Grecian, Roman, Gallic, British law, history, virtue, eloquence? I don't see clearly the objects that I am after; they are often out of sight; motes, atoms, feathers, are blown into my eyes and blind me. Who can see distinctly the course he is to take and the objects that he pursues, when in the midst of a whirlwind of dust, straws, atoms, and feathers?

THE FOURTH OF JULY.

FROM A LETTER DATED THE THIRD OF JULY.

Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed, without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, and as such they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which other States may rightfully do." You will see, in a few days, a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.

When I look back to the year 1761, and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of this controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period, from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness, as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom; at least, this is my judgment. Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting, and distresses yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least. It will inspire us with many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace

The practice has been to celebrate the 4th of July, the day upon which the form of the Declaration of Independence was agreed to, rather than the 2d, the day upon which the resolution, making that declaration, was determined upon by the Congress.

of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming in every part, will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power, and the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. But I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.

FROM ANOTHER LETTER OF THE SAME DATE.

But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means; and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1743-1826.

THOMAS JEFFERSON, descended from a family which had been long settled in his native State, was born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia, on the 2d of April, 1743. After finishing his collegiate course of education at William's and Mary's College, he commenced the study of the law with the celebrated George Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the State. He was called to the bar in 1766; but the clouds that indicated the coming revolution were gathering faster and faster in the political horizon, demanding the clearest and coolest heads as well as the most intrepid spirits, to take the management of

the ship of State, and carry her safely through the storm. Accordingly, we find that, as early as 1769, Mr. Jefferson was a distinguished member of the Legislature of Virginia, and associated with the most determined champions of our rights.

On the 12th of March, 1773, Mr. Jefferson was appointed a member of the first committee of correspondence established by the colonial legislatures, a sufficient proof of the estimation in which his talents were held. The next year, being still a member of the Legislature of Virginia, he wrote and published his "Summary View of the Rights of British America." It was a bold and manly document, ably setting forth our own rights, and pointing out clearly the various ways in which they had been violated by the British government. On the 27th of March, 1775, he was elected one of the members to represent Virginia in the General Congress of the Confederated Colonies, already assembled at Philadelphia, and took his seat in this assembly on the 21st of June. So early did he become known in that illustrious body for real abilities, that, in a few days after his arrival, he was made a member of a committee appointed to draw up a declaration setting forth the causes and necessity of resorting to arms; a task which, like all other addresses of this congress, was executed with singular ability.

With the year 1776, the affairs of the colonies began to assume an aspect of more energy, with aims more definite. More than six months had elapsed since the fields of Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill had been stained with hostile blood, and with our determined resistance the question of absolute independence became one of very general interest and deep thought among all classes of the nation. When, therefore, the subject was brought before Congress on Friday, the 27th of June, it met with a hearty response in that body, and was fully discussed on the following Saturday and Monday. The debate was then postponed until the 1st of July, and a committee was appointed to prepare, in the mean while, a declaration "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

This committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and R. R. Livingston; and to Mr. Jefferson, the chairman, was assigned the important duty of preparing the draft of the document; and the result proved that he was fully equal to the task. On the 28th of June, the Declaration of Independence was presented to Congress and read; on the first, second, and third of July, it was taken into very full consideration; and on the fourth it

was agreed to, after several alterations and many omissions had been made in the draft as it was first framed by the committee.

During the summer of this year (1776), Mr. Jefferson took an active part in the deliberations and business of Congress; but in the fall, owing to his ill health, the situation of his family, and the embarrassed condition of things in Virginia, he felt it his duty to return to his own State, and devote himself to her service. To her he rendered incalculable service in aiding in a careful revision of her laws, and, as governor, directing the military movements of the State during the greater portion of the revolutionary period. Though his public duties were arduous, he found time to write, in 1781, his "Notes on Virginia," the work by which, next to the Declaration of Independence, he is most favorably known. In June, 1783, Mr. Jefferson was again elected a delegate to Congress from Virginia, and of course took a prominent part in that body. An opportunity was soon offered to him of expressing again, as he had already so frequently done, his detestation of slavery, and his earnest desire for the entire abolition of it in the United States. Being appointed, in April, 1784, chairman of a committee to which was assigned the task of forming a plan for the temporary government of the Western Territory, he introduced into it the following clause: "That, after the year 1800, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any one of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted to have been personally guilty." When the report of the committee was presented to Congress, these words were stricken out.'

Having been appointed by Congress commissioner to negotiate treaties in Europe, in conjunction with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, he sailed in July (1784), and joined his colleagues at Paris; full powers having been given to them to form alliances of amity and commerce with foreign states. They were not, however, very successful, treaties having been formed with but two governments, Morocco and Prussia. On the 10th of March, 1785, Mr. Jefferson was unanimously appointed by

I may say that it is a good thing that they were so, for three years after, when the subject was under discussion-the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, drawn up by Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts—a similar proviso was introduced and carried, TO TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY, and NOT TO BE PUT OFF TO THE YEAR 1800. Too great credit, however, cannot be awarded to Mr. Jefferson for being the first to lay down the noble principle of freedom, though it is an undoubted historical fact that Nathan Dane, aided partly by hints from Rufus King and Timothy Pickering, has the immortal honor of being the author of the Ordinance of 1787 (as it was stated by Webster in his matchless reply to Hayne), for Mr. Jefferson was in France when it was discussed and passed. For a full account of this interesting subject, read Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, by his son, Charles King, LL. D.”

Congress to succeed Dr. Franklin as minister plenipotentiary at the court of Versailles. He remained in France until October, 1789, when he returned, and was, at the formation of the new government, appointed by President Washington, Secretary of State, the post, next to that of the president, the most responsible of all the highest offices. This he filled with honor to himself and advantage to the country. Finding, however, the views of Washington and the greater portion of his cabinet essentially different from his own, he resigned the office of Secretary of State, and retired into private life, devoting himself to the education of his family, the cultivation of his estate, and the pursuits of his philosophical studies. In September, 1796, when General Washington announced his determination to retire from public life, the two parties into which the country was divided-the Federalists and anti-federalists, or "Republicans," as then called-brought forward their favorite candidates. John Adams was supported by the former, and Thomas Jefferson by the latter. Mr. Adams was elected, and entered upon the duties of his office the 4th of March, 1797. Such, however, was the change of parties that, after four years, Mr. Jefferson was elected, in 1801, to the office of President. Comments upon the measures of his administration belong rather to the province of the historian than of the biographer; and we have no space to make such comments, were they in place. It may be, however, remarked, that time has proved that the fears of many of the most distinguished leaders of the Federal party-that the State governments would be too strong for the Federal government-have proved groundless, and that the Republicans, or Democrats, were right in their jealousies towards the overshadowing power of the government at Washington, which has increased with a strength and influence, every year, that should cause great jealousy on the part of the States, and lead them to watch carefully and assert their constitutional rights.'

The leading events of Mr. Jefferson's administration were the purchase of Louisiana2 from France; the expedition of Lewis and Clarke, west of the Rocky Mountains, to the mouth of Columbia River; and the "Embargo." Upon these measures, there is no room here to comment, if it were the place to do it. At the close of his second term, 1809,

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Constitution, Amendments, Article X.

From this territory, bought for twenty millions of dollars, four new slave States were formed. Had the principles of the Ordinance of 1787 been applied to this region, what untold blessings would have accrued to our country! The further extension of slavery would have been stopped, and that anomaly in our system would probably have died out before the death of Jefferson.