At the age of 77, I begin to make some memoranda and state some recollections of dates & facts concerning myself, for my own more ready reference & for the information of my family.
The tradition in my father's family was that their ancestor came to this country from Wales, and from near the mountain of Snowdon, the highest in Gr. Br. I noted once a case from Wales in the law reports where a person of our name was either pl. or def. and one of the same name was Secretary to the Virginia company. These are the only instances in which I have met with the name in that country. I have found it in our early records, but the first particular information I have of any ancestor was my grandfather who lived at the place in Chesterfield called Ozborne's and ownd. the lands afterwards the glebe of the parish. He had three sons, Thomas who died young, Field who settled on the waters of Roanoke and left numerous descendants, and Peter my father, who settled on the lands still own called Shadwell adjoining my present residence. He was born Feb. 29, 1707/8, and intermarried 1739. with Jane Randolph, of the age of 19. daur of Isham Randolph one of the seven sons of that name & family settled at Dungeoness in Goochld. They trace their pedigree far back in England & Scotland, to which let every one ascribe the faith & merit he chooses.
My father's education had been quite neglected; but being
of a strong mind, sound judgment and eager after
information, he read much and improved himself insomuch that
he was chosen with Joshua Fry professor of Mathem. in W.
& M. college to continue the boundary line between
Virginia & N. Caroline which had been begun by Colo
Byrd, and was afterwards employed with the same Mr. Fry to
make the 1st map of Virginia which had ever been made, that
of Capt Smith being merely a conjectural sketch. They
possessed excellent
In 1769, I became a member of the legislature by the choice of the county in which I live, & continued in that until it was closed by the revolution. I made one effort in that body for the permission of the emancipation of slaves, which was rejected: and indeed, during the regal government, nothing liberal could expect success. Our minds were circumscribed within narrow limits by an habitual belief that it was our duty to be subordinate to the mother country in all matters of government, to direct all our labors in subservience to her interests, and even to observe a bigoted intolerance for all religions but hers. The difficulties with our representatives were of habit and despair, not of reflection & conviction. Experience soon proved that they could bring their minds to rights on the first summons of their attention. But the king's council, which acted as another house of legislature, held their places at will & were in most humble obedience to that will: the Governor too, who had a negative on our laws held by the same tenure, & with still greater devotedness to it: and last of all the Royal negative closed the last door to every hope of amelioration.
On the 1st of January, 1772 I was married to Martha Skelton widow of Bathurst Skelton, & daughter of John Wayles, then 23. years old. Mr. Wayles was a lawyer of much practice, to which he was introduced more by his great industry, punctuality & practical readiness, than to eminence in the science of his profession. He was a most agreeable companion, full of pleasantry & good humor, and welcomed in every society. He acquired a handsome fortune, died in May, 1773, leaving three daughters, and the portion which came on that event to Mrs. Jefferson, after the debts should be paid, which were very considerable, was about equal to my own patrimony, and consequently doubled the ease of our circumstances.
When the famous Resolutions of 1765, against the Stamp-act,
were proposed, I was yet a student of law in Wmsbg.
attended the debate however at the door of the lobby of the
In May, 1769, a meeting of the General Assembly was called by the Govr., Ld. Botetourt. I had then become a member; and to that meeting became known the joint resolutions & address of the Lords & Commons of 1768 — 9, on the proceedings in Massachusetts. Counter-resolutions, & an address to the King, by the H. of Burgesses were agreed to with little opposition, & a spirit manifestly displayed of considering the cause of Massachusetts as a common one. The Governor dissolved us: but we met the next day in the Apollo of the Raleigh tavern, formed ourselves into a voluntary convention, drew up articles of association against the use of any merchandise imported from Gr. Britain, signed and recommended them to the people, repaired to our several counties, & were re elected without any other exception than of the very few who had declined assent to our proceedings.
Nothing of particular excitement occurring for a
considerable time our countrymen seemed to fall into a state
of insensibility to our situation. The duty on tea not yet
repealed & the Declaratory act of a right in the British
parl to bind us by their laws in all cases whatsoever, still
suspended over us. But a court of inquiry held in R. Island
in 1762, with a power to send persons to England to be tried
for offences committed here was considered at our session of
the spring of 1773. as demanding attention. Not thinking
our old & leading members up to the point of forwardness
& zeal which the times required, Mr. Henry, R. H. Lee,
Francis L. Lee, Mr. Carr & myself agreed to meet in the
evening in a private room of the Raleigh to consult on the
state of things. There may have been a member or two more
whom do not recollect. We were all sensible that the most
urgent of all measures was that of coming to an
understanding with all the other colonies to consider the
British claims as a common cause to all, & to
The origination of these commees of correspondence between the colonies has been since claimed for Massachusetts, and Marshall II. 151, has given into this error, altho' the very note of his appendix to which he refers, shows that their establmt was confined to their own towns. This matter will be seen clearly stated in a letter of Samuel Adams Wells to me of Apr. 2., 1819, and my answer of May 12. I was corrected by the letter of Mr. Wells in the information I had given Mr. Wirt, as stated in his note, pa. 87, that the messengers of Massach. & Virga crossed each other on the way bearing similar propositions, for Mr. Wells shows that Mass. did not adopt the measure but on the receipt of our proposn delivered at their next session. Their message therefore which passed ours, must have related to something else, for I well remember P. Randolph's informing me of the crossing of our messengers.
The next event which excited our sympathies for
Massachusets was the Boston port bill, by which that port
was to be shut up on the 1st of June, 1774. This arrived
while we were in session in the spring of that year. The
lead in the house on these subjects being no longer left to
the old members, Mr. Henry, R. H. Lee, Fr. L. Lee, 3. or 4.
other members, whom annually, as should be
convenient to direct, from time to time, the measures
required by the general interest: and we declared that an
attack on any one colony should be considered as an attack
on the whole. This was in May. We further recommended to
the several counties to elect deputies to meet at Wmsbg the
1st of Aug ensuing, to consider the state of the colony,
& particularly to appoint delegates to a general
Congress, should that measure be acceded to by the commees
of correspdce generally. It was acceded to, Philadelphia
was appointed for the place, and the 5th of Sep. for the
time of meeting. We returned home, and
Mr. Randolph was according to expectation obliged to
leave the chair of Congress to attend the Gen. Assembly
summoned
I prepared a draught of the Declaration committed to us.
It was too strong for Mr. Dickinson. He still retained the
hope of reconciliation with the mother country, and was
unwilling it should be lessened by offensive statements. He
was so honest a man, & so able a one that he was greatly
indulged even by those who could not feel his scruples. We
therefore requested him to take the paper, and put it into a
form he could approve. He did so, preparing an entire new
statement, and preserving of the former only the last 4.
paragraphs & half of the preceding one. We approved
& reported it to Congress, who accepted it. Congress
gave a signal proof of their indulgence to Mr. Dickinson,
and of their great desire not to go too fast for any
respectable part of our body, in permitting him to draw
their second petition to the King according to his own
ideas, and passing it with scarcely any amendment. The
disgust against this humility was general; and Mr.
Dickinson's delight at its passage was the only circumstance
which reconciled them to it. The vote being passed, altho'
further observn on it was out of order, he could not refrain
from rising and expressing his satisfaction and concluded by
saying “there is but one word, Mr. President, in the paper
which disapprove, & that is the word Congress,”
on which Ben Harrison rose and said “there is but on word in
the paper, Mr. President, of which I approve, and that is
the word Congress.“
On the 22d of July Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams, R. H. Lee,
& myself, were appointed a commee to consider and report
on Ld. North's conciliatory resolution. The answer of the
Virginia assembly on that subject having been approved I was
requested by the commee to prepare this report, which will
account for the similarity of feature in the two
instruments.
On the 15th of May, 1776, the convention of Virginia instructed their delegates in Congress to propose to that body to declare the colonies independent of G. Britain, and appointed a commee to prepare a declaration of rights and plan of government.
* * *
In Congress, Friday June 7. 1776. The delegates from Virginia moved in obedience to instructions from their constituents that the Congress should declare that these United colonies are & of right ought to be free & independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them & the state of Great Britain is & ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a Confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely together.
The house being obliged to attend at that time to some other business, the proposition was referred to the next day, when the members were ordered to attend punctually at ten o'clock.
Saturday June 8. They proceeded to take it into consideration and referred it to a committee of the whole, into which they immediately resolved themselves, and passed that day & Monday the 10th in debating on the subject.
It was argued by Wilson, Robert R. Livingston, E. Rutledge, Dickinson and others
That tho' they were friends to the measures themselves, and saw the impossibility that we should ever again be united with Gr. Britain, yet they were against adopting them at this time:
That the conduct we had formerly observed was wise & proper now, of deferring to take any capital step till the voice of the people drove us into it:
That they were our power, & without them our declarations could not be carried into effect;
That the people of the middle colonies (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylva, the Jerseys & N. York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to British connection, but that they were fast ripening & in a short time would join in the general voice of America:
That the resolution entered into by this house on the 15th of May for suppressing the exercise of all powers derived from the crown, had shown, by the ferment into which it had thrown these middle colonies, that they had not yet accommodated their minds to a separation from the mother country:
That some of them had expressly forbidden their delegates
to consent
That if the delegates of any particular colony had no power to declare such colony independant, certain they were the others could not declare it for them; the colonies being as yet perfectly independant of each other:
That the assembly of Pennsylvania was now sitting above stairs, their convention would sit within a few days, the convention of New York was now sitting, & those of the Jerseys & Delaware counties would meet on the Monday following, & it was probable these bodies would take up the question of Independance & would declare to their delegates the voice of their state:
That if such a declaration should now be agreed to, these delegates must retire & possibly their colonies might secede from the Union:
That such a secession would weaken us more than could be compensated by any foreign alliance:
That in the event of such a division, foreign powers would either refuse to join themselves to our fortunes, or, having us so much in their power as that desperate declaration would place us, they would insist on terms proportionably more hard and prejudicial:
That we had little reason to expect an alliance with those to whom alone as yet we had cast our eyes:
That France & Spain had reason to be jealous of that rising power which would one day certainly strip them of all their American possessions:
That it was more likely they should form a connection with the British court, who, if they should find themselves unable otherwise to extricate themselves from their difficulties, would agree to a partition of our territories, restoring Canada to France, & the Floridas to Spain, to accomplish for themselves a recovery of these colonies:
That it would not be long before we should receive certain information of the disposition of the French court, from the agent whom we had sent to Paris for that purpose:
That if this disposition should be favorable, by waiting the event of the present campaign, which we all hoped would be successful, we should have reason to expect an alliance on better terms:
That this would in fact work no delay of any effectual aid from such ally, as, from the advance of the season & distance of our situation, it was impossible we could receive any assistance during this campaign:
That it was prudent to fix among ourselves the terms on which we should form alliance, before we declared we would form one at all events:
And that if these were agreed on, & our Declaration
of Independance
On the other side it was urged by J. Adams, Lee, Wythe, and others
That no gentleman had argued against the policy or the right of separation from Britain, nor had supposed it possible we should ever renew our connection; that they had only opposed its being now declared:
That the question was not whether, by a declaration of independance, we should make ourselves what we are not; but whether we should declare a fact which already exists:
That as to the people or parliament of England, we had alwais been independent of them, their restraints on our trade deriving efficacy from our acquiescence only, & not from any rights they possessed of imposing them, & that so far our connection had been federal only & was now dissolved by the commencement of hostilities:
That as to the King, we had been bound to him by allegiance, but that this bond was now dissolved by his assent to the late act of parliament, by which he declares us out of his protection, and by his levying war on us, a fact which had long ago proved us out of his protection; it being a certain position in law that allegiance & protection are reciprocal, the one ceasing when the other is withdrawn:
That James the IId. never declared the people of England out of his protection yet his actions proved it & the parliament declared it:
No delegates then can be denied, or ever want, a power of declaring an existing truth:
That the delegates from the Delaware counties having declared their constituents ready to join, there are only two colonies Pennsylvania & Maryland whose delegates are absolutely tied up, and that these had by their instructions only reserved a right of confirming or rejecting the measure:
That the instructions from Pennsylvania might be accounted for from the times in which they were drawn, near a twelvemonth ago, since which the face of affairs has totally changed:
That within that time it had become apparent that Britain was determined to accept nothing less than a carte- blanche, and that the King's answer to the Lord Mayor Aldermen & common council of London, which had come to hand four days ago, must have satisfied every one of this point:
That the people wait for us to lead the way:
That they are in favour of the measure, tho' the
instructions given by some of their representatives
are not:
That the voice of the representatives is not always
consonant with
That the effect of the resolution of the 15th of May has proved this, which, raising the murmurs of some in the colonies of Pennsylvania & Maryland, called forth the opposing voice of the freer part of the people, & proved them to be the majority, even in these colonies:
That the backwardness of these two colonies might be ascribed partly to the influence of proprietary power & connections, & partly to their having not yet been attacked by the enemy:
That these causes were not likely to be soon removed, as there seemed no probability that the enemy would make either of these the seat of this summer's war:
That it would be vain to wait either weeks or months for perfect unanimity, since it was impossible that all men should ever become of one sentiment on any question:
That the conduct of some colonies from the beginning of this contest, had given reason to suspect it was their settled policy to keep in the rear of the confederacy, that their particular prospect might be better, even in the worst event:
That therefore it was necessary for those colonies who had thrown themselves forward & hazarded all from the beginning, to come forward now also, and put all again to their own hazard:
That the history of the Dutch revolution, of whom three states only confederated at first proved that a secession of some colonies would not be so dangerous as some apprehended:
That a declaration of Independence alone could render it consistent with European delicacy for European powers to treat with us, or even to receive an Ambassador from us:
That till this they would not receive our vessels into their ports, nor acknowledge the adjudications of our courts of admiralty to be legitimate, in cases of capture of British vessels:
That though France & Spain may be jealous of our rising power, they must think it will be much more formidable with the addition of Great Britain; and will therefore see it their interest to prevent a coalition; but should they refuse, we shall be but where we are; whereas without trying we shall never know whether they will aid us or not:
That the present campaign may be unsuccessful, & therefore we had better propose an alliance while our affairs wear a hopeful aspect:
That to await the event of this campaign will certainly
work delay, because during this summer France may assist us
effectually by cutting off those supplies of provisions from
England & Ireland on
That it would be idle to lose time in settling the terms of alliance, till we had first determined we would enter into alliance:
That it is necessary to lose no time in opening a trade for our people, who will want clothes, and will want money too for the paiment of taxes:
And that the only misfortune is that we did not enter into alliance with France six months sooner, as besides opening their ports for the vent of our last year's produce, they might have marched an army into Germany and prevented the petty princes there from selling their unhappy subjects to subdue us.
It appearing in the course of these debates that the
colonies of N. York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, and South Carolina were not yet matured for
falling from the parent stem, but that they were fast
advancing to that state, it was thought most prudent to wait
a while for them, and to postpone the final decision to July
1. but that this might occasion as little delay as possible
a committee was appointed to prepare a declaration of
independence. The commee were J. Adams, Dr. Franklin, Roger
Sherman, Robert R. Livingston & myself. Committees were
also appointed at the same time to prepare a plan of
confederation for the colonies, and to state the terms
proper to be proposed for foreign alliance. The committee
for drawing the declaration of Independence desired me to do
it. It was accordingly done, and being approved by them, I
reported it to the house on Friday the 28th of June when it
was read and ordered to lie on the table. On Monday, the
1st of July the house resolved itself into a commee of the
whole & resumed the consideration of the original motion
made by the delegates of Virginia, which being again debated
through the day, was carried in the affirmative by the votes
of N. Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
N. Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, N. Carolina, & Georgia.
S. Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against it. Delaware
having but two members present, they were divided. The
delegates for New York declared they were for it themselves
& were assured their constituents were for it, but that
their instructions having been drawn near a twelvemonth
before, when reconciliation was still the general object,
they were enjoined by them to do nothing which should impede
that object. They therefore thought themselves not
justifiable in voting on either side, and asked leave to
withdraw from the question, which was given them. The
commee rose & reported their resolution to the house.
Mr. Edward Rutledge of S. Carolina then requested the
determination might be put off to the next day, as he
believed his
Congress proceeded the same day to consider the
declaration of Independance which had been reported &
lain on the table the Friday preceding, and on Monday
referred to a commee of the whole. The pusillanimous idea
that we had friends in England worth keeping terms with,
still haunted the minds of many. For this reason those
passages which conveyed censures on the people of England
were struck out, lest they should give them offence. The
clause too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of
Africa, was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina and
Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation
of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue
it. Our northern brethren also I believe felt a little
tender under those censures; for tho' their people have very
few slaves themselves yet they had been pretty considerable
carriers of them to others. The debates having taken up the
greater parts of the 2d 3d & 4th days of July were, in
the evening of the last, closed the declaration was reported
by the commee, agreed to by the house and signed by every
member present except Mr. Dickinson. As the sentiments of
men are known not only by what they receive, but what they
reject also, I will state the form of the declaration as
originally reported. The parts struck out by Congress shall
be distinguished by a black line drawn under them; &
those inserted by them shall be placed in the margin or in a
concurrent column.
A Declaration by the Representatives of the
United States of America, in General
Congress Assembled.
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate & equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with
*inherent and* [certain] inalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness:
that to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to
alter or abolish it, & to institute new government,
laying it's foundation on such principles, & organizing
it's powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their safety & happiness. Prudence indeed
will dictate that governments long established should not be
changed for light & transient causes; and accordingly
all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to
suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But
when a long train of abuses & usurpations *begun at a
distinguished period and* pursuing invariably the same
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off
such government, & to provide new guards for their
future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of
these colonies; & such is now the necessity which
constrains them to *expunge* [alter] their former systems of
government. The history of the present king of Great
Britain is a history of *unremitting* [repeated] injuries
& usurpations, *among which appears no solitary fact to
contradict the uniform tenor of the rest but all have* [all
having] in direct object the establishment of an absolute
tyranny over these states. To prove this let facts
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome & necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; & when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, & formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly *& continually* for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without & convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, & raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has *suffered* [obstructed] the administration of justice *totally to cease in some of these states* [by] refusing his [assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made *our* judges dependant on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, & the amount & paiment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices *by a self assumed power* and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies
He has affected to render the military independant of, & superior to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions & unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for protecting them by a mock-trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for depriving us [ ] [in many cases] of the benefits of trial by jury; for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences; for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging it's boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these *states* [colonies]; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for suspending our own legislatures, & declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here *withdrawing his governors, and declaring us out of his allegiance & protection*. [by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.]
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, & destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation & tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy [ ] [scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, & totally] unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends & brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has [ ] [exicited domestic insurrection among us,
& has] endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our
frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of
warfare is an undistinguished
*He has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow-citizens, with the allurements of forfeiture & confiscation of our property.*
*He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the LIVES of another.*
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injuries.
A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a [ ] [free] people *who mean to be free. Future ages will scarcely believe that the hardiness of one man adventured, within the short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation so broad & so undisguised for tyranny over a people fostered & fixed in principles of freedom.*
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts
by their legislature to extend *a* [an unwarrantable]
jurisdiction over *these our states* [us]. We have reminded
them of the circumstances of our emigration & settlement
here, *no one of which could warrant so strange a
pretension: that these were effected at the expense of our
own blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the
strength of Great
We therefore the representatives We therefore the representatives
of the United States of
of the United States of
America in General Congress
America in General Congress
assembled do in the name &
assembled, appealing to the
by authority of the good
supreme judge of the world
people of these *states reject
for the rectitude of our
& renounce all allegiance & intentions, do in the name, & by
subjection to the kings of
the authority of the good
Great Britain & all others
people of these colonies,
who may hereafter claim by,
solemnly publish & declare that
through or under them: we
these united colonies are &
utterly dissolve all political* of right ought to be
free &
*connection which may
independent states; that they
heretofore have subsisted
are absolved from all allegiance
between us & the people or
to the British crown,
parliament of Great Britain:
and that all political
& finally we do assert & connection between them & the
declare these colonies to be free state of Great Britain is, &
& independent states,* & that ought to be, totally
as free & independent states,
dissolved; & that as free &
they have full power to levy
independent states they have
war, conclude peace, contract
full power to levy war,
alliances, establish commerce,
conclude peace, contract
& to do all other acts & alliances, establish commerce &
things which independent
to do all other acts & things
states may of right do.
which independent states
may of right do.
And for the support of
And for the support of this
this declaration we mutually
declaration, with a firm
pledge to each other our
reliance on the protection of
lives, our fortunes, & our
divine providence we mutually
sacred honor.
pledge to each other our
lives, our fortunes, & our
sacred honor.
The Declaration thus signed on the 4th, on paper was engrossed on parchment, & signed again on the 2d. of August.
* * *
Some erroneous statements of the proceedings on the declaration ~of independence having got before the public in latter times, Mr. Samuel A. Wells asked explanations of me, which are given in my letter to him of May 12. 19. before and now again referred to. I took notes in my place while these things were going on, and at their close wrote them out in form and with correctness and from 1 to 7 of the two preceding sheets are the originals then written; as the two following are of the earlier debates on the Confederation, which I took in like manner.
On Friday July 12. the Committee appointed to draw the
articles of confederation reported them, and on the 22d. the
house resolved themselves into a committee to take them into
consideration. On the 30th. & 31st. of that month &
1st. of the ensuing, those articles were debated which
determined the proportion or quota of money which
Mr. [Samuel] Chase moved that the quotas should be fixed, not by the number of inhabitants of every condition, but by that of the “white inhabitants.” He admitted that taxation should be alwais in proportion to property, that this was in theory the true rule, but that from a variety of difficulties, it was a rule which could never be adopted in practice. The value of the property in every State could never be estimated justly & equally. Some other measure for the wealth of the State must therefore be devised, some standard referred to which would be more simple. He considered the number of inhabitants as a tolerably good criterion of property, and that this might alwais be obtained. He therefore thought it the best mode which we could adopt, with one exception only. He observed that negroes are property, and as such cannot be distinguished from the lands or personalities held in those States where there are few slaves, that the surplus of profit which a Northern farmer is able to lay by, he invests in cattle, horses, &c. whereas a Southern farmer lays out that same surplus in slaves. There is no more reason therefore for taxing the Southern states on the farmer's head, & on his slave's head, than the Northern ones on their farmer's heads & the heads of their cattle, that the method proposed would therefore tax the Southern states according to their numbers & their wealth conjunctly, while the Northern would be taxed on numbers only: that negroes in fact should not be considered as members of the state more than cattle & that they have no more interest in it.
Mr. John Adams observed that the numbers of people were
taken by this article as an index of the wealth of the
state, & not as subjects of taxation, that as to this
matter it was of no consequence by what name you called your
people, whether by that of freemen or of slaves. That in
some countries the labouring poor were called freemen, in
others they were called slaves; but that the difference as
to the state was imaginary only. What matters it whether a
landlord employing ten labourers in his farm, gives them
annually as much money as will buy them the necessaries of
life, or gives them those
Mr. [Benjamin] Harrison proposed as a compromise, that two slaves should be counted as one freeman. He affirmed that slaves did not do so much work as freemen, and doubted if two effected more than one. That this was proved by the price of labor. The hire of a labourer in the Southern colonies being from 8 to £12. while in the Northern it was generally £24.
Mr. [James] Wilson said that if this amendment should
take place the Southern colonies would have all the benefit
of slaves, whilst the Northern ones would bear the burthen.
That slaves increase the profits of a state, which the
Southern states mean to take to themselves; that they also
increase the burthen of defence, which would of course fall
so much the heavier on the Northern. That slaves occupy the
places of freemen and eat their food. Dismiss your slaves
& freemen
Mr. Payne urged the original resolution of Congress, to proportion the quotas of the states to the number of souls.
Dr. [John] Witherspoon was of opinion that the value of lands & houses was the best estimate of the wealth of a nation, and that it was practicable to obtain such a valuation. This is the true barometer of wealth. The one now proposed is imperfect in itself, and unequal between the States. It has been objected that negroes eat the food of freemen & therefore should be taxed. Horses also eat the food of freemen; therefore they also should be taxed. It has been said too that in carrying slaves into the estimate of the taxes the state is to pay, we do no more than those states themselves do, who alwais take slaves into the estimate of the taxes the individual is to pay. But the cases are not parallel. In the Southern colonies slaves pervade the whole colony; but they do not pervade the whole continent. That as to the original resolution of Congress to proportion the quotas according to the souls, it was temporary only, & related to the monies heretofore emitted: whereas we are now entering into a new compact, and therefore stand on original ground.
Aug 1. The question being put the amendment proposed was rejected by the votes of N. Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode island, Connecticut, N. York, N. Jersey, & Pennsylvania, against those of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North & South Carolina. Georgia was divided.
The other article was in these words. “Art. XVII. In
determining questions each colony shall have one vote.”
July 30. 31. Aug 1. Present 41. members. Mr. Chase observed that this article was the most likely to divide us of any one proposed in the draught then under consideration. That the larger colonies had threatened they would not confederate at all if their weight in congress should not be equal to the numbers of people they added to the confederacy; while the smaller ones declared against a union if they did not retain an equal vote for the protection of their rights. That it was of the utmost consequence to bring the parties together, as should we sever from each other, either no foreign power will ally with us at all, or the different states will form different alliances, and thus increase the horrors of those scenes of civil war and bloodshed which in such a state of separation & independance would render us a miserable people. That our importance, our interests, our peace required that we should confederate, and that mutual sacrifices should be made to effect a compromise of this difficult question. He was of opinion the smaller colonies would lose their rights, if they were not in some instances allowed an equal vote; and therefore that a discrimination should take place among the questions which would come before Congress. That the smaller states should be secured in all questions concerning life or liberty & the greater ones in all respecting property. He therefore proposed that in votes relating to money, the voice of each colony should be proportioned to the number of its inhabitants.
Dr. Franklin thought that the votes should be so
proportioned in all cases. He took notice that the Delaware
counties had bound up their Delegates to disagree to this
article. He thought it a very extraordinary language to be
held by any state, that they would not confederate with us
unless we would let them dispose of our money. Certainly if
we vote equally we ought to pay equally; but the smaller
states will hardly purchase the privilege at this price.
That had he lived in a state where the representation,
originally equal, had become unequal by time & accident
he might have submitted rather than disturb government; but
that we should be very wrong to set out in this practice
when it is in our power to establish what is right. That at
the time of the Union between England and Scotland the
latter had made the objection which the smaller states now
do. But experience had proved that no unfairness had ever
been shown them. That their advocates had prognosticated
that it would again happen as in times of old, that the
whale would swallow Jonas, but he thought the prediction
reversed in event and that Jonas had swallowed the whale,
for the Scotch had in fact got possession of the government
and gave laws to the English. He reprobated the original
agreement of Congress to vote by colonies and therefore was
for their voting in all cases according to the number of
taxables.
Dr. Witherspoon opposed every alteration of the article. All men admit that a confederacy is necessary. Should the idea get abroad that there is likely to be no union among us, it will damp the minds of the people, diminish the glory of our struggle, & lessen it's importance; because it will open to our view future prospects of war & dissension among ourselves. If an equal vote be refused, the smaller states will become vassals to the larger; & all experience has shown that the vassals & subjects of free states are the most enslaved. He instanced the Helots of Sparta & the provinces of Rome. He observed that foreign powers discovering this blemish would make it a handle for disengaging the smaller states from so unequal a confederacy. That the colonies should in fact be considered as individuals; and that as such, in all disputes they should have an equal vote; that they are now collected as individuals making a bargain with each other, & of course had a right to vote as individuals. That in the East India company they voted by persons, & not by their proportion of stock. That the Belgic confederacy voted by provinces. That in questions of war the smaller states were as much interested as the larger, & therefore should vote equally; and indeed that the larger states were more likely to bring war on the confederacy in proportion as their frontier was more extensive. He admitted that equality of representation was an excellent principle, but then it must be of things which are coordinate; that is, of things similar & of the same nature: that nothing relating to individuals could ever come before Congress; nothing but what would respect colonies. He distinguished between an incorporating & a federal union. The union of England was an incorporating one; yet Scotland had suffered by that union: for that it's inhabitants were drawn from it by the hopes of places & employments. Nor was it an instance of equality of representation; because while Scotland was allowed nearly a thirteenth of representation they were to pay only one fortieth of the land tax. He expressed his hopes that in the present enlightened state of men's minds we might expect a lasting confederacy, if it was founded on fair principles.
John Adams advocated the voting in proportion to numbers.
He said that we stand here as the representatives of the
people. That in some states the people are many, in others
they are few; that therefore their vote here should be
proportioned to the numbers from whom it comes. Reason,
justice, & equity never had weight enough on the face of
the earth to govern the councils of men. It is interest
alone which does it, and it is interest alone which can be
trusted. That therefore the interests within doors should
be the mathematical representatives of the interests without
doors. That the individuality of the colonies is a mere
sound. Does the individuality of a colony
Dr. [Benjamin] Rush took notice that the decay of the liberties of the Dutch republic proceeded from three causes. 1. The perfect unanimity requisite on all occasions. 2. Their obligation to consult their constituents. 3. Their voting by provinces. This last destroyed the equality of representation, and the liberties of great Britain also are sinking from the same defect. That a part of our rights is deposited in the hands of our legislatures. There it was admitted there should be an equality of representation. Another part of our rights is deposited in the hands of Congress: why is it not equally necessary there should be an equal representation there? Were it possible to collect the whole body of the people together, they would determine the questions submitted to them by their majority. Why should not the same majority decide when voting here by their representatives? The larger colonies are so providentially divided in situation as to render every fear of their combining visionary. Their interests are different, & their circumstances dissimilar. It is more probable they will become rivals & leave it in the power of the smaller states to give preponderance to any scale they please. The voting by the number of free inhabitants will have one excellent effect, that of inducing the colonies to discourage slavery & to encourage the increase of their free inhabitants.
Mr. [Stephen] Hopkins observed there were 4 larger, 4
smaller,
Mr. Wilson thought that taxation should be in proportion to wealth, but that representation should accord with the number of freemen. That government is a collection or result of the wills of all. That if any government could speak the will of all, it would be perfect; and that so far as it departs from this it becomes imperfect. It has been said that Congress is a representation of states; not of individuals. I say that the objects of its care are all the individuals of the states. It is strange that annexing the name of “State” to ten thousand men, should give them an equal right with forty thousand. This must be the effect of magic, not of reason. As to those matters which are referred to Congress, we are not so many states, we are one large state. We lay aside our individuality, whenever we come here. The Germanic body is a burlesque on government; and their practice on any point is a sufficient authority & proof that it is wrong. The greatest imperfection in the constitution of the Belgic confederacy is their voting by provinces. The interest of the whole is constantly sacrificed to that of the small states. The history of the war in the reign of Q. Anne sufficiently proves this. It is asked shall nine colonies put it into the power of four to govern them as they please? I invert the question, and ask shall two millions of people put it in the power of one million to govern them as they please? It is pretended too that the smaller colonies will be in danger from the greater. Speak in honest language & say the minority will be in danger from the majority. And is there an assembly on earth where this danger may not be equally pretended? The truth is that our proceedings will then be consentaneous with the interests of the majority, and so they ought to be. The probability is much greater that the larger states will disagree than that they will combine. I defy the wit of man to invent a possible case or to suggest any one thing on earth which shall be for the interests of Virginia, Pennsylvania & Massachusetts, and which will not also be for the interest of the other states.
* * *
These articles reported July 12. 76 were debated from day
to day, & time to time for two years, were ratified July
9, '78, by 10 states, by N. Jersey on the 26th. of Nov. of
the same
Our delegation had been renewed for the ensuing year commencing Aug. 11. but the new government was now organized, a meeting of the legislature was to be held in Oct. and I had been elected a member by my county. I knew that our legislation under the regal government had many very vicious points which urgently required reformation, and I thought I could be of more use in forwarding that work. I therefore retired from my seat in Congress on the 2d. of Sep. resigned it, and took my place in the legislature of my state, on the 7th. of October.
On the 11th. I moved for leave to bring in a bill for the establishmt of courts of justice, the organization of which was of importance; I drew the bill it was approved by the commee, reported and passed after going thro' it's due course.
On the 12th. I obtained leave to bring in a bill
declaring tenants in tail to hold their lands in fee simple.
In the earlier times of the colony when lands were to be
obtained for little or nothing, some provident individuals
procured large grants, and, desirous of founding great
families for themselves, settled them on their descendants
in fee-tail. The transmission of this property from
generation to generation in the same name raised up a
distinct set of families who, being privileged by law in the
perpetuation of their wealth were thus formed into a
Patrician order, distinguished by the splendor and luxury of
their establishments. From this order too the king
habitually selected his Counsellors of State, the hope of
which distinction devoted the whole corps to the interests
& will of the crown. To annul this privilege, and
instead of an aristocracy of wealth, of more harm and
danger, than benefit, to society, to make an opening for the
aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely
provided for the direction of the interests of society,
& scattered with equal hand through all it's conditions,
was deemed essential to a well ordered republic. To effect
it no violence was necessary, no deprivation of natural
right, but rather an enlargement of it by a repeal of the
law. For this would authorize the present holder to divide
the property among his children equally, as his affections
were
In that one of the bills for organizing our judiciary
system which proposed a court of chancery, I had provided
for a trial by jury of all matters of fact in that as well
as in the courts of law. He defeated it by the introduction
of 4. words only, “if either party chuse.” The
consequence has been that as no suitor will say to his
judge, “Sir, I distrust you, give me a jury” juries are
rarely, I might say perhaps never seen in that court, but
when called for by the Chancellor of his own accord.
The first establishment in Virginia which became
permanent was made in 1607. I have found no mention of
negroes in the colony until about 1650. The first brought
here as slaves were by a Dutch ship; after which the English
commenced the trade and continued it until the revolutionary
war. That suspended, ipso facto, their further importation
for the present, and the business of the war pressing
constantly on the
The first settlers of this colony were Englishmen, loyal
subjects to their king and church, and the grant to Sr.
Walter Raleigh contained an express Proviso that their laws
“should not be against the true Christian faith, now
professed in the church of England.” As soon as the state of
the colony admitted, it was divided into parishes, in each
of which was established a minister of the Anglican church,
endowed with a fixed salary, in tobacco, a glebe house and
land with the other necessary appendages. To meet these
expenses all the inhabitants of the parishes were assessed,
whether they were or not, members of the established church.
Towards Quakers who came here they were most cruelly
intolerant, driving them from the colony by the severest
penalties. In process of time however, other sectarisms
were introduced, chiefly of the Presbyterian family; and the
established clergy, secure for life in their glebes and
salaries, adding to these generally the emoluments of a
classical school, found employment enough, in their farms
and schoolrooms for the rest of the week, and devoted Sunday
only to the edification of their flock, by service, and a
sermon at their parish church. Their other pastoral
functions were little attended to. Against this inactivity
the zeal and industry of sectarian preachers had an open and
undisputed field; and by the time of the revolution, a
majority of the inhabitants had become dissenters from the
established church, but were still obliged to pay
contributions to support the Pastors of the minority. This
unrighteous compulsion to maintain teachers of what they
deemed religious errors was grievously felt during the regal
government, and without a hope of relief. But the first
republican legislature which met in 76. was crowded with
petitions to abolish this spiritual tyranny. These brought
on the severest contests in which I have ever been engaged.
Our great opponents were Mr. Pendleton & Robert Carter
Nicholas, honest men, but zealous churchmen. The petitions
were referred to the commee of the whole house on the state
of the country; and after desperate contests
The seat of our government had been originally fixed in
the peninsula of Jamestown, the first settlement of the
colonists; and had been afterwards removed a few miles
inland to Williamsburg. But this was at a time when our
settlements had not extended beyond the tide water. Now
they had crossed the Alleghany; and the center of population
was very far removed from what it had been. Yet
Williamsburg was still the
Early in the session of May 79. I prepared, and obtained leave to bring in a bill declaring who should be deemed citizens, asserting the natural right of expatriation, and prescribing the mode of exercising it. This, when I withdrew from the house on the 1st of June following, I left in the hands of George Mason and it was passed on the 26th of that month.
In giving this account of the laws of which I was myself the mover & draughtsman, I by no means mean to claim to myself the merit of obtaining their passage. I had many occasional and strenuous coadjutors in debate, and one most steadfast, able, and zealous; who was himself a host. This was George Mason, a man of the first order of wisdom among those who acted on the theatre of the revolution, of expansive mind, profound judgment, cogent in argument, learned in the lore of our former constitution, and earnest for the republican change on democratic principles. His elocution was neither flowing nor smooth, but his language was strong, his manner most impressive, and strengthened by a dash of biting cynicism when provocation made it seasonable.
Mr. Wythe, while speaker in the two sessions of 1777. between his return from Congress and his appointment to the Chancery, was an able and constant associate in whatever was before a committee of the whole. His pure integrity, judgment and reasoning powers gave him great weight. Of him see more in some notes inclosed in my letter of August 31. 1821, to Mr. John Saunderson.
Mr. Madison came into the House in 1776. a new member and
young; which circumstances, concurring with his extreme
modesty, prevented his venturing himself in debate before
his
So far we were proceeding in the details of reformation
only; selecting points of legislation prominent in character
& principle, urgent, and indicative of the strength of
the general pulse of reformation. When I left Congress, in
76. it was in the persuasion that our whole code must be
reviewed, adapted to our republican form of government, and,
now that we had no negatives of Councils, Governors &
Kings to restrain us from doing right, that it should be
corrected, in all it's parts, with a single eye to reason,
& the good of those for whose government it was framed.
Early therefore in the session of 76. to which returned, I
moved and presented a bill for the revision of the laws;
which was passed on the 24th. of October, and on the 5th. of
November Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, George Mason, Thomas L.
Lee and myself were appointed a committee to execute the
work. We agreed to meet at Fredericksburg to settle the
plan of operation and to distribute the work. We met there
accordingly, on the 13th. of January 1777. The first
question was whether we should propose to abolish the whole
existing system of laws, and prepare a new and complete
Institute, or preserve the general
On the subject of the Criminal law, all were agreed that the punishment of death should be abolished, except for treason and murder; and that, for other felonies should be substituted hard labor in the public works, and in some cases, the Lex talionis. How this last revolting principle came to obtain our approbation, I do not remember. There remained indeed in our laws a vestige of it in a single case of a slave. It was the English law in the time of the Anglo-Saxons, copied probably from the Hebrew law of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and it was the law of several antient people. But the modern mind had left it far in the rear of it's advances. These points however being settled, we repaired to our respective homes for the preparation of the work.
Feb. 6. In the execution of my part I thought it material
not to vary the diction of the antient statutes by
modernizing it, nor to give rise to new questions by new
expressions. The text of these statutes had been so fully
explained and defined by numerous adjudications, as scarcely
ever now to produce a question in our courts. I thought it
would be useful also, in all new draughts, to reform the
style of the later British statutes, and of our own acts of
assembly, which from their verbosity, their endless
tautologies, their involutions of case within case, and
parenthesis within parenthesis, and their multiplied efforts
at certainty by saids and aforesaids, by
ors and by ands, to make them more plain, do
really render them more perplexed and incomprehensible, not
only to common readers, but to the lawyers themselves. We
were employed in this work from that time to Feb. 1779, when
we met at Williamsburg, that is to say, Mr. Pendleton, Mr.
Wythe & myself, and meeting day by day, we examined
critically our several parts, sentence by sentence,
scrutinizing and amending
The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason & right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular proposition proved that it's protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word “Jesus Christ,” so that it should read “a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion.” The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of it's protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination.
Beccaria and other writers on crimes and punishments had
satisfied the reasonable world of the unrightfulness and
inefficacy of the punishment of crimes by death; and hard
labor on roads, canals and other public works, had been
suggested as a proper substitute. The Revisors had adopted
these opinions; but the general idea of our country had not
yet advanced to that point. The bill therefore for
proportioning solitary
confinement on some of their criminals, which experiment
had succeeded beyond expectation. The same idea had
Feb. 7. The acts of assembly concerning the College of
Wm. & Mary, were properly within Mr. Pendleton's portion
of our work. But these related chiefly to it's revenue,
while it's constitution, organization and scope of science
were derived from it's charter. We thought, that on this
subject a systematical plan of general education should be
proposed, and I was requested to undertake it. I
accordingly prepared three bills for the Revisal, proposing
three distinct grades of education, reaching all classes.
1. Elementary schools for all children generally, rich and
poor. 2. Colleges for a middle
The bill on the subject of slaves was a mere digest of
the
I considered 4 of these bills, passed or reported, as
forming a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of
antient or future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a
government truly republican. The repeal of the laws of
entail would prevent the accumulation and perpetuation of
wealth in select families, and preserve the soil of the
country from being daily more & more absorbed in
Mortmain. The abolition of primogeniture, and equal
partition of inheritances removed the feudal and unnatural
distinctions which made one member of every family rich, and
all the rest poor, substituting equal partition, the best of
all Agrarian laws. The restoration of the rights of
conscience relieved the people from taxation for the support
of a religion not theirs; for the establishment was truly of
the religion of the rich, the dissenting sects being
entirely composed of the less wealthy people; and these, by
the bill for a general education, would be qualified to
understand their rights, to maintain them, and to exercise
with intelligence their parts in self-government: and all
this would be
On the 1st of June 1779. I was appointed Governor of the Commonwealth and retired from the legislature. Being elected also one of the Visitors of Wm. & Mary college, a self-electing body, I effected, during my residence in Williamsburg that year, a change in the organization of that institution by abolishing the Grammar school, and the two professorships of Divinity & Oriental languages, and substituting a professorship of Law & Police, one of Anatomy Medicine and Chemistry, and one of Modern languages; and the charter confining us to six professorships, we added the law of Nature & Nations, & the Fine Arts to the duties of the Moral professor, and Natural history to those of the professor of Mathematics and Natural philosophy.
Being now, as it were, identified with the Commonwealth itself, to write my own history during the two years of my administration, would be to write the public history of that portion of the revolution within this state. This has been done by others, and particularly by Mr. Girardin, who wrote his Continuation of Burke's history of Virginia while at Milton, in this neighborhood, had free access to all my papers while composing it, and has given as faithful an account as I could myself. For this portion therefore of my own life, I refer altogether to his history. From a belief that under the pressure of the invasion under which we were then laboring the public would have more confidence in a Military chief, and that the Military commander, being invested with the Civil power also, both might be wielded with more energy promptitude and effect for the defence of the state, I resigned the administration at the end of my 2d. year, and General Nelson was appointed to succeed me.
Soon after my leaving Congress in Sep. '76, to wit on the
last day of that month, I had been appointed, with Dr.
Franklin, to go to France, as a Commissioner to negotiate
treaties of alliance and commerce with that government.
Silas Deane,
On the 6th. of the following month I was appointed by the legislature a delegate to Congress, the appointment to take place on the 1st. of Nov. ensuing, when that of the existing delegation would expire. I accordingly left home on the 16th. of Oct. arrived at Trenton, where Congress was sitting, on the 3d. of Nov. and took my seat on the 4th., on which day Congress adjourned to meet at Annapolis on the 26th.
Congress had now become a very small body, and the members very remiss in their attendance on it's duties insomuch that a majority of the states, necessary by the Confederation to constitute a house even for minor business did not assemble until the 13th. of December.
They as early as Jan. 7. 1782. had turned their attention
to the monies current in the several states, and had
directed the Financier, Robert Morris, to report to them a
table of rates at which the foreign coins should be received
at the treasury. That officer, or rather his assistant,
Gouverneur Morris, answered them on the 15th in an able and
elaborate statement of the denominations of money current in
the several states, and of the comparative value of the
foreign coins chiefly in circulation with us. He went into
the consideration of the necessity of establishing a
standard of value with us, and of the adoption of a money-Unit.
He proposed for the Unit such a fraction of pure
silver as would be a common measure of the penny of every
state, without leaving a fraction. This common divisor he
found to be 1 — 1440 of a dollar, or 1 — 1600 of the crown
sterling. The value of a dollar was therefore to be
expressed by 1440 units, and of a crown by 1600. Each Unit
containing a quarter of a grain of fine silver. Congress
turning again their attention to this subject the following
year, the financier, by a letter of Apr. 30, 1783. further
explained and urged the Unit he had proposed; but nothing
more was done on it until the ensuing year, when it was
again taken up, and referred to a commee of which I was a
member. The general
A pound of butter 1 — 5 of a dollar 288. units.
A horse or bullock of 80. D value would require a notation of 6. figures, to wit 115,200, and the public debt, suppose of 80. millions, would require 12. figures, to wit 115,200,000,000 units. Such a system of money-arithmetic would be entirely unmanageable for the common purposes of society. proposed therefore, instead of this, to adopt the Dollar as our Unit of account and payment, and that it's divisions and sub- divisions should be in the decimal ratio. I wrote some Notes on the subject, which I submitted to the consideration of the financier. I received his answer and adherence to his general system, only agreeing to take for his Unit 100. of those he first proposed, so that a Dollar should be 14 40 — 100 and a crown 16. units. I replied to this and printed my notes and reply on a flying sheet, which I put into the hands of the members of Congress for consideration, and the Committee agreed to report on my principle. This was adopted the ensuing year and is the system which now prevails. I insert here the Notes and Reply, as shewing the different views on which the adoption of our money system hung. The division into dimes, cents & mills is now so well understood, that it would be easy of introduction into the kindred branches of weights & measures. I use, when I travel, an Odometer of Clarke's invention which divides the mile into cents, and I find every one comprehend a distance readily when stated to them in miles & cents; so they would in feet and cents, pounds & cents, &c.
The remissness of Congress, and their permanent session,
began to be a subject of uneasiness and even some of the
legislatures had recommended to them intermissions, and
periodical sessions. As the Confederation had made no
provision for a visible head of the government during
vacations of Congress, and such a one was necessary to
superintend the executive business, to receive and
communicate with foreign ministers & nations, and to
assemble Congress on sudden and
But to return to our Congress at Annapolis, the
definitive treaty of peace which had been signed at Paris on
the 3d. of Sep. 1783. and received here, could not be
ratified without a House of 9. states. On the 23d. of Dec.
therefore we addressed letters to the several governors,
stating the receipt of the definitive treaty, that 7 states
only were in attendance, while 9. were necessary to its
ratification, and urging them to press on their delegates
the necessity of their immediate attendance. And on the
26th. to save time I moved that the Agent of Marine (Robert
Morris) should be instructed to have ready a vessel at this
place, at N. York, & at some Eastern port, to carry over
the ratification of the treaty when agreed to. It met the
general sense of the house, but was opposed by Dr. Lee on
the ground of expense which it would authorize the agent to
incur for us; and he said it would be better to ratify at
once & send on the ratification. Some members had
before suggested that 7 states were competent to the
ratification. My motion was therefore postponed and another
brought forward by Mr. Read of S. C. for an immediate
ratification. This was debated the 26th. and 27th. Reed,
Lee, [Hugh] Williamson & Jeremiah Chace urged that
ratification was a mere matter of form, that the treaty was
conclusive from the moment it was signed by the ministers;
that although the Confederation requires the assent of 9.
states to enter into a treaty, yet that it's
conclusion could not be called entrance into it; that
supposing 9. states requisite, it would be in the power of
5. states to keep us always at war; that 9. states had
virtually authorized the ratifion having ratified the
provisional treaty, and instructed their ministers to agree
to a definitive one in the same terms, and the present one
was in fact substantially and almost verbatim the same; that
there now remain but 67. days for the ratification, for it's
passage across the Atlantic, and it's exchange; that there
was no hope of our soon having 9. states present; in fact
that this was the ultimate point of time to which we could
venture to wait; that if the ratification was not in Paris
by the time stipulated, the treaty would become void; that
if ratified by 7 states, it would go under our seal without
it's being known to Gr. Britain that only 7. had
On the contrary, it was argued by Monroe, Gerry, Howel,
Ellery & myself that by the modern usage of Europe the
ratification was considered as the act which gave validity
to a treaty, until which it was not obligatory. (note-Auto-3,
see page 101) That the commission to the ministers
reserved the ratification to Congress; that the treaty
itself stipulated that it should be ratified; that it became
a 2d. question who were competent to the ratification? That
the Confederation expressly required 9 states to enter into
any treaty; that, by this, that instrument must have
intended that the assent of 9. states should be necessary as
well to the completion as to the commencement
of the treaty, it's object having been to guard the rights
of the Union in all those important cases where 9. states
are called for; that, by the contrary construction, 7
states, containing less than one third of our whole
citizens, might rivet on us a treaty, commenced indeed under
commission and instructions from 9. states, but formed by
the minister in express contradiction to such instructions,
and in direct sacrifice of the interests of so great a
majority; that the definitive treaty was admitted not to be
a verbal copy of the provisional one, and whether the
departures from it were of substance or not, was a question
on which 9. states alone were competent to decide; that the
circumstances of the ratification of the provisional
articles by 9. states, the instructions to our ministers to
form a definitive one by them, and their actual agreement in
substance, do not render us competent to ratify in the
present instance; if these circumstances are in themselves a
ratification, nothing further is requisite than to give
attested copies of them, in exchange for the British
ratification; if they are not, we remain where we were,
without a ratification by 9. states, and incompetent
ourselves to ratify; that it was but 4. days since the seven
states now present unanimously concurred in a resolution to
be forwarded to the governors of the absent states, in which
Our body was little numerous, but very contentious. Day
after day was wasted on the most unimportant questions. My
colleague Mercer was one of those afflicted with the morbid
rage of debate, of an ardent mind, prompt imagination, and
copious flow of words, he heard with impatience any logic
which was not his own. Sitting near me on some occasion of
a trifling but wordy debate, he asked how I could sit in
silence hearing so much false reasoning which a word should
refute? I observed to him that to refute indeed was easy,
but to silence impossible. That in measures brought forward
by myself, I took the laboring oar, as was incumbent on me;
but that in general I was willing to listen. If every sound
argument or objection was used by some one or other of the
numerous
Those who thought 7. states competent to the ratification
being very restless under the loss of their motion, I
proposed, on the 3d. of January to meet them on middle
ground, and therefore moved a resolution which premising
that there were but 7. states present, who were unanimous
for the ratification, but, that they differed in opinion on
the question of competency. That those however in the
negative were unwilling that any powers which it might be
supposed they possessed should remain unexercised for the
restoration of peace, provided it could be done saving their
good faith, and without importing any opinion of Congress
that 7. states were competent, and resolving that treaty be
ratified so far as they had power; that it should be
transmitted to our ministers with instructions to keep it
uncommunicated; to endeavor to obtain 3. months longer for
exchange of ratifications; that they should be informed that
so soon as 9. states shall be present a ratification by 9.
shall be sent them; if this should get to them before the
ultimate point of time for exchange, they
Jan. 14. Delegates from Connecticut having attended yesterday, and another from S. Carolina coming in this day, the treaty was ratified without a dissenting voice, and three instruments of ratification were ordered to be made out, one of which was sent by Colo. Harmer, another by Colo. Franks, and the 3d. transmitted to the agent of Marine to be forwarded by any good opportunity.
Congress soon took up the consideration of their foreign relations. They deemed it necessary to get their commerce placed with every nation on a footing as favorable as that of other nations; and for this purpose to propose to each a distinct treaty of commerce. This act too would amount to an acknowledgment by each of our independance and of our reception into the fraternity of nations; which altho', as possessing our station of right and in fact, we would not condescend to ask, we were not unwilling to furnish opportunities for receiving their friendly salutations & welcome. With France the United Netherlands and Sweden we had already treaties of commerce, but commissions were given for those countries also, should any amendments be thought necessary. The other states to which treaties were to be proposed were England, Hamburg, Saxony, Prussia, Denmark, Russia, Austria, Venice, Rome, Naples, Tuscany, Sardinia, Genoa, Spain, Portugal, the Porte, Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis & Morocco.
Mar. 16. On the 7th. of May Congress resolved that a
Minister Plenipotentiary should be appointed in addition to
Mr. Adams & Dr. Franklin for negotiating treaties of
commerce with foreign nations, and I was elected to that
duty. I accordingly left Annapolis on the 11th. Took with
me my elder daughter then at Philadelphia (the two others
being too young for the voyage) & proceeded to Boston in
quest of a
Before I had left America, that is to say in the year
1781. I had received a letter from M. de Marbois, of the
French legation in Philadelphia, informing me 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 Mr. Marbois' 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. therefore corrected and
enlarged them, and had 200. 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 it's
translation, & when ready for the press, communicated
Mr. Adams soon joined us at Paris, & our first employment was to prepare a general form to be proposed to such nations as were disposed to treat with us. During the negotiations for peace with the British Commissioner David Hartley, our Commissioners had proposed, on the suggestion of Doctr. Franklin, to insert an article exempting from capture by the public or private armed ships of either belligerent, when at war, all merchant vessels and their cargoes, employed merely in carrying on the commerce between nations. It was refused by England, and unwisely, in my opinion. For in the case of a war with us, their superior commerce places infinitely more at hazard on the ocean than ours; and as hawks abound in proportion to game, so our privateers would swarm in proportion to the wealth exposed to their prize, while theirs would be few for want of subjects of capture. We inserted this article in our form, with a provision against the molestation of fishermen, husbandmen, citizens unarmed and following their occupations in unfortified places, for the humane treatment of prisoners of war, the abolition of contraband of war, which exposes merchant vessels to such vexatious & ruinous detentions and abuses; and for the principle of free bottoms, free goods.
In a conference with the Count de Vergennes, it was
thought better to leave to legislative regulation on both
sides such modifications of our commercial intercourse as
would voluntarily flow from amicable dispositions. Without
urging, we sounded the ministers of the several European
nations at the court of Versailles, on their dispositions
towards mutual commerce, and the expediency of encouraging
it by the protection
Mr. Adams being appointed Min. Pleny. of the U S. to
London, left us in June, and in July 1785. Dr. Franklin
returned to America, and I was appointed his successor at
Paris. In Feb. 1786. Mr. Adams wrote to me pressingly to
join him in London immediately, as he thought he discovered
there some symptoms of better disposition towards us. Colo.
Smith, his Secretary of legation, was the bearer of his
urgencies for my immediate attendance. I accordingly left
Paris on the 1st. of March, and on my arrival in London we
agreed on a very summary form of treaty, proposing an
exchange of citizenship for our citizens, our ships, and our
productions generally, except as to office. On my
presentation as usual to the King and Queen at their levées,
it was impossible for anything to be more ungracious than
their notice of Mr. Adams & myself. I saw at once that
the ulcerations in the narrow mind of that mulish being left
nothing to be expected on the subject of my attendance; and
on the first conference with the Marquis of Caermarthen, his
Minister of foreign affairs, the
While in London we entered into negotiations with the Chevalier Pinto, Ambassador of Portugal at that place. The only article of difficulty between us was a stipulation that our bread stuff should be received in Portugal in the form of flour as well as of grain. He approved of it himself, but observed that several Nobles, of great influence at their court, were the owners of wind mills in the neighborhood of Lisbon which depended much for their profits on manufacturing our wheat, and that this stipulation would endanger the whole treaty. He signed it however, & it's fate was what he had candidly portended.
My duties at Paris were confined to a few objects; the
receipt of our whale-oils, salted fish, and salted meats on
favorable terms, the admission of our rice on equal terms
with that of Piedmont, Egypt & the Levant, a mitigation
of the monopolies of our tobacco by the Farmers-general, and
a free admission of our productions into their islands; were
the principal commercial objects which required attention;
and on these occasions I was powerfully aided by all the
influence and the energies of the Marquis de La Fayette, who
proved himself equally zealous for the friendship and
welfare of both nations; and in justice I must also say that
I found the government entirely disposed to befriend us on
all occasions, and to yield us every indulgence not
absolutely injurious to themselves.
Our commerce in the Mediterranean was placed under early alarm by the capture of two of our vessels and crews by the Barbary cruisers. I was very unwilling that we should acquiesce in the European humiliation of paying a tribute to those lawless pirates, and endeavored to form an association of the powers subject to habitual depredations from them. I accordingly prepared and proposed to their ministers at Paris, for consultation with their governments, articles of a special confederation in the following form.
* * *
“Proposals for concerted operation among the powers at war with the Piratical States of Barbary.
1. It is proposed that the several powers at war with the Piratical States of Barbary, or any two or more of them who shall be willing, shall enter into a convention to carry on their operations against those states, in concert, beginning with the Algerines.
2. This convention shall remain open to any other power who shall at any future time wish to accede to it; the parties reserving a right to prescribe the conditions of such accession, according to the circumstances existing at the time it shall be proposed.
3. The object of the convention shall be to compel the piratical states to perpetual peace, without price, & to guarantee that peace to each other.
4. The operations for obtaining this peace shall be constant cruises on their coast with a naval force now to be agreed on. It is not proposed that this force shall be so considerable as to be inconvenient to any party. It is believed that half a dozen frigates, with as many Tenders or Xebecs, one half of which shall be in cruise, while the other half is at rest, will suffice.
5. The force agreed to be necessary shall be furnished
by the parties
6. As miscarriages often proceed from the want of harmony among officers of different nations, the parties shall now consider & decide whether it will not be better to contribute their quotas in money to be employed in fitting out, and keeping on duty, a single fleet of the force agreed on.
7. The difficulties and delays too which will attend the management of these operations, if conducted by the parties themselves separately, distant as their courts may be from one another, and incapable of meeting in consultation, suggest a question whether it will not be better for them to give full powers for that purpose to their Ambassadors or other ministers resident at some one court of Europe, who shall form a Committee or Council for carrying this convention into effect; wherein the vote of each member shall be computed in proportion to the quota of his sovereign, and the majority so computed shall prevail in all questions within the view of this convention. The court of Versailles is proposed, on account of it's neighborhood to the Mediterranean, and because all those powers are represented there, who are likely to become parties to this convention.
8. To save to that council the embarrassment of personal solicitations for office, and to assure the parties that their contributions will be applied solely to the object for which they are destined, there shall be no establishment of officers for the said Council, such as Commis, Secretaries, or any other kind, with either salaries or perquisites, nor any other lucrative appointments but such whose functions are to be exercised on board the sd vessels.
9. Should war arise between any two of the parties to this convention it shall not extend to this enterprise, nor interrupt it; but as to this they shall be reputed at peace.
10. When Algiers shall be reduced to peace, the other pyratical states, if they refuse to discontinue their pyracies shall become the objects of this convention, either successively or together as shall seem best.
11. Where this convention would interfere with treaties actually existing between any of the parties and the sd states of Barbary, the treaty shall prevail, and such party shall be allowed to withdraw from the operations against that state.”
* * *
Spain had just concluded a treaty with Algiers at the
expense of 3. millions of dollars, and did not like to
relinquish
May 17. In 1786. while at Paris I became acquainted with
John Ledyard of Connecticut, a man of genius, of some
science, and of fearless courage, & enterprise. He had
accompanied Capt Cook in his voyage to the Pacific, had
distinguished himself on several occasions by an unrivalled
intrepidity, and published an account of that voyage with
details unfavorable to Cook's deportment towards the
savages, and lessening our regrets at his fate. Ledyard had
come to Paris in the hope of forming a company to engage in
the fur trade of the Western coast of America. He was
disappointed in this, and being out of business, and of a
roaming, restless character, suggested
May 18. The pecuniary distresses of France produced this year a measure of which there had been no example for near two centuries, & the consequences of which, good and evil, are not yet calculable. For it's remote causes we must go a little back.
Celebrated writers of France and England had already
~sketched good principles on the subject of government. Yet
the American Revolution seems first to have awakened the
The Count de Vergennes had died a few days before the meeting of the Assembly, & the Count de Montmorin had been named Minister of foreign affairs in his place. Villedeuil succeeded Calonnes as Comptroller general, & Lomenie de Bryenne, Archbishop of Thoulouse, afterwards of Sens, & ultimately Cardinal Lomenie, was named Minister principal, with whom the other ministers were to transact the business of their departments, heretofore done with the King in person, and the Duke de Nivernois, and M. de Malesherbes were called to the Council. On the nomination of the Minister principal the Marshals de Segur & de Castries retired from the departments of War & Marine, unwilling to act subordinately, or to share the blame of proceedings taken out of their direction. They were succeeded by the Count de Brienne, brother of the Prime minister, and the Marquis de la Luzerne, brother to him who had been Minister in the United States.
May 24. A dislocated wrist, unsuccessfully set,
occasioned advice from my Surgeon to try the mineral waters
of Aix in Provence as a corroborant. I left Paris for that
place therefore on the 28th. of Feb. and proceeded up the
Seine, thro' Champagne & Burgundy, and down the Rhone
thro' the Beaujolais by Lyons, Avignon, Nismes to Aix, where
finding on trial no benefit from the waters, I concluded to
visit the rice country of Piedmont, to see if anything might
be learned there to benefit the rivalship of our Carolina
rice with that, and thence to make a tour of the seaport
towns of France, along it's Southern and Western coast, to
inform myself if anything could be done to favor our
commerce with them. From Aix therefore I took my route by
Marseilles, Toulon, Hieres, Nice, across the Col de Tende,
by Coni, Turin, Vercelli, Novara, Milan, Pavia, Novi, Genoa.
Thence returning along the
The treasonable perfidy of the Prince of Orange, Stadtholder & Captain General of the United Netherlands, in the war which England waged against them for entering into a treaty of commerce with the U. S. is known to all. As their Executive officer, charged with the conduct of the war, he contrived to baffle all the measures of the States General, to dislocate all their military plans, & played false into the hands of England and against his own country on every possible occasion, confident in her protection, and in that of the King of Prussia, brother to his Princess. The States General indignant at this patricidal conduct applied to France for aid, according to the stipulations of the treaty concluded with her in 85. It was assured to them readily, and in cordial terms, in a letter from the Ct. de Vergennes to the Marquis de Verac, Ambassador of France at the Hague, of which the following is an extract.
“Extrait de la depeche de Monsr. le Comte de Vergennes à Monsr. le Marquis de Verac, Ambassadeur de France à la Haye, du 1er Mars 1786.
“Le Roi concourrera, autant qu'il sera en son pouvoir, au
succes de la chose, et vous inviterez de sa part les
patriotes de lui communiquer leurs vues, leurs plans, et
leurs envieux. Vous les assurerez que le roi prend un
interêt veritable à leurs personnes comme à leur cause, et
qu' ils peuvent compter sur sa protection. Ils doivent y
compter d' autant
This letter was communicated by the Patriots to me when at Amsterdam in 1788. and a copy sent by me to Mr. Jay in my letter to him of Mar. 16. 1788.
The object of the Patriots was to establish a representative and republican government. The majority of the States general were with them, but the majority of the populace of the towns was with the Prince of Orange; and that populace was played off with great effect by the triumvirate of
Harris the English Ambassador afterwards Ld. Malmesbury,
the Prince of Orange a stupid man, and the Princess as much
a man as either of her colleagues, in audaciousness, in
enterprise, & in the thirst of domination. By these the
mobs of the Hague were excited against the members of the
States general, their persons were insulted & endangered
in the streets,
Our first essay in America to establish a federative
government had fallen, on trial, very short of it's object.
During the
This Convention met at Philadelphia on the 25th. of May
'87. It sate with closed doors and kept all it's
proceedings secret, until it's dissolution on the 17th. of
September, when the results of their labors were published
all together. received a copy early in November, and read
and contemplated it's provisions with great satisfaction.
As not a member of the Convention however, nor probably a
single citizen of the Union, had approved it in all it's
parts, so I too found articles which I thought
objectionable. The absence of express declarations ensuring
freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of the
person under the uninterrupted protection of
But there was another amendment of which none of us
thought at the time and in the omission of which lurks the
germ that is to destroy this happy combination of National
powers in the General government for matters of National
concern, and independent powers in the states for what
concerns the states severally. In England it was a great
point gained at the Revolution, that the commissions of the
judges, which had hitherto been during pleasure, should
thenceforth be made during good behavior. A Judiciary
dependent on the will of the King had proved itself the most
oppressive of all tools in the hands of that Magistrate.
Nothing then could be more salutary than a change there to
the tenure of good behavior; and the question of good
behavior left to the vote of a simple majority in the two
houses of parliament. Before the revolution we were all
good English Whigs, cordial in their free principles, and in
their jealousies of their executive Magistrate. These
jealousies are very apparent in all our state constitutions;
and, in the general government in this instance, we have
gone even beyond the English caution, by requiring a
Among the debilities of the government of the
Confederation, no one was more distinguished or more
distressing than the utter impossibility of obtaining, from
the states, the monies necessary for the payment of debts,
or even for the ordinary expenses of the government. Some
contributed a little, some less, & some nothing, and the
last furnished at length an excuse for the first to do
nothing also. Mr. Adams, while residing at the Hague, had a
general authority to borrow what sums might be requisite for
ordinary & necessary expenses. Interest on the public
debt, and the maintenance of the diplomatic establishment in
Europe, had been habitually provided in this way. He was
now elected Vice President of the U. S. was soon to return
to America, and had referred our bankers to me for future
councel on our affairs in their hands. But I had no powers,
no instructions, no means, and no familiarity with the
subject. It had always been exclusively under his
management, except as to occasional and partial deposits in
the hands of Mr. Grand, banker in Paris, for special and
local purposes. These last had been exhausted for some
time, and I had fervently pressed the Treasury board to
replenish this particular deposit; as Mr. Grand now refused
to make further advances. They answered candidly that no
funds could be obtained until the new government should get
into action, and have time to make it's arrangements. Mr.
Adams had received his appointment to the court of London
while engaged at Paris, with Dr. Franklin and myself, in the
negotiations under our joint commissions. He had repaired
thence to London, without returning to the Hague to take
leave of that government. He thought it necessary however
to do so now, before he should leave Europe, and accordingly
Florins.
there would be necessary for the year 88 — 531,937 — 10
89 — 538,540
90 — 473,540
—————————
Total, 1,544,017 — 10
Flor.
to meet this the bankers had in hand 79,268 — 2 — 8
& the unsold bonds would yield 542,800 622,068 — 2 — 8
—————— ——————
leaving a deficit of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921,949 — 7 — 4
we proposed then to borrow a million yielding. . .900,000
—————————
which would leave a small deficiency of. . . . . . 1,949 — 7 — 4
Mr. Adams accordingly executed 1000. bonds, for 1000. florins each, and deposited them in the hands of our bankers, with instructions however not to issue them until Congress should ratify the measure. This done, he returned to London, and I set out for Paris; and as nothing urgent forbade it, I determined to return along the banks of the Rhine to Strasburg, and thence strike off to Paris. I accordingly left Amsterdam on the 30th of March, and proceeded by Utrecht, Nimeguen, Cleves, Duysberg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonne, Coblentz, Nassau, Hocheim, Frankfort, & made an excursion to Hanau, thence to Mayence and another excursion to Rude-sheim, & Johansberg; then by Oppenheim, Worms, and Manheim, and an excursion to Heidelberg, then by Spire, Carlsruh, Rastadt & Kelh, to Strasburg, where I arrived Apr. 16th, and proceeded again on the 18th, by Phalsbourg, Fenestrange, Dieuze, Moyenvie, Nancy, Toul, Ligny, Barleduc, St. Diziers, Vitry, Chalons sur Marne, Epernay, Chateau Thierri, Meaux, to Paris where I arrived on the 23d. of April; and I had the satisfaction to reflect that by this journey our credit was secured, the new government was placed at ease for two years to come, and that as well as myself were relieved from the torment of incessant duns, whose just complaints could not be silenced by any means within our power.
A Consular Convention had been agreed on in 84. between
Dr. Franklin and the French government containing several
articles so entirely inconsistent with the laws of the
several states, and the general spirit of our citizens, that
Congress withheld their ratification, and sent it back to me
with instructions to get those articles expunged or modified
so as to render them compatible with our laws. The minister
retired unwillingly from these concessions, which indeed
authorized the exercise of powers very offensive in a free
state. After much discussion it was reformed in a
considerable degree,
On my return from Holland, I had found Paris still in
high ~fermentation as I had left it. Had the Archbishop, on
the close of the assembly of Notables, immediately carried
into operation the measures contemplated, it was believed
they would all have been registered by the parliament, but
he was slow, presented his edicts, one after another, &
at considerable intervals of time, which gave time for the
feelings excited by the proceedings of the Notables to cool
off, new claims to be advanced, and a pressure to arise for
a fixed constitution, not subject to changes at the will of
the King. Nor should we wonder at this pressure when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power under which this
people were ground to powder, when we pass in review the
weight of their taxes, and inequality of their distribution;
the oppressions of the tythes, of the tailles, the corvées,
the gabelles, the farms & barriers; the shackles on
Commerce by monopolies; on Industry by gilds &
corporations; on the freedom of conscience, of thought, and
of speech; on the Press by the Censure; and of person by
lettres de Cachet; the cruelty of the criminal code
generally, the atrocities of the Rack, the venality of
judges, and their partialities to the rich; the Monopoly of
Military honors by the Noblesse; the enormous expenses of
the Queen, the princes & the Court; the prodigalities of
pensions; & the riches, luxury, indolence &
immorality of the clergy. Surely under such a mass of
misrule and oppression, a people might justly press for a
thoro' reformation, and might even dismount their rough-shod
riders, & leave them to walk on their own legs. The
edicts relative to the corvées & free circulation of
grain, were first presented to the parliament and
registered. But those for the impôt territorial, &
stamp tax, offered some time after, were refused by the
parliament, which proposed a call of the States General as
alone competent to their authorization. Their refusal
produced a Bed of justice, and their exile to Troyes. The
advocates however refusing to attend them, a suspension in
the administration of justice took place. The Parliament
held out for awhile, but the
Hitherto no acts of popular violence had been produced by
the struggle for political reformation. Little riots, on
ordinary incidents, had taken place, as at other times, in
different parts of the kingdom, in which some lives, perhaps
a dozen or twenty, had been lost, but in the month of April
a more serious
The States General were opened on the 5th. of May 89. by speeches from the King, the Garde des Sceaux Lamoignon, and Mr. Necker. The last was thought to trip too lightly over the constitutional reformations which were expected. His notices of them in this speech were not as full as in his previous `Rapport au Roi.' This was observed to his disadvantage. But much allowance should have been made for the situation in which he was placed between his own counsels, and those of the ministers and party of the court. Overruled in his own opinions, compelled to deliver, and to gloss over those of his opponents, and even to keep their secrets, he could not come forward in his own attitude.
The composition of the assembly, altho' equivalent on the
whole to what had been expected, was something different in
it's elements. It has been supposed that a superior
education would carry into the scale of the Commons a
respectable portion of the Noblesse. It did so as to those
of Paris, of it's vicinity and of the other considerable
cities, whose greater intercourse with enlightened society
had liberalized their minds, and prepared them to advance up
to the measure of the times. But the Noblesse of the
country, which constituted
The objects for which this body was convened being of the
first order of importance, I felt it very interesting to
understand the views of the parties of which it was
composed, and especially the ideas prevalent as to the
organization contemplated for their government. I went
therefore daily from Paris to Versailles, and attended their
debates, generally till the hour of adjournment. Those of
the Noblesse were impassioned and tempestuous. They had
some able men on both sides, and actuated by equal zeal.
The debates of the Commons were temperate, rational and
inflexibly firm. As preliminary to all other business, the
awful questions came on, Shall the States sit in one, or in
distinct apartments? And shall they vote by heads or
houses? The opposition was soon found to consist of the
Episcopal order among the clergy, and two thirds of the
Noblesse; while the tiers etat were, to a man, united and
determined. After various propositions of compromise had
failed, the Commons undertook to cut the Gordian knot. The
Abbe Sieyes, the most logical head of the nation, (author of
the pamphlet Qu'est ce que le tiers etat? which had
electrified that country, as Paine's Common sense did us)
after an impressive speech on the 10th of June, moved that a
last invitation should be sent to the Nobles and Clergy, to
attend in the Hall of the States, collectively or
individually for the verification of powers, to which the
commons would proceed immediately, either in their presence
or absence. This verification seance royale. A
form of declaration was proposed by Necker, which, while it
censured in general the proceedings both of the Nobles and
Commons, announced the King's views, such as substantially
to coincide with the Commons. It was agreed to in council,
the seance was fixed for the 22d. the meetings of the
States were till then to be suspended, and everything, in
the meantime, kept secret. The members the next morning
(20th.) repairing to their house as usual, found the doors
shut and guarded, a proclamation posted up for a seance
royale on the 22d. and a suspension of their meetings in the
meantime. Concluding that their dissolution was now to take
place, they repaired to a building called the “Jeu de paume”
(or Tennis court) and there bound themselves by oath to each
other, never to separate of their own accord, till they had
settled a constitution for the nation, on a solid basis, and
if separated by force, that they would reassemble in some
other place. The next day they met in the church of St.
Louis, and were joined by a majority of the clergy. The
heads of the Aristocracy saw that all was lost without some
bold exertion. The King was still at Marly. Nobody was
permitted to approach him but their friends. He was
assailed by falsehoods in all shapes. He was made to
believe that the Commons were about to absolve the army from
their oath of fidelity to him, and to raise their pay. The
court party were now all rage and desperate. They procured a
committee to be held consisting of the King and his
ministers, to which Monsieur & the Count d'Artois should
be admitted. At this committee the latter attacked Mr.
Necker personally, arraigned his declaration, and proposed
When the King passed, the next day, thro' the lane formed
from the Chateau to the Hotel des etats, there was a dead
silence. He was about an hour in the House delivering his
speech & declaration. On his coming out a feeble cry of
“Vive le Roy” was raised by some children, but the people
remained silent & sullen. In the close of his speech he
had ordered that the members should follow him, & resume
their deliberations the next day. The Noblesse followed
him, and so did the clergy, except about thirty, who, with
the tiers, remained in the room, and entered into
deliberation. They protested against what the King had
done, adhered to all their former proceedings, and resolved
the inviolability of their own persons. An officer came to
order them out of the room in the King's name. “Tell those
who sent you, said Mirabeau, that we shall not move hence
but at our own will, or the point of the bayonet.” In the
afternoon the people, uneasy, began to assemble in great
numbers in the courts, and vicinities of the palace. This
produced alarm. The Queen sent for Mr. Necker. He was
conducted amidst the shouts and acclamations of the
multitude who filled all the apartments of the palace. He
was a few minutes only with the queen, and what passed
between them did not transpire. The King went out to ride.
He passed thro' the crowd to his carriage and into it,
without being in the least noticed. As Mr. Neckar followed
him universal acclamations were raised of “vive Monsr.
Neckar, vive le sauveur de la France opprimée.” He was
conducted back to his house with the same demonstrations of
affection and anxiety. About 200. deputies of the Tiers,
catching the enthusiasm of the moment, went to his house,
and extorted from him a promise that he would not resign.
On the 25th. 48. of the Nobles joined the tiers, & among
them the D. of Orleans. There were then with them 164
members of the Clergy, altho'
These proceedings had thrown the people into violent
ferment. It gained the souldiery, first of the French
guards, extended to those of every other denomination,
except the Swiss, and even to the body guards of the King.
They began to quit their barracks, to assemble in squads, to
declare they would defend the life of the King, but would
not be the murderers of their fellow-citizens. They called
themselves the souldiers of the nation, and left now
no doubt on which side they would be, in case of rupture.
Similar accounts came in from the troops in other parts of
the kingdom, giving good reason to believe they would side
with their fathers and brothers rather than with their
officers. The operation of this medicine at Versailles was
as sudden as it was powerful. The alarm there was so
compleat that in the afternoon of the 27th. the King wrote
with his own hand letters to the Presidents of the clergy
and Nobles, engaging them immediately to join the Tiers.
These two bodies were debating & hesitating when notes
from the Ct. d'Artois decided their compliance. They went
in a body and took their seats with the tiers, and thus
rendered the union of the orders in one chamber compleat.
The Assembly now entered on the business of their mission, and first proceeded to arrange the order in which they would take up the heads of their constitution, as follows:
First, and as Preliminary to the whole a general Declaration of the Rights of Man. Then specifically the Principles of the Monarchy; rights of the Nation; rights of the King; rights of the citizens; organization & rights of the National assembly; forms necessary for the enactment of laws; organization & functions of the provincial & municipal assemblies; duties and limits of the Judiciary power; functions & duties of the military power.
A declaration of the rights of man, as the preliminary of their work, was accordingly prepared and proposed by the Marquis de la Fayette.
But the quiet of their march was soon disturbed by
information that troops, and particularly the foreign
troops, were
The Baron de Breteuil, president of the council of
finance; de la Galaisiere, Comptroller general in the room
of Mr. Neckar; the Marshal de Broglio, minister of War,
& Foulon under him in the room of Puy-Segur; the Duke de
la Vauguyon, minister of foreign affairs instead of the Ct.
de Montmorin; de La Porte, minister of Marine, in place of
the Ct. de la Luzerne; St. Priest was also removed from the
council. Luzerne and Puy-Segur had been strongly of the
Aristocratic party in the Council, but they were not
considered as equal to the work now to be done. The King
was now compleatly in the hands of men, the principal among
whom had been noted thro' their lives for the Turkish
despotism of their characters, and who were associated
around the King as proper instruments for what was to be
executed. The news of this
And here again was lost another precious occasion of
sparing to France the crimes and cruelties thro' which she
has since passed, and to Europe, & finally America the
evils which flowed on them also from this mortal source.
The king was now become a passive machine in the hands of
the National assembly, and had he been left to himself, he
would have willingly acquiesced in whatever they should
devise as best for the nation. A wise constitution would
have been formed, hereditary in his line, himself placed at
it's head, with powers so large as to enable him to do all
the good of his station, and so limited as to restrain him
from it's abuse. This he would have faithfully
administered, and more than this I do not believe he ever
wished. But he had a Queen of absolute sway over his weak
mind, and timid virtue; and of a character the reverse of
his in all points. This angel, as gaudily painted in the
rhapsodies of the Rhetor Burke, with some smartness of
fancy, but no sound sense was proud, disdainful of
restraint, indignant at all obstacles to her will, eager in
the pursuit of pleasure, and firm enough to hold to her
desires, or perish in their wreck. Her inordinate gambling
and dissipations, with those of the Count d'Artois and
others of her clique, had been a sensible item in the
exhaustion of the treasury, which called into action the
reforming hand of the nation; and her opposition to it her
inflexible perverseness, and dauntless spirit, led herself
to the Guillotine, & drew the king on with her, and
plunged the world into crimes & calamities which will
forever stain the pages of modern history. I have ever
believed that had there been no queen, there would have been
no revolution. No force would have been provoked nor
exercised. The king would have gone hand in hand with the
wisdom of his sounder counsellors, who, guided by the
increased
M. Necker had reached Basle before he was overtaken by the letter of the king, inviting him back to resume the office he had recently left. He returned immediately, and all the other ministers having resigned, a new administration was named, to wit St. Priest & Montmorin were restored; the Archbishop of Bordeaux was appointed Garde des sceaux; La Tour du Pin Minister of War; La Luzerne Minister of Marine. This last was believed to have been effected by the friendship of Montmorin; for altho' differing in politics, they continued firm in friendship, & Luzerne, altho' not an able man was thought an honest one. And the Prince of Bauvau was taken into the Council.
Seven princes of the blood royal, six ex-ministers, and many of the high Noblesse having fled, and the present ministers, except Luzerne, being all of the popular party, all the functionaries of government moved for the present in perfect harmony.
In the evening of Aug. 4. and on the motion of the
Viscount de Noailles brother in law of La Fayette, the
assembly abolished all titles of rank, all the abusive
privileges of feudalism, the tythes and casuals of the
clergy, all provincial privileges, and, in fine, the Feudal
regimen generally. To the suppression of tythes the Abbe
Sieyes was vehemently opposed; but his learned and logical
arguments were unheeded, and his estimation lessened by a
contrast of his egoism (for he was beneficed on them) with
the generous abandonment of rights by the other members of
the assembly. Many days were employed in putting into the
form of laws the numerous demolitions of ancient abuses;
which done, they proceeded to the preliminary work of a
Declaration of rights. There being much concord of
sentiment on the elements of this instrument, it was
liberally framed, and passed with a very general
approbation. They then appointed a Committee for the
reduction of a projet of a Constitution, at the head of
which was the Archbishop of Bordeaux. I received from him,
as Chairman of the Committee a letter of July 20. requesting
me to attend and assist at their deliberations; but I
excused myself on the obvious considerations that my mission
was to the
Here I discontinue my relation of the French revolution. The minuteness with which I have so far given it's details is disproportioned to the general scale of my narrative. But I have thought it justified by the interest which the whole world must take in this revolution. As yet we are but in the first chapter of it's history. The appeal to the rights of man, which had been made in the U S. was taken up by France, first of the European nations. From her the spirit has spread over those of the South. The tyrants of the North have allied indeed against it, but it is irresistible. Their opposition will only multiply it's millions of human victims; their own satellites will catch it, and the condition of man thro' the civilized world will be finally and greatly ameliorated. This is a wonderful instance of great events from small causes. So inscrutable is the arrangement of causes & consequences in this world that a two-penny duty on tea, unjustly imposed in a sequestered part of it, changes the condition of all it's inhabitants. I have been more minute in relating the early transactions of this regeneration because was in circumstances peculiarly favorable for a knowledge of the truth. Possessing the confidence and intimacy of the leading patriots, & more than all of the Marquis Fayette, their head and Atlas, who had no secrets from me, I learnt with correctness the views & proceedings of that party; while my intercourse with the diplomatic missionaries of Europe at Paris, all of them with the court, and eager in prying into it's councils and proceedings, gave me a knolege of these also. My information was always and immediately committed to writing, in letters to Mr. Jay, and often to my friends, and a recurrence to these letters now insures me against errors of memory.
These opportunities of information ceased at this period,
with my retirement from this interesting scene of action. I
had been more than a year soliciting leave to go home with a
On the 26th. of Sep. I left Paris for Havre, where I was
detained by contrary winds until the 8th. of Oct. On that
day, and the 9th. I crossed over to Cowes, where I had
engaged the Clermont, Capt. Colley, to touch for me. She
did so, but here again we were detained by contrary winds
until the 22d. when we embarked and landed at Norfolk on the
23d. of November. On my way home I passed some days at
Eppington in Chesterfield, the residence of my friend and
connection, Mr. Eppes, and, while there, I received a letter
from the President, Genl. Washington, by express, covering
an appointment to be Secretary of State. received it with
real regret. My wish had been to return to Paris, where I
had left my household establishment, as if there myself, and
to see the end of the Revolution, which, I then thought
would be certainly and happily closed in less than a year.
I then meant to return
In the interval of my stay at home my eldest daughter had
been happily married to the eldest son of the Tuckahoe
branch of Randolphs, a young gentleman of genius, science
and honorable mind, who afterwards filled a dignified
station in the General Government, & the most dignified
in his own State. I left Monticello on the 1st of March
1790. for New York. At Philadelphia I called on the
venerable and beloved Franklin. He was then on the bed of
sickness from which he never rose. My recent return from a
country in which he had left so many friends, and the
perilous convulsions to which they had been exposed, revived
all his anxieties to know what part they had taken, what had
been their course, and what their fate. He went over all in
succession, with a rapidity and animation almost too much
for his strength. When all his inquiries were satisfied,
and a pause took place, I told him I had learnt with much
pleasure that, since his return to America, he had been
occupied in preparing for the world the history of his own
life. I cannot say much of that, said he; but I will give
you a sample of what shall leave: and he directed his little
grandson (William Bache) who was standing by the bedside, to
hand him a paper from the table to which he pointed. He did
so; and the Doctr. putting it into my hands, desired me to
take it and read it at my leisure. It was about a quire of
folio paper, written in a large and running hand very like
his own. I looked into it slightly, then shut it and said I
I arrived at New York on the 21st. of Mar. where Congress was in session.
So far July 29. 21.
History of Virginia,
Appendix No. 12, note.