had been received and was
+referred to a committee of which Jefferson was chairman, but a bare
+quorum was not assembled until December 13, and on the twenty-third,
+according to the "Autobiography", it was necessary to send to several
+governors a letter "stating the receipt of the definitive treaty; that
+seven States only were in attendance, while nine were necessary to its
+ratification."
+
+In the meantime Washington had come to Annapolis to resign his
+commission, in circumstances which can scarcely have been as impressive
+as is generally related, since the whole program carefully laid out by
+Jefferson took place before a bare majority of Congress. The rest of the
+month was spent in discussing whether the treaty could be ratified by
+less than nine states. It soon appeared that "there now remained but
+scanty sixty-seven days for the ratification, for its passage across the
+Atlantic and its exchange. There was no hope of our soon having nine
+States present; in fact that this was the ultimate point of time to
+which we could venture to wait; that if the ratification was not in
+Paris by the time stipulated, the treaty would become void...."--On
+January 13, delegates from Connecticut attended, and the next day a
+delegate from Carolina having arrived, "the treaty was ratified without
+a dissenting vote."
+
+This was for Jefferson a most profitable experience. As chairman of the
+committee, he had to familiarize himself with questions of foreign
+policies and foreign commerce. He had also to put aside whatever
+remnants of sectionalism and provincialism he unconsciously retained and
+he realized that "Those United States being by their constitution
+consolidated into one federal republic, they be considered in all such
+treaties & in every case arising under them as one nation under the
+principles of the Federal Constitution."[94]
+
+The same principle is reasserted more strongly in the "Draft for
+proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties", in which
+all the good citizens of the United States are enjoined to reverence
+"those stipulations entered into on their behalf under the authority of
+that federal (moral, political and legal bond) whereby they are called,
+by which their existence as an independent people is bound up together,
+and is known and acknowledged by the nations of the world."[95]
+
+On January 16, Jefferson wrote to Governor Harrison enumerating the
+important objects before Congress:
+
+  1. Authorizing our Foreign minister to enter into treaties of
+  alliance and commerce with the several nations who have deserved it;
+  2. Arranging the domestic administration; 3. Establishing arsenals &
+  ports on our frontiers; 4. Disposing of Western Territory; 5.
+  Treaties of peace and purchase with the Indians; 6. Money.
+
+A full program, requiring for the adoption of any measure the
+concurrence of nine States, while barely nine were present, seven of
+which were represented only by two members each; "any of these fourteen
+gentlemen differing from the rest would stay the proceedings", and it
+seemed very doubtful whether anything could be achieved during the
+session.
+
+This brought home to Jefferson the fact that the concentration of the
+executive functions in Congress was an obstacle to carrying out
+effectively the business of the Confederation, and he thought it his
+duty to point out this defect in his "draft of the report on a committee
+of the States", January 30, 1784. It was a lengthy report, not very
+accurately summed up in the "Autobiography", authorizing a permanent
+Committee of the States to act as executive during the recess of
+Congress, and enumerating very minutely the powers that such a committee
+might exercise and those from which it would be excluded. The plan as
+adopted was somewhat different and it was resolved: "That the Committee
+should possess all the powers which may be exercised by the seven States
+in Congress assembled", except concerning foreign relations.
+
+Jefferson recalled in the "Autobiography" that during the following
+recess the committee quarrelled, split into two parties, "abandoned
+their posts, and left the government without any visible head, until the
+next meeting of Congress." He significantly added: "We have since seen
+the same thing take place in the Directory of France; and I believe it
+will forever take place in any executive consisting of a plurality. Our
+plan,--best, I believe,--combines wisdom and practicality; by providing
+a plurality of Counsellors, but a single Arbiter for ultimate decision."
+This conclusion was already reached in 1784, not following a logical
+reasoning, or because of an innate need of unity, but as a result of
+experience. Very early in his life Jefferson became convinced that the
+country could not be properly administered unless the executive powers
+were concentrated in one responsible person, with powers strictly
+defined, but left free to act and to act rapidly within that field. This
+explains, among other things, not only Jefferson's approval of the
+powers granted to the Executive under the Constitution, but also his
+conduct during his two terms as President.
+
+He soon had an opportunity to study the financial problems of the
+Confederation, when a "grand Committee of Congress" was appointed to
+take up the Federal expenses for the current year, inclusive of articles
+of interest on the public debts foreign and domestic.[96] He presented
+on March 22 a "Report on the Arrears of Interest", in which were
+carefully tabulated not only the interest on sums due on account of the
+national debts but an estimate of the expenses for the year 1784,--in
+other words a budget. An outgrowth of the work assigned to the Committee
+was the _establishment of a money unit, and of a coinage for the United
+States_. The report of Jefferson retained some of the essential
+provisions of the proposal drawn up by the "Financier of the U.S."
+(Robert Morris, assisted by Governor Morris), and Jefferson himself did
+not claim so much originality for it as has been given him by some of
+his biographers. The report of the financier proposed that the new
+coins "should be in decimal proportions to one another", and this was
+retained. On the other hand, Morris had proposed as a unit "the 1440th
+part of a dollar", after taking into consideration the old currencies,
+"all of which this unit measures without leaving a fraction." Jefferson
+pointed out that, although theoretically perfect, the unit was much too
+complicated and too small, and he maintained that the unit should be the
+Spanish dollar "a known coin, and the most familiar of all to the minds
+of the people." ... "It is already adopted from South to North," he
+added, "has identified our currency, and therefore happily offers itself
+as a Unit already introduced."
+
+In spite of the financier's opposition, the plan as amended by Jefferson
+was finally adopted and still constitutes the essential foundation of
+the American monetary system. To the student of psychology this incident
+affords another illustration of Jefferson's practical-mindedness. Having
+to choose between two solutions, one mathematically perfect, and another
+one simply regulating and organizing what already existed, he did not
+hesitate a minute and practical considerations prevailed at once in his
+mind.
+
+In the meantime he was working on one of his most important State
+papers. Randall called attention to it and P. L. Ford maintained that
+"next to the Declaration of Independence (if indeed standing second to
+that) this document ranks in historical importance of all those drawn by
+Jefferson; and, but for its being superseded by the 'Ordinance of 1787',
+would rank among all American state papers immediately after the
+National Constitution."[97] Yet it does not seem that its value is
+generally recognized and it is but seldom listed as one of the
+outstanding achievements of Jefferson. For reasons that will shortly
+appear, Jefferson himself neglected to mention it in his
+"Autobiography." It is a capital document by which to understand the
+growth of the Jeffersonian doctrine.
+
+First of all, it resolved that "so much of the territory ceded or to be
+ceded by individual States to the United States as is already purchased
+or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants & offered for sale by
+Congress, shall be divided into distinct states." Which simply meant
+that the westward growth of the country, instead of being left to the
+initiative of the individual States, was placed under the ægis of the
+Confederation and thus became a matter of national importance and
+significance. It provided for a practically unlimited expansion of the
+United States by the establishment of States analogous to the already
+existing Confederacy. It also insisted strongly that all such territory
+be connected as closely as possible with the already existing Union.
+Settlers in any of the territories thus organized, had authority to
+establish a temporary government, adopting with due modification the
+constitution and laws of any of the original States. A permanent
+government was to be established in any State as soon as it should have
+acquired a population of twenty thousand free inhabitants, provided, and
+here we probably have the most important provisions:
+
+  1. That they shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the
+  United States of America. 2. That in their persons, property and
+  territory they shall be subject to the Government of the United
+  States in Congress assembled & to the articles of confederation....
+  4. That their respective Governments shall be in republican forms and
+  shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds any hereditary title.
+  5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian aera, there shall be
+  neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states.
+
+Finally, "whenever any of the said States shall have, of free
+inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any one of the least numerous,
+of the thirteen original States, such State will be admitted by it's
+delegates into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing
+with the said United States."
+
+This report, submitted March 1, recommitted to the committee March 17,
+was considered again by Congress on April 19, 21, 23, and adopted after
+amendment by every State except one. But the amendment took the teeth
+out of the report, since the clause referring to slavery was struck out,
+as well as that concerning the admission of persons holding hereditary
+titles. Other provisions concerning the names to be given to the new
+States were also eliminated. The scholar reappeared in these
+suggestions. If Jefferson's original motion had been accepted, the
+present State of Michigan would wear the name of _Chersonesus_ and on
+the map of the United States would appear such designations as
+_Metropotamia_, _Polypotamia_, and _Pilisipia_.[98]
+
+Finally Jefferson intended to complete the organization and expansion of
+the United States with "An ordinance establishing a Land Office" for the
+United States "to give sure title to the settlers and determine the
+division and subdivision into lots" which was defeated, an entirely new
+ordinance being adopted April 26, 1785.[99]
+
+The most striking feature of all these bills was the eagerness of
+Jefferson to consolidate the Union and to strengthen Federal bonds. With
+a common monetary unit, common interest in a large territory just
+acquired by cession from Virginia, one more thing remained to be
+settled: the organization of permanent relations with foreign nations,
+that is to say, the conclusion of commercial treaties.
+
+It had appeared very soon to Jefferson that if such treaties were to be
+concluded it was desirable to adopt a working policy outlined in his
+"Resolves on European Treaties."[100] To have foreign plenipotentiaries
+come to the United States, discuss with the badly organized body called
+the Continental Congress, whose members would have to report to their
+legislatures and after interminable delays accept or reject the
+proposal, was an impossible procedure. This distrust of Congress was
+amply justified at the time, and one may wonder whether satisfactory
+treaties could ever have been concluded under the supervision of
+Congress; Jefferson therefore proposed that ministers be sent to Europe
+to negotiate with the old and established nations, who could not be
+expected to cross the Atlantic.
+
+On May 7, Congress agreed on _Instructions to the Ministers
+Plenipotentiary appointed to negotiate treaties of Commerce with the
+European Nations_. Once more it was proclaimed:
+
+"That these United Sates be considered in all such treaties, and in
+every case arising under them, as one nation, upon the principle of the
+Federal constitution."
+
+It was also deemed "advantageous that treaties be concluded with Russia,
+the Court of Vienna, Prussia, Denmark, Saxony, Hamburg, Great Britain,
+Spain, Portugal, Genoa, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Venice, Sardinia and the
+Ottoman Porte. That treaties of amity and commerce be entered into with
+Morocco, and the Regencies of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. To have
+supplementary treaties with France, the United Netherlands and Sweden in
+order to incorporate the new policies of the United States."
+
+The plan of treaties contained some remarkable provisions; they were
+clear departures, not from the theory of international law and _droit
+des gens_, as Jefferson had found it in the authorities consulted, but
+from the actual policy of the European nations.
+
+Thus it was proposed that in case of war between the two contracting
+parties,
+
+  The merchants of either country, then residing in the other shall be
+  allowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle their
+  affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their effects,
+  without molestation or hinderance, and all fishermen, all cultivators
+  of the earth, and all artisans or manufacturers, unarmed and
+  inhabiting unfortified towns, villages or places, who labor for the
+  common subsistence and benefit of mankind, and peaceably follow
+  their respective employments, shall be allowed to continue the same.
+
+That "neither of the contracting powers shall grant or issue any
+commission to any private armed vessels, empowering them to take or
+destroy such trading ships, or interrupt such commerce."
+
+In case of war with another nation, "no merchandize heretofore called
+contraband, such as arms, ammunition and military stores of all
+kinds,... shall, on any account, be deemed contraband, so as to induce
+confiscation, and a loss of property to individuals." The right to
+detain vessels carrying such goods a reasonable length of time was
+granted, as well as the right not to seize, but "to purchase" military
+stores with a reasonable compensation to the proprietors; in all cases
+the owners of the ships delayed were to receive a compensation. But all
+vessels not carrying contraband were to be entirely free, adding that a
+blockade in order to be recognized had to be effectual, but even in that
+case "no vessel of the party who is not engaged in the said war, shall
+be stopped without a material and well-grounded cause."
+
+Besides these general provisions, it was recommended that "each party
+shall have a right to carry their own produce, manufactures, and
+merchandise in their own bottoms to the ports of the others, and thence
+the produce and merchandise of the other, paying, in both cases, such
+duties only as are paid by the most favored nations."
+
+A paragraph was intended specially for the commerce with the West
+Indies, "desiring that a direct and similar intercourse be admitted
+between the United States and possessions of the nations holding
+territorial possessions in America."
+
+Finally, as Jefferson as well as his contemporaries were already fearful
+of seeing any influx of foreigners settle in their country and dominate
+the infant government, it was stipulated that no right be accorded to
+aliens to hold real property within these States, this being "utterly
+inadmissible by their several laws and policy."
+
+From the European point of view many things were inadmissible in the
+plan of treaties. To request the nations of the Old World not only to
+abandon privateering, but to relinquish their definitions of contraband
+and their commercial monopolies with their own colonies, was something
+which must have appeared as the wild dream of a people unexperienced in
+the handling of foreign relations. As a matter of fact, the treaties
+were never signed. But if the principles formulated by Jefferson were
+not accepted by the European powers, they remained nevertheless an
+essential part of the foreign policy of the United States.
+
+On the very day the "Instructions" were adopted, Jefferson was appointed
+Minister Plenipotentiary to "negotiate treaties of commerce with foreign
+nations in conjunction with Mr. John Adams and Dr. Franklin." No man in
+Congress was better qualified for such a mission. His work for two years
+on several important committees had acquainted him with the main
+problems of the Union. He had demonstrated his ability to present clear
+reports on the most intricate questions. He had completed his
+apprenticeship of men and things; but it may be wondered whether the
+delegates who recommended his appointment were not impelled by ulterior
+motives. The stand taken by Jefferson on slavery had made him decidedly
+unpopular with the Southern delegates. He had opposed the original
+statutes of the Order of Cincinnati, in which he saw the beginnings of a
+new aristocracy. He had made enemies as well as friends and could write
+to Washington that an experience of twenty years had taught him "that
+few friendships stand this test, & that public assemblies, where
+everyone is free to act & to speak, are the most powerful looseners of
+private friendship." The petty discussions in Congress, the long
+speeches he had to listen to, the quibbling, lack of initiative and
+lack of national spirit of the delegates had thoroughly disgusted him.
+Before receiving his appointment he had already repented of his return
+to public life and had signified his intention of going back to his
+beloved Monticello.
+
+  I have determined--he wrote to Washington--to take no active part in
+  this or anything else, which may lead to altercation, or disturb that
+  quiet & tranquillity of mind to which I consign the remaining portion
+  of my life. I have been thrown back by events on a stage where I had
+  never more thought to appear. It is but for a time, however, & as a
+  day laborer, free to withdraw, or be withdrawn at will.[101]
+
+He seized with eagerness the opportunity of visiting older civilizations
+and enjoying a change of scenes. Having hastily cancelled his order for
+printing a few copies of the "Notes on Virginia", he at once made
+preparations for his departure.
+
+The new plenipotentiary decided to take with him his older daughter
+Martha, then in Philadelphia at Mrs. Hopkinson's, and to leave the two
+younger ones with their maternal aunt, Mrs. Eppes, in Virginia. William
+Short, his "_élève_" and friend, accompanied him as private secretary
+and Colonel David Humphreys as secretary of the legation.[102] From
+Philadelphia he went to Boston, visiting Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
+the principal towns on his way, in order to acquire "what knowledge he
+could of their commerce and other circumstances." He sailed from Boston
+on the _Ceres_, Captain Sainte-Barbe, bound to Cowes.
+
+Jefferson was then forty-one years old. He knew life and men and had no
+illusions; he had experienced happiness and sorrow; he had had moments
+of exaltation, of hot patriotic fever; he had occupied the front of the
+stage in several circumstances never to be forgotten; he had aroused
+enmities and made devoted and faithful friends, among them Monroe,
+Madison, and Short whom he was taking along with him. But neither his
+disappointments nor his sorrows had made him a misanthrope. Not an
+orator, he liked to talk, and he could not live without society. The
+tall spare man in black was no longer able to feel his heart moved by
+the early emotions of his youth. Next to Washington, who remained in
+America, and to Doctor Franklin, a debonair patriarch, he was the most
+famous national figure of America. None was better qualified by his
+former life and studies to represent America and to speak for his
+country. Whatever sectionalism he may have had in him had disappeared in
+these last two years of Congress, when he had striven so strenuously to
+make the Union an actual fact and to consolidate the loose Federal
+fabric, for only there could men "See the affairs of the Confederacy
+from a high ground; they learn the importance of the Union & befriend
+federal measures when they return. Those who never come here, see our
+affairs insulated, pursue a system of jealousy and self interest, and
+distract the Union as much as they can."
+
+Of Europe he knew little, except what he had been able to absorb from
+books. It was a country of great artistic productivity, of enviable
+social life. Towards England he was not particularly attracted; towards
+France he felt much more favorably inclined. He had met many Frenchmen;
+some of them already had become his close friends, two particularly, the
+Chevalier de Chastellux and especially the youthful, impulsive, and
+charming Lafayette, who in a parting note had asked him to consider his
+house as his and to take the little motherless girl to Madame de
+Lafayette. He knew he would not be without friends, without society,
+that he would have an unique chance to meet the best minds of Europe.
+This practical American, so little given to the "_joie de vivre_" and
+without _abandon_, wanted primarily to increase his knowledge, to gather
+facts, to make comparisons. He had retained the taste for society, the
+good breeding, the polite manners, the artistic tendencies of the
+Virginian, but in him the American was already fully grown. He felt also
+that he had a certain mission and intended to fulfill it: it was to
+convey to the European statesmen whose wiles he distrusted the
+impression that the United States existed as a country, that they did
+not form a loose and temporary confederation of States, but a nation to
+be reckoned with and respected. His country was no longer his native
+Virginia alone: he was thinking nationally and not sectionally. For the
+French Jefferson was already a great American figure; he was going to
+embody the best there was in the newly constituted Union.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+_An American View of Europe_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SOCIETY AND TRAVEL
+
+
+The _Ceres_ reached Portsmouth nineteen days after leaving Boston, a
+remarkably swift passage, without incident, except for three days spent
+in fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland, while the ship was becalmed.
+Jefferson and his companions were delayed a week in Portsmouth by
+Martha's slight illness, and then went directly to Paris, where he
+arrived on August 6, 1784. Jefferson was to remain in France till the
+fall of 1789--five years crowded with pleasures, social duties,
+political duties, and hard work. His activities were so varied and his
+interests so diversified that it is no longer possible to follow any
+chronological order; we must establish arbitrary divisions, though
+Jefferson passed at all times from one subject to another and was
+incessantly busy with undertakings and plans truly encyclopedic.
+
+First of all, he had to find quarters. He had put up at the Hôtel
+d'Orléans, Rue des Petits Augustins, then he had rented "Hôtel
+Tête-Bout, cul-de-sac Tête-Bout", and a year later moved to a house
+belonging to M. le Comte de L'Avongeac "at the corner of the Grande
+Route des Champs Elysées and Rue Neuve de Berry", where he continued to
+live as long as he remained in Paris. His secretary Short and Colonel
+Humphreys, secretary to the legation, lived with him. It was "a very
+elegant house, even for Paris, with an extensive garden, court and
+outbuildings, in the handsomest style."
+
+Of Jefferson's first impressions after landing in France we
+unfortunately know nothing. Not until a full year had elapsed did he
+express his personal views in writing. Although he deplored the
+wretched condition of the larger mass of the people, he had already come
+to the conclusion, probably correct, that life in Paris was more
+pleasant than anywhere else on earth: "The roughnesses of the human mind
+are so thoroughly rubbed off with them, that it seems as if one might
+glide through a whole life without a jostle."[103] It was some time,
+however, before he felt entirely at home in Parisian society. He was
+somewhat handicapped and humiliated at first because of lack of means at
+the disposal of the Minister of the United States for maintaining his
+rank. In his report on the reduction of the civil list (March 5, 1784),
+Jefferson, animated with a fine republican zeal, had fixed the
+compensation of American representatives abroad at ten thousand dollars.
+Now that he was in Paris he found the allowance very inadequate. A proud
+Virginian, accustomed to entertain generously, he considered hospitality
+an imperious duty as well as a pleasure, and his letters to Congress are
+filled with complaints on the niggardliness of his resources. However,
+he procured a good French cook in the person of the worthy Petit, who
+became quite attached to him, and wrote for him recipes for "_poulet en
+casserole_" and "_café à la française_." He informed himself concerning
+the best French wines, some of which he already knew, and made a
+thorough and scientific study of the different vintages, recording the
+result of his observations in unpublished notes. Nor was he so selfish
+as to keep all his knowledge to himself. Adams and Washington used his
+good offices to keep their cellars well stocked in champagne and
+sauternes. For them and for Madison he subscribed to "L'Encyclopédie
+Méthodique", he bought new French books, engravings, plaster casts, and
+medals, and his willingness to oblige his friends and to go shopping for
+them was so well known that Mrs. Adams asked him to buy for her daughter
+"two pairs of corsets", much to his distress, since she had omitted to
+send him the measure. For Mrs. Bingham he filled boxes with "caps and
+bonnets"; for Madison he bought a pocket telescope, a walking stick, a
+chemical box, for poor little Polly who had remained with her aunt at
+Eppington "sashes" and Parisian dolls.
+
+Through Franklin, Jefferson was introduced to Madame d'Houdetot, who had
+unlimited admiration for a man who not only was an American and a
+philosopher, but who also knew the names of American plants and trees
+much more thoroughly than her dear Doctor. He obtained for her seeds,
+bulbs, and trees to be planted in the park of Sannois.[104] Through
+Franklin also he met Madame Helvétius and her two abbés, who always
+wrote jointly to Jefferson.[105] At her house, he saw Cabanis, then a
+very young man, Destutt de Tracy and abbé Morellet. He attended concerts
+at Madame d'Houdetot's brother's house, but above all he was attracted
+by Lafayette's family and friends. It was large enough for a man of more
+leisure and more worldly tendencies. There was the Marquis himself and
+his charming wife, who befriended Martha and wrote Jefferson several
+notes filled with that delightful eighteenth-century "_sensibilité_" and
+amiability of which we have lost the secret. There was also Madame de
+Tessé, Lafayette's cousin, who was, however, considerably older than the
+Marquis and whom he called "aunt." Jefferson saw her in Paris and
+visited her often at Chaville, where Short stayed for weeks at a time,
+perfecting himself in the French language and the ways of French
+society. She loved trees, good paintings, fine buildings, statues, and
+music, and did much to educate Jefferson's taste in these matters. Not
+mentioned by his biographers, Madame de Corny played a not
+inconsiderable part in Jefferson's sentimental life. Young, pretty,
+witty, and married to a husband much older than herself, she enjoyed
+Jefferson's company, took with him many walks in the Bois de Boulogne
+and perhaps, secretly, found him too scrupulously polite and too
+respectful.[106] There were also several other women, Madame de Tott, a
+distinguished painter, the vivacious and charming Lucy Paradise,
+Comtesse Barziza, a real "_enfant terrible_", irresponsible, outspoken,
+who in her letters to Jefferson listed all the scandals of the
+days.[107] And one must not forget among Jefferson's feminine
+acquaintances the old Comtesse de la Rochefoucauld, dignified,
+sarcastic, a terrible bore at times, whom on many occasions he vainly
+tried to avoid.
+
+But when all is told, it does not appear that the circle of Jefferson's
+friends was ever very large. During his first year in Paris he did his
+best to keep in the background. To Franklin he owed deference, because
+of his age and the position of the Doctor as the only accredited
+representative to the Court of Versailles. Adams, the other
+plenipotentiary, was older than Jefferson, who on every occasion
+insisted that his colleagues should have precedence over him. A good
+listener, he was much more reserved than Franklin and always remained
+somewhat self-conscious when he spoke or wrote French. If the Doctor
+spoke French as badly as he wrote it, his conversation must have been an
+extraordinary jargon; but Jefferson was too sensitive and had too much
+_amour-propre_ to venture upon long discussions and conversations with
+people he did not know intimately. Most of his French letters were
+written by Short, who became rapidly a master of the language, and we
+may presume that Jefferson never really felt at home in a purely French
+circle.
+
+This was true at least of his first year in Paris. He had many fits of
+despondency and wondered at times whether he was not too old to accustom
+himself to strange people and to strange manners. He often experienced
+the usual longing of the traveler for his native land: "I am now of an
+age which does not easily accommodate itself to new modes of living and
+new manners," he wrote to Baron Geismer, the former prisoner of
+Charlottesville; "and I am savage enough to prefer the woods, the wilds
+and independence of Monticello, to all the brilliant pleasures of this
+gay capital. I shall therefore, rejoin myself to my native country with
+new attachments and exaggerated esteem for its advantages."[108] It was
+probably on these occasions that he took refuge in the most silent of
+all places, a Carthusian monastery, a very strange abode for one who has
+been accused of being a fierce anti-clerical:
+
+  He also had rooms in the Carthusian Monastery on Mount Calvary; the
+  boarders, of whom I think there were forty, carried their own
+  servants, and took their breakfasts in their own rooms. They
+  assembled to dinner only. They had the privilege of walking in the
+  gardens, but as it was a hermitage, it was against the rules of the
+  house for any voices to be heard outside of their own rooms, hence
+  the most profound silence. The author of "Anarcharsis" was a boarder
+  at the time, and many others who had reasons for a temporary
+  retirement from the world. Whenever he had a press of business, he
+  was in the habit of taking his papers and going to the hermitage,
+  where he spent sometimes a week or more till he had finished his
+  work. The hermits visited him occasionally in Paris, and the Superior
+  made him a present of an ivory broom that was turned by one of the
+  brothers.[109]
+
+From time to time this same mood recurred:
+
+  I am burning the candle of life without present pleasure or future
+  object--he wrote to Mrs. Trist in 1786.--A dozen or twenty years ago
+  this scene would have amused me; but I am past the age for changing
+  habits. I take all the fault on myself, as it is impossible to be
+  among a people who wish more to make one happy--a people of the very
+  best character it is possible for one to have. We have no idea in
+  America of the real French character.[110]
+
+Not foreign to this despondency was the bad news that came from America.
+His youngest daughter Lucy died in the fall of 1784 and he was not
+satisfied until he had his remaining daughter near him in Paris, and
+Mary, familiarly called Polly, had joined her sister in the best convent
+of the French capital.
+
+Between social duties and pleasures, dinners at the house of Lafayette,
+meetings of the Committees of Commerce, interviews with Vergennes,
+preparation of long letters to be sent home to keep his Government
+informed of the situation in Europe, correction of the proofs of the
+"Notes on Virginia", interviews with former French volunteers clamoring
+for their back pay, visits to shops and factories, Jefferson was a very
+busy man indeed. But exacting as his occupations were, he found time to
+escape from Paris on three different occasions to see something of
+France and Europe. In 1786 he journeyed to England, traveled in France
+and Italy in the spring of the following year, and visited Holland and
+the Rhine shortly before leaving for home. The diaries he kept during
+these trips are both revealing and disappointing. They demonstrate how
+little of European culture had penetrated his American mind, how
+carefully he preserved himself from the contamination of European
+manners and ways of thinking. In some respects it must be confessed that
+Jefferson remained very narrow and provincial, and almost a Philistine
+in his outlook.
+
+The most damning document is the outline he made for Rutledge and
+Shippen on June 3, 1788, though in some respects it shows good judgment,
+as when Jefferson recommends "not to judge of the manners of the people
+from the people you will naturally see the most of: tavern keepers,
+_valets de place_, and postillions."--"These are the hackneyed rascals
+of every country. Of course they must never be considered when we
+calculate the national character." He manifested the same good sense in
+recommending always to ask for the _vin du pays_ when traveling. But the
+worst comes in his enumeration of the "Objects of Attention for an
+American." It has to be read to be believed and should be transcribed
+here almost in full:
+
+  1. Agriculture. Everything belonging to this art, and whatever has a
+  near relation to it.... 2. Mechanical arts, so far as they respect
+  things necessary in America, and inconvenient to be transported
+  thither ready-made, such as forges, stone quarries, boat bridges,
+  etc. 3. Lighter mechanical arts, and manufactures. Some of these will
+  be worth a superficial view; but circumstances rendering it
+  impossible that America should become a manufacturing country during
+  the time of any man now living, it would be a waste of attention to
+  examine these minutely. 4. Gardens peculiarly worth the attention of
+  an American, because it is the country of all others where the
+  noblest gardens may be made without expense.... 5. Architecture worth
+  a great attention. As we double our numbers every twenty years, we
+  must double our houses.... It is, then, among the most important
+  arts; it is desirable to introduce taste into an art which shows so
+  much. 6. Painting, Statuary. Too expensive for the state of wealth
+  among us. It would be useless, therefore, and preposterous, for us to
+  make ourselves connoisseurs in those arts. They are worth seeing, but
+  not studying. 7. Politics of each country, well worth studying so far
+  as respects internal affairs. Examine their influence on the
+  happiness of the people. Take every possible occasion for entering
+  into the houses of the laborers, and especially at the moment of
+  their repast; see what they eat, how they are clothed, whether they
+  are obliged to work too hard.... 8. Courts. To be seen as you would
+  see the tower of London or menagerie of Versailles with their lions,
+  tigers, hyenas, and other beasts of prey, standing in the same
+  relation to their fellows.... Their manners, could you ape them,
+  would not make you beloved in your own country, nor would they
+  improve it could you introduce them there to the exclusion of that
+  honest simplicity now prevailing in America, and worthy of being
+  cherished.
+
+The man who wrote these lines was certainly not denationalized; the
+emancipated Virginian had unconsciously retained a puritanical distrust
+of purely æsthetic enjoyments. He seems to have taken a sort of wicked
+pleasure in denying himself the disinterested joys of the artist and
+philosopher and his travels in Europe were no "sentimental journey." It
+cannot even be maintained that the views expressed in the letter to
+Shippen were a paradox and that he felt free to enjoy the pleasures from
+which he strove to protect his fellow countrymen. Most revealing in this
+respect is the following passage from a letter written to Lafayette,
+when he was traveling along the Riviera:
+
+  In the great cities I go to see, what travellers think alone worthy
+  of being seen; but I make a job of it, and generally gulp it all down
+  in a day. On the other hand, I am never satisfied with rambling
+  through the fields and farms, examining the culture and cultivators,
+  with a degree of curiosity which makes some take me to be a fool, and
+  others to be much wiser than I am.[111]
+
+He seems to have been dominated by the same utilitarian preoccupations
+during his English journey. There he noted carefully all the
+peculiarities of English gardens, visiting all the show places with
+Whateley's book on gardening in his pocket: "My inquiries," he himself
+said, "were directed chiefly to such practical things as might enable me
+to estimate the expense of making and maintaining a garden in that
+style." This is why the only thing worth noticing at Kew was an
+Archimedes screw for raising water, of which he made a sketch. His
+conclusions were summed up in a letter to John Page after he came back
+to Paris. England had totally disappointed him. The "pleasure gardens",
+to be sure, went far beyond his ideas, but the city of London, though
+handsomer than Paris, was not so handsome as Philadelphia: "Their
+architecture is in the most wretched style I ever saw, not meaning to
+except America, where it is bad, not even Virginia, where it is worse
+than in any other part of America which I have seen." On the other
+hand, the mechanical arts were carried to a wonderful perfection, but
+he took no joy in visiting manufactures and shops, since the view
+reminded him that the frivolity of his fellow countrymen made them
+import many articles from London and thus pay tribute to a foreign
+nation.[112]
+
+When he left Paris for the South of France he was in no more amiable
+mood. It was his first real contact with the French countryside and he
+was shocked beyond words at the sight of the first villages he passed
+through from Sens to Vermanton. He could not understand why the French
+peasants insisted on living close together in villages instead of
+building their houses on the grounds they cultivated. He racked his
+brains for an explanation and could find no better one than to suppose
+that they were "collected by that dogma of their religion which makes
+them believe, that to keep the Creator in good humor with His own works,
+they must mumble a mass every day." The people were illy clothed; the
+sight of women and children carrying heavy burdens and laboring with the
+hoe made the Virginian slave-owner conclude that "in a civilized
+country, men never expose their wives and children to labor above their
+force and sex, as long as their own labor can protect them from it." But
+he nowhere expressed any emotional distress nor heartfelt sympathy for
+these poor wretches and concluded that if there were no beggars it was
+probably an effect of the police.[113]
+
+On the other hand, he noted every detail of the fabrication of Burgundy
+wine, enumerated the different vintages, the cost of casks, bottles,
+methods of transportation and marketing, the price of "_vin ordinaire_",
+of oil, butter, cattle, the cultivation of olive trees and fig trees and
+capers. Monuments are described with a mathematical eye, many small
+points noted, columns described, ornaments studied, but the only
+personal impression elicited by Arles is that "The principal monument
+here, is an amphitheatre, the external portico of which is tolerably
+complete."
+
+What is true of France is even more true of Italy. At Milan the
+cathedral is not even mentioned, but "the salon of the Casa Belgiosa is
+superior to anything I have ever seen." And he adds immediately, "The
+mixture called Scaiola, of which they make their walls and floors, is so
+like the finest marble as to be scarcely distinguishable from it." Pages
+are given to the fabrication of Parmesan cheese. Once, however, in
+walking along the shore from Louano to Alberga, he could not resist the
+enchantment of the landscape. There he noted the remarkable coloration
+of the Mediterranean and was puzzled by it, but he also added, let it be
+marked to his credit:
+
+  If any person wished to retire from his acquaintances, to live
+  absolutely unknown, and yet in the midst of physical enjoyments, it
+  should be in some of the little villages of this coast, where air,
+  water and earth concur to offer what each has most precious. Here are
+  nightingales, beccaficas, ortolans, pheasants, partridges, quails, a
+  superb climate, and the power of changing it from summer to winter at
+  any moment, by ascending the mountains. The earth furnishes wine,
+  oil, figs, oranges, and every production of the garden, in every
+  season. The sea yields lobsters, crabs, oysters, thunny, sardines,
+  anchovies etc. Ortolans sell at this time at thirty sous, equal to
+  one shilling sterling, the dozen.
+
+A queer mixture of suppressed artistic emotions and avowed culinary
+preoccupations. Shades of Rousseau and Wordsworth, to mention the
+nightingale and the ortolans in one breath! But one thing at least we
+must be thankful for is his lack of pretence and conventional
+admiration. It is, after all, refreshing to find a traveler who does not
+copy from his guidebook and does not fall into raptures and worked-up
+ecstasies. He came back through "Luc, Brignolles, Avignon, Vaucluse",
+simply noting that "there are fine trout in the stream of Vaucluse and
+the valley abounds particularly with nightingales." He saw Nîmes,
+Montpellier, Frontignan, where he discussed the manufacture and price of
+wine; he passed through Carcassonne and was much interested in the canal
+and "the carp caught there", but did not mention the walls; he stayed
+several days at Bordeaux, measured the remains of a Roman amphitheater
+and made a thorough study of the wines; "Chateau Margau, La Tour de
+Ségur, Hautbrion, Chateau de la Fite, Pontac, Sauternes, Barsac." He
+visited Nantes, Rennes, Angers, Tours, and ascertained the truth of the
+allegations of the famous "growth of shells unconnected with animal
+bodies" mentioned by Voltaire and discussed in the "Notes on Virginia."
+He saw Chanteloup and heard a nightingale there, but was far more
+interested in "an ingenious contrivance to hide the projecting steps of
+a stair-case."
+
+The same utilitarian preoccupation reappears most conspicuously in his
+"Memorandums on a Tour from Paris to Amsterdam, Strasburg, and back to
+Paris" (March, 1788). At Amsterdam he studied the Dutch wheelbarrow, the
+canal to raise ships over the Pampus, joists of houses, the aviary of
+Mr. Ameshoff near Harlem; he made a sketch of the Hope's House "of a
+capricious appearance yet a pleasant one"--an architectural atrocity if
+ever there was one. At Düsseldorf "the gallery of paintings is sublime",
+but equally interesting is the hog of this country (Westphalia) "of
+which the celebrated ham is made which sells at eight and a half pence
+sterling the pound." If he saw the cathedral at Cologne he forbore to
+mention it, but at Coblenz he had his first taste of the Moselle wine.
+It would be cruel to reproduce his description of the "clever ruin at
+Hanau, with the hermitage in which is a good figure of a hermit in
+plaster, colored to the life, with a table and a book before him, in the
+attitude of contemplation."
+
+And yet, when the worst is told, one may wonder whether there would not
+be some unfairness in judging Jefferson merely from these memoranda.
+There he noted information for which he foresaw some further use,
+interesting knowledge which could be utilized at Monticello or for the
+benefit of his fellow countrymen. How to plant and prune the vines and
+the olive trees; how to make cheese and oil; how to introduce the "St.
+Foin", new vegetables, new crops such as rice, new industries such as
+the silkworm and mulberry tree; how to build a house; all this required
+exactness and precision and could scarcely be trusted to memory.
+Pleasant impressions of travel, on the contrary, could always be evoked
+through the imagination and would lose very little of their charm and
+value with time. Furthermore to put down these impressions in black and
+white would have required a certain process of analysis entirely foreign
+to Puritan consciousness, and a Puritan Jefferson had remained in his
+speech and manners far more than he himself believed. There was in these
+purely æsthetic pleasures something really too personal to be indulged
+in, at least in writing. Once, however, he did away with all the
+restraint imposed upon him by education and the "habits of his country";
+it is in the well-known letter written from Nîmes to Madame de Tessé.
+Parts of it at least, in all fairness to Jefferson, have to be quoted
+here as a contrast to the dryness and objectiveness of the notes on
+travel....
+
+  Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison Quarrée, like a
+  lover at his mistress.... This is the second time I have been in love
+  since I left Paris. The first was with a Diana at the Château de
+  Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolais, 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 violently smitten with the Hôtel 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
+  place a chair there, so that sitting on the parapet, and twisting my
+  neck around to see the object of my admiration, I generally left 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 whatever is Roman and noble. At Vienna I thought
+  of you. But I am glad you were not here; 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
+  Quarrée--defaced by the barbarians who have converted it to its
+  present purpose, its beautiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out, in
+  parts, to make space for Gothic windows, and hewed down, in the
+  residue, to the plane of the buildings, was enough, you must admit,
+  to disturb my composure. At Orange too, I thought of you. I was sure
+  you had seen with pleasure the sublime triumphal arch of Marius at
+  the entrance of the city. I went then to the Arenae. Would you
+  believe, Madam, that in this eighteenth century, in France, under the
+  reign of Louis XVI, they are at this moment pulling down the circular
+  wall of this superb remain, to pave a road? And that too, from a hill
+  which is itself en entire mass of stone, just as fit, and more
+  accessible.[114]
+
+This is indeed a charming letter; but why did he not write more often in
+this vein? Why did he send to Martha moralizing and edifying letters
+when he was traveling in Southern France and Italy? His latent
+puritanism, as already shown, may partly account for this reticence, but
+this came from a deeper feeling. He had already protested in his "Notes
+on Virginia" against the claim made by Europe to intellectual supremacy.
+He realized, however, how powerful was the attraction of the great
+centers of European culture on young America, and was afraid that the
+introduction of foreign arts, foreign literature, foreign customs, and
+"mode" might corrupt the very springs of American life. This blind
+admiration of everything European constituted one of the greatest
+dangers if America wished to develop on her own soil a civilization of
+her own. Friends in Virginia had to be convinced that an American youth,
+brought up on a strictly American diet, would in nowise be inferior to
+most Europeans. If one insisted upon sending a young man to Europe, the
+chances were that he would learn nothing essential, that on the contrary
+he would lose many of his native qualities and at any rate his native
+innocence and purity of mind. This appears most conspicuously in a
+letter written to J. B. Bannister, Junior, who had manifested the
+intention of sending his son to Europe. There Jefferson proceeded to
+denounce the features of European civilization as vehemently as any
+Puritan preacher and with the same frankness of expression. To enumerate
+the disadvantages of sending a youth to Europe "would require a volume",
+so he had to select a few. England is shortly disposed of: "If he goes
+to England, he learns drinking, horse racing, and boxing," for those are
+the peculiarities of English education. If he goes to the continent he
+will acquire a fondness for luxury and dissipation, he will contract a
+partiality for aristocracy and monarchy; he will soon be led to consider
+"fidelity to the marriage bed as an ungentlemanly practice." He will
+become denationalized and recollecting "the voluptuary dress and arts of
+the European women, will pity and despise the chaste affections and
+simplicity of those of his own country." He will return to America "a
+foreigner", speaking and writing his own tongue "like a foreigner", and
+therefore unqualified to obtain those distinctions, which eloquence of
+the pen and tongue ensures in a free country. There can be only one
+conclusion after such a fierce denunciation of Europe:
+
+  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 expected. 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 homogeneous with those of the country.[115]
+
+Very bold indeed would have been the American father who, with such a
+frightful picture before his eyes, would have sent his son to Europe.
+
+Thus we are led to a very unexpected conclusion. There is little doubt
+that Jefferson's democratic theories were confirmed and clarified by his
+prolonged stay in Europe. But this was not due to the lessons he
+received from the French philosophers. He had gone to France under the
+misapprehension that he would be considered there as a "savage from the
+mountains of America"; he had been dazzled at first by the splendor of
+the old world, but he had soon overcome his admiration and arrived at
+the conclusion that the game was not worth the candle. Life in Paris was
+very pleasant, but some one had to foot the bill, and the general fate
+of humanity was most deplorable in Europe. Such are the general
+impressions he sent to his friend Bellini one year after arriving in
+Paris:
+
+  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. The great mass of
+  the people suffer under physical and moral oppression; but the
+  condition of the great if more closely observed cannot compare with
+  the degree of happiness which is enjoyed in America. Among them there
+  is no family life, no conjugal love, no domestic happiness; intrigues
+  of love occupy the young and those of ambition, the elder part of the
+  great.
+
+Much, very much inferior, this, to the tranquil, permanent felicity with
+which domestic society in America blesses most of its inhabitants;
+leaving them to follow steadily those pursuits which health and reason
+approve, and rendering truly delicious the intervals of those pursuits!
+
+If one looks to another field, the situation is very similar. "In
+science, the mass of the people are two centuries behind ours; their
+literature half a dozen years before us." But that is no serious
+inconvenience; books which are really good acquire a reputation in that
+lapse of time and then pass over to America, while poor books,
+controversial and uncertain knowledge are naturally weeded out, so that
+America is not bothered with that "swarm of nonsensical publications
+which issue daily from a thousand presses, and perishes almost in
+issuing."
+
+On some points, however, Europeans have a decided superiority over the
+Americans: they have more amiable manners, they are more polite, more
+temperate, "they do not terminate the most sociable meals by
+transforming themselves into brutes. I have never seen a man drunk in
+France, even among the lowest of the people."
+
+Finally in the arts there is no possible comparison:
+
+  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.[116]
+
+Nor are we to believe that in Jefferson's opinion this was a small
+achievement. Had he been more poetically inclined he might have repeated
+the apostrophe of the old poet: "France mother of all the arts." But
+when all is told, the fact remained that Europe had more to learn from
+America than she could possibly give to the new nation, and thereupon
+Jefferson started to "boost" his own country. Protesting against a
+pseudo-discovery of an English wheelwright, he declared that the idea
+had been stolen from Doctor Franklin who had observed it in
+Pennsylvania, Delaware and Jersey, and the Jersey farmers might have
+borrowed it from Homer, "for ours are the only farmers who can read
+Homer."[117] Against the architectural feats of the Europeans it is not
+unfair to claim the superiority of American scenery, particularly of the
+Virginia marvels, such as the Natural Bridge, for "that kind of pleasure
+surpasses much in my estimation, whatever I find on this side of the
+Atlantic."[118]
+
+At the end of his journey in France and Italy he conceded that there are
+indeed in these countries "things worth our imitation." But he
+immediately added, "the accounts from our country give me to believe
+that we are not in a condition to hope of the imitation of anything
+good."[119] In the meantime it is better for the Americans to stay at
+home, for "travelling makes men wiser, but less happy"; and he wrote to
+Peter Carr, whose education he had undertaken to direct: "There is no
+place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little obstructed by
+foreign objects, as your own country, nor any, wherein the virtues of
+the heart will be less exposed to be weakened."[120]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+GALLO-AMERICAN COMMERCE AND THE DEBT QUESTION
+
+
+After Franklin's departure from Paris, Jefferson was left officially in
+charge of the diplomatic relations of the United States with the French
+Court. Adams was in London and Carmichael in Madrid, and with them he
+exchanged extensive communications. But the Paris legation was really
+the headquarters of American diplomacy, and the problems that came up
+taxed the ingenuity and all the intellectual resources Jefferson could
+command.
+
+Summing up his activities in Paris, he declared with too much modesty in
+his "Autobiography":
+
+  My duties, at Paris, were confined to a few objects; the receipts of
+  our whale oils, salted fish, and salt meat, on favorable terms; the
+  admission of our rice on equal terms with that of Piedmont, Egypt and
+  the Levant; a mitigation of the monopolies of our tobacco by the
+  Farmers-general, and a free admission of our productions into their
+  islands, were the principal commercial objects which required
+  attention; and on these occasions, I was powerfully aided by all the
+  influence and the energies of the Marquis de LaFayette, who proved
+  himself equally zealous for the friendship and welfare of both
+  nations.
+
+As a matter of fact, Jefferson's duties extended to many other subjects,
+of which the most important and at any rate the most perplexing may have
+been the settlement of the debt question. This problem, as we shall
+presently see, haunted Jefferson's mind and was never separated by him
+from the purely commercial questions. In many respects the situation
+then existing between the United States and France was very similar to
+the present situation and certainly not easier to solve. An estimate of
+Jefferson's career that would leave out this particular side of his
+activities when in France, would necessarily be incomplete, if not
+misleading. A large part of the minister's time was devoted, not to
+philosophical conversations with Helvétius' friends but to obstinate,
+patient, and harassing endeavor to obtain for his country commercial
+rights and even privileges that would enable her to pay off her debt to
+Europe. In spite of his affected scorn for figures and statistics, the
+"philosopher" demonstrated an unusual business ability.
+
+The tobacco trade in which the Southern States and particularly Virginia
+were vitally interested was at that time entirely in the hands of the
+Farmers-general, whose monopoly was not administered to the best
+interests of either the American growers or the French consumers. Being
+closely allied with some of the prominent economists and entirely in
+sympathy with their views, Lafayette was naturally against the farming
+of taxes on tobacco. But as he realized that there was very little hope
+of doing away entirely with the system, he contented himself at first
+with employing his best efforts to facilitate the direct importation of
+tobacco into France. As early as May, 1785, he managed to obtain a copy
+of a document indicating that some London dealers were offering to the
+Farmers-general large quantities of Virginia tobacco. He communicated
+the document at once to Jefferson, and suggested that it was important
+for both countries to eliminate the London middlemen. Direct commercial
+relations should be established between France and America, not only as
+a matter of patriotism, but also as a matter of interest.[121]
+
+This proposed change in the traditional policy of the Farmers-general,
+who were accustomed to deal with British intermediaries, met with a
+strong opposition from the Farmers-general. For reasons which they did
+not state openly, they refused either to deal with independent American
+growers, or to buy from a new and strictly American company planned by
+Jefferson.[122]
+
+Unable to overcome the resistance of the Farmers-general, Jefferson
+decided that the next step would be to fight the monopoly and to
+persuade the Court to do away with it. It was a logical more than a
+truly diplomatic procedure, since Jefferson took upon himself to meddle
+in the internal affairs of the government to which he was accredited.
+But Jefferson, without being the originator of the famous "shirt-sleeve"
+diplomacy, was not the man to let diplomatic proprieties stand in the
+way of the best interests of his country. Furthermore, he was quite
+sincere in his belief that he was acting to the greatest advantage of
+both France and America. He therefore wrote to Vergennes a long letter,
+in which he stated the advantages which would accrue to the royal
+treasury from the abolition of the tobacco monopoly.[123]
+
+There is no indication that Vergennes resented in any way Jefferson's
+suggestion; but there is no evidence either that he paid any attention
+to it. Things remained in the same condition to the end of the year. Up
+to that date, Lafayette had fought as a free lance the commercial battle
+of the United States, using his personal influence and family
+connections to undermine the prestige of the Farmers-general. At the
+beginning of 1786, Calonne, yielding to his solicitations, formed the
+Comité du Commerce composed of Farmers-general, inspectors of commerce,
+and members of the council, in order to study the future of the
+commercial relations between France and the United States. Lafayette was
+appointed to the committee on February 9, 1786. He had very little
+training in economics and had never displayed any particular aptitude
+for financial problems. But back of him was Jefferson, and on the
+committee Lafayette was nothing but the spokesman of the American
+Plenipotentiary. The account of his speeches before the committee, given
+by Brissot, and reprinted in a note to the "Memoirs of General
+Lafayette", is simply the résumé of a letter sent by Jefferson to
+Vergennes six months earlier. Jefferson prompted him, furnished him with
+figures and statistics, and in a letter written at the eleventh hour
+urged him to expose the fundamental dishonesty of the Farmers-general.
+Since, according to their own figures, said Jefferson, they lose
+annually over four million livres by the farming of tobacco "the king,
+in favor to them, should discontinue the bail; and they cannot ask its
+continuance without acknowledging they have given in a false state of
+quantities and sums."[124]
+
+Standing alone in the committee against a strong combination of skilled
+financiers, Lafayette was fighting for a lost cause without any profit
+to himself or any visible hope of success.[125]
+
+Both Lafayette and Jefferson were outmaneuvered by the financiers. They
+professed that they were willing to denounce their contracts with the
+London merchants, and thus seemed to accomplish a grand patriotic
+gesture, but they granted to the American financier, Robert Morris, the
+exclusive privilege of buying tobacco for them and thus defeated the
+main purpose of Jefferson. The minister had to confess that he was
+beaten, although he had spared no pains to strike at the root of the
+monopoly. "The persons interested in it are too powerful to be opposed,
+even by the interest of the whole country."[126]
+
+But it was not in his character ever to give up; he soon renewed the
+attack at another point. First he succeeded in postponing for six months
+the effect of the new lease to Morris, and thus permitted American
+importers who had accumulated stocks in Lorient to sell them directly
+to the Farmers-general. Some time later he partially nullified the
+concession to Morris by obtaining an order from the council "obliging
+the Farmers-general to purchase from such other merchants as shall offer
+fifteen thousand hogshead of tobacco", and to grant to the sellers in
+other respects the same terms as they had granted Robert Morris.
+
+Thus, indirectly but very effectively, Jefferson finally achieved his
+purpose: to undermine an odious monopoly which caused a great loss to
+the planters of his country; to enable the American consumers to buy
+directly from France manufactured products, or at least those
+"commodities which it is more advantageous to us to buy here than in
+England, or elsewhere"; finally "to reinforce the motives for a
+friendship from this country towards ours.--This friendship we ought to
+cultivate closely, considering the present dispositions of England
+towards us."[127]
+
+In addition, he flattered himself that he had taught the French some
+sound economic principles:
+
+  I have been for some time occupied in endeavouring to destroy the
+  root of the evils which the tobacco trade encounters in this country,
+  by making the ministers sensible that merchants will not bring a
+  commodity to a market, where but one person is allowed to buy it; and
+  that so long as that single purchaser is obliged to go to foreign
+  markets for it, he must pay for it in coin and not in commodities.
+  These truths have made their way to the mind of the ministry
+  insomuch, as to have delayed the execution of the new lease of the
+  farms, six months. It is renewed, however, for three years, but so as
+  not to render impossible a reformation of the great evil. They are
+  sensible to the evil, but it is so interwoven with their fiscal
+  system, that they find it hazardous to disentangle. The temporary
+  distress, too, of the revenue, they are not prepared to meet. My
+  hopes, therefore, are weak, though not quite desperate.[128]
+
+One might well wonder to what extent these "truths" were as new to the
+French as Jefferson seemed to believe, and to what extent he was
+operative in strengthening the opposition to the Farmers-general,
+already very strong in France. However that may be, the American
+minister learned from the French example as much as he taught the
+members of the committee. The tobacco monopoly was to him another object
+lesson on the danger of farming taxes, and he did not forget it.
+
+Even greater obstacles were encountered by Jefferson and Lafayette in
+their effort to develop commercial transactions with New England. The
+negotiations extended over three years and would be worth relating in
+detail.[129] Jefferson, bent on breaking customs barriers and obtaining
+free entrance for the products of New England fisheries, brought forward
+every possible argument to fight the doctrine of commercialism and
+summed up his case in a letter sent to Lafayette, but evidently intended
+for the committee. There for the first time he pointed out the necessary
+connection existing between the tariff question and the repayment of the
+French debt. The problem of "transfers" is not a new one, and
+Jefferson's reasoning sounds strangely familiar to all those who have
+paid any attention to our present problems of debt settlement,
+reparations, and tariff. The following passage seems particularly worth
+quoting:
+
+  On running over the catalogue of American imports, France will
+  naturally mark out those articles which she could supply us to
+  advantage; and she may safely calculate, that, after a little time
+  shall have enabled us to get rid of our present incumbrances, and
+  some remains of attachment to the particular forms of manufacture to
+  which we have been habituated, we shall take those articles which she
+  can furnish, on as good terms as other nations, to whatever extent
+  she will enable us to pay for them. It is her interest therefore, as
+  well as ours, to multiply the means of payment. These must be found
+  in the catalogue of our exports, and among these will be seen neither
+  gold nor silver. We have no mines of either of those metals. Produce
+  therefore is all we can offer.[130]
+
+The conclusion was that it was imperative to obtain such abatement of
+duties and even such exemptions as the importance of the article might
+justify, in the hope that his country would be enabled to build up a
+commercial credit of about 275,000 louis, which would provide for the
+service and amortization of the American debt to France.
+
+Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of Lafayette and also to the
+sympathetic attitude of the committee, a series of _arrêts du conseil_
+listed in a letter to Monroe was finally obtained.[131] There was little
+hope at first that they would be countersigned, but in October of the
+same year Jefferson, with evident satisfaction, was able to inform Jay
+of the new regulations granting free ports to America, abolishing export
+taxes on brandies, and for a year the tax on whale oil and spermaceti,
+on potash, furs, leather, timber, trees, and shrubbery, brought either
+in American or French bottoms. Every effort had been made not only to
+place the United States on the footing of the most favored nation, but
+to encourage her infant industries and manufactures. The new regulations
+approved by Calonne did much to free America from her commercial
+subservience to Great Britain and also reinforce, according to
+Jefferson's wishes, the motives for a "friendship from France towards
+America."
+
+This was by no means the end of all difficulties; the abatement on whale
+oil was only temporary and Jefferson was never able to obtain entire
+satisfaction in respect to the tobacco trade, but there is no doubt that
+the situation had greatly improved.
+
+Even during the last months of his stay in France he never overlooked an
+opportunity to further the commercial interests of the United States.
+His fear to see his fellow countrymen "over-trade themselves and embark
+into the ocean of speculation" had not abated. He still believed that
+"we have no occasion for more commerce than to take off our superfluous
+produce", and tobacco was clearly in that class.[132] But at that time
+there arose an opportunity both to develop commercial relations and to
+be of distinct service to France. The years that immediately precede the
+French Revolution were marked by a very distressing food shortage in
+France and particularly in the capital. This was one of the most
+disquieting problems confronting the Committee of Commerce and the city
+syndics. Jefferson, because of his connections with Lafayette, Du Pont
+de Nemours, and Mr. Ethis de Corny, was particularly well informed on
+the situation and he turned his best efforts to induce the government to
+remedy it through the importation of American products. He thought that
+besides the salt fish from New England, salt meat and corn beef would
+constitute a desirable addition to the French diet and he undertook a
+campaign to convert the French to the idea. One of his last letters to
+Necker, on September 26, 1789, was to recommend the importation of
+salted provisions from the United States, appraising the quality of
+American salt meat, for "the experience of a great part of America,
+which is fed almost entirely on it, proves it to be as wholesome as
+fresh meat."[133]
+
+In spite of all the obstacles to the development of the Gallo-American
+commerce because of the deep-rooted French horror of innovations and
+changes, the efforts of Jefferson and his friends were not wholly
+unavailing. According to Mr. Woolery, in 1789 importations from the
+United States amounted to 140,959 barrels of flour, 3,664,576 bushels of
+wheat and 12,340,000 pounds of rice. Vessels coming from the United
+States to French ports in this year included thirteen French,
+forty-three English and one hundred and sixty-three American; the
+tonnage of American vessels was 19,173 in 1788 and 24,173 in 1789.
+Exports to France in 1788 were valued at $1,384,246; to French
+possessions in America $3,284,656; and from them, $155,136 and
+$1,913,212 respectively. In this trade the American tonnage engaged was
+approximately ten times that of the French. The philosopher had proved
+himself a first-class commercial agent. He had built up trade relations
+which would have consolidated the friendship between the two countries
+if the Revolution had not intervened. But no real friendship can exist
+between creditor and debtor; the debt problem was no less important than
+the commercial problem, and Jefferson displayed on this occasion an
+ingenuity and a diplomatic skill no less worthy of commendation.
+
+When he took charge of the legation at Paris the finances of the United
+States were in a deplorable condition. Loans made by the
+Farmers-general, by Beaumarchais, by the King of France, and loans
+contracted in Holland and in Spain, constituted the most important
+outstanding liabilities of the American Government. In 1783 the
+situation as reported to Congress was as follows:
+
+  To the Farmers-general of France, livres    1,000,000
+  To Beaumarchais                             3,000,000
+  To King of France, to the end of 1782      28,000,000
+  To same for 1783                            6,000,000
+
+To this total was to be added a loan from Holland for $671,200, and
+$150,000 borrowed from Spain by Jay. Interest was coming in at the rate
+of four per cent. on the French loan, making it a total of approximately
+$7,885,000. The domestic situation was far worse; the States had plunged
+into issues of paper money: $241,552,780 had been issued in bills of
+credit by Congress, and $209,524,776 by the States.
+
+If it is remembered that private investors had bought American paper
+rather recklessly, that important sums were due to England, and that
+the United States could not even meet the interest on the debts without
+further borrowing, it is small wonder that European creditors began to
+wonder whether they would ever be repaid. The first task confronting the
+new Minister Plenipotentiary was to convince them that the United States
+as then organized had a sufficient stability to allay all fears.
+Jefferson undertook at once to clarify the situation. In a letter to the
+Dutch bankers, N. and J. Van Staphorst, he asserted that no man in
+America had ever entertained any doubt that "our foreign debt is to be
+paid fully." He significantly added: "Were I the holder of any of them,
+I should not have the least fear of their full payment." But he had to
+call the attention of the bankers to the fact that some international
+notes were issued for paper money debts, and those of course would be
+subject to a certain depreciation, to be settled by Congress according
+to carefully worked out tables. The safer thing, therefore, for European
+investors was to beware of and to avoid any speculation on American
+bills and "foreigners should be sure that they are well advised, before
+they meddle with them, or they may suffer."[134] He repeated the same
+advice on October 25: "It is a science which bids defiance to the powers
+of reason."
+
+With the particulars of the different loans obtained by Jefferson while
+he was in France, and with the transactions that took place in Holland,
+we cannot deal here. It would be a study well worth undertaking
+separately, and one for which there is abundant material not yet
+utilized in the Jefferson papers, particularly in his correspondence
+with Dumas, the agent at the Hague. We shall restrict ourselves,
+however, to the political aspect of the debt settlement during
+Jefferson's mission.
+
+The French were at first very polite about it; without insisting in any
+way on the question of payment, Vergennes simply asked Jefferson whether
+"the condition of American finances was improving." The French minister
+did not even mention the possibilities of the United States paying the
+arrears of the interest; but Jefferson suffered and irked, thinking that
+he was probably expected to mention it first, while he could not do so
+without instructions and there were "no visible means to pay anything
+for the present."[135]
+
+Curiously enough, the matter came to a head with England during the trip
+made by Jefferson in the spring of 1786. He held several conferences
+with the British merchants and tried to obtain with them a sort of
+compromise by which American merchants would repay in full the capital
+of debts contracted before and after the war, but withdrawing payment of
+the interest for the period of the war. It was then that Jefferson put
+forth the principle he was to maintain persistently with the
+French,--namely that the matter of commerce and the question of the
+debts could not be separated, "were it only as a means of enabling our
+country to pay its debts."[136]
+
+The chief fault of Jefferson's solution, however, was that there was
+very little America could sell to England, while the Americans
+themselves were eagerly buying goods manufactured in England. There was
+great danger of seeing that economic vassalage perpetuated, for "instead
+of a proper equilibrium, everything at present lies all in the British
+scale."[137] Importations being permitted, fashion and folly requiring
+English products, the country was sinking deeper and deeper into
+poverty, and all the news on the matter received by Jefferson "filled
+him with despair."
+
+However, something had to be done at once in the case of the French
+debt, as Jefferson knew that the French Minister of Finance was "at his
+wit's end to raise supplies for the ensuing year."[138] It does not
+appear that the French Court had made any representation on the debt to
+the American Plenipotentiary, but Jefferson fully realized that he was
+placed in a position of inferiority as long as the vexing question
+remained unsettled and payments on the interest were overdue. This was
+the more deplorable, as France was the only European nation with which
+the United States could hope to develop really satisfactory relations.
+It was at this juncture that a very interesting proposition was made
+through Dumas by the Dutch bankers. The French debt's most objectionable
+feature was that it placed the American Government under direct
+obligation to the French; in other words, as we would say now, it was a
+political debt, but means might be found to change it into a purely
+commercial debt. If a company of bankers were formed to pay off France
+at once, the American Government would be able to treat with them on a
+business basis, the greatest advantage being that in case of delayed
+payments, no political pressure could be exerted or political advantage
+claimed.
+
+The only objection to such a combination was that it could not be made
+without the consent of both the French and American governments, and
+negotiations to that effect would necessarily take a long time. To
+provide for the most pressing needs, Jefferson proposed to raise
+directly in Holland the four and twenty millions due to France as
+accrued interest. This would make a beginning and create a precedent. In
+the meantime Adams was urged to go to Holland to acquaint himself with
+the situation, so as to be able to present a definite solution to
+Congress on his return to America.[139] The French court remained very
+considerate and did not make any formal representations; but very harsh
+criticism of the failure of America to meet her obligations were heard
+during the Assemblée des Notables. The funds were so low that the
+American Government could not even pay its debts to the French officers
+who, because of their influence with the Court, should have received
+special consideration. Yet Congress did not seem to realize how pressing
+the matter was, and Jefferson could only repeat with real despair and
+disgust: "Would to heaven they would authorize you to take measures for
+transferring the debt of this country to Holland before you leave
+Europe."[140]
+
+On their side, the French Court did their best to reassure the French
+creditors, and when the written report of the Assemblées des Notables
+appeared it had been considerably toned down, simply stating that:
+
+  ... the interest of the claims of His Majesty on the United States of
+  America, cannot be drawn out for the present, except as a document.
+  The recovery of these claims, as well as principal as perhaps even
+  interest, although they appear to rest on the most solid security,
+  may, nevertheless, be long delayed, and should not consequently, be
+  taken into account in estimating the annual revenue.
+
+But even that mention seemed to Jefferson a reflection on the national
+honor of his country. He was harassed by French claimants; Beaumarchais
+had just placed in his hands a memorial to Congress; French officers
+were writing to him and calling on him, threatening to sell their claims
+to a single creditor, or to ask the court to intervene in their favor.
+But all the unfortunate American minister could answer was that Congress
+"would do in that business, what justice would require, and their means
+enable them."[141]
+
+At the end of the same year he learned that Congress had rejected the
+proposition of the Dutch bankers, and he could not help expressing deep
+disappointment. One hope was left however: the sale of western lands
+then going on which would provide Congress with important liquid
+assets.
+
+  I turn to this precious resource--he wrote to a friend--as that which
+  will, in every event, liberate us from our domestic debt, and perhaps
+  too, from our foreign one; and this much sooner than I had expected.
+  I do not think anything could have been done with them in Europe.
+  Individual speculators and sharpers had duped so many with their
+  unlocated land-warrants, that every offer would be suspected.[142]
+
+In the meantime something had to be done to reassure the creditors of
+the United States, and Jefferson pressed Dumas to publish a series of
+articles in the _Gazette of Leyden_ to demonstrate the financial
+stability of his country. The situation had to be presented as follows:
+two sales of five million and two million acres respectively had been
+made, another for four million was in process and Jefferson considered
+that these sales had absorbed seven million dollars of the domestic
+Federal debt. The States had absorbed by taxation and otherwise about
+ten million dollars, so "that the debt stands now at about ten millions
+of dollars, and will probably be all absorbed in the course of next
+year. There will remain then our foreign debt, between ten and twelve
+millions, including interest. The sale of land will then go on for
+payment of this."[143] But in spite of this official optimism the
+Commissioners of the Treasury had informed Willincks and Van Staphorsts
+that they should "not be able to remit one shilling till the New
+Government gets into action" and that consequently they were not to pay
+anything towards the interest of the Dutch loan except out of the
+proceeds of the last loan. To which the Dutch bankers had answered that
+"there was not much prospect to raise as much on that new loan as would
+cover the next June interest and that the credit of the United States
+was in danger of being wiped off."[144] As Adams was about to leave for
+America, Jefferson, at the request of the Dutch bankers, met him at
+Amsterdam and for several days the two American envoys did their best to
+convince close-fisted financiers, who had speculated in American bonds
+and refused to do anything until paid for the interest on the domestic
+bonds they held. They finally yielded, but to avoid further
+embarrassment Jefferson and Adams decided to provide at one stroke for
+the years 1789 and 1790 by signing new bonds for a million florins,
+subject to approval of Congress.[145]
+
+The real danger, as both Adams and Jefferson saw it, came from unwise
+speculation in American domestic bonds, since the bankers had tried to
+use these bonds as a sort of lever; consequently the transfer of
+domestic bonds to Europe was to be discouraged by every possible means.
+"If the transfer of these debts to Europe, meet with any encouragement
+from us, we can no more borrow money here, let our necessities be what
+they will."[146]
+
+How desperate the situation was at that date appears in two letters
+written to General Washington May 2, 1788, and to James Madison, May 3,
+1788.[147] Jefferson's visit at Amsterdam had convinced him that the
+credit of the United States was at its lowest ebb and in great danger of
+being reduced to nil. The nation with the highest credit was Great
+Britain, because the English never asked for a loan without providing by
+new taxes for the repayment of it. He indicated that no doubt was
+entertained by any one in Holland about the ultimate repayment of the
+capital, but that repeated failures to pay the interest on the old loans
+had stopped any further borrowing. As to the French debt, the Court had
+carefully avoided any public mention of it, "the government here, saying
+nothing about it, the public have supposed they wished to leave us at
+our ease as to the payment. It is now seen that they call for it, and
+they will publish annually the effect of that call." The most pressing
+need was an order from the Treasury to pay the arrears for the last
+three years to the French officers. With much difficulty Jefferson had
+prevented them from holding a meeting to agree on concerted action on
+the matter, and when he came back he prevented them from taking
+"desperate measures" till July. But a solution could not be deferred
+much longer. The necessary sum was comparatively small: twenty thousand
+florins a year would have sufficed "to suppress these clamors", and
+through diplomacy he finally succeeded in staying the address they
+intended to send to Congress and to the king, asking him to intervene on
+their behalf.[148]
+
+Fortunately the loan launched in Holland to meet the payment of the June
+interest had succeeded and had been finally ratified by Congress.[149]
+It was a beginning that brought some respite to Jefferson, but he
+insisted again that the next step to take was the funding of the foreign
+debt, for the French Government expected "a very satisfactory provision
+for the payment of their debt, from the first session of the new
+Congress."[150] He was enclosing two tables "showing what fund will
+suffice to discharge the principal and interest, as it shall become due
+aided by occasional loans, which the same fund will repay." This very
+detailed and technical proposal now preserved in the Jefferson papers of
+the Library of Congress would repay careful study.
+
+During the spring of the same year, however, Jefferson made a startling
+discovery which added to his distress. The international bankers of
+Amsterdam were not as politically disinterested as he had thought at
+first. He even suspected that, by careful manipulations, they intended
+to keep control of the credit of the United States.
+
+  I have observed--wrote Jefferson--that as soon as a sum of interest
+  is becoming due, they are able to borrow just that, and no more; or,
+  at least, only so much more as may pay our salaries and keep us
+  quiet.... I think it possible, they may choose to support our credit
+  to a certain point, and let it go no further, but at their will; to
+  keep it poised, as that it may be at their mercy. By this, they may
+  be sure to keep us in their own hands.[151]
+
+This had to be remedied at once; energetic representations were sent to
+the bankers and an order of the Treasury was obtained deciding that
+"money for the captives and foreign affairs was to be furnished before
+any other payment of interest."[152]
+
+In spite of these tremendous handicaps, due to the apathy of Congress,
+to the "stagnation" of American affairs, Jefferson succeeded, through
+sheer persistency and hard work, in gaining at least a few points. The
+history of his negotiations concerning the debt and the commerce of the
+United States may not be so dramatic and picturesque as some other
+episodes of his long career; but it cannot be neglected without doing
+injustice to his sense of duty, to his industry and above all to his
+political vision and understanding of international psychology. The
+application to the present situation is so obvious that it needs not to
+be elaborated upon. More fortunate than many recent negotiators,
+Jefferson had been able to obtain a settlement of the debt question
+satisfactory to both parties, and succeeded in eliminating the political
+factor from the situation; the debt to France was no longer an obstacle
+to the maintenance of friendly relations between the two countries. He
+was not the man to boast of his achievements but the legitimate pride he
+felt at having done his work to the best of his ability appears in the
+letter he wrote to John Jay shortly before his departure from France:
+
+  I am well informed that our credit is now the first at that exchange
+  (Amsterdam), (England not borrowing at present). Our five per cent.
+  bonds have risen to ninety-seven and ninety-nine. They have been
+  heretofore at ninety-three. There are, at this time, several
+  companies and individuals here, in England and Holland, negotiating
+  to sell large parcels of our _liquidated debt_. A bargain was
+  concluded by one of these the other day, for six hundred thousand
+  dollars. In the present state of our credit, every dollar of this
+  debt will probably be transferred to Europe within a short time.[153]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+UNION AND ISOLATION
+
+
+Even an incomplete survey of Jefferson's activities in Paris would
+convince any one that at all times the preoccupation uppermost in his
+mind was to defend and further the interests of the United States. He
+shared practically without any reservation the commonly accepted theory
+of his time that self-interest is the most powerful motive of human
+actions, and that enlightened self-interest is the true foundation of
+morality. Never a sentimentalist, he felt it his duty to put all the
+questions he had to discuss on a purely practical basis, neglecting
+every other consideration. He had been welcomed enthusiastically and
+would have been lionized if he had permitted it. But in the midst of the
+adulation showered upon him by Madame d'Houdetot, Madame de Tessé and
+the friends of liberty, he endeavored to keep a cool head; and at the
+end of his first year in France, he summed up as follows his views of
+the situation:
+
+  The body of the people of this country love us cordially. But
+  ministers and merchants love nobody. The merchants here, are
+  endeavoring to exclude us from their islands, the ministers will be
+  governed in it by their political motives, and will do it or not do
+  it, as these shall appear to dictate, without love or hatred to
+  anybody. It were to be wished that they were able to combine better,
+  the various circumstances which prove, beyond a doubt, that all the
+  advantages of their colonies result in the end, to the mother
+  country.[154]
+
+Representing a country hardly organized, without any diplomatic
+traditions, and inexperienced in dealing with foreign affairs, Jefferson
+had no easy task. One of his first duties was to convince the diplomats
+he was dealing with that America was a country to be trusted, in which
+existed a certain permanency and some sort of responsible organization
+with which it was possible to deal. This preoccupation influenced to
+such an extent his views on the American Constitution that they can be
+considered to a large extent a result of his experiences in Europe.
+
+As chairman of the committee on the ratification of the peace treaties,
+as plenipotentiary entrusted with the negotiations of the treaties of
+commerce, Jefferson had more than once felt how insufficient were the
+Articles of Confederation. He had repeatedly proclaimed that to all
+intents and purposes the United States were to be regarded as one
+nation; but as long as treaties with foreign powers had to be ratified
+not only by Congress but by the different States, as long as delegates
+had to refer constantly to the particular States they represented, the
+Federal organization remained a very clumsy, inefficient piece of
+machinery, and business could not be transacted. He never thought for an
+instant that it was possible or desirable for the former colonies to
+remain completely independent; they had at least to form a society of
+nations in order to insure their very existence and their development.
+His first months in Europe could only confirm him in these views, and he
+wrote to Madison at the end of 1786: "To make us one nation as to
+foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the
+outlines of the proper division of powers between the general and
+particular governments. But to enable the federal head to exercise the
+powers given it to best advantage, it should be organized as the
+particular ones are, into legislative, executive and judiciary."
+
+At that date, however, he had not admitted the desirability of
+appointing a single executive and came back to all his proposals of
+vesting the executive powers in a committee of the States, leaving to
+Congress the legislative authority.
+
+To Adams, who saw in Congress "not a legislative but a diplomatic
+assembly", he protested that it was an opinion not entirely correct and
+not likely to do good. As a matter of fact, in forming a confederation,
+the individual States yielded some parts of their sovereignty to
+Congress, and these parts were both legislative and executive. The
+confederation was part of the law of the land, and "superior in
+authority to the ordinary laws, because it cannot be altered by the
+legislature of any one State." It is not without piquancy to remark here
+that the man who was to become the champion of State rights and
+decentralization was advocating a strong Federal bond, while the future
+Federalist was in favor of a very loose association of States, truly a
+sort of League of Nations. In Jefferson's view, on the contrary, the
+United States as such were endowed with a sort of super-power, while the
+independent States retained only those rights which they were able to
+exercise fully.[155] On the other hand, Congress should have absolutely
+no authority over acts which do not concern the confederacy. In case of
+conflict an appeal could be made "from a state judicature to a Federal
+court", in other words to a Supreme Court, and there again Jefferson
+takes the position which his enemies were fifteen years later to defend
+against him, namely that there ought to be some power above Congress to
+restrain it.
+
+  It will be said that this court may encroach over the jurisdiction of
+  the State courts. It may. But there will be a power, to wit,
+  Congress, to watch and restrain them. But place the same authority in
+  Congress itself, and there will be no power above them, to perform
+  the same office. They will restrain within due bounds a jurisdiction
+  exercised by others, much more rigourously than if exercised by
+  themselves.[156]
+
+In a letter to Edward Carrington he summed up his views even more
+clearly. Reforms are necessary, although with all its defects the
+present government of the United States is so far superior to any
+monarchy that its defects must be viewed with indulgence. If any change
+is to be made, the general principle ought to be
+
+  to make the States one as to everything connected with foreign
+  nations, and several as to everything purely domestic. Then to
+  separate the executive from the legislative in order to avoid the
+  terrible delays which are bound to happen with a large assembly and
+  to have 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.[157]
+
+Even if originally Jefferson had been of another opinion, the situation
+in Europe would have rapidly brought him to the same conclusion. For the
+credit of the United States could only be maintained on the condition
+that the newly formed confederation gave guarantees of permanency and
+stability. In his letters to foreign correspondents, such as Dumas,
+financial agent of the United States in Holland, he consequently
+affected more confidence in the wisdom of the convention than he perhaps
+felt at heart:
+
+  No trouble of any sort is to be anticipated. Happily for us that when
+  we find our constitutions defective and insufficient, to secure the
+  happiness of our people, we can assemble with all the coolness of
+  philosophers, and set it to rights, while every other nation on earth
+  must have recourse to arms to amend or restore their
+  constitutions.[158]
+
+The main principle to observe is a separation of powers into
+"legislative, executive and judiciary" as complete as possible, and the
+rest will follow of itself.
+
+Yet as the convention approached, he favored less than ever the
+possibility of trusting any individual with the executive power for an
+indefinite length of time. "There are things in it which stagger all my
+dispositions to subscribe to what such an Assembly has proposed," he
+wrote to Adams. His chief objection to the Constitution was the
+appointment of a President who would be a sort of Polish king. If they
+wanted a President they could have it, provided they should make him
+ineligible at the end of four years. He even came to wonder whether too
+much ado was not made by the convention, for all the good that was in
+the new Constitution "could have been couched in three or four new
+articles added to the old articles of confederation." Far from being a
+radical and one of these reformers who first think of destroying the old
+order of things in order to build anew, Jefferson proposed to keep as
+much as possible "the good old and venerable fabric which should have
+been preserved, even as a religious relic."[159]
+
+At that time Jefferson had not yet received the text of the Constitution
+and had only vaguely heard of the discussion in the convention. When the
+newspapers brought him more details, he acquainted Carmichael with his
+views on the situation. This time his objection to the proposed scheme
+was more specific. It bore not only on the presidency but on the absence
+of a Bill of Rights; the thirteen States could not be melted into one
+government without guarantees to the people, and particularly without
+the recognition of the freedom of the press. The subordination of the
+laws of the States to Federal legislation was equally objectionable and
+he predicted that many States, among them Virginia, would reject several
+articles, making it necessary to assemble another convention to reach a
+better agreement.[160]
+
+But it was reserved for Madison finally to become his confident on this
+question, and Jefferson's letter to him is both a capital document for
+the history of Jeffersonian democracy and a discussion of the first
+rank on the science of government. The good things Jefferson saw in the
+Constitution were many: the division of powers; the election of a
+greater House by the people directly; the negative given to the
+executive by a third of either Houses, and many others of less moment.
+But the absence of a Bill of Rights could not be condoned, for it was a
+sacred palladium of liberty, nor the abandonment of rotation in office,
+particularly in the case of the President. He did not despair of the
+Commonwealth, but he foresaw the necessity of calling another convention
+to agree on an explicit Bill of Rights and to change the objectionable
+features of the convention. In a postscript, he made one of those
+curious proposals which would be disconcerting if it were not remembered
+that his faith in democracy and representative government was tempered
+with a great deal of common sense. The people are right most of the
+time, the people are right in most cases, but the people are not right
+in all cases: they are apt to be swayed by temporary interests and
+considerations and they are apt also to pass contradictory laws from day
+to day. In order to remedy this instability of legislation, Jefferson
+did not hesitate to recommend that there should always be "a twelvemonth
+between the engrossing a bill and passing it", adding that if
+circumstances required a speedier passage, it should take "two thirds of
+both Houses instead of a bare majority."[161]
+
+Having thus defined his position with regard to the Constitution, he
+thought it necessary to qualify it. Despite its imperfections, it
+contained many excellent points; and if it were felt that insistence on
+a Bill of Rights, or on the principle of rotation for the presidency
+should cause dissensions between the States, Jefferson declared himself
+ready "to swallow the two bitter pills" in order to avoid a schism in
+the Union. For that would be "the incurable evil" because near friends,
+falling out, never re-united cordially; "whereas, all of us going
+together, we shall be sure to cure the evils of our new Constitution
+before they do great harm."[162]
+
+The unlimited confidence he had in the ultimate wisdom of the people
+convinced him that if they went wrong for a time they would soon admit
+their mistakes, for there was in America a "good sense and a free
+spirit" which was the safest guarantee that things will right themselves
+in time. First ratify and amend afterwards, such was therefore the best
+procedure to follow, and he prayed heartily that a sufficient number of
+States would ratify, even Virgina and obstinate little Rhode Island! For
+after all there was no immediate danger, and the character of Washington
+was such that nobody could suspect him of coveting a life tenure for
+himself.[163]
+
+Following anxiously and almost day by day the progress of the
+ratification, he declared himself perfectly satisfied with the
+successful result obtained in August, 1788, and was confident that the
+two main defects would be remedied, the first one, the lack of a Bill of
+Rights, very soon, the other as soon as General Washington should retire
+from office. Jefferson had come gradually to this stand, to a large
+extent under the influence of the _Federalist_, which had "rectified him
+on several points" and which he considered the "best commentary on the
+principles of government ever written."[164]
+
+The most complete expression of Jefferson's views at that time is found
+in a letter to Francis Hopkinson, written at the beginning of 1789. He
+had been informed that both his friends and his enemies were trying to
+put a definite label on him and protested on that occasion that he was
+not a Federalist, because, he said, "I never submitted the whole system
+of my opinions to the creed of any party whatever, in religion, in
+politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for
+myself. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not be
+there at all." But he added at once, "I am even farther from the
+anti-federalists." Neither a Federalist, nor an anti-Federalist, nor "a
+trimmer between parties", he absolutely refused at that date to take
+sides, for he would have been sure to draw criticism from the other side
+and to see his name in the papers. This was to be avoided at any cost,
+for "the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more
+acute than the pleasure of much praise." As a matter of fact, Jefferson
+was already preparing to become the leader of a new party whose program
+would combine elements borrowed from the Federalists as well as from
+their opponents, but which would rest essentially upon principles
+apparently overlooked by both sides. These principles had already been
+enunciated in the document written by Jefferson concerning the Articles
+of Confederation; they are really the key to his political philosophy.
+
+In forming a society of States, as well as in forming a society of men,
+there are rights "which it is useless to surrender to the government,
+and which governments have yet always been found to invade." These
+rights which cannot be abridged or alienated are "the rights of thinking
+and publishing our thoughts by speaking or writing; the right of free
+commerce; the right of personal freedom." In a similar way, there are
+some instruments of government which are so trustworthy that they ought
+to be placed beyond the power of any legislature to alter; the most
+important of these is probably trial by jury. Scarcely less essential to
+the permanency of a free government is the absence of a standing army,
+for such a body of men whether placed at the disposal of the executive
+or of the legislative power, may always become an instrument of
+oppression. Hence the necessity of a separate instrument, a Bill of
+Rights, to secure and protect these fundamental principles of free
+government. On the whole, Jefferson declared himself well pleased with
+the Constitution "unquestionably the wisest ever yet presented to men";
+its obvious defects would be remedied in the near future, and in the
+meantime it had effected its main object, the consolidation of the
+thirteen States into a Union.[165]
+
+Whether Jefferson would have reached that lofty and disinterested
+attitude if he had remained in America is quite another question. He was
+placed in a situation entirely different from that of his countrymen who
+could not help being influenced by party politics and sectionalism. But
+it is a fact worth remembering that before the Constitution was adopted,
+the only men who constantly had to think of the United States as one
+nation were the American ministers abroad. The very fact that Jefferson
+was in Paris not only put him above all parties, but brought home to him
+the fact that the United States could not hope to face successfully
+external dangers or even survive unless they gave up some of their
+liberty for more security, while reserving some of their unalienable
+rights. In his views on the Constitution, Jefferson remained perfectly
+consistent and followed very closely the principles he had formulated in
+1776.
+
+On the other hand, he had found in Europe an opportunity to test his
+principles by facts and direct observation. He was opposed to monarchy
+on general grounds, but he had seen in France monarchy and absolutism at
+their worst. A well-meaning king, not by any means a tyrant, unable to
+prevent the dissolution of the nation, a corrupt hereditary aristocracy,
+in the main narrow and selfish, a State religion, monopolies, a standing
+army, "_lettres de cachet_", no freedom of the press, everywhere
+ignorance and misery; such was the picture of France that presented
+itself to his eyes; and conditions were such that they could not be
+remedied effectively except through a bloody revolution, a last and
+desperate resort, to be dreaded as much as monarchical oppression. In
+many respects the same situation prevailed all over Europe,
+demonstrating beyond the possibility of a doubt that absolutism does not
+pay, that it fails to procure the maximum of happiness to the largest
+number of inhabitants, that it is wasteful, inefficient and leads
+nations to follies, ruin, and war. America was free from all these
+evils, but every precaution had to be used lest they should take root
+there.
+
+This task naturally required constant vigilance, for everywhere men in
+power have a tendency to continue in power, and to extend the limits of
+their attributions; some safeguards against these encroachments could be
+provided, the greatest safeguard being the pressure of public opinion.
+Public opinion could be misled temporarily; but after a time, in a
+country where the citizens were reasonably educated, and knowledge more
+diffused than in any other country, the chances were that in most cases
+the citizens would see where their true interest lay and correct such
+evils. This could be achieved only if the citizens were in a position to
+collect information on the true state of affairs, to discuss freely with
+their neighbors, and communicate their opinion so as to make that
+pressure felt. A free press, therefore, was one of the most essential
+features of a republican government, for one might conceive a modern
+nation existing without a legislature, but it was impossible even to
+think of a free government existing without the control of the men who
+had subscribed to the social compact. Public opinion and a free press
+were not a fourth estate, they were the true source of all three powers,
+and superior to all.
+
+Thus, after more than fifteen years of personal reflection aided by
+direct observation, Jefferson came to formulate very clearly in his own
+mind a certain number of principles founded on reason and verified by
+facts. Whether he was at that time under the influence of any particular
+philosopher cannot be proved satisfactorily. It may even be said that it
+is very improbable, for he was not a man "to submit the whole system of
+his opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever." Elements of
+different origins can be recognized in his political philosophy: the
+theory of natural rights was perhaps Lockian in its principle, but it
+had been developed by many philosophers, incorporated in the Virginia
+Bill of Rights and thus naturalized as American even before the
+Declaration of Independence. The theory of the social compact, too, may
+have come from Locke; certainly it did not come from Rousseau; but
+Jefferson introduced into it a fundamental modification when he
+distinguished between real natural rights and the civil rights
+guaranteed by society but limited in order to provide for more safety.
+At any rate, Jefferson's conception of the social compact was far more
+rigorous, precise, and specific than any that had been proposed before.
+A man who had been trained as a lawyer knew exactly what a contract was,
+and how necessary it is, in such an instrument, to write clauses
+safeguarding both parties. The Bill of Rights was to serve that very
+purpose: it was nothing but a document enumerating, defining, and
+recognizing once for all a certain number of rights that every
+individual specifically reserved in joining a new society. The
+constitution on the contrary was purely an instrument of government,
+susceptible of all sorts of amendments from time to time, and certainly
+from generation to generation. Public opinion was set up as a court of
+last resort in all cases; for public opinion, not necessarily right in
+all cases, is always right ultimately in a nation where people have
+received a minimum of education and are kept informed by a free press.
+
+Such were the essential lines of Jefferson's political philosophy on the
+eve of his departure from France. It does not appear that there was in
+it anything particularly English or particularly French, although the
+remote source of some ideas may be traced to English and French
+political thinkers. His principles, as a matter of fact, belonged to the
+common fund of political thought drawn upon by all the liberal thinkers
+of the eighteenth century, and Jefferson, calling no man his master,
+simply reflected the general trend of his time. But whatever may have
+been the primary origin of some of his ideas, he was fully convinced
+that they corresponded to conditions existing in America and nowhere
+else on earth, that in America alone were they susceptible of immediate
+application and extensive development.
+
+These views on the uniqueness of America's position among the nations of
+the world contributed to the crystallization of certain principles which
+Jefferson enunciated when he was sent to Paris and endeavored to apply
+when Secretary of State and President. They were to exert a tremendous
+influence upon the destiny of the nation and to a certain extent are
+still to-day the directing principles of America's foreign policy.
+
+If Jefferson had ever believed that it was possible for the United
+States to coöperate effectively and satisfactorily with Europe in any
+common undertaking, after his failure to organize a confederacy of the
+European States against the Barbary pirates, he soon came to the
+conclusion that such a hope was chimerical. The question of the
+navigation of the Mediterranean was not the least complicated of the
+puzzles that confronted the American minister in Paris. After long
+hesitations the European powers had finally adopted a _modus vivendi_
+with the Barbary pirates--a solution far from satisfactory, since it
+meant the paying of a regular tribute to the Dey of Algiers, the Regency
+of Tunis, and the Sultan of Morocco. Was the young republic of the
+United States to follow in their steps and accept such a humiliating
+compromise? If they refused, their commerce with the Near East was
+placed on a very precarious foundation. On the other hand, they could
+hardly maintain a sufficient fleet in the Mediterranean to insure the
+safety of their merchantmen. To pay tribute, or to give efficient
+protection to the merchant marine entailing expenditure of sums easily
+as large as the tribute, or else to give up the Mediterranean trade,
+were the only solutions to be considered.[166]
+
+[Illustration: LAFAYETTE
+
+_After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon_]
+
+The first solution was absolutely repugnant to Jefferson. "When this
+idea comes across my mind, my faculties are absolutely suspended between
+indignation and impatience."[167]
+
+He therefore approached Vergennes to sound him on his intention and to
+determine whether it would not be possible to establish a permanent
+blockade of Algiers. Although Admiral d'Estaing was in favor of the plan
+and thought it perfectly feasible, the prudent diplomat did not give
+Jefferson much encouragement. But in spite of the instructions sent by
+his government and the pressure exerted by Adams, who thought it cheaper
+to buy peace, Jefferson's preference for war remained entire. With his
+characteristic obstinacy, he tried another approach and thought it
+possible to organize a confederation of all the nations interested in
+the Mediterranean trade, in order to maintain an international blockade
+before the ports of the pirates and thus paralyze their operations. He
+explained his plan in detail to Adams and even drew up the articles of
+confederation.[168]
+
+At this juncture he took Lafayette into his confidence as he had already
+done so many times, and discussed the situation with him. The Marquis
+saw at once another opportunity to be of service to America. He had
+hardly left Jefferson's house before the idea came to his mind that he
+could offer his services as chief of the operations against the Barbary
+pirates, and he wrote at once to Jefferson to that effect.[169] That the
+project did not come to completion was due to many causes and to a large
+extent to Adams' opposition, as may be inferred from a letter written
+by Lafayette to his "Dear General" during the fall of 1786,[170] but
+most of all to lack of coöperation between the European powers; and
+during the rest of his mission Jefferson had to restrict himself to
+making arrangements in order to obtain the release of the American
+captives.
+
+On the other hand, if it was evident that Europe was unwilling to
+coöperate with America in the Mediterranean, it was not so certain that
+France, England, and Spain had given up their ambitious designs on the
+New World, and Jefferson considered it his duty to forestall any attempt
+of theirs to develop or reëstablish colonies on the American continent.
+
+As far as France was concerned, she had given up all claims to her
+former colonies by the Treaty of Alliance signed on February 6, 1778,
+but there always remained the possibility that she might attempt to
+settle on the western coast of the American continent and thus take
+possession of the back door of the country. The preparations made for
+"La Peyrouse's voyage to the South Seas" aroused strong suspicions in
+Jefferson's mind. He could not be persuaded that the French were in a
+position to spend so much money "merely for the improvement of the
+geography of that part of the globe." They certainly had some ulterior
+aims, at least that of establishing fur-trading stations on the western
+coast, as a first step towards regular colonization; and "if they should
+desire a colony on the western side of America, I should not be quite
+satisfied that they would refuse one which should offer itself on the
+eastern side," wrote Jefferson to Jay. So, to ascertain the true nature
+of the expedition, he commissioned Paul Jones to go to Brest "to satisfy
+himself of the nature of the expedition; conducting himself so as to
+excite no suspicion."[171] This was not a very important incident in
+itself, but it is not impossible that it attracted Jefferson's attention
+to the western coast fifteen years before he sent out the Lewis and
+Clarke Expedition; and his unwillingness to permit France to obtain a
+footing even in a very remote part of the continent is quite
+significant.
+
+His fears of the colonizing designs of France were soon allayed, but
+there remained England to consider, and England still constituted the
+greatest potential danger for the United States. While in America,
+Jefferson never manifested any strong animosity against the British as a
+people, and even expressed the hope that a reconciliation would follow
+the victory of American arms. Soon after coming to Europe, however, he
+had to admit that the commercial policy of Great Britain was so
+obnoxious that the American hatred "against Great Britain having lately
+received from that nation new cause and new aliment, had taken a new
+spring."[172] Thus, added Jefferson, "in spite of treaties, England is
+still our enemy. Her hatred is deep rooted and cordial, and nothing is
+wanting with her but the power to wipe us, and the land which we live on
+out of existence." The only hope of avoiding a new war was to make Great
+Britain realize that her true interest lay in some compromise, and that
+America had more energy than she suspected. But all told it was "a
+conflict of dirty passions."[173] Unfortunately the British were
+absolutely unrelenting in their hostility:
+
+  ... they keep a standing army of newswriters formally engaged in war
+  against America. They dwell very much on American bankruptcies--and
+  thus worked to such good effect that by destroying America's credit
+  they checked her disposition to luxury; and forcing our merchants to
+  buy no more than they have ready money to pay for, they force them to
+  go to those markets where that money will buy most.[174]
+
+Jefferson's tour in England only confirmed him in his views, for
+
+  that nation hate us, their ministers hate us, and their King more
+  than all other men. They have the impudence to avow this, though they
+  acknowledge our trade important to them.... They say they will pocket
+  our carrying trade as well as their own. Our overtures of commercial
+  arrangements have been treated with a derision, which shows their
+  firm persuasion, that we shall never unite to suppress their
+  commerce, or even to impede it. I think their hostility towards us is
+  much more deeply rooted at present than during the war.[175]
+
+To Dumas, the financial agent at the Hague, he reiterated his views that
+"the English are still our enemies." He even predicted war, a war which
+would renew the scenes of Rome and Carthage: "Peace and friendship with
+all mankind is our wisest policy; and I wish we may be permitted to
+pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave this in
+our choice."[176]
+
+Finally the Spanish colonies in America constituted another source of
+danger. Jefferson was confident that Spain would never be in a position
+to conduct a war of aggression against the United States; but being a
+weak country and embroiled in European affairs, her colonies might be
+used at any time as mere pawns in the unscrupulous game of European
+politics. In these circumstances the attitude the United States should
+observe in their relations with the Spanish colonies was to be seriously
+considered. A curious illustration of the fears and schemes which passed
+at that time through Jefferson's mind is found in an episode of his
+Southern journey during the preceding year. The gist of his conversation
+with a Brazilian he met at Montpellier was that an important group of
+colonists were ready to follow the example of the United States and
+proclaim their independence of the mother country. But as Portugal was
+certain to join forces with Spain in repressing such a revolution, the
+Brazilian patriots had decided not to undertake anything before securing
+the assistance of some other country. The thinking part of the
+population had naturally thought of the United States. "They would want
+cannons, ammunition, ships, sailors, soldiers and officers, for which
+they are disposed to look to the United States, it being always
+understood that every service and furniture will be well paid." The
+answer of Jefferson to that alluring proposition, contains more than one
+interesting point:
+
+  I took care to impress on him, through the whole of our conversation,
+  that I had neither instructions nor authority to say a word to
+  anybody on this subject, and that I could only give him my own ideas,
+  as a single individual; which were, that we were not in a condition
+  at present to meddle nationally in any war; that we wished
+  particularly to cultivate the friendship of Portugal, with whom we
+  have an advantageous commerce. That yet a successful revolution in
+  Brazil could not be uninteresting to us. That prospects of lucre
+  might possibly draw numbers of individuals to their aid, and purer
+  motives our officers, among whom are many excellent. That our
+  citizens being free to leave their own country individually, without
+  the consent of their governments, are equally free to go to any
+  other.[177]
+
+Amusingly enough, Jefferson evidently believed that he had displayed a
+remarkable caution during the whole conversation. It is doubtful that
+such would have been the opinion of the Portuguese Government had his
+letter to Jay been intercepted, and one may wonder what he would have
+said if he had really intended to encourage a revolution in the
+Portuguese colonies. With a Mexican who made a similar inquiry he was
+somewhat more reserved. He had observed that the gentleman was "intimate
+at the Spanish Ambassador's" and suspected that he might be a spy. He
+was therefore "still more cautious with him than with the Brazilian";
+mentioning simply that "a successful revolution was still at a distance
+with them": that he feared "they must begin by enlightening and
+emancipating the minds of their people." He finally recalled that the
+British papers had mentioned during the late war an insurrection in Peru
+"which had cost two hundred thousand lives, on both sides!"--a figure
+not to be taken too literally.
+
+During the course of a year, however, Jefferson's views underwent a
+remarkable change. In May, 1788, he mentioned to Carmichael his
+suspicions that a Spanish squadron had been sent to South America in
+order to quell an incipient revolt started at the instigation of the
+British. This placed the situation in an entirely different light. The
+United States would have very little to gain if a weak neighbor were
+displaced by a powerful and treacherous nation. He consequently
+requested his colleagues to reassure the Spanish Court that the United
+States would not favor in any way a revolt of the Spanish colonies in
+the New World, for "those who look into futurity farther than the
+present moment or age, and who combine well what is, with what is to be,
+must see that our interests, well understood, and our wishes are, that
+Spain shall (not forever, but) very long retain her possessions in that
+quarter; and that her views and ours must, in a good degree, and for a
+long time concur."[178]
+
+This is the more important as it already defines the position taken by
+Jefferson twelve years later during the negotiations concerning the
+Louisiana Purchase. It is also a reiteration of that desire of isolation
+which constituted the cardinal principle of American foreign policies
+and which had been enunciated in the Treaty of Alliance concluded with
+France in 1778. Jefferson had not originated the principle, since this
+article of the Treaty of Alliance was due to Adams, but his direct and
+prolonged contact with European affairs had strengthened in him the
+instinctive conviction that it was the only wise course for America to
+follow. If he had felt free to indulge in his own theory, he would have
+gone even further than any of his contemporaries for, as he wrote in
+1785, "I should wish the United States to practice neither commerce, nor
+navigation, but to stand, with respect to Europe, precisely on the
+footing of China." Unfortunately, this was only a theory and the
+servants of the country were not at liberty to follow it, since
+"Americans have a decided taste for navigation and commerce." Being on a
+mission to protect and further the commerce of his fellow countrymen,
+Jefferson consequently thought it his duty to forget for the time being
+his personal preferences. In a similar way, although he strongly
+believed in free trade and would have seen no objection to "throwing
+open all the doors of commerce, and knocking its shackles", he realized
+that such an ideal condition could not be reached unless the European
+powers granted similar treatment to American goods. He therefore came to
+the conclusion that, "as this cannot be done for others, unless they
+will do it for us, and there is no great probability that Europe will do
+this, we shall be obliged to adopt a system which may shackle them in
+our ports, as they do in theirs."[179]
+
+We have here another striking instance of the close partitioning
+established by Jefferson between theory and practice, between his wishes
+as a political philosopher, and his conception of his duties as a public
+servant. Far from being a single-track mind, his was decidedly a
+double-track intellect, with two lines of thought running parallel
+without any apparent contradiction, for theory never seemed to have
+interfered with his practice. When a month later he wrote to W. W.
+Seward about the future of commercial relations between Ireland and
+America, he excellently defined his position by saying that "the system
+into which the United States wishes to go, was that of freeing commerce
+from every shackle. A contrary conduct in Great Britain will occasion
+them to adopt a contrary system, at least as to that island."[180]
+
+There is probably nothing in this to astonish the man in the street,
+either in Washington or in London, for it seems to be a curious quality
+of the Anglo-Saxon mind to be able to pursue a very practical and
+hard-headed policy, while keeping its belief in disinterested and
+idealistic principles. Yet it may not be out of place to mention that
+this is the very reason why both England and America have so often been
+accused of hypocrisy by European public opinion. Without attempting to
+justify all the foreign policies of the United States on that score, it
+may be said that in this particular case there was no hypocrisy.
+Jefferson made no attempt whatever to conceal the difference that
+existed between his theory and his practice; he even called attention to
+it. He did not attempt to color unpleasant reality with idealistic
+camouflage, and gave the European nations a chance to choose between two
+entirely different courses. He would rather have chosen to follow the
+more liberal system, but he gave due notice that if it came to playing
+the game of real politics, America could be just as practical and firm
+in insisting upon her rights as any nation of the Old World.
+
+The millennium had not yet arrived; and America, in spite of her
+peaceful attitude, might be caught at any time in European "commotions."
+While maintaining a policy of strict aloofness, it would have been
+foolish and ostrich-like for her to ignore that danger, and it became
+the strict duty of those in power to keep close watch on political
+developments in the Old World. Such is the conclusion reached by
+Jefferson as a result of his observations, and in a letter to E.
+Carrington he outlined a policy of watchful waiting to which Woodrow
+Wilson himself would have subscribed:
+
+  I often doubt whether I should trouble Congress or my friends with
+  these details of European politics. I know they do not excite that
+  interest in America, of which it is impossible for one to divest
+  himself here. I know, too, that it is a maxim with us, and I think it
+  is a wise one, not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of Europe.
+  Still I think, we should know them. The Turks have practiced the same
+  maxim of not meddling in the complicated wrangles of this continent.
+  But they have unwisely chosen to be ignorant of them also, and it is
+  this total ignorance of Europe, its combinations and its movements,
+  which exposes them to that annihilation possibly about to take place.
+  While there are powers in Europe which fear our views, or have views
+  on us, we should keep an eye on them, their connections and
+  opposition, that in a moment of need, we may avail ourselves of their
+  weakness with respect to others as well as ourselves, and calculate
+  their designs and movements, on all the circumstances under which
+  they exist. Though I am persuaded, therefore, that these details are
+  read by many with great indifference, yet I think it my duty to enter
+  into them, and to run the risk of giving too much, rather than too
+  little information.[181]
+
+Watchful waiting, no political entanglements, unofficial
+observers--everything is here and this page could have been written ten
+years ago or yesterday. It is sometimes said that America, being a young
+and inexperienced nation, has had no time to develop traditions, but it
+may be wondered whether any other nation could be found which, after
+defining so clearly the essentials of a policy, has adhered to them so
+persistently for a century and a half. There is no doubt, at any rate,
+that once again Jefferson, although he did not originate the theory,
+formulated it with his usual felicity of expression, and thus
+contributed toward giving America what Descartes would have called her
+"maxims of action."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+JEFFERSON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
+
+
+Jefferson has often been represented, both by his enemies and friends,
+as the American exponent of the theories of the French Revolution. The
+possible influence exerted upon the development of his political
+philosophy by French thought has been the subject of lengthy discussions
+and probably will never be determined with any degree of exactness. It
+is very difficult to see how a man of his character could have remained
+in Paris for more than five years without participating in some manner
+in the great battle of theories which preceded the French Revolution. He
+associated with Lafayette and his group of "republicans", exchanged some
+correspondence with Condorcet, frequently saw Abbé Morellet, was
+introduced by Benjamin Franklin to Madame Helvétius and her coterie; he
+worked with Du Pont de Nemours on commercial questions, subscribed to
+papers and gazettes and to the "Encyclopédie Méthodique", a continuation
+and systematization of Diderot's "Encyclopédie."
+
+But when all is said, the most careful scrutiny of the letters he wrote
+during that period fails to reveal any enthusiasm or even any
+endorsement of the many and somewhat contradictory political doctrines
+which were preached in France at the time. I do not even see that his
+prolonged sojourn in France modified to any extent the conclusions he
+had already reached independently in the "Notes on Virginia." When he
+arrived in Paris he was over forty and had been in public life for
+almost fifteen years; he had written not only the Declaration of
+Independence but many reports on vital questions; he had participated
+actively and for several years in the deliberations of the Virginia
+Assembly and of the Congress of the United States and he had been chief
+executive of his native State. Such a man was not a student coming to
+Paris to sit at the feet of French masters; he was considered by the
+French themselves, not only as a master but as the apostle of the
+religion of liberty.[182] They looked up to him for advice and help, for
+he had over them the great superiority of having been more than a simple
+theorizer; he had contributed to a great movement of liberation; he was
+the promoter of the Bill for Religious Freedom; he had proposed a
+complete plan of public education and he had proclaimed in a national
+document the inviolable rights of man. They had much to learn from
+Jefferson and he was not reluctant to teach them, but he never felt that
+his French friends could repay him in kind. On the other hand, it cannot
+be denied that he was very happy to find enunciated in a very clear and
+logical way some of his favorite ideas; it is equally certain that
+France was to him a living demonstration and a sort of horrible example
+of all the evils caused by aristocratic, monarchical, and ecclesiastical
+oppressions. His sojourn in France had at least the effect of making him
+more intensely, more proudly American than he was before sailing, and
+more convinced than ever of the unsurpassed superiority of the
+civilization which had already developed on the northern continent of
+the New World.
+
+This sentiment appears even during the first year of his stay in Paris
+in a letter to Mrs. Trist:
+
+  It is difficult to conceive how so good a people, with so good a
+  king, so well-disposed rulers in general, so genial a climate, so
+  fertile a soil, should be rendered so ineffectual for producing human
+  happiness by one single curse--that of a bad form of government. But
+  it is a fact in spite of the mildness of their governors, the people
+  are ground to powder by the vices of the form of government. Of
+  twenty millions of people supposed to be in France, I am of opinion
+  there are nineteen millions more wretched, more accursed, in every
+  circumstance of human existence, than the most conspicuously wretched
+  individual of the whole United States.... Nourish peace with their
+  persons, but war against their manners. Every step we take towards
+  the adoption of their manners is a step to perfect misery.[183]
+
+This was no passing mood: a few weeks earlier he had written much more
+vehemently to his friend and "_élève_", James Monroe, engaging him to
+come to France in order to see for himself the extraordinary superiority
+of America over Europe and particularly France.
+
+  It will make you adore your own country, it's soil, it's climate,
+  it's equality, liberty, laws, people & manners. My God! how little do
+  my country men know what precious blessings they are in possession
+  of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. I confess I had no idea
+  of it myself. While we shall see multiplied instances of Europeans
+  going to live in America, I will venture to say no man now living
+  will ever see an instance of an American removing to settle in
+  Europe & continuing there.[184]
+
+But unhappy as they are, the French are lovable, for he loved them with
+all his heart and thought that, "with a better religion, a better form
+of government and their present Governors, their condition and country
+would be most enviable." At any rate they were to be preferred to the
+"rich, proud, hectoring, swearing, squibbling, carnivorous animals who
+lived on the other side of the Channel."[185]
+
+At the beginning of his stay, Jefferson paid little attention to the
+internal affairs of the country; the only incident worth comment during
+his first year in Paris was the imprisonment of the chief editor of the
+_Journal de Paris_ who was sent to the Bastille, perhaps to end his days
+there:
+
+  Thus--wrote he--you see the value of energy in Government for
+  such a measure, which would have been wrapt in the flames of war
+  and desolation in America, ends without creating the slightest
+  disturbance. Every attempt to criticize even mildly the government
+  is followed immediately by stern measures, suppressing the London
+  papers, suppressing the _Leyden Gazette_, imprisoning Beaumarchais,
+  and imprisoning the editor of the _Journal_, the author of the
+  _Mercure_, etc.[186]
+
+It is not until February, 1786, that he gave hints, quite incidentally,
+that the situation might become critical and that serious disturbances
+might be feared for the future.
+
+But he did not see anywhere any immediate danger of a political
+commotion and during that year he continued to repeat in his letters
+that "Europe was very quiet for the present." As a matter of fact, he
+had come to the conclusion that the case of the Old World was hopeless;
+they were past redemption and, "if the Almighty had begotten a thousand
+sons, instead of one, they would not have sufficed for this task. If all
+the sovereigns of Europe undertook to emancipate the minds of their
+subjects, a thousand years would not place them on that high ground on
+which our common people are now setting out." France has become a
+horrible example to place constantly before the eyes of America, to
+remind her that the most important factor for the happiness of the
+people is the diffusion of common knowledge that will enable them to
+preserve themselves from kings, nobles, and priests, for it is
+impossible to imagine a people of more pleasant dispositions, more made
+for happiness, surrounded by so many blessings of nature, and yet
+"loaded with misery by kings, nobles, and priests, and by them
+alone."[187]
+
+Never before had Jefferson been so vehement in his denunciations of
+kingly and priestly usurpations, never had he been so positive of the
+necessity of preserving American civilization from any foreign
+influences. But again this is not with him an _a priori_ view, it is the
+result of his observations more than of his theories.
+
+He was confirmed in his hatred of the French régime by his conversations
+with Latude, who "comes sometimes to take family soup with me, &
+entertains me with anecdotes of his five & thirty years imprisonment,
+all of which for having written four lines on Madame de Pompadour."[188]
+
+In a letter to Washington already quoted, but capital for the history of
+his mind, he remarked that before coming to Europe he had not even begun
+to suspect the evils of monarchical government; what he saw there
+brought home to him the conviction that "as long as a single fibre of it
+would remain in America, the scourge that is rendering existence a
+scourge to 24 out of 25 parts of the inhabitants of this country might
+break out."[189]
+
+As late as 1787 he was still persuaded that under pretence of governing,
+the ruling classes have divided the nations into two classes, wolves and
+sheep: "But what can the sheep do against the wolves except to submit,
+to suffer without any hope of ever changing the established order."[190]
+
+His first mention of the possibility of introducing some modification in
+the existing order does not occur before he heard of the convocation of
+the Assembly of the Notables "which had not been done for one hundred
+and sixty years"; but this interests him only mildly at the beginning,
+as nothing certain could be known about the program of the
+Assembly.[191] A few days later he admitted to Colonel Edward Carrington
+that "this event which will hardly excite any attention in America is
+deemed here the most important one which has taken place in their civil
+life during the present century." But his only real interest in it was
+that Lafayette had finally been put on the list and was the youngest of
+the Notables but one.[192] He felt that it was his duty to attend the
+first meeting of the Notables, and still more to pay his call to the new
+minister Montmorin--the only thing that detained him in Paris, and when
+he wrote to John Adams and Jay to describe the inaugural session opened
+by the king, he restricted himself to a dry recital of facts. With a
+prince of the blood at the head of each committee, he did not expect
+great results from the convocation and was skeptical about the
+efficiency of the members.[193] Just as he was leaving Paris for his
+long extensive trip to the South of France, he thought, however, of
+sending a last word of advice to Lafayette whose republican ideas he
+evidently feared. It was a counsel of prudence. Whatever may have been
+his sympathies for the republicans, in his opinion France was not ready
+for a complete change in her system of government.
+
+Least of all was she ready for a democratic experiment. Consequently
+Jefferson, the American patriot, the enemy of England, the alleged hater
+of aristocracies, advised his friend "to proceed step by step, towards a
+good constitution, keeping the good model of your neighboring country
+before your eyes. Though that model is not perfect, yet, as it would
+unite more suffrages than any new one which could be proposed, it is
+better to make that the object.
+
+"You see how we Republicans are apt to preach", he said in conclusion;
+but his letter was more than a sermon; it contained also the advice of a
+shrewd and very practical politician who recommended that every possible
+effort be made to give the king what he wanted in the way of personal
+expenses. "If every advance is to be purchased by filling the royal
+coffers with gold, it will be gold well employed. The King who means so
+well, should be encouraged to repeat those Assemblies."[194]
+
+That was all he could say, and even so he had probably said too much,
+for it was a risky thing for a diplomat to write about or to discuss at
+all. Jefferson was certainly guilty of trespassing on a province that
+constituted an essential part of the internal politics of the kingdom.
+And yet the charge of plotting against the existing government cannot be
+laid at his door. As long as he remained in France, and I believe, even
+after he came back to America, he carefully refrained from giving any
+encouragement to those of his French friends who held radical views. He
+was caught in the torrent and, as we shall see later, did not always
+observe the reticence of an old-fashioned diplomat; but whatever
+influence he exerted was exerted in order to maintain rather than to
+overthrow the existing order of things.
+
+During his trip he observed the condition of the peasants and, much to
+his surprise, found among them a smaller degree of poverty than he had
+expected; but if he made observations and entered many minute facts in
+his diary, he did not come to any conclusion nor did he seem to have
+been interested by the state of mind of the people. He had judged them
+once for all, he knew that they were priest-ridden and lord-ridden and
+did not see how any real reform might originate from them. Once,
+however, but only once, did he indicate that he had paid serious
+attention to the work before the Assembly. Writing to Lafayette's aunt,
+Madame de Tessé, in the evident expectation that she would communicate
+his ideas to the proper persons, he drew up an almost complete plan of
+administrative reforms: To have frequent meetings of the Assembly of
+Notables; the Assembly to be divided into two houses--the Noblesse and
+the Commons; the Commons to be taken from those chosen by the people for
+provincial administrations; the number of deputies for the Nobility to
+be reduced. These two Houses so elected "would make the King great and
+the people happy." And the next sentence expresses very cleverly, too
+cleverly perhaps, that this innocuous reform would in fact be a sort of
+revolution, the name of which would be avoided. "They would thus put
+themselves in the track of the best guide they can follow (the king);
+they would soon overtake it, become its guide in turn, and lead to the
+wholesome modifications wanting in that model, and necessary to
+constitute a rational government." What he had in mind at the time was a
+sort of government following very closely the lines of the British, not
+as an ideal but as a temporary measure; for before the eyes of his
+friends he held another prospect. But for the present that was the
+maximum they could wisely expect; "should they attempt more than the
+established habits of the people are ripe for, they may lose all, and
+retard indefinitely the ultimate object of their aim."[195]
+
+Commerce more than politics absorbed all his attention when he came back
+from his trip. He found time, however, to send to Madison his first
+estimate of the king and queen, a most unflattering portrait of poor
+Louis XVI.
+
+  The King loves business, economy, order, and justice, and wishes
+  sincerely the good of his people; but he is irascible and rude, very
+  limited in his understanding, and religious, bordering on bigotry. He
+  has no mistress, loves his queen, and is too much governed by her.
+  She is capricious like her brother, and governed by him: devoted to
+  pleasure and expense; and not remarkable for any other vices or
+  virtues. Unhappily the King shows a propensity for the pleasures of
+  the table. That for drink has increased lately, or, at least, it has
+  become more known.[196]
+
+It was not until August that he summed up in a letter to Monroe the
+great improvements in the constitution of the French effected by the
+Assemblées des Notables. He was surprised at the great explosion of
+joy, which he thought unwarranted; for after all, even the unexampled
+boldness of the enemies of the régime was nothing but the "follies of
+nations in their dotage."[197] Yet writing to John Jay the next day he
+took a more serious view of things and declared "It is evident, I think,
+that a spirit of this country is advancing towards a revolution in their
+constitution. There are not wanting persons at the helm, friends to the
+progress of this spirit. The Provincial Assemblies will be the most
+probable instrument of effecting it."[198]
+
+But it is primarily from the American point of view that he continues to
+be interested, and he becomes more and more convinced that, "with all
+its defects, and with all those of our particular governments, the
+inconveniences resulting from them, are so light in comparison with
+those existing in every other government on earth that our citizens may
+certainly be considered as in the happiest political situation which
+exists."[199] With more intimate friends he was far more violent and
+outspoken, as in the letter he wrote the same day to Colonel Humphreys.
+It is seldom he indulges in these outbursts of passionate invective, so
+seldom that it may be wondered whether his expression is not stronger
+than his thought:
+
+  From these events, our young Republic may learn useful lessons, never
+  to call on foreign powers to settle their differences, to guard
+  against hereditary magistrates, to prevent their citizens from
+  becoming so established in wealth and power, as to be thought worthy
+  of alliance ... in short to besiege the throne of heaven with eternal
+  prayers, to extirpate from creation this class of human lions,
+  tigers, and mammoths called Kings; from whom, let him perish who does
+  not say, "good Lord deliver us!"[200]
+
+He had caught something of the general fever, and he drew a vivid
+picture of Paris with crowds surrounding the "Parliament House",
+stopping carriages in the queen's livery, indulging in _bons mots_,
+caricatures, "collecting in mobs, and yet the King, long in the habit of
+drowning his cares in wine, plunges deeper and deeper. The Queen cries,
+but sins on", and the only practical result one can see is that "all
+tongues in Paris and in France have been let loose."[201] The same note
+is given six weeks later in a letter to John Jay. "The King goes for
+nothing. He hunts one half of the day, is drunk the other, and signs
+whatever he is bid."[202] Even the reforms, the most important from the
+point of view of the French, seem to him insignificant, and when the
+edict on the Protestants appears, it is cruelly analyzed by the American
+minister:
+
+  It is an acknowledgement that Protestants can beget children, and
+  that they can die, and be offensive unless buried. It does not give
+  them permission to think, to speak, or to worship.... What are we to
+  think of the condition of the human mind in a country, where such a
+  wretched thing as this throws the State into convulsions, and how
+  must we bless our own situation in a country, the most illiterate
+  peasant of which is a Solon, compared with the authors of this
+  law.[203]
+
+When he wrote his "Autobiography", Jefferson used very extensively not
+only the notes he had taken when in Paris but the press copies of his
+correspondence, and on the whole gave an accurate picture of the events
+that immediately preceded the French Revolution--those he had witnessed
+before his departure from Paris, in October, 1789. But, true as the
+picture may be, it is not progressive, and here we aim not to trace
+again the main episodes of the French Revolution, but the development of
+Jefferson's mind, his reaction towards the events. Most of all we must
+seek to find out from contemporary evidence whether the old accusation
+launched by Gouverneur Morris, seized upon eagerly by Jefferson's
+enemies, and since repeated again and again, is in any way justified.
+
+We have already seen that, with a corrupted court, a weak king, a
+selfish and ignorant queen, the only remedy he recommended at first was
+for the French not to reconquer their liberties by force and by a
+revolution, but gradually to buy them from the king. Yet he foresaw that
+the nobility would make a sort of alliance with the people, that is to
+say the _tiers état_, in order to get money from them, and he held the
+rather cynical view that "Courtiers had rather give up power than
+pleasures; they will barter, therefore, the usurped prerogatives of the
+King, for the money of the people. This is the agent by which modern
+nations will recover their rights."[204] This is written, not to Jay in
+a confidential letter, but to a French liberal of his acquaintance, and
+that practical piece of advice cannot be called philosophical.
+Altogether the results reached by the Assemblée des Notables were small
+and the king terribly slow to see the light. So for a long time
+Jefferson refused not only to encourage but even to admit that he was
+witnessing the beginnings of a true revolution. Writing to Rutledge in
+July, 1788, he declared "That the struggle in this country is, as yet,
+of doubtful issue. It is, in fact, between the monarchy and the
+parliaments. The nation is no otherwise concerned, but as both parties
+may be induced to let go some of its abuses, to court the public favor.
+The danger, is that the people deceived by a false cry of liberty, may
+be led to take sides with one party, and thus give the other a pretext
+for crushing them still more."[205] Writing to Cutting a few days later
+he was more optimistic. Most of the late innovations had been much for
+the better; a convocation of the States-General could not be avoided;
+"it will produce a national assembly meeting at certain epochs,
+possessing at first a negative on the laws, but which will grow into the
+right of original legislation. Much could be hoped from the
+States-General and it was also to be hoped that all this will be
+effected without convulsion."[206]
+
+Such was his confident expectation. He foresaw "that within two or three
+years this country will be in the enjoyment of a tolerably free
+constitution, and that without its having cost them a drop of
+blood."[207]
+
+To Carmichael he described his own attitude as that of a bystander, not
+otherwise interested, but entertaining a sincere love for the nation in
+general and a wish to see their happiness promoted, "keeping myself
+clear of the particular views and passions of individuals."[208] Had he
+felt differently he would not have taken into his confidence a man for
+whom he felt no particular friendship; but, at that date at least, he
+could make that statement without departing from the exact truth. As far
+as contemporary evidence is concerned, it does not seem that he ever
+urged his friends forward, but on the contrary he always advised them to
+play a waiting game, and to keep from having recourse to violence. About
+the middle of that year, 1788, he toned down his severe estimate of the
+king, to whom he attributed "no foible which will enlist him against the
+good of his people."[209] Calonne had been removed and Necker called in
+as Director General of finance; things were looking decidedly better, a
+convocation of the States-General had been decided upon; the issue
+depended largely on three possible solutions: whether the three orders
+would meet separately; whether the clergy and the nobility would form a
+house and the Commons a second one; or finally whether the three orders
+would meet in one house which would give the majority to the Commons.
+The choice was really thought incumbent upon the king, who thus had the
+power to place the people on his side if he was wise enough to prefer
+to have on his side twenty-three millions and a half instead of the
+other half million.[210]
+
+At the end of 1788, with the convocation of the States-General announced
+for the beginning of the following year, he was still very optimistic,
+but he had not departed from his cautious and reserved recommendations.
+The States could not succeed if they asked too much, for the Commons
+would frighten and shock the court and even alarm the public mind. If
+any durable progress was to be accomplished, it would have to be by
+degrees and successive improvements. Such probably would be the course
+followed, unless an influence unaccountable, impossible to measure, and
+yet powerful entirely changed the situation: "The fact that women visit
+alone persons in office, solicit in defiance of laws and regulations, is
+an extraordinary obstacle to the betterment of things, unbelieveable as
+it may be to the inhabitant of a country where the sex does not
+endeavour to extend itself beyond the domestic line."[211]
+
+He did not even believe that any real reform could be accomplished
+beyond fixing periodical meetings of the States-General and giving them
+the right to participate in the legislation and to decide on taxes. They
+did not seem to be unanimously in favor of the _habeas corpus_; as for
+the freedom of the press,--"I hardly think the nation itself ripe to
+accept it."[212] This was his prophecy at the beginning of 1789, and
+during the first month of the year he had no occasion to express new
+views, since everybody was in the provinces "electioneering, choosing or
+being chosen." With his experience of Assemblies, however, he could not
+help wondering how any result could be accomplished with a body which
+was to include some twelve hundred persons and moreover to consist of
+Frenchmen, among whom are always more speakers than listeners.[213] In a
+letter to Thomas Paine we find the first intimation that Jefferson
+began to be influenced by the political thinkers of France or rather to
+discover in them a certain quality of thought and presentation that make
+their work of some use for the American people. They were at any rate
+much preferable to the Englishman, who "slumbering under a kind of half
+reformation in politics and religion, is not excited by anything he sees
+or feels, to question the remains of prejudice. The writers of this
+country, now taking the field freely and unrestrained, or rather
+involved by prejudice, will rouse us all from the errors in which we
+have been hitherto rocked."[214] Taken in itself and without the context
+this sentence would tend to indicate in Jefferson an almost unreserved
+approval of the doctrines of the radical reformers and of the very
+spirit of the French Revolution, but as is so often the case with him,
+the real meaning is hidden in the last part. It was not so much in their
+theoretical views he was interested as in the fact that "their logical
+presentation, might be used in America to overcome the last resistance
+to the establishment of a true republican régime free from any vestige
+of monarchical order." But that he hoped that such radical reforms could
+succeed in France is not indicated. His complete thought is far better
+expressed in the letter written the next day to Humphreys:
+
+  The writings published on this occasion are, some of them, very
+  valuable; because, unfettered by the prejudices under which
+  Englishmen labor, they give a full scope to reason, and strike out
+  truths, as yet unperceived and unacknowledged on the other side of
+  the channel.... In fine, I believe this nation will, in the course of
+  the present year, have as full a portion of liberality dealt out to
+  them, as the nation can bear at present, considering how uninformed
+  the mass of their people is.[215]
+
+On the other hand, to believe that they would be able to establish a
+truly representative and free government was certainly inconceivable to
+him at this date. To the last moment he hoped that some sort of an
+agreement would be possible between the nobility and the Commons, for he
+had decided very early that no confidence should be placed in the
+clergy. He was looking forward to a close coöperation between the
+younger part of the nobility and the Commons, who, working together with
+the king, would seek the support of the people and accomplish important
+reforms. No fundamental change however could be expected, since the
+French refused to show any interest in the most vital question of trial
+by jury.
+
+But as soon as the States-General were opened he realized that he had
+been too optimistic. Since the "_Noblesse_" would not yield and wanted
+their delegates to do their dirty work for them, the only manly stand to
+take for a man like Lafayette, who although of liberal opinion had
+solicited and obtained a mandate from the nobility, was to go over
+wholly to the _tiers état_. The opening of the States-General was as
+imposing as an opera but it was poor business,[216] and even at that
+time Jefferson placed his confidence in the king who grew astonishingly
+in his estimation during this year: "Happy that he is an honest,
+unambitious man who desires neither money nor power for himself; and
+that his most operative minister (Necker), though he has appeared to
+trim a little, is still, in the main, a friend to public liberty."[217]
+
+As the deadlock continued, the three orders sitting separately without
+being able to settle the "great parliamentary question whether they
+would vote by orders or by persons", Jefferson favored more and more the
+only solution which, in his opinion, could prevent complete failure,--a
+triumph of despotism or a sort of civil war:
+
+  This third hypothesis which I shall develop, because I like it, and
+  wish it, and hope it, is that as soon as it shall be manifest that
+  the committees of conciliation, now appointed by the three chambers,
+  shall be able to agree in nothing, the Tiers will invite the other
+  two orders to come and take their seats in the common chamber. A
+  majority of the Clergy will come, and the minority of the Noblesse.
+  The chamber thus composed, will declare that the States General are
+  now constituted, will notify it to the King, and propose to do
+  business.[218]
+
+At this juncture, Jefferson, in his anxiety to effect a satisfactory
+compromise, broke all diplomatic precedence; he could not and did not
+wish to write a French Declaration of Independence; but he could at
+least propose some form of government which would recognize the
+fundamental rights of the French citizen while preserving the appearance
+of the old monarchy. He therefore drew up a "Charter of Rights for the
+King and Nation" and sent it, not only to Lafayette, but also to Rabaud
+de Saint Etienne, a prominent defender of the newly reinstated
+Protestants. In view of the developments that took place later,
+Jefferson's proposal does not seem revolutionary. At that time, however
+(June 3, 1789), it went much farther than the Court was willing to go.
+No appeal to abstract principle and no mention of rights was made. The
+main provisions consisted of an annual meeting of the States-General,
+which alone had the right to levy taxes and to appropriate money; the
+abolishment of all privileges, a sort of _habeas corpus_, the
+subordination of the military to the civil authority and liberty of the
+press. In order to induce the king to accept these new charters, all
+debts already contracted by him became the debts of the nation, and he
+was to receive a sum of eighty million livres to be raised by a loan.
+Thus Jefferson was attempting to put into effect the advice he had
+several times given his French friends: to buy their liberty from the
+king rather than bring about a revolution. I leave it to others to judge
+of the morality of the expedient. Certainly it was not in accord with
+the old battle cry of Patrick Henry. But once more Jefferson was
+consistent in so much as he had always maintained that what was good for
+America was not necessarily good for France. Moreover, he knew there was
+no need to stir up the spirit of the Assembly by inflammatory
+declarations. More than any incitement to take radical steps they needed
+a dose of cool common sense.
+
+Unfortunately the man at the helm (Necker) "had neither skill nor
+courage; ambition was his first passion, virtue his second, his
+judgement was not of the first order not even of the second", and the
+ship continued to drift in the storm. On June 18, 1789, Jefferson wrote
+a long letter to Madison, to indicate the situation of the different
+parties after the Commons had proclaimed themselves the National
+Assembly on the fifteenth. His characterization even to-day seems
+remarkably clear and disinterested. He sided decidedly with the Commons
+who had in their chamber almost all the talents of the nation;
+
+  They are firm, bold, yet moderate. There is, indeed, among them, a
+  number of very hot-headed members; but those of most influence are
+  cool, temperate and sagacious.... The Noblesse on the contrary, are
+  absolutely out of their senses. They are so furious, they can seldom
+  debate at all.... The Clergy are waiting to profit by every incident,
+  to secure themselves, and have no other object in view.
+
+Jefferson, however, paid tribute to the _curés_ who, throughout the
+kingdom, formed the mass of the clergy: "they are the only part
+favorably known to the people, because solely charged with the duties of
+baptism, burials, confession, visitation of the sick, instruction of the
+children, and aiding the poor, they are themselves of the people, and
+united with them."[219] The letter to Jay of June 24 is a day-by-day
+recital of the succession of events, the suspension of the meetings of
+the National Assembly, the _serment_ of Jeu de Paume on the twentieth,
+the _séance royale_ of June 23 and the refusal of the _tiers état_ to
+deliberate separately.
+
+Jefferson could not help admiring the tenacity of the Assemblée
+Nationale, but at the same time estimated that they were going too far
+and had formed projects that were decidedly too ambitious. "Instead of
+being dismayed with what has passed, they seem to rise in their demands,
+and some of them to consider the erasing of every vestige of a
+difference of order as indispensable to the establishment and
+preservation of a good constitution. I apprehend there is more courage
+than calculation in this project."[220]
+
+A letter of Lafayette to Jefferson dated Versailles, July 4, contains an
+interesting postscriptum: "Will you send me the bill of Rights with your
+notes." A subsequent letter is even more pressing: "To-morrow I propose
+my bill of rights about the middle of the sitting; be pleased to
+consider it again and make your observations." As Lafayette introduced
+his "Déclaration Européenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen" on July
+11, 1789, the latter may be dated July 10. I had the good fortune to
+find in the Jefferson papers not one text but two of the Declaration.
+
+One of the versions probably antedated by several months the meeting of
+the National Assembly. Jefferson had it in his hands as early as the
+beginning of 1799 and he even sent a copy of it to Madison on January
+12.[221] The second text, far more important, was annotated by Jefferson
+in pencil. Although the handwriting is faint, it is perfectly legible.
+The emendations and corrections he suggested are quite characteristic,
+and are studied more in detail in the text I have published
+elsewhere.[222]
+
+Some of the modifications suggested by Jefferson do not require any
+comment; they are mere verbal changes such as the substitution of "_tels
+sont_" for "_tels que_". But as Lafayette had enumerated among the
+essential rights of man "_le soin de son honneur_" and "_la propriété_",
+Jefferson put both terms in brackets, thus indicating that they should
+be taken out. The elimination of the first term is probably due to the
+fact that Montesquieu had indicated that "_honneur_" is the main
+principle on which rests monarchical government and is easily
+understandable. The elimination of the "_droit de propriété_" can only
+be explained if we refer to the document in which Jefferson had
+"explained to himself" his theory of natural rights, and established a
+distinction between the natural rights and the civil rights. Lafayette
+accepted the first correction but not the second; he was too much under
+the influence of his physiocratic friends even to understand the much
+more advanced theory of Jefferson. The project he submitted to the
+Assembly, as well as the three "Déclarations des droits de l'homme",
+consequently followed on this point the Virginia Bill of Rights rather
+than the Declaration of Independence.
+
+In a similar way, Lafayette had listed the powers constituting the
+government in the following order: "_exécutif, législatif et
+judiciaire_", and refused to follow the order suggested by Jefferson's
+"_législatif, exécutif, judiciaire_". This was more than a mere question
+of arrangement; there was evidently in the minds of both Jefferson and
+his French friend a question of hierarchy and almost subordination; if
+it is a mere nuance, the nuance was very significant. The last paragraph
+deserves even more careful consideration. In the January version it
+read: "_Et comme le progrès des lumières, et l'introduction des abus
+nécessitent de temps en temps une revision de la constitution_...." The
+second edition annotated by Jefferson expressed the same idea in much
+more definite terms: "_Et comme le progrès des lumières, l'introduction
+des abus et le droit des générations qui se succèdent nécessitent la
+révision de tout établissement humain, il doit être indiqué des moyens
+constitutionnels qui assurent dans certain cas une convocation
+extraordinaire de représentants dont le seul objet soit d'examiner et
+modifier, s'il le faut, la forme du Gouvernement_." This mention of the
+"_droit des générations qui se succèdent_" seems a typically
+Jeffersonian idea. The same theory will be found fully developed in a
+letter to Samuel Kercheval written in 1816 and dealing with the revision
+of the Constitution of Virginia. It was expressed originally in a letter
+to James Madison, written from Paris on September 9, 1789. Curiously
+enough, Jefferson declared then that this theory had never been proposed
+before: "The question whether one generation of men has a right to bind
+another, seems never to have been started on this or on our side of the
+water. Yet it is a question of such consequence as not only to merit
+decision, but places also the fundamental principles of every
+government."[223] It is true that this special point was not retained in
+the "Déclaration des droits de l'homme" as finally adopted by the
+Assemblée Nationale in its sessions of August, 1789, although it was
+proposed by Montmorency and reappeared as the last article of the
+"Déclaration" of the Convention Nationale of May 29, 1793. But one may
+wonder how Jefferson could overlook the fact that the same principle was
+embodied in Lafayette's "Declaration." It is very unlikely that he would
+have claimed credit for the idea if it had been originated by his
+friend. A more acceptable explanation would be to admit that having
+suggested to Lafayette a theory which was not retained by the committee,
+he felt perfectly free to state that "the question had never been
+started."
+
+The American plenipotentiary was not an eye-witness of the famous scenes
+of the fourteenth of July, or as he calls it "the tumult of Paris", but
+he learned about it fully from M. de Corny, and wrote to Jay a long and
+interesting account (July 19) of the capture of La Bastille, the return
+of the king to Paris and the presentation of the national cockade.[224]
+
+In the meantime he was placed in a very embarrassing situation by his
+French admirers. The prestige of the author of the Declaration of
+Independence was such that the committee in charge of a plan of
+constitution thought they could do no better than to call into
+consultation the Minister of the United States. Champion de Cicé,
+Archbishop of Bordeaux and chairman of the committee, sent him an urgent
+appeal to attend one of the first meetings, so that they might profit by
+the light of his reason and experience.[225] Jefferson, after mentioning
+the invitation, relates the incident in his "Autobiography" as follows:
+"I excused myself on the obvious considerations that my mission was to
+the King, as chief magistrate of the nation, that my duties were limited
+to the concerns of my own country, and forbade me to intermeddle with
+the internal transactions of that, in which I had been received under a
+specific charter." This may be the sense he wished to convey to Champion
+de Cicé but the actual letter is far less categorical. Contrary to his
+custom he wrote it himself, although it is in French, alleging that the
+dispatches for America took all his time and adding that the committee
+would lay themselves open to criticism if they invited to their
+deliberations a foreigner accredited to the head of the nation, when the
+very question under discussion was a modification and abridgement of his
+powers. But he assured the archbishop of his most sincere and most
+passionate wishes for the complete success of the undertaking, which was
+certainly stretching diplomatic proprieties to the limit.
+
+The deliberations of the committee went on without Jefferson's official
+assistance; but shortly after the project of the constitution was
+presented, the deputies came to a deadlock on the veto power to be
+given to the king. After some stormy meetings, Lafayette conceived the
+idea that the house of the Minister of the United States was the only
+place near Versailles where some tranquillity could be obtained. He
+consequently invited eight of his friends to take dinner at the house of
+Jefferson, and having no time to consult him on the matter, scribbled a
+note in great hurry to ask Jefferson to make the necessary preparations
+for the unexpected guests: "Those gentlemen wish to consult with you and
+me; they will dine to-morrow at your house, as mine is always
+full."[226]
+
+Jefferson has given a somewhat embellished account of the memorable
+dinner in his "Autobiography." The mention of it in a letter to John Jay
+a few weeks later is less florid and probably more accurate.[227] The
+members of the committee discussed together their points of difference
+for six hours, and in the course of the discussion agreed on mutual
+sacrifices. Writing from memory, at the age of seventy-seven, Jefferson
+added: "I was a silent witness to a coolness and candor of argument,
+unusual in the conflicts of political opinion; to a logical reasoning,
+and chaste eloquence, disfigured by no gaudy tinsel of rhetoric or
+declamation, and truly worthy of being placed in parallel with the
+finest dialogues of antiquity, as handed to us by Xenophon, by Plato and
+Cicero."[228]
+
+Whether Jefferson remained a silent witness during these six hours is
+not so improbable as it would seem. It may well be doubted whether his
+knowledge of French was sufficient to enable him to participate in an
+animated discussion with eight Frenchmen. Under the circumstances
+silence was as much a necessity as a virtue. But when the American
+minister woke up the next morning he realized that it was impossible to
+keep the thing secret and that the French Government had every right to
+blame him for lending his house for a discussion of French internal
+politics. Unpleasant as it was, the only thing to do was to make a clean
+breast of it. He went at once to Montmorin to tell him "with truth and
+candor how it happened that my house had been made the scene of
+conferences of such a character."--"He told me," Jefferson continued,
+"that he already knew everything which had passed," which is the stock
+answer of the professional diplomat, whether he wishes to appear
+well-informed or wants to draw some further information from his
+interlocutor. Jefferson opened his heart, and if Montmorin did not know
+everything before giving audience to the American minister, there was
+little he did not know after hearing his account of the dinner.
+
+With this curious incident, Jefferson ends his account of the French
+Revolution. During the year, he had complained on several occasions that
+his French friends seemed unable to realize the importance of insisting
+on trial by jury in criminal cases. He finally persuaded one of the
+"abbés" to study the question thoroughly and on that occasion indicated
+exactly how he stood in matters of government. All told, his views had
+not changed much, and at that time he would not have accepted without
+reservations and qualifications the famous principle of "government by
+the people." There was still in his mind, if not in all his formulas, a
+tacit admission that all the people could not unreservedly participate
+in all branches of government. Nothing could be clearer than the
+distinctions he established and nothing could be less demagogical.
+
+"We think, in America, that it is necessary to introduce the people into
+every department of government, as far as they are capable of exercising
+it; and that this is the only way to insure a long-continued and honest
+administration of its power." Then he proceeded to define, point by
+point, the extent to which the people could safely be allowed to
+participate in the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the
+government.
+
+  1. They are not qualified to exercise themselves the executive
+  department, but they are qualified to name the person who shall
+  exercise it. With us, therefore, they choose this officer every four
+  years. 2. They are not qualified to legislate. With us therefore,
+  they only choose the legislators. 3. They are not qualified to
+  _judge_ questions of _law_, but they are very capable of judging
+  questions of _fact_. In the form of juries, therefore, they determine
+  all matters of fact, leaving to the permanent judges to decide the
+  law resulting from those facts.[229]
+
+Thus spoke the champion of democracy at the beginning of the French
+Revolution, after spending five years in Paris and supposedly permeating
+his mind with the wild theories of the French philosophers. And what he
+said of the people on this occasion did not apply to the French people
+alone, for he made it clear that it was the political theory applied "in
+America." It was essentially the theory of government by experts which
+he already had in mind when he proposed the reorganization of the
+College of William and Mary. In 1778, as well as in 1789, Jefferson did
+not hesitate to proclaim that if the source of all power was in the
+people, the people could not exercise their power in all circumstances,
+that they had to delegate their authority to men really qualified,
+retaining only the right to select them. This may not be the common
+acceptation of the term "Jeffersonian democracy", but I have a strong
+suspicion that on the whole Jefferson never changed much in this
+respect. He certainly never stood for mob rule, nor for direct
+government by the masses, and he knew too much about the delicate and
+complicated wheels of government to believe that the running of such a
+tremendous machine could be intrusted to untrained hands.
+
+As for the French, he trusted them even less, and never believed, as
+long as he remained in France, that they were prepared for
+self-government. He refused to consider that a real revolution had
+started before his eyes or was even in sight. "Upon the whole," he wrote
+to Madison shortly before his departure from Paris, "I do not see yet
+probable that any actual commotion will take place; and if it does take
+place, I have strong confidence that the patriotic party will hold
+together, and their party in the nation be what I have ascribed it." Up
+to the last moment he held the belief that the king, "the substantial
+people of the whole country, the army, and the influential part of the
+clergy, formed a firm phalanx which must prevail."[230] The analysis of
+the situation sent to Jay just as he was about to leave Paris does not
+indicate even the possibility of establishing a republic, since the only
+parties he distinguished were:
+
+  ... the aristocrats, comprehending the higher members of the clergy,
+  military, nobility, and the parliaments of the whole kingdom; the
+  moderate royalists who wish for a constitution nearly similar to that
+  of England; the republicans who are willing to let their first
+  magistracy be hereditary, but to make it very subordinate to the
+  legislature, and to have that legislature consist of a single
+  chamber.[231]
+
+Jefferson was not the man to indulge in effusions even when he was
+deeply moved and throughout his mission in France he deliberately
+refrained from any expression of personal feelings. But the love and
+friendship of the French for the United States was so general and so
+genuine, it formed such a contrast with the cold and tenacious enmity of
+Great Britain, that the American minister was won and conquered by it
+and had to come to the conclusion that "nothing should be spared to
+attach this country to us. It is the only one on which we can rely for
+support, under every event. Its inhabitants love us more, I think, than
+they do any other nation on earth. This is very much the effect of the
+good dispositions with which the French officers returned."[232]
+Everybody is familiar with the closing lines of Jefferson's account of
+his mission to France: "So, ask the traveller inhabitant of any nation,
+in what country would you rather live?--Certainly, in my own, where are
+all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections
+and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice?
+France."
+
+These lines were written at the twilight of his life, when his memory
+took him back to the wonderful days he had lived in Paris, while the old
+régime was shedding the last rays of its evanescent glory. Less known,
+but far more revealing of his true feelings at the time, is a passage in
+one of his letters to James Madison. It is one of the very few times,
+and as a matter of fact, the first time when he declared that the
+nations of the world had to abandon their old code of selfishness and
+that a new principle of international life had to be recognized. For
+there is only one standard of morality, one code of conduct between
+nations as between individuals.
+
+  It is impossible--he wrote--to desire better dispositions towards us
+  than prevail in this Assembly. Our proceedings have been viewed as a
+  model for them on every occasion; and though in the heat of debate,
+  men are generally disposed to contradict every authority urged by
+  their opponents, ours has been treated like that of the Bible, open
+  to explanation, but not to question. I am sorry that in the moment of
+  such a disposition, anything should come from us to check it. The
+  placing them on a mere footing with the English, will have this
+  effect. When of two nations, the one has engaged herself in a ruinous
+  war for us, has spent her blood and money to save us, has opened her
+  bosom to us in peace, and received us almost on the footing of her
+  own citizens, while the other has moved heaven, earth, and hell to
+  exterminate us in war, has insulted us in all her councils in peace,
+  shut her doors to us in every part where her interests would admit
+  it, libelled us in foreign nations, endeavoured to poison them
+  against the reception of our most precious commodities; to place
+  these two nations on a footing, is to give a great deal more to one
+  than to the other, if the maxim be true, that to make unequal
+  quantities equal, you must add more to one than the other. To say, in
+  excuse, that gratitude is never to enter into the motives of national
+  conduct, is to revive a principle which has been buried for centuries
+  with its kindred principles of the lawfulness of assassination,
+  poison, perjury, etc. All of these were legitimate principles in the
+  dark ages which intervened between ancient and modern civilization,
+  but exploded and held in just horror in the eighteenth century. I
+  know but one code of morality for men, whether acting singly or
+  collectively.... Let us hope that our government will take some other
+  occasions to show, that they proscribe no virtue from the canons of
+  their conduct with other nations.[233]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK FOUR
+
+_Monocrats and Republicans_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE QUARREL WITH HAMILTON
+
+
+For more than two years Jefferson had repeatedly expressed the wish to
+be allowed to return to his native country, at least for a short visit.
+When he finally received official notification that his request had been
+granted, he departed from Paris rather abruptly and even without taking
+leave of his best friends. "Adieus are painful," he wrote to Madame de
+Corny, "therefore I left Paris without bidding one to you."[234] This is
+a naïve and quite significant confession of the difficulty he
+experienced in maintaining his puritanical restraint and impassibility
+at that time. He went with his two daughters from Le Havre to Cowes, and
+waited there till October 14 for favorable winds. After a rapid crossing
+on the _Montgomery_ they sighted the "Capes" on November 13, and barely
+escaped being shipwrecked in the bay. Although damaged by fire and
+stripped of part of her rigging, the ship was able to reach Norfolk, and
+Jefferson promptly set out for Richmond and Monticello, stopping however
+on the way at Eppington with the Eppes. It was there that he received
+two letters from President Washington, one dated October 13, the other
+November 30, asking him to accept the post of Secretary of State in the
+newly formed cabinet. The President's letters were most flattering and
+indicated that he had been "determined, as well by motives of private
+regard, as a conviction of public propriety" to nominate him for the
+office.
+
+Jefferson at first experienced the natural repugnance of a man who had
+put his heart into an important undertaking and was asked suddenly to
+abandon it. He was better acquainted with the situation in Paris than
+any man he could think of: it had taken him several years of constant
+work and patient efforts to bring the French officials over to his
+views. His best friends were in the new government and would help him to
+obtain for the United States better commercial terms and a more
+satisfactory debt settlement. Let us add that for a philosophical
+observer France offered the most fascinating spectacle, and Jefferson
+did not feel that life in Philadelphia could bring him the same social
+and intellectual pleasures as Paris. Quite significantly he wrote to
+Washington: "as far as my fears, my hopes, or my inclination enter into
+this question, I confess that they would not lead me to prefer a
+change." On the other hand, he did not make a categorical refusal, in
+case he should be "drafted", and the President formally nominated him.
+
+Nothing else was done in the matter until Madison visited him at
+Monticello and acquainted him with the situation. But even Madison could
+not win his consent,[235] and the President had to assure Jefferson that
+the duties of his office would probably not be quite so complicated and
+hard to execute as he might have been led at the first moment to
+imagine.[236] It was not a command, but while the President left him
+free to decide he expressed a strong hope and wish that Jefferson would
+accept. So, on February 14 he sent his letter of acceptance.
+
+In the meantime he had married Martha to Thomas Mann Randolph, Junior,
+"a young gentleman of genius, science, and honorable mind", who
+afterwards filled "a dignified station in the General Government, and
+the most dignified in his own State."[237] Although Jefferson had wished
+for such a marriage, he had left Martha free to make her own choice, as
+he explained in a letter to Madame de Corny: "Tho' his talents,
+disposition, connections, fortune, were such as would have made him my
+first choice, yet according to the usage of my country, I scrupulously
+suppressed my wishes, that my daughter might indulge in her own
+sentiments freely."[238] The marriage took place on April 2, 1790, and
+on the next day Jefferson set out for New York to take his place in the
+Cabinet. He reached Philadelphia on the twelfth. There he stopped to pay
+his respects to the man "he has succeeded but not replaced", old Doctor
+Franklin then on the sick bed from which he never arose. "My recent
+return from a country in which he had left so many friends, and the
+perilous convulsions to which they had been exposed, revived all his
+anxieties to know what part they had taken, what had been their course,
+and what their fate. He went over all in succession with a rapidity and
+animation almost too much for his strength." It was on this occasion
+that Franklin put in his hands a paper containing an account of his
+negotiations with Lord Howe to prevent a war between the colonies and
+their mother country, papers which, unfortunately, Jefferson entrusted
+later to William Temple Franklin, who "delayed the publication for more
+than twenty years."[239] Jefferson arrived in New York on the
+twenty-first, took his lodgings at the City Tavern, and finally rented a
+small house in Maiden Lane.
+
+Congress was in session and business had accumulated on the desk of the
+new secretary: he plunged at once into work. All his colleagues had
+already taken charge of their respective departments: Colonel Alexander
+Hamilton was in charge of the Treasury, General Henry Knox of the War
+Department, Edmund Randolph, Attorney-general. Those were the only
+departments thus far created and among them the four secretaries divided
+all the different attributions of the executive power. With them he was
+to sit in Cabinet meetings presided over by Washington until his
+retirement from office, in December, 1793.
+
+The distinction usually established between domestic and foreign
+politics is obviously an arbitrary one and does not correspond to
+reality. This was particularly true of an age when the attributes of
+the Secretary of State were far less specialized than in our day.
+Even if he had been inclined to neglect the questions of internal
+administration--to give himself entirely to foreign affairs--Jefferson
+would have been constantly reminded of the existence of many other
+problems of equal importance to the future of the nation by his
+colleagues and the President himself. In addition, it was Washington's
+ordinary practice not only to discuss all important measures in a
+Cabinet council, but often to request each member of his official family
+to give his opinion in writing on these questions. Such documents as
+have been preserved constitute a most precious source of information for
+the history of the period; they are usefully supplemented by the notes
+that Jefferson took at the time and transcribed "twenty five years or
+more" afterwards for the use of posterity. The three volumes "bound in
+marbled paper" in which Jefferson copied these notes, taken on loose
+scraps of paper, are the famous "Anas" which he collected to justify
+himself against the accusations that biographers of Washington--such as
+Marshall--had already launched against him. Although there is no reason
+to believe that Jefferson deliberately altered the old records, it is
+certain that they were edited, that many scraps of papers were
+discarded, although not destroyed, and that a "critical" edition of the
+"Anas" would not be without interest. They are preceded by an
+introduction in which, more than twenty-five years later, Jefferson gave
+an estimate of his former opponents, Hamilton and John Adams. This final
+judgment can in no way be used in discussing events that took place
+between 1790 and 1793, and it contains no indication worth retaining
+about Jefferson's attitude at that time towards his colleagues and the
+Vice President. The man who wrote this introduction in February, 1818,
+was really another Jefferson. He may tell us that he arrived in the
+midst of a bitter contest, "But a stranger to the ground, a stranger to
+the actors on it, so long absent as to have lost all familiarity with
+the subject, and as yet unaware of its object, I took no concern in
+it."[240] It must be admitted at the outset that such is not the
+impression one can gather from the correspondence.
+
+That the financial structure of the Continental Congress had collapsed
+and that immediate remedies were necessary Jefferson knew as well and
+probably better than any other member of the Cabinet. He had not the
+expert knowledge of Hamilton, but more than once he had had to deal with
+financial questions, and when in Paris had displayed considerable skill
+in dealing with the members of the Committee of Commerce. He had
+prepared schedules for the payment of the French and Dutch loans and
+discussed finances with Dutch bankers in Amsterdam. Furthermore, his
+governorship of Virginia during the war had acquainted him with the
+question of State debts. If he could be tricked and made to hold the
+candle, as he said, there was no man who could resist the superior
+genius and Machiavellism of the arch financier of the United States. As
+a matter of fact, if he was hoodwinked, he was not at the beginning, at
+least, a blind or an unwilling victim.
+
+Following the financial reorganization defined by the Constitution and
+the appointment of a Secretary of the Treasury, according to the Act of
+1789, Hamilton prepared for the period under consideration four
+documents: Report on Public Credit, January 9, 1790; Report on a
+National Bank, December 5, 1790; Report on the Establishment of a Mint,
+May 1, 1791; Report on Manufactures, December 5, 1791.
+
+The first subject for consideration was the national debt. The foreign
+debt was unquestionably a matter of national honor and had to be paid in
+full, according to the terms of contract: with the arrears of interest
+it amounted to $11,710,000. The domestic debt was estimated at
+$27,383,000 for the principal, $13,030,000 for accrued interest and
+$2,000,000 for unliquidated debt. After some opposition it was finally
+decided that holders of certificates would receive their face value with
+interest. But there remained the question of States debts which was
+hopelessly confused and destined to lead to a bitter controversy. The
+reorganization plan proposed that repayment could be made in a more
+orderly way through some sort of a central organization rather than
+through the States, and outlined the famous "Assumption" by which the
+Federal Government would "assume", with a discount to be determined, the
+debts incurred by the several States during the course of the war. It
+naturally meant that additional revenue had to be raised by Federal
+measures and consequently distributed between all the States, whose
+debts varied in nature and amount from State to State, some of which
+having already proceeded to a semi-reorganization, while others, having
+not suffered from the war, were financially in good condition. The
+opposition came naturally from the Southern States, whose population was
+smaller in comparison with the Northern States.
+
+The opponents of the measure objected very strenuously at first, arguing
+that it would give an unfair advantage to those that had contracted
+debts too freely during the war, and would penalize those who had
+already set their financial house in order; and also that it would be a
+usurpation of powers not conferred by the Constitution to the Federal
+Government.
+
+First defeated in Congress, the "Assumption" was finally adopted under
+circumstances now to be related. Jefferson's unofficial representative
+in Congress, Madison, had already strenuously opposed the measure
+proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury. When Jefferson arrived in
+New York to take possession of his office, the battle had been going on
+for some time, and four days later he wrote to T. M. Randolph that
+"Congress is principally occupied with the treasury report. The
+assumption of the State debts has been voted affirmatively in the first
+instance, but it is not certain that it will hold its ground through all
+the changes of the bill when it shall be brought in."[241] There is
+little doubt that Madison had already acquainted him with his views of
+the situation, but it is also probable that Jefferson paid small heed to
+them for the time being. He suffered for several weeks from severe
+headaches, he had to write many letters of farewell to his French
+friends, and the accumulation of reports and papers he found on his desk
+required all his attention.
+
+In June, however, he expressed to George Mason his doubts that the
+"Assumption" would be finally adopted. But, far from siding with the
+out-and-out opponents of the measure, he thought it would be wiser to
+compromise, so he added, "my duties preventing me from mingling in these
+questions, I do not pretend to be very competent to their decision. In
+general, I think it necessary to give as well as take in a government
+like ours."[242]
+
+As a matter of fact, it was already patent that an almost irreconcilable
+difference of opinion on the matter existed between Hamilton and the
+Virginians, and, a week later, Jefferson himself invited the Secretary
+of the Treasury to take dinner at his house with a few friends in order
+to hold an informal conference; for he thought it impossible that
+"reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual
+sacrifices of opinion to form a compromise which was to save the Union."
+Jefferson has related the scene in the "Anas", but a somewhat different
+account is given in his letter to James Monroe, written June 20, 1790,
+from New York, in which he outlined the compromise. He mentioned that
+two considerations had impelled him to discuss it; first the fact that
+if some funding bill were not agreed to, the credit of the United States
+at Amsterdam would collapse and vanish and each State be left alone to
+take care of itself. Although he was not enthusiastic about the means to
+be employed and foresaw that the United States would have difficulties
+in raising the necessary money by Federal taxation instead of letting
+the States raise it themselves, he accepted the solution with open eyes:
+"In the present instance, I see the necessity of yielding to cries of
+the creditors in certain parts of the Union; for the sake of the Union,
+and to save us from the greatest of all calamities, the total extinction
+of our credit in Europe." More than any member of the Cabinet he was
+aware of the imminence of this danger. On the other hand, and in order
+to give some satisfaction to the Southern States, it would be agreed
+that Congress would be transferred to Philadelphia for a period of
+twelve to fifteen years, and thereafter, without further declaration, to
+Georgetown. This was clearly a "deal", and Jefferson knew it so well
+that he denied that it was one. "The Pennsylvania and Virginia delegates
+have conducted themselves honorably, on the question of residence.
+Without descending to talk about bargains, they have seen that their
+true interests lay in not listening to the insidious propositions made,
+to divide and defect them, and we have seen them at times voting against
+their respective wishes rather than separate." Whether the word bargain
+had been used or not is immaterial. Gentlemen sitting around a table
+after the cloth has been removed and the punch bowl brought in can come
+to an understanding "_à demi mot_."[243] Nothing official had been done
+yet, but writing to Dumas, the financial agent at Amsterdam, Jefferson,
+in order to maintain the credit of the country, put his best foot
+forward and solemnly declared "that there is not one single individual
+in the United States, whether in or out of office, who supposes they can
+ever do anything which might impair their foreign contracts." With
+respect to domestic paper, Dumas could rest assured that "justice would
+be done" and, although the question was terribly complicated, it was
+"possible that modifications may be proposed which may bring the
+measure, yet into an acceptable form."[244]
+
+With Gilmer, he was more frank and indicated clearly that among the
+possible ways in which the conflict in Congress might yet terminate, the
+best probably would be "a _bargain_ between the eastern members who have
+it so much at heart, and the Middle members who are indifferent about
+it, to adopt these debts without modification, on condition of removing
+the seat of government to Philadelphia or Baltimore." The third
+solution, which Jefferson preferred, would have proposed to divide the
+total sum between all the States in proportion to their census, and to
+establish the national capital first and temporarily at Philadelphia,
+then, and permanently at Georgetown.[245] This was not an ideal
+solution; it was a compromise which would at least present the advantage
+of giving new life to the agriculture and commerce of the South. The
+main objection, however, still remained, for the Federal Government
+would have to raise the imposts and overburden that source of revenue,
+but it seemed that "some sacrifice was necessary for the sake of
+peace."[246] Once again, but not for the last time, Jefferson saw
+himself in a dilemma. He was too far-sighted not to understand that the
+individual States would have to abandon some of their rights and a
+portion of their sovereignty in order to acquire more financial
+stability, and that more power would be concentrated in the hands of the
+Federal Government. On the other hand, he was no less firmly convinced
+that a secession would unavoidably result from a rejection of the
+"Assumption", and he was ready to sacrifice his most cherished
+preferences on the altar of the Union.
+
+On August 14, Jefferson could announce to Randolph that Congress had
+separated
+
+  the day before yesterday, having reacquired the harmony which always
+  distinguished their proceedings before the two disagreeable questions
+  of assumption and residence were introduced.... It is not foreseen
+  that anything so generative of dissention can arise again, and
+  therefore the friends of the government hope that this difficulty
+  once surmounted in the States, everything will work well. I am
+  principally afraid that commerce will be over loaded by the
+  assumption, believing that it would be better that property should be
+  duly taxed.
+
+He discussed for the first time the exact ways and means in a letter to
+Gouverneur Morris on November 26, 1790, and indicated that additional
+funds would be provided by a tax on spirituous liquors, foreign and
+homemade, that the whole interest would be raised by taxes on
+consumption.... "Add to this what may be done by throwing in the aid of
+western lands and other articles as a sinking fund, and our prospect is
+really a bright one."[247]
+
+It is perfectly true that the letter to Morris was to a great extent for
+publicity purposes, yet we do not find in it the slightest mark of
+disapproval of the tax itself, nor do we find it in a letter written to
+De Moustier[248] in which, on the contrary, Jefferson mentioned the
+advantages of duties on consumption, which fall principally on the rich;
+for it is "a general desire to make them contribute the whole money we
+want, if possible." It was not until February that doubts began to
+percolate into his mind, and he inquired from Colonel Mason "what was
+said in our country (Virginia), of the fiscal arrangements now going
+on." But he did not yet take the question really to heart:
+
+  Whether these measures be right or wrong abstractedly, more attention
+  should be paid to the general opinion. However, all will pass,--the
+  excise will pass--the bank will pass. The only corrective of what is
+  corrupt in our present form of government will be the augmentation of
+  the numbers in the lower House, so as to get more agricultural
+  representation, which may put that interest above that of the
+  stock-jobbers.[249]
+
+This is the first indication of a rift between Jefferson and Hamilton.
+
+Yet Jefferson was willing to yield more ground in order to avoid an open
+break. The Bank Bill of Hamilton had passed the Senate without
+difficulty; in the House it had been opposed on constitutional grounds
+by Madison but had finally obtained a majority. When the bill was sent
+to the President, Washington, unwilling to do anything unconstitutional,
+asked both the Attorney-general Randolph and Jefferson to give their
+opinion on the matter in writing. The report written on this occasion by
+the Secretary of State is a psychological document both interesting and
+revealing.
+
+Jefferson started out by enumerating the different measures included in
+the Bank Bill, pointing out _en passant_ that they were intended to
+break down the most ancient and fundamental laws of 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 laws
+of monopoly. He then demonstrated to his own satisfaction that power to
+establish such an institution was neither specifically declared nor
+implied in any article of the Constitution. The only general statement
+that could be construed as authorizing it was a mention "to make all
+laws _necessary_ and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated
+powers." Finally he undertook to prove that the bank might be
+convenient but was in nowise necessary. The conclusion was obvious after
+these very closely knitted pieces of legal reasoning: "Nothing but a
+necessity inevitable by any other means can justify such a prostitution
+of laws, which constitute the pillars of our whole system of
+jurisprudence." The President's veto could clearly be used in that case,
+since that was the buckler provided by the Constitution to protect it
+against the invasions of the legislature.
+
+[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON
+
+_From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession of the Essex
+Institute, Salem, Mass._]
+
+Jefferson could and perhaps should have stopped there. But he was far
+from certain that Hamilton's views would not prevail, and in that case
+he would have committed himself irrevocably. This he did not wish to do.
+He consequently provided at the end a way of escape for himself as well
+as for the President:
+
+  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 Constitution has
+  placed a check in the negative of the President.
+
+This was very adroit, almost too adroit. It was the answer of a master
+politician. Whether it was absolutely straightforward is a very
+different question. Jefferson, who so often accused others of being
+"trimmers", was undoubtedly open to such an accusation himself.
+
+With the opinion of Randolph and Jefferson before him, the President
+asked Hamilton, as sponsor of the bill, to present his rejoinder in
+writing. On the twenty-third he submitted his famous "Opinion as to the
+Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States" in which he
+developed the doctrine of "implied powers."
+
+  Now it appears--said Hamilton--to the Secretary of the Treasury
+  that this general principle is inherent in the very definition of
+  government and essential to every step of the progress to be made
+  by that of the United States, namely: That every power vested in a
+  government is in its nature sovereign, and includes, by force of the
+  term, a right to employ all the means requisite and fairly applicable
+  to the attainment of the ends of such power, and which are not
+  precluded by restrictions and exceptions specified in the
+  Constitutions, or not immoral, or not contrary to the essential
+  ends of political society.
+
+As a matter of fact, the question at the bottom of the controversy was
+the question of State rights; but, curiously enough, it is indicated
+only incidentally in Jefferson's opinion. He was not ready to join
+issues on that question, much more clearly brought forward by Madison in
+his speeches before the House, when he said:
+
+  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 United States, are reserved
+  to the States or to the people (XIIth amendment). To take a single
+  step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the power
+  of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no
+  longer susceptible of definition.[250]
+
+This was exactly the question, for to accept Hamilton's theory was to
+open the way to countless encroachments of the Federal Government on
+State rights. Washington's administration had come to its most momentous
+decision for the future of the government of the United States. This was
+really the parting of the ways. Jefferson knew it and saw it; it was
+obvious that, with a centralized financial organization, a central
+political organization would develop. All sorts of practical
+considerations may be brought in and nice legal points drawn, but the
+fact remains that when the representatives of the different States not
+only permitted but were eager to see the Federal Government assume the
+responsibility of State debts, they sold their birthright for the not
+unconsiderable sum of $21,500,000. Perhaps it was the only possible
+solution at the time. Perhaps Jefferson showed wisdom and political
+sense in not getting up and fighting to the last ditch. He registered as
+strong a protest as he could without burning his bridges. He knew from
+the temper of the House that there was no hope of making them accept any
+other solution. He knew that against the strongly organized Federalists
+he could not muster any well-disciplined troops. He feared the immediate
+dissolution of the Union and temporized; but all the rest of his life
+was to be spent in trying to recover the ground lost on that day.
+
+Jefferson was soon to realize how poorly equipped and seconded he was
+when he had to take up the battle practically single-handed.
+
+In the spring of 1791 Madison had loaned him a copy of Thomas Paine's
+pamphlet, "The Rights of Man", written in answer to Burke's denunciation
+of the French Revolution. When the owner of the pamphlet requested that
+it be returned, for it was the only copy at his disposal and he intended
+to have it reprinted in Philadelphia, Jefferson courteously returned it,
+and added a short note in which he expressed his satisfaction that such
+a valuable work would appear in America: "I am extremely pleased to find
+it will be reprinted here, and that something is at length to be
+publicly said against the political heresies which have sprung up among
+us. I have no doubt our citizens will rally a second time round the
+standard of 'Common Sense.'" There is no indication whatever that
+Jefferson intended the note for publication, but the printer thought it
+would help the success of the pamphlet if Jefferson's letter were
+printed as a preface. All the peaceful intentions of the Secretary of
+State had come to naught. The word heresies could apply only to the
+Federalists, and among the Federalists to John Adams, whose "Discourse
+on Davila" had been appearing in Fenno's paper. Jefferson could declare
+that nothing was further from his intentions than to appear as a
+contradictor of Mr. Adams in public; very few men would believe it and
+Jefferson himself realized it so well that he wrote at once to
+Washington to explain his position:
+
+  Mr. Adams will unquestionably take to himself the charge of political
+  heresy, as conscious of his own views of drawing the present
+  government to the form of the English constitution, and, I fear, will
+  consider me as meaning to injure him in the public eye. I learnt that
+  some Anglomen have, censured it in another point of view, as a
+  sanction of Paine's principles tend to give offence to the British
+  government. Their real fear, however, is that this popular and
+  republican pamphlet, taking wonderfully, is likely at a single
+  stroke, to wipe out all the unconstitutional doctrines which their
+  bell wether Davila has been preaching for a twelvemonth. I certainly
+  never made a secret of my being anti-monarchical, and
+  anti-aristocratical; but I am sincerely mortified to be thus brought
+  forward on the public stage, where to remain, to advance or to
+  retire, will be equally against my love of silence and quiet and my
+  abhorrence of dispute.[251]
+
+His abhorrence of dispute was so real that, at this juncture, he decided
+to leave Philadelphia for a trip north, staying two days in New York,
+visiting the battlefield of Saratoga, Lake George, Lake Champlain, and
+coming back through the Connecticut valley. Madison accompanied him on
+the trip, and Mr. Bowers has advanced the hypothesis that it was during
+the long conversations the two friends had during a whole month alone
+together that the plans were formulated for establishing a separate
+party to defend the republican ideals. This may have been the result of
+the journey, but I doubt very much that such was the purpose of
+Jefferson when he set out from Philadelphia. A more simple explanation
+is that, having written his letter to Washington and made, as he
+thought, his position clear, he hoped that the President would not fail
+to communicate its contents to Adams if any unpleasant situation should
+develop; and he simply withdrew from the battlefield in order not to
+enter into a public controversy. But he counted without Adams' temper.
+The Vice President considered Jefferson's short sentence as a challenge
+and proceeded promptly to have it answered. A series of articles signed
+"Publicola" began to appear in the _Centinel_, denouncing not only
+Paine, but Jefferson himself. "Brutus" took up the cudgels in favor of
+Jefferson and the newspaper battle was on. The public, always eager to
+identify anonymous writers, did not fail to attribute to Adams the
+articles signed "Publicola", while to Jefferson were attributed the
+answers written by Agricola, Brutus, and Philodemus. When Jefferson came
+back from his trip the controversy was raging, and soon he began to
+enjoy the conflict.
+
+On July 10 he sent to Colonel Monroe a bundle of papers showing "what a
+dust Paine's pamphlet has kicked up here", and he reiterated his
+approval of the book:
+
+  A writer under the name of Publicola, in attacking Paine's
+  principles, is very desirous of involving me in the same censure with
+  the author. I certainly merit the same, for I profess the same
+  principles; but it is equally certain I never meant to have entered
+  as a volunteer into the cause. My occupations do not permit it. Some
+  persons here are insinuating that I am Brutus, that I am Agricola,
+  that I am Philodemus, etc., etc. I am none of them, being decided not
+  to write a word on the subject, unless any printed imputation should
+  call for a printed disavowal, to which I should put my name.
+
+On the other hand he refused to take seriously the denial that Adams
+"has no more concern in the publication of the writings of Publicola,
+than the author of the 'Rights of Man' himself." But he saw with
+satisfaction that Hamilton had taxed Adams with imprudence in stirring
+up the question and agreed that "his business was done." What was far
+more serious was the fury of gambling that had arisen at the opening of
+the bank: "the land office, the federal town, certain schemes of
+manufactures, are likely to be converted into aliment for that
+rage."[252]
+
+In a last effort to placate Adams, however, and chiefly in order to
+avoid having his name dragged into a public controversy, he wrote to the
+Vice President "from the conviction that truth, between candid minds can
+never do harm." He assured him that he had not written "a line for the
+newspapers." He declared "with truth in the presence of the Almighty
+that nothing was further from his intention or his expectations than to
+have either his own or Adams' name brought before the public on this
+occasion." This was perfectly true, but at the same time he was
+proposing to appoint Paine Postmaster, and on July 29 he wrote to
+congratulate him, for, thanks to his little book, the general opinion
+seemed to rally against a sect high in name but small in number. "They
+are checked at least by your pamphlet, and the people confirmed in their
+good old faith."[253] The fact that Adams accepted Jefferson's
+explanation more gracefully than was to be expected did not prevent the
+fight from going on. It had already been taken out of the hands of the
+leaders and the controversy was raging in the papers. At this juncture
+Jefferson realized that the republicans were very poorly armed in the
+capital and that they had no paper in which their views could be
+expressed so as to counteract the pernicious propaganda of Fenno's
+paper. Thus the result brought about was the foundation of the _National
+Gazette_, Philip Freneau's paper, in which Jefferson had a great part.
+The story has never been told completely and deserves more than passing
+attention, since Jefferson was soon to be attacked by his enemies for
+the interest he took in the _Gazette_. Several documents heretofore
+neglected allow us to reconstruct exactly the part played by Jefferson
+in the undertaking, and particularly to settle a few questions of
+chronology which are not without importance.
+
+It does not appear that Jefferson had any ulterior motives when, on
+February 28, 1791, he offered to Freneau, then living miserably in New
+York, the clerkship for foreign languages in the Department of State.
+"The salary indeed is very low," he wrote, "being but two hundred and
+fifty dollars a year; but also it gives so little to do, as not to
+interfere with any other calling the person may choose.... I was told a
+few days ago that it might perhaps be convenient to you to accept it. If
+so, it is at your service." Freneau answered promptly, on March 5, that,
+having been for some time engaged in endeavouring to establish a Weekly
+Gazette in Monmouth County and having at present a prospect of
+succeeding in a tolerable subscription, he found himself under the
+necessity of declining the acceptance of this "generous unsolicited
+proposal." On May 15, 1791, Jefferson, writing to T. M. Randolph,
+expressed his discontent at the attitude of the two leading papers of
+Philadelphia and added:
+
+  We have been trying to get another weekly or half weekly paper set up
+  excluding advertisements so that it might go through the States and
+  furnish a right vehicle of intelligence. We hoped at one time to have
+  persuaded Freneau to set up here, but failed--in the meantime Bache's
+  paper, the principles of which were always republican improve it's
+  matter.
+
+Not until August 4 did Freneau write to Jefferson that, after discussing
+the matter with Madison and Colonel Lee, he had succeeded in making
+arrangements with a printer in Philadelphia and would submit proposals
+for the publication of a newspaper. Freneau moved to Philadelphia, was
+appointed clerk for foreign languages on August 16, and took oath of
+office the next day. There is consequently no doubt that Freneau was
+induced to leave New York by the double prospect of working in
+Jefferson's office and at the same time establishing a republican
+newspaper. On November 20, Jefferson sent some sample copies to Randolph
+and wrote again on January 22 to ask his son-in-law to find subscribers
+to the _Gazette_. He sent to Freneau a list of subscribers from
+Charlottesville (March 23, 1792) and wrote to his friends that it was
+the best paper ever published in America. On November 16, 1792, he
+announced to Randolph that Freneau's paper was getting into
+Massachusetts under the patronage of "Hancock, Sam. Adams, Mr. Ames, the
+colossus of the monocrats and paper men will either be left out or hard
+run. The people of that State are republican; but hitherto they have
+heard nothing but the hymns and lauds chaunted by Fenno."
+
+When Freneau was vehemently accused by Hamilton of attacking members of
+the government while in the pay of the government, Jefferson took up his
+defense and wrote to the speaker of the House to point out that Freneau
+received a nominal salary and had even "to pay himself special
+translators for languages with which he was unacquainted."[254] Finally,
+on October 11, Freneau sent in his resignation to date from October 1,
+1793. Such are the bare facts and as Freneau's paper was to play an
+important part in the quarrel with Hamilton, it is important to state
+them exactly.
+
+The battle did not begin in earnest until the first months of 1792. But
+Jefferson's distaste for the financial structure erected by Hamilton
+increased during the summer and fall of that year. To Carmichael he
+grudgingly admitted that the domestic debt "funded at six per cent., is
+twelve and a half per cent. above par." "But," he added, "a spirit of
+gambling, in our public paper has seized too many of our citizens, and
+we fear it will check our commerce, arts, manufactures, and agriculture
+unless stopped."[255] To Gouverneur Morris he declared that the fever
+of gambling on government funds has seized everybody, "has laid up our
+ships at the wharves, as too slow instruments of profit, and has even
+disarmed the hand of the tailor of his needle and thimble. They say the
+evil will cure itself. I wish it may; but I have rarely seen a gamester
+cured, even by the disasters of his vocation."[256]
+
+One may wonder at this point what course of conduct was open to
+Jefferson. He might have placed his views of the situation before
+Washington and tried to open his eyes to the danger of the Republic. He
+might have broken completely with Hamilton and declared to the President
+that he had to decide between the Secretary of the Treasury and the
+Secretary of State, but as a matter of fact his hands were tied since he
+had accepted the "Assumption" and had not dared categorically to decide
+against the Bank Bill. Apparently he had reached an impasse. But it was
+not in Jefferson's temperament to try to overcome insuperable obstacles
+or stay very long in a blind alley. Since experience had shown that the
+general government "tended to monarchy" and this tendency strengthened
+itself from day to day, the only remedy was for the States to erect
+"such barriers at the constitutional line as cannot be surmounted either
+by themselves or by the General Government."[257] An opportunity
+presented itself to experiment with the idea in a proposed convocation
+of a convention in Virginia to amend the Constitution. Jefferson,
+consulted on this occasion, sent to Archibald Stuart his ideas on the
+modifications desirable; to lengthen the term of the representatives and
+diminish their number; to strengthen the Executive by making it more
+independent of the legislature.
+
+  Responsibility is a tremendous engine in a free government. Let him
+  feel the whole weight of it then, by taking away the shelter of his
+  executive council. Experience both ways has already established the
+  superiority of this measure. Render the judiciary respectable by
+  every possible means, to wit, firm tenure in office, competent
+  salaries, and reduction of their numbers.
+
+This was quite characteristic of Jefferson and of his extraordinary
+tenacity. It was also very good strategy. Since the strengthening of the
+Federal Government could not be avoided, the only way to avoid a rapid
+absorption of local government by the Federal machine was to strengthen
+in a parallel way the State governments. It was an unexpected
+application of Montesquieu's theory of checks and balances.[258]
+
+Soon afterwards, however, in February, 1792, Jefferson found a favorable
+opportunity to reveal his ideas to Washington. The occasion that offered
+itself was the post-office, just reorganized as an independent and
+self-supporting branch of the government, thus removing it from the
+tutelage of the Treasury Department. Jefferson at once claimed it for
+the Department of State, not out of any appetite for power, "his real
+wish" being to avail the public of every occasion, during the residue of
+the President's period, to place things on a safe footing. By this he
+meant that the usurpations of the Treasury Department should be brought
+to a stop. In a long conversation the next morning after breakfast
+Jefferson opened his heart, indicating that he would resign before long,
+to which Washington answered that he could not resign when there were
+certain signs of dissatisfaction among the public, and that none could
+foresee what too great a change in the administration might bring about.
+This was the opening awaited by Jefferson. No wonder the public was
+dissatisfied, but whose fault was it! There was only one source of
+discontent, the Department of the Treasury. Then he launched forth on a
+passionate indictment of the system developed by Hamilton, contrived for
+deluging the States with paper money instead of gold and silver, "for
+withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits of commerce, manufactures,
+buildings, and other branches of useful industry, to occupy themselves
+and their capitals in a species of gambling, destructive of morality,
+and which had introduced its poison in the government itself." He
+indicated that members of Congress had been gambling in stocks and
+consequently could no longer be depended upon to vote in a disinterested
+way, for they had "feathered their nests with paper." Finally Jefferson
+let the cat out of the bag and told the President that the public were
+awaiting with anxiety his decision with respect to a certain
+proposition, to find out whether they lived under a limited or an
+unlimited government. The report on manufactures which had not
+heretofore drawn particular attention meant to establish the doctrine
+that the power given by the Constitution to collect taxes to provide for
+the "_general welfare_ of the United States, permitted Congress to take
+everything under their management which _they_ should deem _public
+welfare_, and which is susceptible of the application of money." He
+added that his decision was therefore expected with far greater anxiety
+than that felt over the proposed establishment of the Bank of the United
+States.[259]
+
+On May 23, Jefferson had found it impossible to have again a
+heart-to-heart talk with the President, and we may well imagine that
+Washington rather avoided giving him another opportunity to express
+himself again so freely with reference to the policy of the Treasury
+Department. The object of the letter he wrote on that day was twofold;
+first of all it was to persuade Washington that in spite of his so often
+manifested intention to retire at the end of his first term, it was his
+imperious duty to the nation to remain in office. There existed, in
+Jefferson's opinion, a real emergency and he pointed out at length the
+dissatisfaction of the South, the separatist tendencies appearing in
+that quarter, upon seeing what they considered an unfair share of the
+Federal taxes placed on their shoulders, not only in order to pay the
+national debt, but also to encourage the Northern industries with
+bounties. Rumors were circulating everywhere that new measures were on
+foot to increase the mass of the debts; industry was encouraged at the
+expense of agriculture; the legislature itself had been corrupted. The
+only hope of salvation lay in the coming election and in an increase in
+the number of representatives following the census. But everything would
+be in question if the President did not run. "The confidence of the
+whole Union is centered 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."
+
+This incidentally does not sound like a man who was trying to organize a
+strong political party for his own benefit, and I cannot believe that
+Jefferson was as deep a politician as Mr. Bowers has made him. He was
+quite sincere in his desire to retire from office "after the first
+periodical renovation of the government." He was tired and sick at
+heart, and his one inclination was "bent irresistibly on the tranquil
+enjoyment of his family, his farm and his books."[260] On the other
+hand, he was firmly convinced that the coming elections might change
+favorably the majority in Congress. They had no chance to be held
+fairly, however, unless the people had an opportunity to select as
+President a man who would be above all suspicion, a really national
+figure enjoying the confidence of every man in every section of the
+country, such as was Washington alone. Had Washington followed his
+inclination at that time; had he withdrawn at the end of his first term
+and left the field free to other candidates, there is no way of
+surmising what the issue of the campaign of 1792 would have been. Truly
+Jefferson was right: the fate of the republic was at stake.
+
+Shortly after, Hamilton, who had not yet attacked Jefferson personally,
+led an offensive against Freneau who was accused by the _Gazette of the
+United States_ of using his salary for publications, "the design of
+which is to villify those to whom the voice of the people has committed
+the administration of our public affairs." But Freneau, in Hamilton's
+opinion, was only the puppet whose strings were pulled by an arch
+plotter, and soon the _Gazette_ started direct attacks against
+Jefferson, asserting that while a member of the Cabinet he had
+undertaken to undermine the government. Freneau, in an affidavit, denied
+that Jefferson had any connection with his paper or had dictated or
+written a single line in it, and at the same time hinted that, on the
+contrary, the authorship of many articles published in Fenno's _Gazette_
+could clearly be attributed to Hamilton. This denial had precisely the
+value of any such statement issued during political campaigns. It was
+literally true that Jefferson had never written a line in Freneau's
+paper, but he had an opportunity to see Freneau every day, since "clerk
+for foreign languages" had to report to him. He was requesting all his
+friends to subscribe to Freneau's papers, he was following anxiously the
+progress of the _Gazette_ in all parts of the Union, and one word from
+him would have stopped all attacks against Hamilton. In fact, Freneau's
+paper was just as much Jefferson's paper as if the Secretary of State
+had written all the articles in it and had owned all the stock.
+
+Hamilton's attacks, however, had a very important and unexpected result.
+Whether Jefferson had serious political ambitions or not, he was not the
+man to come out in the open and proclaim himself the leader of a new
+party. Of a retiring disposition, fearful of public criticism although
+thirsty for public praise, he was not ready at that time to assume the
+part and the duties of a political chief. But the savage attacks of the
+Federalists attracted public attention to him, he was represented so
+often by them as the champion of republicanism, that discontented
+republicans began to rally round him and Jefferson was thus invested
+with the leadership of the new party as much by his enemies as by his
+friends.
+
+During the summer of 1792, when he was at Monticello, he received from
+Washington a letter in which the President expressed his distress at the
+dissensions that had taken place within the government, and once more
+attempted to bring about a reconciliation between the two secretaries
+(August 23). Jefferson answered in a long letter. This time his temper
+had been thoroughly aroused. He had seen articles signed "An American"
+in Fenno's _Gazette_, accusing him on three counts: "with having written
+letters to his friends in Europe to oppose the present constitution;
+with a desire of repudiating the public debt; with setting up a paper to
+decry and slander the government." Jefferson had no difficulty in
+proving the first two accusations absolutely untrue. On the third charge
+he admitted and even boasted of having given a poet a miserable
+appointment at a salary of $250 a year, while Hamilton had filled the
+administration with his creatures. He protested in the name of Heaven
+that "I never did, by myself, or any other, directly or indirectly,
+write, dictate, or procure any one sentence of sentiment to be inserted
+in _his_, or any other gazette, to which my name was not affixed or that
+of my office." He confessed, however, that he had always taken it for
+granted, from his knowledge of Freneau's character, "that he would give
+free place to pieces written against the aristocratical and monarchical
+principles these papers had inculcated." He again protested against
+Hamilton's insinuation that Freneau had received his salary before
+removing to Philadelphia, and on this point he is supported by the
+evidence published above. In a very dignified way he assured Washington
+that he would refrain from engaging in any controversy while in office
+and that he wished to concentrate all his efforts on the last of his
+official tasks. He added, however, that he reserved the right to answer
+later, for, he said: "I will not suffer my retirement to be clouded by
+the slanders of a man whose history, from the moment at which history
+can stoop to notice him, is a tissue of machinations against the liberty
+of the country which has not only received and given him bread, but
+heaped honors on his head."
+
+Jefferson has sometimes been reproached for having attacked in the
+"Anas" a dead enemy, but this was no posthumous attack. In one sentence
+he had expressed not only condemnation of Hamilton's policies but all
+the scorn of a Virginian, of the old stock, for the immigrant of
+doubtful birth, who was almost an alien. He knew full well the weight
+that such a consideration might have on the mind of Washington; it was a
+subtle but potent appeal to the solidarity of the old Americans against
+the newcomer. Truly, Jefferson was no mean adversary, and the rapier may
+be more deadly than the battle-ax. Having thus parried and thrust, he
+expressed the pious wish that the coming elections would probably
+vindicate his point of view and that it would not be necessary to make a
+further appeal to public opinion. He was tired and wished to retire from
+office at the earliest opportunity, and certainly no clique would
+receive any support from him during the short space he had to remain in
+Philadelphia. Monticello was calling him and his most earnest hope was
+that he would be permitted to forget all political strife in a bucolic
+retirement.[261]
+
+On his way back to Philadelphia he stopped at Mount Vernon (October 1,
+1792) and found Washington still undecided whether he would be a
+candidate for a second term. The General was not certain that the
+emergency was such that he must sacrifice his personal preferences. He
+had consulted Lear about opinion in the North; Jefferson could tell him
+something about the South. When he was assured that he alone could save
+the Republic, it was his turn to argue that Jefferson ought to remain
+in office as long as he himself would be President. Washington said that
+until very recently he had been unaware that such personal differences
+existed between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the
+Treasury. The old General gently reminded Jefferson that the best way to
+counteract the action of Hamilton was to remain in office, in order "to
+keep things in their proper channel, and prevent them from going too
+far." Finally the President refused to accept wholly the pessimistic
+forecasts of Jefferson and declared: "That as to the idea of
+transforming this Government into a monarchy, he did not believe there
+were ten men in the United States whose opinions were worth attention,
+who entertained such a thought." He refused to take seriously
+Jefferson's accusation that Hamilton would have said that "this
+Constitution was a shilly-shally thing, of mere milk and water, which
+could not last, and was only good as a step to something better." That
+as far as corruption in the legislature was concerned, the term was
+probably too severe; it was simply a manifestation of "interested
+spirit"; it was what could not be avoided in any government, unless we
+were to exclude from all office particular descriptions of men, such as
+the holders of the funds. "For the rest he only knew that before the
+funding operations he had seen our affairs desperate and our credit
+lost, and that this was in a sudden and extraordinary degree raised to
+the highest pitch." With the common sense and poise that were his
+outstanding qualities, Washington refused to inquire into the ultimate
+motives of Hamilton. The Secretary of the Treasury had rescued the
+finances of the country from bankruptcy; he was a good, efficient, and
+personally honest administrator, and it was Washington's hope that he
+would be able to keep with him two useful collaborators whom he could
+not easily replace.
+
+Shall I confess that, in my humble opinion, and in spite of the contrary
+judgment of several American historians, Washington was probably right.
+The quarrel between Hamilton and Jefferson is undoubtedly of
+considerable importance in the history of political parties in the
+United States. I am not so certain that it exerted so tremendous an
+influence on the destinies of the nation. Whatever may have been the
+ambitious schemes of Hamilton, the theoretical preferences of John
+Adams, it is difficult to see how any one could have succeeded at that
+time in establishing overnight an hereditary monarchy in the United
+States. Such a _"coup d'état"_ is always a possibility in the old
+countries of Europe, all of them more or less centralized and controlled
+from a national capital; but in 1793 there was no national capital in
+America, loyalty to the Federal Government was scarcely nascent,
+citizens had not been accustomed to look to Congress for bounties,
+assistance, and subsidies. The vastness of the country would have
+offered insuperable obstacles, even to the genius of a Bonaparte. No
+real danger existed because, as Montesquieu would have said, a monarchy
+was not in the nature of things, and both Hamilton and Jefferson would
+have realized it, if they had not been caught in the maelstrom of
+political and personal passions.
+
+When Jefferson left Mount Vernon, Washington was still undecided whether
+he would accept a second term, but Jefferson had determined that he
+would not stay in office any longer than he could help; and on November
+8, he wrote to Humphreys to send all further communications not to him
+personally, but to the Secretary of State, by title and not by name.
+News of election was coming slowly, winter had already begun in the
+northern States. But the news that did arrive was reassuring and
+Jefferson was able to write on November 16, "the event has been
+generally in favor of republican, and against the aristocratical
+candidates." By the beginning of December, the reëlection of Washington
+being conceded, it appeared that the election of the Vice President "had
+been seized as a proper one for expressing the public sense on the
+doctrine of the monocrats." It was already apparent that Adams would be
+reëlected in spite of a strong vote against him, but Jefferson
+discounted the significance of the election and attributed it to "the
+strength of his personal worth and his services, rather than to the
+merits of his political creed."[262] It seemed that the anti-Federalists
+had gained control of the lower House and this was a most significant
+victory.
+
+Then as more news of the election came, telling of the victory of the
+republicans or, as they were called by derision, the Jacobins, other
+news arrived from France. The army of the Duke of Brunswick had been
+forced to retreat and had failed in crushing the republican army of
+France. "This news," wrote Jefferson, "has given wry faces to our
+monocrats here, but sincere joy to the great body of the citizens. It
+arrived only in the afternoon of yesterday, and the bells were rung and
+some illuminations took place in the evening."[263] Four days later the
+conviction that a disaster had overcome Brunswick had made great
+progress, although no other news had been received, and Jefferson had
+anxiously awaited the arrival of ships from France. But the tide had
+turned and he wrote to Mercer: "The monocrats here still affect to
+disbelieve all this, while the republicans are rejoicing and taking to
+themselves the name of Jacobins which two months ago was fixed on them
+by way of stigma."[264] The first victory of the republicans coincided
+with the first victory of the Revolution against the coalition of kings.
+The French Revolution itself had become a domestic issue and was to
+inject more passion into the strife between the monocrats and the
+republicans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+JACOBIN OR AMERICAN?
+
+
+One of the first duties of Jefferson in taking charge of foreign affairs
+was to explain to his French friends, who on the other side of the
+Atlantic had been accustomed to look up to him as a guide and
+counsellor, the reasons which had determined his choice to remain in
+America. To Madame de Corny, the Duchesse Danville, the Duc de La
+Rochefoucauld, Madame d'Houdetot, he wrote gracefully worded notes, in
+the best style of the society of the time. In France, among other
+things, he had learned how to turn a charming compliment. More official
+but still very graceful is the letter he sent to Montmorin to take
+formal leave of the French Court and at the same time introduce himself
+in his new capacity. But besides the compliments, there appears in the
+letter a reaffirmation that the best foundation for international
+friendship lay in satisfactory commercial relations. "May this union of
+interests forever be the patriotic creed of both countries."[265] The
+new Secretary of State had not forgotten that the most important
+questions relative to Gallo-American commerce had not yet been settled,
+and that it would be no negligible part of his duties to carry out the
+principles he had always defended when in Paris.
+
+To Lafayette, closer to his heart than any other Frenchman, he explained
+more fully his view of the situation and stated once more the principles
+which would direct him in his policy towards France:
+
+  Wherever I am, or ever shall be, I shall be sincere in my friendship
+  to you and to your nation. I think with others, that nations are to
+  be governed with regard to their own interests, but I am convinced
+  that it is their interests, in the long run, to be grateful, faithful
+  to their engagements, even in the worst of circumstances, and
+  honorable and generous always. If I had not known that the head of
+  our government was in these sentiments, and that his national and
+  private ethics were the same, I would never have been where I
+  am.[266]
+
+This was more than a banal compliment. To the homely wisdom of Doctor
+Franklin that honesty is the best policy, Jefferson had added a new
+element. He had combined in one formula two principles which often seem
+contradictory and which at any rate are difficult to reconcile. Not a
+mere idealist, nor simply a practical politician, he was, during the
+rest of his political life, to make persistent efforts to propagate that
+gospel of practical idealism which remains to this day one of the
+fundamental tenets of Americanism. In that respect, party lines count
+little, and Lincoln was quite as much a disciple and a continuator of
+Jefferson as Woodrow Wilson.
+
+On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in many circumstances it
+would take more than superhuman virtue and intelligence rightly to
+operate that ideal combination and maintain an equal balance between
+national selfishness and philosophical idealism. When it came to
+practice, Jefferson showed himself just as canny as any European
+diplomat and never neglected an opportunity to further the interests of
+his country. This appeared in the very first letters he sent to Europe
+after taking charge of the foreign policies of the United States.
+
+Communications were slow at the time. Jefferson was kept regularly
+informed of developments in France by Short, his former secretary, left
+in charge in Paris, who sent him weekly letters; but they averaged
+eleven weeks and a half in transit, while of his answers "the quickest
+were of nine weeks and the longest of near eighteen weeks coming."
+Information through the British papers took about five or six weeks to
+reach America but was not to be relied upon, and Jefferson gave definite
+instructions to Short for "news from Europe is very interesting at this
+moment, when it is so doubtful whether a war will take place between our
+two neighbors."[267]
+
+This was indeed at the time his main preoccupation. War between Spain
+and England seemed not only possible but probable, and Jefferson saw in
+it an opportunity to press the claims of the United States to the
+navigation of the Mississippi. The question was not "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), but the
+navigation of the Mississippi and that was not simply to recognize the
+American rights on the river." Navigation "cannot be practiced without a
+port, where the sea and river vessels may meet and exchange loads, 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. Jefferson added that he could not
+answer that "the forbearance of our western citizens would last
+indefinitely, and that a moment of impatience, hazard or other
+considerations might precipitate action on their part." On the other
+hand, the United States were in no position to antagonize openly even
+weak Spain, and in case nothing should develop Carmichael was instructed
+to bide his time:
+
+  You will be pleased to observe, that we press these matters 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 object and the same resolutions unalterably; but
+  your discretion will suggest, that patience and persuasion must
+  temper your conferences, till either of these may prevail, or some
+  other circumstances turn up, which may enable us to use other means
+  for the attainment of an object which we are determined, in the end,
+  to obtain at every risk.[268]
+
+Naturally this is no worse than the ordinary run of instructions sent at
+that time to diplomatic agents by other foreign secretaries, and
+Jefferson's policy was no more underhanded than the policies of any
+other nation of the Old World. It cannot be said, however, that it
+rested upon higher and nobler moral principles. Perhaps America had no
+diplomatic tradition at that time, but she was not deficient in tactics,
+and neither Jefferson nor his agents were exactly innocent tools in the
+hands of wily European diplomats.
+
+But this is not all. Jefferson unfolded his whole plan in a letter to
+Short written a week later. In case of a war between England and Spain,
+France would be called into the war as an ally on the side of Spain. She
+would have a right to insist that Spain should do everything in her
+power to lessen the number of her potential enemies and to eliminate
+every cause of friction with the United States. "She cannot doubt that
+we shall be of that number, if she does not yield our right to common
+use of the Mississippi, and the means of using and securing it." The
+point made by the United States was that "they should have a port near
+the mouth of the river, so well separated from the territories of Spain
+and her jurisdiction, as not to engender daily disputes and broils
+between us." Such a claim was not an arbitrary one, but resulted from
+the configuration of the land. "Nature has decided what shall be the
+geography of that in the end, whatever it might be in the beginning, by
+cutting off from the adjacent countries of Florida and Louisiana, and
+enclosing between two of its channels, a long and narrow slip of land,
+called the Island of New Orleans." Jefferson conceded that the idea of
+ceding that territory might be disagreeable to Spain at first, because
+it constituted their principal settlement in those parts, with a
+population of ten thousand white inhabitants, but "reason, and events,
+however, may, by little and little, familiarize them to it." The idea,
+however, might seem excessive to Montmorin, particularly as it was
+thought that France had not entirely given up the project of recovering
+the country along the Mississippi. But fortunately the National Assembly
+seemed opposed to conquest and the subject might be broached merely in
+general terms at the beginning. Furthermore, Lafayette could be used
+once more as an intermediary without officially compromising the United
+States.[269]
+
+Finally Gouverneur Morris was told to warn England that should they
+entertain any design against any Spanish colony, the United States would
+contemplate a change of neighbors with extreme uneasiness. While the
+United States would remain neutral if "they execute the treaty fairly
+and attempt no conquests adjoining us," Jefferson added, "it will be
+proper that these ideas be conveyed in delicate and friendly terms; but
+that they be conveyed, if the war takes place; for it is in this case
+alone, and not till it be begun, that we should wish our dispositions to
+be known."[270] That question being disposed of satisfactorily, at least
+in theory, for after all, the war did not break out, Jefferson abandoned
+temporarily his plans to obtain New Orleans. How he resumed them and
+pushed them to a successful conclusion ten years later is too well known
+to need recalling here.
+
+It is not until February 4, 1791, that Jefferson expressed in writing
+his hope to see a republican form of government established in France.
+This was in direct contradiction with all the advice and counsel he had
+given to his French friends when he was in Paris, with his repeated
+affirmations that the French were not ready for self-government, and
+with the conclusions contained in his letter written to Jay in the
+summer of 1789. None of the developments that had taken place in France
+was of such a character as to change Jefferson's attitude on the
+matter. But in the meantime, he had come to the conclusion that the fate
+of the republican government in the United States depended largely on
+the failure or success of the French Revolution. If it proved impossible
+for the French to establish a stable form of self-government, if they
+could not withstand the attacks of their foreign enemies, the conclusion
+would inevitably be drawn in America that there was an inherent defect
+and weakness in all republican governments. Thus the French Revolution
+had already become an international issue, for the cause of liberty
+could not remain secure for any length of time in America if it were
+crushed in Europe. On that particular point Jefferson himself was very
+explicit:
+
+  I look with great anxiety for the firm establishment of the new
+  government in France, being perfectly convinced that if it takes
+  place there, it will spread sooner or later all over Europe. On the
+  contrary, a check there would retard the revival of liberty in other
+  countries. I consider the establishment and success of their
+  government as necessary to stay up our own, and to prevent it from
+  falling back to that kind of half-way house, the English
+  constitution. It cannot be denied that we have among us a sect who
+  believe that to contain whatever is perfect in human institutions;
+  that the members of this sect have, many of them, names and offices
+  which stand high in the estimation of our countrymen. I still rely
+  that the great mass of our community is untainted with these
+  heresies, as is its head. On this I build my hope that we have not
+  labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men
+  can be governed by reason.[271]
+
+On receiving the news that the National Assembly of France had gone into
+mourning over the death of Franklin, Jefferson sent to its President one
+of those letters worded in the "felicitous style" which he had perfected
+in France. His feelings were sincere, he had great respect and affection
+for the Doctor, but he knew what was expected of him, and with great
+skill, without promising anything, or using any expression that might be
+taken as a definite promise and turned against him later, he made a
+vague but satisfactory appeal to a sort of international friendship,
+praising the Assembly for having set the first example and brought "into
+our fraternity the good and the great wherever they have lived or died."
+He ended with a reaffirmation of the good dispositions of his government
+towards France: "That these separations may disappear between us in all
+times and circumstances, and that the union of sentiment which mingles
+our sorrows on this occasion, may continue long to cement the friendship
+and interests of our two nations, is our constant prayer."[272]
+
+This openly declared sympathy for France and his hopes for a new form of
+government did not in the least obscure his views on the commercial
+difficulties between the two countries. The bone of contention was still
+the question of commerce with the West Indies. The National Assembly, on
+ratifying the consular conventions, had showed little disposition to
+admit the right of the United States to send consular agents to the West
+Indies. In his opinion the word _"États du roi"_ did not mean merely
+France, but all colonial possessions of France as indicated in the
+translation "French dominions." He was not ready officially to press the
+matter so as to cause difficulties between the two nations and was
+willing to have the two agents already appointed, "Skipwith at
+Martinique and Bourne at St. Dominique", ask for a regular
+exequatur.[273]
+
+He elaborated on his policy with reference to the West Indies in another
+letter to Short, written three months later. In it will be found
+expressed more discreetly, but no less firmly, the philosophy outlined
+already with reference to Spain and the Mississippi. He maintained first
+of all that the United States had no design whatever on the West
+Indies, for "If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other
+in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do
+with conquest." This principle once established, he proceeded to examine
+the situation from a practical point of view. The regulations imposed by
+the French on their colonies are such that they cannot trade directly
+with their neighbors; for the supplies necessary to relieve their mutual
+wants have to be carried first to France in order to be exported either
+to the colonies or to the American continent. This is contrary to the
+natural order of things: "An exchange of surplusses and wants between
+neighbor nations, is both a right and a duty under the moral law, and
+measures against right should be mollified in their exercise, if it be
+wished to lengthen them to the greatest term possible." It seemed to
+Jefferson that such a right ought to be recognized by any unprejudiced
+mind; but, unfortunately, "Europeans in general have been too long in
+the habit of confounding force with right with respect to America."
+Circumstances are such that these rights cannot be pressed very strongly
+and "can be advanced only with delicacy", but what the United States
+cannot do themselves, Lafayette perhaps can present informally to his
+friends. He alone can make them understand that, while they are
+establishing a new régime for their colonial possessions of the West
+Indies, "in policy, if not in justice, they should be disposed to avoid
+oppression, which, falling on us, as well as on their colonies, might
+tempt us to act together."[274]
+
+Was this a veiled threat? Not exactly. It was an extension of
+Montesquieu's theory of laws to international relations, an application
+of the theories of the French economists on free trade. But even
+supposing that the theory itself had some remote French origin, to a
+large extent it was new and typically American. Only former colonies
+which had won their complete independence could maintain that, in
+matters of trade, the colonies were completely independent of the
+metropolis, and that commercial and geographical considerations should
+outweigh political regulations. The United States were strongly inclined
+to use every favorable opportunity to make this principle obtain in
+their relations with their neighbors, and what was a far more dangerous
+thing, they considered this policy both "a right and a duty under the
+moral law." It was not political imperialism to be sure, but in our days
+it certainly would be called commercial imperialism under a moral
+disguise. At that time, it was really a theory far in advance of both
+the theory and practice of any European nation, and it is very doubtful
+whether Jefferson would have found justification for it in any of the
+authorities on the law of nations he had consulted with reference to the
+navigation of the Mississippi.[275]
+
+There is no doubt that Jefferson fully realized all the implications of
+his doctrine, for he submitted it to the President before sending it to
+Short in cipher; but he insisted that, if the contents of his letter
+were permitted to leak out at a favorable opportunity, "the National
+Assembly might see the impolicy of insisting on particular conditions,
+which, operating as grievances on us, as well as on their colonists,
+might produce a concert of action."[276]
+
+The news of the flight of the king was for him another evidence of the
+"fruits of that form of government, which heaps importance on idiots,
+and which the Tories of the present day are trying to preach into our
+favor." Then he added significantly: "I still hope the French revolution
+will issue happily. I feel that the permanence of our own leans in some
+degree on that; and that a failure there would be a powerful argument to
+prove there would be a failure here."[277]
+
+Meanwhile his actions were far more cautious than his theories would
+lead one to believe. When the Santo Domingo Assembly placed their
+situation before the Government of the United States, asking for
+ammunition, arms, and provisions to be charged against the money owed
+France by the United States, Jefferson answered that although the United
+States had with them "some common points of union in matters of
+commerce" he could not do anything without the approbation of Ternant.
+When the colonists asked him what would be the attitude of the United
+States in case they became independent, Jefferson did not conceal the
+fact that they would lay themselves open to any attack by a strong
+nation and that their interest, as well as the interests of the United
+States, was to see them retain their connection with their mother
+country; and he finally decided to give them such small supplies from
+time to time "as will keep them from real distress, and to wait with
+patience for what would be a surplus, till M. Ternant can receive
+instructions from France.... It would be unwise in the highest degree,
+that the colonists should be disgusted with either France or us."[278]
+
+He was soon to be deprived, however, of direct news from France, for
+Short was transferred from Paris to the Hague and Gouverneur Morris
+appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France.[279] He had to explain his
+policy to the new minister, which he did on March 10, 1792, this time
+insisting that nothing in the conduct or the views of the United States
+should cause any apprehension to the French Government and that he
+should allay all fears on that score.[280] But with Lafayette he still
+insisted that if he did not mention the point again, it was largely
+because he considered that it had been won:
+
+  We have been less zealous in aiding them, lest your government should
+  feel any jealousy on our account. But, in truth, we as sincerely
+  wish their restoration and connection with you, as you do yourselves.
+  We are satisfied that neither your justice nor their distresses will
+  ever again permit their being forced to seek at dear and distant
+  markets those first necessaries of life which they may have at
+  cheaper markets, placed by nature at their door, and formed by her
+  for their support.[281]
+
+It was not until the latter part of 1792 that reiterated letters from
+Morris, describing the situation and asking for instructions, forced
+Jefferson to make a very important declaration on relations that could
+be transacted with revolutionary governments. There again he displayed
+the resourcefulness of a good lawyer combined with the idealism of a
+political philosopher. Having no hint of the form of government that the
+French were to adopt, he thought it necessary to lay down certain
+principles to direct the conduct of the American plenipotentiary in
+Paris. They were substantially as follows: The permanent principle of
+the United States was to recognize any government "which is formed by
+the will of the nation substantially declared." If the government to be
+formed by the French presented such a character, there was no reason to
+doubt that the United States would grant recognition, and Morris could
+proceed without further ado to transact with them "every kind of
+business." On the other hand, the government established might present
+an entirely different complexion and in that case the recognition might
+be more doubtful; but even then it was to be considered as a _de facto_,
+if not a _de jure_ government, and it was the duty of the American
+minister to discuss some matters with them in order to obtain
+concessions "reforming the unfriendly restrictions on our commerce and
+navigation."[282] The question as to Morris' safety was left entirely to
+him to determine and could not very well be the object of precise
+instructions.
+
+Two weeks later, Jefferson himself had an opportunity to make a
+practical application of his policy. Although they had received no
+formal authority from the National Assembly, the United States were
+willing to contribute aids from time to time to Santo Domingo, and were
+placing at their disposal for December the sum of forty thousand
+dollars. But Jefferson insisted that such moneys as were thus obtained
+were to be spent in America where supplies could be had cheapest, "and
+where the same sum would consequently effect the greatest measure of
+relief to the colony." Incidentally, it was spent also for the greatest
+benefit of the American merchants, and strengthened the commercial
+connection between the islands and the American continent, a point not
+to be mentioned to the French envoy, but well worth keeping in
+mind.[283]
+
+At the beginning of 1793, Jefferson was not only inclined to treat
+favorably the new French Government but resented strongly any criticism
+of it. When he discovered that in several letters his friend and
+disciple Short had censured the proceedings of the French Jacobins,
+Jefferson, fearing that he had been corrupted by aristocratic
+friendships, undertook to set him right on the matter. He took the
+following view of the situation:
+
+  The contest had been between the Feuillant patriots favoring a free
+  constitution with an hereditary executive and the Jacobins who
+  thought that expunging that office was an absolute necessity. The
+  Feuillants had their day and their experiment had failed miserably.
+  The nation was with them in opinion and had finally won. Certainly in
+  the struggle many guilty persons fell without the forms of trial and
+  innocents with them. But altogether they are to be considered as
+  soldiers who have fallen during a battle; their memory will be
+  embalmed by truth and time.
+
+Meanwhile the only thing to consider was that the liberty of the whole
+world depended on the issue of the contest:
+
+  Was ever such a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own
+  affections 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 is now.
+
+Short was then severely rebuked for having expressed in conversations
+sentiments offensive to the French patriots. He was reminded that there
+were in the United States "some characters of opposite principles
+hostile to France, and fondly looking to England as the staff of their
+hopes. Their prospects have certainly not brightened.... The successes
+of republicanism in France have given the _coup de grace_ to their
+prospects, and I hope to their projects." This was to be kept in mind by
+Short, and, as Jefferson intended to retire at an early date, he called
+his attention to the fact that not knowing who his successor would be
+and into whose hands his further communications would fall, he had
+better be prudent and not let his "too great sensibility to the
+misfortunes of some dear friends obscure his republicanism."[284]
+
+In a communication to Gouverneur Morris, Jefferson was more reserved but
+no less insistent upon the principle that the French Government was a
+government _de jure_ as well as _de facto_:
+
+  We surely cannot deny to any nation that right whereon our own
+  government is founded, that every one may govern itself according to
+  whatever form it pleases, and change these forms at its own will; and
+  that it may transact its business with foreign nations through
+  whatever organ it thinks proper, whether King, Convention, Assembly,
+  Committee, President, or anything else it may choose. The will of the
+  nation is the only essential thing to be regarded. Such being the
+  case, the United States not only should continue to pay the
+  installment on the debt but use their utmost endeavors to make
+  punctual payments. Urged by the strongest attachment to that country,
+  and thinking it is even providential that moneys lent to us in
+  distress could be repaid under like circumstances, we had no
+  hesitation to comply with the application, and arrangements are
+  accordingly taken, for furnishing this sum at epochs accommodated to
+  the demands and our means of paying it.
+
+This was the doctrine of national gratitude reaffirmed and illustrated,
+but naturally relations could not be placed on an entirely sentimental
+basis. Morris was instructed at the same time "to use and improve every
+possible opportunity which may occur in the changeable scenes which are
+passing, and to seize them as they occur, for placing our commerce with
+that nation and its dependencies, on the freest and most encouraging
+footing possible."[285]
+
+A week later news of the execution of the king arrived at Philadelphia.
+For the fate of Louis XVI, Jefferson felt and expressed little personal
+regret. He never held the monarch in high esteem: furthermore, the
+example set by France might teach a good lesson to other autocrats and
+"soften the monarchical governments, by rendering monarchs amenable to
+punishment like other criminals, and doing away with that rage of
+insolence and oppression, the inviolability of the King's person."[286]
+Here again it is evident that domestic considerations were uppermost in
+Jefferson's mind. Never could one correct too vigorously those who
+wished to establish a monarchy in the United States. Whether he was
+justified or not, Jefferson sincerely believed that the American
+republic was in danger, and his attitude at that time reflects his fear
+of the monocrats more than any real sympathy for the French Terrorists.
+
+Thus spoke Jefferson, the party man, and he made no mystery of his
+sentiments either in his conversations or in his private letters. The
+Secretary of State, however, could not easily afford to adopt publicly
+the same attitude. Early in February Colonel W. S. Smith had brought the
+intelligence that the French Minister Ternant, whose royalist opinions
+shocked the French sympathizers in Philadelphia, would be recalled and
+Citizen Genet would be sent in his place by the Republic. It was already
+known that Genet would bring very advantageous propositions to the
+United States, for he would come
+
+  with full powers to give us all the privileges we can desire in their
+  countries, and particularly in the West Indies; that they even
+  contemplate to set them free the next summer; that they proposed to
+  emancipate South America, and will send forty-five ships of the line
+  there next spring, and Miranda at the head of the expedition; that
+  they desire our debt to be paid them in provisions, and have
+  authorized him to negotiate this.[287]
+
+On the other hand it was to be feared that Genet would remind the
+American Government of the existence of the Treaty of 1778, by which the
+United States agreed to give distinct advantages to French privateers
+and to guarantee the integrity of the French West Indies. It was not
+until April that it was known war had been declared between France and
+England. Were the United States going to be dragged into the European
+convulsions and would they have to side openly with their former ally?
+Acting on the information received from Colonel Smith, Jefferson quickly
+wrote to Carmichael and Short, asking them to refrain from mentioning
+the Louisiana question to Spain, and chiefly to be very careful not to
+"bind us to guarantee any of the Spanish colonies against their own
+independence, nor indeed against any other nation." Jefferson believed
+that there was a possibility of seeing France encourage the Spanish
+colonies to revolt and would not have objected "to the receiving those
+on the east side into our confederation." This was an eventuality not to
+be lightly dismissed, and once more Jefferson's uppermost preoccupation
+was not to please the French Revolutionists but to further the interests
+of his country.[288] But before deciding upon any course of action it
+was advisable to temporize and to find out from what quarter the wind
+was about to blow. The only thing to do for the present was to wait and
+to avoid any unpleasant complications with the powers at war; and first
+of all to see to it that the United States should enjoy the rights and
+privileges of a complete neutrality. Jefferson began sending
+instructions to that effect to Samuel Shaw, consul at Canton,
+China.[289] Two days later he wrote even more explicitly to Dumas: "We
+wish not to meddle with the internal affairs of any country, nor with
+the general affairs of Europe. Peace with all nations, and the right
+which that gives us with all nations are our objects. It will be
+necessary for all our public agents to exert themselves with vigilance
+for securing to our vessels all the rights of neutrality, and from
+preventing the vessels of other nations from usurping our flags."[290]
+
+As the cabinet met only one month later (April 18) at the request of
+Washington to discuss the proclamation of neutrality, it is not without
+importance to call attention to the date and the text of that letter.
+Winning Jefferson over to the position finally adopted by the American
+Government could not present insuperable difficulties since he had
+already outlined the same policy even before consulting with the
+President, and on his own initiative had sent instructions to the
+agents.
+
+When the Cabinet met to consider the emergency, and the several
+secretaries were invited by Washington to submit their opinions in
+writing, the course to be followed was officially agreed upon and
+Washington issued the famous Proclamation of Neutrality on April
+22,--the very same day the new minister from France landed at
+Charleston. Jefferson did not lose any time notifying the American
+agents abroad of the policy of the United States, repeating
+substantially the instructions already sent to Dumas one month
+before.[291] At the same time Ternant was officially notified that
+credits opened in favor of the West Indies had to be stopped;[292] as
+the emergency had passed and a regular government had been established
+in France, money could be appropriated from the regular installments
+paid on the debt.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+_From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale_]
+
+According to a letter written to Monroe,[293] Jefferson saw with a
+secret pleasure, the monocrat papers publish the most furious philippics
+against England, and the old spirit of 1776 rekindled from Charleston to
+Boston. He expressed the pious wish that "we may be able to repress the
+spirit of the people within the limits of fair neutrality." But he
+revolted against what he considered a subservient attitude to England on
+the part of Hamilton. It is one of the few occasions in which he
+departed in a letter (I do not count the "Anas") from his judicial
+attitude: "In the meantime," he said, "Hamilton is panick struck, if we
+refuse our breech to every kick which Great Britain may choose to give
+it. In order to preserve even a sneaking neutrality a fight is necessary
+in every council for our votes are generally two and a half against one
+and a half."
+
+Jefferson's private opinion might have favored the French Revolution, as
+it undoubtedly did. I do not see, however, that in any important
+circumstance he departed from the strict line of neutrality which he had
+traced for the country.
+
+He sent instructions to Thomas Pinckney[294] to the effect that, in
+order to avoid any violation of neutrality, passports could be issued to
+vessels only in American ports; that "in other lands American citizens
+were free to purchase and use any foreign built vessels, as those were
+entitled to the same protection as home built vessels." That all vessels
+belonging to citizens of the United States loaded with grain to the port
+of one of the belligerents could not be stopped by the other
+belligerent if going to an unblockaded port.
+
+Then Genet, still at Charleston and before being regularly accredited,
+took upon himself to outfit privateers and to commission them. "The
+British ship _Grange_, while lying at anchor in the bay of Delaware,
+within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, was taken
+possession of by the _Embuscade_, a frigate of the French Republic,
+brought to port where she was detained as a prize and the crew kept
+prisoners."[295] Ternant was asked to detain the vessel, waiting for a
+decision to be taken concerning the representations of the British
+minister, Hammond. But it will be seen in Jefferson's letter to
+Hammond[296] that he did not hesitate to grant that the capture of the
+_Grange_ was not "warranted by the usage of nations, nor by the existing
+treaties between the United States and France", nor, Jefferson added,
+"by any law of the land." On the other hand he maintained that agents of
+the French Government were free to purchase "arms and military
+accoutrements" with an intent to export them to France, and that
+citizens of the United States could sell such articles, being duly
+warned, however, that they were subject to confiscation should they fall
+into the hands of a belligerent.
+
+Indeed, it took all the calamitous blunders of Genet to turn Jefferson
+against him. From Charleston, where he had landed, to Philadelphia, his
+march had been a triumph. The citizens of Philadelphia, hearing that the
+President might refuse to receive him, had even decided to give him an
+ovation and to meet him at Gray's Ferry. He delivered his credentials on
+May 18, and at once communicated the object of his mission in a style
+which now appears grandiloquent, but simply reflected that enthusiasm
+for America which was running so high in France at the time. "In short,"
+wrote Jefferson to Madison, "he offers everything, and asks
+nothing."[297] This was too good to be true, and too wonderful to last
+long.
+
+Less than three weeks later (June 5) Jefferson had to send to Genet
+strong representations on his attitude and pointed out several breaches
+of neutrality, particularly in the arming of French privateers in
+American ports, stating rather stiffly that it was "the _right_ of every
+nation to prohibit acts of sovereignty from being exercised by any other
+nation within its limits and the duty of a neutral nation to prohibit
+such as would injure one of the warring powers."
+
+But in a letter to Hammond he stated that the measures could not be
+retrospective. In the first days of the war, French citizens, duly
+commissioned by the authorities of their country, had captured British
+vessels. It was impossible for the United States to rescue those vessels
+from the captors. All that could be done was to prevent the repetition
+of such an incident and to order the departure of all French privateers
+from the ports of the United States. It was fine legal reasoning, not
+without some of that hairsplitting for which Jefferson reproached
+Randolph. Whether Randolph had a hand or not in the reaching of that
+decision is another question. Jefferson indorsed it in transmitting it
+both to Hammond and Genet.
+
+Another proposition of Genet did not meet with more favorable approval.
+The Republic was hard pressed for money, and the new plenipotentiary had
+been requested to make every possible effort "to obtain payment in one
+lump sum of all the annuities coming to France, taking the debt in
+produce if necessary, or changing it into bonds to be sold to the
+public." To this Jefferson was unequivocally opposed, although he
+referred the President to Hamilton. He recommended payment in advance of
+the installments due for the year, but strongly objected to changing the
+form of the debt.[298] He wrote, furthermore, to Gouverneur Morris to
+acquaint him with the situation and to request him "to prevent any such
+proposition in the future from being brought forward."[299]
+
+As a matter of fact, although Jefferson expressed pious and fervent
+wishes for the success of the French, I cannot see that he officially
+did much to further their cause. He was not even pleased by the
+agitation and propaganda in their behalf carried on in America by
+enthusiastic patriots. This appears very clearly in a letter to his
+son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, which, better than any official
+document, indicates his state of mind at the end of June, 1793:
+
+  The French have been guilty of great errors in their conduct towards
+  other nations, not only in insulting uselessly all crowned heads, but
+  endeavoring to force liberty on their neighbors in their own form.
+  They seem to be correcting themselves on the latter point; the war
+  between them and England embarrasses our government daily and
+  immensely. The predilection of our citizens for France renders it
+  very difficult to suppress their attempts to cruise against the
+  English on the ocean, and to do justice to the latter in cases where
+  they are entitled to it.[300]
+
+Monroe had sent him a long dissertation on the proclamation of
+neutrality which he judged both "unpolitick and unconstitutional"; for,
+if the President "possesses the right to say we shall be neutral, he
+might say we should not be."[301]
+
+To this Jefferson answered that his friends' apprehensions were somewhat
+exaggerated, for the United States being at peace with England, the
+so-called proclamation of neutrality--which, by the way, did not contain
+the word neutrality--did nothing but maintain a _status quo_. This was a
+fine legal distinction, not very convincing, but very characteristic of
+Jefferson's state of mind at that time and of his reluctance to favor
+the French side. Had he ever wished to do it, the attitude of the French
+envoy would have soon forced him to adopt a different policy.
+
+The case of Citizen Genet is too well known to require elaborate
+treatment. Less than six weeks after his arrival in Philadelphia,
+Jefferson had given him up as hopeless and dangerous:
+
+  Never in my opinion, was so calamitous an appointment made, as that
+  of the present minister of France here. Hot headed, all imagination,
+  no judgment, passionate, disrespectful & even indecent towards the
+  President in his written as well as verbal communications, talking of
+  appeals from him to Congress, from them to the people, urging the
+  most unreasonable & groundless propositions, & in the most
+  dictatorial style.[302]
+
+The case of the _Little Sarah_, a British prize, taken to Philadelphia
+and refitted as a privateer by Genet's orders, brought the matter to a
+head. Genet was warned that the vessel could not sail; he refused to
+give definite assurances that it would not be ordered to sea. Washington
+was away at the time, and Knox and Hamilton proposed mounting a battery
+of cannon to prevent the sailing of the vessel, a measure strongly
+opposed by Jefferson, determined to avoid at all cost measures
+tantamount to a declaration of war. The _Little Sarah_ and the
+_Democrat_ escaped, and Washington in vehement words manifested his
+disapproval of the weakness shown on this occasion. The least the
+American Government could do was to ask that Genet be recalled, and it
+was so decided at a meeting of the Cabinet on August 3. In a long letter
+intended for the French Government, but sent to Gouverneur Morris and
+communicated to Genet himself, Jefferson drew up a terrible indictment
+of the French minister. Hamilton and Knox were decidedly in favor of
+stronger measures and of deciding then and there upon the "_renvoi_" of
+Genet. Jefferson, following his constant policy, was against a measure
+that could be construed as the recognition that a state of war existed
+between the two countries. This has been sometimes interpreted as
+evincing partiality to France on his part, but entries in the "Anas"
+under August 20 and August 23 demonstrate beyond any doubt that he was
+also guided by his uppermost desire to promote the interests of his
+country.
+
+There was at least some reason to believe that Genet's conduct would not
+receive the support of his Government, and on the other hand he had
+brought over with him certain proposals worth considering for a treaty
+referring to the commerce with the West Indies. Although the Cabinet had
+never considered the question formally, Jefferson estimated the matter
+of such importance that he had taken it upon himself to discuss it with
+Genet in several conversations. To leave the friendly overtures of the
+French Republic without any answer would not only be insulting but
+highly unpolitic, since the Executive might be accused "of neglecting
+the interests of the United States." Under these circumstances some
+means had to be found of sparing the feelings of the French Government,
+so as not to lose entirely the chances of concluding a treaty so
+advantageous to the United States. As Secretary of State, Jefferson had
+to find a satisfactory formula. This was to ask the French Government to
+recall Genet, but at the same time to appoint his successor and to renew
+to this successor the powers granted originally to Genet. Such was the
+tenor of his letter to Morris, a very clever solution to a very
+difficult situation. As for Genet himself, he was to be tolerated until
+the arrival of his successor.
+
+Unfortunately the "citizen" did not know how to keep quiet or when to
+quit. Not a dishonest man in ordinary life, not even an unintelligent
+man, he was the greatest bungler ever sent by a friendly nation to
+another. When he arrived in May, 1793, he had public opinion largely in
+his favor. Members of Congress and of the government, except possibly
+Hamilton, were not hostile to France; the French envoy could have
+obtained distinct advantages for his country if he had proceeded slowly
+and with ordinary caution. Two months later he had succeeded in turning
+against himself and against the country he represented the whole of
+public opinion, in sowing germs of distrust never to be eradicated, in
+fixing and crystallizing all sorts of prejudices and unfavorable
+generalizations about France.
+
+Jefferson had made all possible efforts to keep the disaffection of the
+American Government toward the French minister as much under cover as
+possible. But Citizen Genet threw down the gauntlet by publishing part
+of his official correspondence, thus forcing an appeal to the people and
+running the risk of arousing the "disgusts" Jefferson had so much wished
+to avoid.[303] A week later, he had to admit to Madison that Genet's
+conduct "has given room to the enemies of France to come forward in a
+style of acrimony against that nation which they never dared to have
+done. The disapprobation of the agent mingles with the reprehension of
+his nation and gives a toleration to that which it never had
+before."[304]
+
+By a strange irony of fate, one of the last acts of Jefferson as
+Secretary of State was a final protest against Genet's attitude. Six
+months before he had been notified that he could not be received by the
+Executive and that all communications from him had to be made in
+writing. Deciding to appeal to Congress over the head of the President,
+Genet had copies of his instructions printed, demanding that they should
+be laid before both houses. A more stupid and childish step could hardly
+be imagined. Jefferson, requested by the President to draw up an answer
+to Genet, wrote at first a scathing denunciation of the French minister
+which was probably thought too strong, for it is marked "not inserted"
+on the manuscript:[305]
+
+  The terms in which you permit yourself in this and some other of your
+  letters to speak of the President of the U. S., and the influence and
+  impressions you venture to ascribe to him, are calculated to excite
+  sentiments which need no explanation. On what grounds of truth they
+  are hazarded, how to reconcile them to decorum, to the respect due to
+  the person and character of our chief magistrate, and to the nation
+  over which he presides and that too from the representative of a
+  friendly people, are questions left to your mature reflection.
+
+The letter which was finally sent, more moderate in its terms, was
+nevertheless a formal reminder of diplomatic proprieties:
+
+  Your functions as the missionary of a foreign mission here, are
+  confined to the transactions of the affairs of your nation with the
+  Executive of the United States; that the communications, which are to
+  pass between the Executive and Legislative branches, cannot be a
+  subject for your interference, and that the President must be left to
+  judge for himself what matters his duty or the public good may
+  require him to propose to the deliberations of Congress. I have
+  therefore the honor of returning you the copies sent for
+  distribution.[306]
+
+That very same day Jefferson resigned his office into the hands of
+Washington, assuring him that in his retirement he was taking with him
+"a lively sense of the President's goodness, and would continue
+gratefully to remember it."[307]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MONTICELLO--AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS
+
+
+When Jefferson left Philadelphia for what he sincerely believed would be
+definite retirement from the field of politics, he felt weary, tired,
+and already old. He had transacted all the business of his office with a
+minimum of clerical assistance, attending himself to all the details not
+only of foreign but also of domestic affairs, sometimes translating
+documents which he did not trust Freneau with, preparing reports for the
+President, digging in his manuals of international law, Wolfe,
+Puffendorff, Vatel, and Grotius. The actual labor was enormous, the
+variety of subjects amazing; many times during the course of a day he
+had to shift from one subject to another. Under fire all the time,
+harassed by the Federalist papers, consulted by the leaders of the party
+which was beginning to form, he had not broken down under the strain,
+but was in urgent need of complete rest and agricultural quietude. He
+had packed books and furniture in advance and sent everything to
+Monticello; his letter to Genet written, he set out for Virginia without
+even waiting for the justification that would result from the order to
+publish his correspondence with the French minister.
+
+At that time a vague idea that he could turn a new leaf and start a new
+life may fugitively have crossed his mind. He had respectfully but
+profoundly admired Madame de Corny when he was in Paris. News from her
+had come through Mrs. Church; Mr. de Corny had died; Madame de Corny
+left a widow in very limited circumstances had retired to Rouen.[308]
+It seems that he entertained the hope that she might decide to move to
+America and in that case he would have liked to see her at Monticello:
+"Madame de Cosway is in a convent ... that she would have rather sought
+the mountain-top. How happy should I be that it were _mine_, that you,
+she, and Madame de Corny would seek." But he had seen too many of these
+brilliant French women in Philadelphia to believe that a Parisian could
+ever become accustomed to the simplicity of Monticello and to its lack
+of entertainments, and he made the suggestion very timidly: "I know of
+no country where the remains of a fortune could place her so much at her
+ease as this, and where public esteem is so much attached to worth,
+regardless of wealth; our manners & the state of society here are so
+different from those to which her habits have been formed, that she
+would lose more perhaps in that scale." After all, he had not changed so
+much since he had declared his flame to Belinda, almost in the same
+terms, twenty years earlier. This was the typical Jeffersonian way of
+presenting his own wishes, of letting the others decide after he had
+stated the pros and cons; clearly he was not made to win personal
+triumphs, either in love or in politics.
+
+Of politics he was utterly sick. He pictured himself spending the rest
+of his days in bucolic occupations. "The length of my tether is now
+fixed for life from Monticello to Richmond," he wrote to Gates. "My
+private business can never call me elsewhere, and certainly politics
+will not, which I have ever hated both in theory and practice."[309]
+
+Writing to Mrs. Church, he had gone into more details.
+
+  I am to be liberated from the hated occupations of politics retire
+  into the bosom of my family, my farm, & my books. I have my house to
+  build, my family to form, and to watch for the happiness of those who
+  labor for mine. I have one daughter married to a man of science,
+  sense, virtue and competence; in whom indeed I have nothing more to
+  wish. They live with me. If the other shall be as fortunate in the
+  process of time, I shall imagine myself as blessed as the most
+  blessed of the patriarchs.[310]
+
+At Monticello he found Martha and her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, and
+induced the young couple to stay with him. Maria was now a tall girl,
+vivacious and witty, who would soon find a suitor. Devoting himself
+entirely to his family and domestic cares, Jefferson plunged into the
+reorganization of his estate left to an overseer for more than ten
+years, and granted so little attention to politics that he did not even
+subscribe to any newspaper, being quite content with those published at
+Richmond. "I think it is Montaigne who has said that ignorance is the
+softest pillow on which a man can rest his head," he wrote to Edmund
+Randolph. "I am sure it is true as to everything political, and shall
+endeavor to estrange myself to everything of that character."[311] Since
+that time there have been in American politics many instances of
+politicians who left for a hunting party, or retired to their farms in
+order to avoid responsibility. This was not the attitude of Jefferson;
+his was no temporary retirement while waiting for the storm to blow
+itself over. Had he chosen to remain in Philadelphia, as he had been
+asked to do by Washington, he would have at least checked Hamilton's
+personal influence and counterbalanced in Washington's mind the advice
+and counsels of his enemy. His party had been reorganized and the
+republicans had just obtained a majority in the new Congress, but his
+principles were far from being secure. He indicated it himself in the
+same letter to Randolph when he wrote:
+
+  I indulge myself on one political topic only, that is, in declaring
+  to my countrymen the shameless corruption of a portion of the
+  Representatives to the first and second Congresses, and their
+  implicit devotion to the Treasury. I think I do good in this, because
+  it may produce exertions to reform the evil on the success of which
+  the form of the government is to depend.
+
+Shortly after coming back to Monticello, he discovered, somewhat to his
+dismay, that the rank and file of the good people of the country did not
+pay much attention to the political battle which was still raging in
+Philadelphia. He went to "court" at Charlottesville at the beginning of
+February and was amazed to find that his neighbors had not heard of
+Madison's speeches in Congress or even of the recall of Genet.
+
+  I could not have supposed--he wrote to Madison--when at Philadelphia
+  that so little of what was passing there could be known even at
+  Kentucky as is the case here. Judging from this of the rest of the
+  Union, it is evident to me that the people are not in a condition
+  either to approve or disapprove of their government, nor consequently
+  to influence it.[312]
+
+This would tend to give confirmation to the supposition I timidly
+ventured in the last chapter. Neither the inflammatory speeches made in
+Congress, nor the foundation of democratic clubs, nor the newspaper
+battle between different editors had been able to rouse the people of
+the country. In America, as in every other country, the rural
+population, at that time the majority of the population, remained
+passive and took little interest in discussions that did not immediately
+affect their interests. Then, too, as in our days, the press was able to
+modify and to influence to some extent public opinion, but did not
+express it. Editors were years in advance of the slow-moving masses in
+their prognostications. It takes a national emergency, a violent crisis
+or a well-organized political machine to coalesce the great majority of
+a people and force them to see beyond the limited horizon of their
+village, their county or their State. This is so even now, and it was
+certainly so a century and a half ago, when the parochial and provincial
+spirit was still stronger than the national spirit.
+
+Since this was realized by Jefferson, it is difficult to understand how
+he did not come to the conclusion that his clear duty was to go back to
+Philadelphia and do his utmost to educate an apathetic people. But he
+was not the man to enjoy strife and struggle; he was too sensitive of
+personal criticism and attacks, too timid also to care to exchange blows
+with an opponent. He was the type of man who likes to play chess by
+correspondence, to suggest solutions, but not the one "to knead the
+dough", as the French say, and to take an active part in the daily game
+of politics.
+
+From his retirement he found time to answer letters from Madison and
+Monroe. Before leaving Philadelphia, he had transmitted to the House of
+Representatives a Report on the Privileges and Restrictions of the
+Commerce of the United States.[313] It was incumbent upon Madison to
+draw from it specific recommendations. Jefferson pointed out in a
+dispassionate way the obstacles put by Great Britain to the growth of
+American commerce, her lack of reciprocal treatment, her prohibitions
+and restrictions. He ended by indicating that France had, of her own
+accord, proposed negotiations for improving the commercial relations
+between the two countries by a new treaty on fair and equal principles;
+that her internal disturbances alone had prevented her from doing it,
+though the government had repeatedly manifested reassuring dispositions.
+On the contrary, "in spite of friendly advances and arrangements
+proposed to Great Britain, they being already on as good a footing in
+law, and a better in fact, than the most favored nation, they have not,
+as yet, discovered any disposition to have it meddled with." As a
+remedy, pending the conclusion of treaties, Jefferson laid down five
+principles to protect American commerce and retaliate in so far as would
+not hurt the interests of the American people, although at the beginning
+trade might suffer from it. A storm broke out in Congress, and once
+more Jefferson became the target of the Federalists.
+
+He was not uninformed of these developments, for Madison and Monroe sent
+him several letters at short intervals at the beginning of March; nor
+did he leave his lieutenants without directions. He still hoped that a
+war could be avoided; but he could not conceive that it would be
+possible in any event to let Great Britain seize the French West Indies:
+"I have no doubt that we ought to interpose at a proper time, and
+declare both to France and England that these islands are to rest with
+France, and that we will make a common cause with the latter for that
+object." Having thus outlined these policies, he relapsed into his
+ataraxy, affirming that he had not seen a Philadelphia paper until he
+had received those inclosed by Madison. The patience of Monroe must have
+been taxed to the breaking point when, after sending to his chief a long
+letter full of detailed information, he received in answer an equally
+long letter replete with agricultural disquisitions--"on such things as
+you are too little of a farmer to take much interest in."[314]
+
+The supposed leader of the Republicans was not more encouraging in his
+letters to Madison when he wrote a month later: "I feel myself so
+thoroughly weaned from the interest I took in the proceedings there,
+while there, that I have never a wish to see one [a newspaper], and
+believe that I shall never take another paper of any sort. I find my
+mind totally absorbed by my rural occupation."[315] Yet the old fame
+flared up occasionally, as when he learned that Hamilton was being
+considered to succeed Pinckney who would be recalled from England: "a
+more degrading measure could not have been proposed," he wrote to
+Monroe. In regard to Hamilton, he foresaw an investigation on the
+Treasury and had wanted to withdraw before it took place.[316]
+
+But he fell back into the same detached attitude of mind, when he wrote
+to Washington the next day: "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 of course, I put off
+answering my letters now, farmer-like, till a rainy day."
+
+As a matter of fact, I doubt very much whether he had reached any such
+equanimity. For if he was unwilling to reënter public life, he was not
+averse to giving his opinion and advice in critical circumstances. While
+Madison's resolutions were still before Congress, news arrived in
+Philadelphia of the seizure of American ships in the Caribbean, under
+the Order in Council of November 6. Indignation was running high and
+democratic societies held patriotic meetings throughout the country. War
+seemed imminent, and although Jefferson preferred to contemplate the
+tranquil growth "of his lucern and potatoes", he still felt indignant
+when thinking "of these scoundrels" (the British). Yet he believed that
+war should be avoided and wrote to that effect to Tench Coxe:
+
+  We are alarmed here with the apprehension of war; and sincerely
+  anxious that it may be avoided; but not at the expense either of our
+  faith or honour.... As to myself I love peace, and I am anxious that
+  we should give the world still another useful lesson, by showing to
+  them other modes of punishing injuries than by war, which is as much
+  a punishment to the punisher as to the sufferers.[317]
+
+To Washington he wrote two weeks later a most amusing letter, starting
+with a dissertation on crop rotation and "a certain essence of dung, one
+pint of which would manure an acre according to Lord Kaims", but not
+forgetting, in a negligent way, to slip in at the end a piece of
+political advice: "to try to extricate ourselves from the event of a
+war; at the same time to try to rouse public opinion in Great Britain
+and the only way to do it being to distress their commerce." But he
+added once more, "I cherish tranquillity too much to suffer political
+things to enter my mind at all."[318] This was nothing but the
+non-intercourse policy then debated by the government and of which
+Jefferson had evidently heard. When his letter reached the President, a
+solution had already been adopted and Jay had sailed for England on the
+mission which was to end with his signing the famous or infamous treaty.
+The summer went on without any new letter from Jefferson. A letter of
+the Secretary of State, asking him whether he would not consider lending
+a hand to the President in the present emergency, found him in bed
+"under a paroxysm of rheumatism which had kept him for ten days in
+constant torment." Then he emphatically added,
+
+  No circumstance will evermore tempt me to engage in any thing
+  public.... It is a great pleasure to me to retain the esteem and
+  approbation of the President, and this forms the only ground of any
+  reluctance at being unable to comply with every wish of his. Pray
+  convey these sentiments, and a thousand more to him, which my
+  situation does not permit me to go into.[319]
+
+This was the very time when the Whisky Boys of Eastern Pennsylvania
+revolted against the excise laws of Hamilton which fell on them harder
+than on any other part of the rural population, for they could not
+market their grain for lack of transportation facilities and their only
+means of living was distilling it into whisky. Individual acts of
+resistance to the agents of the excise culminated in August, 1794, in an
+armed convention denouncing the law and defying the government on
+Braddock field, under the leadership of the chief expert of the
+Jeffersonians, Albert Gallatin. Not only was the militia called but the
+President and Hamilton went to visit the camp at Carlisle. The
+insurrection ended without bloodshed, but the side of the
+insurrectionists was taken up in the large cities by the Democratic
+societies in which the Irish element was largely represented--hot-headed
+people, recently come from an oppressed land, who felt an ingrained
+spirit of revolt against soldiers and men in uniform,--until dressed in
+a uniform themselves. The immediate effect of the Hamiltonian policy was
+to amalgamate rural population and urban groups of mechanics and small
+operatives in a hostile attitude towards the aristocratic government.
+Hamilton thought the time had come to crush the vanguard of the
+Jeffersonian troops, and Washington, who had an inveterate hatred of
+anything smacking of disorder and mob rule, lent a favorable ear. He
+wrote a stinging denunciation of the Democratic societies in his yearly
+message to Congress.
+
+This time Jefferson was aroused, although personally he had never had
+anything to do with Tammany in New York nor any of the Democratic
+societies in Philadelphia. He fairly exploded in a letter to James
+Madison: the denunciation of the Democratic societies was "one of the
+extraordinary acts of boldness of which we have seen so many from the
+faction of monocrats." How could one condemn the Democratic societies
+and let alone the Society of the Cincinnati, "a self-created one,
+carving out for itself hereditary distinctions, lowering over our
+Constitution eternally." It was an inexcusable aggression. With regard
+to the transactions against the excise law, he refused to take seriously
+the "meeting of Braddock field", and ridiculed the mobilizing of an army
+against men who were not thinking seriously of separating, "simply
+consulting about it."--"But to consult on a question does not amount to
+a determination of that question in the affirmative, still less to the
+acting _on such determination_," he advised. A fine legal distinction
+which Jefferson forgot at the time of the Burr conspiracy! But "the
+first and only cause of the whole trouble was the infernal excise law."
+The first error was "to admit it by the Constitution"; the second, to
+act on that admission; the third and last will be to "make it the
+instrument of dismembering the Union." In conclusion he advised Madison
+to stay at his post, "to take the front of the battle" for Jefferson's
+own security, and once again he reaffirmed that he would not give up his
+retirement for the empire of the universe.[320]
+
+On April 23, 1795, he wrote to James Madison to refuse categorically any
+resumption of office high or low. That was already his firm resolution
+when he had left Philadelphia and it was even stronger then, since his
+health had broken down during the last eight months: "My age requires
+that I should place my affairs in a clear state. The question is forever
+closed with me." To propose his name would only mean a division of votes
+in the party and that was to be avoided before everything.[321] To Giles
+he repeated that his days "were busy with now and then a pious
+ejaculation for the French and Dutch, returning with due despatch to my
+clover, potatoes, wheat, etc."[322] In the meantime Jay had returned
+with the treaty surrendering practically all the claims of the United
+States, placing the country in a position of constant inferiority with
+reference to England, opening the Mississippi to the British trade and
+forbidding American vessels to carry molasses, sugar, and cotton to any
+ports except their own. It was laid in special session before the Senate
+on June 8, ratified on June 24, and sent to the President without the
+contents being known to any one. It would have remained secret if
+Thomson Mason of Virginia had not taken a copy of it to Bache, who
+published it the next day in the _Aurora_. It was a most humiliating and
+scarcely defensible transaction: Jay had been outgeneraled at every step
+by Grenville and, in a way, betrayed by Hamilton. But although it was
+distinctly a Federalist victory, it offered good campaign material for
+the Republicans.[323]
+
+On August 30, Jefferson sent to Thomas Mann a sort of apologia, telling
+him how, "while all hands were below deck, every one at his own business
+and the captain in his cabin attending to the log book a rogue of a
+pilot had run the ship into an enemy's port." Not that he wanted to
+express any opinion of his own 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."[324]
+
+With H. Tazewell he was more outspoken: a glance at the treaty had been
+enough to convince him that the United States would be much better
+without any treaty than with a treaty of that sort. "Acquiescence under
+insult is not the way to escape war," and he could only hope that the
+Executive's sense of public honor and spirit would be awakened. To
+Madison he gave the benefit of his advice. There was no leader in the
+camp of the Republicans to take advantage of the situation; rioting in
+the streets could not influence favorably the judgment of Washington,
+who had not yet signed, and there was always Hamilton, who had retired
+to be sure, but was "a host in himself"; the Federalists were in a
+defile, but "too much security will give time to his talents and
+indefatigableness to extricate them." He ended with an appeal to
+Madison: "We have had only middling performances to oppose to him. In
+truth, when he comes forward, there is nobody but yourself who can meet
+him.... For God's sake take your pen, and give a fundamental reply to
+Curtius and Camillus."[325]
+
+With real perspicacity Jefferson had put his finger on the fundamental
+weakness of the Republicans. They were only the yeomanry; they counted
+a number of very honest and distinguished men; some of them were even
+brilliant in debates and could flatter themselves that they were
+victorious, as long as the Federalist chieftain did not appear in person
+on the battlefield. When he did, however, they had no outstanding man
+with the same capacity for work, the same ability to marshal facts, to
+present cogent arguments and to use biting sarcasm. Jefferson alone,
+with his great felicity of expression and his mastery of style, could
+have opposed successfully the Federalist leader, but, as he wrote to
+Rutledge: "after five and twenty years' continual employment (in the
+service of our country), I trust it will be thought I have fulfilled my
+tour, like a punctual soldier and may claim my discharge."[326]
+
+That he would have been a redoubtable opponent, had he chosen to be so,
+appears in a letter he sent at the time to William B. Giles. The treaty
+once ratified by the Senate and signed by the President, it was thought
+that the House, on which fell the duty of making the necessary
+appropriations for the enforcement of the different articles, might
+possibly pass in their turn on the merits of the document. Randolph had
+been requested by the President to give his opinion on the subject and
+did it in one of those written consultations which Jefferson had so
+often been asked to prepare himself, when in the official family of
+Washington. To Giles, who was to attack the treaty in the House with
+Gallatin and Madison, Jefferson sent an elaborate and cruel dissection
+of Randolph's opinion:
+
+  The fact is that he has generally given his principles to one party,
+  and his practice to the other, the oyster to one, the shell to the
+  other.... On the precedent now to be set will depend the future
+  construction of our Constitution, and whether the powers of
+  legislation shall be transferred from the President, Senate, and
+  House of Representatives to the President and Senate, and Piamingo
+  or any other Indian, Algerine, or other chief.[327]
+
+Clearly he was getting back into his stride and when thoroughly aroused,
+as he had been once or twice in his career, he could also hit back or
+rather pierce with rapid thrust of the rapier. And yet he was not really
+thinking of reëntering the arena, for at the same time he was offering
+to George Wythe to superintend an edition of the laws of Virginia, of
+which he had made as complete a collection as he could, "either the
+manuscripts crumbling into dust or printed."[328] Yet he had an eye upon
+the budding geniuses of the Democratic party. Soon he realized the value
+of Albert Gallatin, who had undertaken a thorough analysis and
+demolition of Hamilton's administration:
+
+  Hamilton's object from the beginning was to throw them into forms
+  which would be utterly undecypherable.... If Mr. Gallatin would
+  undertake to reduce this chaos to order, present us with a clear view
+  of our finances, and put them in a form as simple as they will admit,
+  he will merit an 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 understood by common farmers.[329]
+
+With such sentences, simple and easily remembered, such felicity of
+expression and of thought, one can make a lasting impression on the
+people, without addressing directly the Indians of Tammany Hall or
+participating in whisky riots. One can also throw suspicion of
+intentional dishonesty on one's adversaries, coin mottoes which,
+repeated in a political campaign, fix themselves easily in the
+unsophisticated minds of the common people. But it does not ensue
+necessarily that Jefferson was an arch plotter, pulling the strings and
+laying plots to explode years later. He was quite sincere in his dislike
+of Hamilton's budgets, for the simple reason that he did not understand
+them himself. The master financier and expert was beyond Jefferson's
+comprehension; in many respects he was even far ahead of his own time,
+while Jefferson, in matters of finance at least, remained all his life
+an eighteenth-century man. But the young Swiss-American who had made his
+mark in the whisky insurrection must have felt himself elated at
+Jefferson's approval. By such appropriate compliments and
+encouragements, great tacticians create and foster party and personal
+loyalty, and Jefferson was a past master in this difficult art.
+
+As he had encouraged Gallatin, he encouraged Giles, kept in touch with
+him and through him sent a word of congratulation to a new Republican
+recruit, Doctor Leib: "I know not when I have received greater
+satisfaction than on reading the speech of Doctor Leib in the
+Pennsylvania Assembly. He calls himself a new member. I congratulate
+honest republicanism on such an acquisition, and promise myself much
+from a career which begins on such elevated ground."[330] He reminded
+him that Democratic societies were proscribed in England and that it
+would be interesting to know the terms of the bill proposed by Pitt
+against them. Gallatin again called for his commendation for a speech
+printed in Bache's _Aurora_, the sole organ of the Republicans since
+Freneau had discontinued his _Gazette_: "It is worthy of being printed
+at the end of the _Federalist_, as the only rational commentary on the
+part of the law to which it relates."[331] Then Jefferson raved over the
+indignities heaped upon the country by the treaty, over the point made
+by the Federalists that the House had nothing to say in the matter, and
+in his fury he even went so far as to treat Washington more severely
+than he had ever done before. "Curse on his virtues," he exclaimed;
+"they have undone his country." This political advice was naturally
+buried under rural news: "Mercury at twenty degrees in the morning.
+Corn fallen at Richmond to twenty shillings." But this bucolic note
+stopped short and the political thermometer was consulted again and
+indicated that "Nicholas was sure of his election, R. Joue and Jo.
+Monroe, in competition for the other vote of the county."
+
+Three weeks later Jefferson dug in his files to send Madison more
+ammunition, showing clearly that, at least in one case, Washington
+himself had recognized formerly the authority of the legislature, that
+is to say both branches of the House, when it came to ratifying the
+treaty with the new Emperor of Morocco.[332] Then he wrote to his former
+neighbor, Philip Mazzei, a letter which was to cause him more
+difficulties than any of the previous acts of his career. He thought
+that he could and should give news of the country to this curious
+character, who had come to Virginia as a vine-grower to engage in
+agricultural experiments but who was also the former agent of the Duke
+of Tuscany and of Stanislas of Poland, a Grimm "_au petit pied_", a
+literary correspondent and a philosopher. In all fairness to Jefferson a
+preliminary remark is here necessary. He was apt in conversation to take
+his cue from his interlocutors rather than to force on them any topic,
+and he was apt also to speak in the same tone and same diapason. In his
+letters he instinctively yielded to the same tendency, changing his tone
+and style according to his correspondent. Writing to an Italian he
+adopted a flowery, metaphoric, and emphatic manner not often found in
+his letters, and in his desire to flatter the Tuscan ear of his friend,
+he overshot the mark and overemphasized what he would have stated much
+more moderately to an American:
+
+  Against us are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of three
+  branches of the Legislature, all the officers of the government, all
+  who want to be officers, all timed men who prefer the calm of
+  despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.... It would give you a
+  fever were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to
+  these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solomons in
+  the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot
+  England....
+
+But these men had not realized the great strength of the party then
+coming into being: "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." Then came the customary mention of his health,
+even more mournful than usual: "I begin to feel the effects of age. My
+health has suddenly broken down, with symptoms which give me to believe
+that I shall not have much to encounter of the _tedium vitae_."[333]
+Little did he believe when he indulged in this rhetorical outburst that
+Mazzei would give the letter to an Italian paper, that it would be
+translated from the Italian into French, from French into English and
+finally appear in America.
+
+For Jefferson was eager to remain on good personal terms with
+Washington, even if he strongly disapproved of his policies, and this
+appeared when a few months later he denied having communicated to
+Bache's _Aurora_ the questionnaire on the _Little Sarah_, and he seized
+the occasion to assure Washington once again of his affectionate
+sentiments. But he was already thinking of protecting himself, for in
+the same letter he asked the President to send him copies of the
+opinions presented by Hamilton and Randolph as "they had his opinion and
+he never had been able to obtain copy of theirs." And significantly he
+added, "Though I do not know that it will ever be of the least
+importance to me, yet one loves to possess arms, though they hope never
+to have occasion for them."[334]
+
+The summer was apparently entirely occupied in agricultural and
+scientific pursuits. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the former president of
+the National Assembly, at whose house Jefferson used to visit when in
+Paris to meet the "_républicains_", was then traveling through the
+United States and stopped at Monticello for a week. The Duke has left us
+a most valuable description of Jefferson's establishment and the country
+around it. He praised the house "which will deserve when completed to be
+ranked with the most pleasant mansions in France and in Europe." He
+admired the view from the hill: for "Mr. Jefferson's house commands one
+of the most extensive prospects you can meet with." But his eye was that
+of a refined and overcivilized Frenchman of the eighteenth century
+accustomed to limited horizons, limited forests, to a certain balance
+between the woods, the rivers and the lands inclosed with hedges, to a
+nature stamped, modified, remolded by centuries of human labor. The
+contrast between the "moderate French landscapes" and the unlimited
+vistas in which plowed fields occupied a negligible space, impressed him
+almost painfully.
+
+[Illustration: MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY
+
+_Copyright Harris and Ewing, Washington, D. C._]
+
+It was a magnificent view, but too vast; and rather than look at the
+scene as it presented itself, he preferred to call on fancy "to picture
+to us those plains and mountains such as population and culture will
+render them in a greater or smaller number of years." He looked with
+some suspicion at the numerous agricultural experiments of Jefferson,
+who seemed "to have derived his knowledge from books." He was not alone
+in this opinion. In any farming country, innovations are looked upon
+askance and we are not surprised to learn that "his system is entirely
+confined to himself; it is censured by some of his neighbours, who are
+also employed in improving their culture with ability and skill, but he
+adheres to it, and thinks it founded on just observation." Finally came
+the picture of the master himself and life at Monticello, worth
+preserving and reproducing.
+
+  In private life, Mr. Jefferson displays a mild, easy and obliging
+  temper, though he is somewhat cold and reserved. His conversation is
+  the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of information not
+  inferior to that of any other man. In Europe he would hold a
+  distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has already
+  appeared there; at present he is employed with activity and
+  perseverance in the management of his farms and buildings; and he
+  orders, directs and pursues in the minutest detail every branch of
+  business relative to them. I found him in the midst of the harvest,
+  from which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his
+  attendance. His negroes are clothed, and treated as well as white
+  servants could be. As he cannot expect any assistance from the two
+  small neighboring towns, every article is made on his farm; his
+  negroes are cabinet-makers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, smiths,
+  etc. The children he employs in a nail factory, which yields already
+  a considerable profit. The young and old negresses spin for the
+  clothing of the rest. He animates them by rewards and distinctions;
+  in fine, his superior mind directs the management of his domestic
+  concerns with the same abilities, activity, and regularity which he
+  evinced in the conduct of public affairs, and which he is calculated
+  to display in every situation of life. In the superintendence of the
+  household he is assisted by his two daughters, Mrs. Randolph and Miss
+  Maria, who are handsome, modest, and amiable women. They have been
+  educated in France.
+
+It is pleasant to have the direct testimony of a foreigner and a
+philosopher on the way Jefferson treated his slaves. But how can we
+believe that a man who could supervise all the details of the
+agricultural and industrial life around Monticello and endure the
+harvest sun was absolutely broken down in health? If he had ever been,
+Jefferson certainly was picking up. It seems probable that he did not
+discuss politics with the noble traveler. Perhaps he heard another
+recital of the excesses of the French Revolution,--a painful subject and
+one that did not serve any purpose; far better was it to exchange views
+on crop rotation, sheep raising, dung and manure, clover and potatoes
+and to demonstrate the new plow he had invented with a mold board of
+least resistance, which was to bring him some years later the "_grande
+médaille_" of the Agricultural Society of Paris.[335]
+
+The first mention of the coming presidential election occurs in a letter
+to Monroe of July 10, 1796. The treaty had finally passed, but the party
+of the monocrats was shaken to its very foundation, "Mr. Jay and his
+advocates are treaty-foundered." The result was not doubtful. Even if a
+monocrat were elected, he would be overborne by the republican sense of
+his constituents. "If a republican, he will, of course, give fair play
+to that sense and lead things into the channel of harmony between the
+governors and the governed. In the meantime, patience!" He mentions that
+in order to operate a division and to split the Virginia vote, _they_
+had unsuccessfully endeavored to run Patrick Henry for vice president
+and would probably fall back on Pinckney, "in which they regard his
+southern position rather than his principles." But curiously enough the
+presidential nominees or preferences are not even mentioned. Could
+Monroe really believe that _Hamlet_ was going to be played without
+Hamlet, and that the election of a vice president was the only thing
+that mattered? This omission was far more significant than any expressed
+preference. If Jefferson mentioned no candidates, it was simply because
+he already knew at that date that his faithful lieutenants in Congress
+were thinking of him as the only logical candidate, the only one who had
+not participated actively in the last three years' fierce debates in
+Congress, the only one who had not officially and openly taken a
+definite position, and consequently would be entirely free to make
+whatever concessions were necessary to reëstablish harmony in the
+divided camps of the voters. The result of the election was certainly in
+doubt; but at a time when foreign affairs were the dominant question,
+when in spite of the Jay treaty England was multiplying almost
+unbearable insults, when the nation was deeply humiliated, and even the
+Federalists resented the terms of the treaty, there were only two men of
+the first rank in America who had maintained the prestige of the United
+States before foreign nations and had shown themselves to be able
+negotiators: the man who with Franklin had put his signature to the
+Treaty of Peace, and the man who had concluded treaties of commerce with
+the nations of Europe; Adams and Jefferson.
+
+A strange campaign it was, in which the champion of the Republicans
+seemed to remain completely silent. The middle of December came, and
+Jefferson had not yet manifested any desire to run, nor had he made any
+declaration concerning his program. He had to come out however when, on
+the night of the sixteenth, he received a letter from Madison informing
+him that there was no longer any doubt about the logical choice of the
+Republicans and that Madison would decline to be candidate. Jefferson
+took up his pen at once to define his position to his friend. He hoped
+that Adams would be elected; and in that case he would be satisfied with
+the second place although he would prefer the third, that is, his
+rejection, since he would be free to remain at home. It was desirable,
+however, in case of a tie, that Madison be instructed to request on his
+behalf that Mr. Adams should be preferred. Some of the reasons he gave
+were highly honorable, the best being that Mr. Adams was his senior and
+had always "ranked" him in public life, either in France or in America.
+Other reasons he did not indicate: one was evidently that the situation
+had never worn so gloomy an aspect since the year 1783 and that
+Jefferson did not believe he could steer clear of the present
+difficulties.[336]
+
+Ten days later he wrote more at length to Rutledge. No news had come
+from Philadelphia, but he protested that he had no political ambition:
+"Before my God, I shall from the bottom of my heart, rejoice at
+escaping." Scrutinizing himself, he found that the unmerited abuse he
+had been subjected to still rankled; he was convinced that "no man will
+ever bring out of that office the reputation which carries him into it."
+The honeymoon would be as short in that case as in any other, and its
+moments of ecstasy would be ransomed by years of torment and hatred.
+Frankly he had no heart for the job. Nor was this a declaration of
+philosophical principles, but another instance of his political
+foresight, and a simple admission of facts, for not only had Franklin
+been bitterly attacked after his death, but Washington himself was not
+immune from public abuse, and such would be the fate of Adams.
+
+Jefferson was quite sincere when he declared: "I have no ambition to
+govern men; no passion which would lead me to delight to ride in a
+storm." In advance, he repeated the _suave mari magno_ of the old poet
+and hoped that he would not be elected, his only wish was that the
+newspapers would permit him "to plant his corn, beans, peas, etc. in
+hills or drills as he pleased, while our eastern friend will be
+struggling with the storm which is gathering over us, perhaps be
+shipwrecked in it! This is certainly not a moment to covet the helm."
+If this was not a sincere and true statement, then language certainly
+has been given to man to conceal his thought. If Jefferson was thirsty
+for power at that time he was more Machiavellian than Machiavelli
+himself. But in spite of the inferences of ill-intentioned historians, I
+do not see that there is the slightest ground to doubt Jefferson's
+sincerity ... except that he accepted finally the vice presidency, as he
+clearly hinted he would if it were offered to him.[337] He ended with a
+picturesque and energetic phrase and said in French what he could not
+say in English. He had not forgotten the words he had heard in the
+streets of Paris and perhaps in some salons after dinner, but certainly
+not in the mouth of Madame de Tessé or Madame de Corny: "_Au diable les
+bougres!_"
+
+The next day he started writing to John Adams: he had not received any
+direct news of the election, but from his own calculations he had every
+reason to believe that barring a "trick worthy of your arch-friend of
+New York, Hamilton", Adams would be elected. In that eventuality he
+wished to send his best wishes, and had only one hope to express, that
+Adams would be able to avoid the war. A friendly, sincere letter which
+Adams never saw. As Jefferson was going to send it, came Madison's
+letter of the seventeenth, announcing the complete results of the
+election.
+
+It caused a certain amount of surprise to Jefferson; the vote had come
+much nearer an equality than he had expected, and, as he wrote a week
+later to Volney, "the difference between sixty-eight and seventy-one
+votes is little sensible." The presidency would have been decidedly
+distasteful to him; the vice presidency was something different and he
+could not in his own mind decide whether he "had rather have it or not
+have it." Then he went into a curious piece of philosophizing which
+marks him as very different from eighteenth-century philosophers and
+eighteenth-century optimists. More of a realist in politics than he is
+given credit for, he showed himself once more a disciple of Hobbes in
+his vision of society:
+
+  I do not recollect in all the animal kingdom a single species but man
+  which is eternally and systematically engaged in the destruction of
+  its own species. What is called civilization seems to have no other
+  effect than to teach him to pursue the principle of _bellum omnium in
+  omnia_ on a larger scale, and in place of the little contests of
+  tribe against tribe, to engage all quarters of the earth in the same
+  work of destruction. When we add to this that as to the other species
+  of animals, the lions and tigers are mere lambs compared with men
+  alone, that nature has been able to find a sufficient barrier against
+  the too great multiplication of other animals and of man himself, an
+  equilibrating power against the fecundity of generation. My situation
+  points my views chiefly to his wars in the physical world: yours
+  perhaps exhibit him as equally warring in the moral one. We both, I
+  believe, join in wishing to see him softened.[338]
+
+For the first time Jefferson was going to occupy a position of prestige
+in the American Government and to become President of the Senate, second
+only to the President, the "heir apparent", as Adams had termed himself
+during the preceding administration. Far from rejoicing over the honor,
+he expressed his reluctance to attend elaborate ceremonies for the
+inauguration, and he did his best to wriggle out of them. He asked
+whether it would not be possible for him to be notified of his election
+by mail instead of being waited upon by a special delegation from the
+Senate; then he looked up the Constitution and decided that he could
+just as well take oath of office in Charlottesville as in Philadelphia,
+and that it was hardly worth the trouble, since Congress was to adjourn
+at once, to undertake the long journey over muddy roads for such an
+ordeal. Finally he set out for Philadelphia. He had reëntered public
+life for twelve more years and little suspected that it would be so long
+before he could come back to dear Monticello and resume his agricultural
+experiments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+"THE DICTATES OF REASON AND PURE AMERICANISM"
+
+
+When Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia to attend the inauguration of the
+new President, he had not seen Adams for four years and only
+insignificant communications had passed between them, since Madison had
+thought it proper to suppress the letter written by Jefferson at the end
+of December, not knowing "whether the rather difficult temper of Mr.
+Adams would not construe certain passages as a personal criticism."[339]
+With Adams, however, the first impulse was often the best. At the time
+he felt in a very conciliating mood; he even indulged in the hope that
+it would be possible to announce a sort of political armistice and to
+bring about a union of the different parties.
+
+The two old friends had a cordial interview. Both of them, years later,
+wrote accounts of this historical meeting; though differing in a few
+details they agreed as to Adams' intention of burying the hatchet and
+beginning anew. He offered to send Jefferson to Paris as special envoy,
+insisting that he alone had the confidence of the French and would be
+able to bring about an arrangement. Jefferson being both unwilling and
+unavailable, Madison's name was mentioned, but nothing was decided as
+both knew that Madison had refused such an offer when tendered by
+Washington.
+
+In his inaugural address Adams discreetly sounded a note of
+reconciliation. He praised the Constitution, declared that it was
+"better adapted to the genius, character, situation and relations of
+this nation and country than any which had ever been proposed or
+suggested"; he added, much to the disgust of the Federalists, that he
+did not think of "promoting any alteration in it but such as the people
+themselves in the course of their experience should see and feel to be
+necessary or expedient"; finally, he seemed to desert the Federalist
+camp when he averred that, since he had seen the Constitution for the
+first time, "it was not then, nor had been since, any objection to it in
+his mind that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent."
+
+Not without good reason had Hamilton failed to show any enthusiasm over
+the candidacy of Adams, and the Hamiltonians had some ground for
+declaring that the speech "was temporizing" and "was a lure for the
+favor of his opponents at the expense of his sincerity." Two days later
+Jefferson and Adams attended a dinner offered by Washington to the new
+administration. When they left the house they started walking home
+together and the name of Madison being mentioned, Adams declared that
+objections to the nomination had been raised. The President and the Vice
+President had come to Fifth Street, where their roads separated; they
+took leave of each other and the subject was never mentioned again. It
+was really the parting of the ways after a timid effort toward
+reconciliation. Adams in the meantime had called together his Cabinet
+and the Cabinet, as he himself admitted afterwards, had proposed to
+resign _en bloc_ if he insisted on Madison's nomination.
+
+For the "incongruous portrait gallery" that constituted the Cabinet
+inherited by Adams from Washington, we may refer to the vivid picture of
+Mr. Bowers: "Ali Baba among his Forty Thieves is no more deserving of
+sympathy than John Adams shut up within the seclusion of his Cabinet
+room with his official family of secret enemies" may seem to some a
+rather severe characterization. The least that can be said, however, is
+that it was a Cabinet hand-picked by Hamilton and that neither
+Pickering, Wolcott nor McHenry were the best minds Adams could have
+chosen in his party. But there again the term party is inaccurate; if
+Adams had, in some respect, Federalist tendencies, he was not a party
+man or a party leader. The irritable, impulsive, patriotic, peevish old
+New Englander was too individualistic to belong to any party; he was not
+the man either to rally the hesitating, to uphold the vacillating, or to
+encourage and educate the blind. Curiously enough, he has found very few
+defenders. Severely treated by the friends of Jefferson, he has not been
+spared by the admirers of Hamilton. He stands alone, one of the most
+complicated and contradictory figures in American history--a pure
+patriot, whose patriotic work is almost forgotten, a catholic spirit who
+loved to play with ideas and paradoxes, a contrary mind, but in my
+opinion more widely read than any of his American contemporaries, not
+excepting Jefferson. A man who spent his life by the side of the severe
+and haughty "New England Juno", but who had more ideas in his brain than
+any sultan of the Arabian Nights had favorites in his harem.
+
+He had taken the helm at the climax of external difficulties.
+Complicated and delicate as were the problems of domestic
+administration, they were overshadowed by the difficulties with France.
+The misunderstandings, the incidents repeated on both sides, had
+accumulated with such an effect that, at the beginning of 1797, war with
+France seemed to be almost unavoidable. Though Jefferson had very little
+to do with it, it is not out of place to recall the main facts.
+
+Genet had unfortunately his American parallel in Gouverneur Morris. As
+witty and devoid of ordinary morals and honesty as Talleyrand himself,
+elegant, refined, and corrupt, Gouverneur Morris had been, since his
+arrival in Paris, the toast of French aristocrats. His activities in
+favor of the king and his partisans were not unknown to the French, and
+when Genet was sent to America he had been requested to present
+discreetly the situation to the American Government. Genet had made no
+official representation, but he discussed Morris' attitude in a private
+conversation with Jefferson, and Washington, apprised of the facts, had
+seen the necessity of acting.
+
+Monroe, on the contrary, had attempted to resume the Jeffersonian
+tradition. A disciple of the former minister, a true Liberal, and
+friendly to the French Revolution, he had been enthusiastically received
+at once, in spite of the many difficult problems he had to present to
+the government. But the Jay treaty had proved a bitter pill to swallow,
+and the Directory had made strong representations to the American
+minister: America was accused of having violated the treaties of
+Alliance and Commerce, and when Monroe was recalled, the Directory not
+only refused to receive the successor that had been appointed but even
+ordered him to leave the French territory at once.
+
+Without entering into the merits of the question, we may say that
+Jefferson was still decidedly for peace, although somewhat doubtful of
+Adams' intentions. Shortly after the inauguration he analyzed his
+position as follows:
+
+  I sincerely deplore the situation of our affairs with France. War
+  with them, and consequent alliance with Great Britain, will
+  completely compass the object of the Executive Council, from the
+  commencement of the war between France and England; taken up by some
+  of them from that moment, by others more latterly. I still, however,
+  hope it will be avoided. I do not believe Mr. Adams wishes war with
+  France; nor do I believe he will truckle to England as servilely as
+  has been done. If he assumes this front at once, and shows that he
+  means to attend to self-respect and national dignity with both the
+  nations, perhaps the depredations of both on our commerce may be
+  amicably arrested. I think we should begin first with those who first
+  began with us, and, by an example on them, acquire a right to
+  re-demand the respect from which the other party has departed.
+
+An ideal policy, but hardly enforceable with a man of Adams' temperament
+and with the Cabinet he had inherited. Immediately after taking oath of
+office, Jefferson had repaired to Monticello and was getting acquainted
+with his duties as presiding officer of the Senate; in January he asked
+his old master George Wythe to send him all possible information on
+parliamentary procedure "whether in books or scraps of paper",[340] and
+he was working on his "Parliamentary Manual." Early in April news of the
+refusal of the Directory to receive Pinckney arrived in Philadelphia,
+Adams proclaimed at once a day of fasting and prayer and called an
+extraordinary session of Congress for May 15. It was to be feared that a
+declaration of war would be the order of the day, for "the President did
+not need the assistance of Congress to continue in peace."[341]
+
+As soon as he reached Philadelphia, Jefferson studied the situation and
+summed it up in a letter to Elbridge Gerry even before the opening of
+Congress. He had already come to the conclusion that a rapprochement
+between Adams and himself would prove impossible. There was really no
+way to convince Adams that Jefferson had not coveted the first place and
+did not nourish some rancor at his alleged failure to obtain it.
+Furthermore, it was quite certain that the Hamiltonians would do
+everything in their power to poison the mind of the President. This was
+most unpleasant but of little import to politics. Jefferson considered
+himself part of the legislative and not of the executive, and he had not
+even the right to be heard in consultation. It was his duty as well as
+his inclination to sit back, without trying to meddle in any way with
+the conduct of government.
+
+On the other hand, he had not given up the right of expressing an
+opinion as a private citizen on matters of importance to the nation, and
+after stating that he had no concern in the present situation, he
+launched out on a long _exposé_ of the political situation as he saw it
+on the eve of the special session. With reference to foreign relations
+his wish and hope was that "we should take our stand on a ground
+perfectly neutral and independent towards all nations." This was
+particularly true with respect to the English and the French, but more
+easily said than done, since the English, not satisfied with equal
+treatment, wanted special privileges. Then Jefferson drew up a very
+impressive picture of the hold on the United States maintained by Great
+Britain through her commerce. Without domestic industries the United
+States had to go to England; she was the workshop of America. Goods were
+largely transported in English bottoms; British merchants, some of them
+fictitiously naturalized, were in every American port and in all the
+cities and towns of the interior, occupying strategic positions. The
+British also were dominating American banks and American finance and,
+through finance, could exert a powerful influence on American political
+life. Finally, they were accused of attempting to break the Union by
+advocating in their subsidized press a scission between the North and
+the South. If difficulties came to such a point that the only way to
+avoid a secession was to go to war with Europe, Jefferson, much as he
+abhorred war, was willing to become embroiled with Europe. He still
+hoped, however, that it would be possible to find some means to keep out
+of European quarrels and in the meantime gradually to free America from
+all foreign influence, "political, commercial, or in whatever form it
+may be attempted."
+
+One might say that this was no original point of view to develop. It was
+to a certain extent the policy advocated by Washington in his Farewell
+Address. Curiously enough, it was not absolutely remote from Hamilton's
+theory, for these two men who, temperamentally, could never come
+together, held about the same view of the situation. That England had
+the larger share of American commerce and that English manufactures had
+a sort of monopoly of the American market had been repeatedly pointed
+out by Hamilton. And on this Jefferson agreed completely. If one
+objected to that condition, the obvious remedy according to the
+Hamiltonian doctrine was, not to take measures to exclude English goods
+from the market, but to encourage American manufactures so as to enable
+them to compete with imported products. In this Jefferson differed from
+Hamilton, but while complaining of the situation, he did not propose any
+remedy, except perhaps to protect American inventors and thus stimulate
+them to establish new manufacturing plants. One must admit that at this
+point he let his "philosophy" interfere with realities.
+
+As a matter of fact, he was thoroughly opposed to the development of
+manufacturing plants, to the creation of large industrial cities housing
+thousands of salaried workers. As we have said, his vision of America
+was a sort of Arcadia where every man would live on his own farm, off
+the products of his own land. In some respects it may seem perfectly
+absurd, and yet it was very natural and to a certain extent quite
+logical. It was purely and simply the extension of the Monticello type
+of organization to the whole country. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt had
+been struck by the fact that Monticello was practically a
+self-supporting economic unit. Jefferson was raising his own horses and
+just enough sheep to provide the wool spun by the women slaves to clothe
+the workers and sometimes the masters. On the plantation lived smiths,
+carpenters, cabinet makers, brick makers, and layers; some grain was
+sold, some nails were manufactured and sold to the neighbors. Selling
+comparatively little, buying practically nothing, Jefferson's estate
+came as close to being a sort of Robinson Crusoe island as was possible
+in a modern country. Thus the Virginia planter had come to develop a
+philosophy of society not unlike the ideal society described by Rousseau
+in the "Nouvelle Héloise" and more feudal than he himself realized,
+since, after all, if serfdom had been abolished, it rested essentially
+on slavery. He was unequivocally against great agglomerations, although
+he had not visited any of the large industrial cities of England except
+London; but at least he knew London and Paris, he had lived in
+Philadelphia and New York, and he felt that it was not good for men to
+herd too closely together. Work in factories was both unhealthy and
+immoral, for in congested centers of population there developed a spirit
+of discontent aggravated by the fact that industrial workers, who
+generally did not own a particle of land, were footloose, unattached,
+and free to move from one city to another at any time; they constituted
+a restless and dangerous element. It mattered little that, for the
+present, they gave their support to the Republicans and had joined the
+Democratic clubs; Jefferson knew too well that they would be easily
+influenced in their views by a good orator, by passions of the moment,
+and could not be relied upon in an emergency.
+
+It would be easy to point out the close resemblance of certain features
+of this ideal of Jefferson with the theories of the Physiocrats. Such a
+parallelism, however, can be easily exaggerated and to a great extent is
+very misleading. Whether all riches came from the soil, or were the
+product of labor in any form, or both, Jefferson did not know and did
+not care. He was no more a disciple of Quesnay than of Adam Smith,
+simply because he was not an economist but a sociologist. Hamilton, who
+was an economist of the first rank, was primarily interested in the
+development of production and in the circulation of wealth, and paid
+little attention to the social modification that an industrialization of
+the country would probably bring about. Jefferson, on the contrary, was
+solely interested in protecting and preserving a certain pattern of
+civilization which was essentially an agricultural pattern--the only
+safe foundation for the political and private virtues of vital
+importance in a democracy. Manufactures meant surplus production, which
+meant, in turn, the necessity of exporting. If America became a great
+industrial nation, she would have, sooner or later, to export her
+surplus production and in turn to import many products from Europe. But
+if the country maintained extensive trade connections with Europe she
+would be necessarily caught in the maze of international politics. Her
+commercial interests would clash with the interests of Europe, and this
+would ultimately result in wars or at least in a constant threat of war.
+It would also mean the building of a strong navy to protect American
+commerce, perhaps the establishment of a permanent army; at any rate,
+the immediate consequence would be an enormous increase in taxes, the
+necessity of resorting to internal taxation, the burden of which would
+fall on the backs of the farmers. Numerous tax collectors would have to
+be appointed; Federal employees and officials ready to act at the beck
+and call of the Government would swarm all over the country. State
+rights and individual rights would be restricted and invaded, and
+liberty would exist only in name. On the other hand, foreign commerce
+was not to be entirely suppressed. Commerce was a natural and desirable
+thing with one's neighbors. Geographically the West Indies had closer
+connections with America than with Europe, and it was in that direction
+that the United States could develop their trade. This was a natural law
+and a natural right, and any obstacle put to the natural flow of trade
+between the islands and the American continent was unjust and to be
+fought persistently.
+
+Such seems to have been at that time the political and social dream of
+Jefferson. Like most dreams of the sort it was perfectly logical, even
+if impossible to realize. But, as a matter of fact, it was far more
+admissible than the ideal he was to propose four years later in his
+inaugural address, following the lead of Washington: "peace, commerce
+with all nations, entangling alliances with none." He was far more
+clear-sighted when he came to the conclusion that America could not
+combine political aloofness and commercial and economic relationship.
+This formula was a desperate and none too successful attempt to coalesce
+two contradictory principles and ideals, and for the last hundred and
+thirty years America has been striving to achieve this impossible
+program. Such a position has always seemed most absurd and
+unintelligible to Europeans, with the result that America has often been
+accused of hypocritical conduct in her foreign affairs, and more
+indulgent historians have repeatedly confessed their puzzlement and
+inability to understand her. The consequences of this incestuous union
+of Jeffersonian political aloofness and Hamiltonian industrial and
+commercial development are still apparent to-day. They were conspicuous
+in the position taken by President Wilson during his first
+administration; they reappear again and again in all American
+declarations referring to the League of Nations, mandates, and
+reparations. One of the first results was necessarily to embroil America
+in all European wars and to raise again and again the question of
+neutrality.
+
+It is doubtful however whether, even in 1797, Jefferson would have
+consented to carry to an extreme the realization of his bucolic dreams.
+He knew full well that America had commercial aspirations that could not
+be suppressed; all one could do was not to encourage them as Hamilton
+wanted to do and, in the meantime, to reduce political connections to a
+minimum.
+
+At the end of the short session of Congress in which measures relative
+to Europe had been debated, Jefferson wrote to Rutledge: "as to
+everything except commerce, we ought to divorce ourselves from them
+all." But this system would require "time, temper, wisdom, and
+occasional sacrifice of interests; and how far all of these will be
+ours, our children may see, but we shall not."[342] Such has been the
+hope and the endeavor of America ever since that time; with what success
+it is for others to judge.
+
+Adams' speech had been a warlike one. That the Government of the United
+States had been insulted by the French Directory was no "matter of
+doubt." Pinckney, sent as successor to Monroe, had not been received by
+the Government, and Monroe had been informed that the Directory "would
+no longer recognize nor receive a minister plenipotentiary from the
+United States, until after a reparation of the grievances demanded of
+the American Government, and which the French Republic had a right to
+expect." Pinckney himself had been notified that his presence in Paris
+was illegal and that he could not stay in the country. No wonder that
+Adams declared that: "Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision
+which shall convince France and the world that we are not a degraded
+people, humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of
+inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign
+influence, and regardless of national honor, character and interest."
+
+On May 23 the Senate sent an address to the President, indorsing his
+views by a vote of seventeen to eleven. The fight was to take place in
+the House and in the newspapers. "Foreign influence is the present and
+just object of public hue and cry", wrote Jefferson to Thomas
+Pinckney.[343] As always happens when the cry of wolf is raised, "the
+most guilty and foremost and loudest in the cry", those who were
+denouncing French influence, were to a large extent English
+propagandists and not of the best type. But news from France was
+infrequent and slight and, at the beginning of June, Jefferson waited
+anxiously for the daily arrival of Paine and Monroe from whom he
+expected a true account of the situation. Then came the news of
+Bonaparte's latest victories and the announcement that the preliminaries
+of peace were signed between France and Austria. This was the only thing
+which could and did cool the fury of the British faction. "The victories
+of the Rhine and Italy, peace with Austria, bankruptcy of England,
+mutiny in her fleet, and the King's writing letters recommending
+peace"--all that constituted a string of events nothing less than
+miraculous.[344]
+
+At this juncture Jefferson made a momentous political move. He wrote a
+long letter to Colonel Aaron Burr to take him into his confidence. The
+Vice President was beginning to gather up the loose threads: "Some
+general view of our situation and prospects, since you left us, may not
+be unacceptable. At any rate, it will give me an opportunity of
+recalling myself to your memory, and of evidencing my esteem for you."
+What could this mean in ordinary language if not that he counted on him
+to counterbalance Hamilton's influence in New York and present the views
+of the chief to the leaders of the party. First of all he called his
+attention to the fact that the Republican party was losing ground in the
+House as well as in the Senate, and that the majority was in the hands
+of "five or six individuals of no fixed system at all, governed by the
+panic or the prowess of the moment, who flap as the breeze blows against
+the Republican or the aristocratic bodies."
+
+For the present, the danger of going to war was less disquieting.
+Bonaparte's victories had brought many to their senses and some were
+complaining that Congress had been called together to do nothing. "The
+truth is, there is nothing to do, the idea of war being scouted by the
+events of Europe; but this only proves that war was the object for which
+we were called." It had been a close call, and France might have
+declared war against the United States if the Ancients had not
+pronounced against it. "Thus we see two nations who love one another
+affectionately, brought by the ill temper of their executive
+administrations, to the very brink of a necessity to imbue their hands
+in the blood of each other."
+
+But leaving aside all sentimental considerations, Jefferson undertook
+to demonstrate that such a war would have, as a result, the immediate
+occupation of Louisiana by France, and with Louisiana again a
+Gallo-American colony, the danger would indeed be great. Such were "some
+of the truths that ought to penetrate into the Eastern States", and Burr
+was no doubt intrusted with the mission to preach the true doctrine of
+republicanism in his district.[345]
+
+Four days later Jefferson announced with infinite joy to Elbridge Gerry
+that he had been appointed to go as envoy extraordinary, jointly with
+General Pinckney and Mr. Marshall, to the French Republic. Once more he
+insisted upon the necessity of coming to some sort of an arrangement
+with Europe. War against England or France could only result in civil
+war in America and probably secession. The fate of the United States was
+at stake.[346]
+
+Congress was to adjourn on the twenty-eighth of June and Jefferson was
+already looking forward to the rural quiet of Monticello, where he could
+"exchange the roar and tumult of bulls and bears for the prattle of his
+grandchildren and senile rest." His quiet however was disturbed by an
+unexpected incident. Early in August he sent an urgent call to Madison
+to come to Monticello with Monroe in order to consult with them on an
+urgent matter. The letter written to Mazzei the preceding year had come
+back, translated from the French, and was used as a political weapon
+against Jefferson and the Republicans. Public repudiation of the letter
+was impossible, since he had really written it, although the translation
+had garbled the meaning of some important sentences. To remain silent
+under fire and accept as true the accusations hurled against him was
+equally difficult. His friends alone could help him out of the
+difficulty. He finally decided to ignore the whole matter as he had
+already been advised to do by his Philadelphia friends, but the letter
+preyed on his mind and this was not an incident to be easily forgotten.
+It was during the summer and fall of that year that certain principles
+were definitely crystallized in his mind.
+
+Deploring the fact that both factions had been incensed by political
+considerations and political hatred rather than by a true judgment of
+the situation and what he had called in a letter to Rutledge "the
+dictates of reason and pure Americanism", he then reached for himself
+certain conclusions which were to direct his political conduct during
+the rest of his career. He was thoroughly sickened by the insults
+passing in the press. Men of his own party he could not severely condemn
+for this, nor could he take from their hands the weapons used to defeat
+the enemy, but he was also loath to approve of their tactics. In
+Democratic societies, established in large cities, he placed very little
+confidence; they were fighting on his side, at least for the present,
+and were vociferous enough; but to a large extent they were made up of
+office hunters. They did not and could not constitute a trustworthy
+bulwark for Republican institutions. Fortunately events had proved that
+there existed in the country a large body of people sincerely attached
+to republican principles; these had been slumbering and their leaders
+had almost steered the ship into a foreign port, but they could be
+enlightened and made to manifest their true sentiments; for all reforms
+"must be brought about by the people using their elective rights with
+prudence and self-possession, and not suffering themselves to be duped
+by treacherous emissaries." "It is the sober sense of our citizens that
+we are safely and steadily conducting from monarchy to republicanism,
+and it is by the same agency alone that we can be kept from falling
+back."[347] As to foreign questions, the fact that their intrusion into
+American life had divided the nation against itself proved conclusively
+that the only safe course to follow was to sever the last bonds that
+connected America with Europe and "to place our foreign connections
+under a new and different arrangement."[348] The time had come for
+America to proclaim her independence in all foreign matters, for "we owe
+gratitude to France, justice to England, subservience to none."
+
+It was in coining these fine political maxims that Jefferson was at his
+best. As had happened so often during his life, he refused to be carried
+away by popular passions raging in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
+From the "mountain top" of Monticello he was able to judge
+dispassionately the sordid struggles of party politics. He was no party
+boss, not even a party leader; if he had any ambition at that time, it
+was to become a national leader and the exponent of what he himself had
+called in his letter to Rutledge "pure Americanism."
+
+Congress had been called for November 13, but the Vice President felt no
+inclination to hurry back to Philadelphia and reënter the scene of
+strife. He did not leave until December 4 and found, as he had expected,
+that Congress was marking time, waiting for news from Paris. Madison he
+kept informed minutely of all the changes that had taken place during
+the summer, of the progress of republicanism in Vermont and New York,
+and of all the small talk of politics, interesting only as showing how
+eagerly Jefferson kept his finger on the pulse of the country. He had an
+ulterior motive in sending to Madison papers and pamphlets recently
+published in Philadelphia; it was that "the paragraphs in some of these
+abominable papers may draw from you now and then a squib." Matters
+seemed to be on the mend; the latest official intelligence from Paris
+was that the envoys "would find every disposition on the part of the
+Government to accommodate with us."[349] The session dragged on.
+Jefferson's melancholy statement that the Senate was divided
+"twenty-two and ten and will probably forever be", was not helped by
+Adams' declaration that:
+
+  No republic can ever be of any duration, without a Senate, and a
+  Senate deeply and strongly rooted, strong enough to bear up against
+  all popular storms and passions. The only fault in the Constitution
+  of our Senate is, that their term of office is not durable enough.
+  Hitherto they have done well, but probably they will be forced to
+  give way in time.[350]
+
+The only important proposition before Congress was "the bill of foreign
+intercourse and the proposition to arm our foreign vessels"; but both
+parties seemed to be afraid to press the matter. Everything was in
+suspense "as the ensuing month will probably be the most eventful ever
+yet seen in modern Europe." If Bonaparte's projected invasion of England
+succeeded the tables would turn; in the meantime the official ball given
+on Washington's birthday offered to Philadelphia society a pretext for
+engaging in hot controversies. Business was bad and bankruptcies
+multiplying. Congress was thinking of appropriating some money for
+national defense so as to furnish convoys to vessels going to Europe and
+to provide for the protection of smaller vessels of the coast trade.
+Adams had decided to reorganize his Cabinet. Wolcott would remain in
+office, but it seemed that McHenry was to go and Pickering was very
+doubtful whether he would stay.[351]
+
+Meanwhile dispatches from the American envoys had arrived; they were
+being deciphered and the President hesitated upon the advisability of
+communicating them in full to Congress. Then, on the nineteenth, came
+Adams' message declaring that "it was incumbent on him to declare that
+he perceived no ground of expectation that the objects of their mission
+could be accomplished on terms compatible with the safety, honor, or the
+essential interest of the Nation."
+
+On the twenty-first Jefferson wrote to Madison that "a great change has
+taken place in the appearance of our political atmosphere"; the "insane
+message" had had great effect but there was still a possibility that, if
+all members were present, the war measures would be defeated by one
+voice in the House. What was to be done in that case? The only possible
+solution was to make a bid for time and wait for the results of
+Bonaparte's expedition against Great Britain. Jefferson's plan therefore
+was to propose an adjournment of Congress "in order to go home and
+consult their constituents on the great crisis of American affairs now
+existing." "To gain time is everything with us." In this letter
+Jefferson made one of his few material errors, so strange on the part of
+a man in his position, and hardly to be explained unless we suppose that
+the wish was father to the thought. "We relied," he said, "with great
+security on that provision which requires two-thirds of the Legislature
+to declare war. But this is completely eluded by a majority's taking
+such measures as will be sure to produce war." Certainly there was no
+such article in the Constitution, unless Jefferson in his excitement
+interpreted the ratification of treaties by two-thirds of the Senate to
+imply also that a declaration of war should have such a majority.[352] A
+week later he was convinced that "the question of war and peace depends
+now on a toss of cross and pile. If we could gain but one season we
+should be saved."[353] It was to these Fabian tactics that the
+Republicans were to bend all their efforts in order to avoid a formal
+declaration of war.
+
+In the meantime the dispatches of the envoys were made public and the
+famous X.Y.Z. case came to light. Debate was hot in Congress on the
+Sprigg resolution declaring that "under existing conditions it is not
+expedient for the United States to resort to war against the French
+republic."[354] Adams then decided to communicate the letters from
+Paris.
+
+No more terrible blow could have been inflicted upon the friends of
+peace. Jefferson heard the news on April 3, but as it was still
+undecided whether they could be made public, he refrained from
+discussing them with Madison until the sixth. His first impressions were
+"very disagreeable and very confused." Yet he tried, as was his wont, to
+see both sides of the question. With the story of the abortive
+negotiations was interwoven
+
+  ... some base propositions on the part of Talleyrand, through one of
+  his agents, to sell his interest and influence with the Directory
+  towards soothing difficulties with them, in consideration of a large
+  sum (fifty thousand pounds sterling); the arguments to which his
+  agent resorted to induce compliance with this demand were unworthy of
+  a great nation (could they be imputed to them), and calculated to
+  excite disgust and indignation in the Republicans particularly, whom
+  they so far mistake, as to presume an attachment to France and hatred
+  to the Federal party and not to the love of their country, to be
+  their first passion.
+
+In the papers, as communicated, Adams had substituted for the names
+given by the envoys--Hottinger, Bellamy, and Hauteval--the initials X.
+Y. Z., hence the name given at once to the incident.
+
+Whether the French bankers really represented Talleyrand is absolutely
+immaterial; the result on American public opinion alone is to be
+considered here. According to Jefferson, the public's first reaction was
+one of astonishment;[355] furious indignation followed very quickly.
+Sprigg's resolution was naturally discarded as not appropriate; war
+seemed the order of the day. The last resort left to the remaining
+Republicans was to avoid open hostilities with the French Republic and,
+not being able to prevent a vote of credits for armaments, to insist
+that they should be granted specially for internal defense and
+preparation.[356] A more mature consideration of the letters convinced
+Jefferson that the door to negotiation was not absolutely closed.[357]
+But popular indignation was too strong; riotous scenes took place in the
+streets of Philadelphia, addresses from all parts of the country came to
+Adams, urging him to stand for national honor and the Federalist press
+fanned the flames. The few faithful Republicans grew discouraged and one
+by one drifted out of Philadelphia. "Giles, Clopton, Cabell, and
+Nicholas have gone," wrote Jefferson on April 26, "and Clay goes
+to-morrow. Parker has completely gone over to the war party. In this
+state of things they will carry what they please. One of the war party,
+in a fit of unguarded passion, declared sometime ago they would pass a
+Citizen Bill, an Alien Bill, and a Sedition Bill."[358] Madison,
+although urged to take up his pen "for heaven's sake and not desert the
+public cause altogether", remained silent in Virginia. Jefferson felt
+that the first and second measures were directed against his close
+friend Volney,[359] who had been somewhat imprudent. That the republican
+press would be muzzled for "the war hawks talk of septembrizing,
+deportation and the examples for quelling sedition set by the French
+executives. All the firmness of the human mind is now in a state of
+requisition."[360]
+
+It is remarkable, and not the smallest achievement of Jefferson, that he
+kept a cool head in the midst of this turmoil. Insulted every day in the
+press and in public meetings, lampooned and caricatured, he had to
+remain silent because of his official position and could not protest to
+the government. No stranger political situation could be imagined than
+this,--a man recognized as the head of a party opposed to the
+government, yet next to the President in rank, without power to defend
+himself and to enter into polemics, ostracized, and, as he admitted
+himself, "insulated in every society", forced to listen to the reading
+of the most detestable things such as the Alien Bill, and still not
+indulging in bitterness. A comparison of his letters with those written
+by Adams and Hamilton at the same time would constitute the most
+extraordinary tribute to his self-mastery. He persisted in seeing some
+faint hope and refused to give up the ship.
+
+First there was a possibility that when the merchants would see that
+actual war meant War Tax, Land Tax, and Stamp Tax, these measures would
+constitute sedatives to cool their ardor. The present session had
+already cost two hundred thousand dollars and that was only a beginning.
+Furthermore, there was also a possibility that, if an actual declaration
+of war could be prevented during the summer, the coming election would
+reënforce the republican party. Volney had decided to go back to France
+with a few other aliens who had chartered a boat, without waiting for
+the enactment of the Alien Bill. Many of them were much irritated, but
+Volney at least was "thoroughly impressed with the importance of
+preventing war, whether considered with reference to the interests of
+the two countries, of the cause of Republicanism, or of man on a broad
+scale."[361]
+
+Isolated though he was in Philadelphia, from his room in the
+Philosophical Society of which he was president, Jefferson persisted in
+hoping against hope. One thing however was to be avoided at all cost. If
+the situation became such that the Northern States, Connecticut and
+Massachusetts particularly, clearly dominated the situation, it was far
+better to submit temporarily and endure even detestable measures than to
+break the Union. The beginning of the disaggregation could not be
+stopped; a realignment of States conducing to new secessions would
+finally be the result. Men must quarrel, and "seeing, therefore, that an
+association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing
+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."[362]
+
+This was a most important declaration and shows to what length Jefferson
+was willing to go in order to avoid the only irremediable catastrophe.
+Whatever may have been his weaknesses and shortcomings, his
+inconsistencies and contradictions, the man who, in the hectic
+atmosphere of Philadelphia, was able to put aside his own interests, the
+interests of his party, his social and political ideals to think
+nationally, was indeed a great American. We may even venture to say that
+he was at the time the only great American in the country.
+
+When Marshall came back from France--much to his surprise, as a war hero
+and as an avenger of national honor--the Republicans began to take a
+less pessimistic view of the situation. After all, the situation was not
+so desperate as they had been led to believe; Gerry had remained in
+Paris, and negotiations could be resumed. The show of honesty made by
+the envoys in Paris was most gratifying to national honor and gave the
+public a feeling of triumph over the corrupt practices of European
+diplomacy. But with the return of Marshall a new campaign broke out
+against Jefferson. Doctor Logan on his own initiative had gone to Europe
+in the interest of peace, but had gone mysteriously and without telling
+any one of his intentions. It was soon assumed that he had been sent on
+an unauthorized and unofficial but highly objectionable mission by the
+Jacobins "to solicit an army from France, instruct them as to their
+landing, etc.", and Jefferson was again accused of being the arch
+plotter. Nothing could be more ridiculous, for the poor doctor was
+simply one of those idealistic pacifists who sometimes do more harm than
+good, but whose intentions are not open to suspicion.
+
+But popular passions once aroused cannot be silenced in a day and the
+efforts of the friends of peace were weak and inefficient. On April 14 a
+bill was passed on second reading by the Senate, declaring the treaties
+with France void and nonexistent. Adams made it known that he would
+refuse Gerry's request that other envoys be sent. If Congress remained
+in session in a city where war hysteria had reached a paroxysm, extreme
+measures were unavoidable. The only remedy was to adjourn as soon as
+possible, for "to separate Congress now, will be withdrawing the fire
+from under a boiling pot."[363] Congress did not separate, however,
+without authorizing the President to increase the navy, to expend two
+hundred fifty thousand dollars for fortifications, to purchase eight
+hundred thousand dollars' worth of arms and ammunition, to raise an army
+of ten thousand troops and to equip vessels to seize and bring to port
+any armed vessels which had attacked American vessels or might be found
+"hovering on the coast of the United States for the purpose of
+committing depredations on the vessels belonging to the citizens
+thereof." On July 6 were passed the famous Alien Bills, and on the
+fourteenth, as a sort of defiance to the principles of the French
+Revolution, Congress adopted the "Sedition Law", giving power to the
+government "to prosecute persons or to prevent the circulating or saying
+of any utterance against the Government of the United States, or either
+House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the
+United States."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+POLITICAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST
+
+
+When Jefferson went home after the adjournment of Congress he remained
+completely silent for two months. But the newspaper war went on in
+Philadelphia with more virulence than ever: attacks against the arch
+plotter and the defender of the French Jacobins were multiplied,
+prosecutions were begun in Massachusetts under the Sedition Act and for
+a time Jefferson himself seems to have feared for his own safety. To
+Samuel Smith, who had sent him a clipping in which he was vehemently
+accused, he answered that he had "contemplated every event which the
+Maratists of the day can perpetrate, and I am prepared to meet every one
+in such a way, as shall not be derogatory to the public liberty or my
+own personal honor." He naturally denied that he had in any way plotted
+with Bache, the editor of the _Aurora_, or Doctor Leib; then he went on
+to define once more his position. He had acted on the same principles
+from the year 1775 to that day, and he was convinced that these
+principles were those of the great body of the American people. He was
+for peace certainly, not only with France but also with England. He was
+aware that both of them "have given and are daily giving, sufficient
+cause of war; that in defiance of the laws of nations, they are every
+day trampling on the rights of the neutral powers, whenever they can
+thereby do the least injury, either to the other." But he still
+maintained that the best policy was and would have been "to bear from
+France for one more summer what we have been bearing from both of them
+these four years." With England the United States had chosen peace; with
+France they had chosen war; to what extent the Government was supported
+by the majority of the people was a thing to be seen in the coming
+elections. He ended with a note of Christian forgiveness for Fenno and
+Porcupine, who "covered him with their implacable hatred." "The only
+return I will ever make them, will be to do them all the good I can, in
+spite of their teeth."[364]
+
+This was almost too godly to be true; but if we remember that his
+letters were intercepted and read by Adams' police, as he repeatedly
+complained, and that letters sent to him were opened on their way to
+Monticello, we may wonder whether he did not write these lines for the
+eye of the censor, and with his tongue in his cheek. That he really
+believed at the time in the existence of a monarchical conspiracy
+appears from a letter to Stephens Thompson Mason.[365]
+
+The Alien and Sedition bills were just a beginning. If the people did
+not revolt against them, the next step would be to persuade Congress
+that the President should continue in office for life, reserving to
+another time the transfer of the succession to his heirs and the
+establishment of the Senate for life.
+
+This was a very accurate prophecy of the course that events were to
+follow, not in America, but in France, and this shows at least that
+Jefferson had an exact understanding of the gradual steps through which
+a republican government might become an empire. But France had
+Bonaparte, while neither Adams nor Washington ever had the inclination
+or the power to bring about such a change in America. Yet when one
+thinks of the military ambitions of Hamilton, of his real opposition and
+scorn for republican government, it would perhaps be unfair to dismiss
+these apprehensions as absolutely groundless. Whatever the case may have
+been, Jefferson thought the time had come to erect a strong barrier
+against the encroachments of the Federal Government. Towards the end of
+the same month, the two Nicholas brothers, George and Wilson C.,
+discussed with Jefferson at Monticello a plan to put to work the
+Republicans, who, finding themselves useless in Congress, had retired
+from the field. A plan was finally adopted to arouse the State
+legislatures; during these meetings were drawn up the famous
+"Resolutions" that George Nicholas was to present to the legislature of
+Kentucky, and which Madison was to bring before the Virginia
+Assembly.[366]
+
+The exact authorship of the "Resolutions" remained a matter of doubt
+until Jefferson more than twenty years later acknowledged his
+participation in a letter to the son of George Nicholas.[367] It was
+well for Jefferson's peace of mind that he remained behind the scenes on
+this occasion and let Madison take the responsibility of the
+recommendation, which he did not allow to pass without modifying the
+original text to a considerable degree. The Kentucky resolutions have
+been the subject of many discussions, and Madison himself used a great
+deal of ink and time to explain the true import of the measures he had
+sponsored before the Virginia Assembly. They will become much more
+intelligible when studied in the light of the theory developed by
+Jefferson in the document in which he stated his views on the social
+compact, considered as a _pactum foederis_ and not a _pactum
+subjectionis_.[368] It was simply the reaffirmation that in forming a
+society neither men nor States abdicate entirely their sovereignty but
+reserve a specified part of their natural rights set forth in a Bill of
+Rights--an essential foundation on which to build a constitution. Such
+is clearly the meaning of the first resolution;
+
+  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,
+  reserving, 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 unauthoritative, 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 Government created by this compact was not made the
+  exclusive 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 common judge, each party has
+  an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the
+  mode and measure of redress.
+
+Not only was Jefferson perfectly consistent in repeating almost word for
+word in this Resolution the doctrine of natural rights and State rights
+already enunciated in 1776, but the last lines foretold the theory he
+was to defend against Marshall during his presidency. By denying that
+the parties to the Federal compact had a common judge, he refused in
+advance to consider the Supreme Court as the guardian, interpreter, and
+defender of the Constitution. This principle once asserted, Jefferson
+endeavored to prove that the Sedition Bill, the Alien Bill and other
+measures adopted by Congress at the instigation of the Federalists
+constituted an infringement of State rights, since they did not deal
+with matters specifically reserved to Congress and since it was provided
+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." This was at the same time an attempt to
+prove the unconstitutionality of the recent legislation and an endeavor
+to define more exactly the powers of the Federal Government. The Eighth
+Resolution, the longest, proposed the establishment of a committee of
+correspondence to communicate the resolutions to the different
+legislatures and enunciated the doctrine of nullification, namely that
+the State had the right to consider as nonexistent such laws as might be
+passed in defiance of the Constitution. Naturally the Law of Sedition
+and the Alien Bill came under that category.
+
+Strong as the language of the Resolutions may have been, it was not
+Jefferson's intention to promote a rebellion of certain States against
+the Federal Government and to provoke a secession. They contained a
+strong affirmation that the subscribers to the Resolutions were
+sincerely anxious for the preservation of the Union. As a matter of
+fact, in Jefferson's intention they were a piece of political strategy
+and he had no desire to push the matter too far. A letter he wrote to
+Madison on the subject is particularly significant on that score: "I
+think we should distinctly affirm all the important principles they
+contain, so as to hold to that ground in future, and leave the matter in
+such a train as that we may not be committed absolutely to push the
+matter to extremities, and yet may be free to push as far as events will
+render prudent."[369]
+
+In other words, it was what the French call a gesture, the act of a
+lawyer reserving certain points in a trial before a tribunal and the
+right to present conclusions. It was not the act of a revolutionist and
+for the time being at least, although adopted in a modified form both by
+Kentucky and Virginia, it remained a gesture and a simple protest
+against Federalist usurpations.
+
+The end of the fall came, and Jefferson relapsed once more into his
+cautious silence. One letter only, written from Monticello to John
+Taylor, is found in the files for that period.[370] This time Jefferson
+was more optimistic; the ardor of the Federalists for war seemed to have
+cooled down and the people began to realize that national pride was a
+very expensive article, that wars had to be paid for: "the Doctor is now
+on his way to cure it, in the guise of the tax gatherer."
+
+At the end of the month, the Vice President set out for Philadelphia to
+attend the opening of the third session of the Fifth Congress. Adams'
+address was anxiously awaited. Much to the surprise and disgust of the
+war party, if it could not be called conciliatory, it was far less
+provocative than the address of the twenty-first of June preceding. He
+protested against the decree of the Directory constituting "an
+unequivocal act of war" and maintained that "to invigorate measures of
+defence" was the true policy of the United States. But while he thus
+reiterated some of his previous statements, the tone was far less
+truculent. President Adams, while frowning threateningly, held behind
+his back the olive branch and was ready to extend it. The conclusion was
+one of these milk-and-water statements, that curious balancing of two
+positions so often found in American State papers relating to foreign
+affairs:
+
+  But in demonstrating by our conduct that we do not fear war in the
+  necessary protection of our rights and honor, we shall give no room
+  to infer that we abandon the desire of peace.... An efficient
+  preparation for war can alone insure peace. It is peace that we have
+  uniformly and perseveringly cultivated, and harmony between us and
+  France may be restored at her option.
+
+Then came the really important part: "The United States Government could
+not think of sending another minister ... unless given positive
+assurances that he would be received. It must therefore be left with
+France (if she is indeed desirous of accommodation) to take the
+requisite steps."
+
+Apparently an innocuous statement, but yet it was a new note; as it was
+known that Adams had received some communications from Gerry and was to
+make these communications known, it was supposed that a real change and
+a change for the better was about to take place in the relations between
+the two countries. Therefore Jefferson could mention in the speech "a
+moderation unlike the President", and he also knew that Vans Murray,
+the American minister at the Hague, had informed his Government "that
+the French Government is sincere in their overtures for reconciliation
+and have agreed, if these fail, to admit the mediation offered by the
+British Government."[371]
+
+In the meantime the fight in Congress was merrily going on, with that
+peculiar circumstance that both leaders remained behind the scenes. To
+the Kentucky Resolutions, followed by much milder representations from
+other State legislatures, Hamilton opposed his instructions sent to
+Dayton, and since published in his "Works." If they had fallen into
+Jefferson's hands he would have found in them ample grounds for his
+fears. The Federalist leader was of the opinion that his party was
+losing ground, and the late attempt of Virginia and Kentucky to unite
+the State legislatures in a direct resistance to certain laws of the
+Union, could be considered in no other light than as an attempt to
+change the Government. Under the circumstances, and considering that
+"the enemies of the Government were resolved, if it shall be
+practicable, to make its existence a question of force", Hamilton had
+devised a certain plan to be executed by the Federalist troops in
+Congress. The measures came under four heads: establishments which will
+extend the influence and promote the popularity of the Government;
+provision for augmenting the means and consolidating the strength of the
+Government; arrangements for confirming and enlarging the legal powers
+of the Government; laws for restraining and punishing incendiary and
+seditious practices. The detail of the recommendations showed a
+perfectly well-concerted plan to concentrate all powers in the hands of
+the Federal Government.
+
+One of the most remarkable proposals was perhaps the project of
+subdividing the larger States into several small States containing no
+less than a hundred thousand persons each, as these new units would be
+"better adapted to the purposes of local regulations and to the
+preservation of the Republican spirit." It is not without interest here
+to note that the Federalist leader proposed the very measures which had
+been adopted in France when the old provinces were divided into
+_départements_. In the case of the Federalists, as in the case of the
+Constituents, the purpose was the same: a concentration of all powers
+into the hand of a central authority and the suppression of local
+government. Other recommendations were an extension of the judiciary
+with a Federal judge at the head of each district; the appointment of
+conservators or justices of peace, who were to supervise the energetic
+execution of the laws and to promote "salutary patronage"; a stronger
+army; improvement of roads; powers given to the Government to call out
+the militia to suppress unlawful combinations and insurrections; power
+given to Congress to build canals through the territory of two or more
+States, that "all seditious writings levelled against any officers
+whatever of the U. S. shall be cognizable in the courts of the United
+States."
+
+If the administrative reorganization advocated by Hamilton had been
+effected, it would have made the United States not far different from
+the France of Napoleon and, such being the plans of the Federalists, it
+cannot be said that Jefferson's fear was entirely exaggerated.
+
+One of the first victories of the Federalists was to pass the famous
+Logan Law (January 30) forbidding any citizen of the United States to
+commence or carry on any verbal or written correspondence or intercourse
+with any foreign government, or any officer thereof in relation to any
+disputes or controversies with the United States. Doctor Logan's
+intentions had been of the best. He had seen members of the French
+Directory in Paris and had brought with him "non-equivocal proofs of the
+pacific dispositions of the French Government towards the United States"
+and particularly the Statement of Merlin that "_la liberté des
+États-Unis nous a coûté trop de sang pour qu'elle ne nous soit pas
+chère._"[372] None of these activities could be called treacherous, and
+in normal times would not have been noticed. But behind Logan, Jefferson
+was aimed at, and he was perfectly aware, as he wrote to Madison, that
+"the real views in the importance they have given to Logan's enterprise
+are mistaken by nobody."[373] Yet he thought he had to justify himself
+to his friends, and sent a long letter on the subject to Gerry. Far more
+important than his defense was a declaration of the principles he did
+not fear to avow. "They are unquestionably," he said, "the principles of
+the great body of our fellow-citizens." It was really the program of the
+Democratic Party and the most luminous exposition of the Jeffersonian
+doctrine ever made.
+
+  I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of our
+  present federal Constitution, according to the true sense in which it
+  was adopted by the States ... and I am opposed to the monarchising
+  its features by the forms of its administration, with a view to
+  conciliate a first transition to a President and Senate for life, and
+  from that to an hereditary tenure of these offices.... I am for
+  preserving to the States the powers not yielded by them to the Union,
+  and to the legislature of the Union its constitutional share in the
+  division of powers; and I am not for transferring all the powers of
+  the States to the General Government, and all those of that
+  Government to the executive branch. I am for a government rigorously
+  frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public
+  revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a
+  multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make partisans....
+  I am for relying, for internal defence, on our militia solely, till
+  actual invasion ... and not for a standing army in time of peace,
+  which may overawe the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which by its
+  own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will implicate us, will
+  grind us with public burthens, and sink us under them. I am for free
+  commerce with all nations; political connections with none; and
+  little or no diplomatic establishment ... I am for freedom of
+  religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring about a legal
+  ascendency of one sect over another: for freedom of the press, and
+  against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and
+  not by reason the complaints of criticism, just or unjust, of our
+  citizens against the conduct of their agents. And I am for
+  encouraging the progress of science in all its branches; and not for
+  raising a hue and cry against the sacred name of philosophy....[374]
+
+Jefferson ended with a paragraph in which he solemnly proclaimed the
+integrity of his American nationalism, although he admitted that he was
+a well wisher to the success of the French Revolution and still hoped
+that it would succeed; but he added at once: "The first object of my
+heart is my own country. In that is embarked my family, my fortune, my
+own existence. I have not one farthing of interest, nor preference of
+any one nation to another, but in proportion as they are more or less
+friendly to us."
+
+The man who drew up that program in the midst of an unprecedented
+political strife and the riotous scenes of the streets of Philadelphia
+was a political leader of the first rank. The letter to Gerry is more
+than a letter from one individual to another; it transcends the
+circumstances of the moment. It is the result of mature reflection; the
+conclusions reached by Jefferson after almost thirty years of political
+life. It is really the first program of his party and the first complete
+definition of Government and of Americanism; for it was distinctly
+American. I fail to perceive in it the influence of any foreign
+political thinker except in so far as such principles as freedom of the
+press, separation of the Church and the State may have been ideas common
+to a great majority of political thinkers of the eighteenth century.
+Even if Jefferson's request to Gerry to keep the communication
+absolutely secret was obeyed, there is little doubt that we have here
+the gist of the communication made orally by Jefferson to his friends
+and to the leaders of the Republicans in Congress.
+
+For the moment the letter contained a strong appeal to Gerry to place
+every evidence at his disposal before the public, since the Government
+refused to do it, and to publish in full the report on his mission. He
+alone could save the situation by coming forward independently. But even
+if Gerry acceded to this wish, some one else would have to present a
+brief synopsis of the evidence and draw up a judicial arraignment of the
+administration. At this juncture Jefferson thought of his old master
+Pendleton, at whose feet he had sat in Williamsburg, and with whom he
+had worked in the revision of the statutes of Virginia. He alone could
+give the "_coup de grâce_" to the ruinous principles and doctrines; he
+alone could recapitulate all the vexations and disgusting details of the
+Stamp Act and the Direct Tax. A small handbill would be printed and they
+could "disperse ten or twelve thousand copies under letter covers,
+through all the United States, by the members of Congress when they
+return home."[375] To make Pendleton's coöperation more certain,
+Jefferson even drew up the plan of the indictment and inclosed all the
+necessary documents.
+
+February was for Jefferson a period of hectic activity. During all the
+first part of the month he multiplied his entreaties to Pendleton to
+gird up his loins and enter the fight. If he still refused to write for
+the press he was not averse to communicating to the editors papers
+written by his friends, and he begged these for expressions of opinion
+to be sent to the press.
+
+  The engine is the press. Every man must lay his purse and his pen
+  under contribution. As to the former it is possible I may be obliged
+  to assume something for you. As to the latter, let me pray and
+  beseech you to set apart a certain portion of every post day to write
+  what may be proper for the public. Send it to me while here, and
+  when I go away I will let you know to whom you may send, so that your
+  name shall be sacredly secret.[376]
+
+The propaganda was beginning to bear its fruits. John Ogden was writing
+from Litchfield that "many publications in the _Aurora_ have reached
+Connecticut, within four weeks, which have opened the eyes of the
+dispassionate" and he was asking for more pamphlets.[377] But a week
+later Ogden was arrested and to Jefferson he sent a letter "From
+Lichtfield Goal (sic) at the suit of Oliver Wolcott Esq", to affirm that
+"prison has no horror to the oppressed, inspired and persecuted." To
+Aaron Burr in New York Jefferson wrote very affectionately and very
+familiarly to acquaint him with the state of public affairs.[378] To
+Monroe he was sending pamphlets, asking him to distribute them where
+they would do most good, adding as usual "Do not let my name be
+connected in the business." He never tired of repeating that the proper
+argument to strike the voters was the enormous increase in the budget of
+the United States: a loan authorized for five millions at eight per
+cent., another of two millions to follow and that was just a beginning.
+All these measures were accepted by Congress in the teeth of Gerry's
+communications with Talleyrand, showing the French Government willing to
+continue the negotiations.
+
+Then on February 18 came "the event of events." While all the war
+measures were going on, while the Government of the United States was
+blockading the French West Indies and French vessels were captured,
+while there were in several instances cases of actual warfare, the
+President had had in his hand for several weeks letters exchanged
+between Pichon, the French chargé at the Hague, and Vans Murray,
+declaring that the French Government was ready to receive "whatever
+plenipotentiary the Government of the United States should send to
+France to end our differences and that he would be received with the
+respect due to the representative of a _free, independent, and powerful
+nation_." Adams, almost on the eve of the adjournment of Congress, had
+decided, as it seems, against the advice and without the knowledge of
+his Cabinet, not only to communicate the Vans Murray-Pichon papers, but
+to recommend that Murray be appointed as plenipotentiary to France. The
+Federalists in the Senate were appalled and at first did not know what
+to do.[379] But they were not lacking in strategy; not daring to come
+out openly, they appointed on the President's recommendation, not only
+Murray but Oliver Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, the last two "not to sail
+from America before they should receive from the French Directory
+assurances that they should be received with the respect due to the law
+of nations, to their character, etc."
+
+This, as Jefferson noticed at once, was a last effort to postpone the
+patching-up of difficulties and also a last effort to provoke the
+French, since they had already given such an assurance to Murray.[380]
+"The whole artillery of the phalanx was played secretly on the P. and he
+was obliged himself to take a step which should parry the overture while
+it wears the face of acceding to it," he wrote to Madison.[381] But the
+war party was defeated, the Federalists had received a fatal blow;
+victory already was in sight when Congress adjourned at the beginning of
+March.
+
+Then Jefferson repaired to Monticello, while in the back counties
+assessors clashed with farmers, troopers with small-town editors, while
+Duane was flogged in the street after being dragged from his office by
+militiamen. But he was not idle, although for some mysterious reason
+several of the letters he published during the summer have never been
+printed. He received many visitors, wrote to friends, proclaimed his
+faith in ultimate victory for "the body of the American people is
+substantially Republican, but their virtuous feelings have been played
+on by some fact with more fiction. They have been the dupes of artful
+manoeuvres and made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging
+chains for themselves."[382] He encouraged Bache and Venable to publish
+a gazette, for unfortunately "the people of Virginia were not
+incorruptible and offices there as elsewhere were acceptable", so that
+the situation was neither safe nor satisfactory. To William Greene he
+wrote a truly splendid letter on "progress" in which he expressed his
+belief "with Condorcet, that man's mind is perfectible to a degree of
+which we cannot as yet form any conception", and predicted limitless
+discoveries in the field of science. The present convulsions could only
+be temporary, for it was impossible, he maintained, that "the enthusiasm
+characterizing America should lift its parricidal hand against freedom
+and science. This would be such a monstrous phenomenon as I cannot place
+among possible things in this age and in this country."
+
+At the same time he was not unmindful of keeping in complete harmony the
+heterogeneous elements of the party just being formed. He strove to
+placate Callender who, jealous of Bache, was writing epileptic letters
+to complain of the whole universe, and asking at the same time that
+Jefferson should send him some money, as he was short of funds.[383]
+John Taylor, who was planning to declare void and unconstitutional laws
+adopted by Congress, and to call together a convention to appoint a
+dictator, had to be told to "forbear to push on to this ultimate
+effort."[384] Much preferable was the work undertaken by Randolph in
+presenting a legal refutation of the Federalist attitude towards the
+foundation of law, and the similar document on which Wilson Nicholas was
+working.[385]
+
+All this time Jefferson was haunted by the fear that his letters would
+fall into the hands of his enemies. To the few communications he wrote
+during the later part of the summer, he did not even dare to put his
+signature, "the omission of which has been rendered almost habitual with
+me by the necessity of the post office; indeed the period is now
+approaching during which I shall discontinue writing letters as much as
+possible, knowing that every snare will be used to get hold of what may
+be perverted."[386] He came to the point that on Monroe's advice he had
+to refuse to see Madison in order to "avoid the appearance of a
+collusion between them."[387]
+
+At the beginning of December he was back in Philadelphia for the session
+of Congress and soon after was able to send reassuring news to Monroe
+who had become one of his "grand electors." Those who persist in
+thinking him a dreamy idealist must read the letters he wrote between
+January and May, 1800; not only did he keep his hand on the pulse of the
+country, but he calculated the changes of the Republicans in every State
+and figured out to a unit the possible number of votes they would
+receive in the coming election. He knew the situation too well not to
+admit that he was the natural choice of the Republicans even before any
+census was held, and very early in January acknowledged it to Monroe:
+
+  Perhaps it will be thought I ought in delicacy to be silent on the
+  subject. But you, who know me, know that my private gratification
+  would be most indulged by that issue, which should leave me most at
+  home. If anything supersedes this propensity, it is merely the desire
+  to see this government brought back to its republican principles.
+  Consider this as written to Mr. Madison as much as yourself; and
+  communicate it, if you think it will do any good, to those possessing
+  our joint confidence, or any others where it may be useful and
+  safe.[388]
+
+He was undoubtedly sincere in disclaiming any ambition, but under the
+circumstances he was bound to observe a certain reticence, being the
+President of the Senate, next to Adams in the Government and yet Adams'
+adversary in the next election. But in his letters he made no pretense
+of false modesty and frankly mentioned time and again what he called
+"our ticket." Yet he was not the man who could ever give all his energy
+to a single task, and absorbing as were his political preoccupations he
+showed during the summer of 1800 as much versatility as ever. He took up
+again the transformation of William and Mary College, this time to make
+a real university of the old institution. He wrote to Priestley to send
+him a good plan of reorganization and a few weeks later to Du Pont de
+Nemours who composed for him his "Plan of a National Education."[389]
+With Colonel Benjamin Hawkins he discussed the desirability of studying
+the language and customs of the Indians, while there was still
+time.[390] He was thinking of compiling a volume on the "Morals of
+Jesus" and discussed religion with Bishop Madison who intended to write
+a book to prove that the Christian religion, "rightly understood and
+carried into full effect, would establish a pure Democracy over the
+world. Its main pillars are--Equality, Fraternity, Justice, Universal
+Benevolence."[391]
+
+At the same time he was keeping close watch on the news coming from
+France and on political developments in Congress. Rumors circulated that
+a new revolution had taken place in Paris and that Bonaparte was at the
+head of it. This was a wonderful opportunity to test out by actual
+experience the disadvantage of a directory or executive committee as
+compared with a single executive in a republic.[392] From what he knew
+of the French character, he did not believe that a monarchy could be
+reëstablished in France, for "If Bonaparte declares for Royalty, either
+in his own person, or that of Louis XVIII, he has but a few days to
+live. In a nation of so much enthusiasm, there must be a million
+Brutuses who will devote themselves to death to destroy him." But a few
+days later he had come to the conclusion that it was probably what
+Bonaparte had done, and what had been done in France could probably be
+done in America when our Bonaparte, surrounded by his comrades in arms,
+may step in to give us political salvation in his way. One thing was
+certain, however: Bonaparte had clearly demonstrated that he had no
+brains, no creative and constructive mind; and, with the pride of a man
+who was engaged in a stupendous experiment, Jefferson pitilessly
+criticized the Napoleonic reconstruction of France: "Whenever he has
+meddled we have seen nothing but fragments of the old Roman government
+stuck into materials with which they can form no cohesion; we see the
+bigotry of an Italian to the ancient splendor of his country, but
+nothing which bespeaks a luminous view of rational government."[393]
+
+To his friend Samuel Adams, who had written him at the end of January,
+he repeated the same judgment in less striking but perhaps even harsher
+terms:
+
+  I fear our friends on the other side of the water, laboring in the
+  same cause, have yet a great deal of crime and misery to wade
+  through. My confidence has been placed in the head not in the heart
+  of Bonaparte. I hoped he would calculate truly the difference between
+  the fame of a Washington and a Cromwell. Whatever the views may be,
+  he has at least transferred the destinies of the republic from the
+  civil to the military arm. Some will use this as a lesson against the
+  practicability of republican government. I read in it a lesson
+  against the danger of standing armies.[394]
+
+No more patent demonstration could be desired of the fact that in his
+judgments of the French Revolution, Jefferson was at all times
+influenced by the possible effects that European examples might have on
+the American crisis. The precedent established by Bonaparte was a very
+dangerous one and might put similar ambitions into the head of an
+unscrupulous schemer. Whether he really believed or not that there was
+such an immediate danger for America, and that Hamilton had really such
+intentions, is an entirely different question. Probably he did not
+himself know. He only felt that a permanent army would constitute a
+permanent temptation and consequently a permanent danger, for he had
+only limited faith in the virtue of individual man, although he
+continued to believe in the wisdom of the collectivity.
+
+Domestic matters and other more immediate preoccupations were no less
+worthy of attention. He followed very closely every measure proposed in
+the House on the coming elections, on the voting procedure to be
+adopted, and anxiously studied the political forecasts. The situation
+was decidedly on the mend. This appears clearly in the attitude of the
+Federalists towards him, not only in public but also in private. For
+Madison he wrote a very elaborate review of the comparative strength of
+the two parties in all the States of the Union; he saw that the key
+States were Pennsylvania, Jersey and New York, the other States being
+equally divided, and he concluded that "Upon the whole the issue was
+still very doubtful." But officially one had to maintain a confident
+attitude.[395]
+
+When April came, he thought that it would be desirable for the
+Republicans to come out with a public declaration, stating their
+program and their ideals. "As soon as it can be depended on," he said,
+"we must have a Declaration of the principles of the Constitution, in
+the nature of a Declaration of Rights, in all points in which it has
+been violated."[396]
+
+If the plan had been put to execution we would have had the first
+presidential "platform" as early as 1800, and Jefferson would thus have
+hastened the formation of distinct political parties. But more
+commonplace measures were not to be neglected. Discussing the situation
+in North Carolina, still a very doubtful State, he advised that "the
+medicine for that State must be very mild and secretly administered. But
+nothing should be spared to give them true information." We would like
+Jefferson better if he had shown more discrimination in the choice of
+the men selected to disseminate this true information. For at that time,
+at least, he was still employing Callender in Richmond--an amusing
+scoundrel not much better than Cobbet, the Peter Porcupine of the
+Federalists. But Callender was a useful tool, who was doing his utmost
+to publish the second volume of the _Prospect_ and to catch up with
+Federalist propaganda. One could condone much in a man then writing: "I
+had entertained the romantic hope of being able to overtake the Federal
+Government in its career of iniquity. But I am now satisfied that they
+can _act_ much faster than I _can write_ after them."[397]
+
+Fortunately he had the approval and indorsement of much more respectable
+characters. Samuel Adams had already written him; then it was John
+Dickinson, the Revolutionary hero, who wrote, when sending his thanks
+for a copy of the late "Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia": "It
+is an inestimable contribution to the cause of Liberty.... How
+incredible was it once, and how astonishing is it now, that every
+measure and every pretense of the stupid and selfish Stuarts, should be
+adopted by the posterity of those who fled from this madness and tyranny
+to the distant wilds of America."[398]
+
+Such letters, the congratulations of George Wythe, who urged him to
+publish the "Manual of Parliamentary Practice", those of Pendleton, who
+consented to revise the final text and to "freely cast his mite into the
+treasury", were indeed balm on the wounds made by the fierce attacks of
+the Federalist press.[399]
+
+The end of the session was approaching and the most earnest desire of
+the Federalists was to adjourn as soon as possible, for fear that the
+envoys to France should announce the conclusion of a treaty. Their power
+seemed on the wane, but Jefferson was still very doubtful of ultimate
+victory. To Livingston he wrote that his knowledge of the art, industry,
+and resources of the other party did not permit him to be prematurely
+confident. The tide had turned, to be sure, and the Federalists were
+losing ground constantly, but the main question whether "that would
+insure a Republican victory was still undecided and it might take one or
+two elections more."[400]
+
+Congress adjourned on May 14. During the session congressional caucuses
+had nominated for the Federalists John Adams, and General Charles
+Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina; the choice of the Republicans
+could only be Jefferson, and for candidate to the vice presidency they
+selected Aaron Burr of New York.
+
+In the course of the summer, Adams and his wife moved to the new Federal
+City laid out by Major Lenfant, which boasted of one tavern, the
+Capitol, the President's house, and a few boarding houses,--a capital in
+the midst of the woods, in a veritable wilderness of trees, with
+impassable paths,--a town unable to lodge Congress except at Georgetown,
+which was connected with the new city by a clay road. Jefferson,
+according to his custom, had hurried back to his "farm" and was
+apparently absorbed by his domestic occupations, his children, and
+grandchildren.
+
+During the whole campaign he remained almost absolutely silent, not
+daring to write, because his letters might have been intercepted and
+used against him, receiving few visitors and reading without comment the
+newspapers filled with the insults and abuse of the Federalists. He
+broke his silence on few occasions, but these occasions are worth
+studying in some detail. In a letter to Monroe, written from Eppington,
+he discussed the best plans for assisting Callender, then jailed under
+the Sedition Act, who "should be substantially defended whether
+privately or publicly" and whose case should be laid before the
+legislature.[401] These efforts did not avail since in August the
+publicist wrote from his Richmond jail that he was in very bad health
+"owing to the stink of the place."[402] There is not much that can be
+said for Callender, and Jefferson might have better chosen his friends;
+but when one reflects on the accusations commonly circulated against
+Jefferson at the time, the interest taken by the Republican leader in
+the pamphleteer seems less astonishing. If Callender had certainly
+insulted Adams and Hamilton, had not the Reverend Cotton Mather Smith
+accused Jefferson of "having robbed a widow and fatherless children of
+an estate of which he was executor?" To Gideon Granger, who had called
+his attention to the attacks of the clergyman, Jefferson easily
+justified himself and seized the opportunity to discuss with his friend
+a problem of general politics of far greater importance. It had very
+little to do with the details of the election and for his remarkable
+capacity to rise above contingencies Jefferson truly deserves the title
+of "political philosopher." To incidents which he deemed without
+permanent significance he paid little attention, but when dealing with
+a phenomenon which seemed to him to indicate an important change in the
+orientation of national policies, he always tried to penetrate beyond
+the surface and reach the core of the question.
+
+The thing that now disturbed him more than the possible victory of Adams
+and Pinckney was the fact that political divisions seemed to correspond
+to a geographical division. Not without reason had he written to Colonel
+Benjamin Hawkins: "those who knew us only from 1775 to 1793 can form no
+better idea of us than of the inhabitants of the moon."[403] The North
+and the South had never been in complete harmony; economically they were
+different and had different interests, but something new had developed
+during the seven or eight years just passed. There was evidently a rift
+in the Union; on several occasions talks of secession had been heard.
+These rumors did not correspond to any real danger, but if the elections
+proved that the Union was formed of two solid blocks of States, if the
+North remained Federalist and the South were Republican, the very
+existence of the nation would be put in question. Yet this seemed to be
+a probable eventuality. In these circumstances, a victory of the South
+would mean a defeat of the North, the country would be divided against
+itself and the Union would be destroyed. This was particularly to be
+feared if the powers of the Federal Government were enlarged. Leaving
+aside all question of principle as to the moral merit of the questions
+under dispute, Jefferson tried to show, on the one hand, that it was
+impossible ever to organize a centralized form of government for the
+simple reason that the United States were too big and covered a
+territory much too large. If a centralized government were established
+on paper, it would be necessary to have many agents of the Federal
+Government with extensive powers distributed over all the States, and
+because of their very remoteness they would be beyond the possibility
+of continuous control. This could only mean corruption, plunder, and
+waste. On the other hand, since on fundamental questions it was
+impossible to bring into accord the North and the South, the true and
+only remedy was to minimize the chances of conflict and to reduce to a
+minimum the powers and attributes of the Federal Government. "The true
+theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the
+States are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as
+to everything respecting foreign nations." Once more, therefore, he came
+back to the original theory of 1776 that, in forming a social compact,
+liberty is exchanged for security and only those rights are given up
+which the members of the new society have not full power to enforce.
+Thus his theory of State rights was not only well founded in theory but
+proved by practice and experience. Any other system would almost
+necessarily conduce to a secession. The man who wrote these lines in the
+summer of 1800, more than half a century before the Civil War, was
+certainly not an ordinary politician; his was the clear farsightedness
+of a great statesman and true political philosopher.
+
+Furthermore, in the controversy which had been going on since 1793,
+Jefferson had been submitted to fierce criticism on every possible
+ground: as he wrote to McGregory, "the floodgates of calumny had been
+opened upon him." It had been particularly distressing to him to see
+that the religious issue had been injected into politics. There is no
+doubt that his Bill for Religious Freedom proceeded, not from hostility
+to religion, but from a deep and sincere conviction, reached after
+careful study of the evidence available that "in law" there ought to be
+no connection between the Church and the State and that if any had ever
+been established, it was due to monkish fabrications and usurpations.
+That he had turned against himself some of the Episcopalian clergy of
+Virginia was quite natural, but before he went to France these attacks
+were necessarily limited and did not extend beyond the borders of the
+State or take the aspect of a national question.
+
+When, on the contrary, he began to be criticized for his supposed foible
+for the French Revolution, such attacks became far more pressing. The
+excesses of the Revolution were attributed to the infidel doctrines of
+the French philosophers; and, being "contaminated" by French political
+philosophy, Jefferson was naturally accused of having brought back from
+France its atheism. These views received confirmation when he befriended
+Volney and Priestley, one a confirmed atheist, as Priestley himself had
+demonstrated, the other a Unitarian--which in the eyes of the orthodox
+clergy was possibly worse. The attacks from the pulpit became more
+numerous, and a clergyman of New York, a close friend of Hamilton, even
+published a pamphlet entitled "The voice of Warning to Christians on
+ensuing election", in which Jefferson was accused of having answered to
+a certain Doctor Smith, who expressed his surprise at the condition of a
+church: "It is good enough for Him who was born in a manger."
+
+Considering, on the other hand, that a large portion of the clergy were
+enrolled under the Federalist banner, Jefferson had come to the
+conclusion that the clergy had "a very favorite hope of obtaining an
+establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United
+States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one
+perhaps hopes for his own, especially the Episcopalians and the
+Congregationalists." Whether this was so absolutely untrue or
+impossible, as some historians seem to believe, is a question far too
+difficult to answer and one which probably cannot be solved. On the face
+of things it does seem that there was in it a grain of truth, for no
+human organization, whether ecclesiastical or civil, ever relinquishes
+voluntarily the smallest particle of power or prestige.
+
+One thing, however, is certain: if Jefferson had said the word, the
+religious issue would have been injected into the campaign; and some of
+his friends, believing that "Christianity was the strong ground of
+Republicanism", were urging him to give his consent, for it was only
+necessary for "Republicanism to ally itself to the Christian religion,
+to overturn all the corrupted political and religious institutions in
+the world."[404] But this was for Jefferson a forbidden subject. He had
+"sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of
+tyranny over the mind of man"; he had formed "a view of the subject
+which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor the Deists
+and would reconcile many to a character they have too hastily rejected";
+but this was not the time or the place to discuss matters that ought to
+be reserved for a calm and dispassionate discussion between friends, so
+he refused to authorize the publication of any statement referring to
+his religious views.[405]
+
+In the meantime the political campaign was going on and the Federalists'
+affairs were assuming a decidedly unhealthy complexion. How this
+happened is a story of extraordinary intrigue and machination, already
+told several times and still a delight to historians fond of studying
+political deals. To a large extent the victory of the Republicans was
+due to divisions in the Federalist camp and it came to pass that no
+other man did more than Hamilton to assure Jefferson's success. From the
+beginning, the former leader of the Federalists had set himself against
+Adams, employing every effort to have Pinckney receive the first place
+in the nomination. The first sign of a Federalist defeat appeared in New
+York State, where Burr had his headquarters and had so cleverly
+maneuvered things that the State went Republican at the April election.
+This was a personal defeat for Hamilton and also a terrible blow to the
+Federalists. Then Adams went into one of those fits of anger which make
+him such a picturesque figure; he decided that he had been betrayed by
+his Cabinet, summarily dismissed his Secretary of War, McHenry, and
+offered Pickering an opportunity to resign, which the Secretary of State
+did not choose to take. Thereupon the President informed him that he
+"discharged him from further service in the Cabinet." He then called
+into the Cabinet John Marshall of Virginia as Secretary of State and
+Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts as Secretary of War. From that time on,
+the political campaign reads as if the leaders of the Federalists had
+really lost their heads. Hamilton bent all his efforts towards holding
+another election in New York and, failing in that, towards preventing
+Adams from obtaining a majority. The affair culminated in the
+publication of a pamphlet, entitled "The true conduct and character of
+John Adams, Esq. President of the United States", pointing out the
+weakness of Adams' character. The pamphlet was intended for private
+distribution, but it found its way into the hands of the Republicans;
+Aaron Burr had parts of it printed in the _New London Bee_ and the whole
+was soon to be given to the public. When the whole pamphlet came out, it
+added more fuel to the raging controversy. This is only one incident,
+but not the least significant, among the many so vividly related by Mr.
+Bowers.
+
+The electoral colleges met in each State on December 4. Returns came in
+slowly to Washington but by the thirteenth it was known, in so far as
+could be, that the Federalists were defeated; it also appeared that
+there was a tie between the two Republican candidates. At this juncture
+Jefferson, who had remained perfectly silent, took the matter in hand
+and calmly assumed that he would be elected. To Robert R. Livingston,
+brother of Edward Livingston who was a member of Congress from New York,
+Jefferson wrote a letter congratulating him on his communications to the
+American Philosophical Society and discussing quite seriously the
+discovery "of some large bones supposed to be of the mammoth" in the
+vicinity of New York. Then, as in an afterthought, he mentioned the
+political situation. The matter of the election was as good as settled:
+"We may, therefore, venture to hazard propositions on that hypothesis
+without being justly subjected to raillery or ridicule." "To put the
+vessel on a Republican tack", they would require the entire coöperation
+of "men who could at once inspire the nation with perfect confidence in
+their honesty and talents", and Jefferson asked Livingston whether he
+would not assume the Secretaryship of the Navy. That in his own mind he
+considered the election well over appears in the sentence in which he
+speaks, not as a candidate but as the leader of his party, and as if no
+other hypothesis could enter his mind: "Though I have been too honorably
+placed in front of those who are to enter the breach so happily made,
+yet the energies of every individual are necessary, and in the very
+place where his energies can most serve the enterprise."[406]
+
+The next day he wrote in the same vein to Aaron Burr to congratulate him
+in no uncertain terms on his election as Vice President, expressing his
+regrets that this distinction would prevent him from availing himself of
+the services of Burr in the Cabinet. He based his conclusion on the
+assurance he had received that South Carolina would withdraw one vote
+from Burr, that Smith of Tennessee would give its second vote to
+Gallatin. It was also surmised that the vote of Georgia would not be
+entire. This would leave Burr well ahead of Adams but decidedly in the
+second place. Jefferson indicated that several of the Federalists had
+expressed the hope that "the two Republican tickets may be equal" and in
+that case they expected to prevent a choice by the House and "let the
+Government devolve on a President of the Senate." Then came a gently
+insinuating sentence: "Decency required that I should be so entirely
+passive during the late contest that I have never once asked whether
+arrangements had been made to prevent so many from dropping votes
+intentionally, as might frustrate half the Republican wish; nor did I
+doubt till lately that such had been made." In the last paragraph,
+Jefferson, refusing even to consider that Burr might aspire to the
+presidency, indicated that he considered the matter as settled and
+firmly put Burr where he belonged:
+
+  While I must congratulate you, my dear Sir, on the issue of this
+  contest, because it is more honorable, and doubtless more grateful to
+  you than any station within the competence of the chief magistrate,
+  yet for myself, and for the substantial service of the public,
+  I feel most sensibly the loss we sustain of your aid in the new
+  administration. It leaves a chasm in my arrangements, which cannot
+  be adequately filled up.
+
+If we put things together, the letter of Jefferson certainly meant first
+that the time had come to make some "arrangements" to thwart the schemes
+of the Federalists; second, that a tie was almost certain, and finally
+that it was up to Burr to declare that he was not running for the
+presidency.
+
+This conclusion is all the more probable because three days later,
+writing to John Breckenridge, Jefferson did not mention again Georgia
+and Tennessee, but declared that "we are brought into a dilemma by the
+probable equality of the two Republican candidates." Then he added: "The
+Federalists in Congress mean to take advantage of this, and either to
+prevent an election altogether, or reverse what has been understood to
+have been the wishes of the people, as to the President and
+Vice-President; wishes which the Constitution did not permit them
+specially to designate."[407] Nothing could be clearer; it was to some
+extent the situation of 1796, but reversed as to the candidates, and
+Jefferson expected that Burr would do the right thing by him.
+
+This, however, was not so obvious to Burr himself. The letter he sent in
+reply to Jefferson must have been most disappointing in this respect.
+The colonel side-stepped the issue, refused to come out frankly and did
+not write a single line that could be constructed as an acceptance of
+Jefferson's point of view. On December 31, Jefferson wrote to Tench Coxe
+to express his opinion that an agreement between the two higher
+candidates was their only hope "to prevent the dissolution of the
+Government and a danger of anarchy, by an operation, bungling indeed and
+imperfect, but better than letting the Legislature take the nomination
+of the Executive entirely from the people."[408]
+
+This could have been construed as a hint to Burr to give up his unavowed
+hopes of becoming President. But Burr, who was in New York, could not
+easily be communicated with and kept his sphinxlike silence. January
+passed without Jefferson's finding any necessity of writing any
+political letters. With Hugh Williamson he discussed the range of
+temperature in Louisiana and whether the turkey was a native bird:[409]
+with William Dunbar the temperature, Indian vocabularies and the origin
+of the rainbow.
+
+In February, however, he again wrote to Burr. He had been informed that
+certain individuals were attempting "to sow tares between us that might
+divide us and our friends." He assured Burr that he had never written
+anything that could be regarded as injurious by his running mate; the
+only time that he had discussed his conduct was in a letter to
+Breckenridge written on December 18, in which he had expressed the
+conviction that the wishes of the people were that he and not Burr be
+President. That was a pure statement of fact at which no man could take
+offense. This time, Burr apparently did not answer at all, and while the
+House was preparing for the balloting, Jefferson discussed with Caspar
+Wistar the bones found in the State of New York, "the vertebra, part of
+the jaw, with two grinders, the tusks, which some have called the
+horns, the sternum, the scapula, the tibia and fibula, the tarsus and
+metatarsus, and even the phalanges and innominata."[410]
+
+On the morning of the election and before going to the Capitol he wrote
+to Tench Coxe: "Which of the two will be elected, and whether either, I
+deem perfectly problematical: and my mind has long been equally made up
+for either of the three events." This was on a Wednesday. After the
+result of the election had been officially announced, the House retired
+to proceed to the election of the President. Ballots were taken,
+Jefferson receiving eight States, Burr six, nine being necessary to a
+choice. The House stayed in continuous session till eight o'clock the
+next morning, taking twenty-seven ballots without any change in the
+results; members of the House dozing between ballots, snatching a bit of
+sleep whenever they could, all of them admiring the fortitude of Joseph
+N. Nicholson who, although sick in bed, had been brought to the House
+and rested in a committee room, voting at each ballot. The House
+adjourned until eleven o'clock on Friday and then took two successive
+ballots without being able to break the deadlock. On Saturday three
+ballots were taken without any change in the alignment, and they
+adjourned until Monday. In the meantime passions were raging. The
+Federalists had been told in no equivocal terms that, should they
+attempt to have the Government devolve to some member of the present
+administration, "the day such an act would pass, the Middle States would
+arm" and that "no such usurpation would be tolerated even for a single
+day."
+
+On the other hand, Jefferson had been approached by the more sensible
+heads of the Federalists, and apparently by Gouverneur Morris, who
+stopped him as he was coming out from the Senate Chamber, and had
+offered to influence one member of Vermont, provided he would declare:
+"1. that he would not turn all the Federalists out of office; 2. that
+he would not reduce the navy; and 3. would not wipe off the public
+debt." To which Jefferson answered that he would not become President by
+capitulation and would not make any declaration. Then he went to see
+Adams, who seemed ready to approve of the choice of Jefferson as
+President and who told him that he could have himself elected by
+subscribing to conditions analogous to those indicated by Morris.
+Finally he was visited in his room by Dwight Foster, senator from
+Massachusetts, who also reiterated the same offer. These are,
+undoubtedly, some of the maneuvers he mentioned on Sunday, the day of
+rest, in a letter he wrote to Monroe: "Many attempts have been made to
+obtain terms and promises from me, I have declared to them
+unequivocally, that I would not receive the government on capitulation,
+that I would not go into it with my hands tied."[411]
+
+On Sunday and Monday parleyings went on, caucuses were held, and no
+change was yet apparent. But on Tuesday morning an agreement was
+reached. It was described by Jefferson himself as follows:
+
+"Morris of Vermont withdrew, which made Lyon's vote that of his State.
+The Maryland Federalists put in four blanks, which made the positive
+ticket of their colleagues the vote of the State. South Carolina and
+Delaware put in six blanks, so there were ten states for one candidate,
+four for another, and two blanks." And the speaker of the House,
+Theodore Sedgwick, one of Jefferson's bitterest enemies, was forced to
+announce his election.
+
+The letter he wrote to Monroe the same day is not a pæan of triumph. The
+long-disputed victory, the irreducibility of a large portion of the
+Federalists, made him fearful lest the fight would soon renew.
+Furthermore, Adams had at once started making new appointments,
+naturally without consulting his successor; Bayard was nominated
+plenipotentiary to the French Republic, "Theophilus Parsons, Attorney
+General of the United States in the room of C. Lee, who, with Keith
+Taylor _cum multis aliis_ are appointed judges under the new system. H.
+G. Otis is nominated a District Attorney."[412]
+
+On his side, Jefferson wrote at once to Henry Dearborn to offer him the
+Secretaryship of War in his Cabinet and courteously communicated with
+Dexter, Secretary of the Treasury, and Stoddart, Secretary of the Navy,
+to thank them for their offer to conduct the affairs of their
+departments pending the arrival of their successors. To a certain Major
+William Jackson whom he did not know and who had written him to express
+the fear that he would discriminate against commerce, he answered that
+he "might appeal to evidences of his attention to the commerce and
+navigation of our country in different stations connected with them."
+
+This was an evident allusion to his mission to France and to the
+activity he had displayed in defending the commercial interests of the
+United States. He resented particularly the fact that he had been
+represented as a friend to agriculture and an enemy to commerce, "the
+only means of disposing of its products."[413] The true position of
+Jefferson on this matter has already been pointed out in a preceding
+chapter; but the fact that the letter was written the very day he was
+notified of his election is proof enough that he already intended to
+conciliate both the agricultural and the commercial interests of the
+country. To the smoothing over of old differences of opinion he bent all
+his efforts during the three weeks that separated him from his
+inauguration. Bayard having refused his appointment to France, he
+approached at once Robert R. Livingston, intending to give the
+nomination to the Senate at the first opportunity. At the same time he
+repeated that the great body of the Federalist troops was discouraged
+and truly repentant, or disposed to come back into the fold. Those who
+were so inclined should be received with open arms for "If we can once
+more get social intercourse restored to its pristine harmony, I shall
+believe we have not lived in vain; and that it may, by rallying them to
+true Republican principles, which few of them had thrown off, I
+sanguinely hope."[414]
+
+He resigned from the Chair of the Senate on the twenty-eighth, and made
+the necessary preparations for the inauguration. The ceremonies were to
+be very simple but dignified. John Marshall, Chief Justice of the
+Supreme Court, was asked by Jefferson himself to administer the oath,
+and on March 4, 1801, the new President was inaugurated, while John
+Adams, who had refused to welcome his successor, was starting on his way
+to New England.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK FIVE
+
+_The Presidency_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"ALL REPUBLICANS, ALL FEDERALISTS"
+
+
+The battle over, Jefferson's first and only desire seems to have been to
+bring about a reunion of the former political opponents. He had hardly
+been elected when he declared that he was not the choice of one party,
+but that the analysis of the last ballot showed clearly that "the former
+federalists have found themselves aggregated with us and that they are
+in a state of mind to be aggregated with us."[415]
+
+And this, much to the surprise and disappointment of the militants who
+had fought the hard battle with him and for him, was the keynote of his
+inaugural speech. Throwing overboard his former defense of the French
+Revolution, he did not hesitate to attribute the political storm which
+the ship had just weathered to the baneful influence of European
+disturbances:
+
+  During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the
+  agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and
+  slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the
+  agitation of the billows would reach even this distant and peaceful
+  shore; 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 principles.
+
+Then came the final and definitive formula: "We are all republicans--we
+are all federalists."
+
+In more than one sense this was the most characteristic and the most
+masterly of Jefferson's political utterances. The battle of Capitol Hill
+was ended, the last streamers of smoke had floated away and America had
+found herself: "a rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land,
+traversing all the seas with the rich productions of her industry,
+engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right,
+advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eyes."
+
+This was not written simply for effect and for the public eye. To
+Monroe, Jefferson had declared that the policy of the new administration
+would not be a policy of reprisals. The victory had been won partly
+through the repentance of former Federalists who had seen their error,
+and during the awful suspense of the week of the eleventh to the
+seventeenth of February, had feared that the country would become a prey
+to anarchy. These he welcomed back into the fold; the leaders, of
+course, were irreconcilable, but the majority were to be forgiven, and
+few removals from office were to be made on the ground of political
+divergences of opinion. "Some, I know, must be made. They must be as few
+as possible, done gradually, and bottomed on some malversation or
+inherent disqualification."[416]
+
+Of the thousands of Federal officers in the United States, the President
+estimated that not twenty would have to be removed, while in two or
+three instances, officers removed by Mr. Adams for refusing to sign
+addresses were to be restored. Jefferson realized that by so acting and
+"stopping thus short in the career of removal" he would give offense to
+many of his friends, and he added with some melancholy: "That torrent
+has been pressing me heavily, and will require all my force to bear up
+against; but my maxim is "fiat justitia, ruat cælum."[417]
+
+All this sounds perfectly sincere and true. Even the most superficial
+consideration of Jefferson's life would convince any one that he was not
+a man of vindictive character. By nature a pacifier and a harmonizer,
+nothing would have been farther from his program than to revive the old
+fires and to prolong party strifes. But if it takes only one to declare
+war, it takes two to make peace, and the defeated party was in no
+peaceful mood. Hamilton was removed from the scene, and the form of
+government was apparently definitively settled by the election of
+Jefferson, but the Federalists had not given up every hope; they were
+still strongly intrenched and the battle went on during all of
+Jefferson's administration. It was not so spectacular as the fight with
+Hamilton, for the chief protagonist, John Marshall, lacked the dramatic
+qualities of the former leader of the Federalists; but it was no less
+momentous and no less important for the destinies of the United States.
+
+When it came to actual removals, however, difficulties arose
+immediately. Whether in all cases Jefferson was rightly advised or
+inspired is open to question. The wisdom of appointing Samuel Bishop, a
+man of "sound understanding, pure integrity and unstained character", as
+collector of New Haven may be doubted, and there was something
+undeniably worth considering in the protest of New Haven merchants, that
+a man seventy-seven years old was unfit for such an office. The incident
+in itself was paltry, but the letter written by the President in answer
+to the protest put once again into light that curious mixture of
+theoretical idealism and practical political sense so remarkable in
+Jefferson. After all, the Federalists had begun with filling every
+office with their partisans and it was necessary to reëstablish a just
+balance, even if some individuals had to suffer. If the rights of the
+minority could not be ignored, the majority had its rights also and
+could not submit to the monopoly claimed by the Federalists: "Total
+exclusions," concluded the President, "call for prompt corrections. I
+shall correct the procedure; but that done, return with joy to that
+state of things, when only questions concerning a candidate shall be, is
+he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?"[418] In
+other words, Jefferson was not ready to proclaim the principle so
+frankly avowed later "to the victor belong the spoils." His principle
+was and remained absolutely different. But he considered that he was
+confronted by a situation which had to be remedied without any delay,
+and in his behavior he reminds one in some way of the French publicist
+who, although theoretically opposed to the death penalty, declared,
+"_Que messieurs les assassins commencent_!" Certainly this is not the
+pure and exalted morality of the political philosopher, but neither is
+it the cynical attitude of the political "boss", and one may wonder how
+many men who have occupied high offices would stand better than
+Jefferson in this respect if documents were available and could be
+subjected to the same scrutiny.
+
+The fact remains, however, that during the battle from which he had come
+out victorious, Jefferson had to employ and sometimes associate with men
+whose character was not absolutely spotless. The presence of Aaron Burr
+in the government was already a thorn in his side. It was also
+particularly unfortunate that he had given aid and assistance to
+Callender, whose scurrilous attacks against Adams went far beyond a
+legitimate discussion of public utterances and actions of a man at the
+head of the government. Callender had been sentenced under the Sedition
+Act to a term in jail and liberated by Jefferson with all the other
+victims of the act when he took office. It was even more unfortunate
+that the pamphlet of Callender, "The Prospect Before Us", was reprinted
+under a modified title as the "History of the Administration of John
+Adams" more than a year after the new administration had taken hold of
+things. It was also regrettable that the son of John Adams should have
+been removed from office after the election. Soon after the death of
+Jefferson's younger daughter, Mrs. Adams, who had befriended the little
+girl when she arrived in London all alone in 1787, wrote to the bereaved
+father to express her sympathy. Jefferson took the opportunity to
+reassert his personal friendship for John Adams. He could not help
+mentioning, however, that one act of Adams' administration he had to
+consider as personally unkind, his last appointment to office of
+Jefferson's most ardent political enemies.[419] This letter called for
+an answer, and Mrs. Adams was not a woman to miss an opportunity to
+express her husband's views and her own on the removal of Federal judges
+and particularly of John Quincy. Thus Jefferson was led to write a final
+letter in which he expressed more clearly than he had done anywhere else
+his opinion on the judiciary and on the place it should occupy in the
+general scheme of government. To understand this letter fully it is
+necessary to go back to the beginnings of Jefferson's administration.
+
+The original draft of Jefferson's message to Congress, December 8, 1801,
+contained a paragraph which, after more mature reflection, the President
+decided to omit "as capable of being chicaned, and furnishing something
+to the opposition to make a handle of."[420] In it Jefferson held the
+theory that the three powers existing in any government had been
+distributed among three equal authorities, constituting each a check on
+one or both the others. The President asserted that each of these three
+branches of the government had a right "to decide on the validity of an
+act according to its own judgment and uncontrouled by the opinions of
+any other department." According to this theory, even if opposition
+developed among different departments, no permanent ill could ensue,
+since at the next election the people were at liberty to refuse to
+reëlect those whose interpretation seemed erroneous.
+
+Jefferson's disapproval of the Sedition Act had been known for a long
+time; he had a right to assume that his election meant that the people
+approved of his position and to make this declaration:
+
+  On mature deliberation, in the presence of the nation, and under
+  the tie of the solemn oath which binds me to them and to my duty,
+  I do declare that I hold that act in palpable and unqualified
+  contradiction to the constitution, considering it then as a nullity,
+  I have relieved from oppression under it those of my fellow citizens
+  who were within the reach of the functions confided to me.
+
+In its final form the message was far less provocative. It simply
+contained the statement that "the judiciary system ... and especially
+that portion of it recently enacted, will, of course, present itself to
+the contemplation of Congress." But the Federalists and particularly
+Marshall were not placated by this apparent moderation; they knew that
+the assault against the judiciary was about to begin. The debate between
+Federalists and Republicans had already been transferred to another
+ground.
+
+No better account of it can be found than the chapters written on the
+subject by Albert J. Beveridge in his "Life of Marshall." It must be
+remembered, however, that Beveridge's account was necessarily colored by
+his own political views, as were the views of most historians of the
+subject.[421] One of the first episodes of the battle was the repeal of
+the Judiciary Act passed in 1801 by the Federalists, in order to
+reorganize the Supreme Court and to increase the number of Federal
+judges. This was immediately followed by the impeachment of Judge
+Pickering, the deposition of Judge Addison by the Senate of
+Pennsylvania, and the famous decision given by Marshall on "Marbury
+versus Madison." These incidents were of unequal importance and
+significance. It was recognized by Pickering's friends and family that
+the judge was half-demented and for several years had been unable to
+fulfill his duties. But since the Act of 1801 had been repealed, no one
+seemed to have authority at the time to remove the judge from office.
+The Pickering case simply provided the Republicans with an opportunity
+to test out their favorite contention, that impeachment was unrestricted
+and could be enforced against any officer of the government deemed
+undesirable by two thirds of the Senate.
+
+Of far greater importance was the decision of Marshall in "Marbury
+versus Madison." The senior member of the Supreme Court formulated on
+this occasion a doctrine on the powers of the Court which, although
+never written in the Constitution, was to obtain final recognition and
+which to this day had remained one of the many unwritten laws of the
+land. Another most curious situation this, so disconcerting to
+historians and observers trained in the principles of Roman law, but
+often recurring in American politics and administrative life. The case
+itself was of no importance. Marbury was one of the "midnight judges"
+whose commission, signed by Adams, had been withheld by Madison, on the
+theory that the powers of the former President to make appointments had
+really expired, not on the third of March, 1801, at midnight, but on the
+day his successor was elected. It was maintained by the administration
+that the commission not having been delivered Marbury had no right to
+take office and to sit on the bench. Marbury had appealed to the Supreme
+Court, but the sessions of the Court being suspended for fourteen months
+by Congress, Marshall had at first no opportunity to declare himself
+publicly on the matter.
+
+When he finally passed on the case, the Chief Justice saw at once that
+his hour had come, and gave his definition of the powers of the Court in
+its relation to the executive and the legislative. Curiously enough, as
+Beveridge remarked, the matter had never before come up and would have
+remained undecided for a long time, if this particular juncture had not
+made it a question of paramount importance for the destinies of the
+country. Briefly summed up, the theory of Marshall, shorn of its legal
+phraseology, was this: The happiness of the American people rested on
+certain principles embodied in the Constitution. These principles could
+not be altered by legislation; if, however, the legislative passed a law
+evidently contrary to the Constitution, there must be for the individual
+some recourse, some means of asserting his rights. In cases where
+Congress adopts laws contrary to the Constitution, these laws must be
+void. On this principle Jefferson and Marshall were in complete
+agreement. But from that point on they differed widely. The next
+question was to determine where does the power rest to declare a law
+unconstitutional? With the Executive and even with the States, Jefferson
+had first declared in his draft of 1801. With the Supreme Court,
+answered Marshall; for this is essentially a judicial function. Under
+this construction, the Constitution remains the supreme law of the land,
+but it is within the powers attributed by the Constitution to the
+judiciary, for the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of
+an act passed by the legislature. Thus the Court is not placed above the
+Constitution, but its judges stand as the keepers and interpreters of
+the superior law of the country.
+
+Jefferson did not engage directly in a controversy with Marshall and
+held his peace. But, as he was wont, he seized another opportunity to
+express his views on the subject, and he did it in his letter written to
+Mrs. Adams on September 11, 1804. In this, he maintained that "nothing
+in the Constitution has given the judges a right to decide for the
+Executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them. Both
+magistrates are equally independent in the sphere of action assigned to
+them." Judges believing a law to be constitutional have a right to pass
+sentences. But "the Executive believing the law to be unconstitutional
+were bound to remit the execution of it; because that power has been
+confided to them by the Constitution." What he did not say on this
+occasion, but repeated on many others, was that, the ultimate source of
+authority resting in the people, it was for the people to decide at the
+next election in case a conflict of interpretation should arise between
+any of the three branches of the government. In case of a conflict
+between the judiciary and the legislative, however, impeachment
+proceedings could be initiated and judges removed in a regular and,
+according to him, perfectly constitutional way.
+
+It must be recognized here that the position taken by Jefferson was
+perfectly logical, far more logical than the interpretation given out by
+Marshall. Whether Jefferson's theory would have worked out
+satisfactorily is quite another matter. It is only too evident that
+perfectly logical constructions do not always fit the complexity and
+contradictions of human affairs. The system of democracy which was
+Jefferson's ideal at that time might have worked in the case of a New
+England town meeting; it would have been more difficult to apply to the
+government of a State. In the case of a large and growing federation of
+States, it would have injected into presidential and congressional
+elections constant elements of discord and bitterness. Thus the cost of
+liberty would not have been eternal vigilance, but eternal strife and
+political dissensions.
+
+It may even be doubted whether Jefferson would ever have entertained
+such an extreme theory if at that time he had not been moved by
+immediate considerations. He had come to see in the judiciary, as it was
+constituted after the appointments made by Adams, an institution
+endangering the very life of the Republic. As for Marshall, who had
+hurled a challenge at the executive and the legislative branches of the
+government, it had to be ascertained whether some means could not be
+found to remove him from office.
+
+That such was the ultimate intent of the Republican leaders was
+understood generally when proceedings were started to impeach Judge
+Chase of the Supreme Court. As in the case of Pickering, the
+Republicans had carefully selected the card they intended to play. Was
+he not the very man who had sentenced Fries to the gallows and Callender
+to jail, who had been relentless in his application of the Sedition Act
+and in the prosecution of Republicans? He had finally, and this was the
+immediate ground for his impeachment, bitterly criticized from the bench
+the repeal of the Federal judiciary act, and predicted that the country
+would be enslaved by mob tyranny and that soon "they would all establish
+the worst kind of government known to man."
+
+The impeachment proceedings took place in the Senate room elaborately
+decorated for the occasion with a display of crimson, green, and blue
+cloth draping the rows of benches and the sections reserved for the
+heads of departments, foreign ministers, members of the House, and the
+general public. The Senate convened to hear the case on February 4,
+1805, and for almost a month all other business was practically
+suspended. But it was far more than the fate of a single judge which was
+going to be decided. On the decision of the Senate hung not only the
+future of the Constitution but probably the fate of the Union. For New
+England had already on several occasions threatened secession; the North
+resented what was already termed "Virginia tyranny", and it was to be
+feared that these feelings of disaffection might be strengthened. It was
+also the most exciting ceremony the new capital had yet witnessed, and
+the formalities of the proceedings, the effort to clothe them with
+dignity and solemnity, presented a strange contrast with the uncouth
+appearance of the city itself, with its ramshackle boarding houses, its
+muddy streets, and surrounding wilderness.
+
+The debates provided a rare occasion for an extraordinary display of
+American eloquence. This is not one of the least surprises to a student
+of American civilization, to discover the taste of the people as a whole
+for oratory and the remarkable gift of American orators for long
+speeches, even in the early days. Scarcely less surprising was the
+capacity of American audiences to listen patiently for long hours and
+with apparent interest to discussions and debates. It seems as if the
+gift attributed by Cæsar to the Gauls of old had been transferred to the
+new continent and to a people racially much different. Oratory was to a
+certain extent a new art, for few occasions were offered in the colonial
+times for long political speeches; but even in the early days of the
+Revolution, born orators appeared and since that time have filled the
+legislative halls with an inexhaustible flow of eloquence. This is said
+without the least irony and merely as another illustration of the danger
+of generalizing when discussing national characteristics. To the point
+these speeches were, perhaps, but they were not short by any means. A
+careful study of the development of the American school of oratory would
+certainly repay a specialist in the history of public speaking.
+
+During the session, the oratorical stars were Luther Martin of Maryland,
+who spoke for Chase, and John Randolph, who summed up the case for the
+administration. It appeared, however, when the final vote was taken,
+that Jefferson had not been able to keep his party in hand. There were
+thirty-four senators, of whom nine were Federalists and twenty-five
+Republicans. Twenty-two votes were necessary to convict, but the
+administration was able to muster only sixteen for impeachment, and on
+one count Chase was proved unanimously "not guilty." For the time being
+John Marshall was safe, and the acquittal of Chase was undoubtedly a
+personal defeat for the President.
+
+This wound to his _amour-propre_ was compensated by the success of the
+last election. Jefferson had been reëlected without opposition; the
+strength of the Federalists as a separate party had dwindled to the
+vanishing point, and only three days separated him from the beginning of
+his second term. But everybody understood that the matter at issue had
+not been settled and that another test would have to be made. The very
+day Chase was acquitted, John Randolph introduced a resolution proposing
+an amendment to the Constitution, to the effect that "The judges of the
+Supreme Court, and of all other courts of the United States, shall be
+removed by the President on the joint addresses of both Houses of
+Congress requesting the same, anything in the Constitution of the United
+States notwithstanding." This was referred to a committee and, as
+Congress had only three more days to sit, it was decided by sixty-eight
+votes against thirty-three that the motion would be made the order of
+the day for the first Monday in December.
+
+The assault against the judiciary constitutes one of the most striking
+episodes of Jefferson's first administration and has received its due
+share at the hands of American historians. It must not be forgotten,
+however, that even in other respects the President had no easy sailing.
+The friend of Priestley, Thomas Cooper, Volney, and Thomas Paine
+continued to be represented in the press and in the public as the
+champion of infidelity. The President could not engage in any
+controversy in order to justify himself but, according to his favorite
+methods, he encouraged his friends to hit back, and he became more and
+more convinced that the intrusion of the churches into politics was one
+of the worst evils that could befall any country. He soon came to the
+conclusion that many members of the clergy were unworthy to speak in the
+name of the great teacher; that the Christian doctrine had degenerated
+in their hands, and that no true religion could long exist when it was
+intrusted to the priests. Hence the many expressions of his preference
+for the Quakers so often found in his correspondence.
+
+  The mild and simple principles of the Christian philosophy would
+  produce too much calm; too much regularity of good, to extract from
+  its disciples a support from a numerous priesthood, were they not to
+  sophisticate it, split it into hairs, and twist its texts till they
+  cover the divine morality of its author with mysteries, and require
+  the priesthood to explain them. The Quakers seem to have discovered
+  this. They have no priests, therefore no schisms. They judge of the
+  text by the dictates of common sense and common morality.[422]
+
+The indignation of the Federalists and the clergy reached a paroxysm
+when it was discovered that the President had not only invited Paine to
+come to America but had even promised him passage on a public vessel.
+For Paine was no longer remembered as the eloquent political writer who
+in prophetic accents had celebrated the uniqueness of America's position
+in the world. He was the detestable atheist who had participated in the
+bloody excesses of the French Revolution--a wretch unworthy of being
+thus honored by a Christian nation. Once more religion was injected into
+politics. The President was bitterly reproved by the New England clergy
+for having refused to proclaim days of fasting and thanksgivings as his
+predecessors had done, and Jefferson, who would have preferred to let
+sleeping dogs lie, had to come out and explain his position on an
+alliance between "Church and State, under the authority of the
+Constitution."[423]
+
+That Jefferson, who was so restive under public criticism, suffered even
+more than he dared admit appears in many passages of his letters. "Every
+word of mine," he wrote to Mazzei, "which they can get hold of, however
+innocent, however orthodox, is twisted, tormented, perverted, and like
+the words of holy writ, are made to mean everything but what they were
+intended to mean."[424] The whole subject is not an easy one to treat
+and cannot be discussed here; but it would be very difficult to reach a
+fair estimate of internal politics during Jefferson's first
+administration if that element of hostility were entirely left out. We
+can only express the hope that some day it will receive due attention.
+An investigation of the New England papers and Church publications of
+the time would undoubtedly bring to light many hidden currents of
+hostility.
+
+But, in spite of these difficulties, the new administration went ahead
+with a program of political reforms of great moment. No tradition for
+the respective duties of the Cabinet members and their relation to the
+President had yet been established. Under Washington's administration
+letters sent to the President were referred by him to the departments
+concerned to be acted upon, and letters sent to the department heads
+were submitted to the President with a proposed answer. Generally they
+were sent back with his approbation; sometimes an alteration was
+suggested, and when the subject was particularly important it was
+reserved for a conference. In this manner Washington always was in
+accurate possession of all facts and proceedings in all parts of the
+Union. This procedure had been impossible to follow during Adams'
+administration, owing to the long and habitual absences of the President
+from the seat of government, and little by little the department heads
+had assumed more and more responsibility, with the result that the
+government had four different heads "drawing sometimes in different
+directions." This usurpation of powers and this maladministration
+Jefferson meant to end. In a very courteous, but very firm manner, he
+reminded the members of the Cabinet that the President had been
+intrusted with a certain set of duties incumbent upon him and for which
+he was responsible before the public, and that he considered it
+necessary to return to the procedure followed by Washington. What had
+been an informal custom was to become a regular and official routine; it
+entailed an enormous expenditure of time on the part of the President, a
+great flexibility of mind, and a necessity of adapting himself to many
+different problems in the course of one day. To a large extent,
+Jefferson is responsible for placing on the shoulders of the chief
+executive the enormous load under which several Presidents have broken
+down.
+
+This was not the most conspicuous reform introduced by Jefferson in the
+plan of government, yet it was one of the most important. Of no less
+consequence was the reform of the financial system of the United States.
+The privilege of the bank had still several years to run, but many other
+modifications could be introduced at once. Hamilton had multiplied the
+number of internal taxes and at the same time the number of Federal
+office-holders in order to strengthen his hold on the government. These
+had to be done away with, as well as the abominable excise taxes which
+had created so many difficulties under the preceding administrations.
+They were at best a temporary expedient, to be resorted to only in case
+of war, and the Federal Government had to make an effort to return to
+the more orthodox system of bringing its expenditures within the limits
+of revenue raised by taxes on importations. This was perfectly
+consistent with Jefferson's theory of the State rights and the general
+functions of the Federal Government. To substitute economy for taxation,
+to reduce the debt as rapidly as possible, to keep down the expenses for
+the navy and the army,--such was the policy of the new administration,
+and in his second annual message on December 15, 1802, Jefferson could
+point out with pleasure that "in the department of finance the receipts
+of external duties for the last twelve months have exceeded those of any
+former year." To care for the Louisiana Purchase, Gallatin recommended a
+loan of $11,250,000, running for fifteen years and carrying a six per
+cent. interest. But in his fourth message the President declared that
+"the state of our finances continues to fulfill our expectations. Eleven
+million and a half dollars received in the course of the year ending on
+the thirtieth of September last, have enabled us, after meeting all the
+ordinary expenses of the year, to pay upward of $3,600,000 of the public
+debt, exclusive of interest." Thus it was amply demonstrated that the
+financial structure of the Federal Government had not been endangered by
+a departure from Hamilton's policies. It is worth noting also that
+Jefferson's party, at that time, stood for a strong tariff, while the
+last Federalists advocated internal taxes. In that respect, at least, it
+is hardly possible to say that the present-day Democrats continue the
+Jeffersonian policies.
+
+This system, however, presented many advantages in the eyes of
+Jefferson. In his first message he had made one of those many
+declarations, so often found in official documents of the sort, by which
+men in public life are wont to define their policies in almost sibylline
+terms, so as to express their own aspirations and satisfy the members of
+their party without arousing undue antagonism in an influential
+minority. "Agriculture," he had written, "manufactures, commerce, and
+navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving
+when left most free to individual enterprise." But at once he had added:
+"Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be
+reasonably interposed. If in the course of your observations or
+inquiries they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our
+constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient
+assurance they will occupy your attention." This second statement could
+only mean one thing, that the President was not ready to depart entirely
+and radically from Hamilton's policy of giving encouragement to
+manufactures. But there is no doubt that in his opinion America was to
+remain essentially an agricultural nation. He still had before him the
+vision of a large country in which every citizen would live on his own
+land and from this land derive most of his subsistence instead of
+congregating in large cities. It was a Vergilian vision magnified a
+million times; it was based also to a large extent on his own experience
+at Monticello where he had proved that it was possible to manufacture
+tools, to bake bricks, to make furniture, and to maintain a
+comparatively large family on the products of the soil. He was not ready
+to antagonize openly those who dreamed of another future for America,
+and he did not believe that he had a right to do so, since his duty was
+to carry out the wishes of the people.
+
+Jefferson was not the man to take the lead in these matters, but he was
+not the man either to oppose any measure to encourage manufactures and
+commerce that Congress would deem proper to adopt. On this point he had
+not varied since the letter he had written from Paris to Hogendorp. His
+preference for "an agricultural condition" remained largely theoretical,
+sentimental, and personal. He may be considered as the leader of an
+agrarian party, he may have felt in sympathy with the French
+Physiocrats, but when it came to practice he acted very much like Du
+Pont de Nemours himself who, in spite of his theories, spent all he had
+to establish a tannery and a powder mill near Wilmington, and at the end
+of his days proposed to the American Government a "Plan for the
+Encouragement of Manufactures in America." If it is true that during
+Jefferson's administration industrial and agricultural interests clashed
+for the first time in America, I fail to see that the President made any
+effort to favor agriculture at the expense of industry.
+
+When the end of his first term approached, Jefferson did not need any
+coercion to remain in the saddle for another period of four years. It
+had already been decided that Aaron Burr would not and could not again
+be a candidate, and George Clinton was chosen as running mate of
+Jefferson. Never in the history of the United States was an election so
+little contested: Jefferson obtained one hundred sixty-two electoral
+votes while his opponent could only muster fourteen. The Republican
+Party had really become the National party and the President had been
+able to achieve political unity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PROTECTIVE IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
+
+
+The famous Inaugural Message of Jefferson gave more space to questions
+of domestic politics than to foreign problems, but it contained a clear
+definition of America's attitude towards Europe--a short and terse
+statement in which the President reiterated the principles which had
+guided him when Secretary of State. These were the same principles that
+underlay the foreign policies of the United States from the early days
+of the Revolution. They had already appeared in the Plan of Treaties
+drawn up by Adams in 1776; they had been solemnly proclaimed by
+Washington in his Farewell Address; and they still direct to a large
+extent America's attitude in her dealings with foreign nations on the
+American continent as well as abroad.
+
+These principles were presented by Jefferson as being essentially the
+result of natural conditions for which the Americans themselves were not
+responsible: "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 others; possessing a chosen country, with
+room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and thousandth
+generation", there was only one course for the American people to
+follow: "commerce and honest friendship with all nations--entangling
+alliances with none."
+
+Thanks to the Republican victory, America no longer had to pay any
+attention to the political convulsions which were tearing the vitals of
+the Old World. The American experiment no longer depended on the issue
+of the French Revolution. The Argosy had weathered the storm; America
+had become the sole arbiter of her destinies, she had become, Jefferson
+proclaimed, "a standing monument and example for the aim and imitation
+of the people of other countries; and I join with you in the hope and
+belief that they will see, from our example, that a free government is
+of all others the most energetic; that the inquiry which has been
+excited among the mass of mankind by our revolution and its
+consequences, will ameliorate the condition of man over a great portion
+of the globe."
+
+Such a declaration should not be mistaken for a manifestation of a
+missionary spirit by which Jefferson was never moved and which was
+absolutely abhorrent to his nature. America was not to engage in any
+crusade. She was not to preach a new gospel of liberty to the oppressed
+peoples of the earth. She had proclaimed no _Déclaration européenne des
+droits de l'homme et du citoyen_, as the French Revolution had
+ambitiously done. She was not sending overseas to the shackled nations a
+call to throw off the yoke and liberate themselves. Such declarations
+would have seemed to Jefferson idle and dangerous. Every people had to
+work out their own salvation; any attempt by America to help and
+encourage them would only embroil her in difficulties which would retard
+her own development. She could best serve the cause of humanity by
+standing aloof and simply existing as an example which others, if they
+had eyes to see, could not fail sooner or later to imitate. It was
+essentially the doctrine which has been so often expounded by the
+non-interventionists every time America has been invited to coöperate
+with Europe.
+
+This doctrine therefore was not the expression of a passing mood; it
+constituted one of the fundamental principles of Americanism and had a
+permanent value, because, as Montesquieu would have said, it was the
+result of "the nature of things", and not a deduction drawn from an _a
+priori_ principle. On the other hand, it contained a new and interesting
+affirmation of the unquestionable superiority of the American people
+over all the peoples of the earth, not only morally but intellectually;
+and this was not forgotten either, for the "high-mindedness" of
+Jefferson was echoed and reflected more than a hundred years later in
+the "too proud to fight" of Woodrow Wilson. Taken in itself, this
+statement was no worse than so many statements made in political
+speeches; all peoples like to be told and to believe that they are a
+chosen people. But it must be confessed that Jefferson drew very
+dangerous conclusions from that uniqueness of America's position.
+
+One of the earliest and frankest expressions of that naïve and almost
+unconscious imperialism appears in an unpublished letter to Doctor
+Mitchell. After discussing every possible subject under heaven, from
+frosts to mammoth bones and electricity, Jefferson concluded with this
+disquieting statement: "Nor is it in physics alone that we shall be
+found to differ from the other hemisphere. I strongly suspect that our
+geographical peculiarities may call for a different code of natural law
+to govern relations with other nations from that which the conditions of
+Europe have given rise to there."[425]
+
+This idea was reiterated in a letter written to Short more than a year
+later. In it Jefferson laid down the principle, the moral foundation of
+American imperialism--a curious mixture of common sense, practical
+idealism, and moralizing not to be found perhaps in any other people,
+but more permanently American than typically Jeffersonian. To any sort
+of arrangement with Europe he was irreducibly opposed: "We have a
+perfect horror at everything connecting ourselves with the politics of
+Europe." In order to protect America from the wiles of the European
+diplomats, the best course was "in the meantime, to wish to let every
+treaty we have drop off without renewal. We call in our diplomatic
+missions, barely keeping up those to the most important nations. There
+is a strong disposition in our countrymen to discontinue even these;
+and very possibly it may be done." Jefferson admitted that the neutral
+rights of the United States might suffer; they would undoubtedly suffer
+temporarily, and one had to accept this as an unavoidable evil. But it
+would be only temporary: "We feel ourselves strong and daily growing
+stronger ... If we can delay but for a few years the necessity of
+vindicating the laws of nature on the ocean, we shall be the more sure
+of doing it with effect. The day is within my time as well as yours;
+when we may say by what laws other nations shall treat us on the sea.
+And we will say it."[426]
+
+Nor was this imperialism purely theoretical. It was susceptible of
+immediate applications and it manifested itself openly in a letter
+written to James Monroe a few weeks later. The people of Virginia were
+most anxious to get rid of a band of malefactors guilty of insurgency,
+conspiracy, and rebellion. Had they been whites, the solution would have
+been easy enough, but it happened that they were colored people and they
+could not reasonably be sent to the northern boundary, or be provided
+with land in the Western Territory. Could these undesirables be pushed
+into the Spanish sphere of influence? To this solution Jefferson was
+unequivocally opposed and for reasons worth considering: "However our
+present situation may restrain us within our own limits," he wrote to
+Monroe, "it is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our
+rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover
+the whole northern, if not the southern continent, with a people
+speaking the same language, governed in similar forms, and by similar
+laws; nor can we contemplate either blot or mixture on that
+surface."[427]
+
+Truly enough, Jefferson said at the beginning of the letter that
+publication of his views might have an ill effect in more than one
+quarter. I shall not even advance the theory that Jefferson's foreign
+policies constituted a systematic effort to put such a program into
+effect. But that such aspirations and ambitions existed in his mind and
+influenced him to a certain extent cannot be denied, and they should not
+be overlooked in any discussion of his attitude during the negotiations
+that led to the purchase of Louisiana.
+
+Many of Jefferson's contemporaries, and not a few American historians,
+have harshly criticized him for buying Louisiana from France, when no
+clause in the Constitution authorized the acquisition of new territory.
+On the French side, not only historians but even Bonaparte's brother
+considered that the cession, without the previous consultation of the
+Chambers, of a colony recently recovered by France was an act arbitrary
+and unconstitutional. Both principals have been condemned and praised by
+posterity, but there is no doubt that the full responsibility for the
+transaction rests not upon the peoples of France and America, but on the
+President of the United States and the Premier Consul. It was remarkable
+that two great minds, so divergent in their views and principles, should
+meet on a common ground instead of clashing. On neither side was it a
+triumph of idealism, but of that enlightened self-interest which,
+according to Jefferson, directs the actions of men as well as of
+nations.
+
+Nor were they entirely unsupported by the public opinion of their
+respective countries. I have already indicated in a preceding book[428]
+that a friendly conspiracy seems to have been organized in France in
+order to induce the First Consul, and chiefly Talleyrand, to acquiesce
+in the cession. At any rate, it appears from several letters of Volney
+that the Ideologists were anxious to avoid an open conflict with the
+United States and, at the same time, to promote a measure which, in
+their opinion, would insure the growth and prosperity of the Republican
+Promised Land. Volney, himself one of the "_voyageurs_" of the
+Directory, had made a trip to the West and come back fully convinced
+that France could never hope to develop an empire in the Mississippi
+Valley. The few scattered French colonists who remained isolated in the
+Middle West were condemned to be gradually absorbed by the influx of
+American pioneers and to disappear before the rising flood of American
+colonization. The question of the lower valley of the Mississippi was
+different, to be sure, but if the United States were thwarted in their
+development, if they were hemmed in on every side by powerful neighbors,
+the theory of Montesquieu that only small nations could adopt the
+republican system of government would seem vindicated. It was not only
+the fate of the United States which was at stake, but the fate of the
+doctrine of popular government, and it was the duty of all liberals to
+bend every effort to make more secure the prosperity of America.
+
+On the other hand, as we have already seen in previous chapters, while
+Jefferson was satisfied to leave Louisiana in the hands of Spain, at
+least temporarily, he had always watched for a favorable opportunity to
+unite the Spanish colonies to the main body of the United States. It was
+not so much desire of expansion and imperialism as the conviction that
+colonies were only pawns in the game of European politics; that they
+could change hands at any time according to the fortunes of war; that
+there existed consequently a permanent danger of seeing France recover
+some day her former colonies or, still worse, to have them fall into the
+hands of the British. With England, or possibly France, on the northern
+border, in the Floridas, on the Gulf, and in the valley of the
+Mississippi, the old dream of European domination of the North American
+continent would revive. The United States would be placed in the same
+position as the old colonies with reference to France. A clash could not
+be avoided; the issue would have to be fought out, until one of the
+adversaries should remain in full and undisputed possession of the
+whole northern part of the New World.
+
+Although the Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which France was to recover and
+occupy Louisiana at the first favorable opportunity, was intended to
+remain secret, rumors that some deal had been concluded greatly
+disturbed the American Government. As early as March, 1801, Rufus King
+had been informed in London that such a cession was contemplated and
+learned that General Collot intended to leave for Louisiana with a
+considerable number of followers. On June 1, King called his
+Government's attention to the fact that the cession of Louisiana "might
+enable France to extend her influence, and perhaps her dominion, up the
+Mississippi; and through the Lakes even up to Canada." The information
+caused great concern to the British Government, and Lord Hawkesbury had
+acquainted the American minister with the rumors. At that time, King,
+who was evidently familiar with the views of Jefferson on the matter,
+had answered by quoting Montesquieu that "it is happy for trading
+powers, that God has permitted Turks and Spaniards to be in the world,
+since of all nations they are the most proper to possess a great empire
+with insignificance." The purport of this quotation being, he wrote,
+that, "we are contented that the Floridas remain in the hands of Spain,
+but should not be willing to see them transferred, except to ourselves."
+It was a double-edged answer, since it set at nil any hope the British
+might have had of occupying Louisiana and the Floridas; and at the same
+time it constituted a very accurate statement of the position maintained
+by Jefferson when Secretary of State in all his dealings pertaining to
+the Spanish colonies.
+
+This policy was clearly defined in the general observations communicated
+by the President to Charles Pinckney, minister in Madrid (June 9, 1801)
+and in the instructions given to Livingston, hastening his departure for
+France (September 28, 1801). Jefferson did not know yet what part of
+the Spanish colonies was to be ceded to France and was more preoccupied
+with the eventuality of the cession of the Floridas. The solution
+preferred for the present was clearly the _status quo_. Should the
+cession have irrevocably taken place, the rights to the navigation of
+the Mississippi were to be safeguarded, and if possible France should be
+induced "to make over to the United States the Floridas, if included in
+the cession to her from Spain, or at least West Florida, through which
+several of our rivers (particularly the important river Mobile) empty
+themselves into the sea." Finally, if the cession had never been
+contemplated, Livingston was instructed to induce France "to favor
+experiments on the part of the United States, for obtaining from Spain
+the cession in view."
+
+The die was cast; for the first time the United States took the position
+that the time had come for them to control the territory extending
+between their States and the Gulf of Mexico, and to insure the peaceful
+and unquestioned rights of navigation on the Mississippi. From the point
+of view of international law or _droit des gens_, Madison reiterated the
+doctrine of Jefferson, that it was a natural law that the States should
+have access to the sea; and in this particular instance he hinted at
+another principle--the application of which to the old territories of
+Europe would be far-reaching--namely that the nation possessing a
+certain river was entitled also to the mouth of the river. But this
+again was probably in his opinion one of these "natural laws" which
+applied to America only. At the end of November, Rufus King sent to
+Madison a copy of the treaty between the Prince of Parma and Lucien
+Bonaparte, signed at Madrid, March 31, 1801, and in December he had the
+opportunity of mentioning the possibility of France paying her debts by
+ceding Louisiana back to the United States, which only brought the curt
+answer that "none but spendthrifts satisfy their debts by selling their
+lands."
+
+Livingston, in a letter to Rufus King, took the view that the cession
+would be disastrous not only to the United States but to Spain and
+England, since the French would not fail to contract alliance with the
+Indians and to renew relations with "the peasantry of Canada", rendering
+the possessions of Britain very precarious. He could only hope that King
+would do his utmost to "induce the British ministry to throw all the
+obstacles in their power in the way of a final settlement of this
+business, if it is not already too late."
+
+The British ministry refused to take the hint. Unwelcome as the passing
+of Louisiana into French hands might be considered they were not
+disposed to endanger the success of the negotiations shortly to be begun
+at Amiens, and Rufus King was told that the subject would not even be
+mentioned by Lord Hawkesbury.[429] Evidently England never intended to
+draw the chestnuts out of the fire for the sole benefit of the United
+States, and Livingston alone was left to face the situation. The letter
+he wrote on his own initiative, unable as he was to consult the home
+government, was somewhat blunt in tone. He called attention to the fact
+that the arrival in Louisiana or Florida of a large body of French
+troops could not fail to alarm the people of the Western Territory. He
+conceded that no protest could be made under the sixth article of the
+Treaty of 1778, since it had been superseded by the agreement of
+September 30, 1800; but he maintained that even in the absence of a
+formal treaty the clause expressed a very desirable policy, that at
+least the United States wished to know exactly the boundaries of the
+territory ceded by Spain. At the same time, he discreetly added that
+"the government of the United States desired to be informed how far it
+would be practicable to make such arrangements between their respective
+governments as would, at the same time, aid the financial operations of
+France, and remove, by a strong and natural boundary, all future causes
+of discontent between her and the United States."
+
+These different reports, and particularly Livingston's letter to King,
+of December 30, created some perturbation in the mind of Jefferson, and
+on March 16, Madison wrote the American minister in Paris "that too much
+circumspection could not be employed." The great danger was that any
+sort of a combination with Great Britain would have to be paid later in
+kind or in territory. While Madison sent recommendations to Pinckney and
+to Livingston, the clear wish of Jefferson was to keep out England as
+much as possible. It was at that time that the President decided to take
+a hand directly in the negotiations. At the beginning of April, 1802, Du
+Pont de Nemours had written Jefferson that political as well as
+commercial considerations made it imperative for him to go to France for
+a short visit. Jefferson saw at once a possibility to use Du Pont as in
+the past he had employed Lafayette, and asked him to come to Washington
+to become acquainted "with certain matters that could not be committed
+to paper."[430]
+
+Very significantly he added: "I believe that the destinies of great
+countries depend upon it, such is the crisis now existing." As Du Pont
+answered that he could not possibly see the President before sailing,
+Jefferson decided to explain his point of view fully in a long letter
+and at the same time he expressed himself even more forcibly in a letter
+to Livingston which he asked Du Pont to read before sealing it.
+
+The two letters complete and explain each other. First of all, Jefferson
+rejected as a very imperfect solution the granting free access to the
+sea to the territories situated on the left bank of the Mississippi. He
+bluntly declared that although America had a more natural and
+instinctive friendship for France than for any other nation, it was
+quite certain that the national characteristics of the two peoples were
+so divergent that they could not live peacefully side by side for any
+length of time. Even the cession by France of the Floridas and New
+Orleans would be only a palliative which might delay but not suppress
+the unavoidable conflict.[431] The only solution was for France to give
+up entirely the rights she had acquired under the Treaty of San
+Ildefonso and to return to the _status quo_. Any attempt by Bonaparte to
+send soldiers to Louisiana would be considered as a _casus belli_, and
+the President wrote significantly: "Peace and abstinence from European
+interference are our objects, and so will continue while the present
+order of things in America remains uninterrupted." If, on the other
+hand, France insisted upon taking possession of Louisiana, it was the
+declared intention of Jefferson to come to an agreement with England,
+then to launch an expedition against New Orleans, to occupy the
+territory claimed by France, so as to prevent any new European nation
+from setting foot on the continent. That this policy of non-colonization
+should apply to South America as well as to the northern continent was
+evidently in the mind of the President, since he declared that after the
+annihilation of the French fleet, two nations--America and Great
+Britain--would rule the sea, and the two continents would be practically
+"appropriated by them."
+
+The threat was so formidable that Du Pont refused to believe that it was
+seriously meant. He saw at once that if such representations were made
+to the First Consul, even with proper diplomatic precautions, they would
+be looked upon by him as a challenge that could not be ignored. "Give up
+that country, or we shall take it", is not at all persuasive. "We will
+defend it", is the answer that comes naturally to any man. Furthermore,
+the old Physiocrat predicted that if the United States ever followed
+such a policy, they would lose their prestige as a democratic and
+peaceful nation. Jefferson would thus play into the hands of the
+militaristic faction which ambitioned the conquest of Mexico; if, on
+the contrary, Mexico were to be emancipated, it might become a dangerous
+neighbor for the United States. He consequently urged Jefferson to
+accept what he considered as a much more sensible program, namely a
+compromise which would insure free access to the sea to "the territories
+of the Cumberland, the Wabash and both banks of the Ohio." Finally he
+warned the President against entering into such an alliance with
+England, since England would never permit the United States to become a
+naval power of first importance. If, however, the United States insisted
+on having a free hand in the South, was it not possible, in view of the
+impending war between France and England, to permit France to recover
+Canada instead of Louisiana, and to tell Bonaparte: "Give us Louisiana
+and at the first opportunity we shall restore Canada to you"?
+
+Even if that were refused, if nothing could remove Jefferson's objection
+to the establishment of a French colony on the northern continent, there
+was still a possibility of giving satisfaction to both parties concerned
+without unduly irritating the national pride of either. This was simply
+for America to buy from France her claim on the Southern territory. True
+to his training and doctrine, Du Pont had devised a commercial solution
+to a political problem. The question of Louisiana was to be treated as a
+business, with a political background to be sure, but essentially on
+business terms.
+
+The answer of Jefferson has unfortunately disappeared and was probably
+destroyed by Du Pont; but another letter of the old Physiocrat permits
+us to reconstruct its contents. Jefferson contended that the United
+States had no money and could not afford to pay any important amount for
+such a purchase. To which Du Pont answered that purchasing would be
+infinitely more economical than going to war:
+
+  The sum offered and accepted will not exclude any compensation for
+  all or part of the sum which might be paid to you under the treaty.
+  To agree on the price is the important thing. To arrange for the
+  forms of payment, to charge against it legitimate reductions is only
+  a secondary matter, which will take care of itself. All the rest of
+  your instructions is easy to follow, and I shall follow them exactly.
+
+Then proving himself to be as good a prophet as a philosopher Du Pont
+added that Bonaparte would be more attracted by a frank and complete
+proposal than by a compromise: "I hope it will succeed because Bonaparte
+is a man of genius, and his character is much above ordinary
+ideas."[432]
+
+It is not entirely to the credit of Jefferson that, when he was thus
+declaring to Du Pont that the United States could not afford to
+negotiate on such a basis, Madison, on May 1, 1802, was writing to
+Livingston, asking him to ascertain precisely the price at which the
+Floridas, "if included in the cession would be yielded to the United
+States."
+
+The whole story of the negotiations as it appears in the Jefferson
+papers and in the documents published in the Annals of Congress would be
+worth retelling in detail. The evasions of the French minister
+Talleyrand, the reticences of the Spanish ambassador as to the true
+extent of the cession, the attempts of Rufus King to determine the
+British Government to throw their influence on the side of the United
+States, the blundering efforts of Livingston to place the case of his
+Government before the eyes of Bonaparte, form one of the most
+complicated and fascinating diplomatic mazes in which the inexperienced
+and not highly skillful agents of the United States tried to find their
+way. Livingston, who thought himself very adroit, was particularly
+unfelicitous in his tone. The conclusion of the memoir he wrote on
+August 10 and had printed for distribution to the French Government may
+give an idea of his style:
+
+  In reasoning upon this subject, I have confined myself to such
+  observations as obviously presented themselves, without seeking any
+  of those subtleties which may serve to mislead the judgment. I have
+  candidly exposed the plainest facts, in the simplest language. If
+  ever they are opposed, it will be by a contrary course. Eloquence and
+  sophistry may reply to them and may obscure them; but time and
+  experience will evince their truth.
+
+Such a language may have seemed to the American minister candid and
+honest, but addressed to Bonaparte and Talleyrand it was very
+undiplomatic, to say the least. One cannot help feeling, on reading the
+documents, that had Livingston wished to break off negotiations he would
+not have expressed himself otherwise, and it is difficult to share the
+opinion of Henry Adams, who claimed for the American minister most of
+the credit for bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion.
+
+By the end of the summer 1802, it appeared that, before going any
+further, France intended to take possession of Louisiana, and Du Pont
+knew only too well that such a step would cause an irresistible outburst
+of public opinion in the United States. He kept in constant touch with
+Livingston, giving counsels of moderation and patience. He even proposed
+the project of a treaty which in his opinion would give temporary
+satisfaction to the United States while being acceptable to France. This
+plan included the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas, reserving for
+French vessels the same treatment as for American shipping; France to
+keep all the territories on the right bank of the Mississippi, but the
+navigation of the river to be free to both nations. Finally the United
+States were to pay the sum of six million dollars for the territories
+described in the first article.[433]
+
+In the meantime things were moving fast in America. The suspension of
+the right of deposit by the Spanish authorities was taxing the none too
+strong endurance of the inhabitants of the western territory, and the
+war party was making great progress. Madison wrote on November 27,
+1802, that should the Spanish intendant prove as obstinate as he has
+been ignorant or wicked, nothing can temperate the irritation and
+indignation of the Western country, but a persuasion that the energy of
+their own government will obtain from the justice of that of Spain the
+most ample redress.[434]
+
+In his message to Congress read on December 15, the President included a
+short paragraph pregnant with significance:
+
+  The cession of the Spanish province of Louisiana to France, which
+  took place in the course of the late war, if carried into effect,
+  makes a change in the aspect of our foreign relations which will
+  doubtless have just weight in any deliberation of the Legislature
+  connected with that subject.
+
+This sentence could have only one meaning: that if France took
+possession of Louisiana, appropriations would be in order to prevent her
+from establishing herself permanently in the territory. It was a direct
+threat of war. The President had apparently given up any hope of
+reaching an agreement and was yielding to the war party.
+
+On December 17 it was, on motion of Randolph:
+
+  _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
+  cause to be laid before this house such papers as are in the
+  possession of the Department of State as relate to the violation on
+  the part of Spain, of the Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and
+  Navigation, between the United States and the King of Spain.
+
+Jefferson complied with this request on December 22, averring that he
+"was aware of the obligation to maintain, in all cases, the rights of
+the nation, and to employ, for that purpose, those just and honorable
+means which belong to the character of the United States."[435]
+
+There is no doubt that the President himself had lost patience and that
+the United States were rapidly drifting towards overt acts that could
+only have war as a consequence. On January 4 it was moved in the House
+that the President be requested to communicate all the information at
+his disposal on the reported cession of Louisiana. Then quite
+unexpectedly, on January 11, Jefferson sent to the Senate a message
+recommending that James Monroe be appointed special envoy to France with
+full powers, "jointly with Mr. Livingston to enter into a treaty or
+convention with the First Consul of France, for the purpose of enlarging
+and more effectually securing, our rights and interests in the river
+Mississippi, and in the territories eastward thereof." The next day, the
+House, on recommendation of a committee which presented a lengthy
+report, voted an appropriation of "two million dollars to defray the
+expenses which may be incurred in relation to the intercourse between
+the United States and foreign nations."
+
+The sudden change in Jefferson's attitude can largely be attributed to
+the fact that, between December 15 and January 11, he had received a
+letter sent from Paris by Du Pont de Nemours on October 4,[436]
+submitting a tentative plan for a treaty and discounting the pessimistic
+reports of Livingston. There is not the slightest doubt that the
+President was much impressed by Du Pont's letter. On January 18, Madison
+wrote to Pinckney:
+
+  In order to draw the French government into the measure, a sum of
+  money will be made part of our propositions.... From a letter
+  received by the President from a respectable person, it is inferred,
+  with probability that the French government is not averse to treat on
+  those grounds; and that such a disposition must be strengthened by
+  circumstances of the present moment.[437]
+
+Finally Jefferson himself wrote to Du Pont that his letter had been
+received with particular satisfaction, because while it held up terms
+that could not be entirely yielded, "it proposed such as a mutual
+spirit of accommodation and sacrifice may bring to some point of
+union."[438]
+
+The President indicated, however, that the action of Spain in suspending
+the rights of deposit had rendered imperative an immediate settlement:
+"Our circumstances are so imperious as to admit of no delay as to our
+course; and the use of the Mississippi so indispensable, that we cannot
+hesitate one moment to hazard our existence for its maintainance."
+Despite this more conciliatory tone, the President did not recede from
+the position he had taken previously with Du Pont. He repeated that the
+country was in no position to offer such a sum as mentioned by Mr. Du
+Pont (six million dollars) in order to insure the purchase of the said
+territory.
+
+In this, Jefferson was to some extent guilty of double-dealing with his
+friend, or at least of not laying all his cards on the table. The
+instructions given to Monroe and Livingston on March 2, 1803, specified
+that "should a greater sum (than two million dollars) be made an
+ultimatum on the part of France, the President has made up his mind to
+go as far as fifty millions of _livres tournois_, rather than to lose
+the main object." Incidentally, this passage explains how Monroe and
+Livingston could feel authorized to accept the proposal to purchase the
+whole territory for sixty million francs. They were not so bold as is
+commonly supposed, since they were empowered by the President to go as
+far as fifty million for part only of Louisiana. Whether Jefferson had
+the constitutional right to promise such a sum without formal approval
+of Congress is quite another matter. It is only fair, however, to recall
+here that, due to the difficulty of communicating between Washington and
+Paris and the urgency of the situation, it was an absolute necessity to
+give considerable leeway to the plenipotentiaries and to provide for
+every possible emergency. But it must also be remembered that had not
+Jefferson taken at that precise time the responsibility of engaging the
+resources of the United States, neither Livingston nor Monroe would have
+felt authorized to sign a transaction involving six times the sum voted
+by the House of Representatives. The blame or praise, whatever it may
+be, must in final analysis fall entirely on Jefferson.
+
+It is not without some interest to notice here that Livingston was
+entirely unaware of the value of Du Pont de Nemours' plan. Unable to pin
+down Talleyrand or Lebrun, he soon came to the conclusion that it was
+impossible to treat and that he might as well leave Paris. "I see very
+little use for a minister here, where there is but one will; and that
+will governed by no object but personal security and personal ambition;
+were it left to my discretion, I should bring matters to some positive
+issue, or leave them, which would be the only means of bringing them to
+an issue."[439] He maintained to the last minute that Du Pont de Nemours
+had given the French government "with the best intentions, ideas that we
+shall find hard to eradicate, and impossible to yield to",[440] and on
+hearing that Monroe had been appointed, following receipt of Du Pont's
+letter, he answered that he was much surprised that Du Pont should talk
+"of the designs of this court, the price, &c., because he must have
+derived these from his imagination only, as he had no means of seeing
+anybody here that could give him the least information."[441]
+
+Who was the better informed of the two it is not easy to decide. But by
+a curious coincidence, while Livingston was writing this in Paris, the
+ink was hardly dry on the instructions to Monroe which contained this
+striking paragraph: "It is to be added that the overtures committed to
+you coincide in great measure with the ideas of the person through whom
+the letter of the President of April 30, 1802, was conveyed to Mr.
+Livingston, and who is presumed to have gained some insight into the
+present sentiments of the French Cabinet."[442]
+
+The very same day Du Pont was able to write Jefferson that he had
+several times seen Talleyrand and Lebrun and that the French Government
+had decided to give every possible satisfaction to the United States. On
+April 6, he added, without giving any detail, that good progress had
+been made; but that he had not told everything to Livingston.
+
+There is little doubt that the letter of Du Pont made Jefferson delay
+any strong measure in the Mississippi Valley affair and stayed the hand
+of the God of War. If negotiations had been broken off at that point, it
+was the intention of the British government "to send an expedition to
+occupy New Orleans."[443] What the consequences of such an action would
+have been can easily be surmised.
+
+The rest of the story lies outside of our province, since Jefferson had
+nothing to do directly with it. Barbé-Marbois has told the dramatic
+scene of Easter Sunday, April 10, 1803, when Bonaparte called in two
+ministers and gave the first indication that he considered the whole
+colony lost and that it might be better to give it up entirely. The next
+morning the First Consul requested Marbois to act as plenipotentiary and
+to see Livingston at once. When Monroe arrived, a preliminary
+understanding had been reached. The treaty was concluded on May 4 and
+signed four days later, although it was antedated and marked April 30.
+
+The question of deciding whether Jefferson had foreseen the possibility
+of acquiring the whole territory of Louisiana and had given to Monroe
+instructions to that effect has provided his biographers, whether
+friendly or unfriendly, with a nice bone to pick. It seems here that a
+distinction must be established between the wishes of the President and
+what he considered within the range of actual possibilities. From his
+letters to Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, it is easily perceived that
+he was unequivocally opposed to the reinstatement of France on any part
+of the continent. On this point he never varied. On the other hand, he
+had soon become convinced that France would never relinquish such an
+enormous territory without a compensation that the United States could
+not afford to pay. He limited his plans very soon to the acquisition of
+the two Floridas, which he supposed had been made part of the
+transaction, so as to give the United States access to the Gulf, while
+taking a strong position on the Mississippi River. In his letter to Du
+Pont de Nemours dated February 1, 1803, he reiterated that the United
+States wanted and needed the Floridas, that "whatever power, other than
+ourselves, holds the country east of the Mississippi, becomes our
+natural enemy." But further he did not go. On February 27, 1803, he
+wrote to Governor Harrison a letter which seems to settle the question:
+"We bend our whole views to the purchase and settlement of the country
+on the Mississippi, from its mouth to its northern regions, that we may
+be able to present as strong a front on our western as on our eastern
+border, and plant on the Mississippi itself the means of its own
+defence." As for the Indians, they were either "to be incorporated with
+us as citizens of the United States, or removed beyond the Mississippi."
+Finally the letter written on July 29 to Livingston and Monroe is as
+definite a statement as can be desired and ought to set the controversy
+at rest:
+
+  When these (your instructions and commission) were made out, the
+  object of the most sanguine was limited to the establishment of the
+  Mississippi as our boundary. It was not presumed, that more could be
+  sought by the United States, either with a chance of success, or
+  perhaps without being suspected of a greedy ambition, than the island
+  of New Orleans and the two Floridas.... Nor was it to be supposed
+  that in case the French government should be willing to part with
+  more than the territory on our side of the Mississippi, an
+  arrangement with Spain for restoring the territory on the other side,
+  would not be preferred to a sale of it to the United States.... The
+  effect of such considerations was diminished by no information, or
+  just presumptions whatever.[444]
+
+Whatever may have been Jefferson's satisfaction on hearing the news, he
+did not write himself to the commissioners to congratulate and thank
+them in the name of the nation. He was not the man to make grand
+gestures. The Virginian could be as self-restrained as any New
+Englander, as appears from a letter to Horatio Gates in which the two
+envoys are mentioned: "I find our opposition very willing to pluck
+feathers from Monroe, although not fond of sticking them into
+Livingston's coat. The truth is, both have a just proportion of merit;
+and were it necessary or proper, it would be shown that each has
+rendered peculiar services and of important value."[445] More than that
+he did not say, and probably said very little more to Monroe, his friend
+and "_élève_" when he came back from France.
+
+Congress had been called for October 17, to ratify the treaty; but
+before that date, Jefferson sent letters and questionnaires all around
+in order to gather any possible information on the limits, geography,
+resources and condition of the inhabitants of the newly acquired
+territory. In a letter to Breckenridge (August 12, 1803), he expressed
+himself more freely than to any other correspondent. First of all he
+admitted that he was somewhat disappointed at having being unable to
+secure the Floridas. But it was only a delayed opportunity; sooner or
+later Spain would engage in some war, and the realistic politician
+added: "If we push them strongly with one hand, holding out a price in
+the other, we shall certainly obtain the Floridas, and all in good
+time." For the present, the United States, without claiming possession
+of the Spanish territories, would act pretty freely: "In the meantime,
+without waiting for permission, we shall enter into the exercise of the
+natural right we have always insisted on with having a right of innocent
+passage through them to the ocean. We shall prepare her to see us
+practice on this, and she will not oppose it by force."
+
+He had already heard many objections to the treaty; of all of them he
+disposed summarily. He did not take seriously the danger mentioned by
+the Federalists of seeing a fringe of States, different in interest from
+the original States, form along the Mississippi and threaten the
+homogeneity of the Union. If it came to the worst, it would be better
+for the United States to have as neighbors along the western border a
+Federation of States inhabited by a people of the same blood than a
+Spanish or French dominion. Then Jefferson prophetically outlined the
+development of the West as he foresaw it. The inhabited part of
+Louisiana was to become a new State as soon as possible. Above Pointe
+Coupée, the best procedure was probably to move the Indians across the
+river and to fill the vacant territories with white colonists. "When we
+shall be full on this side, we may lay off a range of States on the
+western bank from the head to the mouth, and so, range after range,
+advancing compactly as we multiply."
+
+As to the constitutionality of the purchase, he admitted there was no
+article of the Constitution authorizing the holding of foreign
+territory, and still less contemplating the incorporation of foreign
+nations into the Union. "The executives, in seizing the fugitive
+occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done
+an act beyond the Constitution." They were justified in doing it,
+however, just as much as a guardian has the right to invest money for
+his ward in purchasing an adjacent territory and saying to him when of
+age: "I did this for your good; I pretend to no right to bind you; you
+may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can: I thought it
+my duty to risk myself for you." This is another instance when
+Jefferson the lawyer discarded what he called "metaphysical subtleties"
+to look squarely at the facts and to do his duty as he saw it, "as a
+faithful servant."
+
+The third annual message of the President was read before Congress on
+October 17. Written in simple language like all the State papers of
+Jefferson, it contained a graceful word for "the enlightened government
+of France", and pointed out soberly the advantages that would accrue to
+the United States from the purchase:
+
+  While the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters
+  secure an independent outlet for the produce of the western States,
+  and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, 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.
+
+The President avoided any specific recommendation on the measures to be
+adopted to incorporate into the Union the recently acquired territories,
+resting on the wisdom of Congress to determine the "measures which may
+be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary government of
+the country; 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." The Senate ratified the treaty after a
+two-day discussion, the members voting strictly on party lines. It came
+before the House on the twenty-second. The discussion was hot and more
+prolonged; doubts as to the French title to the purchase were raised;
+doubts as to the constitutionality of the measure. The treaty proper was
+ratified on October 25, and on November 3 acts were passed authorizing
+the issue of bonds in order to pay France.
+
+A letter of Jefferson to Livingston contains the epilogue of the
+negotiations. It is another very interesting instance of the way
+Jefferson knew how to handle men. Pichon, the French minister, had been
+instructed by his Government to secure a clause to the ratification
+providing "against any failure in time or other circumstances of
+execution on the part of the United States." Jefferson took the matter
+in hand himself and demonstrated to Pichon that in case the French
+Government insisted upon such a proviso, the United States would insert
+a similar clause of protestation "leaving the matter where it stood
+before." He insisted that it was to throw on the good faith of both
+nations a doubt most unpleasant to an honest man to entertain, and
+concluded that he had "more confidence in the word of the First Consul
+than in all the parchment we could sign." What could the Frenchman do
+except to bow politely and acquiesce, and "like an able and honest
+minister (which he is in the highest degree) he undertook to do what he
+knew his employers would do themselves, were they spectators of all
+existing circumstances, and exchange the ratifications purely and
+simply." "So," concluded Jefferson, "this instrument goes to the world
+as an evidence of the candor and confidence of the nations in each
+other, which will have the best effects."
+
+A last point remained to be settled. It was suspected that Spain had
+entered a formal protest against the whole transaction, "since the First
+Consul had broken a solemn promise not to alienate the country to any
+nation." On that point Jefferson refused to express any opinion: "We
+answered that these were questions between France and Spain which they
+must settle together; that we derived our title from the First Consul
+and did not doubt his guarantee of it." Meanwhile measures were provided
+to take formal possession from Laussat after he should have received the
+territory from Spain. "If he is not so disposed _we_ shall take
+possession and it will rest with the Government of France, by adopting
+the act as their own, then to settle the latter with Spain."[446] In
+order to provide for any eventuality, the governor of the Mississippi
+was ordered to move down with General Wilkinson all his troops at hand
+to take formal possession.
+
+Thus the transaction fraught with so many dangers came to what Jefferson
+called in a letter to Priestley (January 29, 1804) "a happy denouement",
+thanks "to a friendly and frank development of causes and effects in our
+part and good sense enough in Bonaparte to see that the train was
+unavoidable and would change the face of the world."
+
+If Jefferson took liberties with the Constitution in the matter of the
+purchase, he was equally broad-minded in his construction of the treaty.
+One of the articles provided that the inhabitants of the territories
+ceded by France "will be incorporated into the Union and admitted as
+soon as possible according to the principles of the Federal Constitution
+to the enjoyment of all the advantages and immunities of the citizens of
+the United States" (Article III). This was precisely what Jefferson was
+firmly resolved not to do. Theoretically, and according to his often
+expressed views on self-government, he should have taken steps to admit
+immediately the newly acquired territory into the Union and to allow the
+inhabitants to decide on a constitution. Practically, he considered that
+they were unfitted for self-government and, although he did not formally
+declare it at the time, he was convinced that self-government could not
+succeed with a population mainly French and Spanish. The letter he wrote
+on the subject to Du Pont de Nemours is almost disarming in its naïveté:
+
+  We are preparing a form of government for the Territory of Louisiana.
+  We shall make it as mild and free, as they are able to bear, all
+  persons residing there concurring in the information that they were
+  neither gratified, nor willing to exercise the rights of an elective
+  government. The immense swarm flocking thither of Americans used to
+  that exercise, will soon prepare them to receive the necessary
+  change.[447]
+
+It was impossible to state more clearly that representative government
+could not be granted to Louisiana as long as the inhabitants remained
+essentially French. Only when checked and controlled by the "immense
+swarm" of American pioneers and colonists spreading all over the
+territory could they be admitted to the immunities and advantages of
+American citizens. This attitude of Jefferson, which seems in flagrant
+contradiction with his theories, can astonish only those who see in him
+a world prophet of the democratic faith; while his only ambition was to
+build an American democracy, on strictly American principles, for the
+sole benefit of American citizens, true heirs and continuators of the
+old Anglo-Saxon principles.
+
+But his vision of a greater America extended even beyond the limits of
+the Louisiana Purchase. In January, 1803, just one week before Monroe's
+appointment as special envoy to Paris, he had sent a message to Congress
+to recommend that a sum of twenty-five hundred dollars be appropriated
+to send "an intelligent officer with a party of 10 or 12 men to explore
+even to the Western Ocean and to bring back all possible information on
+the Indian tribes, the fauna and flora of the region." The intelligent
+officer was Merriwether Lewis, private secretary to the President, who
+was to engage in this "literary pursuit" in a region claimed by Spain.
+It was calmly assumed, however, that "the expiring state of Spain's
+interests there" would render such a voyage a matter of indifference to
+this nation. Jefferson made the expedition his own concern; he drew up
+the most detailed instructions for the mission. He even wrote for Lewis
+"a letter of general credit" in his own hand and signed with his name,
+by which the captain was authorized to draw on "the Secretaries of
+State, the Treasury of War, and of the Navy of the United States
+according as he might find his draughts would be most negotiable, for
+the purpose of obtaining money or necessaries for himself and men."[448]
+Practically unlimited resources were placed at the disposal of the
+expedition. Jefferson kept his former secretary minutely informed of the
+new possibilities opened up by the negotiations with France, writing him
+on July 4, 11, 15, November 16 and January 13. On January 22, he sent
+new instructions: the United States had "now become sovereigns of the
+country" Lewis was going to explore; it was no longer necessary to keep
+up the pretense of a "literary pursuit", and the President felt
+authorized in proposing to the Indians the establishment of official
+connections, and in declaring frankly to them that "they will find in us
+faithful friends and protectors." So Jefferson was no longer thinking of
+the Mississippi as the ultimate frontier of the United States. He
+already foresaw the time when the Empire would extend from the Atlantic
+to the Pacific.
+
+Besides providing the United States with almost unlimited possibilities
+of growth, the Louisiana Purchase had eliminated the immediate danger of
+a conflict with France, and the chances of remaining at peace with
+Europe had considerably increased. "I now see nothing which need
+interrupt the friendship between France and this country," wrote
+Jefferson to Cabanis. "We do not despair of being always a peaceable
+nation. We think that peaceable means may be devised of keeping nations
+in the path of justice towards us, by making justice their interest, and
+injuries to react on themselves. Our distance enables us to pursue a
+course which the crowded situation of Europe renders perhaps
+impracticable there."[449]
+
+There remained, however, a danger point in the policies of the British
+navy with regard to contraband. The United States had now to make a
+strenuous effort to bring the British to abandon their "right" to search
+neutral vessels on the high seas in order to impress British sailors
+found on those vessels, and to use American ports as cruising stations.
+Not only was this attitude of Great Britain contrary to justice but it
+was also contrary to these natural laws on which rested Jefferson's
+system of Americanism; above all, they were most obnoxious and
+detrimental to American commerce, for "Thornton says they watch our
+trade to prevent contraband. We say it is to plunder under pretext of
+contraband."[450]
+
+Meanwhile the President was receiving the most pessimistic accounts from
+Monroe, lost in the maze of European intrigues, and almost losing faith
+in the future security of the United States. One of his letters of the
+spring of 1804 had mentioned the possibility of a dark plot against
+America. France and England might forget their old differences and
+operate a reconciliation at the expense of the United States; they would
+form a combination to divide between them the North American continent,
+France repossessing Louisiana, while England would reannex the United
+States to the British dominions. A mad scheme if ever there was one, and
+it is very much to be doubted that it was ever contemplated by any
+responsible Frenchman. Jefferson's confidence in the remoteness of the
+American continent was not disturbed for a minute by these alarming
+reports. He excused Monroe on the ground that a person placed in Europe
+was very apt to believe the old nations endowed with limitless resources
+and power. Everything was possible, even a return of the Bourbons; but
+"that they and England joined, could recover us to British dominion, is
+impossible. If things are not so, then human reason is of no aid in
+conjecturing the conduct of nations." Still the policy of watchful
+waiting was more than ever in order. Every point of friction was to be
+eliminated, one of the first measures being to accept the "Louisianais"
+to full citizenship and thus bring to an end the patronage of France.
+Another step was to enforce strictly the rule against British cruisers
+in American harbors, so that "each may see unequivocally what is
+unquestionably true, that we may be very possibly driven into her scale
+by unjust conduct in the other."[451]
+
+Thus was fixed not in theory but in practice a policy of neutrality
+fraught with risks. The most apparent danger was that both belligerents
+might turn against the United States. But of that Jefferson was not
+afraid, as an alliance between the two hereditary enemies seemed
+inconceivable. In the meantime proper preparations were to be made to
+insure the security of the American flag.
+
+The message of October 17, 1803, contained an earnest appeal to
+"complete neutrality." Neutrality of fact the Government was decided to
+observe, and most of all to view in a disinterested way the carnage in
+Europe.
+
+  How desirable it must be, in a government like ours, to see its
+  citizens adopt individually the views, the interests and the conduct
+  which their country should pursue, divesting themselves of those
+  passions and partialities which tend to lessen useful friendships and
+  to embarrass and embroil us in the calamitous scenes of Europe.
+
+Then came a passage which sounds strangely familiar to those of us who
+have lived through the last fourteen years:
+
+  Confident, fellow citizens, that you will duly estimate the
+  importance of neutral dispositions toward the observance of neutral
+  conduct, that you will be sensible how much it is our duty to look on
+  the bloody arena spread before us with commiseration indeed, but with
+  no other wish than to see it closed, I am persuaded you will
+  cordially cherish these dispositions in all communications with your
+  constituents.
+
+A nation neutral in speech and neutral in thought, willing to intervene
+only to help the victims of the war or as an arbiter between the
+belligerents, such was at that time the ideal of Jefferson as it was to
+be for several years the ideal of Woodrow Wilson, and to a large degree
+the permanent ideal of the United States during their whole history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"SELF-PRESERVATION IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL LAW"
+
+
+When, on the fourth of March, 1805, Jefferson began his second term, he
+had a right to review with some complacency the achievements of his
+first administration. To foreign affairs he scarcely granted a short
+paragraph, but he pointed out with great details the suppression of
+unnecessary offices, the reduction of taxes, the fact that the Federal
+Government was almost entirely supported by duties levied on
+importations, so that "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?" The Louisiana Purchase had increased
+enormously the potential riches of the country and removed a very
+dangerous source of conflict. The right bank of the Mississippi was to
+be settled by "our own brethren and children" and not by "strangers of
+another family."
+
+Of great interest was the long passage given to Indian affairs.
+Jefferson's sympathy for the red men dated from the early days of his
+youth, when he had seen the chiefs stop at the house of his father on
+their way to Williamsburg. He had handsomely stood in defense of them in
+the "Notes on Virginia." Now he was regarding them with the
+commiseration their history began to inspire:
+
+  Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing 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 directed itself on these shores, without power to divert,
+  or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed by the
+  current, or driven before it.
+
+This was certainly a very regrettable situation, but the idea of
+questioning the right of an overflowing population to occupy scarcely
+populated territories did not for a moment enter Jefferson's mind. To
+deny such a right would have been not only detrimental to the very
+existence of the United States, but also a denial of the "right" of "our
+Saxons ancestors" to settle in England. Furthermore, the President was
+confronted with a certain set of facts and not with a theory. The
+territory of which the Indians had so long enjoyed undisturbed
+possession was growing narrower every day. With the recent acquisition
+of Louisiana, it was to be foreseen that they would not be able to roam
+freely much longer in the vast territories extending west of the
+Mississippi. They were now "reduced within limits too narrow for the
+hunter's state." The only thing they could do was to submit to new
+economic conditions, to settle down and become farmers, and it was the
+duty of the government "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 mind and morals."
+
+The President had no patience with
+
+  ... the interested and crafty individuals among them who inculcate a
+  sanctimonious reverence for the customs 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 a perilous innovation; that their
+  duty is to remain as their Creator made them.
+
+The attitude of these reactionaries among the Indians gave Jefferson an
+opportunity to hit at one stroke the medicine men and the clergymen who
+were attacking him fiercely.
+
+  In short, my friends, among them is seen the action and
+  counter-action 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 ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our
+  reason, and obeying its mandates.
+
+The New England and New York clergymen who had stood with the
+Federalists knew exactly where they belonged.
+
+But if the President was unwilling to let the attacks to which he had
+been subjected pass entirely unnoticed, he maintained at the same time
+that no official steps must be taken to repress in any way freedom of
+speech and freedom of the press. In more emphatic terms than ever
+before, he reasserted the fundamental doctrine he had defended against
+all comers for more than twenty-five years:
+
+  During this course of administration, and in order to disturb 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 several 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.
+
+Thus were the Callender and the Federalist pamphleteers handed over to
+the public to be dealt with, according to the merits of their cases.
+
+The address ended with a new appeal to harmony, with the hope that
+truth, reason and well-understood self-interest might enlighten the last
+opponents of true republicanism. It ended also with a sort of prayer
+which may or may not have expressed the religious beliefs of Jefferson
+at the time:
+
+  I shall need 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 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 me in supplications.
+
+Jefferson had not forgotten that twenty years before he had proposed
+that the seal of the United States should represent the Children of
+Israel led by a pillar of light. As much as the Puritans he was
+convinced that the American people was a chosen people, that they have
+been gifted with superior wisdom and strength, and this belief was just
+as much part of his creed of Americanism as it was the more openly
+expressed doctrine of more recent presidents of the United States.
+
+With these brilliant and reassuring prospects before his eyes, Jefferson
+entered his second term. Little did he believe at that time that the
+four years before him were to be the most agitated and most distressing
+of his long career. The man whose fondest hope was to "secure peace,
+friendship and approbation of all nations" was to begin a series of
+police operations against the Barbary pirates of the Mediterranean and
+was confronted, at a time, with the possibility of a war with Spain, a
+war with England and a war with France. His philosophical toga was torn
+to shreds by the thorns strewn along the tortuous paths of international
+relations. At home he had to use all his ingenuity and resourcefulness
+to keep together disaffected elements in the Republican Party, to
+withstand the attacks launched in Congress by John Randolph of Roanoke,
+the impulsive, erratic and dangerous leader of the discontented
+Republicans. The man who had framed the Kentucky resolutions and had
+stood as the advocate of States rights was reproached with using his
+influence with Congress to pass the Embargo Act, "more arbitrary, more
+confiscatory" than any measure ever proposed by the Federalists. The man
+who had protested against the sedition bills had to repress the
+seditious attempts of the former Vice President of the United States. It
+seemed as if an evil genius had taken a malicious pleasure in making
+every effort to test the President in every possible way, and to
+confront him with the necessity of renouncing his most cherished
+principles. Jefferson did not come out of the ordeal without scars and
+deep wounds; but whatever may have been his deficiencies and his faults,
+whatever sins he may have committed, he kept his faith in the ultimate
+wisdom of public opinion and never tried to suppress by coercion the
+criticism to which he was subjected.
+
+As a matter of fact, the roseate view of the situation presented by
+Jefferson in his second Inaugural Address was hardly warranted by facts.
+Even before the close of the first term, Randolph, who had been the
+standard bearer of the Republicans in the House, had shown signs of
+discontent. He had supported the "Remonstrance of the people of
+Louisiana", protesting that one of the essential provisions had been
+violated and that they should be admitted at once to "all the rights,
+advantages and immunities of citizens." On the other hand, Aaron Burr,
+even while remaining in office, had already paved the way for the dark
+and romantic machinations which were to culminate with his trial before
+Marshall at Richmond.
+
+The story of Burr's conspiracy deserves a special place among American
+"_causes célèbres_." It has been told many times, and very vividly, but
+only the pen of Alexandre Dumas could do justice to it. Many efforts
+have been made to whitewash the memory of the chief conspirator, to
+throw most of the odium on Wilkinson and on Jefferson who, according to
+his enemies, would have gone out of his way to obtain the condemnation
+of a man who could not be proved guilty of any overt act, although there
+is no doubt that he had originated some of the most reprehensible
+schemes against the safety of his country. But Americans always had a
+foible for soldiers of fortune, for adventurers who dreamed of
+conquering new empires; for in them they see the magnification of the
+frontier spirit which for so long constituted one of the "pillars" of
+American civilization.
+
+By an extraordinary trick of heredity, this adventurer, who should have
+been a Spanish conquistador, this arch plotter who had the insinuating
+ways of the Florentine, the tortuous and complicated mind so often
+considered as a privilege of the Europeans, was the great-grandson of
+Jonathan Edwards and of pure New England descent. He had fought bravely
+and enthusiastically in the Revolutionary War, he was a lawyer of no
+mean achievement; but his thirst for popularity, applause and success
+was beyond imagination, and this Machiavellic politician lacked in an
+extraordinary degree common sense and political vision. Had he withdrawn
+from the run for the presidency in time, had he gracefully accepted the
+second rank in December, 1800, he would have had a great political
+career before him. But to the last minute he refused to say the word
+that was expected from him; he accepted without protest the votes of the
+Federalists and was considered as a traitor to his party even before he
+took office. As early as January, 1804, he had gone to Jefferson and,
+after complaining that the President did not show him the same
+friendship as before, he had offered to resign at once if he were
+appointed to some foreign embassy. After Burr had left without obtaining
+any definite answer, Jefferson put down on paper a complete account of
+the conversation and dryly concluded:
+
+  I should here notice, that Colonel Burr must have thought that I
+  could swallow strong things in my own favor, when he founded his
+  acquiescence in the nomination as Vice-President, to his desire of
+  promoting my honor, the being with me; whose company and conversation
+  had always been fascinating with him etc.[452]
+
+Disappointed in this respect, Aaron Burr turned his eyes towards New
+York, where he had worked so successfully during the preceding election.
+The post of governor happened to be vacant, and in February Burr was
+chosen by the discontented Republicans of the State to run for
+governor. It seems quite certain that, if he had been elected, the
+movement for secession already strong in New England would have received
+a new impetus and that a desperate effort would have been made to shake
+off "the rule of Virginia." When, after a savage campaign marked by
+invectives, brawls and riots, Burr was finally defeated, he could and
+did rightly attribute his failure to Hamilton who, from the very
+beginning, opposed his candidacy. A personal encounter was decided and
+the two adversaries met on the bank of the Hudson, pistol in hand, in a
+duel to the death. It has always been said that Hamilton did not take
+aim and fired first. Burr fired deliberately and Hamilton, fatally
+wounded, fell to the ground, to die the next day.
+
+Found guilty of murder by a grand jury, and in fact already a fugitive
+from justice, Burr hid at first in Georgia and there concocted the most
+extraordinary plan to effect a separation of the western part of the
+United States with the help and financial assistance of England.
+Although evidence was not procurable at the time of his trial, there is
+no doubt that he thought the scheme feasible; that back in Washington,
+and when he was presiding over the impeachment proceedings of Judge
+Chase, the Vice President of the United States was prudently sounding
+the delegates of the western States, ingratiating himself to them and
+that the wildest dreams of empire were haunting his feverish
+imagination.
+
+As soon as the session was over, Colonel Burr started out for a tour of
+the western States and, on an island of the Ohio, met by chance the
+philosopher-planter Blennerhasset, the innocent victim of his plots.
+Leaving Blennerhasset, Burr went to Cincinnati, Frankfort, Nashville. He
+met Andrew Jackson, the uncouth son of the frontier, and Wilkinson, the
+general in charge of the western territory. After a visit to New
+Orleans, where he was greatly elated by the discontent of the
+population, he went back to Saint Louis to discuss the situation with
+Wilkinson. Whether he still adhered to the original plan of separating
+the western from the eastern States is to a considerable degree
+doubtful. His immediate object seems rather to have been to lead an
+expedition of adventurers against Mexico, in case the war that was
+threatening between the United States and Spain should break out. It
+must be admitted that the plan in itself was not particularly
+objectionable to the Government, but it soon appeared that this scheme
+too had to be given up. After vainly attempting to secure assistance
+from the British Government, Burr, changing from conqueror to farmer,
+undertook to buy, with Blennerhasset, a grant of several hundred
+thousand acres on the Washita River, in Northern Louisiana, in order to
+establish there a model colony.
+
+The rest of the story is well known. Rumors of a conspiracy grew in the
+West without disturbing at first the security of the Federal Government.
+Burr, summoned to appear before the district attorney of Frankfort,
+surrendered himself, but was twice discharged and continued his
+preparations for the settlement of Washita. Jefferson did not move until
+he received from Wilkinson a confidential message purporting to be the
+transcription of a ciphered letter sent by Burr. The President was so
+alarmed that he issued at once a proclamation, warning the people that a
+conspiracy had been discovered and directing the arrests of the
+conspirators and the seizure of "all vessels, arms and military stores."
+Wilkinson, eager to show his loyalty to the Government, arrested
+"without warrant" several emissaries of Burr. One of them was released,
+but two, Bollman and Swartwout, were sent out by sea to Baltimore and
+thence to Washington, where they were kept in the military barracks. In
+a special message to Congress, Jefferson apprised the Senate and the
+House of the facts "touching an illegal combination of private
+individuals against the peace and safety of the Union, and a military
+expedition planned by them against the territories of a power in amity
+with the United States, with the measures pursued for suppressing the
+same." (January 22, 1807)
+
+Shortly after Marshall, in Washington, had refused to indict Bollman and
+Swartwout on the count of "levying war" against the United States, Burr
+was finally arrested and taken under military escort to Richmond, there
+to be delivered to the civil authorities after Marshall had signed a
+special warrant (March 26, 1807). After long skirmishes between the
+prosecution and the defense, legal moves and countermoves, Burr was
+indicted under two counts,--treason and high misdemeanor. On the first
+charge the jury rendered a verdict to the effect that "We of the jury
+say that Aaron Burr is not proved guilty under this indictment by any
+evidence submitted to us; we therefore find him not guilty."
+
+This was a most unusual and illegal form of rendering a verdict and the
+jury evidently intended to emphasize the fact that the evidence
+submitted did not warrant a conviction, although they reserved their
+opinion as to the real guilt of Colonel Burr. Marshall overruled
+objections to the form of the verdict which threatened a reopening of
+the case and decided that it would be recorded as "not guilty." Burr was
+soon recommitted on the second count and declared not guilty by a second
+jury. Upon which a third charge was brought in by the prosecution and
+Burr summoned to appear at the session of the Circuit Court of the
+United States to be held at Chillicothe in January, 1808. He never
+appeared and his bond was forfeited; it is more than doubtful that he
+would have been convicted.
+
+A serious discussion of the merits of the case would necessitate a
+minute analysis of all the evidence placed before the jury and cannot be
+undertaken here. Several attempts have been made to rehabilitate Aaron
+Burr's memory, although certain facts are so patent that they cannot be
+overlooked by the most indulgent biographers. It is a curious bend of
+the popular mind that the greatness of the conspiracy seems an excuse
+and attenuation of the most evident guilt. There was something
+apparently heroic in the ambition of that man who wanted to carve for
+himself an empire in the wilderness and to plunder the treasures of the
+mysterious Southwest. Then, by contrast, the obstinacy of Jefferson in
+using every means in his power and in the power of the Federal
+Government in order to obtain a conviction, has been represented as a
+display of pettiness unworthy of the chief of a great nation. Nor is
+this tendency restricted to the impulsive and emotional masses; it
+creeps into the accounts of the trial given by the most judicial
+historians, and I am not certain that it is entirely absent from
+Beveridge's treatment of the Richmond proceedings.
+
+Legally speaking, it is difficult to find fault with the findings of
+Marshall, with the definitions he gave of "treason" and "overt act",
+with his sifting of the evidence and, except in one or two cases, with
+his behavior during the trial. On the other hand, Jefferson has been
+accused of having unduly interfered by sending detailed instructions to
+the district attorney, by coaching him on several occasions, and by
+attempting directly and indirectly to arouse public opinion against a
+man who was on trial for his life, but who finally could not be
+convicted on any count. After such an interval of time, it is easy to
+find fault with the conduct of the Executive, and it cannot be denied
+that he acted in a very high-handed manner, condoned acts which were
+technically illegal and maintained without sufficient proofs of Burr's
+guilt that there was not "a candid man in the United States who did not
+believe some one, if not all, of these overt acts to have taken
+place."[453]
+
+On the other hand, if we try to place ourselves in the atmosphere of the
+time, it is equally easy to find explanations that to a large extent
+justify Jefferson's attitude. It must be remembered that the President
+was not unaware of Burr's intention "to form a coalition of the five
+eastern States, with New York and New Jersey, under the new appellation
+of the Seven Eastern States."[454] If Burr's machination with the
+English minister to effect a separation of the western States were still
+unknown, there was little doubt about his plans. All of Burr's ambitious
+schemes failed miserably, but it is perfectly natural that the
+Government should have been seriously alarmed at the time. They did not
+know of Wilkinson's shameful deals with Spain, but they had every reason
+to believe that a man who had already plotted a secession of the western
+territory and happened to be in charge of that territory and in command
+of the Federal army was scarcely to be depended upon in an emergency.
+For years the West had been very restive, New Orleans was full of
+discontented Creoles, and if war had not been officially declared with
+both England and Spain, it was felt that it could break out at any time.
+None of these considerations could be brought out before the jury, but
+they amply warranted some action of the Executive. The first step taken
+by Jefferson was to warn the people of the existence of a conspiracy. If
+we remember again that Aaron Burr was at that time roaming at will in a
+part of the country sparsely settled, where he counted many friends,
+where communications with Washington were slow and rare, it is difficult
+to see how the President could have done less.
+
+After the conspirators were arrested the situation changed entirely.
+They had been delivered to the civil authorities, they were to appear
+before a regular court and given trial by jury; they no longer
+constituted a public danger. It must be admitted that Jefferson himself
+declared to his French friends, Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, that
+Burr never had a chance to succeed and "that the man who could expect to
+effect this, with American material must be a fit subject for
+Bedlam."[455] This is hard to reconcile with the statement which comes
+immediately after, that "the seriousness of the crime demands more
+serious punishment", and particularly with the instructions sent to
+George Hay. One may suspect that Jefferson saw in the trial of Burr an
+opportunity to test the loyalty of the Chief Justice to the Constitution
+and to the Government and allowed himself to be carried away by
+political preoccupations which had nothing to do with Colonel Burr. This
+appears clearly in one of the letters to Giles:
+
+  If there has ever been an instance in this or the preceding
+  administrations, of federal judges so applying principles of law as
+  to condemn a federal or acquit a republican offender, I should have
+  judged them in the present case with some charity. All this, however,
+  will work well. The nation will judge both the offender and judges
+  for themselves.[456]
+
+This was reiterated in the instructions sent to George Hay after the
+first acquittal of Burr, that no witness should be permitted to depart
+
+  ... until his testimony has been committed to writing, either as
+  delivered in court, or as taken by yourself in the presence of Burr's
+  counsel.... These whole proceedings will be laid before Congress,
+  that they may decide, whether the defect has been in the evidence of
+  guilt, or in the law, or in the application of the law, and that they
+  may provide the proper remedy for the past and the future.
+
+The intention to scrutinize the documents to uncover any bias of
+Marshall and use any such evidence against the Chief Justice is even
+openly admitted: "I must pray you also to have an authentic copy of the
+record made out (without saying for what) and to send it to me; if the
+Judge's opinions make out a part of it, then I must ask a copy of them,
+either under his hand, if he delivers one signed, or duly proved by
+affidavit."[457] Who could deny after reading this that Jefferson's
+intention was to push vigorously the attack against the judiciary, and
+to institute impeachment proceedings against Marshall on the slightest
+justification? Thus the trial of Burr became a test of strength between
+the executive and the judiciary, between the President and the Chief
+Justice; it was fought out in the courtroom the more fiercely as the two
+antagonists were kinsmen and brought into it the obstinacy and animosity
+of Southern feudists.
+
+Marshall came out as the stanch and unshakable champion of legality, and
+Jefferson did not refrain from using the arguments and reasonings
+resorted to by the Federalists when the Sedition Act was passed. There
+was little excuse for a man of his legal training in believing that Burr
+could be convicted and punished for his "intentions" to commit a crime,
+and the prosecution failed to bring in sufficient proof of Aaron Burr's
+guilt. It would have been more dignified and more consistent with
+Jefferson's theories if, after the conspirator was made powerless, the
+President had remained silent. That, however, he could not do. Early in
+October, he called back Attorney-general Robert Smith in order to
+prepare a selection and digestion of the documents respecting Burr's
+treason and, in his message to Congress, on October 27, if he did not
+use the word treason, he still accused Burr of "enterprise against the
+public peace." He assumed responsibility and claimed credit for the
+measures that had permitted "to dissipate before their explosion plots
+engendering on the Mississippi." He laid before Congress the proceedings
+and evidence exhibited on the arraignment of the principal offenders.
+Finally, he concluded that Burr's acquittal was evidence that there was
+something wrong somewhere, and that the nation could not remain
+defenceless against such dangers. "The framers of our constitution
+certainly supposed they had guarded, as well their government against
+destruction by treason, as their citizens against oppression, under
+pretence of it; and if these ends are not attained, it is of importance
+to inquire by what means more effectual they may be secured."
+
+A year later, writing to Doctor James Brown about the measures of
+repression taken by Wilkinson in New Orleans, Jefferson presented what
+he considered a full justification of his conduct:
+
+  I do wish to see these people get what they deserved; and under the
+  maxim of the law itself, that _inter arma silent leges_, that in an
+  encampment expecting daily attack from a powerful enemy, self
+  preservation is paramount to all law. I expected that instead of
+  invoking the forms of the law, to cover traitors, all good citizens
+  would have concurred in securing them. Should we have ever gained our
+  Revolution, if we had bound our hands by manacles of the law, not
+  only in the beginning, but in any part of the revolutionary
+  conflict?[458]
+
+This was exactly the sort of reasoning that Jefferson had opposed so
+strenuously when advanced by his political opponents. Apparently he had
+completely reversed his position after getting in the saddle, which was
+very illogical and perhaps very damnable, but also very human. He was
+now, to use the vivid expression of a French statesman, "on the other
+side of the barricade", and he saw things in a different light. But if
+this episode can serve to illustrate the inconsistency of the
+philosopher, it constitutes also a most striking refutation of the
+accusations of Jacobinism so often launched against Jefferson; for only
+the Jacobin is perfectly consistent in all circumstances. More than
+thirty years had elapsed since Jefferson had copied the old maxim _fiat
+justifia ruat coelum_ in his "Memorandum book" and he was still wont
+to repeat it, but it had taken him less than eight years of executive
+responsibility to make him admit that democracy does not work in times
+of emergency. It was a most dangerous admission, but one to be expected
+from a man in whom still lived the ruthless spirit of the frontier.
+Pioneer communities in which unrestricted and unlimited democracy
+prevails are pitiless for the outlaw who endangers the life of the
+group, and are not stopped by "legal subtleties." In Jefferson there was
+more of the pioneer than he himself believed. For this very reason he
+was probably more completely and intensely an average American than if
+he had "acted up" to the letter of the law in every circumstance.
+
+This was by far the most dramatic of the internal difficulties that
+Jefferson had to face during his second term. Burr's conspiracy obscured
+the attacks against Madison led by the former spokesman of Jefferson's
+party, John Randolph of Roanoke. But already, when Burr's trial was held
+in Richmond, "circumstances which seriously threatened the peace of the
+country" had made it a duty to convene Congress at an earlier date than
+usual. Once again, as under the administrations of Washington and Adams,
+foreign policies were to dominate and direct domestic policies, and once
+again America was to bear the penalty of all neutrals who try to keep
+out of the war in a world conflagration.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+"PEACE AND COMMERCE WITH EVERY NATION"
+
+
+War is not always an unmixed curse, at least for nations who manage to
+remain neutral while the rest of the world is torn by calamitous
+conflicts. Europe's misfortune had been to some extent America's good
+fortune. With comparatively short intermissions, France and England were
+engaged in a death struggle from 1793 to 1815, and although Britannia
+ruled the sea, the belligerents had to resort to neutral shipping. The
+exports of the United States, which were valued at only nineteen
+millions in 1791, reached ninety-four millions in 1802, and one hundred
+eight millions in 1807. The imports followed approximately the same
+curve for the corresponding dates, jumping from nineteen millions to
+seventy-five millions in 1802 and reaching over one hundred thirty-eight
+millions in 1807. If the United States had been permitted to pursue the
+policy outlined by Jefferson in his messages, "to cultivate the
+friendship of the belligerent nations by every act of justice and of
+incessant kindness" (October 17, 1803), "to carry a commercial
+intercourse with every part of the dominions of a belligerent" (January
+17, 1806), a sort of commercial millennium would have been attained and
+the prosperity of the United States would have been boundless. But, at
+least at the beginning of the nineteenth century, neither the rights of
+neutrals nor international law were observed by the belligerents, and
+neutrals were bound to suffer as well as to profit by their privileged
+situation.
+
+For his conduct of foreign affairs Jefferson has been severely taken to
+task, not only by many of his contemporaries but by several historians,
+one of the most formidable critics being Henry Adams. During his second
+administration, America suffered deep humiliations which aroused the
+national spirit. In many occasions war could have and perhaps should
+have been declared; the navy, which had been reduced to a minimum under
+Gallatin's policy of economy, could have been expanded so as to enable
+the country to protect herself against foreign insults. On matters
+concerning national honor and national pride Americans alone are
+qualified to pass, and I can hold no brief for Jefferson in the matter.
+Perhaps it would have soothed the wounds inflicted to the _amour-propre_
+of the nation if war had been declared against France, or England, or
+both, and if America had taken part in the "bloody conflicts" of Europe.
+It must be said, however, that one fails to see what material advantages
+would have resulted for the country; in this case, as in many others,
+Jefferson's conduct seems to have been directed by enlightened
+self-interest. He was most unwilling to favor and help in any way
+Napoleon's ambitious schemes by declaring war against England; on the
+other hand, the prospect of forming a _de facto_ alliance with a country
+which on so many occasions had deliberately insulted the United States
+and manifestly entertained feelings of scorn and distrust toward the
+young republic was equally abhorrent to him. Finally, it must not be
+forgotten that by keeping out of the deadly conflict in which Europe was
+engaged, the United States were able to lay the solid foundations of an
+unparalleled prosperity. While the young manhood of Europe perished on
+the battlefields of Napoleon, the population of America grew by leaps
+and bounds, passing from 5,300,000 in 1800 to 7,250,000 in 1810. While
+the farms and the factories of the Old World were left abandoned,
+immense territories were put under cultivation and new industries were
+developed to satisfy the demands of consumers who could no longer import
+manufactured products from England. The whole life of the nation was
+quickened and the industrial revolution hastened.
+
+When, after Waterloo, Europe resumed her peaceful pursuits, America had
+freed herself of economic and financial dependence from the Old World.
+She had become a rich, powerful and self-supporting nation. She appeared
+to the impoverished peoples of the earth as an economic as well as a
+political Eldorado. Whether the price she paid for it was too high is a
+question which I may be permitted to leave for others to decide.
+
+In his second inaugural address, the President found it unnecessary to
+state again the directing principles of his policies, simply declaring
+that he had "acted up" to the declaration contained in his first
+inaugural. Of foreign affairs he had little to say, except to reiterate
+his conviction that "with nations, as well as with individuals, our
+interests soundly calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our
+moral duties." Yet there was a passing reference to possible
+difficulties. War sometimes could not be avoided: "it might be procured
+by injustice by ourselves, or by others"; and provision ought to be made
+in advance for such emergencies, so as "to meet all the expenses of any
+given year, without encroaching on the rights of future generations, by
+burdening them with the debts of the past." The President foresaw that,
+with the rapid growth of the population and the corresponding increase
+in revenue raised from import taxes, it would be possible
+
+  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 amendement of the
+  constitution, be applied, _in time of peace_, to rivers, canals,
+  roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects within
+  each State.
+
+One may wonder whether at that time Jefferson realized the possible
+consequences of such a system. We have not to seek very far for the
+exact "source" of these ideas; they were taken bodily from Hamilton's
+report of manufactures. It was the same proposal to distribute subsidies
+and bounties from the Federal treasury, to encourage commerce and
+manufactures. Apparently what was damnable and criminal under a
+Federalist administration became praiseworthy under a Republican régime.
+
+As a matter of fact, even during Jefferson's first term, some of the
+resources of the Federal treasury had to be spent in warlike activities.
+Jefferson had never been able to forget the deep humiliation he had felt
+when, as a minister to the Court of France, he had been forced to
+negotiate with the Barbary pirates for the redemption of American
+prisoners. He had been less than six months in office when he decided to
+answer the new demands of the Barbary States by sending an American
+fleet to protect American commerce in the Mediterranean. To this
+incident he gave a large part of his first message (December 8, 1801),
+and the activities of the small squadron kept in Europe for several
+years, in order to blockade the pirates in their harbors, was regularly
+mentioned in his subsequent messages. The tone of some passages is well
+worth studying. His hope to reduce "the Barbarians of Tripoli to the
+desire of peace on proper terms by the sufferings of war" (November 8,
+1804); his determination to send to Europe additional forces, "to make
+Tripoli sensible that they mistake their interest in choosing war with
+us; and Tunis also, should she have declared war as we expect and almost
+wish" (July 18, 1804)--all this reveals a warlike Jefferson very
+different from the pacifist philosopher he is supposed to have been in
+all circumstances.
+
+It was irritating enough to bear the insults of British and French
+vessels to the American flag in order to keep the United States out of a
+European war. To yield to the demands of a band of pirates who could be
+cowed by energetic action with a minimum of bloodshed and expenditure,
+would have been an insufferable disgrace. The Barbarians had to be
+beaten into submission, and the European powers who did not seem to be
+willing to emancipate themselves from that degrading tribute could
+perhaps understand at the same time that there were limits to the
+forbearance of the United States.
+
+With reference to England the situation was entirely different. The
+United States had no fleet able to cope with the English fleet. The
+American coasts were unprotected and the American harbors could be
+bombarded from the sea without even being able to make a pretense of
+resisting. A large navy could not be built in a day, and even if one had
+been improvised, the odds would have been so uneven that many American
+vessels would have gone down and many lives would have been lost under
+the fire of the British frigates. Thus for practical reasons as well as
+from philanthropic motives, Jefferson bent all his efforts to the
+preservation of peace with the great countries of Europe.
+
+Hardly three weeks after the signature of the treaty through which he
+gave up Louisiana, Bonaparte declared war against England. When he
+received the news, Jefferson wrote a long letter to Lord Buchan in which
+he defined his policy:
+
+  My hope of preserving peace for our country is not founded in the
+  greater principle of non-resistance under every wrong, but in the
+  belief that a just and friendly conduct on our part will procure
+  justice and friendship from others. In the existing contest, each of
+  the combatants will find an interest in our friendship. I cannot say
+  we shall be unconcerned spectators of this combat. We feel for human
+  sufferings, and we wish the good of all. We shall look on, therefore,
+  with the sensations which these dispositions and the events of the
+  war will produce.[459]
+
+Thus spoke Jefferson in July, 1803, and Woodrow Wilson, who borrowed
+more than one page from the book of his predecessor, expressed himself
+in almost the same words one hundred and eleven years later. Thus,
+also, would probably speak any President of the United States should a
+new conflagration break out to-morrow. This, to be sure, was no
+proclamation of neutrality and none was needed at the time; but had
+Jefferson written one, he could scarcely have expressed himself more
+forcibly than he did in a letter sent two days later to General Horatio
+Gates: "We are friendly, cordially and conscientiously friendly to
+England. We are not hostile to France. We will be rigorously just and
+sincerely friendly to both."
+
+But this fine declaration did not make Jefferson forget the immediate
+interests of the United States, for the preoccupation uppermost in his
+mind at that time was to find out how the European situation could be
+used to the best advantage of his own country.
+
+In signing the treaty France had refused to give any guarantee as to the
+extent of the territory ceded under the Louisiana Purchase. Whether the
+cession included West Florida, on the occupation of which Jefferson had
+been so intent, was a matter of doubt. This particular point had not
+been pressed during the negotiations, France, according to the old maxim
+_caveat emptor_, taking the position that the question lay between the
+United States and Spain, while the United States had never abandoned the
+hope that they would be able to induce Bonaparte to exert pressure on
+Madrid so as to enable the American Government to make the most of the
+transaction. Soon after the treaty was signed, the United States found
+themselves enmeshed in one of the most complicated intrigues of European
+diplomacy.
+
+While Madison and Jefferson were negotiating in Washington with the
+Spanish minister Yrujo, Pinkney and later Monroe negotiated in Madrid,
+sometimes at cross purposes but without ever losing sight of the main
+object. Jefferson had renewed his old contention that the United States
+were entitled to "all the navigable waters, rivers, creeks, bays, and
+inlets lying within the United States, which empty into the Gulf of
+Mexico east of the River Mississippi." As Henry Adams remarked, this was
+a most remarkable provision, as "no creeks, bays, or inlets lying within
+the United States emptied into the Gulf."[460] But if Jefferson's
+geography was faulty, his intent was perfectly clear, and every
+opportunity was to be used to round out the perimeter of the United
+States. When in October, 1804, Monroe reached Paris to push negotiations
+more vigorously, the plans of the United States had crystallized. They
+had a beautiful simplicity: to make Spain pay the claims resulting from
+the shutting-up of the Mississippi by Morales, to take immediate
+possession of Western Florida and to obtain the cession of Eastern
+Florida.
+
+With the details of the diplomatic maneuvers we are not concerned here,
+but rather with the remarkable proposal made by Jefferson to Madison
+during the summer of 1805. Spain having declared war against England,
+the President, fearful of being "left without an ally", thought
+immediately of proposing "a provisional alliance with England" (August
+7, 1805). This alliance was to be conditional and would become effective
+only in case the United States should have to declare war against France
+or Spain. "In that event," wrote Jefferson, "we should make common
+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 boundaries of Louisiana (which we should reduce
+to a minimum by a secret article) and 2, indemnification for spoliation,
+for which purpose we should be allowed to make reprisal on the Floridas
+and _retain them_ as an indemnification." Jefferson added that "as it
+was the wish of every Englishman's heart to see the United States
+fighting by their sides against France", the king and his ministers
+could do no better than to enter into an alliance and the nation would
+consider it "as the price and pledge of an indissoluble
+friendship."[461] There is little doubt that if, at this juncture,
+Monroe had maneuvered more skillfully, if England had showed less
+arrogance in her treatment of the United States, she could have secured
+at least the benevolent neutrality of America. But apparently England
+did not care for a benevolent neutrality. After Trafalgar, she was left
+undisputed mistress of the ocean, she could enforce her own regulations
+as she pleased, and she proceeded to do so.
+
+The presidential message of December 3, 1805, had to present very
+"unpleasant views of violence and wrong." The coasts of America were
+infested by "private armed vessels, some of them with commissions,
+others without commissions", all of them committing enormities, sinking
+American merchantmen, "maltreating the crews, abandoning them in boats
+in the open seas or on desert shores." The same policy of "hovering on
+the coast" was carried on by "public armed vessels." New principles,
+too, had been "interloped into the law of nations, founded neither in
+justice nor in the usage or acknowledgment of nations"; this was an
+allusion to the decision of Judge Scott in the Essex case. With Spain
+negotiations had not had a satisfactory issue, propositions for
+adjusting amicably the boundaries of Louisiana had not been acceded to,
+and spoliation claims formerly acknowledged had again been denied.
+
+The President concluded that, although peace was still the ultimate
+ideal of the United States, there were circumstances which admitted of
+no peaceful remedy. Some evils were "of a nature to be met by force
+only, and all of them may lead to it." Finally specific recommendations
+were made to organize the national defense: furnishing the seaports with
+heavy cannon, increasing the number of gunboats, classifying the militia
+so as to have ready a competent number of men "for offence or defence in
+any point where they may be wanted", prohibition of the exportations of
+arms and ammunition,--such were the chief measures contemplated by the
+President.
+
+In the spring of 1806, he wrote a long letter to Alexander of Russia,
+who had manifested a desire to have a copy of the Constitution of the
+United States. This was an appeal to the Czar, insisting that special
+articles defining the rights of neutrals in time of war be inserted in
+the definitive treaty of peace sooner or later to be concluded between
+the European belligerents. Having taken no part in the troubles of
+Europe, "the United States would have no part in its pacification", but
+it was to be hoped that some one would be found "who, looking beyond the
+narrow bounds of an individual nation, will take under the cover of his
+equity the rights of the absent and unrepresented."[462] Unfortunately,
+more than ten years were to elapse before that pacification of Europe so
+earnestly hoped for by Jefferson came about, and only a week before the
+British ministry had again aggravated regulations against the neutrals
+by issuing orders blockading the coast of the continent (April 8, 1806).
+
+A few weeks later, Jefferson who, yielding to the pressure of Congress,
+had agreed to appoint a special envoy to help Monroe negotiate a
+commercial treaty with England, sent William Pinkney of Maryland to
+London. "He has a just view of things, so far as known to him," wrote
+Jefferson to Monroe, but he did not deem it desirable to trust him with
+special instructions. For Monroe alone he reserved the complete
+exposition of the plans then brooding in his mind. The death of Pitt
+would probably mark a change in the attitude of Great Britain; the
+President had more confidence in Mr. Fox than in any other man in
+England and relied entirely on "his honesty and good sense." Then came
+an outline of the reasoning to be put forward by Monroe: "No two
+countries upon earth have so many points of common interests and
+friendship; and their rulers must be great bunglers indeed, if, with
+such dispositions, they break them asunder." England might check the
+United States a little on the ocean; but she should realize that nothing
+but her financial limitations prevented America from having a strong
+navy. If France provided the money, so as to equip an American fleet,
+the state of the ocean would be no longer problematical. If England, on
+the contrary, made such a proposition, an alliance of the two largest
+fleets "would make the world out of the continent of Europe our joint
+monopoly." Then Jefferson added: "we wish for neither of these
+scenes--We ask for peace and justice from all nations; and we will
+remain uprightly neutral in fact, though leaning in belief to the
+opinion that an English ascendency on the ocean is safer for us than
+that of France."
+
+Finally, at the end of the letter, came the most extraordinarily
+imperialistic proposition ever made by any nation; it was the extension
+of a pet theory of Jefferson to the Atlantic Ocean. As he had claimed
+for the United States the free navigation of all the streams originating
+on the territory of the United States, he was ready to claim that the
+great current originating from the Gulf should not be considered
+differently, and he wrote: "We begin to broach the idea that we consider
+the whole Gulf Stream as of our waters, in which hostilities and
+cruising are to be frowned on for the present, and prohibited so soon as
+either consent or force will permit us."[463]
+
+This might be thought a visionary scheme and merely a flight of
+imagination, if Jefferson had not expressed the same idea in identical
+terms in a conversation with the French minister concerning the treaty
+negotiated in London by Monroe and Pinkney: "Perhaps we shall obtain the
+right to extend our maritime jurisdiction, and to carry it as far as the
+effect of the Gulph Stream makes itself felt,--which would be very
+advantageous both to belligerents and neutrals."[464]
+
+These being Jefferson's views, it would have taken a far more successful
+negotiator than Monroe to make the British Government accept them. The
+treaty finally signed by the American envoys on December 1, 1806, was
+far from satisfactory. As a matter of fact, the American envoys had been
+caught between the hammer and the anvil. To the Fox blockade of April,
+1806, Napoleon had answered by the Berlin Decree at the end of November,
+placing the British islands in a state of blockade, declaring all
+merchandise coming from England subject to confiscation and refusing
+admission into any French port to any vessel coming either from England
+or her colonies. Forbidden by England to trade with France, by France to
+trade with England, the neutrals were placed in a sorry plight. Yet not
+only did Monroe in his treaty recognize the right of visit and of
+impressing British seamen found on board American vessels, but he gave
+up the American claims to indemnity for outrages committed on American
+commerce in 1805, and accepted the most humiliating conditions
+concerning American trade with the French and Spanish colonies. Finally,
+before Monroe could obtain the signature of the British negotiators, he
+had to agree to an additional article by which he promised not to
+recognize the decree of Berlin. In less than three weeks Jefferson
+received Napoleon's decree, the text of the Pinkney-Monroe treaty, and
+the news of Lord Howick's retaliatory order requesting that no goods
+should be carried to France unless they first touched at an English port
+and paid a certain duty.
+
+In spite of the pressing request of the Senate, Jefferson refused to
+communicate the text of the treaty. The explanation publicly given by
+the President was that Monroe had concluded the treaty before receiving
+information as to the points to be insisted upon, and that a new effort
+would be made to obtain the modification of some particularly
+objectionable features. "This is the statement we have given out," he
+wrote to Monroe, "and nothing more of the treaty has ever been made
+known. But depend on it, my dear Sir, that it will be considered as a
+hard treaty when it is known." If it appeared to Monroe that no
+amendment was to be hoped for, he was authorized to come home, leaving
+behind him Pinkney, who by procrastination would let it die and thus
+would give America more time "the most precious of all things to
+us."[465]
+
+New instructions were sent accordingly to the American envoys at the end
+of May, but the problem of the relations with England became suddenly
+more acute during Aaron Burr's trial.
+
+On June 22, the _Chesapeake_ of the American navy, bound for the
+Mediterranean, was hauled up in view of Cape Henry by the _Leopard_ of
+the British squadron, and summons were sent to Commodore Barron to
+deliver some British deserters he was supposed to have on board. Upon
+Barron's refusal, the _Leopard_ opened fire and for fifteen minutes sent
+broadsides into the American ship, so unprepared and unready that only
+one shot could be fired in answer. The American flag was hauled down,
+British officers boarded the ship and took four deserters; after which
+Captain Humphreys of the _Leopard_ declared to Barron that he could
+proceed on his way. The _Chesapeake_ limped back into port, and on the
+twenty-fifth, Jefferson called back to Washington Dearborn and Gallatin
+to consider the emergency in a meeting of the Cabinet.
+
+What his indignation over the outrage may have been is a matter of
+surmise. He did not express it either privately or publicly. To Governor
+William H. Cabell, who had sent him a special message and report, he
+answered diplomatically that, after consulting the Cabinet he would
+determine "the course which exigency and our constitutional powers call
+for.--Whether the outrage is a proper cause of war, belonging
+exclusively to Congress, it is our duty not to commit them by doing
+anything which would have to be retracted." But it is certain that, even
+at that time, he was not ready to recommend any radical step, for he
+added:
+
+  This will leave Congress free to decide whether war is the most
+  efficacious mode of redress in our case, or whether, having taught so
+  many other useful lessons to Europe, we may not add that of showing
+  them that there are peaceable means of repressing injustice by making
+  it the interest of the aggressor to do what is just and abstain from
+  future wrong.[466]
+
+It was scarcely necessary to call the Cabinet together; three days
+before the special meeting the President had already decided on a policy
+of forbearance and watchful waiting. The proclamation which was issued
+was moderate in tone, but Jefferson expressed more clearly in a letter
+to the Vice President, George Clinton, the reasons for his moderation.
+
+  The usage of nations requires that we shall give the offender an
+  opportunity of making reparation and avoiding war. That we would give
+  time to our merchants to get in their property and vessels and our
+  seamen now afloat; That the power of declaring war being with the
+  Legislature, the executive could do nothing necessarily committing
+  them to decide for war in preference of non-intercourse, which will
+  be preferred by a great many.[467]
+
+In order to make even more certain that no precipitate step would be
+taken, it was decided to issue, on August 24, a proclamation calling
+Congress together, but not until the fourth Monday in October. It was
+the manifest hope of the President that by that date some satisfaction
+would be obtained from England with regard to the most flagrant
+violations of the "_droit des gens_", and that extreme measures could be
+avoided.
+
+In the meantime new instructions had been sent to Monroe. "Reparation
+for the past, and security for the future is our motto," wrote the
+President to Du Pont de Nemours. Reparation for the past, at least as
+far as the attack on the _Chesapeake_ was concerned, would have been
+easy to obtain, but Canning refused persistently to make any promise for
+the future, or to alter the policy of Great Britain with regard to visit
+and impressment. For his firmness in refusing to settle the case of the
+_Chesapeake_ independently, Jefferson has been most severely criticized
+by Henry Adams, whose admiration for Perceval's and Canning's superior
+minds is unbounded. Shall I confess that on this particular point, at
+least, I should rather agree with the English biographer of Jefferson,
+Mr. Hirst, who declares that "no second-rate lawyer was ever more obtuse
+than Perceval, and the wit of Canning, his foreign secretary, seldom
+issued in wisdom." On this occasion Great Britain was even more stupid
+than she had been in 1776; she missed her great opportunity to operate a
+reconciliation with the United States and to turn them against France,
+without other compensation than the pleasure of outwitting the American
+envoys and once more treating scornfully the younger country. The real
+answer of England was given in the Orders in Council of November 11,
+1807, prohibiting all neutral trade with the whole European seacoast
+from Copenhagen to Trieste. No American vessel was to be allowed to
+enter any port of Europe from which British vessels were excluded
+without first going to England and abiding by regulations to be
+determined later.
+
+In the meantime, Jefferson was pushing fast his preparations for
+defence. A detailed examination of his correspondence during the summer
+and fall of that year would justify him amply from the criticism of
+several American historians.[468] He still hoped for peace, or more
+exactly peace remained his ideal, although he had very little hope that
+Monroe would succeed in his negotiations. But nothing could be done as
+long as American ships and sailors, "at least twenty thousand men",
+were on the seas, an easy prey to British vessels in case war should be
+declared at once. "The loss of these," wrote Jefferson quite correctly,
+"would be worth to Great Britain many victories on the Nile and
+Trafalgar."[469]
+
+To judge of Jefferson's conduct at that time from our modern point of
+view would be most unfair and dangerous. He could neither cable, nor
+send radiograms, nor even steamships to warn American citizens in
+distant ports, nor give instructions to agents of the United States all
+over the world. It took months for news to cross the ocean and sometimes
+a year or more to receive an answer to a letter. The geographical
+isolation of the United States, their remoteness from Europe and the
+slowness of communications were obvious factors of the situation, yet
+they are too often neglected in judging the policy then followed by the
+President. As the year advanced, Jefferson's hope of being able to
+maintain peace grew fainter. There is a spirit of helplessness in a
+letter he wrote to James Maury at the end of November:
+
+  The world as you justly observe, is truly in an awful state. Two
+  nations of overgrown power are endeavoring to establish, the one an
+  universal dominion by sea, the other by land.... We are now in hourly
+  expectation of hearing from our ministers in London by the return of
+  the "Revenge." Whether she will bring us war or peace, or the middle
+  state of non-intercourse, seems suspended in equal balance.[470]
+
+The message to Congress, of October 27, contained no specific
+recommendation. It was a dispassionate recital of the circumstances
+which had necessitated new instructions to Monroe, a promise that
+Congress would be informed of the result of the negotiations, news of
+which was expected hourly, and an enumeration of the measures taken
+towards the defense of the country. When the first news finally came,
+the President had already decided upon the course to follow. On
+December 18, 1807, he sent to Congress one of his shortest messages:
+
+  The communications now made, showing the great and increasing dangers
+  with which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandise, are threatened
+  on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of
+  Europe, and it being of great importance to keep in safety these
+  essential resources, I deem it my duty to recommend the subject to
+  the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all the
+  advantages which may be expected from an inhibition of the departure
+  of our vessels from the ports of the United States. Their wisdom will
+  also see the necessity of making every preparation for whatever
+  events may grow out of the present crisis.
+
+The situation was much more clearly described in a letter to General
+John Mason written approximately at the same time.
+
+  The sum of these mutual enterprises on our national rights--wrote the
+  President--is that France, and her allies, reserving for further
+  consideration the prohibiting our carrying anything to the British
+  territories, have virtually done it, by restraining our bringing a
+  return cargo from them; and that Great Britain, after prohibiting a
+  great proportion of our commerce with France and her allies, is now
+  believed to have prohibited the whole. The whole world is thus laid
+  under interdict by these two nations, and our vessels, their cargoes
+  and crews, are to be taken by the one or the other, for whatever
+  place they may be destined out of our own limits. If therefore, on
+  leaving our harbors we are certain to lose them, is it not better, as
+  to vessels, cargoes and seamen, to keep them at home? This is
+  submitted to the wisdom of Congress, who alone are competent to
+  provide a remedy.[471]
+
+As in so many other instances the temptation is great to draw a parallel
+between Jefferson's policies and the neutrality advocated by Woodrow
+Wilson during his first term, and to repeat the worn-out and dangerous
+adage "history repeats itself." As a matter of fact, the situation
+faced by Jefferson in 1808 was entirely different from that which
+confronted President Wilson from 1914 to 1917. America was not then a
+rich and powerful country with unlimited resources. The people had just
+emerged from a long and distressing financial crisis, for it took more
+than one generation to heal the wounds of a war which had lasted six
+years. The Federal Government was far from being as strong as it was
+destined to become. The navy was ridiculously inadequate, not only to go
+out and give battle to the English fleet, but even, to use Jefferson's
+expression, to keep the seaports "_hors d'insulte_".
+
+These facts must be kept in mind if one wishes to form a true estimate
+of Jefferson's conduct and character during the calamitous years of his
+second term. To criticize his policies is an easy feat for a modern
+historian, for it is natural that an American of to-day should resent
+Jefferson's attitude as unworthy of a great self-respecting nation.
+Undoubtedly the President might have sent a warlike message to Congress
+and war would have immediately followed, but on the whole the issue had
+been taken out of his hands in December, 1807. The embargo, as he justly
+pointed out, was no new policy and no new measure; it was simply a
+recognition of a situation created by both France and Great Britain. The
+only way out would have been a formal declaration of war, and one does
+not quite see what this grand gesture would have accomplished. Certainly
+the United States were no more in position to march into Canada in 1807
+than they were in 1812, and if they had succeeded in taking possession
+of the British colony, it is unlikely that Great Britain would have
+accepted such a loss with equanimity. Furthermore, even if a formal
+alliance had been concluded with France, the French fleet would have
+been powerless to prevent the British navy from cruising on the American
+coast and repeating, if they had wished, the outrages that had befallen
+Copenhagen.
+
+Another solution, favored by such a liberal historian of Jefferson as
+Mr. A. J. Nock, would have been frankly to recognize the existing
+situation and to leave the New England merchants free to send out their
+vessels at their own risk. This would have relieved to a certain extent
+the economic distress of the northern States, but whether it would have
+been more honest or more dignified than the embargo is a matter of
+opinion. Such a policy would have been neutral only in appearance; it
+would have amounted to a tacit recognition of a British monopoly of the
+American trade, since England was really the only country to which
+American ships would have been permitted to go. Granting that the
+embargo was "the most arbitrary, inquisitorial, and confiscatory measure
+formulated in American legislation up to the period of the Civil
+War",[472] I fail to see that the prestige of the United States would
+have gained much by allowing their citizens to submit to the humiliating
+Orders in Council of November 11, 1807. Of all policies this would have
+been the most evasive, most vacillating and least dignified.
+
+It must be furthermore remembered that though he was gifted with
+remarkable foresight, Jefferson was in no position to guess that the
+conflict between England and France would last for seven more years. He
+believed, on the contrary, that the Titanic struggle would come, if not
+to a definite close, at least to a pause, within a comparatively short
+time: "Time may produce peace in Europe; peace in Europe removes all
+causes of difference, till another European war; and by that time our
+debt may be paid, our revenue clear, and our strength increased."[473]
+This reasoning reappears in many letters written by Jefferson during the
+last year of his administration. His correspondence during the months
+that separated him from rest and philosophical meditation may be devoid
+of dramatic interest, but a thorough perusal of it would demonstrate
+that at no time during his long political career were his motives less
+interested, less partisan and more truly patriotic.
+
+At no time, either, was he more bitterly attacked. He suffered from "the
+peltings of the storm" and cried out pathetically to Benjamin Rush: "Oh!
+for the day when I shall be withdrawn from it; when I shall have leisure
+to enjoy my family, my friends, my farm and books." But the defection of
+the Republicans in Congress, the divergence of opinions in his Cabinet,
+the threats of secession, the anonymous letters and the press campaign
+launched against him had no power to shake his strong negative
+resolution. Yet in all justice to him it may be seen that his policy was
+not entirely negative.
+
+First of all his letters show that he never considered the embargo as a
+permanent cure. As early as March, 1808, writing to Charles Pinckney,
+the former envoy to Spain, he declared that the effect of the embargo
+would be "to postpone for this year the immediate danger of a rupture
+with England." He admitted that a time would come "when war would be
+preferable to a continuance of the embargo and that the question would
+have to be decided at the next meeting of Congress unless peace
+intervened in the meantime."[474] Under these circumstances the repeal
+of the embargo voted by Congress to take effect after Jefferson's
+retirement cannot be considered as a rebuke to the President. Moreover,
+it appears that Jefferson had given some thought to three and not two
+alternatives: 1, embargo; 2, war; 3, submission and tribute,--the third
+being exactly that advocated by Mr. Nock. In Jefferson's opinion this
+third solution was at once "to be put out by every American and the two
+first considered."[475] Writing to Thomas Leib, earlier in the year, he
+had already defined his position with regard to this solution,
+recommended by the mercantile interests: "It is true, the time will
+come when we must abandon it (the embargo). But if this is before the
+repeal of the orders of council, we must abandon it only for a state of
+war. The day is not distant, when that will be preferable to a longer
+continuance of the embargo. But we can never remove that, and let our
+vessels go out and be taken under these orders without making reprisal."
+This is itself evidence, but it has apparently escaped many historians
+as well as many contemporaries of Jefferson. If the embargo is
+considered not as a permanent policy but as a political expedient and a
+political experiment, the greater part of Henry Adams' arraignment of
+Jefferson's political philosophy falls flat.[476] When, on the other
+hand, the same writer admits that "the result was that the embargo saved
+perhaps twenty millions of dollars a year and some thousands of lives
+which the war would have consumed", we may be permitted to add that
+Jefferson would not have granted the principle that "the strongest
+objection to war was not its waste of money or even of life; for money
+and life in political economy were worth no more than they could be made
+to produce." If this is economic history, Heaven preserve us from
+economic policies! As to the accusation that "Jefferson's system was
+preaching the fear of war, of self-sacrifice, making many smugglers and
+traitors, but not a single hero", I must humbly confess that one does
+not see that America would have been much richer for engaging without
+adequate preparation or even a fair chance to defend herself in a
+useless and, in last analysis, probably inglorious war.
+
+It is claimed, however, that the embargo caused an economic catastrophe:
+
+  As the order was carried along the seacoast, every artisan dropped
+  his tools, every merchant closed his doors, every ship was
+  dismantled. American produce--wheat, timber, cotton, tobacco,
+  rice--dropped in value or became unsalable; every imported article
+  rose in price; wages stopped, swarms of debtors became bankrupt;
+  thousands of sailors hung idle around the wharves.... A reign of
+  idleness began; and the men who were not already ruined felt that
+  their ruin was only a matter of time.[477]
+
+A very pathetic picture this, made even more pitiful by the classic
+quotation from the British traveler, Lambert, who visited New York in
+1808 and described it as a place ravaged by pestilence. But why not
+quote also from another traveler, John Mellish, who spoke of the impetus
+given to manufactures and home industries?[478] Why forget to mention
+Gallatin's report of 1810, pointing out that some basic industries had
+been firmly established in the United States, such as iron, cotton,
+flax, hats, paper, printing type, gunpowder, window glass, clocks, etc.
+Who could deny, at any rate, that manufactures made enormous progress,
+thanks to the embargo, and that goods formerly imported from England
+began to be made in America? Even supposing that the picture drawn by H.
+Adams were true, it would be necessary to admit that there was another
+side to it and that a few artisans, at least, remained working steadily
+at their benches.
+
+The last annual message of Jefferson to Congress was noncommittal on the
+measures to be taken. It presented first a dispassionate recital of the
+negotiations carried on with France and England to bring them to rescind
+the most offensive features of their orders and decrees. It recognized
+that "this candid and liberal experiment had failed." It was left to
+Congress to determine what course to follow:
+
+  Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance of
+  laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean
+  with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on
+  the course best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with
+  them, as they do, from every part of the Union, the sentiments of our
+  constituants, my confidence is strengthened, that in forming this
+  decision they will, with an unerring regard to the essential rights
+  and interests of the nation weigh and compare the painful
+  alternatives out of which a choice is to be made.
+
+This reserved attitude Jefferson intended to maintain during the rest of
+his term. "I have thought it right to take no part myself in proposing
+measures, the execution of which will devolve on my successor. I am
+therefore chiefly an unmedling listener to what others say."[479] But to
+Doctor William Eustis he protested that "while thus endeavoring to
+secure, and preparing to vindicate that commerce, the absurd opinion has
+been propagated, that this temporary and necessary arrangement was to be
+a permanent system and was intended for its destruction."[480] And this
+seems to indicate that he was quite definite in his own mind, even if he
+refrained from expressing his opinion officially.
+
+After more than a month's deliberation in Congress, Jefferson had come
+to believe that "Congress had taken their ground firmly for continuing
+the embargo till June, and then war." Quite suddenly, however, the
+majority, frightened by threats of secession openly made by the New
+England members, and fearful of the famous Essex Junto, rallied to a
+compromise. Neither the people nor Congress were for war, and that fact
+had been clearly realized very early both by the French and the British
+ministers; at the same time it was felt that something must be done to
+relieve to some extent the financial distress of the Virginia planters
+and New England merchants. The result was that Congress decided to
+remove the embargo on March 4, "non intercourse with France and Great
+Britain, trade everywhere else, and continuing war preparations."[481]
+
+On the first of March, three days before the inauguration of his
+successor, Jefferson signed the bill, but not without serious
+misgivings. The letters he wrote at that time contain even more
+convincing evidence that he did not expect the embargo to last much
+longer. To General Armstrong, the American representative in Paris, he
+declared on March 5 that "War must follow if the edicts are not repealed
+before the meeting of Congress in May." With Short, whom he had tried
+without success to have appointed Minister to Russia, he was more
+explicit if no less emphatic: "We have substituted for it (the embargo),
+a non-intercourse with France and England and their dependencies, and a
+trade to all other places. It is probable that the belligerents will
+take our vessels under their edicts, in which case we shall probably
+declare war against them."[482] Finally, to Madison himself, he wrote
+after reaching Monticello:
+
+  It is to be desired that war may be avoided, if circumstances will
+  admit. Nor in the present maniac state of Europe, should I estimate
+  the point of honor by the ordinary scale. I believe we shall, on the
+  contrary, have credit with the world, for having made the avoidance
+  of being engaged in the present unexampled war, our first object.
+  War, however, may become a less losing business than unresisted
+  depredation.[483]
+
+Whatever may have been the opposition to the embargo and the opposition
+to Jefferson of disaffected Republicans, it is remarkable that he was
+able to keep his party in hand to the last minute and to choose his
+successor. Early at the beginning of his second term, he had expressed
+his irrevocable intention not to become a candidate for a third term. He
+was longing for his farm, his books, for the comforts of family life and
+he was not in the best of health.
+
+Not only had he been troubled by rheumatism, but "periodical headaches"
+recurring at frequent intervals left him for days unable to write and
+hardly able "to compose his thoughts."
+
+The Republicans had to make a choice between three possible candidates:
+George Clinton, Monroe, and Madison. The strongest argument that could
+be advanced in favor of the first was that, according to a precedent
+already apparently established, the Vice President was the logical
+successor, the "heir apparent", as Adams had termed it, to a retiring
+President. Moreover, Clinton could count on the support of the New York
+Republicans and had aroused no strong antagonism against himself. It
+soon became obvious, however, that the contest lay between the two
+Virginians and that the Virginia dynasty would not be broken as yet.
+Monroe was not without support in his native State and his candidacy had
+been upheld by a Republican caucus held by Randolph and his friends at
+Richmond; but another caucus of the Assembly had given a decisive
+majority to Madison. On January 23, 1808, a congressional caucus held in
+Washington pronounced decisively for Madison as President and George
+Clinton as Vice President. But Randolph held aloof and with his friends
+published a protest against the candidacy of Madison, who had
+"moderation when energy was needed", whose theories of government were
+tainted with federalism, "when the country was asking for consistency
+and loathing and abhorrence from any compromise." The danger of a split
+in the Republican Party was indeed serious, and while Jefferson
+reasserted his wish not to participate in any way in the campaign, he
+wrote to Monroe a long letter, deploring the situation and making an
+obvious appeal to his party loyalty. He warned him particularly against
+the passions that could not fail to be aroused in such a contest, and
+conjured him to keep clear "of the toils in which his friends would
+endeavor to interlace him."
+
+That Monroe's _amour-propre_ was deeply wounded appears in the letter he
+wrote in answer to his "chief." He complained lengthily and bitterly of
+having been handicapped by the sending of Pinkney and of the criticism
+to which he had been subjected on account of the treaty. Once again
+Jefferson had to soothe the discontent of his friend and "_élève_",
+which to a certain extent he succeeded in doing. It soon appeared,
+however, that the question would solve itself, that neither Monroe nor
+Clinton was strong enough to control the Republican majority. When the
+results came in, the Republicans had suffered the loss of all New
+England except Vermont, but Madison carried the election by one hundred
+and twenty-two votes, against forty-seven to C. C. Pinckney and six for
+Clinton. True enough, in several states the electors had been selected
+before the full pressure of the embargo was felt, but with such a
+substantial majority it is difficult to accept unreservedly Henry Adams'
+view that "no one could fail to see that if nine months of embargo had
+so shattered Jefferson's power, another such year would shake the Union
+itself."
+
+
+
+
+BOOK SIX
+
+_The Sage of Monticello_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"AMERICA HAS A HEMISPHERE TO ITSELF"
+
+
+When, after a long and fatiguing journey, Thomas Jefferson reached
+Monticello in the spring of 1809, he was in his sixty-third year and had
+well earned his "quadragena stipendia." But the Republic did not serve
+any pension to retired Presidents. For more than twelve years he had
+perforce neglected his domain, and his son-in-law, who had been in
+charge of the estate for some time, was scarcely a man to be intrusted
+with the administration of complicated financial interests. A large part
+of Jefferson's time was necessarily spent in setting things to rights;
+but the times were against him, and the embargo had proved more
+detrimental to the great landowners of the South than to the New England
+manufacturers. A planter whose sole revenue consisted in his crops had
+the utmost difficulty in providing for a large family of dependants, and
+a considerable number of slaves who had to be fed and clad, and most of
+all in keeping up appearances. Jefferson was hardly freed from public
+responsibilities when he had to labor under domestic difficulties which
+worried him even to his death bed.
+
+Under his direction, however, Monticello became more than ever a
+self-supporting community; the slaves were taught all the necessary
+trades and when, thanks to the merino sheep brought over by Du Pont de
+Nemours, woolen goods of fine quality were made at Monticello, the
+master of the house was proud to wear clothes of homespun which, in his
+opinion, could rival the best produce of the English manufactures. Whole
+books could be written, and several have been written, on Jefferson the
+agriculturist, the surveyor, the civil engineer, the inventor and the
+architect. There is, however, another aspect of his last years which
+deserves more attention than it usually receives.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+_From the portrait by Kosciuszko_]
+
+For thirty years Jefferson had lived almost constantly under the
+scrutiny of the public. His utterances had been pounced upon by eager
+enemies of the "cannibal press"; letters intended solely for friends had
+been printed, several times in a garbled form, and during his presidency
+he had been unable to communicate freely with his European friends for
+fear of having his letters intercepted. At last, he could express
+himself freely. He was no longer the spokesman of the country who had to
+ascertain the state of public opinion before writing a message or
+sending a communication to a foreign government. He could speak for
+himself, without being hindered by the ever-present danger of political
+repercussions, and if he did not speak much, he wrote several thousand
+letters, many of which are still unpublished--an overwhelming treasure
+for historians of the period. His physical strength was somewhat
+impaired, but his intellectual powers were in no way diminished; never
+had his mind been keener, his perception of realities clearer and his
+extraordinary gift of political prophecy more accurate than during the
+last fifteen years of his life. This is the period to study in order to
+understand more fully his conception of Americanism, his vision of
+democracy and the practical wisdom which permeated his philosophy of old
+age.
+
+His valedictory letter to Madison, written from Monticello on March 17,
+1809, contained a very curious admission of the inability of the United
+States to carry out war successfully with their present organization; "I
+know of no Government," he wrote, "which would be so embarrassing in war
+as ours. This would proceed very much from the lying and licentious
+character of our papers; but also, from the wonderful credulity of the
+members of Congress in the floating lies of the day."[484]
+
+This was no passing whim of his, but a very definite and categorical
+understanding of the functions devolving upon the Executive in times of
+emergency. He had not forgotten his experience as Governor of Virginia,
+when he had to coax necessary measures from a reluctant Assembly; his
+eight years as Chief Executive of the country had only strengthened him
+in the opinion that "In times of peace, the people look most to their
+representatives, but in war to the Executive solely." He found a
+confirmation of this theory in the state of public opinion, when he
+wrote to Rodney, early in 1810: "It is visible that their confidence is
+now veering in that direction: that they are looking to the executive to
+give the proper direction to their affairs, with a confidence as
+auspicious as it is well founded."[485]
+
+A few months later, writing to J. B. Colvin, he took up again the same
+question: "In what circumstances is it permitted for the man in charge
+to assume authority beyond the law?" That he was personally interested
+in the matter was evident, since he had exceeded his constitutional
+powers very recently, during the Burr conspiracy. It is nevertheless
+remarkable to see the champion of legality and democracy declare that:
+
+  A strict observance of the written law is doubtless _one_ of the high
+  duties of a good citizen, but it is not the _highest_. The laws of
+  necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger
+  are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous
+  adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life,
+  liberty, property and all those enjoying them with us; thus absurdly
+  sacrificing the end to the means.[486]
+
+To a certain extent this was a plea _pro domo sua_. If we remember that,
+during the World War, the motto of America was, for more than two years,
+"Stand by the President", it will be seen that Jefferson was as good a
+prophet as an intelligent observer. This admission of his may seem
+undemocratic, but it simply shows that the former President had a clear
+perception of the permanent tendencies that direct American
+consciousness; for no people are more disciplined and more ready to
+follow their chosen executive than the Americans, at least on critical
+occasions, and more particularly when confronted with foreign
+aggression.
+
+War was still to be avoided and considered only as the _ultima ratio rei
+publicae_. On this point also, Jefferson was perfectly consistent, and,
+having shed the responsibility, he did not suddenly change his attitude.
+The "point of honor" was not to be estimated by the ordinary scale in
+the present maniac state of Europe. But America must realize at the same
+time that no ordinary treaty could insure her safety. A treaty with
+England could not even be thought of; for "the British never made an
+equal treaty with any nation."
+
+With regard to France the situation was somewhat different. Some
+compensation was due to America for forcing Great Britain to revoke her
+orders in council. But what compensation? The acquiescence of Bonaparte
+to the annexation of the Floridas? That was no price; for "they are ours
+in the first moment of the first war; and until a war they are of no
+particular necessity." The only territory that the United States might
+covet was Cuba. "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_ to us in that direction.... Cuba can be defended by us without a
+navy, and this develops the principle which ought to limit our views.
+Nothing should ever be accepted which would require a navy to defend
+it."[487]
+
+In the meantime, Jefferson did not miss any opportunity to justify the
+embargo. Even after its repeal, he insisted that "enough of the
+non-importation laws should be preserved 1st, to pinch them into a
+relinquishment of impressments, and 2nd, to support those manufacturing
+establishments, which their orders, and our interests, forced us to
+make."[488]
+
+To Du Pont de Nemours he wrote a long letter, stating in detail the
+advantages accrued to America from the embargo, and this point is well
+worth keeping in mind by those who insist on considering Jefferson as a
+hundred per cent. agrarian:
+
+  The barefaced attempts of England to make us accessories and
+  tributaries to her usurpations on the high seas--he wrote to the old
+  Physiocrat--have generated in this country an universal spirit for
+  manufacturing for ourselves, and of reducing to a minimum the number
+  of articles for which we are dependent on her. The advantages too, of
+  lessening the occasions of risking our peace on the ocean, and of
+  planting the consumer on our own soil by the side of the grower of
+  produce, are so palpable, that no temporary suspension of injuries on
+  her part, or agreements founded on that, will now prevent our
+  continuing in what we have begun.[489]
+
+So wrote the supposed agrarian to the founder of physiocracy, and this
+is a _prima facie_ evidence that Jefferson was not a Physiocrat of the
+first water. As a matter of fact, on this point as on so many others, he
+had strong negative principles. As we have already pointed out on
+several occasions, Jefferson was not so much opposed to manufactures and
+industries as to mercantilism, and particularly to English mercantilism.
+This corrective ought to be taken into consideration in any estimate of
+the Jeffersonian democracy, and one may wonder whether some continuators
+of Mr. Beard are sufficiently aware of this capital distinction.
+
+It soon appeared to Jefferson that there was no possible way out except
+war. Contrary to all expectations, the convulsions of Europe continued
+and no hope of a permanent peace was in sight. The death of Bonaparte
+"would remove the first and chiefest apostle of the desolation of men
+and morals and might withdraw the scourge of the land. But what is to
+restore order and safety on the ocean. The death of George III? Not at
+all.... The principle that force is right, is become the principle of
+the nation itself."[490]
+
+As a matter of fact, Bonaparte was little to be feared. He still had the
+whole world to conquer before turning his eyes towards America.
+
+  England on the contrary is an ever-present danger not to be relied
+  upon as an ally for she would make a separate peace and leave us in
+  the lurch. Her good faith? The faith of a nation of merchants. The
+  _Punica fides_ of modern Carthage. Of the friend of the protectress
+  of Copenhagen. Of the nation who never admitted a chapter of morality
+  into her political code.
+
+Then follows a formidable indictment of the treacherous policies of
+England with a curious and most interesting discrimination at the end,
+for Jefferson observes that "it presents the singular phenomenon of a
+nation, the individuals of which are as faithful to their private
+engagements and duties, as honorable, as worthy, as those of any nation
+on earth, and whose government is yet the most unprincipled at this day
+known."[491]
+
+All told, both nations could be tarred with the same brush "for," said
+Jefferson, "I should respect just as much the rules of conduct which
+governed Cartouche or Blackbeard as those now acted on by France or
+England."[492] The only difference was that France was not in a position
+to cause as much damage to American interests as her hereditary enemy
+whose claim to "dominion of the ocean and to levy tribute on every flag
+traversing that, as lately attempted and not relinquished, every nation
+must contest, even _ad internecionem_."[493]
+
+This detestation of English policies and English rulers did not,
+however, extend to individuals. Even when war was to be declared
+Jefferson took care to establish what he considered as a very necessary
+distinction in a fine letter sent to James Maury, his "dear and ancient
+friend and classmate":
+
+  Our two countries are 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.... We consider the overwhelming power of England on
+  the ocean, and of France on the land, as destructive of the
+  prosperity and happiness of the world, and wish both to be reduced
+  only to the necessity of observing moral duties. I 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.... We resist
+  the enterprises of England first, because they first come vitally
+  home to us. And our feelings repel the logic of bearing the lash of
+  George 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 champions, England first takes up the gauntlet.[494]
+
+Since war was declared, the only thing to keep in mind was to make it as
+advantageous as possible to the United States. Thanks to the Louisiana
+Purchase, France had been eliminated forever from the American
+continent, but the existence of a large British province on the northern
+border constituted an ever-present source of anxiety and danger for the
+Union. The first war aim of the United States was consequently to expel
+Great Britain from the North American continent, for as long as England
+could use her continental dominion as "a fulcrum for her Machiavellian
+levers" there would be no safety for the United States. On the other
+hand, the war could not be carried out to a successful conclusion if
+during the hostilities America were kept unable to export the surplus
+of her produce. Jefferson therefore recommended that neutral vessels be
+used "and even enemy vessels under neutral flag, which I should wink
+at", wrote Jefferson to the President.[495]
+
+This last recommendation may seem surprising and almost treasonable, but
+Jefferson lived in close contact with farmers and planters, and he still
+remembered their attitude during the Revolutionary War and knew that "to
+keep the war popular we must keep open the markets. As long as good
+prices can be had, the people will support the war cheerfully."
+
+Later in the year he was able to report to the President:
+
+  Our farmers are cheerful in the expectation of a good price for wheat
+  in Autumn. Their pulse will be regulated by this, and not by the
+  successes or disasters of the war. To keep open sufficient markets is
+  the very first object towards maintaining the popularity of the war,
+  which is as great at present as could be desired.[496]
+
+To be correctly understood, this attitude of Jefferson advocating trade
+with the enemy requires some further elucidation. As a matter of fact,
+the issue was not so clear-cut as it would seem. While England was to be
+considered as America's enemy on the continent, she was "fighting
+America's battles" in Europe, for the ultimate triumph of Bonaparte
+would have been pregnant with dangers for the Union. He consequently
+advocated the exportation of grain to Great Britain:
+
+  If she is to be fed at all events, why may not we have the benefit of
+  it as well as others. I would not indeed, feed her armies landed on
+  our territory, because the difficulty of inland communication
+  subsistence is what will prevent their ever penetrating far into the
+  country.... But this would be my only exception, and as to feeding
+  her armies in the Peninsular, she is fighting our battles there, as
+  Bonaparte is on the Baltic.[497]
+
+But it must also be admitted that Jefferson considered that in war all
+is fair. He had not changed much since the remote days of the Revolution
+when he urged Washington to permit him to use measures of retaliation on
+the British prisoners. Once again he did not scruple to recommend
+measures sometimes used but seldom so frankly advocated. He would not
+have hesitated to bring the war home to Great Britain and to resort to
+retaliation. "Perhaps they will burn New York or Boston," he wrote to
+Duane. "If they do, we must burn the city of London, not by expensive
+fleets or congreve rockets, but by employing an hundred or two
+Jack-the-painters, whom nakedness, famine, desperation and hardened
+vice, will abundantly furnish among themselves."[498]
+
+But the thing never to be lost sight of was the conquest of Canada and
+"the final expulsion of England from the American continent." It was to
+be a very simple expedition, "a mere matter of marching", and the
+weakness of the enemy was to make "our errors innocent." All these
+sanguine expectations were blasted to dust by the Hull disaster. Three
+frigates taken by "our gallant little navy" could not balance "three
+armies lost by treachery, cowardice, or incapacity of those to whom they
+were entrusted." The mediation of Russia was the only hope left, but the
+enemies were to remain "bedecked with the laurels of the land"--the
+reverse of what was to be expected and perhaps what was to be
+wished.[499]
+
+Throughout the whole campaign Jefferson was unable to choose between
+France and England, or rather between Bonaparte and England's corrupted
+government. Strong as were his denunciations of English policies and
+crimes, he almost foamed at the mouth when he mentioned the abominable
+Corsican:
+
+  That Bonaparte is an unprincipled tyrant who is deluging the
+  continent of Europe with blood, there is not a human being, not even
+  the wife of his bosom, who does not see. There is no doubt as to the
+  line we ought to wish drawn between his successes and those of
+  Alexander. Surely none of us wish to see Bonaparte conquer Russia,
+  and lay thus at his feet the whole continent of Europe. This done,
+  England would be just a breakfast.[500]
+
+The "true line of interest" of the United States was consequently that
+Bonaparte should be able to effect the complete exclusion of England
+from the whole continent of Europe, in order to make her renounce her
+views of dominion over the ocean. As there was no longer any hope of
+expelling England completely from the American continent, it remained
+"the interest of the U. S. to wish Bonaparte a moderate success so as to
+curb the ambition of Great Britain."[501]
+
+From this and many other similar passages it would follow that Jefferson
+was one of the first exponents of the famous policy of the balance of
+power. Although at war with England, America could not wish for a
+complete defeat of her enemy which would enable the monster to pursue
+his dreams of world domination. But hateful as the Corsican was, no one
+could wish for an English victory which would leave Great Britain the
+undisputed ruler of the ocean. Incidents of the war did wring from
+Jefferson impassioned outbursts which expressed a temporary anger, but
+whenever he took time to weigh the different factors in his mind, the
+realistic politician emerged every time.
+
+This appears clearly in his correspondence with Madame de Staël, who had
+urged him on several occasions to make every effort to decide his fellow
+countrymen to join in the battle against the oppressors of liberty. It
+appears also quite significantly in his correspondence with Madison,
+following the burning of the White House and the destruction by the
+English soldiers of the first Congressional Library. His indignation
+ran high when he learned "through the paper" that "the vandalism of our
+enemy has triumphed at Washington over science as well as the arts, with
+the destruction of the public library with the noble edifice in which it
+was deposited." "Of that transaction, as that of Copenhagen, the world
+will entertain but one sentiment," he wrote to Samuel H. Smith.[502] But
+it was characteristic of the man that he thought at once of the means of
+restoring the library. Books could not be procured easily from abroad
+and there was no other private library in the country comparable to the
+collection of books he had systematically accumulated for over forty
+years. He placed his books at the disposal of Congress "to be valued by
+persons named by the Library Committee, and the payment made convenient
+to the public." This was not a piece of business in order to retrieve
+his fortune, nor a disguised request for financial help, but simply the
+act of a public-spirited citizen unable to make an outright gift and yet
+unwilling to make any profit on the public treasury.
+
+The end of the war was in sight--a war which could be considered as a
+draw, in which both sides had lost heavily and neither had gained
+anything:
+
+  It is a deplorable misfortune to us. It has arrested the course of
+  the most remarkable tide of prosperity any nation ever experienced,
+  and has closed such prospects of future improvements as were never
+  before in the view of any people. Farewell all hopes of extinguishing
+  public debt! Farewell all visions of applying surpluses of revenue to
+  the improvement of peace, rather than the ravages of war. Our enemy
+  has indeed the consolation of Satan on removing our first parents
+  from Paradise; from a peaceable and agricultural nation, he makes us
+  a military and manufacturing one....[503]
+
+It could truly be said that the war had failed. The best that could be
+expected was the _status ante bellum_. "Indemnity for the past and
+security for the future which was our motto at the beginning of this
+war, must be adjourned to another, when, disarmed and bankrupt our enemy
+shall be less able to insult and plunder the world with impunity."[504]
+
+The news that peace had been signed did not cause him any elation, it
+was "in fact but an armistice", and even when he wrote again to his dear
+and ancient friend James Maury, Jefferson was careful to note that
+America would never peacefully accept again England's practice of
+impressment on the high seas. "On that point," he wrote, "we have thrown
+away the scabbard and the moment an European war brings her back to this
+practice, adds us again to her enemies."[505]
+
+This was repeated in a letter to his old friend Du Pont de Nemours who
+had asked him for his influence in order to send his grandson to the
+Naval Academy:
+
+  For twenty years to come we should consider peace as the _summum
+  bonum_ of our country. At the end of that period we shall be twenty
+  millions in number, and forty in energy, when encountering the
+  starved and rickety paupers and dwarfs of English workshops. By that
+  time your grandson will have become one of our High-Admirals, and
+  bear distinguished part in retorting the wrongs of both his countries
+  on the most implacable and cruel of their enemies.[506]
+
+Yet one would be mistaken in believing that Jefferson felt against
+England any deep-seated animosity, and his resentment, however
+justifiable, did not last long after the close of hostilities. The fine
+friendly letters he wrote to Thomas Law and James Maury at the eve of
+the war were more than mere gestures. He had many friends in England, he
+was imbued with English philosophy, English ideas, English law and, if
+he detested the rulers and the régime, he always maintained the same
+sentimental and quite natural feelings of so many Americans for the
+mother country as a whole:
+
+  Were they once under a government which should treat us with justice
+  and equity--he wrote to John Adams--I should myself feel with great
+  strength the ties that bind us together, of origin, language, laws
+  and manners; and I am persuaded the two people would become in future
+  as it was with the ancient Greeks, among whom it was reproachful for
+  Greek to be found fighting against Greek in a foreign army.[507]
+
+On the same day he wrote to the Secretary of State, James Monroe, about
+the proposed inscription to be engraved in a conspicuous place on the
+restored Capitol, and he had suggested that if any inscription was
+considered as necessary, it should simply state the bare facts, such as:
+
+  FOUNDED 1791. BURNT BY A BRITISH ARMY 1814. RESTORED BY CONGRESS
+  1817.
+
+But a question of more importance was whether there should be any
+inscription at all. "The barbarism of the conflagration will immortalize
+that of the nation.... We have more reason to hate her than any nation
+in earth. But she is not now an object of hatred.... It is for the
+interest of all that she should be maintained nearly on a par with other
+members of the republic of nations."[508]
+
+With regard to France, his correspondence with Du Pont de Nemours and
+Lafayette offers precious and significant testimony. Much as he loathed
+Bonaparte, he deplored the return of the Bourbons and the reactionary
+measures of the _Restauration_. His indignation ran high when he
+received
+
+  ... the new treaty of the allied powers, declaring that the French
+  nation shall not have Bonaparte and shall have Louis XVIII as their
+  ruler. They are all then as great rascals as Bonaparte himself.
+  While he was in the wrong, I wished him exactly as much success as
+  would answer our purpose, and no more. Now that they are wrong and he
+  in the right, he shall have all my prayers for success, and that he
+  may dethrone every man of them.[509]
+
+Writing to Albert Gallatin he indulged in a "poetical effusion" which
+shows how deeply his feelings were stirred:
+
+  I grieve for France ... and I trust they will finally establish for
+  themselves a government of rational and well tempered liberty. So
+  much science cannot be lost; so much light shed over them can never
+  fail to produce to them some good in the end. Till then, we may
+  ourselves fervently pray, with the liturgy a little parodied; Give
+  peace till that time, oh Lord, because there is none other that will
+  fight for us but only thee, oh God.[510]
+
+When all was told, and it was realized that "the cannibals of Europe
+were going to eating one another again and the pugnacious humor of
+mankind seemed to be the law of his nature", the only course for the
+United States to follow was to keep out of the fray as much as possible
+and so to direct their policy as to give no pretext for the European
+powers to intervene in the New World.
+
+Already, in 1812, Jefferson had formulated his views in the most
+unequivocal manner, when he wrote to Doctor John Crawford:
+
+  We specially ought to pray that the powers of Europe may be so poised
+  and counterpoised among themselves, that their own safety may require
+  the presence of all their force at home, leaving the other quarters
+  of the globe in undisturbed tranquillity. When our strength will
+  permit us to give the law to our hemisphere, it should be that the
+  meridian of the mid-Atlantic should be the line of demarkation
+  between war and peace, on this side of which no act of hostility
+  should be committed, and the lion and the lamb lie down in peace
+  together.[511]
+
+The progress of the revolt of the Spanish colonies was at first to
+strengthen him in the position he had already taken.
+
+Jefferson received the news without any elation. For a long time he had
+known that the link between the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was
+growing weaker. He doubted very much, however, that the colonies were
+ready for self-government. There might have been some hope for Mexico,
+because of her proximity to the United States: "But the others, I fear,"
+he wrote to Baron Alexander von Humboldt, "will end in military
+despotisms. The different castes of their inhabitants, their mutual
+hatred and jealousies, their profound ignorance and bigotry, will be
+played off by cunning leaders, and each be made the instrument of
+enslaving the others." The important point he made was in what followed,
+and Jefferson here indulged in one of his curious political prophecies,
+in which he so often hit the mark:
+
+  But in whatever government they will end, they will be _American_
+  governments, no longer to be involved in the never-ceasing broils of
+  Europe. The European nations 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.... And
+  you will live to see the period ahead of us; and the numbers which
+  will then be spread over the other parts of the American hemisphere,
+  catching long before that the principles of our portion of it, and
+  concurring with us in the maintainance of the same system.[512]
+
+For the present the situation was entirely different--and as he had done
+during the Revolution with regard to France, he advocated prudence and
+slowness. It was one thing for the American colonies to engage in a war
+with the mother country in order to preserve the liberties they had
+hitherto enjoyed, and again it was another entirely different thing for
+people who had not the faintest experience of self-government to declare
+their independence and suddenly to sever all connections with the past.
+In addition he was fully aware that the new republics would be in no
+condition to fight off foreign aggressors and thus would become an easy
+prey for the unscrupulous and greedy nations of Europe. Unable to stand
+on their own feet, the most natural course for South America was to fall
+back on Spain. Jefferson did not visualize the "_foris familiation_" of
+the colonies without a sort of moral protectorate of the mother country:
+"if she extends to them her affection, her aid, her patronage in every
+court and country, it will weave a bond of union indissoluble by
+time."[513] At the time Jefferson did not go further, and as a matter of
+fact he long held that this would have been the best solution for South
+America. As late as January, 1821, he still maintained this opinion in a
+letter to John Adams:
+
+  The safest road would be an accomodation to the mother country which
+  shall hold them together by the single link of the same chief
+  magistrate, leaving to him power enough to keep them in peace with
+  one another, and to themselves the essential power of self-government
+  and self-improvement, until they will be sufficiently trained by
+  education and habits of freedom to walk safely by themselves.
+  Representative government, native functionaries, a qualified negative
+  on their laws, with a previous security by compact for freedom of
+  commerce, freedom of the press, habeas corpus, and trial by jury,
+  would make a good beginning. This last would be the school in which
+  their people might begin to learn the exercise of civic duties as
+  well as rights. For freedom of religion they are not yet
+  prepared.[514]
+
+This was the ideal solution, but "the question was not what we wish, but
+what is practicable." If consequently the new republics refused such a
+compromise, another alternative could be offered:
+
+  As their sincere friend and brother, I do believe the best thing for
+  them, would be for themselves to come to an accord with Spain, under
+  the guarantee of France, Russia, Holland, and the United States,
+  allowing to Spain a nominal supremacy, with authority only to keep
+  the peace among them, leaving them otherwise all the powers of
+  self-government, until their experience in them, their emancipation
+  from their priests, and advancement in information shall prepare them
+  for complete independence. I exclude England from this confederacy,
+  because her selfish principles render her incapable of honorable
+  patronage or disinterested co-operation; unless indeed, what seems
+  now probable, a revolution should restore to her an honest
+  government, one which will permit the world to live in peace.[515]
+
+This is a capital passage for it contains in germ much more than the
+so-called Monroe Doctrine. What Jefferson had in mind at the time was
+evidently a society of nations, which the United States would have
+joined in order to guarantee the territorial integrity of the South
+American republics under a Spanish mandate. For Brazil alone he
+contemplated a real and immediate independence, for "Brazil is more
+populous, more wealthy, and as wise as Portugal."
+
+But in Jefferson's mind this plan was only a temporary solution. He
+was firmly convinced that a time would necessarily come when all the
+American republics would be drawn together by their community of
+interests and institutions and coalescing in an American system,
+independent from and unconnected with that of Europe, would form a
+world by themselves:
+
+  "The principles of society there and here, then, are radically
+  different and I hope no American patriot will ever lose sight of the
+  essential policy of interdicting in the seas and territories of both
+  Americas the ferocious and sanguinary contests of Europe. I wish to
+  see this coalition begun."[516]
+
+Such, according to Jefferson, was to be the cardinal principle of
+American policies for all times to come; for, as he wrote to his friend
+Correa who had come back to the United States as Minister from Portugal:
+
+  Nothing is so important as that America shall separate herself from
+  the system of Europe, and establish one of her own--Our
+  circumstances, our pursuits, our interests, are distinct, the
+  principles of our policy should be so also. All entanglements with
+  that quarter of the globe should be avoided that peace and justice
+  shall be the polar stars of American societies.[517]
+
+On the other hand, it was not advisable for the United States to
+intervene directly in South America or to help the colonies to sever
+their bonds from the metropolis. There is little doubt that the Spanish
+colonies would never have thought of revolting if they had not had
+constantly before their eyes the example of their northern neighbors.
+Ill-conducted as they were, the revolutions of South America could trace
+their origin directly to the American revolution and the Declaration of
+Independence. It was so plain that Jefferson's French friends,
+Lafayette, Du Pont de Nemours, and Destutt de Tracy expected him to
+declare enthusiastically in favor of the South American republics and to
+use whatever influence he still had to bring about an open intervention
+of the United States in their favor. Their optimism only shows how
+little they knew their American friend and how little they understood
+his policy. To Destutt de Tracy he answered at the end of 1820:
+
+  We go with you all lengths in friendly affections to the independence
+  of S. America, but an immediate acknowledgement of it calls up other
+  considerations. We view Europe as covering at present a smothered
+  fire, which may shortly burst forth and produce general
+  conflagration. From this it is our duty to keep aloof. A formal
+  acknowledgement of the independence of her colonies, would involve us
+  with Spain certainly, and perhaps too with England, if she thinks
+  that a war would divert her internal troubles. Such a war would hurt
+  us more than it would help our brethren of the South; and our right
+  may be doubted of mortgaging posterity for the expenses of a war in
+  which they will have a right to say their interest was not
+  concerned.... In the meantime we receive and protect the flag of S.
+  America in it's commercial intercourse with us, on the acknowledged
+  principles of neutrality between two belligerent parties in a civil
+  war; and if we should not be the first, we shall certainly be the
+  second nation in acknowledging the entire independence of our new
+  friends.[518]
+
+This Jefferson pressed again even more tersely in a letter written to
+Monroe almost four years later. "We feel strongly for them, but our
+first care must be for ourselves."[519]
+
+Surveying the whole situation from the "mountain-top" of Monticello, the
+philosopher wondered at times "whether all nations do not owe to one
+another a bold declaration of their sympathy with the one party and
+their detestation of the conduct of the other?" But he soon concluded:
+"Farther than this we are not bound to go; and indeed, for the sake of
+the world, we ought not to increase the jealousies or draw on ourselves
+the power of this formidable confederacy." After the treaty of Ghent, at
+the beginning of the "era of good feeling", the United States could
+reasonably count on a long period of peace; all their difficulties with
+Europe had been settled, and only one possible point of friction could
+be discovered. "Cuba alone seems at present to hold up a speck of war to
+us. Its possession by Great Britain would indeed be a great calamity to
+the United States; but such calamity could only be temporary, for in
+case of war on any account, Cuba would be naturally taken by the United
+States, or the island would give itself to us when able to do so."
+
+Thus Jefferson, once again, reasserted the cardinal principle of his
+policy--the policy of the United States since the early days of the
+Union:
+
+  I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States, never to
+  take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests
+  are entirely distinct from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their
+  balance of power, their complicated alliances, their forms and
+  principles of government are all foreign to us. They are nations of
+  eternal war. All their energies are expended in the destruction of
+  the labor, property, and lives of their peoples ... on our part,
+  never had a people so favorable a chance of trying the opposite
+  system, of peace and fraternity with mankind, and the direction of
+  our means and faculties to the purposes of improvement instead of
+  destruction.[520]
+
+Thus, little by little, the famous doctrine took its final shape in the
+minds of both Jefferson and Monroe. Jefferson contributed to it its
+historical background, the weight of his experience and authority, and
+the long conversations he had with Monroe on the matter gave him an
+opportunity not only to get "his political compass rectified" but to map
+out for the President the course to follow. The often quoted letter
+written by Jefferson to Monroe on October 24, 1823, contained little
+more than what had passed between them when Monroe visited his estate in
+Virginia. It was simply a reaffirmation of the fundamental maxims of the
+Jeffersonian policies:--"never to entangle ourselves in the broils of
+Europe--never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic
+affairs."
+
+After making a survey of all the circumstances, Jefferson could write in
+conclusion:
+
+  I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration proposed, 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 country; but that we will oppose, with all our means,
+  the forcible interposition of any other form or pretext, and most
+  especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession, or
+  acquisition in any other way.
+
+Finally, although the letters to be exchanged between the British and
+American governments did not properly constitute a treaty, Jefferson
+advised Monroe to lay the case before Congress at the first opportunity,
+since this doctrine might lead to war, "the declaration of which
+requires an act of Congress."
+
+Whatever use has been made of the Monroe Doctrine and whether or not the
+"mandate" assumed by the United States has proved irksome to several
+South American republics, there is no doubt that it was not proclaimed
+without long hesitation and that its promoters did not take up this new
+responsibility with "_un coeur léger_." There is no doubt, either,
+that it was not considered as an instrument of imperialism. It was
+primarily the extension of the doctrine of self-protection already
+advanced by John Adams in 1776 and since then maintained by Washington
+and Jefferson himself. It was also a corollary of the theory of the
+balance of power which Jefferson always kept in mind. In this he was not
+only followed but urged on by all his liberal friends in Europe.
+
+  I would not be sorry--wrote Lafayette in 1817--to see the American
+  government invested by the follies of Spain, with the opportunity to
+  take the lead in the affairs of her independent colonies. Unless that
+  is the case or great changes happen in the European policies, the
+  miseries of those fine countries will be long protracted. Could you
+  establish there a representative system, a free trade, and a free
+  press, how many channels of information and improvement should be
+  open at once.[521]
+
+Jefferson himself was too respectful of self-government ever to think of
+interfering with the internal affairs of the new republics. On the other
+hand, he was too firmly convinced of the moral, intellectual and
+political superiority of his own country not to believe that a time
+would come when the contagion of liberty would extend to the near and
+remote neighbors of the United States. The unavoidable result of the
+Monroe Doctrine and the moral mandate of America would be ultimately to
+form a "Holy American Alliance" of the free peoples of the Western
+Hemisphere, to counterbalance the conspiracy of Kings and Lords "called
+the European Holy Alliance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DEMOCRATIC AMERICA
+
+
+Protected against foreign entanglements and having survived the
+convulsions that had shattered the old structures of Europe, America was
+at last free to pursue her development along her own lines. The
+philosopher of Monticello could sit back, take a more disinterested view
+of the situation and make a forecast of the future of his country. He
+could also advise, not only his immediate successors, but the
+generations to come and take up again the part of "counsellor" which had
+always suited him better than the part of the executive. He believed too
+much in the right of successive generations to determine their own form
+of government, to attempt to dictate in any way the course to follow.
+But he was none the less convinced that certain principles embodied in
+the Constitution had a permanent and universal value, and during the
+years at Monticello he formulated the gospel of American democracy.
+
+As it finally emerged from the several crises that threatened its
+existence, the American Government was, if not the best possible
+government, at least the best government then on the surface of the
+earth. It was at the same time the hope and the model of all the nations
+of the world.
+
+  We exist and are quoted--wrote Jefferson to Richard Rush--as standing
+  proofs that a government, so modelled as to rest continuously on the
+  will of the whole society, is a practicable government. Were we to
+  break to pieces, it would damp the hopes and efforts of the good, and
+  give triumph to those of the bad through the whole enslaved world. As
+  members, therefore, of the universal society of mankind, and standing
+  high in responsible relation with them, it is our sacred duty to
+  suppress passion among ourselves and not to blast the confidence we
+  have inspired of proof that a government of reason is better than a
+  government of force.[522]
+
+Some dangers, however, were threatening to disturb the equilibrium of
+the country. The most pressing was perhaps the extraordinary and
+unwholesome development of State and local banks, which suspended
+payment in great majority in September, 1814. The deluge of paper money
+and the depreciation of the currency became, for Jefferson, a real
+obsession and strengthened him in his abhorrence of commercialism. He
+did not cease to preach the necessity of curbing the fever of
+speculation that had accumulated ruins upon ruins and the return to more
+sound regulations of the banks. "Till then," he wrote to John Adams, "we
+must be content to return, _quoad hoc_, to the savage state, to recur to
+barter in the exchange of our property, for want of a stable, common
+measure of value, that now in use being less fixed than the beads and
+wampum of the Indians."[523]
+
+His banking theories, however, had scarcely any influence upon his
+contemporaries, and even Gallatin was little impressed by them. But the
+evident danger of inflation turned his mind back to the days when he had
+fought the Hamiltonian system and gave him once more an opportunity to
+pass judgment upon his opponent of the old days:
+
+  This most heteregeneous system was transplanted into ours from the
+  British system, by a man whose mind was really powerful, but chained
+  by native partialities to everything English; who had formed
+  exaggerated ideas of the superior wisdom of their government, and
+  sincerely believed it for the good of the country to make them their
+  model in everything, without considering that what might be wise and
+  good for a nation essentially commercial and entangled in complicated
+  intercourse with numerous and powerful neighbors, might not be so
+  for one essentially agricultural, and insulated by nature, from the
+  abusive governments of the old world.[524]
+
+From this and many other passages it might be surmised that Jefferson
+still held to the old antimercantile theories that had crystallized in
+his mind when he was in Europe. If this were true, the contradiction
+between his conduct as President and his personal convictions would be
+so obvious that his sincerity might be questioned. As a matter of fact,
+on this point as on many others, he had undergone a slow evolution. He
+was certainly sincere when, shortly after leaving office, he wrote to
+Governor John Jay in order to make his position clearer:
+
+  An equilibrium of agriculture, manufacture, and commerce, is
+  certainly become essential to our independence. Manufactures,
+  sufficient for our own consumption (and no more). Commerce sufficient
+  to carry the surplus produce of agriculture, beyond our own
+  consumption, to a market for exchanging it for articles we cannot
+  raise (and no more). These are the true limits of manufacture and
+  commerce. To go beyond is to increase our dependence on foreign
+  nations, and our liability to war.[525]
+
+This can be taken as the final view of Jefferson on a subject on which
+he is often misquoted and misunderstood. That he was fully aware of the
+change that had taken place in his own mind can be seen in a declaration
+to Benjamin Austin, written in January, 1816. Between 1787 and that
+date, and even earlier, Jefferson had seen the light and realized that
+to discourage home manufactures was "to keep us in eternal vassalage to
+a foreign and unfriendly people." He had no patience with politicians
+who brought forth his old and now obsolete utterances to promote their
+unpatriotic designs:
+
+  You tell me I am quoted by those who wish to continue our dependance
+  on England for manufactures. There was a time when I might have been
+  so quoted with more candor, but within the thirty years which have
+  elapsed, how circumstances changed.... Experience since has taught me
+  that manufactures are now as necessary to our independence as to our
+  comfort; and if those who quote me as of different opinion will keep
+  pace with me in purchasing nothing foreign where an equivalent of
+  domestic fabric can be obtained, without regard to the difference of
+  price, it will not be our fault if we do not soon have a supply at
+  home equivalent to our demand.[526]
+
+Desirable as it was to promote the industrial development of the United
+States, it was no less desirable not to encourage it beyond a certain
+point. Jefferson saw quite clearly that, under existing conditions, a
+great industrial growth of the country would have as an unavoidable
+result the perpetuation of slavery in the South and the even more
+undesirable creation of a proletariat in the North. He had always held
+that slavery was a national sore and a shameful condition to be remedied
+as soon as conditions would permit. He was looking forward to the time
+when this could be done without bringing about an economic upheaval; but
+all hope would have to be abandoned if slavery were industrialized and
+if slave labor became more productive. As to the other danger of
+industrialism, it was no vague apprehension; one had only to consider
+England to see "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." This being the "happiness of
+scientific England", he wrote to Thomas Cooper, "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 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
+  England. 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 decencies of life than those who
+  furnish them. Can any condition of society be more desirable than
+  this?[527]
+
+Once more Jefferson appears as a true disciple and continuator of the
+Physiocrats and one might be tempted at first to agree entirely with Mr.
+Beard on this point. But this is only an appearance. To understand
+Jefferson's true meaning, it is necessary to turn to his unpublished
+correspondence with Du Pont de Nemours, and particularly to those
+letters written after Jefferson's retirement from public life.
+
+The rapid industrialization of the United States had greatly alarmed the
+old Physiocrat. In his opinion there was a real danger lest the national
+character of the people be completely altered and the foundation of
+government deeply shaken. Considering the situation from the
+"economist's" point of view, Du Pont came to the conclusion that the
+development of home industries in America would necessarily bring about
+a permanent reduction in the Federal income, largely derived from import
+duties. The government could not be run without levying new taxes and
+the question was to determine what methods should be followed in the
+establishment of these new taxes. If the United States decided to resort
+to indirect taxation, that is to say, excise, the unavoidable result
+would be the creation of an army of new functionaries, as in France
+under the old régime, and the use of vexatory procedure for the
+enforcement of the new system. Furthermore, according to the theories
+of the Physiocrats, indirect taxation was an economic heresy, since it
+was a tax on labor, which is not a source but only a transformation of
+wealth. The same criticism applied _a fortiori_ to the English income
+tax which constituted the worst possible form of taxation.
+
+In the controversy which arose between Jefferson and his old friend, the
+Sage of Monticello again took a middle course. First of all, he refused
+to concede that the development of industries could ever change the
+fundamental characteristics of the United States. They were essentially
+an agricultural nation, and an agricultural nation they would remain, in
+spite of all predictions to the contrary. Furthermore, the question was
+not to determine theoretically what was the best possible form of
+taxation, but to find out what form the inhabitants of the country would
+most easily bear. That in itself was a big enough problem and could not
+be solved in the abstract, since, according to Jefferson: "In most of
+the middle and Southern States some land tax is now paid into the State
+treasury, and for this purpose the lands have been classed and valued
+and the tax assessed according to valuation. In these an excise is most
+odious. In the Eastern States, land taxes are odious, excises less
+unpopular."[528]
+
+Finally, Jefferson pointed out that his friend had neglected several
+important factors, one of them being "the continuous growth in
+population of the United States, which for a long time would maintain
+the quantum of exports and imports at the present level at least."
+Consequently, for several generations, the Government would be able to
+support itself with a tax on importations, "the best agrarian law in
+fact, since the poor man in the country who uses nothing but what is
+made within his own farm or family, or within the United States, pays
+not a farthing of tax to the general government." With the
+characteristic optimism of the citizen of a young, strong and energetic
+country, Jefferson then added:
+
+  Our revenue once liberated by the discharge of public debt and its
+  surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., and the farmer will
+  see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of
+  his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone
+  without being called on to spare a cent from his earnings. The path
+  we are now pursuing leads directly to this end, which we cannot fail
+  to attain unless our administration should fall into unwise
+  hands.[529]
+
+This point alone should suffice to differentiate Jefferson's system from
+physiocracy, since the Physiocrats had adopted as their motto the famous
+_laissez faire laissez passer_ and were certainly in favor of free
+trade. How far from Du Pont Jefferson remained in other particulars may
+be gathered from his "Introduction" and notes to the "Political Economy"
+of Destutt de Tracy, the translation and publication of which he
+supervised and directed. In it he paid homage to the founders of the
+science of political economy, and particularly to Gournay, Le Trosne and
+Du Pont de Nemours, "the enlightened, philanthropic and venerable
+citizen, now of the United States." But he pointed out that the several
+principles they had discussed and established had not been able to
+prevail, "not on account of their correctness, but because not
+acceptable to the people whose will must be the supreme law. Taxation
+is, in fact, the most difficult function of the government, and that
+against which their citizens are most apt to be refractory. The general
+aim is, therefore, to adopt the mode most consonant with the
+circumstances and sentiments of the country."
+
+This is Jefferson's final judgment on the Economists. Another
+confirmation of his lack of interest in principles and theories not
+susceptible of immediate application may be seen in it. In matters of
+government, the important question, after deciding what should be done,
+was to determine how much could be done under the circumstances, and if
+a particular piece of legislation was turned down by the public will or
+only reluctantly accepted, to bide one's time and wait for a more
+favorable occasion. Even when doubting the wisdom of a popular verdict,
+it was the duty of the public servant to do the public will. Thus in
+this correspondence are revealed the two sides of Jefferson's character,
+or to speak more exactly, the two parallel tracks in which his mind ran
+at different times.
+
+At the bottom of his heart, he believed that many of the economic
+doctrines of Du Pont were fundamentally sound; but he also knew that the
+citizens of the United States were not ready to accept the truth of
+these principles, and he did not feel that, as an executive, he had the
+right to attempt to shape the destinies of his country according to his
+own preferences. Thus he laid himself open to the reproach of
+insincerity, or at least of inconsistency, for on many occasions one may
+find a flagrant contradiction between his public utterances and the
+private letters he wrote to his friends. For this reason, Du Pont de
+Nemours was never fully able to understand his American friend. This
+difference between the French theorician and the American statesman will
+appear even more clearly in the letters in which they exchanged views on
+democracy and discussed the conditions requisite for the establishment
+of a representative government.
+
+Jefferson's opinion of the French people with regard to the form of
+government they should adopt had never varied since the earliest days of
+the Revolution. Every time he was consulted by his friends on the
+matter, he invariably answered that they could do no better than to
+follow as closely as possible the system of their neighbors and
+hereditary enemies, the British. This answer, which recurred
+periodically in his correspondence, was made particularly emphatic in
+1801, when he again warned Lafayette that France was not ready to enjoy
+a truly republican government. He went on by categorically stating that
+what was good for America might be very harmful to another country and
+that even in America it was neither desirable nor possible to enforce at
+once all the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, in a few lines, he
+defined his policies more clearly than any historian has ever done; he
+analyzed that curious combination of unwavering principles and practical
+expediency so puzzling to those once called by Jefferson himself "the
+closet politicians."
+
+  What is practicable--he said--must often control what is purely
+  theory and the habits of the governed determine in a great degree
+  what is practicable. The same original principles, modified in
+  practice to the different habits of the different nations, present
+  governments of very different aspects. The same principles reduced to
+  form of practice, accommodated to our habits, and put into forms
+  accommodated to the habits of the French nation would present
+  governments very unlike each other.[530]
+
+Thirteen years later his opinion had not varied one iota. Reviewing the
+situation in France after the return of the Bourbons, he wrote to Du
+Pont de Nemours:
+
+  I have to congratulate you, which I do sincerely, on having got back
+  from Robespierre and Bonaparte, to your ante-revolutionary condition.
+  You are now nearly where you were at the Jeu de Paume, on the 20th of
+  June 1789. The King would then have yielded by convention freedom of
+  religion, freedom of the press, trial by jury, habeas corpus and a
+  representative legislation. These I consider as the essentials
+  constituting free government, and that the organization of the
+  executive is interesting, as it may ensure wisdom and integrity in
+  the first place, but next as it may favor or endanger the
+  preservation of these fundamentals.[531]
+
+The same note reappears constantly in the letters written by Jefferson
+to his French friends, but a rapid survey of his correspondence with Du
+Pont de Nemours may serve to make his position even more definite.
+
+When, in December, 1815, Du Pont was invited by "the republics of New
+Grenada, Carthagenes and Caracas" to give his views on the constitution
+they intended to adopt, he drew up a plan of government for the
+"Equinoctial republics" and sent it for approval to the Sage of
+Monticello. Faithful to the principles of the Physiocrats, he had
+divided the population into two classes: the real citizens or landowners
+and the "inhabitants", those who work for a salary, possess nothing but
+personal property, can go any day from one place to another, and make
+with their employers contracts which they can break at any time. These
+were entitled to protection, peaceful enjoyment of their personal
+property, free speech, freedom of religion, habeas corpus, and such
+natural rights, but Du Pont refused them any participation in the
+government; for only those who "owned the country" should have the right
+to decide how it was to be administered. To give the ballot to a
+floating population of industrial workers, unattached to the soil, who
+had nothing to sell except their labor, was "to brew a revolution, to
+pave the way for the Pisistrates, the Marius, the Caesars, who represent
+themselves as more democratic than they really are and than is just and
+reasonable, in order to become tyrants, to violate all rights, to
+substitute for law their arbitrary will, to offend morality and to
+debase humanity."[532]
+
+This was a doctrine which Jefferson could not accept, for it was in
+direct contradiction to the tenets he had formulated early in his life
+and held to during all his career. Because he had read Locke, and more
+probably because he was trained as a lawyer, he opposed the contractual
+theory of society to this economic organization. He maintained that
+society was a compact, that all those who had become signatories to the
+compact were entitled to the same rights, and consequently should have
+the same privilege to share equally in the government, except, and this
+proviso was important, when they freely agreed to delegate part of their
+powers to elected magistrates and representatives.
+
+This was the theory, the inalienable principle to be proclaimed in a
+bill of rights, the necessary preamble to any constitution. In practice,
+however, various limitations to universal suffrage were to be
+recognized. One could not even think of granting the ballot to minors,
+to emancipated slaves or to women. It did not follow either that, all
+citizens being endowed with the same rights, they were equally ready to
+exercise the same functions in the government. Men are created equal in
+rights but differ in intelligence, learning, clear-sightedness and
+general ability. In other words, there are some natural _aristoi_, and
+John Adams brought Jefferson to this admission without any difficulty.
+If this fact be accepted, the next step is to recognize that "that form
+of government is the best, which provided the most effectually for a
+pure selection of these natural _aristoi_ into offices of the
+government." It was the good fortune of America that all her
+constitutions were so worded as "to leave the citizens the free election
+and separation of the aristoi from the pseudo-aristoi, of the wheat from
+the chaff. In general, they will elect the really good and wise. In some
+instances, wealth may corrupt, and birth blind; but not in a sufficient
+degree to endanger society."[533]
+
+According to this theory, the real function of the people is not to
+participate directly in all governmental activities, but to select from
+among themselves the most qualified citizens and the best prepared to
+administer the country. In a letter to Doctor Walter Jones, who had sent
+him a paper on democracy, Jefferson made his position even more definite
+by establishing a very important distinction which gives more than any
+other statement his true idea of a progressive democracy--an ideal to
+be striven for, not a condition already reached:
+
+  I would say that the people, being the only safe depository of power,
+  should exercise in person every function which their qualifications
+  enable them to exercise, consistently with the order and security of
+  society; that we now find them equal to the election of those who
+  shall be invested with their executive powers, and to act themselves
+  in the judiciary, as judges in questions of fact; that the range of
+  their powers ought to be enlarged....[534]
+
+In these circumstances, Jefferson's reluctance to encourage both his
+French and Spanish friends to establish at once a government modeled on
+the American government in their respective countries, is perfectly
+intelligible. Of all the nations of the earth, England alone could
+"borrow wholesale the American system."
+
+  They will probably turn their eyes to us, and be disposed to tread in
+  the footsteps, seeing how safely these have led us into port. There
+  is no part of or model to which they seem unequal, unless perhaps the
+  elective presidency, and even that might possibly be rescued from the
+  tumult of the elections, by subdividing the electoral assemblage into
+  very small parts, such as of wards or townships, and making them
+  simultaneous.[535]
+
+As for the other nations, they were no more qualified to exercise the
+duties of a truly representative government than were the inhabitants of
+New Orleans at the time of the purchase. The French, in particular, had
+proved in several instances that they could not be intrusted with the
+administration of their own affairs.
+
+  More than a generation will be requisite--he wrote to
+  Lafayette--under the administration of reasonable laws favoring the
+  progress of knowledge in the general mass of the people, and their
+  habituation to an independent security of person and property, before
+  they will be capable of estimating the value of freedom, and the
+  necessity of sacred adherence to the principles on which it rests for
+  preservation. Instead of that liberty which takes root and growth in
+  the progress of reason, if recovered by mere accident or force, it
+  becomes, with an unprepared people, a tyranny still, of the many, the
+  few, or one.[536]
+
+From these declarations, to which many other similar passages could be
+added, a capital difference between the idealism of Jefferson and the
+idealism of the French philosophers becomes quite obvious. The author of
+the Declaration of Independence had proclaimed that all men are born
+free and equal, but he never thought that women, Indians and newly
+enfranchized slaves should be admitted to the same rights and privileges
+as the other citizens. In like fashion, although representative
+government remains the best possible form of government, he found it
+desirable that some people, who are still children, should not be
+granted at once the full enjoyment of their natural rights. Thus
+self-government, which had become a well established fact and a reality
+in America, should remain for other peoples a reward to be obtained
+after a long and painful process of education. It could be hoped that
+some day, after many disastrous experiments and much suffering, the
+peoples of Europe and South America might deserve the blessings enjoyed
+by the American people. But nothing was further from the character of
+Jefferson than to preach the gospel of Americanism to all the nations of
+the world. Instead of considering as desirable a close imitation of the
+American Constitution by the newly liberated nations, he maintained that
+each people should mold their institutions according to their own habits
+and traditions. Far from being a Jacobin, a wild radical, or a "closet
+philosopher", this practical politician had come to the conclusion that
+each people have the government they deserve, and that durable
+improvements can come only as a result of the improvement of the moral
+qualities of every citizen--from within and not from without. Such a
+moderate conclusion may surprise those who are accustomed to damn or
+praise Jefferson on a few sentences or axioms detached from their
+context; but, after careful scrutiny of the evidence, it seems difficult
+to accept any other interpretation.
+
+Comparatively perfect as it was, the government of the United States
+presented certain germs of weakness, corruption and degeneracy. The Sage
+of Monticello did not fail to call his friends' attention to some of the
+dangers looming up on the horizon. As he had warned them against
+inflation, he opposed the formation of societies which might become so
+strong as "to obstruct the operation of the government and undertake to
+regulate the foreign, fiscal, and military as well as domestic affairs."
+This might be taken already as a warning against lobbying. He was fully
+aware that a time might come when the speeches of the Senators and
+Representatives "would cease to be read at all" and when the Legislature
+would not enjoy the full confidence of the people. He deplored the law
+vacating nearly all the offices of government nearly every four years,
+for "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 in eternal intrigue to turn out and put in another, in
+cabale to swap work, and make of them what all executive directories
+become, mere sinks of corruption and faction."[537]
+
+Serious and pressing as these dangers were, they could be left to future
+generations to avoid, but at the very moment he wrote another fear
+obsessed his mind:
+
+  The banks, bankrupt laws, manufactures, Spanish treaty are nothing.
+  These are occurrences which, like waves in a storm, will pass under
+  the ship. But the Missouri question is a breaker on which we lose the
+  Missouri country by revolt, and what more God only knows. From the
+  Battle of Bunker's Hill to the treaty of Paris, we never had so
+  ominous a question.... I thank God that I shall not live to witness
+  its issue.[538]
+
+No New Englander had done more to promote the cause of abolition than
+Jefferson; on two occasions he had proposed legislative measures to put
+an end to the scourge of slavery and he had never ceased to look for a
+solution that would permit the emancipation of the slaves without
+endangering the racial integrity of the United States. But this was no
+longer a question of humanity. What mattered most was not whether
+slavery would be recognized in Missouri or not. Slavery had become a
+political question; it had created a geographical division between the
+States, and the very existence of the Union was at stake. As on so many
+other occasions, the old statesman had a truly prophetic vision of the
+future when he wrote to John Adams early in 1820:
+
+  If Congress has the power to regulate the conditions of the
+  inhabitants of the States, within the States, it will be but another
+  exercise of that power to declare that all shall be free. Are we then
+  to see again Athenian and Lacedemonian confederacies? To wage another
+  Peloponesian war to settle the ascendency between them? Or is this
+  the tocsin of merely a servile war? That remains to be seen; but not,
+  I hope, by you or me.[539]
+
+The whole question was fraught with such difficulties that Jefferson
+refused to discuss the abolition of slavery with Lafayette when the
+Marquis paid him a last visit at Monticello. With his American friends
+he was less reserved. When, as early as 1811, James Ogilvie asked him to
+suggest an important and interesting subject for a series of lectures he
+intended to deliver in the Southern States, Jefferson could think of
+nothing more momentous than a discourse "on the benefit of the union,
+and miseries which would follow a separation of the States, to be
+exemplified in the eternal and wasting wars of Europe, in the pillage
+and profligacy to which these lead, and the abject oppression and
+degradation to which they reduce its inhabitants."[540]
+
+Jefferson has so long been represented as the champion of State rights,
+he stood so vigorously against all possible encroachments of the States'
+sovereignty by the Federal Government, that we have a natural tendency
+to forget this aspect of his policies and to see in him only the man who
+inspired the Kentucky resolutions. It must be remembered, however, that
+he never ceased to preach the necessity of the union to his fellow
+countrymen, that when President he lived in a constant fear of secession
+by the New England States, that he stopped all his efforts in favor of
+abolition lest he should inject into the life of the country a political
+issue which might disrupt national unity. While he claimed that
+theoretically the States had a right to secede, he could no more
+consider actual secession than he would have approved of any man
+breaking the social compact in order to live the precarious life of the
+savage.
+
+From these dangers nothing could preserve the United States except what
+Du Pont de Nemours called once "the cool common sense" of their
+citizens. It was the only foundation on which to rest all hopes for the
+future, for American democracy is not a thing which exists on paper, it
+is not a thing which can be created overnight by law, decree or
+constitution, it is not to be looked for in any document. "Where is our
+republicanism to be found," wrote Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval. "Not in
+our constitution certainly, but merely in the spirit of our people.
+Owing to this spirit, and to nothing in the form of our constitution all
+things have gone well."[541]
+
+One of the most reassuring manifestations of this spirit was seen in the
+willingness of the people to choose the best qualified persons as their
+representatives, executives and magistrates. But if the Republic was to
+endure, it was necessary to enlighten and cultivate the disposition of
+the people, and it was no less important to provide a group of men
+qualified through their natural ability and training, to discuss and
+conduct the affairs of the community. Thus Jefferson was induced to take
+up again in his old days one of his pet schemes, the famous bill for the
+diffusion of knowledge.
+
+As a matter of fact, he had never abandoned it completely, and its very
+purpose had been explained already in the "Notes on Virginia":
+
+  In every government on earth there is some trace of human weakness,
+  some germ of corruption and degeneracy.... Each government
+  degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The
+  people themselves are therefore its only safe depositories. And to
+  render even them safer, their minds must be improved to a certain
+  degree. This is not all that is necessary, though it be essentially
+  necessary.
+
+During his stay in Europe, Jefferson had become acquainted with great
+universities, particularly those of Edinburgh and Geneva, and after
+coming back to America he shifted somewhat the emphasis. It was not so
+immediately necessary to improve the minds of all the citizens as to
+form an _élite_, a body of specialists who might become the true leaders
+of the nation. This seems to have been the object of his plan, to bring
+over to America the whole faculty of the University of Geneva to
+establish a national university at Richmond or in the vicinity of
+Federal City. This scheme was only defeated because of the opposition of
+Washington who, with great common sense, realized how incongruous it
+would be to call National University an institution where the teaching
+would be conducted entirely in a foreign language and by foreigners.
+
+Even after this plan had failed, Jefferson did not give up his ambition
+to establish somewhere in America and preferably in Virginia, an
+institution of higher learning. On January 18, 1800, he wrote to Joseph
+Priestley to ask him to draw up the program of a university "on a plan
+so broad, so liberal, and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the
+public support. The first thing is to obtain a good plan."
+
+Priestley sent him, in answer, some "Hints Concerning Public Education"
+which have never been published and probably did not arouse any
+enthusiasm in Jefferson. The English philosopher had simply taken the
+main features of the English system, placing the emphasis on the ancient
+languages and excluding the modern: "For the knowledge of them as well
+as skill in fencing, dancing and riding is proper for gentlemen
+liberally educated, and instruction in them may be procured on
+reasonable terms without burdening the funds of the seminary with
+them." He ended with a very sensible piece of advice:
+
+  Three things must be attended to in the education of youth. They must
+  be _taught_, _fed_, and _governed_, and each of these requires
+  different qualifications. In the English universities all these
+  offices are perfectly distinct. The _tutors_ only teach, the
+  _proctors_ superintend the discipline, and the _cooks_ provide the
+  victuals.[542]
+
+At the same time Jefferson had sent a similar request to Du Pont de
+Nemours. Curiously enough, the Frenchman manifested little enthusiasm
+for the proposal of his friend. To establish a university was all very
+well, but first of all one had to provide solid foundations and to place
+educational facilities within the reach of the great mass of
+citizens--the university being only the apex of the pyramid. On this
+occasion Du Pont reminded Jefferson that he had expressed himself to
+such an intent some fifteen years earlier in his "Notes on Virginia",
+which developed the excellent view that colleges and universities are
+not the most important part of the educational system of the State:
+
+  All knowledge readily and daily usable, all practical sciences, all
+  laborious activities, all the common sense, all the correct ideas,
+  all the morality, all the virtue, all the courage, all the
+  prosperity, all the happiness of a nation and particularly of a
+  Republic must spring from the primary schools or Petites Ecoles.[543]
+
+By July, 1800, Du Pont de Nemours, who had already proposed a similar
+scheme to the French Government, had completed his manuscript and sent
+it to Jefferson at the end of August. This was more speed than Jefferson
+had expected, and Du Pont's plan was far too elaborate and too
+comprehensive to be of immediate value. "There is no occasion to
+incommode yourself by pressing it," wrote Jefferson, "as when received
+it will be some time before we shall probably find a good occasion of
+bringing forward the subject."[544]
+
+During his presidency, Jefferson had had to lay aside all his plans and
+postpone any action for the organization of public education in his
+native State until after his retirement. In the meantime, he read and
+studied the project of Du Pont de Nemours and corresponded with Pictet
+of Geneva; he had in his hands several memoirs of Julien on the French
+schools, and he looked everywhere for precedents and suggestions. His
+views were finally formulated in a "Plan for Elementary Schools" sent to
+Joseph C. Cabell from Polar Forest, on September 9, 1817. The act to be
+submitted to the Assembly of Virginia was far more comprehensive than
+the title indicates. It provided for the establishment in each county of
+a certain number of elementary schools, supported by the county and
+placed under the supervision of visitors; the counties of the
+commonwealth were to be distributed into nine collegiate districts, and
+as many colleges, or rather secondary schools, instituted at the expense
+of the literary fund, "to be supported from it, and to be placed under
+the supervision of the Board of Public Instruction."
+
+"In the said colleges," proposed Jefferson, "shall be taught the Greek,
+Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and German languages, English grammar,
+geography, ancient and modern, the higher branches in numeral
+arithmetic, the mensuration of land, the use of the globes, and the
+ordinary elements of navigation."
+
+A third part of the act provided for
+
+  ... establishing in a central and healthy part of the State an
+  University wherein all the branches of useful sciences may be taught
+  ... such as history and geography, ancient and modern; natural
+  philosophy, agriculture, chemistry, and the theories of medicine;
+  anatomy, zoölogy, botany, mineralogy and geology; mathematics, pure
+  and mixed, military and naval science; ideology, ethics, the law of
+  nature and of nations; law, municipal, and foreign; the science of
+  civil government and political economy; languages, rhetoric,
+  belles-lettres, and the fine arts generally; which branches of
+  science will be so distributed and under so many professorships, not
+  exceeding ten as the Visitors shall think most proper.
+
+Finally, in order "to avail the commonwealth of those talents and
+virtues which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as among the
+rich, and which are lost to their country by the want of means of their
+cultivation", the visitors would select every year a certain number of
+promising scholars from the ward schools to be sent to the colleges and
+from the colleges to be sent to the University at the public expense.
+
+This was essentially the Bill for the Diffusion of Knowledge proposed to
+the Assembly in 1779. Jefferson had incorporated in it such
+modifications as he may have borrowed from Du Pont de Nemours, but
+essentially the plan was his own. That Jefferson himself was perfectly
+aware of it appears in a short mention of the fact that "the general
+idea was suggested in the 'Notes on Virginia.' Quer. 14."[545]
+
+It was soon realized that neither the Assembly nor the public were ready
+for such a comprehensive scheme. Part of the plan had to be sacrificed,
+if a beginning was to be made at all. Jefferson did not hesitate long;
+the elementary schools could be organized at any time without much
+preparation or expense; secondary education was taken care of after a
+fashion in private schools supported from fees; but nothing existed in
+the way of an institution of higher learning. Young Virginians had to be
+sent to the northern seminaries, there "imbibing opinions and principles
+in discord with those of our own country." The university was the thing,
+and, in order to provide sufficient funds to start it, Jefferson
+proposed that subsidies from the literary fund to the primary schools be
+suspended for one or two years. In his opinion this measure did not
+imply any disregard of primary education, and Jefferson vehemently
+protested to Breckenridge that he had "never proposed a sacrifice of the
+primary to the ultimate grade of instruction"; but, "if we cannot do
+everything at once, let us do one at a time."[546]
+
+The fight in which Jefferson engaged to obtain recognition for his
+project, to have Central College or, as it was finally to be called, the
+University of Virginia, located near Monticello, where he could watch
+its progress and supervise the construction of its buildings, has been
+told many times and does not need to be recounted here.[547]
+
+On the board of visitors with Jefferson were placed James Madison, James
+Monroe, Joseph C. Cabell, James Breckenridge, David Watson and J. H.
+Cocke. Jefferson was appointed Rector of the University at a meeting
+held on March 29, 1819, at a time when the university had no buildings,
+no faculty, no students and very small means. Everything had to be done
+and provided for. It would have been possible to put up some sort of
+temporary shelter, a few ramshackle frame houses, but Jefferson wanted
+the university to endure and he remembered that he was an architect as
+well as a statesman. It was not until the spring of 1824 that he could
+announce that the buildings were ready for occupancy--the formal opening
+was to be held at the beginning of the following year--but the master
+builder could be proud of his work. The university was his in every
+sense of the word: not only had he succeeded in arousing the interest of
+the public and the Assembly in his undertaking, but he had drawn the
+plans himself with the painstaking care and the precision he owed to his
+training as a surveyor. He had selected the material, engaged the stone
+carvers, the brick layers and the carpenters, and supervised every bit
+of their work. After his death he would need no other monument.
+
+Then, as everything seemed to be ready, a new difficulty arose. Ever
+since 1819, the visitors had been looking for a faculty. Ticknor, with
+whom Jefferson had gotten acquainted through Mrs. Adams, had refused to
+leave Cambridge although disgusted with the petty bickerings of his
+colleagues. Thomas Cooper had proved inacceptable, and the very mention
+of his name had aroused such a storm among the clergy that the
+appointment had to be withdrawn. After a long and fruitless search for
+the necessary talents at home, Jefferson and his fellow members on the
+board of the university decided to procure the professors from abroad.
+This time, however, they were not to repeat the mistake of the proposed
+transplantation of the University of Geneva. Several prominent Frenchmen
+suggested by Lafayette were turned down as too ignorant of the ways of
+American youth and the language of the country. There remained only one
+place from which satisfactory instructors could be obtained; this was
+England. Their nationality did not raise any serious objection, for, to
+the resentment of the War of 1812 had succeeded the "era of good
+feeling", and Francis Walker Gilmer was commissioned to go to England
+in order to consult with Dugald Stewart and to recruit a faculty from
+Great Britain, "the land of our own language, habits and manners."[548]
+
+Eighteen months later, the Rector declared the experiment highly
+successful, and the example likely to be followed by other institutions
+of learning.
+
+  It cannot fail--wrote Jefferson--to be one of the efficacious means
+  of promoting that cordial good will, which it is so much the interest
+  of both nations to cherish. These teachers can never utter an
+  unfriendly sentiment towards their native country; and those into
+  whom their instruction will be infused, are not of ordinary
+  significance only; they are exactly the persons who are to succeed to
+  the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its
+  friendships and fortunes.[549]
+
+Thus after fifty years, Jefferson was able to make real his educational
+dream of the Revolutionary period, to endow his native State with an
+institution of higher learning in which the future leaders of the nation
+would be instructed. They would no longer have to be sent abroad to
+obtain the required knowledge in some subjects; nor would they have to
+study in "the Northern seminaries", there to be infected with pernicious
+doctrines; above all, they would be preserved from any sectarian
+influence during their formative years; for no particular creed was to
+be taught at the university, although the majority of the faculty
+belonged to the Episcopal Church.
+
+The University of Virginia was the last great task to which Jefferson
+put his hand, an achievement of which he was no less proud than of
+having written the Declaration of Independence. To bring it to a
+successful conclusion this septuagenarian displayed an admirable
+tenacity, a resourcefulness, a practical wisdom, a sense of the
+immediate possibilities and an idealistic vision, the combination of
+which typifies the best there is in the national character of the
+American people. It would take many pages to study in detail Jefferson's
+educational ideas, as he expressed them in the minutes of the board and
+in his many letters to John Adams, Thomas Cooper and Joseph Cabell. The
+most remarkable feature of the new institution was that, for the first
+time in the history of the country, higher education was made
+independent of the Church, and to a large extent the foundation of the
+University of Virginia marks the beginning of the secularization of
+scientific research in America. Its "father" certainly gave some thought
+to the possible extension of the educational system that had finally won
+recognition in his native Virginia, to all the States in the country;
+but he was too fully aware of the difficulties to follow his old friend
+Du Pont de Nemours and to propose a Plan for a National Education. At
+least he "had made a beginning", he "had set an example", and he built
+even better than he knew. The man who wished to be remembered as the
+"father of the University of Virginia" was also, in more than one sense,
+the father of the State universities which play such an important part
+in the education of the American democracy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE PHILOSOPHY OF OLD AGE
+
+
+Old people are often accused of being too conservative, and even
+reactionary. They seem out of step with the younger generations, and
+very few preserve enough resiliency to keep in touch with the ceaseless
+changes taking place around them. But a few men who, born in the second
+half of the eighteenth century, lived well up into the nineteenth, were
+able to escape this apparently unavoidable law of nature. After
+witnessing political convulsions, commotions and revolutions, they clung
+tenaciously to the faith of their younger days. They refused to accept
+the view that the world was going from bad to worse; they looked
+untiringly for every symptom of improvement and thought they could
+distinguish everywhere signs foretelling the dawn of a new era. The
+growing infirmities of their bodies did not leave them any illusion
+about their inevitable disappearance from the stage and they were not
+upheld by any strong belief in personal immortality. But however
+uncertain and hazy may have been their religious tenets, they had a
+stanch faith in the unlimited capacity of human nature for improvement
+and development. They believed in the irresistible power of truth, in
+the ultimate recognition of natural principles and natural laws, in the
+religion of progress as it had been formulated by the eighteenth-century
+philosophers. Thus, rather than follow the precept of the ancient poet
+and unhitch their aging horses, they had anticipated the advice of the
+American philosopher by hitching their wagon to a star.
+
+Du Pont de Nemours, experimenting with his sons to develop American
+industries in order to make America economically independent from
+Europe; Destutt de Tracy, almost completely blind, dictating his
+treatise on political economy and appearing in the streets of Paris
+during the glorious days of 1830; Lafayette, yearning and hoping for the
+recognition of his ideal of liberty during the Empire and the
+_Restauration_--all of these were more than survivors of a forgotten
+age. Even to the younger generations they represented the living
+embodiment of the political faith of the nineteenth century. It is not a
+mere coincidence that most of them were friends and admirers of the Sage
+of Monticello, whose letters they read "as the letters of the Apostles
+were read in the circle of the early Christians."
+
+Jefferson could complain that "the decays of age had enfeebled
+the useful energies of the mind",[550] but he kept, practically
+to his last day, his alertness, his encyclopædic curiosity and
+an extraordinary capacity for work. A large part of his time was
+taken by his correspondence. Turning to his letter list for 1820 he
+found that he had received no less than "one thousand two hundred and
+sixty-seven communications, many of them requiring answers of elaborate
+research, and all of them to be answered with due attention and
+consideration."[551] I may be permitted to add that a large part of the
+letters he received as well as those he wrote deserve publication and
+would greatly contribute to our knowledge of the period.
+
+Among them essays and short treatises on every possible subject under
+heaven will be found. With Du Pont de Nemours, Jefferson discussed not
+only questions of political economy, education and government, but the
+acclimation of the merino sheep, the manufacturing of woolen goods and
+nails, the construction of gunboats and the organization of the militia.
+With Madame de Tessé, Lafayette's aged cousin, he resumed the exchange
+of botanical views, interrupted by his presidency and the continental
+blockade. He undertook to put together the scraps of paper on which he
+had scribbled notes during Washington's and Adams' administrations and
+compiled his famous "Anas"; he wrote his "Autobiography", furnished
+documents to Girardin for his continuation of Burke's "History of
+Virginia"; he answered queries on the circumstances under which he had
+written the Declaration of Independence, the Kentucky Resolution, on his
+attitude towards France when Secretary of State and President; he
+criticized quite extensively Marshall's "History of Washington" and one
+of his last letters, written on May 15, 1826, was to inform one of his
+friends of the facts concerning "Arnold's invasion and surprise of
+Richmond, in the winter of 1780-81."[552]
+
+His interest in books was greater than ever; he had scarcely sold his
+library to Congress when he undertook to collect another, going
+systematically through the publishers' catalogues, writing to
+booksellers in Richmond, Philadelphia, New York and even abroad,
+requesting his European friends to send him the latest publications and
+asking young Ticknor to procure for him, in France or Germany, the best
+editions of the Greek and Latin classics. He drew up the plans for the
+University of Virginia and supervised the construction of the building.
+Between times he took upon himself the task of rewriting entirely the
+translation of Destutt de Tracy's "Review of Montesquieu" and directed
+the printing of his treatise on "Political Economy." After writing
+letters, regulating the work of the farm, he spent several hours on
+horseback every day and during the balance of the afternoon read new and
+old books, played with his grandchildren, walked in the garden to look
+at his favorite trees, listened to music and, during the fine weather,
+received the visitors who flocked to Monticello by the dozens. Some were
+simply idlers coming out of curiosity, many were old friends who stayed
+for days or weeks; but all were welcomed with the same affable courtesy
+and the same generous hospitality, according to the best traditions of
+old Virginia.
+
+  They came from all nations, at all times--wrote Doctor Dunglison--and
+  paid longer or shorter visits. I have known a New England judge bring
+  a letter of introduction and stay three weeks. The learned abbé
+  Correa, always a welcome guest, passed some weeks of each year with
+  us during the whole time of his stay in the country. We had persons
+  from abroad, from all the States of the Union, from every part of the
+  State--men, women, and children.... People of wealth, fashion, men in
+  office, Protestant clergymen, Catholic priests, members of Congress,
+  foreign ministers, missionaries, Indian agents, tourists, travellers,
+  artists, strangers, friends.[553]
+
+No sound estimate of the extraordinary influence exerted by Jefferson
+upon the growth of liberalism can be made at the present time. It would
+require separate studies, careful investigation and the publication of
+many letters, safely preserved but too little used, which rest in the
+Jefferson Papers of the Library of Congress, and with the Massachusetts
+Historical Society. I have already printed Jefferson's correspondence
+with Volney, Destutt de Tracy, Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours; many
+other letters, no less significant, remain practically unknown. He
+encouraged his European friends, Correa de Serra, Kosciusko, the Greek
+Coray, to keep up their courage, to hope against hope. To all of them he
+preached the same gospel of faith in the ultimate and inevitable
+recognition throughout the world of the principles of American
+democracy. This was not done for propaganda's sake, for no man would
+deserve less than Jefferson the dubious qualification of propagandist.
+The many letters written to his American friends on the same subject
+clearly show that this was his profound conviction and almost his only
+_raison d'être_. His was not an over-optimistic temperament; he did not
+fail to notice all "the specks of hurricane on the horizon of the
+world." Yet, all considered, and in spite of temporary fits of
+despondency, his conclusion on the future of democracy can be summed up
+in the words he wrote to John Adams at the end of 1821:
+
+  I will not believe our labors are lost. I shall not die without a
+  hope that light and liberty are on a steady advance. We have seen
+  indeed, once within the record of history, the complete eclipse of
+  the human mind continuing for centuries ... even should the cloud of
+  barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of
+  Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and
+  liberty to them. In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July
+  1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by
+  the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume
+  these engines and all who work them.[554]
+
+Jefferson felt such a dislike for unnecessary controversies that he was
+apt to adopt the tone and the style of his correspondents and apparently
+to accept their ideas, so that many contradictions can be found in these
+letters. To a chosen few only he fully revealed his intimate thoughts
+and without reticence, without fear of being betrayed, communicated his
+doubts, his hopes and his hatred. The letters he wrote to Short,
+Priestley, and Thomas Cooper are most remarkable in this respect. But
+with none of them did he communicate so freely as with his old friend
+John Adams. The correspondence that passed between them during the last
+fifteen years of their lives constitutes one of the most striking and
+illuminating human documents a student of psychology may ever hope to
+discover. To those who have had the privilege of using the manuscripts
+to follow month by month the palsied hand of Adams until he had to cease
+writing himself and dictated his letters to a "female member of his
+household", it seems unthinkable that the wish expressed by Wirt in
+1826,--to see the correspondence between the two great men published in
+its entirety,--should not have received its fulfillment.
+
+They had been estranged for a long time, and no word had passed between
+them for more than ten years after Adams' sulky departure from
+Washington on the morning of March 4, 1801. At the beginning of 1811,
+Doctor Benjamin Rush made bold to deplore "the discontinuance of
+friendly correspondence between Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson
+answered quite lengthily, giving a long account of his difficulties with
+Adams, including the letter written by Abigail Adams in 1802, but adding
+that he would second with pleasure every effort made to bring about a
+reconciliation. However, he did not entertain much hope that Doctor Rush
+would succeed, for he knew it was "part of Mr. Adams' character to
+suspect foul play in those of whom he is jealous, and not easily to
+relinquish his suspicions."[555]
+
+It was not until the end of the same year that Jefferson took up the
+subject again, having heard that during a conversation Adams had
+mentioned his name, adding: "I always loved Jefferson, and still love
+him." This was enough, and it only remained to create an opportunity to
+resume the correspondence without too much awkwardness; but "from this
+fusion of sentiments" Mrs. Adams was "of course to be separated", for
+Jefferson could not believe that the woman wounded in her motherly pride
+had forgotten anything. This was no insuperable obstacle, however: "It
+will only be necessary that I never name her" wrote Jefferson.[556]
+
+Adams took the first step, and, knowing how much Jefferson was
+interested in domestic manufactures, sent him a fine specimen of
+homespun made in Massachusetts. Jefferson could but acknowledge the
+peace offering, which he did most gracefully, without mentioning Mrs.
+Adams.[557] But he was too much of a Southern gentleman to hold a
+resentment long even against a woman of such a jealous disposition. Two
+months later he sent for the first time the homage of his respects to
+Mrs. Adams, after which he never forgot to mention her. On two occasions
+he even wrote her charming letters, in the same friendly tone as he had
+used with her twenty-five years earlier, when he used to do shopping for
+her in Paris. On hearing of her death on November 13, 1818, he sent to
+his stricken old friend a touching expression of his sympathy:
+
+  Will I say more where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort
+  to us both, that the term is not very distant, at which we are to
+  deposit in the same cerement our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to
+  ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have
+  loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose
+  again.[558]
+
+Quite naturally, as the circle of his friends grew narrower and one
+after the other were called by death, Jefferson's thoughts turned to the
+hereafter. In his youth he had apparently settled the problem once for
+all; but the solution then found was scarcely more than a temporary
+expedient. It may behove a young man full of vigor, with a long stretch
+of years before him, to declare that "the business of life is with
+matter" and that it serves no purpose to break our heads against a blank
+wall. There are very few men, if they are thinking at all, who can
+entirely dismiss from their minds the perplexing and torturing riddle,
+as the term grows nearer every day. Such an ataraxia may have been
+obtained by a few sages of old, but it is hardly human, and Jefferson,
+like Adams, was very human. This is a subject, however, which I cannot
+approach without some reluctance. Jefferson himself would have highly
+disapproved of such a discussion. After submitting silently to so many
+fierce criticisms, after being accused of atheism, materialism, impiety
+and philosophism by his contemporaries, he hoped that the question would
+never be broached to him again. With those who tried to revive it, he
+had absolutely no patience.
+
+  One of our fan-coloring biographers--he wrote once--who paint small
+  men as very great, inquired of me lately, with real affection too,
+  whether he might consider as authentic, the change in my religion
+  much spoken of in some circles. Now this supposed that they knew what
+  had been my religion before, taking for it the word of their priests,
+  whom I certainly never made the confidants of my creed. My answer
+  was: "Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself
+  alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if
+  that has been _honest and dutiful_ to society, the religion which has
+  regulated it cannot be a bad one."[559]
+
+Unfortunately the controversy is still going on and at least a few
+points must be indicated here. The simplest and to some extent the most
+acceptable treatment of the matter was given a few years after his death
+by the physician who attended him up to the last minutes:
+
+  It is due, also, to that illustrious individual to say, that, in all
+  my intercourse with him, I never heard an observation that savored,
+  in the slightest degree, of impiety. His religious belief harmonized
+  more closely with that of the Unitarians than of any other
+  denomination, but it was liberal, and untrammelled by sectarian
+  feelings and prejudices.[560]
+
+But Doctor Dunglison's declaration is somewhat unsatisfactory and
+misleading, for Jefferson once gave his own definition of Unitarianism.
+From a letter he wrote to James Smith in 1822 it appears he was not
+ready to join the Unitarian Church any more than any other:
+
+  About Unitarianism, the doctrine of the early ages of Christianity
+  ... the pure and simple unity of the Creator of the universe, is now
+  all but ascendant in the Eastern States; it is dawning in the West,
+  and advancing towards the South; and I confidently expect that the
+  present generation will see Unitarianism become the general religion
+  of the United States.... I write with freedom, because, while I claim
+  a right to believe in one God, if so my reason tells me, I yield as
+  freely to others that of believing in three.[561]
+
+On the other hand, one might easily be misled by some declarations of
+Jefferson to his more intimate friends. "I am a materialist--I am an
+Epicurian," he wrote on several instances to John Adams, Thomas Cooper
+and Short, with whom he felt that he could discuss religious questions
+more freely than with any others. Rejecting the famous _Cogito ergo sum_
+of Descartes, he fell back when in doubt on his "habitual anodyne": "I
+feel therefore I exist." This in his opinion did not imply the sole
+existence of matter, but simply that he could not "conceive _thought_ to
+be an action of a particular organisation of matter, formed for the
+purpose by its Creator, as well as that attraction is an action of
+matter, or magnetism of loadstone." Then he added: "I am supported in my
+creed of materialism by the Lockes, the Tracys and the Stewarts. At what
+age of the Christian Church this heresy of immaterialism or masked
+atheism, crept in, I do not exactly know. But a heresy it certainly is.
+Jesus taught nothing of it."[562]
+
+In the same sense he could write to Judge Augustus S. Woodward: "Jesus
+himself, the Founder of our religion, was unquestionably a Materialist
+as to man. In all His doctrines of the resurrection, he teaches
+expressly that the body is to rise in substances."[563]
+
+His definition of Epicurism would seem equally remote from the popular
+acceptation, and certainly Jefferson was never of those who could
+deserve the old appellation of _Epicuri de grege porcus_; for his
+Epicurus is the philosopher "whose doctrines contain everything
+rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us."[564]
+
+All through the year 1813 and on many occasions after that date, Adams
+tried to draw him out on the question of religion. "For," as he said,
+"these things are to me, at present, the marbles and nine-pins of old
+age; I will not say beads and prayer books." But Jefferson could not
+have declared, as did his old friend: "For more than sixty years I have
+been attentive to this great subject. Controversies between Calvinists
+and Arminians, Trinitarians and Unitarians, Deists and Christians,
+Atheists and both, have attracted my attention, whenever the singular
+life I have led would admit, to all these questions."[565]
+
+Not so with Jefferson, who felt a real abhorrence for theological
+discussions and considered them as a sheer waste of time. They belonged
+to a past age and were to be buried in oblivion lest they create again
+an atmosphere of fanaticism and intolerance; at best, they could be left
+to the clergy. But tolerant as he was, there were certain doctrines
+against which Jefferson revolted even in later life, as he probably did
+when a student at William and Mary:
+
+  I can never join Calvin in addressing _his God_. He was indeed an
+  atheist, which I can never be; or rather his religion was dæmonism.
+  If ever man worshipped a false God, he did. The God described in his
+  five points, is not the God whom you acknowledge and adore, the
+  Creator and benevolent Governor of the world; but a dæmon of
+  malignant spirit.
+
+But right after this virulent denunciation comes a most interesting
+admission. If Jefferson's God was not the God of Calvin, he was just as
+remote from the mechanistic materialism of D'Holbach and La Mettrie as
+he was from Calvinism and predestination. Leaving aside all questions
+of dogmas and revelation he held that:
+
+  When we take a view of the universe, in its parts, general or
+  particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and
+  feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power
+  in every atom of its composition. So irresistible are these evidences
+  of an intelligent and powerful Agent, that of the infinite numbers of
+  men who have existed through all time, they have believed, in the
+  proportion of a million at least to a unit, in the hypothesis of an
+  eternal pre-existence of a Creator, rather than in that of a self
+  existing universe.[566]
+
+From this passage, it would seem that Jefferson founded his belief in
+the existence of God on the two well-known arguments: the order of the
+Universe and the general consensus of opinion. If it were so, he would
+follow close on the steps of the English deists of the school of Pope.
+But religion to him was something more than the mere "acknowledgement"
+and "adoration of the benevolent Governor of the world";
+
+  It is more than an inner conviction of the existence of the Creator;
+  true religion is morality. If by _religion_ we are to understand
+  _sectarian dogmas_, in which no two of them agree, then your
+  exclamation on that hypothesis is just, "that this would be the best
+  possible of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
+  But if the moral precepts, innate in man, and made a part of his
+  physical constitution, as necessary for a social being, if the
+  sublime doctrines of philanthropism and deism taught us by Jesus of
+  Nazareth, in which we all agree, constitute true religion, then,
+  without it, this would be, as you again say, "something not fit to be
+  named even, indeed, a hell."[567]
+
+On this point as on so many others Jefferson is distinctly an
+eighteenth-century man. One of the pet schemes of the philosophers was
+to prove that there is no necessary connection between religion and
+morality. It was an essential article of the philosophical creed from
+Pierre Bayle to Jefferson, and long before them, Montaigne had filled
+his "Essays" with countless anecdotes and examples tending to prove this
+point. But Jefferson went one step farther than most of the French
+philosophers, with the exception of Rousseau. Morality is not founded on
+a religious basis; religion is morality. This being accepted, it remains
+to determine the foundation of morality. In a letter written to Thomas
+Law during the summer of 1814, Jefferson examined the different
+solutions proposed by theologians and philosophers and clearly indicated
+his preference.
+
+"It was vain to say that it was truth; for truth is elusive,
+unattainable, and there is no certain criticism of it." It is not either
+the "love of God", for an atheist may have morality, and "Diderot,
+d'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have been the most virtuous of men."
+It is not either the _to kalon_, for many men are deprived of any
+æsthetic sense. Self-interest is more satisfactory, but even the
+demonstration given by Helvétius is not perfectly convincing. All these
+explanations are one step short of the ultimate question.
+
+  The truth of the matter is, that Nature has 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 succour their
+  distresses. It is true that these social dispositions are not
+  implanted 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
+  without these faculties. When the moral sense is wanting, we endeavor
+  to supply the defect by education; by appeals to reason and
+  calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily conformed other
+  motives to do good. But nature has constituted utility to man the
+  social test of virtue. The same act may be useful and consequently
+  virtuous in a country which is injurious and vicious in another
+  differently circumstanced. I sincerely then believe, with you, in the
+  general existence of a moral instinct. I think it is the brightest
+  gem with which the human character is studded, and the want of it is
+  more degrading than the most hideous of the bodily deformities.[568]
+
+The test of morality then becomes, not self-interest, as Helvétius had
+maintained (and Jefferson reproved Destutt de Tracy for having accepted
+this theory), but general interest and social utility. This is almost
+the criterium of Kant and one would be tempted to press this
+parallelism, if there was any reason to believe that the Philosopher of
+Monticello had ever heard the name of the author of "Practical Reason."
+On this point, as on so many others, Jefferson differs radically from
+Rousseau, who admitted also a benevolent governor of the world and the
+existence of a moral instinct, but who would have strenuously denied
+that this moral instinct was nothing but the social instinct. Jefferson,
+on the contrary, is led to recognize the existence of morality, chiefly
+because, man being a social being, society cannot be organized and
+subsist if it is not composed of moral beings.
+
+  Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests of
+  society require the observation of those moral precepts in which all
+  religions agree, (for all forbid us to murder, steal, plunder or bear
+  false witness,) and that we should not intermeddle with the
+  particular dogmas in which all religions differ, and which are
+  totally unconnected with morality. In all of them we see good men,
+  and as many in one as another. The varieties of structures of action
+  of the human mind as in those in the body, are the work of our
+  Creator, against which it cannot be a religious duty to erect the
+  standard of uniformity. The practice of morality being necessary for
+  the well-being of society, he has taken care to impress its precepts
+  so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the
+  subtleties of our brain.[569]
+
+This was stated more humorously by John Adams after they had treated the
+subject exhaustively in a series of letters: "Vain man, mind your own
+business. Do no wrong--; do all the good you can. Eat your canvasback
+ducks, drink your Burgundy. Sleep your siesta when necessary, and TRUST
+IN GOD."[570]
+
+This being the case, it remained to determine whether man could not find
+somewhere a code of morality that would express the precepts impressed
+in our hearts. In his youth, Jefferson had copied and accepted as a
+matter of course the statement of Bolingbroke that:
+
+  It is not true that Christ revealed an entire body of ethics, proved
+  to be the law of nature from principles of reason and reaching all
+  duties of life.... A system thus collected from the writings of the
+  ancient heathen moralists, of Tully, of Seneca, of Epictetus, and
+  others, would be more full, more entire, more coherent, and more
+  clearly deduced from unquestionable principles of knowledge.[571]
+
+In order to realize how far away Jefferson had drawn from his
+radicalism, it is only necessary to go back to his "Syllabus of an
+Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of
+others", written for Benjamin Rush, in 1803, after reading Doctor
+Priestley's little treatise "Of Socrates and Jesus compared."[572] There
+he had declared that
+
+  His moral doctrines relating to kindred and friends, were more pure
+  and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers, and
+  ... they went far in inculcating universal 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.
+
+Jefferson had been won over to Christianity by the superior social value
+of the morals of Jesus. In that sense, he could already say, "I am a
+Christian, in the only sense in which He wished any one to be, sincerely
+attached to His doctrines, in preference to all others."
+
+This profession of faith made publicly might have assuaged some of the
+fierce attacks directed against Jefferson on the ground of his
+"infidelity", and yet even at that time he emphatically begged Doctor
+Rush not to make it public, for "it behoves every man who values liberty
+of conscience for himself ... 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."
+To a certain extent, however, his famous "Life and Morals of Jesus",
+compiled during the last ten years of his life[573] may well be
+considered an indirect and yet categorical recantation of Bolingbroke's
+haughty dogmatism. Age, experience, observation had mellowed the Stoic.
+He was not yet ready to accept as a whole the dogmas of Christianity,
+but the superiority of the morals of Jesus over the tenets of the
+"heathen moralists" did not any longer leave any doubt in his mind.
+
+Whether after the death of the body something of man survived, was an
+entirely different question--one that human reason could not answer
+satisfactorily. It cannot even be stated with certainty that he would
+have agreed with John Adams when the latter wrote: "_Il faut trancher le
+mot._ What is there in life to attach us to it but the hope of a future
+and a better? It is a cracker, a rocket, a fire-work at best."[574]
+
+He never denied categorically the existence of a future life, but this
+life was a thing in itself, and after all, it was worth living.
+Altogether this world was a pretty good place, and when John Adams
+asked him whether he would agree to live his seventy-three years over
+again, he answered energetically: "Yea.--I think with you," he added,
+"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 to us.... 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
+foreboding of the gloomy."[575] His old friend was far from attaining
+such an equanimity and could not help envying the Sage of Monticello
+sailing his bark "Hope with her gay ensigns displayed at the prow, Fear
+with her hobgoblins behind the stern. Hope springs eternal and all is
+that endures...." But Jefferson was bolstered up in his confident
+attitude by the intimate conviction that he had done good work, that he
+had contributed his best to the most worthy cause and that he had not
+labored in vain.
+
+This was not only a good world, but it was already much better than when
+he had entered it. He had
+
+  ... observed the march of civilization advancing from the sea coast,
+  passing over us like a cloud of light, increasing our knowledge and
+  improving our condition, insomuch as that we are at that time more
+  advanced in civilization here than the seaports were when I was a
+  boy. And where this progress will stop no one can say. Barbarism has,
+  in the meantime, been receding before the steady step of
+  amelioration; and will in time, I trust, disappear from the
+  earth.[576]
+
+Scarcely two weeks before he died--and this is practically his last
+important utterance--he recalled in a letter to the citizens of the city
+of Washington who had invited him to attend the celebration held for the
+fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, how proud he
+was that his fellow citizens, after fifty years, continued to approve
+the choice made when the Declaration was adopted. "May it be to the
+world," he added, "what I believe it will (to some parts sooner, to
+others later, but finally to all) the signal of arousing men to burst
+the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded
+them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of
+self-government."[577]
+
+This faith in the ultimate recognition of the ideals, which he had
+defined with such a felicity of expression half a century earlier, was,
+even more than any belief in personal immortality, "the rocket" that
+John Adams thought so necessary to attach us to this life. It was a real
+religion, the religion of progress, of the eighteenth century which had
+its devotees and with Condorcet its martyr. Strengthened by the intimate
+conviction that he would be judged from his acts and not "from his
+words", he saw the approach of Death without any qualms, and he turned
+back to his old friends of Greece and Rome, for "the classic pages fill
+up the vacuum of _ennui_, and become sweet composers to that rest of the
+grave into which we are sooner or later to descend."[578] On many
+occasions he expressed his readiness to depart: "I enjoy good health,"
+he wrote once to John Adams; "I am happy in what is around me, yet I
+assure you I am ripe for leaving all, this year, this day, this
+hour."[579] It took almost ten years after these lines were written for
+the call to come. Most of his biographers have dealt extensively with
+the remarkable vigor preserved by Jefferson even to his last day. For
+several years after his retirement he remained a hale and robust old
+man. But he felt none the less the approaching dissolution and watched
+anxiously the slow progress of his physical limitations. His letters do
+not completely bear out on this point the statement made by Mrs. Sarah
+Randolph in her "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson."
+
+At seventy-three he was still remarkably robust and, with the minuteness
+of a physician, described his case in a letter to his old friend Charles
+Thomson:
+
+  I retain good health, am rather feeble to walk much, but ride with
+  ease, passing two or three hours a day on horseback.... My eyes need
+  the aid of glasses by night, and with small print in the day also; my
+  hearing is not quite so sensible as it used to be; no tooth shaking
+  yet, but shivering and shrinking in body from the cold we now
+  experience; my thermometer having been as low as 12° this morning. My
+  greatest oppression is a correspondence afflictingly laborious, the
+  extent of which I have been long endeavoring to curtail. Could I
+  reduce this epistolary corvée within the limits of my friends and
+  affairs ... my life would be as happy as the infirmities of age would
+  admit, and I should look on its consummation with the composure of
+  one "_qui summum nec metuit diem nec optat_."[580]
+
+This remarkable preservation of his faculties he attributed largely to
+his abstemious diet. For years he had eaten little animal food, and that
+"not as an aliment so much as a condiment for the vegetables", which
+constituted his principal diet. "I double however the Doctor'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."[581]
+
+Yet he had to admit to Mrs. Trist in 1814 that he was only "an old
+half-strung fiddle",[582] and as he advanced in age the "machine" gave
+evident signs of wearing out. The recurrence of the suffering caused by
+his broken wrist, badly set in Paris by the famous Louis,[583] and still
+worse the very painful "disury" with which he was afflicted[584] gave
+him many unhappy hours. To die was nothing, for as he wrote then in his
+old "Commonplace Book", "I do not worry about the hereafter, even if
+now the doom of death stands at my feet, for we are men and cannot live
+forever. To all of us death must happen."[585] But "bodily decay" was
+"gloomy in prospect, for of all human contemplation the most abhorrent
+is a body without mind. To be a doting old man, to repeat four times
+over the same story in one hour", if this was life, it was "at most the
+life of a cabbage."[586] He was spared this affliction he dreaded so
+much, and when Lafayette visited him in November, 1824, the Marquis
+found him "much aged without doubt, after a separation of thirty-five
+years, but bearing marvelously well under his eighty-one years of age,
+in full possession of all the vigor of his mind and heart."[587] Six
+months later, when Lafayette took his final leave, Jefferson was weaker
+and confined to his house, suffering much "with one foot in the grave
+and the other one uplifted to follow it."
+
+Death was slowly approaching, without any particular disease being
+noticeable; after running for eighty-three years "the machine" was about
+to "surcease motion." The end has been told by several contemporaries
+and friends. No account is more simple and more touching in its
+simplicity than the relation written by his attending physician, Doctor
+Dunglison:
+
+  Until the 2d. and 3d. of July he spoke freely of his approaching
+  death; made all arrangements with his grandson, Mr. Randolph, in
+  regard to his private affairs; and expressed his anxiety for the
+  prosperity of the University and his confidence in the exertion in
+  its behalf of Mr. Madison and the other visitors. He repeatedly, too,
+  mentioned his obligation to me for my attention to him. During the
+  last week of his existence I remained at Monticello; and one of the
+  last remarks he made was to me. In the course of the day and night of
+  the 2d of July he was affected with stupor, with intervals of
+  wakefulness and consciousness; but on the 3d the stupor became
+  almost permanent. About seven o'clock of the evening of that day he
+  awoke and, seeing me staying at his bedside, exclaimed, "Ah, Doctor,
+  are you still there?" in a voice, however, that was husky and
+  indistinct. He then asked, "Is it the Fourth?" to which I replied,
+  "It will soon be." These were the last words I heard him utter.
+
+  Until towards the middle of the day--the 4th--he remained in the same
+  state, or nearly so, wholly unconscious to everything that was
+  passing around him. His circulation, however, was gradually becoming
+  more languid; and for some time prior to dissolution the pulse at the
+  wrist was imperceptible. About one o'clock he ceased to exist.[588]
+
+A few days before he had taken his final dispositions and seen all the
+members of his family. He was not a man to indulge in a painful display
+of emotions, but he told his dear daughter Martha that "in a certain
+drawer in an old pocket book she would find something for her." It was a
+piece of paper on which he had written eight lines "A death bed adieu
+from Th. J. to M. R." There was no philosophism nor classical
+reminiscence in it; it was the simple expression of his last hope that
+on the shore
+
+"_Which crowns all my hopes, or which buries my care_" he would find
+awaiting him "two seraphs long shrouded in death", his beloved wife and
+his young daughter Maria.
+
+He was buried by their side in the family plot of Monticello. According
+to his wishes no invitations were issued and no notice of the hour
+given. "His body was borne privately from his dwelling by his family and
+servants, but his neighbors and friends, anxious to pay the last tribute
+of respect to one they had loved and honored, waited for it in crowds at
+the grave." A typically American scene, without parade, without speeches
+and long ceremonies--almost a pioneer burial in a piece of land
+reclaimed from the wilderness.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Absolutism, evils of, 203
+
+  Adams, Abigail, Jefferson shops for, 160;
+    the "New England Juno", 323;
+    and Jefferson, 382, 383, 386, 518, 519
+
+  Adams, Henry, his criticism of Jefferson's conduct of foreign
+          affairs, 409, 440, 441, 453, 459, 460, 464
+
+  Adams, John, Jefferson's correspondence with, 23, 482, 490, 503, 512,
+          517, 521, 526, 529;
+    his first impression of Jefferson, 59;
+    on committee of Continental Congress appointed to answer Lord
+          North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form
+          governments, 66;
+    his part in Declaration of Independence, 69, 70;
+    on committee to suggest United States seal, 86;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of Commerce
+          with foreign nations, 152, 162;
+    his wines, 160;
+    in favor of loose association of States, 196;
+    and the Barbary pirates, 206;
+    Jefferson gives estimate of, 248;
+    his quarrel with Jefferson, 259-261;
+    reëlection of, as Vice-President, 273;
+    elected President, 319;
+    attempts reconciliation with Jefferson, 321, 322, 325;
+    inaugural address, 321, 322;
+    not a party man or party leader, 323;
+    a complicated and contradictory figure, 323;
+    action in XYZ case, 325, 331, 336-338, 348, 355;
+    nominated for Presidency in 1800, 362;
+    changes in his Cabinet, 368;
+    in election of 1800, 367-369;
+    "midnight" appointments, 373, 374;
+    refuses to welcome successor, 375;
+    reconciliation with Jefferson, 518, 519;
+    his study of religious controversies, 522;
+    on life, 527
+
+  Adams, John Quincy, removed from office by Jefferson, 382, 383
+
+  Adams, Samuel, 359, 361
+
+  Addison, Judge, deposition of, by Senate of Pennsylvania, 384
+
+  Albemarle resolutions, 45-47
+
+  Alexander I of Russia, 448
+
+  Algiers, 206
+
+  Alien Bills, 340, 342-347
+
+  Aliens, their right to hold real property denied, 151
+
+  Allen, Ethan, declaration concerning, drafted by Jefferson, 65
+
+  American civilization, underlying ideas of, 85.
+
+  American imperialism, 398-400
+
+  American public education, first charter of, 95-100
+
+  American Revolution, remonstrance in House of Burgesses, 38;
+    articles of association directed against British merchandise, 38;
+    as to causes of, 42;
+    effect of passage of Boston Port Bill, in Virginia, 43, 44;
+    proposal to form Congress, 44;
+    declaration of mutual defence, 45;
+    resolutions adopted by freeholders of Albemarle County, Va., 45-47;
+    resolutions adopted by Assembly of Fairfax County, 45-47;
+    regulation of American commerce, 46;
+    doctrine of expatriation, 47, 50;
+    first Continental Congress, 54;
+    second Continental Congress, 59;
+    Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition" answered, 62;
+    independence not at first aimed at, 63-65;
+    colonies instructed to form governments, 66;
+    Declaration of Independence, 69-71;
+    treatment of prisoners in, 109-112.
+    _See also_ British colonies
+
+  Americanism, cardinal principles of, 52, 61;
+    creed of, formulated by Jefferson, 62, 120;
+    Jefferson's conception of, when he wrote "Notes on Virginia", 136;
+    practical idealism a tenet of, 275;
+    pure, 334, 335;
+    definition of, 352;
+    Jefferson's system of, 423, 428, 468
+
+  Armstrong, Gen. John, American representative in Paris, 462
+
+  Arnold, Benedict, 108
+
+  "Arrears of Interest, Report on", Jefferson, 146
+
+  Articles of Confederation, discussion of, in Congress, 80;
+    defects in, 145, 146, 195, 197
+
+  "Assumption" of the State debts, 250-255
+
+  _Aurora_, journal, 311, 313, 343, 354
+
+  Austin, Benjamin, 491
+
+
+  Bache's _Aurora_, 311, 313, 343, 356
+
+  Balance of power, 476
+
+  Bank Bill, Hamilton's, 255-258
+
+  Bannister, J. B., Jr., letter to, 172
+
+  Barbary pirates, 205-207, 428, 443
+
+  Barbé-Marbois, secretary of French legation in United States, 118, 414
+
+  Bastille, capture of, 235
+
+  Bayard, James A., nominated plenipotentiary to French Republic, 373,
+  374
+
+  Bellini, letter to, 173
+
+  Berlin Decree, 450
+
+  Beveridge, Albert J., his "Life of Marshall", 384, 385, 434
+
+  Bill for a General Revision of the Laws, Virginia, 90
+
+  Bill for Amending the Charter for William and Mary, 98, 99, 105, 106
+
+  Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments, Virginia, 93-95
+
+  Bill for Religious Freedom, Virginia, 89, 100-103, 106, 365
+
+  Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge, Virginia, 95-99,
+  105, 505, 508
+
+  Bill of Rights, 198-201, 204
+
+  Bill on the Naturalization of Foreigners, 89
+
+  Bill to Abolish Entails, Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Bingham, Mrs., 160
+
+  Bishop, Samuel, appointed collector of New Haven, 381
+
+  Blennerhasset, Harman, and the Burr conspiracy, 431, 432
+
+  Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, his influence on Jefferson, 21, 23,
+  26, 31
+
+  Bollman, and the Burr conspiracy, 432, 433
+
+  Bonaparte, his projected invasion of England, 336;
+    Jefferson's opinion of, 359, 475, 476;
+    precedent established by, 360
+
+  Boston Port Bill, 43
+
+  Brazil, 483
+
+  Breckenridge, James, on board of visitors of University of
+  Virginia, 509
+
+  Breckenridge, John, letters to, 370, 371, 416
+
+  British colonies, contractual theory of government of, 45, 46;
+    regulation of commerce of, 46, 47;
+    rights of, 48-53.
+    _See also_ American Revolution
+
+  Brunswick, Duke of, defeat, 273
+
+  Buchan, Lord, letter to, 444
+
+  Budget, presented by Jefferson, 146
+
+  Buffon, G. L. L. de, theory of, concerning
+  animals in America, 121, 122
+
+  Burke, "History of Virginia", 12, 515
+
+  Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques, quotation from, 73
+
+  Burnaby, English tourist, quoted on Virginia colonists, 42
+
+  Burr, Col. Aaron, letters to, 332, 354;
+    nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), 362;
+    in the 1800-election, 369-373;
+    his presence in government an annoyance to Jefferson, 382;
+    conspiracy, 429-439;
+    duel with Hamilton, 431
+
+  Burwell, Rebecca, and Jefferson, 16, 17
+
+
+  Cabanis, P. J. G., 161;
+    letter to, 422
+
+  Cabell, Joseph C., 507;
+    on board of visitors of University of Virginia, 509;
+    letters to, 512
+
+  Cabell, Gov. William H., 451
+
+  Cabinet, the President's, in Washington's time, 247;
+    Adams's, 322, 323, 368;
+    relation to President, 392
+
+  Callender, 356, 427;
+    employed by Jefferson, 361;
+    Jefferson's interest in, 363;
+    his pamphlet, "The Prospect Before Us" ("History of the
+          Administration of John Adams"), 382
+
+  Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, 178, 182
+
+  Calvinism, 522
+
+  Canning, George, 453
+
+  Capital, of United States, seat of, 252, 253
+
+  Capitol, at Washington, the new, question of putting inscription
+  on, 479
+
+  Caracas, constitution of, 498
+
+  Carleton, Guy, governor of Canada, 111
+
+  Carmichael, 198, 211, 226, 263, 276, 288
+
+  Carr, Dabney, death, 40, 41
+
+  Carr, Peter, 21, 175
+
+  Carrington, Edward, letters to, 196, 213, 219
+
+  Carthagenes, constitution of, 498
+
+  Cary, Col. Archibald, 139
+
+  _Ceres_, sailing-vessel, 153, 159
+
+  Champion de Cicé, Archbishop of Bordeaux, 235
+
+  Charlottesville, Va., war prisoners at, 109
+
+  Chase, Judge Samuel, impeachment of, 387-389
+
+  Chastellux, Chevalier de, friend of Jefferson, 154
+
+  _Chesapeake-Leopard_ affair, 451-453
+
+  Church, Mrs., 298, 299
+
+  Church of England, in Virginia, 90, 103
+
+  Cincinnati, Society of the, 152, 306
+
+  Clay, Rev. Mr. Charles, subscription for support of, 103-105
+
+  Clinton, George, Vice-President, 395, 463, 464
+
+  Cocke, J. H., on board of visitors of University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Collot, Gen., 402
+
+  Colvin, J. B., letter to, 469
+
+  Comité du Commerce, 178, 183
+
+  Commerce, one of the great causes of war, 83;
+    Treaty of, 143, 144;
+    Gallo-American, 181-184;
+    Report of Jefferson on Privileges and Restrictions of, 302
+
+  Commercial monopolies, 151, 152
+
+  Commercial treaties, 149-152
+
+  Committees of safety, 54
+
+  Confederation, Treaty of Commerce, 143, 144;
+    defects in, 145, 146, 195, 197;
+    monetary system, 146, 147;
+    new States, 148; slavery, 148, 149;
+    hereditary titles, 148, 149;
+    commercial treaties, 149-152.
+    _See also_ Articles of Confederation; United States
+
+  Congress, first proposal for, 44.
+     _See also_ Continental Congress
+
+  Congressional election, _see_ Election
+
+  Congressional Library, destroyed by English, 476
+
+  Constitution of United States, 195-202
+
+  Continental Congress, First, 54, 83;
+    Second, 59;
+    of the Confederation, 143-152
+
+  Contraband, 151, 152, 422, 423
+
+  Cooper, Thomas, 510; letters to, 492, 512, 521
+
+  Coray, Mr., 516
+
+  Corny, M. de, 234
+
+  Corny, Madame de, 161, 245, 246, 274, 298, 299
+
+  Correa de Serra, 484, 516
+
+  Coxe, Tench, letters to, 304, 371, 372
+
+  Crawford, Dr. John, letter to, 480
+
+  Crimes and punishments, in Virginia, 93-95
+
+  Cuba, 470, 485
+
+  Cutting, letter to, 225
+
+
+  Dalrymple, Sir John, his "Essay Towards a General History of Feudal
+  Property", 30
+
+  Dandridge, Mr., 14
+
+  Danville, Duchesse, 274
+
+  Deane, Silas,
+    quoted on Southern delegates to first Continental Congress, 42;
+    elected commissioner to France, 87
+
+  Dearborn, Henry, Secretary of War in Jefferson's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Debts of United States, foreign, domestic, and State, 250-255, 258
+
+  "Déclaration Européenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen",
+  Lafayette, 232-234
+
+  Declaration of Independence, the story of, 69-71;
+    origin of, 71-74, 77;
+    as literature, 72;
+    "the pursuit of happiness" in, 75-76;
+    highest achievement of eighteenth-century philosophy, 76;
+    suggests tone of Greek tragedy, 77
+
+  Declaration of Rights of 1774, 73
+
+  Declaration on Violation of Rights, adopted by First Continental
+  Congress, 83
+
+  Dejean, Lieut., 111
+
+  _Democrat_, sailing-vessel, 294
+
+  Democratic societies, 306, 334
+
+  De Moustier, letter to, 254
+
+  Destutt de Tracy, A. L. C., meeting with Jefferson, 161;
+    letter to, 484;
+    his "Political Economy", 495;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 514
+
+  Dexter, Samuel, Secretary of War in Adams's Cabinet, 368;
+    Secretary of the Treasury in Adams's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Dickinson, John, in Continental Congress, 60;
+    letter of, 361
+
+  Dictator, proposition for appointment of, 127, 128
+
+  Douglas, Dr., clergyman, 5, 20
+
+  Duane, William, flogged, 355;
+    letter to, 475
+
+  Dumas, financial agent of the United States at the Hague, 185, 187,
+  197, 209, 252, 253, 289
+
+  Dunbar, William, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Dunglison, Dr., on visitors at Monticello, 516;
+    on Jefferson's religious belief, 520;
+    his account of Jefferson's death, 531
+
+  Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of, governor of Virginia, 43, 44, 54, 55,
+  66
+
+  Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre S., Jefferson's association with, 215;
+    his "Plan of a National Education", 358, 506, 507, 512;
+    theories and practice of, 395;
+    correspondence with Jefferson, 405-409, 411, 414, 415, 420, 452,
+          471, 478, 493, 497, 498, 514;
+    and the Louisiana problem, 407-409, 412-415;
+    never fully understood Jefferson, 496;
+    draws up plan of government for the "Equinoctial republics", 498;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 513, 514
+
+
+  Edwards, Jonathan, 430
+
+  Election, of 1792, 272, 273;
+    of 1796, 316-319;
+    of 1800, 363-373;
+    of 1804, 389, 395
+
+  Ellsworth, Oliver, appointed Plenipotentiary to France, 355
+
+  Embargo of 1807, 428, 456-462, 470, 471
+
+  "Encyclopédie Méthodique", 160, 214
+
+  English, their monopoly of the American market, 326, 327
+
+  Entails, abolished in Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Epicurism, 521
+
+  Eppes, Mrs., sister of Mrs. Jefferson, 153
+
+  Equinoctial republics, 498
+
+  Essex case, 447
+
+  Estaing, Admiral d', 206
+
+  Euripides, 22, 24
+
+  Eustis, Dr. William, letter to, 461
+
+  Excise tax, 254, 255, 393;
+    revolt against (Whisky Insurrection), 305, 306;
+    Jefferson's bitterness against, 306, 307
+
+  Expatriation, doctrine of, 47, 50, 89, 107
+
+
+  Fairfax resolutions, 45-48
+
+  Farmers-general, 177-181
+
+  Farming taxes, 177-181
+
+  Fauquier, Dr., of Floirac, 12
+
+  Fauquier, Gov. Francis, his intimacy with Jefferson, 12, 13
+
+  Federal Government, prerogatives of, 83
+
+  _Federalist_, the, 200
+
+  Federalists, their power broken, 355, 362;
+    in election of 1800, 367-373, 389;
+    in Jefferson's administration, 380, 381
+
+  Feudal system, abolishment of, in Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Fleming, William, letters to, 78, 79;
+    on committee on religion, 89
+
+  Florida, Western and Eastern, 445, 446
+
+  Foster, Dwight, Senator, makes offer to Jefferson, 373
+
+  Fox blockade, 450
+
+  France, educational system of, 98;
+    colonizing designs of, feared, 207;
+    difficulties with, 288, 323-325, 331-342, 440, 447-462.
+    _See also_ French Revolution
+
+  Franklin, Benjamin, on committee of Continental Congress appointed
+          to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    his part in Declaration of Independence, 69, 70;
+    on committee to suggest United States seal, 86;
+    elected commissioner to France, 87;
+    Jefferson's view of, 122;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of
+          commerce, 152, 162;
+    interview with Jefferson, 247
+
+  Franklin, William Temple, papers entrusted to, by Benjamin Franklin,
+  247
+
+  Free ports, 182
+
+  Freedom of speech, 427
+
+  Freedom of the press, importance of, 203, 427
+
+  Freedom of thought, Jefferson's understanding of, 103
+
+  Freeholders, rights of, 52
+
+  French constitution, 143
+
+  French debt, of United States, 176, 177, 181, 182, 184-193
+
+  French Revolution, Declaration of June 23, 1793, 76;
+    Declaration of May 29, 1793, 82;
+    Assembly of the Notables, 219-222, 225;
+    convocation of States-General, 227, 229;
+    National Assembly, 231, 232;
+    capture of the Bastille, 235;
+    defeat of Duke of Brunswick, 273;
+    becomes international issue, 279;
+    flight of king, 282;
+    execution of king, 287
+
+  Freneau, Philip, his paper, the _National Gazette_, 261-263, 269
+
+  Fry, Joshua, professor in William and Mary College, 5
+
+
+  Gallatin, Albert, defies excise law, 305;
+    speech of, 311;
+    letter to, 480
+
+  Gates, Horatio, letters to, 416, 445
+
+  _Gazette of the United States_, attacks Jefferson, 268, 269
+
+  Geismer, Baron de, 110, 163
+
+  Generations of men, rights of, 234
+
+  Genêt, Citizen Edmond C., the case of, 288-297
+
+  Gerry, Elbridge, letters to, 325, 351-353;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333
+
+  Ghent, Treaty of, 485
+
+  Giles, William B., and Jefferson, 311;
+    letters to, 307, 309, 436
+
+  Gilmer, Francis Walker, and Jefferson, 253;
+     sent to England to recruit faculty for University of Virginia, 511
+
+  "Government by the people", 237
+
+  Granger, Gideon, letter to, 363
+
+  Great Britain, United States debt to, 186-193;
+    her hatred of United States, 208, 209;
+    and France, war between, 288, 440, 447-462;
+    her navy, policies of, in regard to contraband and impressment,
+          422, 423
+
+  Greene, William, letter to, 356
+
+
+  Hamilton, Alexander,
+    quarrel with Jefferson, 127, 255-258, 263, 265, 266, 268-271;
+    Secretary of the Treasury, 247;
+    Jefferson gives estimate of, 248;
+    Reports of, 249;
+    his Bank Bill, 255-257;
+    his actions supported by Washington, 271;
+    attitude toward England, 290;
+    and Whisky Insurrection, 306;
+    would encourage American manufactures, 327, 443;
+    his plans of administrative reorganization, 349, 350;
+    in election campaign of 1800, 367, 368;
+    duel with Burr, 431
+
+  Hamilton, Gov., of Kaskakias, 111
+
+  Hammond, George, British minister to United States, 291, 292
+
+  Hardy, Samuel, delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140
+
+  Harrison, Gov., letters to, 145, 415
+
+  Hawkesbury, Lord, 402, 404
+
+  Hawkins, Col. Benjamin, discussions with Jefferson, 358;
+    letter to, 364
+
+  Hay, George, 436
+
+  Helvétius, Madame, 161, 215
+
+  Henry, Patrick, and Jefferson, 14, 15, 26, 27, 37, 63;
+    his study of the law, 28;
+    after passage of Boston Port Bill, 43;
+    and Jefferson's "Summary View", 47;
+    speech at second Virginia Convention, 54;
+    opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, 89;
+    seconds motion for appointment of dictator, 127;
+    appointed Plenipotentiary to France, 355
+
+  Hereditary titles, in the Confederation, 148, 149
+
+  Hervey, John, guardian of Jefferson, 8
+
+  Hobbes, Thomas, 82
+
+  Holland, United States debt to, 187-193
+
+  Hopkinson, Francis, 200
+
+  Hopkinson, Mrs., 153
+
+  Houdetot, Madame d', 161, 274
+
+  Howe, Lord, negotiations of Franklin with, 247
+
+  Howick, Lord, 450
+
+  Humboldt, Baron Alexander von, letter to, 481
+
+  Humphreys, Col. David, secretary of legation in Paris, 153, 159, 223,
+  228
+
+
+  Immigration, Jefferson's views of, 123-125
+
+  Impeachment, the Republican understanding of, 385, 387
+
+  "Implied powers", doctrine of, 256
+
+  Impressment, of British sailors on neutral vessels, 423;
+    an issue of the War of 1812, 478
+
+  Income tax, 494
+
+  Indians, 7;
+    study of customs and languages of, 99;
+    atrocities of, in American Revolution, 111;
+    eloquence of, 121;
+    affairs of, treated in Jefferson's second inaugural, 425-427
+
+  Industrialism, dangers of, 492
+
+  Isham, Mary, 3
+
+
+  Jackson, Andrew, 431
+
+  Jacobins, _see_ Republicans
+
+  Jay, John, letters to, 223, 224, 231, 234, 236, 239.
+    _See also_ Jay treaty
+
+  Jay, Gov. John, letter to, 491
+
+  Jay treaty, 305, 307, 308, 316, 324
+
+  Jefferson, Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, 139;
+    death, 163
+
+  Jefferson, Martha, daughter of Thomas Jefferson,
+    her account of Mrs. Jefferson's death, 138;
+    date of birth, 139;
+    accompanies father to Europe, 153, 159;
+    marriage, 246;
+    at Monticello, 300;
+    Jefferson's farewell message to, 532
+
+  Jefferson, Mary, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, 139, 161;
+    joins father in Paris, 163
+
+  Jefferson, Peter, father of Thomas Jefferson, 4, 5
+
+  Jefferson, Mrs. Peter, _see_ Randolph, Jane
+
+  Jefferson, Thomas, birth, 3;
+    ancestry and parentage, 3-5;
+    "Autobiography", _see_ below;
+    schooling, 5-7;
+    early reading, 6;
+    life at Shadwell, 6-8;
+    at William and Mary College, 8-17;
+    oratorical ambitions, 14;
+    influence of Patrick Henry upon, 14, 15, 26, 27, 37;
+    love episode with Rebecca Burwell, 16-18;
+    commonplace books, 19, _see also_ below;
+    change in religious belief, 19-24;
+    distrust of women, 22;
+    his system of morality, 24-26, _see also_ Morality;
+    influence of Greek Stoics upon, 26;
+    studies law, 27-31;
+    his revindication of the Saxon liberties, 31, 32;
+    his acquaintance with languages and books, 33;
+    practices law, 34, 36;
+    life as farmer at Shadwell, 34, 35;
+    his "Garden Books", 35, 39;
+    his scorn of rhetoric, 36, 37;
+    character of his mind, 37;
+    in House of Burgesses, 38;
+    his library, 39;
+    marriage, 39, 40;
+    life at Monticello, 41;
+    after passing of Boston Port Bill, 43, 44;
+    his declaration of mutual defence, 45;
+    writes Albemarle resolutions, 45-47;
+    his doctrine of expatriation, 47, 50, 89, 107;
+    drafts instructions to Virginia delegates to first Continental
+          Congress, 47, 53;
+    his "A Summary View of the Rights of British America", 48-53;
+    his discussion of land tenures, 49;
+    speaks as pioneer, 52, 53;
+    in second Virginia Convention, 54;
+    delegate to second Continental Congress, 54, 55, 64;
+    his part of "Declaration of the Cause of Taking Up Arms", 59-62;
+    his answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    influence of Greek and Latin orators on his style, 63;
+    his view of independence, 63-65;
+    his absence from Congress during preliminary steps to Declaration of
+          Independence, 66;
+    appointed Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia of the
+          County of Albemarle, 66;
+    drafts constitution for Virginia, 66-69;
+    and the Declaration of Independence, 69-78;
+    resigns from Congress and enters Virginia Legislature, 78, 79;
+    his view of the social compact and liberty, 80-82, 85, 204, 365,
+          498;
+    his philosophy of natural and civil rights, 80-85, 106, 204, 346,
+          365;
+    his conception of state sovereignty, 82, 83;
+    his views on property, 84, 85;
+    his suggestion for United States seal, 86;
+    the source of his political philosophy, 87;
+    refuses post of commissioner to France, 87, 88;
+    birth of son, 88;
+    his part in revision of laws of Virginia, 88-103;
+    starts subscription for Rev. Charles Clay, 103-105;
+    his doctrine of government, 105-107;
+    as Governor of Virginia, 107-114;
+    his attitude toward British prisoners, 109-112;
+    a stern, but little observed, trait in his character, 111-113;
+    nearly taken by the British, 113;
+    charges against his conduct as governor, 114, 115;
+    impatient at public criticism, 115;
+    refuses new appointment to European post, 115, 116;
+    his determination to return to private life, 116-118, 153;
+    his description of natural scenery, 120, 121;
+    his studies in natural history, 121, 122;
+    his answer to Abbé Raynal, 122, 123;
+    his views on immigration, 123-125;
+    his combination of faith and pessimism in reference to government,
+          125, 126;
+    his view of the best government, 126, 127;
+    his opposition to dictator, 127, 128;
+    his belief in efficacy of universal suffrage, 129, 130;
+    his pessimism as regards human nature and human society, 130;
+    his views of slavery and the Negro, 131, _see also_ Slavery;
+    his view of American civilization as agricultural, 132;
+    advises peace and preparedness, 133, 134;
+    his ideal picture of America, 135, 136;
+    death of his wife, 137, 138;
+    appointed Plenipotentiary to Europe, but appointment canceled, 139,
+          140;
+    delegate to Congress (June, 1782 to July 5, 1784), 140, 143-152;
+    founds American monetary system, 147;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of commerce
+          with foreign nations, 152;
+    his qualifications for European task, 153-155;
+    his quarters in Paris, 159;
+    his views of Paris, 160;
+    his friends and acquaintances at Paris, 161, 162;
+    rooms in Carthusian Monastery, 163;
+    his travels in Europe, 164-171;
+    advises against sending youth to Europe, 172;
+    compares Europe with America, 173-175;
+    his duties at Paris, 176;
+    and foreign debts, 176, 177, 181-193;
+    and the tobacco trade, 177-181;
+    his efforts to promote Gallo-American commerce, 181-184;
+    puts all questions on a practical basis, 194;
+    his views on the American Constitution, 195-202;
+    his political philosophy, 203-205;
+    his management of the problem of the Barbary pirates, 205-207;
+    his fear of French, English, and Spanish designs in New World,
+          207-211;
+    his belief in policy of isolation for United States, 211, 212;
+    originates policy of watchful waiting, 214;
+    his attitude toward French Revolution, 215-237;
+    draws up "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation", 230;
+    his emendations and corrections to Lafayette's "Déclaration
+          Européenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen", 232-234;
+    his house made the scene of French committee meeting, 235-237;
+    how far he believed in "government by the people", 237, 238;
+    on the French people, 238-240;
+    asserts one standard of morality for nations and individuals, 240,
+          241;
+    accepts post of Secretary of State, 245, 246;
+    pays respects to Franklin, 247;
+    the "Anas", 248, 251, 295, 515;
+    his attitude toward United States debts, 250-255;
+    quarrel with Hamilton, 255-258, 263, 265, 266, 268-271;
+    his opposition to Bank Bill, 255-258;
+    his theory of State rights, 257, 365;
+    his quarrel with Adams, 258-261;
+    reaches an impasse, 264;
+    his proposed changes in Virginia Constitution, 264, 265;
+    his indictment of Hamilton's system, 265-267;
+    urges Washington to run a second time for Presidency, 267;
+    attacked by _Gazette of the United States_, 268, 269;
+    becomes leader of new party, 269;
+    his fears of a monarchy, 271, 272, 344;
+    letters to French friends, 274;
+    his practical idealism, 275, 381, 382;
+    efforts to obtain New Orleans, 276-278;
+    becomes sympathetic with republican government in France, 278-280,
+          282, 285-287;
+    his efforts to obtain commercial privileges with West Indies,
+          280-282;
+    cautious in action, 283;
+    his principles as to recognition of foreign governments, 284, 286;
+    and the war between England and France, and Citizen Genêt, 287-297;
+    resigns Secretaryship, 297;
+    in retirement at Monticello, 298-320;
+    his admiration for Madame de Corny, 298, 299;
+    avoids politics, 299-303;
+    his Report on the Privileges and Restrictions of the Commerce of the
+          United States, 302;
+    hopes for avoidance of war with Great Britain, 303-305;
+    views on current political events, 308-313;
+    writes indiscreet letter to Mazzei, 312, 333;
+    pen-portrait of, 314, 315;
+    chosen Vice-President, 320;
+    attempted reconciliation with Adams, 321, 322, 325;
+    desires peace with Europe, 324, 326, 337, 339, 343;
+    his "Parliamentary Manual", 325;
+    his view of manufactures, 327, 329;
+    forms certain political conclusions, 334, 335;
+    his self-mastery, 339, 340;
+    opposed to break in the Union, 340, 341;
+    newspaper war against, 341, 343;
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    luminous exposition of his doctrine (program of the Democratic
+          party), 351, 352;
+    as political leader, 352-362;
+    nominated for Presidency (1800), 362;
+    in the campaign, 363-368;
+    in the election, 368-373;
+    inauguration, 375;
+    inaugural address, 379;
+    his removals from office, 380, 381;
+    his attack on the judiciary, 383-390, 436;
+    reëlected (1804), 389, 395;
+    convinced of the evil of the intrusion of churches into politics,
+          390;
+    hostility to, 390, 391;
+    his relation to Cabinet members, 392;
+    his reform in financial system of United States, 393;
+    his attitude toward agriculture and manufactures, 394, 395;
+    his imperialist views, 398-400, 449;
+    and Louisiana Purchase, 405-421;
+    sends Lewis on Western exploring expedition, 421, 422;
+    his policy in war between England and France, 424, 440, 441, 444,
+          447-462;
+    his second inaugural address, 425-428, 442;
+    the ordeal of his second term, 428, 429;
+    inconsistency of his conduct in Burr case, 437-439;
+    tries to obtain the Floridas, 445, 446;
+    offers alliance with England, 446;
+    writes to Alexander of Russia concerning rights of neutrals, 448;
+    imperialistic proposition of, 449; his letters, 468, 514, 516;
+    his views of Executive and Congress, 468-470;
+    opposed to English mercantilism, 471;
+    his detestation of English policies and rulers, 470-473;
+    his ideas on War of 1812, 473-478;
+    offers library to Congress, 477;
+    his feeling for England as distinguished from English government,
+          479;
+    opinions on affairs of Europe and South America, 479-486;
+    and the Monroe Doctrine, 483, 486-488;
+    formulates the gospel of American democracy, 489;
+    economic and banking theories of, 490-496;
+    his view of best government for France, 496, 497;
+    his theory of the function of the people in a democracy, 499-502;
+    sees germs of national weakness in United States government,
+          502-505;
+    his services to education (University of Virginia), 505-512;
+    his interests, 514-516;
+    his conclusion on the future of democracy, 517;
+    reconciliation with Adams, 518, 519;
+    his later religious views, 519-528;
+    his faith in ultimate recognition of ideals, 528, 529;
+    his last years and death, 529-532
+
+    "Autobiography", references to, 4, 53, 80, 88, 91, 93, 105, 108,
+          148, 236;
+      quoted on proposal for Congress, 44;
+      on expatriation, 47;
+      on Jefferson's retirement from Congress, 79;
+      on simplification of statutes, 92;
+      on self-government of the people, 106;
+      on method of composition used in "Notes on Virginia", 119;
+      on attendance at Congress, 143;
+      on Committee of Congress, 145;
+      on Jefferson's duties in Paris, 176;
+      picture of events preceding French Revolution in, 224;
+      on refusal of invitation to attend meeting of French committee,
+          235;
+      the writing of, 515
+
+    "Commonplace Book", 19, 39;
+      law matters in, 28-30;
+      provincialism in, 32;
+      Kames quoted in, 45, 84;
+      on rights of Dominion of Virginia, 46;
+      passages from James Wilson in, 73;
+      Montesquieu and Beccaria copied in, 94;
+      extracts on history of Common Law in, 101;
+      on death, 530, 531;
+      other references to, 47, 49
+
+    "Literary Bible", 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 41;
+      provincialism in, 32;
+      Milton in, 40
+
+    "Notes on Virginia", references to, 69, 98, 100, 101, 103, 153,
+          164, 169, 171, 215, 425, 508;
+      publication of, 118-120;
+      contents of, 120-136;
+      memorandum on new constitution for Virginia in, 141;
+      on value of education, 505
+
+  Jones, Prof. Hugh, his description of Williamsburg, 8
+
+  Jones, Paul, 207
+
+  Jones, Dr. Walter, letter to, 499
+
+  _Journal de Paris_, imprisonment of chief editor of, 217
+
+  Judiciary, assault on, under Jefferson, 383-390, 436
+
+  Judiciary Act of 1801, repeal of, 384
+
+
+  Kaims (Kames), Henry Home, Lord, his "Historical Law Tracts", 29, 30;
+    on mutual defence, 45;
+    his distinction of "property" and "possession", 84, 85;
+    referred to, 304
+
+  Kant, Immanuel, criterium of, 525
+
+  Keith, Mary, wife of Thomas Marshall, 4
+
+  Kentucky nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+  Kercheval, Samuel, letter to, 234, 504
+
+  King, Rufus, 402-405, 408
+
+  Knox, Gen. Henry, Secretary of War under Washington, 247
+
+  Kosciusko, 516
+
+
+  Lafayette, Marquis de, his plan for a "declaration of the rights of
+          man and the citizen", 76;
+    sent to arrest Arnold, 108;
+    friend of Jefferson, 154;
+    his family and friends, 161;
+    and the tobacco monopoly, 177-179;
+    efforts of, in commercial transactions, 181, 182;
+    and the Barbary pirates, 206;
+    advice of Jefferson to, 220;
+    Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, 230;
+    letters of, 232;
+    his "Déclaration Européenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen",
+          232-234;
+    brings about committee meeting in Jefferson's house, 236;
+    letters to, 274, 283;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 514;
+    his final leave-taking of Jefferson, 531
+
+  Lambert, British traveler, 460
+
+  Lamothe, Lieut., 111
+
+  Land Office, ordinance concerning establishment of, 149
+
+  Land tenures, origin of, 49
+
+  "La Peyrouse's voyage to the South Seas", 207
+
+  La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, visits Monticello, 313-315, 327
+
+  Latude, Jean Henri de, 219
+
+  Law, Thomas, letters to, 478, 524
+
+  Law, and free institutions, in Saxon society, 31, 32
+
+  "Law of nature", 23
+
+  League of Nations, 330
+
+  Lee, Arthur, delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140
+
+  Lee, C., appointed judge by Adams, 374
+
+  Lee, F. L., of Virginia Assembly, 43
+
+  Lee, Richard H., of Virginia Assembly, 43;
+    on committee of continental Congress appointed to answer Lord
+          North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form
+          governments, 66;
+    mentioned, 79
+
+  Lee, Thomas Ludwell, appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-92
+
+  Leib, Dr., 311, 343; letter to, 458
+
+  Lewis (Merriwether) and Clark (William) Expedition, 421, 422
+
+  Liberty, Jefferson's definition of, 82
+
+  Lincoln, Abraham, Gettysburg address, 77
+
+  _Little Sarah_, British prize, 294
+
+  Livingston, Edward, member of Congress from New York, 368
+
+  Livingston, Robert R.,
+    on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence, 69;
+    letters to, 362, 368, 419;
+    United States Minister to France, 374;
+    and Louisiana, 402-416
+
+  Lobbying, 502
+
+  Locke, John, his "Treatise on Civil Government", 30;
+    and the Declaration of Independence, 71, 72;
+    his hypothesis of society, 82, 84, 204
+
+  Logan, Dr., idealistic pacifist, 341
+
+  Logan Law, 350
+
+  Louis XVI, Jefferson's pen-portrait of, 222, 229;
+    flight of, 282;
+    execution of, 287
+
+  Louisiana Purchase, 393, 400-421
+
+  "Louisianais", acceptance of, to citizenship, 423
+
+
+  McGregory, letter to, 365
+
+  McHenry, James,
+    Secretary of War in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, 323, 336;
+    dismissed by Adams, 368
+
+  Madison, Bishop, discusses religion with Jefferson, 358
+
+  Madison, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw
+          from public life, 117;
+    delegate to Congress, 140;
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 198, 222, 231, 234, 239, 240, 291,
+          302, 303, 306, 307, 335, 337, 338, 347, 351, 355, 462, 468,
+          476;
+    urges Jefferson to accept post of Secretary of State, 246;
+    Jefferson's unofficial representative in Congress, 250, 251;
+    Bank Bill opposed by, 255;
+    speeches, 257;
+    his copy of "The Rights of Man", 258;
+    accompanies Jefferson on trip, 259;
+    objections to, as Minister to France, 321, 322;
+    envoy to France, 324;
+    silent on French dispute, 339;
+    recommends Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    letter of, 411;
+    election of, to Presidency, 464;
+    on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Madrid, Treaty of, 403
+
+  Mann, Thomas, letter to, 308
+
+  Manufactures, Hamilton's Report on, 249, 266;
+    Hamilton's view of, 327;
+    Jefferson's view of, 327-329;
+    change in Jefferson's view of, 491, 492
+
+  "Marbury versus Madison", 384, 385
+
+  Marshall, John, ancestry, 3;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333;
+    returns from France, 341;
+    Secretary of State in Adams's Cabinet, 368;
+    administers oath to Jefferson, 375;
+    head of Federalists, 381;
+    his decision in "Marbury versus Madison", 384, 385;
+    asserts power of Supreme Court to declare law unconstitutional, 385,
+          386;
+    findings of, in Burr conspiracy case, 433, 434, 436, 437;
+    his "History of Washington", 515
+
+  Marshall, Thomas, family of, 4
+
+  Martin, Luther, in Chase impeachment case, 389
+
+  Mason, George, resolutions written by, 45, 46, 48;
+    "Virginia Bill of Rights" written by, 73;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-93;
+    mentioned, 251
+
+  Mason, John, letter to, 455
+
+  Mason, Stephens Thompson, letter to, 344
+
+  Mason, Thomas, 307
+
+  Mathews, Col. George, 112
+
+  Maury, James, letters to, 454, 473, 478
+
+  Maury, Rev. Dr., schoolmaster, 6, 20, 63
+
+  Mazzei, Philip, neighbor and friend of Jefferson, 35; letters to, 321,
+  333, 391
+
+  Mellish, John, traveler, 460
+
+  Mercer, John F., delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140, 273
+
+  Mexico, 481
+
+  Middlemen, in tobacco trade, 177-181
+
+  "Midnight judges", 373, 374, 385
+
+  Milton, John, his accusations against female usurpations, 22;
+    quotation from, 40
+
+  Mint, Hamilton's Report on Establishment of, 249
+
+  Mississippi, navigation of, 276
+
+  Missouri question, 502, 503
+
+  Mitchell, Dr., unpublished letter to, 390
+
+  Monocrats, 273, 306, 316
+
+  Monroe, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw
+          from public life, 117;
+    delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140;
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 217, 251, 260, 290, 301-303, 316,
+          317, 354, 357, 363, 373, 399, 463, 485, 486;
+    on Washington's proclamation of neutrality, 293;
+    sent as special envoy to France to negotiate for Louisiana, 411,
+          413, 415, 416;
+    his fear of alliance of Great Britain and France against United
+          States, 423;
+    negotiates, with Pinkney, treaty with England, 448-450;
+    considered for Presidency in 1808, 463, 464;
+    on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Monroe Doctrine, 483, 486-488
+
+  Montaigne, M. E. de, 130
+
+  Montesquieu, Baron de, 233
+
+  Monticello, the building of, 34, 39;
+    life at, 41;
+    Jefferson in retirement at, 298-320;
+    a self-supporting economic unit, 327, 467;
+    visitors to, 515
+
+  Montmorency, 234
+
+  Montmorin, Minister, 220, 237, 274, 278
+
+  Morality, and religion, 24, 25, 523-525;
+    test of, 525;
+    code of, 526
+
+  Morellet, Abbé, translator of "Notes on Virginia", 118;
+    meets Jefferson, 161, 215
+
+  Morocco, Emperor, treaty with, 312
+
+  Morris, Gouverneur, his accusation against Jefferson, 224;
+    letters to, 254, 263, 286, 293, 294, 295;
+    Minister to France, 283;
+    letters from, 284;
+    conduct as Minister to France, 323;
+    offers to use political influence for Jefferson, 372
+
+  Morris, Robert, Financier of U. S., 146, 179
+
+  Mutual defence, 45, 84
+
+  _National Gazette_, foundation of, 261-263
+
+  Natural Bridge, description of, 120, 175
+
+  Necker, Jacques, 229, 231
+
+  Negro, Jefferson's view of status of, 131
+
+  Nelson, Gen., elected governor of Virginia, 113
+
+  Nelson, Thomas, Jr., letter to, 66
+
+  Neutrality, Washington's proclamation of, 289, 293;
+    Jefferson's policy of, 424
+
+  New Granada, constitution of, 498
+
+  _New London Bee_, 368
+
+  New Orleans, Jefferson's efforts to obtain, 276-278
+
+  Nicholas, George, his charges against Jefferson, 114, 115, 127;
+    proposes dictator 127;
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345
+
+  Nicholas, Robert C., 28
+
+  Nicholas, Wilson C.,
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    refutes Federalists, 357
+
+  Nicholson, Joseph N., member of Congress, 372
+
+  Nock, A. J., historian of Jefferson, 457, 458
+
+  Non-Intercourse Act, 461
+
+  North, Lord, his "Conciliatory Proposition", 54;
+    Jefferson's answer to his "Conciliatory Proposition", 62
+
+  Nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+
+  Ogden, John, arrest of, 354
+
+  Ogilvie, James, 502
+
+  Oratory, American school of, 388, 389
+
+  Orders in Council (Nov. 11, 1807), 453, 457
+
+  Otis, H. G., nominated District Attorney by Adams, 374
+
+
+  Page, John,
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 15, 16, 19, 20, 38, 78, 166;
+    on committee on religion, 89
+
+  Paine, Thomas, his "Common Sense", influence of, 60;
+    letter to, 227, 228;
+    his "The Rights of Man", 258-261;
+    Jefferson's regard for, resented, 390, 391
+
+  Paradise, Comtesse Barziza, Lucy, 162
+
+  Parsons, Theophilus, nominated Attorney-General, 373
+
+  "Parson's Case", 15
+
+  Patowmac River, 120
+
+  Pendleton, Edmund, letters to, 78, 87, 88;
+    opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, 89;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90;
+    appeal of Jefferson to, 353;
+    congratulates Jefferson, 362
+
+  Physiocrats, 142, 233, 328, 395, 471, 493-495, 498
+
+  Pichon, French chargé at The Hague, 354;
+    Minister in Washington, 419
+
+  Pickering, Judge, impeachment of, 384
+
+  Pickering, Timothy, in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, 323, 336;
+    dismissed by Adams, 368
+
+  Picket, F. J., of Geneva, 507
+
+  Pinckney, Charles, Minister to Spain, 402;
+    letter to, 458
+
+  Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth,
+    his treatment by the French Directory, 324, 325, 331;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333;
+    nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), 362;
+    candidate for President (1808), 464
+
+  Pinckney, Thomas, Minister to Great Britain, 290;
+    letter to, 331
+
+  Pinkney, William, and Monroe, negotiate treaty with England, 448-450
+
+  Politics, foreign and domestic, 248
+
+  Presidential election, _see_ Election
+
+  Priestley, Joseph, letters to, 358, 420, 517;
+    befriended by Jefferson, 366;
+    his "Hints Concerning Public Education", 506;
+    his treatise, "Of Socrates and Jesus compared", 526
+
+  Privateering, 151, 152
+
+  Privateers, outfitted and commissioned by Genêt, 291, 292
+
+  "Proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties, Draft
+  for", 144
+
+  Property, the right to, 83-85, 233;
+    and possession, distinction between, 85
+
+  _Prospect_, 361
+
+  Protestants, edict on, 224
+
+  Public opinion, 203, 204, 301, 429
+
+  "Pursuit of happiness", as a right, 75, 76
+
+
+  Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Va., 9, 17, 23, 44
+
+  Randolph, Edmund, letters to, 115, 117, 254, 300;
+    Attorney-General under Washington, 247, 255, 256, 292;
+    opinion of, attacked by Jefferson, 309
+
+  Randolph, Jane, mother of Thomas Jefferson, 3, 4;
+    death, 65, 78
+
+  Randolph, John, 28;
+    removes to England, 63, 64, 107
+
+  Randolph, John, of Roanoke, refutes Federalists, 356;
+    in Chase impeachment case, 389;
+    "Resolution" of, on judiciary, 390;
+    leader of discontented Republicans, 428;
+    his "Remonstrance of the people of Louisiana", 429;
+    his attacks on Madison, 439
+
+  Randolph, Peyton, 28, 47, 63;
+    president of first Continental Congress, 54;
+    recalled from Congress, 54
+
+  Randolph, Mrs. Sarah, her "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", 529
+
+  Randolph, Thomas Mann, Jr., marries Martha Jefferson, 246;
+    letters to, 251, 262, 263, 293;
+    at Monticello, 301
+
+  Randolph, William, 3
+
+  Raynal, Abbé,
+    his application of theory of Buffon to American settlers, 122;
+    answer of Jefferson to, 122, 123
+
+  Religion, and morality, 24, 25, 523, 527
+
+  Religious freedom, in Virginia, 89, 90, 100-103
+
+  Republicans, in election of 1792, 273
+
+  Richmond, Va., establishment of Free Public Library at, 99
+
+  Riedesel, Maj.-Gen. Baron de, 110
+
+  Rights, natural and civil, 80-85, 204, 233, 346
+
+  Rochefoucauld, Comtesse de la, 162
+
+  Rochefoucauld, Duc de La, 274
+
+  Rodney, Caesar A., letter to, 469
+
+  Rotation in office, 502
+
+  Rousseau, Jean Jacques, his hypothesis of society, 82, 84;
+    on morality, 525
+
+  Rush, Benjamin, 458;
+    deplores estrangement of Jefferson and Adams, 518;
+    Jefferson writes "Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the
+          Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of others" for,
+          526, 527
+
+  Rush, Richard, letter to, 489
+
+  Rutledge, letters to, 225, 309, 317, 330, 334, 335
+
+
+  Saint Étienne, Rabaud de,
+    Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, 230
+
+  San Ildefonso, Treaty of, 402
+
+  Santo Domingo, and Government of the United States, 283, 285
+
+  Sedgwick, Theodore, speaker of the House, 373
+
+  Sedition Law, 342-347, 383
+
+  Seward, W. W., letter to, 212
+
+  Shadwell, Jefferson estate, 3, 7, 8, 28, 32, 34, 35;
+    burning of, 38, 39
+
+  Shaw, Samuel, consul at Canton, 289
+
+  Sherman, Roger, on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence,
+  69
+
+  "Shirt-sleeve" diplomacy, 178
+
+  Short, William, private secretary of Jefferson, 153, 159;
+    studies French, 161;
+    correspondence with Jefferson, 275-277, 280, 282, 285, 288, 398,
+          462, 517, 521;
+    transferred to the Hague, 283;
+    rebuked by Jefferson, 286
+
+  Skelton, Bathurst, 39
+
+  Skelton, Martha, married to Jefferson, 39, 40;
+    death, 137, 138;
+    grave and inscription, 138
+
+  Slavery,
+    Jefferson's attitude toward, 119, 131, 142, 148, 152, 492, 503;
+    in the Confederation, 148, 149
+
+  Small, Dr. William, professor in William and Mary College, his
+  intimacy with Jefferson, 11-13, 63
+
+  Smith, Rev. Cotton Mather, his accusation against Jefferson, 363
+
+  Smith, James, letter to, 520
+
+  Smith, Robert, Attorney-General, 437
+
+  Smith, Samuel H., letters to, 343, 477
+
+  Smith, Col. W. S., 287, 288
+
+  Social compact, Jefferson's view of, 45, 46, 80-82, 85, 204, 365, 498
+
+  Society, man and, conflict between, 107;
+    contractual and physiocratic doctrines of, 141, 142
+
+  South America, _see_ Spanish colonies
+
+  Spanish colonies in America, 209-211; revolt of, 481-485
+
+  Sprigg resolution, against war with France, 337, 338
+
+  Staël, Madame de, Jefferson's correspondence with, 476
+
+  State rights, Jefferson's theory of, 257, 365
+
+  State sovereignty, Jefferson's conception of, 82, 83
+
+  State universities, 512
+
+  States, provision for new, 148, 149
+
+  Stewart, Dugald, 5, 11
+
+  Stoddart, Benjamin, Secretary of the Navy in Adams's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Stuart, Archibald, 264
+
+  Suffrage, universal, 129, 130;
+    limitation of, 499
+
+  Sullivan, Francis Stoughton, his "An Historical Treatise of the Feudal
+  Laws and the Constitution of the Laws of England", 30
+
+  Supreme Court, Jefferson's attitude toward, 346;
+    Marshall's doctrine of the powers of, 385, 386
+
+  Swartwout, and the Burr conspiracy, 432, 433
+
+
+  Tariff, and the French debt, 181;
+    belief and practice in, 212, 213;
+    advocated by Jefferson's party, 394
+
+  Tarleton, Col. Sir Bannastre, attempts to capture Legislature and
+  Governor of Virginia, 113
+
+  Taxation, forms of, 493, 494
+
+  Taylor, John, letter to, 347;
+    efforts to secure appointment of dictator, 356
+
+  Taylor, Keith, appointed judge by Adams, 374
+
+  Tazewell, H., letter to, 308
+
+  Ternant, French Minister to United States, 287, 290, 291
+
+  Tessé, Madame de, 161, 170, 221;
+    correspondence with, 514
+
+  Thomson, Charles, letter to, 530
+
+  Ticknor, George, 510
+
+  Tobacco monopoly, 177-181
+
+  Tott, Madame de, 162
+
+  "Transfers", problem of, 181
+
+  Treaties, _see_ Commercial treaties
+
+  Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), 211, 212
+
+  Treaty of Commerce, with Great Britain, 143, 144
+
+  Trial by jury, 237
+
+  Tripoli, war with, 443
+
+  Trist, Mrs., 163, 216, 530
+
+
+  Unger, Louis de, German officer, 110
+
+  Unitarianism, 520
+
+  United States, suggestions for seal of, 86;
+    proclaimed as one nation, 144, 150;
+    establishment of monetary system of, 146, 147;
+    provision for new States, 148;
+    foreign debts, 176, 177, 181, 182, 184-193;
+    western lands, sale of, 188;
+    Constitution, 195-202;
+    desire of isolation, 211;
+    often accused of hypocrisy in foreign dealings, 213;
+    has tried to combine political aloofness and industrial and
+          commercial development, 330;
+    relation to foreign nations, 396;
+    neutrality of, in war between England and France, 424, 440;
+    imports and exports of, at beginning of nineteenth century, 440;
+    population of, at beginning of nineteenth century, 441.
+    _See also_ American Revolution; Articles of Confederation;
+          Declaration of Independence; Louisiana Purchase
+
+  University of Geneva, 505
+
+  University of Virginia, 509-512
+
+
+  Vans Murray, American Minister at The Hague, 349, 354
+
+  Vans Murray-Pichon papers, 354, 355
+
+  Venable, 356
+
+  Vergennes, Charles G., Count de, 178, 185, 206
+
+  Virginia, family life in, before the Revolution, 4;
+    books in, 5;
+    religion in, 6;
+    plantation life in, 35, 41;
+    House of Burgesses, 38, 54;
+    temper of colonists of, 42;
+    Constitution (1776), drafted by Jefferson, 67-69;
+    revision of laws of, 88-107;
+    ideas on new constitution for, 140-143;
+    Jefferson proposes changes in constitution, 264.
+    _See also_ American Revolution; Shadwell; Williamsburg
+
+  Virginia Bill of Rights, 73, 74, 76, 83, 100
+
+  Virginia Convention, first, 47, 53;
+    second, 54
+
+  Virginia nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+  Virginia Company of Comedians, 34
+
+  Volney, Constantin F. C. B., Count de, 319, 339, 340, 366, 400, 401
+
+
+  Walker, Col., guardian of Jefferson, 10, 11
+
+  War of 1812, 473-478
+
+  Washington, D. C., in 1800, 362
+
+  Washington, George, presides over Assembly of Fairfax County, 45;
+    and Jefferson, differ as regards treatment of British prisoners,
+          112;
+    Jefferson's view of, 122, 139;
+    his wines, 160;
+    his Cabinet, 245-247;
+    urged by Jefferson to run a second time for Presidency, 267;
+    distressed at dissensions in Cabinet, 269;
+    supports Hamilton's actions, 271;
+    reëlection of, 272;
+    letter to, 304;
+    harsh words of Jefferson against, 311
+
+  Watchful waiting, policy of, advocated by Jefferson, 214, 423, 452
+
+  Watson, David, on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Wayles, John, father-in-law of Jefferson, 39
+
+  West Indies, commerce with, 151, 280-282, 295, 329;
+    Jefferson opposed to change of ownership of, 303
+
+  Western lands, sale of, 254
+
+  Whisky Insurrection, 305, 306
+
+  White House, burned by English, 476
+
+  Wilkinson, James, and the Burr conspiracy, 429-435, 438
+
+  William and Mary College, 8-11;
+    reorganization of, 98, 99;
+    transformation of, 358
+
+  Williamsburg, Va., society in, 8, 9, 34
+
+  Williamson, Hugh, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Wilson, James, and the Declaration of Independence, 73, 76
+
+  Wilson, Woodrow, political aloofness and industrial development
+          conspicuous in his position, 330;
+    his phrase, "too proud to fight", 398;
+    neutrality of, 424;
+    his hope of preserving peace, 444;
+    his situation in 1914-1917 compared to that of Jefferson in 1808,
+          455, 456
+
+  Wistar, Caspar, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Wolcott, Oliver,
+    Secretary of the Treasury under Washington and Adams, 323, 336
+
+  Woodward, Augustus S., letter to, 521
+
+  Wythe, George, professor in William and Mary College, and Jefferson,
+          12, 13, 27, 28, 34, 63;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-93;
+    congratulates Jefferson, 362;
+    mentioned, 310, 325
+
+
+  XYZ Case, 337.
+    See _also_ France
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[1] To Mrs. Bingham, Paris, February 7, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 81.
+
+[2] To Jefferson Randolph, November 24, 1808, Memorial Edition, XII,
+197.
+
+[3] To John Adams, June 11, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 160.
+
+[4] "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", by S. N. Randolph. New York,
+1857, p. 27.
+
+[5] "Notes on Virginia." Query XV.
+
+[6] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I., 3.
+
+[7] November 24, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 197.
+
+[8] William Wirt Henry: "Life of Patrick Henry." New York, 1891, vol. I,
+p. 41.
+
+[9] January 20, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 6.
+
+[10] July 15, 1763. _Ibid._, IV, 8.
+
+[11] "The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1927.
+"The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1928.
+
+[12] To John Page, Shadwell, July 15, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 10.
+
+[13] Mary Newton Stanard: "Colonial Virginia." Philadelphia, 1917, p.
+306.
+
+[14] To Peter Carr. Memorial Edition, VI, 258.
+
+[15] "Samson Agonistes", v, 1025.
+
+[16] See also "Commonplace Book", p. 330, and "Writings." Memorial
+Edition, XV, 239, March 14, 1820.
+
+[17] "Hecuba", 592, in "Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson."
+
+[18] "Hecuba", 306.
+
+[19] Bolingbroke, in "Literary Bible."
+
+[20] Stanard, p. 240.
+
+[21] These memoranda are in the Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the
+Massachusetts Historical Society.
+
+[22] To Wirt, August 5, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 335.
+
+[23] "Autobiography." _Ibid._, I, 6.
+
+[24] Randall, "Life of Jefferson", I, 16, _n._
+
+[25] "Paradise Lost", 1. 4, v., 337.
+
+[26] To John Page, February 21, 1770. Memorial Edition, IV, 17.
+
+[27] June 9, 1770, and June 6, 1773. The diplomas are preserved in the
+Jefferson papers of the Library of Congress.
+
+[28] Quoted by Stanard, p. 163.
+
+[29] Quoted by T. N. Page, p. 147.
+
+[30] "Autobiography", p. 10.
+
+[31] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 11.
+
+[32] This passage has been overlooked by Randall, and naturally by Mr.
+Hirst, who follows Randall very closely here as elsewhere. Hirst, p. 69.
+The Fairfax resolutions did not recognize the right of the British
+Parliament to regulate the commerce of the colony; they admitted the
+_expediency_ but denied the _right_ of such a procedure.
+
+[33] George Mason, I, 393.
+
+[34] See "Commonplace Book", 229-257.
+
+[35] "Commonplace Book", p. 135.
+
+[36] Stanard, p. 250.
+
+[37] To John Randolph, Attorney-general, August 25, 1775. Memorial
+Edition, IV, 28.
+
+[38] Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.
+
+[39] August 31, 1775.
+
+[40] November 29, 1775. Memorial Edition, IV, 31.
+
+[41] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[42] The full text will be found in the Ford Edition, II, 7.
+
+[43] See "Life of G. Mason", I, Appendix.
+
+[44] "Journals of Congress", V, 425.
+
+[45] _Ibid._, V, 431.
+
+[46] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 25.
+
+[47] "Life and Correspondence of G. Mason", I, 438.
+
+[48] To Thomas Nelson, May 16, 1776. Memorial Edition, IV, 253.
+
+[49] "Writings", Ford, II, 41.
+
+[50] Ford, II, 61.
+
+[51] "Journals of Congress", July 12, V, 546 and August 20, V, 674.
+
+[52] "Journals of Congress", October 14, 1774, I, 67.
+
+[53] See "Commonplace Book", 107, 111 _et ff._
+
+[54] "Journals of Congress", V., 517.
+
+[55] August 13, 1776. Ford, II, 78.
+
+[56] Ford, II, 91, October 11, 1776.
+
+[57] Randall, I, 196.
+
+[58] Ford, II, 79.
+
+[59] Concerning the opposition he encountered, see "Autobiography."
+Ford, I, 54.
+
+[60] "Autobiography", _Ibid._, I, 58.
+
+[61] "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 276.
+
+[62] "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 277.
+
+[63] Note for the biography of John Saunderson, Esq., August 31, 1820.
+"Autobiography", Appendix A. Ford, I, 107.
+
+[64] Monticello, November 1, 1778. Memorial Edition, I, 216.
+
+[65] "Notes on Virginia", Query XVII.
+
+[66] "Commonplace Book", p. 362.
+
+[67] This seems to be the first draft of the document; another copy in
+the Jefferson Coolidge Collection presents few variants, the most
+important being found in the second sentence which reads, "Yet desirous
+of encouraging and supporting the Calvinistical Reformed Church, and of
+deriving" etc. The list of names appended to that second version is
+considerably longer and besides the original signers includes fourteen
+other supporters of the Reverend Charles Clay.
+
+[68] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 73.
+
+[69] See my edition of the Jefferson-Lafayette Correspondence, Paris and
+Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[70] Jefferson to General Philips. Quoted by Randall, I, 235.
+
+[71] See his letter dated from Paris, November 20, 1789.
+
+[72] To Baron de Riedesel, July 4, 1779. Ford, II, 245.
+
+[73] July 17, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 247.
+
+[74] July 22, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 249.
+
+[75] October 1, 1779. Ford, II, 258.
+
+[76] October 8, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 261.
+
+[77] _Ibid._, II, 263.
+
+[78] To The Virginia Delegation in Congress, October 27, 1780. To
+Colonel Vanmeter, April 27, 1781. _Ibid._, III, 24.
+
+[79] "A Diary kept by Th: J. from Dec. 31. 1780 to Jan. 11. 1781 and
+more general Notes of subsequent transactions during the British
+invasion." Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[80] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[81] Lafayette transmitted the letter on June 26, 1781, but Jefferson
+did not receive it until the beginning of August. _Ibid._
+
+[82] To E. Randolph, September 16, 1781. Jefferson Papers. Library of
+Congress.
+
+[83] June 11, 1782. Randall, I, 376.
+
+[84] The story of the publication has been told by P. L. Ford in a most
+scholarly edition of the "Notes on Virginia" in the "Writings" of
+Jefferson.
+
+[85] June 7, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 3.
+
+[86] To Arch. Stuart, September 8, 1818. Ford, III, 231, _n._
+
+[87] Iliad XXII, 389.
+
+[88] "Domestic Life", p. 67.
+
+[89] To Chastellux, November 26, 1782, in Randall, I, 1782.
+
+[90] "Autobiography", Memorial Edition, I, 76.
+
+[91] January 22, 1783. _Ibid._, IV, 215.
+
+[92] To Madison, May 7, 1783. Ford, III, 329.
+
+[93] This point appears even more clearly in Jefferson correspondence
+with Du Pont de Nemours, to appear shortly.
+
+[94] "Report on letters from the Ministers in Paris." December 20, 1783.
+Ford, III, 355.
+
+[95] Ford, III, 377.
+
+[96] February 1, 1784. Ford, III, 393.
+
+[97] Ford, III, p. 430.
+
+[98] See Ford, III, 407 and 429.
+
+[99] _Ibid._, III, 476.
+
+[100] March, 1784. _Ibid_, III, p. 428.
+
+[101] To George Washington, April 16, 1784. Ford, III, 466 and 470.
+
+[102] To James Madison, February 20, 1784. _Ibid._, III, 403.
+
+[103] To Mrs. Trist, Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", 79.
+
+[104] See G. Chinard, "Les Amitiés américaines de Madame d'Houdetot."
+Paris, 1923.
+
+[105] May 24, 1785, November 12, 1785, etc. Massachusetts Historical
+Society.
+
+[106] Chinard, "Trois Amitiés Françaises de Jefferson." Paris, 1927.
+
+[107] Most of her letters to Jefferson are in the Jefferson Coolidge
+Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
+
+[108] April 6, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 80.
+
+[109] Diary of Martha. _Ibid._, p. 74.
+
+[110] _Ibid._, p. 84.
+
+[111] April 11, 1787. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[112] May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 303.
+
+[113] _Ibid._, XVII, 153.
+
+[114] Nismes, March 20, 1787.
+
+[115] To J. Bannister, Junior, October 15, 1785. Memorial Edition, V,
+185.
+
+[116] To Bellini, September 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 153.
+
+[117] To Crevecoeur, January 15, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 53.
+
+[118] To Carmichael, December 26, 1786.
+
+[119] To Skipwith, July 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 187.
+
+[120] August 10, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 262.
+
+[121] Jefferson to the Governor of Maryland. June 16, 1785. Memorial
+Edition, V, 8.
+
+[122] To Messrs. French and Nephew. July 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V,
+34.
+
+[123] August 15, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 68.
+
+[124] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Feb. 20, 1786.
+
+[125] Lafayette's letter. March 18, 1786. _Ibid._
+
+[126] To the Governor of Virginia, January 24, 1786. Memorial Edition,
+V, 253.
+
+[127] To James Ross, May 8, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 321.
+
+[128] To James Ross, May 8, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 329.
+
+[129] For a brief but satisfactory treatment see W. K. Woolery. "The
+Relation of Thomas Jefferson to American Foreign Policy, 1783-1793."
+Baltimore, 1927.
+
+[130] Letter to Lafayette, July 17, 1786. Library of Congress.
+
+[131] July 9, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 357.
+
+[132] To Washington, August 14, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 277.
+
+[133] _Ibid._, VII, 478.
+
+[134] July 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 45.
+
+[135] To Jay, August 14,1785. Memorial Edition, V, 65.
+
+[136] To John Jay, April 23, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 300.
+
+[137] To T. Pleasants, May 8, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 324.
+
+[138] To Jay, September 26, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 426.
+
+[139] To Jay, September 26, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 426; to Adams,
+July 17, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 173; to James Madison, August 2, 1787.
+_Ibid._, VI, 215.
+
+[140] To J. Adams, July 17, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 173.
+
+[141] To John Jay, August 6, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 248.
+
+[142] December 21, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 394.
+
+[143] To Dumas, February 12, 1788. _Ibid._, VI, 429.
+
+[144] To Adams, February 6, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 419. To The Commissioners
+of the Treasury, Feb. 7, 1788. _Ibid._, VI, 421.
+
+[145] March 16, 1788. Memorial Edition, VI, 438.
+
+[146] To the Commissioners of the Treasury, March 29, 1788. _Ibid._, VI,
+433.
+
+[147] _Ibid._, VI, 447 and 445.
+
+[148] To the Honorable, The Board of the Treasury, May 16, 1788.
+Memorial Edition, VII, 9.
+
+[149] To John Jay, May 23, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 22; To the Commissioners
+of the Treasury, September 6, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 136.
+
+[150] To James Madison, November 18, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 186.
+
+[151] To John Jay, March 12, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 296.
+
+[152] To John Jay, May 9, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 345.
+
+[153] To John Jay, September 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 471.
+
+[154] To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 129.
+
+[155] To John Adams, February 23, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 97.
+
+[156] To James Madison, June 20, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 132.
+
+[157] August 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 227.
+
+[158] September 10, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 295.
+
+[159] To John Adams, November 13, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 370. See
+also letter to Colonel Smith, written the same day. _Ibid._, VI, 372.
+
+[160] December 11, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 380.
+
+[161] December 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 393.
+
+[162] To Donald, February 7, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 425.
+
+[163] To Carmichael and to Colonel Carrington, May 27, 1787. _Ibid._,
+VII, 27, 29.
+
+[164] To Carmichael, August 12, 1787. _Ibid._, VII, 124; to James
+Madison, November 18, 1788, _Ibid._, VII, 183; to General Washington,
+December 4, 1788, _Ibid._, VII, 223.
+
+[165] To Colonel Humphreys, March 18, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 324.
+
+[166] Jefferson to Monroe, May 10, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 327.
+
+[167] To Major General Greene, January 12, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 246.
+
+[168] "Autobiography", _Ibid._, I, 97 and July 11, 1786, _Ibid._, V,
+364.
+
+[169] See my edition of the Jefferson Lafayette correspondence, chapter
+II. Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[170] "Memoirs", II, 148.
+
+[171] To John Jay, August 14, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 63.
+
+[172] To Baron Geismer, September 6, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 128.
+
+[173] To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 131.
+
+[174] To Count Hogendorp, October 13, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 182.
+
+[175] To John Page, May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 306.
+
+[176] To Dumas, May 6, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 309.
+
+[177] To John Jay, May 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 119.
+
+[178] To Carmichael, May 27, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 27.
+
+[179] To Count Hagendorf, October 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 181.
+
+[180] November 12, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 202.
+
+[181] December 21, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 396; see also letter to
+John Jay, May 4, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 122.
+
+[182] See "Les Amitiés Françaises de Madame d'Houdetot." Paris, 1925.
+
+[183] To Mrs. Trist. Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 79.
+
+[184] To James Monroe, April 15, 1785. Ford, IV, 59.
+
+[185] To Abigail Adams, June 21, 1785. _Ibid._, IV, 59.
+
+[186] To Mrs. Adams, July 7, 1785. Ford, IV, 68.
+
+[187] To George Wythe, August 13, 1786. _Ibid._, IV, 268-269.
+
+[188] To Mrs. Maria Cosway, October 12, 1786. Ford, IV, 323.
+
+[189] November, 1786. _Ibid._, IV, 328.
+
+[190] To Edward Carrington. January 16, 1787. _Ibid._, IV, 357.
+
+[191] To J. Jay, January 9, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 45.
+
+[192] January 16, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 56.
+
+[193] February 23, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 99.
+
+[194] February 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 101.
+
+[195] March 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 105.
+
+[196] To James Madison, June 20, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 134.
+
+[197] August 5, 1787, Memorial Edition. VI, 235.
+
+[198] _Ibid._, VI, 247.
+
+[199] To Washington, August 14, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 276.
+
+[200] August 14, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 279.
+
+[201] To John Adams, August 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 287.
+
+[202] October 8, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 338.
+
+[203] To William Rutledge, February 2, 1788. _Ibid._, VI. 417.
+
+[204] To De Moustier, May 17, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 13.
+
+[205] July 18, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 81.
+
+[206] July 24, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 87.
+
+[207] To Colonel Monroe, August 9, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 113.
+
+[208] August 12, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 124.
+
+[209] To Cutting, August 23, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 131.
+
+[210] To Short, November 2, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 159.
+
+[211] To Washington, December 4, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 228.
+
+[212] To Doctor Currie, December 20, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 259.
+
+[213] To Shippen, March 11, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 291.
+
+[214] March 17, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 317.
+
+[215] _Ibid._, VII, 321.
+
+[216] To Lafayette, May 6, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 334. To
+Carmichael, May 8, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 337.
+
+[217] To John Jay, May 9, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 345.
+
+[218] To Crevecoeur, May 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 368.
+
+[219] To Madison, June 18,1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 386.
+
+[220] To John Jay, June 24-25, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 395.
+
+[221] _Ibid._, VII, 268.
+
+[222] "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[223] Memorial Edition, VIII, 454.
+
+[224] To J. Jay, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 409 and to James
+Madison July 22. _Ibid._, VII, 424.
+
+[225] Manuscript. Library of Congress, July 20, 1789.
+
+[226] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, probably August, 1789.
+
+[227] September 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 474.
+
+[228] "Autobiography", I, 156.
+
+[229] To M. l'Abbé Arnoud, Paris, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII,
+422.
+
+[230] To Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.
+
+[231] To John Jay, September 19, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 467.
+
+[232] To James Madison, January 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 70.
+
+[233] To James Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.
+
+[234] "Trois amitiés françaises de Jefferson", p. 188.
+
+[235] Madison to Washington. January 4, 1790.
+
+[236] Washington to Jefferson. January 21.
+
+[237] "Autobiography", p. 161.
+
+[238] "Trois amitiés françaises de Jefferson", p. 195. February 28,
+1790.
+
+[239] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 103.
+
+[240] Memorial Edition, I, 274.
+
+[241] March 28, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 9.
+
+[242] June 13, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 36.
+
+[243] June 20, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 43.
+
+[244] June 23, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 47.
+
+[245] To Gilmer, June 27, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 53.
+
+[246] _Ibid._, VIII, 63.
+
+[247] November 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 107.
+
+[248] December 3, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 109.
+
+[249] February 4, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.
+
+[250] "Writings", VI, 19-43.
+
+[251] To the President of the United States. Memorial Edition, VIII,
+192. May 8, 1791.
+
+[252] Memorial Edition, VIII, 208.
+
+[253] _Ibid._, VIII, 223.
+
+[254] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 2, 1793.
+
+[255] August 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 229.
+
+[256] August 30, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 241.
+
+[257] To John Adams, August 30, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 245.
+
+[258] December 23, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 275.
+
+[259] March 1, 1792. Memorial Edition, I, 292, "Anas."
+
+[260] May 23, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 341.
+
+[261] September 9, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 408.
+
+[262] To Thomas Pinckney, December 3, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 443.
+
+[263] To Doctor George Gilmer, December 15, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 444.
+
+[264] _Ibid._, VIII, 445.
+
+[265] April 6, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 19.
+
+[266] April 2. Memorial Edition, VIII, 11.
+
+[267] July 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 65.
+
+[268] To Carmichael, August 2, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 70.
+
+[269] To Short, August 10, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 79.
+
+[270] To Gouverneur Morris, August 12, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 85.
+
+[271] To Colonel Mason, February 4, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.
+
+[272] To the President of the National Assembly, March 8, 1791. Memorial
+Edition, VIII, 37.
+
+[273] To W. Short, April 25, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 185.
+
+[274] See also my edition of the "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson",
+chapter III. Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[275] To W. Short, July 28, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 217.
+
+[276] July 30, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 225.
+
+[277] To Edward Rutledge, August 25, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 234.
+
+[278] To Short, November 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 261.
+
+[279] To Short, January 28, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 297.
+
+[280] March 10, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 311.
+
+[281] To Lafayette, June 16, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 381.
+
+[282] November 7, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 437.
+
+[283] November 20, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 441.
+
+[284] January 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 9.
+
+[285] To G. Morris, March 12, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 37.
+
+[286] To ----, March 18, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 45.
+
+[287] "Anas", February 20, 1793.
+
+[288] To Messrs. Carmichael and Short, March 23, 1793. Memorial Edition,
+IX, 55.
+
+[289] March 21, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 49.
+
+[290] To C. W. Dumas, March 23, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 57.
+
+[291] To E. P. Van Berckel, April 23, 1793. To Morris, Pinckney and
+Short, April 26, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 68-69.
+
+[292] April 27, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 70.
+
+[293] May 5, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 75.
+
+[294] May 7, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 79.
+
+[295] To Ternant, May 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 74.
+
+[296] May 15, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 89.
+
+[297] May 19, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 98.
+
+[298] June 6, 1789. _Ibid._, IX, 115.
+
+[299] June 13, 1789. Memorial Edition, IX, 123.
+
+[300] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 24, 1793.
+
+[301] _Ibid._ Library of Congress, June 27, 1793 and Writings of J.
+Monroe, I, 261.
+
+[302] To J. Madison, July 7, 1793. Ford, VII, 436.
+
+[303] To James Madison, August 25, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 211.
+
+[304] To Madison, September 1, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 211.
+
+[305] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, 15832.
+
+[306] December 31, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 277.
+
+[307] December 13, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 279.
+
+[308] Angelica Church to Jefferson, August 19, 1793. Chinard, "Trois
+Amitiés Françaises", p. 155.
+
+[309] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February, 1794.
+
+[310] "Amitiés françaises", p. 161.
+
+[311] February 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 279.
+
+[312] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 15, 1794.
+
+[313] December 16, 1793. Memorial Edition, III, 261-283.
+
+[314] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, March 3, and March 11,
+1794.
+
+[315] April 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 281 and Manuscript Library of
+Congress, March 16.
+
+[316] April 24, 1794. Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.
+
+[317] May 1, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 285.
+
+[318] May 14, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 287.
+
+[319] September 7, 1794. _Ibid._, IX, 291.
+
+[320] December 28, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 293.
+
+[321] April 27, 1795. _Ibid._, IX, 301.
+
+[322] April 27. _Ibid._, IX, 305.
+
+[323] See S. F. Bemis. "Jay's Treaty." New York, 1923.
+
+[324] August 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 307.
+
+[325] September 21, 1795. _Ibid._, IX, 309.
+
+[326] November 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 313.
+
+[327] March 21, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 329.
+
+[328] January 16, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 319.
+
+[329] To James Madison, March 6, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 323.
+
+[330] March 19, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 326.
+
+[331] To James Madison, March 27, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 330.
+
+[332] April 9, 1790. Memorial Edition, IX, 334.
+
+[333] April 24, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 335.
+
+[334] June 19, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 339.
+
+[335] To Jonathan Williams, July 3, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 347.
+
+[336] December 17, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 351.
+
+[337] To Rutledge, December 27, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 353.
+
+[338] To Madison, January 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 357.
+
+[339] James Madison to Jefferson, January 15, 1797. "Works", VI, 303.
+
+[340] January 22, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 370.
+
+[341] April 9, 1797. _Ibid._, IX, 380.
+
+[342] June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 408.
+
+[343] May 29, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 389.
+
+[344] June 15, 1797. To James Madison, Memorial Edition, IX, 397.
+
+[345] June 17, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 400.
+
+[346] June 21, 1797. _Ibid._, IX, 405.
+
+[347] To Colonel A. Campbell, September 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX,
+419.
+
+[348] June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 409.
+
+[349] January 3, 1798. _Ibid._, IX, 431.
+
+[350] February 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, IX, 444.
+
+[351] March 15, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 6.
+
+[352] March 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 9.
+
+[353] To Madison, March 29, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 17.
+
+[354] March 27, 1798.
+
+[355] To Madison, April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 27.
+
+[356] April 12, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 28.
+
+[357] April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 29.
+
+[358] To Madison, April 26, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 31.
+
+[359] See Chinard, "Volney et l'Amérique." Paris, Baltimore, 1923.
+
+[360] To Madison, April 26, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 33.
+
+[361] To Madison, May 31, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 43.
+
+[362] To John Taylor, June 1, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 45.
+
+[363] To Madison, June 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 49-53.
+
+[364] August 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 61.
+
+[365] October 11, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 62.
+
+[366] To Madison, November 17, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 62.
+
+[367] December 11, 1821. _Ibid._, XV, 351.
+
+[368] See pp. 80-82.
+
+[369] November 17. Memorial Edition, X, 63.
+
+[370] November 26, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 63.
+
+[371] To James Madison, January 3, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 67.
+
+[372] Madison to Jefferson, June 26, 1799. Jefferson Papers. Library of
+Congress.
+
+[373] January 16, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 69.
+
+[374] To Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 77-78.
+
+[375] January 29, 1799, Memorial Edition, X, 87 and Jefferson Papers,
+Library of Congress, February 14, 1799.
+
+[376] To Madison, February 5, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 95.
+
+[377] John Ogden to Jefferson, February 7, 1799. Jefferson Papers.
+Library of Congress.
+
+[378] February 11, 1799. _Ibid._
+
+[379] To Madison, February 19, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 111.
+
+[380] To Bishop James Madison, February 27, 1799. _Ibid._, X, 122.
+
+[381] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 26, 1799.
+
+[382] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Bishop Madison, March
+12, 1799.
+
+[383] _Ibid._ Callender to Jefferson, August 10, 1799. From Richmond.
+
+[384] _Ibid._ Marked received December 11, undated.
+
+[385] August 18, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 125.
+
+[386] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Callender, undated,
+unsigned.
+
+[387] To Madison, November 22, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 133.
+
+[388] January 12, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 136.
+
+[389] Priestley's answer, never hitherto published, will be found in my
+volume on "Jefferson and the Physiocrats."
+
+[390] March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 110.
+
+[391] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 11, 1800.
+
+[392] To Henry Innis, January 23. Memorial Edition, X, 143.
+
+[393] To T. M. Randolph, February 2, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 151.
+
+[394] February 26, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 153.
+
+[395] To Madison, March 8, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 157-159.
+
+[396] To P. N. Nicholas, April 7, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.
+
+[397] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Callender to Jefferson,
+February 10 and March 15, 1800.
+
+[398] March 18, 1800. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[399] _Ibid._
+
+[400] April 30, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.
+
+[401] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, May 26, 1800.
+
+[402] _Ibid._, August 14, 1800.
+
+[403] March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 160.
+
+[404] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Benjamin Rush to Jefferson,
+August 22, 1800.
+
+[405] September 23, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 173.
+
+[406] December 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 176.
+
+[407] December 18, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 183.
+
+[408] Memorial Edition, X, 188.
+
+[409] January 10, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 188.
+
+[410] February 3. Memorial Edition, X, 197.
+
+[411] February 15, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 201.
+
+[412] February 18, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 203.
+
+[413] _Ibid._, X, 206.
+
+[414] To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 211.
+
+[415] To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 210.
+
+[416] March 7, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 218.
+
+[417] To Doctor Benjamin Rush, March 24, 1801. _Ibid._, X, 241.
+
+[418] To Elias Shipman and others, July 12, 1801.
+
+[419] June 13, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 28.
+
+[420] A. J. Beveridge: "Life of Marshall", II, 51-53 and Appendix.
+
+[421] "Life of Marshall", II, 51-222; McMaster, "History of the People
+of the United States", Vol. III.
+
+[422] To Elbridge Gerry, March 20, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 251.
+
+[423] To the Attorney-general, January 1, 1802. _Ibid._, X, 305.
+
+[424] July 18, 1804. _Ibid._, XI, 38.
+
+[425] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 13, 1800.
+
+[426] To W. Short, October 3, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 288.
+
+[427] November 24, 1801. _Ibid._, X, 294.
+
+[428] "Volney et L'Amérique." Paris and Baltimore, 1923.
+
+[429] King to the Secretary of State, January 1, 1802.
+
+[430] Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress, April 21, 1802.
+
+[431] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, April 25, 1802.
+
+[432] May 12, 1802. Manuscript, Library of Congress.
+
+[433] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Du Pont de Nemours to
+Jefferson, October 4, 1802.
+
+[434] Annals of Congress, p. 1059.
+
+[435] _Ibid._, p. 286.
+
+[436] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, marked received December
+31.
+
+[437] Annals of Congress. Appendix, p. 1065.
+
+[438] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 1, 1803.
+
+[439] To James Madison, January 24, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1066.
+
+[440] To the Secretary of State, March 24, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1083.
+
+[441] To Madison, March 3, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1083.
+
+[442] March 2, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1098.
+
+[443] King to Livingston, May 7, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1803.
+
+[444] Annals of Congress, p. 1167.
+
+[445] July 11, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 402.
+
+[446] Memorial Edition, X, 424.
+
+[447] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 19, 1804.
+
+[448] July 4, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 398.
+
+[449] July 12, 1803. _Ibid._, X, 404.
+
+[450] To Madison, August 25, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 412.
+
+[451] To James Madison, August 15, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 45.
+
+[452] "Anas", January 26, 1804.
+
+[453] To W. B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.
+
+[454] To Gideon Granger, March 9, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 113.
+
+[455] To Lafayette, July 14, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 277.
+
+[456] To William B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.
+
+[457] To George Hay, September 4, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 360.
+
+[458] October 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 183.
+
+[459] Memorial Edition, X, 399.
+
+[460] H. Adams, II, 257.
+
+[461] To James Madison, August 27, 1805. Memorial Edition, XI, 86.
+
+[462] April 19, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 103.
+
+[463] To Colonel James Monroe, May 4, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 106.
+
+[464] Turreau to Talleyrand, December 12, 1806, in H. Adams, III, 424.
+
+[465] To Monroe, March 21, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 167.
+
+[466] June 29, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 256.
+
+[467] July 6, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 258.
+
+[468] See particularly his letters to Cabell, August 11, 1807, and to
+Dearborn, August 28. Memorial Edition, XI, 318, 342.
+
+[469] To John Page, July 17, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 285.
+
+[470] November 22, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 397.
+
+[471] Memorial Edition, XI, 401. This may be simply a draft of the
+message written on a sheet of paper which happened to bear the name of
+General Mason. See Henry Adams, IV, 168.
+
+[472] A. J. Nock, "Jefferson", p. 266. New York, 1926.
+
+[473] To John Taylor, January 6, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 413.
+
+[474] March 30, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 23.
+
+[475] To Governor Charles Pinckney. November 8, 1808. _Ibid._, XII, 190.
+
+[476] Henry Adams, IV, chapter XII, "The Cost of Embargo."
+
+[477] Henry Adams, IV, 277.
+
+[478] Walter W. Jennings, "A History of economic progress in the United
+States", p. 160, New York, 1926.
+
+[479] To Doctor George Logan, December 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII,
+219.
+
+[480] January 14, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 227.
+
+[481] To Thomas Mann Randolph, February 7, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 248.
+
+[482] March 8, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 264.
+
+[483] March 17, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 266.
+
+[484] Memorial Edition, XII, 267.
+
+[485] February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.
+
+[486] To J. B. Colvin. September 20, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 422; see also
+letter to Cæsar Rodney, September 25. _Ibid._, XII, 426.
+
+[487] To Madison, April 27, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 275.
+
+[488] To Madison, April 19, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 271.
+
+[489] June 28, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 293.
+
+[490] To Rodney, February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.
+
+[491] To Governor John Langdon, March 5, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 373.
+
+[492] To Thomas Cooper, August 6, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 401.
+
+[493] To Thomas Law, January 15, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 439.
+
+[494] April 25, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 145.
+
+[495] June 29, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 173.
+
+[496] August 5, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 183.
+
+[497] _Ibid._, XIII, 206.
+
+[498] October 1, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 187.
+
+[499] To William Duane, April 4, 1813. _Ibid._, XIII, 231.
+
+[500] To Thomas Leiper, January 1, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 45.
+
+[501] To John Clark, January 27, 1814. _Ibid._, XIV, 79.
+
+[502] September 21, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 191.
+
+[503] To William Short, November 28, 1814. _Ibid._, XIV, 214.
+
+[504] To Correa de Serra, December 27, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 221.
+
+[505] To William H. Crawford, February 25, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 243, and
+June 15, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 312.
+
+[506] December 1, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 369.
+
+[507] October 16, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 85.
+
+[508] October 16, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 80.
+
+[509] To Thomas Leiper, June 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 311; and
+to John Adams, August 10, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 343.
+
+[510] October 16, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 355.
+
+[511] January 2, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 117.
+
+[512] December 6, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIV, 22.
+
+[513] To Don Valentino de Torunda Corunda, December 14, 1813. Memorial
+Edition, XIV, 31.
+
+[514] To John Adams, January 22, 1812. Memorial Edition, XV, 309.
+
+[515] To Lafayette, May 14, 1817. _Ibid._, XV, 117.
+
+[516] To W. Short, August 4, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 263.
+
+[517] October 24, 1820. _Ibid._, XV, 285.
+
+[518] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 26, 1820, and
+Chinard, "Jefferson et les Idéologues." Paris, Baltimore, 1925, p. 203.
+
+[519] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, July 18, 1824.
+
+[520] To Monroe, June 11, 1823. Memorial Edition, XV, 455.
+
+[521] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 10, 1817.
+
+[522] October 20, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 284.
+
+[523] About the economic and banking theories of Jefferson, I can only
+indicate here some points more fully treated in my book on "Jefferson et
+les Idéologues." Paris, Baltimore, 1925.
+
+[524] To William H. Crawford, June 20, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 27.
+
+[525] April 7, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 271.
+
+[526] January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 387.
+
+[527] To Thomas Cooper, September 10, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 179.
+
+[528] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.
+
+[529] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.
+
+[530] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. January 18, 1802.
+
+[531] _Ibid._ February 28, 1815.
+
+[532] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 12, 1815.
+
+[533] October 28, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIII, 396.
+
+[534] January 2, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 46.
+
+[535] To John Adams, October 16, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 85.
+
+[536] To Lafayette, February 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 245.
+
+[537] To James Madison, November 29, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 295.
+
+[538] December 10, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 233.
+
+[539] To John Adams, January 22, 1821. _Ibid._, XV, 309.
+
+[540] August 4, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 68.
+
+[541] July 12, 1816. _Ibid._, XV, 32.
+
+[542] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. May 8, 1800.
+
+[543] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 21, 1800.
+
+[544] _Ibid._, July 26, 1800.
+
+[545] To Thomas Cooper, January 16, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 60.
+
+[546] February 15, 1821, Memorial Edition, XV, 315.
+
+[547] The latest account is the monumental "History of the University of
+Virginia" by Professor Philip Alexander Bruce, New York, 4 vols., 1920.
+See also the excellent study of Herbert B. Adams, "Thomas Jefferson and
+the University of Virginia", United States Bureau of Education. Circular
+of information No. 1, 1888.
+
+[548] To Richard Rush, April 26, 1824. Memorial Edition, XVI, 31.
+
+[549] To the Honorable J. Evelyn Denison, M. P., November 9, 1825.
+_Ibid._, XVI, 129.
+
+[550] To John Brazier, August 24, 1814. Memorial Edition, XV, 207.
+
+[551] June 27, 1822. _Ibid._, XV, 387.
+
+[552] Memorial Edition, XVI, 173.
+
+[553] Doctor Dunglison's Memorandum, in "Domestic Life", p. 402.
+
+[554] September 12, 1821. Memorial Edition, XV, 334.
+
+[555] January 16, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 9.
+
+[556] December 5, 1811. _Ibid._, XIII, 114.
+
+[557] January 21, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 123.
+
+[558] Memorial Edition, XV, 174.
+
+[559] January 11, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 97.
+
+[560] February 21, 1825. "Domestic Life", p. 423.
+
+[561] To James Smith, December 8, 1822. Memorial Edition, XV, 410.
+
+[562] To John Adams, August 15, 1820. _Ibid._, XV, 269-276.
+
+[563] March 24, 1824. _Ibid._, XVI, 17.
+
+[564] October 31, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 219.
+
+[565] July 13, 1813. _Ibid._, XIII, 319.
+
+[566] To John Adams, April 11, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 427.
+
+[567] To John Adams, May 5, 1817. _Ibid._, XV, 109.
+
+[568] June 13, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 141.
+
+[569] To James Fishback, September 27, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 315.
+
+[570] May 26, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 122.
+
+[571] See my edition of "The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris,
+Baltimore, 1928, p. 58.
+
+[572] April 21, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 379.
+
+[573] See the introduction of Doctor Cyrus Adler, in the Congressional
+Edition reproduced in the Memorial Edition, XX.
+
+[574] May 3, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 10.
+
+[575] April 6, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 467.
+
+[576] To William Ludlow, September 6, 1824. _Ibid._, XVI, 75.
+
+[577] June 24, 1826. Memorial Edition, XVI, 181.
+
+[578] To John Brazier, August 24, 1819. _Ibid._, XV, 207.
+
+[579] August 1, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 56.
+
+[580] January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 385.
+
+[581] To Doctor Vine Ulley, March 21, 1819. _Ibid._, XV, 187.
+
+[582] Jefferson Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society, March 5, 1814.
+
+[583] _Ibid._, To Short, December 17, 1822.
+
+[584] _Ibid._, To Samuel Smith, October 22, 1825.
+
+[585] "Literary Bible", p. 36. Paris, Baltimore, 1928.
+
+[586] To John Adams--August 1, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 56, and
+June 1, 1822. _Ibid._, XV, 371.
+
+[587] November 8, 1824, "Mémoires", VI, 183.
+
+[588] "Domestic Life", p. 425.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Thomas Jefferson
+       The Apostle of Americanism
+
+Author: Gilbert Chinard
+
+Release Date: November 21, 2011 [EBook #38073]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THOMAS JEFFERSON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="notebox">
+<p class="noidt"><b>Transcriber's note:</b> The second edition is still under copyright,
+  but contained a few corrections. The quote attributed to Jefferson
+  on pages 80-82 is from Thomas Paine and has a different plate.
+  The text on pages 82-85 and in the introduction were significantly
+  revised. The last paragraph on page 375 was reworded to be less
+  critical of John Adams.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2>THOMAS JEFFERSON</h2>
+
+<h2><i>The Apostle of Americanism</i></h2>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="bbox">
+<h4>Books by Gilbert Chinard</h4>
+
+<p class="noidt">
+<span class="smcap">Volney et L'Am&eacute;rique</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Jefferson et les Id&eacute;ologues</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Les R&eacute;fugi&eacute;s Huguenots en Am&eacute;rique</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Les Amiti&eacute;s Fran&ccedil;aises de Jefferson</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">The Literary Bible of Jefferson</span><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<a name="FRONTISPIECE" id="FRONTISPIECE"></a>
+<img src="images/p004.jpg" width="100%" alt="BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON" title="" /><br />
+<span class="caption">BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON<br />
+<br />
+<i>In the possession of the New York Historical Society</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<h1>
+THOMAS<br />
+JEFFERSON</h1>
+
+<h4>THE APOSTLE OF AMERICANISM</h4>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3><i>By</i><br />
+GILBERT CHINARD</h3>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4><i>With Illustrations</i></h4>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>BOSTON<br />
+<big>LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY</big><br />
+1929</h4>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1929</i>,<br />
+
+<span class="smcap">By Little, Brown, and Company</span><br />
+<br />
+<i>All rights reserved</i><br /><br />
+
+Published September, 1929</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h5>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</h5>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>This study of Jefferson's mind is the indirect outcome of an
+ambitious undertaking on which I launched about ten years ago.
+My original purpose had been to determine more exactly than
+had heretofore been done the contribution of the French
+thinkers to the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson.</p>
+
+<p>The points of similarity were obvious: the parallelism between
+the theory of natural rights and the <i>D&eacute;claration des droits
+de l'homme</i> is patent; the American statesman shared with the
+French "doctrinaires" the same faith in the ultimate wisdom of
+the people, the same belief in the necessity of a free press and
+religious freedom. Many of his utterances had a sort of
+French ring and countless Gallicisms could be discovered in his
+letters. He spent in France the five years immediately preceding
+the Revolution of 1789; he knew Madame d'Houdetot,
+Madame Helv&eacute;tius, Lafayette, Condorcet, Cabanis, Du Pont de
+Nemours, l'Abb&eacute; Morellet and Destutt de Tracy. He was
+accused of bringing back from France the "infidel doctrines" of
+the philosophers and to some of his contemporaries he appeared
+as the embodiment of Jacobinism. How could such a man
+have failed to be influenced by the political, social and economic
+theories which brought about the great upheaval of the end of
+the eighteenth century?</p>
+
+<p>A rapid survey of the Jefferson papers in the Library of Congress
+and in the Massachusetts Historical Society soon convinced
+me that the subject had scarcely been touched, notwithstanding
+the controversy that had been raging about the origin
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>of Jefferson's political ideas for more than a century. Hundreds
+of letters written to Jefferson by French correspondents were
+preserved in the precious archives, and had apparently never
+been consulted. Many days were spent in the rotunda of the
+Manuscript Division, turning the leaves of the two hundred
+and thirty volumes of the Jefferson papers. Documents after
+documents threw a new light on the mind of the great American&mdash;letters
+hastily written, rough drafts corrected and recorrected,
+press copies blurred and hardly decipherable, yellowed scraps
+of paper crumbling to pieces but piously restored; more letters
+in a regular, precise hand, the hand of a man who had been a
+surveyor and who drew rather than wrote. Fifty years of the
+most eventful period of American history, told by the chief
+participants, rose from the old documents, and day by day was
+revealed more clearly the clean-cut figure of Jefferson the
+American.</p>
+
+<p>First of all, the tall, lanky boy, born in a frame dwelling by
+the Rivanna,&mdash;not a farmer boy by any means, but the son of
+an ambitious, energetic and respected surveyor, a landowner
+and a colonel in the militia, and of a mother in whose veins ran
+the best blood of Virginia. The stern and pious education
+received in the family, the reading of the Bible and Shakespeare,
+the lessons of Reverend Maury, the son of a Huguenot
+who took the boy as a boarding student, the years at William
+and Mary College in the brilliant, animated, but small capital
+of Virginia, the conversations with Mr. Small, Mr. Wythe and
+Governor Fauquier, the Apollo tavern, the first love affair, and
+the long roamings in the hills surrounding Shadwell. More
+years as a student of law and as a law practitioner, quickly followed
+by his marriage with a Virginia "belle", and Thomas
+Jefferson had settled down, a promising young man, a talented
+lawyer, a respectable landowner, an omnivorous reader who
+culled from hundreds of authors moral maxims, bits of poetry,
+historical, legal and philosophical disquisitions and copied them
+in a neat hand in his commonplace books. But curiously
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>
+enough during these formative years, the direct influence of the
+French philosophers was almost negligible. He knew Montesquieu's
+"Esprit des Lois" and Voltaire's "Essai sur les
+m&#339;urs", but he used both books as repertories of facts rather
+than as founts of ideas. His masters were the Greeks of old,
+Homer and Euripides, then Cicero and Horace, finally Bolingbroke
+and above all the historians of the English law in whose
+works he studied the principles, development and degeneration
+of free institutions.</p>
+
+<p>The choice of the abstracts made by this young Virginian
+who was still in his twenties already reveals an extraordinary
+capacity for absorbing knowledge and a most remarkable independence
+of thought. As he had planned to build a house
+according to his own plans, he had likewise decided to construct
+for himself, with material just as carefully chosen, the intellectual
+house in which he intended to live. Had not the Revolution
+intervened, Thomas Jefferson would probably have spent
+his years in his native colony, become a successful member of
+the Virginia bar, perhaps a judge learned and respected, a
+wealthy landowner adding constantly to the paternal acres.
+He had no ambition and little suspected his own latent genius,
+and yet, during all these years which he might have passed in
+leisurely and pleasant idleness, he never ceased, unknowingly as
+it were, to prepare himself for the great part he was to play.</p>
+
+<p>When the call came he was ready. The ideas expressed in the
+Declaration of Independence were common property, but their
+felicitous wording was not due to a sudden and feverish inspiration.
+The young Virginian expressed only the definite
+conclusions he had slowly reached in reading the historians and
+the old lawyers. The principles there proclaimed were not
+abstract and <i>a priori</i> principles; they were distinctly the principles
+that had directed his Saxon forefathers in their "settlement"
+of England. They were the legitimate inheritance
+of their descendants and continuators who had brought over
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+with them to America the rights of their ancestors to settle in
+sparsely inhabited land, there to live freely and happily under
+institutions chosen by themselves. To go back to a primitive
+past, to the good old times, had been the dream of many political
+philosophers; but Jefferson's vision of that ancestral past
+was no dream, for it had originated in the only part of the
+inhabited earth where it could become a reality. This was the
+true background of the Declaration of Independence, the background
+of Jeffersonian democracy&mdash;a curious justification of
+the pioneer spirit by a student of history who cared little for
+abstract reasoning and philosophical constructions.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far the national consciousness of Thomas Jefferson had
+been somewhat hazy. Born in Virginia and intensely devoted
+to the Old Dominion, he had never left his native habitat until
+he was sent as a delegate to Congress. There only did he
+realize the divergences of the different colonies and the imperious
+necessity for them to organize their life and to agree to
+some sort of a permanent compact. No dealings with foreign
+nations could be transacted, no efficient measures of protection
+against the common foe could be devised, unless the several
+States were held together by some sort of a common bond and
+had achieved some sort of a unity. While the Articles of Confederation
+were being discussed, he puzzled over the essence and
+meaning of these "natural rights" so often mentioned in the
+different committees on which he sat, and he preserved the
+result of his meditations in an unpublished document I had
+the good fortune to discover in the Library of Congress. First
+of all, he was led to establish a distinction between the fundamental
+natural rights, which the individual can exercise by himself,
+and another class of rights which cannot be safely enjoyed
+unless society provides adequate protection. In forming a
+society and in accepting a social compact, the first rights were
+to be reserved and to remain inalienable; rights of the second
+class, on the contrary, were partly given up in exchange for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>
+more security. This very simple distinction enabled the young
+delegate to do away with the old antinomy so perplexing to
+many political philosophers and to solve the difficulty against
+which Rousseau had vainly struggled in his <i>Contrat social</i>. The
+individual remained in full possession of certain rights; society
+was granted only part of the others, a part to be determined
+strictly in forming a social compact: the citizen no longer had
+to sacrifice all his rights on the altar of the country; he
+remained sovereign in a sovereign society.</p>
+
+<p>What was true of individuals was true of the States coalescing
+to form a union or confederation. Each individual State
+remained sovereign and yielded only part of certain rights in
+order to obtain more security against foreign aggressors. To
+the right of expatriation for the individual corresponded the
+right of secession for the State. But from this recognition of
+the right to denounce the compact, it did not follow that Jefferson
+would have encouraged either the individual or the States to
+withdraw from the society thus formed in order to resume
+a precarious life by themselves. Even if he had been an
+anarchistic instead of being a truly "socialistic" political
+thinker, a few meetings of the committees on which he sat
+would have sufficed to demonstrate that, to the necessity of
+society for the individuals, corresponded the necessity of a
+union for the individual States. The Virginian had developed
+into a true American. Jefferson was thinking nationally and
+not sectionally; he was ready for the great r&ocirc;le he was about to
+assume.</p>
+
+<p>His five-year stay in Europe confirmed him in the opinion
+that there existed in America the germ of something infinitely
+precious, if somewhat precarious, and he realized that his
+country had really become the hope of the world. He was too
+fond of good music, good architecture, good dinners, good wines
+and long conversations not to appreciate fully the good points of
+life while in Paris. He praised the French for their achieve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>ments
+in the arts and sciences, and formed with many of them
+long-enduring friendships; but neither France, nor England,
+and even less Italy or Spain, were countries toward which men
+could turn their eyes when looking for a political "polar star."
+Traditions were too deeply rooted, prejudices of too long standing,
+class distinctions too sharply defined to leave room for any
+hope of ever seeing them establish within a reasonable time a
+tolerable form of government. On the contrary, unhampered
+by such hoary traditionalism and free to shape her destinies,
+America, provided she carefully avoided the dangers under
+which Europe was laboring, could not only establish the best
+possible form of government, but set an example to be followed
+by the rest of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>These dangers were patent; they resulted from the existence
+of privileged classes or hereditary aristocracies, of State religions,
+censorship of the press and books, centralization and
+concentration in a few hands of all the financial and economic
+resources of the country. Anything that smacked of the
+European system was to be fought with the utmost energy, not
+only for the sake of America, but for the sake of the world.
+Such were the real reasons that justify the fight waged by
+Jefferson after his return from Europe against the tendencies
+represented by Hamilton. Not out of any sympathy for the
+Jacobins did he seem to favor the French Revolution; but,
+since America herself had become the battlefield of two opposed
+ideals, he sided with the one which, in his opinion, presented the
+smaller danger for the existence of his country.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the long-drawn-out battle, he remained convinced
+that only by avoiding any entanglement with European
+politics could America fulfill her destiny. The great obstacle
+to such an isolation was foreign commerce, for Jefferson clearly
+understood that economic and commercial bonds or dependence
+would necessarily entail political bonds and political dependence.
+America was to live in her own world, to pay her debts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>
+as soon as possible, to become industrially independent of
+Europe, to manufacture at home enough for her own consumption
+"and no more." She was also to seize every opportunity
+to eliminate dangerous neighbors, not that she really coveted
+any territory or colony held by foreign powers, not that she
+needed new land for a surplus of population; but she could not
+keep out of European politics if Europe remained at her doors
+and used her colonies as a "fulcrum for her intrigues." Spain
+was so weak that nothing had to be feared directly from her,
+but her colonies could be seized at any time by more powerful
+enemies; France should not be permitted again to set her foot
+on the American continent. As to England, she was to be
+expelled from her continental dominions whenever America
+would be strong enough to enforce the "<i>American jus gentium</i>",
+and the sea was to be neutralized.</p>
+
+<p>Having removed all causes for foreign frictions and aggressions,
+America would be free to develop along her own lines.
+She was to remain for long years to come an agricultural nation;
+she would grow towards the west by attaching to herself new
+territories as their population increased. The Federal Government
+was to retain a minimum of power and attributions. It
+was to be carefully and constantly watched for fear of concentrating
+too much power in a few hands and in one place.
+Federal legislation was to be kept down, for the more laws,
+the worse the republic&mdash;"<i>plurimae leges, pessima republica</i>."
+There was nothing intangible, however, in the government
+which had been hastily put together at the close of the Revolution.
+It was desirable and necessary to preserve the main
+principles embodied in the Constitution in so far as they expressed
+the permanent and inalienable rights of the people and
+the States, but each generation had a right to determine anew
+the details of the legislation and how they chose to be governed.
+The different articles adopted in 1787 were not to be considered
+as sacred as the Tables of the Law, they were the work of fallible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>
+and changing human beings, and the essence of the American
+government did not rest on a written document but on the dispositions
+of the individual citizens and on enlightened public
+opinion.</p>
+
+<p>This being the case, it became necessary to prepare each
+citizen for the part he was called upon to play in the life of the
+country. The great mass of the American people had a "cool
+common sense" and a certain degree of instruction which fitted
+all of them to do certain things, but not everything. A farmer
+could not overnight and by virtue of the popular choice become
+qualified to judge of fine legal points, to settle complicated
+economic problems, or to conduct difficult diplomatic negotiations
+with foreign courts. All this required more than ordinary
+common sense and ordinary education: the country
+needed leaders and experts to be carefully trained in special
+institutions&mdash;in a national university or, if this proved impossible,
+in State universities. As to the great mass of the common
+people, they could be trusted to judge of facts and to sit on a
+jury; they were also good judges of men and properly could
+choose between candidates for the different offices. A free
+press would keep them informed of the conduct of the men thus
+selected; primary and secondary schools would help in the
+diffusion of knowledge, and enlightened self-interest would
+prevent them at any time from making grievous mistakes.</p>
+
+<p>Such a system constituted the best form of government ever
+established by man; but it did not ensue that it was immediately
+to be adopted by all the nations of the earth. It embodied
+certain permanent principles susceptible of general application,
+for they did nothing but express the unalienable rights of man.
+All men, however, were not to be intrusted at once with the full
+enjoyment of their rights. There were certain countries which
+for generations had been priest-ridden and king-ridden and in
+which men unaccustomed to use their judgment were swayed by
+emotions, hatreds and prejudices. A time might come when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span>
+the sacred contagion of liberty would spread to these unfortunate
+populations, but it would take many revolutions, much
+bloodshed and a slow and painful process of education to enable
+them to shake off their shackles and to enjoy the full benefits of
+self-government. America, on the contrary, because of her
+geographical remoteness from Europe, because of the quality of
+the people who had settled in the English colonies, had fought,
+not to destroy an old order of things, but to preserve and to
+extend already existing liberties. Among the nations of the
+world she stood as an example and a hope. She was the living
+evidence that under a free government a large nation could
+grow prosperous and powerful, simply by existing, and without
+preaching any new gospel she fulfilled her duty to mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever may be the shortcomings of this political philosophy,
+it was distinctly an American doctrine; one cannot
+imagine it to have originated in any European country, for
+what would have been a Utopian and chimerical dream in the
+Old World was within the reach of man in America. Whether
+it corresponds to present conditions is still another question; it
+is nevertheless true that by emphasizing the uniqueness of
+America and the political superiority of his native land for more
+than fifty years, Thomas Jefferson did more than any other
+man of his generation to formulate the creed of Americanism.
+The man who was accused of being denationalized stands as the
+most integrally and truly American among his contemporaries.</p>
+
+<p>This does not mean, however, that Jefferson did not occasionally
+depart from the policies he had thus drawn. No
+man can remain in public life for half a century without ever
+falling into contradictions and inconsistencies. Only "closet
+politicians" and mere theorists never accept any compromise,
+and Jefferson was a very practical politician with a keen sense
+of possibilities and realities. Trained as a small-town lawyer,
+then placed on many committees in Congress, forced to wrest war
+measures out of a reluctant Assembly, even managing to hold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span>
+his own with the resourceful diplomats of Europe, Thomas
+Jefferson knew how to handle men and how "to take things by
+their smooth handle." There was nothing quixotic about him
+and he never tried to fight against windmills, nor did he break
+his head against blank walls. But he was singularly apt to bide
+his time, to wait for a favorable opportunity and, whenever he
+saw a chance, he never failed to come back to his original line of
+conduct and to his original policies.</p>
+
+<p>He seldom indulged in undue display of emotions and personal
+feelings, but he was no mere thinking machine. In his
+youth he loved and suffered; later he was perplexed by the
+riddle of the world; he studied the old philosophers in order to
+find the moral props which religion could no longer give him
+and, in his older age, came back to the morals of Jesus. His
+encyclopedic curiosity and the versatility of his mind won for
+him the admiration of his contemporaries, and, in that sense&mdash;the
+eighteenth-century sense&mdash;he was truly "a philosopher."
+But he was too practical-minded to waste much time in mere
+theorizing or in theological and metaphysical "disquisitions."
+Firmly convinced that the business of life was with matter, he
+considered science as an instrument and a tool to master the
+blind forces of nature. He was more interested in applications
+than in disinterested research, and in that respect, as in many
+others, he was not only an American, but, above all, an eighteenth-century
+man. Intensely nationalistic as he was when it
+came to politics, he was truly cosmopolitan in the realm of
+intellectual achievements, and thus was created the legend
+of a denationalized Jefferson; for the popular mind, fond of
+generalizations, is unable to recognize such distinctions.
+Among his friends he counted all the leading scientists of the
+time and through them&mdash;particularly through his French
+friends of the Museum&mdash;he exerted an influence of which he
+himself was perhaps not fully aware. To his European correspondents
+he appeared the embodiment of what was best in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span>
+the American character. His influence on the development of
+liberalism and democratic ideas throughout the world can
+hardly be estimated, and separate investigations will have to
+be carried out before his exact contribution to the growth of
+democracy can be rightly estimated. Through his letters he
+encouraged his friends to keep their faith, but better still
+he demonstrated that self-government and democracy, as he
+understood it, were practical and workable schemes and not the
+idle dreams of philosophers shut in their closets.</p>
+
+<p>I hardly dare mention here the names of the many friends
+and colleagues who gave me most generously their assistance
+and encouragement. To Doctor J. C. Fitzpatrick, untiring,
+most patient and helpful in his suggestions, I owe a particular
+debt. Mr. W. C. Ford afforded me all possible facilities for
+consulting the letters of Jefferson in the Jefferson Coolidge
+Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. I discussed
+more than once with Professors Willoughby, Latan&eacute; and Lovejoy
+and with President Goodnow of the Johns Hopkins University
+the perplexing problems that confronted me, and submitted
+several hypotheses to the History of Ideas Club of the University.
+Doctor L. P. Shanks gave me his time and friendly assistance in
+the revision of the manuscript. But none of my counselors and
+friends are to be held responsible for the ideas here expressed,
+some of which they would probably refuse to indorse.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of this investigation I consulted too many
+books to list them all. Randall is still very useful and has not
+been completely superseded by more modern biographies.
+I found the books of Beveridge fascinating though having somewhat
+of a tendency, and could not completely agree with Mr.
+Beard on the economic origins of the Jeffersonian democracy.
+I naturally made use of Mr. Becker's study of the Declaration
+of Independence. I read the biography of Mr. Hirst with great
+interest, though our points of view were very different, and
+I almost decided to abandon my undertaking when the more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>
+recent work of Mr. Nock appeared. Incomplete and unsatisfactory
+as they are in some respects, the Ford Edition and the
+Memorial Edition are very useful tools, the best available at
+the present time. Much to my regret, I had to omit many
+documents still unpublished which are preserved in the Jefferson
+papers.</p>
+
+<p>The collections of the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts
+Historical Society constitute the richest treasure house of
+historical information ever left by a single man. It would take
+several lives and a fortune to edit them properly; but since
+Monticello has now become again a national shrine and will be
+safely preserved, it may not be out of place to express the wish
+that the day will soon come when a national association will
+undertake to publish an integral edition of the Jefferson papers,&mdash;a
+most fitting monument to the greatest political philosopher
+of America and one of her greatest sons.</p>
+
+<p style='text-align: right'><span class="smcap">Gilbert Chinard</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><a href="#BOOK_ONE"><small>BOOK ONE</small></a>: <i>The Virginian</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Virginia Boyhood</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An American Disciple of Greece and Old England</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Virginia Lawyer</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><a href="#BOOK_TWO"><small>BOOK TWO</small></a>: <i>Jefferson and the American Revolution</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Declaration of Independence</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Revision of the Laws of Virginia</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Governor of Virginia&mdash;The "Notes on Virginia"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Statesman's Apprenticeship</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><a href="#BOOK_THREE"><small>BOOK THREE</small></a>: <i>An American View of Europe</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Society and Travel</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Gallo-American Commerce and the Debt Question</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Union and Isolation</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Jefferson and the French Revolution</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><a href="#BOOK_FOUR"><small>BOOK FOUR</small></a>: <i>Monocrats and Republicans</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Quarrel with Hamilton</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Jacobin or American?</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_274">274</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Monticello&mdash;Agriculture and Politics</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"The Dictates of Reason and Pure Americanism"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>V</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Political Leader and Strategist</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span><br /><a href="#BOOK_FIVE"><small>BOOK FIVE</small></a>: <i>The Presidency</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"All Republicans, All Federalists"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_379">379</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Protective Imperialism and Territorial Expansion</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_396">396</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Self-Preservation Is Paramount to All Law"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_425">425</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Peace and Commerce with Every Nation"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_440">440</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><br /><a href="#BOOK_SIX"><small>BOOK SIX</small></a>: <i>The Sage of Monticello</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"America Has a Hemisphere to Itself"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_467">467</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Democratic America</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_489">489</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Philosophy of Old Age</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_513">513</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><br /><a href="#INDEX"><span class="smcap">Index</span></a></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_533">533</a></td></tr>
+
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="2" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bust of Thomas Jefferson by Houdon</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>In the possession of the New York Historical Society</i></td><td align='left'><a href="#FRONTISPIECE"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Page of Jefferson's Reflections on the Articles of Confederation</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Page from Jefferson's "Commonplace Book"</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Lafayette</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Alexander Hamilton</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession of the Essex Institute,
+Salem, Mass.</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Monticello as It Appears To-day</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson</span>
+<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; <i>From the portrait by Kosciuszko</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_468">468</a></td></tr>
+
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_ONE" id="BOOK_ONE"></a>BOOK ONE</h2>
+
+<h1><i>The Virginian</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>A VIRGINIA BOYHOOD</h2>
+
+
+<p>The peoples of the Old World worship at the birthplaces of
+their national heroes and bury their mortal remains in splendid
+mausoleums, pantheons or Westminster Abbeys. By a significant
+and symbolic contrast, the memories of Washington and
+Jefferson are enshrined in no ancestral homes, but in the mansions
+planned with loving care, in which they so expressed
+themselves that their very spirit seems to haunt the deserted
+rooms of Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are buried
+according to their wishes on their own land, at the very center
+of the acres they had themselves surveyed and reclaimed from
+the wilderness, close to nature and Mother Earth. However
+great may be their debt to the past and their remote ancestors,
+they stand by themselves at the threshold of America's national
+history,&mdash;master builders who wrestled with gigantic tasks
+and first thought of their country as the future home of unborn
+millions.</p>
+
+<p>The boy who was born on April 2, 1743, in the recently
+erected farmhouse at Shadwell, on the bank of the Rivanna,
+never gave much thought to his lineage in his later life. Yet
+Virginians of good stock were always proud of their ancestry,
+and more than once he was told by his mother that the Randolphs
+could "trace their pedigree far back in England and
+Scotland." Jefferson's mother and John Marshall's grandmother
+were descended from William Randolph and Mary
+Isham, both of the English gentry, and Jane Randolph, issued
+from the best blood in the Old Dominion, had married when she
+was nineteen a man without means, whose education had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+neglected, but sturdy and industrious and belonging to one of
+the proudest and most aristocratic lines of old Virginians.</p>
+
+<p>Of his mother, Jefferson has told us very little either in his
+letters or in his "Autobiography." We may surmise she had
+the refined, modest, unobtrusive and yet efficient qualities so
+marked in the Virginia girls of the Colonial days and so often
+noticed by travelers. Sons are apt to mold their feminine
+ideal on the memory of their mother, and Jefferson may have
+been thinking both of her and of his wife when, many years
+later, he contrasted French frivolity with Virginian virtues:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In America, the society of your husband, the fond cares for the
+children, the arrangements of the house, the improvements of the
+grounds, fill every moment with a useful and healthy activity....
+The intervals of leisure are filled by the society 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.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The fond cares for her children would have been ample to
+fill all the minutes of Jefferson's mother. Large families were
+the rule in Virginia; fifteen children were born to Thomas
+Marshall and Mary Keith, and Jefferson's family was no exception
+to the rule. Between 1740 and 1755, Jane Randolph gave
+ten children to Peter Jefferson; Thomas was the third child
+and the first son.</p>
+
+<p>What information he gave about his father has to be completed
+from other sources. The tradition in the family was
+that "the first paternal ancestor came from Wales, and from
+near the mountain of Snowdon, the highest in Great Britain."
+Peter Jefferson, landowner, practical surveyor, of gigantic
+stature and strength, had the sturdy qualities and ambition of
+the pioneer. He received a colonelcy in the militia, became a
+member of the House of Burgesses in 1755, and in 1749 had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+been chosen with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in
+William and Mary College, to continue the boundary line between
+Virginia and North Carolina. "He was afterwards
+employed with the same Mr. Fry to make the first map of
+Virginia which was ever made." Besides his association with
+Fry, from whom he drew the theoretical knowledge of mathematics
+in which he was lacking, Peter Jefferson improved himself
+by much reading, not novels, but the serious and sound
+books which constituted the ordinary family library in colonial
+Virginia,&mdash;historians, essayists, and most of all Shakespeare.
+For in Virginia as well as in New England, Shakespeare and the
+Bible were the two books found in every household, the two
+richest springs of the modern English language. Religion took
+up as much of their life as in New England. Prayers were said
+three and sometimes four times a day, and from his earliest
+infancy, Jefferson became familiar with the liturgy of the
+Church of England, and had stamped in his memory the strong
+old words, vigorous phrases and noble speech of King James'
+version.</p>
+
+<p>He was only five years old when his father, already planning
+to give him the education of which he himself had been deprived,
+decided to send the boy to the best school in the neighborhood.
+He stayed two years at the English school; then,
+when nine, he went to the school of Mr. Douglas, a Scotch
+clergyman, who taught him French and the rudiments of Latin
+and Greek. Most of his childhood was spent away from home,
+as a boarding student, and the silence maintained by Jefferson
+with reference to his parents is thus easily explained. It explains
+also the lack of spontaneity and the awkwardness which
+always prevented him from expressing freely his emotions and
+sentiments. What may seem in him a national characteristic
+was largely a matter of training and early discipline.</p>
+
+<p>He was fourteen when his father died, with a last recommendation
+that his son be given a classical education. Still a mere<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+boy, Thomas Jefferson had become the oldest living male of the
+family and to a certain extent its head. Whether he was at
+first fully aware of his new responsibility is very doubtful. He
+could not remember without a retrospective fear in his later
+years how close he had come to wasting his whole life:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>When I recollect that at fourteen years of age, the whole care
+and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without a
+relation or friend, qualified to advise 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.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The next two years were spent as a boarding student with
+Reverend Mr. Maury, "a correct classical scholar"&mdash;probably
+not a very inspiring one, if we interpret rightly the adjective
+used by Jefferson. We may well imagine him at sixteen, a tall,
+slim boy, with auburn hair and clear eyes, fond of fowling, horse-riding
+and outdoors, fond of reading also, but disposing of very
+few books; for his father's library was not large and, if the
+Reverend Mr. Maury followed the tradition of many old schoolmasters,
+he seldom opened his library to his students. Still,
+he knew his Bible, had read a few English classics, was well
+grounded in Greek and Latin, and had perfected his knowledge
+of French; but it is doubtful whether he was acquainted
+with any French writer except the old standard authors&mdash;"T&eacute;l&eacute;maque",
+Berquin, perhaps "Gil Blas" and Pascal's "Pens&eacute;es."
+But, even at that age, Jefferson necessarily knew something
+of the many duties of a landowner; for the slaves he was
+the young master, and during the summer he had to become
+somewhat acquainted with the management of a large estate.
+The education he had received was not exactly a frontier education
+with the usual connotations of that word. He had not
+been brought up in a log cabin, he had never engaged in back-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>breaking
+tasks of felling trees or of splitting rails; he probably
+had never put his hand to the plow except as an experiment.</p>
+
+<p>He had heard his father tell of long journeys in the wilderness
+and of treacherous Indians, but no Red Men roamed the
+forests near Shadwell. The only Indians he knew were peaceful,
+almost romantic characters who stopped at the house of
+Colonel Jefferson on their way to Williamsburg.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I knew much&mdash;he said&mdash;of the great Ontasser&eacute;, the warrior
+and orator of the Cherokees; he was always the guest of my father
+on his journeys to and from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when
+he made his great farewell oration to his people, the evening before
+his departure for England. The moon was in full splendor, and
+to her he seemed to address himself in his prayers for his own safety
+on the voyage, and that of his people during his absence; his sounding
+voice, distinct articulation, animated action, and the solemn
+silence of his people at their several fires, filled me with awe and
+admiration.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This youthful impression left an indelible mark on his mind
+and was not without some influence on the "Notes on Virginia"
+as well as on the letters he wrote to Indian chiefs when he was
+President.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was Shadwell exactly in the "howling wilderness", even
+if there was no large city near it. It was located on the road to
+Williamsburg, and many travelers stopped at the house on
+their way to the capital. Hospitality to friends and strangers
+was a sacred rite and most scrupulously observed. Much visiting
+was done in Virginia, and men particularly spent considerable
+time traveling from house to house; slaves were put up,
+horses were sent to the stable, while the best was spread on the
+table for the master. During the summer months, when roads
+were not made impassable by deep mudholes, one visitor had
+hardly left when another came. They had to be entertained,
+sometimes at a considerable expense, always at a considerable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+loss of time. Young Jefferson soon realized, after returning to
+Shadwell, that he would never amount to much and would
+probably become an idler, if he stayed on the estate like so
+many of his young friends. The wasting of precious moments
+irritated and disturbed him when he wanted to do some
+reading or some study, and he felt that the condition of the
+estate hardly warranted such a generous hospitality. He
+therefore decided to leave, and the letter he wrote on this occasion
+to his guardian, Mr. John Hervey of Bellemont, shows
+him fully aware of his responsibilities and perfectly definite in
+his plans.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1760, the young man, then exactly seventeen,
+went to Williamsburg and enrolled in the College of William
+and Mary. Quite possibly it was his first visit to the capital of
+Virginia, his first contact with urban life. It was, for the time,
+a place of very respectable size and considerable activity. Old
+Professor Hugh Jones, a man much traveled and much read,
+described it enthusiastically in his "Present State of Virginia",
+published in London in 1724:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Williamsburg is a market town, and is governed by a mayor and
+aldermen. It is a town well stocked with rich stores, all sorts of
+goods, and well furnished with the best provisions and liquors.
+Here dwell several good families, and more reside here in their own
+houses at publick times. They live in the same neat manner,
+dress after the same modes, and behave themselves exactly as
+the Gentry in London; most families of note having a coach,
+chariot, Berlin, or chaize.... Thus they dwell comfortably,
+genteely, pleasantly, and plentifully in this delightful, healthful,
+and (I hope) pleasant city of Virginia.</p></div>
+
+<p>Great occasions were receptions given by the Governor,
+meetings of the Assembly, occasional performances by regular
+companies from New York, semi-professional players and
+later, by the Virginian Company of Comedians. Horse races<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+attracted every year a large concourse of people, for every true
+Virginian is a lover of horseflesh. Betting was active and
+large sums of money changed hands, particularly for the four-mile
+heat race given each year on the course adjoining the
+town.</p>
+
+<p>Ladies in all the glory of their imported dresses, gentlemen
+in brilliantly colored knee breeches and coats, with elegantly
+chased swords at their sides and the best beaver hats made in
+London under their arms, attended the receptions, the dances,
+the theater, and more than once adjourned to the famous Apollo
+room in the Raleigh Tavern, where they indulged in much
+drinking of "punch, beer, Nantes rum, brandy, Madeira and
+French claret." The first time young Jefferson went to the
+Raleigh he was probably shown the largest punch bowl in the
+house, which had played a part in the purchase of Shadwell,
+for had not Colonel Jefferson bought the site from William
+Randolph of Tuckahoe, for "Henry Weatherbourne's biggest
+bowl of arrack punch"?</p>
+
+<p>The college itself was no less an attraction than the town.
+Built originally on the plans of Christopher Wren, it had unfortunately
+been remodeled after a fire, "a rude, misshapen
+pile, which but it had a roof would be taken for a brick-kiln",
+wrote Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia." Such as it was,
+however, with the Capitol, of much better style, it was the
+first large building and monument the young man had ever
+seen and he probably admired it at the time as much as most
+Virginians did.</p>
+
+<p>It was by no means a university, not even a real college.
+Like most institutions of learning in the colonies, it had been
+established "to the end that the church of Virginia may be
+furnished with a seminary for ministers of the gospel, and that
+the youth may be piously educated in good letters and manners,
+and that the Christian faith may be propagated amongst
+the Western Indians, to the glory of the Almighty."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The lack of preparation of the students, the fact that the
+sons of the wealthiest were sent to England to finish their education,
+perhaps also an aristocratic scorn for specialized and
+intensive learning among the gentry of Virginia, all had contributed
+to keep down the standards of the institution. Much
+to his disgust, Jefferson found</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... that the admission of the learners of Latin and Greek had
+filled the college with children. This rendering it disagreeable and
+degrading to young gentlemen, already prepared for entering on
+the sciences, they were discouraged from resorting to it, and thus the
+schools for mathematics and moral philosophy, which might have
+been of some service, became of very little. The revenues, too, were
+exhausted in accommodating those who came only to acquire the
+rudiments of the sciences.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thus the problem of caring for the many, the danger of keeping
+together in college the prepared and the unprepared students,
+which is still with us, existed already in America one
+hundred and fifty years ago. Evidently Jefferson considered
+himself as one of those young gentlemen who were prepared
+for entering upon the study of the sciences; he was certainly
+more mature for his years than most of his fellow students and
+looked down upon them as well, we may surmise, as upon the
+teachers themselves. On the other hand, the town offered
+many temptations and he probably yielded to some of them.
+He was often thrown into the society of horse-racers, card-players,
+fox-hunters, and at the end of his first year in college
+it appeared to him that he had spent more than his share of the
+income of the estate. He therefore wrote to his guardian to
+charge his expenses to his share of the property: "No," Colonel
+Walker is reported to have said,&mdash;"if you have sowed your
+wild oats thus, the estate may well afford to pay the bill."</p>
+
+<p>We possess no precise information upon the amount spent
+by Jefferson nor any account book for that year, but we may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+surmise that Colonel Walker would not have been so lenient if
+the total sum had been spent in reprehensible dissipations.
+Williamsburg boasted of a large bookstore, and in 1775 Dixon
+and Hunter published a list of more than three hundred titles
+in their stock. Book lovers are born and not made. Jefferson
+had never been able to satisfy fully his passion for books,
+and as the college library offered him only very meager
+resources, he must have plunged with delight in the bookshop
+of Williamsburg and bought extravagantly, an expense the
+estate "could well afford to pay." But the fact remained that
+what he had learned he had learned by himself, and that college
+life had not furnished him the guidance and direction he was
+looking for.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this juncture that Doctor Small, professor of mathematics,
+was appointed <i>ad interim</i> professor of philosophy and
+soon developed an interest in the young Virginian. Jefferson
+himself paid a grateful tribute to the man who just in time
+rescued him from his frivolous companions and brought back
+to his mind the serious purpose he had entertained when he
+entered William and Mary.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It was my good fortune and that probably fixed the destinies of
+my life, that Doctor William Small of Scotland was then Professor of
+Mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of
+science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly
+manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most
+happily for me, became soon attached to me, and made me his
+daily companion when not engaged in the school; and from his
+conversation I got my first views of the expansion of science, and of
+the system of things in which we are placed. Fortunately, the
+philosophical chair became vacant soon after my arrival at college,
+and he was appointed to fill it <i>per interim</i>: and he was the first who
+ever gave, in that college, regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric and
+Belles-Lettres.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>For Jefferson Doctor Small was the prime awakener and
+inspirer. Through him the young man was introduced to
+George Wythe who soon accepted him as a student of law, and
+through him again he was received by Governor Fauquier.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the first really cultured men with whom Jefferson
+ever came in contact: William Small, the mathematician
+and philosopher, would not have been a true Scot if he had not
+had that passionate love for discussion and logic which seems
+the innate gift of so many sons of the Highlands. Francis Fauquier,
+"the ornament and delight of Virginia", generous, liberal,
+elegant in his manners and requirements, was the son of Doctor
+Fauquier of Floirac, near Bordeaux, who had worked under
+Newton in the mint and become a director of the Bank of England.
+His early biographer Burke, the Virginia historian, has
+chiefly emphasized his propensity to gaming. But Fauquier
+was an economist of no mean distinction and had written an
+important tract on the basis of taxation. He was interested
+in physics or natural philosophy and had become a Fellow of
+the Royal Society. He was a student of natural phenomena
+and sent to the Society the description of a hail-storm in Virginia.
+Finally, there was George Wythe, whose virtue was of
+the purest tint, his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact.
+Last and most important of all his qualities, perhaps, was the
+characteristic peculiarity mentioned by Jefferson in the sketch
+he wrote after the death of his old master: "he was firm in his
+philosophy, and neither troubling, nor perhaps trusting any
+one with his religion."</p>
+
+<p>Such were the true masters of Thomas Jefferson, and from
+their conversations around the table, after bottles of port had
+been brought, he learned more than any student at William
+and Mary ever acquired in college. It was a rare privilege
+for a young man of Jefferson's age to be admitted to the "<i>parties
+carr&eacute;es</i>", and he must have already given singular promise to
+have been invited at all into the society of these three lumi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>naries
+of Virginia. What topics were discussed among them
+can easily be imagined. Fauquier would speak of old England,
+the theaters of London, the monuments and works of art, of his
+colleagues of the Royal Society, or discuss a problem of taxation
+or a recent meteorological phenomenon. A man of the
+world, a friend of Admiral Anson whom he had met after his
+circumnavigation of the globe, a director of the South Sea
+Company, he would speak of ships, strange lands, and reveal
+to the young man the existence of a world extending far beyond
+his native Virginia. Thus was born in Jefferson that ardent
+desire to travel and most of all to see England which appears in
+some letters written in the early sixties.</p>
+
+<p>Philosophical and religious subjects perhaps were introduced,
+although that is rather doubtful, in my opinion. The passage
+on George Wythe, already quoted, mentions his reticence on
+religion. Whatever may have been the propensity of Fauquier
+to gaming, he was never accused by his contemporaries of being
+a religious libertine. It is also very doubtful whether any of
+the group would naturally have discussed such subjects, particularly
+in the presence of a young student whose education
+had been deeply religious. Finally it must be remembered
+that in Virginia, as well as in New England, there always existed
+some "reserved questions", that it was not good form to criticize
+established institutions and current beliefs. It is quite
+possible that Fauquier may have lent to Jefferson certain volumes
+of Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke, but in spite of the contrary
+opinion expressed by some biographers of Jefferson, it
+seems very unlikely that any of the three older men should
+have undertaken to shake the foundations of his faith. The
+"<i>parties carr&eacute;es</i>" could not have lasted very long, since William
+Small went back to Scotland in 1762. But Jefferson's acquaintance
+with Fauquier and Wythe was continued for many years
+after the departure of the philosopher and, in both cases, until
+the death of the older men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The master of Shadwell had sown his wild oats; he had had
+his brief flight of dissipation and had reformed; but he had by
+no means become a hermit. He had not entirely given up
+attending horse races and fox hunts.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Many a time&mdash;he wrote in 1808&mdash;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 councils of the nation. Well, which of these kinds of reputation
+would I prefer? That of a horse jockey? a fox hunter? an
+orator? or the finest advocate of my country's rights?<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>What young man has not thus dreamed of serving his country
+and devoting himself to some noble cause, what student
+preparing for the bar has not pictured himself winning a difficult
+case, forcing the judge's attention and swaying a reluctant
+jury? The ambition to become an orator may have been
+awakened in his mind by the acquaintance he had made of
+the "uncultured Demosthenes" of the Old Dominion. In the
+winter of 1759-1760, he had met at the house of Mr. Dandrige,
+in Hanover, a tall, ascetic-looking fellow, rather disdainful of
+finery and careless in his wearing apparel, but "with such
+strains of native eloquence as Homer wrote in"&mdash;"I never
+heard anything that deserved to be called by the same name
+with what flowed from him," wrote Jefferson later, "and where
+he got that torrent of language is unconceivable. I have frequently
+shut my eyes while he spoke, and, when he was done,
+asked myself what he had said, without being able to recollect
+a word of it. He was no logician. He was truly a great man,
+however&mdash;one of enlarged views."</p>
+
+<p>His name was Patrick Henry. Far less uncultured than
+Jefferson's portrait would lead us to believe, related to very
+good families, although poor and a complete failure as a merchant,
+Patrick Henry had suddenly decided to enter the legal
+profession, and after borrowing a "Coke upon Littleton" and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+"Digest of the Virginia Acts", he had appeared after six weeks'
+preparation before the board of examiners. He won his diploma
+through logic, clear presentation and common sense
+rather than through his knowledge of the law, and commenced
+practicing in the fall of the same year. Whenever a case appeared
+before the General Court sitting at Williamsburg and
+consisting of the Governor and his council, "he used to put up"
+with Jefferson, borrowing books which he seldom read, always
+ready with stories of the backwoods. Fame came to him soon
+after, when his fiery eloquence in the "parson's case" drew
+down upon him clerical hostility and public admiration.
+"Instead of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked," he
+cried out in the courtroom, "these religious harpies would,
+were their powers equal to their will, snatch from the hearth
+of their honest parishioner his last hoe-cake, from the widow
+and her orphan children their last milch cow, the last bed, nay,
+the last blanket, from the lying-in woman."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Not even in the
+days of the Convention did the halls of Paris echo with more
+vehement vituperations and more indignant denunciations.
+A magnetic power, an emotional appeal to elementary passion,
+to a sense of justice in the mass rather than to the letter of the
+law fitted him for political life. He was soon to have his
+opportunity; in the meantime he awoke in Jefferson a revolt
+against clerical usurpations that was to bear its fruit in time.
+Usually passed over by Jefferson's biographers, the plea made
+by Patrick Henry in the "parson's case" seems to have been
+the incident that called the young man's attention to the position
+occupied by the established Church in its relations to the
+civil power. It started in him the train of thought that culminated
+in the "Bill for religious freedom."</p>
+
+<p>It has been sometimes said that Jefferson used to spend fourteen
+hours a day in study when he was at Williamsburg; his
+correspondence with John Page shows him in a very different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+light. He was not in any sense a bookworm, even though he
+read enormously, but he played as strenuously as he studied.
+A good horseman, a good violin player, a good dancer, he was
+a much-sought-after young man. He had a keen eye for the
+ladies, and very early in 1762 he had fallen in love with Miss
+Rebecca Burwell, the <i>Bell-in-day, Belinda, campana in die,
+Adnileb</i> of his letters to Page. The young lady had given him
+her profile cut in black paper which he carried in his watch case.
+Far from her, life lost all interest: "all things appear to me to
+trudge in one and the same round: we rise in the morning that
+we may eat breakfast, dinner and supper, and to go to bed
+again, that we may get up the next morning and do the same,
+so that you never saw two peas more alike than our yesterday
+and to-day." He had in mind to go back to Williamsburg, to
+propose, receive his sentence and be no longer in suspense:
+"but reason says, if you go, and your attempts prove unsuccessful,
+you will be ten times more wretched than ever."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Spring,
+then summer came, and he could not muster up enough courage
+to declare himself. Madly in love as he was, he was not intending
+to marry at once. He had formed great plans for traveling.
+He was dreaming of hoisting his sail and visiting England,
+Holland, France, Spain, Italy (where I would buy me a
+good fiddle), and Egypt, and return home through the British
+provinces to the northward. This would take him two or three
+years. Was it fair to ask Belinda to wait so long for him?
+And yet he could not leave without speaking and remain in
+suspense and cruel uncertainty during the whole trip. "If I
+am to meet with a disappointment, the sooner I know it, the
+more of life I shall have to wear if off ... If Belinda will not
+accept of my service, it will never be offered to another. That
+she may I pray most sincerely: but that she will, she never
+gave me reason to hope."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When college opened again at the beginning of October, he
+had made up his mind to make his position clear. A dance was
+to be given in the Apollo room of the Raleigh Tavern. He
+dressed up in all his finery, he rehearsed in his head such
+thoughts as occurred to him and made a complete fiasco. "A
+few broken sentences, uttered in great disorder, and interrupted
+with pauses of uncommon length were the too visible
+marks of my strange confusion" (October 7, 1763). Belinda
+did not say a word to relieve him in his embarrassment, did not
+manifest in any way that she understood his purpose, and several
+months were to elapse before Jefferson had another opportunity
+to express himself. This time he had learnt his piece
+perfectly, and from what we know of him already it is probable
+that he made a very clear presentation of his case, too clear
+and too logical even, for he concluded by saying that the decision
+rested with her and that a new interview would not serve
+any purpose. A strange lover indeed, apparently as madly in
+love as a young man could be, and yet too respectful of the free
+will of his beloved to attempt to sweep her off her feet by too
+frequent interviews and too passionate pleas! Belinda listened
+attentively but did not give any indication that Jefferson's
+speech had convinced her and won her heart. A few
+weeks later the bashful suitor heard indirectly of her answer
+when she announced her marriage to Mr. B ... Whether it
+was "for money, beauty, or principle will be so nice a dispute,
+that no one will venture to pronounce", wrote Jefferson at the
+time. To crown the joke, his happy rival, who evidently had
+been kept in blissful ignorance of Jefferson's sentiments, asked
+him to act as a best man at the wedding. A more ironical
+trick of fate could scarcely be imagined; but, all considered,
+Belinda was not altogether to blame.</p>
+
+<p>Thomas Jefferson did not think of committing suicide, he
+did not swear revenge, nor did he curse the ungrateful one in
+any of his letters. We have some reason to believe, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+that his affair with Belinda marked a decisive turn in his life.
+It killed whatever romantic strains may have existed in his
+heart; it matured him, and it was probably at that time that
+the long-belated metaphysical crisis took place, the disappointed
+lover evolving a certain philosophy of life which he was
+to retain to the end of his days.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER  II</h3>
+
+<h2>AN AMERICAN DISCIPLE OF GREECE AND
+OLD ENGLAND</h2>
+
+
+<p>Until very recently the material for a study of the formative
+years of Thomas Jefferson was very scanty. Many of
+his earliest letters have disappeared and he always felt a strong
+disinclination to analyze himself in writing. It was also contrary
+to his training and to the customs of his milieu to discuss
+personal matters too frankly and too openly. An American
+Jean-Jacques Rousseau baring his heart to posterity would
+have been as out of place as a man from the moon in New England
+or Virginia. But what he did not express as his personal
+feelings, he copied from the philosophers and poets he read
+during his studious nights or when resting under a tree on one
+of the hills surrounding Shadwell. The two commonplace
+books I have recently published, written by Jefferson during
+his student days and consulted by him throughout his life,
+could rightly be called "Jefferson self-revealed."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> They
+enable us at any rate to determine with a fair degree of
+certainty the sentimental and intellectual preoccupations that
+filled his mind when examining the problems of society and
+the universe.</p>
+
+<p>It does not seem that, until 1764, that is to say until the
+unfortunate ending of his love affair with Belinda, Jefferson
+had ever been touched by any religious doubt. When, in July,
+1763, he foresaw the possibility of being rejected, he wrote to
+Page a long letter in which he appears still strongly marked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+by the Christian training he had received in his family and at
+the hand of Mr. Douglas and the Reverend Mr. Maury:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Perfect 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 approaches to it,
+is what I have steadfastly believed.</p>
+
+<p>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 prevent
+the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after
+it has fallen. These considerations, and such others as these, may
+enable us in some measure to surmount the difficulties thrown in
+our way; to bear up with a tolerable degree of patience under this
+burden of life; and to proceed with a pious and unshaken resignation,
+till we arrive at our journey's end, when we may deliver up our
+trust into the hands of him who gave it, and receive such reward as
+to him shall seem proportioned to our merit. Such, dear Page,
+will be the language of the man who considers his situation in life,
+and such should be the language of every man who would wish
+to render that situation as easy as the nature of it will admit. Few
+things will disturb him at all: nothing will disturb him much.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This note of Christian stoicism is exactly what might be expected
+from a young Protestant whose mind was not particularly
+perturbed by metaphysical problems. At that time
+Jefferson did not even conceive that there might exist a code of
+ethics resting on a different basis. If Doctor Small had helped
+him to find his exact relation to "the system of things in which
+we are placed", he was satisfied that complete resignation to
+Divine Will was the only wisdom. It may be safely assumed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+that three years after meeting Governor Fauquier, Thomas
+Jefferson had retained intact the faith of his youth.</p>
+
+<p>What brought a change in his attitude and disturbed his
+equilibrium is certainly not the influence of the "infidel French
+philosophers." The volume of extracts which I published under
+the title of "The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson" does not
+contain a single quotation from Voltaire, Diderot, or Rousseau,
+and French literature is represented only by a few insignificant
+lines from Racine. It is more likely that the first doubts were
+injected into his mind by the reading of Bolingbroke. He did
+not even need the assistance of Fauquier to lead him to the
+English philosopher. The catalogues of the old libraries of
+Virginia frequently mention Shaftesbury's "Characteristics"
+and Bolingbroke's "Works."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<p>Whether it was from the town bookstore or from Fauquier's
+own library, the fact remains that sometime, when still a student,
+but certainly after 1764, Jefferson obtained a copy of
+Bolingbroke and came to question the authenticity of the
+Bible as a historical document. It may have been due to the
+sentimental shock he had suffered, or simply to the critical
+attitude developed in him by his study of legal texts and decisions,
+but there is little doubt that he put into practice at
+that time the advice he gave later to Peter Carr, when he told
+him to "question with boldness the existence of a God; because,
+if there be one, he must more approve of the homage
+of reason, than that of blindfold fear. You will naturally
+examine first, the religion of your own country. Read the
+Bible, then, as you would read Livy or Tacitus."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> He therefore
+went systematically through Bolingbroke, learned from
+him methods of historical criticism and scientific doubt,
+weighed the evidence with a legal mind and came to very
+definite conclusions. At this decisive turn in his life, Jeffer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>son
+might easily have become a sceptic and a cynic, like so
+many men of the eighteenth century. As a matter of fact, a
+careful study of his "Literary Bible" indicates that at least
+for a time he was extremely cynical in his attitude towards
+women. This may have been due to the cruelty of Belinda,
+but it was more than a passing mood, for as late as 1770, two
+years before his marriage, he scribbled on the margin of his
+account book a Latin doggerel clearly indicating his distrust
+of the female kind:</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+<i>Crede ratem ventis, animum ne crede puellis<br />
+Namque est foeminea tutior unda fide.<br />
+Foemina nulla bona est, sed si bona contigit ulla<br />
+Nescio quo fato mala facta bona est.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>From Euripides particularly he collected with a sort of waggish
+pleasure the strongest denunciations of women in the old
+poet and repeated with him "Mortals should beget children
+from some other sources, and there should be no woman-kind:
+thus there would be no ill for man"&mdash;and again, "O Zeus,
+why hast thou established women, a curse deceiving men, in the
+light of the sun?"</p>
+
+<p>In Milton he found an echo of Euripides' misogynism and
+from "Paradise Lost" and "Samson Agonistes", he compiled
+a pretty set of accusations against female usurpations. His
+conclusion at that time was probably that of the old English
+poet, and he affirmed his superiority over the treacherous sex
+by repeating after him:</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Therefore God's universal law<br />
+Gave to man despotic power<br />
+Over his female in due awe.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>
+</p>
+
+<p>His outlook on life must have been very gloomy, if we are to
+trust certain quotations from Greek and Latin authors. To
+matters of mythology, descriptions of battles, and grandiose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+comparisons in Homer, Jefferson apparently paid no attention.
+He saw in the old poet a repository of ancient wisdom and the
+ancient philosophy of life. From him he collected verses in
+which he found expressed views on human destiny,&mdash;a courageous,
+stoic, yet disenchanted philosophy, summed up in two
+lines from Pope's translation:</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+To labour is the lot of man below<br />
+And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>When he read from Cicero's "Tusculanae" he selected passages
+with a view to confirm the deistic and materialistic principles
+towards which he was leaning at the time: "All must
+die; if only there should be an end to misery in death. What
+is there agreeable in life, when we must reflect that, at some
+time or other we must die." This particular piece of reasoning
+seems to have struck Jefferson quite forcibly, for he repeated
+it again and again fifty years later in his letters to John Adams:
+"For if either the heart, or the blood, or the brains, is the soul,
+then certainly the soul, being corporeal, must perish with the
+rest of the body; if it is air, it will perhaps be dissolved; if it
+is fire, it will be extinguished."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>
+
+<p>It was then that he copied and evidently accepted the statement
+of Bolingbroke that "it is not true that Christ revealed
+an entire body of ethics, proved to be the law of nature."</p>
+
+<p>The "law of nature"&mdash;what was meant by the word? Was
+it the Epicurean maxim of Horace,&mdash;"enjoy to-day and put as
+little trust as possible in the morrow?" If such had been the
+conclusion reached by Jefferson he could have followed the line
+of least resistance and enjoyed the good things of life, the good
+wines of the Raleigh Tavern, the pretty girls and all the social
+dissipations of many of his contemporaries. Such would have
+been Jefferson's destiny, had he been born in the Old World.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+Had he been made of weaker stuff he would have become one
+of the fox-hunters, horse-racers and card-players of the Virginian
+gentry. But he was saved by his aristocratic pride and
+the stern teaching of the old Stoics.</p>
+
+<p>He was conscious that he was of good stock, and he had read
+in Euripides that "to be of the noble born gives a peculiar distinction
+clearly marked among men, and the noble name increases
+in lustre in those who are worthy."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
+
+<p>To be ever upright and to be worthy of one's good blood,
+this was the simplest, most obvious and most imperious duty.
+It would have been very difficult for Jefferson to believe any
+longer that "at the end of the journey we shall deliver up our
+trust into the hands of him who gave it and receive such reward
+as to him shall seem proportionate to our merit", which was
+his belief in 1763. There was not even much to obtain in our
+life as a reward, for most societies are so organized that "whenever
+a man is noble and zealous, he wins no higher prize than
+baser men."<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> Still the fact remained that, after the collapse
+of all the religious superstructure, the foundations of morality
+were left unshaken, so Jefferson undertook to rebuild his own
+philosophy of life according to Bolingbroke's advice, with the
+material at hand. For it was evident that "a system thus
+collected from the writings of ancient heathen moralists, of
+Tully and Seneca, of Epictetus, and others, would be more full,
+more entire, more coherent, and more clearly deduced from
+unquestionable principles of knowledge."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>But he would take nobody's word for it, he would accept the
+teachings of no professor of moral philosophy; every man had
+to think for himself and to formulate once for all his own philosophy.
+When writing to his nephew, who he thought might
+go through the same crisis, Jefferson declared some forty years
+later that:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to
+be formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right
+and wrong, merely relative to this. This sense is as much part of
+his nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true
+foundation of morality and not the TO KALON, truth, etc. as
+fanciful writers have imagined. The moral sense, or conscience is
+as much a part of man, as his leg or arm.</p></div>
+
+<p>But this is the Jefferson of 1808, the mature man, almost the
+aged sage of Monticello. How far he was from having reached
+that poise and that clear vision of the moral world, appears in
+the confusion and contradictions of the abstracts collected in
+the "Literary Bible." Yet when he read Homer, Euripides,
+Cicero, Shakespeare, and even Buchanan, Jefferson had a clear
+and single purpose. He was reading more for profit than for
+pleasure, to gather material with which to build anew, by
+himself and for himself, a moral shelter in which he could find
+refuge for the rest of his days. He was not thinking then of
+devoting his life to his country; if he had any patriotism, it
+was dormant, and if he had any sense of abstract justice it is
+nowhere manifest. And yet, quite in contrast with the general
+run of quotations in the "Literary Bible" are some maxims
+scribbled in one of his unpublished Memorandum books under
+the year 1770. He had already levelled the top of the hill on
+which he was to build Monticello and was digging the cellar.
+But one day, after noting carefully that "4 good fellows, a lad
+and two girls, of about 16 each, have dug in my cellar a place
+in 8 hrs. &frac12;, 3 feet deep, 8 feet wide and 16&frac12; feet long," he stopped
+to recapitulate the most striking maxims by which he intended
+to regulate his life:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... no liberty no life&mdash;endure and abstain&mdash;<i>bonum est quod
+honestum, macte virtute esto, nil desperandum, faber suae quisque
+fortunae, fari quae sentiat</i>, what is, is right&mdash;<i>ex recto decus</i>&mdash;<i>ne cede
+malis sed contra audientior ito</i>&mdash;long life, long health, long pleasure
+and a friend&mdash;<i>non votum nobis sed patriae</i>&mdash;<i>fiat justitia ruat c&#339;lum</i>.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Clearly between the time he compiled his "Literary Bible"
+and this entry in the Memorandum book, a considerable change
+had taken place in Jefferson's mental world. What was dormant
+had been awakened, what was non-existent had been
+created. Let those who are looking for influences hunt for
+pale reflections of these maxims in the writings of the French
+philosophers. I cannot perceive any. I would even say that
+there is no distinct influence of Bolingbroke, for Jefferson borrowed
+from Bolingbroke methods of approaching certain problems
+rather than definite ideas. The young Virginian made
+use, for a short time only, of the critical reasoning employed by
+the English philosopher, but when it came to building anew,
+he gathered all the material, stone by stone and maxim by
+maxim, from the old Greek Stoics. It was a pessimistic yet
+courageous philosophy of life, far different from eighteenth-century
+optimism. By a strange anomaly, the son of the pioneer,
+the young man supposedly brought up under frontier
+influence, felt more kinship with Greece and republican Rome
+than with the philosophers of London, Paris or Geneva. During
+this early period of his life and when he had rejected the
+Christian system of ethics, the young Virginian found the moral
+props he needed in Homer's simple code of honor and friendship;
+in echoes from the Greek Stoics discovered in Cicero;
+and through them also was revealed to him a conception of
+patriotism and devotion to public duty which was to mold the
+rest of his life.</p>
+
+<p>In the transformation that took place in Jefferson's attitude
+towards life, it would be unjust to leave out the influence exerted
+by Patrick Henry. The young student was present when
+Henry delivered his famous speech in the House of Burgesses
+in 1765 and ended the speech with the defiant declaration,
+"If this be treason make the most of it." "He appeared to
+me," wrote Jefferson, "to speak as Homer wrote; his talents
+were great indeed, such as I never heard from any man." From<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+Henry he did not receive any particular political philosophy,
+but from him he learned the value of those striking formulas
+which remain in the memory of men, become mottoes and battle
+cries of political campaigns. He liked the vehemence and
+completeness of Henry's affirmation and when, in 1770, he
+wrote in his memorandum that maxim of all revolutionists and
+radicals of every age&mdash;<i>fiat justitia ruat c&#339;lum</i>, let there be
+justice, even if the heavens should crumble down&mdash;he was
+thinking as much of the Virginia orator as of the Romans of
+old.</p>
+
+<p>A last item in the same memorandum book of 1770 may
+justify the supposition that still another influence had entered
+Jefferson's life. By that time he had forgotten the fickle
+Belinda who had played with his heart, but he was no longer
+a woman-hater. When he quoted from Pope "the sleepy eye
+that speaks to the melting soul", he was already thinking of the
+young and attractive widow he was to marry two years later.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime he had been pursuing assiduously his law
+studies and his readings of political philosophers. Very early
+after entering college, he had decided that he would not be satisfied
+with the study of belles-lettres, or the life of a gentleman
+managing a large country estate. The clergy and the law
+were the only two professions open to a young man of distinctly
+aristocratic tendencies. He chose the law and began
+his training under the direction of Mr. Wythe. This training
+was markedly different from the instruction he would have
+received in Europe. There was no regularly organized law
+school at Williamsburg; candidates for the Bar had to prepare
+themselves under the direction of an old practitioner; they
+attended the sessions of the court and prepared briefs for their
+master; they studied by themselves and consequently were
+much more familiar with the practice than with the theory
+of jurisprudence. No examination was given by a regular
+faculty; but a license to practice law and to hang out his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+shingle was obtained by the candidate after appearing before
+a special board of examiners. In the case of Patrick
+Henry, the examiners had been John Randolph, afterward
+Attorney-general for the Colony, Peyton Randolph, Mr. Wythe
+and perhaps Robert C. Nicholas. If Henry "got by" after
+six months' study, thanks to his phenomenal fluency and
+"aplomb", it took Jefferson six years before he considered
+himself sufficiently prepared to appear before the examiners.
+A large part of his time however was spent at Shadwell in
+agricultural pursuits and independent study; but he came
+regularly to Williamsburg to consult Mr. Wythe, to attend
+the sessions of the Court, to buy books, and also to attend
+during the winter the many functions given by the brilliant
+society of the capital of Virginia. These years, the most
+important of all in the formation of Jefferson's political theories,
+can now be studied in the "Commonplace Book", long
+thought destroyed, which even Randall had not been able
+to find, but which is now safely deposited in the Library of
+Congress. It is a most revealing compilation and throws
+an unexpected light on the origin of Jefferson's political
+doctrines.</p>
+
+<p>It contains first of all no less than five hundred fifty-six
+articles analyzing special cases from the Reports of Cases in the
+King's Bench, George Andrews, Robert Raymond, William
+Salkeld and Coke's "Institutes", for in a colony where no attempt
+had been made to codify the body of existing laws, and
+where the common law was the supreme law of the land, the
+first prerequisite to becoming a good lawyer was to assimilate an
+enormous number of cases and precedents. Jefferson proceeded,
+like all the law students of his time, to dig in "Coke upon Littleton"
+and others, putting down in his "Commonplace Book"
+decisions, discussions, definitions, matters of importance to a
+country lawyer, such as wills, devises, commercial contracts,
+cases on larceny, trespassing, debts, damages, bankruptcy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+leases, libels; and he did it with his customary thoroughness
+and clarity. A detailed study of the "Commonplace Book"
+would be most illuminating for those who, in spite of all evidence
+to the contrary, still maintain that Jefferson was an impractical
+philosopher, interested only in abstract principles
+and in theory. On the other hand, he was not simply a country
+lawyer, either. If he had not seemed to manifest any
+interest in the abstract study of the principles of law, in what
+he used to call "metaphysical disquisitions", he was keenly
+interested in the historical development of the legal structure
+on which rested modern society and particularly the colonial
+society of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>He carefully went through Lord Kames' "Historical Law
+Tracts" and studied from him the history of criminal law, promises
+and covenant, property, securities upon land, courts, briefs.
+It is in Kames that he found a definition of society which he
+could have written himself and which expresses his political
+individualism and subordination to law:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Mutual defence against a more powerful neighbor being in early
+times the chief, or sole motive for joining society, individuals never
+thought of surrendering any of their natural rights which could be
+retained consistently with their great aim of mutual defence.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is elaborated upon in the passage quoted from the "History
+of Property":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Man, by his nature, is fitted for society, and society by its conveniences
+is fitted for man. The perfection of human society
+consists in that just degree of union among the individuals, which
+to each reserves freedom and independency, as far as is consistent
+with peace and good order. The bonds of society where every man
+shall be bound to dedicate the whole of his industry to the common
+interest would be of the strictest kind, but it would be unnatural
+and uncomfortable, because destructive of liberty and independence;
+so would be the enjoyment of the goods of fortune in common.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I am perfectly aware of the undeniable influence of Locke
+upon the theory of Kames; and it would be very unlikely that
+Jefferson had not read at that date Locke's "Treatise on Civil
+Government." The fact remains, however, that neither Locke,
+nor so far as I know any political thinker of the period, had yet
+so clearly defined that particular combination of individualism
+and respect for peace and order so characteristic of American
+democracy. We shall see in one of the following chapters how
+Jefferson, elaborating on this statement of Kames, derived
+from it all his conception of natural rights. The Scottish Lord
+was for him a master and a guide.</p>
+
+<p>In Sir John Dalrymple, author of an "Essay Towards a General
+History of Feudal Property", in Francis Stoughton Sullivan's
+"An Historical Treatise of the Feudal Laws and the
+Constitution of the Laws of England", Jefferson studied the
+history of primogeniture and of entails and came to the conclusion
+that both of them had foundation neither in nature nor
+in law, and certainly did not appear in England before the Norman
+Conquest. He reached to the same finding in his long
+dissertation on the original common law, and thus we can trace
+directly through the "Commonplace Book" the sources of the
+Bill on Primogeniture, of the Bill for Religious Freedom, and of
+the Law to Abolish Entails, which Jefferson considered as forming
+a system "which would eradicate every fibre of ancient or
+future aristocracy and lay a foundation for a government truly
+republican."</p>
+
+<p>Some of the entries in the "Commonplace Book" were evidently
+made after the period with which we are dealing in this
+chapter, although most of them can be dated before 1776. We
+have no means of determining whether Jefferson had undertaken
+a systematic study of federative governments when he
+was still a student, or at what time he copied the many
+extracts and quotations from Montesquieu. Nor can we enter
+here into a detailed discussion of all the articles. One or two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+facts, however, stand out even after a superficial glimpse of
+this repertory of ideas on government and society. The first
+is that Jefferson at that date, and indeed during most of his
+life, was not interested in abstract principles or in theoretical
+discussions. His was eminently the mind of a lawyer, and it is
+not for a lawyer to arrive at a definition of justice but to determine
+what the law says on a particular point. Yet in a country
+where law is not codified and the common law is the basis of
+the legal structure, it is impossible to find out what the law is
+without undertaking a historical study of the cases at hand in the
+different repertories. Men are either fallible or dishonest, false
+interpretations creep in, texts are distorted from their original
+meaning, and thus it becomes necessary to apply to legal decisions
+the rules of historical evidence formulated by Bolingbroke.</p>
+
+<p>After undertaking such a study, Jefferson arrived at a very
+curious conclusion; that at a time which was not buried in a
+mythological past, the Anglo-Saxons had lived under customs
+and unwritten laws based upon the natural rights of man and
+permitting the individual to develop freely, normally and
+happily. In the course of time, these free institutions deteriorated
+through the nefarious influences of several agencies. Unwritten
+law became written law and jurists succeeded in concealing
+under their sophistry and verbiage the primitive intent
+of natural legislation. Priests, striving to extend their domination
+over a realm which primitively was foreign to them,
+introduced religious prescriptions into civil laws and thus
+diminished the rights of the individual. Conquerors and a long
+lineage of hereditary kings further modified primitive institutions
+in order to provide an apparently legal foundation for
+their usurpations, until the people, no longer able to withstand
+patiently the evils of tyranny, arose and recovered at least some
+of their rights.</p>
+
+<p>Such a conspectus of the history of England was neither new
+nor original; it was one of the favorite contentions of English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+jurists during the eighteenth century, and nowhere perhaps is
+it more forcibly developed than in the last chapter of Blackstone's
+"Commentaries", "Of the rise, progress and gradual
+improvements of the laws of England." It is fundamentally
+also the doctrine of Jefferson, who went much farther than any
+of the English political thinkers in his revindication of the Saxon
+liberties.</p>
+
+<p>One may see already how such a conception differs from the
+theories of Rousseau and the French philosophers, and indeed
+from those of the English philosophers. And this is easily
+explained, even if too seldom realized. Born in the eighteenth
+century, Jefferson is in some respects a man of the eighteenth
+century, but no greater mistake could be made than to apply
+to him the same standards that apply to European political
+thinkers. The very fact that he was born and grew up in a
+remote colony prevented him from joining any particular school
+of political philosophy. He had comparatively few books at
+his disposal, certainly fewer gazettes, and only faint echoes of
+the philosophical battles raging in Europe reached the capital
+of Virginia. During the long winter evenings at Shadwell, he
+had ample time to think, to sift from the books he was reading,
+not matter of passing interest, but matter of practical value
+and principles susceptible of being applied to the society which
+he knew and in which he lived. He could not have the cosmopolitan
+and universal outlook of thinkers who had traveled
+and met with representatives of many nationalities. His
+"Literary Bible", as well as his "Commonplace Book", contains
+many examples which might be used to illustrate his provincialism
+or, if one prefers, his regionalism.</p>
+
+<p>No man can become genuinely interested in things he has
+never seen and cannot imagine. He had never seen the English
+countryside and so, when he copied from Thomson's description
+of spring, he selected only passages that could apply
+as well to the landscape of Virginia as to the scenery of old Eng<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>land.
+Even when he read Horace he eliminated verses with
+too much local color, unknown plants, unfamiliar dishes and
+beverages, until the descriptions of a Roman farm by the old
+poet would fit a typical Virginia plantation with the slaves
+singing in the great courtyard after the day's work is done.
+He knew Latin and Greek, French and Italian, and perhaps
+even German; for the time and place his library was rich and
+varied. He had read Milton, Shakespeare, Dryden, Buchanan,
+Thomson, Thomas Moss; he had studied Kames, Pelloutier,
+Stanyan, Eden, Baccaria, Montesquieu and possibly Voltaire's
+"Essai sur les Moeurs", but from each of these he had culled
+facts and definitions rather than principles and theories. He
+had read some books of travel and listened with enjoyment to
+Fauquier's accounts of his long voyages. He was dreaming of
+visiting England, the continent and the Mediterranean, but
+the only form of society he knew was the colonial society of
+Virginia. No cosmopolitan tendencies would develop in such
+surroundings. Superior as he was in intelligence and culture
+to his fellow students and to the young gentry of Williamsburg,
+Jefferson, at the age of twenty-five, was not yet an American;
+he was distinctly a Virginian.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>A VIRGINIA LAWYER</h2>
+
+
+<p>In 1767, Thomas Jefferson, then twenty-four years of age,
+was "led into the practice of the law at the bar of the General
+Court" by his friend and mentor, Mr. Wythe. He was the
+owner of a substantial estate inherited from his father, and he
+managed the family property of Shadwell, but he had already
+formed plans for an establishment of his own and begun preparations
+to build Monticello on the other side of the Rivanna.
+The only future open to him seemed to be that of any young
+Virginian of his social class. He occasionally joined them in
+fox-hunting and attended the races, enjoyed a dance, a concert,
+and a good play at the theater. The following year was particularly
+brilliant at Williamsburg. The governor held stately
+receptions and the Virginian Company of Comedians presented
+a rich program: "The Constant Couple or a Trip to Jubilee",
+a farce called "The Miller of Mansfield", "The Beggar's
+Opera", "The Anatomist or Sham Doctor", besides the ordinary
+plays of the repertory, were given during the spring and
+summer of that year.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson had his share of all these social pleasures, together
+with others, but there were also simpler and more austere occupations.
+First of all he had to look after his plantation.
+Agriculture, so long a haphazard and empirical affair, was making
+great strides in Europe, particularly in England. Treatises
+on the subject and special magazines were read eagerly in
+Virginia; the choice of cultures, the improvement of seeds, the
+introduction of new crops greatly concerned the minds of pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>gressive
+planters like Colonel Washington and the young master
+of Shadwell.</p>
+
+<p>The "Garden Books" kept by Jefferson and now published
+only in part, reveal him as a forerunner of modern efficiency
+engineers. Fences, walls, roads and bridges had to be built
+on the 1900-acre estate left him by his father; trees had to be
+planted and vegetables raised for the large family at Shadwell,
+for the slaves and for the many travelers and visitors who continued
+to drop in. If all the seeds planted in Jefferson's vegetable
+garden and orchards did well, he must have had an extraordinary
+variety of produce, considerably larger than is to
+be found on the best appointed farms of to-day. For he was
+not satisfied with the staple vegetables which appear on the
+American table with clocklike regularity; he sowed "salsifia,
+peppergrass, sorrel, salmon radishes, nasturtium, asparagus, all
+sorts of lettuce, cresses, celery, strawberries, snap-beans, purple
+beans, white beans, sugar beans, cucumbers, watermelons,
+cherries, olive stones, raspberries, turnips", and&mdash;horrors!&mdash;garlic.
+He was led into many such experiments by his neighbor
+and friend Philip Mazzei, formerly of Tuscany and now of
+Albemarle County, for many of the entries in the Garden Book
+are in Italian and "<i>aglio de Terracina</i> (<i>vulgo</i> garlic), <i>radiocchio
+di Pistoia</i> (succory or wild endive), <i>cavolo broccolo Francese
+di Pisa, fragole Maggese</i> (May strawberries)" and dozens of
+other imported varieties appear in his garden lists. Then there
+were the horses, for, true to the Virginia tradition, Jefferson
+kept no less than half a dozen blood mares of good pedigree.
+Above all, the regular crops of wheat, corn and especially tobacco
+had to be looked after; for tobacco was the only crop
+that could be marketed for solid cash or sent to London to be
+exchanged for books, furniture, fine clothes, musical instruments,
+and the choice wines of Europe. As a practical farmer
+Jefferson was rather successful, since during these early years
+his land brought him an average return of two thousand dollars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+This was ample for his needs. But his main resources were
+procured from the practice of law.</p>
+
+<p>He kept a complete memorandum of all the cases in which he
+appeared before the courts of Virginia and opposite each case
+entered the fee received for his professional services.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> These
+fees would seem very moderate to the least ambitious practitioner
+of our days. In many cases no fee is mentioned at all,
+and we are at liberty to suppose that Jefferson took some charity
+cases, or that the defendants were not always scrupulous in
+paying their bills. Yet, altogether, the total averaged close to
+three thousand dollars a year, a nice fat addition to the income
+from Shadwell and Monticello. Starting with one hundred
+and fifteen cases in 1768, Jefferson was retained as attorney or
+counsel in no less than four hundred thirty cases in 1771, and
+it is no exaggeration to state that no day passed during the
+twelve years he remained engaged in the practice of law without
+his giving considerable time to his profession. The moderate
+amount of these fees and the large number of cases indicate
+the kind of practice in which Jefferson was employed.
+Trespassing of cattle on a neighbor's field, destruction of fences,
+robbery committed by a clerk, wills, administration of estates,
+interest, quarrels between two goodwives, with a lively exchange
+of actionable words, assault and battery, all the seamy,
+sordid, petty side of life, constituted for these twelve years the
+daily practice of Thomas Jefferson, an apprenticeship of life
+and a training in the knowledge of human nature enjoyed by
+very few abstract philosophers.</p>
+
+<p>In the old days of the bar, one of the earmarks of most lawyers
+was a fluency of speech, unsurpassed except perhaps by the
+ministers. But words never came easily to Jefferson, or in great
+abundance. His voice, pleasant and modulated in ordinary
+conversation, "sank in his throat", if raised higher, and became
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>husky. He was clearly a business lawyer, an office lawyer,
+whose clear, precise, meticulous presentation of facts fitted
+him particularly for appearing before a court of appeals like
+the General Court, rather than for moving and emotionally
+convincing a jury of twelve men good and true.</p>
+
+<p>His scorn for oratory, long sentences, images, apostrophes
+may have been a case of sour grapes, for in his youth he admired
+tremendously Patrick Henry. As we have seen, he was
+wise enough not to aim higher than he could reach. Not only
+did he never crave the fame of the popular orator, but, conscious
+of his limitations, he always showed a real repugnance
+to addressing a large assembly. Particularly brilliant in conversation,
+he was destined to be a committee man, to win his
+ends by the pen rather than by the silver tongue of the politician.
+Yet if he had been fond of rhetoric, rhetoric would have
+found its way into his writings, but no man of the period wrote
+less figuratively, employed fewer artifices of style; metaphors,
+comparisons were unknown to him. Ideas remained ideas and
+were never clad in the flowing garments of mythology; facts
+remained facts and never became allegories. Liberty never
+appeared before his eyes and was never represented by him as a
+goddess, and neither America nor Britannia were majestic figures
+of heroic size that passed in his dreams. He was neither
+emotional nor imaginative, yet his eyes were keen and quick to
+note and establish distinctions between different varieties of
+plants or animals. His mind was alert and always on the
+lookout for new facts to add to his store of knowledge, after
+proper cataloguing. Surely he was not the man to make startling
+discoveries in the realm of natural history, or to propose
+a new system of the universe, nor was he one to conceive, in a
+moment of inspiration, a new political gospel and a new system
+of society; when he took up the practice of law in Williamsburg,
+the greatest future that destiny had in store for him,
+promising as he was, seemed to become as upright and sound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+a lawyer as Mr. Wythe, and a legal authority as good and
+learned as Mr. Pendleton.</p>
+
+<p>He was admitted to the Bar in 1767, and two years later was
+chosen as a member of the House of Burgesses and placed on the
+committee appointed to draw up an answer to the Governor's
+speech. His draft was rejected, however, and Colonel Nicholas'
+address substituted.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> A few days later Governor Botetourt,
+unable to endorse the spirited remonstrance to the King
+on the subject of taxation, dissolved the Assembly.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The next day&mdash;wrote Jefferson&mdash;we met in the Apollo of the
+Raleigh Tavern, formed ourselves into a voluntary convention,
+drew up articles of association against the use of any merchandise
+imported from Great Britain, signed and recommended them to the
+people, repaired to our several counties, and were re-elected without
+any other exception than of the very few who had declined to follow
+our proceedings.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A spirit of discontent was abroad and had spread throughout
+the colonies, but it was neither disloyalty nor rebellion.
+Easily satisfied with this gesture, which for many remained
+a mere gesture, the Virginians paid little attention to public
+affairs during the next two years. In the words of Jefferson
+"nothing of particular excitement occurring for a considerable
+time, our countrymen seemed to fall into a state of insensibility
+and inaction." His private life was more eventful. The first
+of February, 1770, the house at Shadwell in which he lived
+with his mother, his brother and his unmarried sisters, was
+burnt to the ground, and with it every paper he had and almost
+every book.</p>
+
+<p>On reasonable estimate&mdash;he wrote to Page&mdash;I calculate the
+<i>cost</i> of the books burned to have been &pound;200 sterling. Would to God
+it had been the money, then it had never cost me a sigh. To make
+the loss more sensible, it fell principally on my books of Common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+law, of which I have but one left, at that time lent out. Of papers
+too of every kind I am utterly destitute. All of these whether
+public or private, of business or of amusement, have perished in the
+flames.</p>
+
+<p>The disaster had not been quite so complete as Jefferson indicates.
+His "Commonplace Book" was saved, his account
+books, garden books and many memoranda and family papers
+escaped the flames and were discovered again in 1851 at the
+bottom of an old trunk.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Even as far as books were concerned,
+the loss was not altogether irretrievable. Jefferson wrote at
+once to Skipwith for a catalogue of books, sent orders to London,
+and two years later he could proudly enter in a diary not
+yet published that his library consisted on August 1, 1773, of
+twelve hundred and fifty books, not including volumes of
+music or "his books in Williamsburg." A very substantial
+store of printed matter for the time.</p>
+
+<p>Another event of quite a different order took place in his life.
+Jefferson had lost a home, but he was building another, soon to
+be ready for occupancy, on the hill of Monticello, and he already
+knew that the house would not be left long without a
+mistress. On the third day of December, 1771, he filled out a
+formal application for a marriage license in the court of Charles
+City County and on the first of January he was married to
+Martha Skelton, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and daughter of
+John Wayles, then twenty-three years old. John Wayles of
+"The Forest" was a lawyer with a large practice, a man of
+worth if not of eminence, a boon companion welcomed in every
+society, who had amassed quite a large fortune. His daughter
+Martha, a true type of Virginia girl, of medium height and
+well-formed figure, had been well educated and possessed all the
+social accomplishments of the time. She danced gracefully,
+played the harpsichord and the spinet, was well read and, above
+all, was a very efficient housekeeper, for she knew how to man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>age
+the slaves and care for them in their illnesses, knew how to
+keep accounts and to arrange for a reception. If the family
+tradition is true, she was receptive to music, for Jefferson had
+won out over two rivals because of his talent on the violin and
+his ability to sing duets. It was a <i>mariage de raison</i>, to be sure,
+and two years later Jefferson noted with undisguised satisfaction
+that, following the death of his father-in-law, the portion
+that came to Martha was equal to his own patrimony and consequently
+"doubled the ease of our circumstances." But it
+was also a marriage of love, not without romantic color, with
+a wedding trip from Charles City to Monticello through a
+snowstorm, and a late arrival at night in the cold new house.
+Jefferson did not take any of his friends into his confidence and
+did not celebrate his connubial bliss; but at the very end of the
+pages given to Milton in his "Literary Bible", as an afterthought
+and a recantation from his misogynism, are found the
+following lines copied, we may surmise, during his honeymoon:</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles<br />
+Wanted, nor youthful dalliance, as beseems<br />
+Fair couple, linkt in happy league<br />
+Alone as they....<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>
+</p>
+
+<p>Belinda had been forgotten, and the young woman-hater had
+found his fair conqueror.</p>
+
+<p>But death again took its toll and cast its cloud over Monticello.
+With Page, Dabney Carr, Jefferson's fellow student at
+William and Mary, had been his closest friend. Carr, a frequent
+visitor at Shadwell, had married in 1764 Jefferson's
+sister Martha. Not a wealthy man, he was described by his
+brother-in-law as living in a very small house, with a table,
+half a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, but the happiest
+man in the universe.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> He died when hardly thirty and Jefferson
+had him buried beneath the shade of their favorite tree at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+Monticello under which they had so often read, dreamed and
+discussed; and such was the origin of the little cemetery in
+which Jefferson was to bury so many of his dear ones before he
+joined them himself in his last sleep. For Carr he went to his
+"Literary Bible", as he himself felt unable to write a fitting
+tribute, and copied from Mallet's "Excursion" an inscription
+to nail on the tree, by the grave of the friend "who of all men
+living loved him most."</p>
+
+<p>Honored by the Royal Government and made by Botetourt
+"Lieutenant of the County of Albemarle, and Chief Commander
+of all His Majesty's Militia, Horse and Foot in the said
+county of Albemarle"; honored also by his Alma Mater and
+appointed by the President of William and Mary "Surveyor of
+Albemarle County",<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> a member of the Assembly, one of the
+richest landowners of his county, one of the most successful
+lawyers of Virginia, happily married, busy with his estate, his
+books, his violin, his law practice, Jefferson could look forward
+to a long, quiet and moderate life, the ideal life of a farmer, a
+gentleman and a scholar. For a man who took his duties seriously
+it was by no means an existence of idleness, in nowise to
+be compared with the life of an English gentleman farmer.
+Every planter was to some extent a captain, and every plantation
+was to a large extent self-sufficient and self-supporting.
+In the case of Jefferson, who had recently increased his domain,
+difficulties and new problems requiring inventiveness, resourcefulness
+and ingenuity arose every day. Slaves had to be taught
+new trades and trained, the wilderness had to be reclaimed.
+Thus were developed qualities of leadership and qualities of
+class pride. A young planter related to the best families of the
+colony felt that he belonged to a ruling class, above which
+could only exist the remote power of the British Parliament
+and the majesty of the king represented by a governor who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+never really belonged, and who in spite of his exalted position,
+always remained a stranger.</p>
+
+<p>An English tourist, Burnaby, traveling in Virginia in 1760,
+had already noted signs of impatience and restlessness among
+the colonists of Virginia. "They are haughty," he wrote,
+"and jealous of their liberties; impatient of restraint and can
+scarcely bear the thought of being controlled by superior power.
+Many of them consider the Colonies as independent states,
+not connected with Great Britain otherwise than by having the
+same common King."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+
+<p>When the delegates from Virginia were sent to the first Continental
+Congress, Silas Deane noted that "the Virginia, and
+indeed all the Southern delegates appear like men of importance...they
+are sociable, sensible, and spirited men. Not a milksop
+among them."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p>
+
+<p>They were aristocrats wont to give orders and resentful of
+any interference; they were lords and almost supreme rulers
+on their plantations; they were owners of many slaves and
+they had been accustomed to call no man master; and Jefferson
+was one of them.</p>
+
+<p>The change in the situation had come very abruptly. It is
+not the purpose of this book to present an elaborate discussion
+of the causes of the American Revolution, whether they were
+economic or political or philosophical, or whether they were of
+mixed motives, varying with each colony and in each colony
+with every man, did not impel the colonies to revolt against
+the mother country. I am aware of the present tendency to
+attribute most of the agitation preceding the revolution to
+purely economic causes; it must be remembered however,
+that, if the ulterior motives of the promoters of the American
+Revolution were selfish and interested, Jefferson was one of
+those who were moved by entirely different considerations, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+were, as a matter of fact, most of the members of the First Continental
+Congress.</p>
+
+<p>While life was still moving easily and happily in Virginia,
+where in 1772 the theatrical season had been particularly
+brilliant, things were coming to a head in New England. News
+of the Bill closing the Port of Boston on the first of June, 1774,
+reached the Virginia Assembly during the spring session; how
+it was received had better be told in the words of Jefferson. As
+so often happens in history at the decisive turn of events, the
+leadership was taken by a very small group of men who made
+up their minds at once, assumed responsibility and changed the
+course of the ship of state. So far no strong protest had been
+made by Virginia to the British Government. Dunmore was
+far from being tyrannical; the order imposing duties on many
+English products had been largely rescinded, except on tea,
+but it may not be sacrilegious to state that the Virginia gentry
+were more partial to French wines, Madeira and Nantes rum
+than to the English national beverage. If Virginia had not
+declared at that particular time her solidarity, if Jefferson and
+his friends had not taken the right steps and found the right
+words to "arouse the people from the lethargy into which they
+had fallen", even New England steadfastness and stanchness
+of heart would have been unequal to the task. It was on this
+occasion, rather than on the Fourth of July, 1776, that the fate
+of the British colonies of America was decided.</p>
+
+<p>According to Jefferson's own statement, leadership in these
+subjects was no longer left to the old members of the Assembly,
+but Patrick Henry, R. H. Lee, F. L. Lee, three or four other
+members and he himself met in the library after agreeing that
+they must take "an unequivocal stand in the line with Massachusetts."
+They decided that the best means of calling the
+seriousness of the situation to the attention of the public was
+to appoint a day of general fasting and prayer, quite an unprecedented
+measure in Virginia; but they rummaged in old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+books "for revolutionary precedents and forms of the Puritans",
+and they finally "cooked up a resolution, somewhat
+modernizing their phrases, for appointing the 1st day of June
+on which the port-bill was to commence, for a day of fasting,
+humiliation, and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us
+the evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in support of
+our rights, and to turn the hearts of the King and Parliament
+to moderation and justice."<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Clearly the day of fasting and
+prayer did not appear to any of the members of the unofficial
+committee as springing from a profound religious sentiment,
+but they knew how strong over the people was the power of the
+Church, and how impossible it was to unite them except by
+giving a religious appearance to a purely political manifestation.
+These young Virginia lawyers knew their people and
+were not totally unacquainted with mass psychology; they
+knew how to play the game of practical politics, despite their
+high and disinterested ideal.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Governor Dunmore pronounced the usual
+English remedy in such circumstances: the dissolution of the
+Assembly. Once more the members met in the Apollo room,
+and "they agreed to an association, and instructed the committee
+of correspondence to propose to the corresponding committees
+of the other colonies to appoint deputies to meet in
+Congress at such place <i>annually</i> as would be convenient, to
+direct, from time to time, the measures required by the general
+interest."</p>
+
+<p>This passage in the "Autobiography" has led historians into
+a spirited controversy as to whether the proposal to form a
+Congress originated in Virginia or in Massachusetts, and
+whether such a plan had not been discussed in Boston as early
+as 1770. Whatever the case may be, the most important part
+of the resolution passed in the Raleigh Tavern was not the establishment
+of a co&ouml;rdinating organism; it was the declara<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>tion
+recorded by Jefferson, "that an attack on any one colony
+should be considered as an attack on the whole." This last
+part was not a simple administrative provision, it was more
+than a promise of a union; it was the constitution of a new
+society, since according to Kames as quoted by Jefferson in his
+"Commonplace Book" "mutual defence against a more powerful
+neighbor is in early times the chief, or sole motive for joining
+society."</p>
+
+<p>The deputies went back home and, on the first of June, met
+the assemblies of the people "to perform ceremonies of the day
+and to address to them discourses suited to the occasion. The
+people met generally, with anxiety and alarm in their countenance,
+and the effect of the day, through the whole colony was
+like a shock of electricity, arousing every man and placing him
+erect and solid on his centre."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p>
+
+<p>As a result of the train of thought started by the meeting,
+the freeholders of Albemarle County adopted on June 26 a
+series of resolutions evidently written by Jefferson. Here for
+the first time Jefferson declared that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The inhabitants of the several States of British America are
+subject to the laws which they adopted at their first settlement, and
+to such others as have been since made by their respective Legislatures,
+duly constituted and appointed with their own consent.
+That no other Legislature whatever can rightly exercise authority
+over them; and that these privileges they as the common rights
+of mankind, confirmed by the political constitutions they have
+respectively assumed, and also by several charters of compact from
+the Crown.</p></div>
+
+<p>The originality of this theory cannot be determined without
+comparison with the resolutions adopted a few days before by
+the Assembly of Fairfax County presided over by Colonel
+George Washington. These came from the pen of George
+Mason and they stated with equal emphasis the contractual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+theory of the government of the British colonies. Whether
+Jefferson knew them or not, the similarity with the views
+expressed by the freeholders of Albemarle is most striking.</p>
+
+<p>The first article averred the principle also found in Jefferson's
+"Commonplace Book" that "this colony and Dominion
+of Virginia cannot be considered as a conquered country, and
+as it was, that the present inhabitants are not of the conquered,
+but of the conquerors." It added that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our ancestors, when they left their native land, and settled in
+America, brought over with them, even if the same is not confirmed
+by Charters, the civil constitution and form of Government of the
+country they came from and were by the laws of nature and nations
+entitled to all its privileges, immunities and advantages, which have
+descended to us, their posterity, and ought of right to be as fully
+enjoyed as if we had still continued with the realm of England.</p></div>
+
+<p>The second article enunciated the most essential and "fundamental
+principle of government", that the people "could be
+governed by no laws to which they had not given their consent
+by Representatives freely chosen by themselves."</p>
+
+<p>The third article declared that the colonies had some duty
+to fulfill towards the mother country and admitted that the
+British Parliament might, "directed with wisdom and moderation",
+take measures to regulate "American commerce",
+although such action was in some degree repugnant to the
+principles of the Constitution.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+<p>Whether or not Jefferson had received the Fairfax resolutions
+before writing the Albemarle declaration, this is the capital
+difference between the two documents and the two doctrines.
+On the one hand, George Mason accepted the theory
+that the first settlers had brought over with them the civil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+constitution and form of government of the mother country,
+and consequently admitted a permanent connection between
+the colony and the metropolis. Jefferson, on the contrary,
+asserted with great strength and clarity the complete independence
+of the colonists from the British constitution. They
+were subject to no laws except those they had freely adopted
+when they had consented to a new compact and formed a new
+society. He was perfectly justified when he declared in his
+"Autobiography":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our other patriots, Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas, Pendleton,
+stopped at the half-way house of John Dickinson, who admitted
+that England had a right to regulate our commerce, and to lay
+duties on it for the purpose of regulation, but not of raising revenue.
+But for this ground there was no foundation in compact, in any
+acknowledged principles of colonisation, nor in reason; expatriation
+being a natural right, and acted on as such by all nations, in all
+ages.</p></div>
+
+<p>This was really the core of the question. Jefferson had
+reached that conclusion, not from following a certain line of
+abstract reasoning, but after studying the history of the Greek
+colonies in Stanyan, and the history of the Saxon settlement
+of Great Britain in many authors, as may be seen in his "Commonplace
+Book", and he was soon to reaffirm the doctrine of
+expatriation as the fundamental principle on which rested all
+the claims of the American colonies.</p>
+
+<p>The Virginia Convention was to meet at Williamsburg on
+August 1, to select delegates to a General Congress of the colonies.
+With all his books at hand, all his legal authorities, the
+precious "Commonplace Book" and all the repertories he had
+gathered in his library, Jefferson proceeded to draft a project
+of instructions for the future delegates. He was taken ill on
+his way to Williamsburg but forwarded the plan to Peyton
+Randolph and Patrick Henry. Henry never mentioned it;
+Randolph informed the convention that he had received such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+a paper from a member, prevented by sickness from offering it,
+and laid it on the table for perusal. It was read generally by the
+members, approved by many, though thought too bold for use
+at that time; but they printed it in pamphlet form, under the
+title of "A Summary View of the Rights of British America."</p>
+
+<p>In some respects it is a more original and more important
+document than the Declaration of Independence itself. With
+the detailed account of the grievances enumerated by Jefferson
+we cannot deal here. A few points, however, deserve special
+attention. The difficulties that had arisen between the colonies
+and the home government had occasioned the publication of
+many pamphlets dealing with the situation. Most of Jefferson's
+predecessors, however, had attempted to define <i>in jure</i>
+the rights of the British colonies. Thus George Mason had
+made his "Extracts" from the Virginia charters, "with some
+remarks on them" in 1773, and he had come to the conclusion
+already given in the "Fairfax resolves", that "the ancestors of
+the colonists when they had left their native land and settled
+in America had brought with them, although not confirmed by
+Charters, the civil government and form of government of the
+country they came from."<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> But he had gone back no farther
+in history and had not formulated the principles of the "constitution"
+of England. Not so with Jefferson, who emphatically
+denied that the colonists had anything to do with the
+British constitution or with its form of government. He had
+studied the history of the settlement of England in Molesworth,
+in Pelloutier, in Sir William Temple, in Dalrymple, and
+had come to the conclusion enunciated in the "Rights of British
+America":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the
+free inhabitants of the British Dominions in Europe, and possessed
+a right which nature has given to all men of leaving the country
+in which chance, not choice, had placed them, and of seeking out new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+habitations, and there establishing new societies, under such laws
+and regulations as, to them, shall seem most likely to promote public
+happiness.</p>
+
+<p>That their Saxon ancestors had, under this universal law, in like
+manner, left their native wilds and woods in the North of Europe,
+possessed themselves of the Island of Britain, then less charged
+with inhabitants, and established there a system of laws which has
+been so long the glory and protection of that country.</p></div>
+
+<p>On another and not less important point, Jefferson was indebted
+to his "Commonplace Book." He had taken great
+care to determine through historical and judicial authorities
+the origin of land tenures in the kingdom of England and he
+had found that in the good old Saxon times, "upon settling in
+the countries which they subdued, the victorious army divided
+the conquered lands. That portion which fell to every soldier
+he seized as a recompense due to his valour, as a settlement acquired
+by his own sword. He took possession of it as a freeman
+in full property. He enjoyed it during his own life and
+could dispose of it at pleasure, or transmit it as an inheritance
+to his children." It was not until after the fifth century that
+the king, because as general he was thought fittest to distribute
+the conquered lands to each according to his merits, assumed to
+himself and was quietly allowed the entire power of the partition
+of lands. This abominable system however was not introduced
+into England before the Norman Conquest, and thus was
+spread the false notion that all lands belonged to the crown.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>
+Against this last claim, which he believed to rest on a false
+conception of history, Jefferson raises an emphatic protest.
+Backed by his knowledge of the gradual encroachment of the
+feudal system on the natural rights of his Anglo-Saxon ancestors,
+he claimed for the American colonists the same rights as
+belonged in the good old Anglo-Saxon days to those who had
+acquired a settlement by their own sword.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this
+may be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+the society, may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds vacant,
+and occupancy will give him title.</p></div>
+
+<p>According to this theory, one of the mainstays of the doctrine
+of Americanism, of which Jefferson made himself the advocate,
+is the right of conquest. But here Jefferson would have
+introduced a distinction borrowed from Lord Kames, for "the
+northern nations who overran Europe fought not for glory or
+dominion but for habitation" and invaded only countries which
+were sparsely populated.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Whether such a position was tenable
+historically is quite another matter. The important point maintained
+by Jefferson is that when the first settlers left Great
+Britain for the shores of America, they were not colonists but
+free agents. By the mere fact of expatriating themselves they
+had severed all ties with the mother country, they had recovered
+full possession of all their natural rights and were at liberty
+to agree on a new social compact; they derived their rights of
+property not from the king but from their occupancy of a new
+and unsettled territory. All considered, this curious doctrine
+was nothing but a sort of sublimation and legal justification of
+the pioneer spirit.</p>
+
+<p>This historical and legal demonstration, in which Jefferson
+had gone back to the very beginnings of Anglo-Saxon society,
+transcended all contemporary discussions on the Rights of the
+British Parliament. Jefferson was perfectly aware of its originality
+and not a little proud of it. It was in his opinion</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>the only orthodox or tenable doctrine&mdash;that our emigration
+from England to this country gave her no more rights over us, than
+the emigration of the Danes and Saxons gave to the present authorities
+of the mother country, over England. In this doctrine, however,
+I have never been able to get any one to agree with me but
+Mr. Wythe. He concurred in it from the first dawn of the question,
+What was the political relation between us and England?</p></div>
+
+<p>Once the question was clearly put, Jefferson went at it with
+the methods used by a lawyer to prove the title to a piece of
+property. The first point to be settled was to determine who
+was the legitimate owner of the territory occupied by the American
+"colonists", the king or the colonists themselves; thus
+presented, the question became very simple:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>For it is thought that no circumstance has occurred to distinguish
+materially, the British from the Saxon emigration. America was
+conquered, and her settlements made and firmly established, at the
+expense of individuals, and not of the British public. Their own
+blood was spilt in acquiring lands for their settlement, their own
+fortunes expanded in making this settlement effectual. For themselves
+they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves
+alone they have a right to hold.</p></div>
+
+<p>This was the keystone of Jefferson's social system at that
+time. It is not unimportant to note that it was a doctrine that
+could apply only to Anglo-Saxon colonies, more particularly
+to American colonies, and not a doctrine susceptible of universal
+application. Whether or not the principle might also
+be advanced by other peoples or nations, Jefferson did not
+state and did not care. His was not a mind to generalize and
+to extend universally any given principle. For the present, at
+least, he was satisfied to claim for the American settlers not
+the rights of man, but the rights of their Saxon ancestors. His
+position was legal and historical, not philosophical.</p>
+
+<p>It was also to some extent an aristocratic position. Since
+the land was theirs by right of conquest, it almost necessarily<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+ensued that only landowners, or to use the old colonial word,
+freeholders, were entitled to the rights, privileges, and happiness
+of self-government. The consequence was not expressed
+but it was implied. The analogy with the doctrine of the
+Physiocrats strikes one at first; but this analogy is only
+superficial. True enough, only freeholders are really worth
+considering and can raise a legitimate protest; but in a country
+as new and as extensive as America, it is within the power of
+every inhabitant to become a freeholder. For it is another
+iniquity to suppose that the Crown has the right to give grants
+of land:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this
+may be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+the society may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds vacant,
+and occupancy gives him title.</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus spoke the pioneer, a pioneer who had studied law and
+history and could express in clear and forcible terms what the
+pioneers had felt only confusedly. Unless I am much mistaken,
+it is the first enunciation of one of the cardinal principles
+of Americanism; but, as far as Jefferson is concerned, it did
+not rest upon any political philosophy, either Hooker's or
+Locke's. The American settlers resumed and resurrected on
+a new soil the tradition interrupted by Parliamentary and
+kingly usurpations. By a sort of curious primitivism they renounced
+their immediate and degraded British forbears to claim
+as their true ancestors the Saxon conquerors of the British Isles.
+Can any one imagine anything farther from the theory of Rousseau
+in the "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality", or in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+"Social Contract", anything farther from the universal humanitarianism
+of the French philosophers? In a last analysis,
+American society as it existed, and as it expressed its will to
+exist through its young spokesman, rested essentially not on
+an <i>a priori</i> principle but on the right of conquest, or more
+exactly, of discovery.</p>
+
+<p>The best student of William and Mary, the young artist
+who wanted to make Monticello a thing of beauty, the lover of
+the literature of Greece and Rome, proclaimed loudly that
+"our ancestors who migrated hither were laborers, not lawyers."
+His was not a political philosophy dealing with "fictitious principles",
+it was the harsh, hard-headed, practical and fierce determination
+of the pioneer who stakes out a piece of land in the
+wilderness, ready to hold it against all claim jumpers.</p>
+
+<p>The Virginia convention dominated by "Randolph, the
+Lees, Nicholas, Pendleton" was not ready to go so far as the
+young master of Monticello. The instructions to the delegates
+finally adopted and printed in an appendix to Jefferson's own
+"Autobiography" were exceedingly tame, but his declaration
+was printed, widely circulated among the people, and even
+reached England. It was just what was needed to set afire
+the public mind, for no people will rise, fight and die for an
+economic doctrine or in defense of its commercial interests.
+They have to be provided with mottoes which appeal to their
+imagination, they have to be raised above the ordinary trend
+of things; they must have a banner, a flag and a battle cry, and
+such was the object of Jefferson's peroration, which no Pendleton
+and no Lee could have written:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That these are our grievances, which we have just laid before his
+Majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which
+becomes a free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws
+of nature, and not as the gift of their Chief Magistrate. Let those
+flatter, who fear: it is not an American art. To give praise where
+it is not due might be well from the venal, but it would ill beseem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+those who are asserting the rights of human nature. They know
+and will, therefore, say, that Kings are the servants, not the proprietors
+of the people.</p></div>
+
+<p>Congress assembled at Philadelphia on September 4, 1774,
+under the presidency of Peyton Randolph of Virginia and adjourned
+in October, not without a recommendation "to discountenance
+every species of extravagance and dissipation,
+especially all horse racing, all kinds of gaming, cock-fighting,
+exhibitions of shows, plays and other diversions and entertainments."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>
+The colonies were girding their loins for the fight,
+society life came to a standstill; the brilliant days of the little
+capital of Virginia were over.</p>
+
+<p>When the counties organized committees of safety, Jefferson
+was at the top of the list of appointees in his county. He
+was again sent to the second convention of Virginia as representative
+from Albemarle. The convention met in Richmond,
+March 20, 1775, and it was then that Patrick Henry poured
+out in a fierce outburst the famous speech ending with the war
+cry of "Give me liberty or give me death." The resolution to
+arm passed with a decided majority and a plan of defense was
+adopted. Collisions threatened between the militia and the
+regulars on several occasions. But when Lord North's "Conciliatory
+Proposition" was received, Lord Dunmore convened
+the House of Burgesses on the first of July to take it into consideration.
+Peyton Randolph was then recalled from Congress
+and Jefferson appointed to succeed him. He did not
+leave, however, before an answer to the proposition had been
+drafted. The Virginians did not close the door to a compromise,
+but insisted that the final answer did not depend on them,
+for they considered that they were "bound in honor as well as
+interest, to share their general fate with their sister Colonies,
+and should hold themselves base deserters of that Union to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+which they had acceeded, were they to agree to any measure
+distinct and apart from them."</p>
+
+<p>A few days later Lord Dunmore left the city and took refuge
+on board a man-of-war lying at York, declaring he had taken
+this step for his safety. Jefferson departed from Williamsburg
+for Philadelphia on the eleventh of June, 1775, and reached the
+capital of Pennsylvania on the twentieth. The national r&ocirc;le
+of the young Virginia lawyer and landowner was about to begin.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_TWO" id="BOOK_TWO"></a>BOOK TWO</h2>
+
+<h1><i>Jefferson and the American Revolution</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE</h2>
+
+
+<p>When Thomas Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia and took
+lodgings with "Ben Randolph" on Chestnut Street, he was
+only thirty-three years old, "the youngest member of Congress
+but one." But he was already known as the author of the
+"Summary View of the Rights of British America", he was
+bringing with him Virginia's answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory
+Proposition," and he had been appointed to succeed as
+delegate the former President of Congress. Most of all he had
+behind him, not only the first colony in population, but also, to
+a large extent, all the Southern colonies, which were bound to
+follow the course of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Unassuming and straightforward, he was at once welcomed
+with open arms by the New England leaders, and years later
+John Adams still remembered the first impression he made upon
+him:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775, and brought with
+him a reputation for literature, science and a happy talent of composition....
+Though a silent member in Congress, he was so
+prompt, frank, explicit and decisive upon committees and in conversation&mdash;not
+even Samuel Adams was more so&mdash;that he soon
+seized upon my heart.</p></div>
+
+<p>Five days later, he was placed on the committee appointed
+to draw up a "Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms."
+Through deference for the authority of Dickinson, leader of the
+conservative party, he withdrew a draft he had prepared and in
+the final text he claimed as his only the last four paragraphs.
+But these last paragraphs contained some of the sharply coined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+sentences that impress themselves on the mind, the final expression
+of so many ideas ever since repeated in political speeches
+whenever an attempt is made to define America's ideal policies.
+To a certain extent Jefferson, as well as most of his contemporaries,
+may have been influenced by Thomas Paine, whose
+"Common Sense", a pamphlet addressed to the inhabitants of
+America, had taken the city by fire. For the first time the
+colonists had been told that "the cause of America is in a great
+measure the cause of all <i>Mankind</i>. Many circumstances, have
+and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through
+which the Principles of all lovers of mankind are affected and in
+the event of which this affection is interested." It also contained
+a rather vague plan for a confederation, a "Continental
+charter", but Paine's pamphlet was essentially an eloquent
+appeal to elemental feelings; it exalted the cause of the colonists
+calling on them as the last defenders of oppressed liberty; it
+had all the fire and passion of an evangelical message:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the
+tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth. Every spot of the old world
+is over-run with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted around
+the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her.&mdash;Europe
+regards her like a stranger; and England hath given her warning
+to depart. O receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum
+for mankind!</p></div>
+
+<p>But greatly as he admired Paine's eloquence, Jefferson did
+not try to emulate it; impassioned as it was, his appeal to the
+inhabitants of the British colonies sounded more like the summing-up
+of a lawyer before the jury than an emotional sermon.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our cause is just. Our union is perfect&mdash;our internal resources
+are great.... We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit
+to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by
+provoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of
+offense. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet
+proffer no milder condition than servitude or death.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus was the uniqueness of America's position emphasized
+and called to the attention of her own people. Nor was it
+forgotten that the country was particularly favored by God,
+for it declared that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instance of the Divine
+towards us, that His providence would not permit us to be called
+into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present
+strength, had been previously exercised in warlike apparatus, and
+possessed of the means of defending ourselves.</p></div>
+
+<p>Finally, Jefferson reiterated once more his favorite contention,
+the theory which has become one of the fundamental
+axioms of the doctrine of Americanism: that America did not
+owe anything to the older civilization of Europe, and was a
+self-made country:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In our native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright,
+and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of it; for
+the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry
+of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered,
+we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities
+shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being
+renewed shall be removed, and not before.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then came a perfunctory appeal to conciliation, and a final
+religious note strictly nonsectarian; for of his religious faith
+the young delegate had retained the form and the tone which
+scarcely concealed his deism:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and
+impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore
+his divine goodness to conduct us happily through this great conflict,
+to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms,
+and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamity of civil war.</p></div>
+
+<p>No wonder this "Declaration" was read amid thundering
+huzzas in every market place and amid fervent prayers in
+nearly every pulpit in the colonies. With an extraordinary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+"felicity of expression", with a unique sense of fitness, Jefferson
+had struck every chord susceptible of response in every American
+heart. He had drawn for the people an ideal picture of the
+nation and themselves, he had portrayed them as they yearned
+to be looked upon by posterity and the nations of the world: he
+had formulated the creed of Americanism.</p>
+
+<p>Far more judicial in tone was the neat state paper prepared
+by Jefferson to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition."
+The committee appointed consisted of Benjamin Franklin,
+Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Richard H. Lee. The
+youngest member of the committee was chosen to draw up the
+document, the answer of the Virginia Assembly he had brought
+with him having been approved. Not for nothing had Jefferson
+attended the courts of justice of Albemarle County and Williamsburg
+for more than ten years and listened to decisions from
+the bench. The answer strives to be a cold, dispassionate
+enumeration of facts, with its short paragraphs beginning:
+"we are of opinion"&mdash;recalling the "Whereases" of legal
+documents. But there is an undertone of indignation, cropping
+up in every sentence, which belies the studied reserve. The
+conclusion, one might call it a peroration, is a genuine specimen
+of revolutionary eloquence:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>When it considers the great armaments with which they have
+invaded us, and the circumstances of cruelty with which these have
+commenced and prosecuted hostilities; when these things, we say,
+are laid together and attentively considered, can the world be
+deceived into an opinion that we are unreasonable? Or can it
+hesitate to believe with us, that nothing but our own exertions may
+defeat the ministerial sentence of death or abject submission?</p></div>
+
+<p>Truly Jefferson might have become a great orator had he
+chosen to correct his handicap in speech and train his voice.
+Historians who attribute much importance to racial traits and
+inherited characteristics may believe that this was due to the
+Welshman that reappeared in him at times; but the Welsh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+temperament was suppressed and checked by the puritanical
+restraint of Mr. Small, Mr. Maury, the judicial reserve of Mr.
+Wythe, the example of Mr. Peyton Randolph; and, carried
+away as he was by Patrick Henry's oratory, Jefferson saw in
+him impulsive and emotional qualities to be admired but to be
+shunned. More than any of his contemporaries, however, he
+was unconsciously influenced by reminiscences of speeches he
+had read and memorized in Livy, Cicero and perhaps Demosthenes.
+These sentences have a classical ring; his true models
+were the Greek and Latin orators, and if a critical edition of
+Jefferson's early papers were ever attempted, a careful investigation
+could not fail to bring to light the classical sources of his
+inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>The report was adopted on July 31, and Congress adjourned
+the next day. Jefferson returned at once to Monticello, to
+stay in Virginia until the opening of Congress. In spite of the
+fiery tone of the answer to Lord North's proposition, it seems
+that neither he nor any of his friends seriously entertained nor
+even considered the possibility of the colonies separating entirely
+from the mother country. War had already begun, but
+it was a civil war. There still remained some hope that an
+"everlasting avulsion from Great Britain would be avoided."
+Yet it could be avoided only on one condition: that the British
+Government should accept, without reservation or restriction,
+the minimum terms of Congress. Jefferson then wrote to his
+friend, John Randolph, who had decided to remove to
+England:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, properly
+limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation.
+But I am one of those, too, who, rather than submit to the rights of
+legislation for us, assumed by the British Parliament, and which late
+experience has shown they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my
+hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The manuscript letter in the Library of Congress is not the
+one that was used in the different editions of Jefferson's
+"Works." It is a much corrected and written-over draft, containing
+several passages which have disappeared in the published
+text.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> It contained particularly a request to John
+Randolph who was going to "the hub of literature", to buy
+him "books of parliamentary learning." It also included a
+request to Randolph to sell him his fine violin, to which
+Randolph acceded, averring that "Tho we <i>may politically</i>
+differ in sentiments, yet I see no reason, why <i>privately</i> we may
+not cherish the same esteem for each other which formerly I
+believe subsisted between us. We both of us seem to be steering
+opposite courses: the success of either lies in the womb of
+Time."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such letters are very significant, for they express better than
+long dissertations the state of mind of the leading men of the
+day. The question at issue was still a political question; it
+was a question of internal politics on which men could differ
+without necessarily becoming enemies or losing each other's
+esteem and affection. Less than a year before the Declaration
+of Independence, independence seemed to Jefferson the worst
+possible solution, to be delayed and avoided if it were possible.</p>
+
+<p>Chosen again as delegate to Congress, but delayed by the
+illness and death of his second child, Jefferson reached Philadelphia
+on September 25, twenty days after the opening of the
+session. He stayed only until the twenty-eighth of December,
+and resumed his seat on May 13 of the following year. In the
+meantime events were moving rapidly. Congress had been
+advised of the king's refusal even to notice their second petition;
+and Jefferson, writing a second time to John Randolph,
+could declare:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Believe me, my dear sir, there is not in the British empire, a man
+who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+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 sentiment 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 fostering
+hand of our King.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the sixth of December, a declaration was adopted repudiating
+allegiance to the king, and the British Constitution was
+proclaimed "our best inheritance." Four days previously
+Jefferson had drafted a declaration concerning Ethan Allen,
+when news arrived of his being arrested and sent to Britain in
+irons to be punished for pretended treason. For the first time
+the delegate from Virginia referred to the British as "our
+enemies" and called upon them to respect "the rights of
+nations."</p>
+
+<p>At this juncture and shortly after being appointed on an
+important committee, Jefferson abruptly left Congress and set
+out for home. The reason for his sudden departure has never
+been satisfactorily explained. It may have been due to news
+of the bad health of his mother: she died on March 31, 1776,
+and this is the only explanation that Randall could offer. It was
+more probably due to his anxiety about the fate of his family.
+Communications with Virginia were rare and difficult. He
+wrote home regularly every week, but on October 31 he had not
+yet received a word "from any mortal breathing", and on
+November 7 he repeated:</p>
+
+<p>"I have never received the script of a pen from any mortal
+in Virginia since I left it, nor been able by any inquiries I could
+make to hear of my family. I had hoped that when Mrs. Byrd
+came I could have heard something of them. The suspense
+under which I am is too terrible to be endured. If anything
+has happened, for God's sake let me know it!" Two weeks
+later he urged his wife to keep herself "at a distance from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+Ld. Dunmore", and he was planning to meet Eppes "as
+proposed."</p>
+
+<p>There seems to be very little doubt that he yielded to his
+anxiety and to the entreaties of Eppes who seems to have urged
+him to come back. He had left at Monticello a sick mother,
+his sisters, a wife who had recently lost a child and had hardly
+recovered from the blow, and he was in constant fear that a
+raid from the British troops, who had already burnt Norfolk,
+should endanger the lives of his dear ones. Furthermore he
+believed that his presence in Philadelphia was not indispensable;
+for he was never one who overrated himself. Finally,
+a document overlooked by his biographers informs us that on
+September 26, 1775, he had been appointed by the Committee
+of Safety for the Colony of Virginia, Lieutenant and Commander
+in chief of the Militia of the County of Albemarle.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>
+In view of Lord Dunmore's impending attacks his presence was
+evidently required to organize local forces. All these are
+reasons enough to explain why he left Philadelphia. We do
+not even know that he hesitated at all or experienced any
+conflict of duties. National patriotism was still limited by
+family duty, and local patriotism was stronger in him than
+obligations to a country which did not yet exist.</p>
+
+<p>So it happened that the man who wrote the Declaration of
+Independence was to miss many of the preliminary steps and
+discussions that preceded it. He did not resume his seat in
+Congress until May 14, 1776. Five days before, a resolution
+framed by Adams and R. H. Lee had been adopted, instructing
+the colonies to form governments. It was passed the
+very day Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia. Not only had he
+come back rather reluctantly, but he was anxious to return
+to Virginia in order to participate in the work of the Colonial
+Convention, as appears from his letter to Thomas Nelson,
+Junior:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Should our Convention propose to establish now a form of
+government, perhaps it might be agreeable to recall for a short
+time their delegates. It is a work of the most interesting nature
+and such as every individual would wish to have his voice in....
+But this I mention to you in confidence, as in our situation, a hint
+to any other is too delicate however anxiously interesting the subject
+is to our feelings.</p></div>
+
+<p>With all his attention turned towards the Old Dominion and
+in his anxiety to participate in establishing a model form of
+government for his "country", he then decided to send to
+Pendleton, President of the Assembly, the draft of a proposed
+constitution for Virginia, or rather, as he termed it, "A Bill for
+new modelling the form of government and for establishing the
+Fundamental principles of our future constitution."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> This
+is a capital document for the history of Jefferson's political
+thought. For the first time he had the opportunity to develop
+fully his views on society and government. How clear in his
+mind were the theories of which he later became the advocate
+will be easily perceived. The draft started with a recital of the
+grievances of the colony against "George Guelph King of Great
+Britain", which Jefferson was to utilize in the Declaration of
+Independence. It declared that "The Legislative, Executive,
+and Judiciary shall be forever separate" and continued with a
+description of the three branches of government. For the
+Legislative, Jefferson proposed a bicameral system, consisting
+of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House was
+to be elected by "all male persons of full age and sane mind
+having a freehold estate in (one fourth of an acre) of land in
+any town or in 25 acres of land in the county and all persons
+resident in the colony who shall have paid scot and lot to
+government the last two years." The Senate was to be
+appointed by the House of Representatives. The death
+penalty was abolished for all crimes except murder and offences<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+in the military service; torture was abolished in all cases whatsoever.
+Some of these provisions were incorporated later in
+the "Bill for Apportioning Crimes and Punishment." The
+Administrator was to be appointed by the House of Representatives,
+as well as the Attorney-general and the Privy Council.
+Judges were to be appointed by the Administrator and Privy
+Council; the High Sheriffs and Coroners of counties were to be
+elected annually by the voters, but all other officers, civil and
+military, to be appointed by the Administrator. The bill
+proposed that "descents shall go according to the laws of
+Gavelkind, save only that females shall have equal rights with
+males."&mdash;"All persons shall have full and free liberty of
+religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to support or
+maintain any religious institution." "Printing presses shall
+be free except so far as by commission of private injury cause
+may be given of private action. There shall be no standing
+army but in time of actual war." The introduction of slaves
+into the State was forbidden. Finally provisions were made
+for the revision of the Constitution.</p>
+
+<p>Truly most of the reforms advocated by Jefferson are already
+contained in this document, not implicitly but explicitly: religious
+freedom, freedom of the press, abolition of slavery, the
+laws of descent and the bill to abolish entail, the "Bill for
+Proportioning Crimes and Punishment" are all here. It was
+a bold and radical proposal, and no wonder the young
+delegate from Virginia was anxious to go home in order to
+defend it before his colleagues of the Assembly. The delegates,
+after much wrangling, had come to practical agreement
+on the most important points. It was too late and they
+were too "tired" of the subject to resume the discussion.
+From Jefferson's plan they simply borrowed the long recital
+of grievances which became the preamble to the Virginia
+Constitution.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As finally adopted, the Constitution was far less liberal than
+the plan proposed by Jefferson, and this may explain his severe
+criticism of it in his "Notes on Virginia" (Query XIII). It
+embodied, however, some of the same essential principles; it
+proclaimed the separation of powers and established two
+Chambers. It retained the name of governor, redolent of the
+English r&eacute;gime, instead of "administrator"; it made no mention
+of slavery, entails, descents and freedom of the press, but
+in some respects it was even more democratic than the Jefferson
+plan since both houses were directly elected. In the meantime
+things were coming to a head in Philadelphia, and on
+June 7 certain resolutions concerning independence being
+moved and adopted, it was</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to
+be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all
+allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection
+between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be,
+totally dissolved.</p>
+
+<p>That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures
+for forming foreign Alliances.</p>
+
+<p>That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the
+respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On June 10, it was</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That the consideration of the first resolution be postponed
+to this day, three weeks (July 1), and in the meanwhile, that
+no time be lost in case the Congress agree thereto, that a committee
+be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said first
+resolution.</p>
+
+<p>The next day it was resolved, That the committee to prepare the
+declaration consist of five members: The members chosen, Mr.
+[Thomas] Jefferson, Mr. J[ohn] Adams, Mr. [Benjamin] Franklin,
+Mr. [Roger] Sherman, and Mr. R[obert] R. Livingston.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's biographers have indulged in a great many discussions
+about the reasons which determined the selection of
+the committee. Jefferson certainly did not seek the honor, and
+little did he dream at the time that it would bring him such
+fame. Without renewing the old controversy on the participation
+of the other members of the committee in the drawing
+up of the famous document, a few facts have to be considered.
+First of all it was not an improvisation. The committee
+appointed on June 10 reported only on June 28. A written
+draft was submitted to Adams and Franklin, whose advice
+could not be neglected, and they suggested several modifications,
+additions and corrections. Furthermore, Jefferson was
+too good a harmonizer not to discuss many points with his
+colleagues of the committee, so as to ascertain their views before
+writing down the first draft. Even the desirability of having
+a declaration was a highly controversial question, and Jefferson
+himself, in the detailed notes he took of the preliminary discussion,
+indicates that when the committee was appointed
+"the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
+and South Carolina were not yet matured for falling from
+the parent stem."<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p>
+
+<p>On June 28, the committee appointed to prepare a declaration
+brought in a draft which was read and "<i>Ordered</i> to lie on
+the table." On July 2, Congress resumed the consideration of
+the resolution agreed to by and reported from the committee
+of the whole; and the same being read, was agreed to as
+follows.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to
+be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from
+allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between
+them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be,
+totally dissolved.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Properly speaking this is, as Mr. Becker has remarked, the
+real Declaration of Independence. But the principle once
+adopted, it remained to proclaim and explain the action taken
+by Congress not only to the people of the Free and Independent
+States, but to the world at large. Congress then resolved itself
+into a committee of the whole, only to decide that it was too
+late in the day to take up such a momentous question. The
+discussion continued on the next day but Harrison reported
+that the committee, not having finished, desired leave to sit
+again. On July 4, Congress resolved itself into a committee
+of the whole to take into further consideration the Declaration;
+and after some time, the president resumed the chair. "Mr.
+(Benjamin) Harrison reported, that the committee of the
+whole Congress have agreed to a Declaration, which he delivered
+in. The Declaration being again read, was agreed to." Congress
+then ordered that the Declaration be authenticated and
+printed, and the committee appointed to prepare the Declaration
+"to superintend and correct the press."</p>
+
+<p>Such is briefly told from the "Journals of Congress" the
+story of the momentous document in its external details. It
+has been too well related by Mr. Becker and Mr. Fitzpatrick to
+leave any excuse for a new account. Writing many years
+later, John Adams declared "there is not an idea in it but what
+had been hackneyed in Congress two years before," and replying
+to Adams' insinuations, Jefferson admitted that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Pickering's observations, and Mr. Adams' in addition, that it
+contained no new ideas, that it is a commonplace compilation, its
+sentiments hacknied in Congress for two years before ... may be
+all true. Of that I am not judge. Richard H. Lee charged it as
+copied from Locke's treatise on Government ... I only know
+that I turned to neither book nor pamphlet while writing it. I did
+not consider it as any part of my charge to invent new ideas altogether
+and to offer no sentiment which had never been expressed
+before.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In another letter to Lee, written in 1825, a year before his
+death, Jefferson had given, as his last and final statement on
+the subject:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before
+thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said
+before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the
+subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent....
+Neither aiming at originality of principles or sentiments, nor yet
+copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended
+to be an expression of the American mind.... All its authority
+rests on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed
+in conversation, in letters, printed essays, on the elementary books
+of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.</p></div>
+
+<p>Two phrases in this letter deserve particular notice, "an
+expression of the American mind" and "the harmonizing sentiments
+of the day." This is truly what Jefferson had attempted
+to express in his "felicitous language"&mdash;the confused yearnings,
+the inarticulate aspirations, the indefinite ideals of the
+speechless and awkward masses. He did it in words so simple
+that no man could fail to understand it, in sentences so well
+balanced and so rhythmic that no artist in style could improve
+upon them. The Declaration of Independence is not only a
+historical document, it is the first and to this day the most
+outstanding monument in American literature. It does not
+follow, however, that Jefferson had no model. Mr. Becker in
+his masterly study has demonstrated that it was the final development
+of a whole current of thought, the origins of which can
+be traced back in history even farther than he has done. The
+Declaration of Independence is essentially of Lockian origin,
+but it does not ensue that Jefferson had memorized Locke, nor
+even that he was conscious, when he wrote the document, that
+he was using a Lockian phraseology. As a matter of fact, even
+if he remembered Locke, it is more than probable that reminiscences
+from two other more modern expressions of the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+idea haunted his mind. The first was a pamphlet of James
+Wilson, written in 1770, published in Philadelphia in 1774 and
+entitled "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the
+Legislative Authority of the British Parliament." Mr. Becker
+has pointed out the similarity between a passage in Wilson and
+the preamble. Since then I have found that, in his "Commonplace
+Book", Jefferson copied passages from Wilson's pamphlet,
+although for reasons which I could not determine he omitted
+the very passage which presents the most striking resemblance:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>All men are, by nature, equal and free: No one has a right to
+any authority over another without his consent: All lawful government
+is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it:
+Such consent was given with a view to ensure and to increase the
+happiness of the governed above what they could enjoy in an independent
+and unconnected state of nature. The consequence is, that
+the happiness of the society is the First law of every government.</p></div>
+
+<p>A Lockian theory to be sure, but Wilson in the footnote to
+this paragraph quoted Burlamaqui to the effect that "This
+right of sovereignty is that of commanding finally but in order
+to procure real felicity; for if this end is not obtained, sovereignty
+ceases to be legitimate authority." But this is not all!
+The Declaration of Rights of 1774 ("Journal of Congress", I,
+373) stated in somewhat similar terms the rights of the inhabitants
+of the English colonies. Finally the "Virginia Bill of
+Rights" written by George Mason, adopted by the Virginia
+Assembly on June 12 and necessarily forwarded to the delegates
+in Congress, contained articles resembling more closely those of
+the Declaration of Independence:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and
+have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state
+of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive their posterity;
+namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring
+and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness
+and safety.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>II. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from
+the people; that Magistrates are their trustees and servants, and
+at all times amenable to them.</p>
+
+<p>III. That government is or ought to be, instituted for the common
+benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or
+community; of all the various modes and forms of government,
+that is best, which is capable of producing the greatest degree of
+happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the
+danger of mal-administration; and that when any government
+shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority
+of the community has the undubitable, unalienable right, to reform,
+alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive
+to the public weal.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This time it is no longer a question of analogy, or similarity
+of thought&mdash;the very words are identical, "Unalienable
+rights" is the expression which finally replaced "undeniable"
+in the final form&mdash;and "pursuing and obtaining happiness"
+has become the well-known "pursuit of happiness." Does it
+mean that Jefferson should be accused of plagiarism? Not in
+the least, since, as the French author said, "<i>l'arrangement est
+nouveau</i>", and, in a work of art, "<i>l'arrangement</i>" constitutes
+true originality, according to the formula of the classical
+school. Furthermore, it was clearly Jefferson's r&ocirc;le and
+duty as a delegate from Virginia to incorporate in the
+Declaration as much as he could of the "Bill of Rights"
+recently adopted by his native dominion. The only fault
+that could be found is that he did not more clearly acknowledge
+his indebtedness to George Mason. But his contemporaries,
+and particularly the Virginians, could not fail to
+recognize in the national document the spirit and expression
+of the State document. Jefferson had expressed the American
+mind but he had above all expressed the mind of his fellow
+Virginians.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whether the doctrine enunciated in the Declaration of Independence
+is founded in fact and is beyond question "undeniable",
+is a problem which cannot even be touched upon here.
+We cannot dismiss it, however, without mentioning a feature
+which seems to have escaped most American students of political
+philosophy, probably because it has become such an integral
+part of American life that it is not even noticed. I do not
+believe that any other State paper in any nation had ever proclaimed
+so emphatically and with such finality that one of the
+essential functions of government is to make man happy, or
+that one of his essential natural rights is "the pursuit of happiness."
+This was more than a new principle of government,
+it was a new principle of life which was thus proposed and
+officially indorsed. The most that could be asked from governments
+of the Old World was to promote virtue and to maintain
+justice; honor, "<i>amor patriae</i>" and fear were the essential
+principles on which rested the governments described by
+Montesquieu. But in spite of the eternal and unquenchable
+thirst for happiness in the heart of every man, what European,
+what Frenchman particularly, could openly and officially maintain
+that the "pursuit of happiness" was a right, and that
+happiness could be reached and truly enjoyed. This quest of
+happiness had been the main preoccupation of French philosophers
+during the eighteenth century, but in spite of their
+philosophical optimism, they were too thoroughly imbued with
+pessimism ever to think that it was possible to be happy;
+the most they could hope for was to become less unhappy. The
+whole Christian civilization had been built on the idea that
+happiness is neither desirable nor obtainable in this vale of
+tears and affliction, but as a compensation Christianity offered
+eternal life and eternal bliss. The Declaration of Independence,
+on the contrary, placed human life on a new axis by maintaining
+that happiness is a natural right of the individual and the
+whole end of government. To be sure, the idea was not original<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+with Jefferson, it had been mentioned more than once in official
+or semi-official documents, it was in James Wilson, as in the
+Bill of Rights, but I cannot quite conceive that such a formula
+could have originated in New England. I cannot conceive
+either that it could have been proclaimed at that date anywhere
+except in a new country where the pioneer spirit dominated,
+where men felt that they could live without being
+crowded or hampered by fierce competition, traditions, and
+iron-bound social laws.</p>
+
+<p>In his plan for a <i>D&eacute;claration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen</i>,
+Lafayette some twelve years later included "<i>la recherche du
+bonheur</i>", in memory of the American Declaration of Independence,
+but "<i>la recherche du bonheur</i>" disappeared in the
+committee and was never mentioned again in any of the three
+Declarations of the French Revolution. The nearest approach
+to it is found in the first article of the Declaration of June 23,
+1793; but it simply states that the aim of society is common
+happiness&mdash;and this is quite a different idea. Whether it was
+right or not, Jefferson, when he reproduced the terms used by
+George Mason in the Virginia Bill of Rights, gave currency to
+an expression which was to influence deeply and even to mold
+American life.</p>
+
+<p>In that sense, it may be said that the Declaration of Independence
+represents the highest achievement of eighteenth-century
+philosophy, but of one aspect of that philosophy that
+could not develop fully in Europe. Trees that are transplanted
+sometimes thrive better under new skies than in their native
+habitat and may reach proportions wholly unforeseen.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the Declaration of Independence written to express
+the sentiments of the day probably shaped the American mind
+in an unexpected manner. It was essentially a popular document
+planned to impress the masses, to place before the young
+nation at its birth a certain ideal and a certain political faith,
+but it was also a legal and judicial document intended to make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+more precise the reasons why the united American colonies had
+finally resolved to separate from the mother country.</p>
+
+<p>For this part of the Declaration Jefferson drew largely from
+the "Constitution" he had drafted for Virginia and sent to
+Randolph by Mr. Wythe. He was his own source&mdash;the more
+so as he substantially repeated many of the grievances enumerated
+two years earlier in the "Rights of British America." But
+here again he markedly improved the first version, which was a
+monotonous recital of dry facts, starting with a legal "Whereas"
+and beginning each article with a clumsy participle. "By
+denying his Governor permission:... By refusing to pass
+certain other laws ... By dissolving Legislative Assemblies,"
+became in the Declaration the dramatic presentation of facts
+by a prosecuting attorney and not the summing-up of a case by
+a judge. But the final renunciation of the mother country has
+an unsurpassed dignity, a finality more terrible in its lofty and
+dispassionate tone than any curse:</p>
+
+<p>"We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which
+denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest
+of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends." There again
+one is reminded of the well-known French formula: "<i>beau
+comme l'antique</i>." Twice in its history the supposedly young
+and uncultured people had the rare fortune to find spokesmen
+who, without effort and laborious preparation, reached the
+utmost heights. The Declaration of Independence, with its
+solemn renunciation of ties of consanguinity, reminds one of
+the tone of the Greek tragedy; while the only parallel to the
+Gettysburg address is the oration pronounced by Pericles over
+the warriors who had laid down their lives during the first war
+of Peloponnesus.</p>
+
+<p>Such heights can only be reached if the author is moved to
+his innermost depths. Singularly unimaginative in ordinary
+circumstances, for once in his life Jefferson was superior to
+himself: the student of Greece, the refined Virginian, became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+truly the voice of the people. But great effects often have
+small causes. We may wonder if he would have spoken
+with that same suppressed emotion, fiercely burning and
+yet controlled, if at that very time he had not been
+laboring under an emotional stress that never recurred in
+his life.</p>
+
+<p>While he was in Philadelphia, writing the first draft in which
+he opened to the people of America "the road to glory and
+happiness", he could well wonder whether his personal
+happiness was not about to be destroyed.&mdash;His mother had
+recently died, he had just lost a child and had left in Monticello
+a beloved companion dangerously ill. "Every letter brings me
+such an account of the state of her health, that it is with great
+pain I can stay here," he wrote to Page (July 20, 1776), and for
+those who knew how reserved he was in the expression of personal
+feelings, the restraint in his expression hardly conceals
+the anxiety and distress by which he was torn.</p>
+
+<p>There were also other reasons for his desiring to go home.
+Jefferson had always understood that as a delegate to Congress
+his duty was not so much to make a record for himself as to
+voice the <i>sentiments of the people he represented and to carry out
+their instructions</i>.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> He was much worried about his standing
+with the Virginia Convention and suspected that some members
+were trying to knife him in the back. The Convention had just
+proceeded to elect delegates for the next Congress. Harrison
+and Braxton had failed to be reappointed, and Jefferson was
+"next to the lag."&mdash;"It is a painful situation," he wrote to
+William Fleming, on July first, "to be 300 miles from one's
+county, and thereby opened to secret assassination without a
+possibility of self-defence."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p>
+
+<p>A week later, he wrote to Edmund Pendleton to decline his
+new appointment as a delegate to Congress:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I am sorry that the situation of my domestic affairs, renders it
+indispensably necessary that I should solicit the substitution of
+some other person here in my room. The delicacy of the House will
+not require me to enter minutely into the private causes which
+render this necessary. I trust they will be satisfied. I would not
+urge it again, were it not unavoidable.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On July 8 he announced to R. H. Lee that he would return
+to Virginia after the eleventh of August. It was not until
+September 2 that, his successor having arrived, he considered
+himself as free to go. His final reason, possibly not the least
+important, is given by Jefferson himself in his "Autobiography":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our delegation had been renewed for the ensuing year, commencing
+August 11; but the new government was now organized,
+a meeting of the legislature was to be held in October, and I had
+been elected a member by my county. I knew that our legislation,
+under the regal government, had many vicious points which urgently
+required reformation, and I thought I could be of more use in forwarding
+that work. I therefore retired from my seat in Congress on
+the 2d of September, resigned it and took my place in the Legislature
+of my State, on the 7th of October.</p></div>
+
+<p>"My state," wrote Jefferson in 1818, but in his letters to
+William Fleming he was speaking of Virginia as his "country",
+and at that time constantly referred to the colonies and not
+the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The necessity of some sort of a union or confederacy had been
+keenly realized for a long time, but the ways and means were far
+from receiving unanimous support. As a matter of fact, union
+had been obtained just on the point of secession, or as Jefferson
+had it "avulsion from Great Britain"; but the consciousness of
+solidarity, the community of ideals and interests which constitute
+an essential part of patriotism hardly existed at that
+date. Thus the man who had just been the voice of America
+probably felt himself more of a Virginian than of an American,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+for local patriotism was very strong, while national patriotism
+was still in a larval stage. Curiously enough the independence
+of the <i>United States</i> had been proclaimed before the Articles of
+Confederation, which really constituted the United States, had
+been adopted or even reported. When they were drafted the
+name "colonies" was used and this was not changed to "states"
+until the second printing.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> The only official bond that united
+the colonies was loyalty to the Crown. That bond once severed,
+each of them became a separate unit and returned to a sort of
+"state of nature." For a student of government this was the
+most fascinating situation that could be devised, since he was
+going to witness the actual formation of a new society and the
+signing of a social compact. Jefferson attended all the meetings
+of Congress in which the Articles of Confederation were discussed,
+without actively participating in the debates. He took
+copious notes and inserted them in his "Autobiography" but
+for reasons presently to be seen, he refrained from expressing his
+own opinion on the matter. Only when he was back in Virginia
+could he collect his ideas and formulate to his own satisfaction a
+theory on the formation of society. He then sat at his table
+and sent to a friend his reflections on the debates he had just
+attended. I had the good fortune to discover this document
+in the Library of Congress. It is of such importance that it
+must be given here in full.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 60%;">
+<img src="images/pic080b.jpg" width="100%" alt="A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE
+ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION" title="" /><br />
+<span class="caption">A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE
+ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION<br />
+<br />
+<i>From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>After I got home, being alone and wanting amusement I sat down
+to explain to myself (for there is such a thing) my Ideas of natural
+and civil rights and the distinction between them&mdash;I send them to
+you to see how nearly we agree.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose 20 persons, strangers to each other, to meet in a country
+not before inhabited. Each would be a sovereign in his own natural
+right. His will would be his Law,&mdash;but his power, in many cases,
+inadequate to his right, and the consequence would be that each
+might be exposed, not only to each other but to the other nineteen.</p></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It would then occur to them that their condition would be much
+improved, if a way could be devised to exchange that quantity of
+danger into so much protection, so that each individual should
+possess the strength of the whole number. As all their rights, in the
+first case are natural rights, and the exercise of those rights supported
+only by their own natural individual power, they would
+begin by distinguishing between these rights they could individually
+exercise fully and perfectly and those they could not.</p>
+
+<p>Of the first kind are the rights of thinking, speaking, forming and
+giving opinions, and perhaps all those which can be fully exercised by
+the individual without the aid of exterior assistance&mdash;or in other
+words, rights of personal competency&mdash;Of the second kind are
+those of personal protection of acquiring and possessing property, in
+the exercise of which the individual natural power is less than the
+natural right.</p>
+
+<p>Having drawn this line they agree to retain individually the first
+Class of Rights or those of personal Competency; and to detach
+from their personal possession the second Class, or those of defective
+power and to accept in lieu thereof a right to the whole power
+produced by a condensation of all the parts. These I conceive to
+be civil rights or rights of Compact, and are distinguishable from
+Natural rights, because in the one we act wholly in our own person,
+in the other we agree not to do so, but act under the guarantee of
+society.</p>
+
+<p>It therefore follows that the more of those imperfect natural
+rights, or rights of imperfect power we give up and thus exchange
+the more securely we possess, and as the word liberty is often
+mistakenly put for security M<sup>r</sup> Wilson has confused his Argument
+by confounding the terms.</p>
+
+<p>But it does not follow that the more natural rights of <i>every kind</i> we
+resign the more securely we possess,&mdash;because if we resign those of
+the first class we may suffer much by the exchange, for where the
+right and the power are equal with each other in the individual
+naturally they ought to rest there.</p>
+
+<p>M<sup>r</sup> Wilson must have some allusion to this distinction or his
+position would be subject to the inference you draw from it.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I consider the individual sovereignty of the States retained under
+the Act of Confederation to be of the second Class of rights. It
+becomes dangerous because it is defective in the power necessary to
+support it. It answers the pride and purpose of a few men in each
+state&mdash;but the State collectively is injured by it.</p></div>
+
+<p>Unless I am much mistaken we have here the key to the whole
+democratic system of government evolved by Jefferson and the
+solution of the apparent contradictions often pointed out in his
+system. Starting from the hypothesis of Hobbes that in a
+state of nature men are free agents and have no other law but
+their own will, Jefferson attributes to the surrounding dangers
+the urge to form some sort of a society, a theory also found in
+Locke. But what follows is more original: in forming a social
+compact, men do not abdicate all their sovereignty as in the
+hypothesis of Rousseau; they do not even abdicate a certain
+portion of all their rights. On the contrary, they reserve entire
+a certain class of rights, all those they can exercise fully without
+the aid of exterior assistance, and they exchange for more
+security those they cannot exercise themselves. Thus the social
+compact is no longer a <i>pactum subjectionis</i>. It is no longer
+a question of deciding whether in a society the individual
+or the society are sovereign, since both are sovereign in their
+respective domains. How far Jefferson was from being a
+demagogue is clearly indicated by the sentence in which he
+refers to James Wilson. Liberty, except liberty of speech and
+thought, cannot be unlimited and unrestricted in any society;
+it is a matter of bargain and exchange. Thus Jefferson
+proposed a definition of liberty entirely different from the
+French conception as found in Rousseau and reproduced in the
+"D&eacute;claration des droits de l'homme" of May 29, 1793: "<i>La
+libert&eacute; consiste &agrave; pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas &agrave; autrui.</i>"
+With him, on the contrary, liberty consists in the free enjoyment
+of our will except in certain specific cases, to be enumerated
+at the time we form a social compact. Hence the neces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>sity
+of a Bill of Rights, in which the individual accepts certain
+limitations in order to obtain a corresponding amount of security,
+and specifically denominates those of his natural rights he
+means to keep integrally and wholly.</p>
+
+<p>This explains clearly why Jefferson, who is represented as
+the champion of State rights, not only accepted the abridgment
+of State sovereignty but declared that the retention by the
+States of certain rights was dangerous and illogical. One of the
+first cases arises when dealing with foreign nations. Here the
+individual State is clearly unable to protect itself against foreign
+aggressions and foreign encroachments, and foreign policies
+must properly be placed in the hands of the Federal Government.
+This applies not only to questions of protection, but to
+questions of commerce, and for two reasons, both of them
+practical and not theoretical. Commerce is one of the great
+causes of war. In order to protect the confederation the government
+has the right to levy taxes, and the most convenient
+form is that of imposts or taxes on importations. Secondly, the
+Federal Government is evidently in a better situation than the
+individual States for obtaining favorable treatment of their
+commerce by foreign nations. Hence the insistence of Jefferson
+throughout his life on the prerogatives of the Federal Government
+in all matters referring to foreign policies, and his reiterated
+declarations in favor of State rights.</p>
+
+<p>Incidentally, this document explains two otherwise unexplainable
+incidents in Jefferson's career.</p>
+
+<p>The Declaration on Violation of Rights adopted by the First
+Continental Congress had specified the rights of the inhabitants
+of the British colonies:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That they are entitled to life, liberty, &amp; property,
+and they have never ceded to any sovereign power whatever, a
+right to dispose of either without their consent."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> The Virginia
+Bill of Rights had similarly declared that among the inhe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>rent
+natural rights was the means of acquiring and possessing
+property.</p>
+
+<p>Now, in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence,
+which follows so closely the Bill of Rights, the word "property"
+does not appear, while the other rights are reasserted.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this an unintentional omission, for when Lafayette
+submitted to Jefferson his "D&eacute;claration des droits de l'homme",
+Jefferson put in brackets the words "droit &agrave; la propri&eacute;t&eacute;", thus
+suggesting their elimination from the list of natural rights.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he was not in any way a communist, and it would be a
+serious error to see in that systematic omission the influence of
+Rousseau's "Discours sur l'Origine de l'In&eacute;galit&eacute;." The fact
+is that, with his mind accustomed to draw fine legal distinctions,
+he had come to the conclusion that the right of possessing and
+acquiring property had to be protected by society in order to be
+enjoyed securely. It is one of those rights which are at the
+same time abridged and made more secure by society, since in
+any society it may be found necessary to levy taxes on the
+property of any citizen and even to condemn his property in
+the interests of the community.</p>
+
+<p>Such a philosophy of natural rights had never before been
+expressed by any political philosopher I have been able to refer
+to, with one possible exception. While Locke had said that one
+divests oneself of his liberty in assuming the bonds of civil
+society&mdash;while Rousseau had declared that man sacrifices all
+his natural rights on the altar of society&mdash;a Scottish jurist had
+maintained that "Mutual defence against a more powerful
+neighbor being in early times the chief, or sole motive for joining
+in society, individuals never thought of surrendering any of
+their natural rights which could be retained consistently with
+their great aim of mutual defence." Not only had Jefferson
+read Kames, but he had copied extensively from his "Historical
+Law" tracts in his "Commonplace Book", where this very
+passage is to be found. He had also seen in the tract on history<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+of property the fine distinction established by Kames between
+possession and property, the two terms being coextensive
+among savages, while in more refined society the relation of
+property was gradually evolved and disjoined from possession.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p>
+
+<p>Thus if Jefferson borrowed from any one the main principles
+of his philosophy, it was not from any of the eloquent and
+famous thinkers of France and England. Locke he had certainly
+read, he had abstracted Montesquieu, he may have
+known Rousseau's theory, although this is doubtful, but he had
+read and summarized the tracts of a Scottish jurist whom he
+had probably discovered through Doctor Small. His conception
+of the social compact is not the conception of a philosopher;
+it is essentially the conception of a jurist and a lawyer. The
+social compact is not a metaphysical hypothesis, nebulous and
+lost in the night of ages, it is a very specific and very precise
+convention to be entered into or to be denounced by men who
+retain their "rights inherent and unalienable", who remain
+free and yet agree to submit themselves to certain rules and
+a certain discipline in order to obtain more security. And
+thus was evolved and defined by Jefferson a combination of
+liberty and order, individualism and discipline which lies at the
+basis of American civilization, an object of wonder to most
+foreigners, often discussed but never so satisfactorily elucidated
+as in the document written by Jefferson when, "wanting amusement",
+he sat down to explain to himself his ideas of natural
+and civil rights and the distinction between them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h2>THE REVISION OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA</h2>
+
+
+<p>At the meeting of July 4, 1776, Congress, after adopting the
+Declaration of Independence,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson,
+be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States
+of America."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Among the several suggestions made in the committee, the
+one proposed by Jefferson, according to John Adams, deserves
+particular attention: "Mr. Jefferson proposed, the children of
+Israel in the wilderness led by a cloud by day, and a pillar by
+night&mdash;and on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon
+chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and
+whose political principles and form of government we have
+assumed."</p>
+
+<p>None of the suggestions made by the committee, or their
+final report, was ever adopted, but the device proposed by
+Jefferson is a significant indication that his thoughts were still
+running in the same channel. "The children of Israel" would
+remind one of the favorite contention of the settlers, piously
+preserved by their descendants to this day, that they were a
+chosen people; but the other side of the seal reminds one that
+Jefferson's great ambition at that time was to promote a
+renaissance of Anglo-Saxon primitive institutions on the new
+continent. Thus presented, the American Revolution was
+nothing but the reclamation of the Anglo-Saxon birthright of
+which the colonists had been deprived by "a long trend of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+abuses." Nor does it appear that there was anything in this
+theory which surprised or shocked his contemporaries; Adams
+apparently did not disapprove of it, and it would be easy to
+bring in many similar expressions of the same idea in documents
+of the time.</p>
+
+<p>The principle once established, there remained to put it into
+effect, and to make a beginning in Virginia. This was the
+thought uppermost in Jefferson's mind when he went back to
+the Old Dominion. "Are we not the better for what we have
+hitherto abolished of the feudal system," he wrote to Edmund
+Pendleton. "Has not every restitution of the ancient Saxon
+laws had happy effects? Is it not better now that we return
+at once into that happy system of our ancestors, the wisest
+and most perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man, as it stood
+before the 8th century?"<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> This is the true foundation of
+Jefferson's political philosophy. No greater mistake could
+be made than to look for his sources in Locke, Montesquieu,
+or Rousseau. The Jeffersonian democracy was born under the
+sign of Hengist and Horsa, not of the Goddess Reason.</p>
+
+<p>On September 26, 1776, Congress proceeded to the election
+of commissioners to the Court of France, and the ballots being
+taken, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Silas Deane, and Mr.
+Thomas Jefferson were chosen. This was a signal recognition
+of the prestige of the young author of the Declaration of Independence.
+An express was sent at once to Jefferson to inform
+him of his appointment. For the first time he was offered
+an opportunity to visit the Old World. His desire to go was
+so strong that he remained undecided for three days before he
+made up his mind to decline the nomination and to send his
+refusal to Hancock. In the letter he then wrote, he alleged
+that "circumstances very peculiar in the situation of my family,
+such as neither permit me to leave nor to carry it compel me
+to ask leave to decline a service so honorable and at the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+time so important to the American cause."<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> His biographer
+Randall observes on this occasion that "the private causes"
+were the precarious situation of his wife's health. The family
+record contains the following entry: "a son born May 28th,
+1777, 10 h. <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>"<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> The true reason, however, is to be found
+in the "Autobiography", as given before.</p>
+
+<p>The very day Jefferson answered Hancock, he was put on
+several committees, and the next day he obtained leave to bring
+in a bill "To enable tenants in taille to convey their land in fee
+simple." The Bill to Abolish Entails was reported on October
+14, and after discussion and amendments passed by the House
+on October 23, and approved by the Senate on November
+first.</p>
+
+<p>The bill was no improvisation and Jefferson intended by it
+"to strike at the very root of feudalism in Virginia." On
+August 13, 1776, he had already written to an anonymous
+correspondent, probably Edmund Pendleton:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The opinion that our lands were allodial possessions is one which
+I have very long held, and had in my eye during a pretty considerable
+part of my law reading which I found always strengthened it....
+This opinion I have thought and still think to prove if ever I should
+have time to look into books again.... Was not the separation
+of the property from the perpetual use of lands a mere fiction?
+Is not it's history well known, and the purposes for which it was
+introduced, to wit, the establishment of a military system of defense?
+Was it not afterwards made an engine of immense oppression?...
+Has it not been the practice of all other nations to hold their lands
+as their personal estate in absolute dominion? Are we not the better
+for what we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system?<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It was the first great blow at the landed hereditary aristocracy
+of Virginia. The abolition of patrimonial estates, rendering
+them subject to all the obligations of personal property "susceptible
+to be sold, conveyed, seized, exchanged and willed"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+as ordinary property, meant the rapid abolition of that refined
+class of Virginia planters which constituted such a distinguished
+feature of colonial life. It was a bold step to take, since it
+meant the antagonism of a powerful class, the beginning of
+hatred that pursued Jefferson during his whole life and long
+after his death. Yet he had the courage to do it and was no
+little proud of it.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> He was opposed by both Mr. Pendleton
+and Patrick Henry, "but the bill passed finally for entire
+abolition."</p>
+
+<p>With the Bill to Abolish Entails Jefferson introduced another
+bill on the naturalization of foreigners, containing an expressed
+recognition of the right of expatriation already defended in
+the "Summary View" of 1774,&mdash;another remarkable instance
+of Jefferson's persistency and relentless efforts to win his point
+by legal means.</p>
+
+<p>Simultaneously a committee on religion had been appointed
+"to meet and adjourn from day to day, and to take into their
+consideration all matters and things relating to religion and
+religious morality." Besides Jefferson, there were seventeen
+members on the committee, including Fleming, Page, and
+Nicholas. Being in a minority, Jefferson began the struggle
+which was to end in the famous Bill for Religious Freedom,&mdash;a
+long hard fight of which more will be said later. For the
+time being, however, Jefferson had to be satisfied with a partial
+success:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We prevailed so far only, as to repeal the laws which rendered
+criminal the maintenance of any religious opinions, the forbearance
+of repairing to church, or the exercise of any mode of worship;
+and further, to exempt dissenters from contributing to the support
+of the established church; and to suspend, only until next session,
+levies on the members of that church for the salaries of their own
+incumbents.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Yet this was a very significant victory since, from the days
+of Sir Walter Raleigh, there had been an express proviso that
+the laws of the colony "should not be against the true Christian
+faith, now professed in the Church of England." Dissenters
+as well as members of the Established Church were assessed
+for the support of the Anglican ministers, and although other
+denominations, particularly Presbyterians, had succeeded in
+gaining more than a foothold in some parishes, a majority of
+dissenters were still obliged to pay for the support of the
+minority.</p>
+
+<p>But important as they were, these constituted only minor
+points. The whole structure of laws had to be remodelled to
+fit new conditions; a new legal monument had to be erected.
+Jefferson's practice of law had convinced him of the obscurities,
+contradictions, absurdities, and iniquities of the assemblage
+of English laws on top of which had been superimposed local
+regulations. The Bill for a General Revision of the Laws
+passed October 26. The fifth of November five revisors were
+appointed by ballot in the following order: Thomas Jefferson,
+Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, Thomas
+Ludwell Lee. As this is a more important contribution of Jefferson,
+we may omit here the part he played on many committees
+of the House, drafting and reporting on "Declaring what
+shall be treason"; bills "For raising six additional battalions
+of infantry", "For establishing a Court of Appeals", "For
+establishing a High Court of Chancery", "For establishing a
+General Court and Courts of Assize", "For establishing a Court
+of Admiralty", "For better regulating the proceedings of the
+County Courts." He plunged into the work of the complete
+reorganization of the State judicial machinery, with all the
+enthusiastic zeal of a born jurist, and his capacity for precise,
+minute work was once more brought into play.</p>
+
+<p>The committee of revisors met at Fredericksburg to determine
+on a manner of procedure and to distribute the work be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>tween
+the five members. First of all a question of methods
+had to be settled: "It had to be determined whether we should
+propose to abolish the whole existing system of laws, and prepare
+a new and complete Institute, or preserve the general system,
+and only modify it to the present state of things."</p>
+
+<p>Pendleton and Lee stood for the former methods, Wythe,
+Mason, and Jefferson for the latter, and this was the procedure
+finally adopted. Rather than the account given by Jefferson
+in his "Autobiography" we shall follow the contemporary
+account drawn up at the time by George Mason.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Plan settled by the committee of Revisors in Fredericksburg,
+January, 1777.</p>
+
+<p>(1) The common law not to be meddled with, except where
+alterations are necessary. The statutes to be revised and digested,
+alterations proper for us to be made; the diction where obsolete or
+redundant, to be reformed; but otherwise to undergo as few changes
+as possible. The acts of the English Commonwealth to be examined.
+The statutes to be divided into periods; the acts of Assembly made
+on the same subject to be incorporated into them. The laws of
+other colonies to be examined, and any good ones to be adopted.</p></div>
+
+<p>In the margin is here written:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>General rules in drawing provisions &amp;c., which would do only
+what the law would do without them, to be omitted. Bills to be
+short; not to include matters of different natures; not to insert
+an unnecessary word; nor omit a useful one. Laws to be made
+on the spur of the present occasion, and all innovating laws to be
+limited in their duration.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Truly an admirable plan! Not the scheme of rash reformers,
+of <i>a priori</i>-minded legislators, deriving a code of laws from a
+certain number of abstract principles. It was not their purpose
+to make a <i>tabula rasa</i> of the old structure which had slowly
+grown stone by stone, statute by statute and to rebuild entirely
+on new plans. The old house resting on solid Anglo-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>Saxon
+foundations was still substantial and safe and it could
+serve its purpose if only a few partitions were torn down, a few
+useless annexes demolished, and better ventilation provided.
+Nothing was farther from the mind of the committee than to
+erect in Virginia a Greek or Roman temple of Themis.</p>
+
+<p>The statutes were divided into five parts. Jefferson was to
+take "the first period in the division of statutes to end with
+25th, H. 8th"; Pendleton the second period "to end at the
+Revolution"; Wythe the third "to come to the present day";
+G. Mason the fourth, "to consist of the residuary part of the
+Virginia laws to which is added the criminal law and land law."
+The fifth, attributed to Lee, "to be the regulation of property
+in slaves, and their condition; and also the examination of
+the laws of the other colonies."<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> Mason soon retired, "being
+no lawyer", and Lee having died, the work was redistributed
+which explains the somewhat different allotment indicated by
+Jefferson in the "Autobiography." On the other hand, he
+seems to have claimed for himself in the "Autobiography" an
+honor and an attitude that really belonged to the committee:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I thought it would be useful, also, in new draughts to reform the
+style of the later British statutes, and of our own arts of Assembly;
+which, from their verbosity, their endless tautologies, their involution
+of case within case, and parenthesis within parenthesis, and
+their multiplied efforts at certainty, by <i>saids</i> and <i>aforesaids</i>, by <i>ors</i>
+and by <i>ands</i>, to make them more plain, are really rendered more
+perplexed and incomprehensible, not only to common readers, but
+to the lawyers themselves.</p></div>
+
+<p>The notes taken by G. Mason leave no doubt that this was
+also the attitude of the committee and their definite policy.
+It was a slow, painstaking, meticulous task, requiring common
+sense, good judgment, a good sense for words and erudition.
+To make laws intelligible and clear is no small achievement.
+But certainly it was not the sort of work that an <i>a priori</i> philoso<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>pher,
+fond of generalizations and universal principles, would
+have relished, or would have been willing to submit himself to
+for more than two years. If in some political matters Jefferson
+differed from Mr. Pendleton, he admired him and later
+paid him a handsome tribute in the "Autobiography." Pendleton&mdash;cool,
+smooth and persuasive, quick, acute and resourceful&mdash;was
+a remarkable debater.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom, of expansive
+mind, profound judgment, cogent in argument, learned in the lore
+of our former constitution, and earnest for the republican change on
+democratic principles ... his virtue was of the purest tint; his
+integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and,
+devoted as he was to liberty, and to the natural and equal rights of
+man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country without the
+avarice of the Roman.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>When the preliminary work was done, the reviewers met
+at Williamsburg in February, 1779, and "day by day" they
+examined critically their several parts, sentence by sentence,
+scrutinizing and amending, "until they had agreed on the
+whole." "The Revised Laws", comprehending one hundred
+and twenty-six bills, were reported to the General Assembly
+June 18, 1779; bills were taken out occasionally from time to
+time, and because of Madison's efforts fifty-six out of the one
+hundred and twenty-six were after amendments made laws at
+the sessions of 1785, 1786. Among the bills reworded or initiated
+by Jefferson several stood out conspicuously.</p>
+
+<p>The Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments is a
+particularly good example of the methods used by Jefferson
+in rewriting the old legislation. On sending it to George Wythe
+he wrote:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I wished to exhibit a sample of reformation in the barbarous style
+into which our modern statutes have degenerated from their ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+simplicity. In its style, I have aimed at accuracy, brevity, simplicity,
+preserving however the words of the established law, wherever
+their meaning had been sanctioned by judicial decision, as rendered
+technical by usage.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The transformation undergone by the old statutes can more
+easily be observed because Jefferson was careful to indicate in
+footnotes his authorities from the old texts, in Latin, and even
+in French and Anglo-Saxon. But the very title of the bill
+indicates that Jefferson's purpose went farther than a mere codification
+of the old law. He could not be entirely satisfied with
+the scale of punishments determined by the committee; he
+regretted particularly the maintainance of the <i>Lex Talionis</i>,
+"an eye for an eye and a hand for a hand" (Section XV), and
+he attempted to restrict the penalty of death to a few limited
+cases, for it was "the last melancholy resource against those
+whose existence is become inconsistent with the safety of their
+fellow citizens." His preamble reflects to a large extent the
+views of Montesquieu and Beccaria which he copied in the
+"Commonplace Book." But it could hardly be called humanitarian
+in the modern and sometimes derogatory sense of the
+word. The provisions of the code itself are far from showing
+any weakness or sentimentality: the death penalty is provided
+for treason against the Commonwealth and for whomsoever
+committeth murder by way of duel; manslaughter, previously
+"punishable at law by burning in the hands, and forfeiture
+of chattels", is punished by hard labor for seven years
+in the public works, and the murderer "shall forfeit one half of
+his lands and goods to the next of kin of the person slain, the
+other half to be sequestered during such times, in the hands, and
+to the use, of the commonwealth." Rape, polygamy, or sodomy
+"shall be punished if a man by castration, if a woman by boring
+through the cartilage of her nose a hole of one half inch in
+diameter at least." Witchcraft, conjuration, or sorcery "shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+be punished by ducking and whipping, at the discretion of a
+jury, not exceeding fifteen stripes", and, most extraordinary
+for modern readers, "Whenever sentences of death shall be
+pronounced against any person for treason or murder, execution
+thereof shall be done on the next day but one, after such
+sentence, unless it be Sunday, and then on Monday following"
+(Section XIII). Truly enough the law of nature is once mentioned
+in a footnote to the effect that if a prisoner tries to escape
+from prison he shall not be considered as a capital offender.
+"The law of nature impels every one to escape from confinement;
+he should not therefore be subjected to punishment.
+Let the legislature restrain his criminal by walls, not by parchment."
+If there is "philosophy" in this statement it is common
+sense and certainly not sentimentality.</p>
+
+<p>The Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge is far
+more philosophical in its terms. There for the first time will
+be found a picture of democracy as Jefferson pictured it to himself
+at that date. The general statement at the beginning may
+be an echo from Montesquieu; but while the French philosopher
+had not indicated any remedy for such a situation, Jefferson
+was interested in it only in so far as it could be amended.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Experience has shewn, that even under the best forms, those
+entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted
+it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual
+means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable,
+the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give
+them knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth,... and
+whereas it is generally true that people will be happiest whose laws
+are best, and are best administered, and that laws will be wisely
+formed, and honestly administered, in proportion as those who
+form and administer them are wise and honest; whence it becomes
+expedient for promoting the publick happiness that those persons,
+whom nature hath endowed with genius and virtue, should be
+rendered by liberal education worthy to receive, and able to guard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens,
+and that they should be called to that charge without regard to
+wealth, birth or other accidental condition or circumstance; but
+the indigence of the greater number disabling them from so educating,
+at their own expence, those of their children whom nature hath
+fitly formed and disposed to become useful instruments for the
+public, it is better that such should be sought for and educated
+at the common expence of all, than that the happiness of all should
+be confined to the weak or wicked.</p></div>
+
+<p>Is this a democratic view in the modern sense of the word?
+At any rate it is not the democratic phraseology of a modern
+politician. There is no protest at all in the name of immanent
+justice against the unequality of conditions, there is no desire
+to give every boy a fair chance in life, no indication that men
+being born equal, all children should have equal opportunities.
+We are perfectly free to believe that Jefferson entertained such
+sentiments at that date. Historically, however, there is no
+evidence that he did so. All we have here is a hard-headed
+proposition with the corrective that, under the new system, a
+child of genius or great talent was to be given an opportunity
+to develop his native qualities, for it was both the duty and the
+interest of society to prevent such a waste of intellectual
+potentialities. Furthermore, Jefferson was manifestly of the
+opinion that no man could properly participate in the government
+of society unless he had been rendered worthy to receive
+and able to guard the <i>sacred</i> deposit of the rights and liberties
+of his fellow citizens. Neither wealth, birth, nor accidental
+circumstances should determine who is fit for public office, but
+education should be the criterion. As he was doing his
+utmost to abolish the last privileges and prestige of the landed
+hereditary aristocracy of Virginia, Jefferson was striving to
+constitute and to get recognition for another aristocracy, an
+aristocracy of learning and intelligence, a true ruling class, or
+more exactly a governing and legislative class; for he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+persuaded that the business of the legislator cannot be learned
+in a day, that it requires, besides native qualities of mind, a
+certain expert knowledge of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The provisions of the bill are most extraordinary for the
+time. Jefferson provided for the division of the State into a
+certain number of districts or hundreds; in each hundred a
+schoolhouse was to be built and so located that all the children
+within it might daily attend the school.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In each of the schools shall be taught reading, writing, and common
+arithmetick, and the books which shall be used therein for
+instructing the children to read shall be such as will at the same
+time make them acquainted with Graecian, Roman, English and
+American history. At these schools all the free children, male and
+female, resident within the respective hundred, shall be entitled to
+receive tuition gratis for the term of three years.</p></div>
+
+<p>In addition, the bill provided that a certain number of grammar
+schools would be erected, "their situation to be as central
+as possible for the inhabitants of the said counties, the
+schools to be furnished with good water, convenient to plentiful
+supplies of provision and fuel and above all things that it be
+healthy." In all of these grammar schools, which shall receive
+boarders</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>shall be taught the Latin and Greek languages, English Grammar,
+geography, and the higher part of numerical arithmetick, to wit.,
+vulgar and decimal fractions, and the extrication of the square and
+cube roots. In order to provide proper facilities for children of
+particular ability, the overseer of the hundred schools (one for ten
+schools) shall appoint from among the boys who shall have been
+two years at the least at some one of the schools under his superintendance
+and whose parents are too poor to give them farther
+education some one of the best and most promising genius and
+dispositions to proceed to the grammar schools.</p></div>
+
+<p>At the end of the first year one third of the boys shall be discontinued
+as public foundations after examination; "all shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+be discontinued at the end of two years save one only, the best
+in genius and disposition, who shall be at liberty to continue
+there four years longer on the public foundation, and shall
+thence forward be deemed a senior." Finally, "the visitors
+will select one among the said seniors of the best learning and
+most hopeful genius and disposition who shall be authorized
+by them to proceed to William and Mary College; there to be
+educated, boarded, and clothed three years: the expense of
+which shall be paid by the Treasurer."</p>
+
+<p>This rigorous selective process looks very familiar to any one
+acquainted with the modern French system of free elementary
+schools, boarding <i>coll&eacute;ges</i> and <i>lyc&egrave;es</i>, and the system of competitive
+scholarships and fellowships of the French. But it
+was not fully developed in France before the Third Republic
+and it was not even dreamed of before the Revolution. Many
+times the French have been criticized for the undemocratic
+features of an educational system which reserves secondary
+education to those who are able to pay and to the small number
+of children who win scholarships. There is no possibility
+that this scheme was ever borrowed by Jefferson from any
+French theorician, and there is, on the contrary, some reason
+to believe that in France it owes its beginning to the publication
+of Jefferson's plan in the "Notes on Virginia" printed in
+Paris and in French in 1786.</p>
+
+<p>The educational structure of the State would not have been
+complete if Jefferson had not provided for a reorganization of
+William and Mary College. Such is the purpose of the next
+bill (Bill LXXX) in the Report of the Committee of Revisors.
+There he was more ruthless and more radical. After a first
+section which recounts the foundation of the college and its
+history, Jefferson concluded that "the said college, thus amply
+endowed by the public has not answered their expectation,
+and there is reason to hope, that it would become more useful,
+if certain articles in its constitution were altered and amended."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+By one stroke of the pen, Jefferson abolished the school of
+theology, took the administration out of the hands of the former
+trustees to place it in the hands of visitors appointed by
+the Legislature and "not to be restrained in their legislation
+by the royal prerogatives, or the laws of the kingdom of England,
+or the canons of the constitution of the English Church,
+as enjoined in the Charter." The president and faculty were
+to be dismissed, and six professorships created; to wit, one of
+moral law and police; one of history, civil and ecclesiastical;
+one of anatomy and medicine; one of natural philosophy and
+natural history; one of the ancient languages Oriental and
+northern; and one of modern languages.&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A missionary will be appointed to the several tribes of the Indians,
+whose business will be to investigate their laws, customs, religion,
+traditions, and more particularly their languages, constructing
+grammar thereof, as well as may be, and copious vocabularies,
+and on oath to communicate, from time to time, to the said President
+and Professors the material he collects.</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus the college was to become the training school in which
+"those who are to be the future guardians of the rights and
+liberties of their country may be endowed with science and
+virtue, to watch and preserve the sacred deposit." It was not
+a democratic institution, but the finishing school of the future
+legislators and experts in the science of government.</p>
+
+<p>As to disinterested "researches of the learned and curious",
+they were to be encouraged by the establishment at Richmond
+of a Free Public Library with yearly appropriation of two
+thousand pounds for the purchase of books and maps.</p>
+
+<p>One may state here without any fear of contradiction that
+no system so complete, so logically constructed and so well
+articulated had ever been proposed in any country in the world.
+It already embodied the ideas for which Jefferson stood during
+all his life, it preceded by more than fifteen years the plans of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+the French Convention. As the first charter of American
+public education it is an astonishing document and deserves
+more attention than it has hitherto received.</p>
+
+<p>The Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Jefferson's
+opinion ranked in importance with the Declaration of Independence.
+It was not intended to be a revolutionary document,
+but simply a common-sense adjustment of the situation
+brought about by the repeal of several provisions of the old
+Virginia laws. Jefferson took care to explain the true purpose
+of the bill in the "Notes on Virginia" (Query XVII). The
+Virginia Bill of Rights had proclaimed "it to be a truth, and a
+natural right that the exercise of religion should be free." On
+the other hand, no mention of it had been made in the Convention
+and no measure had been adopted to protect religious
+freedom. The Assembly, however, had repealed, in 1776, "all
+<i>acts</i> of Parliament which had rendered criminal the maintaining
+any opinion in matters of religion", and suspended
+the laws giving salaries to the clergy. This suspension was
+made perpetual in October, 1779. But religious matters still
+remained subject to common law and to acts passed by the
+Assembly. At Common Law, heresy was a capital offence,
+punishable by burning, according to the writ <i>de haeretico comburando</i>.
+Furthermore, by an act of the Assembly of 1705,
+"if a person brought up in the Christian religion denies the
+being of a God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more gods
+than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the
+Scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the
+first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment
+ecclesiastical, civil, or military: on the second by disability
+to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian, executor, or
+administrator, and by three years' imprisonment without
+bail."<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p>
+
+<p>This being the situation, the article of the Bill of Rights con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>cerning
+religious freedom remained a dead letter until provisions
+could be made to take religious matters out of the jurisdiction
+of the Common Law.</p>
+
+<p>Historians seem to have been somewhat misled both by the
+lofty and philosophical tone of the Bill for Religious Freedom
+and the comments made by Jefferson in the "Notes on
+Virginia", specially written by him, as we always must remember,
+for a group of French philosophers and the French
+public. A philosopher he was, but before all he was a purist
+and a historian of law. For him the main question was first
+to determine whether the jurisdiction of the Common Law in
+matters of religion was founded in law. He had already
+studied minutely the history of Common Law and made copious
+extracts in his "Commonplace Book"; he had noticed in
+Houard's "Coutumes Anglo-Normandes" that some pious
+copyist had prefixed to the laws of Alfred four chapters of
+Jewish law. "This awkward Monkish fabrication makes
+the preface to Alfred's genuine laws stand in the body of the
+Work; and the very words of Alfred himself form the frauds,
+for he declares in that preface that he has collected these laws
+from those of Ina, of Offa, Ethelbert, and his ancestors, saying
+nothing of any of them being taken from the scripture." Consequently
+the pretended laws of Alfred were a forgery.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Yet, palpable as it must be to a lawyer, our judges have piously
+avoided lifting the veil under which it was shrouded. In truth, the
+alliance between Church and State in England, has ever made their
+judges accomplices in the frauds of the clergy; and even bolder
+than they are: for, instead of being contented with these four surreptitious
+chapters of <i>Exodus</i>, they have taken the whole leap, and
+declared at once, that the whole Bible and Testament, in a lump,
+make part, of the Common law.... Finally in answer to Fortescue
+Aland's question why the Common law of England should not
+now be a part of the Common law of England? We may say that
+they are not, because they never were made so by legislative author<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>ity;
+the document which imposed that doubt on him being a manifest
+forgery.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 70%;">
+<img src="images/pic102b.jpg" width="100%" alt="A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S COMMONPLACE BOOK" title="" /><br />
+<span class="caption">A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S "COMMONPLACE BOOK"<br />
+<br />
+<i>From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Bolstered up with his texts, references, and authorities, Jefferson
+could now, if need be, confute the redoubtable Mr. Pendleton
+in the Committee of Revisors, but such a legal technical
+presentation of the facts would evidently not appeal either to
+the Assembly at large or to the public. These had to be approached
+in an entirely different way; for to speak of frauds,
+forgeries, and monkish fabrication would not do at all in a
+public document and, on the contrary, might create a revulsion
+of feeling. It became necessary to present the reform in an
+entirely different light and Jefferson did so in the first section
+of the bill.</p>
+
+<p>The phrasing of these lofty principles is well known; still
+it may not be out of place to reproduce them once more:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Well aware that the opinions of belief of men depend not on
+their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to
+their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and
+manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it
+altogether susceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it
+by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations,
+tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness ... to compel
+a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of
+opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical;...
+that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions,
+any more than our opinions in physics or geometry;... that
+the opinions of men are not the object of civil government.</p></div>
+
+<p>In Section II, after that preamble, the religious independence
+of the individual was proclaimed:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall
+be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place,
+or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested,
+or burthened in his body or goods, or shall otherwise suffer, on
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+account of his religious opinions or beliefs; but that all men shall
+be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in
+matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,
+enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.</p></div>
+
+<p>Furthermore, in the first section, Jefferson gave the first
+and final expression of his understanding of freedom of thought:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government
+for its offices to interfere when principles break out into overt acts
+against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and
+will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient
+antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict unless
+by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free
+argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is
+permitted freely to contradict them.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is not surprising that the bill was savagely attacked in
+the Assembly and did not pass until 1786. It simply shows
+that the Church of England had more supporters than Jefferson
+led us to believe, when he wrote in the "Notes on Virginia"
+that "two-thirds of the people had become dissenters
+at the commencement of the present revolution." The remaining
+third, if such was the proportion, were at least well
+organized and offered a strong resistance. This bill marked
+the beginning of the accusations of impiety and infidelity so
+often launched at Jefferson. Whatever his private sentiments
+on the matter may have been, he was not the man to discriminate
+against any one because of religious beliefs; and at the
+very time when he was engaged in preparing his bill, he took
+the initiative of starting a subscription towards the support of
+the Reverend Mr. Charles Clay of Williamsburg. The document,
+never before published, is entirely written in his hand
+and is of such importance that I may be permitted to reproduce
+it here:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Whereas, by an act of General assembly, freedom of Religious
+opinion and worship is restored to all, and it is left to the members<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+of each religious society to employ such Teachers they think fit for
+their own Spiritual comfort and instruction and to maintain the
+same by their free and voluntary contributions. We the subscribers
+(professing the most Catholic affection for other religious
+sectaries who happen to differ from us in points of conscience,) yet
+desirous of encouraging and supporting (a church in our opinion so
+truly Apostolick as) the Protestant Episcopalian Church, and of
+deriving to ourselves, through the ministry of it's teachers, the
+benefits of Gospel-knowledge and Religious improvement, and at the
+same time of supporting those, who, having been at considerable
+expence in qualifying themselves by regular education for explaining
+the holy scriptures, have dedicated their time and labor to the
+service of the said church (and moreover approving highly the
+conduct of the rev<sup>d</sup> Charles Clay, who early rejecting the tyrant and
+tyranny of Britain, proved his religion genuine by its harmony with
+the liberties of mankind and conforming his public prayers to the
+spirit and the injured rights of his country, addressed the god of
+battles for victory to our arms, while others impiously prayed that
+our enemies might vainquish and overcome us) do hereby oblige
+ourselves our heirs executors and administrators on or before the
+25th day of December in this present year 1777, and likewise on or
+before the 25th day of December in every year following until we
+shall withdraw our subscription in open vestry, or until the legislature
+shall make other provision for the support of the said clergy, to
+pay to the (reverend) said Charles Clay of Albemarle his executor
+or administrators the several sums affixed to our respective names:
+in Consideration whereof we expect that the said Charles Clay shall
+perform divine service and preach a sermon in the town of Charlottesville
+on every fourth Sunday, or oftener, if a regular rotation
+with the other churches that shall have put themselves under his care
+will admit a more frequent attendence.</p>
+
+<p>And we further mutually agree with each other that we will meet
+at Charlottesville on the 1<sup>st</sup> day of March in the present year, and
+on the second Thursday in &mdash;&mdash; in every year following so long
+as we continue our subscriptions and there make choice by ballot
+of three wardens to collect our said subscriptions, to take care of such
+books and vestments as shall be provided for the use of our church,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+to call meetings of our Congregation when necessary, and to transact
+such other business relating to our Congregation as we shall hereafter
+confide to them.</p>
+
+<p>Th. Jefferson, six pounds; Jno Harvie, four pounds; Randolph
+Jefferson, two pounds ten schillings; Thos. Garth, fifteen schillings;
+Philip Mazzei, sixteen schillings eight pence.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Far more important than the local reception of the revised
+laws, since most of them were adopted only years later, and
+thanks to the efforts of Madison, during the sessions of 1785
+and 1786, is the fact that Jefferson had already formulated
+at that time for himself and his fellow citizens the most essential
+principles of his doctrine. He was not unaware of this, and
+stated it himself in his "Autobiography" when he declared:
+"I considered four of these bills, passed or reported as forming
+a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of ancient
+or future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a government
+truly republican."<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p>
+
+<p>The ideal government he had in mind at the time could perhaps
+be described as a democracy, but he did not use the word
+himself, not even many years later in his "Autobiography"
+where he simply spoke of "a government truly republican."
+He was much opposed to the perpetuation of an hereditary
+landed gentry, but I do not see that he would have approved
+or even conceived the possibility of a government placed entirely
+under the control of unenlightened men. The Bill for
+the more General Diffusion of Knowledge makes clear that
+only through a liberal education can men be "rendered worthy
+to receive and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and
+liberties of their fellow citizens", and the Bill for Amending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+the Charter of William and Mary proclaims even more emphatically
+that the old college must "become the seminary, in
+which those who are to be the future guardians of the rights of
+liberty of their country may be endowed with science and virtue,
+to watch and preserve the sacred deposit." Jefferson was a
+friend of the people, but no admirer and no flatterer of the
+"plain people", nor did he entertain any illusion about their
+participation in all the forms of government. For the present
+it was enough, as he wrote in the "Autobiography", if they
+were qualified through elementary education "to exercise with
+intelligence <i>their</i> parts in self-Government." If he rebelled
+against aristocracy of wealth, he would have reacted with equal
+vehemence against mob tyranny. Neither was he radical
+enough to admit <i>propagandistes par le fait</i> and to forbid society
+the right to intervene "when principles break out into overt
+acts against peace and good order." (Bill for Religious Freedom.)
+For freedom of speech does not entail freedom of action:
+and the civil rights or rights of compacts are necessarily
+subject to civil regulations.</p>
+
+<p>It is easily seen now that Jefferson so far remained perfectly
+consistent, and followed in practice the distinction between
+natural rights and rights of compact he had established
+in order to clarify his own mind, in the meditation quoted at
+the end of the preceding chapter. If this theory is accepted,
+it is evident that society being founded upon a legal compact,
+the ideal form of government is one in which both parties, the
+individual on the one hand and society on the other, scrupulously
+live up to its terms. A breach of contract can no more
+be condoned in the individual than in society. On the other
+hand, natural rights remain always truly "inalienable" and
+apart from civil rights. When any individual comes to the
+conclusion that the sacrifice he has made of certain rights in
+order to enjoy more security is not compensated for by sufficient
+advantages, he has the right to denounce the compact:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+hence the right of expatriation always so energetically maintained
+by Jefferson. This is the very reason why Jefferson
+could not and did not blame John Randolph for going to England
+in August, 1775, since "the situation of the country had
+rendered it not eligible to him to remain longer in it." Thus
+the conflict seen by so many political philosophers between man
+and society disappears entirely. The individual cannot stand
+against society when he is free to break the social bond at any
+time&mdash;nor can society oppress the individual without endangering
+its very existence. Such a theory was more than a
+"philosophical construction." It was largely based upon facts
+and observation; it expressed the current political philosophy
+of the colonies. It was eminently the juridistic explanation
+of the pioneer spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Granting what is undoubtedly true, that Jefferson aroused
+antagonism and enmities in the Assembly, he certainly had
+also his admirers and followers. If the prophet had preached
+in the desert, he would not have gained the prompt recognition
+that came to him when he was chosen Governor of Virginia,
+the first of June, 1779, to succeed Patrick Henry. He
+was then thirty-six years old.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA&mdash;THE "NOTES
+ON VIRGINIA"</h2>
+
+
+<p>Jefferson served two years as Governor of the Commonwealth
+and when he wrote his "Autobiography" he gave only a
+short paragraph to this episode of his eventful career, referring
+for more details to Girardin's continuation of Burk's "History
+of Virginia." The student of law, the erudite jurist, and classical
+scholar was by the choice of the Assembly entrusted with
+the duties and responsibilities of a war chief, and it cannot be
+said that Jefferson enjoyed the experience. The duties of
+governor were not only exacting but almost impossible to fulfill
+satisfactorily. For more than two years, Virginia, without
+money, with a poorly equipped militia re&euml;nforced with an
+inadequate number of Federal troops, had been overrun by the
+enemy and had known all the atrocities of the war. The
+governor had to honor the continuous requests of the general
+in chief for more ammunition, more equipment and provision,
+and at the same time had to keep under arms, and as much as
+possible in fighting condition, militiamen anxious to go back to
+their farms for the harvest or the plowing, so as to protect
+the territory of the State against the raids of the invader and
+prevent Indian uprisings on the western border. Last, but not
+least, he had to take into consideration the general attitude of
+the people of the State and the measures adopted by the legislature.
+Jefferson's correspondence with Lafayette during the
+first months of 1781 is most illuminating in this respect. When,
+after Arnold's treason, Lafayette was sent by Washington
+to apprehend the traitor and give some assistance to the Old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+Dominion, he found that there were neither boats, wagons,
+nor horses to carry his equipment from Head of Elk to the
+siege of operations. The treasury was empty, the Assembly
+most chary in granting impressment warrants, and practically
+all the governor could offer in the way of help was his unlimited
+good will. Lafayette had to use oxen for his artillery and to
+mount cannon on barges; but even after powers of impressment
+were granted to the Marquis, Jefferson had to remind him of
+the necessity of not impressing stallions or brood mares, so as
+not to kill the "goose with the golden eggs."<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's attitude in these critical circumstances reveal his
+true character to a degree, and without entering into a detailed
+account of the campaign, a few illustrations may be included
+here. It may be remembered that four thousand British troops,
+taken prisoners at the battle of Saratoga, had been ordered
+by Congress to Charlottesville. The problem of housing and
+feeding them soon became acute, and Jefferson was called upon
+to assist in finding a proper solution. The life imposed upon
+the captive soldiers was comparatively mild. Barracks were
+erected, while the officers, well provided with money, rented
+houses in the vicinity of the camp and bought some of the finest
+horses in Virginia. For most of them the Charlottesville
+captivity was a very pleasant <i>vill&eacute;giature</i>. On the other hand,
+some of the inhabitants did not view without alarm this sudden
+increase in the population of the county, and application was
+made to Governor Patrick Henry to have at least part of the
+prisoners removed to another section of the State. This, according
+to Jefferson, would have been a breach of faith, since
+the articles of capitulation provided that the officers should
+not be separated from their men. On this occasion he wrote a
+very vehement letter to the governor, March 27, 1779, protesting
+that such a measure "would suppose a possibility that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>humanity was kicked out of doors in America, and interest only
+attended to." Yet the governor could not entirely neglect
+interested consideration, and Jefferson once more revealed that
+curious mixture of high principles and hard, practical common
+sense, to which we already called attention. He was aware that
+the circulation of money was increased by the presence of these
+troops "at the rate of $30,000 a week at least." The rich
+planters, "being more generally sellers than buyers", were
+greatly benefited by these unexpected customers, although the
+poor people were much displeased by inroads made by them
+upon the amount of supplies and provisions available in the
+county.</p>
+
+<p>Never were prisoners better treated or made more welcome,
+and if Jefferson reflected the feelings of his neighbors there
+was no animosity against the soldiers in the field:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The great cause which divides our countries is not to be decided
+by individual animosities. The harmony of private societies cannot
+weaken national efforts. To contribute by neighbourly intercourse
+and attention to make others happy is the shortest and
+surest way of being happy ourselves. As these sentiments seem to
+have directed your conduct, we should be as unwise as illiberal,
+were we not to preserve the same temper of mind.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Truly this was a war of philosophers and gentlemen, and the
+courtly generals of Louis XV would not have expressed more
+elegantly their consideration for the enemy. Jefferson's declaration
+was no mere gesture, for he struck up lasting friendships
+with several of the prisoners. He was particularly interested
+in a young German officer, Louis de Unger, who showed a
+remarkable talent for philosophy, in Baron de Geismer with
+whom he kept up a correspondence for more than ten years,<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>
+and in Major General Baron de Riedesel who, with his wife,
+was a frequent guest at Monticello. To many of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+Jefferson opened his house, his library, and his dining room.
+He discussed philosophy and agriculture with them, played
+duets on his violin, and sincerely regretted the loss of that
+pleasant society when he had to leave after his appointment
+as governor.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p>
+
+<p>Yet a sterner trait in his character was soon to be revealed.
+While the British prisoners were described as "having thus
+found the art of rendering captivity itself comfortable, and
+carried to execution, at their own great expense and labor,
+their spirits sustained by the prospect of gratifications rising
+before their eyes", the American prisoners and noncombatants
+were receiving harsher treatment at the hands of the British.
+War had become particularly atrocious after Indian tribes had
+been encouraged to attack the insurgents, and this was an
+offense that Jefferson could not condone. When Governor
+Hamilton of Kaskakias, with his two lieutenants, Dejean
+and Lamothe, who had distinguished themselves by their
+harsh policy, surrendered to Clark and were brought to Virginia,
+Jefferson ordered them confined in the dungeon of the public
+jail, put in irons and kept incommunicado. On General Philips'
+protest Jefferson wrote to Washington to ask him for advice,
+but added that in his opinion these prisoners were common
+criminals and that he could "find nothing in Books usually
+recurred to as testimonials of the Laws and usages of nature
+and nations which convicts the opinion I have above expressed
+of error."<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> To Guy Carleton, Governor of Canada, he
+answered that "we think ourselves justified in Governor
+Hamilton's strick confinement on the general principle of
+National retaliation", and no punishment was too severe for
+a man who had employed "Indian savages whose known rule
+of warfare is an indiscriminate butchery of men, women and
+children."<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When a few weeks later, upon Washington's request, the irons
+were taken from the prisoners and a parole offered to them,
+Jefferson obeyed very reluctantly and informed the general
+that "they objected to that part of it which restrained them
+from <i>saying</i> anything to the prejudice of the United States" and
+insisted on "freedom of speech"; they were in consequence
+remanded to their confinement in the jail, "which must be considered
+as a voluntary one until they can determine with themselves
+to be inoffensive in words as well as deeds."<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p>
+
+<p>Even when the prisoners were freed, Jefferson wrote again
+to Washington:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I shall give immediate orders for having in readiness every engine
+which the Enemy have contrived for the destruction of our unhappy
+citizens captivated by them. The presentiment of these operations
+is shocking beyond expression. I pray heaven to avert them: but
+nothing in this world will do it but a proper conduct in the Enemy.
+In every event I shall resign myself to the hard necessity under
+which I shall act.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Writing the same day to Colonel George Mathews, Jefferson
+defined with more precision what he understood by these
+"operations" when he declared that "iron will be retaliated by
+iron, prison ships by prison ships, and like for like in general."<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p>
+
+<p>The faults of his own people did not find him any weaker, for
+he declared: "I would use any powers I have for the punishment
+of any officer of our own who should be guilty of excesses
+injustifiable under the usages of civilized nations." He was not
+slow either in punishing mutineers, in having the ringleaders
+seized in their beds "singly and without noise" and in recommending
+cavalry, "as men on horseback have been found the
+most certain Instrument of public punishment."<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This trait of Jefferson's character, hardly ever noticed, was
+no passing mood. It was little apparent in ordinary circumstances,
+but it was to reappear with the same stern inflexibility
+during the prosecution of Aaron Burr twenty-five years later.
+The dreamer, the theorist, the "philosopher" does not appear
+in the letters written by Jefferson during his governorship. He
+was punctual, attentive to details and careful to abide by the
+measures taken by the legislature. Yet he was subjected to
+bitter criticism and a sort of legend grew up about his lack of
+efficiency. He was approaching the end of his second term,
+which expired on June 2, 1781, and the legislature, feeling that
+the present danger required desperate action, was thinking of
+appointing a temporary dictator. Although most decidedly
+opposed to the creation of such an office, Jefferson believed that
+the appointment of a military leader was highly desirable
+(Letter to Washington, May 28), and according to his wishes
+General Nelson in command of the State troops was elected in
+his place. But before the Assembly could come to a decision
+an unexpected incident happened. It has been related at
+great length, and I am afraid with some embellishments, by
+Randall, who reconstructed it from Jefferson's papers and from
+the family traditions. Virginia was literally overrun by the
+enemy, and the raids of the British cavalry were a common
+occurrence. During one of these raids Tarleton attempted to
+capture the legislature and almost succeeded in taking the
+governor. The account of the incident, as I found it written by
+Jefferson, is far less picturesque, but probably more reliable
+than the highly colored narration of the biographer:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>This was the state of things when, his office having expired on the
+2<sup>d</sup> June, &amp; his successor not yet in place, Col. Tarlton, with his regiment
+of horse, was detached by L. Cornwallis, to surprise him (supposed
+to be still governor) &amp; the legislature now sitting in Charlottesville,
+the Speakers of the two houses, &amp; some other members of the
+legislature, were lodging with him at Monticello. Tarleton, early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+in the morning of June 4. when within 10 miles of that place,
+detached a company of horse to secure him &amp; his guests, &amp; proceeded
+himself rapidly with his main body to Charlottesville, where he
+hoped to find the legislature unapprised of his movement. notice
+of it however had been brought both to Monticello &amp; Charlottesville
+about sunrise, by a Mr Jouett from Louisa, who seeing them pass
+his father's house in the evening of the 3.<sup>d</sup> and riding through the
+night along by-ways, brought the notice. The Speakers, with their
+Colleagues returned to Charlottesville, &amp; with the other members of
+the legislature, had barely time to get out of the way.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A few days later Jefferson left Amherst and returned to
+Monticello which he found practically undamaged; it was then
+that, riding to Poplar Forest, he was thrown from his horse
+and so seriously hurt that he could not ride horseback for several
+months. Shortly afterwards he learned that some members of
+the legislature, probably irked by the humiliation of having
+fled before the British raiders, not once, but several times, were
+not unwilling to accuse the governor of having neglected to take
+proper measures of defense. As I have found nowhere any
+indication to contradict Jefferson's account of the incident, it
+had better be given here in his simple words:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I returned to Monticello July 26. &amp; learning some time after that
+Mr George Nicholas, than a young man, just entered into the legislature
+proposed to institute some enquiry into my conduct before the
+legislature, a member from my county vacated his seat, &amp; the county
+elected me, in his room, that I might vindicate myself on the floor
+of the house. thro' the intervention of a friend, I obtained from
+Mr. Nicholas a written note of the charges he proposed to bring
+forward &amp; I furnished him in return the heads of the answers I
+should make. on the day appointed for hearing his charges he withdrew
+from the house; &amp; no other undertaking to bring them forward,
+I did it myself in my place, from his paper, answering them verbatim
+to the house. the members had been witnesses themselves to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+all the material facts, and passed an unanimous vote of approbation,
+which may be seen on their journals. Mr. Nicholas was an honest
+and honorable man, &amp; took a conspicuous occasion, many years
+after, of his own free will, &amp; when the matter was entirely at rest, to
+retract publicly the erroneous opinions he had been led into on that
+occasion, and to make just reparation by a candid acknowledgment
+of them.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This unfortunate incident revealed another fundamental
+trait of Jefferson's character,&mdash;his total incapacity to accept
+public criticism with equanimity. It was not until December
+19, 1781, that he had the opportunity of presenting his case
+before the legislature and of receiving the vote of thanks intended
+"to obviate and remove all unmerited censure." In
+the meantime, and because he did not wish to leave a free field
+to his enemies, he had to decline a new appointment from
+Congress, when on the fifteenth of June he was designated to
+join the four American plenipotentiaries already in Europe.
+The letter was transmitted through Lafayette, and to Lafayette
+alone Jefferson confided his deep mortification at having to</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>lose an opportunity, the only one I ever had and perhaps ever
+shall have, of combining public service with public gratification,
+of seeing countries whose improvements in science, in arts and
+civilization it has been my fortune to admire at a distance but
+never to see and at the same time of lending further aid to a cause
+which has been handed on from it's first organization to its present
+stage by every effort of which my poor faculties were capable.
+These however have not been such as to give satisfaction to some
+of my countrymen &amp; it has become necessary for me to remain in the
+state till a later period, in the present year than is consistent with
+an acceptance of what has been offered me.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A letter written to Edmund Randolph hints at other considerations
+which "that one being removed, might prevent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+my acceptance." The family record shows that Mrs. Jefferson
+was then expecting a child who was born on November, 1781,
+and died in April of the following year. Jefferson himself was
+far from being well and had not yet recovered from his accident;
+but there is little doubt that he would have gladly seized
+the opportunity to fulfill one of his earliest dreams and to visit
+Europe, had he been free to go. However this may be, it was
+on this occasion that he reiterated once more, but not for the
+last time, his wish to return entirely and definitively to private
+life:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Were it possible for me to determine again to enter into public
+business there is no appointment whatever which would have been
+so agreeable to me. But I have taken my final leave of everything
+of that nature. I have retired to my farm, my family and books
+from which I think nothing will evermore separate me. A desire
+to leave public office with a reputation not more blotted than it
+deserved will oblige me to emerge at the next session of our assembly
+&amp; perhaps to accept of a seat in it, but as I go with a single
+object, I shall withdraw when that has been accomplished.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>I must confess that Jefferson's determination can scarcely
+be understood or excused. He was not yet forty and, for a man
+of that age, his achievements were unusual and many, but he
+had by no means outlived his usefulness or fulfilled the tasks
+he had mapped out for himself. Even supposing he had done
+enough for the United States and did not feel any ambition to
+return to Congress, there was much to be done in Virginia.
+For one thing the war was not over and the situation of his
+native State, his "country", as he still called it, was as precarious
+as ever. Even supposing the war to be of short duration
+and destined to end in victory, the work of reconstruction
+loomed considerable upon the horizon. Not only had plantations
+been burned, houses destroyed, cattle killed off, Negroes
+decimated in many places, but the financial resources of Virginia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+were nil, the currency depreciated and valueless. Above all,
+republican institutions were far from secure, Jefferson was not
+at all satisfied with the Constitution as adopted, there remained
+many bills on the Revised Laws to be presented, defended, and
+approved. The laws adopted so far might have laid the foundations
+of true republican government, but the task was still
+enormous. Was Jefferson irritated and despondent at the
+ingratitude of his fellow citizens who had not rejected at once
+the charges made by Nicholas? Was he so alarmed by the
+health of his wife that he did not feel that he could leave her
+even for a few days? Was he not rather a victim of overwork
+and overexertion? He had been severely shaken by his accident
+and seems to have suffered at the time a sort of nervous
+breakdown, for on October 28, 1781, when writing to Washington
+to congratulate him on Cornwallis' capitulation at Yorktown
+he deplores the "state of perpetual decrepitude" to which
+he is unfortunately reduced and which prevents him from
+greeting Washington personally.</p>
+
+<p>Several of his best friends were unable to understand or
+condone his retirement. Madison himself wrote to Edmund
+Randolph:<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Great as my partiality is to Mr. Jefferson, the mode in which he
+seems determined to revenge the wrong received from his country
+does not appear to me to be dictated either by philosophy or
+patriotism. It argues, indeed, a keen sensibility and strong consciousness
+of rectitude. But his sensibility ought to be as great
+towards the relenting as the misdoings of the Legislature, not to
+mention the injustice of visiting the faults of this body on their
+innocent constituents.</p></div>
+
+<p>Monroe, ardent friend and admirer of Jefferson's, was even
+more direct when writing to acquaint his "master" with the
+criticism aroused by his retirement. To which Jefferson
+answered with a letter in which he poured out the bitterness of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+his heart. He first recited all his different reasons for making
+his choice; the fact that after scrutinizing his heart he had
+found that every fiber of political ambition had been eradicated;
+that he had the right to withdraw after having been engaged
+thirteen years in public service; that his family required his
+attention; that he had to attend to his private affairs. But
+the true reasons came only in the next paragraph:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That however I might have comforted myself under the disapprobation
+of the well-meaning but uninformed people, yet that
+of their representatives was a shock on which I had not calculated....
+I felt that these injuries, for such they have been since acknowledged,
+had inflicted a wound on my spirit which only will be cured
+by the all-healing grave.</p></div>
+
+<p>The man who wrote these lines had an epidermis far too
+sensitive to permit him to engage in politics and least of all in
+local politics. Jefferson in these particular circumstances forgot
+the lesson of his old friends the Greek and Latin philosophers&mdash;truly
+he was no Roman.</p>
+
+<p>Yet we cannot regret very deeply Jefferson's determination
+to retire from public life at that time, since to his retirement
+we owe his most extensive literary composition, one of the first
+masterpieces of American literature. During the spring of
+1781 he had received from the secretary of the French legation,
+Barb&eacute;-Marbois, a long questionnaire on the present conditions
+of Virginia. During his forced inactivity, he drew up a first
+draft which was sent to Marbois, but extensively corrected
+and enlarged during the following winter. A few manuscript
+copies were distributed to close friends, but the "Notes on
+Virginia" were not published until 1787 and after they had been
+rather poorly translated into French by Abb&eacute; Morellet.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p>
+
+<p>No other document is so valuable for a complete conspectus
+of Jefferson's mind and theories at that time. But two impor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>tant
+observations must be made at the very outset. First of
+all the "Notes" were not intended for publication, and as late
+as 1785 Jefferson wrote to Chastellux that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="noidt">the strictures on slavery and on the constitution of Virginia ...
+are the parts I do not wish to have made public, at least till I know
+whether their publication would do most harm or good. It is possible
+that in my own country these strictures might produce an irritation
+which would indispose the people towards the two great
+objects I have in view, that is the emancipation of their slaves &amp; the
+settlement of their constitution on a firmer and more permanent
+basis.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The second point is that the "Notes" were written for the
+use of a foreigner of distinction, in answer to certain queries
+proposed by him. Jefferson, therefore, is not responsible either
+for the plan of the work, or the distribution into chapters, and
+he necessarily had to go into more details than if he had written
+solely for his fellow countrymen.</p>
+
+<p>The twenty-three Queries cover such an enormous range of
+information and contain such a mass of facts that it would have
+been physically impossible for any one to complete the work
+in so short a time, if it had been an impromptu investigation.
+We can accept without hesitation the statement of the "Autobiography"
+on the methods of composition employed in the
+"Notes":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I had always made a practice whenever an opportunity occurred
+of obtaining any information of our country, which might be of use
+in any station public or private to commit it to writing. These
+memoranda were on loose papers, bundled up without order, and
+difficult of recurrence when I had occasion for a particular one. I
+thought this a good occasion to embody their substance, which I did
+in the order of Mr. Marbois' queries, so as to answer his wish and
+to arrange them for my own use.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The book was printed in France, in England, in Germany,
+and went through many editions in America. It probably did
+more than any other publication to propagate the doctrine of
+Americanism, for, in his retreat of Monticello, Jefferson formulated
+the creed and gave final expression to the hopes, aspirations,
+and feelings that were to govern his country for several generations.
+It also gives a complete picture of the mind of Jefferson
+at that date, when he thought he had accomplished the
+task assigned to him and felt he could stop to take stock, not
+merely of his native "country", but of the whole United States
+of America.</p>
+
+<p>Unimaginative, unpoetical, unwilling to express personal
+emotions as he was, he had always been deeply moved by
+certain natural scenes. His description of the Natural Bridge,
+the site of which he owned, is well remembered.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet,
+and peep over it. Looking down from this height about a
+minute, gave me a violent head ache. If the view from the top be
+painful and intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal
+extreme. It is impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime
+to be felt beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so
+elevated, so light, and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture
+of the spectator is really indescribable!</p></div>
+
+<p>The "passage of the Patowmac through the Blue ridge"
+is even more famous, and the broad, peaceful, almost infinite
+scene is painted by the hand of a master:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and delightful
+as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being cloven
+asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small catch
+of small blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country,
+inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to
+pass through the breach to the calm below.</p></div>
+
+<p>Only Bartram a few years later, and Chateaubriand at the
+beginning of the next century, with much longer and more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+elaborate descriptions, could equal or surpass these few strokes
+of description. Jefferson was truly the first to discover and
+depict to Europeans the beauty of American natural scenery,
+and to proclaim with genuine American pride that "this scene
+is worth a voyage across the Atlantic&mdash;and is perhaps one of
+the most stupendous in nature." It matters little that he
+followed Voltaire in the origin of fossils, to decide timidly in
+1787 that we must be contented to acknowledge that "this
+great phenomenon is as yet unsolved." I shall not even remark
+on the completeness and exactness of his list of plants, "medicinal,
+esculent, ornamental or useful for fabrication", of which
+he gives the popular names as well as the <i>Linn&aelig;an</i>, "as the
+latter might not convey precise information to a foreigner",
+or on his list "of the quadrupeds of North America"; nor
+shall I mention his long dissertation on "the bones of Mamoths"
+found on the North American continent and his refutation of
+Buffon. Far more interesting is his protest against the assertion
+of the great French naturalist that "the animals common
+both to the old and new world are smaller in the latter, that
+those peculiar to the new are in a smaller scale, that those which
+have been domesticated in both have degenerated in America."
+He composed with much tabulation a complete refutation of
+Buffon's error, and demonstrated that plants as well as animals
+reached a development hitherto unknown under the new conditions
+and the favorable circumstances of the American climate.</p>
+
+<p>When it came to the aborigines, he had little to say of the
+South American Indians, but of North American Indians he
+could speak "somewhat from his own knowledge" as well as
+from the observations of others better acquainted with them
+and on whose truth and judgment he could rely.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Not only they are well formed in body and in mind as the <i>homo
+sapiens Europaeus</i>, but from what we know of their eloquence it is
+of a superior lustre.... I may challenge the whole orations of
+Demosthenes and Cicero, and of many more prominent orators,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+if Europe has furnished any more eminent, to produce a single
+passage, superior to the speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore
+when Governor of this State.</p></div>
+
+<p>But his temper was thoroughly aroused when he discovered
+that Abb&eacute; Raynal had undertaken to apply the theory of
+Buffon to the white men who had settled in America.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If this were true and if climateric conditions were such as to
+prevent mental and physical growth there would be little hope
+for the newly constituted country to ever become a great nation.
+Nature itself pronouncing against the Americans what chance could
+they have to be able to ever come up to the level of the older nations.
+Sentenced to remain forever an inferior race, this struggle to conquer
+independence would have proved futile, and sooner or later, they
+would fall the prey of superior people.</p></div>
+
+<p>Never before had Jefferson been so deeply stirred and moved,
+never before had he felt so thoroughly American as in his
+spirited answer to Raynal, when he claimed for the new-born
+country not only unlimited potentialities, but actual superiority
+over the mother country:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"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 Shakespeare 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 poet. But
+neither has America produced "one able mathematician, one man
+of genius in a single art or science." In war we have produced a
+Washington, whose memory will be adored while liberty shall have
+votaries, whose name will 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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+present age has made more important discoveries, nor has enriched
+philosophy with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phaenomena
+of nature.... As in philosophy and war, so in government,
+in oratory, in painting, in the plastic arts, 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 action, 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 her full share....
+The present war having so long cut off all communications with
+Great Britain, we are not able to make a fair estimate of the state
+of science in the country. The spirit in which she wages war, is
+the only sample before our eyes, and that does not seem the legitimate
+offspring either of science or civilization. The sun of her
+glory is fast descending to the horizon. Her Philosophy has
+crossed her channel, her freedom the Atlantic, and herself seems passing
+to that awful dissolution whose issue is not given human foresight
+to scan.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is the fullest and most complete expression of national
+consciousness and national pride yet uttered by Jefferson. The
+American eagle was spreading her wing and preparing to fly by
+herself. The American transcended the Virginian and looked
+confidently at the future.</p>
+
+<p>In Query VIII, we come again to a question of national
+importance. The country being what it is, it would take at
+least one hundred years for Virginia to reach the present square-mile
+population of Great Britain. The question then arises
+whether a larger population being desirable, the State should
+not encourage foreigners to settle in as large numbers as possible.
+To unrestricted immigration, Jefferson, fearful for the
+integrity of the racial stock, fearful also for the maintenance
+of institutions so hardly won and yet so precariously established,
+was unequivocally opposed. In a most remarkable passage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+he stated the very reasons that after him were to be put forth
+again and again, until a policy of selective and restrictive
+immigration was finally adopted. I would not say that he was
+a hundred and fifty years ahead of his time, but a hundred and
+fifty years ago he formulated with his usual "felicity of expression",
+feelings and forebodings which existed more or less confusedly
+in many minds. When he spoke thus he was more of a
+spokesman than a prophet of America:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours
+perhaps are more peculiar than those of any other in the universe.
+It is a composition of the freest principles of the English constitution,
+with others derived from natural right and natural reason. To
+these nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute
+monarchies. Yet from such we are to expect the greatest number
+of immigrants. They will bring with them the principles of the
+governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able
+to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness,
+passing, as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be
+a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate
+liberty. These principles, with their language, they will transmit
+to their children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share
+with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp
+and bias its directions, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent,
+distracted mass.... Is it not safer to wait with patience 27 years
+and three months longer for the attainment of any degree of population
+desired or expected? May not our government be more
+homogeneous, more peaceable, more durable? Suppose 20 millions
+of republican Americans [were] thrown all of a sudden into France,
+what would be the condition of that kingdom? If it would be more
+turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition
+of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce
+a similar effect here.... I mean not that these doubts should
+be extended to the importation of useful artificers.... Spare
+no expence in obtaining them. They will after a time go to the
+plough and to the hoe; but in the mean time they will teach us something
+we do not know.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Everything is there! That America is essentially and should
+remain an Anglo-Saxon civilization; the fear that unassimilated
+immigration may corrupt the institutions of the country and
+bring into it uneradicable germs of absolutism; the admission
+even that America needs a certain class of immigrants, of
+specialists to develop new arts and new industries. In 1781,
+Jefferson was not only an American, but a hundred per cent.
+American, and the sentiments he expressed then were to re&euml;cho
+in the halls of Congress through the following generations
+whenever the question was discussed.</p>
+
+<p>The government as it was presently organized was far from
+perfect&mdash;it even had "very capital defects in it." First of
+all, it was not a truly representative government since, owing
+to the representation by counties, it happened that fourteen
+thousand men living in one part of the country gave law to
+upwards of thirty thousand living in another; in spite of the
+theoretical separation of powers, all the powers of government,
+legislature, executive, and judiciary, were vested in the legislative
+body. "The concentrating these in the same hands is
+precisely the definition of despotic government." Assuming
+that the present legislators of Virginia were perfectly honest
+and disinterested, it would not be very long before a change
+might come, for "mankind soon learn to make interested uses
+of every right and power which they possess, or may assume."</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"With money we will get men," said Caesar, "and with men we
+will get money." ... They should look forward to a time, and
+that not a distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country
+from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of the
+government, and be spread by them through the body of the people;
+when they will purchase the voices of the people, and make them
+pay the price. Human nature is the same in every side of the
+Atlantic and will be alike influenced by the same causes. The time
+to guard against corruptions and tyranny, is before they shall have
+gotten hold of us.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Before proceeding any further, it may be well to pause, in
+order to analyze more carefully these statements of Jefferson's.
+It will soon appear that they do not form a perfectly logical
+construction and are not part of an <i>a priori</i> system. He had
+proclaimed his faith in the ultimate recognition of truth, but he
+did not believe that unaided truth should necessarily prevail,
+for human nature being very imperfect, very narrow and very
+selfish, the best institutions have a permanent tendency to
+degenerate. Jefferson had already clearly in mind the famous
+maxim "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." It is this
+curious combination of unshakable faith in the ultimate triumph
+of truth and healthy pessimism as to the present possibilities,
+that distinguishes Jefferson from the "closet politicians" and
+theoretical philosophers. It is an alliance of the contraries
+which seems absurd to many Frenchmen, but is often found in
+English statesmen, and is probably more common in America
+than in any other nation. In this respect as in many others
+Jefferson was typically American.</p>
+
+<p>His criticism of the legislature came clearly from two different
+motives. He attempted first of all to demonstrate to himself
+that the Assembly that had listened to charges against him was
+not a truly representative body, not only because the attribution
+of two delegates to each county, irrespective of the population,
+was iniquitous, but also because, owing to emergencies,
+the Assembly had come to decide themselves what number
+would constitute a quorum. Thus an oligarchy or even a
+monarchy could finally be substituted for a regular assembly
+by almost imperceptible transitions. "<i>Omnia mala exempla
+a bonis orta sunt; sed ubi imperium ad ignaros aut minus bonos
+pervenit novum illud exemplum ab dignis et idoneis ad indignos et
+non idoneos fertur.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>This is nothing but a re-affirmation of the aristocratic doctrine
+of the "Literary Bible." Once more, the aristocrat of mind
+revolts, for "when power is placed in the hands of men who are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+ignorant or not so good, it may be taken from those who are
+deserving and truly noble to be transferred to unworthy and
+ignoble men." This is the constant undercurrent which runs
+through Jefferson's political theories and unexpectedly reappears
+at the surface from time to time. A government of the
+best minds, elected by a populace sufficiently enlightened to
+select the best minds,&mdash;such is at that time Jefferson's ideal of
+government.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand his attitude towards dictatorship, as it
+appears in the "Notes on Virginia", is no less significant for a
+true estimate of his character. Unless the views expressed
+there are carefully considered and kept well in mind, we might
+fall into the common error of attributing to some mysterious
+influence of the French Revolution and the French philosophers
+the opinions expressed by Jefferson on presidential tenure,
+during the debate on the Constitution and his famous quarrel
+with Hamilton. As a matter of fact, he had expressed the very
+same views already and even more emphatically on a previous
+occasion, when George Nicholas had proposed in the Assembly
+"that a Dictator be appointed in this Commonwealth who
+should have the power of disposing of the lives and fortunes of
+the Citizens thereof without being subject to account"; the
+motion seconded by Patrick Henry "been lost only by a few
+votes."<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> One may even wonder if the accusation of inefficiency
+against Jefferson had not been introduced by the same George
+Nicholas, in order to clear the way for the appointment of a
+dictator. Hence the impassioned tone of Jefferson's refutation.
+Deeply stirred and deeply hurt in his <i>amour-propre</i>, Jefferson
+incorporated in the "Notes on Virginia" the speech he would
+have made on the occasion had he been an orator.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>How must we find our efforts and sacrifices abused and baffled,
+if we may still, by a single vote, be laid prostrate at the feet of one
+man. In God's name, from whence have they derived this power?</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Is it from any principle in our new constitution expressed or implied?
+Every lineament of that expressed or implied, is in full opposition
+to it.... Necessities which dissolve a government, do not convey
+its authority to an oligarchy or monarchy. They throw back into
+the hands of the people the powers they had delegated, and leave
+them as individuals to shift for themselves. A leader may offer,
+but not impose himself, nor be imposed on them. Much less can
+their necks be submitted to his sword, their breath be held at his
+will or caprice.... The very thought alone was treason against
+the people; was treason against mankind in general; as rivetting
+forever the chains which bow down their necks, by giving to their
+oppressors a proof which they would have trumpetted through the
+universe, of the imbecillity of republican government, in times of
+pressing danger, to shield them from harm. Those who assume
+the right of giving away the reins of government in any case, must
+be sure that the herd, whom they hand on to the rods and hatchet
+of the dictator, will lay their necks on the block when he shall nod
+to them. But if our assemblies supposed such a resignation in the
+people, I hope they mistook their character.... Searching for
+the foundations of this proposition, I can find none which may
+pretend a colour of right or reason, but the defect before developed,
+that there is no barrier between the legislative, executive, and judiciary
+departments.... Our situation is indeed perilous, and I
+hope my countrymen will be sensible of it, and will apply, at a proper
+season, the proper remedy; which is a convention to fix the constitution,
+to amend its defects, to bind up the several branches of
+government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their
+acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary an appeal to the
+people, or in other words a rebellion, on every infraction of their
+rights, on the peril that their acquiescence shall be construed into
+an intention to surrender those rights.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is much more than an occasional outburst written under
+a strong emotional stress. Jefferson had discovered in his own
+country the existence of a group of men stanchly opposed to
+the republican form of government, ready in an emergency to
+go beyond the powers that had been delegated to them&mdash;not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+necessarily dishonest men, but dangerous because they did not
+have a correct conception of their rights and duties. All the
+controversy with the Federalists already exists in germ, in this
+declaration, and Jefferson from the very first had taken his
+position. The immediate effect was to sever the last bonds
+which still tied him to the aristocratic spirit of the social class
+to which he belonged by birth, and to make him raise a protest
+against the fact that, "the majority of men in the state, who
+pay and fight for its support are unrepresented in the legislature,
+the roll of freeholders entitled to vote, not including generally
+the half of those on the roll of militia, or of the tax gatherers."</p>
+
+<p>"It has been thought that corruption is restrained by confining
+the right of suffrage to a few of the wealthier people";
+but experience has shown, irrespective of any consideration of
+justice or right, that a truly republican form of government is
+not safe in their hands. What will be the conclusion? That
+suffrage must be extended so as to become universal. The
+people themselves are the only safe depositories of government.
+"If every individual which composes this mass participates of
+the ultimate authority, the government will be safe; because
+the corruption of the whole mass will exceed any private resources
+of wealth." But if the people are the ultimate
+guardians of their liberties, they must also be rendered the safe
+guardians of it. Hence the necessity of providing for them an
+education adapted to the years, the capacity, and the conditions
+of every one, and directed toward their freedom and happiness.
+On this occasion Jefferson reproduced the view already expressed
+in the Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, as well
+as the tenor of the first section of the Bill for Religious Freedom,
+but with new considerations which could scarcely be incorporated
+in a statute.</p>
+
+<p>Then comes a conclusion unexpected and revealing, a sort of
+pessimism little in accordance with the supposed democratic
+faith of the writer; there is no inherent superior wisdom in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+people, but it happens that under stress they so rise as to be
+superior to themselves, and it is for those who direct the course
+of the State to make the best of this fugitive opportunity:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become
+corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence
+persecutions, and better men be his victims. It can never be too
+often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right on a
+legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united.
+From the conclusion of this war we shall go down hill. It will not
+then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support.
+They will be forgotten therefore and their rights disregarded. They
+will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money,
+and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their
+rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at
+the conclusion of this war, will remain on us long, will be made
+heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.</p></div>
+
+<p>Is this a dreamer, a philosopher, a mere theorician, or a very
+alert and keen politician with a high ideal and an exact realization
+of the people's limitations? This pessimistic view of
+human nature and human society did not make Jefferson
+entirely cynical, since he kept his faith in his ideal and never
+questioned the eminent superiority of the republican form of
+government. But he knew men too well to have faith in their
+collective intelligence and disinterestedness, the na&iuml;ve faith of
+so many French philosophers. If in this passage Jefferson
+reminds one of any French writers, it is not Rousseau, nor
+Helv&eacute;tius, nor even Montesquieu, but of Montaigne, the Mayor
+of Bordeaux, who after the pestilence retired to his "Library"
+and composed his famous "Essais." One may well understand
+why Jefferson took such care to recommend his friends not to
+let the "Notes" out of their hands, and not to permit it to be
+published in any circumstances. The French like to say
+"<i>toutes les v&eacute;rit&eacute;s ne sont pas bonnes &agrave; dire</i>"&mdash;these were truths<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+that should not be permitted to leak out and to circulate broadcast
+among the people: at most they were good only to be disclosed
+to this &eacute;lite who had at heart the gradual betterment of
+the "plain people."</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's opposition to slavery rests on the same calculating
+motives. The existence of slavery is as degrading for
+the master as for the slave; it is destructive of the morals of the
+people, and of industry.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>And can the liberties 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 the gift of God? That they are not to
+be violated but with his wrath?... It is impossible to be temperate
+and to pursue this subject through the various considerations
+of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.</p></div>
+
+<p>But it does not ensue that Negroes should ever be placed
+on a footing of equality with the whites. To pronounce that
+they are decidedly inferior would require long observation, and
+we must hesitate</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="noidt">to degrade a whole race of men from the work in the scale of beings
+which their Creator may <i>perhaps</i> have given them.... I advance
+it therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally
+a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstance, are
+inferior to the whites in the endowment both of body and mind.
+It is not against experience to suppose that different species of the
+same genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different
+qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history then, one who
+views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye of
+philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of
+man as distinct as nature has formed them.</p></div>
+
+<p>However the case may be, the blacks cannot be incorporated
+into the State, and the only solution after they are emancipated
+and educated is to "colonize them to such places as the circumstances
+of the time shall render most proper, sending them out
+with arms, implements of household and of the handicraft arts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+seeds, pairs of the useful animals, etc., to declare them a free
+and independent people, and extend to them our alliance and
+protection, till they shall have acquired strength." But the
+freed slave "is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture",
+and the purity of the white stock must be preserved.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the book Jefferson untiringly harps on the fact
+that American civilization is different from any other that has
+developed in Europe, and that principles of "economy" which
+apply to European nations should not be transferred "without
+calculating the difference of circumstance which should often
+produce a difference of results." The main difference lies in
+the fact that while in Europe "the lands are already cultivated,
+or locked up against the cultivator, we have an immensity of
+land courting the industry of the husbandman." America
+is essentially agricultural, and agricultural it must remain:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if
+ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar
+deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which
+he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from
+the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of cultivators
+is a phaenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished an
+example.... While we have land to labour then, let us never
+wish to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or twirling a
+distaff. Carpenters, masons, smiths, are wanting in husbandry:
+but, for the general operations of manufacture, let our work-shops
+remain in Europe. It is better to carry provisions and materials
+to work men there, than bring them to the provisions and materials,
+and with them their manners and principles.</p></div>
+
+<p>This vision of an American entirely given to agricultural pursuits
+may look Utopian in the extreme, and would be Utopian if
+Jefferson had really believed that it was susceptible of becoming
+an actual fact. But, in practice, this ideal was on the contrary
+subject to many adjustments and modifications.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's relativism is even more clearly marked in the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+chapter, which forms the real conclusion of the book. It outlines
+the future policy of the United States with regard to
+foreign nations; it formulates a peaceful ideal which has
+remained on the whole the ideal of America. Once more it
+illustrates that curious balancing of two contrary principles so
+characteristic of the philosopher of Americanism as well as of
+the country itself.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Young as we are, and with such a country before us to fill with
+people and with happiness, we should point in that direction the
+whole generative force of nature, wasting none of it in efforts of
+mutual destruction. It should be our endeavour to cultivate the
+peace and friendship of every nation, even of that which has injured
+us most, when we shall have carried our point against her. Our
+interest will be to open the doors of commerce, and to knock off all
+its shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the want of
+whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the
+same in theirs. Never was so much false arithmetic employed on
+any subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations
+that it is their interest to go to war. Were the money which it has
+cost to gain, at the close of a long war, a little town, or a little territory,
+the right to cut wood here, to catch fish there, expended in
+improving what we already possess, in making roads, opening rivers,
+building ports, improving the arts and finding employment for their
+idle poor, it would render them much stronger, much wealthier and
+happier.</p></div>
+
+<p>"This," adds Jefferson, "I hope will be our wisdom." But
+it is only a hope and circumstances which cannot be changed
+by pious hopes exist and have to be confronted. In order to
+avoid every cause of conflict it would be necessary to abandon
+the ocean altogether, and "to leave to others to bring what we
+shall want, and to carry what we shall spare." This unfortunately
+is impossible, since a large portion of the American
+people are attached to commerce and insist on following the sea.
+What then is the answer?&mdash;Preparedness.&mdash;"Wars then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+must sometimes be our lot; and all the wise can do, will be to
+avoid that half of them which would be produced by our own
+follies, and our own acts of injustice; and to make for the
+other half the best preparations one can."</p>
+
+<p>One would not have to search long in the speeches of Woodrow
+Wilson to find the same idea expressed in almost identical
+terms. Even a Republican president such as Mr. Coolidge
+did not speak differently, when he simultaneously proposed
+conferences of disarmament and recommended that appropriation
+for the navy be enormously increased. This combination
+of will to peace, these reiterations of the pacific policies of the
+United States have been since the early days combined with the
+fixed determination to maintain a naval force adequate to cope
+with any attacking force. For such is the policy advocated by
+Jefferson. One should not be deceived by his very modest
+statement, "the sea is the field on which we should meet an
+European enemy. On that element it is necessary that we
+should possess some power." What he proposes is simply the
+building in one year of a fleet of thirty ships, eighteen of which
+might be ships of the line, and twelve frigates, with eighteen
+hundred guns. And he significantly adds, "I state this only as
+one year's possible exertion, without deciding whether more or
+less than a year should be thus applied." But, so as not to
+leave any potential aggressor in doubt as to the resources of
+America, he mentions that this naval force should by no means
+be "so great as we are able to make it."</p>
+
+<p>After stating categorically his principles, Jefferson did not
+object to minor modifications when it came to practice. As
+early as the winter of 1781 he had found and determined the
+main tenets of his political philosophy. It was essentially
+American and practical. The idea never entered his mind that
+in order to establish an American government it was necessary
+to make a <i>tabula rasa</i> of what existed before. As a matter of
+fact, Americans had certain vested rights through several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+charters enumerated by Jefferson in answer to Query XIII;
+they had revolted in defense of these rights, but the principles of
+their government, "perhaps more peculiar than those of any
+other in the universe", were simply "a composition of the freest
+principles of the English constitution, with others derived from
+natural right and natural reason." Essentially "founded in
+common law as well as common right", it was not necessarily
+the best possible form of government or the only one imaginable,
+"for every species of government has its specific principle."
+But despite its imperfections, it was better adapted to American
+conditions than any other that could be devised. At that time,
+at least, Jefferson did not seem to suspect that it could be taken
+as a model by any other nations, or that its main principles
+would prove so "contagious." The situation of America was
+unique. Unlimited agricultural lands extended to the west,
+and one could estimate that it would take at least a century to
+reach a density of population comparable to that of the British
+Isles. For a long time America would remain mainly agricultural,
+with a population scattered in farms instead of being
+concentrated in large cities, and would keep many of the virtues
+inherent in country life. In addition, the country would be
+practically free from any attack by land, as she had no powerful
+neighbors. She was geographically isolated from the rest of
+the world, and even if she were attacked by sea, it would be by a
+fleet operating far from its base and therefore at a disadvantage.
+No permanent army had to be maintained and a comparatively
+small fleet would suffice for protection. Free from the ordinary
+"sores" of civilization, not yet wealthy but prosperous, for,
+says Jefferson "I never saw a native American begging in the
+streets or highways", a country peaceful and with hatred
+towards none, not even to "that nation which has injured us
+most",&mdash;such is the ideal picture of America drawn by Jefferson
+for himself and his French correspondent during the winter
+of 1781-1782.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Whatever faults existed would be corrected in time. If
+slavery could be abolished and the last vestiges of an hereditary
+aristocracy eradicated, little would be left to be desired. Yet
+it would not be a complete Arcadia, for Jefferson did not believe
+that a state of perfection once reached could be maintained
+without effort. Several dangers would always threaten
+America. The influx of foreigners might alter the character of
+her institutions. In spite of her peaceful ideals, dangers from
+the outside might threaten her prosperity. But on the whole,
+the country, even in its "infant state", was in no wise inferior
+to any European nation. In all the sciences it gave promise
+of extraordinary achievements. In architecture, to be sure, it
+seemed that "a genius has shed its malediction over this land",
+but artists and artisans could be induced to come, and even if
+America never reached the artistic proficiency of some European
+nations, it was and would remain more simple, more frugal,
+more virtuous than nations whose population congregate in
+large cities.</p>
+
+<p>Such, briefly told, is the conception of Americanism reached
+by Jefferson when he wrote the "Notes on Virginia." He had
+not had any direct contact with Europe, but he had read enormously
+and he had come to the conclusion that, reasonably
+secure against foreign aggressions, keeping her commerce at a
+minimum, America could develop along her own lines and, reviving
+on a new land the old Anglo-Saxon principles thwarted
+by kingly usurpations and church fabrications, bring about an
+Anglo-Saxon millennium which no other country might ever
+dream of reaching. It now remains to see to what extent and
+under what influences Jefferson came to modify certain of his
+conclusions, following his prolonged contact with Europe.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<h2>A STATESMAN'S APPRENTICESHIP</h2>
+
+
+<p>The year 1782 was for Jefferson a year of trial and suffering.
+A child was born to Mrs. Jefferson on May 8; she never recovered
+fully and soon it appeared that she was irrevocably
+doomed. This tragic, touching story had better be told in
+the simple words of his daughter Martha, then nine years
+of age:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>As a nurse no female had ever more tenderness nor anxiety. He
+nursed my poor mother in turn with aunt Carr and her own sister&mdash;sitting
+up with her and administering her medicines and drink to
+the last. For four months that she lingered he was never out of
+calling; when not at her bed-side, he was writing in a small room
+which opened immediately at the head of her bed. A moment
+before the closing scene, he was led from the room in a state of
+insensibility by his sister, Mrs. Carr, who with great difficulty, got
+him into the library, where he fainted, and remained so long insensible
+that they feared he never would revive. The scene that followed
+I did not witness, but the violence of his emotion, when, almost by
+stealth, I entered his room by night, to this day I dare not describe
+to myself. He kept his room three weeks, and I was never a moment
+from his side. He walked almost incessantly night and day, only
+lying down occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted,
+on a pallet that had been brought in during his long fainting fit.
+My aunts remained constantly with him for some weeks&mdash;I do not
+remember how many. When at last he left his room, he rode out,
+and from that time he was incessantly on horseback, rambling about
+the mountain, in the least frequented roads, and just as often
+through the woods. In those melancholy rambles I was his constant
+companion&mdash;a solitary witness to many a burst of grief, the remem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>brance
+of which has consecrated particular scenes of that lost home
+beyond the power to obliterate.</p></div>
+
+<p>In Jefferson's prayer book is found this simple entry:</p>
+
+<p>"Martha Wayles Jefferson died September 6, 1782, at 11
+o'clock 45 minutes <span class="smcap">A.M.</span>"</p>
+
+<p>She was buried in the little enclosure in which rested already
+three of her children; on a simple slab of white marble her husband
+had the following inscription engraved:</p>
+
+<p class="poem4">
+To the memory of<br />
+Martha Jefferson,<br />
+Daughter of John Wayles:<br />
+Born October 19th, 1748 O.S.<br />
+Intermarried with<br />
+Thomas Jefferson<br />
+January 1st 1772;<br />
+Torn from him by death<br />
+September 6th 1782<br />
+This monument of his love is inscribed<br />
+</p>
+<p class="poem3">
+&#917;&#7984; &#948;&#8050; &#952;&#945;&#957;&#972;&#957;&#964;&#969;&#957; &#960;&#949;&#961;
+&#954;&#945;&#964;&#945;&#955;&#942;&#952;&#959;&#957;&#964;&rsquo; &#949;&#7984;&#957;
+&#913;&#7989;&#948;&#945;&#959;,<br />
+&#913;&#8016;&#964;&#8048;&#961; &#7952;&#947;&#8060; &#954;&#945;&#954;&#949;&#8150;&#952;&#953;
+&#981;&#943;&#955;&#959;&#965; &#956;&#949;&#956;&#957;&#942;&#963;&#959;&#956;&rsquo;
+&#7953;&#964;&#945;&#943;&#961;&#959;&#965;.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a><br />
+</p>
+<p class="poem">
+If in the house of Hades men forget their dead<br />
+Yet will I even there remember my dear companion.
+</p>
+
+<p>Whether, as Tucker thought, Jefferson selected a Greek
+quotation so as not to make any display of his feelings to the
+casual passer-by, or whether Greek had so really become his
+own habit of thought that he could not think of any better
+way to express his grief, is a matter of conjecture. He was
+not the man to speak of himself and his sorrows, even to his
+closest friends. But it was probably at this time that he wrote
+these lines found after his death in his pocketbook: "There
+is a time in human suffering when exceeding sorrows are but
+like snow falling on an iceberg", and in Latin, "<i>Heu quanto
+minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminisse.</i>"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At thirty-nine he was left a widower with a house full of
+children. Martha, born in 1772, Mary born in 1778, Lucy
+Elizabeth, the baby just born, who was to die two years later,
+and in addition the children of his friend and brother-in-law
+Carr, whom he had adopted at the death of their father. As
+soon as he had recovered from the first shock, Jefferson went
+with the children to the house of Colonel Archibald Cary, at
+Ampthill, in Chesterfield County, where he had them inoculated
+for the smallpox. "While engaged as their chief nurse on the
+occasion, he received notice of his appointment by Congress
+as Plenipotentiary to Europe, to be associated with Dr. Franklin
+and Mr. Adams in negotiating peace (November 13,1782)."<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p>
+
+<p>He was just emerging from the stupor of mind which had
+rendered him "as dead to the world as she whose loss occasioned
+it."<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> It appeared to him that "public interest and
+the state of his mind concurred in recommending the change of
+scene proposed; and he accepted the appointment."<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p>
+
+<p>The next three months were spent in preparing for the journey.
+He made arrangements for his children and wrote a very
+touching letter to Washington, evincing once more that reluctance
+to express affectionate feeling so often found in
+Americans, a result of early education and training as much as
+of the national temperament: "Were I to indulge myself in
+those warm effusions which this subject forever prompts, they
+would wear an appearance of adulation very foreign to my
+nature; for such is the prostitution of language, that sincerity
+has no longer distinct terms in which to express her own
+truths."<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></p>
+
+<p>The ship that was to carry him to France was caught in the
+ice at the entrance of the Chesapeake, with no prospect of
+sailing before the beginning of March. When news came early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+in February that the negotiations were making satisfactory
+progress, he felt some doubts about the desirability of a voyage
+which entailed so much expense, and placed the matter in
+the hands of Congress. It was not until April 1, however, that
+he was informed that the object of his appointment was "so
+far advanced as to render [it] unnecessary for him to pursue
+his voyage." He left for Virginia a few days afterwards. For
+the third time his plans for visiting Europe had been thwarted,
+but he does not seem to have resented it so deeply as previously.</p>
+
+<p>The wounds inflicted to his <i>amour-propre</i> by the Virginia
+Assembly were healing. He had renewed his contact with
+public affairs, and when, on June 6, he was chosen as delegate
+to Congress, with Samuel Hardy, John F. Mercer, Arthur
+Lee, and James Monroe, he accepted without hesitation. The
+two years which were to elapse between June, 1782, and July
+5, 1784, the date of his final departure from France on the
+<i>Ceres</i>, are not the most eventful or the most picturesque of
+Jefferson's career. In many respects, however, they are the
+fullest and the most important for a true understanding of his
+mind and character. In the absence of Franklin and Adams he
+stood out in Congress, head and shoulders above his colleagues;
+he was placed on most of the important committees, he completed
+his acquaintance with the internal and foreign policies
+of the United States, he reported on measures of vital importance
+and crystallized his opinion on fundamental problems.</p>
+
+<p>Before being chosen as a delegate to Congress, Jefferson had
+already decided "to lend a hand to the laboring oar" and to
+participate in the affairs of his State, if not as a legislator at
+least as an adviser and counsellor. From the conversation he
+had held in Richmond with "as many members" of the Assembly
+"as he could",<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> he had concluded that Virginia was ready to
+call a convention to revise the Constitution of 1776. On
+June 17 he wrote again to Madison, inclosing his ideas on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+"amendments necessary." No convention was called at that
+time, but Jefferson's memorandum was printed in pamphlet
+form later in Paris, and he added it to his "Notes on Virginia."
+First of all he reassured that the Constitution of 1776 had no
+legal permanent value, being simply the result of the deliberation
+of a General Assembly, in no way different from the succeeding
+Assemblies. A power superior to that of the ordinary
+legislature could alone have authority to decide on a constitution.
+This could only be done by recommending "the good
+people of the State" to choose delegates "with powers to form
+a constitution of government for them, and to declare those
+fundamentals to which all our laws present and future shall be
+subordinate." Many of the provisions of the proposed constitution
+were not original and, as indicated by Jefferson himself
+in his letter to Madison, had been tried in other States.
+The document, however, may serve to illustrate the progress
+accomplished by Jefferson in the science of government since
+he had written his first State paper, and to show how far he
+still remained from his reputed views on democracy.</p>
+
+<p>Although still a free State, Virginia was no longer completely
+independent, since she had entered a society of States, and it
+was acknowledged that: "The confederation is made a part
+of this constitution, subject to such future alterations as shall
+be agreed to by the legislature of this State, and by all the other
+confederating States."</p>
+
+<p>Almost universal suffrage was granted, the vote being given
+to "All free male citizens of full age, and sane mind, who for
+one year before shall have been resident in the country, or shall
+through the whole of that time have possessed therein real property
+to the value of &mdash;&mdash;, or shall for the same time have been enrolled
+in the militia."</p>
+
+<p>This was an immediate consequence of the contractual concept
+of society and it is not without some interest to remark
+that this principle stood in direct contradiction to the physio<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>cratic
+doctrine; for it was the contention of the Physiocrats
+that, society resting essentially on real property, those who
+own the land can alone participate in the government of the
+country. If, on the contrary, society is considered as an
+association of men who agree to live together in order to
+secure fuller enjoyment of their fundamental rights, all the
+signatories to the compact must have the same rights as well
+as the same obligations in the government of the association
+thus formed.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p>
+
+<p>Yet it remained understood that the voters were not to be
+intrusted with all the details of government, and Jefferson
+thought it desirable to establish certain safeguards against
+the possible lack of knowledge of the electors. They chose
+delegates and senators, but the governor was to be appointed
+by joint ballot of both houses of the Assembly, and the same
+procedure was to be followed in choosing a Council of State to
+advise the governor, the judges of the High Court of Chancery,
+the General Court and Court of Admiralty, while the judges of
+inferior courts were to be appointed by the governor on recommendation
+of the Council of State. The powers of the governor
+were to be strictly limited and it was made clear that
+although the old English title was preserved, the chief executive
+of the State had "none of the powers exercised under our
+former government by the Crown": "We give him those
+powers only which are necessary to execute the laws (and administer
+the government), and which are not in their nature
+either legislative or judiciary." The governor had a sort of
+suspensive veto. The military was to be subordinate to the
+civil power, and the printing press to be subject to no other restraint
+but liability to legal prosecution for false facts printed
+and published. The plan provided also for the gradual abolition
+of slavery after the year 1800.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The most remarkable feature of this scheme was the strict
+imitation of popular participation in the government. The
+only power recognized as belonging to the people was that of
+selecting delegates to both Houses, and of appointing delegates
+to a constitutional convention whenever "any of the three
+branches of the government, concurring in opinion each by the
+voice of two-thirds of their existing number, decided that such a
+convention is necessary for amending the constitution." We
+are very far from government by referendum and even by
+periodic elections, since none of the State officials were directly
+appointed by the people. Jefferson had not at that time
+departed from his fundamental idea that government must
+be placed in the hands of well-qualified experts, carefully
+selected and appointed. The "Constitution of Virginia"
+was a "true form of Republican government", but by
+no means demagogical or even truly democratic. Curiously
+enough, and through mere coincidence, the essential features
+of the present constitution of France closely resemble the
+general outline of the plan proposed by Jefferson. This alone
+should suffice to demonstrate how far he was at that time
+from accepting and propounding some of the main tenets of
+the so-called Jeffersonian democracy. But Virginia was not
+yet ready for a change; the constitutional convention was
+not called, and nothing had been done when Jefferson left the
+State late in November, arriving at Annapolis on the
+twenty-fourth.</p>
+
+<p>Much to his disgust, he found that, after a fortnight, the
+delegates from only six States had appeared and that it was
+impossible to transact any serious business. The Treaty of
+Commerce had been received and was referred to a committee
+of which Jefferson was chairman, but a bare quorum was not
+assembled until December 13, and on the twenty-third, according
+to the "Autobiography", it was necessary to send to several
+governors a letter "stating the receipt of the definitive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+treaty; that seven States only were in attendance, while nine
+were necessary to its ratification."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Washington had come to Annapolis to resign
+his commission, in circumstances which can scarcely have
+been as impressive as is generally related, since the whole program
+carefully laid out by Jefferson took place before a bare
+majority of Congress. The rest of the month was spent in
+discussing whether the treaty could be ratified by less than nine
+states. It soon appeared that "there now remained but scanty
+sixty-seven days for the ratification, for its passage across the
+Atlantic and its exchange. There was no hope of our soon
+having nine States present; in fact that this was the ultimate
+point of time to which we could venture to wait; that if the
+ratification was not in Paris by the time stipulated, the treaty
+would become void...."&mdash;On January 13, delegates from
+Connecticut attended, and the next day a delegate from Carolina
+having arrived, "the treaty was ratified without a dissenting
+vote."</p>
+
+<p>This was for Jefferson a most profitable experience. As
+chairman of the committee, he had to familiarize himself with
+questions of foreign policies and foreign commerce. He had
+also to put aside whatever remnants of sectionalism and provincialism
+he unconsciously retained and he realized that
+"Those United States being by their constitution consolidated
+into one federal republic, they be considered in all such treaties
+&amp; in every case arising under them as one nation under the
+principles of the Federal Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p>
+
+<p>The same principle is reasserted more strongly in the "Draft
+for proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties",
+in which all the good citizens of the United States are enjoined
+to reverence "those stipulations entered into on their behalf
+under the authority of that federal (moral, political and legal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+bond) whereby they are called, by which their existence as an
+independent people is bound up together, and is known and
+acknowledged by the nations of the world."<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p>
+
+<p>On January 16, Jefferson wrote to Governor Harrison enumerating
+the important objects before Congress:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. Authorizing our Foreign minister to enter into treaties of alliance
+and commerce with the several nations who have deserved it;
+2. Arranging the domestic administration; 3. Establishing arsenals
+&amp; ports on our frontiers; 4. Disposing of Western Territory;
+5. Treaties of peace and purchase with the Indians; 6. Money.</p></div>
+
+<p>A full program, requiring for the adoption of any measure
+the concurrence of nine States, while barely nine were present,
+seven of which were represented only by two members each;
+"any of these fourteen gentlemen differing from the rest would
+stay the proceedings", and it seemed very doubtful whether
+anything could be achieved during the session.</p>
+
+<p>This brought home to Jefferson the fact that the concentration
+of the executive functions in Congress was an obstacle to
+carrying out effectively the business of the Confederation, and
+he thought it his duty to point out this defect in his "draft of
+the report on a committee of the States", January 30, 1784.
+It was a lengthy report, not very accurately summed up in the
+"Autobiography", authorizing a permanent Committee of
+the States to act as executive during the recess of Congress,
+and enumerating very minutely the powers that such a committee
+might exercise and those from which it would be excluded.
+The plan as adopted was somewhat different and it
+was resolved: "That the Committee should possess all the
+powers which may be exercised by the seven States in Congress
+assembled", except concerning foreign relations.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson recalled in the "Autobiography" that during the
+following recess the committee quarrelled, split into two parties,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+"abandoned their posts, and left the government without any
+visible head, until the next meeting of Congress." He significantly
+added: "We have since seen the same thing take
+place in the Directory of France; and I believe it will forever
+take place in any executive consisting of a plurality. Our
+plan,&mdash;best, I believe,&mdash;combines wisdom and practicality;
+by providing a plurality of Counsellors, but a single Arbiter
+for ultimate decision." This conclusion was already reached
+in 1784, not following a logical reasoning, or because of an innate
+need of unity, but as a result of experience. Very early
+in his life Jefferson became convinced that the country could
+not be properly administered unless the executive powers were
+concentrated in one responsible person, with powers strictly
+defined, but left free to act and to act rapidly within that
+field. This explains, among other things, not only Jefferson's
+approval of the powers granted to the Executive under the
+Constitution, but also his conduct during his two terms as
+President.</p>
+
+<p>He soon had an opportunity to study the financial problems
+of the Confederation, when a "grand Committee of Congress"
+was appointed to take up the Federal expenses for the
+current year, inclusive of articles of interest on the public debts
+foreign and domestic.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> He presented on March 22 a "Report
+on the Arrears of Interest", in which were carefully tabulated
+not only the interest on sums due on account of the national
+debts but an estimate of the expenses for the year 1784,&mdash;in
+other words a budget. An outgrowth of the work assigned
+to the Committee was the <i>establishment of a money unit, and of
+a coinage for the United States</i>. The report of Jefferson retained
+some of the essential provisions of the proposal drawn
+up by the "Financier of the U.S." (Robert Morris, assisted by
+Governor Morris), and Jefferson himself did not claim so much
+originality for it as has been given him by some of his biog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>raphers.
+The report of the financier proposed that the new
+coins "should be in decimal proportions to one another", and
+this was retained. On the other hand, Morris had proposed as
+a unit "the 1440th part of a dollar", after taking into consideration
+the old currencies, "all of which this unit measures without
+leaving a fraction." Jefferson pointed out that, although
+theoretically perfect, the unit was much too complicated
+and too small, and he maintained that the unit should be
+the Spanish dollar "a known coin, and the most familiar
+of all to the minds of the people." ... "It is already
+adopted from South to North," he added, "has identified our
+currency, and therefore happily offers itself as a Unit already
+introduced."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the financier's opposition, the plan as amended
+by Jefferson was finally adopted and still constitutes the essential
+foundation of the American monetary system. To the
+student of psychology this incident affords another illustration
+of Jefferson's practical-mindedness. Having to choose between
+two solutions, one mathematically perfect, and another
+one simply regulating and organizing what already existed,
+he did not hesitate a minute and practical considerations prevailed
+at once in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime he was working on one of his most important
+State papers. Randall called attention to it and P. L. Ford
+maintained that "next to the Declaration of Independence (if
+indeed standing second to that) this document ranks in historical
+importance of all those drawn by Jefferson; and, but for
+its being superseded by the 'Ordinance of 1787', would rank
+among all American state papers immediately after the National
+Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> Yet it does not seem that its value is
+generally recognized and it is but seldom listed as one of the
+outstanding achievements of Jefferson. For reasons that will
+shortly appear, Jefferson himself neglected to mention it in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+"Autobiography." It is a capital document by which to understand
+the growth of the Jeffersonian doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>First of all, it resolved that "so much of the territory ceded
+or to be ceded by individual States to the United States as is
+already purchased or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants
+&amp; offered for sale by Congress, shall be divided into distinct
+states." Which simply meant that the westward growth
+of the country, instead of being left to the initiative of the individual
+States, was placed under the &aelig;gis of the Confederation
+and thus became a matter of national importance and significance.
+It provided for a practically unlimited expansion of
+the United States by the establishment of States analogous
+to the already existing Confederacy. It also insisted strongly
+that all such territory be connected as closely as possible with
+the already existing Union. Settlers in any of the territories
+thus organized, had authority to establish a temporary government,
+adopting with due modification the constitution and laws
+of any of the original States. A permanent government was
+to be established in any State as soon as it should have acquired
+a population of twenty thousand free inhabitants, provided,
+and here we probably have the most important provisions:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. That they shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of
+the United States of America. 2. That in their persons, property
+and territory they shall be subject to the Government of the United
+States in Congress assembled &amp; to the articles of confederation....
+4. That their respective Governments shall be in republican forms
+and shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds any hereditary
+title. 5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian aera, there shall
+be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states.</p></div>
+
+<p>Finally, "whenever any of the said States shall have, of free
+inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any one of the least
+numerous, of the thirteen original States, such State will be
+admitted by it's delegates into the Congress of the United
+States on an equal footing with the said United States."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This report, submitted March 1, recommitted to the committee
+March 17, was considered again by Congress on April
+19, 21, 23, and adopted after amendment by every State except
+one. But the amendment took the teeth out of the report,
+since the clause referring to slavery was struck out, as well as
+that concerning the admission of persons holding hereditary
+titles. Other provisions concerning the names to be given to
+the new States were also eliminated. The scholar reappeared
+in these suggestions. If Jefferson's original motion had been
+accepted, the present State of Michigan would wear the name
+of <i>Chersonesus</i> and on the map of the United States would
+appear such designations as <i>Metropotamia</i>, <i>Polypotamia</i>, and
+<i>Pilisipia</i>.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p>
+
+<p>Finally Jefferson intended to complete the organization and
+expansion of the United States with "An ordinance establishing
+a Land Office" for the United States "to give sure title to
+the settlers and determine the division and subdivision into
+lots" which was defeated, an entirely new ordinance being
+adopted April 26, 1785.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p>
+
+<p>The most striking feature of all these bills was the eagerness
+of Jefferson to consolidate the Union and to strengthen Federal
+bonds. With a common monetary unit, common interest in a
+large territory just acquired by cession from Virginia, one more
+thing remained to be settled: the organization of permanent
+relations with foreign nations, that is to say, the conclusion
+of commercial treaties.</p>
+
+<p>It had appeared very soon to Jefferson that if such treaties
+were to be concluded it was desirable to adopt a working policy
+outlined in his "Resolves on European Treaties."<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> To have
+foreign plenipotentiaries come to the United States, discuss
+with the badly organized body called the Continental Congress,
+whose members would have to report to their legislatures and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+after interminable delays accept or reject the proposal, was an
+impossible procedure. This distrust of Congress was amply
+justified at the time, and one may wonder whether satisfactory
+treaties could ever have been concluded under the supervision
+of Congress; Jefferson therefore proposed that ministers
+be sent to Europe to negotiate with the old and established
+nations, who could not be expected to cross the Atlantic.</p>
+
+<p>On May 7, Congress agreed on <i>Instructions to the Ministers
+Plenipotentiary appointed to negotiate treaties of Commerce with
+the European Nations</i>. Once more it was proclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"That these United Sates be considered in all such treaties,
+and in every case arising under them, as one nation, upon the
+principle of the Federal constitution."</p>
+
+<p>It was also deemed "advantageous that treaties be concluded
+with Russia, the Court of Vienna, Prussia, Denmark,
+Saxony, Hamburg, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Genoa,
+Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Venice, Sardinia and the Ottoman
+Porte. That treaties of amity and commerce be entered into
+with Morocco, and the Regencies of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
+To have supplementary treaties with France, the United
+Netherlands and Sweden in order to incorporate the new policies
+of the United States."</p>
+
+<p>The plan of treaties contained some remarkable provisions;
+they were clear departures, not from the theory of international
+law and <i>droit des gens</i>, as Jefferson had found it in the authorities
+consulted, but from the actual policy of the European nations.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was proposed that in case of war between the two
+contracting parties,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The merchants of either country, then residing in the other shall
+be allowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle
+their affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their effects,
+without molestation or hinderance, and all fishermen, all cultivators
+of the earth, and all artisans or manufacturers, unarmed and inhabiting
+unfortified towns, villages or places, who labor for the common
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>subsistence and benefit of mankind, and peaceably follow their
+respective employments, shall be allowed to continue the same.</p></div>
+
+<p>That "neither of the contracting powers shall grant or issue
+any commission to any private armed vessels, empowering
+them to take or destroy such trading ships, or interrupt such
+commerce."</p>
+
+<p>In case of war with another nation, "no merchandize heretofore
+called contraband, such as arms, ammunition and military
+stores of all kinds,... shall, on any account, be deemed
+contraband, so as to induce confiscation, and a loss of property
+to individuals." The right to detain vessels carrying such
+goods a reasonable length of time was granted, as well as the
+right not to seize, but "to purchase" military stores with a
+reasonable compensation to the proprietors; in all cases the
+owners of the ships delayed were to receive a compensation.
+But all vessels not carrying contraband were to be entirely
+free, adding that a blockade in order to be recognized had to
+be effectual, but even in that case "no vessel of the party who
+is not engaged in the said war, shall be stopped without a
+material and well-grounded cause."</p>
+
+<p>Besides these general provisions, it was recommended that
+"each party shall have a right to carry their own produce,
+manufactures, and merchandise in their own bottoms to the
+ports of the others, and thence the produce and merchandise
+of the other, paying, in both cases, such duties only as are paid
+by the most favored nations."</p>
+
+<p>A paragraph was intended specially for the commerce with
+the West Indies, "desiring that a direct and similar intercourse
+be admitted between the United States and possessions
+of the nations holding territorial possessions in America."</p>
+
+<p>Finally, as Jefferson as well as his contemporaries were
+already fearful of seeing any influx of foreigners settle in their
+country and dominate the infant government, it was stipulated
+that no right be accorded to aliens to hold real property<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+within these States, this being "utterly inadmissible by their
+several laws and policy."</p>
+
+<p>From the European point of view many things were inadmissible
+in the plan of treaties. To request the nations of the
+Old World not only to abandon privateering, but to relinquish
+their definitions of contraband and their commercial monopolies
+with their own colonies, was something which must have appeared
+as the wild dream of a people unexperienced in the
+handling of foreign relations. As a matter of fact, the treaties
+were never signed. But if the principles formulated by Jefferson
+were not accepted by the European powers, they remained
+nevertheless an essential part of the foreign policy of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>On the very day the "Instructions" were adopted, Jefferson
+was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to "negotiate treaties
+of commerce with foreign nations in conjunction with Mr.
+John Adams and Dr. Franklin." No man in Congress was
+better qualified for such a mission. His work for two years on
+several important committees had acquainted him with the
+main problems of the Union. He had demonstrated his ability
+to present clear reports on the most intricate questions. He
+had completed his apprenticeship of men and things; but it
+may be wondered whether the delegates who recommended
+his appointment were not impelled by ulterior motives. The
+stand taken by Jefferson on slavery had made him decidedly
+unpopular with the Southern delegates. He had opposed the
+original statutes of the Order of Cincinnati, in which he saw the
+beginnings of a new aristocracy. He had made enemies as well
+as friends and could write to Washington that an experience
+of twenty years had taught him "that few friendships stand
+this test, &amp; that public assemblies, where everyone is free to
+act &amp; to speak, are the most powerful looseners of private
+friendship." The petty discussions in Congress, the long
+speeches he had to listen to, the quibbling, lack of initiative<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+and lack of national spirit of the delegates had thoroughly disgusted
+him. Before receiving his appointment he had already
+repented of his return to public life and had signified his intention
+of going back to his beloved Monticello.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have determined&mdash;he wrote to Washington&mdash;to take no
+active part in this or anything else, which may lead to altercation,
+or disturb that quiet &amp; tranquillity of mind to which I consign the
+remaining portion of my life. I have been thrown back by events
+on a stage where I had never more thought to appear. It is but for a
+time, however, &amp; as a day laborer, free to withdraw, or be withdrawn
+at will.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>He seized with eagerness the opportunity of visiting older
+civilizations and enjoying a change of scenes. Having hastily
+cancelled his order for printing a few copies of the "Notes on
+Virginia", he at once made preparations for his departure.</p>
+
+<p>The new plenipotentiary decided to take with him his older
+daughter Martha, then in Philadelphia at Mrs. Hopkinson's,
+and to leave the two younger ones with their maternal aunt,
+Mrs. Eppes, in Virginia. William Short, his "<i>&eacute;l&egrave;ve</i>" and friend,
+accompanied him as private secretary and Colonel David Humphreys
+as secretary of the legation.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> From Philadelphia he
+went to Boston, visiting Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the
+principal towns on his way, in order to acquire "what knowledge
+he could of their commerce and other circumstances." He
+sailed from Boston on the <i>Ceres</i>, Captain Sainte-Barbe, bound
+to Cowes.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson was then forty-one years old. He knew life and
+men and had no illusions; he had experienced happiness and
+sorrow; he had had moments of exaltation, of hot patriotic
+fever; he had occupied the front of the stage in several circumstances
+never to be forgotten; he had aroused enmities and
+made devoted and faithful friends, among them Monroe, Madi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>son,
+and Short whom he was taking along with him. But
+neither his disappointments nor his sorrows had made him a
+misanthrope. Not an orator, he liked to talk, and he could
+not live without society. The tall spare man in black was
+no longer able to feel his heart moved by the early emotions
+of his youth. Next to Washington, who remained in America,
+and to Doctor Franklin, a debonair patriarch, he was the most
+famous national figure of America. None was better qualified
+by his former life and studies to represent America and to speak
+for his country. Whatever sectionalism he may have had in
+him had disappeared in these last two years of Congress, when
+he had striven so strenuously to make the Union an actual
+fact and to consolidate the loose Federal fabric, for only there
+could men "See the affairs of the Confederacy from a high
+ground; they learn the importance of the Union &amp; befriend
+federal measures when they return. Those who never come
+here, see our affairs insulated, pursue a system of jealousy
+and self interest, and distract the Union as much as they can."</p>
+
+<p>Of Europe he knew little, except what he had been able to
+absorb from books. It was a country of great artistic productivity,
+of enviable social life. Towards England he was
+not particularly attracted; towards France he felt much more
+favorably inclined. He had met many Frenchmen; some of
+them already had become his close friends, two particularly,
+the Chevalier de Chastellux and especially the youthful, impulsive,
+and charming Lafayette, who in a parting note had
+asked him to consider his house as his and to take the little
+motherless girl to Madame de Lafayette. He knew he would
+not be without friends, without society, that he would have
+an unique chance to meet the best minds of Europe. This
+practical American, so little given to the "<i>joie de vivre</i>" and
+without <i>abandon</i>, wanted primarily to increase his knowledge,
+to gather facts, to make comparisons. He had retained the
+taste for society, the good breeding, the polite manners, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+artistic tendencies of the Virginian, but in him the American
+was already fully grown. He felt also that he had a certain
+mission and intended to fulfill it: it was to convey to the European
+statesmen whose wiles he distrusted the impression that
+the United States existed as a country, that they did not form
+a loose and temporary confederation of States, but a nation to
+be reckoned with and respected. His country was no longer his
+native Virginia alone: he was thinking nationally and not
+sectionally. For the French Jefferson was already a great
+American figure; he was going to embody the best there was
+in the newly constituted Union.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_THREE" id="BOOK_THREE"></a>BOOK THREE</h2>
+
+<h1><i>An American View of Europe</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>SOCIETY AND TRAVEL</h2>
+
+
+<p>The <i>Ceres</i> reached Portsmouth nineteen days after leaving
+Boston, a remarkably swift passage, without incident, except
+for three days spent in fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland,
+while the ship was becalmed. Jefferson and his companions
+were delayed a week in Portsmouth by Martha's slight illness,
+and then went directly to Paris, where he arrived on August 6,
+1784. Jefferson was to remain in France till the fall of 1789&mdash;five
+years crowded with pleasures, social duties, political
+duties, and hard work. His activities were so varied and his
+interests so diversified that it is no longer possible to follow any
+chronological order; we must establish arbitrary divisions,
+though Jefferson passed at all times from one subject to another
+and was incessantly busy with undertakings and plans truly
+encyclopedic.</p>
+
+<p>First of all, he had to find quarters. He had put up at the
+H&ocirc;tel d'Orl&eacute;ans, Rue des Petits Augustins, then he had rented
+"H&ocirc;tel T&ecirc;te-Bout, cul-de-sac T&ecirc;te-Bout", and a year later
+moved to a house belonging to M. le Comte de L'Avongeac "at
+the corner of the Grande Route des Champs Elys&eacute;es and Rue
+Neuve de Berry", where he continued to live as long as he remained
+in Paris. His secretary Short and Colonel Humphreys,
+secretary to the legation, lived with him. It was "a very elegant
+house, even for Paris, with an extensive garden, court and
+outbuildings, in the handsomest style."</p>
+
+<p>Of Jefferson's first impressions after landing in France we
+unfortunately know nothing. Not until a full year had elapsed
+did he express his personal views in writing. Although he de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>plored
+the wretched condition of the larger mass of the people,
+he had already come to the conclusion, probably correct, that
+life in Paris was more pleasant than anywhere else on earth:
+"The roughnesses of the human mind are so thoroughly rubbed
+off with them, that it seems as if one might glide through a
+whole life without a jostle."<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> It was some time, however, before
+he felt entirely at home in Parisian society. He was somewhat
+handicapped and humiliated at first because of lack of means
+at the disposal of the Minister of the United States for maintaining
+his rank. In his report on the reduction of the civil list
+(March 5, 1784), Jefferson, animated with a fine republican
+zeal, had fixed the compensation of American representatives
+abroad at ten thousand dollars. Now that he was in Paris he
+found the allowance very inadequate. A proud Virginian, accustomed
+to entertain generously, he considered hospitality an
+imperious duty as well as a pleasure, and his letters to Congress
+are filled with complaints on the niggardliness of his
+resources. However, he procured a good French cook in the
+person of the worthy Petit, who became quite attached to him,
+and wrote for him recipes for "<i>poulet en casserole</i>" and "<i>caf&eacute; &agrave;
+la fran&ccedil;aise</i>." He informed himself concerning the best French
+wines, some of which he already knew, and made a thorough
+and scientific study of the different vintages, recording the
+result of his observations in unpublished notes. Nor was he
+so selfish as to keep all his knowledge to himself. Adams and
+Washington used his good offices to keep their cellars well
+stocked in champagne and sauternes. For them and for Madison
+he subscribed to "L'Encyclop&eacute;die M&eacute;thodique", he bought
+new French books, engravings, plaster casts, and medals, and
+his willingness to oblige his friends and to go shopping for them
+was so well known that Mrs. Adams asked him to buy for her
+daughter "two pairs of corsets", much to his distress, since she
+had omitted to send him the measure. For Mrs. Bingham he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+filled boxes with "caps and bonnets"; for Madison he bought
+a pocket telescope, a walking stick, a chemical box, for poor
+little Polly who had remained with her aunt at Eppington
+"sashes" and Parisian dolls.</p>
+
+<p>Through Franklin, Jefferson was introduced to Madame
+d'Houdetot, who had unlimited admiration for a man who
+not only was an American and a philosopher, but who also
+knew the names of American plants and trees much more
+thoroughly than her dear Doctor. He obtained for her seeds,
+bulbs, and trees to be planted in the park of Sannois.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> Through
+Franklin also he met Madame Helv&eacute;tius and her two abb&eacute;s,
+who always wrote jointly to Jefferson.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> At her house, he saw
+Cabanis, then a very young man, Destutt de Tracy and abb&eacute;
+Morellet. He attended concerts at Madame d'Houdetot's
+brother's house, but above all he was attracted by Lafayette's
+family and friends. It was large enough for a man of more
+leisure and more worldly tendencies. There was the Marquis
+himself and his charming wife, who befriended Martha and
+wrote Jefferson several notes filled with that delightful eighteenth-century
+"<i>sensibilit&eacute;</i>" and amiability of which we have
+lost the secret. There was also Madame de Tess&eacute;, Lafayette's
+cousin, who was, however, considerably older than the Marquis
+and whom he called "aunt." Jefferson saw her in Paris
+and visited her often at Chaville, where Short stayed for weeks
+at a time, perfecting himself in the French language and the
+ways of French society. She loved trees, good paintings, fine
+buildings, statues, and music, and did much to educate Jefferson's
+taste in these matters. Not mentioned by his biographers,
+Madame de Corny played a not inconsiderable part
+in Jefferson's sentimental life. Young, pretty, witty, and
+married to a husband much older than herself, she enjoyed
+Jefferson's company, took with him many walks in the Bois de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+Boulogne and perhaps, secretly, found him too scrupulously
+polite and too respectful.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> There were also several other
+women, Madame de Tott, a distinguished painter, the vivacious
+and charming Lucy Paradise, Comtesse Barziza, a real "<i>enfant
+terrible</i>", irresponsible, outspoken, who in her letters to Jefferson
+listed all the scandals of the days.<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> And one must not
+forget among Jefferson's feminine acquaintances the old Comtesse
+de la Rochefoucauld, dignified, sarcastic, a terrible bore
+at times, whom on many occasions he vainly tried to avoid.</p>
+
+<p>But when all is told, it does not appear that the circle of
+Jefferson's friends was ever very large. During his first year
+in Paris he did his best to keep in the background. To Franklin
+he owed deference, because of his age and the position of the
+Doctor as the only accredited representative to the Court of
+Versailles. Adams, the other plenipotentiary, was older than
+Jefferson, who on every occasion insisted that his colleagues
+should have precedence over him. A good listener, he was
+much more reserved than Franklin and always remained somewhat
+self-conscious when he spoke or wrote French. If the
+Doctor spoke French as badly as he wrote it, his conversation
+must have been an extraordinary jargon; but Jefferson was
+too sensitive and had too much <i>amour-propre</i> to venture upon
+long discussions and conversations with people he did not know
+intimately. Most of his French letters were written by Short,
+who became rapidly a master of the language, and we may presume
+that Jefferson never really felt at home in a purely French
+circle.</p>
+
+<p>This was true at least of his first year in Paris. He had many
+fits of despondency and wondered at times whether he was not
+too old to accustom himself to strange people and to strange
+manners. He often experienced the usual longing of the trav<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>eler
+for his native land: "I am now of an age which does not
+easily accommodate itself to new modes of living and new manners,"
+he wrote to Baron Geismer, the former prisoner of
+Charlottesville; "and I am savage enough to prefer the woods,
+the wilds and independence of Monticello, to all the brilliant
+pleasures of this gay capital. I shall therefore, rejoin myself
+to my native country with new attachments and exaggerated
+esteem for its advantages."<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> It was probably on these occasions
+that he took refuge in the most silent of all places, a Carthusian
+monastery, a very strange abode for one who has been
+accused of being a fierce anti-clerical:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>He also had rooms in the Carthusian Monastery on Mount
+Calvary; the boarders, of whom I think there were forty, carried
+their own servants, and took their breakfasts in their own rooms.
+They assembled to dinner only. They had the privilege of walking
+in the gardens, but as it was a hermitage, it was against the rules of
+the house for any voices to be heard outside of their own rooms,
+hence the most profound silence. The author of "Anarcharsis"
+was a boarder at the time, and many others who had reasons for a
+temporary retirement from the world. Whenever he had a press
+of business, he was in the habit of taking his papers and going to the
+hermitage, where he spent sometimes a week or more till he had
+finished his work. The hermits visited him occasionally in Paris,
+and the Superior made him a present of an ivory broom that was
+turned by one of the brothers.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>From time to time this same mood recurred:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I am burning the candle of life without present pleasure or future
+object&mdash;he wrote to Mrs. Trist in 1786.&mdash;A dozen or twenty
+years ago this scene would have amused me; but I am past the age
+for changing habits. I take all the fault on myself, as it is impossible
+to be among a people who wish more to make one happy&mdash;a people
+of the very best character it is possible for one to have. We have
+no idea in America of the real French character.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Not foreign to this despondency was the bad news that came
+from America. His youngest daughter Lucy died in the fall
+of 1784 and he was not satisfied until he had his remaining
+daughter near him in Paris, and Mary, familiarly called Polly,
+had joined her sister in the best convent of the French capital.</p>
+
+<p>Between social duties and pleasures, dinners at the house of
+Lafayette, meetings of the Committees of Commerce, interviews
+with Vergennes, preparation of long letters to be sent
+home to keep his Government informed of the situation in
+Europe, correction of the proofs of the "Notes on Virginia",
+interviews with former French volunteers clamoring for their
+back pay, visits to shops and factories, Jefferson was a very
+busy man indeed. But exacting as his occupations were, he
+found time to escape from Paris on three different occasions
+to see something of France and Europe. In 1786 he journeyed
+to England, traveled in France and Italy in the spring of the
+following year, and visited Holland and the Rhine shortly
+before leaving for home. The diaries he kept during these trips
+are both revealing and disappointing. They demonstrate how
+little of European culture had penetrated his American mind,
+how carefully he preserved himself from the contamination of
+European manners and ways of thinking. In some respects
+it must be confessed that Jefferson remained very narrow and
+provincial, and almost a Philistine in his outlook.</p>
+
+<p>The most damning document is the outline he made for
+Rutledge and Shippen on June 3, 1788, though in some respects
+it shows good judgment, as when Jefferson recommends "not
+to judge of the manners of the people from the people you will
+naturally see the most of: tavern keepers, <i>valets de place</i>, and
+postillions."&mdash;"These are the hackneyed rascals of every country.
+Of course they must never be considered when we calculate
+the national character." He manifested the same good
+sense in recommending always to ask for the <i>vin du pays</i> when
+traveling. But the worst comes in his enumeration of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+"Objects of Attention for an American." It has to be read
+to be believed and should be transcribed here almost in full:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. Agriculture. Everything belonging to this art, and whatever
+has a near relation to it.... 2. Mechanical arts, so far as they
+respect things necessary in America, and inconvenient to be transported
+thither ready-made, such as forges, stone quarries, boat
+bridges, etc. 3. Lighter mechanical arts, and manufactures. Some
+of these will be worth a superficial view; but circumstances rendering
+it impossible that America should become a manufacturing
+country during the time of any man now living, it would be a waste
+of attention to examine these minutely. 4. Gardens peculiarly
+worth the attention of an American, because it is the country of
+all others where the noblest gardens may be made without expense....
+5. Architecture worth a great attention. As we
+double our numbers every twenty years, we must double our
+houses.... It is, then, among the most important arts; it is
+desirable to introduce taste into an art which shows so much.
+6. Painting, Statuary. Too expensive for the state of wealth
+among us. It would be useless, therefore, and preposterous, for us
+to make ourselves connoisseurs in those arts. They are worth
+seeing, but not studying. 7. Politics of each country, well worth
+studying so far as respects internal affairs. Examine their influence
+on the happiness of the people. Take every possible occasion for
+entering into the houses of the laborers, and especially at the moment
+of their repast; see what they eat, how they are clothed, whether
+they are obliged to work too hard.... 8. Courts. To be seen
+as you would see the tower of London or menagerie of Versailles
+with their lions, tigers, hyenas, and other beasts of prey, standing
+in the same relation to their fellows.... Their manners, could
+you ape them, would not make you beloved in your own country,
+nor would they improve it could you introduce them there to the
+exclusion of that honest simplicity now prevailing in America, and
+worthy of being cherished.</p></div>
+
+<p>The man who wrote these lines was certainly not denationalized;
+the emancipated Virginian had unconsciously retained a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+puritanical distrust of purely &aelig;sthetic enjoyments. He seems
+to have taken a sort of wicked pleasure in denying himself the
+disinterested joys of the artist and philosopher and his travels
+in Europe were no "sentimental journey." It cannot even be
+maintained that the views expressed in the letter to Shippen
+were a paradox and that he felt free to enjoy the pleasures from
+which he strove to protect his fellow countrymen. Most revealing
+in this respect is the following passage from a letter
+written to Lafayette, when he was traveling along the Riviera:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In the great cities I go to see, what travellers think alone worthy
+of being seen; but I make a job of it, and generally gulp it all down
+in a day. On the other hand, I am never satisfied with rambling
+through the fields and farms, examining the culture and cultivators,
+with a degree of curiosity which makes some take me to be a fool,
+and others to be much wiser than I am.<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>He seems to have been dominated by the same utilitarian
+preoccupations during his English journey. There he noted
+carefully all the peculiarities of English gardens, visiting all
+the show places with Whateley's book on gardening in his
+pocket: "My inquiries," he himself said, "were directed chiefly
+to such practical things as might enable me to estimate the
+expense of making and maintaining a garden in that style."
+This is why the only thing worth noticing at Kew was an Archimedes
+screw for raising water, of which he made a sketch. His
+conclusions were summed up in a letter to John Page after he
+came back to Paris. England had totally disappointed him.
+The "pleasure gardens", to be sure, went far beyond his ideas,
+but the city of London, though handsomer than Paris, was not
+so handsome as Philadelphia: "Their architecture is in the
+most wretched style I ever saw, not meaning to except America,
+where it is bad, not even Virginia, where it is worse than in any
+other part of America which I have seen." On the other hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+the mechanical arts were carried to a wonderful perfection,
+but he took no joy in visiting manufactures and shops, since
+the view reminded him that the frivolity of his fellow countrymen
+made them import many articles from London and thus
+pay tribute to a foreign nation.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p>
+
+<p>When he left Paris for the South of France he was in no
+more amiable mood. It was his first real contact with the
+French countryside and he was shocked beyond words at the
+sight of the first villages he passed through from Sens to Vermanton.
+He could not understand why the French peasants
+insisted on living close together in villages instead of building
+their houses on the grounds they cultivated. He racked his
+brains for an explanation and could find no better one than to
+suppose that they were "collected by that dogma of their
+religion which makes them believe, that to keep the Creator in
+good humor with His own works, they must mumble a mass
+every day." The people were illy clothed; the sight of women
+and children carrying heavy burdens and laboring with the hoe
+made the Virginian slave-owner conclude that "in a civilized
+country, men never expose their wives and children to labor
+above their force and sex, as long as their own labor can protect
+them from it." But he nowhere expressed any emotional
+distress nor heartfelt sympathy for these poor wretches and
+concluded that if there were no beggars it was probably an effect
+of the police.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, he noted every detail of the fabrication
+of Burgundy wine, enumerated the different vintages, the
+cost of casks, bottles, methods of transportation and marketing,
+the price of "<i>vin ordinaire</i>", of oil, butter, cattle, the cultivation
+of olive trees and fig trees and capers. Monuments are
+described with a mathematical eye, many small points noted,
+columns described, ornaments studied, but the only personal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+impression elicited by Arles is that "The principal monument
+here, is an amphitheatre, the external portico of which is tolerably
+complete."</p>
+
+<p>What is true of France is even more true of Italy. At Milan
+the cathedral is not even mentioned, but "the salon of the Casa
+Belgiosa is superior to anything I have ever seen." And he
+adds immediately, "The mixture called Scaiola, of which they
+make their walls and floors, is so like the finest marble as to be
+scarcely distinguishable from it." Pages are given to the
+fabrication of Parmesan cheese. Once, however, in walking
+along the shore from Louano to Alberga, he could not resist the
+enchantment of the landscape. There he noted the remarkable
+coloration of the Mediterranean and was puzzled by it, but he
+also added, let it be marked to his credit:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If any person wished to retire from his acquaintances, to live
+absolutely unknown, and yet in the midst of physical enjoyments,
+it should be in some of the little villages of this coast, where air,
+water and earth concur to offer what each has most precious. Here
+are nightingales, beccaficas, ortolans, pheasants, partridges, quails,
+a superb climate, and the power of changing it from summer to
+winter at any moment, by ascending the mountains. The earth
+furnishes wine, oil, figs, oranges, and every production of the garden,
+in every season. The sea yields lobsters, crabs, oysters, thunny, sardines,
+anchovies etc. Ortolans sell at this time at thirty sous,
+equal to one shilling sterling, the dozen.</p></div>
+
+<p>A queer mixture of suppressed artistic emotions and avowed
+culinary preoccupations. Shades of Rousseau and Wordsworth,
+to mention the nightingale and the ortolans in one
+breath! But one thing at least we must be thankful for is his
+lack of pretence and conventional admiration. It is, after all,
+refreshing to find a traveler who does not copy from his guidebook
+and does not fall into raptures and worked-up ecstasies.
+He came back through "Luc, Brignolles, Avignon, Vaucluse",
+simply noting that "there are fine trout in the stream of Vau<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>cluse
+and the valley abounds particularly with nightingales."
+He saw N&icirc;mes, Montpellier, Frontignan, where he discussed
+the manufacture and price of wine; he passed through Carcassonne
+and was much interested in the canal and "the carp
+caught there", but did not mention the walls; he stayed several
+days at Bordeaux, measured the remains of a Roman amphitheater
+and made a thorough study of the wines; "Chateau
+Margau, La Tour de S&eacute;gur, Hautbrion, Chateau de la Fite,
+Pontac, Sauternes, Barsac." He visited Nantes, Rennes,
+Angers, Tours, and ascertained the truth of the allegations of
+the famous "growth of shells unconnected with animal bodies"
+mentioned by Voltaire and discussed in the "Notes on Virginia."
+He saw Chanteloup and heard a nightingale there,
+but was far more interested in "an ingenious contrivance to
+hide the projecting steps of a stair-case."</p>
+
+<p>The same utilitarian preoccupation reappears most conspicuously
+in his "Memorandums on a Tour from Paris to Amsterdam,
+Strasburg, and back to Paris" (March, 1788). At
+Amsterdam he studied the Dutch wheelbarrow, the canal to
+raise ships over the Pampus, joists of houses, the aviary of
+Mr. Ameshoff near Harlem; he made a sketch of the Hope's
+House "of a capricious appearance yet a pleasant one"&mdash;an
+architectural atrocity if ever there was one. At D&uuml;sseldorf
+"the gallery of paintings is sublime", but equally interesting
+is the hog of this country (Westphalia) "of which the celebrated
+ham is made which sells at eight and a half pence sterling the
+pound." If he saw the cathedral at Cologne he forbore to
+mention it, but at Coblenz he had his first taste of the Moselle
+wine. It would be cruel to reproduce his description of the
+"clever ruin at Hanau, with the hermitage in which is a good
+figure of a hermit in plaster, colored to the life, with a table
+and a book before him, in the attitude of contemplation."</p>
+
+<p>And yet, when the worst is told, one may wonder whether
+there would not be some unfairness in judging Jefferson merely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+from these memoranda. There he noted information for
+which he foresaw some further use, interesting knowledge which
+could be utilized at Monticello or for the benefit of his fellow
+countrymen. How to plant and prune the vines and the olive
+trees; how to make cheese and oil; how to introduce the
+"St. Foin", new vegetables, new crops such as rice, new industries
+such as the silkworm and mulberry tree; how to build a
+house; all this required exactness and precision and could
+scarcely be trusted to memory. Pleasant impressions of travel,
+on the contrary, could always be evoked through the imagination
+and would lose very little of their charm and value with
+time. Furthermore to put down these impressions in black and
+white would have required a certain process of analysis entirely
+foreign to Puritan consciousness, and a Puritan Jefferson had
+remained in his speech and manners far more than he himself
+believed. There was in these purely &aelig;sthetic pleasures something
+really too personal to be indulged in, at least in writing.
+Once, however, he did away with all the restraint imposed upon
+him by education and the "habits of his country"; it is in the
+well-known letter written from N&icirc;mes to Madame de Tess&eacute;.
+Parts of it at least, in all fairness to Jefferson, have to be quoted
+here as a contrast to the dryness and objectiveness of the notes
+on travel....</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison Quarr&eacute;e,
+like a lover at his mistress.... This is the second time I have
+been in love since I left Paris. The first was with a Diana at the
+Ch&acirc;teau de Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolais, 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 violently smitten with the H&ocirc;tel de Salm, and
+used to go to the Tuileries almost daily to look at it. The loueuse
+des chaises&mdash;inattentive to my passion&mdash;never had the complaisance
+to place a chair there, so that sitting on the parapet, and twist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>ing
+my neck around to see the object of my admiration, I generally
+left with a torti-colli.</p>
+
+<p>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 whatever is Roman and noble.
+At Vienna I thought of you. But I am glad you were not here; for
+you would have seen me more angry than, I hope, you will ever see
+me. The Praetorian palace, as it is called&mdash;comparable, for its
+fine proportions, to the Maison Quarr&eacute;e&mdash;defaced by the barbarians
+who have converted it to its present purpose, its beautiful fluted
+Corinthian columns cut out, in parts, to make space for Gothic
+windows, and hewed down, in the residue, to the plane of the buildings,
+was enough, you must admit, to disturb my composure. At
+Orange too, I thought of you. I was sure you had seen with pleasure
+the sublime triumphal arch of Marius at the entrance of the city. I
+went then to the Arenae. Would you believe, Madam, that in this
+eighteenth century, in France, under the reign of Louis XVI, they
+are at this moment pulling down the circular wall of this superb
+remain, to pave a road? And that too, from a hill which is itself
+en entire mass of stone, just as fit, and more accessible.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This is indeed a charming letter; but why did he not write
+more often in this vein? Why did he send to Martha moralizing
+and edifying letters when he was traveling in Southern
+France and Italy? His latent puritanism, as already shown,
+may partly account for this reticence, but this came from a
+deeper feeling. He had already protested in his "Notes on
+Virginia" against the claim made by Europe to intellectual
+supremacy. He realized, however, how powerful was the attraction
+of the great centers of European culture on young
+America, and was afraid that the introduction of foreign arts,
+foreign literature, foreign customs, and "mode" might corrupt
+the very springs of American life. This blind admiration
+of everything European constituted one of the greatest dangers
+if America wished to develop on her own soil a civilization<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+of her own. Friends in Virginia had to be convinced that an
+American youth, brought up on a strictly American diet, would
+in nowise be inferior to most Europeans. If one insisted upon
+sending a young man to Europe, the chances were that he would
+learn nothing essential, that on the contrary he would lose
+many of his native qualities and at any rate his native innocence
+and purity of mind. This appears most conspicuously
+in a letter written to J. B. Bannister, Junior, who had manifested
+the intention of sending his son to Europe. There Jefferson
+proceeded to denounce the features of European civilization
+as vehemently as any Puritan preacher and with the same
+frankness of expression. To enumerate the disadvantages
+of sending a youth to Europe "would require a volume", so
+he had to select a few. England is shortly disposed of: "If
+he goes to England, he learns drinking, horse racing, and boxing,"
+for those are the peculiarities of English education. If
+he goes to the continent he will acquire a fondness for luxury
+and dissipation, he will contract a partiality for aristocracy
+and monarchy; he will soon be led to consider "fidelity to the
+marriage bed as an ungentlemanly practice." He will become
+denationalized and recollecting "the voluptuary dress and
+arts of the European women, will pity and despise the chaste
+affections and simplicity of those of his own country." He will
+return to America "a foreigner", speaking and writing his own
+tongue "like a foreigner", and therefore unqualified to obtain
+those distinctions, which eloquence of the pen and tongue ensures
+in a free country. There can be only one conclusion
+after such a fierce denunciation of Europe:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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 expected. Cast your eye over America:
+who are the men of most learning, of most eloquence, most beloved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+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 homogeneous with those
+of the country.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Very bold indeed would have been the American father who,
+with such a frightful picture before his eyes, would have sent
+his son to Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we are led to a very unexpected conclusion. There
+is little doubt that Jefferson's democratic theories were confirmed
+and clarified by his prolonged stay in Europe. But this
+was not due to the lessons he received from the French philosophers.
+He had gone to France under the misapprehension
+that he would be considered there as a "savage from the mountains
+of America"; he had been dazzled at first by the splendor
+of the old world, but he had soon overcome his admiration
+and arrived at the conclusion that the game was not worth the
+candle. Life in Paris was very pleasant, but some one had to
+foot the bill, and the general fate of humanity was most deplorable
+in Europe. Such are the general impressions he sent
+to his friend Bellini one year after arriving in Paris:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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. The great
+mass of the people suffer under physical and moral oppression; but
+the condition of the great if more closely observed cannot compare
+with the degree of happiness which is enjoyed in America. Among
+them there is no family life, no conjugal love, no domestic happiness;
+intrigues of love occupy the young and those of ambition, the elder
+part of the great.</p></div>
+
+<p>Much, very much inferior, this, to the tranquil, permanent
+felicity with which domestic society in America blesses most of
+its inhabitants; leaving them to follow steadily those pur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>suits
+which health and reason approve, and rendering truly
+delicious the intervals of those pursuits!</p>
+
+<p>If one looks to another field, the situation is very similar.
+"In science, the mass of the people are two centuries behind
+ours; their literature half a dozen years before us." But that
+is no serious inconvenience; books which are really good acquire
+a reputation in that lapse of time and then pass over to
+America, while poor books, controversial and uncertain knowledge
+are naturally weeded out, so that America is not bothered
+with that "swarm of nonsensical publications which issue daily
+from a thousand presses, and perishes almost in issuing."</p>
+
+<p>On some points, however, Europeans have a decided superiority
+over the Americans: they have more amiable manners,
+they are more polite, more temperate, "they do not terminate
+the most sociable meals by transforming themselves into
+brutes. I have never seen a man drunk in France, even among
+the lowest of the people."</p>
+
+<p>Finally in the arts there is no possible comparison:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Nor are we to believe that in Jefferson's opinion this was a
+small achievement. Had he been more poetically inclined
+he might have repeated the apostrophe of the old poet:
+"France mother of all the arts." But when all is told, the
+fact remained that Europe had more to learn from America
+than she could possibly give to the new nation, and thereupon
+Jefferson started to "boost" his own country. Protesting
+against a pseudo-discovery of an English wheelwright, he de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>clared
+that the idea had been stolen from Doctor Franklin who
+had observed it in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Jersey, and
+the Jersey farmers might have borrowed it from Homer, "for
+ours are the only farmers who can read Homer."<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> Against
+the architectural feats of the Europeans it is not unfair to claim
+the superiority of American scenery, particularly of the Virginia
+marvels, such as the Natural Bridge, for "that kind of
+pleasure surpasses much in my estimation, whatever I find
+on this side of the Atlantic."<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the end of his journey in France and Italy he conceded
+that there are indeed in these countries "things worth our
+imitation." But he immediately added, "the accounts from
+our country give me to believe that we are not in a condition
+to hope of the imitation of anything good."<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> In the meantime
+it is better for the Americans to stay at home, for "travelling
+makes men wiser, but less happy"; and he wrote to Peter
+Carr, whose education he had undertaken to direct: "There
+is no place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little
+obstructed by foreign objects, as your own country, nor any,
+wherein the virtues of the heart will be less exposed to be
+weakened."<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h2>GALLO-AMERICAN COMMERCE AND THE
+DEBT QUESTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>After Franklin's departure from Paris, Jefferson was left
+officially in charge of the diplomatic relations of the United
+States with the French Court. Adams was in London and
+Carmichael in Madrid, and with them he exchanged extensive
+communications. But the Paris legation was really the headquarters
+of American diplomacy, and the problems that came
+up taxed the ingenuity and all the intellectual resources Jefferson
+could command.</p>
+
+<p>Summing up his activities in Paris, he declared with too much
+modesty in his "Autobiography":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>My duties, at Paris, were confined to a few objects; the receipts
+of our whale oils, salted fish, and salt meat, on favorable terms; the
+admission of our rice on equal terms with that of Piedmont, Egypt
+and the Levant; a mitigation of the monopolies of our tobacco by the
+Farmers-general, and a free admission of our productions into their
+islands, were the principal commercial objects which required attention;
+and on these occasions, I was powerfully aided by all the influence
+and the energies of the Marquis de LaFayette, who proved himself
+equally zealous for the friendship and welfare of both nations.</p></div>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, Jefferson's duties extended to many other
+subjects, of which the most important and at any rate the most
+perplexing may have been the settlement of the debt question.
+This problem, as we shall presently see, haunted Jefferson's
+mind and was never separated by him from the purely commercial
+questions. In many respects the situation then existing
+between the United States and France was very similar to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+the present situation and certainly not easier to solve. An
+estimate of Jefferson's career that would leave out this particular
+side of his activities when in France, would necessarily
+be incomplete, if not misleading. A large part of the minister's
+time was devoted, not to philosophical conversations with
+Helv&eacute;tius' friends but to obstinate, patient, and harassing
+endeavor to obtain for his country commercial rights and even
+privileges that would enable her to pay off her debt to Europe.
+In spite of his affected scorn for figures and statistics, the
+"philosopher" demonstrated an unusual business ability.</p>
+
+<p>The tobacco trade in which the Southern States and particularly
+Virginia were vitally interested was at that time entirely
+in the hands of the Farmers-general, whose monopoly was not
+administered to the best interests of either the American growers
+or the French consumers. Being closely allied with some of
+the prominent economists and entirely in sympathy with their
+views, Lafayette was naturally against the farming of taxes on
+tobacco. But as he realized that there was very little hope of
+doing away entirely with the system, he contented himself at
+first with employing his best efforts to facilitate the direct
+importation of tobacco into France. As early as May, 1785,
+he managed to obtain a copy of a document indicating that
+some London dealers were offering to the Farmers-general large
+quantities of Virginia tobacco. He communicated the document
+at once to Jefferson, and suggested that it was important
+for both countries to eliminate the London middlemen. Direct
+commercial relations should be established between France
+and America, not only as a matter of patriotism, but also as a
+matter of interest.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p>
+
+<p>This proposed change in the traditional policy of the
+Farmers-general, who were accustomed to deal with British
+intermediaries, met with a strong opposition from the Farmers-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>general.
+For reasons which they did not state openly, they
+refused either to deal with independent American growers, or
+to buy from a new and strictly American company planned by
+Jefferson.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p>
+
+<p>Unable to overcome the resistance of the Farmers-general,
+Jefferson decided that the next step would be to fight the monopoly
+and to persuade the Court to do away with it. It was a
+logical more than a truly diplomatic procedure, since Jefferson
+took upon himself to meddle in the internal affairs of the government
+to which he was accredited. But Jefferson, without being
+the originator of the famous "shirt-sleeve" diplomacy, was not
+the man to let diplomatic proprieties stand in the way of the best
+interests of his country. Furthermore, he was quite sincere in
+his belief that he was acting to the greatest advantage of both
+France and America. He therefore wrote to Vergennes a long
+letter, in which he stated the advantages which would accrue
+to the royal treasury from the abolition of the tobacco
+monopoly.<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></p>
+
+<p>There is no indication that Vergennes resented in any way
+Jefferson's suggestion; but there is no evidence either that he
+paid any attention to it. Things remained in the same condition
+to the end of the year. Up to that date, Lafayette had
+fought as a free lance the commercial battle of the United States,
+using his personal influence and family connections to undermine
+the prestige of the Farmers-general. At the beginning
+of 1786, Calonne, yielding to his solicitations, formed the
+Comit&eacute; du Commerce composed of Farmers-general, inspectors
+of commerce, and members of the council, in order to study the
+future of the commercial relations between France and the
+United States. Lafayette was appointed to the committee on
+February 9, 1786. He had very little training in economics
+and had never displayed any particular aptitude for financial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+problems. But back of him was Jefferson, and on the committee
+Lafayette was nothing but the spokesman of the American
+Plenipotentiary. The account of his speeches before the
+committee, given by Brissot, and reprinted in a note to the
+"Memoirs of General Lafayette", is simply the r&eacute;sum&eacute; of a
+letter sent by Jefferson to Vergennes six months earlier. Jefferson
+prompted him, furnished him with figures and statistics,
+and in a letter written at the eleventh hour urged him to expose
+the fundamental dishonesty of the Farmers-general. Since,
+according to their own figures, said Jefferson, they lose annually
+over four million livres by the farming of tobacco "the king,
+in favor to them, should discontinue the bail; and they cannot
+ask its continuance without acknowledging they have given
+in a false state of quantities and sums."<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></p>
+
+<p>Standing alone in the committee against a strong combination
+of skilled financiers, Lafayette was fighting for a lost cause without
+any profit to himself or any visible hope of success.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></p>
+
+<p>Both Lafayette and Jefferson were outmaneuvered by the
+financiers. They professed that they were willing to denounce
+their contracts with the London merchants, and thus seemed to
+accomplish a grand patriotic gesture, but they granted to the
+American financier, Robert Morris, the exclusive privilege of
+buying tobacco for them and thus defeated the main purpose
+of Jefferson. The minister had to confess that he was beaten,
+although he had spared no pains to strike at the root of the
+monopoly. "The persons interested in it are too powerful to
+be opposed, even by the interest of the whole country."<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></p>
+
+<p>But it was not in his character ever to give up; he soon
+renewed the attack at another point. First he succeeded in
+postponing for six months the effect of the new lease to Morris,
+and thus permitted American importers who had accumulated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+stocks in Lorient to sell them directly to the Farmers-general.
+Some time later he partially nullified the concession to Morris
+by obtaining an order from the council "obliging the Farmers-general
+to purchase from such other merchants as shall offer
+fifteen thousand hogshead of tobacco", and to grant to the
+sellers in other respects the same terms as they had granted
+Robert Morris.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, indirectly but very effectively, Jefferson finally
+achieved his purpose: to undermine an odious monopoly which
+caused a great loss to the planters of his country; to enable the
+American consumers to buy directly from France manufactured
+products, or at least those "commodities which it is more
+advantageous to us to buy here than in England, or elsewhere";
+finally "to reinforce the motives for a friendship from this
+country towards ours.&mdash;This friendship we ought to cultivate
+closely, considering the present dispositions of England towards
+us."<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></p>
+
+<p>In addition, he flattered himself that he had taught the
+French some sound economic principles:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have been for some time occupied in endeavouring to destroy the
+root of the evils which the tobacco trade encounters in this country,
+by making the ministers sensible that merchants will not bring a
+commodity to a market, where but one person is allowed to buy it;
+and that so long as that single purchaser is obliged to go to foreign
+markets for it, he must pay for it in coin and not in commodities.
+These truths have made their way to the mind of the ministry
+insomuch, as to have delayed the execution of the new lease of the
+farms, six months. It is renewed, however, for three years, but so
+as not to render impossible a reformation of the great evil. They
+are sensible to the evil, but it is so interwoven with their fiscal system,
+that they find it hazardous to disentangle. The temporary distress,
+too, of the revenue, they are not prepared to meet. My hopes,
+therefore, are weak, though not quite desperate.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One might well wonder to what extent these "truths" were
+as new to the French as Jefferson seemed to believe, and to what
+extent he was operative in strengthening the opposition to the
+Farmers-general, already very strong in France. However
+that may be, the American minister learned from the French
+example as much as he taught the members of the committee.
+The tobacco monopoly was to him another object lesson on the
+danger of farming taxes, and he did not forget it.</p>
+
+<p>Even greater obstacles were encountered by Jefferson and
+Lafayette in their effort to develop commercial transactions
+with New England. The negotiations extended over three
+years and would be worth relating in detail.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> Jefferson, bent on
+breaking customs barriers and obtaining free entrance for the
+products of New England fisheries, brought forward every
+possible argument to fight the doctrine of commercialism and
+summed up his case in a letter sent to Lafayette, but evidently
+intended for the committee. There for the first time he pointed
+out the necessary connection existing between the tariff question
+and the repayment of the French debt. The problem of
+"transfers" is not a new one, and Jefferson's reasoning sounds
+strangely familiar to all those who have paid any attention to
+our present problems of debt settlement, reparations, and tariff.
+The following passage seems particularly worth quoting:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>On running over the catalogue of American imports, France will
+naturally mark out those articles which she could supply us to
+advantage; and she may safely calculate, that, after a little time
+shall have enabled us to get rid of our present incumbrances, and
+some remains of attachment to the particular forms of manufacture
+to which we have been habituated, we shall take those articles which
+she can furnish, on as good terms as other nations, to whatever extent
+she will enable us to pay for them. It is her interest therefore, as
+well as ours, to multiply the means of payment. These must be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+found in the catalogue of our exports, and among these will be seen
+neither gold nor silver. We have no mines of either of those metals.
+Produce therefore is all we can offer.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The conclusion was that it was imperative to obtain such
+abatement of duties and even such exemptions as the
+importance of the article might justify, in the hope that his
+country would be enabled to build up a commercial credit of
+about 275,000 louis, which would provide for the service and
+amortization of the American debt to France.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of Lafayette and also to
+the sympathetic attitude of the committee, a series of <i>arr&ecirc;ts
+du conseil</i> listed in a letter to Monroe was finally obtained.<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>
+There was little hope at first that they would be countersigned,
+but in October of the same year Jefferson, with evident satisfaction,
+was able to inform Jay of the new regulations granting
+free ports to America, abolishing export taxes on brandies, and
+for a year the tax on whale oil and spermaceti, on potash, furs,
+leather, timber, trees, and shrubbery, brought either in American
+or French bottoms. Every effort had been made not only
+to place the United States on the footing of the most favored
+nation, but to encourage her infant industries and manufactures.
+The new regulations approved by Calonne did much to
+free America from her commercial subservience to Great Britain
+and also reinforce, according to Jefferson's wishes, the motives
+for a "friendship from France towards America."</p>
+
+<p>This was by no means the end of all difficulties; the abatement
+on whale oil was only temporary and Jefferson was never
+able to obtain entire satisfaction in respect to the tobacco trade,
+but there is no doubt that the situation had greatly improved.</p>
+
+<p>Even during the last months of his stay in France he never
+overlooked an opportunity to further the commercial interests
+of the United States. His fear to see his fellow countrymen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+"over-trade themselves and embark into the ocean of speculation"
+had not abated. He still believed that "we have no
+occasion for more commerce than to take off our superfluous
+produce", and tobacco was clearly in that class.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> But at that
+time there arose an opportunity both to develop commercial
+relations and to be of distinct service to France. The years
+that immediately precede the French Revolution were marked
+by a very distressing food shortage in France and particularly
+in the capital. This was one of the most disquieting problems
+confronting the Committee of Commerce and the city syndics.
+Jefferson, because of his connections with Lafayette, Du Pont
+de Nemours, and Mr. Ethis de Corny, was particularly well
+informed on the situation and he turned his best efforts to
+induce the government to remedy it through the importation of
+American products. He thought that besides the salt fish
+from New England, salt meat and corn beef would constitute
+a desirable addition to the French diet and he undertook a
+campaign to convert the French to the idea. One of his last
+letters to Necker, on September 26, 1789, was to recommend
+the importation of salted provisions from the United States,
+appraising the quality of American salt meat, for "the experience
+of a great part of America, which is fed almost entirely on
+it, proves it to be as wholesome as fresh meat."<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p>
+
+<p>In spite of all the obstacles to the development of the Gallo-American
+commerce because of the deep-rooted French horror
+of innovations and changes, the efforts of Jefferson and his
+friends were not wholly unavailing. According to Mr. Woolery,
+in 1789 importations from the United States amounted to
+140,959 barrels of flour, 3,664,576 bushels of wheat and
+12,340,000 pounds of rice. Vessels coming from the United
+States to French ports in this year included thirteen French,
+forty-three English and one hundred and sixty-three American;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+the tonnage of American vessels was 19,173 in 1788 and 24,173
+in 1789. Exports to France in 1788 were valued at $1,384,246;
+to French possessions in America $3,284,656; and from them,
+$155,136 and $1,913,212 respectively. In this trade the American
+tonnage engaged was approximately ten times that of the
+French. The philosopher had proved himself a first-class
+commercial agent. He had built up trade relations which
+would have consolidated the friendship between the two countries
+if the Revolution had not intervened. But no real friendship
+can exist between creditor and debtor; the debt problem
+was no less important than the commercial problem, and Jefferson
+displayed on this occasion an ingenuity and a diplomatic
+skill no less worthy of commendation.</p>
+
+<p>When he took charge of the legation at Paris the finances of
+the United States were in a deplorable condition. Loans made
+by the Farmers-general, by Beaumarchais, by the King of
+France, and loans contracted in Holland and in Spain, constituted
+the most important outstanding liabilities of the
+American Government. In 1783 the situation as reported to
+Congress was as follows:</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'>To the Farmers-general of France, livres  &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </td><td align='right'>1,000,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>To Beaumarchais</td><td align='right'>3,000,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>To King of France, to the end of 1782   &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </td><td align='right'>28,000,000</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>To same for 1783</td><td align='right'>6,000,000</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>To this total was to be added a loan from Holland for $671,200,
+and $150,000 borrowed from Spain by Jay. Interest was coming
+in at the rate of four per cent. on the French loan, making it
+a total of approximately $7,885,000. The domestic situation
+was far worse; the States had plunged into issues of paper
+money: $241,552,780 had been issued in bills of credit by
+Congress, and $209,524,776 by the States.</p>
+
+<p>If it is remembered that private investors had bought American
+paper rather recklessly, that important sums were due to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+England, and that the United States could not even meet the
+interest on the debts without further borrowing, it is small
+wonder that European creditors began to wonder whether they
+would ever be repaid. The first task confronting the new
+Minister Plenipotentiary was to convince them that the United
+States as then organized had a sufficient stability to allay
+all fears. Jefferson undertook at once to clarify the situation.
+In a letter to the Dutch bankers, N. and J. Van Staphorst, he
+asserted that no man in America had ever entertained any
+doubt that "our foreign debt is to be paid fully." He significantly
+added: "Were I the holder of any of them, I should not
+have the least fear of their full payment." But he had to call
+the attention of the bankers to the fact that some international
+notes were issued for paper money debts, and those of course
+would be subject to a certain depreciation, to be settled by
+Congress according to carefully worked out tables. The safer
+thing, therefore, for European investors was to beware of and
+to avoid any speculation on American bills and "foreigners
+should be sure that they are well advised, before they meddle
+with them, or they may suffer."<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> He repeated the same
+advice on October 25: "It is a science which bids defiance to
+the powers of reason."</p>
+
+<p>With the particulars of the different loans obtained by Jefferson
+while he was in France, and with the transactions that took
+place in Holland, we cannot deal here. It would be a study well
+worth undertaking separately, and one for which there is abundant
+material not yet utilized in the Jefferson papers, particularly
+in his correspondence with Dumas, the agent at the Hague.
+We shall restrict ourselves, however, to the political aspect of
+the debt settlement during Jefferson's mission.</p>
+
+<p>The French were at first very polite about it; without insisting
+in any way on the question of payment, Vergennes simply
+asked Jefferson whether "the condition of American finances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+was improving." The French minister did not even mention
+the possibilities of the United States paying the arrears of the
+interest; but Jefferson suffered and irked, thinking that he
+was probably expected to mention it first, while he could not
+do so without instructions and there were "no visible means
+to pay anything for the present."<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></p>
+
+<p>Curiously enough, the matter came to a head with England
+during the trip made by Jefferson in the spring of 1786. He
+held several conferences with the British merchants and tried
+to obtain with them a sort of compromise by which American
+merchants would repay in full the capital of debts contracted
+before and after the war, but withdrawing payment of the
+interest for the period of the war. It was then that Jefferson
+put forth the principle he was to maintain persistently with the
+French,&mdash;namely that the matter of commerce and the question
+of the debts could not be separated, "were it only as a
+means of enabling our country to pay its debts."<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p>
+
+<p>The chief fault of Jefferson's solution, however, was that
+there was very little America could sell to England, while the
+Americans themselves were eagerly buying goods manufactured
+in England. There was great danger of seeing that economic
+vassalage perpetuated, for "instead of a proper equilibrium,
+everything at present lies all in the British scale."<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> Importations
+being permitted, fashion and folly requiring English
+products, the country was sinking deeper and deeper into
+poverty, and all the news on the matter received by Jefferson
+"filled him with despair."</p>
+
+<p>However, something had to be done at once in the case of
+the French debt, as Jefferson knew that the French Minister of
+Finance was "at his wit's end to raise supplies for the ensuing
+year."<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> It does not appear that the French Court had made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+any representation on the debt to the American Plenipotentiary,
+but Jefferson fully realized that he was placed in a position of
+inferiority as long as the vexing question remained unsettled
+and payments on the interest were overdue. This was the
+more deplorable, as France was the only European nation with
+which the United States could hope to develop really satisfactory
+relations. It was at this juncture that a very interesting
+proposition was made through Dumas by the Dutch
+bankers. The French debt's most objectionable feature was
+that it placed the American Government under direct obligation
+to the French; in other words, as we would say now, it was
+a political debt, but means might be found to change it into a
+purely commercial debt. If a company of bankers were formed
+to pay off France at once, the American Government would
+be able to treat with them on a business basis, the greatest
+advantage being that in case of delayed payments, no political
+pressure could be exerted or political advantage claimed.</p>
+
+<p>The only objection to such a combination was that it could not
+be made without the consent of both the French and American
+governments, and negotiations to that effect would necessarily
+take a long time. To provide for the most pressing needs,
+Jefferson proposed to raise directly in Holland the four and
+twenty millions due to France as accrued interest. This would
+make a beginning and create a precedent. In the meantime
+Adams was urged to go to Holland to acquaint himself with the
+situation, so as to be able to present a definite solution to
+Congress on his return to America.<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> The French court
+remained very considerate and did not make any formal representations;
+but very harsh criticism of the failure of America
+to meet her obligations were heard during the Assembl&eacute;e des
+Notables. The funds were so low that the American Government
+could not even pay its debts to the French officers who,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+because of their influence with the Court, should have received
+special consideration. Yet Congress did not seem to realize
+how pressing the matter was, and Jefferson could only repeat
+with real despair and disgust: "Would to heaven they would
+authorize you to take measures for transferring the debt of this
+country to Holland before you leave Europe."<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p>
+
+<p>On their side, the French Court did their best to reassure the
+French creditors, and when the written report of the Assembl&eacute;es
+des Notables appeared it had been considerably toned down,
+simply stating that:</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... the interest of the claims of His Majesty on the United
+States of America, cannot be drawn out for the present, except as a
+document. The recovery of these claims, as well as principal as
+perhaps even interest, although they appear to rest on the most
+solid security, may, nevertheless, be long delayed, and should not
+consequently, be taken into account in estimating the annual
+revenue.</p></div>
+
+<p>But even that mention seemed to Jefferson a reflection on the
+national honor of his country. He was harassed by French
+claimants; Beaumarchais had just placed in his hands a memorial
+to Congress; French officers were writing to him and calling
+on him, threatening to sell their claims to a single creditor,
+or to ask the court to intervene in their favor. But all the
+unfortunate American minister could answer was that Congress
+"would do in that business, what justice would require, and
+their means enable them."<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the end of the same year he learned that Congress had
+rejected the proposition of the Dutch bankers, and he could not
+help expressing deep disappointment. One hope was left however:
+the sale of western lands then going on which would
+provide Congress with important liquid assets.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I turn to this precious resource&mdash;he wrote to a friend&mdash;as that
+which will, in every event, liberate us from our domestic debt, and
+perhaps too, from our foreign one; and this much sooner than I had
+expected. I do not think anything could have been done with them
+in Europe. Individual speculators and sharpers had duped so
+many with their unlocated land-warrants, that every offer would be
+suspected.<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>In the meantime something had to be done to reassure the
+creditors of the United States, and Jefferson pressed Dumas to
+publish a series of articles in the <i>Gazette of Leyden</i> to demonstrate
+the financial stability of his country. The situation had
+to be presented as follows: two sales of five million and two
+million acres respectively had been made, another for four
+million was in process and Jefferson considered that these sales
+had absorbed seven million dollars of the domestic Federal
+debt. The States had absorbed by taxation and otherwise
+about ten million dollars, so "that the debt stands now at about
+ten millions of dollars, and will probably be all absorbed in the
+course of next year. There will remain then our foreign debt,
+between ten and twelve millions, including interest. The sale
+of land will then go on for payment of this."<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> But in spite of
+this official optimism the Commissioners of the Treasury had
+informed Willincks and Van Staphorsts that they should "not
+be able to remit one shilling till the New Government gets into
+action" and that consequently they were not to pay anything
+towards the interest of the Dutch loan except out of the proceeds
+of the last loan. To which the Dutch bankers had answered
+that "there was not much prospect to raise as much on that new
+loan as would cover the next June interest and that the credit
+of the United States was in danger of being wiped off."<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> As
+Adams was about to leave for America, Jefferson, at the request<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+of the Dutch bankers, met him at Amsterdam and for several
+days the two American envoys did their best to convince close-fisted
+financiers, who had speculated in American bonds
+and refused to do anything until paid for the interest on the
+domestic bonds they held. They finally yielded, but to avoid
+further embarrassment Jefferson and Adams decided to provide
+at one stroke for the years 1789 and 1790 by signing
+new bonds for a million florins, subject to approval of
+Congress.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p>
+
+<p>The real danger, as both Adams and Jefferson saw it, came
+from unwise speculation in American domestic bonds, since the
+bankers had tried to use these bonds as a sort of lever; consequently
+the transfer of domestic bonds to Europe was to be
+discouraged by every possible means. "If the transfer of these
+debts to Europe, meet with any encouragement from us, we
+can no more borrow money here, let our necessities be what
+they will."<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></p>
+
+<p>How desperate the situation was at that date appears in two
+letters written to General Washington May 2, 1788, and to
+James Madison, May 3, 1788.<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> Jefferson's visit at Amsterdam
+had convinced him that the credit of the United States was at
+its lowest ebb and in great danger of being reduced to nil. The
+nation with the highest credit was Great Britain, because the
+English never asked for a loan without providing by new taxes
+for the repayment of it. He indicated that no doubt was
+entertained by any one in Holland about the ultimate repayment
+of the capital, but that repeated failures to pay the interest
+on the old loans had stopped any further borrowing. As to
+the French debt, the Court had carefully avoided any public
+mention of it, "the government here, saying nothing about it,
+the public have supposed they wished to leave us at our ease<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+as to the payment. It is now seen that they call for it, and
+they will publish annually the effect of that call." The most
+pressing need was an order from the Treasury to pay the arrears
+for the last three years to the French officers. With much
+difficulty Jefferson had prevented them from holding a meeting
+to agree on concerted action on the matter, and when he came
+back he prevented them from taking "desperate measures"
+till July. But a solution could not be deferred much longer.
+The necessary sum was comparatively small: twenty thousand
+florins a year would have sufficed "to suppress these
+clamors", and through diplomacy he finally succeeded in staying
+the address they intended to send to Congress and to the
+king, asking him to intervene on their behalf.<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the loan launched in Holland to meet the payment
+of the June interest had succeeded and had been finally
+ratified by Congress.<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> It was a beginning that brought some
+respite to Jefferson, but he insisted again that the next step to
+take was the funding of the foreign debt, for the French Government
+expected "a very satisfactory provision for the payment
+of their debt, from the first session of the new Congress."<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> He
+was enclosing two tables "showing what fund will suffice to
+discharge the principal and interest, as it shall become due
+aided by occasional loans, which the same fund will repay."
+This very detailed and technical proposal now preserved in the
+Jefferson papers of the Library of Congress would repay careful
+study.</p>
+
+<p>During the spring of the same year, however, Jefferson made
+a startling discovery which added to his distress. The international
+bankers of Amsterdam were not as politically disinterested
+as he had thought at first. He even suspected that,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+by careful manipulations, they intended to keep control of the
+credit of the United States.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have observed&mdash;wrote Jefferson&mdash;that as soon as a sum of
+interest is becoming due, they are able to borrow just that, and no
+more; or, at least, only so much more as may pay our salaries and
+keep us quiet.... I think it possible, they may choose to support
+our credit to a certain point, and let it go no further, but at their
+will; to keep it poised, as that it may be at their mercy. By this,
+they may be sure to keep us in their own hands.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This had to be remedied at once; energetic representations
+were sent to the bankers and an order of the Treasury was
+obtained deciding that "money for the captives and foreign
+affairs was to be furnished before any other payment of
+interest."<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></p>
+
+<p>In spite of these tremendous handicaps, due to the apathy of
+Congress, to the "stagnation" of American affairs, Jefferson
+succeeded, through sheer persistency and hard work, in gaining
+at least a few points. The history of his negotiations concerning
+the debt and the commerce of the United States may not
+be so dramatic and picturesque as some other episodes of his
+long career; but it cannot be neglected without doing injustice
+to his sense of duty, to his industry and above all to his political
+vision and understanding of international psychology. The
+application to the present situation is so obvious that it needs
+not to be elaborated upon. More fortunate than many recent
+negotiators, Jefferson had been able to obtain a settlement of
+the debt question satisfactory to both parties, and succeeded
+in eliminating the political factor from the situation; the debt
+to France was no longer an obstacle to the maintenance of
+friendly relations between the two countries. He was not the
+man to boast of his achievements but the legitimate pride he
+felt at having done his work to the best of his ability appears in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+the letter he wrote to John Jay shortly before his departure from
+France:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I am well informed that our credit is now the first at that exchange
+(Amsterdam), (England not borrowing at present). Our five per
+cent. bonds have risen to ninety-seven and ninety-nine. They have
+been heretofore at ninety-three. There are, at this time, several
+companies and individuals here, in England and Holland, negotiating
+to sell large parcels of our <i>liquidated debt</i>. A bargain was concluded
+by one of these the other day, for six hundred thousand dollars.
+In the present state of our credit, every dollar of this debt will
+probably be transferred to Europe within a short time.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>UNION AND ISOLATION</h2>
+
+
+<p>Even an incomplete survey of Jefferson's activities in Paris
+would convince any one that at all times the preoccupation
+uppermost in his mind was to defend and further the interests
+of the United States. He shared practically without any reservation
+the commonly accepted theory of his time that self-interest
+is the most powerful motive of human actions, and that
+enlightened self-interest is the true foundation of morality.
+Never a sentimentalist, he felt it his duty to put all the questions
+he had to discuss on a purely practical basis, neglecting
+every other consideration. He had been welcomed enthusiastically
+and would have been lionized if he had permitted it.
+But in the midst of the adulation showered upon him by Madame
+d'Houdetot, Madame de Tess&eacute; and the friends of liberty, he
+endeavored to keep a cool head; and at the end of his first year
+in France, he summed up as follows his views of the situation:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The body of the people of this country love us cordially. But
+ministers and merchants love nobody. The merchants here, are
+endeavoring to exclude us from their islands, the ministers will be
+governed in it by their political motives, and will do it or not do it,
+as these shall appear to dictate, without love or hatred to anybody.
+It were to be wished that they were able to combine better, the
+various circumstances which prove, beyond a doubt, that all the
+advantages of their colonies result in the end, to the mother country.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Representing a country hardly organized, without any diplomatic
+traditions, and inexperienced in dealing with foreign
+affairs, Jefferson had no easy task. One of his first duties was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+to convince the diplomats he was dealing with that America
+was a country to be trusted, in which existed a certain permanency
+and some sort of responsible organization with which
+it was possible to deal. This preoccupation influenced to
+such an extent his views on the American Constitution that
+they can be considered to a large extent a result of his experiences
+in Europe.</p>
+
+<p>As chairman of the committee on the ratification of the peace
+treaties, as plenipotentiary entrusted with the negotiations of
+the treaties of commerce, Jefferson had more than once felt
+how insufficient were the Articles of Confederation. He had
+repeatedly proclaimed that to all intents and purposes the
+United States were to be regarded as one nation; but as long
+as treaties with foreign powers had to be ratified not only by
+Congress but by the different States, as long as delegates had to
+refer constantly to the particular States they represented, the
+Federal organization remained a very clumsy, inefficient piece
+of machinery, and business could not be transacted. He never
+thought for an instant that it was possible or desirable for the
+former colonies to remain completely independent; they had
+at least to form a society of nations in order to insure their very
+existence and their development. His first months in Europe
+could only confirm him in these views, and he wrote to Madison
+at the end of 1786: "To make us one nation as to foreign
+concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the outlines
+of the proper division of powers between the general and
+particular governments. But to enable the federal head to
+exercise the powers given it to best advantage, it should be
+organized as the particular ones are, into legislative, executive
+and judiciary."</p>
+
+<p>At that date, however, he had not admitted the desirability
+of appointing a single executive and came back to all his proposals
+of vesting the executive powers in a committee of the
+States, leaving to Congress the legislative authority.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To Adams, who saw in Congress "not a legislative but a
+diplomatic assembly", he protested that it was an opinion not
+entirely correct and not likely to do good. As a matter of fact,
+in forming a confederation, the individual States yielded some
+parts of their sovereignty to Congress, and these parts were
+both legislative and executive. The confederation was part
+of the law of the land, and "superior in authority to the ordinary
+laws, because it cannot be altered by the legislature of
+any one State." It is not without piquancy to remark here
+that the man who was to become the champion of State rights
+and decentralization was advocating a strong Federal bond,
+while the future Federalist was in favor of a very loose association
+of States, truly a sort of League of Nations. In Jefferson's
+view, on the contrary, the United States as such were endowed
+with a sort of super-power, while the independent States retained
+only those rights which they were able to exercise fully.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a>
+On the other hand, Congress should have absolutely no authority
+over acts which do not concern the confederacy. In
+case of conflict an appeal could be made "from a state judicature
+to a Federal court", in other words to a Supreme Court,
+and there again Jefferson takes the position which his enemies
+were fifteen years later to defend against him, namely that
+there ought to be some power above Congress to restrain it.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It will be said that this court may encroach over the jurisdiction
+of the State courts. It may. But there will be a power, to wit,
+Congress, to watch and restrain them. But place the same authority
+in Congress itself, and there will be no power above them, to
+perform the same office. They will restrain within due bounds a
+jurisdiction exercised by others, much more rigourously than if
+exercised by themselves.<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>In a letter to Edward Carrington he summed up his views
+even more clearly. Reforms are necessary, although with all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+its defects the present government of the United States is so
+far superior to any monarchy that its defects must be viewed
+with indulgence. If any change is to be made, the general
+principle ought to be</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="noidt">to make the States one as to everything connected with foreign
+nations, and several as to everything purely domestic. Then
+to separate the executive from the legislative in order to avoid the
+terrible delays which are bound to happen with a large assembly
+and to have 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.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Even if originally Jefferson had been of another opinion, the
+situation in Europe would have rapidly brought him to the same
+conclusion. For the credit of the United States could only be
+maintained on the condition that the newly formed confederation
+gave guarantees of permanency and stability. In his
+letters to foreign correspondents, such as Dumas, financial
+agent of the United States in Holland, he consequently affected
+more confidence in the wisdom of the convention than he perhaps
+felt at heart:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>No trouble of any sort is to be anticipated. Happily for us that
+when we find our constitutions defective and insufficient, to secure
+the happiness of our people, we can assemble with all the coolness
+of philosophers, and set it to rights, while every other nation on earth
+must have recourse to arms to amend or restore their constitutions.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The main principle to observe is a separation of powers into
+"legislative, executive and judiciary" as complete as possible,
+and the rest will follow of itself.</p>
+
+<p>Yet as the convention approached, he favored less than ever
+the possibility of trusting any individual with the executive
+power for an indefinite length of time. "There are things in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+it which stagger all my dispositions to subscribe to what such
+an Assembly has proposed," he wrote to Adams. His chief
+objection to the Constitution was the appointment of a President
+who would be a sort of Polish king. If they wanted a
+President they could have it, provided they should make him
+ineligible at the end of four years. He even came to wonder
+whether too much ado was not made by the convention, for all
+the good that was in the new Constitution "could have been
+couched in three or four new articles added to the old articles
+of confederation." Far from being a radical and one of these
+reformers who first think of destroying the old order of things
+in order to build anew, Jefferson proposed to keep as much as
+possible "the good old and venerable fabric which should have
+been preserved, even as a religious relic."<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p>
+
+<p>At that time Jefferson had not yet received the text of the
+Constitution and had only vaguely heard of the discussion in
+the convention. When the newspapers brought him more details,
+he acquainted Carmichael with his views on the situation.
+This time his objection to the proposed scheme was more
+specific. It bore not only on the presidency but on the absence
+of a Bill of Rights; the thirteen States could not be melted
+into one government without guarantees to the people, and
+particularly without the recognition of the freedom of the press.
+The subordination of the laws of the States to Federal legislation
+was equally objectionable and he predicted that many
+States, among them Virginia, would reject several articles,
+making it necessary to assemble another convention to reach
+a better agreement.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p>
+
+<p>But it was reserved for Madison finally to become his confident
+on this question, and Jefferson's letter to him is both a
+capital document for the history of Jeffersonian democracy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+and a discussion of the first rank on the science of government.
+The good things Jefferson saw in the Constitution were many:
+the division of powers; the election of a greater House by the
+people directly; the negative given to the executive by a third
+of either Houses, and many others of less moment. But the
+absence of a Bill of Rights could not be condoned, for it was a
+sacred palladium of liberty, nor the abandonment of rotation
+in office, particularly in the case of the President. He did not
+despair of the Commonwealth, but he foresaw the necessity
+of calling another convention to agree on an explicit Bill of
+Rights and to change the objectionable features of the convention.
+In a postscript, he made one of those curious proposals
+which would be disconcerting if it were not remembered that
+his faith in democracy and representative government was
+tempered with a great deal of common sense. The people are
+right most of the time, the people are right in most cases, but
+the people are not right in all cases: they are apt to be swayed
+by temporary interests and considerations and they are apt
+also to pass contradictory laws from day to day. In order to
+remedy this instability of legislation, Jefferson did not hesitate
+to recommend that there should always be "a twelvemonth
+between the engrossing a bill and passing it", adding that if
+circumstances required a speedier passage, it should take "two
+thirds of both Houses instead of a bare majority."<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></p>
+
+<p>Having thus defined his position with regard to the Constitution,
+he thought it necessary to qualify it. Despite its
+imperfections, it contained many excellent points; and if it
+were felt that insistence on a Bill of Rights, or on the principle
+of rotation for the presidency should cause dissensions between
+the States, Jefferson declared himself ready "to swallow
+the two bitter pills" in order to avoid a schism in the Union.
+For that would be "the incurable evil" because near friends,
+falling out, never re-united cordially; "whereas, all of us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+going together, we shall be sure to cure the evils of our new
+Constitution before they do great harm."<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p>
+
+<p>The unlimited confidence he had in the ultimate wisdom of
+the people convinced him that if they went wrong for a time
+they would soon admit their mistakes, for there was in America
+a "good sense and a free spirit" which was the safest guarantee
+that things will right themselves in time. First ratify and
+amend afterwards, such was therefore the best procedure to
+follow, and he prayed heartily that a sufficient number of
+States would ratify, even Virgina and obstinate little Rhode
+Island! For after all there was no immediate danger, and the
+character of Washington was such that nobody could suspect
+him of coveting a life tenure for himself.<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></p>
+
+<p>Following anxiously and almost day by day the progress
+of the ratification, he declared himself perfectly satisfied with
+the successful result obtained in August, 1788, and was confident
+that the two main defects would be remedied, the first
+one, the lack of a Bill of Rights, very soon, the other as soon
+as General Washington should retire from office. Jefferson
+had come gradually to this stand, to a large extent under the
+influence of the <i>Federalist</i>, which had "rectified him on several
+points" and which he considered the "best commentary on the
+principles of government ever written."<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></p>
+
+<p>The most complete expression of Jefferson's views at that
+time is found in a letter to Francis Hopkinson, written at the
+beginning of 1789. He had been informed that both his friends
+and his enemies were trying to put a definite label on him and
+protested on that occasion that he was not a Federalist, because,
+he said, "I never submitted the whole system of my
+opinions to the creed of any party whatever, in religion, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking
+for myself. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I
+would not be there at all." But he added at once, "I am even
+farther from the anti-federalists." Neither a Federalist, nor
+an anti-Federalist, nor "a trimmer between parties", he absolutely
+refused at that date to take sides, for he would have been
+sure to draw criticism from the other side and to see his name
+in the papers. This was to be avoided at any cost, for "the
+pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more
+acute than the pleasure of much praise." As a matter of fact,
+Jefferson was already preparing to become the leader of a new
+party whose program would combine elements borrowed from
+the Federalists as well as from their opponents, but which would
+rest essentially upon principles apparently overlooked by both
+sides. These principles had already been enunciated in the
+document written by Jefferson concerning the Articles of Confederation;
+they are really the key to his political philosophy.</p>
+
+<p>In forming a society of States, as well as in forming a society
+of men, there are rights "which it is useless to surrender to
+the government, and which governments have yet always been
+found to invade." These rights which cannot be abridged or
+alienated are "the rights of thinking and publishing our
+thoughts by speaking or writing; the right of free commerce;
+the right of personal freedom." In a similar way, there are
+some instruments of government which are so trustworthy that
+they ought to be placed beyond the power of any legislature to
+alter; the most important of these is probably trial by jury.
+Scarcely less essential to the permanency of a free government is
+the absence of a standing army, for such a body of men whether
+placed at the disposal of the executive or of the legislative
+power, may always become an instrument of oppression.
+Hence the necessity of a separate instrument, a Bill of Rights,
+to secure and protect these fundamental principles of free government.
+On the whole, Jefferson declared himself well pleased<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+with the Constitution "unquestionably the wisest ever yet
+presented to men"; its obvious defects would be remedied
+in the near future, and in the meantime it had effected its main
+object, the consolidation of the thirteen States into a Union.<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></p>
+
+<p>Whether Jefferson would have reached that lofty and disinterested
+attitude if he had remained in America is quite
+another question. He was placed in a situation entirely different
+from that of his countrymen who could not help being
+influenced by party politics and sectionalism. But it is a fact
+worth remembering that before the Constitution was adopted,
+the only men who constantly had to think of the United States
+as one nation were the American ministers abroad. The very
+fact that Jefferson was in Paris not only put him above all
+parties, but brought home to him the fact that the United
+States could not hope to face successfully external dangers or
+even survive unless they gave up some of their liberty for
+more security, while reserving some of their unalienable rights.
+In his views on the Constitution, Jefferson remained perfectly
+consistent and followed very closely the principles he had formulated
+in 1776.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, he had found in Europe an opportunity
+to test his principles by facts and direct observation. He was
+opposed to monarchy on general grounds, but he had seen in
+France monarchy and absolutism at their worst. A well-meaning
+king, not by any means a tyrant, unable to prevent
+the dissolution of the nation, a corrupt hereditary aristocracy,
+in the main narrow and selfish, a State religion, monopolies,
+a standing army, "<i>lettres de cachet</i>", no freedom of the press,
+everywhere ignorance and misery; such was the picture of
+France that presented itself to his eyes; and conditions were
+such that they could not be remedied effectively except through
+a bloody revolution, a last and desperate resort, to be dreaded
+as much as monarchical oppression. In many respects the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+same situation prevailed all over Europe, demonstrating beyond
+the possibility of a doubt that absolutism does not pay, that
+it fails to procure the maximum of happiness to the largest
+number of inhabitants, that it is wasteful, inefficient and leads
+nations to follies, ruin, and war. America was free from all
+these evils, but every precaution had to be used lest they should
+take root there.</p>
+
+<p>This task naturally required constant vigilance, for everywhere
+men in power have a tendency to continue in power, and
+to extend the limits of their attributions; some safeguards
+against these encroachments could be provided, the greatest
+safeguard being the pressure of public opinion. Public opinion
+could be misled temporarily; but after a time, in a country
+where the citizens were reasonably educated, and knowledge
+more diffused than in any other country, the chances were that
+in most cases the citizens would see where their true interest
+lay and correct such evils. This could be achieved only if the
+citizens were in a position to collect information on the true
+state of affairs, to discuss freely with their neighbors, and communicate
+their opinion so as to make that pressure felt. A
+free press, therefore, was one of the most essential features of
+a republican government, for one might conceive a modern
+nation existing without a legislature, but it was impossible even
+to think of a free government existing without the control of
+the men who had subscribed to the social compact. Public
+opinion and a free press were not a fourth estate, they were the
+true source of all three powers, and superior to all.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, after more than fifteen years of personal reflection
+aided by direct observation, Jefferson came to formulate very
+clearly in his own mind a certain number of principles founded
+on reason and verified by facts. Whether he was at that time
+under the influence of any particular philosopher cannot be
+proved satisfactorily. It may even be said that it is very improbable,
+for he was not a man "to submit the whole system<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+of his opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever." Elements
+of different origins can be recognized in his political
+philosophy: the theory of natural rights was perhaps Lockian
+in its principle, but it had been developed by many philosophers,
+incorporated in the Virginia Bill of Rights and thus
+naturalized as American even before the Declaration of Independence.
+The theory of the social compact, too, may have
+come from Locke; certainly it did not come from Rousseau;
+but Jefferson introduced into it a fundamental modification
+when he distinguished between real natural rights and the
+civil rights guaranteed by society but limited in order to provide
+for more safety. At any rate, Jefferson's conception
+of the social compact was far more rigorous, precise, and specific
+than any that had been proposed before. A man who had been
+trained as a lawyer knew exactly what a contract was, and how
+necessary it is, in such an instrument, to write clauses safeguarding
+both parties. The Bill of Rights was to serve that
+very purpose: it was nothing but a document enumerating,
+defining, and recognizing once for all a certain number of rights
+that every individual specifically reserved in joining a new
+society. The constitution on the contrary was purely an instrument
+of government, susceptible of all sorts of amendments
+from time to time, and certainly from generation to generation.
+Public opinion was set up as a court of last resort in
+all cases; for public opinion, not necessarily right in all cases,
+is always right ultimately in a nation where people have
+received a minimum of education and are kept informed by
+a free press.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the essential lines of Jefferson's political philosophy
+on the eve of his departure from France. It does not appear
+that there was in it anything particularly English or particularly
+French, although the remote source of some ideas may be
+traced to English and French political thinkers. His principles,
+as a matter of fact, belonged to the common fund of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+political thought drawn upon by all the liberal thinkers of the
+eighteenth century, and Jefferson, calling no man his master,
+simply reflected the general trend of his time. But whatever
+may have been the primary origin of some of his ideas, he was
+fully convinced that they corresponded to conditions existing
+in America and nowhere else on earth, that in America alone
+were they susceptible of immediate application and extensive
+development.</p>
+
+<p>These views on the uniqueness of America's position among
+the nations of the world contributed to the crystallization of
+certain principles which Jefferson enunciated when he was sent
+to Paris and endeavored to apply when Secretary of State and
+President. They were to exert a tremendous influence upon
+the destiny of the nation and to a certain extent are still to-day
+the directing principles of America's foreign policy.</p>
+
+<p>If Jefferson had ever believed that it was possible for the
+United States to co&ouml;perate effectively and satisfactorily with
+Europe in any common undertaking, after his failure to organize
+a confederacy of the European States against the Barbary
+pirates, he soon came to the conclusion that such a hope
+was chimerical. The question of the navigation of the Mediterranean
+was not the least complicated of the puzzles that
+confronted the American minister in Paris. After long hesitations
+the European powers had finally adopted a <i>modus vivendi</i>
+with the Barbary pirates&mdash;a solution far from satisfactory,
+since it meant the paying of a regular tribute to the
+Dey of Algiers, the Regency of Tunis, and the Sultan of Morocco.
+Was the young republic of the United States to follow
+in their steps and accept such a humiliating compromise? If
+they refused, their commerce with the Near East was placed
+on a very precarious foundation. On the other hand, they
+could hardly maintain a sufficient fleet in the Mediterranean
+to insure the safety of their merchantmen. To pay tribute,
+or to give efficient protection to the merchant marine entailing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
+expenditure of sums easily as large as the tribute, or else to
+give up the Mediterranean trade, were the only solutions to
+be considered.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%;">
+<img src="images/pic206b.jpg" width="100%" alt="LAFAYETTE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">LAFAYETTE<br />
+<br />
+<i>After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon</i></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The first solution was absolutely repugnant to Jefferson.
+"When this idea comes across my mind, my faculties are
+absolutely suspended between indignation and impatience."<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></p>
+
+<p>He therefore approached Vergennes to sound him on his
+intention and to determine whether it would not be possible
+to establish a permanent blockade of Algiers. Although Admiral
+d'Estaing was in favor of the plan and thought it perfectly
+feasible, the prudent diplomat did not give Jefferson
+much encouragement. But in spite of the instructions sent
+by his government and the pressure exerted by Adams, who
+thought it cheaper to buy peace, Jefferson's preference for war
+remained entire. With his characteristic obstinacy, he tried
+another approach and thought it possible to organize a confederation
+of all the nations interested in the Mediterranean
+trade, in order to maintain an international blockade before
+the ports of the pirates and thus paralyze their operations.
+He explained his plan in detail to Adams and even drew up the
+articles of confederation.<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p>
+
+<p>At this juncture he took Lafayette into his confidence as he
+had already done so many times, and discussed the situation
+with him. The Marquis saw at once another opportunity to
+be of service to America. He had hardly left Jefferson's house
+before the idea came to his mind that he could offer his services
+as chief of the operations against the Barbary pirates, and he
+wrote at once to Jefferson to that effect.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> That the project did
+not come to completion was due to many causes and to a large
+extent to Adams' opposition, as may be inferred from a letter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+written by Lafayette to his "Dear General" during the fall of
+1786,<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> but most of all to lack of co&ouml;peration between the European
+powers; and during the rest of his mission Jefferson had
+to restrict himself to making arrangements in order to obtain
+the release of the American captives.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, if it was evident that Europe was unwilling
+to co&ouml;perate with America in the Mediterranean, it was
+not so certain that France, England, and Spain had given up
+their ambitious designs on the New World, and Jefferson considered
+it his duty to forestall any attempt of theirs to develop
+or re&euml;stablish colonies on the American continent.</p>
+
+<p>As far as France was concerned, she had given up all claims
+to her former colonies by the Treaty of Alliance signed on
+February 6, 1778, but there always remained the possibility
+that she might attempt to settle on the western coast of the
+American continent and thus take possession of the back door
+of the country. The preparations made for "La Peyrouse's
+voyage to the South Seas" aroused strong suspicions in Jefferson's
+mind. He could not be persuaded that the French were
+in a position to spend so much money "merely for the improvement
+of the geography of that part of the globe." They certainly
+had some ulterior aims, at least that of establishing fur-trading
+stations on the western coast, as a first step towards
+regular colonization; and "if they should desire a colony on
+the western side of America, I should not be quite satisfied
+that they would refuse one which should offer itself on the eastern
+side," wrote Jefferson to Jay. So, to ascertain the true
+nature of the expedition, he commissioned Paul Jones to go to
+Brest "to satisfy himself of the nature of the expedition; conducting
+himself so as to excite no suspicion."<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> This was not a
+very important incident in itself, but it is not impossible that
+it attracted Jefferson's attention to the western coast fifteen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+years before he sent out the Lewis and Clarke Expedition;
+and his unwillingness to permit France to obtain a footing even
+in a very remote part of the continent is quite significant.</p>
+
+<p>His fears of the colonizing designs of France were soon
+allayed, but there remained England to consider, and England
+still constituted the greatest potential danger for the United
+States. While in America, Jefferson never manifested any
+strong animosity against the British as a people, and even
+expressed the hope that a reconciliation would follow the victory
+of American arms. Soon after coming to Europe, however,
+he had to admit that the commercial policy of Great
+Britain was so obnoxious that the American hatred "against
+Great Britain having lately received from that nation new
+cause and new aliment, had taken a new spring."<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> Thus,
+added Jefferson, "in spite of treaties, England is still our enemy.
+Her hatred is deep rooted and cordial, and nothing is wanting
+with her but the power to wipe us, and the land which we live
+on out of existence." The only hope of avoiding a new war
+was to make Great Britain realize that her true interest lay in
+some compromise, and that America had more energy than
+she suspected. But all told it was "a conflict of dirty passions."<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a>
+Unfortunately the British were absolutely unrelenting
+in their hostility:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... they keep a standing army of newswriters formally engaged
+in war against America. They dwell very much on American bankruptcies&mdash;and
+thus worked to such good effect that by destroying
+America's credit they checked her disposition to luxury; and forcing
+our merchants to buy no more than they have ready money to pay
+for, they force them to go to those markets where that money will
+buy most.<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's tour in England only confirmed him in his views,
+for</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>that nation hate us, their ministers hate us, and their King more
+than all other men. They have the impudence to avow this, though
+they acknowledge our trade important to them.... They say
+they will pocket our carrying trade as well as their own. Our overtures
+of commercial arrangements have been treated with a derision,
+which shows their firm persuasion, that we shall never unite to suppress
+their commerce, or even to impede it. I think their hostility
+towards us is much more deeply rooted at present than during the
+war.<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>To Dumas, the financial agent at the Hague, he reiterated
+his views that "the English are still our enemies." He even
+predicted war, a war which would renew the scenes of Rome and
+Carthage: "Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest
+policy; and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But
+the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave this in our
+choice."<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></p>
+
+<p>Finally the Spanish colonies in America constituted another
+source of danger. Jefferson was confident that Spain would
+never be in a position to conduct a war of aggression against
+the United States; but being a weak country and embroiled
+in European affairs, her colonies might be used at any time as
+mere pawns in the unscrupulous game of European politics.
+In these circumstances the attitude the United States should
+observe in their relations with the Spanish colonies was to be
+seriously considered. A curious illustration of the fears and
+schemes which passed at that time through Jefferson's mind is
+found in an episode of his Southern journey during the preceding
+year. The gist of his conversation with a Brazilian he met
+at Montpellier was that an important group of colonists were
+ready to follow the example of the United States and proclaim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+their independence of the mother country. But as Portugal
+was certain to join forces with Spain in repressing such a revolution,
+the Brazilian patriots had decided not to undertake
+anything before securing the assistance of some other country.
+The thinking part of the population had naturally
+thought of the United States. "They would want cannons,
+ammunition, ships, sailors, soldiers and officers, for which they
+are disposed to look to the United States, it being always
+understood that every service and furniture will be well paid."
+The answer of Jefferson to that alluring proposition, contains
+more than one interesting point:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I took care to impress on him, through the whole of our conversation,
+that I had neither instructions nor authority to say a word to
+anybody on this subject, and that I could only give him my own
+ideas, as a single individual; which were, that we were not in a
+condition at present to meddle nationally in any war; that we
+wished particularly to cultivate the friendship of Portugal, with
+whom we have an advantageous commerce. That yet a successful
+revolution in Brazil could not be uninteresting to us. That prospects
+of lucre might possibly draw numbers of individuals to their
+aid, and purer motives our officers, among whom are many excellent.
+That our citizens being free to leave their own country individually,
+without the consent of their governments, are equally free to go to
+any other.<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Amusingly enough, Jefferson evidently believed that he had
+displayed a remarkable caution during the whole conversation.
+It is doubtful that such would have been the opinion of
+the Portuguese Government had his letter to Jay been intercepted,
+and one may wonder what he would have said if he
+had really intended to encourage a revolution in the Portuguese
+colonies. With a Mexican who made a similar inquiry he was
+somewhat more reserved. He had observed that the gentleman
+was "intimate at the Spanish Ambassador's" and sus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>pected
+that he might be a spy. He was therefore "still more
+cautious with him than with the Brazilian"; mentioning
+simply that "a successful revolution was still at a distance with
+them": that he feared "they must begin by enlightening
+and emancipating the minds of their people." He finally
+recalled that the British papers had mentioned during the late
+war an insurrection in Peru "which had cost two hundred thousand
+lives, on both sides!"&mdash;a figure not to be taken too
+literally.</p>
+
+<p>During the course of a year, however, Jefferson's views
+underwent a remarkable change. In May, 1788, he mentioned
+to Carmichael his suspicions that a Spanish squadron
+had been sent to South America in order to quell an incipient
+revolt started at the instigation of the British. This placed
+the situation in an entirely different light. The United States
+would have very little to gain if a weak neighbor were displaced
+by a powerful and treacherous nation. He consequently
+requested his colleagues to reassure the Spanish Court
+that the United States would not favor in any way a revolt of
+the Spanish colonies in the New World, for "those who look into
+futurity farther than the present moment or age, and who combine
+well what is, with what is to be, must see that our interests,
+well understood, and our wishes are, that Spain shall
+(not forever, but) very long retain her possessions in that
+quarter; and that her views and ours must, in a good degree,
+and for a long time concur."<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></p>
+
+<p>This is the more important as it already defines the position
+taken by Jefferson twelve years later during the negotiations
+concerning the Louisiana Purchase. It is also a reiteration
+of that desire of isolation which constituted the cardinal principle
+of American foreign policies and which had been enunciated
+in the Treaty of Alliance concluded with France in 1778.
+Jefferson had not originated the principle, since this article of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+the Treaty of Alliance was due to Adams, but his direct and
+prolonged contact with European affairs had strengthened in
+him the instinctive conviction that it was the only wise course
+for America to follow. If he had felt free to indulge in his own
+theory, he would have gone even further than any of his contemporaries
+for, as he wrote in 1785, "I should wish the United
+States to practice neither commerce, nor navigation, but to
+stand, with respect to Europe, precisely on the footing of
+China." Unfortunately, this was only a theory and the servants
+of the country were not at liberty to follow it, since
+"Americans have a decided taste for navigation and commerce."
+Being on a mission to protect and further the commerce
+of his fellow countrymen, Jefferson consequently thought
+it his duty to forget for the time being his personal preferences.
+In a similar way, although he strongly believed in free trade
+and would have seen no objection to "throwing open all the
+doors of commerce, and knocking its shackles", he realized
+that such an ideal condition could not be reached unless the
+European powers granted similar treatment to American goods.
+He therefore came to the conclusion that, "as this cannot be
+done for others, unless they will do it for us, and there is no
+great probability that Europe will do this, we shall be obliged
+to adopt a system which may shackle them in our ports, as they
+do in theirs."<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></p>
+
+<p>We have here another striking instance of the close partitioning
+established by Jefferson between theory and practice,
+between his wishes as a political philosopher, and his conception
+of his duties as a public servant. Far from being a single-track
+mind, his was decidedly a double-track intellect, with
+two lines of thought running parallel without any apparent
+contradiction, for theory never seemed to have interfered
+with his practice. When a month later he wrote to W. W.
+Seward about the future of commercial relations between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+Ireland and America, he excellently defined his position by saying
+that "the system into which the United States wishes to
+go, was that of freeing commerce from every shackle. A contrary
+conduct in Great Britain will occasion them to adopt a
+contrary system, at least as to that island."<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></p>
+
+<p>There is probably nothing in this to astonish the man in the
+street, either in Washington or in London, for it seems to be a
+curious quality of the Anglo-Saxon mind to be able to pursue
+a very practical and hard-headed policy, while keeping its
+belief in disinterested and idealistic principles. Yet it may
+not be out of place to mention that this is the very reason why
+both England and America have so often been accused of hypocrisy
+by European public opinion. Without attempting
+to justify all the foreign policies of the United States on that
+score, it may be said that in this particular case there was no
+hypocrisy. Jefferson made no attempt whatever to conceal
+the difference that existed between his theory and his practice;
+he even called attention to it. He did not attempt to
+color unpleasant reality with idealistic camouflage, and gave
+the European nations a chance to choose between two entirely
+different courses. He would rather have chosen to follow the
+more liberal system, but he gave due notice that if it came to
+playing the game of real politics, America could be just as
+practical and firm in insisting upon her rights as any nation
+of the Old World.</p>
+
+<p>The millennium had not yet arrived; and America, in spite
+of her peaceful attitude, might be caught at any time in European
+"commotions." While maintaining a policy of strict
+aloofness, it would have been foolish and ostrich-like for her
+to ignore that danger, and it became the strict duty of those
+in power to keep close watch on political developments in the
+Old World. Such is the conclusion reached by Jefferson as
+a result of his observations, and in a letter to E. Carrington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+he outlined a policy of watchful waiting to which Woodrow
+Wilson himself would have subscribed:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I often doubt whether I should trouble Congress or my friends
+with these details of European politics. I know they do not excite
+that interest in America, of which it is impossible for one to divest
+himself here. I know, too, that it is a maxim with us, and I think it
+is a wise one, not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of Europe.
+Still I think, we should know them. The Turks have practiced
+the same maxim of not meddling in the complicated wrangles of
+this continent. But they have unwisely chosen to be ignorant of
+them also, and it is this total ignorance of Europe, its combinations
+and its movements, which exposes them to that annihilation possibly
+about to take place. While there are powers in Europe which fear
+our views, or have views on us, we should keep an eye on them, their
+connections and opposition, that in a moment of need, we may avail
+ourselves of their weakness with respect to others as well as ourselves,
+and calculate their designs and movements, on all the circumstances
+under which they exist. Though I am persuaded, therefore,
+that these details are read by many with great indifference, yet I
+think it my duty to enter into them, and to run the risk of giving too
+much, rather than too little information.<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Watchful waiting, no political entanglements, unofficial
+observers&mdash;everything is here and this page could have been
+written ten years ago or yesterday. It is sometimes said that
+America, being a young and inexperienced nation, has had no
+time to develop traditions, but it may be wondered whether
+any other nation could be found which, after defining so clearly
+the essentials of a policy, has adhered to them so persistently
+for a century and a half. There is no doubt, at any rate, that
+once again Jefferson, although he did not originate the theory,
+formulated it with his usual felicity of expression, and thus
+contributed toward giving America what Descartes would
+have called her "maxims of action."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<h2>JEFFERSON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>Jefferson has often been represented, both by his enemies
+and friends, as the American exponent of the theories of the
+French Revolution. The possible influence exerted upon the
+development of his political philosophy by French thought
+has been the subject of lengthy discussions and probably will
+never be determined with any degree of exactness. It is very
+difficult to see how a man of his character could have remained
+in Paris for more than five years without participating in some
+manner in the great battle of theories which preceded the
+French Revolution. He associated with Lafayette and his
+group of "republicans", exchanged some correspondence with
+Condorcet, frequently saw Abb&eacute; Morellet, was introduced by
+Benjamin Franklin to Madame Helv&eacute;tius and her coterie;
+he worked with Du Pont de Nemours on commercial questions,
+subscribed to papers and gazettes and to the "Encyclop&eacute;die
+M&eacute;thodique", a continuation and systematization of Diderot's
+"Encyclop&eacute;die."</p>
+
+<p>But when all is said, the most careful scrutiny of the letters
+he wrote during that period fails to reveal any enthusiasm or
+even any endorsement of the many and somewhat contradictory
+political doctrines which were preached in France at the time.
+I do not even see that his prolonged sojourn in France modified
+to any extent the conclusions he had already reached independently
+in the "Notes on Virginia." When he arrived in Paris
+he was over forty and had been in public life for almost fifteen
+years; he had written not only the Declaration of Independence
+but many reports on vital questions; he had participated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+actively and for several years in the deliberations of the Virginia
+Assembly and of the Congress of the United States and he had
+been chief executive of his native State. Such a man was not
+a student coming to Paris to sit at the feet of French masters;
+he was considered by the French themselves, not only as a
+master but as the apostle of the religion of liberty.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> They
+looked up to him for advice and help, for he had over them the
+great superiority of having been more than a simple theorizer;
+he had contributed to a great movement of liberation; he was
+the promoter of the Bill for Religious Freedom; he had proposed
+a complete plan of public education and he had proclaimed
+in a national document the inviolable rights of man.
+They had much to learn from Jefferson and he was not reluctant
+to teach them, but he never felt that his French friends
+could repay him in kind. On the other hand, it cannot be
+denied that he was very happy to find enunciated in a very
+clear and logical way some of his favorite ideas; it is equally
+certain that France was to him a living demonstration and a
+sort of horrible example of all the evils caused by aristocratic,
+monarchical, and ecclesiastical oppressions. His sojourn in
+France had at least the effect of making him more intensely,
+more proudly American than he was before sailing, and more
+convinced than ever of the unsurpassed superiority of the
+civilization which had already developed on the northern continent
+of the New World.</p>
+
+<p>This sentiment appears even during the first year of his stay
+in Paris in a letter to Mrs. Trist:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is difficult to conceive how so good a people, with so good a
+king, so well-disposed rulers in general, so genial a climate, so fertile
+a soil, should be rendered so ineffectual for producing human happiness
+by one single curse&mdash;that of a bad form of government. But
+it is a fact in spite of the mildness of their governors, the people are
+ground to powder by the vices of the form of government. Of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+twenty millions of people supposed to be in France, I am of opinion
+there are nineteen millions more wretched, more accursed, in every
+circumstance of human existence, than the most conspicuously
+wretched individual of the whole United States.... Nourish
+peace with their persons, but war against their manners. Every
+step we take towards the adoption of their manners is a step to
+perfect misery.<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was no passing mood: a few weeks earlier he had written
+much more vehemently to his friend and "<i>&eacute;l&egrave;ve</i>", James Monroe,
+engaging him to come to France in order to see for himself the
+extraordinary superiority of America over Europe and particularly
+France.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It will make you adore your own country, it's soil, it's climate,
+it's equality, liberty, laws, people &amp; manners. My God! how
+little do my country men know what precious blessings they are in
+possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. I confess
+I had no idea of it myself. While we shall see multiplied instances of
+Europeans going to live in America, I will venture to say no man now
+living will ever see an instance of an American removing to settle in
+Europe &amp; continuing there.<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>But unhappy as they are, the French are lovable, for he loved
+them with all his heart and thought that, "with a better religion,
+a better form of government and their present Governors, their
+condition and country would be most enviable." At any rate
+they were to be preferred to the "rich, proud, hectoring, swearing,
+squibbling, carnivorous animals who lived on the other
+side of the Channel."<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of his stay, Jefferson paid little attention to
+the internal affairs of the country; the only incident worth
+comment during his first year in Paris was the imprisonment of
+the chief editor of the <i>Journal de Paris</i> who was sent to the
+Bastille, perhaps to end his days there:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Thus&mdash;wrote he&mdash;you see the value of energy in Government
+for such a measure, which would have been wrapt in the flames of
+war and desolation in America, ends without creating the slightest
+disturbance. Every attempt to criticize even mildly the government
+is followed immediately by stern measures, suppressing the
+London papers, suppressing the <i>Leyden Gazette</i>, imprisoning Beaumarchais,
+and imprisoning the editor of the <i>Journal</i>, the author
+of the <i>Mercure</i>, etc.<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It is not until February, 1786, that he gave hints, quite
+incidentally, that the situation might become critical and that
+serious disturbances might be feared for the future.</p>
+
+<p>But he did not see anywhere any immediate danger of a
+political commotion and during that year he continued to repeat
+in his letters that "Europe was very quiet for the present."
+As a matter of fact, he had come to the conclusion that the case
+of the Old World was hopeless; they were past redemption
+and, "if the Almighty had begotten a thousand sons, instead
+of one, they would not have sufficed for this task. If all the
+sovereigns of Europe undertook to emancipate the minds of
+their subjects, a thousand years would not place them on that
+high ground on which our common people are now setting out."
+France has become a horrible example to place constantly
+before the eyes of America, to remind her that the most important
+factor for the happiness of the people is the diffusion of
+common knowledge that will enable them to preserve themselves
+from kings, nobles, and priests, for it is impossible to
+imagine a people of more pleasant dispositions, more made for
+happiness, surrounded by so many blessings of nature, and yet
+"loaded with misery by kings, nobles, and priests, and by them
+alone."<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></p>
+
+<p>Never before had Jefferson been so vehement in his denunciations
+of kingly and priestly usurpations, never had he been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+so positive of the necessity of preserving American civilization
+from any foreign influences. But again this is not with him an
+<i>a priori</i> view, it is the result of his observations more than of
+his theories.</p>
+
+<p>He was confirmed in his hatred of the French r&eacute;gime by his
+conversations with Latude, who "comes sometimes to take
+family soup with me, &amp; entertains me with anecdotes of his
+five &amp; thirty years imprisonment, all of which for having written
+four lines on Madame de Pompadour."<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></p>
+
+<p>In a letter to Washington already quoted, but capital for the
+history of his mind, he remarked that before coming to Europe
+he had not even begun to suspect the evils of monarchical
+government; what he saw there brought home to him the
+conviction that "as long as a single fibre of it would remain in
+America, the scourge that is rendering existence a scourge to
+24 out of 25 parts of the inhabitants of this country might
+break out."<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></p>
+
+<p>As late as 1787 he was still persuaded that under pretence of
+governing, the ruling classes have divided the nations into two
+classes, wolves and sheep: "But what can the sheep do against
+the wolves except to submit, to suffer without any hope of ever
+changing the established order."<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></p>
+
+<p>His first mention of the possibility of introducing some
+modification in the existing order does not occur before he
+heard of the convocation of the Assembly of the Notables
+"which had not been done for one hundred and sixty years";
+but this interests him only mildly at the beginning, as nothing
+certain could be known about the program of the Assembly.<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a>
+A few days later he admitted to Colonel Edward Carrington
+that "this event which will hardly excite any attention in
+America is deemed here the most important one which has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+taken place in their civil life during the present century."
+But his only real interest in it was that Lafayette had finally
+been put on the list and was the youngest of the Notables but
+one.<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> He felt that it was his duty to attend the first meeting
+of the Notables, and still more to pay his call to the new minister
+Montmorin&mdash;the only thing that detained him in Paris,
+and when he wrote to John Adams and Jay to describe the
+inaugural session opened by the king, he restricted himself to
+a dry recital of facts. With a prince of the blood at the head
+of each committee, he did not expect great results from the
+convocation and was skeptical about the efficiency of the members.<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a>
+Just as he was leaving Paris for his long extensive trip
+to the South of France, he thought, however, of sending a last
+word of advice to Lafayette whose republican ideas he evidently
+feared. It was a counsel of prudence. Whatever may have
+been his sympathies for the republicans, in his opinion France
+was not ready for a complete change in her system of government.</p>
+
+<p>Least of all was she ready for a democratic experiment.
+Consequently Jefferson, the American patriot, the enemy of
+England, the alleged hater of aristocracies, advised his friend
+"to proceed step by step, towards a good constitution, keeping
+the good model of your neighboring country before your eyes.
+Though that model is not perfect, yet, as it would unite more
+suffrages than any new one which could be proposed, it is better
+to make that the object.</p>
+
+<p>"You see how we Republicans are apt to preach", he said
+in conclusion; but his letter was more than a sermon; it contained
+also the advice of a shrewd and very practical politician
+who recommended that every possible effort be made to give the
+king what he wanted in the way of personal expenses. "If
+every advance is to be purchased by filling the royal coffers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+with gold, it will be gold well employed. The King who means
+so well, should be encouraged to repeat those Assemblies."<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></p>
+
+<p>That was all he could say, and even so he had probably said
+too much, for it was a risky thing for a diplomat to write about
+or to discuss at all. Jefferson was certainly guilty of trespassing
+on a province that constituted an essential part of the internal
+politics of the kingdom. And yet the charge of plotting against
+the existing government cannot be laid at his door. As long
+as he remained in France, and I believe, even after he came back
+to America, he carefully refrained from giving any encouragement
+to those of his French friends who held radical views.
+He was caught in the torrent and, as we shall see later, did
+not always observe the reticence of an old-fashioned diplomat;
+but whatever influence he exerted was exerted in order to
+maintain rather than to overthrow the existing order of things.</p>
+
+<p>During his trip he observed the condition of the peasants and,
+much to his surprise, found among them a smaller degree of
+poverty than he had expected; but if he made observations and
+entered many minute facts in his diary, he did not come to any
+conclusion nor did he seem to have been interested by the state
+of mind of the people. He had judged them once for all, he
+knew that they were priest-ridden and lord-ridden and did
+not see how any real reform might originate from them. Once,
+however, but only once, did he indicate that he had paid serious
+attention to the work before the Assembly. Writing to Lafayette's
+aunt, Madame de Tess&eacute;, in the evident expectation that
+she would communicate his ideas to the proper persons, he drew
+up an almost complete plan of administrative reforms: To
+have frequent meetings of the Assembly of Notables; the
+Assembly to be divided into two houses&mdash;the Noblesse and
+the Commons; the Commons to be taken from those chosen
+by the people for provincial administrations; the number of
+deputies for the Nobility to be reduced. These two Houses so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+elected "would make the King great and the people happy."
+And the next sentence expresses very cleverly, too cleverly
+perhaps, that this innocuous reform would in fact be a sort of
+revolution, the name of which would be avoided. "They
+would thus put themselves in the track of the best guide they
+can follow (the king); they would soon overtake it, become its
+guide in turn, and lead to the wholesome modifications wanting
+in that model, and necessary to constitute a rational government."
+What he had in mind at the time was a sort of government
+following very closely the lines of the British, not as an
+ideal but as a temporary measure; for before the eyes of his
+friends he held another prospect. But for the present that
+was the maximum they could wisely expect; "should they
+attempt more than the established habits of the people are ripe
+for, they may lose all, and retard indefinitely the ultimate
+object of their aim."<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p>
+
+<p>Commerce more than politics absorbed all his attention when
+he came back from his trip. He found time, however, to send
+to Madison his first estimate of the king and queen, a most
+unflattering portrait of poor Louis XVI.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The King loves business, economy, order, and justice, and wishes
+sincerely the good of his people; but he is irascible and rude, very
+limited in his understanding, and religious, bordering on bigotry.
+He has no mistress, loves his queen, and is too much governed by
+her. She is capricious like her brother, and governed by him:
+devoted to pleasure and expense; and not remarkable for any
+other vices or virtues. Unhappily the King shows a propensity for
+the pleasures of the table. That for drink has increased lately, or,
+at least, it has become more known.<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It was not until August that he summed up in a letter to
+Monroe the great improvements in the constitution of the
+French effected by the Assembl&eacute;es des Notables. He was
+sur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>prised at the great explosion of joy, which he thought unwarranted;
+for after all, even the unexampled boldness of the
+enemies of the r&eacute;gime was nothing but the "follies of nations
+in their dotage."<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> Yet writing to John Jay the next day he
+took a more serious view of things and declared "It is evident,
+I think, that a spirit of this country is advancing towards a
+revolution in their constitution. There are not wanting persons
+at the helm, friends to the progress of this spirit. The Provincial
+Assemblies will be the most probable instrument of
+effecting it."<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></p>
+
+<p>But it is primarily from the American point of view that he
+continues to be interested, and he becomes more and more
+convinced that, "with all its defects, and with all those of our
+particular governments, the inconveniences resulting from them,
+are so light in comparison with those existing in every other
+government on earth that our citizens may certainly be considered
+as in the happiest political situation which exists."<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a>
+With more intimate friends he was far more violent and outspoken,
+as in the letter he wrote the same day to Colonel Humphreys.
+It is seldom he indulges in these outbursts of passionate
+invective, so seldom that it may be wondered whether his
+expression is not stronger than his thought:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>From these events, our young Republic may learn useful lessons,
+never to call on foreign powers to settle their differences, to guard
+against hereditary magistrates, to prevent their citizens from becoming
+so established in wealth and power, as to be thought worthy
+of alliance ... in short to besiege the throne of heaven with eternal
+prayers, to extirpate from creation this class of human lions, tigers,
+and mammoths called Kings; from whom, let him perish who does
+not say, "good Lord deliver us!"<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>He had caught something of the general fever, and he drew
+a vivid picture of Paris with crowds surrounding the "Parlia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>ment
+House", stopping carriages in the queen's livery, indulging
+in <i>bons mots</i>, caricatures, "collecting in mobs, and yet the
+King, long in the habit of drowning his cares in wine, plunges
+deeper and deeper. The Queen cries, but sins on", and the
+only practical result one can see is that "all tongues in Paris
+and in France have been let loose."<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> The same note is given
+six weeks later in a letter to John Jay. "The King goes for
+nothing. He hunts one half of the day, is drunk the other, and
+signs whatever he is bid."<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> Even the reforms, the most important
+from the point of view of the French, seem to him insignificant,
+and when the edict on the Protestants appears, it is
+cruelly analyzed by the American minister:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is an acknowledgement that Protestants can beget children,
+and that they can die, and be offensive unless buried. It does not
+give them permission to think, to speak, or to worship.... What
+are we to think of the condition of the human mind in a country,
+where such a wretched thing as this throws the State into convulsions,
+and how must we bless our own situation in a country, the
+most illiterate peasant of which is a Solon, compared with the
+authors of this law.<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>When he wrote his "Autobiography", Jefferson used very
+extensively not only the notes he had taken when in Paris but
+the press copies of his correspondence, and on the whole gave an
+accurate picture of the events that immediately preceded the
+French Revolution&mdash;those he had witnessed before his departure
+from Paris, in October, 1789. But, true as the picture may
+be, it is not progressive, and here we aim not to trace again the
+main episodes of the French Revolution, but the development
+of Jefferson's mind, his reaction towards the events. Most of
+all we must seek to find out from contemporary evidence
+whether the old accusation launched by Gouverneur Morris,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+seized upon eagerly by Jefferson's enemies, and since repeated
+again and again, is in any way justified.</p>
+
+<p>We have already seen that, with a corrupted court, a weak
+king, a selfish and ignorant queen, the only remedy he recommended
+at first was for the French not to reconquer their liberties
+by force and by a revolution, but gradually to buy them
+from the king. Yet he foresaw that the nobility would make
+a sort of alliance with the people, that is to say the <i>tiers &eacute;tat</i>,
+in order to get money from them, and he held the rather cynical
+view that "Courtiers had rather give up power than pleasures;
+they will barter, therefore, the usurped prerogatives of the King,
+for the money of the people. This is the agent by which modern
+nations will recover their rights."<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> This is written, not to Jay
+in a confidential letter, but to a French liberal of his acquaintance,
+and that practical piece of advice cannot be called philosophical.
+Altogether the results reached by the Assembl&eacute;e
+des Notables were small and the king terribly slow to see the
+light. So for a long time Jefferson refused not only to encourage
+but even to admit that he was witnessing the beginnings of a
+true revolution. Writing to Rutledge in July, 1788, he declared
+"That the struggle in this country is, as yet, of doubtful issue.
+It is, in fact, between the monarchy and the parliaments. The
+nation is no otherwise concerned, but as both parties may be
+induced to let go some of its abuses, to court the public favor.
+The danger, is that the people deceived by a false cry of liberty,
+may be led to take sides with one party, and thus give the other
+a pretext for crushing them still more."<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> Writing to Cutting
+a few days later he was more optimistic. Most of the late innovations
+had been much for the better; a convocation of the
+States-General could not be avoided; "it will produce a national
+assembly meeting at certain epochs, possessing at first a
+negative on the laws, but which will grow into the right of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+original legislation. Much could be hoped from the States-General
+and it was also to be hoped that all this will be effected
+without convulsion."<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such was his confident expectation. He foresaw "that
+within two or three years this country will be in the enjoyment
+of a tolerably free constitution, and that without its having cost
+them a drop of blood."<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></p>
+
+<p>To Carmichael he described his own attitude as that of a
+bystander, not otherwise interested, but entertaining a sincere
+love for the nation in general and a wish to see their happiness
+promoted, "keeping myself clear of the particular views and
+passions of individuals."<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> Had he felt differently he would
+not have taken into his confidence a man for whom he felt no
+particular friendship; but, at that date at least, he could make
+that statement without departing from the exact truth. As far
+as contemporary evidence is concerned, it does not seem that
+he ever urged his friends forward, but on the contrary he always
+advised them to play a waiting game, and to keep from having
+recourse to violence. About the middle of that year, 1788, he
+toned down his severe estimate of the king, to whom he attributed
+"no foible which will enlist him against the good of his
+people."<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> Calonne had been removed and Necker called in
+as Director General of finance; things were looking decidedly
+better, a convocation of the States-General had been decided
+upon; the issue depended largely on three possible solutions:
+whether the three orders would meet separately; whether the
+clergy and the nobility would form a house and the Commons
+a second one; or finally whether the three orders would meet
+in one house which would give the majority to the Commons.
+The choice was really thought incumbent upon the king, who
+thus had the power to place the people on his side if he was wise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+enough to prefer to have on his side twenty-three millions and
+a half instead of the other half million.<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the end of 1788, with the convocation of the States-General
+announced for the beginning of the following year, he
+was still very optimistic, but he had not departed from his
+cautious and reserved recommendations. The States could not
+succeed if they asked too much, for the Commons would frighten
+and shock the court and even alarm the public mind. If any
+durable progress was to be accomplished, it would have to be
+by degrees and successive improvements. Such probably
+would be the course followed, unless an influence unaccountable,
+impossible to measure, and yet powerful entirely changed
+the situation: "The fact that women visit alone persons in
+office, solicit in defiance of laws and regulations, is an extraordinary
+obstacle to the betterment of things, unbelieveable
+as it may be to the inhabitant of a country where the sex does
+not endeavour to extend itself beyond the domestic line."<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p>
+
+<p>He did not even believe that any real reform could be accomplished
+beyond fixing periodical meetings of the States-General
+and giving them the right to participate in the legislation and
+to decide on taxes. They did not seem to be unanimously in
+favor of the <i>habeas corpus</i>; as for the freedom of the press,&mdash;"I
+hardly think the nation itself ripe to accept it."<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> This was
+his prophecy at the beginning of 1789, and during the first
+month of the year he had no occasion to express new views,
+since everybody was in the provinces "electioneering, choosing
+or being chosen." With his experience of Assemblies, however,
+he could not help wondering how any result could be accomplished
+with a body which was to include some twelve hundred
+persons and moreover to consist of Frenchmen, among whom
+are always more speakers than listeners.<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> In a letter to Thomas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+Paine we find the first intimation that Jefferson began to be
+influenced by the political thinkers of France or rather to discover
+in them a certain quality of thought and presentation
+that make their work of some use for the American people.
+They were at any rate much preferable to the Englishman,
+who "slumbering under a kind of half reformation in politics
+and religion, is not excited by anything he sees or feels, to
+question the remains of prejudice. The writers of this country,
+now taking the field freely and unrestrained, or rather involved
+by prejudice, will rouse us all from the errors in which we have
+been hitherto rocked."<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> Taken in itself and without the context
+this sentence would tend to indicate in Jefferson an almost
+unreserved approval of the doctrines of the radical reformers and
+of the very spirit of the French Revolution, but as is so often
+the case with him, the real meaning is hidden in the last part.
+It was not so much in their theoretical views he was interested
+as in the fact that "their logical presentation, might be used in
+America to overcome the last resistance to the establishment of
+a true republican r&eacute;gime free from any vestige of monarchical
+order." But that he hoped that such radical reforms could succeed
+in France is not indicated. His complete thought is far better
+expressed in the letter written the next day to Humphreys:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The writings published on this occasion are, some of them, very
+valuable; because, unfettered by the prejudices under which
+Englishmen labor, they give a full scope to reason, and strike out
+truths, as yet unperceived and unacknowledged on the other side of
+the channel.... In fine, I believe this nation will, in the course
+of the present year, have as full a portion of liberality dealt out to
+them, as the nation can bear at present, considering how uninformed
+the mass of their people is.<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the other hand, to believe that they would be able to
+establish a truly representative and free government was certainly
+inconceivable to him at this date. To the last moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+he hoped that some sort of an agreement would be possible
+between the nobility and the Commons, for he had decided very
+early that no confidence should be placed in the clergy. He
+was looking forward to a close co&ouml;peration between the younger
+part of the nobility and the Commons, who, working together
+with the king, would seek the support of the people and accomplish
+important reforms. No fundamental change however
+could be expected, since the French refused to show any interest
+in the most vital question of trial by jury.</p>
+
+<p>But as soon as the States-General were opened he realized
+that he had been too optimistic. Since the "<i>Noblesse</i>" would
+not yield and wanted their delegates to do their dirty work
+for them, the only manly stand to take for a man like Lafayette,
+who although of liberal opinion had solicited and obtained a
+mandate from the nobility, was to go over wholly to the <i>tiers
+&eacute;tat</i>. The opening of the States-General was as imposing as
+an opera but it was poor business,<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> and even at that time Jefferson
+placed his confidence in the king who grew astonishingly
+in his estimation during this year: "Happy that he is an honest,
+unambitious man who desires neither money nor power for
+himself; and that his most operative minister (Necker), though
+he has appeared to trim a little, is still, in the main, a friend to
+public liberty."<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></p>
+
+<p>As the deadlock continued, the three orders sitting separately
+without being able to settle the "great parliamentary question
+whether they would vote by orders or by persons", Jefferson
+favored more and more the only solution which, in his opinion,
+could prevent complete failure,&mdash;a triumph of despotism or
+a sort of civil war:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>This third hypothesis which I shall develop, because I like it, and
+wish it, and hope it, is that as soon as it shall be manifest that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+committees of conciliation, now appointed by the three chambers,
+shall be able to agree in nothing, the Tiers will invite the other two
+orders to come and take their seats in the common chamber. A
+majority of the Clergy will come, and the minority of the Noblesse.
+The chamber thus composed, will declare that the States General
+are now constituted, will notify it to the King, and propose to do
+business.<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>At this juncture, Jefferson, in his anxiety to effect a satisfactory
+compromise, broke all diplomatic precedence; he could
+not and did not wish to write a French Declaration of Independence;
+but he could at least propose some form of government
+which would recognize the fundamental rights of the French
+citizen while preserving the appearance of the old monarchy.
+He therefore drew up a "Charter of Rights for the King and
+Nation" and sent it, not only to Lafayette, but also to Rabaud
+de Saint Etienne, a prominent defender of the newly reinstated
+Protestants. In view of the developments that took place
+later, Jefferson's proposal does not seem revolutionary. At
+that time, however (June 3, 1789), it went much farther than
+the Court was willing to go. No appeal to abstract principle
+and no mention of rights was made. The main provisions consisted
+of an annual meeting of the States-General, which alone
+had the right to levy taxes and to appropriate money; the
+abolishment of all privileges, a sort of <i>habeas corpus</i>, the subordination
+of the military to the civil authority and liberty of
+the press. In order to induce the king to accept these new
+charters, all debts already contracted by him became the debts
+of the nation, and he was to receive a sum of eighty million
+livres to be raised by a loan. Thus Jefferson was attempting
+to put into effect the advice he had several times given his
+French friends: to buy their liberty from the king rather than
+bring about a revolution. I leave it to others to judge of the
+morality of the expedient. Certainly it was not in accord with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+the old battle cry of Patrick Henry. But once more Jefferson
+was consistent in so much as he had always maintained that
+what was good for America was not necessarily good for France.
+Moreover, he knew there was no need to stir up the spirit of
+the Assembly by inflammatory declarations. More than any
+incitement to take radical steps they needed a dose of cool
+common sense.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately the man at the helm (Necker) "had neither
+skill nor courage; ambition was his first passion, virtue his
+second, his judgement was not of the first order not even of the
+second", and the ship continued to drift in the storm. On
+June 18, 1789, Jefferson wrote a long letter to Madison, to indicate
+the situation of the different parties after the Commons
+had proclaimed themselves the National Assembly on the
+fifteenth. His characterization even to-day seems remarkably
+clear and disinterested. He sided decidedly with the Commons
+who had in their chamber almost all the talents of the nation;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>They are firm, bold, yet moderate. There is, indeed, among
+them, a number of very hot-headed members; but those of most
+influence are cool, temperate and sagacious.... The Noblesse
+on the contrary, are absolutely out of their senses. They are so
+furious, they can seldom debate at all.... The Clergy are waiting
+to profit by every incident, to secure themselves, and have no other
+object in view.</p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson, however, paid tribute to the <i>cur&eacute;s</i> who, throughout
+the kingdom, formed the mass of the clergy: "they are the only
+part favorably known to the people, because solely charged
+with the duties of baptism, burials, confession, visitation of
+the sick, instruction of the children, and aiding the poor, they
+are themselves of the people, and united with them."<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> The
+letter to Jay of June 24 is a day-by-day recital of the succession
+of events, the suspension of the meetings of the National<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+Assembly, the <i>serment</i> of Jeu de Paume on the twentieth, the
+<i>s&eacute;ance royale</i> of June 23 and the refusal of the <i>tiers &eacute;tat</i> to
+deliberate separately.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson could not help admiring the tenacity of the
+Assembl&eacute;e Nationale, but at the same time estimated that they
+were going too far and had formed projects that were decidedly
+too ambitious. "Instead of being dismayed with what has
+passed, they seem to rise in their demands, and some of them to
+consider the erasing of every vestige of a difference of order
+as indispensable to the establishment and preservation of a
+good constitution. I apprehend there is more courage than
+calculation in this project."<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></p>
+
+<p>A letter of Lafayette to Jefferson dated Versailles, July 4,
+contains an interesting postscriptum: "Will you send me the
+bill of Rights with your notes." A subsequent letter is even
+more pressing: "To-morrow I propose my bill of rights about
+the middle of the sitting; be pleased to consider it again
+and make your observations." As Lafayette introduced his
+"D&eacute;claration Europ&eacute;enne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen"
+on July 11, 1789, the latter may be dated July 10. I had the
+good fortune to find in the Jefferson papers not one text but
+two of the Declaration.</p>
+
+<p>One of the versions probably antedated by several months
+the meeting of the National Assembly. Jefferson had it in his
+hands as early as the beginning of 1799 and he even sent a copy
+of it to Madison on January 12.<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a> The second text, far more
+important, was annotated by Jefferson in pencil. Although
+the handwriting is faint, it is perfectly legible. The emendations
+and corrections he suggested are quite characteristic,
+and are studied more in detail in the text I have published
+elsewhere.<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Some of the modifications suggested by Jefferson do not
+require any comment; they are mere verbal changes such as
+the substitution of "<i>tels sont</i>" for "<i>tels que</i>". But as Lafayette
+had enumerated among the essential rights of man "<i>le soin de
+son honneur</i>" and "<i>la propri&eacute;t&eacute;</i>", Jefferson put both terms in
+brackets, thus indicating that they should be taken out. The
+elimination of the first term is probably due to the fact that
+Montesquieu had indicated that "<i>honneur</i>" is the main principle
+on which rests monarchical government and is easily understandable.
+The elimination of the "<i>droit de propri&eacute;t&eacute;</i>" can
+only be explained if we refer to the document in which Jefferson
+had "explained to himself" his theory of natural rights, and
+established a distinction between the natural rights and the
+civil rights. Lafayette accepted the first correction but not the
+second; he was too much under the influence of his physiocratic
+friends even to understand the much more advanced
+theory of Jefferson. The project he submitted to the Assembly,
+as well as the three "D&eacute;clarations des droits de l'homme",
+consequently followed on this point the Virginia Bill of Rights
+rather than the Declaration of Independence.</p>
+
+<p>In a similar way, Lafayette had listed the powers constituting
+the government in the following order: "<i>ex&eacute;cutif, l&eacute;gislatif
+et judiciaire</i>", and refused to follow the order suggested by
+Jefferson's "<i>l&eacute;gislatif, ex&eacute;cutif, judiciaire</i>". This was more than
+a mere question of arrangement; there was evidently in the
+minds of both Jefferson and his French friend a question of
+hierarchy and almost subordination; if it is a mere nuance,
+the nuance was very significant. The last paragraph deserves
+even more careful consideration. In the January version it
+read: "<i>Et comme le progr&egrave;s des lumi&egrave;res, et l'introduction des
+abus n&eacute;cessitent de temps en temps une revision de la constitution</i>...."
+The second edition annotated by Jefferson expressed
+the same idea in much more definite terms: "<i>Et comme le
+progr&egrave;s des lumi&egrave;res, l'introduction des abus et le droit des
+g&eacute;n&eacute;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>rations qui se succ&egrave;dent n&eacute;cessitent la r&eacute;vision de tout &eacute;tablissement
+humain, il doit &ecirc;tre indiqu&eacute; des moyens constitutionnels qui assurent
+dans certain cas une convocation extraordinaire de repr&eacute;sentants
+dont le seul objet soit d'examiner et modifier, s'il le faut,
+la forme du Gouvernement</i>." This mention of the "<i>droit des
+g&eacute;n&eacute;rations qui se succ&egrave;dent</i>" seems a typically Jeffersonian idea.
+The same theory will be found fully developed in a letter to
+Samuel Kercheval written in 1816 and dealing with the revision
+of the Constitution of Virginia. It was expressed originally in
+a letter to James Madison, written from Paris on September 9,
+1789. Curiously enough, Jefferson declared then that this
+theory had never been proposed before: "The question whether
+one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never
+to have been started on this or on our side of the water. Yet
+it is a question of such consequence as not only to merit
+decision, but places also the fundamental principles of every
+government."<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> It is true that this special point was not
+retained in the "D&eacute;claration des droits de l'homme" as finally
+adopted by the Assembl&eacute;e Nationale in its sessions of August,
+1789, although it was proposed by Montmorency and reappeared
+as the last article of the "D&eacute;claration" of the Convention
+Nationale of May 29, 1793. But one may wonder how
+Jefferson could overlook the fact that the same principle was
+embodied in Lafayette's "Declaration." It is very unlikely
+that he would have claimed credit for the idea if it had been
+originated by his friend. A more acceptable explanation would
+be to admit that having suggested to Lafayette a theory which
+was not retained by the committee, he felt perfectly free to state
+that "the question had never been started."</p>
+
+<p>The American plenipotentiary was not an eye-witness of the
+famous scenes of the fourteenth of July, or as he calls it "the
+tumult of Paris", but he learned about it fully from M. de
+Corny, and wrote to Jay a long and interesting account (July 19)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+of the capture of La Bastille, the return of the king to Paris
+and the presentation of the national cockade.<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime he was placed in a very embarrassing situation
+by his French admirers. The prestige of the author of
+the Declaration of Independence was such that the committee
+in charge of a plan of constitution thought they could do no
+better than to call into consultation the Minister of the United
+States. Champion de Cic&eacute;, Archbishop of Bordeaux and chairman
+of the committee, sent him an urgent appeal to attend one
+of the first meetings, so that they might profit by the light of
+his reason and experience.<a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a> Jefferson, after mentioning the
+invitation, relates the incident in his "Autobiography" as follows:
+"I excused myself on the obvious considerations that
+my mission was to the King, as chief magistrate of the nation,
+that my duties were limited to the concerns of my own country,
+and forbade me to intermeddle with the internal transactions of
+that, in which I had been received under a specific charter."
+This may be the sense he wished to convey to Champion de
+Cic&eacute; but the actual letter is far less categorical. Contrary to
+his custom he wrote it himself, although it is in French, alleging
+that the dispatches for America took all his time and adding
+that the committee would lay themselves open to criticism if
+they invited to their deliberations a foreigner accredited to the
+head of the nation, when the very question under discussion
+was a modification and abridgement of his powers. But he
+assured the archbishop of his most sincere and most passionate
+wishes for the complete success of the undertaking, which was
+certainly stretching diplomatic proprieties to the limit.</p>
+
+<p>The deliberations of the committee went on without Jefferson's
+official assistance; but shortly after the project of the
+constitution was presented, the deputies came to a deadlock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+on the veto power to be given to the king. After some stormy
+meetings, Lafayette conceived the idea that the house of the
+Minister of the United States was the only place near Versailles
+where some tranquillity could be obtained. He consequently
+invited eight of his friends to take dinner at the house of Jefferson,
+and having no time to consult him on the matter, scribbled
+a note in great hurry to ask Jefferson to make the necessary
+preparations for the unexpected guests: "Those gentlemen wish
+to consult with you and me; they will dine to-morrow at your
+house, as mine is always full."<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson has given a somewhat embellished account of the
+memorable dinner in his "Autobiography." The mention of it
+in a letter to John Jay a few weeks later is less florid and probably
+more accurate.<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> The members of the committee discussed
+together their points of difference for six hours, and in
+the course of the discussion agreed on mutual sacrifices. Writing
+from memory, at the age of seventy-seven, Jefferson added:
+"I was a silent witness to a coolness and candor of argument,
+unusual in the conflicts of political opinion; to a logical reasoning,
+and chaste eloquence, disfigured by no gaudy tinsel of
+rhetoric or declamation, and truly worthy of being placed in
+parallel with the finest dialogues of antiquity, as handed to us
+by Xenophon, by Plato and Cicero."<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></p>
+
+<p>Whether Jefferson remained a silent witness during these
+six hours is not so improbable as it would seem. It may well
+be doubted whether his knowledge of French was sufficient
+to enable him to participate in an animated discussion with
+eight Frenchmen. Under the circumstances silence was as
+much a necessity as a virtue. But when the American minister
+woke up the next morning he realized that it was impossible
+to keep the thing secret and that the French Government had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+every right to blame him for lending his house for a discussion
+of French internal politics. Unpleasant as it was, the only
+thing to do was to make a clean breast of it. He went at once
+to Montmorin to tell him "with truth and candor how it happened
+that my house had been made the scene of conferences
+of such a character."&mdash;"He told me," Jefferson continued,
+"that he already knew everything which had passed," which
+is the stock answer of the professional diplomat, whether he
+wishes to appear well-informed or wants to draw some further
+information from his interlocutor. Jefferson opened his heart,
+and if Montmorin did not know everything before giving audience
+to the American minister, there was little he did not know
+after hearing his account of the dinner.</p>
+
+<p>With this curious incident, Jefferson ends his account of the
+French Revolution. During the year, he had complained on
+several occasions that his French friends seemed unable to
+realize the importance of insisting on trial by jury in criminal
+cases. He finally persuaded one of the "abb&eacute;s" to study the
+question thoroughly and on that occasion indicated exactly
+how he stood in matters of government. All told, his views
+had not changed much, and at that time he would not have
+accepted without reservations and qualifications the famous
+principle of "government by the people." There was still in
+his mind, if not in all his formulas, a tacit admission that all the
+people could not unreservedly participate in all branches of
+government. Nothing could be clearer than the distinctions
+he established and nothing could be less demagogical.</p>
+
+<p>"We think, in America, that it is necessary to introduce the
+people into every department of government, as far as they are
+capable of exercising it; and that this is the only way to insure
+a long-continued and honest administration of its power."
+Then he proceeded to define, point by point, the extent to which
+the people could safely be allowed to participate in the executive,
+legislative, and judiciary branches of the government.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. They are not qualified to exercise themselves the executive
+department, but they are qualified to name the person who shall
+exercise it. With us, therefore, they choose this officer every four
+years. 2. They are not qualified to legislate. With us therefore,
+they only choose the legislators. 3. They are not qualified to <i>judge</i>
+questions of <i>law</i>, but they are very capable of judging questions of
+<i>fact</i>. In the form of juries, therefore, they determine all matters
+of fact, leaving to the permanent judges to decide the law resulting
+from those facts.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thus spoke the champion of democracy at the beginning of
+the French Revolution, after spending five years in Paris and
+supposedly permeating his mind with the wild theories of the
+French philosophers. And what he said of the people on this
+occasion did not apply to the French people alone, for he made
+it clear that it was the political theory applied "in America."
+It was essentially the theory of government by experts which
+he already had in mind when he proposed the reorganization
+of the College of William and Mary. In 1778, as well as in
+1789, Jefferson did not hesitate to proclaim that if the source
+of all power was in the people, the people could not exercise
+their power in all circumstances, that they had to delegate their
+authority to men really qualified, retaining only the right to
+select them. This may not be the common acceptation of the
+term "Jeffersonian democracy", but I have a strong suspicion
+that on the whole Jefferson never changed much in this respect.
+He certainly never stood for mob rule, nor for direct
+government by the masses, and he knew too much about the
+delicate and complicated wheels of government to believe that
+the running of such a tremendous machine could be intrusted
+to untrained hands.</p>
+
+<p>As for the French, he trusted them even less, and never believed,
+as long as he remained in France, that they were prepared
+for self-government. He refused to consider that a real<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+revolution had started before his eyes or was even in sight.
+"Upon the whole," he wrote to Madison shortly before his departure
+from Paris, "I do not see yet probable that any actual
+commotion will take place; and if it does take place, I have
+strong confidence that the patriotic party will hold together,
+and their party in the nation be what I have ascribed it." Up
+to the last moment he held the belief that the king, "the substantial
+people of the whole country, the army, and the influential
+part of the clergy, formed a firm phalanx which must
+prevail."<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> The analysis of the situation sent to Jay just as he
+was about to leave Paris does not indicate even the possibility
+of establishing a republic, since the only parties he distinguished
+were:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... the aristocrats, comprehending the higher members of the
+clergy, military, nobility, and the parliaments of the whole kingdom;
+the moderate royalists who wish for a constitution nearly similar to
+that of England; the republicans who are willing to let their first
+magistracy be hereditary, but to make it very subordinate to
+the legislature, and to have that legislature consist of a single
+chamber.<a name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson was not the man to indulge in effusions even when
+he was deeply moved and throughout his mission in France
+he deliberately refrained from any expression of personal feelings.
+But the love and friendship of the French for the United
+States was so general and so genuine, it formed such a contrast
+with the cold and tenacious enmity of Great Britain, that the
+American minister was won and conquered by it and had to
+come to the conclusion that "nothing should be spared to attach
+this country to us. It is the only one on which we can
+rely for support, under every event. Its inhabitants love us
+more, I think, than they do any other nation on earth. This
+is very much the effect of the good dispositions with which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+French officers returned."<a name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> Everybody is familiar with the
+closing lines of Jefferson's account of his mission to France:
+"So, ask the traveller inhabitant of any nation, in what country
+would you rather live?&mdash;Certainly, in my own, where are
+all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest
+affections and recollections of my life. Which would be your
+second choice? France."</p>
+
+<p>These lines were written at the twilight of his life, when his
+memory took him back to the wonderful days he had lived in
+Paris, while the old r&eacute;gime was shedding the last rays of its
+evanescent glory. Less known, but far more revealing of his
+true feelings at the time, is a passage in one of his letters to
+James Madison. It is one of the very few times, and as a
+matter of fact, the first time when he declared that the nations
+of the world had to abandon their old code of selfishness and
+that a new principle of international life had to be recognized.
+For there is only one standard of morality, one code of conduct
+between nations as between individuals.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is impossible&mdash;he wrote&mdash;to desire better dispositions
+towards us than prevail in this Assembly. Our proceedings have
+been viewed as a model for them on every occasion; and though
+in the heat of debate, men are generally disposed to contradict every
+authority urged by their opponents, ours has been treated like that
+of the Bible, open to explanation, but not to question. I am sorry
+that in the moment of such a disposition, anything should come from
+us to check it. The placing them on a mere footing with the English,
+will have this effect. When of two nations, the one has engaged herself
+in a ruinous war for us, has spent her blood and money to save
+us, has opened her bosom to us in peace, and received us almost on
+the footing of her own citizens, while the other has moved heaven,
+earth, and hell to exterminate us in war, has insulted us in all her
+councils in peace, shut her doors to us in every part where her interests
+would admit it, libelled us in foreign nations, endeavoured to
+poison them against the reception of our most precious commodities;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+to place these two nations on a footing, is to give a great deal more
+to one than to the other, if the maxim be true, that to make unequal
+quantities equal, you must add more to one than the other. To
+say, in excuse, that gratitude is never to enter into the motives of
+national conduct, is to revive a principle which has been buried
+for centuries with its kindred principles of the lawfulness of assassination,
+poison, perjury, etc. All of these were legitimate principles
+in the dark ages which intervened between ancient and
+modern civilization, but exploded and held in just horror in the
+eighteenth century. I know but one code of morality for men,
+whether acting singly or collectively.... Let us hope that our
+government will take some other occasions to show, that they
+proscribe no virtue from the canons of their conduct with other
+nations.<a name="FNanchor_233_233" id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></p></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_FOUR" id="BOOK_FOUR"></a>BOOK FOUR</h2>
+
+<h1><i>Monocrats and Republicans</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>THE QUARREL WITH HAMILTON</h2>
+
+
+<p>For more than two years Jefferson had repeatedly expressed
+the wish to be allowed to return to his native country, at least
+for a short visit. When he finally received official notification
+that his request had been granted, he departed from Paris
+rather abruptly and even without taking leave of his best
+friends. "Adieus are painful," he wrote to Madame de Corny,
+"therefore I left Paris without bidding one to you."<a name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a> This is
+a na&iuml;ve and quite significant confession of the difficulty he
+experienced in maintaining his puritanical restraint and impassibility
+at that time. He went with his two daughters from
+Le Havre to Cowes, and waited there till October 14 for favorable
+winds. After a rapid crossing on the <i>Montgomery</i> they
+sighted the "Capes" on November 13, and barely escaped
+being shipwrecked in the bay. Although damaged by fire
+and stripped of part of her rigging, the ship was able to reach
+Norfolk, and Jefferson promptly set out for Richmond and
+Monticello, stopping however on the way at Eppington with
+the Eppes. It was there that he received two letters from
+President Washington, one dated October 13, the other November
+30, asking him to accept the post of Secretary of State
+in the newly formed cabinet. The President's letters were
+most flattering and indicated that he had been "determined, as
+well by motives of private regard, as a conviction of public
+propriety" to nominate him for the office.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson at first experienced the natural repugnance of a
+man who had put his heart into an important undertaking and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+was asked suddenly to abandon it. He was better acquainted
+with the situation in Paris than any man he could think of: it
+had taken him several years of constant work and patient efforts
+to bring the French officials over to his views. His best friends
+were in the new government and would help him to obtain
+for the United States better commercial terms and a more
+satisfactory debt settlement. Let us add that for a philosophical
+observer France offered the most fascinating spectacle,
+and Jefferson did not feel that life in Philadelphia could bring
+him the same social and intellectual pleasures as Paris. Quite
+significantly he wrote to Washington: "as far as my fears, my
+hopes, or my inclination enter into this question, I confess that
+they would not lead me to prefer a change." On the other
+hand, he did not make a categorical refusal, in case he should
+be "drafted", and the President formally nominated him.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing else was done in the matter until Madison visited
+him at Monticello and acquainted him with the situation.
+But even Madison could not win his consent,<a name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> and the President
+had to assure Jefferson that the duties of his office would
+probably not be quite so complicated and hard to execute
+as he might have been led at the first moment to imagine.<a name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a>
+It was not a command, but while the President left him
+free to decide he expressed a strong hope and wish that
+Jefferson would accept. So, on February 14 he sent his letter
+of acceptance.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime he had married Martha to Thomas Mann
+Randolph, Junior, "a young gentleman of genius, science, and
+honorable mind", who afterwards filled "a dignified station in
+the General Government, and the most dignified in his own
+State."<a name="FNanchor_237_237" id="FNanchor_237_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> Although Jefferson had wished for such a marriage,
+he had left Martha free to make her own choice, as he explained
+in a letter to Madame de Corny: "Tho' his talents, disposi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>tion,
+connections, fortune, were such as would have made him
+my first choice, yet according to the usage of my country, I
+scrupulously suppressed my wishes, that my daughter might
+indulge in her own sentiments freely."<a name="FNanchor_238_238" id="FNanchor_238_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> The marriage took
+place on April 2, 1790, and on the next day Jefferson set out for
+New York to take his place in the Cabinet. He reached Philadelphia
+on the twelfth. There he stopped to pay his respects
+to the man "he has succeeded but not replaced", old Doctor
+Franklin then on the sick bed from which he never arose. "My
+recent return from a country in which he had left so many
+friends, and the perilous convulsions to which they had been
+exposed, revived all his anxieties to know what part they had
+taken, what had been their course, and what their fate. He
+went over all in succession with a rapidity and animation
+almost too much for his strength." It was on this occasion that
+Franklin put in his hands a paper containing an account of his
+negotiations with Lord Howe to prevent a war between the
+colonies and their mother country, papers which, unfortunately,
+Jefferson entrusted later to William Temple Franklin,
+who "delayed the publication for more than twenty
+years."<a name="FNanchor_239_239" id="FNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> Jefferson arrived in New York on the twenty-first,
+took his lodgings at the City Tavern, and finally rented
+a small house in Maiden Lane.</p>
+
+<p>Congress was in session and business had accumulated on
+the desk of the new secretary: he plunged at once into work.
+All his colleagues had already taken charge of their respective
+departments: Colonel Alexander Hamilton was in charge of
+the Treasury, General Henry Knox of the War Department,
+Edmund Randolph, Attorney-general. Those were the only
+departments thus far created and among them the four secretaries
+divided all the different attributions of the executive
+power. With them he was to sit in Cabinet meetings pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>sided
+over by Washington until his retirement from office, in
+December, 1793.</p>
+
+<p>The distinction usually established between domestic and
+foreign politics is obviously an arbitrary one and does not
+correspond to reality. This was particularly true of an age
+when the attributes of the Secretary of State were far less
+specialized than in our day. Even if he had been inclined to
+neglect the questions of internal administration&mdash;to give himself
+entirely to foreign affairs&mdash;Jefferson would have been constantly
+reminded of the existence of many other problems of
+equal importance to the future of the nation by his colleagues
+and the President himself. In addition, it was Washington's
+ordinary practice not only to discuss all important measures
+in a Cabinet council, but often to request each member of his
+official family to give his opinion in writing on these questions.
+Such documents as have been preserved constitute a most
+precious source of information for the history of the period;
+they are usefully supplemented by the notes that Jefferson
+took at the time and transcribed "twenty five years or more"
+afterwards for the use of posterity. The three volumes "bound
+in marbled paper" in which Jefferson copied these notes, taken
+on loose scraps of paper, are the famous "Anas" which he collected
+to justify himself against the accusations that biographers
+of Washington&mdash;such as Marshall&mdash;had already
+launched against him. Although there is no reason to believe
+that Jefferson deliberately altered the old records, it is certain
+that they were edited, that many scraps of papers were discarded,
+although not destroyed, and that a "critical" edition
+of the "Anas" would not be without interest. They are preceded
+by an introduction in which, more than twenty-five
+years later, Jefferson gave an estimate of his former opponents,
+Hamilton and John Adams. This final judgment can in no
+way be used in discussing events that took place between 1790
+and 1793, and it contains no indication worth retaining about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+Jefferson's attitude at that time towards his colleagues and
+the Vice President. The man who wrote this introduction in
+February, 1818, was really another Jefferson. He may tell
+us that he arrived in the midst of a bitter contest, "But a
+stranger to the ground, a stranger to the actors on it, so long
+absent as to have lost all familiarity with the subject, and as
+yet unaware of its object, I took no concern in it."<a name="FNanchor_240_240" id="FNanchor_240_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> It must
+be admitted at the outset that such is not the impression one
+can gather from the correspondence.</p>
+
+<p>That the financial structure of the Continental Congress had
+collapsed and that immediate remedies were necessary Jefferson
+knew as well and probably better than any other member
+of the Cabinet. He had not the expert knowledge of Hamilton,
+but more than once he had had to deal with financial questions,
+and when in Paris had displayed considerable skill in
+dealing with the members of the Committee of Commerce.
+He had prepared schedules for the payment of the French and
+Dutch loans and discussed finances with Dutch bankers in
+Amsterdam. Furthermore, his governorship of Virginia during
+the war had acquainted him with the question of State
+debts. If he could be tricked and made to hold the candle,
+as he said, there was no man who could resist the superior
+genius and Machiavellism of the arch financier of the United
+States. As a matter of fact, if he was hoodwinked, he
+was not at the beginning, at least, a blind or an unwilling
+victim.</p>
+
+<p>Following the financial reorganization defined by the Constitution
+and the appointment of a Secretary of the Treasury,
+according to the Act of 1789, Hamilton prepared for the period
+under consideration four documents: Report on Public Credit,
+January 9, 1790; Report on a National Bank, December 5,
+1790; Report on the Establishment of a Mint, May 1, 1791;
+Report on Manufactures, December 5, 1791.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The first subject for consideration was the national debt.
+The foreign debt was unquestionably a matter of national
+honor and had to be paid in full, according to the terms of contract:
+with the arrears of interest it amounted to $11,710,000.
+The domestic debt was estimated at $27,383,000 for the principal,
+$13,030,000 for accrued interest and $2,000,000 for unliquidated
+debt. After some opposition it was finally decided
+that holders of certificates would receive their face value with
+interest. But there remained the question of States debts
+which was hopelessly confused and destined to lead to a bitter
+controversy. The reorganization plan proposed that repayment
+could be made in a more orderly way through some sort
+of a central organization rather than through the States, and
+outlined the famous "Assumption" by which the Federal
+Government would "assume", with a discount to be determined,
+the debts incurred by the several States during the course
+of the war. It naturally meant that additional revenue had to
+be raised by Federal measures and consequently distributed
+between all the States, whose debts varied in nature and amount
+from State to State, some of which having already proceeded
+to a semi-reorganization, while others, having not suffered
+from the war, were financially in good condition. The opposition
+came naturally from the Southern States, whose population
+was smaller in comparison with the Northern States.</p>
+
+<p>The opponents of the measure objected very strenuously
+at first, arguing that it would give an unfair advantage to
+those that had contracted debts too freely during the war, and
+would penalize those who had already set their financial house
+in order; and also that it would be a usurpation of powers not
+conferred by the Constitution to the Federal Government.</p>
+
+<p>First defeated in Congress, the "Assumption" was finally
+adopted under circumstances now to be related. Jefferson's
+unofficial representative in Congress, Madison, had already
+strenuously opposed the measure proposed by the Secretary of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>
+the Treasury. When Jefferson arrived in New York to take
+possession of his office, the battle had been going on for some
+time, and four days later he wrote to T. M. Randolph that
+"Congress is principally occupied with the treasury report.
+The assumption of the State debts has been voted affirmatively
+in the first instance, but it is not certain that it will hold its
+ground through all the changes of the bill when it shall
+be brought in."<a name="FNanchor_241_241" id="FNanchor_241_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> There is little doubt that Madison had
+already acquainted him with his views of the situation, but it
+is also probable that Jefferson paid small heed to them for the
+time being. He suffered for several weeks from severe headaches,
+he had to write many letters of farewell to his French
+friends, and the accumulation of reports and papers he found
+on his desk required all his attention.</p>
+
+<p>In June, however, he expressed to George Mason his doubts
+that the "Assumption" would be finally adopted. But, far
+from siding with the out-and-out opponents of the measure, he
+thought it would be wiser to compromise, so he added, "my
+duties preventing me from mingling in these questions, I do
+not pretend to be very competent to their decision. In general,
+I think it necessary to give as well as take in a government
+like ours."<a name="FNanchor_242_242" id="FNanchor_242_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, it was already patent that an almost
+irreconcilable difference of opinion on the matter existed between
+Hamilton and the Virginians, and, a week later, Jefferson
+himself invited the Secretary of the Treasury to take dinner at
+his house with a few friends in order to hold an informal conference;
+for he thought it impossible that "reasonable men,
+consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual sacrifices
+of opinion to form a compromise which was to save the Union."
+Jefferson has related the scene in the "Anas", but a somewhat
+different account is given in his letter to James Monroe, written<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+June 20, 1790, from New York, in which he outlined the compromise.
+He mentioned that two considerations had impelled
+him to discuss it; first the fact that if some funding
+bill were not agreed to, the credit of the United States at Amsterdam
+would collapse and vanish and each State be left alone
+to take care of itself. Although he was not enthusiastic about
+the means to be employed and foresaw that the United States
+would have difficulties in raising the necessary money by Federal
+taxation instead of letting the States raise it themselves,
+he accepted the solution with open eyes: "In the present instance,
+I see the necessity of yielding to cries of the creditors
+in certain parts of the Union; for the sake of the Union, and to
+save us from the greatest of all calamities, the total extinction
+of our credit in Europe." More than any member of the Cabinet
+he was aware of the imminence of this danger. On the
+other hand, and in order to give some satisfaction to the Southern
+States, it would be agreed that Congress would be transferred
+to Philadelphia for a period of twelve to fifteen years,
+and thereafter, without further declaration, to Georgetown.
+This was clearly a "deal", and Jefferson knew it so well that
+he denied that it was one. "The Pennsylvania and Virginia
+delegates have conducted themselves honorably, on the question
+of residence. Without descending to talk about bargains,
+they have seen that their true interests lay in not listening to
+the insidious propositions made, to divide and defect them, and
+we have seen them at times voting against their respective
+wishes rather than separate." Whether the word bargain
+had been used or not is immaterial. Gentlemen sitting around
+a table after the cloth has been removed and the punch bowl
+brought in can come to an understanding "<i>&agrave; demi mot</i>."<a name="FNanchor_243_243" id="FNanchor_243_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a> Nothing
+official had been done yet, but writing to Dumas, the financial
+agent at Amsterdam, Jefferson, in order to maintain the
+credit of the country, put his best foot forward and solemnly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+declared "that there is not one single individual in the United
+States, whether in or out of office, who supposes they can ever
+do anything which might impair their foreign contracts."
+With respect to domestic paper, Dumas could rest assured that
+"justice would be done" and, although the question was terribly
+complicated, it was "possible that modifications may be proposed
+which may bring the measure, yet into an acceptable
+form."<a name="FNanchor_244_244" id="FNanchor_244_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></p>
+
+<p>With Gilmer, he was more frank and indicated clearly that
+among the possible ways in which the conflict in Congress
+might yet terminate, the best probably would be "a <i>bargain</i>
+between the eastern members who have it so much at heart,
+and the Middle members who are indifferent about it, to adopt
+these debts without modification, on condition of removing the
+seat of government to Philadelphia or Baltimore." The third
+solution, which Jefferson preferred, would have proposed to
+divide the total sum between all the States in proportion to
+their census, and to establish the national capital first and
+temporarily at Philadelphia, then, and permanently at Georgetown.<a name="FNanchor_245_245" id="FNanchor_245_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a>
+This was not an ideal solution; it was a compromise
+which would at least present the advantage of giving new life to
+the agriculture and commerce of the South. The main objection,
+however, still remained, for the Federal Government
+would have to raise the imposts and overburden that source of
+revenue, but it seemed that "some sacrifice was necessary for
+the sake of peace."<a name="FNanchor_246_246" id="FNanchor_246_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> Once again, but not for the last time,
+Jefferson saw himself in a dilemma. He was too far-sighted
+not to understand that the individual States would have to
+abandon some of their rights and a portion of their sovereignty
+in order to acquire more financial stability, and that more
+power would be concentrated in the hands of the Federal Government.
+On the other hand, he was no less firmly convinced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+that a secession would unavoidably result from a rejection of
+the "Assumption", and he was ready to sacrifice his most
+cherished preferences on the altar of the Union.</p>
+
+<p>On August 14, Jefferson could announce to Randolph that
+Congress had separated</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>the day before yesterday, having reacquired the harmony which
+always distinguished their proceedings before the two disagreeable
+questions of assumption and residence were introduced.... It is
+not foreseen that anything so generative of dissention can arise
+again, and therefore the friends of the government hope that this
+difficulty once surmounted in the States, everything will work well.
+I am principally afraid that commerce will be over loaded by the
+assumption, believing that it would be better that property should
+be duly taxed.</p></div>
+
+<p>He discussed for the first time the exact ways and means in
+a letter to Gouverneur Morris on November 26, 1790, and indicated
+that additional funds would be provided by a tax on
+spirituous liquors, foreign and homemade, that the whole interest
+would be raised by taxes on consumption.... "Add
+to this what may be done by throwing in the aid of western
+lands and other articles as a sinking fund, and our prospect is
+really a bright one."<a name="FNanchor_247_247" id="FNanchor_247_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is perfectly true that the letter to Morris was to a great
+extent for publicity purposes, yet we do not find in it the slightest
+mark of disapproval of the tax itself, nor do we find it in a letter
+written to De Moustier<a name="FNanchor_248_248" id="FNanchor_248_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a> in which, on the contrary, Jefferson
+mentioned the advantages of duties on consumption, which fall
+principally on the rich; for it is "a general desire to make
+them contribute the whole money we want, if possible."
+It was not until February that doubts began to percolate
+into his mind, and he inquired from Colonel Mason "what
+was said in our country (Virginia), of the fiscal arrangements<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+now going on." But he did not yet take the question really
+to heart:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Whether these measures be right or wrong abstractedly, more
+attention should be paid to the general opinion. However, all
+will pass,&mdash;the excise will pass&mdash;the bank will pass. The only
+corrective of what is corrupt in our present form of government will
+be the augmentation of the numbers in the lower House, so as to get
+more agricultural representation, which may put that interest above
+that of the stock-jobbers.<a name="FNanchor_249_249" id="FNanchor_249_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_249_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This is the first indication of a rift between Jefferson and
+Hamilton.</p>
+
+<p>Yet Jefferson was willing to yield more ground in order to
+avoid an open break. The Bank Bill of Hamilton had passed
+the Senate without difficulty; in the House it had been opposed
+on constitutional grounds by Madison but had finally obtained
+a majority. When the bill was sent to the President, Washington,
+unwilling to do anything unconstitutional, asked both
+the Attorney-general Randolph and Jefferson to give their
+opinion on the matter in writing. The report written on this
+occasion by the Secretary of State is a psychological document
+both interesting and revealing.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson started out by enumerating the different measures
+included in the Bank Bill, pointing out <i>en passant</i> that
+they were intended to break down the most ancient and fundamental
+laws of 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 laws of monopoly.
+He then demonstrated to his own satisfaction that power to
+establish such an institution was neither specifically declared
+nor implied in any article of the Constitution. The only general
+statement that could be construed as authorizing it was a
+mention "to make all laws <i>necessary</i> and proper for carrying
+into execution the enumerated powers." Finally he under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>took
+to prove that the bank might be convenient but was in
+nowise necessary. The conclusion was obvious after these
+very closely knitted pieces of legal reasoning: "Nothing but a
+necessity inevitable by any other means can justify such a
+prostitution of laws, which constitute the pillars of our whole
+system of jurisprudence." The President's veto could clearly
+be used in that case, since that was the buckler provided
+by the Constitution to protect it against the invasions of the
+legislature.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%;">
+<img src="images/pic256b.jpg" width="100%" alt="ALEXANDER HAMILTON" title="" />
+<span class="caption">ALEXANDER HAMILTON<br />
+<br />
+<i>From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.</i></span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p>Jefferson could and perhaps should have stopped there.
+But he was far from certain that Hamilton's views would not
+prevail, and in that case he would have committed himself
+irrevocably. This he did not wish to do. He consequently
+provided at the end a way of escape for himself as well as for
+the President:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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 Constitution
+has placed a check in the negative of the President.</p></div>
+
+<p>This was very adroit, almost too adroit. It was the answer
+of a master politician. Whether it was absolutely straightforward
+is a very different question. Jefferson, who so often
+accused others of being "trimmers", was undoubtedly open
+to such an accusation himself.</p>
+
+<p>With the opinion of Randolph and Jefferson before him, the
+President asked Hamilton, as sponsor of the bill, to present his
+rejoinder in writing. On the twenty-third he submitted his
+famous "Opinion as to the Constitutionality of the Bank of the
+United States" in which he developed the doctrine of "implied
+powers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Now it appears&mdash;said Hamilton&mdash;to the Secretary of the
+Treasury that this general principle is inherent in the very definition
+of government and essential to every step of the progress to be made
+by that of the United States, namely: That every power vested in
+a government is in its nature sovereign, and includes, by force of the
+term, a right to employ all the means requisite and fairly applicable
+to the attainment of the ends of such power, and which are not
+precluded by restrictions and exceptions specified in the Constitutions,
+or not immoral, or not contrary to the essential ends of political
+society.</p></div>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, the question at the bottom of the controversy
+was the question of State rights; but, curiously
+enough, it is indicated only incidentally in Jefferson's opinion.
+He was not ready to join issues on that question, much more
+clearly brought forward by Madison in his speeches before the
+House, when he said:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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 United States, are
+reserved to the States or to the people (XIIth amendment). To
+take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn
+around the power of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless
+field of power, no longer susceptible of definition.<a name="FNanchor_250_250" id="FNanchor_250_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was exactly the question, for to accept Hamilton's
+theory was to open the way to countless encroachments of the
+Federal Government on State rights. Washington's administration
+had come to its most momentous decision for the future
+of the government of the United States. This was really the
+parting of the ways. Jefferson knew it and saw it; it was
+obvious that, with a centralized financial organization, a central
+political organization would develop. All sorts of practical considerations
+may be brought in and nice legal points drawn, but
+the fact remains that when the representatives of the different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+States not only permitted but were eager to see the Federal
+Government assume the responsibility of State debts, they sold
+their birthright for the not unconsiderable sum of $21,500,000.
+Perhaps it was the only possible solution at the time. Perhaps
+Jefferson showed wisdom and political sense in not getting
+up and fighting to the last ditch. He registered as strong a
+protest as he could without burning his bridges. He knew from
+the temper of the House that there was no hope of making
+them accept any other solution. He knew that against the
+strongly organized Federalists he could not muster any well-disciplined
+troops. He feared the immediate dissolution of the
+Union and temporized; but all the rest of his life was to be
+spent in trying to recover the ground lost on that day.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson was soon to realize how poorly equipped and seconded
+he was when he had to take up the battle practically
+single-handed.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1791 Madison had loaned him a copy of
+Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "The Rights of Man", written in
+answer to Burke's denunciation of the French Revolution.
+When the owner of the pamphlet requested that it be returned,
+for it was the only copy at his disposal and he intended to have
+it reprinted in Philadelphia, Jefferson courteously returned it,
+and added a short note in which he expressed his satisfaction
+that such a valuable work would appear in America: "I am
+extremely pleased to find it will be reprinted here, and that
+something is at length to be publicly said against the political
+heresies which have sprung up among us. I have no doubt our
+citizens will rally a second time round the standard of 'Common
+Sense.'" There is no indication whatever that Jefferson
+intended the note for publication, but the printer thought it
+would help the success of the pamphlet if Jefferson's letter were
+printed as a preface. All the peaceful intentions of the Secretary
+of State had come to naught. The word heresies could
+apply only to the Federalists, and among the Federalists to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+John Adams, whose "Discourse on Davila" had been appearing
+in Fenno's paper. Jefferson could declare that nothing
+was further from his intentions than to appear as a contradictor
+of Mr. Adams in public; very few men would believe
+it and Jefferson himself realized it so well that he wrote at once
+to Washington to explain his position:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Adams will unquestionably take to himself the charge of
+political heresy, as conscious of his own views of drawing the present
+government to the form of the English constitution, and, I fear, will
+consider me as meaning to injure him in the public eye. I learnt
+that some Anglomen have, censured it in another point of view, as a
+sanction of Paine's principles tend to give offence to the British
+government. Their real fear, however, is that this popular and
+republican pamphlet, taking wonderfully, is likely at a single stroke,
+to wipe out all the unconstitutional doctrines which their bell wether
+Davila has been preaching for a twelvemonth. I certainly never
+made a secret of my being anti-monarchical, and anti-aristocratical;
+but I am sincerely mortified to be thus brought forward on the
+public stage, where to remain, to advance or to retire, will be equally
+against my love of silence and quiet and my abhorrence of dispute.<a name="FNanchor_251_251" id="FNanchor_251_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>His abhorrence of dispute was so real that, at this juncture,
+he decided to leave Philadelphia for a trip north, staying two
+days in New York, visiting the battlefield of Saratoga, Lake
+George, Lake Champlain, and coming back through the Connecticut
+valley. Madison accompanied him on the trip, and
+Mr. Bowers has advanced the hypothesis that it was during
+the long conversations the two friends had during a whole month
+alone together that the plans were formulated for establishing
+a separate party to defend the republican ideals. This may
+have been the result of the journey, but I doubt very much that
+such was the purpose of Jefferson when he set out from Philadelphia.
+A more simple explanation is that, having written
+his letter to Washington and made, as he thought, his position<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+clear, he hoped that the President would not fail to communicate
+its contents to Adams if any unpleasant situation should
+develop; and he simply withdrew from the battlefield in order
+not to enter into a public controversy. But he counted without
+Adams' temper. The Vice President considered Jefferson's
+short sentence as a challenge and proceeded promptly to
+have it answered. A series of articles signed "Publicola" began
+to appear in the <i>Centinel</i>, denouncing not only Paine, but Jefferson
+himself. "Brutus" took up the cudgels in favor of Jefferson
+and the newspaper battle was on. The public, always eager
+to identify anonymous writers, did not fail to attribute to Adams
+the articles signed "Publicola", while to Jefferson were attributed
+the answers written by Agricola, Brutus, and Philodemus.
+When Jefferson came back from his trip the controversy was
+raging, and soon he began to enjoy the conflict.</p>
+
+<p>On July 10 he sent to Colonel Monroe a bundle of papers
+showing "what a dust Paine's pamphlet has kicked up here",
+and he reiterated his approval of the book:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A writer under the name of Publicola, in attacking Paine's principles,
+is very desirous of involving me in the same censure with the
+author. I certainly merit the same, for I profess the same principles;
+but it is equally certain I never meant to have entered as a
+volunteer into the cause. My occupations do not permit it. Some
+persons here are insinuating that I am Brutus, that I am Agricola,
+that I am Philodemus, etc., etc. I am none of them, being decided
+not to write a word on the subject, unless any printed imputation
+should call for a printed disavowal, to which I should put
+my name.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>On the other hand he refused to take seriously the denial
+that Adams "has no more concern in the publication of the
+writings of Publicola, than the author of the 'Rights of Man'
+himself." But he saw with satisfaction that Hamilton had
+taxed Adams with imprudence in stirring up the question and
+agreed that "his business was done." What was far more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+serious was the fury of gambling that had arisen at the opening
+of the bank: "the land office, the federal town, certain
+schemes of manufactures, are likely to be converted into aliment
+for that rage."<a name="FNanchor_252_252" id="FNanchor_252_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a></p>
+
+<p>In a last effort to placate Adams, however, and chiefly in
+order to avoid having his name dragged into a public controversy,
+he wrote to the Vice President "from the conviction
+that truth, between candid minds can never do harm." He
+assured him that he had not written "a line for the newspapers."
+He declared "with truth in the presence of the Almighty that
+nothing was further from his intention or his expectations than
+to have either his own or Adams' name brought before the
+public on this occasion." This was perfectly true, but at the
+same time he was proposing to appoint Paine Postmaster, and
+on July 29 he wrote to congratulate him, for, thanks to his little
+book, the general opinion seemed to rally against a sect high
+in name but small in number. "They are checked at least
+by your pamphlet, and the people confirmed in their good old
+faith."<a name="FNanchor_253_253" id="FNanchor_253_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a> The fact that Adams accepted Jefferson's explanation
+more gracefully than was to be expected did not prevent
+the fight from going on. It had already been taken out of the
+hands of the leaders and the controversy was raging in the
+papers. At this juncture Jefferson realized that the republicans
+were very poorly armed in the capital and that they had
+no paper in which their views could be expressed so as to counteract
+the pernicious propaganda of Fenno's paper. Thus
+the result brought about was the foundation of the <i>National
+Gazette</i>, Philip Freneau's paper, in which Jefferson had a great
+part. The story has never been told completely and deserves
+more than passing attention, since Jefferson was soon to be
+attacked by his enemies for the interest he took in the <i>Gazette</i>.
+Several documents heretofore neglected allow us to reconstruct
+exactly the part played by Jefferson in the undertaking, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+particularly to settle a few questions of chronology which are
+not without importance.</p>
+
+<p>It does not appear that Jefferson had any ulterior motives
+when, on February 28, 1791, he offered to Freneau, then living
+miserably in New York, the clerkship for foreign languages in
+the Department of State. "The salary indeed is very low," he
+wrote, "being but two hundred and fifty dollars a year; but
+also it gives so little to do, as not to interfere with any other
+calling the person may choose.... I was told a few days ago
+that it might perhaps be convenient to you to accept it. If
+so, it is at your service." Freneau answered promptly, on
+March 5, that, having been for some time engaged in endeavouring
+to establish a Weekly Gazette in Monmouth County
+and having at present a prospect of succeeding in a tolerable
+subscription, he found himself under the necessity of declining
+the acceptance of this "generous unsolicited proposal."
+On May 15, 1791, Jefferson, writing to T. M. Randolph, expressed
+his discontent at the attitude of the two leading papers
+of Philadelphia and added:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We have been trying to get another weekly or half weekly paper
+set up excluding advertisements so that it might go through the
+States and furnish a right vehicle of intelligence. We hoped at one
+time to have persuaded Freneau to set up here, but failed&mdash;in the
+meantime Bache's paper, the principles of which were always republican
+improve it's matter.</p></div>
+
+<p>Not until August 4 did Freneau write to Jefferson that, after
+discussing the matter with Madison and Colonel Lee, he had
+succeeded in making arrangements with a printer in Philadelphia
+and would submit proposals for the publication of a
+newspaper. Freneau moved to Philadelphia, was appointed
+clerk for foreign languages on August 16, and took oath of
+office the next day. There is consequently no doubt that
+Freneau was induced to leave New York by the double pros<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>pect
+of working in Jefferson's office and at the same time
+establishing a republican newspaper. On November 20, Jefferson
+sent some sample copies to Randolph and wrote again
+on January 22 to ask his son-in-law to find subscribers to the
+<i>Gazette</i>. He sent to Freneau a list of subscribers from Charlottesville
+(March 23, 1792) and wrote to his friends that it was
+the best paper ever published in America. On November 16,
+1792, he announced to Randolph that Freneau's paper was
+getting into Massachusetts under the patronage of "Hancock,
+Sam. Adams, Mr. Ames, the colossus of the monocrats
+and paper men will either be left out or hard run. The people
+of that State are republican; but hitherto they have heard
+nothing but the hymns and lauds chaunted by Fenno."</p>
+
+<p>When Freneau was vehemently accused by Hamilton of
+attacking members of the government while in the pay of the
+government, Jefferson took up his defense and wrote to the
+speaker of the House to point out that Freneau received
+a nominal salary and had even "to pay himself special
+translators for languages with which he was unacquainted."<a name="FNanchor_254_254" id="FNanchor_254_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a>
+Finally, on October 11, Freneau sent in his resignation to
+date from October 1, 1793. Such are the bare facts and as
+Freneau's paper was to play an important part in the quarrel
+with Hamilton, it is important to state them exactly.</p>
+
+<p>The battle did not begin in earnest until the first months of
+1792. But Jefferson's distaste for the financial structure
+erected by Hamilton increased during the summer and fall of
+that year. To Carmichael he grudgingly admitted that the
+domestic debt "funded at six per cent., is twelve and a half per
+cent. above par." "But," he added, "a spirit of gambling,
+in our public paper has seized too many of our citizens, and we
+fear it will check our commerce, arts, manufactures, and agriculture
+unless stopped."<a name="FNanchor_255_255" id="FNanchor_255_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a> To Gouverneur Morris he declared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+that the fever of gambling on government funds has seized
+everybody, "has laid up our ships at the wharves, as too slow
+instruments of profit, and has even disarmed the hand of the
+tailor of his needle and thimble. They say the evil will cure
+itself. I wish it may; but I have rarely seen a gamester cured,
+even by the disasters of his vocation."<a name="FNanchor_256_256" id="FNanchor_256_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_256_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></p>
+
+<p>One may wonder at this point what course of conduct was
+open to Jefferson. He might have placed his views of the
+situation before Washington and tried to open his eyes to the
+danger of the Republic. He might have broken completely
+with Hamilton and declared to the President that he had to
+decide between the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary
+of State, but as a matter of fact his hands were tied since
+he had accepted the "Assumption" and had not dared categorically
+to decide against the Bank Bill. Apparently he had
+reached an impasse. But it was not in Jefferson's temperament
+to try to overcome insuperable obstacles or stay very
+long in a blind alley. Since experience had shown that the
+general government "tended to monarchy" and this tendency
+strengthened itself from day to day, the only remedy was for
+the States to erect "such barriers at the constitutional line
+as cannot be surmounted either by themselves or by the
+General Government."<a name="FNanchor_257_257" id="FNanchor_257_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a> An opportunity presented itself to
+experiment with the idea in a proposed convocation of a
+convention in Virginia to amend the Constitution. Jefferson,
+consulted on this occasion, sent to Archibald Stuart his ideas
+on the modifications desirable; to lengthen the term of the
+representatives and diminish their number; to strengthen the
+Executive by making it more independent of the legislature.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Responsibility is a tremendous engine in a free government. Let
+him feel the whole weight of it then, by taking away the shelter of
+his executive council. Experience both ways has already established<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+the superiority of this measure. Render the judiciary respectable
+by every possible means, to wit, firm tenure in office, competent salaries,
+and reduction of their numbers.</p></div>
+
+<p>This was quite characteristic of Jefferson and of his extraordinary
+tenacity. It was also very good strategy. Since the
+strengthening of the Federal Government could not be avoided,
+the only way to avoid a rapid absorption of local government
+by the Federal machine was to strengthen in a parallel way
+the State governments. It was an unexpected application of
+Montesquieu's theory of checks and balances.<a name="FNanchor_258_258" id="FNanchor_258_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a></p>
+
+<p>Soon afterwards, however, in February, 1792, Jefferson
+found a favorable opportunity to reveal his ideas to Washington.
+The occasion that offered itself was the post-office,
+just reorganized as an independent and self-supporting branch
+of the government, thus removing it from the tutelage of the
+Treasury Department. Jefferson at once claimed it for the Department
+of State, not out of any appetite for power, "his real
+wish" being to avail the public of every occasion, during the
+residue of the President's period, to place things on a safe footing.
+By this he meant that the usurpations of the Treasury
+Department should be brought to a stop. In a long conversation
+the next morning after breakfast Jefferson opened
+his heart, indicating that he would resign before long, to which
+Washington answered that he could not resign when there were
+certain signs of dissatisfaction among the public, and that none
+could foresee what too great a change in the administration
+might bring about. This was the opening awaited by Jefferson.
+No wonder the public was dissatisfied, but whose
+fault was it! There was only one source of discontent, the
+Department of the Treasury. Then he launched forth on a
+passionate indictment of the system developed by Hamilton,
+contrived for deluging the States with paper money instead of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
+gold and silver, "for withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits
+of commerce, manufactures, buildings, and other branches
+of useful industry, to occupy themselves and their capitals in
+a species of gambling, destructive of morality, and which had
+introduced its poison in the government itself." He indicated
+that members of Congress had been gambling in stocks and
+consequently could no longer be depended upon to vote in a
+disinterested way, for they had "feathered their nests with
+paper." Finally Jefferson let the cat out of the bag and told
+the President that the public were awaiting with anxiety his
+decision with respect to a certain proposition, to find out
+whether they lived under a limited or an unlimited government.
+The report on manufactures which had not heretofore
+drawn particular attention meant to establish the doctrine that
+the power given by the Constitution to collect taxes to provide
+for the "<i>general welfare</i> of the United States, permitted
+Congress to take everything under their management which
+<i>they</i> should deem <i>public welfare</i>, and which is susceptible of the
+application of money." He added that his decision was therefore
+expected with far greater anxiety than that felt over the
+proposed establishment of the Bank of the United States.<a name="FNanchor_259_259" id="FNanchor_259_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></p>
+
+<p>On May 23, Jefferson had found it impossible to have again
+a heart-to-heart talk with the President, and we may well imagine
+that Washington rather avoided giving him another
+opportunity to express himself again so freely with reference to
+the policy of the Treasury Department. The object of the
+letter he wrote on that day was twofold; first of all it was to
+persuade Washington that in spite of his so often manifested
+intention to retire at the end of his first term, it was his imperious
+duty to the nation to remain in office. There existed,
+in Jefferson's opinion, a real emergency and he pointed out at
+length the dissatisfaction of the South, the separatist tendencies
+appearing in that quarter, upon seeing what they con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>sidered
+an unfair share of the Federal taxes placed on their
+shoulders, not only in order to pay the national debt, but also
+to encourage the Northern industries with bounties. Rumors
+were circulating everywhere that new measures were on foot
+to increase the mass of the debts; industry was encouraged
+at the expense of agriculture; the legislature itself had been
+corrupted. The only hope of salvation lay in the coming election
+and in an increase in the number of representatives following
+the census. But everything would be in question if the
+President did not run. "The confidence of the whole Union
+is centered 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."</p>
+
+<p>This incidentally does not sound like a man who was trying
+to organize a strong political party for his own benefit, and I
+cannot believe that Jefferson was as deep a politician as Mr.
+Bowers has made him. He was quite sincere in his desire to
+retire from office "after the first periodical renovation of the
+government." He was tired and sick at heart, and his one
+inclination was "bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment
+of his family, his farm and his books."<a name="FNanchor_260_260" id="FNanchor_260_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a> On the other hand, he
+was firmly convinced that the coming elections might change
+favorably the majority in Congress. They had no chance to
+be held fairly, however, unless the people had an opportunity
+to select as President a man who would be above all suspicion,
+a really national figure enjoying the confidence of every man
+in every section of the country, such as was Washington alone.
+Had Washington followed his inclination at that time; had
+he withdrawn at the end of his first term and left the field free
+to other candidates, there is no way of surmising what the
+issue of the campaign of 1792 would have been. Truly Jefferson
+was right: the fate of the republic was at stake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Shortly after, Hamilton, who had not yet attacked Jefferson
+personally, led an offensive against Freneau who was accused
+by the <i>Gazette of the United States</i> of using his salary for
+publications, "the design of which is to villify those to whom
+the voice of the people has committed the administration of
+our public affairs." But Freneau, in Hamilton's opinion, was
+only the puppet whose strings were pulled by an arch plotter,
+and soon the <i>Gazette</i> started direct attacks against Jefferson,
+asserting that while a member of the Cabinet he had undertaken
+to undermine the government. Freneau, in an affidavit,
+denied that Jefferson had any connection with his paper
+or had dictated or written a single line in it, and at the same
+time hinted that, on the contrary, the authorship of many
+articles published in Fenno's <i>Gazette</i> could clearly be attributed
+to Hamilton. This denial had precisely the value of
+any such statement issued during political campaigns. It was
+literally true that Jefferson had never written a line in Freneau's
+paper, but he had an opportunity to see Freneau every day,
+since "clerk for foreign languages" had to report to him. He
+was requesting all his friends to subscribe to Freneau's papers,
+he was following anxiously the progress of the <i>Gazette</i> in all
+parts of the Union, and one word from him would have stopped
+all attacks against Hamilton. In fact, Freneau's paper was
+just as much Jefferson's paper as if the Secretary of State had
+written all the articles in it and had owned all the stock.</p>
+
+<p>Hamilton's attacks, however, had a very important and
+unexpected result. Whether Jefferson had serious political
+ambitions or not, he was not the man to come out in the open
+and proclaim himself the leader of a new party. Of a retiring
+disposition, fearful of public criticism although thirsty for
+public praise, he was not ready at that time to assume the
+part and the duties of a political chief. But the savage attacks
+of the Federalists attracted public attention to him, he
+was represented so often by them as the champion of republic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>anism,
+that discontented republicans began to rally round
+him and Jefferson was thus invested with the leadership of the
+new party as much by his enemies as by his friends.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer of 1792, when he was at Monticello, he
+received from Washington a letter in which the President
+expressed his distress at the dissensions that had taken place
+within the government, and once more attempted to bring
+about a reconciliation between the two secretaries (August 23).
+Jefferson answered in a long letter. This time his temper had
+been thoroughly aroused. He had seen articles signed "An
+American" in Fenno's <i>Gazette</i>, accusing him on three counts:
+"with having written letters to his friends in Europe to oppose
+the present constitution; with a desire of repudiating the
+public debt; with setting up a paper to decry and slander the
+government." Jefferson had no difficulty in proving the first
+two accusations absolutely untrue. On the third charge he
+admitted and even boasted of having given a poet a miserable
+appointment at a salary of $250 a year, while Hamilton had
+filled the administration with his creatures. He protested in
+the name of Heaven that "I never did, by myself, or any other,
+directly or indirectly, write, dictate, or procure any one sentence
+of sentiment to be inserted in <i>his</i>, or any other gazette,
+to which my name was not affixed or that of my office." He
+confessed, however, that he had always taken it for granted,
+from his knowledge of Freneau's character, "that he would
+give free place to pieces written against the aristocratical and
+monarchical principles these papers had inculcated." He
+again protested against Hamilton's insinuation that Freneau
+had received his salary before removing to Philadelphia, and
+on this point he is supported by the evidence published above.
+In a very dignified way he assured Washington that he would
+refrain from engaging in any controversy while in office and
+that he wished to concentrate all his efforts on the last of his
+official tasks. He added, however, that he reserved the right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+to answer later, for, he said: "I will not suffer my retirement
+to be clouded by the slanders of a man whose history, from the
+moment at which history can stoop to notice him, is a tissue
+of machinations against the liberty of the country which has
+not only received and given him bread, but heaped honors on
+his head."</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson has sometimes been reproached for having attacked in
+the "Anas" a dead enemy, but this was no posthumous attack.
+In one sentence he had expressed not only condemnation of
+Hamilton's policies but all the scorn of a Virginian, of the old
+stock, for the immigrant of doubtful birth, who was almost an
+alien. He knew full well the weight that such a consideration
+might have on the mind of Washington; it was a subtle but
+potent appeal to the solidarity of the old Americans against
+the newcomer. Truly, Jefferson was no mean adversary, and
+the rapier may be more deadly than the battle-ax. Having
+thus parried and thrust, he expressed the pious wish that the
+coming elections would probably vindicate his point of view
+and that it would not be necessary to make a further appeal to
+public opinion. He was tired and wished to retire from office
+at the earliest opportunity, and certainly no clique would
+receive any support from him during the short space he had to
+remain in Philadelphia. Monticello was calling him and his
+most earnest hope was that he would be permitted to forget all
+political strife in a bucolic retirement.<a name="FNanchor_261_261" id="FNanchor_261_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></p>
+
+<p>On his way back to Philadelphia he stopped at Mount Vernon
+(October 1, 1792) and found Washington still undecided
+whether he would be a candidate for a second term. The General
+was not certain that the emergency was such that he must
+sacrifice his personal preferences. He had consulted Lear
+about opinion in the North; Jefferson could tell him something
+about the South. When he was assured that he alone
+could save the Republic, it was his turn to argue that Jeffer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>son
+ought to remain in office as long as he himself would be
+President. Washington said that until very recently he had
+been unaware that such personal differences existed between
+the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury. The
+old General gently reminded Jefferson that the best way to
+counteract the action of Hamilton was to remain in office, in
+order "to keep things in their proper channel, and prevent
+them from going too far." Finally the President refused to
+accept wholly the pessimistic forecasts of Jefferson and declared:
+"That as to the idea of transforming this Government
+into a monarchy, he did not believe there were ten men in the
+United States whose opinions were worth attention, who entertained
+such a thought." He refused to take seriously Jefferson's
+accusation that Hamilton would have said that "this
+Constitution was a shilly-shally thing, of mere milk and water,
+which could not last, and was only good as a step to something
+better." That as far as corruption in the legislature was concerned,
+the term was probably too severe; it was simply a
+manifestation of "interested spirit"; it was what could not
+be avoided in any government, unless we were to exclude from
+all office particular descriptions of men, such as the holders of
+the funds. "For the rest he only knew that before the funding
+operations he had seen our affairs desperate and our credit lost,
+and that this was in a sudden and extraordinary degree raised
+to the highest pitch." With the common sense and poise that
+were his outstanding qualities, Washington refused to inquire
+into the ultimate motives of Hamilton. The Secretary of the
+Treasury had rescued the finances of the country from bankruptcy;
+he was a good, efficient, and personally honest administrator,
+and it was Washington's hope that he would be able
+to keep with him two useful collaborators whom he could not
+easily replace.</p>
+
+<p>Shall I confess that, in my humble opinion, and in spite of the
+contrary judgment of several American historians, Washington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>
+was probably right. The quarrel between Hamilton and Jefferson
+is undoubtedly of considerable importance in the history
+of political parties in the United States. I am not so certain
+that it exerted so tremendous an influence on the destinies of
+the nation. Whatever may have been the ambitious schemes
+of Hamilton, the theoretical preferences of John Adams, it is
+difficult to see how any one could have succeeded at that time
+in establishing overnight an hereditary monarchy in the United
+States. Such a <i>"coup d'&eacute;tat"</i> is always a possibility in the old
+countries of Europe, all of them more or less centralized and
+controlled from a national capital; but in 1793 there was no
+national capital in America, loyalty to the Federal Government
+was scarcely nascent, citizens had not been accustomed to look
+to Congress for bounties, assistance, and subsidies. The vastness
+of the country would have offered insuperable obstacles,
+even to the genius of a Bonaparte. No real danger existed
+because, as Montesquieu would have said, a monarchy was not
+in the nature of things, and both Hamilton and Jefferson would
+have realized it, if they had not been caught in the maelstrom
+of political and personal passions.</p>
+
+<p>When Jefferson left Mount Vernon, Washington was still
+undecided whether he would accept a second term, but Jefferson
+had determined that he would not stay in office any longer
+than he could help; and on November 8, he wrote to Humphreys
+to send all further communications not to him personally,
+but to the Secretary of State, by title and not by name. News
+of election was coming slowly, winter had already begun in the
+northern States. But the news that did arrive was reassuring
+and Jefferson was able to write on November 16, "the event
+has been generally in favor of republican, and against the aristocratical
+candidates." By the beginning of December, the
+re&euml;lection of Washington being conceded, it appeared that the
+election of the Vice President "had been seized as a proper
+one for expressing the public sense on the doctrine of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
+monocrats." It was already apparent that Adams would be
+re&euml;lected in spite of a strong vote against him, but Jefferson
+discounted the significance of the election and attributed it to
+"the strength of his personal worth and his services, rather than
+to the merits of his political creed."<a name="FNanchor_262_262" id="FNanchor_262_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a> It seemed that the anti-Federalists
+had gained control of the lower House and this was
+a most significant victory.</p>
+
+<p>Then as more news of the election came, telling of the victory
+of the republicans or, as they were called by derision, the Jacobins,
+other news arrived from France. The army of the Duke
+of Brunswick had been forced to retreat and had failed in crushing
+the republican army of France. "This news," wrote Jefferson,
+"has given wry faces to our monocrats here, but sincere
+joy to the great body of the citizens. It arrived only in
+the afternoon of yesterday, and the bells were rung and some
+illuminations took place in the evening."<a name="FNanchor_263_263" id="FNanchor_263_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a> Four days later
+the conviction that a disaster had overcome Brunswick had
+made great progress, although no other news had been received,
+and Jefferson had anxiously awaited the arrival of ships from
+France. But the tide had turned and he wrote to Mercer:
+"The monocrats here still affect to disbelieve all this, while the
+republicans are rejoicing and taking to themselves the name of
+Jacobins which two months ago was fixed on them by way of
+stigma."<a name="FNanchor_264_264" id="FNanchor_264_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a> The first victory of the republicans coincided with
+the first victory of the Revolution against the coalition of kings.
+The French Revolution itself had become a domestic issue and
+was to inject more passion into the strife between the monocrats
+and the republicans.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h2>JACOBIN OR AMERICAN?</h2>
+
+
+<p>One of the first duties of Jefferson in taking charge of foreign
+affairs was to explain to his French friends, who on the other
+side of the Atlantic had been accustomed to look up to him as
+a guide and counsellor, the reasons which had determined his
+choice to remain in America. To Madame de Corny, the
+Duchesse Danville, the Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Madame
+d'Houdetot, he wrote gracefully worded notes, in the best style
+of the society of the time. In France, among other things,
+he had learned how to turn a charming compliment. More
+official but still very graceful is the letter he sent to Montmorin
+to take formal leave of the French Court and at the same
+time introduce himself in his new capacity. But besides the
+compliments, there appears in the letter a reaffirmation that
+the best foundation for international friendship lay in satisfactory
+commercial relations. "May this union of interests
+forever be the patriotic creed of both countries."<a name="FNanchor_265_265" id="FNanchor_265_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a> The new
+Secretary of State had not forgotten that the most important
+questions relative to Gallo-American commerce had not yet been
+settled, and that it would be no negligible part of his duties to
+carry out the principles he had always defended when in Paris.</p>
+
+<p>To Lafayette, closer to his heart than any other Frenchman,
+he explained more fully his view of the situation and stated
+once more the principles which would direct him in his policy
+towards France:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Wherever I am, or ever shall be, I shall be sincere in my friendship
+to you and to your nation. I think with others, that nations are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+to be governed with regard to their own interests, but I am convinced
+that it is their interests, in the long run, to be grateful, faithful to
+their engagements, even in the worst of circumstances, and honorable
+and generous always. If I had not known that the head of our
+government was in these sentiments, and that his national and
+private ethics were the same, I would never have been where I am.<a name="FNanchor_266_266" id="FNanchor_266_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was more than a banal compliment. To the homely
+wisdom of Doctor Franklin that honesty is the best policy,
+Jefferson had added a new element. He had combined in one
+formula two principles which often seem contradictory and
+which at any rate are difficult to reconcile. Not a mere idealist,
+nor simply a practical politician, he was, during the rest of
+his political life, to make persistent efforts to propagate that
+gospel of practical idealism which remains to this day one of
+the fundamental tenets of Americanism. In that respect,
+party lines count little, and Lincoln was quite as much a disciple
+and a continuator of Jefferson as Woodrow Wilson.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in many circumstances
+it would take more than superhuman virtue and
+intelligence rightly to operate that ideal combination and
+maintain an equal balance between national selfishness and
+philosophical idealism. When it came to practice, Jefferson
+showed himself just as canny as any European diplomat and
+never neglected an opportunity to further the interests of his
+country. This appeared in the very first letters he sent to
+Europe after taking charge of the foreign policies of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>Communications were slow at the time. Jefferson was kept
+regularly informed of developments in France by Short, his
+former secretary, left in charge in Paris, who sent him weekly
+letters; but they averaged eleven weeks and a half in transit,
+while of his answers "the quickest were of nine weeks and the
+longest of near eighteen weeks coming." Information through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
+the British papers took about five or six weeks to reach America
+but was not to be relied upon, and Jefferson gave definite instructions
+to Short for "news from Europe is very interesting
+at this moment, when it is so doubtful whether a war will take
+place between our two neighbors."<a name="FNanchor_267_267" id="FNanchor_267_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></p>
+
+<p>This was indeed at the time his main preoccupation. War
+between Spain and England seemed not only possible but probable,
+and Jefferson saw in it an opportunity to press the claims
+of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi. The
+question was not "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), but the navigation of the
+Mississippi and that was not simply to recognize the American
+rights on the river." Navigation "cannot be practiced without
+a port, where the sea and river vessels may meet and exchange
+loads, 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. Jefferson added that he could not answer
+that "the forbearance of our western citizens would last indefinitely,
+and that a moment of impatience, hazard or other
+considerations might precipitate action on their part." On the
+other hand, the United States were in no position to antagonize
+openly even weak Spain, and in case nothing should develop
+Carmichael was instructed to bide his time:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>You will be pleased to observe, that we press these matters 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 object and the same resolutions unalterably;
+but your discretion will suggest, that patience and persuasion must
+temper your conferences, till either of these may prevail, or some
+other circumstances turn up, which may enable us to use other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+means for the attainment of an object which we are determined,
+in the end, to obtain at every risk.<a name="FNanchor_268_268" id="FNanchor_268_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Naturally this is no worse than the ordinary run of instructions
+sent at that time to diplomatic agents by other foreign
+secretaries, and Jefferson's policy was no more underhanded
+than the policies of any other nation of the Old World. It cannot
+be said, however, that it rested upon higher and nobler
+moral principles. Perhaps America had no diplomatic tradition
+at that time, but she was not deficient in tactics, and
+neither Jefferson nor his agents were exactly innocent tools in
+the hands of wily European diplomats.</p>
+
+<p>But this is not all. Jefferson unfolded his whole plan in a
+letter to Short written a week later. In case of a war between
+England and Spain, France would be called into the war as an
+ally on the side of Spain. She would have a right to insist
+that Spain should do everything in her power to lessen the
+number of her potential enemies and to eliminate every cause
+of friction with the United States. "She cannot doubt
+that we shall be of that number, if she does not yield our right
+to common use of the Mississippi, and the means of using and
+securing it." The point made by the United States was that
+"they should have a port near the mouth of the river, so well
+separated from the territories of Spain and her jurisdiction, as
+not to engender daily disputes and broils between us." Such a
+claim was not an arbitrary one, but resulted from the configuration
+of the land. "Nature has decided what shall be the
+geography of that in the end, whatever it might be in the beginning,
+by cutting off from the adjacent countries of Florida and
+Louisiana, and enclosing between two of its channels, a long and
+narrow slip of land, called the Island of New Orleans." Jefferson
+conceded that the idea of ceding that territory might be
+disagreeable to Spain at first, because it constituted their principal
+settlement in those parts, with a population of ten thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>sand
+white inhabitants, but "reason, and events, however, may,
+by little and little, familiarize them to it." The idea, however,
+might seem excessive to Montmorin, particularly as it was
+thought that France had not entirely given up the project of
+recovering the country along the Mississippi. But fortunately
+the National Assembly seemed opposed to conquest and the
+subject might be broached merely in general terms at the beginning.
+Furthermore, Lafayette could be used once more as an
+intermediary without officially compromising the United States.<a name="FNanchor_269_269" id="FNanchor_269_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a></p>
+
+<p>Finally Gouverneur Morris was told to warn England that
+should they entertain any design against any Spanish colony,
+the United States would contemplate a change of neighbors
+with extreme uneasiness. While the United States would
+remain neutral if "they execute the treaty fairly and attempt
+no conquests adjoining us," Jefferson added, "it will be proper
+that these ideas be conveyed in delicate and friendly terms;
+but that they be conveyed, if the war takes place; for it is in
+this case alone, and not till it be begun, that we should wish our
+dispositions to be known."<a name="FNanchor_270_270" id="FNanchor_270_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a> That question being disposed of
+satisfactorily, at least in theory, for after all, the war did not
+break out, Jefferson abandoned temporarily his plans to obtain
+New Orleans. How he resumed them and pushed them to a
+successful conclusion ten years later is too well known to need
+recalling here.</p>
+
+<p>It is not until February 4, 1791, that Jefferson expressed in
+writing his hope to see a republican form of government established
+in France. This was in direct contradiction with all the
+advice and counsel he had given to his French friends when he
+was in Paris, with his repeated affirmations that the French were
+not ready for self-government, and with the conclusions contained
+in his letter written to Jay in the summer of 1789. None
+of the developments that had taken place in France was of such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+a character as to change Jefferson's attitude on the matter.
+But in the meantime, he had come to the conclusion that the
+fate of the republican government in the United States depended
+largely on the failure or success of the French Revolution. If
+it proved impossible for the French to establish a stable form
+of self-government, if they could not withstand the attacks of
+their foreign enemies, the conclusion would inevitably be drawn
+in America that there was an inherent defect and weakness in
+all republican governments. Thus the French Revolution had
+already become an international issue, for the cause of liberty
+could not remain secure for any length of time in America if it
+were crushed in Europe. On that particular point Jefferson
+himself was very explicit:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I look with great anxiety for the firm establishment of the new
+government in France, being perfectly convinced that if it takes
+place there, it will spread sooner or later all over Europe. On the
+contrary, a check there would retard the revival of liberty in other
+countries. I consider the establishment and success of their government
+as necessary to stay up our own, and to prevent it from falling
+back to that kind of half-way house, the English constitution. It
+cannot be denied that we have among us a sect who believe that to
+contain whatever is perfect in human institutions; that the members
+of this sect have, many of them, names and offices which stand high
+in the estimation of our countrymen. I still rely that the great
+mass of our community is untainted with these heresies, as is its
+head. On this I build my hope that we have not labored in vain,
+and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed
+by reason.<a name="FNanchor_271_271" id="FNanchor_271_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On receiving the news that the National Assembly of France
+had gone into mourning over the death of Franklin, Jefferson
+sent to its President one of those letters worded in the "felicitous
+style" which he had perfected in France. His feelings were
+sincere, he had great respect and affection for the Doctor, but he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+knew what was expected of him, and with great skill, without
+promising anything, or using any expression that might be
+taken as a definite promise and turned against him later, he
+made a vague but satisfactory appeal to a sort of international
+friendship, praising the Assembly for having set the first example
+and brought "into our fraternity the good and the great wherever
+they have lived or died." He ended with a reaffirmation
+of the good dispositions of his government towards France:
+"That these separations may disappear between us in all times
+and circumstances, and that the union of sentiment which
+mingles our sorrows on this occasion, may continue long to
+cement the friendship and interests of our two nations, is our
+constant prayer."<a name="FNanchor_272_272" id="FNanchor_272_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_272_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a></p>
+
+<p>This openly declared sympathy for France and his hopes for a
+new form of government did not in the least obscure his views
+on the commercial difficulties between the two countries. The
+bone of contention was still the question of commerce with the
+West Indies. The National Assembly, on ratifying the consular
+conventions, had showed little disposition to admit the right
+of the United States to send consular agents to the West Indies.
+In his opinion the word <i>"&Eacute;tats du roi"</i> did not mean merely
+France, but all colonial possessions of France as indicated in the
+translation "French dominions." He was not ready officially
+to press the matter so as to cause difficulties between the two
+nations and was willing to have the two agents already
+appointed, "Skipwith at Martinique and Bourne at St. Dominique",
+ask for a regular exequatur.<a name="FNanchor_273_273" id="FNanchor_273_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_273_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></p>
+
+<p>He elaborated on his policy with reference to the West Indies
+in another letter to Short, written three months later. In it
+will be found expressed more discreetly, but no less firmly, the
+philosophy outlined already with reference to Spain and the
+Mississippi. He maintained first of all that the United States<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+had no design whatever on the West Indies, for "If there be one
+principle more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every
+American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."
+This principle once established, he proceeded to examine
+the situation from a practical point of view. The regulations
+imposed by the French on their colonies are such that they
+cannot trade directly with their neighbors; for the supplies
+necessary to relieve their mutual wants have to be carried first
+to France in order to be exported either to the colonies or to
+the American continent. This is contrary to the natural order
+of things: "An exchange of surplusses and wants between
+neighbor nations, is both a right and a duty under the moral
+law, and measures against right should be mollified in their
+exercise, if it be wished to lengthen them to the greatest term
+possible." It seemed to Jefferson that such a right ought to be
+recognized by any unprejudiced mind; but, unfortunately,
+"Europeans in general have been too long in the habit of confounding
+force with right with respect to America." Circumstances
+are such that these rights cannot be pressed very strongly
+and "can be advanced only with delicacy", but what the United
+States cannot do themselves, Lafayette perhaps can present
+informally to his friends. He alone can make them understand
+that, while they are establishing a new r&eacute;gime for their colonial
+possessions of the West Indies, "in policy, if not in justice, they
+should be disposed to avoid oppression, which, falling on us,
+as well as on their colonies, might tempt us to act together."<a name="FNanchor_274_274" id="FNanchor_274_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a></p>
+
+<p>Was this a veiled threat? Not exactly. It was an extension
+of Montesquieu's theory of laws to international relations, an
+application of the theories of the French economists on free
+trade. But even supposing that the theory itself had some
+remote French origin, to a large extent it was new and typically
+American. Only former colonies which had won their complete<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+independence could maintain that, in matters of trade, the colonies
+were completely independent of the metropolis, and that
+commercial and geographical considerations should outweigh
+political regulations. The United States were strongly inclined
+to use every favorable opportunity to make this principle obtain
+in their relations with their neighbors, and what was a far
+more dangerous thing, they considered this policy both "a right
+and a duty under the moral law." It was not political imperialism
+to be sure, but in our days it certainly would be called commercial
+imperialism under a moral disguise. At that time, it
+was really a theory far in advance of both the theory and practice
+of any European nation, and it is very doubtful whether
+Jefferson would have found justification for it in any of the
+authorities on the law of nations he had consulted with reference
+to the navigation of the Mississippi.<a name="FNanchor_275_275" id="FNanchor_275_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt that Jefferson fully realized all the implications
+of his doctrine, for he submitted it to the President before
+sending it to Short in cipher; but he insisted that, if the contents
+of his letter were permitted to leak out at a favorable
+opportunity, "the National Assembly might see the impolicy
+of insisting on particular conditions, which, operating as
+grievances on us, as well as on their colonists, might produce a
+concert of action."<a name="FNanchor_276_276" id="FNanchor_276_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></p>
+
+<p>The news of the flight of the king was for him another evidence
+of the "fruits of that form of government, which heaps
+importance on idiots, and which the Tories of the present day
+are trying to preach into our favor." Then he added significantly:
+"I still hope the French revolution will issue happily.
+I feel that the permanence of our own leans in some degree
+on that; and that a failure there would be a powerful argument
+to prove there would be a failure here."<a name="FNanchor_277_277" id="FNanchor_277_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_277_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile his actions were far more cautious than his theories
+would lead one to believe. When the Santo Domingo Assembly
+placed their situation before the Government of the United
+States, asking for ammunition, arms, and provisions to be charged
+against the money owed France by the United States, Jefferson
+answered that although the United States had with them "some
+common points of union in matters of commerce" he could not
+do anything without the approbation of Ternant. When the
+colonists asked him what would be the attitude of the United
+States in case they became independent, Jefferson did not conceal
+the fact that they would lay themselves open to any attack
+by a strong nation and that their interest, as well as the interests
+of the United States, was to see them retain their connection
+with their mother country; and he finally decided to give
+them such small supplies from time to time "as will keep them
+from real distress, and to wait with patience for what would
+be a surplus, till M. Ternant can receive instructions from
+France.... It would be unwise in the highest degree, that
+the colonists should be disgusted with either France or us."<a name="FNanchor_278_278" id="FNanchor_278_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></p>
+
+<p>He was soon to be deprived, however, of direct news from
+France, for Short was transferred from Paris to the Hague and
+Gouverneur Morris appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to
+France.<a name="FNanchor_279_279" id="FNanchor_279_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a> He had to explain his policy to the new minister,
+which he did on March 10, 1792, this time insisting that nothing
+in the conduct or the views of the United States should cause
+any apprehension to the French Government and that he
+should allay all fears on that score.<a name="FNanchor_280_280" id="FNanchor_280_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_280_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a> But with Lafayette he
+still insisted that if he did not mention the point again, it was
+largely because he considered that it had been won:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We have been less zealous in aiding them, lest your government
+should feel any jealousy on our account. But, in truth, we as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+sincerely wish their restoration and connection with you, as you do
+yourselves. We are satisfied that neither your justice nor their
+distresses will ever again permit their being forced to seek at dear
+and distant markets those first necessaries of life which they may
+have at cheaper markets, placed by nature at their door, and formed
+by her for their support.<a name="FNanchor_281_281" id="FNanchor_281_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_281_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It was not until the latter part of 1792 that reiterated letters
+from Morris, describing the situation and asking for instructions,
+forced Jefferson to make a very important declaration on
+relations that could be transacted with revolutionary governments.
+There again he displayed the resourcefulness of a good
+lawyer combined with the idealism of a political philosopher.
+Having no hint of the form of government that the French were
+to adopt, he thought it necessary to lay down certain principles
+to direct the conduct of the American plenipotentiary in Paris.
+They were substantially as follows: The permanent principle
+of the United States was to recognize any government "which is
+formed by the will of the nation substantially declared." If
+the government to be formed by the French presented such a
+character, there was no reason to doubt that the United States
+would grant recognition, and Morris could proceed without
+further ado to transact with them "every kind of business."
+On the other hand, the government established might present
+an entirely different complexion and in that case the recognition
+might be more doubtful; but even then it was to be considered
+as a <i>de facto</i>, if not a <i>de jure</i> government, and it was the
+duty of the American minister to discuss some matters with
+them in order to obtain concessions "reforming the unfriendly
+restrictions on our commerce and navigation."<a name="FNanchor_282_282" id="FNanchor_282_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a> The question
+as to Morris' safety was left entirely to him to determine and
+could not very well be the object of precise instructions.</p>
+
+<p>Two weeks later, Jefferson himself had an opportunity to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+make a practical application of his policy. Although they had
+received no formal authority from the National Assembly,
+the United States were willing to contribute aids from time to
+time to Santo Domingo, and were placing at their disposal for
+December the sum of forty thousand dollars. But Jefferson
+insisted that such moneys as were thus obtained were to be
+spent in America where supplies could be had cheapest, "and
+where the same sum would consequently effect the greatest
+measure of relief to the colony." Incidentally, it was spent
+also for the greatest benefit of the American merchants, and
+strengthened the commercial connection between the islands
+and the American continent, a point not to be mentioned to the
+French envoy, but well worth keeping in mind.<a name="FNanchor_283_283" id="FNanchor_283_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of 1793, Jefferson was not only inclined to
+treat favorably the new French Government but resented
+strongly any criticism of it. When he discovered that in several
+letters his friend and disciple Short had censured the proceedings
+of the French Jacobins, Jefferson, fearing that he had been
+corrupted by aristocratic friendships, undertook to set him right
+on the matter. He took the following view of the situation:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The contest had been between the Feuillant patriots favoring a
+free constitution with an hereditary executive and the Jacobins who
+thought that expunging that office was an absolute necessity. The
+Feuillants had their day and their experiment had failed miserably.
+The nation was with them in opinion and had finally won. Certainly
+in the struggle many guilty persons fell without the forms of
+trial and innocents with them. But altogether they are to be considered
+as soldiers who have fallen during a battle; their memory
+will be embalmed by truth and time.</p></div>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the only thing to consider was that the liberty of
+the whole world depended on the issue of the contest:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Was ever such a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own
+affections have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>
+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 is now.</p></div>
+
+<p>Short was then severely rebuked for having expressed in
+conversations sentiments offensive to the French patriots. He
+was reminded that there were in the United States "some characters
+of opposite principles hostile to France, and fondly looking
+to England as the staff of their hopes. Their prospects have
+certainly not brightened.... The successes of republicanism
+in France have given the <i>coup de grace</i> to their prospects, and
+I hope to their projects." This was to be kept in mind by
+Short, and, as Jefferson intended to retire at an early date,
+he called his attention to the fact that not knowing who his
+successor would be and into whose hands his further communications
+would fall, he had better be prudent and not let his
+"too great sensibility to the misfortunes of some dear friends
+obscure his republicanism."<a name="FNanchor_284_284" id="FNanchor_284_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a></p>
+
+<p>In a communication to Gouverneur Morris, Jefferson was
+more reserved but no less insistent upon the principle that the
+French Government was a government <i>de jure</i> as well as <i>de
+facto</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We surely cannot deny to any nation that right whereon our own
+government is founded, that every one may govern itself according
+to whatever form it pleases, and change these forms at its own will;
+and that it may transact its business with foreign nations through
+whatever organ it thinks proper, whether King, Convention,
+Assembly, Committee, President, or anything else it may choose.
+The will of the nation is the only essential thing to be regarded.
+Such being the case, the United States not only should continue to
+pay the installment on the debt but use their utmost endeavors to
+make punctual payments. Urged by the strongest attachment to
+that country, and thinking it is even providential that moneys lent
+to us in distress could be repaid under like circumstances, we had no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
+hesitation to comply with the application, and arrangements are
+accordingly taken, for furnishing this sum at epochs accommodated
+to the demands and our means of paying it.</p></div>
+
+<p>This was the doctrine of national gratitude reaffirmed and
+illustrated, but naturally relations could not be placed on
+an entirely sentimental basis. Morris was instructed at the
+same time "to use and improve every possible opportunity
+which may occur in the changeable scenes which are passing,
+and to seize them as they occur, for placing our commerce with
+that nation and its dependencies, on the freest and most encouraging
+footing possible."<a name="FNanchor_285_285" id="FNanchor_285_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></p>
+
+<p>A week later news of the execution of the king arrived at
+Philadelphia. For the fate of Louis XVI, Jefferson felt and
+expressed little personal regret. He never held the monarch
+in high esteem: furthermore, the example set by France might
+teach a good lesson to other autocrats and "soften the monarchical
+governments, by rendering monarchs amenable to punishment
+like other criminals, and doing away with that rage of insolence
+and oppression, the inviolability of the King's person."<a name="FNanchor_286_286" id="FNanchor_286_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a>
+Here again it is evident that domestic considerations were
+uppermost in Jefferson's mind. Never could one correct too
+vigorously those who wished to establish a monarchy in the
+United States. Whether he was justified or not, Jefferson sincerely
+believed that the American republic was in danger, and
+his attitude at that time reflects his fear of the monocrats
+more than any real sympathy for the French Terrorists.</p>
+
+<p>Thus spoke Jefferson, the party man, and he made no mystery
+of his sentiments either in his conversations or in his private
+letters. The Secretary of State, however, could not easily afford
+to adopt publicly the same attitude. Early in February
+Colonel W. S. Smith had brought the intelligence that the
+French Minister Ternant, whose royalist opinions shocked the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>
+French sympathizers in Philadelphia, would be recalled and
+Citizen Genet would be sent in his place by the Republic. It
+was already known that Genet would bring very advantageous
+propositions to the United States, for he would come</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>with full powers to give us all the privileges we can desire in their
+countries, and particularly in the West Indies; that they even contemplate
+to set them free the next summer; that they proposed to
+emancipate South America, and will send forty-five ships of the
+line there next spring, and Miranda at the head of the expedition;
+that they desire our debt to be paid them in provisions, and have
+authorized him to negotiate this.<a name="FNanchor_287_287" id="FNanchor_287_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the other hand it was to be feared that Genet would
+remind the American Government of the existence of the
+Treaty of 1778, by which the United States agreed to give distinct
+advantages to French privateers and to guarantee the
+integrity of the French West Indies. It was not until April
+that it was known war had been declared between France and
+England. Were the United States going to be dragged into the
+European convulsions and would they have to side openly with
+their former ally? Acting on the information received from
+Colonel Smith, Jefferson quickly wrote to Carmichael and
+Short, asking them to refrain from mentioning the Louisiana
+question to Spain, and chiefly to be very careful not to "bind us
+to guarantee any of the Spanish colonies against their own
+independence, nor indeed against any other nation." Jefferson
+believed that there was a possibility of seeing France encourage
+the Spanish colonies to revolt and would not have objected "to
+the receiving those on the east side into our confederation."
+This was an eventuality not to be lightly dismissed, and once
+more Jefferson's uppermost preoccupation was not to please
+the French Revolutionists but to further the interests of his
+country.<a name="FNanchor_288_288" id="FNanchor_288_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a> But before deciding upon any course of action it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+advisable to temporize and to find out from what quarter the
+wind was about to blow. The only thing to do for the present
+was to wait and to avoid any unpleasant complications with
+the powers at war; and first of all to see to it that the United
+States should enjoy the rights and privileges of a complete
+neutrality. Jefferson began sending instructions to that effect
+to Samuel Shaw, consul at Canton, China.<a name="FNanchor_289_289" id="FNanchor_289_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_289_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a> Two days later
+he wrote even more explicitly to Dumas: "We wish not to
+meddle with the internal affairs of any country, nor with the
+general affairs of Europe. Peace with all nations, and the
+right which that gives us with all nations are our objects. It
+will be necessary for all our public agents to exert themselves
+with vigilance for securing to our vessels all the rights of neutrality,
+and from preventing the vessels of other nations from
+usurping our flags."<a name="FNanchor_290_290" id="FNanchor_290_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_290_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a></p>
+
+<p>As the cabinet met only one month later (April 18) at the
+request of Washington to discuss the proclamation of neutrality,
+it is not without importance to call attention to the
+date and the text of that letter. Winning Jefferson over
+to the position finally adopted by the American Government
+could not present insuperable difficulties since he had already
+outlined the same policy even before consulting with the
+President, and on his own initiative had sent instructions to
+the agents.</p>
+
+<p>When the Cabinet met to consider the emergency, and the
+several secretaries were invited by Washington to submit their
+opinions in writing, the course to be followed was officially
+agreed upon and Washington issued the famous Proclamation
+of Neutrality on April 22,&mdash;the very same day the new minister
+from France landed at Charleston. Jefferson did not lose any
+time notifying the American agents abroad of the policy of the
+United States, repeating substantially the instructions already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
+sent to Dumas one month before.<a name="FNanchor_291_291" id="FNanchor_291_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_291_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a> At the same time Ternant
+was officially notified that credits opened in favor of the West
+Indies had to be stopped;<a name="FNanchor_292_292" id="FNanchor_292_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_292_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a> as the emergency had passed and
+a regular government had been established in France, money
+could be appropriated from the regular installments paid on
+the debt.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%;">
+<img src="images/pic290b.jpg" width="100%" alt="THOMAS JEFFERSON" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THOMAS JEFFERSON<br />
+<br />
+<i>From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale</i></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>According to a letter written to Monroe,<a name="FNanchor_293_293" id="FNanchor_293_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_293_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a> Jefferson saw with
+a secret pleasure, the monocrat papers publish the most furious
+philippics against England, and the old spirit of 1776 rekindled
+from Charleston to Boston. He expressed the pious wish that
+"we may be able to repress the spirit of the people within the
+limits of fair neutrality." But he revolted against what he
+considered a subservient attitude to England on the part of
+Hamilton. It is one of the few occasions in which he departed in
+a letter (I do not count the "Anas") from his judicial attitude:
+"In the meantime," he said, "Hamilton is panick struck, if we
+refuse our breech to every kick which Great Britain may choose
+to give it. In order to preserve even a sneaking neutrality a
+fight is necessary in every council for our votes are generally two
+and a half against one and a half."</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's private opinion might have favored the French
+Revolution, as it undoubtedly did. I do not see, however,
+that in any important circumstance he departed from the
+strict line of neutrality which he had traced for the country.</p>
+
+<p>He sent instructions to Thomas Pinckney<a name="FNanchor_294_294" id="FNanchor_294_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_294_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a> to the effect that,
+in order to avoid any violation of neutrality, passports could be
+issued to vessels only in American ports; that "in other lands
+American citizens were free to purchase and use any foreign
+built vessels, as those were entitled to the same protection as
+home built vessels." That all vessels belonging to citizens of
+the United States loaded with grain to the port of one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>
+belligerents could not be stopped by the other belligerent if
+going to an unblockaded port.</p>
+
+<p>Then Genet, still at Charleston and before being regularly
+accredited, took upon himself to outfit privateers and to commission
+them. "The British ship <i>Grange</i>, while lying at
+anchor in the bay of Delaware, within the territory and jurisdiction
+of the United States, was taken possession of by the
+<i>Embuscade</i>, a frigate of the French Republic, brought to port
+where she was detained as a prize and the crew kept prisoners."<a name="FNanchor_295_295" id="FNanchor_295_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_295_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a>
+Ternant was asked to detain the vessel, waiting for a decision to
+be taken concerning the representations of the British minister,
+Hammond. But it will be seen in Jefferson's letter to Hammond<a name="FNanchor_296_296" id="FNanchor_296_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_296_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a>
+that he did not hesitate to grant that the capture of the
+<i>Grange</i> was not "warranted by the usage of nations, nor by the
+existing treaties between the United States and France", nor,
+Jefferson added, "by any law of the land." On the other hand
+he maintained that agents of the French Government were free
+to purchase "arms and military accoutrements" with an intent
+to export them to France, and that citizens of the United States
+could sell such articles, being duly warned, however, that they
+were subject to confiscation should they fall into the hands of
+a belligerent.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, it took all the calamitous blunders of Genet to turn
+Jefferson against him. From Charleston, where he had landed,
+to Philadelphia, his march had been a triumph. The citizens of
+Philadelphia, hearing that the President might refuse to receive
+him, had even decided to give him an ovation and to meet him
+at Gray's Ferry. He delivered his credentials on May 18, and
+at once communicated the object of his mission in a style which
+now appears grandiloquent, but simply reflected that enthusiasm
+for America which was running so high in France at the
+time. "In short," wrote Jefferson to Madison, "he offers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+everything, and asks nothing."<a name="FNanchor_297_297" id="FNanchor_297_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_297_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a> This was too good to be
+true, and too wonderful to last long.</p>
+
+<p>Less than three weeks later (June 5) Jefferson had to send to
+Genet strong representations on his attitude and pointed out
+several breaches of neutrality, particularly in the arming of
+French privateers in American ports, stating rather stiffly that
+it was "the <i>right</i> of every nation to prohibit acts of sovereignty
+from being exercised by any other nation within its limits and
+the duty of a neutral nation to prohibit such as would injure
+one of the warring powers."</p>
+
+<p>But in a letter to Hammond he stated that the measures could
+not be retrospective. In the first days of the war, French
+citizens, duly commissioned by the authorities of their country,
+had captured British vessels. It was impossible for the United
+States to rescue those vessels from the captors. All that could
+be done was to prevent the repetition of such an incident and
+to order the departure of all French privateers from the ports
+of the United States. It was fine legal reasoning, not without
+some of that hairsplitting for which Jefferson reproached
+Randolph. Whether Randolph had a hand or not in the reaching
+of that decision is another question. Jefferson indorsed it
+in transmitting it both to Hammond and Genet.</p>
+
+<p>Another proposition of Genet did not meet with more favorable
+approval. The Republic was hard pressed for money, and
+the new plenipotentiary had been requested to make every
+possible effort "to obtain payment in one lump sum of all the
+annuities coming to France, taking the debt in produce if necessary,
+or changing it into bonds to be sold to the public." To
+this Jefferson was unequivocally opposed, although he referred
+the President to Hamilton. He recommended payment in
+advance of the installments due for the year, but strongly
+objected to changing the form of the debt.<a name="FNanchor_298_298" id="FNanchor_298_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_298_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a> He wrote, further<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>more,
+to Gouverneur Morris to acquaint him with the situation
+and to request him "to prevent any such proposition in the
+future from being brought forward."<a name="FNanchor_299_299" id="FNanchor_299_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_299_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a></p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, although Jefferson expressed pious and
+fervent wishes for the success of the French, I cannot see that
+he officially did much to further their cause. He was not even
+pleased by the agitation and propaganda in their behalf carried
+on in America by enthusiastic patriots. This appears very
+clearly in a letter to his son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph,
+which, better than any official document, indicates his state of
+mind at the end of June, 1793:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The French have been guilty of great errors in their conduct
+towards other nations, not only in insulting uselessly all crowned
+heads, but endeavoring to force liberty on their neighbors in their
+own form. They seem to be correcting themselves on the latter
+point; the war between them and England embarrasses our government
+daily and immensely. The predilection of our citizens for
+France renders it very difficult to suppress their attempts to cruise
+against the English on the ocean, and to do justice to the latter in
+cases where they are entitled to it.<a name="FNanchor_300_300" id="FNanchor_300_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_300_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Monroe had sent him a long dissertation on the proclamation
+of neutrality which he judged both "unpolitick and unconstitutional";
+for, if the President "possesses the right to say we shall
+be neutral, he might say we should not be."<a name="FNanchor_301_301" id="FNanchor_301_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_301_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a></p>
+
+<p>To this Jefferson answered that his friends' apprehensions
+were somewhat exaggerated, for the United States being at
+peace with England, the so-called proclamation of neutrality&mdash;which,
+by the way, did not contain the word neutrality&mdash;did
+nothing but maintain a <i>status quo</i>. This was a fine legal distinction,
+not very convincing, but very characteristic of Jefferson's
+state of mind at that time and of his reluctance to favor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>
+the French side. Had he ever wished to do it, the attitude of
+the French envoy would have soon forced him to adopt a
+different policy.</p>
+
+<p>The case of Citizen Genet is too well known to require
+elaborate treatment. Less than six weeks after his arrival in
+Philadelphia, Jefferson had given him up as hopeless and
+dangerous:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Never in my opinion, was so calamitous an appointment made, as
+that of the present minister of France here. Hot headed, all
+imagination, no judgment, passionate, disrespectful &amp; even indecent
+towards the President in his written as well as verbal communications,
+talking of appeals from him to Congress, from them to the
+people, urging the most unreasonable &amp; groundless propositions, &amp;
+in the most dictatorial style.<a name="FNanchor_302_302" id="FNanchor_302_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_302_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The case of the <i>Little Sarah</i>, a British prize, taken to Philadelphia
+and refitted as a privateer by Genet's orders, brought the
+matter to a head. Genet was warned that the vessel could not
+sail; he refused to give definite assurances that it would not be
+ordered to sea. Washington was away at the time, and Knox
+and Hamilton proposed mounting a battery of cannon to prevent
+the sailing of the vessel, a measure strongly opposed by
+Jefferson, determined to avoid at all cost measures tantamount
+to a declaration of war. The <i>Little Sarah</i> and the <i>Democrat</i>
+escaped, and Washington in vehement words manifested his
+disapproval of the weakness shown on this occasion. The
+least the American Government could do was to ask that Genet
+be recalled, and it was so decided at a meeting of the Cabinet on
+August 3. In a long letter intended for the French Government,
+but sent to Gouverneur Morris and communicated to Genet
+himself, Jefferson drew up a terrible indictment of the French
+minister. Hamilton and Knox were decidedly in favor of
+stronger measures and of deciding then and there upon the
+"<i>renvoi</i>" of Genet. Jefferson, following his constant policy, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
+against a measure that could be construed as the recognition
+that a state of war existed between the two countries. This
+has been sometimes interpreted as evincing partiality to France
+on his part, but entries in the "Anas" under August 20 and
+August 23 demonstrate beyond any doubt that he was also
+guided by his uppermost desire to promote the interests of his
+country.</p>
+
+<p>There was at least some reason to believe that Genet's conduct
+would not receive the support of his Government, and on
+the other hand he had brought over with him certain proposals
+worth considering for a treaty referring to the commerce with
+the West Indies. Although the Cabinet had never considered the
+question formally, Jefferson estimated the matter of such importance
+that he had taken it upon himself to discuss it with Genet
+in several conversations. To leave the friendly overtures of the
+French Republic without any answer would not only be insulting
+but highly unpolitic, since the Executive might be accused "of
+neglecting the interests of the United States." Under these
+circumstances some means had to be found of sparing the
+feelings of the French Government, so as not to lose entirely the
+chances of concluding a treaty so advantageous to the United
+States. As Secretary of State, Jefferson had to find a satisfactory
+formula. This was to ask the French Government to recall
+Genet, but at the same time to appoint his successor and to
+renew to this successor the powers granted originally to Genet.
+Such was the tenor of his letter to Morris, a very clever solution
+to a very difficult situation. As for Genet himself, he was to be
+tolerated until the arrival of his successor.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately the "citizen" did not know how to keep quiet
+or when to quit. Not a dishonest man in ordinary life, not
+even an unintelligent man, he was the greatest bungler ever sent
+by a friendly nation to another. When he arrived in May,
+1793, he had public opinion largely in his favor. Members of
+Congress and of the government, except possibly Hamilton,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>
+were not hostile to France; the French envoy could have
+obtained distinct advantages for his country if he had proceeded
+slowly and with ordinary caution. Two months later he had
+succeeded in turning against himself and against the country he
+represented the whole of public opinion, in sowing germs of distrust
+never to be eradicated, in fixing and crystallizing all sorts
+of prejudices and unfavorable generalizations about France.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson had made all possible efforts to keep the disaffection
+of the American Government toward the French minister as
+much under cover as possible. But Citizen Genet threw down
+the gauntlet by publishing part of his official correspondence,
+thus forcing an appeal to the people and running the risk of
+arousing the "disgusts" Jefferson had so much wished to avoid.<a name="FNanchor_303_303" id="FNanchor_303_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_303_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a>
+A week later, he had to admit to Madison that Genet's conduct
+"has given room to the enemies of France to come forward in a
+style of acrimony against that nation which they never dared to
+have done. The disapprobation of the agent mingles with the
+reprehension of his nation and gives a toleration to that which
+it never had before."<a name="FNanchor_304_304" id="FNanchor_304_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_304_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a></p>
+
+<p>By a strange irony of fate, one of the last acts of Jefferson as
+Secretary of State was a final protest against Genet's attitude.
+Six months before he had been notified that he could not be
+received by the Executive and that all communications from
+him had to be made in writing. Deciding to appeal to Congress
+over the head of the President, Genet had copies of his instructions
+printed, demanding that they should be laid before both
+houses. A more stupid and childish step could hardly be
+imagined. Jefferson, requested by the President to draw up an
+answer to Genet, wrote at first a scathing denunciation of the
+French minister which was probably thought too strong, for it
+is marked "not inserted" on the manuscript:<a name="FNanchor_305_305" id="FNanchor_305_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_305_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The terms in which you permit yourself in this and some other of
+your letters to speak of the President of the U. S., and the influence
+and impressions you venture to ascribe to him, are calculated to
+excite sentiments which need no explanation. On what grounds of
+truth they are hazarded, how to reconcile them to decorum, to the
+respect due to the person and character of our chief magistrate,
+and to the nation over which he presides and that too from the
+representative of a friendly people, are questions left to your mature
+reflection.</p></div>
+
+<p>The letter which was finally sent, more moderate in its terms,
+was nevertheless a formal reminder of diplomatic proprieties:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Your functions as the missionary of a foreign mission here, are
+confined to the transactions of the affairs of your nation with the
+Executive of the United States; that the communications, which
+are to pass between the Executive and Legislative branches, cannot
+be a subject for your interference, and that the President must be
+left to judge for himself what matters his duty or the public good
+may require him to propose to the deliberations of Congress. I have
+therefore the honor of returning you the copies sent for distribution.<a name="FNanchor_306_306" id="FNanchor_306_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_306_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>That very same day Jefferson resigned his office into the
+hands of Washington, assuring him that in his retirement he
+was taking with him "a lively sense of the President's goodness,
+and would continue gratefully to remember it."<a name="FNanchor_307_307" id="FNanchor_307_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_307_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>MONTICELLO&mdash;AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS</h2>
+
+
+<p>When Jefferson left Philadelphia for what he sincerely
+believed would be definite retirement from the field of politics,
+he felt weary, tired, and already old. He had transacted all
+the business of his office with a minimum of clerical assistance,
+attending himself to all the details not only of foreign but also
+of domestic affairs, sometimes translating documents which he
+did not trust Freneau with, preparing reports for the President,
+digging in his manuals of international law, Wolfe, Puffendorff,
+Vatel, and Grotius. The actual labor was enormous, the
+variety of subjects amazing; many times during the course of
+a day he had to shift from one subject to another. Under fire
+all the time, harassed by the Federalist papers, consulted by
+the leaders of the party which was beginning to form, he had not
+broken down under the strain, but was in urgent need of complete
+rest and agricultural quietude. He had packed books and
+furniture in advance and sent everything to Monticello; his
+letter to Genet written, he set out for Virginia without even
+waiting for the justification that would result from the order to
+publish his correspondence with the French minister.</p>
+
+<p>At that time a vague idea that he could turn a new leaf and
+start a new life may fugitively have crossed his mind. He
+had respectfully but profoundly admired Madame de Corny
+when he was in Paris. News from her had come through
+Mrs. Church; Mr. de Corny had died; Madame de Corny left
+a widow in very limited circumstances had retired to Rouen.<a name="FNanchor_308_308" id="FNanchor_308_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_308_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>
+It seems that he entertained the hope that she might decide to
+move to America and in that case he would have liked to see her
+at Monticello: "Madame de Cosway is in a convent ... that
+she would have rather sought the mountain-top. How happy
+should I be that it were <i>mine</i>, that you, she, and Madame de
+Corny would seek." But he had seen too many of these brilliant
+French women in Philadelphia to believe that a Parisian
+could ever become accustomed to the simplicity of Monticello
+and to its lack of entertainments, and he made the suggestion
+very timidly: "I know of no country where the remains of a
+fortune could place her so much at her ease as this, and where
+public esteem is so much attached to worth, regardless of
+wealth; our manners &amp; the state of society here are so different
+from those to which her habits have been formed, that she
+would lose more perhaps in that scale." After all, he had not
+changed so much since he had declared his flame to Belinda,
+almost in the same terms, twenty years earlier. This was the
+typical Jeffersonian way of presenting his own wishes, of letting
+the others decide after he had stated the pros and cons; clearly
+he was not made to win personal triumphs, either in love or
+in politics.</p>
+
+<p>Of politics he was utterly sick. He pictured himself spending
+the rest of his days in bucolic occupations. "The length of my
+tether is now fixed for life from Monticello to Richmond," he
+wrote to Gates. "My private business can never call me elsewhere,
+and certainly politics will not, which I have ever hated
+both in theory and practice."<a name="FNanchor_309_309" id="FNanchor_309_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_309_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></p>
+
+<p>Writing to Mrs. Church, he had gone into more details.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I am to be liberated from the hated occupations of politics retire
+into the bosom of my family, my farm, &amp; my books. I have my
+house to build, my family to form, and to watch for the happiness of
+those who labor for mine. I have one daughter married to a man of
+science, sense, virtue and competence; in whom indeed I have noth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>ing
+more to wish. They live with me. If the other shall be as
+fortunate in the process of time, I shall imagine myself as blessed as
+the most blessed of the patriarchs.<a name="FNanchor_310_310" id="FNanchor_310_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_310_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>At Monticello he found Martha and her husband, Thomas
+Mann Randolph, and induced the young couple to stay with
+him. Maria was now a tall girl, vivacious and witty, who
+would soon find a suitor. Devoting himself entirely to his
+family and domestic cares, Jefferson plunged into the reorganization
+of his estate left to an overseer for more than ten years,
+and granted so little attention to politics that he did not even
+subscribe to any newspaper, being quite content with those
+published at Richmond. "I think it is Montaigne who has
+said that ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can
+rest his head," he wrote to Edmund Randolph. "I am sure it
+is true as to everything political, and shall endeavor to estrange
+myself to everything of that character."<a name="FNanchor_311_311" id="FNanchor_311_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_311_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a> Since that time
+there have been in American politics many instances of politicians
+who left for a hunting party, or retired to their farms in
+order to avoid responsibility. This was not the attitude of
+Jefferson; his was no temporary retirement while waiting for
+the storm to blow itself over. Had he chosen to remain in
+Philadelphia, as he had been asked to do by Washington, he
+would have at least checked Hamilton's personal influence and
+counterbalanced in Washington's mind the advice and counsels
+of his enemy. His party had been reorganized and the republicans
+had just obtained a majority in the new Congress, but his
+principles were far from being secure. He indicated it himself
+in the same letter to Randolph when he wrote:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I indulge myself on one political topic only, that is, in declaring
+to my countrymen the shameless corruption of a portion of the
+Representatives to the first and second Congresses, and their implicit
+devotion to the Treasury. I think I do good in this, because it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
+may produce exertions to reform the evil on the success of which the
+form of the government is to depend.</p></div>
+
+<p>Shortly after coming back to Monticello, he discovered,
+somewhat to his dismay, that the rank and file of the good
+people of the country did not pay much attention to the political
+battle which was still raging in Philadelphia. He went to
+"court" at Charlottesville at the beginning of February and
+was amazed to find that his neighbors had not heard of
+Madison's speeches in Congress or even of the recall of Genet.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I could not have supposed&mdash;he wrote to Madison&mdash;when at
+Philadelphia that so little of what was passing there could be known
+even at Kentucky as is the case here. Judging from this of the rest
+of the Union, it is evident to me that the people are not in a condition
+either to approve or disapprove of their government, nor consequently
+to influence it.<a name="FNanchor_312_312" id="FNanchor_312_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_312_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This would tend to give confirmation to the supposition I
+timidly ventured in the last chapter. Neither the inflammatory
+speeches made in Congress, nor the foundation of democratic
+clubs, nor the newspaper battle between different editors had
+been able to rouse the people of the country. In America, as
+in every other country, the rural population, at that time the
+majority of the population, remained passive and took little
+interest in discussions that did not immediately affect their
+interests. Then, too, as in our days, the press was able to
+modify and to influence to some extent public opinion, but did
+not express it. Editors were years in advance of the slow-moving
+masses in their prognostications. It takes a national
+emergency, a violent crisis or a well-organized political machine
+to coalesce the great majority of a people and force them to see
+beyond the limited horizon of their village, their county or
+their State. This is so even now, and it was certainly so a century
+and a half ago, when the parochial and provincial spirit was
+still stronger than the national spirit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Since this was realized by Jefferson, it is difficult to understand
+how he did not come to the conclusion that his clear duty
+was to go back to Philadelphia and do his utmost to educate an
+apathetic people. But he was not the man to enjoy strife and
+struggle; he was too sensitive of personal criticism and attacks,
+too timid also to care to exchange blows with an opponent. He
+was the type of man who likes to play chess by correspondence,
+to suggest solutions, but not the one "to knead the dough",
+as the French say, and to take an active part in the daily
+game of politics.</p>
+
+<p>From his retirement he found time to answer letters from
+Madison and Monroe. Before leaving Philadelphia, he had
+transmitted to the House of Representatives a Report on the
+Privileges and Restrictions of the Commerce of the United
+States.<a name="FNanchor_313_313" id="FNanchor_313_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_313_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a> It was incumbent upon Madison to draw from it
+specific recommendations. Jefferson pointed out in a dispassionate
+way the obstacles put by Great Britain to the growth
+of American commerce, her lack of reciprocal treatment, her
+prohibitions and restrictions. He ended by indicating that
+France had, of her own accord, proposed negotiations for
+improving the commercial relations between the two countries
+by a new treaty on fair and equal principles; that her internal
+disturbances alone had prevented her from doing it, though
+the government had repeatedly manifested reassuring dispositions.
+On the contrary, "in spite of friendly advances and
+arrangements proposed to Great Britain, they being already on
+as good a footing in law, and a better in fact, than the most
+favored nation, they have not, as yet, discovered any disposition
+to have it meddled with." As a remedy, pending the
+conclusion of treaties, Jefferson laid down five principles to
+protect American commerce and retaliate in so far as would
+not hurt the interests of the American people, although at the
+beginning trade might suffer from it. A storm broke out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>
+Congress, and once more Jefferson became the target of the
+Federalists.</p>
+
+<p>He was not uninformed of these developments, for Madison
+and Monroe sent him several letters at short intervals at the
+beginning of March; nor did he leave his lieutenants without
+directions. He still hoped that a war could be avoided; but he
+could not conceive that it would be possible in any event to let
+Great Britain seize the French West Indies: "I have no doubt
+that we ought to interpose at a proper time, and declare both
+to France and England that these islands are to rest with
+France, and that we will make a common cause with the latter
+for that object." Having thus outlined these policies, he
+relapsed into his ataraxy, affirming that he had not seen a
+Philadelphia paper until he had received those inclosed by
+Madison. The patience of Monroe must have been taxed to
+the breaking point when, after sending to his chief a long letter
+full of detailed information, he received in answer an equally
+long letter replete with agricultural disquisitions&mdash;"on such
+things as you are too little of a farmer to take much interest
+in."<a name="FNanchor_314_314" id="FNanchor_314_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_314_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></p>
+
+<p>The supposed leader of the Republicans was not more encouraging
+in his letters to Madison when he wrote a month later:
+"I feel myself so thoroughly weaned from the interest I took in
+the proceedings there, while there, that I have never a wish to
+see one [a newspaper], and believe that I shall never take
+another paper of any sort. I find my mind totally absorbed
+by my rural occupation."<a name="FNanchor_315_315" id="FNanchor_315_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_315_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a> Yet the old fame flared up occasionally,
+as when he learned that Hamilton was being considered
+to succeed Pinckney who would be recalled from England: "a
+more degrading measure could not have been proposed," he
+wrote to Monroe. In regard to Hamilton, he foresaw an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>
+investigation on the Treasury and had wanted to withdraw
+before it took place.<a name="FNanchor_316_316" id="FNanchor_316_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_316_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a></p>
+
+<p>But he fell back into the same detached attitude of mind,
+when he wrote to Washington the next day: "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 of course, I put off answering my letters
+now, farmer-like, till a rainy day."</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, I doubt very much whether he had
+reached any such equanimity. For if he was unwilling to
+re&euml;nter public life, he was not averse to giving his opinion and
+advice in critical circumstances. While Madison's resolutions
+were still before Congress, news arrived in Philadelphia of the
+seizure of American ships in the Caribbean, under the Order in
+Council of November 6. Indignation was running high and
+democratic societies held patriotic meetings throughout the
+country. War seemed imminent, and although Jefferson preferred
+to contemplate the tranquil growth "of his lucern and
+potatoes", he still felt indignant when thinking "of these
+scoundrels" (the British). Yet he believed that war should be
+avoided and wrote to that effect to Tench Coxe:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We are alarmed here with the apprehension of war; and sincerely
+anxious that it may be avoided; but not at the expense either of our
+faith or honour.... As to myself I love peace, and I am anxious
+that we should give the world still another useful lesson, by showing
+to them other modes of punishing injuries than by war, which is as
+much a punishment to the punisher as to the sufferers.<a name="FNanchor_317_317" id="FNanchor_317_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_317_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>To Washington he wrote two weeks later a most amusing
+letter, starting with a dissertation on crop rotation and "a
+certain essence of dung, one pint of which would manure an acre
+according to Lord Kaims", but not forgetting, in a negligent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>
+way, to slip in at the end a piece of political advice: "to try
+to extricate ourselves from the event of a war; at the same time
+to try to rouse public opinion in Great Britain and the only way
+to do it being to distress their commerce." But he added once
+more, "I cherish tranquillity too much to suffer political things
+to enter my mind at all."<a name="FNanchor_318_318" id="FNanchor_318_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_318_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a> This was nothing but the non-intercourse
+policy then debated by the government and of which
+Jefferson had evidently heard. When his letter reached the
+President, a solution had already been adopted and Jay had
+sailed for England on the mission which was to end with his
+signing the famous or infamous treaty. The summer went on
+without any new letter from Jefferson. A letter of the Secretary
+of State, asking him whether he would not consider lending
+a hand to the President in the present emergency, found him in
+bed "under a paroxysm of rheumatism which had kept him for
+ten days in constant torment." Then he emphatically added,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>No circumstance will evermore tempt me to engage in any thing
+public.... It is a great pleasure to me to retain the esteem and
+approbation of the President, and this forms the only ground of any
+reluctance at being unable to comply with every wish of his. Pray
+convey these sentiments, and a thousand more to him, which my
+situation does not permit me to go into.<a name="FNanchor_319_319" id="FNanchor_319_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_319_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was the very time when the Whisky Boys of Eastern
+Pennsylvania revolted against the excise laws of Hamilton
+which fell on them harder than on any other part of the rural
+population, for they could not market their grain for lack of
+transportation facilities and their only means of living was
+distilling it into whisky. Individual acts of resistance to the
+agents of the excise culminated in August, 1794, in an armed
+convention denouncing the law and defying the government
+on Braddock field, under the leadership of the chief expert of
+the Jeffersonians, Albert Gallatin. Not only was the militia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
+called but the President and Hamilton went to visit the camp
+at Carlisle. The insurrection ended without bloodshed, but the
+side of the insurrectionists was taken up in the large cities by the
+Democratic societies in which the Irish element was largely
+represented&mdash;hot-headed people, recently come from an
+oppressed land, who felt an ingrained spirit of revolt against
+soldiers and men in uniform,&mdash;until dressed in a uniform
+themselves. The immediate effect of the Hamiltonian policy
+was to amalgamate rural population and urban groups of
+mechanics and small operatives in a hostile attitude towards the
+aristocratic government. Hamilton thought the time had come
+to crush the vanguard of the Jeffersonian troops, and Washington,
+who had an inveterate hatred of anything smacking of disorder
+and mob rule, lent a favorable ear. He wrote a stinging
+denunciation of the Democratic societies in his yearly message
+to Congress.</p>
+
+<p>This time Jefferson was aroused, although personally he had
+never had anything to do with Tammany in New York nor
+any of the Democratic societies in Philadelphia. He fairly
+exploded in a letter to James Madison: the denunciation of the
+Democratic societies was "one of the extraordinary acts of boldness
+of which we have seen so many from the faction of monocrats."
+How could one condemn the Democratic societies
+and let alone the Society of the Cincinnati, "a self-created one,
+carving out for itself hereditary distinctions, lowering over our
+Constitution eternally." It was an inexcusable aggression.
+With regard to the transactions against the excise law, he
+refused to take seriously the "meeting of Braddock field", and
+ridiculed the mobilizing of an army against men who were not
+thinking seriously of separating, "simply consulting about it."&mdash;"But
+to consult on a question does not amount to a determination
+of that question in the affirmative, still less to the
+acting <i>on such determination</i>," he advised. A fine legal distinction
+which Jefferson forgot at the time of the Burr con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>spiracy!
+But "the first and only cause of the whole trouble
+was the infernal excise law." The first error was "to admit it by
+the Constitution"; the second, to act on that admission; the
+third and last will be to "make it the instrument of dismembering
+the Union." In conclusion he advised Madison to stay at
+his post, "to take the front of the battle" for Jefferson's own
+security, and once again he reaffirmed that he would not give up
+his retirement for the empire of the universe.<a name="FNanchor_320_320" id="FNanchor_320_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_320_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a></p>
+
+<p>On April 23, 1795, he wrote to James Madison to refuse categorically
+any resumption of office high or low. That was
+already his firm resolution when he had left Philadelphia and
+it was even stronger then, since his health had broken down
+during the last eight months: "My age requires that I should
+place my affairs in a clear state. The question is forever closed
+with me." To propose his name would only mean a division
+of votes in the party and that was to be avoided before everything.<a name="FNanchor_321_321" id="FNanchor_321_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_321_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a>
+To Giles he repeated that his days "were busy with
+now and then a pious ejaculation for the French and Dutch,
+returning with due despatch to my clover, potatoes, wheat,
+etc."<a name="FNanchor_322_322" id="FNanchor_322_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_322_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a> In the meantime Jay had returned with the treaty
+surrendering practically all the claims of the United States,
+placing the country in a position of constant inferiority with
+reference to England, opening the Mississippi to the British
+trade and forbidding American vessels to carry molasses,
+sugar, and cotton to any ports except their own. It was laid
+in special session before the Senate on June 8, ratified on June
+24, and sent to the President without the contents being known
+to any one. It would have remained secret if Thomson Mason
+of Virginia had not taken a copy of it to Bache, who published it
+the next day in the <i>Aurora</i>. It was a most humiliating and
+scarcely defensible transaction: Jay had been outgeneraled
+at every step by Grenville and, in a way, betrayed by Hamilton.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
+But although it was distinctly a Federalist victory, it offered
+good campaign material for the Republicans.<a name="FNanchor_323_323" id="FNanchor_323_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_323_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a></p>
+
+<p>On August 30, Jefferson sent to Thomas Mann a sort of
+apologia, telling him how, "while all hands were below deck,
+every one at his own business and the captain in his cabin
+attending to the log book a rogue of a pilot had run the ship
+into an enemy's port." Not that he wanted to express any
+opinion of his own 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."<a name="FNanchor_324_324" id="FNanchor_324_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_324_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a></p>
+
+<p>With H. Tazewell he was more outspoken: a glance at the
+treaty had been enough to convince him that the United States
+would be much better without any treaty than with a treaty of
+that sort. "Acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape
+war," and he could only hope that the Executive's sense of
+public honor and spirit would be awakened. To Madison he
+gave the benefit of his advice. There was no leader in the camp
+of the Republicans to take advantage of the situation; rioting
+in the streets could not influence favorably the judgment of
+Washington, who had not yet signed, and there was always
+Hamilton, who had retired to be sure, but was "a host in himself";
+the Federalists were in a defile, but "too much security
+will give time to his talents and indefatigableness to extricate
+them." He ended with an appeal to Madison: "We have had
+only middling performances to oppose to him. In truth, when
+he comes forward, there is nobody but yourself who can meet
+him.... For God's sake take your pen, and give a fundamental
+reply to Curtius and Camillus."<a name="FNanchor_325_325" id="FNanchor_325_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_325_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a></p>
+
+<p>With real perspicacity Jefferson had put his finger on the
+fundamental weakness of the Republicans. They were only the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>
+yeomanry; they counted a number of very honest and distinguished
+men; some of them were even brilliant in debates and
+could flatter themselves that they were victorious, as long as the
+Federalist chieftain did not appear in person on the battlefield.
+When he did, however, they had no outstanding man with the
+same capacity for work, the same ability to marshal facts, to
+present cogent arguments and to use biting sarcasm. Jefferson
+alone, with his great felicity of expression and his mastery of
+style, could have opposed successfully the Federalist leader, but,
+as he wrote to Rutledge: "after five and twenty years' continual
+employment (in the service of our country), I trust it
+will be thought I have fulfilled my tour, like a punctual soldier
+and may claim my discharge."<a name="FNanchor_326_326" id="FNanchor_326_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_326_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a></p>
+
+<p>That he would have been a redoubtable opponent, had he
+chosen to be so, appears in a letter he sent at the time to William
+B. Giles. The treaty once ratified by the Senate and signed
+by the President, it was thought that the House, on which
+fell the duty of making the necessary appropriations for
+the enforcement of the different articles, might possibly
+pass in their turn on the merits of the document. Randolph
+had been requested by the President to give his opinion on the
+subject and did it in one of those written consultations which
+Jefferson had so often been asked to prepare himself, when
+in the official family of Washington. To Giles, who was to
+attack the treaty in the House with Gallatin and Madison,
+Jefferson sent an elaborate and cruel dissection of Randolph's
+opinion:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The fact is that he has generally given his principles to one party,
+and his practice to the other, the oyster to one, the shell to the
+other.... On the precedent now to be set will depend the future
+construction of our Constitution, and whether the powers of legislation
+shall be transferred from the President, Senate, and House of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>
+Representatives to the President and Senate, and Piamingo or any
+other Indian, Algerine, or other chief.<a name="FNanchor_327_327" id="FNanchor_327_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_327_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Clearly he was getting back into his stride and when thoroughly
+aroused, as he had been once or twice in his career, he
+could also hit back or rather pierce with rapid thrust of the
+rapier. And yet he was not really thinking of re&euml;ntering the
+arena, for at the same time he was offering to George Wythe to
+superintend an edition of the laws of Virginia, of which he had
+made as complete a collection as he could, "either the manuscripts
+crumbling into dust or printed."<a name="FNanchor_328_328" id="FNanchor_328_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_328_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a> Yet he had an eye
+upon the budding geniuses of the Democratic party. Soon he
+realized the value of Albert Gallatin, who had undertaken a
+thorough analysis and demolition of Hamilton's administration:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Hamilton's object from the beginning was to throw them into
+forms which would be utterly undecypherable.... If Mr.
+Gallatin would undertake to reduce this chaos to order, present us
+with a clear view of our finances, and put them in a form as simple
+as they will admit, he will merit an 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 understood by common
+farmers.<a name="FNanchor_329_329" id="FNanchor_329_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_329_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>With such sentences, simple and easily remembered, such
+felicity of expression and of thought, one can make a lasting
+impression on the people, without addressing directly the
+Indians of Tammany Hall or participating in whisky riots.
+One can also throw suspicion of intentional dishonesty on
+one's adversaries, coin mottoes which, repeated in a political
+campaign, fix themselves easily in the unsophisticated minds of
+the common people. But it does not ensue necessarily that
+Jefferson was an arch plotter, pulling the strings and laying plots
+to explode years later. He was quite sincere in his dislike of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+Hamilton's budgets, for the simple reason that he did not understand
+them himself. The master financier and expert was
+beyond Jefferson's comprehension; in many respects he was
+even far ahead of his own time, while Jefferson, in matters of
+finance at least, remained all his life an eighteenth-century man.
+But the young Swiss-American who had made his mark in the
+whisky insurrection must have felt himself elated at Jefferson's
+approval. By such appropriate compliments and encouragements,
+great tacticians create and foster party and personal
+loyalty, and Jefferson was a past master in this difficult art.</p>
+
+<p>As he had encouraged Gallatin, he encouraged Giles, kept in
+touch with him and through him sent a word of congratulation
+to a new Republican recruit, Doctor Leib: "I know not when
+I have received greater satisfaction than on reading the speech
+of Doctor Leib in the Pennsylvania Assembly. He calls himself
+a new member. I congratulate honest republicanism on such
+an acquisition, and promise myself much from a career which
+begins on such elevated ground."<a name="FNanchor_330_330" id="FNanchor_330_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_330_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a> He reminded him that
+Democratic societies were proscribed in England and that it
+would be interesting to know the terms of the bill proposed by
+Pitt against them. Gallatin again called for his commendation
+for a speech printed in Bache's <i>Aurora</i>, the sole organ of the
+Republicans since Freneau had discontinued his <i>Gazette</i>: "It is
+worthy of being printed at the end of the <i>Federalist</i>, as the only
+rational commentary on the part of the law to which it
+relates."<a name="FNanchor_331_331" id="FNanchor_331_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_331_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a> Then Jefferson raved over the indignities heaped
+upon the country by the treaty, over the point made by the
+Federalists that the House had nothing to say in the matter,
+and in his fury he even went so far as to treat Washington more
+severely than he had ever done before. "Curse on his virtues,"
+he exclaimed; "they have undone his country." This political
+advice was naturally buried under rural news: "Mercury at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
+twenty degrees in the morning. Corn fallen at Richmond to
+twenty shillings." But this bucolic note stopped short and the
+political thermometer was consulted again and indicated that
+"Nicholas was sure of his election, R. Joue and Jo. Monroe, in
+competition for the other vote of the county."</p>
+
+<p>Three weeks later Jefferson dug in his files to send Madison
+more ammunition, showing clearly that, at least in one case,
+Washington himself had recognized formerly the authority of
+the legislature, that is to say both branches of the House, when
+it came to ratifying the treaty with the new Emperor of Morocco.<a name="FNanchor_332_332" id="FNanchor_332_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_332_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a>
+Then he wrote to his former neighbor, Philip Mazzei, a
+letter which was to cause him more difficulties than any of the
+previous acts of his career. He thought that he could and
+should give news of the country to this curious character, who
+had come to Virginia as a vine-grower to engage in agricultural
+experiments but who was also the former agent of the Duke of
+Tuscany and of Stanislas of Poland, a Grimm "<i>au petit pied</i>",
+a literary correspondent and a philosopher. In all fairness to
+Jefferson a preliminary remark is here necessary. He was apt
+in conversation to take his cue from his interlocutors rather
+than to force on them any topic, and he was apt also to speak
+in the same tone and same diapason. In his letters he instinctively
+yielded to the same tendency, changing his tone and style
+according to his correspondent. Writing to an Italian he
+adopted a flowery, metaphoric, and emphatic manner not often
+found in his letters, and in his desire to flatter the Tuscan ear
+of his friend, he overshot the mark and overemphasized what
+he would have stated much more moderately to an American:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Against us are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of three
+branches of the Legislature, all the officers of the government, all
+who want to be officers, all timed men who prefer the calm of despotism
+to the boisterous sea of liberty.... It would give you a fever
+were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>
+heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solomons in the
+council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot
+England....</p></div>
+
+<p>But these men had not realized the great strength of the
+party then coming into being: "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." Then
+came the customary mention of his health, even more mournful
+than usual: "I begin to feel the effects of age. My health has
+suddenly broken down, with symptoms which give me to
+believe that I shall not have much to encounter of the <i>tedium
+vitae</i>."<a name="FNanchor_333_333" id="FNanchor_333_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_333_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a> Little did he believe when he indulged in this rhetorical
+outburst that Mazzei would give the letter to an Italian
+paper, that it would be translated from the Italian into French,
+from French into English and finally appear in America.</p>
+
+<p>For Jefferson was eager to remain on good personal terms
+with Washington, even if he strongly disapproved of his policies,
+and this appeared when a few months later he denied having
+communicated to Bache's <i>Aurora</i> the questionnaire on the <i>Little
+Sarah</i>, and he seized the occasion to assure Washington once
+again of his affectionate sentiments. But he was already
+thinking of protecting himself, for in the same letter he asked
+the President to send him copies of the opinions presented by
+Hamilton and Randolph as "they had his opinion and he never
+had been able to obtain copy of theirs." And significantly
+he added, "Though I do not know that it will ever be of the
+least importance to me, yet one loves to possess arms, though
+they hope never to have occasion for them."<a name="FNanchor_334_334" id="FNanchor_334_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_334_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a></p>
+
+<p>The summer was apparently entirely occupied in agricultural
+and scientific pursuits. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the
+former president of the National Assembly, at whose house
+Jefferson used to visit when in Paris to meet the "<i>r&eacute;publicains</i>",<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+was then traveling through the United States and
+stopped at Monticello for a week. The Duke has left us a
+most valuable description of Jefferson's establishment and the
+country around it. He praised the house "which will deserve
+when completed to be ranked with the most pleasant mansions
+in France and in Europe." He admired the view from the hill:
+for "Mr. Jefferson's house commands one of the most extensive
+prospects you can meet with." But his eye was that of a refined
+and overcivilized Frenchman of the eighteenth century accustomed
+to limited horizons, limited forests, to a certain balance
+between the woods, the rivers and the lands inclosed with
+hedges, to a nature stamped, modified, remolded by centuries
+of human labor. The contrast between the "moderate French
+landscapes" and the unlimited vistas in which plowed fields
+occupied a negligible space, impressed him almost painfully.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 90%;">
+<img src="images/pic314b.jpg" width="100%" alt="MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY" title="" />
+<p style='text-align: right'><i>Copyright Harris and Ewing, Washington, D. C.</i></p>
+<span class="caption">MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>It was a magnificent view, but too vast; and rather than
+look at the scene as it presented itself, he preferred to call on
+fancy "to picture to us those plains and mountains such as
+population and culture will render them in a greater or smaller
+number of years." He looked with some suspicion at the
+numerous agricultural experiments of Jefferson, who seemed
+"to have derived his knowledge from books." He was not
+alone in this opinion. In any farming country, innovations
+are looked upon askance and we are not surprised to learn that
+"his system is entirely confined to himself; it is censured by
+some of his neighbours, who are also employed in improving
+their culture with ability and skill, but he adheres to it, and
+thinks it founded on just observation." Finally came the picture
+of the master himself and life at Monticello, worth preserving
+and reproducing.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In private life, Mr. Jefferson displays a mild, easy and obliging
+temper, though he is somewhat cold and reserved. His conversation
+is the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of information
+not inferior to that of any other man. In Europe he would hold a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has already
+appeared there; at present he is employed with activity and perseverance
+in the management of his farms and buildings; and he
+orders, directs and pursues in the minutest detail every branch of
+business relative to them. I found him in the midst of the harvest,
+from which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance.
+His negroes are clothed, and treated as well as white servants
+could be. As he cannot expect any assistance from the two small
+neighboring towns, every article is made on his farm; his negroes are
+cabinet-makers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, smiths, etc. The
+children he employs in a nail factory, which yields already a considerable
+profit. The young and old negresses spin for the clothing
+of the rest. He animates them by rewards and distinctions; in
+fine, his superior mind directs the management of his domestic concerns
+with the same abilities, activity, and regularity which he
+evinced in the conduct of public affairs, and which he is calculated
+to display in every situation of life. In the superintendence of the
+household he is assisted by his two daughters, Mrs. Randolph and
+Miss Maria, who are handsome, modest, and amiable women. They
+have been educated in France.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is pleasant to have the direct testimony of a foreigner and
+a philosopher on the way Jefferson treated his slaves. But how
+can we believe that a man who could supervise all the details of
+the agricultural and industrial life around Monticello and endure
+the harvest sun was absolutely broken down in health? If
+he had ever been, Jefferson certainly was picking up. It seems
+probable that he did not discuss politics with the noble traveler.
+Perhaps he heard another recital of the excesses of the French
+Revolution,&mdash;a painful subject and one that did not serve any
+purpose; far better was it to exchange views on crop rotation,
+sheep raising, dung and manure, clover and potatoes and to
+demonstrate the new plow he had invented with a mold board
+of least resistance, which was to bring him some years later
+the "<i>grande m&eacute;daille</i>" of the Agricultural Society of Paris.<a name="FNanchor_335_335" id="FNanchor_335_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_335_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The first mention of the coming presidential election occurs
+in a letter to Monroe of July 10, 1796. The treaty had finally
+passed, but the party of the monocrats was shaken to its very
+foundation, "Mr. Jay and his advocates are treaty-foundered."
+The result was not doubtful. Even if a monocrat were elected,
+he would be overborne by the republican sense of his constituents.
+"If a republican, he will, of course, give fair play to that
+sense and lead things into the channel of harmony between the
+governors and the governed. In the meantime, patience!"
+He mentions that in order to operate a division and to split
+the Virginia vote, <i>they</i> had unsuccessfully endeavored to run
+Patrick Henry for vice president and would probably fall back
+on Pinckney, "in which they regard his southern position rather
+than his principles." But curiously enough the presidential
+nominees or preferences are not even mentioned. Could
+Monroe really believe that <i>Hamlet</i> was going to be played without
+Hamlet, and that the election of a vice president was the
+only thing that mattered? This omission was far more significant
+than any expressed preference. If Jefferson mentioned no
+candidates, it was simply because he already knew at that date
+that his faithful lieutenants in Congress were thinking of him
+as the only logical candidate, the only one who had not participated
+actively in the last three years' fierce debates in Congress,
+the only one who had not officially and openly taken a definite
+position, and consequently would be entirely free to make
+whatever concessions were necessary to re&euml;stablish harmony in
+the divided camps of the voters. The result of the election
+was certainly in doubt; but at a time when foreign affairs
+were the dominant question, when in spite of the Jay treaty
+England was multiplying almost unbearable insults, when the
+nation was deeply humiliated, and even the Federalists resented
+the terms of the treaty, there were only two men of the first
+rank in America who had maintained the prestige of the United
+States before foreign nations and had shown themselves to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>
+able negotiators: the man who with Franklin had put his signature
+to the Treaty of Peace, and the man who had concluded
+treaties of commerce with the nations of Europe; Adams and
+Jefferson.</p>
+
+<p>A strange campaign it was, in which the champion of the
+Republicans seemed to remain completely silent. The middle
+of December came, and Jefferson had not yet manifested any
+desire to run, nor had he made any declaration concerning his
+program. He had to come out however when, on the night
+of the sixteenth, he received a letter from Madison informing
+him that there was no longer any doubt about the logical choice
+of the Republicans and that Madison would decline to be candidate.
+Jefferson took up his pen at once to define his position
+to his friend. He hoped that Adams would be elected; and
+in that case he would be satisfied with the second place
+although he would prefer the third, that is, his rejection, since
+he would be free to remain at home. It was desirable, however,
+in case of a tie, that Madison be instructed to request on his
+behalf that Mr. Adams should be preferred. Some of the
+reasons he gave were highly honorable, the best being that Mr.
+Adams was his senior and had always "ranked" him in public
+life, either in France or in America. Other reasons he did not
+indicate: one was evidently that the situation had never worn
+so gloomy an aspect since the year 1783 and that Jefferson did
+not believe he could steer clear of the present difficulties.<a name="FNanchor_336_336" id="FNanchor_336_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_336_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a></p>
+
+<p>Ten days later he wrote more at length to Rutledge. No news
+had come from Philadelphia, but he protested that he had no
+political ambition: "Before my God, I shall from the bottom of
+my heart, rejoice at escaping." Scrutinizing himself, he found
+that the unmerited abuse he had been subjected to still rankled;
+he was convinced that "no man will ever bring out of that
+office the reputation which carries him into it." The honeymoon
+would be as short in that case as in any other, and its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>
+moments of ecstasy would be ransomed by years of torment and
+hatred. Frankly he had no heart for the job. Nor was this a
+declaration of philosophical principles, but another instance of
+his political foresight, and a simple admission of facts, for not
+only had Franklin been bitterly attacked after his death, but
+Washington himself was not immune from public abuse, and
+such would be the fate of Adams.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson was quite sincere when he declared: "I have no
+ambition to govern men; no passion which would lead me to
+delight to ride in a storm." In advance, he repeated the <i>suave
+mari magno</i> of the old poet and hoped that he would not be
+elected, his only wish was that the newspapers would permit
+him "to plant his corn, beans, peas, etc. in hills or drills as he
+pleased, while our eastern friend will be struggling with the
+storm which is gathering over us, perhaps be shipwrecked in it!
+This is certainly not a moment to covet the helm." If this was
+not a sincere and true statement, then language certainly has
+been given to man to conceal his thought. If Jefferson was
+thirsty for power at that time he was more Machiavellian than
+Machiavelli himself. But in spite of the inferences of ill-intentioned
+historians, I do not see that there is the slightest ground
+to doubt Jefferson's sincerity ... except that he accepted
+finally the vice presidency, as he clearly hinted he would if it
+were offered to him.<a name="FNanchor_337_337" id="FNanchor_337_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_337_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a> He ended with a picturesque and energetic
+phrase and said in French what he could not say in
+English. He had not forgotten the words he had heard in the
+streets of Paris and perhaps in some salons after dinner, but
+certainly not in the mouth of Madame de Tess&eacute; or Madame
+de Corny: "<i>Au diable les bougres!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>The next day he started writing to John Adams: he had not
+received any direct news of the election, but from his own
+calculations he had every reason to believe that barring a "trick
+worthy of your arch-friend of New York, Hamilton", Adams<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>
+would be elected. In that eventuality he wished to send his
+best wishes, and had only one hope to express, that Adams
+would be able to avoid the war. A friendly, sincere letter which
+Adams never saw. As Jefferson was going to send it, came
+Madison's letter of the seventeenth, announcing the complete
+results of the election.</p>
+
+<p>It caused a certain amount of surprise to Jefferson; the vote
+had come much nearer an equality than he had expected, and,
+as he wrote a week later to Volney, "the difference between
+sixty-eight and seventy-one votes is little sensible." The
+presidency would have been decidedly distasteful to him; the
+vice presidency was something different and he could not in his
+own mind decide whether he "had rather have it or not have it."
+Then he went into a curious piece of philosophizing which
+marks him as very different from eighteenth-century philosophers
+and eighteenth-century optimists. More of a realist in
+politics than he is given credit for, he showed himself once more
+a disciple of Hobbes in his vision of society:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I do not recollect in all the animal kingdom a single species but
+man which is eternally and systematically engaged in the destruction
+of its own species. What is called civilization seems to have no
+other effect than to teach him to pursue the principle of <i>bellum
+omnium in omnia</i> on a larger scale, and in place of the little contests
+of tribe against tribe, to engage all quarters of the earth in the same
+work of destruction. When we add to this that as to the other
+species of animals, the lions and tigers are mere lambs compared
+with men alone, that nature has been able to find a sufficient
+barrier against the too great multiplication of other animals and
+of man himself, an equilibrating power against the fecundity of
+generation. My situation points my views chiefly to his wars in
+the physical world: yours perhaps exhibit him as equally warring
+in the moral one. We both, I believe, join in wishing to see him
+softened.<a name="FNanchor_338_338" id="FNanchor_338_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_338_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>For the first time Jefferson was going to occupy a position
+of prestige in the American Government and to become President
+of the Senate, second only to the President, the "heir
+apparent", as Adams had termed himself during the preceding
+administration. Far from rejoicing over the honor, he
+expressed his reluctance to attend elaborate ceremonies for
+the inauguration, and he did his best to wriggle out of them.
+He asked whether it would not be possible for him to be
+notified of his election by mail instead of being waited upon
+by a special delegation from the Senate; then he looked up
+the Constitution and decided that he could just as well take
+oath of office in Charlottesville as in Philadelphia, and that it
+was hardly worth the trouble, since Congress was to adjourn
+at once, to undertake the long journey over muddy roads for
+such an ordeal. Finally he set out for Philadelphia. He had
+re&euml;ntered public life for twelve more years and little suspected
+that it would be so long before he could come back to
+dear Monticello and resume his agricultural experiments.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<h2>"THE DICTATES OF REASON AND PURE
+AMERICANISM"</h2>
+
+
+<p>When Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia to attend the inauguration
+of the new President, he had not seen Adams for four
+years and only insignificant communications had passed between
+them, since Madison had thought it proper to suppress
+the letter written by Jefferson at the end of December, not
+knowing "whether the rather difficult temper of Mr. Adams
+would not construe certain passages as a personal criticism."<a name="FNanchor_339_339" id="FNanchor_339_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_339_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a>
+With Adams, however, the first impulse was often the best.
+At the time he felt in a very conciliating mood; he even indulged
+in the hope that it would be possible to announce a sort
+of political armistice and to bring about a union of the different
+parties.</p>
+
+<p>The two old friends had a cordial interview. Both of them,
+years later, wrote accounts of this historical meeting; though
+differing in a few details they agreed as to Adams' intention of
+burying the hatchet and beginning anew. He offered to send
+Jefferson to Paris as special envoy, insisting that he alone had
+the confidence of the French and would be able to bring about
+an arrangement. Jefferson being both unwilling and unavailable,
+Madison's name was mentioned, but nothing was decided
+as both knew that Madison had refused such an offer when tendered
+by Washington.</p>
+
+<p>In his inaugural address Adams discreetly sounded a note of
+reconciliation. He praised the Constitution, declared that it
+was "better adapted to the genius, character, situation and rela<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>tions
+of this nation and country than any which had ever been
+proposed or suggested"; he added, much to the disgust of the
+Federalists, that he did not think of "promoting any alteration
+in it but such as the people themselves in the course of their
+experience should see and feel to be necessary or expedient";
+finally, he seemed to desert the Federalist camp when he
+averred that, since he had seen the Constitution for the first
+time, "it was not then, nor had been since, any objection to
+it in his mind that the Executive and Senate were not more
+permanent."</p>
+
+<p>Not without good reason had Hamilton failed to show any
+enthusiasm over the candidacy of Adams, and the Hamiltonians
+had some ground for declaring that the speech "was temporizing"
+and "was a lure for the favor of his opponents at the
+expense of his sincerity." Two days later Jefferson and Adams
+attended a dinner offered by Washington to the new administration.
+When they left the house they started walking home
+together and the name of Madison being mentioned, Adams
+declared that objections to the nomination had been raised.
+The President and the Vice President had come to Fifth Street,
+where their roads separated; they took leave of each other
+and the subject was never mentioned again. It was really the
+parting of the ways after a timid effort toward reconciliation.
+Adams in the meantime had called together his Cabinet and the
+Cabinet, as he himself admitted afterwards, had proposed to
+resign <i>en bloc</i> if he insisted on Madison's nomination.</p>
+
+<p>For the "incongruous portrait gallery" that constituted the
+Cabinet inherited by Adams from Washington, we may refer
+to the vivid picture of Mr. Bowers: "Ali Baba among his Forty
+Thieves is no more deserving of sympathy than John Adams
+shut up within the seclusion of his Cabinet room with his
+official family of secret enemies" may seem to some a rather
+severe characterization. The least that can be said, however,
+is that it was a Cabinet hand-picked by Hamilton and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+neither Pickering, Wolcott nor McHenry were the best minds
+Adams could have chosen in his party. But there again the
+term party is inaccurate; if Adams had, in some respect,
+Federalist tendencies, he was not a party man or a party leader.
+The irritable, impulsive, patriotic, peevish old New Englander
+was too individualistic to belong to any party; he was not the
+man either to rally the hesitating, to uphold the vacillating, or
+to encourage and educate the blind. Curiously enough, he has
+found very few defenders. Severely treated by the friends of
+Jefferson, he has not been spared by the admirers of Hamilton.
+He stands alone, one of the most complicated and contradictory
+figures in American history&mdash;a pure patriot, whose patriotic
+work is almost forgotten, a catholic spirit who loved to play
+with ideas and paradoxes, a contrary mind, but in my opinion
+more widely read than any of his American contemporaries, not
+excepting Jefferson. A man who spent his life by the side of
+the severe and haughty "New England Juno", but who had
+more ideas in his brain than any sultan of the Arabian Nights
+had favorites in his harem.</p>
+
+<p>He had taken the helm at the climax of external difficulties.
+Complicated and delicate as were the problems of domestic
+administration, they were overshadowed by the difficulties with
+France. The misunderstandings, the incidents repeated on both
+sides, had accumulated with such an effect that, at the beginning
+of 1797, war with France seemed to be almost unavoidable.
+Though Jefferson had very little to do with it, it is not out of
+place to recall the main facts.</p>
+
+<p>Genet had unfortunately his American parallel in Gouverneur
+Morris. As witty and devoid of ordinary morals and honesty
+as Talleyrand himself, elegant, refined, and corrupt, Gouverneur
+Morris had been, since his arrival in Paris, the toast of French
+aristocrats. His activities in favor of the king and his partisans
+were not unknown to the French, and when Genet was sent to
+America he had been requested to present discreetly the situa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>tion
+to the American Government. Genet had made no
+official representation, but he discussed Morris' attitude in a
+private conversation with Jefferson, and Washington, apprised
+of the facts, had seen the necessity of acting.</p>
+
+<p>Monroe, on the contrary, had attempted to resume the
+Jeffersonian tradition. A disciple of the former minister, a
+true Liberal, and friendly to the French Revolution, he had been
+enthusiastically received at once, in spite of the many difficult
+problems he had to present to the government. But the Jay
+treaty had proved a bitter pill to swallow, and the Directory
+had made strong representations to the American minister:
+America was accused of having violated the treaties of Alliance
+and Commerce, and when Monroe was recalled, the Directory
+not only refused to receive the successor that had been
+appointed but even ordered him to leave the French territory
+at once.</p>
+
+<p>Without entering into the merits of the question, we may say
+that Jefferson was still decidedly for peace, although somewhat
+doubtful of Adams' intentions. Shortly after the inauguration
+he analyzed his position as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I sincerely deplore the situation of our affairs with France. War
+with them, and consequent alliance with Great Britain, will completely
+compass the object of the Executive Council, from the
+commencement of the war between France and England; taken
+up by some of them from that moment, by others more latterly. I
+still, however, hope it will be avoided. I do not believe Mr. Adams
+wishes war with France; nor do I believe he will truckle to England
+as servilely as has been done. If he assumes this front at once,
+and shows that he means to attend to self-respect and national
+dignity with both the nations, perhaps the depredations of both on
+our commerce may be amicably arrested. I think we should begin
+first with those who first began with us, and, by an example on them,
+acquire a right to re-demand the respect from which the other party
+has departed.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>An ideal policy, but hardly enforceable with a man of Adams'
+temperament and with the Cabinet he had inherited. Immediately
+after taking oath of office, Jefferson had repaired to
+Monticello and was getting acquainted with his duties as presiding
+officer of the Senate; in January he asked his old master
+George Wythe to send him all possible information on parliamentary
+procedure "whether in books or scraps of paper",<a name="FNanchor_340_340" id="FNanchor_340_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_340_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a>
+and he was working on his "Parliamentary Manual." Early
+in April news of the refusal of the Directory to receive Pinckney
+arrived in Philadelphia, Adams proclaimed at once a day of fasting
+and prayer and called an extraordinary session of Congress
+for May 15. It was to be feared that a declaration of war would
+be the order of the day, for "the President did not need the
+assistance of Congress to continue in peace."<a name="FNanchor_341_341" id="FNanchor_341_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_341_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a></p>
+
+<p>As soon as he reached Philadelphia, Jefferson studied the
+situation and summed it up in a letter to Elbridge Gerry even
+before the opening of Congress. He had already come to the
+conclusion that a rapprochement between Adams and himself
+would prove impossible. There was really no way to convince
+Adams that Jefferson had not coveted the first place and did
+not nourish some rancor at his alleged failure to obtain it.
+Furthermore, it was quite certain that the Hamiltonians
+would do everything in their power to poison the mind of the
+President. This was most unpleasant but of little import to
+politics. Jefferson considered himself part of the legislative and
+not of the executive, and he had not even the right to be heard
+in consultation. It was his duty as well as his inclination to sit
+back, without trying to meddle in any way with the conduct of
+government.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, he had not given up the right of expressing
+an opinion as a private citizen on matters of importance to the
+nation, and after stating that he had no concern in the present<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>
+situation, he launched out on a long <i>expos&eacute;</i> of the political
+situation as he saw it on the eve of the special session. With
+reference to foreign relations his wish and hope was that "we
+should take our stand on a ground perfectly neutral and independent
+towards all nations." This was particularly true with
+respect to the English and the French, but more easily said than
+done, since the English, not satisfied with equal treatment,
+wanted special privileges. Then Jefferson drew up a very
+impressive picture of the hold on the United States maintained
+by Great Britain through her commerce. Without domestic
+industries the United States had to go to England; she was
+the workshop of America. Goods were largely transported in
+English bottoms; British merchants, some of them fictitiously
+naturalized, were in every American port and in all the cities
+and towns of the interior, occupying strategic positions. The
+British also were dominating American banks and American
+finance and, through finance, could exert a powerful influence on
+American political life. Finally, they were accused of attempting
+to break the Union by advocating in their subsidized press
+a scission between the North and the South. If difficulties
+came to such a point that the only way to avoid a secession was
+to go to war with Europe, Jefferson, much as he abhorred war,
+was willing to become embroiled with Europe. He still hoped,
+however, that it would be possible to find some means to keep
+out of European quarrels and in the meantime gradually to free
+America from all foreign influence, "political, commercial, or
+in whatever form it may be attempted."</p>
+
+<p>One might say that this was no original point of view to
+develop. It was to a certain extent the policy advocated by
+Washington in his Farewell Address. Curiously enough, it was
+not absolutely remote from Hamilton's theory, for these two
+men who, temperamentally, could never come together, held
+about the same view of the situation. That England had the
+larger share of American commerce and that English manufac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>tures
+had a sort of monopoly of the American market had been
+repeatedly pointed out by Hamilton. And on this Jefferson
+agreed completely. If one objected to that condition, the
+obvious remedy according to the Hamiltonian doctrine was,
+not to take measures to exclude English goods from the market,
+but to encourage American manufactures so as to enable them
+to compete with imported products. In this Jefferson differed
+from Hamilton, but while complaining of the situation, he did
+not propose any remedy, except perhaps to protect American
+inventors and thus stimulate them to establish new manufacturing
+plants. One must admit that at this point he let his
+"philosophy" interfere with realities.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, he was thoroughly opposed to the
+development of manufacturing plants, to the creation of large
+industrial cities housing thousands of salaried workers. As we
+have said, his vision of America was a sort of Arcadia where
+every man would live on his own farm, off the products of his
+own land. In some respects it may seem perfectly absurd, and
+yet it was very natural and to a certain extent quite logical. It
+was purely and simply the extension of the Monticello type
+of organization to the whole country. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
+had been struck by the fact that Monticello was
+practically a self-supporting economic unit. Jefferson was
+raising his own horses and just enough sheep to provide the wool
+spun by the women slaves to clothe the workers and sometimes
+the masters. On the plantation lived smiths, carpenters, cabinet
+makers, brick makers, and layers; some grain was sold, some
+nails were manufactured and sold to the neighbors. Selling
+comparatively little, buying practically nothing, Jefferson's
+estate came as close to being a sort of Robinson Crusoe island as
+was possible in a modern country. Thus the Virginia planter
+had come to develop a philosophy of society not unlike the
+ideal society described by Rousseau in the "Nouvelle H&eacute;loise"
+and more feudal than he himself realized, since, after all, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>
+serfdom had been abolished, it rested essentially on slavery.
+He was unequivocally against great agglomerations, although
+he had not visited any of the large industrial cities of England
+except London; but at least he knew London and Paris, he had
+lived in Philadelphia and New York, and he felt that it was not
+good for men to herd too closely together. Work in factories
+was both unhealthy and immoral, for in congested centers of
+population there developed a spirit of discontent aggravated by
+the fact that industrial workers, who generally did not own
+a particle of land, were footloose, unattached, and free to move
+from one city to another at any time; they constituted a restless
+and dangerous element. It mattered little that, for the
+present, they gave their support to the Republicans and had
+joined the Democratic clubs; Jefferson knew too well that
+they would be easily influenced in their views by a good orator,
+by passions of the moment, and could not be relied upon in an
+emergency.</p>
+
+<p>It would be easy to point out the close resemblance of certain
+features of this ideal of Jefferson with the theories of the Physiocrats.
+Such a parallelism, however, can be easily exaggerated
+and to a great extent is very misleading. Whether all riches
+came from the soil, or were the product of labor in any form,
+or both, Jefferson did not know and did not care. He was no
+more a disciple of Quesnay than of Adam Smith, simply because
+he was not an economist but a sociologist. Hamilton, who was
+an economist of the first rank, was primarily interested in the
+development of production and in the circulation of wealth, and
+paid little attention to the social modification that an industrialization
+of the country would probably bring about. Jefferson,
+on the contrary, was solely interested in protecting and preserving
+a certain pattern of civilization which was essentially an
+agricultural pattern&mdash;the only safe foundation for the political
+and private virtues of vital importance in a democracy. Manufactures
+meant surplus production, which meant, in turn, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>
+necessity of exporting. If America became a great industrial
+nation, she would have, sooner or later, to export her surplus
+production and in turn to import many products from Europe.
+But if the country maintained extensive trade connections
+with Europe she would be necessarily caught in the maze
+of international politics. Her commercial interests would
+clash with the interests of Europe, and this would ultimately
+result in wars or at least in a constant threat of war. It would
+also mean the building of a strong navy to protect American
+commerce, perhaps the establishment of a permanent army;
+at any rate, the immediate consequence would be an enormous
+increase in taxes, the necessity of resorting to internal taxation,
+the burden of which would fall on the backs of the farmers.
+Numerous tax collectors would have to be appointed; Federal
+employees and officials ready to act at the beck and call of the
+Government would swarm all over the country. State rights
+and individual rights would be restricted and invaded, and
+liberty would exist only in name. On the other hand, foreign
+commerce was not to be entirely suppressed. Commerce was a
+natural and desirable thing with one's neighbors. Geographically
+the West Indies had closer connections with America than
+with Europe, and it was in that direction that the United States
+could develop their trade. This was a natural law and a natural
+right, and any obstacle put to the natural flow of trade between
+the islands and the American continent was unjust and to be
+fought persistently.</p>
+
+<p>Such seems to have been at that time the political and social
+dream of Jefferson. Like most dreams of the sort it was perfectly
+logical, even if impossible to realize. But, as a matter
+of fact, it was far more admissible than the ideal he was to
+propose four years later in his inaugural address, following the
+lead of Washington: "peace, commerce with all nations, entangling
+alliances with none." He was far more clear-sighted
+when he came to the conclusion that America could not com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>bine
+political aloofness and commercial and economic relationship.
+This formula was a desperate and none too successful
+attempt to coalesce two contradictory principles and ideals,
+and for the last hundred and thirty years America has been
+striving to achieve this impossible program. Such a position
+has always seemed most absurd and unintelligible to Europeans,
+with the result that America has often been accused of hypocritical
+conduct in her foreign affairs, and more indulgent historians
+have repeatedly confessed their puzzlement and inability
+to understand her. The consequences of this incestuous union
+of Jeffersonian political aloofness and Hamiltonian industrial
+and commercial development are still apparent to-day. They
+were conspicuous in the position taken by President Wilson
+during his first administration; they reappear again and again
+in all American declarations referring to the League of Nations,
+mandates, and reparations. One of the first results was necessarily
+to embroil America in all European wars and to raise
+again and again the question of neutrality.</p>
+
+<p>It is doubtful however whether, even in 1797, Jefferson would
+have consented to carry to an extreme the realization of his
+bucolic dreams. He knew full well that America had commercial
+aspirations that could not be suppressed; all one could do
+was not to encourage them as Hamilton wanted to do and, in
+the meantime, to reduce political connections to a minimum.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the short session of Congress in which measures
+relative to Europe had been debated, Jefferson wrote to Rutledge:
+"as to everything except commerce, we ought to divorce
+ourselves from them all." But this system would require
+"time, temper, wisdom, and occasional sacrifice of interests;
+and how far all of these will be ours, our children may see, but
+we shall not."<a name="FNanchor_342_342" id="FNanchor_342_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_342_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a> Such has been the hope and the endeavor of
+America ever since that time; with what success it is for others
+to judge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Adams' speech had been a warlike one. That the Government
+of the United States had been insulted by the French
+Directory was no "matter of doubt." Pinckney, sent as successor
+to Monroe, had not been received by the Government,
+and Monroe had been informed that the Directory "would no
+longer recognize nor receive a minister plenipotentiary from the
+United States, until after a reparation of the grievances
+demanded of the American Government, and which the French
+Republic had a right to expect." Pinckney himself had been
+notified that his presence in Paris was illegal and that he could
+not stay in the country. No wonder that Adams declared
+that: "Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision
+which shall convince France and the world that we are not a
+degraded people, humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and
+sense of inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of
+foreign influence, and regardless of national honor, character
+and interest."</p>
+
+<p>On May 23 the Senate sent an address to the President,
+indorsing his views by a vote of seventeen to eleven. The
+fight was to take place in the House and in the newspapers.
+"Foreign influence is the present and just object of public hue
+and cry", wrote Jefferson to Thomas Pinckney.<a name="FNanchor_343_343" id="FNanchor_343_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_343_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a> As always
+happens when the cry of wolf is raised, "the most guilty and
+foremost and loudest in the cry", those who were denouncing
+French influence, were to a large extent English propagandists
+and not of the best type. But news from France was infrequent
+and slight and, at the beginning of June, Jefferson waited
+anxiously for the daily arrival of Paine and Monroe from whom
+he expected a true account of the situation. Then came the
+news of Bonaparte's latest victories and the announcement that
+the preliminaries of peace were signed between France and
+Austria. This was the only thing which could and did cool
+the fury of the British faction. "The victories of the Rhine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+and Italy, peace with Austria, bankruptcy of England, mutiny
+in her fleet, and the King's writing letters recommending peace"&mdash;all
+that constituted a string of events nothing less than
+miraculous.<a name="FNanchor_344_344" id="FNanchor_344_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_344_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a></p>
+
+<p>At this juncture Jefferson made a momentous political move.
+He wrote a long letter to Colonel Aaron Burr to take him into
+his confidence. The Vice President was beginning to gather up
+the loose threads: "Some general view of our situation and
+prospects, since you left us, may not be unacceptable. At any
+rate, it will give me an opportunity of recalling myself to your
+memory, and of evidencing my esteem for you." What could
+this mean in ordinary language if not that he counted on him
+to counterbalance Hamilton's influence in New York and
+present the views of the chief to the leaders of the party. First
+of all he called his attention to the fact that the Republican
+party was losing ground in the House as well as in the Senate,
+and that the majority was in the hands of "five or six individuals
+of no fixed system at all, governed by the panic or the
+prowess of the moment, who flap as the breeze blows against
+the Republican or the aristocratic bodies."</p>
+
+<p>For the present, the danger of going to war was less disquieting.
+Bonaparte's victories had brought many to their senses
+and some were complaining that Congress had been called together
+to do nothing. "The truth is, there is nothing to do, the
+idea of war being scouted by the events of Europe; but this only
+proves that war was the object for which we were called." It
+had been a close call, and France might have declared war
+against the United States if the Ancients had not pronounced
+against it. "Thus we see two nations who love one another
+affectionately, brought by the ill temper of their executive
+administrations, to the very brink of a necessity to imbue their
+hands in the blood of each other."</p>
+
+<p>But leaving aside all sentimental considerations, Jefferson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>
+undertook to demonstrate that such a war would have, as a
+result, the immediate occupation of Louisiana by France, and
+with Louisiana again a Gallo-American colony, the danger
+would indeed be great. Such were "some of the truths that
+ought to penetrate into the Eastern States", and Burr was no
+doubt intrusted with the mission to preach the true doctrine of
+republicanism in his district.<a name="FNanchor_345_345" id="FNanchor_345_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_345_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a></p>
+
+<p>Four days later Jefferson announced with infinite joy to
+Elbridge Gerry that he had been appointed to go as envoy
+extraordinary, jointly with General Pinckney and Mr. Marshall,
+to the French Republic. Once more he insisted upon the necessity
+of coming to some sort of an arrangement with Europe.
+War against England or France could only result in civil war
+in America and probably secession. The fate of the United
+States was at stake.<a name="FNanchor_346_346" id="FNanchor_346_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_346_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a></p>
+
+<p>Congress was to adjourn on the twenty-eighth of June and
+Jefferson was already looking forward to the rural quiet of
+Monticello, where he could "exchange the roar and tumult of
+bulls and bears for the prattle of his grandchildren and senile
+rest." His quiet however was disturbed by an unexpected incident.
+Early in August he sent an urgent call to Madison to
+come to Monticello with Monroe in order to consult with them
+on an urgent matter. The letter written to Mazzei the preceding
+year had come back, translated from the French, and was
+used as a political weapon against Jefferson and the Republicans.
+Public repudiation of the letter was impossible, since he
+had really written it, although the translation had garbled the
+meaning of some important sentences. To remain silent under
+fire and accept as true the accusations hurled against him was
+equally difficult. His friends alone could help him out of the
+difficulty. He finally decided to ignore the whole matter as he
+had already been advised to do by his Philadelphia friends, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>
+the letter preyed on his mind and this was not an incident to be
+easily forgotten. It was during the summer and fall of that
+year that certain principles were definitely crystallized in his
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>Deploring the fact that both factions had been incensed by
+political considerations and political hatred rather than by a
+true judgment of the situation and what he had called in a
+letter to Rutledge "the dictates of reason and pure Americanism",
+he then reached for himself certain conclusions which
+were to direct his political conduct during the rest of his career.
+He was thoroughly sickened by the insults passing in the press.
+Men of his own party he could not severely condemn for this,
+nor could he take from their hands the weapons used to defeat
+the enemy, but he was also loath to approve of their tactics. In
+Democratic societies, established in large cities, he placed very
+little confidence; they were fighting on his side, at least for the
+present, and were vociferous enough; but to a large extent they
+were made up of office hunters. They did not and could not
+constitute a trustworthy bulwark for Republican institutions.
+Fortunately events had proved that there existed in the country
+a large body of people sincerely attached to republican principles;
+these had been slumbering and their leaders had almost
+steered the ship into a foreign port, but they could be enlightened
+and made to manifest their true sentiments; for all
+reforms "must be brought about by the people using their
+elective rights with prudence and self-possession, and not suffering
+themselves to be duped by treacherous emissaries." "It is
+the sober sense of our citizens that we are safely and steadily
+conducting from monarchy to republicanism, and it is by the
+same agency alone that we can be kept from falling back."<a name="FNanchor_347_347" id="FNanchor_347_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_347_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a>
+As to foreign questions, the fact that their intrusion into American
+life had divided the nation against itself proved conclusively
+that the only safe course to follow was to sever the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
+bonds that connected America with Europe and "to place our
+foreign connections under a new and different arrangement."<a name="FNanchor_348_348" id="FNanchor_348_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_348_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a>
+The time had come for America to proclaim her independence
+in all foreign matters, for "we owe gratitude to France, justice
+to England, subservience to none."</p>
+
+<p>It was in coining these fine political maxims that Jefferson
+was at his best. As had happened so often during his life,
+he refused to be carried away by popular passions raging in
+Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. From the "mountain
+top" of Monticello he was able to judge dispassionately
+the sordid struggles of party politics. He was no party
+boss, not even a party leader; if he had any ambition at
+that time, it was to become a national leader and the exponent
+of what he himself had called in his letter to Rutledge "pure
+Americanism."</p>
+
+<p>Congress had been called for November 13, but the Vice
+President felt no inclination to hurry back to Philadelphia and
+re&euml;nter the scene of strife. He did not leave until December
+4 and found, as he had expected, that Congress was marking
+time, waiting for news from Paris. Madison he kept informed
+minutely of all the changes that had taken place during the
+summer, of the progress of republicanism in Vermont and New
+York, and of all the small talk of politics, interesting only as
+showing how eagerly Jefferson kept his finger on the pulse of
+the country. He had an ulterior motive in sending to Madison
+papers and pamphlets recently published in Philadelphia; it
+was that "the paragraphs in some of these abominable papers
+may draw from you now and then a squib." Matters seemed
+to be on the mend; the latest official intelligence from Paris
+was that the envoys "would find every disposition on the part
+of the Government to accommodate with us."<a name="FNanchor_349_349" id="FNanchor_349_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_349_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a> The session
+dragged on. Jefferson's melancholy statement that the Senate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>
+was divided "twenty-two and ten and will probably forever
+be", was not helped by Adams' declaration that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>No republic can ever be of any duration, without a Senate, and a
+Senate deeply and strongly rooted, strong enough to bear up against
+all popular storms and passions. The only fault in the Constitution
+of our Senate is, that their term of office is not durable enough.
+Hitherto they have done well, but probably they will be forced to
+give way in time.<a name="FNanchor_350_350" id="FNanchor_350_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_350_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The only important proposition before Congress was "the
+bill of foreign intercourse and the proposition to arm our
+foreign vessels"; but both parties seemed to be afraid to press
+the matter. Everything was in suspense "as the ensuing
+month will probably be the most eventful ever yet seen in
+modern Europe." If Bonaparte's projected invasion of England
+succeeded the tables would turn; in the meantime the
+official ball given on Washington's birthday offered to Philadelphia
+society a pretext for engaging in hot controversies.
+Business was bad and bankruptcies multiplying. Congress was
+thinking of appropriating some money for national defense so
+as to furnish convoys to vessels going to Europe and to provide
+for the protection of smaller vessels of the coast trade. Adams
+had decided to reorganize his Cabinet. Wolcott would remain
+in office, but it seemed that McHenry was to go and Pickering
+was very doubtful whether he would stay.<a name="FNanchor_351_351" id="FNanchor_351_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_351_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile dispatches from the American envoys had
+arrived; they were being deciphered and the President hesitated
+upon the advisability of communicating them in full to
+Congress. Then, on the nineteenth, came Adams' message
+declaring that "it was incumbent on him to declare that he
+perceived no ground of expectation that the objects of their
+mission could be accomplished on terms compatible with the
+safety, honor, or the essential interest of the Nation."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the twenty-first Jefferson wrote to Madison that "a great
+change has taken place in the appearance of our political atmosphere";
+the "insane message" had had great effect but there
+was still a possibility that, if all members were present, the war
+measures would be defeated by one voice in the House. What
+was to be done in that case? The only possible solution was to
+make a bid for time and wait for the results of Bonaparte's
+expedition against Great Britain. Jefferson's plan therefore
+was to propose an adjournment of Congress "in order to go
+home and consult their constituents on the great crisis of American
+affairs now existing." "To gain time is everything with
+us." In this letter Jefferson made one of his few material
+errors, so strange on the part of a man in his position, and hardly
+to be explained unless we suppose that the wish was father to the
+thought. "We relied," he said, "with great security on that
+provision which requires two-thirds of the Legislature to declare
+war. But this is completely eluded by a majority's taking such
+measures as will be sure to produce war." Certainly there was
+no such article in the Constitution, unless Jefferson in his
+excitement interpreted the ratification of treaties by two-thirds
+of the Senate to imply also that a declaration of war should
+have such a majority.<a name="FNanchor_352_352" id="FNanchor_352_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_352_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a> A week later he was convinced that "the
+question of war and peace depends now on a toss of cross and
+pile. If we could gain but one season we should be saved."<a name="FNanchor_353_353" id="FNanchor_353_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_353_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a>
+It was to these Fabian tactics that the Republicans were to bend
+all their efforts in order to avoid a formal declaration of war.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the dispatches of the envoys were made
+public and the famous X.Y.Z. case came to light. Debate was
+hot in Congress on the Sprigg resolution declaring that "under
+existing conditions it is not expedient for the United States to
+resort to war against the French republic."<a name="FNanchor_354_354" id="FNanchor_354_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_354_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a> Adams then
+decided to communicate the letters from Paris.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>No more terrible blow could have been inflicted upon the
+friends of peace. Jefferson heard the news on April 3, but as it
+was still undecided whether they could be made public, he refrained
+from discussing them with Madison until the sixth. His
+first impressions were "very disagreeable and very confused."
+Yet he tried, as was his wont, to see both sides of the question.
+With the story of the abortive negotiations was interwoven</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... some base propositions on the part of Talleyrand, through
+one of his agents, to sell his interest and influence with the Directory
+towards soothing difficulties with them, in consideration of a large
+sum (fifty thousand pounds sterling); the arguments to which his
+agent resorted to induce compliance with this demand were unworthy
+of a great nation (could they be imputed to them), and
+calculated to excite disgust and indignation in the Republicans particularly,
+whom they so far mistake, as to presume an attachment
+to France and hatred to the Federal party and not to the love of their
+country, to be their first passion.</p></div>
+
+<p>In the papers, as communicated, Adams had substituted for
+the names given by the envoys&mdash;Hottinger, Bellamy, and
+Hauteval&mdash;the initials X. Y. Z., hence the name given at once
+to the incident.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the French bankers really represented Talleyrand is
+absolutely immaterial; the result on American public opinion
+alone is to be considered here. According to Jefferson, the
+public's first reaction was one of astonishment;<a name="FNanchor_355_355" id="FNanchor_355_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_355_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a> furious
+indignation followed very quickly. Sprigg's resolution was
+naturally discarded as not appropriate; war seemed the order
+of the day. The last resort left to the remaining Republicans
+was to avoid open hostilities with the French Republic and,
+not being able to prevent a vote of credits for armaments, to
+insist that they should be granted specially for internal defense
+and preparation.<a name="FNanchor_356_356" id="FNanchor_356_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_356_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a> A more mature consideration of the letters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>
+convinced Jefferson that the door to negotiation was not
+absolutely closed.<a name="FNanchor_357_357" id="FNanchor_357_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_357_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a> But popular indignation was too strong;
+riotous scenes took place in the streets of Philadelphia, addresses
+from all parts of the country came to Adams, urging him to
+stand for national honor and the Federalist press fanned the
+flames. The few faithful Republicans grew discouraged and
+one by one drifted out of Philadelphia. "Giles, Clopton,
+Cabell, and Nicholas have gone," wrote Jefferson on April 26,
+"and Clay goes to-morrow. Parker has completely gone over
+to the war party. In this state of things they will carry what
+they please. One of the war party, in a fit of unguarded passion,
+declared sometime ago they would pass a Citizen Bill, an
+Alien Bill, and a Sedition Bill."<a name="FNanchor_358_358" id="FNanchor_358_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_358_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a> Madison, although urged to
+take up his pen "for heaven's sake and not desert the public
+cause altogether", remained silent in Virginia. Jefferson felt
+that the first and second measures were directed against his
+close friend Volney,<a name="FNanchor_359_359" id="FNanchor_359_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_359_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a> who had been somewhat imprudent. That
+the republican press would be muzzled for "the war hawks talk
+of septembrizing, deportation and the examples for quelling
+sedition set by the French executives. All the firmness of
+the human mind is now in a state of requisition."<a name="FNanchor_360_360" id="FNanchor_360_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_360_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is remarkable, and not the smallest achievement of Jefferson,
+that he kept a cool head in the midst of this turmoil.
+Insulted every day in the press and in public meetings, lampooned
+and caricatured, he had to remain silent because of his
+official position and could not protest to the government. No
+stranger political situation could be imagined than this,&mdash;a
+man recognized as the head of a party opposed to the government,
+yet next to the President in rank, without power to defend
+himself and to enter into polemics, ostracized, and, as he
+admitted himself, "insulated in every society", forced to listen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>
+to the reading of the most detestable things such as the Alien
+Bill, and still not indulging in bitterness. A comparison of his
+letters with those written by Adams and Hamilton at the same
+time would constitute the most extraordinary tribute to his
+self-mastery. He persisted in seeing some faint hope and
+refused to give up the ship.</p>
+
+<p>First there was a possibility that when the merchants would
+see that actual war meant War Tax, Land Tax, and Stamp Tax,
+these measures would constitute sedatives to cool their ardor.
+The present session had already cost two hundred thousand
+dollars and that was only a beginning. Furthermore, there was
+also a possibility that, if an actual declaration of war could be
+prevented during the summer, the coming election would re&euml;nforce
+the republican party. Volney had decided to go back to
+France with a few other aliens who had chartered a boat,
+without waiting for the enactment of the Alien Bill. Many of
+them were much irritated, but Volney at least was "thoroughly
+impressed with the importance of preventing war, whether
+considered with reference to the interests of the two countries,
+of the cause of Republicanism, or of man on a broad scale."<a name="FNanchor_361_361" id="FNanchor_361_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_361_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a></p>
+
+<p>Isolated though he was in Philadelphia, from his room in the
+Philosophical Society of which he was president, Jefferson
+persisted in hoping against hope. One thing however was to
+be avoided at all cost. If the situation became such that the
+Northern States, Connecticut and Massachusetts particularly,
+clearly dominated the situation, it was far better to submit
+temporarily and endure even detestable measures than to break
+the Union. The beginning of the disaggregation could not be
+stopped; a realignment of States conducing to new secessions
+would finally be the result. Men must quarrel, and "seeing,
+therefore, that an association of men who will not quarrel with
+one another is a thing which never yet existed, from the
+greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>
+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."<a name="FNanchor_362_362" id="FNanchor_362_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_362_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a></p>
+
+<p>This was a most important declaration and shows to what
+length Jefferson was willing to go in order to avoid the only
+irremediable catastrophe. Whatever may have been his weaknesses
+and shortcomings, his inconsistencies and contradictions,
+the man who, in the hectic atmosphere of Philadelphia,
+was able to put aside his own interests, the interests of his
+party, his social and political ideals to think nationally,
+was indeed a great American. We may even venture to
+say that he was at the time the only great American in the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>When Marshall came back from France&mdash;much to his surprise,
+as a war hero and as an avenger of national honor&mdash;the
+Republicans began to take a less pessimistic view of the situation.
+After all, the situation was not so desperate as they had
+been led to believe; Gerry had remained in Paris, and negotiations
+could be resumed. The show of honesty made by the
+envoys in Paris was most gratifying to national honor and gave
+the public a feeling of triumph over the corrupt practices of
+European diplomacy. But with the return of Marshall a new
+campaign broke out against Jefferson. Doctor Logan on his
+own initiative had gone to Europe in the interest of peace, but
+had gone mysteriously and without telling any one of his intentions.
+It was soon assumed that he had been sent on an unauthorized
+and unofficial but highly objectionable mission by the
+Jacobins "to solicit an army from France, instruct them as to
+their landing, etc.", and Jefferson was again accused of being
+the arch plotter. Nothing could be more ridiculous, for the
+poor doctor was simply one of those idealistic pacifists who
+sometimes do more harm than good, but whose intentions are
+not open to suspicion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But popular passions once aroused cannot be silenced in a day
+and the efforts of the friends of peace were weak and inefficient.
+On April 14 a bill was passed on second reading by the Senate,
+declaring the treaties with France void and nonexistent.
+Adams made it known that he would refuse Gerry's request that
+other envoys be sent. If Congress remained in session in a city
+where war hysteria had reached a paroxysm, extreme measures
+were unavoidable. The only remedy was to adjourn as soon
+as possible, for "to separate Congress now, will be withdrawing
+the fire from under a boiling pot."<a name="FNanchor_363_363" id="FNanchor_363_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_363_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a> Congress did not separate,
+however, without authorizing the President to increase the navy,
+to expend two hundred fifty thousand dollars for fortifications,
+to purchase eight hundred thousand dollars' worth of arms and
+ammunition, to raise an army of ten thousand troops and to
+equip vessels to seize and bring to port any armed vessels
+which had attacked American vessels or might be found "hovering
+on the coast of the United States for the purpose of
+committing depredations on the vessels belonging to the
+citizens thereof." On July 6 were passed the famous Alien
+Bills, and on the fourteenth, as a sort of defiance to the principles
+of the French Revolution, Congress adopted the "Sedition
+Law", giving power to the government "to prosecute
+persons or to prevent the circulating or saying of any utterance
+against the Government of the United States, or either House
+of the Congress of the United States, or the President of
+the United States."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER V</h3>
+
+<h2>POLITICAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST</h2>
+
+
+<p>When Jefferson went home after the adjournment of Congress
+he remained completely silent for two months. But the newspaper
+war went on in Philadelphia with more virulence than
+ever: attacks against the arch plotter and the defender of the
+French Jacobins were multiplied, prosecutions were begun in
+Massachusetts under the Sedition Act and for a time Jefferson
+himself seems to have feared for his own safety. To Samuel
+Smith, who had sent him a clipping in which he was vehemently
+accused, he answered that he had "contemplated every event
+which the Maratists of the day can perpetrate, and I am prepared
+to meet every one in such a way, as shall not be derogatory
+to the public liberty or my own personal honor." He
+naturally denied that he had in any way plotted with Bache,
+the editor of the <i>Aurora</i>, or Doctor Leib; then he went on to
+define once more his position. He had acted on the same principles
+from the year 1775 to that day, and he was convinced
+that these principles were those of the great body of the American
+people. He was for peace certainly, not only with France
+but also with England. He was aware that both of them "have
+given and are daily giving, sufficient cause of war; that in
+defiance of the laws of nations, they are every day trampling
+on the rights of the neutral powers, whenever they can thereby
+do the least injury, either to the other." But he still maintained
+that the best policy was and would have been "to bear
+from France for one more summer what we have been bearing
+from both of them these four years." With England the
+United States had chosen peace; with France they had chosen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>
+war; to what extent the Government was supported by the
+majority of the people was a thing to be seen in the coming
+elections. He ended with a note of Christian forgiveness for
+Fenno and Porcupine, who "covered him with their implacable
+hatred." "The only return I will ever make them, will be
+to do them all the good I can, in spite of their teeth."<a name="FNanchor_364_364" id="FNanchor_364_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_364_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a></p>
+
+<p>This was almost too godly to be true; but if we remember
+that his letters were intercepted and read by Adams' police, as
+he repeatedly complained, and that letters sent to him were
+opened on their way to Monticello, we may wonder whether he
+did not write these lines for the eye of the censor, and with his
+tongue in his cheek. That he really believed at the time in the
+existence of a monarchical conspiracy appears from a letter
+to Stephens Thompson Mason.<a name="FNanchor_365_365" id="FNanchor_365_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_365_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Alien and Sedition bills were just a beginning. If the
+people did not revolt against them, the next step would be to
+persuade Congress that the President should continue in office
+for life, reserving to another time the transfer of the succession
+to his heirs and the establishment of the Senate for life.</p>
+
+<p>This was a very accurate prophecy of the course that events
+were to follow, not in America, but in France, and this shows at
+least that Jefferson had an exact understanding of the gradual
+steps through which a republican government might become
+an empire. But France had Bonaparte, while neither Adams
+nor Washington ever had the inclination or the power to bring
+about such a change in America. Yet when one thinks of the
+military ambitions of Hamilton, of his real opposition and
+scorn for republican government, it would perhaps be unfair to
+dismiss these apprehensions as absolutely groundless. Whatever
+the case may have been, Jefferson thought the time had
+come to erect a strong barrier against the encroachments of the
+Federal Government. Towards the end of the same month, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>
+two Nicholas brothers, George and Wilson C., discussed with
+Jefferson at Monticello a plan to put to work the Republicans,
+who, finding themselves useless in Congress, had retired from
+the field. A plan was finally adopted to arouse the State
+legislatures; during these meetings were drawn up the famous
+"Resolutions" that George Nicholas was to present to the
+legislature of Kentucky, and which Madison was to bring before
+the Virginia Assembly.<a name="FNanchor_366_366" id="FNanchor_366_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_366_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a></p>
+
+<p>The exact authorship of the "Resolutions" remained a
+matter of doubt until Jefferson more than twenty years later
+acknowledged his participation in a letter to the son of George
+Nicholas.<a name="FNanchor_367_367" id="FNanchor_367_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_367_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a> It was well for Jefferson's peace of mind that he
+remained behind the scenes on this occasion and let Madison
+take the responsibility of the recommendation, which he did
+not allow to pass without modifying the original text to a considerable
+degree. The Kentucky resolutions have been the
+subject of many discussions, and Madison himself used a great
+deal of ink and time to explain the true import of the measures
+he had sponsored before the Virginia Assembly. They will
+become much more intelligible when studied in the light of the
+theory developed by Jefferson in the document in which he
+stated his views on the social compact, considered as a <i>pactum
+foederis</i> and not a <i>pactum subjectionis</i>.<a name="FNanchor_368_368" id="FNanchor_368_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_368_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a> It was simply the
+reaffirmation that in forming a society neither men nor States
+abdicate entirely their sovereignty but reserve a specified
+part of their natural rights set forth in a Bill of Rights&mdash;an
+essential foundation on which to build a constitution. Such
+is clearly the meaning of the first resolution;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. <i>Resolved.</i> 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,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>
+and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general Government
+for special purposes&mdash;delegated to that Government certain definite
+powers, reserving, 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 unauthoritative,
+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 Government created by this compact was
+not made the exclusive 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 common judge, each
+party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as
+of the mode and measure of redress.</p></div>
+
+<p>Not only was Jefferson perfectly consistent in repeating
+almost word for word in this Resolution the doctrine of natural
+rights and State rights already enunciated in 1776, but the last
+lines foretold the theory he was to defend against Marshall
+during his presidency. By denying that the parties to the
+Federal compact had a common judge, he refused in advance
+to consider the Supreme Court as the guardian, interpreter, and
+defender of the Constitution. This principle once asserted,
+Jefferson endeavored to prove that the Sedition Bill, the Alien
+Bill and other measures adopted by Congress at the instigation
+of the Federalists constituted an infringement of State rights,
+since they did not deal with matters specifically reserved to
+Congress and since it was provided 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." This was at the same time an attempt to prove
+the unconstitutionality of the recent legislation and an endeavor
+to define more exactly the powers of the Federal Government.
+The Eighth Resolution, the longest, proposed the establishment
+of a committee of correspondence to communicate the resolutions
+to the different legislatures and enunciated the doctrine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>
+of nullification, namely that the State had the right to consider
+as nonexistent such laws as might be passed in defiance of the
+Constitution. Naturally the Law of Sedition and the Alien
+Bill came under that category.</p>
+
+<p>Strong as the language of the Resolutions may have been, it
+was not Jefferson's intention to promote a rebellion of certain
+States against the Federal Government and to provoke a
+secession. They contained a strong affirmation that the
+subscribers to the Resolutions were sincerely anxious for the
+preservation of the Union. As a matter of fact, in Jefferson's
+intention they were a piece of political strategy and he had no
+desire to push the matter too far. A letter he wrote to Madison
+on the subject is particularly significant on that score: "I
+think we should distinctly affirm all the important principles
+they contain, so as to hold to that ground in future, and leave
+the matter in such a train as that we may not be committed
+absolutely to push the matter to extremities, and yet may be
+free to push as far as events will render prudent."<a name="FNanchor_369_369" id="FNanchor_369_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_369_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a></p>
+
+<p>In other words, it was what the French call a gesture, the act
+of a lawyer reserving certain points in a trial before a tribunal
+and the right to present conclusions. It was not the act of a
+revolutionist and for the time being at least, although adopted
+in a modified form both by Kentucky and Virginia, it remained
+a gesture and a simple protest against Federalist usurpations.</p>
+
+<p>The end of the fall came, and Jefferson relapsed once more
+into his cautious silence. One letter only, written from Monticello
+to John Taylor, is found in the files for that period.<a name="FNanchor_370_370" id="FNanchor_370_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_370_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a> This
+time Jefferson was more optimistic; the ardor of the Federalists
+for war seemed to have cooled down and the people began to
+realize that national pride was a very expensive article, that
+wars had to be paid for: "the Doctor is now on his way to cure
+it, in the guise of the tax gatherer."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At the end of the month, the Vice President set out for
+Philadelphia to attend the opening of the third session of the
+Fifth Congress. Adams' address was anxiously awaited.
+Much to the surprise and disgust of the war party, if it could
+not be called conciliatory, it was far less provocative than the
+address of the twenty-first of June preceding. He protested
+against the decree of the Directory constituting "an unequivocal
+act of war" and maintained that "to invigorate measures
+of defence" was the true policy of the United States. But
+while he thus reiterated some of his previous statements, the
+tone was far less truculent. President Adams, while frowning
+threateningly, held behind his back the olive branch and was
+ready to extend it. The conclusion was one of these milk-and-water
+statements, that curious balancing of two positions so
+often found in American State papers relating to foreign affairs:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>But in demonstrating by our conduct that we do not fear war in
+the necessary protection of our rights and honor, we shall give no
+room to infer that we abandon the desire of peace.... An efficient
+preparation for war can alone insure peace. It is peace that we
+have uniformly and perseveringly cultivated, and harmony between
+us and France may be restored at her option.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then came the really important part: "The United States
+Government could not think of sending another minister ...
+unless given positive assurances that he would be received. It
+must therefore be left with France (if she is indeed desirous of
+accommodation) to take the requisite steps."</p>
+
+<p>Apparently an innocuous statement, but yet it was a new
+note; as it was known that Adams had received some communications
+from Gerry and was to make these communications
+known, it was supposed that a real change and a change for the
+better was about to take place in the relations between the two
+countries. Therefore Jefferson could mention in the speech "a
+moderation unlike the President", and he also knew that Vans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>
+Murray, the American minister at the Hague, had informed
+his Government "that the French Government is sincere in
+their overtures for reconciliation and have agreed, if these fail,
+to admit the mediation offered by the British Government."<a name="FNanchor_371_371" id="FNanchor_371_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_371_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the fight in Congress was merrily going on,
+with that peculiar circumstance that both leaders remained
+behind the scenes. To the Kentucky Resolutions, followed by
+much milder representations from other State legislatures,
+Hamilton opposed his instructions sent to Dayton, and since
+published in his "Works." If they had fallen into Jefferson's
+hands he would have found in them ample grounds for his fears.
+The Federalist leader was of the opinion that his party was
+losing ground, and the late attempt of Virginia and Kentucky
+to unite the State legislatures in a direct resistance to certain
+laws of the Union, could be considered in no other light than as
+an attempt to change the Government. Under the circumstances,
+and considering that "the enemies of the Government
+were resolved, if it shall be practicable, to make its existence a
+question of force", Hamilton had devised a certain plan to be
+executed by the Federalist troops in Congress. The measures
+came under four heads: establishments which will extend the
+influence and promote the popularity of the Government; provision
+for augmenting the means and consolidating the strength
+of the Government; arrangements for confirming and enlarging
+the legal powers of the Government; laws for restraining and
+punishing incendiary and seditious practices. The detail of
+the recommendations showed a perfectly well-concerted plan
+to concentrate all powers in the hands of the Federal
+Government.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most remarkable proposals was perhaps the project
+of subdividing the larger States into several small States
+containing no less than a hundred thousand persons each, as
+these new units would be "better adapted to the purposes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>
+local regulations and to the preservation of the Republican
+spirit." It is not without interest here to note that the Federalist
+leader proposed the very measures which had been adopted
+in France when the old provinces were divided into <i>d&eacute;partements</i>.
+In the case of the Federalists, as in the case of the Constituents,
+the purpose was the same: a concentration of all powers into
+the hand of a central authority and the suppression of local
+government. Other recommendations were an extension of
+the judiciary with a Federal judge at the head of each district;
+the appointment of conservators or justices of peace, who were
+to supervise the energetic execution of the laws and to promote
+"salutary patronage"; a stronger army; improvement of
+roads; powers given to the Government to call out the militia
+to suppress unlawful combinations and insurrections; power
+given to Congress to build canals through the territory of two or
+more States, that "all seditious writings levelled against any
+officers whatever of the U. S. shall be cognizable in the courts
+of the United States."</p>
+
+<p>If the administrative reorganization advocated by Hamilton
+had been effected, it would have made the United States not
+far different from the France of Napoleon and, such being the
+plans of the Federalists, it cannot be said that Jefferson's fear
+was entirely exaggerated.</p>
+
+<p>One of the first victories of the Federalists was to pass the
+famous Logan Law (January 30) forbidding any citizen of the
+United States to commence or carry on any verbal or written
+correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government, or
+any officer thereof in relation to any disputes or controversies
+with the United States. Doctor Logan's intentions had been
+of the best. He had seen members of the French Directory in
+Paris and had brought with him "non-equivocal proofs of the
+pacific dispositions of the French Government towards the
+United States" and particularly the Statement of Merlin that
+"<i>la libert&eacute; des &Eacute;tats-Unis nous a co&ucirc;t&eacute; trop de sang pour qu'elle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>
+ne nous soit pas ch&egrave;re.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_372_372" id="FNanchor_372_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_372_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a> None of these activities could be
+called treacherous, and in normal times would not have been
+noticed. But behind Logan, Jefferson was aimed at, and he
+was perfectly aware, as he wrote to Madison, that "the real
+views in the importance they have given to Logan's enterprise
+are mistaken by nobody."<a name="FNanchor_373_373" id="FNanchor_373_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_373_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a> Yet he thought he had to justify
+himself to his friends, and sent a long letter on the subject to
+Gerry. Far more important than his defense was a declaration
+of the principles he did not fear to avow. "They are unquestionably,"
+he said, "the principles of the great body of our
+fellow-citizens." It was really the program of the Democratic
+Party and the most luminous exposition of the Jeffersonian
+doctrine ever made.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of
+our present federal Constitution, according to the true sense in
+which it was adopted by the States ... and I am opposed to the
+monarchising its features by the forms of its administration, with a
+view to conciliate a first transition to a President and Senate for life,
+and from that to an hereditary tenure of these offices.... I am for
+preserving to the States the powers not yielded by them to the
+Union, and to the legislature of the Union its constitutional share
+in the division of powers; and I am not for transferring all the
+powers of the States to the General Government, and all those of
+that Government to the executive branch. I am for a government
+rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the
+public revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a
+multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make partisans....
+I am for relying, for internal defence, on our militia solely, till actual
+invasion ... and not for a standing army in time of peace, which
+may overawe the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which by its
+own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will implicate us, will
+grind us with public burthens, and sink us under them. I am for
+free commerce with all nations; political connections with none;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>
+and little or no diplomatic establishment ... I am for freedom of
+religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring about a legal ascendency
+of one sect over another: for freedom of the press, and against
+all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and not by
+reason the complaints of criticism, just or unjust, of our citizens
+against the conduct of their agents. And I am for encouraging the
+progress of science in all its branches; and not for raising a hue and
+cry against the sacred name of philosophy....<a name="FNanchor_374_374" id="FNanchor_374_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_374_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson ended with a paragraph in which he solemnly proclaimed
+the integrity of his American nationalism, although he
+admitted that he was a well wisher to the success of the French
+Revolution and still hoped that it would succeed; but he added
+at once: "The first object of my heart is my own country. In
+that is embarked my family, my fortune, my own existence.
+I have not one farthing of interest, nor preference of any one
+nation to another, but in proportion as they are more or less
+friendly to us."</p>
+
+<p>The man who drew up that program in the midst of an
+unprecedented political strife and the riotous scenes of the
+streets of Philadelphia was a political leader of the first rank.
+The letter to Gerry is more than a letter from one individual to
+another; it transcends the circumstances of the moment. It
+is the result of mature reflection; the conclusions reached by
+Jefferson after almost thirty years of political life. It is really
+the first program of his party and the first complete definition
+of Government and of Americanism; for it was distinctly
+American. I fail to perceive in it the influence of any foreign
+political thinker except in so far as such principles as freedom of
+the press, separation of the Church and the State may have been
+ideas common to a great majority of political thinkers of the
+eighteenth century. Even if Jefferson's request to Gerry to
+keep the communication absolutely secret was obeyed, there
+is little doubt that we have here the gist of the communication<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>
+made orally by Jefferson to his friends and to the leaders of the
+Republicans in Congress.</p>
+
+<p>For the moment the letter contained a strong appeal to Gerry
+to place every evidence at his disposal before the public, since
+the Government refused to do it, and to publish in full the
+report on his mission. He alone could save the situation by
+coming forward independently. But even if Gerry acceded to
+this wish, some one else would have to present a brief synopsis
+of the evidence and draw up a judicial arraignment of the
+administration. At this juncture Jefferson thought of his old
+master Pendleton, at whose feet he had sat in Williamsburg,
+and with whom he had worked in the revision of the statutes of
+Virginia. He alone could give the "<i>coup de gr&acirc;ce</i>" to the ruinous
+principles and doctrines; he alone could recapitulate all the
+vexations and disgusting details of the Stamp Act and the
+Direct Tax. A small handbill would be printed and they could
+"disperse ten or twelve thousand copies under letter covers,
+through all the United States, by the members of Congress
+when they return home."<a name="FNanchor_375_375" id="FNanchor_375_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_375_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a> To make Pendleton's co&ouml;peration
+more certain, Jefferson even drew up the plan of the indictment
+and inclosed all the necessary documents.</p>
+
+<p>February was for Jefferson a period of hectic activity. During
+all the first part of the month he multiplied his entreaties
+to Pendleton to gird up his loins and enter the fight. If he still
+refused to write for the press he was not averse to communicating
+to the editors papers written by his friends, and he begged
+these for expressions of opinion to be sent to the press.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The engine is the press. Every man must lay his purse and his
+pen under contribution. As to the former it is possible I may be
+obliged to assume something for you. As to the latter, let me pray
+and beseech you to set apart a certain portion of every post day to
+write what may be proper for the public. Send it to me while here,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>
+and when I go away I will let you know to whom you may send, so
+that your name shall be sacredly secret.<a name="FNanchor_376_376" id="FNanchor_376_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_376_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The propaganda was beginning to bear its fruits. John
+Ogden was writing from Litchfield that "many publications
+in the <i>Aurora</i> have reached Connecticut, within four weeks,
+which have opened the eyes of the dispassionate" and he was
+asking for more pamphlets.<a name="FNanchor_377_377" id="FNanchor_377_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_377_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a> But a week later Ogden was
+arrested and to Jefferson he sent a letter "From Lichtfield Goal
+(sic) at the suit of Oliver Wolcott Esq", to affirm that "prison
+has no horror to the oppressed, inspired and persecuted." To
+Aaron Burr in New York Jefferson wrote very affectionately
+and very familiarly to acquaint him with the state of public
+affairs.<a name="FNanchor_378_378" id="FNanchor_378_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_378_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a> To Monroe he was sending pamphlets, asking him
+to distribute them where they would do most good, adding as
+usual "Do not let my name be connected in the business."
+He never tired of repeating that the proper argument to strike
+the voters was the enormous increase in the budget of the
+United States: a loan authorized for five millions at eight per
+cent., another of two millions to follow and that was just a
+beginning. All these measures were accepted by Congress in
+the teeth of Gerry's communications with Talleyrand, showing
+the French Government willing to continue the negotiations.</p>
+
+<p>Then on February 18 came "the event of events." While all
+the war measures were going on, while the Government of the
+United States was blockading the French West Indies and
+French vessels were captured, while there were in several
+instances cases of actual warfare, the President had had in his
+hand for several weeks letters exchanged between Pichon, the
+French charg&eacute; at the Hague, and Vans Murray, declaring that
+the French Government was ready to receive "whatever
+plenipotentiary the Government of the United States should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>
+send to France to end our differences and that he would be
+received with the respect due to the representative of a <i>free,
+independent, and powerful nation</i>." Adams, almost on the eve
+of the adjournment of Congress, had decided, as it seems,
+against the advice and without the knowledge of his Cabinet,
+not only to communicate the Vans Murray-Pichon papers, but
+to recommend that Murray be appointed as plenipotentiary to
+France. The Federalists in the Senate were appalled and at
+first did not know what to do.<a name="FNanchor_379_379" id="FNanchor_379_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_379_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a> But they were not lacking in
+strategy; not daring to come out openly, they appointed on the
+President's recommendation, not only Murray but Oliver
+Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, the last two "not to sail from
+America before they should receive from the French Directory
+assurances that they should be received with the respect due to
+the law of nations, to their character, etc."</p>
+
+<p>This, as Jefferson noticed at once, was a last effort to postpone
+the patching-up of difficulties and also a last effort to provoke
+the French, since they had already given such an assurance to
+Murray.<a name="FNanchor_380_380" id="FNanchor_380_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_380_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a> "The whole artillery of the phalanx was played
+secretly on the P. and he was obliged himself to take a step
+which should parry the overture while it wears the face of
+acceding to it," he wrote to Madison.<a name="FNanchor_381_381" id="FNanchor_381_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_381_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a> But the war party was
+defeated, the Federalists had received a fatal blow; victory
+already was in sight when Congress adjourned at the beginning
+of March.</p>
+
+<p>Then Jefferson repaired to Monticello, while in the back
+counties assessors clashed with farmers, troopers with small-town
+editors, while Duane was flogged in the street after being
+dragged from his office by militiamen. But he was not idle,
+although for some mysterious reason several of the letters he
+published during the summer have never been printed. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
+received many visitors, wrote to friends, proclaimed his faith
+in ultimate victory for "the body of the American people is
+substantially Republican, but their virtuous feelings have been
+played on by some fact with more fiction. They have been the
+dupes of artful manoeuvres and made for a moment to be willing
+instruments in forging chains for themselves."<a name="FNanchor_382_382" id="FNanchor_382_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_382_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a> He encouraged
+Bache and Venable to publish a gazette, for unfortunately
+"the people of Virginia were not incorruptible and offices there
+as elsewhere were acceptable", so that the situation was neither
+safe nor satisfactory. To William Greene he wrote a truly
+splendid letter on "progress" in which he expressed his belief
+"with Condorcet, that man's mind is perfectible to a degree of
+which we cannot as yet form any conception", and predicted
+limitless discoveries in the field of science. The present convulsions
+could only be temporary, for it was impossible, he
+maintained, that "the enthusiasm characterizing America
+should lift its parricidal hand against freedom and science.
+This would be such a monstrous phenomenon as I cannot
+place among possible things in this age and in this
+country."</p>
+
+<p>At the same time he was not unmindful of keeping in complete
+harmony the heterogeneous elements of the party just
+being formed. He strove to placate Callender who, jealous of
+Bache, was writing epileptic letters to complain of the whole
+universe, and asking at the same time that Jefferson should
+send him some money, as he was short of funds.<a name="FNanchor_383_383" id="FNanchor_383_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_383_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a> John Taylor,
+who was planning to declare void and unconstitutional laws
+adopted by Congress, and to call together a convention to
+appoint a dictator, had to be told to "forbear to push on to this
+ultimate effort."<a name="FNanchor_384_384" id="FNanchor_384_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_384_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a> Much preferable was the work undertaken
+by Randolph in presenting a legal refutation of the Federalist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>
+attitude towards the foundation of law, and the similar document
+on which Wilson Nicholas was working.<a name="FNanchor_385_385" id="FNanchor_385_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_385_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a></p>
+
+<p>All this time Jefferson was haunted by the fear that his letters
+would fall into the hands of his enemies. To the few communications
+he wrote during the later part of the summer, he did not
+even dare to put his signature, "the omission of which has been
+rendered almost habitual with me by the necessity of the post
+office; indeed the period is now approaching during which I
+shall discontinue writing letters as much as possible, knowing
+that every snare will be used to get hold of what may be perverted."<a name="FNanchor_386_386" id="FNanchor_386_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_386_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a>
+He came to the point that on Monroe's advice he
+had to refuse to see Madison in order to "avoid the appearance
+of a collusion between them."<a name="FNanchor_387_387" id="FNanchor_387_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_387_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of December he was back in Philadelphia
+for the session of Congress and soon after was able to send
+reassuring news to Monroe who had become one of his "grand
+electors." Those who persist in thinking him a dreamy idealist
+must read the letters he wrote between January and May, 1800;
+not only did he keep his hand on the pulse of the country, but he
+calculated the changes of the Republicans in every State and
+figured out to a unit the possible number of votes they would
+receive in the coming election. He knew the situation too well
+not to admit that he was the natural choice of the Republicans
+even before any census was held, and very early in January
+acknowledged it to Monroe:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Perhaps it will be thought I ought in delicacy to be silent on the
+subject. But you, who know me, know that my private gratification
+would be most indulged by that issue, which should leave me most
+at home. If anything supersedes this propensity, it is merely the
+desire to see this government brought back to its republican principles.
+Consider this as written to Mr. Madison as much as yourself;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>
+and communicate it, if you think it will do any good, to those
+possessing our joint confidence, or any others where it may be useful
+and safe.<a name="FNanchor_388_388" id="FNanchor_388_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_388_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>He was undoubtedly sincere in disclaiming any ambition, but
+under the circumstances he was bound to observe a certain
+reticence, being the President of the Senate, next to Adams in
+the Government and yet Adams' adversary in the next election.
+But in his letters he made no pretense of false modesty and
+frankly mentioned time and again what he called "our ticket."
+Yet he was not the man who could ever give all his energy to a
+single task, and absorbing as were his political preoccupations
+he showed during the summer of 1800 as much versatility as
+ever. He took up again the transformation of William and
+Mary College, this time to make a real university of the old
+institution. He wrote to Priestley to send him a good plan of
+reorganization and a few weeks later to Du Pont de Nemours
+who composed for him his "Plan of a National Education."<a name="FNanchor_389_389" id="FNanchor_389_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_389_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a>
+With Colonel Benjamin Hawkins he discussed the desirability
+of studying the language and customs of the Indians, while
+there was still time.<a name="FNanchor_390_390" id="FNanchor_390_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_390_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a> He was thinking of compiling a volume
+on the "Morals of Jesus" and discussed religion with Bishop
+Madison who intended to write a book to prove that the Christian
+religion, "rightly understood and carried into full effect,
+would establish a pure Democracy over the world. Its main
+pillars are&mdash;Equality, Fraternity, Justice, Universal
+Benevolence."<a name="FNanchor_391_391" id="FNanchor_391_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_391_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the same time he was keeping close watch on the news
+coming from France and on political developments in Congress.
+Rumors circulated that a new revolution had taken place in
+Paris and that Bonaparte was at the head of it. This was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>
+wonderful opportunity to test out by actual experience the
+disadvantage of a directory or executive committee as compared
+with a single executive in a republic.<a name="FNanchor_392_392" id="FNanchor_392_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_392_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a> From what he knew of
+the French character, he did not believe that a monarchy could
+be re&euml;stablished in France, for "If Bonaparte declares for
+Royalty, either in his own person, or that of Louis XVIII, he
+has but a few days to live. In a nation of so much enthusiasm,
+there must be a million Brutuses who will devote themselves
+to death to destroy him." But a few days later he had come
+to the conclusion that it was probably what Bonaparte had
+done, and what had been done in France could probably be
+done in America when our Bonaparte, surrounded by his comrades
+in arms, may step in to give us political salvation in his
+way. One thing was certain, however: Bonaparte had
+clearly demonstrated that he had no brains, no creative and
+constructive mind; and, with the pride of a man who was
+engaged in a stupendous experiment, Jefferson pitilessly criticized
+the Napoleonic reconstruction of France: "Whenever he
+has meddled we have seen nothing but fragments of the old
+Roman government stuck into materials with which they can
+form no cohesion; we see the bigotry of an Italian to the ancient
+splendor of his country, but nothing which bespeaks a luminous
+view of rational government."<a name="FNanchor_393_393" id="FNanchor_393_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_393_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a></p>
+
+<p>To his friend Samuel Adams, who had written him at the
+end of January, he repeated the same judgment in less striking
+but perhaps even harsher terms:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I fear our friends on the other side of the water, laboring in the
+same cause, have yet a great deal of crime and misery to wade
+through. My confidence has been placed in the head not in the
+heart of Bonaparte. I hoped he would calculate truly the difference
+between the fame of a Washington and a Cromwell. Whatever
+the views may be, he has at least transferred the destinies of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>
+republic from the civil to the military arm. Some will use this as
+a lesson against the practicability of republican government. I
+read in it a lesson against the danger of standing armies.<a name="FNanchor_394_394" id="FNanchor_394_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_394_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>No more patent demonstration could be desired of the fact
+that in his judgments of the French Revolution, Jefferson was
+at all times influenced by the possible effects that European
+examples might have on the American crisis. The precedent
+established by Bonaparte was a very dangerous one and might
+put similar ambitions into the head of an unscrupulous schemer.
+Whether he really believed or not that there was such an immediate
+danger for America, and that Hamilton had really such
+intentions, is an entirely different question. Probably he did
+not himself know. He only felt that a permanent army would
+constitute a permanent temptation and consequently a permanent
+danger, for he had only limited faith in the virtue of
+individual man, although he continued to believe in the wisdom
+of the collectivity.</p>
+
+<p>Domestic matters and other more immediate preoccupations
+were no less worthy of attention. He followed very closely every
+measure proposed in the House on the coming elections, on the
+voting procedure to be adopted, and anxiously studied the
+political forecasts. The situation was decidedly on the mend.
+This appears clearly in the attitude of the Federalists towards
+him, not only in public but also in private. For Madison he
+wrote a very elaborate review of the comparative strength of
+the two parties in all the States of the Union; he saw that the
+key States were Pennsylvania, Jersey and New York, the other
+States being equally divided, and he concluded that "Upon the
+whole the issue was still very doubtful." But officially one had
+to maintain a confident attitude.<a name="FNanchor_395_395" id="FNanchor_395_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_395_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a></p>
+
+<p>When April came, he thought that it would be desirable for
+the Republicans to come out with a public declaration, stating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>
+their program and their ideals. "As soon as it can be depended
+on," he said, "we must have a Declaration of the principles of
+the Constitution, in the nature of a Declaration of Rights, in
+all points in which it has been violated."<a name="FNanchor_396_396" id="FNanchor_396_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_396_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a></p>
+
+<p>If the plan had been put to execution we would have had the
+first presidential "platform" as early as 1800, and Jefferson
+would thus have hastened the formation of distinct political
+parties. But more commonplace measures were not to be
+neglected. Discussing the situation in North Carolina, still a
+very doubtful State, he advised that "the medicine for that
+State must be very mild and secretly administered. But nothing
+should be spared to give them true information." We
+would like Jefferson better if he had shown more discrimination
+in the choice of the men selected to disseminate this true information.
+For at that time, at least, he was still employing Callender
+in Richmond&mdash;an amusing scoundrel not much better
+than Cobbet, the Peter Porcupine of the Federalists. But
+Callender was a useful tool, who was doing his utmost to publish
+the second volume of the <i>Prospect</i> and to catch up with
+Federalist propaganda. One could condone much in a man
+then writing: "I had entertained the romantic hope of being
+able to overtake the Federal Government in its career of iniquity.
+But I am now satisfied that they can <i>act</i> much faster
+than I <i>can write</i> after them."<a name="FNanchor_397_397" id="FNanchor_397_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_397_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a></p>
+
+<p>Fortunately he had the approval and indorsement of much
+more respectable characters. Samuel Adams had already
+written him; then it was John Dickinson, the Revolutionary
+hero, who wrote, when sending his thanks for a copy of the late
+"Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia": "It is an inestimable
+contribution to the cause of Liberty.... How incredible
+was it once, and how astonishing is it now, that every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>
+measure and every pretense of the stupid and selfish Stuarts,
+should be adopted by the posterity of those who fled from this
+madness and tyranny to the distant wilds of America."<a name="FNanchor_398_398" id="FNanchor_398_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_398_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such letters, the congratulations of George Wythe, who
+urged him to publish the "Manual of Parliamentary Practice",
+those of Pendleton, who consented to revise the final text and
+to "freely cast his mite into the treasury", were indeed balm on
+the wounds made by the fierce attacks of the Federalist press.<a name="FNanchor_399_399" id="FNanchor_399_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_399_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a></p>
+
+<p>The end of the session was approaching and the most earnest
+desire of the Federalists was to adjourn as soon as possible, for
+fear that the envoys to France should announce the conclusion
+of a treaty. Their power seemed on the wane, but Jefferson
+was still very doubtful of ultimate victory. To Livingston he
+wrote that his knowledge of the art, industry, and resources of
+the other party did not permit him to be prematurely confident.
+The tide had turned, to be sure, and the Federalists were losing
+ground constantly, but the main question whether "that would
+insure a Republican victory was still undecided and it might
+take one or two elections more."<a name="FNanchor_400_400" id="FNanchor_400_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_400_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a></p>
+
+<p>Congress adjourned on May 14. During the session congressional
+caucuses had nominated for the Federalists John
+Adams, and General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South
+Carolina; the choice of the Republicans could only be Jefferson,
+and for candidate to the vice presidency they selected Aaron
+Burr of New York.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the summer, Adams and his wife moved to
+the new Federal City laid out by Major Lenfant, which boasted
+of one tavern, the Capitol, the President's house, and a few
+boarding houses,&mdash;a capital in the midst of the woods, in a
+veritable wilderness of trees, with impassable paths,&mdash;a town
+unable to lodge Congress except at Georgetown, which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>
+connected with the new city by a clay road. Jefferson, according
+to his custom, had hurried back to his "farm" and was
+apparently absorbed by his domestic occupations, his children,
+and grandchildren.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole campaign he remained almost absolutely
+silent, not daring to write, because his letters might have been
+intercepted and used against him, receiving few visitors and
+reading without comment the newspapers filled with the insults
+and abuse of the Federalists. He broke his silence on few
+occasions, but these occasions are worth studying in some detail.
+In a letter to Monroe, written from Eppington, he discussed
+the best plans for assisting Callender, then jailed under the
+Sedition Act, who "should be substantially defended whether
+privately or publicly" and whose case should be laid before the
+legislature.<a name="FNanchor_401_401" id="FNanchor_401_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_401_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a> These efforts did not avail since in August the
+publicist wrote from his Richmond jail that he was in very bad
+health "owing to the stink of the place."<a name="FNanchor_402_402" id="FNanchor_402_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_402_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a> There is not much
+that can be said for Callender, and Jefferson might have better
+chosen his friends; but when one reflects on the accusations
+commonly circulated against Jefferson at the time, the interest
+taken by the Republican leader in the pamphleteer seems less
+astonishing. If Callender had certainly insulted Adams and
+Hamilton, had not the Reverend Cotton Mather Smith accused
+Jefferson of "having robbed a widow and fatherless children of
+an estate of which he was executor?" To Gideon Granger,
+who had called his attention to the attacks of the clergyman,
+Jefferson easily justified himself and seized the opportunity to
+discuss with his friend a problem of general politics of far greater
+importance. It had very little to do with the details of the
+election and for his remarkable capacity to rise above contingencies
+Jefferson truly deserves the title of "political philosopher."
+To incidents which he deemed without permanent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>
+significance he paid little attention, but when dealing with a
+phenomenon which seemed to him to indicate an important
+change in the orientation of national policies, he always tried
+to penetrate beyond the surface and reach the core of the
+question.</p>
+
+<p>The thing that now disturbed him more than the possible
+victory of Adams and Pinckney was the fact that political
+divisions seemed to correspond to a geographical division. Not
+without reason had he written to Colonel Benjamin Hawkins:
+"those who knew us only from 1775 to 1793 can form no better
+idea of us than of the inhabitants of the moon."<a name="FNanchor_403_403" id="FNanchor_403_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_403_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a> The North
+and the South had never been in complete harmony; economically
+they were different and had different interests, but something
+new had developed during the seven or eight years just
+passed. There was evidently a rift in the Union; on several
+occasions talks of secession had been heard. These rumors did
+not correspond to any real danger, but if the elections proved
+that the Union was formed of two solid blocks of States, if the
+North remained Federalist and the South were Republican, the
+very existence of the nation would be put in question. Yet this
+seemed to be a probable eventuality. In these circumstances, a
+victory of the South would mean a defeat of the North, the
+country would be divided against itself and the Union would
+be destroyed. This was particularly to be feared if the powers
+of the Federal Government were enlarged. Leaving aside all
+question of principle as to the moral merit of the questions under
+dispute, Jefferson tried to show, on the one hand, that it was
+impossible ever to organize a centralized form of government
+for the simple reason that the United States were too big and
+covered a territory much too large. If a centralized government
+were established on paper, it would be necessary to have
+many agents of the Federal Government with extensive powers
+distributed over all the States, and because of their very remote<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>ness
+they would be beyond the possibility of continuous control.
+This could only mean corruption, plunder, and waste. On the
+other hand, since on fundamental questions it was impossible
+to bring into accord the North and the South, the true and only
+remedy was to minimize the chances of conflict and to reduce
+to a minimum the powers and attributes of the Federal Government.
+"The true theory of our Constitution is surely the
+wisest and best, that the States are independent as to everything
+within themselves, and united as to everything respecting
+foreign nations." Once more, therefore, he came back to the
+original theory of 1776 that, in forming a social compact, liberty
+is exchanged for security and only those rights are given up
+which the members of the new society have not full power to
+enforce. Thus his theory of State rights was not only well
+founded in theory but proved by practice and experience.
+Any other system would almost necessarily conduce to a secession.
+The man who wrote these lines in the summer of 1800,
+more than half a century before the Civil War, was certainly
+not an ordinary politician; his was the clear farsightedness of
+a great statesman and true political philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>Furthermore, in the controversy which had been going on
+since 1793, Jefferson had been submitted to fierce criticism on
+every possible ground: as he wrote to McGregory, "the floodgates
+of calumny had been opened upon him." It had been
+particularly distressing to him to see that the religious issue
+had been injected into politics. There is no doubt that his
+Bill for Religious Freedom proceeded, not from hostility to
+religion, but from a deep and sincere conviction, reached after
+careful study of the evidence available that "in law" there
+ought to be no connection between the Church and the State
+and that if any had ever been established, it was due to monkish
+fabrications and usurpations. That he had turned against
+himself some of the Episcopalian clergy of Virginia was quite
+natural, but before he went to France these attacks were neces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>sarily
+limited and did not extend beyond the borders of the
+State or take the aspect of a national question.</p>
+
+<p>When, on the contrary, he began to be criticized for his supposed
+foible for the French Revolution, such attacks became
+far more pressing. The excesses of the Revolution were attributed
+to the infidel doctrines of the French philosophers; and,
+being "contaminated" by French political philosophy, Jefferson
+was naturally accused of having brought back from France
+its atheism. These views received confirmation when he
+befriended Volney and Priestley, one a confirmed atheist, as
+Priestley himself had demonstrated, the other a Unitarian&mdash;which
+in the eyes of the orthodox clergy was possibly worse.
+The attacks from the pulpit became more numerous, and a
+clergyman of New York, a close friend of Hamilton, even published
+a pamphlet entitled "The voice of Warning to Christians
+on ensuing election", in which Jefferson was accused of having
+answered to a certain Doctor Smith, who expressed his surprise
+at the condition of a church: "It is good enough for Him who
+was born in a manger."</p>
+
+<p>Considering, on the other hand, that a large portion of the
+clergy were enrolled under the Federalist banner, Jefferson had
+come to the conclusion that the clergy had "a very favorite hope
+of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity
+through the United States; and as every sect believes its
+own form the true one, every one perhaps hopes for his own,
+especially the Episcopalians and the Congregationalists."
+Whether this was so absolutely untrue or impossible, as some
+historians seem to believe, is a question far too difficult to
+answer and one which probably cannot be solved. On the face
+of things it does seem that there was in it a grain of truth, for
+no human organization, whether ecclesiastical or civil, ever relinquishes
+voluntarily the smallest particle of power or prestige.</p>
+
+<p>One thing, however, is certain: if Jefferson had said the word,
+the religious issue would have been injected into the campaign;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>
+and some of his friends, believing that "Christianity was the
+strong ground of Republicanism", were urging him to give his
+consent, for it was only necessary for "Republicanism to ally
+itself to the Christian religion, to overturn all the corrupted
+political and religious institutions in the world."<a name="FNanchor_404_404" id="FNanchor_404_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_404_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a> But this
+was for Jefferson a forbidden subject. He had "sworn upon
+the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny
+over the mind of man"; he had formed "a view of the subject
+which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor the
+Deists and would reconcile many to a character they have
+too hastily rejected"; but this was not the time or the place
+to discuss matters that ought to be reserved for a calm and dispassionate
+discussion between friends, so he refused to authorize
+the publication of any statement referring to his religious
+views.<a name="FNanchor_405_405" id="FNanchor_405_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_405_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the political campaign was going on and the
+Federalists' affairs were assuming a decidedly unhealthy complexion.
+How this happened is a story of extraordinary intrigue
+and machination, already told several times and still a delight
+to historians fond of studying political deals. To a large extent
+the victory of the Republicans was due to divisions in the Federalist
+camp and it came to pass that no other man did more
+than Hamilton to assure Jefferson's success. From the beginning,
+the former leader of the Federalists had set himself against
+Adams, employing every effort to have Pinckney receive the
+first place in the nomination. The first sign of a Federalist
+defeat appeared in New York State, where Burr had his headquarters
+and had so cleverly maneuvered things that the State
+went Republican at the April election. This was a personal
+defeat for Hamilton and also a terrible blow to the Federalists.
+Then Adams went into one of those fits of anger which make
+him such a picturesque figure; he decided that he had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>
+betrayed by his Cabinet, summarily dismissed his Secretary of
+War, McHenry, and offered Pickering an opportunity to resign,
+which the Secretary of State did not choose to take. Thereupon
+the President informed him that he "discharged him from
+further service in the Cabinet." He then called into the
+Cabinet John Marshall of Virginia as Secretary of State and
+Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts as Secretary of War. From
+that time on, the political campaign reads as if the leaders of
+the Federalists had really lost their heads. Hamilton bent all
+his efforts towards holding another election in New York and,
+failing in that, towards preventing Adams from obtaining a
+majority. The affair culminated in the publication of a pamphlet,
+entitled "The true conduct and character of John Adams,
+Esq. President of the United States", pointing out the weakness
+of Adams' character. The pamphlet was intended for private
+distribution, but it found its way into the hands of the Republicans;
+Aaron Burr had parts of it printed in the <i>New London
+Bee</i> and the whole was soon to be given to the public. When
+the whole pamphlet came out, it added more fuel to the raging
+controversy. This is only one incident, but not the least significant,
+among the many so vividly related by Mr. Bowers.</p>
+
+<p>The electoral colleges met in each State on December 4.
+Returns came in slowly to Washington but by the thirteenth
+it was known, in so far as could be, that the Federalists were
+defeated; it also appeared that there was a tie between the two
+Republican candidates. At this juncture Jefferson, who had
+remained perfectly silent, took the matter in hand and calmly
+assumed that he would be elected. To Robert R. Livingston,
+brother of Edward Livingston who was a member of Congress
+from New York, Jefferson wrote a letter congratulating him on
+his communications to the American Philosophical Society and
+discussing quite seriously the discovery "of some large bones
+supposed to be of the mammoth" in the vicinity of New York.
+Then, as in an afterthought, he mentioned the political situ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>ation.
+The matter of the election was as good as settled: "We
+may, therefore, venture to hazard propositions on that hypothesis
+without being justly subjected to raillery or ridicule."
+"To put the vessel on a Republican tack", they would require
+the entire co&ouml;peration of "men who could at once inspire the
+nation with perfect confidence in their honesty and talents",
+and Jefferson asked Livingston whether he would not assume
+the Secretaryship of the Navy. That in his own mind he
+considered the election well over appears in the sentence in
+which he speaks, not as a candidate but as the leader of his
+party, and as if no other hypothesis could enter his mind:
+"Though I have been too honorably placed in front of those
+who are to enter the breach so happily made, yet the energies of
+every individual are necessary, and in the very place where his
+energies can most serve the enterprise."<a name="FNanchor_406_406" id="FNanchor_406_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_406_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a></p>
+
+<p>The next day he wrote in the same vein to Aaron Burr to
+congratulate him in no uncertain terms on his election as Vice
+President, expressing his regrets that this distinction would
+prevent him from availing himself of the services of Burr in the
+Cabinet. He based his conclusion on the assurance he had
+received that South Carolina would withdraw one vote from
+Burr, that Smith of Tennessee would give its second vote to
+Gallatin. It was also surmised that the vote of Georgia would
+not be entire. This would leave Burr well ahead of Adams but
+decidedly in the second place. Jefferson indicated that several
+of the Federalists had expressed the hope that "the two Republican
+tickets may be equal" and in that case they expected to
+prevent a choice by the House and "let the Government devolve
+on a President of the Senate." Then came a gently insinuating
+sentence: "Decency required that I should be so entirely passive
+during the late contest that I have never once asked whether
+arrangements had been made to prevent so many from dropping
+votes intentionally, as might frustrate half the Republican<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>
+wish; nor did I doubt till lately that such had been made."
+In the last paragraph, Jefferson, refusing even to consider that
+Burr might aspire to the presidency, indicated that he considered
+the matter as settled and firmly put Burr where he
+belonged:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>While I must congratulate you, my dear Sir, on the issue of this
+contest, because it is more honorable, and doubtless more grateful to
+you than any station within the competence of the chief magistrate,
+yet for myself, and for the substantial service of the public, I feel
+most sensibly the loss we sustain of your aid in the new administration.
+It leaves a chasm in my arrangements, which cannot be
+adequately filled up.</p></div>
+
+<p>If we put things together, the letter of Jefferson certainly
+meant first that the time had come to make some "arrangements"
+to thwart the schemes of the Federalists; second, that a
+tie was almost certain, and finally that it was up to Burr to
+declare that he was not running for the presidency.</p>
+
+<p>This conclusion is all the more probable because three days
+later, writing to John Breckenridge, Jefferson did not mention
+again Georgia and Tennessee, but declared that "we are brought
+into a dilemma by the probable equality of the two Republican
+candidates." Then he added: "The Federalists in Congress
+mean to take advantage of this, and either to prevent an election
+altogether, or reverse what has been understood to have
+been the wishes of the people, as to the President and Vice-President;
+wishes which the Constitution did not permit them
+specially to designate."<a name="FNanchor_407_407" id="FNanchor_407_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_407_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a> Nothing could be clearer; it was to
+some extent the situation of 1796, but reversed as to the candidates,
+and Jefferson expected that Burr would do the right
+thing by him.</p>
+
+<p>This, however, was not so obvious to Burr himself. The
+letter he sent in reply to Jefferson must have been most disappointing
+in this respect. The colonel side-stepped the issue,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>
+refused to come out frankly and did not write a single line that
+could be constructed as an acceptance of Jefferson's point of
+view. On December 31, Jefferson wrote to Tench Coxe to
+express his opinion that an agreement between the two higher
+candidates was their only hope "to prevent the dissolution of
+the Government and a danger of anarchy, by an operation,
+bungling indeed and imperfect, but better than letting the
+Legislature take the nomination of the Executive entirely from
+the people."<a name="FNanchor_408_408" id="FNanchor_408_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_408_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a></p>
+
+<p>This could have been construed as a hint to Burr to give up
+his unavowed hopes of becoming President. But Burr, who was
+in New York, could not easily be communicated with and kept
+his sphinxlike silence. January passed without Jefferson's
+finding any necessity of writing any political letters. With
+Hugh Williamson he discussed the range of temperature in
+Louisiana and whether the turkey was a native bird:<a name="FNanchor_409_409" id="FNanchor_409_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_409_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a> with
+William Dunbar the temperature, Indian vocabularies and the
+origin of the rainbow.</p>
+
+<p>In February, however, he again wrote to Burr. He had
+been informed that certain individuals were attempting "to
+sow tares between us that might divide us and our friends."
+He assured Burr that he had never written anything that could
+be regarded as injurious by his running mate; the only time
+that he had discussed his conduct was in a letter to Breckenridge
+written on December 18, in which he had expressed the
+conviction that the wishes of the people were that he and not
+Burr be President. That was a pure statement of fact at which
+no man could take offense. This time, Burr apparently did
+not answer at all, and while the House was preparing for the
+balloting, Jefferson discussed with Caspar Wistar the bones
+found in the State of New York, "the vertebra, part of the jaw,
+with two grinders, the tusks, which some have called the horns,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>
+the sternum, the scapula, the tibia and fibula, the tarsus and
+metatarsus, and even the phalanges and innominata."<a name="FNanchor_410_410" id="FNanchor_410_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_410_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the election and before going to the Capitol
+he wrote to Tench Coxe: "Which of the two will be elected,
+and whether either, I deem perfectly problematical: and my
+mind has long been equally made up for either of the three
+events." This was on a Wednesday. After the result of the
+election had been officially announced, the House retired to
+proceed to the election of the President. Ballots were taken,
+Jefferson receiving eight States, Burr six, nine being necessary
+to a choice. The House stayed in continuous session till eight
+o'clock the next morning, taking twenty-seven ballots without
+any change in the results; members of the House dozing between
+ballots, snatching a bit of sleep whenever they could,
+all of them admiring the fortitude of Joseph N. Nicholson who,
+although sick in bed, had been brought to the House and rested
+in a committee room, voting at each ballot. The House
+adjourned until eleven o'clock on Friday and then took two
+successive ballots without being able to break the deadlock.
+On Saturday three ballots were taken without any change in the
+alignment, and they adjourned until Monday. In the meantime
+passions were raging. The Federalists had been told in no
+equivocal terms that, should they attempt to have the Government
+devolve to some member of the present administration,
+"the day such an act would pass, the Middle States would
+arm" and that "no such usurpation would be tolerated even
+for a single day."</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, Jefferson had been approached by the
+more sensible heads of the Federalists, and apparently by
+Gouverneur Morris, who stopped him as he was coming out
+from the Senate Chamber, and had offered to influence one
+member of Vermont, provided he would declare: "1. that he
+would not turn all the Federalists out of office; 2. that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>
+would not reduce the navy; and 3. would not wipe off the
+public debt." To which Jefferson answered that he would
+not become President by capitulation and would not make any
+declaration. Then he went to see Adams, who seemed ready to
+approve of the choice of Jefferson as President and who told him
+that he could have himself elected by subscribing to conditions
+analogous to those indicated by Morris. Finally he was visited
+in his room by Dwight Foster, senator from Massachusetts, who
+also reiterated the same offer. These are, undoubtedly, some
+of the maneuvers he mentioned on Sunday, the day of rest, in
+a letter he wrote to Monroe: "Many attempts have been made
+to obtain terms and promises from me, I have declared to them
+unequivocally, that I would not receive the government on
+capitulation, that I would not go into it with my hands tied."<a name="FNanchor_411_411" id="FNanchor_411_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_411_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a></p>
+
+<p>On Sunday and Monday parleyings went on, caucuses were
+held, and no change was yet apparent. But on Tuesday morning
+an agreement was reached. It was described by Jefferson
+himself as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Morris of Vermont withdrew, which made Lyon's vote
+that of his State. The Maryland Federalists put in four
+blanks, which made the positive ticket of their colleagues the
+vote of the State. South Carolina and Delaware put in six
+blanks, so there were ten states for one candidate, four for
+another, and two blanks." And the speaker of the House,
+Theodore Sedgwick, one of Jefferson's bitterest enemies, was
+forced to announce his election.</p>
+
+<p>The letter he wrote to Monroe the same day is not a p&aelig;an
+of triumph. The long-disputed victory, the irreducibility of a
+large portion of the Federalists, made him fearful lest the fight
+would soon renew. Furthermore, Adams had at once started
+making new appointments, naturally without consulting his
+successor; Bayard was nominated plenipotentiary to the
+French Republic, "Theophilus Parsons, Attorney General of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>
+United States in the room of C. Lee, who, with Keith Taylor
+<i>cum multis aliis</i> are appointed judges under the new system.
+H. G. Otis is nominated a District Attorney."<a name="FNanchor_412_412" id="FNanchor_412_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_412_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a></p>
+
+<p>On his side, Jefferson wrote at once to Henry Dearborn to
+offer him the Secretaryship of War in his Cabinet and courteously
+communicated with Dexter, Secretary of the Treasury,
+and Stoddart, Secretary of the Navy, to thank them for their
+offer to conduct the affairs of their departments pending the
+arrival of their successors. To a certain Major William Jackson
+whom he did not know and who had written him to express
+the fear that he would discriminate against commerce, he
+answered that he "might appeal to evidences of his attention
+to the commerce and navigation of our country in different
+stations connected with them."</p>
+
+<p>This was an evident allusion to his mission to France and to
+the activity he had displayed in defending the commercial
+interests of the United States. He resented particularly the
+fact that he had been represented as a friend to agriculture
+and an enemy to commerce, "the only means of disposing of its
+products."<a name="FNanchor_413_413" id="FNanchor_413_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_413_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a> The true position of Jefferson on this matter
+has already been pointed out in a preceding chapter; but the
+fact that the letter was written the very day he was notified
+of his election is proof enough that he already intended to conciliate
+both the agricultural and the commercial interests of
+the country. To the smoothing over of old differences of
+opinion he bent all his efforts during the three weeks that separated
+him from his inauguration. Bayard having refused his
+appointment to France, he approached at once Robert R.
+Livingston, intending to give the nomination to the Senate at
+the first opportunity. At the same time he repeated that the
+great body of the Federalist troops was discouraged and truly
+repentant, or disposed to come back into the fold. Those who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>
+were so inclined should be received with open arms for "If we
+can once more get social intercourse restored to its pristine
+harmony, I shall believe we have not lived in vain; and that it
+may, by rallying them to true Republican principles, which few
+of them had thrown off, I sanguinely hope."<a name="FNanchor_414_414" id="FNanchor_414_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_414_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a></p>
+
+<p>He resigned from the Chair of the Senate on the twenty-eighth,
+and made the necessary preparations for the inauguration.
+The ceremonies were to be very simple but dignified.
+John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was asked
+by Jefferson himself to administer the oath, and on March 4,
+1801, the new President was inaugurated, while John Adams,
+who had refused to welcome his successor, was starting on his
+way to New England.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="BOOK_FIVE" id="BOOK_FIVE"></a>BOOK FIVE</h2>
+
+<h1><i>The Presidency</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>"ALL REPUBLICANS, ALL FEDERALISTS"</h2>
+
+
+<p>The battle over, Jefferson's first and only desire seems to
+have been to bring about a reunion of the former political opponents.
+He had hardly been elected when he declared that he
+was not the choice of one party, but that the analysis of the last
+ballot showed clearly that "the former federalists have found
+themselves aggregated with us and that they are in a state of
+mind to be aggregated with us."<a name="FNanchor_415_415" id="FNanchor_415_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_415_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a></p>
+
+<p>And this, much to the surprise and disappointment of the
+militants who had fought the hard battle with him and for him,
+was the keynote of his inaugural speech. Throwing overboard
+his former defense of the French Revolution, he did not hesitate
+to attribute the political storm which the ship had just weathered
+to the baneful influence of European disturbances:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during
+the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and
+slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation
+of the billows would reach even this distant and peaceful shore;
+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 principles.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then came the final and definitive formula: "We are all
+republicans&mdash;we are all federalists."</p>
+
+<p>In more than one sense this was the most characteristic and
+the most masterly of Jefferson's political utterances. The battle
+of Capitol Hill was ended, the last streamers of smoke had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>
+floated away and America had found herself: "a rising nation,
+spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas
+with the rich productions of her industry, engaged in commerce
+with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly
+to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eyes."</p>
+
+<p>This was not written simply for effect and for the public eye.
+To Monroe, Jefferson had declared that the policy of the new
+administration would not be a policy of reprisals. The victory
+had been won partly through the repentance of former Federalists
+who had seen their error, and during the awful suspense of
+the week of the eleventh to the seventeenth of February, had
+feared that the country would become a prey to anarchy.
+These he welcomed back into the fold; the leaders, of course,
+were irreconcilable, but the majority were to be forgiven, and
+few removals from office were to be made on the ground of
+political divergences of opinion. "Some, I know, must be made.
+They must be as few as possible, done gradually, and bottomed
+on some malversation or inherent disqualification."<a name="FNanchor_416_416" id="FNanchor_416_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_416_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a></p>
+
+<p>Of the thousands of Federal officers in the United States, the
+President estimated that not twenty would have to be removed,
+while in two or three instances, officers removed by Mr. Adams
+for refusing to sign addresses were to be restored. Jefferson
+realized that by so acting and "stopping thus short in the
+career of removal" he would give offense to many of his friends,
+and he added with some melancholy: "That torrent has been
+pressing me heavily, and will require all my force to bear up
+against; but my maxim is "fiat justitia, ruat c&aelig;lum."<a name="FNanchor_417_417" id="FNanchor_417_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_417_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a></p>
+
+<p>All this sounds perfectly sincere and true. Even the most
+superficial consideration of Jefferson's life would convince any
+one that he was not a man of vindictive character. By nature a
+pacifier and a harmonizer, nothing would have been farther from
+his program than to revive the old fires and to prolong party<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>
+strifes. But if it takes only one to declare war, it takes two to
+make peace, and the defeated party was in no peaceful mood.
+Hamilton was removed from the scene, and the form of government
+was apparently definitively settled by the election of
+Jefferson, but the Federalists had not given up every hope; they
+were still strongly intrenched and the battle went on during all
+of Jefferson's administration. It was not so spectacular as the
+fight with Hamilton, for the chief protagonist, John Marshall,
+lacked the dramatic qualities of the former leader of the Federalists;
+but it was no less momentous and no less important for
+the destinies of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>When it came to actual removals, however, difficulties arose
+immediately. Whether in all cases Jefferson was rightly
+advised or inspired is open to question. The wisdom of
+appointing Samuel Bishop, a man of "sound understanding,
+pure integrity and unstained character", as collector of New
+Haven may be doubted, and there was something undeniably
+worth considering in the protest of New Haven merchants,
+that a man seventy-seven years old was unfit for such an office.
+The incident in itself was paltry, but the letter written by
+the President in answer to the protest put once again into light
+that curious mixture of theoretical idealism and practical
+political sense so remarkable in Jefferson. After all, the
+Federalists had begun with filling every office with their
+partisans and it was necessary to re&euml;stablish a just balance,
+even if some individuals had to suffer. If the rights of the
+minority could not be ignored, the majority had its rights also
+and could not submit to the monopoly claimed by the Federalists:
+"Total exclusions," concluded the President, "call
+for prompt corrections. I shall correct the procedure; but
+that done, return with joy to that state of things, when only
+questions concerning a candidate shall be, is he honest? Is
+he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?"<a name="FNanchor_418_418" id="FNanchor_418_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_418_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a> In other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>
+words, Jefferson was not ready to proclaim the principle so
+frankly avowed later "to the victor belong the spoils." His
+principle was and remained absolutely different. But he
+considered that he was confronted by a situation which had to
+be remedied without any delay, and in his behavior he reminds
+one in some way of the French publicist who, although theoretically
+opposed to the death penalty, declared, "<i>Que messieurs
+les assassins commencent</i>!" Certainly this is not the
+pure and exalted morality of the political philosopher, but
+neither is it the cynical attitude of the political "boss", and
+one may wonder how many men who have occupied high
+offices would stand better than Jefferson in this respect if
+documents were available and could be subjected to the
+same scrutiny.</p>
+
+<p>The fact remains, however, that during the battle from
+which he had come out victorious, Jefferson had to employ and
+sometimes associate with men whose character was not absolutely
+spotless. The presence of Aaron Burr in the government
+was already a thorn in his side. It was also particularly unfortunate
+that he had given aid and assistance to Callender, whose
+scurrilous attacks against Adams went far beyond a legitimate
+discussion of public utterances and actions of a man at the head
+of the government. Callender had been sentenced under the
+Sedition Act to a term in jail and liberated by Jefferson with all
+the other victims of the act when he took office. It was even
+more unfortunate that the pamphlet of Callender, "The Prospect
+Before Us", was reprinted under a modified title as the
+"History of the Administration of John Adams" more than a
+year after the new administration had taken hold of things.
+It was also regrettable that the son of John Adams should
+have been removed from office after the election. Soon after
+the death of Jefferson's younger daughter, Mrs. Adams, who
+had befriended the little girl when she arrived in London all
+alone in 1787, wrote to the bereaved father to express her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span>
+sympathy. Jefferson took the opportunity to reassert his
+personal friendship for John Adams. He could not help
+mentioning, however, that one act of Adams' administration
+he had to consider as personally unkind, his last appointment to
+office of Jefferson's most ardent political enemies.<a name="FNanchor_419_419" id="FNanchor_419_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_419_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a> This letter
+called for an answer, and Mrs. Adams was not a woman to miss
+an opportunity to express her husband's views and her own on
+the removal of Federal judges and particularly of John Quincy.
+Thus Jefferson was led to write a final letter in which he expressed
+more clearly than he had done anywhere else his opinion
+on the judiciary and on the place it should occupy in the general
+scheme of government. To understand this letter fully
+it is necessary to go back to the beginnings of Jefferson's
+administration.</p>
+
+<p>The original draft of Jefferson's message to Congress,
+December 8, 1801, contained a paragraph which, after more
+mature reflection, the President decided to omit "as capable
+of being chicaned, and furnishing something to the opposition
+to make a handle of."<a name="FNanchor_420_420" id="FNanchor_420_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_420_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a> In it Jefferson held the theory
+that the three powers existing in any government had been
+distributed among three equal authorities, constituting each
+a check on one or both the others. The President asserted
+that each of these three branches of the government had a
+right "to decide on the validity of an act according to its
+own judgment and uncontrouled by the opinions of any other
+department." According to this theory, even if opposition
+developed among different departments, no permanent ill
+could ensue, since at the next election the people were at
+liberty to refuse to re&euml;lect those whose interpretation seemed
+erroneous.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's disapproval of the Sedition Act had been known
+for a long time; he had a right to assume that his election meant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>
+that the people approved of his position and to make this
+declaration:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>On mature deliberation, in the presence of the nation, and under
+the tie of the solemn oath which binds me to them and to my duty,
+I do declare that I hold that act in palpable and unqualified contradiction
+to the constitution, considering it then as a nullity, I have
+relieved from oppression under it those of my fellow citizens who
+were within the reach of the functions confided to me.</p></div>
+
+<p>In its final form the message was far less provocative. It
+simply contained the statement that "the judiciary system ... and
+especially that portion of it recently enacted, will, of course,
+present itself to the contemplation of Congress." But the
+Federalists and particularly Marshall were not placated by this
+apparent moderation; they knew that the assault against the
+judiciary was about to begin. The debate between Federalists
+and Republicans had already been transferred to another
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>No better account of it can be found than the chapters
+written on the subject by Albert J. Beveridge in his "Life of
+Marshall." It must be remembered, however, that Beveridge's
+account was necessarily colored by his own political views, as
+were the views of most historians of the subject.<a name="FNanchor_421_421" id="FNanchor_421_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_421_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a> One of the
+first episodes of the battle was the repeal of the Judiciary Act
+passed in 1801 by the Federalists, in order to reorganize the
+Supreme Court and to increase the number of Federal judges.
+This was immediately followed by the impeachment of Judge
+Pickering, the deposition of Judge Addison by the Senate of
+Pennsylvania, and the famous decision given by Marshall on
+"Marbury versus Madison." These incidents were of unequal
+importance and significance. It was recognized by Pickering's
+friends and family that the judge was half-demented and for
+several years had been unable to fulfill his duties. But since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span>
+the Act of 1801 had been repealed, no one seemed to have
+authority at the time to remove the judge from office. The
+Pickering case simply provided the Republicans with an opportunity
+to test out their favorite contention, that impeachment
+was unrestricted and could be enforced against any officer of
+the government deemed undesirable by two thirds of the
+Senate.</p>
+
+<p>Of far greater importance was the decision of Marshall in
+"Marbury versus Madison." The senior member of the
+Supreme Court formulated on this occasion a doctrine on the
+powers of the Court which, although never written in the Constitution,
+was to obtain final recognition and which to this day
+had remained one of the many unwritten laws of the land.
+Another most curious situation this, so disconcerting to historians
+and observers trained in the principles of Roman law,
+but often recurring in American politics and administrative life.
+The case itself was of no importance. Marbury was one of the
+"midnight judges" whose commission, signed by Adams, had
+been withheld by Madison, on the theory that the powers of the
+former President to make appointments had really expired,
+not on the third of March, 1801, at midnight, but on the day his
+successor was elected. It was maintained by the administration
+that the commission not having been delivered Marbury
+had no right to take office and to sit on the bench. Marbury
+had appealed to the Supreme Court, but the sessions of the
+Court being suspended for fourteen months by Congress,
+Marshall had at first no opportunity to declare himself publicly
+on the matter.</p>
+
+<p>When he finally passed on the case, the Chief Justice saw at
+once that his hour had come, and gave his definition of the
+powers of the Court in its relation to the executive and the
+legislative. Curiously enough, as Beveridge remarked, the
+matter had never before come up and would have remained
+undecided for a long time, if this particular juncture had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span>
+made it a question of paramount importance for the destinies
+of the country. Briefly summed up, the theory of Marshall,
+shorn of its legal phraseology, was this: The happiness of the
+American people rested on certain principles embodied in the
+Constitution. These principles could not be altered by legislation;
+if, however, the legislative passed a law evidently contrary
+to the Constitution, there must be for the individual some
+recourse, some means of asserting his rights. In cases where
+Congress adopts laws contrary to the Constitution, these laws
+must be void. On this principle Jefferson and Marshall were
+in complete agreement. But from that point on they differed
+widely. The next question was to determine where does the
+power rest to declare a law unconstitutional? With the Executive
+and even with the States, Jefferson had first declared in his
+draft of 1801. With the Supreme Court, answered Marshall;
+for this is essentially a judicial function. Under this construction,
+the Constitution remains the supreme law of the land, but
+it is within the powers attributed by the Constitution to the
+judiciary, for the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality
+of an act passed by the legislature. Thus the Court
+is not placed above the Constitution, but its judges stand as
+the keepers and interpreters of the superior law of the country.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson did not engage directly in a controversy with
+Marshall and held his peace. But, as he was wont, he seized
+another opportunity to express his views on the subject, and he
+did it in his letter written to Mrs. Adams on September 11, 1804.
+In this, he maintained that "nothing in the Constitution has
+given the judges a right to decide for the Executive, more than
+to the Executive to decide for them. Both magistrates are
+equally independent in the sphere of action assigned to them."
+Judges believing a law to be constitutional have a right to pass
+sentences. But "the Executive believing the law to be unconstitutional
+were bound to remit the execution of it; because
+that power has been confided to them by the Constitution."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>
+What he did not say on this occasion, but repeated on many
+others, was that, the ultimate source of authority resting in the
+people, it was for the people to decide at the next election in
+case a conflict of interpretation should arise between any of
+the three branches of the government. In case of a conflict
+between the judiciary and the legislative, however, impeachment
+proceedings could be initiated and judges removed in a
+regular and, according to him, perfectly constitutional way.</p>
+
+<p>It must be recognized here that the position taken by
+Jefferson was perfectly logical, far more logical than the interpretation
+given out by Marshall. Whether Jefferson's theory
+would have worked out satisfactorily is quite another matter.
+It is only too evident that perfectly logical constructions do not
+always fit the complexity and contradictions of human affairs.
+The system of democracy which was Jefferson's ideal at that
+time might have worked in the case of a New England town
+meeting; it would have been more difficult to apply to the
+government of a State. In the case of a large and growing
+federation of States, it would have injected into presidential
+and congressional elections constant elements of discord and
+bitterness. Thus the cost of liberty would not have been
+eternal vigilance, but eternal strife and political dissensions.</p>
+
+<p>It may even be doubted whether Jefferson would ever have
+entertained such an extreme theory if at that time he had not
+been moved by immediate considerations. He had come to
+see in the judiciary, as it was constituted after the appointments
+made by Adams, an institution endangering the very life of the
+Republic. As for Marshall, who had hurled a challenge at
+the executive and the legislative branches of the government,
+it had to be ascertained whether some means could not be found
+to remove him from office.</p>
+
+<p>That such was the ultimate intent of the Republican leaders
+was understood generally when proceedings were started to
+impeach Judge Chase of the Supreme Court. As in the case of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span>
+Pickering, the Republicans had carefully selected the card they
+intended to play. Was he not the very man who had sentenced
+Fries to the gallows and Callender to jail, who had been relentless
+in his application of the Sedition Act and in the prosecution
+of Republicans? He had finally, and this was the immediate
+ground for his impeachment, bitterly criticized from the bench
+the repeal of the Federal judiciary act, and predicted that the
+country would be enslaved by mob tyranny and that soon
+"they would all establish the worst kind of government known
+to man."</p>
+
+<p>The impeachment proceedings took place in the Senate room
+elaborately decorated for the occasion with a display of crimson,
+green, and blue cloth draping the rows of benches and the sections
+reserved for the heads of departments, foreign ministers,
+members of the House, and the general public. The Senate convened
+to hear the case on February 4, 1805, and for almost a
+month all other business was practically suspended. But it
+was far more than the fate of a single judge which was going
+to be decided. On the decision of the Senate hung not only the
+future of the Constitution but probably the fate of the Union.
+For New England had already on several occasions threatened
+secession; the North resented what was already termed "Virginia
+tyranny", and it was to be feared that these feelings of
+disaffection might be strengthened. It was also the most
+exciting ceremony the new capital had yet witnessed, and the
+formalities of the proceedings, the effort to clothe them with
+dignity and solemnity, presented a strange contrast with the
+uncouth appearance of the city itself, with its ramshackle boarding
+houses, its muddy streets, and surrounding wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>The debates provided a rare occasion for an extraordinary
+display of American eloquence. This is not one of the least
+surprises to a student of American civilization, to discover the
+taste of the people as a whole for oratory and the remarkable
+gift of American orators for long speeches, even in the early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>
+days. Scarcely less surprising was the capacity of American
+audiences to listen patiently for long hours and with apparent
+interest to discussions and debates. It seems as if the gift
+attributed by C&aelig;sar to the Gauls of old had been transferred to
+the new continent and to a people racially much different.
+Oratory was to a certain extent a new art, for few occasions
+were offered in the colonial times for long political speeches;
+but even in the early days of the Revolution, born orators
+appeared and since that time have filled the legislative halls
+with an inexhaustible flow of eloquence. This is said without
+the least irony and merely as another illustration of the danger
+of generalizing when discussing national characteristics. To
+the point these speeches were, perhaps, but they were not short
+by any means. A careful study of the development of the
+American school of oratory would certainly repay a specialist in
+the history of public speaking.</p>
+
+<p>During the session, the oratorical stars were Luther Martin
+of Maryland, who spoke for Chase, and John Randolph, who
+summed up the case for the administration. It appeared,
+however, when the final vote was taken, that Jefferson had not
+been able to keep his party in hand. There were thirty-four
+senators, of whom nine were Federalists and twenty-five Republicans.
+Twenty-two votes were necessary to convict, but the
+administration was able to muster only sixteen for impeachment,
+and on one count Chase was proved unanimously "not
+guilty." For the time being John Marshall was safe, and the
+acquittal of Chase was undoubtedly a personal defeat for the
+President.</p>
+
+<p>This wound to his <i>amour-propre</i> was compensated by the
+success of the last election. Jefferson had been re&euml;lected without
+opposition; the strength of the Federalists as a separate
+party had dwindled to the vanishing point, and only three days
+separated him from the beginning of his second term. But
+everybody understood that the matter at issue had not been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>
+settled and that another test would have to be made. The very
+day Chase was acquitted, John Randolph introduced a resolution
+proposing an amendment to the Constitution, to the
+effect that "The judges of the Supreme Court, and of all other
+courts of the United States, shall be removed by the President
+on the joint addresses of both Houses of Congress requesting the
+same, anything in the Constitution of the United States notwithstanding."
+This was referred to a committee and, as
+Congress had only three more days to sit, it was decided by
+sixty-eight votes against thirty-three that the motion would
+be made the order of the day for the first Monday in December.</p>
+
+<p>The assault against the judiciary constitutes one of the most
+striking episodes of Jefferson's first administration and has
+received its due share at the hands of American historians. It
+must not be forgotten, however, that even in other respects the
+President had no easy sailing. The friend of Priestley, Thomas
+Cooper, Volney, and Thomas Paine continued to be represented
+in the press and in the public as the champion of infidelity.
+The President could not engage in any controversy in order to
+justify himself but, according to his favorite methods, he
+encouraged his friends to hit back, and he became more and
+more convinced that the intrusion of the churches into politics
+was one of the worst evils that could befall any country. He
+soon came to the conclusion that many members of the clergy
+were unworthy to speak in the name of the great teacher; that
+the Christian doctrine had degenerated in their hands, and that
+no true religion could long exist when it was intrusted to the
+priests. Hence the many expressions of his preference for the
+Quakers so often found in his correspondence.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The mild and simple principles of the Christian philosophy would
+produce too much calm; too much regularity of good, to extract from
+its disciples a support from a numerous priesthood, were they not to
+sophisticate it, split it into hairs, and twist its texts till they cover
+the divine morality of its author with mysteries, and require the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>
+priesthood to explain them. The Quakers seem to have discovered
+this. They have no priests, therefore no schisms. They judge of
+the text by the dictates of common sense and common morality.<a name="FNanchor_422_422" id="FNanchor_422_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_422_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The indignation of the Federalists and the clergy reached a
+paroxysm when it was discovered that the President had not
+only invited Paine to come to America but had even promised
+him passage on a public vessel. For Paine was no longer
+remembered as the eloquent political writer who in prophetic
+accents had celebrated the uniqueness of America's position in
+the world. He was the detestable atheist who had participated
+in the bloody excesses of the French Revolution&mdash;a wretch
+unworthy of being thus honored by a Christian nation. Once
+more religion was injected into politics. The President was
+bitterly reproved by the New England clergy for having refused
+to proclaim days of fasting and thanksgivings as his predecessors
+had done, and Jefferson, who would have preferred
+to let sleeping dogs lie, had to come out and explain his position
+on an alliance between "Church and State, under the
+authority of the Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_423_423" id="FNanchor_423_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_423_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a></p>
+
+<p>That Jefferson, who was so restive under public criticism,
+suffered even more than he dared admit appears in many
+passages of his letters. "Every word of mine," he wrote to
+Mazzei, "which they can get hold of, however innocent, however
+orthodox, is twisted, tormented, perverted, and like the
+words of holy writ, are made to mean everything but what they
+were intended to mean."<a name="FNanchor_424_424" id="FNanchor_424_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_424_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a> The whole subject is not an easy
+one to treat and cannot be discussed here; but it would be
+very difficult to reach a fair estimate of internal politics during
+Jefferson's first administration if that element of hostility were
+entirely left out. We can only express the hope that some day
+it will receive due attention. An investigation of the New<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span>
+England papers and Church publications of the time would
+undoubtedly bring to light many hidden currents of hostility.</p>
+
+<p>But, in spite of these difficulties, the new administration went
+ahead with a program of political reforms of great moment. No
+tradition for the respective duties of the Cabinet members and
+their relation to the President had yet been established. Under
+Washington's administration letters sent to the President were
+referred by him to the departments concerned to be acted upon,
+and letters sent to the department heads were submitted to the
+President with a proposed answer. Generally they were sent
+back with his approbation; sometimes an alteration was suggested,
+and when the subject was particularly important it was
+reserved for a conference. In this manner Washington always
+was in accurate possession of all facts and proceedings in all
+parts of the Union. This procedure had been impossible to follow
+during Adams' administration, owing to the long and habitual
+absences of the President from the seat of government,
+and little by little the department heads had assumed more
+and more responsibility, with the result that the government
+had four different heads "drawing sometimes in different directions."
+This usurpation of powers and this maladministration
+Jefferson meant to end. In a very courteous, but very firm
+manner, he reminded the members of the Cabinet that the
+President had been intrusted with a certain set of duties incumbent
+upon him and for which he was responsible before
+the public, and that he considered it necessary to return to
+the procedure followed by Washington. What had been an
+informal custom was to become a regular and official routine;
+it entailed an enormous expenditure of time on the part of the
+President, a great flexibility of mind, and a necessity of adapting
+himself to many different problems in the course of one day.
+To a large extent, Jefferson is responsible for placing on the
+shoulders of the chief executive the enormous load under which
+several Presidents have broken down.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was not the most conspicuous reform introduced by
+Jefferson in the plan of government, yet it was one of the most
+important. Of no less consequence was the reform of the
+financial system of the United States. The privilege of the
+bank had still several years to run, but many other modifications
+could be introduced at once. Hamilton had multiplied
+the number of internal taxes and at the same time the number
+of Federal office-holders in order to strengthen his hold on the
+government. These had to be done away with, as well as the
+abominable excise taxes which had created so many difficulties
+under the preceding administrations. They were at best a
+temporary expedient, to be resorted to only in case of war, and
+the Federal Government had to make an effort to return to the
+more orthodox system of bringing its expenditures within the
+limits of revenue raised by taxes on importations. This was
+perfectly consistent with Jefferson's theory of the State rights
+and the general functions of the Federal Government. To substitute
+economy for taxation, to reduce the debt as rapidly as
+possible, to keep down the expenses for the navy and the army,&mdash;such
+was the policy of the new administration, and in his
+second annual message on December 15, 1802, Jefferson could
+point out with pleasure that "in the department of finance the
+receipts of external duties for the last twelve months have
+exceeded those of any former year." To care for the Louisiana
+Purchase, Gallatin recommended a loan of $11,250,000, running
+for fifteen years and carrying a six per cent. interest. But in his
+fourth message the President declared that "the state of our
+finances continues to fulfill our expectations. Eleven million
+and a half dollars received in the course of the year ending on
+the thirtieth of September last, have enabled us, after meeting
+all the ordinary expenses of the year, to pay upward of
+$3,600,000 of the public debt, exclusive of interest." Thus it
+was amply demonstrated that the financial structure of the Federal
+Government had not been endangered by a departure from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>
+Hamilton's policies. It is worth noting also that Jefferson's
+party, at that time, stood for a strong tariff, while the last
+Federalists advocated internal taxes. In that respect, at least,
+it is hardly possible to say that the present-day Democrats continue
+the Jeffersonian policies.</p>
+
+<p>This system, however, presented many advantages in the
+eyes of Jefferson. In his first message he had made one of those
+many declarations, so often found in official documents of the
+sort, by which men in public life are wont to define their policies
+in almost sibylline terms, so as to express their own aspirations
+and satisfy the members of their party without arousing undue
+antagonism in an influential minority. "Agriculture," he had
+written, "manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four
+pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving when left most
+free to individual enterprise." But at once he had added:
+"Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes
+be reasonably interposed. If in the course of your
+observations or inquiries they should appear to need any aid
+within the limits of our constitutional powers, your sense of their
+importance is a sufficient assurance they will occupy your attention."
+This second statement could only mean one thing, that
+the President was not ready to depart entirely and radically from
+Hamilton's policy of giving encouragement to manufactures.
+But there is no doubt that in his opinion America was to
+remain essentially an agricultural nation. He still had before
+him the vision of a large country in which every citizen would
+live on his own land and from this land derive most of his subsistence
+instead of congregating in large cities. It was a
+Vergilian vision magnified a million times; it was based also
+to a large extent on his own experience at Monticello where he
+had proved that it was possible to manufacture tools, to bake
+bricks, to make furniture, and to maintain a comparatively
+large family on the products of the soil. He was not ready to
+antagonize openly those who dreamed of another future for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span>
+America, and he did not believe that he had a right to do so,
+since his duty was to carry out the wishes of the people.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson was not the man to take the lead in these matters,
+but he was not the man either to oppose any measure to encourage
+manufactures and commerce that Congress would deem
+proper to adopt. On this point he had not varied since the
+letter he had written from Paris to Hogendorp. His preference
+for "an agricultural condition" remained largely theoretical,
+sentimental, and personal. He may be considered as the
+leader of an agrarian party, he may have felt in sympathy with
+the French Physiocrats, but when it came to practice he acted
+very much like Du Pont de Nemours himself who, in spite of
+his theories, spent all he had to establish a tannery and a
+powder mill near Wilmington, and at the end of his days proposed
+to the American Government a "Plan for the Encouragement
+of Manufactures in America." If it is true that during
+Jefferson's administration industrial and agricultural interests
+clashed for the first time in America, I fail to see that the
+President made any effort to favor agriculture at the expense of
+industry.</p>
+
+<p>When the end of his first term approached, Jefferson did not
+need any coercion to remain in the saddle for another period
+of four years. It had already been decided that Aaron Burr
+would not and could not again be a candidate, and George
+Clinton was chosen as running mate of Jefferson. Never in the
+history of the United States was an election so little contested:
+Jefferson obtained one hundred sixty-two electoral votes while
+his opponent could only muster fourteen. The Republican
+Party had really become the National party and the President
+had been able to achieve political unity.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h2>PROTECTIVE IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL
+EXPANSION</h2>
+
+
+<p>The famous Inaugural Message of Jefferson gave more
+space to questions of domestic politics than to foreign problems,
+but it contained a clear definition of America's attitude towards
+Europe&mdash;a short and terse statement in which the President
+reiterated the principles which had guided him when Secretary
+of State. These were the same principles that underlay the
+foreign policies of the United States from the early days of the
+Revolution. They had already appeared in the Plan of Treaties
+drawn up by Adams in 1776; they had been solemnly proclaimed
+by Washington in his Farewell Address; and they still
+direct to a large extent America's attitude in her dealings with
+foreign nations on the American continent as well as abroad.</p>
+
+<p>These principles were presented by Jefferson as being essentially
+the result of natural conditions for which the Americans
+themselves were not responsible: "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
+others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for
+our descendants to the hundredth and thousandth generation",
+there was only one course for the American people to follow:
+"commerce and honest friendship with all nations&mdash;entangling
+alliances with none."</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to the Republican victory, America no longer had to
+pay any attention to the political convulsions which were tearing
+the vitals of the Old World. The American experiment no
+longer depended on the issue of the French Revolution. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>
+Argosy had weathered the storm; America had become the
+sole arbiter of her destinies, she had become, Jefferson proclaimed,
+"a standing monument and example for the aim and
+imitation of the people of other countries; and I join with you
+in the hope and belief that they will see, from our example, that
+a free government is of all others the most energetic; that the
+inquiry which has been excited among the mass of mankind
+by our revolution and its consequences, will ameliorate the
+condition of man over a great portion of the globe."</p>
+
+<p>Such a declaration should not be mistaken for a manifestation
+of a missionary spirit by which Jefferson was never moved and
+which was absolutely abhorrent to his nature. America was
+not to engage in any crusade. She was not to preach a new
+gospel of liberty to the oppressed peoples of the earth. She
+had proclaimed no <i>D&eacute;claration europ&eacute;enne des droits de l'homme
+et du citoyen</i>, as the French Revolution had ambitiously done.
+She was not sending overseas to the shackled nations a call to
+throw off the yoke and liberate themselves. Such declarations
+would have seemed to Jefferson idle and dangerous. Every
+people had to work out their own salvation; any attempt by
+America to help and encourage them would only embroil her in
+difficulties which would retard her own development. She
+could best serve the cause of humanity by standing aloof and
+simply existing as an example which others, if they had eyes to
+see, could not fail sooner or later to imitate. It was essentially
+the doctrine which has been so often expounded by the non-interventionists
+every time America has been invited to co&ouml;perate
+with Europe.</p>
+
+<p>This doctrine therefore was not the expression of a passing
+mood; it constituted one of the fundamental principles of
+Americanism and had a permanent value, because, as Montesquieu
+would have said, it was the result of "the nature of
+things", and not a deduction drawn from an <i>a priori</i> principle.
+On the other hand, it contained a new and interesting affirma<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span>tion
+of the unquestionable superiority of the American people
+over all the peoples of the earth, not only morally but intellectually;
+and this was not forgotten either, for the "high-mindedness"
+of Jefferson was echoed and reflected more than a hundred
+years later in the "too proud to fight" of Woodrow Wilson.
+Taken in itself, this statement was no worse than so many statements
+made in political speeches; all peoples like to be told and
+to believe that they are a chosen people. But it must be confessed
+that Jefferson drew very dangerous conclusions from that
+uniqueness of America's position.</p>
+
+<p>One of the earliest and frankest expressions of that na&iuml;ve and
+almost unconscious imperialism appears in an unpublished letter
+to Doctor Mitchell. After discussing every possible subject
+under heaven, from frosts to mammoth bones and electricity,
+Jefferson concluded with this disquieting statement: "Nor
+is it in physics alone that we shall be found to differ from the
+other hemisphere. I strongly suspect that our geographical
+peculiarities may call for a different code of natural law to
+govern relations with other nations from that which the conditions
+of Europe have given rise to there."<a name="FNanchor_425_425" id="FNanchor_425_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_425_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a></p>
+
+<p>This idea was reiterated in a letter written to Short more
+than a year later. In it Jefferson laid down the principle, the
+moral foundation of American imperialism&mdash;a curious mixture
+of common sense, practical idealism, and moralizing not to be
+found perhaps in any other people, but more permanently
+American than typically Jeffersonian. To any sort of arrangement
+with Europe he was irreducibly opposed: "We have a
+perfect horror at everything connecting ourselves with the
+politics of Europe." In order to protect America from the
+wiles of the European diplomats, the best course was "in the
+meantime, to wish to let every treaty we have drop off without
+renewal. We call in our diplomatic missions, barely keeping
+up those to the most important nations. There is a strong<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span>
+disposition in our countrymen to discontinue even these; and
+very possibly it may be done." Jefferson admitted that the
+neutral rights of the United States might suffer; they would
+undoubtedly suffer temporarily, and one had to accept this as
+an unavoidable evil. But it would be only temporary: "We
+feel ourselves strong and daily growing stronger ... If we can
+delay but for a few years the necessity of vindicating the laws
+of nature on the ocean, we shall be the more sure of doing it
+with effect. The day is within my time as well as yours; when
+we may say by what laws other nations shall treat us on the sea.
+And we will say it."<a name="FNanchor_426_426" id="FNanchor_426_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_426_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a></p>
+
+<p>Nor was this imperialism purely theoretical. It was susceptible
+of immediate applications and it manifested itself openly
+in a letter written to James Monroe a few weeks later. The
+people of Virginia were most anxious to get rid of a band of malefactors
+guilty of insurgency, conspiracy, and rebellion. Had
+they been whites, the solution would have been easy enough, but
+it happened that they were colored people and they could not
+reasonably be sent to the northern boundary, or be provided
+with land in the Western Territory. Could these undesirables
+be pushed into the Spanish sphere of influence? To this
+solution Jefferson was unequivocally opposed and for reasons
+worth considering: "However our present situation may
+restrain us within our own limits," he wrote to Monroe, "it
+is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our
+rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and
+cover the whole northern, if not the southern continent, with a
+people speaking the same language, governed in similar forms,
+and by similar laws; nor can we contemplate either blot or
+mixture on that surface."<a name="FNanchor_427_427" id="FNanchor_427_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_427_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a></p>
+
+<p>Truly enough, Jefferson said at the beginning of the letter
+that publication of his views might have an ill effect in more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>
+than one quarter. I shall not even advance the theory that
+Jefferson's foreign policies constituted a systematic effort to
+put such a program into effect. But that such aspirations and
+ambitions existed in his mind and influenced him to a certain
+extent cannot be denied, and they should not be overlooked in
+any discussion of his attitude during the negotiations that led
+to the purchase of Louisiana.</p>
+
+<p>Many of Jefferson's contemporaries, and not a few American
+historians, have harshly criticized him for buying Louisiana
+from France, when no clause in the Constitution authorized
+the acquisition of new territory. On the French side, not only
+historians but even Bonaparte's brother considered that the
+cession, without the previous consultation of the Chambers, of
+a colony recently recovered by France was an act arbitrary and
+unconstitutional. Both principals have been condemned and
+praised by posterity, but there is no doubt that the full responsibility
+for the transaction rests not upon the peoples of France
+and America, but on the President of the United States and the
+Premier Consul. It was remarkable that two great minds, so
+divergent in their views and principles, should meet on a common
+ground instead of clashing. On neither side was it a
+triumph of idealism, but of that enlightened self-interest which,
+according to Jefferson, directs the actions of men as well as of
+nations.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were they entirely unsupported by the public opinion of
+their respective countries. I have already indicated in a preceding
+book<a name="FNanchor_428_428" id="FNanchor_428_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_428_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a> that a friendly conspiracy seems to have been
+organized in France in order to induce the First Consul, and
+chiefly Talleyrand, to acquiesce in the cession. At any rate, it
+appears from several letters of Volney that the Ideologists were
+anxious to avoid an open conflict with the United States and,
+at the same time, to promote a measure which, in their opinion,
+would insure the growth and prosperity of the Republican<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>
+Promised Land. Volney, himself one of the "<i>voyageurs</i>" of
+the Directory, had made a trip to the West and come back fully
+convinced that France could never hope to develop an empire
+in the Mississippi Valley. The few scattered French colonists
+who remained isolated in the Middle West were condemned to
+be gradually absorbed by the influx of American pioneers and
+to disappear before the rising flood of American colonization.
+The question of the lower valley of the Mississippi was different,
+to be sure, but if the United States were thwarted in their
+development, if they were hemmed in on every side by powerful
+neighbors, the theory of Montesquieu that only small nations
+could adopt the republican system of government would
+seem vindicated. It was not only the fate of the United States
+which was at stake, but the fate of the doctrine of popular
+government, and it was the duty of all liberals to bend every
+effort to make more secure the prosperity of America.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, as we have already seen in previous
+chapters, while Jefferson was satisfied to leave Louisiana in the
+hands of Spain, at least temporarily, he had always watched for
+a favorable opportunity to unite the Spanish colonies to the
+main body of the United States. It was not so much desire of
+expansion and imperialism as the conviction that colonies were
+only pawns in the game of European politics; that they could
+change hands at any time according to the fortunes of war; that
+there existed consequently a permanent danger of seeing France
+recover some day her former colonies or, still worse, to have
+them fall into the hands of the British. With England, or
+possibly France, on the northern border, in the Floridas, on
+the Gulf, and in the valley of the Mississippi, the old dream
+of European domination of the North American continent
+would revive. The United States would be placed in the
+same position as the old colonies with reference to France.
+A clash could not be avoided; the issue would have to be
+fought out, until one of the adversaries should remain in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>
+full and undisputed possession of the whole northern part of the
+New World.</p>
+
+<p>Although the Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which France was
+to recover and occupy Louisiana at the first favorable opportunity,
+was intended to remain secret, rumors that some deal
+had been concluded greatly disturbed the American Government.
+As early as March, 1801, Rufus King had been informed
+in London that such a cession was contemplated and learned
+that General Collot intended to leave for Louisiana with a
+considerable number of followers. On June 1, King called his
+Government's attention to the fact that the cession of Louisiana
+"might enable France to extend her influence, and perhaps her
+dominion, up the Mississippi; and through the Lakes even up
+to Canada." The information caused great concern to the
+British Government, and Lord Hawkesbury had acquainted
+the American minister with the rumors. At that time, King,
+who was evidently familiar with the views of Jefferson on the
+matter, had answered by quoting Montesquieu that "it is
+happy for trading powers, that God has permitted Turks and
+Spaniards to be in the world, since of all nations they are the
+most proper to possess a great empire with insignificance."
+The purport of this quotation being, he wrote, that, "we are
+contented that the Floridas remain in the hands of Spain, but
+should not be willing to see them transferred, except to ourselves."
+It was a double-edged answer, since it set at nil any
+hope the British might have had of occupying Louisiana and
+the Floridas; and at the same time it constituted a very
+accurate statement of the position maintained by Jefferson
+when Secretary of State in all his dealings pertaining to the
+Spanish colonies.</p>
+
+<p>This policy was clearly defined in the general observations
+communicated by the President to Charles Pinckney, minister
+in Madrid (June 9, 1801) and in the instructions given to
+Livingston, hastening his departure for France (September 28,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>
+1801). Jefferson did not know yet what part of the Spanish
+colonies was to be ceded to France and was more preoccupied
+with the eventuality of the cession of the Floridas. The solution
+preferred for the present was clearly the <i>status quo</i>. Should
+the cession have irrevocably taken place, the rights to the
+navigation of the Mississippi were to be safeguarded, and if
+possible France should be induced "to make over to the United
+States the Floridas, if included in the cession to her from Spain,
+or at least West Florida, through which several of our rivers
+(particularly the important river Mobile) empty themselves
+into the sea." Finally, if the cession had never been contemplated,
+Livingston was instructed to induce France "to
+favor experiments on the part of the United States, for obtaining
+from Spain the cession in view."</p>
+
+<p>The die was cast; for the first time the United States took
+the position that the time had come for them to control the
+territory extending between their States and the Gulf of Mexico,
+and to insure the peaceful and unquestioned rights of navigation
+on the Mississippi. From the point of view of international
+law or <i>droit des gens</i>, Madison reiterated the doctrine of
+Jefferson, that it was a natural law that the States should have
+access to the sea; and in this particular instance he hinted at
+another principle&mdash;the application of which to the old territories
+of Europe would be far-reaching&mdash;namely that the
+nation possessing a certain river was entitled also to the mouth
+of the river. But this again was probably in his opinion one of
+these "natural laws" which applied to America only. At the
+end of November, Rufus King sent to Madison a copy of the
+treaty between the Prince of Parma and Lucien Bonaparte,
+signed at Madrid, March 31, 1801, and in December he had
+the opportunity of mentioning the possibility of France paying
+her debts by ceding Louisiana back to the United States, which
+only brought the curt answer that "none but spendthrifts
+satisfy their debts by selling their lands."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Livingston, in a letter to Rufus King, took the view that the
+cession would be disastrous not only to the United States but
+to Spain and England, since the French would not fail to contract
+alliance with the Indians and to renew relations with "the
+peasantry of Canada", rendering the possessions of Britain
+very precarious. He could only hope that King would do his
+utmost to "induce the British ministry to throw all the obstacles
+in their power in the way of a final settlement of this business,
+if it is not already too late."</p>
+
+<p>The British ministry refused to take the hint. Unwelcome
+as the passing of Louisiana into French hands might be considered
+they were not disposed to endanger the success of the
+negotiations shortly to be begun at Amiens, and Rufus King
+was told that the subject would not even be mentioned by
+Lord Hawkesbury.<a name="FNanchor_429_429" id="FNanchor_429_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_429_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a> Evidently England never intended to
+draw the chestnuts out of the fire for the sole benefit of the
+United States, and Livingston alone was left to face the situation.
+The letter he wrote on his own initiative, unable as he
+was to consult the home government, was somewhat blunt in
+tone. He called attention to the fact that the arrival in Louisiana
+or Florida of a large body of French troops could not fail
+to alarm the people of the Western Territory. He conceded
+that no protest could be made under the sixth article of the
+Treaty of 1778, since it had been superseded by the agreement
+of September 30, 1800; but he maintained that even in the
+absence of a formal treaty the clause expressed a very desirable
+policy, that at least the United States wished to know exactly
+the boundaries of the territory ceded by Spain. At the same
+time, he discreetly added that "the government of the United
+States desired to be informed how far it would be practicable
+to make such arrangements between their respective governments
+as would, at the same time, aid the financial operations
+of France, and remove, by a strong and natural boundary,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span>
+all future causes of discontent between her and the United
+States."</p>
+
+<p>These different reports, and particularly Livingston's letter
+to King, of December 30, created some perturbation in the
+mind of Jefferson, and on March 16, Madison wrote the American
+minister in Paris "that too much circumspection could not
+be employed." The great danger was that any sort of a combination
+with Great Britain would have to be paid later in kind
+or in territory. While Madison sent recommendations to
+Pinckney and to Livingston, the clear wish of Jefferson was to
+keep out England as much as possible. It was at that time that
+the President decided to take a hand directly in the negotiations.
+At the beginning of April, 1802, Du Pont de Nemours
+had written Jefferson that political as well as commercial considerations
+made it imperative for him to go to France for a
+short visit. Jefferson saw at once a possibility to use Du Pont
+as in the past he had employed Lafayette, and asked him to
+come to Washington to become acquainted "with certain
+matters that could not be committed to paper."<a name="FNanchor_430_430" id="FNanchor_430_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_430_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a></p>
+
+<p>Very significantly he added: "I believe that the destinies of
+great countries depend upon it, such is the crisis now existing."
+As Du Pont answered that he could not possibly see the President
+before sailing, Jefferson decided to explain his point of view
+fully in a long letter and at the same time he expressed himself
+even more forcibly in a letter to Livingston which he asked Du
+Pont to read before sealing it.</p>
+
+<p>The two letters complete and explain each other. First of
+all, Jefferson rejected as a very imperfect solution the granting
+free access to the sea to the territories situated on the left bank
+of the Mississippi. He bluntly declared that although America
+had a more natural and instinctive friendship for France than
+for any other nation, it was quite certain that the national
+characteristics of the two peoples were so divergent that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span>
+could not live peacefully side by side for any length of time.
+Even the cession by France of the Floridas and New Orleans
+would be only a palliative which might delay but not suppress
+the unavoidable conflict.<a name="FNanchor_431_431" id="FNanchor_431_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_431_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a> The only solution was for France
+to give up entirely the rights she had acquired under the Treaty
+of San Ildefonso and to return to the <i>status quo</i>. Any attempt
+by Bonaparte to send soldiers to Louisiana would be considered
+as a <i>casus belli</i>, and the President wrote significantly: "Peace
+and abstinence from European interference are our objects, and
+so will continue while the present order of things in America
+remains uninterrupted." If, on the other hand, France insisted
+upon taking possession of Louisiana, it was the declared intention
+of Jefferson to come to an agreement with England, then to
+launch an expedition against New Orleans, to occupy the
+territory claimed by France, so as to prevent any new European
+nation from setting foot on the continent. That this policy
+of non-colonization should apply to South America as well as
+to the northern continent was evidently in the mind of the
+President, since he declared that after the annihilation of the
+French fleet, two nations&mdash;America and Great Britain&mdash;would
+rule the sea, and the two continents would be practically
+"appropriated by them."</p>
+
+<p>The threat was so formidable that Du Pont refused to believe
+that it was seriously meant. He saw at once that if such
+representations were made to the First Consul, even with
+proper diplomatic precautions, they would be looked upon by
+him as a challenge that could not be ignored. "Give up that
+country, or we shall take it", is not at all persuasive. "We
+will defend it", is the answer that comes naturally to any man.
+Furthermore, the old Physiocrat predicted that if the United
+States ever followed such a policy, they would lose their prestige
+as a democratic and peaceful nation. Jefferson would thus
+play into the hands of the militaristic faction which ambitioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span>
+the conquest of Mexico; if, on the contrary, Mexico were to be
+emancipated, it might become a dangerous neighbor for the
+United States. He consequently urged Jefferson to accept what
+he considered as a much more sensible program, namely a
+compromise which would insure free access to the sea to "the
+territories of the Cumberland, the Wabash and both banks of
+the Ohio." Finally he warned the President against entering
+into such an alliance with England, since England would never
+permit the United States to become a naval power of first
+importance. If, however, the United States insisted on having
+a free hand in the South, was it not possible, in view of the
+impending war between France and England, to permit France
+to recover Canada instead of Louisiana, and to tell Bonaparte:
+"Give us Louisiana and at the first opportunity we shall restore
+Canada to you"?</p>
+
+<p>Even if that were refused, if nothing could remove Jefferson's
+objection to the establishment of a French colony on the northern
+continent, there was still a possibility of giving satisfaction
+to both parties concerned without unduly irritating the national
+pride of either. This was simply for America to buy
+from France her claim on the Southern territory. True to his
+training and doctrine, Du Pont had devised a commercial solution
+to a political problem. The question of Louisiana was to
+be treated as a business, with a political background to be sure,
+but essentially on business terms.</p>
+
+<p>The answer of Jefferson has unfortunately disappeared and
+was probably destroyed by Du Pont; but another letter of
+the old Physiocrat permits us to reconstruct its contents.
+Jefferson contended that the United States had no money and
+could not afford to pay any important amount for such a purchase.
+To which Du Pont answered that purchasing would be
+infinitely more economical than going to war:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The sum offered and accepted will not exclude any compensation
+for all or part of the sum which might be paid to you under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>
+treaty. To agree on the price is the important thing. To arrange
+for the forms of payment, to charge against it legitimate reductions
+is only a secondary matter, which will take care of itself. All the
+rest of your instructions is easy to follow, and I shall follow them
+exactly.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then proving himself to be as good a prophet as a philosopher
+Du Pont added that Bonaparte would be more attracted by a
+frank and complete proposal than by a compromise: "I hope
+it will succeed because Bonaparte is a man of genius, and his
+character is much above ordinary ideas."<a name="FNanchor_432_432" id="FNanchor_432_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_432_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is not entirely to the credit of Jefferson that, when he was
+thus declaring to Du Pont that the United States could not
+afford to negotiate on such a basis, Madison, on May 1, 1802,
+was writing to Livingston, asking him to ascertain precisely
+the price at which the Floridas, "if included in the cession would
+be yielded to the United States."</p>
+
+<p>The whole story of the negotiations as it appears in the
+Jefferson papers and in the documents published in the Annals
+of Congress would be worth retelling in detail. The evasions of
+the French minister Talleyrand, the reticences of the Spanish
+ambassador as to the true extent of the cession, the attempts of
+Rufus King to determine the British Government to throw their
+influence on the side of the United States, the blundering efforts
+of Livingston to place the case of his Government before the eyes
+of Bonaparte, form one of the most complicated and fascinating
+diplomatic mazes in which the inexperienced and not highly
+skillful agents of the United States tried to find their way.
+Livingston, who thought himself very adroit, was particularly
+unfelicitous in his tone. The conclusion of the memoir he
+wrote on August 10 and had printed for distribution to the
+French Government may give an idea of his style:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In reasoning upon this subject, I have confined myself to such
+observations as obviously presented themselves, without seeking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span>
+any of those subtleties which may serve to mislead the judgment.
+I have candidly exposed the plainest facts, in the simplest language.
+If ever they are opposed, it will be by a contrary course. Eloquence
+and sophistry may reply to them and may obscure them; but time
+and experience will evince their truth.</p></div>
+
+<p>Such a language may have seemed to the American minister
+candid and honest, but addressed to Bonaparte and Talleyrand
+it was very undiplomatic, to say the least. One cannot help
+feeling, on reading the documents, that had Livingston wished
+to break off negotiations he would not have expressed himself
+otherwise, and it is difficult to share the opinion of Henry
+Adams, who claimed for the American minister most of the
+credit for bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the summer 1802, it appeared that, before going
+any further, France intended to take possession of Louisiana,
+and Du Pont knew only too well that such a step would cause
+an irresistible outburst of public opinion in the United States.
+He kept in constant touch with Livingston, giving counsels of
+moderation and patience. He even proposed the project of a
+treaty which in his opinion would give temporary satisfaction
+to the United States while being acceptable to France. This
+plan included the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas,
+reserving for French vessels the same treatment as for American
+shipping; France to keep all the territories on the right bank of
+the Mississippi, but the navigation of the river to be free to
+both nations. Finally the United States were to pay the sum
+of six million dollars for the territories described in the first
+article.<a name="FNanchor_433_433" id="FNanchor_433_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_433_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime things were moving fast in America. The
+suspension of the right of deposit by the Spanish authorities
+was taxing the none too strong endurance of the inhabitants
+of the western territory, and the war party was making great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>
+progress. Madison wrote on November 27, 1802, that should
+the Spanish intendant prove as obstinate as he has been
+ignorant or wicked, nothing can temperate the irritation and
+indignation of the Western country, but a persuasion that the
+energy of their own government will obtain from the justice of
+that of Spain the most ample redress.<a name="FNanchor_434_434" id="FNanchor_434_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_434_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a></p>
+
+<p>In his message to Congress read on December 15, the President
+included a short paragraph pregnant with significance:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The cession of the Spanish province of Louisiana to France, which
+took place in the course of the late war, if carried into effect, makes a
+change in the aspect of our foreign relations which will doubtless
+have just weight in any deliberation of the Legislature connected
+with that subject.</p></div>
+
+<p>This sentence could have only one meaning: that if France
+took possession of Louisiana, appropriations would be in order
+to prevent her from establishing herself permanently in the
+territory. It was a direct threat of war. The President had
+apparently given up any hope of reaching an agreement and
+was yielding to the war party.</p>
+
+<p>On December 17 it was, on motion of Randolph:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Resolved</i>, That the President of the United States be requested
+to cause to be laid before this house such papers as are in the possession
+of the Department of State as relate to the violation on the part
+of Spain, of the Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation,
+between the United States and the King of Spain.</p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson complied with this request on December 22, averring
+that he "was aware of the obligation to maintain, in all
+cases, the rights of the nation, and to employ, for that purpose,
+those just and honorable means which belong to the character
+of the United States."<a name="FNanchor_435_435" id="FNanchor_435_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_435_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a></p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt that the President himself had lost patience
+and that the United States were rapidly drifting towards overt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span>
+acts that could only have war as a consequence. On January
+4 it was moved in the House that the President be requested
+to communicate all the information at his disposal on the
+reported cession of Louisiana. Then quite unexpectedly, on
+January 11, Jefferson sent to the Senate a message recommending
+that James Monroe be appointed special envoy to
+France with full powers, "jointly with Mr. Livingston to enter
+into a treaty or convention with the First Consul of France, for
+the purpose of enlarging and more effectually securing, our
+rights and interests in the river Mississippi, and in the territories
+eastward thereof." The next day, the House, on recommendation
+of a committee which presented a lengthy report, voted
+an appropriation of "two million dollars to defray the expenses
+which may be incurred in relation to the intercourse between
+the United States and foreign nations."</p>
+
+<p>The sudden change in Jefferson's attitude can largely be
+attributed to the fact that, between December 15 and January
+11, he had received a letter sent from Paris by Du Pont de
+Nemours on October 4,<a name="FNanchor_436_436" id="FNanchor_436_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_436_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a> submitting a tentative plan for a treaty
+and discounting the pessimistic reports of Livingston. There is
+not the slightest doubt that the President was much impressed
+by Du Pont's letter. On January 18, Madison wrote to
+Pinckney:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In order to draw the French government into the measure, a sum
+of money will be made part of our propositions.... From a letter
+received by the President from a respectable person, it is inferred,
+with probability that the French government is not averse to treat
+on those grounds; and that such a disposition must be strengthened
+by circumstances of the present moment.<a name="FNanchor_437_437" id="FNanchor_437_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_437_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Finally Jefferson himself wrote to Du Pont that his letter had
+been received with particular satisfaction, because while it
+held up terms that could not be entirely yielded, "it proposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span>
+such as a mutual spirit of accommodation and sacrifice may
+bring to some point of union."<a name="FNanchor_438_438" id="FNanchor_438_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_438_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a></p>
+
+<p>The President indicated, however, that the action of Spain
+in suspending the rights of deposit had rendered imperative an
+immediate settlement: "Our circumstances are so imperious
+as to admit of no delay as to our course; and the use of the
+Mississippi so indispensable, that we cannot hesitate one
+moment to hazard our existence for its maintainance." Despite
+this more conciliatory tone, the President did not recede from
+the position he had taken previously with Du Pont. He
+repeated that the country was in no position to offer such a sum
+as mentioned by Mr. Du Pont (six million dollars) in order to
+insure the purchase of the said territory.</p>
+
+<p>In this, Jefferson was to some extent guilty of double-dealing
+with his friend, or at least of not laying all his cards on the table.
+The instructions given to Monroe and Livingston on March 2,
+1803, specified that "should a greater sum (than two million
+dollars) be made an ultimatum on the part of France, the
+President has made up his mind to go as far as fifty millions of
+<i>livres tournois</i>, rather than to lose the main object." Incidentally,
+this passage explains how Monroe and Livingston could
+feel authorized to accept the proposal to purchase the whole
+territory for sixty million francs. They were not so bold as is
+commonly supposed, since they were empowered by the President
+to go as far as fifty million for part only of Louisiana.
+Whether Jefferson had the constitutional right to promise such
+a sum without formal approval of Congress is quite another
+matter. It is only fair, however, to recall here that, due to
+the difficulty of communicating between Washington and Paris
+and the urgency of the situation, it was an absolute necessity
+to give considerable leeway to the plenipotentiaries and to
+provide for every possible emergency. But it must also be
+remembered that had not Jefferson taken at that precise time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>
+the responsibility of engaging the resources of the United States,
+neither Livingston nor Monroe would have felt authorized to
+sign a transaction involving six times the sum voted by the
+House of Representatives. The blame or praise, whatever it
+may be, must in final analysis fall entirely on Jefferson.</p>
+
+<p>It is not without some interest to notice here that Livingston
+was entirely unaware of the value of Du Pont de Nemours'
+plan. Unable to pin down Talleyrand or Lebrun, he soon came
+to the conclusion that it was impossible to treat and that he
+might as well leave Paris. "I see very little use for a minister
+here, where there is but one will; and that will governed by no
+object but personal security and personal ambition; were it
+left to my discretion, I should bring matters to some positive
+issue, or leave them, which would be the only means of bringing
+them to an issue."<a name="FNanchor_439_439" id="FNanchor_439_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_439_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a> He maintained to the last minute that
+Du Pont de Nemours had given the French government "with
+the best intentions, ideas that we shall find hard to eradicate,
+and impossible to yield to",<a name="FNanchor_440_440" id="FNanchor_440_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_440_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a> and on hearing that Monroe had
+been appointed, following receipt of Du Pont's letter, he
+answered that he was much surprised that Du Pont should
+talk "of the designs of this court, the price, &amp;c., because he
+must have derived these from his imagination only, as he had
+no means of seeing anybody here that could give him the least
+information."<a name="FNanchor_441_441" id="FNanchor_441_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_441_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a></p>
+
+<p>Who was the better informed of the two it is not easy
+to decide. But by a curious coincidence, while Livingston was
+writing this in Paris, the ink was hardly dry on the instructions
+to Monroe which contained this striking paragraph: "It is
+to be added that the overtures committed to you coincide in
+great measure with the ideas of the person through whom the
+letter of the President of April 30, 1802, was conveyed to Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>
+Livingston, and who is presumed to have gained some insight
+into the present sentiments of the French Cabinet."<a name="FNanchor_442_442" id="FNanchor_442_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_442_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a></p>
+
+<p>The very same day Du Pont was able to write Jefferson that
+he had several times seen Talleyrand and Lebrun and that the
+French Government had decided to give every possible satisfaction
+to the United States. On April 6, he added, without
+giving any detail, that good progress had been made; but that
+he had not told everything to Livingston.</p>
+
+<p>There is little doubt that the letter of Du Pont made Jefferson
+delay any strong measure in the Mississippi Valley affair
+and stayed the hand of the God of War. If negotiations had
+been broken off at that point, it was the intention of the British
+government "to send an expedition to occupy New Orleans."<a name="FNanchor_443_443" id="FNanchor_443_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_443_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a>
+What the consequences of such an action would have been can
+easily be surmised.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the story lies outside of our province, since Jefferson
+had nothing to do directly with it. Barb&eacute;-Marbois has told
+the dramatic scene of Easter Sunday, April 10, 1803, when
+Bonaparte called in two ministers and gave the first indication
+that he considered the whole colony lost and that it might be
+better to give it up entirely. The next morning the First
+Consul requested Marbois to act as plenipotentiary and to see
+Livingston at once. When Monroe arrived, a preliminary
+understanding had been reached. The treaty was concluded
+on May 4 and signed four days later, although it was antedated
+and marked April 30.</p>
+
+<p>The question of deciding whether Jefferson had foreseen the
+possibility of acquiring the whole territory of Louisiana and had
+given to Monroe instructions to that effect has provided his
+biographers, whether friendly or unfriendly, with a nice bone
+to pick. It seems here that a distinction must be established
+between the wishes of the President and what he considered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>
+within the range of actual possibilities. From his letters to
+Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, it is easily perceived that
+he was unequivocally opposed to the reinstatement of France
+on any part of the continent. On this point he never varied.
+On the other hand, he had soon become convinced that France
+would never relinquish such an enormous territory without a
+compensation that the United States could not afford to pay.
+He limited his plans very soon to the acquisition of the two
+Floridas, which he supposed had been made part of the transaction,
+so as to give the United States access to the Gulf, while
+taking a strong position on the Mississippi River. In his letter
+to Du Pont de Nemours dated February 1, 1803, he reiterated
+that the United States wanted and needed the Floridas, that
+"whatever power, other than ourselves, holds the country east
+of the Mississippi, becomes our natural enemy." But further
+he did not go. On February 27, 1803, he wrote to Governor
+Harrison a letter which seems to settle the question: "We
+bend our whole views to the purchase and settlement of the
+country on the Mississippi, from its mouth to its northern regions,
+that we may be able to present as strong a front on our
+western as on our eastern border, and plant on the Mississippi
+itself the means of its own defence." As for the Indians, they
+were either "to be incorporated with us as citizens of the United
+States, or removed beyond the Mississippi." Finally the letter
+written on July 29 to Livingston and Monroe is as definite a
+statement as can be desired and ought to set the controversy
+at rest:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>When these (your instructions and commission) were made out,
+the object of the most sanguine was limited to the establishment
+of the Mississippi as our boundary. It was not presumed, that more
+could be sought by the United States, either with a chance of success,
+or perhaps without being suspected of a greedy ambition, than the
+island of New Orleans and the two Floridas.... Nor was it to
+be supposed that in case the French government should be willing to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>
+part with more than the territory on our side of the Mississippi, an
+arrangement with Spain for restoring the territory on the other side,
+would not be preferred to a sale of it to the United States.... The
+effect of such considerations was diminished by no information, or
+just presumptions whatever.<a name="FNanchor_444_444" id="FNanchor_444_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_444_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Whatever may have been Jefferson's satisfaction on hearing
+the news, he did not write himself to the commissioners to congratulate
+and thank them in the name of the nation. He was
+not the man to make grand gestures. The Virginian could be as
+self-restrained as any New Englander, as appears from a letter
+to Horatio Gates in which the two envoys are mentioned: "I
+find our opposition very willing to pluck feathers from Monroe,
+although not fond of sticking them into Livingston's coat. The
+truth is, both have a just proportion of merit; and were it
+necessary or proper, it would be shown that each has rendered
+peculiar services and of important value."<a name="FNanchor_445_445" id="FNanchor_445_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_445_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a> More than that
+he did not say, and probably said very little more to Monroe,
+his friend and "<i>&eacute;l&egrave;ve</i>" when he came back from France.</p>
+
+<p>Congress had been called for October 17, to ratify the treaty;
+but before that date, Jefferson sent letters and questionnaires
+all around in order to gather any possible information on the
+limits, geography, resources and condition of the inhabitants
+of the newly acquired territory. In a letter to Breckenridge
+(August 12, 1803), he expressed himself more freely than to any
+other correspondent. First of all he admitted that he was
+somewhat disappointed at having being unable to secure the
+Floridas. But it was only a delayed opportunity; sooner
+or later Spain would engage in some war, and the realistic
+politician added: "If we push them strongly with one hand,
+holding out a price in the other, we shall certainly obtain the
+Floridas, and all in good time." For the present, the United
+States, without claiming possession of the Spanish territories,
+would act pretty freely: "In the meantime, without waiting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span>
+for permission, we shall enter into the exercise of the natural
+right we have always insisted on with having a right of innocent
+passage through them to the ocean. We shall prepare her
+to see us practice on this, and she will not oppose it by
+force."</p>
+
+<p>He had already heard many objections to the treaty; of all
+of them he disposed summarily. He did not take seriously the
+danger mentioned by the Federalists of seeing a fringe of States,
+different in interest from the original States, form along the
+Mississippi and threaten the homogeneity of the Union. If it
+came to the worst, it would be better for the United States
+to have as neighbors along the western border a Federation of
+States inhabited by a people of the same blood than a Spanish
+or French dominion. Then Jefferson prophetically outlined the
+development of the West as he foresaw it. The inhabited part
+of Louisiana was to become a new State as soon as possible.
+Above Pointe Coup&eacute;e, the best procedure was probably to move
+the Indians across the river and to fill the vacant territories
+with white colonists. "When we shall be full on this side, we
+may lay off a range of States on the western bank from the head
+to the mouth, and so, range after range, advancing compactly
+as we multiply."</p>
+
+<p>As to the constitutionality of the purchase, he admitted there
+was no article of the Constitution authorizing the holding of
+foreign territory, and still less contemplating the incorporation
+of foreign nations into the Union. "The executives, in seizing
+the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the good of their
+country, have done an act beyond the Constitution." They
+were justified in doing it, however, just as much as a guardian
+has the right to invest money for his ward in purchasing an
+adjacent territory and saying to him when of age: "I did this
+for your good; I pretend to no right to bind you; you may
+disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can: I thought
+it my duty to risk myself for you." This is another instance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span>
+when Jefferson the lawyer discarded what he called "metaphysical
+subtleties" to look squarely at the facts and to do his
+duty as he saw it, "as a faithful servant."</p>
+
+<p>The third annual message of the President was read before
+Congress on October 17. Written in simple language like all
+the State papers of Jefferson, it contained a graceful word for
+"the enlightened government of France", and pointed out
+soberly the advantages that would accrue to the United States
+from the purchase:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>While the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its
+waters secure an independent outlet for the produce of the western
+States, and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course,
+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.</p></div>
+
+<p>The President avoided any specific recommendation on the
+measures to be adopted to incorporate into the Union the
+recently acquired territories, resting on the wisdom of Congress
+to determine the "measures which may be necessary for the
+immediate occupation and temporary government of the
+country; 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." The
+Senate ratified the treaty after a two-day discussion, the members
+voting strictly on party lines. It came before the House
+on the twenty-second. The discussion was hot and more prolonged;
+doubts as to the French title to the purchase were
+raised; doubts as to the constitutionality of the measure.
+The treaty proper was ratified on October 25, and on November
+3 acts were passed authorizing the issue of bonds in order to
+pay France.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A letter of Jefferson to Livingston contains the epilogue of
+the negotiations. It is another very interesting instance of the
+way Jefferson knew how to handle men. Pichon, the French
+minister, had been instructed by his Government to secure a
+clause to the ratification providing "against any failure in time
+or other circumstances of execution on the part of the United
+States." Jefferson took the matter in hand himself and demonstrated
+to Pichon that in case the French Government insisted
+upon such a proviso, the United States would insert a similar
+clause of protestation "leaving the matter where it stood
+before." He insisted that it was to throw on the good faith of
+both nations a doubt most unpleasant to an honest man to
+entertain, and concluded that he had "more confidence in the
+word of the First Consul than in all the parchment we could
+sign." What could the Frenchman do except to bow politely
+and acquiesce, and "like an able and honest minister (which he
+is in the highest degree) he undertook to do what he knew his
+employers would do themselves, were they spectators of all
+existing circumstances, and exchange the ratifications purely
+and simply." "So," concluded Jefferson, "this instrument
+goes to the world as an evidence of the candor and confidence
+of the nations in each other, which will have the best effects."</p>
+
+<p>A last point remained to be settled. It was suspected that
+Spain had entered a formal protest against the whole transaction,
+"since the First Consul had broken a solemn promise
+not to alienate the country to any nation." On that point
+Jefferson refused to express any opinion: "We answered that
+these were questions between France and Spain which they
+must settle together; that we derived our title from the First
+Consul and did not doubt his guarantee of it." Meanwhile
+measures were provided to take formal possession from Laussat
+after he should have received the territory from Spain. "If he
+is not so disposed <i>we</i> shall take possession and it will rest with
+the Government of France, by adopting the act as their own,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span>
+then to settle the latter with Spain."<a name="FNanchor_446_446" id="FNanchor_446_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_446_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a> In order to provide
+for any eventuality, the governor of the Mississippi was ordered
+to move down with General Wilkinson all his troops at hand
+to take formal possession.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the transaction fraught with so many dangers came to
+what Jefferson called in a letter to Priestley (January 29, 1804)
+"a happy denouement", thanks "to a friendly and frank
+development of causes and effects in our part and good sense
+enough in Bonaparte to see that the train was unavoidable
+and would change the face of the world."</p>
+
+<p>If Jefferson took liberties with the Constitution in the matter
+of the purchase, he was equally broad-minded in his construction
+of the treaty. One of the articles provided that the inhabitants
+of the territories ceded by France "will be incorporated
+into the Union and admitted as soon as possible according to the
+principles of the Federal Constitution to the enjoyment of all
+the advantages and immunities of the citizens of the United
+States" (Article III). This was precisely what Jefferson was
+firmly resolved not to do. Theoretically, and according to his
+often expressed views on self-government, he should have taken
+steps to admit immediately the newly acquired territory into
+the Union and to allow the inhabitants to decide on a constitution.
+Practically, he considered that they were unfitted for
+self-government and, although he did not formally declare it at
+the time, he was convinced that self-government could not
+succeed with a population mainly French and Spanish. The
+letter he wrote on the subject to Du Pont de Nemours is almost
+disarming in its na&iuml;vet&eacute;:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We are preparing a form of government for the Territory of
+Louisiana. We shall make it as mild and free, as they are able to
+bear, all persons residing there concurring in the information that
+they were neither gratified, nor willing to exercise the rights of an
+elective government. The immense swarm flocking thither of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span>
+Americans used to that exercise, will soon prepare them to receive
+the necessary change.<a name="FNanchor_447_447" id="FNanchor_447_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_447_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It was impossible to state more clearly that representative
+government could not be granted to Louisiana as long as the
+inhabitants remained essentially French. Only when checked
+and controlled by the "immense swarm" of American pioneers
+and colonists spreading all over the territory could they be
+admitted to the immunities and advantages of American
+citizens. This attitude of Jefferson, which seems in flagrant
+contradiction with his theories, can astonish only those who see
+in him a world prophet of the democratic faith; while his only
+ambition was to build an American democracy, on strictly
+American principles, for the sole benefit of American citizens,
+true heirs and continuators of the old Anglo-Saxon principles.</p>
+
+<p>But his vision of a greater America extended even beyond
+the limits of the Louisiana Purchase. In January, 1803, just
+one week before Monroe's appointment as special envoy to
+Paris, he had sent a message to Congress to recommend that
+a sum of twenty-five hundred dollars be appropriated to send
+"an intelligent officer with a party of 10 or 12 men to explore
+even to the Western Ocean and to bring back all possible information
+on the Indian tribes, the fauna and flora of the region."
+The intelligent officer was Merriwether Lewis, private secretary
+to the President, who was to engage in this "literary pursuit"
+in a region claimed by Spain. It was calmly assumed, however,
+that "the expiring state of Spain's interests there" would render
+such a voyage a matter of indifference to this nation. Jefferson
+made the expedition his own concern; he drew up the most
+detailed instructions for the mission. He even wrote for Lewis
+"a letter of general credit" in his own hand and signed with
+his name, by which the captain was authorized to draw on
+"the Secretaries of State, the Treasury of War, and of the Navy
+of the United States according as he might find his draughts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span>
+would be most negotiable, for the purpose of obtaining money
+or necessaries for himself and men."<a name="FNanchor_448_448" id="FNanchor_448_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_448_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a> Practically unlimited
+resources were placed at the disposal of the expedition. Jefferson
+kept his former secretary minutely informed of the new
+possibilities opened up by the negotiations with France, writing
+him on July 4, 11, 15, November 16 and January 13. On
+January 22, he sent new instructions: the United States had
+"now become sovereigns of the country" Lewis was going to
+explore; it was no longer necessary to keep up the pretense of
+a "literary pursuit", and the President felt authorized in proposing
+to the Indians the establishment of official connections,
+and in declaring frankly to them that "they will find in us
+faithful friends and protectors." So Jefferson was no longer
+thinking of the Mississippi as the ultimate frontier of the
+United States. He already foresaw the time when the Empire
+would extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific.</p>
+
+<p>Besides providing the United States with almost unlimited
+possibilities of growth, the Louisiana Purchase had eliminated
+the immediate danger of a conflict with France, and the chances
+of remaining at peace with Europe had considerably increased.
+"I now see nothing which need interrupt the friendship between
+France and this country," wrote Jefferson to Cabanis. "We
+do not despair of being always a peaceable nation. We think
+that peaceable means may be devised of keeping nations in the
+path of justice towards us, by making justice their interest, and
+injuries to react on themselves. Our distance enables us to
+pursue a course which the crowded situation of Europe renders
+perhaps impracticable there."<a name="FNanchor_449_449" id="FNanchor_449_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_449_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a></p>
+
+<p>There remained, however, a danger point in the policies of
+the British navy with regard to contraband. The United
+States had now to make a strenuous effort to bring the British
+to abandon their "right" to search neutral vessels on the high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span>
+seas in order to impress British sailors found on those vessels,
+and to use American ports as cruising stations. Not only was
+this attitude of Great Britain contrary to justice but it was also
+contrary to these natural laws on which rested Jefferson's system
+of Americanism; above all, they were most obnoxious and
+detrimental to American commerce, for "Thornton says they
+watch our trade to prevent contraband. We say it is to plunder
+under pretext of contraband."<a name="FNanchor_450_450" id="FNanchor_450_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_450_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the President was receiving the most pessimistic
+accounts from Monroe, lost in the maze of European intrigues,
+and almost losing faith in the future security of the United
+States. One of his letters of the spring of 1804 had mentioned
+the possibility of a dark plot against America. France and
+England might forget their old differences and operate a reconciliation
+at the expense of the United States; they would form
+a combination to divide between them the North American
+continent, France repossessing Louisiana, while England would
+reannex the United States to the British dominions. A mad
+scheme if ever there was one, and it is very much to be doubted
+that it was ever contemplated by any responsible Frenchman.
+Jefferson's confidence in the remoteness of the American continent
+was not disturbed for a minute by these alarming reports.
+He excused Monroe on the ground that a person placed in
+Europe was very apt to believe the old nations endowed with
+limitless resources and power. Everything was possible, even
+a return of the Bourbons; but "that they and England joined,
+could recover us to British dominion, is impossible. If things are
+not so, then human reason is of no aid in conjecturing the conduct
+of nations." Still the policy of watchful waiting was more
+than ever in order. Every point of friction was to be eliminated,
+one of the first measures being to accept the "Louisianais"
+to full citizenship and thus bring to an end the patronage of
+France. Another step was to enforce strictly the rule against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span>
+British cruisers in American harbors, so that "each may see unequivocally
+what is unquestionably true, that we may be very
+possibly driven into her scale by unjust conduct in the other."<a name="FNanchor_451_451" id="FNanchor_451_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_451_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a></p>
+
+<p>Thus was fixed not in theory but in practice a policy of
+neutrality fraught with risks. The most apparent danger
+was that both belligerents might turn against the United
+States. But of that Jefferson was not afraid, as an alliance
+between the two hereditary enemies seemed inconceivable. In
+the meantime proper preparations were to be made to insure
+the security of the American flag.</p>
+
+<p>The message of October 17, 1803, contained an earnest appeal
+to "complete neutrality." Neutrality of fact the Government
+was decided to observe, and most of all to view in a disinterested
+way the carnage in Europe.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>How desirable it must be, in a government like ours, to see its
+citizens adopt individually the views, the interests and the conduct
+which their country should pursue, divesting themselves of those
+passions and partialities which tend to lessen useful friendships
+and to embarrass and embroil us in the calamitous scenes of Europe.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then came a passage which sounds strangely familiar to
+those of us who have lived through the last fourteen years:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Confident, fellow citizens, that you will duly estimate the importance
+of neutral dispositions toward the observance of neutral conduct,
+that you will be sensible how much it is our duty to look on the bloody
+arena spread before us with commiseration indeed, but with no other
+wish than to see it closed, I am persuaded you will cordially cherish
+these dispositions in all communications with your constituents.</p></div>
+
+<p>A nation neutral in speech and neutral in thought, willing to
+intervene only to help the victims of the war or as an arbiter
+between the belligerents, such was at that time the ideal of
+Jefferson as it was to be for several years the ideal of Woodrow
+Wilson, and to a large degree the permanent ideal of the United
+States during their whole history.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>"SELF-PRESERVATION IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL LAW"</h2>
+
+
+<p>When, on the fourth of March, 1805, Jefferson began his
+second term, he had a right to review with some complacency
+the achievements of his first administration. To foreign
+affairs he scarcely granted a short paragraph, but he pointed
+out with great details the suppression of unnecessary offices,
+the reduction of taxes, the fact that the Federal Government
+was almost entirely supported by duties levied on importations,
+so that "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?" The Louisiana Purchase had
+increased enormously the potential riches of the country and
+removed a very dangerous source of conflict. The right bank
+of the Mississippi was to be settled by "our own brethren and
+children" and not by "strangers of another family."</p>
+
+<p>Of great interest was the long passage given to Indian affairs.
+Jefferson's sympathy for the red men dated from the early days
+of his youth, when he had seen the chiefs stop at the house of
+his father on their way to Williamsburg. He had handsomely
+stood in defense of them in the "Notes on Virginia." Now he
+was regarding them with the commiseration their history began
+to inspire:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing 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 directed itself on these shores, without power
+to divert, or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed
+by the current, or driven before it.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was certainly a very regrettable situation, but the idea of
+questioning the right of an overflowing population to occupy
+scarcely populated territories did not for a moment enter Jefferson's
+mind. To deny such a right would have been not only
+detrimental to the very existence of the United States, but also
+a denial of the "right" of "our Saxons ancestors" to settle in
+England. Furthermore, the President was confronted with a
+certain set of facts and not with a theory. The territory of
+which the Indians had so long enjoyed undisturbed possession
+was growing narrower every day. With the recent acquisition
+of Louisiana, it was to be foreseen that they would not be able
+to roam freely much longer in the vast territories extending
+west of the Mississippi. They were now "reduced within
+limits too narrow for the hunter's state." The only thing they
+could do was to submit to new economic conditions, to settle
+down and become farmers, and it was the duty of the government
+"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 mind and morals."</p>
+
+<p>The President had no patience with</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... the interested and crafty individuals among them who
+inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the customs 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 a perilous innovation;
+that their duty is to remain as their Creator made them.</p></div>
+
+<p>The attitude of these reactionaries among the Indians gave
+Jefferson an opportunity to hit at one stroke the medicine men
+and the clergymen who were attacking him fiercely.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In short, my friends, among them is seen the action and counter-action
+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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>
+ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our reason, and
+obeying its mandates.</p></div>
+
+<p>The New England and New York clergymen who had stood
+with the Federalists knew exactly where they belonged.</p>
+
+<p>But if the President was unwilling to let the attacks to which
+he had been subjected pass entirely unnoticed, he maintained
+at the same time that no official steps must be taken to repress
+in any way freedom of speech and freedom of the press. In
+more emphatic terms than ever before, he reasserted the fundamental
+doctrine he had defended against all comers for more
+than twenty-five years:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>During this course of administration, and in order to disturb 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
+several 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.</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus were the Callender and the Federalist pamphleteers
+handed over to the public to be dealt with, according to the
+merits of their cases.</p>
+
+<p>The address ended with a new appeal to harmony, with the
+hope that truth, reason and well-understood self-interest might
+enlighten the last opponents of true republicanism. It ended
+also with a sort of prayer which may or may not have expressed
+the religious beliefs of Jefferson at the time:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I shall need 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 flowing with all the necessaries and comforts
+of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span>
+and our riper years with his wisdom and power, and to whose goodness
+I ask you to join me in supplications.</p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson had not forgotten that twenty years before he had
+proposed that the seal of the United States should represent
+the Children of Israel led by a pillar of light. As much as the
+Puritans he was convinced that the American people was a
+chosen people, that they have been gifted with superior wisdom
+and strength, and this belief was just as much part of his creed
+of Americanism as it was the more openly expressed doctrine of
+more recent presidents of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>With these brilliant and reassuring prospects before his eyes,
+Jefferson entered his second term. Little did he believe at
+that time that the four years before him were to be the most
+agitated and most distressing of his long career. The man
+whose fondest hope was to "secure peace, friendship and approbation
+of all nations" was to begin a series of police operations
+against the Barbary pirates of the Mediterranean and was
+confronted, at a time, with the possibility of a war with Spain,
+a war with England and a war with France. His philosophical
+toga was torn to shreds by the thorns strewn along the tortuous
+paths of international relations. At home he had to use all his
+ingenuity and resourcefulness to keep together disaffected elements
+in the Republican Party, to withstand the attacks
+launched in Congress by John Randolph of Roanoke, the
+impulsive, erratic and dangerous leader of the discontented
+Republicans. The man who had framed the Kentucky
+resolutions and had stood as the advocate of States rights was
+reproached with using his influence with Congress to pass the
+Embargo Act, "more arbitrary, more confiscatory" than any
+measure ever proposed by the Federalists. The man who had
+protested against the sedition bills had to repress the seditious
+attempts of the former Vice President of the United States.
+It seemed as if an evil genius had taken a malicious pleasure in
+making every effort to test the President in every possible way,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span>
+and to confront him with the necessity of renouncing his most
+cherished principles. Jefferson did not come out of the ordeal
+without scars and deep wounds; but whatever may have been
+his deficiencies and his faults, whatever sins he may have committed,
+he kept his faith in the ultimate wisdom of public
+opinion and never tried to suppress by coercion the criticism to
+which he was subjected.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, the roseate view of the situation presented
+by Jefferson in his second Inaugural Address was hardly
+warranted by facts. Even before the close of the first term,
+Randolph, who had been the standard bearer of the Republicans
+in the House, had shown signs of discontent. He had supported
+the "Remonstrance of the people of Louisiana", protesting
+that one of the essential provisions had been violated
+and that they should be admitted at once to "all the rights,
+advantages and immunities of citizens." On the other hand,
+Aaron Burr, even while remaining in office, had already paved
+the way for the dark and romantic machinations which were to
+culminate with his trial before Marshall at Richmond.</p>
+
+<p>The story of Burr's conspiracy deserves a special place among
+American "<i>causes c&eacute;l&egrave;bres</i>." It has been told many times, and
+very vividly, but only the pen of Alexandre Dumas could do
+justice to it. Many efforts have been made to whitewash the
+memory of the chief conspirator, to throw most of the odium on
+Wilkinson and on Jefferson who, according to his enemies,
+would have gone out of his way to obtain the condemnation of a
+man who could not be proved guilty of any overt act, although
+there is no doubt that he had originated some of the most
+reprehensible schemes against the safety of his country. But
+Americans always had a foible for soldiers of fortune, for
+adventurers who dreamed of conquering new empires; for in
+them they see the magnification of the frontier spirit
+which for so long constituted one of the "pillars" of American
+civilization.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>By an extraordinary trick of heredity, this adventurer, who
+should have been a Spanish conquistador, this arch plotter who
+had the insinuating ways of the Florentine, the tortuous and
+complicated mind so often considered as a privilege of the
+Europeans, was the great-grandson of Jonathan Edwards and
+of pure New England descent. He had fought bravely and
+enthusiastically in the Revolutionary War, he was a lawyer of
+no mean achievement; but his thirst for popularity, applause
+and success was beyond imagination, and this Machiavellic
+politician lacked in an extraordinary degree common sense and
+political vision. Had he withdrawn from the run for the
+presidency in time, had he gracefully accepted the second
+rank in December, 1800, he would have had a great political
+career before him. But to the last minute he refused to say the
+word that was expected from him; he accepted without protest
+the votes of the Federalists and was considered as a traitor to
+his party even before he took office. As early as January,
+1804, he had gone to Jefferson and, after complaining that the
+President did not show him the same friendship as before, he
+had offered to resign at once if he were appointed to some
+foreign embassy. After Burr had left without obtaining any
+definite answer, Jefferson put down on paper a complete account
+of the conversation and dryly concluded:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I should here notice, that Colonel Burr must have thought that I
+could swallow strong things in my own favor, when he founded his
+acquiescence in the nomination as Vice-President, to his desire of
+promoting my honor, the being with me; whose company and conversation
+had always been fascinating with him etc.<a name="FNanchor_452_452" id="FNanchor_452_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_452_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Disappointed in this respect, Aaron Burr turned his eyes
+towards New York, where he had worked so successfully during
+the preceding election. The post of governor happened to be
+vacant, and in February Burr was chosen by the discontented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span>
+Republicans of the State to run for governor. It seems quite
+certain that, if he had been elected, the movement for secession
+already strong in New England would have received a new
+impetus and that a desperate effort would have been made to
+shake off "the rule of Virginia." When, after a savage campaign
+marked by invectives, brawls and riots, Burr was finally
+defeated, he could and did rightly attribute his failure to
+Hamilton who, from the very beginning, opposed his candidacy.
+A personal encounter was decided and the two adversaries
+met on the bank of the Hudson, pistol in hand, in a duel to
+the death. It has always been said that Hamilton did not take
+aim and fired first. Burr fired deliberately and Hamilton,
+fatally wounded, fell to the ground, to die the next day.</p>
+
+<p>Found guilty of murder by a grand jury, and in fact already
+a fugitive from justice, Burr hid at first in Georgia and there
+concocted the most extraordinary plan to effect a separation
+of the western part of the United States with the help and
+financial assistance of England. Although evidence was not
+procurable at the time of his trial, there is no doubt that he
+thought the scheme feasible; that back in Washington, and
+when he was presiding over the impeachment proceedings of
+Judge Chase, the Vice President of the United States was
+prudently sounding the delegates of the western States, ingratiating
+himself to them and that the wildest dreams of empire
+were haunting his feverish imagination.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the session was over, Colonel Burr started out for a
+tour of the western States and, on an island of the Ohio, met by
+chance the philosopher-planter Blennerhasset, the innocent
+victim of his plots. Leaving Blennerhasset, Burr went to
+Cincinnati, Frankfort, Nashville. He met Andrew Jackson,
+the uncouth son of the frontier, and Wilkinson, the general in
+charge of the western territory. After a visit to New Orleans,
+where he was greatly elated by the discontent of the population,
+he went back to Saint Louis to discuss the situation with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span>
+Wilkinson. Whether he still adhered to the original plan of
+separating the western from the eastern States is to a considerable
+degree doubtful. His immediate object seems rather to
+have been to lead an expedition of adventurers against Mexico,
+in case the war that was threatening between the United States
+and Spain should break out. It must be admitted that the plan
+in itself was not particularly objectionable to the Government,
+but it soon appeared that this scheme too had to be given up.
+After vainly attempting to secure assistance from the British
+Government, Burr, changing from conqueror to farmer, undertook
+to buy, with Blennerhasset, a grant of several hundred
+thousand acres on the Washita River, in Northern Louisiana, in
+order to establish there a model colony.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the story is well known. Rumors of a conspiracy
+grew in the West without disturbing at first the security of the
+Federal Government. Burr, summoned to appear before the
+district attorney of Frankfort, surrendered himself, but was
+twice discharged and continued his preparations for the settlement
+of Washita. Jefferson did not move until he received
+from Wilkinson a confidential message purporting to be the
+transcription of a ciphered letter sent by Burr. The President
+was so alarmed that he issued at once a proclamation, warning
+the people that a conspiracy had been discovered and directing
+the arrests of the conspirators and the seizure of "all vessels,
+arms and military stores." Wilkinson, eager to show his
+loyalty to the Government, arrested "without warrant"
+several emissaries of Burr. One of them was released, but two,
+Bollman and Swartwout, were sent out by sea to Baltimore
+and thence to Washington, where they were kept in the military
+barracks. In a special message to Congress, Jefferson apprised
+the Senate and the House of the facts "touching an illegal
+combination of private individuals against the peace and
+safety of the Union, and a military expedition planned by them
+against the territories of a power in amity with the United<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span>
+States, with the measures pursued for suppressing the same."
+(January 22, 1807)</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after Marshall, in Washington, had refused to indict
+Bollman and Swartwout on the count of "levying war" against
+the United States, Burr was finally arrested and taken under
+military escort to Richmond, there to be delivered to the
+civil authorities after Marshall had signed a special warrant
+(March 26, 1807). After long skirmishes between the prosecution
+and the defense, legal moves and countermoves, Burr was
+indicted under two counts,&mdash;treason and high misdemeanor.
+On the first charge the jury rendered a verdict to the effect that
+"We of the jury say that Aaron Burr is not proved guilty under
+this indictment by any evidence submitted to us; we therefore
+find him not guilty."</p>
+
+<p>This was a most unusual and illegal form of rendering a
+verdict and the jury evidently intended to emphasize the fact
+that the evidence submitted did not warrant a conviction,
+although they reserved their opinion as to the real guilt of
+Colonel Burr. Marshall overruled objections to the form of
+the verdict which threatened a reopening of the case and
+decided that it would be recorded as "not guilty." Burr was
+soon recommitted on the second count and declared not guilty
+by a second jury. Upon which a third charge was brought in by
+the prosecution and Burr summoned to appear at the session of
+the Circuit Court of the United States to be held at Chillicothe
+in January, 1808. He never appeared and his bond was forfeited;
+it is more than doubtful that he would have been convicted.</p>
+
+<p>A serious discussion of the merits of the case would necessitate
+a minute analysis of all the evidence placed before the jury
+and cannot be undertaken here. Several attempts have been
+made to rehabilitate Aaron Burr's memory, although certain
+facts are so patent that they cannot be overlooked by the most
+indulgent biographers. It is a curious bend of the popular
+mind that the greatness of the conspiracy seems an excuse and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span>
+attenuation of the most evident guilt. There was something
+apparently heroic in the ambition of that man who wanted to
+carve for himself an empire in the wilderness and to plunder the
+treasures of the mysterious Southwest. Then, by contrast, the
+obstinacy of Jefferson in using every means in his power and in
+the power of the Federal Government in order to obtain a conviction,
+has been represented as a display of pettiness unworthy
+of the chief of a great nation. Nor is this tendency restricted
+to the impulsive and emotional masses; it creeps into the
+accounts of the trial given by the most judicial historians, and
+I am not certain that it is entirely absent from Beveridge's
+treatment of the Richmond proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>Legally speaking, it is difficult to find fault with the findings
+of Marshall, with the definitions he gave of "treason" and
+"overt act", with his sifting of the evidence and, except in one
+or two cases, with his behavior during the trial. On the other
+hand, Jefferson has been accused of having unduly interfered
+by sending detailed instructions to the district attorney, by
+coaching him on several occasions, and by attempting directly
+and indirectly to arouse public opinion against a man who was
+on trial for his life, but who finally could not be convicted on
+any count. After such an interval of time, it is easy to find
+fault with the conduct of the Executive, and it cannot be denied
+that he acted in a very high-handed manner, condoned acts
+which were technically illegal and maintained without sufficient
+proofs of Burr's guilt that there was not "a candid man in the
+United States who did not believe some one, if not all, of these
+overt acts to have taken place."<a name="FNanchor_453_453" id="FNanchor_453_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_453_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, if we try to place ourselves in the atmosphere
+of the time, it is equally easy to find explanations that to
+a large extent justify Jefferson's attitude. It must be remembered
+that the President was not unaware of Burr's intention
+"to form a coalition of the five eastern States, with New York<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span>
+and New Jersey, under the new appellation of the Seven
+Eastern States."<a name="FNanchor_454_454" id="FNanchor_454_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_454_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a> If Burr's machination with the English
+minister to effect a separation of the western States were still
+unknown, there was little doubt about his plans. All of Burr's
+ambitious schemes failed miserably, but it is perfectly natural
+that the Government should have been seriously alarmed at
+the time. They did not know of Wilkinson's shameful deals
+with Spain, but they had every reason to believe that a man
+who had already plotted a secession of the western territory
+and happened to be in charge of that territory and in command
+of the Federal army was scarcely to be depended upon in an
+emergency. For years the West had been very restive, New
+Orleans was full of discontented Creoles, and if war had not been
+officially declared with both England and Spain, it was felt that
+it could break out at any time. None of these considerations
+could be brought out before the jury, but they amply warranted
+some action of the Executive. The first step taken by Jefferson
+was to warn the people of the existence of a conspiracy. If we
+remember again that Aaron Burr was at that time roaming at
+will in a part of the country sparsely settled, where he counted
+many friends, where communications with Washington were
+slow and rare, it is difficult to see how the President could have
+done less.</p>
+
+<p>After the conspirators were arrested the situation changed
+entirely. They had been delivered to the civil authorities,
+they were to appear before a regular court and given trial by
+jury; they no longer constituted a public danger. It must be
+admitted that Jefferson himself declared to his French friends,
+Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, that Burr never had a
+chance to succeed and "that the man who could expect to
+effect this, with American material must be a fit subject for
+Bedlam."<a name="FNanchor_455_455" id="FNanchor_455_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_455_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a> This is hard to reconcile with the statement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>
+which comes immediately after, that "the seriousness of the
+crime demands more serious punishment", and particularly
+with the instructions sent to George Hay. One may suspect
+that Jefferson saw in the trial of Burr an opportunity to test
+the loyalty of the Chief Justice to the Constitution and to
+the Government and allowed himself to be carried away by
+political preoccupations which had nothing to do with Colonel
+Burr. This appears clearly in one of the letters to Giles:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If there has ever been an instance in this or the preceding administrations,
+of federal judges so applying principles of law as to condemn
+a federal or acquit a republican offender, I should have judged them
+in the present case with some charity. All this, however, will work
+well. The nation will judge both the offender and judges for
+themselves.<a name="FNanchor_456_456" id="FNanchor_456_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_456_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was reiterated in the instructions sent to George Hay
+after the first acquittal of Burr, that no witness should be
+permitted to depart</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... until his testimony has been committed to writing, either as
+delivered in court, or as taken by yourself in the presence of Burr's
+counsel.... These whole proceedings will be laid before Congress,
+that they may decide, whether the defect has been in the evidence
+of guilt, or in the law, or in the application of the law, and that they
+may provide the proper remedy for the past and the future.</p></div>
+
+<p>The intention to scrutinize the documents to uncover any
+bias of Marshall and use any such evidence against the Chief
+Justice is even openly admitted: "I must pray you also to have
+an authentic copy of the record made out (without saying for
+what) and to send it to me; if the Judge's opinions make out
+a part of it, then I must ask a copy of them, either under his
+hand, if he delivers one signed, or duly proved by affidavit."<a name="FNanchor_457_457" id="FNanchor_457_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_457_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a>
+Who could deny after reading this that Jefferson's intention
+was to push vigorously the attack against the judiciary, and to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span>
+institute impeachment proceedings against Marshall on the
+slightest justification? Thus the trial of Burr became a test
+of strength between the executive and the judiciary, between
+the President and the Chief Justice; it was fought out in the
+courtroom the more fiercely as the two antagonists were kinsmen
+and brought into it the obstinacy and animosity of Southern
+feudists.</p>
+
+<p>Marshall came out as the stanch and unshakable champion of
+legality, and Jefferson did not refrain from using the arguments
+and reasonings resorted to by the Federalists when the Sedition
+Act was passed. There was little excuse for a man of his legal
+training in believing that Burr could be convicted and punished
+for his "intentions" to commit a crime, and the prosecution
+failed to bring in sufficient proof of Aaron Burr's guilt. It
+would have been more dignified and more consistent with
+Jefferson's theories if, after the conspirator was made powerless,
+the President had remained silent. That, however, he could
+not do. Early in October, he called back Attorney-general
+Robert Smith in order to prepare a selection and digestion of
+the documents respecting Burr's treason and, in his message to
+Congress, on October 27, if he did not use the word treason, he
+still accused Burr of "enterprise against the public peace."
+He assumed responsibility and claimed credit for the measures
+that had permitted "to dissipate before their explosion plots
+engendering on the Mississippi." He laid before Congress the
+proceedings and evidence exhibited on the arraignment of the
+principal offenders. Finally, he concluded that Burr's acquittal
+was evidence that there was something wrong somewhere, and
+that the nation could not remain defenceless against such
+dangers. "The framers of our constitution certainly supposed
+they had guarded, as well their government against destruction
+by treason, as their citizens against oppression, under pretence
+of it; and if these ends are not attained, it is of importance to
+inquire by what means more effectual they may be secured."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A year later, writing to Doctor James Brown about the
+measures of repression taken by Wilkinson in New Orleans,
+Jefferson presented what he considered a full justification of his
+conduct:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I do wish to see these people get what they deserved; and under
+the maxim of the law itself, that <i>inter arma silent leges</i>, that in an
+encampment expecting daily attack from a powerful enemy, self
+preservation is paramount to all law. I expected that instead of
+invoking the forms of the law, to cover traitors, all good citizens
+would have concurred in securing them. Should we have ever
+gained our Revolution, if we had bound our hands by manacles of the
+law, not only in the beginning, but in any part of the revolutionary
+conflict?<a name="FNanchor_458_458" id="FNanchor_458_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_458_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was exactly the sort of reasoning that Jefferson had
+opposed so strenuously when advanced by his political opponents.
+Apparently he had completely reversed his position
+after getting in the saddle, which was very illogical and perhaps
+very damnable, but also very human. He was now, to use the
+vivid expression of a French statesman, "on the other side of
+the barricade", and he saw things in a different light. But if
+this episode can serve to illustrate the inconsistency of the
+philosopher, it constitutes also a most striking refutation of the
+accusations of Jacobinism so often launched against Jefferson;
+for only the Jacobin is perfectly consistent in all circumstances.
+More than thirty years had elapsed since Jefferson had copied
+the old maxim <i>fiat justifia ruat c&#339;lum</i> in his "Memorandum
+book" and he was still wont to repeat it, but it had taken him
+less than eight years of executive responsibility to make him
+admit that democracy does not work in times of emergency. It
+was a most dangerous admission, but one to be expected from a
+man in whom still lived the ruthless spirit of the frontier.
+Pioneer communities in which unrestricted and unlimited
+democracy prevails are pitiless for the outlaw who endangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span>
+the life of the group, and are not stopped by "legal subtleties."
+In Jefferson there was more of the pioneer than he himself
+believed. For this very reason he was probably more completely
+and intensely an average American than if he had
+"acted up" to the letter of the law in every circumstance.</p>
+
+<p>This was by far the most dramatic of the internal difficulties
+that Jefferson had to face during his second term. Burr's
+conspiracy obscured the attacks against Madison led by the
+former spokesman of Jefferson's party, John Randolph of
+Roanoke. But already, when Burr's trial was held in Richmond,
+"circumstances which seriously threatened the peace of
+the country" had made it a duty to convene Congress at an
+earlier date than usual. Once again, as under the administrations
+of Washington and Adams, foreign policies were to dominate
+and direct domestic policies, and once again America was to
+bear the penalty of all neutrals who try to keep out of the war
+in a world conflagration.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV</h3>
+
+<h2>"PEACE AND COMMERCE WITH EVERY NATION"</h2>
+
+
+<p>War is not always an unmixed curse, at least for nations who
+manage to remain neutral while the rest of the world is torn by
+calamitous conflicts. Europe's misfortune had been to some
+extent America's good fortune. With comparatively short
+intermissions, France and England were engaged in a death
+struggle from 1793 to 1815, and although Britannia ruled the
+sea, the belligerents had to resort to neutral shipping. The
+exports of the United States, which were valued at only nineteen
+millions in 1791, reached ninety-four millions in 1802, and one
+hundred eight millions in 1807. The imports followed approximately
+the same curve for the corresponding dates, jumping from
+nineteen millions to seventy-five millions in 1802 and reaching
+over one hundred thirty-eight millions in 1807. If the United
+States had been permitted to pursue the policy outlined by
+Jefferson in his messages, "to cultivate the friendship of the
+belligerent nations by every act of justice and of incessant
+kindness" (October 17, 1803), "to carry a commercial intercourse
+with every part of the dominions of a belligerent"
+(January 17, 1806), a sort of commercial millennium would have
+been attained and the prosperity of the United States would
+have been boundless. But, at least at the beginning of the nineteenth
+century, neither the rights of neutrals nor international
+law were observed by the belligerents, and neutrals were bound
+to suffer as well as to profit by their privileged situation.</p>
+
+<p>For his conduct of foreign affairs Jefferson has been severely
+taken to task, not only by many of his contemporaries but by
+several historians, one of the most formidable critics being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span>
+Henry Adams. During his second administration, America
+suffered deep humiliations which aroused the national spirit.
+In many occasions war could have and perhaps should have
+been declared; the navy, which had been reduced to a minimum
+under Gallatin's policy of economy, could have been expanded
+so as to enable the country to protect herself against foreign
+insults. On matters concerning national honor and national
+pride Americans alone are qualified to pass, and I can hold no
+brief for Jefferson in the matter. Perhaps it would have
+soothed the wounds inflicted to the <i>amour-propre</i> of the nation
+if war had been declared against France, or England, or both,
+and if America had taken part in the "bloody conflicts" of
+Europe. It must be said, however, that one fails to see what
+material advantages would have resulted for the country; in
+this case, as in many others, Jefferson's conduct seems to have
+been directed by enlightened self-interest. He was most
+unwilling to favor and help in any way Napoleon's ambitious
+schemes by declaring war against England; on the other hand,
+the prospect of forming a <i>de facto</i> alliance with a country which
+on so many occasions had deliberately insulted the United
+States and manifestly entertained feelings of scorn and distrust
+toward the young republic was equally abhorrent to him.
+Finally, it must not be forgotten that by keeping out of the
+deadly conflict in which Europe was engaged, the United States
+were able to lay the solid foundations of an unparalleled
+prosperity. While the young manhood of Europe perished on
+the battlefields of Napoleon, the population of America grew by
+leaps and bounds, passing from 5,300,000 in 1800 to 7,250,000
+in 1810. While the farms and the factories of the Old World
+were left abandoned, immense territories were put under
+cultivation and new industries were developed to satisfy the
+demands of consumers who could no longer import manufactured
+products from England. The whole life of the nation was
+quickened and the industrial revolution hastened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When, after Waterloo, Europe resumed her peaceful pursuits,
+America had freed herself of economic and financial dependence
+from the Old World. She had become a rich, powerful and
+self-supporting nation. She appeared to the impoverished
+peoples of the earth as an economic as well as a political
+Eldorado. Whether the price she paid for it was too high is
+a question which I may be permitted to leave for others to
+decide.</p>
+
+<p>In his second inaugural address, the President found it unnecessary
+to state again the directing principles of his policies,
+simply declaring that he had "acted up" to the declaration contained
+in his first inaugural. Of foreign affairs he had little to
+say, except to reiterate his conviction that "with nations, as well
+as with individuals, our interests soundly calculated, will ever
+be found inseparable from our moral duties." Yet there was a
+passing reference to possible difficulties. War sometimes could
+not be avoided: "it might be procured by injustice by ourselves,
+or by others"; and provision ought to be made in
+advance for such emergencies, so as "to meet all the expenses
+of any given year, without encroaching on the rights of future
+generations, by burdening them with the debts of the past."
+The President foresaw that, with the rapid growth of the population
+and the corresponding increase in revenue raised from
+import taxes, it would be possible</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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 amendement of the constitution,
+be applied, <i>in time of peace</i>, to rivers, canals, roads, arts,
+manufactures, education, and other great objects within each
+State.</p></div>
+
+<p>One may wonder whether at that time Jefferson realized the
+possible consequences of such a system. We have not to seek<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span>
+very far for the exact "source" of these ideas; they were taken
+bodily from Hamilton's report of manufactures. It was the
+same proposal to distribute subsidies and bounties from the
+Federal treasury, to encourage commerce and manufactures.
+Apparently what was damnable and criminal under a Federalist
+administration became praiseworthy under a Republican
+r&eacute;gime.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, even during Jefferson's first term, some of
+the resources of the Federal treasury had to be spent in warlike
+activities. Jefferson had never been able to forget the deep
+humiliation he had felt when, as a minister to the Court of
+France, he had been forced to negotiate with the Barbary
+pirates for the redemption of American prisoners. He had been
+less than six months in office when he decided to answer the new
+demands of the Barbary States by sending an American fleet to
+protect American commerce in the Mediterranean. To this
+incident he gave a large part of his first message (December 8,
+1801), and the activities of the small squadron kept in Europe
+for several years, in order to blockade the pirates in their harbors,
+was regularly mentioned in his subsequent messages.
+The tone of some passages is well worth studying. His hope
+to reduce "the Barbarians of Tripoli to the desire of peace on
+proper terms by the sufferings of war" (November 8, 1804); his
+determination to send to Europe additional forces, "to make
+Tripoli sensible that they mistake their interest in choosing war
+with us; and Tunis also, should she have declared war as
+we expect and almost wish" (July 18, 1804)&mdash;all this reveals
+a warlike Jefferson very different from the pacifist philosopher
+he is supposed to have been in all circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>It was irritating enough to bear the insults of British and
+French vessels to the American flag in order to keep the United
+States out of a European war. To yield to the demands of a
+band of pirates who could be cowed by energetic action with a
+minimum of bloodshed and expenditure, would have been an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span>
+insufferable disgrace. The Barbarians had to be beaten into
+submission, and the European powers who did not seem to be
+willing to emancipate themselves from that degrading tribute
+could perhaps understand at the same time that there were
+limits to the forbearance of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>With reference to England the situation was entirely different.
+The United States had no fleet able to cope with the
+English fleet. The American coasts were unprotected and
+the American harbors could be bombarded from the sea without
+even being able to make a pretense of resisting. A large navy
+could not be built in a day, and even if one had been improvised,
+the odds would have been so uneven that many American
+vessels would have gone down and many lives would have been
+lost under the fire of the British frigates. Thus for practical
+reasons as well as from philanthropic motives, Jefferson bent all
+his efforts to the preservation of peace with the great countries
+of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly three weeks after the signature of the treaty through
+which he gave up Louisiana, Bonaparte declared war against
+England. When he received the news, Jefferson wrote a long
+letter to Lord Buchan in which he defined his policy:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>My hope of preserving peace for our country is not founded in the
+greater principle of non-resistance under every wrong, but in the
+belief that a just and friendly conduct on our part will procure
+justice and friendship from others. In the existing contest, each
+of the combatants will find an interest in our friendship. I cannot
+say we shall be unconcerned spectators of this combat. We feel
+for human sufferings, and we wish the good of all. We shall look
+on, therefore, with the sensations which these dispositions and the
+events of the war will produce.<a name="FNanchor_459_459" id="FNanchor_459_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_459_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thus spoke Jefferson in July, 1803, and Woodrow Wilson,
+who borrowed more than one page from the book of his predecessor,
+expressed himself in almost the same words one hundred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span>
+and eleven years later. Thus, also, would probably speak any
+President of the United States should a new conflagration break
+out to-morrow. This, to be sure, was no proclamation of
+neutrality and none was needed at the time; but had Jefferson
+written one, he could scarcely have expressed himself more
+forcibly than he did in a letter sent two days later to General
+Horatio Gates: "We are friendly, cordially and conscientiously
+friendly to England. We are not hostile to France. We will
+be rigorously just and sincerely friendly to both."</p>
+
+<p>But this fine declaration did not make Jefferson forget the
+immediate interests of the United States, for the preoccupation
+uppermost in his mind at that time was to find out how the
+European situation could be used to the best advantage of his
+own country.</p>
+
+<p>In signing the treaty France had refused to give any guarantee
+as to the extent of the territory ceded under the Louisiana
+Purchase. Whether the cession included West Florida, on the
+occupation of which Jefferson had been so intent, was a matter
+of doubt. This particular point had not been pressed during
+the negotiations, France, according to the old maxim <i>caveat
+emptor</i>, taking the position that the question lay between the
+United States and Spain, while the United States had never
+abandoned the hope that they would be able to induce Bonaparte
+to exert pressure on Madrid so as to enable the American
+Government to make the most of the transaction. Soon after
+the treaty was signed, the United States found themselves
+enmeshed in one of the most complicated intrigues of European
+diplomacy.</p>
+
+<p>While Madison and Jefferson were negotiating in Washington
+with the Spanish minister Yrujo, Pinkney and later Monroe
+negotiated in Madrid, sometimes at cross purposes but without
+ever losing sight of the main object. Jefferson had renewed his
+old contention that the United States were entitled to "all the
+navigable waters, rivers, creeks, bays, and inlets lying within<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span>
+the United States, which empty into the Gulf of Mexico east of
+the River Mississippi." As Henry Adams remarked, this was
+a most remarkable provision, as "no creeks, bays, or inlets lying
+within the United States emptied into the Gulf."<a name="FNanchor_460_460" id="FNanchor_460_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_460_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a> But if
+Jefferson's geography was faulty, his intent was perfectly clear,
+and every opportunity was to be used to round out the perimeter
+of the United States. When in October, 1804, Monroe
+reached Paris to push negotiations more vigorously, the plans
+of the United States had crystallized. They had a beautiful
+simplicity: to make Spain pay the claims resulting from the
+shutting-up of the Mississippi by Morales, to take immediate
+possession of Western Florida and to obtain the cession of
+Eastern Florida.</p>
+
+<p>With the details of the diplomatic maneuvers we are not
+concerned here, but rather with the remarkable proposal made
+by Jefferson to Madison during the summer of 1805. Spain
+having declared war against England, the President, fearful of
+being "left without an ally", thought immediately of proposing
+"a provisional alliance with England" (August 7, 1805). This
+alliance was to be conditional and would become effective only
+in case the United States should have to declare war against
+France or Spain. "In that event," wrote Jefferson, "we should
+make common 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
+boundaries of Louisiana (which we should reduce to a minimum
+by a secret article) and 2, indemnification for spoliation, for
+which purpose we should be allowed to make reprisal on the
+Floridas and <i>retain them</i> as an indemnification." Jefferson
+added that "as it was the wish of every Englishman's heart
+to see the United States fighting by their sides against France",
+the king and his ministers could do no better than to enter into
+an alliance and the nation would consider it "as the price and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span>
+pledge of an indissoluble friendship."<a name="FNanchor_461_461" id="FNanchor_461_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_461_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a> There is little doubt
+that if, at this juncture, Monroe had maneuvered more skillfully,
+if England had showed less arrogance in her treatment of
+the United States, she could have secured at least the benevolent
+neutrality of America. But apparently England did not
+care for a benevolent neutrality. After Trafalgar, she was left
+undisputed mistress of the ocean, she could enforce her own
+regulations as she pleased, and she proceeded to do so.</p>
+
+<p>The presidential message of December 3, 1805, had to present
+very "unpleasant views of violence and wrong." The coasts
+of America were infested by "private armed vessels, some of
+them with commissions, others without commissions", all of
+them committing enormities, sinking American merchantmen,
+"maltreating the crews, abandoning them in boats in the open
+seas or on desert shores." The same policy of "hovering on the
+coast" was carried on by "public armed vessels." New principles,
+too, had been "interloped into the law of nations,
+founded neither in justice nor in the usage or acknowledgment of
+nations"; this was an allusion to the decision of Judge Scott
+in the Essex case. With Spain negotiations had not had a
+satisfactory issue, propositions for adjusting amicably the
+boundaries of Louisiana had not been acceded to, and spoliation
+claims formerly acknowledged had again been denied.</p>
+
+<p>The President concluded that, although peace was still the
+ultimate ideal of the United States, there were circumstances
+which admitted of no peaceful remedy. Some evils were "of
+a nature to be met by force only, and all of them may lead
+to it." Finally specific recommendations were made to organize
+the national defense: furnishing the seaports with
+heavy cannon, increasing the number of gunboats, classifying
+the militia so as to have ready a competent number of men
+"for offence or defence in any point where they may be
+wanted", prohibition of the exportations of arms and am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span>munition,&mdash;such
+were the chief measures contemplated by
+the President.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1806, he wrote a long letter to Alexander of
+Russia, who had manifested a desire to have a copy of the
+Constitution of the United States. This was an appeal to the
+Czar, insisting that special articles defining the rights of neutrals
+in time of war be inserted in the definitive treaty of peace sooner
+or later to be concluded between the European belligerents.
+Having taken no part in the troubles of Europe, "the United
+States would have no part in its pacification", but it was to be
+hoped that some one would be found "who, looking beyond the
+narrow bounds of an individual nation, will take under the
+cover of his equity the rights of the absent and unrepresented."<a name="FNanchor_462_462" id="FNanchor_462_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_462_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a>
+Unfortunately, more than ten years were to elapse before that
+pacification of Europe so earnestly hoped for by Jefferson came
+about, and only a week before the British ministry had again
+aggravated regulations against the neutrals by issuing orders
+blockading the coast of the continent (April 8, 1806).</p>
+
+<p>A few weeks later, Jefferson who, yielding to the pressure of
+Congress, had agreed to appoint a special envoy to help Monroe
+negotiate a commercial treaty with England, sent William
+Pinkney of Maryland to London. "He has a just view of
+things, so far as known to him," wrote Jefferson to Monroe,
+but he did not deem it desirable to trust him with special
+instructions. For Monroe alone he reserved the complete
+exposition of the plans then brooding in his mind. The death
+of Pitt would probably mark a change in the attitude of Great
+Britain; the President had more confidence in Mr. Fox than
+in any other man in England and relied entirely on "his honesty
+and good sense." Then came an outline of the reasoning to
+be put forward by Monroe: "No two countries upon earth
+have so many points of common interests and friendship; and
+their rulers must be great bunglers indeed, if, with such disposi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span>tions,
+they break them asunder." England might check the
+United States a little on the ocean; but she should realize that
+nothing but her financial limitations prevented America from
+having a strong navy. If France provided the money, so as to
+equip an American fleet, the state of the ocean would be no
+longer problematical. If England, on the contrary, made such
+a proposition, an alliance of the two largest fleets "would make
+the world out of the continent of Europe our joint monopoly."
+Then Jefferson added: "we wish for neither of these scenes&mdash;We
+ask for peace and justice from all nations; and we will
+remain uprightly neutral in fact, though leaning in belief to the
+opinion that an English ascendency on the ocean is safer for us
+than that of France."</p>
+
+<p>Finally, at the end of the letter, came the most extraordinarily
+imperialistic proposition ever made by any nation; it was the
+extension of a pet theory of Jefferson to the Atlantic Ocean.
+As he had claimed for the United States the free navigation of
+all the streams originating on the territory of the United States,
+he was ready to claim that the great current originating from
+the Gulf should not be considered differently, and he wrote:
+"We begin to broach the idea that we consider the whole Gulf
+Stream as of our waters, in which hostilities and cruising are
+to be frowned on for the present, and prohibited so soon as
+either consent or force will permit us."<a name="FNanchor_463_463" id="FNanchor_463_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_463_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a></p>
+
+<p>This might be thought a visionary scheme and merely a
+flight of imagination, if Jefferson had not expressed the same
+idea in identical terms in a conversation with the French
+minister concerning the treaty negotiated in London by Monroe
+and Pinkney: "Perhaps we shall obtain the right to extend our
+maritime jurisdiction, and to carry it as far as the effect of the
+Gulph Stream makes itself felt,&mdash;which would be very advantageous
+both to belligerents and neutrals."<a name="FNanchor_464_464" id="FNanchor_464_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_464_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These being Jefferson's views, it would have taken a far more
+successful negotiator than Monroe to make the British Government
+accept them. The treaty finally signed by the American
+envoys on December 1, 1806, was far from satisfactory. As a
+matter of fact, the American envoys had been caught between
+the hammer and the anvil. To the Fox blockade of April, 1806,
+Napoleon had answered by the Berlin Decree at the end of
+November, placing the British islands in a state of blockade,
+declaring all merchandise coming from England subject to
+confiscation and refusing admission into any French port to any
+vessel coming either from England or her colonies. Forbidden
+by England to trade with France, by France to trade with
+England, the neutrals were placed in a sorry plight. Yet not
+only did Monroe in his treaty recognize the right of visit and of
+impressing British seamen found on board American vessels,
+but he gave up the American claims to indemnity for outrages
+committed on American commerce in 1805, and accepted the
+most humiliating conditions concerning American trade with
+the French and Spanish colonies. Finally, before Monroe
+could obtain the signature of the British negotiators, he had
+to agree to an additional article by which he promised not
+to recognize the decree of Berlin. In less than three weeks
+Jefferson received Napoleon's decree, the text of the Pinkney-Monroe
+treaty, and the news of Lord Howick's retaliatory
+order requesting that no goods should be carried to France
+unless they first touched at an English port and paid a certain
+duty.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the pressing request of the Senate, Jefferson refused
+to communicate the text of the treaty. The explanation
+publicly given by the President was that Monroe had concluded
+the treaty before receiving information as to the points to be
+insisted upon, and that a new effort would be made to obtain
+the modification of some particularly objectionable features.
+"This is the statement we have given out," he wrote to Monroe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span>
+"and nothing more of the treaty has ever been made known.
+But depend on it, my dear Sir, that it will be considered as a
+hard treaty when it is known." If it appeared to Monroe that
+no amendment was to be hoped for, he was authorized to come
+home, leaving behind him Pinkney, who by procrastination
+would let it die and thus would give America more time "the
+most precious of all things to us."<a name="FNanchor_465_465" id="FNanchor_465_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_465_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a></p>
+
+<p>New instructions were sent accordingly to the American
+envoys at the end of May, but the problem of the relations
+with England became suddenly more acute during Aaron
+Burr's trial.</p>
+
+<p>On June 22, the <i>Chesapeake</i> of the American navy, bound for
+the Mediterranean, was hauled up in view of Cape Henry by
+the <i>Leopard</i> of the British squadron, and summons were sent
+to Commodore Barron to deliver some British deserters he was
+supposed to have on board. Upon Barron's refusal, the
+<i>Leopard</i> opened fire and for fifteen minutes sent broadsides into
+the American ship, so unprepared and unready that only one
+shot could be fired in answer. The American flag was hauled
+down, British officers boarded the ship and took four deserters;
+after which Captain Humphreys of the <i>Leopard</i> declared to
+Barron that he could proceed on his way. The <i>Chesapeake</i>
+limped back into port, and on the twenty-fifth, Jefferson called
+back to Washington Dearborn and Gallatin to consider the
+emergency in a meeting of the Cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>What his indignation over the outrage may have been is a
+matter of surmise. He did not express it either privately or
+publicly. To Governor William H. Cabell, who had sent him a
+special message and report, he answered diplomatically that,
+after consulting the Cabinet he would determine "the course
+which exigency and our constitutional powers call for.&mdash;Whether
+the outrage is a proper cause of war, belonging exclusively
+to Congress, it is our duty not to commit them by doing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span>
+anything which would have to be retracted." But it is certain
+that, even at that time, he was not ready to recommend any
+radical step, for he added:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>This will leave Congress free to decide whether war is the most
+efficacious mode of redress in our case, or whether, having taught so
+many other useful lessons to Europe, we may not add that of showing
+them that there are peaceable means of repressing injustice by making
+it the interest of the aggressor to do what is just and abstain
+from future wrong.<a name="FNanchor_466_466" id="FNanchor_466_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_466_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It was scarcely necessary to call the Cabinet together; three
+days before the special meeting the President had already
+decided on a policy of forbearance and watchful waiting. The
+proclamation which was issued was moderate in tone, but
+Jefferson expressed more clearly in a letter to the Vice President,
+George Clinton, the reasons for his moderation.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The usage of nations requires that we shall give the offender an
+opportunity of making reparation and avoiding war. That we
+would give time to our merchants to get in their property and vessels
+and our seamen now afloat; That the power of declaring war being
+with the Legislature, the executive could do nothing necessarily
+committing them to decide for war in preference of non-intercourse,
+which will be preferred by a great many.<a name="FNanchor_467_467" id="FNanchor_467_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_467_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>In order to make even more certain that no precipitate step
+would be taken, it was decided to issue, on August 24, a proclamation
+calling Congress together, but not until the fourth
+Monday in October. It was the manifest hope of the President
+that by that date some satisfaction would be obtained from
+England with regard to the most flagrant violations of the
+"<i>droit des gens</i>", and that extreme measures could be avoided.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime new instructions had been sent to Monroe.
+"Reparation for the past, and security for the future is our
+motto," wrote the President to Du Pont de Nemours. Repara<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span>tion
+for the past, at least as far as the attack on the <i>Chesapeake</i>
+was concerned, would have been easy to obtain, but Canning
+refused persistently to make any promise for the future, or to
+alter the policy of Great Britain with regard to visit and
+impressment. For his firmness in refusing to settle the case of
+the <i>Chesapeake</i> independently, Jefferson has been most severely
+criticized by Henry Adams, whose admiration for Perceval's and
+Canning's superior minds is unbounded. Shall I confess that
+on this particular point, at least, I should rather agree with the
+English biographer of Jefferson, Mr. Hirst, who declares that
+"no second-rate lawyer was ever more obtuse than Perceval,
+and the wit of Canning, his foreign secretary, seldom issued
+in wisdom." On this occasion Great Britain was even more
+stupid than she had been in 1776; she missed her great opportunity
+to operate a reconciliation with the United States and to
+turn them against France, without other compensation than the
+pleasure of outwitting the American envoys and once more
+treating scornfully the younger country. The real answer of
+England was given in the Orders in Council of November 11,
+1807, prohibiting all neutral trade with the whole European
+seacoast from Copenhagen to Trieste. No American vessel
+was to be allowed to enter any port of Europe from which
+British vessels were excluded without first going to England
+and abiding by regulations to be determined later.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, Jefferson was pushing fast his preparations
+for defence. A detailed examination of his correspondence
+during the summer and fall of that year would justify him amply
+from the criticism of several American historians.<a name="FNanchor_468_468" id="FNanchor_468_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_468_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a> He still
+hoped for peace, or more exactly peace remained his ideal,
+although he had very little hope that Monroe would succeed
+in his negotiations. But nothing could be done as long as
+American ships and sailors, "at least twenty thousand men",<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span>
+were on the seas, an easy prey to British vessels in case war
+should be declared at once. "The loss of these," wrote Jefferson
+quite correctly, "would be worth to Great Britain many
+victories on the Nile and Trafalgar."<a name="FNanchor_469_469" id="FNanchor_469_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_469_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a></p>
+
+<p>To judge of Jefferson's conduct at that time from our modern
+point of view would be most unfair and dangerous. He could
+neither cable, nor send radiograms, nor even steamships to
+warn American citizens in distant ports, nor give instructions
+to agents of the United States all over the world. It took
+months for news to cross the ocean and sometimes a year or
+more to receive an answer to a letter. The geographical isolation
+of the United States, their remoteness from Europe and the
+slowness of communications were obvious factors of the situation,
+yet they are too often neglected in judging the policy then
+followed by the President. As the year advanced, Jefferson's
+hope of being able to maintain peace grew fainter. There is a
+spirit of helplessness in a letter he wrote to James Maury at the
+end of November:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The world as you justly observe, is truly in an awful state. Two
+nations of overgrown power are endeavoring to establish, the one
+an universal dominion by sea, the other by land.... We are
+now in hourly expectation of hearing from our ministers in London
+by the return of the "Revenge." Whether she will bring us war or
+peace, or the middle state of non-intercourse, seems suspended
+in equal balance.<a name="FNanchor_470_470" id="FNanchor_470_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_470_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The message to Congress, of October 27, contained no
+specific recommendation. It was a dispassionate recital of the
+circumstances which had necessitated new instructions to
+Monroe, a promise that Congress would be informed of the
+result of the negotiations, news of which was expected hourly,
+and an enumeration of the measures taken towards the defense
+of the country. When the first news finally came, the President<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span>
+had already decided upon the course to follow. On December
+18, 1807, he sent to Congress one of his shortest messages:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The communications now made, showing the great and increasing
+dangers with which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandise, are
+threatened on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent
+powers of Europe, and it being of great importance to keep in safety
+these essential resources, I deem it my duty to recommend the subject
+to the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all
+the advantages which may be expected from an inhibition of the
+departure of our vessels from the ports of the United States. Their
+wisdom will also see the necessity of making every preparation for
+whatever events may grow out of the present crisis.</p></div>
+
+<p>The situation was much more clearly described in a letter to
+General John Mason written approximately at the same time.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The sum of these mutual enterprises on our national rights&mdash;wrote
+the President&mdash;is that France, and her allies, reserving for
+further consideration the prohibiting our carrying anything to the
+British territories, have virtually done it, by restraining our bringing
+a return cargo from them; and that Great Britain, after prohibiting
+a great proportion of our commerce with France and her
+allies, is now believed to have prohibited the whole. The whole world
+is thus laid under interdict by these two nations, and our vessels,
+their cargoes and crews, are to be taken by the one or the other, for
+whatever place they may be destined out of our own limits. If
+therefore, on leaving our harbors we are certain to lose them, is it
+not better, as to vessels, cargoes and seamen, to keep them at home?
+This is submitted to the wisdom of Congress, who alone are competent
+to provide a remedy.<a name="FNanchor_471_471" id="FNanchor_471_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_471_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>As in so many other instances the temptation is great to
+draw a parallel between Jefferson's policies and the neutrality
+advocated by Woodrow Wilson during his first term, and to
+repeat the worn-out and dangerous adage "history repeats<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span>
+itself." As a matter of fact, the situation faced by Jefferson in
+1808 was entirely different from that which confronted President
+Wilson from 1914 to 1917. America was not then a rich
+and powerful country with unlimited resources. The people
+had just emerged from a long and distressing financial crisis,
+for it took more than one generation to heal the wounds of a
+war which had lasted six years. The Federal Government was
+far from being as strong as it was destined to become. The
+navy was ridiculously inadequate, not only to go out and give
+battle to the English fleet, but even, to use Jefferson's expression,
+to keep the seaports "<i>hors d'insulte</i>".</p>
+
+<p>These facts must be kept in mind if one wishes to form a true
+estimate of Jefferson's conduct and character during the calamitous
+years of his second term. To criticize his policies is an
+easy feat for a modern historian, for it is natural that an
+American of to-day should resent Jefferson's attitude as
+unworthy of a great self-respecting nation. Undoubtedly the
+President might have sent a warlike message to Congress and
+war would have immediately followed, but on the whole the
+issue had been taken out of his hands in December, 1807. The
+embargo, as he justly pointed out, was no new policy and no
+new measure; it was simply a recognition of a situation created
+by both France and Great Britain. The only way out would
+have been a formal declaration of war, and one does not quite
+see what this grand gesture would have accomplished. Certainly
+the United States were no more in position to march into
+Canada in 1807 than they were in 1812, and if they had succeeded
+in taking possession of the British colony, it is unlikely
+that Great Britain would have accepted such a loss with
+equanimity. Furthermore, even if a formal alliance had been
+concluded with France, the French fleet would have been
+powerless to prevent the British navy from cruising on the
+American coast and repeating, if they had wished, the outrages
+that had befallen Copenhagen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another solution, favored by such a liberal historian of
+Jefferson as Mr. A. J. Nock, would have been frankly to recognize
+the existing situation and to leave the New England merchants
+free to send out their vessels at their own risk. This
+would have relieved to a certain extent the economic distress of
+the northern States, but whether it would have been more
+honest or more dignified than the embargo is a matter of
+opinion. Such a policy would have been neutral only in appearance;
+it would have amounted to a tacit recognition of a
+British monopoly of the American trade, since England was
+really the only country to which American ships would have
+been permitted to go. Granting that the embargo was "the
+most arbitrary, inquisitorial, and confiscatory measure formulated
+in American legislation up to the period of the Civil
+War",<a name="FNanchor_472_472" id="FNanchor_472_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_472_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a> I fail to see that the prestige of the United States would
+have gained much by allowing their citizens to submit to the
+humiliating Orders in Council of November 11, 1807. Of all
+policies this would have been the most evasive, most vacillating
+and least dignified.</p>
+
+<p>It must be furthermore remembered that though he was
+gifted with remarkable foresight, Jefferson was in no position to
+guess that the conflict between England and France would
+last for seven more years. He believed, on the contrary, that
+the Titanic struggle would come, if not to a definite close, at
+least to a pause, within a comparatively short time: "Time
+may produce peace in Europe; peace in Europe removes all
+causes of difference, till another European war; and by that
+time our debt may be paid, our revenue clear, and our strength
+increased."<a name="FNanchor_473_473" id="FNanchor_473_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_473_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a> This reasoning reappears in many letters written
+by Jefferson during the last year of his administration. His
+correspondence during the months that separated him from rest
+and philosophical meditation may be devoid of dramatic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span>
+interest, but a thorough perusal of it would demonstrate that
+at no time during his long political career were his motives
+less interested, less partisan and more truly patriotic.</p>
+
+<p>At no time, either, was he more bitterly attacked. He
+suffered from "the peltings of the storm" and cried out pathetically
+to Benjamin Rush: "Oh! for the day when I shall be
+withdrawn from it; when I shall have leisure to enjoy my
+family, my friends, my farm and books." But the defection
+of the Republicans in Congress, the divergence of opinions in
+his Cabinet, the threats of secession, the anonymous letters and
+the press campaign launched against him had no power to shake
+his strong negative resolution. Yet in all justice to him it may
+be seen that his policy was not entirely negative.</p>
+
+<p>First of all his letters show that he never considered the
+embargo as a permanent cure. As early as March, 1808,
+writing to Charles Pinckney, the former envoy to Spain, he
+declared that the effect of the embargo would be "to postpone
+for this year the immediate danger of a rupture with England."
+He admitted that a time would come "when war would be
+preferable to a continuance of the embargo and that the
+question would have to be decided at the next meeting of
+Congress unless peace intervened in the meantime."<a name="FNanchor_474_474" id="FNanchor_474_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_474_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a> Under
+these circumstances the repeal of the embargo voted by Congress
+to take effect after Jefferson's retirement cannot be considered
+as a rebuke to the President. Moreover, it appears
+that Jefferson had given some thought to three and not two
+alternatives: 1, embargo; 2, war; 3, submission and tribute,&mdash;the
+third being exactly that advocated by Mr. Nock. In
+Jefferson's opinion this third solution was at once "to be put
+out by every American and the two first considered."<a name="FNanchor_475_475" id="FNanchor_475_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_475_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a> Writing
+to Thomas Leib, earlier in the year, he had already defined
+his position with regard to this solution, recommended by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span>
+mercantile interests: "It is true, the time will come when we
+must abandon it (the embargo). But if this is before the repeal
+of the orders of council, we must abandon it only for a state of
+war. The day is not distant, when that will be preferable to a
+longer continuance of the embargo. But we can never remove
+that, and let our vessels go out and be taken under these orders
+without making reprisal." This is itself evidence, but it has
+apparently escaped many historians as well as many contemporaries
+of Jefferson. If the embargo is considered not as a
+permanent policy but as a political expedient and a political
+experiment, the greater part of Henry Adams' arraignment of
+Jefferson's political philosophy falls flat.<a name="FNanchor_476_476" id="FNanchor_476_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_476_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a> When, on the other
+hand, the same writer admits that "the result was that the
+embargo saved perhaps twenty millions of dollars a year and
+some thousands of lives which the war would have consumed",
+we may be permitted to add that Jefferson would not have
+granted the principle that "the strongest objection to war
+was not its waste of money or even of life; for money and
+life in political economy were worth no more than they could
+be made to produce." If this is economic history, Heaven
+preserve us from economic policies! As to the accusation
+that "Jefferson's system was preaching the fear of war, of
+self-sacrifice, making many smugglers and traitors, but not
+a single hero", I must humbly confess that one does not
+see that America would have been much richer for engaging
+without adequate preparation or even a fair chance to defend
+herself in a useless and, in last analysis, probably inglorious war.</p>
+
+<p>It is claimed, however, that the embargo caused an economic
+catastrophe:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>As the order was carried along the seacoast, every artisan dropped
+his tools, every merchant closed his doors, every ship was dismantled.
+American produce&mdash;wheat, timber, cotton, tobacco, rice&mdash;dropped
+in value or became unsalable; every imported article rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span>
+in price; wages stopped, swarms of debtors became bankrupt; thousands
+of sailors hung idle around the wharves.... A reign of idleness
+began; and the men who were not already ruined felt that
+their ruin was only a matter of time.<a name="FNanchor_477_477" id="FNanchor_477_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_477_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A very pathetic picture this, made even more pitiful by the
+classic quotation from the British traveler, Lambert, who
+visited New York in 1808 and described it as a place ravaged
+by pestilence. But why not quote also from another traveler,
+John Mellish, who spoke of the impetus given to manufactures
+and home industries?<a name="FNanchor_478_478" id="FNanchor_478_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_478_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a> Why forget to mention Gallatin's
+report of 1810, pointing out that some basic industries had
+been firmly established in the United States, such as iron,
+cotton, flax, hats, paper, printing type, gunpowder, window
+glass, clocks, etc. Who could deny, at any rate, that manufactures
+made enormous progress, thanks to the embargo, and
+that goods formerly imported from England began to be made
+in America? Even supposing that the picture drawn by
+H. Adams were true, it would be necessary to admit that there
+was another side to it and that a few artisans, at least, remained
+working steadily at their benches.</p>
+
+<p>The last annual message of Jefferson to Congress was noncommittal
+on the measures to be taken. It presented first a
+dispassionate recital of the negotiations carried on with France
+and England to bring them to rescind the most offensive features
+of their orders and decrees. It recognized that "this
+candid and liberal experiment had failed." It was left to Congress
+to determine what course to follow:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance
+of laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean
+with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the
+course best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span>
+them, as they do, from every part of the Union, the sentiments of
+our constituants, my confidence is strengthened, that in forming
+this decision they will, with an unerring regard to the essential
+rights and interests of the nation weigh and compare the painful
+alternatives out of which a choice is to be made.</p></div>
+
+<p>This reserved attitude Jefferson intended to maintain during
+the rest of his term. "I have thought it right to take no part
+myself in proposing measures, the execution of which will
+devolve on my successor. I am therefore chiefly an unmedling
+listener to what others say."<a name="FNanchor_479_479" id="FNanchor_479_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_479_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a> But to Doctor William Eustis
+he protested that "while thus endeavoring to secure, and preparing
+to vindicate that commerce, the absurd opinion has been
+propagated, that this temporary and necessary arrangement
+was to be a permanent system and was intended for its destruction."<a name="FNanchor_480_480" id="FNanchor_480_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_480_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a>
+And this seems to indicate that he was quite definite
+in his own mind, even if he refrained from expressing his opinion
+officially.</p>
+
+<p>After more than a month's deliberation in Congress, Jefferson
+had come to believe that "Congress had taken their ground
+firmly for continuing the embargo till June, and then war."
+Quite suddenly, however, the majority, frightened by threats
+of secession openly made by the New England members, and
+fearful of the famous Essex Junto, rallied to a compromise.
+Neither the people nor Congress were for war, and that fact
+had been clearly realized very early both by the French and
+the British ministers; at the same time it was felt that something
+must be done to relieve to some extent the financial
+distress of the Virginia planters and New England merchants.
+The result was that Congress decided to remove the embargo
+on March 4, "non intercourse with France and Great Britain,
+trade everywhere else, and continuing war preparations."<a name="FNanchor_481_481" id="FNanchor_481_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_481_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the first of March, three days before the inauguration of
+his successor, Jefferson signed the bill, but not without serious
+misgivings. The letters he wrote at that time contain even
+more convincing evidence that he did not expect the embargo
+to last much longer. To General Armstrong, the American
+representative in Paris, he declared on March 5 that "War must
+follow if the edicts are not repealed before the meeting of Congress
+in May." With Short, whom he had tried without success
+to have appointed Minister to Russia, he was more explicit
+if no less emphatic: "We have substituted for it (the embargo),
+a non-intercourse with France and England and their dependencies,
+and a trade to all other places. It is probable that the
+belligerents will take our vessels under their edicts, in which
+case we shall probably declare war against them."<a name="FNanchor_482_482" id="FNanchor_482_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_482_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a> Finally,
+to Madison himself, he wrote after reaching Monticello:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is to be desired that war may be avoided, if circumstances will
+admit. Nor in the present maniac state of Europe, should I
+estimate the point of honor by the ordinary scale. I believe we
+shall, on the contrary, have credit with the world, for having made
+the avoidance of being engaged in the present unexampled war, our
+first object. War, however, may become a less losing business than
+unresisted depredation.<a name="FNanchor_483_483" id="FNanchor_483_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_483_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Whatever may have been the opposition to the embargo
+and the opposition to Jefferson of disaffected Republicans, it
+is remarkable that he was able to keep his party in hand to the
+last minute and to choose his successor. Early at the beginning
+of his second term, he had expressed his irrevocable
+intention not to become a candidate for a third term. He was
+longing for his farm, his books, for the comforts of family life
+and he was not in the best of health.</p>
+
+<p>Not only had he been troubled by rheumatism, but "periodical
+headaches" recurring at frequent intervals left him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span>
+for days unable to write and hardly able "to compose his
+thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>The Republicans had to make a choice between three possible
+candidates: George Clinton, Monroe, and Madison. The
+strongest argument that could be advanced in favor of the
+first was that, according to a precedent already apparently
+established, the Vice President was the logical successor, the
+"heir apparent", as Adams had termed it, to a retiring President.
+Moreover, Clinton could count on the support of the
+New York Republicans and had aroused no strong antagonism
+against himself. It soon became obvious, however, that the
+contest lay between the two Virginians and that the Virginia
+dynasty would not be broken as yet. Monroe was not without
+support in his native State and his candidacy had been upheld
+by a Republican caucus held by Randolph and his friends at
+Richmond; but another caucus of the Assembly had given a
+decisive majority to Madison. On January 23, 1808, a congressional
+caucus held in Washington pronounced decisively for
+Madison as President and George Clinton as Vice President.
+But Randolph held aloof and with his friends published a protest
+against the candidacy of Madison, who had "moderation
+when energy was needed", whose theories of government were
+tainted with federalism, "when the country was asking for
+consistency and loathing and abhorrence from any compromise."
+The danger of a split in the Republican Party was indeed serious,
+and while Jefferson reasserted his wish not to participate in any
+way in the campaign, he wrote to Monroe a long letter, deploring
+the situation and making an obvious appeal to his party
+loyalty. He warned him particularly against the passions
+that could not fail to be aroused in such a contest, and conjured
+him to keep clear "of the toils in which his friends would
+endeavor to interlace him."</p>
+
+<p>That Monroe's <i>amour-propre</i> was deeply wounded appears
+in the letter he wrote in answer to his "chief." He complained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span>
+lengthily and bitterly of having been handicapped by the sending
+of Pinkney and of the criticism to which he had been subjected
+on account of the treaty. Once again Jefferson had to
+soothe the discontent of his friend and "<i>&eacute;l&egrave;ve</i>", which to a
+certain extent he succeeded in doing. It soon appeared, however,
+that the question would solve itself, that neither Monroe
+nor Clinton was strong enough to control the Republican
+majority. When the results came in, the Republicans had
+suffered the loss of all New England except Vermont, but
+Madison carried the election by one hundred and twenty-two
+votes, against forty-seven to C. C. Pinckney and six for Clinton.
+True enough, in several states the electors had been selected
+before the full pressure of the embargo was felt, but with such a
+substantial majority it is difficult to accept unreservedly Henry
+Adams' view that "no one could fail to see that if nine months
+of embargo had so shattered Jefferson's power, another such
+year would shake the Union itself."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_SIX" id="BOOK_SIX"></a>BOOK SIX</h2>
+
+<h1><i>The Sage of Monticello</i></h1>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I</h3>
+
+<h2>"AMERICA HAS A HEMISPHERE TO ITSELF"</h2>
+
+
+<p>When, after a long and fatiguing journey, Thomas Jefferson
+reached Monticello in the spring of 1809, he was in his sixty-third
+year and had well earned his "quadragena stipendia." But
+the Republic did not serve any pension to retired Presidents.
+For more than twelve years he had perforce neglected his
+domain, and his son-in-law, who had been in charge of the
+estate for some time, was scarcely a man to be intrusted with
+the administration of complicated financial interests. A large
+part of Jefferson's time was necessarily spent in setting things
+to rights; but the times were against him, and the embargo
+had proved more detrimental to the great landowners of the
+South than to the New England manufacturers. A planter
+whose sole revenue consisted in his crops had the utmost difficulty
+in providing for a large family of dependants, and a considerable
+number of slaves who had to be fed and clad, and
+most of all in keeping up appearances. Jefferson was hardly
+freed from public responsibilities when he had to labor under
+domestic difficulties which worried him even to his death bed.</p>
+
+<p>Under his direction, however, Monticello became more than
+ever a self-supporting community; the slaves were taught all
+the necessary trades and when, thanks to the merino sheep
+brought over by Du Pont de Nemours, woolen goods of fine
+quality were made at Monticello, the master of the house was
+proud to wear clothes of homespun which, in his opinion, could
+rival the best produce of the English manufactures. Whole
+books could be written, and several have been written, on
+Jefferson the agriculturist, the surveyor, the civil engineer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span>
+the inventor and the architect. There is, however, another
+aspect of his last years which deserves more attention than
+it usually receives.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%;">
+<img src="images/pic468b.jpg" width="100%" alt="THOMAS JEFFERSON" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THOMAS JEFFERSON<br />
+<br />
+<i>From the portrait by Kosciuszko</i></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>For thirty years Jefferson had lived almost constantly under
+the scrutiny of the public. His utterances had been pounced
+upon by eager enemies of the "cannibal press"; letters intended
+solely for friends had been printed, several times in a garbled
+form, and during his presidency he had been unable to communicate
+freely with his European friends for fear of having his
+letters intercepted. At last, he could express himself freely.
+He was no longer the spokesman of the country who had to
+ascertain the state of public opinion before writing a message
+or sending a communication to a foreign government. He
+could speak for himself, without being hindered by the ever-present
+danger of political repercussions, and if he did not
+speak much, he wrote several thousand letters, many of which
+are still unpublished&mdash;an overwhelming treasure for historians
+of the period. His physical strength was somewhat impaired,
+but his intellectual powers were in no way diminished; never
+had his mind been keener, his perception of realities clearer
+and his extraordinary gift of political prophecy more accurate
+than during the last fifteen years of his life. This is the period
+to study in order to understand more fully his conception of
+Americanism, his vision of democracy and the practical wisdom
+which permeated his philosophy of old age.</p>
+
+<p>His valedictory letter to Madison, written from Monticello
+on March 17, 1809, contained a very curious admission of the
+inability of the United States to carry out war successfully with
+their present organization; "I know of no Government," he
+wrote, "which would be so embarrassing in war as ours. This
+would proceed very much from the lying and licentious character
+of our papers; but also, from the wonderful credulity
+of the members of Congress in the floating lies of the day."<a name="FNanchor_484_484" id="FNanchor_484_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_484_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was no passing whim of his, but a very definite and categorical
+understanding of the functions devolving upon the
+Executive in times of emergency. He had not forgotten his
+experience as Governor of Virginia, when he had to coax necessary
+measures from a reluctant Assembly; his eight years
+as Chief Executive of the country had only strengthened him
+in the opinion that "In times of peace, the people look most
+to their representatives, but in war to the Executive solely."
+He found a confirmation of this theory in the state of public
+opinion, when he wrote to Rodney, early in 1810: "It is visible
+that their confidence is now veering in that direction: that they
+are looking to the executive to give the proper direction to their
+affairs, with a confidence as auspicious as it is well founded."<a name="FNanchor_485_485" id="FNanchor_485_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_485_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a></p>
+
+<p>A few months later, writing to J. B. Colvin, he took up again
+the same question: "In what circumstances is it permitted for
+the man in charge to assume authority beyond the law?"
+That he was personally interested in the matter was evident,
+since he had exceeded his constitutional powers very recently,
+during the Burr conspiracy. It is nevertheless remarkable to
+see the champion of legality and democracy declare that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A strict observance of the written law is doubtless <i>one</i> of the high
+duties of a good citizen, but it is not the <i>highest</i>. The laws of
+necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger
+are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous
+adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life,
+liberty, property and all those enjoying them with us; thus absurdly
+sacrificing the end to the means.<a name="FNanchor_486_486" id="FNanchor_486_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_486_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>To a certain extent this was a plea <i>pro domo sua</i>. If we
+remember that, during the World War, the motto of America
+was, for more than two years, "Stand by the President", it
+will be seen that Jefferson was as good a prophet as an intel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span>ligent
+observer. This admission of his may seem undemocratic,
+but it simply shows that the former President had a clear
+perception of the permanent tendencies that direct American
+consciousness; for no people are more disciplined and more
+ready to follow their chosen executive than the Americans, at
+least on critical occasions, and more particularly when confronted
+with foreign aggression.</p>
+
+<p>War was still to be avoided and considered only as the <i>ultima
+ratio rei publicae</i>. On this point also, Jefferson was perfectly
+consistent, and, having shed the responsibility, he did not
+suddenly change his attitude. The "point of honor" was not
+to be estimated by the ordinary scale in the present maniac
+state of Europe. But America must realize at the same time
+that no ordinary treaty could insure her safety. A treaty with
+England could not even be thought of; for "the British never
+made an equal treaty with any nation."</p>
+
+<p>With regard to France the situation was somewhat different.
+Some compensation was due to America for forcing Great
+Britain to revoke her orders in council. But what compensation?
+The acquiescence of Bonaparte to the annexation of the
+Floridas? That was no price; for "they are ours in the first
+moment of the first war; and until a war they are of no particular
+necessity." The only territory that the United States might
+covet was Cuba. "That would be a price, and I would immediately
+erect a column on the southernmost limit of Cuba, and
+inscribe on it a <i>ne plus ultra</i> to us in that direction....
+Cuba can be defended by us without a navy, and this develops
+the principle which ought to limit our views. Nothing should
+ever be accepted which would require a navy to defend it."<a name="FNanchor_487_487" id="FNanchor_487_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_487_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, Jefferson did not miss any opportunity to
+justify the embargo. Even after its repeal, he insisted that
+"enough of the non-importation laws should be preserved 1st,
+to pinch them into a relinquishment of impressments, and 2nd,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span>
+to support those manufacturing establishments, which their
+orders, and our interests, forced us to make."<a name="FNanchor_488_488" id="FNanchor_488_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_488_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a></p>
+
+<p>To Du Pont de Nemours he wrote a long letter, stating in
+detail the advantages accrued to America from the embargo,
+and this point is well worth keeping in mind by those who
+insist on considering Jefferson as a hundred per cent. agrarian:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The barefaced attempts of England to make us accessories and
+tributaries to her usurpations on the high seas&mdash;he wrote to the old
+Physiocrat&mdash;have generated in this country an universal spirit
+for manufacturing for ourselves, and of reducing to a minimum the
+number of articles for which we are dependent on her. The advantages
+too, of lessening the occasions of risking our peace on the
+ocean, and of planting the consumer on our own soil by the side of
+the grower of produce, are so palpable, that no temporary suspension
+of injuries on her part, or agreements founded on that, will now
+prevent our continuing in what we have begun.<a name="FNanchor_489_489" id="FNanchor_489_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_489_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>So wrote the supposed agrarian to the founder of physiocracy,
+and this is a <i>prima facie</i> evidence that Jefferson was not a Physiocrat
+of the first water. As a matter of fact, on this point as on
+so many others, he had strong negative principles. As we have
+already pointed out on several occasions, Jefferson was not so
+much opposed to manufactures and industries as to mercantilism,
+and particularly to English mercantilism. This corrective
+ought to be taken into consideration in any estimate of the Jeffersonian
+democracy, and one may wonder whether some continuators
+of Mr. Beard are sufficiently aware of this capital
+distinction.</p>
+
+<p>It soon appeared to Jefferson that there was no possible way
+out except war. Contrary to all expectations, the convulsions
+of Europe continued and no hope of a permanent peace was in
+sight. The death of Bonaparte "would remove the first and
+chiefest apostle of the desolation of men and morals and might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span>
+withdraw the scourge of the land. But what is to restore order
+and safety on the ocean. The death of George III? Not at
+all.... The principle that force is right, is become the principle
+of the nation itself."<a name="FNanchor_490_490" id="FNanchor_490_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_490_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a></p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, Bonaparte was little to be feared. He
+still had the whole world to conquer before turning his eyes
+towards America.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>England on the contrary is an ever-present danger not to be
+relied upon as an ally for she would make a separate peace and leave
+us in the lurch. Her good faith? The faith of a nation of merchants.
+The <i>Punica fides</i> of modern Carthage. Of the friend of
+the protectress of Copenhagen. Of the nation who never admitted
+a chapter of morality into her political code.</p></div>
+
+<p>Then follows a formidable indictment of the treacherous
+policies of England with a curious and most interesting discrimination
+at the end, for Jefferson observes that "it presents
+the singular phenomenon of a nation, the individuals of which
+are as faithful to their private engagements and duties, as
+honorable, as worthy, as those of any nation on earth, and
+whose government is yet the most unprincipled at this day
+known."<a name="FNanchor_491_491" id="FNanchor_491_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_491_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a></p>
+
+<p>All told, both nations could be tarred with the same brush
+"for," said Jefferson, "I should respect just as much the rules
+of conduct which governed Cartouche or Blackbeard as those
+now acted on by France or England."<a name="FNanchor_492_492" id="FNanchor_492_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_492_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a> The only difference
+was that France was not in a position to cause as much damage
+to American interests as her hereditary enemy whose claim to
+"dominion of the ocean and to levy tribute on every flag traversing
+that, as lately attempted and not relinquished, every nation
+must contest, even <i>ad internecionem</i>."<a name="FNanchor_493_493" id="FNanchor_493_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_493_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This detestation of English policies and English rulers did
+not, however, extend to individuals. Even when war was to be
+declared Jefferson took care to establish what he considered as
+a very necessary distinction in a fine letter sent to James Maury,
+his "dear and ancient friend and classmate":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our two countries are 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.... We consider the overwhelming
+power of England on the ocean, and of France on the land,
+as destructive of the prosperity and happiness of the world, and
+wish both to be reduced only to the necessity of observing moral
+duties. I 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.... We resist the enterprises of England first, because
+they first come vitally home to us. And our feelings repel the logic
+of bearing the lash of George 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 champions, England first takes up
+the gauntlet.<a name="FNanchor_494_494" id="FNanchor_494_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_494_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Since war was declared, the only thing to keep in mind was
+to make it as advantageous as possible to the United States.
+Thanks to the Louisiana Purchase, France had been eliminated
+forever from the American continent, but the existence of a large
+British province on the northern border constituted an ever-present
+source of anxiety and danger for the Union. The
+first war aim of the United States was consequently to expel
+Great Britain from the North American continent, for as long
+as England could use her continental dominion as "a fulcrum
+for her Machiavellian levers" there would be no safety for the
+United States. On the other hand, the war could not be
+carried out to a successful conclusion if during the hostilities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span>
+America were kept unable to export the surplus of her produce.
+Jefferson therefore recommended that neutral vessels be used
+"and even enemy vessels under neutral flag, which I should
+wink at", wrote Jefferson to the President.<a name="FNanchor_495_495" id="FNanchor_495_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_495_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a></p>
+
+<p>This last recommendation may seem surprising and almost
+treasonable, but Jefferson lived in close contact with farmers
+and planters, and he still remembered their attitude during
+the Revolutionary War and knew that "to keep the war popular
+we must keep open the markets. As long as good prices
+can be had, the people will support the war cheerfully."</p>
+
+<p>Later in the year he was able to report to the President:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our farmers are cheerful in the expectation of a good price for
+wheat in Autumn. Their pulse will be regulated by this, and not
+by the successes or disasters of the war. To keep open sufficient
+markets is the very first object towards maintaining the popularity
+of the war, which is as great at present as could be desired.<a name="FNanchor_496_496" id="FNanchor_496_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_496_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>To be correctly understood, this attitude of Jefferson advocating
+trade with the enemy requires some further elucidation.
+As a matter of fact, the issue was not so clear-cut as it would
+seem. While England was to be considered as America's
+enemy on the continent, she was "fighting America's battles"
+in Europe, for the ultimate triumph of Bonaparte would have
+been pregnant with dangers for the Union. He consequently
+advocated the exportation of grain to Great Britain:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If she is to be fed at all events, why may not we have the benefit
+of it as well as others. I would not indeed, feed her armies landed
+on our territory, because the difficulty of inland communication
+subsistence is what will prevent their ever penetrating far into the
+country.... But this would be my only exception, and as to feeding
+her armies in the Peninsular, she is fighting our battles there, as
+Bonaparte is on the Baltic.<a name="FNanchor_497_497" id="FNanchor_497_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_497_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it must also be admitted that Jefferson considered that
+in war all is fair. He had not changed much since the remote
+days of the Revolution when he urged Washington to permit him
+to use measures of retaliation on the British prisoners. Once
+again he did not scruple to recommend measures sometimes
+used but seldom so frankly advocated. He would not have
+hesitated to bring the war home to Great Britain and to resort
+to retaliation. "Perhaps they will burn New York or Boston,"
+he wrote to Duane. "If they do, we must burn the city of
+London, not by expensive fleets or congreve rockets, but by
+employing an hundred or two Jack-the-painters, whom nakedness,
+famine, desperation and hardened vice, will abundantly
+furnish among themselves."<a name="FNanchor_498_498" id="FNanchor_498_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_498_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a></p>
+
+<p>But the thing never to be lost sight of was the conquest of
+Canada and "the final expulsion of England from the American
+continent." It was to be a very simple expedition, "a mere
+matter of marching", and the weakness of the enemy was to
+make "our errors innocent." All these sanguine expectations
+were blasted to dust by the Hull disaster. Three frigates
+taken by "our gallant little navy" could not balance "three
+armies lost by treachery, cowardice, or incapacity of those to
+whom they were entrusted." The mediation of Russia was
+the only hope left, but the enemies were to remain "bedecked
+with the laurels of the land"&mdash;the reverse of what was to be
+expected and perhaps what was to be wished.<a name="FNanchor_499_499" id="FNanchor_499_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_499_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a></p>
+
+<p>Throughout the whole campaign Jefferson was unable to
+choose between France and England, or rather between Bonaparte
+and England's corrupted government. Strong as were his
+denunciations of English policies and crimes, he almost foamed
+at the mouth when he mentioned the abominable Corsican:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That Bonaparte is an unprincipled tyrant who is deluging the
+continent of Europe with blood, there is not a human being, not even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span>
+the wife of his bosom, who does not see. There is no doubt as to
+the line we ought to wish drawn between his successes and those of
+Alexander. Surely none of us wish to see Bonaparte conquer Russia,
+and lay thus at his feet the whole continent of Europe. This done,
+England would be just a breakfast.<a name="FNanchor_500_500" id="FNanchor_500_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_500_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The "true line of interest" of the United States was consequently
+that Bonaparte should be able to effect the complete
+exclusion of England from the whole continent of Europe, in
+order to make her renounce her views of dominion over the
+ocean. As there was no longer any hope of expelling England
+completely from the American continent, it remained "the
+interest of the U. S. to wish Bonaparte a moderate success so as
+to curb the ambition of Great Britain."<a name="FNanchor_501_501" id="FNanchor_501_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_501_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a></p>
+
+<p>From this and many other similar passages it would follow
+that Jefferson was one of the first exponents of the famous
+policy of the balance of power. Although at war with England,
+America could not wish for a complete defeat of her enemy
+which would enable the monster to pursue his dreams of world
+domination. But hateful as the Corsican was, no one could
+wish for an English victory which would leave Great Britain
+the undisputed ruler of the ocean. Incidents of the war did
+wring from Jefferson impassioned outbursts which expressed a
+temporary anger, but whenever he took time to weigh the different
+factors in his mind, the realistic politician emerged every
+time.</p>
+
+<p>This appears clearly in his correspondence with Madame de
+Sta&euml;l, who had urged him on several occasions to make every
+effort to decide his fellow countrymen to join in the battle
+against the oppressors of liberty. It appears also quite significantly
+in his correspondence with Madison, following the
+burning of the White House and the destruction by the English
+soldiers of the first Congressional Library. His indignation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span>
+ran high when he learned "through the paper" that "the vandalism
+of our enemy has triumphed at Washington over science
+as well as the arts, with the destruction of the public library
+with the noble edifice in which it was deposited." "Of that
+transaction, as that of Copenhagen, the world will entertain
+but one sentiment," he wrote to Samuel H. Smith.<a name="FNanchor_502_502" id="FNanchor_502_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_502_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a> But it
+was characteristic of the man that he thought at once of the
+means of restoring the library. Books could not be procured
+easily from abroad and there was no other private library in
+the country comparable to the collection of books he had
+systematically accumulated for over forty years. He placed
+his books at the disposal of Congress "to be valued by persons
+named by the Library Committee, and the payment made
+convenient to the public." This was not a piece of business
+in order to retrieve his fortune, nor a disguised request for
+financial help, but simply the act of a public-spirited citizen
+unable to make an outright gift and yet unwilling to make any
+profit on the public treasury.</p>
+
+<p>The end of the war was in sight&mdash;a war which could be
+considered as a draw, in which both sides had lost heavily and
+neither had gained anything:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is a deplorable misfortune to us. It has arrested the course of
+the most remarkable tide of prosperity any nation ever experienced,
+and has closed such prospects of future improvements as were never
+before in the view of any people. Farewell all hopes of extinguishing
+public debt! Farewell all visions of applying surpluses of
+revenue to the improvement of peace, rather than the ravages of
+war. Our enemy has indeed the consolation of Satan on removing
+our first parents from Paradise; from a peaceable and agricultural
+nation, he makes us a military and manufacturing one....<a name="FNanchor_503_503" id="FNanchor_503_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_503_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It could truly be said that the war had failed. The best
+that could be expected was the <i>status ante bellum</i>. "Indemnity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span>
+for the past and security for the future which was our motto
+at the beginning of this war, must be adjourned to another,
+when, disarmed and bankrupt our enemy shall be less able to
+insult and plunder the world with impunity."<a name="FNanchor_504_504" id="FNanchor_504_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_504_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a></p>
+
+<p>The news that peace had been signed did not cause him any
+elation, it was "in fact but an armistice", and even when he
+wrote again to his dear and ancient friend James Maury,
+Jefferson was careful to note that America would never peacefully
+accept again England's practice of impressment on the
+high seas. "On that point," he wrote, "we have thrown away
+the scabbard and the moment an European war brings her
+back to this practice, adds us again to her enemies."<a name="FNanchor_505_505" id="FNanchor_505_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_505_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a></p>
+
+<p>This was repeated in a letter to his old friend Du Pont de
+Nemours who had asked him for his influence in order to send
+his grandson to the Naval Academy:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>For twenty years to come we should consider peace as the <i>summum
+bonum</i> of our country. At the end of that period we shall be twenty
+millions in number, and forty in energy, when encountering the
+starved and rickety paupers and dwarfs of English workshops. By
+that time your grandson will have become one of our High-Admirals,
+and bear distinguished part in retorting the wrongs of both his
+countries on the most implacable and cruel of their enemies.<a name="FNanchor_506_506" id="FNanchor_506_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_506_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Yet one would be mistaken in believing that Jefferson felt
+against England any deep-seated animosity, and his resentment,
+however justifiable, did not last long after the close of hostilities.
+The fine friendly letters he wrote to Thomas Law and
+James Maury at the eve of the war were more than mere gestures.
+He had many friends in England, he was imbued with
+English philosophy, English ideas, English law and, if he
+detested the rulers and the r&eacute;gime, he always maintained the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span>
+same sentimental and quite natural feelings of so many Americans
+for the mother country as a whole:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Were they once under a government which should treat us with
+justice and equity&mdash;he wrote to John Adams&mdash;I should myself
+feel with great strength the ties that bind us together, of origin,
+language, laws and manners; and I am persuaded the two people
+would become in future as it was with the ancient Greeks, among
+whom it was reproachful for Greek to be found fighting against
+Greek in a foreign army.<a name="FNanchor_507_507" id="FNanchor_507_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_507_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the same day he wrote to the Secretary of State, James
+Monroe, about the proposed inscription to be engraved in a
+conspicuous place on the restored Capitol, and he had suggested
+that if any inscription was considered as necessary, it should
+simply state the bare facts, such as:</p>
+
+<p class="center">FOUNDED 1791. BURNT BY A BRITISH ARMY
+1814. RESTORED BY CONGRESS 1817.</p>
+
+<p>But a question of more importance was whether there should be
+any inscription at all. "The barbarism of the conflagration
+will immortalize that of the nation.... We have more reason
+to hate her than any nation in earth. But she is not now an
+object of hatred.... It is for the interest of all that she
+should be maintained nearly on a par with other members
+of the republic of nations."<a name="FNanchor_508_508" id="FNanchor_508_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_508_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a></p>
+
+<p>With regard to France, his correspondence with Du Pont de
+Nemours and Lafayette offers precious and significant testimony.
+Much as he loathed Bonaparte, he deplored the return
+of the Bourbons and the reactionary measures of the <i>Restauration</i>.
+His indignation ran high when he received</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... the new treaty of the allied powers, declaring that the
+French nation shall not have Bonaparte and shall have Louis XVIII
+as their ruler. They are all then as great rascals as Bonaparte him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span>self.
+While he was in the wrong, I wished him exactly as much
+success as would answer our purpose, and no more. Now that they
+are wrong and he in the right, he shall have all my prayers for
+success, and that he may dethrone every man of them.<a name="FNanchor_509_509" id="FNanchor_509_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_509_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Writing to Albert Gallatin he indulged in a "poetical effusion"
+which shows how deeply his feelings were stirred:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I grieve for France ... and I trust they will finally establish for
+themselves a government of rational and well tempered liberty. So
+much science cannot be lost; so much light shed over them can never
+fail to produce to them some good in the end. Till then, we may
+ourselves fervently pray, with the liturgy a little parodied; Give
+peace till that time, oh Lord, because there is none other that will
+fight for us but only thee, oh God.<a name="FNanchor_510_510" id="FNanchor_510_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_510_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>When all was told, and it was realized that "the cannibals of
+Europe were going to eating one another again and the pugnacious
+humor of mankind seemed to be the law of his nature",
+the only course for the United States to follow was to keep out
+of the fray as much as possible and so to direct their policy as
+to give no pretext for the European powers to intervene in the
+New World.</p>
+
+<p>Already, in 1812, Jefferson had formulated his views in the
+most unequivocal manner, when he wrote to Doctor John
+Crawford:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We specially ought to pray that the powers of Europe may be so
+poised and counterpoised among themselves, that their own safety
+may require the presence of all their force at home, leaving the other
+quarters of the globe in undisturbed tranquillity. When our strength
+will permit us to give the law to our hemisphere, it should be that the
+meridian of the mid-Atlantic should be the line of demarkation between
+war and peace, on this side of which no act of hostility should
+be committed, and the lion and the lamb lie down in peace together.<a name="FNanchor_511_511" id="FNanchor_511_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_511_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The progress of the revolt of the Spanish colonies was at
+first to strengthen him in the position he had already taken.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson received the news without any elation. For a long
+time he had known that the link between the Spanish and
+Portuguese colonies was growing weaker. He doubted very
+much, however, that the colonies were ready for self-government.
+There might have been some hope for Mexico, because
+of her proximity to the United States: "But the others, I fear,"
+he wrote to Baron Alexander von Humboldt, "will end in military
+despotisms. The different castes of their inhabitants,
+their mutual hatred and jealousies, their profound ignorance
+and bigotry, will be played off by cunning leaders, and each be
+made the instrument of enslaving the others." The important
+point he made was in what followed, and Jefferson here indulged
+in one of his curious political prophecies, in which
+he so often hit the mark:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>But in whatever government they will end, they will be <i>American</i>
+governments, no longer to be involved in the never-ceasing broils
+of Europe. The European nations 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.... And you will live to see the period ahead of
+us; and the numbers which will then be spread over the other
+parts of the American hemisphere, catching long before that the
+principles of our portion of it, and concurring with us in the maintainance
+of the same system.<a name="FNanchor_512_512" id="FNanchor_512_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_512_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>For the present the situation was entirely different&mdash;and as
+he had done during the Revolution with regard to France, he
+advocated prudence and slowness. It was one thing for the
+American colonies to engage in a war with the mother country
+in order to preserve the liberties they had hitherto enjoyed,
+and again it was another entirely different thing for people
+who had not the faintest experience of self-government to declare
+their independence and suddenly to sever all connections
+with the past. In addition he was fully aware that the new
+republics would be in no condition to fight off foreign aggressors
+and thus would become an easy prey for the unscrupulous and
+greedy nations of Europe. Unable to stand on their own feet,
+the most natural course for South America was to fall back on
+Spain. Jefferson did not visualize the "<i>foris familiation</i>" of
+the colonies without a sort of moral protectorate of the mother
+country: "if she extends to them her affection, her aid, her
+patronage in every court and country, it will weave a bond of
+union indissoluble by time."<a name="FNanchor_513_513" id="FNanchor_513_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_513_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a> At the time Jefferson did not go
+further, and as a matter of fact he long held that this would have
+been the best solution for South America. As late as January,
+1821, he still maintained this opinion in a letter to John Adams:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The safest road would be an accomodation to the mother country
+which shall hold them together by the single link of the same chief
+magistrate, leaving to him power enough to keep them in peace
+with one another, and to themselves the essential power of self-government
+and self-improvement, until they will be sufficiently
+trained by education and habits of freedom to walk safely by themselves.
+Representative government, native functionaries, a qualified
+negative on their laws, with a previous security by compact for
+freedom of commerce, freedom of the press, habeas corpus, and trial
+by jury, would make a good beginning. This last would be the
+school in which their people might begin to learn the exercise of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span>
+civic duties as well as rights. For freedom of religion they are not
+yet prepared.<a name="FNanchor_514_514" id="FNanchor_514_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_514_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This was the ideal solution, but "the question was not what
+we wish, but what is practicable." If consequently the new
+republics refused such a compromise, another alternative could
+be offered:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>As their sincere friend and brother, I do believe the best thing for
+them, would be for themselves to come to an accord with Spain,
+under the guarantee of France, Russia, Holland, and the United
+States, allowing to Spain a nominal supremacy, with authority only
+to keep the peace among them, leaving them otherwise all the powers
+of self-government, until their experience in them, their emancipation
+from their priests, and advancement in information shall prepare
+them for complete independence. I exclude England from this confederacy,
+because her selfish principles render her incapable of
+honorable patronage or disinterested co-operation; unless indeed,
+what seems now probable, a revolution should restore to her an
+honest government, one which will permit the world to live in peace.<a name="FNanchor_515_515" id="FNanchor_515_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_515_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This is a capital passage for it contains in germ much more
+than the so-called Monroe Doctrine. What Jefferson had in
+mind at the time was evidently a society of nations, which the
+United States would have joined in order to guarantee the
+territorial integrity of the South American republics under a
+Spanish mandate. For Brazil alone he contemplated a real
+and immediate independence, for "Brazil is more populous,
+more wealthy, and as wise as Portugal."</p>
+
+<p>But in Jefferson's mind this plan was only a temporary solution.
+He was firmly convinced that a time would necessarily
+come when all the American republics would be drawn together
+by their community of interests and institutions and coalescing
+in an American system, independent from and unconnected
+with that of Europe, would form a world by themselves:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The principles of society there and here, then, are radically
+different and I hope no American patriot will ever lose sight of
+the essential policy of interdicting in the seas and territories of
+both Americas the ferocious and sanguinary contests of Europe.
+I wish to see this coalition begun."<a name="FNanchor_516_516" id="FNanchor_516_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_516_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Such, according to Jefferson, was to be the cardinal principle
+of American policies for all times to come; for, as he wrote
+to his friend Correa who had come back to the United States as
+Minister from Portugal:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Nothing is so important as that America shall separate herself
+from the system of Europe, and establish one of her own&mdash;Our
+circumstances, our pursuits, our interests, are distinct, the principles
+of our policy should be so also. All entanglements with that quarter
+of the globe should be avoided that peace and justice shall be the
+polar stars of American societies.<a name="FNanchor_517_517" id="FNanchor_517_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_517_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the other hand, it was not advisable for the United States
+to intervene directly in South America or to help the colonies
+to sever their bonds from the metropolis. There is little doubt
+that the Spanish colonies would never have thought of revolting
+if they had not had constantly before their eyes the example of
+their northern neighbors. Ill-conducted as they were, the
+revolutions of South America could trace their origin directly
+to the American revolution and the Declaration of Independence.
+It was so plain that Jefferson's French friends, Lafayette,
+Du Pont de Nemours, and Destutt de Tracy expected him to
+declare enthusiastically in favor of the South American republics
+and to use whatever influence he still had to bring about an
+open intervention of the United States in their favor. Their
+optimism only shows how little they knew their American friend
+and how little they understood his policy. To Destutt de
+Tracy he answered at the end of 1820:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[Pg 485]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We go with you all lengths in friendly affections to the independence
+of S. America, but an immediate acknowledgement of it calls
+up other considerations. We view Europe as covering at present a
+smothered fire, which may shortly burst forth and produce general
+conflagration. From this it is our duty to keep aloof. A formal
+acknowledgement of the independence of her colonies, would involve
+us with Spain certainly, and perhaps too with England, if she thinks
+that a war would divert her internal troubles. Such a war would
+hurt us more than it would help our brethren of the South; and our
+right may be doubted of mortgaging posterity for the expenses of a
+war in which they will have a right to say their interest was not
+concerned.... In the meantime we receive and protect the flag of
+S. America in it's commercial intercourse with us, on the acknowledged
+principles of neutrality between two belligerent parties in a civil
+war; and if we should not be the first, we shall certainly be the second
+nation in acknowledging the entire independence of our new friends.<a name="FNanchor_518_518" id="FNanchor_518_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_518_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This Jefferson pressed again even more tersely in a letter
+written to Monroe almost four years later. "We feel strongly
+for them, but our first care must be for ourselves."<a name="FNanchor_519_519" id="FNanchor_519_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_519_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a></p>
+
+<p>Surveying the whole situation from the "mountain-top"
+of Monticello, the philosopher wondered at times "whether all
+nations do not owe to one another a bold declaration of their
+sympathy with the one party and their detestation of the conduct
+of the other?" But he soon concluded: "Farther than
+this we are not bound to go; and indeed, for the sake of the
+world, we ought not to increase the jealousies or draw on ourselves
+the power of this formidable confederacy." After the
+treaty of Ghent, at the beginning of the "era of good feeling",
+the United States could reasonably count on a long period of
+peace; all their difficulties with Europe had been settled, and
+only one possible point of friction could be discovered. "Cuba
+alone seems at present to hold up a speck of war to us. Its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[Pg 486]</a></span>
+possession by Great Britain would indeed be a great calamity
+to the United States; but such calamity could only be temporary,
+for in case of war on any account, Cuba would be naturally
+taken by the United States, or the island would give itself to us
+when able to do so."</p>
+
+<p>Thus Jefferson, once again, reasserted the cardinal principle
+of his policy&mdash;the policy of the United States since the early
+days of the Union:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States, never
+to take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political
+interests are entirely distinct from ours. Their mutual jealousies,
+their balance of power, their complicated alliances, their forms and
+principles of government are all foreign to us. They are nations of
+eternal war. All their energies are expended in the destruction of
+the labor, property, and lives of their peoples ... on our part, never
+had a people so favorable a chance of trying the opposite system, of
+peace and fraternity with mankind, and the direction of our means
+and faculties to the purposes of improvement instead of destruction.<a name="FNanchor_520_520" id="FNanchor_520_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_520_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thus, little by little, the famous doctrine took its final shape
+in the minds of both Jefferson and Monroe. Jefferson contributed
+to it its historical background, the weight of his experience
+and authority, and the long conversations he had with
+Monroe on the matter gave him an opportunity not only to
+get "his political compass rectified" but to map out for the
+President the course to follow. The often quoted letter written
+by Jefferson to Monroe on October 24, 1823, contained little
+more than what had passed between them when Monroe visited
+his estate in Virginia. It was simply a reaffirmation of the
+fundamental maxims of the Jeffersonian policies:&mdash;"never to
+entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe&mdash;never to suffer
+Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic affairs."</p>
+
+<p>After making a survey of all the circumstances, Jefferson
+could write in conclusion:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration proposed, 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 country; but that we will oppose, with all our
+means, the forcible interposition of any other form or pretext, and
+most especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession, or
+acquisition in any other way.</p></div>
+
+<p>Finally, although the letters to be exchanged between the
+British and American governments did not properly constitute
+a treaty, Jefferson advised Monroe to lay the case before Congress
+at the first opportunity, since this doctrine might lead
+to war, "the declaration of which requires an act of Congress."</p>
+
+<p>Whatever use has been made of the Monroe Doctrine and
+whether or not the "mandate" assumed by the United States
+has proved irksome to several South American republics, there
+is no doubt that it was not proclaimed without long hesitation
+and that its promoters did not take up this new responsibility
+with "<i>un c&#339;ur l&eacute;ger</i>." There is no doubt, either, that it was
+not considered as an instrument of imperialism. It was primarily
+the extension of the doctrine of self-protection already
+advanced by John Adams in 1776 and since then maintained
+by Washington and Jefferson himself. It was also a corollary
+of the theory of the balance of power which Jefferson always
+kept in mind. In this he was not only followed but urged on
+by all his liberal friends in Europe.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I would not be sorry&mdash;wrote Lafayette in 1817&mdash;to see the
+American government invested by the follies of Spain, with the opportunity
+to take the lead in the affairs of her independent colonies.
+Unless that is the case or great changes happen in the European
+policies, the miseries of those fine countries will be long protracted.
+Could you establish there a representative system, a free trade, and
+a free press, how many channels of information and improvement
+should be open at once.<a name="FNanchor_521_521" id="FNanchor_521_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_521_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson himself was too respectful of self-government ever
+to think of interfering with the internal affairs of the new
+republics. On the other hand, he was too firmly convinced of
+the moral, intellectual and political superiority of his own
+country not to believe that a time would come when the contagion
+of liberty would extend to the near and remote neighbors
+of the United States. The unavoidable result of the
+Monroe Doctrine and the moral mandate of America would be
+ultimately to form a "Holy American Alliance" of the free
+peoples of the Western Hemisphere, to counterbalance the
+conspiracy of Kings and Lords "called the European Holy
+Alliance."</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II</h3>
+
+<h2>DEMOCRATIC AMERICA</h2>
+
+
+<p>Protected against foreign entanglements and having survived
+the convulsions that had shattered the old structures of
+Europe, America was at last free to pursue her development
+along her own lines. The philosopher of Monticello could sit
+back, take a more disinterested view of the situation and make
+a forecast of the future of his country. He could also advise,
+not only his immediate successors, but the generations to come
+and take up again the part of "counsellor" which had always
+suited him better than the part of the executive. He believed
+too much in the right of successive generations to determine
+their own form of government, to attempt to dictate in any way
+the course to follow. But he was none the less convinced that
+certain principles embodied in the Constitution had a permanent
+and universal value, and during the years at Monticello
+he formulated the gospel of American democracy.</p>
+
+<p>As it finally emerged from the several crises that threatened
+its existence, the American Government was, if not the best
+possible government, at least the best government then on the
+surface of the earth. It was at the same time the hope and the
+model of all the nations of the world.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We exist and are quoted&mdash;wrote Jefferson to Richard Rush&mdash;as
+standing proofs that a government, so modelled as to rest continuously
+on the will of the whole society, is a practicable government.
+Were we to break to pieces, it would damp the hopes and efforts of
+the good, and give triumph to those of the bad through the whole
+enslaved world. As members, therefore, of the universal society of
+mankind, and standing high in responsible relation with them, it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span>
+our sacred duty to suppress passion among ourselves and not to
+blast the confidence we have inspired of proof that a government of
+reason is better than a government of force.<a name="FNanchor_522_522" id="FNanchor_522_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_522_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Some dangers, however, were threatening to disturb the
+equilibrium of the country. The most pressing was perhaps
+the extraordinary and unwholesome development of State and
+local banks, which suspended payment in great majority in
+September, 1814. The deluge of paper money and the depreciation
+of the currency became, for Jefferson, a real obsession and
+strengthened him in his abhorrence of commercialism. He did
+not cease to preach the necessity of curbing the fever of speculation
+that had accumulated ruins upon ruins and the return
+to more sound regulations of the banks. "Till then," he wrote
+to John Adams, "we must be content to return, <i>quoad hoc</i>, to the
+savage state, to recur to barter in the exchange of our property,
+for want of a stable, common measure of value, that now in use
+being less fixed than the beads and wampum of the Indians."<a name="FNanchor_523_523" id="FNanchor_523_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_523_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a></p>
+
+<p>His banking theories, however, had scarcely any influence
+upon his contemporaries, and even Gallatin was little impressed
+by them. But the evident danger of inflation turned his mind
+back to the days when he had fought the Hamiltonian system
+and gave him once more an opportunity to pass judgment upon
+his opponent of the old days:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>This most heteregeneous system was transplanted into ours from
+the British system, by a man whose mind was really powerful, but
+chained by native partialities to everything English; who had
+formed exaggerated ideas of the superior wisdom of their government,
+and sincerely believed it for the good of the country to make
+them their model in everything, without considering that what
+might be wise and good for a nation essentially commercial and
+entangled in complicated intercourse with numerous and powerful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span>
+neighbors, might not be so for one essentially agricultural, and insulated
+by nature, from the abusive governments of the old world.<a name="FNanchor_524_524" id="FNanchor_524_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_524_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>From this and many other passages it might be surmised
+that Jefferson still held to the old antimercantile theories
+that had crystallized in his mind when he was in Europe. If
+this were true, the contradiction between his conduct as President
+and his personal convictions would be so obvious that his
+sincerity might be questioned. As a matter of fact, on this
+point as on many others, he had undergone a slow evolution.
+He was certainly sincere when, shortly after leaving office, he
+wrote to Governor John Jay in order to make his position
+clearer:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>An equilibrium of agriculture, manufacture, and commerce, is
+certainly become essential to our independence. Manufactures,
+sufficient for our own consumption (and no more). Commerce
+sufficient to carry the surplus produce of agriculture, beyond our own
+consumption, to a market for exchanging it for articles we cannot
+raise (and no more). These are the true limits of manufacture and
+commerce. To go beyond is to increase our dependence on foreign
+nations, and our liability to war.<a name="FNanchor_525_525" id="FNanchor_525_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_525_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This can be taken as the final view of Jefferson on a subject
+on which he is often misquoted and misunderstood. That he
+was fully aware of the change that had taken place in his own
+mind can be seen in a declaration to Benjamin Austin, written
+in January, 1816. Between 1787 and that date, and even
+earlier, Jefferson had seen the light and realized that to discourage
+home manufactures was "to keep us in eternal vassalage
+to a foreign and unfriendly people." He had no patience
+with politicians who brought forth his old and now obsolete
+utterances to promote their unpatriotic designs:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>You tell me I am quoted by those who wish to continue our
+dependance on England for manufactures. There was a time when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span>
+I might have been so quoted with more candor, but within the thirty
+years which have elapsed, how circumstances changed.... Experience
+since has taught me that manufactures are now as necessary
+to our independence as to our comfort; and if those who quote me
+as of different opinion will keep pace with me in purchasing nothing
+foreign where an equivalent of domestic fabric can be obtained,
+without regard to the difference of price, it will not be our fault if we
+do not soon have a supply at home equivalent to our demand.<a name="FNanchor_526_526" id="FNanchor_526_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_526_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Desirable as it was to promote the industrial development of
+the United States, it was no less desirable not to encourage it
+beyond a certain point. Jefferson saw quite clearly that, under
+existing conditions, a great industrial growth of the country
+would have as an unavoidable result the perpetuation of slavery
+in the South and the even more undesirable creation of a proletariat
+in the North. He had always held that slavery was a
+national sore and a shameful condition to be remedied as soon
+as conditions would permit. He was looking forward to the
+time when this could be done without bringing about an economic
+upheaval; but all hope would have to be abandoned if
+slavery were industrialized and if slave labor became more
+productive. As to the other danger of industrialism, it was no
+vague apprehension; one had only to consider England to see
+"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." This being the "happiness
+of scientific England", he wrote to Thomas Cooper,
+"now let us see the American side of the medal":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>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 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<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span>
+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 England. 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 decencies of life than
+those who furnish them. Can any condition of society be more
+desirable than this?<a name="FNanchor_527_527" id="FNanchor_527_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_527_527" class="fnanchor">[527]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Once more Jefferson appears as a true disciple and continuator
+of the Physiocrats and one might be tempted at first to agree
+entirely with Mr. Beard on this point. But this is only an
+appearance. To understand Jefferson's true meaning, it is
+necessary to turn to his unpublished correspondence with Du
+Pont de Nemours, and particularly to those letters written
+after Jefferson's retirement from public life.</p>
+
+<p>The rapid industrialization of the United States had greatly
+alarmed the old Physiocrat. In his opinion there was a real
+danger lest the national character of the people be completely
+altered and the foundation of government deeply shaken.
+Considering the situation from the "economist's" point of view,
+Du Pont came to the conclusion that the development of home
+industries in America would necessarily bring about a permanent
+reduction in the Federal income, largely derived from
+import duties. The government could not be run without
+levying new taxes and the question was to determine what
+methods should be followed in the establishment of these new
+taxes. If the United States decided to resort to indirect taxation,
+that is to say, excise, the unavoidable result would be
+the creation of an army of new functionaries, as in France under
+the old r&eacute;gime, and the use of vexatory procedure for the en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span>forcement
+of the new system. Furthermore, according to the
+theories of the Physiocrats, indirect taxation was an economic
+heresy, since it was a tax on labor, which is not a source but only
+a transformation of wealth. The same criticism applied <i>a
+fortiori</i> to the English income tax which constituted the worst
+possible form of taxation.</p>
+
+<p>In the controversy which arose between Jefferson and his old
+friend, the Sage of Monticello again took a middle course.
+First of all, he refused to concede that the development of
+industries could ever change the fundamental characteristics
+of the United States. They were essentially an agricultural
+nation, and an agricultural nation they would remain, in spite
+of all predictions to the contrary. Furthermore, the question
+was not to determine theoretically what was the best possible
+form of taxation, but to find out what form the inhabitants of
+the country would most easily bear. That in itself was a big
+enough problem and could not be solved in the abstract, since,
+according to Jefferson: "In most of the middle and Southern
+States some land tax is now paid into the State treasury, and
+for this purpose the lands have been classed and valued and the
+tax assessed according to valuation. In these an excise is most
+odious. In the Eastern States, land taxes are odious, excises
+less unpopular."<a name="FNanchor_528_528" id="FNanchor_528_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_528_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a></p>
+
+<p>Finally, Jefferson pointed out that his friend had neglected
+several important factors, one of them being "the continuous
+growth in population of the United States, which for a long time
+would maintain the quantum of exports and imports at the
+present level at least." Consequently, for several generations,
+the Government would be able to support itself with a tax on
+importations, "the best agrarian law in fact, since the poor
+man in the country who uses nothing but what is made within
+his own farm or family, or within the United States, pays not
+a farthing of tax to the general government." With the char<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span>acteristic
+optimism of the citizen of a young, strong and energetic
+country, Jefferson then added:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Our revenue once liberated by the discharge of public debt and
+its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., and the farmer will
+see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of
+his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone
+without being called on to spare a cent from his earnings. The
+path we are now pursuing leads directly to this end, which we cannot
+fail to attain unless our administration should fall into unwise hands.<a name="FNanchor_529_529" id="FNanchor_529_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_529_529" class="fnanchor">[529]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This point alone should suffice to differentiate Jefferson's
+system from physiocracy, since the Physiocrats had adopted
+as their motto the famous <i>laissez faire laissez passer</i> and were
+certainly in favor of free trade. How far from Du Pont Jefferson
+remained in other particulars may be gathered from his
+"Introduction" and notes to the "Political Economy" of
+Destutt de Tracy, the translation and publication of which he
+supervised and directed. In it he paid homage to the founders
+of the science of political economy, and particularly to Gournay,
+Le Trosne and Du Pont de Nemours, "the enlightened,
+philanthropic and venerable citizen, now of the United States."
+But he pointed out that the several principles they had discussed
+and established had not been able to prevail, "not on
+account of their correctness, but because not acceptable to the
+people whose will must be the supreme law. Taxation is, in
+fact, the most difficult function of the government, and that
+against which their citizens are most apt to be refractory. The
+general aim is, therefore, to adopt the mode most consonant
+with the circumstances and sentiments of the country."</p>
+
+<p>This is Jefferson's final judgment on the Economists.
+Another confirmation of his lack of interest in principles and
+theories not susceptible of immediate application may be seen
+in it. In matters of government, the important question, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span>
+deciding what should be done, was to determine how much
+could be done under the circumstances, and if a particular
+piece of legislation was turned down by the public will or only
+reluctantly accepted, to bide one's time and wait for a more
+favorable occasion. Even when doubting the wisdom of a
+popular verdict, it was the duty of the public servant to do the
+public will. Thus in this correspondence are revealed the
+two sides of Jefferson's character, or to speak more exactly,
+the two parallel tracks in which his mind ran at different times.</p>
+
+<p>At the bottom of his heart, he believed that many of the
+economic doctrines of Du Pont were fundamentally sound;
+but he also knew that the citizens of the United States were not
+ready to accept the truth of these principles, and he did not
+feel that, as an executive, he had the right to attempt to shape
+the destinies of his country according to his own preferences.
+Thus he laid himself open to the reproach of insincerity, or at
+least of inconsistency, for on many occasions one may find a
+flagrant contradiction between his public utterances and the
+private letters he wrote to his friends. For this reason, Du
+Pont de Nemours was never fully able to understand his American
+friend. This difference between the French theorician and
+the American statesman will appear even more clearly in the
+letters in which they exchanged views on democracy and discussed
+the conditions requisite for the establishment of a representative
+government.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's opinion of the French people with regard to the
+form of government they should adopt had never varied since
+the earliest days of the Revolution. Every time he was consulted
+by his friends on the matter, he invariably answered
+that they could do no better than to follow as closely as possible
+the system of their neighbors and hereditary enemies, the
+British. This answer, which recurred periodically in his correspondence,
+was made particularly emphatic in 1801, when he
+again warned Lafayette that France was not ready to enjoy a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[Pg 497]</a></span>
+truly republican government. He went on by categorically
+stating that what was good for America might be very harmful
+to another country and that even in America it was neither
+desirable nor possible to enforce at once all the provisions of
+the Constitution. Thus, in a few lines, he defined his policies
+more clearly than any historian has ever done; he analyzed
+that curious combination of unwavering principles and practical
+expediency so puzzling to those once called by Jefferson
+himself "the closet politicians."</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>What is practicable&mdash;he said&mdash;must often control what is purely
+theory and the habits of the governed determine in a great degree
+what is practicable. The same original principles, modified in practice
+to the different habits of the different nations, present governments
+of very different aspects. The same principles reduced to
+form of practice, accommodated to our habits, and put into forms
+accommodated to the habits of the French nation would present
+governments very unlike each other.<a name="FNanchor_530_530" id="FNanchor_530_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_530_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thirteen years later his opinion had not varied one iota.
+Reviewing the situation in France after the return of the Bourbons,
+he wrote to Du Pont de Nemours:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have to congratulate you, which I do sincerely, on having got
+back from Robespierre and Bonaparte, to your ante-revolutionary
+condition. You are now nearly where you were at the Jeu de
+Paume, on the 20th of June 1789. The King would then have
+yielded by convention freedom of religion, freedom of the press,
+trial by jury, habeas corpus and a representative legislation. These
+I consider as the essentials constituting free government, and that
+the organization of the executive is interesting, as it may ensure wisdom
+and integrity in the first place, but next as it may favor
+or endanger the preservation of these fundamentals.<a name="FNanchor_531_531" id="FNanchor_531_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_531_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The same note reappears constantly in the letters written by
+Jefferson to his French friends, but a rapid survey of his corre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[Pg 498]</a></span>spondence
+with Du Pont de Nemours may serve to make his
+position even more definite.</p>
+
+<p>When, in December, 1815, Du Pont was invited by "the
+republics of New Grenada, Carthagenes and Caracas" to give
+his views on the constitution they intended to adopt, he drew
+up a plan of government for the "Equinoctial republics" and
+sent it for approval to the Sage of Monticello. Faithful to the
+principles of the Physiocrats, he had divided the population
+into two classes: the real citizens or landowners and the "inhabitants",
+those who work for a salary, possess nothing but personal
+property, can go any day from one place to another, and
+make with their employers contracts which they can break at
+any time. These were entitled to protection, peaceful enjoyment
+of their personal property, free speech, freedom of religion,
+habeas corpus, and such natural rights, but Du Pont refused
+them any participation in the government; for only those who
+"owned the country" should have the right to decide how it
+was to be administered. To give the ballot to a floating population
+of industrial workers, unattached to the soil, who had
+nothing to sell except their labor, was "to brew a revolution, to
+pave the way for the Pisistrates, the Marius, the Caesars, who
+represent themselves as more democratic than they really are
+and than is just and reasonable, in order to become tyrants, to
+violate all rights, to substitute for law their arbitrary will, to
+offend morality and to debase humanity."<a name="FNanchor_532_532" id="FNanchor_532_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_532_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a></p>
+
+<p>This was a doctrine which Jefferson could not accept, for it
+was in direct contradiction to the tenets he had formulated
+early in his life and held to during all his career. Because he had
+read Locke, and more probably because he was trained as a
+lawyer, he opposed the contractual theory of society to this
+economic organization. He maintained that society was a
+compact, that all those who had become signatories to the
+compact were entitled to the same rights, and consequently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[Pg 499]</a></span>
+should have the same privilege to share equally in the government,
+except, and this proviso was important, when they
+freely agreed to delegate part of their powers to elected magistrates
+and representatives.</p>
+
+<p>This was the theory, the inalienable principle to be proclaimed
+in a bill of rights, the necessary preamble to any constitution.
+In practice, however, various limitations to universal
+suffrage were to be recognized. One could not even think of
+granting the ballot to minors, to emancipated slaves or to
+women. It did not follow either that, all citizens being
+endowed with the same rights, they were equally ready to
+exercise the same functions in the government. Men are
+created equal in rights but differ in intelligence, learning,
+clear-sightedness and general ability. In other words, there
+are some natural <i>aristoi</i>, and John Adams brought Jefferson to
+this admission without any difficulty. If this fact be accepted,
+the next step is to recognize that "that form of government is
+the best, which provided the most effectually for a pure selection
+of these natural <i>aristoi</i> into offices of the government."
+It was the good fortune of America that all her constitutions
+were so worded as "to leave the citizens the free election and
+separation of the aristoi from the pseudo-aristoi, of the
+wheat from the chaff. In general, they will elect the really
+good and wise. In some instances, wealth may corrupt,
+and birth blind; but not in a sufficient degree to endanger
+society."<a name="FNanchor_533_533" id="FNanchor_533_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_533_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a></p>
+
+<p>According to this theory, the real function of the people is not
+to participate directly in all governmental activities, but to
+select from among themselves the most qualified citizens and
+the best prepared to administer the country. In a letter to
+Doctor Walter Jones, who had sent him a paper on democracy,
+Jefferson made his position even more definite by establishing
+a very important distinction which gives more than any other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[Pg 500]</a></span>
+statement his true idea of a progressive democracy&mdash;an ideal
+to be striven for, not a condition already reached:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I would say that the people, being the only safe depository of
+power, should exercise in person every function which their qualifications
+enable them to exercise, consistently with the order and
+security of society; that we now find them equal to the election of
+those who shall be invested with their executive powers, and to act
+themselves in the judiciary, as judges in questions of fact; that
+the range of their powers ought to be enlarged....<a name="FNanchor_534_534" id="FNanchor_534_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_534_534" class="fnanchor">[534]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>In these circumstances, Jefferson's reluctance to encourage
+both his French and Spanish friends to establish at once a
+government modeled on the American government in their
+respective countries, is perfectly intelligible. Of all the nations
+of the earth, England alone could "borrow wholesale the American
+system."</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>They will probably turn their eyes to us, and be disposed to tread
+in the footsteps, seeing how safely these have led us into port.
+There is no part of or model to which they seem unequal, unless
+perhaps the elective presidency, and even that might possibly be
+rescued from the tumult of the elections, by subdividing the electoral
+assemblage into very small parts, such as of wards or townships,
+and making them simultaneous.<a name="FNanchor_535_535" id="FNanchor_535_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_535_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>As for the other nations, they were no more qualified to
+exercise the duties of a truly representative government than
+were the inhabitants of New Orleans at the time of the purchase.
+The French, in particular, had proved in several
+instances that they could not be intrusted with the administration
+of their own affairs.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>More than a generation will be requisite&mdash;he wrote to Lafayette&mdash;under
+the administration of reasonable laws favoring the progress
+of knowledge in the general mass of the people, and their habituation
+to an independent security of person and property, before they will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[Pg 501]</a></span>
+be capable of estimating the value of freedom, and the necessity of
+sacred adherence to the principles on which it rests for preservation.
+Instead of that liberty which takes root and growth in the progress
+of reason, if recovered by mere accident or force, it becomes, with an
+unprepared people, a tyranny still, of the many, the few, or one.<a name="FNanchor_536_536" id="FNanchor_536_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_536_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>From these declarations, to which many other similar passages
+could be added, a capital difference between the idealism of
+Jefferson and the idealism of the French philosophers becomes
+quite obvious. The author of the Declaration of Independence
+had proclaimed that all men are born free and equal, but he
+never thought that women, Indians and newly enfranchized
+slaves should be admitted to the same rights and privileges as
+the other citizens. In like fashion, although representative
+government remains the best possible form of government, he
+found it desirable that some people, who are still children,
+should not be granted at once the full enjoyment of their natural
+rights. Thus self-government, which had become a well
+established fact and a reality in America, should remain for
+other peoples a reward to be obtained after a long and painful
+process of education. It could be hoped that some day, after
+many disastrous experiments and much suffering, the peoples
+of Europe and South America might deserve the blessings
+enjoyed by the American people. But nothing was further
+from the character of Jefferson than to preach the gospel of
+Americanism to all the nations of the world. Instead of considering
+as desirable a close imitation of the American Constitution
+by the newly liberated nations, he maintained that
+each people should mold their institutions according to their
+own habits and traditions. Far from being a Jacobin, a wild
+radical, or a "closet philosopher", this practical politician had
+come to the conclusion that each people have the government
+they deserve, and that durable improvements can come only
+as a result of the improvement of the moral qualities of every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[Pg 502]</a></span>
+citizen&mdash;from within and not from without. Such a moderate
+conclusion may surprise those who are accustomed to damn or
+praise Jefferson on a few sentences or axioms detached from
+their context; but, after careful scrutiny of the evidence, it
+seems difficult to accept any other interpretation.</p>
+
+<p>Comparatively perfect as it was, the government of the
+United States presented certain germs of weakness, corruption
+and degeneracy. The Sage of Monticello did not fail to call his
+friends' attention to some of the dangers looming up on the
+horizon. As he had warned them against inflation, he opposed
+the formation of societies which might become so strong as "to
+obstruct the operation of the government and undertake to
+regulate the foreign, fiscal, and military as well as domestic
+affairs." This might be taken already as a warning against
+lobbying. He was fully aware that a time might come when
+the speeches of the Senators and Representatives "would cease
+to be read at all" and when the Legislature would not enjoy the
+full confidence of the people. He deplored the law vacating
+nearly all the offices of government nearly every four years, for
+"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 in eternal intrigue to turn out and put in
+another, in cabale to swap work, and make of them what all
+executive directories become, mere sinks of corruption and
+faction."<a name="FNanchor_537_537" id="FNanchor_537_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_537_537" class="fnanchor">[537]</a></p>
+
+<p>Serious and pressing as these dangers were, they could be
+left to future generations to avoid, but at the very moment he
+wrote another fear obsessed his mind:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The banks, bankrupt laws, manufactures, Spanish treaty are
+nothing. These are occurrences which, like waves in a storm, will
+pass under the ship. But the Missouri question is a breaker on
+which we lose the Missouri country by revolt, and what more God
+only knows. From the Battle of Bunker's Hill to the treaty of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[Pg 503]</a></span>
+Paris, we never had so ominous a question.... I thank God that I
+shall not live to witness its issue.<a name="FNanchor_538_538" id="FNanchor_538_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_538_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>No New Englander had done more to promote the cause of
+abolition than Jefferson; on two occasions he had proposed
+legislative measures to put an end to the scourge of slavery and
+he had never ceased to look for a solution that would permit
+the emancipation of the slaves without endangering the racial
+integrity of the United States. But this was no longer a question
+of humanity. What mattered most was not whether
+slavery would be recognized in Missouri or not. Slavery had
+become a political question; it had created a geographical
+division between the States, and the very existence of the Union
+was at stake. As on so many other occasions, the old statesman
+had a truly prophetic vision of the future when he wrote to
+John Adams early in 1820:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If Congress has the power to regulate the conditions of the inhabitants
+of the States, within the States, it will be but another exercise
+of that power to declare that all shall be free. Are we then to see
+again Athenian and Lacedemonian confederacies? To wage another
+Peloponesian war to settle the ascendency between them? Or is
+this the tocsin of merely a servile war? That remains to be seen;
+but not, I hope, by you or me.<a name="FNanchor_539_539" id="FNanchor_539_539"></a><a href="#Footnote_539_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The whole question was fraught with such difficulties that
+Jefferson refused to discuss the abolition of slavery with
+Lafayette when the Marquis paid him a last visit at Monticello.
+With his American friends he was less reserved. When, as
+early as 1811, James Ogilvie asked him to suggest an important
+and interesting subject for a series of lectures he intended to
+deliver in the Southern States, Jefferson could think of nothing
+more momentous than a discourse "on the benefit of the union,
+and miseries which would follow a separation of the States,
+to be exemplified in the eternal and wasting wars of Europe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[Pg 504]</a></span>
+in the pillage and profligacy to which these lead, and the
+abject oppression and degradation to which they reduce its
+inhabitants."<a name="FNanchor_540_540" id="FNanchor_540_540"></a><a href="#Footnote_540_540" class="fnanchor">[540]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson has so long been represented as the champion of
+State rights, he stood so vigorously against all possible encroachments
+of the States' sovereignty by the Federal Government,
+that we have a natural tendency to forget this aspect of his
+policies and to see in him only the man who inspired the Kentucky
+resolutions. It must be remembered, however, that he
+never ceased to preach the necessity of the union to his fellow
+countrymen, that when President he lived in a constant fear of
+secession by the New England States, that he stopped all his
+efforts in favor of abolition lest he should inject into the life of
+the country a political issue which might disrupt national unity.
+While he claimed that theoretically the States had a right to
+secede, he could no more consider actual secession than he would
+have approved of any man breaking the social compact in order
+to live the precarious life of the savage.</p>
+
+<p>From these dangers nothing could preserve the United States
+except what Du Pont de Nemours called once "the cool common
+sense" of their citizens. It was the only foundation on
+which to rest all hopes for the future, for American democracy
+is not a thing which exists on paper, it is not a thing which can
+be created overnight by law, decree or constitution, it is not
+to be looked for in any document. "Where is our republicanism
+to be found," wrote Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval. "Not
+in our constitution certainly, but merely in the spirit of our
+people. Owing to this spirit, and to nothing in the form of our
+constitution all things have gone well."<a name="FNanchor_541_541" id="FNanchor_541_541"></a><a href="#Footnote_541_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a></p>
+
+<p>One of the most reassuring manifestations of this spirit was
+seen in the willingness of the people to choose the best qualified
+persons as their representatives, executives and magistrates.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[Pg 505]</a></span>
+But if the Republic was to endure, it was necessary to enlighten
+and cultivate the disposition of the people, and it was no less
+important to provide a group of men qualified through their
+natural ability and training, to discuss and conduct the affairs
+of the community. Thus Jefferson was induced to take up
+again in his old days one of his pet schemes, the famous bill for
+the diffusion of knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, he had never abandoned it completely,
+and its very purpose had been explained already in the "Notes
+on Virginia":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In every government on earth there is some trace of human weakness,
+some germ of corruption and degeneracy.... Each government
+degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone.
+The people themselves are therefore its only safe depositories. And
+to render even them safer, their minds must be improved to a certain
+degree. This is not all that is necessary, though it be essentially
+necessary.</p></div>
+
+<p>During his stay in Europe, Jefferson had become acquainted
+with great universities, particularly those of Edinburgh and
+Geneva, and after coming back to America he shifted somewhat
+the emphasis. It was not so immediately necessary to
+improve the minds of all the citizens as to form an <i>&eacute;lite</i>, a body
+of specialists who might become the true leaders of the nation.
+This seems to have been the object of his plan, to bring over to
+America the whole faculty of the University of Geneva to establish
+a national university at Richmond or in the vicinity of
+Federal City. This scheme was only defeated because of the
+opposition of Washington who, with great common sense, realized
+how incongruous it would be to call National University
+an institution where the teaching would be conducted entirely
+in a foreign language and by foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>Even after this plan had failed, Jefferson did not give up his
+ambition to establish somewhere in America and preferably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[Pg 506]</a></span>
+in Virginia, an institution of higher learning. On January 18,
+1800, he wrote to Joseph Priestley to ask him to draw up the
+program of a university "on a plan so broad, so liberal, and
+modern, as to be worth patronizing with the public support.
+The first thing is to obtain a good plan."</p>
+
+<p>Priestley sent him, in answer, some "Hints Concerning Public
+Education" which have never been published and probably
+did not arouse any enthusiasm in Jefferson. The English
+philosopher had simply taken the main features of the English
+system, placing the emphasis on the ancient languages and
+excluding the modern: "For the knowledge of them as well
+as skill in fencing, dancing and riding is proper for gentlemen
+liberally educated, and instruction in them may be procured
+on reasonable terms without burdening the funds of the seminary
+with them." He ended with a very sensible piece of advice:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Three things must be attended to in the education of youth. They
+must be <i>taught</i>, <i>fed</i>, and <i>governed</i>, and each of these requires different
+qualifications. In the English universities all these offices are
+perfectly distinct. The <i>tutors</i> only teach, the <i>proctors</i> superintend
+the discipline, and the <i>cooks</i> provide the victuals.<a name="FNanchor_542_542" id="FNanchor_542_542"></a><a href="#Footnote_542_542" class="fnanchor">[542]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>At the same time Jefferson had sent a similar request to Du
+Pont de Nemours. Curiously enough, the Frenchman manifested
+little enthusiasm for the proposal of his friend. To
+establish a university was all very well, but first of all one had
+to provide solid foundations and to place educational facilities
+within the reach of the great mass of citizens&mdash;the university
+being only the apex of the pyramid. On this occasion Du Pont
+reminded Jefferson that he had expressed himself to such an
+intent some fifteen years earlier in his "Notes on Virginia",
+which developed the excellent view that colleges and universities
+are not the most important part of the educational system
+of the State:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[Pg 507]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>All knowledge readily and daily usable, all practical sciences, all
+laborious activities, all the common sense, all the correct ideas, all
+the morality, all the virtue, all the courage, all the prosperity, all the
+happiness of a nation and particularly of a Republic must spring from
+the primary schools or Petites Ecoles.<a name="FNanchor_543_543" id="FNanchor_543_543"></a><a href="#Footnote_543_543" class="fnanchor">[543]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>By July, 1800, Du Pont de Nemours, who had already
+proposed a similar scheme to the French Government, had
+completed his manuscript and sent it to Jefferson at the
+end of August. This was more speed than Jefferson had
+expected, and Du Pont's plan was far too elaborate and
+too comprehensive to be of immediate value. "There is
+no occasion to incommode yourself by pressing it," wrote
+Jefferson, "as when received it will be some time before we
+shall probably find a good occasion of bringing forward the
+subject."<a name="FNanchor_544_544" id="FNanchor_544_544"></a><a href="#Footnote_544_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a></p>
+
+<p>During his presidency, Jefferson had had to lay aside all his
+plans and postpone any action for the organization of public
+education in his native State until after his retirement. In
+the meantime, he read and studied the project of Du Pont de
+Nemours and corresponded with Pictet of Geneva; he had
+in his hands several memoirs of Julien on the French schools,
+and he looked everywhere for precedents and suggestions.
+His views were finally formulated in a "Plan for Elementary
+Schools" sent to Joseph C. Cabell from Polar Forest, on September
+9, 1817. The act to be submitted to the Assembly of
+Virginia was far more comprehensive than the title indicates.
+It provided for the establishment in each county of a certain
+number of elementary schools, supported by the county and
+placed under the supervision of visitors; the counties of the
+commonwealth were to be distributed into nine collegiate
+districts, and as many colleges, or rather secondary schools,
+instituted at the expense of the literary fund, "to be supported<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[Pg 508]</a></span>
+from it, and to be placed under the supervision of the Board of
+Public Instruction."</p>
+
+<p>"In the said colleges," proposed Jefferson, "shall be taught
+the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and German languages,
+English grammar, geography, ancient and modern, the
+higher branches in numeral arithmetic, the mensuration of land,
+the use of the globes, and the ordinary elements of navigation."</p>
+
+<p>A third part of the act provided for</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... establishing in a central and healthy part of the State an
+University wherein all the branches of useful sciences may be taught
+... such as history and geography, ancient and modern; natural
+philosophy, agriculture, chemistry, and the theories of medicine;
+anatomy, zo&ouml;logy, botany, mineralogy and geology; mathematics,
+pure and mixed, military and naval science; ideology, ethics, the law
+of nature and of nations; law, municipal, and foreign; the science of
+civil government and political economy; languages, rhetoric, belles-lettres,
+and the fine arts generally; which branches of science will
+be so distributed and under so many professorships, not exceeding
+ten as the Visitors shall think most proper.</p></div>
+
+<p>Finally, in order "to avail the commonwealth of those talents
+and virtues which nature has sown as liberally among the poor
+as among the rich, and which are lost to their country by the
+want of means of their cultivation", the visitors would select
+every year a certain number of promising scholars from the ward
+schools to be sent to the colleges and from the colleges to be sent
+to the University at the public expense.</p>
+
+<p>This was essentially the Bill for the Diffusion of Knowledge
+proposed to the Assembly in 1779. Jefferson had incorporated
+in it such modifications as he may have borrowed from Du
+Pont de Nemours, but essentially the plan was his own. That
+Jefferson himself was perfectly aware of it appears in a short
+mention of the fact that "the general idea was suggested in
+the 'Notes on Virginia.' Quer. 14."<a name="FNanchor_545_545" id="FNanchor_545_545"></a><a href="#Footnote_545_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[Pg 509]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was soon realized that neither the Assembly nor the public
+were ready for such a comprehensive scheme. Part of the
+plan had to be sacrificed, if a beginning was to be made at all.
+Jefferson did not hesitate long; the elementary schools could
+be organized at any time without much preparation or expense;
+secondary education was taken care of after a fashion in private
+schools supported from fees; but nothing existed in the way of
+an institution of higher learning. Young Virginians had to be
+sent to the northern seminaries, there "imbibing opinions and
+principles in discord with those of our own country." The
+university was the thing, and, in order to provide sufficient
+funds to start it, Jefferson proposed that subsidies from the
+literary fund to the primary schools be suspended for one or
+two years. In his opinion this measure did not imply any
+disregard of primary education, and Jefferson vehemently protested
+to Breckenridge that he had "never proposed a sacrifice
+of the primary to the ultimate grade of instruction"; but, "if
+we cannot do everything at once, let us do one at a time."<a name="FNanchor_546_546" id="FNanchor_546_546"></a><a href="#Footnote_546_546" class="fnanchor">[546]</a></p>
+
+<p>The fight in which Jefferson engaged to obtain recognition for
+his project, to have Central College or, as it was finally to be
+called, the University of Virginia, located near Monticello,
+where he could watch its progress and supervise the construction
+of its buildings, has been told many times and does not need to
+be recounted here.<a name="FNanchor_547_547" id="FNanchor_547_547"></a><a href="#Footnote_547_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the board of visitors with Jefferson were placed James
+Madison, James Monroe, Joseph C. Cabell, James Breckenridge,
+David Watson and J. H. Cocke. Jefferson was appointed
+Rector of the University at a meeting held on March 29, 1819,
+at a time when the university had no buildings, no faculty, no
+students and very small means. Everything had to be done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[Pg 510]</a></span>
+and provided for. It would have been possible to put up some
+sort of temporary shelter, a few ramshackle frame houses, but
+Jefferson wanted the university to endure and he remembered
+that he was an architect as well as a statesman. It was not
+until the spring of 1824 that he could announce that the buildings
+were ready for occupancy&mdash;the formal opening was to be
+held at the beginning of the following year&mdash;but the master
+builder could be proud of his work. The university was his in
+every sense of the word: not only had he succeeded in arousing
+the interest of the public and the Assembly in his undertaking,
+but he had drawn the plans himself with the painstaking care
+and the precision he owed to his training as a surveyor. He had
+selected the material, engaged the stone carvers, the brick layers
+and the carpenters, and supervised every bit of their work.
+After his death he would need no other monument.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as everything seemed to be ready, a new difficulty
+arose. Ever since 1819, the visitors had been looking for a
+faculty. Ticknor, with whom Jefferson had gotten acquainted
+through Mrs. Adams, had refused to leave Cambridge although
+disgusted with the petty bickerings of his colleagues. Thomas
+Cooper had proved inacceptable, and the very mention of his
+name had aroused such a storm among the clergy that the
+appointment had to be withdrawn. After a long and fruitless
+search for the necessary talents at home, Jefferson and his fellow
+members on the board of the university decided to procure the
+professors from abroad. This time, however, they were not
+to repeat the mistake of the proposed transplantation of the
+University of Geneva. Several prominent Frenchmen suggested
+by Lafayette were turned down as too ignorant of the
+ways of American youth and the language of the country. There
+remained only one place from which satisfactory instructors
+could be obtained; this was England. Their nationality did
+not raise any serious objection, for, to the resentment of the
+War of 1812 had succeeded the "era of good feeling", and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[Pg 511]</a></span>
+Francis Walker Gilmer was commissioned to go to England in
+order to consult with Dugald Stewart and to recruit a faculty
+from Great Britain, "the land of our own language, habits
+and manners."<a name="FNanchor_548_548" id="FNanchor_548_548"></a><a href="#Footnote_548_548" class="fnanchor">[548]</a></p>
+
+<p>Eighteen months later, the Rector declared the experiment
+highly successful, and the example likely to be followed by other
+institutions of learning.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It cannot fail&mdash;wrote Jefferson&mdash;to be one of the efficacious
+means of promoting that cordial good will, which it is so much the
+interest of both nations to cherish. These teachers can never utter
+an unfriendly sentiment towards their native country; and those
+into whom their instruction will be infused, are not of ordinary
+significance only; they are exactly the persons who are to succeed
+to the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its
+friendships and fortunes.<a name="FNanchor_549_549" id="FNanchor_549_549"></a><a href="#Footnote_549_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Thus after fifty years, Jefferson was able to make real his
+educational dream of the Revolutionary period, to endow his
+native State with an institution of higher learning in which the
+future leaders of the nation would be instructed. They would
+no longer have to be sent abroad to obtain the required knowledge
+in some subjects; nor would they have to study in "the
+Northern seminaries", there to be infected with pernicious
+doctrines; above all, they would be preserved from any sectarian
+influence during their formative years; for no particular
+creed was to be taught at the university, although the majority
+of the faculty belonged to the Episcopal Church.</p>
+
+<p>The University of Virginia was the last great task to which
+Jefferson put his hand, an achievement of which he was no less
+proud than of having written the Declaration of Independence.
+To bring it to a successful conclusion this septuagenarian displayed
+an admirable tenacity, a resourcefulness, a practical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[Pg 512]</a></span>
+wisdom, a sense of the immediate possibilities and an idealistic
+vision, the combination of which typifies the best there is in
+the national character of the American people. It would take
+many pages to study in detail Jefferson's educational ideas,
+as he expressed them in the minutes of the board and in his
+many letters to John Adams, Thomas Cooper and Joseph
+Cabell. The most remarkable feature of the new institution
+was that, for the first time in the history of the country, higher
+education was made independent of the Church, and to a large
+extent the foundation of the University of Virginia marks the
+beginning of the secularization of scientific research in America.
+Its "father" certainly gave some thought to the possible extension
+of the educational system that had finally won recognition
+in his native Virginia, to all the States in the country; but he
+was too fully aware of the difficulties to follow his old friend
+Du Pont de Nemours and to propose a Plan for a National
+Education. At least he "had made a beginning", he "had
+set an example", and he built even better than he knew. The
+man who wished to be remembered as the "father of the University
+of Virginia" was also, in more than one sense, the father of
+the State universities which play such an important part in the
+education of the American democracy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[Pg 513]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III</h3>
+
+<h2>THE PHILOSOPHY OF OLD AGE</h2>
+
+
+<p>Old people are often accused of being too conservative, and
+even reactionary. They seem out of step with the younger
+generations, and very few preserve enough resiliency to keep in
+touch with the ceaseless changes taking place around them.
+But a few men who, born in the second half of the eighteenth
+century, lived well up into the nineteenth, were able to escape
+this apparently unavoidable law of nature. After witnessing
+political convulsions, commotions and revolutions, they clung
+tenaciously to the faith of their younger days. They refused
+to accept the view that the world was going from bad to worse;
+they looked untiringly for every symptom of improvement and
+thought they could distinguish everywhere signs foretelling the
+dawn of a new era. The growing infirmities of their bodies did
+not leave them any illusion about their inevitable disappearance
+from the stage and they were not upheld by any strong
+belief in personal immortality. But however uncertain and
+hazy may have been their religious tenets, they had a stanch
+faith in the unlimited capacity of human nature for improvement
+and development. They believed in the irresistible
+power of truth, in the ultimate recognition of natural principles
+and natural laws, in the religion of progress as it had been
+formulated by the eighteenth-century philosophers. Thus,
+rather than follow the precept of the ancient poet and unhitch
+their aging horses, they had anticipated the advice of the
+American philosopher by hitching their wagon to a star.</p>
+
+<p>Du Pont de Nemours, experimenting with his sons to develop
+American industries in order to make America economically<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[Pg 514]</a></span>
+independent from Europe; Destutt de Tracy, almost completely
+blind, dictating his treatise on political economy and
+appearing in the streets of Paris during the glorious days of
+1830; Lafayette, yearning and hoping for the recognition of his
+ideal of liberty during the Empire and the <i>Restauration</i>&mdash;all of
+these were more than survivors of a forgotten age. Even to the
+younger generations they represented the living embodiment of
+the political faith of the nineteenth century. It is not a mere
+coincidence that most of them were friends and admirers of the
+Sage of Monticello, whose letters they read "as the letters of the
+Apostles were read in the circle of the early Christians."</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson could complain that "the decays of age had enfeebled
+the useful energies of the mind",<a name="FNanchor_550_550" id="FNanchor_550_550"></a><a href="#Footnote_550_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a> but he kept, practically
+to his last day, his alertness, his encyclop&aelig;dic curiosity and
+an extraordinary capacity for work. A large part of his time
+was taken by his correspondence. Turning to his letter list
+for 1820 he found that he had received no less than "one thousand
+two hundred and sixty-seven communications, many of
+them requiring answers of elaborate research, and all of them
+to be answered with due attention and consideration."<a name="FNanchor_551_551" id="FNanchor_551_551"></a><a href="#Footnote_551_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a> I may
+be permitted to add that a large part of the letters he received
+as well as those he wrote deserve publication and would greatly
+contribute to our knowledge of the period.</p>
+
+<p>Among them essays and short treatises on every possible
+subject under heaven will be found. With Du Pont de
+Nemours, Jefferson discussed not only questions of political
+economy, education and government, but the acclimation of the
+merino sheep, the manufacturing of woolen goods and nails,
+the construction of gunboats and the organization of the militia.
+With Madame de Tess&eacute;, Lafayette's aged cousin, he resumed the
+exchange of botanical views, interrupted by his presidency and
+the continental blockade. He undertook to put together the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[Pg 515]</a></span>
+scraps of paper on which he had scribbled notes during Washington's
+and Adams' administrations and compiled his famous
+"Anas"; he wrote his "Autobiography", furnished documents
+to Girardin for his continuation of Burke's "History of Virginia";
+he answered queries on the circumstances under which
+he had written the Declaration of Independence, the Kentucky
+Resolution, on his attitude towards France when Secretary of
+State and President; he criticized quite extensively Marshall's
+"History of Washington" and one of his last letters, written on
+May 15, 1826, was to inform one of his friends of the facts concerning
+"Arnold's invasion and surprise of Richmond, in the
+winter of 1780-81."<a name="FNanchor_552_552" id="FNanchor_552_552"></a><a href="#Footnote_552_552" class="fnanchor">[552]</a></p>
+
+<p>His interest in books was greater than ever; he had scarcely
+sold his library to Congress when he undertook to collect
+another, going systematically through the publishers' catalogues,
+writing to booksellers in Richmond, Philadelphia, New
+York and even abroad, requesting his European friends to
+send him the latest publications and asking young Ticknor to
+procure for him, in France or Germany, the best editions of
+the Greek and Latin classics. He drew up the plans for the
+University of Virginia and supervised the construction of the
+building. Between times he took upon himself the task of
+rewriting entirely the translation of Destutt de Tracy's "Review
+of Montesquieu" and directed the printing of his treatise on
+"Political Economy." After writing letters, regulating the
+work of the farm, he spent several hours on horseback every
+day and during the balance of the afternoon read new and old
+books, played with his grandchildren, walked in the garden to
+look at his favorite trees, listened to music and, during the
+fine weather, received the visitors who flocked to Monticello
+by the dozens. Some were simply idlers coming out of curiosity,
+many were old friends who stayed for days or weeks; but
+all were welcomed with the same affable courtesy and the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[Pg 516]</a></span>
+generous hospitality, according to the best traditions of old
+Virginia.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>They came from all nations, at all times&mdash;wrote Doctor Dunglison&mdash;and
+paid longer or shorter visits. I have known a New
+England judge bring a letter of introduction and stay three weeks.
+The learned abb&eacute; Correa, always a welcome guest, passed some
+weeks of each year with us during the whole time of his stay in the
+country. We had persons from abroad, from all the States of the
+Union, from every part of the State&mdash;men, women, and children....
+People of wealth, fashion, men in office, Protestant clergymen,
+Catholic priests, members of Congress, foreign ministers, missionaries,
+Indian agents, tourists, travellers, artists, strangers, friends.<a name="FNanchor_553_553" id="FNanchor_553_553"></a><a href="#Footnote_553_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>No sound estimate of the extraordinary influence exerted by
+Jefferson upon the growth of liberalism can be made at the
+present time. It would require separate studies, careful investigation
+and the publication of many letters, safely preserved but
+too little used, which rest in the Jefferson Papers of the Library
+of Congress, and with the Massachusetts Historical Society. I
+have already printed Jefferson's correspondence with Volney,
+Destutt de Tracy, Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours; many
+other letters, no less significant, remain practically unknown.
+He encouraged his European friends, Correa de Serra, Kosciusko,
+the Greek Coray, to keep up their courage, to hope
+against hope. To all of them he preached the same gospel of
+faith in the ultimate and inevitable recognition throughout the
+world of the principles of American democracy. This was not
+done for propaganda's sake, for no man would deserve less than
+Jefferson the dubious qualification of propagandist. The many
+letters written to his American friends on the same subject
+clearly show that this was his profound conviction and almost
+his only <i>raison d'&ecirc;tre</i>. His was not an over-optimistic temperament;
+he did not fail to notice all "the specks of hurricane on
+the horizon of the world." Yet, all considered, and in spite of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[Pg 517]</a></span>
+temporary fits of despondency, his conclusion on the future
+of democracy can be summed up in the words he wrote to
+John Adams at the end of 1821:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I will not believe our labors are lost. I shall not die without a
+hope that light and liberty are on a steady advance. We have seen
+indeed, once within the record of history, the complete eclipse of the
+human mind continuing for centuries ... even should the cloud of
+barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of
+Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty
+to them. In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July
+1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by
+the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume
+these engines and all who work them.<a name="FNanchor_554_554" id="FNanchor_554_554"></a><a href="#Footnote_554_554" class="fnanchor">[554]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Jefferson felt such a dislike for unnecessary controversies
+that he was apt to adopt the tone and the style of his correspondents
+and apparently to accept their ideas, so that many
+contradictions can be found in these letters. To a chosen few
+only he fully revealed his intimate thoughts and without reticence,
+without fear of being betrayed, communicated his doubts,
+his hopes and his hatred. The letters he wrote to Short,
+Priestley, and Thomas Cooper are most remarkable in this
+respect. But with none of them did he communicate so freely
+as with his old friend John Adams. The correspondence that
+passed between them during the last fifteen years of their lives
+constitutes one of the most striking and illuminating human
+documents a student of psychology may ever hope to discover.
+To those who have had the privilege of using the manuscripts
+to follow month by month the palsied hand of Adams until he
+had to cease writing himself and dictated his letters to a "female
+member of his household", it seems unthinkable that the wish
+expressed by Wirt in 1826,&mdash;to see the correspondence between
+the two great men published in its entirety,&mdash;should not have
+received its fulfillment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[Pg 518]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They had been estranged for a long time, and no word had
+passed between them for more than ten years after Adams'
+sulky departure from Washington on the morning of March 4,
+1801. At the beginning of 1811, Doctor Benjamin Rush
+made bold to deplore "the discontinuance of friendly correspondence
+between Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson
+answered quite lengthily, giving a long account of his difficulties
+with Adams, including the letter written by Abigail Adams
+in 1802, but adding that he would second with pleasure every
+effort made to bring about a reconciliation. However, he did
+not entertain much hope that Doctor Rush would succeed, for
+he knew it was "part of Mr. Adams' character to suspect foul
+play in those of whom he is jealous, and not easily to relinquish
+his suspicions."<a name="FNanchor_555_555" id="FNanchor_555_555"></a><a href="#Footnote_555_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a></p>
+
+<p>It was not until the end of the same year that Jefferson took
+up the subject again, having heard that during a conversation
+Adams had mentioned his name, adding: "I always loved
+Jefferson, and still love him." This was enough, and it only
+remained to create an opportunity to resume the correspondence
+without too much awkwardness; but "from this fusion of
+sentiments" Mrs. Adams was "of course to be separated", for
+Jefferson could not believe that the woman wounded in her
+motherly pride had forgotten anything. This was no insuperable
+obstacle, however: "It will only be necessary that I never
+name her" wrote Jefferson.<a name="FNanchor_556_556" id="FNanchor_556_556"></a><a href="#Footnote_556_556" class="fnanchor">[556]</a></p>
+
+<p>Adams took the first step, and, knowing how much Jefferson
+was interested in domestic manufactures, sent him a fine
+specimen of homespun made in Massachusetts. Jefferson
+could but acknowledge the peace offering, which he did most
+gracefully, without mentioning Mrs. Adams.<a name="FNanchor_557_557" id="FNanchor_557_557"></a><a href="#Footnote_557_557" class="fnanchor">[557]</a> But he was too
+much of a Southern gentleman to hold a resentment long even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[Pg 519]</a></span>
+against a woman of such a jealous disposition. Two months
+later he sent for the first time the homage of his respects to
+Mrs. Adams, after which he never forgot to mention her. On
+two occasions he even wrote her charming letters, in the same
+friendly tone as he had used with her twenty-five years earlier,
+when he used to do shopping for her in Paris. On hearing of
+her death on November 13, 1818, he sent to his stricken old
+friend a touching expression of his sympathy:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Will I say more where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort
+to us both, that the term is not very distant, at which we are to
+deposit in the same cerement our sorrows and suffering bodies, and
+to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have
+loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose again.<a name="FNanchor_558_558" id="FNanchor_558_558"></a><a href="#Footnote_558_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Quite naturally, as the circle of his friends grew narrower
+and one after the other were called by death, Jefferson's
+thoughts turned to the hereafter. In his youth he had apparently
+settled the problem once for all; but the solution then
+found was scarcely more than a temporary expedient. It may
+behove a young man full of vigor, with a long stretch of years
+before him, to declare that "the business of life is with matter"
+and that it serves no purpose to break our heads against a
+blank wall. There are very few men, if they are thinking at
+all, who can entirely dismiss from their minds the perplexing
+and torturing riddle, as the term grows nearer every day. Such
+an ataraxia may have been obtained by a few sages of old, but
+it is hardly human, and Jefferson, like Adams, was very human.
+This is a subject, however, which I cannot approach without
+some reluctance. Jefferson himself would have highly disapproved
+of such a discussion. After submitting silently to so
+many fierce criticisms, after being accused of atheism, materialism,
+impiety and philosophism by his contemporaries, he hoped
+that the question would never be broached to him again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[Pg 520]</a></span>
+With those who tried to revive it, he had absolutely no
+patience.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>One of our fan-coloring biographers&mdash;he wrote once&mdash;who
+paint small men as very great, inquired of me lately, with real affection
+too, whether he might consider as authentic, the change in my
+religion much spoken of in some circles. Now this supposed that
+they knew what had been my religion before, taking for it the word
+of their priests, whom I certainly never made the confidants of my
+creed. My answer was: "Say nothing of my religion. It is known
+to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to
+be sought in my life; if that has been <i>honest and dutiful</i> to society,
+the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."<a name="FNanchor_559_559" id="FNanchor_559_559"></a><a href="#Footnote_559_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Unfortunately the controversy is still going on and at least a
+few points must be indicated here. The simplest and to some
+extent the most acceptable treatment of the matter was given a
+few years after his death by the physician who attended him
+up to the last minutes:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is due, also, to that illustrious individual to say, that, in all my
+intercourse with him, I never heard an observation that savored,
+in the slightest degree, of impiety. His religious belief harmonized
+more closely with that of the Unitarians than of any other denomination,
+but it was liberal, and untrammelled by sectarian feelings
+and prejudices.<a name="FNanchor_560_560" id="FNanchor_560_560"></a><a href="#Footnote_560_560" class="fnanchor">[560]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>But Doctor Dunglison's declaration is somewhat unsatisfactory
+and misleading, for Jefferson once gave his own definition
+of Unitarianism. From a letter he wrote to James Smith
+in 1822 it appears he was not ready to join the Unitarian
+Church any more than any other:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>About Unitarianism, the doctrine of the early ages of Christianity
+... the pure and simple unity of the Creator of the universe, is now
+all but ascendant in the Eastern States; it is dawning in the West,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[Pg 521]</a></span>
+and advancing towards the South; and I confidently expect that the
+present generation will see Unitarianism become the general religion
+of the United States.... I write with freedom, because, while
+I claim a right to believe in one God, if so my reason tells me, I yield
+as freely to others that of believing in three.<a name="FNanchor_561_561" id="FNanchor_561_561"></a><a href="#Footnote_561_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On the other hand, one might easily be misled by some
+declarations of Jefferson to his more intimate friends. "I am
+a materialist&mdash;I am an Epicurian," he wrote on several
+instances to John Adams, Thomas Cooper and Short, with
+whom he felt that he could discuss religious questions more
+freely than with any others. Rejecting the famous <i>Cogito
+ergo sum</i> of Descartes, he fell back when in doubt on his "habitual
+anodyne": "I feel therefore I exist." This in his opinion
+did not imply the sole existence of matter, but simply that he
+could not "conceive <i>thought</i> to be an action of a particular
+organisation of matter, formed for the purpose by its Creator,
+as well as that attraction is an action of matter, or magnetism
+of loadstone." Then he added: "I am supported in my creed
+of materialism by the Lockes, the Tracys and the Stewarts.
+At what age of the Christian Church this heresy of immaterialism
+or masked atheism, crept in, I do not exactly know. But a
+heresy it certainly is. Jesus taught nothing of it."<a name="FNanchor_562_562" id="FNanchor_562_562"></a><a href="#Footnote_562_562" class="fnanchor">[562]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the same sense he could write to Judge Augustus S.
+Woodward: "Jesus himself, the Founder of our religion, was
+unquestionably a Materialist as to man. In all His doctrines
+of the resurrection, he teaches expressly that the body is to
+rise in substances."<a name="FNanchor_563_563" id="FNanchor_563_563"></a><a href="#Footnote_563_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a></p>
+
+<p>His definition of Epicurism would seem equally remote from
+the popular acceptation, and certainly Jefferson was never
+of those who could deserve the old appellation of <i>Epicuri de
+grege porcus</i>; for his Epicurus is the philosopher "whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[Pg 522]</a></span>
+doctrines contain everything rational in moral philosophy which
+Greece and Rome have left us."<a name="FNanchor_564_564" id="FNanchor_564_564"></a><a href="#Footnote_564_564" class="fnanchor">[564]</a></p>
+
+<p>All through the year 1813 and on many occasions after that
+date, Adams tried to draw him out on the question of religion.
+"For," as he said, "these things are to me, at present, the
+marbles and nine-pins of old age; I will not say beads and
+prayer books." But Jefferson could not have declared, as did
+his old friend: "For more than sixty years I have been attentive
+to this great subject. Controversies between Calvinists
+and Arminians, Trinitarians and Unitarians, Deists and
+Christians, Atheists and both, have attracted my attention,
+whenever the singular life I have led would admit, to all these
+questions."<a name="FNanchor_565_565" id="FNanchor_565_565"></a><a href="#Footnote_565_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a></p>
+
+<p>Not so with Jefferson, who felt a real abhorrence for theological
+discussions and considered them as a sheer waste of time.
+They belonged to a past age and were to be buried in oblivion
+lest they create again an atmosphere of fanaticism and intolerance;
+at best, they could be left to the clergy. But tolerant
+as he was, there were certain doctrines against which Jefferson
+revolted even in later life, as he probably did when a student
+at William and Mary:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I can never join Calvin in addressing <i>his God</i>. He was indeed an
+atheist, which I can never be; or rather his religion was d&aelig;monism.
+If ever man worshipped a false God, he did. The God described
+in his five points, is not the God whom you acknowledge and adore,
+the Creator and benevolent Governor of the world; but a d&aelig;mon
+of malignant spirit.</p></div>
+
+<p>But right after this virulent denunciation comes a most
+interesting admission. If Jefferson's God was not the God of
+Calvin, he was just as remote from the mechanistic materialism
+of D'Holbach and La Mettrie as he was from Calvinism<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[Pg 523]</a></span>
+and predestination. Leaving aside all questions of dogmas
+and revelation he held that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>When we take a view of the universe, in its parts, general or
+particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and
+feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power
+in every atom of its composition. So irresistible are these evidences
+of an intelligent and powerful Agent, that of the infinite numbers
+of men who have existed through all time, they have believed, in the
+proportion of a million at least to a unit, in the hypothesis of an
+eternal pre-existence of a Creator, rather than in that of a self
+existing universe.<a name="FNanchor_566_566" id="FNanchor_566_566"></a><a href="#Footnote_566_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>From this passage, it would seem that Jefferson founded his
+belief in the existence of God on the two well-known arguments:
+the order of the Universe and the general consensus of opinion.
+If it were so, he would follow close on the steps of the English
+deists of the school of Pope. But religion to him was something
+more than the mere "acknowledgement" and "adoration of the
+benevolent Governor of the world";</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is more than an inner conviction of the existence of the
+Creator; true religion is morality. If by <i>religion</i> we are to understand
+<i>sectarian dogmas</i>, in which no two of them agree, then your
+exclamation on that hypothesis is just, "that this would be the best
+possible of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." But
+if the moral precepts, innate in man, and made a part of his physical
+constitution, as necessary for a social being, if the sublime doctrines
+of philanthropism and deism taught us by Jesus of Nazareth, in
+which we all agree, constitute true religion, then, without it, this
+would be, as you again say, "something not fit to be named even,
+indeed, a hell."<a name="FNanchor_567_567" id="FNanchor_567_567"></a><a href="#Footnote_567_567" class="fnanchor">[567]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>On this point as on so many others Jefferson is distinctly an
+eighteenth-century man. One of the pet schemes of the philosophers
+was to prove that there is no necessary connection
+between religion and morality. It was an essential article<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[Pg 524]</a></span>
+of the philosophical creed from Pierre Bayle to Jefferson, and
+long before them, Montaigne had filled his "Essays" with
+countless anecdotes and examples tending to prove this point.
+But Jefferson went one step farther than most of the French
+philosophers, with the exception of Rousseau. Morality is
+not founded on a religious basis; religion is morality. This
+being accepted, it remains to determine the foundation of
+morality. In a letter written to Thomas Law during the summer
+of 1814, Jefferson examined the different solutions proposed
+by theologians and philosophers and clearly indicated his
+preference.</p>
+
+<p>"It was vain to say that it was truth; for truth is elusive, unattainable,
+and there is no certain criticism of it." It is not
+either the "love of God", for an atheist may have morality, and
+"Diderot, d'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have been the
+most virtuous of men." It is not either the <i>to kalon</i>, for many
+men are deprived of any &aelig;sthetic sense. Self-interest is more
+satisfactory, but even the demonstration given by Helv&eacute;tius is
+not perfectly convincing. All these explanations are one step
+short of the ultimate question.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The truth of the matter is, that Nature has 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 succour their
+distresses. It is true that these social dispositions are not implanted
+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
+without these faculties. When the moral sense is wanting, we
+endeavor to supply the defect by education; by appeals to reason
+and calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily conformed
+other motives to do good. But nature has constituted utility to
+man the social test of virtue. The same act may be useful and
+consequently virtuous in a country which is injurious and vicious in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[Pg 525]</a></span>
+another differently circumstanced. I sincerely then believe, with
+you, in the general existence of a moral instinct. I think it is the
+brightest gem with which the human character is studded, and the
+want of it is more degrading than the most hideous of the bodily
+deformities.<a name="FNanchor_568_568" id="FNanchor_568_568"></a><a href="#Footnote_568_568" class="fnanchor">[568]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The test of morality then becomes, not self-interest, as
+Helv&eacute;tius had maintained (and Jefferson reproved Destutt de
+Tracy for having accepted this theory), but general interest and
+social utility. This is almost the criterium of Kant and one
+would be tempted to press this parallelism, if there was any
+reason to believe that the Philosopher of Monticello had ever
+heard the name of the author of "Practical Reason." On this
+point, as on so many others, Jefferson differs radically from
+Rousseau, who admitted also a benevolent governor of the world
+and the existence of a moral instinct, but who would have
+strenuously denied that this moral instinct was nothing but
+the social instinct. Jefferson, on the contrary, is led to recognize
+the existence of morality, chiefly because, man being a social
+being, society cannot be organized and subsist if it is not
+composed of moral beings.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests
+of society require the observation of those moral precepts in which
+all religions agree, (for all forbid us to murder, steal, plunder or bear
+false witness,) and that we should not intermeddle with the particular
+dogmas in which all religions differ, and which are totally unconnected
+with morality. In all of them we see good men, and as many
+in one as another. The varieties of structures of action of the human
+mind as in those in the body, are the work of our Creator, against
+which it cannot be a religious duty to erect the standard of uniformity.
+The practice of morality being necessary for the well-being
+of society, he has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on
+our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our
+brain.<a name="FNanchor_569_569" id="FNanchor_569_569"></a><a href="#Footnote_569_569" class="fnanchor">[569]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[Pg 526]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was stated more humorously by John Adams after they
+had treated the subject exhaustively in a series of letters:
+"Vain man, mind your own business. Do no wrong&mdash;; do all
+the good you can. Eat your canvasback ducks, drink your
+Burgundy. Sleep your siesta when necessary, and <span class="smcap">TRUST IN
+GOD.</span>"<a name="FNanchor_570_570" id="FNanchor_570_570"></a><a href="#Footnote_570_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a></p>
+
+<p>This being the case, it remained to determine whether man
+could not find somewhere a code of morality that would express
+the precepts impressed in our hearts. In his youth, Jefferson
+had copied and accepted as a matter of course the statement of
+Bolingbroke that:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is not true that Christ revealed an entire body of ethics, proved
+to be the law of nature from principles of reason and reaching all
+duties of life.... A system thus collected from the writings of
+the ancient heathen moralists, of Tully, of Seneca, of Epictetus,
+and others, would be more full, more entire, more coherent, and
+more clearly deduced from unquestionable principles of knowledge.<a name="FNanchor_571_571" id="FNanchor_571_571"></a><a href="#Footnote_571_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>In order to realize how far away Jefferson had drawn from his
+radicalism, it is only necessary to go back to his "Syllabus of an
+Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, compared with
+those of others", written for Benjamin Rush, in 1803, after
+reading Doctor Priestley's little treatise "Of Socrates and
+Jesus compared."<a name="FNanchor_572_572" id="FNanchor_572_572"></a><a href="#Footnote_572_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a> There he had declared that</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>His moral doctrines relating to kindred and friends, were more
+pure and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers,
+and ... they went far in inculcating universal 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.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[Pg 527]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Jefferson had been won over to Christianity by the superior
+social value of the morals of Jesus. In that sense, he could
+already say, "I am a Christian, in the only sense in which He
+wished any one to be, sincerely attached to His doctrines, in
+preference to all others."</p>
+
+<p>This profession of faith made publicly might have assuaged
+some of the fierce attacks directed against Jefferson on the
+ground of his "infidelity", and yet even at that time he emphatically
+begged Doctor Rush not to make it public, for "it behoves
+every man who values liberty of conscience for himself ... 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." To a certain
+extent, however, his famous "Life and Morals of Jesus",
+compiled during the last ten years of his life<a name="FNanchor_573_573" id="FNanchor_573_573"></a><a href="#Footnote_573_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a> may well be
+considered an indirect and yet categorical recantation of
+Bolingbroke's haughty dogmatism. Age, experience, observation
+had mellowed the Stoic. He was not yet ready to accept
+as a whole the dogmas of Christianity, but the superiority of
+the morals of Jesus over the tenets of the "heathen moralists"
+did not any longer leave any doubt in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Whether after the death of the body something of man survived,
+was an entirely different question&mdash;one that human
+reason could not answer satisfactorily. It cannot even be
+stated with certainty that he would have agreed with John
+Adams when the latter wrote: "<i>Il faut trancher le mot.</i> What is
+there in life to attach us to it but the hope of a future and a
+better? It is a cracker, a rocket, a fire-work at best."<a name="FNanchor_574_574" id="FNanchor_574_574"></a><a href="#Footnote_574_574" class="fnanchor">[574]</a></p>
+
+<p>He never denied categorically the existence of a future life,
+but this life was a thing in itself, and after all, it was worth
+living. Altogether this world was a pretty good place, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[Pg 528]</a></span>
+when John Adams asked him whether he would agree to live his
+seventy-three years over again, he answered energetically:
+"Yea.&mdash;I think with you," he added, "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 to us.... 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 foreboding of the gloomy."<a name="FNanchor_575_575" id="FNanchor_575_575"></a><a href="#Footnote_575_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a> His
+old friend was far from attaining such an equanimity and could
+not help envying the Sage of Monticello sailing his bark
+"Hope with her gay ensigns displayed at the prow, Fear with
+her hobgoblins behind the stern. Hope springs eternal and all
+is that endures...." But Jefferson was bolstered up in his
+confident attitude by the intimate conviction that he had done
+good work, that he had contributed his best to the most worthy
+cause and that he had not labored in vain.</p>
+
+<p>This was not only a good world, but it was already much
+better than when he had entered it. He had</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>... observed the march of civilization advancing from the sea
+coast, passing over us like a cloud of light, increasing our knowledge
+and improving our condition, insomuch as that we are at that time
+more advanced in civilization here than the seaports were when I
+was a boy. And where this progress will stop no one can say.
+Barbarism has, in the meantime, been receding before the steady
+step of amelioration; and will in time, I trust, disappear from the
+earth.<a name="FNanchor_576_576" id="FNanchor_576_576"></a><a href="#Footnote_576_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Scarcely two weeks before he died&mdash;and this is practically
+his last important utterance&mdash;he recalled in a letter to the
+citizens of the city of Washington who had invited him to
+attend the celebration held for the fiftieth anniversary of the
+Declaration of Independence, how proud he was that his fellow
+citizens, after fifty years, continued to approve the choice made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[Pg 529]</a></span>
+when the Declaration was adopted. "May it be to the world,"
+he added, "what I believe it will (to some parts sooner, to others
+later, but finally to all) the signal of arousing men to burst the
+chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had
+persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings
+and security of self-government."<a name="FNanchor_577_577" id="FNanchor_577_577"></a><a href="#Footnote_577_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a></p>
+
+<p>This faith in the ultimate recognition of the ideals, which he
+had defined with such a felicity of expression half a century earlier,
+was, even more than any belief in personal immortality, "the
+rocket" that John Adams thought so necessary to attach us to
+this life. It was a real religion, the religion of progress, of the
+eighteenth century which had its devotees and with Condorcet
+its martyr. Strengthened by the intimate conviction that he
+would be judged from his acts and not "from his words", he
+saw the approach of Death without any qualms, and he turned
+back to his old friends of Greece and Rome, for "the classic
+pages fill up the vacuum of <i>ennui</i>, and become sweet composers
+to that rest of the grave into which we are sooner or later to
+descend."<a name="FNanchor_578_578" id="FNanchor_578_578"></a><a href="#Footnote_578_578" class="fnanchor">[578]</a> On many occasions he expressed his readiness to
+depart: "I enjoy good health," he wrote once to John Adams;
+"I am happy in what is around me, yet I assure you I am ripe
+for leaving all, this year, this day, this hour."<a name="FNanchor_579_579" id="FNanchor_579_579"></a><a href="#Footnote_579_579" class="fnanchor">[579]</a> It took almost
+ten years after these lines were written for the call to come.
+Most of his biographers have dealt extensively with the remarkable
+vigor preserved by Jefferson even to his last day. For
+several years after his retirement he remained a hale and robust
+old man. But he felt none the less the approaching dissolution
+and watched anxiously the slow progress of his physical limitations.
+His letters do not completely bear out on this point the
+statement made by Mrs. Sarah Randolph in her "Domestic
+Life of Thomas Jefferson."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[Pg 530]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At seventy-three he was still remarkably robust and, with the
+minuteness of a physician, described his case in a letter to his
+old friend Charles Thomson:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I retain good health, am rather feeble to walk much, but ride
+with ease, passing two or three hours a day on horseback.... My
+eyes need the aid of glasses by night, and with small print in the day
+also; my hearing is not quite so sensible as it used to be; no tooth
+shaking yet, but shivering and shrinking in body from the cold we
+now experience; my thermometer having been as low as 12&deg; this
+morning. My greatest oppression is a correspondence afflictingly
+laborious, the extent of which I have been long endeavoring to curtail.
+Could I reduce this epistolary corv&eacute;e within the limits of my
+friends and affairs ... my life would be as happy as the infirmities
+of age would admit, and I should look on its consummation with the
+composure of one "<i>qui summum nec metuit diem nec optat</i>."<a name="FNanchor_580_580" id="FNanchor_580_580"></a><a href="#Footnote_580_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>This remarkable preservation of his faculties he attributed
+largely to his abstemious diet. For years he had eaten little
+animal food, and that "not as an aliment so much as a condiment
+for the vegetables", which constituted his principal diet.
+"I double however the Doctor'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."<a name="FNanchor_581_581" id="FNanchor_581_581"></a><a href="#Footnote_581_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a></p>
+
+<p>Yet he had to admit to Mrs. Trist in 1814 that he was only
+"an old half-strung fiddle",<a name="FNanchor_582_582" id="FNanchor_582_582"></a><a href="#Footnote_582_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a> and as he advanced in age the
+"machine" gave evident signs of wearing out. The recurrence
+of the suffering caused by his broken wrist, badly set in Paris
+by the famous Louis,<a name="FNanchor_583_583" id="FNanchor_583_583"></a><a href="#Footnote_583_583" class="fnanchor">[583]</a> and still worse the very painful "disury"
+with which he was afflicted<a name="FNanchor_584_584" id="FNanchor_584_584"></a><a href="#Footnote_584_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a> gave him many unhappy hours.
+To die was nothing, for as he wrote then in his old "Common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[Pg 531]</a></span>place
+Book", "I do not worry about the hereafter, even if now
+the doom of death stands at my feet, for we are men and cannot
+live forever. To all of us death must happen."<a name="FNanchor_585_585" id="FNanchor_585_585"></a><a href="#Footnote_585_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a> But "bodily
+decay" was "gloomy in prospect, for of all human contemplation
+the most abhorrent is a body without mind. To be a
+doting old man, to repeat four times over the same story in one
+hour", if this was life, it was "at most the life of a cabbage."<a name="FNanchor_586_586" id="FNanchor_586_586"></a><a href="#Footnote_586_586" class="fnanchor">[586]</a>
+He was spared this affliction he dreaded so much, and when
+Lafayette visited him in November, 1824, the Marquis found
+him "much aged without doubt, after a separation of thirty-five
+years, but bearing marvelously well under his eighty-one years
+of age, in full possession of all the vigor of his mind and heart."<a name="FNanchor_587_587" id="FNanchor_587_587"></a><a href="#Footnote_587_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a>
+Six months later, when Lafayette took his final leave, Jefferson
+was weaker and confined to his house, suffering much "with
+one foot in the grave and the other one uplifted to follow it."</p>
+
+<p>Death was slowly approaching, without any particular
+disease being noticeable; after running for eighty-three years
+"the machine" was about to "surcease motion." The end has
+been told by several contemporaries and friends. No account
+is more simple and more touching in its simplicity than the
+relation written by his attending physician, Doctor Dunglison:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Until the 2d. and 3d. of July he spoke freely of his approaching
+death; made all arrangements with his grandson, Mr. Randolph, in
+regard to his private affairs; and expressed his anxiety for the
+prosperity of the University and his confidence in the exertion in
+its behalf of Mr. Madison and the other visitors. He repeatedly,
+too, mentioned his obligation to me for my attention to him. During
+the last week of his existence I remained at Monticello; and
+one of the last remarks he made was to me. In the course of the day
+and night of the 2d of July he was affected with stupor, with intervals
+of wakefulness and consciousness; but on the 3d the stupor became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[Pg 532]</a></span>
+almost permanent. About seven o'clock of the evening of that day
+he awoke and, seeing me staying at his bedside, exclaimed, "Ah,
+Doctor, are you still there?" in a voice, however, that was husky
+and indistinct. He then asked, "Is it the Fourth?" to which I
+replied, "It will soon be." These were the last words I heard him
+utter.</p>
+
+<p>Until towards the middle of the day&mdash;the 4th&mdash;he remained in
+the same state, or nearly so, wholly unconscious to everything that
+was passing around him. His circulation, however, was gradually
+becoming more languid; and for some time prior to dissolution the
+pulse at the wrist was imperceptible. About one o'clock he ceased
+to exist.<a name="FNanchor_588_588" id="FNanchor_588_588"></a><a href="#Footnote_588_588" class="fnanchor">[588]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A few days before he had taken his final dispositions and seen
+all the members of his family. He was not a man to indulge in
+a painful display of emotions, but he told his dear daughter
+Martha that "in a certain drawer in an old pocket book she
+would find something for her." It was a piece of paper on
+which he had written eight lines "A death bed adieu from Th. J.
+to M. R." There was no philosophism nor classical reminiscence
+in it; it was the simple expression of his last hope that on
+the shore</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Which crowns all my hopes, or which buries my care</i>" he
+would find awaiting him "two seraphs long shrouded in death",
+his beloved wife and his young daughter Maria.</p>
+
+<p>He was buried by their side in the family plot of Monticello.
+According to his wishes no invitations were issued and no notice
+of the hour given. "His body was borne privately from his
+dwelling by his family and servants, but his neighbors and
+friends, anxious to pay the last tribute of respect to one they
+had loved and honored, waited for it in crowds at the grave."
+A typically American scene, without parade, without speeches
+and long ceremonies&mdash;almost a pioneer burial in a piece of
+land reclaimed from the wilderness.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+
+
+<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> To Mrs. Bingham, Paris, February 7, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 81.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> To Jefferson Randolph, November 24, 1808, Memorial Edition, XII, 197.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> To John Adams, June 11, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 160.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", by S. N. Randolph. New York, 1857, p. 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> "Notes on Virginia." Query XV.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I., 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> November 24, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 197.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> William Wirt Henry: "Life of Patrick Henry." New York, 1891, vol. I, p. 41.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> January 20, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> July 15, 1763. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> "The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1927. "The
+Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1928.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> To John Page, Shadwell, July 15, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Mary Newton Stanard: "Colonial Virginia." Philadelphia, 1917, p. 306.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> To Peter Carr. Memorial Edition, VI, 258.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "Samson Agonistes", v, 1025.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See also "Commonplace Book", p. 330, and "Writings." Memorial Edition, XV,
+239, March 14, 1820.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Hecuba", 592, in "Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> "Hecuba", 306.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Bolingbroke, in "Literary Bible."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Stanard, p. 240.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> These memoranda are in the Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the Massachusetts
+Historical Society.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> To Wirt, August 5, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 335.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> "Autobiography." <i>Ibid.</i>, I, 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Randall, "Life of Jefferson", I, 16, <i>n.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> "Paradise Lost", 1. 4, v., 337.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> To John Page, February 21, 1770. Memorial Edition, IV, 17.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> June 9, 1770, and June 6, 1773. The diplomas are preserved in the Jefferson papers
+of the Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Quoted by Stanard, p. 163.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Quoted by T. N. Page, p. 147.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "Autobiography", p. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> This passage has been overlooked by Randall, and naturally by Mr. Hirst, who
+follows Randall very closely here as elsewhere. Hirst, p. 69. The Fairfax resolutions
+did not recognize the right of the British Parliament to regulate the commerce of the
+colony; they admitted the <i>expediency</i> but denied the <i>right</i> of such a procedure.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> George Mason, I, 393.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> See "Commonplace Book", 229-257.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> "Commonplace Book", p. 135.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Stanard, p. 250.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> To John Randolph, Attorney-general, August 25, 1775. Memorial Edition, IV, 28.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> August 31, 1775.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> November 29, 1775. Memorial Edition, IV, 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> The full text will be found in the Ford Edition, II, 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> See "Life of G. Mason", I, Appendix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> "Journals of Congress", V, 425.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 431.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 25.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> "Life and Correspondence of G. Mason", I, 438.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> To Thomas Nelson, May 16, 1776. Memorial Edition, IV, 253.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> "Writings", Ford, II, 41.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Ford, II, 61.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> "Journals of Congress", July 12, V, 546 and August 20, V, 674.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> "Journals of Congress", October 14, 1774, I, 67.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> See "Commonplace Book", 107, 111 <i>et ff.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> "Journals of Congress", V., 517.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> August 13, 1776. Ford, II, 78.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Ford, II, 91, October 11, 1776.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Randall, I, 196.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Ford, II, 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Concerning the opposition he encountered, see "Autobiography." Ford, I, 54.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> "Autobiography", <i>Ibid.</i>, I, 58.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 276.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 277.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Note for the biography of John Saunderson, Esq., August 31, 1820. "Autobiography",
+Appendix A. Ford, I, 107.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Monticello, November 1, 1778. Memorial Edition, I, 216.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> "Notes on Virginia", Query XVII.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> "Commonplace Book", p. 362.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> This seems to be the first draft of the document; another copy in the Jefferson
+Coolidge Collection presents few variants, the most important being found in the second
+sentence which reads, "Yet desirous of encouraging and supporting the Calvinistical
+Reformed Church, and of deriving" etc. The list of names appended to that second
+version is considerably longer and besides the original signers includes fourteen other
+supporters of the Reverend Charles Clay.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 73.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> See my edition of the Jefferson-Lafayette Correspondence, Paris and Baltimore,
+1929.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Jefferson to General Philips. Quoted by Randall, I, 235.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> See his letter dated from Paris, November 20, 1789.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> To Baron de Riedesel, July 4, 1779. Ford, II, 245.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> July 17, 1779. <i>Ibid.</i>, II, 247.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> July 22, 1779. <i>Ibid.</i>, II, 249.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> October 1, 1779. Ford, II, 258.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> October 8, 1779. <i>Ibid.</i>, II, 261.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, II, 263.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> To The Virginia Delegation in Congress, October 27, 1780. To Colonel Vanmeter,
+April 27, 1781. <i>Ibid.</i>, III, 24.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> "A Diary kept by Th: J. from Dec. 31. 1780 to Jan. 11. 1781 and more general
+Notes of subsequent transactions during the British invasion." Jefferson Papers.
+Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Lafayette transmitted the letter on June 26, 1781, but Jefferson did not receive it
+until the beginning of August. <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> To E. Randolph, September 16, 1781. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> June 11, 1782. Randall, I, 376.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> The story of the publication has been told by P. L. Ford in a most scholarly edition
+of the "Notes on Virginia" in the "Writings" of Jefferson.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> June 7, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> To Arch. Stuart, September 8, 1818. Ford, III, 231, <i>n.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Iliad XXII, 389.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> "Domestic Life", p. 67.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> To Chastellux, November 26, 1782, in Randall, I, 1782.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> "Autobiography", Memorial Edition, I, 76.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> January 22, 1783. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 215.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> To Madison, May 7, 1783. Ford, III, 329.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> This point appears even more clearly in Jefferson correspondence with Du Pont de
+Nemours, to appear shortly.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> "Report on letters from the Ministers in Paris." December 20, 1783. Ford, III,
+355.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Ford, III, 377.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> February 1, 1784. Ford, III, 393.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Ford, III, p. 430.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> See Ford, III, 407 and 429.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, III, 476.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> March, 1784. <i>Ibid</i>, III, p. 428.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> To George Washington, April 16, 1784. Ford, III, 466 and 470.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> To James Madison, February 20, 1784. <i>Ibid.</i>, III, 403.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> To Mrs. Trist, Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> See G. Chinard, "Les Amiti&eacute;s am&eacute;ricaines de Madame d'Houdetot." Paris, 1923.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> May 24, 1785, November 12, 1785, etc. Massachusetts Historical Society.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Chinard, "Trois Amiti&eacute;s Fran&ccedil;aises de Jefferson." Paris, 1927.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Most of her letters to Jefferson are in the Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the
+Massachusetts Historical Society.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> April 6, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 80.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Diary of Martha. <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 74.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 84.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> April 11, 1787. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 303.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, XVII, 153.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> Nismes, March 20, 1787.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> To J. Bannister, Junior, October 15, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 185.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> To Bellini, September 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 153.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> To Crevecoeur, January 15, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 53.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> To Carmichael, December 26, 1786.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> To Skipwith, July 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 187.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> August 10, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 262.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Jefferson to the Governor of Maryland. June 16, 1785. Memorial Edition,
+V, 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> To Messrs. French and Nephew. July 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 34.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> August 15, 1785. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 68.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Feb. 20, 1786.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Lafayette's letter. March 18, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> To the Governor of Virginia, January 24, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 253.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> To James Ross, May 8, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 321.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> To James Ross, May 8, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 329.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> For a brief but satisfactory treatment see W. K. Woolery. "The Relation of
+Thomas Jefferson to American Foreign Policy, 1783-1793." Baltimore, 1927.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Letter to Lafayette, July 17, 1786. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> July 9, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 357.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> To Washington, August 14, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 277.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 478.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> July 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> To Jay, August 14,1785. Memorial Edition, V, 65.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> To John Jay, April 23, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 300.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> To T. Pleasants, May 8, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 324.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> To Jay, September 26, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 426.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> To Jay, September 26, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 426; to Adams, July 17,
+1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 173; to James Madison, August 2, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 215.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> To J. Adams, July 17, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 173.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> To John Jay, August 6, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 248.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> December 21, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 394.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> To Dumas, February 12, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 429.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> To Adams, February 6, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 419. To The Commissioners of the
+Treasury, Feb. 7, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 421.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> March 16, 1788. Memorial Edition, VI, 438.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> To the Commissioners of the Treasury, March 29, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 433.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 447 and 445.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> To the Honorable, The Board of the Treasury, May 16, 1788. Memorial Edition,
+VII, 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> To John Jay, May 23, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 22; To the Commissioners of the Treasury,
+September 6, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 136.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> To James Madison, November 18, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 186.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> To John Jay, March 12, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 296.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> To John Jay, May 9, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 345.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> To John Jay, September 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 471.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 129.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> To John Adams, February 23, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 97.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> To James Madison, June 20, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 132.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> August 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 227.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> September 10, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 295.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> To John Adams, November 13, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 370. See also
+letter to Colonel Smith, written the same day. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 372.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> December 11, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 380.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> December 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 393.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> To Donald, February 7, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 425.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> To Carmichael and to Colonel Carrington, May 27, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 27, 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> To Carmichael, August 12, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 124; to James Madison, November
+18, 1788, <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 183; to General Washington, December 4, 1788, <i>Ibid.</i>, VII,
+223.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> To Colonel Humphreys, March 18, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 324.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Jefferson to Monroe, May 10, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 327.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> To Major General Greene, January 12, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 246.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> "Autobiography", <i>Ibid.</i>, I, 97 and July 11, 1786, <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 364.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> See my edition of the Jefferson Lafayette correspondence, chapter II. Paris,
+Baltimore, 1929.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> "Memoirs", II, 148.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> To John Jay, August 14, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 63.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> To Baron Geismer, September 6, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 128.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 131.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> To Count Hogendorp, October 13, 1785. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 182.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> To John Page, May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 306.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> To Dumas, May 6, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, V, 309.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> To John Jay, May 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 119.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> To Carmichael, May 27, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> To Count Hagendorf, October 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 181.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> November 12, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 202.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> December 21, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 396; see also letter to John Jay, May 4,
+1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 122.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> See "Les Amiti&eacute;s Fran&ccedil;aises de Madame d'Houdetot." Paris, 1925.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> To Mrs. Trist. Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> To James Monroe, April 15, 1785. Ford, IV, 59.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> To Abigail Adams, June 21, 1785. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 59.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> To Mrs. Adams, July 7, 1785. Ford, IV, 68.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> To George Wythe, August 13, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 268-269.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> To Mrs. Maria Cosway, October 12, 1786. Ford, IV, 323.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> November, 1786. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 328.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> To Edward Carrington. January 16, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, IV, 357.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> To J. Jay, January 9, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> January 16, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 56.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> February 23, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 99.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> February 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 101.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> March 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 105.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> To James Madison, June 20, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 134.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> August 5, 1787, Memorial Edition. VI, 235.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 247.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> To Washington, August 14, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 276.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> August 14, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 279.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> To John Adams, August 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 287.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> October 8, 1787. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI, 338.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> To William Rutledge, February 2, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VI. 417.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> To De Moustier, May 17, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> July 18, 1788.  <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 81.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> July 24, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 87.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> To Colonel Monroe, August 9, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 113.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> August 12, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 124.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> To Cutting, August 23, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 131.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> To Short, November 2, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 159.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> To Washington, December 4, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 228.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> To Doctor Currie, December 20, 1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 259.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> To Shippen, March 11, 1789. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 291.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> March 17, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 317.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 321.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> To Lafayette, May 6, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 334. To Carmichael, May 8,
+1788. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 337.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> To John Jay, May 9, 1789. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 345.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> To Crevec&#339;ur, May 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 368.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> To Madison, June 18,1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 386.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> To John Jay, June 24-25, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 395.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 268.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1929.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> Memorial Edition, VIII, 454.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> To J. Jay, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 409 and to James Madison
+July 22. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 424.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> Manuscript. Library of Congress, July 20, 1789.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> Jefferson Papers.  Library of Congress, probably August, 1789.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> September 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 474.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> "Autobiography", I, 156.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> To M. l'Abb&eacute; Arnoud, Paris, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 422.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> To Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> To John Jay, September 19, 1789. <i>Ibid.</i>, VII, 467.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> To James Madison, January 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 70.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> To James Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> "Trois amiti&eacute;s fran&ccedil;aises de Jefferson", p. 188.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> Madison to Washington. January 4, 1790.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> Washington to Jefferson. January 21.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_237_237" id="Footnote_237_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> "Autobiography", p. 161.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_238_238" id="Footnote_238_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> "Trois amiti&eacute;s fran&ccedil;aises de Jefferson", p. 195. February 28, 1790.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_239_239" id="Footnote_239_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 103.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_240_240" id="Footnote_240_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> Memorial Edition, I, 274.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_241_241" id="Footnote_241_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> March 28, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_242_242" id="Footnote_242_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> June 13, 1790. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 36.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_243_243" id="Footnote_243_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> June 20, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 43.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_244_244" id="Footnote_244_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> June 23, 1790.  Memorial Edition, VIII, 47.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_245_245" id="Footnote_245_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> To Gilmer, June 27, 1790. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 53.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_246_246" id="Footnote_246_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246_246"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 63.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_247_247" id="Footnote_247_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247_247"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> November 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 107.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_248_248" id="Footnote_248_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248_248"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> December 3, 1790. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 109.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_249_249" id="Footnote_249_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249_249"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> February 4, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_250_250" id="Footnote_250_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250_250"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> "Writings", VI, 19-43.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_251_251" id="Footnote_251_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251_251"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> To the President of the United States. Memorial Edition, VIII, 192. May 8, 1791.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_252_252" id="Footnote_252_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252_252"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> Memorial Edition, VIII, 208.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_253_253" id="Footnote_253_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 223.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_254_254" id="Footnote_254_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254_254"><span class="label">[254]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 2, 1793.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_255_255" id="Footnote_255_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255_255"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> August 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 229.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_256_256" id="Footnote_256_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256_256"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> August 30, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 241.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_257_257" id="Footnote_257_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257_257"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> To John Adams, August 30, 1791. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 245.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_258_258" id="Footnote_258_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258_258"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> December 23, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 275.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_259_259" id="Footnote_259_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259_259"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> March 1, 1792. Memorial Edition, I, 292, "Anas."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_260_260" id="Footnote_260_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260_260"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> May 23, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 341.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_261_261" id="Footnote_261_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261_261"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> September 9, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 408.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_262_262" id="Footnote_262_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262_262"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> To Thomas Pinckney, December 3, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 443.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_263_263" id="Footnote_263_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263_263"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> To Doctor George Gilmer, December 15, 1792. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 444.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_264_264" id="Footnote_264_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264_264"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 445.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_265_265" id="Footnote_265_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265_265"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> April 6, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 19.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_266_266" id="Footnote_266_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266_266"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> April 2. Memorial Edition, VIII, 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_267_267" id="Footnote_267_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267_267"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> July 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 65.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_268_268" id="Footnote_268_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268_268"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> To Carmichael, August 2, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 70.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_269_269" id="Footnote_269_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269_269"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> To Short, August 10, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_270_270" id="Footnote_270_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270_270"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> To Gouverneur Morris, August 12, 1790. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 85.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_271_271" id="Footnote_271_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271_271"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> To Colonel Mason, February 4, 1791.  Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_272_272" id="Footnote_272_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272_272"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> To the President of the National Assembly, March 8, 1791. Memorial Edition,
+VIII, 37.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_273_273" id="Footnote_273_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273_273"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> To W. Short, April 25, 1791. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 185.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_274_274" id="Footnote_274_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274_274"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> See also my edition of the "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson", chapter III. Paris,
+Baltimore, 1929.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_275_275" id="Footnote_275_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275_275"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> To W. Short, July 28, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 217.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_276_276" id="Footnote_276_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276_276"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> July 30, 1791. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 225.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_277_277" id="Footnote_277_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277_277"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> To Edward Rutledge, August 25, 1791. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 234.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_278_278" id="Footnote_278_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278_278"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> To Short, November 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 261.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_279_279" id="Footnote_279_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279_279"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> To Short, January 28, 1792. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 297.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_280_280" id="Footnote_280_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280_280"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> March 10, 1792. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 311.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_281_281" id="Footnote_281_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281_281"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> To Lafayette, June 16, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 381.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_282_282" id="Footnote_282_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282_282"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> November 7, 1792. <i>Ibid.</i>, VIII, 437.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_283_283" id="Footnote_283_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283_283"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> November 20, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 441.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_284_284" id="Footnote_284_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284_284"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> January 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_285_285" id="Footnote_285_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285_285"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> To G. Morris, March 12, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 37.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_286_286" id="Footnote_286_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286_286"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> To &mdash;&mdash;, March 18, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_287_287" id="Footnote_287_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287_287"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> "Anas", February 20, 1793.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_288_288" id="Footnote_288_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288_288"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> To Messrs. Carmichael and Short, March 23, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 55.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_289_289" id="Footnote_289_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289_289"><span class="label">[289]</span></a> March 21, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 49.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_290_290" id="Footnote_290_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290_290"><span class="label">[290]</span></a> To C. W. Dumas, March 23, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 57.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_291_291" id="Footnote_291_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291_291"><span class="label">[291]</span></a> To E. P. Van Berckel, April 23, 1793. To Morris, Pinckney and Short, April 26,
+1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 68-69.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_292_292" id="Footnote_292_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292_292"><span class="label">[292]</span></a> April 27, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 70.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_293_293" id="Footnote_293_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293_293"><span class="label">[293]</span></a> May 5, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 75.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_294_294" id="Footnote_294_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294_294"><span class="label">[294]</span></a> May 7, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_295_295" id="Footnote_295_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295_295"><span class="label">[295]</span></a> To Ternant, May 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 74.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_296_296" id="Footnote_296_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296_296"><span class="label">[296]</span></a> May 15, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 89.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_297_297" id="Footnote_297_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297_297"><span class="label">[297]</span></a> May 19, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 98.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_298_298" id="Footnote_298_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298_298"><span class="label">[298]</span></a> June 6, 1789. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 115.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_299_299" id="Footnote_299_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299_299"><span class="label">[299]</span></a> June 13, 1789. Memorial Edition, IX, 123.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_300_300" id="Footnote_300_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300_300"><span class="label">[300]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 24, 1793.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_301_301" id="Footnote_301_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301_301"><span class="label">[301]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> Library of Congress, June 27, 1793 and Writings of J. Monroe, I, 261.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_302_302" id="Footnote_302_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302_302"><span class="label">[302]</span></a> To J. Madison, July 7, 1793. Ford, VII, 436.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_303_303" id="Footnote_303_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303_303"><span class="label">[303]</span></a> To James Madison, August 25, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 211.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_304_304" id="Footnote_304_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304_304"><span class="label">[304]</span></a> To Madison, September 1, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 211.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_305_305" id="Footnote_305_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305_305"><span class="label">[305]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, 15832.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_306_306" id="Footnote_306_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306_306"><span class="label">[306]</span></a> December 31, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 277.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_307_307" id="Footnote_307_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307_307"><span class="label">[307]</span></a> December 13, 1793. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 279.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_308_308" id="Footnote_308_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308_308"><span class="label">[308]</span></a> Angelica Church to Jefferson, August 19, 1793. Chinard, "Trois Amiti&eacute;s Fran&ccedil;aises",
+p. 155.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_309_309" id="Footnote_309_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309_309"><span class="label">[309]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February, 1794.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_310_310" id="Footnote_310_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310_310"><span class="label">[310]</span></a> "Amiti&eacute;s fran&ccedil;aises", p. 161.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_311_311" id="Footnote_311_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311_311"><span class="label">[311]</span></a> February 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 279.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_312_312" id="Footnote_312_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312_312"><span class="label">[312]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 15, 1794.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_313_313" id="Footnote_313_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313_313"><span class="label">[313]</span></a> December 16, 1793. Memorial Edition, III, 261-283.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_314_314" id="Footnote_314_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314_314"><span class="label">[314]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, March 3, and March 11, 1794.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_315_315" id="Footnote_315_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315_315"><span class="label">[315]</span></a> April 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 281 and Manuscript Library of Congress,
+March 16.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_316_316" id="Footnote_316_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316_316"><span class="label">[316]</span></a> April 24, 1794. Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_317_317" id="Footnote_317_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317_317"><span class="label">[317]</span></a> May 1, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 285.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_318_318" id="Footnote_318_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318_318"><span class="label">[318]</span></a> May 14, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 287.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_319_319" id="Footnote_319_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319_319"><span class="label">[319]</span></a> September 7, 1794. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 291.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_320_320" id="Footnote_320_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320_320"><span class="label">[320]</span></a> December 28, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 293.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_321_321" id="Footnote_321_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321_321"><span class="label">[321]</span></a> April 27, 1795. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 301.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_322_322" id="Footnote_322_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322_322"><span class="label">[322]</span></a> April 27. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 305.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_323_323" id="Footnote_323_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323_323"><span class="label">[323]</span></a> See S. F. Bemis. "Jay's Treaty." New York, 1923.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_324_324" id="Footnote_324_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324_324"><span class="label">[324]</span></a> August 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 307.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_325_325" id="Footnote_325_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325_325"><span class="label">[325]</span></a> September 21, 1795. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 309.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_326_326" id="Footnote_326_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326_326"><span class="label">[326]</span></a> November 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 313.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_327_327" id="Footnote_327_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327_327"><span class="label">[327]</span></a> March 21, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 329.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_328_328" id="Footnote_328_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328_328"><span class="label">[328]</span></a> January 16, 1796. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 319.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_329_329" id="Footnote_329_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_329_329"><span class="label">[329]</span></a> To James Madison, March 6, 1796. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 323.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_330_330" id="Footnote_330_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330_330"><span class="label">[330]</span></a> March 19, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 326.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_331_331" id="Footnote_331_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_331_331"><span class="label">[331]</span></a> To James Madison, March 27, 1796. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 330.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_332_332" id="Footnote_332_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_332_332"><span class="label">[332]</span></a> April 9, 1790. Memorial Edition, IX, 334.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_333_333" id="Footnote_333_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333_333"><span class="label">[333]</span></a> April 24, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 335.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_334_334" id="Footnote_334_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_334_334"><span class="label">[334]</span></a> June 19, 1796. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 339.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_335_335" id="Footnote_335_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_335_335"><span class="label">[335]</span></a> To Jonathan Williams, July 3, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 347.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_336_336" id="Footnote_336_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_336_336"><span class="label">[336]</span></a> December 17, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 351.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_337_337" id="Footnote_337_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_337_337"><span class="label">[337]</span></a> To Rutledge, December 27, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 353.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_338_338" id="Footnote_338_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_338_338"><span class="label">[338]</span></a> To Madison, January 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 357.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_339_339" id="Footnote_339_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_339_339"><span class="label">[339]</span></a> James Madison to Jefferson, January 15, 1797. "Works", VI, 303.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_340_340" id="Footnote_340_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_340_340"><span class="label">[340]</span></a> January 22, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 370.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_341_341" id="Footnote_341_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_341_341"><span class="label">[341]</span></a> April 9, 1797. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 380.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_342_342" id="Footnote_342_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_342_342"><span class="label">[342]</span></a> June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 408.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_343_343" id="Footnote_343_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_343_343"><span class="label">[343]</span></a> May 29, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 389.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_344_344" id="Footnote_344_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_344_344"><span class="label">[344]</span></a> June 15, 1797. To James Madison, Memorial Edition, IX, 397.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_345_345" id="Footnote_345_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_345_345"><span class="label">[345]</span></a> June 17, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 400.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_346_346" id="Footnote_346_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_346_346"><span class="label">[346]</span></a> June 21, 1797. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 405.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_347_347" id="Footnote_347_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_347_347"><span class="label">[347]</span></a> To Colonel A. Campbell, September 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 419.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_348_348" id="Footnote_348_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_348_348"><span class="label">[348]</span></a> June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 409.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_349_349" id="Footnote_349_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_349_349"><span class="label">[349]</span></a> January 3, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, IX, 431.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_350_350" id="Footnote_350_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_350_350"><span class="label">[350]</span></a> February 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, IX, 444.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_351_351" id="Footnote_351_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_351_351"><span class="label">[351]</span></a> March 15, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_352_352" id="Footnote_352_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_352_352"><span class="label">[352]</span></a> March 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_353_353" id="Footnote_353_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_353_353"><span class="label">[353]</span></a> To Madison, March 29, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 17.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_354_354" id="Footnote_354_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_354_354"><span class="label">[354]</span></a> March 27, 1798.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_355_355" id="Footnote_355_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_355_355"><span class="label">[355]</span></a> To Madison, April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_356_356" id="Footnote_356_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_356_356"><span class="label">[356]</span></a> April 12, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 28.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_357_357" id="Footnote_357_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_357_357"><span class="label">[357]</span></a> April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_358_358" id="Footnote_358_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_358_358"><span class="label">[358]</span></a> To Madison, April 26, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_359_359" id="Footnote_359_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_359_359"><span class="label">[359]</span></a> See Chinard, "Volney et l'Am&eacute;rique." Paris, Baltimore, 1923.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_360_360" id="Footnote_360_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_360_360"><span class="label">[360]</span></a> To Madison, April 26, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 33.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_361_361" id="Footnote_361_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_361_361"><span class="label">[361]</span></a> To Madison, May 31, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 43.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_362_362" id="Footnote_362_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_362_362"><span class="label">[362]</span></a> To John Taylor, June 1, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_363_363" id="Footnote_363_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_363_363"><span class="label">[363]</span></a> To Madison, June 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 49-53.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_364_364" id="Footnote_364_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_364_364"><span class="label">[364]</span></a> August 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 61.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_365_365" id="Footnote_365_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_365_365"><span class="label">[365]</span></a> October 11, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 62.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_366_366" id="Footnote_366_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_366_366"><span class="label">[366]</span></a> To Madison, November 17, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 62.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_367_367" id="Footnote_367_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_367_367"><span class="label">[367]</span></a> December 11, 1821. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 351.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_368_368" id="Footnote_368_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_368_368"><span class="label">[368]</span></a> See pp. 80-82.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_369_369" id="Footnote_369_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_369_369"><span class="label">[369]</span></a> November 17. Memorial Edition, X, 63.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_370_370" id="Footnote_370_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_370_370"><span class="label">[370]</span></a> November 26, 1798. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 63.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_371_371" id="Footnote_371_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_371_371"><span class="label">[371]</span></a> To James Madison, January 3, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 67.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_372_372" id="Footnote_372_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_372_372"><span class="label">[372]</span></a> Madison to Jefferson, June 26, 1799. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_373_373" id="Footnote_373_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_373_373"><span class="label">[373]</span></a> January 16, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 69.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_374_374" id="Footnote_374_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_374_374"><span class="label">[374]</span></a> To Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 77-78.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_375_375" id="Footnote_375_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_375_375"><span class="label">[375]</span></a> January 29, 1799, Memorial Edition, X, 87 and Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress,
+February 14, 1799.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_376_376" id="Footnote_376_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_376_376"><span class="label">[376]</span></a> To Madison, February 5, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 95.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_377_377" id="Footnote_377_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_377_377"><span class="label">[377]</span></a> John Ogden to Jefferson, February 7, 1799. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_378_378" id="Footnote_378_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_378_378"><span class="label">[378]</span></a> February 11, 1799. <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_379_379" id="Footnote_379_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_379_379"><span class="label">[379]</span></a> To Madison, February 19, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 111.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_380_380" id="Footnote_380_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_380_380"><span class="label">[380]</span></a> To Bishop James Madison, February 27, 1799. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 122.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_381_381" id="Footnote_381_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_381_381"><span class="label">[381]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 26, 1799.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_382_382" id="Footnote_382_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_382_382"><span class="label">[382]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Bishop Madison, March 12, 1799.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_383_383" id="Footnote_383_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_383_383"><span class="label">[383]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> Callender to Jefferson, August 10, 1799. From Richmond.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_384_384" id="Footnote_384_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_384_384"><span class="label">[384]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> Marked received December 11, undated.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_385_385" id="Footnote_385_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_385_385"><span class="label">[385]</span></a> August 18, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 125.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_386_386" id="Footnote_386_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_386_386"><span class="label">[386]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Callender, undated, unsigned.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_387_387" id="Footnote_387_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_387_387"><span class="label">[387]</span></a> To Madison, November 22, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 133.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_388_388" id="Footnote_388_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_388_388"><span class="label">[388]</span></a> January 12, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 136.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_389_389" id="Footnote_389_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_389_389"><span class="label">[389]</span></a> Priestley's answer, never hitherto published, will be found in my volume on "Jefferson
+and the Physiocrats."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_390_390" id="Footnote_390_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_390_390"><span class="label">[390]</span></a> March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 110.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_391_391" id="Footnote_391_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_391_391"><span class="label">[391]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 11, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_392_392" id="Footnote_392_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_392_392"><span class="label">[392]</span></a> To Henry Innis, January 23. Memorial Edition, X, 143.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_393_393" id="Footnote_393_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_393_393"><span class="label">[393]</span></a> To T. M. Randolph, February 2, 1800. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 151.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_394_394" id="Footnote_394_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_394_394"><span class="label">[394]</span></a> February 26, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 153.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_395_395" id="Footnote_395_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_395_395"><span class="label">[395]</span></a> To Madison, March 8, 1800. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 157-159.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_396_396" id="Footnote_396_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_396_396"><span class="label">[396]</span></a> To P. N. Nicholas, April 7, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_397_397" id="Footnote_397_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_397_397"><span class="label">[397]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Callender to Jefferson, February 10 and
+March 15, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_398_398" id="Footnote_398_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_398_398"><span class="label">[398]</span></a> March 18, 1800. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_399_399" id="Footnote_399_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_399_399"><span class="label">[399]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_400_400" id="Footnote_400_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_400_400"><span class="label">[400]</span></a> April 30, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_401_401" id="Footnote_401_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_401_401"><span class="label">[401]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, May 26, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_402_402" id="Footnote_402_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_402_402"><span class="label">[402]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, August 14, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_403_403" id="Footnote_403_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_403_403"><span class="label">[403]</span></a> March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 160.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_404_404" id="Footnote_404_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_404_404"><span class="label">[404]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Benjamin Rush to Jefferson, August 22,
+1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_405_405" id="Footnote_405_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_405_405"><span class="label">[405]</span></a> September 23, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 173.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_406_406" id="Footnote_406_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_406_406"><span class="label">[406]</span></a> December 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 176.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_407_407" id="Footnote_407_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_407_407"><span class="label">[407]</span></a> December 18, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 183.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_408_408" id="Footnote_408_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_408_408"><span class="label">[408]</span></a> Memorial Edition, X, 188.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_409_409" id="Footnote_409_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_409_409"><span class="label">[409]</span></a> January 10, 1800. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 188.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_410_410" id="Footnote_410_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_410_410"><span class="label">[410]</span></a> February 3. Memorial Edition, X, 197.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_411_411" id="Footnote_411_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_411_411"><span class="label">[411]</span></a> February 15, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 201.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_412_412" id="Footnote_412_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_412_412"><span class="label">[412]</span></a> February 18, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 203.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_413_413" id="Footnote_413_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_413_413"><span class="label">[413]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 206.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_414_414" id="Footnote_414_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_414_414"><span class="label">[414]</span></a> To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 211.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_415_415" id="Footnote_415_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_415_415"><span class="label">[415]</span></a> To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 210.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_416_416" id="Footnote_416_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_416_416"><span class="label">[416]</span></a> March 7, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 218.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_417_417" id="Footnote_417_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_417_417"><span class="label">[417]</span></a> To Doctor Benjamin Rush, March 24, 1801. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 241.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_418_418" id="Footnote_418_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_418_418"><span class="label">[418]</span></a> To Elias Shipman and others, July 12, 1801.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_419_419" id="Footnote_419_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_419_419"><span class="label">[419]</span></a> June 13, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 28.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_420_420" id="Footnote_420_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_420_420"><span class="label">[420]</span></a> A. J. Beveridge: "Life of Marshall", II, 51-53 and Appendix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_421_421" id="Footnote_421_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_421_421"><span class="label">[421]</span></a> "Life of Marshall", II, 51-222; McMaster, "History of the People of the United
+States", Vol. III.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_422_422" id="Footnote_422_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_422_422"><span class="label">[422]</span></a> To Elbridge Gerry, March 20, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 251.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_423_423" id="Footnote_423_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_423_423"><span class="label">[423]</span></a> To the Attorney-general, January 1, 1802. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 305.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_424_424" id="Footnote_424_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_424_424"><span class="label">[424]</span></a> July 18, 1804. <i>Ibid.</i>, XI, 38.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_425_425" id="Footnote_425_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_425_425"><span class="label">[425]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 13, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_426_426" id="Footnote_426_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_426_426"><span class="label">[426]</span></a> To W. Short, October 3, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 288.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_427_427" id="Footnote_427_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_427_427"><span class="label">[427]</span></a> November 24, 1801. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 294.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_428_428" id="Footnote_428_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_428_428"><span class="label">[428]</span></a> "Volney et L'Am&eacute;rique." Paris and Baltimore, 1923.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_429_429" id="Footnote_429_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_429_429"><span class="label">[429]</span></a> King to the Secretary of State, January 1, 1802.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_430_430" id="Footnote_430_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_430_430"><span class="label">[430]</span></a> Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress, April 21, 1802.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_431_431" id="Footnote_431_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_431_431"><span class="label">[431]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, April 25, 1802.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_432_432" id="Footnote_432_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_432_432"><span class="label">[432]</span></a> May 12, 1802. Manuscript, Library of Congress.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_433_433" id="Footnote_433_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_433_433"><span class="label">[433]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Du Pont de Nemours to Jefferson, October
+4, 1802.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_434_434" id="Footnote_434_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_434_434"><span class="label">[434]</span></a> Annals of Congress, p. 1059.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_435_435" id="Footnote_435_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_435_435"><span class="label">[435]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 286.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_436_436" id="Footnote_436_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_436_436"><span class="label">[436]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, marked received December 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_437_437" id="Footnote_437_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_437_437"><span class="label">[437]</span></a> Annals of Congress. Appendix, p. 1065.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_438_438" id="Footnote_438_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_438_438"><span class="label">[438]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 1, 1803.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_439_439" id="Footnote_439_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_439_439"><span class="label">[439]</span></a> To James Madison, January 24, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1066.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_440_440" id="Footnote_440_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_440_440"><span class="label">[440]</span></a> To the Secretary of State, March 24, 1803. <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 1083.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_441_441" id="Footnote_441_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_441_441"><span class="label">[441]</span></a> To Madison, March 3, 1803. <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 1083.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_442_442" id="Footnote_442_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_442_442"><span class="label">[442]</span></a> March 2, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1098.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_443_443" id="Footnote_443_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_443_443"><span class="label">[443]</span></a> King to Livingston, May 7, 1803. <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 1803.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_444_444" id="Footnote_444_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_444_444"><span class="label">[444]</span></a> Annals of Congress, p. 1167.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_445_445" id="Footnote_445_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_445_445"><span class="label">[445]</span></a> July 11, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 402.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_446_446" id="Footnote_446_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_446_446"><span class="label">[446]</span></a> Memorial Edition, X, 424.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_447_447" id="Footnote_447_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_447_447"><span class="label">[447]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 19, 1804.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_448_448" id="Footnote_448_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_448_448"><span class="label">[448]</span></a> July 4, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 398.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_449_449" id="Footnote_449_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_449_449"><span class="label">[449]</span></a> July 12, 1803. <i>Ibid.</i>, X, 404.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_450_450" id="Footnote_450_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_450_450"><span class="label">[450]</span></a> To Madison, August 25, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 412.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_451_451" id="Footnote_451_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_451_451"><span class="label">[451]</span></a> To James Madison, August 15, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_452_452" id="Footnote_452_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_452_452"><span class="label">[452]</span></a> "Anas", January 26, 1804.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_453_453" id="Footnote_453_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_453_453"><span class="label">[453]</span></a> To W. B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_454_454" id="Footnote_454_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_454_454"><span class="label">[454]</span></a> To Gideon Granger, March 9, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 113.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_455_455" id="Footnote_455_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_455_455"><span class="label">[455]</span></a> To Lafayette, July 14, 1807. <i>Ibid.</i>, XI, 277.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_456_456" id="Footnote_456_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_456_456"><span class="label">[456]</span></a> To William B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_457_457" id="Footnote_457_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_457_457"><span class="label">[457]</span></a> To George Hay, September 4, 1807. <i>Ibid.</i>, XI, 360.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_458_458" id="Footnote_458_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_458_458"><span class="label">[458]</span></a> October 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 183.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_459_459" id="Footnote_459_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_459_459"><span class="label">[459]</span></a> Memorial Edition, X, 399.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_460_460" id="Footnote_460_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_460_460"><span class="label">[460]</span></a> H. Adams, II, 257.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_461_461" id="Footnote_461_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_461_461"><span class="label">[461]</span></a> To James Madison, August 27, 1805. Memorial Edition, XI, 86.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_462_462" id="Footnote_462_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_462_462"><span class="label">[462]</span></a> April 19, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 103.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_463_463" id="Footnote_463_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_463_463"><span class="label">[463]</span></a> To Colonel James Monroe, May 4, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 106.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_464_464" id="Footnote_464_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_464_464"><span class="label">[464]</span></a> Turreau to Talleyrand, December 12, 1806, in H. Adams, III, 424.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_465_465" id="Footnote_465_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_465_465"><span class="label">[465]</span></a> To Monroe, March 21, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 167.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_466_466" id="Footnote_466_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_466_466"><span class="label">[466]</span></a> June 29, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 256.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_467_467" id="Footnote_467_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_467_467"><span class="label">[467]</span></a> July 6, 1807. <i>Ibid.</i>, XI, 258.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_468_468" id="Footnote_468_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_468_468"><span class="label">[468]</span></a> See particularly his letters to Cabell, August 11, 1807, and to Dearborn, August
+28. Memorial Edition, XI, 318, 342.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_469_469" id="Footnote_469_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_469_469"><span class="label">[469]</span></a> To John Page, July 17, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 285.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_470_470" id="Footnote_470_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_470_470"><span class="label">[470]</span></a> November 22, 1807. <i>Ibid.</i>, XI, 397.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_471_471" id="Footnote_471_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_471_471"><span class="label">[471]</span></a> Memorial Edition, XI, 401. This may be simply a draft of the message written
+on a sheet of paper which happened to bear the name of General Mason. See Henry
+Adams, IV, 168.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_472_472" id="Footnote_472_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_472_472"><span class="label">[472]</span></a> A. J. Nock, "Jefferson", p. 266. New York, 1926.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_473_473" id="Footnote_473_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_473_473"><span class="label">[473]</span></a> To John Taylor, January 6, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 413.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_474_474" id="Footnote_474_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_474_474"><span class="label">[474]</span></a> March 30, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_475_475" id="Footnote_475_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_475_475"><span class="label">[475]</span></a> To Governor Charles Pinckney. November 8, 1808. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 190.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_476_476" id="Footnote_476_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_476_476"><span class="label">[476]</span></a> Henry Adams, IV, chapter XII, "The Cost of Embargo."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_477_477" id="Footnote_477_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_477_477"><span class="label">[477]</span></a> Henry Adams, IV, 277.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_478_478" id="Footnote_478_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_478_478"><span class="label">[478]</span></a> Walter W. Jennings, "A History of economic progress in the United States",
+p. 160, New York, 1926.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_479_479" id="Footnote_479_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_479_479"><span class="label">[479]</span></a> To Doctor George Logan, December 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 219.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_480_480" id="Footnote_480_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_480_480"><span class="label">[480]</span></a> January 14, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 227.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_481_481" id="Footnote_481_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_481_481"><span class="label">[481]</span></a> To Thomas Mann Randolph, February 7, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 248.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_482_482" id="Footnote_482_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_482_482"><span class="label">[482]</span></a> March 8, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 264.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_483_483" id="Footnote_483_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_483_483"><span class="label">[483]</span></a> March 17, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 266.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_484_484" id="Footnote_484_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_484_484"><span class="label">[484]</span></a> Memorial Edition, XII, 267.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_485_485" id="Footnote_485_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_485_485"><span class="label">[485]</span></a> February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_486_486" id="Footnote_486_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_486_486"><span class="label">[486]</span></a> To J. B. Colvin. September 20, 1810. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 422; see also letter to C&aelig;sar
+Rodney, September 25. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 426.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_487_487" id="Footnote_487_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_487_487"><span class="label">[487]</span></a> To Madison, April 27, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 275.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_488_488" id="Footnote_488_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_488_488"><span class="label">[488]</span></a> To Madison, April 19, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 271.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_489_489" id="Footnote_489_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_489_489"><span class="label">[489]</span></a> June 28, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 293.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_490_490" id="Footnote_490_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_490_490"><span class="label">[490]</span></a> To Rodney, February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_491_491" id="Footnote_491_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_491_491"><span class="label">[491]</span></a> To Governor John Langdon, March 5, 1810. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 373.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_492_492" id="Footnote_492_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_492_492"><span class="label">[492]</span></a> To Thomas Cooper, August 6, 1810. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 401.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_493_493" id="Footnote_493_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_493_493"><span class="label">[493]</span></a> To Thomas Law, January 15, 1810. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 439.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_494_494" id="Footnote_494_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_494_494"><span class="label">[494]</span></a> April 25, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 145.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_495_495" id="Footnote_495_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_495_495"><span class="label">[495]</span></a> June 29, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 173.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_496_496" id="Footnote_496_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_496_496"><span class="label">[496]</span></a> August 5, 1812. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 183.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_497_497" id="Footnote_497_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_497_497"><span class="label">[497]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 206.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_498_498" id="Footnote_498_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_498_498"><span class="label">[498]</span></a> October 1, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 187.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_499_499" id="Footnote_499_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_499_499"><span class="label">[499]</span></a> To William Duane, April 4, 1813. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 231.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_500_500" id="Footnote_500_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_500_500"><span class="label">[500]</span></a> To Thomas Leiper, January 1, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 45.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_501_501" id="Footnote_501_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_501_501"><span class="label">[501]</span></a> To John Clark, January 27, 1814. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 79.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_502_502" id="Footnote_502_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_502_502"><span class="label">[502]</span></a> September 21, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 191.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_503_503" id="Footnote_503_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_503_503"><span class="label">[503]</span></a> To William Short, November 28, 1814. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 214.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_504_504" id="Footnote_504_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_504_504"><span class="label">[504]</span></a> To Correa de Serra, December 27, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 221.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_505_505" id="Footnote_505_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_505_505"><span class="label">[505]</span></a> To William H. Crawford, February 25, 1815. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 243, and June 15, 1815.
+<i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 312.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_506_506" id="Footnote_506_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_506_506"><span class="label">[506]</span></a> December 1, 1815. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 369.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_507_507" id="Footnote_507_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_507_507"><span class="label">[507]</span></a> October 16, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 85.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_508_508" id="Footnote_508_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_508_508"><span class="label">[508]</span></a> October 16, 1816. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 80.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_509_509" id="Footnote_509_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_509_509"><span class="label">[509]</span></a> To Thomas Leiper, June 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 311; and to John
+Adams, August 10, 1815. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 343.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_510_510" id="Footnote_510_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_510_510"><span class="label">[510]</span></a> October 16, 1815. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIV, 355.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_511_511" id="Footnote_511_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_511_511"><span class="label">[511]</span></a> January 2, 1812. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 117.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_512_512" id="Footnote_512_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_512_512"><span class="label">[512]</span></a> December 6, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIV, 22.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_513_513" id="Footnote_513_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_513_513"><span class="label">[513]</span></a> To Don Valentino de Torunda Corunda, December 14, 1813. Memorial Edition,
+XIV, 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_514_514" id="Footnote_514_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_514_514"><span class="label">[514]</span></a> To John Adams, January 22, 1812. Memorial Edition, XV, 309.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_515_515" id="Footnote_515_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_515_515"><span class="label">[515]</span></a> To Lafayette, May 14, 1817. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 117.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_516_516" id="Footnote_516_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_516_516"><span class="label">[516]</span></a> To W. Short, August 4, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 263.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_517_517" id="Footnote_517_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_517_517"><span class="label">[517]</span></a> October 24, 1820. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 285.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_518_518" id="Footnote_518_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_518_518"><span class="label">[518]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 26, 1820, and Chinard, "Jefferson
+et les Id&eacute;ologues." Paris, Baltimore, 1925, p. 203.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_519_519" id="Footnote_519_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_519_519"><span class="label">[519]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, July 18, 1824.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_520_520" id="Footnote_520_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_520_520"><span class="label">[520]</span></a> To Monroe, June 11, 1823. Memorial Edition, XV, 455.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_521_521" id="Footnote_521_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_521_521"><span class="label">[521]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 10, 1817.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_522_522" id="Footnote_522_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_522_522"><span class="label">[522]</span></a> October 20, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 284.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_523_523" id="Footnote_523_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_523_523"><span class="label">[523]</span></a> About the economic and banking theories of Jefferson, I can only indicate here
+some points more fully treated in my book on "Jefferson et les Id&eacute;ologues." Paris,
+Baltimore, 1925.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_524_524" id="Footnote_524_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_524_524"><span class="label">[524]</span></a> To William H. Crawford, June 20, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_525_525" id="Footnote_525_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_525_525"><span class="label">[525]</span></a> April 7, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 271.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_526_526" id="Footnote_526_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_526_526"><span class="label">[526]</span></a> January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 387.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_527_527" id="Footnote_527_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_527_527"><span class="label">[527]</span></a> To Thomas Cooper, September 10, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 179.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_528_528" id="Footnote_528_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_528_528"><span class="label">[528]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_529_529" id="Footnote_529_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_529_529"><span class="label">[529]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_530_530" id="Footnote_530_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_530_530"><span class="label">[530]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. January 18, 1802.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_531_531" id="Footnote_531_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_531_531"><span class="label">[531]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> February 28, 1815.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_532_532" id="Footnote_532_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_532_532"><span class="label">[532]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 12, 1815.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_533_533" id="Footnote_533_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_533_533"><span class="label">[533]</span></a> October 28, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIII, 396.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_534_534" id="Footnote_534_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_534_534"><span class="label">[534]</span></a> January 2, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 46.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_535_535" id="Footnote_535_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_535_535"><span class="label">[535]</span></a> To John Adams, October 16, 1816. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 85.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_536_536" id="Footnote_536_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_536_536"><span class="label">[536]</span></a> To Lafayette, February 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 245.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_537_537" id="Footnote_537_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_537_537"><span class="label">[537]</span></a> To James Madison, November 29, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 295.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_538_538" id="Footnote_538_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_538_538"><span class="label">[538]</span></a> December 10, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 233.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_539_539" id="Footnote_539_539"></a><a href="#FNanchor_539_539"><span class="label">[539]</span></a> To John Adams, January 22, 1821. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 309.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_540_540" id="Footnote_540_540"></a><a href="#FNanchor_540_540"><span class="label">[540]</span></a> August 4, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 68.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_541_541" id="Footnote_541_541"></a><a href="#FNanchor_541_541"><span class="label">[541]</span></a> July 12, 1816.  <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 32.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_542_542" id="Footnote_542_542"></a><a href="#FNanchor_542_542"><span class="label">[542]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. May 8, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_543_543" id="Footnote_543_543"></a><a href="#FNanchor_543_543"><span class="label">[543]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 21, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_544_544" id="Footnote_544_544"></a><a href="#FNanchor_544_544"><span class="label">[544]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, July 26, 1800.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_545_545" id="Footnote_545_545"></a><a href="#FNanchor_545_545"><span class="label">[545]</span></a> To Thomas Cooper, January 16, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 60.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_546_546" id="Footnote_546_546"></a><a href="#FNanchor_546_546"><span class="label">[546]</span></a> February 15, 1821, Memorial Edition, XV, 315.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_547_547" id="Footnote_547_547"></a><a href="#FNanchor_547_547"><span class="label">[547]</span></a> The latest account is the monumental "History of the University of Virginia"
+by Professor Philip Alexander Bruce, New York, 4 vols., 1920. See also the excellent
+study of Herbert B. Adams, "Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia", United
+States Bureau of Education. Circular of information No. 1, 1888.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_548_548" id="Footnote_548_548"></a><a href="#FNanchor_548_548"><span class="label">[548]</span></a> To Richard Rush, April 26, 1824. Memorial Edition, XVI, 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_549_549" id="Footnote_549_549"></a><a href="#FNanchor_549_549"><span class="label">[549]</span></a> To the Honorable J. Evelyn Denison, M. P., November 9, 1825. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 129.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_550_550" id="Footnote_550_550"></a><a href="#FNanchor_550_550"><span class="label">[550]</span></a> To John Brazier, August 24, 1814. Memorial Edition, XV, 207.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_551_551" id="Footnote_551_551"></a><a href="#FNanchor_551_551"><span class="label">[551]</span></a> June 27, 1822. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 387.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_552_552" id="Footnote_552_552"></a><a href="#FNanchor_552_552"><span class="label">[552]</span></a> Memorial Edition, XVI, 173.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_553_553" id="Footnote_553_553"></a><a href="#FNanchor_553_553"><span class="label">[553]</span></a> Doctor Dunglison's Memorandum, in "Domestic Life", p. 402.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_554_554" id="Footnote_554_554"></a><a href="#FNanchor_554_554"><span class="label">[554]</span></a> September 12, 1821. Memorial Edition, XV, 334.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_555_555" id="Footnote_555_555"></a><a href="#FNanchor_555_555"><span class="label">[555]</span></a> January 16, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_556_556" id="Footnote_556_556"></a><a href="#FNanchor_556_556"><span class="label">[556]</span></a> December 5, 1811. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 114.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_557_557" id="Footnote_557_557"></a><a href="#FNanchor_557_557"><span class="label">[557]</span></a> January 21, 1812. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 123.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_558_558" id="Footnote_558_558"></a><a href="#FNanchor_558_558"><span class="label">[558]</span></a> Memorial Edition, XV, 174.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_559_559" id="Footnote_559_559"></a><a href="#FNanchor_559_559"><span class="label">[559]</span></a> January 11, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 97.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_560_560" id="Footnote_560_560"></a><a href="#FNanchor_560_560"><span class="label">[560]</span></a> February 21, 1825. "Domestic Life", p. 423.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_561_561" id="Footnote_561_561"></a><a href="#FNanchor_561_561"><span class="label">[561]</span></a> To James Smith, December 8, 1822. Memorial Edition, XV, 410.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_562_562" id="Footnote_562_562"></a><a href="#FNanchor_562_562"><span class="label">[562]</span></a> To John Adams, August 15, 1820. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 269-276.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_563_563" id="Footnote_563_563"></a><a href="#FNanchor_563_563"><span class="label">[563]</span></a> March 24, 1824. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 17.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_564_564" id="Footnote_564_564"></a><a href="#FNanchor_564_564"><span class="label">[564]</span></a> October 31, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 219.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_565_565" id="Footnote_565_565"></a><a href="#FNanchor_565_565"><span class="label">[565]</span></a> July 13, 1813. <i>Ibid.</i>, XIII, 319.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_566_566" id="Footnote_566_566"></a><a href="#FNanchor_566_566"><span class="label">[566]</span></a> To John Adams, April 11, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 427.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_567_567" id="Footnote_567_567"></a><a href="#FNanchor_567_567"><span class="label">[567]</span></a> To John Adams, May 5, 1817. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 109.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_568_568" id="Footnote_568_568"></a><a href="#FNanchor_568_568"><span class="label">[568]</span></a> June 13, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 141.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_569_569" id="Footnote_569_569"></a><a href="#FNanchor_569_569"><span class="label">[569]</span></a> To James Fishback, September 27, 1809. <i>Ibid.</i>, XII, 315.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_570_570" id="Footnote_570_570"></a><a href="#FNanchor_570_570"><span class="label">[570]</span></a> May 26, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 122.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_571_571" id="Footnote_571_571"></a><a href="#FNanchor_571_571"><span class="label">[571]</span></a> See my edition of "The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore,
+1928, p. 58.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_572_572" id="Footnote_572_572"></a><a href="#FNanchor_572_572"><span class="label">[572]</span></a> April 21, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 379.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_573_573" id="Footnote_573_573"></a><a href="#FNanchor_573_573"><span class="label">[573]</span></a> See the introduction of Doctor Cyrus Adler, in the Congressional Edition reproduced
+in the Memorial Edition, XX.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_574_574" id="Footnote_574_574"></a><a href="#FNanchor_574_574"><span class="label">[574]</span></a> May 3, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_575_575" id="Footnote_575_575"></a><a href="#FNanchor_575_575"><span class="label">[575]</span></a> April 6, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 467.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_576_576" id="Footnote_576_576"></a><a href="#FNanchor_576_576"><span class="label">[576]</span></a> To William Ludlow, September 6, 1824. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 75.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_577_577" id="Footnote_577_577"></a><a href="#FNanchor_577_577"><span class="label">[577]</span></a> June 24, 1826. Memorial Edition, XVI, 181.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_578_578" id="Footnote_578_578"></a><a href="#FNanchor_578_578"><span class="label">[578]</span></a> To John Brazier, August 24, 1819. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 207.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_579_579" id="Footnote_579_579"></a><a href="#FNanchor_579_579"><span class="label">[579]</span></a> August 1, 1816. <i>Ibid.</i>, XVI, 56.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_580_580" id="Footnote_580_580"></a><a href="#FNanchor_580_580"><span class="label">[580]</span></a> January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 385.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_581_581" id="Footnote_581_581"></a><a href="#FNanchor_581_581"><span class="label">[581]</span></a> To Doctor Vine Ulley, March 21, 1819. <i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 187.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_582_582" id="Footnote_582_582"></a><a href="#FNanchor_582_582"><span class="label">[582]</span></a> Jefferson Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society, March 5, 1814.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_583_583" id="Footnote_583_583"></a><a href="#FNanchor_583_583"><span class="label">[583]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, To Short, December 17, 1822.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_584_584" id="Footnote_584_584"></a><a href="#FNanchor_584_584"><span class="label">[584]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, To Samuel Smith, October 22, 1825.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_585_585" id="Footnote_585_585"></a><a href="#FNanchor_585_585"><span class="label">[585]</span></a> "Literary Bible", p. 36. Paris, Baltimore, 1928.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_586_586" id="Footnote_586_586"></a><a href="#FNanchor_586_586"><span class="label">[586]</span></a> To John Adams&mdash;August 1, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 56, and June 1, 1822.
+<i>Ibid.</i>, XV, 371.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_587_587" id="Footnote_587_587"></a><a href="#FNanchor_587_587"><span class="label">[587]</span></a> November 8, 1824, "M&eacute;moires", VI, 183.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_588_588" id="Footnote_588_588"></a><a href="#FNanchor_588_588"><span class="label">[588]</span></a> "Domestic Life", p. 425.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[Pg 533]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[Pg 534]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[Pg 535]</a></span></p>
+<h3>INDEX</h3>
+
+
+<p class="blockquot"><br />
+Absolutism, evils of, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Adams, Abigail, Jefferson shops for, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the "New England Juno", <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Adams, Henry, his criticism of Jefferson's conduct of foreign affairs, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br />
+<br />
+Adams, John, Jefferson's correspondence with, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_482">482</a>, <a href="#Page_490">490</a>, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his first impression of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee of Continental Congress appointed to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form governments, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his part in Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee to suggest United States seal, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of Commerce with foreign nations, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his wines, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in favor of loose association of States, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Barbary pirates, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson gives estimate of, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his quarrel with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_259">259-261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">re&euml;lection of, as Vice-President, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elected President, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts reconciliation with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inaugural address, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">not a party man or party leader, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a complicated and contradictory figure, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">action in XYZ case, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336-338</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nominated for Presidency in 1800, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">changes in his Cabinet, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in election of 1800, <a href="#Page_367">367-369</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"midnight" appointments, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses to welcome successor, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reconciliation with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his study of religious controversies, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on life, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Adams, John Quincy, removed from office by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a><br />
+<br />
+Adams, Samuel, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a><br />
+<br />
+Addison, Judge, deposition of, by Senate of Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br />
+<br />
+Albemarle resolutions, <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a><br />
+<br />
+Alexander I of Russia, <a href="#Page_448">448</a><br />
+<br />
+Algiers, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Alien Bills, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342-347</a><br />
+<br />
+Aliens, their right to hold real property denied, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+<br />
+Allen, Ethan, declaration concerning, drafted by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br />
+<br />
+American civilization, underlying ideas of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br />
+<br />
+American imperialism, <a href="#Page_398">398-400</a><br />
+<br />
+American public education, first charter of, <a href="#Page_95">95-100</a><br />
+<br />
+American Revolution, remonstrance in House of Burgesses, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">articles of association directed against British merchandise, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as to causes of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">effect of passage of Boston Port Bill, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proposal to form Congress, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">declaration of mutual defence, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resolutions adopted by freeholders of Albemarle County, Va., <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resolutions adopted by Assembly of Fairfax County, <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">regulation of American commerce, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">doctrine of expatriation, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">second Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition" answered, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">independence not at first aimed at, <a href="#Page_63">63-65</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">colonies instructed to form governments, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69-71</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of prisoners in, <a href="#Page_109">109-112</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> British colonies</span><br />
+<br />
+Americanism, cardinal principles of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">creed of, formulated by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's conception of, when he wrote "Notes on Virginia", <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practical idealism a tenet of, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pure, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">definition of, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's system of, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[Pg 536]</a></span><br />
+Armstrong, Gen. John, American representative in Paris, <a href="#Page_462">462</a><br />
+<br />
+Arnold, Benedict, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+<br />
+"Arrears of Interest, Report on", Jefferson, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+Articles of Confederation, discussion of, in Congress, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defects in, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br />
+<br />
+"Assumption" of the State debts, <a href="#Page_250">250-255</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Aurora</i>, journal, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br />
+<br />
+Austin, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_491">491</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Bache's <i>Aurora</i>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Balance of power, <a href="#Page_476">476</a><br />
+<br />
+Bank Bill, Hamilton's, <a href="#Page_255">255-258</a><br />
+<br />
+Bannister, J. B., Jr., letter to, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br />
+<br />
+Barbary pirates, <a href="#Page_205">205-207</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br />
+<br />
+Barb&eacute;-Marbois, secretary of French legation in United States, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a><br />
+<br />
+Bastille, capture of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Bayard, James A., nominated plenipotentiary to French Republic, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Bellini, letter to, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+Berlin Decree, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br />
+<br />
+Beveridge, Albert J., his "Life of Marshall", <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill for a General Revision of the Laws, Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill for Amending the Charter for William and Mary, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments, Virginia, <a href="#Page_93">93-95</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill for Religious Freedom, Virginia, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100-103</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge, Virginia, <a href="#Page_95">95-99</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_505">505</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill of Rights, <a href="#Page_198">198-201</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill on the Naturalization of Foreigners, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Bill to Abolish Entails, Virginia, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Bingham, Mrs., <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br />
+<br />
+Bishop, Samuel, appointed collector of New Haven, <a href="#Page_381">381</a><br />
+<br />
+Blennerhasset, Harman, and the Burr conspiracy, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a><br />
+<br />
+Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, his influence on Jefferson, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br />
+<br />
+Bollman, and the Burr conspiracy, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a><br />
+<br />
+Bonaparte, his projected invasion of England, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's opinion of, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_475">475</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">precedent established by, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Boston Port Bill, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Brazil, <a href="#Page_483">483</a><br />
+<br />
+Breckenridge, James, on board of visitors of University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a><br />
+<br />
+Breckenridge, John, letters to, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a><br />
+<br />
+British colonies, contractual theory of government of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">regulation of commerce of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rights of, <a href="#Page_48">48-53</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> American Revolution</span><br />
+<br />
+Brunswick, Duke of, defeat, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Buchan, Lord, letter to, <a href="#Page_444">444</a><br />
+<br />
+Budget, presented by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+Buffon, G. L. L. de, theory of, concerning<br />
+animals in America, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Burke, "History of Virginia", <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a><br />
+<br />
+Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques, quotation from, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Burnaby, English tourist, quoted on Virginia colonists, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br />
+<br />
+Burr, Col. Aaron, letters to, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the 1800-election, <a href="#Page_369">369-373</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his presence in government an annoyance to Jefferson, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conspiracy, <a href="#Page_429">429-439</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">duel with Hamilton, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Burwell, Rebecca, and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Cabanis, P. J. G., <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Cabell, Joseph C., <a href="#Page_507">507</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on board of visitors of University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_512">512</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Cabell, Gov. William H., <a href="#Page_451">451</a><br />
+<br />
+Cabinet, the President's, in Washington's time, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Adams's, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">relation to President, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Callender, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">employed by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's interest in, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his pamphlet, "The Prospect Before Us" ("History of the Administration of John Adams"), <a href="#Page_382">382</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+<br />
+Calvinism, <a href="#Page_522">522</a><br />
+<br />
+Canning, George, <a href="#Page_453">453</a><br />
+<br />
+Capital, of United States, seat of, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br />
+<br />
+Capitol, at Washington, the new, question of putting inscription on, <a href="#Page_479">479</a><br />
+<br />
+Caracas, constitution of, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+Carleton, Guy, governor of Canada, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Carmichael, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[Pg 537]</a></span><br />
+Carr, Dabney, death, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br />
+<br />
+Carr, Peter, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Carrington, Edward, letters to, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+Carthagenes, constitution of, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+Cary, Col. Archibald, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Ceres</i>, sailing-vessel, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Champion de Cic&eacute;, Archbishop of Bordeaux, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Charlottesville, Va., war prisoners at, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br />
+<br />
+Chase, Judge Samuel, impeachment of, <a href="#Page_387">387-389</a><br />
+<br />
+Chastellux, Chevalier de, friend of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Chesapeake-Leopard</i> affair, <a href="#Page_451">451-453</a><br />
+<br />
+Church, Mrs., <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><br />
+<br />
+Church of England, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<br />
+Cincinnati, Society of the, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+Clay, Rev. Mr. Charles, subscription for support of, <a href="#Page_103">103-105</a><br />
+<br />
+Clinton, George, Vice-President, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a><br />
+<br />
+Cocke, J. H., on board of visitors of University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a><br />
+<br />
+Collot, Gen., <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br />
+<br />
+Colvin, J. B., letter to, <a href="#Page_469">469</a><br />
+<br />
+Comit&eacute; du Commerce, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br />
+<br />
+Commerce, one of the great causes of war, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Treaty of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gallo-American, <a href="#Page_181">181-184</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Report of Jefferson on Privileges and Restrictions of, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Commercial monopolies, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Commercial treaties, <a href="#Page_149">149-152</a><br />
+<br />
+Committees of safety, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br />
+<br />
+Confederation, Treaty of Commerce, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defects in, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">monetary system, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">new States, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">slavery, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hereditary titles, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">commercial treaties, <a href="#Page_149">149-152</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> Articles of Confederation; United States</span><br />
+<br />
+Congress, first proposal for, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><i>See also</i> Continental Congress</span><br />
+<br />
+Congressional election, <i>see</i> Election<br />
+<br />
+Congressional Library, destroyed by English, <a href="#Page_476">476</a><br />
+<br />
+Constitution of United States, <a href="#Page_195">195-202</a><br />
+<br />
+Continental Congress, First, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Second, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Confederation, <a href="#Page_143">143-152</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Contraband, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br />
+<br />
+Cooper, Thomas, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Coray, Mr., <a href="#Page_516">516</a><br />
+<br />
+Corny, M. de, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Corny, Madame de, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><br />
+<br />
+Correa de Serra, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a><br />
+<br />
+Coxe, Tench, letters to, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a><br />
+<br />
+Crawford, Dr. John, letter to, <a href="#Page_480">480</a><br />
+<br />
+Crimes and punishments, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_93">93-95</a><br />
+<br />
+Cuba, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a><br />
+<br />
+Cutting, letter to, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Dalrymple, Sir John, his "Essay Towards a General History of Feudal Property", <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Dandridge, Mr., <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<br />
+Danville, Duchesse, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Deane, Silas, quoted on Southern delegates to first Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elected commissioner to France, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dearborn, Henry, Secretary of War in Jefferson's Cabinet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Debts of United States, foreign, domestic, and State, <a href="#Page_250">250-255</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br />
+<br />
+"D&eacute;claration Europ&eacute;enne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen", Lafayette, <a href="#Page_232">232-234</a><br />
+<br />
+Declaration of Independence, the story of, <a href="#Page_69">69-71</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin of, <a href="#Page_71">71-74</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as literature, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"the pursuit of happiness" in, <a href="#Page_75">75-76</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">highest achievement of eighteenth-century philosophy, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suggests tone of Greek tragedy, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Declaration of Rights of 1774, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br />
+<br />
+Declaration on Violation of Rights, adopted by First Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Dejean, Lieut., <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Democrat</i>, sailing-vessel, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Democratic societies, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+De Moustier, letter to, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+<br />
+Destutt de Tracy, A. L. C., meeting with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Political Economy", <a href="#Page_495">495</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_514">514</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dexter, Samuel, Secretary of War in Adams's Cabinet, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Secretary of the Treasury in Adams's Cabinet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dickinson, John, in Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter of, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[Pg 538]</a></span><br />
+Dictator, proposition for appointment of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+<br />
+Douglas, Dr., clergyman, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Duane, William, flogged, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_475">475</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dumas, financial agent of the United States at the Hague, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Dunbar, William, discussions with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br />
+<br />
+Dunglison, Dr., on visitors at Monticello, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Jefferson's religious belief, <a href="#Page_520">520</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his account of Jefferson's death, <a href="#Page_531">531</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of, governor of Virginia, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre S., Jefferson's association with, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Plan of a National Education", <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_506">506</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">theories and practice of, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">correspondence with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_405">405-409</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_478">478</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_497">497</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Louisiana problem, <a href="#Page_407">407-409</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412-415</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">never fully understood Jefferson, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">draws up plan of government for the "Equinoctial republics", <a href="#Page_498">498</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_513">513</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Edwards, Jonathan, <a href="#Page_430">430</a><br />
+<br />
+Election, of 1792, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of 1796, <a href="#Page_316">316-319</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of 1800, <a href="#Page_363">363-373</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of 1804, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ellsworth, Oliver, appointed Plenipotentiary to France, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Embargo of 1807, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456-462</a>, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a><br />
+<br />
+"Encyclop&eacute;die M&eacute;thodique", <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+English, their monopoly of the American market, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br />
+<br />
+Entails, abolished in Virginia, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Epicurism, <a href="#Page_521">521</a><br />
+<br />
+Eppes, Mrs., sister of Mrs. Jefferson, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Equinoctial republics, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+Essex case, <a href="#Page_447">447</a><br />
+<br />
+Estaing, Admiral d', <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Euripides, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Eustis, Dr. William, letter to, <a href="#Page_461">461</a><br />
+<br />
+Excise tax, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">revolt against (Whisky Insurrection), <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's bitterness against, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Expatriation, doctrine of, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Fairfax resolutions, <a href="#Page_45">45-48</a><br />
+<br />
+Farmers-general, <a href="#Page_177">177-181</a><br />
+<br />
+Farming taxes, <a href="#Page_177">177-181</a><br />
+<br />
+Fauquier, Dr., of Floirac, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
+<br />
+Fauquier, Gov. Francis, his intimacy with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
+<br />
+Federal Government, prerogatives of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Federalist</i>, the, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Federalists, their power broken, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in election of 1800, <a href="#Page_367">367-373</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Jefferson's administration, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Feudal system, abolishment of, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Fleming, William, letters to, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee on religion, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Florida, Western and Eastern, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a><br />
+<br />
+Foster, Dwight, Senator, makes offer to Jefferson, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br />
+<br />
+Fox blockade, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br />
+<br />
+France, educational system of, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">colonizing designs of, feared, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">difficulties with, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323-325</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331-342</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447-462</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> French Revolution</span><br />
+<br />
+Franklin, Benjamin, on committee of Continental Congress appointed to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his part in Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee to suggest United States seal, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elected commissioner to France, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's view of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of commerce, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interview with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Franklin, William Temple, papers entrusted to, by Benjamin Franklin, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Free ports, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+<br />
+Freedom of speech, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br />
+<br />
+Freedom of the press, importance of, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a><br />
+<br />
+Freedom of thought, Jefferson's understanding of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+<br />
+Freeholders, rights of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br />
+<br />
+French constitution, <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+French debt, of United States, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184-193</a><br />
+<br />
+French Revolution, Declaration of June 23, 1793, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Declaration of May 29, 1793, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Assembly of the Notables, <a href="#Page_219">219-222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">convocation of States-General, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">National Assembly, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[Pg 539]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">capture of the Bastille, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defeat of Duke of Brunswick, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes international issue, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight of king, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">execution of king, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Freneau, Philip, his paper, the <i>National Gazette</i>, <a href="#Page_261">261-263</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Fry, Joshua, professor in William and Mary College, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Gallatin, Albert, defies excise law, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speech of, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_480">480</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Gates, Horatio, letters to, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Gazette of the United States</i>, attacks Jefferson, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Geismer, Baron de, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Generations of men, rights of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Gen&ecirc;t, Citizen Edmond C., the case of, <a href="#Page_288">288-297</a><br />
+<br />
+Gerry, Elbridge, letters to, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351-353</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed envoy extraordinary to France, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ghent, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_485">485</a><br />
+<br />
+Giles, William B., and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Gilmer, Francis Walker, and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">sent to England to recruit faculty for University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_511">511</a></span><br />
+<br />
+"Government by the people", <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Granger, Gideon, letter to, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br />
+<br />
+Great Britain, United States debt to, <a href="#Page_186">186-193</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her hatred of United States, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and France, war between, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447-462</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her navy, policies of, in regard to contraband and impressment, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Greene, William, letter to, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Hamilton, Alexander, quarrel with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255-258</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268-271</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Secretary of the Treasury, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson gives estimate of, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Reports of, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his Bank Bill, <a href="#Page_255">255-257</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his actions supported by Washington, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attitude toward England, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Whisky Insurrection, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">would encourage American manufactures, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his plans of administrative reorganization, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in election campaign of 1800, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">duel with Burr, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hamilton, Gov., of Kaskakias, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Hammond, George, British minister to United States, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br />
+<br />
+Hardy, Samuel, delegate to Congress from Virginia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br />
+<br />
+Harrison, Gov., letters to, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a><br />
+<br />
+Hawkesbury, Lord, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a><br />
+<br />
+Hawkins, Col. Benjamin, discussions with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hay, George, <a href="#Page_436">436</a><br />
+<br />
+Helv&eacute;tius, Madame, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br />
+<br />
+Henry, Patrick, and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his study of the law, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">after passage of Boston Port Bill, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Jefferson's "Summary View", <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speech at second Virginia Convention, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">seconds motion for appointment of dictator, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Plenipotentiary to France, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hereditary titles, in the Confederation, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Hervey, John, guardian of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br />
+<br />
+Hobbes, Thomas, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Holland, United States debt to, <a href="#Page_187">187-193</a><br />
+<br />
+Hopkinson, Francis, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Hopkinson, Mrs., <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Houdetot, Madame d', <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Howe, Lord, negotiations of Franklin with, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Howick, Lord, <a href="#Page_450">450</a><br />
+<br />
+Humboldt, Baron Alexander von, letter to, <a href="#Page_481">481</a><br />
+<br />
+Humphreys, Col. David, secretary of legation in Paris, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Immigration, Jefferson's views of, <a href="#Page_123">123-125</a><br />
+<br />
+Impeachment, the Republican understanding of, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a><br />
+<br />
+"Implied powers", doctrine of, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br />
+<br />
+Impressment, of British sailors on neutral vessels, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an issue of the War of 1812, <a href="#Page_478">478</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Income tax, <a href="#Page_494">494</a><br />
+<br />
+Indians, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">study of customs and languages of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">atrocities of, in American Revolution, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">eloquence of, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">affairs of, treated in Jefferson's second inaugural, <a href="#Page_425">425-427</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Industrialism, dangers of, <a href="#Page_492">492</a><br />
+<br />
+Isham, Mary, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Jackson, Andrew, <a href="#Page_431">431</a><br />
+<br />
+Jacobins, <i>see</i> Republicans<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[Pg 540]</a></span><br />
+Jay, John, letters to, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> Jay treaty</span><br />
+<br />
+Jay, Gov. John, letter to, <a href="#Page_491">491</a><br />
+<br />
+Jay treaty, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Martha, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, her account of Mrs. Jefferson's death, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">date of birth, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">accompanies father to Europe, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">marriage, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Monticello, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's farewell message to, <a href="#Page_532">532</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Mary, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">joins father in Paris, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Peter, father of Thomas Jefferson, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Mrs. Peter, <i>see</i> Randolph, Jane<br />
+<br />
+Jefferson, Thomas, birth, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ancestry and parentage, <a href="#Page_3">3-5</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Autobiography", <i>see</i> below;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">schooling, <a href="#Page_5">5-7</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">early reading, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">life at Shadwell, <a href="#Page_6">6-8</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at William and Mary College, <a href="#Page_8">8-17</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">oratorical ambitions, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of Patrick Henry upon, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">love episode with Rebecca Burwell, <a href="#Page_16">16-18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">commonplace books, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <i>see also</i> below;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">change in religious belief, <a href="#Page_19">19-24</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distrust of women, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his system of morality, <a href="#Page_24">24-26</a>, <i>see also</i> Morality;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of Greek Stoics upon, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">studies law, <a href="#Page_27">27-31</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his revindication of the Saxon liberties, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his acquaintance with languages and books, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practices law, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">life as farmer at Shadwell, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Garden Books", <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his scorn of rhetoric, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">character of his mind, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in House of Burgesses, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his library, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">marriage, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">life at Monticello, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">after passing of Boston Port Bill, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his declaration of mutual defence, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes Albemarle resolutions, <a href="#Page_45">45-47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his doctrine of expatriation, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">drafts instructions to Virginia delegates to first Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "A Summary View of the Rights of British America", <a href="#Page_48">48-53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his discussion of land tenures, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speaks as pioneer, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in second Virginia Convention, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">delegate to second Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his part of "Declaration of the Cause of Taking Up Arms", <a href="#Page_59">59-62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence of Greek and Latin orators on his style, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of independence, <a href="#Page_63">63-65</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his absence from Congress during preliminary steps to Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia of the County of Albemarle, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">drafts constitution for Virginia, <a href="#Page_66">66-69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69-78</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resigns from Congress and enters Virginia Legislature, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of the social compact and liberty, <a href="#Page_80">80-82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his philosophy of natural and civil rights, <a href="#Page_80">80-85</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his conception of state sovereignty, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views on property, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his suggestion for United States seal, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the source of his political philosophy, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses post of commissioner to France, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">birth of son, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his part in revision of laws of Virginia, <a href="#Page_88">88-103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">starts subscription for Rev. Charles Clay, <a href="#Page_103">103-105</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his doctrine of government, <a href="#Page_105">105-107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as Governor of Virginia, <a href="#Page_107">107-114</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attitude toward British prisoners, <a href="#Page_109">109-112</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a stern, but little observed, trait in his character, <a href="#Page_111">111-113</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nearly taken by the British, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">charges against his conduct as governor, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">impatient at public criticism, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses new appointment to European post, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his determination to return to private life, <a href="#Page_116">116-118</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his description of natural scenery, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his studies in natural history, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his answer to Abb&eacute; Raynal, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views on immigration, <a href="#Page_123">123-125</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his combination of faith and pessimism in reference to government, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of the best government, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his opposition to dictator, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his belief in efficacy of universal suffrage, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his pessimism as regards human nature and human society, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views of slavery and the Negro, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <i>see also</i> Slavery;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[Pg 541]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of American civilization as agricultural, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advises peace and preparedness, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ideal picture of America, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of his wife, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Plenipotentiary to Europe, but appointment canceled, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">delegate to Congress (June, 1782 to July 5, 1784), <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143-152</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">founds American monetary system, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of commerce with foreign nations, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his qualifications for European task, <a href="#Page_153">153-155</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his quarters in Paris, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views of Paris, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his friends and acquaintances at Paris, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rooms in Carthusian Monastery, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his travels in Europe, <a href="#Page_164">164-171</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advises against sending youth to Europe, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">compares Europe with America, <a href="#Page_173">173-175</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his duties at Paris, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and foreign debts, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181-193</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the tobacco trade, <a href="#Page_177">177-181</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his efforts to promote Gallo-American commerce, <a href="#Page_181">181-184</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">puts all questions on a practical basis, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views on the American Constitution, <a href="#Page_195">195-202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his political philosophy, <a href="#Page_203">203-205</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his management of the problem of the Barbary pirates, <a href="#Page_205">205-207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his fear of French, English, and Spanish designs in New World, <a href="#Page_207">207-211</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his belief in policy of isolation for United States, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">originates policy of watchful waiting, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attitude toward French Revolution, <a href="#Page_215">215-237</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">draws up "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation", <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his emendations and corrections to Lafayette's "D&eacute;claration Europ&eacute;enne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen", <a href="#Page_232">232-234</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his house made the scene of French committee meeting, <a href="#Page_235">235-237</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">how far he believed in "government by the people", <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the French people, <a href="#Page_238">238-240</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">asserts one standard of morality for nations and individuals, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">accepts post of Secretary of State, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pays respects to Franklin, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the "Anas", <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attitude toward United States debts, <a href="#Page_250">250-255</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quarrel with Hamilton, <a href="#Page_255">255-258</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268-271</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his opposition to Bank Bill, <a href="#Page_255">255-258</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his theory of State rights, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his quarrel with Adams, <a href="#Page_258">258-261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reaches an impasse, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his proposed changes in Virginia Constitution, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his indictment of Hamilton's system, <a href="#Page_265">265-267</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urges Washington to run a second time for Presidency, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attacked by <i>Gazette of the United States</i>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes leader of new party, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his fears of a monarchy, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to French friends, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his practical idealism, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">efforts to obtain New Orleans, <a href="#Page_276">276-278</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes sympathetic with republican government in France, <a href="#Page_278">278-280</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285-287</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his efforts to obtain commercial privileges with West Indies, <a href="#Page_280">280-282</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cautious in action, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his principles as to recognition of foreign governments, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the war between England and France, and Citizen Gen&ecirc;t, <a href="#Page_287">287-297</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resigns Secretaryship, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in retirement at Monticello, <a href="#Page_298">298-320</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his admiration for Madame de Corny, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">avoids politics, <a href="#Page_299">299-303</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his Report on the Privileges and Restrictions of the Commerce of the United States, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hopes for avoidance of war with Great Britain, <a href="#Page_303">303-305</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">views on current political events, <a href="#Page_308">308-313</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes indiscreet letter to Mazzei, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pen-portrait of, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chosen Vice-President, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempted reconciliation with Adams, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">desires peace with Europe, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Parliamentary Manual", <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of manufactures, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forms certain political conclusions, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his self-mastery, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposed to break in the Union, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspaper war against, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">luminous exposition of his doctrine (program of the Democratic party), <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as political leader, <a href="#Page_352">352-362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nominated for Presidency (1800), <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the campaign, <a href="#Page_363">363-368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the election, <a href="#Page_368">368-373</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inauguration, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inaugural address, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>;</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[Pg 542]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">his removals from office, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attack on the judiciary, <a href="#Page_383">383-390</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">re&euml;lected (1804), <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">convinced of the evil of the intrusion of churches into politics, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hostility to, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his relation to Cabinet members, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his reform in financial system of United States, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attitude toward agriculture and manufactures, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his imperialist views, <a href="#Page_398">398-400</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Louisiana Purchase, <a href="#Page_405">405-421</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sends Lewis on Western exploring expedition, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his policy in war between England and France, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447-462</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his second inaugural address, <a href="#Page_425">425-428</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the ordeal of his second term, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inconsistency of his conduct in Burr case, <a href="#Page_437">437-439</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tries to obtain the Floridas, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">offers alliance with England, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">writes to Alexander of Russia concerning rights of neutrals, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">imperialistic proposition of, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his letters, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his views of Executive and Congress, <a href="#Page_468">468-470</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposed to English mercantilism, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his detestation of English policies and rulers, <a href="#Page_470">470-473</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ideas on War of 1812, <a href="#Page_473">473-478</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">offers library to Congress, <a href="#Page_477">477</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his feeling for England as distinguished from English government, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opinions on affairs of Europe and South America, <a href="#Page_479">479-486</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486-488</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">formulates the gospel of American democracy, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">economic and banking theories of, <a href="#Page_490">490-496</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view of best government for France, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>, <a href="#Page_497">497</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his theory of the function of the people in a democracy, <a href="#Page_499">499-502</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sees germs of national weakness in United States government, <a href="#Page_502">502-505</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his services to education (University of Virginia), <a href="#Page_505">505-512</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his interests, <a href="#Page_514">514-516</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his conclusion on the future of democracy, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reconciliation with Adams, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>, <a href="#Page_519">519</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his later religious views, <a href="#Page_519">519-528</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his faith in ultimate recognition of ideals, <a href="#Page_528">528</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his last years and death, <a href="#Page_529">529-532</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Autobiography", references to, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">quoted on proposal for Congress, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on expatriation, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on Jefferson's retirement from Congress, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on simplification of statutes, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on self-government of the people, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on method of composition used in "Notes on Virginia", <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on attendance at Congress, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on Committee of Congress, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on Jefferson's duties in Paris, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">picture of events preceding French Revolution in, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on refusal of invitation to attend meeting of French committee, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">the writing of, <a href="#Page_515">515</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Commonplace Book", <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">law matters in, <a href="#Page_28">28-30</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">provincialism in, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Kames quoted in, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on rights of Dominion of Virginia, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">passages from James Wilson in, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Montesquieu and Beccaria copied in, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">extracts on history of Common Law in, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on death, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">other references to, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Literary Bible", <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">provincialism in, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Milton in, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Notes on Virginia", references to, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_508">508</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">publication of, <a href="#Page_118">118-120</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">contents of, <a href="#Page_120">120-136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">memorandum on new constitution for Virginia in, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">on value of education, <a href="#Page_505">505</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Jones, Prof. Hugh, his description of Williamsburg, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br />
+<br />
+Jones, Paul, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+Jones, Dr. Walter, letter to, <a href="#Page_499">499</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Journal de Paris</i>, imprisonment of chief editor of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br />
+<br />
+Judiciary, assault on, under Jefferson, <a href="#Page_383">383-390</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a><br />
+<br />
+Judiciary Act of 1801, repeal of, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Kaims (Kames), Henry Home, Lord, his "Historical Law Tracts", <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on mutual defence, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his distinction of "property" and "possession", <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">referred to, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Kant, Immanuel, criterium of, <a href="#Page_525">525</a><br />
+<br />
+Keith, Mary, wife of Thomas Marshall, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br />
+<br />
+Kentucky nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345-347</a><br />
+<br />
+Kercheval, Samuel, letter to, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_504">504</a><br />
+<br />
+King, Rufus, <a href="#Page_402">402-405</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[Pg 543]</a></span><br />
+Knox, Gen. Henry, Secretary of War under Washington, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+<br />
+Kosciusko, <a href="#Page_516">516</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Lafayette, Marquis de, his plan for a "declaration of the rights of man and the citizen", <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sent to arrest Arnold, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">friend of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his family and friends, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the tobacco monopoly, <a href="#Page_177">177-179</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">efforts of, in commercial transactions, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Barbary pirates, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advice of Jefferson to, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "D&eacute;claration Europ&eacute;enne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen", <a href="#Page_232">232-234</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brings about committee meeting in Jefferson's house, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his final leave-taking of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_531">531</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lambert, British traveler, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br />
+<br />
+Lamothe, Lieut., <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Land Office, ordinance concerning establishment of, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Land tenures, origin of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br />
+<br />
+"La Peyrouse's voyage to the South Seas", <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, visits Monticello, <a href="#Page_313">313-315</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br />
+<br />
+Latude, Jean Henri de, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br />
+<br />
+Law, Thomas, letters to, <a href="#Page_478">478</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a><br />
+<br />
+Law, and free institutions, in Saxon society, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br />
+<br />
+"Law of nature", <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+League of Nations, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br />
+<br />
+Lee, Arthur, delegate to Congress from Virginia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br />
+<br />
+Lee, C., appointed judge by Adams, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Lee, F. L., of Virginia Assembly, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+Lee, Richard H., of Virginia Assembly, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee of continental Congress appointed to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form governments, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lee, Thomas Ludwell, appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90-92</a><br />
+<br />
+Leib, Dr., <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lewis (Merriwether) and Clark (William) Expedition, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a><br />
+<br />
+Liberty, Jefferson's definition of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Lincoln, Abraham, Gettysburg address, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Little Sarah</i>, British prize, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+Livingston, Edward, member of Congress from New York, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br />
+<br />
+Livingston, Robert R., on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">United States Minister to France, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Louisiana, <a href="#Page_402">402-416</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lobbying, <a href="#Page_502">502</a><br />
+<br />
+Locke, John, his "Treatise on Civil Government", <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his hypothesis of society, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Logan, Dr., idealistic pacifist, <a href="#Page_341">341</a><br />
+<br />
+Logan Law, <a href="#Page_350">350</a><br />
+<br />
+Louis XVI, Jefferson's pen-portrait of, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">flight of, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">execution of, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Louisiana Purchase, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400-421</a><br />
+<br />
+"Louisianais", acceptance of, to citizenship, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+McGregory, letter to, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br />
+<br />
+McHenry, James, Secretary of War in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dismissed by Adams, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Madison, Bishop, discusses religion with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_358">358</a><br />
+<br />
+Madison, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw from public life, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">delegate to Congress, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's correspondence with, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_476">476</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urges Jefferson to accept post of Secretary of State, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's unofficial representative in Congress, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bank Bill opposed by, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speeches, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his copy of "The Rights of Man", <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">accompanies Jefferson on trip, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">objections to, as Minister to France, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">envoy to France, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">silent on French dispute, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recommends Virginia nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter of, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">election of, to Presidency, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on board of visitors to University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[Pg 544]</a></span><br />
+Madrid, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_403">403</a><br />
+<br />
+Mann, Thomas, letter to, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Manufactures, Hamilton's Report on, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hamilton's view of, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's view of, <a href="#Page_327">327-329</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">change in Jefferson's view of, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a></span><br />
+<br />
+"Marbury versus Madison", <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br />
+<br />
+Marshall, John, ancestry, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed envoy extraordinary to France, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns from France, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Secretary of State in Adams's Cabinet, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">administers oath to Jefferson, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">head of Federalists, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his decision in "Marbury versus Madison", <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">asserts power of Supreme Court to declare law unconstitutional, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">findings of, in Burr conspiracy case, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "History of Washington", <a href="#Page_515">515</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Marshall, Thomas, family of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br />
+<br />
+Martin, Luther, in Chase impeachment case, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br />
+<br />
+Mason, George, resolutions written by, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Virginia Bill of Rights" written by, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90-93</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mason, John, letter to, <a href="#Page_455">455</a><br />
+<br />
+Mason, Stephens Thompson, letter to, <a href="#Page_344">344</a><br />
+<br />
+Mason, Thomas, <a href="#Page_307">307</a><br />
+<br />
+Mathews, Col. George, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br />
+<br />
+Maury, James, letters to, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_478">478</a><br />
+<br />
+Maury, Rev. Dr., schoolmaster, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Mazzei, Philip, neighbor and friend of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mellish, John, traveler, <a href="#Page_460">460</a><br />
+<br />
+Mercer, John F., delegate to Congress from Virginia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Mexico, <a href="#Page_481">481</a><br />
+<br />
+Middlemen, in tobacco trade, <a href="#Page_177">177-181</a><br />
+<br />
+"Midnight judges", <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a><br />
+<br />
+Milton, John, his accusations against female usurpations, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quotation from, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mint, Hamilton's Report on Establishment of, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br />
+<br />
+Mississippi, navigation of, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Missouri question, <a href="#Page_502">502</a>, <a href="#Page_503">503</a><br />
+<br />
+Mitchell, Dr., unpublished letter to, <a href="#Page_390">390</a><br />
+<br />
+Monocrats, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br />
+<br />
+Monroe, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw from public life, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">delegate to Congress from Virginia, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's correspondence with, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301-303</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Washington's proclamation of neutrality, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sent as special envoy to France to negotiate for Louisiana, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his fear of alliance of Great Britain and France against United States, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiates, with Pinkney, treaty with England, <a href="#Page_448">448-450</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">considered for Presidency in 1808, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on board of visitors to University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_483">483</a>, <a href="#Page_486">486-488</a><br />
+<br />
+Montaigne, M. E. de, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br />
+<br />
+Montesquieu, Baron de, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br />
+<br />
+Monticello, the building of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">life at, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson in retirement at, <a href="#Page_298">298-320</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a self-supporting economic unit, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">visitors to, <a href="#Page_515">515</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Montmorency, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Montmorin, Minister, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+<br />
+Morality, and religion, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_523">523-525</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">test of, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">code of, <a href="#Page_526">526</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Morellet, Abb&eacute;, translator of "Notes on Virginia", <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meets Jefferson, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Morocco, Emperor, treaty with, <a href="#Page_312">312</a><br />
+<br />
+Morris, Gouverneur, his accusation against Jefferson, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Minister to France, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters from, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conduct as Minister to France, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">offers to use political influence for Jefferson, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Morris, Robert, Financier of U. S., <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br />
+<br />
+Mutual defence, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>National Gazette</i>, foundation of, <a href="#Page_261">261-263</a><br />
+<br />
+Natural Bridge, description of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Necker, Jacques, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+<br />
+Negro, Jefferson's view of status of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br />
+<br />
+Nelson, Gen., elected governor of Virginia, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Nelson, Thomas, Jr., letter to, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+Neutrality, Washington's proclamation of, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's policy of, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></span><br />
+<br />
+New Granada, constitution of, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>New London Bee</i>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br />
+<br />
+New Orleans, Jefferson's efforts to obtain, <a href="#Page_276">276-278</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[Pg 545]</a></span><br />
+Nicholas, George, his charges against Jefferson, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proposes dictator 127;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Nicholas, Robert C., <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br />
+<br />
+Nicholas, Wilson C., his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refutes Federalists, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Nicholson, Joseph N., member of Congress, <a href="#Page_372">372</a><br />
+<br />
+Nock, A. J., historian of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a><br />
+<br />
+Non-Intercourse Act, <a href="#Page_461">461</a><br />
+<br />
+North, Lord, his "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's answer to his "Conciliatory Proposition", <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345-347</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Ogden, John, arrest of, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br />
+<br />
+Ogilvie, James, <a href="#Page_502">502</a><br />
+<br />
+Oratory, American school of, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a><br />
+<br />
+Orders in Council (Nov. 11, 1807), <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a><br />
+<br />
+Otis, H. G., nominated District Attorney by Adams, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Page, John, Jefferson's correspondence with, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on committee on religion, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Paine, Thomas, his "Common Sense", influence of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "The Rights of Man", <a href="#Page_258">258-261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's regard for, resented, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Paradise, Comtesse Barziza, Lucy, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Parsons, Theophilus, nominated Attorney-General, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br />
+<br />
+"Parson's Case", <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br />
+<br />
+Patowmac River, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+Pendleton, Edmund, letters to, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appeal of Jefferson to, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">congratulates Jefferson, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Physiocrats, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493-495</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+Pichon, French charg&eacute; at The Hague, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Minister in Washington, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pickering, Judge, impeachment of, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br />
+<br />
+Pickering, Timothy, in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dismissed by Adams, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Picket, F. J., of Geneva, <a href="#Page_507">507</a><br />
+<br />
+Pinckney, Charles, Minister to Spain, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, his treatment by the French Directory, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed envoy extraordinary to France, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">candidate for President (1808), <a href="#Page_464">464</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pinckney, Thomas, Minister to Great Britain, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pinkney, William, and Monroe, negotiate treaty with England, <a href="#Page_448">448-450</a><br />
+<br />
+Politics, foreign and domestic, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+Presidential election, <i>see</i> Election<br />
+<br />
+Priestley, Joseph, letters to, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">befriended by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Hints Concerning Public Education", <a href="#Page_506">506</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his treatise, "Of Socrates and Jesus compared", <a href="#Page_526">526</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Privateering, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Privateers, outfitted and commissioned by Gen&ecirc;t, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br />
+<br />
+"Proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties, Draft for", <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+<br />
+Property, the right to, <a href="#Page_83">83-85</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and possession, distinction between, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<i>Prospect</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a><br />
+<br />
+Protestants, edict on, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br />
+<br />
+Public opinion, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a><br />
+<br />
+"Pursuit of happiness", as a right, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Va., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, Edmund, letters to, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Attorney-General under Washington, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opinion of, attacked by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, Jane, mother of Thomas Jefferson, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, John, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">removes to England, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, John, of Roanoke, refutes Federalists, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Chase impeachment case, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Resolution" of, on judiciary, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leader of discontented Republicans, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his "Remonstrance of the people of Louisiana", <a href="#Page_429">429</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attacks on Madison, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, Peyton, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">president of first Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recalled from Congress, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[Pg 546]</a></span><br />
+Randolph, Mrs. Sarah, her "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", <a href="#Page_529">529</a><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, Thomas Mann, Jr., marries Martha Jefferson, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters to, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Monticello, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, William, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+Raynal, Abb&eacute;, his application of theory of Buffon to American settlers, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">answer of Jefferson to, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Religion, and morality, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_523">523</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a><br />
+<br />
+Religious freedom, in Virginia, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100-103</a><br />
+<br />
+Republicans, in election of 1792, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+<br />
+Richmond, Va., establishment of Free Public Library at, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<br />
+Riedesel, Maj.-Gen. Baron de, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Rights, natural and civil, <a href="#Page_80">80-85</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br />
+<br />
+Rochefoucauld, Comtesse de la, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+Rochefoucauld, Duc de La, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br />
+<br />
+Rodney, Caesar A., letter to, <a href="#Page_469">469</a><br />
+<br />
+Rotation in office, <a href="#Page_502">502</a><br />
+<br />
+Rousseau, Jean Jacques, his hypothesis of society, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on morality, <a href="#Page_525">525</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Rush, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">deplores estrangement of Jefferson and Adams, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson writes "Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of others" for, <a href="#Page_526">526</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Rush, Richard, letter to, <a href="#Page_489">489</a><br />
+<br />
+Rutledge, letters to, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Saint &Eacute;tienne, Rabaud de, Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br />
+<br />
+San Ildefonso, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br />
+<br />
+Santo Domingo, and Government of the United States, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br />
+<br />
+Sedgwick, Theodore, speaker of the House, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br />
+<br />
+Sedition Law, <a href="#Page_342">342-347</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a><br />
+<br />
+Seward, W. W., letter to, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Shadwell, Jefferson estate, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">burning of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Shaw, Samuel, consul at Canton, <a href="#Page_289">289</a><br />
+<br />
+Sherman, Roger, on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+"Shirt-sleeve" diplomacy, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br />
+<br />
+Short, William, private secretary of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">studies French, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">correspondence with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_275">275-277</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_521">521</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transferred to the Hague, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rebuked by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Skelton, Bathurst, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+Skelton, Martha, married to Jefferson, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">grave and inscription, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Slavery, Jefferson's attitude toward, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the Confederation, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Small, Dr. William, professor in William and Mary College, his intimacy with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_11">11-13</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Smith, Rev. Cotton Mather, his accusation against Jefferson, <a href="#Page_363">363</a><br />
+<br />
+Smith, James, letter to, <a href="#Page_520">520</a><br />
+<br />
+Smith, Robert, Attorney-General, <a href="#Page_437">437</a><br />
+<br />
+Smith, Samuel H., letters to, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_477">477</a><br />
+<br />
+Smith, Col. W. S., <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br />
+<br />
+Social compact, Jefferson's view of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80-82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_498">498</a><br />
+<br />
+Society, man and, conflict between, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contractual and physiocratic doctrines of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></span><br />
+<br />
+South America, <i>see</i> Spanish colonies<br />
+<br />
+Spanish colonies in America, <a href="#Page_209">209-211</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">revolt of, <a href="#Page_481">481-485</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Sprigg resolution, against war with France, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br />
+<br />
+Sta&euml;l, Madame de, Jefferson's correspondence with, <a href="#Page_476">476</a><br />
+<br />
+State rights, Jefferson's theory of, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a><br />
+<br />
+State sovereignty, Jefferson's conception of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+State universities, <a href="#Page_512">512</a><br />
+<br />
+States, provision for new, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Stewart, Dugald, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+Stoddart, Benjamin, Secretary of the Navy in Adams's Cabinet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Stuart, Archibald, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br />
+<br />
+Suffrage, universal, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">limitation of, <a href="#Page_499">499</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Sullivan, Francis Stoughton, his "An Historical Treatise of the Feudal Laws and the Constitution of the Laws of England", <a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+<br />
+Supreme Court, Jefferson's attitude toward, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Marshall's doctrine of the powers of, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Swartwout, and the Burr conspiracy, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[Pg 547]</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tariff, and the French debt, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">belief and practice in, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advocated by Jefferson's party, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tarleton, Col. Sir Bannastre, attempts to capture Legislature and Governor of Virginia, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+<br />
+Taxation, forms of, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>, <a href="#Page_494">494</a><br />
+<br />
+Taylor, John, letter to, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">efforts to secure appointment of dictator, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Taylor, Keith, appointed judge by Adams, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Tazewell, H., letter to, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Ternant, French Minister to United States, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Tess&eacute;, Madame de, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">correspondence with, <a href="#Page_514">514</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Thomson, Charles, letter to, <a href="#Page_530">530</a><br />
+<br />
+Ticknor, George, <a href="#Page_510">510</a><br />
+<br />
+Tobacco monopoly, <a href="#Page_177">177-181</a><br />
+<br />
+Tott, Madame de, <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+<br />
+"Transfers", problem of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+<br />
+Treaties, <i>see</i> Commercial treaties<br />
+<br />
+Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Treaty of Commerce, with Great Britain, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+<br />
+Trial by jury, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br />
+<br />
+Tripoli, war with, <a href="#Page_443">443</a><br />
+<br />
+Trist, Mrs., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_530">530</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Unger, Louis de, German officer, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+<br />
+Unitarianism, <a href="#Page_520">520</a><br />
+<br />
+United States, suggestions for seal of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proclaimed as one nation, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishment of monetary system of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provision for new States, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">foreign debts, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184-193</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">western lands, sale of, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Constitution, <a href="#Page_195">195-202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">desire of isolation, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">often accused of hypocrisy in foreign dealings, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">has tried to combine political aloofness and industrial and commercial development, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">relation to foreign nations, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">neutrality of, in war between England and France, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">imports and exports of, at beginning of nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">population of, at beginning of nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> American Revolution; Articles of Confederation; Declaration of Independence; Louisiana Purchase</span><br />
+<br />
+University of Geneva, <a href="#Page_505">505</a><br />
+<br />
+University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509-512</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Vans Murray, American Minister at The Hague, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a><br />
+<br />
+Vans Murray-Pichon papers, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a><br />
+<br />
+Venable, <a href="#Page_356">356</a><br />
+<br />
+Vergennes, Charles G., Count de, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br />
+<br />
+Virginia, family life in, before the Revolution, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">books in, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">religion in, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">plantation life in, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">House of Burgesses, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">temper of colonists of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Constitution (1776), drafted by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_67">67-69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">revision of laws of, <a href="#Page_88">88-107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ideas on new constitution for, <a href="#Page_140">140-143</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson proposes changes in constitution, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> American Revolution; Shadwell; Williamsburg</span><br />
+<br />
+Virginia Bill of Rights, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br />
+<br />
+Virginia Convention, first, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">second, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Virginia nullification resolutions, <a href="#Page_345">345-347</a><br />
+<br />
+Virginia Company of Comedians, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Volney, Constantin F. C. B., Count de, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Walker, Col., guardian of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+War of 1812, <a href="#Page_473">473-478</a><br />
+<br />
+Washington, D. C., in 1800, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br />
+<br />
+Washington, George, presides over Assembly of Fairfax County, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Jefferson, differ as regards treatment of British prisoners, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson's view of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his wines, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his Cabinet, <a href="#Page_245">245-247</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urged by Jefferson to run a second time for Presidency, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distressed at dissensions in Cabinet, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">supports Hamilton's actions, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">re&euml;lection of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter to, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">harsh words of Jefferson against, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Watchful waiting, policy of, advocated by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a><br />
+<br />
+Watson, David, on board of visitors to University of Virginia, <a href="#Page_509">509</a><br />
+<br />
+Wayles, John, father-in-law of Jefferson, <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br />
+<br />
+West Indies, commerce with, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280-282</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jefferson opposed to change of ownership of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[Pg 548]</a></span><br />
+Western lands, sale of, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+<br />
+Whisky Insurrection, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+White House, burned by English, <a href="#Page_476">476</a><br />
+<br />
+Wilkinson, James, and the Burr conspiracy, <a href="#Page_429">429-435</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a><br />
+<br />
+William and Mary College, <a href="#Page_8">8-11</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reorganization of, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transformation of, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Williamsburg, Va., society in, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Williamson, Hugh, discussions with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br />
+<br />
+Wilson, James, and the Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br />
+<br />
+Wilson, Woodrow, political aloofness and industrial development conspicuous in his position, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his phrase, "too proud to fight", <a href="#Page_398">398</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">neutrality of, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his hope of preserving peace, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his situation in 1914-1917 compared to that of Jefferson in 1808, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Wistar, Caspar, discussions with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br />
+<br />
+Wolcott, Oliver, Secretary of the Treasury under Washington and Adams, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br />
+<br />
+Woodward, Augustus S., letter to, <a href="#Page_521">521</a><br />
+<br />
+Wythe, George, professor in William and Mary College, and Jefferson, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, <a href="#Page_90">90-93</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">congratulates Jefferson, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+XYZ Case, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">See <i>also</i> France</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Thomas Jefferson
+       The Apostle of Americanism
+
+Author: Gilbert Chinard
+
+Release Date: November 21, 2011 [EBook #38073]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THOMAS JEFFERSON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Cicconetti and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Transcriber's note: The second edition is still under copyright,
+  but contained a few corrections. The quote attributed to Jefferson
+  on pages 80-82 is from Thomas Paine and has a different plate.
+  The text on pages 82-85 and in the introduction were significantly
+  revised. The last paragraph on page 375 was reworded to be less
+  critical of John Adams.
+
+  The original text includes Greek characters, which have been replaced
+  with transliterations for this text version. Also, certain words use
+  "oe" ligature in the original. Carat (^) character has been used to
+  represent subscript in this text version.]
+
+
+
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+  _The Apostle of Americanism_
+
+
+
+
+  Books by Gilbert Chinard
+
+    VOLNEY ET L'AMERIQUE
+    JEFFERSON ET LES IDEOLOGUES
+    LES REFUGIES HUGUENOTS EN AMERIQUE
+    THE COMMONPLACE BOOK OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
+    LES AMITIES FRANCAISES DE JEFFERSON
+    THE LITERARY BIBLE OF JEFFERSON
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON
+
+  _In the possession of the New York Historical Society_]
+
+
+
+
+  THOMAS
+  JEFFERSON
+
+  THE APOSTLE OF AMERICANISM
+
+  _By_
+
+  GILBERT CHINARD
+
+
+  _With Illustrations_
+
+  BOSTON
+  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+  1929
+
+
+  _Copyright, 1929_,
+  BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+  Published September, 1929
+
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This study of Jefferson's mind is the indirect outcome of an ambitious
+undertaking on which I launched about ten years ago. My original purpose
+had been to determine more exactly than had heretofore been done the
+contribution of the French thinkers to the political philosophy of
+Thomas Jefferson.
+
+The points of similarity were obvious: the parallelism between the
+theory of natural rights and the _Declaration des droits de l'homme_ is
+patent; the American statesman shared with the French "doctrinaires" the
+same faith in the ultimate wisdom of the people, the same belief in the
+necessity of a free press and religious freedom. Many of his utterances
+had a sort of French ring and countless Gallicisms could be discovered
+in his letters. He spent in France the five years immediately preceding
+the Revolution of 1789; he knew Madame d'Houdetot, Madame Helvetius,
+Lafayette, Condorcet, Cabanis, Du Pont de Nemours, l'Abbe Morellet and
+Destutt de Tracy. He was accused of bringing back from France the
+"infidel doctrines" of the philosophers and to some of his
+contemporaries he appeared as the embodiment of Jacobinism. How could
+such a man have failed to be influenced by the political, social and
+economic theories which brought about the great upheaval of the end of
+the eighteenth century?
+
+A rapid survey of the Jefferson papers in the Library of Congress and in
+the Massachusetts Historical Society soon convinced me that the subject
+had scarcely been touched, notwithstanding the controversy that had been
+raging about the origin of Jefferson's political ideas for more than a
+century. Hundreds of letters written to Jefferson by French
+correspondents were preserved in the precious archives, and had
+apparently never been consulted. Many days were spent in the rotunda of
+the Manuscript Division, turning the leaves of the two hundred and
+thirty volumes of the Jefferson papers. Documents after documents threw
+a new light on the mind of the great American--letters hastily written,
+rough drafts corrected and recorrected, press copies blurred and hardly
+decipherable, yellowed scraps of paper crumbling to pieces but piously
+restored; more letters in a regular, precise hand, the hand of a man who
+had been a surveyor and who drew rather than wrote. Fifty years of the
+most eventful period of American history, told by the chief
+participants, rose from the old documents, and day by day was revealed
+more clearly the clean-cut figure of Jefferson the American.
+
+First of all, the tall, lanky boy, born in a frame dwelling by the
+Rivanna,--not a farmer boy by any means, but the son of an ambitious,
+energetic and respected surveyor, a landowner and a colonel in the
+militia, and of a mother in whose veins ran the best blood of Virginia.
+The stern and pious education received in the family, the reading of the
+Bible and Shakespeare, the lessons of Reverend Maury, the son of a
+Huguenot who took the boy as a boarding student, the years at William
+and Mary College in the brilliant, animated, but small capital of
+Virginia, the conversations with Mr. Small, Mr. Wythe and Governor
+Fauquier, the Apollo tavern, the first love affair, and the long
+roamings in the hills surrounding Shadwell. More years as a student of
+law and as a law practitioner, quickly followed by his marriage with a
+Virginia "belle", and Thomas Jefferson had settled down, a promising
+young man, a talented lawyer, a respectable landowner, an omnivorous
+reader who culled from hundreds of authors moral maxims, bits of poetry,
+historical, legal and philosophical disquisitions and copied them in a
+neat hand in his commonplace books. But curiously enough during these
+formative years, the direct influence of the French philosophers was
+almost negligible. He knew Montesquieu's "Esprit des Lois" and
+Voltaire's "Essai sur les moeurs", but he used both books as
+repertories of facts rather than as founts of ideas. His masters were
+the Greeks of old, Homer and Euripides, then Cicero and Horace, finally
+Bolingbroke and above all the historians of the English law in whose
+works he studied the principles, development and degeneration of free
+institutions.
+
+The choice of the abstracts made by this young Virginian who was still
+in his twenties already reveals an extraordinary capacity for absorbing
+knowledge and a most remarkable independence of thought. As he had
+planned to build a house according to his own plans, he had likewise
+decided to construct for himself, with material just as carefully
+chosen, the intellectual house in which he intended to live. Had not the
+Revolution intervened, Thomas Jefferson would probably have spent his
+years in his native colony, become a successful member of the Virginia
+bar, perhaps a judge learned and respected, a wealthy landowner adding
+constantly to the paternal acres. He had no ambition and little
+suspected his own latent genius, and yet, during all these years which
+he might have passed in leisurely and pleasant idleness, he never
+ceased, unknowingly as it were, to prepare himself for the great part he
+was to play.
+
+When the call came he was ready. The ideas expressed in the Declaration
+of Independence were common property, but their felicitous wording was
+not due to a sudden and feverish inspiration. The young Virginian
+expressed only the definite conclusions he had slowly reached in reading
+the historians and the old lawyers. The principles there proclaimed were
+not abstract and _a priori_ principles; they were distinctly the
+principles that had directed his Saxon forefathers in their "settlement"
+of England. They were the legitimate inheritance of their descendants
+and continuators who had brought over with them to America the rights
+of their ancestors to settle in sparsely inhabited land, there to live
+freely and happily under institutions chosen by themselves. To go back
+to a primitive past, to the good old times, had been the dream of many
+political philosophers; but Jefferson's vision of that ancestral past
+was no dream, for it had originated in the only part of the inhabited
+earth where it could become a reality. This was the true background of
+the Declaration of Independence, the background of Jeffersonian
+democracy--a curious justification of the pioneer spirit by a student of
+history who cared little for abstract reasoning and philosophical
+constructions.
+
+Thus far the national consciousness of Thomas Jefferson had been
+somewhat hazy. Born in Virginia and intensely devoted to the Old
+Dominion, he had never left his native habitat until he was sent as a
+delegate to Congress. There only did he realize the divergences of the
+different colonies and the imperious necessity for them to organize
+their life and to agree to some sort of a permanent compact. No dealings
+with foreign nations could be transacted, no efficient measures of
+protection against the common foe could be devised, unless the several
+States were held together by some sort of a common bond and had achieved
+some sort of a unity. While the Articles of Confederation were being
+discussed, he puzzled over the essence and meaning of these "natural
+rights" so often mentioned in the different committees on which he sat,
+and he preserved the result of his meditations in an unpublished
+document I had the good fortune to discover in the Library of Congress.
+First of all, he was led to establish a distinction between the
+fundamental natural rights, which the individual can exercise by
+himself, and another class of rights which cannot be safely enjoyed
+unless society provides adequate protection. In forming a society and in
+accepting a social compact, the first rights were to be reserved and to
+remain inalienable; rights of the second class, on the contrary, were
+partly given up in exchange for more security. This very simple
+distinction enabled the young delegate to do away with the old antinomy
+so perplexing to many political philosophers and to solve the difficulty
+against which Rousseau had vainly struggled in his _Contrat social_. The
+individual remained in full possession of certain rights; society was
+granted only part of the others, a part to be determined strictly in
+forming a social compact: the citizen no longer had to sacrifice all his
+rights on the altar of the country; he remained sovereign in a sovereign
+society.
+
+What was true of individuals was true of the States coalescing to form a
+union or confederation. Each individual State remained sovereign and
+yielded only part of certain rights in order to obtain more security
+against foreign aggressors. To the right of expatriation for the
+individual corresponded the right of secession for the State. But from
+this recognition of the right to denounce the compact, it did not follow
+that Jefferson would have encouraged either the individual or the States
+to withdraw from the society thus formed in order to resume a precarious
+life by themselves. Even if he had been an anarchistic instead of being
+a truly "socialistic" political thinker, a few meetings of the
+committees on which he sat would have sufficed to demonstrate that, to
+the necessity of society for the individuals, corresponded the necessity
+of a union for the individual States. The Virginian had developed into a
+true American. Jefferson was thinking nationally and not sectionally; he
+was ready for the great role he was about to assume.
+
+His five-year stay in Europe confirmed him in the opinion that there
+existed in America the germ of something infinitely precious, if
+somewhat precarious, and he realized that his country had really become
+the hope of the world. He was too fond of good music, good architecture,
+good dinners, good wines and long conversations not to appreciate fully
+the good points of life while in Paris. He praised the French for their
+achievements in the arts and sciences, and formed with many of them
+long-enduring friendships; but neither France, nor England, and even
+less Italy or Spain, were countries toward which men could turn their
+eyes when looking for a political "polar star." Traditions were too
+deeply rooted, prejudices of too long standing, class distinctions too
+sharply defined to leave room for any hope of ever seeing them establish
+within a reasonable time a tolerable form of government. On the
+contrary, unhampered by such hoary traditionalism and free to shape her
+destinies, America, provided she carefully avoided the dangers under
+which Europe was laboring, could not only establish the best possible
+form of government, but set an example to be followed by the rest of
+mankind.
+
+These dangers were patent; they resulted from the existence of
+privileged classes or hereditary aristocracies, of State religions,
+censorship of the press and books, centralization and concentration in a
+few hands of all the financial and economic resources of the country.
+Anything that smacked of the European system was to be fought with the
+utmost energy, not only for the sake of America, but for the sake of the
+world. Such were the real reasons that justify the fight waged by
+Jefferson after his return from Europe against the tendencies
+represented by Hamilton. Not out of any sympathy for the Jacobins did he
+seem to favor the French Revolution; but, since America herself had
+become the battlefield of two opposed ideals, he sided with the one
+which, in his opinion, presented the smaller danger for the existence of
+his country.
+
+Throughout the long-drawn-out battle, he remained convinced that only by
+avoiding any entanglement with European politics could America fulfill
+her destiny. The great obstacle to such an isolation was foreign
+commerce, for Jefferson clearly understood that economic and commercial
+bonds or dependence would necessarily entail political bonds and
+political dependence. America was to live in her own world, to pay her
+debts as soon as possible, to become industrially independent of
+Europe, to manufacture at home enough for her own consumption "and no
+more." She was also to seize every opportunity to eliminate dangerous
+neighbors, not that she really coveted any territory or colony held by
+foreign powers, not that she needed new land for a surplus of
+population; but she could not keep out of European politics if Europe
+remained at her doors and used her colonies as a "fulcrum for her
+intrigues." Spain was so weak that nothing had to be feared directly
+from her, but her colonies could be seized at any time by more powerful
+enemies; France should not be permitted again to set her foot on the
+American continent. As to England, she was to be expelled from her
+continental dominions whenever America would be strong enough to enforce
+the "_American jus gentium_", and the sea was to be neutralized.
+
+Having removed all causes for foreign frictions and aggressions, America
+would be free to develop along her own lines. She was to remain for long
+years to come an agricultural nation; she would grow towards the west by
+attaching to herself new territories as their population increased. The
+Federal Government was to retain a minimum of power and attributions. It
+was to be carefully and constantly watched for fear of concentrating too
+much power in a few hands and in one place. Federal legislation was to
+be kept down, for the more laws, the worse the republic--"_plurimae
+leges, pessima republica_." There was nothing intangible, however, in
+the government which had been hastily put together at the close of the
+Revolution. It was desirable and necessary to preserve the main
+principles embodied in the Constitution in so far as they expressed the
+permanent and inalienable rights of the people and the States, but each
+generation had a right to determine anew the details of the legislation
+and how they chose to be governed. The different articles adopted in
+1787 were not to be considered as sacred as the Tables of the Law, they
+were the work of fallible and changing human beings, and the essence of
+the American government did not rest on a written document but on the
+dispositions of the individual citizens and on enlightened public
+opinion.
+
+This being the case, it became necessary to prepare each citizen for the
+part he was called upon to play in the life of the country. The great
+mass of the American people had a "cool common sense" and a certain
+degree of instruction which fitted all of them to do certain things, but
+not everything. A farmer could not overnight and by virtue of the
+popular choice become qualified to judge of fine legal points, to settle
+complicated economic problems, or to conduct difficult diplomatic
+negotiations with foreign courts. All this required more than ordinary
+common sense and ordinary education: the country needed leaders and
+experts to be carefully trained in special institutions--in a national
+university or, if this proved impossible, in State universities. As to
+the great mass of the common people, they could be trusted to judge of
+facts and to sit on a jury; they were also good judges of men and
+properly could choose between candidates for the different offices. A
+free press would keep them informed of the conduct of the men thus
+selected; primary and secondary schools would help in the diffusion of
+knowledge, and enlightened self-interest would prevent them at any time
+from making grievous mistakes.
+
+Such a system constituted the best form of government ever established
+by man; but it did not ensue that it was immediately to be adopted by
+all the nations of the earth. It embodied certain permanent principles
+susceptible of general application, for they did nothing but express the
+unalienable rights of man. All men, however, were not to be intrusted at
+once with the full enjoyment of their rights. There were certain
+countries which for generations had been priest-ridden and king-ridden
+and in which men unaccustomed to use their judgment were swayed by
+emotions, hatreds and prejudices. A time might come when the sacred
+contagion of liberty would spread to these unfortunate populations, but
+it would take many revolutions, much bloodshed and a slow and painful
+process of education to enable them to shake off their shackles and to
+enjoy the full benefits of self-government. America, on the contrary,
+because of her geographical remoteness from Europe, because of the
+quality of the people who had settled in the English colonies, had
+fought, not to destroy an old order of things, but to preserve and to
+extend already existing liberties. Among the nations of the world she
+stood as an example and a hope. She was the living evidence that under a
+free government a large nation could grow prosperous and powerful,
+simply by existing, and without preaching any new gospel she fulfilled
+her duty to mankind.
+
+Whatever may be the shortcomings of this political philosophy, it was
+distinctly an American doctrine; one cannot imagine it to have
+originated in any European country, for what would have been a Utopian
+and chimerical dream in the Old World was within the reach of man in
+America. Whether it corresponds to present conditions is still another
+question; it is nevertheless true that by emphasizing the uniqueness of
+America and the political superiority of his native land for more than
+fifty years, Thomas Jefferson did more than any other man of his
+generation to formulate the creed of Americanism. The man who was
+accused of being denationalized stands as the most integrally and truly
+American among his contemporaries.
+
+This does not mean, however, that Jefferson did not occasionally depart
+from the policies he had thus drawn. No man can remain in public life
+for half a century without ever falling into contradictions and
+inconsistencies. Only "closet politicians" and mere theorists never
+accept any compromise, and Jefferson was a very practical politician
+with a keen sense of possibilities and realities. Trained as a
+small-town lawyer, then placed on many committees in Congress, forced to
+wrest war measures out of a reluctant Assembly, even managing to hold
+his own with the resourceful diplomats of Europe, Thomas Jefferson knew
+how to handle men and how "to take things by their smooth handle." There
+was nothing quixotic about him and he never tried to fight against
+windmills, nor did he break his head against blank walls. But he was
+singularly apt to bide his time, to wait for a favorable opportunity
+and, whenever he saw a chance, he never failed to come back to his
+original line of conduct and to his original policies.
+
+He seldom indulged in undue display of emotions and personal feelings,
+but he was no mere thinking machine. In his youth he loved and suffered;
+later he was perplexed by the riddle of the world; he studied the old
+philosophers in order to find the moral props which religion could no
+longer give him and, in his older age, came back to the morals of Jesus.
+His encyclopedic curiosity and the versatility of his mind won for him
+the admiration of his contemporaries, and, in that sense--the
+eighteenth-century sense--he was truly "a philosopher." But he was too
+practical-minded to waste much time in mere theorizing or in theological
+and metaphysical "disquisitions." Firmly convinced that the business of
+life was with matter, he considered science as an instrument and a tool
+to master the blind forces of nature. He was more interested in
+applications than in disinterested research, and in that respect, as in
+many others, he was not only an American, but, above all, an
+eighteenth-century man. Intensely nationalistic as he was when it came
+to politics, he was truly cosmopolitan in the realm of intellectual
+achievements, and thus was created the legend of a denationalized
+Jefferson; for the popular mind, fond of generalizations, is unable to
+recognize such distinctions. Among his friends he counted all the
+leading scientists of the time and through them--particularly through
+his French friends of the Museum--he exerted an influence of which he
+himself was perhaps not fully aware. To his European correspondents he
+appeared the embodiment of what was best in the American character. His
+influence on the development of liberalism and democratic ideas
+throughout the world can hardly be estimated, and separate
+investigations will have to be carried out before his exact contribution
+to the growth of democracy can be rightly estimated. Through his letters
+he encouraged his friends to keep their faith, but better still he
+demonstrated that self-government and democracy, as he understood it,
+were practical and workable schemes and not the idle dreams of
+philosophers shut in their closets.
+
+I hardly dare mention here the names of the many friends and colleagues
+who gave me most generously their assistance and encouragement. To
+Doctor J. C. Fitzpatrick, untiring, most patient and helpful in his
+suggestions, I owe a particular debt. Mr. W. C. Ford afforded me all
+possible facilities for consulting the letters of Jefferson in the
+Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. I
+discussed more than once with Professors Willoughby, Latane and Lovejoy
+and with President Goodnow of the Johns Hopkins University the
+perplexing problems that confronted me, and submitted several hypotheses
+to the History of Ideas Club of the University. Doctor L. P. Shanks gave
+me his time and friendly assistance in the revision of the manuscript.
+But none of my counselors and friends are to be held responsible for the
+ideas here expressed, some of which they would probably refuse to
+indorse.
+
+In the course of this investigation I consulted too many books to list
+them all. Randall is still very useful and has not been completely
+superseded by more modern biographies. I found the books of Beveridge
+fascinating though having somewhat of a tendency, and could not
+completely agree with Mr. Beard on the economic origins of the
+Jeffersonian democracy. I naturally made use of Mr. Becker's study of
+the Declaration of Independence. I read the biography of Mr. Hirst with
+great interest, though our points of view were very different, and I
+almost decided to abandon my undertaking when the more recent work of
+Mr. Nock appeared. Incomplete and unsatisfactory as they are in some
+respects, the Ford Edition and the Memorial Edition are very useful
+tools, the best available at the present time. Much to my regret, I had
+to omit many documents still unpublished which are preserved in the
+Jefferson papers.
+
+The collections of the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts
+Historical Society constitute the richest treasure house of historical
+information ever left by a single man. It would take several lives and a
+fortune to edit them properly; but since Monticello has now become again
+a national shrine and will be safely preserved, it may not be out of
+place to express the wish that the day will soon come when a national
+association will undertake to publish an integral edition of the
+Jefferson papers,--a most fitting monument to the greatest political
+philosopher of America and one of her greatest sons.
+
+                                                     GILBERT CHINARD
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+BOOK ONE: _The Virginian_
+
+    I A VIRGINIA BOYHOOD                                     3
+   II AN AMERICAN DISCIPLE OF GREECE AND OLD ENGLAND        19
+  III A VIRGINIA LAWYER                                     34
+
+BOOK TWO: _Jefferson and the American Revolution_
+
+    I THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE                       59
+   II THE REVISION OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA                  86
+  III GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA--THE "NOTES ON VIRGINIA"        108
+   IV A STATESMAN'S APPRENTICESHIP                         137
+
+BOOK THREE: _An American View of Europe_
+
+    I SOCIETY AND TRAVEL                                   159
+   II GALLO-AMERICAN COMMERCE AND THE DEBT QUESTION        176
+  III UNION AND ISOLATION                                  194
+   IV JEFFERSON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION                  215
+
+BOOK FOUR: _Monocrats and Republicans_
+
+    I THE QUARREL WITH HAMILTON                            245
+   II JACOBIN OR AMERICAN?                                 274
+  III MONTICELLO--AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS                 298
+   IV "THE DICTATES OF REASON AND PURE AMERICANISM"        321
+    V POLITICAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST                      343
+
+BOOK FIVE: _The Presidency_
+
+    I "ALL REPUBLICANS, ALL FEDERALISTS"                   379
+   II PROTECTIVE IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION     396
+  III "SELF-PRESERVATION IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL LAW"          425
+   IV "PEACE AND COMMERCE WITH EVERY NATION"               440
+
+BOOK SIX: _The Sage of Monticello_
+
+    I "AMERICA HAS A HEMISPHERE TO ITSELF"                 467
+   II DEMOCRATIC AMERICA                                   489
+  III THE PHILOSOPHY OF OLD AGE                            513
+
+  INDEX                                                    533
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  BUST OF THOMAS JEFFERSON BY HOUDON                      _Frontispiece_
+    _In the possession of the New York Historical Society_
+
+  A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION  80
+    _From the manuscript in the possession of the Library
+    of Congress_
+
+  A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S "COMMONPLACE BOOK"                         102
+    _From the manuscript in the possession of the Library
+    of Congress_
+
+  LAFAYETTE                                                          206
+    _After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon_
+
+  ALEXANDER HAMILTON                                                 256
+    _From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession
+    of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass._
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON                                                   290
+    _From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale_
+
+  MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY                                    314
+
+  THOMAS JEFFERSON                                                   468
+    _From the portrait by Kosciuszko_
+
+
+
+
+BOOK ONE
+
+_The Virginian_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A VIRGINIA BOYHOOD
+
+
+The peoples of the Old World worship at the birthplaces of their
+national heroes and bury their mortal remains in splendid mausoleums,
+pantheons or Westminster Abbeys. By a significant and symbolic contrast,
+the memories of Washington and Jefferson are enshrined in no ancestral
+homes, but in the mansions planned with loving care, in which they so
+expressed themselves that their very spirit seems to haunt the deserted
+rooms of Mount Vernon and Monticello. They are buried according to their
+wishes on their own land, at the very center of the acres they had
+themselves surveyed and reclaimed from the wilderness, close to nature
+and Mother Earth. However great may be their debt to the past and their
+remote ancestors, they stand by themselves at the threshold of America's
+national history,--master builders who wrestled with gigantic tasks and
+first thought of their country as the future home of unborn millions.
+
+The boy who was born on April 2, 1743, in the recently erected farmhouse
+at Shadwell, on the bank of the Rivanna, never gave much thought to his
+lineage in his later life. Yet Virginians of good stock were always
+proud of their ancestry, and more than once he was told by his mother
+that the Randolphs could "trace their pedigree far back in England and
+Scotland." Jefferson's mother and John Marshall's grandmother were
+descended from William Randolph and Mary Isham, both of the English
+gentry, and Jane Randolph, issued from the best blood in the Old
+Dominion, had married when she was nineteen a man without means, whose
+education had been neglected, but sturdy and industrious and belonging
+to one of the proudest and most aristocratic lines of old Virginians.
+
+Of his mother, Jefferson has told us very little either in his letters
+or in his "Autobiography." We may surmise she had the refined, modest,
+unobtrusive and yet efficient qualities so marked in the Virginia girls
+of the Colonial days and so often noticed by travelers. Sons are apt to
+mold their feminine ideal on the memory of their mother, and Jefferson
+may have been thinking both of her and of his wife when, many years
+later, he contrasted French frivolity with Virginian virtues:
+
+  In America, the society of your husband, the fond cares for the
+  children, the arrangements of the house, the improvements of the
+  grounds, fill every moment with a useful and healthy activity....
+  The intervals of leisure are filled by the society 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.[1]
+
+The fond cares for her children would have been ample to fill all the
+minutes of Jefferson's mother. Large families were the rule in Virginia;
+fifteen children were born to Thomas Marshall and Mary Keith, and
+Jefferson's family was no exception to the rule. Between 1740 and 1755,
+Jane Randolph gave ten children to Peter Jefferson; Thomas was the third
+child and the first son.
+
+What information he gave about his father has to be completed from other
+sources. The tradition in the family was that "the first paternal
+ancestor came from Wales, and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the
+highest in Great Britain." Peter Jefferson, landowner, practical
+surveyor, of gigantic stature and strength, had the sturdy qualities and
+ambition of the pioneer. He received a colonelcy in the militia, became
+a member of the House of Burgesses in 1755, and in 1749 had been chosen
+with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in William and Mary College,
+to continue the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina. "He
+was afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry to make the first map of
+Virginia which was ever made." Besides his association with Fry, from
+whom he drew the theoretical knowledge of mathematics in which he was
+lacking, Peter Jefferson improved himself by much reading, not novels,
+but the serious and sound books which constituted the ordinary family
+library in colonial Virginia,--historians, essayists, and most of all
+Shakespeare. For in Virginia as well as in New England, Shakespeare and
+the Bible were the two books found in every household, the two richest
+springs of the modern English language. Religion took up as much of
+their life as in New England. Prayers were said three and sometimes four
+times a day, and from his earliest infancy, Jefferson became familiar
+with the liturgy of the Church of England, and had stamped in his memory
+the strong old words, vigorous phrases and noble speech of King James'
+version.
+
+He was only five years old when his father, already planning to give him
+the education of which he himself had been deprived, decided to send the
+boy to the best school in the neighborhood. He stayed two years at the
+English school; then, when nine, he went to the school of Mr. Douglas, a
+Scotch clergyman, who taught him French and the rudiments of Latin and
+Greek. Most of his childhood was spent away from home, as a boarding
+student, and the silence maintained by Jefferson with reference to his
+parents is thus easily explained. It explains also the lack of
+spontaneity and the awkwardness which always prevented him from
+expressing freely his emotions and sentiments. What may seem in him a
+national characteristic was largely a matter of training and early
+discipline.
+
+He was fourteen when his father died, with a last recommendation that
+his son be given a classical education. Still a mere boy, Thomas
+Jefferson had become the oldest living male of the family and to a
+certain extent its head. Whether he was at first fully aware of his new
+responsibility is very doubtful. He could not remember without a
+retrospective fear in his later years how close he had come to wasting
+his whole life:
+
+  When I recollect that at fourteen years of age, the whole care and
+  direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without a relation
+  or friend, qualified to advise 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.[2]
+
+The next two years were spent as a boarding student with Reverend Mr.
+Maury, "a correct classical scholar"--probably not a very inspiring one,
+if we interpret rightly the adjective used by Jefferson. We may well
+imagine him at sixteen, a tall, slim boy, with auburn hair and clear
+eyes, fond of fowling, horse-riding and outdoors, fond of reading also,
+but disposing of very few books; for his father's library was not large
+and, if the Reverend Mr. Maury followed the tradition of many old
+schoolmasters, he seldom opened his library to his students. Still, he
+knew his Bible, had read a few English classics, was well grounded in
+Greek and Latin, and had perfected his knowledge of French; but it is
+doubtful whether he was acquainted with any French writer except the old
+standard authors--"Telemaque", Berquin, perhaps "Gil Blas" and Pascal's
+"Pensees." But, even at that age, Jefferson necessarily knew something
+of the many duties of a landowner; for the slaves he was the young
+master, and during the summer he had to become somewhat acquainted with
+the management of a large estate. The education he had received was not
+exactly a frontier education with the usual connotations of that word.
+He had not been brought up in a log cabin, he had never engaged in
+back-breaking tasks of felling trees or of splitting rails; he probably
+had never put his hand to the plow except as an experiment.
+
+He had heard his father tell of long journeys in the wilderness and of
+treacherous Indians, but no Red Men roamed the forests near Shadwell.
+The only Indians he knew were peaceful, almost romantic characters who
+stopped at the house of Colonel Jefferson on their way to Williamsburg.
+
+  I knew much--he said--of the great Ontassere, the warrior and orator
+  of the Cherokees; he was always the guest of my father on his
+  journeys to and from Williamsburg. I was in his camp when he made
+  his great farewell oration to his people, the evening before his
+  departure for England. The moon was in full splendor, and to her he
+  seemed to address himself in his prayers for his own safety on the
+  voyage, and that of his people during his absence; his sounding
+  voice, distinct articulation, animated action, and the solemn silence
+  of his people at their several fires, filled me with awe and
+  admiration.[3]
+
+This youthful impression left an indelible mark on his mind and was not
+without some influence on the "Notes on Virginia" as well as on the
+letters he wrote to Indian chiefs when he was President.
+
+Nor was Shadwell exactly in the "howling wilderness", even if there was
+no large city near it. It was located on the road to Williamsburg, and
+many travelers stopped at the house on their way to the capital.
+Hospitality to friends and strangers was a sacred rite and most
+scrupulously observed. Much visiting was done in Virginia, and men
+particularly spent considerable time traveling from house to house;
+slaves were put up, horses were sent to the stable, while the best was
+spread on the table for the master. During the summer months, when roads
+were not made impassable by deep mudholes, one visitor had hardly left
+when another came. They had to be entertained, sometimes at a
+considerable expense, always at a considerable loss of time. Young
+Jefferson soon realized, after returning to Shadwell, that he would
+never amount to much and would probably become an idler, if he stayed on
+the estate like so many of his young friends. The wasting of precious
+moments irritated and disturbed him when he wanted to do some reading or
+some study, and he felt that the condition of the estate hardly
+warranted such a generous hospitality. He therefore decided to leave,
+and the letter he wrote on this occasion to his guardian, Mr. John
+Hervey of Bellemont, shows him fully aware of his responsibilities and
+perfectly definite in his plans.[4]
+
+In the spring of 1760, the young man, then exactly seventeen, went to
+Williamsburg and enrolled in the College of William and Mary. Quite
+possibly it was his first visit to the capital of Virginia, his first
+contact with urban life. It was, for the time, a place of very
+respectable size and considerable activity. Old Professor Hugh Jones, a
+man much traveled and much read, described it enthusiastically in his
+"Present State of Virginia", published in London in 1724:
+
+  Williamsburg is a market town, and is governed by a mayor and
+  aldermen. It is a town well stocked with rich stores, all sorts of
+  goods, and well furnished with the best provisions and liquors. Here
+  dwell several good families, and more reside here in their own houses
+  at publick times. They live in the same neat manner, dress after the
+  same modes, and behave themselves exactly as the Gentry in London;
+  most families of note having a coach, chariot, Berlin, or chaize....
+  Thus they dwell comfortably, genteely, pleasantly, and plentifully in
+  this delightful, healthful, and (I hope) pleasant city of Virginia.
+
+Great occasions were receptions given by the Governor, meetings of the
+Assembly, occasional performances by regular companies from New York,
+semi-professional players and later, by the Virginian Company of
+Comedians. Horse races attracted every year a large concourse of
+people, for every true Virginian is a lover of horseflesh. Betting was
+active and large sums of money changed hands, particularly for the
+four-mile heat race given each year on the course adjoining the town.
+
+Ladies in all the glory of their imported dresses, gentlemen in
+brilliantly colored knee breeches and coats, with elegantly chased
+swords at their sides and the best beaver hats made in London under
+their arms, attended the receptions, the dances, the theater, and more
+than once adjourned to the famous Apollo room in the Raleigh Tavern,
+where they indulged in much drinking of "punch, beer, Nantes rum,
+brandy, Madeira and French claret." The first time young Jefferson went
+to the Raleigh he was probably shown the largest punch bowl in the
+house, which had played a part in the purchase of Shadwell, for had not
+Colonel Jefferson bought the site from William Randolph of Tuckahoe, for
+"Henry Weatherbourne's biggest bowl of arrack punch"?
+
+The college itself was no less an attraction than the town. Built
+originally on the plans of Christopher Wren, it had unfortunately been
+remodeled after a fire, "a rude, misshapen pile, which but it had a roof
+would be taken for a brick-kiln", wrote Jefferson in his "Notes on
+Virginia." Such as it was, however, with the Capitol, of much better
+style, it was the first large building and monument the young man had
+ever seen and he probably admired it at the time as much as most
+Virginians did.
+
+It was by no means a university, not even a real college. Like most
+institutions of learning in the colonies, it had been established "to
+the end that the church of Virginia may be furnished with a seminary for
+ministers of the gospel, and that the youth may be piously educated in
+good letters and manners, and that the Christian faith may be propagated
+amongst the Western Indians, to the glory of the Almighty."
+
+The lack of preparation of the students, the fact that the sons of the
+wealthiest were sent to England to finish their education, perhaps also
+an aristocratic scorn for specialized and intensive learning among the
+gentry of Virginia, all had contributed to keep down the standards of
+the institution. Much to his disgust, Jefferson found
+
+  ... that the admission of the learners of Latin and Greek had filled
+  the college with children. This rendering it disagreeable and
+  degrading to young gentlemen, already prepared for entering on the
+  sciences, they were discouraged from resorting to it, and thus the
+  schools for mathematics and moral philosophy, which might have been
+  of some service, became of very little. The revenues, too, were
+  exhausted in accommodating those who came only to acquire the
+  rudiments of the sciences.[5]
+
+Thus the problem of caring for the many, the danger of keeping together
+in college the prepared and the unprepared students, which is still with
+us, existed already in America one hundred and fifty years ago.
+Evidently Jefferson considered himself as one of those young gentlemen
+who were prepared for entering upon the study of the sciences; he was
+certainly more mature for his years than most of his fellow students and
+looked down upon them as well, we may surmise, as upon the teachers
+themselves. On the other hand, the town offered many temptations and he
+probably yielded to some of them. He was often thrown into the society
+of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, and at the end of his first
+year in college it appeared to him that he had spent more than his share
+of the income of the estate. He therefore wrote to his guardian to
+charge his expenses to his share of the property: "No," Colonel Walker
+is reported to have said,--"if you have sowed your wild oats thus, the
+estate may well afford to pay the bill."
+
+We possess no precise information upon the amount spent by Jefferson nor
+any account book for that year, but we may surmise that Colonel Walker
+would not have been so lenient if the total sum had been spent in
+reprehensible dissipations. Williamsburg boasted of a large bookstore,
+and in 1775 Dixon and Hunter published a list of more than three hundred
+titles in their stock. Book lovers are born and not made. Jefferson had
+never been able to satisfy fully his passion for books, and as the
+college library offered him only very meager resources, he must have
+plunged with delight in the bookshop of Williamsburg and bought
+extravagantly, an expense the estate "could well afford to pay." But the
+fact remained that what he had learned he had learned by himself, and
+that college life had not furnished him the guidance and direction he
+was looking for.
+
+It was at this juncture that Doctor Small, professor of mathematics, was
+appointed _ad interim_ professor of philosophy and soon developed an
+interest in the young Virginian. Jefferson himself paid a grateful
+tribute to the man who just in time rescued him from his frivolous
+companions and brought back to his mind the serious purpose he had
+entertained when he entered William and Mary.
+
+  It was my good fortune and that probably fixed the destinies of my
+  life, that Doctor William Small of Scotland was then Professor of
+  Mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of
+  science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and
+  gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most
+  happily for me, became soon attached to me, and made me his daily
+  companion when not engaged in the school; and from his conversation I
+  got my first views of the expansion of science, and of the system of
+  things in which we are placed. Fortunately, the philosophical chair
+  became vacant soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed
+  to fill it _per interim_: and he was the first who ever gave, in that
+  college, regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres.[6]
+
+For Jefferson Doctor Small was the prime awakener and inspirer. Through
+him the young man was introduced to George Wythe who soon accepted him
+as a student of law, and through him again he was received by Governor
+Fauquier.
+
+Such were the first really cultured men with whom Jefferson ever came in
+contact: William Small, the mathematician and philosopher, would not
+have been a true Scot if he had not had that passionate love for
+discussion and logic which seems the innate gift of so many sons of the
+Highlands. Francis Fauquier, "the ornament and delight of Virginia",
+generous, liberal, elegant in his manners and requirements, was the son
+of Doctor Fauquier of Floirac, near Bordeaux, who had worked under
+Newton in the mint and become a director of the Bank of England. His
+early biographer Burke, the Virginia historian, has chiefly emphasized
+his propensity to gaming. But Fauquier was an economist of no mean
+distinction and had written an important tract on the basis of taxation.
+He was interested in physics or natural philosophy and had become a
+Fellow of the Royal Society. He was a student of natural phenomena and
+sent to the Society the description of a hail-storm in Virginia.
+Finally, there was George Wythe, whose virtue was of the purest tint,
+his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact. Last and most important
+of all his qualities, perhaps, was the characteristic peculiarity
+mentioned by Jefferson in the sketch he wrote after the death of his old
+master: "he was firm in his philosophy, and neither troubling, nor
+perhaps trusting any one with his religion."
+
+Such were the true masters of Thomas Jefferson, and from their
+conversations around the table, after bottles of port had been brought,
+he learned more than any student at William and Mary ever acquired in
+college. It was a rare privilege for a young man of Jefferson's age to
+be admitted to the "_parties carrees_", and he must have already given
+singular promise to have been invited at all into the society of these
+three luminaries of Virginia. What topics were discussed among them can
+easily be imagined. Fauquier would speak of old England, the theaters of
+London, the monuments and works of art, of his colleagues of the Royal
+Society, or discuss a problem of taxation or a recent meteorological
+phenomenon. A man of the world, a friend of Admiral Anson whom he had
+met after his circumnavigation of the globe, a director of the South Sea
+Company, he would speak of ships, strange lands, and reveal to the young
+man the existence of a world extending far beyond his native Virginia.
+Thus was born in Jefferson that ardent desire to travel and most of all
+to see England which appears in some letters written in the early
+sixties.
+
+Philosophical and religious subjects perhaps were introduced, although
+that is rather doubtful, in my opinion. The passage on George Wythe,
+already quoted, mentions his reticence on religion. Whatever may have
+been the propensity of Fauquier to gaming, he was never accused by his
+contemporaries of being a religious libertine. It is also very doubtful
+whether any of the group would naturally have discussed such subjects,
+particularly in the presence of a young student whose education had been
+deeply religious. Finally it must be remembered that in Virginia, as
+well as in New England, there always existed some "reserved questions",
+that it was not good form to criticize established institutions and
+current beliefs. It is quite possible that Fauquier may have lent to
+Jefferson certain volumes of Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke, but in spite
+of the contrary opinion expressed by some biographers of Jefferson, it
+seems very unlikely that any of the three older men should have
+undertaken to shake the foundations of his faith. The "_parties
+carrees_" could not have lasted very long, since William Small went back
+to Scotland in 1762. But Jefferson's acquaintance with Fauquier and
+Wythe was continued for many years after the departure of the
+philosopher and, in both cases, until the death of the older men.
+
+The master of Shadwell had sown his wild oats; he had had his brief
+flight of dissipation and had reformed; but he had by no means become a
+hermit. He had not entirely given up attending horse races and fox
+hunts.
+
+  Many a time--he wrote in 1808--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 councils of the nation. Well, which of these kinds of
+  reputation would I prefer? That of a horse jockey? a fox hunter? an
+  orator? or the finest advocate of my country's rights?[7]
+
+What young man has not thus dreamed of serving his country and devoting
+himself to some noble cause, what student preparing for the bar has not
+pictured himself winning a difficult case, forcing the judge's attention
+and swaying a reluctant jury? The ambition to become an orator may have
+been awakened in his mind by the acquaintance he had made of the
+"uncultured Demosthenes" of the Old Dominion. In the winter of
+1759-1760, he had met at the house of Mr. Dandrige, in Hanover, a tall,
+ascetic-looking fellow, rather disdainful of finery and careless in his
+wearing apparel, but "with such strains of native eloquence as Homer
+wrote in"--"I never heard anything that deserved to be called by the
+same name with what flowed from him," wrote Jefferson later, "and where
+he got that torrent of language is unconceivable. I have frequently shut
+my eyes while he spoke, and, when he was done, asked myself what he had
+said, without being able to recollect a word of it. He was no logician.
+He was truly a great man, however--one of enlarged views."
+
+His name was Patrick Henry. Far less uncultured than Jefferson's
+portrait would lead us to believe, related to very good families,
+although poor and a complete failure as a merchant, Patrick Henry had
+suddenly decided to enter the legal profession, and after borrowing a
+"Coke upon Littleton" and a "Digest of the Virginia Acts", he had
+appeared after six weeks' preparation before the board of examiners. He
+won his diploma through logic, clear presentation and common sense
+rather than through his knowledge of the law, and commenced practicing
+in the fall of the same year. Whenever a case appeared before the
+General Court sitting at Williamsburg and consisting of the Governor and
+his council, "he used to put up" with Jefferson, borrowing books which
+he seldom read, always ready with stories of the backwoods. Fame came to
+him soon after, when his fiery eloquence in the "parson's case" drew
+down upon him clerical hostility and public admiration. "Instead of
+feeding the hungry and clothing the naked," he cried out in the
+courtroom, "these religious harpies would, were their powers equal to
+their will, snatch from the hearth of their honest parishioner his last
+hoe-cake, from the widow and her orphan children their last milch cow,
+the last bed, nay, the last blanket, from the lying-in woman."[8] Not
+even in the days of the Convention did the halls of Paris echo with more
+vehement vituperations and more indignant denunciations. A magnetic
+power, an emotional appeal to elementary passion, to a sense of justice
+in the mass rather than to the letter of the law fitted him for
+political life. He was soon to have his opportunity; in the meantime he
+awoke in Jefferson a revolt against clerical usurpations that was to
+bear its fruit in time. Usually passed over by Jefferson's biographers,
+the plea made by Patrick Henry in the "parson's case" seems to have been
+the incident that called the young man's attention to the position
+occupied by the established Church in its relations to the civil power.
+It started in him the train of thought that culminated in the "Bill for
+religious freedom."
+
+It has been sometimes said that Jefferson used to spend fourteen hours a
+day in study when he was at Williamsburg; his correspondence with John
+Page shows him in a very different light. He was not in any sense a
+bookworm, even though he read enormously, but he played as strenuously
+as he studied. A good horseman, a good violin player, a good dancer, he
+was a much-sought-after young man. He had a keen eye for the ladies, and
+very early in 1762 he had fallen in love with Miss Rebecca Burwell, the
+_Bell-in-day, Belinda, campana in die, Adnileb_ of his letters to Page.
+The young lady had given him her profile cut in black paper which he
+carried in his watch case. Far from her, life lost all interest: "all
+things appear to me to trudge in one and the same round: we rise in the
+morning that we may eat breakfast, dinner and supper, and to go to bed
+again, that we may get up the next morning and do the same, so that you
+never saw two peas more alike than our yesterday and to-day." He had in
+mind to go back to Williamsburg, to propose, receive his sentence and be
+no longer in suspense: "but reason says, if you go, and your attempts
+prove unsuccessful, you will be ten times more wretched than ever."[9]
+Spring, then summer came, and he could not muster up enough courage to
+declare himself. Madly in love as he was, he was not intending to marry
+at once. He had formed great plans for traveling. He was dreaming of
+hoisting his sail and visiting England, Holland, France, Spain, Italy
+(where I would buy me a good fiddle), and Egypt, and return home through
+the British provinces to the northward. This would take him two or three
+years. Was it fair to ask Belinda to wait so long for him? And yet he
+could not leave without speaking and remain in suspense and cruel
+uncertainty during the whole trip. "If I am to meet with a
+disappointment, the sooner I know it, the more of life I shall have to
+wear if off ... If Belinda will not accept of my service, it will never
+be offered to another. That she may I pray most sincerely: but that she
+will, she never gave me reason to hope."[10]
+
+When college opened again at the beginning of October, he had made up
+his mind to make his position clear. A dance was to be given in the
+Apollo room of the Raleigh Tavern. He dressed up in all his finery, he
+rehearsed in his head such thoughts as occurred to him and made a
+complete fiasco. "A few broken sentences, uttered in great disorder, and
+interrupted with pauses of uncommon length were the too visible marks of
+my strange confusion" (October 7, 1763). Belinda did not say a word to
+relieve him in his embarrassment, did not manifest in any way that she
+understood his purpose, and several months were to elapse before
+Jefferson had another opportunity to express himself. This time he had
+learnt his piece perfectly, and from what we know of him already it is
+probable that he made a very clear presentation of his case, too clear
+and too logical even, for he concluded by saying that the decision
+rested with her and that a new interview would not serve any purpose. A
+strange lover indeed, apparently as madly in love as a young man could
+be, and yet too respectful of the free will of his beloved to attempt to
+sweep her off her feet by too frequent interviews and too passionate
+pleas! Belinda listened attentively but did not give any indication that
+Jefferson's speech had convinced her and won her heart. A few weeks
+later the bashful suitor heard indirectly of her answer when she
+announced her marriage to Mr. B ... Whether it was "for money, beauty,
+or principle will be so nice a dispute, that no one will venture to
+pronounce", wrote Jefferson at the time. To crown the joke, his happy
+rival, who evidently had been kept in blissful ignorance of Jefferson's
+sentiments, asked him to act as a best man at the wedding. A more
+ironical trick of fate could scarcely be imagined; but, all considered,
+Belinda was not altogether to blame.
+
+Thomas Jefferson did not think of committing suicide, he did not swear
+revenge, nor did he curse the ungrateful one in any of his letters. We
+have some reason to believe, however, that his affair with Belinda
+marked a decisive turn in his life. It killed whatever romantic strains
+may have existed in his heart; it matured him, and it was probably at
+that time that the long-belated metaphysical crisis took place, the
+disappointed lover evolving a certain philosophy of life which he was to
+retain to the end of his days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER  II
+
+AN AMERICAN DISCIPLE OF GREECE AND OLD ENGLAND
+
+
+Until very recently the material for a study of the formative years of
+Thomas Jefferson was very scanty. Many of his earliest letters have
+disappeared and he always felt a strong disinclination to analyze
+himself in writing. It was also contrary to his training and to the
+customs of his milieu to discuss personal matters too frankly and too
+openly. An American Jean-Jacques Rousseau baring his heart to posterity
+would have been as out of place as a man from the moon in New England or
+Virginia. But what he did not express as his personal feelings, he
+copied from the philosophers and poets he read during his studious
+nights or when resting under a tree on one of the hills surrounding
+Shadwell. The two commonplace books I have recently published, written
+by Jefferson during his student days and consulted by him throughout his
+life, could rightly be called "Jefferson self-revealed."[11] They enable
+us at any rate to determine with a fair degree of certainty the
+sentimental and intellectual preoccupations that filled his mind when
+examining the problems of society and the universe.
+
+It does not seem that, until 1764, that is to say until the unfortunate
+ending of his love affair with Belinda, Jefferson had ever been touched
+by any religious doubt. When, in July, 1763, he foresaw the possibility
+of being rejected, he wrote to Page a long letter in which he appears
+still strongly marked by the Christian training he had received in his
+family and at the hand of Mr. Douglas and the Reverend Mr. Maury:
+
+  Perfect 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 approaches 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 prevent
+  the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after it
+  has fallen. These considerations, and such others as these, may
+  enable us in some measure to surmount the difficulties thrown in our
+  way; to bear up with a tolerable degree of patience under this burden
+  of life; and to proceed with a pious and unshaken resignation, till
+  we arrive at our journey's end, when we may deliver up our trust into
+  the hands of him who gave it, and receive such reward as to him shall
+  seem proportioned to our merit. Such, dear Page, will be the language
+  of the man who considers his situation in life, and such should be
+  the language of every man who would wish to render that situation as
+  easy as the nature of it will admit. Few things will disturb him at
+  all: nothing will disturb him much.[12]
+
+This note of Christian stoicism is exactly what might be expected from a
+young Protestant whose mind was not particularly perturbed by
+metaphysical problems. At that time Jefferson did not even conceive that
+there might exist a code of ethics resting on a different basis. If
+Doctor Small had helped him to find his exact relation to "the system of
+things in which we are placed", he was satisfied that complete
+resignation to Divine Will was the only wisdom. It may be safely
+assumed that three years after meeting Governor Fauquier, Thomas
+Jefferson had retained intact the faith of his youth.
+
+What brought a change in his attitude and disturbed his equilibrium is
+certainly not the influence of the "infidel French philosophers." The
+volume of extracts which I published under the title of "The Literary
+Bible of Thomas Jefferson" does not contain a single quotation from
+Voltaire, Diderot, or Rousseau, and French literature is represented
+only by a few insignificant lines from Racine. It is more likely that
+the first doubts were injected into his mind by the reading of
+Bolingbroke. He did not even need the assistance of Fauquier to lead him
+to the English philosopher. The catalogues of the old libraries of
+Virginia frequently mention Shaftesbury's "Characteristics" and
+Bolingbroke's "Works."[13]
+
+Whether it was from the town bookstore or from Fauquier's own library,
+the fact remains that sometime, when still a student, but certainly
+after 1764, Jefferson obtained a copy of Bolingbroke and came to
+question the authenticity of the Bible as a historical document. It may
+have been due to the sentimental shock he had suffered, or simply to the
+critical attitude developed in him by his study of legal texts and
+decisions, but there is little doubt that he put into practice at that
+time the advice he gave later to Peter Carr, when he told him to
+"question with boldness the existence of a God; because, if there be
+one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of
+blindfold fear. You will naturally examine first, the religion of your
+own country. Read the Bible, then, as you would read Livy or
+Tacitus."[14] He therefore went systematically through Bolingbroke,
+learned from him methods of historical criticism and scientific doubt,
+weighed the evidence with a legal mind and came to very definite
+conclusions. At this decisive turn in his life, Jefferson might easily
+have become a sceptic and a cynic, like so many men of the eighteenth
+century. As a matter of fact, a careful study of his "Literary Bible"
+indicates that at least for a time he was extremely cynical in his
+attitude towards women. This may have been due to the cruelty of
+Belinda, but it was more than a passing mood, for as late as 1770, two
+years before his marriage, he scribbled on the margin of his account
+book a Latin doggerel clearly indicating his distrust of the female
+kind:
+
+  _Crede ratem ventis, animum ne crede puellis
+  Namque est foeminea tutior unda fide.
+  Foemina nulla bona est, sed si bona contigit ulla
+  Nescio quo fato mala facta bona est._
+
+From Euripides particularly he collected with a sort of waggish pleasure
+the strongest denunciations of women in the old poet and repeated with
+him "Mortals should beget children from some other sources, and there
+should be no woman-kind: thus there would be no ill for man"--and again,
+"O Zeus, why hast thou established women, a curse deceiving men, in the
+light of the sun?"
+
+In Milton he found an echo of Euripides' misogynism and from "Paradise
+Lost" and "Samson Agonistes", he compiled a pretty set of accusations
+against female usurpations. His conclusion at that time was probably
+that of the old English poet, and he affirmed his superiority over the
+treacherous sex by repeating after him:
+
+  Therefore God's universal law
+  Gave to man despotic power
+  Over his female in due awe.[15]
+
+His outlook on life must have been very gloomy, if we are to trust
+certain quotations from Greek and Latin authors. To matters of
+mythology, descriptions of battles, and grandiose comparisons in Homer,
+Jefferson apparently paid no attention. He saw in the old poet a
+repository of ancient wisdom and the ancient philosophy of life. From
+him he collected verses in which he found expressed views on human
+destiny,--a courageous, stoic, yet disenchanted philosophy, summed up in
+two lines from Pope's translation:
+
+  To labour is the lot of man below
+  And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe.
+
+When he read from Cicero's "Tusculanae" he selected passages with a view
+to confirm the deistic and materialistic principles towards which he was
+leaning at the time: "All must die; if only there should be an end to
+misery in death. What is there agreeable in life, when we must reflect
+that, at some time or other we must die." This particular piece of
+reasoning seems to have struck Jefferson quite forcibly, for he repeated
+it again and again fifty years later in his letters to John Adams: "For
+if either the heart, or the blood, or the brains, is the soul, then
+certainly the soul, being corporeal, must perish with the rest of the
+body; if it is air, it will perhaps be dissolved; if it is fire, it will
+be extinguished."[16]
+
+It was then that he copied and evidently accepted the statement of
+Bolingbroke that "it is not true that Christ revealed an entire body of
+ethics, proved to be the law of nature."
+
+The "law of nature"--what was meant by the word? Was it the Epicurean
+maxim of Horace,--"enjoy to-day and put as little trust as possible in
+the morrow?" If such had been the conclusion reached by Jefferson he
+could have followed the line of least resistance and enjoyed the good
+things of life, the good wines of the Raleigh Tavern, the pretty girls
+and all the social dissipations of many of his contemporaries. Such
+would have been Jefferson's destiny, had he been born in the Old World.
+Had he been made of weaker stuff he would have become one of the
+fox-hunters, horse-racers and card-players of the Virginian gentry. But
+he was saved by his aristocratic pride and the stern teaching of the old
+Stoics.
+
+He was conscious that he was of good stock, and he had read in Euripides
+that "to be of the noble born gives a peculiar distinction clearly
+marked among men, and the noble name increases in lustre in those who
+are worthy."[17]
+
+To be ever upright and to be worthy of one's good blood, this was the
+simplest, most obvious and most imperious duty. It would have been very
+difficult for Jefferson to believe any longer that "at the end of the
+journey we shall deliver up our trust into the hands of him who gave it
+and receive such reward as to him shall seem proportionate to our
+merit", which was his belief in 1763. There was not even much to obtain
+in our life as a reward, for most societies are so organized that
+"whenever a man is noble and zealous, he wins no higher prize than baser
+men."[18] Still the fact remained that, after the collapse of all the
+religious superstructure, the foundations of morality were left
+unshaken, so Jefferson undertook to rebuild his own philosophy of life
+according to Bolingbroke's advice, with the material at hand. For it was
+evident that "a system thus collected from the writings of ancient
+heathen moralists, of Tully and Seneca, of Epictetus, and others, would
+be more full, more entire, more coherent, and more clearly deduced from
+unquestionable principles of knowledge."[19]
+
+But he would take nobody's word for it, he would accept the teachings of
+no professor of moral philosophy; every man had to think for himself and
+to formulate once for all his own philosophy. When writing to his
+nephew, who he thought might go through the same crisis, Jefferson
+declared some forty years later that:
+
+  Man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be
+  formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right and
+  wrong, merely relative to this. This sense is as much part of his
+  nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true
+  foundation of morality and not the TO KALON, truth, etc. as fanciful
+  writers have imagined. The moral sense, or conscience is as much a
+  part of man, as his leg or arm.
+
+But this is the Jefferson of 1808, the mature man, almost the aged sage
+of Monticello. How far he was from having reached that poise and that
+clear vision of the moral world, appears in the confusion and
+contradictions of the abstracts collected in the "Literary Bible." Yet
+when he read Homer, Euripides, Cicero, Shakespeare, and even Buchanan,
+Jefferson had a clear and single purpose. He was reading more for profit
+than for pleasure, to gather material with which to build anew, by
+himself and for himself, a moral shelter in which he could find refuge
+for the rest of his days. He was not thinking then of devoting his life
+to his country; if he had any patriotism, it was dormant, and if he had
+any sense of abstract justice it is nowhere manifest. And yet, quite in
+contrast with the general run of quotations in the "Literary Bible" are
+some maxims scribbled in one of his unpublished Memorandum books under
+the year 1770. He had already levelled the top of the hill on which he
+was to build Monticello and was digging the cellar. But one day, after
+noting carefully that "4 good fellows, a lad and two girls, of about 16
+each, have dug in my cellar a place in 8 hrs. 1/2, 3 feet deep, 8 feet
+wide and 161/2 feet long," he stopped to recapitulate the most striking
+maxims by which he intended to regulate his life:
+
+  ... no liberty no life--endure and abstain--_bonum est quod honestum,
+  macte virtute esto, nil desperandum, faber suae quisque fortunae,
+  fari quae sentiat_, what is, is right--_ex recto decus_--_ne cede
+  malis sed contra audientior ito_--long life, long health, long
+  pleasure and a friend--_non votum nobis sed patriae_--_fiat justitia
+  ruat coelum_.
+
+Clearly between the time he compiled his "Literary Bible" and this entry
+in the Memorandum book, a considerable change had taken place in
+Jefferson's mental world. What was dormant had been awakened, what was
+non-existent had been created. Let those who are looking for influences
+hunt for pale reflections of these maxims in the writings of the French
+philosophers. I cannot perceive any. I would even say that there is no
+distinct influence of Bolingbroke, for Jefferson borrowed from
+Bolingbroke methods of approaching certain problems rather than definite
+ideas. The young Virginian made use, for a short time only, of the
+critical reasoning employed by the English philosopher, but when it came
+to building anew, he gathered all the material, stone by stone and maxim
+by maxim, from the old Greek Stoics. It was a pessimistic yet courageous
+philosophy of life, far different from eighteenth-century optimism. By a
+strange anomaly, the son of the pioneer, the young man supposedly
+brought up under frontier influence, felt more kinship with Greece and
+republican Rome than with the philosophers of London, Paris or Geneva.
+During this early period of his life and when he had rejected the
+Christian system of ethics, the young Virginian found the moral props he
+needed in Homer's simple code of honor and friendship; in echoes from
+the Greek Stoics discovered in Cicero; and through them also was
+revealed to him a conception of patriotism and devotion to public duty
+which was to mold the rest of his life.
+
+In the transformation that took place in Jefferson's attitude towards
+life, it would be unjust to leave out the influence exerted by Patrick
+Henry. The young student was present when Henry delivered his famous
+speech in the House of Burgesses in 1765 and ended the speech with the
+defiant declaration, "If this be treason make the most of it." "He
+appeared to me," wrote Jefferson, "to speak as Homer wrote; his talents
+were great indeed, such as I never heard from any man." From Henry he
+did not receive any particular political philosophy, but from him he
+learned the value of those striking formulas which remain in the memory
+of men, become mottoes and battle cries of political campaigns. He liked
+the vehemence and completeness of Henry's affirmation and when, in 1770,
+he wrote in his memorandum that maxim of all revolutionists and radicals
+of every age--_fiat justitia ruat coelum_, let there be justice, even
+if the heavens should crumble down--he was thinking as much of the
+Virginia orator as of the Romans of old.
+
+A last item in the same memorandum book of 1770 may justify the
+supposition that still another influence had entered Jefferson's life.
+By that time he had forgotten the fickle Belinda who had played with his
+heart, but he was no longer a woman-hater. When he quoted from Pope "the
+sleepy eye that speaks to the melting soul", he was already thinking of
+the young and attractive widow he was to marry two years later.
+
+In the meantime he had been pursuing assiduously his law studies and his
+readings of political philosophers. Very early after entering college,
+he had decided that he would not be satisfied with the study of
+belles-lettres, or the life of a gentleman managing a large country
+estate. The clergy and the law were the only two professions open to a
+young man of distinctly aristocratic tendencies. He chose the law and
+began his training under the direction of Mr. Wythe. This training was
+markedly different from the instruction he would have received in
+Europe. There was no regularly organized law school at Williamsburg;
+candidates for the Bar had to prepare themselves under the direction of
+an old practitioner; they attended the sessions of the court and
+prepared briefs for their master; they studied by themselves and
+consequently were much more familiar with the practice than with the
+theory of jurisprudence. No examination was given by a regular faculty;
+but a license to practice law and to hang out his shingle was obtained
+by the candidate after appearing before a special board of examiners. In
+the case of Patrick Henry, the examiners had been John Randolph,
+afterward Attorney-general for the Colony, Peyton Randolph, Mr. Wythe
+and perhaps Robert C. Nicholas. If Henry "got by" after six months'
+study, thanks to his phenomenal fluency and "aplomb", it took Jefferson
+six years before he considered himself sufficiently prepared to appear
+before the examiners. A large part of his time however was spent at
+Shadwell in agricultural pursuits and independent study; but he came
+regularly to Williamsburg to consult Mr. Wythe, to attend the sessions
+of the Court, to buy books, and also to attend during the winter the
+many functions given by the brilliant society of the capital of
+Virginia. These years, the most important of all in the formation of
+Jefferson's political theories, can now be studied in the "Commonplace
+Book", long thought destroyed, which even Randall had not been able to
+find, but which is now safely deposited in the Library of Congress. It
+is a most revealing compilation and throws an unexpected light on the
+origin of Jefferson's political doctrines.
+
+It contains first of all no less than five hundred fifty-six articles
+analyzing special cases from the Reports of Cases in the King's Bench,
+George Andrews, Robert Raymond, William Salkeld and Coke's "Institutes",
+for in a colony where no attempt had been made to codify the body of
+existing laws, and where the common law was the supreme law of the land,
+the first prerequisite to becoming a good lawyer was to assimilate an
+enormous number of cases and precedents. Jefferson proceeded, like all
+the law students of his time, to dig in "Coke upon Littleton" and
+others, putting down in his "Commonplace Book" decisions, discussions,
+definitions, matters of importance to a country lawyer, such as wills,
+devises, commercial contracts, cases on larceny, trespassing, debts,
+damages, bankruptcy, leases, libels; and he did it with his customary
+thoroughness and clarity. A detailed study of the "Commonplace Book"
+would be most illuminating for those who, in spite of all evidence to
+the contrary, still maintain that Jefferson was an impractical
+philosopher, interested only in abstract principles and in theory. On
+the other hand, he was not simply a country lawyer, either. If he had
+not seemed to manifest any interest in the abstract study of the
+principles of law, in what he used to call "metaphysical disquisitions",
+he was keenly interested in the historical development of the legal
+structure on which rested modern society and particularly the colonial
+society of Virginia.
+
+He carefully went through Lord Kames' "Historical Law Tracts" and
+studied from him the history of criminal law, promises and covenant,
+property, securities upon land, courts, briefs. It is in Kames that he
+found a definition of society which he could have written himself and
+which expresses his political individualism and subordination to law:
+
+  Mutual defence against a more powerful neighbor being in early times
+  the chief, or sole motive for joining society, individuals never
+  thought of surrendering any of their natural rights which could be
+  retained consistently with their great aim of mutual defence.
+
+This is elaborated upon in the passage quoted from the "History of
+Property":
+
+  Man, by his nature, is fitted for society, and society by its
+  conveniences is fitted for man. The perfection of human society
+  consists in that just degree of union among the individuals, which to
+  each reserves freedom and independency, as far as is consistent with
+  peace and good order. The bonds of society where every man shall be
+  bound to dedicate the whole of his industry to the common interest
+  would be of the strictest kind, but it would be unnatural and
+  uncomfortable, because destructive of liberty and independence;
+  so would be the enjoyment of the goods of fortune in common.
+
+I am perfectly aware of the undeniable influence of Locke upon the
+theory of Kames; and it would be very unlikely that Jefferson had not
+read at that date Locke's "Treatise on Civil Government." The fact
+remains, however, that neither Locke, nor so far as I know any political
+thinker of the period, had yet so clearly defined that particular
+combination of individualism and respect for peace and order so
+characteristic of American democracy. We shall see in one of the
+following chapters how Jefferson, elaborating on this statement of
+Kames, derived from it all his conception of natural rights. The
+Scottish Lord was for him a master and a guide.
+
+In Sir John Dalrymple, author of an "Essay Towards a General History of
+Feudal Property", in Francis Stoughton Sullivan's "An Historical
+Treatise of the Feudal Laws and the Constitution of the Laws of
+England", Jefferson studied the history of primogeniture and of entails
+and came to the conclusion that both of them had foundation neither in
+nature nor in law, and certainly did not appear in England before the
+Norman Conquest. He reached to the same finding in his long dissertation
+on the original common law, and thus we can trace directly through the
+"Commonplace Book" the sources of the Bill on Primogeniture, of the Bill
+for Religious Freedom, and of the Law to Abolish Entails, which
+Jefferson considered as forming a system "which would eradicate every
+fibre of ancient or future aristocracy and lay a foundation for a
+government truly republican."
+
+Some of the entries in the "Commonplace Book" were evidently made after
+the period with which we are dealing in this chapter, although most of
+them can be dated before 1776. We have no means of determining whether
+Jefferson had undertaken a systematic study of federative governments
+when he was still a student, or at what time he copied the many extracts
+and quotations from Montesquieu. Nor can we enter here into a detailed
+discussion of all the articles. One or two facts, however, stand out
+even after a superficial glimpse of this repertory of ideas on
+government and society. The first is that Jefferson at that date, and
+indeed during most of his life, was not interested in abstract
+principles or in theoretical discussions. His was eminently the mind of
+a lawyer, and it is not for a lawyer to arrive at a definition of
+justice but to determine what the law says on a particular point. Yet in
+a country where law is not codified and the common law is the basis of
+the legal structure, it is impossible to find out what the law is
+without undertaking a historical study of the cases at hand in the
+different repertories. Men are either fallible or dishonest, false
+interpretations creep in, texts are distorted from their original
+meaning, and thus it becomes necessary to apply to legal decisions the
+rules of historical evidence formulated by Bolingbroke.
+
+After undertaking such a study, Jefferson arrived at a very curious
+conclusion; that at a time which was not buried in a mythological past,
+the Anglo-Saxons had lived under customs and unwritten laws based upon
+the natural rights of man and permitting the individual to develop
+freely, normally and happily. In the course of time, these free
+institutions deteriorated through the nefarious influences of several
+agencies. Unwritten law became written law and jurists succeeded in
+concealing under their sophistry and verbiage the primitive intent of
+natural legislation. Priests, striving to extend their domination over a
+realm which primitively was foreign to them, introduced religious
+prescriptions into civil laws and thus diminished the rights of the
+individual. Conquerors and a long lineage of hereditary kings further
+modified primitive institutions in order to provide an apparently legal
+foundation for their usurpations, until the people, no longer able to
+withstand patiently the evils of tyranny, arose and recovered at least
+some of their rights.
+
+Such a conspectus of the history of England was neither new nor
+original; it was one of the favorite contentions of English jurists
+during the eighteenth century, and nowhere perhaps is it more forcibly
+developed than in the last chapter of Blackstone's "Commentaries", "Of
+the rise, progress and gradual improvements of the laws of England." It
+is fundamentally also the doctrine of Jefferson, who went much farther
+than any of the English political thinkers in his revindication of the
+Saxon liberties.
+
+One may see already how such a conception differs from the theories of
+Rousseau and the French philosophers, and indeed from those of the
+English philosophers. And this is easily explained, even if too seldom
+realized. Born in the eighteenth century, Jefferson is in some respects
+a man of the eighteenth century, but no greater mistake could be made
+than to apply to him the same standards that apply to European political
+thinkers. The very fact that he was born and grew up in a remote colony
+prevented him from joining any particular school of political
+philosophy. He had comparatively few books at his disposal, certainly
+fewer gazettes, and only faint echoes of the philosophical battles
+raging in Europe reached the capital of Virginia. During the long winter
+evenings at Shadwell, he had ample time to think, to sift from the books
+he was reading, not matter of passing interest, but matter of practical
+value and principles susceptible of being applied to the society which
+he knew and in which he lived. He could not have the cosmopolitan and
+universal outlook of thinkers who had traveled and met with
+representatives of many nationalities. His "Literary Bible", as well as
+his "Commonplace Book", contains many examples which might be used to
+illustrate his provincialism or, if one prefers, his regionalism.
+
+No man can become genuinely interested in things he has never seen and
+cannot imagine. He had never seen the English countryside and so, when
+he copied from Thomson's description of spring, he selected only
+passages that could apply as well to the landscape of Virginia as to the
+scenery of old England. Even when he read Horace he eliminated verses
+with too much local color, unknown plants, unfamiliar dishes and
+beverages, until the descriptions of a Roman farm by the old poet would
+fit a typical Virginia plantation with the slaves singing in the great
+courtyard after the day's work is done. He knew Latin and Greek, French
+and Italian, and perhaps even German; for the time and place his library
+was rich and varied. He had read Milton, Shakespeare, Dryden, Buchanan,
+Thomson, Thomas Moss; he had studied Kames, Pelloutier, Stanyan, Eden,
+Baccaria, Montesquieu and possibly Voltaire's "Essai sur les Moeurs",
+but from each of these he had culled facts and definitions rather than
+principles and theories. He had read some books of travel and listened
+with enjoyment to Fauquier's accounts of his long voyages. He was
+dreaming of visiting England, the continent and the Mediterranean, but
+the only form of society he knew was the colonial society of Virginia.
+No cosmopolitan tendencies would develop in such surroundings. Superior
+as he was in intelligence and culture to his fellow students and to the
+young gentry of Williamsburg, Jefferson, at the age of twenty-five, was
+not yet an American; he was distinctly a Virginian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A VIRGINIA LAWYER
+
+
+In 1767, Thomas Jefferson, then twenty-four years of age, was "led into
+the practice of the law at the bar of the General Court" by his friend
+and mentor, Mr. Wythe. He was the owner of a substantial estate
+inherited from his father, and he managed the family property of
+Shadwell, but he had already formed plans for an establishment of his
+own and begun preparations to build Monticello on the other side of the
+Rivanna. The only future open to him seemed to be that of any young
+Virginian of his social class. He occasionally joined them in
+fox-hunting and attended the races, enjoyed a dance, a concert, and a
+good play at the theater. The following year was particularly brilliant
+at Williamsburg. The governor held stately receptions and the Virginian
+Company of Comedians presented a rich program: "The Constant Couple or a
+Trip to Jubilee", a farce called "The Miller of Mansfield", "The
+Beggar's Opera", "The Anatomist or Sham Doctor", besides the ordinary
+plays of the repertory, were given during the spring and summer of that
+year.[20]
+
+Jefferson had his share of all these social pleasures, together with
+others, but there were also simpler and more austere occupations. First
+of all he had to look after his plantation. Agriculture, so long a
+haphazard and empirical affair, was making great strides in Europe,
+particularly in England. Treatises on the subject and special magazines
+were read eagerly in Virginia; the choice of cultures, the improvement
+of seeds, the introduction of new crops greatly concerned the minds of
+progressive planters like Colonel Washington and the young master of
+Shadwell.
+
+The "Garden Books" kept by Jefferson and now published only in part,
+reveal him as a forerunner of modern efficiency engineers. Fences,
+walls, roads and bridges had to be built on the 1900-acre estate left
+him by his father; trees had to be planted and vegetables raised for the
+large family at Shadwell, for the slaves and for the many travelers and
+visitors who continued to drop in. If all the seeds planted in
+Jefferson's vegetable garden and orchards did well, he must have had an
+extraordinary variety of produce, considerably larger than is to be
+found on the best appointed farms of to-day. For he was not satisfied
+with the staple vegetables which appear on the American table with
+clocklike regularity; he sowed "salsifia, peppergrass, sorrel, salmon
+radishes, nasturtium, asparagus, all sorts of lettuce, cresses, celery,
+strawberries, snap-beans, purple beans, white beans, sugar beans,
+cucumbers, watermelons, cherries, olive stones, raspberries, turnips",
+and--horrors!--garlic. He was led into many such experiments by his
+neighbor and friend Philip Mazzei, formerly of Tuscany and now of
+Albemarle County, for many of the entries in the Garden Book are in
+Italian and "_aglio de Terracina_ (_vulgo_ garlic), _radiocchio di
+Pistoia_ (succory or wild endive), _cavolo broccolo Francese di Pisa,
+fragole Maggese_ (May strawberries)" and dozens of other imported
+varieties appear in his garden lists. Then there were the horses, for,
+true to the Virginia tradition, Jefferson kept no less than half a dozen
+blood mares of good pedigree. Above all, the regular crops of wheat,
+corn and especially tobacco had to be looked after; for tobacco was the
+only crop that could be marketed for solid cash or sent to London to be
+exchanged for books, furniture, fine clothes, musical instruments, and
+the choice wines of Europe. As a practical farmer Jefferson was rather
+successful, since during these early years his land brought him an
+average return of two thousand dollars. This was ample for his needs.
+But his main resources were procured from the practice of law.
+
+He kept a complete memorandum of all the cases in which he appeared
+before the courts of Virginia and opposite each case entered the fee
+received for his professional services.[21] These fees would seem very
+moderate to the least ambitious practitioner of our days. In many cases
+no fee is mentioned at all, and we are at liberty to suppose that
+Jefferson took some charity cases, or that the defendants were not
+always scrupulous in paying their bills. Yet, altogether, the total
+averaged close to three thousand dollars a year, a nice fat addition to
+the income from Shadwell and Monticello. Starting with one hundred and
+fifteen cases in 1768, Jefferson was retained as attorney or counsel in
+no less than four hundred thirty cases in 1771, and it is no
+exaggeration to state that no day passed during the twelve years he
+remained engaged in the practice of law without his giving considerable
+time to his profession. The moderate amount of these fees and the large
+number of cases indicate the kind of practice in which Jefferson was
+employed. Trespassing of cattle on a neighbor's field, destruction of
+fences, robbery committed by a clerk, wills, administration of estates,
+interest, quarrels between two goodwives, with a lively exchange of
+actionable words, assault and battery, all the seamy, sordid, petty side
+of life, constituted for these twelve years the daily practice of Thomas
+Jefferson, an apprenticeship of life and a training in the knowledge of
+human nature enjoyed by very few abstract philosophers.
+
+In the old days of the bar, one of the earmarks of most lawyers was a
+fluency of speech, unsurpassed except perhaps by the ministers. But
+words never came easily to Jefferson, or in great abundance. His voice,
+pleasant and modulated in ordinary conversation, "sank in his throat",
+if raised higher, and became husky. He was clearly a business lawyer,
+an office lawyer, whose clear, precise, meticulous presentation of facts
+fitted him particularly for appearing before a court of appeals like the
+General Court, rather than for moving and emotionally convincing a jury
+of twelve men good and true.
+
+His scorn for oratory, long sentences, images, apostrophes may have been
+a case of sour grapes, for in his youth he admired tremendously Patrick
+Henry. As we have seen, he was wise enough not to aim higher than he
+could reach. Not only did he never crave the fame of the popular orator,
+but, conscious of his limitations, he always showed a real repugnance to
+addressing a large assembly. Particularly brilliant in conversation, he
+was destined to be a committee man, to win his ends by the pen rather
+than by the silver tongue of the politician. Yet if he had been fond of
+rhetoric, rhetoric would have found its way into his writings, but no
+man of the period wrote less figuratively, employed fewer artifices of
+style; metaphors, comparisons were unknown to him. Ideas remained ideas
+and were never clad in the flowing garments of mythology; facts remained
+facts and never became allegories. Liberty never appeared before his
+eyes and was never represented by him as a goddess, and neither America
+nor Britannia were majestic figures of heroic size that passed in his
+dreams. He was neither emotional nor imaginative, yet his eyes were keen
+and quick to note and establish distinctions between different varieties
+of plants or animals. His mind was alert and always on the lookout for
+new facts to add to his store of knowledge, after proper cataloguing.
+Surely he was not the man to make startling discoveries in the realm of
+natural history, or to propose a new system of the universe, nor was he
+one to conceive, in a moment of inspiration, a new political gospel and
+a new system of society; when he took up the practice of law in
+Williamsburg, the greatest future that destiny had in store for him,
+promising as he was, seemed to become as upright and sound a lawyer as
+Mr. Wythe, and a legal authority as good and learned as Mr. Pendleton.
+
+He was admitted to the Bar in 1767, and two years later was chosen as a
+member of the House of Burgesses and placed on the committee appointed
+to draw up an answer to the Governor's speech. His draft was rejected,
+however, and Colonel Nicholas' address substituted.[22] A few days later
+Governor Botetourt, unable to endorse the spirited remonstrance to the
+King on the subject of taxation, dissolved the Assembly.
+
+  The next day--wrote Jefferson--we met in the Apollo of the Raleigh
+  Tavern, formed ourselves into a voluntary convention, drew up
+  articles of association against the use of any merchandise imported
+  from Great Britain, signed and recommended them to the people,
+  repaired to our several counties, and were re-elected without any
+  other exception than of the very few who had declined to follow our
+  proceedings.[23]
+
+A spirit of discontent was abroad and had spread throughout the
+colonies, but it was neither disloyalty nor rebellion. Easily satisfied
+with this gesture, which for many remained a mere gesture, the
+Virginians paid little attention to public affairs during the next two
+years. In the words of Jefferson "nothing of particular excitement
+occurring for a considerable time, our countrymen seemed to fall into a
+state of insensibility and inaction." His private life was more
+eventful. The first of February, 1770, the house at Shadwell in which he
+lived with his mother, his brother and his unmarried sisters, was burnt
+to the ground, and with it every paper he had and almost every book.
+
+On reasonable estimate--he wrote to Page--I calculate the _cost_ of the
+books burned to have been L200 sterling. Would to God it had been the
+money, then it had never cost me a sigh. To make the loss more sensible,
+it fell principally on my books of Common law, of which I have but one
+left, at that time lent out. Of papers too of every kind I am utterly
+destitute. All of these whether public or private, of business or of
+amusement, have perished in the flames.
+
+The disaster had not been quite so complete as Jefferson indicates. His
+"Commonplace Book" was saved, his account books, garden books and many
+memoranda and family papers escaped the flames and were discovered again
+in 1851 at the bottom of an old trunk.[24] Even as far as books were
+concerned, the loss was not altogether irretrievable. Jefferson wrote at
+once to Skipwith for a catalogue of books, sent orders to London, and
+two years later he could proudly enter in a diary not yet published that
+his library consisted on August 1, 1773, of twelve hundred and fifty
+books, not including volumes of music or "his books in Williamsburg." A
+very substantial store of printed matter for the time.
+
+Another event of quite a different order took place in his life.
+Jefferson had lost a home, but he was building another, soon to be ready
+for occupancy, on the hill of Monticello, and he already knew that the
+house would not be left long without a mistress. On the third day of
+December, 1771, he filled out a formal application for a marriage
+license in the court of Charles City County and on the first of January
+he was married to Martha Skelton, widow of Bathurst Skelton, and
+daughter of John Wayles, then twenty-three years old. John Wayles of
+"The Forest" was a lawyer with a large practice, a man of worth if not
+of eminence, a boon companion welcomed in every society, who had amassed
+quite a large fortune. His daughter Martha, a true type of Virginia
+girl, of medium height and well-formed figure, had been well educated
+and possessed all the social accomplishments of the time. She danced
+gracefully, played the harpsichord and the spinet, was well read and,
+above all, was a very efficient housekeeper, for she knew how to manage
+the slaves and care for them in their illnesses, knew how to keep
+accounts and to arrange for a reception. If the family tradition is
+true, she was receptive to music, for Jefferson had won out over two
+rivals because of his talent on the violin and his ability to sing
+duets. It was a _mariage de raison_, to be sure, and two years later
+Jefferson noted with undisguised satisfaction that, following the death
+of his father-in-law, the portion that came to Martha was equal to his
+own patrimony and consequently "doubled the ease of our circumstances."
+But it was also a marriage of love, not without romantic color, with a
+wedding trip from Charles City to Monticello through a snowstorm, and a
+late arrival at night in the cold new house. Jefferson did not take any
+of his friends into his confidence and did not celebrate his connubial
+bliss; but at the very end of the pages given to Milton in his "Literary
+Bible", as an afterthought and a recantation from his misogynism, are
+found the following lines copied, we may surmise, during his honeymoon:
+
+  Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles
+  Wanted, nor youthful dalliance, as beseems
+  Fair couple, linkt in happy league
+  Alone as they....[25]
+
+Belinda had been forgotten, and the young woman-hater had found his fair
+conqueror.
+
+But death again took its toll and cast its cloud over Monticello. With
+Page, Dabney Carr, Jefferson's fellow student at William and Mary, had
+been his closest friend. Carr, a frequent visitor at Shadwell, had
+married in 1764 Jefferson's sister Martha. Not a wealthy man, he was
+described by his brother-in-law as living in a very small house, with a
+table, half a dozen chairs, and one or two servants, but the happiest
+man in the universe.[26] He died when hardly thirty and Jefferson had
+him buried beneath the shade of their favorite tree at Monticello under
+which they had so often read, dreamed and discussed; and such was the
+origin of the little cemetery in which Jefferson was to bury so many of
+his dear ones before he joined them himself in his last sleep. For Carr
+he went to his "Literary Bible", as he himself felt unable to write a
+fitting tribute, and copied from Mallet's "Excursion" an inscription to
+nail on the tree, by the grave of the friend "who of all men living
+loved him most."
+
+Honored by the Royal Government and made by Botetourt "Lieutenant of the
+County of Albemarle, and Chief Commander of all His Majesty's Militia,
+Horse and Foot in the said county of Albemarle"; honored also by his
+Alma Mater and appointed by the President of William and Mary "Surveyor
+of Albemarle County",[27] a member of the Assembly, one of the richest
+landowners of his county, one of the most successful lawyers of
+Virginia, happily married, busy with his estate, his books, his violin,
+his law practice, Jefferson could look forward to a long, quiet and
+moderate life, the ideal life of a farmer, a gentleman and a scholar.
+For a man who took his duties seriously it was by no means an existence
+of idleness, in nowise to be compared with the life of an English
+gentleman farmer. Every planter was to some extent a captain, and every
+plantation was to a large extent self-sufficient and self-supporting. In
+the case of Jefferson, who had recently increased his domain,
+difficulties and new problems requiring inventiveness, resourcefulness
+and ingenuity arose every day. Slaves had to be taught new trades and
+trained, the wilderness had to be reclaimed. Thus were developed
+qualities of leadership and qualities of class pride. A young planter
+related to the best families of the colony felt that he belonged to a
+ruling class, above which could only exist the remote power of the
+British Parliament and the majesty of the king represented by a governor
+who never really belonged, and who in spite of his exalted position,
+always remained a stranger.
+
+An English tourist, Burnaby, traveling in Virginia in 1760, had already
+noted signs of impatience and restlessness among the colonists of
+Virginia. "They are haughty," he wrote, "and jealous of their liberties;
+impatient of restraint and can scarcely bear the thought of being
+controlled by superior power. Many of them consider the Colonies as
+independent states, not connected with Great Britain otherwise than by
+having the same common King."[28]
+
+When the delegates from Virginia were sent to the first Continental
+Congress, Silas Deane noted that "the Virginia, and indeed all the
+Southern delegates appear like men of importance...they are sociable,
+sensible, and spirited men. Not a milksop among them."[29]
+
+They were aristocrats wont to give orders and resentful of any
+interference; they were lords and almost supreme rulers on their
+plantations; they were owners of many slaves and they had been
+accustomed to call no man master; and Jefferson was one of them.
+
+The change in the situation had come very abruptly. It is not the
+purpose of this book to present an elaborate discussion of the causes of
+the American Revolution, whether they were economic or political or
+philosophical, or whether they were of mixed motives, varying with each
+colony and in each colony with every man, did not impel the colonies to
+revolt against the mother country. I am aware of the present tendency to
+attribute most of the agitation preceding the revolution to purely
+economic causes; it must be remembered however, that, if the ulterior
+motives of the promoters of the American Revolution were selfish and
+interested, Jefferson was one of those who were moved by entirely
+different considerations, as were, as a matter of fact, most of the
+members of the First Continental Congress.
+
+While life was still moving easily and happily in Virginia, where in
+1772 the theatrical season had been particularly brilliant, things were
+coming to a head in New England. News of the Bill closing the Port of
+Boston on the first of June, 1774, reached the Virginia Assembly during
+the spring session; how it was received had better be told in the words
+of Jefferson. As so often happens in history at the decisive turn of
+events, the leadership was taken by a very small group of men who made
+up their minds at once, assumed responsibility and changed the course of
+the ship of state. So far no strong protest had been made by Virginia to
+the British Government. Dunmore was far from being tyrannical; the order
+imposing duties on many English products had been largely rescinded,
+except on tea, but it may not be sacrilegious to state that the Virginia
+gentry were more partial to French wines, Madeira and Nantes rum than to
+the English national beverage. If Virginia had not declared at that
+particular time her solidarity, if Jefferson and his friends had not
+taken the right steps and found the right words to "arouse the people
+from the lethargy into which they had fallen", even New England
+steadfastness and stanchness of heart would have been unequal to the
+task. It was on this occasion, rather than on the Fourth of July, 1776,
+that the fate of the British colonies of America was decided.
+
+According to Jefferson's own statement, leadership in these subjects was
+no longer left to the old members of the Assembly, but Patrick Henry, R.
+H. Lee, F. L. Lee, three or four other members and he himself met in the
+library after agreeing that they must take "an unequivocal stand in the
+line with Massachusetts." They decided that the best means of calling
+the seriousness of the situation to the attention of the public was to
+appoint a day of general fasting and prayer, quite an unprecedented
+measure in Virginia; but they rummaged in old books "for revolutionary
+precedents and forms of the Puritans", and they finally "cooked up a
+resolution, somewhat modernizing their phrases, for appointing the 1st
+day of June on which the port-bill was to commence, for a day of
+fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to implore Heaven to avert from us the
+evils of civil war, to inspire us with firmness in support of our
+rights, and to turn the hearts of the King and Parliament to moderation
+and justice."[30] Clearly the day of fasting and prayer did not appear
+to any of the members of the unofficial committee as springing from a
+profound religious sentiment, but they knew how strong over the people
+was the power of the Church, and how impossible it was to unite them
+except by giving a religious appearance to a purely political
+manifestation. These young Virginia lawyers knew their people and were
+not totally unacquainted with mass psychology; they knew how to play the
+game of practical politics, despite their high and disinterested ideal.
+
+The next day Governor Dunmore pronounced the usual English remedy in
+such circumstances: the dissolution of the Assembly. Once more the
+members met in the Apollo room, and "they agreed to an association, and
+instructed the committee of correspondence to propose to the
+corresponding committees of the other colonies to appoint deputies to
+meet in Congress at such place _annually_ as would be convenient, to
+direct, from time to time, the measures required by the general
+interest."
+
+This passage in the "Autobiography" has led historians into a spirited
+controversy as to whether the proposal to form a Congress originated in
+Virginia or in Massachusetts, and whether such a plan had not been
+discussed in Boston as early as 1770. Whatever the case may be, the most
+important part of the resolution passed in the Raleigh Tavern was not
+the establishment of a cooerdinating organism; it was the declaration
+recorded by Jefferson, "that an attack on any one colony should be
+considered as an attack on the whole." This last part was not a simple
+administrative provision, it was more than a promise of a union; it was
+the constitution of a new society, since according to Kames as quoted by
+Jefferson in his "Commonplace Book" "mutual defence against a more
+powerful neighbor is in early times the chief, or sole motive for
+joining society."
+
+The deputies went back home and, on the first of June, met the
+assemblies of the people "to perform ceremonies of the day and to
+address to them discourses suited to the occasion. The people met
+generally, with anxiety and alarm in their countenance, and the effect
+of the day, through the whole colony was like a shock of electricity,
+arousing every man and placing him erect and solid on his centre."[31]
+
+As a result of the train of thought started by the meeting, the
+freeholders of Albemarle County adopted on June 26 a series of
+resolutions evidently written by Jefferson. Here for the first time
+Jefferson declared that:
+
+  The inhabitants of the several States of British America are subject
+  to the laws which they adopted at their first settlement, and to such
+  others as have been since made by their respective Legislatures, duly
+  constituted and appointed with their own consent. That no other
+  Legislature whatever can rightly exercise authority over them; and
+  that these privileges they as the common rights of mankind, confirmed
+  by the political constitutions they have respectively assumed, and
+  also by several charters of compact from the Crown.
+
+The originality of this theory cannot be determined without comparison
+with the resolutions adopted a few days before by the Assembly of
+Fairfax County presided over by Colonel George Washington. These came
+from the pen of George Mason and they stated with equal emphasis the
+contractual theory of the government of the British colonies. Whether
+Jefferson knew them or not, the similarity with the views expressed by
+the freeholders of Albemarle is most striking.
+
+The first article averred the principle also found in Jefferson's
+"Commonplace Book" that "this colony and Dominion of Virginia cannot be
+considered as a conquered country, and as it was, that the present
+inhabitants are not of the conquered, but of the conquerors." It added
+that:
+
+  Our ancestors, when they left their native land, and settled in
+  America, brought over with them, even if the same is not confirmed by
+  Charters, the civil constitution and form of Government of the
+  country they came from and were by the laws of nature and nations
+  entitled to all its privileges, immunities and advantages, which have
+  descended to us, their posterity, and ought of right to be as fully
+  enjoyed as if we had still continued with the realm of England.
+
+The second article enunciated the most essential and "fundamental
+principle of government", that the people "could be governed by no laws
+to which they had not given their consent by Representatives freely
+chosen by themselves."
+
+The third article declared that the colonies had some duty to fulfill
+towards the mother country and admitted that the British Parliament
+might, "directed with wisdom and moderation", take measures to regulate
+"American commerce", although such action was in some degree repugnant
+to the principles of the Constitution.[32]
+
+Whether or not Jefferson had received the Fairfax resolutions before
+writing the Albemarle declaration, this is the capital difference
+between the two documents and the two doctrines. On the one hand, George
+Mason accepted the theory that the first settlers had brought over with
+them the civil constitution and form of government of the mother
+country, and consequently admitted a permanent connection between the
+colony and the metropolis. Jefferson, on the contrary, asserted with
+great strength and clarity the complete independence of the colonists
+from the British constitution. They were subject to no laws except those
+they had freely adopted when they had consented to a new compact and
+formed a new society. He was perfectly justified when he declared in his
+"Autobiography":
+
+  Our other patriots, Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas, Pendleton, stopped
+  at the half-way house of John Dickinson, who admitted that England
+  had a right to regulate our commerce, and to lay duties on it for the
+  purpose of regulation, but not of raising revenue. But for this
+  ground there was no foundation in compact, in any acknowledged
+  principles of colonisation, nor in reason; expatriation being a
+  natural right, and acted on as such by all nations, in all ages.
+
+This was really the core of the question. Jefferson had reached that
+conclusion, not from following a certain line of abstract reasoning, but
+after studying the history of the Greek colonies in Stanyan, and the
+history of the Saxon settlement of Great Britain in many authors, as may
+be seen in his "Commonplace Book", and he was soon to reaffirm the
+doctrine of expatriation as the fundamental principle on which rested
+all the claims of the American colonies.
+
+The Virginia Convention was to meet at Williamsburg on August 1, to
+select delegates to a General Congress of the colonies. With all his
+books at hand, all his legal authorities, the precious "Commonplace
+Book" and all the repertories he had gathered in his library, Jefferson
+proceeded to draft a project of instructions for the future delegates.
+He was taken ill on his way to Williamsburg but forwarded the plan to
+Peyton Randolph and Patrick Henry. Henry never mentioned it; Randolph
+informed the convention that he had received such a paper from a
+member, prevented by sickness from offering it, and laid it on the table
+for perusal. It was read generally by the members, approved by many,
+though thought too bold for use at that time; but they printed it in
+pamphlet form, under the title of "A Summary View of the Rights of
+British America."
+
+In some respects it is a more original and more important document than
+the Declaration of Independence itself. With the detailed account of the
+grievances enumerated by Jefferson we cannot deal here. A few points,
+however, deserve special attention. The difficulties that had arisen
+between the colonies and the home government had occasioned the
+publication of many pamphlets dealing with the situation. Most of
+Jefferson's predecessors, however, had attempted to define _in jure_ the
+rights of the British colonies. Thus George Mason had made his
+"Extracts" from the Virginia charters, "with some remarks on them" in
+1773, and he had come to the conclusion already given in the "Fairfax
+resolves", that "the ancestors of the colonists when they had left their
+native land and settled in America had brought with them, although not
+confirmed by Charters, the civil government and form of government of
+the country they came from."[33] But he had gone back no farther in
+history and had not formulated the principles of the "constitution" of
+England. Not so with Jefferson, who emphatically denied that the
+colonists had anything to do with the British constitution or with its
+form of government. He had studied the history of the settlement of
+England in Molesworth, in Pelloutier, in Sir William Temple, in
+Dalrymple, and had come to the conclusion enunciated in the "Rights of
+British America":
+
+  That our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free
+  inhabitants of the British Dominions in Europe, and possessed a right
+  which nature has given to all men of leaving the country in which
+  chance, not choice, had placed them, and of seeking out new
+  habitations, and there establishing new societies, under such laws
+  and regulations as, to them, shall seem most likely to promote public
+  happiness.
+
+  That their Saxon ancestors had, under this universal law, in like
+  manner, left their native wilds and woods in the North of Europe,
+  possessed themselves of the Island of Britain, then less charged with
+  inhabitants, and established there a system of laws which has been so
+  long the glory and protection of that country.
+
+On another and not less important point, Jefferson was indebted to his
+"Commonplace Book." He had taken great care to determine through
+historical and judicial authorities the origin of land tenures in the
+kingdom of England and he had found that in the good old Saxon times,
+"upon settling in the countries which they subdued, the victorious army
+divided the conquered lands. That portion which fell to every soldier he
+seized as a recompense due to his valour, as a settlement acquired by
+his own sword. He took possession of it as a freeman in full property.
+He enjoyed it during his own life and could dispose of it at pleasure,
+or transmit it as an inheritance to his children." It was not until
+after the fifth century that the king, because as general he was thought
+fittest to distribute the conquered lands to each according to his
+merits, assumed to himself and was quietly allowed the entire power of
+the partition of lands. This abominable system however was not
+introduced into England before the Norman Conquest, and thus was spread
+the false notion that all lands belonged to the crown.[34] Against this
+last claim, which he believed to rest on a false conception of history,
+Jefferson raises an emphatic protest. Backed by his knowledge of the
+gradual encroachment of the feudal system on the natural rights of his
+Anglo-Saxon ancestors, he claimed for the American colonists the same
+rights as belonged in the good old Anglo-Saxon days to those who had
+acquired a settlement by their own sword.
+
+  It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+  declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+  nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+  limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+  are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this may
+  be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+  legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+  and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+  the society, may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds
+  vacant, and occupancy will give him title.
+
+According to this theory, one of the mainstays of the doctrine of
+Americanism, of which Jefferson made himself the advocate, is the right
+of conquest. But here Jefferson would have introduced a distinction
+borrowed from Lord Kames, for "the northern nations who overran Europe
+fought not for glory or dominion but for habitation" and invaded only
+countries which were sparsely populated.[35] Whether such a position was
+tenable historically is quite another matter. The important point
+maintained by Jefferson is that when the first settlers left Great
+Britain for the shores of America, they were not colonists but free
+agents. By the mere fact of expatriating themselves they had severed all
+ties with the mother country, they had recovered full possession of all
+their natural rights and were at liberty to agree on a new social
+compact; they derived their rights of property not from the king but
+from their occupancy of a new and unsettled territory. All considered,
+this curious doctrine was nothing but a sort of sublimation and legal
+justification of the pioneer spirit.
+
+This historical and legal demonstration, in which Jefferson had gone
+back to the very beginnings of Anglo-Saxon society, transcended all
+contemporary discussions on the Rights of the British Parliament.
+Jefferson was perfectly aware of its originality and not a little proud
+of it. It was in his opinion
+
+  the only orthodox or tenable doctrine--that our emigration from
+  England to this country gave her no more rights over us, than the
+  emigration of the Danes and Saxons gave to the present authorities of
+  the mother country, over England. In this doctrine, however, I have
+  never been able to get any one to agree with me but Mr. Wythe. He
+  concurred in it from the first dawn of the question, What was the
+  political relation between us and England?
+
+Once the question was clearly put, Jefferson went at it with the methods
+used by a lawyer to prove the title to a piece of property. The first
+point to be settled was to determine who was the legitimate owner of the
+territory occupied by the American "colonists", the king or the
+colonists themselves; thus presented, the question became very simple:
+
+  For it is thought that no circumstance has occurred to distinguish
+  materially, the British from the Saxon emigration. America was
+  conquered, and her settlements made and firmly established, at the
+  expense of individuals, and not of the British public. Their own
+  blood was spilt in acquiring lands for their settlement, their own
+  fortunes expanded in making this settlement effectual. For themselves
+  they fought, for themselves they conquered, and for themselves alone
+  they have a right to hold.
+
+This was the keystone of Jefferson's social system at that time. It is
+not unimportant to note that it was a doctrine that could apply only to
+Anglo-Saxon colonies, more particularly to American colonies, and not a
+doctrine susceptible of universal application. Whether or not the
+principle might also be advanced by other peoples or nations, Jefferson
+did not state and did not care. His was not a mind to generalize and to
+extend universally any given principle. For the present, at least, he
+was satisfied to claim for the American settlers not the rights of man,
+but the rights of their Saxon ancestors. His position was legal and
+historical, not philosophical.
+
+It was also to some extent an aristocratic position. Since the land was
+theirs by right of conquest, it almost necessarily ensued that only
+landowners, or to use the old colonial word, freeholders, were entitled
+to the rights, privileges, and happiness of self-government. The
+consequence was not expressed but it was implied. The analogy with the
+doctrine of the Physiocrats strikes one at first; but this analogy is
+only superficial. True enough, only freeholders are really worth
+considering and can raise a legitimate protest; but in a country as new
+and as extensive as America, it is within the power of every inhabitant
+to become a freeholder. For it is another iniquity to suppose that the
+Crown has the right to give grants of land:
+
+  It is time for us to lay this matter before his Majesty, and to
+  declare, that he has no right to grant lands of himself. From the
+  nature and purpose of civil institutions, all the lands within the
+  limits, which any particular party has circumscribed around itself,
+  are assumed by that society, and subject to their allotment; this may
+  be done by themselves assembled collectively, or by their
+  legislature, to whom they may have delegated sovereign authority;
+  and, if they are alloted in neither of these ways, each individual of
+  the society may appropriate to himself such lands as he finds vacant,
+  and occupancy gives him title.
+
+Thus spoke the pioneer, a pioneer who had studied law and history and
+could express in clear and forcible terms what the pioneers had felt
+only confusedly. Unless I am much mistaken, it is the first enunciation
+of one of the cardinal principles of Americanism; but, as far as
+Jefferson is concerned, it did not rest upon any political philosophy,
+either Hooker's or Locke's. The American settlers resumed and
+resurrected on a new soil the tradition interrupted by Parliamentary and
+kingly usurpations. By a sort of curious primitivism they renounced
+their immediate and degraded British forbears to claim as their true
+ancestors the Saxon conquerors of the British Isles. Can any one imagine
+anything farther from the theory of Rousseau in the "Discourse on the
+Origin of Inequality", or in the "Social Contract", anything farther
+from the universal humanitarianism of the French philosophers? In a last
+analysis, American society as it existed, and as it expressed its will
+to exist through its young spokesman, rested essentially not on an _a
+priori_ principle but on the right of conquest, or more exactly, of
+discovery.
+
+The best student of William and Mary, the young artist who wanted to
+make Monticello a thing of beauty, the lover of the literature of Greece
+and Rome, proclaimed loudly that "our ancestors who migrated hither were
+laborers, not lawyers." His was not a political philosophy dealing with
+"fictitious principles", it was the harsh, hard-headed, practical and
+fierce determination of the pioneer who stakes out a piece of land in
+the wilderness, ready to hold it against all claim jumpers.
+
+The Virginia convention dominated by "Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas,
+Pendleton" was not ready to go so far as the young master of Monticello.
+The instructions to the delegates finally adopted and printed in an
+appendix to Jefferson's own "Autobiography" were exceedingly tame, but
+his declaration was printed, widely circulated among the people, and
+even reached England. It was just what was needed to set afire the
+public mind, for no people will rise, fight and die for an economic
+doctrine or in defense of its commercial interests. They have to be
+provided with mottoes which appeal to their imagination, they have to be
+raised above the ordinary trend of things; they must have a banner, a
+flag and a battle cry, and such was the object of Jefferson's
+peroration, which no Pendleton and no Lee could have written:
+
+  That these are our grievances, which we have just laid before his
+  Majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a
+  free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature,
+  and not as the gift of their Chief Magistrate. Let those flatter, who
+  fear: it is not an American art. To give praise where it is not due
+  might be well from the venal, but it would ill beseem those who are
+  asserting the rights of human nature. They know and will, therefore,
+  say, that Kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people.
+
+Congress assembled at Philadelphia on September 4, 1774, under the
+presidency of Peyton Randolph of Virginia and adjourned in October, not
+without a recommendation "to discountenance every species of
+extravagance and dissipation, especially all horse racing, all kinds of
+gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other diversions
+and entertainments."[36] The colonies were girding their loins for the
+fight, society life came to a standstill; the brilliant days of the
+little capital of Virginia were over.
+
+When the counties organized committees of safety, Jefferson was at the
+top of the list of appointees in his county. He was again sent to the
+second convention of Virginia as representative from Albemarle. The
+convention met in Richmond, March 20, 1775, and it was then that Patrick
+Henry poured out in a fierce outburst the famous speech ending with the
+war cry of "Give me liberty or give me death." The resolution to arm
+passed with a decided majority and a plan of defense was adopted.
+Collisions threatened between the militia and the regulars on several
+occasions. But when Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition" was
+received, Lord Dunmore convened the House of Burgesses on the first of
+July to take it into consideration. Peyton Randolph was then recalled
+from Congress and Jefferson appointed to succeed him. He did not leave,
+however, before an answer to the proposition had been drafted. The
+Virginians did not close the door to a compromise, but insisted that the
+final answer did not depend on them, for they considered that they were
+"bound in honor as well as interest, to share their general fate with
+their sister Colonies, and should hold themselves base deserters of that
+Union to which they had acceeded, were they to agree to any measure
+distinct and apart from them."
+
+A few days later Lord Dunmore left the city and took refuge on board a
+man-of-war lying at York, declaring he had taken this step for his
+safety. Jefferson departed from Williamsburg for Philadelphia on the
+eleventh of June, 1775, and reached the capital of Pennsylvania on the
+twentieth. The national role of the young Virginia lawyer and landowner
+was about to begin.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK TWO
+
+_Jefferson and the American Revolution_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+When Thomas Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia and took lodgings with
+"Ben Randolph" on Chestnut Street, he was only thirty-three years old,
+"the youngest member of Congress but one." But he was already known as
+the author of the "Summary View of the Rights of British America", he
+was bringing with him Virginia's answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory
+Proposition," and he had been appointed to succeed as delegate the
+former President of Congress. Most of all he had behind him, not only
+the first colony in population, but also, to a large extent, all the
+Southern colonies, which were bound to follow the course of Virginia.
+
+Unassuming and straightforward, he was at once welcomed with open arms
+by the New England leaders, and years later John Adams still remembered
+the first impression he made upon him:
+
+  Mr. Jefferson came into Congress in June 1775, and brought with
+  him a reputation for literature, science and a happy talent of
+  composition.... Though a silent member in Congress, he was so prompt,
+  frank, explicit and decisive upon committees and in conversation--not
+  even Samuel Adams was more so--that he soon seized upon my heart.
+
+Five days later, he was placed on the committee appointed to draw up a
+"Declaration of the Causes of Taking Up Arms." Through deference for the
+authority of Dickinson, leader of the conservative party, he withdrew a
+draft he had prepared and in the final text he claimed as his only the
+last four paragraphs. But these last paragraphs contained some of the
+sharply coined sentences that impress themselves on the mind, the final
+expression of so many ideas ever since repeated in political speeches
+whenever an attempt is made to define America's ideal policies. To a
+certain extent Jefferson, as well as most of his contemporaries, may
+have been influenced by Thomas Paine, whose "Common Sense", a pamphlet
+addressed to the inhabitants of America, had taken the city by fire. For
+the first time the colonists had been told that "the cause of America is
+in a great measure the cause of all _Mankind_. Many circumstances, have
+and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which
+the Principles of all lovers of mankind are affected and in the event of
+which this affection is interested." It also contained a rather vague
+plan for a confederation, a "Continental charter", but Paine's pamphlet
+was essentially an eloquent appeal to elemental feelings; it exalted the
+cause of the colonists calling on them as the last defenders of
+oppressed liberty; it had all the fire and passion of an evangelical
+message:
+
+  O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny, but
+  the tyrant, stand forth. Every spot of the old world is over-run with
+  oppression. Freedom hath been hunted around the globe. Asia and
+  Africa have long expelled her.--Europe regards her like a stranger;
+  and England hath given her warning to depart. O receive the fugitive,
+  and prepare in time an asylum for mankind!
+
+But greatly as he admired Paine's eloquence, Jefferson did not try to
+emulate it; impassioned as it was, his appeal to the inhabitants of the
+British colonies sounded more like the summing-up of a lawyer before the
+jury than an emotional sermon.
+
+  Our cause is just. Our union is perfect--our internal resources are
+  great.... We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to
+  mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by provoked
+  enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offense. They
+  boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder
+  condition than servitude or death.
+
+Thus was the uniqueness of America's position emphasized and called to
+the attention of her own people. Nor was it forgotten that the country
+was particularly favored by God, for it declared that:
+
+  We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instance of the Divine towards
+  us, that His providence would not permit us to be called into this
+  severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength,
+  had been previously exercised in warlike apparatus, and possessed of
+  the means of defending ourselves.
+
+Finally, Jefferson reiterated once more his favorite contention, the
+theory which has become one of the fundamental axioms of the doctrine of
+Americanism: that America did not owe anything to the older civilization
+of Europe, and was a self-made country:
+
+  In our native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright,
+  and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of it; for the
+  protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of
+  our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we
+  have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall
+  cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being
+  renewed shall be removed, and not before.
+
+Then came a perfunctory appeal to conciliation, and a final religious
+note strictly nonsectarian; for of his religious faith the young
+delegate had retained the form and the tone which scarcely concealed his
+deism:
+
+  With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial
+  Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly implore his divine
+  goodness to conduct us happily through this great conflict, to
+  dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and
+  thereby to relieve the empire from the calamity of civil war.
+
+No wonder this "Declaration" was read amid thundering huzzas in every
+market place and amid fervent prayers in nearly every pulpit in the
+colonies. With an extraordinary "felicity of expression", with a unique
+sense of fitness, Jefferson had struck every chord susceptible of
+response in every American heart. He had drawn for the people an ideal
+picture of the nation and themselves, he had portrayed them as they
+yearned to be looked upon by posterity and the nations of the world: he
+had formulated the creed of Americanism.
+
+Far more judicial in tone was the neat state paper prepared by Jefferson
+to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition." The committee
+appointed consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams
+and Richard H. Lee. The youngest member of the committee was chosen to
+draw up the document, the answer of the Virginia Assembly he had brought
+with him having been approved. Not for nothing had Jefferson attended
+the courts of justice of Albemarle County and Williamsburg for more than
+ten years and listened to decisions from the bench. The answer strives
+to be a cold, dispassionate enumeration of facts, with its short
+paragraphs beginning: "we are of opinion"--recalling the "Whereases" of
+legal documents. But there is an undertone of indignation, cropping up
+in every sentence, which belies the studied reserve. The conclusion, one
+might call it a peroration, is a genuine specimen of revolutionary
+eloquence:
+
+  When it considers the great armaments with which they have invaded
+  us, and the circumstances of cruelty with which these have commenced
+  and prosecuted hostilities; when these things, we say, are laid
+  together and attentively considered, can the world be deceived into
+  an opinion that we are unreasonable? Or can it hesitate to believe
+  with us, that nothing but our own exertions may defeat the
+  ministerial sentence of death or abject submission?
+
+Truly Jefferson might have become a great orator had he chosen to
+correct his handicap in speech and train his voice. Historians who
+attribute much importance to racial traits and inherited characteristics
+may believe that this was due to the Welshman that reappeared in him at
+times; but the Welsh temperament was suppressed and checked by the
+puritanical restraint of Mr. Small, Mr. Maury, the judicial reserve of
+Mr. Wythe, the example of Mr. Peyton Randolph; and, carried away as he
+was by Patrick Henry's oratory, Jefferson saw in him impulsive and
+emotional qualities to be admired but to be shunned. More than any of
+his contemporaries, however, he was unconsciously influenced by
+reminiscences of speeches he had read and memorized in Livy, Cicero and
+perhaps Demosthenes. These sentences have a classical ring; his true
+models were the Greek and Latin orators, and if a critical edition of
+Jefferson's early papers were ever attempted, a careful investigation
+could not fail to bring to light the classical sources of his
+inspiration.
+
+The report was adopted on July 31, and Congress adjourned the next day.
+Jefferson returned at once to Monticello, to stay in Virginia until the
+opening of Congress. In spite of the fiery tone of the answer to Lord
+North's proposition, it seems that neither he nor any of his friends
+seriously entertained nor even considered the possibility of the
+colonies separating entirely from the mother country. War had already
+begun, but it was a civil war. There still remained some hope that an
+"everlasting avulsion from Great Britain would be avoided." Yet it could
+be avoided only on one condition: that the British Government should
+accept, without reservation or restriction, the minimum terms of
+Congress. Jefferson then wrote to his friend, John Randolph, who had
+decided to remove to England:
+
+  I would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, properly limited,
+  than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of
+  those, too, who, rather than submit to the rights of legislation for
+  us, assumed by the British Parliament, and which late experience has
+  shown they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the
+  whole island in the ocean.[37]
+
+The manuscript letter in the Library of Congress is not the one that was
+used in the different editions of Jefferson's "Works." It is a much
+corrected and written-over draft, containing several passages which have
+disappeared in the published text.[38] It contained particularly a
+request to John Randolph who was going to "the hub of literature", to
+buy him "books of parliamentary learning." It also included a request to
+Randolph to sell him his fine violin, to which Randolph acceded,
+averring that "Tho we _may politically_ differ in sentiments, yet I see
+no reason, why _privately_ we may not cherish the same esteem for each
+other which formerly I believe subsisted between us. We both of us seem
+to be steering opposite courses: the success of either lies in the womb
+of Time."[39]
+
+Such letters are very significant, for they express better than long
+dissertations the state of mind of the leading men of the day. The
+question at issue was still a political question; it was a question of
+internal politics on which men could differ without necessarily becoming
+enemies or losing each other's esteem and affection. Less than a year
+before the Declaration of Independence, independence seemed to Jefferson
+the worst possible solution, to be delayed and avoided if it were
+possible.
+
+Chosen again as delegate to Congress, but delayed by the illness and
+death of his second child, Jefferson reached Philadelphia on September
+25, twenty days after the opening of the session. He stayed only until
+the twenty-eighth of December, and resumed his seat on May 13 of the
+following year. In the meantime events were moving rapidly. Congress had
+been advised of the king's refusal even to notice their second petition;
+and Jefferson, writing a second time to John Randolph, could declare:
+
+  Believe me, my 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 sentiment 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 fostering
+  hand of our King.[40]
+
+On the sixth of December, a declaration was adopted repudiating
+allegiance to the king, and the British Constitution was proclaimed "our
+best inheritance." Four days previously Jefferson had drafted a
+declaration concerning Ethan Allen, when news arrived of his being
+arrested and sent to Britain in irons to be punished for pretended
+treason. For the first time the delegate from Virginia referred to the
+British as "our enemies" and called upon them to respect "the rights of
+nations."
+
+At this juncture and shortly after being appointed on an important
+committee, Jefferson abruptly left Congress and set out for home. The
+reason for his sudden departure has never been satisfactorily explained.
+It may have been due to news of the bad health of his mother: she died
+on March 31, 1776, and this is the only explanation that Randall could
+offer. It was more probably due to his anxiety about the fate of his
+family. Communications with Virginia were rare and difficult. He wrote
+home regularly every week, but on October 31 he had not yet received a
+word "from any mortal breathing", and on November 7 he repeated:
+
+"I have never received the script of a pen from any mortal in Virginia
+since I left it, nor been able by any inquiries I could make to hear of
+my family. I had hoped that when Mrs. Byrd came I could have heard
+something of them. The suspense under which I am is too terrible to be
+endured. If anything has happened, for God's sake let me know it!" Two
+weeks later he urged his wife to keep herself "at a distance from Ld.
+Dunmore", and he was planning to meet Eppes "as proposed."
+
+There seems to be very little doubt that he yielded to his anxiety and
+to the entreaties of Eppes who seems to have urged him to come back. He
+had left at Monticello a sick mother, his sisters, a wife who had
+recently lost a child and had hardly recovered from the blow, and he was
+in constant fear that a raid from the British troops, who had already
+burnt Norfolk, should endanger the lives of his dear ones. Furthermore
+he believed that his presence in Philadelphia was not indispensable; for
+he was never one who overrated himself. Finally, a document overlooked
+by his biographers informs us that on September 26, 1775, he had been
+appointed by the Committee of Safety for the Colony of Virginia,
+Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia of the County of
+Albemarle.[41] In view of Lord Dunmore's impending attacks his presence
+was evidently required to organize local forces. All these are reasons
+enough to explain why he left Philadelphia. We do not even know that he
+hesitated at all or experienced any conflict of duties. National
+patriotism was still limited by family duty, and local patriotism was
+stronger in him than obligations to a country which did not yet exist.
+
+So it happened that the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence
+was to miss many of the preliminary steps and discussions that preceded
+it. He did not resume his seat in Congress until May 14, 1776. Five days
+before, a resolution framed by Adams and R. H. Lee had been adopted,
+instructing the colonies to form governments. It was passed the very day
+Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia. Not only had he come back rather
+reluctantly, but he was anxious to return to Virginia in order to
+participate in the work of the Colonial Convention, as appears from his
+letter to Thomas Nelson, Junior:
+
+  Should our Convention propose to establish now a form of government,
+  perhaps it might be agreeable to recall for a short time their
+  delegates. It is a work of the most interesting nature and such as
+  every individual would wish to have his voice in.... But this I
+  mention to you in confidence, as in our situation, a hint to any
+  other is too delicate however anxiously interesting the subject is to
+  our feelings.
+
+With all his attention turned towards the Old Dominion and in his
+anxiety to participate in establishing a model form of government for
+his "country", he then decided to send to Pendleton, President of the
+Assembly, the draft of a proposed constitution for Virginia, or rather,
+as he termed it, "A Bill for new modelling the form of government and
+for establishing the Fundamental principles of our future
+constitution."[42] This is a capital document for the history of
+Jefferson's political thought. For the first time he had the opportunity
+to develop fully his views on society and government. How clear in his
+mind were the theories of which he later became the advocate will be
+easily perceived. The draft started with a recital of the grievances of
+the colony against "George Guelph King of Great Britain", which
+Jefferson was to utilize in the Declaration of Independence. It declared
+that "The Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary shall be forever
+separate" and continued with a description of the three branches of
+government. For the Legislative, Jefferson proposed a bicameral system,
+consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House was to
+be elected by "all male persons of full age and sane mind having a
+freehold estate in (one fourth of an acre) of land in any town or in 25
+acres of land in the county and all persons resident in the colony who
+shall have paid scot and lot to government the last two years." The
+Senate was to be appointed by the House of Representatives. The death
+penalty was abolished for all crimes except murder and offences in the
+military service; torture was abolished in all cases whatsoever. Some of
+these provisions were incorporated later in the "Bill for Apportioning
+Crimes and Punishment." The Administrator was to be appointed by the
+House of Representatives, as well as the Attorney-general and the Privy
+Council. Judges were to be appointed by the Administrator and Privy
+Council; the High Sheriffs and Coroners of counties were to be elected
+annually by the voters, but all other officers, civil and military, to
+be appointed by the Administrator. The bill proposed that "descents
+shall go according to the laws of Gavelkind, save only that females
+shall have equal rights with males."--"All persons shall have full and
+free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to support
+or maintain any religious institution." "Printing presses shall be free
+except so far as by commission of private injury cause may be given of
+private action. There shall be no standing army but in time of actual
+war." The introduction of slaves into the State was forbidden. Finally
+provisions were made for the revision of the Constitution.
+
+Truly most of the reforms advocated by Jefferson are already contained
+in this document, not implicitly but explicitly: religious freedom,
+freedom of the press, abolition of slavery, the laws of descent and the
+bill to abolish entail, the "Bill for Proportioning Crimes and
+Punishment" are all here. It was a bold and radical proposal, and no
+wonder the young delegate from Virginia was anxious to go home in order
+to defend it before his colleagues of the Assembly. The delegates, after
+much wrangling, had come to practical agreement on the most important
+points. It was too late and they were too "tired" of the subject to
+resume the discussion. From Jefferson's plan they simply borrowed the
+long recital of grievances which became the preamble to the Virginia
+Constitution.[43]
+
+As finally adopted, the Constitution was far less liberal than the plan
+proposed by Jefferson, and this may explain his severe criticism of it
+in his "Notes on Virginia" (Query XIII). It embodied, however, some of
+the same essential principles; it proclaimed the separation of powers
+and established two Chambers. It retained the name of governor, redolent
+of the English regime, instead of "administrator"; it made no mention of
+slavery, entails, descents and freedom of the press, but in some
+respects it was even more democratic than the Jefferson plan since both
+houses were directly elected. In the meantime things were coming to a
+head in Philadelphia, and on June 7 certain resolutions concerning
+independence being moved and adopted, it was
+
+  _Resolved_, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be,
+  free and independent States, that they are absolved from all
+  allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection
+  between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be,
+  totally dissolved.
+
+  That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures
+  for forming foreign Alliances.
+
+  That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the
+  respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.[44]
+
+On June 10, it was
+
+  _Resolved_, That the consideration of the first resolution be
+  postponed to this day, three weeks (July 1), and in the meanwhile,
+  that no time be lost in case the Congress agree thereto, that a
+  committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the
+  said first resolution.
+
+  The next day it was resolved, That the committee to prepare the
+  declaration consist of five members: The members chosen, Mr. [Thomas]
+  Jefferson, Mr. J[ohn] Adams, Mr. [Benjamin] Franklin, Mr. [Roger]
+  Sherman, and Mr. R[obert] R. Livingston.[45]
+
+Jefferson's biographers have indulged in a great many discussions about
+the reasons which determined the selection of the committee. Jefferson
+certainly did not seek the honor, and little did he dream at the time
+that it would bring him such fame. Without renewing the old controversy
+on the participation of the other members of the committee in the
+drawing up of the famous document, a few facts have to be considered.
+First of all it was not an improvisation. The committee appointed on
+June 10 reported only on June 28. A written draft was submitted to Adams
+and Franklin, whose advice could not be neglected, and they suggested
+several modifications, additions and corrections. Furthermore, Jefferson
+was too good a harmonizer not to discuss many points with his colleagues
+of the committee, so as to ascertain their views before writing down the
+first draft. Even the desirability of having a declaration was a highly
+controversial question, and Jefferson himself, in the detailed notes he
+took of the preliminary discussion, indicates that when the committee
+was appointed "the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
+Delaware and South Carolina were not yet matured for falling from the
+parent stem."[46]
+
+On June 28, the committee appointed to prepare a declaration brought in
+a draft which was read and "_Ordered_ to lie on the table." On July 2,
+Congress resumed the consideration of the resolution agreed to by and
+reported from the committee of the whole; and the same being read, was
+agreed to as follows.
+
+  _Resolved_, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to
+  be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from
+  allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion
+  between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be,
+  totally dissolved.
+
+Properly speaking this is, as Mr. Becker has remarked, the real
+Declaration of Independence. But the principle once adopted, it remained
+to proclaim and explain the action taken by Congress not only to the
+people of the Free and Independent States, but to the world at large.
+Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole, only to
+decide that it was too late in the day to take up such a momentous
+question. The discussion continued on the next day but Harrison reported
+that the committee, not having finished, desired leave to sit again. On
+July 4, Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole to take
+into further consideration the Declaration; and after some time, the
+president resumed the chair. "Mr. (Benjamin) Harrison reported, that the
+committee of the whole Congress have agreed to a Declaration, which he
+delivered in. The Declaration being again read, was agreed to." Congress
+then ordered that the Declaration be authenticated and printed, and the
+committee appointed to prepare the Declaration "to superintend and
+correct the press."
+
+Such is briefly told from the "Journals of Congress" the story of the
+momentous document in its external details. It has been too well related
+by Mr. Becker and Mr. Fitzpatrick to leave any excuse for a new account.
+Writing many years later, John Adams declared "there is not an idea in
+it but what had been hackneyed in Congress two years before," and
+replying to Adams' insinuations, Jefferson admitted that:
+
+  Pickering's observations, and Mr. Adams' in addition, that it
+  contained no new ideas, that it is a commonplace compilation, its
+  sentiments hacknied in Congress for two years before ... may be all
+  true. Of that I am not judge. Richard H. Lee charged it as copied
+  from Locke's treatise on Government ... I only know that I turned to
+  neither book nor pamphlet while writing it. I did not consider it as
+  any part of my charge to invent new ideas altogether and to offer no
+  sentiment which had never been expressed before.
+
+In another letter to Lee, written in 1825, a year before his death,
+Jefferson had given, as his last and final statement on the subject:
+
+  Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before
+  thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said
+  before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject,
+  in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.... Neither
+  aiming at originality of principles or sentiments, nor yet copied
+  from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an
+  expression of the American mind.... All its authority rests on the
+  harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation,
+  in letters, printed essays, on the elementary books of public right,
+  as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.
+
+Two phrases in this letter deserve particular notice, "an expression of
+the American mind" and "the harmonizing sentiments of the day." This is
+truly what Jefferson had attempted to express in his "felicitous
+language"--the confused yearnings, the inarticulate aspirations, the
+indefinite ideals of the speechless and awkward masses. He did it in
+words so simple that no man could fail to understand it, in sentences so
+well balanced and so rhythmic that no artist in style could improve upon
+them. The Declaration of Independence is not only a historical document,
+it is the first and to this day the most outstanding monument in
+American literature. It does not follow, however, that Jefferson had no
+model. Mr. Becker in his masterly study has demonstrated that it was the
+final development of a whole current of thought, the origins of which
+can be traced back in history even farther than he has done. The
+Declaration of Independence is essentially of Lockian origin, but it
+does not ensue that Jefferson had memorized Locke, nor even that he was
+conscious, when he wrote the document, that he was using a Lockian
+phraseology. As a matter of fact, even if he remembered Locke, it is
+more than probable that reminiscences from two other more modern
+expressions of the same idea haunted his mind. The first was a pamphlet
+of James Wilson, written in 1770, published in Philadelphia in 1774 and
+entitled "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative
+Authority of the British Parliament." Mr. Becker has pointed out the
+similarity between a passage in Wilson and the preamble. Since then I
+have found that, in his "Commonplace Book", Jefferson copied passages
+from Wilson's pamphlet, although for reasons which I could not determine
+he omitted the very passage which presents the most striking
+resemblance:
+
+  All men are, by nature, equal and free: No one has a right to any
+  authority over another without his consent: All lawful government is
+  founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: Such consent
+  was given with a view to ensure and to increase the happiness of
+  the governed above what they could enjoy in an independent and
+  unconnected state of nature. The consequence is, that the happiness
+  of the society is the First law of every government.
+
+A Lockian theory to be sure, but Wilson in the footnote to this
+paragraph quoted Burlamaqui to the effect that "This right of
+sovereignty is that of commanding finally but in order to procure real
+felicity; for if this end is not obtained, sovereignty ceases to be
+legitimate authority." But this is not all! The Declaration of Rights of
+1774 ("Journal of Congress", I, 373) stated in somewhat similar terms
+the rights of the inhabitants of the English colonies. Finally the
+"Virginia Bill of Rights" written by George Mason, adopted by the
+Virginia Assembly on June 12 and necessarily forwarded to the delegates
+in Congress, contained articles resembling more closely those of the
+Declaration of Independence:
+
+  I. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have
+  certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of
+  society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive their posterity;
+  namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of
+  acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining
+  happiness and safety.
+
+  II. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from the
+  people; that Magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all
+  times amenable to them.
+
+  III. That government is or ought to be, instituted for the common
+  benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community;
+  of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best, which
+  is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety,
+  and is most effectually secured against the danger of
+  mal-administration; and that when any government shall be found
+  inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community
+  has the undubitable, unalienable right, to reform, alter, or abolish
+  it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public
+  weal.[47]
+
+This time it is no longer a question of analogy, or similarity of
+thought--the very words are identical, "Unalienable rights" is the
+expression which finally replaced "undeniable" in the final form--and
+"pursuing and obtaining happiness" has become the well-known "pursuit of
+happiness." Does it mean that Jefferson should be accused of plagiarism?
+Not in the least, since, as the French author said, "_l'arrangement est
+nouveau_", and, in a work of art, "_l'arrangement_" constitutes true
+originality, according to the formula of the classical school.
+Furthermore, it was clearly Jefferson's role and duty as a delegate from
+Virginia to incorporate in the Declaration as much as he could of the
+"Bill of Rights" recently adopted by his native dominion. The only fault
+that could be found is that he did not more clearly acknowledge his
+indebtedness to George Mason. But his contemporaries, and particularly
+the Virginians, could not fail to recognize in the national document the
+spirit and expression of the State document. Jefferson had expressed the
+American mind but he had above all expressed the mind of his fellow
+Virginians.
+
+Whether the doctrine enunciated in the Declaration of Independence is
+founded in fact and is beyond question "undeniable", is a problem which
+cannot even be touched upon here. We cannot dismiss it, however, without
+mentioning a feature which seems to have escaped most American students
+of political philosophy, probably because it has become such an integral
+part of American life that it is not even noticed. I do not believe that
+any other State paper in any nation had ever proclaimed so emphatically
+and with such finality that one of the essential functions of government
+is to make man happy, or that one of his essential natural rights is
+"the pursuit of happiness." This was more than a new principle of
+government, it was a new principle of life which was thus proposed and
+officially indorsed. The most that could be asked from governments of
+the Old World was to promote virtue and to maintain justice; honor,
+"_amor patriae_" and fear were the essential principles on which rested
+the governments described by Montesquieu. But in spite of the eternal
+and unquenchable thirst for happiness in the heart of every man, what
+European, what Frenchman particularly, could openly and officially
+maintain that the "pursuit of happiness" was a right, and that happiness
+could be reached and truly enjoyed. This quest of happiness had been the
+main preoccupation of French philosophers during the eighteenth century,
+but in spite of their philosophical optimism, they were too thoroughly
+imbued with pessimism ever to think that it was possible to be happy;
+the most they could hope for was to become less unhappy. The whole
+Christian civilization had been built on the idea that happiness is
+neither desirable nor obtainable in this vale of tears and affliction,
+but as a compensation Christianity offered eternal life and eternal
+bliss. The Declaration of Independence, on the contrary, placed human
+life on a new axis by maintaining that happiness is a natural right of
+the individual and the whole end of government. To be sure, the idea was
+not original with Jefferson, it had been mentioned more than once in
+official or semi-official documents, it was in James Wilson, as in the
+Bill of Rights, but I cannot quite conceive that such a formula could
+have originated in New England. I cannot conceive either that it could
+have been proclaimed at that date anywhere except in a new country where
+the pioneer spirit dominated, where men felt that they could live
+without being crowded or hampered by fierce competition, traditions, and
+iron-bound social laws.
+
+In his plan for a _Declaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen_,
+Lafayette some twelve years later included "_la recherche du bonheur_",
+in memory of the American Declaration of Independence, but "_la
+recherche du bonheur_" disappeared in the committee and was never
+mentioned again in any of the three Declarations of the French
+Revolution. The nearest approach to it is found in the first article of
+the Declaration of June 23, 1793; but it simply states that the aim of
+society is common happiness--and this is quite a different idea. Whether
+it was right or not, Jefferson, when he reproduced the terms used by
+George Mason in the Virginia Bill of Rights, gave currency to an
+expression which was to influence deeply and even to mold American life.
+
+In that sense, it may be said that the Declaration of Independence
+represents the highest achievement of eighteenth-century philosophy, but
+of one aspect of that philosophy that could not develop fully in Europe.
+Trees that are transplanted sometimes thrive better under new skies than
+in their native habitat and may reach proportions wholly unforeseen.
+
+Thus the Declaration of Independence written to express the sentiments
+of the day probably shaped the American mind in an unexpected manner. It
+was essentially a popular document planned to impress the masses, to
+place before the young nation at its birth a certain ideal and a certain
+political faith, but it was also a legal and judicial document intended
+to make more precise the reasons why the united American colonies had
+finally resolved to separate from the mother country.
+
+For this part of the Declaration Jefferson drew largely from the
+"Constitution" he had drafted for Virginia and sent to Randolph by Mr.
+Wythe. He was his own source--the more so as he substantially repeated
+many of the grievances enumerated two years earlier in the "Rights of
+British America." But here again he markedly improved the first version,
+which was a monotonous recital of dry facts, starting with a legal
+"Whereas" and beginning each article with a clumsy participle. "By
+denying his Governor permission:... By refusing to pass certain other
+laws ... By dissolving Legislative Assemblies," became in the
+Declaration the dramatic presentation of facts by a prosecuting attorney
+and not the summing-up of a case by a judge. But the final renunciation
+of the mother country has an unsurpassed dignity, a finality more
+terrible in its lofty and dispassionate tone than any curse:
+
+"We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
+Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in
+War, in Peace Friends." There again one is reminded of the well-known
+French formula: "_beau comme l'antique_." Twice in its history the
+supposedly young and uncultured people had the rare fortune to find
+spokesmen who, without effort and laborious preparation, reached the
+utmost heights. The Declaration of Independence, with its solemn
+renunciation of ties of consanguinity, reminds one of the tone of the
+Greek tragedy; while the only parallel to the Gettysburg address is the
+oration pronounced by Pericles over the warriors who had laid down their
+lives during the first war of Peloponnesus.
+
+Such heights can only be reached if the author is moved to his innermost
+depths. Singularly unimaginative in ordinary circumstances, for once in
+his life Jefferson was superior to himself: the student of Greece, the
+refined Virginian, became truly the voice of the people. But great
+effects often have small causes. We may wonder if he would have spoken
+with that same suppressed emotion, fiercely burning and yet controlled,
+if at that very time he had not been laboring under an emotional stress
+that never recurred in his life.
+
+While he was in Philadelphia, writing the first draft in which he opened
+to the people of America "the road to glory and happiness", he could
+well wonder whether his personal happiness was not about to be
+destroyed.--His mother had recently died, he had just lost a child and
+had left in Monticello a beloved companion dangerously ill. "Every
+letter brings me such an account of the state of her health, that it is
+with great pain I can stay here," he wrote to Page (July 20, 1776), and
+for those who knew how reserved he was in the expression of personal
+feelings, the restraint in his expression hardly conceals the anxiety
+and distress by which he was torn.
+
+There were also other reasons for his desiring to go home. Jefferson had
+always understood that as a delegate to Congress his duty was not so
+much to make a record for himself as to voice the _sentiments of the
+people he represented and to carry out their instructions_.[48] He was
+much worried about his standing with the Virginia Convention and
+suspected that some members were trying to knife him in the back. The
+Convention had just proceeded to elect delegates for the next Congress.
+Harrison and Braxton had failed to be reappointed, and Jefferson was
+"next to the lag."--"It is a painful situation," he wrote to William
+Fleming, on July first, "to be 300 miles from one's county, and thereby
+opened to secret assassination without a possibility of
+self-defence."[49]
+
+A week later, he wrote to Edmund Pendleton to decline his new
+appointment as a delegate to Congress:
+
+  I am sorry that the situation of my domestic affairs, renders it
+  indispensably necessary that I should solicit the substitution of
+  some other person here in my room. The delicacy of the House will not
+  require me to enter minutely into the private causes which render
+  this necessary. I trust they will be satisfied. I would not urge it
+  again, were it not unavoidable.[50]
+
+On July 8 he announced to R. H. Lee that he would return to Virginia
+after the eleventh of August. It was not until September 2 that, his
+successor having arrived, he considered himself as free to go. His final
+reason, possibly not the least important, is given by Jefferson himself
+in his "Autobiography":
+
+  Our delegation had been renewed for the ensuing year, commencing
+  August 11; but the new government was now organized, a meeting of the
+  legislature was to be held in October, and I had been elected a
+  member by my county. I knew that our legislation, under the regal
+  government, had many vicious points which urgently required
+  reformation, and I thought I could be of more use in forwarding that
+  work. I therefore retired from my seat in Congress on the 2d of
+  September, resigned it and took my place in the Legislature of my
+  State, on the 7th of October.
+
+"My state," wrote Jefferson in 1818, but in his letters to William
+Fleming he was speaking of Virginia as his "country", and at that time
+constantly referred to the colonies and not the United States.
+
+The necessity of some sort of a union or confederacy had been keenly
+realized for a long time, but the ways and means were far from receiving
+unanimous support. As a matter of fact, union had been obtained just on
+the point of secession, or as Jefferson had it "avulsion from Great
+Britain"; but the consciousness of solidarity, the community of ideals
+and interests which constitute an essential part of patriotism hardly
+existed at that date. Thus the man who had just been the voice of
+America probably felt himself more of a Virginian than of an American,
+for local patriotism was very strong, while national patriotism was
+still in a larval stage. Curiously enough the independence of the
+_United States_ had been proclaimed before the Articles of
+Confederation, which really constituted the United States, had been
+adopted or even reported. When they were drafted the name "colonies" was
+used and this was not changed to "states" until the second printing.[51]
+The only official bond that united the colonies was loyalty to the
+Crown. That bond once severed, each of them became a separate unit and
+returned to a sort of "state of nature." For a student of government
+this was the most fascinating situation that could be devised, since he
+was going to witness the actual formation of a new society and the
+signing of a social compact. Jefferson attended all the meetings of
+Congress in which the Articles of Confederation were discussed, without
+actively participating in the debates. He took copious notes and
+inserted them in his "Autobiography" but for reasons presently to be
+seen, he refrained from expressing his own opinion on the matter. Only
+when he was back in Virginia could he collect his ideas and formulate to
+his own satisfaction a theory on the formation of society. He then sat
+at his table and sent to a friend his reflections on the debates he had
+just attended. I had the good fortune to discover this document in the
+Library of Congress. It is of such importance that it must be given here
+in full.
+
+[Illustration: A PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S REFLECTIONS ON THE ARTICLES OF
+CONFEDERATION
+
+_From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress_]
+
+  After I got home, being alone and wanting amusement I sat down to
+  explain to myself (for there is such a thing) my Ideas of natural and
+  civil rights and the distinction between them--I send them to you to
+  see how nearly we agree.
+
+  Suppose 20 persons, strangers to each other, to meet in a country not
+  before inhabited. Each would be a sovereign in his own natural right.
+  His will would be his Law,--but his power, in many cases, inadequate
+  to his right, and the consequence would be that each might be
+  exposed, not only to each other but to the other nineteen.
+
+  It would then occur to them that their condition would be much
+  improved, if a way could be devised to exchange that quantity of
+  danger into so much protection, so that each individual should
+  possess the strength of the whole number. As all their rights, in the
+  first case are natural rights, and the exercise of those rights
+  supported only by their own natural individual power, they would
+  begin by distinguishing between these rights they could individually
+  exercise fully and perfectly and those they could not.
+
+  Of the first kind are the rights of thinking, speaking, forming and
+  giving opinions, and perhaps all those which can be fully exercised
+  by the individual without the aid of exterior assistance--or in other
+  words, rights of personal competency--Of the second kind are those of
+  personal protection of acquiring and possessing property, in the
+  exercise of which the individual natural power is less than the
+  natural right.
+
+  Having drawn this line they agree to retain individually the first
+  Class of Rights or those of personal Competency; and to detach from
+  their personal possession the second Class, or those of defective
+  power and to accept in lieu thereof a right to the whole power
+  produced by a condensation of all the parts. These I conceive to be
+  civil rights or rights of Compact, and are distinguishable from
+  Natural rights, because in the one we act wholly in our own person,
+  in the other we agree not to do so, but act under the guarantee of
+  society.
+
+  It therefore follows that the more of those imperfect natural rights,
+  or rights of imperfect power we give up and thus exchange the more
+  securely we possess, and as the word liberty is often mistakenly put
+  for security M^r Wilson has confused his Argument by confounding the
+  terms.
+
+  But it does not follow that the more natural rights of _every kind_
+  we resign the more securely we possess,--because if we resign those
+  of the first class we may suffer much by the exchange, for where the
+  right and the power are equal with each other in the individual
+  naturally they ought to rest there.
+
+  M^r Wilson must have some allusion to this distinction or his
+  position would be subject to the inference you draw from it.
+
+  I consider the individual sovereignty of the States retained under
+  the Act of Confederation to be of the second Class of rights. It
+  becomes dangerous because it is defective in the power necessary to
+  support it. It answers the pride and purpose of a few men in each
+  state--but the State collectively is injured by it.
+
+Unless I am much mistaken we have here the key to the whole democratic
+system of government evolved by Jefferson and the solution of the
+apparent contradictions often pointed out in his system. Starting from
+the hypothesis of Hobbes that in a state of nature men are free agents
+and have no other law but their own will, Jefferson attributes to the
+surrounding dangers the urge to form some sort of a society, a theory
+also found in Locke. But what follows is more original: in forming a
+social compact, men do not abdicate all their sovereignty as in the
+hypothesis of Rousseau; they do not even abdicate a certain portion of
+all their rights. On the contrary, they reserve entire a certain class
+of rights, all those they can exercise fully without the aid of exterior
+assistance, and they exchange for more security those they cannot
+exercise themselves. Thus the social compact is no longer a _pactum
+subjectionis_. It is no longer a question of deciding whether in a
+society the individual or the society are sovereign, since both are
+sovereign in their respective domains. How far Jefferson was from being
+a demagogue is clearly indicated by the sentence in which he refers to
+James Wilson. Liberty, except liberty of speech and thought, cannot be
+unlimited and unrestricted in any society; it is a matter of bargain and
+exchange. Thus Jefferson proposed a definition of liberty entirely
+different from the French conception as found in Rousseau and reproduced
+in the "Declaration des droits de l'homme" of May 29, 1793: "_La liberte
+consiste a pouvoir faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas a autrui._" With him,
+on the contrary, liberty consists in the free enjoyment of our will
+except in certain specific cases, to be enumerated at the time we form a
+social compact. Hence the necessity of a Bill of Rights, in which the
+individual accepts certain limitations in order to obtain a
+corresponding amount of security, and specifically denominates those of
+his natural rights he means to keep integrally and wholly.
+
+This explains clearly why Jefferson, who is represented as the champion
+of State rights, not only accepted the abridgment of State sovereignty
+but declared that the retention by the States of certain rights was
+dangerous and illogical. One of the first cases arises when dealing with
+foreign nations. Here the individual State is clearly unable to protect
+itself against foreign aggressions and foreign encroachments, and
+foreign policies must properly be placed in the hands of the Federal
+Government. This applies not only to questions of protection, but to
+questions of commerce, and for two reasons, both of them practical and
+not theoretical. Commerce is one of the great causes of war. In order to
+protect the confederation the government has the right to levy taxes,
+and the most convenient form is that of imposts or taxes on
+importations. Secondly, the Federal Government is evidently in a better
+situation than the individual States for obtaining favorable treatment
+of their commerce by foreign nations. Hence the insistence of Jefferson
+throughout his life on the prerogatives of the Federal Government in all
+matters referring to foreign policies, and his reiterated declarations
+in favor of State rights.
+
+Incidentally, this document explains two otherwise unexplainable
+incidents in Jefferson's career.
+
+The Declaration on Violation of Rights adopted by the First Continental
+Congress had specified the rights of the inhabitants of the British
+colonies:
+
+"_Resolved_, That they are entitled to life, liberty, & property, and
+they have never ceded to any sovereign power whatever, a right to
+dispose of either without their consent."[52] The Virginia Bill of
+Rights had similarly declared that among the inherent natural rights
+was the means of acquiring and possessing property.
+
+Now, in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, which follows
+so closely the Bill of Rights, the word "property" does not appear,
+while the other rights are reasserted.
+
+Nor was this an unintentional omission, for when Lafayette submitted to
+Jefferson his "Declaration des droits de l'homme", Jefferson put in
+brackets the words "droit a la propriete", thus suggesting their
+elimination from the list of natural rights.
+
+Yet he was not in any way a communist, and it would be a serious error
+to see in that systematic omission the influence of Rousseau's "Discours
+sur l'Origine de l'Inegalite." The fact is that, with his mind
+accustomed to draw fine legal distinctions, he had come to the
+conclusion that the right of possessing and acquiring property had to be
+protected by society in order to be enjoyed securely. It is one of those
+rights which are at the same time abridged and made more secure by
+society, since in any society it may be found necessary to levy taxes on
+the property of any citizen and even to condemn his property in the
+interests of the community.
+
+Such a philosophy of natural rights had never before been expressed by
+any political philosopher I have been able to refer to, with one
+possible exception. While Locke had said that one divests oneself of his
+liberty in assuming the bonds of civil society--while Rousseau had
+declared that man sacrifices all his natural rights on the altar of
+society--a Scottish jurist had maintained that "Mutual defence against a
+more powerful neighbor being in early times the chief, or sole motive
+for joining in society, individuals never thought of surrendering any of
+their natural rights which could be retained consistently with their
+great aim of mutual defence." Not only had Jefferson read Kames, but he
+had copied extensively from his "Historical Law" tracts in his
+"Commonplace Book", where this very passage is to be found. He had also
+seen in the tract on history of property the fine distinction
+established by Kames between possession and property, the two terms
+being coextensive among savages, while in more refined society the
+relation of property was gradually evolved and disjoined from
+possession.[53]
+
+Thus if Jefferson borrowed from any one the main principles of his
+philosophy, it was not from any of the eloquent and famous thinkers of
+France and England. Locke he had certainly read, he had abstracted
+Montesquieu, he may have known Rousseau's theory, although this is
+doubtful, but he had read and summarized the tracts of a Scottish jurist
+whom he had probably discovered through Doctor Small. His conception of
+the social compact is not the conception of a philosopher; it is
+essentially the conception of a jurist and a lawyer. The social compact
+is not a metaphysical hypothesis, nebulous and lost in the night of
+ages, it is a very specific and very precise convention to be entered
+into or to be denounced by men who retain their "rights inherent and
+unalienable", who remain free and yet agree to submit themselves to
+certain rules and a certain discipline in order to obtain more security.
+And thus was evolved and defined by Jefferson a combination of liberty
+and order, individualism and discipline which lies at the basis of
+American civilization, an object of wonder to most foreigners, often
+discussed but never so satisfactorily elucidated as in the document
+written by Jefferson when, "wanting amusement", he sat down to explain
+to himself his ideas of natural and civil rights and the distinction
+between them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE REVISION OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA
+
+
+At the meeting of July 4, 1776, Congress, after adopting the Declaration
+of Independence,
+
+  "_Resolved_, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, be a
+  committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of
+  America."[54]
+
+Among the several suggestions made in the committee, the one proposed by
+Jefferson, according to John Adams, deserves particular attention: "Mr.
+Jefferson proposed, the children of Israel in the wilderness led by a
+cloud by day, and a pillar by night--and on the other side, Hengist and
+Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being
+descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have
+assumed."
+
+None of the suggestions made by the committee, or their final report,
+was ever adopted, but the device proposed by Jefferson is a significant
+indication that his thoughts were still running in the same channel.
+"The children of Israel" would remind one of the favorite contention of
+the settlers, piously preserved by their descendants to this day, that
+they were a chosen people; but the other side of the seal reminds one
+that Jefferson's great ambition at that time was to promote a
+renaissance of Anglo-Saxon primitive institutions on the new continent.
+Thus presented, the American Revolution was nothing but the reclamation
+of the Anglo-Saxon birthright of which the colonists had been deprived
+by "a long trend of abuses." Nor does it appear that there was anything
+in this theory which surprised or shocked his contemporaries; Adams
+apparently did not disapprove of it, and it would be easy to bring in
+many similar expressions of the same idea in documents of the time.
+
+The principle once established, there remained to put it into effect,
+and to make a beginning in Virginia. This was the thought uppermost in
+Jefferson's mind when he went back to the Old Dominion. "Are we not the
+better for what we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system," he
+wrote to Edmund Pendleton. "Has not every restitution of the ancient
+Saxon laws had happy effects? Is it not better now that we return at
+once into that happy system of our ancestors, the wisest and most
+perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man, as it stood before the 8th
+century?"[55] This is the true foundation of Jefferson's political
+philosophy. No greater mistake could be made than to look for his
+sources in Locke, Montesquieu, or Rousseau. The Jeffersonian democracy
+was born under the sign of Hengist and Horsa, not of the Goddess Reason.
+
+On September 26, 1776, Congress proceeded to the election of
+commissioners to the Court of France, and the ballots being taken, Mr.
+Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Silas Deane, and Mr. Thomas Jefferson were
+chosen. This was a signal recognition of the prestige of the young
+author of the Declaration of Independence. An express was sent at once
+to Jefferson to inform him of his appointment. For the first time he was
+offered an opportunity to visit the Old World. His desire to go was so
+strong that he remained undecided for three days before he made up his
+mind to decline the nomination and to send his refusal to Hancock. In
+the letter he then wrote, he alleged that "circumstances very peculiar
+in the situation of my family, such as neither permit me to leave nor to
+carry it compel me to ask leave to decline a service so honorable and at
+the same time so important to the American cause."[56] His biographer
+Randall observes on this occasion that "the private causes" were the
+precarious situation of his wife's health. The family record contains
+the following entry: "a son born May 28th, 1777, 10 h. P.M."[57] The
+true reason, however, is to be found in the "Autobiography", as given
+before.
+
+The very day Jefferson answered Hancock, he was put on several
+committees, and the next day he obtained leave to bring in a bill "To
+enable tenants in taille to convey their land in fee simple." The Bill
+to Abolish Entails was reported on October 14, and after discussion and
+amendments passed by the House on October 23, and approved by the Senate
+on November first.
+
+The bill was no improvisation and Jefferson intended by it "to strike at
+the very root of feudalism in Virginia." On August 13, 1776, he had
+already written to an anonymous correspondent, probably Edmund
+Pendleton:
+
+  The opinion that our lands were allodial possessions is one which I
+  have very long held, and had in my eye during a pretty considerable
+  part of my law reading which I found always strengthened it.... This
+  opinion I have thought and still think to prove if ever I should have
+  time to look into books again.... Was not the separation of the
+  property from the perpetual use of lands a mere fiction? Is not it's
+  history well known, and the purposes for which it was introduced, to
+  wit, the establishment of a military system of defense? Was it not
+  afterwards made an engine of immense oppression?... Has it not been
+  the practice of all other nations to hold their lands as their
+  personal estate in absolute dominion? Are we not the better for what
+  we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system?[58]
+
+It was the first great blow at the landed hereditary aristocracy of
+Virginia. The abolition of patrimonial estates, rendering them subject
+to all the obligations of personal property "susceptible to be sold,
+conveyed, seized, exchanged and willed" as ordinary property, meant the
+rapid abolition of that refined class of Virginia planters which
+constituted such a distinguished feature of colonial life. It was a bold
+step to take, since it meant the antagonism of a powerful class, the
+beginning of hatred that pursued Jefferson during his whole life and
+long after his death. Yet he had the courage to do it and was no little
+proud of it.[59] He was opposed by both Mr. Pendleton and Patrick Henry,
+"but the bill passed finally for entire abolition."
+
+With the Bill to Abolish Entails Jefferson introduced another bill on
+the naturalization of foreigners, containing an expressed recognition of
+the right of expatriation already defended in the "Summary View" of
+1774,--another remarkable instance of Jefferson's persistency and
+relentless efforts to win his point by legal means.
+
+Simultaneously a committee on religion had been appointed "to meet and
+adjourn from day to day, and to take into their consideration all
+matters and things relating to religion and religious morality." Besides
+Jefferson, there were seventeen members on the committee, including
+Fleming, Page, and Nicholas. Being in a minority, Jefferson began the
+struggle which was to end in the famous Bill for Religious Freedom,--a
+long hard fight of which more will be said later. For the time being,
+however, Jefferson had to be satisfied with a partial success:
+
+  We prevailed so far only, as to repeal the laws which rendered
+  criminal the maintenance of any religious opinions, the forbearance
+  of repairing to church, or the exercise of any mode of worship; and
+  further, to exempt dissenters from contributing to the support of the
+  established church; and to suspend, only until next session, levies
+  on the members of that church for the salaries of their own
+  incumbents.[60]
+
+Yet this was a very significant victory since, from the days of Sir
+Walter Raleigh, there had been an express proviso that the laws of the
+colony "should not be against the true Christian faith, now professed in
+the Church of England." Dissenters as well as members of the Established
+Church were assessed for the support of the Anglican ministers, and
+although other denominations, particularly Presbyterians, had succeeded
+in gaining more than a foothold in some parishes, a majority of
+dissenters were still obliged to pay for the support of the minority.
+
+But important as they were, these constituted only minor points. The
+whole structure of laws had to be remodelled to fit new conditions; a
+new legal monument had to be erected. Jefferson's practice of law had
+convinced him of the obscurities, contradictions, absurdities, and
+iniquities of the assemblage of English laws on top of which had been
+superimposed local regulations. The Bill for a General Revision of the
+Laws passed October 26. The fifth of November five revisors were
+appointed by ballot in the following order: Thomas Jefferson, Edmund
+Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, Thomas Ludwell Lee. As this is a
+more important contribution of Jefferson, we may omit here the part he
+played on many committees of the House, drafting and reporting on
+"Declaring what shall be treason"; bills "For raising six additional
+battalions of infantry", "For establishing a Court of Appeals", "For
+establishing a High Court of Chancery", "For establishing a General
+Court and Courts of Assize", "For establishing a Court of Admiralty",
+"For better regulating the proceedings of the County Courts." He plunged
+into the work of the complete reorganization of the State judicial
+machinery, with all the enthusiastic zeal of a born jurist, and his
+capacity for precise, minute work was once more brought into play.
+
+The committee of revisors met at Fredericksburg to determine on a manner
+of procedure and to distribute the work between the five members. First
+of all a question of methods had to be settled: "It had to be determined
+whether we should propose to abolish the whole existing system of laws,
+and prepare a new and complete Institute, or preserve the general
+system, and only modify it to the present state of things."
+
+Pendleton and Lee stood for the former methods, Wythe, Mason, and
+Jefferson for the latter, and this was the procedure finally adopted.
+Rather than the account given by Jefferson in his "Autobiography" we
+shall follow the contemporary account drawn up at the time by George
+Mason.
+
+  Plan settled by the committee of Revisors in Fredericksburg, January,
+  1777.
+
+  (1) The common law not to be meddled with, except where alterations
+  are necessary. The statutes to be revised and digested, alterations
+  proper for us to be made; the diction where obsolete or redundant, to
+  be reformed; but otherwise to undergo as few changes as possible. The
+  acts of the English Commonwealth to be examined. The statutes to be
+  divided into periods; the acts of Assembly made on the same subject
+  to be incorporated into them. The laws of other colonies to be
+  examined, and any good ones to be adopted.
+
+In the margin is here written:
+
+  General rules in drawing provisions &c., which would do only what the
+  law would do without them, to be omitted. Bills to be short; not to
+  include matters of different natures; not to insert an unnecessary
+  word; nor omit a useful one. Laws to be made on the spur of the
+  present occasion, and all innovating laws to be limited in their
+  duration.[61]
+
+Truly an admirable plan! Not the scheme of rash reformers, of _a
+priori_-minded legislators, deriving a code of laws from a certain
+number of abstract principles. It was not their purpose to make a
+_tabula rasa_ of the old structure which had slowly grown stone by
+stone, statute by statute and to rebuild entirely on new plans. The old
+house resting on solid Anglo-Saxon foundations was still substantial
+and safe and it could serve its purpose if only a few partitions were
+torn down, a few useless annexes demolished, and better ventilation
+provided. Nothing was farther from the mind of the committee than to
+erect in Virginia a Greek or Roman temple of Themis.
+
+The statutes were divided into five parts. Jefferson was to take "the
+first period in the division of statutes to end with 25th, H. 8th";
+Pendleton the second period "to end at the Revolution"; Wythe the third
+"to come to the present day"; G. Mason the fourth, "to consist of the
+residuary part of the Virginia laws to which is added the criminal law
+and land law." The fifth, attributed to Lee, "to be the regulation of
+property in slaves, and their condition; and also the examination of the
+laws of the other colonies."[62] Mason soon retired, "being no lawyer",
+and Lee having died, the work was redistributed which explains the
+somewhat different allotment indicated by Jefferson in the
+"Autobiography." On the other hand, he seems to have claimed for himself
+in the "Autobiography" an honor and an attitude that really belonged to
+the committee:
+
+  I thought it would be useful, also, in new draughts to reform the
+  style of the later British statutes, and of our own arts of Assembly;
+  which, from their verbosity, their endless tautologies, their
+  involution of case within case, and parenthesis within parenthesis,
+  and their multiplied efforts at certainty, by _saids_ and
+  _aforesaids_, by _ors_ and by _ands_, to make them more plain, are
+  really rendered more perplexed and incomprehensible, not only to
+  common readers, but to the lawyers themselves.
+
+The notes taken by G. Mason leave no doubt that this was also the
+attitude of the committee and their definite policy. It was a slow,
+painstaking, meticulous task, requiring common sense, good judgment, a
+good sense for words and erudition. To make laws intelligible and clear
+is no small achievement. But certainly it was not the sort of work that
+an _a priori_ philosopher, fond of generalizations and universal
+principles, would have relished, or would have been willing to submit
+himself to for more than two years. If in some political matters
+Jefferson differed from Mr. Pendleton, he admired him and later paid him
+a handsome tribute in the "Autobiography." Pendleton--cool, smooth and
+persuasive, quick, acute and resourceful--was a remarkable debater.
+
+  George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom, of expansive mind,
+  profound judgment, cogent in argument, learned in the lore of our
+  former constitution, and earnest for the republican change on
+  democratic principles ... his virtue was of the purest tint; his
+  integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and,
+  devoted as he was to liberty, and to the natural and equal rights of
+  man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country without the
+  avarice of the Roman.[63]
+
+When the preliminary work was done, the reviewers met at Williamsburg in
+February, 1779, and "day by day" they examined critically their several
+parts, sentence by sentence, scrutinizing and amending, "until they had
+agreed on the whole." "The Revised Laws", comprehending one hundred and
+twenty-six bills, were reported to the General Assembly June 18, 1779;
+bills were taken out occasionally from time to time, and because of
+Madison's efforts fifty-six out of the one hundred and twenty-six were
+after amendments made laws at the sessions of 1785, 1786. Among the
+bills reworded or initiated by Jefferson several stood out
+conspicuously.
+
+The Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments is a particularly good
+example of the methods used by Jefferson in rewriting the old
+legislation. On sending it to George Wythe he wrote:
+
+  I wished to exhibit a sample of reformation in the barbarous style
+  into which our modern statutes have degenerated from their ancient
+  simplicity. In its style, I have aimed at accuracy, brevity,
+  simplicity, preserving however the words of the established law,
+  wherever their meaning had been sanctioned by judicial decision, as
+  rendered technical by usage.[64]
+
+The transformation undergone by the old statutes can more easily be
+observed because Jefferson was careful to indicate in footnotes his
+authorities from the old texts, in Latin, and even in French and
+Anglo-Saxon. But the very title of the bill indicates that Jefferson's
+purpose went farther than a mere codification of the old law. He could
+not be entirely satisfied with the scale of punishments determined by
+the committee; he regretted particularly the maintainance of the _Lex
+Talionis_, "an eye for an eye and a hand for a hand" (Section XV), and
+he attempted to restrict the penalty of death to a few limited cases,
+for it was "the last melancholy resource against those whose existence
+is become inconsistent with the safety of their fellow citizens." His
+preamble reflects to a large extent the views of Montesquieu and
+Beccaria which he copied in the "Commonplace Book." But it could hardly
+be called humanitarian in the modern and sometimes derogatory sense of
+the word. The provisions of the code itself are far from showing any
+weakness or sentimentality: the death penalty is provided for treason
+against the Commonwealth and for whomsoever committeth murder by way of
+duel; manslaughter, previously "punishable at law by burning in the
+hands, and forfeiture of chattels", is punished by hard labor for seven
+years in the public works, and the murderer "shall forfeit one half of
+his lands and goods to the next of kin of the person slain, the other
+half to be sequestered during such times, in the hands, and to the use,
+of the commonwealth." Rape, polygamy, or sodomy "shall be punished if a
+man by castration, if a woman by boring through the cartilage of her
+nose a hole of one half inch in diameter at least." Witchcraft,
+conjuration, or sorcery "shall be punished by ducking and whipping, at
+the discretion of a jury, not exceeding fifteen stripes", and, most
+extraordinary for modern readers, "Whenever sentences of death shall be
+pronounced against any person for treason or murder, execution thereof
+shall be done on the next day but one, after such sentence, unless it be
+Sunday, and then on Monday following" (Section XIII). Truly enough the
+law of nature is once mentioned in a footnote to the effect that if a
+prisoner tries to escape from prison he shall not be considered as a
+capital offender. "The law of nature impels every one to escape from
+confinement; he should not therefore be subjected to punishment. Let the
+legislature restrain his criminal by walls, not by parchment." If there
+is "philosophy" in this statement it is common sense and certainly not
+sentimentality.
+
+The Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge is far more
+philosophical in its terms. There for the first time will be found a
+picture of democracy as Jefferson pictured it to himself at that date.
+The general statement at the beginning may be an echo from Montesquieu;
+but while the French philosopher had not indicated any remedy for such a
+situation, Jefferson was interested in it only in so far as it could be
+amended.
+
+  Experience has shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted
+  with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into
+  tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of
+  preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the
+  minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them
+  knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth,... and whereas it
+  is generally true that people will be happiest whose laws are best,
+  and are best administered, and that laws will be wisely formed, and
+  honestly administered, in proportion as those who form and administer
+  them are wise and honest; whence it becomes expedient for promoting
+  the publick happiness that those persons, whom nature hath endowed
+  with genius and virtue, should be rendered by liberal education
+  worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the
+  rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, and that they should
+  be called to that charge without regard to wealth, birth or other
+  accidental condition or circumstance; but the indigence of the
+  greater number disabling them from so educating, at their own
+  expence, those of their children whom nature hath fitly formed and
+  disposed to become useful instruments for the public, it is better
+  that such should be sought for and educated at the common expence of
+  all, than that the happiness of all should be confined to the weak or
+  wicked.
+
+Is this a democratic view in the modern sense of the word? At any rate
+it is not the democratic phraseology of a modern politician. There is no
+protest at all in the name of immanent justice against the unequality of
+conditions, there is no desire to give every boy a fair chance in life,
+no indication that men being born equal, all children should have equal
+opportunities. We are perfectly free to believe that Jefferson
+entertained such sentiments at that date. Historically, however, there
+is no evidence that he did so. All we have here is a hard-headed
+proposition with the corrective that, under the new system, a child of
+genius or great talent was to be given an opportunity to develop his
+native qualities, for it was both the duty and the interest of society
+to prevent such a waste of intellectual potentialities. Furthermore,
+Jefferson was manifestly of the opinion that no man could properly
+participate in the government of society unless he had been rendered
+worthy to receive and able to guard the _sacred_ deposit of the rights
+and liberties of his fellow citizens. Neither wealth, birth, nor
+accidental circumstances should determine who is fit for public office,
+but education should be the criterion. As he was doing his utmost to
+abolish the last privileges and prestige of the landed hereditary
+aristocracy of Virginia, Jefferson was striving to constitute and to get
+recognition for another aristocracy, an aristocracy of learning and
+intelligence, a true ruling class, or more exactly a governing and
+legislative class; for he was persuaded that the business of the
+legislator cannot be learned in a day, that it requires, besides native
+qualities of mind, a certain expert knowledge of the subject.
+
+The provisions of the bill are most extraordinary for the time.
+Jefferson provided for the division of the State into a certain number
+of districts or hundreds; in each hundred a schoolhouse was to be built
+and so located that all the children within it might daily attend the
+school.
+
+  In each of the schools shall be taught reading, writing, and common
+  arithmetick, and the books which shall be used therein for
+  instructing the children to read shall be such as will at the same
+  time make them acquainted with Graecian, Roman, English and American
+  history. At these schools all the free children, male and female,
+  resident within the respective hundred, shall be entitled to receive
+  tuition gratis for the term of three years.
+
+In addition, the bill provided that a certain number of grammar schools
+would be erected, "their situation to be as central as possible for the
+inhabitants of the said counties, the schools to be furnished with good
+water, convenient to plentiful supplies of provision and fuel and above
+all things that it be healthy." In all of these grammar schools, which
+shall receive boarders
+
+  shall be taught the Latin and Greek languages, English Grammar,
+  geography, and the higher part of numerical arithmetick, to wit.,
+  vulgar and decimal fractions, and the extrication of the square and
+  cube roots. In order to provide proper facilities for children of
+  particular ability, the overseer of the hundred schools (one for ten
+  schools) shall appoint from among the boys who shall have been two
+  years at the least at some one of the schools under his
+  superintendance and whose parents are too poor to give them farther
+  education some one of the best and most promising genius and
+  dispositions to proceed to the grammar schools.
+
+At the end of the first year one third of the boys shall be discontinued
+as public foundations after examination; "all shall be discontinued at
+the end of two years save one only, the best in genius and disposition,
+who shall be at liberty to continue there four years longer on the
+public foundation, and shall thence forward be deemed a senior."
+Finally, "the visitors will select one among the said seniors of the
+best learning and most hopeful genius and disposition who shall be
+authorized by them to proceed to William and Mary College; there to be
+educated, boarded, and clothed three years: the expense of which shall
+be paid by the Treasurer."
+
+This rigorous selective process looks very familiar to any one
+acquainted with the modern French system of free elementary schools,
+boarding _colleges_ and _lycees_, and the system of competitive
+scholarships and fellowships of the French. But it was not fully
+developed in France before the Third Republic and it was not even
+dreamed of before the Revolution. Many times the French have been
+criticized for the undemocratic features of an educational system which
+reserves secondary education to those who are able to pay and to the
+small number of children who win scholarships. There is no possibility
+that this scheme was ever borrowed by Jefferson from any French
+theorician, and there is, on the contrary, some reason to believe that
+in France it owes its beginning to the publication of Jefferson's plan
+in the "Notes on Virginia" printed in Paris and in French in 1786.
+
+The educational structure of the State would not have been complete if
+Jefferson had not provided for a reorganization of William and Mary
+College. Such is the purpose of the next bill (Bill LXXX) in the Report
+of the Committee of Revisors. There he was more ruthless and more
+radical. After a first section which recounts the foundation of the
+college and its history, Jefferson concluded that "the said college,
+thus amply endowed by the public has not answered their expectation, and
+there is reason to hope, that it would become more useful, if certain
+articles in its constitution were altered and amended." By one stroke
+of the pen, Jefferson abolished the school of theology, took the
+administration out of the hands of the former trustees to place it in
+the hands of visitors appointed by the Legislature and "not to be
+restrained in their legislation by the royal prerogatives, or the laws
+of the kingdom of England, or the canons of the constitution of the
+English Church, as enjoined in the Charter." The president and faculty
+were to be dismissed, and six professorships created; to wit, one of
+moral law and police; one of history, civil and ecclesiastical; one of
+anatomy and medicine; one of natural philosophy and natural history; one
+of the ancient languages Oriental and northern; and one of modern
+languages.--
+
+  A missionary will be appointed to the several tribes of the Indians,
+  whose business will be to investigate their laws, customs, religion,
+  traditions, and more particularly their languages, constructing
+  grammar thereof, as well as may be, and copious vocabularies, and on
+  oath to communicate, from time to time, to the said President and
+  Professors the material he collects.
+
+Thus the college was to become the training school in which "those who
+are to be the future guardians of the rights and liberties of their
+country may be endowed with science and virtue, to watch and preserve
+the sacred deposit." It was not a democratic institution, but the
+finishing school of the future legislators and experts in the science of
+government.
+
+As to disinterested "researches of the learned and curious", they were
+to be encouraged by the establishment at Richmond of a Free Public
+Library with yearly appropriation of two thousand pounds for the
+purchase of books and maps.
+
+One may state here without any fear of contradiction that no system so
+complete, so logically constructed and so well articulated had ever been
+proposed in any country in the world. It already embodied the ideas for
+which Jefferson stood during all his life, it preceded by more than
+fifteen years the plans of the French Convention. As the first charter
+of American public education it is an astonishing document and deserves
+more attention than it has hitherto received.
+
+The Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Jefferson's opinion
+ranked in importance with the Declaration of Independence. It was not
+intended to be a revolutionary document, but simply a common-sense
+adjustment of the situation brought about by the repeal of several
+provisions of the old Virginia laws. Jefferson took care to explain the
+true purpose of the bill in the "Notes on Virginia" (Query XVII). The
+Virginia Bill of Rights had proclaimed "it to be a truth, and a natural
+right that the exercise of religion should be free." On the other hand,
+no mention of it had been made in the Convention and no measure had been
+adopted to protect religious freedom. The Assembly, however, had
+repealed, in 1776, "all _acts_ of Parliament which had rendered criminal
+the maintaining any opinion in matters of religion", and suspended the
+laws giving salaries to the clergy. This suspension was made perpetual
+in October, 1779. But religious matters still remained subject to common
+law and to acts passed by the Assembly. At Common Law, heresy was a
+capital offence, punishable by burning, according to the writ _de
+haeretico comburando_. Furthermore, by an act of the Assembly of 1705,
+"if a person brought up in the Christian religion denies the being of a
+God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more gods than one, or denies
+the Christian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of divine
+authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold
+any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military: on the
+second by disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian,
+executor, or administrator, and by three years' imprisonment without
+bail."[65]
+
+This being the situation, the article of the Bill of Rights concerning
+religious freedom remained a dead letter until provisions could be made
+to take religious matters out of the jurisdiction of the Common Law.
+
+Historians seem to have been somewhat misled both by the lofty and
+philosophical tone of the Bill for Religious Freedom and the comments
+made by Jefferson in the "Notes on Virginia", specially written by him,
+as we always must remember, for a group of French philosophers and the
+French public. A philosopher he was, but before all he was a purist and
+a historian of law. For him the main question was first to determine
+whether the jurisdiction of the Common Law in matters of religion was
+founded in law. He had already studied minutely the history of Common
+Law and made copious extracts in his "Commonplace Book"; he had noticed
+in Houard's "Coutumes Anglo-Normandes" that some pious copyist had
+prefixed to the laws of Alfred four chapters of Jewish law. "This
+awkward Monkish fabrication makes the preface to Alfred's genuine laws
+stand in the body of the Work; and the very words of Alfred himself form
+the frauds, for he declares in that preface that he has collected these
+laws from those of Ina, of Offa, Ethelbert, and his ancestors, saying
+nothing of any of them being taken from the scripture." Consequently the
+pretended laws of Alfred were a forgery.
+
+  Yet, palpable as it must be to a lawyer, our judges have piously
+  avoided lifting the veil under which it was shrouded. In truth, the
+  alliance between Church and State in England, has ever made their
+  judges accomplices in the frauds of the clergy; and even bolder
+  than they are: for, instead of being contented with these four
+  surreptitious chapters of _Exodus_, they have taken the whole leap,
+  and declared at once, that the whole Bible and Testament, in a lump,
+  make part, of the Common law.... Finally in answer to Fortescue
+  Aland's question why the Common law of England should not now be a
+  part of the Common law of England? We may say that they are not,
+  because they never were made so by legislative authority; the
+  document which imposed that doubt on him being a manifest
+  forgery.[66]
+
+[Illustration: A PAGE FROM JEFFERSON'S "COMMONPLACE BOOK"
+
+_From the manuscript in the possession of the Library of Congress_]
+
+Bolstered up with his texts, references, and authorities, Jefferson
+could now, if need be, confute the redoubtable Mr. Pendleton in the
+Committee of Revisors, but such a legal technical presentation of the
+facts would evidently not appeal either to the Assembly at large or to
+the public. These had to be approached in an entirely different way; for
+to speak of frauds, forgeries, and monkish fabrication would not do at
+all in a public document and, on the contrary, might create a revulsion
+of feeling. It became necessary to present the reform in an entirely
+different light and Jefferson did so in the first section of the bill.
+
+The phrasing of these lofty principles is well known; still it may not
+be out of place to reproduce them once more:
+
+  Well aware that the opinions of belief of men depend not on their own
+  will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds;
+  that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his
+  supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether
+  susceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by
+  temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend
+  only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness ... to compel a man to
+  furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which
+  he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical;... that our
+  civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more
+  than our opinions in physics or geometry;... that the opinions of men
+  are not the object of civil government.
+
+In Section II, after that preamble, the religious independence of the
+individual was proclaimed:
+
+  We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be
+  compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or
+  ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested,
+  or burthened in his body or goods, or shall otherwise suffer, on
+  account of his religious opinions or beliefs; but that all men shall
+  be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in
+  matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish,
+  enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
+
+Furthermore, in the first section, Jefferson gave the first and final
+expression of his understanding of freedom of thought:
+
+  That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government
+  for its offices to interfere when principles break out into overt
+  acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great
+  and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and
+  sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the
+  conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural
+  weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous
+  when it is permitted freely to contradict them.
+
+It is not surprising that the bill was savagely attacked in the Assembly
+and did not pass until 1786. It simply shows that the Church of England
+had more supporters than Jefferson led us to believe, when he wrote in
+the "Notes on Virginia" that "two-thirds of the people had become
+dissenters at the commencement of the present revolution." The remaining
+third, if such was the proportion, were at least well organized and
+offered a strong resistance. This bill marked the beginning of the
+accusations of impiety and infidelity so often launched at Jefferson.
+Whatever his private sentiments on the matter may have been, he was not
+the man to discriminate against any one because of religious beliefs;
+and at the very time when he was engaged in preparing his bill, he took
+the initiative of starting a subscription towards the support of the
+Reverend Mr. Charles Clay of Williamsburg. The document, never before
+published, is entirely written in his hand and is of such importance
+that I may be permitted to reproduce it here:
+
+  Whereas, by an act of General assembly, freedom of Religious opinion
+  and worship is restored to all, and it is left to the members of
+  each religious society to employ such Teachers they think fit for
+  their own Spiritual comfort and instruction and to maintain the same
+  by their free and voluntary contributions. We the subscribers
+  (professing the most Catholic affection for other religious sectaries
+  who happen to differ from us in points of conscience,) yet desirous
+  of encouraging and supporting (a church in our opinion so truly
+  Apostolick as) the Protestant Episcopalian Church, and of deriving to
+  ourselves, through the ministry of it's teachers, the benefits of
+  Gospel-knowledge and Religious improvement, and at the same time of
+  supporting those, who, having been at considerable expence in
+  qualifying themselves by regular education for explaining the holy
+  scriptures, have dedicated their time and labor to the service of the
+  said church (and moreover approving highly the conduct of the rev^d
+  Charles Clay, who early rejecting the tyrant and tyranny of Britain,
+  proved his religion genuine by its harmony with the liberties of
+  mankind and conforming his public prayers to the spirit and the
+  injured rights of his country, addressed the god of battles for
+  victory to our arms, while others impiously prayed that our enemies
+  might vainquish and overcome us) do hereby oblige ourselves our heirs
+  executors and administrators on or before the 25th day of December in
+  this present year 1777, and likewise on or before the 25th day of
+  December in every year following until we shall withdraw our
+  subscription in open vestry, or until the legislature shall make
+  other provision for the support of the said clergy, to pay to the
+  (reverend) said Charles Clay of Albemarle his executor or
+  administrators the several sums affixed to our respective names: in
+  Consideration whereof we expect that the said Charles Clay shall
+  perform divine service and preach a sermon in the town of
+  Charlottesville on every fourth Sunday, or oftener, if a regular
+  rotation with the other churches that shall have put themselves under
+  his care will admit a more frequent attendence.
+
+  And we further mutually agree with each other that we will meet at
+  Charlottesville on the 1^{st} day of March in the present year, and
+  on the second Thursday in ---- in every year following so long as we
+  continue our subscriptions and there make choice by ballot of three
+  wardens to collect our said subscriptions, to take care of such books
+  and vestments as shall be provided for the use of our church, to
+  call meetings of our Congregation when necessary, and to transact
+  such other business relating to our Congregation as we shall
+  hereafter confide to them.
+
+  Th. Jefferson, six pounds; Jno Harvie, four pounds; Randolph
+  Jefferson, two pounds ten schillings; Thos. Garth, fifteen
+  schillings; Philip Mazzei, sixteen schillings eight pence.[67]
+
+Far more important than the local reception of the revised laws, since
+most of them were adopted only years later, and thanks to the efforts of
+Madison, during the sessions of 1785 and 1786, is the fact that
+Jefferson had already formulated at that time for himself and his fellow
+citizens the most essential principles of his doctrine. He was not
+unaware of this, and stated it himself in his "Autobiography" when he
+declared: "I considered four of these bills, passed or reported as
+forming a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of ancient or
+future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a government truly
+republican."[68]
+
+The ideal government he had in mind at the time could perhaps be
+described as a democracy, but he did not use the word himself, not even
+many years later in his "Autobiography" where he simply spoke of "a
+government truly republican." He was much opposed to the perpetuation of
+an hereditary landed gentry, but I do not see that he would have
+approved or even conceived the possibility of a government placed
+entirely under the control of unenlightened men. The Bill for the more
+General Diffusion of Knowledge makes clear that only through a liberal
+education can men be "rendered worthy to receive and able to guard the
+sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens",
+and the Bill for Amending the Charter of William and Mary proclaims
+even more emphatically that the old college must "become the seminary,
+in which those who are to be the future guardians of the rights of
+liberty of their country may be endowed with science and virtue, to
+watch and preserve the sacred deposit." Jefferson was a friend of the
+people, but no admirer and no flatterer of the "plain people", nor did
+he entertain any illusion about their participation in all the forms of
+government. For the present it was enough, as he wrote in the
+"Autobiography", if they were qualified through elementary education "to
+exercise with intelligence _their_ parts in self-Government." If he
+rebelled against aristocracy of wealth, he would have reacted with equal
+vehemence against mob tyranny. Neither was he radical enough to admit
+_propagandistes par le fait_ and to forbid society the right to
+intervene "when principles break out into overt acts against peace and
+good order." (Bill for Religious Freedom.) For freedom of speech does
+not entail freedom of action: and the civil rights or rights of compacts
+are necessarily subject to civil regulations.
+
+It is easily seen now that Jefferson so far remained perfectly
+consistent, and followed in practice the distinction between natural
+rights and rights of compact he had established in order to clarify his
+own mind, in the meditation quoted at the end of the preceding chapter.
+If this theory is accepted, it is evident that society being founded
+upon a legal compact, the ideal form of government is one in which both
+parties, the individual on the one hand and society on the other,
+scrupulously live up to its terms. A breach of contract can no more be
+condoned in the individual than in society. On the other hand, natural
+rights remain always truly "inalienable" and apart from civil rights.
+When any individual comes to the conclusion that the sacrifice he has
+made of certain rights in order to enjoy more security is not
+compensated for by sufficient advantages, he has the right to denounce
+the compact: hence the right of expatriation always so energetically
+maintained by Jefferson. This is the very reason why Jefferson could not
+and did not blame John Randolph for going to England in August, 1775,
+since "the situation of the country had rendered it not eligible to him
+to remain longer in it." Thus the conflict seen by so many political
+philosophers between man and society disappears entirely. The individual
+cannot stand against society when he is free to break the social bond at
+any time--nor can society oppress the individual without endangering its
+very existence. Such a theory was more than a "philosophical
+construction." It was largely based upon facts and observation; it
+expressed the current political philosophy of the colonies. It was
+eminently the juridistic explanation of the pioneer spirit.
+
+Granting what is undoubtedly true, that Jefferson aroused antagonism and
+enmities in the Assembly, he certainly had also his admirers and
+followers. If the prophet had preached in the desert, he would not have
+gained the prompt recognition that came to him when he was chosen
+Governor of Virginia, the first of June, 1779, to succeed Patrick Henry.
+He was then thirty-six years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA--THE "NOTES ON VIRGINIA"
+
+
+Jefferson served two years as Governor of the Commonwealth and when he
+wrote his "Autobiography" he gave only a short paragraph to this episode
+of his eventful career, referring for more details to Girardin's
+continuation of Burk's "History of Virginia." The student of law, the
+erudite jurist, and classical scholar was by the choice of the Assembly
+entrusted with the duties and responsibilities of a war chief, and it
+cannot be said that Jefferson enjoyed the experience. The duties of
+governor were not only exacting but almost impossible to fulfill
+satisfactorily. For more than two years, Virginia, without money, with a
+poorly equipped militia reenforced with an inadequate number of Federal
+troops, had been overrun by the enemy and had known all the atrocities
+of the war. The governor had to honor the continuous requests of the
+general in chief for more ammunition, more equipment and provision, and
+at the same time had to keep under arms, and as much as possible in
+fighting condition, militiamen anxious to go back to their farms for the
+harvest or the plowing, so as to protect the territory of the State
+against the raids of the invader and prevent Indian uprisings on the
+western border. Last, but not least, he had to take into consideration
+the general attitude of the people of the State and the measures adopted
+by the legislature. Jefferson's correspondence with Lafayette during the
+first months of 1781 is most illuminating in this respect. When, after
+Arnold's treason, Lafayette was sent by Washington to apprehend the
+traitor and give some assistance to the Old Dominion, he found that
+there were neither boats, wagons, nor horses to carry his equipment from
+Head of Elk to the siege of operations. The treasury was empty, the
+Assembly most chary in granting impressment warrants, and practically
+all the governor could offer in the way of help was his unlimited good
+will. Lafayette had to use oxen for his artillery and to mount cannon on
+barges; but even after powers of impressment were granted to the
+Marquis, Jefferson had to remind him of the necessity of not impressing
+stallions or brood mares, so as not to kill the "goose with the golden
+eggs."[69]
+
+Jefferson's attitude in these critical circumstances reveal his true
+character to a degree, and without entering into a detailed account of
+the campaign, a few illustrations may be included here. It may be
+remembered that four thousand British troops, taken prisoners at the
+battle of Saratoga, had been ordered by Congress to Charlottesville. The
+problem of housing and feeding them soon became acute, and Jefferson was
+called upon to assist in finding a proper solution. The life imposed
+upon the captive soldiers was comparatively mild. Barracks were erected,
+while the officers, well provided with money, rented houses in the
+vicinity of the camp and bought some of the finest horses in Virginia.
+For most of them the Charlottesville captivity was a very pleasant
+_villegiature_. On the other hand, some of the inhabitants did not view
+without alarm this sudden increase in the population of the county, and
+application was made to Governor Patrick Henry to have at least part of
+the prisoners removed to another section of the State. This, according
+to Jefferson, would have been a breach of faith, since the articles of
+capitulation provided that the officers should not be separated from
+their men. On this occasion he wrote a very vehement letter to the
+governor, March 27, 1779, protesting that such a measure "would suppose
+a possibility that humanity was kicked out of doors in America, and
+interest only attended to." Yet the governor could not entirely neglect
+interested consideration, and Jefferson once more revealed that curious
+mixture of high principles and hard, practical common sense, to which we
+already called attention. He was aware that the circulation of money was
+increased by the presence of these troops "at the rate of $30,000 a week
+at least." The rich planters, "being more generally sellers than
+buyers", were greatly benefited by these unexpected customers, although
+the poor people were much displeased by inroads made by them upon the
+amount of supplies and provisions available in the county.
+
+Never were prisoners better treated or made more welcome, and if
+Jefferson reflected the feelings of his neighbors there was no animosity
+against the soldiers in the field:
+
+  The great cause which divides our countries is not to be decided by
+  individual animosities. The harmony of private societies cannot
+  weaken national efforts. To contribute by neighbourly intercourse and
+  attention to make others happy is the shortest and surest way of
+  being happy ourselves. As these sentiments seem to have directed your
+  conduct, we should be as unwise as illiberal, were we not to preserve
+  the same temper of mind.[70]
+
+Truly this was a war of philosophers and gentlemen, and the courtly
+generals of Louis XV would not have expressed more elegantly their
+consideration for the enemy. Jefferson's declaration was no mere
+gesture, for he struck up lasting friendships with several of the
+prisoners. He was particularly interested in a young German officer,
+Louis de Unger, who showed a remarkable talent for philosophy, in Baron
+de Geismer with whom he kept up a correspondence for more than ten
+years,[71] and in Major General Baron de Riedesel who, with his wife,
+was a frequent guest at Monticello. To many of them Jefferson opened
+his house, his library, and his dining room. He discussed philosophy and
+agriculture with them, played duets on his violin, and sincerely
+regretted the loss of that pleasant society when he had to leave after
+his appointment as governor.[72]
+
+Yet a sterner trait in his character was soon to be revealed. While the
+British prisoners were described as "having thus found the art of
+rendering captivity itself comfortable, and carried to execution, at
+their own great expense and labor, their spirits sustained by the
+prospect of gratifications rising before their eyes", the American
+prisoners and noncombatants were receiving harsher treatment at the
+hands of the British. War had become particularly atrocious after Indian
+tribes had been encouraged to attack the insurgents, and this was an
+offense that Jefferson could not condone. When Governor Hamilton of
+Kaskakias, with his two lieutenants, Dejean and Lamothe, who had
+distinguished themselves by their harsh policy, surrendered to Clark and
+were brought to Virginia, Jefferson ordered them confined in the dungeon
+of the public jail, put in irons and kept incommunicado. On General
+Philips' protest Jefferson wrote to Washington to ask him for advice,
+but added that in his opinion these prisoners were common criminals and
+that he could "find nothing in Books usually recurred to as testimonials
+of the Laws and usages of nature and nations which convicts the opinion
+I have above expressed of error."[73] To Guy Carleton, Governor of
+Canada, he answered that "we think ourselves justified in Governor
+Hamilton's strick confinement on the general principle of National
+retaliation", and no punishment was too severe for a man who had
+employed "Indian savages whose known rule of warfare is an
+indiscriminate butchery of men, women and children."[74]
+
+When a few weeks later, upon Washington's request, the irons were taken
+from the prisoners and a parole offered to them, Jefferson obeyed very
+reluctantly and informed the general that "they objected to that part of
+it which restrained them from _saying_ anything to the prejudice of the
+United States" and insisted on "freedom of speech"; they were in
+consequence remanded to their confinement in the jail, "which must be
+considered as a voluntary one until they can determine with themselves
+to be inoffensive in words as well as deeds."[75]
+
+Even when the prisoners were freed, Jefferson wrote again to Washington:
+
+  I shall give immediate orders for having in readiness every engine
+  which the Enemy have contrived for the destruction of our unhappy
+  citizens captivated by them. The presentiment of these operations is
+  shocking beyond expression. I pray heaven to avert them: but nothing
+  in this world will do it but a proper conduct in the Enemy. In every
+  event I shall resign myself to the hard necessity under which I shall
+  act.[76]
+
+Writing the same day to Colonel George Mathews, Jefferson defined with
+more precision what he understood by these "operations" when he declared
+that "iron will be retaliated by iron, prison ships by prison ships, and
+like for like in general."[77]
+
+The faults of his own people did not find him any weaker, for he
+declared: "I would use any powers I have for the punishment of any
+officer of our own who should be guilty of excesses injustifiable under
+the usages of civilized nations." He was not slow either in punishing
+mutineers, in having the ringleaders seized in their beds "singly and
+without noise" and in recommending cavalry, "as men on horseback have
+been found the most certain Instrument of public punishment."[78]
+
+This trait of Jefferson's character, hardly ever noticed, was no passing
+mood. It was little apparent in ordinary circumstances, but it was to
+reappear with the same stern inflexibility during the prosecution of
+Aaron Burr twenty-five years later. The dreamer, the theorist, the
+"philosopher" does not appear in the letters written by Jefferson during
+his governorship. He was punctual, attentive to details and careful to
+abide by the measures taken by the legislature. Yet he was subjected to
+bitter criticism and a sort of legend grew up about his lack of
+efficiency. He was approaching the end of his second term, which expired
+on June 2, 1781, and the legislature, feeling that the present danger
+required desperate action, was thinking of appointing a temporary
+dictator. Although most decidedly opposed to the creation of such an
+office, Jefferson believed that the appointment of a military leader was
+highly desirable (Letter to Washington, May 28), and according to his
+wishes General Nelson in command of the State troops was elected in his
+place. But before the Assembly could come to a decision an unexpected
+incident happened. It has been related at great length, and I am afraid
+with some embellishments, by Randall, who reconstructed it from
+Jefferson's papers and from the family traditions. Virginia was
+literally overrun by the enemy, and the raids of the British cavalry
+were a common occurrence. During one of these raids Tarleton attempted
+to capture the legislature and almost succeeded in taking the governor.
+The account of the incident, as I found it written by Jefferson, is far
+less picturesque, but probably more reliable than the highly colored
+narration of the biographer:
+
+  This was the state of things when, his office having expired on the
+  2^d June, & his successor not yet in place, Col. Tarlton, with his
+  regiment of horse, was detached by L. Cornwallis, to surprise him
+  (supposed to be still governor) & the legislature now sitting in
+  Charlottesville, the Speakers of the two houses, & some other members
+  of the legislature, were lodging with him at Monticello. Tarleton,
+  early in the morning of June 4. when within 10 miles of that place,
+  detached a company of horse to secure him & his guests, & proceeded
+  himself rapidly with his main body to Charlottesville, where he hoped
+  to find the legislature unapprised of his movement. notice of it
+  however had been brought both to Monticello & Charlottesville about
+  sunrise, by a Mr Jouett from Louisa, who seeing them pass his
+  father's house in the evening of the 3.^d and riding through the
+  night along by-ways, brought the notice. The Speakers, with their
+  Colleagues returned to Charlottesville, & with the other members of
+  the legislature, had barely time to get out of the way.[79]
+
+A few days later Jefferson left Amherst and returned to Monticello which
+he found practically undamaged; it was then that, riding to Poplar
+Forest, he was thrown from his horse and so seriously hurt that he could
+not ride horseback for several months. Shortly afterwards he learned
+that some members of the legislature, probably irked by the humiliation
+of having fled before the British raiders, not once, but several times,
+were not unwilling to accuse the governor of having neglected to take
+proper measures of defense. As I have found nowhere any indication to
+contradict Jefferson's account of the incident, it had better be given
+here in his simple words:
+
+  I returned to Monticello July 26. & learning some time after that Mr
+  George Nicholas, than a young man, just entered into the legislature
+  proposed to institute some enquiry into my conduct before the
+  legislature, a member from my county vacated his seat, & the county
+  elected me, in his room, that I might vindicate myself on the floor
+  of the house. thro' the intervention of a friend, I obtained from Mr.
+  Nicholas a written note of the charges he proposed to bring forward &
+  I furnished him in return the heads of the answers I should make. on
+  the day appointed for hearing his charges he withdrew from the house;
+  & no other undertaking to bring them forward, I did it myself in my
+  place, from his paper, answering them verbatim to the house. the
+  members had been witnesses themselves to all the material facts, and
+  passed an unanimous vote of approbation, which may be seen on their
+  journals. Mr. Nicholas was an honest and honorable man, & took a
+  conspicuous occasion, many years after, of his own free will, & when
+  the matter was entirely at rest, to retract publicly the erroneous
+  opinions he had been led into on that occasion, and to make just
+  reparation by a candid acknowledgment of them.[80]
+
+This unfortunate incident revealed another fundamental trait of
+Jefferson's character,--his total incapacity to accept public criticism
+with equanimity. It was not until December 19, 1781, that he had the
+opportunity of presenting his case before the legislature and of
+receiving the vote of thanks intended "to obviate and remove all
+unmerited censure." In the meantime, and because he did not wish to
+leave a free field to his enemies, he had to decline a new appointment
+from Congress, when on the fifteenth of June he was designated to join
+the four American plenipotentiaries already in Europe. The letter was
+transmitted through Lafayette, and to Lafayette alone Jefferson confided
+his deep mortification at having to
+
+  lose an opportunity, the only one I ever had and perhaps ever shall
+  have, of combining public service with public gratification, of
+  seeing countries whose improvements in science, in arts and
+  civilization it has been my fortune to admire at a distance but never
+  to see and at the same time of lending further aid to a cause which
+  has been handed on from it's first organization to its present stage
+  by every effort of which my poor faculties were capable. These
+  however have not been such as to give satisfaction to some of my
+  countrymen & it has become necessary for me to remain in the state
+  till a later period, in the present year than is consistent with an
+  acceptance of what has been offered me.[81]
+
+A letter written to Edmund Randolph hints at other considerations which
+"that one being removed, might prevent my acceptance." The family
+record shows that Mrs. Jefferson was then expecting a child who was born
+on November, 1781, and died in April of the following year. Jefferson
+himself was far from being well and had not yet recovered from his
+accident; but there is little doubt that he would have gladly seized the
+opportunity to fulfill one of his earliest dreams and to visit Europe,
+had he been free to go. However this may be, it was on this occasion
+that he reiterated once more, but not for the last time, his wish to
+return entirely and definitively to private life:
+
+  Were it possible for me to determine again to enter into public
+  business there is no appointment whatever which would have been so
+  agreeable to me. But I have taken my final leave of everything of
+  that nature. I have retired to my farm, my family and books from
+  which I think nothing will evermore separate me. A desire to leave
+  public office with a reputation not more blotted than it deserved
+  will oblige me to emerge at the next session of our assembly &
+  perhaps to accept of a seat in it, but as I go with a single object,
+  I shall withdraw when that has been accomplished.[82]
+
+I must confess that Jefferson's determination can scarcely be understood
+or excused. He was not yet forty and, for a man of that age, his
+achievements were unusual and many, but he had by no means outlived his
+usefulness or fulfilled the tasks he had mapped out for himself. Even
+supposing he had done enough for the United States and did not feel any
+ambition to return to Congress, there was much to be done in Virginia.
+For one thing the war was not over and the situation of his native
+State, his "country", as he still called it, was as precarious as ever.
+Even supposing the war to be of short duration and destined to end in
+victory, the work of reconstruction loomed considerable upon the
+horizon. Not only had plantations been burned, houses destroyed, cattle
+killed off, Negroes decimated in many places, but the financial
+resources of Virginia were nil, the currency depreciated and valueless.
+Above all, republican institutions were far from secure, Jefferson was
+not at all satisfied with the Constitution as adopted, there remained
+many bills on the Revised Laws to be presented, defended, and approved.
+The laws adopted so far might have laid the foundations of true
+republican government, but the task was still enormous. Was Jefferson
+irritated and despondent at the ingratitude of his fellow citizens who
+had not rejected at once the charges made by Nicholas? Was he so alarmed
+by the health of his wife that he did not feel that he could leave her
+even for a few days? Was he not rather a victim of overwork and
+overexertion? He had been severely shaken by his accident and seems to
+have suffered at the time a sort of nervous breakdown, for on October
+28, 1781, when writing to Washington to congratulate him on Cornwallis'
+capitulation at Yorktown he deplores the "state of perpetual
+decrepitude" to which he is unfortunately reduced and which prevents him
+from greeting Washington personally.
+
+Several of his best friends were unable to understand or condone his
+retirement. Madison himself wrote to Edmund Randolph:[83]
+
+  Great as my partiality is to Mr. Jefferson, the mode in which he
+  seems determined to revenge the wrong received from his country does
+  not appear to me to be dictated either by philosophy or patriotism.
+  It argues, indeed, a keen sensibility and strong consciousness of
+  rectitude. But his sensibility ought to be as great towards the
+  relenting as the misdoings of the Legislature, not to mention the
+  injustice of visiting the faults of this body on their innocent
+  constituents.
+
+Monroe, ardent friend and admirer of Jefferson's, was even more direct
+when writing to acquaint his "master" with the criticism aroused by his
+retirement. To which Jefferson answered with a letter in which he poured
+out the bitterness of his heart. He first recited all his different
+reasons for making his choice; the fact that after scrutinizing his
+heart he had found that every fiber of political ambition had been
+eradicated; that he had the right to withdraw after having been engaged
+thirteen years in public service; that his family required his
+attention; that he had to attend to his private affairs. But the true
+reasons came only in the next paragraph:
+
+  That however I might have comforted myself under the disapprobation
+  of the well-meaning but uninformed people, yet that of their
+  representatives was a shock on which I had not calculated.... I felt
+  that these injuries, for such they have been since acknowledged, had
+  inflicted a wound on my spirit which only will be cured by the
+  all-healing grave.
+
+The man who wrote these lines had an epidermis far too sensitive to
+permit him to engage in politics and least of all in local politics.
+Jefferson in these particular circumstances forgot the lesson of his old
+friends the Greek and Latin philosophers--truly he was no Roman.
+
+Yet we cannot regret very deeply Jefferson's determination to retire
+from public life at that time, since to his retirement we owe his most
+extensive literary composition, one of the first masterpieces of
+American literature. During the spring of 1781 he had received from the
+secretary of the French legation, Barbe-Marbois, a long questionnaire on
+the present conditions of Virginia. During his forced inactivity, he
+drew up a first draft which was sent to Marbois, but extensively
+corrected and enlarged during the following winter. A few manuscript
+copies were distributed to close friends, but the "Notes on Virginia"
+were not published until 1787 and after they had been rather poorly
+translated into French by Abbe Morellet.[84]
+
+No other document is so valuable for a complete conspectus of
+Jefferson's mind and theories at that time. But two important
+observations must be made at the very outset. First of all the "Notes"
+were not intended for publication, and as late as 1785 Jefferson wrote
+to Chastellux that:
+
+  the strictures on slavery and on the constitution of Virginia ... are
+  the parts I do not wish to have made public, at least till I know
+  whether their publication would do most harm or good. It is possible
+  that in my own country these strictures might produce an irritation
+  which would indispose the people towards the two great objects I have
+  in view, that is the emancipation of their slaves & the settlement of
+  their constitution on a firmer and more permanent basis.[85]
+
+The second point is that the "Notes" were written for the use of a
+foreigner of distinction, in answer to certain queries proposed by him.
+Jefferson, therefore, is not responsible either for the plan of the
+work, or the distribution into chapters, and he necessarily had to go
+into more details than if he had written solely for his fellow
+countrymen.
+
+The twenty-three Queries cover such an enormous range of information and
+contain such a mass of facts that it would have been physically
+impossible for any one to complete the work in so short a time, if it
+had been an impromptu investigation. We can accept without hesitation
+the statement of the "Autobiography" on the methods of composition
+employed in the "Notes":
+
+  I had always made a practice whenever an opportunity occurred of
+  obtaining any information of our country, which might be of use
+  in any station public or private to commit it to writing. These
+  memoranda were on loose papers, bundled up without order, and
+  difficult of recurrence when I had occasion for a particular one.
+  I thought this a good occasion to embody their substance, which I
+  did in the order of Mr. Marbois' queries, so as to answer his wish
+  and to arrange them for my own use.
+
+The book was printed in France, in England, in Germany, and went through
+many editions in America. It probably did more than any other
+publication to propagate the doctrine of Americanism, for, in his
+retreat of Monticello, Jefferson formulated the creed and gave final
+expression to the hopes, aspirations, and feelings that were to govern
+his country for several generations. It also gives a complete picture of
+the mind of Jefferson at that date, when he thought he had accomplished
+the task assigned to him and felt he could stop to take stock, not
+merely of his native "country", but of the whole United States of
+America.
+
+Unimaginative, unpoetical, unwilling to express personal emotions as he
+was, he had always been deeply moved by certain natural scenes. His
+description of the Natural Bridge, the site of which he owned, is well
+remembered.
+
+  You involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet,
+  and peep over it. Looking down from this height about a minute, gave
+  me a violent head ache. If the view from the top be painful and
+  intolerable, that from below is delightful in an equal extreme. It is
+  impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime to be felt
+  beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so
+  light, and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of the
+  spectator is really indescribable!
+
+The "passage of the Patowmac through the Blue ridge" is even more
+famous, and the broad, peaceful, almost infinite scene is painted by the
+hand of a master:
+
+  It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and
+  delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being
+  cloven asunder, she presents to your eye, through the cleft, a small
+  catch of small blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain
+  country, inviting you, as it were, from the riot and tumult roaring
+  around, to pass through the breach to the calm below.
+
+Only Bartram a few years later, and Chateaubriand at the beginning of
+the next century, with much longer and more elaborate descriptions,
+could equal or surpass these few strokes of description. Jefferson was
+truly the first to discover and depict to Europeans the beauty of
+American natural scenery, and to proclaim with genuine American pride
+that "this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic--and is perhaps
+one of the most stupendous in nature." It matters little that he
+followed Voltaire in the origin of fossils, to decide timidly in 1787
+that we must be contented to acknowledge that "this great phenomenon is
+as yet unsolved." I shall not even remark on the completeness and
+exactness of his list of plants, "medicinal, esculent, ornamental or
+useful for fabrication", of which he gives the popular names as well as
+the _Linnaean_, "as the latter might not convey precise information to a
+foreigner", or on his list "of the quadrupeds of North America"; nor
+shall I mention his long dissertation on "the bones of Mamoths" found on
+the North American continent and his refutation of Buffon. Far more
+interesting is his protest against the assertion of the great French
+naturalist that "the animals common both to the old and new world are
+smaller in the latter, that those peculiar to the new are in a smaller
+scale, that those which have been domesticated in both have degenerated
+in America." He composed with much tabulation a complete refutation of
+Buffon's error, and demonstrated that plants as well as animals reached
+a development hitherto unknown under the new conditions and the
+favorable circumstances of the American climate.
+
+When it came to the aborigines, he had little to say of the South
+American Indians, but of North American Indians he could speak "somewhat
+from his own knowledge" as well as from the observations of others
+better acquainted with them and on whose truth and judgment he could
+rely.
+
+  Not only they are well formed in body and in mind as the _homo
+  sapiens Europaeus_, but from what we know of their eloquence it is of
+  a superior lustre.... I may challenge the whole orations of
+  Demosthenes and Cicero, and of many more prominent orators, if
+  Europe has furnished any more eminent, to produce a single passage,
+  superior to the speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore when
+  Governor of this State.
+
+But his temper was thoroughly aroused when he discovered that Abbe
+Raynal had undertaken to apply the theory of Buffon to the white men who
+had settled in America.
+
+  If this were true and if climateric conditions were such as to
+  prevent mental and physical growth there would be little hope for the
+  newly constituted country to ever become a great nation. Nature
+  itself pronouncing against the Americans what chance could they have
+  to be able to ever come up to the level of the older nations.
+  Sentenced to remain forever an inferior race, this struggle to
+  conquer independence would have proved futile, and sooner or later,
+  they would fall the prey of superior people.
+
+Never before had Jefferson been so deeply stirred and moved, never
+before had he felt so thoroughly American as in his spirited answer to
+Raynal, when he claimed for the new-born country not only unlimited
+potentialities, but actual superiority over the mother country:
+
+  "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 Shakespeare 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 poet. But neither has America
+  produced "one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art
+  or science." In war we have produced a Washington, whose memory will
+  be adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name will 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 phaenomena of nature.... As in philosophy and war, so in
+  government, in oratory, in painting, in the plastic arts, 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 action, 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 her full share....
+  The present war having so long cut off all communications with Great
+  Britain, we are not able to make a fair estimate of the state of
+  science in the country. The spirit in which she wages war, is the
+  only sample before our eyes, and that does not seem the legitimate
+  offspring either of science or civilization. The sun of her glory is
+  fast descending to the horizon. Her Philosophy has crossed her
+  channel, her freedom the Atlantic, and herself seems passing to that
+  awful dissolution whose issue is not given human foresight to scan.
+
+This is the fullest and most complete expression of national
+consciousness and national pride yet uttered by Jefferson. The American
+eagle was spreading her wing and preparing to fly by herself. The
+American transcended the Virginian and looked confidently at the future.
+
+In Query VIII, we come again to a question of national importance. The
+country being what it is, it would take at least one hundred years for
+Virginia to reach the present square-mile population of Great Britain.
+The question then arises whether a larger population being desirable,
+the State should not encourage foreigners to settle in as large numbers
+as possible. To unrestricted immigration, Jefferson, fearful for the
+integrity of the racial stock, fearful also for the maintenance of
+institutions so hardly won and yet so precariously established, was
+unequivocally opposed. In a most remarkable passage he stated the very
+reasons that after him were to be put forth again and again, until a
+policy of selective and restrictive immigration was finally adopted. I
+would not say that he was a hundred and fifty years ahead of his time,
+but a hundred and fifty years ago he formulated with his usual "felicity
+of expression", feelings and forebodings which existed more or less
+confusedly in many minds. When he spoke thus he was more of a spokesman
+than a prophet of America:
+
+  Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours perhaps
+  are more peculiar than those of any other in the universe. It is a
+  composition of the freest principles of the English constitution,
+  with others derived from natural right and natural reason. To these
+  nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies.
+  Yet from such we are to expect the greatest number of immigrants.
+  They will bring with them the principles of the governments they
+  leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able to throw them off,
+  it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as
+  is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were
+  they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These
+  principles, with their language, they will transmit to their
+  children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us the
+  legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its
+  directions, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted
+  mass.... Is it not safer to wait with patience 27 years and three
+  months longer for the attainment of any degree of population desired
+  or expected? May not our government be more homogeneous, more
+  peaceable, more durable? Suppose 20 millions of republican Americans
+  [were] thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the
+  condition of that kingdom? If it would be more turbulent, less happy,
+  less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of
+  foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect
+  here.... I mean not that these doubts should be extended to the
+  importation of useful artificers.... Spare no expence in obtaining
+  them. They will after a time go to the plough and to the hoe; but in
+  the mean time they will teach us something we do not know.
+
+Everything is there! That America is essentially and should remain an
+Anglo-Saxon civilization; the fear that unassimilated immigration may
+corrupt the institutions of the country and bring into it uneradicable
+germs of absolutism; the admission even that America needs a certain
+class of immigrants, of specialists to develop new arts and new
+industries. In 1781, Jefferson was not only an American, but a hundred
+per cent. American, and the sentiments he expressed then were to reecho
+in the halls of Congress through the following generations whenever the
+question was discussed.
+
+The government as it was presently organized was far from perfect--it
+even had "very capital defects in it." First of all, it was not a truly
+representative government since, owing to the representation by
+counties, it happened that fourteen thousand men living in one part of
+the country gave law to upwards of thirty thousand living in another; in
+spite of the theoretical separation of powers, all the powers of
+government, legislature, executive, and judiciary, were vested in the
+legislative body. "The concentrating these in the same hands is
+precisely the definition of despotic government." Assuming that the
+present legislators of Virginia were perfectly honest and disinterested,
+it would not be very long before a change might come, for "mankind soon
+learn to make interested uses of every right and power which they
+possess, or may assume."
+
+  "With money we will get men," said Caesar, "and with men we will get
+  money." ... They should look forward to a time, and that not a
+  distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country from which
+  we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of the government,
+  and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will
+  purchase the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human
+  nature is the same in every side of the Atlantic and will be alike
+  influenced by the same causes. The time to guard against corruptions
+  and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold of us.
+
+Before proceeding any further, it may be well to pause, in order to
+analyze more carefully these statements of Jefferson's. It will soon
+appear that they do not form a perfectly logical construction and are
+not part of an _a priori_ system. He had proclaimed his faith in the
+ultimate recognition of truth, but he did not believe that unaided truth
+should necessarily prevail, for human nature being very imperfect, very
+narrow and very selfish, the best institutions have a permanent tendency
+to degenerate. Jefferson had already clearly in mind the famous maxim
+"eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." It is this curious
+combination of unshakable faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and
+healthy pessimism as to the present possibilities, that distinguishes
+Jefferson from the "closet politicians" and theoretical philosophers. It
+is an alliance of the contraries which seems absurd to many Frenchmen,
+but is often found in English statesmen, and is probably more common in
+America than in any other nation. In this respect as in many others
+Jefferson was typically American.
+
+His criticism of the legislature came clearly from two different
+motives. He attempted first of all to demonstrate to himself that the
+Assembly that had listened to charges against him was not a truly
+representative body, not only because the attribution of two delegates
+to each county, irrespective of the population, was iniquitous, but also
+because, owing to emergencies, the Assembly had come to decide
+themselves what number would constitute a quorum. Thus an oligarchy or
+even a monarchy could finally be substituted for a regular assembly by
+almost imperceptible transitions. "_Omnia mala exempla a bonis orta
+sunt; sed ubi imperium ad ignaros aut minus bonos pervenit novum illud
+exemplum ab dignis et idoneis ad indignos et non idoneos fertur._"
+
+This is nothing but a re-affirmation of the aristocratic doctrine of the
+"Literary Bible." Once more, the aristocrat of mind revolts, for "when
+power is placed in the hands of men who are ignorant or not so good, it
+may be taken from those who are deserving and truly noble to be
+transferred to unworthy and ignoble men." This is the constant
+undercurrent which runs through Jefferson's political theories and
+unexpectedly reappears at the surface from time to time. A government of
+the best minds, elected by a populace sufficiently enlightened to select
+the best minds,--such is at that time Jefferson's ideal of government.
+
+On the other hand his attitude towards dictatorship, as it appears in
+the "Notes on Virginia", is no less significant for a true estimate of
+his character. Unless the views expressed there are carefully considered
+and kept well in mind, we might fall into the common error of
+attributing to some mysterious influence of the French Revolution and
+the French philosophers the opinions expressed by Jefferson on
+presidential tenure, during the debate on the Constitution and his
+famous quarrel with Hamilton. As a matter of fact, he had expressed the
+very same views already and even more emphatically on a previous
+occasion, when George Nicholas had proposed in the Assembly "that a
+Dictator be appointed in this Commonwealth who should have the power of
+disposing of the lives and fortunes of the Citizens thereof without
+being subject to account"; the motion seconded by Patrick Henry "been
+lost only by a few votes."[86] One may even wonder if the accusation of
+inefficiency against Jefferson had not been introduced by the same
+George Nicholas, in order to clear the way for the appointment of a
+dictator. Hence the impassioned tone of Jefferson's refutation. Deeply
+stirred and deeply hurt in his _amour-propre_, Jefferson incorporated in
+the "Notes on Virginia" the speech he would have made on the occasion
+had he been an orator.
+
+  How must we find our efforts and sacrifices abused and baffled, if
+  we may still, by a single vote, be laid prostrate at the feet of
+  one man. In God's name, from whence have they derived this power?
+  Is it from any principle in our new constitution expressed or
+  implied? Every lineament of that expressed or implied, is in full
+  opposition to it.... Necessities which dissolve a government, do not
+  convey its authority to an oligarchy or monarchy. They throw back
+  into the hands of the people the powers they had delegated, and leave
+  them as individuals to shift for themselves. A leader may offer, but
+  not impose himself, nor be imposed on them. Much less can their necks
+  be submitted to his sword, their breath be held at his will or
+  caprice.... The very thought alone was treason against the people;
+  was treason against mankind in general; as rivetting forever the
+  chains which bow down their necks, by giving to their oppressors a
+  proof which they would have trumpetted through the universe, of the
+  imbecillity of republican government, in times of pressing danger, to
+  shield them from harm. Those who assume the right of giving away the
+  reins of government in any case, must be sure that the herd, whom
+  they hand on to the rods and hatchet of the dictator, will lay their
+  necks on the block when he shall nod to them. But if our assemblies
+  supposed such a resignation in the people, I hope they mistook their
+  character.... Searching for the foundations of this proposition, I
+  can find none which may pretend a colour of right or reason, but the
+  defect before developed, that there is no barrier between the
+  legislative, executive, and judiciary departments.... Our situation
+  is indeed perilous, and I hope my countrymen will be sensible of it,
+  and will apply, at a proper season, the proper remedy; which is a
+  convention to fix the constitution, to amend its defects, to bind up
+  the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they
+  transgress, their acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary
+  an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every
+  infraction of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescence
+  shall be construed into an intention to surrender those rights.
+
+This is much more than an occasional outburst written under a strong
+emotional stress. Jefferson had discovered in his own country the
+existence of a group of men stanchly opposed to the republican form of
+government, ready in an emergency to go beyond the powers that had been
+delegated to them--not necessarily dishonest men, but dangerous because
+they did not have a correct conception of their rights and duties. All
+the controversy with the Federalists already exists in germ, in this
+declaration, and Jefferson from the very first had taken his position.
+The immediate effect was to sever the last bonds which still tied him to
+the aristocratic spirit of the social class to which he belonged by
+birth, and to make him raise a protest against the fact that, "the
+majority of men in the state, who pay and fight for its support are
+unrepresented in the legislature, the roll of freeholders entitled to
+vote, not including generally the half of those on the roll of militia,
+or of the tax gatherers."
+
+"It has been thought that corruption is restrained by confining the
+right of suffrage to a few of the wealthier people"; but experience has
+shown, irrespective of any consideration of justice or right, that a
+truly republican form of government is not safe in their hands. What
+will be the conclusion? That suffrage must be extended so as to become
+universal. The people themselves are the only safe depositories of
+government. "If every individual which composes this mass participates
+of the ultimate authority, the government will be safe; because the
+corruption of the whole mass will exceed any private resources of
+wealth." But if the people are the ultimate guardians of their
+liberties, they must also be rendered the safe guardians of it. Hence
+the necessity of providing for them an education adapted to the years,
+the capacity, and the conditions of every one, and directed toward their
+freedom and happiness. On this occasion Jefferson reproduced the view
+already expressed in the Bill for the More General Diffusion of
+Knowledge, as well as the tenor of the first section of the Bill for
+Religious Freedom, but with new considerations which could scarcely be
+incorporated in a statute.
+
+Then comes a conclusion unexpected and revealing, a sort of pessimism
+little in accordance with the supposed democratic faith of the writer;
+there is no inherent superior wisdom in the people, but it happens that
+under stress they so rise as to be superior to themselves, and it is for
+those who direct the course of the State to make the best of this
+fugitive opportunity:
+
+  The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become
+  corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence
+  persecutions, and better men be his victims. It can never be too
+  often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right on a
+  legal basis is while our rulers are honest, and ourselves united.
+  From the conclusion of this war we shall go down hill. It will not
+  then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support.
+  They will be forgotten therefore and their rights disregarded. They
+  will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and
+  will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights.
+  The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the
+  conclusion of this war, will remain on us long, will be made heavier
+  and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.
+
+Is this a dreamer, a philosopher, a mere theorician, or a very alert and
+keen politician with a high ideal and an exact realization of the
+people's limitations? This pessimistic view of human nature and human
+society did not make Jefferson entirely cynical, since he kept his faith
+in his ideal and never questioned the eminent superiority of the
+republican form of government. But he knew men too well to have faith in
+their collective intelligence and disinterestedness, the naive faith of
+so many French philosophers. If in this passage Jefferson reminds one of
+any French writers, it is not Rousseau, nor Helvetius, nor even
+Montesquieu, but of Montaigne, the Mayor of Bordeaux, who after the
+pestilence retired to his "Library" and composed his famous "Essais."
+One may well understand why Jefferson took such care to recommend his
+friends not to let the "Notes" out of their hands, and not to permit it
+to be published in any circumstances. The French like to say "_toutes
+les verites ne sont pas bonnes a dire_"--these were truths that should
+not be permitted to leak out and to circulate broadcast among the
+people: at most they were good only to be disclosed to this elite who
+had at heart the gradual betterment of the "plain people."
+
+Jefferson's opposition to slavery rests on the same calculating motives.
+The existence of slavery is as degrading for the master as for the
+slave; it is destructive of the morals of the people, and of industry.
+
+  And can the liberties 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 the gift of God? That they are not to
+  be violated but with his wrath?... It is impossible to be temperate
+  and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of
+  policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.
+
+But it does not ensue that Negroes should ever be placed on a footing of
+equality with the whites. To pronounce that they are decidedly inferior
+would require long observation, and we must hesitate
+
+  to degrade a whole race of men from the work in the scale of beings
+  which their Creator may _perhaps_ have given them.... I advance it
+  therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a
+  distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstance, are
+  inferior to the whites in the endowment both of body and mind. It is
+  not against experience to suppose that different species of the same
+  genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different
+  qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history then, one who
+  views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye of
+  philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man
+  as distinct as nature has formed them.
+
+However the case may be, the blacks cannot be incorporated into the
+State, and the only solution after they are emancipated and educated is
+to "colonize them to such places as the circumstances of the time shall
+render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of household
+and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful animals, etc.,
+to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them our
+alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired strength." But
+the freed slave "is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture", and the
+purity of the white stock must be preserved.
+
+Throughout the book Jefferson untiringly harps on the fact that American
+civilization is different from any other that has developed in Europe,
+and that principles of "economy" which apply to European nations should
+not be transferred "without calculating the difference of circumstance
+which should often produce a difference of results." The main difference
+lies in the fact that while in Europe "the lands are already cultivated,
+or locked up against the cultivator, we have an immensity of land
+courting the industry of the husbandman." America is essentially
+agricultural, and agricultural it must remain:
+
+  Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever
+  he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar
+  deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which
+  he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from
+  the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of
+  cultivators is a phaenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished
+  an example.... While we have land to labour then, let us never wish
+  to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench, or twirling a distaff.
+  Carpenters, masons, smiths, are wanting in husbandry: but, for the
+  general operations of manufacture, let our work-shops remain in
+  Europe. It is better to carry provisions and materials to work men
+  there, than bring them to the provisions and materials, and with them
+  their manners and principles.
+
+This vision of an American entirely given to agricultural pursuits may
+look Utopian in the extreme, and would be Utopian if Jefferson had
+really believed that it was susceptible of becoming an actual fact. But,
+in practice, this ideal was on the contrary subject to many adjustments
+and modifications.
+
+Jefferson's relativism is even more clearly marked in the last chapter,
+which forms the real conclusion of the book. It outlines the future
+policy of the United States with regard to foreign nations; it
+formulates a peaceful ideal which has remained on the whole the ideal of
+America. Once more it illustrates that curious balancing of two contrary
+principles so characteristic of the philosopher of Americanism as well
+as of the country itself.
+
+  Young as we are, and with such a country before us to fill with
+  people and with happiness, we should point in that direction the
+  whole generative force of nature, wasting none of it in efforts of
+  mutual destruction. It should be our endeavour to cultivate the peace
+  and friendship of every nation, even of that which has injured us
+  most, when we shall have carried our point against her. Our interest
+  will be to open the doors of commerce, and to knock off all its
+  shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the want of
+  whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same
+  in theirs. Never was so much false arithmetic employed on any
+  subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations that it
+  is their interest to go to war. Were the money which it has cost to
+  gain, at the close of a long war, a little town, or a little
+  territory, the right to cut wood here, to catch fish there, expended
+  in improving what we already possess, in making roads, opening
+  rivers, building ports, improving the arts and finding employment for
+  their idle poor, it would render them much stronger, much wealthier
+  and happier.
+
+"This," adds Jefferson, "I hope will be our wisdom." But it is only a
+hope and circumstances which cannot be changed by pious hopes exist and
+have to be confronted. In order to avoid every cause of conflict it
+would be necessary to abandon the ocean altogether, and "to leave to
+others to bring what we shall want, and to carry what we shall spare."
+This unfortunately is impossible, since a large portion of the American
+people are attached to commerce and insist on following the sea. What
+then is the answer?--Preparedness.--"Wars then must sometimes be our
+lot; and all the wise can do, will be to avoid that half of them which
+would be produced by our own follies, and our own acts of injustice; and
+to make for the other half the best preparations one can."
+
+One would not have to search long in the speeches of Woodrow Wilson to
+find the same idea expressed in almost identical terms. Even a
+Republican president such as Mr. Coolidge did not speak differently,
+when he simultaneously proposed conferences of disarmament and
+recommended that appropriation for the navy be enormously increased.
+This combination of will to peace, these reiterations of the pacific
+policies of the United States have been since the early days combined
+with the fixed determination to maintain a naval force adequate to cope
+with any attacking force. For such is the policy advocated by Jefferson.
+One should not be deceived by his very modest statement, "the sea is the
+field on which we should meet an European enemy. On that element it is
+necessary that we should possess some power." What he proposes is simply
+the building in one year of a fleet of thirty ships, eighteen of which
+might be ships of the line, and twelve frigates, with eighteen hundred
+guns. And he significantly adds, "I state this only as one year's
+possible exertion, without deciding whether more or less than a year
+should be thus applied." But, so as not to leave any potential aggressor
+in doubt as to the resources of America, he mentions that this naval
+force should by no means be "so great as we are able to make it."
+
+After stating categorically his principles, Jefferson did not object to
+minor modifications when it came to practice. As early as the winter of
+1781 he had found and determined the main tenets of his political
+philosophy. It was essentially American and practical. The idea never
+entered his mind that in order to establish an American government it
+was necessary to make a _tabula rasa_ of what existed before. As a
+matter of fact, Americans had certain vested rights through several
+charters enumerated by Jefferson in answer to Query XIII; they had
+revolted in defense of these rights, but the principles of their
+government, "perhaps more peculiar than those of any other in the
+universe", were simply "a composition of the freest principles of the
+English constitution, with others derived from natural right and natural
+reason." Essentially "founded in common law as well as common right", it
+was not necessarily the best possible form of government or the only one
+imaginable, "for every species of government has its specific
+principle." But despite its imperfections, it was better adapted to
+American conditions than any other that could be devised. At that time,
+at least, Jefferson did not seem to suspect that it could be taken as a
+model by any other nations, or that its main principles would prove so
+"contagious." The situation of America was unique. Unlimited
+agricultural lands extended to the west, and one could estimate that it
+would take at least a century to reach a density of population
+comparable to that of the British Isles. For a long time America would
+remain mainly agricultural, with a population scattered in farms instead
+of being concentrated in large cities, and would keep many of the
+virtues inherent in country life. In addition, the country would be
+practically free from any attack by land, as she had no powerful
+neighbors. She was geographically isolated from the rest of the world,
+and even if she were attacked by sea, it would be by a fleet operating
+far from its base and therefore at a disadvantage. No permanent army had
+to be maintained and a comparatively small fleet would suffice for
+protection. Free from the ordinary "sores" of civilization, not yet
+wealthy but prosperous, for, says Jefferson "I never saw a native
+American begging in the streets or highways", a country peaceful and
+with hatred towards none, not even to "that nation which has injured us
+most",--such is the ideal picture of America drawn by Jefferson for
+himself and his French correspondent during the winter of 1781-1782.
+
+Whatever faults existed would be corrected in time. If slavery could be
+abolished and the last vestiges of an hereditary aristocracy eradicated,
+little would be left to be desired. Yet it would not be a complete
+Arcadia, for Jefferson did not believe that a state of perfection once
+reached could be maintained without effort. Several dangers would always
+threaten America. The influx of foreigners might alter the character of
+her institutions. In spite of her peaceful ideals, dangers from the
+outside might threaten her prosperity. But on the whole, the country,
+even in its "infant state", was in no wise inferior to any European
+nation. In all the sciences it gave promise of extraordinary
+achievements. In architecture, to be sure, it seemed that "a genius has
+shed its malediction over this land", but artists and artisans could be
+induced to come, and even if America never reached the artistic
+proficiency of some European nations, it was and would remain more
+simple, more frugal, more virtuous than nations whose population
+congregate in large cities.
+
+Such, briefly told, is the conception of Americanism reached by
+Jefferson when he wrote the "Notes on Virginia." He had not had any
+direct contact with Europe, but he had read enormously and he had come
+to the conclusion that, reasonably secure against foreign aggressions,
+keeping her commerce at a minimum, America could develop along her own
+lines and, reviving on a new land the old Anglo-Saxon principles
+thwarted by kingly usurpations and church fabrications, bring about an
+Anglo-Saxon millennium which no other country might ever dream of
+reaching. It now remains to see to what extent and under what influences
+Jefferson came to modify certain of his conclusions, following his
+prolonged contact with Europe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A STATESMAN'S APPRENTICESHIP
+
+
+The year 1782 was for Jefferson a year of trial and suffering. A child
+was born to Mrs. Jefferson on May 8; she never recovered fully and soon
+it appeared that she was irrevocably doomed. This tragic, touching story
+had better be told in the simple words of his daughter Martha, then nine
+years of age:
+
+  As a nurse no female had ever more tenderness nor anxiety. He nursed
+  my poor mother in turn with aunt Carr and her own sister--sitting up
+  with her and administering her medicines and drink to the last. For
+  four months that she lingered he was never out of calling; when not
+  at her bed-side, he was writing in a small room which opened
+  immediately at the head of her bed. A moment before the closing
+  scene, he was led from the room in a state of insensibility by his
+  sister, Mrs. Carr, who with great difficulty, got him into the
+  library, where he fainted, and remained so long insensible that they
+  feared he never would revive. The scene that followed I did not
+  witness, but the violence of his emotion, when, almost by stealth, I
+  entered his room by night, to this day I dare not describe to myself.
+  He kept his room three weeks, and I was never a moment from his side.
+  He walked almost incessantly night and day, only lying down
+  occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted, on a pallet that
+  had been brought in during his long fainting fit. My aunts remained
+  constantly with him for some weeks--I do not remember how many. When
+  at last he left his room, he rode out, and from that time he was
+  incessantly on horseback, rambling about the mountain, in the least
+  frequented roads, and just as often through the woods. In those
+  melancholy rambles I was his constant companion--a solitary witness
+  to many a burst of grief, the remembrance of which has consecrated
+  particular scenes of that lost home beyond the power to obliterate.
+
+In Jefferson's prayer book is found this simple entry:
+
+"Martha Wayles Jefferson died September 6, 1782, at 11 o'clock 45
+minutes A.M."
+
+She was buried in the little enclosure in which rested already three of
+her children; on a simple slab of white marble her husband had the
+following inscription engraved:
+
+  To the memory of
+  Martha Jefferson,
+  Daughter of John Wayles:
+  Born October 19th, 1748 O.S.
+  Intermarried with
+  Thomas Jefferson
+  January 1st 1772;
+  Torn from him by death
+  September 6th 1782
+  This monument of his love is inscribed
+
+  [Greek: Ei de thanonton per katalethont' ein Haidao,
+  Autar ego kakeithi philou memnesom' hetairou.][87]
+
+  If in the house of Hades men forget their dead
+  Yet will I even there remember my dear companion.
+
+Whether, as Tucker thought, Jefferson selected a Greek quotation so as
+not to make any display of his feelings to the casual passer-by, or
+whether Greek had so really become his own habit of thought that he
+could not think of any better way to express his grief, is a matter of
+conjecture. He was not the man to speak of himself and his sorrows, even
+to his closest friends. But it was probably at this time that he wrote
+these lines found after his death in his pocketbook: "There is a time in
+human suffering when exceeding sorrows are but like snow falling on an
+iceberg", and in Latin, "_Heu quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam
+tui meminisse._"
+
+At thirty-nine he was left a widower with a house full of children.
+Martha, born in 1772, Mary born in 1778, Lucy Elizabeth, the baby just
+born, who was to die two years later, and in addition the children of
+his friend and brother-in-law Carr, whom he had adopted at the death of
+their father. As soon as he had recovered from the first shock,
+Jefferson went with the children to the house of Colonel Archibald Cary,
+at Ampthill, in Chesterfield County, where he had them inoculated for
+the smallpox. "While engaged as their chief nurse on the occasion, he
+received notice of his appointment by Congress as Plenipotentiary to
+Europe, to be associated with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams in negotiating
+peace (November 13,1782)."[88]
+
+He was just emerging from the stupor of mind which had rendered him "as
+dead to the world as she whose loss occasioned it."[89] It appeared to
+him that "public interest and the state of his mind concurred in
+recommending the change of scene proposed; and he accepted the
+appointment."[90]
+
+The next three months were spent in preparing for the journey. He made
+arrangements for his children and wrote a very touching letter to
+Washington, evincing once more that reluctance to express affectionate
+feeling so often found in Americans, a result of early education and
+training as much as of the national temperament: "Were I to indulge
+myself in those warm effusions which this subject forever prompts, they
+would wear an appearance of adulation very foreign to my nature; for
+such is the prostitution of language, that sincerity has no longer
+distinct terms in which to express her own truths."[91]
+
+The ship that was to carry him to France was caught in the ice at the
+entrance of the Chesapeake, with no prospect of sailing before the
+beginning of March. When news came early in February that the
+negotiations were making satisfactory progress, he felt some doubts
+about the desirability of a voyage which entailed so much expense, and
+placed the matter in the hands of Congress. It was not until April 1,
+however, that he was informed that the object of his appointment was "so
+far advanced as to render [it] unnecessary for him to pursue his
+voyage." He left for Virginia a few days afterwards. For the third time
+his plans for visiting Europe had been thwarted, but he does not seem to
+have resented it so deeply as previously.
+
+The wounds inflicted to his _amour-propre_ by the Virginia Assembly were
+healing. He had renewed his contact with public affairs, and when, on
+June 6, he was chosen as delegate to Congress, with Samuel Hardy, John
+F. Mercer, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, he accepted without hesitation.
+The two years which were to elapse between June, 1782, and July 5, 1784,
+the date of his final departure from France on the _Ceres_, are not the
+most eventful or the most picturesque of Jefferson's career. In many
+respects, however, they are the fullest and the most important for a
+true understanding of his mind and character. In the absence of Franklin
+and Adams he stood out in Congress, head and shoulders above his
+colleagues; he was placed on most of the important committees, he
+completed his acquaintance with the internal and foreign policies of the
+United States, he reported on measures of vital importance and
+crystallized his opinion on fundamental problems.
+
+Before being chosen as a delegate to Congress, Jefferson had already
+decided "to lend a hand to the laboring oar" and to participate in the
+affairs of his State, if not as a legislator at least as an adviser and
+counsellor. From the conversation he had held in Richmond with "as many
+members" of the Assembly "as he could",[92] he had concluded that
+Virginia was ready to call a convention to revise the Constitution of
+1776. On June 17 he wrote again to Madison, inclosing his ideas on the
+"amendments necessary." No convention was called at that time, but
+Jefferson's memorandum was printed in pamphlet form later in Paris, and
+he added it to his "Notes on Virginia." First of all he reassured that
+the Constitution of 1776 had no legal permanent value, being simply the
+result of the deliberation of a General Assembly, in no way different
+from the succeeding Assemblies. A power superior to that of the ordinary
+legislature could alone have authority to decide on a constitution. This
+could only be done by recommending "the good people of the State" to
+choose delegates "with powers to form a constitution of government for
+them, and to declare those fundamentals to which all our laws present
+and future shall be subordinate." Many of the provisions of the proposed
+constitution were not original and, as indicated by Jefferson himself in
+his letter to Madison, had been tried in other States. The document,
+however, may serve to illustrate the progress accomplished by Jefferson
+in the science of government since he had written his first State paper,
+and to show how far he still remained from his reputed views on
+democracy.
+
+Although still a free State, Virginia was no longer completely
+independent, since she had entered a society of States, and it was
+acknowledged that: "The confederation is made a part of this
+constitution, subject to such future alterations as shall be agreed to
+by the legislature of this State, and by all the other confederating
+States."
+
+Almost universal suffrage was granted, the vote being given to "All free
+male citizens of full age, and sane mind, who for one year before shall
+have been resident in the country, or shall through the whole of that
+time have possessed therein real property to the value of ----, or shall
+for the same time have been enrolled in the militia."
+
+This was an immediate consequence of the contractual concept of society
+and it is not without some interest to remark that this principle stood
+in direct contradiction to the physiocratic doctrine; for it was the
+contention of the Physiocrats that, society resting essentially on real
+property, those who own the land can alone participate in the government
+of the country. If, on the contrary, society is considered as an
+association of men who agree to live together in order to secure fuller
+enjoyment of their fundamental rights, all the signatories to the
+compact must have the same rights as well as the same obligations in the
+government of the association thus formed.[93]
+
+Yet it remained understood that the voters were not to be intrusted with
+all the details of government, and Jefferson thought it desirable to
+establish certain safeguards against the possible lack of knowledge of
+the electors. They chose delegates and senators, but the governor was to
+be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the Assembly, and the
+same procedure was to be followed in choosing a Council of State to
+advise the governor, the judges of the High Court of Chancery, the
+General Court and Court of Admiralty, while the judges of inferior
+courts were to be appointed by the governor on recommendation of the
+Council of State. The powers of the governor were to be strictly limited
+and it was made clear that although the old English title was preserved,
+the chief executive of the State had "none of the powers exercised under
+our former government by the Crown": "We give him those powers only
+which are necessary to execute the laws (and administer the government),
+and which are not in their nature either legislative or judiciary." The
+governor had a sort of suspensive veto. The military was to be
+subordinate to the civil power, and the printing press to be subject to
+no other restraint but liability to legal prosecution for false facts
+printed and published. The plan provided also for the gradual abolition
+of slavery after the year 1800.
+
+The most remarkable feature of this scheme was the strict imitation of
+popular participation in the government. The only power recognized as
+belonging to the people was that of selecting delegates to both Houses,
+and of appointing delegates to a constitutional convention whenever "any
+of the three branches of the government, concurring in opinion each by
+the voice of two-thirds of their existing number, decided that such a
+convention is necessary for amending the constitution." We are very far
+from government by referendum and even by periodic elections, since none
+of the State officials were directly appointed by the people. Jefferson
+had not at that time departed from his fundamental idea that government
+must be placed in the hands of well-qualified experts, carefully
+selected and appointed. The "Constitution of Virginia" was a "true form
+of Republican government", but by no means demagogical or even truly
+democratic. Curiously enough, and through mere coincidence, the
+essential features of the present constitution of France closely
+resemble the general outline of the plan proposed by Jefferson. This
+alone should suffice to demonstrate how far he was at that time from
+accepting and propounding some of the main tenets of the so-called
+Jeffersonian democracy. But Virginia was not yet ready for a change; the
+constitutional convention was not called, and nothing had been done when
+Jefferson left the State late in November, arriving at Annapolis on the
+twenty-fourth.
+
+Much to his disgust, he found that, after a fortnight, the delegates
+from only six States had appeared and that it was impossible to transact
+any serious business. The Treaty of Commerce had been received and was
+referred to a committee of which Jefferson was chairman, but a bare
+quorum was not assembled until December 13, and on the twenty-third,
+according to the "Autobiography", it was necessary to send to several
+governors a letter "stating the receipt of the definitive treaty; that
+seven States only were in attendance, while nine were necessary to its
+ratification."
+
+In the meantime Washington had come to Annapolis to resign his
+commission, in circumstances which can scarcely have been as impressive
+as is generally related, since the whole program carefully laid out by
+Jefferson took place before a bare majority of Congress. The rest of the
+month was spent in discussing whether the treaty could be ratified by
+less than nine states. It soon appeared that "there now remained but
+scanty sixty-seven days for the ratification, for its passage across the
+Atlantic and its exchange. There was no hope of our soon having nine
+States present; in fact that this was the ultimate point of time to
+which we could venture to wait; that if the ratification was not in
+Paris by the time stipulated, the treaty would become void...."--On
+January 13, delegates from Connecticut attended, and the next day a
+delegate from Carolina having arrived, "the treaty was ratified without
+a dissenting vote."
+
+This was for Jefferson a most profitable experience. As chairman of the
+committee, he had to familiarize himself with questions of foreign
+policies and foreign commerce. He had also to put aside whatever
+remnants of sectionalism and provincialism he unconsciously retained and
+he realized that "Those United States being by their constitution
+consolidated into one federal republic, they be considered in all such
+treaties & in every case arising under them as one nation under the
+principles of the Federal Constitution."[94]
+
+The same principle is reasserted more strongly in the "Draft for
+proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties", in which
+all the good citizens of the United States are enjoined to reverence
+"those stipulations entered into on their behalf under the authority of
+that federal (moral, political and legal bond) whereby they are called,
+by which their existence as an independent people is bound up together,
+and is known and acknowledged by the nations of the world."[95]
+
+On January 16, Jefferson wrote to Governor Harrison enumerating the
+important objects before Congress:
+
+  1. Authorizing our Foreign minister to enter into treaties of
+  alliance and commerce with the several nations who have deserved it;
+  2. Arranging the domestic administration; 3. Establishing arsenals &
+  ports on our frontiers; 4. Disposing of Western Territory; 5.
+  Treaties of peace and purchase with the Indians; 6. Money.
+
+A full program, requiring for the adoption of any measure the
+concurrence of nine States, while barely nine were present, seven of
+which were represented only by two members each; "any of these fourteen
+gentlemen differing from the rest would stay the proceedings", and it
+seemed very doubtful whether anything could be achieved during the
+session.
+
+This brought home to Jefferson the fact that the concentration of the
+executive functions in Congress was an obstacle to carrying out
+effectively the business of the Confederation, and he thought it his
+duty to point out this defect in his "draft of the report on a committee
+of the States", January 30, 1784. It was a lengthy report, not very
+accurately summed up in the "Autobiography", authorizing a permanent
+Committee of the States to act as executive during the recess of
+Congress, and enumerating very minutely the powers that such a committee
+might exercise and those from which it would be excluded. The plan as
+adopted was somewhat different and it was resolved: "That the Committee
+should possess all the powers which may be exercised by the seven States
+in Congress assembled", except concerning foreign relations.
+
+Jefferson recalled in the "Autobiography" that during the following
+recess the committee quarrelled, split into two parties, "abandoned
+their posts, and left the government without any visible head, until the
+next meeting of Congress." He significantly added: "We have since seen
+the same thing take place in the Directory of France; and I believe it
+will forever take place in any executive consisting of a plurality. Our
+plan,--best, I believe,--combines wisdom and practicality; by providing
+a plurality of Counsellors, but a single Arbiter for ultimate decision."
+This conclusion was already reached in 1784, not following a logical
+reasoning, or because of an innate need of unity, but as a result of
+experience. Very early in his life Jefferson became convinced that the
+country could not be properly administered unless the executive powers
+were concentrated in one responsible person, with powers strictly
+defined, but left free to act and to act rapidly within that field. This
+explains, among other things, not only Jefferson's approval of the
+powers granted to the Executive under the Constitution, but also his
+conduct during his two terms as President.
+
+He soon had an opportunity to study the financial problems of the
+Confederation, when a "grand Committee of Congress" was appointed to
+take up the Federal expenses for the current year, inclusive of articles
+of interest on the public debts foreign and domestic.[96] He presented
+on March 22 a "Report on the Arrears of Interest", in which were
+carefully tabulated not only the interest on sums due on account of the
+national debts but an estimate of the expenses for the year 1784,--in
+other words a budget. An outgrowth of the work assigned to the Committee
+was the _establishment of a money unit, and of a coinage for the United
+States_. The report of Jefferson retained some of the essential
+provisions of the proposal drawn up by the "Financier of the U.S."
+(Robert Morris, assisted by Governor Morris), and Jefferson himself did
+not claim so much originality for it as has been given him by some of
+his biographers. The report of the financier proposed that the new
+coins "should be in decimal proportions to one another", and this was
+retained. On the other hand, Morris had proposed as a unit "the 1440th
+part of a dollar", after taking into consideration the old currencies,
+"all of which this unit measures without leaving a fraction." Jefferson
+pointed out that, although theoretically perfect, the unit was much too
+complicated and too small, and he maintained that the unit should be the
+Spanish dollar "a known coin, and the most familiar of all to the minds
+of the people." ... "It is already adopted from South to North," he
+added, "has identified our currency, and therefore happily offers itself
+as a Unit already introduced."
+
+In spite of the financier's opposition, the plan as amended by Jefferson
+was finally adopted and still constitutes the essential foundation of
+the American monetary system. To the student of psychology this incident
+affords another illustration of Jefferson's practical-mindedness. Having
+to choose between two solutions, one mathematically perfect, and another
+one simply regulating and organizing what already existed, he did not
+hesitate a minute and practical considerations prevailed at once in his
+mind.
+
+In the meantime he was working on one of his most important State
+papers. Randall called attention to it and P. L. Ford maintained that
+"next to the Declaration of Independence (if indeed standing second to
+that) this document ranks in historical importance of all those drawn by
+Jefferson; and, but for its being superseded by the 'Ordinance of 1787',
+would rank among all American state papers immediately after the
+National Constitution."[97] Yet it does not seem that its value is
+generally recognized and it is but seldom listed as one of the
+outstanding achievements of Jefferson. For reasons that will shortly
+appear, Jefferson himself neglected to mention it in his
+"Autobiography." It is a capital document by which to understand the
+growth of the Jeffersonian doctrine.
+
+First of all, it resolved that "so much of the territory ceded or to be
+ceded by individual States to the United States as is already purchased
+or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants & offered for sale by
+Congress, shall be divided into distinct states." Which simply meant
+that the westward growth of the country, instead of being left to the
+initiative of the individual States, was placed under the aegis of the
+Confederation and thus became a matter of national importance and
+significance. It provided for a practically unlimited expansion of the
+United States by the establishment of States analogous to the already
+existing Confederacy. It also insisted strongly that all such territory
+be connected as closely as possible with the already existing Union.
+Settlers in any of the territories thus organized, had authority to
+establish a temporary government, adopting with due modification the
+constitution and laws of any of the original States. A permanent
+government was to be established in any State as soon as it should have
+acquired a population of twenty thousand free inhabitants, provided, and
+here we probably have the most important provisions:
+
+  1. That they shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the
+  United States of America. 2. That in their persons, property and
+  territory they shall be subject to the Government of the United
+  States in Congress assembled & to the articles of confederation....
+  4. That their respective Governments shall be in republican forms and
+  shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds any hereditary title.
+  5. That after the year 1800 of the Christian aera, there shall be
+  neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states.
+
+Finally, "whenever any of the said States shall have, of free
+inhabitants, as many as shall then be in any one of the least numerous,
+of the thirteen original States, such State will be admitted by it's
+delegates into the Congress of the United States on an equal footing
+with the said United States."
+
+This report, submitted March 1, recommitted to the committee March 17,
+was considered again by Congress on April 19, 21, 23, and adopted after
+amendment by every State except one. But the amendment took the teeth
+out of the report, since the clause referring to slavery was struck out,
+as well as that concerning the admission of persons holding hereditary
+titles. Other provisions concerning the names to be given to the new
+States were also eliminated. The scholar reappeared in these
+suggestions. If Jefferson's original motion had been accepted, the
+present State of Michigan would wear the name of _Chersonesus_ and on
+the map of the United States would appear such designations as
+_Metropotamia_, _Polypotamia_, and _Pilisipia_.[98]
+
+Finally Jefferson intended to complete the organization and expansion of
+the United States with "An ordinance establishing a Land Office" for the
+United States "to give sure title to the settlers and determine the
+division and subdivision into lots" which was defeated, an entirely new
+ordinance being adopted April 26, 1785.[99]
+
+The most striking feature of all these bills was the eagerness of
+Jefferson to consolidate the Union and to strengthen Federal bonds. With
+a common monetary unit, common interest in a large territory just
+acquired by cession from Virginia, one more thing remained to be
+settled: the organization of permanent relations with foreign nations,
+that is to say, the conclusion of commercial treaties.
+
+It had appeared very soon to Jefferson that if such treaties were to be
+concluded it was desirable to adopt a working policy outlined in his
+"Resolves on European Treaties."[100] To have foreign plenipotentiaries
+come to the United States, discuss with the badly organized body called
+the Continental Congress, whose members would have to report to their
+legislatures and after interminable delays accept or reject the
+proposal, was an impossible procedure. This distrust of Congress was
+amply justified at the time, and one may wonder whether satisfactory
+treaties could ever have been concluded under the supervision of
+Congress; Jefferson therefore proposed that ministers be sent to Europe
+to negotiate with the old and established nations, who could not be
+expected to cross the Atlantic.
+
+On May 7, Congress agreed on _Instructions to the Ministers
+Plenipotentiary appointed to negotiate treaties of Commerce with the
+European Nations_. Once more it was proclaimed:
+
+"That these United Sates be considered in all such treaties, and in
+every case arising under them, as one nation, upon the principle of the
+Federal constitution."
+
+It was also deemed "advantageous that treaties be concluded with Russia,
+the Court of Vienna, Prussia, Denmark, Saxony, Hamburg, Great Britain,
+Spain, Portugal, Genoa, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Venice, Sardinia and the
+Ottoman Porte. That treaties of amity and commerce be entered into with
+Morocco, and the Regencies of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. To have
+supplementary treaties with France, the United Netherlands and Sweden in
+order to incorporate the new policies of the United States."
+
+The plan of treaties contained some remarkable provisions; they were
+clear departures, not from the theory of international law and _droit
+des gens_, as Jefferson had found it in the authorities consulted, but
+from the actual policy of the European nations.
+
+Thus it was proposed that in case of war between the two contracting
+parties,
+
+  The merchants of either country, then residing in the other shall be
+  allowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle their
+  affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their effects,
+  without molestation or hinderance, and all fishermen, all cultivators
+  of the earth, and all artisans or manufacturers, unarmed and
+  inhabiting unfortified towns, villages or places, who labor for the
+  common subsistence and benefit of mankind, and peaceably follow
+  their respective employments, shall be allowed to continue the same.
+
+That "neither of the contracting powers shall grant or issue any
+commission to any private armed vessels, empowering them to take or
+destroy such trading ships, or interrupt such commerce."
+
+In case of war with another nation, "no merchandize heretofore called
+contraband, such as arms, ammunition and military stores of all
+kinds,... shall, on any account, be deemed contraband, so as to induce
+confiscation, and a loss of property to individuals." The right to
+detain vessels carrying such goods a reasonable length of time was
+granted, as well as the right not to seize, but "to purchase" military
+stores with a reasonable compensation to the proprietors; in all cases
+the owners of the ships delayed were to receive a compensation. But all
+vessels not carrying contraband were to be entirely free, adding that a
+blockade in order to be recognized had to be effectual, but even in that
+case "no vessel of the party who is not engaged in the said war, shall
+be stopped without a material and well-grounded cause."
+
+Besides these general provisions, it was recommended that "each party
+shall have a right to carry their own produce, manufactures, and
+merchandise in their own bottoms to the ports of the others, and thence
+the produce and merchandise of the other, paying, in both cases, such
+duties only as are paid by the most favored nations."
+
+A paragraph was intended specially for the commerce with the West
+Indies, "desiring that a direct and similar intercourse be admitted
+between the United States and possessions of the nations holding
+territorial possessions in America."
+
+Finally, as Jefferson as well as his contemporaries were already fearful
+of seeing any influx of foreigners settle in their country and dominate
+the infant government, it was stipulated that no right be accorded to
+aliens to hold real property within these States, this being "utterly
+inadmissible by their several laws and policy."
+
+From the European point of view many things were inadmissible in the
+plan of treaties. To request the nations of the Old World not only to
+abandon privateering, but to relinquish their definitions of contraband
+and their commercial monopolies with their own colonies, was something
+which must have appeared as the wild dream of a people unexperienced in
+the handling of foreign relations. As a matter of fact, the treaties
+were never signed. But if the principles formulated by Jefferson were
+not accepted by the European powers, they remained nevertheless an
+essential part of the foreign policy of the United States.
+
+On the very day the "Instructions" were adopted, Jefferson was appointed
+Minister Plenipotentiary to "negotiate treaties of commerce with foreign
+nations in conjunction with Mr. John Adams and Dr. Franklin." No man in
+Congress was better qualified for such a mission. His work for two years
+on several important committees had acquainted him with the main
+problems of the Union. He had demonstrated his ability to present clear
+reports on the most intricate questions. He had completed his
+apprenticeship of men and things; but it may be wondered whether the
+delegates who recommended his appointment were not impelled by ulterior
+motives. The stand taken by Jefferson on slavery had made him decidedly
+unpopular with the Southern delegates. He had opposed the original
+statutes of the Order of Cincinnati, in which he saw the beginnings of a
+new aristocracy. He had made enemies as well as friends and could write
+to Washington that an experience of twenty years had taught him "that
+few friendships stand this test, & that public assemblies, where
+everyone is free to act & to speak, are the most powerful looseners of
+private friendship." The petty discussions in Congress, the long
+speeches he had to listen to, the quibbling, lack of initiative and
+lack of national spirit of the delegates had thoroughly disgusted him.
+Before receiving his appointment he had already repented of his return
+to public life and had signified his intention of going back to his
+beloved Monticello.
+
+  I have determined--he wrote to Washington--to take no active part in
+  this or anything else, which may lead to altercation, or disturb that
+  quiet & tranquillity of mind to which I consign the remaining portion
+  of my life. I have been thrown back by events on a stage where I had
+  never more thought to appear. It is but for a time, however, & as a
+  day laborer, free to withdraw, or be withdrawn at will.[101]
+
+He seized with eagerness the opportunity of visiting older civilizations
+and enjoying a change of scenes. Having hastily cancelled his order for
+printing a few copies of the "Notes on Virginia", he at once made
+preparations for his departure.
+
+The new plenipotentiary decided to take with him his older daughter
+Martha, then in Philadelphia at Mrs. Hopkinson's, and to leave the two
+younger ones with their maternal aunt, Mrs. Eppes, in Virginia. William
+Short, his "_eleve_" and friend, accompanied him as private secretary
+and Colonel David Humphreys as secretary of the legation.[102] From
+Philadelphia he went to Boston, visiting Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
+the principal towns on his way, in order to acquire "what knowledge he
+could of their commerce and other circumstances." He sailed from Boston
+on the _Ceres_, Captain Sainte-Barbe, bound to Cowes.
+
+Jefferson was then forty-one years old. He knew life and men and had no
+illusions; he had experienced happiness and sorrow; he had had moments
+of exaltation, of hot patriotic fever; he had occupied the front of the
+stage in several circumstances never to be forgotten; he had aroused
+enmities and made devoted and faithful friends, among them Monroe,
+Madison, and Short whom he was taking along with him. But neither his
+disappointments nor his sorrows had made him a misanthrope. Not an
+orator, he liked to talk, and he could not live without society. The
+tall spare man in black was no longer able to feel his heart moved by
+the early emotions of his youth. Next to Washington, who remained in
+America, and to Doctor Franklin, a debonair patriarch, he was the most
+famous national figure of America. None was better qualified by his
+former life and studies to represent America and to speak for his
+country. Whatever sectionalism he may have had in him had disappeared in
+these last two years of Congress, when he had striven so strenuously to
+make the Union an actual fact and to consolidate the loose Federal
+fabric, for only there could men "See the affairs of the Confederacy
+from a high ground; they learn the importance of the Union & befriend
+federal measures when they return. Those who never come here, see our
+affairs insulated, pursue a system of jealousy and self interest, and
+distract the Union as much as they can."
+
+Of Europe he knew little, except what he had been able to absorb from
+books. It was a country of great artistic productivity, of enviable
+social life. Towards England he was not particularly attracted; towards
+France he felt much more favorably inclined. He had met many Frenchmen;
+some of them already had become his close friends, two particularly, the
+Chevalier de Chastellux and especially the youthful, impulsive, and
+charming Lafayette, who in a parting note had asked him to consider his
+house as his and to take the little motherless girl to Madame de
+Lafayette. He knew he would not be without friends, without society,
+that he would have an unique chance to meet the best minds of Europe.
+This practical American, so little given to the "_joie de vivre_" and
+without _abandon_, wanted primarily to increase his knowledge, to gather
+facts, to make comparisons. He had retained the taste for society, the
+good breeding, the polite manners, the artistic tendencies of the
+Virginian, but in him the American was already fully grown. He felt also
+that he had a certain mission and intended to fulfill it: it was to
+convey to the European statesmen whose wiles he distrusted the
+impression that the United States existed as a country, that they did
+not form a loose and temporary confederation of States, but a nation to
+be reckoned with and respected. His country was no longer his native
+Virginia alone: he was thinking nationally and not sectionally. For the
+French Jefferson was already a great American figure; he was going to
+embody the best there was in the newly constituted Union.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK THREE
+
+_An American View of Europe_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SOCIETY AND TRAVEL
+
+
+The _Ceres_ reached Portsmouth nineteen days after leaving Boston, a
+remarkably swift passage, without incident, except for three days spent
+in fishing on the Banks of Newfoundland, while the ship was becalmed.
+Jefferson and his companions were delayed a week in Portsmouth by
+Martha's slight illness, and then went directly to Paris, where he
+arrived on August 6, 1784. Jefferson was to remain in France till the
+fall of 1789--five years crowded with pleasures, social duties,
+political duties, and hard work. His activities were so varied and his
+interests so diversified that it is no longer possible to follow any
+chronological order; we must establish arbitrary divisions, though
+Jefferson passed at all times from one subject to another and was
+incessantly busy with undertakings and plans truly encyclopedic.
+
+First of all, he had to find quarters. He had put up at the Hotel
+d'Orleans, Rue des Petits Augustins, then he had rented "Hotel
+Tete-Bout, cul-de-sac Tete-Bout", and a year later moved to a house
+belonging to M. le Comte de L'Avongeac "at the corner of the Grande
+Route des Champs Elysees and Rue Neuve de Berry", where he continued to
+live as long as he remained in Paris. His secretary Short and Colonel
+Humphreys, secretary to the legation, lived with him. It was "a very
+elegant house, even for Paris, with an extensive garden, court and
+outbuildings, in the handsomest style."
+
+Of Jefferson's first impressions after landing in France we
+unfortunately know nothing. Not until a full year had elapsed did he
+express his personal views in writing. Although he deplored the
+wretched condition of the larger mass of the people, he had already come
+to the conclusion, probably correct, that life in Paris was more
+pleasant than anywhere else on earth: "The roughnesses of the human mind
+are so thoroughly rubbed off with them, that it seems as if one might
+glide through a whole life without a jostle."[103] It was some time,
+however, before he felt entirely at home in Parisian society. He was
+somewhat handicapped and humiliated at first because of lack of means at
+the disposal of the Minister of the United States for maintaining his
+rank. In his report on the reduction of the civil list (March 5, 1784),
+Jefferson, animated with a fine republican zeal, had fixed the
+compensation of American representatives abroad at ten thousand dollars.
+Now that he was in Paris he found the allowance very inadequate. A proud
+Virginian, accustomed to entertain generously, he considered hospitality
+an imperious duty as well as a pleasure, and his letters to Congress are
+filled with complaints on the niggardliness of his resources. However,
+he procured a good French cook in the person of the worthy Petit, who
+became quite attached to him, and wrote for him recipes for "_poulet en
+casserole_" and "_cafe a la francaise_." He informed himself concerning
+the best French wines, some of which he already knew, and made a
+thorough and scientific study of the different vintages, recording the
+result of his observations in unpublished notes. Nor was he so selfish
+as to keep all his knowledge to himself. Adams and Washington used his
+good offices to keep their cellars well stocked in champagne and
+sauternes. For them and for Madison he subscribed to "L'Encyclopedie
+Methodique", he bought new French books, engravings, plaster casts, and
+medals, and his willingness to oblige his friends and to go shopping for
+them was so well known that Mrs. Adams asked him to buy for her daughter
+"two pairs of corsets", much to his distress, since she had omitted to
+send him the measure. For Mrs. Bingham he filled boxes with "caps and
+bonnets"; for Madison he bought a pocket telescope, a walking stick, a
+chemical box, for poor little Polly who had remained with her aunt at
+Eppington "sashes" and Parisian dolls.
+
+Through Franklin, Jefferson was introduced to Madame d'Houdetot, who had
+unlimited admiration for a man who not only was an American and a
+philosopher, but who also knew the names of American plants and trees
+much more thoroughly than her dear Doctor. He obtained for her seeds,
+bulbs, and trees to be planted in the park of Sannois.[104] Through
+Franklin also he met Madame Helvetius and her two abbes, who always
+wrote jointly to Jefferson.[105] At her house, he saw Cabanis, then a
+very young man, Destutt de Tracy and abbe Morellet. He attended concerts
+at Madame d'Houdetot's brother's house, but above all he was attracted
+by Lafayette's family and friends. It was large enough for a man of more
+leisure and more worldly tendencies. There was the Marquis himself and
+his charming wife, who befriended Martha and wrote Jefferson several
+notes filled with that delightful eighteenth-century "_sensibilite_" and
+amiability of which we have lost the secret. There was also Madame de
+Tesse, Lafayette's cousin, who was, however, considerably older than the
+Marquis and whom he called "aunt." Jefferson saw her in Paris and
+visited her often at Chaville, where Short stayed for weeks at a time,
+perfecting himself in the French language and the ways of French
+society. She loved trees, good paintings, fine buildings, statues, and
+music, and did much to educate Jefferson's taste in these matters. Not
+mentioned by his biographers, Madame de Corny played a not
+inconsiderable part in Jefferson's sentimental life. Young, pretty,
+witty, and married to a husband much older than herself, she enjoyed
+Jefferson's company, took with him many walks in the Bois de Boulogne
+and perhaps, secretly, found him too scrupulously polite and too
+respectful.[106] There were also several other women, Madame de Tott, a
+distinguished painter, the vivacious and charming Lucy Paradise,
+Comtesse Barziza, a real "_enfant terrible_", irresponsible, outspoken,
+who in her letters to Jefferson listed all the scandals of the
+days.[107] And one must not forget among Jefferson's feminine
+acquaintances the old Comtesse de la Rochefoucauld, dignified,
+sarcastic, a terrible bore at times, whom on many occasions he vainly
+tried to avoid.
+
+But when all is told, it does not appear that the circle of Jefferson's
+friends was ever very large. During his first year in Paris he did his
+best to keep in the background. To Franklin he owed deference, because
+of his age and the position of the Doctor as the only accredited
+representative to the Court of Versailles. Adams, the other
+plenipotentiary, was older than Jefferson, who on every occasion
+insisted that his colleagues should have precedence over him. A good
+listener, he was much more reserved than Franklin and always remained
+somewhat self-conscious when he spoke or wrote French. If the Doctor
+spoke French as badly as he wrote it, his conversation must have been an
+extraordinary jargon; but Jefferson was too sensitive and had too much
+_amour-propre_ to venture upon long discussions and conversations with
+people he did not know intimately. Most of his French letters were
+written by Short, who became rapidly a master of the language, and we
+may presume that Jefferson never really felt at home in a purely French
+circle.
+
+This was true at least of his first year in Paris. He had many fits of
+despondency and wondered at times whether he was not too old to accustom
+himself to strange people and to strange manners. He often experienced
+the usual longing of the traveler for his native land: "I am now of an
+age which does not easily accommodate itself to new modes of living and
+new manners," he wrote to Baron Geismer, the former prisoner of
+Charlottesville; "and I am savage enough to prefer the woods, the wilds
+and independence of Monticello, to all the brilliant pleasures of this
+gay capital. I shall therefore, rejoin myself to my native country with
+new attachments and exaggerated esteem for its advantages."[108] It was
+probably on these occasions that he took refuge in the most silent of
+all places, a Carthusian monastery, a very strange abode for one who has
+been accused of being a fierce anti-clerical:
+
+  He also had rooms in the Carthusian Monastery on Mount Calvary; the
+  boarders, of whom I think there were forty, carried their own
+  servants, and took their breakfasts in their own rooms. They
+  assembled to dinner only. They had the privilege of walking in the
+  gardens, but as it was a hermitage, it was against the rules of the
+  house for any voices to be heard outside of their own rooms, hence
+  the most profound silence. The author of "Anarcharsis" was a boarder
+  at the time, and many others who had reasons for a temporary
+  retirement from the world. Whenever he had a press of business, he
+  was in the habit of taking his papers and going to the hermitage,
+  where he spent sometimes a week or more till he had finished his
+  work. The hermits visited him occasionally in Paris, and the Superior
+  made him a present of an ivory broom that was turned by one of the
+  brothers.[109]
+
+From time to time this same mood recurred:
+
+  I am burning the candle of life without present pleasure or future
+  object--he wrote to Mrs. Trist in 1786.--A dozen or twenty years ago
+  this scene would have amused me; but I am past the age for changing
+  habits. I take all the fault on myself, as it is impossible to be
+  among a people who wish more to make one happy--a people of the very
+  best character it is possible for one to have. We have no idea in
+  America of the real French character.[110]
+
+Not foreign to this despondency was the bad news that came from America.
+His youngest daughter Lucy died in the fall of 1784 and he was not
+satisfied until he had his remaining daughter near him in Paris, and
+Mary, familiarly called Polly, had joined her sister in the best convent
+of the French capital.
+
+Between social duties and pleasures, dinners at the house of Lafayette,
+meetings of the Committees of Commerce, interviews with Vergennes,
+preparation of long letters to be sent home to keep his Government
+informed of the situation in Europe, correction of the proofs of the
+"Notes on Virginia", interviews with former French volunteers clamoring
+for their back pay, visits to shops and factories, Jefferson was a very
+busy man indeed. But exacting as his occupations were, he found time to
+escape from Paris on three different occasions to see something of
+France and Europe. In 1786 he journeyed to England, traveled in France
+and Italy in the spring of the following year, and visited Holland and
+the Rhine shortly before leaving for home. The diaries he kept during
+these trips are both revealing and disappointing. They demonstrate how
+little of European culture had penetrated his American mind, how
+carefully he preserved himself from the contamination of European
+manners and ways of thinking. In some respects it must be confessed that
+Jefferson remained very narrow and provincial, and almost a Philistine
+in his outlook.
+
+The most damning document is the outline he made for Rutledge and
+Shippen on June 3, 1788, though in some respects it shows good judgment,
+as when Jefferson recommends "not to judge of the manners of the people
+from the people you will naturally see the most of: tavern keepers,
+_valets de place_, and postillions."--"These are the hackneyed rascals
+of every country. Of course they must never be considered when we
+calculate the national character." He manifested the same good sense in
+recommending always to ask for the _vin du pays_ when traveling. But the
+worst comes in his enumeration of the "Objects of Attention for an
+American." It has to be read to be believed and should be transcribed
+here almost in full:
+
+  1. Agriculture. Everything belonging to this art, and whatever has a
+  near relation to it.... 2. Mechanical arts, so far as they respect
+  things necessary in America, and inconvenient to be transported
+  thither ready-made, such as forges, stone quarries, boat bridges,
+  etc. 3. Lighter mechanical arts, and manufactures. Some of these will
+  be worth a superficial view; but circumstances rendering it
+  impossible that America should become a manufacturing country during
+  the time of any man now living, it would be a waste of attention to
+  examine these minutely. 4. Gardens peculiarly worth the attention of
+  an American, because it is the country of all others where the
+  noblest gardens may be made without expense.... 5. Architecture worth
+  a great attention. As we double our numbers every twenty years, we
+  must double our houses.... It is, then, among the most important
+  arts; it is desirable to introduce taste into an art which shows so
+  much. 6. Painting, Statuary. Too expensive for the state of wealth
+  among us. It would be useless, therefore, and preposterous, for us to
+  make ourselves connoisseurs in those arts. They are worth seeing, but
+  not studying. 7. Politics of each country, well worth studying so far
+  as respects internal affairs. Examine their influence on the
+  happiness of the people. Take every possible occasion for entering
+  into the houses of the laborers, and especially at the moment of
+  their repast; see what they eat, how they are clothed, whether they
+  are obliged to work too hard.... 8. Courts. To be seen as you would
+  see the tower of London or menagerie of Versailles with their lions,
+  tigers, hyenas, and other beasts of prey, standing in the same
+  relation to their fellows.... Their manners, could you ape them,
+  would not make you beloved in your own country, nor would they
+  improve it could you introduce them there to the exclusion of that
+  honest simplicity now prevailing in America, and worthy of being
+  cherished.
+
+The man who wrote these lines was certainly not denationalized; the
+emancipated Virginian had unconsciously retained a puritanical distrust
+of purely aesthetic enjoyments. He seems to have taken a sort of wicked
+pleasure in denying himself the disinterested joys of the artist and
+philosopher and his travels in Europe were no "sentimental journey." It
+cannot even be maintained that the views expressed in the letter to
+Shippen were a paradox and that he felt free to enjoy the pleasures from
+which he strove to protect his fellow countrymen. Most revealing in this
+respect is the following passage from a letter written to Lafayette,
+when he was traveling along the Riviera:
+
+  In the great cities I go to see, what travellers think alone worthy
+  of being seen; but I make a job of it, and generally gulp it all down
+  in a day. On the other hand, I am never satisfied with rambling
+  through the fields and farms, examining the culture and cultivators,
+  with a degree of curiosity which makes some take me to be a fool, and
+  others to be much wiser than I am.[111]
+
+He seems to have been dominated by the same utilitarian preoccupations
+during his English journey. There he noted carefully all the
+peculiarities of English gardens, visiting all the show places with
+Whateley's book on gardening in his pocket: "My inquiries," he himself
+said, "were directed chiefly to such practical things as might enable me
+to estimate the expense of making and maintaining a garden in that
+style." This is why the only thing worth noticing at Kew was an
+Archimedes screw for raising water, of which he made a sketch. His
+conclusions were summed up in a letter to John Page after he came back
+to Paris. England had totally disappointed him. The "pleasure gardens",
+to be sure, went far beyond his ideas, but the city of London, though
+handsomer than Paris, was not so handsome as Philadelphia: "Their
+architecture is in the most wretched style I ever saw, not meaning to
+except America, where it is bad, not even Virginia, where it is worse
+than in any other part of America which I have seen." On the other
+hand, the mechanical arts were carried to a wonderful perfection, but
+he took no joy in visiting manufactures and shops, since the view
+reminded him that the frivolity of his fellow countrymen made them
+import many articles from London and thus pay tribute to a foreign
+nation.[112]
+
+When he left Paris for the South of France he was in no more amiable
+mood. It was his first real contact with the French countryside and he
+was shocked beyond words at the sight of the first villages he passed
+through from Sens to Vermanton. He could not understand why the French
+peasants insisted on living close together in villages instead of
+building their houses on the grounds they cultivated. He racked his
+brains for an explanation and could find no better one than to suppose
+that they were "collected by that dogma of their religion which makes
+them believe, that to keep the Creator in good humor with His own works,
+they must mumble a mass every day." The people were illy clothed; the
+sight of women and children carrying heavy burdens and laboring with the
+hoe made the Virginian slave-owner conclude that "in a civilized
+country, men never expose their wives and children to labor above their
+force and sex, as long as their own labor can protect them from it." But
+he nowhere expressed any emotional distress nor heartfelt sympathy for
+these poor wretches and concluded that if there were no beggars it was
+probably an effect of the police.[113]
+
+On the other hand, he noted every detail of the fabrication of Burgundy
+wine, enumerated the different vintages, the cost of casks, bottles,
+methods of transportation and marketing, the price of "_vin ordinaire_",
+of oil, butter, cattle, the cultivation of olive trees and fig trees and
+capers. Monuments are described with a mathematical eye, many small
+points noted, columns described, ornaments studied, but the only
+personal impression elicited by Arles is that "The principal monument
+here, is an amphitheatre, the external portico of which is tolerably
+complete."
+
+What is true of France is even more true of Italy. At Milan the
+cathedral is not even mentioned, but "the salon of the Casa Belgiosa is
+superior to anything I have ever seen." And he adds immediately, "The
+mixture called Scaiola, of which they make their walls and floors, is so
+like the finest marble as to be scarcely distinguishable from it." Pages
+are given to the fabrication of Parmesan cheese. Once, however, in
+walking along the shore from Louano to Alberga, he could not resist the
+enchantment of the landscape. There he noted the remarkable coloration
+of the Mediterranean and was puzzled by it, but he also added, let it be
+marked to his credit:
+
+  If any person wished to retire from his acquaintances, to live
+  absolutely unknown, and yet in the midst of physical enjoyments, it
+  should be in some of the little villages of this coast, where air,
+  water and earth concur to offer what each has most precious. Here are
+  nightingales, beccaficas, ortolans, pheasants, partridges, quails, a
+  superb climate, and the power of changing it from summer to winter at
+  any moment, by ascending the mountains. The earth furnishes wine,
+  oil, figs, oranges, and every production of the garden, in every
+  season. The sea yields lobsters, crabs, oysters, thunny, sardines,
+  anchovies etc. Ortolans sell at this time at thirty sous, equal to
+  one shilling sterling, the dozen.
+
+A queer mixture of suppressed artistic emotions and avowed culinary
+preoccupations. Shades of Rousseau and Wordsworth, to mention the
+nightingale and the ortolans in one breath! But one thing at least we
+must be thankful for is his lack of pretence and conventional
+admiration. It is, after all, refreshing to find a traveler who does not
+copy from his guidebook and does not fall into raptures and worked-up
+ecstasies. He came back through "Luc, Brignolles, Avignon, Vaucluse",
+simply noting that "there are fine trout in the stream of Vaucluse and
+the valley abounds particularly with nightingales." He saw Nimes,
+Montpellier, Frontignan, where he discussed the manufacture and price of
+wine; he passed through Carcassonne and was much interested in the canal
+and "the carp caught there", but did not mention the walls; he stayed
+several days at Bordeaux, measured the remains of a Roman amphitheater
+and made a thorough study of the wines; "Chateau Margau, La Tour de
+Segur, Hautbrion, Chateau de la Fite, Pontac, Sauternes, Barsac." He
+visited Nantes, Rennes, Angers, Tours, and ascertained the truth of the
+allegations of the famous "growth of shells unconnected with animal
+bodies" mentioned by Voltaire and discussed in the "Notes on Virginia."
+He saw Chanteloup and heard a nightingale there, but was far more
+interested in "an ingenious contrivance to hide the projecting steps of
+a stair-case."
+
+The same utilitarian preoccupation reappears most conspicuously in his
+"Memorandums on a Tour from Paris to Amsterdam, Strasburg, and back to
+Paris" (March, 1788). At Amsterdam he studied the Dutch wheelbarrow, the
+canal to raise ships over the Pampus, joists of houses, the aviary of
+Mr. Ameshoff near Harlem; he made a sketch of the Hope's House "of a
+capricious appearance yet a pleasant one"--an architectural atrocity if
+ever there was one. At Duesseldorf "the gallery of paintings is sublime",
+but equally interesting is the hog of this country (Westphalia) "of
+which the celebrated ham is made which sells at eight and a half pence
+sterling the pound." If he saw the cathedral at Cologne he forbore to
+mention it, but at Coblenz he had his first taste of the Moselle wine.
+It would be cruel to reproduce his description of the "clever ruin at
+Hanau, with the hermitage in which is a good figure of a hermit in
+plaster, colored to the life, with a table and a book before him, in the
+attitude of contemplation."
+
+And yet, when the worst is told, one may wonder whether there would not
+be some unfairness in judging Jefferson merely from these memoranda.
+There he noted information for which he foresaw some further use,
+interesting knowledge which could be utilized at Monticello or for the
+benefit of his fellow countrymen. How to plant and prune the vines and
+the olive trees; how to make cheese and oil; how to introduce the "St.
+Foin", new vegetables, new crops such as rice, new industries such as
+the silkworm and mulberry tree; how to build a house; all this required
+exactness and precision and could scarcely be trusted to memory.
+Pleasant impressions of travel, on the contrary, could always be evoked
+through the imagination and would lose very little of their charm and
+value with time. Furthermore to put down these impressions in black and
+white would have required a certain process of analysis entirely foreign
+to Puritan consciousness, and a Puritan Jefferson had remained in his
+speech and manners far more than he himself believed. There was in these
+purely aesthetic pleasures something really too personal to be indulged
+in, at least in writing. Once, however, he did away with all the
+restraint imposed upon him by education and the "habits of his country";
+it is in the well-known letter written from Nimes to Madame de Tesse.
+Parts of it at least, in all fairness to Jefferson, have to be quoted
+here as a contrast to the dryness and objectiveness of the notes on
+travel....
+
+  Here I am, Madam, gazing whole hours at the Maison Quarree, like a
+  lover at his mistress.... This is the second time I have been in love
+  since I left Paris. The first was with a Diana at the Chateau de
+  Laye-Epinaye in Beaujolais, 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 violently 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
+  place a chair there, so that sitting on the parapet, and twisting my
+  neck around to see the object of my admiration, I generally left 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 whatever is Roman and noble. At Vienna I thought
+  of you. But I am glad you were not here; 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 barbarians who have converted it to its
+  present purpose, its beautiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out, in
+  parts, to make space for Gothic windows, and hewed down, in the
+  residue, to the plane of the buildings, was enough, you must admit,
+  to disturb my composure. At Orange too, I thought of you. I was sure
+  you had seen with pleasure the sublime triumphal arch of Marius at
+  the entrance of the city. I went then to the Arenae. Would you
+  believe, Madam, that in this eighteenth century, in France, under the
+  reign of Louis XVI, they are at this moment pulling down the circular
+  wall of this superb remain, to pave a road? And that too, from a hill
+  which is itself en entire mass of stone, just as fit, and more
+  accessible.[114]
+
+This is indeed a charming letter; but why did he not write more often in
+this vein? Why did he send to Martha moralizing and edifying letters
+when he was traveling in Southern France and Italy? His latent
+puritanism, as already shown, may partly account for this reticence, but
+this came from a deeper feeling. He had already protested in his "Notes
+on Virginia" against the claim made by Europe to intellectual supremacy.
+He realized, however, how powerful was the attraction of the great
+centers of European culture on young America, and was afraid that the
+introduction of foreign arts, foreign literature, foreign customs, and
+"mode" might corrupt the very springs of American life. This blind
+admiration of everything European constituted one of the greatest
+dangers if America wished to develop on her own soil a civilization of
+her own. Friends in Virginia had to be convinced that an American youth,
+brought up on a strictly American diet, would in nowise be inferior to
+most Europeans. If one insisted upon sending a young man to Europe, the
+chances were that he would learn nothing essential, that on the contrary
+he would lose many of his native qualities and at any rate his native
+innocence and purity of mind. This appears most conspicuously in a
+letter written to J. B. Bannister, Junior, who had manifested the
+intention of sending his son to Europe. There Jefferson proceeded to
+denounce the features of European civilization as vehemently as any
+Puritan preacher and with the same frankness of expression. To enumerate
+the disadvantages of sending a youth to Europe "would require a volume",
+so he had to select a few. England is shortly disposed of: "If he goes
+to England, he learns drinking, horse racing, and boxing," for those are
+the peculiarities of English education. If he goes to the continent he
+will acquire a fondness for luxury and dissipation, he will contract a
+partiality for aristocracy and monarchy; he will soon be led to consider
+"fidelity to the marriage bed as an ungentlemanly practice." He will
+become denationalized and recollecting "the voluptuary dress and arts of
+the European women, will pity and despise the chaste affections and
+simplicity of those of his own country." He will return to America "a
+foreigner", speaking and writing his own tongue "like a foreigner", and
+therefore unqualified to obtain those distinctions, which eloquence of
+the pen and tongue ensures in a free country. There can be only one
+conclusion after such a fierce denunciation of Europe:
+
+  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 expected. 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 homogeneous with those of the country.[115]
+
+Very bold indeed would have been the American father who, with such a
+frightful picture before his eyes, would have sent his son to Europe.
+
+Thus we are led to a very unexpected conclusion. There is little doubt
+that Jefferson's democratic theories were confirmed and clarified by his
+prolonged stay in Europe. But this was not due to the lessons he
+received from the French philosophers. He had gone to France under the
+misapprehension that he would be considered there as a "savage from the
+mountains of America"; he had been dazzled at first by the splendor of
+the old world, but he had soon overcome his admiration and arrived at
+the conclusion that the game was not worth the candle. Life in Paris was
+very pleasant, but some one had to foot the bill, and the general fate
+of humanity was most deplorable in Europe. Such are the general
+impressions he sent to his friend Bellini one year after arriving in
+Paris:
+
+  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. The great mass of
+  the people suffer under physical and moral oppression; but the
+  condition of the great if more closely observed cannot compare with
+  the degree of happiness which is enjoyed in America. Among them there
+  is no family life, no conjugal love, no domestic happiness; intrigues
+  of love occupy the young and those of ambition, the elder part of the
+  great.
+
+Much, very much inferior, this, to the tranquil, permanent felicity with
+which domestic society in America blesses most of its inhabitants;
+leaving them to follow steadily those pursuits which health and reason
+approve, and rendering truly delicious the intervals of those pursuits!
+
+If one looks to another field, the situation is very similar. "In
+science, the mass of the people are two centuries behind ours; their
+literature half a dozen years before us." But that is no serious
+inconvenience; books which are really good acquire a reputation in that
+lapse of time and then pass over to America, while poor books,
+controversial and uncertain knowledge are naturally weeded out, so that
+America is not bothered with that "swarm of nonsensical publications
+which issue daily from a thousand presses, and perishes almost in
+issuing."
+
+On some points, however, Europeans have a decided superiority over the
+Americans: they have more amiable manners, they are more polite, more
+temperate, "they do not terminate the most sociable meals by
+transforming themselves into brutes. I have never seen a man drunk in
+France, even among the lowest of the people."
+
+Finally in the arts there is no possible comparison:
+
+  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.[116]
+
+Nor are we to believe that in Jefferson's opinion this was a small
+achievement. Had he been more poetically inclined he might have repeated
+the apostrophe of the old poet: "France mother of all the arts." But
+when all is told, the fact remained that Europe had more to learn from
+America than she could possibly give to the new nation, and thereupon
+Jefferson started to "boost" his own country. Protesting against a
+pseudo-discovery of an English wheelwright, he declared that the idea
+had been stolen from Doctor Franklin who had observed it in
+Pennsylvania, Delaware and Jersey, and the Jersey farmers might have
+borrowed it from Homer, "for ours are the only farmers who can read
+Homer."[117] Against the architectural feats of the Europeans it is not
+unfair to claim the superiority of American scenery, particularly of the
+Virginia marvels, such as the Natural Bridge, for "that kind of pleasure
+surpasses much in my estimation, whatever I find on this side of the
+Atlantic."[118]
+
+At the end of his journey in France and Italy he conceded that there are
+indeed in these countries "things worth our imitation." But he
+immediately added, "the accounts from our country give me to believe
+that we are not in a condition to hope of the imitation of anything
+good."[119] In the meantime it is better for the Americans to stay at
+home, for "travelling makes men wiser, but less happy"; and he wrote to
+Peter Carr, whose education he had undertaken to direct: "There is no
+place where your pursuit of knowledge will be so little obstructed by
+foreign objects, as your own country, nor any, wherein the virtues of
+the heart will be less exposed to be weakened."[120]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+GALLO-AMERICAN COMMERCE AND THE DEBT QUESTION
+
+
+After Franklin's departure from Paris, Jefferson was left officially in
+charge of the diplomatic relations of the United States with the French
+Court. Adams was in London and Carmichael in Madrid, and with them he
+exchanged extensive communications. But the Paris legation was really
+the headquarters of American diplomacy, and the problems that came up
+taxed the ingenuity and all the intellectual resources Jefferson could
+command.
+
+Summing up his activities in Paris, he declared with too much modesty in
+his "Autobiography":
+
+  My duties, at Paris, were confined to a few objects; the receipts of
+  our whale oils, salted fish, and salt meat, on favorable terms; the
+  admission of our rice on equal terms with that of Piedmont, Egypt and
+  the Levant; a mitigation of the monopolies of our tobacco by the
+  Farmers-general, and a free admission of our productions into their
+  islands, were the principal commercial objects which required
+  attention; and on these occasions, I was powerfully aided by all the
+  influence and the energies of the Marquis de LaFayette, who proved
+  himself equally zealous for the friendship and welfare of both
+  nations.
+
+As a matter of fact, Jefferson's duties extended to many other subjects,
+of which the most important and at any rate the most perplexing may have
+been the settlement of the debt question. This problem, as we shall
+presently see, haunted Jefferson's mind and was never separated by him
+from the purely commercial questions. In many respects the situation
+then existing between the United States and France was very similar to
+the present situation and certainly not easier to solve. An estimate of
+Jefferson's career that would leave out this particular side of his
+activities when in France, would necessarily be incomplete, if not
+misleading. A large part of the minister's time was devoted, not to
+philosophical conversations with Helvetius' friends but to obstinate,
+patient, and harassing endeavor to obtain for his country commercial
+rights and even privileges that would enable her to pay off her debt to
+Europe. In spite of his affected scorn for figures and statistics, the
+"philosopher" demonstrated an unusual business ability.
+
+The tobacco trade in which the Southern States and particularly Virginia
+were vitally interested was at that time entirely in the hands of the
+Farmers-general, whose monopoly was not administered to the best
+interests of either the American growers or the French consumers. Being
+closely allied with some of the prominent economists and entirely in
+sympathy with their views, Lafayette was naturally against the farming
+of taxes on tobacco. But as he realized that there was very little hope
+of doing away entirely with the system, he contented himself at first
+with employing his best efforts to facilitate the direct importation of
+tobacco into France. As early as May, 1785, he managed to obtain a copy
+of a document indicating that some London dealers were offering to the
+Farmers-general large quantities of Virginia tobacco. He communicated
+the document at once to Jefferson, and suggested that it was important
+for both countries to eliminate the London middlemen. Direct commercial
+relations should be established between France and America, not only as
+a matter of patriotism, but also as a matter of interest.[121]
+
+This proposed change in the traditional policy of the Farmers-general,
+who were accustomed to deal with British intermediaries, met with a
+strong opposition from the Farmers-general. For reasons which they did
+not state openly, they refused either to deal with independent American
+growers, or to buy from a new and strictly American company planned by
+Jefferson.[122]
+
+Unable to overcome the resistance of the Farmers-general, Jefferson
+decided that the next step would be to fight the monopoly and to
+persuade the Court to do away with it. It was a logical more than a
+truly diplomatic procedure, since Jefferson took upon himself to meddle
+in the internal affairs of the government to which he was accredited.
+But Jefferson, without being the originator of the famous "shirt-sleeve"
+diplomacy, was not the man to let diplomatic proprieties stand in the
+way of the best interests of his country. Furthermore, he was quite
+sincere in his belief that he was acting to the greatest advantage of
+both France and America. He therefore wrote to Vergennes a long letter,
+in which he stated the advantages which would accrue to the royal
+treasury from the abolition of the tobacco monopoly.[123]
+
+There is no indication that Vergennes resented in any way Jefferson's
+suggestion; but there is no evidence either that he paid any attention
+to it. Things remained in the same condition to the end of the year. Up
+to that date, Lafayette had fought as a free lance the commercial battle
+of the United States, using his personal influence and family
+connections to undermine the prestige of the Farmers-general. At the
+beginning of 1786, Calonne, yielding to his solicitations, formed the
+Comite du Commerce composed of Farmers-general, inspectors of commerce,
+and members of the council, in order to study the future of the
+commercial relations between France and the United States. Lafayette was
+appointed to the committee on February 9, 1786. He had very little
+training in economics and had never displayed any particular aptitude
+for financial problems. But back of him was Jefferson, and on the
+committee Lafayette was nothing but the spokesman of the American
+Plenipotentiary. The account of his speeches before the committee, given
+by Brissot, and reprinted in a note to the "Memoirs of General
+Lafayette", is simply the resume of a letter sent by Jefferson to
+Vergennes six months earlier. Jefferson prompted him, furnished him with
+figures and statistics, and in a letter written at the eleventh hour
+urged him to expose the fundamental dishonesty of the Farmers-general.
+Since, according to their own figures, said Jefferson, they lose
+annually over four million livres by the farming of tobacco "the king,
+in favor to them, should discontinue the bail; and they cannot ask its
+continuance without acknowledging they have given in a false state of
+quantities and sums."[124]
+
+Standing alone in the committee against a strong combination of skilled
+financiers, Lafayette was fighting for a lost cause without any profit
+to himself or any visible hope of success.[125]
+
+Both Lafayette and Jefferson were outmaneuvered by the financiers. They
+professed that they were willing to denounce their contracts with the
+London merchants, and thus seemed to accomplish a grand patriotic
+gesture, but they granted to the American financier, Robert Morris, the
+exclusive privilege of buying tobacco for them and thus defeated the
+main purpose of Jefferson. The minister had to confess that he was
+beaten, although he had spared no pains to strike at the root of the
+monopoly. "The persons interested in it are too powerful to be opposed,
+even by the interest of the whole country."[126]
+
+But it was not in his character ever to give up; he soon renewed the
+attack at another point. First he succeeded in postponing for six months
+the effect of the new lease to Morris, and thus permitted American
+importers who had accumulated stocks in Lorient to sell them directly
+to the Farmers-general. Some time later he partially nullified the
+concession to Morris by obtaining an order from the council "obliging
+the Farmers-general to purchase from such other merchants as shall offer
+fifteen thousand hogshead of tobacco", and to grant to the sellers in
+other respects the same terms as they had granted Robert Morris.
+
+Thus, indirectly but very effectively, Jefferson finally achieved his
+purpose: to undermine an odious monopoly which caused a great loss to
+the planters of his country; to enable the American consumers to buy
+directly from France manufactured products, or at least those
+"commodities which it is more advantageous to us to buy here than in
+England, or elsewhere"; finally "to reinforce the motives for a
+friendship from this country towards ours.--This friendship we ought to
+cultivate closely, considering the present dispositions of England
+towards us."[127]
+
+In addition, he flattered himself that he had taught the French some
+sound economic principles:
+
+  I have been for some time occupied in endeavouring to destroy the
+  root of the evils which the tobacco trade encounters in this country,
+  by making the ministers sensible that merchants will not bring a
+  commodity to a market, where but one person is allowed to buy it; and
+  that so long as that single purchaser is obliged to go to foreign
+  markets for it, he must pay for it in coin and not in commodities.
+  These truths have made their way to the mind of the ministry
+  insomuch, as to have delayed the execution of the new lease of the
+  farms, six months. It is renewed, however, for three years, but so as
+  not to render impossible a reformation of the great evil. They are
+  sensible to the evil, but it is so interwoven with their fiscal
+  system, that they find it hazardous to disentangle. The temporary
+  distress, too, of the revenue, they are not prepared to meet. My
+  hopes, therefore, are weak, though not quite desperate.[128]
+
+One might well wonder to what extent these "truths" were as new to the
+French as Jefferson seemed to believe, and to what extent he was
+operative in strengthening the opposition to the Farmers-general,
+already very strong in France. However that may be, the American
+minister learned from the French example as much as he taught the
+members of the committee. The tobacco monopoly was to him another object
+lesson on the danger of farming taxes, and he did not forget it.
+
+Even greater obstacles were encountered by Jefferson and Lafayette in
+their effort to develop commercial transactions with New England. The
+negotiations extended over three years and would be worth relating in
+detail.[129] Jefferson, bent on breaking customs barriers and obtaining
+free entrance for the products of New England fisheries, brought forward
+every possible argument to fight the doctrine of commercialism and
+summed up his case in a letter sent to Lafayette, but evidently intended
+for the committee. There for the first time he pointed out the necessary
+connection existing between the tariff question and the repayment of the
+French debt. The problem of "transfers" is not a new one, and
+Jefferson's reasoning sounds strangely familiar to all those who have
+paid any attention to our present problems of debt settlement,
+reparations, and tariff. The following passage seems particularly worth
+quoting:
+
+  On running over the catalogue of American imports, France will
+  naturally mark out those articles which she could supply us to
+  advantage; and she may safely calculate, that, after a little time
+  shall have enabled us to get rid of our present incumbrances, and
+  some remains of attachment to the particular forms of manufacture to
+  which we have been habituated, we shall take those articles which she
+  can furnish, on as good terms as other nations, to whatever extent
+  she will enable us to pay for them. It is her interest therefore, as
+  well as ours, to multiply the means of payment. These must be found
+  in the catalogue of our exports, and among these will be seen neither
+  gold nor silver. We have no mines of either of those metals. Produce
+  therefore is all we can offer.[130]
+
+The conclusion was that it was imperative to obtain such abatement of
+duties and even such exemptions as the importance of the article might
+justify, in the hope that his country would be enabled to build up a
+commercial credit of about 275,000 louis, which would provide for the
+service and amortization of the American debt to France.
+
+Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of Lafayette and also to the
+sympathetic attitude of the committee, a series of _arrets du conseil_
+listed in a letter to Monroe was finally obtained.[131] There was little
+hope at first that they would be countersigned, but in October of the
+same year Jefferson, with evident satisfaction, was able to inform Jay
+of the new regulations granting free ports to America, abolishing export
+taxes on brandies, and for a year the tax on whale oil and spermaceti,
+on potash, furs, leather, timber, trees, and shrubbery, brought either
+in American or French bottoms. Every effort had been made not only to
+place the United States on the footing of the most favored nation, but
+to encourage her infant industries and manufactures. The new regulations
+approved by Calonne did much to free America from her commercial
+subservience to Great Britain and also reinforce, according to
+Jefferson's wishes, the motives for a "friendship from France towards
+America."
+
+This was by no means the end of all difficulties; the abatement on whale
+oil was only temporary and Jefferson was never able to obtain entire
+satisfaction in respect to the tobacco trade, but there is no doubt that
+the situation had greatly improved.
+
+Even during the last months of his stay in France he never overlooked an
+opportunity to further the commercial interests of the United States.
+His fear to see his fellow countrymen "over-trade themselves and embark
+into the ocean of speculation" had not abated. He still believed that
+"we have no occasion for more commerce than to take off our superfluous
+produce", and tobacco was clearly in that class.[132] But at that time
+there arose an opportunity both to develop commercial relations and to
+be of distinct service to France. The years that immediately precede the
+French Revolution were marked by a very distressing food shortage in
+France and particularly in the capital. This was one of the most
+disquieting problems confronting the Committee of Commerce and the city
+syndics. Jefferson, because of his connections with Lafayette, Du Pont
+de Nemours, and Mr. Ethis de Corny, was particularly well informed on
+the situation and he turned his best efforts to induce the government to
+remedy it through the importation of American products. He thought that
+besides the salt fish from New England, salt meat and corn beef would
+constitute a desirable addition to the French diet and he undertook a
+campaign to convert the French to the idea. One of his last letters to
+Necker, on September 26, 1789, was to recommend the importation of
+salted provisions from the United States, appraising the quality of
+American salt meat, for "the experience of a great part of America,
+which is fed almost entirely on it, proves it to be as wholesome as
+fresh meat."[133]
+
+In spite of all the obstacles to the development of the Gallo-American
+commerce because of the deep-rooted French horror of innovations and
+changes, the efforts of Jefferson and his friends were not wholly
+unavailing. According to Mr. Woolery, in 1789 importations from the
+United States amounted to 140,959 barrels of flour, 3,664,576 bushels of
+wheat and 12,340,000 pounds of rice. Vessels coming from the United
+States to French ports in this year included thirteen French,
+forty-three English and one hundred and sixty-three American; the
+tonnage of American vessels was 19,173 in 1788 and 24,173 in 1789.
+Exports to France in 1788 were valued at $1,384,246; to French
+possessions in America $3,284,656; and from them, $155,136 and
+$1,913,212 respectively. In this trade the American tonnage engaged was
+approximately ten times that of the French. The philosopher had proved
+himself a first-class commercial agent. He had built up trade relations
+which would have consolidated the friendship between the two countries
+if the Revolution had not intervened. But no real friendship can exist
+between creditor and debtor; the debt problem was no less important than
+the commercial problem, and Jefferson displayed on this occasion an
+ingenuity and a diplomatic skill no less worthy of commendation.
+
+When he took charge of the legation at Paris the finances of the United
+States were in a deplorable condition. Loans made by the
+Farmers-general, by Beaumarchais, by the King of France, and loans
+contracted in Holland and in Spain, constituted the most important
+outstanding liabilities of the American Government. In 1783 the
+situation as reported to Congress was as follows:
+
+  To the Farmers-general of France, livres    1,000,000
+  To Beaumarchais                             3,000,000
+  To King of France, to the end of 1782      28,000,000
+  To same for 1783                            6,000,000
+
+To this total was to be added a loan from Holland for $671,200, and
+$150,000 borrowed from Spain by Jay. Interest was coming in at the rate
+of four per cent. on the French loan, making it a total of approximately
+$7,885,000. The domestic situation was far worse; the States had plunged
+into issues of paper money: $241,552,780 had been issued in bills of
+credit by Congress, and $209,524,776 by the States.
+
+If it is remembered that private investors had bought American paper
+rather recklessly, that important sums were due to England, and that
+the United States could not even meet the interest on the debts without
+further borrowing, it is small wonder that European creditors began to
+wonder whether they would ever be repaid. The first task confronting the
+new Minister Plenipotentiary was to convince them that the United States
+as then organized had a sufficient stability to allay all fears.
+Jefferson undertook at once to clarify the situation. In a letter to the
+Dutch bankers, N. and J. Van Staphorst, he asserted that no man in
+America had ever entertained any doubt that "our foreign debt is to be
+paid fully." He significantly added: "Were I the holder of any of them,
+I should not have the least fear of their full payment." But he had to
+call the attention of the bankers to the fact that some international
+notes were issued for paper money debts, and those of course would be
+subject to a certain depreciation, to be settled by Congress according
+to carefully worked out tables. The safer thing, therefore, for European
+investors was to beware of and to avoid any speculation on American
+bills and "foreigners should be sure that they are well advised, before
+they meddle with them, or they may suffer."[134] He repeated the same
+advice on October 25: "It is a science which bids defiance to the powers
+of reason."
+
+With the particulars of the different loans obtained by Jefferson while
+he was in France, and with the transactions that took place in Holland,
+we cannot deal here. It would be a study well worth undertaking
+separately, and one for which there is abundant material not yet
+utilized in the Jefferson papers, particularly in his correspondence
+with Dumas, the agent at the Hague. We shall restrict ourselves,
+however, to the political aspect of the debt settlement during
+Jefferson's mission.
+
+The French were at first very polite about it; without insisting in any
+way on the question of payment, Vergennes simply asked Jefferson whether
+"the condition of American finances was improving." The French minister
+did not even mention the possibilities of the United States paying the
+arrears of the interest; but Jefferson suffered and irked, thinking that
+he was probably expected to mention it first, while he could not do so
+without instructions and there were "no visible means to pay anything
+for the present."[135]
+
+Curiously enough, the matter came to a head with England during the trip
+made by Jefferson in the spring of 1786. He held several conferences
+with the British merchants and tried to obtain with them a sort of
+compromise by which American merchants would repay in full the capital
+of debts contracted before and after the war, but withdrawing payment of
+the interest for the period of the war. It was then that Jefferson put
+forth the principle he was to maintain persistently with the
+French,--namely that the matter of commerce and the question of the
+debts could not be separated, "were it only as a means of enabling our
+country to pay its debts."[136]
+
+The chief fault of Jefferson's solution, however, was that there was
+very little America could sell to England, while the Americans
+themselves were eagerly buying goods manufactured in England. There was
+great danger of seeing that economic vassalage perpetuated, for "instead
+of a proper equilibrium, everything at present lies all in the British
+scale."[137] Importations being permitted, fashion and folly requiring
+English products, the country was sinking deeper and deeper into
+poverty, and all the news on the matter received by Jefferson "filled
+him with despair."
+
+However, something had to be done at once in the case of the French
+debt, as Jefferson knew that the French Minister of Finance was "at his
+wit's end to raise supplies for the ensuing year."[138] It does not
+appear that the French Court had made any representation on the debt to
+the American Plenipotentiary, but Jefferson fully realized that he was
+placed in a position of inferiority as long as the vexing question
+remained unsettled and payments on the interest were overdue. This was
+the more deplorable, as France was the only European nation with which
+the United States could hope to develop really satisfactory relations.
+It was at this juncture that a very interesting proposition was made
+through Dumas by the Dutch bankers. The French debt's most objectionable
+feature was that it placed the American Government under direct
+obligation to the French; in other words, as we would say now, it was a
+political debt, but means might be found to change it into a purely
+commercial debt. If a company of bankers were formed to pay off France
+at once, the American Government would be able to treat with them on a
+business basis, the greatest advantage being that in case of delayed
+payments, no political pressure could be exerted or political advantage
+claimed.
+
+The only objection to such a combination was that it could not be made
+without the consent of both the French and American governments, and
+negotiations to that effect would necessarily take a long time. To
+provide for the most pressing needs, Jefferson proposed to raise
+directly in Holland the four and twenty millions due to France as
+accrued interest. This would make a beginning and create a precedent. In
+the meantime Adams was urged to go to Holland to acquaint himself with
+the situation, so as to be able to present a definite solution to
+Congress on his return to America.[139] The French court remained very
+considerate and did not make any formal representations; but very harsh
+criticism of the failure of America to meet her obligations were heard
+during the Assemblee des Notables. The funds were so low that the
+American Government could not even pay its debts to the French officers
+who, because of their influence with the Court, should have received
+special consideration. Yet Congress did not seem to realize how pressing
+the matter was, and Jefferson could only repeat with real despair and
+disgust: "Would to heaven they would authorize you to take measures for
+transferring the debt of this country to Holland before you leave
+Europe."[140]
+
+On their side, the French Court did their best to reassure the French
+creditors, and when the written report of the Assemblees des Notables
+appeared it had been considerably toned down, simply stating that:
+
+  ... the interest of the claims of His Majesty on the United States of
+  America, cannot be drawn out for the present, except as a document.
+  The recovery of these claims, as well as principal as perhaps even
+  interest, although they appear to rest on the most solid security,
+  may, nevertheless, be long delayed, and should not consequently, be
+  taken into account in estimating the annual revenue.
+
+But even that mention seemed to Jefferson a reflection on the national
+honor of his country. He was harassed by French claimants; Beaumarchais
+had just placed in his hands a memorial to Congress; French officers
+were writing to him and calling on him, threatening to sell their claims
+to a single creditor, or to ask the court to intervene in their favor.
+But all the unfortunate American minister could answer was that Congress
+"would do in that business, what justice would require, and their means
+enable them."[141]
+
+At the end of the same year he learned that Congress had rejected the
+proposition of the Dutch bankers, and he could not help expressing deep
+disappointment. One hope was left however: the sale of western lands
+then going on which would provide Congress with important liquid
+assets.
+
+  I turn to this precious resource--he wrote to a friend--as that which
+  will, in every event, liberate us from our domestic debt, and perhaps
+  too, from our foreign one; and this much sooner than I had expected.
+  I do not think anything could have been done with them in Europe.
+  Individual speculators and sharpers had duped so many with their
+  unlocated land-warrants, that every offer would be suspected.[142]
+
+In the meantime something had to be done to reassure the creditors of
+the United States, and Jefferson pressed Dumas to publish a series of
+articles in the _Gazette of Leyden_ to demonstrate the financial
+stability of his country. The situation had to be presented as follows:
+two sales of five million and two million acres respectively had been
+made, another for four million was in process and Jefferson considered
+that these sales had absorbed seven million dollars of the domestic
+Federal debt. The States had absorbed by taxation and otherwise about
+ten million dollars, so "that the debt stands now at about ten millions
+of dollars, and will probably be all absorbed in the course of next
+year. There will remain then our foreign debt, between ten and twelve
+millions, including interest. The sale of land will then go on for
+payment of this."[143] But in spite of this official optimism the
+Commissioners of the Treasury had informed Willincks and Van Staphorsts
+that they should "not be able to remit one shilling till the New
+Government gets into action" and that consequently they were not to pay
+anything towards the interest of the Dutch loan except out of the
+proceeds of the last loan. To which the Dutch bankers had answered that
+"there was not much prospect to raise as much on that new loan as would
+cover the next June interest and that the credit of the United States
+was in danger of being wiped off."[144] As Adams was about to leave for
+America, Jefferson, at the request of the Dutch bankers, met him at
+Amsterdam and for several days the two American envoys did their best to
+convince close-fisted financiers, who had speculated in American bonds
+and refused to do anything until paid for the interest on the domestic
+bonds they held. They finally yielded, but to avoid further
+embarrassment Jefferson and Adams decided to provide at one stroke for
+the years 1789 and 1790 by signing new bonds for a million florins,
+subject to approval of Congress.[145]
+
+The real danger, as both Adams and Jefferson saw it, came from unwise
+speculation in American domestic bonds, since the bankers had tried to
+use these bonds as a sort of lever; consequently the transfer of
+domestic bonds to Europe was to be discouraged by every possible means.
+"If the transfer of these debts to Europe, meet with any encouragement
+from us, we can no more borrow money here, let our necessities be what
+they will."[146]
+
+How desperate the situation was at that date appears in two letters
+written to General Washington May 2, 1788, and to James Madison, May 3,
+1788.[147] Jefferson's visit at Amsterdam had convinced him that the
+credit of the United States was at its lowest ebb and in great danger of
+being reduced to nil. The nation with the highest credit was Great
+Britain, because the English never asked for a loan without providing by
+new taxes for the repayment of it. He indicated that no doubt was
+entertained by any one in Holland about the ultimate repayment of the
+capital, but that repeated failures to pay the interest on the old loans
+had stopped any further borrowing. As to the French debt, the Court had
+carefully avoided any public mention of it, "the government here, saying
+nothing about it, the public have supposed they wished to leave us at
+our ease as to the payment. It is now seen that they call for it, and
+they will publish annually the effect of that call." The most pressing
+need was an order from the Treasury to pay the arrears for the last
+three years to the French officers. With much difficulty Jefferson had
+prevented them from holding a meeting to agree on concerted action on
+the matter, and when he came back he prevented them from taking
+"desperate measures" till July. But a solution could not be deferred
+much longer. The necessary sum was comparatively small: twenty thousand
+florins a year would have sufficed "to suppress these clamors", and
+through diplomacy he finally succeeded in staying the address they
+intended to send to Congress and to the king, asking him to intervene on
+their behalf.[148]
+
+Fortunately the loan launched in Holland to meet the payment of the June
+interest had succeeded and had been finally ratified by Congress.[149]
+It was a beginning that brought some respite to Jefferson, but he
+insisted again that the next step to take was the funding of the foreign
+debt, for the French Government expected "a very satisfactory provision
+for the payment of their debt, from the first session of the new
+Congress."[150] He was enclosing two tables "showing what fund will
+suffice to discharge the principal and interest, as it shall become due
+aided by occasional loans, which the same fund will repay." This very
+detailed and technical proposal now preserved in the Jefferson papers of
+the Library of Congress would repay careful study.
+
+During the spring of the same year, however, Jefferson made a startling
+discovery which added to his distress. The international bankers of
+Amsterdam were not as politically disinterested as he had thought at
+first. He even suspected that, by careful manipulations, they intended
+to keep control of the credit of the United States.
+
+  I have observed--wrote Jefferson--that as soon as a sum of interest
+  is becoming due, they are able to borrow just that, and no more; or,
+  at least, only so much more as may pay our salaries and keep us
+  quiet.... I think it possible, they may choose to support our credit
+  to a certain point, and let it go no further, but at their will; to
+  keep it poised, as that it may be at their mercy. By this, they may
+  be sure to keep us in their own hands.[151]
+
+This had to be remedied at once; energetic representations were sent to
+the bankers and an order of the Treasury was obtained deciding that
+"money for the captives and foreign affairs was to be furnished before
+any other payment of interest."[152]
+
+In spite of these tremendous handicaps, due to the apathy of Congress,
+to the "stagnation" of American affairs, Jefferson succeeded, through
+sheer persistency and hard work, in gaining at least a few points. The
+history of his negotiations concerning the debt and the commerce of the
+United States may not be so dramatic and picturesque as some other
+episodes of his long career; but it cannot be neglected without doing
+injustice to his sense of duty, to his industry and above all to his
+political vision and understanding of international psychology. The
+application to the present situation is so obvious that it needs not to
+be elaborated upon. More fortunate than many recent negotiators,
+Jefferson had been able to obtain a settlement of the debt question
+satisfactory to both parties, and succeeded in eliminating the political
+factor from the situation; the debt to France was no longer an obstacle
+to the maintenance of friendly relations between the two countries. He
+was not the man to boast of his achievements but the legitimate pride he
+felt at having done his work to the best of his ability appears in the
+letter he wrote to John Jay shortly before his departure from France:
+
+  I am well informed that our credit is now the first at that exchange
+  (Amsterdam), (England not borrowing at present). Our five per cent.
+  bonds have risen to ninety-seven and ninety-nine. They have been
+  heretofore at ninety-three. There are, at this time, several
+  companies and individuals here, in England and Holland, negotiating
+  to sell large parcels of our _liquidated debt_. A bargain was
+  concluded by one of these the other day, for six hundred thousand
+  dollars. In the present state of our credit, every dollar of this
+  debt will probably be transferred to Europe within a short time.[153]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+UNION AND ISOLATION
+
+
+Even an incomplete survey of Jefferson's activities in Paris would
+convince any one that at all times the preoccupation uppermost in his
+mind was to defend and further the interests of the United States. He
+shared practically without any reservation the commonly accepted theory
+of his time that self-interest is the most powerful motive of human
+actions, and that enlightened self-interest is the true foundation of
+morality. Never a sentimentalist, he felt it his duty to put all the
+questions he had to discuss on a purely practical basis, neglecting
+every other consideration. He had been welcomed enthusiastically and
+would have been lionized if he had permitted it. But in the midst of the
+adulation showered upon him by Madame d'Houdetot, Madame de Tesse and
+the friends of liberty, he endeavored to keep a cool head; and at the
+end of his first year in France, he summed up as follows his views of
+the situation:
+
+  The body of the people of this country love us cordially. But
+  ministers and merchants love nobody. The merchants here, are
+  endeavoring to exclude us from their islands, the ministers will be
+  governed in it by their political motives, and will do it or not do
+  it, as these shall appear to dictate, without love or hatred to
+  anybody. It were to be wished that they were able to combine better,
+  the various circumstances which prove, beyond a doubt, that all the
+  advantages of their colonies result in the end, to the mother
+  country.[154]
+
+Representing a country hardly organized, without any diplomatic
+traditions, and inexperienced in dealing with foreign affairs, Jefferson
+had no easy task. One of his first duties was to convince the diplomats
+he was dealing with that America was a country to be trusted, in which
+existed a certain permanency and some sort of responsible organization
+with which it was possible to deal. This preoccupation influenced to
+such an extent his views on the American Constitution that they can be
+considered to a large extent a result of his experiences in Europe.
+
+As chairman of the committee on the ratification of the peace treaties,
+as plenipotentiary entrusted with the negotiations of the treaties of
+commerce, Jefferson had more than once felt how insufficient were the
+Articles of Confederation. He had repeatedly proclaimed that to all
+intents and purposes the United States were to be regarded as one
+nation; but as long as treaties with foreign powers had to be ratified
+not only by Congress but by the different States, as long as delegates
+had to refer constantly to the particular States they represented, the
+Federal organization remained a very clumsy, inefficient piece of
+machinery, and business could not be transacted. He never thought for an
+instant that it was possible or desirable for the former colonies to
+remain completely independent; they had at least to form a society of
+nations in order to insure their very existence and their development.
+His first months in Europe could only confirm him in these views, and he
+wrote to Madison at the end of 1786: "To make us one nation as to
+foreign concerns, and keep us distinct in domestic ones, gives the
+outlines of the proper division of powers between the general and
+particular governments. But to enable the federal head to exercise the
+powers given it to best advantage, it should be organized as the
+particular ones are, into legislative, executive and judiciary."
+
+At that date, however, he had not admitted the desirability of
+appointing a single executive and came back to all his proposals of
+vesting the executive powers in a committee of the States, leaving to
+Congress the legislative authority.
+
+To Adams, who saw in Congress "not a legislative but a diplomatic
+assembly", he protested that it was an opinion not entirely correct and
+not likely to do good. As a matter of fact, in forming a confederation,
+the individual States yielded some parts of their sovereignty to
+Congress, and these parts were both legislative and executive. The
+confederation was part of the law of the land, and "superior in
+authority to the ordinary laws, because it cannot be altered by the
+legislature of any one State." It is not without piquancy to remark here
+that the man who was to become the champion of State rights and
+decentralization was advocating a strong Federal bond, while the future
+Federalist was in favor of a very loose association of States, truly a
+sort of League of Nations. In Jefferson's view, on the contrary, the
+United States as such were endowed with a sort of super-power, while the
+independent States retained only those rights which they were able to
+exercise fully.[155] On the other hand, Congress should have absolutely
+no authority over acts which do not concern the confederacy. In case of
+conflict an appeal could be made "from a state judicature to a Federal
+court", in other words to a Supreme Court, and there again Jefferson
+takes the position which his enemies were fifteen years later to defend
+against him, namely that there ought to be some power above Congress to
+restrain it.
+
+  It will be said that this court may encroach over the jurisdiction of
+  the State courts. It may. But there will be a power, to wit,
+  Congress, to watch and restrain them. But place the same authority in
+  Congress itself, and there will be no power above them, to perform
+  the same office. They will restrain within due bounds a jurisdiction
+  exercised by others, much more rigourously than if exercised by
+  themselves.[156]
+
+In a letter to Edward Carrington he summed up his views even more
+clearly. Reforms are necessary, although with all its defects the
+present government of the United States is so far superior to any
+monarchy that its defects must be viewed with indulgence. If any change
+is to be made, the general principle ought to be
+
+  to make the States one as to everything connected with foreign
+  nations, and several as to everything purely domestic. Then to
+  separate the executive from the legislative in order to avoid the
+  terrible delays which are bound to happen with a large assembly and
+  to have 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.[157]
+
+Even if originally Jefferson had been of another opinion, the situation
+in Europe would have rapidly brought him to the same conclusion. For the
+credit of the United States could only be maintained on the condition
+that the newly formed confederation gave guarantees of permanency and
+stability. In his letters to foreign correspondents, such as Dumas,
+financial agent of the United States in Holland, he consequently
+affected more confidence in the wisdom of the convention than he perhaps
+felt at heart:
+
+  No trouble of any sort is to be anticipated. Happily for us that when
+  we find our constitutions defective and insufficient, to secure the
+  happiness of our people, we can assemble with all the coolness of
+  philosophers, and set it to rights, while every other nation on earth
+  must have recourse to arms to amend or restore their
+  constitutions.[158]
+
+The main principle to observe is a separation of powers into
+"legislative, executive and judiciary" as complete as possible, and the
+rest will follow of itself.
+
+Yet as the convention approached, he favored less than ever the
+possibility of trusting any individual with the executive power for an
+indefinite length of time. "There are things in it which stagger all my
+dispositions to subscribe to what such an Assembly has proposed," he
+wrote to Adams. His chief objection to the Constitution was the
+appointment of a President who would be a sort of Polish king. If they
+wanted a President they could have it, provided they should make him
+ineligible at the end of four years. He even came to wonder whether too
+much ado was not made by the convention, for all the good that was in
+the new Constitution "could have been couched in three or four new
+articles added to the old articles of confederation." Far from being a
+radical and one of these reformers who first think of destroying the old
+order of things in order to build anew, Jefferson proposed to keep as
+much as possible "the good old and venerable fabric which should have
+been preserved, even as a religious relic."[159]
+
+At that time Jefferson had not yet received the text of the Constitution
+and had only vaguely heard of the discussion in the convention. When the
+newspapers brought him more details, he acquainted Carmichael with his
+views on the situation. This time his objection to the proposed scheme
+was more specific. It bore not only on the presidency but on the absence
+of a Bill of Rights; the thirteen States could not be melted into one
+government without guarantees to the people, and particularly without
+the recognition of the freedom of the press. The subordination of the
+laws of the States to Federal legislation was equally objectionable and
+he predicted that many States, among them Virginia, would reject several
+articles, making it necessary to assemble another convention to reach a
+better agreement.[160]
+
+But it was reserved for Madison finally to become his confident on this
+question, and Jefferson's letter to him is both a capital document for
+the history of Jeffersonian democracy and a discussion of the first
+rank on the science of government. The good things Jefferson saw in the
+Constitution were many: the division of powers; the election of a
+greater House by the people directly; the negative given to the
+executive by a third of either Houses, and many others of less moment.
+But the absence of a Bill of Rights could not be condoned, for it was a
+sacred palladium of liberty, nor the abandonment of rotation in office,
+particularly in the case of the President. He did not despair of the
+Commonwealth, but he foresaw the necessity of calling another convention
+to agree on an explicit Bill of Rights and to change the objectionable
+features of the convention. In a postscript, he made one of those
+curious proposals which would be disconcerting if it were not remembered
+that his faith in democracy and representative government was tempered
+with a great deal of common sense. The people are right most of the
+time, the people are right in most cases, but the people are not right
+in all cases: they are apt to be swayed by temporary interests and
+considerations and they are apt also to pass contradictory laws from day
+to day. In order to remedy this instability of legislation, Jefferson
+did not hesitate to recommend that there should always be "a twelvemonth
+between the engrossing a bill and passing it", adding that if
+circumstances required a speedier passage, it should take "two thirds of
+both Houses instead of a bare majority."[161]
+
+Having thus defined his position with regard to the Constitution, he
+thought it necessary to qualify it. Despite its imperfections, it
+contained many excellent points; and if it were felt that insistence on
+a Bill of Rights, or on the principle of rotation for the presidency
+should cause dissensions between the States, Jefferson declared himself
+ready "to swallow the two bitter pills" in order to avoid a schism in
+the Union. For that would be "the incurable evil" because near friends,
+falling out, never re-united cordially; "whereas, all of us going
+together, we shall be sure to cure the evils of our new Constitution
+before they do great harm."[162]
+
+The unlimited confidence he had in the ultimate wisdom of the people
+convinced him that if they went wrong for a time they would soon admit
+their mistakes, for there was in America a "good sense and a free
+spirit" which was the safest guarantee that things will right themselves
+in time. First ratify and amend afterwards, such was therefore the best
+procedure to follow, and he prayed heartily that a sufficient number of
+States would ratify, even Virgina and obstinate little Rhode Island! For
+after all there was no immediate danger, and the character of Washington
+was such that nobody could suspect him of coveting a life tenure for
+himself.[163]
+
+Following anxiously and almost day by day the progress of the
+ratification, he declared himself perfectly satisfied with the
+successful result obtained in August, 1788, and was confident that the
+two main defects would be remedied, the first one, the lack of a Bill of
+Rights, very soon, the other as soon as General Washington should retire
+from office. Jefferson had come gradually to this stand, to a large
+extent under the influence of the _Federalist_, which had "rectified him
+on several points" and which he considered the "best commentary on the
+principles of government ever written."[164]
+
+The most complete expression of Jefferson's views at that time is found
+in a letter to Francis Hopkinson, written at the beginning of 1789. He
+had been informed that both his friends and his enemies were trying to
+put a definite label on him and protested on that occasion that he was
+not a Federalist, because, he said, "I never submitted the whole system
+of my opinions to the creed of any party whatever, in religion, in
+politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for
+myself. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not be
+there at all." But he added at once, "I am even farther from the
+anti-federalists." Neither a Federalist, nor an anti-Federalist, nor "a
+trimmer between parties", he absolutely refused at that date to take
+sides, for he would have been sure to draw criticism from the other side
+and to see his name in the papers. This was to be avoided at any cost,
+for "the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more
+acute than the pleasure of much praise." As a matter of fact, Jefferson
+was already preparing to become the leader of a new party whose program
+would combine elements borrowed from the Federalists as well as from
+their opponents, but which would rest essentially upon principles
+apparently overlooked by both sides. These principles had already been
+enunciated in the document written by Jefferson concerning the Articles
+of Confederation; they are really the key to his political philosophy.
+
+In forming a society of States, as well as in forming a society of men,
+there are rights "which it is useless to surrender to the government,
+and which governments have yet always been found to invade." These
+rights which cannot be abridged or alienated are "the rights of thinking
+and publishing our thoughts by speaking or writing; the right of free
+commerce; the right of personal freedom." In a similar way, there are
+some instruments of government which are so trustworthy that they ought
+to be placed beyond the power of any legislature to alter; the most
+important of these is probably trial by jury. Scarcely less essential to
+the permanency of a free government is the absence of a standing army,
+for such a body of men whether placed at the disposal of the executive
+or of the legislative power, may always become an instrument of
+oppression. Hence the necessity of a separate instrument, a Bill of
+Rights, to secure and protect these fundamental principles of free
+government. On the whole, Jefferson declared himself well pleased with
+the Constitution "unquestionably the wisest ever yet presented to men";
+its obvious defects would be remedied in the near future, and in the
+meantime it had effected its main object, the consolidation of the
+thirteen States into a Union.[165]
+
+Whether Jefferson would have reached that lofty and disinterested
+attitude if he had remained in America is quite another question. He was
+placed in a situation entirely different from that of his countrymen who
+could not help being influenced by party politics and sectionalism. But
+it is a fact worth remembering that before the Constitution was adopted,
+the only men who constantly had to think of the United States as one
+nation were the American ministers abroad. The very fact that Jefferson
+was in Paris not only put him above all parties, but brought home to him
+the fact that the United States could not hope to face successfully
+external dangers or even survive unless they gave up some of their
+liberty for more security, while reserving some of their unalienable
+rights. In his views on the Constitution, Jefferson remained perfectly
+consistent and followed very closely the principles he had formulated in
+1776.
+
+On the other hand, he had found in Europe an opportunity to test his
+principles by facts and direct observation. He was opposed to monarchy
+on general grounds, but he had seen in France monarchy and absolutism at
+their worst. A well-meaning king, not by any means a tyrant, unable to
+prevent the dissolution of the nation, a corrupt hereditary aristocracy,
+in the main narrow and selfish, a State religion, monopolies, a standing
+army, "_lettres de cachet_", no freedom of the press, everywhere
+ignorance and misery; such was the picture of France that presented
+itself to his eyes; and conditions were such that they could not be
+remedied effectively except through a bloody revolution, a last and
+desperate resort, to be dreaded as much as monarchical oppression. In
+many respects the same situation prevailed all over Europe,
+demonstrating beyond the possibility of a doubt that absolutism does not
+pay, that it fails to procure the maximum of happiness to the largest
+number of inhabitants, that it is wasteful, inefficient and leads
+nations to follies, ruin, and war. America was free from all these
+evils, but every precaution had to be used lest they should take root
+there.
+
+This task naturally required constant vigilance, for everywhere men in
+power have a tendency to continue in power, and to extend the limits of
+their attributions; some safeguards against these encroachments could be
+provided, the greatest safeguard being the pressure of public opinion.
+Public opinion could be misled temporarily; but after a time, in a
+country where the citizens were reasonably educated, and knowledge more
+diffused than in any other country, the chances were that in most cases
+the citizens would see where their true interest lay and correct such
+evils. This could be achieved only if the citizens were in a position to
+collect information on the true state of affairs, to discuss freely with
+their neighbors, and communicate their opinion so as to make that
+pressure felt. A free press, therefore, was one of the most essential
+features of a republican government, for one might conceive a modern
+nation existing without a legislature, but it was impossible even to
+think of a free government existing without the control of the men who
+had subscribed to the social compact. Public opinion and a free press
+were not a fourth estate, they were the true source of all three powers,
+and superior to all.
+
+Thus, after more than fifteen years of personal reflection aided by
+direct observation, Jefferson came to formulate very clearly in his own
+mind a certain number of principles founded on reason and verified by
+facts. Whether he was at that time under the influence of any particular
+philosopher cannot be proved satisfactorily. It may even be said that it
+is very improbable, for he was not a man "to submit the whole system of
+his opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever." Elements of
+different origins can be recognized in his political philosophy: the
+theory of natural rights was perhaps Lockian in its principle, but it
+had been developed by many philosophers, incorporated in the Virginia
+Bill of Rights and thus naturalized as American even before the
+Declaration of Independence. The theory of the social compact, too, may
+have come from Locke; certainly it did not come from Rousseau; but
+Jefferson introduced into it a fundamental modification when he
+distinguished between real natural rights and the civil rights
+guaranteed by society but limited in order to provide for more safety.
+At any rate, Jefferson's conception of the social compact was far more
+rigorous, precise, and specific than any that had been proposed before.
+A man who had been trained as a lawyer knew exactly what a contract was,
+and how necessary it is, in such an instrument, to write clauses
+safeguarding both parties. The Bill of Rights was to serve that very
+purpose: it was nothing but a document enumerating, defining, and
+recognizing once for all a certain number of rights that every
+individual specifically reserved in joining a new society. The
+constitution on the contrary was purely an instrument of government,
+susceptible of all sorts of amendments from time to time, and certainly
+from generation to generation. Public opinion was set up as a court of
+last resort in all cases; for public opinion, not necessarily right in
+all cases, is always right ultimately in a nation where people have
+received a minimum of education and are kept informed by a free press.
+
+Such were the essential lines of Jefferson's political philosophy on the
+eve of his departure from France. It does not appear that there was in
+it anything particularly English or particularly French, although the
+remote source of some ideas may be traced to English and French
+political thinkers. His principles, as a matter of fact, belonged to the
+common fund of political thought drawn upon by all the liberal thinkers
+of the eighteenth century, and Jefferson, calling no man his master,
+simply reflected the general trend of his time. But whatever may have
+been the primary origin of some of his ideas, he was fully convinced
+that they corresponded to conditions existing in America and nowhere
+else on earth, that in America alone were they susceptible of immediate
+application and extensive development.
+
+These views on the uniqueness of America's position among the nations of
+the world contributed to the crystallization of certain principles which
+Jefferson enunciated when he was sent to Paris and endeavored to apply
+when Secretary of State and President. They were to exert a tremendous
+influence upon the destiny of the nation and to a certain extent are
+still to-day the directing principles of America's foreign policy.
+
+If Jefferson had ever believed that it was possible for the United
+States to cooeperate effectively and satisfactorily with Europe in any
+common undertaking, after his failure to organize a confederacy of the
+European States against the Barbary pirates, he soon came to the
+conclusion that such a hope was chimerical. The question of the
+navigation of the Mediterranean was not the least complicated of the
+puzzles that confronted the American minister in Paris. After long
+hesitations the European powers had finally adopted a _modus vivendi_
+with the Barbary pirates--a solution far from satisfactory, since it
+meant the paying of a regular tribute to the Dey of Algiers, the Regency
+of Tunis, and the Sultan of Morocco. Was the young republic of the
+United States to follow in their steps and accept such a humiliating
+compromise? If they refused, their commerce with the Near East was
+placed on a very precarious foundation. On the other hand, they could
+hardly maintain a sufficient fleet in the Mediterranean to insure the
+safety of their merchantmen. To pay tribute, or to give efficient
+protection to the merchant marine entailing expenditure of sums easily
+as large as the tribute, or else to give up the Mediterranean trade,
+were the only solutions to be considered.[166]
+
+[Illustration: LAFAYETTE
+
+_After a lithograph from the portrait by Grevedon_]
+
+The first solution was absolutely repugnant to Jefferson. "When this
+idea comes across my mind, my faculties are absolutely suspended between
+indignation and impatience."[167]
+
+He therefore approached Vergennes to sound him on his intention and to
+determine whether it would not be possible to establish a permanent
+blockade of Algiers. Although Admiral d'Estaing was in favor of the plan
+and thought it perfectly feasible, the prudent diplomat did not give
+Jefferson much encouragement. But in spite of the instructions sent by
+his government and the pressure exerted by Adams, who thought it cheaper
+to buy peace, Jefferson's preference for war remained entire. With his
+characteristic obstinacy, he tried another approach and thought it
+possible to organize a confederation of all the nations interested in
+the Mediterranean trade, in order to maintain an international blockade
+before the ports of the pirates and thus paralyze their operations. He
+explained his plan in detail to Adams and even drew up the articles of
+confederation.[168]
+
+At this juncture he took Lafayette into his confidence as he had already
+done so many times, and discussed the situation with him. The Marquis
+saw at once another opportunity to be of service to America. He had
+hardly left Jefferson's house before the idea came to his mind that he
+could offer his services as chief of the operations against the Barbary
+pirates, and he wrote at once to Jefferson to that effect.[169] That the
+project did not come to completion was due to many causes and to a large
+extent to Adams' opposition, as may be inferred from a letter written
+by Lafayette to his "Dear General" during the fall of 1786,[170] but
+most of all to lack of cooeperation between the European powers; and
+during the rest of his mission Jefferson had to restrict himself to
+making arrangements in order to obtain the release of the American
+captives.
+
+On the other hand, if it was evident that Europe was unwilling to
+cooeperate with America in the Mediterranean, it was not so certain that
+France, England, and Spain had given up their ambitious designs on the
+New World, and Jefferson considered it his duty to forestall any attempt
+of theirs to develop or reestablish colonies on the American continent.
+
+As far as France was concerned, she had given up all claims to her
+former colonies by the Treaty of Alliance signed on February 6, 1778,
+but there always remained the possibility that she might attempt to
+settle on the western coast of the American continent and thus take
+possession of the back door of the country. The preparations made for
+"La Peyrouse's voyage to the South Seas" aroused strong suspicions in
+Jefferson's mind. He could not be persuaded that the French were in a
+position to spend so much money "merely for the improvement of the
+geography of that part of the globe." They certainly had some ulterior
+aims, at least that of establishing fur-trading stations on the western
+coast, as a first step towards regular colonization; and "if they should
+desire a colony on the western side of America, I should not be quite
+satisfied that they would refuse one which should offer itself on the
+eastern side," wrote Jefferson to Jay. So, to ascertain the true nature
+of the expedition, he commissioned Paul Jones to go to Brest "to satisfy
+himself of the nature of the expedition; conducting himself so as to
+excite no suspicion."[171] This was not a very important incident in
+itself, but it is not impossible that it attracted Jefferson's attention
+to the western coast fifteen years before he sent out the Lewis and
+Clarke Expedition; and his unwillingness to permit France to obtain a
+footing even in a very remote part of the continent is quite
+significant.
+
+His fears of the colonizing designs of France were soon allayed, but
+there remained England to consider, and England still constituted the
+greatest potential danger for the United States. While in America,
+Jefferson never manifested any strong animosity against the British as a
+people, and even expressed the hope that a reconciliation would follow
+the victory of American arms. Soon after coming to Europe, however, he
+had to admit that the commercial policy of Great Britain was so
+obnoxious that the American hatred "against Great Britain having lately
+received from that nation new cause and new aliment, had taken a new
+spring."[172] Thus, added Jefferson, "in spite of treaties, England is
+still our enemy. Her hatred is deep rooted and cordial, and nothing is
+wanting with her but the power to wipe us, and the land which we live on
+out of existence." The only hope of avoiding a new war was to make Great
+Britain realize that her true interest lay in some compromise, and that
+America had more energy than she suspected. But all told it was "a
+conflict of dirty passions."[173] Unfortunately the British were
+absolutely unrelenting in their hostility:
+
+  ... they keep a standing army of newswriters formally engaged in war
+  against America. They dwell very much on American bankruptcies--and
+  thus worked to such good effect that by destroying America's credit
+  they checked her disposition to luxury; and forcing our merchants to
+  buy no more than they have ready money to pay for, they force them to
+  go to those markets where that money will buy most.[174]
+
+Jefferson's tour in England only confirmed him in his views, for
+
+  that nation hate us, their ministers hate us, and their King more
+  than all other men. They have the impudence to avow this, though they
+  acknowledge our trade important to them.... They say they will pocket
+  our carrying trade as well as their own. Our overtures of commercial
+  arrangements have been treated with a derision, which shows their
+  firm persuasion, that we shall never unite to suppress their
+  commerce, or even to impede it. I think their hostility towards us is
+  much more deeply rooted at present than during the war.[175]
+
+To Dumas, the financial agent at the Hague, he reiterated his views that
+"the English are still our enemies." He even predicted war, a war which
+would renew the scenes of Rome and Carthage: "Peace and friendship with
+all mankind is our wisest policy; and I wish we may be permitted to
+pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave this in
+our choice."[176]
+
+Finally the Spanish colonies in America constituted another source of
+danger. Jefferson was confident that Spain would never be in a position
+to conduct a war of aggression against the United States; but being a
+weak country and embroiled in European affairs, her colonies might be
+used at any time as mere pawns in the unscrupulous game of European
+politics. In these circumstances the attitude the United States should
+observe in their relations with the Spanish colonies was to be seriously
+considered. A curious illustration of the fears and schemes which passed
+at that time through Jefferson's mind is found in an episode of his
+Southern journey during the preceding year. The gist of his conversation
+with a Brazilian he met at Montpellier was that an important group of
+colonists were ready to follow the example of the United States and
+proclaim their independence of the mother country. But as Portugal was
+certain to join forces with Spain in repressing such a revolution, the
+Brazilian patriots had decided not to undertake anything before securing
+the assistance of some other country. The thinking part of the
+population had naturally thought of the United States. "They would want
+cannons, ammunition, ships, sailors, soldiers and officers, for which
+they are disposed to look to the United States, it being always
+understood that every service and furniture will be well paid." The
+answer of Jefferson to that alluring proposition, contains more than one
+interesting point:
+
+  I took care to impress on him, through the whole of our conversation,
+  that I had neither instructions nor authority to say a word to
+  anybody on this subject, and that I could only give him my own ideas,
+  as a single individual; which were, that we were not in a condition
+  at present to meddle nationally in any war; that we wished
+  particularly to cultivate the friendship of Portugal, with whom we
+  have an advantageous commerce. That yet a successful revolution in
+  Brazil could not be uninteresting to us. That prospects of lucre
+  might possibly draw numbers of individuals to their aid, and purer
+  motives our officers, among whom are many excellent. That our
+  citizens being free to leave their own country individually, without
+  the consent of their governments, are equally free to go to any
+  other.[177]
+
+Amusingly enough, Jefferson evidently believed that he had displayed a
+remarkable caution during the whole conversation. It is doubtful that
+such would have been the opinion of the Portuguese Government had his
+letter to Jay been intercepted, and one may wonder what he would have
+said if he had really intended to encourage a revolution in the
+Portuguese colonies. With a Mexican who made a similar inquiry he was
+somewhat more reserved. He had observed that the gentleman was "intimate
+at the Spanish Ambassador's" and suspected that he might be a spy. He
+was therefore "still more cautious with him than with the Brazilian";
+mentioning simply that "a successful revolution was still at a distance
+with them": that he feared "they must begin by enlightening and
+emancipating the minds of their people." He finally recalled that the
+British papers had mentioned during the late war an insurrection in Peru
+"which had cost two hundred thousand lives, on both sides!"--a figure
+not to be taken too literally.
+
+During the course of a year, however, Jefferson's views underwent a
+remarkable change. In May, 1788, he mentioned to Carmichael his
+suspicions that a Spanish squadron had been sent to South America in
+order to quell an incipient revolt started at the instigation of the
+British. This placed the situation in an entirely different light. The
+United States would have very little to gain if a weak neighbor were
+displaced by a powerful and treacherous nation. He consequently
+requested his colleagues to reassure the Spanish Court that the United
+States would not favor in any way a revolt of the Spanish colonies in
+the New World, for "those who look into futurity farther than the
+present moment or age, and who combine well what is, with what is to be,
+must see that our interests, well understood, and our wishes are, that
+Spain shall (not forever, but) very long retain her possessions in that
+quarter; and that her views and ours must, in a good degree, and for a
+long time concur."[178]
+
+This is the more important as it already defines the position taken by
+Jefferson twelve years later during the negotiations concerning the
+Louisiana Purchase. It is also a reiteration of that desire of isolation
+which constituted the cardinal principle of American foreign policies
+and which had been enunciated in the Treaty of Alliance concluded with
+France in 1778. Jefferson had not originated the principle, since this
+article of the Treaty of Alliance was due to Adams, but his direct and
+prolonged contact with European affairs had strengthened in him the
+instinctive conviction that it was the only wise course for America to
+follow. If he had felt free to indulge in his own theory, he would have
+gone even further than any of his contemporaries for, as he wrote in
+1785, "I should wish the United States to practice neither commerce, nor
+navigation, but to stand, with respect to Europe, precisely on the
+footing of China." Unfortunately, this was only a theory and the
+servants of the country were not at liberty to follow it, since
+"Americans have a decided taste for navigation and commerce." Being on a
+mission to protect and further the commerce of his fellow countrymen,
+Jefferson consequently thought it his duty to forget for the time being
+his personal preferences. In a similar way, although he strongly
+believed in free trade and would have seen no objection to "throwing
+open all the doors of commerce, and knocking its shackles", he realized
+that such an ideal condition could not be reached unless the European
+powers granted similar treatment to American goods. He therefore came to
+the conclusion that, "as this cannot be done for others, unless they
+will do it for us, and there is no great probability that Europe will do
+this, we shall be obliged to adopt a system which may shackle them in
+our ports, as they do in theirs."[179]
+
+We have here another striking instance of the close partitioning
+established by Jefferson between theory and practice, between his wishes
+as a political philosopher, and his conception of his duties as a public
+servant. Far from being a single-track mind, his was decidedly a
+double-track intellect, with two lines of thought running parallel
+without any apparent contradiction, for theory never seemed to have
+interfered with his practice. When a month later he wrote to W. W.
+Seward about the future of commercial relations between Ireland and
+America, he excellently defined his position by saying that "the system
+into which the United States wishes to go, was that of freeing commerce
+from every shackle. A contrary conduct in Great Britain will occasion
+them to adopt a contrary system, at least as to that island."[180]
+
+There is probably nothing in this to astonish the man in the street,
+either in Washington or in London, for it seems to be a curious quality
+of the Anglo-Saxon mind to be able to pursue a very practical and
+hard-headed policy, while keeping its belief in disinterested and
+idealistic principles. Yet it may not be out of place to mention that
+this is the very reason why both England and America have so often been
+accused of hypocrisy by European public opinion. Without attempting to
+justify all the foreign policies of the United States on that score, it
+may be said that in this particular case there was no hypocrisy.
+Jefferson made no attempt whatever to conceal the difference that
+existed between his theory and his practice; he even called attention to
+it. He did not attempt to color unpleasant reality with idealistic
+camouflage, and gave the European nations a chance to choose between two
+entirely different courses. He would rather have chosen to follow the
+more liberal system, but he gave due notice that if it came to playing
+the game of real politics, America could be just as practical and firm
+in insisting upon her rights as any nation of the Old World.
+
+The millennium had not yet arrived; and America, in spite of her
+peaceful attitude, might be caught at any time in European "commotions."
+While maintaining a policy of strict aloofness, it would have been
+foolish and ostrich-like for her to ignore that danger, and it became
+the strict duty of those in power to keep close watch on political
+developments in the Old World. Such is the conclusion reached by
+Jefferson as a result of his observations, and in a letter to E.
+Carrington he outlined a policy of watchful waiting to which Woodrow
+Wilson himself would have subscribed:
+
+  I often doubt whether I should trouble Congress or my friends with
+  these details of European politics. I know they do not excite that
+  interest in America, of which it is impossible for one to divest
+  himself here. I know, too, that it is a maxim with us, and I think it
+  is a wise one, not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of Europe.
+  Still I think, we should know them. The Turks have practiced the same
+  maxim of not meddling in the complicated wrangles of this continent.
+  But they have unwisely chosen to be ignorant of them also, and it is
+  this total ignorance of Europe, its combinations and its movements,
+  which exposes them to that annihilation possibly about to take place.
+  While there are powers in Europe which fear our views, or have views
+  on us, we should keep an eye on them, their connections and
+  opposition, that in a moment of need, we may avail ourselves of their
+  weakness with respect to others as well as ourselves, and calculate
+  their designs and movements, on all the circumstances under which
+  they exist. Though I am persuaded, therefore, that these details are
+  read by many with great indifference, yet I think it my duty to enter
+  into them, and to run the risk of giving too much, rather than too
+  little information.[181]
+
+Watchful waiting, no political entanglements, unofficial
+observers--everything is here and this page could have been written ten
+years ago or yesterday. It is sometimes said that America, being a young
+and inexperienced nation, has had no time to develop traditions, but it
+may be wondered whether any other nation could be found which, after
+defining so clearly the essentials of a policy, has adhered to them so
+persistently for a century and a half. There is no doubt, at any rate,
+that once again Jefferson, although he did not originate the theory,
+formulated it with his usual felicity of expression, and thus
+contributed toward giving America what Descartes would have called her
+"maxims of action."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+JEFFERSON AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
+
+
+Jefferson has often been represented, both by his enemies and friends,
+as the American exponent of the theories of the French Revolution. The
+possible influence exerted upon the development of his political
+philosophy by French thought has been the subject of lengthy discussions
+and probably will never be determined with any degree of exactness. It
+is very difficult to see how a man of his character could have remained
+in Paris for more than five years without participating in some manner
+in the great battle of theories which preceded the French Revolution. He
+associated with Lafayette and his group of "republicans", exchanged some
+correspondence with Condorcet, frequently saw Abbe Morellet, was
+introduced by Benjamin Franklin to Madame Helvetius and her coterie; he
+worked with Du Pont de Nemours on commercial questions, subscribed to
+papers and gazettes and to the "Encyclopedie Methodique", a continuation
+and systematization of Diderot's "Encyclopedie."
+
+But when all is said, the most careful scrutiny of the letters he wrote
+during that period fails to reveal any enthusiasm or even any
+endorsement of the many and somewhat contradictory political doctrines
+which were preached in France at the time. I do not even see that his
+prolonged sojourn in France modified to any extent the conclusions he
+had already reached independently in the "Notes on Virginia." When he
+arrived in Paris he was over forty and had been in public life for
+almost fifteen years; he had written not only the Declaration of
+Independence but many reports on vital questions; he had participated
+actively and for several years in the deliberations of the Virginia
+Assembly and of the Congress of the United States and he had been chief
+executive of his native State. Such a man was not a student coming to
+Paris to sit at the feet of French masters; he was considered by the
+French themselves, not only as a master but as the apostle of the
+religion of liberty.[182] They looked up to him for advice and help, for
+he had over them the great superiority of having been more than a simple
+theorizer; he had contributed to a great movement of liberation; he was
+the promoter of the Bill for Religious Freedom; he had proposed a
+complete plan of public education and he had proclaimed in a national
+document the inviolable rights of man. They had much to learn from
+Jefferson and he was not reluctant to teach them, but he never felt that
+his French friends could repay him in kind. On the other hand, it cannot
+be denied that he was very happy to find enunciated in a very clear and
+logical way some of his favorite ideas; it is equally certain that
+France was to him a living demonstration and a sort of horrible example
+of all the evils caused by aristocratic, monarchical, and ecclesiastical
+oppressions. His sojourn in France had at least the effect of making him
+more intensely, more proudly American than he was before sailing, and
+more convinced than ever of the unsurpassed superiority of the
+civilization which had already developed on the northern continent of
+the New World.
+
+This sentiment appears even during the first year of his stay in Paris
+in a letter to Mrs. Trist:
+
+  It is difficult to conceive how so good a people, with so good a
+  king, so well-disposed rulers in general, so genial a climate, so
+  fertile a soil, should be rendered so ineffectual for producing human
+  happiness by one single curse--that of a bad form of government. But
+  it is a fact in spite of the mildness of their governors, the people
+  are ground to powder by the vices of the form of government. Of
+  twenty millions of people supposed to be in France, I am of opinion
+  there are nineteen millions more wretched, more accursed, in every
+  circumstance of human existence, than the most conspicuously wretched
+  individual of the whole United States.... Nourish peace with their
+  persons, but war against their manners. Every step we take towards
+  the adoption of their manners is a step to perfect misery.[183]
+
+This was no passing mood: a few weeks earlier he had written much more
+vehemently to his friend and "_eleve_", James Monroe, engaging him to
+come to France in order to see for himself the extraordinary superiority
+of America over Europe and particularly France.
+
+  It will make you adore your own country, it's soil, it's climate,
+  it's equality, liberty, laws, people & manners. My God! how little do
+  my country men know what precious blessings they are in possession
+  of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. I confess I had no idea
+  of it myself. While we shall see multiplied instances of Europeans
+  going to live in America, I will venture to say no man now living
+  will ever see an instance of an American removing to settle in
+  Europe & continuing there.[184]
+
+But unhappy as they are, the French are lovable, for he loved them with
+all his heart and thought that, "with a better religion, a better form
+of government and their present Governors, their condition and country
+would be most enviable." At any rate they were to be preferred to the
+"rich, proud, hectoring, swearing, squibbling, carnivorous animals who
+lived on the other side of the Channel."[185]
+
+At the beginning of his stay, Jefferson paid little attention to the
+internal affairs of the country; the only incident worth comment during
+his first year in Paris was the imprisonment of the chief editor of the
+_Journal de Paris_ who was sent to the Bastille, perhaps to end his days
+there:
+
+  Thus--wrote he--you see the value of energy in Government for
+  such a measure, which would have been wrapt in the flames of war
+  and desolation in America, ends without creating the slightest
+  disturbance. Every attempt to criticize even mildly the government
+  is followed immediately by stern measures, suppressing the London
+  papers, suppressing the _Leyden Gazette_, imprisoning Beaumarchais,
+  and imprisoning the editor of the _Journal_, the author of the
+  _Mercure_, etc.[186]
+
+It is not until February, 1786, that he gave hints, quite incidentally,
+that the situation might become critical and that serious disturbances
+might be feared for the future.
+
+But he did not see anywhere any immediate danger of a political
+commotion and during that year he continued to repeat in his letters
+that "Europe was very quiet for the present." As a matter of fact, he
+had come to the conclusion that the case of the Old World was hopeless;
+they were past redemption and, "if the Almighty had begotten a thousand
+sons, instead of one, they would not have sufficed for this task. If all
+the sovereigns of Europe undertook to emancipate the minds of their
+subjects, a thousand years would not place them on that high ground on
+which our common people are now setting out." France has become a
+horrible example to place constantly before the eyes of America, to
+remind her that the most important factor for the happiness of the
+people is the diffusion of common knowledge that will enable them to
+preserve themselves from kings, nobles, and priests, for it is
+impossible to imagine a people of more pleasant dispositions, more made
+for happiness, surrounded by so many blessings of nature, and yet
+"loaded with misery by kings, nobles, and priests, and by them
+alone."[187]
+
+Never before had Jefferson been so vehement in his denunciations of
+kingly and priestly usurpations, never had he been so positive of the
+necessity of preserving American civilization from any foreign
+influences. But again this is not with him an _a priori_ view, it is the
+result of his observations more than of his theories.
+
+He was confirmed in his hatred of the French regime by his conversations
+with Latude, who "comes sometimes to take family soup with me, &
+entertains me with anecdotes of his five & thirty years imprisonment,
+all of which for having written four lines on Madame de Pompadour."[188]
+
+In a letter to Washington already quoted, but capital for the history of
+his mind, he remarked that before coming to Europe he had not even begun
+to suspect the evils of monarchical government; what he saw there
+brought home to him the conviction that "as long as a single fibre of it
+would remain in America, the scourge that is rendering existence a
+scourge to 24 out of 25 parts of the inhabitants of this country might
+break out."[189]
+
+As late as 1787 he was still persuaded that under pretence of governing,
+the ruling classes have divided the nations into two classes, wolves and
+sheep: "But what can the sheep do against the wolves except to submit,
+to suffer without any hope of ever changing the established order."[190]
+
+His first mention of the possibility of introducing some modification in
+the existing order does not occur before he heard of the convocation of
+the Assembly of the Notables "which had not been done for one hundred
+and sixty years"; but this interests him only mildly at the beginning,
+as nothing certain could be known about the program of the
+Assembly.[191] A few days later he admitted to Colonel Edward Carrington
+that "this event which will hardly excite any attention in America is
+deemed here the most important one which has taken place in their civil
+life during the present century." But his only real interest in it was
+that Lafayette had finally been put on the list and was the youngest of
+the Notables but one.[192] He felt that it was his duty to attend the
+first meeting of the Notables, and still more to pay his call to the new
+minister Montmorin--the only thing that detained him in Paris, and when
+he wrote to John Adams and Jay to describe the inaugural session opened
+by the king, he restricted himself to a dry recital of facts. With a
+prince of the blood at the head of each committee, he did not expect
+great results from the convocation and was skeptical about the
+efficiency of the members.[193] Just as he was leaving Paris for his
+long extensive trip to the South of France, he thought, however, of
+sending a last word of advice to Lafayette whose republican ideas he
+evidently feared. It was a counsel of prudence. Whatever may have been
+his sympathies for the republicans, in his opinion France was not ready
+for a complete change in her system of government.
+
+Least of all was she ready for a democratic experiment. Consequently
+Jefferson, the American patriot, the enemy of England, the alleged hater
+of aristocracies, advised his friend "to proceed step by step, towards a
+good constitution, keeping the good model of your neighboring country
+before your eyes. Though that model is not perfect, yet, as it would
+unite more suffrages than any new one which could be proposed, it is
+better to make that the object.
+
+"You see how we Republicans are apt to preach", he said in conclusion;
+but his letter was more than a sermon; it contained also the advice of a
+shrewd and very practical politician who recommended that every possible
+effort be made to give the king what he wanted in the way of personal
+expenses. "If every advance is to be purchased by filling the royal
+coffers with gold, it will be gold well employed. The King who means so
+well, should be encouraged to repeat those Assemblies."[194]
+
+That was all he could say, and even so he had probably said too much,
+for it was a risky thing for a diplomat to write about or to discuss at
+all. Jefferson was certainly guilty of trespassing on a province that
+constituted an essential part of the internal politics of the kingdom.
+And yet the charge of plotting against the existing government cannot be
+laid at his door. As long as he remained in France, and I believe, even
+after he came back to America, he carefully refrained from giving any
+encouragement to those of his French friends who held radical views. He
+was caught in the torrent and, as we shall see later, did not always
+observe the reticence of an old-fashioned diplomat; but whatever
+influence he exerted was exerted in order to maintain rather than to
+overthrow the existing order of things.
+
+During his trip he observed the condition of the peasants and, much to
+his surprise, found among them a smaller degree of poverty than he had
+expected; but if he made observations and entered many minute facts in
+his diary, he did not come to any conclusion nor did he seem to have
+been interested by the state of mind of the people. He had judged them
+once for all, he knew that they were priest-ridden and lord-ridden and
+did not see how any real reform might originate from them. Once,
+however, but only once, did he indicate that he had paid serious
+attention to the work before the Assembly. Writing to Lafayette's aunt,
+Madame de Tesse, in the evident expectation that she would communicate
+his ideas to the proper persons, he drew up an almost complete plan of
+administrative reforms: To have frequent meetings of the Assembly of
+Notables; the Assembly to be divided into two houses--the Noblesse and
+the Commons; the Commons to be taken from those chosen by the people for
+provincial administrations; the number of deputies for the Nobility to
+be reduced. These two Houses so elected "would make the King great and
+the people happy." And the next sentence expresses very cleverly, too
+cleverly perhaps, that this innocuous reform would in fact be a sort of
+revolution, the name of which would be avoided. "They would thus put
+themselves in the track of the best guide they can follow (the king);
+they would soon overtake it, become its guide in turn, and lead to the
+wholesome modifications wanting in that model, and necessary to
+constitute a rational government." What he had in mind at the time was a
+sort of government following very closely the lines of the British, not
+as an ideal but as a temporary measure; for before the eyes of his
+friends he held another prospect. But for the present that was the
+maximum they could wisely expect; "should they attempt more than the
+established habits of the people are ripe for, they may lose all, and
+retard indefinitely the ultimate object of their aim."[195]
+
+Commerce more than politics absorbed all his attention when he came back
+from his trip. He found time, however, to send to Madison his first
+estimate of the king and queen, a most unflattering portrait of poor
+Louis XVI.
+
+  The King loves business, economy, order, and justice, and wishes
+  sincerely the good of his people; but he is irascible and rude, very
+  limited in his understanding, and religious, bordering on bigotry. He
+  has no mistress, loves his queen, and is too much governed by her.
+  She is capricious like her brother, and governed by him: devoted to
+  pleasure and expense; and not remarkable for any other vices or
+  virtues. Unhappily the King shows a propensity for the pleasures of
+  the table. That for drink has increased lately, or, at least, it has
+  become more known.[196]
+
+It was not until August that he summed up in a letter to Monroe the
+great improvements in the constitution of the French effected by the
+Assemblees des Notables. He was surprised at the great explosion of
+joy, which he thought unwarranted; for after all, even the unexampled
+boldness of the enemies of the regime was nothing but the "follies of
+nations in their dotage."[197] Yet writing to John Jay the next day he
+took a more serious view of things and declared "It is evident, I think,
+that a spirit of this country is advancing towards a revolution in their
+constitution. There are not wanting persons at the helm, friends to the
+progress of this spirit. The Provincial Assemblies will be the most
+probable instrument of effecting it."[198]
+
+But it is primarily from the American point of view that he continues to
+be interested, and he becomes more and more convinced that, "with all
+its defects, and with all those of our particular governments, the
+inconveniences resulting from them, are so light in comparison with
+those existing in every other government on earth that our citizens may
+certainly be considered as in the happiest political situation which
+exists."[199] With more intimate friends he was far more violent and
+outspoken, as in the letter he wrote the same day to Colonel Humphreys.
+It is seldom he indulges in these outbursts of passionate invective, so
+seldom that it may be wondered whether his expression is not stronger
+than his thought:
+
+  From these events, our young Republic may learn useful lessons, never
+  to call on foreign powers to settle their differences, to guard
+  against hereditary magistrates, to prevent their citizens from
+  becoming so established in wealth and power, as to be thought worthy
+  of alliance ... in short to besiege the throne of heaven with eternal
+  prayers, to extirpate from creation this class of human lions,
+  tigers, and mammoths called Kings; from whom, let him perish who does
+  not say, "good Lord deliver us!"[200]
+
+He had caught something of the general fever, and he drew a vivid
+picture of Paris with crowds surrounding the "Parliament House",
+stopping carriages in the queen's livery, indulging in _bons mots_,
+caricatures, "collecting in mobs, and yet the King, long in the habit of
+drowning his cares in wine, plunges deeper and deeper. The Queen cries,
+but sins on", and the only practical result one can see is that "all
+tongues in Paris and in France have been let loose."[201] The same note
+is given six weeks later in a letter to John Jay. "The King goes for
+nothing. He hunts one half of the day, is drunk the other, and signs
+whatever he is bid."[202] Even the reforms, the most important from the
+point of view of the French, seem to him insignificant, and when the
+edict on the Protestants appears, it is cruelly analyzed by the American
+minister:
+
+  It is an acknowledgement that Protestants can beget children, and
+  that they can die, and be offensive unless buried. It does not give
+  them permission to think, to speak, or to worship.... What are we to
+  think of the condition of the human mind in a country, where such a
+  wretched thing as this throws the State into convulsions, and how
+  must we bless our own situation in a country, the most illiterate
+  peasant of which is a Solon, compared with the authors of this
+  law.[203]
+
+When he wrote his "Autobiography", Jefferson used very extensively not
+only the notes he had taken when in Paris but the press copies of his
+correspondence, and on the whole gave an accurate picture of the events
+that immediately preceded the French Revolution--those he had witnessed
+before his departure from Paris, in October, 1789. But, true as the
+picture may be, it is not progressive, and here we aim not to trace
+again the main episodes of the French Revolution, but the development of
+Jefferson's mind, his reaction towards the events. Most of all we must
+seek to find out from contemporary evidence whether the old accusation
+launched by Gouverneur Morris, seized upon eagerly by Jefferson's
+enemies, and since repeated again and again, is in any way justified.
+
+We have already seen that, with a corrupted court, a weak king, a
+selfish and ignorant queen, the only remedy he recommended at first was
+for the French not to reconquer their liberties by force and by a
+revolution, but gradually to buy them from the king. Yet he foresaw that
+the nobility would make a sort of alliance with the people, that is to
+say the _tiers etat_, in order to get money from them, and he held the
+rather cynical view that "Courtiers had rather give up power than
+pleasures; they will barter, therefore, the usurped prerogatives of the
+King, for the money of the people. This is the agent by which modern
+nations will recover their rights."[204] This is written, not to Jay in
+a confidential letter, but to a French liberal of his acquaintance, and
+that practical piece of advice cannot be called philosophical.
+Altogether the results reached by the Assemblee des Notables were small
+and the king terribly slow to see the light. So for a long time
+Jefferson refused not only to encourage but even to admit that he was
+witnessing the beginnings of a true revolution. Writing to Rutledge in
+July, 1788, he declared "That the struggle in this country is, as yet,
+of doubtful issue. It is, in fact, between the monarchy and the
+parliaments. The nation is no otherwise concerned, but as both parties
+may be induced to let go some of its abuses, to court the public favor.
+The danger, is that the people deceived by a false cry of liberty, may
+be led to take sides with one party, and thus give the other a pretext
+for crushing them still more."[205] Writing to Cutting a few days later
+he was more optimistic. Most of the late innovations had been much for
+the better; a convocation of the States-General could not be avoided;
+"it will produce a national assembly meeting at certain epochs,
+possessing at first a negative on the laws, but which will grow into the
+right of original legislation. Much could be hoped from the
+States-General and it was also to be hoped that all this will be
+effected without convulsion."[206]
+
+Such was his confident expectation. He foresaw "that within two or three
+years this country will be in the enjoyment of a tolerably free
+constitution, and that without its having cost them a drop of
+blood."[207]
+
+To Carmichael he described his own attitude as that of a bystander, not
+otherwise interested, but entertaining a sincere love for the nation in
+general and a wish to see their happiness promoted, "keeping myself
+clear of the particular views and passions of individuals."[208] Had he
+felt differently he would not have taken into his confidence a man for
+whom he felt no particular friendship; but, at that date at least, he
+could make that statement without departing from the exact truth. As far
+as contemporary evidence is concerned, it does not seem that he ever
+urged his friends forward, but on the contrary he always advised them to
+play a waiting game, and to keep from having recourse to violence. About
+the middle of that year, 1788, he toned down his severe estimate of the
+king, to whom he attributed "no foible which will enlist him against the
+good of his people."[209] Calonne had been removed and Necker called in
+as Director General of finance; things were looking decidedly better, a
+convocation of the States-General had been decided upon; the issue
+depended largely on three possible solutions: whether the three orders
+would meet separately; whether the clergy and the nobility would form a
+house and the Commons a second one; or finally whether the three orders
+would meet in one house which would give the majority to the Commons.
+The choice was really thought incumbent upon the king, who thus had the
+power to place the people on his side if he was wise enough to prefer
+to have on his side twenty-three millions and a half instead of the
+other half million.[210]
+
+At the end of 1788, with the convocation of the States-General announced
+for the beginning of the following year, he was still very optimistic,
+but he had not departed from his cautious and reserved recommendations.
+The States could not succeed if they asked too much, for the Commons
+would frighten and shock the court and even alarm the public mind. If
+any durable progress was to be accomplished, it would have to be by
+degrees and successive improvements. Such probably would be the course
+followed, unless an influence unaccountable, impossible to measure, and
+yet powerful entirely changed the situation: "The fact that women visit
+alone persons in office, solicit in defiance of laws and regulations, is
+an extraordinary obstacle to the betterment of things, unbelieveable as
+it may be to the inhabitant of a country where the sex does not
+endeavour to extend itself beyond the domestic line."[211]
+
+He did not even believe that any real reform could be accomplished
+beyond fixing periodical meetings of the States-General and giving them
+the right to participate in the legislation and to decide on taxes. They
+did not seem to be unanimously in favor of the _habeas corpus_; as for
+the freedom of the press,--"I hardly think the nation itself ripe to
+accept it."[212] This was his prophecy at the beginning of 1789, and
+during the first month of the year he had no occasion to express new
+views, since everybody was in the provinces "electioneering, choosing or
+being chosen." With his experience of Assemblies, however, he could not
+help wondering how any result could be accomplished with a body which
+was to include some twelve hundred persons and moreover to consist of
+Frenchmen, among whom are always more speakers than listeners.[213] In a
+letter to Thomas Paine we find the first intimation that Jefferson
+began to be influenced by the political thinkers of France or rather to
+discover in them a certain quality of thought and presentation that make
+their work of some use for the American people. They were at any rate
+much preferable to the Englishman, who "slumbering under a kind of half
+reformation in politics and religion, is not excited by anything he sees
+or feels, to question the remains of prejudice. The writers of this
+country, now taking the field freely and unrestrained, or rather
+involved by prejudice, will rouse us all from the errors in which we
+have been hitherto rocked."[214] Taken in itself and without the context
+this sentence would tend to indicate in Jefferson an almost unreserved
+approval of the doctrines of the radical reformers and of the very
+spirit of the French Revolution, but as is so often the case with him,
+the real meaning is hidden in the last part. It was not so much in their
+theoretical views he was interested as in the fact that "their logical
+presentation, might be used in America to overcome the last resistance
+to the establishment of a true republican regime free from any vestige
+of monarchical order." But that he hoped that such radical reforms could
+succeed in France is not indicated. His complete thought is far better
+expressed in the letter written the next day to Humphreys:
+
+  The writings published on this occasion are, some of them, very
+  valuable; because, unfettered by the prejudices under which
+  Englishmen labor, they give a full scope to reason, and strike out
+  truths, as yet unperceived and unacknowledged on the other side of
+  the channel.... In fine, I believe this nation will, in the course of
+  the present year, have as full a portion of liberality dealt out to
+  them, as the nation can bear at present, considering how uninformed
+  the mass of their people is.[215]
+
+On the other hand, to believe that they would be able to establish a
+truly representative and free government was certainly inconceivable to
+him at this date. To the last moment he hoped that some sort of an
+agreement would be possible between the nobility and the Commons, for he
+had decided very early that no confidence should be placed in the
+clergy. He was looking forward to a close cooeperation between the
+younger part of the nobility and the Commons, who, working together with
+the king, would seek the support of the people and accomplish important
+reforms. No fundamental change however could be expected, since the
+French refused to show any interest in the most vital question of trial
+by jury.
+
+But as soon as the States-General were opened he realized that he had
+been too optimistic. Since the "_Noblesse_" would not yield and wanted
+their delegates to do their dirty work for them, the only manly stand to
+take for a man like Lafayette, who although of liberal opinion had
+solicited and obtained a mandate from the nobility, was to go over
+wholly to the _tiers etat_. The opening of the States-General was as
+imposing as an opera but it was poor business,[216] and even at that
+time Jefferson placed his confidence in the king who grew astonishingly
+in his estimation during this year: "Happy that he is an honest,
+unambitious man who desires neither money nor power for himself; and
+that his most operative minister (Necker), though he has appeared to
+trim a little, is still, in the main, a friend to public liberty."[217]
+
+As the deadlock continued, the three orders sitting separately without
+being able to settle the "great parliamentary question whether they
+would vote by orders or by persons", Jefferson favored more and more the
+only solution which, in his opinion, could prevent complete failure,--a
+triumph of despotism or a sort of civil war:
+
+  This third hypothesis which I shall develop, because I like it, and
+  wish it, and hope it, is that as soon as it shall be manifest that
+  the committees of conciliation, now appointed by the three chambers,
+  shall be able to agree in nothing, the Tiers will invite the other
+  two orders to come and take their seats in the common chamber. A
+  majority of the Clergy will come, and the minority of the Noblesse.
+  The chamber thus composed, will declare that the States General are
+  now constituted, will notify it to the King, and propose to do
+  business.[218]
+
+At this juncture, Jefferson, in his anxiety to effect a satisfactory
+compromise, broke all diplomatic precedence; he could not and did not
+wish to write a French Declaration of Independence; but he could at
+least propose some form of government which would recognize the
+fundamental rights of the French citizen while preserving the appearance
+of the old monarchy. He therefore drew up a "Charter of Rights for the
+King and Nation" and sent it, not only to Lafayette, but also to Rabaud
+de Saint Etienne, a prominent defender of the newly reinstated
+Protestants. In view of the developments that took place later,
+Jefferson's proposal does not seem revolutionary. At that time, however
+(June 3, 1789), it went much farther than the Court was willing to go.
+No appeal to abstract principle and no mention of rights was made. The
+main provisions consisted of an annual meeting of the States-General,
+which alone had the right to levy taxes and to appropriate money; the
+abolishment of all privileges, a sort of _habeas corpus_, the
+subordination of the military to the civil authority and liberty of the
+press. In order to induce the king to accept these new charters, all
+debts already contracted by him became the debts of the nation, and he
+was to receive a sum of eighty million livres to be raised by a loan.
+Thus Jefferson was attempting to put into effect the advice he had
+several times given his French friends: to buy their liberty from the
+king rather than bring about a revolution. I leave it to others to judge
+of the morality of the expedient. Certainly it was not in accord with
+the old battle cry of Patrick Henry. But once more Jefferson was
+consistent in so much as he had always maintained that what was good for
+America was not necessarily good for France. Moreover, he knew there was
+no need to stir up the spirit of the Assembly by inflammatory
+declarations. More than any incitement to take radical steps they needed
+a dose of cool common sense.
+
+Unfortunately the man at the helm (Necker) "had neither skill nor
+courage; ambition was his first passion, virtue his second, his
+judgement was not of the first order not even of the second", and the
+ship continued to drift in the storm. On June 18, 1789, Jefferson wrote
+a long letter to Madison, to indicate the situation of the different
+parties after the Commons had proclaimed themselves the National
+Assembly on the fifteenth. His characterization even to-day seems
+remarkably clear and disinterested. He sided decidedly with the Commons
+who had in their chamber almost all the talents of the nation;
+
+  They are firm, bold, yet moderate. There is, indeed, among them, a
+  number of very hot-headed members; but those of most influence are
+  cool, temperate and sagacious.... The Noblesse on the contrary, are
+  absolutely out of their senses. They are so furious, they can seldom
+  debate at all.... The Clergy are waiting to profit by every incident,
+  to secure themselves, and have no other object in view.
+
+Jefferson, however, paid tribute to the _cures_ who, throughout the
+kingdom, formed the mass of the clergy: "they are the only part
+favorably known to the people, because solely charged with the duties of
+baptism, burials, confession, visitation of the sick, instruction of the
+children, and aiding the poor, they are themselves of the people, and
+united with them."[219] The letter to Jay of June 24 is a day-by-day
+recital of the succession of events, the suspension of the meetings of
+the National Assembly, the _serment_ of Jeu de Paume on the twentieth,
+the _seance royale_ of June 23 and the refusal of the _tiers etat_ to
+deliberate separately.
+
+Jefferson could not help admiring the tenacity of the Assemblee
+Nationale, but at the same time estimated that they were going too far
+and had formed projects that were decidedly too ambitious. "Instead of
+being dismayed with what has passed, they seem to rise in their demands,
+and some of them to consider the erasing of every vestige of a
+difference of order as indispensable to the establishment and
+preservation of a good constitution. I apprehend there is more courage
+than calculation in this project."[220]
+
+A letter of Lafayette to Jefferson dated Versailles, July 4, contains an
+interesting postscriptum: "Will you send me the bill of Rights with your
+notes." A subsequent letter is even more pressing: "To-morrow I propose
+my bill of rights about the middle of the sitting; be pleased to
+consider it again and make your observations." As Lafayette introduced
+his "Declaration Europeenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen" on July
+11, 1789, the latter may be dated July 10. I had the good fortune to
+find in the Jefferson papers not one text but two of the Declaration.
+
+One of the versions probably antedated by several months the meeting of
+the National Assembly. Jefferson had it in his hands as early as the
+beginning of 1799 and he even sent a copy of it to Madison on January
+12.[221] The second text, far more important, was annotated by Jefferson
+in pencil. Although the handwriting is faint, it is perfectly legible.
+The emendations and corrections he suggested are quite characteristic,
+and are studied more in detail in the text I have published
+elsewhere.[222]
+
+Some of the modifications suggested by Jefferson do not require any
+comment; they are mere verbal changes such as the substitution of "_tels
+sont_" for "_tels que_". But as Lafayette had enumerated among the
+essential rights of man "_le soin de son honneur_" and "_la propriete_",
+Jefferson put both terms in brackets, thus indicating that they should
+be taken out. The elimination of the first term is probably due to the
+fact that Montesquieu had indicated that "_honneur_" is the main
+principle on which rests monarchical government and is easily
+understandable. The elimination of the "_droit de propriete_" can only
+be explained if we refer to the document in which Jefferson had
+"explained to himself" his theory of natural rights, and established a
+distinction between the natural rights and the civil rights. Lafayette
+accepted the first correction but not the second; he was too much under
+the influence of his physiocratic friends even to understand the much
+more advanced theory of Jefferson. The project he submitted to the
+Assembly, as well as the three "Declarations des droits de l'homme",
+consequently followed on this point the Virginia Bill of Rights rather
+than the Declaration of Independence.
+
+In a similar way, Lafayette had listed the powers constituting the
+government in the following order: "_executif, legislatif et
+judiciaire_", and refused to follow the order suggested by Jefferson's
+"_legislatif, executif, judiciaire_". This was more than a mere question
+of arrangement; there was evidently in the minds of both Jefferson and
+his French friend a question of hierarchy and almost subordination; if
+it is a mere nuance, the nuance was very significant. The last paragraph
+deserves even more careful consideration. In the January version it
+read: "_Et comme le progres des lumieres, et l'introduction des abus
+necessitent de temps en temps une revision de la constitution_...." The
+second edition annotated by Jefferson expressed the same idea in much
+more definite terms: "_Et comme le progres des lumieres, l'introduction
+des abus et le droit des generations qui se succedent necessitent la
+revision de tout etablissement humain, il doit etre indique des moyens
+constitutionnels qui assurent dans certain cas une convocation
+extraordinaire de representants dont le seul objet soit d'examiner et
+modifier, s'il le faut, la forme du Gouvernement_." This mention of the
+"_droit des generations qui se succedent_" seems a typically
+Jeffersonian idea. The same theory will be found fully developed in a
+letter to Samuel Kercheval written in 1816 and dealing with the revision
+of the Constitution of Virginia. It was expressed originally in a letter
+to James Madison, written from Paris on September 9, 1789. Curiously
+enough, Jefferson declared then that this theory had never been proposed
+before: "The question whether one generation of men has a right to bind
+another, seems never to have been started on this or on our side of the
+water. Yet it is a question of such consequence as not only to merit
+decision, but places also the fundamental principles of every
+government."[223] It is true that this special point was not retained in
+the "Declaration des droits de l'homme" as finally adopted by the
+Assemblee Nationale in its sessions of August, 1789, although it was
+proposed by Montmorency and reappeared as the last article of the
+"Declaration" of the Convention Nationale of May 29, 1793. But one may
+wonder how Jefferson could overlook the fact that the same principle was
+embodied in Lafayette's "Declaration." It is very unlikely that he would
+have claimed credit for the idea if it had been originated by his
+friend. A more acceptable explanation would be to admit that having
+suggested to Lafayette a theory which was not retained by the committee,
+he felt perfectly free to state that "the question had never been
+started."
+
+The American plenipotentiary was not an eye-witness of the famous scenes
+of the fourteenth of July, or as he calls it "the tumult of Paris", but
+he learned about it fully from M. de Corny, and wrote to Jay a long and
+interesting account (July 19) of the capture of La Bastille, the return
+of the king to Paris and the presentation of the national cockade.[224]
+
+In the meantime he was placed in a very embarrassing situation by his
+French admirers. The prestige of the author of the Declaration of
+Independence was such that the committee in charge of a plan of
+constitution thought they could do no better than to call into
+consultation the Minister of the United States. Champion de Cice,
+Archbishop of Bordeaux and chairman of the committee, sent him an urgent
+appeal to attend one of the first meetings, so that they might profit by
+the light of his reason and experience.[225] Jefferson, after mentioning
+the invitation, relates the incident in his "Autobiography" as follows:
+"I excused myself on the obvious considerations that my mission was to
+the King, as chief magistrate of the nation, that my duties were limited
+to the concerns of my own country, and forbade me to intermeddle with
+the internal transactions of that, in which I had been received under a
+specific charter." This may be the sense he wished to convey to Champion
+de Cice but the actual letter is far less categorical. Contrary to his
+custom he wrote it himself, although it is in French, alleging that the
+dispatches for America took all his time and adding that the committee
+would lay themselves open to criticism if they invited to their
+deliberations a foreigner accredited to the head of the nation, when the
+very question under discussion was a modification and abridgement of his
+powers. But he assured the archbishop of his most sincere and most
+passionate wishes for the complete success of the undertaking, which was
+certainly stretching diplomatic proprieties to the limit.
+
+The deliberations of the committee went on without Jefferson's official
+assistance; but shortly after the project of the constitution was
+presented, the deputies came to a deadlock on the veto power to be
+given to the king. After some stormy meetings, Lafayette conceived the
+idea that the house of the Minister of the United States was the only
+place near Versailles where some tranquillity could be obtained. He
+consequently invited eight of his friends to take dinner at the house of
+Jefferson, and having no time to consult him on the matter, scribbled a
+note in great hurry to ask Jefferson to make the necessary preparations
+for the unexpected guests: "Those gentlemen wish to consult with you and
+me; they will dine to-morrow at your house, as mine is always
+full."[226]
+
+Jefferson has given a somewhat embellished account of the memorable
+dinner in his "Autobiography." The mention of it in a letter to John Jay
+a few weeks later is less florid and probably more accurate.[227] The
+members of the committee discussed together their points of difference
+for six hours, and in the course of the discussion agreed on mutual
+sacrifices. Writing from memory, at the age of seventy-seven, Jefferson
+added: "I was a silent witness to a coolness and candor of argument,
+unusual in the conflicts of political opinion; to a logical reasoning,
+and chaste eloquence, disfigured by no gaudy tinsel of rhetoric or
+declamation, and truly worthy of being placed in parallel with the
+finest dialogues of antiquity, as handed to us by Xenophon, by Plato and
+Cicero."[228]
+
+Whether Jefferson remained a silent witness during these six hours is
+not so improbable as it would seem. It may well be doubted whether his
+knowledge of French was sufficient to enable him to participate in an
+animated discussion with eight Frenchmen. Under the circumstances
+silence was as much a necessity as a virtue. But when the American
+minister woke up the next morning he realized that it was impossible to
+keep the thing secret and that the French Government had every right to
+blame him for lending his house for a discussion of French internal
+politics. Unpleasant as it was, the only thing to do was to make a clean
+breast of it. He went at once to Montmorin to tell him "with truth and
+candor how it happened that my house had been made the scene of
+conferences of such a character."--"He told me," Jefferson continued,
+"that he already knew everything which had passed," which is the stock
+answer of the professional diplomat, whether he wishes to appear
+well-informed or wants to draw some further information from his
+interlocutor. Jefferson opened his heart, and if Montmorin did not know
+everything before giving audience to the American minister, there was
+little he did not know after hearing his account of the dinner.
+
+With this curious incident, Jefferson ends his account of the French
+Revolution. During the year, he had complained on several occasions that
+his French friends seemed unable to realize the importance of insisting
+on trial by jury in criminal cases. He finally persuaded one of the
+"abbes" to study the question thoroughly and on that occasion indicated
+exactly how he stood in matters of government. All told, his views had
+not changed much, and at that time he would not have accepted without
+reservations and qualifications the famous principle of "government by
+the people." There was still in his mind, if not in all his formulas, a
+tacit admission that all the people could not unreservedly participate
+in all branches of government. Nothing could be clearer than the
+distinctions he established and nothing could be less demagogical.
+
+"We think, in America, that it is necessary to introduce the people into
+every department of government, as far as they are capable of exercising
+it; and that this is the only way to insure a long-continued and honest
+administration of its power." Then he proceeded to define, point by
+point, the extent to which the people could safely be allowed to
+participate in the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the
+government.
+
+  1. They are not qualified to exercise themselves the executive
+  department, but they are qualified to name the person who shall
+  exercise it. With us, therefore, they choose this officer every four
+  years. 2. They are not qualified to legislate. With us therefore,
+  they only choose the legislators. 3. They are not qualified to
+  _judge_ questions of _law_, but they are very capable of judging
+  questions of _fact_. In the form of juries, therefore, they determine
+  all matters of fact, leaving to the permanent judges to decide the
+  law resulting from those facts.[229]
+
+Thus spoke the champion of democracy at the beginning of the French
+Revolution, after spending five years in Paris and supposedly permeating
+his mind with the wild theories of the French philosophers. And what he
+said of the people on this occasion did not apply to the French people
+alone, for he made it clear that it was the political theory applied "in
+America." It was essentially the theory of government by experts which
+he already had in mind when he proposed the reorganization of the
+College of William and Mary. In 1778, as well as in 1789, Jefferson did
+not hesitate to proclaim that if the source of all power was in the
+people, the people could not exercise their power in all circumstances,
+that they had to delegate their authority to men really qualified,
+retaining only the right to select them. This may not be the common
+acceptation of the term "Jeffersonian democracy", but I have a strong
+suspicion that on the whole Jefferson never changed much in this
+respect. He certainly never stood for mob rule, nor for direct
+government by the masses, and he knew too much about the delicate and
+complicated wheels of government to believe that the running of such a
+tremendous machine could be intrusted to untrained hands.
+
+As for the French, he trusted them even less, and never believed, as
+long as he remained in France, that they were prepared for
+self-government. He refused to consider that a real revolution had
+started before his eyes or was even in sight. "Upon the whole," he wrote
+to Madison shortly before his departure from Paris, "I do not see yet
+probable that any actual commotion will take place; and if it does take
+place, I have strong confidence that the patriotic party will hold
+together, and their party in the nation be what I have ascribed it." Up
+to the last moment he held the belief that the king, "the substantial
+people of the whole country, the army, and the influential part of the
+clergy, formed a firm phalanx which must prevail."[230] The analysis of
+the situation sent to Jay just as he was about to leave Paris does not
+indicate even the possibility of establishing a republic, since the only
+parties he distinguished were:
+
+  ... the aristocrats, comprehending the higher members of the clergy,
+  military, nobility, and the parliaments of the whole kingdom; the
+  moderate royalists who wish for a constitution nearly similar to that
+  of England; the republicans who are willing to let their first
+  magistracy be hereditary, but to make it very subordinate to the
+  legislature, and to have that legislature consist of a single
+  chamber.[231]
+
+Jefferson was not the man to indulge in effusions even when he was
+deeply moved and throughout his mission in France he deliberately
+refrained from any expression of personal feelings. But the love and
+friendship of the French for the United States was so general and so
+genuine, it formed such a contrast with the cold and tenacious enmity of
+Great Britain, that the American minister was won and conquered by it
+and had to come to the conclusion that "nothing should be spared to
+attach this country to us. It is the only one on which we can rely for
+support, under every event. Its inhabitants love us more, I think, than
+they do any other nation on earth. This is very much the effect of the
+good dispositions with which the French officers returned."[232]
+Everybody is familiar with the closing lines of Jefferson's account of
+his mission to France: "So, ask the traveller inhabitant of any nation,
+in what country would you rather live?--Certainly, in my own, where are
+all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections
+and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice?
+France."
+
+These lines were written at the twilight of his life, when his memory
+took him back to the wonderful days he had lived in Paris, while the old
+regime was shedding the last rays of its evanescent glory. Less known,
+but far more revealing of his true feelings at the time, is a passage in
+one of his letters to James Madison. It is one of the very few times,
+and as a matter of fact, the first time when he declared that the
+nations of the world had to abandon their old code of selfishness and
+that a new principle of international life had to be recognized. For
+there is only one standard of morality, one code of conduct between
+nations as between individuals.
+
+  It is impossible--he wrote--to desire better dispositions towards us
+  than prevail in this Assembly. Our proceedings have been viewed as a
+  model for them on every occasion; and though in the heat of debate,
+  men are generally disposed to contradict every authority urged by
+  their opponents, ours has been treated like that of the Bible, open
+  to explanation, but not to question. I am sorry that in the moment of
+  such a disposition, anything should come from us to check it. The
+  placing them on a mere footing with the English, will have this
+  effect. When of two nations, the one has engaged herself in a ruinous
+  war for us, has spent her blood and money to save us, has opened her
+  bosom to us in peace, and received us almost on the footing of her
+  own citizens, while the other has moved heaven, earth, and hell to
+  exterminate us in war, has insulted us in all her councils in peace,
+  shut her doors to us in every part where her interests would admit
+  it, libelled us in foreign nations, endeavoured to poison them
+  against the reception of our most precious commodities; to place
+  these two nations on a footing, is to give a great deal more to one
+  than to the other, if the maxim be true, that to make unequal
+  quantities equal, you must add more to one than the other. To say, in
+  excuse, that gratitude is never to enter into the motives of national
+  conduct, is to revive a principle which has been buried for centuries
+  with its kindred principles of the lawfulness of assassination,
+  poison, perjury, etc. All of these were legitimate principles in the
+  dark ages which intervened between ancient and modern civilization,
+  but exploded and held in just horror in the eighteenth century. I
+  know but one code of morality for men, whether acting singly or
+  collectively.... Let us hope that our government will take some other
+  occasions to show, that they proscribe no virtue from the canons of
+  their conduct with other nations.[233]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK FOUR
+
+_Monocrats and Republicans_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE QUARREL WITH HAMILTON
+
+
+For more than two years Jefferson had repeatedly expressed the wish to
+be allowed to return to his native country, at least for a short visit.
+When he finally received official notification that his request had been
+granted, he departed from Paris rather abruptly and even without taking
+leave of his best friends. "Adieus are painful," he wrote to Madame de
+Corny, "therefore I left Paris without bidding one to you."[234] This is
+a naive and quite significant confession of the difficulty he
+experienced in maintaining his puritanical restraint and impassibility
+at that time. He went with his two daughters from Le Havre to Cowes, and
+waited there till October 14 for favorable winds. After a rapid crossing
+on the _Montgomery_ they sighted the "Capes" on November 13, and barely
+escaped being shipwrecked in the bay. Although damaged by fire and
+stripped of part of her rigging, the ship was able to reach Norfolk, and
+Jefferson promptly set out for Richmond and Monticello, stopping however
+on the way at Eppington with the Eppes. It was there that he received
+two letters from President Washington, one dated October 13, the other
+November 30, asking him to accept the post of Secretary of State in the
+newly formed cabinet. The President's letters were most flattering and
+indicated that he had been "determined, as well by motives of private
+regard, as a conviction of public propriety" to nominate him for the
+office.
+
+Jefferson at first experienced the natural repugnance of a man who had
+put his heart into an important undertaking and was asked suddenly to
+abandon it. He was better acquainted with the situation in Paris than
+any man he could think of: it had taken him several years of constant
+work and patient efforts to bring the French officials over to his
+views. His best friends were in the new government and would help him to
+obtain for the United States better commercial terms and a more
+satisfactory debt settlement. Let us add that for a philosophical
+observer France offered the most fascinating spectacle, and Jefferson
+did not feel that life in Philadelphia could bring him the same social
+and intellectual pleasures as Paris. Quite significantly he wrote to
+Washington: "as far as my fears, my hopes, or my inclination enter into
+this question, I confess that they would not lead me to prefer a
+change." On the other hand, he did not make a categorical refusal, in
+case he should be "drafted", and the President formally nominated him.
+
+Nothing else was done in the matter until Madison visited him at
+Monticello and acquainted him with the situation. But even Madison could
+not win his consent,[235] and the President had to assure Jefferson that
+the duties of his office would probably not be quite so complicated and
+hard to execute as he might have been led at the first moment to
+imagine.[236] It was not a command, but while the President left him
+free to decide he expressed a strong hope and wish that Jefferson would
+accept. So, on February 14 he sent his letter of acceptance.
+
+In the meantime he had married Martha to Thomas Mann Randolph, Junior,
+"a young gentleman of genius, science, and honorable mind", who
+afterwards filled "a dignified station in the General Government, and
+the most dignified in his own State."[237] Although Jefferson had wished
+for such a marriage, he had left Martha free to make her own choice, as
+he explained in a letter to Madame de Corny: "Tho' his talents,
+disposition, connections, fortune, were such as would have made him my
+first choice, yet according to the usage of my country, I scrupulously
+suppressed my wishes, that my daughter might indulge in her own
+sentiments freely."[238] The marriage took place on April 2, 1790, and
+on the next day Jefferson set out for New York to take his place in the
+Cabinet. He reached Philadelphia on the twelfth. There he stopped to pay
+his respects to the man "he has succeeded but not replaced", old Doctor
+Franklin then on the sick bed from which he never arose. "My recent
+return from a country in which he had left so many friends, and the
+perilous convulsions to which they had been exposed, revived all his
+anxieties to know what part they had taken, what had been their course,
+and what their fate. He went over all in succession with a rapidity and
+animation almost too much for his strength." It was on this occasion
+that Franklin put in his hands a paper containing an account of his
+negotiations with Lord Howe to prevent a war between the colonies and
+their mother country, papers which, unfortunately, Jefferson entrusted
+later to William Temple Franklin, who "delayed the publication for more
+than twenty years."[239] Jefferson arrived in New York on the
+twenty-first, took his lodgings at the City Tavern, and finally rented a
+small house in Maiden Lane.
+
+Congress was in session and business had accumulated on the desk of the
+new secretary: he plunged at once into work. All his colleagues had
+already taken charge of their respective departments: Colonel Alexander
+Hamilton was in charge of the Treasury, General Henry Knox of the War
+Department, Edmund Randolph, Attorney-general. Those were the only
+departments thus far created and among them the four secretaries divided
+all the different attributions of the executive power. With them he was
+to sit in Cabinet meetings presided over by Washington until his
+retirement from office, in December, 1793.
+
+The distinction usually established between domestic and foreign
+politics is obviously an arbitrary one and does not correspond to
+reality. This was particularly true of an age when the attributes of
+the Secretary of State were far less specialized than in our day.
+Even if he had been inclined to neglect the questions of internal
+administration--to give himself entirely to foreign affairs--Jefferson
+would have been constantly reminded of the existence of many other
+problems of equal importance to the future of the nation by his
+colleagues and the President himself. In addition, it was Washington's
+ordinary practice not only to discuss all important measures in a
+Cabinet council, but often to request each member of his official family
+to give his opinion in writing on these questions. Such documents as
+have been preserved constitute a most precious source of information for
+the history of the period; they are usefully supplemented by the notes
+that Jefferson took at the time and transcribed "twenty five years or
+more" afterwards for the use of posterity. The three volumes "bound in
+marbled paper" in which Jefferson copied these notes, taken on loose
+scraps of paper, are the famous "Anas" which he collected to justify
+himself against the accusations that biographers of Washington--such as
+Marshall--had already launched against him. Although there is no reason
+to believe that Jefferson deliberately altered the old records, it is
+certain that they were edited, that many scraps of papers were
+discarded, although not destroyed, and that a "critical" edition of the
+"Anas" would not be without interest. They are preceded by an
+introduction in which, more than twenty-five years later, Jefferson gave
+an estimate of his former opponents, Hamilton and John Adams. This final
+judgment can in no way be used in discussing events that took place
+between 1790 and 1793, and it contains no indication worth retaining
+about Jefferson's attitude at that time towards his colleagues and the
+Vice President. The man who wrote this introduction in February, 1818,
+was really another Jefferson. He may tell us that he arrived in the
+midst of a bitter contest, "But a stranger to the ground, a stranger to
+the actors on it, so long absent as to have lost all familiarity with
+the subject, and as yet unaware of its object, I took no concern in
+it."[240] It must be admitted at the outset that such is not the
+impression one can gather from the correspondence.
+
+That the financial structure of the Continental Congress had collapsed
+and that immediate remedies were necessary Jefferson knew as well and
+probably better than any other member of the Cabinet. He had not the
+expert knowledge of Hamilton, but more than once he had had to deal with
+financial questions, and when in Paris had displayed considerable skill
+in dealing with the members of the Committee of Commerce. He had
+prepared schedules for the payment of the French and Dutch loans and
+discussed finances with Dutch bankers in Amsterdam. Furthermore, his
+governorship of Virginia during the war had acquainted him with the
+question of State debts. If he could be tricked and made to hold the
+candle, as he said, there was no man who could resist the superior
+genius and Machiavellism of the arch financier of the United States. As
+a matter of fact, if he was hoodwinked, he was not at the beginning, at
+least, a blind or an unwilling victim.
+
+Following the financial reorganization defined by the Constitution and
+the appointment of a Secretary of the Treasury, according to the Act of
+1789, Hamilton prepared for the period under consideration four
+documents: Report on Public Credit, January 9, 1790; Report on a
+National Bank, December 5, 1790; Report on the Establishment of a Mint,
+May 1, 1791; Report on Manufactures, December 5, 1791.
+
+The first subject for consideration was the national debt. The foreign
+debt was unquestionably a matter of national honor and had to be paid in
+full, according to the terms of contract: with the arrears of interest
+it amounted to $11,710,000. The domestic debt was estimated at
+$27,383,000 for the principal, $13,030,000 for accrued interest and
+$2,000,000 for unliquidated debt. After some opposition it was finally
+decided that holders of certificates would receive their face value with
+interest. But there remained the question of States debts which was
+hopelessly confused and destined to lead to a bitter controversy. The
+reorganization plan proposed that repayment could be made in a more
+orderly way through some sort of a central organization rather than
+through the States, and outlined the famous "Assumption" by which the
+Federal Government would "assume", with a discount to be determined, the
+debts incurred by the several States during the course of the war. It
+naturally meant that additional revenue had to be raised by Federal
+measures and consequently distributed between all the States, whose
+debts varied in nature and amount from State to State, some of which
+having already proceeded to a semi-reorganization, while others, having
+not suffered from the war, were financially in good condition. The
+opposition came naturally from the Southern States, whose population was
+smaller in comparison with the Northern States.
+
+The opponents of the measure objected very strenuously at first, arguing
+that it would give an unfair advantage to those that had contracted
+debts too freely during the war, and would penalize those who had
+already set their financial house in order; and also that it would be a
+usurpation of powers not conferred by the Constitution to the Federal
+Government.
+
+First defeated in Congress, the "Assumption" was finally adopted under
+circumstances now to be related. Jefferson's unofficial representative
+in Congress, Madison, had already strenuously opposed the measure
+proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury. When Jefferson arrived in
+New York to take possession of his office, the battle had been going on
+for some time, and four days later he wrote to T. M. Randolph that
+"Congress is principally occupied with the treasury report. The
+assumption of the State debts has been voted affirmatively in the first
+instance, but it is not certain that it will hold its ground through all
+the changes of the bill when it shall be brought in."[241] There is
+little doubt that Madison had already acquainted him with his views of
+the situation, but it is also probable that Jefferson paid small heed to
+them for the time being. He suffered for several weeks from severe
+headaches, he had to write many letters of farewell to his French
+friends, and the accumulation of reports and papers he found on his desk
+required all his attention.
+
+In June, however, he expressed to George Mason his doubts that the
+"Assumption" would be finally adopted. But, far from siding with the
+out-and-out opponents of the measure, he thought it would be wiser to
+compromise, so he added, "my duties preventing me from mingling in these
+questions, I do not pretend to be very competent to their decision. In
+general, I think it necessary to give as well as take in a government
+like ours."[242]
+
+As a matter of fact, it was already patent that an almost irreconcilable
+difference of opinion on the matter existed between Hamilton and the
+Virginians, and, a week later, Jefferson himself invited the Secretary
+of the Treasury to take dinner at his house with a few friends in order
+to hold an informal conference; for he thought it impossible that
+"reasonable men, consulting together coolly, could fail, by some mutual
+sacrifices of opinion to form a compromise which was to save the Union."
+Jefferson has related the scene in the "Anas", but a somewhat different
+account is given in his letter to James Monroe, written June 20, 1790,
+from New York, in which he outlined the compromise. He mentioned that
+two considerations had impelled him to discuss it; first the fact that
+if some funding bill were not agreed to, the credit of the United States
+at Amsterdam would collapse and vanish and each State be left alone to
+take care of itself. Although he was not enthusiastic about the means to
+be employed and foresaw that the United States would have difficulties
+in raising the necessary money by Federal taxation instead of letting
+the States raise it themselves, he accepted the solution with open eyes:
+"In the present instance, I see the necessity of yielding to cries of
+the creditors in certain parts of the Union; for the sake of the Union,
+and to save us from the greatest of all calamities, the total extinction
+of our credit in Europe." More than any member of the Cabinet he was
+aware of the imminence of this danger. On the other hand, and in order
+to give some satisfaction to the Southern States, it would be agreed
+that Congress would be transferred to Philadelphia for a period of
+twelve to fifteen years, and thereafter, without further declaration, to
+Georgetown. This was clearly a "deal", and Jefferson knew it so well
+that he denied that it was one. "The Pennsylvania and Virginia delegates
+have conducted themselves honorably, on the question of residence.
+Without descending to talk about bargains, they have seen that their
+true interests lay in not listening to the insidious propositions made,
+to divide and defect them, and we have seen them at times voting against
+their respective wishes rather than separate." Whether the word bargain
+had been used or not is immaterial. Gentlemen sitting around a table
+after the cloth has been removed and the punch bowl brought in can come
+to an understanding "_a demi mot_."[243] Nothing official had been done
+yet, but writing to Dumas, the financial agent at Amsterdam, Jefferson,
+in order to maintain the credit of the country, put his best foot
+forward and solemnly declared "that there is not one single individual
+in the United States, whether in or out of office, who supposes they can
+ever do anything which might impair their foreign contracts." With
+respect to domestic paper, Dumas could rest assured that "justice would
+be done" and, although the question was terribly complicated, it was
+"possible that modifications may be proposed which may bring the
+measure, yet into an acceptable form."[244]
+
+With Gilmer, he was more frank and indicated clearly that among the
+possible ways in which the conflict in Congress might yet terminate, the
+best probably would be "a _bargain_ between the eastern members who have
+it so much at heart, and the Middle members who are indifferent about
+it, to adopt these debts without modification, on condition of removing
+the seat of government to Philadelphia or Baltimore." The third
+solution, which Jefferson preferred, would have proposed to divide the
+total sum between all the States in proportion to their census, and to
+establish the national capital first and temporarily at Philadelphia,
+then, and permanently at Georgetown.[245] This was not an ideal
+solution; it was a compromise which would at least present the advantage
+of giving new life to the agriculture and commerce of the South. The
+main objection, however, still remained, for the Federal Government
+would have to raise the imposts and overburden that source of revenue,
+but it seemed that "some sacrifice was necessary for the sake of
+peace."[246] Once again, but not for the last time, Jefferson saw
+himself in a dilemma. He was too far-sighted not to understand that the
+individual States would have to abandon some of their rights and a
+portion of their sovereignty in order to acquire more financial
+stability, and that more power would be concentrated in the hands of the
+Federal Government. On the other hand, he was no less firmly convinced
+that a secession would unavoidably result from a rejection of the
+"Assumption", and he was ready to sacrifice his most cherished
+preferences on the altar of the Union.
+
+On August 14, Jefferson could announce to Randolph that Congress had
+separated
+
+  the day before yesterday, having reacquired the harmony which always
+  distinguished their proceedings before the two disagreeable questions
+  of assumption and residence were introduced.... It is not foreseen
+  that anything so generative of dissention can arise again, and
+  therefore the friends of the government hope that this difficulty
+  once surmounted in the States, everything will work well. I am
+  principally afraid that commerce will be over loaded by the
+  assumption, believing that it would be better that property should be
+  duly taxed.
+
+He discussed for the first time the exact ways and means in a letter to
+Gouverneur Morris on November 26, 1790, and indicated that additional
+funds would be provided by a tax on spirituous liquors, foreign and
+homemade, that the whole interest would be raised by taxes on
+consumption.... "Add to this what may be done by throwing in the aid of
+western lands and other articles as a sinking fund, and our prospect is
+really a bright one."[247]
+
+It is perfectly true that the letter to Morris was to a great extent for
+publicity purposes, yet we do not find in it the slightest mark of
+disapproval of the tax itself, nor do we find it in a letter written to
+De Moustier[248] in which, on the contrary, Jefferson mentioned the
+advantages of duties on consumption, which fall principally on the rich;
+for it is "a general desire to make them contribute the whole money we
+want, if possible." It was not until February that doubts began to
+percolate into his mind, and he inquired from Colonel Mason "what was
+said in our country (Virginia), of the fiscal arrangements now going
+on." But he did not yet take the question really to heart:
+
+  Whether these measures be right or wrong abstractedly, more attention
+  should be paid to the general opinion. However, all will pass,--the
+  excise will pass--the bank will pass. The only corrective of what is
+  corrupt in our present form of government will be the augmentation of
+  the numbers in the lower House, so as to get more agricultural
+  representation, which may put that interest above that of the
+  stock-jobbers.[249]
+
+This is the first indication of a rift between Jefferson and Hamilton.
+
+Yet Jefferson was willing to yield more ground in order to avoid an open
+break. The Bank Bill of Hamilton had passed the Senate without
+difficulty; in the House it had been opposed on constitutional grounds
+by Madison but had finally obtained a majority. When the bill was sent
+to the President, Washington, unwilling to do anything unconstitutional,
+asked both the Attorney-general Randolph and Jefferson to give their
+opinion on the matter in writing. The report written on this occasion by
+the Secretary of State is a psychological document both interesting and
+revealing.
+
+Jefferson started out by enumerating the different measures included in
+the Bank Bill, pointing out _en passant_ that they were intended to
+break down the most ancient and fundamental laws of 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 laws
+of monopoly. He then demonstrated to his own satisfaction that power to
+establish such an institution was neither specifically declared nor
+implied in any article of the Constitution. The only general statement
+that could be construed as authorizing it was a mention "to make all
+laws _necessary_ and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated
+powers." Finally he undertook to prove that the bank might be
+convenient but was in nowise necessary. The conclusion was obvious after
+these very closely knitted pieces of legal reasoning: "Nothing but a
+necessity inevitable by any other means can justify such a prostitution
+of laws, which constitute the pillars of our whole system of
+jurisprudence." The President's veto could clearly be used in that case,
+since that was the buckler provided by the Constitution to protect it
+against the invasions of the legislature.
+
+[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON
+
+_From the painting by John Trumbull in the possession of the Essex
+Institute, Salem, Mass._]
+
+Jefferson could and perhaps should have stopped there. But he was far
+from certain that Hamilton's views would not prevail, and in that case
+he would have committed himself irrevocably. This he did not wish to do.
+He consequently provided at the end a way of escape for himself as well
+as for the President:
+
+  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 Constitution has
+  placed a check in the negative of the President.
+
+This was very adroit, almost too adroit. It was the answer of a master
+politician. Whether it was absolutely straightforward is a very
+different question. Jefferson, who so often accused others of being
+"trimmers", was undoubtedly open to such an accusation himself.
+
+With the opinion of Randolph and Jefferson before him, the President
+asked Hamilton, as sponsor of the bill, to present his rejoinder in
+writing. On the twenty-third he submitted his famous "Opinion as to the
+Constitutionality of the Bank of the United States" in which he
+developed the doctrine of "implied powers."
+
+  Now it appears--said Hamilton--to the Secretary of the Treasury
+  that this general principle is inherent in the very definition of
+  government and essential to every step of the progress to be made
+  by that of the United States, namely: That every power vested in a
+  government is in its nature sovereign, and includes, by force of the
+  term, a right to employ all the means requisite and fairly applicable
+  to the attainment of the ends of such power, and which are not
+  precluded by restrictions and exceptions specified in the
+  Constitutions, or not immoral, or not contrary to the essential
+  ends of political society.
+
+As a matter of fact, the question at the bottom of the controversy was
+the question of State rights; but, curiously enough, it is indicated
+only incidentally in Jefferson's opinion. He was not ready to join
+issues on that question, much more clearly brought forward by Madison in
+his speeches before the House, when he said:
+
+  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 United States, are reserved
+  to the States or to the people (XIIth amendment). To take a single
+  step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the power
+  of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no
+  longer susceptible of definition.[250]
+
+This was exactly the question, for to accept Hamilton's theory was to
+open the way to countless encroachments of the Federal Government on
+State rights. Washington's administration had come to its most momentous
+decision for the future of the government of the United States. This was
+really the parting of the ways. Jefferson knew it and saw it; it was
+obvious that, with a centralized financial organization, a central
+political organization would develop. All sorts of practical
+considerations may be brought in and nice legal points drawn, but the
+fact remains that when the representatives of the different States not
+only permitted but were eager to see the Federal Government assume the
+responsibility of State debts, they sold their birthright for the not
+unconsiderable sum of $21,500,000. Perhaps it was the only possible
+solution at the time. Perhaps Jefferson showed wisdom and political
+sense in not getting up and fighting to the last ditch. He registered as
+strong a protest as he could without burning his bridges. He knew from
+the temper of the House that there was no hope of making them accept any
+other solution. He knew that against the strongly organized Federalists
+he could not muster any well-disciplined troops. He feared the immediate
+dissolution of the Union and temporized; but all the rest of his life
+was to be spent in trying to recover the ground lost on that day.
+
+Jefferson was soon to realize how poorly equipped and seconded he was
+when he had to take up the battle practically single-handed.
+
+In the spring of 1791 Madison had loaned him a copy of Thomas Paine's
+pamphlet, "The Rights of Man", written in answer to Burke's denunciation
+of the French Revolution. When the owner of the pamphlet requested that
+it be returned, for it was the only copy at his disposal and he intended
+to have it reprinted in Philadelphia, Jefferson courteously returned it,
+and added a short note in which he expressed his satisfaction that such
+a valuable work would appear in America: "I am extremely pleased to find
+it will be reprinted here, and that something is at length to be
+publicly said against the political heresies which have sprung up among
+us. I have no doubt our citizens will rally a second time round the
+standard of 'Common Sense.'" There is no indication whatever that
+Jefferson intended the note for publication, but the printer thought it
+would help the success of the pamphlet if Jefferson's letter were
+printed as a preface. All the peaceful intentions of the Secretary of
+State had come to naught. The word heresies could apply only to the
+Federalists, and among the Federalists to John Adams, whose "Discourse
+on Davila" had been appearing in Fenno's paper. Jefferson could declare
+that nothing was further from his intentions than to appear as a
+contradictor of Mr. Adams in public; very few men would believe it and
+Jefferson himself realized it so well that he wrote at once to
+Washington to explain his position:
+
+  Mr. Adams will unquestionably take to himself the charge of political
+  heresy, as conscious of his own views of drawing the present
+  government to the form of the English constitution, and, I fear, will
+  consider me as meaning to injure him in the public eye. I learnt that
+  some Anglomen have, censured it in another point of view, as a
+  sanction of Paine's principles tend to give offence to the British
+  government. Their real fear, however, is that this popular and
+  republican pamphlet, taking wonderfully, is likely at a single
+  stroke, to wipe out all the unconstitutional doctrines which their
+  bell wether Davila has been preaching for a twelvemonth. I certainly
+  never made a secret of my being anti-monarchical, and
+  anti-aristocratical; but I am sincerely mortified to be thus brought
+  forward on the public stage, where to remain, to advance or to
+  retire, will be equally against my love of silence and quiet and my
+  abhorrence of dispute.[251]
+
+His abhorrence of dispute was so real that, at this juncture, he decided
+to leave Philadelphia for a trip north, staying two days in New York,
+visiting the battlefield of Saratoga, Lake George, Lake Champlain, and
+coming back through the Connecticut valley. Madison accompanied him on
+the trip, and Mr. Bowers has advanced the hypothesis that it was during
+the long conversations the two friends had during a whole month alone
+together that the plans were formulated for establishing a separate
+party to defend the republican ideals. This may have been the result of
+the journey, but I doubt very much that such was the purpose of
+Jefferson when he set out from Philadelphia. A more simple explanation
+is that, having written his letter to Washington and made, as he
+thought, his position clear, he hoped that the President would not fail
+to communicate its contents to Adams if any unpleasant situation should
+develop; and he simply withdrew from the battlefield in order not to
+enter into a public controversy. But he counted without Adams' temper.
+The Vice President considered Jefferson's short sentence as a challenge
+and proceeded promptly to have it answered. A series of articles signed
+"Publicola" began to appear in the _Centinel_, denouncing not only
+Paine, but Jefferson himself. "Brutus" took up the cudgels in favor of
+Jefferson and the newspaper battle was on. The public, always eager to
+identify anonymous writers, did not fail to attribute to Adams the
+articles signed "Publicola", while to Jefferson were attributed the
+answers written by Agricola, Brutus, and Philodemus. When Jefferson came
+back from his trip the controversy was raging, and soon he began to
+enjoy the conflict.
+
+On July 10 he sent to Colonel Monroe a bundle of papers showing "what a
+dust Paine's pamphlet has kicked up here", and he reiterated his
+approval of the book:
+
+  A writer under the name of Publicola, in attacking Paine's
+  principles, is very desirous of involving me in the same censure with
+  the author. I certainly merit the same, for I profess the same
+  principles; but it is equally certain I never meant to have entered
+  as a volunteer into the cause. My occupations do not permit it. Some
+  persons here are insinuating that I am Brutus, that I am Agricola,
+  that I am Philodemus, etc., etc. I am none of them, being decided not
+  to write a word on the subject, unless any printed imputation should
+  call for a printed disavowal, to which I should put my name.
+
+On the other hand he refused to take seriously the denial that Adams
+"has no more concern in the publication of the writings of Publicola,
+than the author of the 'Rights of Man' himself." But he saw with
+satisfaction that Hamilton had taxed Adams with imprudence in stirring
+up the question and agreed that "his business was done." What was far
+more serious was the fury of gambling that had arisen at the opening of
+the bank: "the land office, the federal town, certain schemes of
+manufactures, are likely to be converted into aliment for that
+rage."[252]
+
+In a last effort to placate Adams, however, and chiefly in order to
+avoid having his name dragged into a public controversy, he wrote to the
+Vice President "from the conviction that truth, between candid minds can
+never do harm." He assured him that he had not written "a line for the
+newspapers." He declared "with truth in the presence of the Almighty
+that nothing was further from his intention or his expectations than to
+have either his own or Adams' name brought before the public on this
+occasion." This was perfectly true, but at the same time he was
+proposing to appoint Paine Postmaster, and on July 29 he wrote to
+congratulate him, for, thanks to his little book, the general opinion
+seemed to rally against a sect high in name but small in number. "They
+are checked at least by your pamphlet, and the people confirmed in their
+good old faith."[253] The fact that Adams accepted Jefferson's
+explanation more gracefully than was to be expected did not prevent the
+fight from going on. It had already been taken out of the hands of the
+leaders and the controversy was raging in the papers. At this juncture
+Jefferson realized that the republicans were very poorly armed in the
+capital and that they had no paper in which their views could be
+expressed so as to counteract the pernicious propaganda of Fenno's
+paper. Thus the result brought about was the foundation of the _National
+Gazette_, Philip Freneau's paper, in which Jefferson had a great part.
+The story has never been told completely and deserves more than passing
+attention, since Jefferson was soon to be attacked by his enemies for
+the interest he took in the _Gazette_. Several documents heretofore
+neglected allow us to reconstruct exactly the part played by Jefferson
+in the undertaking, and particularly to settle a few questions of
+chronology which are not without importance.
+
+It does not appear that Jefferson had any ulterior motives when, on
+February 28, 1791, he offered to Freneau, then living miserably in New
+York, the clerkship for foreign languages in the Department of State.
+"The salary indeed is very low," he wrote, "being but two hundred and
+fifty dollars a year; but also it gives so little to do, as not to
+interfere with any other calling the person may choose.... I was told a
+few days ago that it might perhaps be convenient to you to accept it. If
+so, it is at your service." Freneau answered promptly, on March 5, that,
+having been for some time engaged in endeavouring to establish a Weekly
+Gazette in Monmouth County and having at present a prospect of
+succeeding in a tolerable subscription, he found himself under the
+necessity of declining the acceptance of this "generous unsolicited
+proposal." On May 15, 1791, Jefferson, writing to T. M. Randolph,
+expressed his discontent at the attitude of the two leading papers of
+Philadelphia and added:
+
+  We have been trying to get another weekly or half weekly paper set up
+  excluding advertisements so that it might go through the States and
+  furnish a right vehicle of intelligence. We hoped at one time to have
+  persuaded Freneau to set up here, but failed--in the meantime Bache's
+  paper, the principles of which were always republican improve it's
+  matter.
+
+Not until August 4 did Freneau write to Jefferson that, after discussing
+the matter with Madison and Colonel Lee, he had succeeded in making
+arrangements with a printer in Philadelphia and would submit proposals
+for the publication of a newspaper. Freneau moved to Philadelphia, was
+appointed clerk for foreign languages on August 16, and took oath of
+office the next day. There is consequently no doubt that Freneau was
+induced to leave New York by the double prospect of working in
+Jefferson's office and at the same time establishing a republican
+newspaper. On November 20, Jefferson sent some sample copies to Randolph
+and wrote again on January 22 to ask his son-in-law to find subscribers
+to the _Gazette_. He sent to Freneau a list of subscribers from
+Charlottesville (March 23, 1792) and wrote to his friends that it was
+the best paper ever published in America. On November 16, 1792, he
+announced to Randolph that Freneau's paper was getting into
+Massachusetts under the patronage of "Hancock, Sam. Adams, Mr. Ames, the
+colossus of the monocrats and paper men will either be left out or hard
+run. The people of that State are republican; but hitherto they have
+heard nothing but the hymns and lauds chaunted by Fenno."
+
+When Freneau was vehemently accused by Hamilton of attacking members of
+the government while in the pay of the government, Jefferson took up his
+defense and wrote to the speaker of the House to point out that Freneau
+received a nominal salary and had even "to pay himself special
+translators for languages with which he was unacquainted."[254] Finally,
+on October 11, Freneau sent in his resignation to date from October 1,
+1793. Such are the bare facts and as Freneau's paper was to play an
+important part in the quarrel with Hamilton, it is important to state
+them exactly.
+
+The battle did not begin in earnest until the first months of 1792. But
+Jefferson's distaste for the financial structure erected by Hamilton
+increased during the summer and fall of that year. To Carmichael he
+grudgingly admitted that the domestic debt "funded at six per cent., is
+twelve and a half per cent. above par." "But," he added, "a spirit of
+gambling, in our public paper has seized too many of our citizens, and
+we fear it will check our commerce, arts, manufactures, and agriculture
+unless stopped."[255] To Gouverneur Morris he declared that the fever
+of gambling on government funds has seized everybody, "has laid up our
+ships at the wharves, as too slow instruments of profit, and has even
+disarmed the hand of the tailor of his needle and thimble. They say the
+evil will cure itself. I wish it may; but I have rarely seen a gamester
+cured, even by the disasters of his vocation."[256]
+
+One may wonder at this point what course of conduct was open to
+Jefferson. He might have placed his views of the situation before
+Washington and tried to open his eyes to the danger of the Republic. He
+might have broken completely with Hamilton and declared to the President
+that he had to decide between the Secretary of the Treasury and the
+Secretary of State, but as a matter of fact his hands were tied since he
+had accepted the "Assumption" and had not dared categorically to decide
+against the Bank Bill. Apparently he had reached an impasse. But it was
+not in Jefferson's temperament to try to overcome insuperable obstacles
+or stay very long in a blind alley. Since experience had shown that the
+general government "tended to monarchy" and this tendency strengthened
+itself from day to day, the only remedy was for the States to erect
+"such barriers at the constitutional line as cannot be surmounted either
+by themselves or by the General Government."[257] An opportunity
+presented itself to experiment with the idea in a proposed convocation
+of a convention in Virginia to amend the Constitution. Jefferson,
+consulted on this occasion, sent to Archibald Stuart his ideas on the
+modifications desirable; to lengthen the term of the representatives and
+diminish their number; to strengthen the Executive by making it more
+independent of the legislature.
+
+  Responsibility is a tremendous engine in a free government. Let him
+  feel the whole weight of it then, by taking away the shelter of his
+  executive council. Experience both ways has already established the
+  superiority of this measure. Render the judiciary respectable by
+  every possible means, to wit, firm tenure in office, competent
+  salaries, and reduction of their numbers.
+
+This was quite characteristic of Jefferson and of his extraordinary
+tenacity. It was also very good strategy. Since the strengthening of the
+Federal Government could not be avoided, the only way to avoid a rapid
+absorption of local government by the Federal machine was to strengthen
+in a parallel way the State governments. It was an unexpected
+application of Montesquieu's theory of checks and balances.[258]
+
+Soon afterwards, however, in February, 1792, Jefferson found a favorable
+opportunity to reveal his ideas to Washington. The occasion that offered
+itself was the post-office, just reorganized as an independent and
+self-supporting branch of the government, thus removing it from the
+tutelage of the Treasury Department. Jefferson at once claimed it for
+the Department of State, not out of any appetite for power, "his real
+wish" being to avail the public of every occasion, during the residue of
+the President's period, to place things on a safe footing. By this he
+meant that the usurpations of the Treasury Department should be brought
+to a stop. In a long conversation the next morning after breakfast
+Jefferson opened his heart, indicating that he would resign before long,
+to which Washington answered that he could not resign when there were
+certain signs of dissatisfaction among the public, and that none could
+foresee what too great a change in the administration might bring about.
+This was the opening awaited by Jefferson. No wonder the public was
+dissatisfied, but whose fault was it! There was only one source of
+discontent, the Department of the Treasury. Then he launched forth on a
+passionate indictment of the system developed by Hamilton, contrived for
+deluging the States with paper money instead of gold and silver, "for
+withdrawing our citizens from the pursuits of commerce, manufactures,
+buildings, and other branches of useful industry, to occupy themselves
+and their capitals in a species of gambling, destructive of morality,
+and which had introduced its poison in the government itself." He
+indicated that members of Congress had been gambling in stocks and
+consequently could no longer be depended upon to vote in a disinterested
+way, for they had "feathered their nests with paper." Finally Jefferson
+let the cat out of the bag and told the President that the public were
+awaiting with anxiety his decision with respect to a certain
+proposition, to find out whether they lived under a limited or an
+unlimited government. The report on manufactures which had not
+heretofore drawn particular attention meant to establish the doctrine
+that the power given by the Constitution to collect taxes to provide for
+the "_general welfare_ of the United States, permitted Congress to take
+everything under their management which _they_ should deem _public
+welfare_, and which is susceptible of the application of money." He
+added that his decision was therefore expected with far greater anxiety
+than that felt over the proposed establishment of the Bank of the United
+States.[259]
+
+On May 23, Jefferson had found it impossible to have again a
+heart-to-heart talk with the President, and we may well imagine that
+Washington rather avoided giving him another opportunity to express
+himself again so freely with reference to the policy of the Treasury
+Department. The object of the letter he wrote on that day was twofold;
+first of all it was to persuade Washington that in spite of his so often
+manifested intention to retire at the end of his first term, it was his
+imperious duty to the nation to remain in office. There existed, in
+Jefferson's opinion, a real emergency and he pointed out at length the
+dissatisfaction of the South, the separatist tendencies appearing in
+that quarter, upon seeing what they considered an unfair share of the
+Federal taxes placed on their shoulders, not only in order to pay the
+national debt, but also to encourage the Northern industries with
+bounties. Rumors were circulating everywhere that new measures were on
+foot to increase the mass of the debts; industry was encouraged at the
+expense of agriculture; the legislature itself had been corrupted. The
+only hope of salvation lay in the coming election and in an increase in
+the number of representatives following the census. But everything would
+be in question if the President did not run. "The confidence of the
+whole Union is centered 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."
+
+This incidentally does not sound like a man who was trying to organize a
+strong political party for his own benefit, and I cannot believe that
+Jefferson was as deep a politician as Mr. Bowers has made him. He was
+quite sincere in his desire to retire from office "after the first
+periodical renovation of the government." He was tired and sick at
+heart, and his one inclination was "bent irresistibly on the tranquil
+enjoyment of his family, his farm and his books."[260] On the other
+hand, he was firmly convinced that the coming elections might change
+favorably the majority in Congress. They had no chance to be held
+fairly, however, unless the people had an opportunity to select as
+President a man who would be above all suspicion, a really national
+figure enjoying the confidence of every man in every section of the
+country, such as was Washington alone. Had Washington followed his
+inclination at that time; had he withdrawn at the end of his first term
+and left the field free to other candidates, there is no way of
+surmising what the issue of the campaign of 1792 would have been. Truly
+Jefferson was right: the fate of the republic was at stake.
+
+Shortly after, Hamilton, who had not yet attacked Jefferson personally,
+led an offensive against Freneau who was accused by the _Gazette of the
+United States_ of using his salary for publications, "the design of
+which is to villify those to whom the voice of the people has committed
+the administration of our public affairs." But Freneau, in Hamilton's
+opinion, was only the puppet whose strings were pulled by an arch
+plotter, and soon the _Gazette_ started direct attacks against
+Jefferson, asserting that while a member of the Cabinet he had
+undertaken to undermine the government. Freneau, in an affidavit, denied
+that Jefferson had any connection with his paper or had dictated or
+written a single line in it, and at the same time hinted that, on the
+contrary, the authorship of many articles published in Fenno's _Gazette_
+could clearly be attributed to Hamilton. This denial had precisely the
+value of any such statement issued during political campaigns. It was
+literally true that Jefferson had never written a line in Freneau's
+paper, but he had an opportunity to see Freneau every day, since "clerk
+for foreign languages" had to report to him. He was requesting all his
+friends to subscribe to Freneau's papers, he was following anxiously the
+progress of the _Gazette_ in all parts of the Union, and one word from
+him would have stopped all attacks against Hamilton. In fact, Freneau's
+paper was just as much Jefferson's paper as if the Secretary of State
+had written all the articles in it and had owned all the stock.
+
+Hamilton's attacks, however, had a very important and unexpected result.
+Whether Jefferson had serious political ambitions or not, he was not the
+man to come out in the open and proclaim himself the leader of a new
+party. Of a retiring disposition, fearful of public criticism although
+thirsty for public praise, he was not ready at that time to assume the
+part and the duties of a political chief. But the savage attacks of the
+Federalists attracted public attention to him, he was represented so
+often by them as the champion of republicanism, that discontented
+republicans began to rally round him and Jefferson was thus invested
+with the leadership of the new party as much by his enemies as by his
+friends.
+
+During the summer of 1792, when he was at Monticello, he received from
+Washington a letter in which the President expressed his distress at the
+dissensions that had taken place within the government, and once more
+attempted to bring about a reconciliation between the two secretaries
+(August 23). Jefferson answered in a long letter. This time his temper
+had been thoroughly aroused. He had seen articles signed "An American"
+in Fenno's _Gazette_, accusing him on three counts: "with having written
+letters to his friends in Europe to oppose the present constitution;
+with a desire of repudiating the public debt; with setting up a paper to
+decry and slander the government." Jefferson had no difficulty in
+proving the first two accusations absolutely untrue. On the third charge
+he admitted and even boasted of having given a poet a miserable
+appointment at a salary of $250 a year, while Hamilton had filled the
+administration with his creatures. He protested in the name of Heaven
+that "I never did, by myself, or any other, directly or indirectly,
+write, dictate, or procure any one sentence of sentiment to be inserted
+in _his_, or any other gazette, to which my name was not affixed or that
+of my office." He confessed, however, that he had always taken it for
+granted, from his knowledge of Freneau's character, "that he would give
+free place to pieces written against the aristocratical and monarchical
+principles these papers had inculcated." He again protested against
+Hamilton's insinuation that Freneau had received his salary before
+removing to Philadelphia, and on this point he is supported by the
+evidence published above. In a very dignified way he assured Washington
+that he would refrain from engaging in any controversy while in office
+and that he wished to concentrate all his efforts on the last of his
+official tasks. He added, however, that he reserved the right to answer
+later, for, he said: "I will not suffer my retirement to be clouded by
+the slanders of a man whose history, from the moment at which history
+can stoop to notice him, is a tissue of machinations against the liberty
+of the country which has not only received and given him bread, but
+heaped honors on his head."
+
+Jefferson has sometimes been reproached for having attacked in the
+"Anas" a dead enemy, but this was no posthumous attack. In one sentence
+he had expressed not only condemnation of Hamilton's policies but all
+the scorn of a Virginian, of the old stock, for the immigrant of
+doubtful birth, who was almost an alien. He knew full well the weight
+that such a consideration might have on the mind of Washington; it was a
+subtle but potent appeal to the solidarity of the old Americans against
+the newcomer. Truly, Jefferson was no mean adversary, and the rapier may
+be more deadly than the battle-ax. Having thus parried and thrust, he
+expressed the pious wish that the coming elections would probably
+vindicate his point of view and that it would not be necessary to make a
+further appeal to public opinion. He was tired and wished to retire from
+office at the earliest opportunity, and certainly no clique would
+receive any support from him during the short space he had to remain in
+Philadelphia. Monticello was calling him and his most earnest hope was
+that he would be permitted to forget all political strife in a bucolic
+retirement.[261]
+
+On his way back to Philadelphia he stopped at Mount Vernon (October 1,
+1792) and found Washington still undecided whether he would be a
+candidate for a second term. The General was not certain that the
+emergency was such that he must sacrifice his personal preferences. He
+had consulted Lear about opinion in the North; Jefferson could tell him
+something about the South. When he was assured that he alone could save
+the Republic, it was his turn to argue that Jefferson ought to remain
+in office as long as he himself would be President. Washington said that
+until very recently he had been unaware that such personal differences
+existed between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the
+Treasury. The old General gently reminded Jefferson that the best way to
+counteract the action of Hamilton was to remain in office, in order "to
+keep things in their proper channel, and prevent them from going too
+far." Finally the President refused to accept wholly the pessimistic
+forecasts of Jefferson and declared: "That as to the idea of
+transforming this Government into a monarchy, he did not believe there
+were ten men in the United States whose opinions were worth attention,
+who entertained such a thought." He refused to take seriously
+Jefferson's accusation that Hamilton would have said that "this
+Constitution was a shilly-shally thing, of mere milk and water, which
+could not last, and was only good as a step to something better." That
+as far as corruption in the legislature was concerned, the term was
+probably too severe; it was simply a manifestation of "interested
+spirit"; it was what could not be avoided in any government, unless we
+were to exclude from all office particular descriptions of men, such as
+the holders of the funds. "For the rest he only knew that before the
+funding operations he had seen our affairs desperate and our credit
+lost, and that this was in a sudden and extraordinary degree raised to
+the highest pitch." With the common sense and poise that were his
+outstanding qualities, Washington refused to inquire into the ultimate
+motives of Hamilton. The Secretary of the Treasury had rescued the
+finances of the country from bankruptcy; he was a good, efficient, and
+personally honest administrator, and it was Washington's hope that he
+would be able to keep with him two useful collaborators whom he could
+not easily replace.
+
+Shall I confess that, in my humble opinion, and in spite of the contrary
+judgment of several American historians, Washington was probably right.
+The quarrel between Hamilton and Jefferson is undoubtedly of
+considerable importance in the history of political parties in the
+United States. I am not so certain that it exerted so tremendous an
+influence on the destinies of the nation. Whatever may have been the
+ambitious schemes of Hamilton, the theoretical preferences of John
+Adams, it is difficult to see how any one could have succeeded at that
+time in establishing overnight an hereditary monarchy in the United
+States. Such a _"coup d'etat"_ is always a possibility in the old
+countries of Europe, all of them more or less centralized and controlled
+from a national capital; but in 1793 there was no national capital in
+America, loyalty to the Federal Government was scarcely nascent,
+citizens had not been accustomed to look to Congress for bounties,
+assistance, and subsidies. The vastness of the country would have
+offered insuperable obstacles, even to the genius of a Bonaparte. No
+real danger existed because, as Montesquieu would have said, a monarchy
+was not in the nature of things, and both Hamilton and Jefferson would
+have realized it, if they had not been caught in the maelstrom of
+political and personal passions.
+
+When Jefferson left Mount Vernon, Washington was still undecided whether
+he would accept a second term, but Jefferson had determined that he
+would not stay in office any longer than he could help; and on November
+8, he wrote to Humphreys to send all further communications not to him
+personally, but to the Secretary of State, by title and not by name.
+News of election was coming slowly, winter had already begun in the
+northern States. But the news that did arrive was reassuring and
+Jefferson was able to write on November 16, "the event has been
+generally in favor of republican, and against the aristocratical
+candidates." By the beginning of December, the reelection of Washington
+being conceded, it appeared that the election of the Vice President "had
+been seized as a proper one for expressing the public sense on the
+doctrine of the monocrats." It was already apparent that Adams would be
+reelected in spite of a strong vote against him, but Jefferson
+discounted the significance of the election and attributed it to "the
+strength of his personal worth and his services, rather than to the
+merits of his political creed."[262] It seemed that the anti-Federalists
+had gained control of the lower House and this was a most significant
+victory.
+
+Then as more news of the election came, telling of the victory of the
+republicans or, as they were called by derision, the Jacobins, other
+news arrived from France. The army of the Duke of Brunswick had been
+forced to retreat and had failed in crushing the republican army of
+France. "This news," wrote Jefferson, "has given wry faces to our
+monocrats here, but sincere joy to the great body of the citizens. It
+arrived only in the afternoon of yesterday, and the bells were rung and
+some illuminations took place in the evening."[263] Four days later the
+conviction that a disaster had overcome Brunswick had made great
+progress, although no other news had been received, and Jefferson had
+anxiously awaited the arrival of ships from France. But the tide had
+turned and he wrote to Mercer: "The monocrats here still affect to
+disbelieve all this, while the republicans are rejoicing and taking to
+themselves the name of Jacobins which two months ago was fixed on them
+by way of stigma."[264] The first victory of the republicans coincided
+with the first victory of the Revolution against the coalition of kings.
+The French Revolution itself had become a domestic issue and was to
+inject more passion into the strife between the monocrats and the
+republicans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+JACOBIN OR AMERICAN?
+
+
+One of the first duties of Jefferson in taking charge of foreign affairs
+was to explain to his French friends, who on the other side of the
+Atlantic had been accustomed to look up to him as a guide and
+counsellor, the reasons which had determined his choice to remain in
+America. To Madame de Corny, the Duchesse Danville, the Duc de La
+Rochefoucauld, Madame d'Houdetot, he wrote gracefully worded notes, in
+the best style of the society of the time. In France, among other
+things, he had learned how to turn a charming compliment. More official
+but still very graceful is the letter he sent to Montmorin to take
+formal leave of the French Court and at the same time introduce himself
+in his new capacity. But besides the compliments, there appears in the
+letter a reaffirmation that the best foundation for international
+friendship lay in satisfactory commercial relations. "May this union of
+interests forever be the patriotic creed of both countries."[265] The
+new Secretary of State had not forgotten that the most important
+questions relative to Gallo-American commerce had not yet been settled,
+and that it would be no negligible part of his duties to carry out the
+principles he had always defended when in Paris.
+
+To Lafayette, closer to his heart than any other Frenchman, he explained
+more fully his view of the situation and stated once more the principles
+which would direct him in his policy towards France:
+
+  Wherever I am, or ever shall be, I shall be sincere in my friendship
+  to you and to your nation. I think with others, that nations are to
+  be governed with regard to their own interests, but I am convinced
+  that it is their interests, in the long run, to be grateful, faithful
+  to their engagements, even in the worst of circumstances, and
+  honorable and generous always. If I had not known that the head of
+  our government was in these sentiments, and that his national and
+  private ethics were the same, I would never have been where I
+  am.[266]
+
+This was more than a banal compliment. To the homely wisdom of Doctor
+Franklin that honesty is the best policy, Jefferson had added a new
+element. He had combined in one formula two principles which often seem
+contradictory and which at any rate are difficult to reconcile. Not a
+mere idealist, nor simply a practical politician, he was, during the
+rest of his political life, to make persistent efforts to propagate that
+gospel of practical idealism which remains to this day one of the
+fundamental tenets of Americanism. In that respect, party lines count
+little, and Lincoln was quite as much a disciple and a continuator of
+Jefferson as Woodrow Wilson.
+
+On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in many circumstances it
+would take more than superhuman virtue and intelligence rightly to
+operate that ideal combination and maintain an equal balance between
+national selfishness and philosophical idealism. When it came to
+practice, Jefferson showed himself just as canny as any European
+diplomat and never neglected an opportunity to further the interests of
+his country. This appeared in the very first letters he sent to Europe
+after taking charge of the foreign policies of the United States.
+
+Communications were slow at the time. Jefferson was kept regularly
+informed of developments in France by Short, his former secretary, left
+in charge in Paris, who sent him weekly letters; but they averaged
+eleven weeks and a half in transit, while of his answers "the quickest
+were of nine weeks and the longest of near eighteen weeks coming."
+Information through the British papers took about five or six weeks to
+reach America but was not to be relied upon, and Jefferson gave definite
+instructions to Short for "news from Europe is very interesting at this
+moment, when it is so doubtful whether a war will take place between our
+two neighbors."[267]
+
+This was indeed at the time his main preoccupation. War between Spain
+and England seemed not only possible but probable, and Jefferson saw in
+it an opportunity to press the claims of the United States to the
+navigation of the Mississippi. The question was not "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), but the
+navigation of the Mississippi and that was not simply to recognize the
+American rights on the river." Navigation "cannot be practiced without a
+port, where the sea and river vessels may meet and exchange loads, 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. Jefferson added that he could not
+answer that "the forbearance of our western citizens would last
+indefinitely, and that a moment of impatience, hazard or other
+considerations might precipitate action on their part." On the other
+hand, the United States were in no position to antagonize openly even
+weak Spain, and in case nothing should develop Carmichael was instructed
+to bide his time:
+
+  You will be pleased to observe, that we press these matters 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 object and the same resolutions unalterably; but
+  your discretion will suggest, that patience and persuasion must
+  temper your conferences, till either of these may prevail, or some
+  other circumstances turn up, which may enable us to use other means
+  for the attainment of an object which we are determined, in the end,
+  to obtain at every risk.[268]
+
+Naturally this is no worse than the ordinary run of instructions sent at
+that time to diplomatic agents by other foreign secretaries, and
+Jefferson's policy was no more underhanded than the policies of any
+other nation of the Old World. It cannot be said, however, that it
+rested upon higher and nobler moral principles. Perhaps America had no
+diplomatic tradition at that time, but she was not deficient in tactics,
+and neither Jefferson nor his agents were exactly innocent tools in the
+hands of wily European diplomats.
+
+But this is not all. Jefferson unfolded his whole plan in a letter to
+Short written a week later. In case of a war between England and Spain,
+France would be called into the war as an ally on the side of Spain. She
+would have a right to insist that Spain should do everything in her
+power to lessen the number of her potential enemies and to eliminate
+every cause of friction with the United States. "She cannot doubt that
+we shall be of that number, if she does not yield our right to common
+use of the Mississippi, and the means of using and securing it." The
+point made by the United States was that "they should have a port near
+the mouth of the river, so well separated from the territories of Spain
+and her jurisdiction, as not to engender daily disputes and broils
+between us." Such a claim was not an arbitrary one, but resulted from
+the configuration of the land. "Nature has decided what shall be the
+geography of that in the end, whatever it might be in the beginning, by
+cutting off from the adjacent countries of Florida and Louisiana, and
+enclosing between two of its channels, a long and narrow slip of land,
+called the Island of New Orleans." Jefferson conceded that the idea of
+ceding that territory might be disagreeable to Spain at first, because
+it constituted their principal settlement in those parts, with a
+population of ten thousand white inhabitants, but "reason, and events,
+however, may, by little and little, familiarize them to it." The idea,
+however, might seem excessive to Montmorin, particularly as it was
+thought that France had not entirely given up the project of recovering
+the country along the Mississippi. But fortunately the National Assembly
+seemed opposed to conquest and the subject might be broached merely in
+general terms at the beginning. Furthermore, Lafayette could be used
+once more as an intermediary without officially compromising the United
+States.[269]
+
+Finally Gouverneur Morris was told to warn England that should they
+entertain any design against any Spanish colony, the United States would
+contemplate a change of neighbors with extreme uneasiness. While the
+United States would remain neutral if "they execute the treaty fairly
+and attempt no conquests adjoining us," Jefferson added, "it will be
+proper that these ideas be conveyed in delicate and friendly terms; but
+that they be conveyed, if the war takes place; for it is in this case
+alone, and not till it be begun, that we should wish our dispositions to
+be known."[270] That question being disposed of satisfactorily, at least
+in theory, for after all, the war did not break out, Jefferson abandoned
+temporarily his plans to obtain New Orleans. How he resumed them and
+pushed them to a successful conclusion ten years later is too well known
+to need recalling here.
+
+It is not until February 4, 1791, that Jefferson expressed in writing
+his hope to see a republican form of government established in France.
+This was in direct contradiction with all the advice and counsel he had
+given to his French friends when he was in Paris, with his repeated
+affirmations that the French were not ready for self-government, and
+with the conclusions contained in his letter written to Jay in the
+summer of 1789. None of the developments that had taken place in France
+was of such a character as to change Jefferson's attitude on the
+matter. But in the meantime, he had come to the conclusion that the fate
+of the republican government in the United States depended largely on
+the failure or success of the French Revolution. If it proved impossible
+for the French to establish a stable form of self-government, if they
+could not withstand the attacks of their foreign enemies, the conclusion
+would inevitably be drawn in America that there was an inherent defect
+and weakness in all republican governments. Thus the French Revolution
+had already become an international issue, for the cause of liberty
+could not remain secure for any length of time in America if it were
+crushed in Europe. On that particular point Jefferson himself was very
+explicit:
+
+  I look with great anxiety for the firm establishment of the new
+  government in France, being perfectly convinced that if it takes
+  place there, it will spread sooner or later all over Europe. On the
+  contrary, a check there would retard the revival of liberty in other
+  countries. I consider the establishment and success of their
+  government as necessary to stay up our own, and to prevent it from
+  falling back to that kind of half-way house, the English
+  constitution. It cannot be denied that we have among us a sect who
+  believe that to contain whatever is perfect in human institutions;
+  that the members of this sect have, many of them, names and offices
+  which stand high in the estimation of our countrymen. I still rely
+  that the great mass of our community is untainted with these
+  heresies, as is its head. On this I build my hope that we have not
+  labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men
+  can be governed by reason.[271]
+
+On receiving the news that the National Assembly of France had gone into
+mourning over the death of Franklin, Jefferson sent to its President one
+of those letters worded in the "felicitous style" which he had perfected
+in France. His feelings were sincere, he had great respect and affection
+for the Doctor, but he knew what was expected of him, and with great
+skill, without promising anything, or using any expression that might be
+taken as a definite promise and turned against him later, he made a
+vague but satisfactory appeal to a sort of international friendship,
+praising the Assembly for having set the first example and brought "into
+our fraternity the good and the great wherever they have lived or died."
+He ended with a reaffirmation of the good dispositions of his government
+towards France: "That these separations may disappear between us in all
+times and circumstances, and that the union of sentiment which mingles
+our sorrows on this occasion, may continue long to cement the friendship
+and interests of our two nations, is our constant prayer."[272]
+
+This openly declared sympathy for France and his hopes for a new form of
+government did not in the least obscure his views on the commercial
+difficulties between the two countries. The bone of contention was still
+the question of commerce with the West Indies. The National Assembly, on
+ratifying the consular conventions, had showed little disposition to
+admit the right of the United States to send consular agents to the West
+Indies. In his opinion the word _"Etats du roi"_ did not mean merely
+France, but all colonial possessions of France as indicated in the
+translation "French dominions." He was not ready officially to press the
+matter so as to cause difficulties between the two nations and was
+willing to have the two agents already appointed, "Skipwith at
+Martinique and Bourne at St. Dominique", ask for a regular
+exequatur.[273]
+
+He elaborated on his policy with reference to the West Indies in another
+letter to Short, written three months later. In it will be found
+expressed more discreetly, but no less firmly, the philosophy outlined
+already with reference to Spain and the Mississippi. He maintained first
+of all that the United States had no design whatever on the West
+Indies, for "If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other
+in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do
+with conquest." This principle once established, he proceeded to examine
+the situation from a practical point of view. The regulations imposed by
+the French on their colonies are such that they cannot trade directly
+with their neighbors; for the supplies necessary to relieve their mutual
+wants have to be carried first to France in order to be exported either
+to the colonies or to the American continent. This is contrary to the
+natural order of things: "An exchange of surplusses and wants between
+neighbor nations, is both a right and a duty under the moral law, and
+measures against right should be mollified in their exercise, if it be
+wished to lengthen them to the greatest term possible." It seemed to
+Jefferson that such a right ought to be recognized by any unprejudiced
+mind; but, unfortunately, "Europeans in general have been too long in
+the habit of confounding force with right with respect to America."
+Circumstances are such that these rights cannot be pressed very strongly
+and "can be advanced only with delicacy", but what the United States
+cannot do themselves, Lafayette perhaps can present informally to his
+friends. He alone can make them understand that, while they are
+establishing a new regime for their colonial possessions of the West
+Indies, "in policy, if not in justice, they should be disposed to avoid
+oppression, which, falling on us, as well as on their colonies, might
+tempt us to act together."[274]
+
+Was this a veiled threat? Not exactly. It was an extension of
+Montesquieu's theory of laws to international relations, an application
+of the theories of the French economists on free trade. But even
+supposing that the theory itself had some remote French origin, to a
+large extent it was new and typically American. Only former colonies
+which had won their complete independence could maintain that, in
+matters of trade, the colonies were completely independent of the
+metropolis, and that commercial and geographical considerations should
+outweigh political regulations. The United States were strongly inclined
+to use every favorable opportunity to make this principle obtain in
+their relations with their neighbors, and what was a far more dangerous
+thing, they considered this policy both "a right and a duty under the
+moral law." It was not political imperialism to be sure, but in our days
+it certainly would be called commercial imperialism under a moral
+disguise. At that time, it was really a theory far in advance of both
+the theory and practice of any European nation, and it is very doubtful
+whether Jefferson would have found justification for it in any of the
+authorities on the law of nations he had consulted with reference to the
+navigation of the Mississippi.[275]
+
+There is no doubt that Jefferson fully realized all the implications of
+his doctrine, for he submitted it to the President before sending it to
+Short in cipher; but he insisted that, if the contents of his letter
+were permitted to leak out at a favorable opportunity, "the National
+Assembly might see the impolicy of insisting on particular conditions,
+which, operating as grievances on us, as well as on their colonists,
+might produce a concert of action."[276]
+
+The news of the flight of the king was for him another evidence of the
+"fruits of that form of government, which heaps importance on idiots,
+and which the Tories of the present day are trying to preach into our
+favor." Then he added significantly: "I still hope the French revolution
+will issue happily. I feel that the permanence of our own leans in some
+degree on that; and that a failure there would be a powerful argument to
+prove there would be a failure here."[277]
+
+Meanwhile his actions were far more cautious than his theories would
+lead one to believe. When the Santo Domingo Assembly placed their
+situation before the Government of the United States, asking for
+ammunition, arms, and provisions to be charged against the money owed
+France by the United States, Jefferson answered that although the United
+States had with them "some common points of union in matters of
+commerce" he could not do anything without the approbation of Ternant.
+When the colonists asked him what would be the attitude of the United
+States in case they became independent, Jefferson did not conceal the
+fact that they would lay themselves open to any attack by a strong
+nation and that their interest, as well as the interests of the United
+States, was to see them retain their connection with their mother
+country; and he finally decided to give them such small supplies from
+time to time "as will keep them from real distress, and to wait with
+patience for what would be a surplus, till M. Ternant can receive
+instructions from France.... It would be unwise in the highest degree,
+that the colonists should be disgusted with either France or us."[278]
+
+He was soon to be deprived, however, of direct news from France, for
+Short was transferred from Paris to the Hague and Gouverneur Morris
+appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France.[279] He had to explain his
+policy to the new minister, which he did on March 10, 1792, this time
+insisting that nothing in the conduct or the views of the United States
+should cause any apprehension to the French Government and that he
+should allay all fears on that score.[280] But with Lafayette he still
+insisted that if he did not mention the point again, it was largely
+because he considered that it had been won:
+
+  We have been less zealous in aiding them, lest your government should
+  feel any jealousy on our account. But, in truth, we as sincerely
+  wish their restoration and connection with you, as you do yourselves.
+  We are satisfied that neither your justice nor their distresses will
+  ever again permit their being forced to seek at dear and distant
+  markets those first necessaries of life which they may have at
+  cheaper markets, placed by nature at their door, and formed by her
+  for their support.[281]
+
+It was not until the latter part of 1792 that reiterated letters from
+Morris, describing the situation and asking for instructions, forced
+Jefferson to make a very important declaration on relations that could
+be transacted with revolutionary governments. There again he displayed
+the resourcefulness of a good lawyer combined with the idealism of a
+political philosopher. Having no hint of the form of government that the
+French were to adopt, he thought it necessary to lay down certain
+principles to direct the conduct of the American plenipotentiary in
+Paris. They were substantially as follows: The permanent principle of
+the United States was to recognize any government "which is formed by
+the will of the nation substantially declared." If the government to be
+formed by the French presented such a character, there was no reason to
+doubt that the United States would grant recognition, and Morris could
+proceed without further ado to transact with them "every kind of
+business." On the other hand, the government established might present
+an entirely different complexion and in that case the recognition might
+be more doubtful; but even then it was to be considered as a _de facto_,
+if not a _de jure_ government, and it was the duty of the American
+minister to discuss some matters with them in order to obtain
+concessions "reforming the unfriendly restrictions on our commerce and
+navigation."[282] The question as to Morris' safety was left entirely to
+him to determine and could not very well be the object of precise
+instructions.
+
+Two weeks later, Jefferson himself had an opportunity to make a
+practical application of his policy. Although they had received no
+formal authority from the National Assembly, the United States were
+willing to contribute aids from time to time to Santo Domingo, and were
+placing at their disposal for December the sum of forty thousand
+dollars. But Jefferson insisted that such moneys as were thus obtained
+were to be spent in America where supplies could be had cheapest, "and
+where the same sum would consequently effect the greatest measure of
+relief to the colony." Incidentally, it was spent also for the greatest
+benefit of the American merchants, and strengthened the commercial
+connection between the islands and the American continent, a point not
+to be mentioned to the French envoy, but well worth keeping in
+mind.[283]
+
+At the beginning of 1793, Jefferson was not only inclined to treat
+favorably the new French Government but resented strongly any criticism
+of it. When he discovered that in several letters his friend and
+disciple Short had censured the proceedings of the French Jacobins,
+Jefferson, fearing that he had been corrupted by aristocratic
+friendships, undertook to set him right on the matter. He took the
+following view of the situation:
+
+  The contest had been between the Feuillant patriots favoring a free
+  constitution with an hereditary executive and the Jacobins who
+  thought that expunging that office was an absolute necessity. The
+  Feuillants had their day and their experiment had failed miserably.
+  The nation was with them in opinion and had finally won. Certainly in
+  the struggle many guilty persons fell without the forms of trial and
+  innocents with them. But altogether they are to be considered as
+  soldiers who have fallen during a battle; their memory will be
+  embalmed by truth and time.
+
+Meanwhile the only thing to consider was that the liberty of the whole
+world depended on the issue of the contest:
+
+  Was ever such a prize won with so little innocent blood? My own
+  affections 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 is now.
+
+Short was then severely rebuked for having expressed in conversations
+sentiments offensive to the French patriots. He was reminded that there
+were in the United States "some characters of opposite principles
+hostile to France, and fondly looking to England as the staff of their
+hopes. Their prospects have certainly not brightened.... The successes
+of republicanism in France have given the _coup de grace_ to their
+prospects, and I hope to their projects." This was to be kept in mind by
+Short, and, as Jefferson intended to retire at an early date, he called
+his attention to the fact that not knowing who his successor would be
+and into whose hands his further communications would fall, he had
+better be prudent and not let his "too great sensibility to the
+misfortunes of some dear friends obscure his republicanism."[284]
+
+In a communication to Gouverneur Morris, Jefferson was more reserved but
+no less insistent upon the principle that the French Government was a
+government _de jure_ as well as _de facto_:
+
+  We surely cannot deny to any nation that right whereon our own
+  government is founded, that every one may govern itself according to
+  whatever form it pleases, and change these forms at its own will; and
+  that it may transact its business with foreign nations through
+  whatever organ it thinks proper, whether King, Convention, Assembly,
+  Committee, President, or anything else it may choose. The will of the
+  nation is the only essential thing to be regarded. Such being the
+  case, the United States not only should continue to pay the
+  installment on the debt but use their utmost endeavors to make
+  punctual payments. Urged by the strongest attachment to that country,
+  and thinking it is even providential that moneys lent to us in
+  distress could be repaid under like circumstances, we had no
+  hesitation to comply with the application, and arrangements are
+  accordingly taken, for furnishing this sum at epochs accommodated to
+  the demands and our means of paying it.
+
+This was the doctrine of national gratitude reaffirmed and illustrated,
+but naturally relations could not be placed on an entirely sentimental
+basis. Morris was instructed at the same time "to use and improve every
+possible opportunity which may occur in the changeable scenes which are
+passing, and to seize them as they occur, for placing our commerce with
+that nation and its dependencies, on the freest and most encouraging
+footing possible."[285]
+
+A week later news of the execution of the king arrived at Philadelphia.
+For the fate of Louis XVI, Jefferson felt and expressed little personal
+regret. He never held the monarch in high esteem: furthermore, the
+example set by France might teach a good lesson to other autocrats and
+"soften the monarchical governments, by rendering monarchs amenable to
+punishment like other criminals, and doing away with that rage of
+insolence and oppression, the inviolability of the King's person."[286]
+Here again it is evident that domestic considerations were uppermost in
+Jefferson's mind. Never could one correct too vigorously those who
+wished to establish a monarchy in the United States. Whether he was
+justified or not, Jefferson sincerely believed that the American
+republic was in danger, and his attitude at that time reflects his fear
+of the monocrats more than any real sympathy for the French Terrorists.
+
+Thus spoke Jefferson, the party man, and he made no mystery of his
+sentiments either in his conversations or in his private letters. The
+Secretary of State, however, could not easily afford to adopt publicly
+the same attitude. Early in February Colonel W. S. Smith had brought the
+intelligence that the French Minister Ternant, whose royalist opinions
+shocked the French sympathizers in Philadelphia, would be recalled and
+Citizen Genet would be sent in his place by the Republic. It was already
+known that Genet would bring very advantageous propositions to the
+United States, for he would come
+
+  with full powers to give us all the privileges we can desire in their
+  countries, and particularly in the West Indies; that they even
+  contemplate to set them free the next summer; that they proposed to
+  emancipate South America, and will send forty-five ships of the line
+  there next spring, and Miranda at the head of the expedition; that
+  they desire our debt to be paid them in provisions, and have
+  authorized him to negotiate this.[287]
+
+On the other hand it was to be feared that Genet would remind the
+American Government of the existence of the Treaty of 1778, by which the
+United States agreed to give distinct advantages to French privateers
+and to guarantee the integrity of the French West Indies. It was not
+until April that it was known war had been declared between France and
+England. Were the United States going to be dragged into the European
+convulsions and would they have to side openly with their former ally?
+Acting on the information received from Colonel Smith, Jefferson quickly
+wrote to Carmichael and Short, asking them to refrain from mentioning
+the Louisiana question to Spain, and chiefly to be very careful not to
+"bind us to guarantee any of the Spanish colonies against their own
+independence, nor indeed against any other nation." Jefferson believed
+that there was a possibility of seeing France encourage the Spanish
+colonies to revolt and would not have objected "to the receiving those
+on the east side into our confederation." This was an eventuality not to
+be lightly dismissed, and once more Jefferson's uppermost preoccupation
+was not to please the French Revolutionists but to further the interests
+of his country.[288] But before deciding upon any course of action it
+was advisable to temporize and to find out from what quarter the wind
+was about to blow. The only thing to do for the present was to wait and
+to avoid any unpleasant complications with the powers at war; and first
+of all to see to it that the United States should enjoy the rights and
+privileges of a complete neutrality. Jefferson began sending
+instructions to that effect to Samuel Shaw, consul at Canton,
+China.[289] Two days later he wrote even more explicitly to Dumas: "We
+wish not to meddle with the internal affairs of any country, nor with
+the general affairs of Europe. Peace with all nations, and the right
+which that gives us with all nations are our objects. It will be
+necessary for all our public agents to exert themselves with vigilance
+for securing to our vessels all the rights of neutrality, and from
+preventing the vessels of other nations from usurping our flags."[290]
+
+As the cabinet met only one month later (April 18) at the request of
+Washington to discuss the proclamation of neutrality, it is not without
+importance to call attention to the date and the text of that letter.
+Winning Jefferson over to the position finally adopted by the American
+Government could not present insuperable difficulties since he had
+already outlined the same policy even before consulting with the
+President, and on his own initiative had sent instructions to the
+agents.
+
+When the Cabinet met to consider the emergency, and the several
+secretaries were invited by Washington to submit their opinions in
+writing, the course to be followed was officially agreed upon and
+Washington issued the famous Proclamation of Neutrality on April
+22,--the very same day the new minister from France landed at
+Charleston. Jefferson did not lose any time notifying the American
+agents abroad of the policy of the United States, repeating
+substantially the instructions already sent to Dumas one month
+before.[291] At the same time Ternant was officially notified that
+credits opened in favor of the West Indies had to be stopped;[292] as
+the emergency had passed and a regular government had been established
+in France, money could be appropriated from the regular installments
+paid on the debt.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+_From the portrait by Rembrandt Peale_]
+
+According to a letter written to Monroe,[293] Jefferson saw with a
+secret pleasure, the monocrat papers publish the most furious philippics
+against England, and the old spirit of 1776 rekindled from Charleston to
+Boston. He expressed the pious wish that "we may be able to repress the
+spirit of the people within the limits of fair neutrality." But he
+revolted against what he considered a subservient attitude to England on
+the part of Hamilton. It is one of the few occasions in which he
+departed in a letter (I do not count the "Anas") from his judicial
+attitude: "In the meantime," he said, "Hamilton is panick struck, if we
+refuse our breech to every kick which Great Britain may choose to give
+it. In order to preserve even a sneaking neutrality a fight is necessary
+in every council for our votes are generally two and a half against one
+and a half."
+
+Jefferson's private opinion might have favored the French Revolution, as
+it undoubtedly did. I do not see, however, that in any important
+circumstance he departed from the strict line of neutrality which he had
+traced for the country.
+
+He sent instructions to Thomas Pinckney[294] to the effect that, in
+order to avoid any violation of neutrality, passports could be issued to
+vessels only in American ports; that "in other lands American citizens
+were free to purchase and use any foreign built vessels, as those were
+entitled to the same protection as home built vessels." That all vessels
+belonging to citizens of the United States loaded with grain to the port
+of one of the belligerents could not be stopped by the other
+belligerent if going to an unblockaded port.
+
+Then Genet, still at Charleston and before being regularly accredited,
+took upon himself to outfit privateers and to commission them. "The
+British ship _Grange_, while lying at anchor in the bay of Delaware,
+within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, was taken
+possession of by the _Embuscade_, a frigate of the French Republic,
+brought to port where she was detained as a prize and the crew kept
+prisoners."[295] Ternant was asked to detain the vessel, waiting for a
+decision to be taken concerning the representations of the British
+minister, Hammond. But it will be seen in Jefferson's letter to
+Hammond[296] that he did not hesitate to grant that the capture of the
+_Grange_ was not "warranted by the usage of nations, nor by the existing
+treaties between the United States and France", nor, Jefferson added,
+"by any law of the land." On the other hand he maintained that agents of
+the French Government were free to purchase "arms and military
+accoutrements" with an intent to export them to France, and that
+citizens of the United States could sell such articles, being duly
+warned, however, that they were subject to confiscation should they fall
+into the hands of a belligerent.
+
+Indeed, it took all the calamitous blunders of Genet to turn Jefferson
+against him. From Charleston, where he had landed, to Philadelphia, his
+march had been a triumph. The citizens of Philadelphia, hearing that the
+President might refuse to receive him, had even decided to give him an
+ovation and to meet him at Gray's Ferry. He delivered his credentials on
+May 18, and at once communicated the object of his mission in a style
+which now appears grandiloquent, but simply reflected that enthusiasm
+for America which was running so high in France at the time. "In short,"
+wrote Jefferson to Madison, "he offers everything, and asks
+nothing."[297] This was too good to be true, and too wonderful to last
+long.
+
+Less than three weeks later (June 5) Jefferson had to send to Genet
+strong representations on his attitude and pointed out several breaches
+of neutrality, particularly in the arming of French privateers in
+American ports, stating rather stiffly that it was "the _right_ of every
+nation to prohibit acts of sovereignty from being exercised by any other
+nation within its limits and the duty of a neutral nation to prohibit
+such as would injure one of the warring powers."
+
+But in a letter to Hammond he stated that the measures could not be
+retrospective. In the first days of the war, French citizens, duly
+commissioned by the authorities of their country, had captured British
+vessels. It was impossible for the United States to rescue those vessels
+from the captors. All that could be done was to prevent the repetition
+of such an incident and to order the departure of all French privateers
+from the ports of the United States. It was fine legal reasoning, not
+without some of that hairsplitting for which Jefferson reproached
+Randolph. Whether Randolph had a hand or not in the reaching of that
+decision is another question. Jefferson indorsed it in transmitting it
+both to Hammond and Genet.
+
+Another proposition of Genet did not meet with more favorable approval.
+The Republic was hard pressed for money, and the new plenipotentiary had
+been requested to make every possible effort "to obtain payment in one
+lump sum of all the annuities coming to France, taking the debt in
+produce if necessary, or changing it into bonds to be sold to the
+public." To this Jefferson was unequivocally opposed, although he
+referred the President to Hamilton. He recommended payment in advance of
+the installments due for the year, but strongly objected to changing the
+form of the debt.[298] He wrote, furthermore, to Gouverneur Morris to
+acquaint him with the situation and to request him "to prevent any such
+proposition in the future from being brought forward."[299]
+
+As a matter of fact, although Jefferson expressed pious and fervent
+wishes for the success of the French, I cannot see that he officially
+did much to further their cause. He was not even pleased by the
+agitation and propaganda in their behalf carried on in America by
+enthusiastic patriots. This appears very clearly in a letter to his
+son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph, which, better than any official
+document, indicates his state of mind at the end of June, 1793:
+
+  The French have been guilty of great errors in their conduct towards
+  other nations, not only in insulting uselessly all crowned heads, but
+  endeavoring to force liberty on their neighbors in their own form.
+  They seem to be correcting themselves on the latter point; the war
+  between them and England embarrasses our government daily and
+  immensely. The predilection of our citizens for France renders it
+  very difficult to suppress their attempts to cruise against the
+  English on the ocean, and to do justice to the latter in cases where
+  they are entitled to it.[300]
+
+Monroe had sent him a long dissertation on the proclamation of
+neutrality which he judged both "unpolitick and unconstitutional"; for,
+if the President "possesses the right to say we shall be neutral, he
+might say we should not be."[301]
+
+To this Jefferson answered that his friends' apprehensions were somewhat
+exaggerated, for the United States being at peace with England, the
+so-called proclamation of neutrality--which, by the way, did not contain
+the word neutrality--did nothing but maintain a _status quo_. This was a
+fine legal distinction, not very convincing, but very characteristic of
+Jefferson's state of mind at that time and of his reluctance to favor
+the French side. Had he ever wished to do it, the attitude of the French
+envoy would have soon forced him to adopt a different policy.
+
+The case of Citizen Genet is too well known to require elaborate
+treatment. Less than six weeks after his arrival in Philadelphia,
+Jefferson had given him up as hopeless and dangerous:
+
+  Never in my opinion, was so calamitous an appointment made, as that
+  of the present minister of France here. Hot headed, all imagination,
+  no judgment, passionate, disrespectful & even indecent towards the
+  President in his written as well as verbal communications, talking of
+  appeals from him to Congress, from them to the people, urging the
+  most unreasonable & groundless propositions, & in the most
+  dictatorial style.[302]
+
+The case of the _Little Sarah_, a British prize, taken to Philadelphia
+and refitted as a privateer by Genet's orders, brought the matter to a
+head. Genet was warned that the vessel could not sail; he refused to
+give definite assurances that it would not be ordered to sea. Washington
+was away at the time, and Knox and Hamilton proposed mounting a battery
+of cannon to prevent the sailing of the vessel, a measure strongly
+opposed by Jefferson, determined to avoid at all cost measures
+tantamount to a declaration of war. The _Little Sarah_ and the
+_Democrat_ escaped, and Washington in vehement words manifested his
+disapproval of the weakness shown on this occasion. The least the
+American Government could do was to ask that Genet be recalled, and it
+was so decided at a meeting of the Cabinet on August 3. In a long letter
+intended for the French Government, but sent to Gouverneur Morris and
+communicated to Genet himself, Jefferson drew up a terrible indictment
+of the French minister. Hamilton and Knox were decidedly in favor of
+stronger measures and of deciding then and there upon the "_renvoi_" of
+Genet. Jefferson, following his constant policy, was against a measure
+that could be construed as the recognition that a state of war existed
+between the two countries. This has been sometimes interpreted as
+evincing partiality to France on his part, but entries in the "Anas"
+under August 20 and August 23 demonstrate beyond any doubt that he was
+also guided by his uppermost desire to promote the interests of his
+country.
+
+There was at least some reason to believe that Genet's conduct would not
+receive the support of his Government, and on the other hand he had
+brought over with him certain proposals worth considering for a treaty
+referring to the commerce with the West Indies. Although the Cabinet had
+never considered the question formally, Jefferson estimated the matter
+of such importance that he had taken it upon himself to discuss it with
+Genet in several conversations. To leave the friendly overtures of the
+French Republic without any answer would not only be insulting but
+highly unpolitic, since the Executive might be accused "of neglecting
+the interests of the United States." Under these circumstances some
+means had to be found of sparing the feelings of the French Government,
+so as not to lose entirely the chances of concluding a treaty so
+advantageous to the United States. As Secretary of State, Jefferson had
+to find a satisfactory formula. This was to ask the French Government to
+recall Genet, but at the same time to appoint his successor and to renew
+to this successor the powers granted originally to Genet. Such was the
+tenor of his letter to Morris, a very clever solution to a very
+difficult situation. As for Genet himself, he was to be tolerated until
+the arrival of his successor.
+
+Unfortunately the "citizen" did not know how to keep quiet or when to
+quit. Not a dishonest man in ordinary life, not even an unintelligent
+man, he was the greatest bungler ever sent by a friendly nation to
+another. When he arrived in May, 1793, he had public opinion largely in
+his favor. Members of Congress and of the government, except possibly
+Hamilton, were not hostile to France; the French envoy could have
+obtained distinct advantages for his country if he had proceeded slowly
+and with ordinary caution. Two months later he had succeeded in turning
+against himself and against the country he represented the whole of
+public opinion, in sowing germs of distrust never to be eradicated, in
+fixing and crystallizing all sorts of prejudices and unfavorable
+generalizations about France.
+
+Jefferson had made all possible efforts to keep the disaffection of the
+American Government toward the French minister as much under cover as
+possible. But Citizen Genet threw down the gauntlet by publishing part
+of his official correspondence, thus forcing an appeal to the people and
+running the risk of arousing the "disgusts" Jefferson had so much wished
+to avoid.[303] A week later, he had to admit to Madison that Genet's
+conduct "has given room to the enemies of France to come forward in a
+style of acrimony against that nation which they never dared to have
+done. The disapprobation of the agent mingles with the reprehension of
+his nation and gives a toleration to that which it never had
+before."[304]
+
+By a strange irony of fate, one of the last acts of Jefferson as
+Secretary of State was a final protest against Genet's attitude. Six
+months before he had been notified that he could not be received by the
+Executive and that all communications from him had to be made in
+writing. Deciding to appeal to Congress over the head of the President,
+Genet had copies of his instructions printed, demanding that they should
+be laid before both houses. A more stupid and childish step could hardly
+be imagined. Jefferson, requested by the President to draw up an answer
+to Genet, wrote at first a scathing denunciation of the French minister
+which was probably thought too strong, for it is marked "not inserted"
+on the manuscript:[305]
+
+  The terms in which you permit yourself in this and some other of your
+  letters to speak of the President of the U. S., and the influence and
+  impressions you venture to ascribe to him, are calculated to excite
+  sentiments which need no explanation. On what grounds of truth they
+  are hazarded, how to reconcile them to decorum, to the respect due to
+  the person and character of our chief magistrate, and to the nation
+  over which he presides and that too from the representative of a
+  friendly people, are questions left to your mature reflection.
+
+The letter which was finally sent, more moderate in its terms, was
+nevertheless a formal reminder of diplomatic proprieties:
+
+  Your functions as the missionary of a foreign mission here, are
+  confined to the transactions of the affairs of your nation with the
+  Executive of the United States; that the communications, which are to
+  pass between the Executive and Legislative branches, cannot be a
+  subject for your interference, and that the President must be left to
+  judge for himself what matters his duty or the public good may
+  require him to propose to the deliberations of Congress. I have
+  therefore the honor of returning you the copies sent for
+  distribution.[306]
+
+That very same day Jefferson resigned his office into the hands of
+Washington, assuring him that in his retirement he was taking with him
+"a lively sense of the President's goodness, and would continue
+gratefully to remember it."[307]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MONTICELLO--AGRICULTURE AND POLITICS
+
+
+When Jefferson left Philadelphia for what he sincerely believed would be
+definite retirement from the field of politics, he felt weary, tired,
+and already old. He had transacted all the business of his office with a
+minimum of clerical assistance, attending himself to all the details not
+only of foreign but also of domestic affairs, sometimes translating
+documents which he did not trust Freneau with, preparing reports for the
+President, digging in his manuals of international law, Wolfe,
+Puffendorff, Vatel, and Grotius. The actual labor was enormous, the
+variety of subjects amazing; many times during the course of a day he
+had to shift from one subject to another. Under fire all the time,
+harassed by the Federalist papers, consulted by the leaders of the party
+which was beginning to form, he had not broken down under the strain,
+but was in urgent need of complete rest and agricultural quietude. He
+had packed books and furniture in advance and sent everything to
+Monticello; his letter to Genet written, he set out for Virginia without
+even waiting for the justification that would result from the order to
+publish his correspondence with the French minister.
+
+At that time a vague idea that he could turn a new leaf and start a new
+life may fugitively have crossed his mind. He had respectfully but
+profoundly admired Madame de Corny when he was in Paris. News from her
+had come through Mrs. Church; Mr. de Corny had died; Madame de Corny
+left a widow in very limited circumstances had retired to Rouen.[308]
+It seems that he entertained the hope that she might decide to move to
+America and in that case he would have liked to see her at Monticello:
+"Madame de Cosway is in a convent ... that she would have rather sought
+the mountain-top. How happy should I be that it were _mine_, that you,
+she, and Madame de Corny would seek." But he had seen too many of these
+brilliant French women in Philadelphia to believe that a Parisian could
+ever become accustomed to the simplicity of Monticello and to its lack
+of entertainments, and he made the suggestion very timidly: "I know of
+no country where the remains of a fortune could place her so much at her
+ease as this, and where public esteem is so much attached to worth,
+regardless of wealth; our manners & the state of society here are so
+different from those to which her habits have been formed, that she
+would lose more perhaps in that scale." After all, he had not changed so
+much since he had declared his flame to Belinda, almost in the same
+terms, twenty years earlier. This was the typical Jeffersonian way of
+presenting his own wishes, of letting the others decide after he had
+stated the pros and cons; clearly he was not made to win personal
+triumphs, either in love or in politics.
+
+Of politics he was utterly sick. He pictured himself spending the rest
+of his days in bucolic occupations. "The length of my tether is now
+fixed for life from Monticello to Richmond," he wrote to Gates. "My
+private business can never call me elsewhere, and certainly politics
+will not, which I have ever hated both in theory and practice."[309]
+
+Writing to Mrs. Church, he had gone into more details.
+
+  I am to be liberated from the hated occupations of politics retire
+  into the bosom of my family, my farm, & my books. I have my house to
+  build, my family to form, and to watch for the happiness of those who
+  labor for mine. I have one daughter married to a man of science,
+  sense, virtue and competence; in whom indeed I have nothing more to
+  wish. They live with me. If the other shall be as fortunate in the
+  process of time, I shall imagine myself as blessed as the most
+  blessed of the patriarchs.[310]
+
+At Monticello he found Martha and her husband, Thomas Mann Randolph, and
+induced the young couple to stay with him. Maria was now a tall girl,
+vivacious and witty, who would soon find a suitor. Devoting himself
+entirely to his family and domestic cares, Jefferson plunged into the
+reorganization of his estate left to an overseer for more than ten
+years, and granted so little attention to politics that he did not even
+subscribe to any newspaper, being quite content with those published at
+Richmond. "I think it is Montaigne who has said that ignorance is the
+softest pillow on which a man can rest his head," he wrote to Edmund
+Randolph. "I am sure it is true as to everything political, and shall
+endeavor to estrange myself to everything of that character."[311] Since
+that time there have been in American politics many instances of
+politicians who left for a hunting party, or retired to their farms in
+order to avoid responsibility. This was not the attitude of Jefferson;
+his was no temporary retirement while waiting for the storm to blow
+itself over. Had he chosen to remain in Philadelphia, as he had been
+asked to do by Washington, he would have at least checked Hamilton's
+personal influence and counterbalanced in Washington's mind the advice
+and counsels of his enemy. His party had been reorganized and the
+republicans had just obtained a majority in the new Congress, but his
+principles were far from being secure. He indicated it himself in the
+same letter to Randolph when he wrote:
+
+  I indulge myself on one political topic only, that is, in declaring
+  to my countrymen the shameless corruption of a portion of the
+  Representatives to the first and second Congresses, and their
+  implicit devotion to the Treasury. I think I do good in this, because
+  it may produce exertions to reform the evil on the success of which
+  the form of the government is to depend.
+
+Shortly after coming back to Monticello, he discovered, somewhat to his
+dismay, that the rank and file of the good people of the country did not
+pay much attention to the political battle which was still raging in
+Philadelphia. He went to "court" at Charlottesville at the beginning of
+February and was amazed to find that his neighbors had not heard of
+Madison's speeches in Congress or even of the recall of Genet.
+
+  I could not have supposed--he wrote to Madison--when at Philadelphia
+  that so little of what was passing there could be known even at
+  Kentucky as is the case here. Judging from this of the rest of the
+  Union, it is evident to me that the people are not in a condition
+  either to approve or disapprove of their government, nor consequently
+  to influence it.[312]
+
+This would tend to give confirmation to the supposition I timidly
+ventured in the last chapter. Neither the inflammatory speeches made in
+Congress, nor the foundation of democratic clubs, nor the newspaper
+battle between different editors had been able to rouse the people of
+the country. In America, as in every other country, the rural
+population, at that time the majority of the population, remained
+passive and took little interest in discussions that did not immediately
+affect their interests. Then, too, as in our days, the press was able to
+modify and to influence to some extent public opinion, but did not
+express it. Editors were years in advance of the slow-moving masses in
+their prognostications. It takes a national emergency, a violent crisis
+or a well-organized political machine to coalesce the great majority of
+a people and force them to see beyond the limited horizon of their
+village, their county or their State. This is so even now, and it was
+certainly so a century and a half ago, when the parochial and provincial
+spirit was still stronger than the national spirit.
+
+Since this was realized by Jefferson, it is difficult to understand how
+he did not come to the conclusion that his clear duty was to go back to
+Philadelphia and do his utmost to educate an apathetic people. But he
+was not the man to enjoy strife and struggle; he was too sensitive of
+personal criticism and attacks, too timid also to care to exchange blows
+with an opponent. He was the type of man who likes to play chess by
+correspondence, to suggest solutions, but not the one "to knead the
+dough", as the French say, and to take an active part in the daily game
+of politics.
+
+From his retirement he found time to answer letters from Madison and
+Monroe. Before leaving Philadelphia, he had transmitted to the House of
+Representatives a Report on the Privileges and Restrictions of the
+Commerce of the United States.[313] It was incumbent upon Madison to
+draw from it specific recommendations. Jefferson pointed out in a
+dispassionate way the obstacles put by Great Britain to the growth of
+American commerce, her lack of reciprocal treatment, her prohibitions
+and restrictions. He ended by indicating that France had, of her own
+accord, proposed negotiations for improving the commercial relations
+between the two countries by a new treaty on fair and equal principles;
+that her internal disturbances alone had prevented her from doing it,
+though the government had repeatedly manifested reassuring dispositions.
+On the contrary, "in spite of friendly advances and arrangements
+proposed to Great Britain, they being already on as good a footing in
+law, and a better in fact, than the most favored nation, they have not,
+as yet, discovered any disposition to have it meddled with." As a
+remedy, pending the conclusion of treaties, Jefferson laid down five
+principles to protect American commerce and retaliate in so far as would
+not hurt the interests of the American people, although at the beginning
+trade might suffer from it. A storm broke out in Congress, and once
+more Jefferson became the target of the Federalists.
+
+He was not uninformed of these developments, for Madison and Monroe sent
+him several letters at short intervals at the beginning of March; nor
+did he leave his lieutenants without directions. He still hoped that a
+war could be avoided; but he could not conceive that it would be
+possible in any event to let Great Britain seize the French West Indies:
+"I have no doubt that we ought to interpose at a proper time, and
+declare both to France and England that these islands are to rest with
+France, and that we will make a common cause with the latter for that
+object." Having thus outlined these policies, he relapsed into his
+ataraxy, affirming that he had not seen a Philadelphia paper until he
+had received those inclosed by Madison. The patience of Monroe must have
+been taxed to the breaking point when, after sending to his chief a long
+letter full of detailed information, he received in answer an equally
+long letter replete with agricultural disquisitions--"on such things as
+you are too little of a farmer to take much interest in."[314]
+
+The supposed leader of the Republicans was not more encouraging in his
+letters to Madison when he wrote a month later: "I feel myself so
+thoroughly weaned from the interest I took in the proceedings there,
+while there, that I have never a wish to see one [a newspaper], and
+believe that I shall never take another paper of any sort. I find my
+mind totally absorbed by my rural occupation."[315] Yet the old fame
+flared up occasionally, as when he learned that Hamilton was being
+considered to succeed Pinckney who would be recalled from England: "a
+more degrading measure could not have been proposed," he wrote to
+Monroe. In regard to Hamilton, he foresaw an investigation on the
+Treasury and had wanted to withdraw before it took place.[316]
+
+But he fell back into the same detached attitude of mind, when he wrote
+to Washington the next day: "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 of course, I put off
+answering my letters now, farmer-like, till a rainy day."
+
+As a matter of fact, I doubt very much whether he had reached any such
+equanimity. For if he was unwilling to reenter public life, he was not
+averse to giving his opinion and advice in critical circumstances. While
+Madison's resolutions were still before Congress, news arrived in
+Philadelphia of the seizure of American ships in the Caribbean, under
+the Order in Council of November 6. Indignation was running high and
+democratic societies held patriotic meetings throughout the country. War
+seemed imminent, and although Jefferson preferred to contemplate the
+tranquil growth "of his lucern and potatoes", he still felt indignant
+when thinking "of these scoundrels" (the British). Yet he believed that
+war should be avoided and wrote to that effect to Tench Coxe:
+
+  We are alarmed here with the apprehension of war; and sincerely
+  anxious that it may be avoided; but not at the expense either of our
+  faith or honour.... As to myself I love peace, and I am anxious that
+  we should give the world still another useful lesson, by showing to
+  them other modes of punishing injuries than by war, which is as much
+  a punishment to the punisher as to the sufferers.[317]
+
+To Washington he wrote two weeks later a most amusing letter, starting
+with a dissertation on crop rotation and "a certain essence of dung, one
+pint of which would manure an acre according to Lord Kaims", but not
+forgetting, in a negligent way, to slip in at the end a piece of
+political advice: "to try to extricate ourselves from the event of a
+war; at the same time to try to rouse public opinion in Great Britain
+and the only way to do it being to distress their commerce." But he
+added once more, "I cherish tranquillity too much to suffer political
+things to enter my mind at all."[318] This was nothing but the
+non-intercourse policy then debated by the government and of which
+Jefferson had evidently heard. When his letter reached the President, a
+solution had already been adopted and Jay had sailed for England on the
+mission which was to end with his signing the famous or infamous treaty.
+The summer went on without any new letter from Jefferson. A letter of
+the Secretary of State, asking him whether he would not consider lending
+a hand to the President in the present emergency, found him in bed
+"under a paroxysm of rheumatism which had kept him for ten days in
+constant torment." Then he emphatically added,
+
+  No circumstance will evermore tempt me to engage in any thing
+  public.... It is a great pleasure to me to retain the esteem and
+  approbation of the President, and this forms the only ground of any
+  reluctance at being unable to comply with every wish of his. Pray
+  convey these sentiments, and a thousand more to him, which my
+  situation does not permit me to go into.[319]
+
+This was the very time when the Whisky Boys of Eastern Pennsylvania
+revolted against the excise laws of Hamilton which fell on them harder
+than on any other part of the rural population, for they could not
+market their grain for lack of transportation facilities and their only
+means of living was distilling it into whisky. Individual acts of
+resistance to the agents of the excise culminated in August, 1794, in an
+armed convention denouncing the law and defying the government on
+Braddock field, under the leadership of the chief expert of the
+Jeffersonians, Albert Gallatin. Not only was the militia called but the
+President and Hamilton went to visit the camp at Carlisle. The
+insurrection ended without bloodshed, but the side of the
+insurrectionists was taken up in the large cities by the Democratic
+societies in which the Irish element was largely represented--hot-headed
+people, recently come from an oppressed land, who felt an ingrained
+spirit of revolt against soldiers and men in uniform,--until dressed in
+a uniform themselves. The immediate effect of the Hamiltonian policy was
+to amalgamate rural population and urban groups of mechanics and small
+operatives in a hostile attitude towards the aristocratic government.
+Hamilton thought the time had come to crush the vanguard of the
+Jeffersonian troops, and Washington, who had an inveterate hatred of
+anything smacking of disorder and mob rule, lent a favorable ear. He
+wrote a stinging denunciation of the Democratic societies in his yearly
+message to Congress.
+
+This time Jefferson was aroused, although personally he had never had
+anything to do with Tammany in New York nor any of the Democratic
+societies in Philadelphia. He fairly exploded in a letter to James
+Madison: the denunciation of the Democratic societies was "one of the
+extraordinary acts of boldness of which we have seen so many from the
+faction of monocrats." How could one condemn the Democratic societies
+and let alone the Society of the Cincinnati, "a self-created one,
+carving out for itself hereditary distinctions, lowering over our
+Constitution eternally." It was an inexcusable aggression. With regard
+to the transactions against the excise law, he refused to take seriously
+the "meeting of Braddock field", and ridiculed the mobilizing of an army
+against men who were not thinking seriously of separating, "simply
+consulting about it."--"But to consult on a question does not amount to
+a determination of that question in the affirmative, still less to the
+acting _on such determination_," he advised. A fine legal distinction
+which Jefferson forgot at the time of the Burr conspiracy! But "the
+first and only cause of the whole trouble was the infernal excise law."
+The first error was "to admit it by the Constitution"; the second, to
+act on that admission; the third and last will be to "make it the
+instrument of dismembering the Union." In conclusion he advised Madison
+to stay at his post, "to take the front of the battle" for Jefferson's
+own security, and once again he reaffirmed that he would not give up his
+retirement for the empire of the universe.[320]
+
+On April 23, 1795, he wrote to James Madison to refuse categorically any
+resumption of office high or low. That was already his firm resolution
+when he had left Philadelphia and it was even stronger then, since his
+health had broken down during the last eight months: "My age requires
+that I should place my affairs in a clear state. The question is forever
+closed with me." To propose his name would only mean a division of votes
+in the party and that was to be avoided before everything.[321] To Giles
+he repeated that his days "were busy with now and then a pious
+ejaculation for the French and Dutch, returning with due despatch to my
+clover, potatoes, wheat, etc."[322] In the meantime Jay had returned
+with the treaty surrendering practically all the claims of the United
+States, placing the country in a position of constant inferiority with
+reference to England, opening the Mississippi to the British trade and
+forbidding American vessels to carry molasses, sugar, and cotton to any
+ports except their own. It was laid in special session before the Senate
+on June 8, ratified on June 24, and sent to the President without the
+contents being known to any one. It would have remained secret if
+Thomson Mason of Virginia had not taken a copy of it to Bache, who
+published it the next day in the _Aurora_. It was a most humiliating and
+scarcely defensible transaction: Jay had been outgeneraled at every step
+by Grenville and, in a way, betrayed by Hamilton. But although it was
+distinctly a Federalist victory, it offered good campaign material for
+the Republicans.[323]
+
+On August 30, Jefferson sent to Thomas Mann a sort of apologia, telling
+him how, "while all hands were below deck, every one at his own business
+and the captain in his cabin attending to the log book a rogue of a
+pilot had run the ship into an enemy's port." Not that he wanted to
+express any opinion of his own 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."[324]
+
+With H. Tazewell he was more outspoken: a glance at the treaty had been
+enough to convince him that the United States would be much better
+without any treaty than with a treaty of that sort. "Acquiescence under
+insult is not the way to escape war," and he could only hope that the
+Executive's sense of public honor and spirit would be awakened. To
+Madison he gave the benefit of his advice. There was no leader in the
+camp of the Republicans to take advantage of the situation; rioting in
+the streets could not influence favorably the judgment of Washington,
+who had not yet signed, and there was always Hamilton, who had retired
+to be sure, but was "a host in himself"; the Federalists were in a
+defile, but "too much security will give time to his talents and
+indefatigableness to extricate them." He ended with an appeal to
+Madison: "We have had only middling performances to oppose to him. In
+truth, when he comes forward, there is nobody but yourself who can meet
+him.... For God's sake take your pen, and give a fundamental reply to
+Curtius and Camillus."[325]
+
+With real perspicacity Jefferson had put his finger on the fundamental
+weakness of the Republicans. They were only the yeomanry; they counted
+a number of very honest and distinguished men; some of them were even
+brilliant in debates and could flatter themselves that they were
+victorious, as long as the Federalist chieftain did not appear in person
+on the battlefield. When he did, however, they had no outstanding man
+with the same capacity for work, the same ability to marshal facts, to
+present cogent arguments and to use biting sarcasm. Jefferson alone,
+with his great felicity of expression and his mastery of style, could
+have opposed successfully the Federalist leader, but, as he wrote to
+Rutledge: "after five and twenty years' continual employment (in the
+service of our country), I trust it will be thought I have fulfilled my
+tour, like a punctual soldier and may claim my discharge."[326]
+
+That he would have been a redoubtable opponent, had he chosen to be so,
+appears in a letter he sent at the time to William B. Giles. The treaty
+once ratified by the Senate and signed by the President, it was thought
+that the House, on which fell the duty of making the necessary
+appropriations for the enforcement of the different articles, might
+possibly pass in their turn on the merits of the document. Randolph had
+been requested by the President to give his opinion on the subject and
+did it in one of those written consultations which Jefferson had so
+often been asked to prepare himself, when in the official family of
+Washington. To Giles, who was to attack the treaty in the House with
+Gallatin and Madison, Jefferson sent an elaborate and cruel dissection
+of Randolph's opinion:
+
+  The fact is that he has generally given his principles to one party,
+  and his practice to the other, the oyster to one, the shell to the
+  other.... On the precedent now to be set will depend the future
+  construction of our Constitution, and whether the powers of
+  legislation shall be transferred from the President, Senate, and
+  House of Representatives to the President and Senate, and Piamingo
+  or any other Indian, Algerine, or other chief.[327]
+
+Clearly he was getting back into his stride and when thoroughly aroused,
+as he had been once or twice in his career, he could also hit back or
+rather pierce with rapid thrust of the rapier. And yet he was not really
+thinking of reentering the arena, for at the same time he was offering
+to George Wythe to superintend an edition of the laws of Virginia, of
+which he had made as complete a collection as he could, "either the
+manuscripts crumbling into dust or printed."[328] Yet he had an eye upon
+the budding geniuses of the Democratic party. Soon he realized the value
+of Albert Gallatin, who had undertaken a thorough analysis and
+demolition of Hamilton's administration:
+
+  Hamilton's object from the beginning was to throw them into forms
+  which would be utterly undecypherable.... If Mr. Gallatin would
+  undertake to reduce this chaos to order, present us with a clear view
+  of our finances, and put them in a form as simple as they will admit,
+  he will merit an 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 understood by common farmers.[329]
+
+With such sentences, simple and easily remembered, such felicity of
+expression and of thought, one can make a lasting impression on the
+people, without addressing directly the Indians of Tammany Hall or
+participating in whisky riots. One can also throw suspicion of
+intentional dishonesty on one's adversaries, coin mottoes which,
+repeated in a political campaign, fix themselves easily in the
+unsophisticated minds of the common people. But it does not ensue
+necessarily that Jefferson was an arch plotter, pulling the strings and
+laying plots to explode years later. He was quite sincere in his dislike
+of Hamilton's budgets, for the simple reason that he did not understand
+them himself. The master financier and expert was beyond Jefferson's
+comprehension; in many respects he was even far ahead of his own time,
+while Jefferson, in matters of finance at least, remained all his life
+an eighteenth-century man. But the young Swiss-American who had made his
+mark in the whisky insurrection must have felt himself elated at
+Jefferson's approval. By such appropriate compliments and
+encouragements, great tacticians create and foster party and personal
+loyalty, and Jefferson was a past master in this difficult art.
+
+As he had encouraged Gallatin, he encouraged Giles, kept in touch with
+him and through him sent a word of congratulation to a new Republican
+recruit, Doctor Leib: "I know not when I have received greater
+satisfaction than on reading the speech of Doctor Leib in the
+Pennsylvania Assembly. He calls himself a new member. I congratulate
+honest republicanism on such an acquisition, and promise myself much
+from a career which begins on such elevated ground."[330] He reminded
+him that Democratic societies were proscribed in England and that it
+would be interesting to know the terms of the bill proposed by Pitt
+against them. Gallatin again called for his commendation for a speech
+printed in Bache's _Aurora_, the sole organ of the Republicans since
+Freneau had discontinued his _Gazette_: "It is worthy of being printed
+at the end of the _Federalist_, as the only rational commentary on the
+part of the law to which it relates."[331] Then Jefferson raved over the
+indignities heaped upon the country by the treaty, over the point made
+by the Federalists that the House had nothing to say in the matter, and
+in his fury he even went so far as to treat Washington more severely
+than he had ever done before. "Curse on his virtues," he exclaimed;
+"they have undone his country." This political advice was naturally
+buried under rural news: "Mercury at twenty degrees in the morning.
+Corn fallen at Richmond to twenty shillings." But this bucolic note
+stopped short and the political thermometer was consulted again and
+indicated that "Nicholas was sure of his election, R. Joue and Jo.
+Monroe, in competition for the other vote of the county."
+
+Three weeks later Jefferson dug in his files to send Madison more
+ammunition, showing clearly that, at least in one case, Washington
+himself had recognized formerly the authority of the legislature, that
+is to say both branches of the House, when it came to ratifying the
+treaty with the new Emperor of Morocco.[332] Then he wrote to his former
+neighbor, Philip Mazzei, a letter which was to cause him more
+difficulties than any of the previous acts of his career. He thought
+that he could and should give news of the country to this curious
+character, who had come to Virginia as a vine-grower to engage in
+agricultural experiments but who was also the former agent of the Duke
+of Tuscany and of Stanislas of Poland, a Grimm "_au petit pied_", a
+literary correspondent and a philosopher. In all fairness to Jefferson a
+preliminary remark is here necessary. He was apt in conversation to take
+his cue from his interlocutors rather than to force on them any topic,
+and he was apt also to speak in the same tone and same diapason. In his
+letters he instinctively yielded to the same tendency, changing his tone
+and style according to his correspondent. Writing to an Italian he
+adopted a flowery, metaphoric, and emphatic manner not often found in
+his letters, and in his desire to flatter the Tuscan ear of his friend,
+he overshot the mark and overemphasized what he would have stated much
+more moderately to an American:
+
+  Against us are the Executive, the Judiciary, two out of three
+  branches of the Legislature, all the officers of the government, all
+  who want to be officers, all timed men who prefer the calm of
+  despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.... It would give you a
+  fever were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to
+  these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solomons in
+  the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot
+  England....
+
+But these men had not realized the great strength of the party then
+coming into being: "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." Then came the customary mention of his health,
+even more mournful than usual: "I begin to feel the effects of age. My
+health has suddenly broken down, with symptoms which give me to believe
+that I shall not have much to encounter of the _tedium vitae_."[333]
+Little did he believe when he indulged in this rhetorical outburst that
+Mazzei would give the letter to an Italian paper, that it would be
+translated from the Italian into French, from French into English and
+finally appear in America.
+
+For Jefferson was eager to remain on good personal terms with
+Washington, even if he strongly disapproved of his policies, and this
+appeared when a few months later he denied having communicated to
+Bache's _Aurora_ the questionnaire on the _Little Sarah_, and he seized
+the occasion to assure Washington once again of his affectionate
+sentiments. But he was already thinking of protecting himself, for in
+the same letter he asked the President to send him copies of the
+opinions presented by Hamilton and Randolph as "they had his opinion and
+he never had been able to obtain copy of theirs." And significantly he
+added, "Though I do not know that it will ever be of the least
+importance to me, yet one loves to possess arms, though they hope never
+to have occasion for them."[334]
+
+The summer was apparently entirely occupied in agricultural and
+scientific pursuits. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the former president of
+the National Assembly, at whose house Jefferson used to visit when in
+Paris to meet the "_republicains_", was then traveling through the
+United States and stopped at Monticello for a week. The Duke has left us
+a most valuable description of Jefferson's establishment and the country
+around it. He praised the house "which will deserve when completed to be
+ranked with the most pleasant mansions in France and in Europe." He
+admired the view from the hill: for "Mr. Jefferson's house commands one
+of the most extensive prospects you can meet with." But his eye was that
+of a refined and overcivilized Frenchman of the eighteenth century
+accustomed to limited horizons, limited forests, to a certain balance
+between the woods, the rivers and the lands inclosed with hedges, to a
+nature stamped, modified, remolded by centuries of human labor. The
+contrast between the "moderate French landscapes" and the unlimited
+vistas in which plowed fields occupied a negligible space, impressed him
+almost painfully.
+
+[Illustration: MONTICELLO AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY
+
+_Copyright Harris and Ewing, Washington, D. C._]
+
+It was a magnificent view, but too vast; and rather than look at the
+scene as it presented itself, he preferred to call on fancy "to picture
+to us those plains and mountains such as population and culture will
+render them in a greater or smaller number of years." He looked with
+some suspicion at the numerous agricultural experiments of Jefferson,
+who seemed "to have derived his knowledge from books." He was not alone
+in this opinion. In any farming country, innovations are looked upon
+askance and we are not surprised to learn that "his system is entirely
+confined to himself; it is censured by some of his neighbours, who are
+also employed in improving their culture with ability and skill, but he
+adheres to it, and thinks it founded on just observation." Finally came
+the picture of the master himself and life at Monticello, worth
+preserving and reproducing.
+
+  In private life, Mr. Jefferson displays a mild, easy and obliging
+  temper, though he is somewhat cold and reserved. His conversation is
+  the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of information not
+  inferior to that of any other man. In Europe he would hold a
+  distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has already
+  appeared there; at present he is employed with activity and
+  perseverance in the management of his farms and buildings; and he
+  orders, directs and pursues in the minutest detail every branch of
+  business relative to them. I found him in the midst of the harvest,
+  from which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his
+  attendance. His negroes are clothed, and treated as well as white
+  servants could be. As he cannot expect any assistance from the two
+  small neighboring towns, every article is made on his farm; his
+  negroes are cabinet-makers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, smiths,
+  etc. The children he employs in a nail factory, which yields already
+  a considerable profit. The young and old negresses spin for the
+  clothing of the rest. He animates them by rewards and distinctions;
+  in fine, his superior mind directs the management of his domestic
+  concerns with the same abilities, activity, and regularity which he
+  evinced in the conduct of public affairs, and which he is calculated
+  to display in every situation of life. In the superintendence of the
+  household he is assisted by his two daughters, Mrs. Randolph and Miss
+  Maria, who are handsome, modest, and amiable women. They have been
+  educated in France.
+
+It is pleasant to have the direct testimony of a foreigner and a
+philosopher on the way Jefferson treated his slaves. But how can we
+believe that a man who could supervise all the details of the
+agricultural and industrial life around Monticello and endure the
+harvest sun was absolutely broken down in health? If he had ever been,
+Jefferson certainly was picking up. It seems probable that he did not
+discuss politics with the noble traveler. Perhaps he heard another
+recital of the excesses of the French Revolution,--a painful subject and
+one that did not serve any purpose; far better was it to exchange views
+on crop rotation, sheep raising, dung and manure, clover and potatoes
+and to demonstrate the new plow he had invented with a mold board of
+least resistance, which was to bring him some years later the "_grande
+medaille_" of the Agricultural Society of Paris.[335]
+
+The first mention of the coming presidential election occurs in a letter
+to Monroe of July 10, 1796. The treaty had finally passed, but the party
+of the monocrats was shaken to its very foundation, "Mr. Jay and his
+advocates are treaty-foundered." The result was not doubtful. Even if a
+monocrat were elected, he would be overborne by the republican sense of
+his constituents. "If a republican, he will, of course, give fair play
+to that sense and lead things into the channel of harmony between the
+governors and the governed. In the meantime, patience!" He mentions that
+in order to operate a division and to split the Virginia vote, _they_
+had unsuccessfully endeavored to run Patrick Henry for vice president
+and would probably fall back on Pinckney, "in which they regard his
+southern position rather than his principles." But curiously enough the
+presidential nominees or preferences are not even mentioned. Could
+Monroe really believe that _Hamlet_ was going to be played without
+Hamlet, and that the election of a vice president was the only thing
+that mattered? This omission was far more significant than any expressed
+preference. If Jefferson mentioned no candidates, it was simply because
+he already knew at that date that his faithful lieutenants in Congress
+were thinking of him as the only logical candidate, the only one who had
+not participated actively in the last three years' fierce debates in
+Congress, the only one who had not officially and openly taken a
+definite position, and consequently would be entirely free to make
+whatever concessions were necessary to reestablish harmony in the
+divided camps of the voters. The result of the election was certainly in
+doubt; but at a time when foreign affairs were the dominant question,
+when in spite of the Jay treaty England was multiplying almost
+unbearable insults, when the nation was deeply humiliated, and even the
+Federalists resented the terms of the treaty, there were only two men of
+the first rank in America who had maintained the prestige of the United
+States before foreign nations and had shown themselves to be able
+negotiators: the man who with Franklin had put his signature to the
+Treaty of Peace, and the man who had concluded treaties of commerce with
+the nations of Europe; Adams and Jefferson.
+
+A strange campaign it was, in which the champion of the Republicans
+seemed to remain completely silent. The middle of December came, and
+Jefferson had not yet manifested any desire to run, nor had he made any
+declaration concerning his program. He had to come out however when, on
+the night of the sixteenth, he received a letter from Madison informing
+him that there was no longer any doubt about the logical choice of the
+Republicans and that Madison would decline to be candidate. Jefferson
+took up his pen at once to define his position to his friend. He hoped
+that Adams would be elected; and in that case he would be satisfied with
+the second place although he would prefer the third, that is, his
+rejection, since he would be free to remain at home. It was desirable,
+however, in case of a tie, that Madison be instructed to request on his
+behalf that Mr. Adams should be preferred. Some of the reasons he gave
+were highly honorable, the best being that Mr. Adams was his senior and
+had always "ranked" him in public life, either in France or in America.
+Other reasons he did not indicate: one was evidently that the situation
+had never worn so gloomy an aspect since the year 1783 and that
+Jefferson did not believe he could steer clear of the present
+difficulties.[336]
+
+Ten days later he wrote more at length to Rutledge. No news had come
+from Philadelphia, but he protested that he had no political ambition:
+"Before my God, I shall from the bottom of my heart, rejoice at
+escaping." Scrutinizing himself, he found that the unmerited abuse he
+had been subjected to still rankled; he was convinced that "no man will
+ever bring out of that office the reputation which carries him into it."
+The honeymoon would be as short in that case as in any other, and its
+moments of ecstasy would be ransomed by years of torment and hatred.
+Frankly he had no heart for the job. Nor was this a declaration of
+philosophical principles, but another instance of his political
+foresight, and a simple admission of facts, for not only had Franklin
+been bitterly attacked after his death, but Washington himself was not
+immune from public abuse, and such would be the fate of Adams.
+
+Jefferson was quite sincere when he declared: "I have no ambition to
+govern men; no passion which would lead me to delight to ride in a
+storm." In advance, he repeated the _suave mari magno_ of the old poet
+and hoped that he would not be elected, his only wish was that the
+newspapers would permit him "to plant his corn, beans, peas, etc. in
+hills or drills as he pleased, while our eastern friend will be
+struggling with the storm which is gathering over us, perhaps be
+shipwrecked in it! This is certainly not a moment to covet the helm."
+If this was not a sincere and true statement, then language certainly
+has been given to man to conceal his thought. If Jefferson was thirsty
+for power at that time he was more Machiavellian than Machiavelli
+himself. But in spite of the inferences of ill-intentioned historians, I
+do not see that there is the slightest ground to doubt Jefferson's
+sincerity ... except that he accepted finally the vice presidency, as he
+clearly hinted he would if it were offered to him.[337] He ended with a
+picturesque and energetic phrase and said in French what he could not
+say in English. He had not forgotten the words he had heard in the
+streets of Paris and perhaps in some salons after dinner, but certainly
+not in the mouth of Madame de Tesse or Madame de Corny: "_Au diable les
+bougres!_"
+
+The next day he started writing to John Adams: he had not received any
+direct news of the election, but from his own calculations he had every
+reason to believe that barring a "trick worthy of your arch-friend of
+New York, Hamilton", Adams would be elected. In that eventuality he
+wished to send his best wishes, and had only one hope to express, that
+Adams would be able to avoid the war. A friendly, sincere letter which
+Adams never saw. As Jefferson was going to send it, came Madison's
+letter of the seventeenth, announcing the complete results of the
+election.
+
+It caused a certain amount of surprise to Jefferson; the vote had come
+much nearer an equality than he had expected, and, as he wrote a week
+later to Volney, "the difference between sixty-eight and seventy-one
+votes is little sensible." The presidency would have been decidedly
+distasteful to him; the vice presidency was something different and he
+could not in his own mind decide whether he "had rather have it or not
+have it." Then he went into a curious piece of philosophizing which
+marks him as very different from eighteenth-century philosophers and
+eighteenth-century optimists. More of a realist in politics than he is
+given credit for, he showed himself once more a disciple of Hobbes in
+his vision of society:
+
+  I do not recollect in all the animal kingdom a single species but man
+  which is eternally and systematically engaged in the destruction of
+  its own species. What is called civilization seems to have no other
+  effect than to teach him to pursue the principle of _bellum omnium in
+  omnia_ on a larger scale, and in place of the little contests of
+  tribe against tribe, to engage all quarters of the earth in the same
+  work of destruction. When we add to this that as to the other species
+  of animals, the lions and tigers are mere lambs compared with men
+  alone, that nature has been able to find a sufficient barrier against
+  the too great multiplication of other animals and of man himself, an
+  equilibrating power against the fecundity of generation. My situation
+  points my views chiefly to his wars in the physical world: yours
+  perhaps exhibit him as equally warring in the moral one. We both, I
+  believe, join in wishing to see him softened.[338]
+
+For the first time Jefferson was going to occupy a position of prestige
+in the American Government and to become President of the Senate, second
+only to the President, the "heir apparent", as Adams had termed himself
+during the preceding administration. Far from rejoicing over the honor,
+he expressed his reluctance to attend elaborate ceremonies for the
+inauguration, and he did his best to wriggle out of them. He asked
+whether it would not be possible for him to be notified of his election
+by mail instead of being waited upon by a special delegation from the
+Senate; then he looked up the Constitution and decided that he could
+just as well take oath of office in Charlottesville as in Philadelphia,
+and that it was hardly worth the trouble, since Congress was to adjourn
+at once, to undertake the long journey over muddy roads for such an
+ordeal. Finally he set out for Philadelphia. He had reentered public
+life for twelve more years and little suspected that it would be so long
+before he could come back to dear Monticello and resume his agricultural
+experiments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+"THE DICTATES OF REASON AND PURE AMERICANISM"
+
+
+When Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia to attend the inauguration of the
+new President, he had not seen Adams for four years and only
+insignificant communications had passed between them, since Madison had
+thought it proper to suppress the letter written by Jefferson at the end
+of December, not knowing "whether the rather difficult temper of Mr.
+Adams would not construe certain passages as a personal criticism."[339]
+With Adams, however, the first impulse was often the best. At the time
+he felt in a very conciliating mood; he even indulged in the hope that
+it would be possible to announce a sort of political armistice and to
+bring about a union of the different parties.
+
+The two old friends had a cordial interview. Both of them, years later,
+wrote accounts of this historical meeting; though differing in a few
+details they agreed as to Adams' intention of burying the hatchet and
+beginning anew. He offered to send Jefferson to Paris as special envoy,
+insisting that he alone had the confidence of the French and would be
+able to bring about an arrangement. Jefferson being both unwilling and
+unavailable, Madison's name was mentioned, but nothing was decided as
+both knew that Madison had refused such an offer when tendered by
+Washington.
+
+In his inaugural address Adams discreetly sounded a note of
+reconciliation. He praised the Constitution, declared that it was
+"better adapted to the genius, character, situation and relations of
+this nation and country than any which had ever been proposed or
+suggested"; he added, much to the disgust of the Federalists, that he
+did not think of "promoting any alteration in it but such as the people
+themselves in the course of their experience should see and feel to be
+necessary or expedient"; finally, he seemed to desert the Federalist
+camp when he averred that, since he had seen the Constitution for the
+first time, "it was not then, nor had been since, any objection to it in
+his mind that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent."
+
+Not without good reason had Hamilton failed to show any enthusiasm over
+the candidacy of Adams, and the Hamiltonians had some ground for
+declaring that the speech "was temporizing" and "was a lure for the
+favor of his opponents at the expense of his sincerity." Two days later
+Jefferson and Adams attended a dinner offered by Washington to the new
+administration. When they left the house they started walking home
+together and the name of Madison being mentioned, Adams declared that
+objections to the nomination had been raised. The President and the Vice
+President had come to Fifth Street, where their roads separated; they
+took leave of each other and the subject was never mentioned again. It
+was really the parting of the ways after a timid effort toward
+reconciliation. Adams in the meantime had called together his Cabinet
+and the Cabinet, as he himself admitted afterwards, had proposed to
+resign _en bloc_ if he insisted on Madison's nomination.
+
+For the "incongruous portrait gallery" that constituted the Cabinet
+inherited by Adams from Washington, we may refer to the vivid picture of
+Mr. Bowers: "Ali Baba among his Forty Thieves is no more deserving of
+sympathy than John Adams shut up within the seclusion of his Cabinet
+room with his official family of secret enemies" may seem to some a
+rather severe characterization. The least that can be said, however, is
+that it was a Cabinet hand-picked by Hamilton and that neither
+Pickering, Wolcott nor McHenry were the best minds Adams could have
+chosen in his party. But there again the term party is inaccurate; if
+Adams had, in some respect, Federalist tendencies, he was not a party
+man or a party leader. The irritable, impulsive, patriotic, peevish old
+New Englander was too individualistic to belong to any party; he was not
+the man either to rally the hesitating, to uphold the vacillating, or to
+encourage and educate the blind. Curiously enough, he has found very few
+defenders. Severely treated by the friends of Jefferson, he has not been
+spared by the admirers of Hamilton. He stands alone, one of the most
+complicated and contradictory figures in American history--a pure
+patriot, whose patriotic work is almost forgotten, a catholic spirit who
+loved to play with ideas and paradoxes, a contrary mind, but in my
+opinion more widely read than any of his American contemporaries, not
+excepting Jefferson. A man who spent his life by the side of the severe
+and haughty "New England Juno", but who had more ideas in his brain than
+any sultan of the Arabian Nights had favorites in his harem.
+
+He had taken the helm at the climax of external difficulties.
+Complicated and delicate as were the problems of domestic
+administration, they were overshadowed by the difficulties with France.
+The misunderstandings, the incidents repeated on both sides, had
+accumulated with such an effect that, at the beginning of 1797, war with
+France seemed to be almost unavoidable. Though Jefferson had very little
+to do with it, it is not out of place to recall the main facts.
+
+Genet had unfortunately his American parallel in Gouverneur Morris. As
+witty and devoid of ordinary morals and honesty as Talleyrand himself,
+elegant, refined, and corrupt, Gouverneur Morris had been, since his
+arrival in Paris, the toast of French aristocrats. His activities in
+favor of the king and his partisans were not unknown to the French, and
+when Genet was sent to America he had been requested to present
+discreetly the situation to the American Government. Genet had made no
+official representation, but he discussed Morris' attitude in a private
+conversation with Jefferson, and Washington, apprised of the facts, had
+seen the necessity of acting.
+
+Monroe, on the contrary, had attempted to resume the Jeffersonian
+tradition. A disciple of the former minister, a true Liberal, and
+friendly to the French Revolution, he had been enthusiastically received
+at once, in spite of the many difficult problems he had to present to
+the government. But the Jay treaty had proved a bitter pill to swallow,
+and the Directory had made strong representations to the American
+minister: America was accused of having violated the treaties of
+Alliance and Commerce, and when Monroe was recalled, the Directory not
+only refused to receive the successor that had been appointed but even
+ordered him to leave the French territory at once.
+
+Without entering into the merits of the question, we may say that
+Jefferson was still decidedly for peace, although somewhat doubtful of
+Adams' intentions. Shortly after the inauguration he analyzed his
+position as follows:
+
+  I sincerely deplore the situation of our affairs with France. War
+  with them, and consequent alliance with Great Britain, will
+  completely compass the object of the Executive Council, from the
+  commencement of the war between France and England; taken up by some
+  of them from that moment, by others more latterly. I still, however,
+  hope it will be avoided. I do not believe Mr. Adams wishes war with
+  France; nor do I believe he will truckle to England as servilely as
+  has been done. If he assumes this front at once, and shows that he
+  means to attend to self-respect and national dignity with both the
+  nations, perhaps the depredations of both on our commerce may be
+  amicably arrested. I think we should begin first with those who first
+  began with us, and, by an example on them, acquire a right to
+  re-demand the respect from which the other party has departed.
+
+An ideal policy, but hardly enforceable with a man of Adams' temperament
+and with the Cabinet he had inherited. Immediately after taking oath of
+office, Jefferson had repaired to Monticello and was getting acquainted
+with his duties as presiding officer of the Senate; in January he asked
+his old master George Wythe to send him all possible information on
+parliamentary procedure "whether in books or scraps of paper",[340] and
+he was working on his "Parliamentary Manual." Early in April news of the
+refusal of the Directory to receive Pinckney arrived in Philadelphia,
+Adams proclaimed at once a day of fasting and prayer and called an
+extraordinary session of Congress for May 15. It was to be feared that a
+declaration of war would be the order of the day, for "the President did
+not need the assistance of Congress to continue in peace."[341]
+
+As soon as he reached Philadelphia, Jefferson studied the situation and
+summed it up in a letter to Elbridge Gerry even before the opening of
+Congress. He had already come to the conclusion that a rapprochement
+between Adams and himself would prove impossible. There was really no
+way to convince Adams that Jefferson had not coveted the first place and
+did not nourish some rancor at his alleged failure to obtain it.
+Furthermore, it was quite certain that the Hamiltonians would do
+everything in their power to poison the mind of the President. This was
+most unpleasant but of little import to politics. Jefferson considered
+himself part of the legislative and not of the executive, and he had not
+even the right to be heard in consultation. It was his duty as well as
+his inclination to sit back, without trying to meddle in any way with
+the conduct of government.
+
+On the other hand, he had not given up the right of expressing an
+opinion as a private citizen on matters of importance to the nation, and
+after stating that he had no concern in the present situation, he
+launched out on a long _expose_ of the political situation as he saw it
+on the eve of the special session. With reference to foreign relations
+his wish and hope was that "we should take our stand on a ground
+perfectly neutral and independent towards all nations." This was
+particularly true with respect to the English and the French, but more
+easily said than done, since the English, not satisfied with equal
+treatment, wanted special privileges. Then Jefferson drew up a very
+impressive picture of the hold on the United States maintained by Great
+Britain through her commerce. Without domestic industries the United
+States had to go to England; she was the workshop of America. Goods were
+largely transported in English bottoms; British merchants, some of them
+fictitiously naturalized, were in every American port and in all the
+cities and towns of the interior, occupying strategic positions. The
+British also were dominating American banks and American finance and,
+through finance, could exert a powerful influence on American political
+life. Finally, they were accused of attempting to break the Union by
+advocating in their subsidized press a scission between the North and
+the South. If difficulties came to such a point that the only way to
+avoid a secession was to go to war with Europe, Jefferson, much as he
+abhorred war, was willing to become embroiled with Europe. He still
+hoped, however, that it would be possible to find some means to keep out
+of European quarrels and in the meantime gradually to free America from
+all foreign influence, "political, commercial, or in whatever form it
+may be attempted."
+
+One might say that this was no original point of view to develop. It was
+to a certain extent the policy advocated by Washington in his Farewell
+Address. Curiously enough, it was not absolutely remote from Hamilton's
+theory, for these two men who, temperamentally, could never come
+together, held about the same view of the situation. That England had
+the larger share of American commerce and that English manufactures had
+a sort of monopoly of the American market had been repeatedly pointed
+out by Hamilton. And on this Jefferson agreed completely. If one
+objected to that condition, the obvious remedy according to the
+Hamiltonian doctrine was, not to take measures to exclude English goods
+from the market, but to encourage American manufactures so as to enable
+them to compete with imported products. In this Jefferson differed from
+Hamilton, but while complaining of the situation, he did not propose any
+remedy, except perhaps to protect American inventors and thus stimulate
+them to establish new manufacturing plants. One must admit that at this
+point he let his "philosophy" interfere with realities.
+
+As a matter of fact, he was thoroughly opposed to the development of
+manufacturing plants, to the creation of large industrial cities housing
+thousands of salaried workers. As we have said, his vision of America
+was a sort of Arcadia where every man would live on his own farm, off
+the products of his own land. In some respects it may seem perfectly
+absurd, and yet it was very natural and to a certain extent quite
+logical. It was purely and simply the extension of the Monticello type
+of organization to the whole country. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt had
+been struck by the fact that Monticello was practically a
+self-supporting economic unit. Jefferson was raising his own horses and
+just enough sheep to provide the wool spun by the women slaves to clothe
+the workers and sometimes the masters. On the plantation lived smiths,
+carpenters, cabinet makers, brick makers, and layers; some grain was
+sold, some nails were manufactured and sold to the neighbors. Selling
+comparatively little, buying practically nothing, Jefferson's estate
+came as close to being a sort of Robinson Crusoe island as was possible
+in a modern country. Thus the Virginia planter had come to develop a
+philosophy of society not unlike the ideal society described by Rousseau
+in the "Nouvelle Heloise" and more feudal than he himself realized,
+since, after all, if serfdom had been abolished, it rested essentially
+on slavery. He was unequivocally against great agglomerations, although
+he had not visited any of the large industrial cities of England except
+London; but at least he knew London and Paris, he had lived in
+Philadelphia and New York, and he felt that it was not good for men to
+herd too closely together. Work in factories was both unhealthy and
+immoral, for in congested centers of population there developed a spirit
+of discontent aggravated by the fact that industrial workers, who
+generally did not own a particle of land, were footloose, unattached,
+and free to move from one city to another at any time; they constituted
+a restless and dangerous element. It mattered little that, for the
+present, they gave their support to the Republicans and had joined the
+Democratic clubs; Jefferson knew too well that they would be easily
+influenced in their views by a good orator, by passions of the moment,
+and could not be relied upon in an emergency.
+
+It would be easy to point out the close resemblance of certain features
+of this ideal of Jefferson with the theories of the Physiocrats. Such a
+parallelism, however, can be easily exaggerated and to a great extent is
+very misleading. Whether all riches came from the soil, or were the
+product of labor in any form, or both, Jefferson did not know and did
+not care. He was no more a disciple of Quesnay than of Adam Smith,
+simply because he was not an economist but a sociologist. Hamilton, who
+was an economist of the first rank, was primarily interested in the
+development of production and in the circulation of wealth, and paid
+little attention to the social modification that an industrialization of
+the country would probably bring about. Jefferson, on the contrary, was
+solely interested in protecting and preserving a certain pattern of
+civilization which was essentially an agricultural pattern--the only
+safe foundation for the political and private virtues of vital
+importance in a democracy. Manufactures meant surplus production, which
+meant, in turn, the necessity of exporting. If America became a great
+industrial nation, she would have, sooner or later, to export her
+surplus production and in turn to import many products from Europe. But
+if the country maintained extensive trade connections with Europe she
+would be necessarily caught in the maze of international politics. Her
+commercial interests would clash with the interests of Europe, and this
+would ultimately result in wars or at least in a constant threat of war.
+It would also mean the building of a strong navy to protect American
+commerce, perhaps the establishment of a permanent army; at any rate,
+the immediate consequence would be an enormous increase in taxes, the
+necessity of resorting to internal taxation, the burden of which would
+fall on the backs of the farmers. Numerous tax collectors would have to
+be appointed; Federal employees and officials ready to act at the beck
+and call of the Government would swarm all over the country. State
+rights and individual rights would be restricted and invaded, and
+liberty would exist only in name. On the other hand, foreign commerce
+was not to be entirely suppressed. Commerce was a natural and desirable
+thing with one's neighbors. Geographically the West Indies had closer
+connections with America than with Europe, and it was in that direction
+that the United States could develop their trade. This was a natural law
+and a natural right, and any obstacle put to the natural flow of trade
+between the islands and the American continent was unjust and to be
+fought persistently.
+
+Such seems to have been at that time the political and social dream of
+Jefferson. Like most dreams of the sort it was perfectly logical, even
+if impossible to realize. But, as a matter of fact, it was far more
+admissible than the ideal he was to propose four years later in his
+inaugural address, following the lead of Washington: "peace, commerce
+with all nations, entangling alliances with none." He was far more
+clear-sighted when he came to the conclusion that America could not
+combine political aloofness and commercial and economic relationship.
+This formula was a desperate and none too successful attempt to coalesce
+two contradictory principles and ideals, and for the last hundred and
+thirty years America has been striving to achieve this impossible
+program. Such a position has always seemed most absurd and
+unintelligible to Europeans, with the result that America has often been
+accused of hypocritical conduct in her foreign affairs, and more
+indulgent historians have repeatedly confessed their puzzlement and
+inability to understand her. The consequences of this incestuous union
+of Jeffersonian political aloofness and Hamiltonian industrial and
+commercial development are still apparent to-day. They were conspicuous
+in the position taken by President Wilson during his first
+administration; they reappear again and again in all American
+declarations referring to the League of Nations, mandates, and
+reparations. One of the first results was necessarily to embroil America
+in all European wars and to raise again and again the question of
+neutrality.
+
+It is doubtful however whether, even in 1797, Jefferson would have
+consented to carry to an extreme the realization of his bucolic dreams.
+He knew full well that America had commercial aspirations that could not
+be suppressed; all one could do was not to encourage them as Hamilton
+wanted to do and, in the meantime, to reduce political connections to a
+minimum.
+
+At the end of the short session of Congress in which measures relative
+to Europe had been debated, Jefferson wrote to Rutledge: "as to
+everything except commerce, we ought to divorce ourselves from them
+all." But this system would require "time, temper, wisdom, and
+occasional sacrifice of interests; and how far all of these will be
+ours, our children may see, but we shall not."[342] Such has been the
+hope and the endeavor of America ever since that time; with what success
+it is for others to judge.
+
+Adams' speech had been a warlike one. That the Government of the United
+States had been insulted by the French Directory was no "matter of
+doubt." Pinckney, sent as successor to Monroe, had not been received by
+the Government, and Monroe had been informed that the Directory "would
+no longer recognize nor receive a minister plenipotentiary from the
+United States, until after a reparation of the grievances demanded of
+the American Government, and which the French Republic had a right to
+expect." Pinckney himself had been notified that his presence in Paris
+was illegal and that he could not stay in the country. No wonder that
+Adams declared that: "Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision
+which shall convince France and the world that we are not a degraded
+people, humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of
+inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign
+influence, and regardless of national honor, character and interest."
+
+On May 23 the Senate sent an address to the President, indorsing his
+views by a vote of seventeen to eleven. The fight was to take place in
+the House and in the newspapers. "Foreign influence is the present and
+just object of public hue and cry", wrote Jefferson to Thomas
+Pinckney.[343] As always happens when the cry of wolf is raised, "the
+most guilty and foremost and loudest in the cry", those who were
+denouncing French influence, were to a large extent English
+propagandists and not of the best type. But news from France was
+infrequent and slight and, at the beginning of June, Jefferson waited
+anxiously for the daily arrival of Paine and Monroe from whom he
+expected a true account of the situation. Then came the news of
+Bonaparte's latest victories and the announcement that the preliminaries
+of peace were signed between France and Austria. This was the only thing
+which could and did cool the fury of the British faction. "The victories
+of the Rhine and Italy, peace with Austria, bankruptcy of England,
+mutiny in her fleet, and the King's writing letters recommending
+peace"--all that constituted a string of events nothing less than
+miraculous.[344]
+
+At this juncture Jefferson made a momentous political move. He wrote a
+long letter to Colonel Aaron Burr to take him into his confidence. The
+Vice President was beginning to gather up the loose threads: "Some
+general view of our situation and prospects, since you left us, may not
+be unacceptable. At any rate, it will give me an opportunity of
+recalling myself to your memory, and of evidencing my esteem for you."
+What could this mean in ordinary language if not that he counted on him
+to counterbalance Hamilton's influence in New York and present the views
+of the chief to the leaders of the party. First of all he called his
+attention to the fact that the Republican party was losing ground in the
+House as well as in the Senate, and that the majority was in the hands
+of "five or six individuals of no fixed system at all, governed by the
+panic or the prowess of the moment, who flap as the breeze blows against
+the Republican or the aristocratic bodies."
+
+For the present, the danger of going to war was less disquieting.
+Bonaparte's victories had brought many to their senses and some were
+complaining that Congress had been called together to do nothing. "The
+truth is, there is nothing to do, the idea of war being scouted by the
+events of Europe; but this only proves that war was the object for which
+we were called." It had been a close call, and France might have
+declared war against the United States if the Ancients had not
+pronounced against it. "Thus we see two nations who love one another
+affectionately, brought by the ill temper of their executive
+administrations, to the very brink of a necessity to imbue their hands
+in the blood of each other."
+
+But leaving aside all sentimental considerations, Jefferson undertook
+to demonstrate that such a war would have, as a result, the immediate
+occupation of Louisiana by France, and with Louisiana again a
+Gallo-American colony, the danger would indeed be great. Such were "some
+of the truths that ought to penetrate into the Eastern States", and Burr
+was no doubt intrusted with the mission to preach the true doctrine of
+republicanism in his district.[345]
+
+Four days later Jefferson announced with infinite joy to Elbridge Gerry
+that he had been appointed to go as envoy extraordinary, jointly with
+General Pinckney and Mr. Marshall, to the French Republic. Once more he
+insisted upon the necessity of coming to some sort of an arrangement
+with Europe. War against England or France could only result in civil
+war in America and probably secession. The fate of the United States was
+at stake.[346]
+
+Congress was to adjourn on the twenty-eighth of June and Jefferson was
+already looking forward to the rural quiet of Monticello, where he could
+"exchange the roar and tumult of bulls and bears for the prattle of his
+grandchildren and senile rest." His quiet however was disturbed by an
+unexpected incident. Early in August he sent an urgent call to Madison
+to come to Monticello with Monroe in order to consult with them on an
+urgent matter. The letter written to Mazzei the preceding year had come
+back, translated from the French, and was used as a political weapon
+against Jefferson and the Republicans. Public repudiation of the letter
+was impossible, since he had really written it, although the translation
+had garbled the meaning of some important sentences. To remain silent
+under fire and accept as true the accusations hurled against him was
+equally difficult. His friends alone could help him out of the
+difficulty. He finally decided to ignore the whole matter as he had
+already been advised to do by his Philadelphia friends, but the letter
+preyed on his mind and this was not an incident to be easily forgotten.
+It was during the summer and fall of that year that certain principles
+were definitely crystallized in his mind.
+
+Deploring the fact that both factions had been incensed by political
+considerations and political hatred rather than by a true judgment of
+the situation and what he had called in a letter to Rutledge "the
+dictates of reason and pure Americanism", he then reached for himself
+certain conclusions which were to direct his political conduct during
+the rest of his career. He was thoroughly sickened by the insults
+passing in the press. Men of his own party he could not severely condemn
+for this, nor could he take from their hands the weapons used to defeat
+the enemy, but he was also loath to approve of their tactics. In
+Democratic societies, established in large cities, he placed very little
+confidence; they were fighting on his side, at least for the present,
+and were vociferous enough; but to a large extent they were made up of
+office hunters. They did not and could not constitute a trustworthy
+bulwark for Republican institutions. Fortunately events had proved that
+there existed in the country a large body of people sincerely attached
+to republican principles; these had been slumbering and their leaders
+had almost steered the ship into a foreign port, but they could be
+enlightened and made to manifest their true sentiments; for all reforms
+"must be brought about by the people using their elective rights with
+prudence and self-possession, and not suffering themselves to be duped
+by treacherous emissaries." "It is the sober sense of our citizens that
+we are safely and steadily conducting from monarchy to republicanism,
+and it is by the same agency alone that we can be kept from falling
+back."[347] As to foreign questions, the fact that their intrusion into
+American life had divided the nation against itself proved conclusively
+that the only safe course to follow was to sever the last bonds that
+connected America with Europe and "to place our foreign connections
+under a new and different arrangement."[348] The time had come for
+America to proclaim her independence in all foreign matters, for "we owe
+gratitude to France, justice to England, subservience to none."
+
+It was in coining these fine political maxims that Jefferson was at his
+best. As had happened so often during his life, he refused to be carried
+away by popular passions raging in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
+From the "mountain top" of Monticello he was able to judge
+dispassionately the sordid struggles of party politics. He was no party
+boss, not even a party leader; if he had any ambition at that time, it
+was to become a national leader and the exponent of what he himself had
+called in his letter to Rutledge "pure Americanism."
+
+Congress had been called for November 13, but the Vice President felt no
+inclination to hurry back to Philadelphia and reenter the scene of
+strife. He did not leave until December 4 and found, as he had expected,
+that Congress was marking time, waiting for news from Paris. Madison he
+kept informed minutely of all the changes that had taken place during
+the summer, of the progress of republicanism in Vermont and New York,
+and of all the small talk of politics, interesting only as showing how
+eagerly Jefferson kept his finger on the pulse of the country. He had an
+ulterior motive in sending to Madison papers and pamphlets recently
+published in Philadelphia; it was that "the paragraphs in some of these
+abominable papers may draw from you now and then a squib." Matters
+seemed to be on the mend; the latest official intelligence from Paris
+was that the envoys "would find every disposition on the part of the
+Government to accommodate with us."[349] The session dragged on.
+Jefferson's melancholy statement that the Senate was divided
+"twenty-two and ten and will probably forever be", was not helped by
+Adams' declaration that:
+
+  No republic can ever be of any duration, without a Senate, and a
+  Senate deeply and strongly rooted, strong enough to bear up against
+  all popular storms and passions. The only fault in the Constitution
+  of our Senate is, that their term of office is not durable enough.
+  Hitherto they have done well, but probably they will be forced to
+  give way in time.[350]
+
+The only important proposition before Congress was "the bill of foreign
+intercourse and the proposition to arm our foreign vessels"; but both
+parties seemed to be afraid to press the matter. Everything was in
+suspense "as the ensuing month will probably be the most eventful ever
+yet seen in modern Europe." If Bonaparte's projected invasion of England
+succeeded the tables would turn; in the meantime the official ball given
+on Washington's birthday offered to Philadelphia society a pretext for
+engaging in hot controversies. Business was bad and bankruptcies
+multiplying. Congress was thinking of appropriating some money for
+national defense so as to furnish convoys to vessels going to Europe and
+to provide for the protection of smaller vessels of the coast trade.
+Adams had decided to reorganize his Cabinet. Wolcott would remain in
+office, but it seemed that McHenry was to go and Pickering was very
+doubtful whether he would stay.[351]
+
+Meanwhile dispatches from the American envoys had arrived; they were
+being deciphered and the President hesitated upon the advisability of
+communicating them in full to Congress. Then, on the nineteenth, came
+Adams' message declaring that "it was incumbent on him to declare that
+he perceived no ground of expectation that the objects of their mission
+could be accomplished on terms compatible with the safety, honor, or the
+essential interest of the Nation."
+
+On the twenty-first Jefferson wrote to Madison that "a great change has
+taken place in the appearance of our political atmosphere"; the "insane
+message" had had great effect but there was still a possibility that, if
+all members were present, the war measures would be defeated by one
+voice in the House. What was to be done in that case? The only possible
+solution was to make a bid for time and wait for the results of
+Bonaparte's expedition against Great Britain. Jefferson's plan therefore
+was to propose an adjournment of Congress "in order to go home and
+consult their constituents on the great crisis of American affairs now
+existing." "To gain time is everything with us." In this letter
+Jefferson made one of his few material errors, so strange on the part of
+a man in his position, and hardly to be explained unless we suppose that
+the wish was father to the thought. "We relied," he said, "with great
+security on that provision which requires two-thirds of the Legislature
+to declare war. But this is completely eluded by a majority's taking
+such measures as will be sure to produce war." Certainly there was no
+such article in the Constitution, unless Jefferson in his excitement
+interpreted the ratification of treaties by two-thirds of the Senate to
+imply also that a declaration of war should have such a majority.[352] A
+week later he was convinced that "the question of war and peace depends
+now on a toss of cross and pile. If we could gain but one season we
+should be saved."[353] It was to these Fabian tactics that the
+Republicans were to bend all their efforts in order to avoid a formal
+declaration of war.
+
+In the meantime the dispatches of the envoys were made public and the
+famous X.Y.Z. case came to light. Debate was hot in Congress on the
+Sprigg resolution declaring that "under existing conditions it is not
+expedient for the United States to resort to war against the French
+republic."[354] Adams then decided to communicate the letters from
+Paris.
+
+No more terrible blow could have been inflicted upon the friends of
+peace. Jefferson heard the news on April 3, but as it was still
+undecided whether they could be made public, he refrained from
+discussing them with Madison until the sixth. His first impressions were
+"very disagreeable and very confused." Yet he tried, as was his wont, to
+see both sides of the question. With the story of the abortive
+negotiations was interwoven
+
+  ... some base propositions on the part of Talleyrand, through one of
+  his agents, to sell his interest and influence with the Directory
+  towards soothing difficulties with them, in consideration of a large
+  sum (fifty thousand pounds sterling); the arguments to which his
+  agent resorted to induce compliance with this demand were unworthy of
+  a great nation (could they be imputed to them), and calculated to
+  excite disgust and indignation in the Republicans particularly, whom
+  they so far mistake, as to presume an attachment to France and hatred
+  to the Federal party and not to the love of their country, to be
+  their first passion.
+
+In the papers, as communicated, Adams had substituted for the names
+given by the envoys--Hottinger, Bellamy, and Hauteval--the initials X.
+Y. Z., hence the name given at once to the incident.
+
+Whether the French bankers really represented Talleyrand is absolutely
+immaterial; the result on American public opinion alone is to be
+considered here. According to Jefferson, the public's first reaction was
+one of astonishment;[355] furious indignation followed very quickly.
+Sprigg's resolution was naturally discarded as not appropriate; war
+seemed the order of the day. The last resort left to the remaining
+Republicans was to avoid open hostilities with the French Republic and,
+not being able to prevent a vote of credits for armaments, to insist
+that they should be granted specially for internal defense and
+preparation.[356] A more mature consideration of the letters convinced
+Jefferson that the door to negotiation was not absolutely closed.[357]
+But popular indignation was too strong; riotous scenes took place in the
+streets of Philadelphia, addresses from all parts of the country came to
+Adams, urging him to stand for national honor and the Federalist press
+fanned the flames. The few faithful Republicans grew discouraged and one
+by one drifted out of Philadelphia. "Giles, Clopton, Cabell, and
+Nicholas have gone," wrote Jefferson on April 26, "and Clay goes
+to-morrow. Parker has completely gone over to the war party. In this
+state of things they will carry what they please. One of the war party,
+in a fit of unguarded passion, declared sometime ago they would pass a
+Citizen Bill, an Alien Bill, and a Sedition Bill."[358] Madison,
+although urged to take up his pen "for heaven's sake and not desert the
+public cause altogether", remained silent in Virginia. Jefferson felt
+that the first and second measures were directed against his close
+friend Volney,[359] who had been somewhat imprudent. That the republican
+press would be muzzled for "the war hawks talk of septembrizing,
+deportation and the examples for quelling sedition set by the French
+executives. All the firmness of the human mind is now in a state of
+requisition."[360]
+
+It is remarkable, and not the smallest achievement of Jefferson, that he
+kept a cool head in the midst of this turmoil. Insulted every day in the
+press and in public meetings, lampooned and caricatured, he had to
+remain silent because of his official position and could not protest to
+the government. No stranger political situation could be imagined than
+this,--a man recognized as the head of a party opposed to the
+government, yet next to the President in rank, without power to defend
+himself and to enter into polemics, ostracized, and, as he admitted
+himself, "insulated in every society", forced to listen to the reading
+of the most detestable things such as the Alien Bill, and still not
+indulging in bitterness. A comparison of his letters with those written
+by Adams and Hamilton at the same time would constitute the most
+extraordinary tribute to his self-mastery. He persisted in seeing some
+faint hope and refused to give up the ship.
+
+First there was a possibility that when the merchants would see that
+actual war meant War Tax, Land Tax, and Stamp Tax, these measures would
+constitute sedatives to cool their ardor. The present session had
+already cost two hundred thousand dollars and that was only a beginning.
+Furthermore, there was also a possibility that, if an actual declaration
+of war could be prevented during the summer, the coming election would
+reenforce the republican party. Volney had decided to go back to France
+with a few other aliens who had chartered a boat, without waiting for
+the enactment of the Alien Bill. Many of them were much irritated, but
+Volney at least was "thoroughly impressed with the importance of
+preventing war, whether considered with reference to the interests of
+the two countries, of the cause of Republicanism, or of man on a broad
+scale."[361]
+
+Isolated though he was in Philadelphia, from his room in the
+Philosophical Society of which he was president, Jefferson persisted in
+hoping against hope. One thing however was to be avoided at all cost. If
+the situation became such that the Northern States, Connecticut and
+Massachusetts particularly, clearly dominated the situation, it was far
+better to submit temporarily and endure even detestable measures than to
+break the Union. The beginning of the disaggregation could not be
+stopped; a realignment of States conducing to new secessions would
+finally be the result. Men must quarrel, and "seeing, therefore, that an
+association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing
+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."[362]
+
+This was a most important declaration and shows to what length Jefferson
+was willing to go in order to avoid the only irremediable catastrophe.
+Whatever may have been his weaknesses and shortcomings, his
+inconsistencies and contradictions, the man who, in the hectic
+atmosphere of Philadelphia, was able to put aside his own interests, the
+interests of his party, his social and political ideals to think
+nationally, was indeed a great American. We may even venture to say that
+he was at the time the only great American in the country.
+
+When Marshall came back from France--much to his surprise, as a war hero
+and as an avenger of national honor--the Republicans began to take a
+less pessimistic view of the situation. After all, the situation was not
+so desperate as they had been led to believe; Gerry had remained in
+Paris, and negotiations could be resumed. The show of honesty made by
+the envoys in Paris was most gratifying to national honor and gave the
+public a feeling of triumph over the corrupt practices of European
+diplomacy. But with the return of Marshall a new campaign broke out
+against Jefferson. Doctor Logan on his own initiative had gone to Europe
+in the interest of peace, but had gone mysteriously and without telling
+any one of his intentions. It was soon assumed that he had been sent on
+an unauthorized and unofficial but highly objectionable mission by the
+Jacobins "to solicit an army from France, instruct them as to their
+landing, etc.", and Jefferson was again accused of being the arch
+plotter. Nothing could be more ridiculous, for the poor doctor was
+simply one of those idealistic pacifists who sometimes do more harm than
+good, but whose intentions are not open to suspicion.
+
+But popular passions once aroused cannot be silenced in a day and the
+efforts of the friends of peace were weak and inefficient. On April 14 a
+bill was passed on second reading by the Senate, declaring the treaties
+with France void and nonexistent. Adams made it known that he would
+refuse Gerry's request that other envoys be sent. If Congress remained
+in session in a city where war hysteria had reached a paroxysm, extreme
+measures were unavoidable. The only remedy was to adjourn as soon as
+possible, for "to separate Congress now, will be withdrawing the fire
+from under a boiling pot."[363] Congress did not separate, however,
+without authorizing the President to increase the navy, to expend two
+hundred fifty thousand dollars for fortifications, to purchase eight
+hundred thousand dollars' worth of arms and ammunition, to raise an army
+of ten thousand troops and to equip vessels to seize and bring to port
+any armed vessels which had attacked American vessels or might be found
+"hovering on the coast of the United States for the purpose of
+committing depredations on the vessels belonging to the citizens
+thereof." On July 6 were passed the famous Alien Bills, and on the
+fourteenth, as a sort of defiance to the principles of the French
+Revolution, Congress adopted the "Sedition Law", giving power to the
+government "to prosecute persons or to prevent the circulating or saying
+of any utterance against the Government of the United States, or either
+House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the
+United States."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+POLITICAL LEADER AND STRATEGIST
+
+
+When Jefferson went home after the adjournment of Congress he remained
+completely silent for two months. But the newspaper war went on in
+Philadelphia with more virulence than ever: attacks against the arch
+plotter and the defender of the French Jacobins were multiplied,
+prosecutions were begun in Massachusetts under the Sedition Act and for
+a time Jefferson himself seems to have feared for his own safety. To
+Samuel Smith, who had sent him a clipping in which he was vehemently
+accused, he answered that he had "contemplated every event which the
+Maratists of the day can perpetrate, and I am prepared to meet every one
+in such a way, as shall not be derogatory to the public liberty or my
+own personal honor." He naturally denied that he had in any way plotted
+with Bache, the editor of the _Aurora_, or Doctor Leib; then he went on
+to define once more his position. He had acted on the same principles
+from the year 1775 to that day, and he was convinced that these
+principles were those of the great body of the American people. He was
+for peace certainly, not only with France but also with England. He was
+aware that both of them "have given and are daily giving, sufficient
+cause of war; that in defiance of the laws of nations, they are every
+day trampling on the rights of the neutral powers, whenever they can
+thereby do the least injury, either to the other." But he still
+maintained that the best policy was and would have been "to bear from
+France for one more summer what we have been bearing from both of them
+these four years." With England the United States had chosen peace; with
+France they had chosen war; to what extent the Government was supported
+by the majority of the people was a thing to be seen in the coming
+elections. He ended with a note of Christian forgiveness for Fenno and
+Porcupine, who "covered him with their implacable hatred." "The only
+return I will ever make them, will be to do them all the good I can, in
+spite of their teeth."[364]
+
+This was almost too godly to be true; but if we remember that his
+letters were intercepted and read by Adams' police, as he repeatedly
+complained, and that letters sent to him were opened on their way to
+Monticello, we may wonder whether he did not write these lines for the
+eye of the censor, and with his tongue in his cheek. That he really
+believed at the time in the existence of a monarchical conspiracy
+appears from a letter to Stephens Thompson Mason.[365]
+
+The Alien and Sedition bills were just a beginning. If the people did
+not revolt against them, the next step would be to persuade Congress
+that the President should continue in office for life, reserving to
+another time the transfer of the succession to his heirs and the
+establishment of the Senate for life.
+
+This was a very accurate prophecy of the course that events were to
+follow, not in America, but in France, and this shows at least that
+Jefferson had an exact understanding of the gradual steps through which
+a republican government might become an empire. But France had
+Bonaparte, while neither Adams nor Washington ever had the inclination
+or the power to bring about such a change in America. Yet when one
+thinks of the military ambitions of Hamilton, of his real opposition and
+scorn for republican government, it would perhaps be unfair to dismiss
+these apprehensions as absolutely groundless. Whatever the case may have
+been, Jefferson thought the time had come to erect a strong barrier
+against the encroachments of the Federal Government. Towards the end of
+the same month, the two Nicholas brothers, George and Wilson C.,
+discussed with Jefferson at Monticello a plan to put to work the
+Republicans, who, finding themselves useless in Congress, had retired
+from the field. A plan was finally adopted to arouse the State
+legislatures; during these meetings were drawn up the famous
+"Resolutions" that George Nicholas was to present to the legislature of
+Kentucky, and which Madison was to bring before the Virginia
+Assembly.[366]
+
+The exact authorship of the "Resolutions" remained a matter of doubt
+until Jefferson more than twenty years later acknowledged his
+participation in a letter to the son of George Nicholas.[367] It was
+well for Jefferson's peace of mind that he remained behind the scenes on
+this occasion and let Madison take the responsibility of the
+recommendation, which he did not allow to pass without modifying the
+original text to a considerable degree. The Kentucky resolutions have
+been the subject of many discussions, and Madison himself used a great
+deal of ink and time to explain the true import of the measures he had
+sponsored before the Virginia Assembly. They will become much more
+intelligible when studied in the light of the theory developed by
+Jefferson in the document in which he stated his views on the social
+compact, considered as a _pactum foederis_ and not a _pactum
+subjectionis_.[368] It was simply the reaffirmation that in forming a
+society neither men nor States abdicate entirely their sovereignty but
+reserve a specified part of their natural rights set forth in a Bill of
+Rights--an essential foundation on which to build a constitution. Such
+is clearly the meaning of the first resolution;
+
+  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,
+  reserving, 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 unauthoritative, 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 Government created by this compact was not made the
+  exclusive 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 common judge, each party has
+  an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the
+  mode and measure of redress.
+
+Not only was Jefferson perfectly consistent in repeating almost word for
+word in this Resolution the doctrine of natural rights and State rights
+already enunciated in 1776, but the last lines foretold the theory he
+was to defend against Marshall during his presidency. By denying that
+the parties to the Federal compact had a common judge, he refused in
+advance to consider the Supreme Court as the guardian, interpreter, and
+defender of the Constitution. This principle once asserted, Jefferson
+endeavored to prove that the Sedition Bill, the Alien Bill and other
+measures adopted by Congress at the instigation of the Federalists
+constituted an infringement of State rights, since they did not deal
+with matters specifically reserved to Congress and since it was provided
+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." This was at the same time an attempt to
+prove the unconstitutionality of the recent legislation and an endeavor
+to define more exactly the powers of the Federal Government. The Eighth
+Resolution, the longest, proposed the establishment of a committee of
+correspondence to communicate the resolutions to the different
+legislatures and enunciated the doctrine of nullification, namely that
+the State had the right to consider as nonexistent such laws as might be
+passed in defiance of the Constitution. Naturally the Law of Sedition
+and the Alien Bill came under that category.
+
+Strong as the language of the Resolutions may have been, it was not
+Jefferson's intention to promote a rebellion of certain States against
+the Federal Government and to provoke a secession. They contained a
+strong affirmation that the subscribers to the Resolutions were
+sincerely anxious for the preservation of the Union. As a matter of
+fact, in Jefferson's intention they were a piece of political strategy
+and he had no desire to push the matter too far. A letter he wrote to
+Madison on the subject is particularly significant on that score: "I
+think we should distinctly affirm all the important principles they
+contain, so as to hold to that ground in future, and leave the matter in
+such a train as that we may not be committed absolutely to push the
+matter to extremities, and yet may be free to push as far as events will
+render prudent."[369]
+
+In other words, it was what the French call a gesture, the act of a
+lawyer reserving certain points in a trial before a tribunal and the
+right to present conclusions. It was not the act of a revolutionist and
+for the time being at least, although adopted in a modified form both by
+Kentucky and Virginia, it remained a gesture and a simple protest
+against Federalist usurpations.
+
+The end of the fall came, and Jefferson relapsed once more into his
+cautious silence. One letter only, written from Monticello to John
+Taylor, is found in the files for that period.[370] This time Jefferson
+was more optimistic; the ardor of the Federalists for war seemed to have
+cooled down and the people began to realize that national pride was a
+very expensive article, that wars had to be paid for: "the Doctor is now
+on his way to cure it, in the guise of the tax gatherer."
+
+At the end of the month, the Vice President set out for Philadelphia to
+attend the opening of the third session of the Fifth Congress. Adams'
+address was anxiously awaited. Much to the surprise and disgust of the
+war party, if it could not be called conciliatory, it was far less
+provocative than the address of the twenty-first of June preceding. He
+protested against the decree of the Directory constituting "an
+unequivocal act of war" and maintained that "to invigorate measures of
+defence" was the true policy of the United States. But while he thus
+reiterated some of his previous statements, the tone was far less
+truculent. President Adams, while frowning threateningly, held behind
+his back the olive branch and was ready to extend it. The conclusion was
+one of these milk-and-water statements, that curious balancing of two
+positions so often found in American State papers relating to foreign
+affairs:
+
+  But in demonstrating by our conduct that we do not fear war in the
+  necessary protection of our rights and honor, we shall give no room
+  to infer that we abandon the desire of peace.... An efficient
+  preparation for war can alone insure peace. It is peace that we have
+  uniformly and perseveringly cultivated, and harmony between us and
+  France may be restored at her option.
+
+Then came the really important part: "The United States Government could
+not think of sending another minister ... unless given positive
+assurances that he would be received. It must therefore be left with
+France (if she is indeed desirous of accommodation) to take the
+requisite steps."
+
+Apparently an innocuous statement, but yet it was a new note; as it was
+known that Adams had received some communications from Gerry and was to
+make these communications known, it was supposed that a real change and
+a change for the better was about to take place in the relations between
+the two countries. Therefore Jefferson could mention in the speech "a
+moderation unlike the President", and he also knew that Vans Murray,
+the American minister at the Hague, had informed his Government "that
+the French Government is sincere in their overtures for reconciliation
+and have agreed, if these fail, to admit the mediation offered by the
+British Government."[371]
+
+In the meantime the fight in Congress was merrily going on, with that
+peculiar circumstance that both leaders remained behind the scenes. To
+the Kentucky Resolutions, followed by much milder representations from
+other State legislatures, Hamilton opposed his instructions sent to
+Dayton, and since published in his "Works." If they had fallen into
+Jefferson's hands he would have found in them ample grounds for his
+fears. The Federalist leader was of the opinion that his party was
+losing ground, and the late attempt of Virginia and Kentucky to unite
+the State legislatures in a direct resistance to certain laws of the
+Union, could be considered in no other light than as an attempt to
+change the Government. Under the circumstances, and considering that
+"the enemies of the Government were resolved, if it shall be
+practicable, to make its existence a question of force", Hamilton had
+devised a certain plan to be executed by the Federalist troops in
+Congress. The measures came under four heads: establishments which will
+extend the influence and promote the popularity of the Government;
+provision for augmenting the means and consolidating the strength of the
+Government; arrangements for confirming and enlarging the legal powers
+of the Government; laws for restraining and punishing incendiary and
+seditious practices. The detail of the recommendations showed a
+perfectly well-concerted plan to concentrate all powers in the hands of
+the Federal Government.
+
+One of the most remarkable proposals was perhaps the project of
+subdividing the larger States into several small States containing no
+less than a hundred thousand persons each, as these new units would be
+"better adapted to the purposes of local regulations and to the
+preservation of the Republican spirit." It is not without interest here
+to note that the Federalist leader proposed the very measures which had
+been adopted in France when the old provinces were divided into
+_departements_. In the case of the Federalists, as in the case of the
+Constituents, the purpose was the same: a concentration of all powers
+into the hand of a central authority and the suppression of local
+government. Other recommendations were an extension of the judiciary
+with a Federal judge at the head of each district; the appointment of
+conservators or justices of peace, who were to supervise the energetic
+execution of the laws and to promote "salutary patronage"; a stronger
+army; improvement of roads; powers given to the Government to call out
+the militia to suppress unlawful combinations and insurrections; power
+given to Congress to build canals through the territory of two or more
+States, that "all seditious writings levelled against any officers
+whatever of the U. S. shall be cognizable in the courts of the United
+States."
+
+If the administrative reorganization advocated by Hamilton had been
+effected, it would have made the United States not far different from
+the France of Napoleon and, such being the plans of the Federalists, it
+cannot be said that Jefferson's fear was entirely exaggerated.
+
+One of the first victories of the Federalists was to pass the famous
+Logan Law (January 30) forbidding any citizen of the United States to
+commence or carry on any verbal or written correspondence or intercourse
+with any foreign government, or any officer thereof in relation to any
+disputes or controversies with the United States. Doctor Logan's
+intentions had been of the best. He had seen members of the French
+Directory in Paris and had brought with him "non-equivocal proofs of the
+pacific dispositions of the French Government towards the United States"
+and particularly the Statement of Merlin that "_la liberte des
+Etats-Unis nous a coute trop de sang pour qu'elle ne nous soit pas
+chere._"[372] None of these activities could be called treacherous, and
+in normal times would not have been noticed. But behind Logan, Jefferson
+was aimed at, and he was perfectly aware, as he wrote to Madison, that
+"the real views in the importance they have given to Logan's enterprise
+are mistaken by nobody."[373] Yet he thought he had to justify himself
+to his friends, and sent a long letter on the subject to Gerry. Far more
+important than his defense was a declaration of the principles he did
+not fear to avow. "They are unquestionably," he said, "the principles of
+the great body of our fellow-citizens." It was really the program of the
+Democratic Party and the most luminous exposition of the Jeffersonian
+doctrine ever made.
+
+  I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of our
+  present federal Constitution, according to the true sense in which it
+  was adopted by the States ... and I am opposed to the monarchising
+  its features by the forms of its administration, with a view to
+  conciliate a first transition to a President and Senate for life, and
+  from that to an hereditary tenure of these offices.... I am for
+  preserving to the States the powers not yielded by them to the Union,
+  and to the legislature of the Union its constitutional share in the
+  division of powers; and I am not for transferring all the powers of
+  the States to the General Government, and all those of that
+  Government to the executive branch. I am for a government rigorously
+  frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public
+  revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a
+  multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make partisans....
+  I am for relying, for internal defence, on our militia solely, till
+  actual invasion ... and not for a standing army in time of peace,
+  which may overawe the public sentiment; nor for a navy, which by its
+  own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will implicate us, will
+  grind us with public burthens, and sink us under them. I am for free
+  commerce with all nations; political connections with none; and
+  little or no diplomatic establishment ... I am for freedom of
+  religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring about a legal
+  ascendency of one sect over another: for freedom of the press, and
+  against all violations of the Constitution to silence by force and
+  not by reason the complaints of criticism, just or unjust, of our
+  citizens against the conduct of their agents. And I am for
+  encouraging the progress of science in all its branches; and not for
+  raising a hue and cry against the sacred name of philosophy....[374]
+
+Jefferson ended with a paragraph in which he solemnly proclaimed the
+integrity of his American nationalism, although he admitted that he was
+a well wisher to the success of the French Revolution and still hoped
+that it would succeed; but he added at once: "The first object of my
+heart is my own country. In that is embarked my family, my fortune, my
+own existence. I have not one farthing of interest, nor preference of
+any one nation to another, but in proportion as they are more or less
+friendly to us."
+
+The man who drew up that program in the midst of an unprecedented
+political strife and the riotous scenes of the streets of Philadelphia
+was a political leader of the first rank. The letter to Gerry is more
+than a letter from one individual to another; it transcends the
+circumstances of the moment. It is the result of mature reflection; the
+conclusions reached by Jefferson after almost thirty years of political
+life. It is really the first program of his party and the first complete
+definition of Government and of Americanism; for it was distinctly
+American. I fail to perceive in it the influence of any foreign
+political thinker except in so far as such principles as freedom of the
+press, separation of the Church and the State may have been ideas common
+to a great majority of political thinkers of the eighteenth century.
+Even if Jefferson's request to Gerry to keep the communication
+absolutely secret was obeyed, there is little doubt that we have here
+the gist of the communication made orally by Jefferson to his friends
+and to the leaders of the Republicans in Congress.
+
+For the moment the letter contained a strong appeal to Gerry to place
+every evidence at his disposal before the public, since the Government
+refused to do it, and to publish in full the report on his mission. He
+alone could save the situation by coming forward independently. But even
+if Gerry acceded to this wish, some one else would have to present a
+brief synopsis of the evidence and draw up a judicial arraignment of the
+administration. At this juncture Jefferson thought of his old master
+Pendleton, at whose feet he had sat in Williamsburg, and with whom he
+had worked in the revision of the statutes of Virginia. He alone could
+give the "_coup de grace_" to the ruinous principles and doctrines; he
+alone could recapitulate all the vexations and disgusting details of the
+Stamp Act and the Direct Tax. A small handbill would be printed and they
+could "disperse ten or twelve thousand copies under letter covers,
+through all the United States, by the members of Congress when they
+return home."[375] To make Pendleton's cooeperation more certain,
+Jefferson even drew up the plan of the indictment and inclosed all the
+necessary documents.
+
+February was for Jefferson a period of hectic activity. During all the
+first part of the month he multiplied his entreaties to Pendleton to
+gird up his loins and enter the fight. If he still refused to write for
+the press he was not averse to communicating to the editors papers
+written by his friends, and he begged these for expressions of opinion
+to be sent to the press.
+
+  The engine is the press. Every man must lay his purse and his pen
+  under contribution. As to the former it is possible I may be obliged
+  to assume something for you. As to the latter, let me pray and
+  beseech you to set apart a certain portion of every post day to write
+  what may be proper for the public. Send it to me while here, and
+  when I go away I will let you know to whom you may send, so that your
+  name shall be sacredly secret.[376]
+
+The propaganda was beginning to bear its fruits. John Ogden was writing
+from Litchfield that "many publications in the _Aurora_ have reached
+Connecticut, within four weeks, which have opened the eyes of the
+dispassionate" and he was asking for more pamphlets.[377] But a week
+later Ogden was arrested and to Jefferson he sent a letter "From
+Lichtfield Goal (sic) at the suit of Oliver Wolcott Esq", to affirm that
+"prison has no horror to the oppressed, inspired and persecuted." To
+Aaron Burr in New York Jefferson wrote very affectionately and very
+familiarly to acquaint him with the state of public affairs.[378] To
+Monroe he was sending pamphlets, asking him to distribute them where
+they would do most good, adding as usual "Do not let my name be
+connected in the business." He never tired of repeating that the proper
+argument to strike the voters was the enormous increase in the budget of
+the United States: a loan authorized for five millions at eight per
+cent., another of two millions to follow and that was just a beginning.
+All these measures were accepted by Congress in the teeth of Gerry's
+communications with Talleyrand, showing the French Government willing to
+continue the negotiations.
+
+Then on February 18 came "the event of events." While all the war
+measures were going on, while the Government of the United States was
+blockading the French West Indies and French vessels were captured,
+while there were in several instances cases of actual warfare, the
+President had had in his hand for several weeks letters exchanged
+between Pichon, the French charge at the Hague, and Vans Murray,
+declaring that the French Government was ready to receive "whatever
+plenipotentiary the Government of the United States should send to
+France to end our differences and that he would be received with the
+respect due to the representative of a _free, independent, and powerful
+nation_." Adams, almost on the eve of the adjournment of Congress, had
+decided, as it seems, against the advice and without the knowledge of
+his Cabinet, not only to communicate the Vans Murray-Pichon papers, but
+to recommend that Murray be appointed as plenipotentiary to France. The
+Federalists in the Senate were appalled and at first did not know what
+to do.[379] But they were not lacking in strategy; not daring to come
+out openly, they appointed on the President's recommendation, not only
+Murray but Oliver Ellsworth and Patrick Henry, the last two "not to sail
+from America before they should receive from the French Directory
+assurances that they should be received with the respect due to the law
+of nations, to their character, etc."
+
+This, as Jefferson noticed at once, was a last effort to postpone the
+patching-up of difficulties and also a last effort to provoke the
+French, since they had already given such an assurance to Murray.[380]
+"The whole artillery of the phalanx was played secretly on the P. and he
+was obliged himself to take a step which should parry the overture while
+it wears the face of acceding to it," he wrote to Madison.[381] But the
+war party was defeated, the Federalists had received a fatal blow;
+victory already was in sight when Congress adjourned at the beginning of
+March.
+
+Then Jefferson repaired to Monticello, while in the back counties
+assessors clashed with farmers, troopers with small-town editors, while
+Duane was flogged in the street after being dragged from his office by
+militiamen. But he was not idle, although for some mysterious reason
+several of the letters he published during the summer have never been
+printed. He received many visitors, wrote to friends, proclaimed his
+faith in ultimate victory for "the body of the American people is
+substantially Republican, but their virtuous feelings have been played
+on by some fact with more fiction. They have been the dupes of artful
+manoeuvres and made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging
+chains for themselves."[382] He encouraged Bache and Venable to publish
+a gazette, for unfortunately "the people of Virginia were not
+incorruptible and offices there as elsewhere were acceptable", so that
+the situation was neither safe nor satisfactory. To William Greene he
+wrote a truly splendid letter on "progress" in which he expressed his
+belief "with Condorcet, that man's mind is perfectible to a degree of
+which we cannot as yet form any conception", and predicted limitless
+discoveries in the field of science. The present convulsions could only
+be temporary, for it was impossible, he maintained, that "the enthusiasm
+characterizing America should lift its parricidal hand against freedom
+and science. This would be such a monstrous phenomenon as I cannot place
+among possible things in this age and in this country."
+
+At the same time he was not unmindful of keeping in complete harmony the
+heterogeneous elements of the party just being formed. He strove to
+placate Callender who, jealous of Bache, was writing epileptic letters
+to complain of the whole universe, and asking at the same time that
+Jefferson should send him some money, as he was short of funds.[383]
+John Taylor, who was planning to declare void and unconstitutional laws
+adopted by Congress, and to call together a convention to appoint a
+dictator, had to be told to "forbear to push on to this ultimate
+effort."[384] Much preferable was the work undertaken by Randolph in
+presenting a legal refutation of the Federalist attitude towards the
+foundation of law, and the similar document on which Wilson Nicholas was
+working.[385]
+
+All this time Jefferson was haunted by the fear that his letters would
+fall into the hands of his enemies. To the few communications he wrote
+during the later part of the summer, he did not even dare to put his
+signature, "the omission of which has been rendered almost habitual with
+me by the necessity of the post office; indeed the period is now
+approaching during which I shall discontinue writing letters as much as
+possible, knowing that every snare will be used to get hold of what may
+be perverted."[386] He came to the point that on Monroe's advice he had
+to refuse to see Madison in order to "avoid the appearance of a
+collusion between them."[387]
+
+At the beginning of December he was back in Philadelphia for the session
+of Congress and soon after was able to send reassuring news to Monroe
+who had become one of his "grand electors." Those who persist in
+thinking him a dreamy idealist must read the letters he wrote between
+January and May, 1800; not only did he keep his hand on the pulse of the
+country, but he calculated the changes of the Republicans in every State
+and figured out to a unit the possible number of votes they would
+receive in the coming election. He knew the situation too well not to
+admit that he was the natural choice of the Republicans even before any
+census was held, and very early in January acknowledged it to Monroe:
+
+  Perhaps it will be thought I ought in delicacy to be silent on the
+  subject. But you, who know me, know that my private gratification
+  would be most indulged by that issue, which should leave me most at
+  home. If anything supersedes this propensity, it is merely the desire
+  to see this government brought back to its republican principles.
+  Consider this as written to Mr. Madison as much as yourself; and
+  communicate it, if you think it will do any good, to those possessing
+  our joint confidence, or any others where it may be useful and
+  safe.[388]
+
+He was undoubtedly sincere in disclaiming any ambition, but under the
+circumstances he was bound to observe a certain reticence, being the
+President of the Senate, next to Adams in the Government and yet Adams'
+adversary in the next election. But in his letters he made no pretense
+of false modesty and frankly mentioned time and again what he called
+"our ticket." Yet he was not the man who could ever give all his energy
+to a single task, and absorbing as were his political preoccupations he
+showed during the summer of 1800 as much versatility as ever. He took up
+again the transformation of William and Mary College, this time to make
+a real university of the old institution. He wrote to Priestley to send
+him a good plan of reorganization and a few weeks later to Du Pont de
+Nemours who composed for him his "Plan of a National Education."[389]
+With Colonel Benjamin Hawkins he discussed the desirability of studying
+the language and customs of the Indians, while there was still
+time.[390] He was thinking of compiling a volume on the "Morals of
+Jesus" and discussed religion with Bishop Madison who intended to write
+a book to prove that the Christian religion, "rightly understood and
+carried into full effect, would establish a pure Democracy over the
+world. Its main pillars are--Equality, Fraternity, Justice, Universal
+Benevolence."[391]
+
+At the same time he was keeping close watch on the news coming from
+France and on political developments in Congress. Rumors circulated that
+a new revolution had taken place in Paris and that Bonaparte was at the
+head of it. This was a wonderful opportunity to test out by actual
+experience the disadvantage of a directory or executive committee as
+compared with a single executive in a republic.[392] From what he knew
+of the French character, he did not believe that a monarchy could be
+reestablished in France, for "If Bonaparte declares for Royalty, either
+in his own person, or that of Louis XVIII, he has but a few days to
+live. In a nation of so much enthusiasm, there must be a million
+Brutuses who will devote themselves to death to destroy him." But a few
+days later he had come to the conclusion that it was probably what
+Bonaparte had done, and what had been done in France could probably be
+done in America when our Bonaparte, surrounded by his comrades in arms,
+may step in to give us political salvation in his way. One thing was
+certain, however: Bonaparte had clearly demonstrated that he had no
+brains, no creative and constructive mind; and, with the pride of a man
+who was engaged in a stupendous experiment, Jefferson pitilessly
+criticized the Napoleonic reconstruction of France: "Whenever he has
+meddled we have seen nothing but fragments of the old Roman government
+stuck into materials with which they can form no cohesion; we see the
+bigotry of an Italian to the ancient splendor of his country, but
+nothing which bespeaks a luminous view of rational government."[393]
+
+To his friend Samuel Adams, who had written him at the end of January,
+he repeated the same judgment in less striking but perhaps even harsher
+terms:
+
+  I fear our friends on the other side of the water, laboring in the
+  same cause, have yet a great deal of crime and misery to wade
+  through. My confidence has been placed in the head not in the heart
+  of Bonaparte. I hoped he would calculate truly the difference between
+  the fame of a Washington and a Cromwell. Whatever the views may be,
+  he has at least transferred the destinies of the republic from the
+  civil to the military arm. Some will use this as a lesson against the
+  practicability of republican government. I read in it a lesson
+  against the danger of standing armies.[394]
+
+No more patent demonstration could be desired of the fact that in his
+judgments of the French Revolution, Jefferson was at all times
+influenced by the possible effects that European examples might have on
+the American crisis. The precedent established by Bonaparte was a very
+dangerous one and might put similar ambitions into the head of an
+unscrupulous schemer. Whether he really believed or not that there was
+such an immediate danger for America, and that Hamilton had really such
+intentions, is an entirely different question. Probably he did not
+himself know. He only felt that a permanent army would constitute a
+permanent temptation and consequently a permanent danger, for he had
+only limited faith in the virtue of individual man, although he
+continued to believe in the wisdom of the collectivity.
+
+Domestic matters and other more immediate preoccupations were no less
+worthy of attention. He followed very closely every measure proposed in
+the House on the coming elections, on the voting procedure to be
+adopted, and anxiously studied the political forecasts. The situation
+was decidedly on the mend. This appears clearly in the attitude of the
+Federalists towards him, not only in public but also in private. For
+Madison he wrote a very elaborate review of the comparative strength of
+the two parties in all the States of the Union; he saw that the key
+States were Pennsylvania, Jersey and New York, the other States being
+equally divided, and he concluded that "Upon the whole the issue was
+still very doubtful." But officially one had to maintain a confident
+attitude.[395]
+
+When April came, he thought that it would be desirable for the
+Republicans to come out with a public declaration, stating their
+program and their ideals. "As soon as it can be depended on," he said,
+"we must have a Declaration of the principles of the Constitution, in
+the nature of a Declaration of Rights, in all points in which it has
+been violated."[396]
+
+If the plan had been put to execution we would have had the first
+presidential "platform" as early as 1800, and Jefferson would thus have
+hastened the formation of distinct political parties. But more
+commonplace measures were not to be neglected. Discussing the situation
+in North Carolina, still a very doubtful State, he advised that "the
+medicine for that State must be very mild and secretly administered. But
+nothing should be spared to give them true information." We would like
+Jefferson better if he had shown more discrimination in the choice of
+the men selected to disseminate this true information. For at that time,
+at least, he was still employing Callender in Richmond--an amusing
+scoundrel not much better than Cobbet, the Peter Porcupine of the
+Federalists. But Callender was a useful tool, who was doing his utmost
+to publish the second volume of the _Prospect_ and to catch up with
+Federalist propaganda. One could condone much in a man then writing: "I
+had entertained the romantic hope of being able to overtake the Federal
+Government in its career of iniquity. But I am now satisfied that they
+can _act_ much faster than I _can write_ after them."[397]
+
+Fortunately he had the approval and indorsement of much more respectable
+characters. Samuel Adams had already written him; then it was John
+Dickinson, the Revolutionary hero, who wrote, when sending his thanks
+for a copy of the late "Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia": "It
+is an inestimable contribution to the cause of Liberty.... How
+incredible was it once, and how astonishing is it now, that every
+measure and every pretense of the stupid and selfish Stuarts, should be
+adopted by the posterity of those who fled from this madness and tyranny
+to the distant wilds of America."[398]
+
+Such letters, the congratulations of George Wythe, who urged him to
+publish the "Manual of Parliamentary Practice", those of Pendleton, who
+consented to revise the final text and to "freely cast his mite into the
+treasury", were indeed balm on the wounds made by the fierce attacks of
+the Federalist press.[399]
+
+The end of the session was approaching and the most earnest desire of
+the Federalists was to adjourn as soon as possible, for fear that the
+envoys to France should announce the conclusion of a treaty. Their power
+seemed on the wane, but Jefferson was still very doubtful of ultimate
+victory. To Livingston he wrote that his knowledge of the art, industry,
+and resources of the other party did not permit him to be prematurely
+confident. The tide had turned, to be sure, and the Federalists were
+losing ground constantly, but the main question whether "that would
+insure a Republican victory was still undecided and it might take one or
+two elections more."[400]
+
+Congress adjourned on May 14. During the session congressional caucuses
+had nominated for the Federalists John Adams, and General Charles
+Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina; the choice of the Republicans
+could only be Jefferson, and for candidate to the vice presidency they
+selected Aaron Burr of New York.
+
+In the course of the summer, Adams and his wife moved to the new Federal
+City laid out by Major Lenfant, which boasted of one tavern, the
+Capitol, the President's house, and a few boarding houses,--a capital in
+the midst of the woods, in a veritable wilderness of trees, with
+impassable paths,--a town unable to lodge Congress except at Georgetown,
+which was connected with the new city by a clay road. Jefferson,
+according to his custom, had hurried back to his "farm" and was
+apparently absorbed by his domestic occupations, his children, and
+grandchildren.
+
+During the whole campaign he remained almost absolutely silent, not
+daring to write, because his letters might have been intercepted and
+used against him, receiving few visitors and reading without comment the
+newspapers filled with the insults and abuse of the Federalists. He
+broke his silence on few occasions, but these occasions are worth
+studying in some detail. In a letter to Monroe, written from Eppington,
+he discussed the best plans for assisting Callender, then jailed under
+the Sedition Act, who "should be substantially defended whether
+privately or publicly" and whose case should be laid before the
+legislature.[401] These efforts did not avail since in August the
+publicist wrote from his Richmond jail that he was in very bad health
+"owing to the stink of the place."[402] There is not much that can be
+said for Callender, and Jefferson might have better chosen his friends;
+but when one reflects on the accusations commonly circulated against
+Jefferson at the time, the interest taken by the Republican leader in
+the pamphleteer seems less astonishing. If Callender had certainly
+insulted Adams and Hamilton, had not the Reverend Cotton Mather Smith
+accused Jefferson of "having robbed a widow and fatherless children of
+an estate of which he was executor?" To Gideon Granger, who had called
+his attention to the attacks of the clergyman, Jefferson easily
+justified himself and seized the opportunity to discuss with his friend
+a problem of general politics of far greater importance. It had very
+little to do with the details of the election and for his remarkable
+capacity to rise above contingencies Jefferson truly deserves the title
+of "political philosopher." To incidents which he deemed without
+permanent significance he paid little attention, but when dealing with
+a phenomenon which seemed to him to indicate an important change in the
+orientation of national policies, he always tried to penetrate beyond
+the surface and reach the core of the question.
+
+The thing that now disturbed him more than the possible victory of Adams
+and Pinckney was the fact that political divisions seemed to correspond
+to a geographical division. Not without reason had he written to Colonel
+Benjamin Hawkins: "those who knew us only from 1775 to 1793 can form no
+better idea of us than of the inhabitants of the moon."[403] The North
+and the South had never been in complete harmony; economically they were
+different and had different interests, but something new had developed
+during the seven or eight years just passed. There was evidently a rift
+in the Union; on several occasions talks of secession had been heard.
+These rumors did not correspond to any real danger, but if the elections
+proved that the Union was formed of two solid blocks of States, if the
+North remained Federalist and the South were Republican, the very
+existence of the nation would be put in question. Yet this seemed to be
+a probable eventuality. In these circumstances, a victory of the South
+would mean a defeat of the North, the country would be divided against
+itself and the Union would be destroyed. This was particularly to be
+feared if the powers of the Federal Government were enlarged. Leaving
+aside all question of principle as to the moral merit of the questions
+under dispute, Jefferson tried to show, on the one hand, that it was
+impossible ever to organize a centralized form of government for the
+simple reason that the United States were too big and covered a
+territory much too large. If a centralized government were established
+on paper, it would be necessary to have many agents of the Federal
+Government with extensive powers distributed over all the States, and
+because of their very remoteness they would be beyond the possibility
+of continuous control. This could only mean corruption, plunder, and
+waste. On the other hand, since on fundamental questions it was
+impossible to bring into accord the North and the South, the true and
+only remedy was to minimize the chances of conflict and to reduce to a
+minimum the powers and attributes of the Federal Government. "The true
+theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the
+States are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as
+to everything respecting foreign nations." Once more, therefore, he came
+back to the original theory of 1776 that, in forming a social compact,
+liberty is exchanged for security and only those rights are given up
+which the members of the new society have not full power to enforce.
+Thus his theory of State rights was not only well founded in theory but
+proved by practice and experience. Any other system would almost
+necessarily conduce to a secession. The man who wrote these lines in the
+summer of 1800, more than half a century before the Civil War, was
+certainly not an ordinary politician; his was the clear farsightedness
+of a great statesman and true political philosopher.
+
+Furthermore, in the controversy which had been going on since 1793,
+Jefferson had been submitted to fierce criticism on every possible
+ground: as he wrote to McGregory, "the floodgates of calumny had been
+opened upon him." It had been particularly distressing to him to see
+that the religious issue had been injected into politics. There is no
+doubt that his Bill for Religious Freedom proceeded, not from hostility
+to religion, but from a deep and sincere conviction, reached after
+careful study of the evidence available that "in law" there ought to be
+no connection between the Church and the State and that if any had ever
+been established, it was due to monkish fabrications and usurpations.
+That he had turned against himself some of the Episcopalian clergy of
+Virginia was quite natural, but before he went to France these attacks
+were necessarily limited and did not extend beyond the borders of the
+State or take the aspect of a national question.
+
+When, on the contrary, he began to be criticized for his supposed foible
+for the French Revolution, such attacks became far more pressing. The
+excesses of the Revolution were attributed to the infidel doctrines of
+the French philosophers; and, being "contaminated" by French political
+philosophy, Jefferson was naturally accused of having brought back from
+France its atheism. These views received confirmation when he befriended
+Volney and Priestley, one a confirmed atheist, as Priestley himself had
+demonstrated, the other a Unitarian--which in the eyes of the orthodox
+clergy was possibly worse. The attacks from the pulpit became more
+numerous, and a clergyman of New York, a close friend of Hamilton, even
+published a pamphlet entitled "The voice of Warning to Christians on
+ensuing election", in which Jefferson was accused of having answered to
+a certain Doctor Smith, who expressed his surprise at the condition of a
+church: "It is good enough for Him who was born in a manger."
+
+Considering, on the other hand, that a large portion of the clergy were
+enrolled under the Federalist banner, Jefferson had come to the
+conclusion that the clergy had "a very favorite hope of obtaining an
+establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United
+States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one
+perhaps hopes for his own, especially the Episcopalians and the
+Congregationalists." Whether this was so absolutely untrue or
+impossible, as some historians seem to believe, is a question far too
+difficult to answer and one which probably cannot be solved. On the face
+of things it does seem that there was in it a grain of truth, for no
+human organization, whether ecclesiastical or civil, ever relinquishes
+voluntarily the smallest particle of power or prestige.
+
+One thing, however, is certain: if Jefferson had said the word, the
+religious issue would have been injected into the campaign; and some of
+his friends, believing that "Christianity was the strong ground of
+Republicanism", were urging him to give his consent, for it was only
+necessary for "Republicanism to ally itself to the Christian religion,
+to overturn all the corrupted political and religious institutions in
+the world."[404] But this was for Jefferson a forbidden subject. He had
+"sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of
+tyranny over the mind of man"; he had formed "a view of the subject
+which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor the Deists
+and would reconcile many to a character they have too hastily rejected";
+but this was not the time or the place to discuss matters that ought to
+be reserved for a calm and dispassionate discussion between friends, so
+he refused to authorize the publication of any statement referring to
+his religious views.[405]
+
+In the meantime the political campaign was going on and the Federalists'
+affairs were assuming a decidedly unhealthy complexion. How this
+happened is a story of extraordinary intrigue and machination, already
+told several times and still a delight to historians fond of studying
+political deals. To a large extent the victory of the Republicans was
+due to divisions in the Federalist camp and it came to pass that no
+other man did more than Hamilton to assure Jefferson's success. From the
+beginning, the former leader of the Federalists had set himself against
+Adams, employing every effort to have Pinckney receive the first place
+in the nomination. The first sign of a Federalist defeat appeared in New
+York State, where Burr had his headquarters and had so cleverly
+maneuvered things that the State went Republican at the April election.
+This was a personal defeat for Hamilton and also a terrible blow to the
+Federalists. Then Adams went into one of those fits of anger which make
+him such a picturesque figure; he decided that he had been betrayed by
+his Cabinet, summarily dismissed his Secretary of War, McHenry, and
+offered Pickering an opportunity to resign, which the Secretary of State
+did not choose to take. Thereupon the President informed him that he
+"discharged him from further service in the Cabinet." He then called
+into the Cabinet John Marshall of Virginia as Secretary of State and
+Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts as Secretary of War. From that time on,
+the political campaign reads as if the leaders of the Federalists had
+really lost their heads. Hamilton bent all his efforts towards holding
+another election in New York and, failing in that, towards preventing
+Adams from obtaining a majority. The affair culminated in the
+publication of a pamphlet, entitled "The true conduct and character of
+John Adams, Esq. President of the United States", pointing out the
+weakness of Adams' character. The pamphlet was intended for private
+distribution, but it found its way into the hands of the Republicans;
+Aaron Burr had parts of it printed in the _New London Bee_ and the whole
+was soon to be given to the public. When the whole pamphlet came out, it
+added more fuel to the raging controversy. This is only one incident,
+but not the least significant, among the many so vividly related by Mr.
+Bowers.
+
+The electoral colleges met in each State on December 4. Returns came in
+slowly to Washington but by the thirteenth it was known, in so far as
+could be, that the Federalists were defeated; it also appeared that
+there was a tie between the two Republican candidates. At this juncture
+Jefferson, who had remained perfectly silent, took the matter in hand
+and calmly assumed that he would be elected. To Robert R. Livingston,
+brother of Edward Livingston who was a member of Congress from New York,
+Jefferson wrote a letter congratulating him on his communications to the
+American Philosophical Society and discussing quite seriously the
+discovery "of some large bones supposed to be of the mammoth" in the
+vicinity of New York. Then, as in an afterthought, he mentioned the
+political situation. The matter of the election was as good as settled:
+"We may, therefore, venture to hazard propositions on that hypothesis
+without being justly subjected to raillery or ridicule." "To put the
+vessel on a Republican tack", they would require the entire cooeperation
+of "men who could at once inspire the nation with perfect confidence in
+their honesty and talents", and Jefferson asked Livingston whether he
+would not assume the Secretaryship of the Navy. That in his own mind he
+considered the election well over appears in the sentence in which he
+speaks, not as a candidate but as the leader of his party, and as if no
+other hypothesis could enter his mind: "Though I have been too honorably
+placed in front of those who are to enter the breach so happily made,
+yet the energies of every individual are necessary, and in the very
+place where his energies can most serve the enterprise."[406]
+
+The next day he wrote in the same vein to Aaron Burr to congratulate him
+in no uncertain terms on his election as Vice President, expressing his
+regrets that this distinction would prevent him from availing himself of
+the services of Burr in the Cabinet. He based his conclusion on the
+assurance he had received that South Carolina would withdraw one vote
+from Burr, that Smith of Tennessee would give its second vote to
+Gallatin. It was also surmised that the vote of Georgia would not be
+entire. This would leave Burr well ahead of Adams but decidedly in the
+second place. Jefferson indicated that several of the Federalists had
+expressed the hope that "the two Republican tickets may be equal" and in
+that case they expected to prevent a choice by the House and "let the
+Government devolve on a President of the Senate." Then came a gently
+insinuating sentence: "Decency required that I should be so entirely
+passive during the late contest that I have never once asked whether
+arrangements had been made to prevent so many from dropping votes
+intentionally, as might frustrate half the Republican wish; nor did I
+doubt till lately that such had been made." In the last paragraph,
+Jefferson, refusing even to consider that Burr might aspire to the
+presidency, indicated that he considered the matter as settled and
+firmly put Burr where he belonged:
+
+  While I must congratulate you, my dear Sir, on the issue of this
+  contest, because it is more honorable, and doubtless more grateful to
+  you than any station within the competence of the chief magistrate,
+  yet for myself, and for the substantial service of the public,
+  I feel most sensibly the loss we sustain of your aid in the new
+  administration. It leaves a chasm in my arrangements, which cannot
+  be adequately filled up.
+
+If we put things together, the letter of Jefferson certainly meant first
+that the time had come to make some "arrangements" to thwart the schemes
+of the Federalists; second, that a tie was almost certain, and finally
+that it was up to Burr to declare that he was not running for the
+presidency.
+
+This conclusion is all the more probable because three days later,
+writing to John Breckenridge, Jefferson did not mention again Georgia
+and Tennessee, but declared that "we are brought into a dilemma by the
+probable equality of the two Republican candidates." Then he added: "The
+Federalists in Congress mean to take advantage of this, and either to
+prevent an election altogether, or reverse what has been understood to
+have been the wishes of the people, as to the President and
+Vice-President; wishes which the Constitution did not permit them
+specially to designate."[407] Nothing could be clearer; it was to some
+extent the situation of 1796, but reversed as to the candidates, and
+Jefferson expected that Burr would do the right thing by him.
+
+This, however, was not so obvious to Burr himself. The letter he sent in
+reply to Jefferson must have been most disappointing in this respect.
+The colonel side-stepped the issue, refused to come out frankly and did
+not write a single line that could be constructed as an acceptance of
+Jefferson's point of view. On December 31, Jefferson wrote to Tench Coxe
+to express his opinion that an agreement between the two higher
+candidates was their only hope "to prevent the dissolution of the
+Government and a danger of anarchy, by an operation, bungling indeed and
+imperfect, but better than letting the Legislature take the nomination
+of the Executive entirely from the people."[408]
+
+This could have been construed as a hint to Burr to give up his unavowed
+hopes of becoming President. But Burr, who was in New York, could not
+easily be communicated with and kept his sphinxlike silence. January
+passed without Jefferson's finding any necessity of writing any
+political letters. With Hugh Williamson he discussed the range of
+temperature in Louisiana and whether the turkey was a native bird:[409]
+with William Dunbar the temperature, Indian vocabularies and the origin
+of the rainbow.
+
+In February, however, he again wrote to Burr. He had been informed that
+certain individuals were attempting "to sow tares between us that might
+divide us and our friends." He assured Burr that he had never written
+anything that could be regarded as injurious by his running mate; the
+only time that he had discussed his conduct was in a letter to
+Breckenridge written on December 18, in which he had expressed the
+conviction that the wishes of the people were that he and not Burr be
+President. That was a pure statement of fact at which no man could take
+offense. This time, Burr apparently did not answer at all, and while the
+House was preparing for the balloting, Jefferson discussed with Caspar
+Wistar the bones found in the State of New York, "the vertebra, part of
+the jaw, with two grinders, the tusks, which some have called the
+horns, the sternum, the scapula, the tibia and fibula, the tarsus and
+metatarsus, and even the phalanges and innominata."[410]
+
+On the morning of the election and before going to the Capitol he wrote
+to Tench Coxe: "Which of the two will be elected, and whether either, I
+deem perfectly problematical: and my mind has long been equally made up
+for either of the three events." This was on a Wednesday. After the
+result of the election had been officially announced, the House retired
+to proceed to the election of the President. Ballots were taken,
+Jefferson receiving eight States, Burr six, nine being necessary to a
+choice. The House stayed in continuous session till eight o'clock the
+next morning, taking twenty-seven ballots without any change in the
+results; members of the House dozing between ballots, snatching a bit of
+sleep whenever they could, all of them admiring the fortitude of Joseph
+N. Nicholson who, although sick in bed, had been brought to the House
+and rested in a committee room, voting at each ballot. The House
+adjourned until eleven o'clock on Friday and then took two successive
+ballots without being able to break the deadlock. On Saturday three
+ballots were taken without any change in the alignment, and they
+adjourned until Monday. In the meantime passions were raging. The
+Federalists had been told in no equivocal terms that, should they
+attempt to have the Government devolve to some member of the present
+administration, "the day such an act would pass, the Middle States would
+arm" and that "no such usurpation would be tolerated even for a single
+day."
+
+On the other hand, Jefferson had been approached by the more sensible
+heads of the Federalists, and apparently by Gouverneur Morris, who
+stopped him as he was coming out from the Senate Chamber, and had
+offered to influence one member of Vermont, provided he would declare:
+"1. that he would not turn all the Federalists out of office; 2. that
+he would not reduce the navy; and 3. would not wipe off the public
+debt." To which Jefferson answered that he would not become President by
+capitulation and would not make any declaration. Then he went to see
+Adams, who seemed ready to approve of the choice of Jefferson as
+President and who told him that he could have himself elected by
+subscribing to conditions analogous to those indicated by Morris.
+Finally he was visited in his room by Dwight Foster, senator from
+Massachusetts, who also reiterated the same offer. These are,
+undoubtedly, some of the maneuvers he mentioned on Sunday, the day of
+rest, in a letter he wrote to Monroe: "Many attempts have been made to
+obtain terms and promises from me, I have declared to them
+unequivocally, that I would not receive the government on capitulation,
+that I would not go into it with my hands tied."[411]
+
+On Sunday and Monday parleyings went on, caucuses were held, and no
+change was yet apparent. But on Tuesday morning an agreement was
+reached. It was described by Jefferson himself as follows:
+
+"Morris of Vermont withdrew, which made Lyon's vote that of his State.
+The Maryland Federalists put in four blanks, which made the positive
+ticket of their colleagues the vote of the State. South Carolina and
+Delaware put in six blanks, so there were ten states for one candidate,
+four for another, and two blanks." And the speaker of the House,
+Theodore Sedgwick, one of Jefferson's bitterest enemies, was forced to
+announce his election.
+
+The letter he wrote to Monroe the same day is not a paean of triumph. The
+long-disputed victory, the irreducibility of a large portion of the
+Federalists, made him fearful lest the fight would soon renew.
+Furthermore, Adams had at once started making new appointments,
+naturally without consulting his successor; Bayard was nominated
+plenipotentiary to the French Republic, "Theophilus Parsons, Attorney
+General of the United States in the room of C. Lee, who, with Keith
+Taylor _cum multis aliis_ are appointed judges under the new system. H.
+G. Otis is nominated a District Attorney."[412]
+
+On his side, Jefferson wrote at once to Henry Dearborn to offer him the
+Secretaryship of War in his Cabinet and courteously communicated with
+Dexter, Secretary of the Treasury, and Stoddart, Secretary of the Navy,
+to thank them for their offer to conduct the affairs of their
+departments pending the arrival of their successors. To a certain Major
+William Jackson whom he did not know and who had written him to express
+the fear that he would discriminate against commerce, he answered that
+he "might appeal to evidences of his attention to the commerce and
+navigation of our country in different stations connected with them."
+
+This was an evident allusion to his mission to France and to the
+activity he had displayed in defending the commercial interests of the
+United States. He resented particularly the fact that he had been
+represented as a friend to agriculture and an enemy to commerce, "the
+only means of disposing of its products."[413] The true position of
+Jefferson on this matter has already been pointed out in a preceding
+chapter; but the fact that the letter was written the very day he was
+notified of his election is proof enough that he already intended to
+conciliate both the agricultural and the commercial interests of the
+country. To the smoothing over of old differences of opinion he bent all
+his efforts during the three weeks that separated him from his
+inauguration. Bayard having refused his appointment to France, he
+approached at once Robert R. Livingston, intending to give the
+nomination to the Senate at the first opportunity. At the same time he
+repeated that the great body of the Federalist troops was discouraged
+and truly repentant, or disposed to come back into the fold. Those who
+were so inclined should be received with open arms for "If we can once
+more get social intercourse restored to its pristine harmony, I shall
+believe we have not lived in vain; and that it may, by rallying them to
+true Republican principles, which few of them had thrown off, I
+sanguinely hope."[414]
+
+He resigned from the Chair of the Senate on the twenty-eighth, and made
+the necessary preparations for the inauguration. The ceremonies were to
+be very simple but dignified. John Marshall, Chief Justice of the
+Supreme Court, was asked by Jefferson himself to administer the oath,
+and on March 4, 1801, the new President was inaugurated, while John
+Adams, who had refused to welcome his successor, was starting on his way
+to New England.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK FIVE
+
+_The Presidency_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"ALL REPUBLICANS, ALL FEDERALISTS"
+
+
+The battle over, Jefferson's first and only desire seems to have been to
+bring about a reunion of the former political opponents. He had hardly
+been elected when he declared that he was not the choice of one party,
+but that the analysis of the last ballot showed clearly that "the former
+federalists have found themselves aggregated with us and that they are
+in a state of mind to be aggregated with us."[415]
+
+And this, much to the surprise and disappointment of the militants who
+had fought the hard battle with him and for him, was the keynote of his
+inaugural speech. Throwing overboard his former defense of the French
+Revolution, he did not hesitate to attribute the political storm which
+the ship had just weathered to the baneful influence of European
+disturbances:
+
+  During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the
+  agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and
+  slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the
+  agitation of the billows would reach even this distant and peaceful
+  shore; 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 principles.
+
+Then came the final and definitive formula: "We are all republicans--we
+are all federalists."
+
+In more than one sense this was the most characteristic and the most
+masterly of Jefferson's political utterances. The battle of Capitol Hill
+was ended, the last streamers of smoke had floated away and America had
+found herself: "a rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land,
+traversing all the seas with the rich productions of her industry,
+engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right,
+advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eyes."
+
+This was not written simply for effect and for the public eye. To
+Monroe, Jefferson had declared that the policy of the new administration
+would not be a policy of reprisals. The victory had been won partly
+through the repentance of former Federalists who had seen their error,
+and during the awful suspense of the week of the eleventh to the
+seventeenth of February, had feared that the country would become a prey
+to anarchy. These he welcomed back into the fold; the leaders, of
+course, were irreconcilable, but the majority were to be forgiven, and
+few removals from office were to be made on the ground of political
+divergences of opinion. "Some, I know, must be made. They must be as few
+as possible, done gradually, and bottomed on some malversation or
+inherent disqualification."[416]
+
+Of the thousands of Federal officers in the United States, the President
+estimated that not twenty would have to be removed, while in two or
+three instances, officers removed by Mr. Adams for refusing to sign
+addresses were to be restored. Jefferson realized that by so acting and
+"stopping thus short in the career of removal" he would give offense to
+many of his friends, and he added with some melancholy: "That torrent
+has been pressing me heavily, and will require all my force to bear up
+against; but my maxim is "fiat justitia, ruat caelum."[417]
+
+All this sounds perfectly sincere and true. Even the most superficial
+consideration of Jefferson's life would convince any one that he was not
+a man of vindictive character. By nature a pacifier and a harmonizer,
+nothing would have been farther from his program than to revive the old
+fires and to prolong party strifes. But if it takes only one to declare
+war, it takes two to make peace, and the defeated party was in no
+peaceful mood. Hamilton was removed from the scene, and the form of
+government was apparently definitively settled by the election of
+Jefferson, but the Federalists had not given up every hope; they were
+still strongly intrenched and the battle went on during all of
+Jefferson's administration. It was not so spectacular as the fight with
+Hamilton, for the chief protagonist, John Marshall, lacked the dramatic
+qualities of the former leader of the Federalists; but it was no less
+momentous and no less important for the destinies of the United States.
+
+When it came to actual removals, however, difficulties arose
+immediately. Whether in all cases Jefferson was rightly advised or
+inspired is open to question. The wisdom of appointing Samuel Bishop, a
+man of "sound understanding, pure integrity and unstained character", as
+collector of New Haven may be doubted, and there was something
+undeniably worth considering in the protest of New Haven merchants, that
+a man seventy-seven years old was unfit for such an office. The incident
+in itself was paltry, but the letter written by the President in answer
+to the protest put once again into light that curious mixture of
+theoretical idealism and practical political sense so remarkable in
+Jefferson. After all, the Federalists had begun with filling every
+office with their partisans and it was necessary to reestablish a just
+balance, even if some individuals had to suffer. If the rights of the
+minority could not be ignored, the majority had its rights also and
+could not submit to the monopoly claimed by the Federalists: "Total
+exclusions," concluded the President, "call for prompt corrections. I
+shall correct the procedure; but that done, return with joy to that
+state of things, when only questions concerning a candidate shall be, is
+he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?"[418] In
+other words, Jefferson was not ready to proclaim the principle so
+frankly avowed later "to the victor belong the spoils." His principle
+was and remained absolutely different. But he considered that he was
+confronted by a situation which had to be remedied without any delay,
+and in his behavior he reminds one in some way of the French publicist
+who, although theoretically opposed to the death penalty, declared,
+"_Que messieurs les assassins commencent_!" Certainly this is not the
+pure and exalted morality of the political philosopher, but neither is
+it the cynical attitude of the political "boss", and one may wonder how
+many men who have occupied high offices would stand better than
+Jefferson in this respect if documents were available and could be
+subjected to the same scrutiny.
+
+The fact remains, however, that during the battle from which he had come
+out victorious, Jefferson had to employ and sometimes associate with men
+whose character was not absolutely spotless. The presence of Aaron Burr
+in the government was already a thorn in his side. It was also
+particularly unfortunate that he had given aid and assistance to
+Callender, whose scurrilous attacks against Adams went far beyond a
+legitimate discussion of public utterances and actions of a man at the
+head of the government. Callender had been sentenced under the Sedition
+Act to a term in jail and liberated by Jefferson with all the other
+victims of the act when he took office. It was even more unfortunate
+that the pamphlet of Callender, "The Prospect Before Us", was reprinted
+under a modified title as the "History of the Administration of John
+Adams" more than a year after the new administration had taken hold of
+things. It was also regrettable that the son of John Adams should have
+been removed from office after the election. Soon after the death of
+Jefferson's younger daughter, Mrs. Adams, who had befriended the little
+girl when she arrived in London all alone in 1787, wrote to the bereaved
+father to express her sympathy. Jefferson took the opportunity to
+reassert his personal friendship for John Adams. He could not help
+mentioning, however, that one act of Adams' administration he had to
+consider as personally unkind, his last appointment to office of
+Jefferson's most ardent political enemies.[419] This letter called for
+an answer, and Mrs. Adams was not a woman to miss an opportunity to
+express her husband's views and her own on the removal of Federal judges
+and particularly of John Quincy. Thus Jefferson was led to write a final
+letter in which he expressed more clearly than he had done anywhere else
+his opinion on the judiciary and on the place it should occupy in the
+general scheme of government. To understand this letter fully it is
+necessary to go back to the beginnings of Jefferson's administration.
+
+The original draft of Jefferson's message to Congress, December 8, 1801,
+contained a paragraph which, after more mature reflection, the President
+decided to omit "as capable of being chicaned, and furnishing something
+to the opposition to make a handle of."[420] In it Jefferson held the
+theory that the three powers existing in any government had been
+distributed among three equal authorities, constituting each a check on
+one or both the others. The President asserted that each of these three
+branches of the government had a right "to decide on the validity of an
+act according to its own judgment and uncontrouled by the opinions of
+any other department." According to this theory, even if opposition
+developed among different departments, no permanent ill could ensue,
+since at the next election the people were at liberty to refuse to
+reelect those whose interpretation seemed erroneous.
+
+Jefferson's disapproval of the Sedition Act had been known for a long
+time; he had a right to assume that his election meant that the people
+approved of his position and to make this declaration:
+
+  On mature deliberation, in the presence of the nation, and under
+  the tie of the solemn oath which binds me to them and to my duty,
+  I do declare that I hold that act in palpable and unqualified
+  contradiction to the constitution, considering it then as a nullity,
+  I have relieved from oppression under it those of my fellow citizens
+  who were within the reach of the functions confided to me.
+
+In its final form the message was far less provocative. It simply
+contained the statement that "the judiciary system ... and especially
+that portion of it recently enacted, will, of course, present itself to
+the contemplation of Congress." But the Federalists and particularly
+Marshall were not placated by this apparent moderation; they knew that
+the assault against the judiciary was about to begin. The debate between
+Federalists and Republicans had already been transferred to another
+ground.
+
+No better account of it can be found than the chapters written on the
+subject by Albert J. Beveridge in his "Life of Marshall." It must be
+remembered, however, that Beveridge's account was necessarily colored by
+his own political views, as were the views of most historians of the
+subject.[421] One of the first episodes of the battle was the repeal of
+the Judiciary Act passed in 1801 by the Federalists, in order to
+reorganize the Supreme Court and to increase the number of Federal
+judges. This was immediately followed by the impeachment of Judge
+Pickering, the deposition of Judge Addison by the Senate of
+Pennsylvania, and the famous decision given by Marshall on "Marbury
+versus Madison." These incidents were of unequal importance and
+significance. It was recognized by Pickering's friends and family that
+the judge was half-demented and for several years had been unable to
+fulfill his duties. But since the Act of 1801 had been repealed, no one
+seemed to have authority at the time to remove the judge from office.
+The Pickering case simply provided the Republicans with an opportunity
+to test out their favorite contention, that impeachment was unrestricted
+and could be enforced against any officer of the government deemed
+undesirable by two thirds of the Senate.
+
+Of far greater importance was the decision of Marshall in "Marbury
+versus Madison." The senior member of the Supreme Court formulated on
+this occasion a doctrine on the powers of the Court which, although
+never written in the Constitution, was to obtain final recognition and
+which to this day had remained one of the many unwritten laws of the
+land. Another most curious situation this, so disconcerting to
+historians and observers trained in the principles of Roman law, but
+often recurring in American politics and administrative life. The case
+itself was of no importance. Marbury was one of the "midnight judges"
+whose commission, signed by Adams, had been withheld by Madison, on the
+theory that the powers of the former President to make appointments had
+really expired, not on the third of March, 1801, at midnight, but on the
+day his successor was elected. It was maintained by the administration
+that the commission not having been delivered Marbury had no right to
+take office and to sit on the bench. Marbury had appealed to the Supreme
+Court, but the sessions of the Court being suspended for fourteen months
+by Congress, Marshall had at first no opportunity to declare himself
+publicly on the matter.
+
+When he finally passed on the case, the Chief Justice saw at once that
+his hour had come, and gave his definition of the powers of the Court in
+its relation to the executive and the legislative. Curiously enough, as
+Beveridge remarked, the matter had never before come up and would have
+remained undecided for a long time, if this particular juncture had not
+made it a question of paramount importance for the destinies of the
+country. Briefly summed up, the theory of Marshall, shorn of its legal
+phraseology, was this: The happiness of the American people rested on
+certain principles embodied in the Constitution. These principles could
+not be altered by legislation; if, however, the legislative passed a law
+evidently contrary to the Constitution, there must be for the individual
+some recourse, some means of asserting his rights. In cases where
+Congress adopts laws contrary to the Constitution, these laws must be
+void. On this principle Jefferson and Marshall were in complete
+agreement. But from that point on they differed widely. The next
+question was to determine where does the power rest to declare a law
+unconstitutional? With the Executive and even with the States, Jefferson
+had first declared in his draft of 1801. With the Supreme Court,
+answered Marshall; for this is essentially a judicial function. Under
+this construction, the Constitution remains the supreme law of the land,
+but it is within the powers attributed by the Constitution to the
+judiciary, for the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of
+an act passed by the legislature. Thus the Court is not placed above the
+Constitution, but its judges stand as the keepers and interpreters of
+the superior law of the country.
+
+Jefferson did not engage directly in a controversy with Marshall and
+held his peace. But, as he was wont, he seized another opportunity to
+express his views on the subject, and he did it in his letter written to
+Mrs. Adams on September 11, 1804. In this, he maintained that "nothing
+in the Constitution has given the judges a right to decide for the
+Executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them. Both
+magistrates are equally independent in the sphere of action assigned to
+them." Judges believing a law to be constitutional have a right to pass
+sentences. But "the Executive believing the law to be unconstitutional
+were bound to remit the execution of it; because that power has been
+confided to them by the Constitution." What he did not say on this
+occasion, but repeated on many others, was that, the ultimate source of
+authority resting in the people, it was for the people to decide at the
+next election in case a conflict of interpretation should arise between
+any of the three branches of the government. In case of a conflict
+between the judiciary and the legislative, however, impeachment
+proceedings could be initiated and judges removed in a regular and,
+according to him, perfectly constitutional way.
+
+It must be recognized here that the position taken by Jefferson was
+perfectly logical, far more logical than the interpretation given out by
+Marshall. Whether Jefferson's theory would have worked out
+satisfactorily is quite another matter. It is only too evident that
+perfectly logical constructions do not always fit the complexity and
+contradictions of human affairs. The system of democracy which was
+Jefferson's ideal at that time might have worked in the case of a New
+England town meeting; it would have been more difficult to apply to the
+government of a State. In the case of a large and growing federation of
+States, it would have injected into presidential and congressional
+elections constant elements of discord and bitterness. Thus the cost of
+liberty would not have been eternal vigilance, but eternal strife and
+political dissensions.
+
+It may even be doubted whether Jefferson would ever have entertained
+such an extreme theory if at that time he had not been moved by
+immediate considerations. He had come to see in the judiciary, as it was
+constituted after the appointments made by Adams, an institution
+endangering the very life of the Republic. As for Marshall, who had
+hurled a challenge at the executive and the legislative branches of the
+government, it had to be ascertained whether some means could not be
+found to remove him from office.
+
+That such was the ultimate intent of the Republican leaders was
+understood generally when proceedings were started to impeach Judge
+Chase of the Supreme Court. As in the case of Pickering, the
+Republicans had carefully selected the card they intended to play. Was
+he not the very man who had sentenced Fries to the gallows and Callender
+to jail, who had been relentless in his application of the Sedition Act
+and in the prosecution of Republicans? He had finally, and this was the
+immediate ground for his impeachment, bitterly criticized from the bench
+the repeal of the Federal judiciary act, and predicted that the country
+would be enslaved by mob tyranny and that soon "they would all establish
+the worst kind of government known to man."
+
+The impeachment proceedings took place in the Senate room elaborately
+decorated for the occasion with a display of crimson, green, and blue
+cloth draping the rows of benches and the sections reserved for the
+heads of departments, foreign ministers, members of the House, and the
+general public. The Senate convened to hear the case on February 4,
+1805, and for almost a month all other business was practically
+suspended. But it was far more than the fate of a single judge which was
+going to be decided. On the decision of the Senate hung not only the
+future of the Constitution but probably the fate of the Union. For New
+England had already on several occasions threatened secession; the North
+resented what was already termed "Virginia tyranny", and it was to be
+feared that these feelings of disaffection might be strengthened. It was
+also the most exciting ceremony the new capital had yet witnessed, and
+the formalities of the proceedings, the effort to clothe them with
+dignity and solemnity, presented a strange contrast with the uncouth
+appearance of the city itself, with its ramshackle boarding houses, its
+muddy streets, and surrounding wilderness.
+
+The debates provided a rare occasion for an extraordinary display of
+American eloquence. This is not one of the least surprises to a student
+of American civilization, to discover the taste of the people as a whole
+for oratory and the remarkable gift of American orators for long
+speeches, even in the early days. Scarcely less surprising was the
+capacity of American audiences to listen patiently for long hours and
+with apparent interest to discussions and debates. It seems as if the
+gift attributed by Caesar to the Gauls of old had been transferred to the
+new continent and to a people racially much different. Oratory was to a
+certain extent a new art, for few occasions were offered in the colonial
+times for long political speeches; but even in the early days of the
+Revolution, born orators appeared and since that time have filled the
+legislative halls with an inexhaustible flow of eloquence. This is said
+without the least irony and merely as another illustration of the danger
+of generalizing when discussing national characteristics. To the point
+these speeches were, perhaps, but they were not short by any means. A
+careful study of the development of the American school of oratory would
+certainly repay a specialist in the history of public speaking.
+
+During the session, the oratorical stars were Luther Martin of Maryland,
+who spoke for Chase, and John Randolph, who summed up the case for the
+administration. It appeared, however, when the final vote was taken,
+that Jefferson had not been able to keep his party in hand. There were
+thirty-four senators, of whom nine were Federalists and twenty-five
+Republicans. Twenty-two votes were necessary to convict, but the
+administration was able to muster only sixteen for impeachment, and on
+one count Chase was proved unanimously "not guilty." For the time being
+John Marshall was safe, and the acquittal of Chase was undoubtedly a
+personal defeat for the President.
+
+This wound to his _amour-propre_ was compensated by the success of the
+last election. Jefferson had been reelected without opposition; the
+strength of the Federalists as a separate party had dwindled to the
+vanishing point, and only three days separated him from the beginning of
+his second term. But everybody understood that the matter at issue had
+not been settled and that another test would have to be made. The very
+day Chase was acquitted, John Randolph introduced a resolution proposing
+an amendment to the Constitution, to the effect that "The judges of the
+Supreme Court, and of all other courts of the United States, shall be
+removed by the President on the joint addresses of both Houses of
+Congress requesting the same, anything in the Constitution of the United
+States notwithstanding." This was referred to a committee and, as
+Congress had only three more days to sit, it was decided by sixty-eight
+votes against thirty-three that the motion would be made the order of
+the day for the first Monday in December.
+
+The assault against the judiciary constitutes one of the most striking
+episodes of Jefferson's first administration and has received its due
+share at the hands of American historians. It must not be forgotten,
+however, that even in other respects the President had no easy sailing.
+The friend of Priestley, Thomas Cooper, Volney, and Thomas Paine
+continued to be represented in the press and in the public as the
+champion of infidelity. The President could not engage in any
+controversy in order to justify himself but, according to his favorite
+methods, he encouraged his friends to hit back, and he became more and
+more convinced that the intrusion of the churches into politics was one
+of the worst evils that could befall any country. He soon came to the
+conclusion that many members of the clergy were unworthy to speak in the
+name of the great teacher; that the Christian doctrine had degenerated
+in their hands, and that no true religion could long exist when it was
+intrusted to the priests. Hence the many expressions of his preference
+for the Quakers so often found in his correspondence.
+
+  The mild and simple principles of the Christian philosophy would
+  produce too much calm; too much regularity of good, to extract from
+  its disciples a support from a numerous priesthood, were they not to
+  sophisticate it, split it into hairs, and twist its texts till they
+  cover the divine morality of its author with mysteries, and require
+  the priesthood to explain them. The Quakers seem to have discovered
+  this. They have no priests, therefore no schisms. They judge of the
+  text by the dictates of common sense and common morality.[422]
+
+The indignation of the Federalists and the clergy reached a paroxysm
+when it was discovered that the President had not only invited Paine to
+come to America but had even promised him passage on a public vessel.
+For Paine was no longer remembered as the eloquent political writer who
+in prophetic accents had celebrated the uniqueness of America's position
+in the world. He was the detestable atheist who had participated in the
+bloody excesses of the French Revolution--a wretch unworthy of being
+thus honored by a Christian nation. Once more religion was injected into
+politics. The President was bitterly reproved by the New England clergy
+for having refused to proclaim days of fasting and thanksgivings as his
+predecessors had done, and Jefferson, who would have preferred to let
+sleeping dogs lie, had to come out and explain his position on an
+alliance between "Church and State, under the authority of the
+Constitution."[423]
+
+That Jefferson, who was so restive under public criticism, suffered even
+more than he dared admit appears in many passages of his letters. "Every
+word of mine," he wrote to Mazzei, "which they can get hold of, however
+innocent, however orthodox, is twisted, tormented, perverted, and like
+the words of holy writ, are made to mean everything but what they were
+intended to mean."[424] The whole subject is not an easy one to treat
+and cannot be discussed here; but it would be very difficult to reach a
+fair estimate of internal politics during Jefferson's first
+administration if that element of hostility were entirely left out. We
+can only express the hope that some day it will receive due attention.
+An investigation of the New England papers and Church publications of
+the time would undoubtedly bring to light many hidden currents of
+hostility.
+
+But, in spite of these difficulties, the new administration went ahead
+with a program of political reforms of great moment. No tradition for
+the respective duties of the Cabinet members and their relation to the
+President had yet been established. Under Washington's administration
+letters sent to the President were referred by him to the departments
+concerned to be acted upon, and letters sent to the department heads
+were submitted to the President with a proposed answer. Generally they
+were sent back with his approbation; sometimes an alteration was
+suggested, and when the subject was particularly important it was
+reserved for a conference. In this manner Washington always was in
+accurate possession of all facts and proceedings in all parts of the
+Union. This procedure had been impossible to follow during Adams'
+administration, owing to the long and habitual absences of the President
+from the seat of government, and little by little the department heads
+had assumed more and more responsibility, with the result that the
+government had four different heads "drawing sometimes in different
+directions." This usurpation of powers and this maladministration
+Jefferson meant to end. In a very courteous, but very firm manner, he
+reminded the members of the Cabinet that the President had been
+intrusted with a certain set of duties incumbent upon him and for which
+he was responsible before the public, and that he considered it
+necessary to return to the procedure followed by Washington. What had
+been an informal custom was to become a regular and official routine; it
+entailed an enormous expenditure of time on the part of the President, a
+great flexibility of mind, and a necessity of adapting himself to many
+different problems in the course of one day. To a large extent,
+Jefferson is responsible for placing on the shoulders of the chief
+executive the enormous load under which several Presidents have broken
+down.
+
+This was not the most conspicuous reform introduced by Jefferson in the
+plan of government, yet it was one of the most important. Of no less
+consequence was the reform of the financial system of the United States.
+The privilege of the bank had still several years to run, but many other
+modifications could be introduced at once. Hamilton had multiplied the
+number of internal taxes and at the same time the number of Federal
+office-holders in order to strengthen his hold on the government. These
+had to be done away with, as well as the abominable excise taxes which
+had created so many difficulties under the preceding administrations.
+They were at best a temporary expedient, to be resorted to only in case
+of war, and the Federal Government had to make an effort to return to
+the more orthodox system of bringing its expenditures within the limits
+of revenue raised by taxes on importations. This was perfectly
+consistent with Jefferson's theory of the State rights and the general
+functions of the Federal Government. To substitute economy for taxation,
+to reduce the debt as rapidly as possible, to keep down the expenses for
+the navy and the army,--such was the policy of the new administration,
+and in his second annual message on December 15, 1802, Jefferson could
+point out with pleasure that "in the department of finance the receipts
+of external duties for the last twelve months have exceeded those of any
+former year." To care for the Louisiana Purchase, Gallatin recommended a
+loan of $11,250,000, running for fifteen years and carrying a six per
+cent. interest. But in his fourth message the President declared that
+"the state of our finances continues to fulfill our expectations. Eleven
+million and a half dollars received in the course of the year ending on
+the thirtieth of September last, have enabled us, after meeting all the
+ordinary expenses of the year, to pay upward of $3,600,000 of the public
+debt, exclusive of interest." Thus it was amply demonstrated that the
+financial structure of the Federal Government had not been endangered by
+a departure from Hamilton's policies. It is worth noting also that
+Jefferson's party, at that time, stood for a strong tariff, while the
+last Federalists advocated internal taxes. In that respect, at least, it
+is hardly possible to say that the present-day Democrats continue the
+Jeffersonian policies.
+
+This system, however, presented many advantages in the eyes of
+Jefferson. In his first message he had made one of those many
+declarations, so often found in official documents of the sort, by which
+men in public life are wont to define their policies in almost sibylline
+terms, so as to express their own aspirations and satisfy the members of
+their party without arousing undue antagonism in an influential
+minority. "Agriculture," he had written, "manufactures, commerce, and
+navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving
+when left most free to individual enterprise." But at once he had added:
+"Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be
+reasonably interposed. If in the course of your observations or
+inquiries they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our
+constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient
+assurance they will occupy your attention." This second statement could
+only mean one thing, that the President was not ready to depart entirely
+and radically from Hamilton's policy of giving encouragement to
+manufactures. But there is no doubt that in his opinion America was to
+remain essentially an agricultural nation. He still had before him the
+vision of a large country in which every citizen would live on his own
+land and from this land derive most of his subsistence instead of
+congregating in large cities. It was a Vergilian vision magnified a
+million times; it was based also to a large extent on his own experience
+at Monticello where he had proved that it was possible to manufacture
+tools, to bake bricks, to make furniture, and to maintain a
+comparatively large family on the products of the soil. He was not ready
+to antagonize openly those who dreamed of another future for America,
+and he did not believe that he had a right to do so, since his duty was
+to carry out the wishes of the people.
+
+Jefferson was not the man to take the lead in these matters, but he was
+not the man either to oppose any measure to encourage manufactures and
+commerce that Congress would deem proper to adopt. On this point he had
+not varied since the letter he had written from Paris to Hogendorp. His
+preference for "an agricultural condition" remained largely theoretical,
+sentimental, and personal. He may be considered as the leader of an
+agrarian party, he may have felt in sympathy with the French
+Physiocrats, but when it came to practice he acted very much like Du
+Pont de Nemours himself who, in spite of his theories, spent all he had
+to establish a tannery and a powder mill near Wilmington, and at the end
+of his days proposed to the American Government a "Plan for the
+Encouragement of Manufactures in America." If it is true that during
+Jefferson's administration industrial and agricultural interests clashed
+for the first time in America, I fail to see that the President made any
+effort to favor agriculture at the expense of industry.
+
+When the end of his first term approached, Jefferson did not need any
+coercion to remain in the saddle for another period of four years. It
+had already been decided that Aaron Burr would not and could not again
+be a candidate, and George Clinton was chosen as running mate of
+Jefferson. Never in the history of the United States was an election so
+little contested: Jefferson obtained one hundred sixty-two electoral
+votes while his opponent could only muster fourteen. The Republican
+Party had really become the National party and the President had been
+able to achieve political unity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+PROTECTIVE IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL EXPANSION
+
+
+The famous Inaugural Message of Jefferson gave more space to questions
+of domestic politics than to foreign problems, but it contained a clear
+definition of America's attitude towards Europe--a short and terse
+statement in which the President reiterated the principles which had
+guided him when Secretary of State. These were the same principles that
+underlay the foreign policies of the United States from the early days
+of the Revolution. They had already appeared in the Plan of Treaties
+drawn up by Adams in 1776; they had been solemnly proclaimed by
+Washington in his Farewell Address; and they still direct to a large
+extent America's attitude in her dealings with foreign nations on the
+American continent as well as abroad.
+
+These principles were presented by Jefferson as being essentially the
+result of natural conditions for which the Americans themselves were not
+responsible: "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 others; possessing a chosen country, with
+room enough for our descendants to the hundredth and thousandth
+generation", there was only one course for the American people to
+follow: "commerce and honest friendship with all nations--entangling
+alliances with none."
+
+Thanks to the Republican victory, America no longer had to pay any
+attention to the political convulsions which were tearing the vitals of
+the Old World. The American experiment no longer depended on the issue
+of the French Revolution. The Argosy had weathered the storm; America
+had become the sole arbiter of her destinies, she had become, Jefferson
+proclaimed, "a standing monument and example for the aim and imitation
+of the people of other countries; and I join with you in the hope and
+belief that they will see, from our example, that a free government is
+of all others the most energetic; that the inquiry which has been
+excited among the mass of mankind by our revolution and its
+consequences, will ameliorate the condition of man over a great portion
+of the globe."
+
+Such a declaration should not be mistaken for a manifestation of a
+missionary spirit by which Jefferson was never moved and which was
+absolutely abhorrent to his nature. America was not to engage in any
+crusade. She was not to preach a new gospel of liberty to the oppressed
+peoples of the earth. She had proclaimed no _Declaration europeenne des
+droits de l'homme et du citoyen_, as the French Revolution had
+ambitiously done. She was not sending overseas to the shackled nations a
+call to throw off the yoke and liberate themselves. Such declarations
+would have seemed to Jefferson idle and dangerous. Every people had to
+work out their own salvation; any attempt by America to help and
+encourage them would only embroil her in difficulties which would retard
+her own development. She could best serve the cause of humanity by
+standing aloof and simply existing as an example which others, if they
+had eyes to see, could not fail sooner or later to imitate. It was
+essentially the doctrine which has been so often expounded by the
+non-interventionists every time America has been invited to cooeperate
+with Europe.
+
+This doctrine therefore was not the expression of a passing mood; it
+constituted one of the fundamental principles of Americanism and had a
+permanent value, because, as Montesquieu would have said, it was the
+result of "the nature of things", and not a deduction drawn from an _a
+priori_ principle. On the other hand, it contained a new and interesting
+affirmation of the unquestionable superiority of the American people
+over all the peoples of the earth, not only morally but intellectually;
+and this was not forgotten either, for the "high-mindedness" of
+Jefferson was echoed and reflected more than a hundred years later in
+the "too proud to fight" of Woodrow Wilson. Taken in itself, this
+statement was no worse than so many statements made in political
+speeches; all peoples like to be told and to believe that they are a
+chosen people. But it must be confessed that Jefferson drew very
+dangerous conclusions from that uniqueness of America's position.
+
+One of the earliest and frankest expressions of that naive and almost
+unconscious imperialism appears in an unpublished letter to Doctor
+Mitchell. After discussing every possible subject under heaven, from
+frosts to mammoth bones and electricity, Jefferson concluded with this
+disquieting statement: "Nor is it in physics alone that we shall be
+found to differ from the other hemisphere. I strongly suspect that our
+geographical peculiarities may call for a different code of natural law
+to govern relations with other nations from that which the conditions of
+Europe have given rise to there."[425]
+
+This idea was reiterated in a letter written to Short more than a year
+later. In it Jefferson laid down the principle, the moral foundation of
+American imperialism--a curious mixture of common sense, practical
+idealism, and moralizing not to be found perhaps in any other people,
+but more permanently American than typically Jeffersonian. To any sort
+of arrangement with Europe he was irreducibly opposed: "We have a
+perfect horror at everything connecting ourselves with the politics of
+Europe." In order to protect America from the wiles of the European
+diplomats, the best course was "in the meantime, to wish to let every
+treaty we have drop off without renewal. We call in our diplomatic
+missions, barely keeping up those to the most important nations. There
+is a strong disposition in our countrymen to discontinue even these;
+and very possibly it may be done." Jefferson admitted that the neutral
+rights of the United States might suffer; they would undoubtedly suffer
+temporarily, and one had to accept this as an unavoidable evil. But it
+would be only temporary: "We feel ourselves strong and daily growing
+stronger ... If we can delay but for a few years the necessity of
+vindicating the laws of nature on the ocean, we shall be the more sure
+of doing it with effect. The day is within my time as well as yours;
+when we may say by what laws other nations shall treat us on the sea.
+And we will say it."[426]
+
+Nor was this imperialism purely theoretical. It was susceptible of
+immediate applications and it manifested itself openly in a letter
+written to James Monroe a few weeks later. The people of Virginia were
+most anxious to get rid of a band of malefactors guilty of insurgency,
+conspiracy, and rebellion. Had they been whites, the solution would have
+been easy enough, but it happened that they were colored people and they
+could not reasonably be sent to the northern boundary, or be provided
+with land in the Western Territory. Could these undesirables be pushed
+into the Spanish sphere of influence? To this solution Jefferson was
+unequivocally opposed and for reasons worth considering: "However our
+present situation may restrain us within our own limits," he wrote to
+Monroe, "it is impossible not to look forward to distant times, when our
+rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover
+the whole northern, if not the southern continent, with a people
+speaking the same language, governed in similar forms, and by similar
+laws; nor can we contemplate either blot or mixture on that
+surface."[427]
+
+Truly enough, Jefferson said at the beginning of the letter that
+publication of his views might have an ill effect in more than one
+quarter. I shall not even advance the theory that Jefferson's foreign
+policies constituted a systematic effort to put such a program into
+effect. But that such aspirations and ambitions existed in his mind and
+influenced him to a certain extent cannot be denied, and they should not
+be overlooked in any discussion of his attitude during the negotiations
+that led to the purchase of Louisiana.
+
+Many of Jefferson's contemporaries, and not a few American historians,
+have harshly criticized him for buying Louisiana from France, when no
+clause in the Constitution authorized the acquisition of new territory.
+On the French side, not only historians but even Bonaparte's brother
+considered that the cession, without the previous consultation of the
+Chambers, of a colony recently recovered by France was an act arbitrary
+and unconstitutional. Both principals have been condemned and praised by
+posterity, but there is no doubt that the full responsibility for the
+transaction rests not upon the peoples of France and America, but on the
+President of the United States and the Premier Consul. It was remarkable
+that two great minds, so divergent in their views and principles, should
+meet on a common ground instead of clashing. On neither side was it a
+triumph of idealism, but of that enlightened self-interest which,
+according to Jefferson, directs the actions of men as well as of
+nations.
+
+Nor were they entirely unsupported by the public opinion of their
+respective countries. I have already indicated in a preceding book[428]
+that a friendly conspiracy seems to have been organized in France in
+order to induce the First Consul, and chiefly Talleyrand, to acquiesce
+in the cession. At any rate, it appears from several letters of Volney
+that the Ideologists were anxious to avoid an open conflict with the
+United States and, at the same time, to promote a measure which, in
+their opinion, would insure the growth and prosperity of the Republican
+Promised Land. Volney, himself one of the "_voyageurs_" of the
+Directory, had made a trip to the West and come back fully convinced
+that France could never hope to develop an empire in the Mississippi
+Valley. The few scattered French colonists who remained isolated in the
+Middle West were condemned to be gradually absorbed by the influx of
+American pioneers and to disappear before the rising flood of American
+colonization. The question of the lower valley of the Mississippi was
+different, to be sure, but if the United States were thwarted in their
+development, if they were hemmed in on every side by powerful neighbors,
+the theory of Montesquieu that only small nations could adopt the
+republican system of government would seem vindicated. It was not only
+the fate of the United States which was at stake, but the fate of the
+doctrine of popular government, and it was the duty of all liberals to
+bend every effort to make more secure the prosperity of America.
+
+On the other hand, as we have already seen in previous chapters, while
+Jefferson was satisfied to leave Louisiana in the hands of Spain, at
+least temporarily, he had always watched for a favorable opportunity to
+unite the Spanish colonies to the main body of the United States. It was
+not so much desire of expansion and imperialism as the conviction that
+colonies were only pawns in the game of European politics; that they
+could change hands at any time according to the fortunes of war; that
+there existed consequently a permanent danger of seeing France recover
+some day her former colonies or, still worse, to have them fall into the
+hands of the British. With England, or possibly France, on the northern
+border, in the Floridas, on the Gulf, and in the valley of the
+Mississippi, the old dream of European domination of the North American
+continent would revive. The United States would be placed in the same
+position as the old colonies with reference to France. A clash could not
+be avoided; the issue would have to be fought out, until one of the
+adversaries should remain in full and undisputed possession of the
+whole northern part of the New World.
+
+Although the Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which France was to recover and
+occupy Louisiana at the first favorable opportunity, was intended to
+remain secret, rumors that some deal had been concluded greatly
+disturbed the American Government. As early as March, 1801, Rufus King
+had been informed in London that such a cession was contemplated and
+learned that General Collot intended to leave for Louisiana with a
+considerable number of followers. On June 1, King called his
+Government's attention to the fact that the cession of Louisiana "might
+enable France to extend her influence, and perhaps her dominion, up the
+Mississippi; and through the Lakes even up to Canada." The information
+caused great concern to the British Government, and Lord Hawkesbury had
+acquainted the American minister with the rumors. At that time, King,
+who was evidently familiar with the views of Jefferson on the matter,
+had answered by quoting Montesquieu that "it is happy for trading
+powers, that God has permitted Turks and Spaniards to be in the world,
+since of all nations they are the most proper to possess a great empire
+with insignificance." The purport of this quotation being, he wrote,
+that, "we are contented that the Floridas remain in the hands of Spain,
+but should not be willing to see them transferred, except to ourselves."
+It was a double-edged answer, since it set at nil any hope the British
+might have had of occupying Louisiana and the Floridas; and at the same
+time it constituted a very accurate statement of the position maintained
+by Jefferson when Secretary of State in all his dealings pertaining to
+the Spanish colonies.
+
+This policy was clearly defined in the general observations communicated
+by the President to Charles Pinckney, minister in Madrid (June 9, 1801)
+and in the instructions given to Livingston, hastening his departure for
+France (September 28, 1801). Jefferson did not know yet what part of
+the Spanish colonies was to be ceded to France and was more preoccupied
+with the eventuality of the cession of the Floridas. The solution
+preferred for the present was clearly the _status quo_. Should the
+cession have irrevocably taken place, the rights to the navigation of
+the Mississippi were to be safeguarded, and if possible France should be
+induced "to make over to the United States the Floridas, if included in
+the cession to her from Spain, or at least West Florida, through which
+several of our rivers (particularly the important river Mobile) empty
+themselves into the sea." Finally, if the cession had never been
+contemplated, Livingston was instructed to induce France "to favor
+experiments on the part of the United States, for obtaining from Spain
+the cession in view."
+
+The die was cast; for the first time the United States took the position
+that the time had come for them to control the territory extending
+between their States and the Gulf of Mexico, and to insure the peaceful
+and unquestioned rights of navigation on the Mississippi. From the point
+of view of international law or _droit des gens_, Madison reiterated the
+doctrine of Jefferson, that it was a natural law that the States should
+have access to the sea; and in this particular instance he hinted at
+another principle--the application of which to the old territories of
+Europe would be far-reaching--namely that the nation possessing a
+certain river was entitled also to the mouth of the river. But this
+again was probably in his opinion one of these "natural laws" which
+applied to America only. At the end of November, Rufus King sent to
+Madison a copy of the treaty between the Prince of Parma and Lucien
+Bonaparte, signed at Madrid, March 31, 1801, and in December he had the
+opportunity of mentioning the possibility of France paying her debts by
+ceding Louisiana back to the United States, which only brought the curt
+answer that "none but spendthrifts satisfy their debts by selling their
+lands."
+
+Livingston, in a letter to Rufus King, took the view that the cession
+would be disastrous not only to the United States but to Spain and
+England, since the French would not fail to contract alliance with the
+Indians and to renew relations with "the peasantry of Canada", rendering
+the possessions of Britain very precarious. He could only hope that King
+would do his utmost to "induce the British ministry to throw all the
+obstacles in their power in the way of a final settlement of this
+business, if it is not already too late."
+
+The British ministry refused to take the hint. Unwelcome as the passing
+of Louisiana into French hands might be considered they were not
+disposed to endanger the success of the negotiations shortly to be begun
+at Amiens, and Rufus King was told that the subject would not even be
+mentioned by Lord Hawkesbury.[429] Evidently England never intended to
+draw the chestnuts out of the fire for the sole benefit of the United
+States, and Livingston alone was left to face the situation. The letter
+he wrote on his own initiative, unable as he was to consult the home
+government, was somewhat blunt in tone. He called attention to the fact
+that the arrival in Louisiana or Florida of a large body of French
+troops could not fail to alarm the people of the Western Territory. He
+conceded that no protest could be made under the sixth article of the
+Treaty of 1778, since it had been superseded by the agreement of
+September 30, 1800; but he maintained that even in the absence of a
+formal treaty the clause expressed a very desirable policy, that at
+least the United States wished to know exactly the boundaries of the
+territory ceded by Spain. At the same time, he discreetly added that
+"the government of the United States desired to be informed how far it
+would be practicable to make such arrangements between their respective
+governments as would, at the same time, aid the financial operations of
+France, and remove, by a strong and natural boundary, all future causes
+of discontent between her and the United States."
+
+These different reports, and particularly Livingston's letter to King,
+of December 30, created some perturbation in the mind of Jefferson, and
+on March 16, Madison wrote the American minister in Paris "that too much
+circumspection could not be employed." The great danger was that any
+sort of a combination with Great Britain would have to be paid later in
+kind or in territory. While Madison sent recommendations to Pinckney and
+to Livingston, the clear wish of Jefferson was to keep out England as
+much as possible. It was at that time that the President decided to take
+a hand directly in the negotiations. At the beginning of April, 1802, Du
+Pont de Nemours had written Jefferson that political as well as
+commercial considerations made it imperative for him to go to France for
+a short visit. Jefferson saw at once a possibility to use Du Pont as in
+the past he had employed Lafayette, and asked him to come to Washington
+to become acquainted "with certain matters that could not be committed
+to paper."[430]
+
+Very significantly he added: "I believe that the destinies of great
+countries depend upon it, such is the crisis now existing." As Du Pont
+answered that he could not possibly see the President before sailing,
+Jefferson decided to explain his point of view fully in a long letter
+and at the same time he expressed himself even more forcibly in a letter
+to Livingston which he asked Du Pont to read before sealing it.
+
+The two letters complete and explain each other. First of all, Jefferson
+rejected as a very imperfect solution the granting free access to the
+sea to the territories situated on the left bank of the Mississippi. He
+bluntly declared that although America had a more natural and
+instinctive friendship for France than for any other nation, it was
+quite certain that the national characteristics of the two peoples were
+so divergent that they could not live peacefully side by side for any
+length of time. Even the cession by France of the Floridas and New
+Orleans would be only a palliative which might delay but not suppress
+the unavoidable conflict.[431] The only solution was for France to give
+up entirely the rights she had acquired under the Treaty of San
+Ildefonso and to return to the _status quo_. Any attempt by Bonaparte to
+send soldiers to Louisiana would be considered as a _casus belli_, and
+the President wrote significantly: "Peace and abstinence from European
+interference are our objects, and so will continue while the present
+order of things in America remains uninterrupted." If, on the other
+hand, France insisted upon taking possession of Louisiana, it was the
+declared intention of Jefferson to come to an agreement with England,
+then to launch an expedition against New Orleans, to occupy the
+territory claimed by France, so as to prevent any new European nation
+from setting foot on the continent. That this policy of non-colonization
+should apply to South America as well as to the northern continent was
+evidently in the mind of the President, since he declared that after the
+annihilation of the French fleet, two nations--America and Great
+Britain--would rule the sea, and the two continents would be practically
+"appropriated by them."
+
+The threat was so formidable that Du Pont refused to believe that it was
+seriously meant. He saw at once that if such representations were made
+to the First Consul, even with proper diplomatic precautions, they would
+be looked upon by him as a challenge that could not be ignored. "Give up
+that country, or we shall take it", is not at all persuasive. "We will
+defend it", is the answer that comes naturally to any man. Furthermore,
+the old Physiocrat predicted that if the United States ever followed
+such a policy, they would lose their prestige as a democratic and
+peaceful nation. Jefferson would thus play into the hands of the
+militaristic faction which ambitioned the conquest of Mexico; if, on
+the contrary, Mexico were to be emancipated, it might become a dangerous
+neighbor for the United States. He consequently urged Jefferson to
+accept what he considered as a much more sensible program, namely a
+compromise which would insure free access to the sea to "the territories
+of the Cumberland, the Wabash and both banks of the Ohio." Finally he
+warned the President against entering into such an alliance with
+England, since England would never permit the United States to become a
+naval power of first importance. If, however, the United States insisted
+on having a free hand in the South, was it not possible, in view of the
+impending war between France and England, to permit France to recover
+Canada instead of Louisiana, and to tell Bonaparte: "Give us Louisiana
+and at the first opportunity we shall restore Canada to you"?
+
+Even if that were refused, if nothing could remove Jefferson's objection
+to the establishment of a French colony on the northern continent, there
+was still a possibility of giving satisfaction to both parties concerned
+without unduly irritating the national pride of either. This was simply
+for America to buy from France her claim on the Southern territory. True
+to his training and doctrine, Du Pont had devised a commercial solution
+to a political problem. The question of Louisiana was to be treated as a
+business, with a political background to be sure, but essentially on
+business terms.
+
+The answer of Jefferson has unfortunately disappeared and was probably
+destroyed by Du Pont; but another letter of the old Physiocrat permits
+us to reconstruct its contents. Jefferson contended that the United
+States had no money and could not afford to pay any important amount for
+such a purchase. To which Du Pont answered that purchasing would be
+infinitely more economical than going to war:
+
+  The sum offered and accepted will not exclude any compensation for
+  all or part of the sum which might be paid to you under the treaty.
+  To agree on the price is the important thing. To arrange for the
+  forms of payment, to charge against it legitimate reductions is only
+  a secondary matter, which will take care of itself. All the rest of
+  your instructions is easy to follow, and I shall follow them exactly.
+
+Then proving himself to be as good a prophet as a philosopher Du Pont
+added that Bonaparte would be more attracted by a frank and complete
+proposal than by a compromise: "I hope it will succeed because Bonaparte
+is a man of genius, and his character is much above ordinary
+ideas."[432]
+
+It is not entirely to the credit of Jefferson that, when he was thus
+declaring to Du Pont that the United States could not afford to
+negotiate on such a basis, Madison, on May 1, 1802, was writing to
+Livingston, asking him to ascertain precisely the price at which the
+Floridas, "if included in the cession would be yielded to the United
+States."
+
+The whole story of the negotiations as it appears in the Jefferson
+papers and in the documents published in the Annals of Congress would be
+worth retelling in detail. The evasions of the French minister
+Talleyrand, the reticences of the Spanish ambassador as to the true
+extent of the cession, the attempts of Rufus King to determine the
+British Government to throw their influence on the side of the United
+States, the blundering efforts of Livingston to place the case of his
+Government before the eyes of Bonaparte, form one of the most
+complicated and fascinating diplomatic mazes in which the inexperienced
+and not highly skillful agents of the United States tried to find their
+way. Livingston, who thought himself very adroit, was particularly
+unfelicitous in his tone. The conclusion of the memoir he wrote on
+August 10 and had printed for distribution to the French Government may
+give an idea of his style:
+
+  In reasoning upon this subject, I have confined myself to such
+  observations as obviously presented themselves, without seeking any
+  of those subtleties which may serve to mislead the judgment. I have
+  candidly exposed the plainest facts, in the simplest language. If
+  ever they are opposed, it will be by a contrary course. Eloquence and
+  sophistry may reply to them and may obscure them; but time and
+  experience will evince their truth.
+
+Such a language may have seemed to the American minister candid and
+honest, but addressed to Bonaparte and Talleyrand it was very
+undiplomatic, to say the least. One cannot help feeling, on reading the
+documents, that had Livingston wished to break off negotiations he would
+not have expressed himself otherwise, and it is difficult to share the
+opinion of Henry Adams, who claimed for the American minister most of
+the credit for bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion.
+
+By the end of the summer 1802, it appeared that, before going any
+further, France intended to take possession of Louisiana, and Du Pont
+knew only too well that such a step would cause an irresistible outburst
+of public opinion in the United States. He kept in constant touch with
+Livingston, giving counsels of moderation and patience. He even proposed
+the project of a treaty which in his opinion would give temporary
+satisfaction to the United States while being acceptable to France. This
+plan included the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas, reserving for
+French vessels the same treatment as for American shipping; France to
+keep all the territories on the right bank of the Mississippi, but the
+navigation of the river to be free to both nations. Finally the United
+States were to pay the sum of six million dollars for the territories
+described in the first article.[433]
+
+In the meantime things were moving fast in America. The suspension of
+the right of deposit by the Spanish authorities was taxing the none too
+strong endurance of the inhabitants of the western territory, and the
+war party was making great progress. Madison wrote on November 27,
+1802, that should the Spanish intendant prove as obstinate as he has
+been ignorant or wicked, nothing can temperate the irritation and
+indignation of the Western country, but a persuasion that the energy of
+their own government will obtain from the justice of that of Spain the
+most ample redress.[434]
+
+In his message to Congress read on December 15, the President included a
+short paragraph pregnant with significance:
+
+  The cession of the Spanish province of Louisiana to France, which
+  took place in the course of the late war, if carried into effect,
+  makes a change in the aspect of our foreign relations which will
+  doubtless have just weight in any deliberation of the Legislature
+  connected with that subject.
+
+This sentence could have only one meaning: that if France took
+possession of Louisiana, appropriations would be in order to prevent her
+from establishing herself permanently in the territory. It was a direct
+threat of war. The President had apparently given up any hope of
+reaching an agreement and was yielding to the war party.
+
+On December 17 it was, on motion of Randolph:
+
+  _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
+  cause to be laid before this house such papers as are in the
+  possession of the Department of State as relate to the violation on
+  the part of Spain, of the Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and
+  Navigation, between the United States and the King of Spain.
+
+Jefferson complied with this request on December 22, averring that he
+"was aware of the obligation to maintain, in all cases, the rights of
+the nation, and to employ, for that purpose, those just and honorable
+means which belong to the character of the United States."[435]
+
+There is no doubt that the President himself had lost patience and that
+the United States were rapidly drifting towards overt acts that could
+only have war as a consequence. On January 4 it was moved in the House
+that the President be requested to communicate all the information at
+his disposal on the reported cession of Louisiana. Then quite
+unexpectedly, on January 11, Jefferson sent to the Senate a message
+recommending that James Monroe be appointed special envoy to France with
+full powers, "jointly with Mr. Livingston to enter into a treaty or
+convention with the First Consul of France, for the purpose of enlarging
+and more effectually securing, our rights and interests in the river
+Mississippi, and in the territories eastward thereof." The next day, the
+House, on recommendation of a committee which presented a lengthy
+report, voted an appropriation of "two million dollars to defray the
+expenses which may be incurred in relation to the intercourse between
+the United States and foreign nations."
+
+The sudden change in Jefferson's attitude can largely be attributed to
+the fact that, between December 15 and January 11, he had received a
+letter sent from Paris by Du Pont de Nemours on October 4,[436]
+submitting a tentative plan for a treaty and discounting the pessimistic
+reports of Livingston. There is not the slightest doubt that the
+President was much impressed by Du Pont's letter. On January 18, Madison
+wrote to Pinckney:
+
+  In order to draw the French government into the measure, a sum of
+  money will be made part of our propositions.... From a letter
+  received by the President from a respectable person, it is inferred,
+  with probability that the French government is not averse to treat on
+  those grounds; and that such a disposition must be strengthened by
+  circumstances of the present moment.[437]
+
+Finally Jefferson himself wrote to Du Pont that his letter had been
+received with particular satisfaction, because while it held up terms
+that could not be entirely yielded, "it proposed such as a mutual
+spirit of accommodation and sacrifice may bring to some point of
+union."[438]
+
+The President indicated, however, that the action of Spain in suspending
+the rights of deposit had rendered imperative an immediate settlement:
+"Our circumstances are so imperious as to admit of no delay as to our
+course; and the use of the Mississippi so indispensable, that we cannot
+hesitate one moment to hazard our existence for its maintainance."
+Despite this more conciliatory tone, the President did not recede from
+the position he had taken previously with Du Pont. He repeated that the
+country was in no position to offer such a sum as mentioned by Mr. Du
+Pont (six million dollars) in order to insure the purchase of the said
+territory.
+
+In this, Jefferson was to some extent guilty of double-dealing with his
+friend, or at least of not laying all his cards on the table. The
+instructions given to Monroe and Livingston on March 2, 1803, specified
+that "should a greater sum (than two million dollars) be made an
+ultimatum on the part of France, the President has made up his mind to
+go as far as fifty millions of _livres tournois_, rather than to lose
+the main object." Incidentally, this passage explains how Monroe and
+Livingston could feel authorized to accept the proposal to purchase the
+whole territory for sixty million francs. They were not so bold as is
+commonly supposed, since they were empowered by the President to go as
+far as fifty million for part only of Louisiana. Whether Jefferson had
+the constitutional right to promise such a sum without formal approval
+of Congress is quite another matter. It is only fair, however, to recall
+here that, due to the difficulty of communicating between Washington and
+Paris and the urgency of the situation, it was an absolute necessity to
+give considerable leeway to the plenipotentiaries and to provide for
+every possible emergency. But it must also be remembered that had not
+Jefferson taken at that precise time the responsibility of engaging the
+resources of the United States, neither Livingston nor Monroe would have
+felt authorized to sign a transaction involving six times the sum voted
+by the House of Representatives. The blame or praise, whatever it may
+be, must in final analysis fall entirely on Jefferson.
+
+It is not without some interest to notice here that Livingston was
+entirely unaware of the value of Du Pont de Nemours' plan. Unable to pin
+down Talleyrand or Lebrun, he soon came to the conclusion that it was
+impossible to treat and that he might as well leave Paris. "I see very
+little use for a minister here, where there is but one will; and that
+will governed by no object but personal security and personal ambition;
+were it left to my discretion, I should bring matters to some positive
+issue, or leave them, which would be the only means of bringing them to
+an issue."[439] He maintained to the last minute that Du Pont de Nemours
+had given the French government "with the best intentions, ideas that we
+shall find hard to eradicate, and impossible to yield to",[440] and on
+hearing that Monroe had been appointed, following receipt of Du Pont's
+letter, he answered that he was much surprised that Du Pont should talk
+"of the designs of this court, the price, &c., because he must have
+derived these from his imagination only, as he had no means of seeing
+anybody here that could give him the least information."[441]
+
+Who was the better informed of the two it is not easy to decide. But by
+a curious coincidence, while Livingston was writing this in Paris, the
+ink was hardly dry on the instructions to Monroe which contained this
+striking paragraph: "It is to be added that the overtures committed to
+you coincide in great measure with the ideas of the person through whom
+the letter of the President of April 30, 1802, was conveyed to Mr.
+Livingston, and who is presumed to have gained some insight into the
+present sentiments of the French Cabinet."[442]
+
+The very same day Du Pont was able to write Jefferson that he had
+several times seen Talleyrand and Lebrun and that the French Government
+had decided to give every possible satisfaction to the United States. On
+April 6, he added, without giving any detail, that good progress had
+been made; but that he had not told everything to Livingston.
+
+There is little doubt that the letter of Du Pont made Jefferson delay
+any strong measure in the Mississippi Valley affair and stayed the hand
+of the God of War. If negotiations had been broken off at that point, it
+was the intention of the British government "to send an expedition to
+occupy New Orleans."[443] What the consequences of such an action would
+have been can easily be surmised.
+
+The rest of the story lies outside of our province, since Jefferson had
+nothing to do directly with it. Barbe-Marbois has told the dramatic
+scene of Easter Sunday, April 10, 1803, when Bonaparte called in two
+ministers and gave the first indication that he considered the whole
+colony lost and that it might be better to give it up entirely. The next
+morning the First Consul requested Marbois to act as plenipotentiary and
+to see Livingston at once. When Monroe arrived, a preliminary
+understanding had been reached. The treaty was concluded on May 4 and
+signed four days later, although it was antedated and marked April 30.
+
+The question of deciding whether Jefferson had foreseen the possibility
+of acquiring the whole territory of Louisiana and had given to Monroe
+instructions to that effect has provided his biographers, whether
+friendly or unfriendly, with a nice bone to pick. It seems here that a
+distinction must be established between the wishes of the President and
+what he considered within the range of actual possibilities. From his
+letters to Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, it is easily perceived that
+he was unequivocally opposed to the reinstatement of France on any part
+of the continent. On this point he never varied. On the other hand, he
+had soon become convinced that France would never relinquish such an
+enormous territory without a compensation that the United States could
+not afford to pay. He limited his plans very soon to the acquisition of
+the two Floridas, which he supposed had been made part of the
+transaction, so as to give the United States access to the Gulf, while
+taking a strong position on the Mississippi River. In his letter to Du
+Pont de Nemours dated February 1, 1803, he reiterated that the United
+States wanted and needed the Floridas, that "whatever power, other than
+ourselves, holds the country east of the Mississippi, becomes our
+natural enemy." But further he did not go. On February 27, 1803, he
+wrote to Governor Harrison a letter which seems to settle the question:
+"We bend our whole views to the purchase and settlement of the country
+on the Mississippi, from its mouth to its northern regions, that we may
+be able to present as strong a front on our western as on our eastern
+border, and plant on the Mississippi itself the means of its own
+defence." As for the Indians, they were either "to be incorporated with
+us as citizens of the United States, or removed beyond the Mississippi."
+Finally the letter written on July 29 to Livingston and Monroe is as
+definite a statement as can be desired and ought to set the controversy
+at rest:
+
+  When these (your instructions and commission) were made out, the
+  object of the most sanguine was limited to the establishment of the
+  Mississippi as our boundary. It was not presumed, that more could be
+  sought by the United States, either with a chance of success, or
+  perhaps without being suspected of a greedy ambition, than the island
+  of New Orleans and the two Floridas.... Nor was it to be supposed
+  that in case the French government should be willing to part with
+  more than the territory on our side of the Mississippi, an
+  arrangement with Spain for restoring the territory on the other side,
+  would not be preferred to a sale of it to the United States.... The
+  effect of such considerations was diminished by no information, or
+  just presumptions whatever.[444]
+
+Whatever may have been Jefferson's satisfaction on hearing the news, he
+did not write himself to the commissioners to congratulate and thank
+them in the name of the nation. He was not the man to make grand
+gestures. The Virginian could be as self-restrained as any New
+Englander, as appears from a letter to Horatio Gates in which the two
+envoys are mentioned: "I find our opposition very willing to pluck
+feathers from Monroe, although not fond of sticking them into
+Livingston's coat. The truth is, both have a just proportion of merit;
+and were it necessary or proper, it would be shown that each has
+rendered peculiar services and of important value."[445] More than that
+he did not say, and probably said very little more to Monroe, his friend
+and "_eleve_" when he came back from France.
+
+Congress had been called for October 17, to ratify the treaty; but
+before that date, Jefferson sent letters and questionnaires all around
+in order to gather any possible information on the limits, geography,
+resources and condition of the inhabitants of the newly acquired
+territory. In a letter to Breckenridge (August 12, 1803), he expressed
+himself more freely than to any other correspondent. First of all he
+admitted that he was somewhat disappointed at having being unable to
+secure the Floridas. But it was only a delayed opportunity; sooner or
+later Spain would engage in some war, and the realistic politician
+added: "If we push them strongly with one hand, holding out a price in
+the other, we shall certainly obtain the Floridas, and all in good
+time." For the present, the United States, without claiming possession
+of the Spanish territories, would act pretty freely: "In the meantime,
+without waiting for permission, we shall enter into the exercise of the
+natural right we have always insisted on with having a right of innocent
+passage through them to the ocean. We shall prepare her to see us
+practice on this, and she will not oppose it by force."
+
+He had already heard many objections to the treaty; of all of them he
+disposed summarily. He did not take seriously the danger mentioned by
+the Federalists of seeing a fringe of States, different in interest from
+the original States, form along the Mississippi and threaten the
+homogeneity of the Union. If it came to the worst, it would be better
+for the United States to have as neighbors along the western border a
+Federation of States inhabited by a people of the same blood than a
+Spanish or French dominion. Then Jefferson prophetically outlined the
+development of the West as he foresaw it. The inhabited part of
+Louisiana was to become a new State as soon as possible. Above Pointe
+Coupee, the best procedure was probably to move the Indians across the
+river and to fill the vacant territories with white colonists. "When we
+shall be full on this side, we may lay off a range of States on the
+western bank from the head to the mouth, and so, range after range,
+advancing compactly as we multiply."
+
+As to the constitutionality of the purchase, he admitted there was no
+article of the Constitution authorizing the holding of foreign
+territory, and still less contemplating the incorporation of foreign
+nations into the Union. "The executives, in seizing the fugitive
+occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done
+an act beyond the Constitution." They were justified in doing it,
+however, just as much as a guardian has the right to invest money for
+his ward in purchasing an adjacent territory and saying to him when of
+age: "I did this for your good; I pretend to no right to bind you; you
+may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can: I thought it
+my duty to risk myself for you." This is another instance when
+Jefferson the lawyer discarded what he called "metaphysical subtleties"
+to look squarely at the facts and to do his duty as he saw it, "as a
+faithful servant."
+
+The third annual message of the President was read before Congress on
+October 17. Written in simple language like all the State papers of
+Jefferson, it contained a graceful word for "the enlightened government
+of France", and pointed out soberly the advantages that would accrue to
+the United States from the purchase:
+
+  While the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters
+  secure an independent outlet for the produce of the western States,
+  and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, 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.
+
+The President avoided any specific recommendation on the measures to be
+adopted to incorporate into the Union the recently acquired territories,
+resting on the wisdom of Congress to determine the "measures which may
+be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary government of
+the country; 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." The Senate ratified the treaty after a
+two-day discussion, the members voting strictly on party lines. It came
+before the House on the twenty-second. The discussion was hot and more
+prolonged; doubts as to the French title to the purchase were raised;
+doubts as to the constitutionality of the measure. The treaty proper was
+ratified on October 25, and on November 3 acts were passed authorizing
+the issue of bonds in order to pay France.
+
+A letter of Jefferson to Livingston contains the epilogue of the
+negotiations. It is another very interesting instance of the way
+Jefferson knew how to handle men. Pichon, the French minister, had been
+instructed by his Government to secure a clause to the ratification
+providing "against any failure in time or other circumstances of
+execution on the part of the United States." Jefferson took the matter
+in hand himself and demonstrated to Pichon that in case the French
+Government insisted upon such a proviso, the United States would insert
+a similar clause of protestation "leaving the matter where it stood
+before." He insisted that it was to throw on the good faith of both
+nations a doubt most unpleasant to an honest man to entertain, and
+concluded that he had "more confidence in the word of the First Consul
+than in all the parchment we could sign." What could the Frenchman do
+except to bow politely and acquiesce, and "like an able and honest
+minister (which he is in the highest degree) he undertook to do what he
+knew his employers would do themselves, were they spectators of all
+existing circumstances, and exchange the ratifications purely and
+simply." "So," concluded Jefferson, "this instrument goes to the world
+as an evidence of the candor and confidence of the nations in each
+other, which will have the best effects."
+
+A last point remained to be settled. It was suspected that Spain had
+entered a formal protest against the whole transaction, "since the First
+Consul had broken a solemn promise not to alienate the country to any
+nation." On that point Jefferson refused to express any opinion: "We
+answered that these were questions between France and Spain which they
+must settle together; that we derived our title from the First Consul
+and did not doubt his guarantee of it." Meanwhile measures were provided
+to take formal possession from Laussat after he should have received the
+territory from Spain. "If he is not so disposed _we_ shall take
+possession and it will rest with the Government of France, by adopting
+the act as their own, then to settle the latter with Spain."[446] In
+order to provide for any eventuality, the governor of the Mississippi
+was ordered to move down with General Wilkinson all his troops at hand
+to take formal possession.
+
+Thus the transaction fraught with so many dangers came to what Jefferson
+called in a letter to Priestley (January 29, 1804) "a happy denouement",
+thanks "to a friendly and frank development of causes and effects in our
+part and good sense enough in Bonaparte to see that the train was
+unavoidable and would change the face of the world."
+
+If Jefferson took liberties with the Constitution in the matter of the
+purchase, he was equally broad-minded in his construction of the treaty.
+One of the articles provided that the inhabitants of the territories
+ceded by France "will be incorporated into the Union and admitted as
+soon as possible according to the principles of the Federal Constitution
+to the enjoyment of all the advantages and immunities of the citizens of
+the United States" (Article III). This was precisely what Jefferson was
+firmly resolved not to do. Theoretically, and according to his often
+expressed views on self-government, he should have taken steps to admit
+immediately the newly acquired territory into the Union and to allow the
+inhabitants to decide on a constitution. Practically, he considered that
+they were unfitted for self-government and, although he did not formally
+declare it at the time, he was convinced that self-government could not
+succeed with a population mainly French and Spanish. The letter he wrote
+on the subject to Du Pont de Nemours is almost disarming in its naivete:
+
+  We are preparing a form of government for the Territory of Louisiana.
+  We shall make it as mild and free, as they are able to bear, all
+  persons residing there concurring in the information that they were
+  neither gratified, nor willing to exercise the rights of an elective
+  government. The immense swarm flocking thither of Americans used to
+  that exercise, will soon prepare them to receive the necessary
+  change.[447]
+
+It was impossible to state more clearly that representative government
+could not be granted to Louisiana as long as the inhabitants remained
+essentially French. Only when checked and controlled by the "immense
+swarm" of American pioneers and colonists spreading all over the
+territory could they be admitted to the immunities and advantages of
+American citizens. This attitude of Jefferson, which seems in flagrant
+contradiction with his theories, can astonish only those who see in him
+a world prophet of the democratic faith; while his only ambition was to
+build an American democracy, on strictly American principles, for the
+sole benefit of American citizens, true heirs and continuators of the
+old Anglo-Saxon principles.
+
+But his vision of a greater America extended even beyond the limits of
+the Louisiana Purchase. In January, 1803, just one week before Monroe's
+appointment as special envoy to Paris, he had sent a message to Congress
+to recommend that a sum of twenty-five hundred dollars be appropriated
+to send "an intelligent officer with a party of 10 or 12 men to explore
+even to the Western Ocean and to bring back all possible information on
+the Indian tribes, the fauna and flora of the region." The intelligent
+officer was Merriwether Lewis, private secretary to the President, who
+was to engage in this "literary pursuit" in a region claimed by Spain.
+It was calmly assumed, however, that "the expiring state of Spain's
+interests there" would render such a voyage a matter of indifference to
+this nation. Jefferson made the expedition his own concern; he drew up
+the most detailed instructions for the mission. He even wrote for Lewis
+"a letter of general credit" in his own hand and signed with his name,
+by which the captain was authorized to draw on "the Secretaries of
+State, the Treasury of War, and of the Navy of the United States
+according as he might find his draughts would be most negotiable, for
+the purpose of obtaining money or necessaries for himself and men."[448]
+Practically unlimited resources were placed at the disposal of the
+expedition. Jefferson kept his former secretary minutely informed of the
+new possibilities opened up by the negotiations with France, writing him
+on July 4, 11, 15, November 16 and January 13. On January 22, he sent
+new instructions: the United States had "now become sovereigns of the
+country" Lewis was going to explore; it was no longer necessary to keep
+up the pretense of a "literary pursuit", and the President felt
+authorized in proposing to the Indians the establishment of official
+connections, and in declaring frankly to them that "they will find in us
+faithful friends and protectors." So Jefferson was no longer thinking of
+the Mississippi as the ultimate frontier of the United States. He
+already foresaw the time when the Empire would extend from the Atlantic
+to the Pacific.
+
+Besides providing the United States with almost unlimited possibilities
+of growth, the Louisiana Purchase had eliminated the immediate danger of
+a conflict with France, and the chances of remaining at peace with
+Europe had considerably increased. "I now see nothing which need
+interrupt the friendship between France and this country," wrote
+Jefferson to Cabanis. "We do not despair of being always a peaceable
+nation. We think that peaceable means may be devised of keeping nations
+in the path of justice towards us, by making justice their interest, and
+injuries to react on themselves. Our distance enables us to pursue a
+course which the crowded situation of Europe renders perhaps
+impracticable there."[449]
+
+There remained, however, a danger point in the policies of the British
+navy with regard to contraband. The United States had now to make a
+strenuous effort to bring the British to abandon their "right" to search
+neutral vessels on the high seas in order to impress British sailors
+found on those vessels, and to use American ports as cruising stations.
+Not only was this attitude of Great Britain contrary to justice but it
+was also contrary to these natural laws on which rested Jefferson's
+system of Americanism; above all, they were most obnoxious and
+detrimental to American commerce, for "Thornton says they watch our
+trade to prevent contraband. We say it is to plunder under pretext of
+contraband."[450]
+
+Meanwhile the President was receiving the most pessimistic accounts from
+Monroe, lost in the maze of European intrigues, and almost losing faith
+in the future security of the United States. One of his letters of the
+spring of 1804 had mentioned the possibility of a dark plot against
+America. France and England might forget their old differences and
+operate a reconciliation at the expense of the United States; they would
+form a combination to divide between them the North American continent,
+France repossessing Louisiana, while England would reannex the United
+States to the British dominions. A mad scheme if ever there was one, and
+it is very much to be doubted that it was ever contemplated by any
+responsible Frenchman. Jefferson's confidence in the remoteness of the
+American continent was not disturbed for a minute by these alarming
+reports. He excused Monroe on the ground that a person placed in Europe
+was very apt to believe the old nations endowed with limitless resources
+and power. Everything was possible, even a return of the Bourbons; but
+"that they and England joined, could recover us to British dominion, is
+impossible. If things are not so, then human reason is of no aid in
+conjecturing the conduct of nations." Still the policy of watchful
+waiting was more than ever in order. Every point of friction was to be
+eliminated, one of the first measures being to accept the "Louisianais"
+to full citizenship and thus bring to an end the patronage of France.
+Another step was to enforce strictly the rule against British cruisers
+in American harbors, so that "each may see unequivocally what is
+unquestionably true, that we may be very possibly driven into her scale
+by unjust conduct in the other."[451]
+
+Thus was fixed not in theory but in practice a policy of neutrality
+fraught with risks. The most apparent danger was that both belligerents
+might turn against the United States. But of that Jefferson was not
+afraid, as an alliance between the two hereditary enemies seemed
+inconceivable. In the meantime proper preparations were to be made to
+insure the security of the American flag.
+
+The message of October 17, 1803, contained an earnest appeal to
+"complete neutrality." Neutrality of fact the Government was decided to
+observe, and most of all to view in a disinterested way the carnage in
+Europe.
+
+  How desirable it must be, in a government like ours, to see its
+  citizens adopt individually the views, the interests and the conduct
+  which their country should pursue, divesting themselves of those
+  passions and partialities which tend to lessen useful friendships and
+  to embarrass and embroil us in the calamitous scenes of Europe.
+
+Then came a passage which sounds strangely familiar to those of us who
+have lived through the last fourteen years:
+
+  Confident, fellow citizens, that you will duly estimate the
+  importance of neutral dispositions toward the observance of neutral
+  conduct, that you will be sensible how much it is our duty to look on
+  the bloody arena spread before us with commiseration indeed, but with
+  no other wish than to see it closed, I am persuaded you will
+  cordially cherish these dispositions in all communications with your
+  constituents.
+
+A nation neutral in speech and neutral in thought, willing to intervene
+only to help the victims of the war or as an arbiter between the
+belligerents, such was at that time the ideal of Jefferson as it was to
+be for several years the ideal of Woodrow Wilson, and to a large degree
+the permanent ideal of the United States during their whole history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"SELF-PRESERVATION IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL LAW"
+
+
+When, on the fourth of March, 1805, Jefferson began his second term, he
+had a right to review with some complacency the achievements of his
+first administration. To foreign affairs he scarcely granted a short
+paragraph, but he pointed out with great details the suppression of
+unnecessary offices, the reduction of taxes, the fact that the Federal
+Government was almost entirely supported by duties levied on
+importations, so that "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?" The Louisiana Purchase had increased
+enormously the potential riches of the country and removed a very
+dangerous source of conflict. The right bank of the Mississippi was to
+be settled by "our own brethren and children" and not by "strangers of
+another family."
+
+Of great interest was the long passage given to Indian affairs.
+Jefferson's sympathy for the red men dated from the early days of his
+youth, when he had seen the chiefs stop at the house of his father on
+their way to Williamsburg. He had handsomely stood in defense of them in
+the "Notes on Virginia." Now he was regarding them with the
+commiseration their history began to inspire:
+
+  Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing 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 directed itself on these shores, without power to divert,
+  or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed by the
+  current, or driven before it.
+
+This was certainly a very regrettable situation, but the idea of
+questioning the right of an overflowing population to occupy scarcely
+populated territories did not for a moment enter Jefferson's mind. To
+deny such a right would have been not only detrimental to the very
+existence of the United States, but also a denial of the "right" of "our
+Saxons ancestors" to settle in England. Furthermore, the President was
+confronted with a certain set of facts and not with a theory. The
+territory of which the Indians had so long enjoyed undisturbed
+possession was growing narrower every day. With the recent acquisition
+of Louisiana, it was to be foreseen that they would not be able to roam
+freely much longer in the vast territories extending west of the
+Mississippi. They were now "reduced within limits too narrow for the
+hunter's state." The only thing they could do was to submit to new
+economic conditions, to settle down and become farmers, and it was the
+duty of the government "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 mind and morals."
+
+The President had no patience with
+
+  ... the interested and crafty individuals among them who inculcate a
+  sanctimonious reverence for the customs 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 a perilous innovation; that their
+  duty is to remain as their Creator made them.
+
+The attitude of these reactionaries among the Indians gave Jefferson an
+opportunity to hit at one stroke the medicine men and the clergymen who
+were attacking him fiercely.
+
+  In short, my friends, among them is seen the action and
+  counter-action 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 ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our
+  reason, and obeying its mandates.
+
+The New England and New York clergymen who had stood with the
+Federalists knew exactly where they belonged.
+
+But if the President was unwilling to let the attacks to which he had
+been subjected pass entirely unnoticed, he maintained at the same time
+that no official steps must be taken to repress in any way freedom of
+speech and freedom of the press. In more emphatic terms than ever
+before, he reasserted the fundamental doctrine he had defended against
+all comers for more than twenty-five years:
+
+  During this course of administration, and in order to disturb 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 several 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.
+
+Thus were the Callender and the Federalist pamphleteers handed over to
+the public to be dealt with, according to the merits of their cases.
+
+The address ended with a new appeal to harmony, with the hope that
+truth, reason and well-understood self-interest might enlighten the last
+opponents of true republicanism. It ended also with a sort of prayer
+which may or may not have expressed the religious beliefs of Jefferson
+at the time:
+
+  I shall need 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 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 me in supplications.
+
+Jefferson had not forgotten that twenty years before he had proposed
+that the seal of the United States should represent the Children of
+Israel led by a pillar of light. As much as the Puritans he was
+convinced that the American people was a chosen people, that they have
+been gifted with superior wisdom and strength, and this belief was just
+as much part of his creed of Americanism as it was the more openly
+expressed doctrine of more recent presidents of the United States.
+
+With these brilliant and reassuring prospects before his eyes, Jefferson
+entered his second term. Little did he believe at that time that the
+four years before him were to be the most agitated and most distressing
+of his long career. The man whose fondest hope was to "secure peace,
+friendship and approbation of all nations" was to begin a series of
+police operations against the Barbary pirates of the Mediterranean and
+was confronted, at a time, with the possibility of a war with Spain, a
+war with England and a war with France. His philosophical toga was torn
+to shreds by the thorns strewn along the tortuous paths of international
+relations. At home he had to use all his ingenuity and resourcefulness
+to keep together disaffected elements in the Republican Party, to
+withstand the attacks launched in Congress by John Randolph of Roanoke,
+the impulsive, erratic and dangerous leader of the discontented
+Republicans. The man who had framed the Kentucky resolutions and had
+stood as the advocate of States rights was reproached with using his
+influence with Congress to pass the Embargo Act, "more arbitrary, more
+confiscatory" than any measure ever proposed by the Federalists. The man
+who had protested against the sedition bills had to repress the
+seditious attempts of the former Vice President of the United States. It
+seemed as if an evil genius had taken a malicious pleasure in making
+every effort to test the President in every possible way, and to
+confront him with the necessity of renouncing his most cherished
+principles. Jefferson did not come out of the ordeal without scars and
+deep wounds; but whatever may have been his deficiencies and his faults,
+whatever sins he may have committed, he kept his faith in the ultimate
+wisdom of public opinion and never tried to suppress by coercion the
+criticism to which he was subjected.
+
+As a matter of fact, the roseate view of the situation presented by
+Jefferson in his second Inaugural Address was hardly warranted by facts.
+Even before the close of the first term, Randolph, who had been the
+standard bearer of the Republicans in the House, had shown signs of
+discontent. He had supported the "Remonstrance of the people of
+Louisiana", protesting that one of the essential provisions had been
+violated and that they should be admitted at once to "all the rights,
+advantages and immunities of citizens." On the other hand, Aaron Burr,
+even while remaining in office, had already paved the way for the dark
+and romantic machinations which were to culminate with his trial before
+Marshall at Richmond.
+
+The story of Burr's conspiracy deserves a special place among American
+"_causes celebres_." It has been told many times, and very vividly, but
+only the pen of Alexandre Dumas could do justice to it. Many efforts
+have been made to whitewash the memory of the chief conspirator, to
+throw most of the odium on Wilkinson and on Jefferson who, according to
+his enemies, would have gone out of his way to obtain the condemnation
+of a man who could not be proved guilty of any overt act, although there
+is no doubt that he had originated some of the most reprehensible
+schemes against the safety of his country. But Americans always had a
+foible for soldiers of fortune, for adventurers who dreamed of
+conquering new empires; for in them they see the magnification of the
+frontier spirit which for so long constituted one of the "pillars" of
+American civilization.
+
+By an extraordinary trick of heredity, this adventurer, who should have
+been a Spanish conquistador, this arch plotter who had the insinuating
+ways of the Florentine, the tortuous and complicated mind so often
+considered as a privilege of the Europeans, was the great-grandson of
+Jonathan Edwards and of pure New England descent. He had fought bravely
+and enthusiastically in the Revolutionary War, he was a lawyer of no
+mean achievement; but his thirst for popularity, applause and success
+was beyond imagination, and this Machiavellic politician lacked in an
+extraordinary degree common sense and political vision. Had he withdrawn
+from the run for the presidency in time, had he gracefully accepted the
+second rank in December, 1800, he would have had a great political
+career before him. But to the last minute he refused to say the word
+that was expected from him; he accepted without protest the votes of the
+Federalists and was considered as a traitor to his party even before he
+took office. As early as January, 1804, he had gone to Jefferson and,
+after complaining that the President did not show him the same
+friendship as before, he had offered to resign at once if he were
+appointed to some foreign embassy. After Burr had left without obtaining
+any definite answer, Jefferson put down on paper a complete account of
+the conversation and dryly concluded:
+
+  I should here notice, that Colonel Burr must have thought that I
+  could swallow strong things in my own favor, when he founded his
+  acquiescence in the nomination as Vice-President, to his desire of
+  promoting my honor, the being with me; whose company and conversation
+  had always been fascinating with him etc.[452]
+
+Disappointed in this respect, Aaron Burr turned his eyes towards New
+York, where he had worked so successfully during the preceding election.
+The post of governor happened to be vacant, and in February Burr was
+chosen by the discontented Republicans of the State to run for
+governor. It seems quite certain that, if he had been elected, the
+movement for secession already strong in New England would have received
+a new impetus and that a desperate effort would have been made to shake
+off "the rule of Virginia." When, after a savage campaign marked by
+invectives, brawls and riots, Burr was finally defeated, he could and
+did rightly attribute his failure to Hamilton who, from the very
+beginning, opposed his candidacy. A personal encounter was decided and
+the two adversaries met on the bank of the Hudson, pistol in hand, in a
+duel to the death. It has always been said that Hamilton did not take
+aim and fired first. Burr fired deliberately and Hamilton, fatally
+wounded, fell to the ground, to die the next day.
+
+Found guilty of murder by a grand jury, and in fact already a fugitive
+from justice, Burr hid at first in Georgia and there concocted the most
+extraordinary plan to effect a separation of the western part of the
+United States with the help and financial assistance of England.
+Although evidence was not procurable at the time of his trial, there is
+no doubt that he thought the scheme feasible; that back in Washington,
+and when he was presiding over the impeachment proceedings of Judge
+Chase, the Vice President of the United States was prudently sounding
+the delegates of the western States, ingratiating himself to them and
+that the wildest dreams of empire were haunting his feverish
+imagination.
+
+As soon as the session was over, Colonel Burr started out for a tour of
+the western States and, on an island of the Ohio, met by chance the
+philosopher-planter Blennerhasset, the innocent victim of his plots.
+Leaving Blennerhasset, Burr went to Cincinnati, Frankfort, Nashville. He
+met Andrew Jackson, the uncouth son of the frontier, and Wilkinson, the
+general in charge of the western territory. After a visit to New
+Orleans, where he was greatly elated by the discontent of the
+population, he went back to Saint Louis to discuss the situation with
+Wilkinson. Whether he still adhered to the original plan of separating
+the western from the eastern States is to a considerable degree
+doubtful. His immediate object seems rather to have been to lead an
+expedition of adventurers against Mexico, in case the war that was
+threatening between the United States and Spain should break out. It
+must be admitted that the plan in itself was not particularly
+objectionable to the Government, but it soon appeared that this scheme
+too had to be given up. After vainly attempting to secure assistance
+from the British Government, Burr, changing from conqueror to farmer,
+undertook to buy, with Blennerhasset, a grant of several hundred
+thousand acres on the Washita River, in Northern Louisiana, in order to
+establish there a model colony.
+
+The rest of the story is well known. Rumors of a conspiracy grew in the
+West without disturbing at first the security of the Federal Government.
+Burr, summoned to appear before the district attorney of Frankfort,
+surrendered himself, but was twice discharged and continued his
+preparations for the settlement of Washita. Jefferson did not move until
+he received from Wilkinson a confidential message purporting to be the
+transcription of a ciphered letter sent by Burr. The President was so
+alarmed that he issued at once a proclamation, warning the people that a
+conspiracy had been discovered and directing the arrests of the
+conspirators and the seizure of "all vessels, arms and military stores."
+Wilkinson, eager to show his loyalty to the Government, arrested
+"without warrant" several emissaries of Burr. One of them was released,
+but two, Bollman and Swartwout, were sent out by sea to Baltimore and
+thence to Washington, where they were kept in the military barracks. In
+a special message to Congress, Jefferson apprised the Senate and the
+House of the facts "touching an illegal combination of private
+individuals against the peace and safety of the Union, and a military
+expedition planned by them against the territories of a power in amity
+with the United States, with the measures pursued for suppressing the
+same." (January 22, 1807)
+
+Shortly after Marshall, in Washington, had refused to indict Bollman and
+Swartwout on the count of "levying war" against the United States, Burr
+was finally arrested and taken under military escort to Richmond, there
+to be delivered to the civil authorities after Marshall had signed a
+special warrant (March 26, 1807). After long skirmishes between the
+prosecution and the defense, legal moves and countermoves, Burr was
+indicted under two counts,--treason and high misdemeanor. On the first
+charge the jury rendered a verdict to the effect that "We of the jury
+say that Aaron Burr is not proved guilty under this indictment by any
+evidence submitted to us; we therefore find him not guilty."
+
+This was a most unusual and illegal form of rendering a verdict and the
+jury evidently intended to emphasize the fact that the evidence
+submitted did not warrant a conviction, although they reserved their
+opinion as to the real guilt of Colonel Burr. Marshall overruled
+objections to the form of the verdict which threatened a reopening of
+the case and decided that it would be recorded as "not guilty." Burr was
+soon recommitted on the second count and declared not guilty by a second
+jury. Upon which a third charge was brought in by the prosecution and
+Burr summoned to appear at the session of the Circuit Court of the
+United States to be held at Chillicothe in January, 1808. He never
+appeared and his bond was forfeited; it is more than doubtful that he
+would have been convicted.
+
+A serious discussion of the merits of the case would necessitate a
+minute analysis of all the evidence placed before the jury and cannot be
+undertaken here. Several attempts have been made to rehabilitate Aaron
+Burr's memory, although certain facts are so patent that they cannot be
+overlooked by the most indulgent biographers. It is a curious bend of
+the popular mind that the greatness of the conspiracy seems an excuse
+and attenuation of the most evident guilt. There was something
+apparently heroic in the ambition of that man who wanted to carve for
+himself an empire in the wilderness and to plunder the treasures of the
+mysterious Southwest. Then, by contrast, the obstinacy of Jefferson in
+using every means in his power and in the power of the Federal
+Government in order to obtain a conviction, has been represented as a
+display of pettiness unworthy of the chief of a great nation. Nor is
+this tendency restricted to the impulsive and emotional masses; it
+creeps into the accounts of the trial given by the most judicial
+historians, and I am not certain that it is entirely absent from
+Beveridge's treatment of the Richmond proceedings.
+
+Legally speaking, it is difficult to find fault with the findings of
+Marshall, with the definitions he gave of "treason" and "overt act",
+with his sifting of the evidence and, except in one or two cases, with
+his behavior during the trial. On the other hand, Jefferson has been
+accused of having unduly interfered by sending detailed instructions to
+the district attorney, by coaching him on several occasions, and by
+attempting directly and indirectly to arouse public opinion against a
+man who was on trial for his life, but who finally could not be
+convicted on any count. After such an interval of time, it is easy to
+find fault with the conduct of the Executive, and it cannot be denied
+that he acted in a very high-handed manner, condoned acts which were
+technically illegal and maintained without sufficient proofs of Burr's
+guilt that there was not "a candid man in the United States who did not
+believe some one, if not all, of these overt acts to have taken
+place."[453]
+
+On the other hand, if we try to place ourselves in the atmosphere of the
+time, it is equally easy to find explanations that to a large extent
+justify Jefferson's attitude. It must be remembered that the President
+was not unaware of Burr's intention "to form a coalition of the five
+eastern States, with New York and New Jersey, under the new appellation
+of the Seven Eastern States."[454] If Burr's machination with the
+English minister to effect a separation of the western States were still
+unknown, there was little doubt about his plans. All of Burr's ambitious
+schemes failed miserably, but it is perfectly natural that the
+Government should have been seriously alarmed at the time. They did not
+know of Wilkinson's shameful deals with Spain, but they had every reason
+to believe that a man who had already plotted a secession of the western
+territory and happened to be in charge of that territory and in command
+of the Federal army was scarcely to be depended upon in an emergency.
+For years the West had been very restive, New Orleans was full of
+discontented Creoles, and if war had not been officially declared with
+both England and Spain, it was felt that it could break out at any time.
+None of these considerations could be brought out before the jury, but
+they amply warranted some action of the Executive. The first step taken
+by Jefferson was to warn the people of the existence of a conspiracy. If
+we remember again that Aaron Burr was at that time roaming at will in a
+part of the country sparsely settled, where he counted many friends,
+where communications with Washington were slow and rare, it is difficult
+to see how the President could have done less.
+
+After the conspirators were arrested the situation changed entirely.
+They had been delivered to the civil authorities, they were to appear
+before a regular court and given trial by jury; they no longer
+constituted a public danger. It must be admitted that Jefferson himself
+declared to his French friends, Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours, that
+Burr never had a chance to succeed and "that the man who could expect to
+effect this, with American material must be a fit subject for
+Bedlam."[455] This is hard to reconcile with the statement which comes
+immediately after, that "the seriousness of the crime demands more
+serious punishment", and particularly with the instructions sent to
+George Hay. One may suspect that Jefferson saw in the trial of Burr an
+opportunity to test the loyalty of the Chief Justice to the Constitution
+and to the Government and allowed himself to be carried away by
+political preoccupations which had nothing to do with Colonel Burr. This
+appears clearly in one of the letters to Giles:
+
+  If there has ever been an instance in this or the preceding
+  administrations, of federal judges so applying principles of law as
+  to condemn a federal or acquit a republican offender, I should have
+  judged them in the present case with some charity. All this, however,
+  will work well. The nation will judge both the offender and judges
+  for themselves.[456]
+
+This was reiterated in the instructions sent to George Hay after the
+first acquittal of Burr, that no witness should be permitted to depart
+
+  ... until his testimony has been committed to writing, either as
+  delivered in court, or as taken by yourself in the presence of Burr's
+  counsel.... These whole proceedings will be laid before Congress,
+  that they may decide, whether the defect has been in the evidence of
+  guilt, or in the law, or in the application of the law, and that they
+  may provide the proper remedy for the past and the future.
+
+The intention to scrutinize the documents to uncover any bias of
+Marshall and use any such evidence against the Chief Justice is even
+openly admitted: "I must pray you also to have an authentic copy of the
+record made out (without saying for what) and to send it to me; if the
+Judge's opinions make out a part of it, then I must ask a copy of them,
+either under his hand, if he delivers one signed, or duly proved by
+affidavit."[457] Who could deny after reading this that Jefferson's
+intention was to push vigorously the attack against the judiciary, and
+to institute impeachment proceedings against Marshall on the slightest
+justification? Thus the trial of Burr became a test of strength between
+the executive and the judiciary, between the President and the Chief
+Justice; it was fought out in the courtroom the more fiercely as the two
+antagonists were kinsmen and brought into it the obstinacy and animosity
+of Southern feudists.
+
+Marshall came out as the stanch and unshakable champion of legality, and
+Jefferson did not refrain from using the arguments and reasonings
+resorted to by the Federalists when the Sedition Act was passed. There
+was little excuse for a man of his legal training in believing that Burr
+could be convicted and punished for his "intentions" to commit a crime,
+and the prosecution failed to bring in sufficient proof of Aaron Burr's
+guilt. It would have been more dignified and more consistent with
+Jefferson's theories if, after the conspirator was made powerless, the
+President had remained silent. That, however, he could not do. Early in
+October, he called back Attorney-general Robert Smith in order to
+prepare a selection and digestion of the documents respecting Burr's
+treason and, in his message to Congress, on October 27, if he did not
+use the word treason, he still accused Burr of "enterprise against the
+public peace." He assumed responsibility and claimed credit for the
+measures that had permitted "to dissipate before their explosion plots
+engendering on the Mississippi." He laid before Congress the proceedings
+and evidence exhibited on the arraignment of the principal offenders.
+Finally, he concluded that Burr's acquittal was evidence that there was
+something wrong somewhere, and that the nation could not remain
+defenceless against such dangers. "The framers of our constitution
+certainly supposed they had guarded, as well their government against
+destruction by treason, as their citizens against oppression, under
+pretence of it; and if these ends are not attained, it is of importance
+to inquire by what means more effectual they may be secured."
+
+A year later, writing to Doctor James Brown about the measures of
+repression taken by Wilkinson in New Orleans, Jefferson presented what
+he considered a full justification of his conduct:
+
+  I do wish to see these people get what they deserved; and under the
+  maxim of the law itself, that _inter arma silent leges_, that in an
+  encampment expecting daily attack from a powerful enemy, self
+  preservation is paramount to all law. I expected that instead of
+  invoking the forms of the law, to cover traitors, all good citizens
+  would have concurred in securing them. Should we have ever gained our
+  Revolution, if we had bound our hands by manacles of the law, not
+  only in the beginning, but in any part of the revolutionary
+  conflict?[458]
+
+This was exactly the sort of reasoning that Jefferson had opposed so
+strenuously when advanced by his political opponents. Apparently he had
+completely reversed his position after getting in the saddle, which was
+very illogical and perhaps very damnable, but also very human. He was
+now, to use the vivid expression of a French statesman, "on the other
+side of the barricade", and he saw things in a different light. But if
+this episode can serve to illustrate the inconsistency of the
+philosopher, it constitutes also a most striking refutation of the
+accusations of Jacobinism so often launched against Jefferson; for only
+the Jacobin is perfectly consistent in all circumstances. More than
+thirty years had elapsed since Jefferson had copied the old maxim _fiat
+justifia ruat coelum_ in his "Memorandum book" and he was still wont
+to repeat it, but it had taken him less than eight years of executive
+responsibility to make him admit that democracy does not work in times
+of emergency. It was a most dangerous admission, but one to be expected
+from a man in whom still lived the ruthless spirit of the frontier.
+Pioneer communities in which unrestricted and unlimited democracy
+prevails are pitiless for the outlaw who endangers the life of the
+group, and are not stopped by "legal subtleties." In Jefferson there was
+more of the pioneer than he himself believed. For this very reason he
+was probably more completely and intensely an average American than if
+he had "acted up" to the letter of the law in every circumstance.
+
+This was by far the most dramatic of the internal difficulties that
+Jefferson had to face during his second term. Burr's conspiracy obscured
+the attacks against Madison led by the former spokesman of Jefferson's
+party, John Randolph of Roanoke. But already, when Burr's trial was held
+in Richmond, "circumstances which seriously threatened the peace of the
+country" had made it a duty to convene Congress at an earlier date than
+usual. Once again, as under the administrations of Washington and Adams,
+foreign policies were to dominate and direct domestic policies, and once
+again America was to bear the penalty of all neutrals who try to keep
+out of the war in a world conflagration.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+"PEACE AND COMMERCE WITH EVERY NATION"
+
+
+War is not always an unmixed curse, at least for nations who manage to
+remain neutral while the rest of the world is torn by calamitous
+conflicts. Europe's misfortune had been to some extent America's good
+fortune. With comparatively short intermissions, France and England were
+engaged in a death struggle from 1793 to 1815, and although Britannia
+ruled the sea, the belligerents had to resort to neutral shipping. The
+exports of the United States, which were valued at only nineteen
+millions in 1791, reached ninety-four millions in 1802, and one hundred
+eight millions in 1807. The imports followed approximately the same
+curve for the corresponding dates, jumping from nineteen millions to
+seventy-five millions in 1802 and reaching over one hundred thirty-eight
+millions in 1807. If the United States had been permitted to pursue the
+policy outlined by Jefferson in his messages, "to cultivate the
+friendship of the belligerent nations by every act of justice and of
+incessant kindness" (October 17, 1803), "to carry a commercial
+intercourse with every part of the dominions of a belligerent" (January
+17, 1806), a sort of commercial millennium would have been attained and
+the prosperity of the United States would have been boundless. But, at
+least at the beginning of the nineteenth century, neither the rights of
+neutrals nor international law were observed by the belligerents, and
+neutrals were bound to suffer as well as to profit by their privileged
+situation.
+
+For his conduct of foreign affairs Jefferson has been severely taken to
+task, not only by many of his contemporaries but by several historians,
+one of the most formidable critics being Henry Adams. During his second
+administration, America suffered deep humiliations which aroused the
+national spirit. In many occasions war could have and perhaps should
+have been declared; the navy, which had been reduced to a minimum under
+Gallatin's policy of economy, could have been expanded so as to enable
+the country to protect herself against foreign insults. On matters
+concerning national honor and national pride Americans alone are
+qualified to pass, and I can hold no brief for Jefferson in the matter.
+Perhaps it would have soothed the wounds inflicted to the _amour-propre_
+of the nation if war had been declared against France, or England, or
+both, and if America had taken part in the "bloody conflicts" of Europe.
+It must be said, however, that one fails to see what material advantages
+would have resulted for the country; in this case, as in many others,
+Jefferson's conduct seems to have been directed by enlightened
+self-interest. He was most unwilling to favor and help in any way
+Napoleon's ambitious schemes by declaring war against England; on the
+other hand, the prospect of forming a _de facto_ alliance with a country
+which on so many occasions had deliberately insulted the United States
+and manifestly entertained feelings of scorn and distrust toward the
+young republic was equally abhorrent to him. Finally, it must not be
+forgotten that by keeping out of the deadly conflict in which Europe was
+engaged, the United States were able to lay the solid foundations of an
+unparalleled prosperity. While the young manhood of Europe perished on
+the battlefields of Napoleon, the population of America grew by leaps
+and bounds, passing from 5,300,000 in 1800 to 7,250,000 in 1810. While
+the farms and the factories of the Old World were left abandoned,
+immense territories were put under cultivation and new industries were
+developed to satisfy the demands of consumers who could no longer import
+manufactured products from England. The whole life of the nation was
+quickened and the industrial revolution hastened.
+
+When, after Waterloo, Europe resumed her peaceful pursuits, America had
+freed herself of economic and financial dependence from the Old World.
+She had become a rich, powerful and self-supporting nation. She appeared
+to the impoverished peoples of the earth as an economic as well as a
+political Eldorado. Whether the price she paid for it was too high is a
+question which I may be permitted to leave for others to decide.
+
+In his second inaugural address, the President found it unnecessary to
+state again the directing principles of his policies, simply declaring
+that he had "acted up" to the declaration contained in his first
+inaugural. Of foreign affairs he had little to say, except to reiterate
+his conviction that "with nations, as well as with individuals, our
+interests soundly calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our
+moral duties." Yet there was a passing reference to possible
+difficulties. War sometimes could not be avoided: "it might be procured
+by injustice by ourselves, or by others"; and provision ought to be made
+in advance for such emergencies, so as "to meet all the expenses of any
+given year, without encroaching on the rights of future generations, by
+burdening them with the debts of the past." The President foresaw that,
+with the rapid growth of the population and the corresponding increase
+in revenue raised from import taxes, it would be possible
+
+  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 amendement of the
+  constitution, be applied, _in time of peace_, to rivers, canals,
+  roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects within
+  each State.
+
+One may wonder whether at that time Jefferson realized the possible
+consequences of such a system. We have not to seek very far for the
+exact "source" of these ideas; they were taken bodily from Hamilton's
+report of manufactures. It was the same proposal to distribute subsidies
+and bounties from the Federal treasury, to encourage commerce and
+manufactures. Apparently what was damnable and criminal under a
+Federalist administration became praiseworthy under a Republican regime.
+
+As a matter of fact, even during Jefferson's first term, some of the
+resources of the Federal treasury had to be spent in warlike activities.
+Jefferson had never been able to forget the deep humiliation he had felt
+when, as a minister to the Court of France, he had been forced to
+negotiate with the Barbary pirates for the redemption of American
+prisoners. He had been less than six months in office when he decided to
+answer the new demands of the Barbary States by sending an American
+fleet to protect American commerce in the Mediterranean. To this
+incident he gave a large part of his first message (December 8, 1801),
+and the activities of the small squadron kept in Europe for several
+years, in order to blockade the pirates in their harbors, was regularly
+mentioned in his subsequent messages. The tone of some passages is well
+worth studying. His hope to reduce "the Barbarians of Tripoli to the
+desire of peace on proper terms by the sufferings of war" (November 8,
+1804); his determination to send to Europe additional forces, "to make
+Tripoli sensible that they mistake their interest in choosing war with
+us; and Tunis also, should she have declared war as we expect and almost
+wish" (July 18, 1804)--all this reveals a warlike Jefferson very
+different from the pacifist philosopher he is supposed to have been in
+all circumstances.
+
+It was irritating enough to bear the insults of British and French
+vessels to the American flag in order to keep the United States out of a
+European war. To yield to the demands of a band of pirates who could be
+cowed by energetic action with a minimum of bloodshed and expenditure,
+would have been an insufferable disgrace. The Barbarians had to be
+beaten into submission, and the European powers who did not seem to be
+willing to emancipate themselves from that degrading tribute could
+perhaps understand at the same time that there were limits to the
+forbearance of the United States.
+
+With reference to England the situation was entirely different. The
+United States had no fleet able to cope with the English fleet. The
+American coasts were unprotected and the American harbors could be
+bombarded from the sea without even being able to make a pretense of
+resisting. A large navy could not be built in a day, and even if one had
+been improvised, the odds would have been so uneven that many American
+vessels would have gone down and many lives would have been lost under
+the fire of the British frigates. Thus for practical reasons as well as
+from philanthropic motives, Jefferson bent all his efforts to the
+preservation of peace with the great countries of Europe.
+
+Hardly three weeks after the signature of the treaty through which he
+gave up Louisiana, Bonaparte declared war against England. When he
+received the news, Jefferson wrote a long letter to Lord Buchan in which
+he defined his policy:
+
+  My hope of preserving peace for our country is not founded in the
+  greater principle of non-resistance under every wrong, but in the
+  belief that a just and friendly conduct on our part will procure
+  justice and friendship from others. In the existing contest, each of
+  the combatants will find an interest in our friendship. I cannot say
+  we shall be unconcerned spectators of this combat. We feel for human
+  sufferings, and we wish the good of all. We shall look on, therefore,
+  with the sensations which these dispositions and the events of the
+  war will produce.[459]
+
+Thus spoke Jefferson in July, 1803, and Woodrow Wilson, who borrowed
+more than one page from the book of his predecessor, expressed himself
+in almost the same words one hundred and eleven years later. Thus,
+also, would probably speak any President of the United States should a
+new conflagration break out to-morrow. This, to be sure, was no
+proclamation of neutrality and none was needed at the time; but had
+Jefferson written one, he could scarcely have expressed himself more
+forcibly than he did in a letter sent two days later to General Horatio
+Gates: "We are friendly, cordially and conscientiously friendly to
+England. We are not hostile to France. We will be rigorously just and
+sincerely friendly to both."
+
+But this fine declaration did not make Jefferson forget the immediate
+interests of the United States, for the preoccupation uppermost in his
+mind at that time was to find out how the European situation could be
+used to the best advantage of his own country.
+
+In signing the treaty France had refused to give any guarantee as to the
+extent of the territory ceded under the Louisiana Purchase. Whether the
+cession included West Florida, on the occupation of which Jefferson had
+been so intent, was a matter of doubt. This particular point had not
+been pressed during the negotiations, France, according to the old maxim
+_caveat emptor_, taking the position that the question lay between the
+United States and Spain, while the United States had never abandoned the
+hope that they would be able to induce Bonaparte to exert pressure on
+Madrid so as to enable the American Government to make the most of the
+transaction. Soon after the treaty was signed, the United States found
+themselves enmeshed in one of the most complicated intrigues of European
+diplomacy.
+
+While Madison and Jefferson were negotiating in Washington with the
+Spanish minister Yrujo, Pinkney and later Monroe negotiated in Madrid,
+sometimes at cross purposes but without ever losing sight of the main
+object. Jefferson had renewed his old contention that the United States
+were entitled to "all the navigable waters, rivers, creeks, bays, and
+inlets lying within the United States, which empty into the Gulf of
+Mexico east of the River Mississippi." As Henry Adams remarked, this was
+a most remarkable provision, as "no creeks, bays, or inlets lying within
+the United States emptied into the Gulf."[460] But if Jefferson's
+geography was faulty, his intent was perfectly clear, and every
+opportunity was to be used to round out the perimeter of the United
+States. When in October, 1804, Monroe reached Paris to push negotiations
+more vigorously, the plans of the United States had crystallized. They
+had a beautiful simplicity: to make Spain pay the claims resulting from
+the shutting-up of the Mississippi by Morales, to take immediate
+possession of Western Florida and to obtain the cession of Eastern
+Florida.
+
+With the details of the diplomatic maneuvers we are not concerned here,
+but rather with the remarkable proposal made by Jefferson to Madison
+during the summer of 1805. Spain having declared war against England,
+the President, fearful of being "left without an ally", thought
+immediately of proposing "a provisional alliance with England" (August
+7, 1805). This alliance was to be conditional and would become effective
+only in case the United States should have to declare war against France
+or Spain. "In that event," wrote Jefferson, "we should make common
+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 boundaries of Louisiana (which we should reduce
+to a minimum by a secret article) and 2, indemnification for spoliation,
+for which purpose we should be allowed to make reprisal on the Floridas
+and _retain them_ as an indemnification." Jefferson added that "as it
+was the wish of every Englishman's heart to see the United States
+fighting by their sides against France", the king and his ministers
+could do no better than to enter into an alliance and the nation would
+consider it "as the price and pledge of an indissoluble
+friendship."[461] There is little doubt that if, at this juncture,
+Monroe had maneuvered more skillfully, if England had showed less
+arrogance in her treatment of the United States, she could have secured
+at least the benevolent neutrality of America. But apparently England
+did not care for a benevolent neutrality. After Trafalgar, she was left
+undisputed mistress of the ocean, she could enforce her own regulations
+as she pleased, and she proceeded to do so.
+
+The presidential message of December 3, 1805, had to present very
+"unpleasant views of violence and wrong." The coasts of America were
+infested by "private armed vessels, some of them with commissions,
+others without commissions", all of them committing enormities, sinking
+American merchantmen, "maltreating the crews, abandoning them in boats
+in the open seas or on desert shores." The same policy of "hovering on
+the coast" was carried on by "public armed vessels." New principles,
+too, had been "interloped into the law of nations, founded neither in
+justice nor in the usage or acknowledgment of nations"; this was an
+allusion to the decision of Judge Scott in the Essex case. With Spain
+negotiations had not had a satisfactory issue, propositions for
+adjusting amicably the boundaries of Louisiana had not been acceded to,
+and spoliation claims formerly acknowledged had again been denied.
+
+The President concluded that, although peace was still the ultimate
+ideal of the United States, there were circumstances which admitted of
+no peaceful remedy. Some evils were "of a nature to be met by force
+only, and all of them may lead to it." Finally specific recommendations
+were made to organize the national defense: furnishing the seaports with
+heavy cannon, increasing the number of gunboats, classifying the militia
+so as to have ready a competent number of men "for offence or defence in
+any point where they may be wanted", prohibition of the exportations of
+arms and ammunition,--such were the chief measures contemplated by the
+President.
+
+In the spring of 1806, he wrote a long letter to Alexander of Russia,
+who had manifested a desire to have a copy of the Constitution of the
+United States. This was an appeal to the Czar, insisting that special
+articles defining the rights of neutrals in time of war be inserted in
+the definitive treaty of peace sooner or later to be concluded between
+the European belligerents. Having taken no part in the troubles of
+Europe, "the United States would have no part in its pacification", but
+it was to be hoped that some one would be found "who, looking beyond the
+narrow bounds of an individual nation, will take under the cover of his
+equity the rights of the absent and unrepresented."[462] Unfortunately,
+more than ten years were to elapse before that pacification of Europe so
+earnestly hoped for by Jefferson came about, and only a week before the
+British ministry had again aggravated regulations against the neutrals
+by issuing orders blockading the coast of the continent (April 8, 1806).
+
+A few weeks later, Jefferson who, yielding to the pressure of Congress,
+had agreed to appoint a special envoy to help Monroe negotiate a
+commercial treaty with England, sent William Pinkney of Maryland to
+London. "He has a just view of things, so far as known to him," wrote
+Jefferson to Monroe, but he did not deem it desirable to trust him with
+special instructions. For Monroe alone he reserved the complete
+exposition of the plans then brooding in his mind. The death of Pitt
+would probably mark a change in the attitude of Great Britain; the
+President had more confidence in Mr. Fox than in any other man in
+England and relied entirely on "his honesty and good sense." Then came
+an outline of the reasoning to be put forward by Monroe: "No two
+countries upon earth have so many points of common interests and
+friendship; and their rulers must be great bunglers indeed, if, with
+such dispositions, they break them asunder." England might check the
+United States a little on the ocean; but she should realize that nothing
+but her financial limitations prevented America from having a strong
+navy. If France provided the money, so as to equip an American fleet,
+the state of the ocean would be no longer problematical. If England, on
+the contrary, made such a proposition, an alliance of the two largest
+fleets "would make the world out of the continent of Europe our joint
+monopoly." Then Jefferson added: "we wish for neither of these
+scenes--We ask for peace and justice from all nations; and we will
+remain uprightly neutral in fact, though leaning in belief to the
+opinion that an English ascendency on the ocean is safer for us than
+that of France."
+
+Finally, at the end of the letter, came the most extraordinarily
+imperialistic proposition ever made by any nation; it was the extension
+of a pet theory of Jefferson to the Atlantic Ocean. As he had claimed
+for the United States the free navigation of all the streams originating
+on the territory of the United States, he was ready to claim that the
+great current originating from the Gulf should not be considered
+differently, and he wrote: "We begin to broach the idea that we consider
+the whole Gulf Stream as of our waters, in which hostilities and
+cruising are to be frowned on for the present, and prohibited so soon as
+either consent or force will permit us."[463]
+
+This might be thought a visionary scheme and merely a flight of
+imagination, if Jefferson had not expressed the same idea in identical
+terms in a conversation with the French minister concerning the treaty
+negotiated in London by Monroe and Pinkney: "Perhaps we shall obtain the
+right to extend our maritime jurisdiction, and to carry it as far as the
+effect of the Gulph Stream makes itself felt,--which would be very
+advantageous both to belligerents and neutrals."[464]
+
+These being Jefferson's views, it would have taken a far more successful
+negotiator than Monroe to make the British Government accept them. The
+treaty finally signed by the American envoys on December 1, 1806, was
+far from satisfactory. As a matter of fact, the American envoys had been
+caught between the hammer and the anvil. To the Fox blockade of April,
+1806, Napoleon had answered by the Berlin Decree at the end of November,
+placing the British islands in a state of blockade, declaring all
+merchandise coming from England subject to confiscation and refusing
+admission into any French port to any vessel coming either from England
+or her colonies. Forbidden by England to trade with France, by France to
+trade with England, the neutrals were placed in a sorry plight. Yet not
+only did Monroe in his treaty recognize the right of visit and of
+impressing British seamen found on board American vessels, but he gave
+up the American claims to indemnity for outrages committed on American
+commerce in 1805, and accepted the most humiliating conditions
+concerning American trade with the French and Spanish colonies. Finally,
+before Monroe could obtain the signature of the British negotiators, he
+had to agree to an additional article by which he promised not to
+recognize the decree of Berlin. In less than three weeks Jefferson
+received Napoleon's decree, the text of the Pinkney-Monroe treaty, and
+the news of Lord Howick's retaliatory order requesting that no goods
+should be carried to France unless they first touched at an English port
+and paid a certain duty.
+
+In spite of the pressing request of the Senate, Jefferson refused to
+communicate the text of the treaty. The explanation publicly given by
+the President was that Monroe had concluded the treaty before receiving
+information as to the points to be insisted upon, and that a new effort
+would be made to obtain the modification of some particularly
+objectionable features. "This is the statement we have given out," he
+wrote to Monroe, "and nothing more of the treaty has ever been made
+known. But depend on it, my dear Sir, that it will be considered as a
+hard treaty when it is known." If it appeared to Monroe that no
+amendment was to be hoped for, he was authorized to come home, leaving
+behind him Pinkney, who by procrastination would let it die and thus
+would give America more time "the most precious of all things to
+us."[465]
+
+New instructions were sent accordingly to the American envoys at the end
+of May, but the problem of the relations with England became suddenly
+more acute during Aaron Burr's trial.
+
+On June 22, the _Chesapeake_ of the American navy, bound for the
+Mediterranean, was hauled up in view of Cape Henry by the _Leopard_ of
+the British squadron, and summons were sent to Commodore Barron to
+deliver some British deserters he was supposed to have on board. Upon
+Barron's refusal, the _Leopard_ opened fire and for fifteen minutes sent
+broadsides into the American ship, so unprepared and unready that only
+one shot could be fired in answer. The American flag was hauled down,
+British officers boarded the ship and took four deserters; after which
+Captain Humphreys of the _Leopard_ declared to Barron that he could
+proceed on his way. The _Chesapeake_ limped back into port, and on the
+twenty-fifth, Jefferson called back to Washington Dearborn and Gallatin
+to consider the emergency in a meeting of the Cabinet.
+
+What his indignation over the outrage may have been is a matter of
+surmise. He did not express it either privately or publicly. To Governor
+William H. Cabell, who had sent him a special message and report, he
+answered diplomatically that, after consulting the Cabinet he would
+determine "the course which exigency and our constitutional powers call
+for.--Whether the outrage is a proper cause of war, belonging
+exclusively to Congress, it is our duty not to commit them by doing
+anything which would have to be retracted." But it is certain that, even
+at that time, he was not ready to recommend any radical step, for he
+added:
+
+  This will leave Congress free to decide whether war is the most
+  efficacious mode of redress in our case, or whether, having taught so
+  many other useful lessons to Europe, we may not add that of showing
+  them that there are peaceable means of repressing injustice by making
+  it the interest of the aggressor to do what is just and abstain from
+  future wrong.[466]
+
+It was scarcely necessary to call the Cabinet together; three days
+before the special meeting the President had already decided on a policy
+of forbearance and watchful waiting. The proclamation which was issued
+was moderate in tone, but Jefferson expressed more clearly in a letter
+to the Vice President, George Clinton, the reasons for his moderation.
+
+  The usage of nations requires that we shall give the offender an
+  opportunity of making reparation and avoiding war. That we would give
+  time to our merchants to get in their property and vessels and our
+  seamen now afloat; That the power of declaring war being with the
+  Legislature, the executive could do nothing necessarily committing
+  them to decide for war in preference of non-intercourse, which will
+  be preferred by a great many.[467]
+
+In order to make even more certain that no precipitate step would be
+taken, it was decided to issue, on August 24, a proclamation calling
+Congress together, but not until the fourth Monday in October. It was
+the manifest hope of the President that by that date some satisfaction
+would be obtained from England with regard to the most flagrant
+violations of the "_droit des gens_", and that extreme measures could be
+avoided.
+
+In the meantime new instructions had been sent to Monroe. "Reparation
+for the past, and security for the future is our motto," wrote the
+President to Du Pont de Nemours. Reparation for the past, at least as
+far as the attack on the _Chesapeake_ was concerned, would have been
+easy to obtain, but Canning refused persistently to make any promise for
+the future, or to alter the policy of Great Britain with regard to visit
+and impressment. For his firmness in refusing to settle the case of the
+_Chesapeake_ independently, Jefferson has been most severely criticized
+by Henry Adams, whose admiration for Perceval's and Canning's superior
+minds is unbounded. Shall I confess that on this particular point, at
+least, I should rather agree with the English biographer of Jefferson,
+Mr. Hirst, who declares that "no second-rate lawyer was ever more obtuse
+than Perceval, and the wit of Canning, his foreign secretary, seldom
+issued in wisdom." On this occasion Great Britain was even more stupid
+than she had been in 1776; she missed her great opportunity to operate a
+reconciliation with the United States and to turn them against France,
+without other compensation than the pleasure of outwitting the American
+envoys and once more treating scornfully the younger country. The real
+answer of England was given in the Orders in Council of November 11,
+1807, prohibiting all neutral trade with the whole European seacoast
+from Copenhagen to Trieste. No American vessel was to be allowed to
+enter any port of Europe from which British vessels were excluded
+without first going to England and abiding by regulations to be
+determined later.
+
+In the meantime, Jefferson was pushing fast his preparations for
+defence. A detailed examination of his correspondence during the summer
+and fall of that year would justify him amply from the criticism of
+several American historians.[468] He still hoped for peace, or more
+exactly peace remained his ideal, although he had very little hope that
+Monroe would succeed in his negotiations. But nothing could be done as
+long as American ships and sailors, "at least twenty thousand men",
+were on the seas, an easy prey to British vessels in case war should be
+declared at once. "The loss of these," wrote Jefferson quite correctly,
+"would be worth to Great Britain many victories on the Nile and
+Trafalgar."[469]
+
+To judge of Jefferson's conduct at that time from our modern point of
+view would be most unfair and dangerous. He could neither cable, nor
+send radiograms, nor even steamships to warn American citizens in
+distant ports, nor give instructions to agents of the United States all
+over the world. It took months for news to cross the ocean and sometimes
+a year or more to receive an answer to a letter. The geographical
+isolation of the United States, their remoteness from Europe and the
+slowness of communications were obvious factors of the situation, yet
+they are too often neglected in judging the policy then followed by the
+President. As the year advanced, Jefferson's hope of being able to
+maintain peace grew fainter. There is a spirit of helplessness in a
+letter he wrote to James Maury at the end of November:
+
+  The world as you justly observe, is truly in an awful state. Two
+  nations of overgrown power are endeavoring to establish, the one an
+  universal dominion by sea, the other by land.... We are now in hourly
+  expectation of hearing from our ministers in London by the return of
+  the "Revenge." Whether she will bring us war or peace, or the middle
+  state of non-intercourse, seems suspended in equal balance.[470]
+
+The message to Congress, of October 27, contained no specific
+recommendation. It was a dispassionate recital of the circumstances
+which had necessitated new instructions to Monroe, a promise that
+Congress would be informed of the result of the negotiations, news of
+which was expected hourly, and an enumeration of the measures taken
+towards the defense of the country. When the first news finally came,
+the President had already decided upon the course to follow. On
+December 18, 1807, he sent to Congress one of his shortest messages:
+
+  The communications now made, showing the great and increasing dangers
+  with which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandise, are threatened
+  on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of
+  Europe, and it being of great importance to keep in safety these
+  essential resources, I deem it my duty to recommend the subject to
+  the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all the
+  advantages which may be expected from an inhibition of the departure
+  of our vessels from the ports of the United States. Their wisdom will
+  also see the necessity of making every preparation for whatever
+  events may grow out of the present crisis.
+
+The situation was much more clearly described in a letter to General
+John Mason written approximately at the same time.
+
+  The sum of these mutual enterprises on our national rights--wrote the
+  President--is that France, and her allies, reserving for further
+  consideration the prohibiting our carrying anything to the British
+  territories, have virtually done it, by restraining our bringing a
+  return cargo from them; and that Great Britain, after prohibiting a
+  great proportion of our commerce with France and her allies, is now
+  believed to have prohibited the whole. The whole world is thus laid
+  under interdict by these two nations, and our vessels, their cargoes
+  and crews, are to be taken by the one or the other, for whatever
+  place they may be destined out of our own limits. If therefore, on
+  leaving our harbors we are certain to lose them, is it not better, as
+  to vessels, cargoes and seamen, to keep them at home? This is
+  submitted to the wisdom of Congress, who alone are competent to
+  provide a remedy.[471]
+
+As in so many other instances the temptation is great to draw a parallel
+between Jefferson's policies and the neutrality advocated by Woodrow
+Wilson during his first term, and to repeat the worn-out and dangerous
+adage "history repeats itself." As a matter of fact, the situation
+faced by Jefferson in 1808 was entirely different from that which
+confronted President Wilson from 1914 to 1917. America was not then a
+rich and powerful country with unlimited resources. The people had just
+emerged from a long and distressing financial crisis, for it took more
+than one generation to heal the wounds of a war which had lasted six
+years. The Federal Government was far from being as strong as it was
+destined to become. The navy was ridiculously inadequate, not only to go
+out and give battle to the English fleet, but even, to use Jefferson's
+expression, to keep the seaports "_hors d'insulte_".
+
+These facts must be kept in mind if one wishes to form a true estimate
+of Jefferson's conduct and character during the calamitous years of his
+second term. To criticize his policies is an easy feat for a modern
+historian, for it is natural that an American of to-day should resent
+Jefferson's attitude as unworthy of a great self-respecting nation.
+Undoubtedly the President might have sent a warlike message to Congress
+and war would have immediately followed, but on the whole the issue had
+been taken out of his hands in December, 1807. The embargo, as he justly
+pointed out, was no new policy and no new measure; it was simply a
+recognition of a situation created by both France and Great Britain. The
+only way out would have been a formal declaration of war, and one does
+not quite see what this grand gesture would have accomplished. Certainly
+the United States were no more in position to march into Canada in 1807
+than they were in 1812, and if they had succeeded in taking possession
+of the British colony, it is unlikely that Great Britain would have
+accepted such a loss with equanimity. Furthermore, even if a formal
+alliance had been concluded with France, the French fleet would have
+been powerless to prevent the British navy from cruising on the American
+coast and repeating, if they had wished, the outrages that had befallen
+Copenhagen.
+
+Another solution, favored by such a liberal historian of Jefferson as
+Mr. A. J. Nock, would have been frankly to recognize the existing
+situation and to leave the New England merchants free to send out their
+vessels at their own risk. This would have relieved to a certain extent
+the economic distress of the northern States, but whether it would have
+been more honest or more dignified than the embargo is a matter of
+opinion. Such a policy would have been neutral only in appearance; it
+would have amounted to a tacit recognition of a British monopoly of the
+American trade, since England was really the only country to which
+American ships would have been permitted to go. Granting that the
+embargo was "the most arbitrary, inquisitorial, and confiscatory measure
+formulated in American legislation up to the period of the Civil
+War",[472] I fail to see that the prestige of the United States would
+have gained much by allowing their citizens to submit to the humiliating
+Orders in Council of November 11, 1807. Of all policies this would have
+been the most evasive, most vacillating and least dignified.
+
+It must be furthermore remembered that though he was gifted with
+remarkable foresight, Jefferson was in no position to guess that the
+conflict between England and France would last for seven more years. He
+believed, on the contrary, that the Titanic struggle would come, if not
+to a definite close, at least to a pause, within a comparatively short
+time: "Time may produce peace in Europe; peace in Europe removes all
+causes of difference, till another European war; and by that time our
+debt may be paid, our revenue clear, and our strength increased."[473]
+This reasoning reappears in many letters written by Jefferson during the
+last year of his administration. His correspondence during the months
+that separated him from rest and philosophical meditation may be devoid
+of dramatic interest, but a thorough perusal of it would demonstrate
+that at no time during his long political career were his motives less
+interested, less partisan and more truly patriotic.
+
+At no time, either, was he more bitterly attacked. He suffered from "the
+peltings of the storm" and cried out pathetically to Benjamin Rush: "Oh!
+for the day when I shall be withdrawn from it; when I shall have leisure
+to enjoy my family, my friends, my farm and books." But the defection of
+the Republicans in Congress, the divergence of opinions in his Cabinet,
+the threats of secession, the anonymous letters and the press campaign
+launched against him had no power to shake his strong negative
+resolution. Yet in all justice to him it may be seen that his policy was
+not entirely negative.
+
+First of all his letters show that he never considered the embargo as a
+permanent cure. As early as March, 1808, writing to Charles Pinckney,
+the former envoy to Spain, he declared that the effect of the embargo
+would be "to postpone for this year the immediate danger of a rupture
+with England." He admitted that a time would come "when war would be
+preferable to a continuance of the embargo and that the question would
+have to be decided at the next meeting of Congress unless peace
+intervened in the meantime."[474] Under these circumstances the repeal
+of the embargo voted by Congress to take effect after Jefferson's
+retirement cannot be considered as a rebuke to the President. Moreover,
+it appears that Jefferson had given some thought to three and not two
+alternatives: 1, embargo; 2, war; 3, submission and tribute,--the third
+being exactly that advocated by Mr. Nock. In Jefferson's opinion this
+third solution was at once "to be put out by every American and the two
+first considered."[475] Writing to Thomas Leib, earlier in the year, he
+had already defined his position with regard to this solution,
+recommended by the mercantile interests: "It is true, the time will
+come when we must abandon it (the embargo). But if this is before the
+repeal of the orders of council, we must abandon it only for a state of
+war. The day is not distant, when that will be preferable to a longer
+continuance of the embargo. But we can never remove that, and let our
+vessels go out and be taken under these orders without making reprisal."
+This is itself evidence, but it has apparently escaped many historians
+as well as many contemporaries of Jefferson. If the embargo is
+considered not as a permanent policy but as a political expedient and a
+political experiment, the greater part of Henry Adams' arraignment of
+Jefferson's political philosophy falls flat.[476] When, on the other
+hand, the same writer admits that "the result was that the embargo saved
+perhaps twenty millions of dollars a year and some thousands of lives
+which the war would have consumed", we may be permitted to add that
+Jefferson would not have granted the principle that "the strongest
+objection to war was not its waste of money or even of life; for money
+and life in political economy were worth no more than they could be made
+to produce." If this is economic history, Heaven preserve us from
+economic policies! As to the accusation that "Jefferson's system was
+preaching the fear of war, of self-sacrifice, making many smugglers and
+traitors, but not a single hero", I must humbly confess that one does
+not see that America would have been much richer for engaging without
+adequate preparation or even a fair chance to defend herself in a
+useless and, in last analysis, probably inglorious war.
+
+It is claimed, however, that the embargo caused an economic catastrophe:
+
+  As the order was carried along the seacoast, every artisan dropped
+  his tools, every merchant closed his doors, every ship was
+  dismantled. American produce--wheat, timber, cotton, tobacco,
+  rice--dropped in value or became unsalable; every imported article
+  rose in price; wages stopped, swarms of debtors became bankrupt;
+  thousands of sailors hung idle around the wharves.... A reign of
+  idleness began; and the men who were not already ruined felt that
+  their ruin was only a matter of time.[477]
+
+A very pathetic picture this, made even more pitiful by the classic
+quotation from the British traveler, Lambert, who visited New York in
+1808 and described it as a place ravaged by pestilence. But why not
+quote also from another traveler, John Mellish, who spoke of the impetus
+given to manufactures and home industries?[478] Why forget to mention
+Gallatin's report of 1810, pointing out that some basic industries had
+been firmly established in the United States, such as iron, cotton,
+flax, hats, paper, printing type, gunpowder, window glass, clocks, etc.
+Who could deny, at any rate, that manufactures made enormous progress,
+thanks to the embargo, and that goods formerly imported from England
+began to be made in America? Even supposing that the picture drawn by H.
+Adams were true, it would be necessary to admit that there was another
+side to it and that a few artisans, at least, remained working steadily
+at their benches.
+
+The last annual message of Jefferson to Congress was noncommittal on the
+measures to be taken. It presented first a dispassionate recital of the
+negotiations carried on with France and England to bring them to rescind
+the most offensive features of their orders and decrees. It recognized
+that "this candid and liberal experiment had failed." It was left to
+Congress to determine what course to follow:
+
+  Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in defiance of
+  laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean
+  with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on
+  the course best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with
+  them, as they do, from every part of the Union, the sentiments of our
+  constituants, my confidence is strengthened, that in forming this
+  decision they will, with an unerring regard to the essential rights
+  and interests of the nation weigh and compare the painful
+  alternatives out of which a choice is to be made.
+
+This reserved attitude Jefferson intended to maintain during the rest of
+his term. "I have thought it right to take no part myself in proposing
+measures, the execution of which will devolve on my successor. I am
+therefore chiefly an unmedling listener to what others say."[479] But to
+Doctor William Eustis he protested that "while thus endeavoring to
+secure, and preparing to vindicate that commerce, the absurd opinion has
+been propagated, that this temporary and necessary arrangement was to be
+a permanent system and was intended for its destruction."[480] And this
+seems to indicate that he was quite definite in his own mind, even if he
+refrained from expressing his opinion officially.
+
+After more than a month's deliberation in Congress, Jefferson had come
+to believe that "Congress had taken their ground firmly for continuing
+the embargo till June, and then war." Quite suddenly, however, the
+majority, frightened by threats of secession openly made by the New
+England members, and fearful of the famous Essex Junto, rallied to a
+compromise. Neither the people nor Congress were for war, and that fact
+had been clearly realized very early both by the French and the British
+ministers; at the same time it was felt that something must be done to
+relieve to some extent the financial distress of the Virginia planters
+and New England merchants. The result was that Congress decided to
+remove the embargo on March 4, "non intercourse with France and Great
+Britain, trade everywhere else, and continuing war preparations."[481]
+
+On the first of March, three days before the inauguration of his
+successor, Jefferson signed the bill, but not without serious
+misgivings. The letters he wrote at that time contain even more
+convincing evidence that he did not expect the embargo to last much
+longer. To General Armstrong, the American representative in Paris, he
+declared on March 5 that "War must follow if the edicts are not repealed
+before the meeting of Congress in May." With Short, whom he had tried
+without success to have appointed Minister to Russia, he was more
+explicit if no less emphatic: "We have substituted for it (the embargo),
+a non-intercourse with France and England and their dependencies, and a
+trade to all other places. It is probable that the belligerents will
+take our vessels under their edicts, in which case we shall probably
+declare war against them."[482] Finally, to Madison himself, he wrote
+after reaching Monticello:
+
+  It is to be desired that war may be avoided, if circumstances will
+  admit. Nor in the present maniac state of Europe, should I estimate
+  the point of honor by the ordinary scale. I believe we shall, on the
+  contrary, have credit with the world, for having made the avoidance
+  of being engaged in the present unexampled war, our first object.
+  War, however, may become a less losing business than unresisted
+  depredation.[483]
+
+Whatever may have been the opposition to the embargo and the opposition
+to Jefferson of disaffected Republicans, it is remarkable that he was
+able to keep his party in hand to the last minute and to choose his
+successor. Early at the beginning of his second term, he had expressed
+his irrevocable intention not to become a candidate for a third term. He
+was longing for his farm, his books, for the comforts of family life and
+he was not in the best of health.
+
+Not only had he been troubled by rheumatism, but "periodical headaches"
+recurring at frequent intervals left him for days unable to write and
+hardly able "to compose his thoughts."
+
+The Republicans had to make a choice between three possible candidates:
+George Clinton, Monroe, and Madison. The strongest argument that could
+be advanced in favor of the first was that, according to a precedent
+already apparently established, the Vice President was the logical
+successor, the "heir apparent", as Adams had termed it, to a retiring
+President. Moreover, Clinton could count on the support of the New York
+Republicans and had aroused no strong antagonism against himself. It
+soon became obvious, however, that the contest lay between the two
+Virginians and that the Virginia dynasty would not be broken as yet.
+Monroe was not without support in his native State and his candidacy had
+been upheld by a Republican caucus held by Randolph and his friends at
+Richmond; but another caucus of the Assembly had given a decisive
+majority to Madison. On January 23, 1808, a congressional caucus held in
+Washington pronounced decisively for Madison as President and George
+Clinton as Vice President. But Randolph held aloof and with his friends
+published a protest against the candidacy of Madison, who had
+"moderation when energy was needed", whose theories of government were
+tainted with federalism, "when the country was asking for consistency
+and loathing and abhorrence from any compromise." The danger of a split
+in the Republican Party was indeed serious, and while Jefferson
+reasserted his wish not to participate in any way in the campaign, he
+wrote to Monroe a long letter, deploring the situation and making an
+obvious appeal to his party loyalty. He warned him particularly against
+the passions that could not fail to be aroused in such a contest, and
+conjured him to keep clear "of the toils in which his friends would
+endeavor to interlace him."
+
+That Monroe's _amour-propre_ was deeply wounded appears in the letter he
+wrote in answer to his "chief." He complained lengthily and bitterly of
+having been handicapped by the sending of Pinkney and of the criticism
+to which he had been subjected on account of the treaty. Once again
+Jefferson had to soothe the discontent of his friend and "_eleve_",
+which to a certain extent he succeeded in doing. It soon appeared,
+however, that the question would solve itself, that neither Monroe nor
+Clinton was strong enough to control the Republican majority. When the
+results came in, the Republicans had suffered the loss of all New
+England except Vermont, but Madison carried the election by one hundred
+and twenty-two votes, against forty-seven to C. C. Pinckney and six for
+Clinton. True enough, in several states the electors had been selected
+before the full pressure of the embargo was felt, but with such a
+substantial majority it is difficult to accept unreservedly Henry Adams'
+view that "no one could fail to see that if nine months of embargo had
+so shattered Jefferson's power, another such year would shake the Union
+itself."
+
+
+
+
+BOOK SIX
+
+_The Sage of Monticello_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+"AMERICA HAS A HEMISPHERE TO ITSELF"
+
+
+When, after a long and fatiguing journey, Thomas Jefferson reached
+Monticello in the spring of 1809, he was in his sixty-third year and had
+well earned his "quadragena stipendia." But the Republic did not serve
+any pension to retired Presidents. For more than twelve years he had
+perforce neglected his domain, and his son-in-law, who had been in
+charge of the estate for some time, was scarcely a man to be intrusted
+with the administration of complicated financial interests. A large part
+of Jefferson's time was necessarily spent in setting things to rights;
+but the times were against him, and the embargo had proved more
+detrimental to the great landowners of the South than to the New England
+manufacturers. A planter whose sole revenue consisted in his crops had
+the utmost difficulty in providing for a large family of dependants, and
+a considerable number of slaves who had to be fed and clad, and most of
+all in keeping up appearances. Jefferson was hardly freed from public
+responsibilities when he had to labor under domestic difficulties which
+worried him even to his death bed.
+
+Under his direction, however, Monticello became more than ever a
+self-supporting community; the slaves were taught all the necessary
+trades and when, thanks to the merino sheep brought over by Du Pont de
+Nemours, woolen goods of fine quality were made at Monticello, the
+master of the house was proud to wear clothes of homespun which, in his
+opinion, could rival the best produce of the English manufactures. Whole
+books could be written, and several have been written, on Jefferson the
+agriculturist, the surveyor, the civil engineer, the inventor and the
+architect. There is, however, another aspect of his last years which
+deserves more attention than it usually receives.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON
+
+_From the portrait by Kosciuszko_]
+
+For thirty years Jefferson had lived almost constantly under the
+scrutiny of the public. His utterances had been pounced upon by eager
+enemies of the "cannibal press"; letters intended solely for friends had
+been printed, several times in a garbled form, and during his presidency
+he had been unable to communicate freely with his European friends for
+fear of having his letters intercepted. At last, he could express
+himself freely. He was no longer the spokesman of the country who had to
+ascertain the state of public opinion before writing a message or
+sending a communication to a foreign government. He could speak for
+himself, without being hindered by the ever-present danger of political
+repercussions, and if he did not speak much, he wrote several thousand
+letters, many of which are still unpublished--an overwhelming treasure
+for historians of the period. His physical strength was somewhat
+impaired, but his intellectual powers were in no way diminished; never
+had his mind been keener, his perception of realities clearer and his
+extraordinary gift of political prophecy more accurate than during the
+last fifteen years of his life. This is the period to study in order to
+understand more fully his conception of Americanism, his vision of
+democracy and the practical wisdom which permeated his philosophy of old
+age.
+
+His valedictory letter to Madison, written from Monticello on March 17,
+1809, contained a very curious admission of the inability of the United
+States to carry out war successfully with their present organization; "I
+know of no Government," he wrote, "which would be so embarrassing in war
+as ours. This would proceed very much from the lying and licentious
+character of our papers; but also, from the wonderful credulity of the
+members of Congress in the floating lies of the day."[484]
+
+This was no passing whim of his, but a very definite and categorical
+understanding of the functions devolving upon the Executive in times of
+emergency. He had not forgotten his experience as Governor of Virginia,
+when he had to coax necessary measures from a reluctant Assembly; his
+eight years as Chief Executive of the country had only strengthened him
+in the opinion that "In times of peace, the people look most to their
+representatives, but in war to the Executive solely." He found a
+confirmation of this theory in the state of public opinion, when he
+wrote to Rodney, early in 1810: "It is visible that their confidence is
+now veering in that direction: that they are looking to the executive to
+give the proper direction to their affairs, with a confidence as
+auspicious as it is well founded."[485]
+
+A few months later, writing to J. B. Colvin, he took up again the same
+question: "In what circumstances is it permitted for the man in charge
+to assume authority beyond the law?" That he was personally interested
+in the matter was evident, since he had exceeded his constitutional
+powers very recently, during the Burr conspiracy. It is nevertheless
+remarkable to see the champion of legality and democracy declare that:
+
+  A strict observance of the written law is doubtless _one_ of the high
+  duties of a good citizen, but it is not the _highest_. The laws of
+  necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger
+  are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous
+  adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life,
+  liberty, property and all those enjoying them with us; thus absurdly
+  sacrificing the end to the means.[486]
+
+To a certain extent this was a plea _pro domo sua_. If we remember that,
+during the World War, the motto of America was, for more than two years,
+"Stand by the President", it will be seen that Jefferson was as good a
+prophet as an intelligent observer. This admission of his may seem
+undemocratic, but it simply shows that the former President had a clear
+perception of the permanent tendencies that direct American
+consciousness; for no people are more disciplined and more ready to
+follow their chosen executive than the Americans, at least on critical
+occasions, and more particularly when confronted with foreign
+aggression.
+
+War was still to be avoided and considered only as the _ultima ratio rei
+publicae_. On this point also, Jefferson was perfectly consistent, and,
+having shed the responsibility, he did not suddenly change his attitude.
+The "point of honor" was not to be estimated by the ordinary scale in
+the present maniac state of Europe. But America must realize at the same
+time that no ordinary treaty could insure her safety. A treaty with
+England could not even be thought of; for "the British never made an
+equal treaty with any nation."
+
+With regard to France the situation was somewhat different. Some
+compensation was due to America for forcing Great Britain to revoke her
+orders in council. But what compensation? The acquiescence of Bonaparte
+to the annexation of the Floridas? That was no price; for "they are ours
+in the first moment of the first war; and until a war they are of no
+particular necessity." The only territory that the United States might
+covet was Cuba. "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_ to us in that direction.... Cuba can be defended by us without a
+navy, and this develops the principle which ought to limit our views.
+Nothing should ever be accepted which would require a navy to defend
+it."[487]
+
+In the meantime, Jefferson did not miss any opportunity to justify the
+embargo. Even after its repeal, he insisted that "enough of the
+non-importation laws should be preserved 1st, to pinch them into a
+relinquishment of impressments, and 2nd, to support those manufacturing
+establishments, which their orders, and our interests, forced us to
+make."[488]
+
+To Du Pont de Nemours he wrote a long letter, stating in detail the
+advantages accrued to America from the embargo, and this point is well
+worth keeping in mind by those who insist on considering Jefferson as a
+hundred per cent. agrarian:
+
+  The barefaced attempts of England to make us accessories and
+  tributaries to her usurpations on the high seas--he wrote to the old
+  Physiocrat--have generated in this country an universal spirit for
+  manufacturing for ourselves, and of reducing to a minimum the number
+  of articles for which we are dependent on her. The advantages too, of
+  lessening the occasions of risking our peace on the ocean, and of
+  planting the consumer on our own soil by the side of the grower of
+  produce, are so palpable, that no temporary suspension of injuries on
+  her part, or agreements founded on that, will now prevent our
+  continuing in what we have begun.[489]
+
+So wrote the supposed agrarian to the founder of physiocracy, and this
+is a _prima facie_ evidence that Jefferson was not a Physiocrat of the
+first water. As a matter of fact, on this point as on so many others, he
+had strong negative principles. As we have already pointed out on
+several occasions, Jefferson was not so much opposed to manufactures and
+industries as to mercantilism, and particularly to English mercantilism.
+This corrective ought to be taken into consideration in any estimate of
+the Jeffersonian democracy, and one may wonder whether some continuators
+of Mr. Beard are sufficiently aware of this capital distinction.
+
+It soon appeared to Jefferson that there was no possible way out except
+war. Contrary to all expectations, the convulsions of Europe continued
+and no hope of a permanent peace was in sight. The death of Bonaparte
+"would remove the first and chiefest apostle of the desolation of men
+and morals and might withdraw the scourge of the land. But what is to
+restore order and safety on the ocean. The death of George III? Not at
+all.... The principle that force is right, is become the principle of
+the nation itself."[490]
+
+As a matter of fact, Bonaparte was little to be feared. He still had the
+whole world to conquer before turning his eyes towards America.
+
+  England on the contrary is an ever-present danger not to be relied
+  upon as an ally for she would make a separate peace and leave us in
+  the lurch. Her good faith? The faith of a nation of merchants. The
+  _Punica fides_ of modern Carthage. Of the friend of the protectress
+  of Copenhagen. Of the nation who never admitted a chapter of morality
+  into her political code.
+
+Then follows a formidable indictment of the treacherous policies of
+England with a curious and most interesting discrimination at the end,
+for Jefferson observes that "it presents the singular phenomenon of a
+nation, the individuals of which are as faithful to their private
+engagements and duties, as honorable, as worthy, as those of any nation
+on earth, and whose government is yet the most unprincipled at this day
+known."[491]
+
+All told, both nations could be tarred with the same brush "for," said
+Jefferson, "I should respect just as much the rules of conduct which
+governed Cartouche or Blackbeard as those now acted on by France or
+England."[492] The only difference was that France was not in a position
+to cause as much damage to American interests as her hereditary enemy
+whose claim to "dominion of the ocean and to levy tribute on every flag
+traversing that, as lately attempted and not relinquished, every nation
+must contest, even _ad internecionem_."[493]
+
+This detestation of English policies and English rulers did not,
+however, extend to individuals. Even when war was to be declared
+Jefferson took care to establish what he considered as a very necessary
+distinction in a fine letter sent to James Maury, his "dear and ancient
+friend and classmate":
+
+  Our two countries are 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.... We consider the overwhelming power of England on
+  the ocean, and of France on the land, as destructive of the
+  prosperity and happiness of the world, and wish both to be reduced
+  only to the necessity of observing moral duties. I 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.... We resist
+  the enterprises of England first, because they first come vitally
+  home to us. And our feelings repel the logic of bearing the lash of
+  George 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 champions, England first takes up the gauntlet.[494]
+
+Since war was declared, the only thing to keep in mind was to make it as
+advantageous as possible to the United States. Thanks to the Louisiana
+Purchase, France had been eliminated forever from the American
+continent, but the existence of a large British province on the northern
+border constituted an ever-present source of anxiety and danger for the
+Union. The first war aim of the United States was consequently to expel
+Great Britain from the North American continent, for as long as England
+could use her continental dominion as "a fulcrum for her Machiavellian
+levers" there would be no safety for the United States. On the other
+hand, the war could not be carried out to a successful conclusion if
+during the hostilities America were kept unable to export the surplus
+of her produce. Jefferson therefore recommended that neutral vessels be
+used "and even enemy vessels under neutral flag, which I should wink
+at", wrote Jefferson to the President.[495]
+
+This last recommendation may seem surprising and almost treasonable, but
+Jefferson lived in close contact with farmers and planters, and he still
+remembered their attitude during the Revolutionary War and knew that "to
+keep the war popular we must keep open the markets. As long as good
+prices can be had, the people will support the war cheerfully."
+
+Later in the year he was able to report to the President:
+
+  Our farmers are cheerful in the expectation of a good price for wheat
+  in Autumn. Their pulse will be regulated by this, and not by the
+  successes or disasters of the war. To keep open sufficient markets is
+  the very first object towards maintaining the popularity of the war,
+  which is as great at present as could be desired.[496]
+
+To be correctly understood, this attitude of Jefferson advocating trade
+with the enemy requires some further elucidation. As a matter of fact,
+the issue was not so clear-cut as it would seem. While England was to be
+considered as America's enemy on the continent, she was "fighting
+America's battles" in Europe, for the ultimate triumph of Bonaparte
+would have been pregnant with dangers for the Union. He consequently
+advocated the exportation of grain to Great Britain:
+
+  If she is to be fed at all events, why may not we have the benefit of
+  it as well as others. I would not indeed, feed her armies landed on
+  our territory, because the difficulty of inland communication
+  subsistence is what will prevent their ever penetrating far into the
+  country.... But this would be my only exception, and as to feeding
+  her armies in the Peninsular, she is fighting our battles there, as
+  Bonaparte is on the Baltic.[497]
+
+But it must also be admitted that Jefferson considered that in war all
+is fair. He had not changed much since the remote days of the Revolution
+when he urged Washington to permit him to use measures of retaliation on
+the British prisoners. Once again he did not scruple to recommend
+measures sometimes used but seldom so frankly advocated. He would not
+have hesitated to bring the war home to Great Britain and to resort to
+retaliation. "Perhaps they will burn New York or Boston," he wrote to
+Duane. "If they do, we must burn the city of London, not by expensive
+fleets or congreve rockets, but by employing an hundred or two
+Jack-the-painters, whom nakedness, famine, desperation and hardened
+vice, will abundantly furnish among themselves."[498]
+
+But the thing never to be lost sight of was the conquest of Canada and
+"the final expulsion of England from the American continent." It was to
+be a very simple expedition, "a mere matter of marching", and the
+weakness of the enemy was to make "our errors innocent." All these
+sanguine expectations were blasted to dust by the Hull disaster. Three
+frigates taken by "our gallant little navy" could not balance "three
+armies lost by treachery, cowardice, or incapacity of those to whom they
+were entrusted." The mediation of Russia was the only hope left, but the
+enemies were to remain "bedecked with the laurels of the land"--the
+reverse of what was to be expected and perhaps what was to be
+wished.[499]
+
+Throughout the whole campaign Jefferson was unable to choose between
+France and England, or rather between Bonaparte and England's corrupted
+government. Strong as were his denunciations of English policies and
+crimes, he almost foamed at the mouth when he mentioned the abominable
+Corsican:
+
+  That Bonaparte is an unprincipled tyrant who is deluging the
+  continent of Europe with blood, there is not a human being, not even
+  the wife of his bosom, who does not see. There is no doubt as to the
+  line we ought to wish drawn between his successes and those of
+  Alexander. Surely none of us wish to see Bonaparte conquer Russia,
+  and lay thus at his feet the whole continent of Europe. This done,
+  England would be just a breakfast.[500]
+
+The "true line of interest" of the United States was consequently that
+Bonaparte should be able to effect the complete exclusion of England
+from the whole continent of Europe, in order to make her renounce her
+views of dominion over the ocean. As there was no longer any hope of
+expelling England completely from the American continent, it remained
+"the interest of the U. S. to wish Bonaparte a moderate success so as to
+curb the ambition of Great Britain."[501]
+
+From this and many other similar passages it would follow that Jefferson
+was one of the first exponents of the famous policy of the balance of
+power. Although at war with England, America could not wish for a
+complete defeat of her enemy which would enable the monster to pursue
+his dreams of world domination. But hateful as the Corsican was, no one
+could wish for an English victory which would leave Great Britain the
+undisputed ruler of the ocean. Incidents of the war did wring from
+Jefferson impassioned outbursts which expressed a temporary anger, but
+whenever he took time to weigh the different factors in his mind, the
+realistic politician emerged every time.
+
+This appears clearly in his correspondence with Madame de Stael, who had
+urged him on several occasions to make every effort to decide his fellow
+countrymen to join in the battle against the oppressors of liberty. It
+appears also quite significantly in his correspondence with Madison,
+following the burning of the White House and the destruction by the
+English soldiers of the first Congressional Library. His indignation
+ran high when he learned "through the paper" that "the vandalism of our
+enemy has triumphed at Washington over science as well as the arts, with
+the destruction of the public library with the noble edifice in which it
+was deposited." "Of that transaction, as that of Copenhagen, the world
+will entertain but one sentiment," he wrote to Samuel H. Smith.[502] But
+it was characteristic of the man that he thought at once of the means of
+restoring the library. Books could not be procured easily from abroad
+and there was no other private library in the country comparable to the
+collection of books he had systematically accumulated for over forty
+years. He placed his books at the disposal of Congress "to be valued by
+persons named by the Library Committee, and the payment made convenient
+to the public." This was not a piece of business in order to retrieve
+his fortune, nor a disguised request for financial help, but simply the
+act of a public-spirited citizen unable to make an outright gift and yet
+unwilling to make any profit on the public treasury.
+
+The end of the war was in sight--a war which could be considered as a
+draw, in which both sides had lost heavily and neither had gained
+anything:
+
+  It is a deplorable misfortune to us. It has arrested the course of
+  the most remarkable tide of prosperity any nation ever experienced,
+  and has closed such prospects of future improvements as were never
+  before in the view of any people. Farewell all hopes of extinguishing
+  public debt! Farewell all visions of applying surpluses of revenue to
+  the improvement of peace, rather than the ravages of war. Our enemy
+  has indeed the consolation of Satan on removing our first parents
+  from Paradise; from a peaceable and agricultural nation, he makes us
+  a military and manufacturing one....[503]
+
+It could truly be said that the war had failed. The best that could be
+expected was the _status ante bellum_. "Indemnity for the past and
+security for the future which was our motto at the beginning of this
+war, must be adjourned to another, when, disarmed and bankrupt our enemy
+shall be less able to insult and plunder the world with impunity."[504]
+
+The news that peace had been signed did not cause him any elation, it
+was "in fact but an armistice", and even when he wrote again to his dear
+and ancient friend James Maury, Jefferson was careful to note that
+America would never peacefully accept again England's practice of
+impressment on the high seas. "On that point," he wrote, "we have thrown
+away the scabbard and the moment an European war brings her back to this
+practice, adds us again to her enemies."[505]
+
+This was repeated in a letter to his old friend Du Pont de Nemours who
+had asked him for his influence in order to send his grandson to the
+Naval Academy:
+
+  For twenty years to come we should consider peace as the _summum
+  bonum_ of our country. At the end of that period we shall be twenty
+  millions in number, and forty in energy, when encountering the
+  starved and rickety paupers and dwarfs of English workshops. By that
+  time your grandson will have become one of our High-Admirals, and
+  bear distinguished part in retorting the wrongs of both his countries
+  on the most implacable and cruel of their enemies.[506]
+
+Yet one would be mistaken in believing that Jefferson felt against
+England any deep-seated animosity, and his resentment, however
+justifiable, did not last long after the close of hostilities. The fine
+friendly letters he wrote to Thomas Law and James Maury at the eve of
+the war were more than mere gestures. He had many friends in England, he
+was imbued with English philosophy, English ideas, English law and, if
+he detested the rulers and the regime, he always maintained the same
+sentimental and quite natural feelings of so many Americans for the
+mother country as a whole:
+
+  Were they once under a government which should treat us with justice
+  and equity--he wrote to John Adams--I should myself feel with great
+  strength the ties that bind us together, of origin, language, laws
+  and manners; and I am persuaded the two people would become in future
+  as it was with the ancient Greeks, among whom it was reproachful for
+  Greek to be found fighting against Greek in a foreign army.[507]
+
+On the same day he wrote to the Secretary of State, James Monroe, about
+the proposed inscription to be engraved in a conspicuous place on the
+restored Capitol, and he had suggested that if any inscription was
+considered as necessary, it should simply state the bare facts, such as:
+
+  FOUNDED 1791. BURNT BY A BRITISH ARMY 1814. RESTORED BY CONGRESS
+  1817.
+
+But a question of more importance was whether there should be any
+inscription at all. "The barbarism of the conflagration will immortalize
+that of the nation.... We have more reason to hate her than any nation
+in earth. But she is not now an object of hatred.... It is for the
+interest of all that she should be maintained nearly on a par with other
+members of the republic of nations."[508]
+
+With regard to France, his correspondence with Du Pont de Nemours and
+Lafayette offers precious and significant testimony. Much as he loathed
+Bonaparte, he deplored the return of the Bourbons and the reactionary
+measures of the _Restauration_. His indignation ran high when he
+received
+
+  ... the new treaty of the allied powers, declaring that the French
+  nation shall not have Bonaparte and shall have Louis XVIII as their
+  ruler. They are all then as great rascals as Bonaparte himself.
+  While he was in the wrong, I wished him exactly as much success as
+  would answer our purpose, and no more. Now that they are wrong and he
+  in the right, he shall have all my prayers for success, and that he
+  may dethrone every man of them.[509]
+
+Writing to Albert Gallatin he indulged in a "poetical effusion" which
+shows how deeply his feelings were stirred:
+
+  I grieve for France ... and I trust they will finally establish for
+  themselves a government of rational and well tempered liberty. So
+  much science cannot be lost; so much light shed over them can never
+  fail to produce to them some good in the end. Till then, we may
+  ourselves fervently pray, with the liturgy a little parodied; Give
+  peace till that time, oh Lord, because there is none other that will
+  fight for us but only thee, oh God.[510]
+
+When all was told, and it was realized that "the cannibals of Europe
+were going to eating one another again and the pugnacious humor of
+mankind seemed to be the law of his nature", the only course for the
+United States to follow was to keep out of the fray as much as possible
+and so to direct their policy as to give no pretext for the European
+powers to intervene in the New World.
+
+Already, in 1812, Jefferson had formulated his views in the most
+unequivocal manner, when he wrote to Doctor John Crawford:
+
+  We specially ought to pray that the powers of Europe may be so poised
+  and counterpoised among themselves, that their own safety may require
+  the presence of all their force at home, leaving the other quarters
+  of the globe in undisturbed tranquillity. When our strength will
+  permit us to give the law to our hemisphere, it should be that the
+  meridian of the mid-Atlantic should be the line of demarkation
+  between war and peace, on this side of which no act of hostility
+  should be committed, and the lion and the lamb lie down in peace
+  together.[511]
+
+The progress of the revolt of the Spanish colonies was at first to
+strengthen him in the position he had already taken.
+
+Jefferson received the news without any elation. For a long time he had
+known that the link between the Spanish and Portuguese colonies was
+growing weaker. He doubted very much, however, that the colonies were
+ready for self-government. There might have been some hope for Mexico,
+because of her proximity to the United States: "But the others, I fear,"
+he wrote to Baron Alexander von Humboldt, "will end in military
+despotisms. The different castes of their inhabitants, their mutual
+hatred and jealousies, their profound ignorance and bigotry, will be
+played off by cunning leaders, and each be made the instrument of
+enslaving the others." The important point he made was in what followed,
+and Jefferson here indulged in one of his curious political prophecies,
+in which he so often hit the mark:
+
+  But in whatever government they will end, they will be _American_
+  governments, no longer to be involved in the never-ceasing broils of
+  Europe. The European nations 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.... And
+  you will live to see the period ahead of us; and the numbers which
+  will then be spread over the other parts of the American hemisphere,
+  catching long before that the principles of our portion of it, and
+  concurring with us in the maintainance of the same system.[512]
+
+For the present the situation was entirely different--and as he had done
+during the Revolution with regard to France, he advocated prudence and
+slowness. It was one thing for the American colonies to engage in a war
+with the mother country in order to preserve the liberties they had
+hitherto enjoyed, and again it was another entirely different thing for
+people who had not the faintest experience of self-government to declare
+their independence and suddenly to sever all connections with the past.
+In addition he was fully aware that the new republics would be in no
+condition to fight off foreign aggressors and thus would become an easy
+prey for the unscrupulous and greedy nations of Europe. Unable to stand
+on their own feet, the most natural course for South America was to fall
+back on Spain. Jefferson did not visualize the "_foris familiation_" of
+the colonies without a sort of moral protectorate of the mother country:
+"if she extends to them her affection, her aid, her patronage in every
+court and country, it will weave a bond of union indissoluble by
+time."[513] At the time Jefferson did not go further, and as a matter of
+fact he long held that this would have been the best solution for South
+America. As late as January, 1821, he still maintained this opinion in a
+letter to John Adams:
+
+  The safest road would be an accomodation to the mother country which
+  shall hold them together by the single link of the same chief
+  magistrate, leaving to him power enough to keep them in peace with
+  one another, and to themselves the essential power of self-government
+  and self-improvement, until they will be sufficiently trained by
+  education and habits of freedom to walk safely by themselves.
+  Representative government, native functionaries, a qualified negative
+  on their laws, with a previous security by compact for freedom of
+  commerce, freedom of the press, habeas corpus, and trial by jury,
+  would make a good beginning. This last would be the school in which
+  their people might begin to learn the exercise of civic duties as
+  well as rights. For freedom of religion they are not yet
+  prepared.[514]
+
+This was the ideal solution, but "the question was not what we wish, but
+what is practicable." If consequently the new republics refused such a
+compromise, another alternative could be offered:
+
+  As their sincere friend and brother, I do believe the best thing for
+  them, would be for themselves to come to an accord with Spain, under
+  the guarantee of France, Russia, Holland, and the United States,
+  allowing to Spain a nominal supremacy, with authority only to keep
+  the peace among them, leaving them otherwise all the powers of
+  self-government, until their experience in them, their emancipation
+  from their priests, and advancement in information shall prepare them
+  for complete independence. I exclude England from this confederacy,
+  because her selfish principles render her incapable of honorable
+  patronage or disinterested co-operation; unless indeed, what seems
+  now probable, a revolution should restore to her an honest
+  government, one which will permit the world to live in peace.[515]
+
+This is a capital passage for it contains in germ much more than the
+so-called Monroe Doctrine. What Jefferson had in mind at the time was
+evidently a society of nations, which the United States would have
+joined in order to guarantee the territorial integrity of the South
+American republics under a Spanish mandate. For Brazil alone he
+contemplated a real and immediate independence, for "Brazil is more
+populous, more wealthy, and as wise as Portugal."
+
+But in Jefferson's mind this plan was only a temporary solution. He
+was firmly convinced that a time would necessarily come when all the
+American republics would be drawn together by their community of
+interests and institutions and coalescing in an American system,
+independent from and unconnected with that of Europe, would form a
+world by themselves:
+
+  "The principles of society there and here, then, are radically
+  different and I hope no American patriot will ever lose sight of the
+  essential policy of interdicting in the seas and territories of both
+  Americas the ferocious and sanguinary contests of Europe. I wish to
+  see this coalition begun."[516]
+
+Such, according to Jefferson, was to be the cardinal principle of
+American policies for all times to come; for, as he wrote to his friend
+Correa who had come back to the United States as Minister from Portugal:
+
+  Nothing is so important as that America shall separate herself from
+  the system of Europe, and establish one of her own--Our
+  circumstances, our pursuits, our interests, are distinct, the
+  principles of our policy should be so also. All entanglements with
+  that quarter of the globe should be avoided that peace and justice
+  shall be the polar stars of American societies.[517]
+
+On the other hand, it was not advisable for the United States to
+intervene directly in South America or to help the colonies to sever
+their bonds from the metropolis. There is little doubt that the Spanish
+colonies would never have thought of revolting if they had not had
+constantly before their eyes the example of their northern neighbors.
+Ill-conducted as they were, the revolutions of South America could trace
+their origin directly to the American revolution and the Declaration of
+Independence. It was so plain that Jefferson's French friends,
+Lafayette, Du Pont de Nemours, and Destutt de Tracy expected him to
+declare enthusiastically in favor of the South American republics and to
+use whatever influence he still had to bring about an open intervention
+of the United States in their favor. Their optimism only shows how
+little they knew their American friend and how little they understood
+his policy. To Destutt de Tracy he answered at the end of 1820:
+
+  We go with you all lengths in friendly affections to the independence
+  of S. America, but an immediate acknowledgement of it calls up other
+  considerations. We view Europe as covering at present a smothered
+  fire, which may shortly burst forth and produce general
+  conflagration. From this it is our duty to keep aloof. A formal
+  acknowledgement of the independence of her colonies, would involve us
+  with Spain certainly, and perhaps too with England, if she thinks
+  that a war would divert her internal troubles. Such a war would hurt
+  us more than it would help our brethren of the South; and our right
+  may be doubted of mortgaging posterity for the expenses of a war in
+  which they will have a right to say their interest was not
+  concerned.... In the meantime we receive and protect the flag of S.
+  America in it's commercial intercourse with us, on the acknowledged
+  principles of neutrality between two belligerent parties in a civil
+  war; and if we should not be the first, we shall certainly be the
+  second nation in acknowledging the entire independence of our new
+  friends.[518]
+
+This Jefferson pressed again even more tersely in a letter written to
+Monroe almost four years later. "We feel strongly for them, but our
+first care must be for ourselves."[519]
+
+Surveying the whole situation from the "mountain-top" of Monticello, the
+philosopher wondered at times "whether all nations do not owe to one
+another a bold declaration of their sympathy with the one party and
+their detestation of the conduct of the other?" But he soon concluded:
+"Farther than this we are not bound to go; and indeed, for the sake of
+the world, we ought not to increase the jealousies or draw on ourselves
+the power of this formidable confederacy." After the treaty of Ghent, at
+the beginning of the "era of good feeling", the United States could
+reasonably count on a long period of peace; all their difficulties with
+Europe had been settled, and only one possible point of friction could
+be discovered. "Cuba alone seems at present to hold up a speck of war to
+us. Its possession by Great Britain would indeed be a great calamity to
+the United States; but such calamity could only be temporary, for in
+case of war on any account, Cuba would be naturally taken by the United
+States, or the island would give itself to us when able to do so."
+
+Thus Jefferson, once again, reasserted the cardinal principle of his
+policy--the policy of the United States since the early days of the
+Union:
+
+  I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States, never to
+  take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests
+  are entirely distinct from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their
+  balance of power, their complicated alliances, their forms and
+  principles of government are all foreign to us. They are nations of
+  eternal war. All their energies are expended in the destruction of
+  the labor, property, and lives of their peoples ... on our part,
+  never had a people so favorable a chance of trying the opposite
+  system, of peace and fraternity with mankind, and the direction of
+  our means and faculties to the purposes of improvement instead of
+  destruction.[520]
+
+Thus, little by little, the famous doctrine took its final shape in the
+minds of both Jefferson and Monroe. Jefferson contributed to it its
+historical background, the weight of his experience and authority, and
+the long conversations he had with Monroe on the matter gave him an
+opportunity not only to get "his political compass rectified" but to map
+out for the President the course to follow. The often quoted letter
+written by Jefferson to Monroe on October 24, 1823, contained little
+more than what had passed between them when Monroe visited his estate in
+Virginia. It was simply a reaffirmation of the fundamental maxims of the
+Jeffersonian policies:--"never to entangle ourselves in the broils of
+Europe--never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic
+affairs."
+
+After making a survey of all the circumstances, Jefferson could write in
+conclusion:
+
+  I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration proposed, 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 country; but that we will oppose, with all our means,
+  the forcible interposition of any other form or pretext, and most
+  especially, their transfer to any power by conquest, cession, or
+  acquisition in any other way.
+
+Finally, although the letters to be exchanged between the British and
+American governments did not properly constitute a treaty, Jefferson
+advised Monroe to lay the case before Congress at the first opportunity,
+since this doctrine might lead to war, "the declaration of which
+requires an act of Congress."
+
+Whatever use has been made of the Monroe Doctrine and whether or not the
+"mandate" assumed by the United States has proved irksome to several
+South American republics, there is no doubt that it was not proclaimed
+without long hesitation and that its promoters did not take up this new
+responsibility with "_un coeur leger_." There is no doubt, either,
+that it was not considered as an instrument of imperialism. It was
+primarily the extension of the doctrine of self-protection already
+advanced by John Adams in 1776 and since then maintained by Washington
+and Jefferson himself. It was also a corollary of the theory of the
+balance of power which Jefferson always kept in mind. In this he was not
+only followed but urged on by all his liberal friends in Europe.
+
+  I would not be sorry--wrote Lafayette in 1817--to see the American
+  government invested by the follies of Spain, with the opportunity to
+  take the lead in the affairs of her independent colonies. Unless that
+  is the case or great changes happen in the European policies, the
+  miseries of those fine countries will be long protracted. Could you
+  establish there a representative system, a free trade, and a free
+  press, how many channels of information and improvement should be
+  open at once.[521]
+
+Jefferson himself was too respectful of self-government ever to think of
+interfering with the internal affairs of the new republics. On the other
+hand, he was too firmly convinced of the moral, intellectual and
+political superiority of his own country not to believe that a time
+would come when the contagion of liberty would extend to the near and
+remote neighbors of the United States. The unavoidable result of the
+Monroe Doctrine and the moral mandate of America would be ultimately to
+form a "Holy American Alliance" of the free peoples of the Western
+Hemisphere, to counterbalance the conspiracy of Kings and Lords "called
+the European Holy Alliance."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DEMOCRATIC AMERICA
+
+
+Protected against foreign entanglements and having survived the
+convulsions that had shattered the old structures of Europe, America was
+at last free to pursue her development along her own lines. The
+philosopher of Monticello could sit back, take a more disinterested view
+of the situation and make a forecast of the future of his country. He
+could also advise, not only his immediate successors, but the
+generations to come and take up again the part of "counsellor" which had
+always suited him better than the part of the executive. He believed too
+much in the right of successive generations to determine their own form
+of government, to attempt to dictate in any way the course to follow.
+But he was none the less convinced that certain principles embodied in
+the Constitution had a permanent and universal value, and during the
+years at Monticello he formulated the gospel of American democracy.
+
+As it finally emerged from the several crises that threatened its
+existence, the American Government was, if not the best possible
+government, at least the best government then on the surface of the
+earth. It was at the same time the hope and the model of all the nations
+of the world.
+
+  We exist and are quoted--wrote Jefferson to Richard Rush--as standing
+  proofs that a government, so modelled as to rest continuously on the
+  will of the whole society, is a practicable government. Were we to
+  break to pieces, it would damp the hopes and efforts of the good, and
+  give triumph to those of the bad through the whole enslaved world. As
+  members, therefore, of the universal society of mankind, and standing
+  high in responsible relation with them, it is our sacred duty to
+  suppress passion among ourselves and not to blast the confidence we
+  have inspired of proof that a government of reason is better than a
+  government of force.[522]
+
+Some dangers, however, were threatening to disturb the equilibrium of
+the country. The most pressing was perhaps the extraordinary and
+unwholesome development of State and local banks, which suspended
+payment in great majority in September, 1814. The deluge of paper money
+and the depreciation of the currency became, for Jefferson, a real
+obsession and strengthened him in his abhorrence of commercialism. He
+did not cease to preach the necessity of curbing the fever of
+speculation that had accumulated ruins upon ruins and the return to more
+sound regulations of the banks. "Till then," he wrote to John Adams, "we
+must be content to return, _quoad hoc_, to the savage state, to recur to
+barter in the exchange of our property, for want of a stable, common
+measure of value, that now in use being less fixed than the beads and
+wampum of the Indians."[523]
+
+His banking theories, however, had scarcely any influence upon his
+contemporaries, and even Gallatin was little impressed by them. But the
+evident danger of inflation turned his mind back to the days when he had
+fought the Hamiltonian system and gave him once more an opportunity to
+pass judgment upon his opponent of the old days:
+
+  This most heteregeneous system was transplanted into ours from the
+  British system, by a man whose mind was really powerful, but chained
+  by native partialities to everything English; who had formed
+  exaggerated ideas of the superior wisdom of their government, and
+  sincerely believed it for the good of the country to make them their
+  model in everything, without considering that what might be wise and
+  good for a nation essentially commercial and entangled in complicated
+  intercourse with numerous and powerful neighbors, might not be so
+  for one essentially agricultural, and insulated by nature, from the
+  abusive governments of the old world.[524]
+
+From this and many other passages it might be surmised that Jefferson
+still held to the old antimercantile theories that had crystallized in
+his mind when he was in Europe. If this were true, the contradiction
+between his conduct as President and his personal convictions would be
+so obvious that his sincerity might be questioned. As a matter of fact,
+on this point as on many others, he had undergone a slow evolution. He
+was certainly sincere when, shortly after leaving office, he wrote to
+Governor John Jay in order to make his position clearer:
+
+  An equilibrium of agriculture, manufacture, and commerce, is
+  certainly become essential to our independence. Manufactures,
+  sufficient for our own consumption (and no more). Commerce sufficient
+  to carry the surplus produce of agriculture, beyond our own
+  consumption, to a market for exchanging it for articles we cannot
+  raise (and no more). These are the true limits of manufacture and
+  commerce. To go beyond is to increase our dependence on foreign
+  nations, and our liability to war.[525]
+
+This can be taken as the final view of Jefferson on a subject on which
+he is often misquoted and misunderstood. That he was fully aware of the
+change that had taken place in his own mind can be seen in a declaration
+to Benjamin Austin, written in January, 1816. Between 1787 and that
+date, and even earlier, Jefferson had seen the light and realized that
+to discourage home manufactures was "to keep us in eternal vassalage to
+a foreign and unfriendly people." He had no patience with politicians
+who brought forth his old and now obsolete utterances to promote their
+unpatriotic designs:
+
+  You tell me I am quoted by those who wish to continue our dependance
+  on England for manufactures. There was a time when I might have been
+  so quoted with more candor, but within the thirty years which have
+  elapsed, how circumstances changed.... Experience since has taught me
+  that manufactures are now as necessary to our independence as to our
+  comfort; and if those who quote me as of different opinion will keep
+  pace with me in purchasing nothing foreign where an equivalent of
+  domestic fabric can be obtained, without regard to the difference of
+  price, it will not be our fault if we do not soon have a supply at
+  home equivalent to our demand.[526]
+
+Desirable as it was to promote the industrial development of the United
+States, it was no less desirable not to encourage it beyond a certain
+point. Jefferson saw quite clearly that, under existing conditions, a
+great industrial growth of the country would have as an unavoidable
+result the perpetuation of slavery in the South and the even more
+undesirable creation of a proletariat in the North. He had always held
+that slavery was a national sore and a shameful condition to be remedied
+as soon as conditions would permit. He was looking forward to the time
+when this could be done without bringing about an economic upheaval; but
+all hope would have to be abandoned if slavery were industrialized and
+if slave labor became more productive. As to the other danger of
+industrialism, it was no vague apprehension; one had only to consider
+England to see "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." This being the "happiness of
+scientific England", he wrote to Thomas Cooper, "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 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
+  England. 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 decencies of life than those who
+  furnish them. Can any condition of society be more desirable than
+  this?[527]
+
+Once more Jefferson appears as a true disciple and continuator of the
+Physiocrats and one might be tempted at first to agree entirely with Mr.
+Beard on this point. But this is only an appearance. To understand
+Jefferson's true meaning, it is necessary to turn to his unpublished
+correspondence with Du Pont de Nemours, and particularly to those
+letters written after Jefferson's retirement from public life.
+
+The rapid industrialization of the United States had greatly alarmed the
+old Physiocrat. In his opinion there was a real danger lest the national
+character of the people be completely altered and the foundation of
+government deeply shaken. Considering the situation from the
+"economist's" point of view, Du Pont came to the conclusion that the
+development of home industries in America would necessarily bring about
+a permanent reduction in the Federal income, largely derived from import
+duties. The government could not be run without levying new taxes and
+the question was to determine what methods should be followed in the
+establishment of these new taxes. If the United States decided to resort
+to indirect taxation, that is to say, excise, the unavoidable result
+would be the creation of an army of new functionaries, as in France
+under the old regime, and the use of vexatory procedure for the
+enforcement of the new system. Furthermore, according to the theories
+of the Physiocrats, indirect taxation was an economic heresy, since it
+was a tax on labor, which is not a source but only a transformation of
+wealth. The same criticism applied _a fortiori_ to the English income
+tax which constituted the worst possible form of taxation.
+
+In the controversy which arose between Jefferson and his old friend, the
+Sage of Monticello again took a middle course. First of all, he refused
+to concede that the development of industries could ever change the
+fundamental characteristics of the United States. They were essentially
+an agricultural nation, and an agricultural nation they would remain, in
+spite of all predictions to the contrary. Furthermore, the question was
+not to determine theoretically what was the best possible form of
+taxation, but to find out what form the inhabitants of the country would
+most easily bear. That in itself was a big enough problem and could not
+be solved in the abstract, since, according to Jefferson: "In most of
+the middle and Southern States some land tax is now paid into the State
+treasury, and for this purpose the lands have been classed and valued
+and the tax assessed according to valuation. In these an excise is most
+odious. In the Eastern States, land taxes are odious, excises less
+unpopular."[528]
+
+Finally, Jefferson pointed out that his friend had neglected several
+important factors, one of them being "the continuous growth in
+population of the United States, which for a long time would maintain
+the quantum of exports and imports at the present level at least."
+Consequently, for several generations, the Government would be able to
+support itself with a tax on importations, "the best agrarian law in
+fact, since the poor man in the country who uses nothing but what is
+made within his own farm or family, or within the United States, pays
+not a farthing of tax to the general government." With the
+characteristic optimism of the citizen of a young, strong and energetic
+country, Jefferson then added:
+
+  Our revenue once liberated by the discharge of public debt and its
+  surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., and the farmer will
+  see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of
+  his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone
+  without being called on to spare a cent from his earnings. The path
+  we are now pursuing leads directly to this end, which we cannot fail
+  to attain unless our administration should fall into unwise
+  hands.[529]
+
+This point alone should suffice to differentiate Jefferson's system from
+physiocracy, since the Physiocrats had adopted as their motto the famous
+_laissez faire laissez passer_ and were certainly in favor of free
+trade. How far from Du Pont Jefferson remained in other particulars may
+be gathered from his "Introduction" and notes to the "Political Economy"
+of Destutt de Tracy, the translation and publication of which he
+supervised and directed. In it he paid homage to the founders of the
+science of political economy, and particularly to Gournay, Le Trosne and
+Du Pont de Nemours, "the enlightened, philanthropic and venerable
+citizen, now of the United States." But he pointed out that the several
+principles they had discussed and established had not been able to
+prevail, "not on account of their correctness, but because not
+acceptable to the people whose will must be the supreme law. Taxation
+is, in fact, the most difficult function of the government, and that
+against which their citizens are most apt to be refractory. The general
+aim is, therefore, to adopt the mode most consonant with the
+circumstances and sentiments of the country."
+
+This is Jefferson's final judgment on the Economists. Another
+confirmation of his lack of interest in principles and theories not
+susceptible of immediate application may be seen in it. In matters of
+government, the important question, after deciding what should be done,
+was to determine how much could be done under the circumstances, and if
+a particular piece of legislation was turned down by the public will or
+only reluctantly accepted, to bide one's time and wait for a more
+favorable occasion. Even when doubting the wisdom of a popular verdict,
+it was the duty of the public servant to do the public will. Thus in
+this correspondence are revealed the two sides of Jefferson's character,
+or to speak more exactly, the two parallel tracks in which his mind ran
+at different times.
+
+At the bottom of his heart, he believed that many of the economic
+doctrines of Du Pont were fundamentally sound; but he also knew that the
+citizens of the United States were not ready to accept the truth of
+these principles, and he did not feel that, as an executive, he had the
+right to attempt to shape the destinies of his country according to his
+own preferences. Thus he laid himself open to the reproach of
+insincerity, or at least of inconsistency, for on many occasions one may
+find a flagrant contradiction between his public utterances and the
+private letters he wrote to his friends. For this reason, Du Pont de
+Nemours was never fully able to understand his American friend. This
+difference between the French theorician and the American statesman will
+appear even more clearly in the letters in which they exchanged views on
+democracy and discussed the conditions requisite for the establishment
+of a representative government.
+
+Jefferson's opinion of the French people with regard to the form of
+government they should adopt had never varied since the earliest days of
+the Revolution. Every time he was consulted by his friends on the
+matter, he invariably answered that they could do no better than to
+follow as closely as possible the system of their neighbors and
+hereditary enemies, the British. This answer, which recurred
+periodically in his correspondence, was made particularly emphatic in
+1801, when he again warned Lafayette that France was not ready to enjoy
+a truly republican government. He went on by categorically stating that
+what was good for America might be very harmful to another country and
+that even in America it was neither desirable nor possible to enforce at
+once all the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, in a few lines, he
+defined his policies more clearly than any historian has ever done; he
+analyzed that curious combination of unwavering principles and practical
+expediency so puzzling to those once called by Jefferson himself "the
+closet politicians."
+
+  What is practicable--he said--must often control what is purely
+  theory and the habits of the governed determine in a great degree
+  what is practicable. The same original principles, modified in
+  practice to the different habits of the different nations, present
+  governments of very different aspects. The same principles reduced to
+  form of practice, accommodated to our habits, and put into forms
+  accommodated to the habits of the French nation would present
+  governments very unlike each other.[530]
+
+Thirteen years later his opinion had not varied one iota. Reviewing the
+situation in France after the return of the Bourbons, he wrote to Du
+Pont de Nemours:
+
+  I have to congratulate you, which I do sincerely, on having got back
+  from Robespierre and Bonaparte, to your ante-revolutionary condition.
+  You are now nearly where you were at the Jeu de Paume, on the 20th of
+  June 1789. The King would then have yielded by convention freedom of
+  religion, freedom of the press, trial by jury, habeas corpus and a
+  representative legislation. These I consider as the essentials
+  constituting free government, and that the organization of the
+  executive is interesting, as it may ensure wisdom and integrity in
+  the first place, but next as it may favor or endanger the
+  preservation of these fundamentals.[531]
+
+The same note reappears constantly in the letters written by Jefferson
+to his French friends, but a rapid survey of his correspondence with Du
+Pont de Nemours may serve to make his position even more definite.
+
+When, in December, 1815, Du Pont was invited by "the republics of New
+Grenada, Carthagenes and Caracas" to give his views on the constitution
+they intended to adopt, he drew up a plan of government for the
+"Equinoctial republics" and sent it for approval to the Sage of
+Monticello. Faithful to the principles of the Physiocrats, he had
+divided the population into two classes: the real citizens or landowners
+and the "inhabitants", those who work for a salary, possess nothing but
+personal property, can go any day from one place to another, and make
+with their employers contracts which they can break at any time. These
+were entitled to protection, peaceful enjoyment of their personal
+property, free speech, freedom of religion, habeas corpus, and such
+natural rights, but Du Pont refused them any participation in the
+government; for only those who "owned the country" should have the right
+to decide how it was to be administered. To give the ballot to a
+floating population of industrial workers, unattached to the soil, who
+had nothing to sell except their labor, was "to brew a revolution, to
+pave the way for the Pisistrates, the Marius, the Caesars, who represent
+themselves as more democratic than they really are and than is just and
+reasonable, in order to become tyrants, to violate all rights, to
+substitute for law their arbitrary will, to offend morality and to
+debase humanity."[532]
+
+This was a doctrine which Jefferson could not accept, for it was in
+direct contradiction to the tenets he had formulated early in his life
+and held to during all his career. Because he had read Locke, and more
+probably because he was trained as a lawyer, he opposed the contractual
+theory of society to this economic organization. He maintained that
+society was a compact, that all those who had become signatories to the
+compact were entitled to the same rights, and consequently should have
+the same privilege to share equally in the government, except, and this
+proviso was important, when they freely agreed to delegate part of their
+powers to elected magistrates and representatives.
+
+This was the theory, the inalienable principle to be proclaimed in a
+bill of rights, the necessary preamble to any constitution. In practice,
+however, various limitations to universal suffrage were to be
+recognized. One could not even think of granting the ballot to minors,
+to emancipated slaves or to women. It did not follow either that, all
+citizens being endowed with the same rights, they were equally ready to
+exercise the same functions in the government. Men are created equal in
+rights but differ in intelligence, learning, clear-sightedness and
+general ability. In other words, there are some natural _aristoi_, and
+John Adams brought Jefferson to this admission without any difficulty.
+If this fact be accepted, the next step is to recognize that "that form
+of government is the best, which provided the most effectually for a
+pure selection of these natural _aristoi_ into offices of the
+government." It was the good fortune of America that all her
+constitutions were so worded as "to leave the citizens the free election
+and separation of the aristoi from the pseudo-aristoi, of the wheat from
+the chaff. In general, they will elect the really good and wise. In some
+instances, wealth may corrupt, and birth blind; but not in a sufficient
+degree to endanger society."[533]
+
+According to this theory, the real function of the people is not to
+participate directly in all governmental activities, but to select from
+among themselves the most qualified citizens and the best prepared to
+administer the country. In a letter to Doctor Walter Jones, who had sent
+him a paper on democracy, Jefferson made his position even more definite
+by establishing a very important distinction which gives more than any
+other statement his true idea of a progressive democracy--an ideal to
+be striven for, not a condition already reached:
+
+  I would say that the people, being the only safe depository of power,
+  should exercise in person every function which their qualifications
+  enable them to exercise, consistently with the order and security of
+  society; that we now find them equal to the election of those who
+  shall be invested with their executive powers, and to act themselves
+  in the judiciary, as judges in questions of fact; that the range of
+  their powers ought to be enlarged....[534]
+
+In these circumstances, Jefferson's reluctance to encourage both his
+French and Spanish friends to establish at once a government modeled on
+the American government in their respective countries, is perfectly
+intelligible. Of all the nations of the earth, England alone could
+"borrow wholesale the American system."
+
+  They will probably turn their eyes to us, and be disposed to tread in
+  the footsteps, seeing how safely these have led us into port. There
+  is no part of or model to which they seem unequal, unless perhaps the
+  elective presidency, and even that might possibly be rescued from the
+  tumult of the elections, by subdividing the electoral assemblage into
+  very small parts, such as of wards or townships, and making them
+  simultaneous.[535]
+
+As for the other nations, they were no more qualified to exercise the
+duties of a truly representative government than were the inhabitants of
+New Orleans at the time of the purchase. The French, in particular, had
+proved in several instances that they could not be intrusted with the
+administration of their own affairs.
+
+  More than a generation will be requisite--he wrote to
+  Lafayette--under the administration of reasonable laws favoring the
+  progress of knowledge in the general mass of the people, and their
+  habituation to an independent security of person and property, before
+  they will be capable of estimating the value of freedom, and the
+  necessity of sacred adherence to the principles on which it rests for
+  preservation. Instead of that liberty which takes root and growth in
+  the progress of reason, if recovered by mere accident or force, it
+  becomes, with an unprepared people, a tyranny still, of the many, the
+  few, or one.[536]
+
+From these declarations, to which many other similar passages could be
+added, a capital difference between the idealism of Jefferson and the
+idealism of the French philosophers becomes quite obvious. The author of
+the Declaration of Independence had proclaimed that all men are born
+free and equal, but he never thought that women, Indians and newly
+enfranchized slaves should be admitted to the same rights and privileges
+as the other citizens. In like fashion, although representative
+government remains the best possible form of government, he found it
+desirable that some people, who are still children, should not be
+granted at once the full enjoyment of their natural rights. Thus
+self-government, which had become a well established fact and a reality
+in America, should remain for other peoples a reward to be obtained
+after a long and painful process of education. It could be hoped that
+some day, after many disastrous experiments and much suffering, the
+peoples of Europe and South America might deserve the blessings enjoyed
+by the American people. But nothing was further from the character of
+Jefferson than to preach the gospel of Americanism to all the nations of
+the world. Instead of considering as desirable a close imitation of the
+American Constitution by the newly liberated nations, he maintained that
+each people should mold their institutions according to their own habits
+and traditions. Far from being a Jacobin, a wild radical, or a "closet
+philosopher", this practical politician had come to the conclusion that
+each people have the government they deserve, and that durable
+improvements can come only as a result of the improvement of the moral
+qualities of every citizen--from within and not from without. Such a
+moderate conclusion may surprise those who are accustomed to damn or
+praise Jefferson on a few sentences or axioms detached from their
+context; but, after careful scrutiny of the evidence, it seems difficult
+to accept any other interpretation.
+
+Comparatively perfect as it was, the government of the United States
+presented certain germs of weakness, corruption and degeneracy. The Sage
+of Monticello did not fail to call his friends' attention to some of the
+dangers looming up on the horizon. As he had warned them against
+inflation, he opposed the formation of societies which might become so
+strong as "to obstruct the operation of the government and undertake to
+regulate the foreign, fiscal, and military as well as domestic affairs."
+This might be taken already as a warning against lobbying. He was fully
+aware that a time might come when the speeches of the Senators and
+Representatives "would cease to be read at all" and when the Legislature
+would not enjoy the full confidence of the people. He deplored the law
+vacating nearly all the offices of government nearly every four years,
+for "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 in eternal intrigue to turn out and put in another, in
+cabale to swap work, and make of them what all executive directories
+become, mere sinks of corruption and faction."[537]
+
+Serious and pressing as these dangers were, they could be left to future
+generations to avoid, but at the very moment he wrote another fear
+obsessed his mind:
+
+  The banks, bankrupt laws, manufactures, Spanish treaty are nothing.
+  These are occurrences which, like waves in a storm, will pass under
+  the ship. But the Missouri question is a breaker on which we lose the
+  Missouri country by revolt, and what more God only knows. From the
+  Battle of Bunker's Hill to the treaty of Paris, we never had so
+  ominous a question.... I thank God that I shall not live to witness
+  its issue.[538]
+
+No New Englander had done more to promote the cause of abolition than
+Jefferson; on two occasions he had proposed legislative measures to put
+an end to the scourge of slavery and he had never ceased to look for a
+solution that would permit the emancipation of the slaves without
+endangering the racial integrity of the United States. But this was no
+longer a question of humanity. What mattered most was not whether
+slavery would be recognized in Missouri or not. Slavery had become a
+political question; it had created a geographical division between the
+States, and the very existence of the Union was at stake. As on so many
+other occasions, the old statesman had a truly prophetic vision of the
+future when he wrote to John Adams early in 1820:
+
+  If Congress has the power to regulate the conditions of the
+  inhabitants of the States, within the States, it will be but another
+  exercise of that power to declare that all shall be free. Are we then
+  to see again Athenian and Lacedemonian confederacies? To wage another
+  Peloponesian war to settle the ascendency between them? Or is this
+  the tocsin of merely a servile war? That remains to be seen; but not,
+  I hope, by you or me.[539]
+
+The whole question was fraught with such difficulties that Jefferson
+refused to discuss the abolition of slavery with Lafayette when the
+Marquis paid him a last visit at Monticello. With his American friends
+he was less reserved. When, as early as 1811, James Ogilvie asked him to
+suggest an important and interesting subject for a series of lectures he
+intended to deliver in the Southern States, Jefferson could think of
+nothing more momentous than a discourse "on the benefit of the union,
+and miseries which would follow a separation of the States, to be
+exemplified in the eternal and wasting wars of Europe, in the pillage
+and profligacy to which these lead, and the abject oppression and
+degradation to which they reduce its inhabitants."[540]
+
+Jefferson has so long been represented as the champion of State rights,
+he stood so vigorously against all possible encroachments of the States'
+sovereignty by the Federal Government, that we have a natural tendency
+to forget this aspect of his policies and to see in him only the man who
+inspired the Kentucky resolutions. It must be remembered, however, that
+he never ceased to preach the necessity of the union to his fellow
+countrymen, that when President he lived in a constant fear of secession
+by the New England States, that he stopped all his efforts in favor of
+abolition lest he should inject into the life of the country a political
+issue which might disrupt national unity. While he claimed that
+theoretically the States had a right to secede, he could no more
+consider actual secession than he would have approved of any man
+breaking the social compact in order to live the precarious life of the
+savage.
+
+From these dangers nothing could preserve the United States except what
+Du Pont de Nemours called once "the cool common sense" of their
+citizens. It was the only foundation on which to rest all hopes for the
+future, for American democracy is not a thing which exists on paper, it
+is not a thing which can be created overnight by law, decree or
+constitution, it is not to be looked for in any document. "Where is our
+republicanism to be found," wrote Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval. "Not in
+our constitution certainly, but merely in the spirit of our people.
+Owing to this spirit, and to nothing in the form of our constitution all
+things have gone well."[541]
+
+One of the most reassuring manifestations of this spirit was seen in the
+willingness of the people to choose the best qualified persons as their
+representatives, executives and magistrates. But if the Republic was to
+endure, it was necessary to enlighten and cultivate the disposition of
+the people, and it was no less important to provide a group of men
+qualified through their natural ability and training, to discuss and
+conduct the affairs of the community. Thus Jefferson was induced to take
+up again in his old days one of his pet schemes, the famous bill for the
+diffusion of knowledge.
+
+As a matter of fact, he had never abandoned it completely, and its very
+purpose had been explained already in the "Notes on Virginia":
+
+  In every government on earth there is some trace of human weakness,
+  some germ of corruption and degeneracy.... Each government
+  degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The
+  people themselves are therefore its only safe depositories. And to
+  render even them safer, their minds must be improved to a certain
+  degree. This is not all that is necessary, though it be essentially
+  necessary.
+
+During his stay in Europe, Jefferson had become acquainted with great
+universities, particularly those of Edinburgh and Geneva, and after
+coming back to America he shifted somewhat the emphasis. It was not so
+immediately necessary to improve the minds of all the citizens as to
+form an _elite_, a body of specialists who might become the true leaders
+of the nation. This seems to have been the object of his plan, to bring
+over to America the whole faculty of the University of Geneva to
+establish a national university at Richmond or in the vicinity of
+Federal City. This scheme was only defeated because of the opposition of
+Washington who, with great common sense, realized how incongruous it
+would be to call National University an institution where the teaching
+would be conducted entirely in a foreign language and by foreigners.
+
+Even after this plan had failed, Jefferson did not give up his ambition
+to establish somewhere in America and preferably in Virginia, an
+institution of higher learning. On January 18, 1800, he wrote to Joseph
+Priestley to ask him to draw up the program of a university "on a plan
+so broad, so liberal, and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the
+public support. The first thing is to obtain a good plan."
+
+Priestley sent him, in answer, some "Hints Concerning Public Education"
+which have never been published and probably did not arouse any
+enthusiasm in Jefferson. The English philosopher had simply taken the
+main features of the English system, placing the emphasis on the ancient
+languages and excluding the modern: "For the knowledge of them as well
+as skill in fencing, dancing and riding is proper for gentlemen
+liberally educated, and instruction in them may be procured on
+reasonable terms without burdening the funds of the seminary with
+them." He ended with a very sensible piece of advice:
+
+  Three things must be attended to in the education of youth. They must
+  be _taught_, _fed_, and _governed_, and each of these requires
+  different qualifications. In the English universities all these
+  offices are perfectly distinct. The _tutors_ only teach, the
+  _proctors_ superintend the discipline, and the _cooks_ provide the
+  victuals.[542]
+
+At the same time Jefferson had sent a similar request to Du Pont de
+Nemours. Curiously enough, the Frenchman manifested little enthusiasm
+for the proposal of his friend. To establish a university was all very
+well, but first of all one had to provide solid foundations and to place
+educational facilities within the reach of the great mass of
+citizens--the university being only the apex of the pyramid. On this
+occasion Du Pont reminded Jefferson that he had expressed himself to
+such an intent some fifteen years earlier in his "Notes on Virginia",
+which developed the excellent view that colleges and universities are
+not the most important part of the educational system of the State:
+
+  All knowledge readily and daily usable, all practical sciences, all
+  laborious activities, all the common sense, all the correct ideas,
+  all the morality, all the virtue, all the courage, all the
+  prosperity, all the happiness of a nation and particularly of a
+  Republic must spring from the primary schools or Petites Ecoles.[543]
+
+By July, 1800, Du Pont de Nemours, who had already proposed a similar
+scheme to the French Government, had completed his manuscript and sent
+it to Jefferson at the end of August. This was more speed than Jefferson
+had expected, and Du Pont's plan was far too elaborate and too
+comprehensive to be of immediate value. "There is no occasion to
+incommode yourself by pressing it," wrote Jefferson, "as when received
+it will be some time before we shall probably find a good occasion of
+bringing forward the subject."[544]
+
+During his presidency, Jefferson had had to lay aside all his plans and
+postpone any action for the organization of public education in his
+native State until after his retirement. In the meantime, he read and
+studied the project of Du Pont de Nemours and corresponded with Pictet
+of Geneva; he had in his hands several memoirs of Julien on the French
+schools, and he looked everywhere for precedents and suggestions. His
+views were finally formulated in a "Plan for Elementary Schools" sent to
+Joseph C. Cabell from Polar Forest, on September 9, 1817. The act to be
+submitted to the Assembly of Virginia was far more comprehensive than
+the title indicates. It provided for the establishment in each county of
+a certain number of elementary schools, supported by the county and
+placed under the supervision of visitors; the counties of the
+commonwealth were to be distributed into nine collegiate districts, and
+as many colleges, or rather secondary schools, instituted at the expense
+of the literary fund, "to be supported from it, and to be placed under
+the supervision of the Board of Public Instruction."
+
+"In the said colleges," proposed Jefferson, "shall be taught the Greek,
+Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and German languages, English grammar,
+geography, ancient and modern, the higher branches in numeral
+arithmetic, the mensuration of land, the use of the globes, and the
+ordinary elements of navigation."
+
+A third part of the act provided for
+
+  ... establishing in a central and healthy part of the State an
+  University wherein all the branches of useful sciences may be taught
+  ... such as history and geography, ancient and modern; natural
+  philosophy, agriculture, chemistry, and the theories of medicine;
+  anatomy, zooelogy, botany, mineralogy and geology; mathematics, pure
+  and mixed, military and naval science; ideology, ethics, the law of
+  nature and of nations; law, municipal, and foreign; the science of
+  civil government and political economy; languages, rhetoric,
+  belles-lettres, and the fine arts generally; which branches of
+  science will be so distributed and under so many professorships, not
+  exceeding ten as the Visitors shall think most proper.
+
+Finally, in order "to avail the commonwealth of those talents and
+virtues which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as among the
+rich, and which are lost to their country by the want of means of their
+cultivation", the visitors would select every year a certain number of
+promising scholars from the ward schools to be sent to the colleges and
+from the colleges to be sent to the University at the public expense.
+
+This was essentially the Bill for the Diffusion of Knowledge proposed to
+the Assembly in 1779. Jefferson had incorporated in it such
+modifications as he may have borrowed from Du Pont de Nemours, but
+essentially the plan was his own. That Jefferson himself was perfectly
+aware of it appears in a short mention of the fact that "the general
+idea was suggested in the 'Notes on Virginia.' Quer. 14."[545]
+
+It was soon realized that neither the Assembly nor the public were ready
+for such a comprehensive scheme. Part of the plan had to be sacrificed,
+if a beginning was to be made at all. Jefferson did not hesitate long;
+the elementary schools could be organized at any time without much
+preparation or expense; secondary education was taken care of after a
+fashion in private schools supported from fees; but nothing existed in
+the way of an institution of higher learning. Young Virginians had to be
+sent to the northern seminaries, there "imbibing opinions and principles
+in discord with those of our own country." The university was the thing,
+and, in order to provide sufficient funds to start it, Jefferson
+proposed that subsidies from the literary fund to the primary schools be
+suspended for one or two years. In his opinion this measure did not
+imply any disregard of primary education, and Jefferson vehemently
+protested to Breckenridge that he had "never proposed a sacrifice of the
+primary to the ultimate grade of instruction"; but, "if we cannot do
+everything at once, let us do one at a time."[546]
+
+The fight in which Jefferson engaged to obtain recognition for his
+project, to have Central College or, as it was finally to be called, the
+University of Virginia, located near Monticello, where he could watch
+its progress and supervise the construction of its buildings, has been
+told many times and does not need to be recounted here.[547]
+
+On the board of visitors with Jefferson were placed James Madison, James
+Monroe, Joseph C. Cabell, James Breckenridge, David Watson and J. H.
+Cocke. Jefferson was appointed Rector of the University at a meeting
+held on March 29, 1819, at a time when the university had no buildings,
+no faculty, no students and very small means. Everything had to be done
+and provided for. It would have been possible to put up some sort of
+temporary shelter, a few ramshackle frame houses, but Jefferson wanted
+the university to endure and he remembered that he was an architect as
+well as a statesman. It was not until the spring of 1824 that he could
+announce that the buildings were ready for occupancy--the formal opening
+was to be held at the beginning of the following year--but the master
+builder could be proud of his work. The university was his in every
+sense of the word: not only had he succeeded in arousing the interest of
+the public and the Assembly in his undertaking, but he had drawn the
+plans himself with the painstaking care and the precision he owed to his
+training as a surveyor. He had selected the material, engaged the stone
+carvers, the brick layers and the carpenters, and supervised every bit
+of their work. After his death he would need no other monument.
+
+Then, as everything seemed to be ready, a new difficulty arose. Ever
+since 1819, the visitors had been looking for a faculty. Ticknor, with
+whom Jefferson had gotten acquainted through Mrs. Adams, had refused to
+leave Cambridge although disgusted with the petty bickerings of his
+colleagues. Thomas Cooper had proved inacceptable, and the very mention
+of his name had aroused such a storm among the clergy that the
+appointment had to be withdrawn. After a long and fruitless search for
+the necessary talents at home, Jefferson and his fellow members on the
+board of the university decided to procure the professors from abroad.
+This time, however, they were not to repeat the mistake of the proposed
+transplantation of the University of Geneva. Several prominent Frenchmen
+suggested by Lafayette were turned down as too ignorant of the ways of
+American youth and the language of the country. There remained only one
+place from which satisfactory instructors could be obtained; this was
+England. Their nationality did not raise any serious objection, for, to
+the resentment of the War of 1812 had succeeded the "era of good
+feeling", and Francis Walker Gilmer was commissioned to go to England
+in order to consult with Dugald Stewart and to recruit a faculty from
+Great Britain, "the land of our own language, habits and manners."[548]
+
+Eighteen months later, the Rector declared the experiment highly
+successful, and the example likely to be followed by other institutions
+of learning.
+
+  It cannot fail--wrote Jefferson--to be one of the efficacious means
+  of promoting that cordial good will, which it is so much the interest
+  of both nations to cherish. These teachers can never utter an
+  unfriendly sentiment towards their native country; and those into
+  whom their instruction will be infused, are not of ordinary
+  significance only; they are exactly the persons who are to succeed to
+  the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its
+  friendships and fortunes.[549]
+
+Thus after fifty years, Jefferson was able to make real his educational
+dream of the Revolutionary period, to endow his native State with an
+institution of higher learning in which the future leaders of the nation
+would be instructed. They would no longer have to be sent abroad to
+obtain the required knowledge in some subjects; nor would they have to
+study in "the Northern seminaries", there to be infected with pernicious
+doctrines; above all, they would be preserved from any sectarian
+influence during their formative years; for no particular creed was to
+be taught at the university, although the majority of the faculty
+belonged to the Episcopal Church.
+
+The University of Virginia was the last great task to which Jefferson
+put his hand, an achievement of which he was no less proud than of
+having written the Declaration of Independence. To bring it to a
+successful conclusion this septuagenarian displayed an admirable
+tenacity, a resourcefulness, a practical wisdom, a sense of the
+immediate possibilities and an idealistic vision, the combination of
+which typifies the best there is in the national character of the
+American people. It would take many pages to study in detail Jefferson's
+educational ideas, as he expressed them in the minutes of the board and
+in his many letters to John Adams, Thomas Cooper and Joseph Cabell. The
+most remarkable feature of the new institution was that, for the first
+time in the history of the country, higher education was made
+independent of the Church, and to a large extent the foundation of the
+University of Virginia marks the beginning of the secularization of
+scientific research in America. Its "father" certainly gave some thought
+to the possible extension of the educational system that had finally won
+recognition in his native Virginia, to all the States in the country;
+but he was too fully aware of the difficulties to follow his old friend
+Du Pont de Nemours and to propose a Plan for a National Education. At
+least he "had made a beginning", he "had set an example", and he built
+even better than he knew. The man who wished to be remembered as the
+"father of the University of Virginia" was also, in more than one sense,
+the father of the State universities which play such an important part
+in the education of the American democracy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE PHILOSOPHY OF OLD AGE
+
+
+Old people are often accused of being too conservative, and even
+reactionary. They seem out of step with the younger generations, and
+very few preserve enough resiliency to keep in touch with the ceaseless
+changes taking place around them. But a few men who, born in the second
+half of the eighteenth century, lived well up into the nineteenth, were
+able to escape this apparently unavoidable law of nature. After
+witnessing political convulsions, commotions and revolutions, they clung
+tenaciously to the faith of their younger days. They refused to accept
+the view that the world was going from bad to worse; they looked
+untiringly for every symptom of improvement and thought they could
+distinguish everywhere signs foretelling the dawn of a new era. The
+growing infirmities of their bodies did not leave them any illusion
+about their inevitable disappearance from the stage and they were not
+upheld by any strong belief in personal immortality. But however
+uncertain and hazy may have been their religious tenets, they had a
+stanch faith in the unlimited capacity of human nature for improvement
+and development. They believed in the irresistible power of truth, in
+the ultimate recognition of natural principles and natural laws, in the
+religion of progress as it had been formulated by the eighteenth-century
+philosophers. Thus, rather than follow the precept of the ancient poet
+and unhitch their aging horses, they had anticipated the advice of the
+American philosopher by hitching their wagon to a star.
+
+Du Pont de Nemours, experimenting with his sons to develop American
+industries in order to make America economically independent from
+Europe; Destutt de Tracy, almost completely blind, dictating his
+treatise on political economy and appearing in the streets of Paris
+during the glorious days of 1830; Lafayette, yearning and hoping for the
+recognition of his ideal of liberty during the Empire and the
+_Restauration_--all of these were more than survivors of a forgotten
+age. Even to the younger generations they represented the living
+embodiment of the political faith of the nineteenth century. It is not a
+mere coincidence that most of them were friends and admirers of the Sage
+of Monticello, whose letters they read "as the letters of the Apostles
+were read in the circle of the early Christians."
+
+Jefferson could complain that "the decays of age had enfeebled
+the useful energies of the mind",[550] but he kept, practically
+to his last day, his alertness, his encyclopaedic curiosity and
+an extraordinary capacity for work. A large part of his time was
+taken by his correspondence. Turning to his letter list for 1820 he
+found that he had received no less than "one thousand two hundred and
+sixty-seven communications, many of them requiring answers of elaborate
+research, and all of them to be answered with due attention and
+consideration."[551] I may be permitted to add that a large part of the
+letters he received as well as those he wrote deserve publication and
+would greatly contribute to our knowledge of the period.
+
+Among them essays and short treatises on every possible subject under
+heaven will be found. With Du Pont de Nemours, Jefferson discussed not
+only questions of political economy, education and government, but the
+acclimation of the merino sheep, the manufacturing of woolen goods and
+nails, the construction of gunboats and the organization of the militia.
+With Madame de Tesse, Lafayette's aged cousin, he resumed the exchange
+of botanical views, interrupted by his presidency and the continental
+blockade. He undertook to put together the scraps of paper on which he
+had scribbled notes during Washington's and Adams' administrations and
+compiled his famous "Anas"; he wrote his "Autobiography", furnished
+documents to Girardin for his continuation of Burke's "History of
+Virginia"; he answered queries on the circumstances under which he had
+written the Declaration of Independence, the Kentucky Resolution, on his
+attitude towards France when Secretary of State and President; he
+criticized quite extensively Marshall's "History of Washington" and one
+of his last letters, written on May 15, 1826, was to inform one of his
+friends of the facts concerning "Arnold's invasion and surprise of
+Richmond, in the winter of 1780-81."[552]
+
+His interest in books was greater than ever; he had scarcely sold his
+library to Congress when he undertook to collect another, going
+systematically through the publishers' catalogues, writing to
+booksellers in Richmond, Philadelphia, New York and even abroad,
+requesting his European friends to send him the latest publications and
+asking young Ticknor to procure for him, in France or Germany, the best
+editions of the Greek and Latin classics. He drew up the plans for the
+University of Virginia and supervised the construction of the building.
+Between times he took upon himself the task of rewriting entirely the
+translation of Destutt de Tracy's "Review of Montesquieu" and directed
+the printing of his treatise on "Political Economy." After writing
+letters, regulating the work of the farm, he spent several hours on
+horseback every day and during the balance of the afternoon read new and
+old books, played with his grandchildren, walked in the garden to look
+at his favorite trees, listened to music and, during the fine weather,
+received the visitors who flocked to Monticello by the dozens. Some were
+simply idlers coming out of curiosity, many were old friends who stayed
+for days or weeks; but all were welcomed with the same affable courtesy
+and the same generous hospitality, according to the best traditions of
+old Virginia.
+
+  They came from all nations, at all times--wrote Doctor Dunglison--and
+  paid longer or shorter visits. I have known a New England judge bring
+  a letter of introduction and stay three weeks. The learned abbe
+  Correa, always a welcome guest, passed some weeks of each year with
+  us during the whole time of his stay in the country. We had persons
+  from abroad, from all the States of the Union, from every part of the
+  State--men, women, and children.... People of wealth, fashion, men in
+  office, Protestant clergymen, Catholic priests, members of Congress,
+  foreign ministers, missionaries, Indian agents, tourists, travellers,
+  artists, strangers, friends.[553]
+
+No sound estimate of the extraordinary influence exerted by Jefferson
+upon the growth of liberalism can be made at the present time. It would
+require separate studies, careful investigation and the publication of
+many letters, safely preserved but too little used, which rest in the
+Jefferson Papers of the Library of Congress, and with the Massachusetts
+Historical Society. I have already printed Jefferson's correspondence
+with Volney, Destutt de Tracy, Lafayette and Du Pont de Nemours; many
+other letters, no less significant, remain practically unknown. He
+encouraged his European friends, Correa de Serra, Kosciusko, the Greek
+Coray, to keep up their courage, to hope against hope. To all of them he
+preached the same gospel of faith in the ultimate and inevitable
+recognition throughout the world of the principles of American
+democracy. This was not done for propaganda's sake, for no man would
+deserve less than Jefferson the dubious qualification of propagandist.
+The many letters written to his American friends on the same subject
+clearly show that this was his profound conviction and almost his only
+_raison d'etre_. His was not an over-optimistic temperament; he did not
+fail to notice all "the specks of hurricane on the horizon of the
+world." Yet, all considered, and in spite of temporary fits of
+despondency, his conclusion on the future of democracy can be summed up
+in the words he wrote to John Adams at the end of 1821:
+
+  I will not believe our labors are lost. I shall not die without a
+  hope that light and liberty are on a steady advance. We have seen
+  indeed, once within the record of history, the complete eclipse of
+  the human mind continuing for centuries ... even should the cloud of
+  barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of
+  Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and
+  liberty to them. In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July
+  1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by
+  the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume
+  these engines and all who work them.[554]
+
+Jefferson felt such a dislike for unnecessary controversies that he was
+apt to adopt the tone and the style of his correspondents and apparently
+to accept their ideas, so that many contradictions can be found in these
+letters. To a chosen few only he fully revealed his intimate thoughts
+and without reticence, without fear of being betrayed, communicated his
+doubts, his hopes and his hatred. The letters he wrote to Short,
+Priestley, and Thomas Cooper are most remarkable in this respect. But
+with none of them did he communicate so freely as with his old friend
+John Adams. The correspondence that passed between them during the last
+fifteen years of their lives constitutes one of the most striking and
+illuminating human documents a student of psychology may ever hope to
+discover. To those who have had the privilege of using the manuscripts
+to follow month by month the palsied hand of Adams until he had to cease
+writing himself and dictated his letters to a "female member of his
+household", it seems unthinkable that the wish expressed by Wirt in
+1826,--to see the correspondence between the two great men published in
+its entirety,--should not have received its fulfillment.
+
+They had been estranged for a long time, and no word had passed between
+them for more than ten years after Adams' sulky departure from
+Washington on the morning of March 4, 1801. At the beginning of 1811,
+Doctor Benjamin Rush made bold to deplore "the discontinuance of
+friendly correspondence between Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson
+answered quite lengthily, giving a long account of his difficulties with
+Adams, including the letter written by Abigail Adams in 1802, but adding
+that he would second with pleasure every effort made to bring about a
+reconciliation. However, he did not entertain much hope that Doctor Rush
+would succeed, for he knew it was "part of Mr. Adams' character to
+suspect foul play in those of whom he is jealous, and not easily to
+relinquish his suspicions."[555]
+
+It was not until the end of the same year that Jefferson took up the
+subject again, having heard that during a conversation Adams had
+mentioned his name, adding: "I always loved Jefferson, and still love
+him." This was enough, and it only remained to create an opportunity to
+resume the correspondence without too much awkwardness; but "from this
+fusion of sentiments" Mrs. Adams was "of course to be separated", for
+Jefferson could not believe that the woman wounded in her motherly pride
+had forgotten anything. This was no insuperable obstacle, however: "It
+will only be necessary that I never name her" wrote Jefferson.[556]
+
+Adams took the first step, and, knowing how much Jefferson was
+interested in domestic manufactures, sent him a fine specimen of
+homespun made in Massachusetts. Jefferson could but acknowledge the
+peace offering, which he did most gracefully, without mentioning Mrs.
+Adams.[557] But he was too much of a Southern gentleman to hold a
+resentment long even against a woman of such a jealous disposition. Two
+months later he sent for the first time the homage of his respects to
+Mrs. Adams, after which he never forgot to mention her. On two occasions
+he even wrote her charming letters, in the same friendly tone as he had
+used with her twenty-five years earlier, when he used to do shopping for
+her in Paris. On hearing of her death on November 13, 1818, he sent to
+his stricken old friend a touching expression of his sympathy:
+
+  Will I say more where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort
+  to us both, that the term is not very distant, at which we are to
+  deposit in the same cerement our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to
+  ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have
+  loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose
+  again.[558]
+
+Quite naturally, as the circle of his friends grew narrower and one
+after the other were called by death, Jefferson's thoughts turned to the
+hereafter. In his youth he had apparently settled the problem once for
+all; but the solution then found was scarcely more than a temporary
+expedient. It may behove a young man full of vigor, with a long stretch
+of years before him, to declare that "the business of life is with
+matter" and that it serves no purpose to break our heads against a blank
+wall. There are very few men, if they are thinking at all, who can
+entirely dismiss from their minds the perplexing and torturing riddle,
+as the term grows nearer every day. Such an ataraxia may have been
+obtained by a few sages of old, but it is hardly human, and Jefferson,
+like Adams, was very human. This is a subject, however, which I cannot
+approach without some reluctance. Jefferson himself would have highly
+disapproved of such a discussion. After submitting silently to so many
+fierce criticisms, after being accused of atheism, materialism, impiety
+and philosophism by his contemporaries, he hoped that the question would
+never be broached to him again. With those who tried to revive it, he
+had absolutely no patience.
+
+  One of our fan-coloring biographers--he wrote once--who paint small
+  men as very great, inquired of me lately, with real affection too,
+  whether he might consider as authentic, the change in my religion
+  much spoken of in some circles. Now this supposed that they knew what
+  had been my religion before, taking for it the word of their priests,
+  whom I certainly never made the confidants of my creed. My answer
+  was: "Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself
+  alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life; if
+  that has been _honest and dutiful_ to society, the religion which has
+  regulated it cannot be a bad one."[559]
+
+Unfortunately the controversy is still going on and at least a few
+points must be indicated here. The simplest and to some extent the most
+acceptable treatment of the matter was given a few years after his death
+by the physician who attended him up to the last minutes:
+
+  It is due, also, to that illustrious individual to say, that, in all
+  my intercourse with him, I never heard an observation that savored,
+  in the slightest degree, of impiety. His religious belief harmonized
+  more closely with that of the Unitarians than of any other
+  denomination, but it was liberal, and untrammelled by sectarian
+  feelings and prejudices.[560]
+
+But Doctor Dunglison's declaration is somewhat unsatisfactory and
+misleading, for Jefferson once gave his own definition of Unitarianism.
+From a letter he wrote to James Smith in 1822 it appears he was not
+ready to join the Unitarian Church any more than any other:
+
+  About Unitarianism, the doctrine of the early ages of Christianity
+  ... the pure and simple unity of the Creator of the universe, is now
+  all but ascendant in the Eastern States; it is dawning in the West,
+  and advancing towards the South; and I confidently expect that the
+  present generation will see Unitarianism become the general religion
+  of the United States.... I write with freedom, because, while I claim
+  a right to believe in one God, if so my reason tells me, I yield as
+  freely to others that of believing in three.[561]
+
+On the other hand, one might easily be misled by some declarations of
+Jefferson to his more intimate friends. "I am a materialist--I am an
+Epicurian," he wrote on several instances to John Adams, Thomas Cooper
+and Short, with whom he felt that he could discuss religious questions
+more freely than with any others. Rejecting the famous _Cogito ergo sum_
+of Descartes, he fell back when in doubt on his "habitual anodyne": "I
+feel therefore I exist." This in his opinion did not imply the sole
+existence of matter, but simply that he could not "conceive _thought_ to
+be an action of a particular organisation of matter, formed for the
+purpose by its Creator, as well as that attraction is an action of
+matter, or magnetism of loadstone." Then he added: "I am supported in my
+creed of materialism by the Lockes, the Tracys and the Stewarts. At what
+age of the Christian Church this heresy of immaterialism or masked
+atheism, crept in, I do not exactly know. But a heresy it certainly is.
+Jesus taught nothing of it."[562]
+
+In the same sense he could write to Judge Augustus S. Woodward: "Jesus
+himself, the Founder of our religion, was unquestionably a Materialist
+as to man. In all His doctrines of the resurrection, he teaches
+expressly that the body is to rise in substances."[563]
+
+His definition of Epicurism would seem equally remote from the popular
+acceptation, and certainly Jefferson was never of those who could
+deserve the old appellation of _Epicuri de grege porcus_; for his
+Epicurus is the philosopher "whose doctrines contain everything
+rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us."[564]
+
+All through the year 1813 and on many occasions after that date, Adams
+tried to draw him out on the question of religion. "For," as he said,
+"these things are to me, at present, the marbles and nine-pins of old
+age; I will not say beads and prayer books." But Jefferson could not
+have declared, as did his old friend: "For more than sixty years I have
+been attentive to this great subject. Controversies between Calvinists
+and Arminians, Trinitarians and Unitarians, Deists and Christians,
+Atheists and both, have attracted my attention, whenever the singular
+life I have led would admit, to all these questions."[565]
+
+Not so with Jefferson, who felt a real abhorrence for theological
+discussions and considered them as a sheer waste of time. They belonged
+to a past age and were to be buried in oblivion lest they create again
+an atmosphere of fanaticism and intolerance; at best, they could be left
+to the clergy. But tolerant as he was, there were certain doctrines
+against which Jefferson revolted even in later life, as he probably did
+when a student at William and Mary:
+
+  I can never join Calvin 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 God described in his
+  five points, is not the God whom you acknowledge and adore, the
+  Creator and benevolent Governor of the world; but a daemon of
+  malignant spirit.
+
+But right after this virulent denunciation comes a most interesting
+admission. If Jefferson's God was not the God of Calvin, he was just as
+remote from the mechanistic materialism of D'Holbach and La Mettrie as
+he was from Calvinism and predestination. Leaving aside all questions
+of dogmas and revelation he held that:
+
+  When we take a view of the universe, in its parts, general or
+  particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to perceive and
+  feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power
+  in every atom of its composition. So irresistible are these evidences
+  of an intelligent and powerful Agent, that of the infinite numbers of
+  men who have existed through all time, they have believed, in the
+  proportion of a million at least to a unit, in the hypothesis of an
+  eternal pre-existence of a Creator, rather than in that of a self
+  existing universe.[566]
+
+From this passage, it would seem that Jefferson founded his belief in
+the existence of God on the two well-known arguments: the order of the
+Universe and the general consensus of opinion. If it were so, he would
+follow close on the steps of the English deists of the school of Pope.
+But religion to him was something more than the mere "acknowledgement"
+and "adoration of the benevolent Governor of the world";
+
+  It is more than an inner conviction of the existence of the Creator;
+  true religion is morality. If by _religion_ we are to understand
+  _sectarian dogmas_, in which no two of them agree, then your
+  exclamation on that hypothesis is just, "that this would be the best
+  possible of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."
+  But if the moral precepts, innate in man, and made a part of his
+  physical constitution, as necessary for a social being, if the
+  sublime doctrines of philanthropism and deism taught us by Jesus of
+  Nazareth, in which we all agree, constitute true religion, then,
+  without it, this would be, as you again say, "something not fit to be
+  named even, indeed, a hell."[567]
+
+On this point as on so many others Jefferson is distinctly an
+eighteenth-century man. One of the pet schemes of the philosophers was
+to prove that there is no necessary connection between religion and
+morality. It was an essential article of the philosophical creed from
+Pierre Bayle to Jefferson, and long before them, Montaigne had filled
+his "Essays" with countless anecdotes and examples tending to prove this
+point. But Jefferson went one step farther than most of the French
+philosophers, with the exception of Rousseau. Morality is not founded on
+a religious basis; religion is morality. This being accepted, it remains
+to determine the foundation of morality. In a letter written to Thomas
+Law during the summer of 1814, Jefferson examined the different
+solutions proposed by theologians and philosophers and clearly indicated
+his preference.
+
+"It was vain to say that it was truth; for truth is elusive,
+unattainable, and there is no certain criticism of it." It is not either
+the "love of God", for an atheist may have morality, and "Diderot,
+d'Holbach, Condorcet, are known to have been the most virtuous of men."
+It is not either the _to kalon_, for many men are deprived of any
+aesthetic sense. Self-interest is more satisfactory, but even the
+demonstration given by Helvetius is not perfectly convincing. All these
+explanations are one step short of the ultimate question.
+
+  The truth of the matter is, that Nature has 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 succour their
+  distresses. It is true that these social dispositions are not
+  implanted 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
+  without these faculties. When the moral sense is wanting, we endeavor
+  to supply the defect by education; by appeals to reason and
+  calculation, by presenting to the being so unhappily conformed other
+  motives to do good. But nature has constituted utility to man the
+  social test of virtue. The same act may be useful and consequently
+  virtuous in a country which is injurious and vicious in another
+  differently circumstanced. I sincerely then believe, with you, in the
+  general existence of a moral instinct. I think it is the brightest
+  gem with which the human character is studded, and the want of it is
+  more degrading than the most hideous of the bodily deformities.[568]
+
+The test of morality then becomes, not self-interest, as Helvetius had
+maintained (and Jefferson reproved Destutt de Tracy for having accepted
+this theory), but general interest and social utility. This is almost
+the criterium of Kant and one would be tempted to press this
+parallelism, if there was any reason to believe that the Philosopher of
+Monticello had ever heard the name of the author of "Practical Reason."
+On this point, as on so many others, Jefferson differs radically from
+Rousseau, who admitted also a benevolent governor of the world and the
+existence of a moral instinct, but who would have strenuously denied
+that this moral instinct was nothing but the social instinct. Jefferson,
+on the contrary, is led to recognize the existence of morality, chiefly
+because, man being a social being, society cannot be organized and
+subsist if it is not composed of moral beings.
+
+  Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests of
+  society require the observation of those moral precepts in which all
+  religions agree, (for all forbid us to murder, steal, plunder or bear
+  false witness,) and that we should not intermeddle with the
+  particular dogmas in which all religions differ, and which are
+  totally unconnected with morality. In all of them we see good men,
+  and as many in one as another. The varieties of structures of action
+  of the human mind as in those in the body, are the work of our
+  Creator, against which it cannot be a religious duty to erect the
+  standard of uniformity. The practice of morality being necessary for
+  the well-being of society, he has taken care to impress its precepts
+  so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the
+  subtleties of our brain.[569]
+
+This was stated more humorously by John Adams after they had treated the
+subject exhaustively in a series of letters: "Vain man, mind your own
+business. Do no wrong--; do all the good you can. Eat your canvasback
+ducks, drink your Burgundy. Sleep your siesta when necessary, and TRUST
+IN GOD."[570]
+
+This being the case, it remained to determine whether man could not find
+somewhere a code of morality that would express the precepts impressed
+in our hearts. In his youth, Jefferson had copied and accepted as a
+matter of course the statement of Bolingbroke that:
+
+  It is not true that Christ revealed an entire body of ethics, proved
+  to be the law of nature from principles of reason and reaching all
+  duties of life.... A system thus collected from the writings of the
+  ancient heathen moralists, of Tully, of Seneca, of Epictetus, and
+  others, would be more full, more entire, more coherent, and more
+  clearly deduced from unquestionable principles of knowledge.[571]
+
+In order to realize how far away Jefferson had drawn from his
+radicalism, it is only necessary to go back to his "Syllabus of an
+Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of
+others", written for Benjamin Rush, in 1803, after reading Doctor
+Priestley's little treatise "Of Socrates and Jesus compared."[572] There
+he had declared that
+
+  His moral doctrines relating to kindred and friends, were more pure
+  and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers, and
+  ... they went far in inculcating universal 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.
+
+Jefferson had been won over to Christianity by the superior social value
+of the morals of Jesus. In that sense, he could already say, "I am a
+Christian, in the only sense in which He wished any one to be, sincerely
+attached to His doctrines, in preference to all others."
+
+This profession of faith made publicly might have assuaged some of the
+fierce attacks directed against Jefferson on the ground of his
+"infidelity", and yet even at that time he emphatically begged Doctor
+Rush not to make it public, for "it behoves every man who values liberty
+of conscience for himself ... 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."
+To a certain extent, however, his famous "Life and Morals of Jesus",
+compiled during the last ten years of his life[573] may well be
+considered an indirect and yet categorical recantation of Bolingbroke's
+haughty dogmatism. Age, experience, observation had mellowed the Stoic.
+He was not yet ready to accept as a whole the dogmas of Christianity,
+but the superiority of the morals of Jesus over the tenets of the
+"heathen moralists" did not any longer leave any doubt in his mind.
+
+Whether after the death of the body something of man survived, was an
+entirely different question--one that human reason could not answer
+satisfactorily. It cannot even be stated with certainty that he would
+have agreed with John Adams when the latter wrote: "_Il faut trancher le
+mot._ What is there in life to attach us to it but the hope of a future
+and a better? It is a cracker, a rocket, a fire-work at best."[574]
+
+He never denied categorically the existence of a future life, but this
+life was a thing in itself, and after all, it was worth living.
+Altogether this world was a pretty good place, and when John Adams
+asked him whether he would agree to live his seventy-three years over
+again, he answered energetically: "Yea.--I think with you," he added,
+"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 to us.... 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
+foreboding of the gloomy."[575] His old friend was far from attaining
+such an equanimity and could not help envying the Sage of Monticello
+sailing his bark "Hope with her gay ensigns displayed at the prow, Fear
+with her hobgoblins behind the stern. Hope springs eternal and all is
+that endures...." But Jefferson was bolstered up in his confident
+attitude by the intimate conviction that he had done good work, that he
+had contributed his best to the most worthy cause and that he had not
+labored in vain.
+
+This was not only a good world, but it was already much better than when
+he had entered it. He had
+
+  ... observed the march of civilization advancing from the sea coast,
+  passing over us like a cloud of light, increasing our knowledge and
+  improving our condition, insomuch as that we are at that time more
+  advanced in civilization here than the seaports were when I was a
+  boy. And where this progress will stop no one can say. Barbarism has,
+  in the meantime, been receding before the steady step of
+  amelioration; and will in time, I trust, disappear from the
+  earth.[576]
+
+Scarcely two weeks before he died--and this is practically his last
+important utterance--he recalled in a letter to the citizens of the city
+of Washington who had invited him to attend the celebration held for the
+fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, how proud he
+was that his fellow citizens, after fifty years, continued to approve
+the choice made when the Declaration was adopted. "May it be to the
+world," he added, "what I believe it will (to some parts sooner, to
+others later, but finally to all) the signal of arousing men to burst
+the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded
+them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of
+self-government."[577]
+
+This faith in the ultimate recognition of the ideals, which he had
+defined with such a felicity of expression half a century earlier, was,
+even more than any belief in personal immortality, "the rocket" that
+John Adams thought so necessary to attach us to this life. It was a real
+religion, the religion of progress, of the eighteenth century which had
+its devotees and with Condorcet its martyr. Strengthened by the intimate
+conviction that he would be judged from his acts and not "from his
+words", he saw the approach of Death without any qualms, and he turned
+back to his old friends of Greece and Rome, for "the classic pages fill
+up the vacuum of _ennui_, and become sweet composers to that rest of the
+grave into which we are sooner or later to descend."[578] On many
+occasions he expressed his readiness to depart: "I enjoy good health,"
+he wrote once to John Adams; "I am happy in what is around me, yet I
+assure you I am ripe for leaving all, this year, this day, this
+hour."[579] It took almost ten years after these lines were written for
+the call to come. Most of his biographers have dealt extensively with
+the remarkable vigor preserved by Jefferson even to his last day. For
+several years after his retirement he remained a hale and robust old
+man. But he felt none the less the approaching dissolution and watched
+anxiously the slow progress of his physical limitations. His letters do
+not completely bear out on this point the statement made by Mrs. Sarah
+Randolph in her "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson."
+
+At seventy-three he was still remarkably robust and, with the minuteness
+of a physician, described his case in a letter to his old friend Charles
+Thomson:
+
+  I retain good health, am rather feeble to walk much, but ride with
+  ease, passing two or three hours a day on horseback.... My eyes need
+  the aid of glasses by night, and with small print in the day also; my
+  hearing is not quite so sensible as it used to be; no tooth shaking
+  yet, but shivering and shrinking in body from the cold we now
+  experience; my thermometer having been as low as 12 deg. this morning. My
+  greatest oppression is a correspondence afflictingly laborious, the
+  extent of which I have been long endeavoring to curtail. Could I
+  reduce this epistolary corvee within the limits of my friends and
+  affairs ... my life would be as happy as the infirmities of age would
+  admit, and I should look on its consummation with the composure of
+  one "_qui summum nec metuit diem nec optat_."[580]
+
+This remarkable preservation of his faculties he attributed largely to
+his abstemious diet. For years he had eaten little animal food, and that
+"not as an aliment so much as a condiment for the vegetables", which
+constituted his principal diet. "I double however the Doctor'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."[581]
+
+Yet he had to admit to Mrs. Trist in 1814 that he was only "an old
+half-strung fiddle",[582] and as he advanced in age the "machine" gave
+evident signs of wearing out. The recurrence of the suffering caused by
+his broken wrist, badly set in Paris by the famous Louis,[583] and still
+worse the very painful "disury" with which he was afflicted[584] gave
+him many unhappy hours. To die was nothing, for as he wrote then in his
+old "Commonplace Book", "I do not worry about the hereafter, even if
+now the doom of death stands at my feet, for we are men and cannot live
+forever. To all of us death must happen."[585] But "bodily decay" was
+"gloomy in prospect, for of all human contemplation the most abhorrent
+is a body without mind. To be a doting old man, to repeat four times
+over the same story in one hour", if this was life, it was "at most the
+life of a cabbage."[586] He was spared this affliction he dreaded so
+much, and when Lafayette visited him in November, 1824, the Marquis
+found him "much aged without doubt, after a separation of thirty-five
+years, but bearing marvelously well under his eighty-one years of age,
+in full possession of all the vigor of his mind and heart."[587] Six
+months later, when Lafayette took his final leave, Jefferson was weaker
+and confined to his house, suffering much "with one foot in the grave
+and the other one uplifted to follow it."
+
+Death was slowly approaching, without any particular disease being
+noticeable; after running for eighty-three years "the machine" was about
+to "surcease motion." The end has been told by several contemporaries
+and friends. No account is more simple and more touching in its
+simplicity than the relation written by his attending physician, Doctor
+Dunglison:
+
+  Until the 2d. and 3d. of July he spoke freely of his approaching
+  death; made all arrangements with his grandson, Mr. Randolph, in
+  regard to his private affairs; and expressed his anxiety for the
+  prosperity of the University and his confidence in the exertion in
+  its behalf of Mr. Madison and the other visitors. He repeatedly, too,
+  mentioned his obligation to me for my attention to him. During the
+  last week of his existence I remained at Monticello; and one of the
+  last remarks he made was to me. In the course of the day and night of
+  the 2d of July he was affected with stupor, with intervals of
+  wakefulness and consciousness; but on the 3d the stupor became
+  almost permanent. About seven o'clock of the evening of that day he
+  awoke and, seeing me staying at his bedside, exclaimed, "Ah, Doctor,
+  are you still there?" in a voice, however, that was husky and
+  indistinct. He then asked, "Is it the Fourth?" to which I replied,
+  "It will soon be." These were the last words I heard him utter.
+
+  Until towards the middle of the day--the 4th--he remained in the same
+  state, or nearly so, wholly unconscious to everything that was
+  passing around him. His circulation, however, was gradually becoming
+  more languid; and for some time prior to dissolution the pulse at the
+  wrist was imperceptible. About one o'clock he ceased to exist.[588]
+
+A few days before he had taken his final dispositions and seen all the
+members of his family. He was not a man to indulge in a painful display
+of emotions, but he told his dear daughter Martha that "in a certain
+drawer in an old pocket book she would find something for her." It was a
+piece of paper on which he had written eight lines "A death bed adieu
+from Th. J. to M. R." There was no philosophism nor classical
+reminiscence in it; it was the simple expression of his last hope that
+on the shore
+
+"_Which crowns all my hopes, or which buries my care_" he would find
+awaiting him "two seraphs long shrouded in death", his beloved wife and
+his young daughter Maria.
+
+He was buried by their side in the family plot of Monticello. According
+to his wishes no invitations were issued and no notice of the hour
+given. "His body was borne privately from his dwelling by his family and
+servants, but his neighbors and friends, anxious to pay the last tribute
+of respect to one they had loved and honored, waited for it in crowds at
+the grave." A typically American scene, without parade, without speeches
+and long ceremonies--almost a pioneer burial in a piece of land
+reclaimed from the wilderness.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Absolutism, evils of, 203
+
+  Adams, Abigail, Jefferson shops for, 160;
+    the "New England Juno", 323;
+    and Jefferson, 382, 383, 386, 518, 519
+
+  Adams, Henry, his criticism of Jefferson's conduct of foreign
+          affairs, 409, 440, 441, 453, 459, 460, 464
+
+  Adams, John, Jefferson's correspondence with, 23, 482, 490, 503, 512,
+          517, 521, 526, 529;
+    his first impression of Jefferson, 59;
+    on committee of Continental Congress appointed to answer Lord
+          North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form
+          governments, 66;
+    his part in Declaration of Independence, 69, 70;
+    on committee to suggest United States seal, 86;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of Commerce
+          with foreign nations, 152, 162;
+    his wines, 160;
+    in favor of loose association of States, 196;
+    and the Barbary pirates, 206;
+    Jefferson gives estimate of, 248;
+    his quarrel with Jefferson, 259-261;
+    reelection of, as Vice-President, 273;
+    elected President, 319;
+    attempts reconciliation with Jefferson, 321, 322, 325;
+    inaugural address, 321, 322;
+    not a party man or party leader, 323;
+    a complicated and contradictory figure, 323;
+    action in XYZ case, 325, 331, 336-338, 348, 355;
+    nominated for Presidency in 1800, 362;
+    changes in his Cabinet, 368;
+    in election of 1800, 367-369;
+    "midnight" appointments, 373, 374;
+    refuses to welcome successor, 375;
+    reconciliation with Jefferson, 518, 519;
+    his study of religious controversies, 522;
+    on life, 527
+
+  Adams, John Quincy, removed from office by Jefferson, 382, 383
+
+  Adams, Samuel, 359, 361
+
+  Addison, Judge, deposition of, by Senate of Pennsylvania, 384
+
+  Albemarle resolutions, 45-47
+
+  Alexander I of Russia, 448
+
+  Algiers, 206
+
+  Alien Bills, 340, 342-347
+
+  Aliens, their right to hold real property denied, 151
+
+  Allen, Ethan, declaration concerning, drafted by Jefferson, 65
+
+  American civilization, underlying ideas of, 85.
+
+  American imperialism, 398-400
+
+  American public education, first charter of, 95-100
+
+  American Revolution, remonstrance in House of Burgesses, 38;
+    articles of association directed against British merchandise, 38;
+    as to causes of, 42;
+    effect of passage of Boston Port Bill, in Virginia, 43, 44;
+    proposal to form Congress, 44;
+    declaration of mutual defence, 45;
+    resolutions adopted by freeholders of Albemarle County, Va., 45-47;
+    resolutions adopted by Assembly of Fairfax County, 45-47;
+    regulation of American commerce, 46;
+    doctrine of expatriation, 47, 50;
+    first Continental Congress, 54;
+    second Continental Congress, 59;
+    Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition" answered, 62;
+    independence not at first aimed at, 63-65;
+    colonies instructed to form governments, 66;
+    Declaration of Independence, 69-71;
+    treatment of prisoners in, 109-112.
+    _See also_ British colonies
+
+  Americanism, cardinal principles of, 52, 61;
+    creed of, formulated by Jefferson, 62, 120;
+    Jefferson's conception of, when he wrote "Notes on Virginia", 136;
+    practical idealism a tenet of, 275;
+    pure, 334, 335;
+    definition of, 352;
+    Jefferson's system of, 423, 428, 468
+
+  Armstrong, Gen. John, American representative in Paris, 462
+
+  Arnold, Benedict, 108
+
+  "Arrears of Interest, Report on", Jefferson, 146
+
+  Articles of Confederation, discussion of, in Congress, 80;
+    defects in, 145, 146, 195, 197
+
+  "Assumption" of the State debts, 250-255
+
+  _Aurora_, journal, 311, 313, 343, 354
+
+  Austin, Benjamin, 491
+
+
+  Bache's _Aurora_, 311, 313, 343, 356
+
+  Balance of power, 476
+
+  Bank Bill, Hamilton's, 255-258
+
+  Bannister, J. B., Jr., letter to, 172
+
+  Barbary pirates, 205-207, 428, 443
+
+  Barbe-Marbois, secretary of French legation in United States, 118, 414
+
+  Bastille, capture of, 235
+
+  Bayard, James A., nominated plenipotentiary to French Republic, 373,
+  374
+
+  Bellini, letter to, 173
+
+  Berlin Decree, 450
+
+  Beveridge, Albert J., his "Life of Marshall", 384, 385, 434
+
+  Bill for a General Revision of the Laws, Virginia, 90
+
+  Bill for Amending the Charter for William and Mary, 98, 99, 105, 106
+
+  Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments, Virginia, 93-95
+
+  Bill for Religious Freedom, Virginia, 89, 100-103, 106, 365
+
+  Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge, Virginia, 95-99,
+  105, 505, 508
+
+  Bill of Rights, 198-201, 204
+
+  Bill on the Naturalization of Foreigners, 89
+
+  Bill to Abolish Entails, Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Bingham, Mrs., 160
+
+  Bishop, Samuel, appointed collector of New Haven, 381
+
+  Blennerhasset, Harman, and the Burr conspiracy, 431, 432
+
+  Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, his influence on Jefferson, 21, 23,
+  26, 31
+
+  Bollman, and the Burr conspiracy, 432, 433
+
+  Bonaparte, his projected invasion of England, 336;
+    Jefferson's opinion of, 359, 475, 476;
+    precedent established by, 360
+
+  Boston Port Bill, 43
+
+  Brazil, 483
+
+  Breckenridge, James, on board of visitors of University of
+  Virginia, 509
+
+  Breckenridge, John, letters to, 370, 371, 416
+
+  British colonies, contractual theory of government of, 45, 46;
+    regulation of commerce of, 46, 47;
+    rights of, 48-53.
+    _See also_ American Revolution
+
+  Brunswick, Duke of, defeat, 273
+
+  Buchan, Lord, letter to, 444
+
+  Budget, presented by Jefferson, 146
+
+  Buffon, G. L. L. de, theory of, concerning
+  animals in America, 121, 122
+
+  Burke, "History of Virginia", 12, 515
+
+  Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques, quotation from, 73
+
+  Burnaby, English tourist, quoted on Virginia colonists, 42
+
+  Burr, Col. Aaron, letters to, 332, 354;
+    nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), 362;
+    in the 1800-election, 369-373;
+    his presence in government an annoyance to Jefferson, 382;
+    conspiracy, 429-439;
+    duel with Hamilton, 431
+
+  Burwell, Rebecca, and Jefferson, 16, 17
+
+
+  Cabanis, P. J. G., 161;
+    letter to, 422
+
+  Cabell, Joseph C., 507;
+    on board of visitors of University of Virginia, 509;
+    letters to, 512
+
+  Cabell, Gov. William H., 451
+
+  Cabinet, the President's, in Washington's time, 247;
+    Adams's, 322, 323, 368;
+    relation to President, 392
+
+  Callender, 356, 427;
+    employed by Jefferson, 361;
+    Jefferson's interest in, 363;
+    his pamphlet, "The Prospect Before Us" ("History of the
+          Administration of John Adams"), 382
+
+  Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, 178, 182
+
+  Calvinism, 522
+
+  Canning, George, 453
+
+  Capital, of United States, seat of, 252, 253
+
+  Capitol, at Washington, the new, question of putting inscription
+  on, 479
+
+  Caracas, constitution of, 498
+
+  Carleton, Guy, governor of Canada, 111
+
+  Carmichael, 198, 211, 226, 263, 276, 288
+
+  Carr, Dabney, death, 40, 41
+
+  Carr, Peter, 21, 175
+
+  Carrington, Edward, letters to, 196, 213, 219
+
+  Carthagenes, constitution of, 498
+
+  Cary, Col. Archibald, 139
+
+  _Ceres_, sailing-vessel, 153, 159
+
+  Champion de Cice, Archbishop of Bordeaux, 235
+
+  Charlottesville, Va., war prisoners at, 109
+
+  Chase, Judge Samuel, impeachment of, 387-389
+
+  Chastellux, Chevalier de, friend of Jefferson, 154
+
+  _Chesapeake-Leopard_ affair, 451-453
+
+  Church, Mrs., 298, 299
+
+  Church of England, in Virginia, 90, 103
+
+  Cincinnati, Society of the, 152, 306
+
+  Clay, Rev. Mr. Charles, subscription for support of, 103-105
+
+  Clinton, George, Vice-President, 395, 463, 464
+
+  Cocke, J. H., on board of visitors of University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Collot, Gen., 402
+
+  Colvin, J. B., letter to, 469
+
+  Comite du Commerce, 178, 183
+
+  Commerce, one of the great causes of war, 83;
+    Treaty of, 143, 144;
+    Gallo-American, 181-184;
+    Report of Jefferson on Privileges and Restrictions of, 302
+
+  Commercial monopolies, 151, 152
+
+  Commercial treaties, 149-152
+
+  Committees of safety, 54
+
+  Confederation, Treaty of Commerce, 143, 144;
+    defects in, 145, 146, 195, 197;
+    monetary system, 146, 147;
+    new States, 148; slavery, 148, 149;
+    hereditary titles, 148, 149;
+    commercial treaties, 149-152.
+    _See also_ Articles of Confederation; United States
+
+  Congress, first proposal for, 44.
+     _See also_ Continental Congress
+
+  Congressional election, _see_ Election
+
+  Congressional Library, destroyed by English, 476
+
+  Constitution of United States, 195-202
+
+  Continental Congress, First, 54, 83;
+    Second, 59;
+    of the Confederation, 143-152
+
+  Contraband, 151, 152, 422, 423
+
+  Cooper, Thomas, 510; letters to, 492, 512, 521
+
+  Coray, Mr., 516
+
+  Corny, M. de, 234
+
+  Corny, Madame de, 161, 245, 246, 274, 298, 299
+
+  Correa de Serra, 484, 516
+
+  Coxe, Tench, letters to, 304, 371, 372
+
+  Crawford, Dr. John, letter to, 480
+
+  Crimes and punishments, in Virginia, 93-95
+
+  Cuba, 470, 485
+
+  Cutting, letter to, 225
+
+
+  Dalrymple, Sir John, his "Essay Towards a General History of Feudal
+  Property", 30
+
+  Dandridge, Mr., 14
+
+  Danville, Duchesse, 274
+
+  Deane, Silas,
+    quoted on Southern delegates to first Continental Congress, 42;
+    elected commissioner to France, 87
+
+  Dearborn, Henry, Secretary of War in Jefferson's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Debts of United States, foreign, domestic, and State, 250-255, 258
+
+  "Declaration Europeenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen",
+  Lafayette, 232-234
+
+  Declaration of Independence, the story of, 69-71;
+    origin of, 71-74, 77;
+    as literature, 72;
+    "the pursuit of happiness" in, 75-76;
+    highest achievement of eighteenth-century philosophy, 76;
+    suggests tone of Greek tragedy, 77
+
+  Declaration of Rights of 1774, 73
+
+  Declaration on Violation of Rights, adopted by First Continental
+  Congress, 83
+
+  Dejean, Lieut., 111
+
+  _Democrat_, sailing-vessel, 294
+
+  Democratic societies, 306, 334
+
+  De Moustier, letter to, 254
+
+  Destutt de Tracy, A. L. C., meeting with Jefferson, 161;
+    letter to, 484;
+    his "Political Economy", 495;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 514
+
+  Dexter, Samuel, Secretary of War in Adams's Cabinet, 368;
+    Secretary of the Treasury in Adams's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Dickinson, John, in Continental Congress, 60;
+    letter of, 361
+
+  Dictator, proposition for appointment of, 127, 128
+
+  Douglas, Dr., clergyman, 5, 20
+
+  Duane, William, flogged, 355;
+    letter to, 475
+
+  Dumas, financial agent of the United States at the Hague, 185, 187,
+  197, 209, 252, 253, 289
+
+  Dunbar, William, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Dunglison, Dr., on visitors at Monticello, 516;
+    on Jefferson's religious belief, 520;
+    his account of Jefferson's death, 531
+
+  Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of, governor of Virginia, 43, 44, 54, 55,
+  66
+
+  Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre S., Jefferson's association with, 215;
+    his "Plan of a National Education", 358, 506, 507, 512;
+    theories and practice of, 395;
+    correspondence with Jefferson, 405-409, 411, 414, 415, 420, 452,
+          471, 478, 493, 497, 498, 514;
+    and the Louisiana problem, 407-409, 412-415;
+    never fully understood Jefferson, 496;
+    draws up plan of government for the "Equinoctial republics", 498;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 513, 514
+
+
+  Edwards, Jonathan, 430
+
+  Election, of 1792, 272, 273;
+    of 1796, 316-319;
+    of 1800, 363-373;
+    of 1804, 389, 395
+
+  Ellsworth, Oliver, appointed Plenipotentiary to France, 355
+
+  Embargo of 1807, 428, 456-462, 470, 471
+
+  "Encyclopedie Methodique", 160, 214
+
+  English, their monopoly of the American market, 326, 327
+
+  Entails, abolished in Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Epicurism, 521
+
+  Eppes, Mrs., sister of Mrs. Jefferson, 153
+
+  Equinoctial republics, 498
+
+  Essex case, 447
+
+  Estaing, Admiral d', 206
+
+  Euripides, 22, 24
+
+  Eustis, Dr. William, letter to, 461
+
+  Excise tax, 254, 255, 393;
+    revolt against (Whisky Insurrection), 305, 306;
+    Jefferson's bitterness against, 306, 307
+
+  Expatriation, doctrine of, 47, 50, 89, 107
+
+
+  Fairfax resolutions, 45-48
+
+  Farmers-general, 177-181
+
+  Farming taxes, 177-181
+
+  Fauquier, Dr., of Floirac, 12
+
+  Fauquier, Gov. Francis, his intimacy with Jefferson, 12, 13
+
+  Federal Government, prerogatives of, 83
+
+  _Federalist_, the, 200
+
+  Federalists, their power broken, 355, 362;
+    in election of 1800, 367-373, 389;
+    in Jefferson's administration, 380, 381
+
+  Feudal system, abolishment of, in Virginia, 88, 89
+
+  Fleming, William, letters to, 78, 79;
+    on committee on religion, 89
+
+  Florida, Western and Eastern, 445, 446
+
+  Foster, Dwight, Senator, makes offer to Jefferson, 373
+
+  Fox blockade, 450
+
+  France, educational system of, 98;
+    colonizing designs of, feared, 207;
+    difficulties with, 288, 323-325, 331-342, 440, 447-462.
+    _See also_ French Revolution
+
+  Franklin, Benjamin, on committee of Continental Congress appointed
+          to answer Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    his part in Declaration of Independence, 69, 70;
+    on committee to suggest United States seal, 86;
+    elected commissioner to France, 87;
+    Jefferson's view of, 122;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of
+          commerce, 152, 162;
+    interview with Jefferson, 247
+
+  Franklin, William Temple, papers entrusted to, by Benjamin Franklin,
+  247
+
+  Free ports, 182
+
+  Freedom of speech, 427
+
+  Freedom of the press, importance of, 203, 427
+
+  Freedom of thought, Jefferson's understanding of, 103
+
+  Freeholders, rights of, 52
+
+  French constitution, 143
+
+  French debt, of United States, 176, 177, 181, 182, 184-193
+
+  French Revolution, Declaration of June 23, 1793, 76;
+    Declaration of May 29, 1793, 82;
+    Assembly of the Notables, 219-222, 225;
+    convocation of States-General, 227, 229;
+    National Assembly, 231, 232;
+    capture of the Bastille, 235;
+    defeat of Duke of Brunswick, 273;
+    becomes international issue, 279;
+    flight of king, 282;
+    execution of king, 287
+
+  Freneau, Philip, his paper, the _National Gazette_, 261-263, 269
+
+  Fry, Joshua, professor in William and Mary College, 5
+
+
+  Gallatin, Albert, defies excise law, 305;
+    speech of, 311;
+    letter to, 480
+
+  Gates, Horatio, letters to, 416, 445
+
+  _Gazette of the United States_, attacks Jefferson, 268, 269
+
+  Geismer, Baron de, 110, 163
+
+  Generations of men, rights of, 234
+
+  Genet, Citizen Edmond C., the case of, 288-297
+
+  Gerry, Elbridge, letters to, 325, 351-353;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333
+
+  Ghent, Treaty of, 485
+
+  Giles, William B., and Jefferson, 311;
+    letters to, 307, 309, 436
+
+  Gilmer, Francis Walker, and Jefferson, 253;
+     sent to England to recruit faculty for University of Virginia, 511
+
+  "Government by the people", 237
+
+  Granger, Gideon, letter to, 363
+
+  Great Britain, United States debt to, 186-193;
+    her hatred of United States, 208, 209;
+    and France, war between, 288, 440, 447-462;
+    her navy, policies of, in regard to contraband and impressment,
+          422, 423
+
+  Greene, William, letter to, 356
+
+
+  Hamilton, Alexander,
+    quarrel with Jefferson, 127, 255-258, 263, 265, 266, 268-271;
+    Secretary of the Treasury, 247;
+    Jefferson gives estimate of, 248;
+    Reports of, 249;
+    his Bank Bill, 255-257;
+    his actions supported by Washington, 271;
+    attitude toward England, 290;
+    and Whisky Insurrection, 306;
+    would encourage American manufactures, 327, 443;
+    his plans of administrative reorganization, 349, 350;
+    in election campaign of 1800, 367, 368;
+    duel with Burr, 431
+
+  Hamilton, Gov., of Kaskakias, 111
+
+  Hammond, George, British minister to United States, 291, 292
+
+  Hardy, Samuel, delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140
+
+  Harrison, Gov., letters to, 145, 415
+
+  Hawkesbury, Lord, 402, 404
+
+  Hawkins, Col. Benjamin, discussions with Jefferson, 358;
+    letter to, 364
+
+  Hay, George, 436
+
+  Helvetius, Madame, 161, 215
+
+  Henry, Patrick, and Jefferson, 14, 15, 26, 27, 37, 63;
+    his study of the law, 28;
+    after passage of Boston Port Bill, 43;
+    and Jefferson's "Summary View", 47;
+    speech at second Virginia Convention, 54;
+    opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, 89;
+    seconds motion for appointment of dictator, 127;
+    appointed Plenipotentiary to France, 355
+
+  Hereditary titles, in the Confederation, 148, 149
+
+  Hervey, John, guardian of Jefferson, 8
+
+  Hobbes, Thomas, 82
+
+  Holland, United States debt to, 187-193
+
+  Hopkinson, Francis, 200
+
+  Hopkinson, Mrs., 153
+
+  Houdetot, Madame d', 161, 274
+
+  Howe, Lord, negotiations of Franklin with, 247
+
+  Howick, Lord, 450
+
+  Humboldt, Baron Alexander von, letter to, 481
+
+  Humphreys, Col. David, secretary of legation in Paris, 153, 159, 223,
+  228
+
+
+  Immigration, Jefferson's views of, 123-125
+
+  Impeachment, the Republican understanding of, 385, 387
+
+  "Implied powers", doctrine of, 256
+
+  Impressment, of British sailors on neutral vessels, 423;
+    an issue of the War of 1812, 478
+
+  Income tax, 494
+
+  Indians, 7;
+    study of customs and languages of, 99;
+    atrocities of, in American Revolution, 111;
+    eloquence of, 121;
+    affairs of, treated in Jefferson's second inaugural, 425-427
+
+  Industrialism, dangers of, 492
+
+  Isham, Mary, 3
+
+
+  Jackson, Andrew, 431
+
+  Jacobins, _see_ Republicans
+
+  Jay, John, letters to, 223, 224, 231, 234, 236, 239.
+    _See also_ Jay treaty
+
+  Jay, Gov. John, letter to, 491
+
+  Jay treaty, 305, 307, 308, 316, 324
+
+  Jefferson, Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, 139;
+    death, 163
+
+  Jefferson, Martha, daughter of Thomas Jefferson,
+    her account of Mrs. Jefferson's death, 138;
+    date of birth, 139;
+    accompanies father to Europe, 153, 159;
+    marriage, 246;
+    at Monticello, 300;
+    Jefferson's farewell message to, 532
+
+  Jefferson, Mary, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, 139, 161;
+    joins father in Paris, 163
+
+  Jefferson, Peter, father of Thomas Jefferson, 4, 5
+
+  Jefferson, Mrs. Peter, _see_ Randolph, Jane
+
+  Jefferson, Thomas, birth, 3;
+    ancestry and parentage, 3-5;
+    "Autobiography", _see_ below;
+    schooling, 5-7;
+    early reading, 6;
+    life at Shadwell, 6-8;
+    at William and Mary College, 8-17;
+    oratorical ambitions, 14;
+    influence of Patrick Henry upon, 14, 15, 26, 27, 37;
+    love episode with Rebecca Burwell, 16-18;
+    commonplace books, 19, _see also_ below;
+    change in religious belief, 19-24;
+    distrust of women, 22;
+    his system of morality, 24-26, _see also_ Morality;
+    influence of Greek Stoics upon, 26;
+    studies law, 27-31;
+    his revindication of the Saxon liberties, 31, 32;
+    his acquaintance with languages and books, 33;
+    practices law, 34, 36;
+    life as farmer at Shadwell, 34, 35;
+    his "Garden Books", 35, 39;
+    his scorn of rhetoric, 36, 37;
+    character of his mind, 37;
+    in House of Burgesses, 38;
+    his library, 39;
+    marriage, 39, 40;
+    life at Monticello, 41;
+    after passing of Boston Port Bill, 43, 44;
+    his declaration of mutual defence, 45;
+    writes Albemarle resolutions, 45-47;
+    his doctrine of expatriation, 47, 50, 89, 107;
+    drafts instructions to Virginia delegates to first Continental
+          Congress, 47, 53;
+    his "A Summary View of the Rights of British America", 48-53;
+    his discussion of land tenures, 49;
+    speaks as pioneer, 52, 53;
+    in second Virginia Convention, 54;
+    delegate to second Continental Congress, 54, 55, 64;
+    his part of "Declaration of the Cause of Taking Up Arms", 59-62;
+    his answer to Lord North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    influence of Greek and Latin orators on his style, 63;
+    his view of independence, 63-65;
+    his absence from Congress during preliminary steps to Declaration of
+          Independence, 66;
+    appointed Lieutenant and Commander in chief of the Militia of the
+          County of Albemarle, 66;
+    drafts constitution for Virginia, 66-69;
+    and the Declaration of Independence, 69-78;
+    resigns from Congress and enters Virginia Legislature, 78, 79;
+    his view of the social compact and liberty, 80-82, 85, 204, 365,
+          498;
+    his philosophy of natural and civil rights, 80-85, 106, 204, 346,
+          365;
+    his conception of state sovereignty, 82, 83;
+    his views on property, 84, 85;
+    his suggestion for United States seal, 86;
+    the source of his political philosophy, 87;
+    refuses post of commissioner to France, 87, 88;
+    birth of son, 88;
+    his part in revision of laws of Virginia, 88-103;
+    starts subscription for Rev. Charles Clay, 103-105;
+    his doctrine of government, 105-107;
+    as Governor of Virginia, 107-114;
+    his attitude toward British prisoners, 109-112;
+    a stern, but little observed, trait in his character, 111-113;
+    nearly taken by the British, 113;
+    charges against his conduct as governor, 114, 115;
+    impatient at public criticism, 115;
+    refuses new appointment to European post, 115, 116;
+    his determination to return to private life, 116-118, 153;
+    his description of natural scenery, 120, 121;
+    his studies in natural history, 121, 122;
+    his answer to Abbe Raynal, 122, 123;
+    his views on immigration, 123-125;
+    his combination of faith and pessimism in reference to government,
+          125, 126;
+    his view of the best government, 126, 127;
+    his opposition to dictator, 127, 128;
+    his belief in efficacy of universal suffrage, 129, 130;
+    his pessimism as regards human nature and human society, 130;
+    his views of slavery and the Negro, 131, _see also_ Slavery;
+    his view of American civilization as agricultural, 132;
+    advises peace and preparedness, 133, 134;
+    his ideal picture of America, 135, 136;
+    death of his wife, 137, 138;
+    appointed Plenipotentiary to Europe, but appointment canceled, 139,
+          140;
+    delegate to Congress (June, 1782 to July 5, 1784), 140, 143-152;
+    founds American monetary system, 147;
+    appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties of commerce
+          with foreign nations, 152;
+    his qualifications for European task, 153-155;
+    his quarters in Paris, 159;
+    his views of Paris, 160;
+    his friends and acquaintances at Paris, 161, 162;
+    rooms in Carthusian Monastery, 163;
+    his travels in Europe, 164-171;
+    advises against sending youth to Europe, 172;
+    compares Europe with America, 173-175;
+    his duties at Paris, 176;
+    and foreign debts, 176, 177, 181-193;
+    and the tobacco trade, 177-181;
+    his efforts to promote Gallo-American commerce, 181-184;
+    puts all questions on a practical basis, 194;
+    his views on the American Constitution, 195-202;
+    his political philosophy, 203-205;
+    his management of the problem of the Barbary pirates, 205-207;
+    his fear of French, English, and Spanish designs in New World,
+          207-211;
+    his belief in policy of isolation for United States, 211, 212;
+    originates policy of watchful waiting, 214;
+    his attitude toward French Revolution, 215-237;
+    draws up "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation", 230;
+    his emendations and corrections to Lafayette's "Declaration
+          Europeenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen", 232-234;
+    his house made the scene of French committee meeting, 235-237;
+    how far he believed in "government by the people", 237, 238;
+    on the French people, 238-240;
+    asserts one standard of morality for nations and individuals, 240,
+          241;
+    accepts post of Secretary of State, 245, 246;
+    pays respects to Franklin, 247;
+    the "Anas", 248, 251, 295, 515;
+    his attitude toward United States debts, 250-255;
+    quarrel with Hamilton, 255-258, 263, 265, 266, 268-271;
+    his opposition to Bank Bill, 255-258;
+    his theory of State rights, 257, 365;
+    his quarrel with Adams, 258-261;
+    reaches an impasse, 264;
+    his proposed changes in Virginia Constitution, 264, 265;
+    his indictment of Hamilton's system, 265-267;
+    urges Washington to run a second time for Presidency, 267;
+    attacked by _Gazette of the United States_, 268, 269;
+    becomes leader of new party, 269;
+    his fears of a monarchy, 271, 272, 344;
+    letters to French friends, 274;
+    his practical idealism, 275, 381, 382;
+    efforts to obtain New Orleans, 276-278;
+    becomes sympathetic with republican government in France, 278-280,
+          282, 285-287;
+    his efforts to obtain commercial privileges with West Indies,
+          280-282;
+    cautious in action, 283;
+    his principles as to recognition of foreign governments, 284, 286;
+    and the war between England and France, and Citizen Genet, 287-297;
+    resigns Secretaryship, 297;
+    in retirement at Monticello, 298-320;
+    his admiration for Madame de Corny, 298, 299;
+    avoids politics, 299-303;
+    his Report on the Privileges and Restrictions of the Commerce of the
+          United States, 302;
+    hopes for avoidance of war with Great Britain, 303-305;
+    views on current political events, 308-313;
+    writes indiscreet letter to Mazzei, 312, 333;
+    pen-portrait of, 314, 315;
+    chosen Vice-President, 320;
+    attempted reconciliation with Adams, 321, 322, 325;
+    desires peace with Europe, 324, 326, 337, 339, 343;
+    his "Parliamentary Manual", 325;
+    his view of manufactures, 327, 329;
+    forms certain political conclusions, 334, 335;
+    his self-mastery, 339, 340;
+    opposed to break in the Union, 340, 341;
+    newspaper war against, 341, 343;
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    luminous exposition of his doctrine (program of the Democratic
+          party), 351, 352;
+    as political leader, 352-362;
+    nominated for Presidency (1800), 362;
+    in the campaign, 363-368;
+    in the election, 368-373;
+    inauguration, 375;
+    inaugural address, 379;
+    his removals from office, 380, 381;
+    his attack on the judiciary, 383-390, 436;
+    reelected (1804), 389, 395;
+    convinced of the evil of the intrusion of churches into politics,
+          390;
+    hostility to, 390, 391;
+    his relation to Cabinet members, 392;
+    his reform in financial system of United States, 393;
+    his attitude toward agriculture and manufactures, 394, 395;
+    his imperialist views, 398-400, 449;
+    and Louisiana Purchase, 405-421;
+    sends Lewis on Western exploring expedition, 421, 422;
+    his policy in war between England and France, 424, 440, 441, 444,
+          447-462;
+    his second inaugural address, 425-428, 442;
+    the ordeal of his second term, 428, 429;
+    inconsistency of his conduct in Burr case, 437-439;
+    tries to obtain the Floridas, 445, 446;
+    offers alliance with England, 446;
+    writes to Alexander of Russia concerning rights of neutrals, 448;
+    imperialistic proposition of, 449; his letters, 468, 514, 516;
+    his views of Executive and Congress, 468-470;
+    opposed to English mercantilism, 471;
+    his detestation of English policies and rulers, 470-473;
+    his ideas on War of 1812, 473-478;
+    offers library to Congress, 477;
+    his feeling for England as distinguished from English government,
+          479;
+    opinions on affairs of Europe and South America, 479-486;
+    and the Monroe Doctrine, 483, 486-488;
+    formulates the gospel of American democracy, 489;
+    economic and banking theories of, 490-496;
+    his view of best government for France, 496, 497;
+    his theory of the function of the people in a democracy, 499-502;
+    sees germs of national weakness in United States government,
+          502-505;
+    his services to education (University of Virginia), 505-512;
+    his interests, 514-516;
+    his conclusion on the future of democracy, 517;
+    reconciliation with Adams, 518, 519;
+    his later religious views, 519-528;
+    his faith in ultimate recognition of ideals, 528, 529;
+    his last years and death, 529-532
+
+    "Autobiography", references to, 4, 53, 80, 88, 91, 93, 105, 108,
+          148, 236;
+      quoted on proposal for Congress, 44;
+      on expatriation, 47;
+      on Jefferson's retirement from Congress, 79;
+      on simplification of statutes, 92;
+      on self-government of the people, 106;
+      on method of composition used in "Notes on Virginia", 119;
+      on attendance at Congress, 143;
+      on Committee of Congress, 145;
+      on Jefferson's duties in Paris, 176;
+      picture of events preceding French Revolution in, 224;
+      on refusal of invitation to attend meeting of French committee,
+          235;
+      the writing of, 515
+
+    "Commonplace Book", 19, 39;
+      law matters in, 28-30;
+      provincialism in, 32;
+      Kames quoted in, 45, 84;
+      on rights of Dominion of Virginia, 46;
+      passages from James Wilson in, 73;
+      Montesquieu and Beccaria copied in, 94;
+      extracts on history of Common Law in, 101;
+      on death, 530, 531;
+      other references to, 47, 49
+
+    "Literary Bible", 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 41;
+      provincialism in, 32;
+      Milton in, 40
+
+    "Notes on Virginia", references to, 69, 98, 100, 101, 103, 153,
+          164, 169, 171, 215, 425, 508;
+      publication of, 118-120;
+      contents of, 120-136;
+      memorandum on new constitution for Virginia in, 141;
+      on value of education, 505
+
+  Jones, Prof. Hugh, his description of Williamsburg, 8
+
+  Jones, Paul, 207
+
+  Jones, Dr. Walter, letter to, 499
+
+  _Journal de Paris_, imprisonment of chief editor of, 217
+
+  Judiciary, assault on, under Jefferson, 383-390, 436
+
+  Judiciary Act of 1801, repeal of, 384
+
+
+  Kaims (Kames), Henry Home, Lord, his "Historical Law Tracts", 29, 30;
+    on mutual defence, 45;
+    his distinction of "property" and "possession", 84, 85;
+    referred to, 304
+
+  Kant, Immanuel, criterium of, 525
+
+  Keith, Mary, wife of Thomas Marshall, 4
+
+  Kentucky nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+  Kercheval, Samuel, letter to, 234, 504
+
+  King, Rufus, 402-405, 408
+
+  Knox, Gen. Henry, Secretary of War under Washington, 247
+
+  Kosciusko, 516
+
+
+  Lafayette, Marquis de, his plan for a "declaration of the rights of
+          man and the citizen", 76;
+    sent to arrest Arnold, 108;
+    friend of Jefferson, 154;
+    his family and friends, 161;
+    and the tobacco monopoly, 177-179;
+    efforts of, in commercial transactions, 181, 182;
+    and the Barbary pirates, 206;
+    advice of Jefferson to, 220;
+    Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, 230;
+    letters of, 232;
+    his "Declaration Europeenne des droits de l'homme et du citoyen",
+          232-234;
+    brings about committee meeting in Jefferson's house, 236;
+    letters to, 274, 283;
+    living embodiment of political faith of nineteenth century, 514;
+    his final leave-taking of Jefferson, 531
+
+  Lambert, British traveler, 460
+
+  Lamothe, Lieut., 111
+
+  Land Office, ordinance concerning establishment of, 149
+
+  Land tenures, origin of, 49
+
+  "La Peyrouse's voyage to the South Seas", 207
+
+  La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, visits Monticello, 313-315, 327
+
+  Latude, Jean Henri de, 219
+
+  Law, Thomas, letters to, 478, 524
+
+  Law, and free institutions, in Saxon society, 31, 32
+
+  "Law of nature", 23
+
+  League of Nations, 330
+
+  Lee, Arthur, delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140
+
+  Lee, C., appointed judge by Adams, 374
+
+  Lee, F. L., of Virginia Assembly, 43
+
+  Lee, Richard H., of Virginia Assembly, 43;
+    on committee of continental Congress appointed to answer Lord
+          North's "Conciliatory Proposition", 62;
+    assists in framing resolution instructing colonies to form
+          governments, 66;
+    mentioned, 79
+
+  Lee, Thomas Ludwell, appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-92
+
+  Leib, Dr., 311, 343; letter to, 458
+
+  Lewis (Merriwether) and Clark (William) Expedition, 421, 422
+
+  Liberty, Jefferson's definition of, 82
+
+  Lincoln, Abraham, Gettysburg address, 77
+
+  _Little Sarah_, British prize, 294
+
+  Livingston, Edward, member of Congress from New York, 368
+
+  Livingston, Robert R.,
+    on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence, 69;
+    letters to, 362, 368, 419;
+    United States Minister to France, 374;
+    and Louisiana, 402-416
+
+  Lobbying, 502
+
+  Locke, John, his "Treatise on Civil Government", 30;
+    and the Declaration of Independence, 71, 72;
+    his hypothesis of society, 82, 84, 204
+
+  Logan, Dr., idealistic pacifist, 341
+
+  Logan Law, 350
+
+  Louis XVI, Jefferson's pen-portrait of, 222, 229;
+    flight of, 282;
+    execution of, 287
+
+  Louisiana Purchase, 393, 400-421
+
+  "Louisianais", acceptance of, to citizenship, 423
+
+
+  McGregory, letter to, 365
+
+  McHenry, James,
+    Secretary of War in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, 323, 336;
+    dismissed by Adams, 368
+
+  Madison, Bishop, discusses religion with Jefferson, 358
+
+  Madison, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw
+          from public life, 117;
+    delegate to Congress, 140;
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 198, 222, 231, 234, 239, 240, 291,
+          302, 303, 306, 307, 335, 337, 338, 347, 351, 355, 462, 468,
+          476;
+    urges Jefferson to accept post of Secretary of State, 246;
+    Jefferson's unofficial representative in Congress, 250, 251;
+    Bank Bill opposed by, 255;
+    speeches, 257;
+    his copy of "The Rights of Man", 258;
+    accompanies Jefferson on trip, 259;
+    objections to, as Minister to France, 321, 322;
+    envoy to France, 324;
+    silent on French dispute, 339;
+    recommends Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    letter of, 411;
+    election of, to Presidency, 464;
+    on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Madrid, Treaty of, 403
+
+  Mann, Thomas, letter to, 308
+
+  Manufactures, Hamilton's Report on, 249, 266;
+    Hamilton's view of, 327;
+    Jefferson's view of, 327-329;
+    change in Jefferson's view of, 491, 492
+
+  "Marbury versus Madison", 384, 385
+
+  Marshall, John, ancestry, 3;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333;
+    returns from France, 341;
+    Secretary of State in Adams's Cabinet, 368;
+    administers oath to Jefferson, 375;
+    head of Federalists, 381;
+    his decision in "Marbury versus Madison", 384, 385;
+    asserts power of Supreme Court to declare law unconstitutional, 385,
+          386;
+    findings of, in Burr conspiracy case, 433, 434, 436, 437;
+    his "History of Washington", 515
+
+  Marshall, Thomas, family of, 4
+
+  Martin, Luther, in Chase impeachment case, 389
+
+  Mason, George, resolutions written by, 45, 46, 48;
+    "Virginia Bill of Rights" written by, 73;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-93;
+    mentioned, 251
+
+  Mason, John, letter to, 455
+
+  Mason, Stephens Thompson, letter to, 344
+
+  Mason, Thomas, 307
+
+  Mathews, Col. George, 112
+
+  Maury, James, letters to, 454, 473, 478
+
+  Maury, Rev. Dr., schoolmaster, 6, 20, 63
+
+  Mazzei, Philip, neighbor and friend of Jefferson, 35; letters to, 321,
+  333, 391
+
+  Mellish, John, traveler, 460
+
+  Mercer, John F., delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140, 273
+
+  Mexico, 481
+
+  Middlemen, in tobacco trade, 177-181
+
+  "Midnight judges", 373, 374, 385
+
+  Milton, John, his accusations against female usurpations, 22;
+    quotation from, 40
+
+  Mint, Hamilton's Report on Establishment of, 249
+
+  Mississippi, navigation of, 276
+
+  Missouri question, 502, 503
+
+  Mitchell, Dr., unpublished letter to, 390
+
+  Monocrats, 273, 306, 316
+
+  Monroe, James, disapproves of Jefferson's determination to withdraw
+          from public life, 117;
+    delegate to Congress from Virginia, 140;
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 217, 251, 260, 290, 301-303, 316,
+          317, 354, 357, 363, 373, 399, 463, 485, 486;
+    on Washington's proclamation of neutrality, 293;
+    sent as special envoy to France to negotiate for Louisiana, 411,
+          413, 415, 416;
+    his fear of alliance of Great Britain and France against United
+          States, 423;
+    negotiates, with Pinkney, treaty with England, 448-450;
+    considered for Presidency in 1808, 463, 464;
+    on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Monroe Doctrine, 483, 486-488
+
+  Montaigne, M. E. de, 130
+
+  Montesquieu, Baron de, 233
+
+  Monticello, the building of, 34, 39;
+    life at, 41;
+    Jefferson in retirement at, 298-320;
+    a self-supporting economic unit, 327, 467;
+    visitors to, 515
+
+  Montmorency, 234
+
+  Montmorin, Minister, 220, 237, 274, 278
+
+  Morality, and religion, 24, 25, 523-525;
+    test of, 525;
+    code of, 526
+
+  Morellet, Abbe, translator of "Notes on Virginia", 118;
+    meets Jefferson, 161, 215
+
+  Morocco, Emperor, treaty with, 312
+
+  Morris, Gouverneur, his accusation against Jefferson, 224;
+    letters to, 254, 263, 286, 293, 294, 295;
+    Minister to France, 283;
+    letters from, 284;
+    conduct as Minister to France, 323;
+    offers to use political influence for Jefferson, 372
+
+  Morris, Robert, Financier of U. S., 146, 179
+
+  Mutual defence, 45, 84
+
+  _National Gazette_, foundation of, 261-263
+
+  Natural Bridge, description of, 120, 175
+
+  Necker, Jacques, 229, 231
+
+  Negro, Jefferson's view of status of, 131
+
+  Nelson, Gen., elected governor of Virginia, 113
+
+  Nelson, Thomas, Jr., letter to, 66
+
+  Neutrality, Washington's proclamation of, 289, 293;
+    Jefferson's policy of, 424
+
+  New Granada, constitution of, 498
+
+  _New London Bee_, 368
+
+  New Orleans, Jefferson's efforts to obtain, 276-278
+
+  Nicholas, George, his charges against Jefferson, 114, 115, 127;
+    proposes dictator 127;
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345
+
+  Nicholas, Robert C., 28
+
+  Nicholas, Wilson C.,
+    his share in Kentucky and Virginia nullification resolutions, 345;
+    refutes Federalists, 357
+
+  Nicholson, Joseph N., member of Congress, 372
+
+  Nock, A. J., historian of Jefferson, 457, 458
+
+  Non-Intercourse Act, 461
+
+  North, Lord, his "Conciliatory Proposition", 54;
+    Jefferson's answer to his "Conciliatory Proposition", 62
+
+  Nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+
+  Ogden, John, arrest of, 354
+
+  Ogilvie, James, 502
+
+  Oratory, American school of, 388, 389
+
+  Orders in Council (Nov. 11, 1807), 453, 457
+
+  Otis, H. G., nominated District Attorney by Adams, 374
+
+
+  Page, John,
+    Jefferson's correspondence with, 15, 16, 19, 20, 38, 78, 166;
+    on committee on religion, 89
+
+  Paine, Thomas, his "Common Sense", influence of, 60;
+    letter to, 227, 228;
+    his "The Rights of Man", 258-261;
+    Jefferson's regard for, resented, 390, 391
+
+  Paradise, Comtesse Barziza, Lucy, 162
+
+  Parsons, Theophilus, nominated Attorney-General, 373
+
+  "Parson's Case", 15
+
+  Patowmac River, 120
+
+  Pendleton, Edmund, letters to, 78, 87, 88;
+    opposes Bill to Abolish Entails, 89;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90;
+    appeal of Jefferson to, 353;
+    congratulates Jefferson, 362
+
+  Physiocrats, 142, 233, 328, 395, 471, 493-495, 498
+
+  Pichon, French charge at The Hague, 354;
+    Minister in Washington, 419
+
+  Pickering, Judge, impeachment of, 384
+
+  Pickering, Timothy, in Cabinets of Washington and Adams, 323, 336;
+    dismissed by Adams, 368
+
+  Picket, F. J., of Geneva, 507
+
+  Pinckney, Charles, Minister to Spain, 402;
+    letter to, 458
+
+  Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth,
+    his treatment by the French Directory, 324, 325, 331;
+    appointed envoy extraordinary to France, 333;
+    nominated for Vice-Presidency (1800), 362;
+    candidate for President (1808), 464
+
+  Pinckney, Thomas, Minister to Great Britain, 290;
+    letter to, 331
+
+  Pinkney, William, and Monroe, negotiate treaty with England, 448-450
+
+  Politics, foreign and domestic, 248
+
+  Presidential election, _see_ Election
+
+  Priestley, Joseph, letters to, 358, 420, 517;
+    befriended by Jefferson, 366;
+    his "Hints Concerning Public Education", 506;
+    his treatise, "Of Socrates and Jesus compared", 526
+
+  Privateering, 151, 152
+
+  Privateers, outfitted and commissioned by Genet, 291, 292
+
+  "Proclamation announcing ratification of definitive treaties, Draft
+  for", 144
+
+  Property, the right to, 83-85, 233;
+    and possession, distinction between, 85
+
+  _Prospect_, 361
+
+  Protestants, edict on, 224
+
+  Public opinion, 203, 204, 301, 429
+
+  "Pursuit of happiness", as a right, 75, 76
+
+
+  Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Va., 9, 17, 23, 44
+
+  Randolph, Edmund, letters to, 115, 117, 254, 300;
+    Attorney-General under Washington, 247, 255, 256, 292;
+    opinion of, attacked by Jefferson, 309
+
+  Randolph, Jane, mother of Thomas Jefferson, 3, 4;
+    death, 65, 78
+
+  Randolph, John, 28;
+    removes to England, 63, 64, 107
+
+  Randolph, John, of Roanoke, refutes Federalists, 356;
+    in Chase impeachment case, 389;
+    "Resolution" of, on judiciary, 390;
+    leader of discontented Republicans, 428;
+    his "Remonstrance of the people of Louisiana", 429;
+    his attacks on Madison, 439
+
+  Randolph, Peyton, 28, 47, 63;
+    president of first Continental Congress, 54;
+    recalled from Congress, 54
+
+  Randolph, Mrs. Sarah, her "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", 529
+
+  Randolph, Thomas Mann, Jr., marries Martha Jefferson, 246;
+    letters to, 251, 262, 263, 293;
+    at Monticello, 301
+
+  Randolph, William, 3
+
+  Raynal, Abbe,
+    his application of theory of Buffon to American settlers, 122;
+    answer of Jefferson to, 122, 123
+
+  Religion, and morality, 24, 25, 523, 527
+
+  Religious freedom, in Virginia, 89, 90, 100-103
+
+  Republicans, in election of 1792, 273
+
+  Richmond, Va., establishment of Free Public Library at, 99
+
+  Riedesel, Maj.-Gen. Baron de, 110
+
+  Rights, natural and civil, 80-85, 204, 233, 346
+
+  Rochefoucauld, Comtesse de la, 162
+
+  Rochefoucauld, Duc de La, 274
+
+  Rodney, Caesar A., letter to, 469
+
+  Rotation in office, 502
+
+  Rousseau, Jean Jacques, his hypothesis of society, 82, 84;
+    on morality, 525
+
+  Rush, Benjamin, 458;
+    deplores estrangement of Jefferson and Adams, 518;
+    Jefferson writes "Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the
+          Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of others" for,
+          526, 527
+
+  Rush, Richard, letter to, 489
+
+  Rutledge, letters to, 225, 309, 317, 330, 334, 335
+
+
+  Saint Etienne, Rabaud de,
+    Jefferson sends "Charter of Rights for the King and Nation" to, 230
+
+  San Ildefonso, Treaty of, 402
+
+  Santo Domingo, and Government of the United States, 283, 285
+
+  Sedgwick, Theodore, speaker of the House, 373
+
+  Sedition Law, 342-347, 383
+
+  Seward, W. W., letter to, 212
+
+  Shadwell, Jefferson estate, 3, 7, 8, 28, 32, 34, 35;
+    burning of, 38, 39
+
+  Shaw, Samuel, consul at Canton, 289
+
+  Sherman, Roger, on committee to prepare Declaration of Independence,
+  69
+
+  "Shirt-sleeve" diplomacy, 178
+
+  Short, William, private secretary of Jefferson, 153, 159;
+    studies French, 161;
+    correspondence with Jefferson, 275-277, 280, 282, 285, 288, 398,
+          462, 517, 521;
+    transferred to the Hague, 283;
+    rebuked by Jefferson, 286
+
+  Skelton, Bathurst, 39
+
+  Skelton, Martha, married to Jefferson, 39, 40;
+    death, 137, 138;
+    grave and inscription, 138
+
+  Slavery,
+    Jefferson's attitude toward, 119, 131, 142, 148, 152, 492, 503;
+    in the Confederation, 148, 149
+
+  Small, Dr. William, professor in William and Mary College, his
+  intimacy with Jefferson, 11-13, 63
+
+  Smith, Rev. Cotton Mather, his accusation against Jefferson, 363
+
+  Smith, James, letter to, 520
+
+  Smith, Robert, Attorney-General, 437
+
+  Smith, Samuel H., letters to, 343, 477
+
+  Smith, Col. W. S., 287, 288
+
+  Social compact, Jefferson's view of, 45, 46, 80-82, 85, 204, 365, 498
+
+  Society, man and, conflict between, 107;
+    contractual and physiocratic doctrines of, 141, 142
+
+  South America, _see_ Spanish colonies
+
+  Spanish colonies in America, 209-211; revolt of, 481-485
+
+  Sprigg resolution, against war with France, 337, 338
+
+  Stael, Madame de, Jefferson's correspondence with, 476
+
+  State rights, Jefferson's theory of, 257, 365
+
+  State sovereignty, Jefferson's conception of, 82, 83
+
+  State universities, 512
+
+  States, provision for new, 148, 149
+
+  Stewart, Dugald, 5, 11
+
+  Stoddart, Benjamin, Secretary of the Navy in Adams's Cabinet, 374
+
+  Stuart, Archibald, 264
+
+  Suffrage, universal, 129, 130;
+    limitation of, 499
+
+  Sullivan, Francis Stoughton, his "An Historical Treatise of the Feudal
+  Laws and the Constitution of the Laws of England", 30
+
+  Supreme Court, Jefferson's attitude toward, 346;
+    Marshall's doctrine of the powers of, 385, 386
+
+  Swartwout, and the Burr conspiracy, 432, 433
+
+
+  Tariff, and the French debt, 181;
+    belief and practice in, 212, 213;
+    advocated by Jefferson's party, 394
+
+  Tarleton, Col. Sir Bannastre, attempts to capture Legislature and
+  Governor of Virginia, 113
+
+  Taxation, forms of, 493, 494
+
+  Taylor, John, letter to, 347;
+    efforts to secure appointment of dictator, 356
+
+  Taylor, Keith, appointed judge by Adams, 374
+
+  Tazewell, H., letter to, 308
+
+  Ternant, French Minister to United States, 287, 290, 291
+
+  Tesse, Madame de, 161, 170, 221;
+    correspondence with, 514
+
+  Thomson, Charles, letter to, 530
+
+  Ticknor, George, 510
+
+  Tobacco monopoly, 177-181
+
+  Tott, Madame de, 162
+
+  "Transfers", problem of, 181
+
+  Treaties, _see_ Commercial treaties
+
+  Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), 211, 212
+
+  Treaty of Commerce, with Great Britain, 143, 144
+
+  Trial by jury, 237
+
+  Tripoli, war with, 443
+
+  Trist, Mrs., 163, 216, 530
+
+
+  Unger, Louis de, German officer, 110
+
+  Unitarianism, 520
+
+  United States, suggestions for seal of, 86;
+    proclaimed as one nation, 144, 150;
+    establishment of monetary system of, 146, 147;
+    provision for new States, 148;
+    foreign debts, 176, 177, 181, 182, 184-193;
+    western lands, sale of, 188;
+    Constitution, 195-202;
+    desire of isolation, 211;
+    often accused of hypocrisy in foreign dealings, 213;
+    has tried to combine political aloofness and industrial and
+          commercial development, 330;
+    relation to foreign nations, 396;
+    neutrality of, in war between England and France, 424, 440;
+    imports and exports of, at beginning of nineteenth century, 440;
+    population of, at beginning of nineteenth century, 441.
+    _See also_ American Revolution; Articles of Confederation;
+          Declaration of Independence; Louisiana Purchase
+
+  University of Geneva, 505
+
+  University of Virginia, 509-512
+
+
+  Vans Murray, American Minister at The Hague, 349, 354
+
+  Vans Murray-Pichon papers, 354, 355
+
+  Venable, 356
+
+  Vergennes, Charles G., Count de, 178, 185, 206
+
+  Virginia, family life in, before the Revolution, 4;
+    books in, 5;
+    religion in, 6;
+    plantation life in, 35, 41;
+    House of Burgesses, 38, 54;
+    temper of colonists of, 42;
+    Constitution (1776), drafted by Jefferson, 67-69;
+    revision of laws of, 88-107;
+    ideas on new constitution for, 140-143;
+    Jefferson proposes changes in constitution, 264.
+    _See also_ American Revolution; Shadwell; Williamsburg
+
+  Virginia Bill of Rights, 73, 74, 76, 83, 100
+
+  Virginia Convention, first, 47, 53;
+    second, 54
+
+  Virginia nullification resolutions, 345-347
+
+  Virginia Company of Comedians, 34
+
+  Volney, Constantin F. C. B., Count de, 319, 339, 340, 366, 400, 401
+
+
+  Walker, Col., guardian of Jefferson, 10, 11
+
+  War of 1812, 473-478
+
+  Washington, D. C., in 1800, 362
+
+  Washington, George, presides over Assembly of Fairfax County, 45;
+    and Jefferson, differ as regards treatment of British prisoners,
+          112;
+    Jefferson's view of, 122, 139;
+    his wines, 160;
+    his Cabinet, 245-247;
+    urged by Jefferson to run a second time for Presidency, 267;
+    distressed at dissensions in Cabinet, 269;
+    supports Hamilton's actions, 271;
+    reelection of, 272;
+    letter to, 304;
+    harsh words of Jefferson against, 311
+
+  Watchful waiting, policy of, advocated by Jefferson, 214, 423, 452
+
+  Watson, David, on board of visitors to University of Virginia, 509
+
+  Wayles, John, father-in-law of Jefferson, 39
+
+  West Indies, commerce with, 151, 280-282, 295, 329;
+    Jefferson opposed to change of ownership of, 303
+
+  Western lands, sale of, 254
+
+  Whisky Insurrection, 305, 306
+
+  White House, burned by English, 476
+
+  Wilkinson, James, and the Burr conspiracy, 429-435, 438
+
+  William and Mary College, 8-11;
+    reorganization of, 98, 99;
+    transformation of, 358
+
+  Williamsburg, Va., society in, 8, 9, 34
+
+  Williamson, Hugh, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Wilson, James, and the Declaration of Independence, 73, 76
+
+  Wilson, Woodrow, political aloofness and industrial development
+          conspicuous in his position, 330;
+    his phrase, "too proud to fight", 398;
+    neutrality of, 424;
+    his hope of preserving peace, 444;
+    his situation in 1914-1917 compared to that of Jefferson in 1808,
+          455, 456
+
+  Wistar, Caspar, discussions with Jefferson, 371
+
+  Wolcott, Oliver,
+    Secretary of the Treasury under Washington and Adams, 323, 336
+
+  Woodward, Augustus S., letter to, 521
+
+  Wythe, George, professor in William and Mary College, and Jefferson,
+          12, 13, 27, 28, 34, 63;
+    appointed reviser of laws of Virginia, 90-93;
+    congratulates Jefferson, 362;
+    mentioned, 310, 325
+
+
+  XYZ Case, 337.
+    See _also_ France
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[1] To Mrs. Bingham, Paris, February 7, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 81.
+
+[2] To Jefferson Randolph, November 24, 1808, Memorial Edition, XII,
+197.
+
+[3] To John Adams, June 11, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 160.
+
+[4] "Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson", by S. N. Randolph. New York,
+1857, p. 27.
+
+[5] "Notes on Virginia." Query XV.
+
+[6] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I., 3.
+
+[7] November 24, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 197.
+
+[8] William Wirt Henry: "Life of Patrick Henry." New York, 1891, vol. I,
+p. 41.
+
+[9] January 20, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 6.
+
+[10] July 15, 1763. _Ibid._, IV, 8.
+
+[11] "The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1927.
+"The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1928.
+
+[12] To John Page, Shadwell, July 15, 1763. Memorial Edition, IV, 10.
+
+[13] Mary Newton Stanard: "Colonial Virginia." Philadelphia, 1917, p.
+306.
+
+[14] To Peter Carr. Memorial Edition, VI, 258.
+
+[15] "Samson Agonistes", v, 1025.
+
+[16] See also "Commonplace Book", p. 330, and "Writings." Memorial
+Edition, XV, 239, March 14, 1820.
+
+[17] "Hecuba", 592, in "Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson."
+
+[18] "Hecuba", 306.
+
+[19] Bolingbroke, in "Literary Bible."
+
+[20] Stanard, p. 240.
+
+[21] These memoranda are in the Jefferson Coolidge Collection of the
+Massachusetts Historical Society.
+
+[22] To Wirt, August 5, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 335.
+
+[23] "Autobiography." _Ibid._, I, 6.
+
+[24] Randall, "Life of Jefferson", I, 16, _n._
+
+[25] "Paradise Lost", 1. 4, v., 337.
+
+[26] To John Page, February 21, 1770. Memorial Edition, IV, 17.
+
+[27] June 9, 1770, and June 6, 1773. The diplomas are preserved in the
+Jefferson papers of the Library of Congress.
+
+[28] Quoted by Stanard, p. 163.
+
+[29] Quoted by T. N. Page, p. 147.
+
+[30] "Autobiography", p. 10.
+
+[31] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 11.
+
+[32] This passage has been overlooked by Randall, and naturally by Mr.
+Hirst, who follows Randall very closely here as elsewhere. Hirst, p. 69.
+The Fairfax resolutions did not recognize the right of the British
+Parliament to regulate the commerce of the colony; they admitted the
+_expediency_ but denied the _right_ of such a procedure.
+
+[33] George Mason, I, 393.
+
+[34] See "Commonplace Book", 229-257.
+
+[35] "Commonplace Book", p. 135.
+
+[36] Stanard, p. 250.
+
+[37] To John Randolph, Attorney-general, August 25, 1775. Memorial
+Edition, IV, 28.
+
+[38] Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.
+
+[39] August 31, 1775.
+
+[40] November 29, 1775. Memorial Edition, IV, 31.
+
+[41] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[42] The full text will be found in the Ford Edition, II, 7.
+
+[43] See "Life of G. Mason", I, Appendix.
+
+[44] "Journals of Congress", V, 425.
+
+[45] _Ibid._, V, 431.
+
+[46] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 25.
+
+[47] "Life and Correspondence of G. Mason", I, 438.
+
+[48] To Thomas Nelson, May 16, 1776. Memorial Edition, IV, 253.
+
+[49] "Writings", Ford, II, 41.
+
+[50] Ford, II, 61.
+
+[51] "Journals of Congress", July 12, V, 546 and August 20, V, 674.
+
+[52] "Journals of Congress", October 14, 1774, I, 67.
+
+[53] See "Commonplace Book", 107, 111 _et ff._
+
+[54] "Journals of Congress", V., 517.
+
+[55] August 13, 1776. Ford, II, 78.
+
+[56] Ford, II, 91, October 11, 1776.
+
+[57] Randall, I, 196.
+
+[58] Ford, II, 79.
+
+[59] Concerning the opposition he encountered, see "Autobiography."
+Ford, I, 54.
+
+[60] "Autobiography", _Ibid._, I, 58.
+
+[61] "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 276.
+
+[62] "Life and Correspondence of George Mason", I, 277.
+
+[63] Note for the biography of John Saunderson, Esq., August 31, 1820.
+"Autobiography", Appendix A. Ford, I, 107.
+
+[64] Monticello, November 1, 1778. Memorial Edition, I, 216.
+
+[65] "Notes on Virginia", Query XVII.
+
+[66] "Commonplace Book", p. 362.
+
+[67] This seems to be the first draft of the document; another copy in
+the Jefferson Coolidge Collection presents few variants, the most
+important being found in the second sentence which reads, "Yet desirous
+of encouraging and supporting the Calvinistical Reformed Church, and of
+deriving" etc. The list of names appended to that second version is
+considerably longer and besides the original signers includes fourteen
+other supporters of the Reverend Charles Clay.
+
+[68] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 73.
+
+[69] See my edition of the Jefferson-Lafayette Correspondence, Paris and
+Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[70] Jefferson to General Philips. Quoted by Randall, I, 235.
+
+[71] See his letter dated from Paris, November 20, 1789.
+
+[72] To Baron de Riedesel, July 4, 1779. Ford, II, 245.
+
+[73] July 17, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 247.
+
+[74] July 22, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 249.
+
+[75] October 1, 1779. Ford, II, 258.
+
+[76] October 8, 1779. _Ibid._, II, 261.
+
+[77] _Ibid._, II, 263.
+
+[78] To The Virginia Delegation in Congress, October 27, 1780. To
+Colonel Vanmeter, April 27, 1781. _Ibid._, III, 24.
+
+[79] "A Diary kept by Th: J. from Dec. 31. 1780 to Jan. 11. 1781 and
+more general Notes of subsequent transactions during the British
+invasion." Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[80] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[81] Lafayette transmitted the letter on June 26, 1781, but Jefferson
+did not receive it until the beginning of August. _Ibid._
+
+[82] To E. Randolph, September 16, 1781. Jefferson Papers. Library of
+Congress.
+
+[83] June 11, 1782. Randall, I, 376.
+
+[84] The story of the publication has been told by P. L. Ford in a most
+scholarly edition of the "Notes on Virginia" in the "Writings" of
+Jefferson.
+
+[85] June 7, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 3.
+
+[86] To Arch. Stuart, September 8, 1818. Ford, III, 231, _n._
+
+[87] Iliad XXII, 389.
+
+[88] "Domestic Life", p. 67.
+
+[89] To Chastellux, November 26, 1782, in Randall, I, 1782.
+
+[90] "Autobiography", Memorial Edition, I, 76.
+
+[91] January 22, 1783. _Ibid._, IV, 215.
+
+[92] To Madison, May 7, 1783. Ford, III, 329.
+
+[93] This point appears even more clearly in Jefferson correspondence
+with Du Pont de Nemours, to appear shortly.
+
+[94] "Report on letters from the Ministers in Paris." December 20, 1783.
+Ford, III, 355.
+
+[95] Ford, III, 377.
+
+[96] February 1, 1784. Ford, III, 393.
+
+[97] Ford, III, p. 430.
+
+[98] See Ford, III, 407 and 429.
+
+[99] _Ibid._, III, 476.
+
+[100] March, 1784. _Ibid_, III, p. 428.
+
+[101] To George Washington, April 16, 1784. Ford, III, 466 and 470.
+
+[102] To James Madison, February 20, 1784. _Ibid._, III, 403.
+
+[103] To Mrs. Trist, Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", 79.
+
+[104] See G. Chinard, "Les Amities americaines de Madame d'Houdetot."
+Paris, 1923.
+
+[105] May 24, 1785, November 12, 1785, etc. Massachusetts Historical
+Society.
+
+[106] Chinard, "Trois Amities Francaises de Jefferson." Paris, 1927.
+
+[107] Most of her letters to Jefferson are in the Jefferson Coolidge
+Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
+
+[108] April 6, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 80.
+
+[109] Diary of Martha. _Ibid._, p. 74.
+
+[110] _Ibid._, p. 84.
+
+[111] April 11, 1787. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[112] May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 303.
+
+[113] _Ibid._, XVII, 153.
+
+[114] Nismes, March 20, 1787.
+
+[115] To J. Bannister, Junior, October 15, 1785. Memorial Edition, V,
+185.
+
+[116] To Bellini, September 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 153.
+
+[117] To Crevecoeur, January 15, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 53.
+
+[118] To Carmichael, December 26, 1786.
+
+[119] To Skipwith, July 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 187.
+
+[120] August 10, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 262.
+
+[121] Jefferson to the Governor of Maryland. June 16, 1785. Memorial
+Edition, V, 8.
+
+[122] To Messrs. French and Nephew. July 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V,
+34.
+
+[123] August 15, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 68.
+
+[124] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Feb. 20, 1786.
+
+[125] Lafayette's letter. March 18, 1786. _Ibid._
+
+[126] To the Governor of Virginia, January 24, 1786. Memorial Edition,
+V, 253.
+
+[127] To James Ross, May 8, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 321.
+
+[128] To James Ross, May 8, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 329.
+
+[129] For a brief but satisfactory treatment see W. K. Woolery. "The
+Relation of Thomas Jefferson to American Foreign Policy, 1783-1793."
+Baltimore, 1927.
+
+[130] Letter to Lafayette, July 17, 1786. Library of Congress.
+
+[131] July 9, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 357.
+
+[132] To Washington, August 14, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 277.
+
+[133] _Ibid._, VII, 478.
+
+[134] July 30, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 45.
+
+[135] To Jay, August 14,1785. Memorial Edition, V, 65.
+
+[136] To John Jay, April 23, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 300.
+
+[137] To T. Pleasants, May 8, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 324.
+
+[138] To Jay, September 26, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 426.
+
+[139] To Jay, September 26, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 426; to Adams,
+July 17, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 173; to James Madison, August 2, 1787.
+_Ibid._, VI, 215.
+
+[140] To J. Adams, July 17, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 173.
+
+[141] To John Jay, August 6, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 248.
+
+[142] December 21, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 394.
+
+[143] To Dumas, February 12, 1788. _Ibid._, VI, 429.
+
+[144] To Adams, February 6, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 419. To The Commissioners
+of the Treasury, Feb. 7, 1788. _Ibid._, VI, 421.
+
+[145] March 16, 1788. Memorial Edition, VI, 438.
+
+[146] To the Commissioners of the Treasury, March 29, 1788. _Ibid._, VI,
+433.
+
+[147] _Ibid._, VI, 447 and 445.
+
+[148] To the Honorable, The Board of the Treasury, May 16, 1788.
+Memorial Edition, VII, 9.
+
+[149] To John Jay, May 23, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 22; To the Commissioners
+of the Treasury, September 6, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 136.
+
+[150] To James Madison, November 18, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 186.
+
+[151] To John Jay, March 12, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 296.
+
+[152] To John Jay, May 9, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 345.
+
+[153] To John Jay, September 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 471.
+
+[154] To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 129.
+
+[155] To John Adams, February 23, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 97.
+
+[156] To James Madison, June 20, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 132.
+
+[157] August 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 227.
+
+[158] September 10, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 295.
+
+[159] To John Adams, November 13, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 370. See
+also letter to Colonel Smith, written the same day. _Ibid._, VI, 372.
+
+[160] December 11, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 380.
+
+[161] December 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 393.
+
+[162] To Donald, February 7, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 425.
+
+[163] To Carmichael and to Colonel Carrington, May 27, 1787. _Ibid._,
+VII, 27, 29.
+
+[164] To Carmichael, August 12, 1787. _Ibid._, VII, 124; to James
+Madison, November 18, 1788, _Ibid._, VII, 183; to General Washington,
+December 4, 1788, _Ibid._, VII, 223.
+
+[165] To Colonel Humphreys, March 18, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 324.
+
+[166] Jefferson to Monroe, May 10, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 327.
+
+[167] To Major General Greene, January 12, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 246.
+
+[168] "Autobiography", _Ibid._, I, 97 and July 11, 1786, _Ibid._, V,
+364.
+
+[169] See my edition of the Jefferson Lafayette correspondence, chapter
+II. Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[170] "Memoirs", II, 148.
+
+[171] To John Jay, August 14, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 63.
+
+[172] To Baron Geismer, September 6, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 128.
+
+[173] To John Langdon, September 11, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 131.
+
+[174] To Count Hogendorp, October 13, 1785. _Ibid._, V, 182.
+
+[175] To John Page, May 4, 1786. Memorial Edition, V, 306.
+
+[176] To Dumas, May 6, 1786. _Ibid._, V, 309.
+
+[177] To John Jay, May 4, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 119.
+
+[178] To Carmichael, May 27, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 27.
+
+[179] To Count Hagendorf, October 13, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 181.
+
+[180] November 12, 1785. Memorial Edition, V, 202.
+
+[181] December 21, 1787, Memorial Edition, VI, 396; see also letter to
+John Jay, May 4, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 122.
+
+[182] See "Les Amities Francaises de Madame d'Houdetot." Paris, 1925.
+
+[183] To Mrs. Trist. Paris, August 18, 1785. "Domestic Life", p. 79.
+
+[184] To James Monroe, April 15, 1785. Ford, IV, 59.
+
+[185] To Abigail Adams, June 21, 1785. _Ibid._, IV, 59.
+
+[186] To Mrs. Adams, July 7, 1785. Ford, IV, 68.
+
+[187] To George Wythe, August 13, 1786. _Ibid._, IV, 268-269.
+
+[188] To Mrs. Maria Cosway, October 12, 1786. Ford, IV, 323.
+
+[189] November, 1786. _Ibid._, IV, 328.
+
+[190] To Edward Carrington. January 16, 1787. _Ibid._, IV, 357.
+
+[191] To J. Jay, January 9, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 45.
+
+[192] January 16, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 56.
+
+[193] February 23, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 99.
+
+[194] February 28, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 101.
+
+[195] March 20, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 105.
+
+[196] To James Madison, June 20, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 134.
+
+[197] August 5, 1787, Memorial Edition. VI, 235.
+
+[198] _Ibid._, VI, 247.
+
+[199] To Washington, August 14, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 276.
+
+[200] August 14, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 279.
+
+[201] To John Adams, August 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 287.
+
+[202] October 8, 1787. _Ibid._, VI, 338.
+
+[203] To William Rutledge, February 2, 1788. _Ibid._, VI. 417.
+
+[204] To De Moustier, May 17, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 13.
+
+[205] July 18, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 81.
+
+[206] July 24, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 87.
+
+[207] To Colonel Monroe, August 9, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 113.
+
+[208] August 12, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 124.
+
+[209] To Cutting, August 23, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 131.
+
+[210] To Short, November 2, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 159.
+
+[211] To Washington, December 4, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 228.
+
+[212] To Doctor Currie, December 20, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 259.
+
+[213] To Shippen, March 11, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 291.
+
+[214] March 17, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 317.
+
+[215] _Ibid._, VII, 321.
+
+[216] To Lafayette, May 6, 1788. Memorial Edition, VII, 334. To
+Carmichael, May 8, 1788. _Ibid._, VII, 337.
+
+[217] To John Jay, May 9, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 345.
+
+[218] To Crevecoeur, May 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 368.
+
+[219] To Madison, June 18,1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 386.
+
+[220] To John Jay, June 24-25, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 395.
+
+[221] _Ibid._, VII, 268.
+
+[222] "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson." Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[223] Memorial Edition, VIII, 454.
+
+[224] To J. Jay, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 409 and to James
+Madison July 22. _Ibid._, VII, 424.
+
+[225] Manuscript. Library of Congress, July 20, 1789.
+
+[226] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, probably August, 1789.
+
+[227] September 20, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 474.
+
+[228] "Autobiography", I, 156.
+
+[229] To M. l'Abbe Arnoud, Paris, July 19, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII,
+422.
+
+[230] To Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.
+
+[231] To John Jay, September 19, 1789. _Ibid._, VII, 467.
+
+[232] To James Madison, January 30, 1787. Memorial Edition, VI, 70.
+
+[233] To James Madison, August 28, 1789. Memorial Edition, VII, 448.
+
+[234] "Trois amities francaises de Jefferson", p. 188.
+
+[235] Madison to Washington. January 4, 1790.
+
+[236] Washington to Jefferson. January 21.
+
+[237] "Autobiography", p. 161.
+
+[238] "Trois amities francaises de Jefferson", p. 195. February 28,
+1790.
+
+[239] "Autobiography." Memorial Edition, I, 103.
+
+[240] Memorial Edition, I, 274.
+
+[241] March 28, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 9.
+
+[242] June 13, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 36.
+
+[243] June 20, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 43.
+
+[244] June 23, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 47.
+
+[245] To Gilmer, June 27, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 53.
+
+[246] _Ibid._, VIII, 63.
+
+[247] November 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 107.
+
+[248] December 3, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 109.
+
+[249] February 4, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.
+
+[250] "Writings", VI, 19-43.
+
+[251] To the President of the United States. Memorial Edition, VIII,
+192. May 8, 1791.
+
+[252] Memorial Edition, VIII, 208.
+
+[253] _Ibid._, VIII, 223.
+
+[254] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 2, 1793.
+
+[255] August 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 229.
+
+[256] August 30, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 241.
+
+[257] To John Adams, August 30, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 245.
+
+[258] December 23, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 275.
+
+[259] March 1, 1792. Memorial Edition, I, 292, "Anas."
+
+[260] May 23, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 341.
+
+[261] September 9, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 408.
+
+[262] To Thomas Pinckney, December 3, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 443.
+
+[263] To Doctor George Gilmer, December 15, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 444.
+
+[264] _Ibid._, VIII, 445.
+
+[265] April 6, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 19.
+
+[266] April 2. Memorial Edition, VIII, 11.
+
+[267] July 26, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 65.
+
+[268] To Carmichael, August 2, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 70.
+
+[269] To Short, August 10, 1790. Memorial Edition, VIII, 79.
+
+[270] To Gouverneur Morris, August 12, 1790. _Ibid._, VIII, 85.
+
+[271] To Colonel Mason, February 4, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 123.
+
+[272] To the President of the National Assembly, March 8, 1791. Memorial
+Edition, VIII, 37.
+
+[273] To W. Short, April 25, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 185.
+
+[274] See also my edition of the "Letters of Lafayette and Jefferson",
+chapter III. Paris, Baltimore, 1929.
+
+[275] To W. Short, July 28, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 217.
+
+[276] July 30, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 225.
+
+[277] To Edward Rutledge, August 25, 1791. _Ibid._, VIII, 234.
+
+[278] To Short, November 24, 1791. Memorial Edition, VIII, 261.
+
+[279] To Short, January 28, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 297.
+
+[280] March 10, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 311.
+
+[281] To Lafayette, June 16, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 381.
+
+[282] November 7, 1792. _Ibid._, VIII, 437.
+
+[283] November 20, 1792. Memorial Edition, VIII, 441.
+
+[284] January 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 9.
+
+[285] To G. Morris, March 12, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 37.
+
+[286] To ----, March 18, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 45.
+
+[287] "Anas", February 20, 1793.
+
+[288] To Messrs. Carmichael and Short, March 23, 1793. Memorial Edition,
+IX, 55.
+
+[289] March 21, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 49.
+
+[290] To C. W. Dumas, March 23, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 57.
+
+[291] To E. P. Van Berckel, April 23, 1793. To Morris, Pinckney and
+Short, April 26, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 68-69.
+
+[292] April 27, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 70.
+
+[293] May 5, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 75.
+
+[294] May 7, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 79.
+
+[295] To Ternant, May 3, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 74.
+
+[296] May 15, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 89.
+
+[297] May 19, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 98.
+
+[298] June 6, 1789. _Ibid._, IX, 115.
+
+[299] June 13, 1789. Memorial Edition, IX, 123.
+
+[300] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 24, 1793.
+
+[301] _Ibid._ Library of Congress, June 27, 1793 and Writings of J.
+Monroe, I, 261.
+
+[302] To J. Madison, July 7, 1793. Ford, VII, 436.
+
+[303] To James Madison, August 25, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 211.
+
+[304] To Madison, September 1, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 211.
+
+[305] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, 15832.
+
+[306] December 31, 1793. Memorial Edition, IX, 277.
+
+[307] December 13, 1793. _Ibid._, IX, 279.
+
+[308] Angelica Church to Jefferson, August 19, 1793. Chinard, "Trois
+Amities Francaises", p. 155.
+
+[309] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February, 1794.
+
+[310] "Amities francaises", p. 161.
+
+[311] February 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 279.
+
+[312] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 15, 1794.
+
+[313] December 16, 1793. Memorial Edition, III, 261-283.
+
+[314] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, March 3, and March 11,
+1794.
+
+[315] April 3, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 281 and Manuscript Library of
+Congress, March 16.
+
+[316] April 24, 1794. Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.
+
+[317] May 1, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 285.
+
+[318] May 14, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 287.
+
+[319] September 7, 1794. _Ibid._, IX, 291.
+
+[320] December 28, 1794. Memorial Edition, IX, 293.
+
+[321] April 27, 1795. _Ibid._, IX, 301.
+
+[322] April 27. _Ibid._, IX, 305.
+
+[323] See S. F. Bemis. "Jay's Treaty." New York, 1923.
+
+[324] August 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 307.
+
+[325] September 21, 1795. _Ibid._, IX, 309.
+
+[326] November 30, 1795. Memorial Edition, IX, 313.
+
+[327] March 21, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 329.
+
+[328] January 16, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 319.
+
+[329] To James Madison, March 6, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 323.
+
+[330] March 19, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 326.
+
+[331] To James Madison, March 27, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 330.
+
+[332] April 9, 1790. Memorial Edition, IX, 334.
+
+[333] April 24, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 335.
+
+[334] June 19, 1796. _Ibid._, IX, 339.
+
+[335] To Jonathan Williams, July 3, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 347.
+
+[336] December 17, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 351.
+
+[337] To Rutledge, December 27, 1796. Memorial Edition, IX, 353.
+
+[338] To Madison, January 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 357.
+
+[339] James Madison to Jefferson, January 15, 1797. "Works", VI, 303.
+
+[340] January 22, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 370.
+
+[341] April 9, 1797. _Ibid._, IX, 380.
+
+[342] June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 408.
+
+[343] May 29, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 389.
+
+[344] June 15, 1797. To James Madison, Memorial Edition, IX, 397.
+
+[345] June 17, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 400.
+
+[346] June 21, 1797. _Ibid._, IX, 405.
+
+[347] To Colonel A. Campbell, September 1, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX,
+419.
+
+[348] June 24, 1797. Memorial Edition, IX, 409.
+
+[349] January 3, 1798. _Ibid._, IX, 431.
+
+[350] February 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, IX, 444.
+
+[351] March 15, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 6.
+
+[352] March 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 9.
+
+[353] To Madison, March 29, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 17.
+
+[354] March 27, 1798.
+
+[355] To Madison, April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 27.
+
+[356] April 12, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 28.
+
+[357] April 12, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 29.
+
+[358] To Madison, April 26, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 31.
+
+[359] See Chinard, "Volney et l'Amerique." Paris, Baltimore, 1923.
+
+[360] To Madison, April 26, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 33.
+
+[361] To Madison, May 31, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 43.
+
+[362] To John Taylor, June 1, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 45.
+
+[363] To Madison, June 21, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 49-53.
+
+[364] August 22, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 61.
+
+[365] October 11, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 62.
+
+[366] To Madison, November 17, 1798. Memorial Edition, X, 62.
+
+[367] December 11, 1821. _Ibid._, XV, 351.
+
+[368] See pp. 80-82.
+
+[369] November 17. Memorial Edition, X, 63.
+
+[370] November 26, 1798. _Ibid._, X, 63.
+
+[371] To James Madison, January 3, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 67.
+
+[372] Madison to Jefferson, June 26, 1799. Jefferson Papers. Library of
+Congress.
+
+[373] January 16, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 69.
+
+[374] To Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 77-78.
+
+[375] January 29, 1799, Memorial Edition, X, 87 and Jefferson Papers,
+Library of Congress, February 14, 1799.
+
+[376] To Madison, February 5, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 95.
+
+[377] John Ogden to Jefferson, February 7, 1799. Jefferson Papers.
+Library of Congress.
+
+[378] February 11, 1799. _Ibid._
+
+[379] To Madison, February 19, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 111.
+
+[380] To Bishop James Madison, February 27, 1799. _Ibid._, X, 122.
+
+[381] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 26, 1799.
+
+[382] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Bishop Madison, March
+12, 1799.
+
+[383] _Ibid._ Callender to Jefferson, August 10, 1799. From Richmond.
+
+[384] _Ibid._ Marked received December 11, undated.
+
+[385] August 18, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 125.
+
+[386] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. To Callender, undated,
+unsigned.
+
+[387] To Madison, November 22, 1799. Memorial Edition, X, 133.
+
+[388] January 12, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 136.
+
+[389] Priestley's answer, never hitherto published, will be found in my
+volume on "Jefferson and the Physiocrats."
+
+[390] March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 110.
+
+[391] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 11, 1800.
+
+[392] To Henry Innis, January 23. Memorial Edition, X, 143.
+
+[393] To T. M. Randolph, February 2, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 151.
+
+[394] February 26, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 153.
+
+[395] To Madison, March 8, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 157-159.
+
+[396] To P. N. Nicholas, April 7, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.
+
+[397] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Callender to Jefferson,
+February 10 and March 15, 1800.
+
+[398] March 18, 1800. Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress.
+
+[399] _Ibid._
+
+[400] April 30, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 163.
+
+[401] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, May 26, 1800.
+
+[402] _Ibid._, August 14, 1800.
+
+[403] March 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 160.
+
+[404] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, Benjamin Rush to Jefferson,
+August 22, 1800.
+
+[405] September 23, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 173.
+
+[406] December 14, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 176.
+
+[407] December 18, 1800. Memorial Edition, X, 183.
+
+[408] Memorial Edition, X, 188.
+
+[409] January 10, 1800. _Ibid._, X, 188.
+
+[410] February 3. Memorial Edition, X, 197.
+
+[411] February 15, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 201.
+
+[412] February 18, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 203.
+
+[413] _Ibid._, X, 206.
+
+[414] To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 211.
+
+[415] To Thomas Lomax, February 25, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 210.
+
+[416] March 7, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 218.
+
+[417] To Doctor Benjamin Rush, March 24, 1801. _Ibid._, X, 241.
+
+[418] To Elias Shipman and others, July 12, 1801.
+
+[419] June 13, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 28.
+
+[420] A. J. Beveridge: "Life of Marshall", II, 51-53 and Appendix.
+
+[421] "Life of Marshall", II, 51-222; McMaster, "History of the People
+of the United States", Vol. III.
+
+[422] To Elbridge Gerry, March 20, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 251.
+
+[423] To the Attorney-general, January 1, 1802. _Ibid._, X, 305.
+
+[424] July 18, 1804. _Ibid._, XI, 38.
+
+[425] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, June 13, 1800.
+
+[426] To W. Short, October 3, 1801. Memorial Edition, X, 288.
+
+[427] November 24, 1801. _Ibid._, X, 294.
+
+[428] "Volney et L'Amerique." Paris and Baltimore, 1923.
+
+[429] King to the Secretary of State, January 1, 1802.
+
+[430] Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress, April 21, 1802.
+
+[431] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, April 25, 1802.
+
+[432] May 12, 1802. Manuscript, Library of Congress.
+
+[433] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. Du Pont de Nemours to
+Jefferson, October 4, 1802.
+
+[434] Annals of Congress, p. 1059.
+
+[435] _Ibid._, p. 286.
+
+[436] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, marked received December
+31.
+
+[437] Annals of Congress. Appendix, p. 1065.
+
+[438] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, February 1, 1803.
+
+[439] To James Madison, January 24, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1066.
+
+[440] To the Secretary of State, March 24, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1083.
+
+[441] To Madison, March 3, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1083.
+
+[442] March 2, 1803. Annals of Congress, p. 1098.
+
+[443] King to Livingston, May 7, 1803. _Ibid._, p. 1803.
+
+[444] Annals of Congress, p. 1167.
+
+[445] July 11, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 402.
+
+[446] Memorial Edition, X, 424.
+
+[447] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, January 19, 1804.
+
+[448] July 4, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 398.
+
+[449] July 12, 1803. _Ibid._, X, 404.
+
+[450] To Madison, August 25, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 412.
+
+[451] To James Madison, August 15, 1804. Memorial Edition, XI, 45.
+
+[452] "Anas", January 26, 1804.
+
+[453] To W. B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.
+
+[454] To Gideon Granger, March 9, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 113.
+
+[455] To Lafayette, July 14, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 277.
+
+[456] To William B. Giles, April 20, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 187.
+
+[457] To George Hay, September 4, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 360.
+
+[458] October 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII, 183.
+
+[459] Memorial Edition, X, 399.
+
+[460] H. Adams, II, 257.
+
+[461] To James Madison, August 27, 1805. Memorial Edition, XI, 86.
+
+[462] April 19, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 103.
+
+[463] To Colonel James Monroe, May 4, 1806. Memorial Edition, XI, 106.
+
+[464] Turreau to Talleyrand, December 12, 1806, in H. Adams, III, 424.
+
+[465] To Monroe, March 21, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 167.
+
+[466] June 29, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 256.
+
+[467] July 6, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 258.
+
+[468] See particularly his letters to Cabell, August 11, 1807, and to
+Dearborn, August 28. Memorial Edition, XI, 318, 342.
+
+[469] To John Page, July 17, 1807. Memorial Edition, XI, 285.
+
+[470] November 22, 1807. _Ibid._, XI, 397.
+
+[471] Memorial Edition, XI, 401. This may be simply a draft of the
+message written on a sheet of paper which happened to bear the name of
+General Mason. See Henry Adams, IV, 168.
+
+[472] A. J. Nock, "Jefferson", p. 266. New York, 1926.
+
+[473] To John Taylor, January 6, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 413.
+
+[474] March 30, 1808. Memorial Edition, XI, 23.
+
+[475] To Governor Charles Pinckney. November 8, 1808. _Ibid._, XII, 190.
+
+[476] Henry Adams, IV, chapter XII, "The Cost of Embargo."
+
+[477] Henry Adams, IV, 277.
+
+[478] Walter W. Jennings, "A History of economic progress in the United
+States", p. 160, New York, 1926.
+
+[479] To Doctor George Logan, December 27, 1808. Memorial Edition, XII,
+219.
+
+[480] January 14, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 227.
+
+[481] To Thomas Mann Randolph, February 7, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 248.
+
+[482] March 8, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 264.
+
+[483] March 17, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 266.
+
+[484] Memorial Edition, XII, 267.
+
+[485] February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.
+
+[486] To J. B. Colvin. September 20, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 422; see also
+letter to Caesar Rodney, September 25. _Ibid._, XII, 426.
+
+[487] To Madison, April 27, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 275.
+
+[488] To Madison, April 19, 1809. Memorial Edition, XII, 271.
+
+[489] June 28, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 293.
+
+[490] To Rodney, February 10, 1810. Memorial Edition, XII, 357.
+
+[491] To Governor John Langdon, March 5, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 373.
+
+[492] To Thomas Cooper, August 6, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 401.
+
+[493] To Thomas Law, January 15, 1810. _Ibid._, XII, 439.
+
+[494] April 25, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 145.
+
+[495] June 29, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 173.
+
+[496] August 5, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 183.
+
+[497] _Ibid._, XIII, 206.
+
+[498] October 1, 1812. Memorial Edition, XIII, 187.
+
+[499] To William Duane, April 4, 1813. _Ibid._, XIII, 231.
+
+[500] To Thomas Leiper, January 1, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 45.
+
+[501] To John Clark, January 27, 1814. _Ibid._, XIV, 79.
+
+[502] September 21, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 191.
+
+[503] To William Short, November 28, 1814. _Ibid._, XIV, 214.
+
+[504] To Correa de Serra, December 27, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 221.
+
+[505] To William H. Crawford, February 25, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 243, and
+June 15, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 312.
+
+[506] December 1, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 369.
+
+[507] October 16, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 85.
+
+[508] October 16, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 80.
+
+[509] To Thomas Leiper, June 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 311; and
+to John Adams, August 10, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 343.
+
+[510] October 16, 1815. _Ibid._, XIV, 355.
+
+[511] January 2, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 117.
+
+[512] December 6, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIV, 22.
+
+[513] To Don Valentino de Torunda Corunda, December 14, 1813. Memorial
+Edition, XIV, 31.
+
+[514] To John Adams, January 22, 1812. Memorial Edition, XV, 309.
+
+[515] To Lafayette, May 14, 1817. _Ibid._, XV, 117.
+
+[516] To W. Short, August 4, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 263.
+
+[517] October 24, 1820. _Ibid._, XV, 285.
+
+[518] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 26, 1820, and
+Chinard, "Jefferson et les Ideologues." Paris, Baltimore, 1925, p. 203.
+
+[519] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress, July 18, 1824.
+
+[520] To Monroe, June 11, 1823. Memorial Edition, XV, 455.
+
+[521] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 10, 1817.
+
+[522] October 20, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 284.
+
+[523] About the economic and banking theories of Jefferson, I can only
+indicate here some points more fully treated in my book on "Jefferson et
+les Ideologues." Paris, Baltimore, 1925.
+
+[524] To William H. Crawford, June 20, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 27.
+
+[525] April 7, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 271.
+
+[526] January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 387.
+
+[527] To Thomas Cooper, September 10, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 179.
+
+[528] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.
+
+[529] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 15, 1811.
+
+[530] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. January 18, 1802.
+
+[531] _Ibid._ February 28, 1815.
+
+[532] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. December 12, 1815.
+
+[533] October 28, 1813. Memorial Edition, XIII, 396.
+
+[534] January 2, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 46.
+
+[535] To John Adams, October 16, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 85.
+
+[536] To Lafayette, February 14, 1815. Memorial Edition, XIV, 245.
+
+[537] To James Madison, November 29, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 295.
+
+[538] December 10, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 233.
+
+[539] To John Adams, January 22, 1821. _Ibid._, XV, 309.
+
+[540] August 4, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 68.
+
+[541] July 12, 1816. _Ibid._, XV, 32.
+
+[542] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. May 8, 1800.
+
+[543] Jefferson Papers. Library of Congress. April 21, 1800.
+
+[544] _Ibid._, July 26, 1800.
+
+[545] To Thomas Cooper, January 16, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 60.
+
+[546] February 15, 1821, Memorial Edition, XV, 315.
+
+[547] The latest account is the monumental "History of the University of
+Virginia" by Professor Philip Alexander Bruce, New York, 4 vols., 1920.
+See also the excellent study of Herbert B. Adams, "Thomas Jefferson and
+the University of Virginia", United States Bureau of Education. Circular
+of information No. 1, 1888.
+
+[548] To Richard Rush, April 26, 1824. Memorial Edition, XVI, 31.
+
+[549] To the Honorable J. Evelyn Denison, M. P., November 9, 1825.
+_Ibid._, XVI, 129.
+
+[550] To John Brazier, August 24, 1814. Memorial Edition, XV, 207.
+
+[551] June 27, 1822. _Ibid._, XV, 387.
+
+[552] Memorial Edition, XVI, 173.
+
+[553] Doctor Dunglison's Memorandum, in "Domestic Life", p. 402.
+
+[554] September 12, 1821. Memorial Edition, XV, 334.
+
+[555] January 16, 1811. Memorial Edition, XIII, 9.
+
+[556] December 5, 1811. _Ibid._, XIII, 114.
+
+[557] January 21, 1812. _Ibid._, XIII, 123.
+
+[558] Memorial Edition, XV, 174.
+
+[559] January 11, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 97.
+
+[560] February 21, 1825. "Domestic Life", p. 423.
+
+[561] To James Smith, December 8, 1822. Memorial Edition, XV, 410.
+
+[562] To John Adams, August 15, 1820. _Ibid._, XV, 269-276.
+
+[563] March 24, 1824. _Ibid._, XVI, 17.
+
+[564] October 31, 1819. Memorial Edition, XV, 219.
+
+[565] July 13, 1813. _Ibid._, XIII, 319.
+
+[566] To John Adams, April 11, 1820. Memorial Edition, XV, 427.
+
+[567] To John Adams, May 5, 1817. _Ibid._, XV, 109.
+
+[568] June 13, 1814. Memorial Edition, XIV, 141.
+
+[569] To James Fishback, September 27, 1809. _Ibid._, XII, 315.
+
+[570] May 26, 1817. Memorial Edition, XV, 122.
+
+[571] See my edition of "The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson." Paris,
+Baltimore, 1928, p. 58.
+
+[572] April 21, 1803. Memorial Edition, X, 379.
+
+[573] See the introduction of Doctor Cyrus Adler, in the Congressional
+Edition reproduced in the Memorial Edition, XX.
+
+[574] May 3, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 10.
+
+[575] April 6, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 467.
+
+[576] To William Ludlow, September 6, 1824. _Ibid._, XVI, 75.
+
+[577] June 24, 1826. Memorial Edition, XVI, 181.
+
+[578] To John Brazier, August 24, 1819. _Ibid._, XV, 207.
+
+[579] August 1, 1816. _Ibid._, XVI, 56.
+
+[580] January 9, 1816. Memorial Edition, XIV, 385.
+
+[581] To Doctor Vine Ulley, March 21, 1819. _Ibid._, XV, 187.
+
+[582] Jefferson Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society, March 5, 1814.
+
+[583] _Ibid._, To Short, December 17, 1822.
+
+[584] _Ibid._, To Samuel Smith, October 22, 1825.
+
+[585] "Literary Bible", p. 36. Paris, Baltimore, 1928.
+
+[586] To John Adams--August 1, 1816. Memorial Edition, XV, 56, and
+June 1, 1822. _Ibid._, XV, 371.
+
+[587] November 8, 1824, "Memoires", VI, 183.
+
+[588] "Domestic Life", p. 425.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Thomas Jefferson, by Gilbert Chinard
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