that effect,
have printed and reserved just copies enough to be able to give one to
every young man at the College." Works, i, p. 339.

Writing from Paris, August 13, 1786, to George Wythe, Mr. Jefferson
says: "Madison, no doubt, informed you why I sent only a single copy
of my 'Notes' to Virginia. Being assured by him that they will not do
the harm I had apprehended; but, on the contrary, may do some good, I
propose to send thither the copies remaining on hand, which are fewer
than I intended." Works, ii, p. 6. Mr. Madison's communications to Mr.
Jefferson on the subject are in his "Letters and other Writings," i,
pp, 202, 211. M. Brissot de Warville proposed to Mr. Jefferson to
become a member of the Philanthropic Society of Paris. Mr. Jefferson
replied, February 12, 1788, as follows: "I am very sensible of the
honor you propose to me, of becoming a member of the society for the
abolition of the slave trade. You know that nobody wishes more
ardently to see an abolition, not only of the trade, but of the
condition of slavery; and certainly nobody will be more willing to
encounter every sacrifice for that object. But the influence and
information of the friends to this proposition in France, will be far
above the need of my association. I am here as a public servant; and
those whom I serve, having never yet been able to give their voice
against the practice, it is decent for me to avoid too public
demonstration of my wishes to see it abolished. Without serving the
cause here, it might render me less able to serve it beyond the water.
I trust you will be sensible of the prudence of those motives,
therefore, which govern my conduct on this occasion and be assured of
my wishes for the success of your undertaking." Works, ii, p. 357.

Compare this record with Mr. Garrison's, which he put forth in the
"Liberator," in 1831. He had been accused of using plain and harsh
language. He says: "My country is the world, and my countrymen are all
mankind. I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as
justice. I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I
will not retreat a single inch; and _I will be heard_."

[12] Mr. Jefferson's indecision in dealing with an institution he so
much abhorred, is seen in the anti-slavery provision of his ordinance.
He would allow slavery to get a foot-hold in the western territories,
and at the end of sixteen years would prohibit it. By southern votes,
this clause was fortuna