with which I have so far given its details, is disproportioned to the
general scale of my narrative. But I have thought it justified by the
interest which the whole world must take in this Revolution. As yet, we
are but in the first chapter of its history. The appeal to the rights of
man, which had been made in the United States, was taken up by France,
first of the European nations. From her the spirit has spread over those
of the South. The tyrants of the North have allied indeed against it;
but it is irresistible. Their opposition will only multiply its millions
of human victims; their own satellites will catch it, and the condition
of man through the civilized world, will be finally and greatly
meliorated. This is a wonderful instance of great events from small
causes. So inscrutable is the arrangement of causes and consequences
in this world, that a two-penny duty on tea, unjustly imposed in a
sequestered part of it, changes the condition of all its inhabitants.
I have been more minute in relating the early transactions of this
regeneration, because I was in circumstances peculiarly favorable for
a knowledge of the truth. Possessing the confidence and intimacy of the
leading Patriots, and more than all, of the Marquis Fayette, their head
and Atlas, who had no secrets from me, I learned with correctness the
views and proceedings of that party; while my intercourse with the
diplomatic missionaries of Europe at Paris, all of them with the
court, and eager in prying into its councils and proceedings, gave me
a knowledge of these also. My information was always, and immediately
committed to writing, in letters to Mr. Jay, and often to my friends,
and a recurrence to these letters now insures me against errors of
memory. These opportunities of information ceased at this period, with
my retirement from this interesting scene of action. I had been more
than a year soliciting leave to go home, with a view to place my
daughters in the society and care of their friends, and to return for a
short time to my station at Paris. But the metamorphosis through which
our government was then passing from its chrysalid to its organic form,
suspended its action in a great degree; and it was not till the last
of August that I received the permission I had asked. And here I cannot
leave this great and good country, without expressing my sense of
its pre-eminence of character among the nations of the earth. A more
benevolent people I have never known, nor greater warmth and devotedness
in their select friendships. Their kindness and accommodation to
strangers is unparalleled, and the hospitality of Paris is beyond any
thing I had conceived to be practicable in a large city. Their eminence,
too, in science, the communicative dispositions of their scientific men,
the politeness of the general manners, the ease and vivacity of their
conversation, give a charm to their society, to be found nowhere else.
In a comparison of this with other countries, we have the proof of
primacy, which was given to Themistocles after the battle of Salamis.
Every general voted to himself the first reward of valor, and the second
to Themistocles. So, ask the traveled inhabitant of any nation, In what
country on earth would you rather live?--Certainly, in my own, where are
all my friends, my relations, and the earliest and sweetest affections
and recollections of my life. Which would be your second choice? France.
On the 26th of September, I left Paris for Havre, where I was detained
by contrary winds, until the 8th of October. On that day, and the 9th,
I crossed over to Cowes, where I had engaged the Clermont, Capt. Colley,
to touch for me. She did so; but here again we were detained by contrary
winds, until the 22nd, when we embarked, and landed at Norfolk on the
23rd of November. On my way home, I passed some days at Eppington, in
Chesterfield, the residence of my friend and connection, Mr. Eppes; and,
while there, I received a letter from the President, General Washington,
by express, covering an appointment to be Secretary of State. [See
Appendix, note H.] I received it with real regret. My wish had been
to return to Paris, where I had left my household establishment, as
if there myself, and to see the end of the Revolution, which, I then
thought, would be certainly and happily closed in less than a year. I
then meant to return home, to withdraw from political life, into which
I had been impressed by the circumstances of the times, to sink into
the bosom of my family and friends, and devote myself to studies more
congenial to my mind. In my answer of December 15th, I expressed these
dispositions candidly to the President, and my preference of a return to
Paris; but assured him, that if it was believed I could be more useful
in the administration of the government, I would sacrifice my own
inclinations without hesitation, and repair to that destination: this I
left to his decision. I arrived at Monticello on the 23rd of December,
where I received a second letter from the President, expressing his
continued wish, that I should take my station there, but leaving
me still at liberty to continue in my former office, if I could not
reconcile myself to that now proposed. This silenced my reluctance, and
I accepted the new appointment.
In the interval of my stay at home, my eldest daughter had been happily
married to the eldest son of the Tuckahoe branch of Randolphs, a young
gentleman of genius, science, and honorable mind, who afterwards filled
a dignified station in the General Government, and the most dignified
in his own State. I left Monticello on the 1st of March, 1790, for New
York. At Philadelphia I called on the venerable and beloved Franklin.
He was then on the bed of sickness from which he never rose. My recent
return from a country in which he had left so many friends, and the
perilous convulsions to which they had been exposed, revived all his
anxieties to know what part they had taken, what had been their course,
and what their fate. He went over all in succession, with a rapidity and
animation, almost too much for his strength. When all his inquiries were
satisfied, and a pause took place, I told him I had learned with much
pleasure that, since his return to America, he had been occupied in
preparing for the world, the history of his own life. ‘I cannot say much
of that,’ said he; ‘but I will give you a sample of what I shall leave:’
and he directed his little grandson (William Bache) who was standing by
the bedside, to hand him a paper from the table, to which he pointed. He
did so; and the Doctor putting it into my hands, desired me to take it,
and read it at my leisure. It was about a quire of folio paper, written
in a large and running hand, very like his own. I looked into it
slightly, then shut it, and said I would accept his permission to read
it, and would carefully return it. He said, ‘No, keep it.’ Not certain
of his meaning, I again looked into it, folded it for my pocket, and
said again, I would certainly return it. ‘No,’ said he, ‘keep it.’ I put
it into my pocket, and shortly after, took leave of him. He died on
the 17th of the ensuing month of April; and as I understood that he had
bequeathed all his papers to his grandson, William Temple Franklin, I
immediately wrote to Mr. Franklin, to inform him I possessed this paper,
which I should consider as his property, and would deliver to his order.
He came on immediately to New York, called on me for it, and I delivered
it to him. As he put it into his pocket, he said carelessly, he had
either the original, or another copy of it, I do not recollect which.
This last expression struck my attention forcibly, and for the first
time suggested to me the thought, that Dr. Franklin had meant it as a
confidential deposite in my hands, and that I had done wrong in
parting from it. I have not yet seen the collection he published of Dr.
Franklin’s works, and therefore know not if this is among them. I
have been told it is not. It contained a narrative of the negotiations
between Dr. Franklin and the British Ministry, when he was endeavoring
to prevent the contest of arms which followed. The negotiation was
brought about by the intervention of Lord Howe and his sister, who, I
believe, was called Lady Howe, but I may misremember her title. Lord
Howe seems to have been friendly to America, and exceedingly anxious to
prevent a rupture. His intimacy with Dr. Franklin, and his position
with the Ministry, induced him to undertake a mediation between them; in
which his sister seemed to have been associated. They carried from
one to the other, backwards and forwards, the several propositions and
answers which passed, and seconded with their own intercessions, the
importance of mutual sacrifices, to preserve the peace and connection
of the two countries. I remember that Lord North’s answers were dry,
unyielding, in the spirit of unconditional submission, and betrayed an
absolute indifference to the occurrence of a rupture; and he said to
the mediators distinctly, at last, that ‘a rebellion was not to be
deprecated on the part of Great Britain; that the confiscations it would
produce, would provide for many of their friends.’ This expression was
reported by the mediators to Dr. Franklin, and indicated so cool and
calculated a purpose in the Ministry, as to render compromise hopeless,
and the negotiation was discontinued. If this is not among the papers
published, we ask, what has become of it? I delivered it with my own
hands, into those of Temple Franklin. It certainly established views
so atrocious in the British government, that its suppression would, to
them, be worth a great price. But could the grandson of Dr. Franklin
be, in such degree, an accomplice in the parricide of the memory of his
immortal grandfather? The suspension, for more than twenty years, of
the general publication, bequeathed and confided to him, produced for
a while hard suspicions against him: and if, at last, all are not
published, a part of these suspicions may remain with some.
I arrived at New York on the 21st of March, where Congress was in
session.
APPENDIX TO THE MEMOIR.
[NOTE A.] Letter to John Saunderson, Esq.
Sir,
Monticello, August 31, 1820.
Your letter of the 19th was received in due time, and I wish it were
in my power to furnish you more fully, than in the enclosed paper,
with materials for the biography of George Wythe; but I possess none in
writing, am very distant from the place of his birth and early life,
and know not a single person in that quarter from whom inquiry could
be made, with the expectation of collecting any thing material. Add
to this, that feeble health disables me, almost, from writing; and,
entirely, from the labor of going into difficult research. I became
acquainted with Mr. Wythe when he was about thirty-five years of age.
He directed my studies in the law, led me into business, and continued,
until death, my most affectionate friend. A close intimacy with him,
during that period of forty odd years, the most important of his life,
enables me to state its leading facts, which, being of my own knowledge,
I vouch their truth. Of what precedes that period, I speak from hearsay
only, in which there may be error, but of little account, as the
character of the facts will themselves manifest. In the epoch of his
birth I may err a little, stating that from the recollection of a
particular incident, the date of which, within a year or two, I do not
distinctly remember. These scanty outlines, you will be able, I hope,
to fill up from other information, and they may serve you, sometimes, as
landmarks to distinguish truth from error, in what you hear from others.
The exalted virtue of the man will also be a polar star to guide you in
all matters which may touch that element of his character. But on that
you will receive imputation from no man; for, as far as I know, he never
had an enemy. Little as I am able to contribute to the just reputation
of this excellent man, it is the act of my life most gratifying to my
heart: and leaves me only to regret that a waning memory can do no more.
Of Mr. Hancock I can say nothing, having known him only in the chair of
Congress. Having myself been the youngest man but one in that body, the
disparity of age prevented any particular intimacy. But of him there can
be no difficulty in obtaining full information in the North.
I salute you, Sir, with sentiments of great respect.
Th: Jefferson.
_Notes for the Biography of George Wythe_.
George Wythe was born about the year 1727 or 1728, of a respectable
family in the county of Elizabeth City, on the shores of the Chesapeake.
He inherited, from his father, a fortune sufficient for independence and
ease. He had not the benefit of a regular education in the schools, but
acquired a good one of himself, and without assistance; insomuch, as to
become the best Latin and Greek scholar in the state. It is said, that
while reading the Greek Testament, his mother held an English one,
to aid him in rendering the Greek text conformably with that. He also
acquired, by his own reading, a good knowledge of Mathematics, and of
Natural and Moral Philosophy. He engaged in the study of the law under
the direction of a Mr. Lewis, of that profession, and went early to
the bar of the General Court, then occupied by men of great ability,
learning, and dignity in their profession. He soon became eminent
among them, and, in process of time, the first at the bar, taking into
consideration his superior learning, correct elocution, and logical
style of reasoning; for in pleading he never indulged himself with an
useless or declamatory thought or word; and became as distinguished by
correctness and purity of conduct in his profession, as he was by his
industry and fidelity to those who employed him. He was early elected
to the House of Representatives, then called the House of Burgesses, and
continued in it until the Revolution. On the first dawn of that, instead
of higgling on half-way principles, as others did who feared to follow
their reason, he took his stand on the solid ground, that the only link
of political union between us and Great Britain, was the identity of
our Executive; that that nation and its Parliament had no more authority
over us, than we had over them, and that we were co-ordinate nations
with Great Britain and Hanover.
In 1774, he was a member of a Committee of the House of Burgesses,
appointed to prepare a Petition to the King, a Memorial to the House of
Lords, and a Remonstrance to the House of Commons, on the subject of the
proposed Stamp Act. He was made draughtsman of the last, and, following
his own principles, he so far overwent the timid hesitations of
his colleagues, that his draught was subjected by them to material
modifications; and, when the famous Resolutions of Mr. Henry, in 1775,
were proposed, it was not on any difference of principle that they
were opposed by Wythe. Randolph, Pendleton, Nicholas, Bland, and other
worthies, who had long been the habitual leaders of the House; but
because those papers of the preceding session had already expressed the
same sentiments and assertions of right, and that an answer to them was
yet to be expected.
In August, 1775, he was appointed a member of Congress, and in 1776,
signed the Declaration of Independence, of which he had, in debate,
been an eminent supporter. And subsequently, in the same year, he was
appointed by the Legislature of Virginia, one of a committee to revise
the laws of the state, as well of British, as of Colonial enactment,
and to prepare bills for re-enacting them, with such alterations as
the change in the form and principles of the government, and other
circumstances, required: and of this work, he executed the period
commencing with the revolution in England, and ending with the
establishment of the new government here; excepting the Acts for
regulating descents, for religious freedom, and for proportioning
crimes and punishments. In 1777, he was chosen speaker of the House
of Delegates, being of distinguished learning in parliamentary law and
proceedings; and towards the end of the same year, he was appointed one
of the three Chancellors, to whom that department of the Judiciary
was confided, on the first organization of the new government. On a
subsequent change of the form of that court, he was appointed sole
Chancellor, in which office he continued to act until his death, which
happened in June, 1806, about the seventy-eighth or seventy-ninth year
of his age.
Mr. Wythe had been twice married; first, I believe, to a daughter of
Mr. Lewis, with whom he had studied law, and afterwards, to a Miss
Taliaferro, of a wealthy and respectable family in the neighborhood of
Williamsburg; by neither of whom did he leave issue.
No man ever left behind him a character more venerated than George
Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity inflexible,
and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and, devoted as he was to
liberty, and the natural and equal rights of man, he might truly be
called the Cato of his country, without the avarice of the Roman; for a
more disinterested person never lived. Temperance and regularity in all
his habits, gave him general good health, and his unaffected modesty and
suavity of manners endeared him to every one. He was of easy elocution,
his language chaste, methodical in the arrangement of his matter,
learned and logical in the use of it, and of great urbanity in debate;
not quick of apprehension, but, with a little time, profound in
penetration, and sound in conclusion. In his philosophy he was firm,
and neither troubling, nor perhaps trusting, any one with his religious
creed, he left the world to the conclusion, that that religion must be
good which could produce a life of exemplary virtue.
His stature was of the middle size, well formed and proportioned, and
the features of his face were manly, comely, and engaging. Such was
George Wythe, the honor of his own, and the model of future times.
[NOTE B.]--Letter to Samuel A. Wells, Esq.
Sir,
Monticello, May 12, 1829.
An absence, of sometime, at an occasional and distant residence, must
apologize for the delay in acknowledging the receipt of your favor of
April 12th; and candor obliges me to add, that it has been somewhat
extended by an aversion to writing, as well as to calls on my memory
for facts so much obliterated from it by time, as to lessen my own
confidence in the traces which seem to remain. One of the enquiries in
your letter, however, may be answered without an appeal to the memory.
It is that respecting the question, Whether committees of correspondence
originated in Virginia, or Massachusetts? on which you suppose me to
have claimed it for Virginia; but certainly I have never made such
a claim. The idea, I suppose, has been taken up from what is said in
Wirt’s history of Mr. Henry, page 87, and from an inexact attention
to its precise terms. It is there said, ‘This House [of Burgesses,
of Virginia] had the merit of originating that powerful engine of
resistance, corresponding committees between the legislatures of the
different colonies.’ That the fact, as here expressed, is true, your
letter bears witness, when it says, that the resolutions of Virginia,
for this purpose, were transmitted to the speakers of the different
assemblies, and by that of Massachusetts was laid, at the next session,
before that body, who appointed a committee for the specified
object: adding, ‘Thus, in Massachusetts, there were two committees of
correspondence, one chosen by the people, the other appointed by the
House of Assembly; in the former, Massachusetts preceded Virginia; in
the latter, Virginia preceded Massachusetts.’ To the origination of
committees for the interior correspondence between the counties and
towns of a state, I know of no claim on the part of Virginia; and
certainly none was ever made by myself. I perceive, however, one error,
into which memory had led me. Our committee for national correspondence
was appointed in March, ‘73, and I well remember, that going to
Williamsburg in the month of June following, Peyton Randolph, our
chairman, told me that messengers bearing despatches between the two
states had crossed each other by the way, that of Virginia carrying our
propositions for a committee of national correspondence, and that of
Massachusetts, bringing, as my memory suggested, a similar proposition.
But here I must have misremembered; and the resolutions brought us from
Massachusetts were probably those you mention of the town-meeting of
Boston, on the motion of Mr. Samuel Adams, appointing a committee ‘to
state the rights of the colonists, and of that province in particular,
and the infringements of them; to communicate them to the several towns,
as the sense of the town of Boston, and to request, of each town, a
free, communication of its sentiments on this subject.’ I suppose,
therefore, that these resolutions were not received, as you think, while
the House of Burgesses was in session in March, 1773, but a few days
after we rose, and were probably what was sent by the messenger, who
crossed ours by the way. They may, however, have been still different.
I must, therefore, have been mistaken in supposing, and stating to Mr.
Wirt, that the proposition of a committee for national correspondence
was nearly simultaneous in Virginia and Massachusetts.
A similar misapprehension of another passage in Mr. Wirt’s book, for
which I am also quoted, has produced a similar reclamation on the
part of Massachusetts, by some of her most distinguished and estimable
citizens. I had been applied to by Mr. Wirt, for such facts respecting
Mr. Henry, as my intimacy with him and participation in the transactions
of the day, might have placed within my knowledge. I accordingly
committed them to paper; and Virginia being the theatre of his action,
was the only subject within my contemplation. While speaking of him,
of the resolutions and measures here, in which he had the acknowledged
lead, I used the expression that ‘Mr. Henry certainly gave the first
impulse to the ball of revolution.’ [Wirt, page 41.] The expression is
indeed general, and in all its extension would comprehend all the sister
states; but indulgent construction would restrain it, as was really
meant, to the subject matter under contemplation, which was Virginia
alone; according to the rule of the lawyers, and a fair canon of general
criticism, that every expression should be construed _secundum subjectam
materiam_. Where the first attack was made, there must have been of
course, the first act of resistance, and that was in Massachusetts. Our
first overt act of war, was Mr. Henry’s embodying a force of militia
from several counties, regularly armed and organized, marching them in
military array, and making reprisal on the King’s treasury at the seat
of government, for the public powder taken away by his Governor. This
was on the last days of April, 1775. Your formal battle of Lexington was
ten or twelve days before that, and greatly overshadowed in importance,
as it preceded in time, our little affray, which merely amounted to
a levying of arms against the King; and very possibly, you had had
military affrays before the regular battle of Lexington.
These explanations will, I hope, assure you, Sir, that so far as either
facts or opinions have been truly quoted from me, they have never been
meant to intercept the just fame of Massachusetts, for the promptitude
and perseverance of her early resistance. We willingly cede to her the
laud of having been (although not exclusively) ‘the cradle of sound
principles,’ and, if some of us believe she has deflected from them in
her course, we retain full confidence in her ultimate return to them.