Thomas Jefferson to George Washington*, March 19, 1780

Williamsburg, Mar. 19, 1780.

SIR,

Since writing to Your Excellency on the subject of the expedition against Detroit, the want of men, want of money, and difficulty of procuring provisions, with some other reasons more cogent if possible, and which cannot be confided to a letter, have obliged us to decline that Object. I thought it therefore necessary to notify this to Your Excellency that no expectations of our undertaking it may prevent any enterprize of that kind which you may have had in contemplation. That nest is too troublesome not to render the relinquishment of the attempt to destroy it very mortifying to us.¹

I have the honor to be with all possible esteem and respect,

Your Excellency’s most obedient humble servt.

TH. JEFFERSON

_______________

* This letter came from the Washington Papers, bearing the usual endorsement of Tench Tilghman for filing. It also has, in the writing of Jared Sparks, the following note: “Wrote the Declaration of Independence; succeeded Franklin as minister to France; Secretary of State under Washington; chosen President of the United States in 1800.”

^l However desirable the taking of Detroit was, the means available by either the continent or Virginia would not permit it. Even before this letter was written Washington had informed Brodhead at Fort Pitt, that no force could be sent from the continental army, and the expedition must be composed of a union of Colonel Clark‘s troops with those of Brodhead. Owing to disputes over jurisdiction a proper force could not be collected even by that method. Letters to Washington (Sparks), II. [137; George Rogers Clark Papers, 382. etc.

SOURCE: William Keeney Bixby, Thomas Jefferson Correspondence: Printed from the Originals in the Collections of William K. Bixby, p. 2-3

Alexander Hamilton to the Honorable Convention of New-York, August 1776

New-york, August, 1776.

It is necessary I should inform you that there is at present a vacancy in my company, arising from the promotion of Lieut. Johnson to a Captaincy in one of the new Gallies (which command, however, he has since resigned for a very particular reason). As Artillery officers are scarce in proportion to the call for them, and as myself and my remaining officers sustain an extraordinary weight of duty on account of the present vacancy, I shall esteem it a favor, if you will be pleased, as soon as possible, to make up my deficiency by a new appointment. It would be productive of much inconvenience should not the inferior officers succeed in course, and from this consideration I doubt not you will think it proper to advance Mr. Gilleland and Mr. Bean, and fill up the third lieutenancy with some other person. I would beg the liberty warmly to recommend to your attention Thomas Thompson — now first Sergeant in my company — a man highly deserving of notice and preferment. He has discharged his duty in his present station with uncommon fidelity, assiduity, and expertness. He is a very good disciplinarian — possesses the advantage of having seen a good deal of service in Germany, has a tolerable share of common sense, and will not disgrace the rank of an officer and gentleman. In a word, I verily believe, he will make an excellent Lieutenant, and his advancement will be a great encouragement and benefit to my company in particular, and will be an animating example to all men of merit to whose knowledge it comes. Myself and my officers will be much obliged to the Hon. the Convention to favor us with our commissions with all convenient speed, as they may be highly requisite under some circumstances that may possibly hereafter arise.

A. Hamilton,

Captain of New-York Artillery.

SOURCE: John C. Hamilton, Editor, The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Correspondence. 1769-1789, Volume 1, p. 10

John Adams, July 6, 1774

6 July.

I spent an hour last evening at Mr. Wyer's, with Judge Cushing. Wyer's father, who has a little place in the customs, came in. He began upon politics, and told us that Mr. Smith had a fast last week which he attended. Mr. Gilman preached, he said, part of the day, and told them that the judgments of God upon the land were in consequence of the mobs and riots which had prevailed in the country; and then turning to me old Wyer said, “What do you think of that, Mr. Adams?”

I answered, “I can't say but mobs and violence may have been one cause of our calamities. I am inclined to think that they do come in for a share; but there are many other causes. Did not Mr. Gilman mention bribery and corruption as another cause? He ought to have been impartial, and pointed out the venality which prevails in the land as a cause, as well as tumults.” “I think he did,” says Wyer. I might have pursued my inquiry, whether he did not mention universal pilfering, robbery, and picking of pockets which prevails in the land, — as every man's pocket upon the continent is picked every day by taking from him duties without his consent. I might have inquired whether he mentioned the universal spirit of debauchery, dissipation, luxury, effeminacy, and gaming, which the late ministerial measures are introducing, etc., etc., etc., but I forbore.

How much profaneness, lewdness, intemperance, etc., have been introduced by the army and navy and revenue; how much servility, venality, artifice, and hypocrisy have been introduced among the ambitious and avaricious by the British politics of the last ten years. In short the original faulty causes of all the vices which have been introduced are the political innovations of the last ten years. This is no justification and a poor excuse for the girls who have been debauched, and for the injustice which has been committed in some riots; but surely the soldiers, sailors, and excisemen who have occasioned these vices ought not to reproach those they have corrupted. These Tories act the part of the devil. They tempt the women into sin and then reproach them for it, and become soon their tormentors for it. A tempter and tormentor is the character of the devil. Hutchinson, Oliver, and others of their circle, who for their own ends of ambition and avarice have pursued, promoted, encouraged, counseled, aided, and abetted the taxation of America, have been the real tempters of their countrymen and women into all the vices, sins, crimes, and follies which that taxation has occasioned. And now by themselves and their friends, dependents, and votaries, they are reproaching those very men and women with those vices and follies, sins and crimes.

There is not a sin which prevails more universally and has prevailed longer than prodigality in furniture, equipage, apparel, and diet. And I believe that this vice, this sin, has as large a share in drawing down the judgments of Heaven as any. And perhaps the punishment that is inflicted may work medicinally and cure the disease.

SOURCE: Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution, p. 12-14

John Adams, July 5, 1774

Falmouth, 5 July, 1774.

I can't be easy without my pen in my hand, yet I know not what to write.

I have this morning heard a dialogue between Will Gardiner and a Captain Pote, of Falmouth. Gardiner says he can't subscribe the non-consumption agreement because he has a hundred men coming from England to settle upon Kennebeck River, and he must supply them, which he can't do without English goods. That agreement he says may do at Boston, but not in the Eastern country. Pote said he never would sign it, and railed away at Boston mobs, drowning tea, and tarring Malcom.

James Sullivan at dinner told us a story or two. One member of the General Court, he said, as they came down stairs after their dissolution at Salem said to him, “Though we are killed, we died scrabbling, did not we?”

This is not very witty, I think.

Another story was of a piece of wit of brother Porter, of Salem. He came upon the floor and asked a member, “What state are you in now?” The member answered, “In a state of nature.” “Aye,” says Porter, “and you will be damned before you will get into a state of grace.”

SOURCE: Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution, p. 12

Grover Cleveland’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1893

My Fellow Citizens, — In obedience to the mandate of my countrymen, I am about to dedicate myself to their service under the sanction of a solemn oath. Deeply moved by the expression of confidence and personal attachment which has called me to this service, I am sure my gratitude can make no better return than the pledge which I now give before God and these witnesses of my unreserved and complete devotion to the interests and welfare of those who have honoured me.

I deem it fitting on this occasion, while indicating the opinion I hold concerning public questions of present importance, to refer briefly also to the existence of certain conditions and tendencies among our people which seem to menace the integrity and usefulness of their Government. While every American citizen must contemplate with the utmost pride and enthusiasm the growth and expansion of our country, the sufficiency of our institutions to stand against the rudest shocks, the wonderful enterprise of our people, and the demonstrated superiority of our free government, it behoves us constantly to watch for every symptom of insidious infirmity that threatens our national vigour. It cannot be doubted that our stupendous achievements as a people and our country's robust strength have given rise to a heedlessness of those laws governing our national health which we can no more evade than human life can escape the laws of God and nature. Manifestly nothing is more vital to our supremacy as a nation and to the beneficent purposes of our government than a sound and stable currency. Its exposure to degradation should at once arouse to activity the most enlightened statesmanship, and the danger of depreciation in the purchasing power of the wages paid to toil should furnish the strongest incentive to prompt and conservative precaution. In dealing with our present embarrassing situation as related to this subject, we shall be wise if we temper our confidence and faith in our national strength and resources with the frank concession that even these will not permit us to defy with impunity the inexorable laws of finance and trade.

Closely related to the exaggerated confidence in our country's greatness which tends to the disregard of the rules of national safety another danger confronts us not less serious — I refer to the prevalence of a popular disposition to expect from the operation of our Government especial and direct individual advantages. The verdict of our voters which condemned the injustice of maintaining protection for protection's sake enjoins upon the people's servants the duty of exposing and destroying the brood of kindred evils which are the unwholesome progeny of paternalism. This is the bane of Republican institutions and a constant peril of our government by the people. It degrades to purposes of wily craft the plan of rule which our fathers established and bequeathed to us as an object of our love and veneration. It perverts the patriotic sentiment of our countrymen and tempts them to a pitiful calculation of the sordid gain to be derived from their Government's maintenance. It undermines the self-reliance of our people and substitutes in its place dependence upon governmental favouritism. While the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their Government, its functions do not include support of the people. The acceptance of this principle leads to a refusal of bounties and subsidies which burden the labour and thrift of a portion of our citizens to aid ill-advised or languishing enterprises in which they have no concern. It leads also to a challenge of wild and reckless pension expenditure which overleaps the bounds of grateful recognition of patriotic service and prostitutes to vicious uses the people's prompt and generous impulse to aid those disabled in their country's defence. Every thoughtful American must realise the importance of checking at its beginning any tendency, in public or private station, to regard frugality and economy as virtues which we may safely outgrow. The toleration of this idea results in the waste of the people's money by their chosen servants and encourages prodigality and extravagance in the home life of our countrymen. Under our scheme of government the waste of public money is a crime against the citizens, and the contempt of our people for economy and frugality in their personal affairs deplorably saps the strength and sturdiness of our national character.

To secure the fitness and competency of appointees to office and to remove from political action the demoralising madness for spoils, civil service reform has found a place in our public policy and laws. The benefits already gained through this instrumentality and the further usefulness it promises entitle it to the hearty support and encouragement of all who desire to see our public service well performed. The existence of an immense aggregation of kindred enterprises and combinations of business interests, formed for the purpose of limiting production and fixing prices, is inconsistent with the fair field which ought to be open to every independent activity. Legitimate strife in business should not be superseded by an enforced concession to the demands of combinations that have the power to destroy, nor should the people to be served lose the benefit of the cheapness which usually results from wholesome competition. These aggregations and combinations frequently constitute conspiracies against the interest of the people, and in all their phases they are unnatural and opposed to our American sense of fairness. To the extent that they can be reached and restrained by the Federal power, the general Government should relieve our citizens from their interference and exactions. Loyalty to the principles upon which our Government rests positively demands that the equality before the law which it guarantees to every citizen should be justly and in good faith conceded in all parts of the land. The enjoyment of this right follows the badge of citizenship wherever found; and, unimpaired by race or colour, it appeals for recognition to American manliness and fairness. Our relations with the Indians located within our borders impose upon us responsibilities we cannot escape. Humanity and consistency require us to treat them with forbearance, and in our dealings with them to honestly and considerately regard their rights and interests.

The people of the United States have decreed that on this day the control of their Government, in its legislative and executive branches, shall be given to the political party pledged in the most positive terms to the accomplishment of tariff reform. They have thus determined in favour of a more just and equitable system of Federal taxation. The agents they have chosen to carry out their purposes are bound by their promises, not less than by the command of their masters, to devote themselves unremittingly to this service. While there should be no surrender of principle, our task must be undertaken wisely, without vindictiveness. Our mission is not punishment, but the rectification of wrongs. If in lifting the burdens from the daily life of our people we reduce inordinate and unequal advantages too long enjoyed, this is but a necessary incident of our return to right and justice. When we tear aside the delusions and misconceptions which have blinded our countrymen to their condition under vicious tariff laws, we but show them how far they have been led away from the paths of contentment and prosperity. When we proclaim that necessity for revenue to support Government furnishes the only justification for taxing the people, we announce a truth so plain that its denial would seem to indicate the extent to which judgment may be influenced by familiarity with inversions of taxing power; and when we seek to reinstate the self-confidence and business enterprise of our citizens by discrediting abject dependence upon governmental favour, we strive to stimulate those elements of American character which support the hope of American achievement. I shall, to the best of my ability and within my sphere of duty, preserve the constitution by loyally protecting every grant of Federal power it contains, by defending all its restraints when attacked by impatience and restlessness, and by enforcing its limitations and reservations in favour of the States and the people. Fully impressed with the gravity of the duties that confront me, and mindful of my weakness, I should be appalled if it were my lot to bear unaided the responsibilities which await me. I am, however, saved from discouragement when I remember that I shall have the support, counsel, and co-operation of wise and patriotic men who will stand at my side in Cabinet places, or will represent the people in their legislative halls. I find, also, much comfort in remembering that my countrymen are just and generous, and in the assurance that they will not condemn those who by sincere devotion to their service deserve their forbearance and approval. Above all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid.

SOURCE: Aberdeen University Press, Publisher, The Annual Register: A Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad for the Year 1893, p. 455-8

In The Review Queue: Wrestling with His Angel

Wrestling With His Angel:

The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln

Vol. II, 1849-1856

by Sidney Blumenthal

Release Date: May 16, 2017

Volume II of Sidney Blumenthal’s acclaimed, landmark biography, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, reveals the future president’s genius during the most decisive period of his political life when he seizes the moment, finds his voice, and helps create a new political party.

In 1849, Abraham Lincoln seems condemned to political isolation and defeat. His Whig Party is broken in the 1852 election, and disintegrates. His perennial rival, Stephen Douglas, forges an alliance with the Southern senators and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Violent struggle breaks out on the plains of Kansas, a prelude to the Civil War.

Lincoln rises to the occasion. Only he can take on Douglas in Illinois, and he finally delivers the dramatic speech that leaves observers stunned. In 1855, he makes a race for the Senate, which he loses when he throws his support to a rival to prevent the election of a proslavery candidate. Now, in Wrestling With His Angel, Sidney Blumenthal explains how Lincoln and his friends operate behind the scenes to destroy the anti-immigrant party in Illinois to clear the way for a new Republican Party. Lincoln takes command and writes its first platform and vaults onto the national stage as the leader of a party that will launch him to the presidency.

The Washington Monthly hailed Blumenthal’s Volume I as, “splendid…no one can come away from reading A Self-Made Man without eagerly anticipating the ensuing volumes.” Now, in one of the greatest American success stories, Wrestling With His Angel brings Lincoln from the wilderness to the peak of his career as he takes control of the nation’s most profound spiritual crisis—slavery—and enters the battle for the nation’s soul.

ISBN 978-1501153785, Simon & Schuster, © 2017, Hardcover, 592 pages, Photographs, Maps  & Illustrations, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $35.00.  To purchase a copy of this book click HERE.