University of Virginia Library

J

4057. JACKSON (Andrew), Faithful.—

Be assured that Tennessee, and particularly
General Jackson are faithful. [252] —
To General Wilkinson. Washington ed. v, 25. Ford ed., ix, 2.
(W. Jan. 1807)

4058. JACKSON (Andrew), Invitation to.—

In your passages to and from Washington,
should your travelling convenience ever
permit a deviation to Monticello, I shall receive
you with distinguished welcome. * * * I recall with pleasure the remembrance of our
joint labors while in Senate together in times
of great trial and of hard battling. Battles,
indeed, of words, not of blood, as those you
have since fought so much for your own glory,
and that of your country.—
To Andrew Jackson. Ford ed., x, 286.
(M. 1823)

4059. JACKSON (Andrew), Life of.—

I have lately read, with great pleasure, Reid and
Eaton's Life of Jackson, if “Life” may be
called what is merely a history of his campaign
of 1814. Reid's part is well written.
Eaton's continuation is better for its matter
than style. The whole, however, is valuable.—
To John Adams. Washington ed. vii, 82.
(P.F.,,
18171817)gt;

4060. JACKSON (Andrew), Passionate.—

I feel much alarmed at the prospect of seeing
General Jackson President. He is one of the most unfit men I know of for such a place.
He has had very little respect for laws or constitutions,
and is, in fact, an able military chief.
His passions are terrible. When I was President
of the Senate he was a Senator; and he
could never speak on account of the rashness
of his feelings. I have seen him attempt it
repeatedly, and as often choke with rage. His
passions are no doubt cooler now; he has been
much tried since I knew him, but he is a dangerous
man.—
Daniel Webster's Interview with Jefferson. Ford ed., x, 331.
(1824)

4061. JACKSON (Andrew), Presidential contest.—

A threatening cloud has very
suddenly darkened[General Jackson's] horizon.
A letter has become public, written by him when
Colonel Monroe first came into office, advising
him to make up his administration without
regard to party. (No suspicion has been entertained
of any indecision in his political principles,
and this evidence of it threatens a revolution
of opinion respecting him. [253] ) The solid
republicanism of Pennsylvania, his principal
support, is thrown into great fermentation by

this apparent indifference to political principle.—
To Richard Rush. Ford ed., x, 304.
(1824)

4062. JACKSON (Andrew), Seminole War and.—

I observe Ritchie imputes to you
and myself opinions against Jackson's conduct
in the Seminole war. I certainly never doubted
that the military entrance into Florida, the temporary
occupation of their posts, and the execution
of Arbuthnot and Ambrister were all
justifiable. * * * I at first felt regret at the
execution; but I have ceased to feel[manuscript
torn] on mature reflection, and a belief
the example will save much blood.—
To James Madison. Ford ed., x, 124.
(M. 1819)

4063. JACOBINS, Battle for liberty.—

In the struggle which was necessary, many
guilty persons fell without the forms of trial,
and with them some innocent. These I deplore
as much as anybody, and shall deplore some of
them to the day of my death. But I deplore
them as I should have done had they fallen in
battle. It was necessary to use the arm of the
people, a machine not quite so blind as balls
and bombs, but blind to a certain degree. A
few of their cordial friends met at their hands
the fate of enemies. But time and truth will
rescue and embalm their memories, while their
posterity will be enjoying that very liberty for
which they would never have hesitated to offer
up their lives. The liberty of the whole earth
was depending on the issue of the contest, and
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 Eve left in every country,
and left free, it would be better than as it
now is.—
To William Short. Washington ed. iii, 502. Ford ed., vi, 153.
(Pa., Jan. 1793)

4064. JACOBINS, Censured.—

The tone
of your letters had for some time given me pain,
on account of the extreme warmth with which
they censured the proceedings of the Jacobins
of France. I considered that sect as the same
with the republican patriots, and the Feuillants
as the monarchical patriots, well known in the
early part of the Revolution, and but little distant
in their views, both having in object the
establishment of a free constitution, differing
only on the question whether their chief Executive
should be hereditary or not. The Jacobins
(as since called) yielded to the Feuillants,
and tried the experiment of retaining
their hereditary Executive. The experiment
failed completely, and would have brought on
the reestablishment of despotism had it been
pursued. The Jacobins saw this, and that the
expunging that office was of absolute necessity.
And the nation was with them in opinion, for
however they might have been formerly for
the constitution framed by the first assembly,
they were come over from their hope in it,
and were now generally Jacobins.—
To William Short. Washington ed. iii, 501. Ford ed., vi, 153.
(Pa., Jan. 1793)

4065. JACOBINS, Degeneration.—

The
society of Jacobins was instituted on principles
and views as virtuous as ever kindled the hearts
of patriots. It was the pure patriotism of their
purposes which extended their association to
the limits of the nation, and rendered their
power within it boundless; and it was this
power which degenerated their principles and
practices to such enormities as never before
could have been imagined.—
To Jedediah Morse. Washington ed. vii, 235. Ford ed., x, 205.
(M. 1822)

4066. JACOBINS, Favorable to America.—

The Jacobin party cannot but be favorable
to America. Notwithstanding the very
general abuse of the Jacobins, I begin to consider
them as representing the true revolutionspirit
of the whole nation, and as carrying the
nation with them.—
To James Madison. Ford ed., vi, 96.
(Pa., June. 1792)

4067. JACOBINS, Inexperience.—

The
only things wanting with the Jacobins is more
experience in business, and a little more conformity
to the established style of communication
with foreign powers. The latter want will,
I fear, bring enemies into the field, who would
have remained at home. The former leads them
to domineer over their executive, so as to render
it unequal to its proper objects.—
To James Madison. Ford ed., vi, 96.
(Pa., 1792)

4068. JACOBINS, Republicanism.—

The
reserve of President Washington had never permitted
me to discover the light in which he
viewed[your censure of the Jacobins], and
as I was more anxious that you should satisfy
him than me, I had still avoided explanations
with you on the subject. But your letter induced
him to break silence, and to notice the
extreme acrimony of your expressions. He
added that he had been informed the sentiments
you expressed in your conversations were equally
offensive to our allies, and that you should
consider yourself as the representative of your
country, and that what you say might be imputed
to your constituents. He desired me,
therefore, to write to you on this subject. He
added that he considered France as the sheet
anchor of this country, and its friendship as a
first object. There are in the United States
some characters of opposite principles; some of
them are high in office, others possessing great
wealth, and all of them hostile to France, and
fondly looking to England as the staff of their
hope. * * * Their prospects have certainly not
brightened. Excepting them, this country is entirely
republican, friends to the Constitution,
anxious to preserve it, and to have it administered
according to its own republican principles.
The little party above mentioned have espoused
it only as a stepping-stone to monarchy, and
have endeavored to approximate it to that in
its administration in order to render its final
transition more easy. The successes of republicanism
in France have given the coup de grace to their prospects, and I hope to their projects.—
To William Short. Washington ed. iii, 502. Ford ed., vi, 154.
(Pa., Jan. 1793)

4069. JAY (John), Chief Justice.—

Jay
[has been] nominated Chief Justice. We were
afraid of something worse.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iv, 343. Ford ed., vii, 471.
(W. Dec. 1800)

4070. JAY (John), Monarchical principles.—

Jay, covering the same[monarchical] principles under the veil of silence, is rising
steadily on the ruins of his friends.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iii, 268. Ford ed., v, 352.
(Pa., 1791)

4071. JAY (John), Newspaper attacks.—

I observe by the public papers that Mr.
Littlepage has brought on a very disagreeable
altercation with Mr. Jay. in which he has given
to the character of the latter a coloring which
does not belong to it. * * * In truth it is
afflicting that a man who has passed his life in
serving the public, who has served them in the
highest stations with universal approbation, and
with a purity of conduct which has silenced
even party opprobrium; who, though poor, has
never permitted himself to make a shilling in
the public employ, should yet be liable to have

his peace of mind so much disturbed by any
individual who shall think proper to arraign
him in a newspaper. It is, however, an evil
for which there is no remedy. Our liberty depends
on the freedom of the press, and that
cannot be limited without being lost. To the
sacrifice of time, labor, fortune, a public servant
must count upon adding that of peace of mind
and even reputation.—
To Dr. James Currie. Ford ed., iv, 131.
(P. 1786)

4072. JAY (John), Newspaper attacks.—[continued].

It is really to be lamented
that after a public servant has passed a
life in important and faithful services, after
having given the most plenary satisfaction in
every station, it should yet be in the power of
every individual to disturb his quiet, by arraigning
him in a gazette and by obliging him to
act as if he needed a defence, an obligation imposed
on him by unthinking minds which never
give themselves the trouble of seeking a reflection
unless it is presented to them. However
it is a part of the price we pay for our liberty,
which cannot be guarded but by the freedom of
the press, nor that be limited without danger of
losing it. To the loss of time, of labor, of
money, then, must be added that of quiet, to
which those must offer themselves who are capable
of serving the public * * *. Your
quiet may have suffered for a moment on this
occasion, but you have the strongest of all supports,
that of the public esteem.—
To John Jay. Ford ed., iv, 186.
(P. 1786)

4073. JAY (John), Treaty-foundered.—

Mr. Jay and his advocate, “Camillus” are
completely treaty-foundered.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iv, 149. Ford ed., vii, 90.
(M. July. 1796)

4074. JAY (John), Tribute to.—

I cannot
take my departure without paying to yourself
and your worthy colleague my homage for
the good work you have completed for us, and
congratulating you on the singular happiness of
having borne so distinguished a part both in the
earliest and latest transactions of this Revolution.
* * * I am in hopes you will continue
at some one of the European courts most agreeable
to yourself, that we may still have the
benefit of your talents.—
To John Jay. Washington ed. i, 332. Ford ed., iii, 316.
(Pa., April. 1783)

4075. JAY TREATY, Bad.—

No man in
the United States has had the effrontery to affirm
that the treaty with England was not
a very bad one except A. H.[Alexander
Hamilton] under the signature of “ Camillus
”. Its most zealous defenders only pretended
that it was better than war, as if war
was not invited, rather than avoided, by unfounded
demands. I have never known the
public pulse beat so full and in such universal
union on any subject since the Declaration of
Independence.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., vii, 58.
(M. March. 1796)

4076. JAY TREATY, Dissatisfaction with.—

So general a burst of dissatisfaction
never before appeared against any transaction.
Those who understand the particular articles
of it, condemn these articles. Those who do
not understand them minutely, condemn it
generally as wearing a hostile face to France.
This last is the most numerous class, comprehending
the whole body of the people, who
have taken a greater interest in this transaction
than they were ever known to do in
any other. It has, in my opinion, completely
demolished the monarchical party here.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., vii, 27.
(M. Sep. 1795)

4077. JAY TREATY, Dissatisfaction with.—[continued].

A very slight notice of
[the Jay treaty] sufficed to decide my mind
against it. I am not satisfied we should not
be better without treaties with any nation.
But I am satisfied we should be better without
such as this. The public dissatisfaction,
too, and dissension it is likely to produce,
are serious evils.—
To H. Tazewell. Washington ed. iv, 120. Ford ed., vii, 30.
(M. Sep. 1795)

4078. JAY TREATY, Execrable.—

I join
with you in thinking the treaty an execrable
thing. But both negotiators must have understood,
that, as there were articles in it
which could not be carried into execution
without the aid of the Legislatures on both
sides, that therefore it must be referred to
them, and that these Legislatures being free
agents, would not give it their support if
they disapproved of it. I trust the popular
branch of our Legislature will disapprove of
it, and thus rid us of this infamous act, which
is really nothing more than a treaty of alliance
between England and the Anglomen of
this country, against the Legislature and people
of the United States.—
To Edward Rutledge. Washington ed. iv, 124. Ford ed., vii, 40.
(M. Nov. 1795)

4079. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—

[John] Marshall's doctrine
that the whole commercial part of the[Jay] treaty (and he might have added the whole
unconstitutional part of it), rests in the power
of the House of Representatives, is certainly
the true doctrine; and as the articles which
stipulate what requires the consent of the
three branches of the Legislature, must be referred
to the House of Representatives for
their concurrence, so they, being free agents,
may approve or reject them, either by a vote
declaring that, or by refusing to pass acts.
I should think the former mode the most safe
and honorable.—
To James Madison. Ford ed., vii, 38.
(Nov. 1795)

4080. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—[continued].

It is, indeed, surprising
you[the House of Representatives] have not
yet received the British treaty in form. I
presume you would never receive it were
not your cooperation on it necessary.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iv, 131. Ford ed., vii, 62.
(M. March. 1796)

4081. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—[further continued].

The British treaty has
been formally, at length, laid before Congress.
All America is on tiptoe to see what the
House of Representatives will decide on it.
We conceive the constitutional doctrine to be,
that though the President and Senate have
the general power of making treaties, yet,
whenever, they include in a treaty matters
confided by the Constitution to the three
branches of the Legislature, an act of legislation
will be requisite to confirm these articles,
and that the House of Representatives,
as one branch of the Legislature, are perfectly
free to pass the act or to refuse it, governing
themselves by their own judgment whether

it is for the good of their constituents to let
the treaty go into effect or not. On the
precedent now to be set will depend 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. It is fortunate that the
first decision is to be in a case so palpably
atrocious, as to have been predetermined by
all America.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iv, 134. Ford ed., vii, 67.
(M. March. 1796)

4082. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—[further continued] .

The House of Representatives
has manifested its disapprobation
of the treaty. We are yet to learn whether
they will exercise their constitutional right of
refusing the means which depend on them
for carrying it into execution. Should they
be induced to lend their hand to it, it will be
hard swallowing with their constituents; but
will be swallowed from the habits of order
and obedience to the laws which so much
distinguish our countrymen.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., vii, 59.
(M. March. 1796)

4083. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—[further continued].

Randolph seems to have
hit upon the true theory of our Constitution;
that when a treaty is made, involving matters
confided by the Constitution to the three
branches of the Legislature conjointly, the
Representatives are as free as the President
and Senate were, to consider whether the national
interest requires or forbids, their giving
the forms and force of law to the articles
over which they have a power.—
To Wm. B. Giles. Washington ed. iv, 125. Ford ed., vii, 41.
(M. Nov. 1795)

4084. JAY TREATY, House of representatives and.—[further continued] .

I am well pleased with
the manner in which your House have testified
their sense of the treaty. While their
refusal to pass the original clause of the reported
answer proved their condemnation of
it, the contrivance to let it disappear silently
respected appearances in favor of the President,
who errs as other men do, but errs with
integrity.—
To W. B. Giles. Washington ed. iv, 125. Ford ed., vii, 41.
(M. Dec. 1795)

4085. JAY TREATY, The Merchants and.—

The Chamber of Commerce in New
York, against the body of the town; the merchants
in Philadelphia, against the body of
their town, also, and our town of Alexandria
have come forward in its support. Some individual
champions also appear. Marshall,
Carrington, Harvey, Bushrod Washington,
Doctor Stewart. A more powerful one is
Hamilton, under the signature of “ Camillus
”. Adams holds his tongue with an
address above his character.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., vii, 27.
(M. Sep. 1795)

4086. JAY TREATY, The Merchants and.—[continued].

The merchants were certainly (except those of them who are
English) as open mouthed at first against the
treaty, as any. But the general expression of
indignation has alarmed them for the strength
of the Government. They have feared the
stock would be too great, and have chosen
to tack about and support both treaty and
Government, rather than risk the Government.
Thus it is, that Hamilton, Jay, &c.,
in the boldest act they ever ventured on to
undermine the government, have the address
to screen themselves, and direct the hue and
cry against those who wish to drag them into
light. A bolder party-stroke was never
struck. For it certainly is an attempt of
a party, who find they have lost their majority
in one branch of the Legislature, to make a
law by the aid of the other branch and of
the Executive, under color of a treaty,
which shall bind up the hands of the adverse
branch from ever restraining the commerce
of their patron nation. There appears a pause
at present in the public sentiment, which May
be followed by a revulsion. This is the effect
of the desertion of the merchants, of the President's
chiding answer to Boston and Richmond,
of the writings of “Curtius” and
“Camillus”, and of the quietism into which
the people naturally fall after first sensations
are over.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iv, 122. Ford ed., vii, 32.
(M. Sep. 1795)

4087. JAY TREATY, A millstone.—

Jay's treaty[should never] be quoted, or
looked at, or even mentioned. That form
will forever be a millstone round our necks
unless we now rid ourselves of it once for
all.—
To President Madison. Washington ed. v, 444.
(M. April. 1809)

4088. JAY TREATY, Political effects of.—

The British treaty produced a schism
that went on widening and rankling till the
years '98 and '99, when a final dissolution of
all bonds, civil and social, appeared imminent.
In that awful crisis, the people awakened
from the frenzy into which they had been
thrown, began to return to their sober and
ancient principles, and have now become fivesixths
of one sentiment, to wit, for peace,
economy, and a government bottomed on
popular election in its legislative and executive
branches.—
To Benjamin Hawkins. Washington ed. iv, 465. Ford ed., viii, 212.
(W. Feb. 1803)

4089. JAY TREATY, Publication of.—

The treaty is now known here by a bold act
of duty in one of our Senators.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., vii, 28.
(M. 1795)

4090. JAY TREATY, Ratification.—

The campaign in Congress has closed. Though
the Anglomen, [254] have in the end got their
treaty through, and so have triumphed over
the cause of republicanism, yet it has been
to them a dear bought victory. It has given

the most radical shock to their party which
it has ever received; and there is no doubt,
they would be glad to be replaced on the
ground they possessed the instant before Jay's
nomination extraordinary. They see that
nothing can support them but the Colossus of
the President's merits with the people, and the
moment he retires, that his successor, if a
monocrat, will 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.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iv, 148.
(July. 1796)

4091. JEALOUSY, Doubt and.—

Doubts
and jealousies often beget the facts they fear.—
To Albert Gallatin. Washington ed. v, 23. Ford ed., viii, 476.
(W. 1806)

4092. JEALOUSY, Government and.—

Free government is founded in jealosy, and
not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence,
which prescribes limited Constitutions,
to bind down those whom we are
obliged to trust with power.—
Kentucky Resolutions. Washington ed. ix, 470. Ford ed., vii, 304.
(1798)

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Ancestry.—

See Ancestry.

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Birthday.—

See Birthday.

4093. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Education.—

My father placed me at the English
school at five years of age; and at the Latin
at nine, where I continued until his death
[in 1757]. My teacher, Mr. Douglas, a
clergyman from Scotland, with the rudiments
of the Latin and Greek languages,
taught me the French; and on the death of
my father, I went to the Reverend M.
Maury, a correct classical scholar, with whom
I continued two years; and then, to wit, in
the spring of 1760, went to William and Mary
College where I continued two years.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 2. Ford ed., i, 3.
(1821)
See Conduct, Small (William), and Wythe (George).

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Epitaph of.

—See Epitaph.

4094. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Family of.—

In Colonel Peter Jefferson's Prayer
Book, in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson,
are the following entries:

—
Note in Ford Edition. Ford ed. i, 3.
(1743)
See Ancestry and Arms.

4095. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Farming.—

I am indeed an unskillful manager of
my farms, and sensible of this from its effects,
I have now committed them to better
hands. [255] —
To John W. Eppes. D. L. J., 364.
(1816)

See Agriculture, Farmer, Farmers and Farming.

4096. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Father of.—

My father's education had been quite
neglected; but being of a strong mind, sound
judgment, and eager after information, he
read much and improved himself, insomuch
that he was chosen, with Joshua Fry, Professor
of Mathematics in William and Mary
College, to continue the boundary line between
Virginia and North Carolina, which
had been begun by Colonel Byrd; and was
afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry,
to make the first map of Virginia which had
ever been made, that of Captain Smith being
merely a conjectured sketch. They possessed
excellent materials for so much of the country
as is below the Blue Ridge; little being then
known beyond that ridge. He was the third
or fourth, settler, about the year 1737, of
the part of the country in which I live. He
died, August 17, 1757, leaving my mother a
widow, who lived till 1776, with six daughters
and two sons, myself the elder. To my
younger brother he left his estate on James
River, called Snowdon, after the supposed
birthplace of the family; to myself the lands
on which I was born and live.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 2. Ford ed., i, 2.
(1821)

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Habits of life.—

See Life.

4097. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Harvard's honors.—

I have been lately honored with your letter of September 24th, 1788, accompanied
by a diploma for a Doctorate of
Laws, which the University of Harvard has
been pleased to confer on me. Conscious
how little I merit it, I am the more sensible
of their goodness and indulgence to a
stranger, who has had no means of serving
or making himself known to them. I beg you
to return them my grateful thanks, and to
assure them that this notice from so eminent
a seat of science is very precious to me.—
To Dr. Willard. Washington ed. iii, 14.
(P. 1789)

4098. JEFFERSON (Thomas), History and.—

Nothing is so desirable to me, as that after mankind shall have been abused by such
gross falsehoods as to events while passing,
their minds should at length be set to rights
by genuine truth. And I can conscientiously
declare that as to myself, I wish that not only
no act but no thought of mine should be
unknown.—
To James Main. Washington ed. v, 373.
(W. Oct. 1808)

4099. JEFFERSON (Thomas), History and.—[continued].

As to what is to be said
of myself, I of course am not the judge. But
my sincere wish is that the faithful historian,
like the able surgeon, would consider me in
his hands, while living, as a dead subject, that
the same judgment may now be expressed

which will be rendered hereafter, so far as
my small agency in human affairs may attract
future notice; and I would of choice
now stand as at the bar of posterity, “cum
semel occidaris, et de ultima Minos fecerit
arbitria”. The only exact testimony of a
man is his actions, leaving the reader to
pronounce on them his own judgment. In
anticipating this, too little is safer than too
much; and I sincerely assure you that you
will please me most by a rigorous suppression
of all friendly partialities. This candid
expression of sentiments once delivered,
passive silence becomes the future duty.—
To L. H. Girardin. Washington ed. vi, 455.
(M. 1815)

4100. JEFFERSON (Thomas), History and.—[further continued].

Of the public transactions
in which I have borne a part, I have
kept no narrative with a view of history. A
life of constant action leaves no time for recording.
Always thinking of what is next to
be done, what has been done is dismissed,
and soon obliterated from the memory.—
To Mr. Spafford. Washington ed. vii, 118.
(M. 1819)
See History.

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Home of.—

See Monticello.

4101. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Lawyer.

—In 1767, Mr.[George] Wythe led me into
the practice of the law at the bar of the
General Court, at which I continued until the
Revolution shut up the courts of justice.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 3. Ford ed., i, 4.
(1821)
See Wythe (George).

4102. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Letters of.—

Selections from my letters, after my
death, may come out successively as the
maturity of circumstances may render their
appearance seasonable.—
To William Johnson. Washington ed. vii, 277. Ford ed., x, 248.
(M. 1823)

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Library of.

—See Library.

4103. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Marriage.—

On the 1st of January, 1772, I was married to Martha Skelton, widow of
Bathurst Skelton, and daughter of John
Wayles, then twenty-three years old. Mr.
Wayles was a lawyer of much practice, to
which he was introduced more by his great
industry, punctuality and practical readiness
than by eminence in the science of his profession.
He was a most agreeable companion,
full of pleasantry and good humor, and
welcomed in every society. He acquired a
handsome fortune, and died in May, 1773,
leaving three daughters: the portion which
came on that event to Mrs. Jefferson, after
the debts should be paid, which were very
considerable, was about equal to my own
patrimony, and consequently doubled the ease
of our circumstances.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 4. Ford ed., i, 5.
(1821)

4104. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Mrs. Jefferson's death.—

Your letter found me a
little emerging from the stupor of mind
which had rendered me as dead to the world
as she whose loss occasioned it. * * * Before that event my scheme of life had been
determined. I had folded myself in the arms
of retirement, and rested all prospects of
future happiness on domestic and literary objects.
A single event wiped away all my
plans and left me a blank which I had not the
spirits to fill up. In this state of mind an
appointment from Congress[mission to
France] found me, requiring me to cross the
Atlantic.—
To Chevalier de Chastellux. Washington ed. i, 322. Ford ed., iii, 64.
(A. Nov. 1782)

4105. JEFFERSON (Thomas), A Nailmaker.—

In our private pursuits it is a great
advantage that every honest employment is
deemed honorable. I am myself a nailmaker,
On returning home after an absence of ten
years, I found my farms so much deranged
that I saw evidently they would be a burden
to me instead of a support till I could regenerate
them; and, consequently, that it was
necessary for me to find some other resource
in the meantime. I thought for a while of
taking up the manufacture of potash, which
requires but small advances of money. I concluded
at length, however, to begin a manufacture
of nails, which needs little or no
capital, and I now employ a dozen little
boys from ten to sixteen years of age, overlooking
all the details of their business myself,
and drawing from it a profit on which I
can get along till I can put my farms into a
course of yielding profit. My new trade of
nail-making is to me in this country what
an additional title of nobility or the ensigns
of a new order are in Europe.—
To M. de Meunier. Ford ed., vii, 14.
(M. 1795)

4106. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—

In 1769, I became a member of the
[Virginia] Legislature by the choice of the
county[Albemarle] in which I live, and continued
in that until it was closed by the Revolution.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 3. Ford ed., i, 5.
(1821)

4107. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[continued].

The Virginia Convention,
at their * * * session of March,
1775, * * * added me * * * to the delegation [
to Congress]. * * * I took my
seat with them[Congress] on the 21st of
June.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 9. Ford ed., i, 14.
(1821)

4108. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued].

Soon after my leaving
Congress, in September, '76, to wit, on
the last day of that month [256] , I had been appointed,
with Dr. Franklin, to go to France,
as a Commissioner, to negotiate treaties of
alliance and commerce with that government.
Silas Deane, then in France, acting as
agent for procuring military stores, was
joined with us in commission. But such was
the state of my family that I could not leave
it, nor could I expose it to the dangers of
the sea, and of capture by the British ships,
then covering the ocean. I saw, too, that the
laboring oar was really at home, where much
was to be done of the most permanent interest,
in new moodelling our governments,
and much to defend our fanes and firesides

from the desolations of an invading enemy,
pressing on our country in every point. I
declined, therefore, and Dr. Lee was appointed
in my place.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 51. Ford ed., i, 70.
(1812)

4109. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued] .

On the 1st of June, 1779,
I was appointed Governor of the Commonwealth,
and retired from the Legislature.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 50. Ford ed., i, 69.
(1821)

4110. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued].

On the 15th of June, [257] 1781, I had been appointed, with Mr. Adams,
Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Laurens, a
Minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating
peace, then expected to be effected through
the mediation of the Empress of Russia. The
same reasons obliged me still to decline;
and the negotiation was in fact never entered
on.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 51. Ford ed., i, 71.
(1821)

4111. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued] .

In the autumn of * * * 1782, Congress receiving assurances that a
general peace would be concluded in the
winter and spring, they renewed my appointment
on the 13th of November of that
year. I had, two months before that, lost
the cherished companion of my life, in whose
affections, unabated on both sides, I had
lived the last ten years in unchequered happiness.
With the public interests, the state of
my mind concurred in recommending the
change of scene proposed; and I accepted the
appointment, and left Monticello on the 19th
of December, 1782, for Philadelphia, where I
arrived on the 27th. The Minister of
France, Luzerne, offered me a passage in
the Romulus frigate, which I accepted; but
she was then a few miles below Baltimore,
blocked up in the ice. I remained, therefore,
a month in Philadelphia, looking over the
papers in the office of State, in order to
possess myself of the general state of our
foreign relations, and then went to Baltimore,
to await the liberation of the frigate
from the ice. After waiting there nearly a
month, we received information that a Provisional
Treaty of Peace had been signed by
our Commissioners on the 3d of September,
1782, to become absolute on the conclusion of
peace between France and Great Britain.
Considering my proceeding to Europe as now
of no utility to the public, I returned immediately
to Philadelphia, to take the orders
of Congress, and was excused by them from
further proceeding. I, therefore, returned
home, where I arrived on the 15th of May,
1783.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 51. Ford ed., i, 71.
(1821)

4112. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued].

On the 6th of June,
1783, I was appointed by the[Virginia] Legislature
a Delegate to Congress, the appointment
to take place on the 1st of November
ensuing, when that of the existing delegation
would expire. I, accordingly, left home on
the 16th of October, arrived at Trenton, where
Congress was sitting, on the 3d of November,
and took my seat on the 4th, on which day
Congress adjourned, to meet at Annapolis on
the 26th.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 52. Ford ed., i, 72.
(1821)

4113. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued] .

In July, 1785, Dr. Franklin
returned to America, and I was appointed
his successor at Paris.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 63. Ford ed., i, 88.
(1821)

4114. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued]..

On the 14th of May, (1785) I communicated to the Count de Vergennes
my appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary
* * * on the 17th delivered my
letter of credence to the King at a private
audience, and went through the other ceremonies
usual on such occasions.—
To John Jay. Washington ed. i, 344.
(P. 1785)

4115. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued] .

I had been more than a
year soliciting leave to go home, with a
view to place my daughters in the society
and care of their friends, and to return for a
short time to my station in Paris. But the
metamorphosis through which our government
was then passing from its chrysalid to
its organic form suspended its action in a
great degree; and it was not till the last of
August, 1789, that I received the permission
I had asked. * * * On the 26th of
September, I left Paris for Havre, where I
was detained by contrary winds until the 8th
of October. On that day, and the 9th, I
crossed over to Cowes, where I had engaged
the Clermont, Capt. Colley, to touch for me.
She did so, but here again we were detained
by contrary winds, until the 22nd, when we
embarked, and landed at Norfolk on the 23rd
of November. On my way home, I passed
some days at Eppington, in Chesterfield, the
residence of my friend and connection, Mr.
Eppes, and while there, I received a letter
from the President, General Washington, by
express, covering an appointment to be Secretary
of State.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 107. Ford ed., i, 148.
(1821)

4116. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued]..

I received it[appointment
as Secretary of State] with real regret.
My wish had been to return to Paris, where
I had left my household establishment, as if
there myself, and to see the end of the Revolution,
which I then thought would be certainly
and happily closed in less than a year.
I then meant to return home, to withdraw
from political life, into which I had been impressed
by the circumstances of the times, to
sink into the bosom of my family and friends,
and devote myself to studies more congenial
to my mind. In my answer of December
15th I expressed these dispositions candidly
to the President, and my preference of a return
to Paris; but assured him that if it was
believed I could be more useful in the administration
of the government, I would sacrifice
my own inclinations, without hesitation
and repair to that destination; this I left to
his decision. I arrived at Monticello on the
23rd of December, where I received a second
letter from the President, expressing his continued
wish that I should take my station
there, but leaving me still at liberty to continue
in my former office, if I could not reconcile
myself to that now proposed. This si

lenced my reluctance, and I accepted the new
appointment.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 108. Ford ed., i, 149.
(1821)

4117. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued]

The President[Washington] observed, that though I had unfixed
the day on which I had intended to resign,
yet I appeared fixed in doing it at no great
distance of time; that in this case, [258] he could
not but wish that I would go to Paris; that
the moment was important; I possessed the
confidence of both sides, and might do great
good; that he wished I could do it, were it
only to stay there a year or two. I told him
that my mind was so bent on retirement that
I could not think of launching forth again in
a new business; that I could never again
cross the Atlantic; and that as to the opportunity
of doing good, this was likely to be
the scene of action, as Genet was bringing
powers to do the business here; but that I
could not think of going abroad. He replied
that I had pressed him to remain in the public
service, and refused to do the same myself.
I said the case was very different; he
united the confidence of all America, and
was the only person who did so; his services,
therefore, were of the last importance; but
for myself, my going out would not be noted
or known. A thousand others could supply
my place to equal advantage, therefore I felt
myself free.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 133. Ford ed., i, 217.
(Feb. 20, 1793)

4118. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices held by.—[further continued]

[President Washington] returned to the difficulty of naming my successor.
* * * He said if I would only
stay in till the end of another quarter (the
last of December) it would get us through
the difficulties of this year, and he was satisfied
that the affairs of Europe would be
settled with this campaign; for that either
France would be overwhelmed by it, or the
confederacy would give up the contest. By
that time, too, Congress would have manifested
its character and view. I told him that
I had set my private affairs in motion in a
line which had powerfully called for my
presence the last spring, and that they had
suffered immensely from my not going home;
that I had now calculated them to my return
in the fall, and to fail in going then,
would be the loss of another year, and
prejudicial beyond measure. * * * He
asked me whether I could not arrange my
affairs by going home. I told him I did not
think the public business would admit of it;
that there never was a day now in which the
absence of the Secretary of State would not
be inconvenient to the public. And he concluded
by desiring that I would take two or
three days to consider whether I could not
stay in till the end of another quarter, for that
like a man going to the gallows, he was
willing to put it off as long as he could; but if
I persisted, he must then look about him and
make up his mind to do the best he could.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 167. Ford ed., i, 257.
(Aug. 1793)

See Elections (Presidential)

4119. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices refused.—

No circumstances will ever more
tempt me to engage in anything public. I
thought myself perfectly fixed in this determination
when I left Philadelphia, but
every day and hour since has added to its
inflexibility. 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. [259] —
To Edmund Randolph. Washington ed. iv, 108. Ford ed., vi, 512.
(M. Sep. 1794)

4120. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices refused.—[continued].

President[John] Adams
said he was glad to find me alone, for that
he wished a free conversation with me. He
entered immediately on an explanation of the
situation of our affairs in France, and the
danger of rupture with that nation, a rupture
which would convulse the attachments of this
country; that he was impressed with the
necessity of an immediate mission to the
Directory; that it would have been the first
wish of his heart to have got me to go
there, but that he supposed it was out of the
question, as it did not seem justifiable for
him to send away the person destined to take
his place in case of accident to himself, nor
decent to remove from competition one who
was a rival in the public favor. * * * I
told him I concurred in the opinion of the impropriety
of my leaving the post assigned me,
and that my inclinations, moreover, would
never permit me to cross the Atlantic again.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 185. Ford ed., i, 272.
(March 2, 1797)

4121. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices refused.—[further continued].

You wish to see me
again in the Legislature, but this is impossible;
my mind is now so dissolved in tranquillity,
that it can never again encounter a
contentious assembly. The habits of thinking
and speaking off-hand, after a disuse of
five and twenty years, have given place to
the slower process of the pen.—
To John Tyler. Washington ed. v, 525. Ford ed., ix, 277.
(M. 1810)

4122. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Offices refused.—[further continued] .

The assurance * * * that my aid in the councils of our government
would increase the public confidence in them;
because it admits an inference that they have
approved of the course pursued, when I
heretofore bore a part in those councils.
* * * But I am past service. The hand of
age is upon me. The debility of bodily faculties
apprizes me that those of the mind
cannot be unimpaired, had I not still better
proofs.—
To William Duane. Washington ed. vi, 79. Ford ed., ix, 367.
(M. Oct. 1812)

4123. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Paine and.—

A writer, under the name of “ Publicola
”[John Quincy Adams], in attacking
all[Thomas] Paine's[political] 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.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. iii, 267. Ford ed., v, 351.
(Pa., 1791)

See Paine.

4124. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Portrait.—

I am duly sensible of the honor proposed
of giving to my portrait a place among the
benefactors of our nation, and of the establishment
of West Point in particular. * * * Mr. Sully, I fear, however, will consider the
trouble of the journey[to Monticello], and
the employment of his fine pencil, as illy
bestowed on an atomy of 78.—
To Jared Mansfield. Washington ed. vii, 203.
(M. 1821)

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Principles of.—

See Principles.

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Retirement of.—

See Retirement.

4125. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Scientific Societies.—

Being to remove within a
few months from my present residence
[Washington] to one still more distant from
the seat of the meetings of the American
Philosophical Society[Philadelphia], I feel it
a duty no longer to obstruct its service by
keeping from the chair members whose position
as well as qualifications, may enable
them to discharge its duties with so much
more effect. [260] —
To the Vice-President of the A. P. S. v,. 392.

(W. Nov. 1808)

4126. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Scientific Societies.—[continued].

I am duly sensible of the
honor done me by the first class of the
Royal Institute of Sciences, of Literature, and
of Fine Arts[Holland], in associating me to
their class, and by the approbation which his
Majesty, the King of Holland, has condescended
to give to their choice.—
To G. Voolif. Washington ed. v, 517.
(M. 1810)

4127. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Scientific Societies.—[further continued].

I received with much
gratification the diploma of the Agronomic
Society of Bavaria, conferring on me the distinction
of being honorary member of their
society [261] —
To Baron de Moll. Washington ed. v, 363.
(M. 1814)

4128. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Services of.—

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

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

The Declaration of Independence.

I proposed the demolition of the Church
Establishment, and the Freedom of Religion.
It could only be done by degrees; to wit, the
Act of 1776, c. 2, exempted dissenters from
contributions, to the Church, and left the
Church clergy to be supported by voluntary
contributions of their own sect; was continued
from year to year, and made perpetual
1779, c. 36. I prepared the Act for Religious
Freedom in 1777, as part of the Revisal,
which was not reported to the Assembly till
1779, and that particular law not passed till
1785, and then by the efforts of Mr. Madison.

The Act putting an end to Entails.

The Act prohibiting the Importation of
Slaves.

The Act concerning Citizens and establishing
the natural right of man to expatriate
himself, at will.

The Act changing the course of Descents,
and giving the inheritance to all the children,
&c., equally, I drew as part of the Revisal.

The Act for Apportioning Crimes and Punishments,
part of the same work, I drew.
When proposed to the Legislature, by Mr.
Madison, in 1785, it failed by a single vote.
G. K. Taylor afterwards, in 1796, proposed the
same subject; avoiding the adoption of any
part of the diction of mine, the text of which
had been studiously drawn in the technical
terms of the law, so as to give no occasion
for new questions by new expressions. When
I drew mine, public labor was thought the
best punishment to be substituted for death.
But, while I was in France, I heard of a
society in England, who had successfully introduced
solitary confinement, and saw the
drawing of a prison at Lyons, in France,
formed on the idea of solitary confinement.
And, being applied to by the Governor of
Virginia for the plan of a Capitol and
Prison, I sent him the Lyons plan, accompanying
it with a drawing on a smaller scale,
betted adapted to our use. This was in June,
1786. Mr. Taylor very judiciously adopted
this idea (which had now been acted on in
Philadelphia, probably from the English
model), and substituted labor in confinement,
for the public labor proposed by the Committee
of Revisal; which themselves would
have done, had they been to act on the subject
again. The public mind was ripe for
this in 1796, when Mr. Taylor proposed it,
and ripened chiefly by the experiment in
Philadelphia: whereas, in 1785, when it had
been proposed to our Assembly, they were
not quite ripe for it.

In 1789 and 1790, I had a great number of
olive plants, of the best kind, sent from
Marseilles to Charleston, for South Carolina
and Georgia. They were planted, and are
flourishing; and, though not yet multiplied,
they will be the germ of that cultivation in
those States.

In 1790, I got a cask of heavy upland rice,
from the river Denbigh, in Africa, about
Latitude 9° 30′ North, which I sent to

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

Whether the Act for the more General Diffusion
of Knowledge will ever be carried into
complete effect, I know not. It was received
by the Legislature with great enthusiasm at
first; and a small effort was made in 1796,
by the act to establish public schools, to
carry a part of it into effect, viz., that for the
establishment of free English schools: but the
option given to the courts has defeated the
intention of the act. [262] —
Jefferson Papers. Washington ed. i, 174. Ford ed., vii, 475.
(1800)

4129. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Services of.—[continued].

I came of age in 1764,
and was soon put into the nomination of justice
of the county in which I lived, and, at
the first election following, I became one of
its representatives in the Legislature. I was
thence sent to the old Congress. Then employed
two years with Mr. Pendleton and Mr.
Wythe, on the revisal and reduction to a
single code of the whole body of the British
Statutes, the acts of our Assembly, and certain
parts of the common law. Then elected
Governor. Next, to the Legislature, and to
Congress again. Sent to Europe as Minister
Plenipotentiary. Appointed Secretary of State
to the new Government. Elected Vice-President,
and President. And lastly, a Visitor
and Rector of the University[of Virginia].
In these different offices, with scarcely any
interval between them, I have been in the
public service now sixty-one years; and during
the far greater part of the time, in foreign
countries or in other States. * * * If it were thought worth while to specify
any particular services rendered, I would
refer to the specification of them made
by the[Virginia] Legislature itself in their
Farewell Address,' [263] on my retiring from the
Presidency, February, 1809. There is one,
however, not therein specified the most important
in its consequences, of any transaction
in any portion of my life; to wit, the head I
personally made against the federal principles
and proceedings during the Administration of
Mr. Adams. Their usurpations and violations
of the Constitution at that period, and
their majority in both Houses of Congress,
were so great, so decided, and so daring,
that after combating their aggressions, inch
by inch, without being able in the least to
check their carrer, the republican leaders
thought it would be best for them to give up
their useless efforts there, go home, get into
their respective Legislatures, embody whatever
of resistance they could be formed into,
and if ineffectual, to perish there as in the
last ditch. All, therefore, retired leaving Mr.
Gallatin alone in the House of Representatives,
and myself in the Senate, where I
then presided as Vice-President. Remaining
at our posts, and bidding defiance to the
browbeatings and insults by which they endeavored
to drive us off also, we kept the
mass of republicans in phalanx together, until
the Legislature could be brought up to the
charge; and nothing on earth is more certain,
than that if myself particularly, placed
by my office of Vice-President at the head
of the republicans, had given way and withdrawn
from my post, the republicans throughout
the Union would have given up in
despair, and the cause would have been lost
forever. By holding on, we obtained time for
the Legislature to come up with their weight;
and those of Virginia and Kentucky particularly,
but more especially the former, by
their celebrated resolutions, saved the Constitution
at its last gasp. No person who was
not a witness of the scenes of that gloomy
period, can form any idea of the afflicting
persecutions and personal indignities we had
to brook. They saved our country, however.
The spirits of the people were so much subdued
and reduced to despair by the X. Y. Z.
imposture, and other stratagems and machinations,
that they would have sunk into
apathy and monarchy, as the only form of
government which could maintain itself.

If Legislative services are worth mentioning,
and the stamp of liberality and equality,
which was necessary to be imposed on our
laws in the first crisis of our birth as a nation,
was of any value, they will find that
the leading and most important laws of that
day were prepared by myself, and carried
chiefly by my efforts; supported, indeed, by
able and faithful coadjutors from the ranks
of the house, very effective as seconds, but
who would not have taken the field as
leaders. The prohibition of the further importation
of slaves was the first of these
measures in time. This was followed by the
abolition of entails, which broke up the hereditary
and high-handed aristocracy, which, by
accumulating immense masses of property in
single lines of families, had divided our
country into two distinct orders, of nobles
and plebeians. But further to complete the
equality among our citizens so essential to the
maintenance of republican government, it
was necessary to abolish the principle of
primogeniture. I drew the law of descents,
giving equal inheritance to sons and daughters,
which made a part of the Revised Code.
The attack on the establishment of a dominant
religion was first made by myself. It
could be carried at first only by a suspension
of salaries for one year, by battling it again
at the next session for another year, and so
from year to year, until the public mind was
ripened for the bill for establishing religious

freedom, which I had prepared for the Revised
Code also. This was at length established
permanently, and by the efforts chiefly
of Mr. Madison, being myself in Europe at
the time that work was brought forward.

To these particular services, I think I might
add the establishment of our University, as
principally my work, acknowledging at the
same time, as I do, the great assistance received
from my able colleagues of the Visitation.
But my residence in the vicinity
threw, of course, on me the chief burthen of
the enterprise, as well of the buildings as of
the general organization and care of the
whole. The effect of this institution on the
future fame, fortune and prosperity of our
country, can as yet be seen but at a distance.
But an hundred well-educated youth, which it
will turn out annually, and ere long, will fill
all its offices with men of superior qualifications,
and raise it from its humble state to an
eminence among its associates which it has
never yet known; no, not in its brightest
days. That institution is now qualified to
raise its youth to an order of science unequalled
in any other State; and this superiority
will be the greater from the free range
of mind encouraged there, and the restraint
imposed at other seminaries by the shackles
of a domineering hierarchy, and a bigoted adhesion
to ancient habits. Those now on the
theatre of affairs will enjoy the ineffable happiness
of seeing themselves succeeded by sons
of a grade of science beyond their own ken.
Our sister States will also be repairing to the
same fountains of instruction, will bring
hither their genius to be kindled at our fire,
and will carry back the fraternal affections
which, nourished by the same Alma Mater, will knit us to them by the indissoluble bonds
of early personal friendships. The good Old
Dominion, the blessed mother of us all,
will then raise her head with pride among
the nations, will present to them that splendor
of genius which she has ever possessed,
but has too long suffered to rest uncultivated
and unknown, and will become a centre of
ralliance to the States whose youth she has
instructed, and, as it were, adopted. I claim
some share in the merits of this great work
of regeneration. My whole labors, now for
many years, have been devoted to it, and I
stand pledged to follow it up through the
remnant of life remaining to me. And what
remuneration do I ask? Money from the
treasury? Not a cent. I ask nothing from
the earnings or labors of my fellow citizens.
I wish no man's comforts to be abridged for
the enlargement of mine. For the services
rendered on all occasions, I have been always
paid to my full satisfaction. I never wished a
dollar more than what the law had fixed on.
My request is, only to be permitted to sell my
own property freely to pay my own debts.
To sell it, I say, and not to sacrifice it, not
to have it gobbled up by speculators to make
fortunes for themselves, leaving unpaid those
who have trusted to my good faith, and myself
without resource, in the last and most
helpless stage of life. If permitted to sell it
in a way which will bring me a fair price,
all will be honestly and honorably paid, and
a competence left for myself, and for those
who look to me for subsistence. To sell it in
a way which will offend no moral principle,
and expose none to risk but the willing, and
those wishing to be permitted to take the
chance of gain. To give me, in short, that
permission which you often allow to others
for purposes not more moral. [264] —
Thoughts on Lotteries. Washington ed. ix, 506. Ford ed., x, 368.
(M. 1826)

4130. JEFFERSON (Thomas), University of Virginia and.—

Against this tedium vitæ, I am fortunately mounted on a hobby,
which, indeed, I should have better managed
some thirty or forty years ago; but whose
easy amble is still suffcient to give exercise
and amusement to an octogenary rider. This
is the establishment of a University.—
To John Adams. Washington ed. vii, 313. Ford ed., x, 272.
(M. 1823)

See University of Virginia.

— JEFFERSON (Thomas), Views on religion.—

See Religion.

4131. JEFFERSON (Thomas), Weary of office.—

The motion of my blood no longer
keeps time with the tumult of the world.
It leads me to seek for happiness in the lap
and love of my family, in the society of my
neighbors and my books, in the wholesome
occupations of my farm and my affairs, in an
interest or affection in every bud that opens,
in every breath that blows around me, in an
entire freedom of rest, of motion, of thought,
owing account to myself alone of my hours
and actions. What must be the principle of
that calculation which should balance against
these the circumstances of my present existence [
Secretaryship of State], worn down
with labors from morning to night, and
day to day; knowing them as fruitless to
others as they are vexatious to myself; committed
singly in desperate and eternal contest
against a host who are systematically undermining
the public liberty and prosperity;
even the rare hours of relaxation sacrificed to
the society of persons in the same intentions,
of whose hatred I am conscious even in those
moments of conviviality when the heart
wishes most to open itself to the effusions of
friendship and confidence; cut off from my
family and friends, my affairs abandoned to
chaos and derangement; in short, giving
everything I love in exchange for everything
I hate, and all this without a single
gratification in possession or prospect, in
present enjoyment or future wish.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iii, 578. Ford ed., vi, 291.
(June. 1793)

4132. JOHNSON (Joshua), Consul at London.—

The President of the United States,
desirous of availing his country of the talents
of its best citizens, in their respective lines, has
thought proper to nominate you consul for the

United States at the port of London. The extent
of our commercial and political connections
with that country marks the importance of the
trust he confides to you, and the more, as we
have no diplomatic character at that court.—
To Joshua Johnson. Washington ed. iii, 176.
(N.Y., 1790)

4133. JONES (John Paul), Disinterestedness.—

Captain John Paul Jones refuses to
accept any indemnification for his expenses
[connected with Peyrouse's expedition], which
is an additional proof of his disinterested spirit,
and of his devotion to the service of America.—
To John Jay. Washington ed. i, 454.
(P. 1785)

4134. JONES (John Paul), Justice for.

—Nobody can wish more that justice be done you, nor is more ready to be instrumental in doing
whatever may insure it.—
To Commodore Jones. Washington ed. i, 594.
(P. 1786)

4135. JONES (John Paul), Mission to Algiers.—

The President having thought
proper to appoint you commissioner for treating
with the Dey and government of Algiers, on the
subjects of peace and ransom of our captives,
I have the honor to enclose you the commission,
of which Mr. Thomas Pinckney, now on his
way to London as our Minister Plenipotentiary
there, will be the bearer. Supposing that there
exists a disposition to thwart our negotiations
with the Algerines, and that this would be
very practicable, we have thought it advisable
that the knowledge of this appointment should
rest with the President, Mr. Pinckney and myself;
for which reason you will perceive that the
commissions are all in my own handwriting.
For the same reason, entire secrecy is recommended
to you, and that you so cover from the
public your departure and destination, as that
they may not be conjectured or noticed.—
To John Paul Jones. Washington ed. iii, 431.
(Pa., June. 1792)

4136. JONES (John Paul), Newspaper attacks.—

What the English newspapers said
of remonstrances against Paul Jones being received
into the service, as far as I can learn
from those who would have known it, and
would have told it to me, was false, as is everything
those papers say, ever did say, and ever
will say.—
To Mr. Cutting. Washington ed. ii, 437.
(P. 1788)

4137. JONES (John Paul), Prize money.

—I consider Captain Jones as agent from the
citizens of the United States, interested in the
prizes taken in Europe under his command, and
that he is properly authorized to receive the
money due to them, having given good security
to transmit it to the treasury office of the United
States, whence it will be distributed, under the
care of Congress, to the officers and crews
originally entitled, or to their representatives.—
To M. de Castries. Washington ed. i, 361.
(P. 1785)

4138. JONES (John Paul), Prize money. [continued].

I have had the honor of enclosing to Mr. Jay, Commodore Jones's receipts
for one hundred and eighty-one thousand
and thirty-nine livres, one sol and ten deniers,
prize money, which (after deducting his own
proportion) he is to remit to you, for the officers
and soldiers who were under his command. I
take the liberty of suggesting whether the expense
and risk of double remittances might not
be saved, by ordering it into the hands of Mr.
Grand, immediately, for the purposes of the
Treasury in Europe, while you could make provision
at home for the officers and soldiers,
whose demands will come in so slowly, as to
leave the use of a great proportion of this
money for a considerable time, and some of it
forever. We could, then, immediately quiet
the French officers.—
To the Treasury Commissioners. Washington ed. i, 522.
(P. 1786)

4139. JONES (John Paul), Russian services.—

The war between the Russians and the Turks has made an opening for our Commodore
Paul Jones. The Empress has invited him
into her service. She insures to him the rank
of rear admiral; will give him a separate command,
and, it is understood, that he is never to
be commanded. I think she means to oppose
him to the Captain Pacha, on the Black Sea.
* * * He has made it a condition, that he
shall be free at all times to return to the orders
of Congress, * * * and also, that he shall
not in any case be expected to bear arms against
France. I believe Congress had it in contemplation
to give him the grade of admiral, from
the date of his taking the Serapis. Such a
measure would now greatly gratify him, second
the efforts of fortune in his favor, and
better the opportunity of improving him for our
service, whenever the moment may come in
which we shall want him.—
To General Washington. Washington ed. ii, 372.
(1788)

4140. JONES (John Paul), Russian services.—[continued].

Paul Jones is invited into the service of the Empress[of Russia], with the
rank of rear admiral, and to have a separate
command. I wish it corresponded with the
views of Congress to give him that rank from
the taking of the Serapis. I look to this officer
as our great future dependence on the sea,
where alone we should think of ever having
a force. He is young enough to see the day
when we shall be more populous than the whole
British dominions, and able to fight them ship
to ship. We should procure him, then, every
possible opportunity of acquiring experience.—
To E. Carrington. Washington ed. ii, 405. Ford ed., v, 22.
(P. 1788)

4141. JONES (John Paul), Russian services.—[further continued].

You have heard of the
great victory[in the Black Sea] obtained by
the Russians under command of Admiral Paul
Jones, over the Turks commanded by the Captain
Pacha.—
To M. Limozin. Washington ed. ii, 443.
(P. 1788)

4142. JONES (John Paul), Russian services.—[further continued] .

I am pleased with the
promotion of our countryman, Paul Jones. He
commanded the right wing, in the first engagement
between the Russian and Turkish galleys;
his absence from the second proves his superiority
over the Captain Pacha, as he did not choose
to bring his ships into the shoals in which the
Pacha ventured, and lost those entrusted to him.
I consider this officer as the principal hope of
our future efforts on the ocean.—
To William Carmichael. Washington ed. ii, 466.
(P. 1788)

4143. JONES (John Paul), Russian services.—[further continued].

I understand, in a general
way, that some persecution on the part of his
officers occasioned his being recalled to St.
Petersburg, and that though protected against
them by the Empress, he is not yet restored to
his station.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iii, 101. Ford ed., v, 113.
(P. 1789)

4144. JONES (John Paul), St. Anne Decoration.—

In answer to your request to
obtain and transmit the proper authority of the
United States for your retaining the Order of
St. Anne, conferred on you by the Empress[of
Russia]. The Executive are not authorized
either to grant or refuse the permission you ask,
and consequently cannot take on themselves to
do it. Whether the Legislature would undertake
to do it or not, I cannot say. In general,
there is an aversion to meddle with anything of
that kind here. And the event would be so

doubtful that the Executive would not commit
themselves by making the proposition to the
Legislature.—
To Admiral Paul Jones. Washington ed. iii, 294.
(Pa., 1791)

4145. JOSEPH II., Ambitious.—

We
have here under our contemplation the future
miseries of human nature, like to be occasioned
by the ambition of a young man, who has been
taught to view his subjects as his cattle. The
pretensions he sets up to the navigation of the
Scheldt would have been good, if natural right
had been left uncontrolled, but it is impossible
for express compact to have taken away a right
more effectually than it has the Emperor's.—
To Horatio Gates. Ford ed., iv, 23.
(P. Dec. 1784)

4146. JOSEPH II., Ambitious.—[continued].

He is a restless ambitious
character, aiming at everything, persevering
in nothing, taking up designs without calculating
the force which will be opposed to him,
and dropping them on the appearance of a firm
opposition. He has some just views and much
activity.—
To John Page. Washington ed. i, 400.
(P. 1785)

4147. JOSEPH II., Capricious.—

The enterprising,
unpersevering, capricious, thrasonic character of their sovereign renders it probable
he will avail himself of this little condescendence
in the Brabantines to recede from all his innovations.—
To Edmund Randolph. Washington ed. ii, 212.
(P. 1787)

4148. JOSEPH II., Eccentric.—

The public
acts of the Emperor speak him much above
the common level. Those who expect peace say
that they have in view the Emperor's character
which they represent as whimsical and eccentric,
and that he is especially affected in the
dog days.—
To James Monroe. Ford ed., iv, 21.
(P. Dec. 1784)

4149. JOSEPH II., Foreign complications.—

The league formed by the King of
Prussia against the Emperor[of Austria] is a
most formidable obstacle to his ambitious designs.
It certainly had defeated his views on
Bavaria, and will render doubtful the election of
his nephew to be King of the Romans. Matters
are not yet settled between him and the Turk.
In truth, he undertakes too much. At home he
has made some good regulations.—
To R. Izard. Washington ed. i, 442.
(P. 1785)

4150. JOSEPH II., Innovations.—

Weighing the fondness of the Emperor for innovation,
against his want of perseverance, it is
difficult to calculate what he will do with his discontented
subjects in Brabant and Flanders. If
those provinces alone were concerned he would
probably give them back; but this would induce
an opposition to his plan in all his other dominions.—
John Jay. Washington ed. ii, 158.
(P. 1787)

4151. JOSEPH II., Innovations.—[continued].

The Emperor's reformations
have occasioned the appearance of insurrection
in Flanders, and he, according to character will probably tread back his steps.—
To J. Bannister, Jr. Washington ed. ii, 150.
(P. 1787)

4152. JOSEPH II., And Holland.—

The Emperor[of Austria] seems to prefer the glory
of terror to that of justice; and, to satisfy this
tinsel passion, plants a dagger in the heart of
every Dutchman which no time will extract.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. i, 358. Ford ed., iv, 64.
(1785)

4153. JOSEPH II., Unprincipled.—

The
Emperor has a head too combustible to be quiet.
He is an eccentric character, all enterprise,
without calculation, without principle, without
feelings. Ambitious in the extreme but too unsteady
to surmount difficulties. He had in view
at one time to open the Scheldt, to get Maestricht
from the Dutch, to take a large district
from the Turks, to exchange some of his Austrian
dominions for Bavaria, to create a ninth
electorate, to make his nephew King of the
Romans, and to change totally the constitution
of Hungary. Any one of these was as much
as a wise prince would have undertaken at
any one time.
To James Monroe. Ford ed., iv, 44.
(P. 1785)

4154. JOSEPH II., Unprincipled.—[continued].

The Emperor[has] unmeasurable
ambition, and his total want of
moral principle and honor is suspected. A
great share of Turkey, the recovery of Silesia,
the consolidation of his dominions by the Bavarian
exchange, the liberties of the Germanic
body, all occupy his mind together, and his
head is not well enough organized, to pursue
so much only of all this as is practicable.—
To General Washington. Washington ed. ii, 371.
(P. 1788)

4155. JUDGES, Biased.—

It is better to
toss up cross and pile in a cause, than to refer
it to a judge whose mind is warped by any
motive whatever, in that particular case.—
Notes on Virginia. Washington ed. viii, 372. Ford ed., iii, 236.
(1782)

4156. JUDGES, Biased.—[continued].

We all know that permanent
judges acquire an esprit de corps; that being known, they are liable to be
tempted by bribery; that they are misled by
favor, by relationship, by a spirit of party,
by a devotion to the Executive or Legislative
power; that it is better to leave a cause
to the decision of cross and pile, than to that
of a judge biased to one side.—
To M. L'Abbé Arnond. Washington ed. iii, 81. Ford ed., v, 103.
(P. 1789)

4157. JUDGES, Biased.—[further continued].

As, for the safety of society,
we commit honest maniacs to Bedlam,
so judges should be withdrawn from their
bench, whose erroneous biases are leading us
to dissolution. It may, indeed, injure them
in fame or in fortune; but it saves the Republic,
which is the first and supreme law.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 82. Ford ed., i, 114.
(1821)

4158. JUDGES, Compensation.—

Their
salaries[should be] ascertained and established
by law.—
To George Wythe. Ford ed., ii, 60.
(1776)

4159. JUDGES, Election.—

I hope to see
the time when the election of judges of the
Supreme Courts[of Virginia] shall be restrained
to the bars of the General Court and
High Court of Chancery.—
To George Wythe. Washington ed. i, 212. Ford ed., ii, 167.
(F.,,
17791779)gt;

4160. JUDGES, Executive and.—

I was
against writing letters to judiciary officers. I
thought them independent of the Executive,
not subject to its coercion, and therefore not
obliged to attend to its admonitions.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 175. Ford ed., i, 265.
(1793)

4161. JUDGES, Fallibility of.—

When a
cause has been adjudged according to the
rules and forms of the country, its justice
ought to be presumed. Even error in the
highest court which has been privided as

the last means of correcting the errors of
others, and whose decrees are, therefore, subject
to no further revisal, is one of those inconveniences
flowing from the imperfection of
our faculties, to which every society must
submit; because there must be somewhere a
last resort, wherein contestations may end.
Multiply bodies of revisal as you please, their
number must still be finite, and they must
finish in the hands of fallible men as judges.—
To George Hammond. Washington ed. iii, 415. Ford ed., vi, 56.
(Pa., 1792)

4162. JUDGES, George III. and.—

He
has made our [265] judges dependent on his will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the
amount and payment of their salaries.—
Dec laration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4163. JUDGES, Impeachment of.—

Our
different States have differently modified their
several judiciaries as to the tenure of office.
Some appoint their judges for a given term of
time; some continue them during good behavior,
and that to be determined on by the concurring
vote of two-thirds of each legislative
house. In England they are removable by a
majority only of each house. The last is a
practicable remedy; the second is not. The
combination of the friends and associates of
the accused, the action of personal and party
passions, and the sympathies of the human
heart, will forever find means of influencing
one-third of either the one or the other house,
will thus secure their impunity, and establish
them in fact for life. The first remedy is the
better, that of appointing for a term of years
only, with a capacity of reappointment if their
conduct has been approved.—
To A. Coray. Washington ed. vii, 321.
(M. 1823)

4164. JUDGES, Independent.—

The
judges should not be dependent upon any
man, or body of men.—
To George Wythe. Ford ed., ii, 60.
(1776)

4165. JUDGES, Interested.—

It is not
enough that honest men are appointed judges.
All know the influence of interest on the mind
of man, and how unconsciously his judgment
is warped by that influence. To this bias add
that of the esprit de corps, of their peculiar
maxim and creed, that “it is the office of a
good judge to enlarge his jurisdiction”; and
the absence of responsibility, and how can we
expect impartial decision between the General
Government, of which they are themselves so
eminent a part, and an individual State, from
which they have nothing to hope or fear?—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 81. Ford ed., i, 112.
(1821)

4166. JUDGES, Life tenure.—

The
judges should hold estates for life in their
offices, or, in other words, their commissions
should be made during good behavior.—
To George Wythe. Ford ed., ii, 60.
(1776)

4167. JUDGES, Power of.—

Whatever of
the enumerated objects[in the Constitution] is to be done by a judicial sentence, the
judges may pass the sentence.—
To Wilson C. Nicholas. Washington ed. iv, 506. Ford ed., viii, 248.
(M. 1803)

4168. JUDGES, Power of.—[continued].

We have seen, too, that,
contrary to all correct example, the judges are
in the habit of going out of the question before
them, to throw an anchor ahead, and
grapple further hold for future advances of
power.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 82. Ford ed., i, 113.
(1821)

4169. JUDGES, Prejudices of old.—

Knowing that religion does not furnish
grosser bigots than law, I expect little from
old judges. Those now at the bar may be
bold enough to follow reason further than
precedent, and may bring that principle on
the bench when promoted to it; but I fear
this effort is not for my day.—
To Thomas Cooper. Washington ed. v, 532.
(M. 1810)

4170. JUDGES, Qualifications.—

The
judges should always be men of learning and
experience in the laws, of exemplary morals,
great patience, calmness and attention; their
minds should not be distracted with jarring
interests.—
To George Wythe. Ford ed., ii, 59.
(1776)

4171. JUDGES, Seats in State Senate.—

The judges of the General Court and of the
High Court of Chancery[of Virginia] shall
have session and deliberative voice, but not
suffrage, in the House of Senators.—
Proposed Va. Constitution. Ford ed., ii, 16.
(June. 1776)

4172. JUDGES, Superfluous.—

By a
fraudulent use of the Constitution, which has
made judges irremovable, the[federalists] have multiplied useless judges merely to
strengthen their phalanx.—
To John Dickinson. Washington ed. iv, 425.
(W. 1801)

4173. JUDGES, Superfluous.—[continued].

I should greatly prefer * * * four judges to any greater number.
Great lawyers are not over abundant,
and the multiplication of judges only enables
the weak to out-vote the wise, and three concurrent
opinions out of four give a strong
presumption of right.—
To William Johnson. Washington ed. vii, 278. Ford ed., x, 249.
(M. 1823)

4174. JUDGES, Usurpation by.—

One single object, if your provision[in the
Louisiana Code] attains it, will entitle you to
the endless gratitude of society; that of restraining
judges from unurping legislation.
And with no body of men is this restraint
more wanting than with the judges of what is
commonly called our General Government,
but what I call our Foreign Department.—
To Edward Livingston. Washington ed. vii, 403.
(M. 1825)

4175. JUDGES, Venality of French.—

Nor should we wonder at * * *[the] pressure[for a fixed constitution in 1788-9] when we consider the monstrous abuses of
power under which * * *[the French] people were ground to powder; when we pass
in review * * * the venality of the judges
and their partialities to the rich.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 86. Ford ed., i, 118.
(1821)

4176. JUDGMENT, Errors of.—

I fear not that any motives of interest may lead me
astray; I am sensible of no passion which
could seduce me knowingly from the path of
justice; but the weaknesses of human nature,
and the limits of my own understanding, will
produce errors of judgment sometimes injurious
to your interests. I shall need, therefore,
all the indulgence which I have heretofore
experienced.—
Second Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 45. Ford ed., viii, 347.
(1805)

4177. JUDGMENT, Warped.—

All know the influence of interest on the mind of man,
and how unconsciously his judgment is
warped by that influence.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 81. Ford ed., i, 112.
(1821)

4178. JUDICIARY (Federal), Centralization and.—

We already see the power, installed
for life, responsible to no authority
(for impeachment is not even a scare-crow),
advancing with a noiseless and steady pace to
the great object of consolidation. The foundations
are already deeply laid by their decisions,
for the annihilation of constitutional
State rights, and the removal of every check,
every counterpoise to the ingulphing power of
which themselves are to make a sovereign
part. * * * Let the future appointments
of judges be for four or six years, and removable
by the President and Senate. This
will bring their conduct, at regular periods,
under revision and probation, and may keep
them in equipoise between the general and
special governments. We have erred in this
point, by copying England, where certainly it
is a good thing to have the judges independent
of the King. But we have omitted to
copy their caution also, which makes a judge
removable on the address of both legislative
houses. That there should be public functionaries
independent of the nation, whatever
may be their demarit, is a solecism in a republic,
of the first order of absurdity and
inconsistency.—
To Wm. T. Barry. Washington ed. vii, 256.
(M. 1822)

See Centralization.

4179. JUDICIARY (Federal), Coercion of.—

In the General Government, * * * the
Judiciary is independent of the nation, their
coercion by impeachment being found nugatory.—
To John Taylor. Washington ed. vi, 607. Ford ed., x, 30.
(M. 1816)

4180. JUDICIARY (Federal), Confidence in.—

The Judiciary, if rendered independent,
and kept strictly to their own department,
merits great confidence for their
learning and integrity.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iii, 3. Ford ed., v, 81.
(P. 1789)

4181. JUDICIARY (Federal), Control over.—

The Judiciary[branch of the Government] possessing the rights of self-government
from nature, cannot be controlled in the
exercise of them but by a law, passed in the
forms of the Constitution.—
Official Opinion. Washington ed. vii, 499. Ford ed., v, 209.
(1790)

4182. JUDICIARY (Federal), Curbing.

—You will have a * * * difficult task in
curbing the Judiciary in their enterprises on
the Constitution. I doubt whether the erection
of the Senate into an appellate court on
constitutional questions would be deemed an
unexceptionable reliance; because it would enable
the Judiciary, with the representatives in
Senate of one-third only of our citizens, and
that in a single house, to make by construction what they should please of the Constitution.
and thus bind in a double knot the other two-thirds;
for I believe that one-third of our
citizens choose a majority of the Senate, and
these, too, of the smaller States whose interests
lead to lessen State influence, and
strengthen that of the General Government.
A better remedy I think, and indeed the best
I can devise would be to give future commissions
to judges for six years (the senatorial
term) with a reappointability by the
President with the approbation of both houses. That of the House of Representatives
imports a majority of citizens, that of
the Senate a majority of States, and that
of both a majority of the three sovereign departments
of the existing government, to wit,
of its Executive and Legislative branches. If
this would not be independence enough, I
know not what would be such, short of the
total irresponsibility under which we are acting
and sinning now. The independence of
the judges in England on the King alone is
good; but even there they are not independent
on the Parliament, being removable on
the joint address of both houses, by a vote
of a majority of each, but we require a
majority of one house and two-thirds of the
other, a concurrence which, in practice, has
been and ever will be found impossible; for
the judiciary perversions of the Constitution
will forever be protected under the pretext of
errors of judgment, which by principle are
exempt from punishment. Impeachment,
therefore, is a bugbear which they fear not
at all. But they would be under some awe of
the canvass of their conduct which would be
open to both houses regularly every sixth
year. It is a misnomer to call a government
republican, in which a branch of the supreme
power is independent of the nation. By this
change of tenure a remedy would be held up
to the States, which, although very distant,
would probably keep them quiet. In aid of
this a more immediate effect would be produced
by a joint protestation of both houses
of Congress, that the doctrines of the judges
in the case of Cohens, adjudging a State amenable
to their tribunal, and that Congress can
authorize a corporation of the District of
Columbia to pass any act which shall have
the force of law within a State, are contrary
to the provisions of the Constitution of the
United States. This would be effectual; as
with such an avowal of Congress, no State
would permit such a sentence to be carried
into execution within its limits. If, by the
distribution of the sovereign powers among
three branches, they were intended to be
checks on one another, the present case calls
loudly for the exercise of that duty, and such
a counter declaration, while proper in form,

would be most salutary as a precedent.—
To James Pleasants. Ford ed., x, 198.
(M. Dec. 1821)

4183. JUDICIARY (Federal), Curbing. [continued].

There was another
amendment[to the Federal Constitution] of
which none of us thought at the time[when
the Constitution was framed], and in the
omission of which lurks the germ that is to
destroy this happy combination of national
powers in the General Government for
matters of national concern, and independent
powers in the States, for what concerns the
States severally. In England, it was a great
point gained at the Revolution, that the commissions
of the judges, which had hitherto
been during pleasure, should thenceforth be
made during good behavior. A Judiciary,
dependent on the will of the king, had proved
itself the most oppressive of all tools in the
hands of that magistrate. Nothing then could
be more salutary than a change there to the
tenure of good behavior; and the question of
good behavior, left to the vote of a simple
majority in the two Houses of Parliament.
Before the Revolution we were all good English
Whigs, cordial in their free principles, and in their jealousies of their Executive
Magistrate. These jealousies are very apparent
in all our State constitutions; and, in
the General Government in this instance, we
have gone even beyond the English caution,
by requiring a vote of two-thirds in one of
the houses, for removing a Judge; a vote so
impossible, where [266] any defence is made, before
men of ordinary prejudices and passions,
that our judges are effectually independent
of the nation. But this ought not to be. I
would not, indeed, make them dependent on
the Executive authority, as they formerly
were in England; but I deem it indispensable
to the continuance of this Government that
they should be submitted to some practical
and impartial control; and that this, to be
impartial, must be compounded of a mixture
of State and Federal authorities.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 80. Ford ed., i, 111.
(1821)

4184. JUDICIARY (Federal), Dangerous Decisions.—

At the establishment of our Constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed
to be the most helpless and harmless
members of the government. Experience,
however, soon showed in what way they were
to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency
of the means provided for their removal
gave them a freehold and irresponsibility
in office; that their decisions, seeming
to concern individual suitors only, pass
silent and unheeded by the public at large;
that these decisions, nevertheless, become
law by precedent, sapping, by little and little,
the foundations of the Constitution, and
working its change by construction, before
any one has perceived that that invisible and
helpless worm has been busily employed in
consuming its substance. In truth, man is
not made to be trusted for life, if secured
against all liability to account.—
To A. Coray. Washington ed. vii, 322.
(M. 1823)

4185. JUDICIARY (Federal), Legislative, Executive and.—

The dignity and stability
of government in all its branches, the
morals of the people, and every blessing of
society, depend so much upon an upright and
skillful administration of justice, that the
judicial power ought to be distinct from
both the legislative and executive, and independent
upon both, that so it may be a check
upon both, as both should be checks upon
that.—
To George Wythe. Ford ed., ii, 59.
(July. 1776)

4186. JUDICIARY (Federal), Sappers and miners.—

The Judiciary of the United
States is the subtle corps of sappers and
miners constantly working under ground to
undermine the foundations of our confederated
fabric. They are construing our Constitution
from a coordination of a general and
special government to a general and supreme
one alone. This will lay all things at their feet,
and they are too well versed in English law to
forget the maxim, “boni judicis est ampliare
jurisdictionem”. * * * Having found from
experience, that impeachment is an impracticable
thing, a mere scare-crow, they consider
themselves secure for life; they skulk
from responsibility to public opinion, the only
remaining hold on them, under a practice first
introduced into England by Lord Mansfield.
An opinion is huddled up in conclave, perhaps
by a majority of one, delivered as if
unanimous, and with the silent acquiescence
of lazy or timid associates, by a crafty chief
judge, who sophisticates the law to his mind,
by the turn of his own reasoning. A judiciary
law was once reported by the Attorney
General to Congress, requiring each judge to
deliver his opinion seriatim and openly, and
then to give it in writing to the clerk to be
entered in the record. A judiciary independent
of a king or executive alone, is a good
thing; but independence of the will of the
nation is a solecism, at least in a republican
government.—
To Thomas Ritchie. Washington ed. vii, 192. Ford ed., x, 170.
(M. 1820)

4187. JUDICIARY (Federal), Sappers and miners.—[continued].

The judges are, in fact,
the corps of sappers and miners, steadily working
to undermine the independent rights of
the States, and to consolidate all power in the
hands of that government in which they have
so important a freehold estate.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 82. Ford ed., i, 113.
(1821)

4188. JUDICIARY (Federal), Sappers and miners.—[further continued].

This member of the Government
was at first considered as the most harmless and helpless of all its organs. But
it has proved that the power of declaring what
the law is, ad libitum, by sapping and mining,
slyly, and without alarm, the foundations of
the Constitution, can do what open force
would not dare to attempt.—
To Edward Livingston. Washington ed. vii, 404.
(M. 1825)

4189. JUDICIARY (Federal), The Senate and.—

The Constitution has vested the Judiciary
power in the courts of justice, with

certain exceptions in favor of the Senate.—
Opinion on the Powers of the Senate. Washington ed. vii, 465. Ford ed., v, 161.
(1790)

4190. JUDICIARY (Federal), Supremacy.—

The courts of justice exercise the sovereignty
of this country, in judiciary matters,
are supreme in these, and liable neither to
control nor opposition from any other branch
of the government.—
To E. C. Genet. Washington ed. iv, 68. Ford ed., vi, 421.
(Pa., Sep. 1793)
See Constitution, Marshall and Supreme Court.

4191. JUDICIARY (State), Elevate.—

Render the judiciary[of the State] respectable
by every means possible, to wit, firm
tenure in office, competent salaries, and reduction
of their numbers.—
To Archibald Stuart. Washington ed. iii, 315. Ford ed., v, 410.
(Pa., 17911791)gt;

4192. JURISDICTION, Foreign.—

He
has combined with others to subject us to a
jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent
to their acts of pretended legislation
* * * for protecting them[bodies of
armed troops], by a mock trial, from punishment,
for any murders which they should
commit on the inhabitants of these States.—
Declaration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4193. JURISDICTION, Unwarrantable.

—We have warned them[our British brethren] from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction
over these our States. We have, reminded
them of the circumstances of our
emigration and settlement here, no one of
which could warrant so strange a pretension. [267] —
Declaration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4194. JURY (Grand), Federal Judges and.—

The proceedings in the Federal court
of Virginia, to overawe the communications
between the people and their representatives,
excite great indignation. Probably a great
fermentation will be produced by it in that
State. Indeed it is the common cause of the
confederacy, as it is one of their courts
which has taken the step. The charges of the
Federal judges have for a considerable time
been inviting the grand juries to become inquisitors
on the freedom of speech, of writing,
and of principle of their fellow citizens. Perhaps
the grand juries in the other States, as
well as in that of Virginia, may think it incumbent
in their next presentment to enter
protestations against this perversion of their
institution from a legal to a political machine,
and even to present those concerned in it.—
To Peregrine Fitzhugh. Ford ed., vii, 137.
(Pa., June. 1797)

4195. JURY (Trial by), Anchor of Government.—

I consider trial by jury as the only
anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a
government can be held to the principles of
its constitution.—
To Thomas Paine. Washington ed. iii, 71.
(P. 1789)

— JURY (Trial by), In Chancery Courts.—

See Courts of Chancery.

4196. JURY (Trial by), Common sense of Jurors.—

It is better to toss up cross and
pile in a cause than to refer it to a judge
whose mind is warped by any motive whatever,
in that particular case. But the common
sense of twelve honest men gives a still better
chance of just decision, than the hazard of
cross and pile.—
Notes on Virginia. Washington ed. viii, 372. Ford ed., iii, 236.
(1782)

4197. JURY (Trial by), Denied by parliament.—

They[Parliament] have deprived
us of the inestimable privilege of trial by a
jury of the vicinage in cases affecting both
life and property.—
Declaration on Taking up Arms. Ford ed., i, 468.
(July. 1775)

4198. JURY (Trial by), Denied by parliament.—[continued].

The proposition[of Lord
North] is altogether unsatisfactory * * * because it does not propose to repeal the
several acts of Parliament * * * taking
from us the right of a trial by jury of the
vicinage, in cases affecting both life and property.—
Reply to Lord North's Proposition. Ford ed., i, 480.
(July. 1775)

4199. JURY (Trial by), Lack of Uniform Laws.—

I do not like[in the new Federal
Constitution] the omission of a bill of
rights, providing clearly and without the aid
of sophisms for * * * trials by jury in all
matters of fact triable by the laws of the
land, and not by the law of nations. * * * It was a hard conclusion to say, because
there has been no uniformity among the
States as to the cases triable by jury, because
some have been so incautious as to abandon
this mode of trial, therefore, the more prudent
States shall be reduced to the same level of
calamity. It would have been much more just
and wise to have concluded the other way
that, as most of the States had judiciously
preserved this palladium, those who had
wandered should be brought back to it, and
to have established general right instead of
general wrong.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. ii, 329. Ford ed., iv, 476.
(P. Dec. 1787)

4200. JURY (Trial by), Essential principle.—

Trial by juries impartially selected, I
deem[one of the] essential principles of
our government and, consequently,[one] which ought to shape its administration.—
First Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 4. Ford ed., viii, 5.
(1801)

4201. JURY (Trial by), In France.—

I
doubt whether France will obtain[in its proposed
Constitution] the trial by jury, because
they are not sensible of its value.—
To Dr. Price. Washington ed. ii, 557.
(P. Jan. 1789)

4202. JURY (Trial by), Fundamental right.—

There are instruments for administering
the government, so peculiarly trustworthy,
that we should never leave the leg

islature at liberty to change them. The new
Constitution has secured these in the executive
and legislative departments; but not in
the judiciary. It should have established
trials by the people themselves, that is to say,
by jury.—
To David Humphreys. Washington ed. iii, 13. Ford ed., v, 90.
(P. 1789)

4203. JURY (Trial by), George III. and.—

He[George III.] has endeavored to
pervert the exercise of the kingly office in
Virginia into a detestable and insupportable
tyranny * * * by combining with others
to subject us to a foreign jurisdiction, giving
his assent to their pretended acts of legislation
* * * for depriving us of the benefits
of trial by jury.—
Proposed Va. Constitution. Ford ed., ii, II.
(June. 1776)

4204. JURY (Trial by), George III. and.—[continued].

He has combined, with others, * * * for depriving us [268] of the benefits
of trial by jury.—
Declaration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4205. JURY (Trial by), Law and fact.

—The people 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.
* * * It is left to the juries, if they think
permanent judges are under any bias whatever
in any cause, to take on themselves to
judge the law as well as the fact. They
never exercise this power but when they suspect
partiality in the judges; and by the exercise
of this power they have been the firmest
bulwarks of English liberty.—
To L'Abbé Arnond. Washington ed. iii, 81. Ford ed., v, 103.
(P. 1789)

4206. JURY (Trial by), Law and fact. [continued].

If the question[before justices of the peace] relate to any point of
public liberty, or if it be one of those in
which the judges may be suspected of bias,
the jury undertake to decide both law and
fact.—
Notes on Virginia. Washington ed. viii, 372. Ford ed., iii, 236.
(1782)

4207. JURY (Trial by), Law and fact. [further continued].

The people * * * being
competent to judge of the facts occurring
in ordinary life, have retained the functions
of judges of facts, under the name of jurors.—
To Dupont de Nemours. Washington ed. vi, 590. Ford ed., x, 22.
(P.F.,,
18161816)gt;

4208. JURY (Trial by), Medietas Lingu æ.—

I sincerely rejoice at the acceptance of
our new Constitution by nine States. It is
a good canvas, on which some strokes only
want retouching. What these are, I think
are sufficiently manifested by the general voice
from north to south which calls for a bill of
rights. It seems pretty generally understood
that this should go to juries * * * In
disputes between a foreigner and a native, a
trial by jury may be improper. But if this
exception cannot be agreed to, the remedy
will be to model the jury by giving the
medietas linguæ, in civil as well as criminal
cases.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. ii, 445. Ford ed., v, 45.
(P. July. 1788)

4209. JURY (Trial by), Safeguard.—

Trial by jury is the best of all safeguards
for the person, the property, and the fame of
every individual.—
To M. Coray. Washington ed. vii, 323.
(M. 1823)

4210. JURY (Trial by), Scope.—

I like
the declaration of rights as far as it goes, but
I should have been for going further. For
instance, the following alterations and additions
would have pleased me. * * * Article
7. All facts put in issue before any judicature,
shall be tried by jury, except: i,
in cases of admiralty jurisdiction, wherein a
foreigner shall be interested; 2, in cases cognizable
before a court-martial, concerning
only the regular officers and soldiers of the
United States, or members of the militia in
actual service in time of war or insurrection;
3, in impeachments allowed by the Constitution.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iii, 100. Ford ed., v, 112.
(P. Aug. 1789)

4211. JURY (Trial by), Selection of Jurors.—

An officer * * * who selects
judges for principles which necessarily lead to
condemnation, might as well lead his culprits
to the scaffold at once without the mockery
of trial.—
To Mrs. Sarah Mease. Ford ed., viii, 35.
(W. March. 1801)

4212. JURY (Trial by), Selection of Jurors.—[continued].

An officer who is entrusted
by the law with the sacred duty of
naming judges of life and death for his fellow
citizens, and who selects them exclusively
from among his political and party enemies,
ought never to have in his power a second
abuse of that tremendous magnitude.—
To Mrs. Sarah Mease. Ford ed., viii, 35.
(W. March. 1801)

4213. JURY (Trial by), Selection of Jurors.—[further continued].

It will be worthy your
consideration whether the protection of the
inestimable institution of juries has been extended
to all the cases involving the security
of our persons and property. Their impartial
selection also being essential to their value,
we ought further to consider whether that is
sufficiently secured in those States where they
are named by a marshal depending on Executive
will, or designated by the court or by
officers dependent on them.—
First Annual Message. Washington ed. viii, 14. Ford ed., viii, 123.
(Dec. 1801)

4214. JURY (Trial by), Selection of Jurors.—[further continued] .

I enclose you a petition
for a reformation in the manner of appointing
our juries, and a remedy against the jury of
all nations. * * * I know it will require
but little ingenuity to make objections to the
details of its execution; but do not be discouraged
by small difficulties; make it as perfect
as you can at a first essay, and depend on
amending its defects as they develop themselves
in practice. * * * It is the only thing
which can yield us a little present protection
against the dominion of a faction, while circumstances
are maturing for bringing and
keeping the government in real unison with
the spirit of their constituents.—
To John Taylor. Washington ed. iv, 260. Ford ed., vii, 311.
(M. 1798)

4215. JURY (Trial by), Powers of Jurors.—

All fines, or amercements, shall be assessed,
and terms of imprisonment for contempts
and misdemeanors shall be fixed by
the verdict of a jury.—
Proposed Va. Constitution. Ford ed., ii, 24.
(June. 1776)

4216. JURY (Trial by), Universal.—

By a declaration of rights, I mean one which
shall stipulate * * * trial by juries in
all cases * * *.—
To A. Donald. Washington ed. ii, 355.
(P. 1788)

4217. JUSTICE, Administration of.—

He has suffered [269] the administration of justice
totally to cease in some of these States, refusing his assent to laws for establishing
judiciary powers.—
Declaration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4218. JUSTICE, Administration of.—[continued].

Justice is administered in all the States with a purity and integrity
of which few countries can afford an example.—
To Count de Vergennes. Washington ed. ix, 241. Ford ed., iv, 127.
(P. 1785)

4219. JUSTICE, Courts of.—

Courts of
justice, all over the world, are held by the
laws to proceed according to certain forms,
which the good of the suitors themselves requires
they should not be permitted to depart
from.—
To Charles Hellstedt. Washington ed. iii, 210.
(Pa., 1791)

4220. JUSTICE, Courts of.—[continued].

No nation can answer
for perfect exactitude of proceedings in all
their inferior courts. It suffices to provide a
supreme judicature, where all error and partiality
will be ultimately corrected.—
To George Hammond. Washington ed. iii, 414. Ford ed., vi, 55.
(Pa., 1792)

4221. JUSTICE, Deaf to.—

They, too
[the British people], have been deaf to the
voice of justice and of consanguinity.—
Declaration of Independence as Drawn by Jefferson.

4222. JUSTICE, Equal and exact.—

Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever
state or persuasion, religious or political,
I deem[one of the] essential principles of our
government and, consequently[one] which
ought to shape its administration.—
First Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 4. Ford ed., viii, 4.
(1801)

4223. JUSTICE, Foundation of.—

I believe
that justice is instinct and innate, that
the moral sense is as much a part of our constitution
as that of feeling, seeing, or hearing;
as a wise Creator must have seen to be
necessary in an animal destined to live in society;
that every human mind feels pleasure
in doing good to another; that the non-existence
of justice is not to be inferred from
the fact that the same act is deemed virtuous
and right in one society which is held vicious
and wrong in another; because, as the circumstances
and opinions of different societies
vary, so the acts which may do them right or
wrong must vary also; for virtue does not
consist in the act we do, but in the end it is
to effect. If it is to effect the happiness of him
to whom it is directed, it is virtuous, while in
a society under different circumstances and
opinions, the same act might produce pain,
and would be vicious. The essence of virtue
is in doing good to others, while what is good
may be one thing in one society, and its contrary
in another.—
To John Adams. Washington ed. vii, 39.
(M. 1816)

4224. JUSTICE, Fundamental Law.—

Justice is the fundamental law of society.—
To Dupont de Nemours. Washington ed. vi, 591. Ford ed., x, 24.
(P.F.,,
18161816)gt;

4225. JUSTICE, Government and.—

The
most sacred of the duties of a government is
to do equal and impartial justice to all its
citizens.—
Note in Tracy's Political Economy. Washington ed. vi, 574.
(1816)

4226. JUSTICE, Impartial.—

Deal out justice without partiality or favoritism.—
To Hugh Williamson. Ford ed., v, 492.
(Pa., 17921792)gt;

4227. JUSTICE, Impartial.—[continued].

The sword of the law
should never fall but on those whose guilt is
so apparent as to be pronounced by their
friends as well as foes.—
To Mrs. Sarah Mease. Ford ed., viii, 35.
(W. March. 1801)

4228. JUSTICE, Impartial.—[further continued].

When one undertakes to
administer justice, it must be with an even
hand, and by rule, what is done for one, must
be done for every one in equal degree.—
To Dr. Benjamin Rush. Washington ed. iv, 507. Ford ed., viii, 264.
(W. 1803)

4229. JUSTICE, International.—

We
must make the interest of every nation stand
surety for their justice, and their own loss
to follow injury to us, as effect follows its
cause.—
To Edward Rutledge. Washington ed. iv, 191. Ford ed., vii, 154.
(Pa., 1797)

4230. JUSTICE, International.—[continued].

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.—
To Mr. Cabanis. Washington ed. iv, 497.
(W. 1803)

4231. JUSTICE, International.—[further continued].

We are firmly convinced,
and we act on that conviction, that with nations,
as with individuals, our interests
soundly calculated, will ever be found inseparable
from our moral duties; and history
bears witness to the fact, that a just nation
is trusted on its word, when recourse is had
to armaments and wars to bridle others.—
Second Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 40. Ford ed., viii, 343.
(1805)

4232. JUSTICE, International.—[further continued] .

A just nation is taken on
its word, when recourse is had to armaments
and wars to bridle others.—
Second Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 40. Ford ed., viii, 343.
(1805)

4233. JUSTICE, International.—[further continued].

We ask for peace and
justice from all nations.—
To James Monroe. Washington ed. v, 12. Ford ed., viii, 450.
(W. May. 1806)

4234. JUSTICE, National and individual.—

A character of justice is valuable to
a nation as to an individual.—
To Rev. Mr. Worcester. Washington ed. vi, 540.
(1816)

4235. JUSTICE, Partial.—

The public security
against a partial dispensation of justice
depends on its being dispensed by certain
rules. The slightest deviation in one
circumstance becomes a precedent for another,
that for a third, and so on without
bounds. A relaxation in a case where it is
certain no fraud is intended, is laid hold of by
others, afterwards, to cover fraud.—
To George Joy. Washington ed. iii, 130.
(N.Y., 1790)

4236. JUSTICE, Peace and.—

Peace and
justice[should] be the polar stars of the
American Societies.—
To J. Correa. Washington ed. vii, 184. Ford ed., x, 164.
(M. 1820)

4237. JUSTICE, Pre-Revolutionary.—

Before the Revolution, a judgment could not
be obtained under eight years in the Supreme
Court[in Virginia] where the suit was in
the department of the common law, which
department embraces about nine-tenths of the
subject of legal contestation. In that of the
Chancery, from twelve to twenty years were
requisite. This did not proceed from any vice
in the laws, but from the indolence of the
judges appointed by the King; and these
judges holding their office during his will
only, he could have reformed the evil at
any time. This reformation was among the
first works of the Legislature after our Independence.
A judgment can now be obtained
in the Supreme Court in one year at
the common law, and in about three years in
the Chancery. [270] —
Report to Congress. Washington ed. ix, 240. Ford ed., iv, 126.
(P. 1785)

4238. JUSTICE, Procurement of.—

[It
is my] belief that a just and friendly conduct
on our part will procure justice and
friendship from others.—
To Earl of Buchan. Washington ed. iv, 494.
(W. 1803)

4239. JUSTICE, Safeguard.—

The provisions
we have made[for our government] are such as please ourselves: they answer the
substantial purposes of government and of
justice, and other purposes than these should
not be answered.—
Reply to Lord North's Proposition. Ford ed., i, 479.
(July. 1775)

4240. JUSTICE, Sense of.—

Destutt Tracy
promises a work on morals, in which I lament
to see that he will adopt the principles
of Hobbes, or humiliation to human nature;
that the sense of justice and injustice is not
derived from our natural organization, but
founded on convention only. * * * Assuming
the fact, that the earth has been
created in time, and consequently the dogma
of final causes, we yield, of course, to this
short syllogism: Man was created for social
intercourse; but social intercourse cannot
be maintained without a sense of justice; then
man must have been created with a sense
of justice.—
To F. W. Gilmer. Washington ed. vii, 4. Ford ed., x, 32.
(M. 1816)

4241. JUSTICE, Universal.—

Justice is
to be denied to no man.—
To E. C. Genet. Washington ed. iii, 585. Ford ed., vi, 311.
(Pa., 1793)

4242. JUSTICE, Unswerving.—

I am
sensible of no passion which could seduce me
knowingly from the path of justice.—
Second Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 45. Ford ed., viii, 347.
(1805)

4243. JUSTICE, Views of.—

All our proceedings
have flowed from views of justice.—
Special Message. Washington ed. viii, 70. Ford ed., viii, 496.
(Dec. 1806)