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Extract about Thomas Jefferson, by Margaret Bayard Smith, [Dec. 1800] [Quote]

“And is this,” said I, after my first interview with Mr. Jefferson, “the violent democrat, the vulgar demagogue, the bold atheist and profligate man I have so often heard denounced by the federalists? Can this man so meek and mild, yet dignified in his manners, with a voice so soft and low, with...

Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Daniel Trump, 21 Feb. 1801 [Quote]

he was a valuable young man, and his loss has given great concern to me ... the object of the present is to see if you can procure one to supply his place. good humor & sobriety are the two indispensable qualities. skill in his business is now become more important, as I shall be little at...

Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Moses Robinson, 23 Mar. 1801 [Quote]

I sincerely wish with you we could see our government so secured as to depend less on the character of the person in whose hands it is trusted. bad men will sometimes get in, & with such an immense patronage, may make great progress in corrupting the public mind & principles. this is a...

Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Walter Jones, 31 Mar. 1801 [Quote]

I am sensible how far I should fall short of effecting all the reformation which reason would suggest and experience approve, were I free to do whatever I thought best. but when we reflect how difficult it is to move or inflect the great machine of society, how impossible to advance the notions...