he is easy of access, & conversed with great ease & freedom.

altho’ we have, in the old countries of Europe, the lesson of their experience, to warn us, yet I am not satisfied we shall have the firmness & wisdom to profit by it. the general desire of men to live by their heads rather than their hands, & the strong allurements of great cities to...

Mr. Jefferson is a very rare man. He must be considered among the great governors of nations.

and under the government of the excellent Mr Jefferson, one needs no other protection than the usefulness of one’s work.

the class principally defective is that of agriculture. it is the first in utility, & ought to be the first in respect. the same artificial means which have been used to produce a competition to learning, may be equally successful in restoring agriculture to it’s primary dignity in the eyes...

You mention in your letter that you are proceeding with your family to Fort Massac. this informs me that you have a family, & I sincerely congratulate you on it. while some may think it will render you less active in the service of the world, those who take a sincere interest in your personal...

Chocolate. this article when ready made, and also the Cacao becomes so easily soon rancid, and the difficulties of getting it fresh have been so great in America that it’s use has spread but little. the way to increase it’s consumption would be to permit it to be brought to us immediately from...

in our village of Charlottesville there is a good degree of religion with a small spice only of fanatacism. we have four sects, but without either church or meeting house. the Court house is the common temple, one Sunday in the month to each. here episcopalian and presbyterian, methodist and...

the circle of our nearest connections is the only one in which a faithful and lasting affection can be found, one which will adhere to us under all changes & chances. it is therefore the only soil on which it is worthwhile to bestow much culture.

In conversation, he is free and communicative. All topics that fall under discussion are treated by him with equal unreservedness. He seems, indeed, to have no thought or opinion to conceal, and his stores of knowledge are unlocked and laid open with the same freedom in which nature unfolds her...