THE WRITINGS OF







THOMAS JEFFERSON











Definitive Edition







CONTAINING HIS







AUTOBIOGRAPHY, NOTES ON VIRGINIA, PARLIAMENTARY 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 BERCH



EDITOR











VOl. II.























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



















THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA



AND



THOMAS JEFFERSON, ITS FATHER.(1)











The lives of institutions, like those of human beings, have their vicissitudes.

This University in whose honor we are gathered together to-day, has not been an

exception. It had a long struggle even for existence. Joy and triumph followed

when, eighty years ago, its first corner-stone was laid with pomp and ceremony

in the presence of a distinguished company which included three illustrious men

who had filled the office of President of the United States. A long succeeding

period of growth, prosperity and happiness was rudely interrupted by the

desolating storm of war-war raging with fury around its own temples, and

driving even its own peaceful children into the grim work of destruction and

slaughter. But even war, which spares almost nothing, yet spared the walls with

their precious contents. The heart of the soldier will sill melt before the sad

pleading of the Muse.



__________







[(1) An Address delivered by James C. Carter, LL. D., upon the occasion of the

Dedication of the new Buildings of the University; June 14, 1898.]



__________







iv The University of Virginia, and







"Lift not thy spear against the Muses' bower: The great Emathian conqueror bid

spare The house of Pindarus, when temple and tow'r Went to the ground; and the

repeated air



Of sad Electra's poet had the pow'r



To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare."



The dawn of peace found the University weak and exhausted, but not

disheartened. The people of Virginia who had learned to cherish it, its sons

who looked back to it with fond affection, the warmhearted and open-handed

friends of learning in distant places came forward with liberal help. The Muses

returned and re-peopled their haunts, and a new era of prosperity, stimulated

by the new national life, began its course.



But another stroke of adversity awaited it,-this time, not from the hostile

passions of man, but from the rage of the elements, less savage indeed, but not

less unsparing. Its very walls were laid in ruins and their precious treasures

wasted. But if any evidence were needed to show the extent to which the

University had increased in power, in grandeur, in usefulness, and in the

esteem of the people of Virginia and the friends everywhere of the higher

education, it would be found in the undaunted spirit with which this disaster

was faced. There was an immediate resolve that it should rise from its ashes in

yet fairer proportions, more worthy of the spirit in which it was originally

founded, better equipped for the great work to which it was originally

dedicated, and a more glorious monument to the great name forever associated

with it.







Thomas Jefferson, its Father v







This great purpose has now been accomplished,



and we are gathered together to-day to celebrate its completion. The scene

before me and around is the best evidence of the interest of the occasion. The

sons of the University from near and far have returned to the bosom of their

Fair Mother to rejoice together over her happiness. Representatives of other

seats of learning are here to offer their congratulations. The diplomatic

representative of the great empire at the antipodes-an empire in which learning

has for ages been held in honor lends to the occasion the dignity of his

presence. The venerable Commonwealth is here in the person of the Chief

Magistrate and principal officers of state to manifest her own interest in an

institution which her bounty has cherished and which has given back in return

the support upon which alone a free Commonwealth can rest.



It is the custom on such occasions to make provision f or deliberate utterance

of the thoughts which they are calculated to excite, and the authorities of the

University have thought it suitable to invite to this office, not-I have been

made to feel-an entire stranger, but a friend from a distance, whose

opportunities have not been such as to permit a close observation of the

history and fortunes of the institution. Profoundly sensible of the honor thus

conferred upon me, I cannot help feeling how inadequate I am to its due

performance. I cannot speak of the University of Virginia with all the

affection which







vi The University of Virginia, and







the graduate cherishes for his Alma Mater, nor with the full pride which the

Virginian alone can feel; but to those who regard this institution as their

own, who have control over its destinies, or have been reared within its walls,

a view of it, as it appears to outside observers, may not be unwelcome, or

wholly uninteresting. We are sometimes enabled to correct our own conceptions

of ourselves, and qualify ourselves in some degree for the better performance

of our own duties, by learning what is thought of us and what is expected of us

by others.



Let me then occupy your thoughts for a brief hour with a sketch, very rude and

imperfect, of the origin of the University and of its principal features as

they appear to the world at large, to which I may add some allusion to its

illustrious founder, and to the political philosophy the teaching of which he

so ardently desired to promote.



Its origin offers a strong contrast with the beginnings of our principal seats

of learning which preceded it. Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton began as

mere schools for humble colonies, with no prevision of the great destinies

which awaited them. Their majestic proportions have been developed and shaped,

during long periods of time, by many different hands and many varying

influences. But the University of Virginia sprang into life, in full panoply,

from the conception of a single man, like Minerva from the brain of Jove. The

aim of its founder was not to supply merely local and immedi-















Thomas Jefferson, its Father







ate wants, but to make provision for the growth, maintenance and glory of the

new civilization and the new empire with which his visions were filled. No

sketch can even be outlined of the origin and character of this institution

which does not take in as a principal element the figure of this illustrious

man.



The leading feature in the mind and character of Thomas Jefferson was a firm

and undoubting belief in the worth and dignity of human nature, and in the

capacity of man for self government. This was at once the conclusion of his

reason and the passion of his soul. Whence it came to him it is difficult to

discover; it was not from the sense of subjection and oppression felt by an

inferior class in society towards those above it, for he belonged to the class

of well to do, if not wealthy, Virginia land-holders; not from the venerable

college of William and Mary, in which he was bred, for his opinions were not

the cherished sentiments of that institution; not from his early and familiar

acquaintance, to which he has acknowledged his great indebtedness, with Dr.

Small, the President of that College, George Wythe and Gov. Fauquier, f or

their tendencies were towards very conservative views; not even from the fiery

eloquence of Patrick Henry, to which he had often listened with

admiration,-that may have fanned the flame in his bosom-but indignation at the

Stamp Act would scarcely have nerved him to his early effort in the House of

Burgesses to facilitate the manumission of slaves. It seems to have been







viii The University of Virginia, and







inborn; but whether inborn or communicated, it ruled his life; it burst from

him like the peal of an anthem when he came to pen the immortal Declaration ;

his long residence in Europe only confirmed it the excesses of the French.

Revolution had no effect to abate it, and it breathes through every line of his

public utterances from his seat as President of the United States; it was the

foundation of his virtues and the source of his errors ; and not only the

source of these, but the cause of the false imputation to him of errors he

never committed ; his friendships and his enmities were alike due to it ; he

distrusted all who were not in full sympathy with it, and they distrusted him.

Taught by bitter experience that the principles of true democracy are often as

distasteful to the multitude as they are to the possessors of wealth and

privilege, that the masses of men, fascinated by the splendors and force of

concentrated power, may easily be persuaded, sometimes, to surrender in

exchange for them the sense of individual freedom, even this did not dishearten

him, and after filling, for eight years, the highest office in the gift of his

countrymen with undeviating fidelity to the principles of popular government,

he retired to the rest and repose of his beloved Monticello, carrying thither

convictions of the worth and dignity of human nature, and ideals of government

by the people, as distinct and fresh as those which animated him in the morning

of his life.



Men have forever been prone to cast either a







Thomas Jefferson, its Father







doubt or a sneer upon the apparently beneficent deeds of those whose principles

they reject and whose influence they fear. . A large part, at least, of the

acts of Mr. Jefferson's official life still remain and will, perhaps, forever

remain, the subjects of dispute ; but he himself has happily singled out, to be

engraven upon his tomb, three particular achievements with which he wished his

name to be associated, by friend or stranger, in all future time. The latest

generation of his countrymen will not question the justice of his claim, nor

withhold any part of the full tribute of honor and glory which belongs to the



" author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of

Virginia for Religious Freedom, and to the Father of the University of

Virginia."(1)



Mr. Jefferson, at his retirement, was sixty-six years of age. His intellectual

faculties were unimpaired, his bodily strength was well preserved, and he was

still conscious of the possession of a large capacity for usefulness to his

countrymen and to mankind. His ambition for public office, never very deeply

cherished, had been fully satisfied, and he was inwardly resolved never again

to seek it. He had cherished through life a passion for the acquisition of

knowledge, and was one of the best educated men, if not the best educated man,

of his country and time, and he could. have filled the remainder of his days

with a serene and tranquil enjoyment of the pleasures of literature and

science; but such a life







__________







(1) From the inscription on his tomb



.__________







The University of Virginia, and







was not possible for him, nor was any life possible for him the strength of

which was not devoted to the advancement of the liberty and happiness of men.

He had in early manhood formed a scheme of public education, which, from time

to time, had pressed itself on his attention throughout even the busiest years

of his public life. It was part of his political philosophy. Lover of liberty

as he was, firmly as he believed that popular government was the only form of

public authority consistent with the highest happiness of men, he yet did not

believe that any nation or community could permanently retain this blessing

without the benefit of the lessons of truth, and the discipline of virtue to be

derived only from the intellectual and moral education of the whole people.



His general scheme appears to have embraced three branches : ( 1 ) the division

of the whole state into districts, or wards, and the establishment in each of a

primary school in which the rudiments of knowledge should be taught to all; (2)

the establishment of a sufficient number of higher academies or colleges, in

which those exhibiting in the primary schools superior intellectual endowments

might acquire, gratis, a further and higher education; and (3) a State

University, in which each science should " be taught in the highest degree it

has yet attained."'



The length of time during which, and the intensity with which Mr. Jefferson had

devoted himself to this great object, is well manifested by an extract from a



__________







(1) See Jefferson's Autobiography; vol. 1, p, 47.



__________







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xi



letter written by him in 1818, some ten years after his retirement from the

presidency. "A system " says he, " of general instruction which shall reach

every description of our citizens, from the highest to the poorest, as it was

the earliest, so will it be the latest, of all the public concerns in which I

shall permit myself to take an interest." (1)



The two branches of his scheme relating respectively to the primary schools and

the higher academies encountered obstacles which it was impossible for him to

surmount, and they are not those features which chiefly concern us to-day ; but

I cannot resist the temptation to read before this audience his statement of

the objects of primary education contained in the celebrated report prepared by

him for the Commission appointed by the Governor of Virginia under an act of

the General Assembly and which met in 1818 at the unpretending tavern at

Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge. There have been held since that day, in many

parts of the United States, conventions and conferences of teachers, educators

and friends and patrons of learning more numerously attended, favored with more

abundant information, and with other advantages for the consideration and

discussion of educational questions ; but none, certainly, more distinguished

for the dignity and ability of its members.. Besides senators and judges, there

were among those who assembled on that occasion, James Monroe, then President

of the United States,







__________







(1) Correspondence of Jefferson and Cabell; p. 106.



__________







xii The University of Virginia, and







and his two predecessors, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. And, certainly,

we may look in vain for any public statement before that time or since, of the

objects of public education so concise so comprehensive and so just as that

contained in the report of this Commission written by Jefferson. He thus

defined the objects of primary education:



" 1. To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of

his own business.



" 2. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his

ideas, his contracts and accounts in writing



" 3. To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties.



" 4. To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge

with competence the functions confided to him by either.



" 5. To know his rights ; to exercise with order and justice those he retains;

to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates ; and to notice

their conduct with diligence, with candor and judgment.



" 6. And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the

social relations under which he shall be placed."'



This statement of the objects of primary education will never be improved. It

ought to be written in letters of gold and hung in every primary school

throughout the land and be known by heart to every teacher and child therein.

It is, indeed, more than



__________







(1) U. S. Bureau of Education, Circular No. 1



__________



P. 33.



Thomas Jefferson, its Father xiii







a statement of the elements of rudimentary education. It is an enumeration of

the duties of every good citizen under a popular government.



The apparent impossibility, at the time he began his effort, of impressing upon

the Commonwealth his sense of the necessity of a universal provision f or

primary education, moved Mr. Jefferson to turn his attention to the third

branch of his scheme, that which embraced a State University. This, although

not, in his democratic view, the part of his plan which promised results of the

widest utility, was the one which offered to him the most congenial field of

effort, and held out to his hopes a better promise of success.



His conception in its main elements had been in his mind from early manhood. He

had never dismissed it from his thoughts. He cherished it during the gloomy

years of the Revolution. He improved it during his long sojourn in France. He

recurred to it again and again in the midst of the perplexities which

distracted him during both his presidential terms, and he brought it gradually

to a completion after his retirement. He sought every aid which he could derive

from independent study, from unceasing correspondence with men of learning

familiar with university education and from personal intercourse with those

interested in his project whom he could attract to his own hospitable roof.







I have no time to recount the successive steps by which his plan proceeded

towards its realization ; its partial embodiment in the Albemarle Academy, its







xiv The University of Virginia, and







fuller development in the Central College, under which name the corner-stone of

the future University was laid, and its final establishment in fact and in name

by the passage through the General Assembly, on the 25th of January, 1819, of

the bill uniting the Central College and the University of Virginia.



It would be no disparagement of the glory to which Mr. Jefferson is entitled

for this great achievement to say that he could never have accomplished the

work without the aid of others. The assent of the Legislature was needed, and

for this a favoring public sentiment was necessary ; but it was here that Mr.

Jefferson's task began. For forty years he had been laboring in every form in

which public sentiment could be reached, through the press, and by

correspondence and personal influence with leading public men, to create, and

he finally created, a conviction of the importance and necessity of the work.

But, however conspicuous the place which may be assigned to him, there was one

coadjutor whose devoted labor and effective aid can never be forgotten. The

right arm upon which he relied in later years, and without which it may well be

doubted whether this audience would be gathered together to-day, was Joseph C.

Cabell. The alumni and friends of the University of Virginia may be trusted to

take care that that name shall not perish from the grateful memory of men.



The whole work, however, was as yet by no means accomplished. I have just said

that the University







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xv







had become established in f act and in name ; but the fact was only the

legislative fiat, and the name as yet but a name. The conception of a

University embraces noble buildings which contain its libraries, its

collections, its halls of instruction, and which, in most instances prior to

this time, had been the contributions of successive generations. Of these there

were as yet none ; and in nothing does this institution more clearly appear as

the creation of Mr. Jefferson's mind than in its material structures and their

situation.



In respect to the situation, the presence of a selfish interest may be

recognized and excused. Among the motives which stimulated his zeal was

undoubtedly a desire, of which we have more than one example among democratic

statesmen, to spend the years of retirement in the congenial neighborhood of a

great institution of learning and science ; and it was the longing of his heart

that the University should have her permanent seat, " her arms and her chariot,

in the neighborhood of his own Monticello. To this end he employed every

resource of argument, and when this failed, of art, to persuade the body of

which he was himself a member, of the superior claims of this locality. They

were obliged to admit that healthiness and centrality ought to be the

predominating considerations ; but, admitting this, they could hardly resist

the argument afforded by Mr. Jefferson's " imposing array of octogenarians "

then still living in this region ; and, as to centrality, he was ready with a

demonstration that on whatever







xvi The University of Virginia, and







theory the lines might be run " they would be found to pass close to

Charlottesville:"(1)



The form, the architecture, and the arrangement of the material structures seem

to have been altogether his own ; and here he did not allow the simplicity and

frugality of his political philosophy to lead him astray. His vision was of a

University which would appeal to the sentiments, and thus attract to itself the

most famous teachers, with crowds of scholars. He knew the Muses could not be

enticed to take up their abode in mean and squalid habitations. He wrote to his

efficient helper, Cabell :



" The great object of our aim from the beginning has been to make the

establishment the most eminent in the United States in order to draw to it the

youth of every State, but especially of the South and West. We have proposed,

therefore, to call to it characters of the first order of science from Europe,

as well as our own country, and not only by the salaries and the comforts of

their situation, but by the distinguished scale of its structure and

preparation, and the promise of future eminence which these would hold up, to

induce them to commit their reputation to its future fortunes. Had we built a

barn for a college and log huts for accommodations, should we ever have had the

assurance to propose to an European professor of character to come to it ? "(2)

He sought, therefore, to reproduce on the American frontier a







__________







1 U. S. Bureau of Education, Circular No. 1,1888, p. 37. 2 Correspondence of

Jefferson and Cabell; p. 260.



__________







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xvii







vision of the architecture and art of Greece and Rome. He seems to have been

his own architect and almost his own builder. It would be strange, indeed, if

the results had altogether escaped criticism, or if personal vanity had not, to

some extent, usurped the place of knowledge ; but it is no mean tribute to the

merit of the original design that it has been, after the lapse of

three-quarters of a century, reproduced and perpetuated in the principal

restoration which we dedicate to-day.



On the 7th of March, 1825, the University was thrown open for the reception of

students, and its actual career began. It must have been a day of unspeakable

satisfaction to Mr. Jefferson. A long life filled with public service and

public cares had been at last crowned by what he regarded as its most useful

achievement, at the very moment when he had reached the boundary which limits

human endeavor; but if he was capable of no further effort there was no further

effort which he was called upon to make. It was the very point at which, as he

had many times declared, he could with happiness pronounce his " nunc

dimittis," and the moment was not long deferred. On the 4th day of July of the

succeeding year, just half a century after the American Colonies had rung out

to the world in his own immortal language their declaration of nationality, he

closed his career on earth.



This is not the time, had I the ability, to make any attempt to assign the

place to which this illustrious







xviii The University of Virginia, and







man is entitled on the roll of philanthropists. Coming as he did upon the

theatre of conspicuous life at a period when the fundamental principles of

government were the subjects of universal discussion, subjects upon which

freemen are at all times inclined to array themselves on one or the other of

two opposing sides,-one dreading the effects of popular ignorance, the other

fearing the selfishness of the enlightened,-one looking back to the supposed

wisdom and virtue of the past, and the other looking forward with confidence to

the possibilities and promise of the future,-plunging, as he did, into these

conflicts with all the earnestness of long cherished and positive convictions,

he could hardly f ail to encounter hostilities which would stop at no methods

by which his principles or his character could be discredited. By some irony of

fate the great apostle of democracy was made to suffer in his own person all

the injustice which democratic societies can perpetrate. The great defender of

the liberty of speech and the press was rewarded by an outpouring from the

press and the pulpit of calumny and detraction unparalleled before or since;

and the foremost champion of popular principles, faithful to them in every act

of his life, retired from the high office of President under a load of

unpopularity.



But,







"Time! the corrector where our judgments err,



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Time, the avenger!"







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xix ,







has dispelled the clouds of detraction and the mists of prejudice and revealed

in clearer light the true image of the statesman and the patriot. Looking at

the denunciation poured out upon him by his contemporaries and the applause

with which posterity has hailed his name, we are moved to think with the great

English orator " that obloquy is a necessary ingredient in the composition of

all true glory," and that " it was not only in the Roman customs, but it is in

the nature and constitution of things that calumny and abuse are essential

parts of a triumph."



He had, indeed, few of the qualities which mark the great military chieftain,

the conqueror, or the dictator, but what figure in the gallery of American

renown can point to such a catalogue of pacific achievement ?-the abolition in

his native State of the laws of primogeniture and entail-the Virginia Statute

of religious freedom-the Declaration of Independence-the kind and peaceful

removal of the Indian tribes to the west of the Mississippi-the near extinction

of the national debt-the acquisition of Louisiana-the University of

Virginia-where are the crimes or the vices which dim the lustre of these deeds?

Those whose ideal of the duty and destiny of the Republic is that of a

conquering nation ready at any moment for the grim business of war, eager to

avenge an insult real or supposed, greedy of military and naval renown,

inclined to erect its own will into law, and enforce it against all opposition,

to strike first and reason afterwards-these will find.







xx The University of Virginia, and







little to admire in the career of Mr. Jefferson. He knew too well the lessons

of history. He knew what visions of empire had dazzled the ambition of Rome,

while Rome was yet free,







"Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; Hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque

imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare suberpos."



And he knew also the terrible penalty to Rome and the world which an indulgence

of those visions cost. He had lived in the midst of the interesting scenes

which ushered in the emancipation of France, and had afterwards shuddered to

see how ruthlessly the passion for extended empire and military glory would

trample upon true liberty. He was a pacific ruler. War, except in self-defence,

and as a last alternative; he held in detestation, as the enemy both of

civilization and liberty. His patriotism expanded into philanthropy, and

permitted no other ambitions respecting foreign nations than those of

cultivating the peaceful relations of trade and commerce with the whole family_

of man.



Whatever abatement we may be required or disposed to make from his credit as a

practical statesman, the sum of his achievements was hardly equalled by any of

his contemporaries, save one alone, and the general features of his political

philosophy still remain as the nominal creed at least of the great body of his

countrymen.



But what, if any, was the particular conception of university education which

he enshrined within these







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxi







walls? Is it still cherished here, and will it be a worthy guide in training

the intellect and directing the aspirations of the future generations who are

to flock hither? These are questions which more immediately concern us on this

occasion.



I suppose most men who have given great attention to the subject of education

have not thought it appropriate to inquire for what it was useful ; they would

deem it useful in itself, as being the development of the faculties of man, or,

if required to assign an ulterior object to which it should be held

subservient, they would point to nothing less general, or less absolute, than

human happiness.



This, however, was not Mr. Jefferson's view. Lover as he was of the sciences,

and of all learning for their own sake, happy as he had always been made while

cultivating them, he yet would never have expended so many years of his life in

founding this institution, if he had had no hopes other than those of

establishing a university on the ordinary model, even though there were a

promise of rivaling the fame of Oxf ord or Bologna. With him, university

education was important as being a part of general education, and this was

important because necessary to the development and preservation of that civil

and political liberty which he deemed essential to the progress and happiness

of man.



His idea of university education was, therefore, a part of his political

philosophy. He believed that there was a system of government founded upon the







xxii The University of Virginia, and







principles of human nature under which the largest liberty and happiness were

attainable, but only upon the condition of a wide-a universal-diffusion of

popular education, and that such education embraced the cultivation in the

highest degree of those selected minds exhibiting the highest order of genius.

It was by means of a systematic cultivation of the best natural geniuses in the

land that he hoped to carry all the sciences to the highest degree of

cultivation, and among them especially, the science of free government.



The animating principle of his political philosophy was a jealousy of all

governmental power in whomsoever vested. Such power is, of necessity, to be

exercised by some over others. It may be wrongfully usurped, or voluntarily

entrusted, but, in either case is liable to be abused; and, in Jefferson's

view, the best guaranty against abuse consisted in preventing usurpation and

withholding delegation. He knew, indeed, that government to a certain extent

was necessary, and, therefore, that it was necessary to delegate and entrust

power; but this he would do with stingy parsimony, measuring the amounts doled

out by the rule of rigid necessity. This was the ground of his animosity

towards any concentration of power in the hands of one, or a few; because

concentrated power is a common form and fruit of usurped or delegated power.

Nor did his democracy assume that socialistic form which would merge the

liberty of the individual in the equality of the







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxiii







masses. It was the natural, original freedom of man which he sought to

preserve. He was the apostle of individualism. He lost no opportunity of

inculcating his favorite principle, and a question as to whether primary

schools should be supported and managed by counties, or each by the particular

district in which it was situated, led him into a very concise' and excellent

statement of his whole theory :



"No, my friend," said he, "the way to have good and safe government is not to

trust it all to one; but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one

exactly the functions he is competent to. Let the National government be

entrusted with the defence of the nation, and its foreign and federal relations

; the State government with the civil rights, laws, police and administration

of what concerns the State generally ; the counties with the local concerns of

the counties and each ward direct the interests within itself. It is by

dividing and subdividing these republics, from the great national one down

through all its subordinations, until it ends in the administration of every

man's farm and affairs by himself ; by placing under every one what his own eye

may superintend, that all will be done for the best. What has destroyed liberty

and the rights of man in every government which has ever existed under the sun

? The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body, no

matter whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, or of the aristocrats of a

Venetian Senate. And I do believe, that if







xxiv The University of Virginia, and







the Almighty has not decreed that man shall never be free(and it is blasphemy

to believe it) the secret will be found in the making himself the depository of

the powers respecting, himself so far as he is competent to them, and

delegating only. what is beyond his competency by a synthetical process to

higher and higher orders of functionaries, so as to trust fewer and fewer

powers, in proportion. as the trustees become more and more oligarchical." (1)



At the present day we are so familiar with these ideas that it is difficult to

imagine that they were ever novel; but in Mr. Jefferson's time it was far

otherwise. Not all of those who espoused the side of the colonies against Great

Britain and joined in the struggle for independence were believers in popular

government, and many even of those who supported the new constitution had but

feeble faith in democratic principles. Many even preferred monarchical

government, and many more what they called a strong government, that is, a

government strong enough to maintain itself even against the popular will.



And it is difficult also to understand the partisan hostility and bitterness

engendered by these conflicting views. Each side seemed to believe that the

other was bent upon the destruction of everything valuable in society.

Jefferson and Marshall, two great Virginians, incomparably the first political

geniuses in the land, utterly distrusted each other.



__________







(1) Correspondence of Jefferson and Cabell; p.54



__________















Thomas Jefferson, its Father - xxv







Nor could men be much blamed for withholding



assent from the political ideas of Jefferson. There was but little in the

teachings of history to support them. They were based in large degree upon a

priori conceptions. He was obliged to admit that all previous attempts at

popular government had been failures ; but this was, in his view, because of

special disfavoring conditions ; the long habit of submitting to despotic

authority had enervated the people, or the true principle of popular government

had been violated by delegating and concentrating too much power in the hands

of a few. He saw in the conditions exhibited by the American colonies the first

real opportunity for establishing liberty. For a century these colonies had

been exempt from the dominion of feudalism, from sectarian domination, and from

nearly every form of severe governmental oppression. Here was a virgin soil, an

abundance of land, no degrading poverty, a brave and intelligent people which

had just vindicated its title to independence after a long struggle with the

mightiest of European powers. He could not help thinking that " unless the

Almighty had decreed that man should never be free (and it would be blasphemy

to believe this) " that the golden opportunity was now offered; that here the

free spirit of mankind should " put its last fetters off ; " that here should

be established no bastard, degenerate freedom, no government affecting to be

popular, but really resting upon monarchical or aristocratic contrivances







xxvi The University of Virginia, and







but a freedom in which every man should be master of his own destiny, in which

there should be no usurpation of power, and no delegation of power, unless its

natural possessor was unfitted to exercise it, and consequently no

concentration of power, beyond what rigid necessity required-no great standing

armies-no powerful navies carrying the flag in triumph over every sea,-no

interference with liberty of opinion or speech-no interference with liberty of

action, so long as the public peace and order were not broken-this was

Jefferson's vision of republican freedom.



It would be a gross injustice to impute to him hostility to government itself,

or any indulgence of mere license. Government was in his view the first and

most important of human necessities ; but instead of regarding it, as some

seemed to do, as being in itself the source of good; and therefore presumably

beneficent wherever its power was felt, he looked upon it as beneficial only so

far as it was necessary to prevent one man from encroaching upon the liberty

and rights of another, and as carrying with it great possibilities of mischief

and wrong whenever its interference was pushed beyond its just limits.



Such was Mr. Jefferson's conception of liberty and government which he intended

should be accepted by this University, and be therein defended and propagated.

It was only through the universal adoption of this idea that it seemed to him

possible







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxvii







for the newly created nation to reach the glorious destiny which the future had

in store for it; and hence the importance he attached to it, and the

unquestioning assent which he demanded for it. By nature the most tolerant of

men, upon this point he was dogmatic, even to bigotry. A thorough believer in

the inherent power of truth to triumph ultimately over error, he was yet

unwilling to subject his favorite dogma to the temporary hazards of a contest.

In one of his communications just before the University was thrown open to

students, he expressed to one of his fellows upon the Board of Visitors his

anxieties in this direction. Said he : " In most public seminaries text-books

are prescribed to each of the several schools as the norma docendi in that

school ; and this is generally done by authority of the trustees. I should not

propose this generally in our University; because I believe none of us are so

much at the heights of science in the several branches as to undertake this;

and, therefore, that it will better be left to the professors, until occasion

of interference shall be given. But there is one branch in which we are the

best judges, in which heresies may be taught, of so interesting a character to

our own State, and to the United States, as to make it a duty in us to lay down

the principles which shall be taught. It is that of government. Mr. Gilmer,

being withdrawn, we know not who his successor may be. He may be a Richmond

lawyer, or one of that school of quondam federalism, now consolidation. It is

our duty to







xxviii The University of Virginia, and







guard against the dissemination of such principles among our youth, and the

diffusion of that poison, by a previous prescription of the texts to be

followed in their discourses."(1)



Of the fidelity heretofore of this University to the political theory thus

entrusted to it, no doubt will be entertained. Its own convictions have

concurred with the sentiments of grateful admiration for its father. Successive

generations of the sons of the South have become deeply imbued with it by

lessons received upon this spot and have greatly aided in making it the

unchallenged popular faith throughout the largest part of the land.



Shall this fidelity be continued into the indefinite future? Shall Jefferson's

theory of Liberty be forever cherished around his tomb ? Has the experience of

a century vindicated its pretensions as the only sure foundation of popular

government, or stamped upon it the discredit of an illusive impracticability ?

These are not uninteresting questions and they deserve my few remaining words.



If an intelligent observer removed from any participation in our political

strifes were to survey the history of our country for a century with the view

of ascertaining how far events had justified the teachings of Mr. Jefferson and

his followers, he would find difficulty in reaching at first, at least, a

favorable verdict. He would impute, perhaps not unjustly, to that peaceful

policy the national humiliations



__________







(1) Correspondence of Jefferson and Cabell; P. 339.



__________







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxix







which preceded and accompanied the War of 1812 with Great Britain. He would see

one of the supposed conclusions of that political philosophy as originally

drawn and carefully expressed by the great apostle himself in the celebrated

Kentucky resolutions of 1798, and afterwards re-stated and vindicated by

another illustrious son of the South, made the justification for a bold and

deliberate attempt to nullify, throughout the territory of a State, a law of

the United States. He would see this conclusion at a still later period made

the ground for a widespread defiance of the entire national authority, and the

main support of a civil strife which deluged the land with fraternal blood.



Further reflection, however, would probably dispel in part, if not altogether,

the unfavorable impression. Mr. Jefferson's political system was, no doubt,

based upon the assumption of peace. He held in abhorrence large standing armies

and powerful navies, and a nation unprovided with these will sometimes find

itself subjected to humiliation, as we were in the era of 1812, either by

submitting to injury from a consciousness of unreadiness to make good a

defiance, or by being suddenly overwhelmed by an inferior hostile force. But

are nations unprepared for war the only ones likely to be subjected to

humiliations? Was England never humiliated, or France, or Germany ? And what

can be a greater humiliation than that of an unjust aggression upon the rights

of others and the peace of the world so























xxx The University of Virginia, and







likely to be committed by those who think them- selves armed with resistless

power ? And had we always been armed on the land and on the sea in proportion

to our power, should we have gained and held the glory hitherto accorded to us

by civilized mankind of being the promoters everywhere of international law,

and the advocates of peace and justice among nations ? And, even in respect to

power itself, were we called upon to exhibit our strength in a just cause,

could we under a more consolidated government, assemble the overwhelming forces

which the emulation of rival States will now willingly place at the service of

the nation ?



For the theoretical doctrine which supported the claims of nullification and

secession, Mr. Jefferson must, indeed, be held largely accountable; but this

was never any essential part of his philosophy of free government, if indeed it

be consistent with it. It concerned only the interpretation and effect of the

particular constitutional instrument by which the colonies united themselves

together.



I must employ a few words here to make this more plain. In the great political

division which took place soon after the adoption of the constitution, men

arrayed themselves on the one side or the other according as they favored the

advanced doctrines of popular government, or, distrusting the capacity of the

people, inclined towards the principles and methods of a constitutional

monarchy. The impulse of the movement which culminated in the French







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxxi







Revolution, reaching these shores, stirred the sympathies and passions of both

parties, the one espousing the cause of Democratic France and the other of

monarchical England. The Federal party, alarmed for the public welfare, and

fearful lest the license of the French revolutionists should be repeated on

this side of the water, sought to strengthen authority by those acts of

repressive Federal power, since generally condemned, called the Alien and

Sedition laws. The constitutional validity of these was attacked by Jefferson,

and his argument was formulated in the celebrated Kentucky resolutions, in

which he affirmed the right of each State, under the Constitution, to determine

for itself the validity of any Federal enactment. The main question was not

whether under a Federal government formed to secure the ends which ours had in

view, it would be wise to delegate to the general government the exclusive

right to determine the extent of its own powers, but whether in point of f act

such a delegation was contained in our own constitution. Upon this point it

would be true to say that Mr. Jefferson and his followers had their own way,

until the appearance of the scene, at a later period, of those great

protagonists in constitutional debate, Webster and Calhoun. In what condition

the struggle between these renowned champions left the dispute I will not

undertake to say,-







"Non nostrum tantas componere lites; "







xxxii The University of Virginia, and







but I may hazard the opinion that if the question had been made, not in 1861,

but in 1788, immediately after the adoption of the Constitution, whether the

Union as formed by that instrument could lawfully treat the secession of a

State as a rebellion and suppress it by force, few of those who had

participated in framing that instrument would have answered in the affirmative.



Nor has that question been in any manner settled by the result of that civil

strife which has effected such a profound revolution in the political and

social world of America. I cannot admit the efficacy of force to settle any

question of historic or scientific truth. Truth is eternal and immutable, and

the warfare of those who seek to suppress it will forever be in vain. The

question which the result of that strife did settle, as has been eloquently and

powerfully shown by a distinguished statesman and jurist of the South-shown,

too, in pronouncing a glowing eulogy upon his great teacher and master, Calhoun

was, not whether our Constitution actually created a consolidated

nation-nations cannot be created by agreement-but whether the Federal Union,

composed originally of colonies the people of which had been subjects of the

same sovereign, and which had never occupied the attitude of independent States

before the world, embracing, also, new States created out of territory which

was the common property of all., could-after they had been knit together into a

nation during the life of nearly a century by the







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxxiii







thousand processes which time and nature employ to cement and consolidate a

people-by trade, by commerce, by railways, by social and business alliances, by

common perils and sufferings in war, by the blessings, hopes and aspirations of

peace, could, after all this, at the will and pleasure of one of its parts, be

instantly and peacefully resolved, not into its original elements, but into

supposed constituent parts, most of which had had no participation in its

original formation. That was a question which from its nature could be settled

only by trial, and the trial has indeed forever settled that, and-strange thing

in human history-neither side would wish the decision to be reversed. Nor

should it be forgotten that, whatever the consequences, in, the form of

disunion or secession, the doctrine of Mr. Jefferson, as propounded in the

Kentucky resolutions, might possibly involve, no such project was ever

suggested, or in any manner countenanced, by him. Whatever discredit may be

attached to any suggestions, in his day, of disunion or secession belongs

altogether to his political opponents.



Are there any other respects in which it may be plausibly suggested that the

political philosophy of Mr. Jefferson has been discredited by the teachings of

experience? Does the General Government now need a larger delegation of power?

Are there any functions hitherto performed by the States which should be

relegated to the central authority ? Do we need a large standing army? Must we

confront







xxxiv The University of Virginia, and







the gigantic naval armaments of the European nations with a corresponding array

? Must we mingle in the ambitions of the great powers of the world ? Must we

extend the area of our territorial dominion ? Must we look on and behold with

unconcern the partitioning of Africa among the European powers, and the

dismemberment of China? Must we assert before the world the might and majesty

of seventy millions of the most energetic and productive people on the globe?

Shall we form alliances with kindred peoples, or remain in calm and forbidding

isolation among the nations? All these questions to which, if proposed in Mr.

Jefferson's time, his teaching would have returned an answer in the negative,

are likely to press themselves, if they are not already pressing themselves,

upon the public attention.



Time, of course, does not permit me to indulge in any consideration of either

of them; but I venture to express my conviction that unless the answer the

American people make to them shall be consistent with those principles of which

Mr. Jefferson has hitherto been regarded as the champion, there will be an end

of true popular government among men. There is-there can be-but one true basis

of liberty, and that lies in constantly cherishing the dispersion rather than

the concentration of power. The individual loses something of his liberty the

moment he clothes another with any power over himself. Nothing can justify the

surrender except







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxxv







the promise that by making it he better secures the liberty he retains. But

with every new surrender of power there comes a peril. Power entrusted will

sometimes be abused, and the temptation to abuse increases with the extent of

the delegation. Liberty is safe when, and only when, for each delegation of

power which is demanded a necessity is shown.



No; the fundamental political philosophy of Mr. Jefferson has not been

discredited by time or experience. It never will be discredited while men

retain a real love and a true comprehension of civil liberty. And never more

than at the present time has there been a necessity f or studying and teaching

within the walls of universities the true principles of republican liberty and

the practical art of applying them to human affairs. Recreant, indeed, would

this University be to the fame of its founder, to the purposes for which it was

established, and to its own obligations to present and to future times, if it

failed to continue to maintain, not in the spirit of dogmatism, but of devotion

to truth, those great principles upon which free popular government stands.



If anything were needed to impress upon patriotic minds the supreme importance

of cultivating anew these principles and implanting in all hearts the

determination to maintain them, it would be supplied by the extraordinary

spectacle which our country exhibits at the present moment. We have voluntarily

chosen to break the peace of the world







xxxvi The University of Virginia, and



and engage in a war which already imposes a heavy burden upon the industry and

resources of the nation, and which may become enlarged into gigantic

proportions-a war undertaken not to repel aggression, but to check the

disorders and relieve the oppressions to which a neighboring people have been

subjected. It is, indeed, true that nations have their duties not only to

themselves, but to the world ; and these must be performed at whatever hazard.

If we have not the virtue to perform them without sacrificing our own freedom,

we have no right to be a republic. We believe, and have solemnly avowed, that

we have taken this perilous step under the influence of those humane motives

which civilization and humanity enjoin us to obey. For the sincerity of that

avowal we must abide the judgment of civilized nations, and this will largely

depend upon the consistency with that declaration which our future conduct

shall exhibit. Even now the passion for national glory, growing by what it

feeds upon, stimulated by the deeds of naval skill and daring on distant

seas-deeds which reflect undying lustre on the American name and excite the

admiration of the world-is indulging new visions of territorial aggrandizement.



But have a care, Americans ! These national duties which call upon us to raise

an avenging arm arise only in those rare alternatives when all else has proved

to be ineffectual, and when we have good reason to know that such avenging arm

will be







Thomas Jefferson, its Father xxxvii



effectual. Have a care that among your ruling motives no place shall be allowed

to the mere love of military and naval renown. The pathway marked out for the

republic by its fathers was one of peaceful achievement. Its mission is peace.

A free nation can rightfully have no other aspiration. But there are

temptations which come with the possession of power. Men take pride in being

the citizens of powerful nations, and enjoy the consciousness of strength.

These temptations are to be resisted, for we may be sure that f or any undue

indulgence in them the price will be exacted with the certainty of f ate ; and

this price is grinding taxation, the oppression of the poorer classes, the

multiplication of the official corps, the intensifying of the struggle for the

possession of governmental patronage and consequent spread of corruption, the

increasing power of political bosses and chieftains, the decay of public and

civic virtue, and the resulting danger of resorts to revolution. Let not our

future confirm the sad lament of the misanthropic poet, that history has but

one page which reads,







"First Freedom, and then Glory-when that fails, Wealth, vice,

corruption,-barbarism at last."







Here, then, of all places, let the true principles of liberty and free

government, as expounded by Jefferson, be forever studied and taught. Let the

youth of the land who are to resort hither here learn the true objects of

national ambition and the methods by







xxxviii The University of Virginia







which they are to be reached. Let them study here the new problems arising from

the prodigious growth of the nation and its rapid material consolidation. Let

them be taught the true principles of legislation, and by what methods liberty

is best reconciled with order and with law ; and above all let them learn to

prefer for their country that renown among the nations which comes from the

constant display of the love of peace and justice.



And the ancient Commonwealth of Virginia,-to what nobler object can she extend

her favor 'and support than the building up upon this historic spot of a great

university which shall be at once the home of the Sciences and the Arts and the

nursery of political freedom? Outshining all her sister colonies in the

splendor of her contribution to the galaxy of great names which adorns our

Revolutionary history, how can she better perpetuate that glory than by sending

forth from her own soil a new line of patriot statesmen? No jealousies will

attend her efforts to this great end, and her sister States would greet with

delight her re-ascending star once more blazing in the zenith of its own proper

firmament.















CONTENTS.











THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, AND   THOMAS JEF-          PAGE



FERSON, ITS  FATHER. By James C. Carter, LL. D.                         iii



NOTES ON VIRGINIA . ... .. . . . . . .. ...                                    

    1-261



An exact description of the limits and boundaries



of the State of Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            

                      1



A notice of its rivers, rivulets, and how far they



are navigable.... . . ... . . .. . ... .                                       

                         3



A notice of the best Seaports of the State, and



size of the vessels they can receive.... . . .                                 

              22



A notice of its Mountains.. . . . . ... . .                                    

                 23



Its Cascades and Caverns.. . . ..                                              

              27



A notice of the mines and other subterraneous



riches; its trees, plants, fruits, etc.... ... .                               

                   33



A notice of all that can increase the progress of



Human Knowledge... .. .. . . . .                                               

              104



The number of its inhabitants.. . . . ... . .                                  

              116



The number and condition of the Militia and



Regular Troops, and their Pay.. . .. . ..                                      

            125



The Marine. .. . . .                                                           

                     127



A description of the Indians established in that



State ......................                                                   

                          127



A notice of the counties, cities, townships, and



villages .... .... . .........                                                 

                          146



The constitution of the State and its several



charters ......... .........                                                   

                         148



The administration of Justice and the descrip-



tion of the laws.... . . ... . .                                               

                      179



The Colleges and Public Establishments, the



Roads, Buildings, etc..                                                        

                  208







Contents







NOTES ON VIRGINIA-continued                                                    

  page



The measures taken with regard to the estates



and possessions of the Rebels, commonly



called Tories.. . ... .                                                        

                      215



The different religions received into Virginia...                              

         217



The particular customs and manners that may



happen to be received in Virginia.. ..... ..                                   

            225



The present state of manufactures, commerce,



interior and exterior trade... ..... . . ...                                   

                228



A notice of the commercial productions par-



ticular to the State, and of those objects



which the inhabitants are obliged to get from



Europe and from other parts of the world...                                    

      230



The weights, measures and the currency of the



hard money. Some details relating to ex-



change with Europe.... ..... .........                                         

                235



The public Income and Expenses..... . . ...                                    

        237



The histories of the State, the memorials pub-



lished in its name in the time of its being a



colony, and the pamphlets relating to its



interior or exterior affairs present or ancient.                               

         244



APPENDIX TO NOTES ON VIRGINIA ............                     263-329



No. I. Observations by Charles Thompson..                                      

 263



No. II. Draft of a fundamental Constitution



for the Commonwealth of Virginia.                                              

       281



No.III. An Act for establishing Religious



Freedom, passed in the Assembly



of Virginia in the beginning of year



1786......................                                                     

                      300



No. IV. An Appendix relative to the Mur-



dering of Logan's Family..... . .                                              

             304



No. V. Extract of a Letter from the Hon.



Judge Innes to Thomas Jefferson..                                              

        307



Logan's speech ....................,.                                          

                 308







Contents







APPENDIX TO NOTES ON VIRGINIA-continued                          page



Affidavit of John Gibson .. . . . . . . . . .                                  

              308



Extract of a letter from Col. Ebenezer Zane to



the Hon. John Brown... . .                                                     

             310



Certificate of William Huston.                                                 

            311



Certificate of Jacob Newland.....                                              

          312



Certificate of John Anderson,..                                                

           312



Deposition of James Chambers...                                                

       313



Certificate of David Reddick...                                                

           315



Certificate of Charles Polke...                                                

             315



Declaration of the Honorable Judge Innes.                                      

    316



Declaration of William Robinson..                                              

         316



Deposition of Col. William M'Kee...                                            

       318



Certificate of James Speed, Jr., and J. H. Dewes.                              

 319



Certificate of Hon. Stevens Thompson Mason..                                  

319



Statement of Andrew Rogers in regard to the



speech of Logan to Lord Dunmore....                                            

     319



Declaration of John Heckewelder....                                            

       320



Historical statement... ...                                                    

                 324



Declaration of John Sappington...                                              

         327



Certificate of Samuel M'Kee, Jr...                                             

         329



MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE..                    331-450



Introduction ...... ..                                                         

                    333



The Importance of Adhering to Rules                                            

     335



Legislature ...... .                                                           

                     338



Privilege........ .......                                                      

                      338



Elections ...... .                                                             

                     346



Qualifications ... . . .. .                                                    

                   347



Quorum.                                                                        

                   349



Call of the House.. . . . ....                                                 

                350



Absence ..... .... ...                                                         

                   350



Speaker....... .......                                                         

                    351



Address.......................                                                 

                    352



Committees... .. .. .. . ...                                                   

                  353



Committee of the Whole.. . .                                                   

           354







xlii Contents







 MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY  PRACTICE-Continued          page



Examination of Witnesses.... . . . . . ...                                     

           357



Arrangement of Business..... ... . ... .'..                                    

           359



Order....                                                                      

                     360



Order Respecting Papers.......                                                 

          360



Order in Debate. . . ..                                                        

               361



Orders of the House. . . .. .                                                  

             369



Motions.. .. . .... .. ..                                                      

                   372



Resolutions .. . ........ . . .. ...                                           

                  373



Bills ......................... ...                                            

                       373



Bills, Leave to Bring in.... . ....... ...                                     

              373



Bills, First Reading....... . .... ... .                                       

                374



Bills, Second Reading.... ... .. .. ... .                                      

            375



Bills, Commitments.. .... .. .,.... .. . .                                     

             375



Report of Committee...... .. . . . . . .                                       

           380



Bill, Re-Commitment.. ... . ... ..                                             

           381



Bill, Report Taken Up... ... .. . ... . ...                                    

           382



Quasi Committee. ... .. .. ...... . ...                                        

            383



Bill, Second Reading in the House.. ...                                        

     385



Reading Papers... . . ... . .... .... ..                                       

             387



Privileged Questions...... .. . .. .. ..                                       

            388



The Previous Question:... . . ... ..... ...                                    

          398



Amendments. 401



Division of the Question .. ..... .. .                                         

           406



Co-existing Questions.... .                                                    

           409



Equivalent Questions.... ... . . .... . ..                                     

            410



The Question..                                                                 

               412



Bill, Third Reading .                                                          

              412



Division of the House                                                          

            415



Title .. . . . . , .... . . .... ..                                            

                      421



Bills Sent to the Other House .... ..... .                                     

        424



Amendments between the Houses.,. ....                                          

 425



Conferences.....                                                               

               428







Contents xliii







MANUAL OF PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE-Continued         Page



Messages...... ...........                                                     

                432



Assent............. ..............                                             

                   434



Journals..................                                                     

                   435



Adjournment....... .... . .                                                    

               437



A Session......... .......... . .... .                                         

                 439



Treaties .............................                                         

                   441



Impeachment...... .......... . ..                                              

              444







NOTES ON VIRGINIA.







INTRODUCTORY NOTES.















" Notes on Virginia" was written by Jefferson in answer to inquiries propounded

to him by the Marquis de Barbe-Marbois, then Secretary of the French Legation

in Philadelphia. Jefferson had 200 copies privately printed in Paris in 1784

(dated l782) for distribution among his friends in Europe and America. No more

authentic account could be given as to the origin of the "Notes on Virginia"

than the account Jefferson gives us himself in his Autobiography. This account

is as follows:



"Before I had left America, that is to say, in the year of 1781, I had received

a letter from M. de Marbois, of the French legation in Philadelphia, informing

me that he had been instructed by his government to obtain such statistical

accounts of the different States of our Union, as might be useful for their

information; and addressing to me a number of queries relative to the State of

Virginia. I had always made it a practice, whenever an opportunity occurred, of

obtaining any information of our country which might be of use to me in any

station, public or private, to commit it to writing. These memoranda, were on

loose papers, bundled up without order, and difficult of recurrence, when I had

occasion for a particular one. I thought this a good occasion to embody their

substance, which I did in the order of M. Marbois's queries, so as to answer

his wish, and to arrange them for my own use. Some friends, to whom they were

occasionally communicated, wished for copies; but their volume rendering this

too laborious by hand, I proposed to get a few printed for their gratification.

I was asked such a price, however, as exceeded the importance of the object. On

my arrival at Paris, I found it. could be done for a fourth of what I had been

asked here. I, therefore, corrected and enlarged them, and had two hundred

copies printed, under the title of ' Notes on Virginia.' I gave a very few

copies to some particular persons in Europe, and sent the rest to my friends in

America. An European copy, by the death of the owner, got into the hands of a

bookseller, who engaged its translation, and, when ready for the press,

communicated his intentions and manuscript to me, suggesting that I should

correct it without asking any other permission for the publication. I never had

seen so wretched an attempt at translation. Interverted, abridged, mutilated,

and often reversing the sense of the original, I found it a blotch of errors

from







Introductory Notes







beginning to end. I corrected some of the most material, and, in that form, it

was printed in French. A London bookseller, on seeing the translation,

requested me to permit him to print the English original. I thought it best to

do so, to let the world see that it was not really so bad as the French

translation had made it appear. And this is the true history of that

publication."



The English publisher referred to by Jefferson is John Stockdale, who published

an edition of the " Notes on Virginia " in 1787. Jefferson's preface to this

English edition was as follows:



"The following Notes were written in Virginia in the year 1781, and somewhat

corrected and enlarged in the winter of 1782, in answer to queries proposed to

the Author, by a Foreigner of Distinction, then residing among us. The subjects

are all treated imperfectly; some scarcely touched on. To apologize for this by

developing the circumstances of the time and place of their composition, would

be to open wounds which have already bled enough. To these circumstances some

of their imperfections may with truth be ascribed; the great mass to the want.

of information and want of talents in the writer. He had a few copies printed,

which he gave among his friends; and a transition of them has been lately

published in France, but with such alterations as the laws of the press in that

country rendered necessary. They are now offered to the public in their

original form and language."



This edition included three "appendices" that Jefferson added after the

publication of the original edition, and it was the first edition to announce

the name of the author. It was at once reprinted in America, and apparently

without Jefferson's consent. A German translation was issued in 1789. Another

American reprint of the English edition seems to have been made with

Jefferson's consent in 1794. During the years of l797 and 1798 Jefferson wrote

an "Appendix" relative to the murder of Logan's family, which was added to the

edition of l800. All subsequent editions, except that of 1853, are reprints of

the text of 1787, supplemented by the "Appendix" relating to Logan.



Jefferson left at his death a printed copy of his " Notes on Virginia"

containing a revision of the text and many manuscript notes. This copy was

transferred by Jefferson's literary executor, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, to J.

W. Randolph & Co., who based their edition of 1853 on Jefferson's final

revision.



In the preface of this edition the publishers, in contrast to Jefferson's low

estimate of his work, declared that "the beauty of style, the accuracy of

information, and the scientific research displayed in the. `Notes' have made

them a permanent part of our national literature."



JEFFERSON'S WORKS.







 NOTES ON VIRGINIA.















QUERY 1.







An exact description of the limits and boundaries of the State of Virginia?







Virginia is bounded on the east by the Atlantic; on the north by a line of

latitude crossing the eastern shore through Watkin's Point, being about

37degrees 57' north latitude ; from thence by a straight line to Cinquac, near

the mouth of Potomac ; thence by the Potomac, which is common to Virginia and

Maryland, to the first fountain of its northern branch; thence by a meridian

line, passing through that fountain till it intersects a line running east and

west, in latitude 39degrees 43' 42.4" which divides Maryland from Pennsylvania,

and which was marked by Messrs. Mason and Dixon; thence by that line, and a

continuation of it westwardly to the completion of five degrees of longitude

from the eastern boundary of Pennsylvania, in the same latitude, and thence by

a meridian line to the Ohio; on the







 VOL. II-1







Jefferson's Works







west by the Ohio and Mississippi, to latitude 36degrees 30' north, and on the

south by the line of latitude last mentioned. By admeasurement through nearly

the whole of this last line, and supplying the unmeasured parts from good data,

the Atlantic and Mississippi are found in this latitude to be seven hundred and

fifty-eight miles distant, equal to 30degrees 38' of longitude, reckoning

fifty-five miles and three thousand one hundred and forty-four feet to the

degree. This being our comprehension of longitude, that of our latitude, taken

between this and Mason and Dixon's line, is 3degrees 13' 42.4" equal to two

hundred and twenty-three and one-third miles supposing a degree of a great

circle to be sixty-nine miles, eight hundred and sixty-four feet, as computed

by Cassina. These boundaries include an area somewhat triangular of one hundred

and twenty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-five square miles, whereof

seventy-nine thousand six hundred and fifty lie westward of the Alleghany

mountains, and fifty-seven thousand and thirty-four westward of the meridian of

the mouth of the Great Kanhaway. This State is therefore one-third larger than

the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, which are reckoned at eighty-eight

thousand three hundred and fifty-seven square miles. These limits result from,

1. The ancient charters from the crown of England. 2. The grant of Maryland to

the Lord Baltimore, and the subsequent determinations of the British court as

to the extent







Notes on Virginia 3







of that grant. 3. The grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn, and a compact

between the general assemblies of the commonwealths of Virginia and

Pennsylvania as to the extent of that grant. 4. The grant of Carolina, and

actual location of its northern boundary, by consent of both parties. 5. The

treaty of Paris of 1763. 6. The confirmation of the charters of the neighboring

States by the convention of Virginia at the time of constituting their

commonwealth. 7. The cession made by Virginia to Congress of all the lands to

which they had title on the north side of the Ohio.















QUERY II.







A notice of its rivers, rivulets, and how far they are navigable?







An inspection of a map of Virginia, will give a better idea of the geography of

its rivers, than any description in writing. Their navigation may be

imperfectly noted. Roanoke, so far as it lies within the State, is nowhere

navigable but for canoes, or light batteaux ; and even for these in such

detached parcels as to have prevented the inhabitants from availing themselves

of it at all. James River, and its waters, afford navigation as follows :







The whole of Elizabeth River, the lowest of those Which run into James River;

is a harbor, and would







4 Jefferson's Works







contain upwards of three hundred ships. The channel is from one hundred and

fifty to two hundred fathoms wide, and at common flood tide affords eighteen

feet water to Norfolk. The Stafford, a sixty gun ship, went there, lightening

herself to cross the bar at Sowel's Point. The Fier Rodrigue, pierced for

sixty-four guns, and carrying fifty, went there without lightening. Craney

Island, at the mouth of this river, commands its channel tolerably well.

Nansemond River is navigable to Sleepy Hole for vessels of two hundred and

fifty tons; to Suffolk for those of one hundred tons; and to Milner's for those

of twenty-five. Pagan Creek affords eight or ten feet water to Smithfield,

which admits vessels of twenty tons. Chickahominy has at its mouth a bar, on

which is only twelve feet water at common flood tide. Vessels passing that, may

go eight miles up the river; those of ten feet draught may go four miles

further, and those of six tons burden twenty miles further. Appomattox may be

navigated as far as Broadways, by any vessel which has crossed Harrison's bar

in James River; it keeps eight or ten feet water a mile or two higher up to

Fisher's bar, and four feet on that and upwards to Petersburg, where all

navigation ceases. James River itself affords a harbor for vessels of any size

in Hampton Road, but not in safety through the whole winter'; and there is

navigable water for







Notes on Virginia 5







them as far as Mulberry Island. A forty gun ship goes to Jamestown, and,

lightening herself, may pass Harrison's bar ; on which there is only fifteen

feet water. Vessels of two hundred and fifty tons may go to Warwick; those of

one hundred and twenty-five go to Rocket's, a mile below Richmond ; from thence

is about seven feet water to Richmond ; and about the centre of the town, four

feet and a half, where the navigation is interrupted by falls, which in a

course of six miles, descend about eighty-eight feet perpendicular ; above

these it is resumed in canoes and batteaux, and is prosecuted safely and

advantageously to within ten miles of the Blue Ridge; and even through the Blue

Ridge a ton weight has been brought; and the expense would not be great, when

compared with its object, to open a tolerable navigation up Jackson's river and

Carpenter's creek, to within twenty-five miles of Howard's creek of Green

Briar, both of which have then water enough to float vessels. into the Great

Kanhaway. In some future state of population I think it possible that its

navigation may also be made to interlock with that of the Potomac, and through

that to communicate by a short portage with the Ohio. It is to be noted that

this river is called in the maps James River, only to its confluence with the

Rivanna ; thence to the Blue Ridge it is called the Fluvanna; and thence to its

source Jackson's river. But in common speech, it is called James River to its

source.







6 Jefferson's Works







The Rivanna, a branch of James River, is navigable for canoes and batteaux to

its intersection with the South-West mountains, which is about twenty-two miles

; and may easily be opened to navigation through these mountains to its fork

above Charlottesville. York River, at Yorktown, affords the best harbor in the

State for vessels of the largest size. The river there narrows to the width of

a mile, and is contained within very high banks, close under which vessels may

ride. It holds four fathom water at high tide for twenty-five miles above York

to the mouth of Poropotank, where the river is a mile and a half wide and the

channel only seventy-five fathom, and passing under a high bank. At the

confluence of Pamunkey and Mattapony, it is reduced to three fathom depth,

which continues up Pamunkey to Cumberland, where the width is one hundred

yards; and up Mattapony to within two miles of Frazier's ferry, where it

becomes two and a half fathom deep, and holds that about five miles. Pamunkey

is then capable of navigation for loaded flats to Brockman's bridge, fifty

miles above Hanover town, and Mattapony to Downer's bridge, seventy miles above

its mouth. Piavckatank, the little rivers making out of Mobjack Bay and those

of the eastern shore, receive only very small vessels, and these can but enter

them. Rappahannock affords four fathom water to Hobb's hole, and two fathom

from thence to Fredericksburg.







Notes on Virginia 7







Potomac is seven and a half miles wide at the mouth ; four and a half at Nomony

bay ; three at Aquia; one and a half at Hallowing point; one and a quarter at

Alexandria. Its soundings are seven fathom at the mouth ; five at St. George's

island ; four and a half at Lower Matchodic ; three at Swan's point, and thence

up to Alexanderia; thence ten feet water to the falls, which are thirteen miles

above Alexandria. These falls are fifteen miles in length, and of very great

descent, and the navigation above them for batteaux and canoes is so much

interrupted as to be little used. It is, however, used in a small degree up the

Cohongoronta branch as far as fort Cumberland, which was at the mouth of Willis

s creek and is capable, at no great expense, of being rendered very

practicable. The Shenandoah branch interlocks with James river about the Blue

Ridge, and may perhaps in future be opened. The Mississippi will be one of the

principal channels of future commerce for the country westward of the

Alleghany. From the mouth of this river to where it receives the Ohio, is one

thousand miles by water, but only five hundred by land, passing through the

Chickasaw country. From the mouth of the Ohio to that of the Missouri, is two

hundred and thirty miles by water, and one hundred and forty by land, from

thence to the mouth of the Illinois river, is about twenty-five miles. The

Mississippi, below the mouth of the Missouri, is always muddy, and abounding

with sand bars, which







8 Jefferson's Works







frequently change their places. However, it carries fifteen feet water to the

mouth of the Ohio, to which place it is from one and a half to two miles wide,

and thence to Kaskaskia from one mile to a mile and a quarter wide. Its current

is so rapid, that it never can be stemmed by the force of the wind alone acting

on sails. Any vessel however, navigated with oars, may come up at any time, and

receive much aid from the wind. A batteau passes from the mouth of Ohio to the

mouth of Mississippi in three weeks, and is from two to three months getting up

again. During its floods, which are periodical as those of the Nile, the

largest vessels may pass down it, if their steerage can be insured. These

floods begin in April, and the river returns into its banks early in August.

The inundation extends further on the western than eastern side, covering the

lands in some places for fifty miles from its banks. Above the mouth of the

Missouri it becomes much such a river as the Ohio, like it clear and gentle in

its current, not quite so wide, the period of its floods nearly the same, but

not rising to so great a height. The streets of the village at Cohoes are not

more than ten feet above the ordinary level of the water, and yet were never

overflowed. Its bed deepens every year. Cohoes, in the memory of many people

now living, was insulated by every flood of the river. What was the eastern

channel has now become a lake, nine miles in length and one in width into which

the river at this day never flows. This







Notes on Virginia 9 



river yields turtle of a peculiar kind, perch, trout, gar, pike, mullets,

herrings, carp, spatula-fish of fifty pounds weight, cat-fish of one hundred

pounds weight, buffalo fish, and sturgeon. Alligators or crocodiles have been

seen as high up as the Acansas. It also abounds in herons, cranes, ducks,

brant, geese, and swans. Its passage is commanded by a fort established by this

State, five miles below the mouth of the Ohio, and ten miles above the Carolina

boundary. The Missouri, since the treaty of Paris, the Illinois and northern

branches of the Ohio, since the cession to Congress, are no longer within our

limits. Yet having been so heretofore, and still opening to us channels of

extensive communication with the western and north-western country, they shall

be noted in their order. The Missouri is, in fact, the principal river,

contributing more to the common stream than does the Mississippi, even after

its junction with the Illinois. It is remarkably cold, muddy, and rapid. Its

overflowings are considerable. They happen during the months of June and July.

Their commencement being so much later than those of the Mississippi, would

induce a belief that the sources of the Missouri are northward of those of the

Mississippi, unless we suppose that the cold increases again with the ascent of

the land from the Mississippi westwardly. That this ascent is great, is proved

by the rapidity of the river. Six miles above the mouth,







10 Jefferson's Works







it is brought within the compass of a quarter of a mile's width; yet the

Spanish merchants at Pancore or St. Louis, say they go two thousand miles up

it. It heads far westward of the Rio Norte, or North River. There is, in the

villages of Kaskaskia, Cohoes, and St. Vincennes, no inconsiderable quantity of

plate, said to have been plundered during the last war by the Indians from the

churches and private houses of Santa Fe, on the North river, and brought to the

villages for sale. From the mouth of the Ohio to Sante Fe are forty days

journey, or about one thousand miles. What is the shortest distance between the

navigable waters of the Missouri, and those of the North river, or how far this

is navigable above Sante Fe, I could never learn. From Santa Fe to its mouth in

the Gulf of Mexico is about twelve hundred miles. The road from New Orleans to

Mexico crosses this river at the post of Rio Norte, eight hundred miles below

Santa Fe and from this post to New Orleans is about twelve hundred miles ; thus

making two thousand miles between Santa Fe and New Orleans; passing down the

North river, Red river, and Mississippi; whereas it is two thousand two hundred

and thirty through the Missouri and Mississippi. From the same post of Rio

Norte, passing near the mines of La Sierra and Laiguana, which are between the

North river, and the river Salina to Sartilla, is three hundred and

seventy-five miles, and from thence, passing the mines of Charcas, Zaccatecas,

and Potosi, to the







Notes on Virginia 11







City of Mexico, is three hundred and seventy-five miles; in all, one thousand

five hundred and fifty miles from Santa Fe to the city of Mexico. From New

Orleans to the city of Mexico is about one thousand nine hundred and fifty

miles ; the roads after setting out from the Red river, near Natchitoches,

keeping generally parallel with the coast, and about two hundred miles from it,

till it enters the city of Mexico. The Illinois is a fine river, clear, gentle,

and without rapids; insomuch that it is navigable for batteaux to its source.

From thence is a portage of two miles only to the Chicago, which affords a

batteau navigation of sixteen miles to its entrance into lake Michigan. The

Illinois, about ten miles above its mouth, is three hundred yards wide. The

Kaskaskia is one hundred yards wide at its entrance into the Mississippi, and

preserves that breadth to the Buffalo plains, seventy miles above. So far,

also, it is navigable for loaded batteaux, and perhaps much further. It is not

rapid. The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth: Its current gentle,

waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single

instance only excepted. It is one-quarter of a mile wide at Fort Pitt, five

hundred yards at the mouth of the Great Kanhaway, one mile and twenty-five

poles at Louisville, onequarter of a mile on the rapids three or four miles

below Louisville, half a mile where the low country







12 Jefferson's Works







begins, which is twenty miles above Green river, a mile and a quarter at the

receipt of the Tennessee, and a mile wide at the mouth. Its length, as measured

according to its meanders by Captain Hutchins, is as follows :From Fort Pitt







To Log's Town .. . . . .         18.5 



Big Beaver Creek .. . .        10.75 



Little Beaver Creek .. .         13.5 



Yellow Creek .. . , , , ,        11.75



Two Creeks. . . . . . . .        21.75 



Long Reach .. . . . . . .                53.75 



End Long Reach .,. . .         16.5 



Muskingum .. . . . . . .         25.5 



Little Kanhaway . . . . .        12.25 



Hockhocking. , , , , , ,         16 



Great Kanhaway. . . .                 82.5 



Guiandot.... . .. . . .                 43.75 



Sandy Creek. . . . . .                 14.5 



Sioto .. . . . . . . . .                 48.25







Little Miami .. ... , ,                 126.25 



Licking Creek. . : . , ,         8 



Great Miami ... , , , ,                 26.75 



Big Bones ... . , " ,                 32.5 



Kentucky .. . . . . . .                 44.25 



Rapids. .. . ... . . .                 77.25 



Low Country .. . . . .                 155.75 



Buffalo River. . .. . . .                64.5 



Wabash.. . . . ... . .                 97.25 



Big Cave .... . ... ...                 42.75 



Shawanee River. . . , , .        52.5 



Cherokee River ..                 13



Massac ..                         11 



Mississippi, . , . , ,                 44



                               ---------------



                                1188 







   In common winter and spring tides it affords fifteen feet water to

Louisville, ten feet to Le Tarte's. rapids, forty miles above the mouth of the

great Kanhaway, and a sufficiency at all times for light batteaux and canoes to

Fort Pitt. The rapids are in latitude 38 degrees 8'. The inundatioris of this

river begin about the last of March, and subside in July. During these, a

first-rate man-of-war may be carried from Louisville to New Orleans, if the

sudden turns of the river and the strength of its current will admit a safe

steerage. The rapids at Louisville descend about thirty feet in a length of a

mile and a half.







Notes on Virginia 13







The bed of the river there is a solid rock, and is divided by an island into

two branches, the southern of which is about two hundred yards wide, and is dry

four months in the year. The bed of the northern branch is worn into channels

by the constant course of the water, and attrition of the pebble stones carried

on with that, so as to be passable for batteaux through the greater part of the

year. Yet it is thought that the southern arm may be the most easily opened for

constant navigation. The rise of the waters in these rapids does not exceed ten

or twelve feet. A part of this island is so high as to have been never

overflowed, arid to command the settlement at Louisville, which is opposite to

I t. The fort, however, is situated at the head of the falls. The ground on the

south side rises very gradually. The Tennessee, Cherokee, or Hogohege river, is

six hundred yards wide at its mouth, a quarter of a mile at the mouth of

Holston, and two hundred yards at Chotee, which is twenty miles above Holston,

and three hundred miles above the mouth of the Tennessee. This river crosses

the southern boundary of Virginia, fifty-eight miles from the Mississippi. Its

current is moderate. It is navigable for loaded boats of any burden to the

Muscle shoals, where the river passes through the Cumberland mountain. These

shoals are six or eight miles long, passable downwards for loaded canoes, but

not upwards, unless there be a swell in the river.







14 Jefferson's Works







Above these the navigation for loaded canoes and batteaux continues to the Long

island. This river has its inundations also. Above the Chickamogga towns is a

whirlpool called the Sucking-pot, which takes in trunks of trees or boats, and

throws them out again half a mile below. It is avoided by keeping very close to

the bank, on the south side. There are but a few miles portage between a branch

of this river and the .navigable waters of the river Mobile, which runs into

the Gulf of Mexico. Cumberland, or Shawanee river, intersects the boundary

between Virginia and North Carolina sixty-seven miles from the Mississippi, and

again one hundred and ninety-eight miles from the same river, a little above

the entrance of Obey's river in to the Cumberland. Its Clear fork crosses the

same boundary about three hundred miles from the Mississippi. Cumberland is a

very gentle stream, navigable for loaded batteaux eight hundred miles, without

interruption ; then intervene some rapids of fifteen miles in length, after

which it is again navigable seventy miles upwards, which brings you within ten

miles of the Cumberland mountains. It is about one hundred and twenty yards

wide through its whole course, from the head of its navigation to its mouth.

The Wabash is a very beautiful river, four hundred yards wide at the mouth, and

three hundred at St. Vincennes, which is a post one hundred miles above the

mouth, in a direct line. Within this







Notes on Virginia 15







space there are two small rapids, which give very little obstruction to the

navigation. It is four hundred yards wide at the mouth, and navigable thirty

leagues upwards for canoes and small boats. From the mouth of Maple river to

that of Eel river is about eighty miles in a direct line, the river continuing

navigable, and from one to two hundred yards in width. The Eel river is one

hundred and fifty yards wide, and affords at all times navigation for

periaguas, to within eighteen miles of the Miami of the Lake. The Wabash, from

the mouth of Eel river to Little river, a distance of fifty miles direct, is

interrupted with frequent rapids and shoals, which obstruct the navigation,

except in a swell. Little river affords navigation during a swell to within

three miles of the Miami, which thence affords a similar navigation into Lake

Erie, one hundred miles distant in a direct line. The Wabash overflows

periodically in. correspondence with the Ohio, and in some places two leagues

from its banks. Green River is navigable for loaded batteaux at all times fifty

miles upwards; but it is then interrupted by impassable rapids, above which the

navigation again commences and continues good thirty or forty miles to the

mouth of Barren river. Kentucky River is ninety yards wide at the mouth, and

also at Boonsborough, eighty miles above. It affords a navigation for loaded

batteaux one hundred and eighty miles in a direct line, in the winter tides.







16 Jefferson's Works







The Great Miami of the Ohio, is two hundred yards wide at the mouth. At the

Piccawee towns, seventy-five miles above, it is reduced to thirty yards; it is,

nevertheless, navigable for loaded canoes fifty miles above these towns. The

portage from its western branch into the Miami of Lake Erie, is five miles;

that from its eastern branch into Sandusky river, is of nine miles. Salt River

is at all times navigable for loaded batteaux seventy or eighty miles. It is

eighty yards wide at its mouth, and keeps that width to its fork, twenty-five

miles above. The Little Miami of the Ohio, is sixty or seventy yards wide at

its mouth, sixty miles to its source, and affords no navigation. The Sioto is

two hundred and fifty yards wide at its mouth, which is in latitude 38 degrees

22', and at the Saltlick towns, two hundred miles above the mouth, it is yet

one hundred yards wide. To these towns it is navigable for loaded batteaux, and

its eastern branch affords navigation almost to its source. Great Sandy River

is about sixty yards wide, and navigable sixty miles for loaded batteaux.

Guiandot is about the width of the river last mentioned, but is more rapid. It

may be navigated by. canoes sixty miles. The Great Kanhaway is a river of

considerable note for the fertility of its lands, and still more, as leading

towards the head waters of James river. Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether

its great and







Notes on Virginia 1







numerous rapids will admit a navigation, but at an expense to which it will

require ages to render its inhabitants equal. The great obstacles begin at what

are called the Great Falls, ninety miles above the mouth, below which are only

five or six rapids, and these passable, with some difficulty, even at low

water. From the falls to the mouth of Greenbriar is one hundred miles, and

thence to the lead mines one hundred and twenty. It is two hundred and eighty

yards wide at its mouth. Hockhocking is eighty yards wide at its mouth, and

yields navigation for loaded batteaux to the Press-place, sixty miles above its

mouth. The Little Kanhaway is one hundred and fifty yards wide at the mouth. It

yields a navigation of ten miles only. Perhaps its. northern branch, called

Junius' creek, which interlocks with the western of Monongahela, may one day

admit a shorter passage from the latter into the Ohio. The Muskingum is two

hundred and eighty yards wide at its mouth, and two hundred yards at the lower

Indian towns, one hundred and fifty miles upwards. It is navigable for small

batteaux to within one mile of a navigable part of Cuyahoga river, which runs

into Lake Erie.







At Fort Pitt the river Ohio loses its name, branching into the Monongahela and

Alleghany.







The Monongahela is four hundred yards wide at its mouth. From thence is twelve

or fifteen miles to the mouth of Yohogany, where it is three hundred







VOL. II-2







18 Jefferson's Works







yards wide. Thence to Redstone by water is fifty miles, by land thirty. Then to

the mouth of Cheat river by water forty miles, by land twenty-eight, the width

continuing at three hundred yards, and the navigation good for boats. Thence

the width is about two hundred yards to the western fork, fifty miles higher,

and the navigation frequently interrupted by rapids, which, however, with a

swell of two or three feet, become very passable for boats. It then admits

light boats, except in dry seasons, sixty-five miles. further to the head of

Tygart's valley, presenting only some small rapids and falls of one or two feet

perpendicular, and lessening it its width to twenty yards. The Western fork is

navigable in the winter ten or fifteen miles towards the northern of the Little

Kanhaway, and will admit a good wagon road to it. The Yohogany is the principal

branch of this river. It passes through the Laurel mountain, about thirty miles

from its mouth; is so far from three hundred to one hundred and fifty yards

wide, and the navigation much obstructed in dry weather by rapids and shoals.

In its passage through the mountain it makes very great falls, admitting no

navigation for ten miles to the Turkey Foot. Thence to the Great Crossing,

about twenty miles, it is again navigable, except in dry seasons, and at this

place is two hundred yards wide. The sources of this river are divided from

those of the Potomac by the Alleghany mountain. From the falls, where it

intersects the Laurel mountain, to







Notes on Virginia 19







Fort Cumberland, the head of the navigation on the Potomac, is forty miles of

very mountainous road. Wills' creek, at the mouth of which was Fort Cumberland,

is thirty or forty yards wide, but affords no navigation as yet. Cheat river,

another considerable branch of the Monongahela, is two hundred yards wide at

its mouth, and one hundred yards at the Dunkard's settlement, fifty miles

higher. It is navigable for boats, except in dry seasons. The boundary between

Virginia and Pennsylvania crosses it about three or four miles above its mouth.







The Alleghany river, with a slight swell, affords navigation for light batteaux

to Venango, at the mouth of French Creek, where it is two hundred yards wide,

and is practiced even to Le Boeuf, from whence there is a portage of fifteen

miles to Presque Isle on the Lake Erie. The country watered by the Mississippi

and its eastern branches, constitutes five-eighths of the United States, two of

which five-eighths are occupied by the Ohio and its waters ; the residuary

streams which run into the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and the St. Lawrence,

water the remaining three-eighths.







Before we quit the subject of the western waters, we will take a view of their

principal connections with the Atlantic. These are three ; the Hudson river,

the Potomac, and the Mississippi itself. Down the last will pass all heavy

commodities. But the navigation through the Gulf of Mexico is so dangerous, and

that up the Mississippi so difficult and tedious,







20 Jefferson's Works







that it is thought probable that European merchandise will not return through

that channel. It is most likely that flour, timber, and other heavy articles

will be floated on rafts, which will themselves be an article for sale as well

as their loading, the navigators returning by land, or in light batteaux. There

will, therefore, be a competition between the Hudson and Potomac rivers for the

residue of the commerce of all the country westward of Lake Erie, on the waters

of the lakes, of the Ohio, and upper parts of the Mississippi. To go to New

York, that part of the trade which comes from the lakes or their waters, must

first be brought into Lake Erie. Between Lake Superior and its waters and

Huron, are the rapids of St. Mary, which will permit boats to pass, but not

larger vessels. Lakes Huron and Michigan afford communication with Lake Erie by

vessels of eight feet draught. That part of the trade which comes from the

waters of the Mississippi must pass from them through some portage into the

waters of the lakes. The portage from the Illinois river into a water of

Michigan is of one mile only. From the Wabash, Miami, Muskingum, or Alleghany,

are portages into the waters of Lake Erie, of from one to fifteen miles. When

the commodities are brought into, and have passed through Lake Erie, there is

between that and Ontario an interruption by the falls of Niagara, where the

portage is of eight miles; and between Ontario and the Hudson river are

portages at the falls of Onondago, a little above







Notes on Virginia 21







Oswego, of a quarter of a mile; from Wood creek to the Mohawks river two miles

; at the little falls of the Mohawks river half a mile; and from Schenectady to

Albany sixteen miles. Besides the increase of expense occasioned by frequent

change of carriage, there is an increased risk of pillage produced by

committing merchandise to a greater number of hands successively. The Potomac

offers itself under the following circumstances: For the trade of the lakes and

their waters westward of Lake Erie, when it shall have entered that lake, it

must coast along its southern shore, on account of the number and excellence of

its harbors ; the northern, though shortest, having few harbors, and these

unsafe. Having reached Cuyahoga, to proceed on to New York it will have eight

hundred and twenty-five miles and five portages; whereas it is but four hundred

and twenty-five miles to Alexandria, its emporium on the Potomac, if it turns

into the Cuyahoga, and passes through that, Big Beaver, Ohio, Yohogany, (or

Monongahela and Cheat,) and Potomac, and there are but two portages ; the first

of which, between Cuyahoga and Beaver, may be removed by uniting the sources of

these waters, which are lakes in the neighborhood of each other, and in a

champaign country; the other from the waters of Ohio to Potomac will be from

fifteen to forty miles, according to the trouble which shall be taken to

approach the two navigations. For the trade of the Ohio, or that which shall

come into it from its own waters







22 Jefferson's Works







or the Mississippi, it is nearer through the Potomac to Alexandria than to New

York by five hundred and eighty miles, and it is interrupted by one portage

only. There is another circumstance of difference, too. The lakes themselves

never freeze, but the communications between them freeze, and the Hudson river

is itself shut up by the ice three months in the year ; whereas the channel to

the Chesapeake leads directly into a warmer climate. The southern parts of it

very rarely freeze at all, and whenever the northern do, it is so near the

sources of the rivers, that the frequent .floods to which they are there

liable, break up the ice immediately, so that vessels may pass through the

whole winter, subject only to accidental and short delays.' Add to all this,

that in case of war with our neighbors, the Anglo-Americans or the Indians, the

route to New York becomes a frontier through almost its whole length, and all

commerce through it ceases from that moment. But the channel to New York is

already known to practice, whereas the' upper waters of the Ohio and the

Potomac, and the great falls of the latter, are yet to be cleared of their

fixed obstructions. See Appendix (A.)















QUERY III.







A notice of the best Seaports of the State, and how big are the vessels they

can receive? Having no ports but our rivers and creeks, this Query has been

answered under the preceding one.







Notes on Virginia 23







 QUERY IV.







A notice of its Mountains?







For the particular geography of our mountains I must refer to Fry and

Jefferson's map of Virginia; and to Evans' analysis of this map of America, for

a more philosophical view of them than is to be found in any other work. It is

worthy of notice, that our mountains are not solitary and scattered confusedly

over the face of the country ; but that they commence at about one hundred and

fifty miles from the sea-coast, are disposed in ridges, one behind another,

running nearly parallel with the sea-coast, though rather approaching it as

they advance northeastwardly. To the south-west, as the tract of country

between the sea-coast and the Mississippi be= comes narrower, the mountains

converge into a single ridge, which, as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico,

subsides into plain country, and gives rise to some of the waters of that gulf,

and particularly to a river called the Apalachicola, probably from the

Apalachies, an Indian nation formerly residing on it. Hence the mountains

giving rise to that river, and seen from its various parts, were called the

Apalachian mountains, being in f act the end or termination only of the great

ridges passing through the continent. European geographers, however, extended

the name northwardly as far as the mountains extended; some giving it, after

their separation into different ridges, to the Blue Ridge, others



Jefferson's Works







to the North Mountain, others to the Alleghany, others to the Laurel Ridge, as

may be seen by their different maps. But the fact I believe is, that none of

these ridges were ever known by that name to the inhabitants, either native or

emigrant, but as they saw them so called in European maps. In the same

direction, generally, are the veins of limestone, coal, and other minerals

hitherto discovered; and. so range the falls of our great rivers. But the

courses of the great rivers are at right angles with these. James and Potomac

penetrate through all the ridges of mountains eastward of the Alleghany; that

is, broken by no water course. It is in fact the spine of the country between

the Atlantic on one side, and the Mississippi and St. Lawrence on the other.

The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is, perhaps, one of the most

stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high point of land. On your

right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain an

hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approaches the Potomac, in quest of

a passage also. In the moment of their junction, they rush together against the

mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of this

scene hurries our senses into the opinion, that this earth has been. created in

time, that the mountains were formed first, that the rivers began to flow

afterwards, that in this place, particularly, they have been dammed up by the

Blue Ridge of mountains, and have formed







Notes on Virginia 25







an ocean which filled the whole valley; that continuing to rise they have at

length broken over at this spot, and have torn the mountain down from its

summit to its base. The piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the

Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disrupture and avulsion from their beds

by the most powerful agents of nature, corroborate the impression. But the

distant finishing which nature has given to the picture, is of a very different

character. It is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid and

delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For the mountain being cloven

asunder, she presents to your eve, through the cleft, a small catch of smooth

blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the plain country, inviting you, as it

were, from the riot and tumult roaring around, to pass through the breach and

participate of the calm below. Here the eye ultimately composes itself ; and

that way, too, the road happens actually to lead. You cross the Potomac above

the junction, pass along its side through the base of the mountain for three

miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments over you, and within about

twenty miles reach Fredericktown, and the fine country round that. This scene

is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. Yet here, as in the neighborhood of the

Natural Bridge, are people who have passed their lives within half a dozen

miles, and have never been to survey these monuments of a war between rivers

and mountains, which must have shaken the earth itself to its centre. See

Appendix (B.)







26 Jefferson's Works







The height of our mountains has not yet been estimated with any degree of

exactness. The Alleghany being the great ridge which divides the waters of the

Atlantic from those of the Mississippi, its summit is doubtless more elevated

above the ocean than that of any other mountain. But its relative height,

compared with the base on which it stands, is not so great as that of some

others, the country rising behind the successive ridges like the steps of

stairs. The mountains of the Blue Ridge, and of these the Peaks cf Otter, are

thought to be of a greater height, measured from their base, than any others in

our country, and perhaps in North America. From data, which may found a

tolerable conjecture, we suppose the highest peak to be about four thousand

feet perpendicular, which is not a fifth part of the height of the mountains of

South America, nor one-third of the height which would be necessary in our

latitude to preserve ice in the open air unmelted through the year. The ridge

of mountains next beyond the Blue Ridge, called by us the North mountain; is of

the greatest extent; for which reason they were named by the Indians the

endless mountains. A substance supposed to be Pumice, found floating on the

Mississippi, has induced a conjecture that there is a volcano on some of its

waters; and as these are mostly known to their sources, except the Missouri,

our expectations of verifying the conjecture would of course be led to the

mountains which divide the waters of the Mexican Gulf from those of the







Notes on Virginia 27







South Sea ; but no volcano having ever yet been known at such a distance from

the sea, we must rather suppose that this floating substance has been

erroneously deemed Pumice.















QUERY V.







Its Cascades and Caverns? The only remarkable cascade in this country is that

of the Falling Spring in Augusta. It is a water of James' river where it is

called Jackson's river, rising in the warm spring mountains, about twenty miles

southwest of the warm spring, and flowing into that v alley. About

three-quarters of a mile from its source it falls over a rock two hundred feet

into the valley below. The sheet of water is broken in its breadth by the rock,

in two or three places, but not at all in its height. Between the sheet and the

rock, at the bottom, you may walk across dry. This cataract will bear no

comparison with that of Niagara as to the quantity of water composing it; the

sheet being only twelve or fifteen feet wide above and somewhat more spread

below; but it is half as high again, the latter being only one hundred and

fifty-six feet, according to the mensuration made by order of M. Vaudreuil,

Governor of Canada, and one hundred and thirty according to a more recent

account. In the lime-stone country there are many caverns of very considerable

extent. The most noted is called Madison's Cave, and is on the north side of







28 Jefferson's Works







the Blue Ridge, near the intersection of the Rockingham and Augusta line with

the south fork of the southern river of Shenandoah. It is in a hill of about

two hundred feet perpendicular height, the ascent of which, on one side is so

steep that you may pitch a biscuit from its summit into the river which washes

its base. The entrance of the cave is in this side about two-thirds of the way

up. It extends into the earth about three hundred feet, branching into

subordinate caverns, sometimes ascending a little, but more generally

descending, and at length terminates, in two different places, at basons of

water of unknown extent, and which I should judge to be nearly on a level with

the water







Notes on Virginia 29







of the river; however, I do not think they are formed by refluent water from

that, because they are never turbid; because they do not rise and fall in

correspondence with that in times of flood or of drought ; and because the

water is always cool.' It is probably one of the many reservoirs with which the

interior parts of the earth are supposed to abound, and yield supplies to the

fountains of water, distinguished from others only by being accessible. The

vault of this cave is of solid lime-stone, from twenty to forty or fifty feet

high; through which water is continually percolating. This, trickling down the

sides of the cave, has incrusted them over in the form of elegant drapery; and

dripping from the top of the vault generates on that and on the base below,

stalactites of a conical form, some of which have met and formed massive

columns. Another of these caves is near the North mountain, in the county of

Frederic, on the lands of Mr. Zane. The entrance into this is on the top of an

extensive ridge. You descend thirty or forty feet, as into a well, from whence

the cave extends, nearly horizontally, four hundred feet into the earth,

preserving a breadth of from twenty to fifty feet, and a height of from five to

twelve feet. After entering this cave a few feet, the mercury, which in the

open air was 50 degrees, rose to 57 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer,

answering to 11 degrees of Reaumur's, and it continued at that to the remotest

parts of the cave. The uniform temperature of the cellars of the observa-







30 Jefferson's Works







tory of Paris, which are ninety feet deep, and of all subterraneous cavities of

any depth, where no chemical agencies may be supposed to produce a factitious

heat, has been found to be 10 degrees of Reaumur, equal to 54.5 degrees of

Fahrenheit. The temperature of the cave above mentioned so nearly corresponds

with this, that the difference may be ascribed to a difference of instruments.

At the Panther gap, in the ridge which divides the waters of the Crow and the

Calf pasture, is what is called the Blowing Cave. It is in the side of a hill,

is of about one hundred feet diameter, and emits constantly a current of air of

such force as to keep the weeds prostrate to the distance of twenty yards

before it. This current is strongest in dry, frosty weather, and in long spells

of rain weakest. Regular inspirations and expirations of air, by caverns and

fissures, have been probably enough accounted for by supposing them combined

with intermitting fountains; as they must of course inhale air while their

reservoirs are emptying themselves, and again emit it while they are filling.

But a constant issue of air, only varying in its force as the weather is drier

or damper, will require a new hypothesis. There is another blowing cave in the

Cumberland mountain, about a mile from where it crosses the Carolina line. All

we know of this is, that it is not constant, and that a fountain of water

issues from it. The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of nature's works, though

not comprehended under the present







Notes on Virginia 31







head, must not be pretermitted. It is on the ascent of a hill, which seems to

have been cloven through its length by some great convulsion. The fissure, just

at the bridge, is, by some admeasurement, two hundred and seventy feet deep, by

others only two hundred and five. It is about forty-five feet wide at the

bottom and ninety feet at the top ; this of course determines the length of the

bridge, and its. height from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about

sixty feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness of the mass, at the summit

of the arch, about forty feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by a

coat of earth, which gives growth to many large trees. The residue, with the

hill on both sides, is one solid rock of lime-stone. The arch approaches the

semi-elliptical form; but the larger axis of the ellipsis, which would be the

cord of the arch, is many times longer than the transverse. Though the sides of

this bridge are provided in some parts with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few

men have resolution to walk to them, and look over into the abyss. You

involuntarily fall on your hands and feet, creep to the parapet, and peep over

it. Looking down from this height about a minute, gave me a violent head-ache.

If the view from the top be painful and intolerable, that from below is

delightful in an equal extreme. It is impossible for the emotions arising from

the sublime to be felt beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so

elevated, so light, and springing as it were up to heaven ! The







32 Jefferson's Works







rapture of the spectator is really indescribable! The fissure continuing

narrow, deep, and straight, for a considerable distance above and below the

bridge, opens a short but very pleasing view of the North mountain on one side

and the Blue Ridge on the other, at the distance each of them of about five

miles. This bridge is in the county of Rockbridge, to which it has given name,

and affords a public and coininodious passage over a valley which cannot be

crossed elsewhere for a considerable distance. The stream passing under it is

called Cedar creek. It is a water of James' river, and sufficient in the driest

seasons to turn a grist-mill, though its fountain is not more than two miles

above.(l)







____________







(1) Don Ulloa mentions a break, similar to this, in the province of Angaraez,

in South America. It is from sixteen to twenty-two feet wide, one hundred and

eleven feet deep, and of 1.3 miles continuance, English measure. Its breadth at

top is not sensibly greater than at bottom. But the following fact is

remarkable, and will furnish some light for conjecturing the probable origin of

our natural bridge. "Esta caxa, 6 cauce esta cortada en pena viva con tanta

precision, que las desigualdades del un lado entrantes, corresponden a las del

otro lado salientes, como si aquella altura se hubiese abierto expresamente,

con sus bueltas y tortuosidades, para darle transito a los aguas por entre los

dos morallones que la forman; siendo tal su igualdad, que si Ilegasen a

juntarse se endentarian uno con otro sin dextar hueco." Not. Amer. ii. º 10.

Don Ulloa inclines to the opinion that this channel has been effected by the

wearing of the water which runs through it, rather than that the mountain

should have been broken open by any convulsion of nature. But if it had been

worn by the running of water, would not the rocks which form the sides, have

been worn plain? or if, meeting in some parts with veins of harder stone, the

water had left prominences on the one side, would not the same cause, have

sometimes, or. perhaps generally, occasioned prominences on the other side

also? Yet Don Ulloa tells us, that on the other side there are always

corresponding cavities, and that these tally with the prominences so per



__________



Notes on Virginia 33







 QUERY VI.







A notice of the mines and other subterraneous riches; its trees, plants,

fruits, etc. I knew a single instance of gold found in this State. It was

interspersed in small specks through a lump of ore of about four pounds weight;

which yielded seventeen pennyweights of gold, of extraordinary ductility. This

ore was found on the north side of Rappahanoc; about four miles below the

falls. I never heard of any other indication of gold in its neighborhood. On

the Great Kanhaway, opposite to the mouth of Cripple creek, and about

twenty-five miles from our southern boundary, in the county of Montgomery, are

mines of lead. The metal is mixed, sometimes with earth, and sometimes with

rock, which requires the force of gunpowder to open it; and is accompanied with

a portion of silver too small to be worth separation under any process hitherto

attempted there. The proportion yielded is from fifty to eighty pounds of pure

metal from ono hun-















___________







fectly, that, were the two sides to come together they would fit in all their

indentures, without leaving any void. I think that this does not resemble the

effect of running water, but looks rather as if the two sides had parted

asunder. The sides of the break, over which is the natural bridge of Virginia,

consisting of a veiny rock which yields to time, the correspondence between the

salient and re-entering inequalities, if it existed at all, has now

disappeared. This break has the advantage of the one described by Don Ulloa in

its finest circumstance; no portion in that instance having held together,

during the separation of the other parts, so as to form a bridge over the

abyss.



__________







VOL. II-3







34 Jefferson's Works







dred pounds of washed ore. The most common is that of sixty to one hundred

pounds. The veins are sometimes most flattering, at others they disappear

suddenly and totally. They enter the side of the hill and proceed horizontally.

Two of them are wrought at present by the public, the best of which is one

hundred yards under the hill. These would employ about fifty laborers to

advantage. We have not, however, more than thirty generally, and these

cultivate their own corn. They have produced sixty tons of lead in the year;

but the general quantity is from twenty to twenty-five tons. The present

furnace is a mile from the ore bank and on the opposite side of the river. The

ore is first wagoned to the river, a quarter of a mile, then laden on board of

canoes and carried across the river, which is there about two hundred yards

wide, and then again taken into wagons and carried to the furnace. This mode

was originally adopted that they might avail themselves of a good situation on

a creek for a pounding mill; but it would be easy to have the furnace and

pounding mill on the same side of the river, which would yield water, without

any dam, by a canal of about half a mile in length. From the furnace the lead

is .,transported one hundred and thirty miles along a good road, leading

through the peaks of Otter to Lynch's ferry, or Winston's on James' river, from

whenee it is carried by water about the same distance to Westham. This land

carriage may be greatly shortened, by delivering the







Notes on Virginia 35







lead on James' river, above the Blue Ridge, from whence a ton weight has been

brought on two canoes. The Great Kanhaway has considerable falls in the

neighborhood of the mines. About seven miles below are three falls, of three or

four feet perpendicular each; and three miles above is a rapid of three miles

continuance, which has been compared in its descent to the great falls of

James' river. Yet it is the opinion, that they may be laid open for useful

navigation, so as to reduce very much the portage between the Kanhaway and

James' river. A valuable lead mine is said to have been lately discovered in

Cumberland, below the mouth of Red river. The greatest, however, known in the

western country, are on the Mississippi, extending from the mouth of Rock river

one hundred and fifty miles upwards. These are not wrought, the lead used in

that country being from the banks on the Spanish side of the Mississippi,

opposite to Kaskaskia. A mine of copper was once opened in the county of

Amherst, on the north side of James' river, and another in the opposite

country, on the south side. However, either from bad management or the poverty

of the veins, they were discontinued. We are told of a rich mine of native

copper on the Ouabache, below the upper Wiaw. The mines of iron worked at

present are Callaway's, Ross's, and Ballendine's, on the south side of James'

river; Old's on the north side, in Albe- marle; Miller's in Augusta, and Zane's

in Frederic.







36 Jefferson's Works







These two last are in the valley between the Blue Ridge and North mountain.

Callaway's, Ross's, Miller's, and Zane's make about one hundred and fifty tons

of bar iron each, in the year. Ross's makes also about sixteen hundred tons. of

pig iron annually; Ballendine's one thousand; Callaway's, Miller's, and Zane's,

about six hundred each. Besides these, a forge of Mr. Hunter's, at

Fredericksburg, makes about three hundred tons a year of bar iron, from pigs

imported from Maryland; and Taylor's forge on Neapsco of Potomac, works in the

same way, but to what extent I am not informed. The indications of iron in

other places are numerous, and dispersed through all the middle country. The

toughness of the cast iron of Ross's and Zane's furnaces is very remarkable.

Pots and other utensils, cast thinner than usual, of this iron, may be safely

thrown into, or out of the wagons in which they are transported. Salt-pans made

of the same, and no longer wanted for that purpose, cannot be broken up, in

order to be melted again, unless previously drilled in many parts. In the

western country, we are told of iron mines between the Muskingum and Ohio ; of

others on Kentucky, between the Cumberland and Barren rivers, between

Cumberland and Tennessee, on Reedy creek, near the Long Island, and on Chestnut

creek, a branch of the Great Kanhaway, near where it crosses the Carolina line.

What are called the iron banks, on the Mississippi, are believed, by a







Notes on Virginia 37







good judge, to have no iron in them. In general, from what is hitherto known of

that country, it seems to want iron. Considerable quantities of black lead are

taken occasionally for use from Winterham in the county of Amelia. I am not

able, however, to give a particular state of the mine. There is no work

established at it; those who want, going and procuring it for themselves. The

country on James' river, from fifteen to twenty miles above Richmond, and for

several miles northward and southward, is replete with mineral coal of a very

excellent quality. Being in the hands of many proprietors, pits have been

opened, and, before the interruption of our commerce, were worked to an extent

equal to the demand. In the western country coal is known to be in so many

places, as to have induced an opinion, that the whole tract between the Laurel

mountain, Mississippi, and Ohio, yields coal. It is also known in many places

on the north side of the Ohio. The coal at Pittsburg is of very superior

quality. A bed of it at that place has been a-fire since the year 1765. Another

coal-hill on the Pike-run of Monongahela has been a-fire ten years; yet it has

burnt away about twenty yards only. I have known one instance of an emerald

found in this country. Amethysts have been frequent, and crystals common ; yet

not in such numbers any of them as to be worth seeking.







38 Jefferson's Works







There is very good marble, and in very great abundance, on James' river, at the

mouth of Rockfish. The samples I have seen, were some of them of a white as

pure as one might expect to find on the surface of the earth; but most of them

were variegated with red, blue, and purple. None of it has been ever worked. It

forms a very large precipice, which hangs over a navigable part of the river.

It is said there is marble at Kentucky. But one vein of limestone is known

below the Blue Ridge. Its first appearance, in our country, is in Prince

William, two miles below the Pignut ridge of mountains; thence it passes on

nearly parallel with that, and crosses the Rivanna about five miles below it,

where it is called- the South-west ridge. It then crosses Hard-ware, above the

mouth of Hudson's creek, James' river at the mouth of Rockfish, at the marble

quarry before spoken of, probably runs up that river to where it appears again

at Ross's iron-works, and so passes off south-westwardly by Flat Creek of Otter

river. It is never more than one hundred yards wide. From the Blue Ridge

westwardly, the whole country seems to be founded on a rock of limestone,

besides infinite quantities on the surface, both loose and fixed. This is cut

into beds, which range, as the mountains and sea-coast do, from south-west to

north-east, the lamina of each bed declining from the horizon towards a

parallelism with the axis of the earth. Being struck with this observation, I

made, with







Notes on Virginia 39 a quadrant, a great number of trials on the angles of

their declination, and found them to vary from 22 degrees to 60 degrees; but

averaging all my trials, the result was within one-third of a degree of the

elevation of the pole or latitude of the place, and much the greatest part of

them taken separately were little different from that; by which it appears,

that these lamina are, in the main, parallel with the axis of the earth. In

some instances, indeed, I found them perpendicular, and even reclining the

other way ; but these were extremely rare, and always attended with signs of

convulsion, or other circumstances of singularity, which admitted a possibility

of removal from their original position. These trials were made between

Madison's cave and the Potomac. We hear of limestone on the Mississippi and

Ohio, and in all the mountainous country between the eastern and western

waters, not on the mountains themselves, but occupying the valleys between

them. Near the eastern foot of the North mountain are immense bodies of Schist,

containing impressions of shells in a variety of forms. I have received

petrified shells of very different kinds from the first sources of Kentucky,

which bear no resemblance to any I have ever seen on the tide-waters. It is

said that shells are found in the Andes, in South America, fifteen thousand

feet above the level of the ocean. This is considered by many, both of the

learned and unlearned, as a proof of an universal







40 Jefferson's Works







deluge. To the many considerations opposing this opinion, the following may be

added: The atmosphere, and all its contents, whether of water, air, or other

matter, gravitate to the earth; that is to say, they have weight. Experience

tells us, that the weight of all these together never exceeds that of a column

of mercury of thirty-one inches height, which is equal to one of rain water of

thirty-five feet high. If the whole contents of the atmosphere, then, were

water, instead of what they are, it would cover the globe but thirty-five feet

deep; but as these waters, as they fell, would. run into the seas, the

superficial measure of which is to that of the dry parts of the globe, as two

to one, the seas would be raised only fifty-two and a half feet above their

present level, and of course would overflow the lands to that height only. In

Virginia this would be a very small proportion even of the champaign country,

the banks of our tide waters being frequently, if not generally, of a greater

height. Deluges beyond this extent, then, as for instance, to the North

mountain or to Kentucky, seem out of the laws of nature. But within it they may

have taken place to a greater or less degree, in proportion to the combination

of natural causes which may be supposed to have produced them. History renders

probably some .instances of a partial deluge in the country lying round the

Mediterranean sea. It has been often(l) supposed, and it is not unlikely, that

that sea was once a lake.







___________







(1) 2 Buffon Epoques, 96.



__________ 







Notes on Virginia 41







While such, let us admit an extraordinary collection of the waters of the

atmosphere from the other parts of the globe to have been discharged over that

and the countries whose waters run into it. Or without supposing it a lake,

admit such an extraordinary collection of the waters of the atmosphere, and an

influx from the Atlantic ocean, forced by long-continued western winds. The

lake, or that sea, may thus have been so raised as to overflow the low lands

adjacent to it, as those of Egypt and Armenia, which, according to a tradition

of the Egyptians and Hebrews, were overflowed about two thousand three hundred

years before the Christian era; those of Attica, said to have been overflowed

in the time of Ogyges, about five hundred years later; and those of Thessaly,

in the time of Deucalion, still three hundred years posterior. But such deluges

as these will not account for the shells found in the higher lands. A second

opinion has been entertained, which is, that in times anterior to the records

either of history or tradition, the bed of the ocean, the principal residence

of the shelled tribe, has, by some great convulsion of nature, been heaved to

the heights at which we now find shells and other marine animals. The favorers

of this opinion do well to suppose the great events on which it rests to have

taken. place beyond all the eras of history; for within these, certainly, none

such are to be found; and we may venture to say farther, that no fact has taken

place, either in our own days. or in the thousands of years







42 Jefferson's Works







recorded in history, which proves the existence of any natural agents, within

or without the bowels of the earth, of force sufficient to heave, to the height

of fifteen thousand feet, such masses as. the Andes. The difference between the

power necessary to produce such an effect, and that which shuffled together the

different parts of Calabria in our days, is so immense, that from the existence

of the latter, we are not authorized to infer that of the former. M. de

Voltaire has suggested a third solution of this difficulty. (Quest. Encycl.

Coquilles.) He cites an instance in Touraine, where, in the space of eighty

years, a particular spot of earth had been twice metamorphosed into soft stone,

which had become hard when employed in building. In this stone shells of

various kinds were produced, discoverable at first only with a microscope, but

afterwards growing with the stone. From this fact, I suppose, he would have us

infer, that, besides the usual process for generating shells by the elaboration

of earth and water in animal vessels, nature may have provided an equivalent

operation, by passing the same materials through the pores of calcareous earths

and stones; as we see calcareous drop-stones generating every day, by the

percolation of water through lime-stone, and new marble forming in the quarries

from which the old has been taken out. And it might be asked, whether is it

more difficult for nature to shoot the calcareous juice into the form of a

shell, than other juices into the forms







Notes on Virginia 43







of crystals, plants, animals, according to the construction of the vessels

through which they pass ? There is a wonder somewhere. Is it greatest on this

branch of the dilemma ; on that which supposes the existence of a power, of

which we have no evidence in any other case ; or on the first, which requires

us to believe the creation of a body of water and its subsequent annihilation ?

The establishment of the instance, cited by M. de Voltair e, of the growth, of

shells unattached to animal bodies, would have been that of his theory. But he

has not established it. He has not even left it on ground so respectable as to

have rendered it an object of inquiry to the literati of his own country.

Abandoning this f act, therefore, the three hypotheses are equally

unsatisfactory; and we must be contented to acknowledge, that this great

phenomenon is as yet unsolved. Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less

remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.

There is great abundance (more especially when you approach the mountains) of

stone, white, blue, brown, &c., fit for the chisel, good mill-stone, such also

as stands the fire, and slate stone. We are told of flint, fit for gun-flints,

on the Meherrin in Brunswick, on the Mississippi between the mouth of the Ohio

and Kaskaskia, and on others of the western waters. Isinglass or mica is in

several places; loadstone also ; and an Asbestos of a ligneous texture, is

sometimes to be met with.







44 Jefferson's Works







Marle abounds generally. A clay, of which, like the Sturbridge in England,

bricks are made, which resist long the violent action of fire, has been found

on Tuckahoe creek of James' river, and no doubt will be found in other places.

Chalk is said to be in Botetourt and Bedford. In the latter county is some

earth believed to be gypseous. Ochres are found in various parts. In the

lime-stone country are many caves, the earthy floors of which are impregnated

with nitre. On Rich creek, a branch of the Great Kanhaway, about sixty miles

below the lead mines, is a very large one, about twenty yards wide, and

entering a hill a quarter or half a mile. The vault is ' of rock from nine to

fifteen or twenty feet above the floor. A Mr. Lynch, who gives me this account,

undertook to extract the nitre. Besides a coat of the salt which had formed on

the vault and floor, he found the earth highly impregnated to the depth of

seven feet in some places, and generally of three, every bushel yielding on an

average three pounds of nitre. Mr. Lynch having made about ten hundred pounds

of the salt from it, consigned it to some others, who have since made ten

thousand pounds. They have done this by pursuing the cave into the hill, never

trying a second time the earth they have once exhausted, to see how far or soon

it receives another impregnation. At least fifty of these caves are worked on

the Greenbriar. There are many of them known on Cumberland River.







Notes on Virginia 45







The country westward of the Alleghany abounds with springs of common salt. The

most remarkable we have heard of are at Bullet's-lick, the Big-bones the

Blue-licks, and on the north fork of Holston. The area of Bullet's-lick is of

many acres. Digging the earth to the depth of three feet the water begins to

boil up, and the deeper you go and the drier the weather, the stronger is the

brine. A thousand gallons of water yield from a bushel to a bushel and a half

of salt, which is about eighty pounds of water to one pound of salt. So that

sea-water is more than three times as strong as that of these springs. A salt

spring has been lately discovered at the Turkey foot on Yohogany, by which

river it is overflowed, except at very low water. Its merit is not yet known.

Dunning's lick is also as yet untried, but it is supposed to be the best on

this side the Ohio. The salt springs on the margin of the Onondago lake are

said to give a saline taste to the waters of the lake. There are several

medicinal springs, some of which are indubitably efficacious, while others seem

to owe their reputation as much to fancy and change of air and regimen, as to

their real virtues. None of them having undergone a chemical analysis in

skillful hands, nor been so far the subject of observations as to have produced

a reduction into classes of the disorders which they relieve ; it is in my

power to give little more than an enumeration of them.







The most efficacious of these are two springs in







46 Jefferson's Works







Augusta near the first sources of James' river, where it is called Jackson's

river. They rise near the foot of the ridge of mountains generally called the

Warm spring mountains, but in the maps Jackson's mountains. The one

distinguished by the name of the Warm spring, and the other of the Hot spring.

The Warm spring issues with a very bold stream, sufficient to work a grist mill

and to keep the waters of its basin, which is thirty feet in diameter, at the

vital warmth, viz. 96 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The matter with

which these waters is allied is very volatile; its smell indicates it to be

sulphureous, as also does the circumstance of its turning silver black. They

relieve rheumatisms. Other complaints also of very different natures have been

removed or lessened by them. It rains here four or five days in every week. The

Hot spring is about six miles from the Warm, is much smaller, and has been so

hot as to have boiled an egg. Some believe its degree of heat to be lessened.

It raises the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer to 112 degrees, which is

fever heat. It sometimes relieves where the Warm fails. A fountain of common

water, issuing within a few inches of its margin, gives it a singular

appearance. Comparing the temperature of these with that of the Hot springs of

Kamschatka, of which Krachininnikow gives an account, the difference is very

great, the latter raising the mercury to 200 degrees which is within 12 degrees

of boiling water. These springs are very much







Notes on Virginia 47







resorted to in spite of a total want of accommodation for the sick. Their

waters are strongest in the hottest months, which occasions their being visited

in July and August principally. The Sweet springs are in the county of

Botetourt, at the eastern foot of the Alleghany, about fortytwo miles from the

Warm springs. They are still less known. Having been found to relieve cases in

which the others had been ineffectually tried, it is probable their composition

is different. They are different also in their temperature, being as cold as

common water ; which is not mentioned, however, as a proof of a distinct

impregnation. This is among the first sources of James' river. On Potomac

river, in Berkley county, above the North mountain, are medicinal springs; much

more frequented than those of Augusta. Their powers, however, are less, the

waters weakly mineralized, and scarcely warm. They are more visited, because

situated in a fertile, plentiful, and populous country, better provided with

accommodations, always safe from the Indians, and nearest to the more populous

States. In Louisa county, on the head waters of the South Ann branch of York

river, are springs of some medicinal virtue. They are not much used however.

There is a weak chalybeate at Richmond; and many others in various parts of the

country, which are of too little worth, or too little note, to be enumerated

after those before mentioned.







48 Jefferson's Works







We are told of a sulphur spring on Howard's creek of Greenbriar, and another at

Boonsborough on Kentucky. In the low grounds of the Great Kanhaway, seven miles

above the mouth of Elk river, and sixty-seven above that of the Kanhaway

itself, is a hole in the earth of the capacity of thirty or forty gallons, from

which issues constantly a bituminous vapor, in so strong a current as to give

to the sand about its orifice the motion which it has in a boiling spring. On

presenting a lighted candle or torch within eighteen inches of the hole it

flames up in a column of eighteen inches in diameter, and four or five feet

height, which sometimes burns out within twenty minutes, and at other times has

been known to continue three days, and then has been still left burning. The

flame is unsteady, of the density of that of. burning spirits, and smells like

burning pit coal. Water sometimes collects in the basin, which is remarkably

cold, and is kept in ebullition by the vapor issuing through it. If the vapor

be fired in that state, the water soon becomes so warm that the hand cannot

bear it, and evaporates wholly in a short time. This, with the circumjacent

lands, is the property of His Excellency General Washington and of General

Lewis. There is a similar one on Sandy river, the flame of which is a column of

about twelve inches diameter, and three feet high. General Clarke, who informs

me of it, kindled the vapor, staid about an hour, and left it burning.







Notes on Virginia 49







The mention of uncommon springs leads me to that of Syplion fountains. There is

one of these near the intersection of the Lord Fairfax's .boundary with the

North mountain, not far from Brock's gap, on the stream of which is a grist

mill, which grinds two bushel of grain at every flood of the spring; another

near Cow-pasture river, a mile and a half below its confluence with the

Bull-pasture river, and sixteen or seventeen miles from Hot springs, which

intermits once in every twelve hours ; one also near the mouth of the north

Holston. After these may be mentioned the Natural Well, on the lands of a Mr.

Lewis in Frederick county. It is somewhat larger than a common well ; the water

rises in it as near the surface of the earth as in the neighboring artificial

wells, and is of a depth as yet unknown. It is said there is a current in it

tending sensibly downwards. If this be true, it probably feeds some fountain,

of which it is the natural reservoir, distinguished from others, like that of

Madison's cave, by being accessible. It is used with a bucket and windlass as

an ordinary well. A complete catalogue of the trees, plants, fruits, &c., is

probably not desired. I will sketch out those which would principally attract

notice, as being first, Medicinal ; second, Esculent ; third., Ornamental ; or

four, useful for .fabrication; adding the Linnaean to the popular names, as the

latter might not convey precise information to a foreigner. I shall confine

myself, too, to native plants.







VOL. II-4.







50   Jefferson's Works







1.         Senna. Cassia ligustrina. 



        Arsmart. Polygonum Sagittatum. 



        Clivers, or goose-grass. Galium spurium. 



        Lobelia of several species. 



        Palma Christi. Ricinus. 



        (3,) Jamestown weed. Datura Stramonium. 



        Mallow. Malva rotundafolia. 



        Syrian mallow.        Hibiscus moschentos. 



                                Hibiscus Virginicus. 



        Indian mallow.         Sida rhombifolia. 



                                Sida abutilon. 



        Virginia marshmallow.         Napaea hermaphrodita. 



                                        Napaea dioica. 



        Indian physic.         Spiria trifoliata. 



        Euphorbia Ipecacuanhae. 



        Pleurisy root.                 Asclepias decumbens. 



        Virginia snake-root.         Aristolochia serpentaria. 



        Black snake-root.         Actae racemosa. 



        Seneca rattlesnake-root.         Polygala Senega 



        Valerian.         Valeriana locusta radiata. 



        Gentiana,         Saponaria, Villosa & Centaurium. 



        Ginseng.         Panax quinquefolium. 



        Angelica.         Angelica sylvestris. 



        Cassava.         Jatropha urens. 



2.        Tuckahoe.         Lycoperdon tuber. 



        Jerusalem artichoke.         Helianthus tuberosus. 



        Long potatoes.         Convolvulas batatas. 



        Granadillas.         Maycocks, Maracocks, Passiflora incarnata. 



        Panic.         Panicum of many species. 



        Indian millet.         Holcus laxus. 



                        Holcus striosus. 



        Wild oat.         Zizania aquaticia. 



        Wild pea.         Dolichos of Clayton. 



        Lupine.         Lupinus perennis. 



        Wild hop.         Humulus lupulus. 



        Wild cherry.         Prunus Virginiana. 



        Cherokee plum.         Prunus sylvestris fructu majori.  Clayton. 



        Wild plum.         Prunus sylvestris fructu mirori.  Clayton. 



        Wild crab apple.         Pyrus coronaria. 



        Red mulberry.         Morus rubra. 



        Persimmon.         Diospiros Virginiana. 



        Sugar maple.         Acer saccarinum.







Notes on Virginia 51







 



        Scaly bark hiccory.         Juglans alba cortice squamoso.        

Clayton. 



        Common hiccory.         Juglans alba, fructu minore rancido.        

Clayton. 



        Paccan, or Illinois nut.         Not described by Linnaeus, Millar, or 



            Clayton. Were I to         venture to describe this, speaking of

the fruit from memory, and of             the leaf from plants of two years'

growth., I should specify it as Juglans alba, foliolis            lanceolatis,

acuminatis, serratis, tomentosis, fructu minore, ovato, compresso, vix         

  insculpto, dulci, putamine tenerrimo. It grows on the Illinois, Wabash, Ohio,

and            Mississippi. It is spoken of by Don Ulloa under the name of

Pacanos, in his Noticias            Americanas, Entret. 6. 



        Black walnut.         Juglans nigra. 



        White walnut.  Juglans alba. 



        Chesnut.         Fagus castanea. 



        Chinquapin.         Fagus pumila. 



        Hazlenut.         Corylus avellana. 



        Grapes.        Vitis.         Various kinds; though only three

described by Clayton. 



        Scarlet strawberries.         Fragaria Virginiana of Millar. 



        Whortleberries.         Vaccinium uliginosum. 



        Wild gooseberries.         Ribes grossularia. 



        Cranberries.         Vaccinium oxycoccos. 



        Black raspberries.         Rubus occidentalis. 



        Blackberries.         Rubus fructicosus. 



        Dewberries.         Rubus caesius. 



        Cloudberries.  Rubus Chamaemorus. 



3.        Plane tree.         Platanus occidentalis. 



        Poplar.         Liriodendron tulipifera. 



                        Populus heterophylla. 



        Black poplar.         Populus nigra. 



        Aspen.         Populus tremula. 



        Linden, or lime.         Telia Americana. 



        Red-flowering maple.         Acer rubrum. 



        Horse-chesnut, or buck's-eye.         AEsculus pavia. 



        Catalpa.         Bignonia catalpa. 



        Umbrella.         Magnolia tripetala. 



        Swamp laurel.         Magnolia glauca. 



        Cucumber-tree.         Magnolia acuminata. 



        Portugal bay.         Laurus indica. 



        Red bay.         Laurus borbonia. 



        Dwarf-rose bay.         Rhododendron maximum.







52 Jefferson's Works







        Laurel of the western country.         Qu. species? 



        Wild pimento.         Laurus benzoin. 



        Sassafras.         Laurus sassafras. 



        Locust.         Robinia pseudo-acacia. 



        Honey-locust.         Gleditsia. I. B. 



        Dogwood.         Cornus florida. 



        Fringe, or snow-drop tree.         Chionanthus Virginica. 



        Barberry.         Barberis vulgaris. 



        Redbud, or Judas-tree.         Cercis Canadensis. 



        Holly.         Ilex aquifolium. 



        Cockspur hawthorn.         Crataegus coccinea. 



        pindle-tree.         Euonymus Europaeus. 



        Evergreen spindle-tree.         Euonymus Americanus. 



        Itea Virginica. 



        Elder.         Sambucus nigra. 



        Papaw.         Annona triloba. 



        Candleberry myrtle.         Myrica cerifera. 



        Dwarf laurel.                 Kalmia angustifolia   called ivy with us.





                                           Kalmia latifolia            " 



        Ivy.         Hedera quinquefolia. 



        Trumpet honeysuckle.         Lonicera sempervirens. 



        Upright honeysuckle.         Azalea nudiflora. 



        Yellow jasmine.         Bignonia sempervirens. 



        Calycanthus floridus. 



        American aloe.         Agave Virginica. 



        Sumach.         Rhus.         Qu. species? 



        Poke.         Phytolacca decandra. 



        Long moss.         Tillandsia Usneoides. 



4.         Reed.         Aruudo phragmitis. 



        Virginia hemp.         Acnida cannabina. 



        Flax.         Linum Virginianum. 



        Black, or pitch-pine.         Pinus taeda. 



        White pine.         Pinus, strobus. 



        Yellow pine.         Pinus Virginica. 



        Spruce pine.         Pinus foliis singularibus.         Clayton. 



        Hemlock spruce Fir.         Pinus Canadensis. 



        Arbor vitae.         Thuya occidentalis. 



        Juniper.         Juniperus Virginica (called cedar with us). 



        Cypress.         Cupressus disticha. 



        White cedar.         Cupressus Thyoides. 



        Black oak.         Quercus nigra. 



        White oak.         Quercus alba.







Notes on Virginia 53







         Red oak.         Quercus rubra. 



        Willow oak.         Quercus phellos. 



        Chesnut oak.         Quercus prinus. 



        Black jack oak.         Quercus aquatica.         Clayton. 



        Ground oak.         Quercus pumila.         Clayton. 



        Live oak.         Quercus Virginiana.         Millar. 



        Black birch.         Betula nigra. 



        White birch.         Betula alba. 



        Beach.         Fagus sylvatica. 



        Ash.                 Fraxinus Americana. 



                        Fraxinus Novae Angliae.         Millar. 



        Elm.                 Ulmus Americana. 



        Willow.         Salix.         Qu. species?         Sweet gum.        

Liquidambar styraciflua. 



   The following were found in Virginia when first visited by the English ; but

it is not said whether of spontaneous growth, or by cultivation only. Most

probably they were natives of more southern climates, and handed along the

continent from one nation to another of the savages.







        Tobacco. Nicotiana. 



        Maize. Zea mays. 



        Round potatoes. Solanum tuberosum. 



        Pumpkins. Cucurbita pepo. 



        Cymlings. Cucurbita verrucosa. 



        Squashes. Cucurbita melopepo. 







   There is an infinitude of other plants and flowers, for an enumeration and

scientific description of which I must refer to the Flora Virginica of our

great botanist, Dr. Clayton, published by Gronovius at Leyden, in 1762. This

accurate observer was a native and resident of this State, passed a long life

in exploring and describing its plants, and is supposed to have enlarged the

botanical catalogue as much as almost any man who has lived.







54 Jefferson's Works







Besides these plants, which are native, our farms produce wheat, rye, barley,

oats, buck-wheat, broom corn, and Indian corn. The climate suits rice well

enough, wherever the lands do. Tobacco, hemp, flax, and cotton, are staple

commodities. Indigo yields two cuttings. The silk-worm is a native, and the

mulberry, proper for its food, grows kindly. We cultivate, also, potatoes, both

the long and the round, turnips, carrots, parsnips, pumpkins, and ground nuts

(Arachis). Our. grasses are lucerne, st. foin, burnet, timothy, ray, and

orchard grass; red, white, and yellow clover; greensward,. blue grass; and crab

grass. The gardens yield musk-melons, water-melons, tomatoes, okra,

pomegranates, figs, and the esculent plants of Europe. The orchards produce

apples, pears, cherries, quinces, peaches, nectarines, apricots, almonds, and

plums. Our quadrupeds have been mostly described by Linnaeus and Mons. de

Buffon. Of these the mammoth, or big buffalo, as called by the Indians, must

certainly have been the largest. Their tradition is, that he was carnivorous,

and still exists in the northern parts of America. A delegation of warriors

from the Delaware tribe having visited the Governor of Virginia, during the

revolution, on matters of business, after these had been discussed and settled

in council, the Governor asked them some questions relative to their country,

and among others, what







Notes on Virginia 55







they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones were found at the Saltlicks on

the Ohio. Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude of

oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the elevation of his

subject, informed him that it was a tradition handed down from their fathers,

"That in ancient times a herd of these tremendous animals came to the Big-bone

licks, and began an universal destruction of the bear, deer, elks, buffaloes,

and other animals which had been created for the use of the Indians; that the

Great Man above, looking down and seeing this, was so enraged that he seized

his lightning, descended on the earth, seated himself on a neighboring

mountain, on a rock of which his seat and the print of his feet are still to be

seen, and hurled his bolts among them till the whole were slaughtered, except

the big bull, who presenting his forehead to the shafts, shook them off as they

fell ; but missing one at length, it wounded him in the side ; whereon,

springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, over the Wabash, the Illinois, and

finally over the great lakes, where he is living at this day." It is well

known, that on the Ohio, and in many parts of America further north, tusks,

grinders, and skeletons of unparalleled magnitude, are found in great numbers,

some lying on the surf ace of the earth, and some a little below it. A Mr.

Stanley, taken prisoner near the mouth of the Tennessee, relates, that after

being transferred through several tribes, from one to another, he was at length

carried over the moun-







56 Jefferson's Works







tains west of the Missouri to a river which runs westwardly; that these bones

abounded there, and that the natives described to him the animal to which they

belonged as still existing in the northern parts of their country; from which

description he judged it to be an elephant. Bones of the same kind have been

lately found, some feet below the surface of the earth, in salines opened on

the North Holston, a branch of the Tennessee, about the latitude of 36.5

degrees north. From the accounts published in Europe, I suppose it to be

decided that these are of the same kind with those found in Siberia. Instances

are mentioned of like animal remains found in the more southern climates of

both hemispheres; but they are either so loosely mentioned as to leave a doubt

of the fact, so inaccurately described as not to authorize the classing them

with the great northern bones, or so rare as to found a suspicion that they

have been carried thither as curiosities from the northern regions. So that, on

the whole, there seem to be no certain vestiges of the existence of this animal

farther south than the salines just mentioned. It is remarkable that the tusks

and skeletons have been ascribed by the naturalists of Europe to the elephant,

while the grinders have been given to the hippopotamus, or river horse. Yet it

is acknowledged, that the tusks and skeletons are much larger than those of the

elephant, and the grinders many times greater than those of the hippopotamus,

and essentially different in form. Wherever these grinders are







Notes on Virginia 57



found, there also we find the tusks and skeleton; but no skeleton of the

hippopotamus nor grinders of the elephant. It will not be said that the

hippopotamus and elephant came always to the same spot, the former to deposit

his grinders, and the latter his tusks and skeleton. For what became of' the

parts not deposited there ? We must agree then, that these remains belong to

each other, that they are of one and the same animal, that this was not a

hippopotamus, because the hippopotamus had no tusks, nor such a frame, and

because the grinders differ in their size as well as in the number and form of

their points. That this was not an elephant, I think ascertained by proofs

equally decisive. I will not avail myself of the authority of the celebrated(1)

anatomist, who, from an examination of the form and structure of the tusks, has

declared they were essentially different from those of the elephant; because

another(2) anatomist, equally celebrated, has declared, on a like examination,

that they are precisely the same. Between two such authorities I will suppose

this circumstance equivocal. But, 1. The skeleton of the mammoth (for so the

incognitum has been called) bespeaks an animal of five or six times the cubic

volume of the elephant, as Mons. de Buffon has admitted. 2. The grinders are

five times as large, are square, and the grinding surface studded with f our or

five row s of blunt points ; whereas those















___________







(1) Hunter.



(2) D'Aubenton.



__________







58 Jefferson's Works







of the elephant are broad and thin, and their grinding surface flat. 3. I have

never heard an instance, and suppose there has been none, of the grinder of an

elephant being found in America. 4. From the known temperature and constitution

of the elephant, he could never have existed in those regions where the remains

of the mammoth have been found. The elephant is a native only of the torrid

zone and its vicinities; if, with the assistance of warm apartments and warm

clothing, he has been preserved in the temperate climates of Europe, it has

only been. for a small portion of what would have been his natural period, and

no instance of his multiplication in them has ever been known. But no bones of

the mammoth, as I have before observed, have been ever found further south than

the salines of Holston, and they have been found as far north as the Arctic

circle. Those, therefore, who are of opinion that the elephant and mammoth are

the same, must believe, 1. That the elephant known to us can exist and multiply

in the frozen zone; or, 2. That an eternal fire may once have warmed those

regions, and since abandoned them, of which, however, the globe exhibits no

unequivocal indications; or, 3. That the obliquity of the ecliptic, when these

elephants lived, was so great as to include within the tropics all those

regions in which the bones are found; the tropics being, as is before observed,

the natural limits of habitation for the elephant. But if it be admitted that

this obliquity has really decreesed,







Notes on Virginia 59







and we adopt the highest rate of decrease yet pretended, that is, of one minute

in a century, to transfer the northern tropic to the Arctic circle, would carry

the existence of these supposed elephants two hundred and fifty thousand years

back; a period far beyond our conception of the duration of animal bones less

exposed to the open air than these are in many instances. Besides, though these

regions would then be supposed within the tropics, yet their winters would have

been too severe for the sensibility of the elephant. They would have had, too,

but one day and one night in the year, a circumstance to which we have no

reason to suppose the nature of the elephant fitted. However, it has been

demonstrated, that, if a variation of obliquity in the ecliptic takes place at

all, it is vibratory, and never exceeds the limits of nine degrees, which is

not sufficient to bring these bones within the tropics. One of these

hypotheses, or some other equally voluntary and inadmissible to cautious

philosophy, must be adopted to support the opinion that these are the bones of

the elephant. For my own part, I find it easier to believe that an animal may

have existed, resembling the elephant in his tusks, and general anatomy, while

his nature was in other respects extremely different. From the 30th degree of

south latitude to the 30th degree of north, are nearly the limits which nature

has fixed for the existence and multiplication of the elephant known to us.

Proceeding thence northwardly to 36.5 degrees, we







60 Jefferson's Works







enter those assigned to the mammoth. The farther we advance north, the more

their vestiges multiply as far as the earth has been explored in that

direction; and it is as probable as otherwise, that this progression continues

to the pole itself, if land extends so far. The centre of the frozen zone,

then, may be the acme of their vigor, as that of the torrid is of the elephant.

Thus nature seems to have drawn a belt of separation between these two

tremendous animals, whose breadth, indeed, is not precisely known, though at

present we may suppose it about 61.5 degrees of latitude; to have assigned to

the elephant the region south of these confines, and those north to the

mammoth, founding the constitution of the one in her extreme of heat, and that

of the other in the extreme of cold. When the Creator has therefore separated

their nature as far as the extent of the scale of animal life allowed to this

planet would permit, it seems perverse to declare it the same, from a partial

resemblance of their tusks and bones. But to whatever animal we ascribe these

remains, it is certain such a one has existed in America, and that it has been

the largest of all terrestrial beings. It should have sufficed to have rescued

the earth it inhabited, and the atmosphere it breathed, from the imputation of

impotence in the conception and nourishment of animal life on a large scale; to

have stifled, in its birth, the opinion of a writer, the most learned, too, of

all others in the science of animal history, that in the new world, " La nature

vivante est beaucoup







Notes on Virginia 61







moins agissante, beaucoup moins forte:"(1) that nature is less active, less

energetic on one side of the globe than she is on the other. As if both sides

were not warmed by the same genial sun ; as if a soil of the same chemical

composition was less capable of elaboration into animal nutriment; as if the

fruits and grains from that soil and sun yielded a less rich chyle, gave less

extension to the solids and fluids of the body, or produced sooner in the

cartilages, membranes, and fibres, that rigidity which restrains all further

extension, and terminates animal growth. The truth is, that a pigmy and a

Patagonian, a mouse and a mammoth, derive their dimensions from the same

nutritive juices. The difference of increment depends on circumstances

unsearchable to beings with our capacities. Every race of animals seems to have

received from their Maker certain laws of extension at the time of their

formation. Their elaborate organs were formed to produce this, while proper

obstacles were opposed to its further progress. Below these limits they cannot

fall, nor rise above them. What intermediate station they shall take may depend

on soil, on climate, on food, on a careful choice of breeders. But all the

manna of heaven would never raise the mouse to the bulk of the mammoth. The

opinion advanced by the Count de Buffon (2) is 1. That the animals common both

to the old and















___________







(1) Buffon, xviii. 112 edit. Paris, 1764. 



(2) Buffon, xviii. l00, 156,



__________







62 Jefferson's Works







new world are smaller in the latter. 2. That those peculiar to the new are on a

smaller scale. 3. That those which have been domesticated in both have

degenerated in America; and 4. That on the whole it exhibits fewer species. And

the reason he thinks is, that the heats of America are less; that more waters

are spread over its surface by nature, and fewer of these drained off by the

hand of man. In other words, that heat is friendly, and moisture adverse to the

production and development of large quadrupeds. I will not meet this hypothesis

on its first doubtful ground, whether the climate of America be comparatively

more humid ? Because we are not furnished with observations sufficient to

decide this question. And though, till it be decided, we are as free to deny as

others are to affirm the fact, yet for a moment let it be supposed. The

hypothesis, after this supposition, proceeds to another; that moisture is

unfriendly to animal growth. The truth of this is inscrutable to us by

reasonings a prioyi. Nature has hidden from us her modus agendi. Our only

appeal on such questions is to experience; and I think that experience is

against the supposition. It is by the assistance of heat and moisture that

vegetables are elaborated from the elements of earth, air, water, and fire. We

accordingly see the more humid climates produce the greater quantity of

vegetables. Vegetables are mediately or immediately the food of every animal ;

and in proportion to the quantity of food we







Notes on Virginia 63







see animals not only multiplied in their numbers, but improved in their bulk,

as far as the laws of their nature will admit. Of this opinion is the Count de

Buffon himself in another part of his work;(1) " en general il paroit ques les

pays un peu froids conviennent mieux a nos boeufs que les pays chauds, et

qu'ils sont d'autant plus gross et plus grands que le climat est plus humide et

plus abondans en paturages. Les boeufs de Danemarck, de la Podolie, de

l'Ulkraine et de la Tartarie qu habitent les Calmouques sont les plus grands de

tous." Here then a race of animals, and one of the largest too, has been

increased in its dimensions by cold and moisture, in direct opposition to the

hypothesis, which supposes that these two circumstances diminish animal bulk,

and that it is their contraries heat and dryness which enlarge it. But when we

appeal to experience we are not to rest satisfied with a single fact. Let us,

therefore, try our question on more general ground. Let us take two portions of

the earth, Europe and America for instance, sufficiently extensive to give

operation to general causes; let us consider the circumstances peculiar to

each, and observe their effect on animal nature. America, running through the

torrid as well as temperate zone, has more heat collectively taken, than

Europe. But Europe, according to our hypothesis, is the dryest. They are

equally adapted then to animal productions ; each being endowed with one of

those causes which befriends animal growth, and with one















____________







(1) viii. 134.



__________







64 Jefferson's Works







which opposes it. If it be thought unequal to compare Europe with America,

which is so much larger, I answer, not more so than to compare America with the

whole world. Besides, the purpose of the comparison is to try an hypothesis,

which makes the size of animals depend on the heat and moisture of climate. If,

therefore, we take a region so extensive as to comprehend a sensible

distinction of climate, and so extensive, too, as that local accidents, or the

intercourse of animals on its borders, may not materially affect the size of

those in its interior parts, we shall comply with those conditions which the

hypothesis may reasonably demand. The objection would be the weaker in the

present case, because any intercourse of animals which may take place on the

confines of Europe and Asia, is to the advantage of the former, Asia producing

certainly larger animals than Europe. Let us then take a comparative view of

the quadrupeds of Europe and America, presenting them to the eye in three

different tables, in one of which shall be enumerated those found in both

countries; in a second, those found in one only; in a third, those which have

been domesticated in both. To facilitate the comparison, let those of each

table be arranged in gradation according to their sizes, from the greatest to

the smallest, so far as their sizes can be conjectured. The weights of the

large animals shall be expressed in the English avoirdupois and its decimals ;

those of the smaller, in the same ounce and its decimals. Those which 







Notes on Virginia 65







are marked thus *, are actual weights of particular subjects, deemed among the

largest of their species. Those marked thus ^ are. furnished by judicious

persons, well acquainted with the species, and saying, from conjecture only,

what the largest individual they had seen would probably have weighed. The

other weights are taken from Messrs. Buffon and D'Aubenton, and are of such

subjects as came casually to their hands for dissection. This circumstance must

be remembered where their weights and mine stand opposed ; the latter being

stated not to produce a conclusion in favor of the American species, but to

justify a suspension of opinion until we are better informed, and a suspicion,

in the meantime, that there is no uniform difference in favor of either; which

is all I pretend.











A comparative view of the Quadrupeds of Europe and of America.







I. ABORIGINALS OF BOTH.



                                                        Europe.        

America.



                                                           lb.                 

   lb.



Mammoth ... .



Buffalo. Bison ... . .. .....                                                

*1800



White Bear. Ours blanc ... . . .. ..... .....



Carribou. Renne.. . . .. . ..... .....



Bear. Ours ... . . . . . . . .                                 153.7           

     *410



Elk. Elan. Original palmated... ..... .....



Red deer. Cerf....                                         288.8               

 *273



Fallow Deer. Daim.. .                                 167.8



Wolf. Loup .. . . . . . . . .                                 69.8



Roe. Chevreuil . . . . . . . .. . .                                 56.7



Glutton. Glouton. Carcajou .......... ..... .....



Wild cat. Chat sauvage ...... .....                                         ^30



Lynx. Loup cervier.....                                 25



VOL. II-5







66 Jefferson's Works







                                                        Europe.          

America.



                                                           Ib.                 

  lb.



Beaver. Castor                                         18.5                 *45



Badger. Blaireau..                                         13.6



Red fox. Renard.                                         13.5



Gray fox. Isatis ..... .....



Otter. Loutre...                                         8.9                

^12



Monax. Marmotte ..                                         6.5



Vison. Fouine.                                         2.8



Hedgehog. Herisson ..                                 2.2



Marten. Marte ..                                         1.9                 ^6



                                                        oz. 



Water rat. Rat d'eau..                                 7.5



Weasel. Belette... .                                         2.2               

 oz.



Flying squirrel. Polatouche..,.                         2.2                 ^4



Shrew mouse. Musaraigne...                                 1







II. ABORIGINALS OF ONE ONLY.







EUROPE.



                                        lb.



Sanglier. Wild boar.                         280



Mouflon. Wild sheep.                 56



Bouquetin. Wild goat. .....



Lievre. Hare.                                 7.6



Lapin. Rabbit.                         3.4



Putois. Polecat.                         3.3



Genette.                                 3.1



Desman. Muskrat. .                         oz.



Ecureuil. Squirrel.                         12



Hermine. Ermin.                         8.2



Rat. Rat.                                 7.5



Loirs.                                         3.1



Lerot. Dorrnouse                         1.8



Taupe. Mole.                                 1.2



Hampster. .                                6



Zisel .....



Leming.



Souris. Mouse. .                        6











American



                                        lb. 



Tapir... .. . . .. . .                         534



Elk,round horned... ...                 ^45o



Puma.. . . . .. .. .....



Jaguar.... .. .. . ...                         218



Cabiai.                                 109



Tamanoir                                 109



Tammandua                                 65.4



Cougar of North-America.                 75



Cougar of South-America.                 59.4



Ocelot. .....



Pecari.                                 46.3



Jaguaret .                                 43.6



Alco .....



Lama. .....



Paco. .....



Paca...                                 32.7



Serval. .....



Sloth. Unau ..                         27.25



Saricovienne .....



Kincajou ... .....



Tatou Kabassou..                         21.8



Urson. Urchin. . .....







Notes on Virginia











AMERICA.



                                        lb.



Raccoon. Raton.                         16.5



Coati. . .....



Coendou. .                                 16.3



Sloth. Ai                                 13



Sapajou Ouarini. .....



Sapajou Coaita.                         9.8



Tatou Encubert. .....



Tatou Apar. . .....



Tatou Cachica                         7.



Little Coendou.                         6.5



Opossum. Sarigu . .....



Tapeti .....



Margay .....



Crabier. .....



Agouti. . .                                 4.2



Sapajou Sai. .                                 3.5



Tatou Cirquincon. .....



Tatou Tatouate .                         3.3



Mouffette Squash. .....



Mouffette Chinche. .....



Mouffette Conepate .....



Scunk. . . . .....



Mouffette.   Zorilla .....



Whabus. Hare. Rabbit. .....



Aperea .. . . .....



Akouchi.. . . .....



Ondatra.  Muskrat .. .....



Pilori. . . . . .....



Great gray squirrel                          ^2.7



Fox squirrel of Virginia                 ^2.625



Surikate ...                                 2.



Mink. . . . . .                                 2.



Sapajou.  Sajou.                         1.8



Indian pig. Cochon d'Inde                 1.6



Sapajou Saimiri. .                         1.5



Phalanger. . . . . .....



Coqualain. . . . . . .....



Lesser gray squirrel.                         ^1.5



Black squirrel. .                         ^1.5



Red squirrel .                                 10.0 oz.







68 Jefferson's Works











AMERICA,



lb. Sagoin Saki. .....



Sagoin Pinche. .....



Sagoin Tamarin. . .                         oz. 



Sagoin Ouistiti.                         4.4



Sagoin Marakine .....



Sagoin Mico .. .....



Cayopollin. .....



Fourmillier. .....



Marmose. . .....



Sarigue of Cayenne. .....



Tucan. . .....



Red mole. ,                                 oz. 



Ground squirrel .                         4.



                          III. DOMESTICATED IN BOTH.



                                                        Europe.       America.



                                                         lb.                   

lb.



Cow                                         765.                 *2500



Horse. ....                                                 *1366



Ass .. .... ....



Hog ....                                                 *1200



Sheep ....                                                 *125



Goat. ....                                                 *80



Dog.                                         67.6



Cat..                                         7







I have not inserted in the first table the Phoca,(1) nor leather-winged bat,

because the one living half the year in the water, and the other being a winged

animal, the individuals of each species may visit both continents.







__________







(1) It is said that this animal is seldom seen above thirty miles from shore,

or beyond the 56th degree of latitude. The interjacent islands between Asia and

America admit his passing from one continent to the other without exceeding

these bounds. And in fact, travelers tell us that these islands are places of

principal resort for them, and especially in the season of bringing forth their

young.



__________







Notes on Virginia 69







Of the animals in the first table, Monsieur de Buffon himself informs us,

[XXVII, 130, XXX. 213,) that the beaver, the otter, and shrew mouse, though of

the same species, are larger in America than in Europe. This should therefore

have corrected the generality of his expressions, XVIII. 145, and elsewhere,

that the animals common to the two countries, are considerably less in America

than in Europe, "et cela sans aucune exception." He tells us too, [Quadrup.

VIII. 334, edit. Paris, 1777,] that on examining a bear from America, he

remarked no difference, " dans la forme de cet ours d'Amerique compare a celui

d'Europe;" but adds from Bartram's journal, that an American bear weighed four

hundred pounds, English, equal to three hundred and sixty-seven pounds French ;

whereas we find the European bear examined by Mons. D Aubenton, [XVII. 82,]

weighed but one hundred and forty-one pounds French. That the palmated elk is

larger in America than in Europe, we are informed by Kalm,(1) a naturalist, who

visited the former by public appointment, for the express purpose of examining

the subjects of natural history. In this fact Pennant concurs with him.

[Barrington s Miscellanies.] The same Kalm tells us(2) that the black moose, or

renne of America, is as high as a tall horse; and Catesby (3) that it is about

the bigness of a middle







__________ 







1 I. 233, Lon. l772.



2 Ib. 233.



3 I. xxvii.



__________







70 Jefferson's Works







sized ox. The same account of their size has been given me by many who have

seen them. But Monsieur D'Aubenton says(1) that the renne of Europe is about

the size of a red deer. The weasel is larger in America than in Europe, as may

be seen by comparing its dimensions as reported by Monsieur D'Aubenton(2) and

Kalm. The latter tells us,(3) that the lynx, badger, red fox, and flying

squirrel, are the same in America as in Europe; by which expression I

understand, they are the same in all material circumstances, in size as well as

others; for if they were smaller, they would differ from the European. Our gray

fox is, by Catesby's account,(4) little different in size and shape from the

European fox. I presume he means the red fox of Europe, as does Kalm, where he

says, (5) that in size " they do not quite come up to our foxes." For

proceeding next to the red fox of America,, he says, " they are entirely the

same with the European sort;" which shows he had in view one European sort

only, which was the red. So that the result of their testimony is, that the

American gray fox is somewhat less than the European red, which is equally true

of the gray fox of Europe, as may be seen by comparing the measures of the

Count de Buffon and Monsieur D'Aubenton.(6) The



__________







(1) XXIV. 162.



(2) XV. 42.



(3) I. 359. I. 48, 221, 251. II. 52.



(4) II. 78. (5) I. 220.



(6) XXVII. 63. XIV. 119. Harris, II. 387. Buffon, Quad. IX. I.



__________







Notes on Virginia ,







white bear of America is as large as that of Europe. The bones of the mammoth

which has been found in America, are as large as those found in the old world.

It may be asked, why I insert the mammoth, as if it still existed ? I ask in

return, why I should omit it, as if it did not exist? Such is the economy of

nature, that no instance can be produced, of her having permitted any one race

of her animals to become extinct; of her having formed any link in her great

work so weak as to be broken. To add to this, the traditionary testimony of the

Indians., that this animal still exists in the northern and western parts of

America, would be adding the light of a taper to that of the meridian sun.

Those parts still remain in their aboriginal state, unexplored and undisturbed

by us, or by others for us. He may as well exist there now, as he did formerly

where we find his bones. If he be a carnivorous animal, as some anatomists have

conjectured; and the Indians affirm, his early retirement may be accounted for

from the general destruction of the wild game by the Indians, which commences

in the first instant of their connection with us, for the purpose of purchasing

match-coats, hatchets, and fire-locks, with their skins. There remain then the

buffalo, red deer, fallow deer, wolf, roe, glutton, wild cat, monax, bison,

hedgehog, marten, and water-rat, of the comparative sizes of which we have not

sufficient testimony. It does not appear that Messieurs de Buffon and

D'Aubenton have measured, weighed, or seen







72 Jefferson's Works







those of America. It is said of some of them, by some travelers, that they are

smaller than the European. But who were these travelers? Have they not been men

of a very different description from those who have laid open to us the other

three quarters of the world? Was natural history the object of their travels ?

Did they measure or weigh the animals they speak of ? or did they not judge of

them by sight, or perhaps even from report only ? Were they acquainted with the

animals of their own country, with which they undertake to compare them? Have

they not been so ignorant as often to mistake the species ? A true answer to

these questions would probably lighten their authority, so as to render it

insufficient for the foundation of an hypothesis: How unripe we yet are, for an

accurate comparison of the animals of the two countries will appear from the

work of Monsieur de Buffon. The ideas we should have formed of the sizes of

some animals, from the formation he had received at his first publications

concerning them, are very different from what his subsequent communications

give us. And indeed his candor in this can never be too much praised. One

sentence of his book must do him immortal honor. " J'aime autant une personne

qui me releve d'une erreur, qu'une autre qui m'apprend une verite, parce qu'en

effet une erreur corrigee est une verite. " (1) He seems to have thought the

cabiai he first examined wanted little



__________







(1) Quad. IX. 158



.__________







Notes on Virginia, 73







of its full growth. " I1 n'etoit pas encore tout-a-fait adulte. " (1) Yet he

weighed but forty-six and a half pounds, and he found afterwards,(2) that these

animals, when full grown, weigh one hundred pounds. He had supposed, from the

examination of a jaguar (3) said to be two years old, which weighed but sixteen

pounds twelve ounces, that when he should have acquired his full growth, he

would not be larger than a middle-sized dog. But a subsequent account(4) raises

his weight to two hundred pounds.. Further information will, doubtless, produce

further corrections. The wonder is, not that there is yet something in this

great work to correct, but that there is so little. The result of this view

then is, that of twenty-six quadrupeds common to both countries, seven are said

to be larger in America, seven of equal size, and twelve not sufficiently

examined. So that the first table impeaches the first member of the assertion,

that of the animals common to both countries, the American are smallest, " et

cela sans aucune exception." It shows it is not just, in all the latitude in

which its author has advanced it, and probably not to such a degree as to found

a distinction between the two countries.



Proceeding to the second table, which arranges the animals found in one of the

two countries only, Monsieur de Buffon observes, that +he tapir, the







__________







(1) XXV. 184. (2) Quad. IX. 132. (3) XIX. 2. (4) Quad. IX. 41.



__________







74 Jefferson's Works







elephant of America, is but of the size of a small co w. To preserve our

comparison, I will add, that the wild boar, the elephant of Europe, is little

more than half that size. I have made an elk with round or cylindrical horns an

animal of America, and peculiar to it; because I have seen many of them myself,

and more of their horns; and because I can say, from the best information,

that, in Virginia, this kind of elk has abounded much, and still exists in

small er numbers; and I could never learn that the palmated kind had been seen

here at all. I suppose this confined to the more northern latitudes.(1) I have

made







__________







(1) The descriptions of Theodat, Denys and La Honton, cited by Monsieur de

Buffon, under the article Elan, authorize the supposition, that the flat-horned

elk is found in the northern parts of America. It has not however extended to

our latitudes. On the other hand, I could never learn that the round-horned elk

has been seen further north than the Hudson's river. This agrees with the

former elk in its general character, being, like that, when compared with a

deer, very much larger, its ears longer, broader, and thicker in proportion,

its hair much longer, neck and tail shorter, having a dewlap before the breast

(caruncula gutturalis Linnaei) a white spot often, if not always, of a foot

diameter, on the hinder part of the buttocks round the tail; its gait a trot,

and attended with a rattling of the hoofs; but distinguished from that

decisively by its horns, which are not palmated, but round and pointed. This is

the animal described by Catesby as the Cervus major Americanus, the stag of

America, le Cerf de 1'Amerique. But it differs from the Cervus as totally as

does the palmated elk from the dama. And in fact it seems to stand in the same

relation to the palmated elk, as the red deer does to the fallow. It has

abounded in Virginia, has been seen, within my knowledge, on the eastern side

of the Blue Ridge since the year 1765, is now common beyond those mountains,

has been often brought to us and tamed, and its horns are in the hands of many.

I should designate it as the "Alces Americanus cornibus teretibus." It were to

be wished, that naturalists, who are acquainted with the renne and elk of

Europe, and who



__________







Notes on Virginia 75







our hare or rabbit peculiar, believing it to be different from both the

European animals of those denominations, and calling it therefore by its

Algonquin name, Whabus, to keep it distinct from these. Kalm is of the same

opinion.(1) I have enumerated the squirrels according to our own knowledge,

derived from daily sight of them, because I a.m not able to reconcile with that

the European appellations and descriptions. I have heard of other species, but

they have never come within my own notice. These, I think, are the only

instances in which I have departed from the authority of Monsieur de Buffon in

the construction of this table. I take him for my ground work, because I think

him the







__________







(1)may hereafter visit the northern parts of America, would examine well the

animals called there by the names of gray and black moose caribou, original and

elk. Monsieur de Buffon has done what could be done from the materials in his

hands, toward clearing up the confusion introduced by the loose application of

these names among the animals they are meant to designate. He reduces the whole

to the renne and flat-horned elk. From all the information I have been able to

collect, I strongly suspect they will be found to cover three, if not four

distinct species of animals. I have seen skins of a moose, and of the caribou:

they differ more from each other, and from that of the round-horned elk, than I

ever saw two skins differ which belonged to different individuals of any wild

species. These differences are in the color, length, and coarseness of the

hair, and in the size, texture, and marks of the skin. Perhaps it will be found

that there is, 1 the moose, black and gray, the former being said to be the

male, and the latter the female; 2, the caribou or renne; 3, the flat-horned

elk, or original; 4, the round-horned elk. Should this last, though possessing

so nearly the characters of the elk, be found to be the same with the Cerf

d'Ardennes or Brandhitz of Gerxnany, still there will remain the three species

first enumerated.







__________







(1) Kalm II. 340, I. 82.



__________







76 Jefferson's Works







best informed of any naturalist who has ever written. The result is; that there

are eighteen quadrupeds peculiar to Europe; more than four times as many, to

wit, seventy-four, peculiar to America; that the first(l) of these seventy-four

weighs more than the whole column of Europeans; and consequently this second

table disproves the second member of the assertion, that the animals peculiar

to the new world are on a smaller scale, so far as that assertion relied on

European animals for support; and it is in full opposition to the theory which

makes the animal volume to depend on the circumstances of heat and moisture.



The third table comprehends those quadrupeds only which are domestic in both

countries. That some of these, in some parts of America, have become less than

their original stock, is doubtless true; and the reason is very obvious. In a

thinly-peopled country, the spontaneous productions of the forests, and waste

fields, are sufficient to support indifferently the domestic animals of the

farmer, with a







__________







(1) The Tapir is the largest of the animals peculiar to America. I collect his

u€eight thus: Monsieur de Buffon says, XXIII. ay4, that he is of the size of a

Zebu, or a small cow. He gives us the measures of a Zebu, ib. 4, as taken by

himself, viz. five feet seven inches from the muzzle to the root of the tail,

and five feet one inch circumference behind the fore-legs. A bull, measuring in

the same way six feet nine inches and five feet two inches, weighed six hundred

pounds, VIII. 153. The Zebu then, and of course the Tapir, would weigh about

five hundred pounds. But one individual of every species of European peculiars

would probably weigh less than four hundred pounds. These are French measures

and weights.



__________







Notes on Virginia 77







very little aid from him, in the severest and scarcest season. He therefore

finds it more convenient to receive them from the hand of nature in that

indifferent state, than to keep up their size by a care and nourishment which

would cost him much labor. If, on this low fare, these animals dwindle, it is

no more than they do in those parts of Europe where the poverty of the soil, or

the poverty of the owner, reduces them to the same scanty subsistence. It is

the uniform effect of one and the same cause, whether acting on this or that

side of the globe. It would be erring, therefore, against this rule of

philosophy, which teaches us to ascribe like effects to like causes, should we

impute this diminution of size in America to any imbecility or want of

uniformity in the operations of nature. It may be affirmed with truth; that, in

those countries, and with those individuals in America, where necessity or

curiosity has produced equal attention, as in Europe, to the nourishment of

animals, the horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, of the one continent are as large

as those of the other. There are particular instances, well attested, where

individuals of this country have imported good breeders from England, and have

improved their size by care in the course of some years. To make a fair

comparison between the two countries, it will not answer to bring together

animals of what might be deemed the middle or ordinary size of their species;

because an error in judging of that middle or ordinary size, would vary the

result of







78 Jefferson's Works







the comparison. Thus Mons. D'Aubenton(1) considers a horse of 4 feet 5 inches

high and 400 lb. weight French, equal to 4 feet 8.6 inches and 436 lb. English,

as a middle-sized horse. Such a one is deemed a small horse in America. The

extremes must therefore be resorted to. The same anatomist(2) dissected a horse

of 5 feet 9 inches height, French measure, equal to 6 feet 1.7 English. This is

near 6 inches higher than any horse I have seen ; and could it be supposed that

I had seen the largest horses in America, the conclusion would be, that ours

have diminished, or that we have bred from a smaller stock. In Connecticut and

Rhode Island, where the climate is favorable to the production of grass,

bullocks have been slaughtered which weighed 2,500, 2,200, and 2,100 lbs. nett;

and those of l,800 lbs. have been frequent. I have seen a hog(3) weigh l,050

lbs. after the blood, bowels, and hair had been taken from him. Before he was

killed, an attempt was made to weigh him with a pair of steel yards, graduated

to l,200 lbs., but he weighed more. Yet this hog was probably not within fifty

generations of the European stock. I am well informed of another which weighed

l,l00 lbs. gross, Asses have been still more neglected than any other domestic

animal in America. They are neither fed nor roused in the most rigorous season

of the year. Yet







__________







(1) VII. 432. (2) VII. 474. (3) In Williamsburg, April, 1769.



__________







Notes on Virginia 79







they are larger than those measured by Mons. D'Aubenton,(1) of 3 feet 7.25

inches, 3 feet 4 inches, and 3 feet 2.5 inches, the latter weighing only 215.8

lbs. These sizes, I suppose, have been produced by the same negligence in

Europe, which has produced a like diminution here. Where care has been taken of

them on that side of the water, they have been raised to a size bordering on

that of the horse ; not by the heat and dryness of the climate, but by good

food and shelter. Goats have been also much neglected in America. Yet they are

very prolific here, bearing twice or three times a year, and from one to five

kids at a birth. Mons. de Buffon has been sensible of a difference in this

circumstance in favor of America.(2) But what are their greatest weights, I

cannot say. A large sheep here weighs 100 lbs. I observe Mons. D'Aubenton calls

a ram of 62 lbs. one of the middle size.(3) But to say what are the extremes of

growth in these and the other domestic animals of America, would require

information of which no one individual is possessed. The weights actually known

and stated in the third table preceding will suffice to show, that we may

conclude on probable grounds, that, with equal food and care, the climate of

America will preserve the races of domestic animals as large as the European

stock from which they are derived ; and, consequently, that the third







__________







(1) VIII. 48, 55, 66. (2) XVIII. 96. (3) IX. 41.



__________







80 Jefferson's Works







member of Mons. de Buffon's assertion that the domestic animals are subject to

degeneration from the climate of America, is as probably wrong as the first and

second were certainly so.



That the last part of it is erroneous, which affirms that the species of

American quadrupeds are comparatively few, is evident from the tables taken

together. By these it appears that there are an hundred species aboriginal in

America. Mons. de Buffon supposes about double that number existing on the

whole earth.(1) Of these Europe, Asia, and Africa, furnish suppose one hundred

and twentysix; that is, the twenty-six common to Europe and America, and about

one hundred which are not in America at all. The American species, then, are to

those of the rest of the earth, as one hundred to. one hundred and twenty-six,

or four to five. But the residue of the earth being double the extent of

America, the exact proportion would have been but as four to eight.



Hitherto I have considered this hypothesis as applied to brute animals only,

and not in its extension to the man of America, whether aboriginal or

transplanted. It is the opinion of Mons. de Buffon that the former furnishes no

exception to it.(2)



" Quoique le sauvage du nouveau monde soit €. peu pres de meme



stature que 1'homme de notre monde, cela ne suffit pas pour qu'il puisse faire

une exception au fait general du rapetissement de la naturevivante dans tout ce

continent; le sauvage est foible et petit par les organes de







__________







(1) XXX. 219. 



(2) XVIII. 146.



__________







Notes on Virginia 81







Ia generation; il n'a ni poil, ni barbe, and nulle ardeur pour sa femelle.

Quoique plus legcr que 1'Europeen, parce qu'il a plus d'habitude a courir, il

est cependant beaucoup moins fort de corps; il est aussi bien moins sensible,

et cependant plus craintif et plus lache; il n'a nulle vivacite

nulleactivitedansl'ame;celleducorpsestmoinsunexercise,un mouvement volontaire

qu'une necessite d'action causee par le besoin; &tez lui la faim et la

soif,vousdetruirezen meme tems le principe actif de tous ses mouvemens; il

demeurera stupidement en repos sur ses jambes ou couche pendant des jours

entiers. I1 ne faut pas aller chercher plus loin a cause de la vie dispersee

des sauvages et de leur eloignement pour la societe; la plus precieuse

etincelle du feu de la nature leur a ete refusee; ils manquent d'ardeur pour

leur femelle, et par consequent d'amour pour leur scmblables; ne connoissant

pas 1'attachment le plus vif, le plus tendre de tous, leurs autres sentimens de

ce genre, sont froids et languissans; ils aiment foiblement leurs peres et

leurs enfans; la societe la plus intime de toutes, celle de la meme famillc,

n'a donc chez eux que de foibles liens; la socicte d'une famille a 1'autre n'en

a point de tout; des lors nulle reunion, nulle republique, nulle etat social.

La physique de 1'amour fait chez eux le moral des moeurs; leur c<€eur est

glace, leur societe ct leur empire dur. Ils ne regardent leurs femmes que comme

dcs servantes de peine ou des betes de somme qu'ils chargent, sans menagement,

du fardeau de leur chasse, et qu'ils forcent, sans pitie, sans reconnoissance,

a des ouvrages qui souvent sont au dessus de leurs forces; ils n'ont que peu

d'enfans; ils en ont peu de soin; tout se ressent de leur premier defaut; ils

sont indifferents parce qu'ils sont peu puissants, et cette indifference pour

le sexe est la tache originelle qui fletrit la nature, qui 1'empeche de

s'epanouir, et qui detruisant les germes de la vie, coupe en meme temps la

racine de societe. L'hommc ne fait donc point d'exception ici. La nature en lui

refusant les puissances de 1'amour 1'a plus maltraite et plus rapetisse

qu'aucun des animaux."



An afflicting picture, indeed, which for the honor of human nature, I am glad

to believe has no original. Of the Indian of South America I know nothing; for

I would not honor with the appellation of knowledge, what I derive from the

fables published of them. These I believe to be just as true as the fables of

AEsop. This belieú is founded on what I have seen







vol,. II-6







82 Jefferson's Works







of man, white, red, and black, and what has been written of him by authors,

enlightened themselves, and writing among an enlightened people. The Indian of

North America being more within our reach, I can speak of him somewhat from my

own knowledge, but more from the information of others better acquainted with

him, and on whose truth and judgment I can rely. From these sources I am able

to say, in contradiction to this representation, that he is neither more

defective in ardor, nor more impotent with his female, than the white reduced

to the same diet and exercise; that he is brave, when an enterprise depends on

bravery; education with him making the point of honor consist in the

destruction of an enemy by stratagem, and in the preservation of his own person

free from injury; or, perhaps, this is nature, while it is education which

teaches us to(1) honor force more than finesse; that he will defend himself

against a host of enemies, always choosing to be killed, rather than to

surrender,(2) though it be to the whites, who he knows will







__________







(1) Sol Rodomonte sprezza di venire Se non, dove la via meno e ficura.-ArisTo

14,117. 



(2) In so judicious an author as Don Ulloa, and one to whom we are indebted for

the most precise information wc have of South America, I did not expect to find

such assertions as the following: "Los Indios vencidos son los nias cobardes y

pusilanimes que se peuden ver: Se hacen nocentes, le humillan hasta el

desprecio, disculpan su inconsiderado arrojo, y con las suplicas y los ruegos

dan seguras pruebas de su pusilanimidad, 6 lo que resieren las historias de la

Conquista, sobre sus grandes acciones, es en un sendito figurado, 6 el caracter

de estas gentes no es ahora segun era entonces; pero lo que no tiene duda es,

que las Naciones de la parts Septentrional subsisten en la misma



__________







Notes on Virginia 83







treat him well ; that in other situations, also, he meets death with more

deliberation, and endures tortures with a firmness unknown almost to religious

enthusiasm with us; that he is affectionate to his children, careful of them,

and indulgent in the extreme; that his affections comprehend his other

connections; weakening, as with us, from circle to circle, as they recede from

the centre; that his friendships are strong and faithful to the uttermost'

extremity libertad que siempre han tenido, sin haber sido sojuzgados por algon

Principe extrano, y que viven segun su regimen y costumbres de toda la vida,

sin que haya habido motivo para que muden de caracter; y en estos se ve lo

mismo, que sucede en los Peru, y de toda la America meridional, reducidos, y

que nunca lo han estado." Noticias Americanas, Entretenimiento xv€I. º I. Don

Ulloa here admits, that the authors who have described the Indians of South

America, before they were enslaved, had represented them as a brave people and

therefore seems to have suspected that the cowardice which he had observed in

those of the present race might be the effect of subjugation. But, supposing

the Indians of North America to be cowards also, he concludes the ancestors of

those of South America to have been so too, and, therefore, that those authors

have given fictions for truth. He was probably not acquainted himself with the

Indians of North America, and had formed his opinion from hearsay. Great

numbers of French, of English, and of Americans, are perfectly acquainted with

these people. Had he had an opportunity of inquiring of any of these they would

have told him, that there never was an instance known of an Indian begging his

life when in the power of his enemies; on the contrary, that he courts death by

every possible insult and provocation. His reasoning, then, would have been

reversed thus: "Since the present Indian of North America is brave and authors

tell us that the ancestors of those of South America were brave also, it must

follow that the cowardice of their descendants is the effect of subjugation and

ill treatment." For he observes, ib. º zy, that "los obrages los aniquillan por

la inhumanidad con que se les trata."







__________







(1) A remarkable instance of this appeared in the case of the late Colonel

Byrd, who was sent to the Cherokee nation to transact some



__________







84 Jefferson's Works







that his sensibility is keen, even the warriors weeping most bitterly on the

loss of their children, though in general they endeavor to appear superior to

human events ; that his vivacity and activity of mind is equal to ours in the

same situation ; hence his eagerness for hunting, and for games of chance. The

women are submitted to unjust drudgery. This I believe is the case with every

barbarous people. With such, force is law. The stronger sex imposes on the

weaker. It is civilization alone which replaces women in the enjoyment of their

natural equality. That first teaches us to subdue the selfish passions, and to

respect those rights in others which we value in ourselves. Were we in equal

barbarism, our females would be equal drudges. The man with them is less strong

than with us, but their women stronger than ours; and both for the same obvious

reason; because our man and their woman is habituated to labor, and formed by

it. With both races







__________ 







business with them. It happened that some of our disorderly people had just

killed one or two of that nation. It was therefore proposed in the council of

the Cherokees that Colonel Byrd should be put to death in revenge for the loss

of their countrymen. Among them was a chief named Silouee, who, on some former

occasion, had contracted an acquaintance and friendship with Colonel Byrd. He

came to him every night in his tent, and told him not to be afraid, they should

not kill him. After many days' deliberation, however, the determination was,

contrary to Silouce's expectation, that Byrd should be put to death and some

warriors were despatched as executioners. Silauee attended them, and when they

entered the tent, he threw himself between them and Byrd, and said to the

warriors, "This man is my friend; before you get at him, you must kill me." On

which they returned, and the council respected the principle so much as to

recede from their determination.



__________







Notes on Virginia 85







the sex which is indulged with ease is the least athletic. An Indian man is

small in the hand and wrist, for the same reason for which a sailor is large

and strong in the arms and shoulders, and a porter in the legs and thighs. They

raise fewer children than we do. The causes of this are to be found, not in a

difference of nature, but of circumstance. The women very frequently attending

the men in their parties of war and of hunting, child-bearing becomes extremely

inconvenient to them. It is said, therefore, that they have learned the

practice of procuring abortion by the use of some vegetable; and that it even

extends to prevent conception for a considerable time after. During these

parties they are exposed to numerous hazards, to excessive exertions, to the

greatest extremities of hunger. Even at their homes the nation depends for

food, through a certain part of every year, on the gleanings of the forest;

that is, they experience a famine once in every year. with all animals, if the

female be badly fed, or not fed at all, her young perish; and if both male and

female be reduced to like want, generation becomes less active, less

productive. To the obstacles, then, of want and hazard, which nature has

opposed to the multiplication of wild animals, for the purpose of restraining

their numbers within certain bounds, those of labor and of voluntary abortion

are added with the Indian. No wonder, then, if they multiply less than we do.

Where food is regularly supplied, a single farm will show more







86 Jefferson's Works







of cattle, than a whole country of forests can of buffaloes. The same Indian

women, when married to white traders, who feed them and their children

plentifully and regularly, who exempt them from excessive drudgery, who keep

them stationary and unexposed to accident, produce and raise as many children

as the white women. Instances are known, under these circumstances, of their

rearing a dozen children. An inhuman practice once prevailed in this country,

of making slaves of the Indians. It is a fact well known with us, that the

Indian women so enslaved produced and raised as numerous families as either the

whites or blacks among whom they lived. It has been said that Indians have less

hair than the whites, except on the head. But this is a fact of which fair

proof can scarcely be had. With them it is disgraceful to be hairy on the body.

They say it likens them to hogs. They therefore pluck the hair as fast as it

appears. But the traders who marry their women, and prevail on them to

discontinue this practice, say, that nature is the same with them as with the

whites. Nor, if the fact be true, is the consequence necessary which has been

drawn from it. Negroes have notoriously less hair than the whites; yet they are

more ardent. But if cold and moisture be the aaents of nature for diminishing

the races of animals, how comes she all at once to suspend their operation as

to the physical man of the new world, whom the Count acknowledges to be



" a peu pres de meme stature que 1'homme de notre







Notes on Virginia 87







monde," and to let loose their influence on his moral faculties ? How has this

" combination of the elements and other physical causes, so contrary to the

enlargement of animal nature in this new world, these obstacles to the

development and formation of great germs, " (1) been arrested and suspended, so

as to permit the human body to acquire its just dimensions, and by what

inconceivable process has their action been directed on his mind alone? To

judge of the truth of this, to form a just estimate of their genius and mental

powers, more facts are wanting, and great allowance to be made for those

circumstances of their situation which call for a display of particular talents

only. This done, we shall probably find that they are formed in mind as well as

in body, on the same module with the(2) " Homo sapiens Europaeus." The

principles of their society forbidding all compulsion, they are to be led to

duty and to enterprise by personal influence and persuasion. Hence eloquence in

council, bravery and address in war, become the foundations of all consequence

with them. To these acquirements all their faculties are directed. Of their

bravery and address in war we have multiplied proofs, because we have been the

subjects on which they were exercised. Of their eminence in oratory we have f

ewer examples, because it is displayed chiefly in their own councils. Some,

however, we have, of very superior lustre. I







__________







(1) XVIII. 146. (2) Linn. Syst Definition of a Man.



__________







88 Jefferson's Works







may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, and of any more

eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single

passage, superior to the speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore, then

governor of this State. And as a testimony of their talents in this line, I beg

leave to introduce it, first stating the incidents necessary for understanding

it.



In the spring of the year 1774, a robbery was committed by some Indians on

certain land-adventurers on the river Ohio. The whites in that quarter,

according to their custom, undertook to punish this outrage in a summary way.

Captain Michael Cresap, and a certain Daniel Greathouse, leading on these

parties, surprised, at different times, traveling and hunting parties of the

Indians, having their women and children with them, and murdered many. Among

these were unfortunately the family of Logan, a chief celebrated in peace and

war, and long distinguished as the friend of the whites. This unworthy return

provoked his vellgeance. He accordingly signalized himself in the war which

ensued. In the autumn of the same year a decisive battle was fought at the

mouth of the Great Kanhaway, between the collected forces of the Shawanese,

Mingoes and Delawares, and a detachment of the Virginia militia. The Indians

were defeated, and sued for peace. Logan, however, disdained to be seen among

the suppliants. But lest the sincerity of a treaty should be disturbed, from

which so distinguished a chief







Notes on Virginia 89







absented himself, he sent, by a messenger, the following speech, to be

delivered to Lord Dunmore 



" I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry,

and he gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him

not. During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in

his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my

countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, ` Logan is the friend of white

men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one

man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered

all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs

not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me

for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many : I have fully glutted my

vengeance: for my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a,



thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn

on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan?-Not one."(1)







(1) PHILADELPHIA, December 31, 1797, DEAR SIR,-Mr. Tazewell has communicated to

me the inquiries you have been so kind as to make, relative to a passage in the

" Notes on Virginia," which has lately excited some newspaper publications. I

feel, with great sensibility, the interest you take in this business, and with

pleasure, go into explanations with one whose objects I know to be truth and

justice alone. Had Mr. Martin thought proper to suggest to me, that doubts

might be entertained of the transaction respecting Logan, as stated in the

"Notes on Virginia," and to inquire on what grounds that statement was founded,

I should have felt







90 Jefferson's Works







Before we condemn the Indians of this continent as wanting genius, we must

consider that letters







__________







myself obliged by the  inquiry; have informed him candidly of the grounds, and

cordially have co-operated in every means of investigating the fact, and

correcting whatsoever in it should be found to have been erroneous. But he

chose to step at once into the newspapers, and in his publications there and

the letters he wrote to me, adopted a style which forbade the respect of an

answer. Sensible, however, that no act of his could absolve me from the justice

due to others, as soon as I found that the story of Logan could be doubted, I

determined to inquire into it as accurately as the testimony remaining, after a

lapse of twenty odd years, would permit, and that the result should be made

known, either in the first new edition which should be printed of the "Notes on

Virginia," or by publishing an appendix. I thought that so far as that work had

contributed to impeach the memory of Cresap, by handing on an erroneous charge

it was proper it should be made the vehicle of retribution. Not that I was at

all the author of the injury;. I had only concurred, with thousands and

thousands of others, in believing a transaction on authority which merited

respect. For the story of Logan is only repeated in the "Notes on Virginia,"

precisely as it had been current for more than a dozen years before they were

published. When Lord Dunmore returned from the expedition against the Indians,

in 1774, he and his officers brought the speech of Logan, and related the

circumstances of it. These were so affecting, and the speech itself so fine a

morsel of eloduence, that it became the theme of every conversation, in

Williamsburg particularly, and generally, indeed, wheresoever any of the

officers resirled or resorted. I learned it in Williamsburg, I believe at Lord

Dunmore's; and I find in my pocket-book of that year (I774) an entry of the

narrative, as taken from the mouth of some person, whose name, however, is not

noted, nor recollected, precisely in the words stated in the "Notes on

Virginia." The speech was published in the Virginia Gazette of that time, (I

have it myself in the volume of gazettes of that year,) and though it was the

translation made by the common interpreter, and in a style by no means elegant,

yet it was so admired, that it flew through all the public papers of the

continent, and through the magazines and other periodical publications of Great

Britain; and those who were boys at that day will now attest, that the speech

of Logan used to be given them as a school exercise for repetition. It was not

till about thirteen or fourteen



__________







Notes on Virginia 9I







have not yet been introduced among them. Were we to compare them in their

present state with the







__________







years after the newspaper publications, that the "Notes on Virginia" were

published in America. Combating, in these, the contumelious theory of certain

European writers, whose celebrity gave currency and weight to their opinions,

that our country from the combined effects of soil and climate, degenerated

animal nature, in the general, and particularly the moral faculties of man, I

considered the speech of Logan as an apt proof of the contrary, and used it as

such; and I copied, verbatim, the narrative I had taken down in 1774, and the

speech as it had been given us in a better translation by Lord Dunmore. I knew

nothing of the Cresaps, and could not possibly have a motive to do them an

injury with design. I repeated what thousands had done before, on as good

authority as we have for most of the facts we learn through life, and such as,

to this moment, I have seen no reason to doubt. That any bony questioned it,

was never suspected by me, till I saw the letter of Mr. Martin in the Baltimore

paper. I endeavored then to recollect who among my contemporaries, of the same

circle of society, and consequently of the same recollections, might still be

alive; three and twenty years of death and dispersion had left very few. I

remembered, however, that General Gibson was still living, and knew that he had

been the translator of the speech. I wrote to him immediately. He, in answer,

declares to me, that he was the very person sent by Lord Dunmore to the Indian

town; that, after he had delivered his message there, Logan took him out to a

neighboring wood; sat down with him, and rehearsing, with tears, the

catastrophe of his family, gave him that speech for Lord Dunmore; that he

carried it to Lord Dunmore; translated it for him; has turned to it in the

Encyclopedia, as talcen from the " Notes on Virginia," and finds that it was

his translation I had used, with only two or three verbal variations of no

importance. These, I suppose, had arisen in the course of successive copies. I

cite General Gibson's letter by memory, not having it with me; but I am sure I

cite it substantially right. It establishes unquestionably, that the speech of

Logan is genuine; and that being established, it is Logan himself who is author

of all the important facts. "Colonel Cresap," says he, "in cold blood and

unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and

children; there runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living

creature." The person and the fact, in all its material circumstances, are here

given by Logan himself. General Gibson,



__________







92  Jefferson's Works







Europeans, north of the Alps, when the Roman arms and arts first crossed those

mountains, the



comparison would be unequal, because, at that time, those parts of Europe were

swarming with numbers;







__________







indeed, says, that the title was mistaken; that Cresap was a Captain, and not a

Colonel. This was Logan's mistake. He also observes, that it was on another

water of the Ohio, and not on the Kanhaway, that his family was killed. This is

an error which has crept into the traditionary account; but surely of little

moment in the moral view of the subject. The material question is, was Logan's

family murdered, and by whom? That it was murdered has not, I believe, been

denied; that it was by one of the Cresaps, Logan affirms. This is a question

which concerns the memories of Logan and Cresap; to the issue of which I am as

indifferent as if I had never heard the name of either. I have begun and shall

continue to inquire into the evidence additional to Logan's, on which the fact

was founded. Little, indeed, can now be heard of, and that little dispersed and

distant. If it shall appear on inquiry, that Logan has been wrong in charging

Cresap with the murder of his family, I will do justice to the memory of

Cresap, as far as I have contributed to the injury, by believing and repeating

what others had believed and repeated before me. If, on the other hand, I find

that Logan was right in his charge"I will vindicate, as far as my suffrage may

go, the truth of a Chief, whose talents and misfortunes hare attached to him

the respect and commiseration of the world.



I have gone, my dear Sir, into this lengthy detail to satisfy a mind, in the

candor and rectitude of which I have the highest confidence. So far as you may

incline to use the communication for rectifying the judgments of those who are

willing to see things truly as they are, you are free to use it. But I pray

that no confidence which you may repose in any one, may induce you to let it go

out of your hands, so as to get into a newspaper: against a contest in that

field I am entirely decided. I feel extraordinary gratification, indeed, in

addressing this letter to you, with whom shades of difference in political

sentiment have not prevented the interchange of good opinion, nor cut off the

friendly offices of society and good correspondence. This political tolerance

is the more valued by me, who consider social harmony as the first of human

felicities, and the happiest moments, those which are given. to the effusions

of the heart. Accept them sincerely, I pray you, from one who has the honor to

be, with sentiments of high respect and attachment, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.



__________







Notes on Virginia 93







because numbers produce emulation, and multiply the chances of improvement, and

one improvement begets another. Yet I may safely ask, how many good poets, how

many able mathematicians, how many great inventors in arts or sciences, had

Europe, north of the Alps, then produced ? And it was sixteen centuries after

this before a Newton could be formed. I do not mean to deny that there are

varieties in the race of man, distinguished by their powers both of body and

mind. I believe there are, as I see to be the case in the races of other

animals. I only mean to suggest a doubt, whether the bulk and faculties of

animals depend on the side of the Atlantic on which their food happens to grow,

or which furnishes the elements of which they are compounded ? Whether nature

has enlisted herself as a Cis or Trans-Atlantic partisan ? I am induced to

suspect there has been more eloquence than sound reasoning displayed in support

of this theory; that it is one of those cases where the judgment has been

seduced by a glowing pen ; and whilst I render every tribute of honor and

esteem to the celebrated zoologist, who has added, and is still adding, so many

precious things to the treasures of science, I must doubt whether in this

instance he has not cherished error also, by lending her for a moment his vivid

imagination and bewitching language. (q.)



So far the Count de Buffon has carried this new theory of the tendency of

nature to belittle her productions on this side the Atlantic. Its application







94 Jefferson's Works







to the race of whites transplanted from Europe, remained for the Abbe Raynal. "

On doit etre etonne (he says) que 1'Amerique n'ait pas encore produit un bon

poete, un habile mathematicien, un homme de genie dans un seul art, ou seule

science. " Hist. Philos. p. ga, ed. Maestricht, 1774. " America has not yet

produced one good poet. " When we shall have existed as a people as long as the

Greeks did before they produced a Homer, the Romans a Virgil, the French a

Racine and Voltaire, the English a Shakespeare and Milton, should this reproach

be still true, we will inquire from what unfriendly causes it has proceeded,

that the other countries of Europe and quarters of the earth shall not have

inscribed any name in the roll of poets.(1) But neither has America produced "

one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science."

In war we have produced a Washington, whose memory will be adored while liberty

shall have votaries, whose name shall triumph over time, and will in future

ages assume its just station among the most celebrated worthies of the world,

when that wretched philosophy shall be forgotten which would have arranged him

among the degeneracies of nature. In physics we have produced a Franklin, than

whom







__________







(1) Has the world as yet produced more than two poets, acknowledged to be such

by all nations? An Englishman only reads Milton with delight, an Italian,

Tasso, a Frenchman the Henriade; a Portuguese, Camoens; but Homer and Virgil

have been the rapture of every age and nation; they are read with enthusiasm in

their originals by those Who can read the originals, and in translations by

those who cannot,



__________







Notes on Virginia 95







no one of the present age has made more important discoveries, nor has enriched

philosophy with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phenomena of nature.

We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to no astronomer living; that in genius

he must be the first, because he is self taught. As an artist he has exhibited

as great a proof of mechanical genius as the world has ever produced. He has

not indeed made a world ; but he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker

than any man who has lived from the creation to this day.(1) As in philosophy

and war, so in government, in oratory, in painting, in the plastic art, we

might show that America, though but a child of yesterday, has already given

hopeful proofs of genius, as well as of the nobler kinds, which arouse the best

feelings of man, which call him into action, which substantiate his freedom,

and conduct him to happiness, as of the subordinate, which serve to amuse him

only. We therefore suppose, that this reproach is as unjust as it is unkind:

and that, of the geniuses which adorn the present age, America. contributes its

full share. For comparing it with those countries where genius is most

cultivated, where are the most excellent models for art, and scaffolding for

the attainment of science, as France and England for instance, we calculate

thus:







__________







(1) There are various ways of keeping truth out of sight. Mr. Rittenhouse's

model of the planetary system has the plagiary application of an Orrery; and

the quadrant invented by Godfrey, an American also, and with the aid of which

the European nations traverse the globe, is called Hadley's quadrant.



__________







96 Jefferson's Works







The United States contains three millions of inhabitants ; France twenty

millions ; and the British islands ten. We produce a Washington, a Franklin, a

Rittenhouse. France then should have half a dozen in each of these lines, and

Great Britain half that number, equally eminent. It may be true that France has

; we are but just becoming acquainted with her, and our acquaintance so far

gives us high ideas of the genius of her inhabitants. It would be injuring too

many of them to name particularly a Voltaire, a Buffon, the constellation. of

Encyclopedists, the Abbe Raynal himself, etc., etc. We, therefore, have reason

to believe she can produce her full quota of genius. . The present war having

so long cut off all communication with Great Britain, we are not able to make a

fair estimate of the state of science in that country. The spirit in which she

wages war, is the only sample before our eyes, and 'that does not seem the

legitimate offspring either of science or of civilization. The sun of her glory

is fast descending to the horizon. Her philosophy has crossed the channel, her

freedom the Atlantic, and herself seems passing to that awful dissolution whose

issue is not given human foresight to scan.(1)







__________







(1) In a later edition of the Abbe Raynal's work, he has withdrawn his censure

from that part of the new world inhabited by the Federo-Americans; but has left

it still on the other parts. North America has always been more accessible to

strangers than South. If he was mistaken then as to the former, he may be so as

to the latter. The glimmerings which reach us from South America enable us to

see that its



__________











Notes on Virginia 97







Having given a sketch of our minerals, vegetables, and quadrupeds, and being

led by a proud theory to make a comparison of the latter with those of Europe,

and to extend it to the man of America, both aboriginal and emigrant, I will

proceed to the remaining articles comprehended under the present query.



Between ninety and a hundred of our birds have been described by Catesby. His

drawings are better as to form and attitude than coloring, which is generally

too high. They are the following (see pages 98, 99 and 100) :



Besides these, we have,







The Royston crow. Corvus cor-      * The Ground swallow. Hirundo



                               nix. riparia.      *



                                                       *



         Crane. Ardea Canadensis.      * Greatest gray eagle.



           House swallow. Hirundo      * Smaller turkey buzzard, with



                                     rustica.      * a feathered head.











inhabitants are held under the accumulated pressure of slavery, superstition

and ignorance. Whenever they shall be able to rise under this weight, and to

show themselves to the rest of the world, they will probably show they are like

the rest of the world. We llave not yet sufficient evidence that there are more

lakes and fogs in South America than in other parts of the earth. As little do

we know what would be their operation on the mind of man. That country has been

visited by Spaniards and Portuguese chiefly, and almost exclusively. These,

going from a country of the old world remarkably dry in its soil and climate,

fancied there were more lakes and fogs in South America than in Europe. An

inhabitant of Ire?and, Sweden, or Finland would have formed the contrary

opinion. Had South America then been discovered and settled by a people from a

fenny country, it would probably have been represented as much drier than the

old world. A patient pursuit of facts, and cautious combination and comparison

of them, is the drudgery to which man is subjected by his Maker, if he wishes

to attain sure knowledge.







VOL. II-7







































                                         BIRDS OF VIRGINIA.



Linnaean        ³Catesby's Designation.        ³Popular Names               



Designation.        ³        ³            Buffon



        ³        ³                             



        ³        ³                      



        ³        ³Oiseaux.



        ³        ³



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Lanius tyrannus        ³Muscicapa corona rubra           ³Tyrant. Field martin 

       



Vulur aura        ³             1.55        ³            8.398



Falco        ³Buteo specie Gallo-pavonis         ³Turkey buzzard             



leucocephalus        ³          1.6        ³               1.246



Falco sparverius        ³Aquila capite Albo                 ³Bald eagle        

          



Falco columbarius        ³                1.1        ³                 1.138



Falco furcatus        ³Accipiter minor                    ³Little hawk. 

Sparrow hark



        ³                  1.5        ³Pigeon hawk                 



Strix asio        ³Accipiter palumbarius              ³               1.338



Psittacus        ³             1.3        ³Forked tail hawk            



Caroliniensis        ³Accipiter cauda minor             ³        1.286.312



Corvus cristayus        ³              1.4        ³Fishing hawk                



Oriolus Baltimore        ³Accipiter piscatorius               ³               

1.199



Oriolus spurius        ³               1.2        ³Little owl                  

 



Gracula quiscula        ³Noctua aurita minor               ³                 

1.141



Cuculus        ³                1.7        ³Parrot of Carolina.



Americanus        ³Psittacus Caroliniensus            ³Parroquet     11.383



Picus principalis        ³              1.11        ³Blue jay                  

  



Picus pileatus        ³Pica glandaria eaerulea        ³                  5.164



Picus        ³cristata      1.15        ³Baltimore bird               



erythrocephalus        ³Icterus ex aureo nigroque        ³              5.318



Picus ouratus        ³varius    1.48        ³Bastard Baltimore            



Picus Carolinus        ³Icterus minor                     ³           5.321



Picus pubescens        ³                     1.49        ³Purple jackdaw. Crow



Picus villosus        ³Monedula purpurea                ³blackbird 5.134



Picus varius        ³                1.12        ³Carolina cuckow             



Sitta Europaea        ³Cuculus Carolineinsus             ³              12.62



"        ³               1.9        ³White bill woodpecker        



Alcedo alcyon        ³Picus maximus rostro albo         ³         13.69



Certhia pinus        ³            1.16        ³Larger red-creasted



Trochilus colubris        ³Picus niger maximus        ³woodpecker  13.72



Anas Canadensis        ³capite rubro  1.17        ³Red-headed woodpecker      



Anas bucephala        ³Picus capite toto rubro            ³       13.83



Anas rustica        ³               1.20        ³Gold-winged woodpecker.



Anas discors. B        ³Picus major alis aureius           ³Yuker 13.59



Anas discors. B        ³              1.18        ³Red-bellied woodpecker      



Anas sponsa        ³Picus venter rubro                ³       13.105



        ³                  1.19        ³Smallest spotted woodpecker 



Mergus cucullatus        ³Picus varius minimus              ³    13.113



Columbus podiceps        ³               1.21        ³Hairy woodpecker Spec    

 



Ardea Herodias        ³Picus medius quasi-        ³        13.111



Ardea violacea        ³villosus            1.19        ³Yellow-bellied

woodpecker    



Ardea caerulea        ³Picus varius minor ventre        ³    13.115



Ardea virescens        ³luteo      1.21        ³Nuthatch                    



Ardea        ³Sitta capite nigro                 ³                  10.213



aequinoctialis        ³                   1.22        ³Small nuthatch          

   



        ³Sitta capite fusco                 ³               10.214



        ³                   1.22        ³Kingfisher                   



        ³Ispida                             ³                 13.310



        ³                                ³Pine-creaper                



        ³1.69        ³                  9.433



        ³Parus Americanus        ³Humming bird               



        ³lutescens           1.61Mellivora avis Caroliniensis          

1.65Anser Canadensis                           1.92Anas minor purpureo capite  

        1.95Anas minor ex albo & fusco vario 1.98Querquedula Americana

variegata 1.10Querquedula Americana fusca       1.99Anas Americanus cristatus

elegans1.97Anas Americanus lato rostro          1.96Anas cristatus             

                   1.94Prodicipes minor rostro vario         1.91Ardea cristata

maxima Americana 3.10Ardea stellaris cristata Americana 1.79Ardea caerulea     

                          1.76Ardea setllaris minima                   

1.80Ardea alba minor Caroliniensis      1.77Ardea stellaris Americana          

   1.78        ³                11.16Wild goose                                

   17.122Buffel's-head duck                        17.356Little brown duck     

                    17.413White face teal                             

17.403Blue wing teal                               17.405Summer duck           

                    17.351Blue wing shoveler                       17.275Round

crested duck                      15.437Pied bill dopchick                     

   15.383Largest crested heron                   14.113Crested bitten          

                     14.134Blue heron.  Crane                       14.131Small

bittern                                 14.142Little white heron               

         14.136Brown bittern Indian hen             14.175



        ³        ³



Tantalus loculator        ³Pelicanus Americanus              ³



Tantalus alber        ³              1.81        ³Wood pelican                



Tantalus fuscus        ³Numenius albus                    ³              13.403



Charadrius        ³                 1.82        ³White curlew                



vociferus        ³Numenius fuscus                  ³                 15.62



Haematopus        ³                  1.83        ³Brown curlew                



sotralegus        ³Pluvialis vociferus                 ³                15.64



Rallus Virginianus        ³                 1.71        ³Chattering plover.    

  



Meleagris        ³Haematopus                        ³Kildee       15.151



Gallopavo        ³                   1.85        ³Oyster catcher              



Tetrao Virginianus        ³Gallinula Americana                ³                

15.185



        ³              1.70        ³Soree.     Ral-bird          



Columba passerina        ³Gallopava Sylvestris               ³              

15.256



Columba migratorio        ³            Xliv.        ³Wild turkey               

 



Columba        ³Perdix Sylvestris        ³               3.187.229



Caroliniensis        ³Virginiana           3.12        ³American partridge.



Alauda alpestris        ³Urgallus minor or kind of        ³American quail 4.237



Alauda magna        ³Lagopus 3.1        ³Pheasant.   Mountain



        ³Turtur minimus guttatus           ³partridge        3.409



        ³             1.26        ³Ground dove                



Tardus migratorius        ³Palumbus migratorius              ³                 

 4.404



Tardus rufus        ³              1.23        ³Pigeon of passage. Wild



Tardus polyglottos        ³Turtur Caroliniensis               ³pigeon     

4.351



        ³                1.24        ³Turtle.  Turtle dove         



        ³Alauda gutture flavo              ³                4.401



Ampelis garrulus.        ³                1.32        ³Lark.   Sky lark        

   



b        ³Alauda magna                     ³                      9.79



Loxia Cardinalis        ³                   1.33        ³Field lark.      Large

lark  



Loxia Caerulea        ³Strunus niger allis        ³                 6.59



Emberiza hyemalis        ³superne        ³



Emberiza        ³rubentibus                        ³Red wing. Starling. Marsh



Oryzivora        ³                      1.13        ³blackbird 5.293



Emberiza Ciris        ³Turdus pilaris migratorius         ³Fieldfare of

Carolina.Robin



Tanagra cyanea        ³            1.29        ³redbreast5.426



        ³Turdus rufus                     ³Fox colored thrush thrush   



        ³                      1.28        ³              5.449



        ³Turdus minor cinereo        ³



        ³albus non        ³Mocking bird                



        ³niaculatus                         ³                     5.451



        ³                      1.27        ³Little Thrush                



        ³Turdus minimus                   ³                      5.400



        ³                  1.31        ³Chatterer                    



        ³Garrulus Caroliniensis             ³                       



        ³              1.46        ³6.162



        ³Coccothranstes rubra              ³Red bird Virginia



        ³               1.38        ³nightingale            6.185



        ³Coccothranstes caerulea           ³Blue gross beak             



        ³             1.30        ³                    8.125



        ³Passer nivalis                     ³Snow bird                   



        ³                    1.36        ³                       8.47



        ³Hortulanus Caroliniensis           ³Rice bird                    



        ³            1.14        ³                        8.49



        ³Fringilla tricolor                              1.44Linaria caerulea  

                            1.45        ³Painted finch                         

             7.247Blue linnet                                          7.122



        ³        ³









Linnaean        ³Catesby's Designation.        ³Popular Names               



Designation.        ³        ³            Buffon



        ³        ³                             



        ³        ³                      



        ³        ³Oiseaux.



        ³Passerculus                       ³Little sparrow               



        ³                     1.35        ³                  7.120



Fringilla        ³Passer fuscus                     ³Cowpen bird               

 



erythrophthalma        ³                    1.34        ³                 7.196



Fringilla tristis        ³Passer niger oculis rubris         ³Towhe bird       

          



        ³             1.34        ³                   7.201



Muscicapa crinita        ³Carduelis Americanus              ³American

goldfinch. Lettuce



Muscicapa rubra        ³             1.43        ³bird   7.297



Muscicapa ruticilla        ³Fringilla purpurea                 ³Purple finch   

             



Muscicapa        ³                 1.41        ³                   8.129



Caroliniensis        ³Muscicapa crinita ventre        ³Crested flycatcher      

    



        ³luteo       1.52        ³                8.379



        ³Muscicapa rubra                   ³Summer red bird            



        ³                 1.56        ³                 8.410



Motacilla Sialis        ³Ruticilla Americana                ³Red start         

          



Motacilla regulus        ³              1.67        ³            8.349/9.259



Motacilla trochilus.        ³Muscicapa vertice nigro           ³Cat bird       

             



b        ³             1.66        ³                       8.372



Parus bicolor        ³Muscicapa nigrescens              ³Black cap flycatcher  

      



Parus Americanus        ³              1.53        ³                8.341



Parus Virginianus        ³Muscicapa fusca                   ³Little brown

flycatcher      



        ³                 1.54        ³               8.344



        ³Muscicapa oculis rubris            ³Red-eyed flycatcher         



        ³            1.54        ³                 8.337



Hirundo Pelasgia        ³Rubicula Americana        ³Blue bird                  

 



Hirundo purpurea        ³caerulea        1.47        ³                      

9.308



Caprimulgus        ³Regulus cristatus                  ³Wren                   

    



Europaeus. a        ³                  1.57        ³                        



Caprimulgus        ³Ocnanthe Americana        ³10.58



Europaeus. b        ³pectore iuteo1.50        ³Yellow brested chat          



        ³Parus cristatus                    ³                 6.96



        ³                    1.57        ³Crested titmouse             



        ³Parus fringillaris                  ³                10.183



        ³                   1.64        ³Finch creeper               



        ³Parus uropygeo luteo              ³                     9.442



        ³               1.58        ³Yellow rump                 



        ³Parus cucullo nigro               ³                   10.184



        ³                 1.60        ³Hooded titmouse             



        ³Parus Americanus gutture        ³                 10.183



        ³luteo      1.62        ³Yellow throated creeper      



        ³Parus Caroliniensis                ³



        ³                1.63        ³Yellow titmouse              



        ³Hirundo cauda aculeata        ³                 9.431



        ³American 3.8        ³American swallow            



        ³Hirundo purpurea                 ³             12.478



        ³                 1.51        ³Purple martin.  House



        ³Caprimulgus                       ³martin         12.445



        ³                   1.8        ³Goatsucker.  Great bat       



        ³Caprimulgus minor        ³            12.243



        ³Americanus    3.16        ³Whip-poor-will               



        ³        ³               12.246













Notes on Virginia 101











The Greatest owl, or night hawk.



Wet hawk, which feeds flying.



Raven.



Water Pelican of the Missis



sippi, whose pouch holds a



peck.



Swan. Loon.



Cormorant.



Duck and mallard.



Widgeon.



Sheldrach, or Canvas back.



Black head.



Ballcoot.







The Sprigtail.



Didapper, or dopchick.



Spoon-billed duck.



Water-witch.



Water-pheasant.



Mow-bird.



Blue Peter.



Water Wagtail.



Yellow-legged Snipe.



Squatting Snipe.



Small Plover.



Whistling Plover.



Woodcock.



Red bird, with black head, wings and tail.











And doubtless many others which have not yet been described and classed.



To this catalogue of our indigenous animals, I will add a short account of an

anomaly of nature, taking place sometimes in the race of negroes brought from

Africa, who, though black themselves, have, in rare instances, white children,

called Albinos. I have known four of these myself, and have faithful accounts

of three others. The circumstances in which all the individuals agree are

these. They are of a pallid cadaverous white, untinged with red, without any

colored spots or seams ; their hair of the same kind of white, short, coarse,

and curled as is that of the negro; all of them well formed, strong, healthy,

perfect in their senses, except that of sight, and born of parents who had no

mixture of white blood. Three of these Albinos were sisters, having two other

full sisters, who were black. The youngest







102 Jefferson's Works







of the three was killed by lightning, at 12 years of age. The eldest died at

about a 7 years of age, in child-bed, with her second child. The middle one is

now alive, in health, and has issue, as the eldest had, by a black man, which

issue was black. They are uncommonly shrewd, quick in their apprehensions and

in reply. Their eyes are in a perpetual tremulous vibration, very weak, and

much affected by the sun ; but they see much better in the night than we do.

They are of the property of Colonel Skipwith, of Cumberland. The fourth is a

negro woman, whose parents came from Guinea, and had three other children, who

were of their own color. She is freckled, her eye-sight so weak that she is

obliged to wear a bonnet in the summer; but it is better in the night than day.

She had an Albino child by a black man. It died at the age of a few weeks.

These w ere the property of Colonel Carter, of Albemarle. A sixth instance is a

woman the property oú Mr. Butler, near Petersburg. She is stout and robust, has

issue a daughter, jet black, by a black man. I am not informed as to her

eyesight. The seventh instance is of a male belonging to a Mr. Lee of

Cumberland. His eyes are tremulous and weak. He is tall of stature, and now

advanced in years. He is the only male of the Albinos which have come within my

information. Whatever be the cause of the disease in the skin, or in its

coloring matter, which produces this change, it seems more incident to the

úemale than rnale sex.







Notes on Virginia 103







To these I may add the mention of a negro man within my own knowledge, born

black, and of black parents ; on whose chin, when a boy, a white spot appeared.

This continued to increase till he became a man, by which time it had extended

over his chin, lips, one cheek, the under jaw, and neck on that side. It is of

the Albino white, without any mixture of red, and has for several years been

stationary. He is robust and healthy, and the change of color was not

accompanied with any sensible disease, either general or topical.



Of our fish and insects there has been nothing like a full description or

collection. More oi them are described in Catesby than in any other work. Many

also are. to be found in Sir Hans Sloane's Jamaica as being common to that and

this country. The honey-bee is not a native of our continent. Marcgrave,

indeed, mentions a species of honey-bee in Brazil. But this has no sting, and

is therefore different from the one we have, which resembles perfectly that of

Europe. The Indians concur with us in the tradition that it was brought from

Europe; but when, and by whom, we know not. The bees have generally extended

themselves into the country, a little in advance of the white settlers. The

Indians, therefore, call them the white man's fly, and consider their approach

as indicating the approach of the settlements oú the whites. A question here

occurs, How f ar northwardly have these insects been found? That they are

unknown in Lapland, I infer







104 Jefferson's Works







from Scheffer's information, that the Laplanders eat the pine bark, prepared in

a certain way, instead of those things sweetened with sugar. " Hoc comedunt pro

rebus saccharo conditis." Scheff. Lapp. c. 18. Certainly if they had honey, it

would be a better substitute for sugar than any preparation of the pine bark.

Kalm tells us(1) the honey-bee cannot live through the winter in Canada. They

furnish then an additional fact first observed `by the Count de Buffon, and

which has thrown such a blaze of light on the field of natural history, that no

animals are found in both continents, but those which are able to bear the cold

of those regions where they probably join.















QUERY VII.



A notice of all that can increase the progress of



Human Knowledge ?



Under the latitude of this query, I will presume it not improper nor

unacceptable to furnish some data for estimating the climate of Virginia.

Journals of observations on the quantity of rain, and degree of heat, being

lengthy, confused, and too minute to produce general and distinct ideas, I have

taken five years' observations, to wit, from 1772 to 1777, made in Williamsburg

and its neighborhood, have reduced them to an average for every month in the

year, and stated those averages in the following table, adding







__________







(1) I. 126.



__________







Notes on Virginia 105







an analytical view of the winds during the same period.























        ³Fall of        ³Least and        ³



        ³rain,        ³greatest daily        ³



        ³etc., in         ³heat, by Fah-        ³



        ³inches.        ³renheits ther-        ³                               

                Winds



        ³        ³mometer        ³



        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³        ³N.        ³N.E.        ³E.        ³S.E.        ³S.  

     ³S.W.        ³W.        ³N.W.        ³Total.



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄ



JAN.        ³3.102        ³38.5   to 44        ³73        ³47        ³32       

³10        ³11        ³78        ³40        ³46        ³337



FEB.        ³2.049        ³41          47.5        ³61        ³52        ³24   

    ³11        ³ 4        ³63        ³30        ³31        ³276



MAR.        ³3.95        ³48          54.5        ³49        ³44        ³38    

   ³28        ³14        ³83        ³29        ³33        ³318



APRIL        ³3.68        ³56          62.5        ³35        ³44        ³54   

    ³19        ³9        ³58        ³18        ³20        ³257



MAY        ³2.871        ³63          70.5        ³27        ³36        ³62    

   ³23        ³7        ³74        ³32        ³20        ³281



JUNE        ³3.751        ³71.5       78.25        ³22        ³34        ³43   

    ³24        ³13        ³81        ³25        ³25        ³267



JULY        ³4.497        ³77           82.5        ³41        ³44        ³75  

     ³15        ³7        ³95        ³32        ³19        ³228



AUG.        ³9.153        ³76.25      81        ³43        ³52        ³40      

 ³30        ³9        ³103        ³27        ³30        ³334



SEPT.        ³4.761        ³69.5        74.25        ³70        ³60        ³51 

      ³18        ³10        ³81        ³18        ³37        ³345



OCT.        ³3.633        ³61.25      66.5        ³52        ³77        ³64    

   ³15        ³6        ³56        ³23        ³34        ³327



NOV.        ³2.617        ³47.75      53.5        ³74        ³21        ³20    

   ³14        ³9        ³63        ³35        ³58        ³294



DEC.        ³2.877        ³43                  ³64        ³37        ³18       

³16        ³10        ³91        ³42        ³56        ³334



---------        ³---------        ³48.75        ³--------        ³--------    

   ³--------        ³--------        ³------        ³--------        ³---------

       ³---------        ³---------



--        ³--        ³----------------        ³-        ³-        ³-        ³- 

      ³--        ³-        ³351        ³409        ³3,698



Total        ³47.038        ³----        ³611        ³548        ³521       

³223        ³109        ³926        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³8 AM to 4 PM        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³    

   ³        ³        ³        ³















The rains of every month, (as of January, for instance,) through the whole

period of years, were added separately, and an average drawn from them. The

coolest and warmest point of the same day in each year of the period, were

added separately, and an average of the greatest cold and greatest heat of that

day was formed. From the averages of every day in the month, a general average

was formed. The point from which the wind blew, was observed two or three times

in every day. These observatio ns, in the month of January, úor instance,

through the whole period, amounted to three hundred and thirty-seve n. At

seventy-th ree oú these, the wind was úrom the north; forty-seve n from the

northeast, etc. So that it will be easy to see in what pro







106 Jefferson's Works







portlon each wind usually prevails in each month;



or, taking the whole year, the total of observatio ns through the whole period

having been three thousand six hundred and ninety-eig ht, it will be observed

that six hundred and eleven of them were from the north, five hundred and

fifty-eight from the north-east, etc.



Though by this table it appears we have on an average forty-seve n inches oú

rain annually, which is considerabl y more than usually falls in Europe, yet

úrom the inúormatio n I have collected, I suppose we have a much greater

proportion of sunshine here than there. Perhaps it will be found, there are

twice as ma.ny cloudy days in the middle parts of Europe, as i.n the United

States of America. I mention the middle parts of Europe, because my information

does not extend to its northern or southern parts.



In an extensive country, it will of course be expected that the climate is not

the same in all its parts. It is remarkable , that proceeding on the same

parallel of latitude westwardly , the climate becomes colder in like manner as

when you proceed northwardl y. This continues to be the case till you attain

the summit of the Alleghany, which is the highest land between the ocean and

the Mississippi. From thence, descending in the same latitude to the

Mississippi, the change reverses; and, if we may believe travellers, it becomes

warmer there than it is in the same latitude on the sea-side. Their testimony

is







Notes on Virginia 107







strengthen ed by the vegetables and animals which subsist and multiply there

naturally, and do not on the sea-coast. Thus Catalpas grow spontaneou sly on

the Mississippi, as far as the latitude of 37 degrees, and reeds as far as 38

degrees. Parroquets even winter on the Scioto, in the 39th degree of latitude.

In the summer of 1779, when the thermomete r was at 90 degrees at Monticello,

and 96 degrees at Williamsbur g, it was 110 degrees at Kaskaskia. Perhaps the

mountain, which overhangs this village on the north side, may, by its

reflection, have contribute d somewhat to produce this heat. The difference of

temperatur e of the air at the sea-coast, or on the Chesapeake bay, and at the

Alleghany, has not been ascertained ; but contempora ry observatio ns, made at

Williamsbur g, or in its neighborho od, and at Monticello, which is on the most

eastern ridge of the mountains, called the South-West , where they are

intersected by the Rivanna, have furnished a ratio by which that difference may

in some degree be conjecture d. These observatio ns make the difference between

Williamsbur g and the nearest mountains, at the position before mentioned, to

be on an average 6.33 degrees of Fahrenheit' s thermomete r. Some allowance,

however, is to be made for the difference of latitude between these two places,

the latter being 38 degrees 8' 17", which is 52' 22" north of the former. By

contempora ry observatio ns of between five and six weeks, the averaged and

almost unvaried difference of the height of mercury in the barometer, at those

two







108 Jefferson's Works







places, was .784 of an inch, the atmosphere at Monticello being so much the

lightest, that is to say, about one-thirty- seventh of its whole weight. It

should be observed, however, that the hill oú Monticello is of five hundred

feet perpendicu lar height above the river which washes its base. This position

being nearly central between our northern and southern boundaries , and between

the bay and Alleghany, may be considered as úurnishing the best average of the

temperatur e oú our climate. Williamsbur g is much too near the south-east ern

corner to give a fair idea of our general temperatur e.



But a more remarkable difference is in the winds which prevail in the different

parts of the country. The following table exhibits a comparativ e view of the

winds prevailing at Williamsbur g, and at Monticello. It is formed by reducing

nine months' observatio ns at Monticello to four principal points, to wit, .

the north-east, south-east, south-west , and northwest ; these points being

perpendicu lar to, or parallel with our coast, mountains, and rivers ; and by

reducing in like manner, an equal number of observatio ns to wit, four hundred

and twenty-one from the preceding table of winds at Williamsbur g, taking them

proportion ably from every point :



                          N.E.    S.E.    S.W.   N.W.    Total.



Williamsbur g,     127      61      132      101      421



Monticello,          32       91      196     172       421



By this it inay be seen that the south-west wind prevails equally at both

places; that the north-east











Notes on Virginia 109







is, next to this, the principal wind towards the seacoast, and the north-west

is the predominan t wind at the mountains. The difference between these two

winds to sensation, and in fact, is very great. The north-east is loaded with

vapor, insomuch, that the salt-maker s have found that their crystals would not

shoot while that blows; it brings a distressing chill, and is heavy and

oppressive to the spirits. The north-west is dry, cooling, elastic, and

animating. The eastern and south-east ern breezes come on generally in the

afternoon. They have advanced into the country very sensibly within the memory

of people now living. They formerly did not penetrate far above Williamsbur g.

They are now frequent at Richmond, and every now and then reach the mountains.

They deposit most of their moisture, however, before they get that far. As the

lands become more cleared, it is probable they will extend still further

westward. Going out into the open air, in the temperate, and warm months of the

year, we often meet with bodies of warm air, which passing by us in two or

three seconds, do not afford time to the most sensible thermometer to seize

their temperatur e. Judging from my feelings only, I think they approach the

ordinary heat of the human body. Some of them, perhaps, go a little beyond it.

TheyT are of about twenty to thirty feet diameter horizontall y. Of their

height we have no experience, but probably they are globular volumes wafted or

rolled along with the wind.







110 Jefferson's Works







But whence taken, where found, or how generated? They are not to be ascribed to

volcanoes, because we have none. They do not happen in the winter when the

farmers kindle large fires in clearing up their grounds. They are not confined

to the spring season, when we have fires which traverse whole counties,

consuming the leaves which have fallen from the trees. And they are too

frequent and general to be ascribed to accidental fires. I am persuaded their

cause must be sought for in the atmosphere itself, to aid us in which I know

but of these constant circumstan ces: a dry air; a temperatur e as warm, at

least, as that of the spring or autumn; and a moderate current of wind. They

are most frequent about sun-set; rare in the middle parts of the day; and I do

not recollect having ever met with them in the morning. The variation in the

weight of our atmosphere , as indicated by the barometer, is not equal to two

inches of mercury. During twelve months' observatio n at Williamsbur g, the

extremes 29 and 30.86 inches, the difference being 1.86 of an inch; and in nine

months, cluring which the height of the mercury was noted at Monticello, the

extremes were 28.48 and 29.69 inches, the variation being 1.21 of an inch. A

gentleman, who has observed his barometer many years, assures me it has never

varied two inches. Contempora ry observatio ns made at Monticello and

Williamsbur g, proved the variations in the weight of air to be simultaneo us

and correspond ing in these two places.







Notes on Virginia 111



Our changes from heat to cold, and cold to heat, are very sudden and great. The

mercury in Fahrenheit' s thermomete r has been known to descend from 92 degrees

to 47 degrees in thirteen hours. It was taken for granted, that the precedi.ng

table of average heat will not give a false idea on this subject, as it

proposes to state only the ordinary heat and cold of each month, and not those

which are extraordina ry. At Williamsbur g, in August, 1766, the mercury in

Fahrenheit' s thermometer was at 98 degrees correspond ing with 29.33 of

Reaumur. At the same place in January 1780, it was 6 degrees, correspond ing

with 11.5 below zero of Reaumur. I believe(1) these may be considered to be

nearly the extremes of heat and cold in that part of the country. The latter

may most certainly, as that time York river, at Yorktown, was frozen over, so

that people walked across it; a circumstan ce which proves it to have been

colder than the winter of 1740-1771, usually called the cold winter, when York

river did not freeze over at that place. In the same season of 1780, Chesapeake

bay was solid, from its head to the mouth of Potomac. At Annapolis, where it is

5.25 miles over between the nearest points of land, the ice was from five to

seven inches thick quite across, so that loaded carriages went over on it.

Those, our extremes of heat and cold, of 6 degrees and 98 degrees, were indeed















__________







(1) At Paris, in 1753, the mercury in Reaumur's thermomete r was at 30.5 above

zero, and in 1776, it was at 16 below zero. The extremities of heat and cold

therefore at Paris, are greater than at Williamsbur g, which is in the hottest

part of Virginia.



__________







112 Jefferson's Works







v ery distressing to us, and were thought to put the extent oú the human

constitutio n to considerabl e trial. Yet a Siberian would have considered them

as scarcely a sensible variation. At Jenniseitz in that country, in latitude 58

degrees 27', we are told that the cold in 1735 sunk the mercury by Fahrenheit'

s scale to 126 degrees below nothing; and the inhabitants of the same country

use stove rooms two or three times a week, in which they stay two hours at a

time, the atmosphere of which raises the mercur toabove nothing. Late

experiment s show that the human body will exist in rooms heated to l40 degrees

of Reaumur, equal to 347 degrees of Fahrenheit' s, and 135 degrees above

boiling water. The hottest point of the twenty-fou r hours is about four

o'clock, P. M., and the dawn of day the coldest. The access of frost in autumn,

and its recess the spring, do not seem to depend merely on the degree of cold;

much less on the air's being at the freezing point. White frosts are frequent

when the thermomete r is at 47 degrees, have killed young plants of Indian corn

at 48 degrees, and have been known at 54 degrees. Black frost, and even ice,

have been produced at 38.5 degrees, which is 6.5 degrees above the freezing

point. That other circumstan ces must be combined with this cold to produce

frost, is evident from this also, on the higher parts of mountains, where it is

absolutely colder than in the plains on which they stand, frosts do not appear

so early by a considerabl e space of time in autumn, and go off sooner in the

spring, than in







Notes on Virginia 113







the plains. I have known frosts so severe as to kill the hickory trees round

about Monticello, and yet not injure the tender fruit blossoms then in bloom on

the top and higher parts of the mountain; and in the course of forty years,

during which it had been settled, there have been but two instances of a

general loss of fruit on it; while in the circumjace nt country, the fruit has

escaped but twice in the last seven years. The plants of tobacco, which grow

from the roots of those which have been cut off in the summer, are frequently

green here at Christmas. This privilege against the frost is undoubtedl y

combined with the want of dew on the mountains. That the dew is very rare on

their higher parts, I may say with certainty, from twelve years' observatio ns

having scarcely ever, during that time; seen an unequivoca l proof of its

existence on them at all during summer. Severe frosts in the depth of winter

prove that the region of dews extends higher in .that season than the tops of

the mountains ; but certainly, in the summer season, the vapors, by the time

they attain that height, are so attenuated as not to subside and form a dew

when the sun retires. The weavil has not yet aseended the high mountains. A

more satisfactor y estimate of our climate to some, may perhaps be formed, by

noting the plants which grow here, subject, however, to be killed by our

severest colds. These are the fig, pomegranat e, artichoke, and European

walnut. In mild winters,







VOL. II-8







114 Jefferson's Works







 lettuce and endive require no shelter; but, generally, they need a slight

covering. I do not know that the want of long moss, reed, myrtle, swamp laurel,

holly, and cypress, in the upper country proceeds from a greater degree of

cold, nor that they were ever killed with any degree of cold, nor that they

were ever killed with any degree of cold in the lower country. The aloe lived

in Williamsbur g, in the open air, through the severe winter of 1779; 1780. A

change in our climate, however, is taking place very sensibly. Both heats and

colds are become much more moderate within the memory even of the middle-age d.

Snows are less frequent and less deep. They do not often lie, below the

mountains, more than one, two, or three days, and very rarely a week. They are

remembere d to have been formerly frequent, deep, and of long continuanc e. The

elderly inform me, the earth used to be covered with snow about three months in

every year. The rivers, which then seldom failed to freeze over in the course

of the winter, scarcely ever do so now. This change has produced an unfortunat

e fluctuation between heat and cold, in the spring of the year, which is very

fatal to fruits. From the year 1741 to 1769, an interval of twenty-eig ht

years, there was no instance of fruit killed by the frost in the neighborho od

of Monticello. An intense cold, produced bv constant snows, kept the buds

locked up till the sun could obtain, in the spring of the year, so fixed an

ascendency as to dissolve those snows, and protect







Notes on Virginia II5







the buds, during their developmen t, from every danger of returning cold. The

accumulate d snows of the winter remaining to be dissolved all together in the

spring, produced those overflowin gs of our rivers, so frequent then, and so

rare now. Having had occasion to mention the particular situation of Monticello

for other purposes, I will just take notice that its elevation affords an

opportunit y of seeing a phenomeno n which is rare at land, though frequent at

sea. The seamen call it looming. Philosophy is as yet in the rear of the

seamen, for so far from having accounted for it, she has not given it a name.

Its principal effect is to make distant objects appear larger, in opposition to

the general law of vision, by which they are diminished. I knew an instance, at

Yorktown, from whence the water prospect eastwardly is without termination ,

wherein a canoe with three men, at a great distance was taken for a ship with

its three masts. I am little acquainted with the phenomeno n as it shows itself

at sea; but at Monticello it is familiar. There is a solita.ry mountain about

forty miles off in the South, whose natural shape, as presented to view there,

is a regular cone; but by the effect of looming, it sometimes subsides almost

totally in the horizon ; ' sometimes it rises more acute and more elevated;

sometimes it is hemispheri cal ; and sometimes its sides are perpendicu lar,

its top flat, and as broad as its base. In short, it assumes at times the most

whimsical shapes, and all these perhaps successivel y







116 Jefferson's Works







in the same morning. The blue ridge of mountains comes into view, in the

north-east, at about one hundred miles distance, and approachin g in a direct

line, passes by within twenty miles, and goes off to the south-west . This

phenomeno n begins to show itself on these mountains, at about fifty miles

distance, and continues beyond that as far as they are seen. I remark no

particular state, either in the weight, moisture, or heat of the atmosphere ,

necessary to produce this. The only constant circumstan ces are its appearance

in the morning only, and on objects at least forty or fifty miles distant. In

this latter circumstan ce, if not in both, it differs from the looming on the

water. Refraction will not account for the metamorphosis. That only changes the

proportion s of length and breadth, base and altitude, preserving the general

outlines. Thus it may make a circle appear elliptical, raise or depress a cone,

but by none of its laws, as yet developed, will it make a circle appear a

square, or a cone a sphere.















QUERY VIII. 







The number of its inhabitants ? 



   The following table shows the number of persons imported for the establishme

nt of our colony in its infant state, and the census of inhabitants at

different periods, extracted from our historians and public records, as

particularl y as I have had opportuniti es







Notes on Virginia 117







Years        ³Settlers        ³Census of        ³Census of



--------        ³Imported        ³Inhabitants        ³Tythes



------        ³------------        ³----------------        ³---------------



1607        ³---------        ³------------        ³------------



....        ³100        ³..........        ³



....        ³..........        ³40        ³



1608        ³120        ³..........        ³



....        ³..........        ³130        ³



1609        ³70        ³..........        ³



....        ³..........        ³490        ³



....        ³16        ³..........        ³



1610        ³..........        ³60        ³



....        ³150        ³..........        ³



1611        ³..........        ³200        ³



....        ³3 shiploads        ³..........        ³



1612        ³300        ³..........        ³



1617        ³80        ³..........        ³



1618        ³..........        ³400        ³



....        ³200        ³..........        ³



....        ³40        ³..........        ³



1619        ³..........        ³600        ³



1621        ³1,216        ³..........        ³



1622        ³1,300        ³..........        ³



....        ³..........        ³3,800        ³



1628        ³..........        ³2,500        ³



1632        ³..........        ³3,000        ³



1644        ³..........        ³..........        ³2,000



1645        ³..........        ³..........        ³4,822



1652        ³..........        ³..........        ³5,000



1654        ³..........        ³..........        ³7,000



1700        ³..........        ³..........        ³7,209



1748        ³..........        ³..........        ³22,000



1759        ³..........        ³..........        ³82,100



1772        ³..........        ³.........        ³105,000



1782        ³..........        ³..........        ³153,000



        ³..........        ³567,614        ³















and leisure to examine them. Successive lines in the same year show successive

periods of time in that year. I have stated the census in two different

columns, the whole inhabitants having been sometimes numbered, and sometimes

the tythes only. This term, with us, includes the free males above sixteen

years of age, and slaves above that age of both sexes. A further examination oú

our records would render this history of our population much more satisúactor y

and perfect, by furnishing a greater number of intermediat e terms. These,

however,







118 Jefferson's Works







which are here stated will enable us to calculate, with a considerabl e degree

of precision, the rate at which we have increased. During the infancy of the

colony, while numbers were small, wars, importation s, and other accidental

circumstan ces render the progressio n fluctuating and irregular. By the year

1654, however, it becomes tolerably uniform, importation s having in a great

measure ceased from the dissolution of the company, and the inhabitants become

too numerous to be sensibly affected by Indian wars. Beginning at that period,

therefore, we find that from thence to the year 1772, our tythes had increased

from 7,209 to 153,000. The whole term being of one hundred and eighteen years,

yields a duplication once in every twenty-sev en and a quarter years. The

intermediat e enumeratio ns taken in l700, 1748, and 1759, furnish proofs of

the uniformity of this progressio n. Should this rate of increase continue, we

shall have between six and seven millions of inhabitants within ninety-five

years. If we suppose our country to be bounded,at some future day, by the

meridian of the mouth of the Great Kanhawav, (within which it has been before

conjecture d, are 64,461 square miles) there will then be one hundred

inhabitants for every square mile, which is nearly the state of population in

the British Islands. Here I will beg leave to propose a doubt. The present

desire of America is to produce rapid population by as great importation s of

foreigners as pos







Notes on Virginia 119







sible. But is this founded in good policy? The advantage proposed is the

multiplicati on of numbers. Now let us suppose (for example only) that, in this

state, we could double our numbers in one year by the importation of

foreigners; and this is a greater accession than the most sanguine advocate for

emigration has a right to expect. Then I say, beginning with a double stock, we

shall attain any given degree of population only twenty-sev en years; and three

months sooner than if we proceed on our single stock. If we propose four

millions and a half as a competent population for this State, we should be

fifty-four and a half years attaining it, could we at once double our numbers ;

and eighty-one and three quarter years, if we rely on natural propagatio n, as

may be seen by the following tablet:







                         Proceeding on          Proceeding on 



                        our present stock.         a double stock. 



        1781                  567,614                  1,135,228 



         1808.25          1,135,228                  2,270,456 



         1835.5          2,270,456                  4,540,912 



         1862.75          4,540,912







In the first column are stated periods of twenty- seven and a quarter years ;

in the second are our numbers at each period, as they will be if we proceed on

our actual stock; and in the third are what they would be, at the same periods,

were we to set out from the double of our present stock. I have taken the term

of four million and a half of inhabitants for example's sake only. Yet I am

persuaded it is a greater number than the country spoken of, consid







120 Jefferson's Works







ering how mttch inarable land it contains, can clothe and feed without a

material change in the quality of their diet. But are there no inconvenie nces

to be thrown into the scale against the advantage expected from a multiplicati

on of numbers by the importation of foreigners? It is for the happiness of

those united in society to harmonize as much as possible in matters which they

must of necessity transact together. Civil governmen t being the sole object of

forming societies, its administrat ion must be conducted by common consent.

Every species of governmen t has its specific principles. Ours perhaps are more

peculiar than those of any other in the universe. It is a composition of the

freest principles oú the English constitutio n, with others derived from

natural right and natural reason. To these nothing can be more opposed than the

maxims of absolute monarchies . Yet from such we are to expect the greatest

number of emigrants. They will bring with them the principles of the governmen

ts they leave, imbibed 1n their early youth; or, if able to throw them off, it

will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousn ess, passing, as is usual,

from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely

at the point of temperate liberty. These principles., with their language, they

will transmit to their children. In proportion to their numbers, they will

share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and

bias its directions, and render it a heterogene ous, incoherent, distracted







Notes on Virginia 121







mass. I may appeal to experience, during the present contest, for a

verification of these conjecture s. But, if they be not certain in event, are

they not possible, are they not probable? Is it not safer to wait with patience

twenty-sev en years and three months longer, for the attainment oú any degree

of population desired or expected? May not our governmen t be more homogeneo

us, more peaceable, more durable ? Suppose twenty millions of republican

Americans thrown all oú a sudden into France, what would be the condition of

that kingdom ? If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may

believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present

numbers would produce a simiiar effect here. If they come of themselves they

are entitled to all the rights of citizenship; btzt doubt the expediency of

inviting them by extraordina ry encourage ments. I mean not that these doubts

should be extended to the importation of useful artificers. The policy of that

measure depends on very different considerati ons. Spare no expense in

obtaining them. They will after a while go to the plough and the hoe; but, in

the mean time, they will teach us something we do not know. It is not so in

a.gricultur e. The indifferent state of that among us does not proceed from a

want of knowledge merely; it is from our having such quantities of land to

waste as we please. In Europe the object is to make the most of their land,

labor being abundant; here it is to make tke most oú our labor, land being

abundant.







122 Jefferson's Works







It will be proper to explain how the numbers for the year 1782 have been

obtained; as it was not from a perfect census of the inhabitants . It will at

the same time develope the proportion between the free inhabitants and slaves.

The following return of taxable articles for that year was given in: 







  53,289 free males above twenty-one years of age. 



211,698 slaves of all ages and sexes. 



  23,766 not distinguish ed in the returns, but said to be tytheable slaves. 



195,439 horses. 



609,734 cattle. 



    5,126 wheels of riding-carr iages. 



       191 taverns







    There were no returns from the eight counties of Lincoln, Jefferson,

Fayette, Monongalia, Yohogania, Ohio, Northampto n, and York. To find the

number of slaves which should have been returned instead of the 23,766

tytheables, we must mention that some observatio ns on a former census had

given reason to believe that the numbers above and below sixteen years of age

were equal. The double of this number, therefore, to wit, 47,532 must be added

to 211,698, which will give us 25g,230 slaves of all ages and sexes. To find

the number of free inhabitants we must repeat the observatio n that those above

and below sixteen are nearly equal. But as the number 53,289 omits the males

below sixteen and twenty-one we must supply them from conjecture. On a former

experiment it had appeared







Notes on Virginia 123







that about one-third of our militia, that is, of the males between sixteen and

fifty, were unmarried. Knowing how early marriage takes place here, we shall

not be far wrong in supposing that the unmarried part of our militia are those

between sixteen and twenty-one . If there be young men who do not marry till

after twenty-one , there are many who marry before that age. But as men above

fifty were not included in the militia, we will suppose the unmarried, or those

between sixteen and twentyone, to be one-fourth of the whole number above

sixteen, then we have the following calculation :







 53,289 free males above twenty-one years of age. 



 17,763 free males between sixteen and twentyone. 



 17,052 free males under sixteen. 



142,104 free males of all ages. 



284,208 free inhabitants oú all ages. 



259,230 slaves of all ages. 



543,438 inhabitants , exclusive of the eight counties from which were no

returns. In these eight counties in the years 1779 and 1780, were 3,161

militia. Say then, 



   3,161 free males above the age of sixteen. 



   3,161 free males under sixteen. 



   6,322 free females.



 12,644 free inhabitants in these eight counties. To find the number of slaves,

say, as 284,208 to 259,230







124 Jefferson's Works







so is 12,644 to 11,532. Adding the third of these numbers to the first, and the

fourth to the second, we have, 



296,852 free inhabitants . 



270,762 slaves. 



567,614 inhabitants of every age, sex and condition. But 296,852, the number of

free inhabitants , are to 270,762, the number of slaves, nearly as 11 to 10.

Under the mild treatment our slaves experience, and their wholesome, though

coarse food, this blot in our country increases as fast, or faster than the

whites. During the regal governmen t we had at one time obtained a law which

imposed such a duty on the importation of slaves as amounted nearly to a

prohibition , when one inconsidera te assembly, placed under a peculiarity of

circumstan ce, repealed the law. This repeal met a joyful sanction from the

then reigning sovereign, and no devices, no expedients, which could ever be

attempted by subsequent assemblies, and they seldom met without attempting

them, could succeed in getting the royal assent to a renewal of the duty. In

the very first session held under the republican governmen t, the assembly

passed a law for the perpetual prohibition of the importation of slaves. This

will in some measure stop the increase of this great political and moral evil,

while the minds of our citizens may be ripening for a complete emancipatio n of

human nature.







Notes on Virginia 125







 QUERY IX.







The number and condition of the Militia and Regular Troops, and their Pay ? The

following is a state of the militia, taken from returns of 1780 and 1781,

except in those counties marked with an asterisk, the returns from which are

somewhat older.







Sitvation.          Counties.                 Milita.







Westward         Lincoln .....                 600



of the                 Jefferson ....                 300



Alleghany         Fayette ....                 156



4,458                Ohio .. . ...



                 Monongalia ....          *1,000



                 Washington ...         *822



                 Montgomer y ..         1,079



                 Greenbriar ..                 501



-------------



Between         Hampshire ..                 930



the                  Berkeley .. .                  *1,100



Alleghany         Frederick ....                 1,143



and                 Shenando... .                 *925



Blue ridge         Rockingha m ..         875



7,673                 Augusta ... .                 1,375



                 Rockbridge ...         *625



                 Boutetourt ..                 *700



--------------



Between        Loudoun ....                 1,746



the                  Faquier ...                 1,078



Blue ridge         Culpepper ...                 1,513



and                 Spotsylvan ia ..         480



Tide                 Orange ......                 *600



Waters         Louisa .. ..                 603



18,828         Goochland ...                 *550



                 Fluvanna ....                 *296



                 Albemarle ...                 873



                 Amherst... .                 896



                 Buckingha m..         *625



                 Bedford ....                 l,300



                 Henry .. .                  l,004



                 Pittsylvani a...                 *725



                 Halifax .....                  *1,139



                 Charlotte ...                 612



                 Prince Edward.          589



                 Cumberland ..         408



                 Powhatan ...                 330



                 Amelia .... .                  *1,125



                 Lunenburg ..                 677



                 Mecklenbur g ..         1,100



                 Brunswick ...                 559



------------------------------------------------------------











        ³Situation        ³Counties        ³Militia



        ³----------------------------        ³-----------------       

³-----------------



        ³-------------        ³------        ³-----



        ³        ³Greensville ....        ³500



        ³        ³Dinwiddie. .. ..        ³*750



        ³        ³Chesterfield ..        ³665



        ³Between James River        ³Prince George .        ³328



        ³and        ³Surrey .. .. . .        ³380



        ³Carolina        ³Sussex .. . . ..        ³*700



        ³6,959        ³Southampton. ..        ³874



        ³        ³Isle of White ..        ³*600



        ³        ³Nansemond .. ..        ³*644



        ³        ³Norfolk ...... .        ³*880



        ³        ³Prince Anne. . .        ³*594



        ³----------------------------        ³        ³



On the        ³----------        ³Henrico. .. .. .        ³619



Tide        ³        ³Hanover .......        ³706



Waters,        ³        ³New Kent. . . .        ³*418



and in        ³Between James River        ³Charles City. .        ³286



that        ³and        ³James City. . .        ³235



Parallel        ³York Rivers        ³Williamsburgh ..        ³129



,        ³3,009        ³York... ......        ³*244



19,012        ³        ³Warwick. . .. ..        ³*100



        ³        ³Elizabeth City.        ³182



        ³        ³        ³



        ³----------------------------        ³Caroline .. . ..        ³805



        ³-----------        ³King W illiam. .        ³436



        ³        ³King and Queen.        ³500



        ³Between York and        ³Essex .. . . . .        ³468



        ³Rappahannock        ³Middlesex ......        ³*210



        ³3,269        ³Gloucester .....        ³850



        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³Fairfax. . . . .        ³652



        ³----------------------------        ³Prince William.        ³614



        ³------------        ³Stafford. . . .        ³*500



        ³        ³King George. .        ³483



        ³Between Rappahannock and        ³Richmond. . ...        ³412



        ³Powtomac        ³Westmoreland.. .        ³544



        ³4,137        ³Northumberland.        ³630



        ³        ³Lancaster ......        ³332



        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³Accomac .. . ..        ³*1,208



        ³        ³Northampton. . .        ³*430



        ³----------------------------        ³        ³-----------------



        ³-------------        ³Whole Militia of        ³-------



        ³Eastern Shore        ³the State. ..        ³



        ³1,638        ³        ³49,971



        ³----------------------------        ³        ³



        ³------------        ³        ³



 126 Jefferson's Works







Every able-bodie d freeman, between the ages of sixtecn and fifty, is enrolled

in the militia. Those of every county are formed into companies, andthese again

into one or more battalions, according to the numbers in the countv. They are

commanded by colonels, and other subordinat e officers, as in the regular

service. In every county is a county-lieu tenant, who commands the whole

militia of his county, but ranks only as a colonel in the field. We have no

general officers always existing. These are appointed occasionall y, when an

invasion or insurrectio n happens, and their commission determines with the

occasion. The Governor is head of the military, as well as civil power. The law

requires every militia-man to provide himself with the arms usual in the

regular service. But this injunction was always indifferentl y complied with,

and the arms they had, have been so frequently called for to arm the regulars,

that in the lower parts of the country they are entirely disarmed. In the

middle country a fourth or fifth part of them may have such firelocks as they

had provided to destroy the noxious animals which infest their farms ; and on

the western side of the Blue Ridge they are generally armed with rifles. The

pay of our militia, as well as oú our regulars, is that of the continental

regulars. The condition of our regulars, of whom we have none but continental

s, and part of a battalion of state troops, is so constantly pn the change,

that a state oú it at this day would not







Notes on Virginia 127







be its state a month hence. It is much the same with the condition oú the other

continental troops, which is well enough known.















 QUERY X.







The Marine ?







Before the present invasion of this State by the British, under the command of

General Phlllips, we had three vessels oú sixteen guns, one of fourteen, five

small gallies, and two or three armed boats. They were generally so badly

manned as seldom to be in a condition for service. Since the perfect possession

of our rivers assumed by the enemy, I believe we are left v€th a single armed

boat only.















 QUERY XI.







A description o f the Indians established in that State ?







When the first effectual settlement of our colony was made, which was in 1607,

the country from the seacoast to the mountains, and from the Potomac to the

most southern waters of James' river, was occupied by upwards oú forty

different tribes of Indians. Of these the Powhatans, the Mannahoac s, and

Monacans, were the most powerful. Those between the seacoast and f alls of the

rivers, were in amity with one another, and attached to the







128 Jefferson's Works







Powhatans as their link of union. Those between the falls of the rivers and the

mountains, were divided into two confederaci es; the tribes inhabiting the head

waters oú Potomac and Rappahann ock, being attached to the Mannahoac s; and

those on the upper parts of James' river to the Monacans. But the Monacans and

their friends were in amity with the Mannahoac s and their friends, and waged

joint and perpetual war against the Powhatans. We are told that the Powhatans,

Mannahoac s, and Monacans, spoke languages so radically different, that

interpreter s were necessary when they transacted business. Hence we may

conjecture, that this was not the case between all the tribes, and, probably,

that each spoke the language of the nation to which it was attached; which we

know to have been the case in many particular instances. Very possibly there

ma.y have been anciently three different stocks, each of which multiplying in a

long course of time, had separated into so many little societies. This practice

results from the circumstan ce of their having never submitted themselves to

any laws, any coercive power, any shadow of governmen t. Their only controls

are their manners, and that moral sense of right and wrong, which, like the

sense of tasting and feeling in every man, makes a part of his nature. An

offence against these is punished by contempt, by exclusion from society, or,

where the case is serious, as that of murder, by the individuals whom it

eoncerns. Im







Notes on Virginia 129







perfect as this species of coercion may seem, crimes are very rare among them;

insomuch that were it made a question, whether no law, as among the savage

Americans, or too much law, as among the civilized Europeans, submits man to

the greatest evil, one who has seen both conditions of existence would

pronounce it to be the last ; and that the sheep are happier of themselves,

than under care of the wolves. It will be said, the great societies cannot

exist without governmen t. The savages, therefore, break them into small ones.

The territories of the Powhatan confederac y, south of the Potomac, comprehen

ded about eight thousand square miles, thirty tribes, and two thousand four.

hundred warriors. Captain Smith tells us, that within sixty miles of Jamestown

were five thousand people, of whom one thousand five hundred were warriors.

From this we find the proportion of their warriors to their whole inhabitants ,

was as three to ten. The Powhatan confederac y, then, would consist of about

eight thousand inhabitants , which was cne for every square mile; being about

the twentieth part of our present population in the same territory, and the

hundredth of that of the British islands. Besides these were the Nottoways,

living on Nottoway river, the Meherrins and Tuteloes on Meherrin river, who

were connected with the Indians of Carolina, probably with the Chowanocs.







 VOL. II-9 























MANNAHOA CS



        ³Tribes        ³Country        ³Chief Towns        ³Warriors-1669



        ³-----------        ³------------        ³-------------       

³-------------



Between        ³Whonkenties        ³Fauquier        ³---        ³-----



Patowmac        ³Tegninaties        ³Culpepper        ³        ³



and        ³Ontponies        ³Orange        ³        ³



Rappahannoc        ³Tauxitanians        ³Fauquier        ³        ³



        ³Hassinungaes        ³Culpepper        ³        ³



-------------        ³        ³        ³        ³



-------        ³Stegarakies        ³Orange        ³        ³



Between        ³Shackakonies        ³Spotsylvania        ³        ³



Rappahannoc        ³Manahoacs        ³Stafford        ³        ³



and York        ³        ³Spotsylvania        ³        ³











MONACANS







        ³Tribes        ³Country        ³Chief Towns        ³Warriors-1669



        ³-----------        ³------------        ³-------------       

³-------------



Between        ³Monacans        ³James river        ³---        ³-----



York        ³        ³above the        ³Fork of        ³



and        ³        ³falls        ³James river        ³      30



James        ³Monasiccapano        ³        ³        ³



        ³es        ³Louisa        ³        ³



-------------        ³        ³Fluvanna        ³        ³



------        ³        ³        ³        ³



Between        ³Monahassanoes        ³Bedford        ³        ³



James        ³        ³Buckingham        ³        ³



and        ³Massinacacs        ³Cumberland        ³        ³



Carolina        ³Mohememchoes        ³Powhatan        ³        ³







































POWHATAN S



        ³Tribes        ³Country        ³Chief Towns        ³          ³iors    

   ³



        ³        ³        ³        ³Warr        ³1669        ³



        ³-----------        ³----------        ³--------------        ³1607    

   ³----        ³



Between        ³--        ³-------        ³--        ³----        ³--       

³By the



Patowmac        ³Tauxenents        ³Fairfax        ³About Gen.        ³---     

  ³        ³name of



and        ³Patowomeke        ³Stafford        ³Wash.        ³40        ³      

 ³Mathotics



Rappahan        ³s        ³King        ³Pawtomac cr.        ³200        ³      

 ³U. 



noc        ³        ³George        ³        ³        ³60        ³Matchodic,



        ³Cuttatawoma        ³King        ³About Lamb        ³20        ³       

³Nanzatico



        ³ns        ³George        ³creek        ³.....        ³       

³Appomatox



        ³Pissasecs        ³King        ³Above Leeds        ³        ³30       

³Matox



        ³        ³George        ³Town        ³100        ³        ³



        ³Onaumanien        ³Richmond        ³        ³100        ³40        ³By

the



        ³ts        ³Westmorela        ³Nomony  river        ³80        ³       

³name



        ³Rappahanoc        ³nd        ³Rappahanoc        ³        ³        ³of



        ³s        ³Richmond        ³creek        ³30        ³70       

³totuskeys



---------        ³Maoughtacu        ³co.        ³Moratico river        ³130    

   ³        ³



-------        ³nds        ³Lancaster        ³        ³30        ³        ³



Between        ³        ³Richmond        ³Coan river        ³        ³60       

³



Rappahan        ³Secacaconie        ³Northumbe        ³Wicocomico        ³150  

     ³20        ³



noc        ³s        ³rland        ³river        ³30        ³50        ³



and York        ³Wighcocomic        ³Northumbe        ³Corotoman        ³300   

    ³        ³



        ³oes        ³rland        ³        ³40        ³        ³



        ³Cuttatawoma        ³Lancaster        ³Port Tobacco        ³55        ³

       ³



---------        ³ns        ³        ³creek        ³        ³        ³



------        ³        ³Essex.        ³........................        ³60     

  ³60        ³



Between        ³Nantaughtac        ³Caroline        ³......        ³250       

³10        ³



York        ³unds        ³Mattapony        ³Romuncock        ³40        ³      

 ³



and        ³Mattapoment        ³river        ³About Rosewell        ³30       

³15        ³



James        ³s        ³King        ³[by        ³100        ³        ³



        ³Pamunkies        ³William        ³Turk's Ferry.        ³40        ³   

    ³



        ³Werowocomi        ³Gloucester        ³Grimes        ³        ³15      

 ³



        ³cos        ³Plankatank        ³        ³45        ³        ³



        ³Payankaton        ³river        ³........................        ³20  

     ³        ³



        ³ks        ³        ³.......        ³        ³50        ³



---------        ³        ³Pamunkey        ³Orapaks        ³60        ³3       

³



------        ³Youghtanun        ³river        ³Powhatan.        ³25       

³Pohi        ³



Between        ³ds        ³Chickahomi        ³Mayo's        ³.......        ³  

     ³Nottoways



James        ³Chickahomin        ³ny r.        ³Arrohatocs        ³200       

³45        ³....



and        ³ies        ³Henrico        ³Weynoke        ³100        ³       

³Meherrics 



Carolina        ³Powhatans        ³Henrico        ³Sandy -Point        ³       

³        ³ 90



        ³Arrowhatocs        ³Charles        ³        ³40        ³       

³Tuteloes   



---------        ³Weanocs        ³city        ³Chiskiac        ³        ³      

 ³  50



------        ³Paspaheghe        ³Charles        ³Roscows        ³80        ³  

     ³



Eastern        ³s        ³city        ³        ³        ³        ³



shore        ³        ³James city        ³Bermuda        ³        ³        ³



        ³Chiskiacs        ³York        ³Hundred        ³        ³        ³



        ³Kecoughtan        ³Elizabeth        ³About Upp.        ³        ³     

  ³



        ³s        ³city        ³Chipoak        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³        ³Warrasqueoc        ³        ³        ³



        ³Appamattocs        ³Chesterfiel        ³A't mouth W.        ³        ³

       ³



        ³Quiocohanoe        ³d        ³brnch        ³        ³        ³



        ³sWarrasqueaksNasamondsCheaspeaksAccohanocsmacks?        ³SurryIsle of

WrightNansamondPrincess AnneAccomNorthamptonNorthampton        ³About Lynhaven

riv.Accohanoc riverAbout Cheriton's        ³        ³        ³















Notes on Virginia 131







The preceding table contains a state of these several tribes, according to

their confederaci es and geographic al situation, with their numbers when we

first became acquainted with them, where these numbers are known. The numbers

of some of them are again stated as they were in the year 1669, when an attempt

was made by assembly to enumerate them. Probably the enumeratio n is imperfect,

and in some measure conjectural , and that a further search into the records

would furnish many more particulars . What would be the melancholy sequel of

their history, may, however, be argued from the census of 1669; by which we

discover that the tribes therein enumerated were, in the space of sixty-two

years, reduced to about one-third of their former numbers. Spirituous liquors,

the smallpox, war, and an abridgemen t of territory to a people who lived

principally on the spontaneou s production s of nature, had committed terrible

havoc among them, which generation, under the obstacles opposed to it among

them, was not likely to make good. That the lands of this country were taken

from them by conquest, is not so general a truth as is supposed. I find in our

historians and records, repeated proofs of purchase, which cover a considerabl

e part of the lower country; and many more would doubtless be found on further

search. The upper country, we know, has been acquired-al together acquired by

purchases made in the most unexceptio nable form.







132 Jefferson's Works







Westward of all these tribes, beyond the mountains; and extending to the great

lakes, were the Maffawomee s, a most powerful confederac y, who harassed

unremittin gly the Powhatans and Mannahoac s. These were probably the ancestors

of tribes known at present by the name of the Six Nations. Very little can now

be discovered of the subsequent history of these tribes severally. The

Chickahomi nies removed about the year 1661, to Mattapony river. Their chief,

with one from each of the Pamunkies and Mattaponie s, attended the treaty of

Albany in 1685. This seems to have been the last chapter in their history. They

retained, however, their separate name so late as 1705, and were at length

blended with the Pamunkies and Mattaponie s, and exist at present only under

their names. There remain of the Mattaponie s three or four men only, and have

more negro than Indian blood in them. They have lost their language, have

reduced themselves, by voluntary sales, to about fifty acres of land, which lie

on the river of their own name, and have from time to time, been joining the

Pamunkies, from whom they are distant but ten miles. The Pamunkies are reduced

to about ten or twelve men, tolerably pure from mixture with other colors. The

older ones among them preserve their language in a small degree, which are the

last vestiges on earth, as far as we know, of the Powhatan language. They have

about three hundred acres of very fertile land, on Pamunkey river, so







Notes on Virginia 133







encompasse d by water that a gate shuts in the whole. Of the Nottoways, not a

male is left. A few women constitute the remains of that tribe. They are seated

on Nottoway river, in Southampto n country, on very fertile lands. At a very

early period, certain lands were marked out and appropriat ed to these tribes,

and were kept from encroachme nt by the authority of the laws. They have

usually had trustees appointed, whose duty was to watch over their interests,

and guard them from insult and injury. The Monacans and their friends, better

known latterly by the name of Tuscaroras . were probably connected with the

Massawome cs, or Five Nations. For though we are told(1) their languages were

so different that the interventio n of interpreter s was necessary between

them, yet do we also learn(2) that the Erigas, a nation formerly inhabiting on

the Ohio, were of the same original stock with the Five Nations, and that they

partook also of the Tuscarora language. Their dialects might, by long

separation, have become so unlike as to be unintelligib le to one another. We

know that in 1712, the Five Nations received the Tuscaroras into their

confederac y, and made them the Sixth Nation. They received the Meherrins and

Tuteloes also into their protection; and it is most probable, that the remains

of many other of the tribes, of whom we find no particular account, retired

westwardly in















__________ _







(1) Smith. 



(2) Evans.



__________







134 Jefferson's Works







like manner, and were incorporate d with one or the other of the western

tribes. See Appendix (5). I know of no such thing existing as an Indian

monument; for I would not honor with that name arrow points, stone hatchets,

stone pipes, and half sharpen images. Of labor on the large scale, I think

there is no remain as respectable as would be a common ditch for the draining

of lands; unless indeed it would be the barrows, of which many are to be found

all over this country. These are of different sizes, some of them constructe d

of earth, and some of loose stones. That they were repositorie s of the dead,

has been obvious to all; but on what particular occasion constructe d, was a

matter of doubt. Some have thought they covered the bones of those who have

fallen in battles fought on the spot of interment. Some ascribed them to the

custom, said to prevail among the Indians, of collecting, at certain periods,

the bones of all their dead, wheresoeve r deposited at the time of death.

Others again supposed them the general sepulchres for towns, conjecture d to

have been on or near these grounds ; and this opinion was supported by the

quality of the lands in which they are found, (those constructe d of earth

being generally in the softest and most fertile meadow-gr ounds on river

sides,) and by a tradition, said to be handed down from the aboriginal Indians,

that, when they settled in a town, the first person who died was placed erect,

and earth put about him, so as to cover and







Notes on Virginia 135







support him; that when another died, a narrow passage was dug to the first, the

second reclined against him, and the cover of earth replaced, and so on. There

being one of these in my neighborho od, I wished to satisfy myself whether any,

and which of these opinions were just. For this purpose I determined to open

and examine it thoroughly . It was situated on the low grounds of the Rivanna,

about two miles above its principal fork, and opposite to some hills, on which

had been an Indian town. It was of a spheroidica l form, of about forty feet

diameter at the base, and had been of about twelve feet altitude, though now

reduced by the plough to seven and a half, having been under cultivation about

a dozen years. Before this it was covered with trees of twelve inches diameter,

and round the base was an excavation of five feet depth and width, from whence

the earth had been taken of which the hillock was formed. I first dug

superficiall y in several parts of it, and came to collections of human bones,

at different depths, from six inches to three feet below the surface. These

were lying in the utmost confusion, some vertical, some oblique, some

horizontal, and directed to every point of the compass, entangled and held

together in clusters by the earth. Bones of the most distant parts were found.

together, as, for instance, the small bones of the foot in the hollow of a

scull; many sculls would sometimes be in contact, lying on the face; on the

side, on the back, top or bottom,







136  Jefferson's Works







so as, on the whole, to give the idea of bones emptied promiscuou sly from a

bag or a basket, and covered over with earth, without any attention to their

order. The bones of which the greatest numbers remained, were sculls,

jaw-bones, teeth, the bones of the arms, thighs, legs, feet and hands. A few

ribs remained, some vertebrae of the neck and spine, without their processes,

and one instance only of the bone(1) which serves as a base to the vertebral

column. The sculls were so tender, that they generally fell to pieces on being

touched. The other bones were stronger. There were some teeth which were judged

to be smaller than those of an adult; a scull, which on a slight view, appeared

to be that of an infant, but it fell to pieces on being taken out, so as to

prevent satisfactor y examination ; a rib, and a fragment of the under-jaw of a

person about half grown ; another rib of an infant ; and a part of the jaw of a

child, which had not cut its teeth. This last furnishing the most decisive

proof of the burial of children here, I was particular in my attention to it.

It was part of the right half of the under jaw. The processes, by which it was

attenuated to the temporal bones, were entire, and the bone itself firm to

where it had been broken off, which, as nearly as I could judge, was about the

place of the eye-tooth. Its upper edge, wherein would have been the sockets of

the teeth, was perfectly smooth. Measuring it with that of an adult, by placing

their







__________ ___







(1) The os sacrum.



__________







Notes on Virginia 137







hinder processes together, its broken end extended to the penultimate grinder

of the adult. This bone was white, all the others of a sand color. The bones of

infants being soft, they probably decay sooner, which might be the cause so few

were found here. I proceeded then to make a perpendicu lar cut through the body

of the barrow, that I might examine its internal structure. This passed about

three feet from its centre, was opened to the former surface of the earth, and

was wide enough for a man to walk through and examine its sides. At the bottom,

that is, on the level of the circumjace nt plain, I found bones; above these a

few stones, brought from a cliff a quarter of a mile off, and from the river

one-eighth of a mile off ; then a large interval of earth, then a stratum of

bones, and so on. At one end of the section were four strata of bones plainly

distinguish able ; at the other, three ; the strata in one part not ranging

with those in another: The bones nearest the surf ace were least decayed. No

holes were discovered in any of them, as if made with bullets, arrows, or other

weapons. I conjecture d that in this barrow might have been a thousand

skeletons. Every one will readily seize the circumstan ces above related, which

militate against the opinion, that it covered the bones only of persons fallen

in battle ; and against the tradition also, which would make it the common

sepulchre of a town, in which the bodies were placed upright, and touching each

other. Appearance s certainly indi-







138 Jefferson's Works







cate that it has derived both origin and growth from the accustomar y

collection of bones, and deposition of them together; that the first collection

had been deposited on the common surface of the earth, a few stones put over

it, and then a covering of earth, that the second had been laid on this, had

covered more or less of it in proportion to the number of bones, and was then

also covered with earth ; and so on. The following are the particular

circumstan ces which give it this aspect. 1. The number of bones. 2. Their

confused position. 3. Their being in different strata. 4. The strata in one

part having no correspondence with those in another. 5. The different states of

decay in these strata, which seem to indicate a difference in the time of

inhumation. 6. The existence of infant bones among them. But on whatever

occasion they may have been made, they are of considerabl e notoriety among the

Indians; for a party passing, about thirty years ago, through the part of the

country where this barrow is, went through the woods directly to it, without

any instruction s or inquiry, and having staid about it for some time, with

expression s which were construed to be those of sorrow, they returned to the

high road, which they had left about half a dozen miles to pay this visit, and

pursued their journey. There is another barrow much resembling this, in the low

grounds of the south branch of Shenandoa h, where it is crossed by the road

leading







Notes on Virginia 139







from the Rockfish gap to Staunton. Both of these have. within these dozen

years, been cleared of their trees and put under cultivation, are much reduced

in their height, and spread in width, by the plough, and will probably

disappear in time. There is another on a hill in the Blue Ridge of mountains, a

few miles north of Wood's gap, which is made up of small stones thrown

together. This has been opened and found to contain human bones, as the others

do. There are also many others in other parts of the country. Great question

has arisen from whence came those aboriginals of America? Discoveries , long

ago made, were sufficient to show that the passage from Europe to America was

always practicable , even to the imperfect navigation of ancient times. In

going from Norway to Iceland, from Iceland to Greenland, from Greenland to

Labrador, the first traject is the widest; and this having been practiced from

the earliest times of which we have any account of that part of the earth, it

is not difficult to suppose that the subsequent trajects may have been

sometimes passed. Again, the late discoveries of Captain Cook, coasting from

Kamschatka to California, have proved that if the two continents of Asia and

America be separated at all, it is only by a narrow strait. So that from this

side also, inhabitants may have passed into America ; and the resemblanc e

between the Indians of America and the eastern inhabitants of Asia, would

induce us to conjecture, that the







140 Jefferson's Works







former are the descendant s of the latter, or the latter of the former;

excepting indeed the Esquimaux, who, from the same circumstan ce of resemblanc

e, and from identity of language, must be derived from the Greenlande rs, and

these probably from some of the northern parts of the old continent. A

knowledge of their several languages would be the most certain evidence of

their derivation which could be produced. In fact, it is the best proof of the

affinity of nations which ever can be referred to. How many ages have elapsed

since the English, the Dutch, the Germans, the Swiss, the Norwegians , Danes

and Swedes have separated from their common stock? Yet how many more must

elapse before the proofs of their common origin, which exist in their several

languages, will disappear? It is to be lamented then, very much to be lamented,

that we have suffered so many of the Indian tribes already to extinguish,

without our having previously collected and deposited in the records of

literature, the general rudiments at least of the languages they spoke. Were

vocabularie s formed of all the languages spoken in North and South America,

preserving their appellation s of the most common objects in nature, of those

which must be present to every nation barbarous or civilized, with the

inflections of their nouns and verbs, their principles of regimen and concord,

and these deposited in all the public libraries, it would furnish opportuniti

es to those skilled in the languages of the old world to







Notes on Virginia 141







compare them with these, now, or at any future time, and hence to construct the

best evidence of the derivation of this part of the human race. But imperfect

as is our knowledge of the tongues spoken in America; it suffices to discover

the following remarkable fact : Arranging them under the radical ones to which

they may be palpably traced, and doing the same by those of the red men of

Asia, there will be found probably twenty in America, for one in Asia, of those

radical languages, so called because if they were ever the same they have lost

all resemblanc e to one another. A separation into dialects may be the work of

a few ages only, but for two dialects to recede from one another till they have

lost all vestiges of their common origin, must require an immense course of

time ; perhaps not less than many people give to the age of the earth. A

greater number of those radical changes of language having taken place among

the red men of America, proves them of greater antiquity than those of Asia. I

will now proceed to state the nations and numbers of the Aborigines which still

exist in a respectable and independen t form. And as their undefined boundaries

would render it difficult to specify those only which may be within any certain

limits, and it may not be unacceptab le to present a more general view of them,

I will reduce within the form of a catalogue all those within, and circumjace

nt to, the United States, whose names and numbers have come to my







142 Jefferson's Works







notice. These are taken from four different lists, the first of which was given

in the year 1759 to General Stanwix by George Croghan, deputy agent for Indian

affairs under Sir William Johnson ; the second was drawn up by a French trader

of considerabl e note, resident among the Indians many years, and annexed to

Colonel Bouquet's printed account of his expedition in 1764. The third was made

out by Captain Hutchins, who visited most of the tribes, by order, for the

purpose of learning their numbers, in 1768; and the fourth by John Dodge, an

Indian trader, in 1779, except the numbers marked *-which are from other

information .





















Notes on Virginia    143







TRIBES.        ³Crogham        ³Brouq        ³Hutchi        ³               

Where they reside.



        ³1759        ³uet        ³ns        ³



        ³        ³1764        ³1768        ³



Oswegatchies         ³        ³        ³ 100        ³At Swagatchy, on the river

St.



Connasedagoes         ³        ³         ³ 300        ³Laurence. 



Cohunnewagoes        ³        ³ 200        ³   +        ³Near Montreal.



        ³        ³        ³ 100        ³        "



Orondocs         ³        ³ 350        ³ 150        ³Near Trois Rivieres.



Abenakies         ³        ³        ³ 100        ³Near Trois Rivieres.



Little Alkonkins        ³        ³ 700        ³        ³Near Trois Rivieres.



        ³        ³ 550        ³        ³River St. Laurence.



Michmacs         ³        ³ 130        ³        ³River St. Laurence.



Amelistes         ³        ³ 400        ³        ³River St. Laurence.



Chalas         ³        ³ 300        ³        ³Towards the heads of the Ottawas



Nipissins         ³        ³2,500        ³        ³river.



Algonquins         ³        ³2,000        ³        ³Towards the heads of the

Ottawas



Round Heads         ³        ³3,000        ³        ³river.



Messasagues         ³        ³1,500        ³        ³Riviere aux Tetes boules,

on the east



Christianaux-Kr        ³        ³1,500        ³        ³side of Lake Superior.



is         ³10,000        ³2,500        ³10,000        ³Lakes Huron and

Superior.



Assinaboes         ³   +        ³1,800        ³    +        ³Lake Christianaux.



Blancs, or        ³   +        ³        ³    +        ³Lake Assinaboes.



Barbus         ³        ³1,100        ³        ³



Sioux of the        ³        ³2,000        ³        ³On the heads of the

Mississippi and



Meadows         ³        ³1,709        ³        ³westward of that river.



Sioux of the        ³        ³ 500        ³        ³       "



Woods         ³        ³1,000        ³        ³       "



Sioux         ³        ³1,600        ³        ³North of the Padoucas.



Ajoues         ³        ³ 600        ³        ³South of the Missouri.



Panis-White         ³ 400        ³3,000        ³        ³South of the Missouri.



Panis-Freckled         ³        ³2,000        ³        ³South of the Missouri.



Padoucas         ³        ³ 700        ³        ³



Grandes-Eaux         ³        ³        ³        ³South of the Missouri.



Canses         ³        ³        ³        ³South of the Missouri.



Osages         ³        ³        ³        ³On the river Missouri.



Missouris         ³        ³        ³        ³On the river Arkansas.



Arkansas         ³        ³        ³        ³East of the Alibamous.



Caouitas        ³        ³        ³        ³















































































144                Jefferson' s Works







TRIBES.        ³Crogham        ³Brouq        ³Hutchi        ³Dodg        ³     

          Where they



        ³1759        ³uet        ³ns        ³e        ³reside.



        ³        ³1764        ³1768        ³1779        ³



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Ä



Mohocks         ³        ³1,550        ³ 160        ³ 100        ³Mohocks

river.



Oneidas         ³        ³   +        ³ 300        ³ 400        ³East side of

Oneida Lake and



        ³        ³           ³         ³        ³head branches



Tuscordras         ³        ³   +        ³ 200        ³ +        ³of

Susquehanna.



Onondagoes        ³        ³   +        ³ 260        ³ 230        ³Between the

Oneidas and



        ³        ³   +        ³ 200        ³ 220        ³Onondagoes.



Cayuigas         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Near Onondago Lake.



        ³        ³   +        ³1,000        ³ 650        ³On the Cayuga Lake,

near, the



Senecas        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³north branch of



        ³        ³        ³ 150        ³        ³Susquehanna.



Aughquagah        ³        ³        ³ 100        ³        ³On the waters of

Susquehanna, of



s         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Ontario, and



Nanticoes         ³        ³        ³ 100        ³        ³the heads of the

Ohio.



        ³        ³        ³ 30        ³        ³East branch of Susquehanna, and



Mohiccons         ³        ³        ³ 30        ³        ³on Aughquagah.



Conoies         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Utsanango Cha Qhnet, and

Owegy,



Sapoonies        ³        ³        ³ 150        ³        ³on the east



        ³        ³        ³        ³*150        ³branch of Sus uehanna.



Munsies         ³        ³        ³ 150        ³        ³In the same parts.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³In the same parts.



Delawares,        ³ 600        ³ 600        ³ 600        ³*500        ³At

Diahago and other villages up



or                  ³        ³        ³        ³        ³the north



        ³ 500        ³ 400        ³ 300        ³   +        ³branch of

Susquehanna.



Linnelinopie        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³At Diahago and other

villages up



s         ³        ³        ³        ³ 300        ³the north



Delawares,        ³        ³        ³ 300        ³ 60        ³branch of

Susquehanna.



or             ³ 300        ³ 300        ³        ³ *60        ³At Diahago and

other villages up



Linnelinopie        ³        ³        ³ 250        ³        ³the north



s         ³ 300        ³        ³ 250        ³ 180        ³branch of

Susquehanna.



Shawanees         ³        ³ 350        ³        ³        ³Between Qhio and

Lake Erie and



Mingoes         ³ 200        ³ 400        ³ 300        ³        ³the branches



Mohiccons         ³        ³        ³        ³ 300        ³of Beaver creek,

Cayahoga and



Cohunnewag        ³ 300        ³ 250        ³ 300        ³        ³Muskingum.



os         ³        ³        ³        ³*400        ³Sioto and the branches of



Wyandots         ³        ³        ³ 200        ³        ³Muskingum.



Wyandots         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³On a branch of Sioto.



Twightwees        ³        ³600        ³ 300        ³*400        ³Near

Sandusky.



        ³ 400        ³ +        ³ 300        ³        ³     "



Miamis         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³     "



Ouiatonons        ³        ³ 800        ³        ³        ³Near Fort St.

Joseph's and



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Detroit.



Piankishas        ³        ³ 350        ³ 300        ³        ³Miami river near

Fort Miami.



        ³        ³        ³ 550        ³        ³Miami river, about Fort St.



Shakirs        ³        ³        ³ 200        ³        ³Joseph.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³On the banks of the Wabash, near



Kaskaskias        ³        ³        ³        ³ 450        ³Fort



Illinois        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Ouiatonon.



        ³        ³        ³        ³*300        ³On the banks of the Wabash,

near



Piorias        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Fort



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Ouiatonon.



Ponteatamie        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³On the banks of the

Wabash, near



s        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Fort



OttawasChippawasOttawas        ³        ³        ³        ³       

³Ouiatonon.Near Kaskaskia.Near Cahokia. Query, If not the same withthe

Mitchigamis?On the Illinois river, called Pianrias, but supposed to mean

Piorias.Near Fort St. JosePh's and Fort Detroit.Near Fort St. Joseph's and Fort

Detroit.On Saguinam bay of Lake Huron.On Saguinam bay of Lake Hurnn.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³



















Notes on Virginia        145











TRIBES.        ³Crogham        ³Brouq        ³Hutchi        ³Dodg        ³     

          Where they



        ³1759        ³uet        ³ns        ³e        ³reside.



        ³        ³1764        ³1768        ³1779        ³



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Ä



Chippawas        ³        ³        ³ 400        ³        ³Near

Michillimackinac.



Ottawas        ³2,000        ³5,900        ³ 250        ³5,450        ³Near

Michillimackinac.



Chippawas        ³        ³        ³ 400        ³        ³Near Fort St. Mary's

on Lake



Chippawas        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Superior.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Several other villages along the



Chippawas        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³banks of



Shakies        ³ 200        ³ 400        ³ 550        ³        ³Lake Superior.

Numbers



Mynonarnies        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³unknown.



Ouisconsings        ³        ³ 550        ³        ³        ³Near Puans bay on

Lake



Kickapous        ³ 600        ³ 300        ³        ³ 250        ³Michigan.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Near Puans bay on Lake



Otogamies-Fo        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Michigan.



xes        ³        ³ 500        ³4,000        ³        ³Near Puans bay on Lake



Mascoutens        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Michigan.



Miscothins        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Ouisoonsing river.



Outimacs        ³200        ³ 250        ³        ³ 250        ³On Lake

Michigan, and between



Musquakics        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³that and the



        ³        ³        ³        ³ 500        ³Mississippi.



Sioux.        ³        ³        ³Galphi        ³        ³     "



Eastern        ³        ³        ³n        ³        ³     "



        ³        ³        ³1678        ³        ³     "



        ³1,500        ³2,500        ³        ³        ³     "



        ³        ³ 750        ³3,000        ³        ³     "



Cherokees         ³        ³ 150        ³ 500        ³        ³     "



Chickasaws         ³2,000        ³4,500        ³.....        ³        ³On the

eastern heads of the



Catawbas         ³        ³1,180        ³6,000        ³        ³Mississippi,

and



Chacktaws         ³        ³ +        ³3,000        ³        ³the islands of

Lake Superior.



Upper        ³        ³ 150        ³   +        ³        ³



Creeks         ³        ³ 600        ³        ³        ³



Lower Creeks        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Western parts of North

Carolina.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Western parts of Georgia



Natchez         ³        ³        ³        ³        ³On the Catawba river in

South



Alibamous        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Carolina.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Western parts of Georgia.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Western parts of Georgia.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³     "



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³Alabama river, in the western



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³parts of Georgia.



        ³        ³        ³        ³        ³





















146 Jefferson's Works







The following tribes are also mentioned: 







Croghan's Catal







Lezar .. . . . . . . 400   From the mouth of Ohio to the mouth of Wabash. 



Webings. . .......200   On the Mississippi below the Shakies. 



Ousasoys..      4,000  On White Creek, a branch of the Mississippi



Grand Tuc          +



 Linways. . . . 1,000  On the Mississippi. 







Brouquet's







Les Puans ..     700   Near Puans Bay, 



Folle Avoine .. 350   Near Puans Bay. 



Ouanakina. .    300   Conjecture d to be tribes of the Creeks. 



Chiakaness ou.. 350       "



Machecous. ., .800        " 



Souikilas.., . .. 200        "







Dodge's.







Minneamis.     2000   North-West of Lake Michigan,to



                                 The heads of Mississippi, and up  to Lake

Superior.



Piankishas.       800   On and near the Wabash toward the Illinois. 



Mascoutins. . .    +           "



Vermillions .      +           "







But apprehendi ng these might be different appellation s for some of the tribes

already enumerated , I have not inserted them in the table, but state them

separately as worthy of further inquiry. The variations observable in numbering

the same tribe may sometimes be ascribed to imperfect information , and

sometimes to a greater or less comprehen sion of settlements under the same

name. See Appendix (7).







 QUERY XII. 



A notice of the counties, cities, townships, and villages ? 



The counties have been enumerated under Query IX. 







They are seventy-fo ur in number, of very











Notes on Virginia 147







unequal size and population. Of these thirty-five are on the tide waters, or in

that parallel; twenty-three are in the midlands, between the tide waters and

Blue Ridge of mountains ; eight between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny ; and

eight westward of the Allegheny. The State, by another division, is formed into

parishes, many of which are commensur ate with the counties ; but sometimes a

county comprehen ds more than one parish, and sometimes a parish more than one

county. This division had relation to the religion of the State, a portion of

the Anglican church, with a fixed salary, having been heretofore established in

each parish. The care of the poor was another object of the parochial division.

We have no townships. Our country being much intersected with navigable waters,

and trade brought generally to our doors, instead of our being obliged to go in

guest of it, has probably been one of the causes why we have no towns of any

consequenc e. Williamsbur g, which, till the year 1780, was the seat of our

governmen t, never contained above l,800 inhabitants ; and Norfolk, the most

populous town we ever had, contained but 6,000. Our towns, but more properly

our villages and hamlets, are as follows : On James' River and its waters,

Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Suffolk, Smithfield; Williamsbur g, Petersburg ,

Richmond, the seat of our governmen t, Manchester , Charlottesv ille, New

London.







148 Jefferson's Works 







On York River and its waters, York, Newcastle, Hanover. On Rappahann ock,

Urbanna, Port-Royal, Fredericks burg, Falmouth. On Potomac and its waters,

Dumfries, Colchester, Alexandria, Winchester, Staunton. On Ohio, Louisville.

There are other places at which, like some of the foregoing, the laws have said

there shall be towns: but nature has said there shall not, and they remain

unworthy of enumeratio n. Norfolk will probably be the emporium for all the

trade of the Chesapeake bay and its waters; and a canal of eight or ten miles

will bring to it all that of Albemarle sound and its waters. Secondary to this

place, are the towns at the head of the tide waters, to wit, Petersburg on

Appomattox ; Richmond on James' river; Newcastle on York river; Alexandria on

Potomac, and Baltimore on Patapsco. From these the distributio n will be to

subordinat e situations in the country. Accidental circumstan ces, however, may

control the indications of nature, and in no instance do they do it more

frequently than in the rise and fall of towns.















QUERY XIII.







The constitutio n of the State and its several charters ? 



Queen Elizabeth by her letters patent, bearing date March 25, 1584, licensed

Sir Walter Raleigh to







Notes on Virginia 149







search for remote heathen lands, not inhabited by Christian people, and granted

to him in fee simple, all the soil within two hundred leagues of the places

where his people should, within six years, make. their dwellings or abidings ;

reserving only to herself and her successors, their allegiance and one-fifth

part of all the gold and silver ore they should obtain. Sir Walter immediately

sent out two ships, which visited Wococon island in North Carolina, and the

next year despatched seven with one hundred and seven men, who settled in

Roanoke island, about latitude 35 degrees 50'. Here Okisko, king of the

Weopomeioc s, in a full council of his people is said to have acknowledg ed

himself the homager of the Queen of England, and, after her, of Sir Walter

Raleigh. A supply of fifty men were sent in 1586, and one hundred and fifty in

1587. With these last Sir Walter sent a governor, appointed him twelve

assistants, gave them a charter of incorporati on, and instructed them to

settle on Chesapeake bay. They landed, however; at Hatorask. In 1588, when a

fleet was ready to sail with a new supply of colonists and necessaries , they

were detained by the Queen to assist against the Spanish armada. Sir Walter

having now expended L40,000 in these enterprises , obstructed occasionall y by

the crown without a shilling of aid from it, was under a necessity of engaging

others to adventure their money. He, therefore, by deed bearing date the 7th of

March, 1589, by the name of Sir Walter Raleigh, Chief Governor







150 Jefferson's Works







of Assamacom oc, (probably Acomac,) alias Winga- dacoia, alias Virginia,

granted to Thomas Smith and others, in considerati on of their adventurin g

certain sums of money, liberty to trade to this new country free from all

customs and taxes for seven years, excepting the fifth part of the gold and

silver ore to be obtained; and stipulated with them and the other assistants,

then in Virginia, that he would confirm the deed of incorporati on which he had

given in 1587, with all the prerogativ es, jurisdictio ns, royalties and

privileges granted to him by the Queen. Sir Walter, at different times, sent

five other adventurer s hither, the last of which was in l602 ; for in 1603 he

was attainted and put into close imprisonme nt, which put an end to his cares

over his infant colony. What was the particular fate of the colonists he had

before sent and seated, has never been known ; whether they were murdered, or

incorporate d with the savages. Some gentlemen and merchants, supposing that by

the attainder of Sir Walter Raleigh the grant to him was forfeited, not

inquiring over carefully whether the sentence of an English court. could affect

lands not within the jurisdictio n of that court, petitioned king James for a

new grant of Virginia to them. He accordingl y executed a grant to Sir Thomas

Gates and others, bearing date the 9th of March, 1607, under which, in the same

year, a settlement was effected at Jamestown, and ever after maintained, Of

this grant, however, no particular







Notes on Virginia 151







notice need be taken, as it was superseded by letters patent of the same king,

of May 23, l609, to the Earl of Salisbury and others, incorporati ng them by

the name of " The Treasurer and company of Adventurer s and Planters of the

City of London for the first colony in Virginia," granting to them and their

successors all the lands in Virginia from Point Comfort along the sea-coast, to

the northward two hundred miles, and from the same point along the sea-coast to

the southward two hundred miles, and all the space from this precinct on the

sea-coast up into the land, west and north-west , from sea to sea, and the

islands within one hundred miles of it, with all the communitie s, jurisdictio

ns, royalties, privileges, franchises; and preeminenc ies, within the same, and

thereto and thereabout s, by sea and land, appertainin g in as ample manner as

had before been granted to any adventurer ; to be held of the king and his

successors, in common soccage, yielding one-fifth part of the gold and silver

ore to be therein found, for all manner of services ; establishin g a counsel

in England for the direction of the enterprise, the members of which were to be

chosen and displaced by the voice of the majority of the company and adventurer

s, and were to have the nomination and revocation of governors, officers, and

ministers, which by them should be thought needful for the colony, the power of

establishin g laws and forms of governmen t and magistracy, obligatory not only

within the colony, but also on the







152 Jefferson's Works







seas in going and coming to and from it ; authorizing them to carry thither any

persons who should consent to go, freeing them forever from all taxes and

impositions on any goods or merchandis e on importation s into the colony, or

exportation out of it, except the five per cent. due for custom on all goods

imported into the British dominions, according to the ancient trade of

merchants; which five per cent. only being paid they might, within thirteen

months, re-export the same goods into foreign parts, without any custom, tax,

or other duty, to the king or any of his officers, or deputies ; with powers of

waging war against those who should annoy them ; giving to the inhabitants of

the colony all the rights of natural subjects, as if born and abiding in

England; and declaring that these letters should be construed, in all doubtful

parts, in such manner as should be most for the benefit of the grantees.

Afterwards on the 12th of March, 1612, by other letters patent, the king added

to his former grants, all islands in any part of the ocean between the 30th and

4lst degrees of latitude, and within three hundred leagues of any of the parts

before granted to the treasurer and company, not being possessed or inhabited

by any other Christian prince or state, nor within the limits of the northern

colony. In pursuance of the authorities given to the company by these charters,

and more especially of that part in the charter of 1609, which authorized them

to establish a form of government, they on the 24th







Notes on Virginia 153







of July, 1621, by charter under their common seal, declared that from

thenceforw ard there should be two supreme councils in Virginia, the one to be

called the council of state, to be placed and displaced by the treasurer,

council in England, and company from time to time, whose office was to be that

of assisting and advising the governor; the other to be called the general

assembly, to be convened by the governor once yearly or oftener, which was to

consist of the council of state, and two burgesses out of every town, hundred,

or plantation, to be respectivel y chosen by the inhabitants . In this all

matters were to be decided by the greater part of the votes present; reserving

to the governor a negative voice; and they were to have power to treat,

consult, and conclude all emergent occasions concerning the public weal, and to

make laws for the behoof and governmen t of the colony, imitating and following

the laws and policy of England as nearly as might be; providing that these laws

should have no force till ratified in a general court of the company in

England, and returned under their common seal.; and declaring that, after the

governmen t of the colony should be well framed and settled, no orders of the

council in England should bind the colony unless ratified in the said general

assembly. The king and company quarrelled, and by a mixture of law and force,

the latter were ousted of all their rights without retribution , after having

expended one hundred thousand pounds in establishin g the colony, without the

smallest aid







154 Jefferson's Works







from governmen t. King James suspended their powers by proclamatio n of July

15,1624, and Charles I. took the governmen t into his own hands. Both sides had

their partisans in the colony, but, in truth, the people of the colony in

general thought themselves little concerned in the dispute. There being three

parties interested in these several charters, what passed between the first and

second, it was thought could not affect the third. If the king seized on the

powers of the company, they only passed into other hands, without increase or

diminution, while the rights of the people remained as they were. But they did

not remain so long. The northern parts of their country were granted away to

the lords Baltimore and Fairfax; the first of these obtaining also the rights

of separate jurisdictio n and governmen t. And in 1650 the parliament,

considerin g itself as standing in the place of their deposed king, and as

having succeeded to all his powers, without as well as within the realm, began

to assume a right over the colonies, passing an act for inhibiting their trade

with foreign nations. This succession to the exercise of kingly authority gave

the first color for parliamenta ry interferenc e with the colonies, and

produced that fatal precedent which they continued to follow, after they had

retired, in other respects, within their proper functions. When this colony,

therefore, which still maintained its opposition to Cromwell and the

parliament, was induced in 1651 to lay down their arms, they previously secured







Notes on Virginia 155







their most essential rights by a solemn convention, which, having never seen in

print, I will here insert literally from the records.







"ARTICLES agreed on and concluded at James Cittie in Virginia for the

surrenderi ng and settling of that plantation under the obedience and governmen

t of the commonwea lth of England by the commission ers of the Councill of

State by authoritie of the parliamt of England, and by the Grand assembly of

the Governour, Councill, and Burgesses of that countrey. "First it is agreed

and consted that the plantation of Virginia, and all the inhabitants thereof,

shall be and remain in due obedience and subjection to the Commonwea lth of

England, according to the laws there established , and that this submission and

subscriptio n bee acknowledg ed a voluntary act not forced nor constraine d by

a conquest upon the countrey, and that they shall have and enjoy such freedoms

and priviledges as belong to the free borne people of England, and that the

former governmen t by the Commission s and Instruction s be void and null.

"2ly. That the Grand assembly as formerly shall convene and transact the

affairs of Virginia, wherein nothing is to be acted or done contrairie to the

governmen t of the Commonwea lth of England and the lawes there established .

"3ly. That there shall be a full and totall remission and indempnitie of all

acts, words, or writeings done or spoken against the parliament of England in

relation to the same. "4ly. That Virginia shall have and enjoy the antient

bounds and lymitts granted by the charters of the former kings, and that we

shall seek a new charter from the parliament to that purpose against. any that

have intrenched upon the rights thereof. " 5ly. That all the pattents of land

granted under the colony seal by any of the precedent governours shall be and

remaine in their full force and strength. "6ly. That the priviledge of haveing

ffiftie acres of land for every person transporte d in that collonie shall

continue as formerly granted. " 7ly. That the people of Virginia have free

trade as the people of England do enjoy to all places and with all nations

according to the lawes of that commonwea lth, and that Virginia shall enjoy all

priviledges equall with any English plantations in America.







"8ly. That Virginia shall be free from all taxes, customs and impositions

whatsoever , and none to be imposed on them without consent







156 Jefferson's Works







of the Grand assembly; and soe that neither fforts nor castle bee erected or

garrisons maintained without their consent. "9ly. That noe charge shall be

required from this country in respect of this present ffieet. "10ly. That for

the future settlement of the countrey in their due obedience, the engagemen t

shall be tendred to all the inhabitants according to act of parliament made to

that purpose, that all persons who shall refuse to subscribe the said engagemen

t, shall have a yeare's time if they please to remove themselves and their

estates out of Virginia, and in the meantime during the said yeare to have

equall justice as formerly. " 11ly. That the use of the booke of common prayer

shall be permitted for one yeare ensueinge with referrence to the consent of

the major part of the parishes provided that those which relate to kingshipp or

that governmen t be not used pttbliquely , and the continuanc e of ministers in

their placcs, they not misdemeani ng themselves, and the payment of their

accustomcd dues and agreements made with them respectivel y shall be left as

they now stand dureing this ensueing yeare. " 12ly. That no man's cattell shall

be questioned as the companies, unless sttch as have been entrusted with them

or have disposed of them without order. " 13ly. That all ammunition , powder

and armes, other than for private use, shall be delivered up, securitie being

given to make satisfaction for it. " 14lY. That all goods allreadie brought

hither by the Dutch or others which are now on shoar shall be free from

surprizall. " 15ly. That the quittrents granted unto us by the late kinge for

seav, in yeares bee confirmed. " 16ly. That the commission ers for the

parliament subscribei ng these articles engage themselves and the honour of

parliament for the full performanc e thereof; and that the present governour,

and the councill, and the burgesses do likewise subscribe and engage the whole

collony on their parts.







RICHARD BENNETT.- Seale. WILLIAM CLAIBORNE .-Seale. EDMOND CURTIS.-Seale.







"Theise articles were signed and sealed by the Commission ers of the Councill

of state for the Commonwea lth of England the twelveth day of March 1651."







Notes on Virginia 157







Then follow the articles stipulated by the governor and council, which relate

merely to their own persons and property, and then the ensuing instrument :







"An act of indempnitie made att the surrender of the countrey. " Whereas, by

the authoritie of the parliament wee the commission ers appointed by the

councill of state authorized. thereto, having brought a ffleet and force before

James cittie in Virginia to reduce that collonie under the obedience of the

commonwea lth of England, and finding force raised by the Governour and

countrey to make opposition against the said ffleet, whereby assured danger

appearinge of the ruine and destruetion of the plantation, for prevention

whereof the burgesses of al? the severall plantations being called to advise

and assist therein, uppon long and scrious debate, and in sad contemplati on of

the great miscries and certain destruction which were soe neerely hovering over

the whole countrey; Wee the said Commission ers have thought fitt and

condescend ing and granted to signe and confirme under our hands, seales and by

our oath, Articles bearinge date with theise presents, and do further declare

that by the authoritie of the parliament and commenwea lth of England derived

unto us their commission ers, that according to the articles in generall wee

have granted an act of indempnitie and oblivion to all the inhabitants of this

collonie from all words, actions, or writings that have been spoken acted or

writt against the parliainent or commonwea lth of England or any other person

from the beginning of the world to this daye. And this we have done that all

the inhabitants of the collonie may live quietly and securely under the

commonwea lth of England. And we do promise that the parliament and commonwea

lth of England shall confirm and make good all those transaction s of ours. 



Witness our hands and seales this 12th of March 1651. 



RICHARD BENNETT.- Seale. 



WILLIAM CLAIBORNE .-Seale. 



EDMOND CURTIS.-Se ale."







The colony supposed, that, by this solemn convention, entered into with arms in

their hands, they had secured the ancient limits(1) of their country, its free

trade,(2) its exemption from taxation(3) but by















__________ _







(1) Art. 4. 



(2) Art. 7. 



(3) Art. 8.



__________







158 Jefferson's Works







their own assembly, and exclusion of military force(1) from among them. Yet in

every of these points was this convention violated by subsequent kings and

parliaments , and other infractions of their constitutio n, equally dangerous

committed. Their general assembly, which was composed of the council of state

and burgesses, sitting together and deciding by plurality of voices, was split

into two houses, by which the council obtained a separate negative on their

laws. Appeals from their supreme court, which had been fixed by law in their

general assembly, were arbitrarily revoked to England, to be there heard before

the king and council. Instead of four hundred miles on the seacoast, they were

reduced, in the space of thirty years, to about one hundred miles. Their trade

with foreigners was totally suppressed , and when carried to Great Britain, was

there loaded with imposts. It is unnecessar y, however, to glean up the several

instances of injury, as scattered through. American and British history, and

the more especially as, by passing on to the accession of the present king, we

shall find specimens of them all, aggravated , multiplied and crowded within a

small compass of time, so as to evince a fixed design of considerin g our

rights natural, convention al and chartered as mere nullities. The following is

an epitome of the first sixteen years of his reign : The colonies were taxed

internally and externally; their essential interests sacrificed to







 __________ __







(1) Art. 8.



__________







Notes on Virginia 159







individuals in Great Britain; their legislature s suspended; charters annulled;

trials by juries taken away; their persons subjected to transportat ion across

the Atlantic, and to trial before foreign judicatorie s; their supplicatio ns

for redress thought beneath answer; themselves published as cowards in the

councils of their mother country and courts of Europe; armed troops sent among

them to enforce submission to these violences ; and actual hostilities

commenced against them. No alternative was presented but resistance, or

unconditio nal submission. Between these could be no hesitation. They closed in

the appeal to arms. They declared themselves independen t states. They

confederat ed together into one great republic; thus securing to every State

the benefit of an union of their whole force. In each State separately a new

form of governmen t was established . Of ours particularl y the following are

the outlines : The executive power s are lodged in the hands of a governor,

chosen annually, and incapable of acting more then three years in seven. He is

assisted by a council of eight members. The judiciary powers are divided among

several courts, as will be hereafter explained. Legislation is exercised by two

houses of assembly, the one called the house of Delegates, composed of two

members from each county, chosen annually by the citizens, possessing an estate

for life in one hundred acres of uninhabite d land, or twenty-fiv e acres with

a house on it, or in a house or lot in some town : the other







160 Jefferson's Works







called the Senate, consisting of twenty-fou r members, chosen quadreniall y by

the same electors, who for this purpose are distributed into twenty-fou r

districts. The concurrenc e of both houses is necessary to the passage of a

law. They have the appointmen t of the governor and. council, the judges of the

superior courts, auditors, attorney-g eneral, treasurer, register of the land

office, and delegates to Congress. As the dismember ment of the State had never

had its confirmatio n, but, on the contrary, had always been the subject of

protestatio n and complaint, that it might never be in our own power to raise

scruples on that subject, or to disturb the harmony of our new confederac y,

the grants to Maryland, Pennsylvan ia, and the two Carolinas, were ratified.

This constitutio n was formed when we were new and unexperien ced in the

science of governmen t. It was the first, too, which was formed in the whole

United States. No wonder then that. time and trial have discovered very capital

defects in it. 1. The majority of the men in the State, who pay and fight for

its support, are unrepresen ted in the legislature, the roll of freeholders

entitled to vote not including generally the half of those on the roll of the

militia, or of the tax-gather ers. 2. Among those who share the representa

tion, the shares are very unequal. Thus the county of Warwick, with only one

hundred fighting men, has an equal representa tion with the county of Loudon,







Notes on Virginia 161







which has one thousand seven hundred and forty six. So that every man in

Warwick has as much influence in the governmen t as seventeen men in Loudon.

But lest it should be thought that an equal interspersi on of small among large

counties, through the whole State, may prevent any danger of injury to

particular parts of it, we will divide it into districts, and show the

proportion s of land, of fighting men, and of representa tion in each :











                                                                               

      Square   Fighting   Delegates.   Senators. 



                                                                               

        Miles.     Men. 



Between the sea-coast and falls of the rivers. . . . . . . . (1)11,205   19,012

        71             12 



Between the falls of the rivers and 



      Blue Ridge of mountains. . . .                                     18,759

   18,828        46               8 



Between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany.. . ........ .....     11,911    

7,673        16               2 



Between the Allegllany and Ohio                                  (2)79,650    

4,458        16               2







Total ... . ....... .                                                          

    121,525   49,971      149             24







An inspection of this table will supply the place of commentari es on it. It

will appear at once that nineteen thousand men, living below the falls of the

rivers, possess half the senate, and want four members only of possessing a

majority of the house of delegates ; a want more than supplied by the vicinity

of their situation to the seat of governmen t, and of course the greater degree

of convenienc e and punctuality with which their members have and will















__________ ___







(1) Of these 542 are on the eastern shore, 



(2) Of these, 22,616 are eastward of the meridian of the north of the Great

Kanhaway.



__________



VOL. II-11







162 Jefferson's Works 







attend in the legislature. These nineteen thousand, therefore, living in one

part of the country, give law to upwards of thirty thousand living in another,

and appoint all their chief officers, executive and judiciary. From the

difference of their situation and circumstan ces, their interests will often be

very different. 3. The senate is, by its constitutio n, too homogeneo us with

the house of delegates. Being chosen by the same electors, at the same time,

and out of the same subjects, the choice falls of course on men of the same

description . The purpose of establishin g different houses of legislation is

to introduce the influence of different interests or different principles. Thus

in Great Britain it is said their constitutio n relies on the house of commons

for honesty, and the lords for wisdom; which would be a rational reliance, if

honesty were to be bought with money, and if wisdom were hereditary. In some of

the American States, the delegates and senators are so chosen, as that the

first represent the persons, and the second the property of the State. But with

us, wealth and wisdom have equal chance for admission into both houses. We do

not, therefore, derive from the separation of our legislature into two houses,

those benefits which a proper complicatio n of principles are capable of

producing, and those which alone can compensate the evils which may be produced

by their dissensions . 4. All the powers of governmen t, legislative







Notes on Virginia 163







executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrati ng

these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic governmen t. It

w ill be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of

hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-th ree despots would

surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the

republic of Venice. As little will it avail us that they are chosen by

ourselves. An elective despotism was not the governmen t we fought for, but one

which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of

governmen t should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of

magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being

effectually checked and restrained by the others. For this reason that

convention which passed the ordinance of governmen t, laid its foundation on

this basis, that the legislative, executive; and judiciary department s should

be separate and distinct, so that no person should exercise the powers of more

than one of them at the same time. But no barrier was provided between these

several powers. The judiciary and executive members were left dependent on the

legislative, for their subsistenc e in office, and some of them for their

continuanc e in it. If, therefore, the legislature assumes executive and

judiciary powers, no opposition is likely to be made; nor, if made, can it be

effectual ; because in that case they may put their proceeding s into the form

of an act







164 Jefferson's Works







of assembly, which will render them obligatory on the other branches. They

have, accordingl y, in many instances, decided rights which should have been

left to judiciary controvers y; and the direction of the executive, during the

whole time of their session, is becoming habitual and familiar. And this is

done with no ill intention. The views of the present members are perfectly

upright: When they are led out of their regular province, it is by art in

others, and inadverten ce in themselves. And this will probably be the ease for

some time to come. But it will not be a very long time. Mankind soon learn to

make interested uses of every right and power which they possess, or may

assume. The public money and public liberty, intended to have been deposited

with three branches of magistracy, but found inadverten tly to be in the hands

of one only, will soon be discovered to be sources of wealth and dominion to

those who hold them; distinguish ed, too, by this tempting circumstan ce, that

they are the instrument, as well as the object of acquisition. With money, we

will get men, said Caesar, and with men we will get money. Nor should our

assembly be deluded by the integrity of their own purposes, and conclude that

these unlimited powers will never be abused, because themselves are not

disposed to abuse them. They should look forward to a time, and that not a

distant one, when a corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive

our origin, will have seized the heads of governmen t,







Notes on Virginia 165







and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase

the voices of the people, and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same

on every side of the Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the same causes.

The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have

gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust

to drawing his teeth and claws after he shall have entered. To render these

considerati ons the more cogent, we must observe in addition : 5. That the

ordinary legislature may alter the constitution itself. On the discontinua nce

of assemblies, it became necessary to substitute in their place some other

body, competent to the ordinary business of governmen t, and to the calling

forth the powers of the State for the maintenanc e of our opposition to Great

Britain. Convention s were therefore introduced, consisting. of two delegates

from each county, meeting together and forming one house, on the plan of the

former house of burgesses, to whose places they succeeded. These were at first

chosen anew for every particular session. But in March 1775, they recommend ed

to the people to choose a convention, which should continue in office a year.

This was done, accordingl y, in April 1775, and in the July following that

convention passed an ordinance for the election of delegates in the month of

April annually. It is well known, that in July 1775, a separation from Great

Britain







166 Jefferson's Works







and establishme nt of republican government, had never yet entered into any

person's mind. A convention, therefore, chosen under that ordinance cannot be

said to have been chosen for the purposes which certainly did not exist in the

minds of those who passed it. Under this ordinance, at the annual election in

April 1776, a convention for the year was chosen. Independe nce, and the

establishme nt of a new form of governmen t, were not even yet the objects of

the people at large. One extract from the pamphlet called Common Sense had

appeared in the Virginia papers in February, and copies of the pamphlet itself

had got in a few hands. But the idea had not been opened to the mass of the

people in April, much less can it be said that they had made up their minds in

its favor. So that the electors of April 1776, no more than the legislators of

July 1775, not thinking of independen ce and a permanent republic, could not

mean to vest in these delegates powers of establishin g them, or any

authorities other than those of the ordinary legislature. So far as a temporary

organizatio n of governmen t was necessary to render our opposition energetic,

so far their organizatio n was valid. But they received in their creation no

powers but what were given to every legislature before and since. They could

not, therefore, pass an act transcende nt to the powers of other legislature s.

If the present assembly pass an act, and declare it shall be irrevocable by

subsequent assemblies, the decla-



Notes on Virginia   167







ration is merely void, and the act repealable, as other acts are. So far, and

no farther authorized, they organized the governmen t by the ordinance entitled

a constitutio n or form of governmen t. It pretends to no higher authority than

the other ordinances of the same session; it does not say that it shall be

perpetual ; that it shall be unalterable by other legislature s ; that it shall

be transcende nt above the powers of those who they knew would have equal power

with themselves. Not only the silence of the instrument is a proof they thought

it would be alterable, but their own practice also; for this very convention,

meeting as a house of delegates in general assembly with the Senate in the

autumn of that year, passed acts of assembly in contradicti on to their

ordinance of governmen t ; and every assembly from that time to this has done

the same. I am safe, therefore, in the position that the constitutio n itself

is alterable by the ordinary legislature. Though this opinion seems founded on

the first elements of common sense, yet is the contrary maintained by some

persons. 1. Because, say they, the convention s were vested with every power

necessary to make effectual opposition to Great Britain. But to complete this

argument, they must go on, and say further, that effectual opposition could not

be made to Great Britain without establishin g a form of governmen t perpetual

and unalterable by the legislature ; which is not true. An opposition which at

some time or other was to come to an end, could







168 Jefferson's Works







not need a perpetual institution to carry it on ; and a governmen t amendable

as its defects should. be discovered, was as likely to make effectual

resistance, as one that should be unalterably wrong. Besides, the assemblies

were as much vested with all powers requisite for resistance as the convention

s were. If, therefore, these powers included that of modelling the form of

governmen t in the one case, they did so in the other. The assemblies then as

well as the convention s may model the governmen t; that is, they may alter the

ordinance of governmen t. 2. They urge, that if the convention had meant that

this instrument should be alterable, as their other ordinances were, they would

have called it an ordinance; but they have called it a constitutio n; which, ex

vi termini, means " an act above the power of the ordinary legislature. " I

answer that constitutio, constitutiu m, statutum, lex, are convertible terms. "

Constitutio dicitur jus quod a principe conditure." " Constitutiu m, quod ab

imperatorib us rescriptum statutumve est." "Statutum, idem quod lex." Calvini

Lexicon juridicum. Constitutio n and statute were originally terms of the(1)

civil law, and from thence introduced by ecclesiastic s into the English law.

Thus in the statute 25 Hen. VIII. c.19, 1, "Constituti ons and ordinances " are

used as synonymou s. The term constitutio n has many other significatio ns in

physics and politics,; but in jurispru







__________ __







(1) To bid, to set, was the ancient legislative word of the English. LI.

Hlotharri and Eadrici. L1. Inae. L1. Eadwerdi. L1. Aathelstani .



__________







Notes on Virginia 169







dence, whenever it is applied to any act of the legislature, it invariably

means a statute, law, or ordinance which is the present case. No inference then

of a different meaning can be drawn from the adoption of this title ; on the

contrary, we might conclude that, by their affixing to it a term synonymou s

with ordinance or statute. But of what consequenc e is their meaning, where

their power is denied? If they mean t to do more than they had power to do, did

this give them power ? It is not the name, but the authority that renders an

act obligatory. Lord Coke says, " an article of the statute, 11 R. 11. c. 5,

that no person should attempt to revoke any ordinance then made, is repealed,

for that such restraints is against the jurisdictio n and power of the

parliament. " 4. Inst. 42. And again, "though divers parliaments have attempted

to restrain subsequent parliaments , yet could they never effect it ; for the

latter parliament hath ever power to abrogate, suspend, qualify, explain, or

make void the former in the whole or in any part thereof, notwithsta nding any

words of restraint, prohibition , or penalty, in the former ; for it is a maxim

in the laws of the parliament, quod leges posteriores priores contrarias

abrogant." 4. Inst. 43. To get rid of the magic supposed to be in the word

constitutio n, let us translate it into its definition as given by those who

think it above the power of the law ; and let us suppose the convention,

instead of saying, " We the ordinary legislature, establish a constitutio n,"

170 Jefferson's Works







had said " We the ordinary legislature, establish an act above the power of the

ordinary legislature. " Does not this expose the absurdity of the attempt? 3.

But, say they, the people have acquiesced, and this has. given it an authority

superior to the laws. It is true that the people did not rebel against it; and

was that a time for the people to rise in rebellion ? Should a prudent

acquiescen ce, at a critical time, be construed into a confirmatio n of every

illegal thing done during that period? Besides, why should they rebel ? At an

annual election they had chosen delegates for the year, to exercise the

ordinary powers of legislation, and to manage the great contest in which they

were engaged. These delegates thought the contest would be best managed by an

organized governmen t. They therefore, among others, passed an ordinance of

governmen t. They did not presume to call it perpetual and unalterable . They

well knew they had no power to make it so; that our choice of them had been for

no such purpose, and at a time when we could have no such purpose in

contemplati on. Had an unalterable form of governmen t been meditated, perhaps

we should have chosen a different set of people. There was no cause then for

the people to rise in rebellion. But to what dangerous lengths will this

argument lead? Did the acquiescen ce of the colonies under the various acts of

power exercised by Great Britain in our infant State, confirm these acts, and

so far invest them with the authority of the people as to render







Notes on Virginia 171







them unalterable , and our present resistance wrong? On every unauthorit ative

exercise of power by the legislature must the people rise in rebellion, or

their silence be construed into a surrender of that power to them ? If so, how

many rebellions should we have had already ? One certainly f or every session

of assembly. The other States in the union have been of opinion that to render

a form of governmen t unalterable by ordinary acts of assembly, the people must

delegate persons with special powers. They have accordingl y chosen special

convention s to form and fix their governmen ts. The individuals then who

maintain the contrary opinion in this country, should have the modesty to

suppose it possible that they may be wrong, and the rest of America right. But

if there be only a possibility of their being wrong, if only a plausible doubt

remains of the validity of the ordinance of governmen t, is it not better to

remove that doubt by placing it on a bottom which none will dispute ? If they

be right we shall only have the unnecessar y trouble of meeting once in

convention. If they be wrong, they expose us to the hazard of having no

fundamenta l rights at all. True it is, this is no time for deliberatin g on

forms of governmen t. While an enemy is within our bowels, the first object is

to expel him. But when this shall be done, when peace shall be established ,

and leisure given us for intrenchin g within good forms, the rights for which

we have bled, let no man be found indolent enough







172 Jefferson's Works







to decline a little more trouble for placing them beyond the reach of question.

If anything more be requisite to produce a conviction of the expediency of

calling a convention at a proper season to fix our form of governmen t, let it

be the reflection : 6. That the assembly exercises a power of determinin g the

quorum of their own body which may legislate for us. After the establishme nt

of the new form they adhered to the Lex majoris partis, founded in common

law(1) as well as common right. It is the natural law(2) of every assembly of

men, whose numbers are not fixed by any other law. They continued for some time

to require the presence of a majority of their whole number, to pass an act.

But the British parliament fixes its own quorum; our former assemblies fixed

their own quorum; and one precedent in favor of power is stronger than an

hundred against it. The. house of delegates, therefore, have lately(3) voted

that, during the present dangerous invasion, forty members shall be a house to

proceed to business. They have been moved to this by the fear of not being able

to collect a house. But this danger could not authorize them to call that a

house which was none ; and if they may fix it at one number, they may at

another, till it loses its fundamenta l character of being a representa tive

body. As this vote expires with the present inva-















__________ _







(1) Bro. abr. Corporatio ns, 31, 34. Hakewell, 93. 



(2) Puff. Off. hom.1. 2, c. 6, º 12. 



(3) June 4,1781



.__________







Notes on Virginia 173







sion, it is probable the former rule will be permitted to revive ; because at

present no ill is meant. The power, however, of fixing their own quorum has

been avowed, and a precedent set. From forty it may be reduced to four, and

from four to one; from a house to a committee; from a committee to a chairman

or speaker, and thus an oligarchy or monarchy be substituted under forms

supposed to be regular. " Omnia mala exempla ex bonis orta sunt ; sed ubi

imperium ad ignaros aut minus bonos pervenit, novum illud exemplum ab dignis et

idoneis adindignos et non idoneos fertur." When, therefore, it is considered,

that there is no legal obstacle to the assumption by the assembly of all the

powers legislative, executive, 'and judiciary, and that these may come to the

hands of the smallest rag of delegation, surely the people will say, and their

representa tives, while yet they have honest representa tives, will advise them

to say, that they will not acknowledg e as laws any acts not considered and

assented to by the major part of their delegates. In enumeratin g the defects

of the Constitutio n, it would be wrong to count among them what is only the

error of particular persons. In December 1776, our circumstan ces being much

distressed, it was proposed in the house of delegates to create a dictatory,

invested with every power legislative, executive, and judiciary, civil and

military, of life and of death, over our persons and over our properties ; and

in June 1781, again under calamity, the same







174 Jefferson's Works







proposition was repeated, and wanted a few votes only of being passed. One who

entered into this contest from a pure love of liberty, and a sense of injured

rights, who determined to make every sacrifice, and to meet every danger, for

the re-establis hment of those rights on a firm basis, who did not mean to

expend his blood and substance for the wretched purpose of changing this matter

for that, but to place the powers of governing him in a plurality of hands of

his own choice, so that the corrupt will of no one man might in future oppress

him, must stand confounded and dismayed when he is told, that a considerabl e

portion of that plurality had mediated the surrender of them into a single

hand; and, in lieu of a limited monarchy, to deliver him over to a despotic

one! How must we find his efforts and sacrifices abused and baffled, if_ he may

still, by a single vote, be laid prostrate at the feet of one man! In Gods

name, from whence have they derived this power? Is it from our ancient laws.?

None such can be produced. Is it from any principle in our new Constitutio n

expressed or implied? Every lineament expressed or implied, is in full

opposition to it. Its fundamenta l principle is, that the State shall be

governed as a commonwea lth. It provides a republican organizatio n, proscribes

under the name of prerogativ e the exercise of all powers undefined by the laws

; places on this basis the whole system of our laws ; and by consolidati ng

them together, chooses that they should be left to stand or



Notes on Virginia 175







fall together, never providing for any circumstan ces, nor admitting that such

could arise, wherein either should be suspended; no, not for a moment. Our

ancient laws expressly declare, that those who are but delegates themselves

shall not delegate to others powers which require judgment and integrity in

their exercise. Or was this proposition moved on a supposed right in the

movers, of abandoning their posts in a moment of distress? The same laws forbid

the abandonme nt of that post, even on ordinary occasions; and much more a

transfer of their powers into other hands and other forms, without consulting

the people. They never admit the idea that these; like sheep or cattle, may be

given from hand to hand without an appeal to their own will. Was it from the

necessity of the case? Necessities which dissolve a governmen t, do not convey

its authority to an oligarchy or a monarchy. They throw back, into the hands of

the people, the powers they had delegated, and leave them as individuals to

shift for themselves. A leader may offer, but not impose himself, nor be

imposed on them. Much less can their necks be submitted to his sword, their

breath to be held at his will or caprice. The necessity which should operate

these tremendous effects should at least be palpable and irresistible . Yet in

both instances, where it was feared, or pretended with us, it was belied by the

event. It was belied, too, by the preceding experience of our sister States,

several of whom had grappled through greater difficulties







176 Jefferson's Works







without abandoning their forms of governmen t. When the proposition was first

made, Massachuse tts had found even the governmen t of committees sufficient to

carry them through an invasion. But we at the time of that proposition , were

under no invasion. When the second was made, there had been added to this

example those of Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvan ia, in all

of which the republican form had been found equal to the task of carrying them

through the severest trials. In this State alone did there exist so little

virtue, that fear was to be fixed in the hearts of the people, and to become

the motive of their exertions, and principle of their governmen t ? The very

thought alone was treason against the people ; was treason against mankind in

general ; as riveting forever the chains which bow down their necks, by giving

to their oppressors a proof, which they would have trumpeted through the

universe, of the imbecility of republican governmen t, in times of pressing

danger, to shield them from harm. Those who assume the right of giving away the

reins of governmen t in any case, must be sure that the herd, whom they hand on

to the rods and hatchet of the dictator, will lay their necks on the block when

the shall nod to them. But if our assemblies supposed such a recognition in the

people, I hope they mistook their character. I am of opinion, that the

governmen t, instead of being braced and invigorated for greater exertions

under their difficulties, would have been thrown back upon







Notes on Virginia 177







the bungling machinery of county committees for administrat ion, till a

convention could have been called, and its wheels again set into regular

motion. What a cruel moment was this for creating such an embarrass ment, for

putting to the proof the attachment of our countryme n to republican governmen

t ! Those who meant well, of the advocates of this measure, (and most of them

meant well, for I know them personally, had been their fellow-labo rer in the

common cause, and had often proved the purity of their principles,) had been

seduced in their judgment by the example of an ancient republic, whose

constitutio n and circumstan ces were fundamentally different. They had sought

this precedent in the history of Rome, where alone it was to be found, and.

where at length, too, it had proved fatal. They had taken it from a republic

rent by the most bitter factions and tumults, where the governmen t was of a

heavyhand ed unfeeling aristocracy , over a people ferociotts, and rendered

desperate by poverty and wretchedne ss ; tumults which could not be allayed

under the most trying circumstan ces, but by the omnipotent hand of a single

despot. Their constitutio n, therefore, allowed a temporary tyrant to be

erected, under the name of a dictator; and that temporary tyrant, after a few

examples, became perpetual. They misapplied this precedent to a people mild in

their disposition s, patient under their trial, united for the public liberty,

and affectionat e to their leaders. But if from the constitutio n of the Roman

governmen t there







Vol,. II-12







178 Jefferson's Works







resulted to their senate a power of submitting all their rights to the will of

one man, does it follow that the assembly of Virginia have the same authority?

What clause in our constitutio n has substituted that of Rome, by way of

residuary provision, for all cases not otherwise provided for? Or if they may

step ad libitum into any other form of governmen t for precedents to rule us

by, for what oppression may not a precedent be found in this world of the

ballum omnium in omnia ? Searching for the foundation s of this proposition , I

can find none which may pretend a color of right or reason, but the defect

before developed, that there being no barrier between the legislative,

executive, and judiciary department s, the legislature may seize the whole;

that having seized it, and possessing a right to fix their own quorum, they may

reduce that quorum to one, whom they may call a chairman, speaker, dictator, or

by any other name they please. Our situation is indeed perilous, and I hope my

countryme n will be sensible of it, and will apply, at a proper season, the

proper remedy; which is a convention to fix the constitutio n, to amend its

defects, to bind up the several branches of governmen t by certain laws, which,

when they transgress, their acts shall become nullities ; to render unnecessar

y an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every infraction

of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescen ce shall be construed into

an intention to surrender those rights. 















Notes on Virginia 179







 QUERY XIV.







The administrat ion of justice and the description of the laws ?







The State is divided into counties. In every county are appointed magistrates ,

called justices of the peace, usually from eight to thirty or forty in number,

in proportion to the size of the county, of the most discreet and honest

inhabitants . They are nominated by their fellows, but commission ed by the

governor, and act without reward. These magistrates have jurisdictio n both

criminal and civil. If the question before them be a question of law only, they

decide on it themselves ; but if it be of fact, or of fact and law combined, it

must be referred to a jury. In the latter case, of a combinatio n of law and

fact, it is usual for the jurors to decide the fact, and to refer the law

arising on it to the decision of the judges. But this division of the subject

lies with their discretion only. And if the question relate to any point of

public liberty, or if it be one of those in which the judges may be suspected

of bias, the jury undertake to decide both law and fact. If they be mistaken, a

decision against right, which is casual only, is less dangerous to the State,

and less afflicting to the loser, than one which makes part of a regular and

uniform system. In truth, it is better to toss up cross and pile in a cause,

than to refer it to a judge whose mind is warped by any motive whatever, in

that particular case. But







180 Jefferson's Works







the common sense of twelve honest men gives still a better chance of just

decision, than the hazard of cross and pile. These judges execute their process

by the sheriff or coroner of the county, or by constables of their own

appointmen t. If any free person commit an offence against the commonwea lth,

if it be below the degree of felony, he is bound by a justice to appear before

their court, to answer it on an indictment or information . If it amount to

felony, he is committed to jail; a court of these justices is called; if they

on examination think him guilty, they send him to the jail of the general

court, before which court he is to be tried first by a grand jury of twenty-fou

r, of whom thirteen must concur in opinion ; if they find him guilty, he is

then tried by a jury of twelve men of the county where the offense was

committed, and by their verdict, which must be unanimous, he is acquit ;ed or

condemned without appeal. If the criminal be a slave, the trial by the county

court is final. In every case, however, except that of high treason, there

resides in the governor a power of pardon. In high treason the pardon can only

flow from the general assembly. In civil matters these justices have

jurisdictio n in all cases of whatever value, not appertainin g to the

department of the admiralty. This jurisdictio n is twofold. If the matter in

dispute be of less value than four dollars and one-sixth, a single member may

try it at any time and place within his county, and may award execution on the

goods of the party cast. If







Notes on Virginia 181







it be of that or greater value, it is determinab le before the county court,

which consists of four at the least of those justices and assembles at the

courthouse of the county on a certain day in every month. From their

determination, if the matter be of the value of ten pounds sterling, or concern

the title or bounds of lands, an appeal lies to one of the superior courts.

There are three or four superior courts, to wit, the high court of chancery,

the general court, and the court of admiralty. The first and second of these

receive appeals from the county courts, and also have original jurisdictio n,

where the subject of controvers y is of the value of ten pounds sterling, or

where it concerns the title bounds or lands. The jurisdictio n of the admiralty

is original altogether. The high court of chancery is composed of three judges,

the general court of five, and the court of admiralty of three. The two first

hold their sessions at Richmond at stated times, the chancery twice in the

year, and the general court twice for business, civil and criminal, and twice

more for criminal only. The court of admiralty sits at Williamsbur g whenever a

controvers y arises. There is one supreme court, called the court of appeals,

composed of the judges of the three superior courts, assembling twice a year at

stated times at Richmond. This court receives appeals in all civil cases from

each of the superior courts, and determines them finally. But it has no

original jurisdictio n.







182 Jefferson's Works







If a controvers y arise between two foreigners of a nation in alliance with the

United States, it is decided by the Consul for their State, or, if both parties

choose it, by the ordinary courts of justice. If one of the parties only be

such a foreigner, it is triable before the courts of justice of the country.

But if it shall have been instituted in a county court, the foreigner may

remove it into the general court, or court of chancery, who are to determine it

at their first sessions, as they must also do if it be originally commenced

before them. In cases of life and death, such foreigners have a right to be

tried by a jury, the one-half foreigners, the other natives. All public

accounts are settled with a board of auditors, consisting of three members

appointed by the general assembly, any two of whom may act. But an individual,

dissatisfied with the determinati on of that board, may carry his case into the

proper superior court. A description of the laws. The general assembly was

constituted , as has been already shown, by letters-pat ent of March the 9th,

1607, in the fourth year of the reign of James the first. The laws of England

seem to have been adopted by consent of the settlers, which might easily enough

be done whilst they were few and living all together. Of such adoption,

however, we have no other proof than their practice till the year 1661, when

they were expressly adopted by an act of the assembly, except so far as " a

difference of con-







Notes on Virginia 183







dition" rendered them inapplicabl e. Under this adoption, the rule, in our

courts of judicature was, that the common law of England, and the general

statutes previous to the fourth of James, were in force here; but that no

subsequent statutes were, unless we were named in them, said the judges and

other partisans of the crown, but named or not named, said those who reflected

freely. It will be unnecessar y to attempt a description of the laws of

England, as that may be found in English publication s: To those which were

established here, by the adoption of the legislature, have been since added a

number of acts of assembly passed during the monarchy, and ordinances of

convention and acts of assembly enacted since the establishme nt of the

republic. The following variations from the British model are perhaps worthy of

being specified: Debtors unable to pay their debts, and making faithful

delivery of their whole effects, are released from confinemen t, and their

persons forever discharged from restraint for such previous debts; but any

property they may afterwards acquire will be subject to their creditors. The

poor unable to support themselves, are maintained by an assessment on the

tytheable persons in their parish. This assessment is levied and administere d

by twelve persons in each parish, called vestrymen, originally chosen by the

housekeepe rs of the parish, but afterwards filling vacancies in their own body

by their own choice. These are usually







184 Jefferson's Works







the most discreet farmers, so distributed through their parish, that every part

of it may be under the immediate eye of some one of them. They are well

acquainted with the details and economy of private life, and they find

sufficient inducement s to execute their charge well, in their philanthro py,

in the approbatio n of their neighbors, and the distinction which that gives

them. The poor who have neither property, friends, nor strength to labor, are

boarded in the houses of good farmers, to whom a stipulated sum is annually

paid. To those who are able to help themselves a little, or have friends from

whom they derive some succors, inadequate however to their full maintenanc e,

supplement ary aids are given which enable them to live comfortabl y in their

own houses, or in the houses of their friends. Vagabonds without visible

property or vocation, are placed in work houses, where they are well clothed,

fed, lodged, and made to labor. Nearly the same method of providing for the

poor prevails through all our States; and from Savannah to Portsmouth you will

seldom meet a beggar. In the large towns, indeed, they sometimes present

themselves. These are usually foreigners, who have never obtained a settlement

in any parish. I never yet saw a native American begging in the streets or

highways. A subsistenc e is easily gained here; and if, by misfortune s, they

are thrown on the charities of the world, those provided by their own country

are so comfortable and so certain, that they never think of







Notes on Virginia 185







relinquishi ng them to become strolling beggars, Their situation too, when

sick, in the family of a good farmer, where every member is emulous to do them

kind offices, where they are visited by all the neighbors, who bring them the

little rarities which their sickly appetites may crave, and who take by.

rotation the nightly watch over them, when their condition requires it, is

without comparison better than in a general hospital, where the sick, the dying

and the dead are crammed together in the same rooms, and often in the same

beds. The disadvanta ges, inseparable from general hospitals, are such as can

never be counterpoi sed by all the regularitie s of medicine and regimen.

Nature and kind nur sing save a much greater proportion in our plain way, at a

smaller expense, and with less abuse. One branch only of hospital institution

is wanting with us ; that is, a general establishme nt for those laboring under

difficult cases of chirurgery . The aids of this art are not equivocal. But an

able chirurgeon cannot be had in every parish. Such a receptacle should

therefore be provided for those patients; but no others should be admitted.

Marriages must be solemnized either on special license, granted by the first

magistrate of the county, on proof of the consent of the parent or guardian of

either party under age, or after solemn publication , on three several Sundays,

at some place of religious worship, in the parishes where the parties reside.

The act of solemnizati on may be by the







186 Jefferson's Works







minister of any society of Christians, who shall have been previously licensed

for this purpose by the court of the county. Quakers and Menonists, however,

are exempted from all these conditions, and marriage among them is to be

solemnized by the society itself. A foreigner of any nation, not in open war

with us, becomes naturalized by removing to the State to reside, and taking an

oath of fidelity; and thereupon acquires every right of a native citizen; and

citizens may divest themselves of that character, by declaring, by solemn deed,

or in open court, that. they mean to expatriate themselves, and no longer to be

citizens of this State. Conveyances of land must be registered in the court of

the county wherein they lie, or in the general court, or they are void, as to

creditors, and subsequent purchasers . Slaves pass by descent and dower as

lands do. Where the descent is from a parent, the heir is bound to pay an equal

share of their value in money to each of their brothers and sisters. Slaves, as

well as lands, were entail able during the monarchy; but, by an act of. the

first republican assembly, all donees in tail, present and future, were vested

with the absolute dominion of the entailed subject. Bills of exchange, being

protested, carry ten per cent. interest from their date. No person is allowed,

in any other case, to take







Notes on Virginia 187







more than five per cent. per annum simple interest for the loan of moneys.

Gaming debts are made void, and moneys actually paid to discharge such debts

(if they exceed forty shillings) may be recovered by the payer within three

months, or by any other person afterwards. Tobacco, flour, beef, pork, tar,

pitch, and turpentine must be inspected by persons publicly appointed, before

they can be exported. The erecting iron-works and mills is encouraged by many

privileges; with necessary cautions how-. ever to prevent their dams from

obstructin g the navigation of the water-cour ses. The general assembly have on

several occasions shown a great desire to encourage the opening the great falls

of James and Potomac rivers. As yet, however, neither of these have been

effected. The laws have also descended to the preservatio n and improveme nt of

the races of useful animals, such as horses, cattle, deer ; to the extirpation

of those which are noxious, as wolves, squirrels, crows, blackbirds ; and to

the guarding our citizens against infectious disorders, by obliging suspected

vessels coming into the State, to perform quarantine, and by regulating the

conduct of persons having such disorders within the State. The mode of

acquiring lands, in the earliest times of our settlement, was by petition to

the general assembly. If the lands prayed for were already cleared of the

Indian title, and the assembly thought







188 Jefferson's Works







the prayer reasonable, they passed the property by their vote to the

petitioner. But if they had not yet been ceded by the Indians, it was necessary

that the petitioner should previously purchase their right. This purchase the

assembly verified, by inquiries of the Indian proprietors ; and being satisfied

of its reality and fairness, proceeded further to examine the reasonable ness

of the petition, and its consistence with policy; and according to the result,

either granted or rejected the petition. The company also sometimes, though

very rarely, granted lands, independen tly of the general assembly. As the

colony increased, and individual application s for land multiplied, it was

found to give too much occupation to the general assembly to inquire into and

execute the grant in every special case. They therefore thought it better to

establish general rules, according to which all grants should be made, and to

leave to the governor the execution of them, under these rules. This they did

by what have been usually called the land laws, amending them from time to

time, as their defects were developed. According to these laws, when an

individual wished a portion of unappropri ated land, he was to locate and

survey it by a public officer, appointed for that purpose ; its breadth was to

bear a certain proportion to its length : the grant was to be executed by the

governor; and the lands were to be improved in a certain manner, within a given

time: From these regulations there resulted to the State a sole







Notes on Virginia 189







and exclusive power of taking conveyance s of the Indian right of soil; since,

according to them an Indian conveyance alone could give no right to an

individual, which the laws would acknowledg e. The State, or the crown,

thereafter, made general purchases of the Indians from time to time, and the

governor parcelled them out by special grants, conformabl e to the rules bef

ore described, which it was not in his power, or in that of the crown, to

dispense with. Grants, unaccompa nied by their proper legal circumstan ces,

were. set aside regularly by fieri facias, or by bill in chancery. Since the

establishme nt of our new Governmen t, this order of things is but little

changed. An individual, wishing to appropriat e to himself lands still

unappropri ated by any other, pays to the public treasurer a sum of money

proportion ed to the quantity he wants. He carries the treasurer's receipt to

the auditos of public accounts, who thereupon debit the treasurer with the sum,

. and order the register of the land office to give the party a warrant for his

land. With this warrant from the register, he goes to the surveyor of the

county where the land lies on which he has cast his eye. The surveyor lays it

off for him, gives him its exact description , in the form of a certificate,

which certificate he returns to the land office, where a grant is made out, and

is signed by the governor. This vests in him a perfect dominion in his lands,

transmissib le to whom he pleases by deed pr will, or by descent to his heirs,

if he die intestate.







190 Jefferson's Works







Many of the laws which were in force during the monarchy being relative merely

to that form of governmen t, or inculcating principles inconsisten t with

republicani sm, the first assembly which met after the establishme nt of the

commonwea lth appointed a committee to revise the whole code, to reduce it into

proper form and volume, and report it to the assembly. This work has been

executed by three gentlemen, and reported; but probably will not be taken up

till a restoration of peace shall leave to the legislature leisure to go

through such a work. The plan of the revisal was this. The common law of

England, by which is meant, that part of the English law which was anterior to

the date of the oldest statutes extant, is made the basis of the work. It was

thought dangerous to attempt to reduce it to a text; it was therefore left to

be collected from the .usual monuments of it. Necessary alterations in that,

and so much of the whole body of the British statutes, and. of acts of

assembly, as were thought proper to be retained, were digested into one hundred

and twenty-six new acts, in which simplicity of style was aimed at, as far as

was safe. The following are the most remarkable alterations proposed: To change

the rules of descent, so as that the lands of any person dying intestate shall

be divisible equally among all his children, or other representa tives, in

equal degree. To make slaves distributab le among the next of kin, as other

movables,







Notes on Virginia 191







To have all public expenses, whether of the general treasury, or of a parish or

county, (as for the maintenanc e of the poor, building bridges, courthouse s,

&c.,) supplied by assessment on the citizens, in proportion to their property.

To hire undertaker s for keeping the public roads in repair, and indemnify

individuals through whose lands new roads shall be opened. To define with

precision the rules whereby aliens should become citizens, and citizens make

themselves aliens. To establish religious freedom on the broadest bottom. To

emancipate all slaves born after the passing the act. The bill reported by the

revisers does not itself contain this proposition ; but an amendment containing

it was prepared, to be offered to the legislature whenever the bill should be

taken up, and farther directing, that they should continue with their parents

to a certain age, then to be brought up, at the public expense, to tillage,

arts, or sciences, according to their geniuses, till the females should be

eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they should be colonized

to such place as the circumstan ces of the time should render most proper,

sending them out with arms, implements of household and of the handicraft

arts,. seeds, pairs of the useful domestic animals, &c., to declare them a free

and independen t people, and extend to them our alliance and protection, till

they. have acquired







192 Jefferson's Works







strength ; and to send vessels at the same time to other parts of the world for

an equal number of white inhabitants ; to induce them to migrate hither proper

encourage ments were to be proposed. It will probably be asked, Why not retain

and incorporate the blacks into the State, and thus save the expense of

supplying by importation of white settlers, the vacancies they will leave ?

Deep-roote d prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollection s,

by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained ; new provocatio ns ; the

real distinction s which nature has made ; and many other circumstan ces, will

divide us into parties, and produce convulsion s, which will probably never end

but in the exterminati on of the one or the other race. To these objections,

which are political, may be added others, which are physical and moral. The

first difference which strikes us is that of color. Whether the black of the

negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in

the scarf-skin itself ; whether it proceeds from the color of the blood, the

color of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is

fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to

us. And is this difference of no importance ? Is it not the foundation of a

greater or less share of beauty in the two races ? Are not the fine mixtures of

red and white, the expression s of every passion by greater or less suffusions

of color in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the







Notes on Virginia 193







countenanc es, that immovable veil of black which covers the emotions of the

other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their

own judgment in favor of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as

uniformly as is the preference of the Oranutan for the black woman over those

of his own species. The circumstan ce of superior beauty, is thought worthy

attention in the propagatio n of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals ;

why not in that of man ? Besides those of color, figure, and hair, there are

other physical distinction s proving a difference of race. They have less hair

on the face and body. They secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands

of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeabl e odor. This

greater degree of transpirati on, renders them more tolerant of heat, and less

so of cold than the whites. Perhaps, too, a difference of structure in the

pulmonary apparatus, which a late ingenious experiment alist' has discover ed

to be the principal regulator of animal heat, may have disabled them from

extricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of that fluid from the outer

air, or obliged them in expiration, to part with more of it. They seem to

require less sleep. A black after hard labor through the day; will be induced

by the slightest amusement s to sit up till midnight, or later, though knowing

he must be out with the first dawn of the morning. They are at least as brave,

and more adventures ome.















__________ _











(1) Crawford.



__________







VOL. II-13







194 Jefferson's Works But this may perhaps proceed from a want of forethough t,

which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present. When present, they do

not go through it with more coolness or steadiness than the whites. They are

more ardent after their female; but love seems with them to be more an eager

desire, than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation. Their griefs

are transient. Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful whether

heaven has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less felt, and sooner

forgotten with them. In general, their existence appears to participate more of

sensation than reflection. To this must be ascribed their disposition to sleep

when abstracted from their diversions, and unemploye d in labor. An animal

whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect must be disposed to sleep of

course. Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination ,

it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much

inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and

comprehen ding the investigati ons of Euclid ;and that in imagination they are

dull, tasteless, and anomalous. It would be unfair to follow them to Africa for

this investigati on. We will consider them here, on the same stage with the

whites, and where the facts are not apocryphal on which a judgment is to be

formed. It will be right to make great allowances for the difference of

condition, of education, of conversatio n, of the sphere in which they move.







Notes on Virginia 195







Many millions of them have been brought to, and born in America. Most of them,

indeed, have been confined to tillage, to their own homes, and their own

society ; yet many have been so situated, that they might have availed

themselves of the conversatio n of their masters; many have been brought up to

the handicraft arts, and from that circumstan ce have always been associated

with the whites. Some have been liberally educated, and all have lived in

countries where the arts and sciences are cultivated to a considerabl e degree,

and all have had before their eyes samples of the best works from abroad. The

Indians, with no advantages of this kind, will often carve figures on their

pipes not destitute of design and merit. They will crayon out an animal, a

plant, or a country, so as to prove the existence of a germ in their minds

which only wants cultivation. They astonish you with strokes of the most

sublime oratory ; such as prove their reason and sentiment strong, their

imagination glowing and elevated. But never yet could I find that a black had

uttered a thought above the level of plain narration ; never saw even an

elementary trait of painting or sculpture. In music they are more generally

gifted than the whites with accurate ears for tune and time, and they have been

found capable of imagining a small catch.(1) Whether they will be















__________ __



(1) The instrument proper to them is the Banjar, which they brought hither from

Africa, and which is the original of the guitar, its chords being precisely the

four lower chords of the guitar.



__________







196 Jefferson's Works







equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated

harmony, is yet to be proved. Misery is often the parent of the most affecting

touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry.

Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles

the senses only, not the imagination . Religion, indeed, has' produced a

Phyllis Whately; but it could not produce a poet. The coinpositio ns published

under her name are below the dignity of criticism. The heroes of the Punciad

are to her, as Hercules. to the author of that poem. Ignatius Sancho has

approached nearer to merit in composition ; yet his letters do more honor to

the heart than the head. They breathe the purest effusions of friendship and

general philanthro py, and show how great a degree of the latter may be

compounde d with strong religious zeal. He is often happy in the turn of his

compliment s, and his style is easy and familiar, except when he affects a

Shandean fabrication of words. But his imagination is wild and extravagan t,

escapes incessantly from every restraint of reason and taste, and, in the

course of its vagaries, leaves a tract of thought as incoherent and eccentric,

as is the course of a meteor through the sky. His subjects should often have

led him to a process of sober reasoning; yet we find him always substitutin g

sentiment for demonstrat ion. Upon the whole, though we admit him to the first

place among those of his own color who have







Notes on Virginia 197







presented themselves to the public judgment, yet when we compare him with the

writers of the race among whom he lived and particularl y with the epistolary

class in which he has taken his own stand, we are compelled to enrol him at the

bottom of the column. This criticism supposes the letters published under his

name to be genuine, and to have received amendment from no other hand; points

which would not be of easy investigati on. The improveme nt of the blacks in

body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been

observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect

merely of their condition of life. We know that among the Romans, about the

Augustan age especially, the condition of their slaves was much more deplorable

than that of the blacks on the continent of America. The two sexes were

confined in separate apartments , because to raise a child cost the master more

than to buy one. Cato, for a very restricted indulgence to his slaves in this

particular,( 1) took from them a certain price. But in this country the slaves

multiply as fast as the free inhabitants . Their situation and manners place

the commerce between the two sexes almost without restraint. The same Cato, on

a principle of economy, always sold his sick and superannu ated slaves. He

gives it as a standing precept to a master visiting his farm, to sell his old

oxen, old wagons,















__________ __







(1) Tous doulous etaxen orismenou nomesmatos homilein tais ther- apainsin:

Plutarch. Cato.



__________







198 Jefferson's Works







old tools, old and diseased servants, and everything else become useless. "

Vendat boves vetulos, plaustrum vetus, feramenta vetera, servum senem, servum

morbosum, et si quid aliud supersit vendat." Cato de re rustica, c. a. The

American slaves cannot enumerate this among the injuries and insults they

receive. It was the common practice to expose in the island AEsculapiu s, in

the Tyber, diseased slaves whose cure was like to become tedious.(1) The

emperor Claudius, by an edict, gave freedom to such of them as should recover,

and first declared that if any person chose to kill rather than to expose them,

it should not be deemed homicide. The exposing them is a crime of which no

instance has existed with us; and were it to be followed by death, it would be

punished capitally. We are told of a certain Vedius Pollio, who, in the

presence of Augustus, would have given a slave as food to his fish, for having

broken a glass. With the Romans, the regular method of taking the evidence of

their slaves was under torture. Here it has been thought better never to resort

to their evidence. When a master was murdered, all his slaves, in the same

house, or within hearing, were condemned to death. Here punishment falls on the

guilty only, and as precise proof is required against him as against a freeman.

Yet notwithsta nding these and other discouragi ng circumstan ces among the

Romans, their slaves were often their rarest artists. They excelled too in







__________ ___







(1) Suet. Claud. 25.



__________







Notes on Virginia 199







science, insomuch as to be usually employed as tutors to their master's

children. Epictetus, Terence, and Phaedrus, were slaves. But they were of the

race of whites. It is not their condition then, but nature, which has produced

the distinction. Whether further observatio n will or will not verify the

conjecture, that nature has been less bountiful to them in the endowment s of

the head, I believe that in those of the heart she will be found to have done

them justice. That disposition to theft with which they have been branded, must

be ascribed to their situation, and not to any depravity of the moral sense.

The man in whose favor no laws of property exist, probably f eels himself less

bound to respect those made in favor of others. When arguing f or ourselves, we

lay it down as a fundamenta l, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocati

on of right ; that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct,

founded in force, and not in conscience; and it is a problem which I give to

the master to solve, whether the religious precepts against the violation of

property were not framed for him as well as his slave ? And whether the slave

may not as justifiably take a little from one who has taken all from him, as he

may slay one who would slay him? That a change in the relations in which a man

is placed should change his ideas of moral right or wrong, is neither new, nor

peculiar to the color of the blacks. Homer tells us it was so two thousand six

hundred years ago.







200 Jefferson's Works







'Ernisu, ger t' aretes apoainutai euruopa Zeus' Haneros, eut' an min kata

doulion ema elesin. Odd. 17, 323.







Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day Makes man a slave, takes half his

worth away.







But the slaves of which Homer speaks were whites. Notwithsta nding these

considerati ons which must weaken their respect for the laws of property, we

find among them numerous instances of the most rigid integrity, and as many as

among their better instructed masters, of benevolenc e, gratitude, and unshaken

fidelity. The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and

imagination , must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a general

conclusion, requires many observatio ns, even where the subject may be

submitted to the anatomical knife, to optical glasses, to analysis by fire or

by solvents. How much more then where it is a faculty, not a substance, we are

examining; where it eludes the research of all the senses ; where the

conditions of its existence are various and variously combined; where the

effects of those which are present or absent bid defiance to calculation ; let

me add too, as a circumstan ce of great tenderness , where our conclusion would

degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the scale of beings which their

Creator may perhaps have given them. To our reproach it must be said, that

though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the races of black

and of red men, they have







Notes on Virginia 201







never yet been viewed by us as subjects of natural history. I advance it,

therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct

race, or made distinct by time and circumstan ces, are inferior to the whites

in the endowment s both of body and mind. It is not against experience to

suppose that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the same

species, may possess different qualificatio ns. Will not a lover of natural

history then, one who views the gradations in all the races of animals with the

eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man as

distinct as nature has formed them? This unfortunat e difference of color, and

perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipatio n of these

people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to vindicate the liberty of

human nature,' are anxious also to preserve its dignity and beauty. Some of

these, embarrasse d by the question, " What further is to be done with them?"

join themselves in opposition with those who are actuated by sordid avarice

only. Among the Romans emancipatio n required but one effort. The slave, when

made free, might mix with, without staining the blood of his master. But with

us a second is necessary, unknown to history. When freed, he is to be removed

beyond the reach of mixture. The revised code further proposes to proportion

crimes and punishment s. This is attempted on the following scale :









202 Jefferson's Works







I. Crimes whose punishment extends to Life. 



        1. High treason.          Death by hanging. 



                                 Forfeiture of lands and goods to the commonwea

lth. 



        2. Petty treason.          Death by hanging. Dissection. 



                                 Forfeiture of half the lands and goods to the

representa tives of the                                  party slain. 



        3. Murder.         1. By poison.          Death by poison. 



                                         Forfeiture of one-half, as before. 



                        2. In duel.         Death by hanging. Gibbeting, if the

challenger. 



                                         Forfeiture of one-half as before,

unless it be the party                                          challenged,

then the forfeiture is to the commonwea lth. 



                        3. In any other way.         Death by hanging. 



                                                 Forfeiture of one-half as

before 



        4. Manslaught er.         The second offence is murder. 



II. Crimes whose punishment goes to Limb. 



        1. Rape...          Dismember ment. 



        2. Sodomy.          Dismember ment 



        3. Maiming.          Retaliation, and the forfeiture of half of the

lands and goods to 



        4. Disfiguring . the sufferer. 



III. Crimes punishable by Labor. 



        1. Manslaught er, 1st of-          Labor VII. years for the public.

Forfeiture of half, 



                 fence.                                                        

    as in murder. 



        2. Counterfeit ing money.          Labor VI. years   "         

Forfeiture of lands and goods to the                                           

                      commonwea lth. 



        3. Arson.                          Labor V. years     "         

Reparation three fold



        4. Asportation ot vessels.            "                      ". 



        5. Robbery.                          Labor IV years     "         

Reparation double 



        6. Burglary.                          Labor IV. years    "        

Reparation double. 



        7. House-brea king.                  Labor III. years    "         

Reparation 



        8. Horse-steal ing.                    "                       "       

  Reparation. 



        9. Grand larceny.                  Labor II. years      "         

Reparation. Pillory. 



        10. Petty larceny.                  Labor I. year         "         

Reparation. Pillory. 



        11. Pretension s to witch craft,&c.   Ducking.                 

Stripes. 



        12. Excusable homicide.          To br pitied, not punished 



        13. Suicide.                                 " 



        14. Apostasy. Heresy.                 "







Pardon and privilege of clergy are proposed to be abolished; but if the verdict

be against the defendant, the court in their discretion may allow a new trial.

No attainder to cause a corruption of blood, or forfeiture of dower. Slaves

guilty of offences punishable in others by labor, to be transporte d to Africa,

or elsewhere, as the circumstan ces of the time admit, there to be continued in

slavery. A rigorous regimen proposed for those condemned to labor.







Notes on Virginia 203







Another object of the revisal is to diffuse knowledge more generally through

the mass of the people. This bill proposes to lay off every county into small

districts of five or six miles square, called hundreds, and in each of them to

establish a school f or teaching, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The tutor

to be supported by the hundred, and every person in it entitled to send their

children three years gratis, and as much longer as they please, paying for it.

These schools to be under a visitor who is annually to choose the boy of best

genius in the school, of those whose parents are too poor to give them further

education, and to send him forward to one of the grammar schools, of which

twenty are proposed to be erected in different parts of the country, for

teaching Greek, Latin, Geography, and the higher branches of numerical

arithmetic. Of the boys thus sent in one year, trial is to be made at the

grammar schools one or two years, and the best genius of the whole selected,

and continued six years, and the residue dismissed. By this means twenty of the

best geniuses will be raked from the rubbish annually, and be instructed, at

the public expense, so far as the grammar schools go. At the end of six years'

instruction , one half are to be discontinue d (from among whom the grammar

schools will probably be supplied with future masters) ; and the other half,

who are to be chosen for the superiority of their parts and disposition, are to

be sent and continued three years in the study of such sciences as they shall







204 Jefferson's Works







choose, at William and Mary college, the plan of which is proposed to be

enlarged, as will be hereafter explained, and extended to all the useful

sciences. The ultimate result of the whole scheme of education would be the

teaching all the children of the State reading, writing, and common arithmetic

; turning out ten annually, of superior genius, well taught in Greek, Latin,

Geography, and the higher branches of arithmetic; turning out ten others

annually, of still superior parts, who, to those branches of learning, shall

have added such of the sciences as their genius shall have led them to; the

furnishing to the wealthier part of the people convenient schools at which

their children may be educated at their own expense. The general objects of

this law are to provide an education adapted to the years, to the capacity, and

the condition of every one, and directed to their freedom and happiness.

Specific details were not proper for the law. These must be the business of the

visitors entrusted with its execution. The first stage of this education being

the schools of the hundreds, wherein the great mass of the people will receive

their instruction , the principal foundation s of future order will be laid

here. Instead, therefore, of putting the Bible and Testament into the hands of

the children at an age when their judgments are not sufficiently matured for

religious inquiries, their memories may here be stored with the most useful

facts from Grecian, Roman, European. and American history. The first elements







Notes on Virginia 205







of morality too may be instilled into their minds ; such as, when further

developed as their judgments advance in strength, may teach them how to work

out their own greatest happiness, by showing them that it does not depend on

the condition of life in which chance has placed them, but is always the result

of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just

pursuits. Those whom either the wealth of their parents or the adoption of the

State shall destine to higher degrees of learning, will go on to the grammar

schools, which constitute the next stage, there to be instructed in the

languages. The learning Greek and Latin, I am told, is going into disuse in

Europe. I know not what their manners and occupation s may call for ; but it

would be very ill-judged in us to follow their example in this instance. There

is a certain period of life,€ say from eight to fifteen or sixteen years of

age, when the mind like the body is not yet firm enough for laborious and close

operations. If applied to such, it f alls an early victim to premature exertion

; exhibiting, indeed, at first, in these young and tender subjects, the

flattering appearance of their being men while they are yet children, but

ending in reducing them to be children when they should be men. The memory is

then most susceptible and tenacious of impression s ; and the learning of

languages being chiefly a work of memory, it seems precisely fitted to the

powers of this period, which is long enough, too, for acquiring the most useful

lan







206 Jefferson's Works







guages, ancient and modern. I do not pretend that language is science. It is

only an instrument for the attainment of science. But that time is not lost

which is employed in providing tools for future operration ; more especially as

in this case the books put into the hands of the youth for this purpose may be

such as will at the same time impress their minds with useful facts and good

principles. If this period be suffered to pass in idleness, the mind becomes

lethargic and impotent, as would the body it inhabits if unexercise d during

the same time. The sympathy between body and mind during their rise, progress

and decline, is too strict and obvious to endanger our being missed while we

reason from the one to the other. As soon as they are of sufficient age, it is

supposed they will be sent on from the grammar schools to the university, which

constitutes our third and last stage, there to study those sciences which may

be adapted to their views. By that part of our plan which prescribes the

selection of the youths of genius from among the classes of the poor, we hope

to avail the State of those talents which nature has sown as liberally among

the poor as the rich, but which perish without use, if not sought for and

cultivated. But of the views of this law none is more important, none more

legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the

ultimate, guardians of their own liberty. For this purpose the reading in the

first stage, where they will receive their whole education, is proposed, as has







Notes on Virginia 207







been said, to be chiefly historical. History, by apprizing them of the past,

will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience

of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions

and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise

it may assume ; and knowing it, to defeat its views. In every governmen t on

earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy ,

which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and

improve. Every governmen t degenerate s when trusted to the rulers of the

people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositorie s.

And to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree.

This indeed is not all that is necessary, though it be essentially necessary.

An amendment of our constitutio n must here come in aid of the public

education. The influence over governmen t must be shared among all the people.

If every individual which composes their mass participate s of the ultimate

authority, the governmen t will be safe ; because the corrupting the whole mass

will exceed any private resources of wealth; and public ones cannot be provided

but by levies on the people. In this case every man would have to pay his own

price. The governmen t of Great Britain has been corrupted, because but one man

in ten has a right to vote for members of parliament. The sellers of the

governmen t, therefore, get nine-tenth s







208 Jefferson's Works







of their price clear. It has been thought that corruption is restrained by

confining the right of suffrage to a few of the wealthier of the people; but it

would be more effectually restrained by an extension of that right to such

members as would bid defiance to the means of corruption. Lastly, it is

proposed, by a bill in this revisal, to begin a public library and gallery, by

laying out a certain sum annually in books, paintings, and statues.







 QUERY XV.







The Colleges and Public Establishm ents, the Roads, Buildings, &c. 







The college of William and Mary is the only public seminary of learning in this

State. It was founded in the time of king William and queen Mary, who granted

to it twenty thousand acres of land, and a penny a pound duty on certain

tobaccoes exported from Virginia and Maryland, which had been levied by the

statute of 25 Car. II. The assembly also gave it, by temporary laws, a duty on

liquors imported, and skins and furs exported. From these resources it received

upwards of three thousand pounds communibu s annis. The buildings are of brick,

sufficient for an indifferent accommodat ion of perhaps an hundred students. By

its charter it was to be under the governmen t of twenty visitors, who were to

be its legislators, and to have a president and six professors, who were

incorporate d. It







Notes on Virginia 209







was allowed a representa tive in the general assembly. Under this charter, a

professors hip of the Greek and Latin languages, a professors hip of mathematic

s, one of moral philosophy, and two of divinity, were established . To these

were annexed, for a sixth professors hip, a considerabl e donation by Mr.

Boyle, of England, for the instruction of the Indians, and their conver sion to

Christianit y. This was called the professors hip of Brafferton, from an estate

of that name in England, purchased .with the monies given. The admission of the

learners of Latin and Greek filled the college with children. This rendering it

disagreeabl e and degrading to young gentlemen already prepared for entering on

the sciences, they were discourage d from resorting to it, and thus the schools

for mathematic s and moral philosophy, which might have been of some service,

became of very little. The revenues, too, were exhausted in accommodat ing

those who came only to acquire the rudiments of science. After the present

revolution; the visitors, having no power to change those circumstan ces in the

constitutio n of the college which were fixed by the charter, and being

therefore confined in the number of the professors hips, undertook to change

the objects of the professors hips. They excluded the two schools for divinity,

and that for the Greek and Latin languages, and substituted others ; so that at

present they stand thus : A Professors hip for Law and Police; Anatomy and

Medicine ;







VOL. II-14







210 Jefferson's Works







A Natural Philosophy and Mathematic s; Moral Philosophy, the Law of Nature and

Nations, the Fine Arts; Modern Languages ; For the Brafferton. And it is

proposed, so soon as the legislature shall have leisure to take up this

subject, to desire authority from them to increase the number of professors

hips, as well for the purpose of subdividin g those already instituted, as of

adding others for other branches of science. To the professors hips usually

established in the universitie s of Europe, it would seem proper to add one for

the ancient languages and literature of the north, on account of their

connection with our own language, laws, customs, and history. The purposes of

the Brafferton institution would be better answered by maintaining a perpetual

mission among the Indian tribes, the object of which, besides instructing them

in the principles of Christianit y, as the founder requires, should be to

collect their traditions, laws, customs, languages, and other circumstan ces

which might lead to a discovery of their relation with one another, or descent

from other nations. When these objects are accomplish ed with one tribe, the

missionary might pass on to another. The roads are under the governmen t of the

county courts, subject to be controlled by the general court. They order new

roads to be opened wherever they think them necessary. The inhabitants of the







Notes on Virginia 211







county are by them laid off into precincts, to each of which they allot a

convenient portion of the public roads to be kept in repair. Such bridges as

may be built without the assistance of artificers, they are to build. If the

stream be such as to require a bridge of regular workmansh ip, the court

employs workmen to build it, at the expense of the whole county. If it be too

great for the county, application is made to the general assembly, who

authorize individuals to build it, and to take a fixed toll from all passengers

, or give sanction to such other proposition as to them appears reasonable.

Ferries are admitted only at such places as are particularl y pointed out by

law, and the rates of ferriage are fixed. Taverns are licensed by the courts,

who fix their rates from time to time. The private buildings are very rarely

constructe d of stone or brick, much the greatest portion being of scantling

and boards, plastered with lime. It is impossible to devise things more ugly,

uncomforta ble, and happily more perishable. There are two or three plans, on

one of which, according to its size, most of the houses in the State are built.

The poorest people- build huts of logs, laid horizontall y in pens, stopping

the interstices with mud. These are warmer in winter, and cooler in summer,

than the more expensive constructio n of scantling and plank. The wealthy are

attentive to the raising oú vegetables, but very little so to fruits. The

poorer







212 Jefferson's Works







people attend to neither, living principally on milk and animal diet. This is

the more inexcusable; as the climate requires indispensa bly a free use of

vegetable food, for health as well as comfort, and is very friendly to the

raising of fruits. The only public buildings worthy of mention are the capitol,

the palace, the college, and the hospital for lunatics, all of them in

Williamsbur g, heretofore the seat of our governmen t. The capitol is a light

and airy structure, with a portico in front of two orders, the lower of which,

being Doric, is tolerably just in its proportions and ornaments, save only that

the intercolona tions are too large. The upper is Ionic, much too small for

that on which it is mounted, its ornaments not proper to the order, nor

proportion ed within themselves. It is crowned with a pediment, which is too

high for its span. Yet, on the whole, it is the most pleasing piece of

architectur e we have. The palace is not handsome without, but it is spacious

and commodious within, is prettily situated, and with the grounds annexed to

it, is capable of being made an elegant seat. The college and hospital are

rude, misshapen piles, which, but that they have roofs, would be taken for

brick-kilns . There are no other public buildings but churches and courthouse

s, in which no attempts are made at elegance. Indeed, it would not be easy to

execute such an attempt, as a workman could scarcely be found capable of

drawing an order. The genius of architectur e seems to have shed its

malediction s over this land.







Notes on Virginia 213



Buildings are often erected, by individuals , of considerabl e expense. To give

these symmetry and taste, would not increase their cost. It would only change

the arrangeme nt of the materials, the form ,and eombinatio n of the members.

This would often cost less than the burthen of barbarous ornaments with which

these buildi.ngs are sometimes charged. But the first principles of the art are

unknown, and there exists scarcely a model among us sufficiently chaste to give

an idea of them. Architectur e being one of the fine arts, and as such within

the department of a professor of the college, according to the new arrangeme

nt, perhaps a spark may fall on some young subjects of natural taste, kindle up

their genius, and produce a reformation in this elegant and useful art. But all

we shall do in this way will produce no permanent improveme nt to our country,

while the unhappy prejudice prevails that hou.ses of brick or stone are less

wholesome than those of wood. A dew is often observed on the walls of the

former in rainy weather, and the most obvious solution is, that the rain has

penetrated through these walls. The following facts, however, are sufficient to

prove the error of this solution : 1. This dew upon the walls appears when

there is no rain, if the state of the atmosphere be moist. 2. It appears upon

the partition as well as the exterior walls. 3. So, also, on pavements of brick

or stone. 4. It is more copious in proportion as the walls are thicker ; the

reverse of which ought to be the case, if this hypothesis were







214 Jefferson's Works







just. If cold water be poured into a vessel of stone, or glass, a dew forms

instantly on the outside; but if it be poured into a vessel of wood, there is

no such appearance . It is not supposed, in the first case, that the water has

exuded through the glass, but that it is precipitate d from the circumambi ent

air; as the humid particles of vapor, passing from the boiler of an alembic

through its refrigerant , are precipitate d from the air, in which they are

suspended, on the internal surface of the refrigerant . Walls of brick and

stone act as the refrigerant in this instance. They are sufficiently cold to

condense and precipitate the moisture suspended in the air of the room, when it

is heavily charged therewith. But walls of wood are not so. The question then

is, whether the air in which this moisture is left floating, or that which is

deprived of it, be most wholesome ? In both cases the remedy is easy. A little

fire kindled in the room, whenever the air is damp, prevents the precipitatio n

on the walls; and this practice, found healthy in the warmest as well as

coldest seasons, is as necessary in a wooden as in a stone or brick house. I do

not mean to say that the rain never penetrates through walls of brick. On the

contrary, I have seen instanees of it. But with us it is only through the

northern and eastern walls of the house, after a northeaste rly storm, this

being the only one which continues long enough to force through the walls.

This, however, happens too rarely to give a just character of unwholeso meness

to such houses. In a house, the 











Notes on Virginia 215







walls of which are of well-burnt brick and good mortar, I have seen the rain

penetrate through but twice in a dozen or fifteen years. The inhabitants of

Europe, who dwell chiefly in houses of stone or brick, are surely as healthy as

those of Virginia. These houses have the advantage, too, of being warmer in

winter and cooler in summer than those of wood; of being cheaper in their first

constructio n, where lime is convenient, and infinitely more durable. The

latter considerati on renders I t of great importance to eradicate this

prejudice from the minds of our countryme n. A country whose buildings are of

wood, can never increase in its improveme nts to any considerabl e degree.

Their duration is highly estimated at fifty years. Every half century then our

country becomes a tabula rasa, whereon we have to set out anew, as in the first

moment of seating it. Whereas when buildings are of durable materials, every

new edifice is an actual and permanent acquisition to the State, adding to its

value as well as to its



ornament.











QUERY XVI



The measures taken with regard to the estates and



possession s of the Rebels, commonly called Tories ?







A tory has been properly defined to be a traitor in thought but not in deed.

The only description , by which the laws have endeavored to come at them, was

that of non-jurors , or persons refusing to take







216 Jefferson's Works







the oath of fidelity to the State. Persons of this description were at one time

subjected to double taxation, at another to treble, and lastly were allowed

retribution , and placed on a level with good citizens. It may be mentioned as

a proof, both of the lenity of our governmen t, and unanimity of its

inhabitants , that though this war has now raged near seven years, not a single

execution for treason has taken place.



Under this query I will state the measures which have been adopted as to

British property, the owners of which stand on a much fairer footing than the

tories. By our laws, the same as the English as in this respect, no alien can

hold lands, nor alien enemy maintain an action for money, or other movable

thing. Lands acquired or held by aliens become forfeited to the State; and, on

an action by an alien enemy to recover money, or other movable property, the

defendant may plead that he is an alien enemy. This extinguishe s his right in

the hands of the debtor or holder of his movable property. By our separation

from Great Britain, British subjects became aliens, and being at war, they were

alien enemies. Their lands were of course forfeited, and their debts irrecovera

ble. The assembly, however, passed laws at various times, for saving their

property. They first sequestere d their lands, slaves, and other property on

their farms in the hands of commission ers, who were mostly the confidentia l

friends or agents of the owners, and







Notes on Virginia 217







directed their clear profits to be paid into the treasury ; and they gave leave

to all persons owing debts to British subjects to pay them also into the

treasury. The monies so to be brought in were declared to remain the property

of the British subject, and if used by the State, were to be repaid, unless an

improper conduct in Great Britain should render a detention of it reasonable.

Depreciatio n had at that time, though unacknowle dged and unperceive d by the

whigs, begun in some small degree. Great sums of money were paid in by debtors.

At a later period, the assembly, adhering to the political principles which

forbid an alien to hold lands in the State, ordered all British property to be

sold; and, become sensible of the real progress of depreciatio n, and of the

losses which would thence occur, if not guarded against, they ordered that the

proceeds of the sales should be converted into their then worth in tobacco,

subject to the future direction of the legislature. This act has left the

question of retribution more problematic al. In May, 1780, another act took

away the permission to pay into the public treasury debts due to British

subjects.











QUERY XVII.







The different religions received into that State?







The first settlers in this country were emigrants from England, of the English

Church, just at a point of time. when it was flushed with complete victory







218 Jefferson's Works







over the religious of all other persuasion s. possessed, as they became, of the

powers of making, administeri ng, and executing the laws; they showed equal

intolerance in this country with their Presbyteri an brethren, who had

emigrated to the northern governmen t. The poor Quakers were flying from

persecutio n in England. They cast their eyes on these new countries as asylums

of civil and religious freedom; but they found them free only for the reigning

sect. Several acts of the Virginia assembly of 1659, 1662, and 1693, had made

it penal in parents to refuse to have their children baptized; had prohibited

the unlawful assembling of Quakers; had made it penal for any master of a

vessel to bring a Quaker into the State; had ordered those already here, and

such as should come thereafter, to be imprisoned till they should abjure the

country; provided a milder punishment for their first and second return, but

death for their third; had inhibited all persons from suffering their meetings

in or near their houses, entertainin g them individuall y, or disposing of

books which supported their tenets. If no execution took place here, as did in

New England, it was not owing to the moderation of the church, or spirit of the

legislature, as may be inferred from the law itself ; but to historical

circumstan ces which have not been handed down to us. The Anglicans retained

full possession of the country about a century. Other opinions began then to

creep in, and the great care of the governmen t to support their







Notes on Virginia 219







own church, having begotten an equal degree of indolence in its clergy,

two-thirds of the people had become dissenters at the commencem ent of the

present revolution. The laws, indeed, were still oppressive on them, but the

spirit of the one party had subsided into moderation, and of the other had

risen to a degree of determinati on which commanded respect.



The present state of our laws on the subject of religion is this. The

convention of May 1776, in their declaration of rights, declared it to be a

truth, and a natural right, that the exercise of religion should be free; but

when they proceeded to form on that declaration the ordinance of governmen t,

instead of taking up every principle declared in the bill of rights, and

guarding it by legislative sanction, they passed over that which asserted our

religious rights, leaving them as they found them. The same convention,

however, when they met as a member of the general assembly in October, 1776,

repealed all acts of Parliament which had rendered criminal the maintaining any

opinions in matters of religion, the forbearing to repair to church, and the

exercising any mode of worship ; and suspended the laws giving salaries to the

clergy, which suspension was made perpetual in October, 1779. Statutory

oppression s in religion being thus wiped away, we remain at present under

those only imposed by the common law, or by our own acts of assembly. At the

common law, heyesy was a capital offence, punishable







220 Jefferson's Works







by burning. Its. definition was left to the ecclesiastic al judges, before whom

the conviction was, till the statute of the 1 El. c. 1 circumscri bed it, by

declaring, that nothing should be deemed heresy, but what had been so

determined by authority of the canonical scriptures, or by one of the four

first general councils, or by other council, having for the grounds of their

declaration the express and plain words of the scriptures. Heresy, thus

circumscri bed, being an offence against the common law, our act of assembly of

October 1777, c. 17, gives cognizance of it to the general court, by declaring

that the jurisdictio n of that court shall be general in all matters at the

common law. The execution is by the writ De hoeretico comburend o. By our own

act of assembly of 1705, c. 30, if a person brought up in the Christian

religion denies the being of a God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more

gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the scriptures

to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity

to hold any office or employment ecclesiastic al, civil, or military; on the

second by disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian,

executor, or administrat or, and by three years' imprisonme nt without bail. A

father's right to the custody of his own children being founded in law on his

right of guardiansh ip, this being taken away, they may of course be severed

from him, and put by the authority of a court into more orthodoy hands. This is

a summary view of that religious







Notes on Virginia 221







slavery under which a people have been willing to remain, who have lavished

their lives and fortunes for the establishme nt of their civil freedom. The

error(1) seems not sufficiently eradicated, that the operations of the mind, as

well as the acts of the body, are subject to the coercion of the laws. But our

rulers can have no authority over such natural rights, only as we have

submitted to them. The rights of conscience w e never submitted, we could not

submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of

governmen t extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me

no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither

picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be said, his testimony in a court of

justice cannot be relied on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him.

Constraint may make him worse. by making him a hypocrite, but it will never

make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will not

cure them. Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.

Give a loose to them, they will support the true religion by bringing every

false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigati on. They are the

natural enemies of error, and of error only. Had not the Roman governmen t

permitted free inquiry, Christianit y could never have been introduced. Had not

free inquiry been indulged at the era of the Reformatio n, the corruption s of







__________







(1) Furneaux passim.



__________







222 Jefferson's Works







Christianit y could not have been purged away. If it be restrained now, the

present corruptions will be protected, and new ones encouraged . Was the

governmen t to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in

such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in France the emetic was once forbidden

as a medicine, and the potato as an article of food. Governmen t is just as

infallible, too, when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was sent to the

Inquisition for affirming that the earth was a sphere; the governmen t had

declared it to be as flat as a trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his

error. This error, however, at length prevailed, the earth became a globe, and

Descartes declared it was whirled round its axis by a vortex. The governmen t

in which he lived was wise enough to see that this was no question of civil

jurisdictio n, or we should all have been involved by authority in vortic'es.

In fact, the vortices have been exploded, and the Newtonian principle of

gravitation is now more firmly established , on the basis of reason, than it

would be were the governmen t to step in, and to make it an article of

necessary faith. Reason and experiment have been indulged, and error has fled

before them. It is error alone which needs the support of governmen t. Truth

can stand by itself. Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your

inquisitors .? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well

as public reasons. And why subject it to







Notes on Virginia 223







coercion? To produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desirable? No

more than of face and stature. Introduce the bed of Procrustes then, and as

there is danger that the large men may beat the small, make us all of a size,

by lopping the former and stretching the latter. Difference of opinion is

advantageo us in religion. The several sects perform the office of a censor

morum over such other. Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men,

women, and children, since the introductio n of Christianit y, have been burnt,

tortured, fined, imprisoned ; yet we have not advanced one inch towards

uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world

fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the

earth. Let us reflect that it is inhabited by a thousand millions of people.

That these profess probably a thousand different systems of religion. That ours

is but one of that thousand. That if there be but one right, and ours that one,

we should wish to see the nine hundred and ninety-nin e wandering sects

gathered into the fold of truth. But. against such a majority we cannot effect

this by force. Reason and persuasion are the only practicable instrument s. To

make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged; and how can we wish others

to indulge it while we refuse it ourselves. But every State, says an

inquisitor, has established some religion. No two, say I, have established the

same. Is this a proof of the infallibility of establishme nts?







224 Jefferson's Works







Our sister States of Pennsylvan ia. and New York, however, have long subsisted

without any establishme nt at all. The experiment was new and doubtful when

they made it. It has answered beyond conception. They flourish infinitely.

Religion is well supported; of various kinds, indeed, but all good enough ; all

sufficient to preserve peace and order; or if a sect arises, whose tenets would

subvert morals, good sense has fair play, and reasons and laughs it out of

doors, without suffering the State to be troubled with it. They do not hang

more malefactors than we do. They are not more disturbed with religious

dissensions . On the contrary, their harmony is unparallele d, and can be

ascribed to nothing but their unbounded tolerance, because there is no other

circumstan ce in which they differ from every nation on earth. They have made

the happy discovery, that the way to silence religious disputes, is to take no

notice of them. Let us too give this experiment fair play, and get rid, while

we may, of those. tyrannical laws. It is true, we are as yet secured against

them 'by the spirit of the times. I doubt whether the people of this country

would suffer an execution for heresy, or a three years' imprisonme nt for not

comprehen ding the mysteries of the Trinity. But is the spirit of the people an

infallible, a permanent reliance? Is it governmen t ? Is this the kind of

protection we receive in return for the rights we give up? Besides, the spirit

of the times may alter, will alter. Our







Notes on Virginia 225







rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence

persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated,

that the time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis is while our

rulers are honest, and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we

shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment

to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights

disregarde d. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making

money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their

rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the

conclusion of this war`, will remain on us long, will be made heavier and

heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion. '











QUERY XVIII.







The particular customs and manners that may happen to be received in that State

?







It is difficult to determine on the standard by which the manners of a nation

may be tried, whether catholic or particular. It is more difficult for a native

to bring to that standard the manners of his own nation, familiarized to him

by. habit. There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the manners of our

people produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole commerce be

VOL. II--15







226 Jefferson's Works







tween master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions,

the most unremittin g despotism on the one part, and degrading submission s on

the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an

imitative animal. This quality is the germ of all education in him. From his

cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a parent

could find no motive either in his philanthro py or his self-love,



for restrain in the intemperan ce of passion towards his slave, it should

always be a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not

sufficient. The parent storms the child looks on



catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller

slaves, gives a loose to the worst of passions, and thus nursed, educated,



and daily exercised in tyranny, cannot but be



stamped by it with odious peculiaritie s. The man must be a prodigy who can

retain his manners and morals undeprave d by such circumstan ces. And with what

execration should the statesman be loaded, who, permitting one half the

citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into

despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the

amor patrice of the other. For if a slave can have a country in this world, it

must be any other in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor

for another; in which he must lock up the faculties of his nature, contribute

as far as depends on his individual en-







Notes on Virginia 227







deavors to the evanishmen t of the human race, or entail his own miserable

condition on the endless generation s proceeding from him. With the morals of

the people, their industry also is destroyed. For in a warm climate, no man

will labor for himself who can make another labor for him. This is so true,

that of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen

to labor. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have

removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that

these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but

with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is

just; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that considerin g numbers, nature

and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of

situation is among possible events ; that it may become probable by supernatur

al interferenc e! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in

such a contest. But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject

through the various considerati ons of policy, of morals, of history natural

and civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every

one's mind. I think a change already perceptible , since the origin of the

present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave

rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under

the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipa-







228 Jefferson's Works







tion, and that this is disposed, in the order of events to be with the consent

of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.



















QUERY XIX.







The present state of manufactur es, commerce, interior and exterior trade?



We never had an interior trade of any importance. Our exterior commerce has

suffered very much from the 'beginning of the present contest. During this time

we have manufactur ed within our families the most necessary articles of

clothing. Those of cotton will bear some comparison with the same kinds of

manufactur e in Europe; but those of wool, flax and hemp are very coarse,

unsightly, and unpleasant ; and such is our attachment to agriculture , and

such our preference for foreign manufactur es, that be it wise or unwise, our

people will certainly return as soon as they can, to the raising raw materials,

and exchanging them for finer manufactur es than they are able to execute

themselves.



The political economists of Europe have established it as a principle, that

every State should endeavor to manufactur e for itself; and this principle,

like many others, we transfer to America, without calculating the difference of

circumstan ce which should often produce a difference of result. In Europe the

lands are either cultivated, or locked







Notes on Virginia 229







up against the cultivator. Manufactur e must therefore be resorted to of

necessity not of choice, to support the surplus of their people. But we have an

immensity of land courting the industry of the husbandman. Is it best then that

all our citizens should be employed in its improveme nt, or that one half

should be called off from that to exercise manufactur es and handicraft arts

for the other? Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if

ever He had a chosen people, whose breasts He has made His peculiar deposit for

substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that

sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth.

Corruption of morals in the mass of cultivators is a phenomeno n of which no

age nor nation has furnished an example. It is the mark set on those, who, not

looking up to heaven, to their own soil and industry, as does the husbandma n,

for their subsistenc e, depend for it on casualties and caprice of customers.

Dependenc e begets subservien ce and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue,

and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. This, the natural progress

and consequence of the arts, has sometimes perhaps been retarded by accidental

circumstan ces ; but, generally speaking, the proportion which the aggregate of

the other classes of citizens bears in any State to that of its husbandme n, is

the proportion of its unsound to its healthy parts, and is a good enough

barometer whereby to measure its degree of







230 Jefferson's Works







corruption. While we have land to labor then, let us never wish to see our.

citizens occupied at a workbench, or twirling a distaff. Carpenters , masons,

smiths, are wanting in husbandry; but, for the general operations of manufactur

e, let our workshops remain in Europe. It is better to carry provisions and

materials to workmen there, than bring them to the provisions and materials,

and with them their manners and principles. The loss by the transportat ion of

commoditie s across the Atlantic will be made up in happiness and permanenc e

of governmen t. The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of

pure governmen t, as sores do to the strength of the human body. It is the

manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy

in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitutio

n.



















QUERY XX.







A notice of the commercial production s particular to the State, and of those

objects which the inhabitants are obliged to get from Europe and from other

parts of the world. ?







Before the present war we exported, communibu s annis, according to the best

information I can get, nearly as follows:









Notes on Virginia 231







     Articles        ³    Quantity        ³Price in dollars        ³Amount in



        ³        ³        ³dollars



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Tobacco         ³ 55,000 hhds. Of        ³At 30d. Per        ³$1,650,000



Wheat         ³1,000 lbs.        ³hhd.        ³     666,666.66



Indian corn         ³800,000 bushels.        ³At 5-6d. Per        ³     200,000



Shipping         ³600,000 bushel        ³bushel        ³     100,000



Masts, planks, scant-        ³        ³at 0.33d. Per        ³      



ling, shingles, staves,        ³        ³bushel        ³66,666.66



        ³        ³        ³          +



Tar, pitch,        ³30,000 barrels.        ³        ³       40,000



turpentine,         ³  180 hhds. Of 600        ³        ³       42,000



Peltry viz., skins of         ³lbs.        ³at 1.33d. Per        ³  



deer, beavers, otters         ³        +        ³bbl.        ³



musk rats, raccoons,         ³        +        ³At 5-12d. Per        ³



foxes,         ³        +        ³lb.        ³        40,000



Pork         ³4,000 barrels.        ³        ³         



Flax-seed, hemp,        ³        ³        ³8,000



cotton,         ³        ³        ³         



Pit coal, pig iron         ³5,000 bushels.        ³at 10d. Per bbl       

³6,666.66



Peas         ³1,000 barrels.        ³        ³         



Beef         ³        ³        ³3,333.33



Sturgeon, white shad,        ³        ³at 0.66d. Per        ³         



        ³        ³bushel        ³3,333.33



herring         ³        ³at 3.33d. Per        ³



Brandy from peaches         ³        ³bbl        ³          



and apples, and        ³        ³        ³3,333.33



whiskey,         ³        ³        ³



Horses         ³        ³        ³          



        ³        ³        ³1,666.66



        ³        ³        ³          



        ³        ³        ³1,666.66



        ³        ³        ³--------------



        ³        ³        ³-----------



        ³        ³        ³$2,833,333.33(1)















In the year 1758 we exported seventy thousand hogsheads of tobacco, which was

the greatest quantity ever produced in this country in one year. But its

culture was fast declining at the commencem ent of this war and that of wheat

taken its place; and it must continue to decline on the return of peace. I

suspect that the change in the temperatur e of our climate has become sensible

to that plant, which to be good, requires an extraordina ry degree of heat. But

it requires still more indispensa bly an uncommon fertility of soil; and the

price which it commands at market will not enable the planter to produce this

by manure. Was the supply still to







__________







(1) This sum is equal to £850,000; Virginia money, 607,142 guineas.



__________













232 Jefferson's Works







depend on Virginia and Maryland alone as its culture becomes more difficult,

the price would rise so as to enable the planter to surmount those difficulties

and to live. But the western country on the Mississippi, and the midlands of

Georgia, having fresh and fertile lands in abundance, and a hotter sun, will be

able to undersell these two States, and will oblige them to abandon the raising

of tobacco altogether. And a happy obligation for them it will be. It is a

culture productive of infinite wretchedne ss. Those employed in it are in a

continual state of exertion beyond the power of nature to support. Little food

of any kind is raised by them; so that the men and animals on these farms are

badly fed, and the earth is rapidly impoverish ed. The cultivation of wheat is

the reverse in every circumstan ce. Besides clothing the earth with herbage,

and preserving its fertility, it feeds the laborers plentifully, requires from

them only a moderate toil, except in the season of harvest, raises great

numbers of animals for food and service, and diffuses plenty and happiness

among the whole. We find it easier to make an hundred bushels of wheat than a

thousand weight of tobacco, and they are worth more when made. The weevil

indeed is a formidable obstacle to the cultivation of this grain with us. But

principles are already known which must lead to a remedy. Thus a certain degree

of heat, to wit, that of the common air in summer, is necessary to hatch the

eggs. If subterrane an granaries, or others, there







Notes on Virginia 233







fore, can be contrived below that temperatur e, the evil will be cured by cold.

A degree of heat beyond that which hatches the egg we know will kill it. But in

aiming at this we easily run into that which produced putrefactio n. To produce

putrefactio n, however, three agents are requisite, heat, moisture, and the

external air. If the absence of any one of these be secured, the other two may

safely be admitted. Heat is the one we want. Moisture then, or external air,

must be excluded. The former has been done by exposing the grain in kilns to

the action of fire, which produces heat, and extracts moisture at the same time

; the latter, by putting the grain into hogsheads, covering it with a coating

of lime, and heading it up. In this situation its bulk produced a heat

sufficient to kill the eggs ; the moisture is suffered to remain indeed, but

the external air is excluded. A nicer operation yet has been attempted; that

is, to produce an intermediat e temperatur e of heat between that which kills.

the egg, and that which produces putrefactio n. The threshing the grain as soon

as it is cut, and laying it in its chaff in large heaps, has been found very

nearly to hit this temperatur e, though not perfectly, nor always. The heap

generates heat sufficient to kill most of the eggs, whilst the chaff commonly

restrains it from rising into putrefaction. But all these methods abridge too

much the quantity which the farmer can manage, and enable other countries to

undersell him, which are not infested with this insect. There







234 Jefferson's Works







is still a desideratu m then to give with us decisive triumph to this branch of

agriculture over that of tobacco. The culture of wheat by enlarging our

pasture, will render the Arabian horse an article of very considerabl e profit.

Experience has shown that ours is the particular climate of America where he

may be raised without degeneracy . Southwardl y the heat of the sun occasions a

deficiency of pasture, and northwardl y the winters are too cold for the short

and fine hair, the particular sensibility and constitutio n of that race.

Animals transplante d into unfriendly climates, either change their nature and

acquire new senses against the new difficulties in which they are placed, or

they multiply poorly and become extinct. A good foundation is laid for their

propagatio n here by our possessing already great numbers of horses of that

blood, and by a decided taste and preference for them established among the

people. Their patience of heat without injury, their superior wind, fit them

better in this and the more southern climates even for the drudgeries of the

plough and wagon. Northwardl y they will become an object only to persons of

taste and fortune, for the saddle and light carriages. To those, and for these

uses, their fleetness and beauty will recommend them. Besides these there will

be other valuable substitutes when the cultivation of tobacco shall be

discontinue d such as cotton in the eastern parts of the State, and hemp and

flax in the western.







Notes on Virginia 235







It is not easy to say what are the articles either of necessity, comfort, or

luxury, which we cannot raise, and which we therefore shall be under a

necessity of importing from abroad, as everything hardier than the olive, and

as hardy as the fig, may be raised here in the open air. Sugar, coffee and tea,

indeed, are not between these limits ; and habit having placed them among the

necessaries of life with the wealthy part of our citizens, as long as these

habits remain we must go for them to those countries which are able to furnish

them.















QUERY XXI.







The weights, measures and the currency of the hard money ? Some details

relating to exchange with Europe ?



Our weights and measures are the same which are fixed by acts of parliament in

England. How it has happened that in this as well as the other American States

the nominal value of coin was made to differ from what it was in the country we

had left, and to differ among ourselves too, I am not able to say with

certainty. I find that in 1631 our house of burgesses desired of the privy

council in England, a coin debased to twenty-fiv e per cent. ; that in 1645

they forbid dealing by barter for tobacco, and established the Spanish piece of

eight at six shillings, as the standard of their currency ; that in 1655 they

changed it to five shillings sterling. In 1680 they







236 Jefferson's Works







sent an address to the king, in consequenc e of which, by proclamatio n in

1683, he fixed the value of French crowns, rix dollars, and pieces of eight, at

six shillings, and the coin of New England at one shilling. That in 1710, 1714,

1727, and 1762, other regulations were made, which will be better presented to

the eye stated in the form of a table as follows:



















        ³1710        ³1714        ³1727        ³1762



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Guineas.        ³        ³26s        ³        ³



British gold coin not        ³        ³        ³        ³



milled, gold coin of        ³        ³        ³        ³



Spain and France, che-        ³        ³        ³        ³



qvins, Arabian       gold,        ³        ³        ³        ³



moidores of Portugal...        ³        ³5s. Dwt.        ³        ³



Coined gold of the empire        ³        ³5s. Dwt.        ³        ³4s. 3d.



English milled       silver        ³        ³        ³        ³Dwt



money, in proportion to        ³        ³        ³        ³



the crown, at..        ³        ³5s.10d.        ³6s. 3d.        ³



Pieces of eight of Mexico,        ³        ³        ³        ³



Seville & Pillar,    duca-        ³        ³        ³        ³



toons of Flanders,        ³        ³        ³        ³



French ecus, or             ³        ³        ³        ³



silver        ³        ³        ³        ³



Louis, crusados of Por-        ³3.75d. Dwt        ³        ³4d. Dwt.        ³



tugal .        ³        ³        ³        ³



Peru pieces, cross,        ³        ³        ³        ³



dollars,        ³3.50d. Dwt        ³        ³3.75d. Dwt.        ³



and old rix dollars of the        ³        ³        ³        ³



empire ,        ³        ³3.75d. Dwt        ³        ³



Old British silver coin not        ³        ³        ³        ³



milled        ³        ³        ³        ³



























The first symptom of the depreciatio n of our present paper money, was that of

silver dollars selling at six shillinas, which had before been worth but five

shillings and ninepence. The assembly thereupon raised them by law to six

shillings. As the dollar is now likely to become the money-unit of America, as

it passes at this rate in some of our sister States, and as it facilitates

their computatio n in pounds and shillings, &c., converso, this seems to be

more







Notes on Virginia 237







convenient than its former denominati on. But as this particular coin now

stands higher than any other in the proportion of one hundred and thirtythree

and a half to one hundred and twenty-f ve, or sixteen to fifteen, it will be

necessary to raise the others in proportion.



















QUERY XXII.







The public Income and Expenses?







The nominal amount of these varying constantly and rapidly, with the constant

and rapid depreciatio n of our paper money, it becomes impracticab le to say

what they are. We find ourselves cheated in every essay by the depreciatio n

intervenin g between the declaration of the tax and its actual receipt. It will

therefore be more satisfactor y to consider what our income may be when we

shall find means of collecting what our people may spare. I should estimate the

whole taxable property of this State at an hundred millions of dollars, or

thirty millions of pounds, our money. One per cent. on this, compared with

anything we ever yet paid, would be deemed a very heavy tax. Yet I think that

those who manage well, and use reasonable economy, could pay one and a half per

cent., and maintain their household comfortabl y in the meantime, without

aligning any part of their principal, and that the people would submit to this

willingly for the







238 Jefferson's Works







purpose of supporting their present contest. We may say, then, that we could

raise, from one million to one million and a half of dollars annually, that is

from three hundred to four hundred and fifty thousand pounds, Virginia money.



Of our expenses it is equally difficult to give an exact state, and for the

same reason. They are mostly stated in paper money, which varying continually ,

the legislature endeavors at every session, by new corrections , to adapt the

nominal sums to the value it is wished they would bear. I will state them,

therefore, in' real coin, at the point at which they endeavor to keep them : '







                                                                               

                   Dollars.



The annual expenses of the general assembly are about.             20,000



The governor... ...... . ... . . ... .. .. ... . .                             

           3,333.3



The council of state .... ..                                                   

       10,666.6



Their clerks.. . . . .... ... . .                                              

             1,166.6



Eleven judges. . . . . . . . . .                                               

         11,000



The clerk of the chancery. . . . . . . ..                                      

        666.6



The attorney general....                                                       

        1,000



Three auditors and a solicitor.... . . . . .                                   

     5,333.3



Their clerks.:.. .. .. . . .... .                                              

              2,000



The treasurer... .....                                                         

              2,000



His clerks..                                                                   

                2,000



The keeper of the public jail... .                                             

        1,000



The public printer..... ... . .. .. ..                                         

            1,666.6



Clerks of the inferior courts..                                                

      43,333.3



Public levy; this is chiefly for the expenses of criminal



justice.                                                                       

                40,000



County levy, for bridges, court-hous es, prisons, &c....                40,000



Members of Congress... ....                                                    

       7,000



Quota of the federal civillist, supposed one-sixth of about



$78,000....... .................. ...........                                  

                13,000



Expenses of collecting, six per cent. On, the above.                     12,310







Notes on Virginia 239











                                                                               

                      Dollars.



The clergy receive only voluntary contributio ns; sup



pose them on an average one-eighth of a dollar a tythe



on 200,000 tythes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..                       

            25,000



Contingenc ies, to make round numbers not far from



truth......... ... ..... . ..... . ... . .......                               

                       7,523.3



                                                                               

                  ---------------



                                                                               

                     $250,000



or 53,571 guineas. This estimate is exclusive of the military expense. That

varies with the force actually employed, and in time of peace will probably be

little or nothing. It is exclusive also of the public debts, which are growing

while I am writing, and cannot therefore be now fixed. So it is of the

maintenanc e of the poor, which being merely a matter of charity cannot be

deemed expended in the administrat ion of governmen t. And if we strike out the

$25,000 for the services of the clergy, which neither makes part of that

administrat ion, more than what is paid to physicians, or lawyers, and being

voluntary, is either much or nothing as every one pleases, it leaves $225,000,

equal to 48,208 guineas, the real cost of the apparatus of governmen t with us.

This divided among the actual inhabitants of our country, comes to about

two-fifths of a dollar, twenty-one pence sterling, or forty-two sols, the price

which each pays annually for the protection of the residue of his property, and

the other advantages of a free governmen t. The public revenues of Great

Britain divided in like manner on its inhabitants would be sixteen times

greater. Deducting even the double of the expenses of governmen t, as before

estimated,







240 Jefferson's Works







from the million and a half of dollars which we before supposed might be

annually paid without distress, . we may conclude that this State can

contribute one million of dollars annually towards supporting the federal army,

paying the federal debt, building a federal navy, or opening roads, clearing

rivers, forming safe ports, and' other useful works.



To this estimate of our abilities, let me add a word as to the application of

them. If, when cleared of the present contest, and of the debts with which that

will charge us, we come to measure force hereafter with any European power.

Such events are devoutly to be deprecated. Young as we are, and with such a

country before us to fill with people and with happiness, we should point in

that direction the whole generative force of nature, wasting none of it in

efforts of mutual destruction . It should be our endeavor to cultivate the

peace and friendship of every nation, even of that which has injured us most,

when we shall have carried our point against her. Our interest will be to throw

open the doors of commerce, and to knock off all its shackles, giving perfect

freedom to all persons for the vent of whatever they may choose to bring into

our ports, and asking the same in theirs. Never was so much false arithmetic

employed on any subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations

that it is their interest to go to war. Were the money which it has cost to

gain, at the close of a long war,







Notes on Virginia 241







a little town, or a little territory, the right to cut wood here, or to catch

fish there, expended in improving what they already possess, in making roads,

opening river s, building ports, improving the arts, and finding employment for

their idle poor, it would render them much stronger, much wealthier and

happier. This I hope will be our wisdom. And, perhaps, to remove as much as

possible the occasions of making war, it might be better for us to abandon the

ocean altogether, that being the element whereon we shall be principally

exposed to jostle with other nations ; to leave to others to bring what we

shall want, and to carry what we can spare. This would make us invulnerabl e to

Europe, by offering none of our property to their prize, and would turn all our

citizens to the cultivation of the earth ; and, I repeat it again, cultivators

of the earth are the most virtuous and independen t citizens. It might be time

enough to seek employment for them at sea, when the land no longer offers it.

But the actual habits of our countryme n attach them to commerce. They will

exercise it for themselves. Wars then must sometimes be our lot ; and all the

wise can do, will be to avoid that half of them which would be produced by our

own follies and our own acts of injustice ; and to make f or the other half the

best preparatio ns we can. Of what nature should these be? A land army would be

useless for offence, and not the best nor safest instrument of defence. For

either of these purposes, the sea is







vol,. II-16



242 Jefferson's Works







the field on which we should meet an European enemy. On that element it is

necessary we should possess some power. To aim at such a navy as the greater

nations of Europe possess, would be a foolish and wicked waste of the energies

of our countryme n. It would be to pull on our own heads that load of military

expense which makes the European laborer go supperless to bed, and moistens his

bread  with the sweat of his brows. It will be enough if we enable ourselves to

prevent insults from those nations of Europe which are weak on the sea, because

circumstan ces exist, which render even the stronger ones weak as to us.

Providence has placed their richest and most defenceless possession s at our

door ; has obliged their most precious commerce to pass, as it were, in review

before us. To protect this, or to assail, a small part only of their naval

force will ever be risked across the Atlantic. The dangers to which the

elements expose them here are too well known, and the greater dangers to. which

they would be exposed at home were any general calamity to involve their whole

fleet. They can attack us by detachment only; and it will suffice to make

ourselves equal to what they may detach. Even a smaller force than they may

detach will be rendered equal or superior by the quickness with which any check

may be repaired with us, while losses with them will be irreparable till too

late. A small naval force then is sufficient for us, and a small one is

necessary. What this should be, I will not







Notes on Virginia 243







undertake to say. I will only say, it should by no means be so great as we are

able to make it. Suppose the million of dollars, or three hundred thousand

pounds, which Virginia could annually spare without distress, to be applied to

the creating a navy. A single year's contributio n would build, equip, man, and

send to sea a force which should carry three hundred guns. The rest of the

confederac y, exerting themselves in the same proportion, would equip in the

same time fifteen hundred guns more. So that one year's contributio ns would

set up a navy of eighteen hundred guns. The British ships of the line average

seventy-si x guns; their frigates thirty-eigh t. Eighteen hundred guns then

would form a fleet of thirty ships, eighteen of which might be of the line, and

twelve frigates. Allowing eight men, the British average, for every gun, their

annual expense, including subsistenc e, clothing, pay, and ordinary repairs,

would be about $1,280 for every gun, or $2,304,000 for the whole. I state this

only as one year's possible exertion, without deciding whether more or less

than a year's exertion should be thus applied.



The value of our lands and slaves, taken conjunctly, doubles in about twenty

years. , This arises from the multiplicati on of our slaves, from the ex-

tension of culture, and increased demand for lands. The amount of what may be

raised will of course rise in the same proportion.







244 Jefferson's Works











QUERY XXIII.







The histories of the State, the memorials published in its name in the time of

its being a colony, and the pamphlets relating to its interior or exterior

affairs present or ancient ?



Captain Smith, who next to Sir Walter Raleigh may be considered as the founder

of our colony, has written its history, from the first adventures to it, till

the year 1624. He was a member of the council, and afterwards president of the

colony; and to his efforts principally may be ascribed its support against the

opposition of the natives. He was honest, sensible, and well informed; but his

style is barbarous and uncouth. His history, however, is almost the only source

from which we derive any knowledge of the infancy of our State.



The reverend William Stith, a native of Virginia, and president of its college,

has also written the history of the same period, in a large octavo volume of

small print. He was a man of classical learning, and very exact, but of no

taste in style. He is inelegant, therefore, and his details often too minute to

be tolerable, even to a native of the country, whose history he writes.



Beverley, a native also, has run into the other extreme, he has comprised our

history from the first proposition s of Sir Walter Raleigh to the year 1700, in

the hundredth part of the space which Stith employs for the fourth part of the

period.







Notes on Virginia 245







Sir Walter Keith has taken it up at its earliest period, and continued it to

the year 1725. He is agreeable enough in style, and passes over events of

little importance. Of course he is short and would be preferred by a foreigner.



During the regal governmen t, some contest arose on the exaction of an illegal

fee by Governor Dinwiddie, and doubtless there were others on other occasions

not at present recollected. It is supposed that these are not sufficiently

interesting to a foreigner to merit a detail.



The petition of the council and burgesses of Virginia to the king, their

memorials to the lords, and remonstran ce to the commons in the year 1764,

began the present contest ; and these having proved ineffectual to prevent the

passage of the stamp-act, the resolutions of the house of burgesses of 1765

were passed declaring the independen ce of the people of Virginia of the

parliament of Great Britain, in matters of taxation. From that time till the

Declaration of Independe nce by Congress in 1776, their journals are filled

with assertions of the public rights.







The pamphlets published in this State on the controvert ed question, were :



1766, An Inquiry into the rights of the British Colonies, by Richard Bland.



1769, The Monitor's Letters, by Dr. Arthur Lee. 1774, A summary View of the

rights of British America.(1)











__________







(1) By the author of these " Notes."



__________







246 Jefferson's Works







1774, Considerati ons, &c., by Robert Carter Nichalas.



Since the Declaration of Independe nce this State has had no controvers y with

any other, except with that of Pennsylvan ia, on their common boundary. Some

papers on this subject passed between the executive and legislative bodies of

the two States, the result of which was a happy accommodat ion of their rights.



To this account of our historians, memorials, and pamphlets, it may not be

unuseful to add a chronologic al catalogue of American state-pape rs, as far as

I have been able to collect their titles. It is far from being either complete

or correct. Where the title alone, and not the paper itself, has come under my

observatio n, I cannot answer for the exactness of the date. Sometimes I have

not been able to find any date at all, and sometimes have not been satisfied

that such a paper exists. An extensive collection of papers of this description

has been for some time in a course of preparatio n by a gentleman( 1) fully

equal to the task, and from whom, therefore, we may hope ere long to receive

it. In the meantime accept this as the result of my labors, and as closing the

tedious detail which you have so undesigned ly drawn upon yourself.







__________







(1) Ebenezer Hazard.



__________















Notes on Virginia 247







Pro Johanne Caboto et filiis suis super terra incognita in-     1496,  Mar.  5.



    vestiganda.   12. Ry.595. 3. Hakl.4. 2. Mem. A.409.       11 H.7.







Billa signata anno 13. Henrici septimi.3. Hakluyt's voi-        1498, Feb. 3.



     ages 5.                                                                   

        13 H. 7.







De potestatibu s ad terras incognitas investigan dum.13.         1502, Dec. 19.



     Rymer.37.                                                                 

      18 H.7.







Commission de Francois I. a Jacques Catier pour l'estab-       1540, Oct. 17.



      lissement du Canada. L'Escarbot. 397. 2. Mem. Am. 



      416.



An act against the exaction of money, or any other thing,        1548, 2. E. 6.



      by any officer for license to traffique into Iseland and



       New-foundl and, made in An. 2. Edwardi sexti.3. Hakl.



       131.



The letters-pat ent granted by her Majestie to Sir Hum-            1578, June

11. 



      phrey Gilbert, knight, for the inhabiting and planting           20 El.



       of our people in America. 3. Hakl. 135.



Letters-pat ent of Queen Elizabeth to Adrian Gilbert and           1583, Feb.

6.



       others to discover the northwest passage to China. 3. 



      Hakl. 96.



The letters-pat ent granted by the Queen's majestie to M.           1584, Mar.

25. 26 El.



      Walter Raleigh. now Knight, for the discoverin g and 



       planting of new lands and countries, to continue the 



       space of six years and no more. 3. Hakl. 243.



An assignment by Sir Walter Raleigh for continuing the             Mar. 7. 31.

El. 



      action of inhabiting and planting his people in Virginia.



       Hakl. lst. ed. publ. in 1589. p. 815.



Lettres de Lieutenant General de l'Acadie et pays circon-           1603, Nov.

8. 



      voisins pour le Sieur de Monts. L'Escarbot. 417.



Letters-pat ent to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers             1606, Apr.

10. 



      and others of America. Stith. Apend. No. 1.                          4

Jac. 1.







An ordinance and constitutio n enlarging the council of                1607,

Mar. 9.



       the two colonies in Virginia and America, and augmenting



        their authority, M. S.



The second charter to the treasurer and company for                    1609,

May 23.



        Virginia, erecting them into a body politick. Stith.                 7

Jac. 1. 



       Ap. 2.



Letters-pat ent to the E. of Northampto n, granting part                  

1610, April 10.



       of the island of Newfoundla nd. 1. Harris. 861.                         

Jac. 1.



A third charter to the treasurer and company for Virginia.                1611,

Mar. 12.



 Stith. Ap. 3.                                                                 

                   9 Jac.1.







A commission to Sir Walter Raleigh. Qu.                                        

 1617, Jac. 1







248 Jefferson's Works







1620, Apr. 7.        Commission specialis concernens le garbling herbae Noco-



 18 Jac. 1.                  tianae. 17. Rym. 190.



1620, June 29.      A proclamatio n for restraint of the disordered trading of 



18 Jac. 1.                   tobacco. 17. Rym. 233.



1620, Nov. 3.       A grant of New-Engla nd to the council of Plymouth.



 Jac.1.                   An ordinance and constitutio n of the treasurer,

council



1621, July 24.            and company in England, for a council of state and

general



  Jac.1                       assembly in Virginia. Stith. Ap. 4.



1621, Sep. 10.      A grant of Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander. 2. Mem.



 20 Jac. 1.                  de I'Amerique. 193.



1622, Nov.6.        A proclamatio n prohibiting interloping and disorderly 



20 Jac. 1.                    trading to New England in America. 17. Rym. 416.



1623, May 9.         De commission e speciali Willelmo Jones militi directa.

17.



 21 Jac. 1.                   Rym.490.



1623.                    A grant to Sir Edmund Ployden, of New Albion.

Mentioned



                                    in Smith's examination . 82.



1624 July 15.        De commission e Henrico vicecomiti Mandevill et aliis. 17.



 22 Jac. 1.                    Rym. 609.



1624, Aug. 26.      De commission e speciali concernent i gubernatio nem in



 22 Jac. 1.                    Virginia. 17. Rym. 618.



1624,, Sep. 29.       A proclamatio n concerning tobacco. 17. Rym. 621. 



22. Jac.1.



1624, Nov. 9.         De concession e demiss, Edwardo Ditchfield et aliis. 17. 



22 Jac. 1.                      Rym. 633.



1625, Mar. 2.         A proclamatio n for the utter prohibiting the importation





22 Jac. 1.                      and use of all tobacco which is not of the

proper growth



                                     of the colony of Virginia and the Somer

islands, or one 



                                     of them. 17. Rym. 668.



1625, Mar. 4



1 Car. 1. .                 De commission e directa Georgio Yardeley militi et

aliis.



                                      18. Rym. 311.



1625, Apr. 9.



1 Car. 1. .                 Proclamatio de herba Nicotiana. 18. Rym. 19.







1625, May 13.          A proclamatio n for settlinge the plantation of

Virginia.



 1 Car. 1.                        18. Rym. 72.



1625, July 12.           A grant of the soil, barony, and domains of Nova

Scotia to



                                       Sir Wm. Alexander of Minstrie. 2. Mem.

Am. 226. 



1626, Jan. 31.           Commission directa a Johanni Wolstenhol me militi et

aliis. 



2 Car. 1.                        18. Rym. 831.



1626, Feb. 17.           A proclamatio n touching tobacco. Rym. 848. 



2 Car. 1.



1627, Mar. 19.          A grant of Massachuse tts bay by the council of

Plymouth



 qu? 2 Car.1.                   to Sir Henry Roswell and others.



1627, Mar. 26.          De concession e commissioni s specialis proconcilio in

Virginia. 



 3 Car. 1.                        18. Rym. 980.







Notes on Virginia 249











De proclamatione de signatione de tobacco. 18. Rym. 886                 1627,

Mar. 30.



                                                                               

                          3 Car. 1.



De proclamatio ne pro ordinatione de tobacco. 18. Rym.                    

1627, Aug. 9. 



       920.                                                                    

                        3 Car. 1. 



A confirmatio n of the grant of Massachuse tts bay by the                    

1628, Mar. 4.



crown.                                                                         

                       3 Car. 1. 



The capitulatio n of Quebec. Champlain pert. 2. 216.                           

1629, Aug. 19.



2. Mem. Am. 489.



A proclamatio n concerning tobacco. 19. Rym. 235.                            

1630, Jan. 6. 



      Conveyanc e of Nova Scotia (Port-royal excepted) by Sir               5

Car. 1.



      William Alexander to Sir Claude St. Etienne Lord of la                 

1630, April 30. 



     Tour and of Uarre and to his son Sir Charles de St. 



      Etienne Lord of St. Denniscour t, on condition that they 



      continue subjects to the king of Scotland under the 



      great seal of Scotland.



A proclamatio n forbidding the disorderly trading with the                    

1630-31; Nov. 



      savages in New England in America, especially the                        

 24. 6 Car.1. 



      furnishing the natives in those and other parts of America



      by the English with weapons and habiliments of 



      warre. 19. Ry. 210. 3. Rushw. 82.



A proclamatio n prohibiting the selling arms,&c. to the                        

 1630, Dec. 5.



      savages in America. Mentioned 3. Rushw. 75.                              

 6 Car. 1.



A grant of Connecticu t by the council of Plymouth to the                    

1630, Car. 1. 



      E. of Warwick.



A confirmatio n by the crown of the grant of Connecticu t                     

1630, Car. 1. 



      [said to be in the petty-bag office in England].



A conveiance of Connecticu t by the E. of Warwick to                         

1631. Mar. 19. 



      Lord Say, and Seal, and others. Smith's examination ,                    

 6 Car.1. 



      Appendix No. 1.



A special commission to Edward, Earle of  Dorsett, and                      

1631, June 27. 



      others, for the better plantation of the colony of Vir-                  

   7 Car. 1. 



       ginia. 19. Ry. 301.



Litere continentes promission em regis ad tradenum cas-                      

1632, June 29. 



      trum et habitatione m de Kebec in Canada ad regem                       

7 Car.1. 



      Francorum. 19. Ry. 303.



Traite entre le roy Louis