JEFFERSON. 



219 



the general oily, said to be- five leagues in circuit, sur- 

 rouiuleil with walls and ditches, and containing sev- 

 eral fortified buildings, which have the appearance 

 of castles. The outer part is composed of streets, 

 containing many palaces, in which reside the princes 

 of the blood, ministers, and other public functionar- 

 ies. In the centre is the emperor's palace, the body 

 of it being of only one high story, but adorned with a 

 square tower raised many stories high. Unlike all 

 other Japanese structures, it is well built of freestone, 

 and is surrounded by a wall of the same material. 

 The city is intersected by branches of the river, and 

 by canals. It is the seat of an extensive commerce, 

 and has many flourishing manufactures. It is greatly 

 exposed to the ravages of fire. In 1658, 100,000 

 houses were reduced to ashes in forty-eight hours. 



JEFFERSON, THOMAS, the third president of the 

 United States of America, was born April 2, old style, 

 1743, at Shadwell, in Albemarle county, Virginia, 

 and was the eldest of eight children. His father, 

 though his education had been entirely neglected in 

 early life, being a man of strong mind, acquired, by 

 subsequent study, considerable information. He died 

 when the subject of our sketch was about twelve years 

 old, having previously given him every means of 

 knowledge that could be procured, and left him a 

 considerable estate. After going through a course 

 of school instruction, young Jefferson entered the 

 college of William and Mary, where he remained 

 for two years. He then commenced the study of 

 law under the guidance of the celebrated George 

 Wythe, by whom, in 1767, he was introduced to its 

 practice, at the bar of the general court of the colony, 

 at which he continued until the revolution. In 1769, 

 he was elected a member of the provincial legisla- 

 ture from the county where he resided, and made a 

 fruitless effort, in that body, for the emancipation of 

 the slaves. By this time, a spirit of opposition had 

 been excited in the colonies to the arbitrary measures 

 of the British government ; and when the governor 

 of Virginia dissolved the general assembly, in 1769, 

 in consequence of the sympathy which was displayed 

 by the majority of its members with the feelings 

 which had been manifested in Massachusetts, they 

 met, the next day, in the public room of the Raleigh 

 tavern, formed themselves into a convention, drew 

 up articles of association against the use of any mer- 

 chandise imported from Great Britain, and signed 

 and recommended them to the people. They then 

 repaired to their respective counties, and were all 

 re-elected, except those few who had declined assent- 

 ing to their proceedings. In 1773, Mr Jefferson 

 associated himself with several of the boldest and 

 most active of his companions in the house ("not 

 thinking," as he says himself, " the old and leading 

 members up to the point of forwardness and zeal 

 which the times required "), and with them formed 

 the system of committees of correspondence, in a 

 private room of the same Raleigh tavern. This 

 system was adopted as the best instrument for com- 

 munication between the different colonies, by which 

 they might be brought to a mutual understanding, 

 and a unity of action produced. This end was com- 

 pletely accomplished, as well as another object 

 that of exciting throughout the colonies a desire for 

 a general congress. It was accordingly resolved that 

 one should be held, and in Virginia a convention was 

 assembled for the purpose of choosing delegates. 

 Of this convention Mr Jefferson was elected a mem- 

 ber; but, being suddenly taken ill on the road, as he 

 was repairing to Williamsburg, its place of meeting, 

 he sent on to its chairman, Peyton Randolph, a 

 draught of instructions which he had prepared as 

 proper to be given to the delegates who should be 

 H'lit to congress. It was laid on the table for peru- 



sal; but, though approved t>y many, the sentiments 

 contained in it were too bold to be adopted by the 

 majority : " tamer sentiments," in his own words, 

 " were preferred, and, 1 believe, wisely preferred ; 

 the leap I proposed being too long, as yet, for the 

 mass of our citizens." The position that he main- 

 tained was, that the relation between Great Britain 

 and the colonies was exactly the same as that be- 

 tween England and Scotland, after the accession of 

 James, and until the union, and the same as her 

 relations with Hanover, having the same executive 

 chief, but no other necessary political connexion. In 

 this doctrine, however, the only person who entirely 

 concurred with him was George Wythe, the other 

 patriots " stopping at the half-way house of John 

 Dickinson, who admitted that Britain had a right 

 to regulate their commerce, and to lay duties on it for 

 the purposes of regulation, but not of raising reve- 

 nue." Though the paper was not adopted, the con- 

 vention, nevertheless, caused it to be printed in a 

 pamphlet form, under the title of a Summary View 

 of the Rights of British America. Having found its 

 way to Britain, it was taken up by the opposition, 

 and, with a few interpolations of Mr Burke, passed 

 through several editions. It procured for its author 

 considerable reputation, and likewise the dangerous 

 honour of having his name placed on a list of pro- 

 scriptions, in a bill of attainder, which was com- 

 menced in one of the houses of parliament, but was 

 speedily suppressed. June 21, 1775, Mr Jefferson 

 took his seat for the first time in congress, having 

 been chosen to fill the place of Peyton Randolph, 

 who had resigned. In this new capacity, he per- 

 severed in the decided tone which he had assumed, 

 always maintaining that no accommodation should 

 be made between the two countries, unless on the 

 broadest and most liberal basis. After serving on 

 several committees, he was at length appointed a 

 member of that, whose report has linked the name 

 of its author with the history of American indepen- 

 dence. June 7, 1776, the delegates from Virginia, 

 in compliance with the instructions of the convention, 

 moved that congress should declare the United Colo- 

 nies free and independent states. This gave rise to 

 a warm and protracted debate ; for as yet there were 

 many who continued to cling to the hope of a peace- 

 ful adjustment. In the course of the discussion, it 

 appearing that several colonies were not yet fully 

 ripe for separation, it was deemed prudent to defer 

 the final decision of the question for a short time ; 

 and, in the mean while, a committee was appointed 

 to prepare a declaration of independence, consisting 

 of John Adams, doctor Franklin, Roger Sherman, 

 Robert R. Livingston, and Mr Jefferson. The last 

 named gentleman was requested to draw up the, 

 paper, which he did; and it was reported to the 

 house, after receiving a few alterations from doctor 

 Franklin and Mr Adams. On the first of July, the 

 day selected for deciding upon the original motion of 

 the Virginia delegates, it was carried in the affirma- 

 tive by a large majority, and two or three days after- 

 wards by an unanimous vote. The declaration of 

 independence was then brought before the house, by 

 which, though generally approved, it was, in some 

 respects modified. Those passages, especially, which 

 conveyed censure upon the people of Britain, were 

 either greatly softened, or entirely omitted, as the 

 idea was still entertained that the colonies possessed 

 friends among them, whose good will it would be pro- 

 per to cherish ; and a clause reprobating the slave- 

 trade was cancelled, in complaisance to some of the 

 southern States, who were largely engaged in the 

 traffic. The debates respecting the declaration oc- 

 cupied three days, on the last of which, the 4th of 

 ! July, it was signed by every member present, except 



