Extract about Thomas Jefferson, by the Marquis de Chastellux
| [April 13, 1782] |
Let me then describe to you a man, not yet forty, tall, and with a mild and pleasing countenance, but whose mind and knowledge could serve in lieu of all outward graces; an American, who, without ever having quitted his own country, is Musician, Draftsman, Geometrician, Astronomer, Natural Philosopher, Jurist, and Statesman; a Senator of America, who sat for two years in that famous Congress which brought about the Revolution ... a Governor of Virginia, who filled this difficult station during the invasions of Arnold, Phillips, and Cornwallis; and finally a Philosopher, retired from the world and public business, because he loves the world only insofar as he can feel that he is useful.