Page:Kentucky Resolutions of 1798.djvu/35

Rh continue in office during life, reserving to another occasion the transfer of the succession to his heirs and the establishment of the Senate for life. At least this may be the aim of the Oliverians, while Monk and the cavaliers (who are perhaps the strongest) may be playing their game for the restoration of his most gracious Majesty, George the Third. That these things are in contemplation I have no doubt; nor can I be confident of their failure after the dupery of which our countrymen have shown themselves susceptible." This letter was written so late as October 11th, when the fact that some action would be taken in the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia was generally known. The tone of these remarks, a tone common in Jefferson's letters, is remarkable for the extreme measures he attributes to his opponents, and also for the pessimistic view of popular action. The question is inevitably suggested: Did he really think these things of men, most of whom he had served with, many of whom he had watched from the vantage-ground of a presiding officer, practically without a vote, or the people toward whom he ever practised a wide optimism and showed a confidence honorable alike to himself and them? Or on the other hand, was this tone assumed for purposes of policy, to urge his followers on to spirited action by painting the picture in the most sombre colors? Neither alternative can be regarded as worthy of a man of such a vigorous mind and such a genius for politics.

But it was in Kentucky that the greatest