Edmund Randolph, he wrote the first letter of his retirement.
In this he said: "I think it is Montaigne who has said that
ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his
head. I am sure it is true as to everything political, and shall
endeavor to estrange myself to^ everything of that character.
I indulge myself on one political topic only, that is, in declar-
ing to my countrymen the shameless corruption of a portion of
the representatives tO' the first and second Congresses and
their implicit devotion to the Treasury." To Mr. Adams, the
Vice-President, he wrote even more complacently: "The differ-
ence of my present and past situation is such as to leave me
nothing to regret but that my retirement has been postponed
four years too long. The principles on which I calculated the
value of life are entirely in favor of my present course. I return
to farming with an ardor which has got the better entirely of
my love of study. Instead of writing ten or twelve letters a
day, which I have been in the habit of doing as a thing of
course, I put off answering my letters now, farmerlike, till a
rainy day, and then find them sometimes postponed by other
necessary occupations."
To Tenche Coxe, an old friend, he wrote in a vein which
later furnished his opponents with a theme for much ridicule:
"1 am still warm w^henever I think of those scoundrels [mem-
bers of Congress whO' had profited by Hamilton's schemes],
though I do it as seldom as I can, preferring infinitely to con-
template the tranquil growth of my lucern and my potatoes.
I have so completely withdrawn myself from these spectacles
of usurpation and misrule that I dO' not take a single newspaper,
nor read one a month; and I feel myself infinitely happier for it."
According to his farm book, his estate comprised a total of
10,647 acres, but the greatest area under cultivation at any
one time never reached two thousand acres. His slaves num-
bered one hundred and fifty-four. His domestic animals at the
beginning of 1 794 were thirty-four horses, five mules, two hun-
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 59
dred and forty-nine cattle, three hundred and ninety hogs, and
three sheep. A letter to the President shows the condition of
his property: "I find, on a more minute examination of my
lands than the short visits heretofore made to them permitted,
that a ten years' abandonment of them to the ravages of over-
seers has brought on them a degree of degradation far beyond
what I had expected. As this obliges me to adopt a milder
course of cropping, sO' I find that they have enabled me to do
it by having opened a great deal of land during my absence,
I have, therefore, determined on a division of my farms into six
fields, to be put in this rotation: first year, wheat; second,
corn, potatoes, peas; third, rye or wheat, according to circum-
stances; fourth and fifth, clover when the field will bring it; and
buckwheat dressings when they will not; sixth, folding and
buckwheat dressings. But it will take me from three to six
years to get this plan under way. I am not yet satisfied that
my acquisition of overseers has been a happy one, or that much /
will be done this year towards rescuing my plantations from
their wretched condition. Time, patience and perseverance
must be the remedy; and the maxim of your letter, 'Slow and
sure,' is not less a good one in agriculture than in politics."
Success attended Jefferson's efforts tO' reduce to system the
affairs of his estate. A picture of the prosperity of Monticello
and a pleasing sketch of its owner was drawn by Rochefoucauld-
Liancourt, whO' visited Jefferson in 1796: "At present he is
employed with activity and perseverance in the management
of his farms and buildings; and he orders, directs, and pursues
in the minutest detail every branch of business relative to them.
I found him in the midst of harvest, from which the scorching
heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance. His negroes
are nourished, clothed, and treated as well as white servants
could be. As he did not expect any assistance from the two'
small neighboring towns, every article is made on his farm. His
negroes are cabinet-makers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers,
smiths, etc. The children he employs in a nail factory, which
yields already a considerable profit. The young and old ne-
gresses spin for the clothing of the rest. He animates them
6o THE LIFE AND WRITINGS
by rewards and distinctions. In fine, his superior mind directs
the management of his domestic concerns with the same ability,
activity, and regularity which he evinced in the conduct of pub-
lic affairs, and which he is calculated to display in any situation
of life. In the superintendence of his household, he is assisted
by his two daughters, Mrs. Randolph and Miss Maria, who are
handsome, modest and amiable women."
It was in the summer of 1796 that Jefterson reduced to defi-
nite form his speculations on the subject of mould-boards of
least resistance. He had been at work upon this problem for
years, and it was with great pride that he finally solved it and
put his ideal plows in operation in his own fields. In 1798, at
the official request of the English Board of Agriculture, he
forwarded to them a model and description of his plow; and,
a vear or so later, he also sent one to the Agricultural Society
of the Seine. Indeed, it was generally understood in France
that Jefferson was the discoverer of a formula for constructing,
on mathematical principles, a mould-board of least resistance for
plows.
Although immersed in subjects of scientific agriculture, Jef-
ferson's mind had never really forsaken its old channels. His
letters of 1795 and 1796 constantly revert to political topics.
Washington's address to Congress in November. 1794. at-
tracted his keenest interest. This concerned exclusively the
measures which had been taken by the Executive to put down
the revolts in western Pennsylvania against the Excise Law.
Since the passage of the law in ;March. 1791, there had been
throughout this section constant protests and popular disturb-
ances. In the summer of 1794 these troubles culminated in
a meeting of delegates at Pittsburg, at which a system of cor-
respondence between the malcontents was established. Armed
men continued to interrupt Federal officers in the discharge of
their duties, and either drove them away or compelled them
to pledge themselves not to attempt to ser\'e processes. All
these m.easures had as their avowed purpose the repeal of the
law. Before resorting to force the President issued a proclama-
tion of warning to the law-breakers. Randolph, Jefferson's
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 6l
successor as Secretary of State, and Gov. Mifflin, the Republi-
can Governor of Pennsylvania, advised that certain commis-
sioners already appointed should proceed to the scene of dis-
turbance and ofifer a full pardon for past offenses on condition
of future obedience to the laws; and they maintained that this
would be more effectual if there was no threat of calling out
troops. Hamilton, however, the father of the obnoxious law,
was for more stringent measures. He urged Washington to
call for troops at once and send them, against the insurgents
if they refused obedience. This plan prevailed, and the Presi-
dent made requisition in due form upon the Governors of New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia for 15,000 militia.
General Henry Lee, of Virginia, was in command; but Hamil-
ton's request that he might accompany the expedition had been
granted, and he was virtually its head. The troops crossed
the Alleghanies late in October, but when they arrived in
the disaffected district no resistance of any kind was offered.
Several persons were arrested, but were subsequently released
by the civil authorities.
Jefferson at the outset had been bitterly opposed to the pas-
sage of the Excise Law; and besides his disapproval of the
spirit in. which its execution was now enforced, his sentiments
toward the men at the head of the expedition were not such as
to reconcile him to it. He could no longer keep silent when
he saw in the President's address a vigorous denunciation of the
Democratic Corresponding Societies which in some States had
been established in imitation of the French societies of that
name. The President held these in a large measure responsible
for the outbreak. Jefferson wrote to Madison his first censure
of the President: "The denunciation of the democratic so-
cieties is one of the extraordinary acts of boldness of which we
have seen so many from the faction of Monocrats. It is won-
derful indeed that the President should have permitted himself
to be the organ of such an attack on the freedom of discussion,
the freedom of writing, printing and publishing. I expected
to have seen some justification of arming one part of the society
against another; * * * but the part of the speech which was
62 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS
to be taken as a justification of the armament reminded me of
Parson Sanders's demonstration why minus into minus makes
plus. After a parcel of shreds of stuff from ^sop's Fables and
Tom Thumb, he jumps at once intO' his ergo, minus multiplied
by minus makes plus. Just so the fifteen thousand men enter
after the fables in the speech."
Hardly had the excitement of the country over the excise
trouble subsided, when a fresh cause of dissension arose in the
treaty* arranged with England by John Jay. The advocates
of this treaty did not claim perfection for it. Jay himself was
dissatisfied with some of its terms; Hamilton was for "valuable
alterations;" and the President, according to Judge Marshall's
statement, had several objections to it. Tlie Federalist party in
the main supported it as the best treaty that could be secured
in the circumstances. The Republican party, on the contrary-,
everywhere denounced it in unmeasured terms as a shameless
surrender to England of every point at issue between the two
countries. In this they were joined by many who- had hith-
erto been uniformly well affected toward the administration.
Immense mass meetings were held in Boston, New York, Phila-
delphia, Charleston, and in many of the rural sections to protest
against the final ratification of the treaty.
Jefferson's first expression of an opinion on the treaty shows
surprisingly little sympathy with this general dissatisfaction.
He wrote Mann Page on August 30th, 1795 : "Our part of the
country is in considerable fermentation on what they suspect to
be a recent roguery. They say that while all hands were below
deck mending sails, splicing ropes, and every one at his own
business, and the captain in his cabin attending to his log-book
and chart, a rogue of a pilot has run them into- an enemy's
port. But metaphor apart, there is much dissatisfaction with
Mr. Jay and his treaty. For my part, I consider myself now
but as a passenger, leaving the world and its government tO'
those who are likely tO' live longer in it." When, however,
Hamilton came forward over the signature, first of Curtins, and
*See Jay's Treaty, page 269.
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 63
then of Camillus, as the special champion of the treaty, Jeffer-
son forgot his slender hold upon the world and showed a very
robust desire to have Hamilton refuted. Three weeks after
the letter to Page he wrote to Madison: "A solid reply might
completely demolish what was toO' feebly attacked and has gath-
ered strength from the weakness of the attack. The mer-
chants w^ere certainly (except those of them who are English)
as open-mouthed at first against the treaty as any. But the
general expression of indignation has alarmed them for the
strength of the Government. They have feared the shock would
be too great, and chosen to tack about and support both Treaty
and Government rather than risk the Government. Thus it is
that Hamilton, Jay, etc., in the boldest act they ever ventured
on to undermine the Government, have the address tO' screen
themselves, and direct the hue and cry against those who wish
to drag them into light. A bolder party stroke was never struck.
For it certainly is an attempt of a party who find they have lost
their majority in one branch of the Legislature, to make a law
by the aid of the other branch and of the Executive, under
color of a treaty which shall bind up the hands of the adverse
branch from ever restraining the commerce of their patron na-
tion. There appears a pause at present in the public senti-
ment which may be followed by a revolution. * ' * * For
God's sake take up your pen and give a fundamental reply to
Ciirtius and Camillus.''
Despite the Republican opposition, the treaty was ratified.
This evoked a storm, of criticism, the bitterness of which has
rarely been equalled in our history. Jefferson joined in this
criticism and did not spare Washington himself. He even as-
sailed the treaty-making power of the Executive. l( "The objects
on which the President and Senate may exclusively act by
treaty are much reduced," he wrote, "but the field on which
they may act with the sanction of the Legislature is large
enough. And I see nO' harm in rendering their sanction neces-
sary and not much harm in annihilating the whole treaty-making
power, except as to making peace." Touching the President's
refusal to lay before the House the documents relating to the
64 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS
treaty, he wrote to Madison: "The whole mass of your con-
stituents are looking to you as their last hope to save them from
the effects of the avarice and corruption of the first agent [Jay],
the revolutionary machinations of others, and the incompre-
hensible acquiescence of the only honest man who has assented
to it. I wish that his honesty and his political errors may not
furnish a second occasion to exclaim: 'Curse on his virtues,
they have undone his country.' "
Jay's treaty and the insurrection against the Excise Law drew
Jefferson into the current of active politics. The Presidential
election of 1796 found him the candidate of his party. If we
may trust his own protestations, he became a candidate much
against his will. To Madison's urgent appeal that he assume
the leadership of his party he replied (April, 1795): ''There is
not another person (beside yourself) in the United States, who
being placed at the helm of affairs, my mind would be so> com-
pletely at rest for the future of our political bark. * * *
As to myself, the subject had been thoroughly weighed and
decided on, and my retirement from office had been meant from
all office, high and low, without exception. I can say, too,
with truth, that the subject had not been presented to my mind
by any vanity of my own. * * * g^^ |.}-,g j^jg^ being once
presented to me, my own quiet required that I should face and
examine it. I did so thoroughly, and had no difficulty to- see
that every reason which had determined me to retire from
the office I then held operated more strongly against that which
was insinuated from a hostile quarter to be my object. * * *
Special considerations which have supervened on my retirement
still more insuperably bar the door to it. My health is entirely
broken down within the last eight months; my age requires that
I shall place my affairs in a clear state; these are sound if taken
care of, but capable of considerable dangers if longer neglected;
and above all things, the delights I feel in the society of my fam-
ily and in the agricultural pursuits in which I am so eagerly
engaged. The little spice of ambition which I had in my
younger days has long since evaporated, and I set still less store
by a posthumous than present name. In stating to you the
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 65
heads of reasons which have produced my determination, I do
not mean an opening for future discussion, or that I may be
reasoned out of it. The question is forever closed with me;
my sole object is to avail myself of the first opening ever given
me from a friendly quarter (and I could not with decency do
it before) of preventing any division or loss of votes which might
be fatal to the Republican interests,"
There is no good reason to doubt that Jefferson was sincere
when he made these assertions; but he had mistaken a purely
temporary condition of body and mind for a lasting one. Time
had restored his health and brought events of national and in-
ternational importance in whose settlement he could but feel
an absorbing interest. True, he was not now aggressively eager
for the nomination; but it was only natural that he should not
be indifferent to the spontaneous and unanimous wish of his
party. It was not definitely known until Washington's Farewell
Address appeared, in September, that he would retire, but his
retirement was anticipated, and by midsummer Jefferson was
recognized as the Republican candidate. The contest was be-
tween him and Adams, the Federalist candidate. The campaign
was strangely quiet. Jefferson wrote but one political letter,
and was not outside of his county during the three months pre-
ceding the election.
It was late in December when Jefferson learned the result of
the contest. On January ist, 1797, he wrote Madison: "The
event of the election has never been a matter of doubt in my
mind. * * * Indeed, the vote comes much nearer an equal-
ity than I had expected. I know the difficulty of obtaining be-
lief in one's declarations of a disinclination to honors, and that
it is greatest to those who' still remain in the world. But no
arguments were wanting to reconcile me to a relinquishment
of the first office or acquiescence under the second. As to
the first, it was impossible that a more solid unwillingness settled
on full calculation could have existed in any man's mind, short
of the degree of absolute refusal. * * * Ag ^o the second,
it is the only office in the world about which I am, unable to
decide in my own mind whether I had rather have it or not have
66 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS
it. Pride does not enter into the estimate; for I think with the
Romans that the general of to-day should be a soldier of to-
morrow if necessary. I can particularly have no feelings which
would revolt at a secondary position tO' Mr. Adams. I am
his junior in life, was his junior in Congress, his junior in the
diplomatic line, his junior lately in our civil Government," It
seems almost inexplicable at first sight that Jefferson should
thus view the success of a rival and an acknowledged Federalist;
but the idea of a compromise with Adams, of which we shall
see later the development, was already in his mind.
On February 8th, 1797, the votes for President and Vice-Presi-
dent were opened in the presence of the two Houses of Con-
gress. Adams had received the entire votes of the New England
States, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, one from Penn-
sylvania, seven frO'm Maryland, one from Virginia, and one
from North Carolina — seventy-one in all. Jefferson had re-
ceived the entire votes of South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky,
and Tennessee with fourteen from Pennsylvania, four from
Maryland, twenty from Virginia and eleven from North Caro-
lina — a total of sixty-eight. Adams was therefore declared
President and Jefferson Vice-President.
JEFFERSON AS VICE-PRESIDENT.
In March, 1797, Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia in time to
assume his duties as Vice-President. He had written Madison
on January 22nd : "Though I am not aware of any necessity of
going on to Philadelphia immediately, yet I have determined
to do it as a mark of respect to the public, and to do away with
the doubts which have spread that I will consider the second
office as beneath my acceptance. The journey, indeed, for the
month of February is a tremendous undertaking for one who
has not been seven miles from home since my re-settlement."
Adams' inaugural speech was regarded by the extreme Fed-
eralists as "temporizing, and as having the air of a lure for
the favor of his opponents at the expense of his sincerity." This
opinion, divested of its harsh tone, was not without founda-
\
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 67
tion, for interviews had already taken place between Adams
and Jefferson which looked toward a coalition of their forces.
Jefferson was more than willing' to meet him half way. He
had, on March 2nd, called on the President-elect. The call was
returned the next morning. Jefferson described the interview
at length:
"Mr. Adams found me alone in my room, and shutting the
door himself, said he was glad tO' find me alone, for that he
wished a free conversation with me. He entered immediately on
an explanation of the situation of our affairs with France and
the danger of rupture with that nation, a rupture which would
convulse the attachments of this country, * * * That he
had, therefore, concluded to send a mission, which by its dignity
should satisfy France, and by its selection from the three great
divisions of the continent, should satisfy all parts of the United
States; in short, that he had determined to join Gerry and Madi-
son to Pinckney, and he wished me to consult Mr. Madison
for him. * * * j consulted Mr. Madison, who declined as
I expected."
But the attempt to harmonize was destined to be abortive,
for Adams, before two days should elapse, was to prove himself
not so far freed from party ties. Jefferson's "Anas" gives the se-
quel: "I think it was on Monday, the sixth of March, Mr.
Adams and myself met at dinner at Gen. Washington's, and
we happened in the evening' to rise from the table and come
away together. As soon as we got intO' the street, I told him
the event of my negotiation with Mr. Madison. He immediately
said that on consultation some objections to that nomination
had been raised which he had not contemplated; and was going
on with excuses, which evidently embarrassed him, when we
came to Fifth street, where our road separated, his being-
down Market street, mine along Fifth, and we took leave; and
he never after that said one word to. me on the subject, or ever
consulted me as tO' any measures of the Government." The
usual extra session of the Senate for confirming appointments
lasted a few days, and Jefferson returned to Monticello imme-
diately.
68 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS
The most urgent matter awaiting the new administration
was that of our French relations. In 1794, Monroe had been
sent by Washington as special envoy to France, and had been
received by the National Convention with every demonstration
of good will. He had secured the repeal of the decree which
authorized the seizure and sale of provisions found on board
United States vessels; and payment for seizures already made
was promised. But Jay's mission to England, with the uncer-
tainty as to its true purpose, had proved itself an insuperable
obstacle to full unity with France. The French Government
complained that the impending treaty was an infraction of the
existing one of 1778 between America and France. The United
States Government, after it had committed itself to the ratifica-
tion of the treaty, recalled Monroe.
At this the French Government, whose executive power had,
in 1795, been merged into a Directory of five members, took
violent offense. They alleged that Monroe's recall was due
solely to his friendly disposition toward their country, and they
immediately entered upon extreme measures of retaliation.
French cruisers were ordered to treat neutrals as those neutrals
permitted the English to treat them; and, in October, 1796, an
Arret was issued directing the seizure of British property and
provisions found on board American vessels.
The relations between the United States and France were at
this tension when Adams became President. In less than three
weeks came news of still greater importance. The head of the
Directory, in granting Monroe his letters of recall had used
severe language in regard to the policy of the American Gov-
ernment toward England, and had refused letters of hospitality
to Pinckney, who had been sent as Monroe's successor. Adams
immediately called an extra session of Congress to meet on
May 15th, and opened it with a speech of warlike tone. The
answers ol the two Houses were of a similar character, and in
this spirit they began legislation. With this special session
of Congress began Jefferson's first service as the permanent
presiding officer of a deliberative body. The duties were not
entirely strange to him, for he had often been called to the chair
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 69
of the Virginia House of Burgesses and of the Continental Con-
gress. In spite of this experience, however, he was fully aware
of his lack of acquaintance with parliamentary procedure. He