Much however will necessarily depend on the approaching election I have not seen Jefferson and have thought it best to present him no opportunity of protesting to his friend against being embarked in the contest. Whether he will get a majority of vote is uncertain. I am be no...

You have seen my name lately tacked to so much of eulogy & of abuse, that I dare say you hardly thought it meant for your old acquaintance of 76. in truth I did not know myself under the pens either of my friends or foes. it is unfortunate for our peace that unmerited abuse wounds, while...

tho wrong in politicks, tho formerly an advocate for Tom pains Rights of Man, and tho frequently mistaken in Men & measures, I do not think him an insincere or a corruptable Man. my Friendship for him has ever been unshaken.

I am going up to Richmond tomorrow with my children to be inoculated. I shall take lodgings somewhere and stay with them myself till they are safe through as Mrs Randolph cannot be with them on account of the age of the youngest, being just about teething. If Mrs Watkins & yourself will...

I hope I shall see you in Georgetown, and certainly shall if the movements of the stage will permit it: for I prefer that conveyance to travelling with my own horses, because it gives me, what I have long been without, an opportunity of plunging into the mixed characters of my country, the most...

Thos Jefferson 8½ Acres BedfordExd James Wood Esquire Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Know ye that by Virtue of a Land office Treasury Warrant Number one thousand eight hundred and thirty two, issued the third day of March one thousand...

When I retired from this place and the office of Secretary of state, it was in the firmest contemplation of never more returning here. There had indeed been suggestions in the public papers that I was looking towards a succession to the President’s chair. But feeling a consciousness of their...

Thomas Jefferson 800 Acres Campbell & Bedford CountiesExd James Wood Esquire Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia To all To whom these presents shall come Greeting Know ye that by Virtue of a Land Office Treasury Warrant Number Seventeen hundred and twenty two issued the sixth day of...

I received yesterday your favor of the 23rd ... The paper inclosed in it is a serious thing. It will be a motive, in addition to many others, for me to be upon my guard. It is evidence of a mind, soured, yet seeking for popularity, and eaten to a honeycomb with ambition, yet weak, confused,...

through the kindness of General Washington I was introduced to Mr. Jefferson, who proved one of my sincerest, though not most fortunate, friends ... In all the chief requisites of the social character Mr. Jefferson appeared to me to possess few equals. His heart was warmed with a love for the...

as to the mode of emancipation, I am satisfied that that must be a matter of compromise between the passions the prejudices, & the real difficulties which will each have their weight in that operation. perhaps the first chapter of this history, which has begun in St Domingo, & the next...

I envy those who stay at home, enjoying the society of their friendly neighbors, blessed with their firesides, and employed in doing something every day which looks usefully to futurity.