THE WRITINGS OF



THOMAS JEFFERSON











Definitive Edition



CONTAINING HIS







AUTOBIOGRAPHY, NOTES ON VIRGINIA, PARLIA-



MENTARY  MANUAL, OFFICIAL PAPERS,



MESSAGES AND ADDRESSES, AND OTHER



WRITINGS, OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE,



NOW COLLECTED AND







PUBLISHED IN THEIR ENTIRETY FOR THE FIRST TIME







INCLUDING







ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS, DEPOSITED IN THE DEPARTMENT



OF STATE AND PUBLISHED IN 1853 by ORDER OF THE



JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS







WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS



AND



A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL INDEX















ALBERT ELLERY BERGH



EDITOR











VOL. XVIII.



















ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF



THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION



OF THE UNITED STATES



WASHINGTON, D. C.



1907





















        COPYRIGHT, 1905,



        BY



        THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL



        ASSOCIATION

















        JEFFERSON'S CONTRIBUTION TO



        A FREE PRESS. 















  Perhaps the strongest utterance of faith in the



power of a free, honest and liberty-loving press,



made by man, was Jefferson's declaration: "Were



it left to me to decide whether we should have a



government without newspapers or newspapers



without a government, I should not hesitate a



moment to prefer the latter. "







 Was this too high praise of newspapers? History



furnishes the answer: it was the press and the



printed letters of Payne, Jefferson, Madison, Adams



and others, read in every nook and corner of the



colonies, which aroused the people of America to



secure independence, rather than the thrilling elo-



quence of the Patrick Henrys, heard by small



audiences; and almost every right won for the



people since Guttenberg has owed its success to the



agitation, argument and exhortation of newspaper



and pamphlet. Indeed, but for the invention of



the art of printing and its wise use by men like



Jefferson, who were devoted to liberty, the flood-



tide of freedom would have been centuries later in



reaching the shores of the New World. In a letter



from Paris on Shays's Rebellion, which shows that







   VOL. XVIII-A







        i













ii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







he was decades ahead of his time, Jefferson gave



expression to his high estimate of the value of news-



papers as moulders of sound public opinion. He



wrote :







  " The people are the only censors of their gover-



nors; and even their errors will tend to keep them



to the true principles of their institution. To



punish these errors too severely would be to sup-



press the only safeguard of the public liberty. The



way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the



people is to give them full information of their



affairs, through the channel of public papers, and



to contrive that those papers should penetrate the



whole mass of the people. The basis of our govern-



ment being the opinion of the people, the very first



object should be to keep that right; and were it



left to me to decide, whether we should have a



government without newspapers, or newspapers



without a government, T should not hesitate a



moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean



that every man should receive those papers, and



be capable of reading them. "







  In 1786, to Dr. James Currie, he wrote : " Our



liberty depends on the freedom of the press and that



cannot be limited without being lost. " In 1808,



in answer to an address, he wrote: " The liberty of



speaking and writing guards our other liberties."



To General Washington, in 1792, he wrote : " No



government ought to be without censors; and



where the press is free, no one ever will. "

















        Free Press       iii







  Mr. Jefferson, more than any man of his day,



appreciated the mighty power of the printed page.



Indeed it may be doubted whether any man of any



age appreciated so truly its capacity to create public



sentiment. He more than any of his famous con-



temporaries understood that the man imbibes what



he reads more than what he hears. But more and



better than that: he recognized the priceless value



of a free press, just as he felt the necessity of free-



dom to worship God without restraint. Freedom



was to him a religion. He hated anything that



hindered man's liberty to think, to write, to speak



to do. His life was largely given to unfettering



the mind of man. " I have sworn," he wrote, " upon



the altar of God, eternal hostility against every



form of tyranny over the mind of man. "







  The statute for religious liberty, drawn by him



and enacted by the Virginia Assembly, was the first



step in the line of carrying out the oath he had taken



" upon the altar. " His whole life shows that he was



never " disobedient to the heavenly vision " which



inspired that oath. He deemed it one of the three



achievements of his life worthy to be carved on the



granite shaft, which he directed to be placed above



his grave. He acquired his deep-seated hostility



to religious bigotry and to church establishment-



(nearly always twin brothers)-when he saw dis-



senting preachers carried to jail for what Patrick



Henry called " the crime of preaching the gospel. "



The sense of outrage that a man should be impris-

















iv        Jefferson's Contribution to a







oned for not accepting a creed which he could not



believe,-that seemed to his tolerant mind the



unpardonable sin--the sin that loomed above all



other transgressions. His resentment toward those



who would compel men to worship according to



dictation from priest or politician was so deep



that the pendulum of his mind swung in the opposite



direction so far, that his intolerance for church



establishment and clerical persecution and religious



tyranny-(the trinity of abortions upon Chris-



tianity)-was construed into hostility to religion.



His letters show, whether he accepted the orthodox



creed or not, such a construction does injustice to 



his reverent admiration of the teachings of Jesus.







 Tucker, in his biography of Jefferson, says, " with-



out having either gained a battle, made a speech,



or founded a sect, he raised himself from the ranks



of private life to the highest civil honors of his



country. " Jefferson 's " Autobiography " negatives



the idea that he never made a speech, for, asked



by a member of the Annapolis Congress, how he



"could sit in silence, hearing so much false reason-



ing which a word should refute," Mr. Jefferson



says : " I observed to him, that to refute was indeed



easy, but to silence was impossible ; that in meas-



ures brought forward by myself, I took the laboring



oar, as was incumbent on me." But, having no



special talent and no taste for public speaking, he



leaned upon the press as the medium through which



to reach the American people. In truth he had an

















        Free Press      v







abhorrence of much speaking, and in his "Auto-



biography, " cited the example of Washington and



Franklin as illustrating that short speeches accom-



plish more than long ones, for he says, "I served



with General Washington in the Legislature of Vir-



ginia, before the Revolution, and during it with Dr.



Franklin in. Congress. I never heard either of them



speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main



point, which was to decide the question." He



recognized, too, that it was the people, rather than



the legislators, whose opinion made permanent



statutes and changed constitutions, and his appeal



was always to them. They could be reached only



through the press, and he found a large portion of



the press controlled by those who did not believe



in the ability of men to govern themselves,-papers



so hostile to popular government, as advocated by



Jefferson, that they actually favored the sedition



law, a law that destroyed their own real inde-



pendence. One of the most difficult tasks of Jeffer-



son's life was to secure the establishment of papers



that would combat error, and to preserve their



freedom from every form of tyranny when they were



preaching the doctrine of liberty which he had



sworn to uphold. He did this, too, in a day when a



free press was regarded in official circles and by



most of the world's leaders as sure to destroy stable



government. His faith in a free press was so



supreme that it did literally "remove mountains."







 Before he secured the passage of the statute of

















vi        Jefferson's Contribution to a







religious liberty in Virginia, in law it was a crime



not to baptize children into the Episcopal Church,



to permit Quakers to live in the colony, to fail to



pay compulsory tithes to the State Church. Im-



passioned orators did indeed arouse hostility to the



religious " tyranny over the human mind, " but it



remained for the never-flagging and systematic zeal



of Jefferson to secure the repeal of the laws that



made such religious slavery possible in the New



World.







 The Declaration of Independence, written by the



inspired pen of Jefferson, was the Magna Charta of



American freedom, the corner stone of the temple



of free thought, free speech, free press. " It sounded



through the land like Roderick's bugle-note in the



Highlands; it rallied the wavering and cheered the



firm ; it removed doubt and fixed a purpose ; it



was the guide which, leaving by-paths and cross-



cuts, got into the plain, straight road and said to



the wandering hosts, ` Come on ' ; it settled the



debate, removed the doubt, fixed the resolution;



it burned the bridge ; it crossed the dead line ; it



took the route toward that bourne from which no



rebel returns save with a rope around his neck; it



was a call to nationality, a watch-word, a rallying



point ; its official statement of ultimate aim and



object becoming the pillar of fire which led the



people through the darkest night of their dread



journey toward the Republic." Jefferson regarded



the authorship of that document worthy a place on

















        Free Press            vii







his monument, because it ended civic "tyranny



over the human mind. "







 The University of Virginia, founded to teach and



illustrate the right of man to think and to think



without " restraint or interference, " was the third



accomplishment of his life that the sage of Mon-



ticello deemed important enough to have carved



on his tomb-stone. His devotion to public educa-



tion was a child of his oath of " eternal hostility



against every form of tyranny over the mind of



man. " Many extracts from his public papers and



private letters would illustrate this truth. Three



will suffice. To Dupont de Nemours he wrote,



"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and



oppression of body and mind will vanish like evil



spirits a.t the dawn of day. " To Madison he wrote



"Above all things I hope the education of the com-



mon people will be attended to. * * * Educate



and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable



them to see that it is to their interest to preserve



peace and order, and they will preserve them. * * *



They are the only sure reliance for the preservation



of our liberty. " To George White he wrote, " Preach



a crusade against ignorance. Establish and improve



the law for educating the common people. * * *



The tax which is paid for this purpose is not more



than the thousandth part of what will be paid to



kings, priests, and nobles, who will rise up among



us, if we leave the people in ignorance."







 These three achievements made straight the path

















viii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







for the service he rendered to the free press in



America. Indeed they themselves were greatly



contributors to the creation of a free press in the



early days of the Republic, when population was



widely scattered and when the large number of.



unlettered voters depended more for political direc-



tion upon the stump-speech than upon the news-



paper. And, as they were the forerunners of an



uncensored press, that press in turn guarded and



protected civic, religious and intellectual freedom.



While Patrick Henry stirred and moved his small



audiences, which went forth from his impassioned



orations ready to die for liberty, Jefferson, through



his writings, was instilling the same vital truths into



the minds and hearts of thousands who could never



see him or hear his voice.







 While Congress was framing the Federal Con-



stitution, Jefferson was minister to France, succeed-



ing Dr. Franklin, America's first great editor. He



was distressed when he learned that the new Con-



stitution contained no bill of rights, no guarantee



to freedom of religion and the liberty of the press.



A biographer of Jefferson says : " The chief grounds



of his objections to the Federal Constitution as '



framed were the omission of a bill of rights, pro-



viding, clearly and without the aid of sophism, for



the freedom of religion, freedom of the press,



security against standing armies, restriction of



monopolies, trial by jury, and against all suspension



of habeas corpus."    He would, in all probability





















        Free Press             ix







have declared against its ratification, but for his



profound conviction of the immediate need of a



stable government and his faith that the people



would add amendments incorporating the sugges-



tions in his letter to Mr. Madison. Instead of



opposing its ratification, he did what was better.



He advised those who looked to him for counsel that



four States should refuse to ratify until the amend-



ments suggested by him were adopted. North



Carolina, by a majority of an even hundred, in its



Convention at Hillsborough, passed a resolution



reciting that it had " thought proper neither to



ratify now .nor reject the Constitution proposed for



the government of the United States, " and a bill



of rights and certain amendments were presented



by Mr. Willie Jones, a devoted disciple of Jefferson.







  In presenting them Mr. Jones said: " I have, in my



proposition, adopted, word for word, the Virginia



amendments; with one or two additional ones. "







  The North Carolina amendment on the freedom



of the press was in these words : "That the people



have a right to freedom of speech, and of writing



and publishing their sentiments; that freedom of



the pen is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty



and ought not to be violated. " There is a tradition



in North Carolina that Willie Jones had a letter,



never printed, from Thomas Jefferson, advising the



course pursued by the majority of the Convention,



which he read to the 184 men, man by man, who



voted to stay out of the Union until the amend-

















x        Jefferson's Contribution to a







ments drafted by Jefferson were adopted. So great



was the influence of Mr. Jefferson in North Carolina



-an influence that happily abides to this day-that



no argument or persuasion of Iredell or Davie could



change a vote after the letter of Mr. Jefferson had



been passed from hand to hand.







 Jefferson was the inspiration of the action taken



by the seven States that demanded an amendment



for religious liberty and the freedom of the press.



He actually wrote or inspired amendments to the



Constitution which North Carolina and Rhode



Island insisted upon "previous to ratification."



The amendment to the Federal Constitution guar-



anteeing freedom of the press, which was incorpo-



rated in the fundamental charter of the Republic,



is in these words :







  " Congress shall make no law respecting an estab-



lishment of religion; or prohibiting the free exercise



thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of



the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to



assemble and petition the government for a redress



of grievances: "







  For this amendment and the healthy agitation



that secured it, all men who believe in a free press



will ever hold Jefferson in grateful esteem. It was



contended that this amendment was wholly unnec-



essary-" useless surplusage, " as one Federalist



declared,-but the prophetic eye of the liberty-



loving sage of Monticello looked from Paris across



the Atlantic and saw that the influences that dis-

























        Free Press











trusted the people would muzzle the press, unless



the Constitution forged chains that would deny



power " abridging the freedom of speech or of the



press. " In 1799, evidently having the fear of some



sedition law in his mind, Jefferson wrote to Elbridge



Gerry, " I am for freedom of the press, and against



all violations of the Constitution to silence by force



and not by reason the complaints or criticisms,



just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct



of their agents. "







 Mr. Jefferson, when insisting upon the amend-



ment denying the right of Congress to make laws



"abridging the freedom of the press," did not see



the exact form which hostility to a free press would



take, but he knew intuitively it would come in



some form if those who distrusted the capacity of



the people to govern themselves, obtained control



of the Federal Government. He had not long to



wait before his prophecy of a war upon a free press,



backed by all the power of the national administra-



tion and accompanied by usurpations hitherto not



dreamed of, was employed to destroy the freedom



of the press. Long before the sedition law he had



seen the hostility to a free press in the Federalist



leaders. Some of the anti-Federalist papers did



not even spare Washington, in their attacks upon



what they called "the monocrats," and, smarting



under their criticisms, the President gave expression



to his objection to an unrestrained press. At that



time, 1794, writing to Madison, who was then in

















xii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







Virginia, Jefferson said: "It is wonderful, indeed,



that the President should have permitted himself



to be the organ of such an attack on the freedom of



discussion, the freedom of writing and publishing."







  The Sedition law, employed to strengthen the



Adams administration, proved its undoing, thanks



to the promptness and the splendid courage of Mr.



Jefferson and his associates. He felt that should



the people submit to the restrictions of the press



in the Sedition law, the hope of free government



was lost, and he aroused himself from his quiet life



to make a supreme struggle to preserve the liberty



for which the American people in the Revolution



had ventured all that men hold dear. Federalism



seemed firmly entrenched. It had become fashion-



able to sneer at the rule of the people, to contemn



free discussion and equality, and in all official



positions there was a feeling that the only good



government was such as the few would frame and



carry on. The men who went to sleep under Wash-



ington 's safe rule were rudely awakened by the



passage of the Alien and Sedition laws-acts that



jeopardized the very life of the young Republic.



Foreseeing that the Federalists would seek to stifle



the voice of the press, Jefferson wrote to Madison



in 1798 : " This summer is the season for systematic



energies and sacrifices. The engine is the press.



Every man must lay his purse and his pen under



contribution. As to the former, it is possible I may



be obliged to assume something for you. As to the

















        Free Press      xiii







latter, let me pray and beseech you€ to set apart



a certain portion of every day to write what may



be proper for the public. "







 Jefferson's arraignment of the law sounded like



a bell in the night-as clear as the first shot at



Lexington or Moore's Creek. Men who were



engrossed in mending their private fortunes and



who had not cared for political life, sprung into



leadership to resist the encroachments upon the



spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the



annulment of the very letter of the amendment



which Jefferson had forced into the Constitution.



To show the purpose and the danger in the Sedition



act, it will be necessary to quote only the following



portion of section z :-







  "And be it further enacted, that if a,ny shall



write, print, utter, or publish, or shall cause or



procure to be written, printed, uttered, or pub-



lished, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or



aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing,



any false, scandalous, and malicious writing or



writings against the government of the United



States, or either House of the Congress of the United



States with an intent to defame the said govern-



ment or either House of the said Congress, or the



President, or to bring them or either of them into



contempt or disrepute, or to excite against them,



or either or any of them the hatred of the good



people of the United States, etc., then such persons,



being thereof convicted before any court of the

















xiv        Jefferson's Contribution to a







United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be



punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand



dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two



years. "







 That law had hardly been promulgated before



Mr. Jefferson pronounced it unconstitutional and



commenced the most far-reaching and vigorous



onslaught upon it. He not only aroused the people



of America, but he brought to bear the power of



enlightened public sentiment in England and on



the Continent to produce a world-wide condemna-



tion so strong that, added to the indignant protests



of their constituents, the law-makers would be



forced to repeal it. To John Taylor in 1798 he



wrote: " I enclose you a column, cut out of a London



paper to show you that the English, though charmed



with our making their enemies our enemies, yet



blush and weep over our Sedition law. "







  The first and the only national campaign upon



the issue of appealing to the people to protect the



freedom of the press, guaranteed in' the Federal



Constitution, was inaugurated by Mr. Jefferson



against the Alien and Sedition laws. He not only



inspired the spirit of the criticisms upon these



dangerous laws in the newspapers, but he wrote



the famous Kentucky Resolutions that for years



engrossed the public mind to the exclusion of all



other topics. In the Kentucky Resolutions, upon



the question of the attempt to shackle the press



by the Federal Government, Mr. Jefferson wrote:

















        Free Press        xv







 "It is true as a general principle, and is also



expressly declared by one of the amendments to the



Constitution, that the `powers not delegated to



the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited



by it to the States, are reserved to the States respec-



tively, or to the people; and * * * no power over



the freedom of religion, freedom Of speech, or free-



dom of the press being delegated to the United



States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it



to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same



did of right remain, and were reserved to the States



or the people. ' * * * There was manifested their



determination to retain to themselves the right of



judging how far the licentiousness of speech, and



of the press, may be abridged without lessening



their useful freedom and how far those abuses



which cannot be separated from their use should



be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed.



And thus also they guarded against all abridgment



by the United States of the freedom of religious



opinions and exercises and retained to themselves



the right of protecting the same as this State (Ken-



tucky), by a law passed on the general demand of



its citizens, had already protected them from all



human restraint or interference. * * * In addition



to this general principle and express declaration,



another and more special provision has been made



by one of the amendments to the Constitution,



which expressly declares, that "Congress shall



make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

















xvi        Jefferson's Contribution to a







or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging



the freedom of speech, or of the press," thereby



guarding in the same sentence and under the same



words, the freedom of religion, of speech and of the



press, insomuch, that whatever violates either,



throws down the sanctuary which covers the others,



and that libels, falsehoods, and defamation, equally



with heresy and false religion, are withheld from



the cognizance of Federal tribunals. * * * There-



fore, the act of Congress of the United States passed



on the 14th day of July, 1798, intitulated "An Act



in addition to the act intitulated `An Act for the



punishment of certain crimes against the United



States ', " which does abridge the freedom of the



press, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no



force. " * * * " If these acts (the Alien and Sedition



acts) should stand, these conclusions would flow



from them: That the General Government may



place any act that they think proper on the list of



crimes and punish it themselves whether enume-



rated or not enumerated by the Constitution as



cognizable to the President, or any other person,



who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judge,



and jury, whose suspicion may be the evidence, his



order the sentence, his officer the executioner, and



his breast the sole record of the transaction: that



a very numerous and exact description of the inhabi-



tants of these States being by his precedent reduced



to outlaws, to the absolute dominion of one man,



and the barrier of the Constitution thus swept away

















        Free Press           xvii







from us all, no rampart now remains against the



passions and the powers of the majority in Congress



to protect from a like exportation, or other more



grievous punishment, the minority of the same body,



the legislatures, judges, governors, and councellors



of the States, nor their other peaceable inhabitants,



who ma.y venture to reclaim the constitutional rights



and liberties of the States and people, or who for



other causes, good or bad, may be obnoxious to



the views, or marked by the suspicions of the Presi-



dent, or to be thought dangerous to his or their



election, or other interests, public or personal:



that the friendless alien has indeed been selected



as the safest subject of a first experiment but the



citizen will soon follow or rather, has already fol-



lowed, for already has a Sedition Act marked him



as his prey : that these and successive acts of the



same character, unless arrested at the threshold,



necessarily drive these States into revolution and



blood, and will furnish new calumnies against



republican government, and new pretexts for those



who wish it to be believed that man cannot be



governed but by a rod of iron. "







 The Virginia Resolutions, drawn by Mr. Madison



and approved by Mr. Jefferson, condemned the



Alien and Sedition laws, and, with reference to the



attack on the freedom of the press, employed these



words: " exercises in like manner, a power riot dele-



gated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary,



expressly and positively forbidden by one of the







   VOL. XVIII-B

















xviii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







amendments thereto-a power which, more than



any other, ought to produce universal alarm; because



it is levelled against the right of freely examining



public characters and measures, and of free com-



munication among the people thereon, which has



ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian



of every other right. "







  Jefferson, seeing the coming of the Sedition law



before it was enacted, was gathering ammunition



with which to attack it before it was on the statute



books. Writing to Mr. Madison April 26th, 1798,



he prophesied thus: "One of the war party, in a



fit of passion, declared sometime ago they would



pass a citizen bill, an alien bill, and a sedition bill;



accordingly, some days ago, Coit laid a motion on



the table of the House of Representatives for modi-



fying the citizen law. Their threats point at Gal-



latin, and it is believed they will endeavor to reach



him by this bill. Yesterday. Mr. Hillhouse laid



on the table of the Senate a motion for giving power



to send away suspected aliens. This is understood



to be meant for Volney and Collot. But it will not



stop there when it gets in a course for execution.



There is now only wanting, to accomplish the whole



declaration before mentioned, a sedition bill, which



we shall certainly soon see proposed. " In Novem-



ber of the same year he wrote to John Taylor : " For



the present, I should be for resolving the Alien and



Sedition laws to be against the Constitution and



merely void, and for addressing the other States

















        Free Press           xix







to obtain similar declarations : and I would not do



anything at this moment which should commit us



further, but reserve ourselves to shape our future



measures, or no measures, by the events which may



happen. "







  In the same year he wrote to Madison of the threat



of an alien and sedition bill, and of the sedition bill



said, "The object of that, is the suppression of the



Whig presses, Bache's has been particularly named.



That paper and also Carey's totter for want of sub-



scriptions. We would really exert ourselves to



procure them, for if these papers fail, republicanism



will be entirely brow-beaten. "



 



 In June, 1799, seeing the fulfillment of his prophecy



he commenced the agitation for the repeal of the



law that abridged the freedom of speech and wrote



to Madison as follows : " They have brought into



the lower House a sedition bill, which, among other



enormities, undertakes to make printing certain



matters criminal, though one of the amendments



to the Constitution has so expressly taken religion,



printing presses, etc., out of their coercion. Indeed



this bill, and the alien bill are both so palpably in



the teeth of the Constitution as to show they mean



to pay no respect to it. "







  He followed closely every act and speech attend-



ing the passage of this objectionable law and all



subsequent debates on it, and gave this pen-picture



in a letter to Mr. Madison in February, 1799, of a



scene in the House of Representatives : " Yesterday

















xx        Jefferson's Contribution to a







witnessed a scandalous scene in the House of Rep-



resentatives. It was the day for taking up the



report of their committee against the Alien and



Sedition laws, etc. They (the federalists) held a



caucus and determined that a word should not be



spoken on their side, in answer to anything that



should be said on the other. Gallatin took up the



Alien, and Nicholas the Sedition law; but after a



little while of common silence, they began to enter



into loud conversations, laugh, cough, etc., so that



the last hour of these gentlemen's speaking they



must have had the lungs of a vendue master to have



been heard. Livingston, however, attempted to



speak. But after a few sentences, the Speaker



called him to order, and told him what he was saying



was not to the question. It was impossible to pro-



ceed. The question was carried in favor of the



report, 52 to 48 ; the real strength of the two parties



is 56 to 50."







 Again, to Madison in the same year, he wrote,



" Petitions and remonstrances against the Alien



and Sedition laws are coming from different parts



of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. * * *



I am in hopes Virginia will stand so countenanced



by those States as to repress the wishes of the gov-



ernment to coerce her, which they might venture



on if they supposed she would be left alone. Firm-



ness on our part, but a passive firmness, is the true



course. Anything rash or threatening might check



the favorable dispositions of these Middle States,

















        Free Press          xxi







and rally them again around the measures which are



ruining us. "



  



 With the instinct of the political seer he looks



into the future and sees that if the opponents of



that law content themselves with firm and orderly



protests, the attempt to abridge the freedom of the



press will destroy the Federal party. Writing to



Edward Pendleton in February, 1799, he said, " In



Pennsylvania, we fear that the ill-designing may



produce insurrection (against the Alien and Sedition



Laws). Nothing could be so fatal. Anything like



force would check the progress of the public opinion,



and rally them around the government. This is



not the kind of opposition the American people will



permit. But keep away all show of force, and they



will bear down the evil propensities of the govern-



ment, by the constitutional means of election and



petition. " In the same month he wrote thus to



Archibald Stuart: "Several parts of this State



(Pennsylvania) are so violent that we fear an insur-



rection. This will be brought about by some if



they can. It is the only thing we have to fear.



The appearance of an attack of force against the



government would check the present current of the



Middle States, and rally them around the govern-



ment ; whereas if suffered to go on it will pass on to



a reformation of abuses."







 He believed that the Alien and Sedition Law was



but the first step in converting the republic into a



virtual monarchy, for in 1799 he wrote to S. T.





























                 x xii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







Mason : " I consider these laws as merely an experi-



ment on the American mind, to see how far it will



bear an avowed violation of the Constitution. If



this goes down; we shall immediately see attempted



another act of Congress, declaring that the Presi-



dent shall continue in office during life, reserving



to another occasion the transfer of the succession



to the heirs, and the establishment of the Senate



for life. At least, this may be the aim of the



Oliverians, while Monk and the Cavaliers (who are



perhaps the strongest), may be playing their game



for the restoration of his most gracious Majesty,



George III. That these things are in contemplation,



I have no doubt; nor can I be confident of their



failure, after the dupery of which our countrymen



have shown themselves susceptible. "







 When Jefferson was elected to the Presidency



the Alien and Sedition laws were speedily repealed



and all persons convicted or awaiting trial under



them were at once pardoned or released. Referring



to his actions, with reference to persons convicted



under the Sedition law, he wrote to Mrs. John



Adams in July, 1804, "I discharged every person



under punishment or prosecution under the Sedition



law, because I considered and now consider that



law to be a nullity, as absolute and as palpable as if



Congress had ordered us to fall down and worship



a golden image; and that it was as much my duty



to arrest its execution in every stage, as it would



have been to have rescued from the fiery furnace

















        Free Press          xxiii







those who should have been cast into it for refusing



to worship the image. It was accordingly done in



every instance, without asking what the offenders



had done, or against whom they had offended, but



whether the pains they were suffering were inflicted



under the pretended sedition law. "







  During his administration, some of Mr. Jeffer-



son's over-zealous friends in Connecticut had insti-



tuted a prosecution against a clergyman in that



State for a libel against the President from the



pulpit. As soon as he was informed of it, Mr. Jeffer-



son wrote to Mr. Granger, the Postmaster-General,



then in Connecticut, that " he had laid it down as



a law to himself, to take no notice of the thousand



calumnies issued against him, but to trust his char-



acter to his own conduct and the candor of his



fellow-citizens, that he had no reason to be dis-



satisfied with that course; and was unwilling it



should be broken, through. " He therefore desired



him to request the district attorney to dismiss the



prosecution. Having afterwards heard of subpoenas



for witnesses, he made a peremptory request to the



same effect. The district attorney did dismiss the



prosecution, and accompanied the dismission with



the avowal that the court had no jurisdiction over



libels. There were other prosecutions, of which



he had no previous knowledge, but they were all



dismissed at the same time. The clergyman after-



wards, in a letter to Mr. Granger, disavowed all



personal ill will to Mr. Jefferson, and solemnly

















xxiv        Jefferson's Contribution to a







declared he had not uttered the words charged.



These prosecutions were dismissed, as Tucker says



in his " Life of Jefferson, " on the same grounds as



he had himself acted on in the case of Duane, Cal-



lender, and others, in considering the Sedition law



unconstitutional.-







  In a letter to€ Mr. Granger in 1814, Mr. Jefferson



wrote : " With respect to the dismission of the prose-



cutions for sedition in Connecticut, it is well known



to have been a tenet of the republican portion of



our fellow-citizens, that the Sedition law was con-



trary to the Constitution, and; therefore, void.



On this ground I considered it as a nullity whenever



I met it in the course of my duties; and on this



ground I directed nolle prosequis in all the prosecu-



tions which had been instituted under it; and, as



far as the public sentiment can be .inferred from the



occurrences of the day, we must say that this



opinion had the sanction of the nation. The prose-



cutions, therefore, which were afterwards instituted



in Connecticut, of which two were against printers,



two against preachers, and one against a judge,



were too inconsistent with this principle to be per-



mitted to go on. We were bound to administer



to others the same measure of law, not which they



had meted to us, but we to ourselves, and to extend



to all equally the protection of the same constitu-



tional principles. These prosecutions, too, were



chiefly for charges against myself, and I had from



the beginning laid it down as a rule to notice nothing

















        Free Press            xxv







of the kind. I believe that the long course of ser-



vices in which I had acted on the public stage, and



under the eye of my fellow-citizens, furnished better



evidence to them of my character and principles,



than the angry invectives of adverse partisans in



whose eyes the very acts most approved by the



majority were subjects of the greatest demerit and



censure. These prosecutions against them, there-



fore, were to be dismissed as a matter of duty. "







 Why did Mr. Jefferson maintain silence when



unjustly accused and why did he prevent the prose-



cution of men who had slandered him? The answer



is found in his own words. He profoundly believed



that, while a free press would often wound and



temporarily injure, ten thousand times more evil



would follow censorship or prosecutions than to



trust to the innate good sense of the public to



separate the true from the false, and, before Emer-



son put it into an axiom, Jefferson was confident



of this truth: "A man passes for what he is worth.



Very idle is all curiosity concerning other people's



estimate of us, and idle is all fear of remaining



unknown. If a man know that he can do any-



thing-that he can do it better than any one else-



he has a pledge of the acknowledgment of that fact



by all persons. The world is full of judgment days;



and into every assembly that a man enters, in every



action that he attempts, he is gauged and stamped. "



His conviction upon that point was put into an



epigram in a letter to Thomas Seymore in February,

















xxvi        Jefferson's Contribution to a







  1807. He wrote, " The press is impotent when it



abandons itself to falsehood." That truth he more



fully emphasized and elaborated in a long letter to



Mr. Seymore, from which the following extracts



are taken: " Conscious that there was not a truth



on earth which I feared should be known, I have



lent myself willingly as the subject of a great experi-



ment, which was to prove that an administration,



conducting itself with integrity and common under-



standing, cannot be battered down, even by the



falsehoods of a licentious press, and consequently



still less by the press, as restrained within legal



and wholesome limits of truth. This experiment



was wanting for the world to demonstrate the false-



hood of the pretext that freedom of the press is



incompatible with orderly government. I have



never, therefore, even contradicted the thousands



of calumnies so industriously. propagated against



myself. But the fact being once established, that



the press is impotent when it abandons itself to



falsehood, I leave to others to restore it to its



strength, by recalling it within the pale of truth.



Within that, it is a noble institution, equally the



friend of science and of civil liberty. "







 Though Matthew Lyon, soldier, patriot, printer



was put in jail in Connecticut because he accused



Mr. Adams of avarice, vanity and childish love of



pomp, the result of the prosecution of Mr. Lyon



proved the wisdom of Mr. Jefferson's view of "getting



along without public prosecutions for libels." The

















        Free Press         xxvii.







Connecticut people expressed their disapproval of



the prosecution of Lyons by re-electing him to



Congress while he lay in jail. To Levi Lincoln, in



1802, after he had liberated the men prosecuted



under the sedition law, Mr. Jefferson wrote, "I



would wish much to see the experiment tried of



getting along without public prosecutions for libels.



I believe we can do it. Patience and well doing,



instead of punishment, if it can be found sufficiently



efficacious, would be a happy change in the instru-



ments of government. "







 The best place to find Jefferson's mature and



real views are in his acts-the conspicuous part he



bore in incorporating the guarantee of freedom of



the press in State constitutions; the prominent



place he gave to this in every constitution or bill of



rights he suggested or drafted; his forcing into



the Federal Constitution the provision that no laws



should be passed abridging the liberty of the press ;



his sincere, courageous and effective fight against



the unconstitutional and wicked sedition law; his



recommendations in State papers; his inaugural



addresses and the general trend of his writings



and actions.







 In his first inaugural address, Mr. Jefferson was



on the mountain top of faith in the people and



devotion to the freedom of the press, and his con-



victions then may be summed up in this sentence



in a letter to Charles Yancey : " Where the press is



free and every man able to read, all is safe." In

















xxviii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







his first inaugural address he said: "Freedom of



the press I deem (one of the) essential principles



of our government and consequently (one) which



ought to shape its administration. " In the same



address, among the essential principles of govern-



ment he enumerated " the diffusion of information



and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public



reason; freedom of religion, freedom of the press,



and freedom of the person, under protection of



the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially



selected. "







  Between his first inaugural address and the second



Mr. Jefferson and his administration had been the



recipient of a steady stream of misrepresentation



and abuse from the press hostile to his principles



and those of the party he had founded. In his



second inaugural he felt called upon to refer to the



studied and continued attacks, but instead of



recommending some other measure of suppression,



or the re-enactment of the Sedition law, he used



the incident to enforce his abiding faith in his



creed: " The liberty of speaking and writing guards



our other liberties. " Printing has been said to be



" the art preservative of arts. " It is equally true



that the free press is the preservative of all freedom.







 In his second inaugural address, Mr. Jefferson,



while commenting with severity upon the lengths



to which a licentious press had gone in misrepresent-



ing his administration, used the abuse of their



liberty and its failure to accomplish its purpose to

















        Free Press         xxix







injure, as the perfect and complete vindication of



the position he had always maintained. He said:







  " During ' this course of administration, and in



order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been



levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its



licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses



of an institution so important to freedom and



science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they



tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.



They might, indeed, have been corrected by the



wholesome punishments reserved and provided by



the laws of the several States against falsehood



and defamation; but public duties more urgent



press on the time of public servants, and the offenders



have therefore been left to find their punishment in



the public indignation.







  "Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an



experiment should be fairly and fully made, whether



freedom of discussion, unaided by power, is not



sufficient for the propagation and protection of



truth? Whether a government, conducting itself



in the true spirit of its constitution, with zeal and



purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling



the whole world should witness, can be written down



by falsehood and defamation? The experiment



has been tried. You have witnessed the scene.



Our fellow-citizens have looked on cool and col-



lected. They saw the latent source from which



these outrages proceeded. They gathered around



their public functionaries ; and, when the Constitu-

















xxx        Jefferson's Contribution to a







tion called them to the decision by suffrage, they



pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who



had served them, and consolatory to the friend of



man, who believes he may be intrusted with his



own affairs.







  " No inference is here intended that the laws pro-



vided by the State against false and defamatory pub-



lications should not be enforced. He who has time,



renders a service to public morals and public tranquil-



lity in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions



of the law. But the experiment is noted to prove



that, since truth and reason have maintained their



ground against false opinions, in league with false



facts, the press, confined to truth, needs no other



legal restraint. The public judgment will correct



false reasonings and opinions, on a full hearing of



all parties ; and no other definite line can be drawn



between the inestimable liberty of the press and



its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still



improprieties which this rule would not restrain,



its supplement must be sought in the censorship of



public opinion. "







  But, though he never wavered in his faith in the



blessings of a free press, Mr. Jefferson was so hunted



by the hyenas of a malignant and scurrilous personal



journalism, that he often gave expression to his



sense of outrage at the _misrepresentations of his



character and views, in language that has been



twisted into the idea that he came, in his latter



years, to doubt his early belief that the press should

















        Free Press           xxxi







be unrestrained. Such expressions were always



uttered or written hastily while he was smarting



under what he knew to be undeserved criticism



and abuse, as will be seen by extracts from private



letters written by him. These letters were not



written for publication. In them he was merely



thinking aloud. They convey only a passing wave



of indignation that often causes a man to speak



vehemently to his friend of a sense of injustice.



It is therefore not just to accept such expressions



as his deliberate and well-considered convictions.







 If any public man ever had the right to rail at



the press, that man was Mr. Jefferson, who was



abused and vilified by a portion of it from the day



he secured the repeal of the law of primogeniture



in Virginia almost to the day of his death. Writing



of his fight against Mr. Pendleton's compromise,



proposing to give the elder son a double portion,



in his ' `Autobiography, " Mr. Jefferson thus gives



the substance of his reply : " I observed that if the



eldest son could eat twice as much, or do double



work, it might be a natural evidence of his right to a



double portion ; but being on a par in his powers



and wants with his brothers and sisters, he should



be on a par also in the partition of the patrimony;



and such was the decision of the other members."



In taking that stand, then almost revolutionary,



Mr. Jefferson brought down upon his head, then



and ever afterwards, the wrath of two classes:



First, those who stand for all forms of special privi-

















xxxii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







lege-as primogeniture, church establishment, pro-



tection to particular interests, belief in inherited



monarchies, a censorship of the press, and the like;



second, those, who, by the natural process of inertia,



oppose all innovations under the guise of conserva-



tism. Jefferson was inherently an innovator. No



tradition, no custom, no practice, no belief, that



did not appeal to his judgment and reason had any



sacredness to him. Of all his great measures, when



he first unfolded them, it was as true as of the one



of which he wrote in a letter from France, " The leap



I then proposed was too long, as yet, for the mass



of our citizens. " But he lived to see the country



approve them all before he died. A man who



shows contempt for outworn creeds and beliefs, is



as sure to cut across the grain of the large and reac-



tionary class who cling tenaciously to them as he



is to arouse the hostility of those enjoyers of special



privilege who see their perquisites and bounties



taken from them by a law of equality. To his



defiance of these two classes, and to the misconcep-



tion of the man by those misled by them, Mr. Jeffer-



son was indebted for the storm of abuse that beat



upon his head from the day that the supporters of



primogeniture and the fox-hunting clergy were pro-



voked to resentment by Mr. Jefferson's broad-



minded and liberal measures.







  It is not surprising that he gave vent to his indig-



nation when viciously slandered. The surprise is



that his indignation did not drive him to the point

















        Free Press        xxxiii







of favoring censorship of the press or severe pun-



ishment of editors who wrote false things about



him. Though extremely sensitive to criticism and



sometimes wounded at the sorest point by the



printed libels, he never faltered in his creed that a



free press was " the only tocsin of a nation. " To



Edward Rutledge, in 1796, he wrote, " You have seen



my name lately tacked to so much of eulogy and of



abuse that I dare say you hardly thought that it



meant your old acquaintance of ' 76. In truth, I



did not know myself under the pens of either friends



or foes. It is unfortunate for our peace that unmer-



ited abuse wounds, while unmerited praise has not



the power to heal. These are hard wages for the



services of all the active and healthy years of one's



life. " To Samuel Smith, in 1798, he wrote : " Were



I to undertake to answer the calumnies of the news-



papers, it would be more than all my own time, and     ,



that of twenty aids could effect. For while I should



be answering one, twenty new ones would be



invented. " To John Adams, in 1817, he wrote :



" It is fortunate for those in public trust that pos-



terity will judge them by their works and not by



the malignant vituperations and invectives of the



Pickerings and Gardners of their age." To M.



Pictet he wrote : " The abuses of the freedom of the



press here have been carried to a length never before



known or borne by any civilized nation. * * * Our



newspapers, for the most part, present only the



caricatures of disaffected minds. " To James Mon.







  VOL. XVIII-C





















xxxiv        Jefferson's Contribution to a







roe, in 1798, he wrote: " It is really a most afflicting



consideration that it is impossible for a man to act



in any office for the public without encountering



a persecution which even his retirement will not



withdraw from him."







 The most severe arraignment of the press into



which his resentment to calumny upon himself and



his administration ever led him was toward the



close of his second term. Beset with foreign and



domestic complications, harassed by divisions in



his party in Congress, he was sorely wounded by



the virulent criticisms of the Federalist or anti-



republican press. He felt that he had spent him-



self for his country, without selfish aims, and he



craved, as he was going into retirement, after half a



century devoted to affairs of state, the good will



and appreciation of his fellow countrymen. Instead '



of giving him assurances that his contribution to



the life, safety and guidance of the young Republic



was appreciated, a large part of the press was making



his slightest act the fresh occasion for slander and



detraction. It was at that time, in 1807, that he



wrote the following letter from the national capitol



to George Norvell, in response to a. request as to



how to conduct a newspaper, in which he gave vent



to his feeling of resentment : " To your request of



my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper



should be conducted, so as to b e most useful, I should



answer, `by restraining it to true facts 'and sound



principles only.' Yet I fear such a paper would

















        Free Press         xxxv







find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth,



that a suppression of the press could not more com-



pletely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is



done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood.



Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a news-



paper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being



put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent



of this state of misinformation is known only to



those who are in situations to confront facts within



their knowledge with the lies of the day. I really



look with commiseration over the great body of my



fellow-citizens, who, reading newspapers, 'live and



die in the belief, that they have known something



of what has been passing in the world in their time ;



whereas the accounts they have read in newspapers



are just as true a history of any other period of the



world as of the present, except that the real names



of the day are affixed to their fables. General facts



may indeed be collected from them, such as that



Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte has been a



successful warrior, that he has subjected a great



portion of Europe to his will, etc., etc., but no details



can be relied on. I will add, that the man who



never looks into a newspaper is better informed



than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who



knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose



mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. He who



reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the



details are false.







 " Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in

















xxxvi        Jefferson's Contribution to a







some such way as this : Divide his paper into four



chapters, heading the 1st, Truths. 2d, Probabili-



ties. 3d, Possibilities. 4th, Lies. The first chap-



ter would be very short, as it would contain little



more than authentic papers, and information from



such sources, as the editor would be willing to risk



his own reputation for their truth. The second'



would contain what, from a mature consideration



of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude



to be probably true. This, however, should rather



contain too little than too much. The third and



fourth should be professedly for those readers who



would rather have lies for their money than the



blank paper they would occupy.







  " Such an editor, too, would have to set his face



against the demoralizing practice of feeding the



public mind habitually on slander, and the depravity



of taste which this nauseous aliment induces. Defa-



mation is becoming a necessary of life; insomuch,



that a dish of tea in the morning or evening cannot



be digested without this stimulant. Even those



who do not believe these abominations still read



them with. complaisance to their auditors, and



instead of the abhorrence and indignation which



should fill a virtuous mind, betray a secret pleasure



in the possibility that some may believe them,



though they do not themselves. It seems to escape



them that it is not he who prints, but he who pays



for printing a slander, who is its real author.



  "These thoughts on the subject of your letter

















        Free Press        xxxvii







are hazarded at your request. Repeated instances



of the publication of what has not been intended



for the public eye, and the malignity with which



political enemies torture every sentence from me



into meanings imagined by their own wickedness



only, justify my expressing a solicitude that this



hasty communication may in nowise be permitted



to find its way into the public papers. Not fearing



these political bull-dogs, I yet avoid putting myself.



in the way of being baited by them, and do not



wish to volunteer away that portion of tranquillity,



which a firm execution of my duties will permit me



to enjoy. "







 Mr. Jefferson never but once replied to his critics



in the press-and that was when accused of robbing



a widow and her children while acting as executor.



He did not then write his answer to a paper, but to



a friend, and its calmness and fullness of statement



completely destroyed the slander and discredited



the slanderer. The reasons for his silence under



great provocation are given by himself in letters



to friends. To Wm. Duane, in 1807, he wrote:



"Slander I have thought it best to leave to the



scourge of public opinion." To Martin Van Buren,



in 1824, he wrote, " My rule of life has been never



to harass the public with fendings and provings of



personal slanders. * * * I have ever trusted to



the justice and consideration of my fellow-citizens,



and have no reason to repent it, or change my



course. " To Dr. George Logan, in 1816, he wrote,

















xxxviii        Jefferson's Contribution to a







"As to federal slanders I never wished them to be



answered but by the tenor of my life, half a century



of which has been on a theatre at which the public



have been spectators, and competent judges as to



merit. Their appreciation has taught a lesson,



useful to the. world, that the man who fears, no



truths has nothing to fear from lies. I should have



fancied myself half guilty had I condescended to put



pen to paper in refutation of their falsehoods or



drawn to them respect by any notice from myself. "







  Mr. Jefferson's party founded a newspaper-



Freneau's Gazette,-edited by a clerk in his depart-



ment, while Jefferson was Secretary of State in



Washington's cabinet: It was established to coun-



teract the teachings of Fenno's Gazette, chiefly



edited by Hamilton, which preached the doctrines



held by the Federalist party. The President thought



that Jefferson should dismiss from the public service



Mr. Freneau because he was quite free in criticising



the administration of the Treasury Department



under Hamilton. Though Jefferson stood by Fren-



eau, manifesting a courageous and practical exhibi-



tion of his belief that every man should be allowed



to speak and write what he pleased,  and refused



to accede to Washington's request to dismiss him,



he did not write for Freneau's paper, though Hamil-



ton, . supposing Jefferson to be the author of the



attacks upon his policy in that paper, assailed Jef-



ferson most severely. To these attacks upon him,



as to all others, he made no reply and gave no out-

















        Free Press      xxxix







ward sign that he had read them. To Edmund



Randolph, prior to that time, Jefferson had written;



" I have preserved through life a resolution, set in



a very early part of it, never to write in a public



paper without subscribing my name, and to engage



openly an adversary who does not let himself be



seen, is staking all against nothing: "







 In a letter, September g, I 7 9 2, to General Wash-



ington, who had told Jefferson that articles in



Freneau's paper "tended to produce a separation



in the Union, " and attacking him indirectly, though



thinking him "fool enough to swallow the little



sugar plums here and there thrown out to him "



Jefferson defended himself for giving Freneau, the



poet, an appointment in his office. He declared



that his expectations looked only to the chastise-



ment of the aristocratical and monarchical writers,



and not to any criticism on the proceedings of the



government: that Hamilton could see no motive



for any appointment but that of making a con-



venient partisan, but he knew that talents and



science were with him a sufficient recommendation.



Freneau, as a man of genius, found a preference



with him, and he added: " Freneau and Fenno are



rivals for the public favors ; the one courts them



by flattery, the other by censure; and I believe it



will be admitted that one has been as servile as the



other severe. But is not the dignity, and even



decency of government committed, when one of its



ministers enlists himself as an anonymous writer

















xl        Jefferson's Contribution to a







or paragraphist, for either the one or the other of



them ? And where the press is free, no one ever



will. If virtuous, he need not fear the operation



of attack and defence. Nature has given to man



no other means of sifting the truth, either in religion,



law or politics. I think it is as honorable to the



government neither to know nor to notice syco-



phants or censure, as it would be undignified and



criminal to pamper the former and persecute the



latter. "







  Mr. Jefferson was the more severely abused for



giving a position in the State Department to Mr.



Freneau, probably because the power exerted by



his paper was the cause of the loss of popular favor



by the Federalists in the administration'. Hamil-



ton's defenders dared not admit that it was because



Freneau's paper was destroying their idol's hold



upon the confidence of the country, though that



was the motive that prompted the criticisms of



Mr. Jefferson for retaining the editor in the public



service. Therefore, the Federalists declared the



retention of Freneau to be a  want of courtesy to



his associates in the administration and a breach



of moral duty. To that criticism George Tucker



in his " Life of Jefferson " makes this conclusive



answer :







  " But against no aspersion of his enemies is his



vindication more easy. On the .public measures



thus condemned, his opinions were known, in the



cabinet and out of it, to be diametrically opposite

















        Free Press            xli







to those of Mr. Hamilton, their chief adviser; and



while the press was made to assail him, his opinions,



and motives, he surely had a right to use the same



weapon in their defence. But further: according



to his views of the interests of the country, and of the



object and tendency of Hamilton's policy, it was



not only his right, but his duty, to endeavor to



operate upon public opinion, which was to be the



final arbiter between them. In availing himself of



this auxiliary, he seems never to have transcended



the bounds of legitimate warfare. He practiced



no concealment either of his principles or of his



patronage of Freneau ; he betrayed no confidence ;



he countenanced no doctrines in that paper which,



he did not maintain everywhere else. It does not



appear that he ever wrote for the paper, for that



did not accord with his notions either of prudence



or propriety; but had he done so, he might have



defended himself by the example of his political



antagonist. It must also be recollected that the



political principles and measures of Hamilton and



his adherents were the chief objects of attack in the



National Gazette, while the President, who was



never .confounded with them was always treated



with decorum and respect. In every respect, then,



the charge appears to be frivolous or unfounded.







  " Mr. Jefferson had yet a further ground of vindi-



cation, had he needed it, though he never deigned



to make use of it; and this was the fact, that the



National Gazette was not set up by him, but by

















xlii Jefferson's Contribution to a







Mr. Madison and General Henry Lee, then Governor



of Virginia, and afterwards so warm a Federal par-



tisan, for the double purpose of assisting Freneau,



who had been their fellow collegian at Princeton,



and of affording the public an opportunity of hear-



ing the arguments of both the parties that then



divided the country. "







  Though he did not personally write for the press



he had well-matured opinions as to the duty of a



political editor. He gave expression to his opinion



in the following letter, written in 1811 from Monti-



cello to William Duane: " I think an editor should



be independent; that is, of personal influence, and



,not be moved from his opinions on the mere authority



of an individual: But, with respect to the general



opinion of the political section with which he habi-



tually accords, his duty seems very like that of a



member of Congress. Some of these, indeed, think



that independence requires them to follow always



their own opinion, without respect for that of



others. This has never been my opinion, nor my



practice, when I have been of that or any other



body, differing on a political question from those



whom I knew to be of the same political principles



with myself, and with whom I generally thought



and acted. A consciousness of the fallibility of



the human mind and of my own' in particular, with



a respect for the accumulated judgment of my



friends, has induced me to suspect erroneous impres-



sions on myself, to suppose my own opinion wrong,

















                Free Press           xliii







and to act with them on theirs. The want of this



spirit of compromise, or of self-distrust, proudly



but falsely, called independence, is what gives the



Federalists victories which they could never obtain



if these brethren could learn to respect the opinion



of their friends more than their enemies, and pre-



vent many able and learned men from doing all the



good they otherwise might do. " Of Duane he



wrote to Mr. Wirt : " I believe Duane to be a very



honorable man and sincerely republican ; but his



passions are stronger than his prudence, and his



personal as well as general antipathies render him



very intolerant. These traits lead him astray and



require his readers, even those who value him for



his steady support of the republican cause, to be



on their guard against his occasional observations."







  The critics of Mr. Jefferson have been wont to



attribute what, in his lifetime, they termed his



over-trust in the capacity of the people for self-



government, to the views he imbibed in France.



No doubt the spectacle of a people in a country



where " every man must be a hammer or an anvil "



at a time when the love of liberty and the rights of



man inspired the best portion of the people of that



country to demand a larger voice in governing



themselves, had a permanent influence upon his



life and views. But he secured the repeal of the



law of primogeniture and church establishment,



and drafted provisions for future constitutions,



insuring the freedom to write and speak without

















xliv        Jefferson's Contribution to a







restraint, before he ever walked the streets of Paris.



It was Jefferson instructing Frenchmen in the neces-



sity for a free press as the mudsill of national liberty



rather than learning from them the love of a free



press that was a ruling passion of his life.



 While in Paris, Jefferson prepared a charter of



rights for the French people, the ninth section being



as follows : " Printers shall be liable to legal prose-



cution for printing and publishing false facts, inju-



rious to the party prosecuting ; but they shall be



under no other restraint. "







  They were in far too liberal a spirit of concession



for the government party and nothing came of his



wise recommendation. In 1802, writing to Thomas



Cowper, he declared, "The press, the only tocsin



of a nation, is completely silenced. " Among the



abuses in France that brought on the Revolution



he named "the shackles on the freedom of con-



science, of thought and of speech; on the freedom



of the press by censure. "







  In M. Necker's report to the King, it was sug-



gested by Mr. Jefferson's advice, " How far the



press might be made free. " He noted that the



restraint on the freedom of the press was one of the



chief complaints of the government in the French



Revolution. In his "Autobiography " Jefferson



says: "Nor should we wonder at * * * (the)



pressure (for a fixed Constitution in I 7 88-9 ) when



we consider the monstrous abuses of power under



which * * * (the French) people were ground to

















        Free Press          xlv







powder; when we pass in review the shackles * * *



on the freedom of the press by the censure. "







 In spite of Mr. Jefferson's strong predilection for



popular government, and his belief in its practica-



bility, he still doubted, as he doubted when he was



in Europe, as he says in a letter to his friend La



Fayette, in November, 1823, whether the state of



society in Europe could bear a republican govern-



ment. He remarks, "an hereditary chief, strictly



limited, the right of war vested in the legislative



body, a rigid economy of the public contributions,



and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses,



will go far towards keeping the government honest



and unoppressive. But the only security of all is a



free press. The force of public opinion cannot be



resisted when permitted freely to be expressed.



The agitations it produces must be submitted to.



It keeps the waters pure. "







 In the same year, writing to M. Coray, he said:



" This formidable censor of the public functionaries



(press) by arraigning them at the tribunal of public



opinion, produces reform peaceably, which must



otherwise be done by revolution." To M. Coray



in Paris; in 1823 ; he wrote : " The press is the best



instrument for enlightening the mind of ma,n, and



improving him as a rational, moral, and social



being. "







 In his retirement, when the French dynasty was



crushing popular liberty, Mr. Jefferson reminded



La Fayette of the proposition he had made at the

























xlvi        Jefferson's Contribution to a







early stage of the revolution to secure a compact



with the King, the benefit of habeas corpus, jury



trial, freedom of the press, and religion, and a nat-



ional legislature which he would then have yielded;



and to let them work out the amelioration of the



condition of the people, until they should have been



rendered capable of more.







  In 1793, tu De Viar and De Jandenes, he wrote:



"Your residence in the United States has given



you an opportunity of becoming acquainted with



the extreme freedom of the press in these States.



Considering its great importance to public liberty,



and the difficulty of subjecting it to very precise



rules, the laws have thought it less mischievous to



give greater scope to its freedom than to the restraint



of it. "







  Thus it is seen that, if the people of France at



that time had learned the lesson of liberty under



law as well as it had been learned in America's



school of experience, Mr. Jefferson's suggestions



would have been incorporated into the law of the



land, and some of the horrors of the French Revolu-



tion might have been prevented:







  Mr. Jefferson s contribution to the free press was



not bounded by geographical lines or limited by any



period of time. It was for all countries and all ages.



In his life, whether laboring in the land of his birth



to obtain, safeguard and make permanent the free-



dom of the press, or seeking to aid the people of



France, groping through the darkness with only

















        Free  Press       xlvii







the dim gleam of a censored press, to secure the



"liberty of speaking and writing which guards all



other liberties;" he was always animated 'by faith



in the capacity of man to control his own affairs; and



by his oath of " eternal hostility against every form



of tyranny over the human mind." His influence



-inspiring, powerful, salutary in his day-did not



die when his mortal body was laid to rest or. the



sloping hillside of Monticello, hard by the home



where his pen had written the appeals, the resolu-



tions, the statutes that gave America its untram-



melled press.







 Jefferson's services for liberty are immortal.



Wherever men look out of darkened windows of



despotic governments they are cheered by the light



of Jefferson's Declaration, which penetrates and



illumines the deepest cell of civic tyranny. Wher-



ever, in any decade of the world's history-yester-



day, to-day, to-morrow-the pen is subjected to



censorship, the words and deeds of Jefferson are



the bow of promise set in the heavens.



 As the years shall pass,







   " And the thoughts of men are widen'd with the process



      of the suns "







and, one by one the nations that sit in darkness



come into the glorious light of freedom-freedom



of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom to think



and write and print-the majestic figure of Jefferson



will loom up as the inspiring spirit who first breathed

















xlviii Contribution to a Free Press







into the printing press- (theretofore the unresponsive



instrument to further the decrees of kings and bind



the conscience and thoughts of men)-the breath



of life, and made it responsive, sentient, virile, free.



In this new life that dates from Jefferson, this free



press has become the champion of the oppressed,



the teacher of the young, the guide of the mature,



the comfort of the aged, and the mightiest power



for good that blesses and shall ever bless mankind.























 Raleigh, N. C., April 13, 1904

















        CONTENTS.



















                        .                                                      

                                                                               

                                                       page



JEFFERSON'S CONTRIBUTION TO A FREE PRESS.                          



By Josephus Daniels, Editor of the News and Observer, Raleigh,

N.C...................i











THE BATTURE AT NEW

ORLEANS........................................................1-132



The proceedings of the Government  of the



United States in maintaining the public right



to the beach of the Mississippi, adjacent to



New Orleans, against the intrusion of Edward



Livingston. Prepared for the use of counsel,



by Thomas Jefferson.











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN...............135-172



Peyton  Randolph

...............................................................................

...........135



Meriwether 

Lewis..........................................................................

...............140



General Thaddeus

Kosciusko......................................................................

...161



Anecdotes of Benjamin

Franklin.....................................................................16

6











THE JEFFERSON

PAPERS.................................................................175-357



From the collection of letters and other pri-



vate documents presented to the Massa-



chusetts Historical Society in June, 1898, by



Jefferson's great-grandson, Thomas Jefferson



Coolidge.







Preface........................................................................

....................................175



To Lucy Nelson, October 24,

1777.................................................................179



To William S. ,Smith, July 9

1786....................................................................180



To Martha Jefferson Randolph, May 16,

1790.................................................184







 VOL. XVIII-D.

















l              Contents







THE JEFFERSON

PAPERS--Continued..............................................................

.........................page



To Edmund Pendleton, July 24,

1791...............................................................186



To Samuel Biddle, December 12,

1792............................................................187



To Martha Jefferson Randolph, December 31,

1792.........................................191



To John Taylor, December 29,

1794................................................................192



To Thomas Mann Randolph, November 28,

1796............................................200



To John Taylor, October 8,

1797.....................................................................201



To Edmund Pendleton, January 14,

1798.........................................................203



To John Taylor, June 4,

1798...........................................................................

205



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January  17,

1799................................................210



To John Taylor, November 26,

1799................................................................213



To Thomas Mann Randolph, February 4,

1800.................................................215



To Thomas Mann Randolph, March 4,

1800.....................................................216



To Thomas Mann Randolph, April 4,

1800.......................................................218



To Edmund Pendleton, April 19,

1800..............................................................220



To Thomas Mann Randolph, May 7,

1800........................................................222



To Thomas Mann Randolph, November 30,

1800.............................................224



To Thomas Mann Randolph, December 5,

1800...............................................226



To Thomas Mann Randolph, December 12,

1800.............................................227



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January 9,

1801...................................................228



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January 23,

1801.................................................231



To Martha Jefferson Randolph, January 26, 

1801............................................234



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January 29,

1801.................................................236



To Thomas Mann Randolph, March 12,

1801...................................................238



To Thomas Mann Randolph, March 26,

1801...................................................239



To Catharine Church, March 27,

1801..............................................................240



To Thomas Mann Randolph, May 14,

1801......................................................241



To Thomas Mann Randolph, February 21,

1802...............................................242



To Thomas Mann Randolph, December 19,

1803.............................................244



To Martha Jefferson Randolph, October 7,

1804...............................................245



To George Jefferson, June 12,

1805..................................................................247



To James Ogilvie, June 23,

1806.......................................................................247

















                Contents







THE JEFFERSON PAPERS---CONTINUED.



To Thomas Mann Randolph, November 3,

1806...............................................249



To Martha Jefferson Randolph, November 23,

1807.........................................250



To Thomas Mann Randolph, November 22,

1808.............................................252



To Charles L. Bankhead, November 26,

1808..................................................253



To Anne Cary Bankhead, December 8,

1808....................................................255



To Thomas Mann Randolph, December 13,

1808.............................................256



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January 2,

1809...................................................257



To Charles L. Bankhead, January 19,

1809......................................................260



To Thomas Mann Randolph, January 31,

1809.................................................262



To William Pinckney, July 15,

1810..................................................................264



To Mary Page; March 4,

1811.........................................................................26

6



To James Madison, April 7,

1811.....................................................................268



To Charles Pinckney, February 2,

1812............................................................271



To E. I. Dupont de Nemours, June 16,

1812.....................................................272



To Richard Rush, August 2,

1812.....................................................................274



To E. I. Dupont de Nemours, November  8,

1812............................................275



To Charles W. Peale, April  17,

1813...............................................................276



To William Short, August 20,

1814...................................................................280



To Horatio G. Spafford, December 16,

1814....................................................284



Memorandum of Jefferson's Taxable

Property...................................................285



To William Short, May 15,

1818.......................................................................286



To Charles W. Peale, June 13,

1818.................................................................287



To Thomas W. Maury, January 27,

1816..........................................................290



To Stephen Cathalan, February 1,

1816............................................................292



To Mary B. Briggs, April 17,

1816...................................................................294



To Joseph Story, June 19,

1816.......................................................................295



To William Thornton, July 27,

1816..................................................................296



To Charles Pinckney, September 9,

1816.........................................................297



To Noah Worcester, November 26,

1817........................................................298



To Bernard Peyton, March 20,

1818................................................................299



To John Nelson, November 8,

1818................................................................300



To William Tudor, January 31,

1819................................................................302

















lii        Contents







THE JEFFERSON PAPERS-CONTINUED.                                           PAGE







To William Short, June 22,

1819....................................................................303



To George A. Otis, December 25,

1820........................................................305



To Maria Cosway, December 27,

1820.........................................................308



To William Thornton, January 19,

1821..........................................................310



To John Taylor, February 14,

1821................................................................312



To ----  November 24,

1822.........................................................................31

4



To William Tudor, February 24,

1823............................................................317



To Thomas Cox, June 3,

1823.......................................................................318



To James Monroe, June 24,

1823..................................................................320



To Joshua Dodge, August 3,

1823.................................................................321



To Thomas Cox, September 5,

1823.............................................................323



Marquis De La Fayette to Thomas Jefferson,



December 20,

1823...........................................................................

...........324



To Samuel Parr, April 26,

1824....................................................................329



To Dugald Stewart, April 26,

1824...............................................................331



To Joseph Coolidge, Jr., January 15,

1825....................................................334



To Joseph Coolidge, Jr., April 12,

1825........................................................337



To Ellen W. Coolidge, August 27,

1825........................................................340



To Joseph Coolidge, Jr., October 23,

1825..................................................342



To Ellen W. Coolidge, November 14,

1825..................................................346



To Ellen W. Coolidge, March 19,

1826........................................................352



To Joseph Coolidge, Jr., June 4,

1826..........................................................354







AN ESSAY ON THE ANGLO-SAXON AND MODERN



DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.................................361---411



To Herbert Croft, Esq., LL.B., London, October 30, 1798......

..................361



The

Alphabet.......................................................................

.......................367



Orthography....................................................................

...........................369



Pronunciation..................................................................

............................372



Grammar........................................................................

............................375



Supines and

Gerunds........................................................................

..........381



Observations on Anglo-Saxon

Grammar.....................................................392



Declensions of

Nouns..........................................................................

.......396



























        THE BATTURE



        AT NEW ORLEANS.















THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN MAINTAINING THE

PUBLIC RIGHT TO THE BEACH OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ADJACENT TO NEW ORLEANS,



 AGAINST  THE INTRUSION OF EDWARD  LIVINGSTON. PREPARED FOR  THE USE    OF

COUNSEL, BY  THOMAS JEFFERSON.













        PREFACE.







 Edward Livingston, of the territory of Orleans, having taken



possession of the beach of the river Mississippi adjacent to the city of



New Orleans, in defiance of the general right of the nation to the



property and use of the beaches and beds of their rivers, it became my



duty, as charged with the preservation of the public property, to



remove the intrusion, and to maintain the citizens of the United States



in their right to a common use of that beach. Instead of viewing this



as a public act, and having recourse to those proceedings which are



regularly provided for conflicting claims between the public and an



individual, he chose to consider it as a private trespass committed on



his freehold, by myself personally, and instituted against me, after my



retirement from office, an action of trespass, in the circuit court of the



United States for the district of Virginia.







 Being requested by my Counsel to furnish them with a statement of



the facts of the case, as well as of my own ideas of the questions of



right, I proceeded to make such a statement, fully as to facts, but



briefly and generally as to the questions of right. In the progress of



the work; however, I found myself drawn insensibly into details, and



finally concluded to meet the questions generally which the case would



present, and to expose the weakness of the plaintiff's pretensions, in



addition to the strength of the public right. These questions were of



course to arise under the laws of the territory of Orleans, composed of



the Roman, the French, and Spanish codes, and written in those



languages. The books containing them are so rare in this country as



scarcely to be found in the best-furnished libraries. Having more time



than my Counsel, consistently with their duties to others, could bestow



on researches so much out of the ordinary line, I thought myself bound



to facilitate their tabors, and furnish them with such materials as I



could collect. I did it by full extracts from the several authorities, and



in the languages in which they were originally written, that they might



judge for themselves whether I misinterpreted them. These materials



and topics, expressed in the technical style of the law, familiar to them,



they were of course to use or not to use, according to the dictates of

















        Preface











their better judgment. If used, it would be with the benefit of being



delivered in a form better suited to the public ear. I passed over the



question of jurisdiction, because that was one of ordinary occurrence,



and its limitations well ascertained. On this, in event, the case was



dismissed ; the court being of opinion they could not decide a question



of title to lands not within their district. My wish had rather been for



a full investigation of the merits at the bar, that the public might learn,



in that way, that their servants had done nothing but what the laws



had authorized and required them to do. Precluded now from this



mode of justification, I adopt that of publishing what was meant



originally for the private eye of counsel. The apology for its general



complexion, more formal than popular, must be found as well in the



character of the question, as in the views with which its discussion had



been prepared. The necessity, indeed, of continuing the elaborate



quotations, is strengthened in the case of ordinary readers, who are



supposed to have still less opportunity of turning to the authorities



from which these are taken.







 The questions arising, being many and independent of each other,



admitted not a methodical and luminous arrangement. Proceeding,



therefore, in a course of narrative, I have met and discussed the points



of law in the order in which events presented them ; thus securing, as



we go along, the ground we pass over, and leaving nothing adversary



or doubtful behind. Hence the mixture of fact and law which will be



observed through the whole.







 Vouchers for the facts are regularly referred to. These are princi-



pally, I. Affidavits taken and published on the part of the plaintiff,



and of the city of New Orleans, very deeply interested in this question.



a. Printed statements, by the counsel on each side, uncontradicted



by the other, of facts under their joint observation and knowledge.



3. Records. 4. Notarial acts, and 5. Letters and reports of public



functionaries filed in the office of the Department of State.



 Feb. 25, 1812.













        JEFFERSON'S WORKS.











        THE BATTURE AT NEW ORLEANS.















 Not long after the establishment of the city of



New Orleans, and while the religious society of Jesuits retained their standing

[Title of the Jeauits.]  in France, they obtained from Louis XIV. a grant of



lands adjacent to the city, bearing date the 11th of



April, 1726. The original of this grant having  been



destroyed in the fire which conSumed a great part of



the city in 1794, .and no copy of it as yet produced,



the extent and character of the grant is known from



no authentic document. Its other limits are unim-



portant, but that next the river and above the city is



understood to have been of 20 arpents,  [ Fronting  river]



or acres, [of 280 French feet, or 64 yards



of our measure each,) "face au fleuve," the ambi-



guity of which expression is preserved by translating



it, " fronting the river. " Whether this authorized



them to go to the water line of the river, or only



to the road and levee, is a question of some diffi-



culty, and not of importance enough to arrest our



present attention. To these they had added 12 ar-



   vol. xvliii

















            Jefferson's Works







pents more by purchase from individuals. In 1763



the order of Jesuits was suppressed in



[Confiscation.] France; and their property confiscated.



The 32 arpents, before mentioned, were divided



into 6 parcels, described each as "faisant face au



[Gravier's  Title] fleuve, " and the one next to the city of 7



arpents in breadth, and 50 in depth, was



sold to Pradel; but how these 7 arpents, like Fal-



staff's men in buckram, became 12 in the sale of



the widow Pradel to Renard, (Report 7 .] 13 in Gra-



vier's inventory, and nearly 17, as is said Derb. viii.



ix. in the extent of his fauxbourg, the plaintiff is



called on to show, and to deduce titles from the



crown, regularly.down to himself. In



[Fauxbourg.]  1788 Gravier, in right of his wife the



widow of Renard, laid off the whole extent of



his front on the river, whatever it was, into q. ranges



of lots, and in '96 he added 3 ranges more, estab-



lishing them as a Fauxbourg, or Suburb to the



city. That this could not be done without permis-



sion from the government may be true ; and no for-



mal and written permission has been produced.



Whether such an one was given and lost in the fire,



or was only verbal, is not known. But that permis-



sion was given must be believed, 1. From Gravier 's



declaration to Charles Trudeau the surveyor, which



must operate as an Estoppel. (Report 45.] against all



contrary pretensions in those claiming under him:.



2. From Carondelet 's order to Trudeau, first to de-



pocit a copy of the plan in the public archives, and

















        The Batture at New Orleans      3







afterwards an order for a second one to be delivered



to himself, which implied necessarily that he had



consented to the establishment ;. but more especially



when : B. Gravier relying on this establishment as



freeing him from the repairs of the bank., the Gov-



ernor declared " it was true and that Gravier was.



right. " 3. From the records of the Cabildo,  or



town council, with whom the Governor sat in person, 



showing that at their sessions on the 1st day of Jan-



uary annually, for regulating the police of the city, a



Commissary of police for the new quarter was regu-



larly appointed from the year 1796 till the United



States took possession. The actual settlement of



the ranges next the river, and the addition of the '



new ranges, now, probably rendered that necessary:



4.. From the conviction expressed by the Surveyor



that, from his knowledge of the laws and customs of



the Spanish colonies, no one would have dared to



establish a city, bourg, village or fauxbourg without



authorization, verbal at least,.. from the Governor.



5 : From the act of the local legislature incorporating



the city of New Orleans.. [Thierry 32.] That no



formal written act of authorization can be produced



is not singular, as that is known to be the condition '



of a great proportion of their titles from the govern-.



ment: and the extraordinary negligence in these



titles was what rendered it necessary for Congress to



establish, in the several territories of Orleans, Missis-



sippi, Louisiana, Indiana and Michigan, boards of.



Commissioners, to ascertain and committed

















4        Jefferson's Works







record. To this we may add that the principle



which shall take from the inhabitants of the' Suburb



St. Mary the validity of their establishment, will an-



nul a great portion of the land rights of those several



territories. Finally, whatever act of the govern-



ment may be considered as amounting to evidence



of its ratification of the establishment of the faux-



bourg, is retrospective, and will amount to an origi-



nal authorization under the maxim, "omnis rati-



habitio retrotrahitur, et mandato aequiparatur. "







  Bertrand Gravier proceeded to sell the lots of. his



[Gravier's sale] new Fauxbourg, and particularly he sold



the whole range next the river. Such



deeds for these lots as have been produced, de-



scribe them as "haciendo frente al rio," ``fronting



the river. " And it is affirmed, [Examen 13. Poy-



dras 7. and 18. Thierry 39.] that almost all, if not



all the deeds, used the same expression. [See



notarial copies of the deeds of B. Gravier to Nicholas



Gravier, and of Nicholas Gravier to Escot, Girod,



Wiltz.] Bertrand Gravier himself; on all occasions,



[Pieces Probantes 9. 21. 28. 30. Livingston 59€



Monile's deposition, MS.] declared that he had sold



his lots " faisant face au fleuve, " and had passed to



the purchasers his right to the devanture, meaning



everything in front of his lots. Whatever extent



then towards the river, passed to the Jesuits by the



term " face au fleuve," or from the king to the pur-



chasers of the Jesuits ' property, under whom B. Gra-



vier claimed,' the same extent was, by the same ex-

















        The Batture at New Orleans     5







pression, " face au fleuve, " or '"frente al rio, " passed



by Bertrand Gravier to the purchasers of the front



lots. If the words " face au fleuve, " gave him only



to the road and levee, he by the same words gave



them no farther; if to the water edge, then he sold



to the water edge also, and having parted with all



his right as riparian possessor, could transmit none



to those claiming under him by subsequent title, as



the plaintiff does. In a note added to the end of the



,printed Report of this case, whether by the reporter



or the plaintiff does nut appear, it is said that this



objection was answered by showing, from the, deeds,



that each lot had a clear front boundary, by refer-



ring to the "plan which in no instance crossed the



road. " And that this brings it within the rule of



law which says, "in agris limitatis jus alluvionis



locum non habere constat. " Dig. 41. I. 16. This



process of deduction, if not clear, is compendious at



least, and better placed in a note, than in the text,



where explanation would have been expected. Let



us spread it open and examine it. What says the



deed to Nicholas Gravier for 5 8 lots ?







Yo Don Beltran ' Gravier vendo



a Don Nicholas Gravier cinquenta



y ocha terrenos situados en esta



dicha ciudad, extramuros de la



puerta de Chapitulas, a saver,



trece haciendo frente al' rio, Mis-



sisipi, y lindando por el lado de



abaxo, que es de esta dicha ciudad,



con terreno de Don R. Jons, y por



el de arriba con otros de Don J. B.







  I Don Beltran Gravier sell to



Don Nicholas Gravier 58 lots situ-



ated in this said, city without the



gate of Chapitulas, to wit, 13 front-



ing the river Missisipi, and border-



ing on the lower side, which is that



of this said city, with the lot of



Don R. Jones, and on the upper



side with others of Don J. B.



Sarpy, &c. And the 45 lots re-

















6        Jefferson's Works







Sarpy, &c. Y los quarenta y cinco



terrenos restantes' completa a los



cinquenta y ocho, que quedan in-



dicados, comenzan sobre el limite



de laprimera oalle; formande una



linea directa A empezar por el ter-



reno;que se halla detras del de



Don J. Poydras, todo conforme al



plano que, delineado por Don C.



L. Trudeau, he entregado al com-



prador para su inteligencia y res-



guardo: pera con la condieion de



que me reservo el derecho de



tomar la tierra que necessitare



para mi 'fabrica de ladrillos, en



la playa b Battura que hay en la



extension de losnominados trece



terrenos que hacen frente al dicho







rio.



maining, the complement of the



58 before mentioned, . commence



above [or beyond] the ..limit of the



first street, forming a right line,



beginning at the lot which is be-



hind that of Don J. Poydras, in



conformity with the plan which



having been delineated by Don C.



L. Trudeau, I have delivered to



the purchaser for his information



and ascertainment : Nevertheless,



with the condition. that I reserve



to myself the right to .take the



earth which I shall need for my



manufacture of bricks on the



beach or .batture which is in the



extension of the said 13 lots which



front the river.







  The first part of this description is of the z 3 lots,



to wit; that they front the river. The second part



relates wholly to the remaining 45 lots, which begin



beyond or above the first street in a straight line



from the lot behind Poydras ', and refers to the plan



to show their position more particularly as back lots,



behind the front range. It is to be noted that the



public way in front of the fauxbourg is not a street :



it is the same chemin royale, royal road, which has



existed from early times, and has never been merged



in the character of a street. Nothing can prove



more clearly, that this reference to the' plan was not



to give a front line to the 23 lots, than that the same



deed reserves the right of digging earth' on the



batture beyond that line. Now if nothing was



meant to be conveyed beyond the front line marked

















        The Batture at New Orleans     7







in the plan, why reserve a right to dig earth on



the batture, which is beyond that line ? And that



Nicholas Gravier, Escot, Girod and Wiltz didn't



consider this line as the limit of their rights, appears



from their deeds conveying the batture expressly



by that name, with the lots themselves. On the



whole, we see here a curious specimen of tergiversa-



tion in reasoning.  When urged that the grant to



the Jesuits, and to Bertrand  Gravier, though ex-



pressed to be " face au fleuve," must still have



stopped at this line or edge of the royal road, it is



answered that those terms convey to the water edge,



and make it an " ager arcifinius, " to which the right



of alluvion appertains. But when Bertrand Gra-



vier conveys to his purchasers " face au fleuve, " they



turn about and say that the same identical words



" face au fleuve, " convey now only to this same line



or edge of the royal road, which they overleaped



before, and make the grounds conveyed an " ager



limitatus, " to which the right of alluvion. .does nat



appertain. It is perfectly equal which of the mean-



ings is ascribed to these words. Only give them the



same in both instances, and say which. If these



words make the road your boundary, you never had



a right to the batture beyond it. If they extend to



the river what was convey ed to you, they extend to



the river also what was conveyed from



you. Will it be pretended that, after



establishing his town, Bertrand Gravier could then



have sold the streets to others ? and yet he might" a

















8        Jefferson's Works







fortiori, having not included them in any deed. But



does not common sense and common honesty pro-



claim that the establishment of his town, and sale



of the lots, implied a relinquishment to the inhabi-



tants of the communications of streets and shores



adjacent, as a common, which are the necessary and



constant appendages of every town? The express



conveyance then of his riparian rights, and the impli-



cation as to them and the streets, are believed to be



conclusive to show that the plaintiff having had no



right, can have sustained no wrong:







 In 1797, Bertrand Gravier died intestate ; and at



this epoch we must introduce what constitutes



the sole object of the existing contest. Opposite to



the habitation or plantation of B. Gra-



[Beach or Batture] vier, now the Fauxbourg Ste. Marie, the



beach of the river, called in that country



Batture, of ordinary breadth within memory, has



sensibly increased, by deposits of earth, during the



annual floods of the river, [Derb. xix.] till in the year



1806, it was found to extend in breadth, at low tide,



from 122 to 247 yards of our measure, from the water



edge into the river: and from about 7 f. height,



where it abuts against the bank, declining to the



water edge. See Pelletier's plan annexed'. Thiery



xvii. While uncovered, which is from August to



January inclusive, it has served as a Quai for lading



and unlading goods, stowing away lumber and fire-



wood, and has furnished all the earth for building



the city, and raising its streets and courts, essential

















        The Batture at New Orleans       9







in that oozy soil. Derb. €. While covered, which



is during the other six months of the year, from Feb-



ruary to July inclusive, [Liv. 58. Poydras 20. 21 23.)



it is the port for all the small craft of the river, and



especially for the boats of the upper country, which,



in the season of high water, can land or lie no where



else in the neighborhood of the city. During this



period, they anchor on its bottom, or moor to its



bank. It is then, like every other beach; the bed



of the river one half the year, and a Quai the other



half, distinguished from those of tide waters, by



being :subject to an annual, instead of a semidiurnal



ebb and flood. In this beach or shoal, with the bank



to which it is adjacent, if Bertrand Gravier claimed



any right, as riparian proprietor of the habitation,



he had certainly meant to convey that right to the



purchasers of the front lots, by the term "frente al



rio, " " fronting the river, " reserving expressly, as



we have seen; from one purchaser of 58 lots, a right€



to take earth, from the beach, for his brickkilns. As



he died without children, the inheritance belonged



to John Gravier, and other brothers and sisters whom



he had left in France, or their representatives, as



co-heirs.







  By the civil law, if an heir accepts the    [Purchase by Inventory]

inheritance, he is considered, not merely



as the representative, but as continuing the person



of the ancestor himself, is answerable for all his debts,



and out of all his property, as well his own, as what



he had newly acquired by the inheritance. Time,

























10        Jefferson's Works







therefore, was allowed him to inform himself of the



condition of the estate and debts, during which it



was considered as an haereditas jacens, vested in



nobody. If he declined taking the inheritance sim-



ply as heir, he was allowed to take it as purchaser,



or in their language, as heir with the benefit of inven-



tory: whereupon an inventory and appraisement of



it. took place; and he had the pre-emption at the ap-



praised value. He was then liable to no more debts



than the amount of the appraisement ; and if there



was a surplus of the appraised value over and above



the debts it was his, if a single heir, or partitioned



among the co-heirs, as parceners, if there were more



than one. Brown. civ. law, I. 218. 302. Kaim 's



law tracts, 3 89. Gibbon 's c. 44. I 5 3 € Bertrand



Gravier is understood to have left France indebted



and insolvent : and John Gravier, therefore, € either



knowing, or ignorant of the amount of the debts,



chose on behalf, or perhaps in defraud, of the co-



heirs, to decline the inheritance, and to take the



estate as a purchaser by inventory and appraise-



ment. It was inventoried and appraised. In the



inventory is placed a single article of lands, in these



words, " are placed in the inventory the lands of this



habitation, whose extent cannot be calculated im-



mediately, on account of his having sold many lots ;



but Mr: N. Gravier informs us that its bounds gb to



the forks of the bayou, according to the titles. " And



in the appraisement also there is but this same single



article of lands, thus described, " about thirteen ar-

















        The Batture at New Orleans     11







pents of land, of which the habitation is estimated,



including the garden, of which the most useful part is



taken off in front, the residue consisting of the lowest



part; [to wit, that descending back to the bayou,] the



side being sold to Navarro, one Percy, and the negro



Zambo, a portion of which, etc., estimated at 190 D.



the front acre, with all the depth,which makes 2470



D." Then follows the adjudication, which adjudges



to John Gravier " the effects, real estate" moveables



and slaves which have been inventoried as belonging



to the estate of his deceased brother Bertrand Gra-



vier, etc." Report.9. 10. We see, then, that no



lands were inventoried but the thirteen arpents in



front, composing the inhabitation. And it is im-



possible that that term should be meant to include



the, beach of the river, cut off from it by the inter-



vention of the whole Fauxbourg of seven ranges of



squares ; or that they should not have used a more.



obvious expression, if the idea of the beach had been



in their minds. Nobody could consider these two



parcels, distant and disjointed as they were, as being



one parcel only, one habitation.  No man having two



farms, or two tracts of"land, separated by the lands



of others, would expect that by devising or convey-



ing one, the other would pass also. In fact, at that



time, neither John Gravier nor any. one else, consid-



ered the beach as any part of Bertrand Gravier's



estate : and in the appraisement, they estimate the



front arpents, (that is; fronting on the fauxbourg,)



with all their depth to the bayou, at 190 dollars, the

















12        Jefferson's Works







front arpent; contemplating clearly only what was



between the fauxbourg and bayou. Accordingly



Fernandez, acting for the Depositor General, ' the



legal officer in those cases, swears that he took charge



and possession of all the estate according to the in-



ventory which had been made from the 28th of June



to the 4th of July, 1797 ; that, in that inventory, the



batture never was mentioned, 'or heard of, as prop-



erty of Gravier, nor in charge of the Depositor, and



that, on delivering the estate to John Gravier, the



batture never was spoken of. It is equally certain



that had there been an idea that they were smuggling



the batture away, through these proceedings, the citi-



zens of New Orleans would not have been so silent,



nor the Governor, the Cabildo, and other Spanish



authorities so passive, when so active on all former



occasions respecting the batture: and that had the



batture been under the view of the appraisers, in-



stead of estimating it at 2470 dollars, conjointly €



with other thirteen arpents, a very different sum



must have been named. The batture alone is now



estimated at half a million of dollars. ' But the



truth is, that neither John Gravier, nor any one else,



at that day, considered it but as public property.



And for six years ensuing, he never manifested one



symptom of ownership; until Mr. Livingston's



[Livingston's  Arrival] arrival there from New York



with the wharves and slips of that place



fresh in his recollection. The flesh-pots of Egypt



could not suddenly be forgotten, even in this new

















        The Batture at New Orleans     13







land of Canaan. Then John Gravier received his



inspiration that the beach was his; and is tempted,



by one kind of bargain after another, to try his for-



tune with it. It was only to lend his name, and   [Parisien]



receive a round sum if anything could be made of it.



To get over the palpable omission of it



in the inventory and appraisement, they



find a man whose recollection is exactly a propos;



a Henry Parisien, a comedian by profession, and a



joiner by trade. He had been one of the appraisers,



ten years before, and recollected, and so swore that



he had "walked on the batture, before the closing of



the appraisement, to ascertain its extent and be the



better able to judge of its value, and that it was



through forgetfulness that it had not been taken into



the estimate." Pieces Prob. 33. It happens that



nature bears witness against him. From the 20th



of June to the 4th of July is within the period of high



waters; and it is proved that, at the very time of the



appraisement, the river was still overflowing, and



the batture covered with water : the journals of the



sawmills further attest that they did not cease to



work till the 25th of August of that year : and when



the waters of the river are sufficiently low to stop



the mills, all the battures are still covered with water.



P. Pr. 34. However even this Henry Parisien



swears, " that the batture was not in the estimate, and



that it was through forgetfulness that it was not. "



Examin 19. Rep. 21. Pi. Prob. 33. No matter



through what cause, it is enough that it was not in

















14        Jefferson's Works







the inventory or estimate, and of course not sold to



J. Gravier. This corroborates the testimony of the



Depositor, that he neither had it in his charge, nor



included it' in the estate sold and delivered. J: Gra-



vier must, therefore, as to this part of his brother's



estate, if his it were ; recommence his work, ' by having



a new inventory, appraisement and adjudication.



But to repel the present proceeding, it suffices that



having made his election to take, not as heir, but



purchaser, this beach is not yet his ; it is still an



haereditas jacens, and before he can convey it to



Mr. Livingston, he must get it by a new process, and



make a third bargain.







 We will proceed further to trace the history of this



acquisition of the batture; by the plaintiff; who



writes a letter of lamentations to some member of



the government, on the 27th of June; 1809. That



" Congress will probably adjourn without coming to



any decision on the subject of my removal by the



late President of the United States from my estate at



New Orleans." A most ungrateful complaint; for



had he not been removed, he must; :at the time of



writing this letter, have been, as his estate was, some



10 or 12 feet under water ; the river being then at its



greatest height. And when was this notable discov-



ery made, that the beach of the river was the separate



and exclusive property of J. Gravier, clear of all pub-



lic right to its use ? Let us hear the Governor, in an-



swer to this question.' In a letter to the Secretary of



State of October 13, 1807, he says, "early after the

















        The Batture at New Orleans     15







arrival of Mr. Livingston in this territory; he became



concerned in the purchase of a parcel of ground



fronting the fauxbourg of this city, commonly called



the batture, a property which had been occupied as



a common by the city for many years previous; and



the title to which, in the opinion of the inhabitants



was unquestionable. " The day(1) of the arrival of



Mr. Livingston in New Orleans I do not know ; but



I recollect. he was one of the earliest emigrants to



that country, which was ceded to the United States



on the 30th of October, 1803. We are told, [Rep: 11.



Thierry 5. ) it was proved by some oral testimony



that J. Gravier began an inclosure of 500 feet square



in that year, and completed it in the next. The day



of beginning is not stated; but we may safely pre-



sume it was not 'while the French Governor thought



the country belonged to his master, and.most prob-



ably not till after " the early arrival of Mr.  Living-



ston." This enclosure was demolished by an order



of the Cabildo of Feb. 22, 1804.(2) The next step was



to make an ostensible deed, .to an osten-



sible purchaser,(3) a Peter dela Bigarre, a       [Bigarre.]



br,other emigrant of Mr. Livingston's from New



York,.some old acquaintance. This was dated



March 27, 1804, is expressed 'to be in consideration



of 10,000 dollars, and conveys two undivided thirds



of all that part or parcel of land, situate on the bank







@#(1) He says, February, 1804.



 (2) Thierry.              .



 (3) Notar. copy, Gravier to Bigarre.. @#

















16        Jefferson's Works







(sur la rive] of the river Missisipi, between the public



road and the current of the said river, etc., with a



warranty. I call the purchases ostensible, because



notwithstanding his pretended purchase, J. Gravier,



on the 20th of October, 1805, [Rep. I.] commenced a



suit against the city, as proprietor of the whole, and



the court adjudged him proprietor of the whole ; and



because the same J. Gravier, [Poydr. 3 .] by a deed to



the same P. de la Bigarre, in which no mention was



made of the former, or reference to it; conveys to him



on the 14th Dec. 1806, the batture Ste. Marie, along



the whole limits of this land, between the road and



river, on condition that he shall pay all expenses of



the suit depending, with 50,000 dollars in addition;



that the property shall remain unsold and hypothe-



cated for the purchase money till paid, and that if



the law-suit fails; the sale is void, and Bigarre to pre-



tend to no damages for non-execution. It is observ-



able here that neither buyer nor seller risked anything.



It was a mere speculation on the- chance of a law-



suit, in which they were to divide the spoils if suc-



cessful, and to lose nothing if they failed.(1) It was by



our law a criminal purchase of a pretense title, 32.



H. 8. g. and equally criminal by the law of that terri-



tory, where I presume the provision of the Roman



law is in force, " qui improbe coeunt in alienam litem,



ut quidquid ex condemnatione in rem ipsius redac-



tum fuerit, inter eos communicaretur, lege Julia, de







@#  (1)Lafon, in his map of New Orleans, says expressly that the Mississippi,at

the city, ia €uniformly of the breadth of 300 toises only. MS. Note. @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     17







vi privata, tenentur." Dig. 47. 8. 6. 4 Blackst. 135. .



"Whosoever shall take part in the suit of another,



so that whatever shall be recovered by the judgment



is to be divided between them, shall be subject to the



Julian law, de vi privata. " By which law, ib. tit. 7.



ş I: they were to lose one-third of their goods, and be



rendered infamous. The deed was not only criminal



on its face, but was void by an express law of the ter-



ritory, [a law of Governor Uncaga. Poydras 6. Rep.



25.] and so pronounced to be on the floor of Congress



by their representative, because not executed before



either witnesses or notaries. I t was kept secret from



its date, till the day before judgment was pro-



nounced, when the parties becoming apprised of the



decision which was to be given, (for this was known



at least on the 20th of May,) [Governor Claiborne's



letter May 20, '07,) produced it, for the



first time, to the Notary. to be recorded.   [Decision of  Court]



And the day after its publication, the



court, by the opinion of two members against one,



[Examen 3.) adjudged the property wholly to the '



very man, who, if he had ever had any right, had



conveyed away two-thirds of it, before he



brought his action, and the whole while    [Alarm occasioned]



it was pending. The alarm which this



adjudication produced was immediate and great.



The fact was notorious that, from the earliest to the



latest extension of the beach, the public had had a



free use of it, as their Quai in low water, and in high



water their port; and never before had their right







   VOL. xviii-2

















18        Jefferson's Works







been doubted by themselves, or questioned by their



riparian possessors: If any fact was ever proved by



human testimony, this is. Turn to the Pieces Prob-



antes, and out of 29 affidavits of the oldest and most



respectable persons in the territory, men who had,



most of them, borne offices under€their former gov-



ernment, 21 of them uniformly declare that the pub-



lic .had ever been considered as having a right to the



beach, as their port and Quai; that, as such, the Gov-



ernors and Cabildo had the constant care and con-



trol of it, had demolished buildings and enclosures



erected on it, had, by public ban, prohibited all



erections or obstructions to its use, had themselves



erected a rampart, to inclose within it a chamber ac-



cessible for earth at high water for rebuilding the city



after the fire, €and exercised uninterruptedly every



other act of authority derived from the public rights ;



and 11 of them prove, as far as a negative can be



proved, that the Gravier, till the change of govern-



ment, and new views by Edward Livingston, had



never .pretended to more than the right of Common



in it, and never had questioned that of the public, or



the authority of the Governor and Cabildo over it.



While they held the adjacent plantation indeed; they



maintained the road and bank, as. all



[Servitude of road]  rural proprietors are obliged by(1) law to



do : for here it is proper to observe, that



pursuing the spirit of the Roman law, which pre-



scribed that every one should maintain the public



@# (1) Rep. 19.@#            

















        The Batture at New Orleans      19.







road along his own dwelling, " construat vias publicas



unusquisque secundum propriam domuin: " Dig.



43. 10. 3. The lands in Louisiana were granted gen-



erally on a condition, (called in those days servitude,)



of furnishing ground for a public road, and of open-



ing and maintaining that road. From which condi-



tion; however, they were released as to any portion



of the ground which should afterwards become a



town ; the expense of roads or streets of that portion



devolving then on the town itself. Accordingly B.



Gravier, after establishing the front of his plantation



into a suburb, and 'thus cutting off the residue from



the road' and the river, being(1) called on to `repair' the



road by an order from Governor Carondelet, who



seems at the moment not to have adverted to the



change, Bertrand Gravier answered, that having



sold the lots faisant face au flewve, fronting the river,



he had abandoned the batture to the town, and that"



the road and levee could not be at his expense, the



Governor correcting himself at once, says, "` Gravier



is right, all this is true, " and immediately, and ever



after had the repairs made by the public. And the



Graviers from that time stood discharged from these



burdens on the same principle which had freed the



original owners of the site of the city from maintain-



ing the banks of the city. This is declared by an



host of witnesses in the Pieces Probantes, and prob-



ably could have been declared by every. ancient in=



habitant-of the place. "We are told indeed by La-



@#(1) Monile's aflidavib, MS.@#

















20        Jefferson's Works







roche and Segur, in their affidavit, [Livingston 66.)



of Carondelet, and some other Governor asking leave



of Gravier in 1795 and 1798, to deposit masts on the



beach. If this be true, which Mr. Thierry, [p. 42.]



who knew the witnesses, treats. as ridiculous and ab-



surd, it shows that they were forgetful, or inconsist-



ent, or over complaisant; but not that Gravier re-



quired, or expected to be asked ; and much less could



it divest a public right, acknowledged from the earliest



times, and essential to the commerce and existence



of the city. An accurate discrimination indeed be-



tween the measure of right in the riparian proprietor



while he held the adjacent farm, in the individuals of



the nation as usufructuaries, and in the sovereign as



their representative and trustee, as respectively ap-



portioned to them by the law, seems not to have been



attended to either by the citizens at large, or the



"adjacent proprietors. The riparian possessor ap-



pears to have been sensible he had some rights, with-



out distinctly understanding what they were :  but,



whatever they were, he knew he had parted with



them by the deeds establishing his fauxbourg. The



citizens, in the daily habit of using without control



the port and Quai, imagined themselves exclusive



proprietors of its soil, and came forward in that ca-



pacity, claiming, sometimes under some vague title



which they did not define, and sometimes under the



abandonment of right by Bertrand Gravier; the



Sovereign, formerly their kings, but now the United



States the legal holder of the public rights in the

















        The batture at New Orleans     21







beds, beaches and banks of all navigable waters,



seems not to have been thought of at all



in the contest. The United States were [United States no party]



no party to the suit; nor could they be,



having made themselves amenable to no tribunal:



Their property can never be questioned in any court,



but in special cases in which, by some particular law,



they delegate a special power, as to the boards of



Commissioners, and in some small fiscal cases. But



a general jurisdiction over the national demenses,



being more than half the territory of the United



States, has never been by them, and never ought to



be, subjected to any tribunal. Not adverting to this



Circumstance, however, the consternation in New



Orleans, on this decision, was like that of Boston, on



the occlusion of their port by the Boston port bill.



If we have not forgotten that feeling, we may judge



what the citizens of New Orleans felt on this decree



of the court:-



I







  The Governor instantly writes, [letter of May 20,



'07.) " I understand that this morning an important



cause has been determined, in which Edward Living-



ston was the real plaintiff, and the city defendant, as



to the right of property to some lands in front of the



fauxbourg, made by the river, and over which the



city has heretofore exercised a right of ownership.



My impression is that the United States are the legal



claimants to it." On the 21st of August, 1807, Mr.



Derbigny's opinion was published, [Thierry 5.) and



first brought into view the right of the United States,

















22        Jefferson's Works







and that the sentence of the court must of course,



to them, be a mere nullity, "res inter alios acta,



quaeque aliis non potest praejudicium facere." A



thing passing between others, and which to no others



can do prejudice. Codex. 7. 60. And coming, with



respect to the United States, under the provisions of



the same code.







@# Tit. 56. " Si neque mandasti      



fratri tuo defensionem rei tuae,  



neque quod gestum est ratnizi     



habuisti, praescriptio rei judicatae   



tibi non oberit: et idea non pro-         



hiberis causam tuam agere, sine             



praejudicio rerum judicatarum."       



                                       







" If you have not committed to



your brother the defence of your



right, nor sanctioned what has



been done,the plea rei judicatae



shall not bar you: .and therefore



you shall not be precluded from



conducting your own cause, with-



out exception from a former decision."  @#











  Certainly the city council did not appear, or pre-



tend to appear under authorization from the gov-



ernment of the United States, nor as the advocates



of their rights. . They were called there as defendants



of their own claim. The court did not undertake to



decide on the right of the United States, which was



neither before them, nor within their competence;



and the injunction€ they issued could only be ad-



dressed to the parties between whom they had ad-



judged, and not to suspend the rights of others .whom



they had never heard, much less of the United States,



who could not be heard before them. See 2 Dallas



408. 3 Dallas 412. 414. 415.







Presuming, however, that the coast was now clear,



[Livingston's intrusion] and the question finally settled, the os-



tensible actors withdrew, and their prin-

















        The Batture at New Orleans       23







ciple comes forward, is put into possession by the



Sheriff, and begins his 'works. The Governor; in



his.letter of Sept. 3, 1807, says, " a few days since,



[Aug. 24.] Mr. Livingston employed a number of



negroes to commence digging a canal which he pro-



jected to take in a part of the land called the batture.



But the citizens assembled in considerable force and



drove them off. On the day following he went in per-



son, but was again opposed by the citizens. The



minds of the. people were much agitated. The oppo-



sition is so general that I must resort to measures the



most conciliatory, as the only means of avoiding still



greater tumult, and perhaps much bloodshed. I have



not issued a proclamation because it might make an



impression in the United States that the people are



disposed for insurrection,' which is not true. My



opinion is that the title is in the United States. If the



batture be reclaimed; it is feared the current 'of the



Mississippi will in some measure change its course,



which will not only prove injurious to the navigation,



but may occasion degradation in the levees of the



city, or those in its vicinity." To abridge our narra-



tion by giving the substance of 'the communications:



The people assembled the next day about the same



hour, and for several days successively, 'by beat of



drum. [Livingston's letter of Sept. 15. '07.) On



€Monday the 31st of August, Mr. Livingston recom-



menced his work; after having given notice that he



should do so. He began about 10 o'clock, A.M. and



about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon the people

















24        Jefferson's Works







assembled again and drove off his laborers. On the



14th. of September he again attempted to work, get-



ting two constables to attend his laborers. The



people drove .them off, and the constables having



noted on a list some of those present, they seized



them, took the list and tore it to pieces. [Sheriff's



letter.] On the next day he writes to the Governor.



that he shall set his laborers to work again that day



at 12 o 'clock, and " he shall not be surprised to see the



people change the insolence of riot into .the crime of



murder. " At noon he accordingly placed 10 or 12



white laborers there. In the afternoon the people



re-assembled to the number of several. hundreds.



The Governor repaired there and spoke to them. He



was heard with respectful attention: and one of



them, speaking for the whole, expressed the serious



uneasiness which' the decision of the court had ex-



cited, the long and undisturbed possession of the bat-



ture by the city, as well under the French as the.



[Appeal to government of the United States] spanish government, and the great

injury which would result to the inhabi-



tants if the land should be built upon and



improved. And another declaring that they wished



the decision of Congress, and in the mean time, no



work to be done on the batture, there was a general



exclamation from the crowd, "that is the general



wish, " followed by a request that they might nomi-



nate an agent to bear to the President of the United



States, a statement of their grievances, ,and that the



Governor would recommend the agent to the govern-

















        The Batture at New Orleans     25







ment. He said he would 'do so, and they nominated



Col. Macarty, by general and repeated acclamations.



They then withdrew in peace' to their respective



homes, and on the 16th the Governor expresses the



hope that this unpleasant affair is at an end, that



everything is then quiet, and the public mind much



composed; that some of his hotheaded countrymen



censured the mild course which was pursued, and



would have been better pleased if the military had



been called upon to disperse the assemblage. But I



feel; says he, that the policy adopted was wise and



humane, and that. a contrary conduct would have



increased the discontents, and occasioned the effusion



of much innocent blood. The Louisianians, he adds,



are an amiable, virtuous people, but sensibly feel any



wrongs which may be offered them. Mr. Livingston



is alike feared and hated by most of the ancient in-



habitants. , They dread his talents as a lawyer, and



hate his views of speculation, which in the case of the



batture was esteemed very generally by the Louisian-



ians no less iniquitous, than ruinous to the welfare



of the city. " The Governor says in another letter of



October 5, to the Secretary of State, that in a prog-



ress he made a few days afterwards through several



parishes of the territory, he perceived but one senti-



ment with respect to the decision of the court. The



long and uninterrupted use of the batture by the



city, the sanction given by the Spanish authorities



to the public claim, and the heavy public expendi-



tures in maintaining the levee which fronts it, seem

















26        Jefferson's Works







to have given rise to a very general' opinion that the



court has been in error in deciding the batture to be



private property. On the 13th of November he



again writes, " I should be wanting in duty did I not



earnestly recommend the subject of the batture to



the attention of the government. There is no doubt



but the agents of Spain considered it as a public



property, and did appropriate the same to the use of



the city, as a common. I should presume that., :un-



der the treaty, the United States may justly claim



the batture, and if.any means can be devised to ar-



rest the judgment of the territorial court, or to carry



this case before another tribunal, the earlier they are



resorted to, the better ; for Mr. Edward Livingston



is now in possession of the property, and making im-



provements thereon. " And the next day, Nov. 14,



a grand jury of the most respectable



[Livingston's work]characters of the place gave in a present-



ment to the court in which they say, "We



present as a subject of the most serious complaint the



present operations on the batture by Edward Liv-



ingston and others connected with him : that this is



from 4 to 6 months of every year a part of the bed of



the river, and an important part of the port of New



Orleans : that these operations of Edward Livingston



are calculated to obstruct the free navigation of,the



river, to change the course of its. waters, to deprive



our western brethren, . whose only market for the



produce of their extensive territory, is to be found in



this city, of the deposit which .has hitherto remained

















        The Batture at New Orleans    27







free to them, and not only of incalculable impro-



tance; but of absolute necessity. Whether it be pri-



vate or public property; is immaterial, so long as the



laws do not permit such use of it as to injure and ob-



struct the navigation: and we present it as our opin-



ion that all such measures should be taken as are



consistent with law to arrest these operations which



are injurious for the present, and, in changing the



course of 'the river, are hazardous in the. extreme."



We find Mr: Livingston then, instead of awaiting the



decision of Congress, the only constitutional tribunal



resuming his works boldly, and the people, whom he



represented as like " to change the insolence of riot



into the crime of murder, " appealing peaceably, by



presentment, to the laws of their territory until the



National government should decide. In the latter



end of the same year, [Surveyor's Rep. to Mayor,



Dec. 28, '08.) he 'opens 'a canal from the bank directly



through the beach into the river (1)276 feet long; 64



feet wide; and 4. feet 2 inches deep at low water, and



with the earth excavated he forms a bank or quai,



on each side, 19 feet 6 inches wide, from 4 to 6 feet '



high above the level of the batture, and faced with



palisades. Within one year after this. what had



been anticipated by the Governor, the grand jury arid



others, 'had already manifested itself. In Dec: of the



ensuing' year, 1808, [See Surveyor's rep. Dec. 28,



'08.) a bar had already formed across the mouth of



the canal, which was dry at low water, the course of







@#(1) These are French measures : add a fifteenth to make them ours.@#

















28        Jefferson's Works







the waters had been changed during the intervening



flood, and the places where dry ground first showed



itself, on the decrease of the river, were such as had



the year before, been navigable at low water. [May



or's answer to Governor, Nov: 18, '08.] The port in



front of the town had been impaired by a new batture



begun to be formed opposite the Custom house;



which could not fail to increase by the change of the €



current. The beach or batture of St. Mary had, in



that single € tide extended from 75 to 80 feet further



into the river, and risen from 2 to 5 feet 10 inches



generally, and more in places, as a saw-scaffold



which, at the preceding low tide, was 7 feet high, was



now buried to its top ; and Tanesse, the Surveyor,



[See his affidavit, MS.]in his affidavit says he does



not doubt that these works have produced the last



year's augmentation of the batture; at the expense



of the bed of the river, have occasioned the carrying



away a great part of the platin or batture of the



lower suburbs, and breaking the levee of M. Blanque



next below, and that the main port of the city being



a cove, immediately below Livingston 's works, would,



if they were continued, be filled up in time ; and it is



the opinion of Piedesclaux also, [See his 3d affidavit,



MS.] that they would produce changes in the banks



of the river, un both sides, prejudicial to the city, arid



riparian proprietors, by directing the efforts of the



river against parts not heretofore exposed to it. And



Mr. Poydras tells us, [p. 20 of one of his speeches;]



that when the river is at its height, the boats which,

















        The Batture at New Orleans     29







drift down it can only land in the eddies below the



points, as they would be dashed to pieces in attempt-



ing to land in the strong current. That, at the town,



they cannot land for want of room, there being



always there two or three tier of vessels in close con-



tact; nor at the lower suburbs of Marigny, which



being at the lower part of the cove, are too much ex-



posed both to winds and current. Indeed no evi-



dence is necessary to prove that in a river of only



1200 yards wide, having an annual tide of 12 to 14



feet rise, which brings the water generally to within



8 or 10 inches, and sometimes 2 or 3 inches, of the top



of the levee, insomuch that it splashes over with the



wind, [See Peltier's, and Tanesse's affidavits, MS: and



also the maps,] were the channel narrowed 250 yards,



as Mr. Livingston intends, that is to say; a fourth or



fifth of its whole breadth, the waters must rise higher



in nearly the same proportion, that is to say, 3 feet at



least, and would sweep away the whole levee, the city



it now protects, and inundate all the lower country.



 Thus urged by the continued calls of the Gov-



ernor, who declared he could not be responsible for



the peace or preservation of the place, by the tumult



and confusion in which the city was held by the bold



aggressions of the intruders on the public rights, by



the daily progress of works which were to interrupt



the commerce of the whole western country, threat-



ened to sweep away a great city and its inhabitants,



and lay the adjacent country under water, I listened



to the calls of duty, imperious calls, which had I

















30        Jefferson's Works







shrunk from, I should have been justly responsible



for the calamities which would have followed. On



the 28th of October, '07, the Attorney General had



given his opinion; and on the 27th of No-



[Cabinet deliberation]vember, I asked the attendance of the



heads of the departments, to whom the



papers received had been previously communicate d



for their consideration. We had the benefit of the



presence of the Attorney General, and of the lights



which it was his office to throw on the subject. We



took of the whole case such views as the state of our



information at the time presented. I shall now de-



velop them in all the fulness of the facts then



known, and of those which have since corroborated



them.







 The first question occurring was, what system of



law was to be applied to them ? On this



[What law?] there could be but one opinion. The laws



which had governed Louisiana from its first coloni-



zation, that is to say, the laws of France with some



local modifications, were still in force when this ques-



tion was generated by the sale of the Jesuits ' property



to B. Gravier and others. France had indeed, about



the end of the preceding year 1762, by a secret con-



vention, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to be delivered



whenever Spain should be in readiness to receive it.



But this was not announced to the inhabitants till



the 21st of April, 1764, nor did Spain receive posses-



sion till the I 7th of August, 1769. [g Raynal, 222.



235.] In the mean time the government





























        The Batture at New Orleans   31







and laws continued, the Jesuits' property was



sold, and purchased under the faith of the existing



laws; and according to these laws must the rights



acquired by the 'purchaser, or left in the crown; be



decided. Indeed in no case are the laws of a nation



changed, of natural right, by their passage from one



to another denomination. The soil, the inhabitants,



their property, and the laws by which they are pro-



tected go together. Their laws are subject to be



changed only in the case, and extent which their new



legislature shall will. The changes introduced by



Spain, after 1769, were chiefly in the organization of



their government, and but little in the principles of



their jurisprudence. The instrument which some



have understood as suppressing the



French and introducing the Spanish code, [Proclamation of O'Reilly]



is the proclamation of O 'Reilly of No-



vember 25 ; 1769, two months after the actual deliv-



ery of the colony. (See appendix to documents



communicated to Congress by the President, with



his message of October 17, 1803.] The transfer of



the country, however, had been announced to the



people five years before. Now surely, during these



five years the French laws must have



continued entire, and of course after  [French code.]



them, so far as not altered. And that this proc-



lamation made specific € only, and not general alter-



ations, a brief examination of its tenor will evince.



it begins by charging the late council with a parti-



cipation in the insurrection which had taken place,

















32        Jefferson's Works







and by declaring it indispensable to abolish that,



and to establish the form of politic government and



administration of justice prescribed by the wise



laws of Spain. But a form of government may surely



be changed, and the mass of laws remain the same,



as took place in our revolution. He proceeds then



to establish that form of government, dependence and



subordination, which should accord with the good of



the service, and happiness of the colony. For this



purpose he substitutes a Cabildo, in place of the



ancient council, and instead of former analogous



officers, he says there shall be Alferes, Alcades, Al-



guazils, Depositors, Regidors, a Scrivener, Procura-



tor, Mayordomo, etc. ; adopting thus the Spanish



instead of the French organization of officers, for the



administration of the laws. He changes the manner



of proceedings in judicial trials, and of pronouncing



judgments, according to a digest made by Unestia



and Rey, by his order, until a general knowledge of



the Spanish language and more extensive informa-



tion on the statutes themselves might be acquired;



prescribes rules for instituting actions by parties, of



different denominations, the names and substance



of the pleadings, rules for appearances, answers,



replications, rejoinders, depositions, witnesses, excep-



ions, trials, judgments, appeals, executions, testa-



ments, 'probates, advancements, and distributions :



not changing the great outlines of the law; or the



ratio decidendi generally; but merely the organiza-



tion of officers, and forms of their proceeding. He

















        The Batture at New Orleans     33







states also the criminal law, what it is in sundry cases



of irreligion, treason, murder, theft, rape, adultery.



and trespass, proclaiming mostly what was already



law; lastly, he establishes the fees of officers, and



with that closes the proclamation, without a word



said about abolishing the French, and substituting



the Spanish code of laws generally. As far then as



this instrument makes any special changes, its



authority is 'acknowledged. But the very act of



making special changes is a manifestation that a



general one was not then intended. He did not mean



by this instrument to change " all and some. " One



may indeed conjecture, from loose expressions in the



instruments, that a more extensive change was in



contemplation for some future time, when the in-



habitants, as it says, should have acquired a general



knowledge of the Spanish language. But until then



expressly, and in the interim, the innovations it speci-



fies are the only ones introduced. The great system



of law which regulates property, which prescribes



the rights of persons and things, and sanctions to



every one the enjoyment of those rights, is left un-



touched, in full force and authority. If such a rad-



ical change were really meditated, it was never car-



ried into execution; nor seems at any after time to



have occupied seriously the attention of government.



In the following year 1770, O'Reilly issued an addi-



tional ordinance respecting grants of lands; and



Carondelet, in 1795, (26 years after the possession



of the colony, and a year only before its transfer to







  VOL. XVIII-3

















34        Jefferson's Works







us,) passed an ordinance of police concerning bridges,



roads, levees, slaves, coasters, travellers, arms, estrays,



fishing and hunting; and these three acts seem to



constitute the whole of the changes made in the



established system of laws during the Spanish occupa-



tion of the country. Probably the Spanish author-



ities found, in the progress of their administration,



that the difference between the French and Spanish



codes, taken both from the same Roman original,



would not justify disturbing the public mind, by a



formal suppression of the one, and substitution of



the other. Probably the officers themselves, not



adepts in either,and partly French, and partly Span-



ish individuals, confounded them in practice as they



found convenient ; and hence the ill-defined ideas of



what their laws were. But certainly when we appeal,



as in the present case, to exact right, the French



code is the only one sanctioned by regular authority ;



and the special changes before mentioned, of organ-



ization and police, having no relation to the beds



and increments of rivers, that code is €to give us the



law of the present case. That code,like all those of



middle and southern Europe, was originally feudal,



(Encyclop. Method. Jurisprudence. Coutume. 400.]



with some variations in the different provinces, for-



merly independent, of which the kingdom of France



had been made up. But as circumstances changed,



and civilization and commerce advanced, abund-



ance of new cases a,nd questions arose, for which the



simple and unwritten laws of feudalism had made

















        The Batture at New Orleans     35







no provision. At the same time, they



had at hand the legal system of a nation



highly civilized, a system carried to a degree of con-



formity with natural reason attained by no other.



The study of this system too was become the favorite



of the age, and, offering ready and reasonable



solutions of all the new cases presenting them- .



selves, was recurred to by a common consent and



practice ; not indeed as laws, formally established



by the legislator of the country, but as a RATIO



SCRIPTA, the dictate, in all cases, of that €sound



reason which should constitute the law of every



country.(1) Over both of these systems, however, the







@# 1 The following instances will give some idea of the steps by which



the Roman gained on the Feudal laws. A law of Burgundy provided



that " Si quis post hoc barbarus vel testari voluerit, vel donare, aut



Romanam consuetudinem, aut barbaricam, esse servandam, sciat."



" If any barbariart subject hereafter shall desire to dispose by legacy or



donation, let him know that either the Roman or barbarian law is to :



be observed." Aizrl one of Lotharius, II. of Germany, going still



further, gives to every one an, election of the system under which he



chose. to live. " Volumus, ut cunctus populus. Romanus interrogatur



quali lege vult vivere: ut tali lege, quali professi sunt vivere vivant:



illisque denuntiatur, ut hoc unusquisque, tarn judices, quam duces, vel



reliquus populus sciat, quod si offensionem contra eandem legem



fecerint, eidem legi, qua profitentur vivere, subjaceant." "We will



that all the Roman people shall be asked by what law they wish to



live :. that they may live under such Law as they profess to live by :



and that it be published, that every one', judges, as well as generals, or



the rest of the people, may know that if they commit offence against



the said law, they shall be subject to the same law by which they



profess to.live." Encyc. Method. Jurisprudence, Coutume. 399. Pre=



senting the uncommon spectacle of a jurisdiction attached to persons,



instead of places. ' Thus favored, the Roman became an acknowledged



supplement to the feudal or customary law: but still, not under any



act of the legislature, but as "raison ecrite" and the @#

















36        Jefferson's Works







occasional edicts of the monarch are paramount; and



amend and control their provisions whenever he



deems amendment necessary ; on the general prin-



ciple that " leges posteriores priores abrogant. (1)



Subsequent laws .abrogate those which were prior.



This composition of the French code is affirmed by



all their authorities. One only of them shall be



particularly cited, to wit, Ferriere Dict. de droit.



Ordonnance. ,







  " Les Ordonnances sont les



vraies lois du royaume. Elles



font la partie la plus generale et la



plus certaine de notre droit Fran-



Sais, attendu qu'elles sont sou-



tenues de l'autorite aussi bien que.



de la raison; au lieu que les loix



Romaines ne subsistent que par



leur equite, elles n'ont par elles-



memes aucune autorite, qu'au-



tant quelles sont considerees



comme une raison ecrite, du



moins en pays coutumier; et a.



l"gard du pays de droit ecrit, les



loix Romaines n'y ont force de loi,



que parceque nos rois ont bien



voulu y consentir







  The Ordinances are the true



laws of the kingdom. They con-



stitute the most general and cer-



tain part of our French law, in as-



much as they are supported by



authority as well as reason;



whereas the Roman laws stand on



their equity alone, having of



themselves no authority, but as



they are considered as written



reason, at least in the provinces



of Customary law. And as to



those of written law, the Roman



laws are in force only because our



kings have thought proper to con-



sent to it.











This system of law was transferred to Louisiana, as







@#cases to which it is applicable, becoming much the most numerous, it



constitutes in fact the mass of their law.



(1) Since this publication, Gen. Armstrong, our late Minister at Paris,



has sent me a printed copy of Crozat's Charter in French, which he



says he obtained directly, and in person from the depot of laws in



Paris, but which he had no means of comparing with the original.



This printed copy, with Gen. Armstrong's letter, . I have deposited in



the office of the Secretary of State at Washington. MS. Note.  @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     37















is evinced by the (1)charter of Louis XIV. to Crozat,



bearing date the I 4th of Sept. 1712. The VIIth



article of that is in these words. " Our edicts, ordi-



nances and customs, and the usages of the Mayor-



ality and Shreevalty of Paris, sh.all be observed for



laws and customs in the said country of Louisiana."



The customary law of Paris seems to have been



selected, because considered as the best digest, and



that to which it was proposed to reduce the custo-



mary law of all the provinces. Enc. Meth. Jurispr.



Coutume. 405. This is the first charter we know of



which established the boundaries and laws of Louis-



iana. It says nothing of the Roman law; but that,



having become incorporated, by usage, with the cus-



toms of Paris, and constituting, as a supplement, one



system with them, seems to have been considered as



of their body, and transferred with them to Louis-



iana.(2) In 1717, Crozat transferred his rights to the







@#  (1) The only copy of this Charter I have ever met with is in Joutel's



 Journal of La Salle's last voyage. An application was made by the



 government of the United States, through their minister at Paris, to



 the government of France, for permission to have the original of this



 charter sought for in their Archives, and an authentic copy obtained.



 The application was unsuccessful. We must resort, therefore, to this



 publication, made in LI;; two years after the date of the patent, under



 the rule of law which recluires only the best evidence the nature of the



 case will admit. For although we may not appeal to books of history



 for documents of a nature merely private, yet we may for those of a



 public character, e. g. treaties, etc., and especially when those docu-



 ments are not under control; as when they are in foreign countries, or



 even in our own country, when they are not patent in their nature, nor



 demandable of common right.







  (2)If it be objected that the incorporation of the Roman law with the



 customs of Paris, and their joint transfer to Louisiana does not appear, @#

















38        Jefferson's Works







Compagnie d'Occident, at the head of which was the



famous Law, 8. Raynal: 166. [edit. 1780:] which



again in 1720, by union with others, became the Com-



pagnie des Indes, who in 1731, surrendered the ,col-



ony back to the king. r. Valin, 20. But these var-



ious transfers from company to company, of the



monopoly of their commerce, for that was the sum of



what was granted them, and their final surrender to



the king, could not affect the rights of the people, nor



change the laws by which they were governed.



When they returned to the immediate government of



the king, their laws passed with them, and remained



in full force until, and so far only as, subsequently



altered by their legislator. That this was the sense



of their government may be inferred from a clause in







@#I answer, 1. At the 'date of Crozat's charter, the Roman law had for



many centuries been amalgamated with the customary law of Paris,



made one body with it, and its principal part. By the customs of Paris



were doubtless meant the laws.of Paris, of which the Roman then made



an important part, and might well be understood to be transferred with



them. It was hardly intended that the new colonists were to unravel



with this web, and to take out for their own use only the fibres of Parisian



customs, the least applicable part of the system to their novel situation.



i. If the term, costumes de Paris in the charter be rigorously restrained



to its literal import, yet the judges of Louisiana would€have the same



authority for appealing tb the Roman as a supplementary code, which



the judges of Paris and of all France had had; and even greater, as



being sanctioned by so general an example. 3. The practice of con-



sidering the Roman law as a part of the law of the.land in Louisiana,



is evidence of a general opinion of those who composed that state, that,



it was transferred, and of an opinion much better informed, and more



authoritative than ours can be. Or it may be considered as an adop-



tion, by universal, though tacit consent, of those who had a right to



adopt, either formally, or informally, as they pleased; as the laws of



England were originally adopted in most of these states, and still



stand on no other ground.  @#

















        The Batture at New  Orleans     39







the edict creating the Compagnie des Indes Occiden-



tales, art. 34.







  " Seront les juges etablis en tons



es dits lieua tenus de juger sui-



vant les lois et ordonnances du



royaume, et les officiers de suivre



et se conformer a la coutume de la



Prev8t6 et vicomte de Paris;



suivant laquelle les habitans pour-



ront contracter, sans que l'on y



puisse introduire aucune autre



coutume, pour eviter la diversite. "



I. Moreau de St. Mery, 100.







  " The judges established in all



the said places shall be held to



adjudge according to the laws and



ordinances of the kingdom, and



the officers ta follow and conform



themselves to the customs of the



Prevote and vicomte of Paris, ac=



cording to which the inhabitants



may contract, without that any



other custom may be introduced,



to avoid diversity." 1. Moreau



de St. Mery, 100.







  This then is the system of law by which the ' legal



character of the facts of the case is now to



be tested : and the plaintiff and his counsel [Alluvion.]



having imagined that, in the Roman branch of it,



they had found a niche in which they could place the



batture to great advantage, have availed themselves of



it with no little dexterity and by calling it habit€ally



an alluvion, have given a general currency to the



idea that it is really an alluvion : insomuch that even



those who deny their inferences, have still suffered



themselves carelessly to speak of it under that term.



Were we, for a moment to indulge them in this mis-



nomer, and to look at their claim as if really an allu-



vion one, the false would be found to avail them as



little as the true name. The Roman law indeed says,



"quod per alluvionem agro tuo flumen adjecit, jure



gentium, tibi adquiritur.'.' "What the river adds .to



your field by alluvion; becomes yours by the law of

















40        Jefferson's Works







nations. Institute. L. I. tit. I.   20. Dig. L. 41.



tit. 1.  7. The same law, in like manner, gave to



the adjacent proprietors, the sand bars, shoals,



islands rising in the river, and even the bed of the



river itself, as far as it was contracted or deserted.



Inst. 2. 1. 22. and 2. 1. 23. But the established laws



of France differed in all these cases.







  "Par notre droit Fransais, dit



Pothier, les alluvions qui se font



eur le bord des fleuvea, et des



rivieres navigablee, appartiennent



au roi. Les proprietaires riveraina



n'y peuvent rien pretendre, a



moins qu'ils n'ayent des titres de



la concession que le roi leur aurait



faite du droitd'alluvion." x.



Pothier. Traite de la propriete.



x Part. c. 2.   3. art 2. No. 159.







  "By our French law, says



Pothier, one of their most re-



spected authorities, the alluvions



formed on the borders of navi-



gable streams and rivers belong to



the king. The proprietors of



ripasian heritages can have no



claim to them, unless they have



evidences of the grant made to



them by the king, of the right of



alluvion along their heritages. "



Pothier, Part 1. c. 2. ş 3. art. 2.



No. 159. cited Derbigny, xviii.







 And Guyot, in the Repertoire Universel de Juris-



prudence, a work also of authority and cited with



approbation by the plaintiff and his counsel, (Liv. 21.



Du Ponceau, 14.] under the word "ile," says,







  "Nous n'admettons pas comme



les Romains, les alluvions, et les



accroissemens, au profit des pro-



prietaires riverains, soit par les



changemens qui peuvent survenir



dans le lit des rivieres, soit rela-



tivement aux iles, et ilots qui



peuvent s'y former. Chez eux le



lit, et les bords des fleuves et



rivieres etaient censes faire partie



des heritages riverains ; et par une



suite de ces maximes, le terrain







  " We do not admit, as the Ro-



mans, alluvions and accumula-



tions to go to the riparian pro-



prietors, either by changes which



may happen in the bed of rivers,



or relating to isles, and islets



which may there be formed.



with them the bed and borders



of rivers and streams were con-



sidered as making part of the



riparian inheritances; and as a



consequence of these maxims, the

















        The Batture at New Orleans     41











qu'un fleuve ajoutait a ces heri-



tages, appartenait a ceux qui en



etaient proprietaires. Ils reunis-



saient de m@me a leurs possessions



le lit que le fleuve abandonnait ; et



lorsqu'il se forxnait une ile dans le



milieu de son lit, les riverans y



avaient un droit @gal, et en part-



ageaient la propriete. Suivant



nos principes, les rivieres navi-



gables, leur lit, rives, et tous les



terrains qui peuvent s'y former,



appartiennent' au roi, a. raison de



sa souverainete. C'est la disposi-



ion precise de l'article 42. du tit.



37 de l'Oxdonnance des eaux et



forets de 1669, qui a dissipe tous



les doutes que l'on cherchait a



faire naitre dans plusieurs prov-



inces, sur les fondemens des enon-



ciations qui se rencontraient dans-



les anciennes concessions."







earth which a river added to these



inheritances, belonged to those



who were the proprietors of them.



They reunited in like manner to



their possessions the bed which a



river abandoned, and when an



isle €was formed in the middle of



its bed, the riparians had an equal



right to it, and divided the prop-



erty. According to our principles,



navigable streams, their bed,



banks, and all the grounds which



may be formed there, belong to



the king, in right of his sove-



reignty. It is the precise pro-



vision of art. 41. tit. 37. of the



Ordonnance des eaux et forets,



which has dissipated all the



doubts which they had endea-



vored to raise in several provinces,



on the grounds of the enunciations



which were found in the ancient



concessions." Cited Derbigny 23.







  Again, after laying down the Roman law of allu-



vion, and of islands formed in the beds of rivers, Le



Rasle, in the law Dictionary, forming a part of the



Encyclopedie Methodique. Jurisprud. accession. 94,



says,







  "Nous n'avons pas suivi dans,



notre droit FranSais les dispo-



sitions Romaines a cet egard;



toutea les isles ou autres atte-



rissemens qui se forment dans



les rivieres appartiennent au roi;



et font partie du d maine. Les



terres ajoutees par alluvion aux



h6ritages baignes par le fleuve et



les rivieres navigables, n'appar-



  "we have not in our French



law followed the Roman provi-



sions in this respect ; all islands or



other accumulations which are



formed in rivers, belong to the



king, and constitute a part of the



domain. Lands added by allu-



vion to inheritances washed by



rivers and navigable streams, do



not belong' to the iiparians, but

















42        Jefferson's Works







tiennnent aux rivcrains, que



lorsqu'ils ont un titre dc conces-



sion qui leur permet de se les



approprier. "







when they have a deed of conces.



sion which permits them to appro-



priate them to themselves."







And Ferriere, quoted also by the plaintiff, says,







  "Pour ce qui regarde l'augmen-



tation arrivee a un heritage sub-



itement et tout d'un coup, la



decision que les loix Romaines ont



faites a cet egard n'est point ob-



servee dans le royaume. Cette



augmentation appartient au roi,



dans les rivieres navigables." And



Denizert agrees, " que les atteris-



sements formes subitement dans



le mer, ou dans les fleuves ou



rivieres navigables, apparticnnent



au roi, par le seul titre de aa



souverainete."







  "As to augmentations happen-



ing suddenly and all at once, the



decision of the Roman laws in



this respect, is not observed in the



kingdom. These augmentations



belong to the king in navigable



riven." And Denizert agrees,



" that atterrissements formed sud-



denly in the sea, or the navi-



gable riven or streams, belong to



the king in the sole right of his



sovereignty











And he refers to the edicts of 1683, 1693, and 1710.



And to put aside all further question as to the law



of France on this subject, Louis XIV. by an edict of



December 15, 1693, says,







  "Louis, etc. salut. Le droit de



propriete que nous avons sur tous



les fleuves et rivieres navigables



de notre royaume, et consequem-



ment de toutes les isles, moulins,



bacs; etc. atterissemens et accrois-



semens formes pas les dites fleuves



et rivieres, etant incontestable-



ment etabli par les lois de l'etat,



comme une suite et une depend-



ence necessaire de notresouve-



rainete, les rois nos predecesseurs



et nous, avons de tema en lemi,







Louis, etc., Greeting. The



right of property which we have



in all rivers and navigable streams



of our kingdom, and consequently,



in all the isles, mills, ferries, etc.,



accumulations and increments



formed by the said rivers and



navigable streams, being incon-



testibly established by the laws of



the state, as a necessary conse-



quence and dependence of our



sovereignty, the kings, our prede-



cessors, and ourselves, have from

















        The Batture at New Orleans     43











ordonne des recherches des isles et



cremens qui s'y sont formes, etc.



A ces causes, de l'avis de notre



conseil et de notre certaine sci-



ence, pleine puissance et autorite



royale, nous avons par ces pre-



sentes, signees de notre main, dit,



statue et ordonne, disons, statu-



ons et ordonnons, voulons et nous.



plait, que tous les detenteurs, pro-



prietaires, ou possesseurs des iles,



ilots, atterissemens,accroissemens,



alluvions, droits de peche, peages,



ponts, moulins, bacs, coches, ba-



teaux, edifices et droits sur les'



rivieres navigables de notre roy-



aume, qui rapporteront des titres



de .propriete ou de possession,



avant le ier Avril, 1566, y soient



maintenus et conserves dans leurs



possessions, en payant au fisc une



annee, et ceux sans titre, ni pos-



session anterieurs au xer Avril,



1566, en payant deux annees de



revenu. "







time to time, ordered inquiries as



to isles and increments therein



formed, etc. For these causes,



with the advice of our council,



and of our certain knowledge, full



power and royal authority, we



have by these presents, signed



with our hand, declared, enacted



and ordained, and we do declare,



enact and ordain, we will, and it



is our pleasure that all the



holders, proprietors, or possessors,



of isles, islets, accumulations, in-



crements, alluvions, rights of



fishery, tolls, bridges, mills, fer=



ries, packets, bateaux, edifices



and imposts on the navigable



rivers of our kingdom which shall



produce titles of property or of



possession before the 1st of April,



1566, shall be therein maintained



and secured in their possessions,



on paying to the treasury one



year's revenue, and those without



title papers, or possession prior to



the 1st of April, 1566, on payment



of two years' revenue."







  Having no copy of this Ordinance, I quote it from



Mr. Derbigny, p. 20. Duponceau, p. 10, and l'Examen



de la Sentence, p. 8, by putting together the parts



they cite, for neither gives the whole of what I have



cited. Other respectable authorities might be pro-



duced, to the same effect, were it necessary to mul-



tiply them : and it is also admitted that authorities of



weight, and of a different aspect exist, among these is



Dumoulin, as respectable as Pothier, Guyot, or any



other who has been Were it absolutely in-

















44        Jefferson's Works







cumbent on me, more than on those who rely on the



contrary authorities, to assign reasons for a differ-



ence of opinion among lawyers, on any point, it



might be ascribed in this case to a difference of im-



pression from views on the same subject, diversified



as were the customs of the various provinces of



France, on this very point. Dumoulin wrote a cen-



tury and a half before the Ordinance of Louis XIV.



In that course of time printing had become more



diffused, books greatly multiplied, and a more cor-



rect collation of these customs could be made. So



that had Dumoulin written in the days of Pothier



and Guyot, and with their advantages, he would



probably have concurred in the preceding observa-



tion, that, "if there were any doubts, this Ordinance



has dissipated them. " Be this as it may, Louis XIV.



and his council have decided between. these two opin-



ions, and if it were not law before, his decision made



it so. By this edict he declares the law of France,



"incontestably," to be that "Alluvions belong to the



king in all navigable ' rivers. " But with a spirit of



indulgence, meriting more respect than he has found



in the language of the adverse party who dislike the



truths he has declared, he confirmed all anterior



usurpations, on payment of certain compositions and



future rents, re-establishing, by the example, the



authority of the laws, and rights of the crown against



these usurpations. This Ordinance was passed nine-



teen years before the charter to Louisiana, and



consequently was comprehended among the edicts

















        The Batture at New Orleans      45







and ordinances originally established as the law of



the Province.







 Mr. Livingston and his advocates have asserted



that the right to the beds and increments of rivers, is



a gift of the feudal system to the sovereign, that is, to



the nation, and is a peculiarity of that system: and



further, that that system was never introduced into



Louisiana. That the latter assertion is palpably



erroneous, could be readily shown, were not the ques-



tion altogether unnecessary. With respect to the



former, surely it is putting the cart before the horse to



say, that the authority of the nation flows from the



Feudal system, instead of the Feudal system flowing



from the authority of the nation. That the lands



within the limits assumed by a nation belong to the



nation as a body, has probably been the law of every



people on earth at some period of their history. A



right of property in moveable things is admitted



before the establishment of government. A separate



property in lands not till after that establishment.



The right to movables is acknowledged by all the



hordes of Indians surrounding us. Yet by no one of



them has a separate property in lands been yielded to



individuals. He who plants a field keeps possession



till he has gathered the produce, after which one has



as good a right as another to occupy it. Govern-



ment must be established and laws provided, before



lands can be separately appropriated, and their



owner protected in his possession. Till then the



property is in the body of the nation, and they, or

























46        Jefferson's Works







their chief as their trustee, must grant them to indi-



viduals, and determine the conditions of the .grant.



In certain countries, they have granted them on a



system of conditions and principles which have ac-



quired the appellation of Feudal. Surely then it is



the sovereign which has created the Feudal princi-



ples, and not these principles which have created the



Lights of the sovereign. The Edinburgh Reviewers,



(No. 30. 339. Jan. 1810.] who in the progress of their



work have deservedly attained a high standing in the



public estimation, reviewing the condition of land-



tenures among the Hindoos, say, "the territory of



the nation, belonging in common to the nation, be-



longs; in this general sense, to' the king, as the head



and representative of the nation. As far accordingly



as we have sufficient documents respecting rude



nations, we find their kings, without perhaps a single



exception, recognized as the sole proprietors of the



soil. And they quote as their authorities, '







        In Europe







  For Wales, Leges Walliae. c. 337.



  Great Britain. The Bretons while they held the



whole island, Turner's Anglo Saxons, c. 3.



  Gaul and Germany. Caesar, 4. I. To which add



Spain, Portugal, Italy, and all feudal states.







        In Asia.







  For China. Barrow. 397.



  India: Montesq. Sp. L. 14. 6. Scott's Ferishta, vol.



148-495 € 2. Bernier, 189.

















        The Batture at New Orleans       47







Persia. 3. Chardin, 340. Syria and the Turkish



dominions. 2. Volney, 402.







                  In Africa.







For Egypt. Herodot. 2. 109. Volney passim.



Others part of Africa. 4. Hist. gen. des voyages



13. v. do. 7. 5. 17. Mod. Univ. Hist. 322. Parke, 260.







               In America.







 For the Spanish part.  Acosta 6. 15. and 18. Gar-



cilaso, I. 5. I. Carli. letter 15.







 For the United States and the Indian hordes of



our continent, we cite our own knowledge.







 It seems then to be a principle of universal law



that the lands of a country belong to its sovereign



as trustee for the nation. In granting appropriations,



some sovereigns have given away the increments of



rivers to a greater, some to a lesser extent, and some



not at all. Rome, which was not feudal, and Spain



and England, which were, have granted them largely ;



France, a feudal country, has not granted them at



all on navigable rivers. Louis XIV. therefore was



strictly correct when in his edict of 1693, he declared



that the increments of rivers were incontestably his,



as a necessary consequence of the sovereignty. That is



to say, that where no special grant of them to an



individual could be produced, they remained in him,



as a portion of the original lands of the nation, or as



new-created' lands, never yet granted to any indi-



vidual. They are unquestionably a regalian, or

















48        Jefferson's Works







national right, paramount, and pre-existent to the



establishment of the feudal system. That system



has no fixed principle on the subject, as is evident



from the opposite practices of different' feudal na-



tions. The position, therefore, is entirely unfounded,



that the right to them is derived from the feudal law ;.



and it is consequently unnecessary to go into the



proof of what the grants in that country exhibit



palpably enough, that infeudations were partially at



least, if not generally, introduced into Louisiana.



  It ought here to be observed however that, so far



as respects the beds and navigation of rivers, the



right vested in the sovereign is a mere trust, not



alienable. It is not like lands, imposts, taxes, an



article of public property constituting the revenues



of the state, but like roads, canals, public buildings,



reserved for the use of the individuals of the nation.



See an explanation of this subject, Vattel I. 235. 239 







  I have now to advert, and I do it with extreme



regret, to a passage in the very able Memoire of M.



[M. Thiery] Thierry, a Memoire conspicuous for its



learning and sound reasoning, and to



which I acknowledge myself peculiarly indebted for



information on the points he has discussed. He



says, p. 30, "To the ancestors of John Gravier the



right of alluvion belonged not only by virtue of the



Coutumes de Paris, which for two centuries back



acknowledged the principle of the Roman law, and



against which, for that reason, the Ordinances of the



kings of France could with no manner of success be

















        The Batture at New Orleans     49







pleaded, inasmuch as a royal ordinance specially



made that Coutume the civil law of this colony ; but



also by virtue of the Spanish laws, which from 1769,



have been constantly in force in Louisiana. " I.



That the Roman principle of Alluvion was acknowl-



edged by the Coutumes de Paris has not been proved.



The adverse counsel, (Dupon. p. g.] has said indeed,



that those Customs were silent on this subject. But



I have considered Pothier, Guyot, and Le Rasle as



better authority. 2. Mr. Thierry supposes that a



Royal Ordinance having specially made that Cou-



tume the civil law of Louisiana, the Ordinances of



the kings of France were excluded from the system,



and could not control what was Coutume. He had



not; I presume, seen the charter of 1712, which makes



the edicts and ordinances, with the Coutume de Paris;



the law of that province ; nor sufficiently considered



that had the Coutumes been alone established by



one ordinance, another might change them. 3. He



supposes the Spanish laws have given Alluvions to



the riparian proprietor. But the laws of the prov-



ince, established by their charter, were not annulled



by the change of one king for another, as their legis-



lator. The latter might change them. But has



he done so? If he has, his edict must be produced,



that we may weigh its words, and judge of its effects



for ourselves. And we must guard against admit-



ting that the example of a Spanish Governor, if such



example has occurred, occasionally and incorrectly



acting on- the laws of Spain, amounted to a repeal







   VOL. XVIII-4

















50        Jefferson's Works







of the whole system then existing, and a formal es-



tablishment of a different one. No such intention



on his part, to make so momentous a change, should



be so slightly inferred; and no power of his could



effect it, even if intended. Nothing less than an



Ordinance of the Sovereign himself, signed with his



own hand, and sanctioned by all the solemnities



attending their enactment and promulgation, was



competent to reverse at once the legal condition of a



whole people, and the laws under which their 'lives



and properties were held. Again, even such an



ordinance could not change the law as to past rights ;



and those now in question were vested before the



Spanish government took place, and could not be



annulled by a subsequent law. These gratuitous



admissions, therefore, of Mr. Thierry, not at all



necessary to his argument, and therefore probably



not well considered, and in opposition to the opinions



and demonstrations of an able brother counsellor



(Mr. Derbigny), must be disavowed, and the author-



ity of the Ordinance of 1693 insisted on with undi-



minished confidence. Mr. Thierry himself will per-



haps the more readily abandon them, when he sees



with what avidity his eagle-eyed adversary has



pounced upon them in a letter to some member of



the government, in which he considers them as



giving up all ground of opposition to his claims.



 To that edict then I shall now recur; and to the



   [Edict of Louis XIV] of cavils raised against it by the advocates



   of the claims it annihilates. It - is idle





















        The Batture at New Orleans     51







for them to call it bursal, fiscal, and the act of a



tyrant, etc. [Duponc. 10.) as if the authority of laws



was to be graduated by the character of the exist-



ing legislator ; and as if we were to be the judges, for



other nations, of the character and obligation af



their laws. It is vain to pretend that because the



word " Alluvion, " inserted in the enacting clause



of the edict, is not in the preamble, therefore it has



no force in the body of the law: as if the preface,



giving the general reason and views of the law, was



alone to be the law, and its actual enactments a mere



nullity. Although the preamble of a statute is con-



sidered as a key to open the mind of the makers as



to the mischiefs in their view, yet in general it is no



more than a recital of some inconveniences, which



does not exclude any other for which the enacting



clauses provide; nor must the general words of an



enacting clause be restrained by the particular



words of the preamble. 6. Bac. Abr. Statute. I. z.



and the authorities there stated. So says our law;



so says reason; and so must say the Roman law, if



it be ratio scripta. But it is further to be observed



that the words "atterrissements and accroisse-



ments," accumulations and increments, used in this



preamble are generic terms, of which " Alluvion " is



a species, and therefore strictly comprehended by



it. This is proved by the Roman definition, " Allu-



vio est incrementum latens, " " alluvion est un ac-



croissement ou crement imperceptible, " by the



Napoleon code cited by Mr. Livingston:

















52        Jefferson's Works







" Les atterisse-   



[Napoleon code] ments et accroise-           



Code. ments qui se for-              



ment successive-   



ment et imperceptiblement aux   



fonds riverains d`un fleuve, ou   



d'une riviere, s'apellent    Allu-



vion."  556.       











" The accumulations and incre-          



ments which form themselves



successively and imperceptibly



against. the riparian lands of a



river or stream are called Allu-



vion." Sect.  556.











And by the edicts of 1686 and 1689, both of which



have the expression "cremens qui s'y



[Portalis], Sont formes, soit par alluvion, ou par



industrie, etc. And here Portalis's rhetorical flour-



ish, on presenting this law, is cited, [Duponc. 17.



Liv. 22.) with triumph, as declaring that this law



terminates the great question of Alluvion, and de-



cides it conformably to the Roman law. It is very



true indeed that it has terminated the question as



to future cases, by changing the law, by transferring



the right of Alluvion from the sovereign to the



riparian proprietor, by giving the abandoned bed



of a river, as an indemnification to him on whose



land it has opened a new passage, and making this



the future law of all the provinees. And had Louis-



iana then been subject to France, the law would



have been changed thence forward, for Louisiana also.



I find no fault with Napoleon for this Roman predi-



lection. I believe the change is for the better, so



far as concerns rural possessions. A decision too



of the parliament of Bordeaux is quoted by Mr.



Duponceau 19. to prove that the law giving Alluvion



to the adjacent possessor has been acknowledged



in France by the decision of the parliament of

















        The Batture at New Orleans     53







Bordeaux, confirmed, as he has heard, on appeal



by the parliament of Paris. This proves only that



the Roman law of alluvion was the law of the Gen-



erality of Bordeaux, not that it was then the law



of all France. In the country called the Bordelois,



Customary laws prevail. But







"Lorsque la coutume de Bor-          



deaux ne s'est pas expliquee sur     



certains points de droit, ce n'est    



ni a la coutume de Paris, ni a       



d'autres coutumes qu on a recours    



pour les faire decider, mais au      



droit ecrit." Enc. Meth. Jurisp.     



Bordeaux."                          











"When the Custom of Bor-



deaux has not sufficiently ex-



plained itself on certain points of



law, it is neither to the Customs of



Paris, nor to other customs that



recourse is had for decision, but to



the written law," [that is, the



Roman law.]















The inference then is, either that the Coutume de



Bordeaux was the same on this point as the Roman



law, or, that being silent, the Roman law was referred



to.(1)







  Surely never was the urgency of squeezing argu-



ment out of everything so apparent, as in the em-



phasis with which the adverse party presses and com-



merits, [Liv. 32.] on the answers of the several tri-



bunals, to which the Napoleon Code was referred for



consideration and amendment. A dozen tribunals



are named, with an etc. for more, who are acknow-



ledged to have said nothing about alluvion : and this



is produced as proof that it had belonged before to







@# 1 M. Moreau de Lislet assures us that he was in Paris at the time of



the decision of this appeal from Bordeaux, that the decision of Bordeaux



was reversed by the king and council, then referred to the Parliament



p,f Paris, and the reversal confirmed by that body. See his Memoire, 50, @#

















54        Jefferson's Works







the riparian proprietor. But it proves more prob-



ably that these tribunals were contented with the



change proposed, and had no amendment of it to



offer. But, in truth, it proves nothing either the one



way or the other. The tribunal of Paris is then



quoted, with an acknowledgment that they do not



make a single observation on the subject. Then



long extracts from that of Rouen, proposing that



islands, rising in the rivers, shall be given to the ripa-



rian proprietors : and recommendations to the same



effect from those of Toulouse and Lyons. Now it is



remarkable that neither the word "Alluvion, " nor



the idea of the thing, is either expressed or referred



to in any one of these quotations. And yet Mr. Liv-



ingston says, "we find all these learned men either



passing over these articles, as merely declaratory of



the old law, or else expressly acknowledging them as



such ; " and again after the citation from Rouen,



"here we have the positive declaration of a learned



tribunal, etc. , deciding that the edicts did not extend



to alluvions, but only to islands in navigable rivers. "



And yet I repeat that neither the word nor the idea



is to be found in any one of the quotations ; for it is of



these only I can speak, not possessing the book, but



I presume Mr. Livingston's quotations are of the



strongest passages. It is impossible to characterize



such reasoning respectfully. I shall therefore leave



it to the reflection of others. And I think myself



authorized to conclude on the whole, that had the



Batture been really an Alluvion, its ownership was

















        The Batture at New Orleans      55







to be decided by the laws of France : and that Louis



XIV. with the advice of his council, certainly knew



when they declared what the law of their country



" incontestably " wa.s ; and if we, with our scanty



reading on the subject, at this day and distance,



know better than they did, yet the enacting clause



of the edict made it the law thenceforward; that it



came over as law for Louisiana, made the batture, if



an alluvion, the property of the sovereign ; and cer-



tainly the whole tenor of the conduct of the Spanish



government proved that they did not mean to relin-



quish it.







 Before we quit this branch of the discussion, it is



not amiss to observe that the eloquent declamations



of these learned men of Rouen, so much eulogized by



Mr. Livingston, were not at all heeded. The Na-



poleon code, ş 560, retained the islands rising in the



beds of navigable or floatable rivers, and (changing



the French law only as to alluvions) declares,  538,



in opposition to the Roman law, that











 " Les fleuves et rivieres navi- 



gable ou flottables, les rivages,    



lais et relais de la mer, les ports,  



les havres,les rades, etc.,sont con- 



sidres comme le dependances du 



domaine public. " 







" Rivers and navigable or float-



able streams, shores, increments,



and decrements of the sea, ports,



harbors, roads,etc.,are considered



as dependances of the public do-



main."







So that notwithstanding the " persuasive and conclu-



sive arguments of these first lawyers of the country, "



Liv. 3 I, the French law as it stands at this day, and



stood before, would have given the batture to the





















56        Jefferson's Works







public, being unquestionably the 'rivage of shore or



the river.'



@#(1) " Rivage, is most commonly used for the shore of the sea, but cor-



rectly also for the shore of a river.



   " Chaque fleuve, chaque ruisseau



   A partout franchi son rivage." Regnier. Dict. de Richelet. Rivage



   "Le Tybre ecumeux et bruyant



   De sa course fougueuse etonne son rivage." St. Evremont.



  It is particularly so used in Law.      " Sous le nom de rivage est compris



le chemin qui hoit etre entretenu le long des cotes et rivieres navigables,



pour le hallage des bateaux." And again, "droit de rivage, qui est du



sur les marchandises qui abordent au rivage de la ville de Paris."



Dict. de Trevoux, Rivage.          "Sur le rivage de la Seine " Dict. de



l'Academie.







  (2) Little versed in French jurisprudence, possessing few of the authors



teaching it, and, of some of those quoted by the adverse party, so



much only as they have thought to their advantage to quote, I had



apprehended it possible (pa. 29.) that there might be among those



authors, that conflict of opinions on the law of alluvions, which these



quotations indicate. But I have lately had an opportunity of reading



in MS. a Memoire on the subject of the Batture, written by M. Moreau



de Lislet of New Orleans, a French lawyer of regular education in the



profession, who has treated the subject, generally with great learning



and abilities, and especially that branch of it which relates to the laws



of France in cases of Alluvion. He has proved that the doctrines of



these great authorities are not contradictory, and that a proper atten-



tion to the different questions under contemplation in the passages



quoted, will show that all are right, and all in perfect harmony. To



elucidate this he explains certain principles of French law, which



mingling themselves with this subject, have occasioned the misunder-



standing with which we have been perplexed. I. The laws of France



leave to the king a right to navigable rivers only, and their increments.



On rivers not navigable, the rights of the riparian proprietor prevail as



under the Roman law. See Pothier ante. pa. 26. Very early, however,



these rights were drawn into question by the Feudal Superiors, who,



looking to the example of the king in the case of navigable rivers in his



kingdom, claimed similar rights on those not navigable within their



Seignories. But repeated decisions have€condemned their claims, and



confirmed the rights of the riparian tenant. a. By the laws of France,



as by those of England, lands received by inheritance, descend, on the



death of the tenant, to the heirs of that branch, paternal or maternal,  @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans      57







 .I will now proceed further and say, that had the



batture been an alluvion, and to be decided by the







@#from which they came to him. But those he acquires by purchase



(acquets) pass to that line of heirs of which himself is the root. When



therefore, to a maternal inheritance an acquisition happened to be



made by means of Alluvion, a question would arise, between heirs of



different lines, to which of them the Alluvion would descend ; whether



to the direct heirs of the decedent, as being an acquisition first vesting



in him, or to the maternal heir as an accessory to his inheritance. The



decisions were that it united with the inheritance, became a part of



that, and passed with it. " Incrementum alluvionis nbbis adquiritur,



jure quo ager augmentatus primum ad nos pertinebat ; nec istud incre-



mentum censetur novus ager sed pars primi." "The increment of



Alluvion is acquired to us in the right in which the field augmented



first belonged to us." Nor is the increment considered as a new field,



but a part of the first, Renusson. It follows that questions of Alluvion



would often arise in cases wherein the king's rights were not at all



concerned. They would arise between Lord and vassal, and between



individual heirs of different lines. These ' explanations premised,



M. Moreau takes a review of the passages quoted from Henrys, Bourjon,



Dumoulin, Ferriere, Pothier, Le Rasle, Renusson, Dargentre, Denisart,



and Guyot, and shews that in every instance where the question con-



cerned a navigable river, there was no division of opinions as to the



validity of the king's right; and that in every instance where the



riparian right is asserted, the question has been between private indi-



viduals, or concerning rivers not navigable. Recurring then to the



edicts and Ordinances placing this right of the king beyond cavil, he



observes that a practice had prevailed from early times among riparian



proprietors of usurping on the rights of the crown to the increments



adjacent to them, and a necessary reaction of the crown, by reclama-



tions and resumptions, to preserve its own. And he gives a detail of



the edicts on this subject, proving that that of 1693, instead of being



the singular act of a particular prince, whom the adverse party delights



to revile, was one only of a lung series preceding and following it.







1554. An edict was issued requiring the proper officers to be vigilant



    in watching over the king's rights in islands, atterissements,



    et alluvions, comme ils l'ont accoutumes faire d'anciennete.'



    So that it was even then a law and practice d'anciennete, and



    expressly including alluvions.







1664.   An Ordinance for making enquiries concerning islands, accrois-



    sements, etc. @#

















58        Jefferson's Works







Roman, instead of the French law, the conversion of



the plantation of Gravier into a suburb, made it pub-







1668.  Apr. An Edict quieting possessions of these objects of 100 years

continuance, on paying a vingtieme annually.







1669.   The Ordinance deseaux et forets, "qui accorde au roi la propriete de

toutes les rivieres navigables, de leur lit, rives, et detous les terreins qui

peuvents s'y former:" Guyot, ante. pa. 27.



" granting to the king the property in all navigable rivers, their



bed, banks, and the grounds forming there."







1683. Apr. A declaration, reciting that as the rivers belong to the



king " tout ce qui se trouve renferme dans leur lit, comme les



isles, accroissemens et atterissements lui appartient aussi,"



confirms title anterior to 1566 without condition, possessions



anterior te 1566 on conditions, and reunites all others to the



crown.







1686. Apr Two edicts for Languedoc and Bretagne, confirming pos-







1689. Aug.  sessors in the said islands, "ensemble des cremens qui s'y sont

formes, et de ceux qui pourraient s'y former a,l'avenir, soit par alluvion, on

par industrie."







1693. An edict general for the kingdom "le droit de propriete que



nous avons sur tous les fleuves etrivieres navigables etant incon-



testable, etc. Ordonnons que les detenteurs des isles, islots,



atterissemens, accroissemens, alluvions, etc. sur les rivieres navigables,

etc., as more at large, pa. 28.







1710. Feb. An edict confirming possession of islands, etc., of the sea on

specified terms, copied almost verbally from that of 1693,



using the word alluvions as that does, and referring to the pro-



visions of that edict.







1722. Sep. An Arret resuming isles, atterissemens, etc., formed since the edict

of 1693. And those of anterior formation where the



possessor has not made the payments provided by the edict



of 1693.







 But this whole branch of the argument of M. Moreau must be read



with attention. Its matters cannot bc abridged, nor otherwise



expressed, but for the worse.







 Having thus luminously reconciled the authorities which had been



so illy understood, and victoriously established the public right to



alluvions on navigable rivers, M. Moreau, with too much facility, gives



back to his adversary one-half the ground he has conquered, by a



gratuitous admission, which those interested in the event of the causo



are not ready to confirm. Led away, as it seems, by an expression in @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     59







lic property. And here I rejoin with pleasure the



standard of M. Thierry, and avail myself of his lumi-







@#the edict of 1683, "tout ce qui se trouve renferme dans leur lit. nous



appartient," and which is to be found in no other, .and yielding to a



single decision of the Parliament of Paris of 1765, found in a law



dictionary, which adjudged that the Ordinances giving to the king the



isles which are formed "dans le lit," des fleuves et rivieres navigables,



ne lui donnent pas les atterissements et alluvions qui peuvent se former



hors le lit de ces memes fleuves," etc. He admits that though alluvions



within the bed of a river belong to the king, .those without the bed do



not belong to him. M. Moreau is too reasonable to consider as a com-



pliment to himself the adoption of an .opinion on his authority alone



by any one not convinced by his reasonings. Certainly I do not feel



myself competent to enter the lists with 'him, on any question. of diffi-



culty in the French lacy. Yet after maturely considering the authorities



appealed to in this case, and which he has rendered so strong by recon-



ciling and forming them into one mass, I cannot yield, as he does, so



imposing a mass to a single decision of the single Parliament of Paris.



I still must consider all alluvions on navigable rivers as belonging to



the nation, , and will briefly assign my reasons.



(1). It is of the essence of Alluvion .that it be, not in the bed of the



river, but out of it; that is, adjacent to the bank. So say expressly



the Roman and French definitions. "Alluivo est incrementum agro



tuo, flumine adjectum." "l'Alluvion est un accroissement de terrein



qui se fait sur les bords des fleuves, par les terres que l'eau y apporte,



et qui se consolident pour ne faire qu'.un tout avec la terre voisine."



Ante. pa. 26. Increments within the bed of a river, though sometimes



carelessly spoken of under the term alluvion, are never so in correct



language, never in the well weighed diction of ordinances and statutes.



They are termed accroissements, atterissements, assablissements, isles,



islots, javeaux, in French, and in our language shoals, shallows, flats,



b'ars, islands.  Without the bed of the river; they add to the beach, or



to the adjacent field, according to their elevation, and in this last case



only, constitute Alluvion, within the bed of the river they lose that



name.







 (2)." Les alluvions qui se forment dans le. lit des fleuves " is not the



language of the edicts cited by Moreau himself, .not even of that single



one on which this opinion is founded. That has indeed the expression







"dans les lits," but applied, not to alluvions, but to isles, accroisse-



ments, atterissements, to which it is applicable with truth and correct-



ness. These are the kinds of increments it enumerates, and describes @#

















60        Jefferson's Works







nous discussion of this point. Were I fully to go into



it, I could but repeat this matter. I shall therefore







@# as being "dans le lit." If they are enumerated exempli gratia only as



the word comme seems to imply, and alluvions, though not named,



were within the purview, as they are within the reason of the law, then,



if the thing itself is to be understood, as if expressed in the text, its



true description also is to be understood as if expressed, that is to say,



its adjacence to the bank. The edicts of 1686 and 1689 mention "les



isles des rivieres navigables, ensemble les cremens qui s'y sont formes."



That of 1693 says, in like manner, "le droit, etc., sur tout les fleuves,



et les isles et cremens qui s'y sont formes," and again, "isles et alluvions



sur les rivieres navigables, " not ` ' dans leurs lits. " That of 1710 says



"possession des isles et alluvion sur les dites rivieres." Thus we see



that wherever the edicts mention alluvions, they describe them sur le



fleuve, not dans le lit du fleuve. When they speak of those increments



which are dans le lit des fleuves, they name them as accroissemens,



atterissemens, etc., but not as alluvions.







(3). This distinction is founded on a single decision of a single parlia-



ment, and on the authority of a king's advocate, Bacquet, and the



dictum of Salvaing there cited, all perhaps influenced by the same and



single expression in the edict of 1683. It is cited too from a Dictionary



by Prost de Royer, where it is doubtless stated in abridgment only,



and possibly with the omission of circumstances, arguments, and



expressions which, were they before us, would change the aspect of



the case, as M. Moreau himself has shown to be so possible in his review



of the mutilated authorities produced by the adversary. And are we,



for this, to give up the doctrines of Pothier, Denisart, Ferriere, and the



host of other great authorities, and all the definitions of the Roman



and French laws, all of which when speaking of alluvions, place them



exclusively on the borders; and not in the beds of rivers ? I cannot



do it.







 (4). This distinction is new in this cause, having never been claimed



by the plaintiff or his counsel, or suggested by any other who has



treated the question. This naturally begets a suspicion that it is



peculiar; though doubtless the adversary will adopt it with avidity.



And is he entitled to this gratuitous aid ? Is it the equity of his cause,



or even its honesty, or its utility, which gives him this claim on our



tenderness ? I cannot consent to a concession which gives the Batture



from the public in the contingency of its being considered as a real



alluvion, consolidated with, and making part of, the adjacent field.



On the contrary I insist on the public right in this case also, under the  @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     61







give but a summary view of it, and rest on his argu-



ment for its more detailed support.







  The position laid down is that the Roman law gave



alluvion only to the rural proprietor of



the bank ; urban possessions being con- [Rural and Urban]



sidered as praedia limitata, limited possessions. The



law which gives this right is expressed in the Insti-







laws of France, as hitherto understood, and as declared by her highest



authorities.



 (5). I adhere to this ground the more firmly, because I observe, from



another part of his Memoire, pa. 99. that M. Moreau himself seems not



very decided in this new opinion. After stating the mischief of Mr



Livingston's works, he says, "it is to prevent a like abuse that the



Roman and Spanish laws of haute police, which I have cited, are



opposed to every species of works undertaken on the banks of rivers



and navigable streams, the effect of which might be to extend the



limits of riparian fields, compromising the public safety, and injuring



the facility of navigation. It was with this view, and not to create



fiscal resources for himself that Louis XIV. renewed the Ordinances



which ascribed to the sovereign the property in rivers and navigable



streams, and of whatever is contained in their bed. For if it be advan-



tageous to navigation that the king should be proprietor of the islands



which form themselves in navigable rivers, the same interest requires



still more that he should be proprietor of the alluvions and increments



formed along the shore itself, since any ownership of these objects,



except that of the sovereign, might oppose obstacles to the free landing



on the shore, which every one ought to have, and to the use of it which



the law gives to the public."







  Considering this admission then, as doubted by M. Moreau himself



on a second and sounder view of it, I conclude that the law is accurately



laid down by Pothier [ante. pa. 26.] "By our French law, alluvions



formed on the borders of navigable streams and rivers belong to the



king. The proprietors of riparian heritages can have no claim to



them, unless they have documents of the grant made them by the king,



of the right of alluvion along their heritages. With respect to alluvions



formed along the borders of a river not navigable, the property of which



belongs to the proprietors of the neighboring heritage, the dispositions



of the Roman law are to be followed."

















62        Jefferson's Works







tutes in these words, " quod per alluvionem agro tuo



flumen adjecit, jure gentium tibi adquiritur." Inst.



2. 1. 20. " What the river has added, agro tuo, be-



comes yours .by the laws. of nations. " And the Di-



gest 41. 1. 7. 1. in almost the same words says, " quod



per alluvionem agro nostro flumen adjecit, jure gen-



tium nobis adquiritur." In both instances it is to



the possessor agri only that it is given. It becomes,



material therefore to understand rigorously the im-



port of the word ager, in the Roman laws ; and it hap-



pens that its definition is given critically by the same



authority which uses it. "Locus sine aedificio, in



urbe area, rure autem ager appellatur idemque ager,



cum aedificio, fundus dicitur. ' Dig. 50. 16. 211.



" Quaestio est, fundus a possessione, vel agro, vel



praedio quid distet ? " 1b. 115 in notis, " fundus est



ipsum solum: eo si utimur, praedium dicitur: Ager



esse potest sine villa." " Ground, without a build-



ing, in a city is called area, but in the country ager. "



Pliny 1. b : affirms that ager is derived from the Greek



aypos, of the same import. And in the Greek Prag-



matics of Attaliata tit. 45. the law of alluvion uses



"ayos" for ager.     {To avettaio0ntws aia t8 ttotau8, ttpooie0ev



tw aypw u8 ttpooXwois  e5iv ntoi ttookhvois kai euoi apuolel}



Quod



insensibiliter {ta ayp w p8}  per flumen adjectum est, allu-



vionis est, et mihi competit. "What is insensibly



added by the river agro meo is alluvion [adundatio,



adaggeratio] and belongs to me. " In the same title



"{8ttep ev tw aypwoov otteipw oov e5lv}   " What I sow {aypw o8}



agro tuo, in your field, is yours. And stephens, in

















        The Batture at New Orleans      63







his Thesaur. ling. Gr. voce {" 'aypos"} translates it " rus,



ager,' ` {"av aypw} in agro, ruri. {Ee aypp3}, ex agro, rure.



{"Eis aypov,} ln, agrum, rus. " And he cites examples:







{"Nnvs 8e uoi n8' e5nkev ett' ayp8 voooi ttoyios"} Hom. Od (1).



185. " My vessel is stationed in the country, apart



frOm the City. ["Aia to un ueyahas elvai tote ta5 DOAEIE ahh' etti twv ATVnN 

olkelv tov8n 8nuov aoyohov ovta "} Aristo Polit 5.



" Because, the cities not beingthen large, the people



were occupied in the country, where {aypo5} is proved



to be pointedly the contradiction to ,{ttohis}, to wit,



the c`Çuntry to the city. Fromthese definitions it



appears that the word age%,in the law, constantly



means a field, or farm, in the country, and that a city



lot is called area. In' towns, the whole bank and



beach being necessary for public use, the private



right of alluvion would be inadmissible ; and the ad-



verse counsel have been challenged (ThiezÇry, 33.) to



produce a single instance, under the Roman law, of



a claim of Alluvion allowed in a city. To this might



be added a similar challenge as to the laws of Eng-



land These give alluvion on rivers, as the civil law



does, to the riparian proprietor. Bractozi L. z. c. z.



& 1. Fleta. L. 3. c. z. Can they from the volumes of



English law; with which they are so much more fami-



liar, produce one single instance of the private right



of alluvion allowed in a city? In England, I mean,



and not in America, where special circumstances



have prevented attention to the law on this subject,



or the breach of it. And this must be from the rea-



son of the thing alone, because the common law never

















64        Jefferson's Works







having been, like the civil law, reduced to a text, no



verbal criticisms on a text can have co-operated



against the claim.x Repeating, therefore, my refer-







@#  1 Since this was written, I have seen the case of Smart v. the magis-



trates, town council and community of Dundee, reported in 8 Brown's



Reports of Appeals in parl. 119. This was an appeal from the court



of Session in Scotland, to the H. of Lords. The crown of Scotland had



in very ancient times, granted to the Corporation of Dundee, on the



river Tay, the borough, with all the lands and pertinents, the privileges,



profits, customs, ports, and liberties of the river on both sides, as freely



in all respects as is possessed by the borough of Edinburgh over that



of Leith, and in a word, as it seems, every right, power and trust which



the crown could grant.-Smart, the proprietor of a lot bounded on one



side per fluxum maris, or the sea flood, admitting that the sovereign,



as trustee for the public, has a right to prevent all such appropriation



of 'the sea shore, or the banks of navigable rivers as would impede



navigation, render it dangerous or hurt the interests of commerce,



either inland or foreign, and that all private persons or corporations,



having a grant of a port and harbor, possess, to acertain extent, the



same privileges as derived from the sovereign within a defined space



still he insisted on the right of the adjacent proprietor to ground gained



from the sea by its recess, or by his own industry in embanking, or by



any other opus manu factum, not prejudicial to navigation or the estab-



lished rights of others. On the other hand the corporation claimed by



their grant, a right to the seashore adjacent to the town, in trust for



the benefit of the community, to make harbors, basons, and works for



securing them, market places, wharves, wood yards, and other reposi-



tories for the accommodation of the trade, and, for these different



works, to take in sites from the water by embankment, in short, as



standing in place of the crown, that they succeeded to all the cares and



powers of the crown, in the territory and its waters, for the public good ;



and, for that object, were now engaged in making an embankment



adjacent to the Appellant's lot, for the benefit of navigation and com-



merce. They admit the general doctrine of the riparian right to the



soil which may be acquired from a sea or river, by its receding naturally



or by industry : but that this does not apply to the site of a tenement



within a burgh, where the corporation is entitled to all the soil not



expressly granted away: that the words, "per fluxum maris" are but



words of description, which were accurate too at the date of the grant,



but have since become otherwise by a change of character in 'the  @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     65







ence to the reasoning and authorities of M. Thierry



on this point, and my own conviction of their sound-



ness, I consider it as established that, were this ques-



tion to be decided by the Roman law, the conversion



of the farm into a fauxbourg of the city passed to



the public all the riparian rights attached to it while



a rural possession and among these the right of



alluvion.



 And, if the right of alluvion is not given to urban



proprietors, much less would it to a mere



holder of the bed of a road. But did an    



[Principal and accessory]



one ever hear of a man's holding the bed



of a road, and nothing else? Is it possible to believe



that Bertrand Gravier, in selling his lots face au







@#boundary, not in the area granted. They are a limitation of the



subject of the grant in the same way as a road would be, which, if



removed farther off, would not carry the granted subject with it ; or as



the tenement of another would be ; and make it an ager limitatus, not



an ager arcifinius; the particular boundaries being named, not to



limit the coterminous property, but the property granted. The



Appeal was accordingly dismissed by the House of Lords. No argu-



ments of counsel, other than the written pleadings, nor reasons of the



Lords, are reported : but, from this case, (crowded as it is with circum-



stances, many of which are irrelevant to the merits of the question,



and of those relevant not the words but the condensed substance is



here given,) the book says, that the general principle to be gathered is



that "where the sea flood is stated as the boundary of premises granted



on the shore of a sea-port being an incorporated borough, this does not



give the grantee a right to follow the sea, or to the land acquired from



it, or left by it where it has receded, in prejudice of the corporation



having, by their charter, a right vested in them to the whole territory



of the burgh." And consequently, in prejudice of the king, or public,



where no such grant has substituted others in their place: and it



authorizes a strong inference that the English, like the Roman law,



restrains the right of alluvion to the praedium rusticum, not admitting



it on the shores bordering tho city.  @#







   V/b. XVIII--6





















66        Jefferson's Works







fleuve, really meant to retain the bed of the road and



levee ? That a man, having a road on the margin of



his land, which is its boundary, should mean tosell



his land to the road, and to retain that by itself? a



thing of no possible use to him, because the use being



in the public, he could never employ it in agriculture



or otherwise. Were all this possible, yet this bed of



a road, this " labrum amnis " would be no ager, no



field to which the right of alluvion could attach.



That right is but an accessory; or, in the language of



our law, an appendage or appurtenance, and an ac-



cessory, not to a mere line, but to something of



which it can become a part. Had the law, therefore,



ever given alluvion to any but the holder of an ager,



of a field, yet the general doctrines of principal and



accessory, would not have carried the benefit to Ber-



trand Gravier in this case. "Accessorium sequitur



naturam sui principalis. Et in accessoriis, praes-



standa sunt quae in principali. Accessorium non



tenet sine principali. Sublato principali, tollitur et



accessorium." These are maxims of the civil law.



Calvini lexicon jurid. "An accessory follows the



nature of its principal. " If the accession then be



to a field, it becomes part of the field ; if to a town, it



would become part of the town ; if to a road, the use



of which belongs to the public, it would be to the



road, and to the public. It must follow the nature



of its principal, and become a part of that, subject to



the same rights, uses and servitudes with that: and



Bertrand Gravier had no right of use in the principal,



that is, of the road and levee.

















        The Batture at New Orleans     67







 The equity on which the right of alluvion is found-



ed is, that as the owner of the field is exposed to the



danger of loss, he ought, as an equivalent, to have the



chance of gain. But what equitable reason could



there be, in the present case; for giving to Gravier the



benefit of alluvion, when he could lose nothing by



alluvion ? If the levee and bank were washed away,



they would not go to his plantation, back of the sub-



urb, for a new one. The public would have to pur-



chase a new bed for a road from the adjacent lot



holders. Then "qui sentit onus, sentire debet et



commudum. "



 But I do deny to the Batture every



characteristic of Alluvion. [Bench or Batture not Alluvion.]



The French and Roman law constitut-



ing that of the place, let us seek from them the



definition of Alluvion. The Institute 2. 1. 20. gives



it in these words, and the Digest. 41. 1. 7. ş 1. in



almost verbatim the same.







" Quod peralluvionem agro tuo       



flumen adjecit, jure gentium tibi   



adquiritur. Est autem alluvio in-   



crementum latens. Per alluvi-       



onem autem id videtur adjici,       



quod ita paulatim adjicitur, ut     



intelligi non possit quadtum quo-   



quo temporis momento adjici-        



atur."











"what the river adds by allu-



vion to your field becomes yours



by the law of nature. Alluvion is



a latent increase. That seems to



be added by alluvion, which is so



added by degrees, that you cannot



conceive how much in each mo-



ment of time is added."











 And in the Greek version of Theophilis, the words,



" Alluvioest incrementum latens " are rendered



{aho8iwe e5iv n npookhvois n npooXwois"} translated by Curtius

















68        Jefferson's Works







"Alluvio est adundatio vel adaggeratio. " Retaining



only the words of this paragraph which are definition



it will stand thus.







  " Alluvio est incrementum [ad-



undatio, adaggeratio] agro tuo flu-



mine adjectum, ita latens et paul-



atim, ut intelligi non possit quan-



tum quoquo temporis momento



adjiciatur. "







  " Alluvion is an increment [ad-



undation, ad-aggeration] added by



the river to your field, so latent



and gradual, that the quantity



added in every moment of time



cannot be known."







  This is the Roman definition.



  In the Law Dictionary of the Encyclop. Method.



voce "Alluvion, " by Le Rasle, the definition is :







  " Alluvion, un accroissement de



terrein qui se fait peu-a-peu sur



les bords de la mer, des fleuves, et



des rivieres, par les terres que



l'eau y apporte, et qui se con-



solident pour ne faire qu'um tout



avec la terrc voisine."







  "Alluvion, an increment of



ground which is made by little



and little on the border of the sea;



rivers or streams, by earth which



the water brings, and which is



consolidated so as to make but



one whole with the neighboring



ground. "



  To reduce the essential members of the Roman and



French definitions to a single one, according with our



own common sense, for certainly we all understand



what alluvion is, I should consider the following defi-



nition as comprehending the essential character-



istics of both.







s. " Alluvion is an extension



  which the waters add in-



  sensibly.



a. By apposition of particles of



  earth.



3. Against the adjacent field.



4. And consolidate with it so as



  to make a part of it"







  "Incrementum flumine adjec-



tum latens et paulatim.







{ ttpooXwois, adaggeratio.}



{ ttookhvois, adundatio.



Agro.}



  Qui sc consolide pour ne fatre



qu'um tout avec la lerre voisine"

















        The Batture at New Orleans     69







 I take this to be rigorously conformable with the



French and Roman definitions, as cited from the



authorities before mentioned, and that it contains



not one word which is not within their unquestionable



meaning. Now let us try the batture by this test.







  1. " Alluvion is an extension which the waters add



insensibly. " But the increment of the batture has



by no means been insensible. Every swell of six



months is said [Derb xix..] to deposit usually nearly a



foot of mud on the whole surface of the batture, so



that, when the waters retire, the increment is visible



to every eye. And we have seen that, aided by Mr.



Livingston's works, a single tide extended the bat-



ture from 75 to 80 feet further into the river, and de-



posited on it from 2 to 7 feet of mud, insomuch that a



saw-scaffold, 7 feet high when the waters rose on it,



was, on their retiring, buried to its top. This incre-



ment is, surely, not insensible. See the Mayor's



answer to the Governor, Nov. 18, '08. MS.







  2. " By apposition of particles of earth, " or, by their



adhesion. But the addition to the batture is by de-



position of particles of earth on its face, not by their



apposition or adhesion to the bank. It is not pre-



tended that the bank has extended by apposition of



particles to its side, one inch towards the river. It



remains now the same as when the levee was erected



on it. The deposition of earth on the bottom of a



river, can be no more said to be an apposition to its



sides, than the coating the floor of a room can be said



to be plastering its walls.

















70        Jefferson's Works







  3. "Against the adjacent field," la terre voisine.



Not a particle has been added to the adjacent



field. That remains as it was, bounded by the



identical line, crepido, or ora terrae, "hich has ever



bounded it.







 4. "And consolidated with the field so as to make



part of it. " Un tout avec la terre voisine. Even



supposing the continuity of the adjacent field not to



be broken by the intervention of the levee and road,



nothing is consolidated with it, not even with the



margo riparum, or chemin de hallage, if there be any,



between the ievee and brim of the bank. No exten-



sion of its surface has taken place so as to form one



with the former surface, so as to be a continuation of



that surface, so as to be arable like that. The high-



est part of the batture, even where it abuts against



the bank, is still materially below the level of the ad-



jacent field. A terrass of some feet height still sepa-



rates the field from the deposition called the batture.



It is now as distinguishable from the adjacent field as



it ever was, being covered with water periodically six



months in the year, while that is dry. Alluvion is



identified with the farmer's field, because of identity



of character, fitness for the same use : but the batture



is not fitted for ploughing or sowing. It is 'clear then



that the batture has not a single feature of Alluvion ;



and divesting it of this misnomer, the whole claim of



the plaintiff falls to the ground : for he has not pre-



tended that it could be his under any other title than



that of Alluvion.

















        The Batture at New Orleans      71







 We will now proceed to shew what it is, which will



further demonstrate what it is not.







  In the channel, or hollow, containing a river, the



Roman law has distinguished the alveus, or bed of the



river, and the ripa, or bank, the river itself



being aqua, water. "Tribus constant flu-                           [Bed, Beach,

Bank.]



mina, alveo, aqua, et ripis." Dig. 43. 12.



not. 1. All above high water mark they considered



as ripa, bank, and all below as alveus, or bed. The



same terms have the same extent in the language of



our law likewise. But we distinguish, by an addi-



tional name, that band, or margin of the bed of the



river, which lies between the high and the low water



marks. We call it the beach. Other modern na-



tions distinguish it also. In Spanish it is playa, Ital.



piaggia, in French plage, in the local terms of Orleans



it is batture, and sometimes platin.(1) In Latin I know







@#(1) Etymologies often help us to the true meaning of words ; and where



they agree in several languages, they shew the common sense of man-



kind as to the meaning of the word. In French Batture is derived from



Battre, to beat, being the margin on "hich the surges beat. In English



Beach, is from the Anglo-Saxon verb Beodian, Beacian, beatian, to



beat: pronounced beachian, as christian, fustian, question, are pro-



nounced chrischian, fuschian, queschion, etc.







 In Spanish Playa,}



   Italian Piaggia,}    are from {tthaya tthnyeis.



   French Plage,}







       Platin  from {tthnttelv,} percuture. Perhaps from Plat,



            F. flat.







 Greek, {aiyeiahos, aktn}, from {ayeliv,} agree.







      0Iv, Oivis, a 0eivw, ferio, quia littus fluctibus feritur. Clav.



       Homer. A. 34.



      {Pnyuiv, apnoow}, frango. quia in litore fluctus frangitur.



       Ib. v. .437.

















72        Jefferson's Works







of no term which applies exactly to the beach of a



river. Litus is restrained to the shore of the sea, and



there comprehends the beach, going to the water



edge, whether at high or low tide. "Litus est maris,



ripa fluminis, " says Vinnius in his Commentatory on



the Inst. 2. 1. 4. and he confirms this difference of



extent towards the water, ibid. where he says,







  "Neque vera idem est ripa in 



flumine, quod litus in mari. Ripa 



flumini non subjicitur, ut litora 



subjiciuntur mari, et quotidianis 



accessibus ab eo occupantur."                     







"Nor is the bank of a river, and



the shore of the sea, the same



thing. The bank is not subjacent



to the river as the shores are to the



sea, which are occupied by it in its



daily accesscs. "







  In our rivers, as far as the tide flows, the beach is



the actual, as well as the nominal bed of the river,



during the half of every day. Above the flow of tide,



it is covered half the year at a time, instead of half of



every day. The tide there being annual only, or one



regular tide in a year. This, in the State where I am,



begins about the first of November, is at its full tide



during the months of January and February, and



retires to its minimum by the end of April. In other



States from North to South, this progression may



vary a little. Hence we call them the Summer and



Winter tides, as the Romans did theirs, hibernus et



aestivus. The Mississippi resembles our fresh water



rivers in having only one regular swell or tide a year.



It differs from them in not being subject to occasional



swells. The regions it waters are so vast that aeci-



dental rains and droughts in one part are counter-



vailed by contrary accidents in other parts, so as

















        The Batture at New Orleans   73







never to become sensible in the river. It is only



when all the countries it occupies become subject to



the general influence of summer or winter, that a reg-



ular and steady flood or ebb takes place. It differs



too in the seasons of its tides, which are about three



months later than in our rivers. Its swell begins with



February, is at its greatest height in May, June, and



July, and the waters retire by the end of August. Its



high tide, therefore, is in summer, and the low water



in winter. Being regular in its tides, it is regular



also in the period of its inundations. Whereas in



ours, although the natural banks rarely escape being



overflowed at some time of the season, yet the pre-



cise time varies with the accident of the fall of rains.



But it is not the name of the season but the fact of



the rise and fall which determine the law of the case.







  Now the batture St. Mary is precisely within this



band, or  margin, between the high and low water



mark of the Mississippi, called the beach. It extended



from the bank into the river from 122 to 247 yards,



before Mr. Livingston began his works, and these



have added in one year, from 75 to So feet to its



breadth. This river abounds with similar beaches,



but this one alone, from its position and importance



to the city, has called for a legal investigation of its



character. Every country furnishes examples of



this kind, great or small; but the most extensive are



in Northern climates. . The beach of the Forth, for



example, adjacent to Edinburgh, is a mile wide, and



is covered by every tide with 20 feet water. Abtund-

















74        Jefferson's  Works







ance of examples of more extensive beaches might be



produced ; many doubtless from New Hampshire and



Maine, where the tide rises 40 feet. This therefore of



St. Mary is not extraordinary but for the cupidity



which its importance to the city of New Orleans has



inspired.







  I shall proceed to state the authorities on which



this division between the bank and bed of the river is



established, and w hich makes the margin or beach a



part of the bed of the river.







  "Ripa est pars extima alvei;



qua naturaliter flumen excurrit."



Grotius de Jour. B. et P. 2. 8. 9.



  " Ripa ea putatur esse quae ple-



nissimum flumen continet." Dig.



43. 12. 3. And Vinnius's com-



mentary on this passage is " ut



significet, partem ripae non esse,



spatium illud, ripae proximum,



quod aliquando flumine, caloribus



minuto aestivo tempore non occu-



patur: "



  "Ripa autem ita recte definie-



tur, id quod flumen continet natu-



ralem rigorem' cursus sui tenens



Caeterum si quando vel imbribus,



vel mari, vel qua alia ratione, ad



tempus excrevit, ripas non mutat.



Nemo denique dixit Nilum, qui



incremento suo AEgyptum operit,



ripas suas mutare, vel ampliare.



Nam cum ad perpetuam sui men-



suram redierit, ripae alvei ejus







  "The bank is the outermost



part of the bed in which the river



naturally flows. "



  "That is considered to be bank,



which contains the river when



fullest," and Vinnius's commen-



tary on this passage is "this sig-



nifies that the space next to the



bank, which is sometimes not



occupied by the river, when re-.



duced by heats in the summer



season, is not a part of the bank."



  " The bank may be thus rightly



defined, that which contains the



river holding the natural direc-



tion of its course. But, if at any



time, either from rains, the sea,.



or any other cause, it has over-



flowed a time, it does not change



its banks. Nobody has said



that the Nile, which by its in-



crease covers Egypt, changes or



enlarges its banks. For when it







@# (1)Rigor, a rectitudine dicitur, et est cursus aquae rectum profluentis



tenorem significans. Sic vigor stillicidii rectus ejus fluxus est. Calvini



Lexicon juridicum, rigor. I have therefore translated it "direction." @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans      75











muniendae sunt." Dig. 43. 12



 5,



" Alveus flumine tegitur. " Grot



de jur. B. ac P. 2. 8. 9.







 " Alveus est spatium illud flu-



mini subjectum per quod fluit."



Vinnii Partitiones jur. Civil. 1. 17.







has returned to its usual height,



the banks of its bed are to be



secured."



  " The bed is covered by the



river. "



  "The bed is the space, subja-



cent to the river, through which



it flows. "







  Litus, in the Roman law, being the beach or shore



of the sea, "rivage, " definitions of that will corrobo-



rate the division between the ripa and alveus, bed and



bank of a river. In both cases what is covered by



the highest tide belongs to the public, all above it is



private property.







  " Litus est quousque maximus



fluctus a mari pervenit. Idque



Marcum Tullium aiunt, cum ar-



biter esset, primum constituisse."



Dig. 50. 16. 96.



  " Est autem litus maris qua-



tenus hibernus fluctus maximus



excurrit." Inst. 2. 1. 3. the para-



phrase of Theophilus adds, "unde



et aestate, usque ad ea loca litus



definimus," and his Scholiast sub-



joins " non ut mediis caloribus



solet, sed hibernus ; quoniam



hieme protissimum mare turba-



tur, mare est undabundum."







  " The shore is as far as the



greatest wave of the sea reaches;



and it is said that Marcus Tullius



first established that when he was



an Arbiter. "



  ' ` The shore of the sea is as far



as the greatest winter wave



reaches." The paraphrase of The-



ophilus adds, "wherefore, in sum-



mer also, we bound the shore by



the same limits, and his Scholiast



subjoins, "not the wave of mid-



summer, but of winter; because



the sea is most agitated, and most



swelled."







  "By shore, the Institutes mean up to the high-



water mark, or (where little or no tides, as in the



Mediterranean) as high as the highest winter wave



washes. 1. Brown's Civil and Admiralty law. B. 2.



C. I.



  We must not, however, with Mr. Livingston, pa.

















76        Jefferson's Works







61, seize on the single word "hibernus, " in the last



quotations, and sacrifice to that both the fact, and



the reason of the law. The substance of the fact on



which the law goes, is that there is a margin of the



bed of the river, covered at high water, uncovered at



low. The season when. this happens is a matter of



circumstance only, and of immaterial circumstance.



In the rivers familiar to the Romans the maximus



fluctus, or highest wave, was in the winter; in the



Mississippi it is in summer. Circumstances must



always yield to substance. The object of the law is to



reserve that margin to the public. But to reduce,



with Mr. Livingston, the public right to the Summer



water-line would relinquish that object. The ex-



planations quoted from Vinnius, from Theophilus



and his Scholiast, prove from the reason of the law,



that the law of the winter tide for the Po, and the



Tyber, must be that of the Summer tide of the Missis-



sippi. The Spanish law therefore, is expressed in



more correct terms : and we have the authority of Mr.



Livingston [ibidem] for saying that the Justinian



code is the common law of Spain.







 "La ribera del rio se entiende 



todo lo que cubre el agua de el, 



quando mas crece, en qualquiera



tiempo del ano, sin salir de su 



yema y madre." Curia Philipica. 



2. 3. 1. cited Derb. 46. 







"The bank of n river ia under-



stood to bc the whole of what



contains its waters, when most



swelled, in whatsoever time of the



year, without leaving its bed or



channel."











 This is the law correctly for all rivers, leaving



every one its own season of flood or ebb,

















        The Batture at New Orleans      77







 To these authorities from the Roman and Spanish



law, I will add that of the French Ordinance of 1681.



 43. Art. I. on the same subject.







  "Sera repute bord ct rivage do



la, mer, tout ee qu elle couvre et



decouvre [precisely the beach or



batture] pendant les nouvelles et



plcinec lunes, et jusqu'ou le grand



flot de mer cesse de s'y faire sentir.



I1 est facile de connoitre jusqu'ou



"etend ordinairement le grand flot



de Mars, par le gravier qui y est



depose; ainsi il ne faut pas con-



fondre cette partie avec l'espace



ou parvient quelque fois l'eau de



la mer par les ouragans, et par les



tempetes. Ainsi juge a Aix le 11.



Mai 1742." Boucher, Institut au



droit Maritime 2713. Nouveau



Commentaire sur l'Ordonnance de



la Marine. de 1681. tit. 7. Art. x.







  "The border and shore of the



sea shall bc reputed to be the



whole which it covers and un-



covers [precisely the beach or bat-



ture] during the new and full



moons, and as far as to where the



full tide of the sea ceases to be



perceived. It is easy to know



how far ordinarily the full tide of



March extends; by the gravel



which ic deposited there; there-



fore we must not confound that



part with the space where the



waters of the cea come sometimes



in hurricanes and storms." So



adjudged at Aix, May 11, 1742.











  Let us now embody those authorities, by bringing



together the separate members, making them para-



phrase one another, and form a single description.



The Digest 4 3. 12. 3. with Vinnius 's comment will



stand thus. "The bank ends at the line to which the



water rises at its full tide; and although the space



next below it is sometimes uncovered by the river,



when reduced by heats in the summer season, yet



that space is not a part of the bank. " Now, sub-



stituting for "the heats of the summer season" which



is circumstance, and immaterial, the term "low



water, " which is the substance of the case, nothing



can more perfectly describe the beach or batture, nor

















78        Jefferson's Works







collated with the other authorities, make a more con-



sistent and rational provision. "The bank ends at



that line on the levee to which the river rises at its



full tide : and although the batture or beach next below



that line is uncovered by the river, when reduced to



its low tide, yet that batture or beach does not



therefore become a part of the bank, but remains a



part of the bed of the river, " for says Theophilus



"even in low water .[et aestate) we bound the bank at



the line of high .water. " Inst. 2. 1. 3. "The. bank



being the extina alvei, the border of the bed, within



which bed the river flows when in its fullest state



naturally, that is to say, not when "imbribus, vel qua



alia ratione, ad ternpus, excrevit," not when "tem-



porarily overflowed by extraordinary rains, etc."



Dig. 43. 12. 5. but " quando mas crece, sin salir de su



madre, en qualquiera tiempo del ano," "when in its



full height, without leaving its bed, to whatsoever



season of the year the period of full height may be-



long. " This is unquestionably the meaning of all



the authorities taken together, and explaining one



another.







  From these authorities, then, the conclusion is



most rigorously exact, that all is river, or river's bed,



which is contained between the two banks, and the



high water line on them; and all is bank which em-



braces the waters in their ordinary full tide.







  Agreeably to this has been the constant practice



and extent of grants of lands on the Mississippi.



Charles Trudeau swears [Liv. 57. ] that " during twen-

















        The Batture at New Orleans     79







ty-eight years that he has performed the functions



of Surveyor General of this province, it has always



been in his knowledge, that the grants of lands on the



borders of the Mississippi, have their fronts on the



edge of the river itself, and when its waters are at



their greatest height." And Laveau Trudeau [Liv. 58.]



that "the concession to the Jesuits, he believes, was



like all the others, that is, from the river at its great-



est height. " 







 Thus we see what the law is ; that it has been per-



fectly understood in the territory, and has been



constantly practiced on, and consequently that



neither the grant to the Jesuits, nor to Bertrand



Gravier, could have included the beach or batture.







  It will perhaps be objected that, establishing the



commencement of the bank at high



water mark, leaves in fact no bank at                              



         [Mississippi.]







all, as the high water regularly overflows the



natural bank or brim of the channel. And will it



be a new phenomenon to see a river without banks



sufficient to contain its waters at their full tide ?



The Mississippi is certainly a river of a character



marked by strong features. It will be very prac-



ticable, by exaggerating these, to draw a line of



separation between this and the mass of the rivers



of our country, to consider it as sui generis, not sub-



ject to the laws which govern other rivers, but



needing a system of law for itself. And until this



system can be prepared it may be abandoned to



speculations of death and devastation like the pres-

















80        Jefferson's Works







ent. But will this be the object of the sound judge



or legislator it is certainly for the good of the whole



nation to assimilate as much as possible all its parts,



to strengthen their analogies, obliterate the traits



of difference, and to deal law and justice to all by



the same rule and same measure. The bayous of



that territory and of the country thence to Florida



Point are without banks to contain their full tides.



The Mississippi is in the like state as far as Baton



Rouge, where competent banks first rise out of the



waters, and continue with intervals of depression



to its upper parts: Many of the rivers of our mar-



itime states are under circumstances resembling



these. The channel which nature has hollowed for



them is not yet deep enough, or the depositions of



earth on the adjacent grounds not yet sufficiently



accumulated, to raise them entirely clear of the



flood tides. Extensive bodies of lands, still marshy



therefore, are covered by them at every tide. In



some of these cases, the hand of man, regulated by



laws which restrain obstructions to navigation and



injury to others, has aided and expedited the opera-



tions of nature, by raising the bank which she had



begun, and redeeming the lands from the dominion



of the waters. The same thing has been done on



the Mississippi. An artificial bank of 3, 4, or 5 feet



has been raised on the natural one, has made that



sufficient to contain its full waters, and to protect a



fertile and extensive country from its ravages:



These are become the real banks of the river, an

















        The Batture at New Orleans    81







which the laws operate as if the whole was



natural. The Nile, like the Mississippi,   [Nile]



has natural banks, not competent in every part to



the conveyance of its waters. In these parts arti-



ficial banks are, in like manner, raised, through



which and the natural bayous and artificial canals



the inundation, when at a given height, is admitted;



this being indispensable to fertilize the lands in a



country where it never rains. And these banks of



the Nile, natural and artificial, are recognized as such



by the Roman law, as appears in a passage of the



Digest before cited, declaring that its banks, though



inundated periodically, are not thereby changed.



Nor are those of our rivers when temporarily over-



flowed by rains, or other causes. Wherever, there-



fore, the banks of the Mississippi have no high water



line, the objection is of no consequence, because the



lands there are .not as yet reclaimed or inhabited;



and wherever they are reclaimed, the objection is



not true; for there a high-water line exists to sep-



arate the private from public right.(2)







@#(1)Justum incrementum [Nilij est cubitorum xvl; in xll. cubitis



famem sentit : in xiii etiamnum esurit : xiv cubita hilaritatem afferunt :



xv securitatem: xvi delicias: maximum incrcmentum, ad hoc aevi,



fuit cubitorum xviii. cum stctere aquae, apertis molibus admittuntur.



Plin. hist. nat. 59.







(2) This part of our subject merits fuller development. That the



periodical overflowings of some rivers do not differ from the accidental



overflowings of others, in any circumstance which should affect the



law of the high water line, in the one more than in the other, will be



rendered more evident by taking a comparative view of them. To



begin with ordinary rivers. I. These have along their greater part;



and some of them through their whole course, natural banks adequate @#







  VOL. XVIII-6

















82        Jefferson's Works







Having ascertained what the batture is not, and



what it is, and established the high water



 [Property in bed and bank.] 



mark as the line of partition between the



bed and bank of the river, we will proceed







@#to the confinement of their waters, in the high water season, except in cases

of accidental inundation. Here, then, the Roman authorities



tell us the inundation does not change the bank, nor the landmark



on it. z. Along other parts, where the natural bank was not high



enough to contain the river in its season of steady high water, the



hand of man has raised an artificial bank on the natural one, which



effects this purpose, with the exception as before, of accidental inun-



dations, where such happen. This artificial bank performs all the



functions of the natural, and is placed under the same law. 3. In



other parts of them, the natural banks are still not high enough to



contain the high tides, nor have they yet been made so by the hand of



man. Here then the law cannot operate, because the local peculiarities



as yet, exclude the case from its provisions. The ground so covered



by inundation, has been, or may yet be, public property. But the



legislator, instead of holding it as the bed of the river, grants it to



individuals as far as to the natural or incipient bank, that they, by



completing the bank, may reclaim the land, for their own and the



public benefit, and, this done, the law comes into action on it. Much



of this reclaimed, and unreclaimed land exists in all these states.







  I proceed next to rivers of particular character. Of which among



those analogous to the Mississippi, the Nile is best known to us, and shall



be described. That 'river entering Upper Egypt at its Cataracts, flows



through a valley of 20 or 30 miles wide, and of 450 miles in length,



bounded on both sides by a continued ridge of mountains. Through



most of this course, its natural banks are sufficient to contain its waters



in time of flood, till they rise to that height, at which, by their law



they are to be drawn off. In low parts, where the natural banks are



not sufficient, they have been raised by hand to the necessary height.



In addition also to the natural bayous, like those of the Mississippi, they



have opened numerous canals, leading off at right angles from the river



towards the mountains, and sufficient to draw off the greatest part of



the current passing down. the river. These, in ordinary times, are



closed by artificial banks raised to the level of the natural ones. When



the flood is at a height sufficient for irrigating, and fertilizing the fields,



which by the Nilometer is at I 6 cubits above the bed of the river, these



artificial banks are cut, and the waters let in. The plain declining @#

























       The Batture at New Orleans 83







to examine to whom belongs ground on either side



of that line ?







@#gently from the banks of the river, (which, like those of the Mississippi,



are the highest ground,) towards the mountains, the waters are there



stopped, as by a dam, and continue to rise, and diffuse themselves till



they reflow nearly to the bank of the river. If the rise ceases there,



the waters remain stagnant, and deposit a fertilizing mud, over the



whole surface. But if uncommon rains above occasion a continuance



of the rise till all the waters meet over the summits of the banks, then



the motion of that in the river is communicated to the stagnant water



on the plains, a general current takes place, and instead of a depositum



left, the former soil is swept away to the ocean, and famine ensues that



year. This, the traveller Bruce informs us; had happened three times



within the 30 years preceding his being in that country. W hen the



waters have withdrawn, and the river is returned into its natural bed,



the banks are repaired in readiness to restrain the floods of the ensuing



year. Such is the case in Upper Egypt. When the river enters Lower



Egypt, it parts into two principal branches, the Pelusian and Canopic,



which diverge and reach the Mediterranean at about 200 miles apart,



including between the triangle called the Delta. Besides these, there



are, within the Delta, three natural Layous, and two canals, dry at low



water, which make up the famed seven mouths of the Nile. The



mountains diverge so as do the main branches of the river, the eastern



going off to the isthmus of Suez, and the Western to the sea near



Alexandria. The waters lessened by depletion, and spreading over a



widening plain are reduced, by the time they reach the base of the



triangle at the sea, to one or two cubits depth. Banks, therefore, of



3 to 4 feet high, are sufficient to protect the country until here also they



open the bayous and canals which intersect the triangle. Here, then,



the case recurs of a river whose natural banks are partly competent to



contain its high waters in common floods, and are partly made so by



the hand of man; so as to furnish an ordinary high water line. In



extraordinary floods it overflows these banks, and in ordinary ones is



let through them. Yet these inundations as the Digest declares, do



not change the banks. `Nemo dixit Nilum ripas suas mutare," etc.



But when the river retires within its natural bed, the banks are again



repaired: "cum ad perpetuam sui mensuram redierit, ripae alvei ejus



muniendae sunt," ib. [See a. Herodot. 6-19. Strabo 788. 1 Univ.



Hist. 391-413. I Maillet Description de l'Egypte 14- 121. r De la



Croix 338. Encyclop. Meth. Geographie. Nil. I Savary 3-14. 2



Savary 185-275. 1 Volney 34-48. 4 Bruce 364-407-] @#

















84        Jefferson's Works







 And 1. As to the bed of the river, there can be



no question but that it belongs purely and simply to



the sovereign, as the representative and trustee of



the nation. If a navigable river indeed deserts its



bed, the Roman law gave it to the adjacent propri-



etors ; the former law of France to the sovereign ;



and the new code gives it as an indemnity to those







@# (1). The Upper Missisippi, like the Upper Nile, has competent natural



banks through probably three-fourths of its whole course. There, then,



the Roman law is applicable in its very letter. 2. For about 400 miles



more, the natural banks have been aided by artificial ones, on both



sides, so as to contain all the waters of the flumen plenissimum : and



the inhabitants there have no occasion as those of the Nile, to open



their banks for the purpose either of fertilizing, ox irrigating the lands.



Here, then, is still less reason, than in the case of the Nile, to say that



"the Mississippi there has changed its bank." 3. On the lower parts of



the Mississippi and some of its middle portion, especially on the western



side, artificial banks have not yet been made, and the country is



regularly inundated, as it is on those parts of our Atlantic rivers not



yet embanked. But our increasing population will continue to extend



these banks of our Atlantic rivers; and, for this purpose, our govern-



ments grant the lands to individuals. And the same, we know, is done



on the Mississippi. The Gyprieres adjacent to New Orleans, for example,



though covered with the refluent water from the lake, we know have



been granted to individuals, and will, with the rest of the drowned



lands, be reclaimed in time, as all lower Egypt has been.







  Thus, then, we find the laws of the Tyber and Nile transferred and



applied to the Mississippi with perfect accordance, and that all rivers



may be governed by the same laws. Other rivers are subject to acci-



dental floods, which are declared however not to disturb the law of the



plenissimum flumen. The Nile and Mississippi, not being subject to



accidental floods, the flumen plenissimum with them is steady and



undisturbed, and needs not the benefit of the exception. Nor will the



reason of the law be changed, whether the cause of the inundation be



the saturation of the earth and fountains, or rains, or melted snows, or



the reflux of the ocean. The principle remains universally the same,



that the land mark, when once established by a competent bank, is not



changed by the inundation, or by any cause or circumstance of its



high waters. @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans     85







through whose lands the new course is opened. But,



while it is occupied by the river, all laws, I believe,



agree in giving it to the sovereign; not as his per-



sonal property, to become an object of revenue, or



of alienation, but to be kept open for the free use of



all the individuals of the nation.







"Flumina omnia, et portus,         



publica sunt." Inst. 2. I. 2.     



" Impossibile est ut alveus flu-   



minis publici non sit publicus."   



Dig.43. 12.7.                      



"Litus publicum est eatenus        



qua maximus fluctus exaestuat."     



Dig. go. 16. 96. 112.







"All rivers and ports are



public."



" It is impossible that the bed



of a public river should not be



public."



"The seashore is public as far



as the greatest wave surges."











 And " litus " we have seen is the beach or shore



of the sea.







 "As to navigable streams and rivers, on which



boats can ply, the property of them is in the king,



as an incontestable right, naturally attached to the



sovereignty; and since public things belonged to



the people in the Roman republic, amongst us (in



France) they must belong to our Sovereigns. "



Julien, cited by Thierry 10. And Prevost de la



Jannes, in his Principles of French Jurisprudence,



after having said that the property of public things



belongs to the king adds " subject to the use thereof



that is due to the people." Thierry, ib.



 In like manner, by the common law of England,



the property, tam avuae quam soli, of every river,



having flux or reflux, or susceptible of any naviga-



tion, is in the king; who cannot grant it to a subject.

















86        Jefferson's Works







because it is a highway, except for purposes which



will increase the convenience of navigation. "The



king has a right of property to the sea shore, and the



maritima incrementa. The shore is the land lying



between high water and low water mark in ordinary



tides, and this land belongeth to the king de jure



communi, both in the shore of the sea, and shore of



the arms of the sea. And that is called an arm of



the sea where the tide flows and reflows, and so far



only as the tide flows and reflows." Hale de jure



maris. c. 4. cited in Bac. Abr. Praerog. B. 3.







  So that I presume no question is to be made but



that the bed of the Mississippi belongs to the sover-



eign, that is, to the nation.







  2. In the bank, from the high water line inland,



it is admitted that the property or ownership, is in



the Riparian proprietor of the adjacent field or farm :



but the use is in the public, for the purposes of navi-



gation and other necessary uses.







  "Riparum quoque usus publi-



cus est jure gentium [i. e. gentis



humanae] sicut ipsius fluminis:



itaque naves ad eas appellere,



funes arboribus ibi natis religare,



onus aliquod in his reponere, cui-



libet liberum est, sicut per ipsum



flumen navigare. Sed proprietas



earum, illorum est, quorum prae-



d€s haerent : qua de causa arbores



quoque in eisdem natae eorundem



sunt." Inst. 2. 1. 4. And Vin-



nius adds "non ut litora maris,



ita ripas, conditionem fluminis



sequi. "







  " The use of the bank is public



by the law of nations [i. e. of



nature] as to navigate the river



itself. Therefore it is free for



every one to bring his ships to at



them, to make fast ropes to the



trees growing there, to discharge



any load on them. But the prop-



erty of them is in those to whose



farms they adhere; for which



reason the trees likewise growing



on them, belong to the same."



And Vinnius adds "the banks do



not, like the shores of the sea,



follow the condition of the river,"

















        The Batture at New Orleans    87







"Publica sunt flumina, portus,       



alveus fluminis quamdiu a flumine   



occupatus, ripae. Harum rerum         



omnium, proprietas nullius, si        



inno ripas exciperis, quarum proprietas   



eorum est qui prope ripam praedia     



possidunt." Vinn€ Part. jur. L.      



1. C. 17.                            



"Rivers, harbors, the beds of



rivers as long as occupied by the



river, and the banks are public.



The property of all these is



one, if you will except the banks,



the prope: ty of which is in those



who poscess the farms on the



bank."











  " Rivers, streams, high roads belong to all men



in common; and although the soil of the banks of



the rivers be an accession to the property of the



owners of the contigunus land, yet all men may



make use of them so far as to make fast their ves-



sels to the trees which grow there, to repair them,



and spread their sails on the banks; and they may



there discharge their goods. Fishermen have also



a right to dry their nets there, to expose their fish



for sale on the banks, and in general to use them for



every purpose of their art, or the occupation by



which they live. " 3 Part id. 28. 6. cited Thierry g.







  " The same usefulness of the navigation of rivers



demands the free use of their banks, so that in the



breadth and length necessary for the passage and



track of the horses which draw the boats, there be



neither tree planted nor any other obstacle in the



way." Domat, Pub. law. 1. 8. 2. 9. To moor



their vessels, spread their sails, unlade, sell their



fish, etc. , are here mentioned for example only, and



not as a full enumeration of the variety of uses



which, flowing from the public rights, may be exer-



cised by them. In England it is said to have been



decided that the public have no common-law right

















88 Jefferson's Works







to tow upon the banks of navigable rivers. 3 Term.



Rep. 253. cited Bac. Abr. highways A.







  These authorities are so clear that they need no



explanation. The text is as plain as any commen-



tary can make it. '







  But there is an important limitation to these



rights. Every individual is so to use them as not







 [Limitation of the rights of property] to obstruct others in their equal

enjoy-



ment. The space every one occupies



on the bank or bed, as in a highway, a



market, a theatre, is his for reasonable temporary



purposes, but not to be held permanently. The



adjacent landholder may repair or fortify his bank



to protect his land from inundation, but under the



control of the magistrate, that his neighbors be not



injured. He cannot divert the course of the stream,



or even draw off water from it, to the injury of the



navigation; nor erect any work which shall incom-



mode the harbor or quai. ,







  "Ne quid in flumine publico,



ripave ejus, facias, ne quid in flu-



mine publico, neve in ripa ejus



immittas, quo statio, iterve nav-



igio deterior sit. Dig. L. 43. t. 12.



1. I. Stationem dicimus a statu-



endo: is igitur locus demon-



stratur, ubicunque naves tuta



starc possunt. ib.  13.



  "Deterior statio, itemque iter



navigio fieri videtur, si usus ejus



corrumpatur. vel difficilior fiat,



eut minor, vel rarior, aut ci in



totum auferatur. Proinde, civc







  " You are not to do any thing in



a public river, or on its banks, you



are not to cast any thing into a



public river, or on its banks,



which may render the station, or



course of a ship worse. It is



called a station, from statuere, to



place: that place is .intended



where ships may safelystay.



  "The station and course of a



ship seems to be rendered worse,



if its use be destroyed, or made



more difficult, or less, or scantier,



or if it be wholly taken away.

















        The Batture at New Orleans     89











derivatur aqua, ut exiguior facta



minus sit navigabilis, vel si dila-



tetur, aut diffusa, b evem aquam



faciat; vel contra sic coanguste-



tur, et rapidius flumen faciat: vel



si quid aliud fiat, quod naviga-



tionem in ommodet, difficiliorem



faciat, vel prorsus impediat, inter-



dicto locus erit. " Dig. 43. 12. 15.







  "Molino, nin canal, nin casa,



nin torre, nin cabana, nin otro



edificio ninguno, non puede nin-



guno home facer nuevamente en



los rios por los quales los homes



andan con sus navios, nin en las



riveras dellos, porquc se embar-



rasse el uso comun dellos. E si



alguno lo ficiesse y de nuevo, 6



fuessc fccho antiguamentc, dc que



viniesse dano al uso comunal,



debe ser deribado. Ca non seria



cosa guisada que el pro de todos



los omes communalmentc se estor-



basse por la pro de algunos." Par-



tidas. 3. 28. 8. cited Derb. 48.



Poydras 12.







Moreover, if water be drawn off,



so that, being scantier, it is less



navigable, or if it be dilated, or



spread out, so as to make the



water shallow, or if on the other



hand it be so narrowed as to make



the river more rapid; or if any



thing else be done which incom-



modes the navigation, makes it



worse, or wholy impedes it, there



is ground for Interdict. "







  "Mill, nor canal, nor house, nor



tower, nor cabin, nor. other build-



ing whatsoever, may any man



make newly in the rivers along



which men go with their vessels,



nor on their banks, by which their



common use may be embarrassed.



And if any one does it anew, or



were it anciently done, so that



injury is done to the common use,



it ought to be destroyed. For it



would not be meet that the benefit



of all men in common should be



disturbed for the benefit of some. "



  The owner of lands on the bank of a river may,



however, make or repair a bank to protect them



from the river.







  " Quamvis fluminis naturalem



cursum, opere manu facto alio,



non liceat avertere, tamen ripam



suam adversus rapidi amnis im-



petum, munire prohibitum, non



eet." Codex L. 7. t. 41. 1.







  " Although it is not allowed to



turn the natural course of a river



by another made by hand, yet it



is not prohibited to guard one's



bank against the force of a rapid



river. "







  But he is not permitted to do even this if it will



affect the public right, or injure the neighboring 



inhabitants.





























90        Jefferson's Works







  "In flumine publico, inve ripa



ejus facere, aut in id flumen ri-



pamve immittere, quo aliter aqua



fluat quam priore aestate fluxit,



veto." Dig. L. 43. tit. 13.  1.







  " Quod autem ait, aliter fluat



non ad quantitatem aquae fluentis



pertinet, sed ad modum, et ad



rigorem cursus aquae referendum



est. Et si quod aliud vit€ accolae



ex facto ejus qui convenitur sen-



tient, interdicto locus erit." Ib.



 3.







  " Sunt qui putent excipiendum



hoc interdicto 'quod ejus ripae



muniendae causa non fiet,' scilicet



ut si quid fiat quo aliter aqua



fluat. si tamen muniendae ripae



causa fiat, interdicto locus non sit.



Sed ne hoc quibusdam placet;



neque enim ripae, cum incom-



modo accolentium, muniendae



sunt." Ib.  6







  " I forbid any thing to be done



in a public river, or on its bank, or



to be cast into the river or on its



bank, by which the water may be



made to flow otherwise than it



flowed in the last season."







  "When he says, to flow other-



wise, it relates, not to the quan-



tity of water, but to the manner



and direction of the course of the



water. And if the neighbors ex-



perience any other evil from the



act of him who is convened, there



will be ground for interdict."







  "Some think liable to this in-



terdict only 'what is not done for



the purpose of strengthening the



bank,' to wit, that if anything be



done by which the water may



otherwise flow, if nevertheless it



was to secure the bank, there is no



ground for interdict. But this is



not approved by others, for that



banks are not to be secured to the



inconvenience of the .inhabitants.'







  More particularly full and explicit as to the inhibi-



tions of the law against obstructing the bed, beach or



bank of a sea or river, is Noodt, Probabil. Juris civ-



ilis. 4. 1. 1. After declaring that as to a house, or



other such thing, built in a public river, the law is



the same as obtains as to the sea and sea shore, he



proposes to state, 1. The law respecting the sea and



its shore, and  2. As it respects a river and its bank;



and says,







  "Ait Celsus maris communem



usum esse, ut aeris; jactasque in



id pilas fieri ejus qui jecit: sed id







  "Celsus says that the use of the



sea is common, as is that of the



air: and that stones laid in it were

















        The Batture at New Orleans     91











concedendum non esse, si deterior



litoris marisve usus eo modo fu-



turus sit.







  Adeo hoc quod in mari exstruc.



tum est, facientis est. Ut tamcn



exstruere liceat, et decreto opus



est, et ut innoxia cedificatio sit.







  Porro ut usus maris, ita usus



litoris, sive. communis, sive pub-



licus est jure gentium; et ideo



licet unicuique in litore aedificare,



litusque aedificatione suum facere.







  Si tamen, ut in mari, ita in



litore, impetravit: praeterea si non



eo modo deterior futurus sit usus



litoris ; vel nisi usus publicus im-



pedietur. Hoc in mari litoribus



jus est. Idem in fluminibus pub-



licis, Ulpiano teste, Dig. 39. 2. 24.



cum sic ait, `fluminium publi-



corum communis est usus, sicut



viarum publicarum et litorum. In



his igitur publice licet cuilibet aedi-



ficare, et distruere, dum tamen



hoc sine incommodo cujusquam



fiat.'







  Vult tamen Ulpianus, ut aedi-



ficari possit, aedificari publice et



sine cujusquam in ommodo; pariter



ut in mari et litore definitum:



publice inquam, seu publica aucto-



ritate; id enim hoc verbum, publice



indigitat. "







  And ( 2.) citing Dig. 43. 12.



4. he says, "quaesitum est, an



is, qui in utraque ripa fluminis



publici domus habeat, pontem



privati juris [vel privato jure]



facere potest ; respondit non



posse.







  Et si facit, interdicto teneri.



Causa responsi est quod, cum



his who laid them, but that it



was not to be admitted if the



use. of the shore or sea would



be the worse. So what is con-



structed in the sea is his who



constructs it. But to make it



lawful to construct, a decree is



necessary, an.d that the construc-



tion be inn cent. Moreover, as



the use of the sea, so that of the



shore, is either common or public,



by the law of nations. And there-



fore it is lawful for any one to



build on the shore, and to make



the shore his by the building; if



however, as in the sea, so on the



shore, he has obtained permission :



and provided besides, the use of



the shore will not thereby be ren-



dered worse, nor the public use be



impeded. This is the law as to



the sea and its shores. It is the



same as to public rivers, according



to Ulpian, Dig. 39. 2. 24. where he



says, `the use of .public rivers is



common, as of highways and



shores. In these, therefore, any



one may build up, or pull down,



publicly, provided it be done with-



out inconvenience to any one.'



That you may build, however,



Ulpian require. that you build



publicly, and without inconveni-



ence to any one ; in like manner as



is prescribed as to the sea, and its



shore : publicly, I say, or by public



authority; for that is what the



word publicly, indicates." And  2.



citing Dig. 43. 12. 4. he says, "it is



asked whether he who has houses



on both banks of the river, may



build a bridge, of his own private

















92        Jefferson's Works







pontem facit, usum fluminis 



publici facit deteriorem." So 



far Noodt. 







authority. He answers, he can-



not; and if he does, he is bound



by the interdict. The reason of



the answer is, that by building a



bridge he injures the use of a



public river." So far Noodt.







 The same is the law as to highways and public



places. Dig. 43. 8. 2. 16.







  "Si qui" principe simpliciter 



impetraverit ut in publico loco 



aedificet, non est credendus sic 



aedificare ut cum incommodo ali- 



cujus id fiat." 







"If any one obtains leave,



simply, from the prince, to build



in a public place, it is not to be



understood he is so to build as



to incommode another."







 We see, then, that the Roman law not only forbade



every species of construction or work on the bed,



beach or bank of a sea or river, without regular per-



mission from the proper officer, but. even annuls the



permission after it is given, if, in event, the work



proves injurious; not abandoning the lives and



properties of its citizens to the ignorance, the facility,



or the corruption, of any officer. Indeed, without



all this appeal to such learned authorities, does not



common sense, the foundation of all authorities, of



the laws themselves, and of their construction, de-



clare it impossible that Mr. Livingston, a single indi-



vidual, should have a lawful right to drown the city



of New Orleans, or tu injure, or change, of his own



authority, the course or current of a river which is to



give outlet tu the productions of two-thirds of the



whole area of the United States ?







 Such, then, are the laws of Louisiana, declaratory

















        The Batture at New Orleans      93







of the public rights in navigable rivers, their beds and



banks. For we must ever bear in mind that the Ro-



man law, from which these extracts are made, so far



as it is not controlled by the Customs of Paris, the



Ordinances of France, or the Spanish regulations, is



the law of Louisiana. Nor does this law deal in pre-



cept only, or trust the public rights to the dead letter



of law merely : it provides also for enforcement. The



Digest. L. 43. tit. 15. de ripa  munienda, provides







  ş I. " Ripas fluminum publico-



rum reficere, munire, utilissimum



est,-dum ne ob id navigatio de-



terior fiat: illa enim sola refectio



toleranda est, quae navigationi



non est impedimento."







  ş 3. "Is autem qui ripam vult



munire, dc-damno



  [Surety.] futuro debet vel



cavere, vel satis-



dare, secundum qualitatem per-



sonae. Et hoc interdicto expres-



sum cst, ut damni infecti, 'in



annos decem, viri boni arbitratu,



vel caveatur, vel satisdetur. "







  ş 4. "Dabitur autem satis vi-



cinis ; sed et his qui trans flumen



possidebunt.







  "Ne quid in loco publico facias,



inve eum locum immittas, qua ex



n quid illi damni detur. Dig. 43€



8. a. Ad ea loca hoc interdictum



pertinet, quae publico usui des-



tinata sunt: ut si quid illic fiat,



quod privato noccret, Praetor in-



tercederet interdicto suo.







  ş 1. " To repair and strengthen



the banks of public rivers, is most



useful : provided the navigation be



not by that deteriorated ; for those



repairs alone are to be permitted



which do not impede the naviga-



tion."







  ş 3. "But he who would



strengthen his bank, should give



either an engagement, or security



against future injury, according



to the quality of the person. And



this interdic: establishes that the



engagement, or security, against



future injury, shall be for ten



years, by the opinion of a good



man."







  " Security shall be given



to the neighbors, and also to pos-



sessors on the other side of the



river. "







" You are to do nothing in any



public place, nor to cast any thing



into that place, from wh:ch any



damage may follow. This inter-



dict respects those places, which



are destined for public use: and



that if anything be there done,



which may injure an individual,

















94        Jefferson's Work's







Adversus eum qui molem in mare



projecit, interdictum utile com-



petit ei, cui forte haec res nocitura



sit: si autem nemo damnum sen=



tit, tuendus est is, qui in litore



aedificat vel molem in mare jacit.



ş 8 -Damnum autem pati vide-



tur, qui commodum amittit, quod



ex publico consequebatur, quale-



quale sit. ş 11.-Si tamen. nul-



lum opus factum fuerit, officio



judicis continetur, ut caveatur



non fieri." ş 18.







the Praetor may interpose by his



interdict: Against him who pro-



jects a mole into the sea, the inter-



dictum utile lies for him to whom



this may possibly do injury, but



if nobody sustains damage, he is



to be protected who builds on the



sea shore, or projects a mole into



the sea.-And he seems to suffer



injury who loses any convenience,



which he derived from the public,



whatsoever it may be.-But if no



work is done, he should be con-



strained by the authority of the



judge to engage that none shall be



done."







  " Seeing the use of rivers belongs to the public



nobody can make any change in them that may be



of prejudice to the said use. Thus one cannot do any



thing to make the current of the water slower, or



more rapid, should this change be any way prejudi-



cial to the public, or to particular persons. Thus



although one may divert the water of a brook, or a



river, to water his meadows or other grounds, or for



mills and other uses; yet, every one ought to use



this liberty so as not to do any prejudice either to the



navigation of the river, whose waters he should turn



aside, or the navigation of another river which the



said water should render navigable by discharging



itself into it, or to any other public use, or to neigh-



bors who should have a like want, and an equal



right. " Dom. Pub. law. 1. 8. 2. 11.







  The same law makes it peculiarly incumbent on the



government and its officers to watch over the public

















        The Batture at New Orleans     95







property and rights, and to see that they are not in-



jured or intruded on by private individuals. In or-



der to preserve the navigation of rivers, it is proper



for the government to prohibit and punish all at-



tempts which might hinder it, or render it inconven-



ient, whether it be any buildings, fisheries, stakes,



floodgates and other hindrances, or by diverting the



water from. the course of the rivers, or otherwise.



And it is likewise forbidden to throw into the rivers



any filth, dirt or other things, which might be of pre-



judice to the navigation, or cause other inconven-



iences." Dom. Pub. L. 1. 8. 2. 8.







  " Quoique la mer et ses bords



soient, suivant les principes du



droit naturel, des choses pub-



liques et communes a tous, avec



faculte a chacun d'en user selon sa



destination, neanmoins il ne doit



pas etre permis aux uns d'en jouir



au prejudice des autres. Ainsi



pour prevenir les inconveniens qui



seroient resultes de la liberte



d'user de la chose commune, il a



fallu que cette liberte fut limitee



par la puissance publique, ainsi



que s'en explique Domat, etc.



Nouv. Comment. sur l'orden. de



I6BI. tit. 7. art. 2. Note.







  " Although the sea and its



shores, according to the principles



of natural law, are things public



and common to all, with liberty to



every one to use them according



to their destination, nevertheless



it ought not to be permitted to



some to enjoy them to the preju-



dice of others. Therefore to pre-



vent the inconveniences which



would result from the liberty of



using the public property, it is



necessary that that liberty be



limited by the public authority



as explained by Domat," etc.







  " It is likewise agreeable to the law of nature, that



this liberty, which is common to all, being a contin-



ual occasion of quarrels, and of many bad conse-



quences, should be regulated in some manner or



other; and there could be no regulation more equit-



able, nor more natural, than leaving it to the sover-

















96        Jefferson's Works







eign to provide against the said inconveniences. For



as he is charged with the care of the public peace and



tranquillity, as it is to him the care of the order and



government of the society belongs, and it is only in



his person that the right to the things which may be-



long in common to the public, of which he is the



head, can reside; he, therefore, as head of the com-



monwealth, ought to have the dispensation and exer-



cise of this right, that he may render it useful to the



public. And it is on this foundation that the Ordi-



nances of France have regulated the use of naviga-



tion, and of fishing, in the sea and in rivers. " Dom.



P. L. 1. 8. 2. I. note. Observe that the work of



Pomat was published in 1689, and he died in 1696.



Dict. hist. par une societe. verbo Domat. We know



then from him the state of the laws of France, at a



period a little anterior only to the establishment of



the colony of Louisiana, and the transfer of the laws



of France to that colony by its charter of 1712.







  To the provisions which have been thus made by



the Roman and French laws and transferred to



Louisiana, no particular additions, by either the



French or Spanish government, have been produced



on the present occasion. We know the fact, and



thence infer the law, that from a very early period,



the governors of that province were attentive espe-



cially to whatever respected the harbor of New



Orleans, which included the grounds now in ques.



tion. We see them forbidding inclosures, or build-



ings on them, pulling down those built, publishing

















        The Batture at New Orleans     97







bans against future erections, forbidding earth for



buildings and streets to be taken from the shore ad-



jacent to the city, and assigning the beach Ste. Marie



for that purpose, protecting all individuals in the



equal use of it as a Quai, in which cares and superin-



tendence the Cabildo or City Council, participated;



and on the change of government we see that council



pass an Ordinance declaratory of the limits of the



N. Orleans, and come forward in defence of the pub-



lic rights, in the first moment of J. Gravier's intru-



sion, by pulling down his inclosure, and when that



intrusion under the enterprise of Mr. Livingston, as-



sumed a more serious aspect, they, as municipal



guardians of the interests of the city, made an imme-



diate appeal to the Judiciary, the Executive, and



Legislative authorities. In addition,



                            [Levees and Police of Mississippi]



too, to the French laws for the protection        



of the bed and bank of the river, the ter-



ritorial legislature, on the 15th of Feb. , 1808, passed



an Act, reciting that inasmuch as "the common



safety of the inhabitants of the shores of the river



Mississippi depends not only on the good condition of



the levees or embankments, which contain the waters



of the said river ; but also on the strict observance of



the laws concerning the police of rivers and their



banks, which are in force in this territory, and by



which it is forbidden to make on the shores of the



rivers, any work tending to alter the course of the



waters, or increase their rapidity, or to make their



navigation less convenient, or the anchorage less







   VOL. XVIII-7

















98        Jefferson's Works







sure, [almost in the words of the Roman law, "ne



quid in flumine publico ' '] they therefore enact that



no levee shall be made in. front of those which exist



at present, but on an inquisition by 12 inhabitants,



proprietors of plantations situate on the banks of the



river, convoked for that purpose, by the Parish



judge ; that no such levee, which at the present time



of passing this act shall happen to be commenced in



front of others already existing, shall be continued



or finished without a like authorization; that those



who act in contravention shall be fined 100 dols. for



every offence in contravention, and pay the expenses



of removing the nuisance, and costs of suit ; and pro-



hibiting the receiving compensation for the use of the



shores under a penalty of 500 dols. A law of won-



derful, not to say imprudent and dangerous tender-



ness to the riparian proprietors, who are thus made



the sole judges in cases where their own personal in-



terests may be in direct opposition to the interests,



and even the safety of the city, to which it gives no



participation or control over the power which may



devote it to destruction.







 This act is partly declaratory of the existing law,



and partly additional. Application to the Praetor



was under the Roman law (Dig. 43. 13. 6.) for per-



mission to fortify a bank for the protection of a farm.



He might refuse permission if injurious; but if he



thought it would nat be injurious, the party was to



give security to make good all damages which should



accrue within ten years; and this security was for

















        The Batture at New Orleans     99







the protection, not only of immediate neighbors, but   



of those also on the opposite bank " trans flumen pos-



sidentibus. " The Governor and Cabildo seem to



have held this Praetorian power in Louisiana, as well



as that of demolishing what was unlawfully erected.



This act of the Legislature, without taking the power



from the Governor and City Council, gave a concur-



rent power to the parish judge, and a jury of 12 ripa-



rians: and without dispensing with the security re-



quired by the existing law, adds penalties against



contraveners.







 And surely it is the territorial legislature, which



not only has the power, but is under the urgent duty,



of providing regulations for the government of this



river and its inhabitants, regulations adapted to



their present political regulations, as well as to the



peculiar character and circumstances of the river,



and the adjacent country. Their power is amply



given in the act of Congress of 1804, c. 38. ş 11



" The laws in force in the said territory at the com-



mencement of this act, and not inconsistent with the



provisions thereof, shall continue in force, until



altered, modified, or repealed by the legislature. ş 4.



The Governor, by and with advice and consent of the



said legislative council, or a majority of them, shall.



have power to alter, modify, and repeal the laws



which may be in force at the commencement of this



act. Their legislative powers shall extend to all the



rightful subjects of legislation ; " with special excep-



tions, none of which take away the authority to leg-

















100        Jefferson's Works







islate for the police of the river. And if ever there



was a rightful subject of legislation, it is that of re-



straining greedy individuals from destroying the



country by inundation.







   And here it must be noted that Mr. Livingston's



works were arrested by the Marshal and



[Suspension of Liv'e works by whom]



posse comitatus, by an order from the



Secretary of State on the 25th of January,



1808, and on the 15th of the ensuing month, the leg-



islature took the business into the hands of their own



government, by passing this act. From this mo-



ment it was in Mr. Livingston's power to resume his



works,by obtaining permission from the legal author-



ity. The suspension of his works, therefore, by the



general government was only during these 21 days.



That Mr. Livingston's works were clearly within



the interdict of the Roman, the French, and the



Spanish laws, which forbid the extending a mole into



the water, constructing in it mills, floodgates, canals,



towers, houses, cabins, fisheries, stakes







Their nature. or other things which may obstruct or



embarrass the use, will result from a brief recapitula-



tion of their character and effects, drawn from the



statement before given. For it is not to establish a



mill, which, though an intrusion would be but a par-



tial one : it is not to erect a temporary cabin or fish-



erman's hut, which would be a minor obstacle: but



it is to take from the city and the nation what is their



port in high water, and at low tide their Quai; to



leave them not a spot where the upper craft can land

















       The Batture at New Orleans    101







or lie in safety; to turn the current of the river on



the lower suburbs and plantations; to embank the



whole of this extensive beach; to take off a fourth



from the breadth of the river, and add equivalently



to the rise of its waters ; to demolish thus the whole



levee, and sweep away the town and country in un-



distinguished ruin. And this not as a matter of



theory alone, but of experience: the fact being



known that since the embankment of the river on



both sides through a space of three or four hundred



miles the floods are two or three feet higher than be-



fore that embankment. In fine, should they have



time to save themselves from inundation by dou-



bling the height and breadth of their levee, it is that



they may fall victims to the pestilential diseases



which, under their fervid sun, will be generated by



the putrefying mass with which he is to raise up the



foundation between the old and new embankments.



But has he entitled himself to attain these humane



achievements by fulfilling the preliminary requisites



of the law? Has he obtained the Praetorian, or Pro-



Praetorian license, that of the governor and city



council, to erect this embankment? Has he given



security for all the damages which shall be occa-



sioned by his works for ten years ? Has he even car-



ried his case before a jury of 12 brother riparians ?



Or does he fear to trust it even to those having sim-



ilar interests with himself ? lest the virtuous feeling



of compunction for the fate of their fellow citizens



should scout his proposition with honest indigna

















102        Jefferson's Works







tion? And yet, until this permission, every spadeful



of earth he moved was an outrage on the law, and on



the public peace and safety, which called for imme-



diate suppression. What was to be done with such



an aggressor? Shall we answer in the words of the



Imperial edict, on a similar occasion, that of break-



ing the banks of the Nile ? Cod. 9. 38. " Flammis



eo loco consumatur, in quo vetustatis reverentiam,



et pro"emodum ipsius imper" appetierit securitatem;



consciis et consortibus ejus deportations constrin-



gendis; sic ut nunquam supplicandi, eis, vel recipi-



endi civitatem vel dignitatem, vel substantiam, licen-



tia tribuatur. " " Let him be consumed by the flames



in that spot in which he violated the reverence of an-



tiquity, and the safety of the empire, let his accesso-



ries and accomplices be cut off by deportation from



the possibility of supplicating forgiveness, or of being



restored to country, dignity and possessions." Our



horror is not the less because. our laws are more



lenient.







  Such, then, were the facts, and such the state of



        the law, on which we were called, and re-



 [Remedies.]



        peatedly and urgently called to decide:



not indeed in all the fulness in which they have since



appeared, but sufficiently manifested to show that



an atrocious enterprise was in a course of execution,



which if not promptly arrested, would end in a deso-



lation for which we could never answer. The ques-



tion before us was, What is tu be done ? What rem-



edy can we apply, authorized by the laws, and



prompt enough to arrest the mischief?

















        The Batture at New Orleans     103







  1. Were the case within the jurisdiction of our



own laws, its character and remedy



                               [ Abatement of Nuisance]



would be obvious enough. A navigable



river is a highway, along which all are



free to pass. And as the obstructing a highway on



the land, by ditches or hedges, or logs across it, or



erecting a gate across it, is a common nuisance, so



to weaken injuriously the current of a river, by



drawing off a part of its water, to obstruct it by



moles, dykes, weirs, piles, or otherwise, is a common



nuisance; and all authorities agree, that every one



is allowed to remove or destroy a common nuisance.



Hawkins, P. C. 1. ; 5. 12. The Marshal and posse,



instead of pleading the order from the Secretary of



State, have a right to say "we did this as citizens,



and the law is our authority : " and it would really be



singular if, what every man may, or may not do, at



his pleasure, the magistrate who is sworn to see the



law executed, and is charged with the care of the



public property and rights, is alone prohibited from



doing; or if his order should vitiate an act which



without it would have been lawful, or which he



might have executed in person. It would be equally



singular, and equally absurd, that the law should



punish the magistrate for hindering Mr. Livingston



from doing what itself had forbidden and would pun-



ish, and reward him with damages for having been



restrained from what they had forbidden him to do.



The law makes it a duty in a bystander to lay hands



on a man who is beating another in the street, and

















104        Jefferson's Works







to take him off. And yet it is proposed that the



same law shall punish him for taking off one who was



engaged, not in beating a single individual, but in



drowning a whole city and country. This is not our



law ; it is not the law of reason ; and I am persuaded



it is no part of a system emphatically called ratio



scripta. If it is, let the law be produced. Until it



is, we hold every man authorized to stay a wrong-



doer, in the.commission of a wrong, in which himself



and all others are interested.







  2. By nature's law, every man has a right to seize,



and retake by force, his own property,



[Forcible entry.] taken from him by another, by force or



fraud. Nor is this natural right among the first



which is taken into the hands of regular govern-



ment, after it is instituted. It was long retained by



our ancestors. It was a part of their Common law,



laid down in their books, recognized by all the



authorities, and regulated as to certain circumstances



of practice. Lambard, in his Eirenarcha. B. 2. c. 4.



says, " it seemeth ' that (before the troublesome



raigne of king Richard the second,) the Common law



permitted any person (which had good right or title



to enter into any land,) to win the possession by



force, if otherwise he could not have obtained it.



For a man may see, (in Britton fo. 115.) that a cer-



tain respite of time was given to the disseisee, (ac-



cording to his distance and absence,) in which it was



lawful for him to gather force, arms, and his friends



and to throw the disseisor out of his wrongful posses-

















The Batture at New Orleans 105







sion." Hawkins in his Pleas of the crown, and all



the Abridgements and Digests of the law say the



same: but, not to take it at second hand, we will



recur to the earliest authorities, written while it was



yet the law of the land. Fleta in the time of E. 1.



writes,







  "Si facta fuerit diseissina,



primum et principale competit



remedium quod ille qui ita dis-



seisitus est, per se, si possit, vel



sumptis viribus, vel resumptis



(dum tamen sine aliquo inter-



vallo, flagrante disseisina et male-



ficio) rejiciat spoliantem.







  Quem si nullo modo expellere



possit, ad' .superioris auxilium



erit recurrendum. Si autem



verus possessor absens fuerit,



tunc locorum distantia distin-



guere oportebit, secundem quod



fuerit prope vel longe, quo



tempore viz. scire potuit dis-



seisinam esse factam, ut sic,



allocatis ei rationsbilibus dila-



tionibus, primo die cum venerit,



statim suum dejiciat disseisito-



rem; qui, si primo die, non possit,



in crastino, vel die tertio vel



ulterius, dum tamen sine fictitia,



hoc facere poterit, vires sibi re-



sumendo, arms colligendo, auxili-



umque amicorum convocando."



Fleta L. 4. c. a.







  And Bracton L. 4. c. 6. in



almost totidem verbis; and Brit-



ton "le premer remedie pour



disseisine est al disseisi de



recollier amys et force et sauns



delay faire (apres ceo que il le







  "If a disseisin has been com-



mitted, a first and principal



remedy lies, that he who has been



so disseised, by himself, if he can,



or taking force, and retaking,



(provided it be without any in-



terval, the disseisin and wrong



being yet flagrant,) may eject the



spoliator. Whom, if he can by no



means expel, resort is to be had to



the assistance of a superior. But



if the rightful possessor were ab-



sent, then, regard must be had to



the distance of the places, accord-



ing as it was near or far off, at what



time, for instance, he could know



that a disseisin had been com-



mitted, that so, reasonable delays



being allowed him, on the first day



when he comes, he may immedi-



ately ejec the disseisor, which if



he cannot do on the first day, he



may on.the morrow, or third day,



or later, provided however he do



it without false pretences, by



taking to himself force, collecting



arms, and calling in the aid of his



friends." And Bracton 1. 4. c. 6.



almost in the same words; and



Britton says, "The first remedy



for disseisin is for the disseisee to



collect his friends and force, and



without delay, (after he may

















106        Jefferson's Works







purra saver) engetter les dis-      



seisours. " Britton c. 44.          







know of it,) to eject the dis-



seisors. "







 This right, as to real property, was first restrained



in England by a statute of the 5. R. 2. c. 7. which for-



bade entry into lands with strong hand ; and another



of the same reign, 15. R. 2. c. a. authorized imme-



diate restitution to the wrongdoer, put out by forci-



ble entry. And even at this day, in an action of



trespass, for an entry, vi et armis, if the defendant



makes good title, he is maintained in his possession



and the plaintiff recovers no damages for the force.



Lambard 2. 4. Hawk. P. C. 1. 64. 3. And in like



manner, the natural right of recaption by force still



exists, as to personal goods, and the validity of their



recaption. Hawk. 1. 64. 1. Kelway 92. is express.



Blackstone, indeed, 3. 1. 2. : limits the right of recap-



tion to a peaceable one, not amounting to a breach of



the peace; meaning, I presume, that the recaptor by



force may be punished for the breach of the peace.



So may the defendant in trespass for an entry vi et



armis. Yet in an action of detinue for the personal



thing retaken by force, the first wrongdoer cannot



recover it, nor damages for the recaption, any more



than in the case of trespass for lands. So that to this



day the law supports the right of recaption, as be-



tween the parties, although it will punish the public



offence of a breach of the peace.







 When this natural right was first restrained among



the Romans, I am not versed enough in



[Roman Law.] their laws to say. .. It was not by the laws

















        The Batture at New Orleans      107







of the XII tables, which continued long their only



laws. From the expression of the Institute, "divn-



libus constitutionibus, " I should infer it was first



restrained by some of the Emperors, predecessors of



Justinian. L. 4. t. 2.  2.







  " Divalibus constitutionibus



prospectum est, ut nemini liceat



vi rapere vel rem mobilem, vel se



moventem, licet suam eandem



rem existimat. Quod non solum



in mobilibus rebus, quae rapi pos-



sunt, constitutiones obtinere cen-



suerunt, sed etiam in invasion-



ibus, quae circa res soli fiunt."







  "By the Imperial constitutions



it is provided that no one shall



take by force a thing either move-



able, or moving, although he con-



siders it as his own. Which the



constitutions have ordained to



take place, not only in movable



things, which may be taken, but



also in intrusions which are made



into lands."







  But I believe that no nation has ever yet restrained



itself in the exercise of this natural right of reseising



its own possessions, or bound up its own hands in the



manacles and cavils of litigation. It takes possession



of its own at short hand, and gives to the private



claimant a specified mode of preferring his claim.



There are cases, of particular circumstance, where



the sovereign, as by the English law, must institute a



previous inquest : but in general cases as the present,



he enters at once on what belongs to his nation. This



is the law of England. "Whenever the king's (i. e.



the nation's) title appears of record, or a possession



in law be called upon him by descent, escheat, etc. , he



may enter without an office found: for if his title



appear any way of record, it is as good as if it were



found by office: and if any one enter on him, even



before his entry made, he is an intruder; he cannot

















108        Jefferson's Works







gain any freehold in the land, nor does he put the



king to an assize or ejectment, or take away his right



of entry: for he cannot be disseised but by record.



Stamford. Praerogativa regis. 56. 57. Com. Dig.



Praerog. D. 71. the substance of the authorities cited.







  What are the prescriptions of the Roman law in



this case, I do not know; nor are they material but



inasmuch as they may be the law of the case in Louis-



iana. A Spanish law before cited, p. 55, forbidding



erections on the beds, or on the banks of rivers, says



expressly, "si alguno lo ficiese debe ser deribado. " " If



any one does it, it is to be destroyed. " And the con-



stant practice of the Governors of demolishing such



erections was the best evidence of the law we could



obtain. Not skilled in their laws ourselves, we had



certainly a right to consider the Governor and Cab-



ildo as competent expositors of them, and as acting



under their justification and prescription. We might



reasonably think ourselves safe in their opinions of



their own law. In fact, if the immediate entry was



permitted by the English law, and our own, we



thought we might, a fortiori, conclude it permitted



by those of the province. We had before



[squatters] us, too, the example of many of the states



and of the general government itself, which have never



hesitated to remove by force the squatters and intru-



ders on the public lands.l Indeed if the nation were







   @#(1) Squatters or Intruders on the public or Indian lands were repeat-



edly removed by the State of Virginia, before its cession to Congress,



by the the old Congress (see Journ. 15 June 1785,) by the present



Government at various times and, as is believed, by other individual



states on the ground of natural rights only. MS. Note. @#

















        The Batture at New Orleans    109







put to action against every Squatter, for the recovery



their lands, we should only have lawsuits, not lands for



sale. While troops are on parade, should intruders



take possession of their barracks, and shut the doors,



are they to remain in the open air till an action, or



even a writ of forcible entry replace them in their



quarters? if in the interval of a daily adjournment,



intruders take possession of the capitol, may not



Congress take their seats again till an inquisition and



posse shall reintroduce them ? let him who can, draw



a line between these cases. The correct [Jurisdiction in whom]



doctrine is that so long as the nation



under the jurisdiction of no court, but by special pro-



vision. The United States cannot be sued. The



nation, by its immediate representatives, administers



justice itself to all who have claims upon the public



property. Hence the numerous petitions which



occupy so much of every session of Congress in cases



which have not been confided to the courts. But



when once they have granted the lands to  [when it results to courts]



individuals, then the jurisdiction of the



courts over them commences. They fall then into



the common mass of matter justiciable before the



courts. If the public has granted lands to B. which



were the legal property of A., A. may bring his action



against B. and the courts are competent to do him



justice. The moment B. attempts to take possession



of A.'s lands, the writ of forcible entry, the action of



trespass or ejectment, and the Chancery process,

















110        Jefferson's Works







furnish him a choice of remedies. The holders of



property therefore are safe against individuals by the



law ; and they are safe against the Nation by its own



justice : and all the alarm which some have endeav-



ored to excite on this subject has been merely ad cap-



tandum populum. As if the people would not be safe



in their own hands, or in those of their representa-



tives; or safer in the hands of irresponsible judges,



than of persons elected by themselves annually or



biennially. The truth is, no injury can be done to



any man by another acting either in his o"n or a



public character, which may not be redressed by



application to the proper organ to which that portion



of the administration of justice has been assigned.







  3. Our third and conclusive remedy was that pre-



scribed by the act of Congress of 1807. c. 91. to pre-



vent settlements on lands ceded to the U.



[Act of Congress.] S. The Executive had been indulgent, per-



haps remiss, in not removing Squatters from the public



lands, under the general principles of law before



explained and habitually acted on. This act there-



fore was a recent call on them to a more vigilant per-



formance of their duty, in the special district of



country lately ceded to them by France, with some



modifications of its exercise on previous settlers.



The act has two distinct classes of Intruders in view.



1. Those who, before the passing of the act, had



possessed themselves of the lands, and were actually



resident on them at the passing it : and 2. Those who



should take possession after the passage of the act. I.

















        The Batture at New Orleans   111







With respect to the class of Intruders before the pas-



sage of the act, the 2d section provides that, on



renouncing all claim, they may obtain from the reg-



ister or recorder, permission to remain on the lands,



extending their occupation to 320 acres,  8. which



permissions are to be recorded: but,  4. those not



obtaining permission are, on three months' notice,



to be removed by the marshal. But Mr. Livingston



was much too wise to qualify himself for the benefit



of these sections, by an actual residence on the bat-



ture. His part of the act therefore is the first section



which enacts that "if any person shall take posses-



sion of any lands ceded to the U. S. by treaty, he



shall forfeit all right to them if any he hath; and it



shall be lawful for the President of the U. S. to direct



the Marshal, or the military, to remove him from the



lands. Providing however that this removal shall



not affect his claim until the Commissioners shall



have made their reports, and Congress decided



thereon. " The tribunal to which the legislature had



specially delegated a power to take cognizance of the



claims on the public lands in Orleans, and to inform



them what lands were clear of claim, and free to be



granted to our citizens, was a board of Commission-



ers: and the plain words and scope of the law were,



to keep all claims and prior possessions in statu quo,



until they could be investigated by these Commission-



ers, reported, and decided on by Congress. And this



act indulgently provides that the right of a person



removed by the Executive for irregularly taking

















112        Jefferson's Works







possession of lands which he thought his own, should



not be affected by this removal, but that he might



still lay his claim before the Commissioners, and Con-



gress would decide on it. Mr. Livingston's claim



was clearly within the purview of the law. It was of



lands "ceded to the U. S. by treaty," and he had



"taken possession of them after the passage of the act. "



For the decree of the court was not till May 23, '07,



and his possession was subsequent to that. If he



should say, as his counsel seems to inti-



[Remitter] mate, Opinions LXVII, that this was a



remitter to him of the ancient possession of Bertrand



Gravier, I answer that it was no remitter against any



one, because the case was coram non judice, as will be



shown, and still less against the U. S. who were no



parties to the suit : and if it had been a remitter, then



I should have observed that the order has been exe-



cuted on a person not comprehended in it ; for it was



expressly restrained to possessions taken after the



3d of March '07, in that case the Marshal must justify



himself, not under the order, but his personal right to



remove a nuisance. But investigations, reports, and



decisions of Congress were dangerous. It was safer to



be his own judge, to seize boldly, and put the public



on the defensive. He seizes the ground he claims,



and refers his title to no competent tribunal. When



ousted, according to the injunctions of the statute,



and repossession taken on behalf of the U. S. he



passes by the preparatory tribunal of the Commis-



sioners, and endeavors to obtain a decision on his case

















        The Batture at New Orleans     113







by Congress, in the first instance: in this too he has



been disappointed. Congress have maintained the



ground taken under the statute ; and Mr. Livingston



now demands the value of the lands from the magis-



trate on whom devolved the duty of executing the



statute.







 Taking now a brief review of the whole ground we



have gone over, we may judge of the correctness of



the decision of the Cabinet, as to their [Recapitulation.]



duty in this case. I trust it will appear



to every candid and unbiassed mind, that they were



not mistaken in believing







That the Customs of Paris, the Ordinances of the



French government, the Roman law as a supple-



ment to both, with the special acts of the Spanish



and American legislatures, composed that system



of law which was to govern their proceedings.







That, were this a case of Alluvion, the French law



gives it to the Sovereign in all cases; and the



Roman law to the private holder of rural posses-



sions only.







That Bertrand Gravier had converted his plantations



into a fauxbourg, and appendage of the city of New



Orleans ; with the previous sanction of the Spanish



government, according to his own declarations, by



which those claiming under him are as much bound,



as if made by themselves ; and certainly by its sub-



sequent formal recognitions, and confirmations,



which acted retrospectively ; and the character of



the ground being thus changed from a Rural to an







 vol. xviii--8

















314        Jefferson's Works







Urban possession, the Roman law of Alluvion does



not act on it.







That even had his ground retained its rural character,



and admitting that the grant to him "face au fleuve"



conveyed the lands to the water's edge, his sales,



"face au fleuve " conveyed to his purchasers the



same right' which the same terms had brought to



him, and they, and not the plaintiff, now hold the



rights of B. Gravier, whatever they were.







That John Gravier elected to take the estate as a pur-



chaser by inventory and appraisement, the Bat-



ture, if Bertrand's was not in that inventory, nor



consequently purchased by John Gravier.







That the deed from him to De la Bigarre was fraudu-



lent and void, as well by the lex loci, as on the face



of the transaction.







That the decision of the court in his favor could in no



wise concern the United States, who were neither



parties to the suit, nor amenable to the jurisdic-



tion.







And, consequently, that under all these views of the



French law : the Roman law, the conveyances "face



au fleuve," the purchase by inventory, and the



fraudulency of the deed to Bigarre, the plaintiff's



claim is totally unfounded. And, if void by any



one of them, it is as good as if void by every one.







But it has appeared further that the batture had not a



single characteristic of alluvion :







That the bank of a river is only what is above the



high water mark :

















        The Batture at New Orleans     115







That all below that mark is bed, or alveus, of which



the batture is that portion between the high and



low water mark, which we call the beach:







That it serves, as other beaches do, for a port while



covered, and Quai uncovered: and it is the only



port in the vicinity of the city which river craft can



use.







That, as a part of the bed of the river, it is purely



public property.







That it is not lawful for an individual to erect, on



either the bed or bank of a river, any works which



may affect the convenience of navigation, of the



harbor or Quai, or endanger adjacent proprietors



on either side of the river.







That though it is permissible to guard our own



grounds against the current of the river, yet, so



only, as to be consistent with the convenience and



safety of others.







That of this the legal magistrates are to be judges in



the first instance; but even their errors are to be



guarded against by an indemnification for all dam-



ages which shall actually accrue to individuals



within a given time.







That Mr. Livingston's works, in a single flood, had



given alarming extent, both in breadth and height,



to the batture : had turned the efforts of the river



against the lower suburbs, and habitations, not



before exposed to them ; that they would deprive



the public of what was their Quai in low water, and



harbor in times of flood: that, by narrowing the

















116        Jefferson's Works







river one-fourth, it must raise it in an equivalent



proportion, ta discharge its waters : that this would



sweep away the levee, city, and country, or quad-



ruple the bulk of the levee, and the increased



danger to which that would expose it : and, even



then, would infect the city, by the putridity of the



new congestions, with pestilential diseases, to



which its climate is already too much predisposed.







That Mr. Livingston was doing all this, of his own



authority, without asking permission from the



public magistrate, or giving any security for the



indemnity of injured citizens:







That under pressure of these dangers, the Executive



of the nation was called on to do his duty, and to



extend the protection of the law to those against



whose safety these outrages were directed:







And that the authorities given by the laws, 1. For



preventing obstructions in the beds, or banks of



rivers, 2. For reseising public property intruded



on; and 3. For removing intruders from it by



force, were adequate to the object, if promptly



interposed.







  On duly weighing the information before us, which



though not as ample as has since been



[Orders of the Government]received, was abundantly sufficient to



satisfy us of the facts, and has been con-



firmed by all subsequent testimony, we were all



unanimously of opinion, that we were authorized,



and in duty bound, without delay; to arrest the



aggressions of Mr. Livingston on the public rights,

















        The Batture at New Orleans     117







and on the peace and safety of the city of New



Orleans, and that orders should be immediately



dispatched for that purpose, restrained to intruders



since the passage of the act of March 3. The Sec-



retary of State accordingly wrote the letter of Nov.



30, to the Governor, covering instructions for the



Marshal to remove immediately, by the civil power,



any persons from the batture Ste. Marie, who had



taken possession since the 3d of March, and author-



ising the Governor, if necessary, to use military



force; for which purpose a letter of the same date



was€ written by the Secretary of War to the command-



ing officer at New Orleans. This force however was



not called on. The instructions to the Marshal were



delivered to him about g o'clock in the morning of



the 25th of Jan., 1808: [Dorgenoy's letter to the



Governor) he immediately went to the beach, and



ordered off Mr. Livingston's laborers.







                          [Proceedings under them]



They obeyed, but soon after returned.



On being ordered off a second time, the



principal person told him that he was commanded



by Mr. Livingston not to give up the batture until



an adequate armed force should compel him. And



in the meantime, Mr. Livingston had procured from



a single judge of the superior court of the territory,



an order, purporting to be an injunction, forbidding



the marshal to disturb Edward Livingston in his



possession of the batture, under pain of a contempt



of court. The marshal, placed between contradic-



tory orders, af the national government as to the

















118        Jefferson's Works







property of the nation, and a territorial judge with-



out jurisdiction over it, obeyed the former; col-



lected a posse comitatus, ordered off the laborers



again, who peaceably retired ; and no further attempts



were afterwards made to recommence the work.







  I have said that the marshal received. an order;



purporting to be an injunction. An



 [ Chancery Jurisdiction.]  authoritative injunction it could not be;



because that is a Chancery process, and



no Chancery jurisdiction has been given by any law



to the superior court of that territory. Its judges



were first established by the act of Congress of 1804.



c. 38. with commissions for four years, and certain



specified powers, which it is unnecessary to state,



because an act of March z, of the next year, c. 83.



established, in that territory, "a government in all



respects similar to that exercised in the Mississippi



territory, " which government had been established



by an act of 1798. c. 5. "in all respects similar to



that in the territory North-west of the Ohio." So



that we are to find all their powers in the Ordinance



of 1787, for the North-Western territory, in which



are the following words. " There shall be appointed



a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom



to form a court, who shall have a common law juris-



diction, and their commissions shall continue in force



during good behavior. " And again " The inhabi-



tants of the said territory shall always be entitled



to the benefits of the writ of hubeas corpus, and of



the trial by jury." New commissions were accord-

















        The Batture at New Orleans     119







ingly given to the judges appointed under the first



law, and, instead of their former powers, they were



now to have a common law jurisdiction. By these



words certainly no chancery jurisdiction was given



them. Every one knows that common law juris-



diction is a technical term, used in contradistinction



to a chancery jurisdiction, and exclusive of that,



the common law ending where the chancery begins.



The one authority is here given, and therefore they



have it; the other is not given, and therefore they



have it not. For they have no authority but that



which is give in by the legislature. If they have not



chancery powers, then, by this law, there remains



but one other source from which they can legally



derive it. The act of 1804 before mentioned ş 11,



says, " the laws in force in the said territory, at the



commencement of this act, and not inconsistent



with the provisions thereof, shall continue in force



until altered, modified, or repealed by the legisla-



ture. " We have seen that the laws in force were



the French and Roman, with perhaps some occas-



sional Spanish regulations. It being perfectly un-



derstood that ' these were not meant to be included



in the change, it follows that the term common law,



when applied to this territory, must be equivalent



to the common law of that land, or the law of the



land. Was then the establishment of the French



and Roman laws an establishment of the chancery



system of law? Will it be said that the Roman



and Chancery laws, for instance, are the same?

















120        Jefferson's Works







That the civil law, and the chancery are synonymous



terms, both meaning the same system ? Nobody will



say that. The system of chancery law is partly con-



current, but chiefly supplementary and corrective of



that of the common law. It sometimes corrects



the harshness of the letter, where that includes what



was not intended. It gives remedies in certain



cases where that gave none, and more perfect rem-



edies in other cases. It is adapted to the common



law as .one part of an indenture is to its counterpart.



It is formed to tally with that in all its prominences



and recesses, its asperities and defects, and with no



other body of law on earth. It consists of a set of



rules and,maxims, modified by the English Chan-



cellors through a course of several centuries, derived



from no foreign model, but contrived to reduce spe-



cifically the principles of common law to those of



justice. The Roman law has something similar in



its Fus Prcetorium, where the discretion of the Praetor



was permitted to mollify and correct the harshness'



of the leges scriptae. But to apply the Fus Prae-



torium to our common law, or our chancery to the



leges scriptae of the Romans, would be to apply to one



thing the tally of another, or to mismatch the parts



of different machines, so as to render them incon-



sistent and impracticable. Our chancery system



is as different from the civil, as from the common



law. All systems of law indeed profess to be founded



on the principles of justice. But the superstructures



erected are totally distinct. The chancery then-

















        The Batture at New Orleans   121







being a system clearly distinct from that of the



French and Roman laws, it cannot be said that the



legislature of the U. S. by establishing the French



and Roman laws of Orleans, established there the



chancery system. It will not be pretended that the



process of subpeana, used in the present case, and



the sole and peculiar original process of chancery, is a



civil law process. It is known to have been the inven-



tion of Waltham, Chancellor of Richard II. founded



on the statute of Westminster the 2d c. 24. giving



writs in consimili casu.







  Might it be urged (for I am really at a loss to con-



jecture on what grounds this power has been as-



sumed) that possessing under the act of '04, the



powers of the chancery combined with those of the



French and Roman laws, the subsequent act which



gave them a common law jurisdiction, did not take



away the others? In totidem verbis it did not, but



in effect it did completely, by changing the govern-



ment into one in all respects similar to that in the



Mississippi territory, where there was no chancery



jurisdiction. Moreover, there is not a word in the



act of '04., which gives them chancery jurisdiction.



It says, " they shall have jurisdiction in all criminal



cases, and original and appellate jurisdiction in all



civil cases of the value of 100 dollars, and the laws



in force at the commencement of this act shall con-



tinue in force." Here then is their jurisdiction, and



the particular system of law according to which they



are to exercise it, and the chancery made no part of

















122        Jefferson's Works







that system. This argument,too, would suppose



that to the French, the Roman, the Spanish, and



the Chancery laws, the common law was also added.



This would be an extraordinary spectacle, indeed,



and the imputation of such an intention would be



an insult to the legislature. Their laws have always



some rational object in view; and are so to be con-



strued, as to produce order and justice. But this



construction, establishing so many systems, and



these inconsistent and contradictory, would produce



anarchy and chaos, and a dissolution of all law, of



all rights of person or property. And what would



be the consequences of carrying on a system of chan-



cery concurrent with the French and Roman laws?



A case is brought, for instance, into their court of



chancery. I ask the honorable judges, is the law



of chancery in this case, the same as the 'civil law?



If the same, what need of calling in the system of



chancery? If different, will you decide against the



law established by the legislature? If you carry



on two systems, the one of which, in any case,



gives a right to A. and the other to B. the suitor



who covets his neighbor's property needs only to



choose that court, the rules of which will give it



to him. Thus all rights will be set afloat between



two opposite systems. The wisdom of the legislature



therefore has been as sound in not giving a chancery



jurisdiction concurrently with the civil law, as the



judges have been ill-advised in usurping it. And



have they adverted to the national feelings,when

















        The Batture at New Orleans    123







they have ventured, on their own authority, to abol-



ish the trial by jury pledged by the Ordinance to



the .inhabitants forever? Whoever wishes to take



from his opponent the benefit of this trial, has only



to bring his suit in the court of chancery. In this



very case, on which the well-being of a great city is



suspended, no jury was called in. The judges took



upon themselves to decide both fact and law; aware,



at the same time, that a jury could not have been



found in Orleans, which would not have given



a contrary decision. I shall not ascribe either



favoritism, or intentional wrong to them : but they



ought not to be surprised, if those do whose inter-



ests and safety are so much jeopardized by this



shuffle of the judges into the place of the jury. It



is much regretted that these respectable judges have



set such an example of acting against law. It



will be more regretted if they do not, by the



spontaneous exertion of their own good sense and



self-denial, tread back their steps, and perceive



that there is more honor and magnanimity in



correcting, than persevering in an error. They. had



before them too the example of their neighbors,



of the Mississippi territory, whose government



was expressly made the model of theirs. Their



judges, like themselves, entitled to common law



jurisdiction only, and sensible it needed the mol-



lifying hand of the chancery, did not think the



assumption of it within their competence. The



territorial legislature therefore invested them with

















124        Jefferson's Works







the jurisdiction. The Judiciary power of the Indian



territory modelled by the same Ordinance, was



enlarged in like manner by the local legislature.



And yet the Orleans territory, least of all needed



the aid of a Chancery, as possessing already a



corresponding corrective, well adapted to the body



of their law, to which the system of Chancery was



entirely inapplicable.







 Although I had before noted, pages 16, 68, that



the decree of this court was a nullity as to the United



States, 1. Because they were not a party, nor amen-



able to their tribunal ; 2. Because also it was on a



subject over which they had no jurisdiction, I have



thought it useful to prove it a nullity; 3dly. Be-



cause the result of a process, and a course of pleading



and trial belonging to a court whose powers they



do not possess by law, in which course of action the



law considers them as mere private persons, is enti-



tled to the obedience of no one. I have done this



the rather because it has been seized as a ground of



censure on the Executive, as violating the sanctuary



of the judicial department, and of inculpating



the Marshal, who, placed between two conflicting



authorities, had to decide which was legitimate, and



decided correctly, as I trust appears, in obeying that



which ordered him to remove the plaintiff from an



usurped possession.







  The territorial legislature, three weeks after, took



[Act of territorial Legislature]up the subject, and passed an act pre-



 scribing in what manner riparian pro-

















        The Batture at New Orleans      125







prietors should proceed, who wished to make new



embankments in advance of those existing. This



gave to Mr. Livingston an easy mode of applying



for permission to resume his enterprise ; and had he



obtained a regular permission, certainly it would



have been duly respected by the National Executive.



On the 1st of March I received from Governor Clai-



borne a letter of Jan. 29, informing me of the execu-



tion of our orders, and covering a vote of thanks from



the legislative council and House of Representatives



of Orleans, for our interposition : and on the 7th of



the same month; I laid the case before Congress by



the following message:







 "To the Senate and House of Representatives of



the United States. In the city of New



[message to congress]



Orleans and adjacent to it are sundry



parcels of ground, some of them with



buildings and other improvements on them, which



it is my duty to present to the attention of the legis-



lature. The title to these grounds appears to have



been retained in the former sovereigns of the prov-



ince of Louisiana, as public fiduciaries, and for the



purposes of the province. Some of them were used



for the residence of the Governor, for public offices,



hospitals, barracks, magazines, fortifications, levees,



etc. , others for the town house, schools, markets, land-



ings, and other purposes of the city of New Orleans.



Some were held by religious corporations, or persons;



others seem to have been reserved for future



disposition.

















126        Jefferson's Works







 To these must be added a parcel called the bat-



ture, which requires more particular description. It



is understood to have been a shoal, or elevation of



the bottom of the river, adjacent to the bank of the



suburb St. Mary, produced by the successive depo-



sitions of mud during the annual inundations of the



river, and covered with water only during those in-



undations. At all other seasons it has been used by



the city, immemorially, to furnish earth for raising



their streets, and court yards, for mortar and other



necessary purposes, and as a landing or Quai for un-



lading firewood, lumber, and other articles brought



by water. This having lately been claimed by a



private individual, the city opposed the claim on a



supposed legal title in itself : but it has been adjudged



that the legal title was not in the city. It is however



alleged that that title, originally in the former sov-



ereigns, was never parted with by them, but was



retained by them for the uses of the city and prov-



ince, and consequently has now passed over to the



U. S. Until this question can be decided under leg-



islative authority, measures have been taken accord-



ing to law, to prevent any change in the state of



things, and to keep the grounds clear of intruders.



The settlement of this title, the appropriation of the



grounds and improvements formerly occupied for



provincial purposes to the same, or such other objects



as may be better suited to present circumstances;



the confirmation of the uses in other parcels to such



bodies corporate, or private, as may of right, or on

















        The Batture at New Orleans    127







other reasonable considerations, expect them, are



matters now submitted to the determination of the



legislature. The paper and plans now transmitted,



will give them such information on the subjects as I



possess, and, being mostly originals, I must request



that they may be communicated from the one to the



other house, to answer the purposes of both.



                   TH : JEFFERSON.







  March 7, 1808. "



  This removal of the case before Congress closed



the official duties of the Executive, and



Removal of the



his interference respecting these grounds : case before them.



except that the attorney of the United



States for the district of Orleans having given writ-



ten permission to the inhabitants to use the batture



as before, this, on the application of Mr. Livingston,



was directed to be withdrawn by a letter from the



Secretary of State, of Oct. 5, '09. This was correct.



It placed the inhabitants exactly on their former



footing, without either permission or prohibition



on the part of the National government.







  The possession, the only charge of the Executive,



was now cleared from intrusion, and restored to its



former condition : and the question of title commit-



ted to the Legislature, the only authority competent



to its decision. If they considered the ground taken



by the Executive as incorrect, their vote, or their



reference of the case to Commissioners, would correct



it. and as to damages, if any could justly be

















128         Jefferson's Works







claimed, they were due, as in other cases, not from



the judge who decides, but the party which, without



right, receives the intermediate profits. If, on the



other hand, Congress should deem the public right



too palpable, (as to me it clearly appears,) and the



claim of the plaintiff too frivolous, to occupy their



time, they would of course pass it by. And cer-



tainly they might as properly be urged to waste



their time in questioning whether the beds of .the



Potomac, the Delaware, or the Hudson, were public



or private property, as that of the Mississippi. Their



refusing to act on this claim therefore for five succes-



sive sessions, though constantly solicited, and their



holding so long the ground taken by the Executive,



is an expression of their 'sense that the measure has



been correct.







  I have gone with some detail into the question of



        the plaintiff"s right, because, . however



[Responsibility of a public functionary.]confident of indulgence, in the case

of an



      honest error, I believed it would be more



  satisfactory to show, that in the exercise



of the discretionary power entrusted to me by Con-



gress, a sound discretion had been used, no act of



oppression had been exercised, no error committed,



and consequently no wrong done to the plaintiff. I



have no pretensions to exemption from error. In a



long course of public duties, I must have committed



many. And I have reason to be thankful that, pass-



ing over these, an act of duty has been selected as a



subject of complaint, which the delusions of self in-

















        The Batture at New Orleans    129







terest alone could have classed among them, and in



which, were there error, it had been hallowed by the



benedictions of an entire province, an interesting



member of our national family, threatened with



destruction by the bold enterprise of one individual.



If this has been defeated, and they rescued, good



will have been done, and with good intentions. Our



constitution has wisely distributed the administra-



tion of the government into three distinct, and inde-



pendent departments. To each of these it belongs



to administer law within its separate jurisdiction.



The judiciary in cases of meum and tuum, and of



public crimes; the Executive, as to laws executive



in their nature; the legislature in various cases



which belong to itself, and in the important func-



tion of amending and adding to the system. Per-



fection in wisdom, as well as in integrity, is neither



required, nor expected in these agents. It belongs



not to man. Were the judge who, deluded by soph-



istry, takes the life of an innocent man, to repay it



with his own ; were he to replace, with his own for-



tune, that which his judgment has taken from an-



other, under the beguilement of false deductions;



were the Executive, in the vast mass of, concerns



of first magnitude, which he must direct, to place



his whole fortune on the hazard of every opinion;



were the members of the legislature to make good



from their private substance every law productive



of public or private injury; in short were every man



engaged in rendering service to the public, bound







  VOL. XVIII-9

















130        Jefferson's Works







in his body and goods to indemnification for all his



errors, we must commit our public affairs to the pau-



pers of the nation, tn the sweepings of hospitals and



poor-houses, who, having nothing tn lose, would



have nothing to risk. The wise know their weak-



ness too well to assume infallibility; and he "ho



knows most, knows best how little he knows. The



vine and the fig-tree must withdraw, and the briar



and bramble assume their places. But this is not



the spirit of our law. It expects not impossibilities.



It has consecrated the principle that its servants are



not answerable for honest error of judgment. 1. Ro.



Abr. 92. 2 Jones 13. 1 Salk. 39, . . He who has



done his duty honestly, and according to his best



skill and judgment, stands acquitted before God



and man. If indeed a judge goes against law so



grossly, so palpably as no imputable degree of folly



can account for., and nothing but corruption, malice



or wilful wrong can explain, and especially if cir-



cumstances prove such motives, he may be punished



for the corruption, the malice, the wilful wrong; but



not for the error: nor is he liable to action by the



party grieved And our form of government con-



stituting its respective functionaries judges of the



law which is to guide their decisions, places all within



the same reason, under the safeguard of the same



rule That in deciding and acting under the law in



the present case the plaintiff, who may think there



was error does not himself believe there was corrup-



tion or malice, I am confident. What? was it my

















        The Batture at New Orleans     131







malice or corruption which prompted the Gover-



nors and Cabildoes to keep these grounds clear of



intrusion ? Did my malice and corruption excite



the people to rise, and stay the parricide hand up=



lifted to destroy their city, or the grand jury to pre-



sent this violator of their laws ? Was it my malice



and corruption which penned the opinion of the



Attorney General, and drew from him a confirma-



tion, after two years of further consideration, and



when I was retired from all public office? Was it



my malice or corruption which dictated the unani-



mous advice of the heads of departments, when offi=



cially called on for consultation and advice? Was



it my malice and corruption which procured the



immediate thanks of the two houses of legislature



of the territory of Orleans, and a renewal of the



same thanks for the same interference, in their late



vote of February last ? Has it been my malice and



corruption which has induced the national legisla-



ture, through five successive sessions, to be deaf to



the doleful Jeremiads of the plaintiff on his removal



from his estate at New Orleans ? Have all these



opinions then been honest, and mine alone malicious



and corrupt ? Or has there been a general combina-



tion of all the public functionaries Spanish, French:



and American, to oppress Mr. Livingston ? No.



They have done their duties, and his Declaration is



a libel on all these functionaries. His counsel,



indeed, has discovered [Opinions LXXIV) that we



should have had legal inquests taken, writs of en-

















132        Jefferson's Works







quiry formed, prosecutions for penalties, with all



the et caeteras of the law. That is that we should



be playing pushpin with judges and lawyers, while



Livingston was working double tides to drown the



city. If a functionary of the highest trust, acting



under every sanction which the Constitution has



provided for his aid and guide, and with the appro-



bation, expressed or implied, of its highest councils,



still acts on his own peril, the honors and offices of



his country would be but snares to ruin him. It is



not for me to enquire into the motives of the plain-



tiff in this action. I know that his understanding



is of an order much too high to let him believe that



he is to recover the value of the batture from me.



To what indirect object he may squint with one



eye, while the other looks at me, I do not pretend



to say. But I do say, that if human reason is not



mere illusion, 'and law a labyrinth without a clue,



no error has been committed: and recurring to



the tenor of a long life of public service, against the



charge of malice and corruption I stand conscious



and erect. TH : JEFFERSON







  MONTICELLO, July 31, 1810.



 For Mr. Livingston's Answer, see Hall's American Law Journal,



Vol. 5, p. 1 13, of the Baltimore edition of 1814.

















        BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES











        aa







        DISTINGUISHED MEN

















        BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF







        DISTINGUISHED MEN















        PEYTON RANDOLPH.







 Peyton Randolph was the eldest son of Sir John



Randolph, of Virginia, a barrister at law, and an emi-



nent practitioner at the bar of the General Court.



Peyton was educated at the College of William and



Mary in Williamsburg, and thence went to England,



and studied law at the Temple. At his return he



intermarried with Elizabeth Harrison, sister of the



afterwards Governor Hanson, entered into practice



in the General Court, was afterwards appointed the



king's Attorney General for the colony, and became



a representative in the House of Burgesses (then so



called) for the city of Williamsburg.







 Governor Dinwiddie having, about this period,



introduced the exaction of a new fee on his signature



of grants for lands, without the sanction of any law,



the House of Burgesses remonstrated against it, and



sent Peyton Randolph to England, as their agent to



oppose it before the king and council. The interest



of the governor, as usual, prevailed against that of







        135













136        Jefferson's Works







the colony, and his new exaction was confirmed



by the king.







   After Braddock,s defeat on the Monongahela, in



1755, the incursions of the Indians on our frontiers



spread panic and dismay through the whole country,



insomuch that it was scarcely possible to procure



men, either as regulars or militia, to go against them.



To counteract this terror and to set good example, a



number of the wealthiest individuals of the colony,



and the highest standing in it, in public as well as in



their private relations, associated under obligations



to furnish each of them two able-bodied men, at their



own expense, to form themselves into a regiment



under the denomination of the Virginia Blues, to



join the colonial force on the frontier, and place them-



selves under its commander, George Washington,



then a colonel. They appointed William Byrd, a



member of the council, colonel of the regiment, and



Peyton Randolph, I think, had also some command.



But the original associators had more the will than



the power of becoming effective soldiers. Born and



bred in the lap of wealth, all the habits of their lives



were of ease, indolence and indulgence. Such men



were little fitted t" sleep under tents, and often with-



out them, to be exposed to all the intemperances of



the seasons, to swim rivers, range the woods, climb



mountains, wade morasses, to skulk behind trees,



and contend as sharpshooters with the savages of



the wilderness, who in all the scenes and exercises



would be in their natural element. Accordingly,

















        Biographical Sketches    137







the commander was more embarrassed with their



care, than reinforced by their service. They had the



good fortune to see no enemy, and to return at the



end of the campaign rewarded by the favor of the



public for this proof of their generous patriotism and



good will.







 When afterwards, in 1764, on the proposal of the



Stamp Act, the House of Burgesses determined to



send an address against it to the king, and memorials



to the Houses of Lord and Commons, Peyton Ran-



dolph, George Wythe, and (I think) Robert C. l Nicho-



las, were appointed to draw these papers. That to



the king was by Peyton Randolph, and the memorial



to the Commons was by George Wythe. It was on



the ground of these papers that those gentlemen



opposed the famous resolutions of Mr. Henry in 1765,



to wit, that the principles of these resolutions had



been asserted and maintained in the address and



memorials of the year before, to which an answer was



yet to be expected.







 On the death of the speaker, Robinson, in 1766,



Peyton Randolph was elected speaker. He resigned



his office of Attorney General, in which he was suc-



ceeded by his brother Randolph, father of the late



Edmund Randolph, and retired from the bar: He



now devoted himself solely to his duties as a legisla-



tor, and although sound in his principles, and going



steadily with us in opposition to the British usurpa-



tions, he with the other older members, yielded the



lead to the younger, only tempering their ardor, and

















138        Jefferson's Works







so far moderating their pace as to prevent their



going too far in advance of the public sentiment.



 On the establishment of a committee by the legis-



lature, to correspond with the other colonies, he was



named their chairman, and their first proposition to



the other colonies was to appoint similar committees



who might consider the expediency of calling a general



Congress of deputies in order to procure a harmony



of procedure among the whole. This produced the



call of the first Congress, to which he was chosen a



delegate, by the House of Burgesses, and of which



he was appointed, by that Congress, its president.







 On the receipt of what was called Lord North 's con-



ciliatory proposition, in 1775, Lord Dunmore called



the General Assembly and laid it before them. Pey-



ton Randolph quitted the chair of Congress, in which



he was succeeded by Mr. Hancock, and repaired to



that of the House which had deputed him. Anxious



about the.tone and spirit of the answer which should



be given (because being the first it might have effect



on those of the other colonies), and supposing that a



younger pen would be more likely to come up to the



feelings of the body he had left, he requested me to



draw the answer, and steadily supported and carried



it through the House, with a few softenings only from



the more timid members.







 After the adjournment of the House of Burgesses



he returned to Congress, and died there of an apolexy,



on the 22d of October following, aged, as I should con-



jecture, about fifty years.

















        Biographical Sketches     139







 He was indeed a most excellent man ; and none was



ever more beloved and respected by his friends.



Somewhat cold and coy towards.strangers, but of the



sweetest affability when ripened into acquaintance.



Of Attic pleasantry in conversation, always good



humored and conciliatory. With a sound and logical



head, he was well read in the law; and his opinions



when consulted, were highly regarded, presenting



always a learned and sound view of the subject, but



generally, too, a listlessness to go into its thorough



development; for being heavy and inert in body, he



was rather too indolent and careless for business,



which occasioned him to get a smaller proportion. of



it at the bar than his abilities would otherwise have



commanded. Indeed, after his appointment as



Attorney General, he did not seem to court, nor



scarcely to welcome business. In that office he con-



sidered himself equally charged with the rights of the



colony as with those of the crown; and in criminal



prosecutions. exaggerating nothing, he aimed at a can-



did and just state of the transaction., believing it



more a duty to save an innocent than to convict a



guilty man. Although not eloquent, his matter was



so substantial that no man commanded more atten-



tion, which, joined with a sense of his great worth,



gave him a weight in the House of Burgesses which



few ever attained. He was liberal in his expenses,



but correct also, so as not to be involved in pecuniary



embarrassments; and with a heart always open to



the amiable sensibilities of our nature, he did as many

















140        Jefferson's Works







good acts as could have been done with his fortune,



without injuriously impairing his means of continu-



ing them. He left no issue, and gave his fortune to



his widow and nephew, the late Edmund Randolph.







           MERIWETHER LEWIS.(1)







 Meriwether Lewis, late Governor of Louisiana,was



born on the 18th of August, 1774,; near the town of



Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, in Vir-



ginia, of one of the distinguished families of that



State. John Lewis, one of his father's uncles, was a



member of the King's Council before the revolution ;



another of them, Fielding Lewis, married a sister of



General Washington. His father, William Lewis,



was the youngest of five sons of Colonel Robert







          (1)TO MR. PAUL ALLEN, PHILADELPHIA.







                      MONTICELLO, April 13, 1813.



@# SIR; In compliance with the request conveyed in your letter of



May 25th, I have endeavored to obtain from the relations and friends



of the late Governor Lewis, information of such incidents of his life



as might be not unacceptable to those who may read the narrative



of his western discoveries. The ordinary occurrences of a private



life, and those also while acting in a subordinate sphere in the army



in a time of peace. are not deemed sufficiently interesting to occupy



the public attention; but a general account of his parentage, with



such smaller incidents as marked early character, are briefly noted,



and to these are added, as being peculiarly within my own knowledge,



whatever related to the public mission, of which an account is now to



be published. The result of my inquiries and recollections shall now



be offered, to be enlarged or abridged as you may think best, or other-



wise to be used with the materials you may have collected from other



sources. @#

















        Biographical Sketches    141







Lewis of Albemarle, the fourth of whom, Charles, was



one of the early patriots who stepped forward in the



commencement of the revolution, and commanded one



of the regiments first raised in Virginia, and placed



on continental establishment. Happily situated at



home with a wife and young family, and a fortune



placing him at ease, he left all to aid in the liber-



ation of his country from foreign usurpations, then



first unmasking their ultimate end and aim. His



good sense, integrity, bravery, enterprise and remark-



able bodily powers, marked him an officer of great



promise ; but he unfortunately died early in the revo-



lution. Nicholas Lewis, the second of his father's



brothers, commanded a regiment of militia in the



successful expedition of 1776, against the Cherokee



Indians, who, seduced by the agents of the British



government to take up the hatchet against us, had



committed great havoc on our southern frontier, by



murdering and scalping helpless women and children



according to their cruel and cowardly principles



of warfare. The chastisement they then received



closed the history of their wars, prepared them for



receiving the elements of civilization, which, zeal-



ously inculcated by the present government of the



United States, have rendered them an industrious,



peaceable and happy people. This member of the



family of Lewises, whose bravery was so usefully



proved on this occasion, was endeared to all who



knew him by his inflexible probity, courteous disposi-



tion, benevolent heart, and engaging modesty and

















142        Jefferson's Works







manners. He was the umpire of all the private differ-



ences of his county, selected always by both parties.



He was also the guardian of Meriwether Lewis, of



whom we are now to speak, and who had lost his



father at an early age. He continued some years



under the fostering care of a tender mother, of the



respectable family of Meriwethers of the same county,



and was remarkable even in his infancy for enter-



prise, boldness and discretion. When only eight



years of age, he habitually went out, in the dead of



the night, alone with his dogs, into the forest to hunt



the raccoon and opossum, which, seeking their food



in the night, can then only be taken. In this exercise



no season ar circumstance could obstruct his purpose,



plunging through the winter's snows and frozen



streams in pursuit of his object. At thirteen, he was



put to the Latin school, and continued at that until



eighteen, when he returned to his mother, and entered



on the cares of his farm, having, as well as a younger



brother, been left by his father with a competency



for all the correct and comfortable purposes of tem-



perate life. His talent for observation, which had



led him to an accurate knowledge of the plants and



animals of his own county, would have distinguished



him as a farmer; but at the age of twenty, yielding to



the ardor of youth, and a passion for more dazzling



pursuits, he engaged as a volunteer in the body of



which were called out by General Washington, on



occasion of the discontents produced by the excise



taxes in the western parts of the United States ; and

















        Biographical Sketches     143







from that situation he was removed to the regular



service as a lieutenant in the line. At twenty-three



he was promoted to a captaincy ; and always attract-



ing the first attention where punctuality and fidelity



were requisite, he was appointed paymaster to his



regiment. About this time a circumstance occurred



which, leading to the transaction which is the subject



of this book, will justify a recurrence to its original



idea. While I resided in Paris, John Ledyard of



Connecticut arrived there, well known in the United



States for energy of body and mind. He had accom-



panied Captain Cook in his voyage to the Pacific



ocean, and distinguished himself on that voyage by



his intrepidity. Being of a roaming disposition, he



was now panting for some new enterprise. His



immediate object at Paris was to engage a mercan-



tile company in the fur trade of the western coast of



America, in which, however, he failed. I then pro-



posed to him to go by land to Kamschatka, cross in



some of the Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, fall down



into the latitude of the Missouri, and penetrate to and



through that to the United States. He eagerly seized



the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permis-



sion of the Russian government. I interested in ob-



taining that from M. de Simoulin, M. P. of the Empress



at Paris, but more especially the Baron de Grimm, M.



P. of Saxe-Gotha, her more special agent and corres-



pondent there, in matters not immediately diplo-



matic. Her permission was obtained, and an assur-



ance of protection while the course of the voyage

















144        Jefferson's Works







should be through her territories. Ledyard set out



from Paris and arrived at St. Petersburg after the



Empress had left that place to pass the winter (I



think) at Moscow. His finances not permitting him



to make unnecessary stay at St. Petersburg, he left



it with a passport from one of the ministers, and at



two hundred miles from Kamschatka, was obliged to



take up his winter quarters. He was preparing in the



spring to resume his journey, when he was arrested



by an officer of the Empress, who, by this time, had



changed her mind, and forbidden his proceeding. He



was put into a close carriage and conveyed day and



night, without ever stopping, till they reached Poland,



where he was set down and left to himself. The



fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution,



and when he returned to Paris, his bodily strength



was much impaired. His mind, however, remained



firm; and after this he undertook the journey to



Egypt. I received a letter from him, full of san-



guine hopes, dated at Cairo, the 15th of November,



1788, the day before he was to set out for the head of



the Nile, on which day, however, he ended his career



and life ; and thus failed the first attempt to explore



the western part of our northern continent.







 In 1792 I proposed to the A. P. S., that we should



set on foot a subscription to engage some competent



person to explore that region in the opposite direction,



that is, by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony



mountains, and descending the nearest river to the



Pacific. Captain Lewis being then stationed at

















        Biographical Sketches   145







Charlottesville on the recruiting service, warmly solic-



ited me to obtain for him the execution of that object,



I told him it was proposed that the person engaged



should be attended by a single companion only, to



avoid exciting alarm among the Indians. This did



not deter him. But Mr. Andre Michaux, a professed



bobanist, author of the "Flora Boreali-Americana,"



and of the "Historie des chenes d'Amerique," offering



his services, they were accepted. He received his



instructions, and when he had reached Kentucky in



the prosecution of his journey, he was overtaken by



an order from the minster of France then at Phila-



delphia, to relinquish the expedition, and to pursue



elsewhere the botanical inquiries on which he was



employed by that government; and thus failed the



second attempt for exploring that region.







  In 1803, the act for establishing trading houses



with the Indian tribes being about to expire, some



modifications of it were recommended to Congress by



a confidential message of January 18th, and an exten-



sion of its views to the Indians on the Missouri. In



order to prepare the way, the message proposed the



sending an exploring party to trace the Missouri to



its source, to cross the highlands and follow the best



water communication which offered itself from thence



to the Pacific Ocean. Congress approved the propo-



sition, and voted a sum of money for carrying it into



execution. Captain Lewis, who had then been near



two years with me as private secretary, immediately



renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the







   VOL. XVIII-10

















146        Jefferson's Works







party. I had now had opportunities of knowing



him intimately. Of courage undaunted, possess-



ing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which



nothing but impossibilities could divert from its



direction, careful as a father of those committed to



his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order



and discipline, intimate with the Indian character,



customs and principles. Habituated to the hunt-



ing life, guarded by exact observation of the vege-



tables and animals of his own country, against losing



time in the description of objects already possessed,



honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understand-



ing, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that what-



ever he should report would be as certain as if seen



by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected



and implanted by nature in one body, for this express



purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the



enterprise to him. To fill up the measure desired, he



wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the



technical language of the natural sciences, and read-



iness in the astronomical observations necessary for



the geography of his route. To acquire these he



repaired immediately to Philadelphia, and placed



himself under the tutorage of the distinguished pro-



fessors of that place, who, with a zeal and emulation,



enkindled by an ardent devotion to science, commu-



nicated to him freely the information requisite for



the purposes of the journey. While attending to at



Lancaster, the fabrication of the arms with which he



chose that his men should be provided, he had the

















        Biographical Sketches    147







benefit of daily communication with Mr. Andrew



Ellicott, whose experience in astronomical observa-



tion and practice of it in the woods, enabled him to



apprise Captain Lewis of the wants and difficulties he



would encounter, and of the substitutes and resources



offered by a woodland and uninhabited country.



Deeming it necessary he should have some person



with him of known competence to the direction of



the enterprise, and to whom he might confide it, in



the event of accident to himself, he proposed William



Clarke, brother of General George Rogers Clarke,



who was approved, and with that view received a



commission of captain







  In April, 1803, a draught of his instructions was



sent to Captain Lewis, and on the 20th of June they



were signed in the following form :







  "To Meriwether Lewis, Esquire, Captain of the 1st



regiment of infantry of the United States of America :







  "Your situation as Secretary of the President of



the United States has made you acquainted with the



objects of my confidential message of January 18th



1803, to the legislature ; you have seen the act they



passed, which, though expressed in general terms,



was meant to sanction those objects, and you are



appointed to carry them into execution.







  " Instruments for ascertaining by celestial observa-



tions, the geography of the country through which



you will pass, have been already provided. Light



articles for barter and presents among the Indians,



arms for your attendants, say for from ten to twelve

















148        Jefferson's Works







men, boats, tents and other travelling apparatus,



with ammunition, medicine, surgical instruments and



provisions, you will have prepared "ith such aids as



the Secretary of War can yield in his departments;



and from him also you will receive authority to



engage among our troops, by voluntary agreement,



the number of attendants above mentioned, over



whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested



with all the powers the laws give in such a case.







 "As your movements while within the limits of the



United States will be better directed by occasional



communications, adapted to circumstances as they



arise, they will not be noticed here. What follows



will respect your proceedings after your departure



from the United States.







 "Your mission has been communicated to the min-



isters here from France, Spain and Great Britain, and



through them to their governments ; and such assur-



ances given them as to its objects, as we trust will



satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having been



ceded by Spain to France, the passport you have



from the minister of France, the representative of the



present sovereign of that country, will be a protec-



tion with all its subjects ; and that from the minister



of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any



traders of that allegiance with whom you may hap-



pen to meet.







 "The object of your mission is to explore the Mis-



souri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by



its course and communication with the waters of the

















        Biographical Sketches     149







Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colo-



rado, or any other river, may offer the most direct



and practicable water communication across the



continent for the purposes of commerce.







  " Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri; you will



take observations of latitude and longitude at all



remarkable points on the river, and especially at the



mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, and other



places and objects distinguished by such natural



marks and characters of a durable kind as that they



may with certainty be recognized hereafter. The



courses of the river between these points of observa-



tion may be supplied by the compass, the log line and



by time, corrected by the observations themselves.



The variations of the compass too, in different places,



should be noticed.







  "The interesting points of the portage between the



heads of the Missouri, and of the water offering the



best communication with the Pacific ocean, should



also be fixed by observation, and the course of that



water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the



Missouri.







  " Your observations are to be taken with great



pains and accuracy, to be entered distinctly and



intelligibly for others as well as yourself, to compre-



hend all the elements necessary, with the aid of the



usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the



places at which they were taken, and are to be ren-



dered to the War Office, for the purpose of having the



calculations made concurrently by proper persons

















150        Jefferson's Works







within the United States. Several copies of these



as well as of your other notes should be made at



leisure times, and put into the care of the most trust-



worthy of your attendants, to guard, by multiply-



ing them, against the accidental losses to which they



will be exposed. A further guard would be that one



of these copies be on the paper of the birch, as less



liable to injury from damp than common paper.



  "The commerce which may be carried on with the



people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a



knowledge of those people important. You will,



therefore, endeavor to make yourself acquainted, as



far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit,



with the names of the nations and their numbers ; the



extent of their possessions ; their relations with other



tribes or nations ; their language, traditions, monu-



ments their ordinary occupations in agriculture,



fishing, hunting, war, arts, and the implements



for these ; their food, clothing and domestic accommo-



dations ; the diseases prevalent among them, and the



remedies they use ; moral and physical circumstances



which distinguish them from the tribes we know;



peculiarities in their laws, customs and dispositions,



and articles of commerce they may need or furnish ;



and to what extent; and, considering the interest



which every nation has in extending and strengthen-



ing the authority of reason and justice among the



people around them, it will be useful to acquire what



knowledge you can of the state of morality, religion,



and information among them, as it may better enable

















        Biographical Sketches    151







those who may endeavor to civilize and instruct



them to adopt their measures to the existing notions,



and practices of those on whom they are to operate.







  "Other objects worthy of notice will be, the soil



and face of the country, its growth and vegetable pro-



ductions, especially those not of the United States,



the animals of the country generally, and especially



those not known in the United States; the remains



and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or



extinct; the mineral productions of every kind, but



particularly metals, limestone, pit-coal and salt-



petre ; salines and mineral waters, noting the temper-



ature of the last, and such circumstances as may indi-



cate their character ; volcanic appearances ; climate,



as characterized by the thermometer, by the propor-



tion of rainy, cloudy, and.clear days, by lightning,



hail, snow, ice, by the access and recess of frost, by



the winds ,prevailing at different seasons, the dates at



which particular plants put forth or lose their flower



or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds,



reptiles or insects,







  "Although your route will be along the channel of



the Missouri, yet you will endeavor to inform your-



self, by inquiry, of the character and extent of the



country watered by its branches, and especially on



its southern side. The north river, or Rio Bravo,



which runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the north



river, or Rio Colorado, which runs into the Gulf of



California, are understood to be the principal streams



heading opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and

















152        Jefferson's Works







running southwardly. Whether the dividing grounds



between the Missouri and them are moun-



tains or flat lands, what are their distance from the



Missouri, the character of the intermediate country,



and the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particular



inquiry. The northern waters of the Missouri are



less to be inquired after, because they have been ascer-



tained to a considerable degree, and are still in a



course of ascertainment by English traders and



travellers. But if you can learn anything certain of



the most northern source of the Mississippi, and of its



position relatively to the Lake of the Woods, it will be



interesting to us. Some account, too, of the path of



the Canadian traders from the Mississippi, at the



mouth of the Ouisconsing to where it strikes the



Missouri, and of the soil and rivers in its course, is



desirable.







 " In all your intercourse with the natives, treat



them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner



which their own conduct will admit; allay all jeal-



ousies as to the object of your journey, satisfy them



of its innocence;make them acquainted with the



position, extent, character, peaceable and commer-



cial dispositions of the United States, of our wish to



be neighborly, friendly and useful to them, and of



our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with



them ; confer with them on the points most conven-



ient as mutual emporiums; and the articles of most



desirable interchange for them and us. If a few of



their influential chiefs within practicable distance,





















        Biographical Sketches     153







wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and



furnish them with authority to call on our officers, on



their entering the United States, to have them con-



veyed to this place at the public expense. If any of



them should wish to have some of their young people



brought up with us, and taught such arts as may be



useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take



care of them. Such a mission, whether of influential



chiefs or of young people, would give some security to



your own party. Carry with you some matter of



the kine pox; inform those of them with whom



you may be, of its efficacy as a preservative from



the small pox; and instruct and encourage them



in the use of it. This may be especially done wher-



ever you winter.







  "As it is impossible for us to foresee in what man-



ner you will be received by those people, whether



with hospitality or hostility, so is it impossible to



prescribe the exact degree of perseverance with



which you are to pursue your journey. We value



too much the lives of citizens to offer them to prob-



able destruction. Your numbers will be sufficient to



secure you against the unauthorized opposition of



individuals or of small parties ; but if a superior force,



authorized or not authorized by a nation, should be



arrayed against your further passage, and inflexibly



determined to arrest it, you must decline its farther



pursuit, and return. In the loss of yourselves, we



should lose also the. information you will have



acquired. By returning safely with that, you may

















154        Jefferson's Works







enable us to renew the essay with better calculated



means. To your own discretion, therefore, must



be left the degree of danger you may risk, and



the point at which you should decline, only saying we



wish you 'to err on the side of your safety, and to



bring us back your party safe, even if it be with less



information.







 "Should you reach the Pacific ocean, inform



yourself of the circumstances which may decide



whether the furs of those parts may not be col-



lected as advantageously at the head of the Mis-



souri (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the



Colorado and Oregon or Columbia), as at Nootka



Sound, or any other point of that coast; and that



trade be consequently conducted through the Mis-



souri and United States more beneficially than by



the circumnavigation now practised.







 "As far up the Missouri as the white settlements



extend, an intercourse will probably be found to



exist between them and the Spanish posts of St.



Louis opposite Cahokia, or St. Genevieve opposite



Kaskaskia. From still further up the river,.the



traders may furnish a conveyance for letters: Be-



yond that, you may perhaps be able to engage In-



dians to bring letters for the government to Cahokia



or Kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there



receive such special compensation as you shall have



stipulated with them. Avail yourself of these



means to communicate to us, at seasonable intervals,



a copy of your journal, notes, and observations, of

















        Biographical Sketches      155







every kind, putting into cypher whatever might do



injury if betrayed.







  " On your arrival on that coast, endeavor to learn



if there be any post within your reach frequented by



the sea vessels of any nation, and to send two of



your trusty people back by sea, in such way as shall



appear practicable, with a copy of your notes ; and



should you be of opinion that the return of your



party by the way they went will be imminently



dangerous, then ship the whole, and return by sea,



by the way either of Cape Horn or the Cape of Good



Hope, as you shall be able. As you will be without



money, clothes, or provisions, you must endeavor



to use the credit of the United States to obtain



them, for which purpose open letters of credit shall



be furnished you, authorizing you to draw on the



executive of the United States, or any of its officers,



in any part of the world, on which drafts can be dis-



posed of, and to apply with our recommendations



to the consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any



nation with which we have intercourse, assuring



them in our name, that any aids they may furnish



you, shall be honorably repaid, and on demand.



Our consuls, Thomas Hewes at Batavia in Java,



William Buchanan in the Isles of France and Bour-



bon, and John Elmslie at the Cape of Good Hope,



will be able to supply your necessities by drafts



on us.







  " Should you find it safe to return by the way you



go after sending two of your party round by sea,

















156        Jefferson's Works







or with your whole party, if no conveyance by sea



can be found, do so; making such observations on



your return, as may serve to supply, correct, or con-



firm those made on your outward journey.







  " On re-entering the United States and reaching



a place of safety, discharge any of your attendants



who may desire and deserve it, procuring for them



immediate payment of all arrears of pay and cloth-



ing which may have incurred since their departure,



and assure them that they shall be recommended to



the liberality of the legislature for the grant of a sol-



dier's portion of land each, as proposed in my mes-



sage to Congress; and repair yourself with your



papers to the seat of government.







  "To provide in the accident of your death,



against anarchy, dispersion and the consequent



danger of your party, and total failure of the enter-



prise, you are hereby authorized, by any instrument



signed and written in your own hand, to name the



person among them who shall succeed to the com-



mand on your decease, and by like instruments to



change the nomination from time to time as further



experience of the characters accompanying you



shall point out superior fitness ; and all the powers



and authorities given to yourself are, in the event of



your death, transferred to, and vested in the succes-



sor so named, with further power to him, and his suc-



cessors in like manner, to name each his successor, who,



on the death of his predecessor, shall be invested



with all the powers and authorities given to yourself.

















        Biographical Sketches     157







  "Given under my hand at the city of Washing-



ton, this 20th day of June, 1803.



"THOMAS JEFFERSON, President of the U. States of



   America. "







 While these things were going on here, the coun-



try of Louisiana, lately ceded by Spain to France,



had been the subject of negotiation between us and



this last power; and had actually been transferred



to us by treaties executed at Paris on the 30th of



April. This information, received about the 1st



day of July, increased infinitely the interest we felt



in the expedition, and lessened the apprehensions



of interruption from other powers. Everything in



this quarter being now prepared, Captain Lewis



left Washington on the 5th of July, 1803, and pro-



ceeded to Pittsburg, where other articles had been



ordered to be provided for him. The men, too,



were to be selected from the military stations on



the Ohio. Delays of preparation, difficulties of



navigation down the Ohio, and other untoward ob-



structions, retarded his arrival at Cahokia until the



season was so far advanced as to render it prudent



to suspend his entering the Missouri before the ice



should break up in the succeeding spring. From



this time his journal, now published, will give the



history of his journey to and from the Pacific ocean,



until his return to St. Louis on the 23d of September,



1806. Never did a similar event excite more joy



through the United States.

















158        Jefferson's Works







 The humblest of its citizens had taken a lively



interest in the issue of this journey, and looked for-



ward with impatience for the information it would



furnish. Their anxieties, too, for the safety of the



corps had been kept in a state of excitement by



lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time



on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by let-



ters or other direct information from the time they



had left the Mandan towns on their ascent up the



river in April of the preceding year, 1805, until



actual return to St. Louis.







 It was the middle of Feb. , 1807, before Captain



Lewis with his companion Clarke reached the city



of Washington, where Congress was then in session:



That body granted to the two chiefs and their fol-



lowers, the donation of lands which they had been



encouraged to expect in reward of their toils and dan-



gers. Captain Lewis was soon after appointed Gov-



ernor of Louisiana, and Captain Clarke a general of



its militia, and agent of the United States for Indian



affairs in that department.







 A considerable time intervened before the Gov-



ernor's arrival at St. Louis. He found the territory



distracted by feuds and contentions among the



officers of the government, and the people them-



selves divided by these into factions and parties.



He determined at once to take no sides with either,



but to use every endeavor to conciliate and harmo-



nize them. The even-handed justice he adminis-



tered to all soon established a respect for his person

















        Biographical Sketches    159







and authority, and perseverance and time wore



down animosities, and reunited the citizens again



into one family.







  Governor Lewis had from early life been subject



to hypochondriac affections. It was a constitutional



disposition in all the nearer branches of the family.



of his name, and was more immediately inherited



by him from his father. They had not, however,



been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family.



While he lived with me in Washington, I observed



at times sensible depressions of mind, but knowing



their constitutional source, I estimated their course



by what I had seen in the family. During his west-



ern expedition, the constant exertion which that



required of all the faculties of body and mind, sus-



pended these distressing affections; but after his



establishment at St. Louis in sedentary occupations,



they returned upon him with redoubled vigor, and



began seriously to alarm his friends. He was in a



paroxysm of one of these when his affairs rendered



it necessary for him to go to Washington. He pro-



ceeded to the Chickasaw bluffs, where he arrived on



the 18th of September, 1809, with a view of con-



tinuing his journey thence by water. Mr. Neely,



agent of the United States. with the Chickasaw



Indians, arriving there two days after, found him.



extremely indisposed, and betraying at times some



symptoms of a derangement of mind. The rumors



of a war with England, and apprehensions that he



might.lose the papers he was bringing on, among

















160        Jefferson's Works







which were the vouchers of his public accounts,



and the journals and papers of his western expedi-



tion, induced him here to change his mind, and to



take his course by land through the Chickasaw



country. Although he appeared somewhat relieved



Mr. Neely kindly determined to accompany and



watch over him. Unfortunately, at their en-



campment, after having passed the Tennessee one



day's journey, they lost two horses, which obliging



Mr. Neely to halt for their recovery, the Governor



proceeded under a promise to wait for him at the



house of the first white inhabitant on his road. He



stopped at the house of a Mr. Grinder, who, not



being at home, his wife, alarmed at the symptoms



of derangement she discovered, gave him up the



house, and retired to rest herself in an out-house;



the Governor's and Neely's servants lodging in



another. About 3 o 'clock in the night he did the deed



which plunged his friends into affliction, and de-



prived his country of one of her most valued citizens,



whose valor and intelligence would have been now



employed in avenging the wrongs of his country,



and in emulating by land the splendid deeds which



have honored her arms on the ocean. It lost, too,



to the nation the benefit of receiving from his own



hand the narrative now offered them of his suffer-



ings and successes in endeavoring to extend for



them the boundaries of science, and to present to



their knowledge that vast and fertile country which



their sons are destined to fill with arts, with science,



with freedom and happiness.

















        Biographical Sketches    161







   To this melancholy close of the life of one whom



posterity will declare not to have lived in vain, I



have only to add that all the facts I have stated,



are either known to myself, or communicated by



his family or others, for whose truth I have no hesi-



tation to make myself responsible; and I conclude



with tendering you the assurances of .my respect



and consideration.'











       GENERAL THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO.







  I. Circumstances relating to General Kosciusko



previously to his joining the American Army. Kos-



ciusko was born in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania



in the year 1756. His family was noble, and his



patrimony considerable; circumstances which he



justly appreciated, for as belonging to himself they



were never matters of boasting, and rarely subjects



of notice, and as the property of others only re-



garded as advantages when accompanied by good



sense and good morals. The workings of his mind



on the subject of civil liberty were early and vig-



orous; before he was twenty the vassalage of his



serfs filled him with abhorrence, and the first act of



his manhood was to break their fetters.







  In the domestic quarrel between the king and



the dissidents in 1761, he was too young to take a



part, but the partition of Poland in 1772 (of which







@# (1) This biographical account of Lewis was used as a preface to the"History

of the Expedition of Lewis and Clarke" published in 1814.



   vol. xviii-II

















162        Jefferson's Works







this quarrel was one of the pretences), engaged him



in the defence of his country, and soon made him



sensible of the value of military education, which



he afterwards sought in the schools of Paris. It



was there and while prosecuting this object, that



he first became acquainted with the name of Amer-



ica, and the nature of the war in which the British



colonies were then engaged with the mother coun-



try. In the summer of 1776 he embarked for this



country, and in October of that year was appointed



by Congress a colonel of engineers.







 2. Services of the General during the War. In the



spring of 1776 he joined the northern army, and



in July following the writer of this notice left him



on Lake Champlain engaged in strengthening our



works at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence.



The unfortunate character of the early part of this



campaign is sufficiently known. In the retreat of



the American army Kosciusko was distinguished



for activity and courage, and upon him devolved



the choice of camps and posts and everything con-



nected with fortifications. The last frontier taken



by the army while commanded by Gen. Schuyler



was on an island in the Hudson near the mouth of



the Mohawk river, and within a few miles of Albany.



Here Gates, who had superseded Schuyler, found



the army on the - day of August. Public feel-



ing and opinion were strikingly affected by the



arrival of this officer, who gave it a full and lasting



impression by ordering the army to advance upon

















        Biographical Sketches      163







the enemy. The state of things at that moment



are well and faithfully expressed by that distin-



guished officer, Col. Udney Hay, in a letter to a



friend. " Fortune," says he, " as if tired of perse-



cuting us, had began to change, and Burguyne had



suffered materially on both his flanks. But these



things were not of our doing; the main army, as it



was called, was hunted from post to pillar, and



dared not to measure its strength with the enemy;



much was wanting to re-inspire it with confidence



in itself, with that self-respect without which



army is but a flock of sheep, a proof of which is



found in the fact, that we have thanked in general



orders a detachment double the force of that of the



enemy, for having dared to return their fire. From



this miserable state of despondency and terror,



Gates' arrival raised us, as if by magic. We began



to hope and then to act. Our first step was to



Stillwater, and we are now on the heights called



Bhemus', looking the enemy boldly in the face.



Kosciusko has selected this ground, and has covered



its weak point (its right) with redoubts from the



hill of the river. " In front of this camp thus forti-



fied two battles were fought, which eventuated in



the retreat of the enemy and his surrender at



Saratoga !







 The value of Colonel Kosciusko's services during



this campaign, and that of 1778, will be found in the



following extract from a letter of General Gates



written in the spring of 1780:

















164        Jefferson's Works







  " My dear friend : After parting with you at York-



town, I got safely to my own fireside, and without



inconvenience of any kind, excepting sometimes



cold toes and cold fingers. Of this sort of punish-



ment, however, I am, it seems, to have no more,



as I am destined by the Congress to command in



the South. In entering on this new and (as Lee



says) most difficult theatre of the war, my first



thoughts have been turned to the selections of an



engineer, an adjutant-general and a quarter-



master-general, Kosciusko, Hay and yourself, if I



can prevail upon you all, are to fill these offices,



and will fill them well. The excellent qualities of



the Pole, which no one knows better than yourself,



are now acknowledged at head-quarters, and may



induce others to prevent his joining us. But his



promise once given, we are sure of him. "







  The - of Gates, for which the preceding ex=



tract had prepared us, was given and accepted, and



though no time was lost by Kosciusko, his arrival



was not early enough to enable him to give his



assistance to his old friend and General. But to



Greene (his successor) he rendered the most impor-



tant services to the last moment of the war, and



which were such as drew from that officer the most



lively, ardent, repeated acknowledgments, which



induced Congress, in October, 1783, to bestow upon



him the brevet of brigadier general, and to pass a



vote declaratory of their high sense of his faithful



and meritorious conduct.

















        Biographical Sketches     165







  The war having ended, he now contemplated



returning to Poland, and was determined in this



measure by a letter from Prince Joseph Poniatowski,



nephew of the king and generalissimo of the army.



It was, however, ten years after this period (1783)



before Kosciusko drew the sword on the frontiers



of Cracovia.







  3. Conduct of Kosciusko in France. When Bona-



parte created the Duchy of Warsaw and bestowed



it on the King of Saxony, great pains were taken



to induce Kosciusko to lend himself to the frontier



and support of that policy. Having withstood



both the smiles and the frowns of the minister of



police, a last attempt was made through the Gen-



eral's countrywoman and friend, the Princess Sas-



siche. The argument she used was founded on the



condition of Poland, which, she said, no change



could make worse, and that of the General which



even a small change might make better. " But on



this head I have a carte blanche, Princess, " answered



the General (taking her hand and leading her to



her carriage), " it is the first time in my life I have



wished to shorten your visit ; but you shall not make



.me think less respectfully of you than I now do. "



 When these attempts had failed, a manifesto in



the name of Kosciusko, dated at Warsaw and ad-



dressed to the Poles, was fabricated and published



at Paris. When he complained of this abuse of his



name, etc., the minister of police advised him to go



to Fontainbleau.

















166        Jefferson's Works







    ANECDOTES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.'



 Our revolutionary process, as is well known,



commenced by petitions, memorials, remonstances, .



etc., from the old Congress. These were followed



by a non-importation agreement, as a pacific in-



strument of coercion. While that was before us,



and sundry exceptions, as of arms, ammunition,



etc., were moved from different quarters of the



house, I was sitting by Dr. Franklin and observed



to him that I thought we should except books;



that we ought not to exclude science, even coming



from an enemy. He thought so too, and I proposed



the exception, which was agreed to. Soon after it



occurred that medicine should be excepted, and I



suggested that also to the Doctor. "As to that,"



said he, "I will tell you a story. When I was in



London, in such a year, there was a weekly club of



physicians, of which Sir John Pringle was president,



and I was invited by my friend Dr. Fothergill to



attend when convenient. Their rule was to pro-



pose a thesis one week and discuss it the next. I



happened there when the question to be considered



was whether physicians had, on the whole, done



most good or harm ? The young members, par-



ticularly, having discussed it very learnedly and



eloquently till the subject was exhausted, one of







  @#(1) These anecdotes of Benjamin Franklin were written at the request



of Robert Walsh, one of Jefferson's correspondents, and inclosed to



him under letter of December 4, 1818. See ante, Volume XV, page



175. @#

















        Biographical Sketches     167







them observed to Sir John Pringle, that although



it was not usual for the President to take part in a



debate, yet they were desirous to know his 'opinion



on the question. He said they must first tell him



whether, under the appellation of physicians, they



meant to include old women, if they did he thought



they had done more good than harm, otherwise more



harm than good. "







 The confederation of the States, while on the car-



pet before the old Congress, was strenuously op-



posed by the smaller States, under apprehensions



that they would be swallowed up by the larger ones.



We were long engaged in the discussion; it pro-



duced great heats, much ill humor, and intemperate



declarations from some members. Dr. Franklin at



length brought the debate to a close with one of his



little apologues. He observed that "at the time



of the union of England and Scotland, the Duke



of Argyle was most violently opposed to that meas-



ure, and among other things predicted that, as the



whale had swallowed Jonah, so Scotland would be



swallowed by England. However," said the Doc-



tor, "when Lord Bute came into the government,



he soon brought into its administration so many of



his countrymen, that it was found in event that



Jonah swallowed the whale. " This little story pro-



duced a general laugh, and restored good humor,



and the article of difficulty was passed.



  When Dr. Franklin went to France, on his revo-



lutionary mission, his eminence as a philosopher,

















168        Jefferson's Works







his venerable appearance, and the cause on which



he was sent, rendered him extremely popular. For



all ranks and conditions of men there, entered



warmly into the American interest. He was, there-



fore, feasted and invited into all the court parties.



At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of



Bourbon, who, being a chess player of about his



force, they very generally played together. Hap-



pening once to put her king into prize, the Doctor



took it. "Ah," said she, "we do not take kings



so. " " We do in America, " said the Doctor.







 At one of these parties the emperor Joseph III.



then at Paris, incog., under the title of Count Fal=



kenstein, was overlooking the game in silence, while



the company was engaged in animated conversa-



tions on the American question. "How happens



it M. le Comte, " said the Duchess,. " that while we



all feel so much interest in the cause of the Amer-



icans, you say nothing for them ? " " I am a king



by trade, " said he.







 When the Declaration of Independence was under



the consideration of Congress, there were two or



three unlucky expressions in it which gave offence



to some members. The words "Scotch and other



foreign auxiliaries " excited the ire of a gentleman



or two of that country. Severe strictures on the



conduct of the British king, in negotiating our re-



peated repeals of the law which permitted the impor-



tation of slaves, were disapproved by some Southern



gentlemen, whose reflections were not yet matured

















        Biographical Sketches    169







to the full abhorrence of that traffic. Although the



offensive expressions were immediately yielded



these gentlemen continued their depredations on



other parts of the instrument. I was sitting by Dr.



Franklin, who perceived that I was not insensible



to these mutilations. " I have made it a rule, " said



he, "whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the



draughts men of papers to be reviewed by a public



body. I took my lesson from an incident which I



will relate to you. When I was a journeyman



printer, one of my companions, an apprentice hatter,



having served out his time, was about to open shop



for himself. His first concern was to have a hand-



some. sign-board, with a proper. inscription, He



composed it in these words, `John Thompson,



Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money,' with



a figure of a hat subjoined; but he thought he



would submit it to his friends for their amendments.



The first he= showed it to thought the word `Hatter '



tautologous, because followed by the words `makes



hats, ' which show he was a hatter. It was struck



out. The next observed that the 'word ` makes '



might as well be omitted, because his customers



would. not care who made the hats. If good and to



their mind, they would buy, by whomsoever made.



He struck it out. A third said he though the



words ' for ready money ' were useless, as it was not



the custom of. the place to sell on credit. Every



one who purchased expected to pay. They were;



parted with, and the inscription now stood, `John

















170        Jefferson's Works







Thompson sells hats. ' ` Sells hats ! ' says his next



friend. Why nobody will expect you to give them



away, what then is the use of that word ? It was



stricken out, and ` hats ' followed it, the rather as



there was one painted on the board. So the in-



scription was reduced ultimately to `John Thomp-



son ' with the figure of a hat subjoined. "







 The Doctor told me at Paris the two following



anecdotes of the Abbe Raynal. He had a party to



dine with him one day at Passy, of whom one half



were Americans, the other half French, and among



the last was the Abbe. During the dinner he got



on his favorite theory of the degeneracy of animals, €€



and even of man, in America, and urged it with his



usual eloquence. The Doctor at length noticing



the accidental stature and position of his guests, at



table, " Come," says he, " M. l'Abbe, let us try this



question by the fact before us. We are here one



half Americans, and one half French, and it hap-



pens that the Americans have placed themselves



on one side of the table, and our French friends are



on the other. Let both parties rise, and we will



see on which side nature has degenerated. " It hap-



pened that his American guests were Carmichael,



Harmer, Humphreys, and others of the finest sature



and form ; while those of the other side were re-



markably diminutive, and the Abbe himself par-



ticulariy, was a mere shrimp. He parried the ap-



peal, however, by a complimentary admission of

















        Biographical Sketches   171







exceptions, among which the Doctor himself was a



conspicuous one.                    '







 The Doctor and Silas Deane were in conversa-



tion one day at Passy, on the numerous errors in



the Abbe "Histoire des deux Indes," when he hap-



pened to step in. After the usual salutations, Silas



Deane said to him, " The Doctor and myself, Abbe,



were just speaking of the errors of fact into which



you have been led in your history." "Oh, no



Sir," said the Abbe, "that is impossible. I took



the greatest care not to insert a single fact, for



which I had not the most unquestionable author-



ity." "Why," says Deane, "there is the story of



Polly Baker, and the eloquent apology you have



put into her mouth, when brought before a court



of Massachusetts to suffer punishment under a law



which you cite, for having had a bastard. I know



there never was such a law in Massachusetts. " " Be



assured, " said the Abbe, " you are mistaken, and



that that is a true story. I do not immediately



recollect indeed the particular information on which



I quote it; but I am certain that I had for it un-



questionable authority. " Doctor Franklin, who



had been for some time shaking with unrestrained



laughter at the Abbe confidence in his authority



for that tale, said, "I will tell you Abbe, the origin



of that story. When I was a printer and editor of



a newspaper, we were sometimes slack of rows, and



to amuse our customers, I used to fill up our vacant



columns with anecdotes and fables, and fancies of

















172        Jefferson's Works







my own, and this of Polly Baker is a story of my



making, on one of these occasions. " The Abbe,



without the least disconcert, exclaimed with a



laugh, " Oh, very well, Doctor; I had rather relate



your stories 'than other men's truths. "

















        THE JEFFERSON PAPERS.



















        FROM THE COLLECTION PRESENTED TO THE MASSACHUSETTS                

HISTORICAL       SOCIETY     IN JUNE,







    1898, BY JEFFERSON,S       GREAT-GRAND-







     SON, THOMAS JEFFERSON COOLIDGE.













        PREFACE."











  Like many eminent men of his time, Thomas



Jefferson was in the habit of preserving every scrap



of writing which came into his hands, and of keeping



copies of all of his own letters. Consequently he



left at his death a very great mass of letters and



papers of priceless value for biographical and his-



torical purposes, together with many which would



not now be thought worth preserving. Subse-



quently the whole collection was roughly divided



into two parts; one comprising documents mainly



relating to his public life. and the other letters and



papers mainly connected with his private and per-



sonal relations. By an Act of Congress, approved



April 12, 1848, the first portion was acquired by the



United States, and is now deposited in the State



Department at Washington. The second portion



was presented to the Historical Society, in June,



1898, by Mr. Jefferson's great-grandson, Thomas







@#(1) This is the first part of the Preface to the "Jefferson Papers" when



they were originally issued in 1900 in the Collections of the Massachu-



setts Historical Society, Seventh Series, Volume I. The editorial foot-



notes throughout the "Jefferson Papers" were made by the editors



who supervised the compiling of the volume for the Society-Charles



Card Smith, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, and Archibald Cary Coolidge.



It is due to their courtesy and the courtesy of the Massachusetts His-



torical Society that the letters written by Jefferson comprised in the



"Jefferson Papers" are now published for the first time in any edition



of Jefferson's writings.  @#

















176        Preface







Jefferson Coolidge; and it is from this latter portion



of the Jefferson pa"rs that the letters printed in



this volume have been for the most part selected.



Few of them are of a€ political character or deal with



public affairs ; but they very clearly illustrate many



phases of Jefferson's character, and show the range



and variety of his interests in his more private life:



 The volume is almost equally divided between



letters written by Jefferson himself and letters



written to him by personal or political friends. It



is not surprising, but is worthy of note, that in the



original separation of the papers letters were not



€always placed in the division to which they would



seem naturally to have belonged, and that a letter



and its answer were not always kept together. The



letters to Jefferson are all original autographs: the



letters from him are, with the exception of a few



where the Committee have had access to the letters



actually sent and of a few rough draughts, either



copies made in the ordinary way by pre:,sure on



moistened paper or copies made by a polygraph, or



stylograph, as Jefferson sometimes called it. This



instrument produced a perfect facsimile, indis-



tinguishable from the original letter, and as it is no



longer in use. and€ is not described in any of the



cyclopaedias examined by the Committee, it may







@#(1) The letters written to Jefferson, with the exception of a letter



from Lafayette, have not been reproduced, in connection with the



"Jefferson Papers," presented in the following pages, as they are



too numerous to include them all. @#

















        Preface     177







be of interest to quote a description of one of two



actually used by Jefferson, which is now in the



Rouss Laboratory of the University of Virginia.



"The polygraph," writes Professor Francis H.



Smith, of that institution, "is a very ingenious



double writing-desk, with duplicate tables, pens,



and inkstands. The pens are connected together



at an invariable distance by a system of jointed



parallelograms, with two fixed centres, such that



the pens are always parallel. Whatever movement



is impressed upon one is simultaneously by the con-



necting linkwork communicated to the other pen.



Hence, if one traces on a sheet letters or figures,



its companion traces at the same time identically



the same forms on another sheet. The writer,



therefore, produces two identical pages at the same



time. He does it with sensibly no more fatigue



than if he were using one pen only, for the weight



of the pens and linkwork is supported by a strand



of delicate spring wires from a silver arm extending



from the frame of the box above, out of the way of



the writer. By this polygraph the copy may be



made on paper and with ink of the same kind as the



original. " 







 Most of the letters are in excellent condition; but



many of those which were copied by pressure on



moistened paper are either wholly or in large part



illegible, and a considerable number have been so



mutilated by carelessness or accident as to render



many portions of the letter unintelligible. Writing



   VOL. XVIII-12

















178        Preface







more than seventy years ago, when the first col=



lected edition of Jefferson's Writings was passing



through the press, his only surviving daughter



described in an unpublished letter to her son-in-law,



Joseph Coolidge, Jr., the condition of the manu-



scripts used in the preparation of that work. " The



originals themselves are in many places so faded as



to be almost entirely obliterated. For pages to-



gether the girls have to take advantage of the broad



light of a noonday sun, frequently unable to read



them but with the assistance of a looking-glass



applied to the back, where alone the impression



shows. A few lines will sometimes cost as many



days. This is not the state of the whole, but a very



considerable portion. * €* * We are, the girls and



myself; very closely employed from 5 to 8 hours a



day with them, after which they go through a



second examination by the editor, whose trouble



is much lessened by our pioneering the way before



him. " Much the same condition of things exists



with regard to the letters now in the possession of



the Historical Society, though it is probable that



there are fewer letters in this collection which were



copied by pressure than there were in the volumes



published by Jefferson's grandson.l







 @#(1) The latter part of this Preface has been omitted as it consists of n



biographical sketch of Jefferson, and would, therefore, only convey



information that is given elsewhere in the present edition of Jeffer-



son's Writings.@#

















        THE JEFFERSON PAPERS.















        TO LUCY NELSON.(1)



                               WILLIAMSBURG, October 24, 1777€



  DEAR MaDaM,-Colonel Nelson's merit and his



present command place him in my judgment with-



out a competitor for the post to which you wish him



appointed. It is a great happiness to me, therefore,



that, while I pursue the dictates of my own judg-



ment, I am at the same time subservient to your



wishes. One truth only it behooves me to warn you



of, that you may not be deceived by overrating any-



one's assistance. No man, my dear madam, who acts



above board has influence in any appointments here,



beyond the weight of his own vote. If this appoint-



ment should be obtained for Colonel Nelson it will be



by the mere force of his personal merit. In thus



undeceiving you; however, I do violence to my own



gratification, as this error alone has produced to me



the happiness of a letter from you.







  Fortune seems tu have drawn a line of separation



between us. Though often in the same neighbor-



hood; some unlucky star has still shuffled us asunder.



When I count backwards the years since I had last



the happiness of seeing you in this place, and recur







  @#(1) This letter is printed from Jefferson's original draught indorsed on



the reverse pages of Mrs. Nelson's letter.-Eus. @#

















180.        Jefferson's Works







to my own lively memory of our friendship, I am



almost induced to discredit my arithmetic. The



affection I still retain for€a family with whom I once



lived in so much intimacy and confidence recalls to



my mind often and often the most pleasing reflec-



tions. That heaven may shield the breast in which



your happiness is embarked and administer to you



every comfort of this life is the prayer of your sin-



cere and affectionate friend







           TO WILLIAM S. SMITH.1



                     PARIS, July 9, 1786.



  DEAR SIR,-I wrote you last on the 16th of June.



Since that your favors of May z I and June 12 have



come, to hand. The accounts of the King of



Prussia are such that we may expect his exit soon.(2)



Heis' like the snuff of a candle,-sometimes seeming







 @#(1) Col. william Stephens Smith was born in New York City in 1755.



and graduated at Princeton College in 1774. He served with distinc-



tion during the Revolutionary War; and on the opening of diplomatic.



relations was appointed first Secretary of Legation to the Court of



Great Britain. He accompanied John Adams to London, and July



12, 1786, he was married by the Bishop of St. Asaph to Abigail, Mr.



Adams's oldest child and only surviving daughter. After his return to



America he held various civil appointments, and served one term in



Congress. He died at Lebanon, N. Y., June 10, 1816. (See Journal



and Correspondence of Miss Adams, daughter of John Adams, pp.



   99-117; Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. v. p.



596; Lanman's Biographical Annals, p. 395.)  The letter here given



is printed from the original manuscript in the large and valuable col=



lection of autograph letters given to the Historical Society by Mr. and



Mrs. A. C. Washburn.-Evs.



 



(2) Frederick the Great died at Potsdam, August 17, 1786, a little



more than a month after the date of this letter.-Eds.             @# 

























        Private Papers         181







to be out, then blazing up again for a moment. It is



thought here that his death will not be followed by



any immediate disturbance of the public tranquillity ;



that his kingdom may be considered as a machine



which will go of itself a considerable time with the



winding up he has given it. Besides this he has for



for some time employed his successor in his councils,



who is endeavoring to possess himself of and to pur-



sue his uncle's plan of policy.(1)







 The connection which has long subsisted between



the Van Staphorsts, the Grands, and this court is



known to you. I think it probable that private



solicitations first suggested the late appointment



and might be the real efficient cause of it. The



ostensible one, and which has some reality too, is the



accommodation of the lenders in Holland. It will



doubtless facilitate the borrowing money there for



this country, and multiply the partisans of the new



alliance. The policy of this country is indeed wise.



What would have been said a dozen years ago l:ad any



one pretended to foretell that in that short space of



time France would get Holland, America, and even



England under her wing?







 We have had here some strong altercations be-



tween the court and the parliament of Bordeaux.



The latterused a language which a British parlia-



ment would not have dared to use. The court was in



the wrong, and will have the wisdom and moderation







 @#(1) Frederick william II., nephew and successor of Frederick the Great,



was born September 25, 1744, and died December 16, 1797: EDs. @#

















182        Jefferson's Works







to recede. The question is, whether lands, called



Alluvions on the river Garonne, belong to the king or



to the proprietors to whose soil they have been added.







  I have received by Dr. Bancroft the portable



copying-press; it is perfectly well made. Be so



good as to present my compliments and thanks to



Mr. Cavallo for his attention to it. To yourself I



suppose you would rather I should present the



money. This I will do the moment you will inform



me of the sum. In your letter of May 21 you men-



tion that. you had paid the maker L5-10, but a for-



mer letter gave me reason to believe you had to pay



something to another person for a board, or the box,



or something else. I will beg the favor of you at



the same time to inform me what a pair of chariot



harness will cost in London, plated. not foppish but



genteel. and I will add the price, or not add it to the



bill I shall send you, according as I shall find it when



compared with prices here. Cannot you invent



some commissions for me here, by way of reprisal



€for the vexations I give you? Silk stockings, gil-



lets, etc., for yourself, gewgaws and other contri-



vances for Madame ? A propos, all hail, Madame !



may your nights and days be many and full of joy!



May their fruits be such as to make you feel the



sweet union of parent and lover, but not so many as



that you may feel their weight ! May they be hand-



some and good as their mother, wise and honest as



their father, but more milky! For your old age I



will compose a prayer thirty years hence.

















        Private Papers         183







 To return to business (for I am never tempted to



pray but when a warm feeling for my friends comes



athwart my heart). They tell me that they are



about altering Dr. Ramsay's book in London in



order to accommodate it to the English palate and



pride.' I hope this will not be done without the



consent of the author, and I do not believe that will



be obtained. If the booksellers of London are afraid



to sell it, I think it can be sold here. Even the Eng-



lish themselves will apply for it here. It is very



much esteemed by those who have read it. The



French translation will be out in a short time.



There is no gutting in that. All Europe will read



the English transactions in America as they really



happened. To what purpose then hoodwink them-



selves? Like the foolish ostrich who` when it has



hid its head, thinks its body cannot be seen. I will



beg the favor of you to prevail on Mr. Dilly ' to send



me 50 copies by the diligence. We shall see by the



sale of these what further number we may call for.



I will undertake to justify this to the author: They



must come unbound. It will be necessary at the







@#(1) The reference is to David Ramsay's "History of the Revolution of



South Carolina from a British Province to an Independent State,"



published at Trenton in 1785. A French translation was published



in 1787; and an English edition in 1788. See Allibone's Dictionary



of Authors, vol. iii. p. 1734.-EDs.







 (2) Charles Dilly, a well-known London bookseller, was born May



22, 1739, and died May 4, 1807. Among the books published by him



were Boswell's Corsica, Tour to the Hebrides, and Life of Johnson,



and Lord Chesterfield's Miscellaneous Works. He and an elder



brother, Edward, had an extensive trade with America. See Dic-



tionary of National Biography, vol. xv. pp. 91, 92: EDs.@#

















184        Jefferson's Works







same time to put into some of the English papers



the following advertisement.







  "The bookseller to whom Dr. Ramsay's history



of the revolution of South Carolina was addressed



for sale, having been advised that the executing



that commission would expose him to the actions



of certain persons whose conduct in America, as



therein represented, is not in their favor, the public



are hereby notified that they may be furnished with



the said work either in the original English, orwell



translated into French, by writing to Froulle,



libraire au quai des Augustins a 'Paris, and franking



their letters. An opportunity of sending it to Lon-



don occurs every week by the diligence. " Send me



a paper or two with this advertisement in it.







 To put an end to your trouble I will wish you a



good night,-I beg your pardon. I had forgot that



you would have it without my wishes. I bid you,



therefore, a simple adieu, with assurances of my



friendship and esteem.







      TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.(1)



              NEW YORK, May 16, 1790.



 MY DEAR PATSY,-Yours of the a 5th of April came



to hand ten days ago, and yesterday I received Mr.







 Martha, eldest child of Thomas and Martha (Wayles Skelton)



Jefferson was born at Monticello in September, 1772 ; and when in



her twelfth year accompanied her father to France, where she was



carefully educated. In 1789 she returned to America with her father, .



and on the 23d of the following February was married to her second

















        Private Papers       185







Randolph's of the third instant. When I wrote to



him last week, I hoped to have been soon rid of the



periodical headache which had attacked me. It



has indeed been remarkably slight since that, but I



am not yet quite clear of it. I expect every fit to be



the last. I inclose the newspapers for Mr. Ran-



dolph. He will probably judge, as the world does,



from the style and subject of the Discourses on



Davila, that they are the production of the Vice-



President.l On Monday last the President was



taken with a peripneumony, of threatening appear-



ance; yesterday (which was the fifth day) he was



thought by the physicians to be dying. However,



about 4. o'clock in the evening, a copious sweat came



on, his expectoration, which had been thin and



ichorous, began to assume a well digested form, his



articulation became distinct, and in the course of



two hours it was evident he had gone through a



favorable crisis. He continues mending to-day,



and from total despair we are now in good hopes of



him. Indeed, he is thought quite safe. My head



does not permit me to add more than the affection-



ate love to you all, of yours,







cousin, Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.,.eldest son of Col. Thomas Mann



Randolph, of Tuckahoe, by whom she had ten children. She died



September 27, 1836 .-EDs.







@#(1) The Discourses on Davila were first published in the Gazette of the



United States,at Philadelphia, in 1790. See Works of John Adams,



vol. i. pp. 454, 618; vol. vi. p. 225.-EDs. @#

















186         Jefferson's Works







           TO EDMUND PENDLETON.1







               PHILADELPHIA, July 24, I 79 I.



   DEAR SIR,-I received duly your favor of the



13th, and communicated it to the President. The



titles of your relation were unquestionably strong



of themselves, and still strengthened by your re-



commendation ; but the place was before proposed



to another, whose acceptance will probably fix it.







  The President is indisposed with a tumor like that



he had in New York the year before last. It does



not as yet seem as if it would come to a head.



 We are wonderfully slow in receiving news from



General Scott.2 The common accounts give reason



to hope his expedition has succeeded well. You



will have seen the rapidity with which the subscrip-



tions to the bank were filled; as yet the delirium of



speculation is too strong to admit sober reflection.



It remains to be seen whether in a country whose



capital is too small to carry on its own commerce,







  @#(1) Edmund Pendleton was born in Caroline County, Va., September



9, 1721. His early advantages were small, and he began his career



in the office of the County Clerk. In 1744 he was admitted to the bar;



and in 1752 he was elected to the House of Burgesses. From that



time down to his death, October 23, 1803, he filled a conspicuous



place in public life as legislator and jurist, and was described by Jeffer-



son as " taken all in all the ablest man in debate I ever met with. "



(See Appleton's Cyclopadia of American Biography, vol. iv. pp. 708,



709; Randall's Life of Jefferson, vol. i. p. 198.) The letter which



follows is printed from the collection of Jefferson's letters given to the



Historical Society by Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Washburn.-EDs.







(2) General Charles Scott, a native of Virginia, who had removed to



Kentucky, was then serving in St. Clair's unfortunate expedition



against the Indians.-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers         187







to establish manufactures, erect buildings, etc.,



such sums should have been withdrawn from these



useful pursuits to be employed in gambling. Whether



it was well judged to force on the public a paper '



circulation of so many millions, for which they will



be paying about 7 per cent. per annum, and thereby



banish as many millions of gold and silver for which



they would have paid no interest. I am afraid it



is the intention to nourish the spirit of gambling



by throwing in from time to time new aliment.







  The question of war and peace in Europe is still



doubtful. The French Revolution proceeds steadily,



and is, I think, beyond the danger of accident of



every kind. The success of that will ensure the



progress of liberty in Europe and its preservation



here. The failure of that would have been a power-



ful argument with those who wish to introduce a



king, lords, and commons here, a sect which is all



head and no body. Mr. Madison has had a little



bilious touch at New York, from which he is recov-



ered, however. Adieu, my dear Sir. Your affec-



tionate friend and servant.







            TO SAMUEL BIDDLE.







          PHILADELPHIA, December 12, 1792.



  SIR,-Having asked the favor of Mr. Hollings-



worth to look out for a person in his neighborhood



who would be willing to go to Virginia and overlook



a farm for me, he informs me that you will undertake

















188        Jefferson's Works







it for a hundred and twenty dollars a year. He



seems to have mistaken me in the circumstance of



time, as he mentions that you would expect to go



about the new year. I had observed .to him that 1



should not want a person till after the next harvest.



The person who now takes care of the place is en-



gaged for the ensuing year, which finishes with us



about November ; but I should wish you to be there



by seed time in order to prepare the crop of the fol-



lowing year. The wages are a good deal higher than



I expected, as Mr. Hollingsworth mentioned that the



usual wages in your neighborhood were from L25



to L30 Maryland currency. However, I consent



to give them, and the rather as there will be some



matters under your care beyond the lines of the



farm. I have a smith and some sawyers who will



require to be seen once a day, and the first year of



your being there I shall have some people employed



in finishing a canal, who will also be to be attended to.







  The place you are to overlook is that on which I



live, and to which I shall return in March next. It



is 70 miles above Richmond, on the North branch



of James River, exactly where it breaks through the



first ridge of little mountains, near the village of



Charlottesville, in Albemarle county. It is 225 miles



from Elkton, a southwest course. From this de-



scription you may find it in any map of the country.



The climate is very temperate both summer and



winter, and as healthy as any part of America, with-



out a single exception.

















        Private Papers    189







  The farm is of about five or six hundred acres of



cleared land, very hilly, originally as rich as any



highlands in the world, but much worried by Indian



corn and tobacco. It is still however very strong,



and remarkably friendly to wheat and rye. These



will be my first object. Next will be grasses, cattle,



sheep, and the introduction of potatoes for the use



of the farm, instead of Indian corn, in as great a



degree as possible. You will have from 12 to 15



laborers under you. They will be well clothed, and



as well fed as your management of the farm will en-



able us, for it is chiefly with a view to place them



on the comfortable footing of the laborers of other



countries that I come into another country to seek



an overlooker for them, as also to have my lands



a little more taken care. For these purposes I have



long banished tobacco, and wish to do the same by



Indian corn in a great degree. The house wherein



you will live will be about half a mile from my own.



You will, of course, keep bachelor's house. It is



usual with us to give a fixed allowance of pork ; I



shall much rather substitute beef and mutton, as I



consider pork to be as destructive an article in a



farm as Indian corn. On this head we shall not dis-



agree, and as I shall pass Elkton in March, I will



,contrive to give you notice to meet me there, when



we may descend to other details. But for the pres-



ent I shall wish to receive your answer in writing,



that I may know whether you consider yourself as



engaged, so that I need not look out for another. I

















190        Jefferson's Works







leave you free as to the time of going, from harvest



till Christmas. If you will get yourself conveyed



as far as Fredericksburg, which is as far as the stages



go on that road, I will find means of conveying you



from thence, which will be 70 miles. So far respects



the farm over which I wish to place you.







  Besides this I have on the opposite side of the



little river running through my lands, 2000 acres of



lands of the same quality, and which has been cul-



tivated in the same way, which I wish to tenant out



at a quarter of a dollar an acre, in farms of such



sizes as the tenants would choose. I would hire the



laborers now employed on them from year to year



to the same tenants, at about 50 dollars for a man



and his wife, the tenant feeding and clothing them



and paying their taxes and those of the land, which



are very trifling. The lands to be leased for seven years



or more, the laborers only from year to year, to begin



next November. I would like the farms to be not



less than zoo acres, because such a farmer would



probably like to hire a man and his wife as laborers.



I have mentioned these circumstances to you, be-



cause I have understood that tenants might prob-



ably be got from Maryland, and perhaps it would be



agreeable to you to engage some of your acquaint-



ances to go and settle so near where you will be.



Perhaps you could inform me in what other part of



Maryland or the neighboring States tenants might



be more probably found, and I should willingly



incur the expense of having them sought for. Your

















        Private Papers        191







assistance in this would particularly oblige me. I



would ease the rent of the first year, that the tenant



might get himself under way with as few difficulties



as possible, but I should propose restrictions against



cultivating too great a quantity of Indian corn.







  In expectation of hearing from you immediately



I am, Sir, your humble servant.







  P. S. There is a market for wheat, rye, etc., in two



little towns on each side of my lands, neither more



than two miles and a half distant.







       TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.







          PHILADELPHIA, December 31, 1792.



 MY DEAR MARTHA,-I received three days ago



Mr. Randolph's letter of the 14th from Richmond,



and received it with great joy, as it informed me of



the re-establishment of dear Anne's health. I ap-



prehend from an expression in his letter that some



of mine may have miscarried. I have never failed



to write every Thursday or Friday. Perceiving by



the Richmond paper that the Western post now



leaves that place on Monday, I change my day of



writing also to Sunday or Monday. One of the



Indian chiefs now here, whom you may remember



to have seen at Monticello a day or two before Tarle-



ton drove us off, remembers you and enquired after



you. He is of the Pioria nation ; perhaps you may



recollect that he gave our name to an infant son he

















192        Jefferson's Works







then had with him, and who, he now tells me, is a



fine lad. Blanchard is arrived here and is to ascend



in his balloon within a few days.l The affairs of



France are going on well. Tell Mr. Randolph that



I write him a letter by this post in answer to the



application to rent Elkhall, but under the possi-



bility that the sale of it may be completed, I inclose



his letter to Mr. Hylton with a desire that he will



return it to me if the place is sold, otherwise to



forward it to Mr Randolph. My best esteem to



him and our friends with you. Adieu, my dear.



Yours affectionately,







             TO JOHN TAYLOR.(1)



            MonticEllo, December 29, 1794.



  DEAR SIR,-I have long owed you a letter, for



which my conscience would not have let me rest in



quiet but on the consideration that the payment



would not be worth your acceptance. The debt is



not merely for a letter the common traffic of every



day, but for valuable ideas, which instructed me,



which I have adopted, and am acting on them. I



am sensible of the truth of your observations that



the atmosphere is the great storehouse of matter for







 @#(1)Francois Blanchard, the famous aeronaut, was born in France in



L38, and died there March 7, 1809. In 1785 he made his remarkable



voyage in a balloon across the British Channel with Dr. Jeffries, of



Boston For this successful undertaking Blanchard was rewarded



by Louis XVI. He made numerous ascensions in Europe and on this



side of the Atlantic. See Nouvelle Biographie Generale, tome vi. pp.



188, 189.-EDS. @#

















        Private Papers        193







recruiting our lands, that though efficacious, it is



slow in its operation, and we must therefore give



them time instead of the loads of quicker manure



given in other countries, that for this purpose we



must avail ourselves of the great quantities of land



we possess in proportion to our labor, and that while



putting them to nurse with the atmosphere, we must



protect them from the bite and tread of animals,



which are nearly a counterpoise for the benefits of



the atmosphere. As good things, as well as evil,



go in a train, this relieves us from the labor and ex-



pense of cross fences, now very sensibly felt on



account of the scarcity and distance of timber. I



am accordingly now engaged in applying my cross



fences to the repair of the outer ones and substitut-



ing rows of peach trees to preserve the boundaries



of the fields. And though I observe your strictures



on rotations of crops, yet it appears that in this I



differ from you only in words. You keep half your



lands in culture, the other half at nurse; so I pro-



pose to do. Your scheme indeed requires only four



years and mine six ; but the proportion of labor and







@#(1) John Taylor, an eminent statesman and agriculturist, was born in



Orange County, Virginia, in 1750, and graduated at william and Mary



College in 1770. He became s planter, and was greatly interested



in the improvement of agriculture. In 1797 he was one of the Presi-



dential Electors, and in the following year he moved in the Virginia



House of Deputies the famous resolutions of 1798. He died in Caro-



line County, Virginia, August 20, 1824. (See Appleton's Cyclopaedia



of American Biography, vol. vi. p. 45.) This letter is printed from



the original in the collection of autographs given to the Macs. Hist.



Society by Mr. and Mrs. A. C. washburn.-Eds. @#



   vol. xviii-13

















194        Jefferson's Works







rest is the same. My years of rest, however, are



employed, two of them in producing clover, yours



in volunteer herbage. But I still understand it to



be your opinion that clover is best where lands will



produce them. Indeed I think that the important



improvement for which the world is indebted to



Young is the substitution of clover crops instead of



unproductive fellows; and the demonstration that



lands are more enriched by clover than by volunteer



herbage or fellows; and the clover crops are highly



valuable. That our red lands which are still in tol-



erable heart will produce fine clover I know from



the experience of the last year; and indeed that of



my neighbors had established the fact. And from



observations on accidental plants in the fields which



have been considerably harrassed with corn, I



believe that even these will produce clover fit for soil-



ing of animals green. I think, therefore, I can count



on the success of that improver. My third year of



rest will be devoted to cowpenning, and to a trial of



the buckwheat dressing. A. further progress in sur-



veying my open arable lands has shewn me that I



can have seven fields in each of my farms where I ex-



pected only six; consequently that I can add more



to the portion of rest and ameliorating crops. I



have doubted on a question on which I am sure you



can advise me well, whether I had better give this



newly acquired year as an addition to the continu-



ance of my clover, or throw it with some improving



crop between two of my crops of grain, as for in€

















        Private Papers          195







stance between my corn and rye. I strongly incline



to the latter, because I am not satisfied that one



cleansing crop in seven years will be sufficient ; and



indeed I think it important to separate my exhaust-



ing crops by alternations of amelioraters. With



this view I think to try an experiment of what Judge



Parker informs me he practises. That is, to turn



in my wheat stubble the instant the grain is off, and



sow turnips to be fed out by the sheep. But whether



this will answer in our fields which are harrassed, I



do not know. We have been in the habit of sowing



only our freshest lands in turnips, hence a presump-



tion that wearied lands will not bring them. But



Young's making turnips to be fed on by sheep the



basis of his improvement of poor lands, affords evi-



dence that though they may not bring great crops,



they will bring them in a sufficient degree to improve



the lands. I will try that experiment, however,



this year, as well as the one of buckwheat. I have



also attended to another improver mentioned by



you, the winter vetch, and have taken measures to



get the seed of it from England, as also of the Sibe-



rian vetch which Millar greatly commends, and



being a biennial might perhaps take the place of



clover in lands which do not suit that. The winter



vetch I suspect may be advantageously thrown in



between crops, as it gives a choice to use it as green



feed in the spring if fodder be run short, or to turn



it in as a green-dressing. My rotation, with these



amendments, is as follows:-

















196        Jefferson's Works







  1. Wheat, followed the same year by turnips, to



be fed on by the sheep.







  2. Corn and potatoes mixed, and in autumn the



vetch to be used as fodder in the spring if wanted,



or to be turned in as a dressing.







  3. Peas or potatoes, or both according to the qual-



ity of the field.







  4. Rye and clover sown on it in the spring.



Wheat may be substituted here for rye, when it



shall be found that the second, third, fifth, and



sixth fields will subsist the farm.







  5. Clover.







  6. Clover, and in autumn turn it in and sow



the vetch.







  7. Turn in the vetch in the spring, then sow buck-



wheat and turn that in, having hurdled off the poor-



est spots for cowpenning. In autumn sow .wheat



to begin the circle again.







  I am for throwing the whole force of my hus-



bandry on the wheat-field, because it is the only



one which is to go to market to produce money.



Perhaps the clover may bring in something in the



form of stock. The other fields are merely for the



consumption of the farm. Melilot, mentioned by



you, I never heard of. The horse bean I tried this



last year. It turned out nothing. The President



has tried it without success. An old English farmer



of the name of Spuryear, settled in Delaware,



has tried it there with good success ; but he told me



it would not do without being well shaded,

















        Private Papers      197







and i think he planted it among his corn for that



reason. But he acknowledged our pea was as good



an ameliorater and a more valuable pulse, as being



food for man as well as horse. The succory is what



Young calls Chicoria Intubus. He sent some



seed to the President, who gave me some, and I gave



it to my neighbors to keep up till I should come home:



One of them has cultivated it with great success, is



very fond of it, and gave me some seed which



I sowed last spring. Though the summer was favor-



able it came on slowly at first, but by autumn be-



came large and strong. It did not seed that year,



but will the next, and you shall be furnished with



seed. I suspect it requires rich ground, and then



produces a heavy crop for green feed for horses and



cattle. I had poor success with my potatoes last



year, not having made more than 60 or 70 bushels



to the acre.. But my neighbors having made good



crops, I am not disheartened. The first step



towards the recovery of our lands is to find substitutes



for corn and bacon. I count on potatoes, clover,



and sheep. The two former to feed every animal



on the farm except my negroes, and the latter to



feed them, diversified with rations of salted fish and



molasses, both of them wholesome, agreeable, and



cheap articles of food.







 For pasture I rely on the forests by day, and soil-



ing the evening. Why could we not have a move-



able airy cow house, to be set up in the middle of



the field which is to be dunged, and soil our cattle

















198        Jefferson's Works







in that through the summer as well as winter, keep-



ing them constantly up and well littered? This



with me, would be in the clover field of the first



rear, because during the second year it would be



rotting, and would be spread on it in fallow the be-



ginning of the third, but such an effort would be far



above the present tyro state of my farming. The



grosser barbarisms in culture which I have to en-



counter are more than enough for all my attentions



at present. The dung-yard must be my last effort



but one. The last would be irrigation. It might



be thought at first view, that the interposition of



these ameliorations or dressings between my crops



will be too laborious, but observe that the turnips



and two dressings of vetch do not cost a single



ploughing. The turning the wheat-stubble for the



turnips is the fallow for the corn of the succeeding



year. The first sowing of vetches is on the corn



(as is now practised for wheat), and the turning it



in is the flush-ploughing for the crop of potatoes and



peas. The second sowing of the vetch is on the



wheat fallow, and the turning it in is the ploughing



necessary for sowing the buckwheat. These three



ameliorations, then, will cost but a harrowing each.



On the subject of the drilled husbandry, I think



experience has established its preference for some



plants, as the turnip, pea, bean, cabbage, corn, etc.,



and that of the broadcast for other plants as all the



bread grains and grasses, except perhaps lucerne



and Saint foin in soils and climates very productive

















        Private Papers        199







of weeds. In dry soils and climates the broadcast



is better for lucerne and Saint foin, as all the south



of France can testify.







  I have imagined and executed a mould-board



which may be mathematically demonstrated to be



perfect, as far as perfection depends on mathemat-



ical principles, and one great circumstance in its



favor is that it may be made by the most bungling



carpenter, and cannot possibly vary a hair's breadth



in its form, by but gross negligence. You have seen



the musical instrument called a sticcado. Suppose



all its sticks of equal length, hold the fore-end hori-



zontally on the floor to receive the turf which pre-



sents itself horizontally, and with the right hand



twist the hind-end to the perpendicular, or rather



as much beyond the perpendicular as will be neces-



sary to cast over the turf completely. This gives



an idea (though not absolutely exact) of my mould-



board. It is on the principle of two wedges com-



bined at right angles, the first in the direct line of



the furrow to raise the turf gradually, the other



across the furrow to turn it over gradually. For



both these purposes the wedge is the instrument of



the least resistance. I will make a model of the



mould-board and lodge it with Colonel Harvie in



Richmond for you. This brings me to my thanks



for the drill plough lodged with him for me, which



I now expect every hour to receive, and the price



of which I have deposited in his hands to be called



for when you please. A good instrument of this kind

















200        Jefferson's Works







is almost the greatest desideratum in husbandry.



I am anxious to conjecture beforehand what may be



expected from the sowing turnips in jaded ground,



how much from the acre, and how large they will be?



Will your experience enable you to give me a prob-



able conjecture ? Also what is the produce of pota-



toes and what of peas in the same kind of ground?



It must now have been several pages since you be-



gan to cry out " mercy. " In mercy then I will here



finish with my affectionate remembrance to my old



friend Mr. Pendleton, and respects to your fireside,



and to. yourself assurances of the sincere esteem of



dear Sir, your friend and servant.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







           MONTICELLO, NOVember 28, 1796.



 It is so cold that the freezing of the ink on the



point of my pen renders it difficult to write. We



have had the thermometer at 12 degrees . My works are



arrested in a state entirely unfinished, and I fear we



shall not be able to resume them. Clarke has sold



our wheat in Bedford for 8s. 6d. and the rise to the



first of June, with some other modifications. It ap-



pears to be a good sale. He preferred it to 10s. 6d.



certain, which was offered him.. I think he was



right as there is little appearance of any intermis-



sion of the war.







 I thank you for your letter of news, and am glad

















        Private Papers      201







to see the republican pre-eminence in our assembly.



The paper you inclosed me presents a result entirely



questionable, according to my own ideas of the sub-



ject. The preponderance of the McKean interest



in the western counties of Pennsylvania is by no



means so great ,as is there supposed. You will



believe the true dispositions of my mind on that



subject. It is not the less true, however, that I do



sincerely wish to be the second on that vote rather



than the first. The considerations which induce



this preference are solid, whether viewed with rela-



tion to interest, happiness or reputation Am-



bition is long since dead in my mind. Yet even a



well-weighed ambition would take the same side:



My new threshing machine will be tried this week.



P. Carr is on the point of marriage. All are well



here, and join in the hope of your continuing so.



Adieu.







             TO JOHN TAYLOR.(1)







             MONTICELLO, October 8, 1797,



  We have much here of an improvement made in



the Scotch threshing machine by Mr. Martin, and



that you have seen and approved it.(2) Being myself



well acquainted with the original geared machine



and Booker's substitution of whirls and bands (as I







 @#(1) Printed from the original in the washburn Collection of Autographe



given to the Society.-EDs.







(2) See the letter from Jefferson to Taylor, June 4, 1798: EDs.@#

















202        Jefferson's Works







have one of each kind), it will perhaps give you but



a little trouble to give me so much of an explanation



as will be necessary to make me understand Mar-



tin's, and let it apply, if you please, to the move-



ments by horses or by hand. I must ask the favor



of you to get me one of the same drills you sent me



before, made in the best manner, with a complete



set of bands and buckets, and packed in a box, in



pieces, in the most compact manner the workman



can do it, and forwarded to me at Philadelphia as



soon after the meeting of Congress as possible. It



is for a friend, and to go still further, which renders



this mode of packing necessary. For the amount



when you will make it known, I will either enclose



you a bank bill from Philadelphia, or send it you in



fine tea or anything else you please to order. How



di d your turnip seed answer ? I have received from



England, and also from Italy some seed of the win-



ter vetch, a plant from which I expect a good deal.



If it answers I will send you of the seed. I have also



received all the good kinds of field pea from England,



but I count a great deal more on our southern cow-



pea. If you wish any of them, I will send you a



part.







  I have not yet seen Hamilton's pamphlet;l but I



understand that finding the strait between Scylla







@# (1) The pamphlet referred to is the well-known " Observations on



Certain Documents contained in No. v. and vi. of 'The History of the



United States for the Year 1796,' in which the charge of speculation



against Alexander Hamilton, late Secretary of the Treasury, is fully



refuted. Written by Himself."-Eds. @#

















        Private Papers        203







and Charybdis too narrow for his steerage, he has



preferred running plump on one of them. In truth;



it seems to work very hard with him; and his will-



ingness to plead guilty as to the adultery seems



rather to have strengthened than weakened the



suspicions that he was in truth guilty of the specu-



lations. Present me respectfully and affectionately



to my old friend and file-leader, Mr. Pendleton, and



accept yourself my friendly salutations and adieux.







  P. S. Your answer by the first or second post will



find me here.







           TO EDMUND PENDLETON.(1)







            PHILADELPHIA, January 14., 1799.



  DEAR SIR,-I received some time ago from Mr.



Edmund Randolph a note signed by Mr. Lyons and



yourself, undertaking to pay the amount of a decree



of Royle's administrators v. yourselves as adminis-



trators of Robinson to Mr. Short or myself as his



attorney. This undertaking is perfectly satisfac-



tory, and I only wait your pleasure to be signified



as to the time when and place where it may suit yo"u



to make the payment. As it was to depend on the



sale of the stock I should suppose this the best mar-



ket, but of this you will judge.







  We receive this day through the public: papers



news by the way of Norfolk of some stern interrog-







@#(1) Printed from the original in the Washburn Collection of Auto-



graphs given to the Massachusetts Historical Society.-Eds.@#

















204        Jefferson's Works







atories put to our envoys by the French Directory.



They look so like truth that they cannot fail to make



an impression. We are willing to hope that France



will not push her resentments to a declaration of



war, but we have not entire confidence in the mod-



eration of certain people among ourselves. On the



whole our situation is truly perilous. Congress is



at present lying on its oars. There is nothing of the



least importance to be taken up. They will begin



to-morrow to talk about Blount and Mr. Liston.



This may fill up some hours as well as lounging, and



furnish something for the blank pages of their jour-



nals ; but unless our envoys furnish us something to



do, I do not see how we can contrive even the sem-



blance of business through February.







  I avail myself with great pleasure of this oppor-



tunity of recalling our ancient recollections; and



it has been with great satisfaction that I have heard







@#(1) William Blount, lately Governor of the Territory south of the Ohio,



and a senator from Tennessee, was charged with having been engaged in



a conspiracy for transferring New Orleans and the neighboring districts



from the Spanish to the British. Upon information, furnished in part



by Robert Liston, the British envoy to the United States from 1796 to



1802, which had been laid before Congress,the House of Representatives



voted in July, 1797, to impeach him. Two days later, after hearing



counsel, the Senate voted to expel him. This did not, however, end



the matter, and in January, 1798, it was again brought before the



House of Representatives, which proceeded to elect managers. It was



not finally disposed of by the Senate until the end of that year. Blourt



died shortly afterward. See Hildreth's History of the United States,



vol. v. pp. 88, 89, 187, 281, 282; Annals of Congress, 9th Congress,



vols. i.-€i. passim; also the copy of a letter from Timothy Pickering



to Rufus King, in the Pickering Papers, belonging to the Massachusetts



Historical Society, vol. xxxvii. leaves 196, 197.-Eds. @#

















        Private Papers          205







from time to time of the great portion of health you



have enjoyed and still enjoy. That it may continue



through all the years you wish is the prayer of, my



dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.







             TO JOHN TAYLOR.(1)







             PHILADELPHIA, June 4, 1798



  I now enclose you Mr. Martin's patent.' A pat-



ent had actually been made out on the first de-



scription, and how to get this suppressed and an-



other made for a second invention, without a sec-



ond fee, was the difficulty. I practised a little



art in a case where honesty was really on our side,



and nothing against us but the rigorous letter of



the law, and having obtained the first specifica-



tion and got the second put in its place, a second



patent has been formed, which I now inclose with



the first specification.







  I promised you, long ago, a description of a



mould-board. I now send it; it is a press copy



and therefore dim. It will be less so by putting



a sheet of white paper behind the one you are read-



ing. I would recommend to you first to have a



model made of about 3 inches to the foot, or .25 the



real dimensions, and to have two blocks, the first







 @#(1) Printed from the original in the washburn Collection of Autographs



given to the Massachusetts Historical Society.-EDs.







 (2) A patent for a "wheat-thrashing machine" was issued to T. C.



Martin, June a, 1798. His residence is not given in the Index to the



United States Patents.-Eds.@#

















206         Jefferson's Works







of which, after taking out the pyramidal piece and



sawing it crosswise and below, should be preserved



in that form to instruct workmen in making the



large .and real one. The second block may be car-



ried through all the operations, so as to present the



form of the mould-board complete. If I had an



opportunity of sending you a model I would do it.



It has been greatly approved here, as it has been



before by some very good judges at my house,



where I have used it for five years with entire



approbation.







  Mr. New showed me your letter on the subject of



the patent, which gave me an opportunity of ob-



serving what you said as to the effect with you of



public proceedings, and that it was not unusual now



to estimate the separate mass of Virginia and



North Carolina with a view to their separate ex-



istence. It is true that we are completely under



the saddle of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and



that they ride us very hard, cruelly insulting our



feelings as well as exhausting our strength and



substance. Their natural friends, the three other



eastern States, join. them from a sort of family



pride, and they have the art to divide certain



other parts of the Union so as to make use of



them to govern the whole. This is not new. It



is the old practice of despots to use a part of the



people to keep the rest in order, and those



who have once got an ascendency and possessed



themselves of all the resources of the nation, their

















        Private Papers          207







revenues and offices, have immense means for re-



taining their advantages. But our present situ-



ation is not a natural one. The body of our



countrymen is substantially republican through



every part of the Union. It was the irresistible



influence and popularity of General Washington,



played off by the cunning of Hamilton, which



turned the government over to anti-republican



hands, or turned the republican members, chosen



by the people, into anti-republicans. He deliv-



ered it over to his successor in this state, and



very untoward events, since improved with great



artifice, have produced on the public mind the



impression we see; but still, I repeat it, this is



not the natural state. Time alone would bring



round an order of things more correspondent to



the sentiments of our constituents; but are there



not events impending which will do it within a



few months? The invasion of England; the pub-



lic and authentic avowal of sentiments hostile to



the leading principles of our Constitution, the



prospect of a war in which we shall stand alone,



land-tax, stamp-tax, increase of public debt, etc.,



Be this as it may, in every free and deliberating



society there must, from the nature of man, be



opposite parties and violent dissensions and dis-



cords; and one of these, for the most part, must



prevail over the other for a longer or shorter



time. Perhaps this party division is necessary



to induce each to watch and delate to the people;

















208        Jefferson's Works







the proceedings of the other. But if on a tempo-



rary superiority of the one party, the other is to



resort to a scission of the Union, no federal gov-



ernment can ever exist. If to rid ourselves of



the present rule of Massachusetts and Connecti-



cut we break the Union, will the evil stop there?



Suppose the New England States alone cut off, will our



natures be changed ? are we not men still to the south



of that, and with all the passion of men? Imme-



diately we shall see a Pennsylvania and a Vir-



ginia party arise in the residuary confederacy, and



the public mind will be distracted with the same



party spirit. What a game,  too, will the one party



have in their hands by eternally threatening the



other that unless they do so and so, they will join



their Northern neighbors. If we reduce our Union



to Virginia and North Carolina, immediately the



conflict will be established between the representa-



tives of these two States, and they will end by



breaking into their simple units. Seeing, there-



fore, that an association of men who will not quar-



rel with one another is a thing which never yet



existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations



down to a town meeting or a vestry, seeing that



we must have somebody to quarrel with, I had



rather keep our New England associates for that



purpose than to see our bickerings transferred to



others. They are circumscribed within such narrow



limits, and their population so full, that their num-



bers will ever be the minority, and they are marked,

















        Private Papers       209  







like the Jews, with such a peculiarity of charater



as to constitute from that circumstance the natural



division of our parties. A little patience, and we



shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells



dissolve, and the people, recovering their true



sight, restore their government to its true prin-



ciples. It is true that in the meantime we are suf-



fering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of



a war and long oppressions of enormous public



debt. But who can say what would be the evils



of a scission, and when and where they would end.



Better keep together as we are, haul off from Eu-



rope as soon as we can, and from all attachments



to any portions of it. And if we feel their power



just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the



happiest situation in which we can exist. If the



game runs sometimes against us at home we must



have patience till luck turns, and then we shall



have an opportunity of winning back the principles



we have lost, for this is a game where principles are



the stake. Better luck, therefore, to us all; and



health, happiness, and friendly salutations to your-



self. Adieu.







  P. S. It is hardly necessary to caution you to



let nothing of mine get before the public. A single



sentence, got hold of by the Porcupines, will suf-



fice to abuse and persecute me in their papers for



months.















   VOL. XVIII-14

















210        Jefferson's Works











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







           PHILADELPHIA, January 17, 1799



 I wrote to my dear Martha Dec. 27, and



to yourself Jan. 3. I am afraid my nailery will stop



from the want of rod. Three tons were sent from



hence Dec. 11. The vessel was blown off the capes



and deserted by the crew. She has been taken up



at sea and carried into Albemarle Sound. We are



in hopes, however, of getting off another supply



from here immediately as the river bids fair to open.



The shutting of the river has prevented any tobacco



coming here as yet; so nothing is known about



price. At New York the new tobacco is thirteen



dollars. Georgia has sent a much larger quality



there than had been expected, and of such a quality



as to place it next to the Virginia. It is at eleven



dollars while the tobacco of the Carolinas and Mary-



land are but ten dollars. I suspect that the price



will be at its maximum this year. Whether that



will be more than thirteen dollrs I do not know,



but I think it will. When this city comes into the



market, it must greatly increase the demand. We



know too that immense sums of cash are gone and



going on to Virginia, such as were never before



heard of. Every stage is loaded. Some pretend



here it is merely to pay for last year's tobacco, but



we know that that was in a considerable degree paid



for; and I have no doubt that a great part of this



money is to purchase the new crop. If I were





















        Private Papers         211







offered thirteen dollars in Richmond, perhaps I



should take it, for the sake of securing certain ob-



jects, but my judgment would condemn it. Wheat



here is I. 75. Dr. Bache sets out for our neighbor-



hood next month early, having concluded abso-



lutely to settle there. He is now breaking up his



house and beginning to pack. Dr. Logan tells me



Dupont de Nemours is coming over, and decided to



settle in our neighborhood. I always considered



him as the ablest man in France. I ordered Bache's



papers for you from Jan. I.(1) The moment I can



get answers from the Postmasters of Charlottes-



ville and Milton to letters I wrote them a fortnight



ago, we shall have the error of our mail corrected.



It will turn out, I believe, to have taken place here



by making up the mail a day too late, which occa-



sioned a loss of a week at Fredericksburg. The



bankrupt bill was yesterday rejected in the H. of R. by



a majority of three. Logan's law will certainly pass.(2)



Nobody mistakes the object of it. The forgery



they attempted to palm on the House, of a memo-







  @#(1)The "Aurora," which violently opposed the administration of



Washington and Adams, was published by Benjamin Franklin Bache,



a grandson of Dr. Franklin.-EDs.







  (2) The act here referred to was passed Jan. 30, L99, and made it a



criminal offence, punishable by a fine and imprisonment, for any



citizen of the United States, without the permission of his own govern-



ment, to carry on any verbal or written correspondence or intercourse



with any foreign government or its agents in regard to any disputes



with the United States. The act was occasioned by some unauthor-



ived communications made to the French government by Dr. George



Logan, afterward a Senator of the United States from Pennsylvania.



(see Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. iv. p. 4.)-



Evs. @#

















212        Jefferson's Works







rial falsely pretended to have been drawn and pre-



sented by Logan, is so completely detected, as to



have thrown infamy on the whole proceeding, but a



majority will still go through with it. The army



and navy are steadily pursued. The former, with



our old troops, will make up about 14,000 men,



and consequently cost annually seven millions of



dollars. The navy will cost annually five and one-



half millions, but as it will not be on foot, no addi-



tion to the direct tax will be made at this session,



nor perhaps at the next. It is very evident from



circumstances that a window tax is intended. A



loan for five millions is opened at 8 per cent. The



extravagance of the interest will occasion it to fill.



This it is supposed will build the navy. Our taxes



bring in this year ten and one half-millions clear,



and the direct tax will add two millions. Accord-



ing to the principles settled by a (British) majority



of the commissioners under the treaty, that demand



will be from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars,



but there is some reason to suppose our government



will not yield to it. In that case they must recur



to new negotiations. Notwithstanding the forgeries



of London, Vienna, and Constantinople, it is be-



lieved that Bonaparte will establish himself in



Egypt, and that that is, for the present at least, his



ultimate object. Also that the insurrection in Ire-



land is in force and better organized than before.



My warmest love to my dear Martha and the little



ones; to yourself affectionate salutations and Adieu.

















        Private Papers         213











             TO JOHN TAYLOR.(1)







           MONTICELLO, NOVember 26, 1799



  DEAR SIR,-Mr. Wirt, who is of my neighborhood,



offers himself a candidate for the clerkship of the



House of Representatives, and being known to few



of the members, his friends are naturally anxious



that what may be said of him with truth should be



said.(2) I only fulfill a duty, therefore, when I bear



testimony in this as I would in any other case.



He has lived several years my near neighbor, hav-



ing married the daughter of the late Dr. Gilmer.



He is a person of real genius and information, one



of the ablest at the bars in this part of the country,



amiable and worthy in his private character, and



in his republicanism most zealous and active. This



information is given you in order that having



equal knowledge of the other candidates you may



be enabled to satisfy your own mind by choosing



the best.







 For some years past there has been a project on



foot for making a more direct road across this State



for those travelling between the North and South.







 @#(1) Printed from the original in the Washburn Collection of Autographs



given to the Massachusetts Historical Society.-Eds.



William Wirt, the eminent lawyer, was born in Bladensburg, Md.,



Nov. 8, 1772, and died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 18, 1834. He began



his legal career in Virginia, and in 1795 he was married to the daughter



of Dr. George Gilmer. She died in 1799, and he removed to Rich-



mond, and was elected Clerk of the House of Delegates. His legal



knowledge, his eloquence, and his rare ability in argument placed him



in the foremost rank of American lawyers. (See Appleton's Cyclo-



paedia of American Biography, vol. vi. pp. 578, 579.)-EDs. @#

















214        Jefferson's Works







It is only necessary to open it in parts, as there are



already roads through a great proportion of the



way. It is to lead from Georgetown by Stevens-



burg, Norman's ford, the Raccoon ford, Martin



King's ford, the mouth of Slate River, to the High



bridge on Appomattox, from whence the present



roads southwardly suffice. It will shorten the line



across this State probably fifty miles, is calculated



on the precise object of avoiding all hills, but at



the crossing of the principal watercourses, and will



undoubtedly be the best road for the principal mail



between the North and South. This matter will



be before you this session, and will be worthy your



attention.







  Some schismatic appearances and other political



circumstances will render it necessary for us per-



haps to adapt our conduct to their improvement.



But I cease from this time during the ensuing



twelvemonth to write political letters, knowing that



a campaign of slander is now to open upon me, and



believing that the postmasters will lend their



inquisitorial aid to fish out any new matter of slander



they can to gratify the powers that be. I hope



my friends will understand and approve the motives



of my silence. Health, happiness, and affectionate



salutations.

















        Private Papers       215











        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                       February 4, 1800.







  Yours of Jan. 18 never reached me till this day,



so that it has loitered a week somewhere. Our



post going out to-morrow morning, I hasten to an-



swer it. My anxiety to get my lands rented is



extreme. I readily agree, therefore, that Mr. Kerr



shall take for five years, or say till Christmas, 1804,



the oblong square field, and the one on the river



next below the square field, comprehending the



orchard; only that I should be very urgent he



should take a complete field there; for I expect



there is enough between the river and the road by



old Hickman's settlement to make two fields of



forty acres each, by cleaning up and straightening



the skirts, perhaps by cutting down some slips on



the margin. For so much as would be to clear I



would take no rent the first year. He would then



have the three fields in a line on the river, and



three other fields would remain along the road to



the triangle inclusive for another tenant. Ob-



serve I must have with him, as I have with Mr.



Peyton, free passage along the roads; that is to



say, along the road which used to be, and must be



again, down the river side. All the conditions to



be the same as with Mr. Peyton. I say I wish him



to be pushed to the taking the one hundred and



twenty acres; yet, rather than lose a tenant, I

















216        Jefferson's Works







would agree to the hundred acres, to wit, the ob-



long square and half the lower field. But you are



sensible he would get by that means a great over-



proportion of cream, and therefore I wish to force



on him the other half field.







  Bonaparte's operations begin to wear a some-



what better aspect. It seems as if he meant a re-



public of some sort; therefore we are encouraged



by the strength of his head to hope he calculates



correctly how much superior is the glory of estab-



lishing a republic to that of wearing a crown. But



still we must suspend our judgments a little longer.



My first letter from Mr. Eppes gave me a little hope



of the child's doing well. One received to-day an-



nounces its death. It appears, as we might expect,



a severe affliction to both.







        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







              PHILADELPHIA, March 4, 1800.







 DEAR SIR,-I wrote you last on the 17th of Feb-



ruary. Since that I learn by a letter from Rich-



mond that Martha is with her sister. My last letter



from Eppington was of the 16th of Feb. , when



Maria was hoped to be in fair way of speedy recov-



ery. The continuance of the non-intercourse law



for another year, and the landing of our commis-



sioners at Lisbon, have placed the opening of the



French market (where at Bordeaux tobacco was

















        Private Papers    217







selling at twenty-five to twenty-seven dollars per



cwt. Dec. 7) at such a distance that I thought it



better to sell our tobacco at New York. Remsen



had informed me in January that no more than



six dollars could then be got for it, and it has been



falling since; and Lieper offering to take it. there



at six dollars payable in sixty days, I struck with



him; and thus ends this tragedy by which we have



both lost so much. I observe Tarina advertised;



how does that matter stand? There have been no



new failures here or at New York, but at Baltimore



very great ones weekly. We are entirely without



news of the further proceedings at Paris. Bona-



parte seems to be given up by almost everyone.



The caucus election bill for President and Vice-



President will certainly pass the Senate by the



usual majority of 2 to 1; an amendment will be



proposed to shew the sense of the minority. This



may perhaps, however, be taken up by the other



house with a better chance of success; in order to



lessen the necessary loan, they put off building



the 74.'s a year, which, with the saving by stopping



enlistments, reduces the loan to three and one-half



millions; but whether even that can be got at 8



per cent is very doubtful. Wheat is at $ 2.13 here,



and is likely to be very high through the year, as



Europe will want generally. I think I shall fix



my price with Mr. Higginbotham at about the mid-



dle of April. I have not heard how it is at Rich-



mond. Key's money was sent on to Richmond

















218        Jefferson's Works







Jan. 30. Yet on the 20th of Feb. (three weeks



after) he seems not to have heard of it. Kiss all



the little ones for me, and accept sincere and cordial



salutations from yours affectionately.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







               PHILADELPHIA, April 4, 1800.







  I wrote you last on the 31st of March, since which



I have received G. Jefferson's of March 22, acknowl-



edging the receipt of the last two hundred and sev-



enty dollars, making eighteen hundred and seventy



dollars in all. Mr. Ross's Kitt, setting out for Char-



lottesville, where he has a cause to be tried with



James Ross, and apprehending from him some per-



sonal assault, has asked me to interest some person



to ensure him the protection of the laws. I have



promised to write to yourself, P. Carr, and Colonel



Bell, to have an eye to him, merely because he de-



sires it, though I assured him he would be protected



by every one. He furnishes me an earlier occasion



of writing to you than by post.







  Captain Barry, in the frigate U. S., arrived last



night from Corunna. Our envoys (1) landed Nov. 27







@#(1)Oliver Ellsworth, William R. Davie and William Vans Murray



had been appointed by President Adams envoys extraordinary to the



French Republic. The two former sailed from Newport, R. I., about



the first of November, 1799, in the frigate United States. The latter



was then in Europe. See Life and Works of John Adams, vol. ix. pp.



39, 162, 251.-EDs.  @#

















        Private Papers         219







at Lisbon, from whence their secretaries proceeded



by land to Paris. The principals reimbarked Dec.



22 for L'Orient, but after long beating against con-



trary winds in the Bay of Biscay they landed at



Corunna Jan. 11, and sent a courier to Paris for their



passports. They proceeded to Burgos and here



received their passports from Paris, with a letter



from Talleyrand expressing a desire to see them at



Paris, and assuring them that the form of their cre-



dentials addressed to the Directory, would be no



obstacle to their negotiation. Murray was already



at Paris: The letters from our envoys to the Ex-



ecutive, brought by Captain Barry, are dated at



Burgos, Feb. 10. They would have about [illegible]



to Paris, where they will have arrived probably



about the first week in March, and by the first week



of May we may expect to hear of their reception.



The frigate Portsmouth is about sailing from New



York to France, the object a secret. The Senate



yesterday rejectd Mr. Pinckney's bill against ap-



pointing judges to any other offices; and to-day



they have rejected a bill from the House of Repre-



sentatives which forbade military troops to be at



the place of election on any day of election. A war-



rant has been issued to commit Duane,(1) but he has



not yet been found. The President has nominated



a third Major General (Brookes of Massachusetts)



to our 4000 men, and 204 promotions and appoint-







 @#(1) William Daane, editor of the "Aurora," the.principal organ of the



Republicans: EDs. @#

















220        Jefferson's Works







ments of officers are now before the Senate for ap-



probation, so there will be sixteen regiments of



officers and four or five of soldiers. Dupont de Ne-



mours has been here from New York on a visit.



He will settle there or at Alexandria. He promises



me a visit this summer with Madame Dupont. I



think we shall rise the first or second week in May.



I have received the grateful news of Maria's recov-



ery, and am to go by Eppington or Montblanco to



carry her to Monticello with me. I shall by next



post write to Richardson the day my horses are to



meet me there, all three ; and expect him to engage



David Bowles to go with them. Not knowing



whether Martha is yet returned home, I can only



deliver my love to her provisionally, and my affec-



tionate salutations to yourself. Adieu.







  P. S. You have not informed me where your



brother's newspapers are to be directed.







         TO EDMUND PENDLETON.1







             PHILADELPHIA, April 19, 1900







 DEAR SIR,-My duties here require me to possess



exact knowledge of parliamentary proceedings.



While a student I read a good deal and commun-







@# (1) This letter is printed from the original in the collection of auto-



graphs given to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Mr. and Mrs.



A. C. Washburn: -EDs. @#





















        Private Papers    221







placed what I read on this subject.l But it is now



20 years since I was a member of a parliamentary



body, so that I am grown rusty. So far, indeed, as



books go, my commonplace has enabled me to re-



trieve, but there are many minute practises, which



being in daily use in Parliament, and therefore sup-



posed known to every one, were never noticed in



their books. These practices were, I dare say, the



same we used to follow in Virginia, but I have for got



even our practices. Besides these, there are minute



questions arising frequently as to the mode of amend-



ing, putting questions, etc., which the books do not



inform us of. I have, from time to time, noted



these queries, and keeping them in view have been



able to get some of them satisfied, and struck them



off my list, but I have a number of them still remain-



ing unsatisfied. However unwilling to disturb your



repose, I am so anxious to perform the functions of



my office with exact regularity that I have deter-



mined to throw myself on your friendship and to



ask your aid in solving as many of my doubts as you



can. I have written them down, leaving a broad



margin in which I only ask the favor of you to write



yea, or nay, opposite to the proposition, which will



satisfy me. Those which you do not recollect, do



not give yourself any trouble about. Do it only at



your leisure. If this should be before the 9th of







 @#(1) The commonplace book here referred to is probably a small and



very neatly written volume, marked on the fly-leaf ' ` Parliamentary



Note-Book," now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical



Society.-Eds.@#

















222        Jefferson's Works







May, your return of the papers may find me here till



the 16th; if after that, be so good as to direct them



to me at Monticello.







  I have no foreign news but what you see in the



papers. Duane and Cooper's trials come onto-day.



Such a selection of jurors has been made by the mar-



shal as ensures the event. The same may be said



as to Fries, etc. , and also as to the sheriff and jus-



tices, who in endeavoring to arrest Sweeny, the



horse thief, got possession of his papers, and sent



them to the Chief Justice and the Governor, among



which papers were Mr. Liston's letter to the Gov-



ernor of Canada, printed we know not by whom. We



have not yet heard the fate of Holt, editor of the



Bee, in Connecticut. A printer in Vermont is pros-



ecuted for reprinting Mr. McHenry's letter to Gen-



eral Darke. Be so good as to present my respects



to Mrs. Pendleton, and friendly salutations to Mr..



Taylor, and accept yourself assurances of constant



and affectionate esteem.







        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







               PHILADELPHIA, May 7, 1800.







 Yours of April 26 came to hand the 2d inst. We



have received information, not absolutely to be



relied on, that our envoys are arrived at Paris and



were received with peculiar favor. I have seen a



letter from a person there of the best information,

















        Private Papers     223







dated in January, that the dispositions of the pres-



ent government were so favorable that a carte



blanche would be given to our envoys and that it



would not be in their power to avoid a settlement.



The New York city election has resulted in favor of



the republican ticket. I inclose you a state of it.



This is considered by both parties as deciding the



legislative majority in that State, without taking



into account what we shall gain in the country



elections. The Federalists do not conceal their



despair on this event. They held a caucus on



Saturday night, and have determined on some



hocus-pocus manoeuvres by running General Charles



C. Pinckney with Mr. Adams to draw off South Car-



olina, and to make impression on North Carolina.



We still count on rising on the 12th ; perhaps we



may be a day or two later, though it is generally



expected otherwise. I shall not set out till the day,



or day after, we rise.







 You were not mistaken in your first idea that



your tobacco was nearly sufficient for the payment



to George Jefferson. I paid him 1870 dollars. Your



Philadelphia tobacco came to 1537  325 and the New



York supposed about 280 dollars. This, when it all



comes in, will consequently be within a few dollars



of what I paid; and as to the delay, I have apolo-



gized for that to those for whom my money was



destined. A little before I left Monticello I



attempted a statement of our account. But we had



let it run so long that it called for more time than I

















224        Jefferson's Works







had left. I therefore brought on the materials here,



and have stated it except as to one or two articles



which need enquiry. I do not believe there will be



a balance of 10 dollars either way, including every



thing I know of to the present moment. The money,



therefore, in Mr. Jefferson's hands, which you des-



tined for me, is free for other purposes. I sincerely



wish I were able to aid you in the embarrassments



you speak of. But though I have been wiping out



Mr. Wayles's old scores it has been impossible to



me to avoid some new ones. The profits of my



Bedford estate have gone for this purpose, and the



unprofitable state of Albemarle has kept me in a



constant struggle. There is a possible sale which



might enable me to aid you, and nothing could be so



pleasing to me, but it is only possible. I would wish



you, however, to avoid selling anything as long as



you can, to give time for this possibility. These



things, however, will be better explained in con-



versation. Present my constant love to my dear



Martha and the little ones, and accept assurances



of the most affectionate attachment to yourself.



Adieu.







        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







        WASHINGTON, Sunday, Nov. 30, 1800.



 Davy will set out in the morning on his return



with the horses. I will endeavor before he goes



to get one of Hamilton's pamphlets for you, which

















              Private Papers         225







are to be sold here. Bishop's pamphlet on political



delusions has not yet reached the bookstores here.'



It is making wonderful progress, and is said to be



the best anti-republican eye-water which has ever



yet appeared. A great impression of them is mak-



ing at Philadelphia to be forwarded here. From



abroad we have no news. At home, the election is



the theme of all conversation. Setting aside Penn-



sylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, the



Federal scale will have from the other States 53



votes and the Republicans 58. Both parties count



with equal confidence on Rhode Island and South



Carolina. Pennsylvania stands little chance for a



vote. The majority of two in their Senate is im-



movable. In that case, the issue of the election



hangs on South Carolina. It is believed Pinckney



will get a complete vote with Mr. Adams from four



of the New England States, from Jersey, Delaware and



Maryland, probably also North Carolina. Congress



seems conscious they have nothing [to do ?) ; the territo-



rial government here and the additional judiciary sys-



tem (being?) the only things which can be taken up.



The Federals do not appear very strong in the House



of Representatives. They divided on the address



only 35 against 32. We are better accommodated



here than we expected to be, and not a whisper or







@#(1)The reference is to Abraham Bishop's "Connecticut Republican-



ism: an Oration on the Extent and Power of Political Delusion,



delivered in New Haven on the evening preceding the Public Com-



mencement, September, 1800." It passed through several editions.



-EDS.@#







  vol. xviii-15

















226        Jefferson's Works







thought in any mortal of attempting a removal.



This evident solidity to the establishment will give



a wonderful spring to buildings here the next season.



My warmest affection to my ever dear Martha, kisses



to the young ones, and sincere and affectionate at-



tachment to yourself. Adieu.







  P. S. Mr. Brown called on me to-day. The family



is well. I forgot to mention to him that Davy could



carry letters to Mr. Trist and family.















        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







            WASHINGTON, DeCember 5, 1900.







  You are probably anxious to hear of the election,



and indeed it is the only thing of which any thing



is said here, and little known even of it. The only



actual vote known to us is that of this State. Five



for Adams and Pinckney and 5 for Jefferson and



Burr. Those who know the Pennsylvania legisla-



ture best agree in the certainty of their having no



vote. Rhode Island has carried the Federal ticket



of electors by about zoo in the whole State. Putting



Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Pinckney out of



view, the votes will stand 57 for Jefferson and 58 for



Adams. So that South Carolina will decide between



these two. As to Pinckney it is impossible to fore-



see how the juggle will work It is confidently said



that Massachusetts will withhold seven votes from



him, but little credit is due to reports where every

















        Private Papers    227







man's wishes are so warmly (illegible). If the Federal



electors of the other States go through with the



caucus compact, there is little doubt that South



Carolina will make him the President. Their other'



vote is very uncertain. This is everything known



to us at present. The post which will arrive here



on the 15th inst. will bring us the actual vote of



South Carolina. The members here are generally



well accommodated. About a dozen lodge in



Georgetown from choice, there being lodgings to be



had here if they preferred it. Everybody is well



satisfied with the place, and not a thought indulged



of ever leaving it. It is therefore solidly estab-



lished, and this being now seen it will take a rapid



spring. My tenderest love to my dear Martha and



the young ones. Affectionate and warm attach-



ment to yourself. Adieu.











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                      December 12, 1800.







 I believe we may consider the election as now de-



cided. Letters received from Columbia, (S. C.), this



morning and dated Dec. 2, which was the day for



appointing their electors, announce that the Repub-



lican ticket carried it by majorities of from 13 to 18.



The characters named are firm and were to elect on



the next day. It was intended that one vote should



be thrown away from Colonel Burr. It is believed



Georgia will withhold from him one or two. The

















228        Jefferson's Works







votes will stand probably T. J. 73, Burr about 70.



Mr. Adams 65. Pinckney probably lower than that.



It is fortunate that some difference will be made



between the two highest candidates, because it is said



that the Federals here held a caucus and came to a



resolution that in the event of their being equal they



would prevent an election, which they could have



done by dividing the House of Representatives. . My



tender love to my dear Martha and the little ones.



Sincere affection to yourself.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







             WASHINGTON, January 9, 1801







  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the third came to hand



yesterday. I suspect that I mistook our post day



when I first arrived here and put the letters you men-



tion into the post-office a day too late. I shall be



glad if you will mention when that of the first instant



gets to you as well as the present and future letters,



that if there be anything wrong in the post I may get



it rectified. The mail for Milton is made up here on



Friday at 5 p. m. That Craven's house should not



have been inreadiness surprises me. I left I. Perry's



people putting up the last course of shingles and the



plank for the floor and loft planed, and they assured



me they could finish everything in a week. They



must have quit immediately. But the most extra-



ordinary of all things is that there should have been

















        Private Papers          229







no clearing done. I left Monticello on Monday, the



24th Nov., from which time there were four weeks



to Christmas, and the hands ordered to be with Lilly



that morning (except, I think, two), and according



to his calculation and mine three or four acres a week



should have been cleared. But the misunderstand-



ing between him and Richardson had before cost



me as good as all the labor of the hired hands from



January to June when I got home. The question



now, however, is as to the remedy. You have done



exactly What I would have wished, and as I place



the compliance with my contract with Mr. Craven



before any other object, we must take every person



from the nailery able to cut and keep them at it till



the clearing is completed. The following, therefore,



must be so employed: Davy, John, Abram, Shep-



herd, Moses, Joe, Wormly, Jame Hubbard, with the



one hired by Lilly, making 9. Besides these, if Bar-



naby, Ben, Cary, and Isabel's Davy are able to cut,



as I suppose they are, let them also join ; shoemaker



Phill also if he can cut. I doubt it, and that he had



better continue 'to be hired. These make thirteen



or fourteen, with whom the clearing which I was to



do this year ought not to be a long job. There will



remain for the nailery Burwell, Jamy, Bedf. John,



Bedf. Davy; Phill Hub., Lewis, Bartlet, and Brown,



enough for two fires. This course I would have pur-



sued even after Powell 's arrival, as I had rather



[illegible] his department, where the loss concerns



myself only than one which affects another. I wrote

















230        Jefferson's Works







pressingly to Mr. Eppes to hire some hands for me,



and am not without hopes he may have done it. If



they arrive, I would still not draw off the nailers till



the clearing is completed. I wrote to Lilly yester-



day covering an order for some money. I had not



then received your letter, so the one to him says



nothing on this subject. I must, therefore, get the



favor of you to deliver him the orders.







  Nothing further can be said or discovered in the



subject of the election. We have eight votes in the



House of ' Representatives certain, and there are



three other States, Maryland, Delaware, and Ver-



mont, from either of which if a single individual



comes over it settles the matter.' But I am far from



confiding that a single one will come over. Penn-



sylvania has shown what men are when party takes



place of principle. The Jersey election has been a



great event. But nothing seems to bend the spirit



of our opponents. I believe they will carry their



judiciary bill. As to the treaty, I must give no



opinion. But it must not be imagined that any



thing is too bold for them. I had expected that



some respect to the palpable change in public opinion



would have produced moderation, but it does not



seem to. A committee reported that the Sedition



Law ought to be continued, and the first question



on the subject in the House has been carried by 47



against 33. We have a host of Republicans absent.



Gallatin, Livingston, Nicholson, Tazewell, Cabell,



cum multis aliis. The mercantile towns are almost

















                Private Papers         231







unanimous in favor of the treaty.' Yet it seems



not to soften their friends in the Senate. I received



notices from Dick Johnson to attend the taking



depositions in Milton on the second Saturday in



February and the second Saturday in March at Mr.



Price's. I do not expect his witnesses have any



thing material to say. However, if it should not



be inconvenient to you to ride there at the hour of



12 and to ask any questions which may be neces-



sary to produce the whole truth, I shall be obliged



to you. My unchangeable and tenderest love to my



ever dear Martha and to the little ones : affectionate



attachment to yourself. Adieu.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







             WASHINGTON, January 23, 1801.



 Yours of the 17th reached this on the 21st, from



Saturday to Wednesday. This will leave this place



to-morrow (Saturday, the 24th), and ought to be



with you on Thursday, the 29th, but it seems that



a week is lost somewhere. I suspect the Freder-



icksburg rider leaves that place an hour or two be-



fore the Northern post reaches it. On this subject



I will this day write to the Postmaster General. I



am sincerely concerned for the misfortune to poor



Holmes. I have not yet seen his father on the sub-







@#(1) The treaty which had been negotiated with France by the envoys



sent out by Mr. Adams. See Life and Works of John Adams, vol. ix,



pp. 241-310-EDs. @#

















232        Jefferson's Works







ject, who is a clerk in the Register's office here.



Lewis must continue under Mr. Dinsmore, in order



to expedite that work. I will very willingly under-



take to pay Gibson and Jefferson for you L135 ;, but



I must take from 40 to 70 days for it, having noth-



ing at my disposal sooner. I am not sure of being



able to do it at the first term (March 1 ), but pos-



sibly may. At the second (April 1 ), they will have



the money in their own hands for my tobacco sold



and payable then, but do not consider this as en-



gaging you" hands. If you can employ them more



advantageously for yourself than by hiring, do it.



If not, we will take any which you had rather hire



than employ at what we are to pay for others. My



former letter will have conveyed to you my wish



that the nailers able to cut should be so employed ;



and I have written to Mr. Eppes that I am indiffer-



ent whether Powell comes till the first of April. I



shall then be at home, and shall engage Whateley



to undertake to build the new shop, out and out,



on his own terms, immediately. I forgot to ask



the favor of you to speak to Lilly as to the treatment



of the nailers. It would destroy their value, in my



estimation, to degrade them in their own eyes by



the whip. This, therefore, must not be resorted to



but in extremities; as they will be again under my



government, I would choose they should retain the



stimulus of character. After Lilly shall have com-



pleted the clearing necessary for this year for Mr.



Craven, I would have him go on with what will be

















        Private Papers         233







wanting for him the next year, that being my most



important object. The building of the negro houses



should be done whenever Mr. Craven prefers it ; as



all the work is for him, he may arrange it. I will



thank you to continue noting the day of the receipt



of my letters, that I may know whether the post-



master corrects the mismanagement.'







  We continue as uncertain as ever as to the event



of an election by the House of Representatives.



Some appearances are favorable, but they may be



meant to throw us off our guard. Mr. Adams is



entirely for their complying with the will of the



people. Hamilton the same. The mercantile or



paper interest also. Still, the individuals who are



to decide will decide according to their own desires.



The Jersey election damps them, so does the Euro-



pean intelligence, but their main body is still firm



and compact. My tenderest love to my dear Mar-



tha. I wrote to her the last week. Kisses to all



the little ones, and affectionate attachments to



yourself. Adieu.







 P. S. When I come home I shall lay off the



canal, if Lilly's gang can undertake it. I had



directed Lilly to make a dividing fence between



Craven's fields at Monticello and those I retain.



The object was to give me the benefit of the latter



for pasture. If I stay here, the yard will be pasture



enough and may spare, or at least delay, this great



and perishable work of the dividing fence. At least

















234        Jefferson's Works







it may lie for further consideration. I hope Lilly



keeps the small nailers engaged so as to supply our



customers in the neighborhood, so that we may not



lose them during this interregnum. Mr. Higgin-



botham, particularly, and Mr. Kelly, should be



attended to.







      TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.







            WASHINGTON, January 26, 1801.







 MY DEAR MARTHA,-I wrote to Mr. Randolph



on the 9th and 10th inst., and yesterday received



his letter of the 10th. It gave me great joy to learn



that Lilly had got a recruit of hands from Mr.



Allen, though still I would not have that prevent



the taking all from the nailery who are able to cut,



as I desired in mine of the 9th, as I wish Craven's



ground to be got ready for him without any delay.



Mr. Randolph writes me you are about to wean



Cornelia; this must be right and proper. I long to



be in the midst of the children, and have more



pleasure in their little follies than in the wisdom of



the wise. Here, too, there is such a mixture of the



bad passions of the heart, that one feels themselves



in an enemy's country. It is an unpleasant cir-



cumstance, if I am destined to stay here, that the



great proportion of those of the place who figure



are Federalists, and most of them of the violent



kind. Some have been so personally bitter that



they can never forgive me, though I do

















        Private Papers         235







them with sincerity. Perhaps in time they will



get tamed. Our prospect as to the election has



been alarming ; as a strong disposition exists to pre-



vent an election, and that case not being provided



for by the Constitution, a dissolution of the govern-



ment seemed possible. At present there is a pros-



pect that some, though Federalists, will prefer yield-



ing to the wishes of the people rather t,han have no



government. If I am fixed here, it will be but three



easy days' journey from you, so that I should hope



you and the family could pay an annual visit here



at least ; which with mine to Monticello of the spring



and fall, might enable us to be together four or five



months of the year. On this subject, however, we



may hereafter converse, lest we should be counting



chickens before they are hatched. I inclose for



Anne a story, too long to be got by heart but worth



reading. Kiss them all for me, and keep them in



mind of me. Tell Ellen I am afraid she has for-



gotten me. I shall probably be with you the first



week in April, as I shall endeavor to be at our court



for that month. Continue to love me, my dear



Martha, and be assured of my unalterable and ten-



derest love to you. Adieu.







 P. S. Hamilton is using his uttermost influence



to procure my election rather than Colonel Burr's.

















236        Jefferson's Works











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







            WASHINGTON, January 29 [1801].



  Yours of the 29th came to hand last night. On



application to the Postmaster General it seems that



I should have put my letters into the office here on



the Thursday instead of Friday. This accordingly



goes to the office this day, which is Thursday, and



therefore ought to get to you on Thursday next.



It may very likely, therefore, go with my letter of



the 23d.







  I am very glad, indeed, to find that Lilly has got



so strong a gang, independent of yours and the



nailers. With respect to yours, I wish you to do



exactly what is most for your own interest, either



keeping them yourself or putting any of them with



mine as best suits your own convenience. I still



think it will be better that such of the nailers as may



be able to handle the axe should be employed with



it till April, that is to say, till Powell comes. It



will be useful to them morally and physically, and



I have work enough of that kind with the canal



and road to give them full employment. Perhaps,



as the blowing to be done in the canal will be tedious,



it might be worth while to keep Joe and Wormely



employed on that in all good weather; if you think



so, they should work separately, as I think that one



hand to hold the auger and one to strike is throwing



away the labor of one. There should be force enough



kept in the nailery to supply our standing custom-

















        Private Papers          237







ers. There is another reason for employing only



the weaker hands in the nailery. I do not believe



there is rod to emply the whole any length of time,



and none can be got to them till April. I should be



glad [if] Mr. Lilly or Mr. Dinsmore would count the



fagots on hand, and inform me of the quantity by



return of post, as I have forgotten the state of the



supplies on hand when I left home. Mr. Wilson



Nicholas and myself have this day joined in order-



ing clover seed from New York, where it is to be



had, it is said, at twelve dollars. I have ordered five



bushels for you. I believe I have none to sow my-



self. Mr. Jefferson informs me two small casks of



wine are forwarded for me to Milton. Out of this



I wish to you take what I borrowed of you, and I



will be thankful to you to inform me as soon as you



can of the size of the casks, that I may know how



to proportion the equivalent to Mr. Yznardi. It



should be stored in the dining-room cellar, and that



secured by double locks, as I presume it is. With



respect to the election, there is no change of ap-



pearance since my last. The main body of the



Federalists are determined to elect Burr or to pre-



vent an election. We have eight States certain;



they six, and two divided. There are six individ-



uals of moderate disposition, any one of which



coming over to us will make a ninth vote. I dare



not trust more through the post. My tender love



to my ever dear Martha and to the little ones. I



believe I must ask her to give directions to Goliah

















238        Jefferson's Works







and his senile corps to prepare what they can



in the garden, as it is very possible I may



want it. Accept assurances of my sincere affection.



Adieu.



         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







              WASHINGTON, March 2, 1801.







  DEAR SIR,-I mentioned to you in my letter by



Mr. Nicholas that I should be able by this post to



fix a day for the departure of Davy Bowles with



my chair and horses, and that he should be in readi-



ness ; though it is impossible for me to say to a day



"hen I can set out from hence, yet I expect it may



be by the time you receive this. I would therefore



have him set off from Monticello on Saturday the



21st inst. and come to Mr. Heron's in Culpeper, half



a mile this side of Mr. Strode's, where he will arrive



on Sunday the 22d, and will wait for me till I get



there, which, if nothing unexpected occurs, will be



on that or the next day. But circumstances might



arise which might detain me longer, in which case



he must wait here. It is probable Mr. Strode will



press him much to go with the horses to his house,



but he must be charged expressly to continue at



Heron's, which is a house of entertainment. My



stay at home cannot exceed a fortnight, or a very



few days over that.







  I am still at a great loss, Mr. Madison not having



been able to come on as yet, Mr. Gallatin not agree-





















        Private Papers     239







ing to join us till my return,i and not, knowing as



yet where to get a Secretary of the Navy; General



Smith refused, so did Mr. Langdon. I am now



pressing again on General Smith, but with little



hope of his acceding; in that case my distress will



be very great. Hitherto appearances of reunion are



very flattering, in all the States south of New Eng-



land. A few removals from office will be indispen-



sable. They will be chiefly for real malconduct, and



mostly in the offices connected with the adminis-



tration of justice. I shall do as little in that way



as possible. This may occasion some outcry; but



it must be met. One removal will give me a great



deal of pain, because it will pain you [illegible] it



would be inexcusable [in) me to make that excep-



tion. The prostitution of justice by packing of



juries cannot be passed over. Embrace my dear



Martha for me a thousand times, and kisses to the



young ones. To yourself affectionate esteem and



attachment.







        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







            WASHINGTON, March 26, 1801.



I am still here, and not yet absolutely certain of



the moment I can get off. I fear I shall this evening



receive a fourth refusal of the Secretaryship of the



James Madison was the new Secretary of State, and Albert Galla-



tin the new Secretary of the Treasury, but the latter did not take



office immediately. See Lanman's Biographical Annals, p. 506.-



EDS. @#

















240        Jefferson's Works







Navy. Should it take place, I have fixed on a. tem-



porary arrangement, and in any event expect to get



away in the course of two or four days, so as to be



with you by the time you receive this or very soon



after. It is the getting the naval department under



way which alone detains me. My tenderest affections



to my ever dear Martha and to the little ones.



Friendly attachment to yourself.







           TO CATHARINE CHURCH.(1)







              WASHINGTON, MarCh 27, 1801.



  I owe you a letter, my dear young friend. It is



a debt I pay with pleasure, and therefore should



not have so long delayed but for the importunity



of others more urging and less indulgent. I thank



you for your kind congratulations on the proof of



public esteem lately bestowed on me. That you



write in these sentiments renders them more dear



to me. The post is not enviable, as it affords little



exercise for social affections. There is something



within us which makes us wish to have things con-



ducted in our own way and which we generally



fancy to be in patriotism. This ambition is gratified



by such a position. But the heart would be happier







@#(1) Catharine Church was the daughter of John B. Church, of New



York, an intimate friend of Alexander Hamilton, and of Angelica



Schuyler, his wife, Early in 1802 she was married to Bertram P.



Cruger, by whom she had a large family. (See N. Y. Genealogical



and Biographical Record, vol. vi. pp. 78, 79€) Her mother had long



been a friend and correspondent of Jefferson: EDs. @#

















        Private Papers         241







enjoying the affections of a family fireside. It is



more than six weeks since I heard from Maria. This



is a proof of her aversion to her pen, and must be



her apology for not answering your letter, which she



received in due time, and resolved to answer every



day for a month before I parted with her last. She



continues to love you as much as ever, and would



give you, as she does me, every proof of it except



writing letters. She is in a fair way to be again a



mother. This will prevent her meeting me at home,



in a short excursion I am about making thither.



Mrs. Randolph always recollects you with her for-



mer affection. She is the mother of four children,



and half of another. I shall endeavor to persuade



them to come and see me here sometimes, and will



not be without hopes it may tempt you to take a



flying trip, which, in summer, is of three days only.



Present my friendly respects to Mr. and Mrs. Church,



and accept yourself assurances of my constant and



affectionate attachment.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







               WASHINGTON, May 14., 1801.



  I take up my pen merely because I have not writ-



ten to you since my arrival here, and simply to in-



form you I am well. I shall be happy to hear the



same from you, and hope this day's post may bring



me that information, or that Fontrees's wagon will



do it, which, I expect, will arrive to-morrow or next







   VOL. XVIII-IS

















242        Jefferson's. Works    







day. We are selling off all our vessels except the



13 frigates established by law, bringing 7 of them



to this place and sending out 3 to take exercise. The



expense will be reduced to about half a million annu-



ally, great part of which will be paid this year by



the proceeds of the sales of the others. We fear that



Spain is ceding Louisiana to France, an inauspicious



circumstance to us. Mr. Gallatin's arrival yester-



day renders the organization of our new administra-



tion complete, and enables us to settle our system of



proceeding. Mr. and Mrs. Madison and Miss Payne



are lodging with us till they can get a house. Great



desires are expressed here that Patsy and Maria



should come on, but that I give no hopes of till



autumn. My tenderest affections to Patsy and kisses



to the young ones. Sincere attachment and friendly



salutations to yourself.







  P. S. I have engaged a capital whitesmith, who



is a nailer also, to go on from Philadelphia in July.















         TO THOMAS MANN 'RANDOLPH.







            WASHINGTON, February 21,  1802.



  DEAR SIR,-I am made happy by the regular ac-



counts of the health of the inhabitants of Edgehill.



Here there has been an uncommon degree of sick-



ness, ascribed, of couse, to the mild winter, though



we cannot see why. The House of Representatives



have now been a week debating the judiciary law,













        Private Papers         243







and scarcely seem to be yet on the threshold of it.



I begin to apprehend a long session;. however, I be-



lieve all material matters recommended in the first



day's message will prevail. The majority begins



to draw better together than at first. Still there



are some wayward freaks which now and then dis-



turb the operations.







  I know nothing of the person from Loudon who



went to take Shadwell, having never heard of him



till your letter. In a letter to Mr. Craven, which



he received on the day of the date of yours, I ex-



pressed a wish that he could bring some good tenant



to it ; and as the man happened to be with him that



very day, he made an agreement with him to take



all, except the yard, on Peyton's terms; but as to



the yard, that remains to be arranged. I have writ-



ten to him on the subject.







  I forward you two newspapers presenting two ver-



sions of Hamilton's speeches. The language of



insurgency is that of the party at present, .even in



Congress. Mr. Bayard,l in a speech of seven hours,



talked with confidence of the possibility of resistance



by arms. They expect to frighten us, but are met



with perfect sang froid. Present my warmest affec-



tions to my ever dear Martha and the little ones, and



be assured of my constant and sincere attachment.







  @#(1) James A. Bayard of Delaware, one of the most eminent and influ-



ential Federalists in the House of Representatives. He strenuously



resisted the appeal of the Judiciary Act.-EDs. @#

















244        Jefferson's Works











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







             WASHINGTON, DeCember 19, 1803.







   DEAR SIR,-The post of last night brings us agree-



able information from New Orleans and Natchez.



General Wilkinson arrived at New Orleans from



Mobile Nov. 25, settled immediately with Laussat



all the circumstance of the delivery, and proceeded



next day to Fort Adams, where he would arrive on



the 30th, and expect to meet Claiborne there ready



for embarkation. On the 29th Laussat demanded



possession of the Spanish officers, who instantly



agreed to deliver the place on the next day (30th) at



noon and every thing was arranged for that purpose.



Laussat meant.to garrison the forts with militia, and



to appoint a person to every office civil and military



to take the place of the Spanish incumbents. In all



this he acted in concert with Clarke, mixing many



Americans in the offices, and giving the command of



the militia to a friend of Clarke's. Claiborne em-



barked 100 militia Dec. 1, from Natchez for Fort



Adams, and set out Dec. 2 by land for the same



place, expecting to fall in with and carry on to that



place 80 militia more. He would find Wilkinson



there with all the regulars ready for embarkation,



which probably took place on the ;d or 4th, and



they would arrive at New Orleans the 6th or 7th. If



on the, 6th, we shall hear of it Christmas night ; if not



till the 7th, we shall not hear it till the night of New

















        Private Papers         245







Year's day.(1) The Marquis of Casa Calva had ordered



the barracks to be got ready to receive and accom-



modate our troops, and proposed ' to embark all his



own, the moment he had delivered the place, on



board an armed vessel then lying ready to receive



them; so that they will be gone before the arrival of



our troops. Laussat would hold the government



about a week. This is for yourself and Mr. Eppes.(2)



My tender love to my dear Martha and Maria, and all



the young ones, and affectionate salutations to



yourself and Mr. Eppes.







      TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.







                WASHINGTON, Oct, 7, 1804.



  MY DEAR MARTHA,-I arrived here this day week,



having travelled through the rain of that day rather



than stay in disagreeable quarters. I experienced no



inconvenience from it. The Marquis Yrujo arrived



two days after me, and Mr. Madison and General



Dearborn got here the last night. The latter has



left his family in Maine for the winter. Yrujo is said



to be very ill, taken two days ago. I enclose a mag-



azine for Jefferson, merely for the sake of the plate



which may add to the collection for his room.3 You







 @#(1) For an account of the delivery of Louisiana to the United States,



see Henry Adams's History of the United States, vol. €. p. 256.-EDs.







 (2) Maria, Jefferson's youngest surviving daughter, had married her



half-cousin, John Eppes, October 13, 1797. She died April 17, 1804.







-EDS.



 (3) Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jefferson's eldest grandson, was then



about twelve years old, Eds @#

















246        Jefferson's Works







will see in the magazine an 'account of a new work by



Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Cosway, and Mrs. Watson,



which must be curious.' A great deal of sickness



has been and still exists in this place : I trust, how-



ever, that the hard frosts we had a week ago have



destroyed the germ of new cases. The sickness of the



summer has been so general that we may consider the



exemption of our canton from it as very remarkable.



Four weeks to-morrow our winter campaign opens.



I dread it on account of the fatigues of the table in



such a round of company, which I consider as the



most serious trials I undergo. I wish much to turn it



over to younger hands and to be myself but a guest



at the table and free to leave it as others are; but



whether this would be tolerated is uncertain. I hope



Mr. Randolph, yourself, and the dear children con-



tinue well. I miss you all at all times, but especially



at breakfast, dinner, and the evening, when I have



been used to unbend from the labors of the day.



Present me affectionately to Mr. Randolph, and my



kisses to the young ones. My tender and unchange-



able love to yourself. Adieu, my ever dear daughter.







 @#(1) This may have been the " Progress of Female Virtue and of Female



Dissipation," a set of aquatints, designed by Maria Cosway, and exe-



cuted by Caroline watson. See Dictionary of National Biography,



vol. xii. p. 279, vol. lx. p. 10.-Eds. @#

















        Private Papers     247











           TO GEORGE JEFFERSON.







               WASHINGTON, June 12, 1805.



  DEAR SIR,-Mr. John D. Burke of Petersburg,



engaged in writing the history of Virginia has asked



the use of a volume of laws and some volumes of



ancient newspapers from the library at Monticello.



I have desired Mr. Randolph to send them to you, and



will pray you to deliver the volumes of newspapers to



Mr. Burke himself; but the volume of laws being the



only copy of the laws of that period now existing,



and being consequently often resorted to in judiciary



cases, I wish it to remain in Richmond, where others



who may have occasion, as well as Mr. Burke, may



have such free access as is consistent with the safe



keeping of the volume. This may be in the office of



any careful clerk who will undertake it for Mr. Burke,



or wherever else you may think proper to deposit



them. I have directed these volumes to be sent you



well packed in a water-tight box, so that they may be



safe from rubbing and wet, and will pray you to have



them returned to me with like care when Mr. Burke



is done with them. Accept affectionate salutations.







            TO JAMES OGILVIE.(1)



                WASHINGTON, June 23, 1806.



 DEAR SIR,-As Mr. Randolph might possibly be



from home and the inclosed in that case be opened by







@#(1) See Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xlii. p. 18. The letter



here printed refers to the bitter quarrel between Thomas Mann Ran- @#

















248        Jefferson's Works







my daughter, I have taken the liberty of putting it



under your cover with a request to put it into his own



hands. The subject of it is perhaps unknown to my



daughter, and may as well continue so. Its object



is to induce Mr. Randolph to act with coolness and an



attention to his situation in this unhappy affair



between him and J. R., which the newspapers are



endeavoring to revive. It is not inclination in any



body, but a fear of the opinion of the world which



"eads men to the absurd and immoral decision of dif-



ferences by duel. The greatest service, therefore,



which Mr. T. M. Randolph's friends can render him



is to convince him that although the world esteems



courage and disapproves of the want of it, yet in a



case like his, and especially where it has been before



put out of doubt, the mass of mankind and particu-



larly that thinking part whose esteem we value,



would condemn in a husband and father of a num-



erous family everything like forwardness in this barba-



rous and lawless appeal. A conduct cool, candid, and



merely defensive is quite as much as could be admit-



ted by any in such a case as his ; and I verily believe



that if such a 'conduct be observed on his part,. the



matter may yet die away. I should be unwilling to



have it known that I meddle at all in this, and there-



fore write to you in confidence. Accept my friendly



salutations and assurances of esteem and respect.







@#dolph and John Randolph, of Roanoke, near the end of the first ses-



sion of the ninth Congress. Sec Garland's Life of John Randolph,



vol. i. pp. 242-351 ; Randall's Life of Thomas Jefferson, vol. in. pp.



164-167.-EDs.@#

















        Private Papers          249







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                 WASHINGTON, NOV. 3, 1806.



  DEAR SIR,-Yesterday was sennight I wrote to



Reuben Lewis, informing him he might hourly ex-



pect his brother there. I meant the next day,



which was the post day, to have written it to you



also, but was in the intervening evening taken with



the autumnal fever so as to be unable to write. The



attack was slight and I am now perfectly recovered,



and engaged in taking the repeating doses of bark.



  We have no information of the progress of our



negotiations either at London or Paris, and I have no



hope of our learning their conclusion before the meet-



ing of Congress. Indeed it seems as if Spain would



be able to protract the latter, in spite of what either



we or France can do to spur her up. We have no



doubt of the death of Mr. Fox in the course of Sep-



tember, although none of the stories yet received are



worth notice.(1) Mr. Erskine is arrived here and is to



be presented to-day, and Mr. Merry will at the same



time take leave.2







  Bond, who was his mentor when formerly here, is,



we are told, like a good Vicar of Bray, gone over to



the new ministry.g In the quarter of Natchitoches







  @#(1) Charles James Fox died of dropsy, Sept. 13, 1806.-EDs.



Anthony Merry was British minister to the United States from



1803 to 1806, and was succeeded by David M. Erskine, who was here



until October, 1809.-Eds.







 (2) Phineas Bond, a native of Philadelphia, was British consul-general



for the Middle and Southern States from 1786 to 1812 or 1813. See



Report of the American Historical Association for 1896, vol. i. pp.



513-517.-EDS.

















250        Jefferson's Works







I believe every thing will remain quiet. Burr is



unquestionably very actively engaged in the west-



ward in preparations to sever that from this part of



the Union. We learn that he is actually building 10



or 15 boats able to take a large gun and fit for the



navigation of those waters. We give him all the



attention our situation admits; as yet we have no



legal proof of any overt act which the law can lay



hold of. Present my tenderest affections to my dear



Martha and the young ones, and accept assurances



yourself of constant attachment,







      TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.







           WASHINGTON, NOVember 23, 1807



  MY DEAR MARTHA,-Here we are all well, and my



last letters from Edgehill informed me that all were



so there, except some remains of influenza hanging



on yourself. I shall be happy to hear you are entirely



clear of its remains. It seems to have gained



strength and malignancy in its progress over the



country. It has been a formidable disease in the



Carolinas, but worst of all in Kentucky ; fatal, how-



ever, only to old persons. Davy will set out on his



return to-morrow. He will carry an earthen box of



monthly strawberries, which I must put under Anne's



care till spring, when we will plant them at Monticello.



I have stuck several sprigs of geranium in a pot which



contained a plant supposed to be orange, but not



known to be so.

















        Private Papers           251







  We have little company of strangers in town this



winter. The only ladies are the wives of Messrs.



Newton, Thurston, W. Alston, Marion, Mumford,



Blount, Adams, Cutts, and Mrs. McCreary expected.



Congress are all expectation and anxiety for the news



expected by the Revenge or by Colonel Monroe, whose



immediate return, however, may be doubted. The



war-fever is past, and the probability against its



return rather prevalent. A caucus of malcontent



members has been held and an organized opposition



to the government arranged, J. R. and J. C. at its



head ; ' about 20 members composed. it : Their



object is to embarrass, avoiding votes of opposition



beyond what they think the nation will bear. Their



chief mischief will be done by letters of misrepresenta-



tions to their constituents, for in neither house, even



with the assured aid of the Federalists, can they



shake the good sense and honest intentions of the



mass of real Republicans. But I am tired of a life of



contention and of being the personal object for the



hatred of every man who hates the present state of



things. I long to be among you, where I know noth-



ing but love and delight, and where instead of being



chained to a writing table I could be indulged as



others are with the blessings of domestic society and



pursuits of my own choice. Adieu, my ever. dear



Martha; present me affectionately to Mr. Randolph



and the family.







@#(1) John Randolph, of Roanoke, and Joseph Clay, one of the members



from Pennsylvania. See Hildreth's History of the United States,



vol. vi. pp. 64, 65.-EDs. @#

















252        Jefferson's Works











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                WASHINGTON, NO". 22, 1808.



 DEAR SIR,-I inclose a letter from Jefferson to



Ellen which I presume will inform the family of his



health. I sent for your perusal last week a letter



from Dr. Wistar, strongly urging his attendance on



the chemical lectures. We had supposed, you know,



that it would be best for him to confine himself, while



at Philadelphia, to those branches of science for



which that place has peculiar advantages, that is to



say, anatomy, natural history, and botany; and even



to add a course of surgery, as entirely subordinate to



the others and merely as a convenient acquisition for



a country gentleman. These would give him two



lectures a day through the week, which I thought



would be as much as he could digest. However, as



Dr. Wistar placed his attendance on the chemical



lectures on the footing of his having time enough, and



so did Mr. Peale also, and the lectures were beginning,



I consented to it if you should not object. For a



scientific man in a town nothing can furnish so con-



venient an amusement as chemistry, because it may



be pursued in his cabinet ; but for a country gentle-



man I know no source of amusement and health equal



to botany and natural history, and I should think it



unfortunate for such an one to attach himself to



chemistry, although the general principles of tha



science it is certainly well to understand.



  Congress has as yet come to no resolution indica-

















        Private Papers          253







tive of their dispositions. But to-morrow the



ground work will be laid by two resolutions: 1. That



the violations of our rights by the belligerents ought



not to be submitted to. 2. That all intercourse with



the belligerent powers and their dependancies be sus-



pended. This will leave the question of war or



embargo uncommitted, and perhaps it will be thought



best not to decide between them till near the close of



the session. It is thought very doubtful how they



would decide it at present, many believing there is a



majority for war. This party will perhaps lose



ground by time, and especially as a suggestion has



been made. to make another effort by offering cate-



gorically to both belligerents to elect between a repeal



of their edicts and war, tightening the embargo in the



mean time. This idea, however, is as yet only in



embryo. My sincere affections attend on my dear



Martha, yourself, and the children.







         TO CHARLES L. BANKHEAD.(1)



              WASHINGTON, NOV. 26,            1808.



  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the 22d is received, and



that to Jefferson forwarded. I have made it the



occasion of advising him to avoid the subject of poli-



tics in society, and generally indeed to shun disputa-







 @#(1) Husband of Jefferson's eldest grandchild, Anne Cary, daughter



of Thomas Mann and Martha (Jefferson) Randolph. Mrs. Bankhead



was born in January, 1790, and died February 11, 1826, less than five



months before the death of her grandfather-Eds @#,

















254        Jefferson's Works







tion on every subject, which never did convince an



antagonist, and too often alienates a friend, besides



being always an uneasy thing to a good-humored



society. Your letter does not tell me whether Anne



and yourself are well, but I presume it because you



have written, and she is about to write. I receive



with great pleasure your assent to my proposition of



contubernation until the population of the hive shall



force a swarm, or the crowd of clients call for and



afford a separate establishment. I shall be at home



about the middle of April, and were it not that I must



proceed on the track of my caravan, which will be on



the road, I would cross at Boyd's Hole, and take you



up at Port Royal, and have the pleasure of paying my



respects to your father and family, and of assuring



them of the happiness I shall ever have in their visits



to our hive. But you must do me the favor to assure



them of this, and I must pursue the caravan to keep



up stragglers and prevent the season of planting from



getting ahead of me.







  We are all politics here. Of the three alternatives,



submission and tribute is scouted by three-fourths



from the heart, and by the other fourth from the



teeth outwards. Of the other two, embargo and war,



the first will probably prevail as yet, and the final



decision between them be kept off to near the close of



the session, when the season would admit of action.



The odds and ends of different factions, which make



up the schismatic fourth, will give their weight to



whatever proposition leads to war with France and

















              Private Papers         255







submission to England. You will see that one of



them has already proposed the former. Assure my



dear Anne of my constant love, and accept yourself



my most friendly salutations.







          TO ANNE CARY BANKHEAD.







                WASHINGTON, DeC. 8, 1808.



   MY DEAR ANNE,-Your letter of Nov. 26 came



safely to hand, and in it the delicious flower of the



Acacia, or rather the Mimosa Nilotica; from Mr.



Lomax. The mother tree of full growth which I had



when I gave him the small one, perished from neglect



the first winter I was from home. Does his produce



seed? If it does I will thank him for some, and you



to take care of them ; although ,he will think it a vain



thing at my time of life to be planting a tree of as



slow a growth. In fact the Mimosa Nilotica and



Orange are the only things I have ever proposed to



have in my green house. I like much your choice of



books for your winter's reading. Middle€on's Life of



Cicero is among the most valuable accounts we have



of the period of which he writes ; and Tacitus I con-



sider as the first writer in the world without a single



exception. His book is a compound of history and



morality of which we have no other example. In



your arithmetic, if you keep yourself familiar with



the four elementary operations of addition, subtrac-



tion; multiplication, and division, or rather of addi-



tion and division, because this last includes subtrac-

















256        Jefferson's Works







tion and multiplication, it is as much as you will need.



The rule of three, of universal utility, is a thing of



mere common-sense; for if one yard of cloth costs



three dollars, common-sense will tell you that twenty



yards will cost twenty multiplied by three. I inclose



you a letter from Jefferson, which I presume will



inform you he is well. Present my respects to Mr.



Bankhead, and the good family you are with ; also to



my ancient and intimate friend Mr. Lomax when you



have the opportunity. To yourself my affectionate



love.







         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                WASHINGTON, DeC. 13, 1805.







  DEAR SIR, Jefferson WrOte to me a few days ago



to know whether he had ever had the smallpox, and



added that till he could learn that fact he kept him-



self from the anatomical dissections, by advice of Dr.



Wistar. I wrote him that I thought I recollected



that he and Anne were inoculated in Richmond under



your eye, but that I was not quite certain. Will you



€ be so good as to give the answer by return of post



that he may not lose the benefit of the dissections



longer than necessary. We received last night the



votes of New York : 13 for Madison, as President,



and Clinton, Vice-President ; 6 for Clinton, President,



3 Madison, Vice-President, and 3 Monroe, Vice-Presi-



dent. I inclose you two extra papers with the news



from Europe. The inferences drawn from this infor-

















        Private Papers    257







mation are that Bonaparte has settled every thing



amicably in the North, that peace between Russia



and Sweden will be the consequence of their armistice,



and probably the exclusion of England from the



Baltic, and that Bonaparte will be left to execute his



murderous purposes on Spain and Portugal at his



leisure.







  Here every thing is s_ till uncertain. There is a sin-



cere wish to take off the embargo before Congress



rises, prevailing with everybody but the Federalists,



who (notwithstanding their clamors) it is perfectly



known would deprecate it as their greatest calamity.



The difficulty is how to separate the belligerents so as



to have trade with one while we have war with the



other ; because a war with both continues the embargo



in effect, with war added to it. Perhaps time may



be taken till early in summer to get a repeal of edicts



by one party, and Congress meet in May or June to



declare war against the other. But this is conject-



ural. My love to my dear Martha and the young



ones, and affectionate attachment to yourself.















        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







               WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 1809.



 DEAR SIR,-The general mind of Congress seems



now to be rallying to a certain course of proceeding.



A bill will be brought in to-morrow for convening



Congress about the middle of May. It will be of



course that in the debate members will declare the







  VOL. XVIlI-L

















258        Jefferson's Works







intention to be then to take off the embargo and if



the belligerent edicts be not repealed to issue letters



of marque and reprisal. This will let Europe see that



our purpose is war, while not expressing it author-



itatively. It will not engage their pride to persevere ;



at the same time it would quiet our own people by



letting them see the term when the embargo is to



cease. It had been thought that this would suffice to



keep every thing quiet, but the monarchists of the



North (who have been for some time fostering the



hope of separation) have been able to make so success-



ful use of the embargo as to have federalized the



South Eastern States and to endanger New York,



and they mean now to organize their opposition by



the regular powers of their State governments. The



Massachusetts legislature which is to meet the middle



of this month, it is believed, will call a convention to



consider the question of a separation of the Union,



and to propose it to the whole country east of the



North River, and they are assured of the protection



of Great Britain. Their Republican members think



that, if we will fix by law a day when the embargo



shall cease (as some day in June), that this will satisfy



so great a portion of their people as to remove the



danger of a convention. This will probably be con-



sented to with an addition that letters of marque and



reprisal shall issue the same day. But they are appre-



hensive this addition may defeat the effect hoped



from the repeal of the embargo. We must save the



Union ; but we wish to sacrifice as little as possible of

















        Private Papers     259







the honor of the nation. But our difficulties do not



end here ; for if war takes place with England, we have



no security that she will not offer neutrality and com-



merce to New England, and that the latter will not



accept it. In the mean time it is possible that Eng-



land may be wrought upon, I, by the documents



published at the meeting of Congress which prove our



fair conduct towards both countries, which she had



affected not to believe ; 2, by the determination of



the Presidential election ; 3, by the failure, so far,



of expected insurrections in Massachusetts; 4, by



the course of affairs in Spain, where there can be



little doubt that Joseph is re-enthroned before this



day. Parts of the country will hold out for a while,



but the ultimate issue must very soon be visible. If



these things have the effect they ought to have on a



rational government they will prevent a war with us.



The non-intercourse law will be past. This is a sum-



mary view of our present political condition.







  I received yesterday a letter from Martha, enclos-



ing the one which I now return. The request of Mr.



Stith is impossible. We left to the delegates of every



State to name all the officers for their State, so that



there is not a single vacancy. She also desired me to



return Moultrie's letter, but that has been necessarily



filed in the war office. Mr. Moultrie is placed on the



list of cadets at West Point, but cannot be called into



service till the spring, when he will receive a call.



This answer you can give him. Nothing stands in the



way of Mr. Hackley but the continuance of an old

















260        Jefferson's Works







servant of the public in the place. I think it prob-



able he will resign ; I am sure he would have done it



had Mr. Hackley had the prudence to cultivate his



friendship. He was led astray by Meade, and now



discovering Meade's views on the office, I suspect



they are separated. Mr. Madison will, however, be



equally ready to accept Yznardi's resignation and



appoint Mr. Hackley his successor.







 Accept my affectionate salutations, and convey the€



same to my ever dear Martha and the young ones.







 P. S. A letter of Dec. 28, from Jefferson, informs



me he was well.







         TO CHARLES L. BANKHEAD.







               WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 1809.



 DEAR SIR,-I have waited till I could execute



Anne's commission as to the seed of the ice-plant



before acknowledging the receipt of her letter of Dec.



19 and yours of the 20th. I now inclose the seed, in



the envelope of a pamphlet for Doctor Bankhead's



acceptance. The case of Whistelo belongs to the



physician, although here presented as a case of law.



I do not suppose, however, it will add to his knowl-



edge as a physician, or to yours as a lawyer, but it



may amuse you both.







 Although Congress has passed no bill which indi-



cates their course, except the amendatory embargo



bill, yet I think their minds are substantially made up

















        Private Papers         261







to meet in May with the avowed intention of then



ending the embargo, and of issuing letters of marque



and reprisal against the nations which shall have



decrees against our rightful commerce then existing.



About minor and preparatory measures there is dif-



ference of opinion, but on this none except from the



Federalists, the Apostates, and two or three honest



Republicans from the South, who (these last I



mean) wish to try the embargo till the fall. In the



mean time the disquietude in the North is extreme,



and we are uncertain what extent of conflagration a



spark might occasion. A line seems now to be draw-



ing between the really republican Federalists and the



English party, who are devoted; soul and body, to



England and monarchy. There are circumstances



which render it not entirely unexpected that England



will repeal her decrees. This alone can save us from



war in May. By that time, we hope, the militia or



volunteers called for will be in readiness. I am now



engaged in packing and breaking up my establish-



ment here. I suppose I shall be detained to the



middle of March. Mr. Lomax writes me he has given



Anne a small plant of the Acacia for me, with which



I hope I shall meet you both at Monticello in March.



I salute you both with great affection.

















262        Jefferson's Works











         TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 1809.







  DEAR SIR,-I received in due time your kind letter



of the 20th. Certainly I shall be much pleased to



receive your aid and counsel in the management of



my farms, which will become so essential. My whole



life has been passed in occupations which kept me



from any minute attention to them, and finds me now



"ith only very general ideas of the theory of agricul-



ture, without actual experience ; at a time of life, too,



when the memory is not so retentive of observation



as at an earlier period. The tracts of land which I



proposed to you to endeavor to sell are such as can be



of little use to our family. I have acquired or kept



them to furnish timber, but I am certain I never got



an half per cent on their value in a year yet. A prop-



erty yielding so little profit had better be sold and



converted into more profitable form, and none can



be more profitable, that is, yield so much happiness,



as the payment of debts, which are an unsufferable



torment. Sharp and Crenshaw, who live near Poun-



cey's, told me they would rather undertake to crop



on that land than on the best red land you or myself



possessed. If you could find a purchaser, therefore,



it might be at a price that might remove some more



pressing calls. Perhaps the owner of Colle would



buy the tract adjoining that. They can never be put



to a better use, or one so pleasing to me, as in reliev-



ing your more valuable property from calls, and

















263        Private Papers







whether they go to pay your debts or mine is per-



fectly equal to me, as I consider our property as a



common stock for our joint family.







 The bill for the meeting of Congress on the 4th



Monday of May is past. The resolution of Mr.



Nicholas for repealing the embargo and issuing let-



ters of marque and reprisal on a (-) day was taken



up yesterday. The impatience of the people to the



eastward has had a sensible effect on the minds of



Congress. John Randolph moved to strike out the



(-] and insert immediately. This was rejected.



He meant an immediate removal of the embargo,



and to strike out the substitute of letters of marque



and reprisal. Three days have been proposed



for the blank, Feb. 15, Mar. 4, and June 1. The



question will be between the two last. I rather



expect the 1st of June will be preferred, but it is



doubtful even now, and the sentiment of the legis-



lature is obviously advancing on account of the dis-



contents to the eastward. On these it is difficult to



pronounce an opinion. A forcible opposition to the



embargo laws may be expected; perhaps it will be



countenanced by their legislature declaring the law



unconstitutional. It is believed they will call a con-



vention of the Eastern States, and perhaps propose



separation. The time which this will take, will



defeat the measure, by the expiration of the laws



which is the ostensible ground of the procedure.



With the Essex Junto it is ostensible only. Separa-



tion and annexation to England is their real object.

















264        Jefferson's Works







But not so with the people, or even the real Federal-



ists of the prominent kind. If we can avoid deeds of



force on the land (in the execution of the law) the



difficulty may pass over. But I do not think even



that certain. I am not certain that if war be com-



menced against England, they will not accept neu-



trality and commerce if offered by England. Thus



we are placed between the alternatives of abandoning



our rights on the ocean, or risking a severance of the



Union. My ultimate hope is in the good sense of the



body of the people to the eastward who will think



more dispassionately when the final question is pro-



posed to them. My tender love to my dear Martha



and the young ones, and affectionate salutations to



yourself.







           TO WILLIAM PINCKNEY.1







                 MONTICELLO, July 15, 1810.



 DEAR SIR,-I again trouble you with letters from



Mr. Bradbury to his friends in England. He is a







 @# (1) William Pinckney, eminent both as a lawyer and statesman, was



born in Annapolis, Md., March 17, 1764. His first purpose was to



become a physician, but he afterward determined to adopt the law



as a profession; and was admitted to the bar in 1786. Ten years later



he was appointed one of the commissioners under Jay's treaty, to



determine the claims of American merchants for losses occasioned



by acts of the English government. He remained in England until



1804, and in the following year he was appointed Attorney-General



of Maryland. In 1806 he was again sent to England to treat with the



English government as joint commissioner with Mr. Monroe; and



after Mr. €Monroe's return he was made resident minister, which post



he filled until 1811. Subsequently he was Attorney-General of the @#

















        Private Papers      265







botanist and naturalist of high qualifications and



merit, and is now engaged in exploring Upper Louis-



iana. I feel a real interest in his pursuits, the result



of which so far is communicated in some of these



letters. On politics I have little to say, and little



need be said to you who are better informed from



another quarter. You will have seen that Massa-



chusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have



got back to the ground which a temporary delusion



induced them to quit for a moment. Unfortunately



it was a moment decisive of our destiny. I speak of



that which produced a repeal of the embargo. Con-



siderable discontent was certainly excited in Massa-



chusetts, but its extent was magnified infinitely



beyond its reality, and an intrigue of (I believe) not



more than two or three members, reputed Republi-



cans, excited in Congress a belief that we were under



the alternative of civil war or a repeal of the embargo



and the embargo was repealed. Thus were we



driven by treason among ourselves from the high and



wise ground we had taken, and which, had it been



held, would have either restored us our free trade, or



have established manufactures among us. The lat-



ter object will still be obtained, at least as to house-



hold manufacture, which is more than the half in







@#United States, a member of the House of Representatives, minister



to Russia and special envoy to Naples, and member of the Senate from



1819 to his death at Washington, Feb. 25, 1822. (See Appleton's



Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. v. p. 26; Lanman's Bio-



graphical Annals, p. 337.) Jefferson has inadvertently written the



name Pinckney.-EDs. @#

















266        Jefferson's Works







value of what we have heretofore received from



abroad. But the imprudent adventures of our mer-



chants have put into the hands of the robbers by sea



and land, much of the capital which the embargo had



secured for employment in manufactures. I am



supremely happy in being withdrawn from these



turmoils, but cannot but interest myself for my



friends still engaged in them, and wishing you all "a



good deliverance, " I beg leave to add to yourself the



assurances of my friendly attachment and high



respect.







             TO MARY PAGE.(1)







                  MONTICELLO, Mar. 4, 1811.



  DEAR MADAM,-Your favor of Jan. 2 by some



unusual course of the post was near a month before it



reached this place, to which a further delay has been



added by my absence of upwards of a month from



home,' to which I returned but two days ago. I



make it among my first duties to acknowledge its



receipt, to offer this apology for so late a reply, and to







@#(1) This lady was, perhaps, connected by marriage with the family



oz Gov. John Page, an early and life-long friend of Jefferson. In the



letter to which this is an answer, she says her son John T. Page "is



at present out of employment," and "seems to think he can act as



manager over a few negroes, or perhaps as an under clerk." "He



read law for a short time with General Minor. " She adds : ' ` My



object is to get him in some employment immediately, and thinking



your regard for his deceased father will induce you to try to get him



into some business encourages me to apply to you." She wishes the



answer to her application to be ' ` directed to Mill Wood, Frederick



County, Virginia. "-Eds.@#

















        Private Papers      267







give you assurances of the pleasure I should receive



from any act of service I could render any member of



my late friend's family. His merit. and my estima-



tion of it authorized him to count on any attentions



which his friends could render to his family. To my



wishes, however, of being useful, my present situa-



tion is not friendly, and the want of a more particular



knowledge of Mr. J. T. Page's views, acquirements,



and habits of life, render it difficult even to suggest



any openings for occupation which might suit him.



You mention the place of a clerk as one he would be



willing to undertake. There are at Washington a



great number of clerkships in the offices of the depart-



ments of the government, which offer an easy service,



and salaries equal to the maintenance of a single man.



I know also, however, that the vacancies in them are



not frequent and the competitors numerous. The



friendship of the President, I am sure would: induce



him to befriend your son, in case of any vacancy.



Should he prefer the occupation of the law in the



Western country, one of those you mention as within



his view, it would certainly make him more indepen-



dent and contented. His success in that would



depend on himself alone and would open a prospect



of bettering his situation. The army and navy offer



frequent openings for appointment, in which again



we might count on the friendship o.f the President.



If any thing which either myself or my friends can do



may aid him in any pursuit wherein our agency can



be used, I freely tender every good office I can render

















268        Jefferson's Works







him, and avail myself with great pleasure of this



occasion of renewing to you the assurances of my



friendship and attachment and offering the homage



of my sincere and high respect.







TO JAMES MADISON.







MONTICELLO, April 7, 1811. (1)







  DEAR SIR,-Your favors of Mar. IS and April r



have been duly received. The extract from Arm-



strong 's letter of July 28, '08, which you desire is in



these words: "My poor friend Wardenl writes to



you, and asks from you the appointment of consul



for this place. I could not promise to do more than



send his letter. He is an honest and amiable man,



with as much Greek and Latin and chemistry and



theology as would do for the whole corps of consuls ;



but, after all, not well qualified for business. You



have seen an order of scavans, really well informed,



who, notwithstanding, scarcely knew how to escape



from a shower of rain when it happened to beset them.



He is of that family. No, the man for this place



ought to be a man of business, as well as a gentle=



man. " He then goes on to put Leavenworth 's pre-



tensions out of the way, should he have proposed



himself. The letter is headed " private, " although



relating as much to public as private transactions.







  @#(1) David B. warden. He had been Secretary of Legation under



Armstrong, when the latter was minister to France, and was fos



many years consul€general at Paris.-Eds,@#

















        Private Papers     269







What I saw of Warden during the ten days or fort-



night he staid here, satisfied me that he merited all



the good which Armstrong says of him, and that he



was by no means the helpless and ineffective man in



business which he represents him to be. I knew,



when I received the letter, that Armstrong's fond-



ness for point and pith rendered it unsafe to take



what he said literally. He is cynical and irritable



and implacable. Whether his temper or his views



induced his dismission of Warden, his persecution of



him now will render public benefit by the develop-



ment of his character. I have never heard a single



person speak of Warden who did not rejoice in his



appointment, and express disapprobation of Arm-



strong's conduct respecting him; and I am perfectly



satisfied that, if the appointment is made to attract



public attention it will be approved. The other sub-



ject of uneasiness which you express must, I know,



be afflicting. You will probably see its effect in the



secret workings of an insatiable family. They may



sow discontent, but will neither benefit themselves



nor injure you by it. The confidence of the public is



too solid to be shaken by personal incidents. I do



sincerely rejoice that Monroe is added to your coun-



cils. He will need only to perceive that you are with-



out reserve towards him, to meet it with the cordial-



ity of earlier times. He will feel himself to be again



at home in our bosoms, and happy in a separation



from those who led him astray. I learn that John



Randolph is now open-mouthed against him and

















270        Jefferson's Works







Hay.(1) The letter which I wrote lately to Wilkin=



son was one of necessity written to thank him for



his book which he sent me.(2) He says nothing in



his letter of the anonymous letter in Clarke's book



to which you allude. I have never seen Clarke's



book, and know nothing of its contents.g. The only



part of. my letter which regards Wilkinson himself



is in these words: "I look back with commisera-



tion on those still buffeting the storm, and sincerely



wish your Argosy may ride out; unhurt, that in



which it is engaged. My belief is that it will;



and I found that belief on my own knowledge of.



Burr's transactions, on my view of your conduct



in encountering them, and on the candor of your



judges." These are truths which I express without



reserve whenever any occasion calls for them.



Whatever previous communications might have



passed between Burr and Wilkinson on the sub-



ject of Mexico, I believe that on the part of the



latter it was on the hypothesis of the appro-



bation of the government. I never believed Wil-



kinson would give up a dependance ,on the govern-







 @#(1) George Hay, United States District-Attorney for Virginia, and



son-in-law of James Monroe. He had conducted the prosecution on



Aaron Burr.-EDs.







  (2) The letter to General Wilkinson here referred to is printed in vol.



x€i. p. 23.







  (3) The book referred to is an octavo volume of nearly three hundred



and fifty pages, entitled, "Proofs of the Corruption. of Gen. James



Wilkinson, and of his Connexion with Aaron Burr, with a full Refuta-



tion of his slanderous Allegations in Relation to the character of the



principal Witness against him. By Daniel Clark of the City of New



Orleans: " It is not mentioned in Allibone's Dictionary of Author's;



but there is a copy in the library of the Mass. Hist. Society-EDS. @#

















        Private Papers    271







ment under whom he was the first, to become a



secondary and dependant on Burr. I enclose you a



letter from Pere Gabriel. In a Note of unfinished



business which I left with you, you will see exactly



how far he had a right to expect the government



would go in aid of his establishment. I fear the



glimmering of hope that England might return to



reason has past off with the return of her mad king to



power. Present me affectionately to Mrs. Madison,



and be assured of my best wishes for your health and



happiness, and that your labors for the public may



be crowned with their love.







          TO CHARLES PINCKNEY.(1)







                MONTICELLO, Feb. 2, 1812







  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of Dec. 18 is duly re=



ceived, and I am happy to learn from it that you



are well and still active in the cause of our country.



South Carolina remains firm, too, to sound princi-



ples. Of her orthodoxy I shall never doubt. You



have the peculiar advantage of gathering all your



aristocracy into Charleston, where alone it can be



embodied, and where alone it can be felt. We are







@# (1) Charles Pinckney was born in Charleston, S. C., in 1758, and died



there, Oct. 29, 1824. ' He was a member. of the Convention. which



framed the Federal Constitution, was four times Governor of his



native State, several times a member of Congress, and minister to



Spain from 1801 to 1805. He strongly advocated the War of 1812



with England, and warmly opposed the Missouri Compromise. See



Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. v. p. 23; Lan-



man's Biographical Annals, pp. 336, 608.-EDs. @#

















272        Jefferson's Works







to have war, then? I believe so, and that it is neces-



sary. Every hope from time, patience, and the



love of peace is exhausted, and war or abject sub-



mission are the only alternative left us. I am forced



from my hobby, peace, until our revenue is liber-



ated. Then we could make war without either new



taxes or loans, and in peace apply the same



resources to internal improvement. But they will



not give us time to get into this happy state. They



will force us, as they have forced France, to become



a nation of soldiers, and then the more woe to them,



But all this is for future history. Mine is drawing



to its close. Age begins to press sensibly on me,



and I leave politics to those of more vigor of body



and mind. I give up newspapers for Horace and



Tacitus, and withdraw my mind from contention



of every kind, perfectly secure that our rulers and



fellow-citizens are taking all possible care of us.



They will have still many years of aid from you, and



that they may be years of health, honor, and hap-



piness is my sincere prayer.







        TO E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS.(1)







                MONTICELLO, June 16, 1812.



 DEAR SIR,-On the fourth of November last I



wrote to you requesting another quarter cask of







 @#(1)  Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont, son of Pierre Samuel Du Pont de



Nemours, was born in Paris, France, June 24, 1771, and died in Phila-



delphia, Oct. 31, 1834. After having suffered imprisonment three @#

















        Private Papers    273







powder to be forwarded to me with a note of the



cost that I might remit for that and the preceding



one together. Not having heard from you, I re-



peated my request in a letter of April 30, and at the



same time desired Mr. John Barnes of Georgetown



to remit you 50 dollars, which he informs me he had



done. This was a mere guess at the cost of the two



quarter casks, as I did not know it exactly. Being



still without information on the subject, I have to



request the favor of a line by post. I should not



be so importunate but that the season for blowing



rock in a canal I am engaged in has now commenced.



I would wish to have half a dozen pounds of shoot=



ing powder, and the rest for blowing as before.







  In the same letter of April 30, I mentioned that



I should shear a few fleeces of genuine Merino wool



and of the finest character, with about 15 of half



blood; that I had understood you were connected



with a manufactory of cloth at which they would



receive wool to be spun, woven, and dyed for an



equivalent either in the wool or cash, and I asked



your information particularly on that subject, for



which I will still thank you. A late letter from



your father informs me of his health ; but you doubt-



@#(1)times during the French Revolution, he came over to the United



States with his father's family in 1799; and in 1802 bought a tract of



land, with water-power on the Brandywine River near Wilmington



Delaware. Here he established the powder-works which are still



carried on by his descendants. His nephew, Admiral Samuel F. Du



Pont, rendered important services during the rebellion. See Apple-



ton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. €. pp. 264-666.-Eds.











    VOL. XVIII-18 @#

















274        Jefferson's Works







less heard from him at the same date. Accept the



assurance of my great esteem and respect.







            TO RICHARD RUSH.1







              MONTICELLO, August 2, 1812.



 Thomas Jefferson presents his compliments to



Mr. Rush, and his thanks for the copy of his oration



of the fourth of July, which he has been so kind as



to send him, and for the friendly wishes he expresses



for his health and happiness. To the last nothing



contributes more than the contemplation of such



specimens as Mr. Rush has sent him of the eloquence



of his country devoted to the celebration of that



birthday of our independence. Every day's history



proves more and more the wisdom and salutary



result of that measure, by developments of the



degeneracy of the British nation, and of its rapid



decline towards some awful catastrophe, from which







 @#(1) Richard Rush was born in Philadelphia, August 29, 1780; gradu-



ated at Princeton in 1797, and was admitted to the bar in 1800. In



November 1811, he was made Comptroller of the United States



Treasury ; and from 1814 to 1817 he was United States Attorney-



General. In the latter year he was sent as minister to England, where



he remained until 1825, when he was appointed Secretary of the



Treasury in the administration of President John Quincy Adams. In



March, 1847, he was commissioned as minister to France, and took



leave in October, 1849. He died in Philadelphia, July 30, 1859. The



oration here referred to was delivered in Washington, July 4, 1812.



He was the author of numerous other publications, of which several



have a permanent value. See Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American



Biography, vol. v. p. 390; Lanman's Biographical Annals, pp. 367,



596  EDs. @#

















        Private Papers      275







their injustice and the favor of Heaven have sepa-



rated us.







 He salutes Mr. Rush with sentiments of high



respect and esteem.







        TO E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS.







            MONTICELLO, NOVEMBER 8, 1812.



  DEAR SIR,-It is high time I should make my



acknowledgments to you for the piece of cloth of



your manufacture which you were so kind as to for-



ward to me. But this article as well as the keg of



powder forwarded with it have experienced singu-



lar delay. Though sent from Wilmington early in



July, they were near two months, I believe, reach-



ing Richmond; from which place they were for-



warded to me on the 18th of September, and have



not yet reached me, owing to the low state of our



river usual in autumn. The first good rain will, I



expect, enable the boat to come up, but as I am set-



ting out on a journey on which I shall be absent



some weeks, I cannot permit myself to await their



actual arrival and my return before I tender you my



thanks for the cloth you have been so good as to



favor me with. I am happy to know that we have



established among us a manufacture from which



we may expect to see the French processes, in both



weaving and dyeing fine cloths, introduced among



€ us. It is one of the articles in which they certainly



' excel the English. I am in hopes the Merino race

















276        Jefferson's Works







of sheep is so well established among us as to leave



you in no danger of wanting that article. I have



been unlucky with them. I began with one ram



and three ewes. One of the ewes died of the scab,



and the others' for two years have brought me only



ram lambs, so that I remain still with only two ewes.



But I have many half bloods. There is no demand



here for the wool, because we have no manufacture



of fine cloth in the State. In that of coarse cloth-



ing we are going on very prosperously in our fam-



ilies. Scarcely a family fails to clothe itself. I



salute you with great esteem and respect.







          TO CHARLES W. PEALE.(1)







               MONTICELLO, April 17, 1813.



 DEAR SIR,-I had long owed you a letter for your



favor of Aug. 19, when I received eight days ago



that of Mar. 2, 1812. A slip of the pen, I suppose,







 @#(1) Charles Wilson Peale was born in Chestertown, Maryland, April 16,



1741, and died in Philadelphia, Pa. , Feb. 22, 1827. He followed at



first the trade of a saddler, but while still a young man determined



to be a portrait painter. In this profession he obtained a very con-



siderable degree of success, and painted numerous portraits of Wash-



ington and the men of the Revolutionary period. He was also the



founder and proprietor of the once famous Peale's Museum of Art and



Natural History of Philadelphia. He was a man of great ingenuity



and even greater versatility, and "took up, in turn, the making of



coaches, harnesses, clocks, and watches, besides working as a silver-



smith, and he was also soldier, politician, naturalist, taxidermist, and



dentist." Numerous letters to or from him are among the Jefferson



Papers in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society.



See Appleton's Cyclopaeedia of American Biography, vol. iv. pp. 689,



690.-Eds.

















        Private Papers         277







for 1813, and the pamphlet accompanying it strength-



ens the supposition. I thank you for the pamphlet.(1)



It is full of good sense and wholesome advice, and



I am making all my grandchildren read it, married



and unmarried; and the story of farmer Jenkins



will, I hope, remain in their minds through life.



Both your letters are on the subject of your agri-



cultural operations, and both prove the ardor with



which you are pursuing them. But when I observe



that you take an active part in the bodily labor of



the farm, your zeal and age give me uneasiness for



the result.







  Your position that a small farm well worked and.



well manned will produce. more than a larger one



ill-tended, is undoubtedly true in a certain degree.



There are extremes in this as in all other cases. The



true medium may really be considered and stated



as a mathematical problem: " Given the quantum



of labor within our command, and land ad libitum



offering its spontaneous contributions: required the



proportion in which these two elements should be



employed to produce a maximum. " It is a diffi-



cult problem, varying probably in every country



according to the relative value of land and labor. .



The spontaneous energies of the earth are a gift of



nature, but they require the labor of man to direct



their operation. And the question is so to husband



his labor as to turn the greatest quantity of this







 @#(1) "An Essay to promote Domestic Happiness," published in 1813.-



EDS @#.

















 278        Jefferson's Works







useful action of the earth to his benefit. Ploughing



deep, your recipe for killing weeds, is also the recipe



for almost everything good in farming. The plough



is to the farmer what the wand is to the sorcerer:



Its effect is really like sorcery. In the country



wherein I live we have discovered a new use for it,



equal in value almost to its services before known.



Our country is hilly and we have been in the habit



of ploughing in straight rows whether up and down



hill, in oblique lines, or however they lead; and our



soil was all rapidly running into the rivers. We



now plough horizontally, following the curvatures



of the hills and hollows, on the dead level, however



crooked the lines may be. Every furrow thus acts



as a reservoir to receive and retain the waters, all



of which go to the benefit of the growing plant,



instead of running off into the streams. In a farm



horizontally and deeply ploughed, scarcely an ounce



of soil is now carried off from it. In point of beauty



nothing can exceed that of the waving lines and rows



winding along the face of the hills and valleys. The



horses draw much easier on the dead level, and it is



in fact a conversion of hilly grounds into a plain.



The improvement of our soil from this cause the last



half dozen years strikes every one with wonder.



For this improvement we are indebted to my son-



in-law; Mr. Randolph, the best farmer, I believe, in



the United States, and who has taught us to make



more than two blades of corn to grow where only



one grew before. If your farm is hilly, let me be-













        Private Papers         279







seech you to make a trial of this method. To direct



the plough horizontally we take a rafter level of this



form A, A boy of.thirteen or fourteen is



able to work it round the hill, a still smaller one with



a little hough marking the points traced by the feet



of the level. The plough follows running through



these marks. The leveller having completed one



level line through the field, moves with his level 30



or 40 yards up or down the hill, and runs another



which is marked in like manner and traced by the



plough, and having thus run what may be called



guide furrows every 30 or 40 yards through the field,



the ploughman runs the furrows of the intervals



parallel to these. In proportion, however, as the



declevity of the hill varies in different parts of the



line, the guide furrows will approach or recede from



each other in different parts, and the parallel fur-



rows will at length touch in one part when far asun-



der in others, leaving unploughed gores between



them. These gores we plough separately. They



occasion short rows and turnings which are a little



inconvenient, but not materially so. I pray you



to try this recipe for hilly grounds. You will say



with me, " Probatum est, " and I shall have the hap-



piness of being of some use to you, and through your



example to your neighbors, and of adding something



solid to the assurances of my great esteem and



respect.

















280        Jefferson's Works











             TO WILLIAM SHORT.







              MONTICELLO, August 20, 1814.







  DEAR SIR,-Since my short letter by Mr. Rives I



have to acknowledge the receipt of your two favors



of June g and July 30. A few days before the last



came to hand I had written to Colonel Monroe, and



prayed him to name a day in the autumn (when the



fall of the leaves shall have rendered a survey in the



woods practicable), and to procure an engagement



from Champe Carter to attend and let us have a sur-



veyor and arbitrators on the spot to settle the ques-



tioned boundary. I delayed answering your last



letter in the hope that he might in the instant of re-



ceiving my letter write to me off-hand. Having



failed to do this, the time of his answering is too in-



definite to postpone further the giving you the pres-



ent state and prospect of the business which you



desire.







 The state of the case is this: John Carter, eldest



son of the family, sold to Monroe, bounding him



" on the South by a run on the Eastern side of Dick's



plantation, and running thence to the source of the



said run, " but no line was actually marked or exam-



ined by either party. It is said that John Carter



had no night to sell, but that Champe, from family



considerations, concluded to acquiesce. I do not



know that this fact is true, having it only from neigh-



borhood report. Champe afterwards sold to you,



and attended us in surveying and marking the line.













        Private Papers      281











Ascending the run far above Dick's plantation, it



forked, each run being equally large, and extending



nearly to the top of the mountain, but the southern



branch something the nearest. We knew nothing



of the line specified in Monroe's deed, but Mr. Car-



ter, professing to know it and to lead the surveyor,



started from the fork and run a straight line between



the two branches to the top of the mountain, thus



dividing the interval which the two branches ren-



dered doubtful; but not a word of any doubt was



then expressed; I presumed he knew what was



right and was doing it. Colonel Monroe, sometime



after his return from Europe, mentioned to me in



conversation that the line as run between you and



him by Mr. Carter, was, as he had been informed,



questionable, but he could not then explain to me



how; nor did I ever learn how till after the sale to



Higgenbotham. Indeed from the continued silence



on the subject I believed the claim dropped till I



received a line from Higginbotham informing me



Mr. Hay had notified him of it, and Colonel Monroe



soon afterwards called on me, showed his deed, and



explained to me for the first time the nature of his



claim. We agreed 'that Mr. Carter should be de-



sired to attend, that we would take two neighbors as



arbitrators, go on the land and settle the question



on view. The topics of your right are these: I. If



Champe Carter's confirmation of John's sale were



necessary to supply the defect of title, then the de-



marcation of the line which he made in person was

















282        Jefferson's Works







a declaration of the precise extent to which he did



confirm. II. The run, which was made the boun-



dary to its source, branching by the way, and each



branch being equally entitled to be 'considered as



the run whose source was to decide, neither could



claim exclusively to be called Dick's run; the com-



promise made by Mr. Carter by running the line be-



tween them was a fair one, and after an acquiescence



of 21 years, and that length of actual and adverse



possession in you, ought to be considered as satis-



factory to the parties, and especially when no effec-



tive step had been taken to maintain a contrary



claim till after the land had been long notified as



for sale, and a sale actually made; the delay of the



settlement has entirely rested with the other party.



Price, who knows the two branches, thinks there



may be about 25 acres between them, one half of



which only is within the actual line.







  Next, as to the prospect. On closing this letter



I shall write to John Carter. who lives in Amherst,



for information as to his right and his idea of the



boundary, and if his information is of conse-



quence I shall either get his deposition taken by



consent of parties, or require his personal attend-



ance as a witness. I must press upon Colonel Mon-



roe the fixing a day when he can attend, and some



one to act for him if he does not attend. Champe



Carter, I suppose, will readily agree to be bound if



he does not attend. I should have been very con-



fident of finishing this at Monroe's next visit, for he

















        Private Papers    283







is anxious to finish it, but that the call of Congress,



the nineteenth of September will render his attend-



ance difficult. If so, I will endeavor to prevail on



him to appoint some one here to act for him; for



his personal presence cannot be of much importance.







  I think the downfall of Bonaparte a great bless-



ing for Europe, which never could have had peace



while he was in power. Every national society



there also will be restored to their ancient limits,



and to the kind of government, good or bad, which



they choose. I believe the restoration of the Bour-



bons is the only point on which France could be



rallied, and that their re-establishment is better for



that country than civil wars, whether they should



be a peaceable nation under a fool or a warring one



under a military despot of genius. To us alone this



brings misfortune. It rids of all other enemies a



tyrannical nation, fully armed, and deeply embit-



tered by the wrongs they have done us. They may



greatly distress individuals in their circumstances;



but the soil and the men will remain unconquerable



by them, and drinking deeper daily a more



deadly, unquenchable, and everlasting hatred to



them. How much less money would it cost to them



and pain to us, to nourish mutual affections and



mutual interests and happiness. But the destruc-



tive passions seem to have been implanted in man,



as one of the obstacles to his too great multiplica-



tion. While we are thus gnawed, however, by

















284        Jefferson's Works







national hatreds we retire with delight into the



bosom of our individual friendships; in the full



feeling of which I salute you affectionately.















         TO HORATIO G. SPAFFORD. (1)







            MONTICELLO, December 16, 1814.







 DEAR SIR,-By the condition of the roads and



repeated abandonments of the mail by the way,



your favor of November 25 did not come to hand



until it was certain from its contents you had left



Washington. I have delayed acknowledging it



therefore till you might have reached Albany, and



indeed the only object of doing it thus late is to



express my regret at not having had the pleasure



of receiving you here, which would have been a



gratification, for as to public affairs I am entirely



withdrawn from every degree of intermeddling



with them, and almost of reading or thinking of



them. My confidence in those at the helm is so



entire as to satisfy me without enquiry that they



are going right, and I prefer reading the histories



of other times, which furnish amusement without



anxiety. Writing, too, is becoming laborious to me







 @#(1) Horatio Gates Spafford, a warm political friend of Jefferson, was



the author of a Geography of the United States, a Gazetteer of the



State of New York, and a small pamphlet entitled "Some Cursory



Observations on the Ordinary Construction of Wheel Carriages," a



subject in which Jefferson was much interested. He was born in Tin-



mouth, Vt., Feb. 18, 1778, and died in Lansingburgh, N. Y., Aug. 7,



1832. See Hough's American Biographical Notes, p. 370.-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers     285







and irksome, so that I go to the writing table with



reluctance. Retaining, however, my esteem and



gratitude for those whose good will has been so kindly



bestowed upon me, I acknowledge yours particu-



larly, and tender you my best prayers for your health



and prosperity.







MEMORANDUM OF JEFFERSON,S TAXABLE PROPERTY.



A list of the taxable property of the subscriber



in Albemarle, Mar. , 1815.



5640 acres of land (including 400 acres on Hard-        ³ Rate        ³  Am't



ware held jointly with Hudson and others).        ³        ³



90 slaves of or above the age of 12 years        ³  .85        ³



12  slaves of 9 and under 12 years of age        ³  .80        ³   72.



73 head of cattle        ³  .50        ³    6



27 horses, marcs, mules, and colts        ³  .03        ³    2.19



 1 icehouse         ³  .21        ³    5.67



 1 gigg and harness        ³ 5.        ³    5



 1 wheeled carriage (landau)        ³        ³    



 House        ³        ³



 4 clocks        ³        ³



 1 bureau of secretary, mahogany        ³        ³



 2 book cases              "        ³  .50        ³    .50



 4 chests or drawers       "        ³  .50        ³   1



 1 side board with doors and drawers, mahogany..        ³  .25        ³   1



48 separate parts of dining tables       "         ³        ³



 3 tea and card tables                   "        ³        ³



 6 sophas with gold leaf        ³  .25        ³   2



16 chairs, mahogany        ³  .25        ³   3.25



 4 chairs gold leaf        ³.2225        ³   1.335



31 pair window curtains, foreign        ³.0625        ³   2.25



46 portraits in oil        ³  .03        ³   1.32



11 portraits crayon        ³  .10        ³   1.10



24 picture, prints and engravings with frames more        ³  .25        ³   4



   than 12 inches        ³ .125        ³  .125



        ³        ³



        ³  .15        ³ 9.60











                                               

















286        Jefferson's Works











        ³  rate        ³  Am't



39 Picture under 12 inches with gilt frames         ³        ³



 3 looking-glasses 5 feet long        ³   .10        ³   3.90



 3 looking glasses 4 feet and not 5 feet    1        ³  5.        ³  15



looking glasses 3 feet and not 4 feet    2 looking        ³  3.        ³   9



glasses 2 feet and not 3 feet    1 harpsichord        ³  2.        ³   2



 2 silver watches           ³  1.        ³   2



 2 silver coffee pots        ³        ³



 3 plated urns and coffee pots          ³   .50        ³   1



13 plated candlesticks          ³   .50        ³   1



 4 cut glass decanters          ³   .10        ³    .30



10 silvercups        ³   .05        ³    .65



 1 manufacturing mill renting at 1280 D. at 2.75        ³   .05        ³    .20



p.c.        ³   .10        ³   1



 1 toll grist mill        ³        ³



 1 Sawmill         ³        ³











            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







               MONTICELLO, May I 5,                       I S I 5.



 DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the third finds me just



on my departure for Bedford, and I return to you,



therefore, the paper you enclosed me, without delay.



To the fact of the want of time I will further add



that no person on earth would more willingly than



myself do whatever was within my power to reward



with the honors they have merited our naval heroes,



for the respect which their heroism has procured



for our country, and for the humiliations they have



inflicted on an insulting, a vindictive, and causeless



enemy. But I never had that sort of poetical fancy



which qualifies for allegorical devices, mottoes, etc.



Painters, poets. men of happy imagination can alone



do these things with taste. I must, therefore, refer

















        Private Papers         287







it back to you for some one who will do justice to



the subject. The re-revolution of France furnishes



an additional element of calculation for the problem



of your return to France. Adversity may have



taught Bonaparte moderation; but I apprehend



that his temper and particular kink of insanity ren-



der him incapable of that. What a treat, indeed,



would the conversation of Dupont be! He must



totally despair for his country, as I do. A military



despotism is now, I fear, fixed on it permanently.



Among the victims of his return to power, I con-



template but one with pleasure; that is the Pope.



The insult which he and the bigot of Spain have



offered to the lights of the nineteenth century by



the re-establishment of the Inquisition admits



no forgiveness. How happily distant are we from



the Bedlam of Europe. Affectionately adieu.







           TO CHARLES W. PEALE.







                MONTICELLO, June 13, 1815.



  DEAR SIR,-In your favor of May a you ask my



advice on the best mode of selling your Museum,



on which, however, I really am not qualified to



advise. This depends entirely on the genius and



habits of those among whom you live, with which



you are so much better acquainted. I wish first



it may be disposed of the most to your advantage,



and secondly that it may not be separated. If



profit he regarded, the purchaser must keep it in

















288        Jefferson's Works







Philadelphia,, where alone the number and taste



of the inhabitants can ensure its maintenance. It



will be yet some time (perhaps a month) before my



workmen will be free to make the plough I shall



send you. You will be at perfect liberty to use the



form of the mould board, as all. the world is, having



never thought of monopolizing by patent any useful



idea which happens to offer itself to me; and the



permission to do this is doing a great deal more



harm than good. There is a late instance in this



State of a rascal going through every part of it, and



swindling the mill-owners, under a patent of two



years old only, out of 20,000 dollars for the use of



winged-gudgeons which they have had in their mills



for twenty years, every one preferring to pay ten



dollars unjustly rather than be dragged into a Fed-



eral court, one, two, or three hundred miles distant.



 I think the cornsheller you describe, with two



cylinders, is exactly the one made in a neighboring



county, where they are sold at twenty dollars. I



propose to take some opportunity of seeing how it



performs. The reason of the derangement of ma-



chines with wooden cylinders of any length is the



springing of the timber, to which white oak has a



peculiar disposition. For that reason we prefer



pine as the least apt to spring. You once told me



of what wood you made the bars of the pen-frame



in the polygraph, as springing less than any other



wood; and I have often wished to recollect it, but



cannot. We give up here the cleaning of clover

















        Private Papers         289







seed, because it comes up so much more certainly



when sown in the husk; seven bushels of which is



more easily obtained for the acre than the three



pints of clean seed which the sowing-box requires.



We use the machine you describe for crushing corn-



cobs, and for which Oliver Evans has obtained a



patent, although to my knowledge the same ma-



chine has been made by a smith in Georgetown



these sixteen years for crushing plaster, and he made



one for me twelve years ago, long before Evans's



patent. The only difference is that he fixes his



horizontally, and Evans vertically. Yet I chose



to pay Evans 's patent price for one rather than be



involved in a lawsuit of two or three hundred dollars '



cost. We are now afraid to use our ploughs, every



part of which has been patented, although used ever



since the fabulous days of Ceres. On the subject



of the spinning jenny, which I so much prefer to



the Arkwright machines, for simplicity, ease of re-



pair, cheapness of material and work, your neigh-



bor; Dr. Allison, of Burlington, has made a beautiful



improvement by a very



simple addition for the



preparatory operation of



roving. These are much



the best machines for



family and country use.



For fulling in our families



we use the simplest thing



in the world. We make a bench of the widest







   VOL. XVIII-19

















290        Jefferson's Works







plank we can get, say half a yard wide at least, of



thick and heavy stuff. We cut notches cross-



wise of that 2 inches long and 1 inch deep ;



the perpendicular side of the notch fronting



the middle one from both ends; on that we lay a 4



inch board, 6 feet long, with a pin for a handle in



each end, and notched as the under one. A board is



nailed on each side of the under one, to keep the



upper in place as it is shoved backwards and for-



wards, and the cloth, properly moistened, is laid



between them Two hands full 20 yards in two



hours.







 Our threshing machines are universally in Eng-



land fixed with Dutch fans for winnowing, but not



with us, because we thresh immediately after har-



vest, to prevent weavil, and were our grain then



laid up in bulk without the chaff in it, it would heat



and rot. Ever and affectionately yours.







           TO THOMAS W. MAURY.







             MONTICELLO, January 27, 1816.



  DEAR SIR,-I am favored with yours of the 17th.



Mr. Cabell had apprised me of the objections to the



power of imprisonment given to a functionary of our



college, and having explained to him the reason for



it I must refer you to him for a sight of my letter.'



The object seems to have been totally mistaken,



 ' This is the letter written by Jefferson to Joseph C. Cabell, Jan. 24,



1816. See vol. xiv. p. 412.-Eds.

















        Private Papers        291







and what was intended in tenderness to the pupil



has been misconstrued into an act of severity; for



every one knows they may now be sent by a com-



mon magistrate to the common prison for a breach



of the peace. With respect to the bank-mania, I



foresaw it in 1791, and then opposed the establish-



ment of the Bank of the United States, which I



knew was only an inoculation. I have marked the



progress of the disease and seen that it was incur-



able and to end in death. There will be a vast



crush of private fortunes, as on the death of the old



Continental paper, as of the Assignats of France,



the Mississippi paper of Law, the South Sea paper



of England, etc. The most pitiable of its victims



now as before will be the helpless widow and orphan.



Prudent men will mitigate its effects by caution.



They will protect themselves as they do their fences



when the woods are afire, by firing against it. What



is most blamable is the cruelty of your process,



roasting us before a slow fire like the martyrs in the



days of persecution. Instead of your fifteen banks



be merciful, and give us the coup de grace, make it



a thousand. However, I am perfectly content with



the fifteen, and. to meet all hazards and trials with '



my fellow-citizens. If we keep together we shall be



safe, and when error is so apparent as to become



visible to the majority, they will correct it, and



what we suffer during the error must be carried to



account with the losses by tempests, earthquakes,



etc. Yours with great friendship.

















292        Jefferson's Works











           TO STEPHEN CATHALAN.(1)







             MONTICELLO, February 1, 1916.







 MY DEAR SIR AND FRIEND,-I received yesterday



your- favor of Nov. z 9, from which I learn with much



mortification of (the palate at least) that my letter



of the third of July has never got to your hands. It



was confided to the Secretary of State's office. Re-



grets are now useless, and the proper object to sup-



ply its place. It related generally to things friendly,



to things political, etc., but the material part was a



request of some particular wines which were therein



specified.







  1. White Hermitage of the growth of M. Jourdan;



not of the dry kind, but what we call silky, which in



your letter just received you say are called doux.



But by our term silky we do not mean sweet, but



sweetish in the smallest degree only. My taste in



this is the reverse of Mr. Butler's, who you say likes



the dry and sparkling, I the non mousseux and un



peu doucereux.







  2. Vin de Nice, as nearly as possible of the quality



of that sent me by Mr. Sasserno formerly, whose



death, by the bye, I had not before heard of, and



much regret.







  3. Vin de Roussillon. I used to meet with this



at the best tables of Paris, where it was drunk after



the repast, as a vin de liqueur. It was a little higher







 I Stephen Cathalan was for s very long time consul of the United



States at Marseilles, and a business correspondent of Jefferson.-Eds.

















        Private Papers         293







colored than Madeira, near as strong and dry, and



of fine flavor. I am not certain of the particular



name, but that of Rivesalte runs in my head. If,



from what you know of the Rivesalte it should



answer this description nearly, then we may be sure



this was the wine; if it does not, you will probably



be able to know what wine of Roussillon corresponds



with the qualities I describe.







  I requested that after paying for 50 lbs. of mac-



aroni out of the 200 dollars, and reserving what



would pay all charges till shipped, about a fifth of



the residue should be laid out in Hermitage, and the



remaining four-fifths in Vins de Nice [and?) Rous-



sillon equally. Send to any port from Boston to



the Chesapeake inclusive, but to Norfolk or Rich-



mond of preference, if a conveyance occurs. If



addressed to the Collector of the Port, he will



receive and forward them to Richmond, which is at



the head of the tidewater of James River on which



I live, and from whence it comes by boat navigation.



I suppose you can never be long without vessels at



Marseilles bound to some of our ports above



described. Were it to be otherwise the wines might



come through the canal of Languedoc to Mr. Lee,



our consul at Bordeaux, but this would increase risk



and expense, and is only mentioned as a pis-aller,



and left entirely to your judgment.







 The political speculations of my letter of July 3



are not worth repeating because the events on which



they were hazarded have changed backwards and

















294            Jefferson's Works







forwards, two or three times since that. My wishes



are for the happiness of France, without caring what



executive magistrate makes her happy. I must



confess, however, I did not wish it to be Bonaparte.



I considered him as the very worst of all human



beings, and as having inflicted more misery on man-



kind than any other who had ever lived. I was very



unwilling that the example of his parricide usurpa-



tion should finally stand approved by success. He



is now off the scene, I hope never to return on it;



but whether you are much more at your ease in the



hands of the allies, you know better than I do. On



the subject of your continuance in the consulate, I



hope you will never have anything to fear; never,



certainly whilst any effort of mine can have any



weight with the government; and in a late letter



to the Secretary of State, wherein I had occasion to



speak of you, I have placed your merits on ground



which I think will never be assailed. God bless you



and preserve you many years in health and pros-



perity.















            TO MARY B. BRIGGS.







               MONTICELLO, April 17; 1816.



 I thank you, my excellent young friend, for your



kind letter of March 7. The heart must be of un-



common sensibility which feels so strongly slight



degrees of merit in others. If I have ever been use-



ful to your father, it was by doing what was much

















        Private Papers     295







more useful to the public for whom I acted, by avail-



ing them of the services of a faithful and able citizen.



It is not, then, to me you are indebted, but to his



worth and science which marked him for notice.



Mine was but an act of duty, which, like the payment



of a debt, has no merit to claim; and I feel myself



fully remunerated by its having been the means of



introducing to me the knowledge of an amiable



daughter, inheriting the kind heart of her father,



copying, in the age of the passions, the virtues of a



model tested by time and experience. Go on then



my worthy friend, in this career of excellence, and



be strong in the assurance given by an inspired pen,



"I have been young, and now I am old, and yet



never saw I the righteous forsaken, or his seed beg-



ging their bread. " And if the prayers of an old man



can be of any avail, you shall ever have mine most



ardently. Accept my friendly salutations.







            ?O JOSEPH STORY.(1)







               MONTICELLO, June 19, 1816.



 I thank you, dear Sir, for the eulogy of Mr. Dex-



ter, which you have been so kind as to send me, and



I subscribe with sincerity to the testimonies it bears







 @#(1) Joseph Story, one of the most eminent jurists this country has pro-



duced, was born in Marblehead, Mass., Sept. 18, 1779, and died in



Cambridge Sept. 10, 1845.     In November, 1811, when little more than



thirty-two, he was made an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of



the United States. See Story's Life and Letters of Joseph Story -Eds

















296        Jefferson's Works







of his merits. No one rendered more justice to his



virtues and talents than myself; and if, in political



matters, we entertained some differences of opinion,



they were on both sides the result of honest convic-



tion, and held by both as inoffensive as differences



of feature. His loss was a real affliction to the



friends of our Union, and especially at a crisis when



a successor was in question to the important magis-



tracy for which he was proposed. I am fond, how-



ever, of believing that the majority with you will



still return to the sacred principle of fidelity to the



Union, and will see in the duties which he would



have inculcated their own most important interests.



Accept the assurance of my great esteem and respect.







           TO WILLIAM THORNTON.







                MONTICELLO, July 27, 1816.



  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the twentieth is re-



ceived, and I take up my pen merely to assure you



I had not mentioned the return of the paintings



from any hurry to receive them, but merely to make



known a safe occasion of sending them, if done with.



I thank you for the offer to place a copy of one of



them here in oil, but Stuart's original takes as much



room on the walls as the thing is worth. With



respect to the merit of Otis 's painting,(1) I am not qual-







 @#(1) Bass Otis painted a portrait of Jefferson, which was engraved for



Joseph Delaplaine's Portrait Gallery. It has been reproduced as a



photogravure for the present work. See Frontispiece of vol. v.

















        Private Papers     297







ified to say anything, for this is a case where the



precept of " know thyself " does not apply. The



ladies from the studies of their looking-glasses may



be good judges of their own faces; but we see ours



only under a mask of soap suds and the scrapings of



the razor.







  Accept always the assurance of my great esteem



and respect.







           TO CHARLES PINCKNEY.







            Monticello, September 3, 1816.



  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of August has been duly



received, with the pamphlet it covered.l Colonel



Monroe happened to be at his seat adjoining me, and



to dine with me the day I received it. I thought I



could not make better use of it than by putting it



into his hands, to let him know his friends. You



say nothing in your letter of your health, which,



after so long an interval, cannot but be interesting



to a friend. I hope it continues firm. As for myself,



I weaken very sensibly, yet with such a continuance



of good health as makes me fear I shall wear out very



tediously, which is not what one would wish. I see







@#(1) The reference is to a pamphlet of fifty-two octavo pages published



by Charles Pinckney in 1826, under the title of "Observations to shew



the Propriety of the Nomination of Colonel James Monroe, to the



Presidency of the United States by the Caucus at Washington. In



which a full answer is given to the pamphlet entitled `Exposition of



the motives for opposing the nomination of Mr. Monroe as President



of the United States.' By a South Carolinian." It is a vigorous



defence of the public life of Mr. Monroe, and strongly advocated his



nomination: EDs. @#

















298        Jefferson's Works







no comfort in outliving one 's friends, and remaining



a mere monument of the times which are past. I



withdraw myself as much as possible from politics,



and gladly shelter myself under the wings of the



generation for which, in our day, we have labored



faithfully to provide shelter. Yours with continued



friendship and respect.







           TO NOAH WORCESTER.(1)







                           Nov. 26, 1817.



 SIR,-You have not been mistaken in supposing



my views and feeling to be in favor of the abolition of



war. Of my dispostion to maintain peace until its



condition shall be made less tolerable than that of war



itself, the world has had proofs, and more, perhaps,



than it has approved. I hope it is practicable, by



improving the mind and morals of society, to lessen



the dispostion to war ; but of its abolition I despair.



Still, on the axiom that a less degree of evil is prefer-



able to a greater, no means should be neglected which



                                                                   (2)  Rev.

Dr. Noah Worcester, now best known for his advocacy of



peace between nations, and as the first Secretary of the Massachusetts



Peace Society, was born in Hollis, N. H., Nov. 25, 1758, and died in



Brighton, Mass., Oct. 31, 1837€ During the Revolution he served



for a time in the army as a fifer, and was present at the battles of



Bunker Hill and Bennington. Subsequently he taught school, and



afterward entered the ministry, and for fifteen years he was minister



of a church in Thornton, N. H. He had been brought up as a Trini-



tarian, but previous to his removal to Brighton, in 1813, he became



an avowed Unitarian. He was a voluminous writer on religious and



philanthropic themes. See Ware's Memoirs of the Rev. Noah Worces-



ter, D. D.=Bus.

















        Private Papers          299







may add weight to the better scale. The enrolment



you propose, therefore, of my name in the records of



your society cannot be unacceptable to me. It will



be a true testimony of my principles and persuasion



that the state of peace is that which most improves



the manners and morals, the prosperity and happi-



ness of mankind; and although I dare not promise



myself that it can be perpetually maintained, yet if,



by the inculcations of reason or religion, the perver-



sities of our nature can be so far corrected as some-



times to prevent the necessity, either supposed or



real, of an appeal to the blinder scourges of war,



murder, and devastation, the benevolent endeavors



of the friends of peace will not be entirely without



remuneration. I pray you to accept the assurance



of my respect and consideration.







           TO BERNARD PEYTON.1







                MONTICELLO, Mar. 20, 1818.



 DEAR SIR,-I received yesterday your favor of the



16th, and am thankful for your attention to my



wants. I saw William Johnson the evening before



his boat started last. He told me that he should not



go down himself, but that his brother would, and he



 (1) Bernard Peyton was a commission merchant in Richmond; and



during the latter part of Jefferson's life transacted most, if not all,



of his business in that city. It is interesting to note the fact that in



consequence of the difficulty of buying raw cotton, in 1818, Jefferson



proposed "to recur to the cultivating it" himself. The principal pro-



ducts of his plantations were wheat and tobacco.-Eds.@#

















300        Jefferson's Works







would be answerable for every thing trusted to him



as if to himself. I was on horse back and at the river



side, so could not gi ; P him a written order, but shall



hereafter be willing to trust his boat, whether he is



with it himself or not, and consequently would wish



the rest of my wines to be delivered to the conductor



of his boat whenever called for. The impossibility



of buying raw cotton obliges [me) to recur to the cul-



tivating it myself. So much has it [got) out of prac-



tice that even the seed is lost in this part of the coun-



try. Could you possibly buy me a sack or barrel of



about five bushels ? It will be a great accommodation



to me. Affectionately yours.







            TO JOHN NELSON.(1)







                MONTICELLO, NOV. 5, 1818.



  DEAR SIR,-I enclose you four letters lately receiv-



ed, which I suppose to be from your friends in Ire-



land, and which I hope may give you agreeable news



from them.



  I return you also the papers which Mr. Dinsmore



gave me from you, and I see, not without sensible



regret, that our ideas of the mode of charging interest



are very different. I never in my life paid a cent of



compound interest, being principled against it; not



but that compound may be made as just as simple







 l This letter is printed from Jefferson's polygraph copy. It is



addressed at the foot of the page to " Mr. Neilson, " but is indorsed in



Jefferson's hand " John Nelson."-Eds.













        Private Papers        301







interest, but then it should be at a lower rate. Inter-



est, simple or compound, is a compensation for the



use of money, and the legislature supposed, as is the



truth and general opinion, that taking one mode of



employing money with another, 6 per cent simple



interest is an average profit ; but had they established



a compensation by way of compound interest, they



would have probably fixed it at 4 or 4.5 per cent.



The difference it makes in our case is but a little over



forty dollars, a sum which with you I think noth-



ing of, could I allow myself to countenance what I



think is wrong, without pretending to censure those



who think differently ; as it is, your debt, in the form



in which I always considered it, shall be paid out of



the proceeds of my crop now going to market as soon



as sold, which possibly may be not till April. Your



debt has remained in my hands because not called



for, and in the belief you had no expectation of plac-



ing it at better profit. Had I ever supposed you



wished to employ it otherwise, it should never have



been kept from you a moment. In no case, how-



ever, will this difference of opinion lessen my wishes



to be useful to you, nor my friendly esteem for you.

















302        Jefferson's Works











            TO WILLIAM TUDOR.(1)







               MONTICELLO, Jan. 31. 1819.



  SIR,-Your favor of the 13th was received on the



24th, and I extremely regret that it is not in my



power to give you any information on the subject of



Mr. James Otis. My acquaintance with the Eastern



characters began with the first Congress; Mr. Otis



not being a member, I had never any personal



acquaintance or correspondence with him. . Colonel



Richard Henry Lee, of Westmoreland County, had,



I know, an active correspondence from the early



dawn of our Revolution with gentlemen of that quar-



ter, and with none more probably than Mr. Otis, who



was then so conspicuous in the principles of the day.



It is probable he preserved Mr. Otis 's letters, and that



his family now possesses them. Of them I have no



knowledge, as their residence is in a part of the State



very remote from mine. But a certain and easy



channel for your communication with them would be



through any member of Congress from your State and



the member from the Westmoreland district of ours.



Who he is, I cannot tell you, so entirely am I with-



drawn from all attention to public affairs, and so



thoroughly satisfied to leave them to the generation







@#(1) William Tudor, Jr., was born in Boston, Jan. 28, 1779, graduated



at Harvard College in 1796, and died at Rio de Janeiro, March 9, 1830.



He was the founder and first editor of the " North American Review, and author

of a "Life of James Otis," which has deservedly enjoyed a



high reputation, besides several minor publications. See Proceedings



(Massachusetts Historical Society), vol. i. pp. 429-433. EDS.

















        Private Papers         303







in place, in whose hands, from the advancing state of



knowledge, they will be at least as wisely conducted



as they have been by their predecessors. With this



scanty information, all, however, which I possess, I



pray you to accept the assurance of my high respect



and esteem.







            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







               MONTICELLO, June 22, 1819. (1)



  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of June 22 is received.



That of May 25 had come to hand in due time, and



was in my bundle of " Letters to be answere d ; " but



as I am obliged to marshal them according to their



degree of pressure I had not yet reached it, although



I devote to that business daily from sunrise to dinner,



saving one hour to ride, and generally from dinner to



sunset. On the subject of the anatomist and math-



ematician who wish a place in our University, noth-



ing can be said at present, because it has been con-



cluded by the Visitors to employ all our funds of the



present and next year in providing buildings for the



habitation of the professors and students, and conse-



quently not to open the University generally until



the year 1821. I say generally, because particular



and previous transactions had led to the proposing



to Dr. Cooper the commencing his branches in April



next. The conflagration in which you are kind



enough to take an interest was only of a detached







 ' Mistake in date ; should be June ag.

















304        Jefferson's Works







pavilion, which is now again under repair. Mr.



Poletika has been on a visit to us and left us yester-



day. I had previously by letter given him the neces-



sary explanations on Kosciusko's affairs here, which



were quite satisfactory to him. I am endeavoring to



transfer the whole business to a Federal court, hav-



ing refused the executorship. We have had a cir-



cuitous rumor that you meant to visit your native



State this summer. In that event we should cer-



tainly hope to share in the visit. As Mr. Correa



promises an annual pilgrimage to this place, I am



informing him of my movements the ensuing season,



that I may not lose the benefit of his visit, as once



befell me. I set out to Poplar Forest this day week,



to remain there through July, August and September.



I must be back of necessity by the 1st of October to



the meeting of our Visitors, at which further arrange-



ments will be decided on respecting our University;



and as yourself as well as Mr. Correa are kind enough



to take an interest in its success, it may be some



inducement towards the timing your visit. I will be



responsible that for health you will be as safe here as



at the watering places, although we cannot offer as



varied a society ; yet I trust the day is not so distant



but that I shall live to see it, when we can be able to



offer a more desirable society to men of mind than



any other place in America. We have a carte



blanche for their employment, and we mean to



accept for our institution no person of secondary



grade in his science, if there be one of the first on

















        Private Papers         305







either side of the Atlantic who can be tempted to



come to us. We are providing for them as hand-



some and comfortable lodgings as they can have in



Europe, and their satisfaction here will be liberally



cultivated. There is a cloud, however, visible in our



horizon. The infatuated confidence in banks has



made much of our capital of a million and a half of



dollars to depend on their fate. My remonstrances



for years back against these unsafe deposits have



been received as the forebodings of Cassandra. When



now upbraided with this the answer is, Who would



have thought it? Till the present state of things,



however, be unravelled, we must slacken our pace.



I salute you as ever with constant and affectionate



friendship and respect.







           TO GEORGE A. OTIS.(1)







           MONTICELLO, December 25, 1820.



  SIR,-I have to thank you for the second volume



of your translation of Botta, which I received with



your favor of the fifth, on my return home after a



long absence. I join Mr. Adams heartily in good



wishes for the success of your labors, and hope they



will bring you both profit and fame. You have







 @#(1) George Alexander Otis was the son of Dr. Ephraim Otis, of Scituate,



and was born August 29, 1781. He settled in Boston and was the



author of numerous translations, of which the best known is his trans-



lation of Botta's History of the War of American Independence.



See N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, vol. iv. p. 151.- EDS.







   vol. xviii-20

















306        Jefferson's Works







certainly rendered a good service to your country;



and when the superiority of the work over every



other on the same subject shall be more known, I



think it will be the common manual of our revolu-



tionary history. I have not been sensible of the



Southern partiality imputed by Mr. Adams to the



author. The Southern States as well as Northern



did zealously whatever the situation or circum-



stances of each, or of their sister States, required



or permitted, and a relation of what they did is only



justice. I disapprove, with Mr. Adams, of the fac-



titious speeches which Botta has composed for R.



H. Lee and John Dickinson, speeches which he and



I know were never made by these gentlemen. They



took a part indeed in that great debate, and I be-



lieve we may admit Mr. Dickinson to have been the



prominent debater against the measure. But many



acted abler parts than R. H. Lee, as particularly



Mr. Adams himself did. Mr. Lee was considered



as an orator and eloquent, but not in that style



which had much weight in such an assembly of men



as that Congress was. Frothy, flimsy, verbose,



with a musical voice and chaste language, he was



a good pioneer, but not an efficient reasoner. This,



Mr. Adams can tell you as well as myself. With



regard to Botta, I have understood that he has



taken some occasion to apologize for these supposi-



titious speeches by pleading the example of the



ancient historians ; and we all know that their prac-



tice was to state the reasons for and against a meas-

















        Private Papers         307







ure in the form of speeches, and put them into the



mouths of some eminent character of their selection,



who probably had never uttered a word of them. I



think the modern practice better of saying it was



argued on one side by A, B, C, and others, so and



so, and on the other by D, E, F, and others, so and



so; giving in this form the reasons for and against



the measure. I do not recollect whether Botta has



repeated the fault on other occasions. With respect



to the speeches in the British Parliament I have



taken for granted that he copied or abridged them



from the Parliamentary Debates. Mr.Adams's crit-



icism on Davila and Hume is just; that the former



is an apology for Catharine of Medicis, and the latter



of the Stuarts, to which might be added Robert-



son's Mary, Queen of Scots. And these odious par-



tialities are much to be lamented; for otherwise



they are three of the finest models of historical com-



position that have been produced since the days of



Livy and Tacitus.







  Wishing you a full remuneration, either by the



profits of your work or by the evidence it may have



furnished the government of the degree in which



they may avail the public of your services, I salute



you with sentiments of esteem and respect.







  P. S. I have just dispatched your two volumes



to Mr. Botta, to whom I am sure they will be a



gratification.

















308        Jefferson's Works











            TO MARIA COSWAY.(1)







            MONTICELLO, DeCember 27, 1820.



  " Over the length of silence I draw a curtain, " is



an expression, my dear friend. of your cherished



letter of April 7, 1819, of which it might seem I



have need to avail myself; but not so really. To



seventy-seven heavy years add two of prostrate



health, during which all correspondence has been



suspended of necessity, and you have the true cause



of not having heard from me. My wrist, too, dis-



located in Paris while I had the pleasure of being



there with you, is, by the effect of years, now so



stiffened that writing is become a most slow and



painful operation, and scarcely ever undertaken



but under the goad of imperious business. But I



have never lost sight of your letter, and give it now



the first place among those of my transatlantic



friends which have been laying unacknowledged



during the same period of ill-health.







@#(1) Maria Hadfield was the daughter of an Irishman or Englishman



living in Italy, and was born in Florence, but the date of her birth is



uncertain; and the date of her death is also unknown. After the



death of her father she was brought to England by her mother, and



took up miniature painting. In 1781 she exhibited three pictures at



the Royal Academy, and in the same year was married to Richard



Cosway, then a very fashionable and highly successful artist. She



herself obtained great popularity as a painter and etcher, and is men-



tioned several times in the letters of Horace Walpole. Much of her



life is involved in obscurity, but a large part of it was spent on the



Continent. There are numerous letters to and from her among the



Jefferson Papers, extracts from which are printed in Miss Randolph's



Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson. See Dictionary o# National



Biography, vol. xii. pp. 278-280.-EDS.

















        Private Papers     309







 I rejoice in the first place that you are well; for



your silence on that subject encourages me to pre-



sume it. And next, that you have been so usefully



and pleasingly occupied in preparing the minds of



others to enjoy the blessings you have yourself



derived from the same source, a cultivated mind. Of



Mr. Cosway I fear to say anything, such is the dis-



heartening account of the state of his health given



in your letter. But here or wherever, I am sure he



has all the happiness which an honest life ensures.



Nor will I say anything of the troubles of those



among whom you live. I see they are great, and



wish them happily out of them, and especially that



you may be safe and happy, whatever be their issue:



I will talk about Monticello, then, and my own coun-



try, as is the wish expressed in your letter. My



daughter 1 Randolph, whom you knew in Paris a



young girl, is now the mother of eleven living chil-



dren, the grandmother of about half a dozen others,



enjoys health and good spirits, and sees the worth



of her husband attested by his being at present



Governor of the State in which we live. Among



these, I live like a patriarch of old. Our friend



Trumbull is well, and profitably and honorably



employed by his country in commemorating with



his pencil some of its revolutionary honors. Of



Mrs. Cruger I hear nothing, nor for a long time of



Madame de Corny. Such is the present state of



our former coterie: dead, diseased, and dispersed.







  @#(1) Martha Jefferson (Mrs. Thomas Mann Randolph).

















310        Jefferson's Works







But " tout ce qui est differe n 'est pas perdu. " says



the French proverb, and the religion you so sin-



cerely profess tells us we shall meet again; and we



have all so lived as to be assured it will be in happi-



ness. Mine is the next turn, and I shall meet it with



good will, for after one's friends are all gone before



them, and our faculties leaving us, too, one by one,



why wish to linger in mere vegetation,-as a solitary



trunk in a desolate field, from which all its former



companions have disappeared? You have many



good years remaining yet to be happy yourself and



to make those around you happy. May these, my



dear friend, be as many as yourself may wish, and



all of them filled with health and happiness, will be



among the last and warmest wishes of an unchange-



able friend.







          TO WILLIAM THORNTON.(1)







             MONTICELLO, January 19, 1821.



 DEAR SIR,-Your letter of the ninth was nineteen



days in its passage to me, being received yesterday



evening only; and now that I have received it, I



wish that I could answer it more to your satisfac-



tion. I must explain to you my situation. When



I retired from office at Washington, my intimacy



with my successor being well known, I became the







@#(1) William Thornton was head of the Patent Office 1802-1827. He



was a skilled architect, and planned the first Capitol at Washington,



and superintended the early part of its construction @#













        Private Papers        311







center of application from all quarters, by those who



wished appointments, to use my interposition in



their favor. I gave into it for a while, until I found



that I must forever keep myself prostrate, and in



the posture of a suppliant before the government,



or renounce altogether the office of an intercessor.



I determined on the latter; and the number of



applicants obliged me to have a formal letter printed



in blank, to which I had only to put the date, sig-



nature, and address. I inclose you one of these in



proof of the necessity I was under of laying down



such a law to myself, and of a rigorous adherence



to it. I comfort myself, however, in your case with



the unimportance of any interposition. You are



so well known to the President and heads of depart-



ments that they need nobody's information as to



your qualifications and means of service. Where



they know facts themselves they will act on their



own judgments, and in your case particularly with



every disposition in your favor; and whatever they



shall do for you will give no one greater pleasure



than myself.







  I am much indebted to you for the pamphlet of



patents. It is a document which I have often occa-



sion to consult. With my respectful souvenirs to



the ladies of your family, I pray you to accept the



assurance of my continued esteem and attachment.

















312        Jefferson's Works







        TO JOHN TAYLOR. (1)







            MONTICELLO, February 14, 1821.







  DEAR SIR,-. . . I received Some time ago from



Mr. Ritchie, in your name and his, a copy of your



late work on the Constitution of the United States.



I returned him my thanks, and begged they might



be communicated to yourself through the same



channel.z But I am glad to avail myself of this



opportunity of doing it directly, and with the more



pleasure after having read the book, and acquired



a knowledge of its value. I have no hesitation in



saying that it carries us back to the genuine princi-



ples of the Constitution more demonstratively than



any work published since the date of that instru-



ment. It pulverizes the sophistries of the judges



on bank taxation, and of the five lawyers on lot-



teries. This last act of venality( for it cannot be of



judgment) makes me ashamed that I was ever a



lawyer. I have suggested to a friend in the legis-



lature that that body should send a copy of your



book to every one of our Representatives and Sen-



ators in Congress as a standing instruction, . and,



with a declaration that it contains the catholic faith,



which whosoever doth not keep whole and unde-







@#(1) The original of this letter is in the collection of autographs given



to the Massachusetts Historical Society by Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Wash-



burn. The first part of the letter relates to the pecuniary circum-



stances in which the family of Wilson C. Nicholas were left at his death



and has therefore been omitted.-EDs.



(2) The letter to Thomas Ritchie here referred to was written by



Jefferson on Dec. 25, 1820. See vol. xv. p. 295. @#

















        Private Papers         313







filed, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.



Our University labors hard to come into exist-



ence. I am surprised it finds enemies in the



colleges, academies, and private classical schools



throughout the State, as if inimical to them. But



it becomes in truth their foundation, not their rival.



It leaves to them the field of classical preparation,



not proposing to turn itself into a grammar school.



It leaves to them that middle degree of instruction



in geography, surveying, grammar, etc. , which will



be called for by the great body of those who cannot



afford or who do not wish an University education.



We shall receive only those subjects who desire the



highest degree of instruction, for which they now go



to Harvard, Princeton, New York, and Philadel-



phia. These seminaries are no longer proper for



Southern or Western students. The signs of the



times admonish us to call them home. If knowl-



edge is power, we should look to its advancement



at home, where no resource of power will be unwant-



ing. This may not be in my day ; but probably will



in yours. God send to our country a happy deliv-



erance, and to yourself health, and as long a life as



yourself shall wish.

















314        Jefferson's Works















            Monticello, November 24, 1821.







  DEAR SIR,-Your welcome favor of the 12th came



to hand two days ago: I was just returned from



Poplar Forest, which I have visited four times this



year. I have an excellent house there, inferior only



to Monticello, am comfortably fixed and attended,



have a few good neighbors, and pass my time there



in a tranquillity and retirement much adapted to my



age and indolence. You so kindly ask an explana-



tion of the illness which held me so long that I feel



it a duty to give it. Having been long subject to



local and slight affections of rheumatism, and being



at Staunton on other business, I thought I would



go to the Warm Springs and eradicate the seeds of



it, for I was then in perfect health. I used the bath



moderately for three weeks. I was not quick



enough, however, in observing the gradual debility



it was bringing on me. At length it produced a



general eruption and impost hume. After a painful



journey I got home unable to walk without help,







@# (1) This letter is printed from the polygraph copy in Jefferson's own



hand, which bears no indication of the person to whom it was addressed.



But there can be no doubt that it was written in answer to a letter



from William Short, dated Philadelphia, Nov. 12, 1821, now in the



Department of State at Washington, and calendared as follows,



" Wishes to have direct intelligence as to his health and about the



university, in which he takes great interest. His dislike of Mr.



Madison. Governor Mercer's bad health. Le Roy de Chaumont's



estate. Tour on the great canal from Utica to Rome (N. Y.)." See



Bulletin of the Bureau of Rolls and Library of the Department of



State. No. 8, p. 499.-EDS.  @#

















        Private Papers         315







and the debility and indisposition rapidly increased



and reduced me to death's door. Swelled legs



began to threaten dropsy, aided by a prostration of



the visceral powers. Abandoning medicine, how-



ever, and fortifying my legs by bandages continued



eight or ten months, I am at length entirely recov-



ered, and suppose myself as well as I ever shall be.



I am very little able to walk, but ride freely without



fatigue. No better proof than that on a late visit



to the Natural Bridge I was six days successively



on horseback from breakfast to sunset. You en-



quire also about our University. All its buildings



except the Library will be finished by the ensuing



spring. It will be a splendid establishment, would



be thought so in Europe, and for the chastity of its



architecture and classical taste leaves everything



in America far behind it. But the Library, not yet



begun, is essentially wanting to give it unity and



consolidation as a single object. It will have cost



in the whole but 250,000 dollars. The library is to be



on the principle of the Pantheon, a sphere within a



cylinder of 70 feet diameter,-to wit, one-half only



of the dimensions of the Pantheon, and of a single



order only. When this is done you must come and



see it. I do not admire your Canada speculation.



I think, with Mr. Rittenhouse, that it is altogether



unaccountable how any man can stay in a cold



country who can find room  in a warm one, and



should certainly prefer, to polar regions of ice and



snow, lands as fertile and cheap which may be cov-

















316        Jefferson's Works







ered with groves of olives and oranges. I envy M.



Chaumont nothing but his French cook and cuisine.



These are luxuries which can neither be forgotten



nor possessed in our country. Our State has been



visited by a sporadic fever of a most extraordinary



character, if a thing so diversified can be said to have



any character. In some places rapid and mortal,



in others tedious and of little danger. It has pre-



vailed, too, almost solely in the mountainous regions



-Harper's Ferry, Loudon, Orange, Buckingham,



Bedford, Botetourt. At the Big Lick in the last



county it was stopped only by the complete exter-



mination of every human being living at the place,



forty-two in number. It is at length disappearing



in most places. Our Visitors meet the ensuing week,



and you will see in the public papers their annual



report to the legislature on the state of the Univer-



sity, which will give you more particular views of it



than I have done. We hear not a word of Correa,



and it is long since I have heard of Charles Thom-



son. You would gratify me greatly by a minute



account of his condition, which you can readily



obtain where you are. You say nothing of your



own health, whence I presume it good, and that it



may continue so through as long a life as yourself



shall wish is the prayer of your ever affectionate



friend.

















        Private Papers    317











            TO WILLIAM TUDOR.(1)







               MONTICELLO, Feb. 14, 1823.







  SIR,-I have duly received your favor of Jan. 24,



and with that a copy of your life of James Otis, for



which be pleased to accept my thanks. The char-



acter of Mr. Otis, the subject of this work, is one



which I have always been taught to hold in high esti-



mation, and I have no doubt that the volume will on



perusal be found worthy of its subject. With respect



to the part of it respecting Dr. Franklin, on which you



ask my opinion particularly, I have perused it with



attention. and as far as my personal acquaintance



authorizes me to say, I think it generally just and



correct. Of one point, however, I was not aware, to



wit, that the Doctor came more tardily into the idea



of resistance by arms than others generally. When



he returned from England and took his first seat in



Congress, which was before our second petition to the



king, he was as forward as any of us ; and he first laid



on our table a form of confederation. However, it



is very possible that while he continued in England,



surrounded by the appalling means of that powerful



nation, and compared them with ours, he might have



doubts whether the array in arms might not be better







@#(1) The Massachusetts Historical Society owns the original draught



of this letter (in the collection of Jefferson Papers given by Mr. Cool-



idge in June, 1898), and also the letter actually sent (in the collection



of Tudor Papers given by Mrs. Fenno Tudor in April, 1881). In the draught a few

words were abbreviated, and two or three slight verbal



changes were made when the letter was written out. The letter is



here printed from the perfected copy.-EDs: @#

















318        Jefferson's Works







postponed awhile. On this subject, however, I have



no particular information. With my thanks for the



copy of your work, be pleased to accept the assu-



rance of my great esteem and respect.







             TO THOMAS COX.(1)







               MONTICELLO, June 3,        1523.



  SIR,-I have duly received your favor of May 2,



and since that the twenty bottles of Scuppernon wine



you have been so kind as to forward. I am gratified,



too, to learn that the two casks of that wine furnished



me heretofore through the friendly agency of Colonel



Burton were from you. They were really fine. I



had urgently pressed on him that there should be no



cookery on them of brandy, sugar. or other medica-



ment, and as far as my palate can discriminate they



are pure. All the samples of this wine which I have



seen except these two and one other, have been so



adulterated with brandy and sugar as to be mere



juleps, and not wine; and candor obliges me to say



that the twenty bottles now received are so charged



with brandy, perhaps too with sugar, as that the



vinous flavor is lost and absorbed. There will never



be a drinkable wine made in this country until this



barbarous practice is discontinued of adulterating



with brandy. It is the result of a taste vitiated by



the use of ardent spirits. I shall be gratified indeed







@#(1) This letter is printed from the original draught, which is indorsed



in Jefferson's hand "Cox, Thos. Plymouth, N. C., June 3, 23."-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers         319







if permitted to apply to you for my supplies from



time to time of this wine which I so much esteem,



under an absolute assurance that there shall be noth-



ing in it but the pure juice of the grape. If there be



any fear that it will not keep without brandy, let that



be my risk.







  Your offer is the more acceptable as I find that



your correspondent in Richmond and mine is the



same. Colonel B. Peyton will always pay on demand



the cost of the wine on your draught and the general



instruction which I will send him, and I shall be glad



to receive now a thirty gallon cask as soon as you can



furnish it with a certainty of its purity, adding to



your draught for its cost that of the twenty bottles



recently received.







  I am not sufficiently acquainted with the process of



wine making in France to give you any useful infor-.



mation on the subject. This fact only I know, that



no man who makes a wine of reputation in that



country would put a teaspoonful of brandy into it



were you to offer him a guinea a bottle for it, because,



as he says, it would forever destroy the character of



his wine. This operation is always performed by the



exporting merchant, and those of Bordeaux ex-



pressed their astonishment to me at the instructions



they always received from American customers to



put such a proportion of brandy into the wines they



called for. It will be a satisfaction to me to learn



from yourself that you can furnish me with this wine



with an assurance that it shall be pure and unadul-

















320        Jefferson's Works







terated. Accept my salutations of esteem and



respect.







 P. S.-What is deemed the age of perfect ripeness



of this wine, and the proper one for drinking it ?







            TO JAMES MONROE.(1)







                MONTICELLO, June 14, 1823.







 DEAR SIR,-The reasons assigned in your favor of



the 7th for preferring to retain Loudon instead of



Albemarle are such as cannot be controverted. The



society of our children is the sovereign balm of life,



and the older we grow .the more we need it to fill up



the void made by the daily losses of the companions



and friends of our youth. Nor ought we of this



neighborhood to regret a preference so conducive to



your own happiness. We must submit, as in other



cases, to unwelcome occurrences, and hope that in



the endeavor to retain a part of the estate here we sec



a possibility of your visiting us occasionally. To me



the loss will be greater than to younger persons. Age



and debility have obliged me to put all my affairs



into the hands of my grandson.(2) Even a daily ride,



necessary to keep up my health and spirits, is now at



a loss for objects to encourage it. To have termi-







 @#(1) This letter is printed from a rough draught, with numerous omis-



sions and interlineations.-EDs.







(2)Thomas Jefferson Randolph, eldest son of Thomas Mann and



Martha (Jefferson) Randolph. He was born at Monticello, Sept. 12,



1792, and died at Edge Hill, Oct. 8, 1875.-Eds. @#

















        Private Papers         321







nated it sometimes at Oakwood with a half hour 's



conversation with those whose minds, familiarised



with the same scenes, would range with sympathy



over the same topics, would have chequered the



monotony of a country life disengaged ,from country



occupations. The University, indeed, gives me some



welcome employment. If the legislature will declare



at once to have given what they have hitherto called



a loan. so that I may seethe institution opened on the



high ground I have ever contemplated, I shall sing



my nunc dimittis with pleasure.







 The case in which you have so kindly endeavored



to mediate is too long for explanation by letter. I



must reserve it for conversation when we meet again.



In the meanwhile no time is lost, for as long as the



party continues his present habits there would be



neither satisfaction nor safety in his society; and his



reclamation from them I believe to be absolutely



desperate. This, however, does not lessen our sense



of the kindness and friendship of your wish to relieve



us from the most constant and poignant affliction of



our lives. And with the assurance of our gratitude



for this, accept that of my constant and cordial



friendship and respect.







            TO JOSHUA DODGE.







                MONTICELLO, AUG, 3, 1823







  DEAR SIR,-I am happy by your favor of July 7, to



hear from you after your tour through so much of the







   VOL. XVIII-21

















322        Jefferson's Works







United States, and particularly to receive the result



of your observations of the general ascendancy of



republicanism and of good dispositions towards



Spain. The two sentiments spring from the same



root. The republican regeneration of Massachusetts



gives me real joy. The union of New England and



Virginia alone carried us through the revolution.



Five steady votes were given by them on every ques-



tion, and we picked up scatterers from the other less



decided States which always secured a majority.



Since that we are become aliens and almost hostile;



and why? I know not. Virginia has never swerved



a hair's breadth from the line of republicanism and



Americanism. Massachusetts has strayed a little



into the paths of federalism and Anglicism; but a



good portion of her citizens have always remained



loyal to true principles;they have brought their



wandering brethren back again to their fold, and we



joyfully receive them with the fraternal embrace.



We shall now, I hope, feel towards each other the



sentiments which united us in the revolution and



become again truly brethren of the same principle.







  I am just recovered from an illness of three weeks



and am obliged to borrow the pen of another to assure



you of my great esteem and respect.







 P. S. Mr. Degrand has been so kind as to inform



me that he received and forwarded my duplicate



letters to your house for my annual supplies.

















        Private Papers         323











             TO THOMAS COX.







                 MONTICELLO, Sept. 5, 1823.







 DEAR SIR,-Your favor of July 16, was received in



due time, and I am thankful for the trouble you pro-



pose to undertake to procure for me at this ensuing



vintage a barrel of the Scuppernon pure juice with-



out any adulteration of brandy or other thing. I



would wish it to be sent early in November when it



will be endangered by neither the heat or cold of the



season. I will give that cask a fair trial, as well



whether it will keep without brandy as to ascertain



at what age it is properly ripe for use. I have drunk



it at four years old, and it was the best I ever drank.



I believe it is a wine which requires a certain age, and



if it improves with age it is a proof it has a body of



its own, not needing brandy. As this is destined for



a distant time I must ask the favor of you to procure



me a couple of quarter casks for immediate use. Let



them be as old and with as little brandy as can be



found, and if the mixture be of French instead of



apple brandy I shall gladly pay the difference of their



cost. I think it worth while to go to the expense of



double casking them to guard against adulteration on



their passage. If you will be so good as to forward



them to Colonel B. Peyton of Richmond, and to draw



on him on my account for their cost he will honor your



draft. If this wine can mature itself without



being brandied, it will attain a high character.



Otherwise it must still be unbrandied and drunk at

















324        Jefferson's Works







the age to which .,it will keep itself ; for the brandy



flavor in wine will never satisfy a practised palate.



Accept the tender of my great esteem and respect.







 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE TO THOMAS JEFFERSON.







            LA GRANGE, December 20th, 1823.



 MY DEAR FRIEND,-It is a very long while since my



eyes were gratified with a sight of your handwriting ;



I know that occupation is a fatigue to you, and would



not be importunate. But when you indulge the



pleasure to converse with absent friends, remember



few are as old, and none can be more happy than I



am in the testimonies of your welfare and affection.



 Every account I receive from the United States is a



compensation for European disappointments and



disgusts. There our revolutionary hopes have been



fulfilled, and although I must admire the observa-



tions of such a witness as my friend Jefferson, we may



enjoy the happy thought that never a nation has



been so completely free, so rapidly prosperous, so



generally enlightened. Look,on the contrary, to old



Europe. Spain, Portugal, Italy, amidst the patri-



otic wishes of the less ignorant part of the people and



the noble sentiments of  a few distinguished charac-



ters, have shown themselves unequal to a regenera-



tion, less on account of the criminal attacks of dia-



bolical alliance and the perfidious friendships of



Great Britian than because the great masses are still

















        Private Papers    325







under the influence of.prejudice; superstition; vicious



habits, and because intrigue and corruption have



found their way among the aristocratical part of



their patriots. German patriotism and philanthropy



evaporates in romantic ideology; two nations alone,



French and English, or one of them, could take the



lead in European emancipation. But in England



both Whigs and Tories are tenacious of a double



aristocracy, their own with respect to the Com-



moners, that of their island over all the countries of



the earth. There is; I am told, more liberality



among their Radicals; but hitherto we must take



them at their word, as power is elsewhere, and they



do nothing to obtain it. You have been a sharer, my



dear friend, in my enthusiastic French hopes; you



have seen the people of France truly a great nation,



when the rights of mankind, proclaimed, conquered,



supported by a whole population, were set up as a



new imported American doctrine, for the instruction



and example of Europe, when they might have been



the sole object and the glorious price of a first irre-



sistible impulsion, which has since been spent into



other purposes by the subsequent vicissitudes of gov-



ernment ; the triple counter revolution of Jacobinism,



Bonapartism, and Bourbonism, in the first of which



disguised Aristocracy had also a great part, has worn



out : the springs of energetic patriotism. The French



people are better informed; less prejudiced, more..at



their ease on the point of property, industry, habits



of social equality in many respects, than before the

















326        Jefferson's Works







Revolution. But from the day when the National



Constitution, made, sworn, worshiped by them-



selves, was thrown down on a level with the edicts of



arbitrary kings, to the present times, when a chartre



octroyee is invocated by the more liberal among our



publicists, so many political heresies have been pro-



fessed, so dismal instances of popular tyranny are



remembered, so able institutions of despotism have



crushed all resistance, that, if you except our young



generations, egotism and apathy, not excluding gen-



eral discontent, are the prevailing disposition. In



the meanwhile all adversaries of mankind,-coal-



esced kings, British aristocrats, Continental nobles,



Coblentz emigrants, restored Jesuits, are pushing



their plot with as much fury but more cunning than



they had hitherto evinced. Emperor Alexander is



now the chief of European counter revolution ; what



he and his allies will do, either in concert or in com-



petition with England, to spoil the game of Greece,



and to annoy the new republics of America, I do not



know; but although the policy of the United States



has been hitherto very prudent, it seems to me they



cannot remain wholly indifferent to the destruction,



on the American Continent, of every right proclaimed



in the immortal Declaration of Independence.







  Among the destitution which the spirit of counter



revolution and priest craft are every day operating in



the French seminaries of learning, there is one victim



which cannot but be particularly interesting to you.



I mean M. Botta, the author of an Italian history of

















        Private Papers        327







the war of independence, translated first in French,



and since, under your auspices, in English. M.



Botta, who has obtained your approbation, fully



deserves it, and has a proper sense of the testimonies



of your esteem, was a peaceful worthy principal of



the College of Rouen, where his rectorship has been



taken from him, under no plausible pretence, unless



it is for the supposed congeniality of his opinion with



our American doctrines. He had at first, or rather



his friends had for him, the idea of his going to the



United States. But age, bad health, a family of



children keep him in France. I have been applied to



on the subject of an American subscription in his



behalf. Don't you think, my dear friend, it might



take place ; and then who could be better fit to give



it proper weight and effect than you who have valued



the work and the historian so far as to superintend



translation for the benefit of the American youth,



and give him personal marks of your regard?







  I have been desired to enquire whether you have



received from Doctor Defendente Sacchi a copy of a



moral novel, called Oriele. The hero of the tale is



made to travel throughout the United States, where



he has the pleasure to converse with Mr. Jefferson



when due homage is paid to the venerated inter-



locutor. Another copy has been sent to the Ameri-



can Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. No



answer has come to hand. The doctor is a respectable



scientific inhabitant of Pavia, chief redacteur of an



important work, Collection of the Classical Metaphi-

















328        Jefferson's  Works







sicians. You will easily [see?] by whom of our friends



I am in this affair commissioned: He is well, and so



are both our families, who request their best respects



to be presented to you. Remember me to Mrs.



Randolph, and receive the most affectionate good



wishes of your old tender friend.







 P. S. I was preparing to send the above letter



when I have been blessed with yours, November 4th,'



enclosing one for M. de Tracy. How deeply I have



been affected with the account you give of your



health, arid the affectionate expressions of your senti-



ments for me, your friendly heart will better feel



than words could tell. I shall answer you in a short



time. But must here express the pleasure of a pater-



nal friend when I found in your letter, and had to



communicate to Miss Wright your opinion of A Few



Days in Athens, which her high 'veneration for you



makes her so worthy to enjoy. I shall at some time



send you a short biographical note for good Mr.



Botta.







 I am for the second time a great-grandfather. The



whole family beg to be respectfully remembered.







@#(1) The letter referred to was written by Jefferson to Lafayette on



Nov. 4, 1823. See vol. xv. p. 490.  @#

















        Private Papers    329











        TO SAMUEL PARR.  (1)







     M4NTICELLO, IN VIRGINIA, April 26, 1824.



 MUCH RESPECTED SIR,-A letter addressed to you



from aperfect stranger undoubtedly requires apology.



This I can only find in the character of the subject



producing it, a subject cherished in every literary



breast. The State of Virginia, of which I am a



native and resident, is engaged in the establishment



of an university on a scale of such extent as may give



it eminence on this side of the Atlantic. I am



entrusted with a share in its administration and



government. We are anxious to place in it none but



professors of the first grade of science in their respec-



tive lines, and for these we must go to countries where



that highest grade exists; and of preference to Great



Britain; the land of our own language, morals, man-



ners, and habits. For a professor of the classical



languages particularly, of the highest attainments in



them_, Oxford necessarily offers itself as the institu-



tion most eminent in the world in that branch of



learning; and of whose judgment there could we so



much wish to be availed as that of the oldest and



purest classic now living? This, then, Sir, is the



object which produces the obtrusion of this letter on



you. It will be handed you by Mr. F. W. Gilmer, a



gentleman of high qualifications in various branches







@#(1) Samuel Parr, one of the most eminent classical scholars of his



time and a strong Whig partisan, was born at Harrow-on-the-Hill,



England, Jan. 26, 1746-7, and died at Hatton, March 6, 1825. See



Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xliii. p. 364.-EDs. @#

















330        Jefferson's Works







of science, of a correct and honorable character,



worthy of all confidence and of any attention you



may be pleased to bestow on him. He is authorized



to select professors for us; but being an entire



stranger in the country to which he is sent to make



this selection, if unaided by faithful advice from



others,.he may be liable to gross error and imposition



in distinguishing characters of the degree of science



we seek, of sober and correct morals and habits,-



indispensable qualities in a professor in this country,



=and of accommodating and peaceable dispositions,



so necessary for the harmony of the institution.



Your knowledge, respected Sir, of persons, characters



and qualifications may guide and guard him in this



difficult research. May we venture to ask the bene-



fit of it, and your patronage of the mission on which



Mr. Gilmer goes? To myself it would be a peculiar



gratification to have an associate so eminent in the



performance of offices promising so much good to



those we are to leave behind us, and at an age so



advanced as to indulge us in the prospect of few



remaining occasions of being useful to the genera-



tions to come. With my thanks for any good offices



you can render our infant institution, be pleased to



accept the assurances of my high veneration, esteem,



and consideration.

















        Private Papers         331











        TO DUGALD STEWART.(1)







      MONTICELLO IN VIRGINIA, April 26, 1824.



 DEAR SIR,-It is now thirty-five years since I had



the great pleasure of becoming acquainted with you



in Paris, and since we saw together Louis XVI. led in



triumph by his people through the streets of his capi-



tal ; these years, too, have been like ages in the events



they have engendered without seeming at all to have



bettered the condition of suffering man. Yet his



mind has been opening and advancing, a sentiment



of his wrongs has been spreading, and it will end in



the ultimate establishment of his rights. To effect



this nothing is wanting but a general concurrence of



will, and some fortunate accident will produce that.



At a subsequent period you were so kind as to recall



me to your recollection on the publication of your



invaluable .book on the Philosophy of the Human



Mind, a copy of which you sent me, and I have been



happy to see it become the text book of most of our



colleges and academies, and pass through several



reimpressions in the United States. An occurrence



of a character dear to us both leads again to a renewal



of our recollections and associates us in an occasion of



still rendering some service to those we are about to



leave. The State of Virginia, of which I am a native



and resident. is establishing an university on a scale







  



@#(1) Dugald Stewart, one of the most famous of the Scottish metaphy-



sicians, was born in Edinburgh, Nov. 22, 1753, and died there June



11, 1828. See Dictionary of National Biography, vol. liv. pp. 282-286.



-eds.@#

















332        Jefferson's Works







as extensive and liberal as circumstances permit or



call for. We have been four or five years in prepar-



ing our buildings, which are now ready to receive



 their tenants. We proceed, therefore, to the engag-



ing professors, and anxious to receive none but of the



highest grade of. science in their respective lines, we



find we must have recourse to Europe, where alone



that grade is to be found, and to Great Britain of pre-



ference, as the land of our own language, morals,



manners, and habits. To make the selection we send



a special agent, Mr. Francis W. Gilmer, who will have



the honor of delivering you this letter. He is well



educated himself in most of the branches of science,



of correct morals and habits, an enlarged mind, and



a discretion meriting entire confidence. From the



universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where we



expect he will find persons duly qualified in the par-



ticular branches in which these seminaries are respec-



tively eminent, he will pass on to Edinburgh, distin-



guished for its school of Medicine as well as of other



sciences, but when arrived there he will be a perfect



stranger, and would have to grope his way in dark-



ness and uncertainty; you ca,n lighten his path, and



to beseech you to do so is the object of this letter.



Your knowledge of persons and characters there can



guard him against being misled and lead him to the



consummation of our wishes. We do not expect to



engage the high characters there who are at the head



of their schools, established in offices, honors, and



emoluments which can be bettered no where. But

















        Private Papers         333







we know there is always a junior set of aspirants,



treading on their heels, ready to take their places, and



as well and sometimes better qualified than they are.



These persons, unsettled as yet, surrounded by com-



petitors of equal claims, and perhaps greater credit



and interest, may be willing to accept immediately a



comfortable certainty here in place of uncertain hopes



there, and a lingering delay of even these. From



this description of persons we may hope to procure



characters of the first order of science. But how to



distinguish them? For we are told that were the



mission of our agent once known, he would be over-



whelmed with applicants, unworthy as well as worthy,



yet all supported on recommendations and certifi-



cates equally exaggerated, and by names so respec-



table as to confound all discrimination. yet this



discrimination is all important to us. An unlucky



selection at first would blast all our prospects. Let



me beseech you, then, good Six, to lead Mr. Gilmer



by the hand in his researches, to instruct him as to



the competent characters, and guard him against



those not so. Besides the first degree of eminence in



science, a professor with us must be of sober and cor-



rect morals and habits, having the talent of commu-



nicating his knowledge with facility, and of an accom-



modating and peaceable temper. The latter is all



important for the harmony of the institution. For



minuter particulars I will refer you to Mr. Gilmer,



who possesses a full knowledge of everything and our



full confidence in everything. He takes with him

















334        Jefferson's Works







plans of our establishment, which will show the com-



fortable accommodations provided for the professors,



whether with or without families; and by the expen-



siveness and extent of the scale they will see it is not



an ephemeral thing to which they are invited.



 A knowledge of your character and dispositions to



do good dispenses with all apology for the trouble I



give you. While the character and success of this



institution, involving the future hopes and happiness



of my country, will justify the anxieties I feel in the



choice of its professors, I am sure the object will



excite in your breast such sympathies of kind dispo-



sition, as will give us the benefits we ask of your



counsels and attentions. And, with my acknowl-



edgments for these, accept assurances of constant



and sincere attachment, esteem and respect.







          TO JOSEPH COOLIDGE, JR.(1)







             MONTICELLO, January 15, 1825.







  DEAR SIR,-I owe you many thanks for the two



last books you have been so kind as to send me. I



have derived a great deal 'of information from Russel



for the use of our University. I had only a borrowed



copy, and had been disappointed in getting one from







 @#(1) This letter is printed from the original in the possession of Archi-



bald Cary Coolidge. Joseph Coolidge, Jr., was the son of Joseph and



Elizabeth (Bulfinch) Coolidge, and was born in Boston Oct. 31, 1798.



He graduated at Harvard College in 1817, was married to the favorite



granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson in May, 1825, and died in his



native city Dec. 14, 1879-Eds.@#

















        Private Papers          335







England. Bosworth is a treasure of Anglo-Saxon



learning. There is much in him valuable and new



to me. He treads, indeed, in the footsteps of Dr.



Hickes and his followers, in endeavoring to make it



a language of learned construction, giving it the



genders, numbers, declensions, conjugations, and



other scaffoldings of the Greek and Latin, and en-



cumbering it with difficulties even beyond theirs,



whereas by simplifying and fixing its orthography



we find it is old English, only one age senior to Piers



Ploughman, and that it becomes like that the lan-



guage we speak, as readily intelligible as other old



English.







  On your recommendation of Mr. Hilliard, and ex-



planation of the means he had established of pro-



curing books from the several book-marts of Europe,



I accepted willingly his proposition to become the



furnisher of books to our University. The enclosed



letter contains a catalogue of the school books we



shall immediately want, and of those of a higher



order which will be recommended to our students.



I am so unwilling to give him false expectations of



the extent of our market, which might end in dis-



appointment and loss, that I hope I am under the



mark in what I recommend. It is impossible for



us as yet to conjecture the number of students which



may offer. There are many circumstances of detail



in the local condition of the place, known to yourself



and not communicable by letter. I have, therefore,



taken the liberty of enclosing to you the letter for

















336        Jefferson's Works







him; and requesting you to deliver it in person, as



you could answer the many enquiries he may be dis-



posed to make, and possess him of the true state of



things here. Possibly we may find it convenient



to employ Mr. Hilliard to collect our library from



the different countries of Europe, on a reasonable



commission, we advancing the money. To preserve



our exemption from duties he would be to be made



merely our agent, the property of the books to be,



for that purpose, vested in the University. On this



my colleagues will be to decide. The amount, you



know, we estimate at about 23,000 dollars.







 I proposed to you to suggest to some editor of books



in Boston the printing an octavo edition of Wilson's



Ornithology, giving plates of octavo size also, with



mere sketchings of the forms of the birds in a light



way. I do not know whether the lithographic art



is practised in Boston. If it is it would be quite



equal to the object of this work, and so cheap, as I



learn, as to cost little more than printing.



 In a letter I received last evening from Mr. Apple-



ton. our consul at Leghorn, a gentleman of intelli-



gence, is the following paragraph : " I have been



informed that there has, been lately discovered at



Athens, in a subterranean vault, a collection of



2,000 volumes or rolls of papyrus of Grecian authors,



in a great state of perfection, with several statues of



the highest order of sculpture, which it was probable



was sunk by an earthquake, or was buried to save it



from the barbarous hands of Mussulmen. " I give

















        Private PaperS         337







it in ; his own words, and am sorry it stands on the



indefinite ground of " I have been informed." If



true, we may recover what had been lost of Diodorus



Siculus, Polybius, and Dion Cassius. I would rather,



however, it should have been of Livy, Tacitus and



Cicero.







  We are in the hourly expectation, of the arrival of



the complement of our Professors, and shall open



the University within one fortnight after it shall be



known that they are landed on our shores. Our



family is all well, and hold you in affectionate recollec-



tions. I join them sincerely in these, and pray you



to be assured of my cordial friendship and respect.







          TO JOSEPH COOLIDGE, JR.(1)







               MONTICELLO, April 12, 1825.



 DEAR SIR;-The arrival of our Professors from



abroad has at length enabled us to get our Univer-



sity into operation. Their failure to arrive by the



day we had announced for. its commencement lost



us for awhile many students who supposing, with



most of us, from the length of time they had been



out, that they must have 'perished, engaged them-



selves elsewhere. We began on the 7th of March



with between thirty and forty. Since that they



have' been coming in, and are still coming almost



daily. ' They are at this time sixty-five. I wish







 @#(1) Printed from the original in the possession of Archibald Cary Cool-



idge .EDs.@#







  VOL. XVIII-22

















338        Jefferson's Works







they may not get beyond one hundred this year, as



I think it will be easier to get into an established



course of order and discipline with that than with



a greater number. Our English Professors give us



perfect satisfaction. The choice has been most



judiciously made. They are of very high order in



their respective sciences, correct in their habits,



encounter cheerfully whatever is novel to them,



and are zealous to promote their respective schools.



Our Professors of Chemistry, and Moral Philosophy



are chosen from among our own fellow citizens, as



will be our Professor of Law, not yet named. The



first of these just arrived, and the second hourly



expected. On his arrival the Faculty will form



themselves into a board, and commence the exer-



cise of their functions of order and discipline, for



which the necessity is already apparent by the



incipient irregularities of some of the youths.



 Your kind dispositions toward our University



will sometimes, I fear, be the source of trouble to



you. We understand that the art of bell making



is carried to greater perfection in Boston than else-



where in the United States. We want a bell which



can generally be heard at the distance of two miles,



because this will ensure its being always heard at



Charlottesville. As we wish it to be sufficient for



this, so we wish it not more so, because it will add



to its weight, price, and difficulty of management.



Will you be so good as to enquire what would be the



weight and price of such a bell, and inform me of it ?

















        Private papers         339







I have engaged Mr. Hilliard as agent for the Uni-



versity in the purchase of its library; and the sum



to be put into his hands being considerable ( 15, 000



dollars), I have required security from him, and



taken the liberty of referring him to yourself and



Mr. Ticknor for judging and certifying to me its



sufficiency.







 The books you have been so kind as to present to



the University have been received and were opened



yesterday. They came in good condition, were



peculiarly well bound, and entirely. acceptable. I



think there was but one which proved a duplicate.



Permit me in the name of the University and Vis-



itors to return you, their thanks for this handsome



donation.







 The object of the welcome visit we expect from



you soon is such as would render the presence of



your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge, peculiarly grat-



ifying. I am a stranger to their ages and condition



of health, and how far these would admit of such a



journey, and, therefore, I must only say that they



would be received with the most sincere cordiality;



so, if any other of your friends, led by affection to



you or by curiosity, should be willing to accompany



you, it would give us great pleasure.







 I send you a copy of our regulations, a",i pray you



to be assured of my affectionate attachment and



great respect.

















340        Jefferson's.-Works











        TO ELLEN W. COOLIDGE. (1)







              MONTICELLO, August. 27, 1825.







  Your affectionate letter,my dear Ellen, of the 1st



inst. came to hand in due time. The assurances. of



your love, so feelingly expressed, were truly sooth-



ing to my soul, and none were ever met with warmer



sympathies. We did not know until you left us



what a void it would make in our family.. Imagina-



tion had illy sketched its full measure to us ; and, at



this moment, everything around serves but to remind



us of our past happiness, only. consoled by the addi-



tion it has made to yours. Of this we are abund-



antly assured by the most excellent and amiable



character to which we have committed your future



well-being, and by the kindness with which you



have been received by the worthy family into which



you are now engrafted. We have no fear but that



their affections will grow with their growing knowl-



edge of you, and the assiduous cultivation of these



becomes the first object in importance to you. I



have no doubt you will find also the state of society



there more congenial with your mind than the rustic



scenes you have left although these do not want



their points of endearment. Nay, one single cir-



cumstance changed, and their scale would hardly



be the lightest. One fatal stain deforms what nature



had bestowed on us of her fairest gifts.







@# (1) This letter is printed from the original in the possession of Archi-



bald Cary Coolidge.-Eds. @#





















        Private Papers     341







 I am glad you took the delightful tour which you



describe in your letter. It is almost exactly that



which Mr.  Madison and myself pursued in May and



June, 1791. Settizig out from Philadelphia, our



course was to New York, up the Hudson to Albany,



Troy, Saratoga, Fort Edward, Fort George, Lake



George. Ticonderoga, Crown Point, penetrated into



Lake Champlain, returned the same way to Sara-



toga, thence crossed the mountains to Bennington,



Northampton, along Connecticut River to its mouth,



crossed the Sound into Long Island, and along its



northern margin to Brooklyn,`re-crossed to New York,



and returned. But from Saratoga till we got back



to Northampton was then mostly desert. Now it



is what thirty-four years of free and good govern-



ment have made it. It shows how soon the labor



of men would make a paradise of the whole earth,



were it not for misgovernment, and a diversion of



all his energies from their proper object=the hap-



piness of man,-to the selfish interests of kizigs,



nobles, and priests.







  Our University goes on well. We have passed the



limit of 100 students some time since. As yet it has



been a model of order and good behavior, having



never yet had occasion for the exercise of a single



act of authority. We studiously avoid too much



government. We treat them as men and gentlemen,



under the guidance mainly of their own discretion.



They so consider themselves, and make it their pride



to acquire that character for their institution: In

















342        Jefferson's Works







short, we are as quiet on that head as the experience



of six months only can justify. Our professors, too,



continue to be what we wish them. Mr. Gilmer



accepts the Law chair, and all is well.







  My own health is what it was when you left me.



I have not been out of the house since, except to take



the turn of the Roundabout twice; nor have I any



definite prospect when it will be otherwise.







  I shall not venture into the region of small news,



of which your other correspondents of the family



are so much better informed. I am expecting to



hear from Mr. Coolidge on the subject of the clock



for the Rotunda. Assure him of my warmest affec-



tions and respect, and pray him to give you ten



thousand kisses for me, and they will still fall short



of the measure of my love to you. If his parents



and family can set any store by the esteem and



respect of a stranger, mine are devoted to them.







          TO JOSEPH COOLIDGE, JR.(1)







            MONTICELLO, October 13, [1825]



  DEAR SIR,-It is so long since I ought to have



written to you that I am ashamed to quote your last



date. The information particularly which you were



so kind as to obtain and furnish me as to the cost of



a college clock should have been answered; but



finding the price you mentioned far beyond our ex-



 @#(1) Printed from the original in the possession of Archibald Cary Cool-



idge: Eds,@#

















        Private Papers       343







pectation and funds, I took time to have other en-



quiries made. These, however, did not result in



bringing the cost more within our means; on the



contrary, 40 cents the pound were asked fora bell



in Philadelphia, instead of 35, the price with you.



We are obliged, therefore, to do without, until our



funds are improved; and this ought to have been



said to you sooner.







 The news of our neighborhood can hardly be in-



teresting to you, except what may relate to our



University, in which you are so kind as to take an



interest. And it happens that a serious incident



has just taken place there, which I will state to you



the rather, as of the thousand versions which will



be given not one will be true. My position enables



me to say what is so, but with the most absolute



concealment from whence it comes ; regard to my



own peace requiring that,--except with friends



whom I can trust and wish to gratify with the truth.



 The University had gone on with a degree of order



and harmony which had strengthened the hope



that much of self government might be trusted



to the discretion of the students of the age of 16 and



upwards, until the 1st instant. In the night of that



day a party of fourteen students, animated first with'



wine, masked themselves so as not to be known, and



turned out on the lawn of the University, with no



intention, it is believed, but of childish noise and



uproar. Two professors hearing it went out to see



what was the matter. They were received with

















344        Jefferson's Works







insult, and even brick-bats were thrown at them.



Each of them seized an offender, demanded their



names (for they could not distinguish them under their



disguise), but were refused, abused, and the culprits



calling on their companions for a rescue, got loose,



and 'withdrew to their chambers. The Faculty of



Professors met the next day,€ called the whole before



them, and in address, rather harsh, required them



to denounce the offenders. They refused, answered



the address in writing and in the rudest terms, and



charged the Professors themselves with false state-



ments. Fifty others, who were in their rooms, no



ways implicated in the riot and knowing nothing



about it, immediately signed the answer, making



common cause with the rioters, and declaring their



belief of their assertions in opposition to those of the



Professors. The next day chanced to be that of the



meeting of the Visitors : the Faculty sent a deputa-



tation to them, informing them of what had taken



place. The Visitors called the whole body of stu-



dents before them, exhorted them to make known



the persons masked, the innocent to aid the cause of



order by bearing witness to the truth, and the guilty



to relieve their innocent brethren from censures



€which they were conscious that themselves alone



deserved. On this the fourteen maskers stepped



forward and avowed themselves the persons guilty



of whatever had passed, but denying that any tres-



pass had been committed. They were desired to



appear before the Faculty, which they;did. On the

















              Private Papers         345







evidence resulting from this enquiry, three; the most



culpable, were expelled ; one of them, moreover, pre-



sented by the grand jury for civil punishment (for it



happened that the district court was then about to



meet). The eleven other maskers were sentenced



to suspensions or reprimands, and the fifty who had



so gratuitously obtruded their names into the offen-



sive paper retracted them, and so the matter ended.



 The circumstances of this transaction enabled the



Visitors to add much to the strictness of their sys-



tem as yet new. The students have returned into



perfect order under a salutary conviction they had



not before felt that the laws will in future be rigor-



ously enforced, and the institution is strengthened



by the firmness manifested by its authorities on the



occasion. It cannot, however, be expected that all



breaches of order can be made to cease at once, but



from the vigilance of the Faculty and energy of the



civil power their restraint may very soon become



satisfactory. It is not perceived that this riot has



been more serious than has been' experienced by



other seminaries; but, whether more or less so, the



exact truth should be told, and the institution be



known to the public as neither better nor worse than



it really is.







 All here axe well, except myself, and I had sensibly



improved, insomuch as to be able to ride two or three



miles a day in a carriage and on our level Round-



abouts. But going backwards and forwards on the



rough roads to the University for five days succes-

















346        Jefferson's Works







sively has brought on me again a great degree of



sufferance, which some days of rest and recumbence



will, I hope, relieve. My dear Ellen may be told



that at the head of the expelled, as of the riot, was



W. M. C., expelled from two other seminaries before.



A second was an exile from every school he had ever



been at, who had entered and paid his fees only that



morning. The third, a worthy young man, not of



her acquaintance, whom all lamented, Visitors, Pro-



fessors, and students, but he had unfortunately too



much signalized himself in this affair. Present to



her all the blessings of an affectionate grandfather,



and be assured of the warmth and sincerity of his



attachment and respect to you.







          TO ELLEN W. COOLIDGE.(1)







           MONTICELLO, November 14, 1825.







 MY DEAR ELLEN,-In my letter of October 13 to



Mr. Coolidge, I gave an account of the riot we had



had at the University and of its termination. You



will both, of course, be under anxiety till you know



how it has gone off. With the best effects in the



world, having let it be understood from the begin-



ning that we wished to trust very much to the dis-



cretion of the students themselves for their own



government. With about four-fifths of them this did







 @#(1) This letter is printed from the original in the possession of Archi-



bald Cry Coolidge: EDs. @#

















        Private Papers        347







well, but there :were about fifteen or twenty bad



subjects who were disposed to try whether our in-



dulgence was without limit. Hence the licentious



transaction of which I gave an account to Mr. Cool-



idge ; but when the whole mass saw the serious way



in which that experiment was met, the Faculty of



Professors assembled, the Board of Visitors coming



forward in support of that authority, a grand jury



taking up the subject, four of the most guilty ex-



pelled, the rest reprimanded, severer laws enacted



and a rigorous execution of them declared in future,



-it gave them a shock and struck a terror, the most



severe as it was less expected. It determined the



well-disposed among them to frown upon everything



of the. kind hereafter, and the ill-disposed returned



to order from fear, if not from .better motives. A



perfect subordination has succeeded, entire respect



towards the professors, and industry, order, and



quiet the most exemplary, has prevailed ever since.



Every one is sensible of the strength which the insti-



tution has derived from what appeared at first to



threaten its foundation. We have no further fear



of anything of the kind from the present set, but as



at the next term their numbers will be more than



doubled by the accession of an additional band, as



unbroken as these were, we mean to be prepared,



and to ask of the legislature a power to call in the civil



authority in the first instant of disorder, and to quell



it on the spot by imprisonment and the same legal



coercions provided against disorder generally com-

















348        Jefferson's Works







mitted by other citizens, from whom, at their age,



they have no right to distinction.







  We have heard of the loss of your baggage, with



the vessel carrying it, and sincerely condole with you



on it. It is not to be estimated by its pecuniary



value, but by that it held in your affections,-the



documents of your childhood, your letters, corre-



sporidencies, notes, books, etc., etc., all gone! and



your life cut in two, as it were, and a new one to



begin,without any records of the former. John Hem-



mings was the first who brought me the news. He



had caught it accidentally from those who first read



the letter from Colonel Peyton announcing it. He



was au desespoir! That beautiful writing desk he



had taken so much pains to make for you! every-



thing else seemed as nothing in his eye, and that loss



was everything. Virgil could not have been more



afflicted had his Aeneid fallen a prey to the flames.



I asked him if he could not replace it by making an-



other. No; his eyesight had failed him too much,



and his recollection of it was too imperfect. It has



occurred to me, however, that I can replace it, not,



indeed, to you, but to Mr. Coolidge, by a substitute,



not claiming the same value from its decorations,



but from the part it has borne in our history and the



events with which it has been associated. I



received a letter from a friend in Philadelphia lately,



asking information of the house, and room of the



house there. in which the Declaration of Inde-



pendence was written, with a view to future celebra-

















        Private Papers    349







tions of the Fourth of July in it, another enquiring



whether a paper given to the Philosophical Society



there, as a rough draught of that Declaration was



genuinely so. A society is formed there lately for



an annual celebration of the advent of Penn to



that place. It was held in his ancient mansion, and



the chair in which he actually sat when at his



writing table was presented by a lady owning it, and



was occupied by the president of the celebration.



Two other chairs were given them, made of the elm



under the shade of which Penn had made his first



treaty with the Indians. If then things acquire a



superstitious value because of their connection with



particular persons, surely a connection with the



great Charter of our Independence may give a value



to what has been associated with that; and such



was the idea of the enquirers after the room in which



it was written. Now I happen still to possess the



writing-box on which it was written. It was made



from a drawing of my own by Ben. Randall, a cab-



inetmaker in whose house I took my first lodgings on



my arrival in Philadelphia in May, 1776, and I have



used it ever since. It claims no merit of particular



beauty. It is plain, neat, convenient, and, taking



no more room on the writing table than a moderate



quarto volume, it yet displays itself sufficiently for



any writing. Mr. Coolidge must do me the favor



of accepting this. Its imaginary value will increase



with years, and if he lives to my age, or another half-



century, he' may- see it carried in the procession..of

















350        Jefferson's Works







our nation's birthday, as the relics of the saints are



in those of the Church. I will send it through Colonel



Peyton, and hope with better fortune than that for



which it is to be a substitute.(1)







  I remark what you say in your letter to your



mother relative to Mr. Willard and our University



clock. Judging from that that he is the person



whom Mr. Coolidge would recommend, and having



received from Dr. Waterhouse a very strong



recommendation of him, you may assure the old



gentleman from me that he shall have the making



of it. We have lately made an important purchase



of lands, amounting to 7000 dollars, and the govern-



ernment is taking from us, under their old and new



tariff, 2700 dollars duty on the marble caps and



bases of the portico of our rotunda, of ten columns



only. These things try our funds for the moment.



At the end of the year we shall see how we stand,



and I expect we may be able to give the final order



for the clock by February.







  I want to engage you as my agent at Boston for



certain articles not to be had here, and for such only ;



but it will be on the indispensable condition that



you keep as rigorous an account of dollars and cents







 @#(1) This interesting relic was exhibited at the Centennial Celebration



in Boston, July 4, 1876. (See Winthrop's Addresses and Speeches,



vol. i€. pp. 378, 379€) Subsequently it was given to the United States



by the heirs of Mr. Coolidge (see Proceedings held in the Senate and



House of Representatives, April 23, 1880, on the Occasion of the



Presentation of Thomas Jefferson's Writing-Desk to the United States



by the Heirs of the late Joseph Coolidge, Jr.).-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers        351







as old Yerragan, our neighbor, would do. This alone



can induce friends to ask services freely, which



would otherwise be the asking of presents, and



amount to a prohibition: We should be very glad



occasionally to get small supplies of the fine dumb



cod-fish to be had at Boston, and also of the tongues



and sounds of the cod. This selection of the articles



I trouble for is not of such as are better there than



here; for on that ground we might ask for every



thing from thence, but such only as are not to be had



here at all. Perhaps I should trespass on Mr. Cool-



idge for one other article. We pay here two dollars



a gallon for bad French brandy. I think I have



seen in Degrand 's price current 'Marseilles brandy;



from Dodge and Oxnard, 'advertised good at one



dollar; and another kind called Seignettes, which I



am told is good Cognac, at one dollar and 25 cents.



I will ask of you then a supply of a kental of good



dumb fish, and about 20 or 30 lbs: of tongues and



sounds; and of Mr. Coolidge a 30 gallon cask of



Dodge and Oxnard's Marseilles brandy, if tolerably



good at one dollar or thereabouts, but double cased,



to guard against spoliation. Knowing nothing of



the prices of the fish, I will at a venture desire Colonel



Peyton to remit 60 dollars to Mr. Coolidge imme-



diately, and any little difference between this and



the actual cost either way may stand over to your



next account. We should be the better perhaps



of your recipe for dressing both articles.







 I promised Mr. Ticknor to inform him at times

















352        Jefferson's Works







how our University goes on. I shall be glad if you



will read to him that part of this letter Which



respects it, presuming Mr. Coolidge may have com-



municated to him the facts of my former letter to



him. These facts may be used ad libitum, only



keeping my name out of sight. Writing is so irk-



some to me, especially since I am obliged to do it in



a recumbent posture, that I am.sure Mr. Ticknor



will excuse my economy in this exercise. To you



perhaps I should apologize for the want of it on this



occasion. The family is well. My own health



changes little. I ride two or three miles in a car-



riage every 'day. With my affectionate salutations



to Mr. Coolidge, be assured yourself of my tender



and constant love.







          TO ELLEN W. COOLIDGE.(1)







                MONTICELLO, Mar. 19, 1526.







 MY DEAR ELLEN,-Your letter of the 8th was



received the day before yesterday, and as the sea-



son for engrafting is passing rapidly by I will not



detain the apple-cuttings for Mr. Gray (until I may



have other matter. for writing a big letter to you),



but I send a dozen cuttings, as much ' as a letter



can protect, by our first mail, and wish they may



retain their-. vitality until they reach him. They







@#(1) This letter is printed from the original in the possession of Archi-



bald Cary Coolidge.-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers          353







are called the Taliaferro apple, .. being from a seed-



ling tree discovered by a gentleman of that name



near Williamsburg, and yield unquestionably the



finest cider we have ever known, and more like



wine than any liquor I have ever tasted which was



not wine. If it is worth reminding me of the ensu-



ing winter, I may send a larger supply, and in



better time, through Col. Peyton.







 Our brandy, fish, tongues, and sounds are here,



and highly approved. The piano forte is also in



place, and Mrs. Carey happening here has exhibited



to us its full powers, which are indeed great. No-



body slept the first night" nor is the tumult yet



over on this the third day of its emplacement. These



things will draw trouble on you; for we shall no



longer be able to drink Raphael 's imitation brandy



at two dollars the gallon, nor to be without the



luxury of the fish, and especially the tongues and



sounds, which we consider as a great delicacy.







 All here are well, and growing in their love to you,



and none so much as the oldest, who embraces in it



your other self, so worthy of all our affections, and



so 'entirely identified in them with yourself.







  VOL, XVIII-?j

















354        Jefferson's 'Works











           TO JOSEPH COOLIDGE, JR.(1)







                 MONTICELLO, June 4, 1526.







 DEAR SIR,-You have heretofore known that the



ability of the University to meet the necessary ex-



penses of a bell and clock depended on the remission



by Congress of the duties on the marble bases and



capitals used in our buildings, a sum of nearly 3000



dollars. The remission is granted, and I am now



authorized to close with Mr. Willard for the under



taking of the clock, as proposed in your letter of



Aug. 2 5. I must still, however, ask your friendly



intermediacy, because it will so much abridge the



labors of the written correspondence ; for there will be



many minutiae which your discretion can direct, in



which we have full confidence, and shall confirm as if



predirected. I have drawn up the material instruc-



tions on separate papers, which put into Mr. Wil-



lard's hands will, I trust, leave little other trouble for



you. We must avail ourselves of his offer (expressed



in the same letter) to come himself and set it up,



allowing the compensation, which, I am sure; he will



make reasonable. The dial-plate had better be made



at Boston, as we can prepare our aperture for it, of



sixty inches, with entire accuracy. We wish him



to proceed with all practicable dispatch, and are



ready to make him whatever advance he usually



requires ; and we would rather make it immediately,







@#(1) Printed from the original in the possession of Archibald Cary Cool-



idge.-EDs. @#

















        Private Papers        355







as we have a sum of money in Boston which it would



be more convenient to place in his hands at once



than to draw it here and have to remit it again to



Boston. If it would be out of his line to engage for



the bell also, be so good as to put it into any hands



you please, and to say what we should advance for



that also.







  The art of boring for water to immense depths



we know is practised very much in the salt springs



of the Western country, and I have understood that



it is habitually practised in the Northern States



generally for ordinary water. We have occasion for



such an artist at our University, and myself and



many individuals round about us would gladly em-



ploy one. If they abound with you I presume we



could get one to come on and engage in the same line



here. I believe he would find abundant employ-



ment; but should it be otherwise, or not to his



mind, we could, by paying his expenses coming and



returning, and placing him at home as we found him,



save him from any loss by the experiment. Will you



be so good as to make enquiry for such a person, to



know the terms of his work, and communicate them



to me, so that we may form a general idea of the cost



of this method of supply. I could then give him



immediate information of the probabilities and



prospects here. I am anxious myself on behalf of



the University, as well as the convenience it will



afford to myself,

















356        Jefferson's Works







  Our University is going on well. The students



have sensibly improved since the last year in habits



of order and industry. Occasional instances of in-



subordination have obliged us from time to time to



strengthen .our regulations to meet new cases. But



the most effectual instrument we have found to be



the civil authority. The terrors of indictment, fine,



imprisonment, binding to the good behavior, etc.,



have the most powerful effect. None have



yet incurred them, but they have been sternly held



up to their view. These civil coercions want a little



accommodation to our organization, which we shall



probably obtain, and I suppose the more easily as at



the age of sixteen ,it is high time for youth to begin



to learn and to practice the duties of obedience to



the laws of their country. It will make an important



item in the Syllabus of the Moral Professor, and be



considered as forming a standing branch in the sys-



tem of education established here. The competition



among our hotel keepers has made them too obse-



quious to the will of the students. We must force



them to become auxiliaries towards the preserva-



tion of order, rather than subservients to their irreg-



ularities. We shall continue under this evil until



the renewal of their leases shall place them in our



power, which takes place but annually. Our pres-



ent number are over 170, and growing weekly ; and



on the opening of the Law School, which is fixed



to the first of July, the dormitories now vacant will

















        Private Papers         357







be all filled. These will accommodate 216, and sev-



eral large houses are building in Charlottesville for



private boarding, to meet the demand expected at



the next commencement. Ever and affectionately



yours.

















        AN ESSAY











        Towards Facilitating Instruction



















        in the







        ANGLO-SAXON















        Modern Dialects of the English Language











        For the Use of the University of Virginia.



















        BY







        THOMAS JEFFERSON.

















 Introductory Note.-Jefferson's "Essay on :Anglo-Saxon" is



reproduced here for the first time since it was originally printed in



1851 by order of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia-



twenty-five years after his death. Copies of this 'pamphlet are very rare,



and the publication of the "Essay" in this volume is due to the



courtesy of Dr. Charles W. Kent, who placed the copy belonging to



the University of Virginia at the disposal of the editors of the present



Edition of Jefferson's Writings. Jefferson sent his "Essay" to Her-



bert Croft, an eminent Englishman who was preparing an etymo-



lugical dictionary, and the letter to him which precedes the "Essay"



was po doubt intended to take the place of the customary preface.



It may be of interest to note that Jefferson was one of the first, it not



the pioneer, in this country to advocate the study of Anglo-Saxon



and incorporate it in the college curriculum.

















        TO HERBERT CROFT, ESQ., LL. B.,    361



        LONDON.















           MONTICELLO, October 30th, 1798.



 SIR,-The copy of your printed letter on the



English and German languages, which you have



been so kind as to send me, has come to hand; and



I pray you to accept of my thanks for this mark



of your attention. I have perused it with singular



pleasure, and, having long been sensible of the



importance of a knowledge of the Northern lan-



guages to the understanding of English, I see it,



in this letter, proved and specifically exemplified



by your collations of the English and German. I



shall look with impatience for the publication of



your "English and German Dictionary." Johnson,



besides the want of precision in his definitions, and



of accurate distinction in passing from one shade



of meaning to another of the same word, is most



objectionable in his derivations. From a want



probably of intimacy with our own language while



in the Anglo-Saxon form and type, and of its kindred



languages of the North, he has a constant leaning



towards Greek and Latin for English etymon. Even

















362        Jefferson's Works







Skinner has a little of this, who, when he has given



the true Northern parentage of a word, often tells



you from what Greek and Latin source it might



be derived by those who have that kind of par-



tiality. He is, however, on the whole, our best



etymologist, unless we ascend a step higher to the



Anglo-Saxon vocabulary; and he has set the good



example of collating the English word with its



kindred word in the several Northern dialects,



which often assist in ascertaining its true meaning.



 Your idea is an excellent one, in producing authori-



ties for the meaning of words, " to select the promi-



nent passages in our best writers, to make your



dictionary a general index to English literature,



and thus intersperse with verdure 'and flowers the



barren deserts of Philology. " And I believe with



you that "wisdom, morality, religion, thus thrown



down, as if without intention, before the reader,



in quotations, 'may often produce more effect than



the very passages in the books themselves. ' '-" that



the cowardly suicide, in search of a strong word



for his dying €letter, might light on a passage which



would excite him to blush at his want of fortitude,



and to forego his purpose ; ' '-" and that a dictionary



with examples at the words may, in regard to every



branch of knowledge, produce more real effect than



the whole collection of banks which it quotes."



I have sometimes myself used Johnson as a Reper-



tory, to find favorite passages which I wished to



recollect, but too rarely with success.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon     363







  I was led to set a due value on the study of the



Northern languages, and especially of our Anglo-



Saxon, while I was a student of the law, by being



obliged to recur to that source for explanation of a



multitude of law=terms. A preface to Fortescue on



Monarchies, written by Fortescue Aland, and after-



wards premised to his volume of Reports, develops



the advantages to be derived to the English student



generally, and particularly the student of law, from



an acquaintance with the Anglo-Saxon; and men-  .



tions the books to which the learner may have



recourse for acquiring the language. I accordingly



devoted some time to its study, but my busy life



has not permitted me to indulge in a pursuit to



which I felt great attraction.€ While engaged in it,



however, some ideas occurred for facilitating the



study by simplifying its grammar, by reducing the



infinite diversities of its unfixed orthography to



single and settled forms, indicating at the same



time the pronunciation of the word by its corre-



spondence with the characters and powers of the



English alphabet. Some of these ideas I noted



at the time on the blank leaves of my Elstob's



Anglo-Saxon Grammar: but there I have left them,



and must leave them, unpursued, although I still



think them sound and useful. Among the works



which I proposed for the Anglo-Saxon student, you



will find such literal and verbal translations of the



Anglo-Saxon writers recommended, as you have



given us of the "man in your printed. letter,

















364        Jefferson's Works







Thinking that I cannot submit those ideas to a



better judge than yourself, and that if you find



them of any value you may put them to some use,



either as hints in your dictionary, or in some other



way, I will copy them as a sequel to this letter, and



commit them without reserve to your better knowl-



edge of the subject. Adding my sincere wishes



for the speedy publication of your valuable dic-



tionary, I tender you the assurance of my high



respect and consideration.







                      THOMAS JEFFERSON.

















        ESSAY ON THE ANGLO-SAXON     365



        LANGUAGE.











  The importance of the Anglo-Saxon dialect toward



a perfect understanding of the English language



seems not to have been duly estimated by those



charged with the education of youth; and yet it



is unquestionably the basis of our present tongue.



It was a full-formed language; its frame and con-



struction, its declension of nouns and verbs, and



its syntax were peculiar to the Northern languages,



and fundamentally different from those of the



South. It was the language of all England, properly



so called, from the Saxon possession of that country



in the sixth century to the time of Henry III. in



the thirteenth, and was spoken pure and unmixed



with any other. Although the Romans had been



in possession of that country for nearly five centu-



ries from the time of Julius Caesar, yet it was a



military possession chiefly, by their soldiery alone,



and with dispositions intermutually jealous and



unamicable. They seemed to have aimed at no



lasting settlements there, and to have had little



familiar mixture with the native Britons. In this



state of connection there would probably be little



incorporation of the Roman into the native lan-

















366        Jefferson's Works







guage, and on their subsequent evacuation of the



island its traces would soon be lost altogether.



And had it been otherwise, these innovations would



have been .carried with the natives themselves



when driven into Wales by the invasion and entire



occupation of the rest of the Southern portion of



the island by the Anglo-Saxons.







  The language of these last became that of the



country from that time forth, for nearly seven centu-



ries ; and so little attention was paid among them



to the Latin, that it was known to a few individuals



only as a matter of science, and without any chance



of transfusion into the vulgar language. We may



safely repeat the affirmation, therefore, that the



pure Anglo-Saxon constitutes at this day the basis



of our language. That it was sufficiently copious



for the purposes of society in the existing condition



of arts and manners, reason alone would satisfy us



from the necessity of the case. Its copiousness, too,



was much favored by the latitude it allowed of



combining primitive words so as to produce any



modification of idea desired. In this characteristic



it was equal to the Greek, but it is more especially



proved by the actual fact of the books they have



left us in the various branches of history; geography;



religion, law, and poetry. And although since the



Norman conquest it has received vast additions



and embellishments from the Latin, Greek, French,



and Italian languages, yet these are but engraft-



ments on its idiomatic stem; its original structure

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    367







and syntax remain the same, and can be but imper-



fectly understood by the mere Latin scholar. Hence



the necessity of making the Anglo-Saxon a regular



branch of academic education: In the sixteenth



and seventeenth€ centuries it was assiduously culti-



vated by a host of learned men. The names of



Lambard, Parker, Spelman, Wheeloc, Wilkins, Gib-



son, Hickes, Thwaites, Somner, Benson, Mareschal,



Elstob, deserve to be ever remembered with grati-



tude for the Anglo-Saxon works which they have



given us through the press, the only certain means



of preserving and promulgating them. For a cen-



tury past this study has been too much neglected.



The reason of this neglect, and its remedy, shall



be the subject of some explanatory observations.



These will respect-I. The Alphabet. II. Orthog-



raphy. III. Pronunciation. IV. Grammar.







              (1). THE ALPHABET.







 The Anglo-Saxon alphabet, as known to us in its



printed forms, consists of twenty-six characters,



about the half of which are Roman, the others of



forms peculiarly Saxon. These, mixed with the



others, give an aspect to the whole rugged, uncouth,



and appalling to an eye accustomed to the round-



ness and symmetry of the Roman character: This



is a first discouragement to the English student.



Next, the task of learning a new alphabet, and the



time and application necessary to render it easy and

















368        Jefferson's Works







familiar to the reader, often decides the doubting



learner against an enterprise so apparently irksome.







 The earliest remains extant of Saxon writing are



said to be of the seventh century; and the latest



of the thirteenth. The black letter seems to have



been introduced by William the Conqueror, whose



laws are  written in Norman French, and in that



letter. The full alphabet of Roman characters



was first used about the beginning of the sixteenth



century. But the expression of the same sounds,



by a different character did not change these sounds,



nor the language which they constituted; did not



make the language of Alfred a different one from



that of Piers Ploughman, of Chaucer, Douglas,



Spenser, and Shakespeare, any more than the second



revolution, which substituted the Roman for the



English black letter, made theirs a different language



from that of Pope and Boling broke ; or the writings



of Shakespeare, printed in black letter, different



from the same as now done in Roman type. The



life of Alfred, written in Latin and in Roman char-



acter by Asser, was reprinted by Archbishop Parker



in Anglo-Saxon letters. But it is Latin still,



although the words are represented by characters



different from those of Asser's original. And the



extracts given us by Dr. Hickes from the Greek



Septuagint, in Anglo-Saxon characters, are Greek



still, although the Greek sounds are represented by



other types. Here then I ask, why should not this



Roman character, with which we are all familiar,

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon     369







be substituted now for the Anglo-Saxon, by printing



in the former the works already edited in the latter



type ? and also the manuscripts still inedited ? This



may be done letter for letter, and would remove



entirely the first discouraging obstacle to the general



study of the Anglo-Saxon.







              II. ORTHOGRAPHY.







  In the period during which the Anglo-Saxon



alphabet was in use, reading and writing were rare



arts. The highest dignitaries of the church sub-



scribed their marks, not knowing how to write their



names. Alfred himself was taught to read in his



thirty-sixth year only, or, as some editions of Asser



say, in his thirty-ninth. Speaking of learning in



his Preface to the Pastoral of Gregory, Alfred says,



"Swa clean hi was oth-fallen on Angelkin that



swithe few were on behinan Humber the hior



thenung cuthon understandan on Englisc, oth



furthon an errand y-write of Latin on Englisc



areckon. And I ween that not many beyondan



Humber nay aren; swa few hior weron that I



furthon ane on lepne nay may y-thinkan be-Suthan



Thames tha tha I to ric fang. " Or, as literally



translated into later English by Archbishop Parker,



" So clean was it fallen amongst the English nation,



that very few were on this side Humber which their



service could understand in English, or else further-



more an epistle from Latin into English to declare.







  VOL XVIII-24.

















370        Jefferson's Works







And I ween that not many beyond Humber were



not. So few of them were that I also one only



may not remember by South Tamise when as I to



reign undertook. " In this benighted state, so pro-



foundly illiterate, few read at all, and fewer wrote:



and the writer having no examples of orthography to



recur to, thinking them indeed not important, had



for his guide his own ideas only of the power of the



letters, unpractised and indistinct as they might



be. He brought together, therefore, those letters



which he supposed must enter into the composition



of the sound he meant to express, and was not even



particular in arranging them .in the order in which



the sounds composing the word followed each other.



Thus, birds was spelt brides ; grass, gaers ; run,



yrnan ; cart, craett ; fresh, fersh. They seemed to



suppose, too, that a final vowel was necessary to



give sound to the consonant preceding it, and they



used for that purpose any vowel indifferently. A



son was suna, sune, sunu; maero, maere, maero,



maeru ; fines, limites ; ge, ye, y, i, are various spellings



vf the same prefix. The final e mute in English is



a remain of this, as in give, love, curse.



 The vowels were used indiscriminately_ also for



every vowel sound. Thus,







The comparative ended in ar, er, ir, or, ur, yr.



The superlative ended in ast, est, ist, ost, ust, yst.



The participle present ended in and, end, ind, ond, und, ynd.



The participle past ended in ad, ed, id, od, ud, yd.



Other examples are, betweox, betwix, betwox, betwux. betwyx, for



 betwixt; egland, igland, ygland, for island.





















371        Essay on Anglo-Saxon







  Of this promiscuous use of the vowels we have



also abundant remains still in English. For accord-



ing to the powers given to our letters we often use



them indifferently for the same sound, as in bulwark,



assert, stir, work, lurk, myrtle. The single word



many, in Anglo-Saxon, was spelt, as Dr, Hickes



has observed, in twenty different ways; to wit,



maenigeo, maenio, maeniu, menio, meniu, maenigo,



maenego, manige, menigo, manegeo, maenegeo,



menegeo, maenygeo, menigeo, manegu, maenigu,



menegu, menego, menigu, manigo. To prove,



indeed, that every one spelt according to his own



notions, without regard to any standard, we have



only to compare different editions of the same com-



position. Take, for example, Alfred's Preface to



Gregory's Pastoral before cited, as published in



different editions :











 Swa claene hio waes othfeallenu on angelkynne theatte swythe feawe



      heo            othfeallen     angelcynne that           feawa



                                                              fewa











 waeron behionan Humbre the hiora thenunga cuthen understandan on Englisc



        beheonan            hira  theninga cuthon understondan AEnglisc



                                  thenvnge







 oththe furthum an aerendgewrit of Laedene on Englisc areccean & ic wene



    furthon    aerendgewryt        Ledene    AEnglisc areccean







 thaette nauht monige begeondan Humbre naeren.



 that    noht begiondan   nearon.



    naht                  naeron.







  This unsettled orthography renders it necessary



to swell the volume of the dictionaries, by giving



to each word as many places in order of the alphabet

















372        Jefferson's Works







as there a re different modes of spelling it ; and in



proportion as this is omitted, the difficulty of finding



the words increases on the student.







  Since, then, it is apparent that the Anglo-Saxon



writers had established no particular standard€ of



orthography, but each followed arbitrarily his own



mode of combining the letters, we are surely at



liberty equally to adopt any mode which, establishing



uniformity, may be more consonant with the power



of the letters, and with the orthography of the



present dialect, as established by usage. The latter



attention has the advantage of exhibiting more



evidently the legitimate parentage of the two



dialects.







           III. PRONUNCIATION.







 To determine what that was among the Anglo-



Saxons, our means are as defective as to determine



the long-agitated question what "as the original



pronunciation of the Greek and Latin languages.



The presumption is certainly. strong that in Greece



and Italy, the countries occupied by those languages,



their pronunciation has been handed down, by



tradition, more nearly than it can be known to



other countries: and the rather, as there has been



no particular point of time at which those ancient



languages were changed into the modern ones



occupying the same grounds. They have been



gradually worn down to their present forms by time,



and changes of modes and circumstances. In like

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon      373







manner. there has been no particular point of time



at which the Anglo-Saxon has been changed into



its present English form. The languages of Europe



have generally, in like manner, undergone a gradual



metamorphosis, some of them in name as well as in



form. We should presume, therefore, that in those



countries of Great Britain which were occupied



earliest, longest, and latest by the Saxon immi-



grants, the pronunciation of their language has been



handed down more nearly than elsewhere; and



should be searched for in the provincial dialects of



those countries. But the fact is, that these coun-



tries have divaricated in their dialects, so that it



would be difficult to decide among them which is



the most genuine. Under these doubts, therefore,



we may as well take the pronunciation now in gen-



eral use as the legitimate standard, and that form



which it is most promotive of our object to infer



the Anglo-Saxon pronunciation. It is, indeed, the



forlorn hope of all aim at their probable pronuncia-



tion ; for were we to regard the powers of the letters



only, no human organ could articulate their uncouth



jumble. We will suppose, therefore, the power of



the letters to have been generally the same in Anglo-



Saxon as now in English; and to produce the same



sounds we will combine them, as nearly as may be,



conformably with the present English orthography.



This is, indeed, a most irregular and equivocal



standard; but a conformity with it will bring the



two dialects nearer together in sound and semblance,

















374        Jefferson's Works







and facilitate the transition from the one to the



other more auspiciously than a rigorous adherence



to any uniform system of orthography which specu-



lation might suggest.







  I will state some instances only (referring to Dr.



Hickes for more) of the unskilful and inconsistent



uses of the letters by the Anglo-Saxons, in proof



of the necessity of changing them, to produce, to a



modern reader, the very sounds which we suppose



them to have intended by their confused combina-



tions. Their vowels, promiscuously used, as before



observed, must all be freely changed to those used



in corresponding words in English orthography.







b sounds as v, as in ober, over.



c   "       g    "   fic,  fig



c   "       j    " ceole,  jowl.



c   "       k,   " tacn,   token; bacen, baked; cind, kind.



c   "       s,   " cedar,  cedar.



c   "      ch,   " ceak,   cheek.



cg  "     dge,   " bricg,  bridge.



d   "      th,   " worden, or worthen ; mid or mith, with



f   "       v,   " delfan, to delve; yfel, evil.



v   "       f,   " vot, foot.



g   "       c,   " gamel,camel.



g   "      ga,   " gandra, gander; garlec, garlic



g   "      ge,   " angel.



g   "      zu,   " laga, laiu; agen. own; fugel, fowl.



g   "       y.   " This is its most general power, as ge, ye                



      gear, year;burigan, bury; geoc, yoke; ego,                      eye;



ge, ye, y.



sc  "      sh,   " scame, shame; scip, ship; score, shore; scyl, shall.



y   "      ou,   "  ynce, ounce.



x   "      sh,   "  fixas, fishes; axan, ashes.



x   "      sk,   "  axian, ask.







 And finally, in the words of Dr. Hickes, " Demum



quomodo Anglo-Saxon icae voces factae sunt Angli-

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon     375







cae mutando literas ejusdem organi, asperando



lenes, et leniendo asperas, vocales, diphongos, et



interdum consonantes leviter mutando, auferendo



initiales et finales syllabas, praesertim terminationem



modi infinitivi, praeterea addendo, transponendo,



et interponendo literas, et voces quoque syncopando,



exemplis docendum Çst. "











              IV. GRAMMAR.







 Some observations on Anglo-Saxon grammar may



show how much easier that also may be rendered



to the English student. Dr. Hickes may certainly



be considered as the father of this branch of modern



learning. He has been the great restorer of the



Anglo-Saxon dialect from the oblivion into which



it was fast falling. His labors in it were great, and



his learning not less than his labors. His grammar



may be said to be the only one we yet possess : for



that edited at Oxford in 1711 is but an extract from



Hickes, and the principal merit of Mrs. Elstob's



is, 'that it is written in English, without anything



original. in it. Some others have been written,



taken also, and almost entirely from Hickes. In his



time there vc,as too exclusive a prejudice in favor



of the Greek and Latin languages. They were con-



sidered as the standards of perfection, and the



endeavor generally was to force other languages



to a conformity with these models. But nothing



can be more radically unlike than the frames of the

















376        Jefferson's Works







ancient languages, Southern and Northern, of the



Greek and Latin languages, from those of the



Gothic family. Of this last are the Anglo-Saxon



and English ; arid had br. Hickes, instead of keeping



his eye fixed on the Greek and Latin languages, as



his standard, viewed the Anglo-Saxon in its con-



formity with the English only, he would greatly



have enlarged the advantages for which we are



already so much indebted to him. His labors, how-



ever, have advanced us so far on the right road, and



a,correct pursuit of it will be a just homage to him.



 A noun is to be considered under its accidents of



genders, cases, and numbers. The word gender is,



in nature, synonymous with sex. To all the sub-



jects of the animal kingdom nature has given sex,



and that is twofold only, male or female, masculine



or feminine. Vegetable and mineral subjects have



no distinction of sex, consequently are of no gender.



Words, like other inanimate things, have no sex,



are of no. gender. Yet in the construction of the



Greek and Latin languages, Çand of the modern ones



of the same family, their adjectives being varied in



termination, and made distinctive of animal sex, in



conformity with the nouns or names of animal sub-



jects, the two real genders, which nature has estab-



lished, are distinguished in these languages. But,



not stopping here, they have by usage, thrown a



number of unsexual subjects into the sexual classes,



leaving the residuary mass to a third class, which



grammarians call neutral-that is to say, of no.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon        377







gender or sex: and some Latin grammarians have



so far lost sight of the real and natural genders as



to ascribe to that language seven genders, the mas-



culine, feminine, neuter, gender common to two,



common to three, the doubtful, and the epicene;



than which nothing can be more arbitrary, and



nothing more useless. But the language of the



Anglo-Saxons and English is based on principles



totally different from those of the Greek and Latin,



and is constructed on laws peculiar and idiomatic



to itself. Its adjectives have no changes of termi-



nation on account of gender, number or case. Each



has a single one applicable to every noun, whether



it be the name of a thing having sex, or not. To



ascribe gender to nouns in such a case would be to



embarrass the learner with unmeaning and useless



distinctions.







 It will be said, e. g., that a priest is of one gender,



and a priestess of another; a poet of one, a poetess



of another, etc.; and that therefore the words



designating them must be of different genders. I



say, not at all ; because although the thing designated



may have sex, the word designating it, like other



inanimate things, has no sex, no gender. In Latin;



we well know that the thing may be of one gender



and the word designating it of another. See Mar-



tial vii. , Epig. 17. The ascription of gender to it is



artificial and arbitrary, and, in English and Anglo-



Saxon, absolutely useless. Lowthe, therefore, among



the most correct of our English grammarians, has

















378        Jefferson's Works







justly said that in the nouns of the English language



there is no other distinction of gender but that of



nature, its adjectives admitting no change but of



the degrees of comparison. We must guard against



the conclusion of Dr. Hickes that the change of



termination in the Anglo-Saxon adjectives, as god,



gode, for example, is an indication of gender; this,



like others of his examples of inflection, is only an



instance of unsettled orthography. In the languages



acknowledged to ascribe genders to their words, as



Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, their dic-



tionaries indicate the gender of every noun ; but the



Anglo-Saxon and English dictionaries give no such



indication ; a proof of the general sense that gender



makes no part of the character of the noun. We



may safely therefore dismiss the learning of genders



from our language, whether in its ancient or modern



form.







  2. Our law of Cases is different. They exist in



nature, according to the difference of accident they



announce. No language can be without them,



and it is an error to say that the Greek is without an



ablative. Its ablative indeed is always like its



dative ; but were that sufficient to deny its existence,



we might equally say that the Latins had no abla-



tive plural, because in all nouns of every declension,



their ablative plural is the same with the dative.



It would be to say that to go to a place, or from a



place, means the same thing. The grammarians of



Port-Royal, therefore, have justly restored the abla-

















        Essay on Anglo-Çaxon       379







tive to Greek nouns. Our cases are generally dis-



tinguished by the aid of the prepositions of, to, by,



from, or with, but sometimes also by change of



termination. But these changes .are not so general



or difficult as to require, or to be capable of a dis-



tribution into declensions. Yet Pr. Hickes, having



in view the Saxon declensions of the Latin, and ten



of the Greek language, has given six, and Thwaytes



seven to the Anglo-Saxon. The whole of them,



however, are comprehended under the three simple



canons following :







  (1.) The datives and ablatives plural of all nouns



end in um.







  (2.) Of the other cases, some nouns inflect their



genitive singular only, and some their nominative,



accusative and vocative plural also in s, as in Eng-



lish.







  (3.) Others, preserving the primitive form in



their nominative and vocative singular, inflect all



the other cases and numbers in en.







  3. Numbers. Every language, as I presume, has



so formed its nouns and verbs as to distinguish a



single and a plurality of subjects, and all,as far as I.



know, have been contented with the simple distinc-



tion of singular and plural, except the Greeks, who



have interposed between them a dual number, so



distinctly formed by actual changes of termination



and inflection, as to leave no doubt of its real dis-



tinction from the other numbers. But they do not



uniformly use their dual for its appropriate purpose.

















380        Jefferson's Works







The number two is often expressed plurally, and



sometimes by a dual noun and plural verb. Dr.



Hickes supposes the Anglo-Saxon to have a dual



number also, not going through the whole vocabu-



lary of nouns and verbs, as in Greek, but confined



to two particular pronouns, i. e., wit and yit, which



he translates we two, and ye two. But Benson



renders Çit by nos, and does not give yit at all.



And is it worth while to embarrass grammar with



an extra distinction for two or three, or half a dozen



words? And why may not wit, we two, and yit,



ye two, be considered plural, as well as we three, or



we four ? as duo, ambo, with the Latins ? We may



surely say then that neither the Anglo-Saxon nor



English have a dual number.







  4. Verbs, moods. To the verbs in Anglo-Saxon



Dr. Hickes gives six moods. The Greeks, besides



the four general moods, Indicative, Subjunctive,



Imperative, and Infinitive, have really on Optative



mood, distinguished from the others by actual differ-



ences of termination. And some Latin grammarians,



besides the Optative, have added, in that language,



a Potential mood; neither of them distinguished



by differences of termination or inflection. They



have therefore been disallowed by later and sounder



grammarians ; and we may, in like manner, disem-



barrass our Anglo-Saxon and English from the



Optatives and Potentials of Dr. Hickes.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon     381











           Supines and Gerunds.







  He thinks, too, that the Anglo-Saxon has supines



and gerunds among its variations; accidents cer-



tainly peculiar to Latin verbs only. He considers



lufian, to love, as the infinitive, . and to lufian, a



supine. The exclusion, therefore, of the preposi-



tion to, makes with him the infinitive, while we have



ever considered it as the essential sign of that mood.



And what all grammarians have hitherto called



the infinitive, he considers as a supine or gerund.



His examples are given in Anglo-Saxon and Latin,



but I will add the equivalent Greek and English



for illustration : Ç







I Mark, 24:-Come thu us to for-spillan?



         Venisti nos perditum?



         Hh0es aattoheoai nuas



         Comest thou to destroy us?







9 Luke 1:--And he him an-wield sealed untrimness to healan, and



                    devil-sickness ut to a-drivan.







         Potestatem curandi infirmitates, et ejiciendi daemonia.



         eEovoiav etti ttavta ta 8ai uovia kai voo uos 0epatevelv



         Authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.







2 Matt., 13 : Herod seeketh that child to for-spillan.



         Herodes quaerit puerum ad perdendum eum.



         Hpo8ns Lntelv to ttai8iov tou attoheoai  avto



         Herod seeketh the child to destroy him.







1 Luke, 77:-To sellen his folc haele y-wit.



         Ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi suae



         tou 0ovvai yvwolv owtepias tw haw avtov.



         To give knowledge of salvation to his people.







I ask then if ayyoheoai 0epattevel 0ouvai are supines or



,gerunds ? Why then should to for-spillan, to healan,

















382        JeffersÇn's Works







to a-drivan, to sellen, or, to destroy, to heal, to



cure, to drive, to give, be necessarily supines or



gerunds ? The fact is only that the Latins express



by these inflections, peculiar to themselves. what



other languages do by their infinitives.







  From these aberrationS, into which our great



Anglo-Saxon leader, Dr. Hickes, has been seduced



by too much regard to the structure of the Greek



and Latin languages and too little to their radical



difference from that of the Gothic family, we have



to recall our footsteps into the right way, and we



shall find our path rendered smoother, plainer, and



more direct to the object of profiting of the light



which each dialect throws on the other. And this,



even as to the English language, appears to have



been the opinion of Wallis, the best of our English



grammarians, who, in the preface to his English



grammar, says : " Omnes ad Latinae linguae normam



hanc nostram Anglicanam nimium exigentes multa



inutilia, 'praecepta de nonzinum casibus, generibus et



declinationibus, atque verborum temporibus, modis



et conjugationibus, de nominum item et verborum



regimine, aliisque similibus tradiderunt, quae a



lingua nostra sunt prorsus aliena, adeoque confu-



sionem potius et obscuritatem pariunt, quam expli-



cationi inserviunt ? "







  Having removed, then, this cumbrous scaffolding,



erected by too much learning, and obscuring instead



of enlightening our Anglo-Saxon structure, I will



proceed to give a specimen of the manner in which

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon      383







I think might be advantageously edited any future



republications of the Anglo-Saxon writings which



we already possess in print, or any manuscripts



which may hereafter be given to us through the



medium of the press. 







  I take my specimen from Thwaites' Heptateuch,



beginning with the 1st Chapter of Genesis. I give



in one column the Anglo-Saxon text, in the Anglo-



Saxon character, preserving letter for letter, the



orthography of the Saxon original; in another



column the same text in the Anglo-Saxon character



also, spelt with a combined regard to the power



of the letters, to English orthography and English



pronunciation. I interline a version verbally exact,



placing every English word against its Anglo-Saxon



root, without regard to the change of acceptation



it has undergone in time; as e. g., "the earth was



idle and empty, " I Gen. 2, instead of the modern



words " without form and void, " and the " aopatos kai



akataokevaotos " Of the LXX. , leaving the ingenuity of



the reader to trace the history of the change. In



rendering the Anglo-Saxon into the corresponding



English word, I have considered as English not only



what is found in the oldest English writers, in



glossaries and dictionaries, but in the Provincial



dialects also, and in common parlance of unlettered



people, who have preserved more of the ancient



language than those whose style has been polished



by education. Grammar, too, is disregarded, my



principal object being to manifest the identity of the

















384        Jefferson's Works







two languages. TÇis version is rendered more



uncouth by the circumstances that 1. The ordo



verborum of the Anglo-SaÇon is not exactly the



same as the English. 2. They used much oftener



the noun without the article. 3. They frequently



use their oblique cases without a preposition pre-



fixed the English very rarely. In this verbal version



these omissions are to be understood.







   The Anglo-Saxon writings, in this familiar form,



are evidently nothing but old English ; and we may



join conscientiously in the exhortation of Archbishop



Parker, in his preface to Asser, " Omnes qui in regni



institutis addiscendis, elaboraverint, cohortabor ut



exiguo labore, seiz pene nullo, hujus sibi linguae cog-



nitionem acquirant ? "







  As we are possessed in America of the printed



editions of the Anglo-SaÇon writings, they furnish



a fit occasion for this country to make some return



to the older nations for the science for which we are



indebted to them ; and in this task I hope an honor-



able part will in time be borne by our University,



for which, at an hour of life ton late for anything



elaborate, I hazard these imperfect hints, for con-



sideration chiefly on a subject on which I pretend



not to be profound. The publication of the inedited



manuscripts which exist in the libraries of Great



Britain only, must depend on the learned of that



nation. Their means of science are great. They



have done much, and much is yet expected from



them. Nor will they disappoint us. Our means are

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon       385







as yet small ; but the widow's mite was piously given



and kindly accepted. How much would contribute



to the happiness of these two nations a brotherly



emulation in doing good to each other, rather than



the mutual vituperations so unwisely and unjusti-



fiably sometimes indulged in by both. And this too



by men on both sides of the water, who think them-



selves of a superior order of understanding, and



some of whom are truly of an elevation far above



the ordinary stature of the human mind. No two



people on earth can so much help or hurt each other.



Let us then yoke ourselves jointly to the same car



of mutual happiness, and vie in common efforts



to do each other all the good we can-to reflect on



each other the lights of mutual science particularly,



and the kind affections of kindred blood. Be it



our task, in the case under consideration, to reform



and republish, in forms more advantageous, what



we already possess, and theirs to add, to the common



stock the inedited treasures which have been too



long buried in their depositories.







 P. S. January, 1825. In the year 1828, by author-



ity of the legislature of Virginia, a plan for the



establishment of an University was prepared and



proposed by them. In that plan the Anglo-Saxon



language was comprehended as a part of the circle



of instruction to be given to the students; and the



preceding pages were then committed to writing



for the use of the University. I pretend not to be



an Anglo-Saxon scholar. From an early period of



  VOL. XVIII--25

















386        Jefferson's Works







my studies, indeed, I have been sensible of the



importance of making it a part of the regular educa-



tion of our youth; and at different times, as leisure



permitted, I applied myself to the study of it, with



some degree of attention.. But my life has been



too busy. in pursuits of another character to have



made much proficiency in this. The leading idea



which very soon impressed itself on my mind, and



which has continued to prevail through the whole



of my observations on the language, was, that it



was nothing more than the Old English of a period



of. some ages earlier than that of Piers Ploughman;



and under this view my cultivation of it has been



continued. It was apparent to me that the labors



of Dr. Hickes, and other very learned men, have



been employed in a very unfortunate direction, in



endeavors to give it the complicated structure of



the Greek and Latin languages. I have just now



received a copy of a new world, by Mr. Bosworth,



on the elements of Anglo-Saxon grammar, and it



quotes two other works, by Turner and Jamieson,



both of great erudition, but not yet known here.







  Mr. Bosworth's is, indeed, a treasure of that ven-



erable learning. It proves the assiduity with which



he has cultivated it, the profound knowledge in it



which he has attained, and that he has advanced



far beyond all former grammarians in the science



of its structure. Yet, I own, I was disappointed on



finding that in proportion as he has advanced on



and beyond the footsteps of his predecessors, he

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    387







has the more embarrassed the language with rules



and distinctions, in imitation of the grammars of



Greek and Latin ; has led it still further from its



genuine type of old English, and increased its diff-



culties by the multitude and variety of new and



minute rules with which he has charged it. I had



the less expected this from observations made early "



in the work, on "the total disregard of the Anglo-



Saxons of any settled rules of orthography, their



confounding the letters, using them indifferently



for each other, and especially the vowels and diph-



thongs (p. 46), on the frequent transpositions of



their letters, and the variety of ways of writing



the same word by different Anglo-Saxon authors Ç "



giving as examples, six ways of spelling the word



" youth, " and twenty ways of spelling " many;"



reserving that, in the comparative degree, the last€



syllable, er, was spelt with all the vowels indiffer-



ently; so also the syllable est, of the superlative



degree, and sÇ the participial terminations of end



and ed (p. 54); adding many other examples of a



use entirely promiscuous of the vowels, and much



so of the consonants.







  And in page 249 he says: "It must "e evident



that learning was not so common in the Saxon era



as at the present time. Our ancestors, having few



opportunities of literary acquirements, ;.ould not



have determined upon fixed rules for orthography,



any more than illiterate persons in the Present day,



who, having been employed in manual labor, could

















388        Jefferson's Works







avail themselves of the facilities which were offered.



Hence arose the differences observable in spelling



the same words in Saxon." And again, in a note,



P€ 253Ç he says: "Those changes in Saxon, which



are denominated dialects, appear in reality only



to be the alterations observed in the progress of



the language, as it gradually flowed from the Saxon,



varying, or casting off many of its inflections, till



it settled in the form of the present English: This



progressive transformation of the Anglo-Saxon into



our present form of speech will be evident by the



following examples, taken from the translations of



the most learned men of the age to which they are



referred. " And he proceeds to give specimens



of the Paternosters of the years 890, 930, 1130, 1160,



1180, 1250, 1260, 1380, 1430, 1500, 1526, 1537 1541



1556, 1611, that is, from the time of Alfred to that of



Shakespeare. These obviously prove the gradual



changes of the language from the Anglo-Saxon



form to that of the present English, and that there



was no particular point of time at which the Anglo-



Saxon was superseded by the English dialect; for



dialects we may truly call them, of the same lan-



guage, separated by lines of time instead of space.



And these specimens prove also that the language



of Alfred was, no more than that of Piers Plough-



man, a different one from that we now speak.



  In like manner, the language of France, cotempo-



rary with our Anglo-Saxon, was as different from



modern French,Ç as the Anglo-Saxon from modern

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    389







English; and their Romanum-rusticum, or Romain-



rustique, as it was called, has changed insensibly,



as our Anglo-Saxon, to the form now spoken. Yet



so much of the fundamental idiom remains the



same in both, that to read and understand the



elder dialect, they need but a glossary for words



lost by disuse.







 I will make one more quotation from Mr. Bos-



worth, because it confirms what I have said of the



scholastic bias of our early authors to place our old



language in the line of Latin and Greek. " Hickes "



says he, page a I 3, note a, " indisputably one of the



most learned of those. who can be said to haveÇ



examined, with a critical eye, our Saxon literature;



influenced by the desire of reducing everything to



some classical standard, a prejudice not uncommon



in the age in which he wrote, endeavors, with greater



zeal than success, to show that the writers whom



he was recommending to the world [the Anglo-Saxon



poets) observed the legitimate rules of Latin prosody,



and measured their feet by syllabic quantity. "



  Notwithstanding these proofs that our author was



fully aware of the unsettled and uncertain orthog-



raphy of the Anglo-Saxons, and his particular obser-



vations, p. 53, 54, that. " the final letters of words



are often omitted," and "that the different letters



suffer very frequent changes of position," he pro-



ceeds, in conformity with preceding authorities,



which indeed support him, to make genders, cases,



and declensions of nouns to depend on their termi-

















390        Jefferson's Works







nating vowel, p. 80, 81, 82, 83, 84; the formations



of different parts of verbs to depend on the colloca-



tiun of the letters (p. L.3), and other formations [p.



181) and even regimen [p. 202] to depend on the



final syllable.Ç And this leads to such an infinitude



of minute rules and observances, as are beyond the



power of any human memory to retain. If, indeed,



this be the true genius of the Anglo-Saxon language,



then its difficulties go beyond its worth, and render



a knowledge of it no longer a compensation for the



time and labor its acquisition will require; and,



in that case, I would recommend its abandonment



in our University, as an unattainable and unprofit-



able pursuit.







  But if, as I believe, we may consider it as merely



an antiquated form of our present language, if we



may throw aside the learned difficulties which mask



its real character, liberate it from these foreign



shackles, and proceed to apply ourselves to it with



little more preparation than to Piers Ploughman,



Douglas, or Chaucer, then I am persuaded its acqui-



sition will require little time or labor, and will



richly repay us by the intimate insight it will give



us into the genuine structure, powers and mean-



ings of the language we now read and speak. We



shall then read Shakespeare and Milton with a supe-



rior degree of intelligence and delight, heightened



by the new and delicate shades of meaning developed



to us by a knowledge of the original sense of the



same words.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon      391







 This rejection of the learned labors of our Anglo-



Saxon doctors, may be considerÇd, perhaps, as a



rebellion against science. My hope, however, is,



that it may prove a revolution. Two great works,



indeed, will be wanting to effect all its advantages.



I. A grammar on the simple principles of the Eng-



lish grammar, analogizing the idiomÇ the rules and



principles of the one and the other, eliciting their



common origin, the identity of their structure, laws



and composition, and their total unlikeness to the



genius of the Greek and latin. 2. A dictionary,



on the plan of Stephens or Scapula, in which the



Anglo-Saxon roots should be arranged alphabetically,



a nd the derivatives from each root, Saxon and Eng-



lish, entered under it in their proper order and con-



nection. Such works as these, with new editions



of the Saxon writings, on the plan I venture to



propose, would show that the Anglo-Saxon is really



old English, little more difficult to understand than



works we possess, and read, and still call English.



They would recruit and renovate the vigor of the



English language, too much impaired by the neglect



of its ancient constitution and dialects, and would



remove, for the student, the principal difficulties



of ascending to the source of the English language,



the main object of what has been here proposed.

















392        Jefferson's Works











        OBSERVATIONS ON ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR.







  Pronunciation.-Different nations use different



alphabets for expressing the sounds of their lan-



guages; and nations which use the same alphabet



assign very different powers to the same characters.



Hence, to enable persons to learn the language of



other countries, grammars are composed explain-



ing to what letters and combinations of them, in



their own language, the letters and combinations



of them in another are equivalent. The pronuncia-



tion of the living languages is deposited in records



of this kind, as doubtless was that of the Greek and



Latin languages, now considered as dead. These



evidences of their pronunciation, however, being



lost, we resort to the countries in which these lan-



guages were once spoken; and where they have been



insensibly altered to what ' is now spoken there ;



and we presume that, the same alphabetical char-



acters being still preserved there, the powers assigned



to them are those handed down by tradition, with



some changes, no doubt, but yet tolerably correct



in the main: and that the present pronunciation of



those characters by the inhabitants of the same



country is better evidence of their ancient power



than any other to be obtained at this day. Hence



it is presumed that the pronunciation of the



Greek and Roman characters, now practiced by the



modern Greeks and Italians, is nearer probably to



that of the ancient Greeks and Romans than the

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    393







sounds assigned to the same characters by any other



nation.







 The Anglo-Saxon is also become a dead language.



Its alphabet is preserved; but if any written evi-



dences exist of the powers assigned to its different



characters, it is unknown to me. On the contrary,



I believe that the expressions of the sounds of their



language by alphabetical characters had not been



long and generally enough practised to settle an



uniform power in each letter or combination of



letters. TÇis I infer from their infinitely diversi-



fied modes of spelling the same word. For example,



the word many is found spelt in twenty different.



manners. To supply evidence, therefore, of the



pronunciation of their words, . we should, I think,



resort to the pronunciation of the corresponding



words in modern English. For as the Anglo-Saxon



was insensibly changed into the present English lan-



guage, it is probable the English have the pronuncia-



tion, as well as the words, by tradition. Indeed, I



consider the actual pronunciation of a word by the



English as better evidence of its pronunciation by



their Anglo-Saxon ancestors than the multiform



representation of it by letters which they have left



us. The following examples will give an idea of



the appeal I make to English pronunciation for the



power of the Saxon letters, and sound of the Saxon



words:

















394        Jefferson's Works







 The Anglo Saxon  c. in cy  cynnic was probably sound as k



in the corresponding English words kind, kingric



ci. in cierte= ch in chest";



eo in eop eopen = yo in you your



eo on pneo, reop= e in three seven



eo in peopen = o in four



ea in anpealo, tpypealo = a or o in onefold, twofold   



ge. prefix = yin yelept or a in adown along, aside, among, about etc



io in rioc, riolc, riolpon =i in sick, silk, silver rc in hir ceop, juoeirc,

rcomleare= sh in bishop, jewish, shameless  Those, ' I think, who have leisure

and knowledge



of the subject; could not render it a greater serviÇe



than by new editions of the Saxon writings still



extant, digested under four columns, whereof the



first should present the text in the Saxor character



and original loose orthography; the second the' same



text in Saxon characters reformed to modern Eng-



lish orthography as nearly as allowable; the third,



the same text in the English character and orthog-



raphy; the fourth, an English version, as literally



expressed, both as to words and their 'arrangement,



as any indulgences of grammar or of obsolete or



provincial terms, would tolerate. I will exhibit the



following passage from Alfred's Orosius, I. i:; p. 23,



as a specimen: €







































































































































396          Jefferson's Works







   The dissimilitude between Saxon and English is



more in appearance than in reality. It consists



chiefly in the difference of character and orthogra-



phy. Suppress that (as is done in the third column),



represent the sounds by the English character and



orthography, and it is immediately seen to Çe,



not a different language, but the same in an earlier



stage of its progression. And such editions of the



Saxon writers, by removing the obstructions of



character and false spelling, enabling us to give



habitual and true, instead of uncouth and false



sounds to words, would promote the study of the



English language, by facilitating its examination



in its mother state, and making us sensible of deli-



cacies and beauties in it, unfelt but by the few who



have had the courage, through piles of rubbish to



seek a radical acquaintance with it.







            Declensions of Nouns.



 One of the simplifications of the study Ç of the



Anglo-Saxon which would result from a reformation



of its orthography to the present English standard,



would be a reduction in the number of the declen-



sions of nouns heretofore assigned to it. The Anglo-



Saxons seem to have thought some final vowel neces-



sary to give sound to the preceding consonant,



although that vowel was not itself to be sounded;



and nothing being less fixed than the power of their



vowels and diphthongs; they have used all the



vowels indiscriminately for this purpose. Thus,





















          Essay on Anglo-Saxon       397











 The word Son, in modern English, was spelt by them runa, rune,



runu. free ; "fneah, Fneo, fneoh, fnig. Meal; mela, mele,



melu. Man; man, mon Milk; meolc, meoloc, meoluc



milc. mickle ; micel, mycel, mycel, mycle, myccle



Pepper; Peopen, peppon, pipon







  Notwithstanding ,these various orthographies, all,



I presume, represent the same sound, and probably



that still retained by the English. For I can more



easily suppose that an unlettered people used



various modes of spelling the same word, than that



they had so many different words to express the



same thing. The e final of the English is a relict



of the Anglo-Saxon practice of ending a word with



a final vowel. A difference of orthography, there-



fore, and still less a mere difference of a final vowel



is not sufficient to characterize a different declension



of nouns. I should deem an unequivocal change



in the sound necessary to constitute an inflection ;



and a difference in the inflections necessary to form



a class of nouns Çinto a different declension. On



these principles I should reduce Thwaite's seven



declensions to four, as follows :

















398        Jefferson's Works















1st declension, being Thwaite's 5th and 6th:















Sing. Nom.



Ace.          piln



Voc.



Dat.          pilne 



Abl.



Plur. Nom.    pilna-e-o-u     piln



gen



Acc.          pilna



Voc.



Dac.          pilnum. pilnum



Abl.-







Sing. Nom       runu



Voc



Abl



gen             runa          run



plur. nom



gen



acc



Voc             runa.u



Sing Dat



acc



plur dat



abl             runum.  .  runum











2d deciension, comprehending Thwaite 's 3d and 4th :







Sing Nom



Acc           anogit



Voc           anogite-a



Dat           anogita



Abl           anogitu



Plur. Gen                  anogit



Acc



Voc



Nom           anogitn-a.o  anogitr



Sing Gen      anogiter     anogitum 



Dat           anogitum



Abl           



Yoc.







Sing Nom



Acc



Voc



plur. Acc     pono



Voc           ponoe-a



Nom                      pono



Gen           ponoa



Sing Dat      ponoe      ponor



Acc           ponor       ponoum



Gen           ponoum



Plur



Dat



Abl.































400        Jefferson's Works







  In stating the declensions here the first column



presents the Anglo-Saxon orthography, the varie-



ties of which have been deemed sufficient to consti-



tute inflections and declensions. The second column



presents a reformed orthography, supposed equiva-



lent to the other as to sound, and consequently



showing that a variety in spelling where there is a



sameness of sound does not constitute an inflection,



or change of declination.







  The four declensions, reformed to an uniform



orthography, would stand thus:





















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    401







 In this scheme, then,







   The First declenaion has no inflection, but for the dative and ablative



plurals, which end in um.



   The second inflecte its genitive singular in p, and dative and ablative



plural in um.



   The third inflecte iÇ genitive, singular, nominative, accusative, and



vocative plural in r ; and dative and Çablative plural in um.



  The fourth preserving its radical form in the nominative and vocative



singular, inflects all its other cases in en, except the dative and Çablative



plural, which, in all the decleneions, end invariably in um.



 It may be said that this is a bold proposition,



amounting. to a change of the language. But not



so at all. What constitutes a language is a



system of articulated sounds, to each of which an



idea is attached. TheÇ artificial representati on of



these sounds on paper is a distinct thing. Surely



there were languages before the invention of letters ;



and there are now languages never yet expressed



in letters. To express the sounds of a language



perfectly, every letter of its alphabet should have



but a single power, and those letters only should be



used whose powers successively pronounced would



produce the sound required. The Italian orthog-



raphy is more nearly in this state than any other



with which I am acquainted; the French and Eng-



lish the farthest from it. Would a reformation of



the orthography of the latter languages change



them ? If the French word aimaient, for example,







   VOL. XVIII-26

















402        Jefferson's Works







were spelt ÇrnÇ, according to the French, or ama,



according to the English power of those letters,



would the word be changed? Or if the English word



cough were spelt cof, would that change the word?



 And how much more reasonable is it to reform



the orthography of an illiterate people among whom



the use of letters was so rare that no particular



mode of spelling had yet been settled, no uniform



power given to their letters, every; .. one being left



free to express the words of the language by such



combinations of letters as seemed to him to come



near their sound. How little they were agreed as



to the powers of their own letters, and how differ-



ently and awkwardly they combined them to pro-



duce the same sound, needs no better example than



that furnished by Dr. Hickes of the short and



simple sound of many being endeavored to be rep-



resented by twenty different combinations of letters ;



to wit, in English characters, maenigeo, maenio,



maeniu, menio, meniu, maenigo, maenego, manige;



menigo, manegeo, maenegeo. menegeo, maenygeo,



menigeo, manegu, maenigu, menegu,menego; menigu,



manigo. Now, would it change the word to banish



all these, and give it, in their books, the orthog=



raphy of many, in which they have all ended? And



their correction in type is no more than every



reader is obliged to make in his mind as he reads



along ; for it is impracticable for our organs to pro-



nounce all the letters which their bungling spellers



have huddled together. No one would attempt to

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon     403







give to each of these twenty methods of spelling



many the distinct and different sounds which their



different combinations of letters would call for.



This would be to make twenty words where there



surely was but one. He would probably reduce



them all, wherever he met with them, to the single



and simple sound of many, which all of them aimed



to produce.







  This, then, is what I would wish to have done to



the reader's hand, in order to facilitate and encourage



his undertaking. For remove the obstacles of



uncouth spelling and unfamiliar character, and



there would be little 'more difficulty in understand-



ing an Anglo-Saxon writer than Burns' Poems. So



as to the form of the characters of their alphabet.



That may be changed without affecting the lan-



guage. It is not very long since the forms of the



English and French characters were changed from



the black letter to the Roman ; yet the languages



were not affected. Nor are they by the difference



between the printed and written characters now in



use. The following note, written by AElfric, is not



the less Latin because expressed in Anglo-Saxon



characters :







    Ego AElfnicun rcnipri hunc Lihnum in monartenio



 Bapoonio et oeoi Bnihtpoloo Pneporito:







 We may say truly, then, that the Anglo-Saxon



language would still be the same, were it written in

















404        Jefferson's Works







the characters now used in English, and its orthog-



raphy conformed to that of the English; and cer-



tainly the acquisition of it to the English student



would be greatly facilitated by such an operation.







A SPECIMEN







  OF THE







FORM IN WHICH THE ANGLO-SAXON WRITINGS STILL



EXTANT MIGHT BE ADVANTAGEOUSLY PUB-



LISHED, FOR FACILITATING TO THE ENGLISH



STUDENT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE



ANGLO-SAXON DIALECT.











GENESIS-CHAPTER 1.







  I. On angin y-shope God heve-



nan and earthan.







  In beginning shaped God heaven



and earth.







  Se earth sothelic was idle



and empty, and theatre weron



over there newelness broadness;



and God's gost was (1)y-fared over



water.







  The earth forsooth was idle and



empty, and darkness were over the



abyss's broadness; and God's



ghost was fared over water.







  3. God cwoth tha, y-werth



liht, and liht werth y-wrought.







  God quoth then were light, and



light were y-wrought.







  I. On anginne gesceop God



heofenan and eorthan.







z. Seo eorthe sothlice waes



ydel & aemtig, and thoestru waer-



on ofer thaere niwelnisse brad-



nisse & Godes gast was geferod



ofer waeteru.















  3. God cwaeth tha, ge-weorthe



leoht; & leoht wearth ge=worht.







@#(1) The prefix ge, ye, y, i, being equivalent, I shall use the y for them



all.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    405







  4. God y-saw tha that 'it good



was, and he to-dealed that ' liht



from tham thestrum.







  God saw then that it good was,



and he dealed that light front the



darkness.







  5. And het that liht day, and



the theatre night. The was



y-worden even and morowen an



day.







  And hight that light day, and



the darkness night. Then was



wrought even and morn ane



day.







  6. God cwoth tha aft, y-werth



nu fastness to-mids them water-



um, & to-(1)tweme the water from



them wateruin.







  God quoth them afer, were now



fastness amidst the waters, &



twain the waters from the waters.







  7. And God y-wroht the fast-



ness, and to-twemed the water



the weron under there fastness



from them the weron boven there



fastness'; it was tha swa y-done.







  And God wrought the fastness,



and twained the waters that were



under the fastness from them that



were aboven there fastness; it was



then so done.







  8. And God het the fastness



heavenan, and was tha y-wroden



even & morowen other day.







  And God hight the fastness



heaven, and was then wrought



even & morn other day.







  9. God tha soothlic cwoth been



y-gathered tha water the sind



under there heavenan, and atewy







  . , God geseah tha that hit god



was, and he to daelde that leoht



from tham theostrum.







  g. And het that leoht daeg,



and tha theostra niht. Tha waes



ge-worden aefen & morgen an



daeg.







  6. God cwaeth tha eft, gewurthe



nu faestnis tomiddes tham wa-



terum, and totwaeme tha waeteru



from tham waeterum.







  7. And God geworhte tha fÇst-



nisse, & totwaemde the waeteru



the waeron under thaere faestnisse



from tham the waeron bufan



thaere faestnisse; hit was tha



swa gedon.







  8. And God het tha faestnisse



heofenan; and waes tha geworden



aefen & morgen other daeg.







  9. God tha sothlice cwaeth,



beon gegaderode tha waeteru the



sind under theare heofenan, and







twam (tweme) signifies twain.

















406        Jefferson's Works







dryness; it was tha swa y-done.







  God then forsooth quoth, be



gathered the waters that are under



the heavens, and shew dryness;



it was then so done.







  10. And God y-kyed the dry-



ness earthan, ' and the water



y-gathering he het seas: God



y-saw tha that it good was.







  And God called the dryness



earth, and the water gathering he



hight seas: God saw then that it



good was.







  11. And cwoth, sprute se



earth growendgras & seed work-



end, and apple bear tree waestm



workend after his kin, these seed



sy on him selfum over earthen;



it was tha swa 5--done.







  And quoth, sprout the earth



growing grass & seed working, and



apple bear tree fruit working after



his kin, the seed be in him self



over earth; it was then so done.







  12. And se earth fortha-teah



growand wort & seed bearing by



hire kin ; & tree westm workend,



and y-whilc seed havend after



his hue. God y-saw tha that it



good was ;







  And the earth(1) forth-brought



growing wort & seed bearing by



their kan; & tree fruit working,



and ilc seed having after its hue.



God saw then that it good was;







  13. And was y-wroden even



and morwen the third day.



  And was wrought even and



morn the third day.







aeteowigedrignis, hit waes tha



gedon. '











  10. And God gecigde tha drig-



nisse eorthan and thaera waetera



gegaderunga he het saes. God



geseah tha that hit god waes.







  11. And cwaeth, spritte seo



eorthe growende gaer and saed



wircende, and aepplebare treow;



waestm wir cende aefter his cinne ;



thaes saadsig on him silfum ofer



eorthan. Hit was tha swa ge-



don.







  12, And seo earthe fortha-teaH



growende wirte and and berende



be hire cinne, and treow westm



wircende & gehwilc and haeb-



bende aefter his hiwe. God ge-



seah that hat hit god was.







  13. And waes gewroden aefen



& morgen the thridda daeg.







 @#(1) Teon producere, fortha-teon, forth-bring. See post v. 20, teon, forth;



also ii, 9. fortha-teah.

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    407











I4. God cwath tha sothlic, be



nu liht on there heavenan fast-



ness, and to-dealon day and



niht, and been to-toknum & to-



tidum, & to-dayum, & to-yearum.



God quoth then forsooth, be now



light in the heaven 'fastness, and



deal day and night, and be tokens



& tides, & days & years. ..



15. And hi shinon on there



heavenon fastness, and a-lithon



tha earthan; it was tha swa



y-wroden.







And they shine in the heaven



fastness, and a-lighten the earth;



it mas then so wrought.



16. And God y-wroht twa



mickle liht, that mair liht to



these days lihting, & that less



liht to the. niht lihting;. . .and



starran he y-wroht.







  And God wrought twa mickle



lights, the more light to the days



lighting, cÇ I the less light to the



night lighting; and stars he



Ç wrought.







  I g. And y-set hi oÇ there



heavenon that hi shinon .over



earthan,







  And. set them in the heavens



that they shine over earth,







  18. And gimdon these days



and these niht, and to-dealdon



liht and thester. God y-saw tha



that it good was.







  And €govern the days and the



nights, and deal light and dark-



ness. God saw then that it good



was.







  14. God cwaeth tha sothlice,



beo nu leoht on thaere heofenan



faestnisse, and to aelon daeg &



nihte, & beon to tacnum & to



tidum & to dagum & to gearum.







  15. And higscinon on thaere



heofenan faestnisse and alihton



tha eorthan. Hit waes tha swa



geworden.







  16. And God geworhte twa



micele leoht, that mare leoht, to



thaes daeges lightinge, and that



laesse leoht to thaere nihte liht-



inge ; & steorran he geworhte.







  17. And gesette hig on thaere



heofenan, that hig scinon over



eorthan.







  18. And gimdon thaes daeges



there nihte, & to daeldon leoht



and theostra. God geseah tha



that hi Çgod wÇs.







@#(1) Fastnrss, frutoment. @#

















408        Jefferson's Works







  19. And was y-wroden even



and morwen, the fourth day.







  And was wrought even and



morn, the tourth day.







  20. God cwoth eke swilc, teon



nu that water forth swimmend



kin cuic in life, & flying kin over



earthan under there heavenan



tastness.







  God quoth 'eke swilc, bring now.



the water forth swimming kind



quick, in life, & flying kind over



earth under the heaven fastness.







  21. And God y-shope tha the



mickelan whales and all livend



fishen, and stirrendlia the tha



water tugon forth on heor hiwum,



and all flyend kin after heor kin;



God y-saw tha that it good was:







  And God shope then the mickle



whales, and all living fishes, and



stirrang skat the water 'tows forth in



their hue, and all flying kind after



thear kind; God saw lhen that it



good was;







  22. And bletsed hi thus quoth-



end, waxath and beoth y-mani-



fold & y-fillath the sea-water



and tha fugeles been y-manifold



over earthan.







  And blessed them thus quothing,



uiax and be manifold, & fill the sea-



water ana the fowles be manifold



over earth.







  23. And tha was y-woughten



even and morwen tha fifth day.







@#(1)Eac-swilc, al o.



(2) Shope (Baley), for shaped.



(3) Verstegan-tuge, to draw out-to lead ; toga ductor (Benson).



(4) Hiwe, color (Versteg-Benson) ; it means also a hive, house, family,

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon    409











  24. God cwoth eke-swilc, lead



se earth forth cuic niten on heor



kin, & creepend kin and deer



after heor hiwum. It was tha



swa y-wroden.







  God quoth eke-swilc, lead the



earth forth quick 'neats in heor kin,



6' creeping kind and 'deer after



their hue. It was then so wrought.







  25. And God y-wroht there



earthen deer after hir hiwum,



and tha neaton, and all creepend



kin on hior kin. God y-saw tha



that it good was.







  A nd God wrought the earthen deer



after their hue, and the neats, and



all creeping kind in their kind.



God saw then that it good was.







  26. And cwoth, Uton, workan



man to and-likeness, and to our



y-likeness, and he sy over the



fishes, and over the fowles, and



over the deer, and over all y-



shaft, & over all the crepend the



stirreth on earthan.







  And quoth, Come, work man to



likeness, and to our likeness, and



he be over the fishes, and over the



fowls, and over the dew, and over



all creatures, & over all the creep-



ing that stirreth on earth.







  27. God y-shope the man to



his and-likeness, to Godes and-



likeness he y-shope hine wer-



hoods and wife-hoods he y-shope



hy.







  God shope then man to his like-







  24. God cwoth eacswilc, laede



seo eorthe forth cuic nitena on



heora cinne, and creopende cinn,



and deor aefter heora hiwum.



Hit waes tha swa geworden.







  25. And God geworhte there



eorthan deor after hira hiwum,



& tha nitenu and call creopende



cynn on heora cynne. God ge-



seah tha that hit good waes.







  26. And cwoth, Uton, wircean,



man to and licnisse, and to ure



gelicnisse, and he sig ofer tha



fixas, & ofer tha fugelas, and ofer



the deor, and ofer ealle ge-



sceafta, and ofer ealle tha creo-



pende se stirrath on eorthan.







  27. God gesceoptha man to



his and licnisse, to Godes and lic-



nisse he gesceop hine, werhades



and wifhades he gesceop hig.







  @#(1) Nitena, neat cattle.



  (2) Deer. Probably this was then the generic name for all the ferae



or wild quadrupeds.



 (3) Uton, verbum hortantis, ace (Benson) ; come. @#

















410        Jefferson's Works 







ness, to God's likeness he shope



him, maÇ-hoods and wife-koods



he shofle them.,







  28. And God hy bletsed and



cwoth, waxeth and beeth y-mani-



fold, and y-filleth the earthan,



and y-wieldeth hy, and haveth on



yourum y-wield there sea-fishes



and there lyft-fowels and all



neaten that stirreth over earthan.







  And God them blessed and



quoth, wax and be manifold, and



fill the earth, and wield them, and



have in you% wield the sea-fishes



and the air-fowls and all neats



that stirreth over earth.







  29. God cwoth tha, 'even, I



for-give you all grass and wort-



seed bearendover earthan, and al



treewa tha the haveth seed on



him selfon, heor owens kins, that



hy been you to meat.







  God quoth then, even, I give you



all grass and wort-seed bearing



over earth, aÇnd a!! trees that haveth



seed in himself, their own kinds.



that they be you to meat.







  30. And allum neatum and all



fowelkin and eallum tham the



stirreth on earthan, on tham the



is livend life, and hi havon hem



to yreordien. It was tha swa



y-done.







  And all neats and all fowl-Çind,



and all theÇn that stirreth on earth,



on them that is living life, and they



have them to feed. lt was then so



done.







  28. And God hig bletsode and



cwaeth, wexath and beoth gemeni-



gfilde, and gefillath tha eorthan



and gewildath hig, and habbath



on eowrum gewealde thaere sae



fixas and thaere lyfte fugelas &



ealle nytenu the stiriath ofer



eorthan.







  29. God cwaeth tha, Efne, Ic for-



geafeow eall gears and wyrta saed



berende ofer eorthan, and ealle



treowa tha the habbath and on



him silfon heora agenes cynnes,



that€hig beon eow to mete.







  30. And eallum nytenum &



eallum fugelrynne and eallum



tham thestiriath on eorthan, on



tham the ys libbende iif, that hig



habbon him to gereordienne.. It



was tha ewa gcdon. '







@#(1) Efne, verily, adv. (Bailey); le!

















        Essay on Anglo-Saxon      411 







  31. And God y-saw all the 31. And God y-saw ealle tha '



thing the he y-wroht, & he weron thing the he geworhte, and hig ?



good. Was tha y-wroughten   wxron swithe gode. Was tha



even and morwen se sixth day.      geworden aefen and mergen se







  AnÇ God saw all the things that sixth day.



he wrought, 6' they were good.



Was then wrought even and morn        €



the sixth day.       '                 '

















     THOUGHTS ON



   ENGLISH PROSODY.















AN ESSAY ON THE ART OF POESY.

















414        INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 















 The following letter, in which Jefferson explains his reasons for



writing his " Thoughts on English Prosody," was written to Monsieur



F. J. de Chastellux. The letter is undated, but we infer from its tone



that the essay was written after Jefferson's return from France in



1789, and probably during the time he was Secretary of State:







 "Among the topics of conversation which stole off like so many



minutes the few hours I had the happiness of possessing you at Monti-



cello, the measures of English verse was one. I thought it depended



like Greek and Latin verse, on long and short syllables arranged into



regular feet. You were of Ç different, opinion. I did, not pursue this



subject after your departure, because it always presented itself with



the painful recollection of a pleasure which in all human probability



I was never to enjoy again. ' This probability like other human calcu-



lations has been set aside by events ; and we have again discussed on



this side the Atlantic a subject which had occupied us during some



pleasing moments on the other. A daily habit of walking in the Bois



de Boulogne gave me an opportunity of turning this subject in my



mind and I determined to present you my€thoughts on it in the form



of a letter. I for some time parned the difficulties which assailed me,



but at length I found they were not to be opposed, and their triumph



was complete. Error is the stuff of which the web of life is woven and



he who lives longest and wisest is only able to weave out the more of



it. I began with the design of converting you to my opinion that the



arrangement of long and short syllables into regular feet constituted



the harmony .,f English verse. I ended by discovering that you were



right in denying that proposition. The next object was to find out



the real circumstance which gives harmony to English poetry and



laws to those who make it. I present you with the result. It is a



tribute due to your friendship. It is due you also as having recalled



me from an error in my native tongue and that, too, in a point the



most difficult of all others to a foreigner, the law of its poetical



numbers."



 This essay on English poesy did not appear in either the Congres-



sional or Ford editions of Jefferson's Writings, and so far as can be



ascertained has never been published before in any form.

















                 416        THOUGHTS ON ENGLISH PROSODY.   415











  Every one knows 'the difference between verse



and prose in his native language; nor does he need



the aid of prosody to enable him to read or to repeat



verse according to its just rhythm. It is the business



of the poet so to arrange his words as that, repeated



in their accustomed measures they shall strike the



ear with that regular rhythm which constitutes



verse.







  It is for foreigners principally that. Prosody is



necessary ; not knowing the accustomed measures



of words, they require the aid of rules to teach them



those measures and to enable them to read verse



so as to make themselves or others sensible of its



music. I .suppose that the system of rules or excep-



tions which constitutes Greek and Latin prosody,



as shown with us, was unknown to those nations,



and that it has been invented by the moderns to



whom those languages were foreign. I do not mean



to affirm this, .however, because you have not



searched into the history of this art, nor am I at



present in a situation which admits of that search.



By industrious examination of the Greek and Latin



verse it has been found that pronouncing certain



combinations of vowels and consonants long, and

















416       Jefferson's Works







certain others short, the actual arrangement of those



long and short syllables, as found in their verse,



constitutes a rhythm which is regular and pleasing



to the ear, and that pronouncing them with any



other measures, the run is unpleasing, and ceases



to produce the effect of the verse. Hence it is con-



cluded and rationally enough that the Greeks and



Romans pronounced those syllables long or short



in reading their verse ; and as we observe in modern



languages that the syllables of words have the same



measures both in verse and prose, we ought to con-



clude that they had the sarrie also in those ancient



languages, and that we must lengthen or shorten



in their prose the same syllables which we lengthen



or shorten in their verse. Thus, if I meet with the



word prreteritos in Latin prose and want to know



how the Romans pronounced it, I search for it in



some poet and find it in the line of Virgil, " 0 milÇi



prreteritos: referat si Jupiter annos ! " where it is



evident that prÇe is long and te short in direct oppo-



sition to the pronunciation which we often hear.



The length allowed to a syllable is called its quantity,



and hence we say that the Greek and Latin languages



are to be pronounced according to quantity.







 Those who have undertaken to frame a prosody



for the English language have taken quantity for



their basis and have mounted the English poetry



on. Greek and Latin feet. If this foundation admits



of no question the prosody of, Doctor Johnson, built



upon it, is perhaps the best. He comprehends

















        Thoughts on English Prosody   417







under three different feet every combination of long



and short syllables which he supposes can be found



in English verse, to wit : 1. a long and a short, which



is the trochee of the Greeks and Romans ; 2. a short



and a long, which is their iambus ; and 3. two short



and a long, which is their anapest. And he thinks



that all English verse may be resolved into these feet.







  It is true that in the English language some one



syllable of a word is always sensibly distinguished



from the others by an emphasis of pronunciation or



by an accent as we call it. But I am not satisfied



whether this accented syllable be pronounced longer,



louder, or harder, and the others shorter, lower, or



softer. I have found the nicest ears divided on the



question. Thus in the word calenture, nobody will



deny that the first syllable is pronounced more



emphatically than the others; but many will deny



that it is longer in pronunciation. In the second of



the following verses of Pope, I think there are but



two short syllables.







      Oh! be thou bless'd with all that Heav'n can send



      Long health, long youth, long pleasure, and a friend.







Innumerable instances like this might be produced.



It seems, therefore, too much to take for the basis



of a system a postulatum which one-half of mankind



will deny. But the superstructure of Doctor John-



son's prosody may still be supported by substituting



for its basis accent instead of quantity; and nobody



will deny us the existence of accent.



  vol. xviii-27.

















418        Jefferson's Works







 In every word of more than one syllable there is



some one syllable strongly distinguishable in pro-



nunciation by its emphasis or accent.







 If a word has more than two syllables it generally



admits of a subordinate emphasis or accent on the



alternate syllables counting backwards and for-



wards from the principal one, as in this verse of



Milton :







        Well if thrown out as supernumeary,







where the principal accent is on nu, but there is a



lighter one on su and ra also. There are some few



instances indeed wherein the subordinate accent



is differently arranged, as parisyllabic, Constanti-



nople. It is difficult, therefore, to introduce words



of this kind into verse.







 That the accent shall never be displaced from the



syllable whereon usage hath established it is the



fundamental law of English verse.







 There are but three arrangements into which



these accents can be thrown in the English language



which entitled the composition to be distinguished



by the name of verse. That is, 1. Where the accent



falls on all the. odd syllables ; 2. Where it falls on



all the even syllabies; 3. When it falls on every



third syllable. If the reason of this be asked, no



other can be assigned but that it results from the



nature of the sounds which compose the English



language and from the construction of the human



ear. So, in the infinite gradations of sounds from





















      Thoughts on English Prosody 419







the lowest to the highest in the musical scale, those



only give pleasure to the ear which are at the inter-



vals we call whole tones and semitones. The reason



is that it has pleased God to make us so. The Eng-



lish poet then must so arrange his words that their



established accents shall fall regularly in one of



these three orders. To aid him in this he has at his



command the whole army of monosyllables which in



the English language is a very numerous one. These



he may accent or not, as he pleases. Thus is this



verse :











        'Tis just resentment add becomes the brave,



                             -PoPs,



the monosyllable and standing between two unaccented



syllables catches the accent and supports the meas-



ure. The same monosyllable serves to fill the inter-



val between two accents in the following instance :







        From use obscure and subtle; but to know



                             -MILTON



The monosyllables with and in receive the accent



in one of the following instances and suffer it to pass



over them in the other.







       The tempted with dishonor foul, supposed.



                            -MILTON.



       Attempt with confidence, the work is  done:



                            -HOPKINS.



       Which must be mutual in proportion due.



                            -MILTON,



       Too much of ornament in outward show.



                            -MILTON,

































420            Jefferson's Works







 The following lines afford other proofs of this



license.







         Yet, yet; I love-from Abelard it came,



                             -Poss,



        Flow, flow, my stream this devious way.







                          -SHENSTONE.







  The Greeks and Romans in like manner had a



number of syllables which might in any situation



be pronounced long or short without offending the



ear. They had others which they could make long



or short by changing their position. These were of



great avail to the poets. The following is an



example :











    IIohhakls w ttohv0aue ta un kaha kaha tta 0avhai.







                         -THEOCRITUS.



     'Ayes, 'Ayes  Bpotoholye uiai 0ove tel Xeoltthnta



                         HOM. IL.



    Mersa 8e teu Xe 0eolsl to v8 uetpov estlv aylsov.







                         -PHOCYL.







where the word Ages, being used twice, the first



syllable is long in the first and short in the second



instance, and the second is short in the first and long.



in the second instance.



  But though the poets have great authority over



the monosyllables, yet it is not altogether absolute.



The following is a proof of this :







       Through the dark postern of time long elaps'd.



                             Young

















      Thoughts on English Prosody    421







It is impossible to read this without throwing the



accent on the monosyllable of and yet the ear is



shocked and revolts at this.







 That species of our verse wherein the accent falls



on all the odd syllables, I shall call, from that cir-



cumstance, odd or imparisyllabic verse. It is what



has been heretofore called trochaic verse. To the



foot which composes it, it will still be convenient



and most intelligible to retain the ancient name of



Trochee, only remembering that by that term we



do not mean a long and a short syllable, but an



accented and unaccented one.







 That verse wherein the accent is on the even syl-



lables may be called even or parisyllabic verse, and



corresponds with what has been called iambic verse ;



retaining the term iambus for the name of the foot



we shall thereby mean an unaccented and an



accented syllable.







  That verse wherein the accent falls on every third



syllable, may be called trisyllabic verse; it is equiva-



lent to what has been called anapestic; and we will



still use the term anapest to express two unaccented



and one accented syllable.







 Accent then is, I think, the basis of English verse ;



and it leads us to the same threefold distribution of



it to which the' hypothesis of quantity had led Dr.



Johnson. While it preserves to us the simplicity



of his classification it relieves us from the doubtful-



ness, if not the error, on which it was founded. .

















422        Jefferson's Works











    OBSERVATIONS ON THE THREE MEASURES.







 Wherever a verse should regularly begin or end



with an accented syllable, that unaccented syllable



may be suppressed.







        BrÇd on plains, or born in valleys,



         Who would bid those scenes adieu ?



        Stronger to the arts of malice



          Who would ever courts pursue?







                       SHENSTONS







       Ruin seize the, ruthless king!



       Confusion on thy banners wait



       though banned by conquests crimson wing



       They mock the air with idle state.



       Helm, nor hallberk's twisted mail,



       Nor ev'n thy virtue  Tyrant, shall avail



       To save thy secret soul from nightly fears,



       From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears!







                             --GRAY.







         Ye Shep I herds give ear  to my lay,



           And take no more head of my sheep ;



         They have nothing to do but to stray;



           I have nothing to do but to weep



                           -Shenstone.







  In the first example the unaccented syllable with



which the imparisyllabic (odd) verse should end is



omitted in the second and fourth lines. In the second



example the unaccented syllable with which the



parisyllabic (even) verse should begin is omitted in the

















     Thoughts on English Prosody 423







first and fifth lines. In the third instance one of



the unaccented syllables with which the trisyllabic



(triple) verse should begin, is omitted in the first and



second lines and in the first of the following line both



are omitted :











      Under this marble, or wider this sill



     Or under this turf, or "en what you will



     Lies one who ne'er car'd, and still cares not a pin



     What they said, or may say, of the mortal within ;



     But who, living or dying, serene still and free,



     Trusts in God that as well as he was he shall be.







                             -POPE.







An accented syllable may be prefixed to a verse



which should regularly begin with an accent and



added to one which should end with.an accent, thus :







    1. Dauntless on his native sands



     The dragon-son of Mona stands ;



     In glittering arms and glory drest,



     High he roars his ruby crest,



     Thefe the thundering strokes begin,



     There the press, and there the din



     Talymalfra's rocky shore



                    -Gray,



















     There Confusion, Teror's child,



     Conflict fierce, and Ruin wild,



     Agony, that pants for breath,



     Despau', and honorable death.







                    --Gray

















            Jefferson's Works







    2.What is this world? thy school Oh! misery!



      Our only lesson is to learn to suffer ;



      And he who knows not that, was born for nothing.



      My comfort is each moment takes away



      A grain at least fr'om the dead load that's on me



      And gives a nearer prospect of the grave.







                            YOUNG,







    3.Says Richard to Thomas (and seem'd half afraid),



      I,m thinking to marry thy mistress's maid;



      Now, because Mrs. Lucy to thee is well known



      I will do t if thou bidst me, or let it alone."



      Said Thomas to ItÇchard, "To speak my opinion



                                



      There is not such a bitch in King George's dominion ;



      And I firmly believe, if thou knew'st her as I do



      Thou wouldst choose out a whipping-post first to be tied to



      She's peevish, she's thievish, she's ugly, she s old,



      And a liar, and a fool, and a slut, and a scold."



      Next day Richard hasten'd to church and was wed



                                                                            And

ere night had inform'd her what Thomas bad said.







                              -SHENSTONE.







  An accented syllable can never be either omitted



  or added without changing the character of the



  verse. In fact it is the number of accented syllables



  which determines the length of the verse. That is



  to say, the number of feet of which it consists.



  Imparisyllabic verse being made up of Trochees



  should regularly end with an unaccented syllable;



  and in that case if it be in rhyme both syllables of



  the foot must be rhymed. But most frequently



  the unaccented syllable is omitted according to the



  license before mentioned and then it suffices to

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 425







rhyme the accented one. The following is given



as a specimen of this kind of verse.







          Shepherd, wouldst thou here obtain



          Pleasure un alloy'd with point



          Joy that suits the rural sphere!



          Gentle shepherd, lend an ear.







          Learn to relish ca'tm delight



          Verdant vales and fountains bright;



          Trees that nod o'er sloping hills,



          Caves that echo tinkling rills.







          If thou canst no charm disclose



          in the simplest bud that blows ;



          Go, forsake thy plain and fold;



          Join the crowd, and toil for gold.







          Tranquil pleasures never cloy;



          Banish eÇch tumultuous joy;



          All but love-for love inspires



          Fonder wishes, warmer fires







         See, to sweeten thy repose,



         The blossom buds, the fountain flows;



         Lot to crown thy healthful board,



         All that milk and fruits afford.







         seek no more-the rest is vain;



         Pleasure ending soon in pain:



         Anguish lightly gilded o'er:



         Close thy wish, and seek no more.







                           -SHENSTONE.







 Parisyllabic verse should regularly be composed



of all iambuses ;, that is to say, all its even syllables

















426        Jefferson's Works







should be accented. Yet it is very common for the



first foot of the line to be a trochee as in this verse :











          Ye who e'er lost an angel, pity me!







Sometimes a trochee is found in the midst of this



verse. But this is extremely rare indeed. The



following, however, are instances of it taken from



Milton.







        to do ought good never will be our task



        behest obey, "worthies to be obeyed.







        Than self esteem, grounded on just and right



        Leans the huge elephant the wisest of brutes!







In these instances it has not a good effect, but in the



following it has:











        This hand is mine-oh what a hand is here!



        So soft, souls sink into it and are lost.







When this trochee is placed at the beginning of a



verse, if it be not too often repeated it produces a



variety in the measure which is pleasing. The fol-



lowing is a specimen of the parisyllabic verse,



wherein the instances of this trochee beginning the



verse are noted:











     Pity the sorrows of a poor old man



     Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,



     Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span;



       Oh! give relief, and Heaven will bless your store.

















                     Thoughts on English Prosody     427







     These tattered clothes my Poverty bespeaks.



     these hoary locks proclaim my lengthen'd years.



     And many a furrow in my greef worn cheek



      Has been the channel to a flood of tears,







     Yon house, erected on the rising ground,



      With tempting aspect drew me from my road



     For plenty there a residence has found.       '



      And grandeur "magnificent abode:







     Hard is the fate of the infirm and poor!



     Here, as I craved a morsel of their bread



     A pamper'd menial drove me from the door"



     To seek a shelter in an humbler shed.







     Oh! take me to your hospital dome;



     Keen blows the wind, and piercing is the cold!



     Short is my passage to the friendly tomb,



     for I am poor, and miserably old.



                                                                        Heaven

sends misfortunes; why sbould we repine



     Tis Heaven has brought me to the state you see



     And your condition may be soon like mine 



     The child of sorrow and of misery







                          -Moss;







 Trisyllabic verse consists altogether of anapests,



that is, of feet made up of two unaccented and one



accented syllable; and it does not admit a mixture



of any other feet. The following is a specimen of



this kind of verse:







      I have found out a gift for my fair;



      I have found Where the Wood pigeons breed;



      But let me that plunder forbear,



       She will say ,twas a barbarous deed;

















428                     Jefferson's Works







       For he ne'er could be true, she averr'd,



        Who could rob a poor bird of its young;



       And I loved her the more when I heard



        Such tenderness fall from her tongue.



                              SHenstone.







  The following are instances of an iambus in an



anapestic verse :







        Or under this turf, or ev'n what they will.



                             -Pope.



        It ne'ver was known that circular letters.



                             -SWIFT.







They are extremely rare and are deformities, which



cannot be admitted to belong to the verse, notwith-



standing the authority of the writers from whom



they are quoted. , Indeed, the pieces from which



they are taken are merely pieces of sport on which



they did not mean to rest their poetical merit.



  But to what class shall we give the following



species of verse ? " God save great Washington. "



It is triple verse, but the accent is on the first syllable



of the foot instead of the third. Is this an attempt



at dactylian verse? or shall we consider it still as



anapestie, wherein either the two unaccented syl-



lables which should begin the verse are omitted;



or else the two which should end it are, in reciting,



transposed to the next verse to complete the first



anapest of that, as in Virgil in the foÇlowing instance,



the last syllable of the line belongs to the next,



being amalgamated Çwith that into one.(1)



 @#(1) Virgil quotation not given.@#

















      Thoughts on English Prosody







 I am not able to recollect another instance of this



kind of verse and a single example cannot form a



class. It is not worth while, therefore, to provide a



foreigner with a critical investigation of its character.'







              OF ELISION.







 The vowels only suffer elision except that " v " is



also omitted in the word over and " w " in will, " h "



in have. This is actually made in most cases, as it



was with the Greeks. Sometimes, however, it is



neglected to be done, and in those cases the reader



must make it for himself, as in the following examples :







      Thou yet mightest act the friendly part



      And lass unnoticed from malignant right



      And fallen to save his injur'd land



      Impatient for it is past the promis'd hour.







      He also against the house of God was bold



      Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain



      Of Phlegma with the heroic race was joined



      Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond



      All her original brightness, nor appear'd



      Open or understood must be resolv'd.







            OF SYNECPHONESIS.







 Diphthongs are considered as forming one syllable.



But vowels belonging to different syllables are some-



times forced to coalesce into a diphthong if the



measure requires it. Nor is this coalescence pre-



vented by the intervention of an " h, " a " w " or a



liquid. In this case the two syllables are run into

















           Jefferson's Works







one another with such rapidity as to take but the



time of one. €



 The following are examples:







     And wish the avenging fight



     Be it so, for I submit, his doom is fair.



     When wint'ry winds deform the plenteous year



     Droop'd their fair leaves, nor knew the unfriendly soil



     The radiant morn resumed her orient pride



     While born to bring the Muse's happier days



     A patriot's hand protects a poet's lays



     Ye midnight lamps, ye curious homes



    . That eagle genius! had he let fall-



     Fair fancy wept; and echoing sighs confest



     The sounding forest fluctuates in the storm



     Thy greatest influence own



     Issueing from out the portals of the morn



     What groves nor streams bestow a virtuous mind



     With many a proof of recollected love.



     With kind concern our pitying eyes o'erflow



     Lies yet a little embryo unperceiv'd-



     Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads



     And even a Shakespeare to her fame be born



     When mineral fountains vainly bear



     O how self-fettered was my groveling soul!



     To every sod which wraps the dead



     And beam protection on a wandering maid



     Him or his children, evil he may be sure



     Love unlibidinous resigned, nor jealousy



     And left to herself, if evil thence ensue.



     Big swell'd my heart and own'd the powerful maid



     Proceeding, runs low bellowing round the hills



     Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love



     With all its shadowy shapes is shown



     The shepherd's so civil you have nothing to fear.

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 431







  The elision of a vowel is often actually made where



the coalescence before noted be moÇe musical: Per-



haps a vowel should never suffer elision when it is fol-



lowed by a vowel or where only an " h, " a " w " or a



liquid intervenes between that and a next vowel, or



in other words there should never be an elision



where synecphonesis may take place. Consider the



following instances :







     Full of the dear ecstatic pow'r, and sick



     Dare not th' infectious sigh; thy pleading look



     While ev'ning draws her crimson curtains round



     And fright the tim'rous game



     Fills ev'ry nerve, and pants in ev'ry vein.







     Full of the dear ecstatic power, and sick



     Dare not the infectious sigh ; thy pleading look



     While evening draws her crimson curtains round



     And fright the timorous game



     Fills every nerve, and pants in every vein.







 The .pronunciation in these instances with the



actual elision is less agreeable to my ear than by



synecphonesis.











        OF RULES FOR THE ACCENT.







 Accent deciding the measure of English verse as



quantity does that of the Latin, and rules having



been formed for teaching the quantity of the Latins



it would be expected that rules should also be offered



for indicating to foreigners the accented syllable of



every word in English. Such rules have been

















432        Jefferson's Works







attempted. Were they to be so completely formed



as that the rules a,nd. their necessary exceptions



would reach every word in the language, they would



be too great a charge on the memory and too com-



plicated for use either in reading or conversation. In



the imperfect manner in which they have been



hitherto proposed they would lead into infinite



errors. It is usage which has established the accent



of every word, or rather I might say it has been



caprice or chance; for nothing can be more arbitrary



or less consistent. I am of opinion it is easier for a



foreigner to learn the accent of every word individu-



ally, than the rules which would teach it. This his



dictionary will teach him, if, when he recurs Çto it for



the meaning of a word, he will recollect that he



should notice also on which syllable is its accent.



Or he may learn the accent by reading poetry, which



differs our language from Greek and Latin, wherein



you must learn their prosody in order to read their



poetry. Knowing that with us the accent is on



every odd syllable or on every even one or on every



third, he has only to examine of which of these



measures the verse is to be able to read it correctly.



But how shall he distinguish the measure to which



the verse belongs ? €



 If he can find in the piece any one word the accent



of which he already knows, that word will enable



him to distinguish if it be parisyllabic or imparisyl-



labic. Let us suppose, for example, he would read



the following piece :

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 433











         How sleep the brave, who sink to rest,



         By all their country's wishes blest!



         when Spring, with dewy fingers cold,



         Returns to deck their hallowed mould,



         She there shall dress a sweeter sod



         Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.







         By fairy hands their knell is rung;



         By forms unseen their dirge is sung;



         There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,



         To bless the turf that wraps their clay ;



         And Freedom shall a while repair,



         To dwell a weeping hermit there!







                         COLLINS.







He finds the word sceeter, the accent of which he has



already learned to be on the first syllable, sweet.



He observes that that is an even syllable, being the



sixth of the line. He knows then that it is parisyl-



labic verse and from that he can accent the whole



piece. If he does not already know the accent of a



single word he must look in his dictionary for some



one, and that will be a key to the whole piece. He



should take care not to rely on the first foot of any



line, because, as has been before observed, that is



often a trochee even in the parisyllabic verse.



Without consulting his dictionary at all, or knowing



a single accent, the following observation will enable



him to distinguish between these two species of verse



when they are in rhyme. An odd number of syllables



with a single rhyme, or an even number with a



double rhyme, prove the verse to be imparisyllabic.



  VOL. XVIII-28

















234        Jefferson's Works







An even number of syllables with a single rhyme,



or an odd number with a double one, prove it to be



parisyllabic, e. g.:







         Learn by this unguarded lover



          When your secret sighs prevail



         Not to let your tongue discover



          Raptures that you should conceal.







                           -CUNNINGHAM.







         He sung and hell consented



          To hear the poet's prayer



         Stern Proserpine relented



          And gave him back the fair.







                           -PorÇ.







  If in thus examining the seat of the accent he finds



it is alternately on an odd and an even syllable, that



is to say, on the third, sixth, ninth, twelfth syllables,



the verse is trisyllabic.







    with her how I etray'd amid fountains and bowers!



    or loiter'd behind, and collected the flowers!,



    Then breathless with arbor my fair one pursued,



    and to think with what kindness my garland she view'd!



    But be still, my fond heart! this emotion give o'er;



    Fain wouldst thou forget thou must love her no more.







                            -SHENSTONE.







  It must be stated that in this kind of verse we



should count backward from the last syllable, if it



be a single rhyme, or the last but one if it be double ;



because one of the unaccented syllables which should



begin the verse is so often omitted. This last syllable

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 435







in the preceding example should be the twelfth.



When the line is full it is accented of course.



Consulting the dictionary, therefore, we find in the



first line the ninth syllable accented; in the second,



the sixth; in the third line the accented syllables



there being alternately odd and even, to wit, the



third, sixth, ninth and twelfth, we know the verse



must be trisyllabic.



 The foreigner then first determining the measure



of the verse, may read it boldly. He will commit a



few errors, indeed; let us see what they are likely



to be. In imparisyllabic verse none, because that



consists of trochees invariably; if an unaccented



syllable happens to be prefixed to the verse, he will



discover it by the number of syllables. In parisyl-



labic verse, when a trochee begins the verse, he will



pronounce that foot wrong. This will perhaps



happen once in ten lines; in some authors more, in



others less. In like manner he will pronounce wrong



the trochee in the middle of the line. But this he



will encounter once in some hundreds of times. In



the trisyllabic verse he can never commit an error



if he counts from the end of the line. These imper-



fections are as few as a foreigner can possibly expect



in the beginning; and he will reduce their number



in proportion as he acquires by practice a knowledge



of the accents.



 The subject of accent cannot be quitted till we



apprise him of another imperfection which will show



itself in his reading, and which will be longer remov-

















436         Jefferson's Works







ing. Though there be accents on the first, the



second or the third syllables of the foot, as has been



before explained, yet is there subordination among



these accents, a modulation in their tone of which



it is impossible to give a precise idea in writing.



This is intimately connected with the sense; and



though a foreigner will readily find to what words



that would give distinguished emphasis, yet nothing



but habit can enable him to give actually the different



shades of emphasis which his judgment would dic-



tate to him. Even natives have very different



powers as to this article. This difference exists both



in the organ and the judgment. Foote is known to



have read Milton so exquisitely that he received



great sums of money for reading him to audiences



who attended him regularly for that purpose. This



difference, too, enters deeply into the merit of



theatrical actors. The foreigner, therefore, must



acquiesce under a want of perfection which is the



lot of natives in common with himself.



 We will proceed to give examples which may



explain what is€ here meant, distinguishing the accents



into four shades by these marks "" "' " ' the greater



number of marks denoting the strongest accents.







     Oh when the growling winds contend and all



     The sounding forest fluctuates in the storm



     To sink in warm repose, and hear the din



     Howl o'er the steady battlements, delights



     Above the luxury of vulgar sleep.







                          ARMSTRONG

















 Thoughts on English Prosody







Life's cares are comforts ; such by heav'n design'd



He that has none, must make them or be wretched



Cares are employments; and without employ



The soul is on a rack, the rack of rest.







                    -YOUNG.











O! lost to virtne, lost to manly thought,



Lost to the noble sallies of the soul!



Who think it solitude, to be alone.



Communion sweet! communion large and high!



Our reason, guardian angel, and our God!



Then nearest these, when others most remote ;



And all, ere long, shall be remote, but these.







                    -YOUNG.











By nature's law, what may be, may be now ;



There's no prerogative in human hours.



In human hearts what bolder thought can rise,



Than man'e presumption on to-morrow's dawn!



Where is to-morrow! In another world.



For numbers this is certain : the reverse



Is sure to none ; and yet on this perhaps,



his peradventure, infamous for lies,



As on a rock of adamant, we build



Our mountain hopes ; spin out eternal schemes.



As we the fatal sisters could outspin,



and big with life's futurities, expire.



                   -YOUNG,











Cowards die many times before their deaths:



The Valiant never taste of death but once.



Of all the wonders that I yet have heard



It seems to me most strange that s"en should fear



Seeing that death, a necessary and,



Will come when it will come.

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 439







He must not apprehend that all poets present the



same difficulty. It is only the most brilliant pas-



sages. The great mass, even of good poetry, is



easily enough read. Take the following examples,



wherein little differences in the enunciation will



not change the meaning sensibly.











        Here, in cool grot and mossy cell,



        We rural fays and faeries dwell;



        Though rarely seen by mortal eye,



        When the pale Moon, ascending high,



        Darts through yon lines her quivering beams,



        We frisk it near these crystal streams.







        Her beams, reflected from the wave,



        Afford the light our revels crave ;



        The turf, with daisies broider d'o'er,



        Exceeds, we wot, the Parian floor;



        Nor yet for artful strains we call,



        But listen to the water's fall.







        Would you then taste our tranquil scene,



        Be sure your bosoms be serene :



        Devoid of hate, devoid of strife,



        Devoid of all that poisons life :



        And much it 'vails you; in their place



        To graft the love of human race.







        And tread with awe these favor'd bowers,



        Nor wound the shrubs, nor bruise the flowers;



        So may your path with sweets abound;



        So may your couch with rest be crown'd!



        But harm betide the wayward swain,



        Who dares our hallow'd haunts profane!



                            SHENSTONE.

















440         Jefferson's Works







        To fair Fidele's grassy tomb



         Soft maids and village hinds shall bring



        Each opening sweet, of earliest bloom,



         And rifle all the breathing Spring.







        No wailing ghost shall dare appear



         To vex with shrieks this quiet grove,



        But shepherd lads assemble here,



         And melting. virgins own their love.







        No wither'd witch shall here be seen,



         No goblins lead their nightly crew;



        The female fays shall haunt the green,



         And dress thy grave with pearly dew ;







        The red-breast oft at evening hours



         Shall kindly lend his little aid,



        With hoary moss, and gather'd flowers,



         To deck the ground where thou art la.id:







        When howling winds, and beating rain,



         In tempests shake thy sylvan cell;



        Or 'midst the chase on every plain,



         The tender thought on thee shall dwell.







        Each lonely scene shall thee restore,



         For thee the tear be duly shed :



        Belov'd, till life can charm no more



         And mourn'd, till Pity's self be dead.







                          -COLLINS.











        OF THE LENGTH OF VERSE.







 Having spoken of feet which are only the con-



stituent part of verse, it becomes necessary to say



something of its larger divisions, and even of the

















      Thoughts on English Prosody.       441







verse itself. For what is a verse? This question



naturally occurs, and it is not sufficiently answered



by saying it is a, ÇtÇhole line: Should the printer



think proper to print the following passage in this



manner :







































































it would still be verse ; it would still immortalize its



author were every other syllable of his compositions



lost. The poet then does not depend on the printer



to give a character to his work. He has studied the



humanÇear. He has discovered that in any rhyth-



mical composition the ear is pleased to find at cer-



tain regular intervals a pause where it may rest, by



which it may divide the composition into parts, as



a piece of music is divided into bars. He contrives



to mark this division by a pause in the sense or at



least by an emphatical word which may force the



pause so that the ear may feel the regular return







                                                   i

















     Thoughts on English Prosody







    I mourn



    I sigh



    I burn



    I die



    Let us part-



    Let us part



    Will you break



    My poor heart?







Two feet.











     Flow'ry mountains



     Mossy fountains



     Shady woods



     Crystal floods



     To me the rose



     No longer glows



     Ev'ry plant



    Hss lost its scent.











    Prithee Cupid no more



    Hurl thy darts at threescore



    To thy girls and thy boys



    Give thy pains and thy joys.







Three feet.











    Farewell fear and sorrow



    Pleasure till to-morrow.







    Yes, ev'ry flow'r that blows



      I passed unheeded by



    Qill this enchanting rose



      Had fix'd my wand'ring eye.







             -CUNNINGHAM.

















            Jefferson's Works







     The rose though a beautiful red



       Looks faded to Phyllis's bloom;



     And the breeze from the bean-flower bed



       To her breath's but a feeble perfume ;



     A lily I plucked in full pride



       Its freshness with hers to compare,



     And foolishly thought till I try'd



       The flow'ret was equally fair.







                          -"CUNNINGHAM,







Four feet.







      From the dark tremendous cell



      Where the fiends of magic dwell



      Now the sun hath left the skies



      Daughters of Enchantment, risel







                          -'CUNNINGHAM.







     Come Hope, and to my pensive eye



     Thy far foreseeing tube apply



     Whose kind deception steals us o'er



     The gloomy waste that lies before.



                          -LANGHORNE.







     'Mongst lords and fine ladies we shepherds are told



     The dearest affections are barter'd for gold



     That discord in wedlock is often their let



     While Cupid and Hymen shake hands in a cot.







                         -CUNNINGHAM.







  Here the parisyllabic alone bears one foot more.







     Oh liberty! thou goddess heav'nly bright



     Profuse of bliss, and pregnant with delight,



     Eternal pleasures in thy presence reign,



     And smiling Plenty leads thy wanton train;



     Eas'd of her load subjection grows more light,

















      Thoughts on English Prosody







     And Poverty looks cheerful in thy sight;



     Thou mak'st the gloomy face of nature gay



     Giv'st beauty to the sun, and pleasure to the day.







                          -ÇADDISON.







The last line furnishes an instance of six feet, usually



called an Alexandrian ; but no piece is ever wholly



in that measure. A single line only is tolerated



now and then, and is never a beauty. Formerly it



was thought that the language bore lines of seven



,feet in length, as in the following:







'Tis he whose ev'ry thought and deed by rules of virtue moves ;



Whose gen'rous tongue disdains to speak the thing his heart disproves



Who never did a slander forge his neighbor's fame to wound ;



Nor listen to a false report by malice whisper'd round.







                             -PSALM I .



                                   J







But a little attention shows that there is as regular



a pause at the fourth foot as at the seventh, and as



verse takes its denomination from the shortest regu-



lar intervals, this is no more than an alternate verse



of four and of three feet. . It is, therefore, usually



written as in the following stanzas of the same piece :







      Who to his plighted vows and trust



         Has ever firmly stood



      And, though he promise to his loss,



         He makes his promise good.







      The man who by this steady course



         Has happiness ensur'd



      When earth's foundations shake, will stand



        By Providence secur'd,

















446         Jefferson's Works







 We may justly consider, therefore, verses of five



feet as the longest the language sustains, and it is



remarkable that not only this length, thouÇh the



extreme, is generally the most esteemed, but that



it is the only one which has dignity enough to sup-



port blank verse, that is, verse without rhyme.



This is attempted in no other measure. It consti-



tutes, therefore, the most precious part of our



poetry. The poet, unfettered by rhyme, is at



liberty to prune his diction of those tautologies,



those feeble nothings necessary to introtrude the



rhyming word. With no other trammel than that



of measure he is able to condense his thoughts and



images and to leave nothing but what is truly



poetical. When enveloped in all the pomp and



majesty of his subject he sometimes even throws



off the restraint of the regular pause:







     Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit



     Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste



     Brought death into the world, and all our woe,



     with loss of Eden, till one greater Man



     Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,



     Sing, heavenly Muse! that on the sacred top



     Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire



     That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,



     In the beginning, how the Heavens and Earth



     Rose out of Chaos.







     Then stay'd the fervid wheels, and in his hand



     He Cook the golden compasses, prepared



     In God's eternal store, to circumscribe



     This universe, and all created things

















      Thoughts on English Prosody 447











     One foot he centred, and the other turn'd



     Round, through the vast profundity obscure



     And said, "Thus far extend."







There are but two regular pauses in this whole pas-



Çsage of seven verses. They are constantly drowned



by the majesty of the rhythm and sense. But noth-



ing less than this can authorize such a license. Take



the following proof from the' same author:







     Again, God said, "Let there be firmament



     Amid the waters, and let it divide          



     The waters from the waters ; " and God made



     The firmament.      -MILTON 7: 261.



     And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the



    waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.



     And God made the firmament.           -Genesis 1 : 6.







I have here placed Moses arid Milton side by side,



that he who can may distinguish which verse belongs



to the poet. To do this he will not have the aid



either of the sentiment, diction or measure of poetry.



The original is so servilely copied that though it be



cut into pieces of ten syllables,- no pause is marked



between these portions.



 What proves the excellence of €blank verse is that



the taste lasts longer than that for rhyme. The



fondness for the jingle leaves us with that for the



rattles and baubles of childhood, and if we continue



to read rhymed verse at a later period of life it is



such only where the poet has had force enough to



bring great beauties of thought and diction into

















448        Jefferson's Works







this form: When young. any composition pleases



which unites a little sense, some imagination, and



some rhythm, in doses however small. But as we



advance in life these things fall off one by one, and



I suspect we are left at last with only Homer and



Virgil, perhaps with Homer alone. He like







      Hope travels on nor quits us when we die.







 Having noted the different lengths of line which



the English poet may give to his verse it must be



further observed that he may intermingle these in



the same verse according to his fancy.







  The following are selected as examples:







         A tear bedews my Delia's eye,



         To think yon playful kid must die ;



         From crystal spring, and flowery mead,



         Must, in his prime of life. recede!







         She tells with what delight he stood,



         To trace his features in the flood ;



         Then skipp'd aloof with quaint amaze,



         And then drew near again to gaze.



                          -SHENSTONS,







      Full many a gem of purest ray serene



       The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ;



      Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,



       And waste its sweetness on the desert air.







      Some village Hampden, that, with dauntless breast,



       The little tyrant of his fields withstood,



      Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,



        Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.







                                 --GRAY.

















    Thoughts on English Prosody 449







     There shall my plaintive song recount



      Dark themes of hopeless woe,



     And faster than the drooping fount



      I'll teach mine eyes to flow.







     Çhere leaves, in spite of Autumn green



      Shall shade the hallow'd ground,



     And Spring will there again be seen



      Ço call forth flowers around.







                      -SHENSTONE.







    O Health f capricious maid !



      Why dost thou shun my peaceful bower,



      Where I had hope to share thy power,



    And bless thy lasting aid ?







                     -SHENSTONE.







       The man whose mind, on virtue bent



       Pursues some greatly good intent



         With undivided aim



       Serene beholds the angry crowd



       Nor can their clamors fierce and loud



         His stubborn purpose tame.







       Ye gentle Bards! give ear,



        Who talk of amorous rage,



       Who spoil the lily, rob the rose,



      Come learn of me to weep your woes :



        "O sweet! O sweet Anne Page!"



                        -SHENSTONE.







      Too long a stranger to repose,



      At length from Pain's abhorred couch I rose



        And wander'd forth alone,



      To court once more the balmy breeze,



      And catch the verdure of the trees,



       Ere yet their charms were flown.



                        SHENSTONE,



VOL. XVIII-29

















450        Jefferson's Works







      O thou, by Nature taught



      To breathe her genuine thought,



      In numbers warmly pure, and sweetly strong;



      Who first, on mountains wild,



      In Fancy, loveliest child:



      Thy babe, and Pleasure's, nursed the powers of song!







                               -COLLINS.







         'Twas in a land of learning,



         The Muse's favorite city,



         Such pranks of late



         Were play'd by a rat,



         As-tempt one to be witty.



                          -SHENSTONE.







      Yet stay, O stay! celestial Pow'rs!



       And with a hand of kind regard



      Dispel the boisterous sto m that low'rs



       Destruction on the fav'rite bard;



      O watch with me his last expiring breath



      And snatch him from the arms of dark oblivious death.







                                --GRAY.







      What is grandeur, what is power?



      Heavier toil, superior pain.



      What the bright reward we ga.int



      The grateful memory of the good.



     Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,



     The bee's collected treasures sweet,



     Sweet music's melting fall, but sweeter yet



     The still small voice of gratitude.







     Methinks I hear, in accents low,



     The sportive, kind reply:



     Poor moralist! and what art thout



     A solitary fly!



     Thy joys no glittering female meets,

















       Thoughts on English Prosody  451











       No hive hast thou of hoarded sweets,



       No painted plumage to display;



       On hasty wings thy youth is flown;



       Why sun is set, thy spring is gone-



       We frolic while 'tis May.



                        -GaÇv.







       Then let me rove some wild and heathy scene ;



, Or find some ruin, 'midst its dreary dells,



          Whose walls more awful nod



          By thy religious gleams.







       Or, if chill blustering winds, or driving rain,



       Prevent my willing feet, be mine the hut,



          That, from the mountain's side,



          Views wilds, and swelling floods.







                          -COLLINS.







   Though the license to intermingle the different



 measures admits an infinitude of combinations, yet



 this becomes less and less pleasing in proportion as



 they depart from that simplicity and regularity of



 which the ear is most sensible. When these are wholly



 or nearly neglected, as in the lyric pieces, the poet



 renounces one of the most fascinating charms of his



 art. He must then look well to his matter and



 supply in sublimity or other beauties the loss of



 regular measure. In effect these pieces are seldom



 read twice.