Wythepedia: The George Wythe Encyclopedia - User contributions [en]

George Mason to Wythe, 14 June 1777

2026-05-19T13:52:43Z

Gwsweeney:

[[wikipedia:George Mason|George Mason]], writing from his home at [http://gunstonhall.org/ Gunston Hall,] Mason Neck, Virginia. Text from ''The Life of George Mason, 1725-1792,'' Volume 1, 283.<ref>Kate Mason Rowland, ''The Life of George Mason, 1725-1792,'' Vol. 1 (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1892), 283.</ref>

In a letter to [[George Wythe]], [[Wikipedia: George Mason| George Mason]] says that he will likely be unable to attend the upcoming House session because, although he has recovered from small pox, his arm that was inoculated still hurts. Because he will be unable to attend the session, he asks Wythe to inform the General Assembly that he will have to decline the appointment they offered him both because he has to look after his nine children and because he does not want to vacate his seat in the House of Delegates without the consent of his constituents.

==Letter text, 14 June 1777==
===Page 1===
<blockquote>
<div align="right">GUNSTON HALL, June 14th, 1777.</div>

SIR:

I hoped to have attended my duty in the House before this time, or I should not so long have delayed writing on the subject with which I now take the liberty to trouble you; but though I am otherwise thoroughly recovered from the small pox, my arm which has been so much ulcerated where the inoculation was made, still continues so bad, that my being able to attend this session remains doubtful. I must therefore entreat the favor of you sir, to return my thanks to the Assembly for the honor they have been pleased to do me, in appointing me one of their delegates to Congress, and at the same time to inform them that I cannot by any means accept the appointment. My own domestic affairs are so circumstanced as not to admit of my continued absence from home, where a numerous family of children calls for my constant attention; nor do I think I have a right to vacate my seat in the house of delegates, without the consent of my constituents; and such of them as I have had the opportunity of consulting are averse to it. Was this not the case, I must acknowledge I have other reasons for declining the appointment; which to avoid offence, I forbear giving.

I beg you will excuse this trouble, and believe me, with the greatest respect,
::::Sir, your most obd't Serv't.
::::::G. MASON
</blockquote>

===Page 2===

<blockquote>
Hon. George Wythe, Esq.,
:Speaker of the House of Delegates
</blockquote>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==

*Read this letter in [https://books.google.com/books?id=5NN4AAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA283 Google Books.]

[[Category: Letters to Wythe]]

Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism

2026-05-18T18:13:14Z

Gwsweeney:

{{DISPLAYTITLE: ''The Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism, Family Prayers, and Several Chapters of the Old and New-Testament, Translated into the Mahaque Indian Language''}}
===by Lawrence Claesse===
__NOTOC__
{{NoBookInfoBox
|shorttitle=Morning and Evening Prayer
|commontitle=
|vol=
|author=[[:Category:Lawrence Claesse|Lawrence Claesse]]
|editor=
|trans=
|publoc=[[:Category:New York|New York]]
|publisher=Printed by William Bradford
|year=1715
|edition=
|lang=
|set=
|pages=
|desc=
}}Lawrence Claesse van der Volgen (1677-1742) (also spelled Claessen) was born in Schenectady, in the province of New York.<ref>WikiTree Contributors, “Laurens (Classez) van der Volgen (1687 - 1742),” WikiTree: Where genealogists collaborate,[https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Classez-2], accessed November 24, 2025.</ref> In 1690, Claesse was taken captive by the Mohawk Indians along with twenty-six other men and boys after an attack on Schenectady.<ref>Nancy L. Hagedorn, “Brokers of Understanding: Interpreters as Agents of Cultural Exchange in Colonial New York,” New York History 76, no. 4 (1995): 3.[http://www.jstor.org/stable/23182187]</ref> While captive, he lived with the Catholic Mohawks known as the Kanien’Kahake.<ref>Wikitree Contributors, "Laurens (Classez) van der Volgen."</ref> He returned to Schenectady ten years later, where he served as the primary interpreter for the province until his death in 1742.<ref>Hagedorn, "Brokers of Understanding," 4.</ref> As a result of living amongst the Mohawks, Claesse mastered all five Iroquois dialects<ref>Jennifer E. Monaghan, “Literacy and the Mohawks,” in Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America, 166–88 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2005), 173. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vk747.12.]</ref> and was said to be “the first New Yorker to have mastered the rhetorical and gift-giving protocols of Iroquois diplomacy and politics.”<ref>Daniel K. Richter, “The Precarious Settlement Abroad and at Home,” in The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization, 214–35, (University of North Carolina Press: 1992), 220. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807867914_richter.15.]</ref> However, Claesse did not speak English, only Mohawk and Dutch<ref>Daniel K. Richter, “‘Some of Them... Would Always Have a Minister with Them’: Mohawk Protestantism, 1683-1719,” American Indian Quarterly 16, no. 4 (1992): 478.[https://doi.org/10.2307/1185293.],</ref> so he was assisted in his translation interpreter John Oliver (who was fluent in English and Dutch).<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 478.</ref> He also struggled with the Mohawk language himself at times, enlisting the help of other Mohawks when he was at a loss<ref>Richter, “The Precarious Settlement,” 220.</ref> and claiming it was “almost impossible for any to learn . . . perfectly except [those who] begin with it when children.”<ref>William B. Hart, “‘Laying a Good and Lasting Foundation of Religion’: Success and Failure at the Fort Hunter Mission, 1710–1719,” in "For the Good of Their Souls”: Performing Christianity in Eighteenth-Century Mohawk Country, 90–124 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2020).[https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18x4j1t.8.]</ref> Nonetheless, his language skills helped him confront a variety of diplomatic situations such as resolving conflicts over the sale of alcohol,<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1726-March: Conflicts Over Alcohol Continue; the French Presence in Iroquoia is Growing,” Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), June 26, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/06/26/minute-book-3-1726-march-conflicts-over-alcohol-continue-the-french-presence-in-iroquoia-is-growing/.]</ref> urging the Indian nations not to listen to the French calls for war,<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1727-October: Oswego Accounts; Arossaguntigook Traders; Laurence Claessen’s Journal,” Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), October 7, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/10/07/minute-book-3-1727-october-oswego-accounts-arossaguntigook-traders-laurence-claessens-journal/.]</ref> and negotiating the return of an English boy held captive in Iroquoia.<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1726-February,” ,Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), April 20, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/04/20/minute-book-3-1726-february/.]</ref>

The Morning and Evening Prayer

Claesse was hired by Dutch Domine Bernadus Freeman to translate the Book of Common Prayer and the liturgy into the Mohawk language, intended for use by missionaries.<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 475.</ref> Freeman was also partially fluent in the Mohawk language, and he devised a system for spelling Mohawk including a sixteen letter alphabet<ref>William B. Hart, “Ordering the Life and Manners of a Numerous People’: The Ideology and Performances of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,” in “For the Good of Their Souls”: Performing Christianity in Eighteenth-Century Mohawk Country, 57–89 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2020), 79.[https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18x4j1t.7.]</ref> that was used in Claesse’s translation.<ref>Richter, “The Precarious Settlement,” 222-23.</ref> Claesse would later revise this translation for Reverend William Andrews, and that version was published in 1715 in New York by William Bradford and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPGA) in Great Britain.<ref>Lawrence Claesse, Bernardus Freeman and William Andrews, “The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament,” (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (Great Britain) and William Bradford, New York, 1715). [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_morning_and_evening_prayer_the_litan.html?id=KYn3KMTRZP8C]</ref> It included rites and prayers for use during worship, weddings, baptisms, and funerals, as well as three psalms, the first three chapters of Genesis, the birth of Jesus, and the Catechism.<ref>“The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament,” Internet Archive Open Library.
[https://openlibrary.org/books/OL17689378M/The_morning_and_evening_prayer_the_litany_church_catechism_family_prayers_and_several_chapters_of_th.]</ref> The first edition was entirely in Mohawk (referred to as the Mahaque Indian Language, likely an antiquated Anglicization of Mohawk)<ref>The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament, translated into the Mahaque Indian language, : Church of England : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive (Internet Archive) [https://archive.org/details/morningeveningpr00chur]</ref> except for the English title and prayer headings.<ref>Internet Archive Open Library.</ref> It was 115 pages long and printed in unusually large type for the period.<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 174.</ref> The prayer book was republished in Boston in 1763 (shortened to twenty-four pages), and then again in 1769 (without credit to Claesse),<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 184.</ref> with the third edition being published in 1787 after the Revolutionary War.<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 166.</ref> According to Freeman, the Mohawks “had a great veneration for the English Liturgy, especially the Litany at the Reading of which they frequently did tremble.”<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 475.</ref>

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Claesse's Mohawk liturgy. p. 4to." This was one of the titles kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Millicent Sowerby includes the 1715 New York edition (the only edition published) as an in entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''. (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 2:100 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648109;view=1up;seq=112 [no.1481]]</ref> Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on January 31, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing record the same volume. Unfortunately, Jefferson's copy no longer exists to note any Wythe markings.

==Description of The Wolf Law Library's copy==
As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to procure a copy of ''The Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism''.

==See also==
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
[[Category:Lawrence Claesse]]
[[Category: Native Americans]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:New York]]

==External links==
*Read this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=KYn3KMTRZP8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books.]

Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism

2026-05-18T18:00:23Z

Gwsweeney:

{{DISPLAYTITLE: ''The Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism, Family Prayers, and Several Chapters of the Old and New-Testament''}}
===by Lawrence Claesse===
__NOTOC__
{{NoBookInfoBox
|shorttitle=Morning and Evening Prayer
|commontitle=
|vol=
|author=[[:Category:Lawrence Claesse|Lawrence Claesse]]
|editor=
|trans=
|publoc=[[:Category:New York|New York]]
|publisher=Printed by William Bradford
|year=1715
|edition=
|lang=
|set=
|pages=
|desc=
}}Lawrence Claesse van der Volgen (1677-1742) (also spelled Claessen) was born in Schenectady, in the province of New York.<ref>WikiTree Contributors, “Laurens (Classez) van der Volgen (1687 - 1742),” WikiTree: Where genealogists collaborate,[https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Classez-2], accessed November 24, 2025.</ref> In 1690, Claesse was taken captive by the Mohawk Indians along with twenty-six other men and boys after an attack on Schenectady.<ref>Nancy L. Hagedorn, “Brokers of Understanding: Interpreters as Agents of Cultural Exchange in Colonial New York,” New York History 76, no. 4 (1995): 3.[http://www.jstor.org/stable/23182187]</ref> While captive, he lived with the Catholic Mohawks known as the Kanien’Kahake.<ref>Wikitree Contributors, "Laurens (Classez) van der Volgen."</ref> He returned to Schenectady ten years later, where he served as the primary interpreter for the province until his death in 1742.<ref>Hagedorn, "Brokers of Understanding," 4.</ref> As a result of living amongst the Mohawks, Claesse mastered all five Iroquois dialects<ref>Jennifer E. Monaghan, “Literacy and the Mohawks,” in Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America, 166–88 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2005), 173. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vk747.12.]</ref> and was said to be “the first New Yorker to have mastered the rhetorical and gift-giving protocols of Iroquois diplomacy and politics.”<ref>Daniel K. Richter, “The Precarious Settlement Abroad and at Home,” in The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization, 214–35, (University of North Carolina Press: 1992), 220. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807867914_richter.15.]</ref> However, Claesse did not speak English, only Mohawk and Dutch<ref>Daniel K. Richter, “‘Some of Them... Would Always Have a Minister with Them’: Mohawk Protestantism, 1683-1719,” American Indian Quarterly 16, no. 4 (1992): 478.[https://doi.org/10.2307/1185293.],</ref> so he was assisted in his translation interpreter John Oliver (who was fluent in English and Dutch).<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 478.</ref> He also struggled with the Mohawk language himself at times, enlisting the help of other Mohawks when he was at a loss<ref>Richter, “The Precarious Settlement,” 220.</ref> and claiming it was “almost impossible for any to learn . . . perfectly except [those who] begin with it when children.”<ref>William B. Hart, “‘Laying a Good and Lasting Foundation of Religion’: Success and Failure at the Fort Hunter Mission, 1710–1719,” in "For the Good of Their Souls”: Performing Christianity in Eighteenth-Century Mohawk Country, 90–124 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2020).[https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18x4j1t.8.]</ref> Nonetheless, his language skills helped him confront a variety of diplomatic situations such as resolving conflicts over the sale of alcohol,<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1726-March: Conflicts Over Alcohol Continue; the French Presence in Iroquoia is Growing,” Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), June 26, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/06/26/minute-book-3-1726-march-conflicts-over-alcohol-continue-the-french-presence-in-iroquoia-is-growing/.]</ref> urging the Indian nations not to listen to the French calls for war,<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1727-October: Oswego Accounts; Arossaguntigook Traders; Laurence Claessen’s Journal,” Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), October 7, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/10/07/minute-book-3-1727-october-oswego-accounts-arossaguntigook-traders-laurence-claessens-journal/.]</ref> and negotiating the return of an English boy held captive in Iroquoia.<ref>Ann Hunter, “Minute Book 3: 1726-February,” ,Albany Indian Commissioners: a journey through their records (blog), April 20, 2018.[https://albanyindiancommissioners.com/2018/04/20/minute-book-3-1726-february/.]</ref>

The Morning and Evening Prayer

Claesse was hired by Dutch Domine Bernadus Freeman to translate the Book of Common Prayer and the liturgy into the Mohawk language, intended for use by missionaries.<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 475.</ref> Freeman was also partially fluent in the Mohawk language, and he devised a system for spelling Mohawk including a sixteen letter alphabet<ref>William B. Hart, “Ordering the Life and Manners of a Numerous People’: The Ideology and Performances of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,” in “For the Good of Their Souls”: Performing Christianity in Eighteenth-Century Mohawk Country, 57–89 (University of Massachusetts Press: 2020), 79.[https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18x4j1t.7.]</ref> that was used in Claesse’s translation.<ref>Richter, “The Precarious Settlement,” 222-23.</ref> Claesse would later revise this translation for Reverend William Andrews, and that version was published in 1715 in New York by William Bradford and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPGA) in Great Britain.<ref>Lawrence Claesse, Bernardus Freeman and William Andrews, “The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament,” (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (Great Britain) and William Bradford, New York, 1715). [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_morning_and_evening_prayer_the_litan.html?id=KYn3KMTRZP8C]</ref> It included rites and prayers for use during worship, weddings, baptisms, and funerals, as well as three psalms, the first three chapters of Genesis, the birth of Jesus, and the Catechism.<ref>“The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament,” Internet Archive Open Library.
[https://openlibrary.org/books/OL17689378M/The_morning_and_evening_prayer_the_litany_church_catechism_family_prayers_and_several_chapters_of_th.]</ref> The first edition was entirely in Mohawk (referred to as the Mahaque Indian Language, likely an antiquated Anglicization of Mohawk)<ref>The morning and evening prayer, the litany, church catechism, family prayers, and several chapters of the Old and New-Testament, translated into the Mahaque Indian language, : Church of England : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive (Internet Archive) [https://archive.org/details/morningeveningpr00chur]</ref> except for the English title and prayer headings.<ref>Internet Archive Open Library.</ref> It was 115 pages long and printed in unusually large type for the period.<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 174.</ref> The prayer book was republished in Boston in 1763 (shortened to twenty-four pages), and then again in 1769 (without credit to Claesse),<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 184.</ref> with the third edition being published in 1787 after the Revolutionary War.<ref>Monaghan, "Literacy and the Mohawks," 166.</ref> According to Freeman, the Mohawks “had a great veneration for the English Liturgy, especially the Litany at the Reading of which they frequently did tremble.”<ref>Richter, “Some of Them,” 475.</ref>

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Claesse's Mohawk liturgy. p. 4to." This was one of the titles kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Millicent Sowerby includes the 1715 New York edition (the only edition published) as an in entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'',<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''. (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 2:100 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648109;view=1up;seq=112 [no.1481]]</ref> Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on January 31, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing record the same volume. Unfortunately, Jefferson's copy no longer exists to note any Wythe markings.

==Description of The Wolf Law Library's copy==
As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to procure a copy of ''The Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism''.

==See also==
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
[[Category:Lawrence Claesse]]
[[Category: Native Americans]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:New York]]

==External links==
*Read this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=KYn3KMTRZP8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Google Books.]

Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Church Catechism

2026-05-18T17:54:58Z

Gwsweeney:

Wythe's Lost Papers

2026-05-14T18:22:46Z

Gwsweeney:

{| style="width: 350px; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 10px 20px; border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 10px 20px;"
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |
'''Timeline for Wythe's Papers'''
|-
| style="font-size: 90%;" |
;[[#1776|1776]]
* Thomas Jefferson gives a draft of his proposed Constitution for Virginia to [[George Wythe]] in Philadelphia, which Wythe conveys to the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg.
* Jefferson sends draft copies of the [[Declaration of Independence]] to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Philip Mazzei, John Page, Sr., and Edmund Pendleton.
;[[#1806|1806]]
* Wythe dies in Richmond, Virginia.
* Thomas Jefferson inherits Wythe's "books and small philosophical apparatus."
* Major William DuVal loans some of Wythe's papers to Thomas Ritchie.
* Jefferson returns Wythe's account books to DuVal.
* Ritchie publishes Wythe's copies of Jefferson's manuscript drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Constitution.
;[[#1807|1807]]
* Ritchie writes to Governor Cabell that he is returning Wythe's "valuable papers" for deposit in "the archives of the Council."
;[[#1810|1810]]
* Governor Tyler writes to inform Jefferson that Ritchie is in possession of Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, and that Judge Spencer Roane has read them.
;[[#< 1817|< 1817]]
* William Wirt states that he saw Jefferson's draft for the Virginia Constitution in the "archive of this state."
;[[#1824|1824]]
* DuVal believes Wythe's copy of the Declaration of Independence may have been passed to William Wirt. DuVal still has some (or all) of Wythe's correspondence.
;[[#< 1829|< 1829]]
* B.W. Leigh says that he has seen a Jefferson draft for the state constitution in the Virginia council chamber, but that it "cannot now be found."
;[[#1834|1834]]
* John Page, Jr., donates Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|notebook of Greek and Latin words from the ''Iliad'']] to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.
* William Wirt dies.
;[[#1842|1842]]
* William DuVal dies.
;[[#< 1848|< 1848]]
* Alexander H. Everett reports both Jefferson's plan for a Virginia government and the Declaration of Independence are preserved "in the archives of Virginia."
;[[#1854|1854]]
* Thomas Ritchie dies.
;[[#1865|1865]]
* Records are lost when the Confederate States Army sets fires in Richmond, evacuating ahead of occupation by Federal troops.
;[[#1890|1890]]
* Worthington C. Ford describes two recently discovered manuscript drafts of the Virginia Constitution.
* Cassius F. Lee, Jr., exhibits a photograph of a Jefferson draft for the state constitution at the Virginia Historical Society.
;[[#< 1892|< 1892]]
* Lee sells Jefferson's third draft (Wythe's copy) of the Virginia Constitution to an unnamed woman, through William Evarts Benjamin.
* Lee sells a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence to Elliot Danforth, of New York.
;[[#1892|1892]]
* Cassius F. Lee, Jr., dies in Alexandria, Virginia.
;< 1894
* Benjamin sells the third draft of the Virginia Constitution to Alexander Maitland.
;[[#1894|1894]]
* Maitland donates the Constitution to the Lenox Library, in New York City.
;1895
* The New York Public library is created from the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
;< 1896
* Danforth sells the Declaration to Dr. Thomas A. Emmet, of New York.
;[[#1894|1896]]
* Emmet's collection is donated to the New York Public Library.
|}
Before his death in June, 1806, [[George Wythe]] made no special instruction as to what should become of his personal papers and correspondence (if indeed he kept any). His [[Last Will and Testament|last will and testament]], dated April 20, 1803 (with later codicils), name his friend and neighbor [[William DuVal]] as executor, with allowances for his servants [[Lydia Broadnax]] and [[Michael Brown]]. He gives "[[Thomas Jefferson]] my silver cups and gold headed cane, and to my friend William Duval my silver ladle and table and teaspoons." To Thomas Jefferson he also wills "my books and small philosophical apparatus... the most valuable to him of any thing which i have power to bestow."<ref>George Wythe, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib016255 Last Will and Testament with Codicil], June 11, 1806, Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> DuVal also had possession of two of Wythe's account books, apparently sent to Jefferson by mistake after Wythe's death, and which were returned.<ref>[[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence#Thomas Jefferson to William DuVal, 4 December 1806|Thomas Jefferson to William DuVal, 4 December 1806]].</ref>

No great cache of papers appeared after Wythe's death, though Jefferson says (or assumes) that there were ''some'' papers.<ref>[[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|Jefferson to Governor John Tyler, Sr.]], November 25, 1810.</ref> Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|notebook of Greek vocabulary]] from the ''Iliad'' ended up in the possession of John Page (1743-1808), though when exactly this exchange took place is not recorded. Wythe's lectures from time as [[Professor of Law and Police]] at the College of William & Mary survived in manuscript, as well as drafts of the proposed Constitution for Virginia, and [[Declaration of Independence]], which Jefferson had given Wythe in 1776. These drafts were transcribed and printed shortly after Wythe's death in Thomas Ritchie's [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]. DuVal loaned the documents to Ritchie for publication, along with Wythe's lecture notes from his time as professor of law. Ritchie [[#1807|wrote to Governor William Cabell in 1807]], returning "valuable papers," presumably the Jefferson manuscripts.<ref>H.W. Flournoy, ed., ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers,'' vol. 9 (Richmond, VA: 1890), 511.</ref>

Governor John Tyler, Sr., however, [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|wrote to Jefferson in 1810]], to say that Ritchie was still in possession of Wythe's lectures. Jefferson politely refused to take possession of the manuscript, though he seemed surprised that Wythe had not destroyed the notes, "as I expect he has done a very great number of instructive arguments delivered at the bar, and often written at full length." His instructions were that the notes should "go, with his other papers to his executor," Major DuVal. [[Spencer Roane|Judge Spencer Roane]], Wythe's former student, is suggested as one who could "send them to posterity," but this is the last time mention of the lecture notes appear.

[[File:DeclarationOfIndependenceNewYorkPublicLibraryDraftP1.jpg|thumb|left|350px|First page of [[Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson's]] third draft of the [[Declaration of Independence]], believed to have been given to [[George Wythe]]. Image courtesy of the [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-d9ee-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 New York Public Library].]]
Wythe's manuscript copies of the proposed Virginia Constitution and Declaration of Independence later came into the possession of Cassius Francis Lee, Jr., Esq. (1844–1892),<ref>Not to be confused with his father, Cassius F. Lee, Sr. (1808 – 1890), also a lawyer. Edmund Jennings Lee, ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendents of Colonel Richard Lee,'' (Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Co., 1895), 474.</ref> of Alexandria, Virginia, in the late nineteenth century, although how Lee obtained them is unclear.<ref>Wythe scholar Robert Bevier Kirtland [[#Page 301|suggests a possible family connection]] between the Ritchies and Lees.</ref> In his preface to ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892,'' Edmund Jennings Lee says of his brother, Cassius:

<div style="overflow: hidden;">
<blockquote>
"From his earliest boyhood the late Cassius F. Lee, Jr., evinced a passion for genealogical research, and during the many years he continued his investigations he had collected a large amount of original data, consisting of letters, wills, deeds, and such like records. in 1870, with the assistance of Mr. Joseph Packard, Jr., of Baltimore, he published in the ''New England Genealogical and Historical Register'' a brief 'Record of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee of Virginia.' This publication was merely tentative, with the hope of procuring additional information that would enable him to compile a complete family history at a later date. In this hope he was disappointed; little or no data were obtained. But Mr. Lee continued his personal efforts, and had secured considerable additions to his collection, when his untimely decease ended his work."<ref>Lee, ''Lee of Virginia,'' 3.</ref><ref>These sentiments are reiterated in a footnote to a letter Cassius Lee wrote to Jefferson Davis on July 18, 1888 (printed in Dunbar Rowland, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015043496283?urlappend=%3Bseq=90 ''Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist''] [New York: J.J. Little & Ives, 1895], 10:76), asking if Davis might give him an original copy of a letter from his relative, Robert E. Lee:

<blockquote>
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
Cassius Francis Lee, Jr. was born at Alexandria, Va., the 4th. day of January, 1844.

He was prominent in the civic, business and religious life of the city, and took a particular interest in all that pertained to the history of the old
families of Virginia, collecting wills, deeds, letters, and all manner of genealogical data—Had his life been spared he would have arranged his
papers for publication and would have edited a most admirable book.

He died Sept. 4th., 1892.
</div>
</blockquote>
</ref>
</blockquote>
</div>

Wythe's ''Iliad'' notebook was donated to the [http://www.vahistorical/ Virginia Historical Society] by John Page, Jr., in 1834. It is unknown what became of Wythe's lecture notes, despite scholars [[W. Edwin Hemphill|Hemphill]] and [[#1983|Kirtland's]] attempts to track them. Both Worthington C. Ford and Paul L. Ford credit Cassius F. Lee, Jr. with providing them access to (evidence strongly suggests) Wythe's copies of Jefferson's manuscripts of the Constitution of Virginia and Declaration of Independence, which now reside at the New York Public Library's [http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/manuscripts-division Archive and Manuscripts Division].

==1776==

:''Main article: [[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776]]''

Thomas Jefferson gives a draft of his Constitution for Virginia to George Wythe in Philadelphia, for Wythe to convey to Edmund Pendleton and the Virginia Convention.<ref>[http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-5105 Thomas Jefferson to Augustus Elias Brevoort Woodward, 3 April 1825,] Founders Online, National Archives; ''[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib025352 The Thomas Jefferson Papers],'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> Wythe leaves Philadelphia in the company of Richard Henry Lee on June 13, 1776, and arrives in Williamsburg on June 23, but the committee had already voted to adopt the plan put forth by George Mason:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 334; Richard Henry Lee to General Charles Lee, 29 June 1776. In James Curtis Ballagh, ed., ''The Letters of Richard Henry Lee,'' vol. 1, ''1762-1778'' (New York: Macmillan, 1911), 203.</ref>

<blockquote>
"I had not reached this place before the appointment of delegates. An attempt to alter it as to you was made in vain. When I came here the plan of government had been committed to the whole house. To those who had the chief hand in forming it the one you put into my hands was shewn. Two or three parts of this were with little alteration, inserted in that: but such was the impatience of sitting long enough to discuss several important points in which they differ, and so many other matters were necessarily to be dispatched before the adjournment that I was persuaded the revision of a subject the members seemed tired of would at that time have been unsuccessfully proposed. The system agreed to in my opinion requires reformation."<ref>[[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776]], ''[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000173 The Thomas Jefferson Papers],'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref>
</blockquote>

Between July 4 and July 10, 1776, Jefferson makes handwritten copies of the [[Declaration of Independence]] and gives them to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Philip Mazzei, John Page, Sr., and [[Edmund Pendleton]].<ref>Paul L. Ford, ''[[#1893|The Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' vol. 2, ''1776-1781'' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), 42; John H. Hazelton, [[#1906|''The Declaration of Independence: Its History'']] (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1906), 350-351.</ref>

==1806==
===Richmond ''Enquirer,'' June 20, 1806===

:''Main article: [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806]]''

Following the [[Death of George Wythe|death of George Wythe]], Thomas Ritchie prints the text of a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence, and a draft of the Virginia Constitution, in the [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]:<ref>[[Media:RichmondEnquirer20June1806.pdf|''The Enquirer'' (Richmond, VA), June 20, 1806, 2-3.]]</ref>

<blockquote>
Among the literary reliques of the venerable George Wythe, were found the following rare and curious papers in the hand of Mr. Jefferson. The first is a copy of the original declaration of our Independence, as it came from the hands of its author: The other is a Bill of Rights and of a Constitution for Virginia, composed by Mr. Jefferson. For the permission to peruse and publish these papers, we are indebted to the politeness of Major DuVal, the sole executor of the estate.

The federal assertion that Mr. Jefferson was not the author of this celebrated declaration, has long since been refuted, or else these papers would have furnished the most abundant refutation. What now will become of the no less unfounded assertion, that this paper as it was adopted by Congress, owes much of its beauty and its force to the committee appointed to draft it? The world will see that not only were very few additions made by the committee, but that they even struck out two of the most forcible and striking passages in the whole composition. For what reasons, yet remains to be discovered.

The passages omitted from the original are printed in Italics.

This Bill and Constitution as we have them in manuscript, are without any mark to note the date of their production. It is presumed however, that they were written in 1776. The constitution, written by Mr. Jefferson, in '83, is already printed in some of the Editions of his "[[Notes on the State of Virginia|Notes on Virginia]]."
</blockquote>

===Jefferson-DuVal correspondence, December 1806===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]''

As executor of George Wythe's estate, [[William DuVal]] sent Wythe's library to Thomas Jefferson in September of 1806. Jefferson created at least one [[Jefferson Inventory|inventory of Wythe's library]], for dispersing duplicate copies. DuVal accidentally included two "folio volumes of Mr. Wythe's accounts," which Jefferson returned. Jefferson and DuVal also mention two [[Depictions of Wythe|"profiles" of Wythe]], one of which belonged to [[Lydia Broadnax]]. Wythe's fee books have not been found.

<blockquote>
{| width="75%"
| width="50%" style="text-align: left;" |
Dear Sir
| width="50%" style="text-align: right;" |
Washington Dec. 4. 06
|}

Your favor of Nov. 21. has been duly received and I thank you for the offer of the profile of Mr. Wythe, every trace of whom will be dear to me. If you will be so good as to desire Mr. Jefferson to forward me either the original or the copy, as you please, it will be received with equal thankfulness. It should be rolled on a stick, & not folded. The original of the other profile, after taking a copy, I had packed in a box addressed to yourself that it might be returned to Lydia with my thanks for the opportunity of copying it. In the same box I put 2 folio volumes of Mr. Wythe's accounts which had come by mistake with his books. The box I directed to be forwarded to you. Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of great respect.

<div align="right">
Th: Jefferson
</div>

Wm.DuVal esq.
</blockquote>

----

<blockquote>
{| width="75%"
| width="50%" style="text-align: left;" |
Dear Sir,
| width="50%" style="text-align: right;" |
Richmond Decemr 10.th 1806
|}

I received your favor of the 4th Instant. The origional [''sic''] profile of our Friend Mr George Wythe set in a plain neat Frame is this day delivered to Mr George Jefferson to be conveyed to to [''sic''] Washington for you Sir —

I received the other profile of our good and Virtuous Friend with the two folio fee Books which were packed up thro' mistake for which I return you my thanks—

You have perhaps seen the Resolution of the Assembly, respecting the House who have agreed to ware [''sic''] Mourning for one Month as a Mark of Respect for so great and good a Man.

I think they should have done more for an incitement to Virtue and Patriotism. I would have had them to have erected at the public Expence a plain Tomb Stone, to transmit to future ages the High Lines they entertained of his Talents, his Patriotism, and his inflexible Integrity — his was a rare Character, such an One as is scarcely to be met with in many Centuries

<div align="right">
I am, Sir, with great esteem & Respect, 
your mo. Obt Servt 
William DuVal
</div>
</blockquote>

==1807==
===Ritchie to Governor William Cabell, April 25, 1807===

In the [http://books.google.com/books?id=vAY8AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA511 ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers''] (1890),<ref>H.W. Flournoy, ed., ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts,'' vol. 9, ''January 1, 1799 to December 31, 1807'' (Richmond, VA: James E. Goode, 1890), 511.</ref> is found the following letter from Thomas Ritchie, publisher of the [[#1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]:

=====Page 511=====

<blockquote>
<center>
THOMAS RITCHIE TO THE GOVERNOR.
</center>

<div style="float: right;">
April 25
</div>
The accompanying valuable papers were (last year) put into my possession by Major DuVall [''sic''] (acting Executive of Mr. Wythe), and I was by him requested to have them deposited among the archives of the Council. I do myself the peculiar pleasure of transmitting them to you for this purpose.

<center>
I am, &c.
</center>

[The above-mentioned papers were not found.—ED.]
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=vAY8AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA511 Google Books.]

==1810==
===Jefferson-Tyler correspondence, November 12, 1810===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence]]''

Governor John Tyler, Sr., wrote to President Thomas Jefferson in 1810,<ref>John Tyler, Sr., to Jefferson, 12 November 1810, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1], General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress. Jefferson, in his [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 response of November 25], unfortunately declines to take possession of the manuscripts, and suggests only that they go back to Wythe's executor, Major Duval.</ref> to inform him that Thomas Ritchie was still in possession of George Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, and to ask if Jefferson would like to edit and publish them. Tyler mentions that Judge [[wikipedia:Spencer Roane|Spencer Roane]], a former student of Wythe's (and Ritchie's cousin), has read the notes.

[[File:TylertoJefferson1810.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Letter from Virginia governor, [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|John Tyler, Sr., to Thomas Jefferson]], November 12, 1810, explaining that Thomas Ritchie is still in possession of George Wythe's lecture notes.Image from [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'']]
<blockquote>
<div align="right">
Richmond, Nov. 12, 1810
</div>
Dear Sir,

Perhaps Mr. Ritchie, before this time, has informed you of his having possession of Mr. Wythe's manuscript lectures delivered at William and Mary College while he was professor of law and police at that place. They are highly worthy of publication, and but for the delicacy of sentiment and the remarkably modest and unassuming character of that valuable and virtuous citizen, they would have made their way in the world before this. It is a pity they should be lost to society, and such a monument of his memory be neglected. As you are entitled to it by his will (I am informed), as composing a part of his library, could you not find leisure time enough to examine it and supply some omissions which now and then are met with, I suppose from accident, or from not having time to correct and improve the whole as he intended?

Judge Roane has read them, or most of them, and is highly pleased with them, thinks they will be very valuable, there being so much of his own sound reasoning upon great principles, and not a mere servile copy of Blackstone and other British commentators,—a good many of his own thoughts on our constitutions and the necessary changes they have begotten, with that spirit of freedom which always marked his opinions.

I have not had an opportunity of reading them, which I would have done with great delight, but these remarks are made from Judge Roane's account of them to me, who seemed to think, as I do, that you alone should have the sole dominion over them, and should send them to posterity under your patronage.

It will afford a lasting evidence to the world, among much other, of your remembrance of the man who was always dear to you and his country. I do not see why an American Aristides should not be known to future ages. Had he been a vain egoist his sentiments would have been often seen on paper; and perhaps he erred in this respect, as the good and great should always leave their precepts and opinions for the benefit of mankind.

Mr. Wm. Crane gave it to Mr. Ritchie, who I suppose got it from Mr. Duval, who always had access to Mr. Wythe's library, and was much in his confidence.

I hope you are quite as happy as mortality is susceptible of, though not quite dissolved; and that you may remain so for many years, is the sincere wish of your most obedient humble servant.
<div align="right">Jn. Tyler</div>
</blockquote>

==1813==
===Niles' ''Weekly Register,'' July 3, 1813===

:''Main article: [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813]]''

In celebration of July Fourth, 1813, the ''Weekly Register'' prints the Declaration of Independence side-by-side with the text of Jefferson's draft published in the [[#1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']] of 1806.<ref>"[[Media:NilesWeeklyRegister3July1813.pdf|Declaration of Independence]]," ''Weekly Register'' 4, no. 18 (3 July 1813), 281-284.</ref>

==< 1817==
===William Wirt, ''Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry''===

:''Main article: [[Life of Patrick Henry]]''

In his biography of Patrick Henry, in a footnote regarding the Virginia Convention of 1776, William Wirt asserts that he saw (sometime after Wythe's death in 1806, but before the book's publication in 1817) an "original rough draught of a Constitution for Virginia, in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson" in the Virginia state archive:

=====Page 196n=====

<blockquote>
* The striking similitude between the recital of wrongs prefixed to the constitution of Virginia, and that which was afterwards prefixed to the declaration of independence of the United States, is of itself sufficient to establish the fact that they are from the same pen. But the constitution of Virginia preceded the declaration of independence, by nearly a month; and was wholly composed and adopted while Mr. Jefferson is known to have been out of the State, attending the session of congress at Philadelphia. From these facts alone, a doubt might naturally arise whether he was, as he has always been reputed, the author of that celebrated instrument, the declaration of American independence, or at least a recital of grievances which ushers it in; or whether this part of it at least, had not not been borrowed from the preamble to the constitution of Virginia. To remove this doubt, it is proper to state, that there now exists among the archive of this state, an original rough draught of a Constitution for Virginia, in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson, containing this identical preamble, and which was forwarded by him from Philadelphia, to his friend Mr. Wythe, to be submitted to the committee of the house of delegates. The body of the constitution is taken principally from a plan proposed by Mr. George Mason; and had been adopted by the committee before the arrival of Mr. Jefferson's plan: his preamble however, was prefixed to the instrument; and some of the modifications proposed by him, introduced into the body of it.
</blockquote>

==1822==
===Richmond ''Enquirer,'' August 6, 1822===

:''Main article: [[Malignity Exposed]]''

A comment in the Richmond ''Enquirer'' in August of 1822, reprinting another article from the Charleston ''Patriot,'' is cited by [[#1906|John H. Hazelton]] as proof that Jefferson had sent a draft copy of the Declaration of Independence to George Wythe,<ref>Hazelton, ''[[#1906|Declaration of Independence]],'' 350-351.</ref> before the [[#1806|1806 article]] in the ''Enquirer'' had been found. The article extracts a letter from someone claiming to have a Jefferson draft of the Declaration, who could only be the [[#1861|Rev. R.H. Lee]].

=====Page 3=====

<blockquote>
At least thirteen years ago we [[#1806|published in this paper]] a copy of the original draft as it came from his [Jefferson's] own hands: This copy was in his handwriting, and was found among the papers of the late Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent. And now forsooth, we are to be amused with a [[#1861|new discovery of the original draft]] being "scored and scratched like a school-boy's exercise."
</blockquote>

==1824==
===Jefferson-DuVal correspondence, 1824===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]''

[[File:JeffersonToWytheSeptember161787p1.jpg|left|thumb|200px|"Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787, pg 1." Image from the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib002952 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'']]
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
Major [[William DuVal]] was still in possession of some or all of Wythe's correspondence in 1824. On [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence#William DuVal to Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1824|March 17, DuVal wrote to Thomas Jefferson]], forwarding a manuscript copy of Wythe's address to the Hessian mercenaries from the Second Continental Congress, in 1776. DuVal mentions rumors of Wythe's papers still extant, including a manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson's hand, which may have been removed without his knowledge by Samuel McCraw of Richmond, who was helping appraise Wythe's estate in 1806 (this seems to contradict Ritchie's [[Wythe's Lost Papers#1806|statement that he received the Declaration printed in the ''Enquirer'']] from DuVal). From McCraw's widow, DuVal recently learned the papers may have been given to William Wirt. DuVal suggests writing to Wirt, and later sends Jefferson a letter regarding the papers for Jefferson to enclose with his own. It is unknown whether Jefferson then wrote to Wirt.

In a letter from July of the same year, DuVal enclosed a [[Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787|letter Jefferson sent to Wythe from Paris in September, 1787]], in which Jefferson briefly discusses States' rights:<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib002952 Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787,] in ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1 General Correspondence 1651-1827,'' (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1974).</ref> DuVal states that he has not shown Wythe's correspondence to anyone:

<blockquote>
I enclose your Letter to our Friend, the worthy Patriot George Wythe, dated Sept 16. 1787 at Paris. The Idea you express respecting State Rights & federal Rights would do Honor to a Solon—

I do assure you the Contents of your Letter to our worthy & Mutual Friend altho it does Honor to the head and Heart of the writer it being confidential not one of my Family nor any other person has ever seen it.<ref>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-4385 "To Thomas Jefferson from William DuVal, 10 July 1824,"] Founders Online, National Archives.</ref>
</blockquote></div>

==< 1829==
===B.W. Leigh, ''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830''===

In the [http://books.google.com/books?id=ThIbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160 ''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830'']<ref>''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830'' (Richmond, VA: Ritchie & Cook, 1830).</ref> on November 3, 1829, during a debate on the state constitution at the Virginia State Convention, [[Benjamin Watkins Leigh]] states that he has seen Jefferson's proposed draft for the Virginia Constitution in the council chamber in the Capitol in Richmond, but that "it cannot now be found."

=====Page 160=====

<blockquote>
At what period Mr. Jefferson discovered the incompetency of the Convention of '76. it were vain to conjecture—but I apprehend, it was not during the session of that body—for I know that Mr. J. himself prepared a Constitution for Virginia, and [[#1776|sent it to Williamsburg]] that it might be proposed to the Convention, during the session, from which the preamble and nothing more, was taken and prefixed to the present Constitution. Anyone may see, at a glance, that that preamble was written by the author of the Declaration of Independence. I have seen the projet [''sic''] of the Constitution, which Mr. J. offered, in the council chamber, in his own hand writing, tho' it cannot now be found—and I have since cursed my folly that I neglected to take a copy of it, in order to compare Mr. J's democracy ''of that day,'' with George Mason's practical republicanism. But, Sir, the validity of the Constitution, as such, has been maintained by Pendleton, Wythe, Roane, by the whole Commonwealth for fifty-four years.
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=ThIbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160 Google Books.]

==1834==
===John Page, Jr., January 3, 1834===

:''Main article: [[John Page, Jr., to James E. Heath, 3 January 1834]]''

Page inherited George Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|etymological praxis]]—an autograph notebook of Greek vocabulary from Homer's ''Iliad'' with Latin equivalents—from his father, [[wikipedia:John Page (Virginia politician)|John Page, Sr.]] (1743 – 1808), and in 1834 donated it to the [http://www.vahistorical.org/ Virginia Historical Society], in Richmond:

<blockquote>
I herewith send you the book which I promised you for your Society. It was (as I informed you) the property of the late venerable and learned Chancellor Wythe, and I believe is altogether in his hand writing, though the character of the copy from "Sir John's Breviate Book" seems to be different from that of the Greek and Latin. Much the longest portion of the book is a Clavis ''Oμηρŏ'' or Etymological Praxsis on several of the books the Iliad, and some of the ''Ραψωίδία,'' which will serve in a striking manner to illustrate the great industry of that distinguished man.<ref>[[John Page, Jr., to James E. Heath, 3 January 1834]], in George Wythe, ''[[Etymological Praxis|Etymological Praxis in Greek and Latin of Part of Homer's Iliad]],'' Manuscripts Collection, Virginia Historical Society.</ref>
</blockquote>

William Wirt died on February 18, 1834, in Washington, D.C..

==1842==

Major [[William DuVal]] died on January 3, 1842, at his plantation in Buckingham County, at the age of 94.

==< 1848==
===Alexander H. Everett, ''The Library of American Biography''===

[[wikipedia:Alexander Hill Everett|Alexander H. Everett]] wrote a biography of Patrick Henry for the first volume of the second series of Jared Sparks' [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082307574;view=1up;seq=11 ''Library of American Biography,''] published in 1848. In his reporting of Henry's participation in the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776, Everett mentions that "the plan of government, which he [Jefferson] transmitted to Mr. Wythe, including the Declaration as it now stands in the statute-book, are still preserved, in Mr. Jefferson's hand-writing, in the archives of Virginia."<ref>Alexander H. Everett, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.14064692;view=1up;seq=347 "Patrick Henry,"] in ''The Library of American Biography,'' 2nd Ser., Vol. 1, edited by Jared Sparks (Boston: Little and Brown, 1848), 317.</ref>

Since Benjamin Watkins Lee reported the draft of the constitution for Virginia missing before 1829, Everett may have been parroting the earlier [[#< 1817|research of Wirt]] and others (although Wirt makes no mention of the Declaration). Everett died in June, 1847.

*Read this book at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.14064692;view=1up;seq=347 HathiTrust.]

==1854==

Thomas Ritchie died on July 3, 1854 at age 75, in Washington, D.C..

==1861==
===Edmund Jennings Lee, ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892''===

In his [https://archive.org/stream/leeofvirginia16400inleee genealogical history of the Lee family,] Edmund Jennings Lee (1853 – 1922)<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_A9HAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA33 ''Magazine of the Society of the Lees of Virginia''] 1, no. 1 (December 1922).</ref> publishes an 1861 letter from the Reverend Richard Henry Lee, a response to a request from Cassius Francis Lee, Jr. (Edmund's older brother, 17 years old at the time), for autographs of the "patriots of the Revolution." The Reverend tells his young cousin that he has given away (apparently donated) "every MSS., until I have ''not one'' left":

=====Page 395=====

<blockquote>
<center>
REV. RICHARD HENRY LEE.
</center>

44. Richard Henry6 the eldest son of Ludwell Lee5 (Richard Henry4, Thomas3 Richard2, Richard1) and Flora Lee, his first wife, was born the 23d of June, 1794, and died at Washington, Pa., the 3d of January, 1865. He was twice married, and had issue by each marriage. Mr. Lee was educated at Dickinson College, Pa., where he graduated with the honors of his class. He then studied law with the late Judge Thomas Duncan, of Carlisle, Pa., and began the practice of his profession in Loudoun county. While residing at Leesburg he edited the Memoirs of his grandfather, Richard Henry Lee, and of his great-uncle, Dr. Arthur Lee, which were issued in 1825 and 1829 respectively. He was also at one time Mayor of Leesburg. Mr. Lee was a scholar, especially accomplished in classical literature and belles-lettres; he read Greek and Latin authors with ease, and, having a fine memory, treasured up their beauties for frequent reference. In 1833 he was called to the Chair of Languages at Washington College, Pennsylvania, and in 1837 was transferred to that of Belles-
</blockquote>

=====Page 396=====

<blockquote>
Lettres. During his occupancy of these professorships he continued the practice of law. But in 1854 he gave up the law and resigned his professorship to begin the study of theology, with a view to entering the ministry of the Episcopal Church, which he did in 1858, and assumed charge of Trinity Church, Washington, Pa. He was in charge of that church at the time of his death.

Writing to the late Cassius F. Lee, Jr., under date of 18th of November, 1861, Mr. Lee told of his disposal of the various MSS. used by him in the preparation of the Memoirs. He wrote:

"My Dear Cousin: When your letter of the 24th ult. reached here I was in Philadelphia, and since my return I have been suffering from a severe cold, which, together with current duties, has delayed this reply.

"I am happy to see from your letter that you are cherishing a veneration for the great and wise patriots of the Revolution, and greatly regret it is out of my power to gratify your desire to possess their autographs. I presented to the [[#1898|Athenæum in Pha.]]<ref>Technically, the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]].</ref> all the MSS. from which I composed our Grandfather's Life; and to the University of Cambridge all those I used in the Life of our Uncle Arthur. Some years after I presented to the University of Virginia all the rest. I had selected some for my sons; but the many applications continually made to me, from every part of this country and Europe, led me to give away, one after another, every MSS., until I have ''not one'' left, to the excessive regret, now, of my sons and myself.

"Present my affectionate regards to your Father and Uncle Charles. You will greatly oblige me by letting me hear about Cousin Edmund I. Lee and his family, and of Cousin R. H. Lee. In these deplorable times I am anxious to hear of them. I hope your mother has recovered. I heard in Trenton, N. J., of her illness."
</blockquote>

*Read this book in the [https://archive.org/stream/leeofvirginia16400inleee#page/837/mode/2up Internet Archive.]

==1865==

In the early days of April, 1865, many vital Virginia records were lost when the evacuating [[wikipedia:Richmond in the American Civil War#Evacuation, burning, and capture of Richmond|Confederate States Army sets fires in Richmond]], retreating ahead of occupation by Federal troops.

==1890==
===Worthington C. Ford, ''The Nation,'' August 7, 1890===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]''

Ford describes two manuscript drafts of the Virginia Constitution, found near Lexington, Virginia:<ref>Worthington C. Ford, "[[Media:FordJeffersonsConstitutionForVirginia7August1890.pdf|Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]," ''Nation,'' August 7, 1890, 107-109.</ref>

=====Page 108=====

<blockquote>
The fact remains that for more than a century Jefferson's draft has been lost, and it has only recently been discovered near Lexington—two copies of it, both in Jefferson's MS., one with and the other wanting the preamble. Is it too great a stretch to conjecture that one, at least, was the identical manuscript that Wythe carried to Pendleton?
</blockquote>

===''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register,'' January, 1891===

The [http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register''] for January, 1891, reporting the proceedings of state historical societies, reveals that Cassius F. Lee, Jr., displayed a photographic reproduction of a Jefferson draft of the proposed Constitution for Virginia, at the [http://www.vahistorical.org/ Virginia Historical Society] in Richmond, in November, 1890.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register''] 45 (January 1891), 94.</ref> The quoted text of the document matches Wythe's copy (Jefferson's third and final draft), [[#1806|printed in the ''Enquirer'']] in 1806:

=====Page 94=====

<blockquote>
<center>
'''SOCIETIES AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS.''' VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
</center>

''Richmond, Saturday, Nov. 1, 1890.''—A meeting of the executive committee was held in the‘ society’s rooms, Westmoreland Club House, Vice-President Henry in the chair.

A photograph of the Constitution of Virginia, proposed by Thomas Jefferson in the Virginia Convention of 1776—a document until recently supposed to be lost—presented by Mr. Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, was exhibited. The document was labelled by Jefferson, "A bill for the new modelling of the form of government and for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future." Other valuable donations were reported by Mr. Brock the librarian.
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 Google Books.]

==< 1892==
==="Historic Manuscript Found in a Garrett," January 6, 1901===

:''Main article: "[[Historic Manuscript Found in a Garret]]"''

Before his death in 1892, several years prior to the writing of this article for the ''New York Times,'' Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, Virginia, sells a Jefferson draft of the Declaration to Elliot Danforth, of New York. Danforth sells it to Dr. Thomas A. Emmet, whose collection of Revolutionary War era manuscripts eventually goes to the [[#1897|New York Public Library]].

==1892==
===Kate Mason Rowland, "A Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson," July, 1892===

:''Main article: [[Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson]]''

The text of the manuscript constitution for Virginia [[#1891|described by Worthington C. Ford]] is published, with a short commentary by Rowland, in the ''William & Mary Quarterly.''<ref>Kate Mason Rowland, "[[Media:RowlandLostPaperOfThomasJeffersonJuly1892.pdf|A Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson]]," ''William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Papers'' 1, no. 1 (July 1892), 34-45.</ref>

===September 4, 1892===

Cassius F. Lee, Jr., dies in Alexandria, Virginia, aged 48.<ref>Lee, ''Lee of Virginia,'' 515.</ref>

==1893==
===Paul L. Ford, ''The Writings of Thomas Jefferson''===

In a footnote to the text of two drafts for the Virginia Constitution, Ford credits his younger brother, Worthington C. Ford, and Cassius F. Lee, for providing him with "photographic reproductions" of Jefferson's drafts. He also notes Wirt and Leigh's previous sightings of the "fair draft" of the state constitution in Jefferson's hand:<ref>Ford, ''Writings,'' 2:7.</ref>

=====Page 7=====

<blockquote>

{| width="50%" align="center"
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA1
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: right;" | [June, 1776.]
|-
| width="50%" |
<center>FIRST DRAFT<ref>Thomas Jefferson, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Drafts and Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref></center>

A Bill for new modelling the form of government and for establishing the Fundamental principles of our future Constitution 
:Whereas George 
king of Great Britain & Ireland and Elector of Hanover2
| width="50%" |
<center>FAIR COPY<ref>Thomas Jefferson, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Drafts and Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref></center>

[''A Bil'']l for new-modelling the form of Government and for establishing the Fundamental principles thereof in future. 
:Whereas George 
Guelf king of Great Britain and Ireland and Elector of Hanover,
|}

1 The fair copy is endorsed in Jefferson's handwriting, "A Bill for new modelling the form of government, & for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future. It is proposed that this bill, after correction by the Convention, shall be referred by them to the people, to be assembled in their respective counties and that the suffrages of two thirds of the counties shall be requisite to establish it." The rough draft has no preamble, though space was left for it. In both copies the erasures and interlineations are indicated. The bracketed portions in Roman are so written by Jefferson. Those in italic are inserted by the editor. For these most important papers I am under obligation to the courtesy of Mr. Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Va., and Mr. Worthington Chauncey Ford, of Brooklyn, N. Y., not merely for photographic reproductions, but also for the facts concerning them given at large in his ''[[#1890|Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]'' (''The Nation,'' LI, 107). This constitution, though mentioned in several of the histories and other works concerning Virginia, and though seen by Wirt (''[[#< 1817|Life of Patrick Henry]],'' p. 196), and by Leigh (''[[#< 1829|Debates of Virginia Convention]], 1830,'' p. 160), has never yet been printed or even quoted.
</blockquote>

=====Page 42=====

Reproducing three identified copies of the Declaration of Independence, Ford notes that Jefferson sent copies to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, John Page, Sr., Edmund Pendleton, Philip Mazzei, and "probably others":<ref>Ford, ''Writings,'' 2:42.</ref>

<blockquote>

{| width="50%" align="center"
| colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE1
|-
| colspan="3" style="text-align: right;" | July 4, 1776.
|-
| width="33%" |
<center>FIRST DRAFT.</center>

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in general Congress assembled.

| width="33%" |
<center>REPORTED DRAFT.</center>

A Declaration by the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in General Congress assembled.

| width="33%" |
<center>ENGROSSED COPY.</center>

In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.
|-
| width="33%" |
When in the Course of human Events it becomes necessary for a People to advance from that Subordination, in which they have
| width="33%" |
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con-
| width="33%" |
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con-
|}

1 The text in the first column is from a copy in the handwriting of John Adams, now in the Adams papers at Quincy, for which I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Charles Francis Adams and Mr. Theodore F. Dwight. From a comparison of it with the fac-simile of Jefferson's rough draft, it is evident that it represents the first phrasing of the paper. The text in the second column is approximately that reported by the committee to Congress, and is taken from Jefferson's rough draft reproduced herein in fac-simile from the original in the Department of State. The text in the third column is from the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence, also in the Department of State. Another MSS. copy in Jefferson's writing, slightly altered in wording, was inserted by him in his Autobiography, and is printed, ''ante,'' I, 30. This is in the Department of State, as is likewise a copy in his handwriting made for Madison in 1783, which is reproduced in facsimile in the ''Madison Papers,'' vol. III. Between July 4th-10th, Jefferson made copies of the Declaration, indicating his phrasing and that adopted by the Congress, and sent them to R. H. Lee, Wythe, Page, Pendleton, and Mazzei, and probably others. Lee gave his copy to the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]], where it now is. Those of Wythe, Page, and Pendleton have never been heard of. Mazzei gave his to the Countess de Tessie of France, and it has not been traced. A copy in Jefferson's writing is now owned by [[#< 1892|Dr. Thomas Addis Emmett]], and a fragment of another is in the possession of Mrs. Washburn of Boston. Thus at least five copies and a fragment of a sixth are still extant. ''Cf. ante,'' 1, 30.
</blockquote>

==1894==
===Lenox Library accession===

From the New York Public Library's record for [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Thomas Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, June 1776:]

<blockquote>
This is the third and final draft and was printed in Paul Leicester Ford's ''[[#1893|The Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' volume 2, page 7, where the history of this document is noted. The first and second drafts are in the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000155 Library of Congress]. Autograph document, presented to the Lenox Library by Mr. Alexander Maitland in 1894.
</blockquote>

See also Julian P. Boyd's note, in [[#1950|''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'']] (1950):

<blockquote>
The provenance of this text is given in a memorandum of [[#1916|Victor H. Paltsits]] (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by 'William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed.' Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library.
</blockquote>

==1897==
===''Bulletin of the New York Public Library,'' December, 1897===

In 1895, the [http://www.nypl.org/ New York Public Library] was created from the consolidation of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. In the new ''Bulletin of the New York Public Library,'' an inventory of the Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, presented to the library by John S. Kennedy (president of the former Lenox Library) in June of 1896,<ref>''Bulletin of the New York Public Library'' 1, no. 1 (January 1897), 14.</ref> describes the "Cassius F. Lee" copy of the Declaration, which remains in the collections of New York's [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Archives and Manuscripts Division]:<ref>''Bulletin of the New York Public Library'' 1, no. 12 (December 1897), 355-356.</ref>

<blockquote>
''Document:'' '''United States.'''—Congress, Continental, 1775-1789. [Philadelphia, July 4, 1776.] Declaration of Independence. Draft in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson. 4 pp. F°. EM. 1524

This one of several fair copies made by Jefferson from the original rough draft of the Declaration, after its adoption and publication, in which be gave the wording of the text as reported by the Committee, with the portions underlined that were changed or rejected by Congress. After remaining in the possession of the Lee family, of Virginia for many years, with other papers of Jefferson, the manuscript was sold by the late Mr. Cassius F. Lee, of Alexandria, to Mr. [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]], of New York, from whom Dr. Emmet obtained it.

The words substituted by Congress are not given in this copy, which in other respects agrees closely with the drafts sent to Lee and Madison, and with the text as incorporated in the autobiography, with the exception that two paragraphs and a few words were transposed.

Five other drafts of the Declaration in Jefferson's handwriting are known:—(I) the original rough draft, with interlineations, in the Department of State at Washington (reproduced a EM. 1523); (2) the copy lent to R. H. Lee in July 1776. and given by his grandson to the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]] at Philadelphia in 1825, being similar to EM. 1524 (see EM. 1521); (3) the copy made for Madison in 1781, similar to the preceding, and now in the State Department (reproduced in fac-simile in the Madison Papers, vol. 3); (4) the draft incorporated in the autobiography of 1821, similar to (2) and (3), and also in the State Department (printed in Jefferson's ''Writings''); and (5) the fragment belonging to Mrs. Washburn, of Boston. See [[#1893|Jefferson's ''Writings'']] (Ford) vol. 2. p. 42, note.

It is stated by Jefferson, in a letter to Madison (Aug. 30, 1823), that be wrote a fair copy from the rough draft, reported it to the Committee, and from them unaltered, to Congress. All trace of this fair draft has been lost. It was probably used in crossing out the passages rejected by Congress, and in the making of the engrossed copy. The latter, which is the one that was signed, is in the keeping of the State Department.

Between July 4 and 10 Jefferson sent other drafts of the Declaration, with the omitted passages marked, to George Wythe, John Page, Edmund Pendleton, and Philip Mazzei, none of which has been found or identified. See [[#1893|Jefferson's ''Writings'']] (Ford) vol. 2. p. 42, note.
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=waNMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA355 Google Books.]

==1898==
===I. Minis Hays, "A Note on the History of the Jefferson Manuscript Draught of the Declaration of Independence...," January, 1898===

An article in the [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ov6F3sJAXqwC&pg=PA88 ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society''] describes a copy of a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence given to the American Philosophical Society in 1825, [[#1861|from a grandson of Richard Henry Lee]]. Notes another draft at the [[#1897|Lenox Library]] in New York (absorbed by the New York Public Library), and doubts the Lenox copy came from R.H. Lee:

=====Page 101=====

<blockquote>
5. A copy in the Emmet collection in the Lenox Library, New York. "This is one of several fair copies made by Jefferson from the original rough draught of the Declaration, after its adoption and publication, in which he gave the wording of the text as reported by the Committee, with the portions underlined that were changed or rejected by Congress. After remaining in the possession of the Lee family of Virginia for many years, with other papers of Jefferson, .... was sold by the late Mr. Cassius F. Lee, of Alexandria, to Mr. [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]], of New York, from whom Dr. Emmet obtained it."1

I have not been able to learn the circumstances under which this copy came into the possession of the Lee family. Dr. Emmet writes me that the only information he "can give is that Mr. Lee stated to me that it was one of the copies Jefferson sent his grandfather, and that it had been sent to some one in lower Virginia by Richard Henry Lee shortly after, and that it was not recovered for many years after."2

This copy is without interlineation and does not contain the additions made by the Congress. It is, with some slight exceptions, the text of the document as reported to the Congress.

<div style="font-size: 85%;">
1 [[#1897|Bulletin of the New York Public Library]], 1897, p. 355.

2 Personal communication, April 16, 1898. It does not seem likely that Jefferson should have sent two similar autographic copies of the Declaration to Richard Henry Lee, and as the history of the copy possessed by this Society is clear and indisputable, it is probable that the Emmet copy came from another source, and Mr. [[#1893|Paul L. Ford]], the learned student of Jefferson's works, informs me that he is inclined to believe that it is the copy sent to John Page.
</div>
</blockquote>

=====Page 102=====

<blockquote>
In addition to these five copies and a fragment of a sixth, Jefferson made, according to Ford,1 between the 4th and 10th of July, other copies, which he [[#1776|sent to George Wythe]],2 John Page, Edmund Pendleton and Philip Mazzei, who gave his copy, so so Jefferson states in his letter to Vaughan, to the Countess de Tessé of France, but is not known if these copies are still in existence.

<div style="font-size: 85%;">
1 [[#1893|''Writings of Jefferson'']], ii , p. 42, Note.

2 This copy was delivered to Mr. Thomas Ritchie, editor of the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']], by Major Duval, the executor of Mr. Wythe's estate, and its text was printed in [[#1813|Niles's Weekly Register]], July 3, 1883 (Vol. iv, No. 13). Notwithstanding inquiry among Mr. Ritchie's descendants I have not been able to learn whether it is still in existence.
</div>
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ov6F3sJAXqwC&pg=PA88 Google Books.]

==1906==
===John H. Hazelton, ''The Declaration of Independence: Its History''===

:''Main article: [[Malignity Exposed]]''

In an appendix to his history of the Declaration of Independence, Hazelton describes the various copies made by Jefferson which have been discovered, including the draft at the [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 New York Public Library], which he supposes could have been Wythe's, Pendleton's, or Page's copy.<ref>Hazelton, ''Declaration of Independence,'' 347-348, 350-351.</ref>

=====Page 347=====

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">In the New York Public Library (Lenox)</div>
<blockquote>
The copy in the New York Public Library ([[#1896|Lenox]]) was purchased from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet of New York City. He secured it from [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]] of the same place, who purchased it from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Va. Lee had written to both Emmet and Danforth, but Emmet's letter accepting the Declaration upon the terms proposed was not received until after Danforth had purchased it.

How it came into the hands of Lee is not known.

Danforth writes us that he cannot find the letters which he received from Lee, even if they are still in existence. Emmet writes us: "I did not preserve Mr. Lee's letters—" Lee died in 1892, and, so far as we can learn by corresponding with his daughter, Mrs. W. J. (Lucy Lee) Boothe, Jr., of Alexandria, left no record of the history of the manuscript (if he knew anything of it) among his papers.

Emmet writes, however, to Hays ([[#1898|Hays says]]): "Mr. Lee stated to me that it was one of the copies Jefferson sent his grandfather, and that it had been sent to someone in lower Virginia by Richard Henry Lee shortly after, and that it was not recovered for many years after"; but this, we think, cannot be true, unless Jefferson sent it with some other letter than that (See p. 344) of July 8, 1776, which seems scarcely possible.

It may very well be the copy113 which Jefferson mailed to Pendleton or the one114 found among the papers of Wythe or, if there ever was such a copy, the copy115 mailed to Page.

It also is in the handwriting of Jefferson and fills the front and reverse sides of two sheets of foolscap; and the paper itself is of the same character and size as that used for the draft which he sent to R. H. Lee. Indeed, pages 1, 2 and 4 respectively of these two drafts end ''upon the same word;'' while page 3 of this copy ends with the word "altering" and of the copy sent to Lee with "altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;": from which it might appear that one was copied from the other. The individual lines, however, as well as the underscored words, as we have seen, do not always correspond; and there is sometimes an "and" in one where there is an "&" in the other and an occasional slight difference in punctuation. There is no indorsement—or, indeed, any extra-
</blockquote>

=====Page 348=====

<blockquote>
neous writing—upon it as there is upon the copy which was sent to Lee. It has at some time been folded once each way.
</blockquote>

=====Page 350=====

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2px;">Sent to Wythe</div>
<blockquote>
Another draft in the handwriting of Jefferson which has not been located—unless ''it'' is the one in the New York Public Library (Lenox) or the one in the Massachusetts Historical Society—would seem120 to have been sent to Wythe; for the [[#1822|''Richmond Enquirer''121 (C) of August 6, 1822]], says:

<center>
MALIGNITY EXPOSED.
</center>

The subjoined article from the Charleston Patriot exposes another of the vile attempts, which have been recently made by a sleepless spirit of resentment, to strip the laurel from the brow of Jefferson... At least thirteen years ago122 we [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|published in this paper a copy of the original draft]]123 as it came from his own hands: This copy was in his handwriting, and was found among the papers of the late Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent. And now forsooth, we are to be amused with a new discovery of the original draft being "scored and scratched like a school-boy's exercise." This is a most miserable exaggeration—the variations, which were made, were most of them disapproved of by the author we recollect those passages well—and we repeat what we said at the time of re-publication, that the paper was altered for the worse...

<center>
[From the Charleston Patriot.]
</center>

This would appear to be an age of calumny and all uncharitableness... But as if malice is contagious or admits of being propagated, a coadjutor to the "Native of Virginia" has appeared in the Federal Republican, whose article will be found below, and who wishes to rob Mr. Jefferson of the fume of having solely written the Declaration of Independence.

—Richard Henry Lee is credited with the honor of having ''moved'' the Declaration, and of having corrected and amended the original report of this celebrated paper. Mr. Jefferson is not denied having furnished the outlines of the Declaration, but it is pretended that it is the work as it now stands of abler hands. Now, the plain intent of this fresh or forgotten fragment of history just recovered and brought to light, is to deprive Mr. Jefferson of all credit for originality in drawing up the Declaration of Independence... The credit of being the ''author'' of the Declaration is nowise impaired by the subject being ''moved'' by another; but the insinuation that the original draft only was furnished by him and not the perfect copy as it now stands, is contradicted by the evidence of contemporaries. Let us see these promised documents...
</blockquote>

=====Page 351=====

<blockquote>
<center>
[From the Philadelphia Union.]
</center>

We have long been acquainted with the facts alluded to in the following article from the Federal Republican. We have seen Mr. Jefferson's draft124 of the Declaration of Independence, scored and scratched like a school boy's exercise. When Mr. Schæffer shall comply with his promise to publish the documents relating to this subject, the jack daw will be stript of the plumage, with which adulation has adorned him, and the crown will be placed on the head of a real patriot.

''Richard Henry Lee.''—It is truly remarkable that this great statesman is forgotten among all of the celebrities of the ''Fourth of July.'' It is to this "illustrious" patriot, we are indebted for our ''Declaration of Independence,'' for it was he who moved it in Congress... Among men of sense, candor and truth, there will be no question whether ''he'' who ''dared'' openly to propose the project, or he who had the principal agency in putting it ''on paper'' deserves the most credit...

Ere long, we hope to have leisure to publish some very important documents on this subject. We have the ''very copy''125 of the declaration of independence, as it was originally reported and sent by the "illustrious penman," to this same Richard Henry Lee together with his remarks126 on it in his own ''hand writing...''<ref>Hazelton does not seem to think it relevant, but the letter's author and champion of Richard Henry Lee is likely none other than his grandson, the Reverend Richard Henry Lee, of Leesburg, Virginia, who published [http://books.google.com/books?id=bkkWIBqWCCYC&printsec=frontcover ''Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee: And His Correspondence''] in two volumes in 1825, and donated Lee's draft of the Declaration of Independence to the [[Wythe's Lost Papers#1861|American Philosophical Society]] in Philadelphia that same year. A footnote of similar sentiment and construction appears in volume one of the [http://books.google.com/books?id=bkkWIBqWCCYC&pg=PA105 ''Memoir,'' on page 105].</ref>

<div align="right">[Fed. Rep.</div>

[[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|''The Weekly Register'']] (C and N) referred to—of July 3, 1813—says:

The time fitting the purpose, we embrace this occasion to present our readers with the Declaration of Independence, placing by its side the original draft127 of Mr. ''Jefferson,'' about which much curiosity and speculation has existed. The paper from which we have our copy, was found among the literary reliques of the late venerable ''George Wythe,'' of Virginia, in the hand writing of Mr. J. and delivered to the editor [Thomas Ritchie] of the ''Richmond Enquirer'' by the executor of Mr. Wythe's estate, major Duval. The passages stricken out of the original, by the committee, are inserted in ''italics.''

Here follow in separate columns a copy (seemingly) of the Declaration as printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress and a copy128 (substantially) of it as submitted to Congress by the committee on June 28th. Below appears the following: "The Declaration as adopted was also signed."; and then come the names of the signers, except that of M:Kean, arranged by Colonies.
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=QVcSAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA306 Google Books.]

==1916==
===Paltsits memorandum, February 1, 1916===

Julian P. Boyd details the provenance of the [http://www.nypl.org/ New York Public Library's] copy of [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Thomas Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, June 1776] in volume one of the [[#1950|''Papers of Thomas Jefferson'']] (1950):<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 364.</ref>

<blockquote>
The provenance of this text is given in a memorandum of Victor H. Paltsits (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by "William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed." Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library. Shortly after this text was brought to light in 1890, efforts were made to identify it as the copy that TJ had given to George Wythe to convey to the Virginia Convention (D. R. Anderson, "[[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution|Jefferson and the Va. Const.]]," Amer. Hist. Rev., XXI [1915-1916], 751).
</blockquote>

===D.R. Anderson, "Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution," July, 1916===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution]]''

An article in the ''American Historical Review'' suggests comparing the manuscript described by [[#1891|Worthington C. Ford]] in 1891 with the text published in [[#1806|''The Enquirer'']] in 1806.<ref>Dice Robins Anderson, "Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution," American Historical Review, 21, no. 4 (July 1916), 750-754.</ref>

==1943==
===Julian P. Boyd, ''The Declaration of Independence''===

In his excellent study with large, photographic reproductions of all of the various drafts of Jefferson's composition of the Declaration, Julian P. Boyd believes that "the copy in the [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 New York Public Library] is, in all probability, the copy sent to Wythe," but he cannot "conclusively" establish this as fact:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ''The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of the Text as Shown in Facsimiles of Various Drafts by its Author'' (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1943), 5, 7-8.</ref>

=====Page 5=====

<blockquote>
<center>
II. ''Jefferson's "First Ideas" on the Virginia Constitution, 1776''
</center>

Reproduced from the first two pages of the first of three drafts of a constitution which Jefferson sent to the Virginia Convention. From the original in the Jefferson papers in the Library of Congress. The Library also has another copy, lacking the part reproduced here, which was a list of reasons for Virginia's repudiation of her allegiance to George III and which was not only incorporated in large part in the Virginia Constitution as its Preamble but was also followed closely by Jefferson in the corresponding part of the Declaration of Independence. The first draft is made up of six folio pages, being similar to another draft, likewise in Jefferson's handwriting, in the [[#1894|New York Public Library]]. The second draft was first published in ''[[#1893|''Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' P. L. Ford, ed., II, 7''ff''. The third copy, lacking the part contained in the two pages reproduced here, was presented to the Library of Congress in 1931. Both this copy and that in the New York Public Library came from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Virginia. These drafts were probably written in the spring of 1776, and certainly before June 13, but there is no documentary evidence for supposing, as Fitzpatrick does, that they were drawn up after May 27; John C. Fitzpatrick, ''Spirit of the American Revolution,'' p. 2; see also, John H. Hazelton, ''[[#1906|The Declaration of Independence]],'' New York, 1906, p. 146, 451-52. The first draft, reproduced here in actual size, is on a paper manufactured in Holland and bearing the watermark L V G [errevink?], which is different from the paper used by Jefferson in his various drafts of the Declaration, thereby lending strength to the supposition of a somewhat earlier composition than Fitzpatrick indicates.

</blockquote>

=====Page 7=====

<blockquote>
<center>
VII. ''Unidentified Copy of the Declaration Made by Jefferson'' [''Cassius F. Lee Copy'']
</center>

Reproduced from the original through the courtesy of the President and Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library, who also consented to place it on exhibit in the current Jefferson exhibit at the Library of Congress. This copy was [[#1897|purchased for the New York Public Library]] in 1896 from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, who in turn secured it from [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]]. The latter purchased it from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Virginia. Since its early history is hidden in obscurity, the person for whom Jefferson made it is not known. In addition to the copy made for Richard Henry Lee, Jefferson sent other copies, which evidently were made between July 4 and July 10, to [[#1776|George Wythe]], John Page, Edmund Pendleton, and Philip Mazzei. The present copy may be one of these, but this fact has not been positively established. See [[#1906|Hazelton, op. cit., p. 347-48]]. This copy corresponds closely to the Lee copy in respect to its contents: that is, it represents the Declaration approximately as it was when the Committee of Five reported it to Congress. See note below on the copy sent to George Wythe.
</blockquote>

=====Page 8=====

<blockquote>
<center>
''Note on the Copy Sent by Jefferson to George Wythe''
</center>

John H. Hazelton, in his invaluable pioneering [[#1906|study on the Declaration of Independence]], quoted (p. 350) the ''Richmond'' (Virginia) ''Enquirer'' of August 6, 1822, as saying it had "published ... about thirteen years ago a copy of the original draft [of the Declaration] as it came from his [Jefferson's] own hands. This copy ... was found among the papers of Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent." Hazelton (p. 602) was unable to locate it as published in the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']] and elsewhere about 1809.<ref>Wythe's copy of Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence was published in the Richmond ''Enquirer'' on June 20, 1806, on pages 2-3.</ref> In consequence, there has been doubt as to whether the copy in the New York Public Library (Document VII) or that in the Massachusetts Historical Society (Document IX) could be the Wythe copy. For the reasons given below, it is believed that the copy in the New York Public Library is, in all probability, the copy sent to Wythe.

Among the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress there is a box of newspaper clippings, one of which is taken from ''The Commonwealth'' (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) for July 1, 1807. This clipping is endorsed in Jefferson's hand: "Declaration of Independence" and the printing of the Declaration is prefaced by the following comment of ''The Commonwealth:'' "We have chosen to publish, at this time the original draught of the Declaration of Independence, as it came from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, found among the papers of the venerable George Wythe, after his decease, in the handwriting of the author. It will be seen, by a comparison with the Declaration, as adopted, that hardly any instrument of writing, of the same length, written by an individual, ever underwent fewer alterations and amendments, when submitted to an assembly for revision and adoption. It is evident, therefore, that Mr. Jefferson, at that time, expressed the sense of the nation at large—as he has ever since done—and, as we trust, he ever will do. The passages omitted in the original composition are printed in Italics." The italicized portions in ''The Commentator'' [''sic'']<ref>Read: ''The Commonwealth.'' This error is corrected in a later edition edited by Gerard W. Gawalt (1999, pp. 79-80).</ref> agree almost precisely with the corresponding underlined passages in the New York Public Library copy, and in one particular especially: in the Wythe copy "General" is omitted from the title of the Declaration and in the latter it is marked for omission. This occurs in no other copy except that made for Madison (and, of course, in the copy in ''Notes'' from which the Madison copy was made). In addition to this circumstantial evidence, it should be noted that the New York Public Library copy was acquired from Cassius F. Lee—who also possessed the two later drafts of Jefferson's ideas on a constitution for Virginia. Jefferson's proposed constitution was sent to Williamsburg by George Wythe. Could it be that the two drafts that belonged to Cassius F. Lee were those actually carried by Wythe? One of these drafts lacks the part that formed the Preamble to the Virginia Constitution: could it be that Wythe detached that part and presented it to the Virginia Convention? These, of course, are purely speculative questions, but the presence in Cassius F. Lee's hands of a copy of the Declaration bearing such exact relationship with the Wythe copy as printed in ''The Commentator'' [''sic''], together with his possession of two drafts of a document which Wythe transmitted for Jefferson, lends strong color of probability to the supposition that the New York Public Library copy is the George Wythe copy. The point is not conclusively established and so, in these pages, the copy in the New York Public Library is referred to as the Cassius F. Lee copy.
</blockquote>

==1950==
===Julian P. Boyd, ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson''===

Boyd devotes a chapter in the first volume of Jefferson's papers to the composition, in June, 1776, of a proposed Virginia Constitution. His notes on Jefferson's manuscript second draft of the Virginia Constitution detail its provenance:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 354-355.</ref>

=====Page 354=====

<blockquote>
Dft (DLC).<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000156 Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence], June 1776 Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> This MS, which Ford labels "First Draft," was acquired by the Library of Congress in 1930, being donated by W. E. Benjamin of New York (''Report of the Librarian of Congress,'' 1930, p. 64), who obtained it from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, Va. The MS of the Third Draft, described below, and the Wythe copy of the Declaration of Independence were also at one time in the possession of Lee, (Boyd, ''[[#1943|Declaration of Independence]],'' 1945, p. 39, 42, 43–5), from whom Ford obtained facsimiles of both the Second and Third Drafts ([[#1893|Ford, II, 7]]). However, some parts of the Second Draft became separated from the MS before it was acquired by the Library of Congress. These missing portions are noted below and the text is from Ford, II, 7. That part of the MS in DLC consists of eight pages and one tipped-in slip of paper. The present location of these missing parts is unknown. It is possible that Lee obtained the Second Draft, as he certainly did the Third, directly or indirectly from the papers of George Wythe. It is also most likely, as indicated in the notes to the Third Draft, that TJ sent more than one copy to the Virginia Convention. If so, this might explain the fact that the Second Draft became separated from the main corpus of Jefferson's papers. Ford (II, 7) noted that the Second Draft lacked the introductory part containing the justification for abolishing the "kingly office" and setting up new forms of government. As suggested above, in the
</blockquote>

=====Page 355=====

<blockquote>
notes to First Draft, it is very unlikely that such a preamble to the Second Draft ever existed (see footnote 1, below).

The supposition that TJ sent more than one copy of his proposed constitution to Virginia is possibly confirmed by the statements of [[#< 1817|William Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|B. W. Leigh]]. These statements have every appearance of being reliable: they were made independently, separated widely in time, and uttered by men of recognized probity, one of whom supported and the other of whom opposed Jeffersonian principles. Each flatly asserted that he had seen in the State archives at Richmond a draft of a proposed constitution of Virginia, in TJ's handwriting, that he had submitted to the Convention in 1776 ([[#< 1817|Wirt, ''Henry,'' I, 196]]; B. W. Leigh, [[#< 1829|''Procs. and Debates of the Va. State Conv. of 1829–1830,'']] Richmond, 1830, p. 160). Leigh added, in the statement he made in 1830, that the MS had "long since" disappeared from the council chamber.<ref>Where Boyd quotes the phrase "long since" is unknown. [[#< 1829|Leigh states]] that the constitution was in the council chamber, but that it "cannot now be found."</ref> It is known that the Third Draft of TJ's proposed constitution was found among George Wythe’s papers at his death in 1806 (see notes to Third Draft). Wythe must, therefore, have retained this text, even though it was the fair copy, correctly docketed by TJ as a bill ready to be introduced. In view of this and of the clear indications that the Third Draft was copied from another text than our Second Draft, Wirt and Leigh must have seen some other copy in the council chamber. If so, that copy, having disappeared before 1830, is not known to be in existence. It could not have been our Second Draft (see above and note 1, below).
</blockquote>

*View this manuscript at the [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Library of Congress].

*Read this text on [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0003 Founders Online], National Archives.

Boyd's notes on Jefferson's manuscript third draft of the Virginia Constitution argue that this is the copy transmitted to Williamsburg by Wythe, and found in Wythe's papers after his death in 1806:<ref>Boyd, ''Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' 1:364-365.</ref>

=====Page 364=====

<blockquote>
Dft (NN).<ref>[http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Declaration of Independence. Draft in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson], Archives and Manuscripts Division, New York Public Library.</ref> This copy of TJ's constitution was folded and docketed in correct legislative form. At the top of the two sheets, after it was folded, TJ endorsed this title on his substantive law: "A ''Bill'' for new modelling the form of government, & for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future." Below this, he added: "It is proposed that this bill, after correction by the Convention, shall be referred by them to the people to be assembled in their respective counties and that the suffrages of two thirds of the counties shall be requisite to establish it."

The provenance of this text is given in a [[#1916|memorandum of Victor H. Paltsits]] (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by "William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed." Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library. Shortly after this text was brought to light in 1890, efforts were made to identify it as the copy that TJ had given to George Wythe to convey to the Virginia Convention (D. R. Anderson, "[[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution|Jefferson and the Va. Const.]]," ''Amer. Hist. Rev.,'' XXI [1915-1916], 751). A close comparison of the copy found among Wythe's papers at his death in 1806 and printed with meticulous accuracy in the ''[[#1806|Richmond Enquirer]],'' 20 June 1806, clearly establishes the identity of that copy and the one now in the New York Public Library, here designated as the Third Draft (Boyd, ''[[#1943|Declaration of Independence]],'' 1945, p. 44-5). In 1825 TJ wrote: "I... drew a sketch or outline of a Constitution, with a preamble, which I sent to Mr. Pendleton, president of the convention.... He informed me afterwards by letter, that he received it on the day on which the Committee of the whole had reported to the House the plan they had agreed to..." (TJ to Augustus B. Woodward, 3 Apr. 1825). It has been assumed that this was a mistake of memory on TJ's part and that he confused Pendleton with Wythe (Hazelton, p. 451). Wythe reported to TJ that "the one you put into my hands was ''shewn'' [italics supplied]" to those chiefly engaged in framing the Constitution ([[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776|Wythe to TJ, 27 July 1776]]). This, together with the significant fact that Wythe's copy remained among his papers, indicates that TJ was correct in saying he had sent a copy to Pendleton. If so, this would tend to confirm the supposition advanced in the notes to the Second Draft that two copies were sent. Wirt indicates that the copy he saw in the State archives was the one "forwarded... to Mr. Wythe";
</blockquote>

=====Page 365=====

<blockquote>
however, he also describes it as "an original rough draught," a description which scarcely fits the Wythe copy or Third Draft ([[#< 1817|Wirt, ''Henry,'' I, 196]]). Moreover, if Wythe's copy had been used by the Convention as the text from which several parts were taken for incorporation in the Constitution adopted by that body, it seems very likely that some corrections or markings on the MS of the text would have been made to indicate what parts had been selected, how they had been altered, s.c. (see ''Conv. Jour.,'' May 1776, 1816 edn., p. 78, for 28 June, when it was ordered that "the said plan of government, together with the amendments, be ''fairly transcribed''" [italics supplied]). No such alterations or markings appear on the Third Draft.

1 MS torn; text supplied from the precisely correct and literal text printed in the ''[[#1806|Richmond Enquirer]],'' 20 June 1806.

2 A word must have been omitted by TJ at this point; elsewhere in the document the comparable phrase is employed: e.g., "incapable of holding any public pension...," not "incapable of any pension." The fact is that at this point in the Second Draft TJ wrote: "incapable of being again appointed to the same"; then struck out the words "being again appointed to"; then interlined "holding," making the phrase read as he usually wrote it "incapable of holding the same." However, the word "holding" appears also to have had a line drawn through it, though it also bears evidence of the slight smudge that TJ occasionally made in his rough drafts, as if he had run his finger over a freshly drawn line or word to expunge it. At all events, it is certain that "incapable of holding" is what he normally would have written and it is equally certain that "holding" was interlined though perhaps lined out. The point is worth noting since both the text of the Third Draft and the text of the Enquirer omit the word "holding" at this point, thus adding to the preponderant evidence that they are identical.

3 The square brackets here and below in the text are in the MS.

4 The words in italics were struck out, and then TJ interlined the following words at the top of the same page of MS: "nor shall there be power any where to pardon or to remit fines or punishments." This clause was finally inserted in the next to the last paragraph under "1. Legislative," above.

5 The six lines in the MS beginning with the words "by an act of the legislature" down to and including "defined by the legislature, and for" are written on a slip of paper pasted on the MS at this point. This represents a curious omission made by TJ in copying, an omission that seems inexplicable except on the ground that the Third Draft (Wythe's copy in NN) was copied not from the Second Draft (DLC) but from another text. As originally copied in the Third Draft, TJ caused this passage to read in part, without a break in the lines, "for breach of which they shall be remove able [end of line] the punishment of which the said legislature shall have previously prescribed certain and determinate pains...." The First Draft includes in rough, interlined form the six lines thus omitted at the end of the line "they shall be removeable," but in the Second Draft this passage comprises four and a half lines at the bottom of page 7 and two and a half lines at the top of page 8. It is conceivable that TJ could have accidentally skipped such a passage if it had ended at the bottom of a page or if its beginning and end coincided with the beginning and end of a line. But it is difficult to believe that he could have made this error if he had been copying from a text where the passage began in the middle of the line near the bottom of one page and ended in the middle of the line near the top of another, particularly in a case where the omission involved such a sharp break in the continuity and sense. The evidence in this instance alone is not conclusive, but taken in connection with TJ's remarks in 1825, with the statements of [[#< 1817|Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|Leigh]] as cited in notes to the Second Draft, and other evidences given in these notes, it seems certain that the Third Draft was copied from another fair copy made from the Second Draft. At all events, the omission of this passage conclusively proves that the Third Draft is the copy that George Wythe carried to Virginia, for the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']] printed the six lines written on the slip of paper, but neglected to include the lines written underneath. This typographical error obviously could have occurred only in the use of the copy now in NN, which, therefore, is the copy transmitted by Wythe.
</blockquote>

*View this manuscript at the [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Library of Congress]

*Read this text on [http://founders.archives.gov/?q=Ancestor%3ATSJN-01-01-02-0161&s=1511311111&r=4 Founders Online], National Archives.

==1983==
===Kirtland, ''George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge,''===
=====Page 298=====

In an appendix to his 1983 doctoral dissertation,<ref>Robert Bevier Kirtland, [[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge|''George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge'']] (New York: Garland, 1986). PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1983.</ref> Robert Bevier Kirtland summarizes the history — and probable ultimate disappearance — of George Wythe's papers:

<blockquote>
<center>
APPENDIX A: WHAT HAS BECOME OF GEORGE WYTHE'S PAPERS?
</center>

It is intriguing but apparently idle to speculate on the possibility that a substantial corpus of Wythe papers may survive to the present day.

Wythe may not, in fact, have kept extensive files. Few men of his era shared Jefferson's conspicuous sense of the future and of their importance to it. It was [[#1810|Jefferson]], indeed, who remarked to Tyler that he had been surprised to learn of the existence of Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, since "he might have destroyed them, as I expect he has done [to] a very great number of instructive arguments delivered at the bar, and often written at full length.1

Apart from small bequests and the establishment of a trust to provide for Lydia Broadnax, [[Last Will and Testament|Wythe's entire estate]] went to the brother and two sisters of George Wythe Sweeney: Charles A., Ann, and Jane Sweeney. Charles and Jane were minors (Holder Hudgins of Mathews County, the ultimate purchaser of [[Chesterville]], was their guardian) as late as November, 1808, and before that date (by which time she had married John Cary, and seems to have been living in Henrico County), Ann may have been under Hudgins's guardianship, too.2

----
1 [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|Jefferson to John Tyler]], 25 Nov. 1810, in answer to Tyler's letter cited above, Chapter I, note 9: DLC, Jefferson Papers, 191:34037.

2 The Wythe heirs and their guardian can be traced back, in part, through Abraham Warwick, who owned the Wythe Richmond homesite in the
</blockquote>

=====Page 299=====

<blockquote>
There is no evidence that these grandchildren of Wythe's sister, Ann, were living with their great-uncle, like their brother, George, at the time of Wythe's death. If they knew of his papers, they apparently had no interest in or appreciation of them. [[#18010|Governor Tyler]] suggests to Jefferson, in the letter cited above (Chapter I, note 9), that perhaps the latter was entitled to the manuscript of the lectures by reason of the bequest of Wythe's library (Would that Jefferson had overcome his scrupulous regard for the exact terms of the bequest! Had he, the manuscript might have survived. Jefferson's conscience in this regard is in stark contrast with the uncertainties of Tyler, who though a lawyer and later a judge could say, four years after Wythe's death, "You are entitled to [the manuscript] by his will (as I am informed)"!).

Moreover, there is in the executive papers of Virginia a [[#1807|letter written by Thomas Ritchie to Governor William H. Cabell]], dated 27 April 1807, covering certain "valuable papers" that had come into the editor's possession through "Major Duvall (acting Executive of Mr. Wythe)" and were, at the latter's request, to be deposited in the State archives.3 There can be little question that these papers, otherwise undescribed, had come from Wythe's files. There is no trace of them today, nor was there when the [[#1807|archives were calendared]] at the end of the last century.

----
1850's; see Richmond City Hustings Deeds, Book 21, p. 570, and Book 31, p. 385; Henrico Court Order Book #16, p. 223: #14, p. 162; and Henrico Court Minute Book, 1823-1825, pp. 269, 279, all in Vi.<ref>Library of Virginia, Richmond.</ref>

For the information on Hudgins's purchase of [[Chesterville]], I can cite only a newspaper article from the Daily Press of Newport News, Hampton, and Warwick, 31 May 1953, section D, p. 1, purporting to give the family tradition of Col. Robert Hudgins, a descendant of Holder and the last private owner of Chesterville; see Appendix B.

3 [[#1807|Calendar of Virginia State Papers]], IX, 511.
</blockquote>

=====Page 300=====

<blockquote>
Probably these papers included the draft of Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, which [[#1806|Ritchie said]] had been found in Wythe's "literary reliques" when he [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|published it in the Enquirer]]; [[#< 1817|William Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|Benjamin Watkins Leigh]] saw such a document in the archives, said to have come from Wythe's papers, but it had disappeared by 1830. [[#1950|Julian P. Boyd]] has convincingly demonstrated that the copy of Jefferson's proposed constitution which entered the stream of commerce when sold in 1890 by [[#< 1892|Cassius F. Lee, Jr.]], of Alexandria, Virginia, and is now in the New York Public Library, is precisely the same used by Ritchie for his publication of it.4 [[#1806|Ritchie further says]] that he had then in hand a Jefferson autograph of the [[Declaration of Independence]], for which, as for the first, he was "indebted to the politeness of Major Duval, the sole executor of the estate."5 It seems more than coincidental that the same M. Lee, at about the same time, also sold a Jefferson autograph of the Declaration.

Ritchie had also had, according to Tyler,6 the manuscript of the lectures delivered by Wythe, and had received that, too--the Governor supposed--from DuVal.

Ritchie was a petty but ambitious man, thirsting for a place in the sun of Virginia and national politics in the early nineteenth century. On the verge of bankruptcy throughout most of his life, he had also to live down the memory of a father, a Tappahannock merchant, who had barely escaped being tarred and feathered in 1766 for refusing to cooperate with resistance to the Stamp Act. [[W. Edwin Hemphill|W. E. Hemphill]] told me in the summer of 1969 that he thought it not beyond Ritchie to have kept

----
4 [[#1950|Boyd]], V, 365, note 5.

5 Richmond Enquirer, [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|20 June 1806]], pp. 2-3.

6 Loc. cit.
</blockquote>

=====Page 301=====

<blockquote>
and, in the course of political struggles in which there was a fad of appealing to the authority of "the Fathers," to have burned all the ... Wythe papers save the patently harmless ones.7

Certainly, the trail of the Wythe papers ends early, and with Thomas Ritchie; Hemphill added that he had long tried without success to trace them, or the memory of them, among the descendants of DuVal, who died at an advanced age in Buckingham County in 1842. The Ritchie Papers now at ViWC<ref>John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia.</ref> contain only letters to Ritchie, and afford no hint of the Wythe files. Jefferson was unable to suggest any reliable source of information on Wythe to [[Jefferson-Sanderson Correspondence|Sanderson]] in 1820.8

As for the Lee possession of Wythe documents like the Jefferson autographs--which would have been recognized as having an intrinsic value even before their author's death--a not entirely implausible series of links can be suggested. Ritchie's oldest child, Isabella Harminson Ritchie, married George Evelyn Harrison of Brandon (and outlived him by nearly sixty years, dying only in 1898). Ritchie delighted in Isabella's highly successful match and to the end of his life usually passed his holidays with her family at Lower Brandon. Brandon, on the south side of James River, forms a small and once closely-knit community with Westover, Berkeley, and Shirley on the north side. Shirley was the home of Anne Hill Carter, the second wife--a child bride--of Lighthorse Harry Lee, and so, the mother of the Confederate leader. One might speculate, given the extended family relationships maintained in the rural South, that the papers of Wythe, known to have come through DuVal to Ritchie, might have come with Ritchie to Brandon, and from Brandon

----
7 Conversation with the writer, Columbia, South Carolina, 9 July 1969.

8 [[Jefferson-Sanderson Correspondence|Jefferson to John Sanderson]], 31 August 1820; DLC, Jefferson Papers; 218:38932.
</blockquote>

=====Page 302=====

<blockquote>
into the possession of the Lees.

On the other hand, the documents once deposited in the State archives by Thomas Ritchie, whatever they may have been, may simply have been pilfered, as many others have been.

On Thomas Ritchie, Charles H. Ambler in 1913 published a highly apologetic biography: Thomas Ritchie: A Study in Virginia Politics (Richmond: Bell. Book and Stationery Company, 1913).
</blockquote>

==See also==

*[[Declaration of Independence]]
*[[Etymological Praxis]]
*[[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]
*[[Last Will and Testament]]
*[[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==

* [http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/07/02/closer-look-jeffersons-declaration "A Closer Look at Jefferson's Declaration,"] New York Public Library Blogs.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000156 First Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibits/treasures/decjef.htm Second Draft], American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Third Draft], New York Public Library.

* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt003.html Draft of the Virginia Constitution], Library of Congress.

* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000157 Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Manuscript First Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Manuscript Second Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0003 Second Draft Text,] Founders Online, National Archives.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0004 Third Draft Text,] Founders Online, National Archives.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Third Draft (catalog record)], Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.

__NOTOC__
[[Category:Letters and Papers]]

Wythe's Lost Papers

2026-05-14T18:22:22Z

Gwsweeney:

{| style="width: 350px; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 10px 20px; border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 10px 20px;"
|-
| style="text-align: center;" |
'''Timeline for Wythe's Papers'''
|-
| style="font-size: 90%;" |
;[[#1776|1776]]
* Thomas Jefferson gives a draft of his proposed Constitution for Virginia to [[George Wythe]] in Philadelphia, which Wythe conveys to the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg.
* Jefferson sends draft copies of the [[Declaration of Independence]] to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Philip Mazzei, John Page, Sr., and Edmund Pendleton.
;[[#1806|1806]]
* Wythe dies in Richmond, Virginia.
* Thomas Jefferson inherits Wythe's "books and small philosophical apparatus."
* Major William DuVal loans some (or all) of Wythe's papers to Thomas Ritchie.
* Jefferson returns Wythe's account books to DuVal.
* Ritchie publishes Wythe's copies of Jefferson's manuscript drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Constitution.
;[[#1807|1807]]
* Ritchie writes to Governor Cabell that he is returning Wythe's "valuable papers" for deposit in "the archives of the Council."
;[[#1810|1810]]
* Governor Tyler writes to inform Jefferson that Ritchie is in possession of Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, and that Judge Spencer Roane has read them.
;[[#< 1817|< 1817]]
* William Wirt states that he saw Jefferson's draft for the Virginia Constitution in the "archive of this state."
;[[#1824|1824]]
* DuVal believes Wythe's copy of the Declaration of Independence may have been passed to William Wirt. DuVal still has some (or all) of Wythe's correspondence.
;[[#< 1829|< 1829]]
* B.W. Leigh says that he has seen a Jefferson draft for the state constitution in the Virginia council chamber, but that it "cannot now be found."
;[[#1834|1834]]
* John Page, Jr., donates Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|notebook of Greek and Latin words from the ''Iliad'']] to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.
* William Wirt dies.
;[[#1842|1842]]
* William DuVal dies.
;[[#< 1848|< 1848]]
* Alexander H. Everett reports both Jefferson's plan for a Virginia government and the Declaration of Independence are preserved "in the archives of Virginia."
;[[#1854|1854]]
* Thomas Ritchie dies.
;[[#1865|1865]]
* Records are lost when the Confederate States Army sets fires in Richmond, evacuating ahead of occupation by Federal troops.
;[[#1890|1890]]
* Worthington C. Ford describes two recently discovered manuscript drafts of the Virginia Constitution.
* Cassius F. Lee, Jr., exhibits a photograph of a Jefferson draft for the state constitution at the Virginia Historical Society.
;[[#< 1892|< 1892]]
* Lee sells Jefferson's third draft (Wythe's copy) of the Virginia Constitution to an unnamed woman, through William Evarts Benjamin.
* Lee sells a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence to Elliot Danforth, of New York.
;[[#1892|1892]]
* Cassius F. Lee, Jr., dies in Alexandria, Virginia.
;< 1894
* Benjamin sells the third draft of the Virginia Constitution to Alexander Maitland.
;[[#1894|1894]]
* Maitland donates the Constitution to the Lenox Library, in New York City.
;1895
* The New York Public library is created from the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
;< 1896
* Danforth sells the Declaration to Dr. Thomas A. Emmet, of New York.
;[[#1894|1896]]
* Emmet's collection is donated to the New York Public Library.
|}
Before his death in June, 1806, [[George Wythe]] made no special instruction as to what should become of his personal papers and correspondence (if indeed he kept any). His [[Last Will and Testament|last will and testament]], dated April 20, 1803 (with later codicils), name his friend and neighbor [[William DuVal]] as executor, with allowances for his servants [[Lydia Broadnax]] and [[Michael Brown]]. He gives "[[Thomas Jefferson]] my silver cups and gold headed cane, and to my friend William Duval my silver ladle and table and teaspoons." To Thomas Jefferson he also wills "my books and small philosophical apparatus... the most valuable to him of any thing which i have power to bestow."<ref>George Wythe, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib016255 Last Will and Testament with Codicil], June 11, 1806, Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> DuVal also had possession of two of Wythe's account books, apparently sent to Jefferson by mistake after Wythe's death, and which were returned.<ref>[[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence#Thomas Jefferson to William DuVal, 4 December 1806|Thomas Jefferson to William DuVal, 4 December 1806]].</ref>

No great cache of papers appeared after Wythe's death, though Jefferson says (or assumes) that there were ''some'' papers.<ref>[[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|Jefferson to Governor John Tyler, Sr.]], November 25, 1810.</ref> Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|notebook of Greek vocabulary]] from the ''Iliad'' ended up in the possession of John Page (1743-1808), though when exactly this exchange took place is not recorded. Wythe's lectures from time as [[Professor of Law and Police]] at the College of William & Mary survived in manuscript, as well as drafts of the proposed Constitution for Virginia, and [[Declaration of Independence]], which Jefferson had given Wythe in 1776. These drafts were transcribed and printed shortly after Wythe's death in Thomas Ritchie's [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]. DuVal loaned the documents to Ritchie for publication, along with Wythe's lecture notes from his time as professor of law. Ritchie [[#1807|wrote to Governor William Cabell in 1807]], returning "valuable papers," presumably the Jefferson manuscripts.<ref>H.W. Flournoy, ed., ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers,'' vol. 9 (Richmond, VA: 1890), 511.</ref>

Governor John Tyler, Sr., however, [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|wrote to Jefferson in 1810]], to say that Ritchie was still in possession of Wythe's lectures. Jefferson politely refused to take possession of the manuscript, though he seemed surprised that Wythe had not destroyed the notes, "as I expect he has done a very great number of instructive arguments delivered at the bar, and often written at full length." His instructions were that the notes should "go, with his other papers to his executor," Major DuVal. [[Spencer Roane|Judge Spencer Roane]], Wythe's former student, is suggested as one who could "send them to posterity," but this is the last time mention of the lecture notes appear.

[[File:DeclarationOfIndependenceNewYorkPublicLibraryDraftP1.jpg|thumb|left|350px|First page of [[Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson's]] third draft of the [[Declaration of Independence]], believed to have been given to [[George Wythe]]. Image courtesy of the [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-d9ee-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 New York Public Library].]]
Wythe's manuscript copies of the proposed Virginia Constitution and Declaration of Independence later came into the possession of Cassius Francis Lee, Jr., Esq. (1844–1892),<ref>Not to be confused with his father, Cassius F. Lee, Sr. (1808 – 1890), also a lawyer. Edmund Jennings Lee, ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the Descendents of Colonel Richard Lee,'' (Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Co., 1895), 474.</ref> of Alexandria, Virginia, in the late nineteenth century, although how Lee obtained them is unclear.<ref>Wythe scholar Robert Bevier Kirtland [[#Page 301|suggests a possible family connection]] between the Ritchies and Lees.</ref> In his preface to ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892,'' Edmund Jennings Lee says of his brother, Cassius:

<div style="overflow: hidden;">
<blockquote>
"From his earliest boyhood the late Cassius F. Lee, Jr., evinced a passion for genealogical research, and during the many years he continued his investigations he had collected a large amount of original data, consisting of letters, wills, deeds, and such like records. in 1870, with the assistance of Mr. Joseph Packard, Jr., of Baltimore, he published in the ''New England Genealogical and Historical Register'' a brief 'Record of the Descendants of Colonel Richard Lee of Virginia.' This publication was merely tentative, with the hope of procuring additional information that would enable him to compile a complete family history at a later date. In this hope he was disappointed; little or no data were obtained. But Mr. Lee continued his personal efforts, and had secured considerable additions to his collection, when his untimely decease ended his work."<ref>Lee, ''Lee of Virginia,'' 3.</ref><ref>These sentiments are reiterated in a footnote to a letter Cassius Lee wrote to Jefferson Davis on July 18, 1888 (printed in Dunbar Rowland, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015043496283?urlappend=%3Bseq=90 ''Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist''] [New York: J.J. Little & Ives, 1895], 10:76), asking if Davis might give him an original copy of a letter from his relative, Robert E. Lee:

<blockquote>
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
Cassius Francis Lee, Jr. was born at Alexandria, Va., the 4th. day of January, 1844.

He was prominent in the civic, business and religious life of the city, and took a particular interest in all that pertained to the history of the old
families of Virginia, collecting wills, deeds, letters, and all manner of genealogical data—Had his life been spared he would have arranged his
papers for publication and would have edited a most admirable book.

He died Sept. 4th., 1892.
</div>
</blockquote>
</ref>
</blockquote>
</div>

Wythe's ''Iliad'' notebook was donated to the [http://www.vahistorical/ Virginia Historical Society] by John Page, Jr., in 1834. It is unknown what became of Wythe's lecture notes, despite scholars [[W. Edwin Hemphill|Hemphill]] and [[#1983|Kirtland's]] attempts to track them. Both Worthington C. Ford and Paul L. Ford credit Cassius F. Lee, Jr. with providing them access to (evidence strongly suggests) Wythe's copies of Jefferson's manuscripts of the Constitution of Virginia and Declaration of Independence, which now reside at the New York Public Library's [http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/manuscripts-division Archive and Manuscripts Division].

==1776==

:''Main article: [[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776]]''

Thomas Jefferson gives a draft of his Constitution for Virginia to George Wythe in Philadelphia, for Wythe to convey to Edmund Pendleton and the Virginia Convention.<ref>[http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-5105 Thomas Jefferson to Augustus Elias Brevoort Woodward, 3 April 1825,] Founders Online, National Archives; ''[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib025352 The Thomas Jefferson Papers],'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> Wythe leaves Philadelphia in the company of Richard Henry Lee on June 13, 1776, and arrives in Williamsburg on June 23, but the committee had already voted to adopt the plan put forth by George Mason:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 334; Richard Henry Lee to General Charles Lee, 29 June 1776. In James Curtis Ballagh, ed., ''The Letters of Richard Henry Lee,'' vol. 1, ''1762-1778'' (New York: Macmillan, 1911), 203.</ref>

<blockquote>
"I had not reached this place before the appointment of delegates. An attempt to alter it as to you was made in vain. When I came here the plan of government had been committed to the whole house. To those who had the chief hand in forming it the one you put into my hands was shewn. Two or three parts of this were with little alteration, inserted in that: but such was the impatience of sitting long enough to discuss several important points in which they differ, and so many other matters were necessarily to be dispatched before the adjournment that I was persuaded the revision of a subject the members seemed tired of would at that time have been unsuccessfully proposed. The system agreed to in my opinion requires reformation."<ref>[[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776]], ''[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000173 The Thomas Jefferson Papers],'' Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref>
</blockquote>

Between July 4 and July 10, 1776, Jefferson makes handwritten copies of the [[Declaration of Independence]] and gives them to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Philip Mazzei, John Page, Sr., and [[Edmund Pendleton]].<ref>Paul L. Ford, ''[[#1893|The Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' vol. 2, ''1776-1781'' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), 42; John H. Hazelton, [[#1906|''The Declaration of Independence: Its History'']] (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1906), 350-351.</ref>

==1806==
===Richmond ''Enquirer,'' June 20, 1806===

:''Main article: [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806]]''

Following the [[Death of George Wythe|death of George Wythe]], Thomas Ritchie prints the text of a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence, and a draft of the Virginia Constitution, in the [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]:<ref>[[Media:RichmondEnquirer20June1806.pdf|''The Enquirer'' (Richmond, VA), June 20, 1806, 2-3.]]</ref>

<blockquote>
Among the literary reliques of the venerable George Wythe, were found the following rare and curious papers in the hand of Mr. Jefferson. The first is a copy of the original declaration of our Independence, as it came from the hands of its author: The other is a Bill of Rights and of a Constitution for Virginia, composed by Mr. Jefferson. For the permission to peruse and publish these papers, we are indebted to the politeness of Major DuVal, the sole executor of the estate.

The federal assertion that Mr. Jefferson was not the author of this celebrated declaration, has long since been refuted, or else these papers would have furnished the most abundant refutation. What now will become of the no less unfounded assertion, that this paper as it was adopted by Congress, owes much of its beauty and its force to the committee appointed to draft it? The world will see that not only were very few additions made by the committee, but that they even struck out two of the most forcible and striking passages in the whole composition. For what reasons, yet remains to be discovered.

The passages omitted from the original are printed in Italics.

This Bill and Constitution as we have them in manuscript, are without any mark to note the date of their production. It is presumed however, that they were written in 1776. The constitution, written by Mr. Jefferson, in '83, is already printed in some of the Editions of his "[[Notes on the State of Virginia|Notes on Virginia]]."
</blockquote>

===Jefferson-DuVal correspondence, December 1806===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]''

As executor of George Wythe's estate, [[William DuVal]] sent Wythe's library to Thomas Jefferson in September of 1806. Jefferson created at least one [[Jefferson Inventory|inventory of Wythe's library]], for dispersing duplicate copies. DuVal accidentally included two "folio volumes of Mr. Wythe's accounts," which Jefferson returned. Jefferson and DuVal also mention two [[Depictions of Wythe|"profiles" of Wythe]], one of which belonged to [[Lydia Broadnax]]. Wythe's fee books have not been found.

<blockquote>
{| width="75%"
| width="50%" style="text-align: left;" |
Dear Sir
| width="50%" style="text-align: right;" |
Washington Dec. 4. 06
|}

Your favor of Nov. 21. has been duly received and I thank you for the offer of the profile of Mr. Wythe, every trace of whom will be dear to me. If you will be so good as to desire Mr. Jefferson to forward me either the original or the copy, as you please, it will be received with equal thankfulness. It should be rolled on a stick, & not folded. The original of the other profile, after taking a copy, I had packed in a box addressed to yourself that it might be returned to Lydia with my thanks for the opportunity of copying it. In the same box I put 2 folio volumes of Mr. Wythe's accounts which had come by mistake with his books. The box I directed to be forwarded to you. Accept my friendly salutations & assurances of great respect.

<div align="right">
Th: Jefferson
</div>

Wm.DuVal esq.
</blockquote>

----

<blockquote>
{| width="75%"
| width="50%" style="text-align: left;" |
Dear Sir,
| width="50%" style="text-align: right;" |
Richmond Decemr 10.th 1806
|}

I received your favor of the 4th Instant. The origional [''sic''] profile of our Friend Mr George Wythe set in a plain neat Frame is this day delivered to Mr George Jefferson to be conveyed to to [''sic''] Washington for you Sir —

I received the other profile of our good and Virtuous Friend with the two folio fee Books which were packed up thro' mistake for which I return you my thanks—

You have perhaps seen the Resolution of the Assembly, respecting the House who have agreed to ware [''sic''] Mourning for one Month as a Mark of Respect for so great and good a Man.

I think they should have done more for an incitement to Virtue and Patriotism. I would have had them to have erected at the public Expence a plain Tomb Stone, to transmit to future ages the High Lines they entertained of his Talents, his Patriotism, and his inflexible Integrity — his was a rare Character, such an One as is scarcely to be met with in many Centuries

<div align="right">
I am, Sir, with great esteem & Respect, 
your mo. Obt Servt 
William DuVal
</div>
</blockquote>

==1807==
===Ritchie to Governor William Cabell, April 25, 1807===

In the [http://books.google.com/books?id=vAY8AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA511 ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers''] (1890),<ref>H.W. Flournoy, ed., ''Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts,'' vol. 9, ''January 1, 1799 to December 31, 1807'' (Richmond, VA: James E. Goode, 1890), 511.</ref> is found the following letter from Thomas Ritchie, publisher of the [[#1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']]:

=====Page 511=====

<blockquote>
<center>
THOMAS RITCHIE TO THE GOVERNOR.
</center>

<div style="float: right;">
April 25
</div>
The accompanying valuable papers were (last year) put into my possession by Major DuVall [''sic''] (acting Executive of Mr. Wythe), and I was by him requested to have them deposited among the archives of the Council. I do myself the peculiar pleasure of transmitting them to you for this purpose.

<center>
I am, &c.
</center>

[The above-mentioned papers were not found.—ED.]
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=vAY8AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA511 Google Books.]

==1810==
===Jefferson-Tyler correspondence, November 12, 1810===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence]]''

Governor John Tyler, Sr., wrote to President Thomas Jefferson in 1810,<ref>John Tyler, Sr., to Jefferson, 12 November 1810, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1], General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress. Jefferson, in his [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 response of November 25], unfortunately declines to take possession of the manuscripts, and suggests only that they go back to Wythe's executor, Major Duval.</ref> to inform him that Thomas Ritchie was still in possession of George Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, and to ask if Jefferson would like to edit and publish them. Tyler mentions that Judge [[wikipedia:Spencer Roane|Spencer Roane]], a former student of Wythe's (and Ritchie's cousin), has read the notes.

[[File:TylertoJefferson1810.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Letter from Virginia governor, [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|John Tyler, Sr., to Thomas Jefferson]], November 12, 1810, explaining that Thomas Ritchie is still in possession of George Wythe's lecture notes.Image from [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib020438 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'']]
<blockquote>
<div align="right">
Richmond, Nov. 12, 1810
</div>
Dear Sir,

Perhaps Mr. Ritchie, before this time, has informed you of his having possession of Mr. Wythe's manuscript lectures delivered at William and Mary College while he was professor of law and police at that place. They are highly worthy of publication, and but for the delicacy of sentiment and the remarkably modest and unassuming character of that valuable and virtuous citizen, they would have made their way in the world before this. It is a pity they should be lost to society, and such a monument of his memory be neglected. As you are entitled to it by his will (I am informed), as composing a part of his library, could you not find leisure time enough to examine it and supply some omissions which now and then are met with, I suppose from accident, or from not having time to correct and improve the whole as he intended?

Judge Roane has read them, or most of them, and is highly pleased with them, thinks they will be very valuable, there being so much of his own sound reasoning upon great principles, and not a mere servile copy of Blackstone and other British commentators,—a good many of his own thoughts on our constitutions and the necessary changes they have begotten, with that spirit of freedom which always marked his opinions.

I have not had an opportunity of reading them, which I would have done with great delight, but these remarks are made from Judge Roane's account of them to me, who seemed to think, as I do, that you alone should have the sole dominion over them, and should send them to posterity under your patronage.

It will afford a lasting evidence to the world, among much other, of your remembrance of the man who was always dear to you and his country. I do not see why an American Aristides should not be known to future ages. Had he been a vain egoist his sentiments would have been often seen on paper; and perhaps he erred in this respect, as the good and great should always leave their precepts and opinions for the benefit of mankind.

Mr. Wm. Crane gave it to Mr. Ritchie, who I suppose got it from Mr. Duval, who always had access to Mr. Wythe's library, and was much in his confidence.

I hope you are quite as happy as mortality is susceptible of, though not quite dissolved; and that you may remain so for many years, is the sincere wish of your most obedient humble servant.
<div align="right">Jn. Tyler</div>
</blockquote>

==1813==
===Niles' ''Weekly Register,'' July 3, 1813===

:''Main article: [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813]]''

In celebration of July Fourth, 1813, the ''Weekly Register'' prints the Declaration of Independence side-by-side with the text of Jefferson's draft published in the [[#1806|Richmond ''Enquirer'']] of 1806.<ref>"[[Media:NilesWeeklyRegister3July1813.pdf|Declaration of Independence]]," ''Weekly Register'' 4, no. 18 (3 July 1813), 281-284.</ref>

==< 1817==
===William Wirt, ''Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry''===

:''Main article: [[Life of Patrick Henry]]''

In his biography of Patrick Henry, in a footnote regarding the Virginia Convention of 1776, William Wirt asserts that he saw (sometime after Wythe's death in 1806, but before the book's publication in 1817) an "original rough draught of a Constitution for Virginia, in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson" in the Virginia state archive:

=====Page 196n=====

<blockquote>
* The striking similitude between the recital of wrongs prefixed to the constitution of Virginia, and that which was afterwards prefixed to the declaration of independence of the United States, is of itself sufficient to establish the fact that they are from the same pen. But the constitution of Virginia preceded the declaration of independence, by nearly a month; and was wholly composed and adopted while Mr. Jefferson is known to have been out of the State, attending the session of congress at Philadelphia. From these facts alone, a doubt might naturally arise whether he was, as he has always been reputed, the author of that celebrated instrument, the declaration of American independence, or at least a recital of grievances which ushers it in; or whether this part of it at least, had not not been borrowed from the preamble to the constitution of Virginia. To remove this doubt, it is proper to state, that there now exists among the archive of this state, an original rough draught of a Constitution for Virginia, in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson, containing this identical preamble, and which was forwarded by him from Philadelphia, to his friend Mr. Wythe, to be submitted to the committee of the house of delegates. The body of the constitution is taken principally from a plan proposed by Mr. George Mason; and had been adopted by the committee before the arrival of Mr. Jefferson's plan: his preamble however, was prefixed to the instrument; and some of the modifications proposed by him, introduced into the body of it.
</blockquote>

==1822==
===Richmond ''Enquirer,'' August 6, 1822===

:''Main article: [[Malignity Exposed]]''

A comment in the Richmond ''Enquirer'' in August of 1822, reprinting another article from the Charleston ''Patriot,'' is cited by [[#1906|John H. Hazelton]] as proof that Jefferson had sent a draft copy of the Declaration of Independence to George Wythe,<ref>Hazelton, ''[[#1906|Declaration of Independence]],'' 350-351.</ref> before the [[#1806|1806 article]] in the ''Enquirer'' had been found. The article extracts a letter from someone claiming to have a Jefferson draft of the Declaration, who could only be the [[#1861|Rev. R.H. Lee]].

=====Page 3=====

<blockquote>
At least thirteen years ago we [[#1806|published in this paper]] a copy of the original draft as it came from his [Jefferson's] own hands: This copy was in his handwriting, and was found among the papers of the late Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent. And now forsooth, we are to be amused with a [[#1861|new discovery of the original draft]] being "scored and scratched like a school-boy's exercise."
</blockquote>

==1824==
===Jefferson-DuVal correspondence, 1824===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]''

[[File:JeffersonToWytheSeptember161787p1.jpg|left|thumb|200px|"Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787, pg 1." Image from the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib002952 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'']]
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
Major [[William DuVal]] was still in possession of some or all of Wythe's correspondence in 1824. On [[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence#William DuVal to Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1824|March 17, DuVal wrote to Thomas Jefferson]], forwarding a manuscript copy of Wythe's address to the Hessian mercenaries from the Second Continental Congress, in 1776. DuVal mentions rumors of Wythe's papers still extant, including a manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson's hand, which may have been removed without his knowledge by Samuel McCraw of Richmond, who was helping appraise Wythe's estate in 1806 (this seems to contradict Ritchie's [[Wythe's Lost Papers#1806|statement that he received the Declaration printed in the ''Enquirer'']] from DuVal). From McCraw's widow, DuVal recently learned the papers may have been given to William Wirt. DuVal suggests writing to Wirt, and later sends Jefferson a letter regarding the papers for Jefferson to enclose with his own. It is unknown whether Jefferson then wrote to Wirt.

In a letter from July of the same year, DuVal enclosed a [[Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787|letter Jefferson sent to Wythe from Paris in September, 1787]], in which Jefferson briefly discusses States' rights:<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib002952 Thomas Jefferson to Wythe, 16 September 1787,] in ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1 General Correspondence 1651-1827,'' (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1974).</ref> DuVal states that he has not shown Wythe's correspondence to anyone:

<blockquote>
I enclose your Letter to our Friend, the worthy Patriot George Wythe, dated Sept 16. 1787 at Paris. The Idea you express respecting State Rights & federal Rights would do Honor to a Solon—

I do assure you the Contents of your Letter to our worthy & Mutual Friend altho it does Honor to the head and Heart of the writer it being confidential not one of my Family nor any other person has ever seen it.<ref>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-4385 "To Thomas Jefferson from William DuVal, 10 July 1824,"] Founders Online, National Archives.</ref>
</blockquote></div>

==< 1829==
===B.W. Leigh, ''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830''===

In the [http://books.google.com/books?id=ThIbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160 ''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830'']<ref>''Proceedings and Debates of the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830'' (Richmond, VA: Ritchie & Cook, 1830).</ref> on November 3, 1829, during a debate on the state constitution at the Virginia State Convention, [[Benjamin Watkins Leigh]] states that he has seen Jefferson's proposed draft for the Virginia Constitution in the council chamber in the Capitol in Richmond, but that "it cannot now be found."

=====Page 160=====

<blockquote>
At what period Mr. Jefferson discovered the incompetency of the Convention of '76. it were vain to conjecture—but I apprehend, it was not during the session of that body—for I know that Mr. J. himself prepared a Constitution for Virginia, and [[#1776|sent it to Williamsburg]] that it might be proposed to the Convention, during the session, from which the preamble and nothing more, was taken and prefixed to the present Constitution. Anyone may see, at a glance, that that preamble was written by the author of the Declaration of Independence. I have seen the projet [''sic''] of the Constitution, which Mr. J. offered, in the council chamber, in his own hand writing, tho' it cannot now be found—and I have since cursed my folly that I neglected to take a copy of it, in order to compare Mr. J's democracy ''of that day,'' with George Mason's practical republicanism. But, Sir, the validity of the Constitution, as such, has been maintained by Pendleton, Wythe, Roane, by the whole Commonwealth for fifty-four years.
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=ThIbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA160 Google Books.]

==1834==
===John Page, Jr., January 3, 1834===

:''Main article: [[John Page, Jr., to James E. Heath, 3 January 1834]]''

Page inherited George Wythe's [[Etymological Praxis|etymological praxis]]—an autograph notebook of Greek vocabulary from Homer's ''Iliad'' with Latin equivalents—from his father, [[wikipedia:John Page (Virginia politician)|John Page, Sr.]] (1743 – 1808), and in 1834 donated it to the [http://www.vahistorical.org/ Virginia Historical Society], in Richmond:

<blockquote>
I herewith send you the book which I promised you for your Society. It was (as I informed you) the property of the late venerable and learned Chancellor Wythe, and I believe is altogether in his hand writing, though the character of the copy from "Sir John's Breviate Book" seems to be different from that of the Greek and Latin. Much the longest portion of the book is a Clavis ''Oμηρŏ'' or Etymological Praxsis on several of the books the Iliad, and some of the ''Ραψωίδία,'' which will serve in a striking manner to illustrate the great industry of that distinguished man.<ref>[[John Page, Jr., to James E. Heath, 3 January 1834]], in George Wythe, ''[[Etymological Praxis|Etymological Praxis in Greek and Latin of Part of Homer's Iliad]],'' Manuscripts Collection, Virginia Historical Society.</ref>
</blockquote>

William Wirt died on February 18, 1834, in Washington, D.C..

==1842==

Major [[William DuVal]] died on January 3, 1842, at his plantation in Buckingham County, at the age of 94.

==< 1848==
===Alexander H. Everett, ''The Library of American Biography''===

[[wikipedia:Alexander Hill Everett|Alexander H. Everett]] wrote a biography of Patrick Henry for the first volume of the second series of Jared Sparks' [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082307574;view=1up;seq=11 ''Library of American Biography,''] published in 1848. In his reporting of Henry's participation in the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776, Everett mentions that "the plan of government, which he [Jefferson] transmitted to Mr. Wythe, including the Declaration as it now stands in the statute-book, are still preserved, in Mr. Jefferson's hand-writing, in the archives of Virginia."<ref>Alexander H. Everett, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.14064692;view=1up;seq=347 "Patrick Henry,"] in ''The Library of American Biography,'' 2nd Ser., Vol. 1, edited by Jared Sparks (Boston: Little and Brown, 1848), 317.</ref>

Since Benjamin Watkins Lee reported the draft of the constitution for Virginia missing before 1829, Everett may have been parroting the earlier [[#< 1817|research of Wirt]] and others (although Wirt makes no mention of the Declaration). Everett died in June, 1847.

*Read this book at [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.14064692;view=1up;seq=347 HathiTrust.]

==1854==

Thomas Ritchie died on July 3, 1854 at age 75, in Washington, D.C..

==1861==
===Edmund Jennings Lee, ''Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892''===

In his [https://archive.org/stream/leeofvirginia16400inleee genealogical history of the Lee family,] Edmund Jennings Lee (1853 – 1922)<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_A9HAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA33 ''Magazine of the Society of the Lees of Virginia''] 1, no. 1 (December 1922).</ref> publishes an 1861 letter from the Reverend Richard Henry Lee, a response to a request from Cassius Francis Lee, Jr. (Edmund's older brother, 17 years old at the time), for autographs of the "patriots of the Revolution." The Reverend tells his young cousin that he has given away (apparently donated) "every MSS., until I have ''not one'' left":

=====Page 395=====

<blockquote>
<center>
REV. RICHARD HENRY LEE.
</center>

44. Richard Henry6 the eldest son of Ludwell Lee5 (Richard Henry4, Thomas3 Richard2, Richard1) and Flora Lee, his first wife, was born the 23d of June, 1794, and died at Washington, Pa., the 3d of January, 1865. He was twice married, and had issue by each marriage. Mr. Lee was educated at Dickinson College, Pa., where he graduated with the honors of his class. He then studied law with the late Judge Thomas Duncan, of Carlisle, Pa., and began the practice of his profession in Loudoun county. While residing at Leesburg he edited the Memoirs of his grandfather, Richard Henry Lee, and of his great-uncle, Dr. Arthur Lee, which were issued in 1825 and 1829 respectively. He was also at one time Mayor of Leesburg. Mr. Lee was a scholar, especially accomplished in classical literature and belles-lettres; he read Greek and Latin authors with ease, and, having a fine memory, treasured up their beauties for frequent reference. In 1833 he was called to the Chair of Languages at Washington College, Pennsylvania, and in 1837 was transferred to that of Belles-
</blockquote>

=====Page 396=====

<blockquote>
Lettres. During his occupancy of these professorships he continued the practice of law. But in 1854 he gave up the law and resigned his professorship to begin the study of theology, with a view to entering the ministry of the Episcopal Church, which he did in 1858, and assumed charge of Trinity Church, Washington, Pa. He was in charge of that church at the time of his death.

Writing to the late Cassius F. Lee, Jr., under date of 18th of November, 1861, Mr. Lee told of his disposal of the various MSS. used by him in the preparation of the Memoirs. He wrote:

"My Dear Cousin: When your letter of the 24th ult. reached here I was in Philadelphia, and since my return I have been suffering from a severe cold, which, together with current duties, has delayed this reply.

"I am happy to see from your letter that you are cherishing a veneration for the great and wise patriots of the Revolution, and greatly regret it is out of my power to gratify your desire to possess their autographs. I presented to the [[#1898|Athenæum in Pha.]]<ref>Technically, the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]].</ref> all the MSS. from which I composed our Grandfather's Life; and to the University of Cambridge all those I used in the Life of our Uncle Arthur. Some years after I presented to the University of Virginia all the rest. I had selected some for my sons; but the many applications continually made to me, from every part of this country and Europe, led me to give away, one after another, every MSS., until I have ''not one'' left, to the excessive regret, now, of my sons and myself.

"Present my affectionate regards to your Father and Uncle Charles. You will greatly oblige me by letting me hear about Cousin Edmund I. Lee and his family, and of Cousin R. H. Lee. In these deplorable times I am anxious to hear of them. I hope your mother has recovered. I heard in Trenton, N. J., of her illness."
</blockquote>

*Read this book in the [https://archive.org/stream/leeofvirginia16400inleee#page/837/mode/2up Internet Archive.]

==1865==

In the early days of April, 1865, many vital Virginia records were lost when the evacuating [[wikipedia:Richmond in the American Civil War#Evacuation, burning, and capture of Richmond|Confederate States Army sets fires in Richmond]], retreating ahead of occupation by Federal troops.

==1890==
===Worthington C. Ford, ''The Nation,'' August 7, 1890===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]''

Ford describes two manuscript drafts of the Virginia Constitution, found near Lexington, Virginia:<ref>Worthington C. Ford, "[[Media:FordJeffersonsConstitutionForVirginia7August1890.pdf|Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]," ''Nation,'' August 7, 1890, 107-109.</ref>

=====Page 108=====

<blockquote>
The fact remains that for more than a century Jefferson's draft has been lost, and it has only recently been discovered near Lexington—two copies of it, both in Jefferson's MS., one with and the other wanting the preamble. Is it too great a stretch to conjecture that one, at least, was the identical manuscript that Wythe carried to Pendleton?
</blockquote>

===''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register,'' January, 1891===

The [http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register''] for January, 1891, reporting the proceedings of state historical societies, reveals that Cassius F. Lee, Jr., displayed a photographic reproduction of a Jefferson draft of the proposed Constitution for Virginia, at the [http://www.vahistorical.org/ Virginia Historical Society] in Richmond, in November, 1890.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register''] 45 (January 1891), 94.</ref> The quoted text of the document matches Wythe's copy (Jefferson's third and final draft), [[#1806|printed in the ''Enquirer'']] in 1806:

=====Page 94=====

<blockquote>
<center>
'''SOCIETIES AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS.''' VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
</center>

''Richmond, Saturday, Nov. 1, 1890.''—A meeting of the executive committee was held in the‘ society’s rooms, Westmoreland Club House, Vice-President Henry in the chair.

A photograph of the Constitution of Virginia, proposed by Thomas Jefferson in the Virginia Convention of 1776—a document until recently supposed to be lost—presented by Mr. Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, was exhibited. The document was labelled by Jefferson, "A bill for the new modelling of the form of government and for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future." Other valuable donations were reported by Mr. Brock the librarian.
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=HMk4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA94 Google Books.]

==< 1892==
==="Historic Manuscript Found in a Garrett," January 6, 1901===

:''Main article: "[[Historic Manuscript Found in a Garret]]"''

Before his death in 1892, several years prior to the writing of this article for the ''New York Times,'' Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, Virginia, sells a Jefferson draft of the Declaration to Elliot Danforth, of New York. Danforth sells it to Dr. Thomas A. Emmet, whose collection of Revolutionary War era manuscripts eventually goes to the [[#1897|New York Public Library]].

==1892==
===Kate Mason Rowland, "A Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson," July, 1892===

:''Main article: [[Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson]]''

The text of the manuscript constitution for Virginia [[#1891|described by Worthington C. Ford]] is published, with a short commentary by Rowland, in the ''William & Mary Quarterly.''<ref>Kate Mason Rowland, "[[Media:RowlandLostPaperOfThomasJeffersonJuly1892.pdf|A Lost Paper of Thomas Jefferson]]," ''William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Papers'' 1, no. 1 (July 1892), 34-45.</ref>

===September 4, 1892===

Cassius F. Lee, Jr., dies in Alexandria, Virginia, aged 48.<ref>Lee, ''Lee of Virginia,'' 515.</ref>

==1893==
===Paul L. Ford, ''The Writings of Thomas Jefferson''===

In a footnote to the text of two drafts for the Virginia Constitution, Ford credits his younger brother, Worthington C. Ford, and Cassius F. Lee, for providing him with "photographic reproductions" of Jefferson's drafts. He also notes Wirt and Leigh's previous sightings of the "fair draft" of the state constitution in Jefferson's hand:<ref>Ford, ''Writings,'' 2:7.</ref>

=====Page 7=====

<blockquote>

{| width="50%" align="center"
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR VIRGINIA1
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: right;" | [June, 1776.]
|-
| width="50%" |
<center>FIRST DRAFT<ref>Thomas Jefferson, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Drafts and Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref></center>

A Bill for new modelling the form of government and for establishing the Fundamental principles of our future Constitution 
:Whereas George 
king of Great Britain & Ireland and Elector of Hanover2
| width="50%" |
<center>FAIR COPY<ref>Thomas Jefferson, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Drafts and Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref></center>

[''A Bil'']l for new-modelling the form of Government and for establishing the Fundamental principles thereof in future. 
:Whereas George 
Guelf king of Great Britain and Ireland and Elector of Hanover,
|}

1 The fair copy is endorsed in Jefferson's handwriting, "A Bill for new modelling the form of government, & for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future. It is proposed that this bill, after correction by the Convention, shall be referred by them to the people, to be assembled in their respective counties and that the suffrages of two thirds of the counties shall be requisite to establish it." The rough draft has no preamble, though space was left for it. In both copies the erasures and interlineations are indicated. The bracketed portions in Roman are so written by Jefferson. Those in italic are inserted by the editor. For these most important papers I am under obligation to the courtesy of Mr. Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Va., and Mr. Worthington Chauncey Ford, of Brooklyn, N. Y., not merely for photographic reproductions, but also for the facts concerning them given at large in his ''[[#1890|Jefferson's Constitution for Virginia]]'' (''The Nation,'' LI, 107). This constitution, though mentioned in several of the histories and other works concerning Virginia, and though seen by Wirt (''[[#< 1817|Life of Patrick Henry]],'' p. 196), and by Leigh (''[[#< 1829|Debates of Virginia Convention]], 1830,'' p. 160), has never yet been printed or even quoted.
</blockquote>

=====Page 42=====

Reproducing three identified copies of the Declaration of Independence, Ford notes that Jefferson sent copies to George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, John Page, Sr., Edmund Pendleton, Philip Mazzei, and "probably others":<ref>Ford, ''Writings,'' 2:42.</ref>

<blockquote>

{| width="50%" align="center"
| colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE1
|-
| colspan="3" style="text-align: right;" | July 4, 1776.
|-
| width="33%" |
<center>FIRST DRAFT.</center>

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in general Congress assembled.

| width="33%" |
<center>REPORTED DRAFT.</center>

A Declaration by the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in General Congress assembled.

| width="33%" |
<center>ENGROSSED COPY.</center>

In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.
|-
| width="33%" |
When in the Course of human Events it becomes necessary for a People to advance from that Subordination, in which they have
| width="33%" |
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con-
| width="33%" |
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con-
|}

1 The text in the first column is from a copy in the handwriting of John Adams, now in the Adams papers at Quincy, for which I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Charles Francis Adams and Mr. Theodore F. Dwight. From a comparison of it with the fac-simile of Jefferson's rough draft, it is evident that it represents the first phrasing of the paper. The text in the second column is approximately that reported by the committee to Congress, and is taken from Jefferson's rough draft reproduced herein in fac-simile from the original in the Department of State. The text in the third column is from the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence, also in the Department of State. Another MSS. copy in Jefferson's writing, slightly altered in wording, was inserted by him in his Autobiography, and is printed, ''ante,'' I, 30. This is in the Department of State, as is likewise a copy in his handwriting made for Madison in 1783, which is reproduced in facsimile in the ''Madison Papers,'' vol. III. Between July 4th-10th, Jefferson made copies of the Declaration, indicating his phrasing and that adopted by the Congress, and sent them to R. H. Lee, Wythe, Page, Pendleton, and Mazzei, and probably others. Lee gave his copy to the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]], where it now is. Those of Wythe, Page, and Pendleton have never been heard of. Mazzei gave his to the Countess de Tessie of France, and it has not been traced. A copy in Jefferson's writing is now owned by [[#< 1892|Dr. Thomas Addis Emmett]], and a fragment of another is in the possession of Mrs. Washburn of Boston. Thus at least five copies and a fragment of a sixth are still extant. ''Cf. ante,'' 1, 30.
</blockquote>

==1894==
===Lenox Library accession===

From the New York Public Library's record for [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Thomas Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, June 1776:]

<blockquote>
This is the third and final draft and was printed in Paul Leicester Ford's ''[[#1893|The Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' volume 2, page 7, where the history of this document is noted. The first and second drafts are in the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000155 Library of Congress]. Autograph document, presented to the Lenox Library by Mr. Alexander Maitland in 1894.
</blockquote>

See also Julian P. Boyd's note, in [[#1950|''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'']] (1950):

<blockquote>
The provenance of this text is given in a memorandum of [[#1916|Victor H. Paltsits]] (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by 'William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed.' Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library.
</blockquote>

==1897==
===''Bulletin of the New York Public Library,'' December, 1897===

In 1895, the [http://www.nypl.org/ New York Public Library] was created from the consolidation of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. In the new ''Bulletin of the New York Public Library,'' an inventory of the Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, presented to the library by John S. Kennedy (president of the former Lenox Library) in June of 1896,<ref>''Bulletin of the New York Public Library'' 1, no. 1 (January 1897), 14.</ref> describes the "Cassius F. Lee" copy of the Declaration, which remains in the collections of New York's [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Archives and Manuscripts Division]:<ref>''Bulletin of the New York Public Library'' 1, no. 12 (December 1897), 355-356.</ref>

<blockquote>
''Document:'' '''United States.'''—Congress, Continental, 1775-1789. [Philadelphia, July 4, 1776.] Declaration of Independence. Draft in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson. 4 pp. F°. EM. 1524

This one of several fair copies made by Jefferson from the original rough draft of the Declaration, after its adoption and publication, in which be gave the wording of the text as reported by the Committee, with the portions underlined that were changed or rejected by Congress. After remaining in the possession of the Lee family, of Virginia for many years, with other papers of Jefferson, the manuscript was sold by the late Mr. Cassius F. Lee, of Alexandria, to Mr. [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]], of New York, from whom Dr. Emmet obtained it.

The words substituted by Congress are not given in this copy, which in other respects agrees closely with the drafts sent to Lee and Madison, and with the text as incorporated in the autobiography, with the exception that two paragraphs and a few words were transposed.

Five other drafts of the Declaration in Jefferson's handwriting are known:—(I) the original rough draft, with interlineations, in the Department of State at Washington (reproduced a EM. 1523); (2) the copy lent to R. H. Lee in July 1776. and given by his grandson to the [[#1898|American Philosophical Society]] at Philadelphia in 1825, being similar to EM. 1524 (see EM. 1521); (3) the copy made for Madison in 1781, similar to the preceding, and now in the State Department (reproduced in fac-simile in the Madison Papers, vol. 3); (4) the draft incorporated in the autobiography of 1821, similar to (2) and (3), and also in the State Department (printed in Jefferson's ''Writings''); and (5) the fragment belonging to Mrs. Washburn, of Boston. See [[#1893|Jefferson's ''Writings'']] (Ford) vol. 2. p. 42, note.

It is stated by Jefferson, in a letter to Madison (Aug. 30, 1823), that be wrote a fair copy from the rough draft, reported it to the Committee, and from them unaltered, to Congress. All trace of this fair draft has been lost. It was probably used in crossing out the passages rejected by Congress, and in the making of the engrossed copy. The latter, which is the one that was signed, is in the keeping of the State Department.

Between July 4 and 10 Jefferson sent other drafts of the Declaration, with the omitted passages marked, to George Wythe, John Page, Edmund Pendleton, and Philip Mazzei, none of which has been found or identified. See [[#1893|Jefferson's ''Writings'']] (Ford) vol. 2. p. 42, note.
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=waNMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA355 Google Books.]

==1898==
===I. Minis Hays, "A Note on the History of the Jefferson Manuscript Draught of the Declaration of Independence...," January, 1898===

An article in the [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ov6F3sJAXqwC&pg=PA88 ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society''] describes a copy of a Jefferson draft of the Declaration of Independence given to the American Philosophical Society in 1825, [[#1861|from a grandson of Richard Henry Lee]]. Notes another draft at the [[#1897|Lenox Library]] in New York (absorbed by the New York Public Library), and doubts the Lenox copy came from R.H. Lee:

=====Page 101=====

<blockquote>
5. A copy in the Emmet collection in the Lenox Library, New York. "This is one of several fair copies made by Jefferson from the original rough draught of the Declaration, after its adoption and publication, in which he gave the wording of the text as reported by the Committee, with the portions underlined that were changed or rejected by Congress. After remaining in the possession of the Lee family of Virginia for many years, with other papers of Jefferson, .... was sold by the late Mr. Cassius F. Lee, of Alexandria, to Mr. [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]], of New York, from whom Dr. Emmet obtained it."1

I have not been able to learn the circumstances under which this copy came into the possession of the Lee family. Dr. Emmet writes me that the only information he "can give is that Mr. Lee stated to me that it was one of the copies Jefferson sent his grandfather, and that it had been sent to some one in lower Virginia by Richard Henry Lee shortly after, and that it was not recovered for many years after."2

This copy is without interlineation and does not contain the additions made by the Congress. It is, with some slight exceptions, the text of the document as reported to the Congress.

<div style="font-size: 85%;">
1 [[#1897|Bulletin of the New York Public Library]], 1897, p. 355.

2 Personal communication, April 16, 1898. It does not seem likely that Jefferson should have sent two similar autographic copies of the Declaration to Richard Henry Lee, and as the history of the copy possessed by this Society is clear and indisputable, it is probable that the Emmet copy came from another source, and Mr. [[#1893|Paul L. Ford]], the learned student of Jefferson's works, informs me that he is inclined to believe that it is the copy sent to John Page.
</div>
</blockquote>

=====Page 102=====

<blockquote>
In addition to these five copies and a fragment of a sixth, Jefferson made, according to Ford,1 between the 4th and 10th of July, other copies, which he [[#1776|sent to George Wythe]],2 John Page, Edmund Pendleton and Philip Mazzei, who gave his copy, so so Jefferson states in his letter to Vaughan, to the Countess de Tessé of France, but is not known if these copies are still in existence.

<div style="font-size: 85%;">
1 [[#1893|''Writings of Jefferson'']], ii , p. 42, Note.

2 This copy was delivered to Mr. Thomas Ritchie, editor of the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']], by Major Duval, the executor of Mr. Wythe's estate, and its text was printed in [[#1813|Niles's Weekly Register]], July 3, 1883 (Vol. iv, No. 13). Notwithstanding inquiry among Mr. Ritchie's descendants I have not been able to learn whether it is still in existence.
</div>
</blockquote>

*Read this article in [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ov6F3sJAXqwC&pg=PA88 Google Books.]

==1906==
===John H. Hazelton, ''The Declaration of Independence: Its History''===

:''Main article: [[Malignity Exposed]]''

In an appendix to his history of the Declaration of Independence, Hazelton describes the various copies made by Jefferson which have been discovered, including the draft at the [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 New York Public Library], which he supposes could have been Wythe's, Pendleton's, or Page's copy.<ref>Hazelton, ''Declaration of Independence,'' 347-348, 350-351.</ref>

=====Page 347=====

<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">In the New York Public Library (Lenox)</div>
<blockquote>
The copy in the New York Public Library ([[#1896|Lenox]]) was purchased from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet of New York City. He secured it from [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]] of the same place, who purchased it from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Va. Lee had written to both Emmet and Danforth, but Emmet's letter accepting the Declaration upon the terms proposed was not received until after Danforth had purchased it.

How it came into the hands of Lee is not known.

Danforth writes us that he cannot find the letters which he received from Lee, even if they are still in existence. Emmet writes us: "I did not preserve Mr. Lee's letters—" Lee died in 1892, and, so far as we can learn by corresponding with his daughter, Mrs. W. J. (Lucy Lee) Boothe, Jr., of Alexandria, left no record of the history of the manuscript (if he knew anything of it) among his papers.

Emmet writes, however, to Hays ([[#1898|Hays says]]): "Mr. Lee stated to me that it was one of the copies Jefferson sent his grandfather, and that it had been sent to someone in lower Virginia by Richard Henry Lee shortly after, and that it was not recovered for many years after"; but this, we think, cannot be true, unless Jefferson sent it with some other letter than that (See p. 344) of July 8, 1776, which seems scarcely possible.

It may very well be the copy113 which Jefferson mailed to Pendleton or the one114 found among the papers of Wythe or, if there ever was such a copy, the copy115 mailed to Page.

It also is in the handwriting of Jefferson and fills the front and reverse sides of two sheets of foolscap; and the paper itself is of the same character and size as that used for the draft which he sent to R. H. Lee. Indeed, pages 1, 2 and 4 respectively of these two drafts end ''upon the same word;'' while page 3 of this copy ends with the word "altering" and of the copy sent to Lee with "altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;": from which it might appear that one was copied from the other. The individual lines, however, as well as the underscored words, as we have seen, do not always correspond; and there is sometimes an "and" in one where there is an "&" in the other and an occasional slight difference in punctuation. There is no indorsement—or, indeed, any extra-
</blockquote>

=====Page 348=====

<blockquote>
neous writing—upon it as there is upon the copy which was sent to Lee. It has at some time been folded once each way.
</blockquote>

=====Page 350=====

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 2px;">Sent to Wythe</div>
<blockquote>
Another draft in the handwriting of Jefferson which has not been located—unless ''it'' is the one in the New York Public Library (Lenox) or the one in the Massachusetts Historical Society—would seem120 to have been sent to Wythe; for the [[#1822|''Richmond Enquirer''121 (C) of August 6, 1822]], says:

<center>
MALIGNITY EXPOSED.
</center>

The subjoined article from the Charleston Patriot exposes another of the vile attempts, which have been recently made by a sleepless spirit of resentment, to strip the laurel from the brow of Jefferson... At least thirteen years ago122 we [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|published in this paper a copy of the original draft]]123 as it came from his own hands: This copy was in his handwriting, and was found among the papers of the late Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent. And now forsooth, we are to be amused with a new discovery of the original draft being "scored and scratched like a school-boy's exercise." This is a most miserable exaggeration—the variations, which were made, were most of them disapproved of by the author we recollect those passages well—and we repeat what we said at the time of re-publication, that the paper was altered for the worse...

<center>
[From the Charleston Patriot.]
</center>

This would appear to be an age of calumny and all uncharitableness... But as if malice is contagious or admits of being propagated, a coadjutor to the "Native of Virginia" has appeared in the Federal Republican, whose article will be found below, and who wishes to rob Mr. Jefferson of the fume of having solely written the Declaration of Independence.

—Richard Henry Lee is credited with the honor of having ''moved'' the Declaration, and of having corrected and amended the original report of this celebrated paper. Mr. Jefferson is not denied having furnished the outlines of the Declaration, but it is pretended that it is the work as it now stands of abler hands. Now, the plain intent of this fresh or forgotten fragment of history just recovered and brought to light, is to deprive Mr. Jefferson of all credit for originality in drawing up the Declaration of Independence... The credit of being the ''author'' of the Declaration is nowise impaired by the subject being ''moved'' by another; but the insinuation that the original draft only was furnished by him and not the perfect copy as it now stands, is contradicted by the evidence of contemporaries. Let us see these promised documents...
</blockquote>

=====Page 351=====

<blockquote>
<center>
[From the Philadelphia Union.]
</center>

We have long been acquainted with the facts alluded to in the following article from the Federal Republican. We have seen Mr. Jefferson's draft124 of the Declaration of Independence, scored and scratched like a school boy's exercise. When Mr. Schæffer shall comply with his promise to publish the documents relating to this subject, the jack daw will be stript of the plumage, with which adulation has adorned him, and the crown will be placed on the head of a real patriot.

''Richard Henry Lee.''—It is truly remarkable that this great statesman is forgotten among all of the celebrities of the ''Fourth of July.'' It is to this "illustrious" patriot, we are indebted for our ''Declaration of Independence,'' for it was he who moved it in Congress... Among men of sense, candor and truth, there will be no question whether ''he'' who ''dared'' openly to propose the project, or he who had the principal agency in putting it ''on paper'' deserves the most credit...

Ere long, we hope to have leisure to publish some very important documents on this subject. We have the ''very copy''125 of the declaration of independence, as it was originally reported and sent by the "illustrious penman," to this same Richard Henry Lee together with his remarks126 on it in his own ''hand writing...''<ref>Hazelton does not seem to think it relevant, but the letter's author and champion of Richard Henry Lee is likely none other than his grandson, the Reverend Richard Henry Lee, of Leesburg, Virginia, who published [http://books.google.com/books?id=bkkWIBqWCCYC&printsec=frontcover ''Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee: And His Correspondence''] in two volumes in 1825, and donated Lee's draft of the Declaration of Independence to the [[Wythe's Lost Papers#1861|American Philosophical Society]] in Philadelphia that same year. A footnote of similar sentiment and construction appears in volume one of the [http://books.google.com/books?id=bkkWIBqWCCYC&pg=PA105 ''Memoir,'' on page 105].</ref>

<div align="right">[Fed. Rep.</div>

[[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|''The Weekly Register'']] (C and N) referred to—of July 3, 1813—says:

The time fitting the purpose, we embrace this occasion to present our readers with the Declaration of Independence, placing by its side the original draft127 of Mr. ''Jefferson,'' about which much curiosity and speculation has existed. The paper from which we have our copy, was found among the literary reliques of the late venerable ''George Wythe,'' of Virginia, in the hand writing of Mr. J. and delivered to the editor [Thomas Ritchie] of the ''Richmond Enquirer'' by the executor of Mr. Wythe's estate, major Duval. The passages stricken out of the original, by the committee, are inserted in ''italics.''

Here follow in separate columns a copy (seemingly) of the Declaration as printed by Dunlap under the order of Congress and a copy128 (substantially) of it as submitted to Congress by the committee on June 28th. Below appears the following: "The Declaration as adopted was also signed."; and then come the names of the signers, except that of M:Kean, arranged by Colonies.
</blockquote>

*Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=QVcSAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA306 Google Books.]

==1916==
===Paltsits memorandum, February 1, 1916===

Julian P. Boyd details the provenance of the [http://www.nypl.org/ New York Public Library's] copy of [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Thomas Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, June 1776] in volume one of the [[#1950|''Papers of Thomas Jefferson'']] (1950):<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 364.</ref>

<blockquote>
The provenance of this text is given in a memorandum of Victor H. Paltsits (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by "William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed." Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library. Shortly after this text was brought to light in 1890, efforts were made to identify it as the copy that TJ had given to George Wythe to convey to the Virginia Convention (D. R. Anderson, "[[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution|Jefferson and the Va. Const.]]," Amer. Hist. Rev., XXI [1915-1916], 751).
</blockquote>

===D.R. Anderson, "Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution," July, 1916===

:''Main article: [[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution]]''

An article in the ''American Historical Review'' suggests comparing the manuscript described by [[#1891|Worthington C. Ford]] in 1891 with the text published in [[#1806|''The Enquirer'']] in 1806.<ref>Dice Robins Anderson, "Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution," American Historical Review, 21, no. 4 (July 1916), 750-754.</ref>

==1943==
===Julian P. Boyd, ''The Declaration of Independence''===

In his excellent study with large, photographic reproductions of all of the various drafts of Jefferson's composition of the Declaration, Julian P. Boyd believes that "the copy in the [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 New York Public Library] is, in all probability, the copy sent to Wythe," but he cannot "conclusively" establish this as fact:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ''The Declaration of Independence: The Evolution of the Text as Shown in Facsimiles of Various Drafts by its Author'' (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1943), 5, 7-8.</ref>

=====Page 5=====

<blockquote>
<center>
II. ''Jefferson's "First Ideas" on the Virginia Constitution, 1776''
</center>

Reproduced from the first two pages of the first of three drafts of a constitution which Jefferson sent to the Virginia Convention. From the original in the Jefferson papers in the Library of Congress. The Library also has another copy, lacking the part reproduced here, which was a list of reasons for Virginia's repudiation of her allegiance to George III and which was not only incorporated in large part in the Virginia Constitution as its Preamble but was also followed closely by Jefferson in the corresponding part of the Declaration of Independence. The first draft is made up of six folio pages, being similar to another draft, likewise in Jefferson's handwriting, in the [[#1894|New York Public Library]]. The second draft was first published in ''[[#1893|''Writings of Thomas Jefferson]],'' P. L. Ford, ed., II, 7''ff''. The third copy, lacking the part contained in the two pages reproduced here, was presented to the Library of Congress in 1931. Both this copy and that in the New York Public Library came from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Virginia. These drafts were probably written in the spring of 1776, and certainly before June 13, but there is no documentary evidence for supposing, as Fitzpatrick does, that they were drawn up after May 27; John C. Fitzpatrick, ''Spirit of the American Revolution,'' p. 2; see also, John H. Hazelton, ''[[#1906|The Declaration of Independence]],'' New York, 1906, p. 146, 451-52. The first draft, reproduced here in actual size, is on a paper manufactured in Holland and bearing the watermark L V G [errevink?], which is different from the paper used by Jefferson in his various drafts of the Declaration, thereby lending strength to the supposition of a somewhat earlier composition than Fitzpatrick indicates.

</blockquote>

=====Page 7=====

<blockquote>
<center>
VII. ''Unidentified Copy of the Declaration Made by Jefferson'' [''Cassius F. Lee Copy'']
</center>

Reproduced from the original through the courtesy of the President and Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library, who also consented to place it on exhibit in the current Jefferson exhibit at the Library of Congress. This copy was [[#1897|purchased for the New York Public Library]] in 1896 from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, who in turn secured it from [[#< 1892|Elliot Danforth]]. The latter purchased it from Cassius F. Lee of Alexandria, Virginia. Since its early history is hidden in obscurity, the person for whom Jefferson made it is not known. In addition to the copy made for Richard Henry Lee, Jefferson sent other copies, which evidently were made between July 4 and July 10, to [[#1776|George Wythe]], John Page, Edmund Pendleton, and Philip Mazzei. The present copy may be one of these, but this fact has not been positively established. See [[#1906|Hazelton, op. cit., p. 347-48]]. This copy corresponds closely to the Lee copy in respect to its contents: that is, it represents the Declaration approximately as it was when the Committee of Five reported it to Congress. See note below on the copy sent to George Wythe.
</blockquote>

=====Page 8=====

<blockquote>
<center>
''Note on the Copy Sent by Jefferson to George Wythe''
</center>

John H. Hazelton, in his invaluable pioneering [[#1906|study on the Declaration of Independence]], quoted (p. 350) the ''Richmond'' (Virginia) ''Enquirer'' of August 6, 1822, as saying it had "published ... about thirteen years ago a copy of the original draft [of the Declaration] as it came from his [Jefferson's] own hands. This copy ... was found among the papers of Mr. Wythe, the friend and instructor of his early years. This copy was published in [[Weekly Register, 3 July 1813|Niles's W. Register]], & in various other newspapers of this continent." Hazelton (p. 602) was unable to locate it as published in the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']] and elsewhere about 1809.<ref>Wythe's copy of Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence was published in the Richmond ''Enquirer'' on June 20, 1806, on pages 2-3.</ref> In consequence, there has been doubt as to whether the copy in the New York Public Library (Document VII) or that in the Massachusetts Historical Society (Document IX) could be the Wythe copy. For the reasons given below, it is believed that the copy in the New York Public Library is, in all probability, the copy sent to Wythe.

Among the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress there is a box of newspaper clippings, one of which is taken from ''The Commonwealth'' (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) for July 1, 1807. This clipping is endorsed in Jefferson's hand: "Declaration of Independence" and the printing of the Declaration is prefaced by the following comment of ''The Commonwealth:'' "We have chosen to publish, at this time the original draught of the Declaration of Independence, as it came from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, found among the papers of the venerable George Wythe, after his decease, in the handwriting of the author. It will be seen, by a comparison with the Declaration, as adopted, that hardly any instrument of writing, of the same length, written by an individual, ever underwent fewer alterations and amendments, when submitted to an assembly for revision and adoption. It is evident, therefore, that Mr. Jefferson, at that time, expressed the sense of the nation at large—as he has ever since done—and, as we trust, he ever will do. The passages omitted in the original composition are printed in Italics." The italicized portions in ''The Commentator'' [''sic'']<ref>Read: ''The Commonwealth.'' This error is corrected in a later edition edited by Gerard W. Gawalt (1999, pp. 79-80).</ref> agree almost precisely with the corresponding underlined passages in the New York Public Library copy, and in one particular especially: in the Wythe copy "General" is omitted from the title of the Declaration and in the latter it is marked for omission. This occurs in no other copy except that made for Madison (and, of course, in the copy in ''Notes'' from which the Madison copy was made). In addition to this circumstantial evidence, it should be noted that the New York Public Library copy was acquired from Cassius F. Lee—who also possessed the two later drafts of Jefferson's ideas on a constitution for Virginia. Jefferson's proposed constitution was sent to Williamsburg by George Wythe. Could it be that the two drafts that belonged to Cassius F. Lee were those actually carried by Wythe? One of these drafts lacks the part that formed the Preamble to the Virginia Constitution: could it be that Wythe detached that part and presented it to the Virginia Convention? These, of course, are purely speculative questions, but the presence in Cassius F. Lee's hands of a copy of the Declaration bearing such exact relationship with the Wythe copy as printed in ''The Commentator'' [''sic''], together with his possession of two drafts of a document which Wythe transmitted for Jefferson, lends strong color of probability to the supposition that the New York Public Library copy is the George Wythe copy. The point is not conclusively established and so, in these pages, the copy in the New York Public Library is referred to as the Cassius F. Lee copy.
</blockquote>

==1950==
===Julian P. Boyd, ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson''===

Boyd devotes a chapter in the first volume of Jefferson's papers to the composition, in June, 1776, of a proposed Virginia Constitution. His notes on Jefferson's manuscript second draft of the Virginia Constitution detail its provenance:<ref>Julian P. Boyd, ed., ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' vol. 1, ''1760-1776'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), 354-355.</ref>

=====Page 354=====

<blockquote>
Dft (DLC).<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000156 Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence], June 1776 Thomas Jefferson Papers, Series 1, General Correspondence, 1651-1827, Library of Congress.</ref> This MS, which Ford labels "First Draft," was acquired by the Library of Congress in 1930, being donated by W. E. Benjamin of New York (''Report of the Librarian of Congress,'' 1930, p. 64), who obtained it from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, Va. The MS of the Third Draft, described below, and the Wythe copy of the Declaration of Independence were also at one time in the possession of Lee, (Boyd, ''[[#1943|Declaration of Independence]],'' 1945, p. 39, 42, 43–5), from whom Ford obtained facsimiles of both the Second and Third Drafts ([[#1893|Ford, II, 7]]). However, some parts of the Second Draft became separated from the MS before it was acquired by the Library of Congress. These missing portions are noted below and the text is from Ford, II, 7. That part of the MS in DLC consists of eight pages and one tipped-in slip of paper. The present location of these missing parts is unknown. It is possible that Lee obtained the Second Draft, as he certainly did the Third, directly or indirectly from the papers of George Wythe. It is also most likely, as indicated in the notes to the Third Draft, that TJ sent more than one copy to the Virginia Convention. If so, this might explain the fact that the Second Draft became separated from the main corpus of Jefferson's papers. Ford (II, 7) noted that the Second Draft lacked the introductory part containing the justification for abolishing the "kingly office" and setting up new forms of government. As suggested above, in the
</blockquote>

=====Page 355=====

<blockquote>
notes to First Draft, it is very unlikely that such a preamble to the Second Draft ever existed (see footnote 1, below).

The supposition that TJ sent more than one copy of his proposed constitution to Virginia is possibly confirmed by the statements of [[#< 1817|William Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|B. W. Leigh]]. These statements have every appearance of being reliable: they were made independently, separated widely in time, and uttered by men of recognized probity, one of whom supported and the other of whom opposed Jeffersonian principles. Each flatly asserted that he had seen in the State archives at Richmond a draft of a proposed constitution of Virginia, in TJ's handwriting, that he had submitted to the Convention in 1776 ([[#< 1817|Wirt, ''Henry,'' I, 196]]; B. W. Leigh, [[#< 1829|''Procs. and Debates of the Va. State Conv. of 1829–1830,'']] Richmond, 1830, p. 160). Leigh added, in the statement he made in 1830, that the MS had "long since" disappeared from the council chamber.<ref>Where Boyd quotes the phrase "long since" is unknown. [[#< 1829|Leigh states]] that the constitution was in the council chamber, but that it "cannot now be found."</ref> It is known that the Third Draft of TJ's proposed constitution was found among George Wythe’s papers at his death in 1806 (see notes to Third Draft). Wythe must, therefore, have retained this text, even though it was the fair copy, correctly docketed by TJ as a bill ready to be introduced. In view of this and of the clear indications that the Third Draft was copied from another text than our Second Draft, Wirt and Leigh must have seen some other copy in the council chamber. If so, that copy, having disappeared before 1830, is not known to be in existence. It could not have been our Second Draft (see above and note 1, below).
</blockquote>

*View this manuscript at the [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Library of Congress].

*Read this text on [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0003 Founders Online], National Archives.

Boyd's notes on Jefferson's manuscript third draft of the Virginia Constitution argue that this is the copy transmitted to Williamsburg by Wythe, and found in Wythe's papers after his death in 1806:<ref>Boyd, ''Papers of Thomas Jefferson,'' 1:364-365.</ref>

=====Page 364=====

<blockquote>
Dft (NN).<ref>[http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Declaration of Independence. Draft in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson], Archives and Manuscripts Division, New York Public Library.</ref> This copy of TJ's constitution was folded and docketed in correct legislative form. At the top of the two sheets, after it was folded, TJ endorsed this title on his substantive law: "A ''Bill'' for new modelling the form of government, & for establishing the fundamental principles thereof in future." Below this, he added: "It is proposed that this bill, after correction by the Convention, shall be referred by them to the people to be assembled in their respective counties and that the suffrages of two thirds of the counties shall be requisite to establish it."

The provenance of this text is given in a [[#1916|memorandum of Victor H. Paltsits]] (Ford Papers, NN, 1 Feb. 1916): the document was acquired from Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, by "William Evarts Benjamin, then a well-known dealer of New York City who acted in the matter for some woman whose name is not revealed." Alexander Maitland purchased it of Benjamin for the Lenox Library. Shortly after this text was brought to light in 1890, efforts were made to identify it as the copy that TJ had given to George Wythe to convey to the Virginia Convention (D. R. Anderson, "[[Jefferson and the Virginia Constitution|Jefferson and the Va. Const.]]," ''Amer. Hist. Rev.,'' XXI [1915-1916], 751). A close comparison of the copy found among Wythe's papers at his death in 1806 and printed with meticulous accuracy in the ''[[#1806|Richmond Enquirer]],'' 20 June 1806, clearly establishes the identity of that copy and the one now in the New York Public Library, here designated as the Third Draft (Boyd, ''[[#1943|Declaration of Independence]],'' 1945, p. 44-5). In 1825 TJ wrote: "I... drew a sketch or outline of a Constitution, with a preamble, which I sent to Mr. Pendleton, president of the convention.... He informed me afterwards by letter, that he received it on the day on which the Committee of the whole had reported to the House the plan they had agreed to..." (TJ to Augustus B. Woodward, 3 Apr. 1825). It has been assumed that this was a mistake of memory on TJ's part and that he confused Pendleton with Wythe (Hazelton, p. 451). Wythe reported to TJ that "the one you put into my hands was ''shewn'' [italics supplied]" to those chiefly engaged in framing the Constitution ([[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1776|Wythe to TJ, 27 July 1776]]). This, together with the significant fact that Wythe's copy remained among his papers, indicates that TJ was correct in saying he had sent a copy to Pendleton. If so, this would tend to confirm the supposition advanced in the notes to the Second Draft that two copies were sent. Wirt indicates that the copy he saw in the State archives was the one "forwarded... to Mr. Wythe";
</blockquote>

=====Page 365=====

<blockquote>
however, he also describes it as "an original rough draught," a description which scarcely fits the Wythe copy or Third Draft ([[#< 1817|Wirt, ''Henry,'' I, 196]]). Moreover, if Wythe's copy had been used by the Convention as the text from which several parts were taken for incorporation in the Constitution adopted by that body, it seems very likely that some corrections or markings on the MS of the text would have been made to indicate what parts had been selected, how they had been altered, s.c. (see ''Conv. Jour.,'' May 1776, 1816 edn., p. 78, for 28 June, when it was ordered that "the said plan of government, together with the amendments, be ''fairly transcribed''" [italics supplied]). No such alterations or markings appear on the Third Draft.

1 MS torn; text supplied from the precisely correct and literal text printed in the ''[[#1806|Richmond Enquirer]],'' 20 June 1806.

2 A word must have been omitted by TJ at this point; elsewhere in the document the comparable phrase is employed: e.g., "incapable of holding any public pension...," not "incapable of any pension." The fact is that at this point in the Second Draft TJ wrote: "incapable of being again appointed to the same"; then struck out the words "being again appointed to"; then interlined "holding," making the phrase read as he usually wrote it "incapable of holding the same." However, the word "holding" appears also to have had a line drawn through it, though it also bears evidence of the slight smudge that TJ occasionally made in his rough drafts, as if he had run his finger over a freshly drawn line or word to expunge it. At all events, it is certain that "incapable of holding" is what he normally would have written and it is equally certain that "holding" was interlined though perhaps lined out. The point is worth noting since both the text of the Third Draft and the text of the Enquirer omit the word "holding" at this point, thus adding to the preponderant evidence that they are identical.

3 The square brackets here and below in the text are in the MS.

4 The words in italics were struck out, and then TJ interlined the following words at the top of the same page of MS: "nor shall there be power any where to pardon or to remit fines or punishments." This clause was finally inserted in the next to the last paragraph under "1. Legislative," above.

5 The six lines in the MS beginning with the words "by an act of the legislature" down to and including "defined by the legislature, and for" are written on a slip of paper pasted on the MS at this point. This represents a curious omission made by TJ in copying, an omission that seems inexplicable except on the ground that the Third Draft (Wythe's copy in NN) was copied not from the Second Draft (DLC) but from another text. As originally copied in the Third Draft, TJ caused this passage to read in part, without a break in the lines, "for breach of which they shall be remove able [end of line] the punishment of which the said legislature shall have previously prescribed certain and determinate pains...." The First Draft includes in rough, interlined form the six lines thus omitted at the end of the line "they shall be removeable," but in the Second Draft this passage comprises four and a half lines at the bottom of page 7 and two and a half lines at the top of page 8. It is conceivable that TJ could have accidentally skipped such a passage if it had ended at the bottom of a page or if its beginning and end coincided with the beginning and end of a line. But it is difficult to believe that he could have made this error if he had been copying from a text where the passage began in the middle of the line near the bottom of one page and ended in the middle of the line near the top of another, particularly in a case where the omission involved such a sharp break in the continuity and sense. The evidence in this instance alone is not conclusive, but taken in connection with TJ's remarks in 1825, with the statements of [[#< 1817|Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|Leigh]] as cited in notes to the Second Draft, and other evidences given in these notes, it seems certain that the Third Draft was copied from another fair copy made from the Second Draft. At all events, the omission of this passage conclusively proves that the Third Draft is the copy that George Wythe carried to Virginia, for the [[#1806|''Richmond Enquirer'']] printed the six lines written on the slip of paper, but neglected to include the lines written underneath. This typographical error obviously could have occurred only in the use of the copy now in NN, which, therefore, is the copy transmitted by Wythe.
</blockquote>

*View this manuscript at the [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Library of Congress]

*Read this text on [http://founders.archives.gov/?q=Ancestor%3ATSJN-01-01-02-0161&s=1511311111&r=4 Founders Online], National Archives.

==1983==
===Kirtland, ''George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge,''===
=====Page 298=====

In an appendix to his 1983 doctoral dissertation,<ref>Robert Bevier Kirtland, [[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge|''George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge'']] (New York: Garland, 1986). PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1983.</ref> Robert Bevier Kirtland summarizes the history — and probable ultimate disappearance — of George Wythe's papers:

<blockquote>
<center>
APPENDIX A: WHAT HAS BECOME OF GEORGE WYTHE'S PAPERS?
</center>

It is intriguing but apparently idle to speculate on the possibility that a substantial corpus of Wythe papers may survive to the present day.

Wythe may not, in fact, have kept extensive files. Few men of his era shared Jefferson's conspicuous sense of the future and of their importance to it. It was [[#1810|Jefferson]], indeed, who remarked to Tyler that he had been surprised to learn of the existence of Wythe's manuscript lecture notes, since "he might have destroyed them, as I expect he has done [to] a very great number of instructive arguments delivered at the bar, and often written at full length.1

Apart from small bequests and the establishment of a trust to provide for Lydia Broadnax, [[Last Will and Testament|Wythe's entire estate]] went to the brother and two sisters of George Wythe Sweeney: Charles A., Ann, and Jane Sweeney. Charles and Jane were minors (Holder Hudgins of Mathews County, the ultimate purchaser of [[Chesterville]], was their guardian) as late as November, 1808, and before that date (by which time she had married John Cary, and seems to have been living in Henrico County), Ann may have been under Hudgins's guardianship, too.2

----
1 [[Jefferson-Tyler Correspondence|Jefferson to John Tyler]], 25 Nov. 1810, in answer to Tyler's letter cited above, Chapter I, note 9: DLC, Jefferson Papers, 191:34037.

2 The Wythe heirs and their guardian can be traced back, in part, through Abraham Warwick, who owned the Wythe Richmond homesite in the
</blockquote>

=====Page 299=====

<blockquote>
There is no evidence that these grandchildren of Wythe's sister, Ann, were living with their great-uncle, like their brother, George, at the time of Wythe's death. If they knew of his papers, they apparently had no interest in or appreciation of them. [[#18010|Governor Tyler]] suggests to Jefferson, in the letter cited above (Chapter I, note 9), that perhaps the latter was entitled to the manuscript of the lectures by reason of the bequest of Wythe's library (Would that Jefferson had overcome his scrupulous regard for the exact terms of the bequest! Had he, the manuscript might have survived. Jefferson's conscience in this regard is in stark contrast with the uncertainties of Tyler, who though a lawyer and later a judge could say, four years after Wythe's death, "You are entitled to [the manuscript] by his will (as I am informed)"!).

Moreover, there is in the executive papers of Virginia a [[#1807|letter written by Thomas Ritchie to Governor William H. Cabell]], dated 27 April 1807, covering certain "valuable papers" that had come into the editor's possession through "Major Duvall (acting Executive of Mr. Wythe)" and were, at the latter's request, to be deposited in the State archives.3 There can be little question that these papers, otherwise undescribed, had come from Wythe's files. There is no trace of them today, nor was there when the [[#1807|archives were calendared]] at the end of the last century.

----
1850's; see Richmond City Hustings Deeds, Book 21, p. 570, and Book 31, p. 385; Henrico Court Order Book #16, p. 223: #14, p. 162; and Henrico Court Minute Book, 1823-1825, pp. 269, 279, all in Vi.<ref>Library of Virginia, Richmond.</ref>

For the information on Hudgins's purchase of [[Chesterville]], I can cite only a newspaper article from the Daily Press of Newport News, Hampton, and Warwick, 31 May 1953, section D, p. 1, purporting to give the family tradition of Col. Robert Hudgins, a descendant of Holder and the last private owner of Chesterville; see Appendix B.

3 [[#1807|Calendar of Virginia State Papers]], IX, 511.
</blockquote>

=====Page 300=====

<blockquote>
Probably these papers included the draft of Jefferson's proposed constitution for Virginia, which [[#1806|Ritchie said]] had been found in Wythe's "literary reliques" when he [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|published it in the Enquirer]]; [[#< 1817|William Wirt]] and [[#< 1829|Benjamin Watkins Leigh]] saw such a document in the archives, said to have come from Wythe's papers, but it had disappeared by 1830. [[#1950|Julian P. Boyd]] has convincingly demonstrated that the copy of Jefferson's proposed constitution which entered the stream of commerce when sold in 1890 by [[#< 1892|Cassius F. Lee, Jr.]], of Alexandria, Virginia, and is now in the New York Public Library, is precisely the same used by Ritchie for his publication of it.4 [[#1806|Ritchie further says]] that he had then in hand a Jefferson autograph of the [[Declaration of Independence]], for which, as for the first, he was "indebted to the politeness of Major Duval, the sole executor of the estate."5 It seems more than coincidental that the same M. Lee, at about the same time, also sold a Jefferson autograph of the Declaration.

Ritchie had also had, according to Tyler,6 the manuscript of the lectures delivered by Wythe, and had received that, too--the Governor supposed--from DuVal.

Ritchie was a petty but ambitious man, thirsting for a place in the sun of Virginia and national politics in the early nineteenth century. On the verge of bankruptcy throughout most of his life, he had also to live down the memory of a father, a Tappahannock merchant, who had barely escaped being tarred and feathered in 1766 for refusing to cooperate with resistance to the Stamp Act. [[W. Edwin Hemphill|W. E. Hemphill]] told me in the summer of 1969 that he thought it not beyond Ritchie to have kept

----
4 [[#1950|Boyd]], V, 365, note 5.

5 Richmond Enquirer, [[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806|20 June 1806]], pp. 2-3.

6 Loc. cit.
</blockquote>

=====Page 301=====

<blockquote>
and, in the course of political struggles in which there was a fad of appealing to the authority of "the Fathers," to have burned all the ... Wythe papers save the patently harmless ones.7

Certainly, the trail of the Wythe papers ends early, and with Thomas Ritchie; Hemphill added that he had long tried without success to trace them, or the memory of them, among the descendants of DuVal, who died at an advanced age in Buckingham County in 1842. The Ritchie Papers now at ViWC<ref>John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia.</ref> contain only letters to Ritchie, and afford no hint of the Wythe files. Jefferson was unable to suggest any reliable source of information on Wythe to [[Jefferson-Sanderson Correspondence|Sanderson]] in 1820.8

As for the Lee possession of Wythe documents like the Jefferson autographs--which would have been recognized as having an intrinsic value even before their author's death--a not entirely implausible series of links can be suggested. Ritchie's oldest child, Isabella Harminson Ritchie, married George Evelyn Harrison of Brandon (and outlived him by nearly sixty years, dying only in 1898). Ritchie delighted in Isabella's highly successful match and to the end of his life usually passed his holidays with her family at Lower Brandon. Brandon, on the south side of James River, forms a small and once closely-knit community with Westover, Berkeley, and Shirley on the north side. Shirley was the home of Anne Hill Carter, the second wife--a child bride--of Lighthorse Harry Lee, and so, the mother of the Confederate leader. One might speculate, given the extended family relationships maintained in the rural South, that the papers of Wythe, known to have come through DuVal to Ritchie, might have come with Ritchie to Brandon, and from Brandon

----
7 Conversation with the writer, Columbia, South Carolina, 9 July 1969.

8 [[Jefferson-Sanderson Correspondence|Jefferson to John Sanderson]], 31 August 1820; DLC, Jefferson Papers; 218:38932.
</blockquote>

=====Page 302=====

<blockquote>
into the possession of the Lees.

On the other hand, the documents once deposited in the State archives by Thomas Ritchie, whatever they may have been, may simply have been pilfered, as many others have been.

On Thomas Ritchie, Charles H. Ambler in 1913 published a highly apologetic biography: Thomas Ritchie: A Study in Virginia Politics (Richmond: Bell. Book and Stationery Company, 1913).
</blockquote>

==See also==

*[[Declaration of Independence]]
*[[Etymological Praxis]]
*[[Jefferson-DuVal Correspondence]]
*[[Last Will and Testament]]
*[[Richmond Enquirer, 20 June 1806]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==

* [http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/07/02/closer-look-jeffersons-declaration "A Closer Look at Jefferson's Declaration,"] New York Public Library Blogs.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000156 First Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibits/treasures/decjef.htm Second Draft], American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.

* Declaration of Independence, [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?psnypl_mss_1228 Third Draft], New York Public Library.

* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt003.html Draft of the Virginia Constitution], Library of Congress.

* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000157 Notes on the Virginia Constitution], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=548&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Manuscript First Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page001.db&recNum=532&itemLink=%2Fammem%2Fcollections%2Fjefferson_papers%2Fmtjser1.html&linkText=6 Manuscript Second Draft], Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0003 Second Draft Text,] Founders Online, National Archives.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0161-0004 Third Draft Text,] Founders Online, National Archives.

* Virginia Constitution, [http://archives.nypl.org/mss/647 Third Draft (catalog record)], Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library.

__NOTOC__
[[Category:Letters and Papers]]

Life and Public Services of Henry Clay

2026-05-14T14:25:40Z

Gwsweeney:

{{DISPLAYTITLE: ''The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, Down to 1848''}}
[[File:SargentLifeAndPublicServicesOfHenryClay1852Title.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Title page from Sargent's ''Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, Down to 1848'' (Auburn, NY: Derby & Miller, 1852).]]
First published in 1842, [[wikipedia:Epes Sargent|Epes Sargent's]] (1813 – 1880) biography of [[Henry Clay]]<ref>Epes Sargent, ''[[Media:SargentLifeAndPublicServicesOfHenryClay1852.pdf|The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, Down to 1848]],'' edited by Horace Greeley (Auburn, NY: Derby & Miller, 1852), 14-15.</ref> is important to Wythe scholarship for a few, scant paragraphs relating Clay's early life, when he was [[George Wythe|George Wythe's]] amanuensis for four years as a teenager, taking dictation and copying the court decisions for Wythe in the Virginia High Court of Chancery in Richmond, from 1793 to 1796.<ref>[[Henry Clay to B. B. Minor, 3 May 1851|Henry Clay to B. B. Minor, May 3, 1851]], in Minor, "[[Memoir of the Author]]," xxxii.</ref>

Sargent relates the young Clay's struggle with comprehending what he was copying, and Wythe recommending three basic grammar texts (among others) in particular: [[wikipedia:James Harris (grammarian)|James Harris's]] ''[[Hermes, or, A Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Universal Grammar]],'' [[wikipedia:John Horne Tooke|John Horne Tooke's]] ''[[Epea Pteroenta, or The Diversions of Purley|Epea Pteroenta]]'' (1786), and [[wikipedia:Robert Lowth|Robert Lowth's]] ''[[Grammatical Institutes|A Short Introduction to English Grammar]]'' (1762). It is possible that Wythe loaned his young assistant his own copies of these books from his personal library.

Henry Clay died in 1852, at which time a new edition of Sargent's biography was published. The editor of the 1852 edition, [[wikipedia:Horace Greeley|Horace Greeley]], suggests in his introduction that the story of Clay's time as Wythe's assistant came directly from Clay himself:

<blockquote>
The aim of Mr. Sargent was not so much to impart his own conception of Mr. Clay's views and motives as to enable every reader to infer them directly from the Statesman's own words, or those of his illustrious cotemporaries—whether adversaries or rivals. His work, therefore, is rather a collection of authentic materials for the future biographer than an original and exhaustive essay.<ref>Horace Greeley, "Introduction," in Sargent, ''Life and Public Services of Henry Clay,'' 3.</ref>
</blockquote>

Sargent was a playwright, poet, and noted editor, part of the "[[wikipedia:The Knickerbocker|Knickerbocker]]" group which included Washington Irving. In addition to his ''Life of Henry Clay,'' Sargent also published a seven-volume collection of standard, popular plays (1846) and, posthumously, ''Harper's Cyclopaedia of British and American Poets'' (1881).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KOE-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243 ''National Cyclopædia of American Biography,''] vol. 7 (New York: James T. White, 1897), 243-244.</ref>

==Excerpt from Chapter I==
===Page 13===

<center>
LIFE 
OF 
HENRY CLAY.

<hr width="150" />

CHAPTER I.
</center>

<blockquote>
HENRY CLAY is a native of Hanover county, Virginia. He was born on the 12th of April, 1777, in a district of country familiarily known in the neighborhood as the ''Slashes.'' His father, a baptist clergyman, died during the revolutionary war, bequeathing a small and much-embarrassed estate and several children, of whom Henry was the fifth, to the care of an affectionate mother. The surviving parent did not possess the means to give her sons a classical education; and the subject of our memoir received no other instruction than such as could be obtained in the log-cabin school-houses, still common in the lower parts of Virginia, at which spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic, are taught.

In 1792, his mother, who had become united in a second marriage, with Mr. Henry Watkins, removed to Woodford county, Kentucky, taking all her children, with the exception of Henry and his oldest brother. It was always a subject of regret with Mr. Clay, that he was deprived at so early an age of his mother's counsel, conversation, and care. She was a woman of great strength of mind, and was tenderly attached to her children.

He hall been only five years old when he lost his father; and, consequently, his circumstances in early life, if not actually indigent, were such as to subject him frequently to hard manual labor. He has ploughed in cornfields, many a summer-day,
</blockquote>

===Page 14===

<blockquote>
without shoes, and with no other clothes on than a pair of Osnaburg trowsers, and a coarse shirt. He has often gone to mill with grain to be ground into meal or flour; and there are those who remember his youthful visits to Mrs. Darricott's mill, on the Pamunkey river. On such occasions he generally rode a horse without a saddle, while a rope supplied the place of a bridle. But in the absence of a more splendid equipment, a bag containing three or four bushels of wheat or com was generally thrown across the horse's back, mounted upon which the future statesman would go to mill, get the grain ground, and return with it home.

At the age of fourteen, he was placed in a small retail store, kept by Mr. Richard Denny, near the market-house in the city of Richmond. He remained here till the next year (1792), when he was transferred to the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, Mr Peter Tinsley. There he became acquainted with the venerable Chancellor Wythe, attracted his friendly attention, and enjoyed the benefit of his instruction and conversation. The chancellor being unable to write well, in consequence of the gout or rheumatism in his right thumb, bethought himself of employing his young friend as an amanuensis. This was a fortunate circumstance for the fatherless boy. His attention was thus called to the structure of sentences, as he wrote them down from the dictation of his employer; and a taste for the study of grammar was created which was noticed and encouraged by the chancellor, upon whose recommendation he read [[Hermes, or, A Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Universal Grammar|Harris's Hermes]], [[Epea Pteroenta, or The Diversions of Purley|Tooke's Diversions of Purley]], [[Grammatical Institutes|Bishop Lowth's Grammar]], and other similar works.

For his handwriting, which is still remarkably neat and regular, Mr. Clay was chiefly indebted to Mr. Tinsley. Chancellor Wythe was devoted to the study of Greek. He was at one time occupied in preparing [[Decisions of Cases in Virginia, by the High Court of Chancery|reports of his decisions]], and commenting upon those of the court of appeals, by which some of his were reversed; and in this work he was assisted by his amanuensis. After the reports were published, he sent copies to [[Thomas Jefferson|Mr. Jefferson]], [[wikipedia:John Adams|John Adams]], [[wikipedia:Samuel Adams|Samuel Adams]], and others. In these copies he employed Henry Clay to copy particular passages from Greek authors, to whom references had been made. Not understand-
</blockquote>

===Page 15===

<blockquote>
ing a single Greek character, the young copyist had to transcribe by imitation letter after letter.

Leaving the office of Mr. Tinsley the latter part of 1796, he went to reside with the late [[wikipedia:Robert Brooke (Virginia politician)|Robert Brooke, Esq.]], the attorney-general, formerly governor of Virginia. His only regular study of the law was during the year 1797, that he lived with Mr. Brooke; but it was impossible that he should not, in the daily scenes he witnessed, and in the presence of the eminent men whom he 80 often heard and saw, be in the way of gathering much valuable legal information. During his residence of six or seven years in Richmond, he became acquainted with all or most of the eminent Virginians of the period, who lived in that city, or were in the habit of resorting to it—with [[Edmund Pendleton|Edmond Pendleton]] [''sic''], [[Spencer Roane]], [[John Marshall|Chief-Justice Marshall]], [[Bushrod Washington]], Wickham, Call, Copeland, &c. On two occasions, he bad the good fortune to hear Patrick Henry—once, before the circuit court of the United States for the Virginia district, on the question of the payment of the British debts; and again before the house of delegates of Virginia, on the claim of the supernumerary officers in the service of the state during the revolutionary war. Mr. Clay remembers that remarkable man, his appearance and his manner, distinctly. The impression of his eloquent powers remaining on his mind is, that their charm consisted mainly in one of the finest voices ever heard, in his graceful gesticulation, and the variety and force of expression which he exhibited in his face.

Henry Clay quitted Richmond in November, 1797, his eldest brother having died while he yet resided in that city. Bearing a license from the judges of the Virginia court of appeals to practise law, he established himself in Lexington, Kentucky. He was without patrons, without the countenance of influential friends, and destitute of the means of paying his weekly board. "I remember," says he, in his speech of June, 1842, at Lexington, "how comfortable I thought I should be, if I could make £100 Virginia money per year; and with what delight I received the first fifteen-shilling fee. My hopes were more than realized. I immediately rushed into a lucrative practice."

Before assuming the active responsibilities of his profession,
</blockquote>

===Page 16===

<blockquote>
he devoted himself with assiduity several months to his legal studies. Even at that period the bar of Lexington was eminent for its ability. Among its members were [[George Nicholas]], James Hughes, [[John Breckinridge|John Breckenbridge]], James Brown, William Murray, and others, whose reputation was sufficient to discourage the most stout-hearted competition. But true genius is rarely unaccompanied by a consciousness of its power; and the friendless and unknown youth from Virginia fearlessly entered the field, which, to a less intrepid spirit, would have seemed preoccupied. He soon commanded consideration and respect. He was familiar with the technicalities of practice; and early habits of business and application. enabled him to effect an easy mastery of the cases intrusted to his charge. His subtle appreciation of character, knowledge of human nature, and faculties of persuasion, rendered him peculiarly successful in his appeals to a jury; and he obtained great celebrity for his adroit and careful management of criminal cases....
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Henry Clay]]
*[[Henry Clay to B. B. Minor, 3 May 1851]]
*[[Wythe the Teacher]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*Read this book in [https://books.google.com/books?id=YGsDAAAAYAAJ Google Books.]

Wythe the Politician

2026-05-06T17:42:18Z

Gwsweeney: /* Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) */

[[File:BenbridgeWythe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Miniature of George Wythe, attributed to Henry Benbridge, c. 1770. Watercolor on ivory. Original at the [http://www.rwnaf.org/collections/item?id=1617 R. W. Norton Art Gallery,] Shreveport, Louisiana.]]
The capstone of George Wythe's legacy in American history and law is his lengthy political career spanning all three branches of government and local, state, and national political bodies. His service began well before the American Revolution, continued during the conflict, and continued within the new United States up until his twilight years<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 66.</ref>. Wythe's lengthy service in the judicial branch deserves [[Wythe's Judicial Career|an entry of its own]], so this article focuses on his legislative and executive roles. Wythe began his political career within the colonial House of Burgesses, the oldest democratically elected body in British North America<ref>Matthew S. Gottlieb. (2024, Aug.) "House of Burgesses." Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/house-of-burgesses/.</ref>. He initially served as a clerk<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 53.</ref>, but eventually Wythe served as a representative in his own right, filling three distinct seats over the span of twelve years<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.</ref>. Besides serving as a burgess, Wythe filled pivotal roles in the state government, such as the Attorney General in 1754 and Clerk of the House from 1768 and 1775<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing.</ref>.

After the dissolution of the House of Burgesses and the onset of the American Revolution, George Wythe's career pivoted to the national stage with his election to the Continental Congress in 1775<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 274.</ref>. Wythe participated in debates and influenced notable thinkers such as John Adams, and his service in the Continental Congress culminated in his signing of the [[Declaration of Independence]]<ref>Lynn Montross. (1970). ''The Reluctant Rebels: The Story of the Continental Congress 1774-1789.'' New York: Barnes & Noble, 149.</ref>. Wythe left the Continental Congress to return to Virginia state government, where he represented Williamsburg in the newly constituted House of Delegates<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 29-30.</ref>. Wythe was elevated to the position of Speaker of the House in 1777, becoming the second individual to hold the post and presiding over the legislative body during wartime<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 3-40.</ref>. After the war, Wythe served as a delegate to both the Constitutional Convention<ref>Suzanne Harman Munson. (2021, May 25). "George Wythe of Virginia: Continental Congress Delegate, Judge, Professor of Law, and Declaration of Independence Signer." Constituting America. https://constitutingamerica.org/90day-dcin-george-wythe-of-virginia-continental-congress-delegate-judge-professor-of-law-declaration-of-independence-signer-guest-essayist-suzanne-harman-munson/.</ref> and the Ratifying Convention in Virginia<ref>''Debates and Other Proceedings of the Convention of Virginia.'' (1805). Richmond, VA: Enquirer-Press, 17.</ref>.

Wythe also served on a local level as mayor and alderman in the city of Williamsburg<ref>Leola O. Walker. (1967, Jan.). "Officials in the City Government of Colonial Williamsburg." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 75, No. 1, 38-48.</ref>. Additionally, he chaired the Electoral College of Virginia twice later in his life<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 66.</ref>. Throughout his career in public service, Wythe was known for his measured, steady approach to governance. At the same time, however, he was not afraid to challenge precedent when he felt a conviction to do so. He was an early opponent of the Stamp Act in the House of Burgesses and among the first to call for independence in the Continental Congress. Throughout his political career, Wythe possessed his characteristic humility and his deep understanding and appreciation for the art of civic life.

===House of Burgesses Committees Clerk (1748)===

Beginning in 1699, Williamsburg became the capital of colonial Virginia<ref>C. K. E. Gruber (2021, Feb. 17). "Williamsburg during the Colonial Period." Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/williamsburg-during-the-colonial-period/.</ref>. Located in Williamsburg, the House of Burgesses met irregularly and sought to imitate the British provincial system and royal hierarchy. George Wythe was appointed October 28, 1748 to clerk to the "largest and most important standing committees"<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 53.</ref>. He served on "Privileges and Elections" and "Propositions and Grievances"<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 54.</ref>. Serving as a representative of one’s county in the House of Burgesses was "ambition’s chief point of vantage"<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 53.</ref>. During this time, Wythe’s job included keeping the minutes of the proceedings of these committees. At the young age of twenty-two, his time in the House of Burgesses served as an educational endeavor for Wythe in colonial legislation. It also provided Wythe the opportunity to "rub shoulders" with some of the most influential men in the colonies at that time<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 54.</ref>. In 1752, Wythe was reappointed clerk for the "Privileges and Elections" and "Propositions and Grievances" committees<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 57.</ref>.

===Interim Attorney General (1754)===

The position of Attorney General was considered more prestigious than his seat in the House of Burgesses. Wythe was first appointed Acting, or Interim, Attorney General, by Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie in January of 1754, and served for about one year<ref>"George Wythe." Virginia House of Delegates Clerks Office: House History. https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/2394.</ref>. During his time as interim Attorney General, Wythe was involved in many conflicts between the House of Burgesses and the Royal Government. The first dispute Wythe became wrapped up in was the Pistol Fee Crisis of 1753-1754<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 62.</ref>. The Pistole Fee Crisis was a dispute between the House of Burgesses and Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie wanted to charge individuals a pistole for land patents that had previously been unenforced in Virginia<ref>C. A. G. Olson. (2020, Dec. 7). "The Pistole Fee Dispute." Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/pistole-fee-dispute-the/.</ref>. A pistole was worth about 18 shillings at the time, which was about 6 days' wages for a skilled tradesman<ref>"Currency Converter: 1270–2017". (2024, Feb. 13). The National Archives. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/.</ref>. The controversy was so contentious that Dinwiddie and the House of Burgesses had to go before the Privy Council in London to argue their sides. The Privy Council, unsurprisingly, sided with Dinwiddie’s pistole fee. This crisis foreshadows future tax conflicts between the colonies and the Royal Government which would of course surface almost a decade later in 1765 with the Stamp Act<ref>C. A. G. Olson. (2020, Dec. 7). "The Pistole Fee Dispute." Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/pistole-fee-dispute-the/.</ref>.

Wythe only served as Attorney General for a year before he was forced to vacate the position in favor of reinstating Randolph who had believed when he left the position to go to London, it would only be temporary and his job would be waiting for him upon his return<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 71.</ref>. Wythe would take on the role of Acting Attorney General once more, for about six months between November of 1766 and June of 1767, appointed by Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier<ref>"George Wythe." Virginia House of Delegates Clerks Office: House History. https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/2394.</ref>.

===Williamsburg Seat, House of Burgesses (1754-1756)===

At the age of 28, Wythe was lifted up from his position of clerk to serve in the Williamsburg Seat of the House of Burgess<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 59.</ref>. The French & Indian War began in May of 1754, so Wythe was immediately thrust into a wartime government.<ref>"French & Indian War Timeline: Lake George NY History." (2020, Mar. 3). The French & Indian War Society. https://www.frenchandindianwarsociety.org/timeline/.</ref> Wythe entered the Fourth Session of the House of Burgess (1752-1755)<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 60.</ref>. During his time on the Burgess, Wythe worked on an appropriation to aid war efforts in the West. Wythe worked on a committee specially assigned to ensure the funds the House of Burgess given for the war effort was not exclusively for English use in the West, but that the allocated funds were helping serve the colonies' interests<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 61.</ref>. Wythe was also appointed to serve on the "Privileges and Elections" subdivision, and the "Propositions and Grievances" subdivision during his time in the Williamsburg Seat. While these two subdivisions were familiar to him, Wythe was also appointed to serve on the "Courts of Justice," which was a new challenge<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 62.</ref>.

===William & Mary Representative Seat, House of Burgesses (1758-1761)===

In 1756, George Wythe ran for the House of Burgesses seat in Elizabeth City County, where he was a notable landholder<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 76.</ref>, but he placed fourth, beaten by residents who held more political appeal than external landholders<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 79.</ref>. After the election, allegations of non-resident voting<ref>Elmer I. Miller. (1907). "The Legislature of the Province of Virginia: Its Internal Development." New York: The Columbia University Press, 75.</ref> and the use of alcohol in campaigning led to an inquiry into the election, chaired by none other than George Wythe himself<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 79-81.</ref>. Two years later, in 1758, Wythe only received a single vote for Elizabeth City County’s seat<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 16.</ref>, but he returned to the House of Burgesses through another avenue. Since its founding in 1693, William and Mary’s faculty had been granted the right to send a representative to the House of Burgesses<ref>King William III and Queen Mary II. (1693). "Royal Charter of William and Mary." Swem Library. https://guides.libraries.wm.edu/wm/charter.</ref>, and they historically chose prominent lawyers for the role<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 57.</ref>. In 1758, after the resignation of Peyton Randolph to take the Williamsburg Seat, the faculty chose George Wythe as their new representative<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 16.</ref>.

Upon returning to the House, he swiftly regained his positions on the Committees of Privileges and Elections, Propositions and Grievances, and Courts of Justice, becoming the only legislator to serve on three standing committees<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 166-167.</ref>. Wythe returned to a government still in the midst of the French and Indian War, which imparted a significant workload upon the house. During the war effort, Wythe was directly involved in handling compensation requests by Virginians for their personal losses from the conflict<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 167-168.</ref>. In 1759, Wythe also joined the Committee of Correspondence, directing the activities of the colony’s representative in England, Edward Montague<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 57-58.</ref>. He was also appointed to committees managing currency issued during the French and Indian War and regulating the silk industry in Virginia<ref>Oscar L. Shewmake. (1921). "The Honorable George Wythe: Teacher, Lawyer, Jurist, Statesman." William & Mary Faculty Publications, No. 1374, 27.</ref>. During this term, Wythe also contributed to the writing of four acts, including two on slavery, one on municipal boundaries, and one to promote inland navigation<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 168-169.</ref>.

===Elizabeth City County Seat, House of Burgesses (1761-1768)===

In 1761, Wythe stepped down from the William & Mary House seat and attempted another run for the Elizabeth City County seat<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 22.</ref>. This time, Wythe was successful, placing first overall<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 170.</ref> and becoming one of Elizabeth City County’s two delegates, alongside William Wager<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 22.</ref>. During the 1761 session, Wythe was appointed to a fourth standing committee: that of trade. After 1764, he was the only member of the House of Burgesses to serve on four of the five committees <ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 171.</ref>. Following a 1763 act delisting colonial paper money as legal tender, Wythe participated in the drafting of a response to Governor Francis Fauquier, who asked why Virginia was not favoring creditors who used British sterling<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 22.</ref>.

Later in 1764, when the British Parliament made preparations to impose a Stamp Act on the colonies, Wythe was one of the first Burgesses to openly oppose the new British policy. Wythe argued that the political connection between Virginia and Britain ran through the king and not parliament, implying equal constituent sovereignty to other dominions of the crown such as the British mainland itself<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 58-59.</ref>. However, Wythe did not support the resolutions of newer delegate Patrick Henry<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 24.</ref>, who argued that only Virginia had the right to tax Virginians and angrily labeled his opponents “enemies of the colony” on the House floor<ref>Patrick Henry. (1765). "Patrick Henry's Resolves Against the Stamp Act." Patrick Henry National Memorial. https://www.redhill.org/speeches-writings/patrick-henrys-resolutions-against-the-stamp-act/?srsltid=AfmBOopLg-gBqcK8wOMMSoMqean8OKf6z6LQj0twyX2HBXALuDp-vWXl.</ref>. Wythe’s opposition likely stemmed from their extreme presentation as much as disagreement on policy, and he continued to oppose the acts until Britain repealed them<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 191-215.</ref>. During the later years of his tenure in the House of Burgesses Wythe focused on drafting legislation related to land ownership<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 224-226.</ref>.

===Alderman (1768?-1772)===
The City of Williamsburg had a government consisting of a mayor, a recorder, an upper chamber of six aldermen, and a lower chamber of twelve common councilors<ref>"Williamsburg-The Old Colonial Capital." (1907, July). The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, 16.</ref>. For an undetermined amount of time, George Wythe served as one of six aldermen for the City of Williamsburg, having been selected by the extant city government to fill a vacancy. He possibly served since as early as 1750, when he signed on record the oath of allegiance to the City, something required of sitting aldermen<ref>Leola O. Walker. (1967, Jan.). "Officials in the City Government of Colonial Williamsburg." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 75, No. 1, 38-48.</ref>. He must have been an alderman by 1768, as this would have been required for his subsequent appointment to mayor in the same year<ref>Leola O. Walker. (1967, Jan.). "Officials in the City Government of Colonial Williamsburg." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 75, No. 1, 36.</ref><ref>"Past Mayors & Governors." City of Williamsburg. https://www.williamsburgva.gov/573/Past-Mayors-Governors.</ref>. Although his specific activities as Alderman are unknown, he would have been responsible for the creation of city ordinances, the selection of new city government members in the event of a vacancy, and the organization of local fairs and markets<ref>"Williamsburg-The Old Colonial Capital." (1907, July). The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, 16.</ref>. George Wythe served until 1772, when he resigned for unknown reasons<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 258.</ref> and was replaced by Dr. James Blair<ref>W. A. R. Goodwin. (1938). "George Wythe House." Department of Research and Record: Colonial Williamsburg, 11.</ref>.

===Mayor of Williamsburg (1768-1769)===

From his position as alderman, George Wythe was elected mayor by the other members of the city government<ref>Leola O. Walker. (1967, Jan.). "Officials in the City Government of Colonial Williamsburg." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 75, No. 1, 36.</ref>, taking office on November 30th, 1768<ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 250.</ref>. Wythe served a single term as mayor, until November of 1769<ref>"Past Mayors & Governors." City of Williamsburg. https://www.williamsburgva.gov/573/Past-Mayors-Governors.</ref>. As mayor, Wythe would have overseen major endeavors of the city in collaboration with the rest of the city government, including repair of streets, organization of events, and the creation of ordinances<ref>"Williamsburg-The Old Colonial Capital." (1907, July). The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, 16.</ref>.

===Clerk of the House (1768-1775)===

After an unsuccessful bid to replace Peyton Randolph as Attorney General of Virginia<ref>George Wythe. (1766, June 23). "George Wythe to Benjamin Franklin, 23 June 1766." National Archives. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-13-02-0112.</ref>, George Wythe was elected to be Clerk of the House in March of 1768, filling the vacancy left by the new Attorney General John Randolph<ref>Kukla, Jon. (1981). ''Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1643-1776.'' Richmond, VA: Virginia State Library, 153. </ref>. Next to the Speaker, the Clerk of the House of Burgesses was the most significant office in the legislative body<ref>Charles S. Sydnor (1952). ''Gentlemen Freeholders: Political Practices in Washington's Virginia.'' Williamsburg, VA: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 96. </ref>. Alongside the standard roles of recording and maintaining records, the Clerk of the House of Burgesses presided over the election of the Speaker and could inform the Governor directly of proceedings within the House<ref>S. M. Pargellis. (1927, Apr.). "The Procedure of the Virginia House of Burgesses." The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 76-81.</ref>. Wythe notably focused on elevating the standard of the office, ordering materials for the creation of bookplates<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1919). ''Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine.'' Richmond, VA: Richmond Press, 290.</ref> and a robe in the style of the British House of Commons<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 26.</ref>. He also used the privileges of his office to peruse records from prior clerks, building a familiarity that he would draw on during his post-revolutionary career<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 78.</ref>.

Despite the fact that he could not be a sitting member of the House during his clerkship, Wythe continued to influence proceedings as an advisor to political leaders and novices in the legislature, especially as trans-Atlantic tensions rose<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 78.</ref><ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 26.</ref>. According to one apocryphal account<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 26-27.</ref>, Wythe used his position as Clerk to intentionally delay the delivery of the House’s minutes to Governor Botetourt in May of 1769, preventing the governor from dissolving the legislature while they were drafting appeals of protest for King George III<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 60.</ref>. Although Wythe’s direct participation in legislating was limited during this time, his name nevertheless appears as Clerk on several significant documents produced by the House of Burgesses during the leadup to the Revolution. For example, the Resolution Designating a Day of Fasting and Prayer, issued in May of 1774 to show solidarity with occupied Boston, was issued by Wythe<ref>"Resolution of the House of Burgesses Designating a Day of Fasting and Prayer." (1774, May 24). National Archives https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0082.</ref>. He served as Clerk until June 1775, when Virginia’s colonial legislature dissolved for a final time, making Wythe the final Clerk of the House of Burgesses<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 78-79.</ref>.

===Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775-1776)===

In 1775, the year after the cessation of his clerkship and following the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Wythe was among seven delegates elected to represent Virginia in the Continental Congress for the upcoming year. He earned the fifth most votes from the former Burgesses of any candidate, and ascended to the Continental Congress as a junior member <ref>W. E. Hemphill. (1937). ''George Wythe the Colonial Briton''. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 274.</ref>. Wythe traveled to Philadelphia with Peyton Randolph, Thomas Nelson, and their wives, arriving in early September of that year<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 92.</ref>. Although he did not speak often in Congress, he was an early advocate of independence<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 30.</ref>. In one 1776 debate, Wythe questioned why the delegates were concerned about appearing as “dutiful subjects” and not simply “rebels,” and emphasized the need for free trade independent of Great Britain, a position eventually adopted by the Congress that April<ref>Lynn Montross. (1970). ''The Reluctant Rebels: The Story of the Continental Congress 1774-1789.'' New York: Barnes & Noble, 119.</ref>. Wythe served on many committees in the Continental Congress, including one to increase gunpowder production and one which drafted a resolution encouraging the outfitting of privateers<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 33.</ref>.

While in Philadelphia, Wythe had the opportunity to befriend notable Massachusetts delegate John Adams. Wythe helped explain to Adams confusing internal disputes within the Virginia delegation<ref>John Adams. (1851). ''The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States,'' vol. 3. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 23-24.</ref> and generally provided intellectual and legislative support to Adams when it came to independence. In fact, Adams credited a conversation he had with George Wythe for inspiring his 1776 essay “Thoughts on Government”<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 34.</ref>, an early foray into the design of the new American government, which featured structural features such as a two-chambered legislative branch including a lower representative house<ref>John Adams. (1776, Apr.). "Thoughts on Government." National Archives. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0026-0004.</ref>.
As 1776 stretched on, Wythe hardened his stance on the colonies’ political future, advocating alongside John Adams and Henry Lee that a firm declaration of independence from the British Empire was imminently needed<ref>Lynn Montross. (1970). ''The Reluctant Rebels: The Story of the Continental Congress 1774-1789.'' New York: Barnes & Noble, 149.</ref>. Although Wythe was an ardent supporter of independence, he missed the pivotal vote for independence while traveling to Virginia to participate in the formal creation of a new state government<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 36.</ref>. He returned to Philadelphia in time to sign the Declaration of Independence<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 62.</ref>, but soon afterwards returned permanently to Virginia to pursue matters of state government, despite having been elected to another term by Virginia’s legislators<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 37.</ref>.

===Williamsburg Seat, House of Delegates (1776-1778)===

While George Wythe was serving in the Continental Congress, Edmund Pendleton “saved” Wythe the Williamsburg seat<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 29-30.</ref> in the series of conventions in Virginia that would become the formal House of Delegates in October<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 1-3.</ref>. He quickly became involved in an early attempt at revision of Virginia’s colonial law code, which the House of Delegates initiated in October. Wythe only arrived back from Philadelphia in January of 1777 and took a more moderate position on the revision process, hoping to preserve pivotal British statutes and expand upon them when needed<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 38.</ref>.

After the end of his term as Speaker of the House in 1778, Wythe did not return to the House of Delegates, instead taking a prestigious judicial position in the High Court of Chancery in 1779<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 111.</ref>.

===Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates (1777-1778)===

In 1777, Edmund Pendleton, the first Speaker of the House of Delegates, was injured after falling from a horse, necessitating the election of a new speaker<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 38.</ref>. Thomas Jefferson nominated George Wythe, who won election against Robert Carter Nicholas and Benjamin Harrison after two rounds on May 8th<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 3-4.</ref>. Wythe stated that he was serving merely in the stead of Pendleton, but continued to hold the office after Pendleton’s recovery and return<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 103-104.</ref>. Wythe’s tenure as Speaker saw him oversee proceedings regarding the appointment of delegates to the Continental Congress<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 22.</ref>, the passage of legislation penalizing army deserters<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780.'' (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 109.</ref>, and the funding of clothing for the state’s soldiers<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780.'' (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 52.</ref>. Among the last bills passed during Wythe’s tenure as Speaker was a bill to create the High Court of Chancery<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 109.</ref>, which he would serve on soon thereafter. Wythe’s tenure as Speaker ended when the House of Delegates adjourned on January 24th, 1778<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 1. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 134-137.</ref>, and he was replaced in May by Benjamin Harrison<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777-1780'', vol. 2. (1827). Richmond, VA: Thomas W. White, 4.</ref>.

===Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787)===

After a series of negotiations in 1786 established a May, 1787 convention, the Virginia General Assembly chose seven delegates to attend, including George Wythe. Despite concerns over the health of his wife Anne, Wythe travelled up the Chesapeake by ship and arrived in Philadelphia by mid-May<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 64.</ref>. After the convention began in late May, Virginia’s delegation, Wythe included, was among the first of the states to push for a total rehaul of the Federal system, not merely a revision. During these early stages, Wythe wrote to Jefferson during the conference asking for his thoughts on potential changes to the national government, but Jefferson was unable to respond in time while abroad<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 123-124.</ref>. At the onset of the convention, he chaired the Rules Committee to establish procedures for the upcoming debates<ref>Suzanne Harman Munson. (2021, May 25). "George Wythe of Virginia: Continental Congress Delegate, Judge, Professor of Law, and Declaration of Independence Signer." Constituting America. https://constitutingamerica.org/90day-dcin-george-wythe-of-virginia-continental-congress-delegate-judge-professor-of-law-declaration-of-independence-signer-guest-essayist-suzanne-harman-munson/.</ref>. After this endeavor, however, Wythe rarely spoke<ref>"George Wythe." National Constitution Center. https://constitutioncenter.org/signers/george-wythe.</ref>, except once to support a resolution by James Madison to focus on general principles before discussing specifics<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 65.</ref>. Perhaps this lack of engagement was because his wife’s condition was worsening, requiring him to leave Philadelphia in early June, sending his resignation to Governor Edmund Randolph on June 16 once back in Williamsburg with his wife<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 124.</ref>. Wythe did not return to the convention or sign the US Constitution<ref>''The Debate on the Constitution, Part One.'' (1993). New York: Library of America, 202-203.</ref>, and Anne Wythe died two months later, in August, 1787<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 65.</ref>.

===Delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)===

Wythe did not put himself forward as a candidate for the upcoming convention in Virginia on ratification of the Constitution<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 66.</ref>, but a convention of voters in neighboring York County, following the urging of a man named Charles Lewis, unanimously elected George Wythe and John Blair as delegates ''in absentia''. Following this, a convoy of voters, including Thomas Nelson (the original candidate for the seat) travelled to Wythe’s home in Williamsburg to inform a startled Wythe of his new political role<ref>Littleton Waller Tazewell. (1823). ''An Account and History of the Tazewell Family.'' Williamsburg, VA: Tazewell Family, 97-99.</ref>. Upon arrival in Richmond, Edmund Pendleton was nominated as chair and Wythe seconded the nomination, possibly to remove himself from consideration as an opposing candidate<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 129.</ref>.

Beginning in June, Wythe began to preside over committees of the whole, which invoked debate on the features of the Constitution between all delegates<ref>''Debates and Other Proceedings of the Convention of Virginia.'' (1805). Richmond, VA: Enquirer-Press, 17.</ref>. Wythe only gave one speech himself, notably with strong emotion. He spoke of the Revolution, the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, and the need for action despite the imperfections of the Constitution<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 69.</ref>. The Virginia delegates voted to ratify the Constitution 89-79, with Wythe voting in favor<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 70.</ref>. After ratification, Wythe headed a committee to draft suggested amendments for the Constitution once ratification had occurred<ref>Robert B. Kirtland. (1986). ''[[George Wythe: Lawyer, Revolutionary, Judge]].'' New York: Garland Publishing, 130-131.</ref>, submitting forty amendments to the committee<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 70.</ref>. After a Federalist attempt to strike an amendment related to taxation powers failed, the amendments passed on June 27th, the same day the Convention concluded<ref>''The Debate on the Constitution, Part Two.'' (1993). New York: Library of America, 557-565.</ref>.

===Virginia Elector (1800 and 1804)===

In 1800, Wythe was chosen as an elector for his former student Thomas Jefferson<ref>Alonzo Thomas Dill. (1979). ''George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty.'' Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 79.</ref>, and presided over the state’s Electoral College when it convened in Richmond<ref>Daniel Berexa. (2011, Jan.). "The Murder of Founding Father George Wythe." Tennessee Bar Association. https://www.tba.org/?pg=Articles&blAction=showEntry&blogEntry=9542.</ref>. The Election of 1800 was notorious for a ploy by Democratic-Republicans to strategically vote for either Thomas Jefferson or Aaron Burr for President to ensure a Jefferson presidency and a Burr vice presidency, a plan that nearly went awry due to a defecting elector in New York<ref>"Elections from 1789 to 1828." Virginia Museum of History and Culture. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/getting-message-out-presidential-campaign-memorabilia-collection-allen-frey/elections-1789-1828.</ref>. The Virginia College of Electors, under Wythe’s leadership, sent all 21 of its electoral votes to Jefferson<ref>Philip J. Lampi. (2012, Jan. 11). "Virginia 1800 Electoral College." Tufts University: A New Nation Votes. https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/m039k589j.</ref>

Wythe once again presided over the Virginia College of Electors in 1804<ref>Lyon Gardiner Tyler. (1907). "George Wythe" in ''Great American Lawyers,'' vol. 1. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 66.</ref>, sending all 24 electoral votes to Thomas Jefferson<ref>Philip J. Lampi. (2012, Jan. 11). "Virginia 1804 Electoral College." Tufts University: A New Nation Votes. https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/7m01bn32j.</ref> during his landslide victory over Charles Pinckney<ref>"Elections from 1789 to 1828." Virginia Museum of History and Culture. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/getting-message-out-presidential-campaign-memorabilia-collection-allen-frey/elections-1789-1828.</ref>. After the election, he joined Jefferson at a celebratory party, where Wythe himself received a toast from the attendees<ref>Daniel Berexa. (2011, Jan.). "The Murder of Founding Father George Wythe." Tennessee Bar Association. https://www.tba.org/?pg=Articles&blAction=showEntry&blogEntry=9542.</ref>.

==See also==
*[[Wythe the Lawyer]]
*[[Wythe's Judicial Career]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==

* George Wythe, at [https://history.house.virginia.gov/clerks/41 A History of the Virginia House of Delegates,] Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office.

[[Category:Aspects of Wythe's Life]]
[[Category:Biographies]]

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Gwsweeney:

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Gwsweeney: Page two of a report from the committee to ascertain the value of the several species of gold and silver in the Colonies, May 22, 1776. Image from 'The Papers of the Continental Congress.' Category: Letters and Papers Category" Second Continental Congress

File:ReportOfTheGoldCommittee22May1776p1.jpg

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Gwsweeney: Page one of a report from the committee to ascertain the value of the several species of gold and silver in the Colonies, May 22, 1776. Image from 'The Papers of the Continental Congress.' Category: Letters and Papers Category" Second Continental Congress

Virginia Delegates to the Virginia Convention, 18 May 1776

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[[File:VirginiaDelegatesToTheVirginiaConvention18May1776.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Incorrectly dated draft of a letter from the delegates for Virginia in Congress to the Virginia Convention, in [[George Wythe|George Wythe's]] hand. Image from the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000142 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'' With [[Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson's]] notes on coin production.]]
On May 18, 1776, [[George Wythe]] wrote a letter from the delegates of Virginia at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, to the members of the fifth Virginia Convention in Williamsburg ([[Edmund Pendleton]], presiding). Enclosed were resolutions reached after a report by a committee comprised of [[wikipedia:Benjamin Harrison|Benjamin Harrison]], [[wikipedia:Edward Rutledge|Edward Rutledge]], [[wikipedia:Robert Goldsborough|Robert Goldsborough]], [[wikipedia:Robert Treat Paine|Robert Treat Paine]], and [[wikipedia:Caesar Rodney|Caesar Rodney]]. The report regarded two letters from [[wikipedia:Charles Lee (general)|General Charles Lee]] of April 19 and May 7, 1776, about preparations for defending the Virginia colony.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=ljQSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA363 ''Journals of the Continental Congress,''] ed. Worthington C. Ford, Vol. 4, ''January 1-June 4, 1776'' (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1906), 363-365.</ref> Also enclosed with the letter was a printed copy of a resolution of May 15, which ordered the publication of a 'preamble' prepared by [[wikipedia:John Adams|John Adams]], [[wikipedia:Edward Rutledge|Edward Rutledge]], and [[wikipedia:Richard Henry Lee|Richard Henry Lee]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=ljQSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA357 ''Journals of the Continental Congress,''] 357-358. The text of the preamble reads:
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
<blockquote>
Whereas, his Britannic majesty, in conjunction with the lords and commons of Great Britain, has by a late act of parliament, excluded the inhabitants of these United Colonies from the protection of his crown; And whereas, no answer, whatever, to the humble petitions of the colonies for redress of grievances and reconciliation with Great Britain, has been, or is likely to be given; but the whole force of that kingdom, aided by [[Address to the Foreign Mercenaries|foreign mercenaries]], is to be exerted for the destruction of the good people of the colonies; And whereas it appears absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good Conscience, for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the Crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said Crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defense of our lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of our enemies...[.]
</blockquote>
</div>
</ref> The preamble, written by Adams,<ref>David McCullough, [http://books.google.com/books?id=GHMnz8G0GTcC&pg=PA108 ''John Adams''], (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001) 108-100.</ref> exhorted the adoption and strengthening of local governments independent from Great Britain. It was printed as a broadside and widely distributed.<ref>Published as "Proceedings of a Public Meeting in Favor of Independence", 20 May 1776, Philadelphia. No. 15015 in Charles Evans, ''American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America, 1639–1800,'' (New York: P. Smith, 1941).</ref>

The letter was read at the Virginia Convention on May 27, 1776, then referred to the Committee on the State of the Colony.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Y_hOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA141 ''Journal of the Convention,''] May, 1776 (Richmond, Virginia: Ritchie, Trueheart, and Du-val, 1816), 25.</ref> A draft copy was preserved in the papers of [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref>Reproduced in [https://archive.org/details/lettersofdelegat04smit ''Letters to the Delegates of Congress'',] ed. Paul H. Smith, Vol 4., ''May 16-August 15, 1776'', (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1979), 37.</ref> Jefferson used the paper to make notes on coin production, including a table comparing the value of European gold and silver coins on the reverse.<ref>In [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000143 ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1 General Correspondence 1651-1827,''] (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1974).</ref>

==Letter text, 18 May 1776==
<blockquote>
{| width="50%" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
| width="50%" style="text-align: left;" |
Gentlemen,
| width="50%" style="text-align: right;" |
Philadelphia, 18 April [May],<ref>This draft was misdated by George Wythe. The letter mentions a resolution of May 15, and enclosed resolutions passed on the 18th, so it must have been written in May, not April.</ref> 1776.
|}

The inclosed resolutions were reported by a committee appointed to consider of a letter from general Lee to the president. We have nothing to observe upon them unless it be, that the surgeons whom the director general of the hospital is empowered to appoint, and the regimental surgeons to be nominated by the convention, according to a resolution lately forwarded to you,<ref>See resolve of May 6, [http://books.google.com/books?id=ljQSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA330 ''Journals of the Continental Congress,''] 330.</ref> are different officers. Upon the arrival of two ships of war, two frigates and one tender at Quebeck, the 6th instant, the garrison, consisting, with the forces the vessels brought, of no more than about a thousand men, made a sally upon our army there, and routed it. The resolution of the 15th of May we send a printed copy of, lest the manuscript, which we desired the secretary to furnish us with, should not come time enough to go by this opportunity. We are,
:::::Gentlemen,
::::::Your most obedient servants.
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Wythe to Edmund Pendleton, 18 November 1776]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
Read this letter in [http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/founders/TSJN-01-01-02-0155 ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition.'']

Read this book in the [https://archive.org/details/lettersofdelegat04smit Internet Archive].

[[Category: Letters and Papers]]
[[Category: Letters from Wythe]]
[[Category: Second Continental Congress]]

Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress

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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP6.jpg|thumb|300px|[[George Wythe]] (VA) and William Ellery (RI) exchanged verses on pieces of scrap paper during [[wikipedia:Second Continental Congress|Congress]], as evidenced by this page, originally addressed to "The Hon. William Ellery, Delegate for the State of Rhode Island, in Continental Congress, Philadelphia."]]
George Wythe returned to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia sometime in mid-September, 1776.<ref>The exact date of Wythe's arrival in Philadelphia is not known. Wythe's signature does not appear on a letter from the Virginia delegates to the Pennsylvania delegates dated September 12, 1776, regarding a temporary border between the two commonwealths (Peter Force, ''American Archives,'' 5th ser. (Washington, D.C.: M. St. Clair and Peter Force, 1851) 2:42; but [[wikipedia:Josiah Bartlett|Josiah Bartlett]], in a letter to [[wikipedia:William Whipple|William Whipple]] dated September 14, reports "Mr. Wythe is come to Congress." Edmund C. Burnett, ed. ''Letters of Members of the Continental Congress,'' vol. 2, ''July 5, 1776 to December 31, 1777'' (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1921), 89.</ref> By November, Congress was facing a split caused by the northern states offering additional pay to their soldiers, which the southern states could neither match nor afford. [[George Wythe]], delegate from Virginia, addressed a short, humorous poem to [[wikipedia:William Ellery|William Ellery]] of Rhode Island, suggesting that the "Yankees" generosity would ruin Congress's efforts. Ellery responded in kind, and the two exchanged verses until Wythe left Congress to return to the Virginia Convention, in December.

The manuscripts were recognized in the collection of the [http://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library] by W. Edwin Hemphill, who published an article on them in 1952: "[[George Wythe Courts the Muses|George Wythe Courts the Muses: In Which, to the Astonishment of Everyone, That Silent, Selfless Pedant Is Found to Have Had a Sense of Humor]]."<ref>W. Edwin Hemphill, "[[George Wythe Courts the Muses]]," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 3rd ser., 9, no. 3 (July 1952), 338-345.</ref>

In 2013 the manuscript was digitized by the Boston Public Library, and made available in the [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle Internet Archive.]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle Poems on witty subjects in Congress (manuscript),] by Ellery, William, 1727-1820; Wythe, George, 1726-1806; Boston Public Library, American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.</ref>

==Manuscript text, November-December 1776==

==="A Member of the Antinovanglian Faction to W. E.," by George Wythe (VA)===

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<center>A member of the antinovanglian faction to W. E.<ref>"Novanglian": New Englander.</ref></center>
<blockquote>
To works supererogation 
By others, some owe their salvation. 
To what the good yankees are doing 
Their duty beyond, we owe ruin.
</blockquote><center>Epigram by the ingenious George Wythe Esq</center>
For the two first Lines the author alludes to the Roman Catholics— 
In the two <s>first</s> last to the additional Pay, and Bounty <s>of</s> given to 
the Soldiers by the Eastern States.
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP7.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed on the reverse as "1st Poem", page seven of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="A Novanglican to G.W.," by William Ellery (RI)===

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<center>A Novanglian to G. W.</center>
As by works supererogatory 
Rom. Caths are saved from purgatory, 
So by what the Yankees good are doing 
Buckskins will save from utter Ruin.
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP3.jpg|thumb|600px|Endorsed on the reverse as "To G. Wythe / Answer to / 1.st Poem", page three of ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,'' from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="Instead of Controlling Our Mary's Cross Humor," by William Ellery===

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Instead of controlling our Mary's cross humour 
You give what she asks you. Nay, you would do more 
<s>For the</s> First Virginia, instead of <s>a manly</s> nobly persisting 
Gives <s>One</s> up to Mary one Roll for enlisting. 
Mary then rising in her wild Demands 
<s>The</s> Virginia lays open the Claims about Lands 
Nay, more abounding in Supererogation, 
She too proposes the Mode of Taxation 
To leave as it was before it was debated 
For perhaps by this <s>forward</s> mighty Mary<s>'ll</s> be sated. 
 
Pray, what is the Cause of this Indulgence so great 
Where Discord & Jarring subsisted of late? 
Ill tell you, my Friend, 'tis a truth very serious: 
Interest will join States of Sentiments various.
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP5.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorses as "Poem Ans — WE / 2d", page five of ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,'' from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="For Farms in Utopia, the Moon, or Some Fairyland," by George Wythe===

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For farms in eutopia, the moon, or some fairyland, 
Compensations more worth were offered by Maryland. 
In this it's denied, Sir, our sister's cross humour'd, 
Whatever by juntos or patriots be rumour'd. 
Her brave men must fight, bleed, and suffer as others, 
Leave orphans their dear babes, and childless their mothers, 
Give full many a fair Penelope heartaches, 
Whilst their country of their virtuous earnings partakes 
A very small pittance. Why this noise and stir then, 
If, lest her shoulders bear too much of the burthen, 
She reject your unequal mode of taxation, 
Demonstrate by numbers, without relaxation, 
That ruin is doom'd her, and cries in distraction 
She'll yield to the old, not the new-english faction? 
With candor attend to her efflagitation, 
And these two demands grant without hesitation. 
Virginia must feel for any neighbour oppress'd, 
Cannot easy remain til the mischief's suppress'd;
<center>And</center>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP9.jpg|thumb|600px|Page nine of ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,'' from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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And if slaves you include in your capitation, 
Is equally injur'd—claims like defalcation. 
E'ene while, it is true, we're somewhat contrarient, 
Yet interest will join those of sentiments variant. 
And why not? For thence flows that blessing transcendent 
All wish for devoutly, a state independent. 
Then cease to object to a sister we're tender, 
Indulgent with excess—unwilling to mend her, 
If we favour petitions founded on reason, 
With deference offer'd at convenient season. 
Fell discord had too long among us existed. 
From our councils cashier'd, if now re-enlisted, 
It with tories will league to puzzle our measures, 
And spoil us of freedom, most precious of treasures.
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP10.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed as "G.W. 3d. / in Answr. to E.s 2d", page ten of ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,'' from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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===Epigram, by William Ellery===

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Like a Babbler ambitious of some little Fame 
I follow when Freeman hath started the Game, 
But when hunted down poor Puss sinks & dies 
I give up to Freeman his Right to the Prize 
Let Wythe take the Laurel his Genius demands 
I ask but this Boon to be classed with his Friends.
<center>W. E.</center>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP11.jpg|thumb|600px|Page eleven of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="With One Epigram, Though Well Hit Off" by George Wythe===

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With one epigram, though well hit off, 
You must not expect, Sir, to get off. 
I can't for my life give o'er scribbling, 
Except whilst I'm dreaming or quibbling. 
Scribendi tam dira cupido,<ref>"Dire desire to write," paraphrase of Virgil, ''Aeneid,'' Book V, line 721.</ref> 
Quam amor quo consumpta Dido.<ref>"The love which consumed Dido," Queen of Carthage.</ref> 
If Howe,<ref>General [[wikipedia:William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|William Howe]], (1729 – 1814), Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American Revolutionary War, captured Philadelphia in September, 1777.</ref> hither marching, friend Ell'ry, 
Were near with his train of artill'ry 
And bells in the city were chiming, 
This strange cacoëthes of rhiming 
Would not cease. Tell me not, in answer, 
You can't write. It's known you well can, Sir, 
Proceed then; or haec tibi cura,<ref>Ovid, ''Ex Ponto'' III, xxxvi.</ref> 
I shall draw your caricatura. 
If who's the author, dubitatur?<ref>''Dubitatur:'' "It is doubted."</ref> 
He's your correspondent, Nugator.<ref>Jester, clown.</ref>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP21.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed <s>Poem G</s> Answer / to Epigram .4.", page twenty-one of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="Unless You Will Take One Line for Your Ten," by William Ellery===

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Unless you will take one Line for your Ten 
I never Shall pay you, and indeed I shan't then. 
For to form One good Clink, invita Minerva,<ref>Defy nature, literally "go against Minerva's will." Cicero, ''De Officiis,'' I, 31, 110.</ref> 
I must <s>ransack</s> turn my poor Brains <s>all</s> quite topsy, turvy. 
While you with a Portion of Latin & Greek 
<s>As n an</s> An hundred good Lines can easily make 
As the Virginian Tully<ref>Wythe is a Virginian Cicero: [[wikipedia:Marcus Tullius Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]].</ref> can speak. 
The Muses will readily yield up their Charms 
To the Poet that dreads not the Thunder of Arms 
They'll favour the brave the youthfull the blythe 
Will fly from an Ellery and caress a Wythe 
Compelled thus to rhime in my own Defense 
<s>These Lines are dictated a Lege Natura</s> 
<s>Pray then forbear Sir, your Caricatura</s> 
I most humbly submit to your Candour & Sense. 
What thus is forced from Me Lege magna Natura<ref>A great law of Nature.</ref> 
And beg you would forbear Sir your Caricatura
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP23.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed "Answer E to / the Answr. to 4", page twenty-three of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="You've Not Only Quitted Your Arrear," by George Wythe===

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You've not only quitted your arrear, 
But check'd my poetical career. 
I flatter'd myself that Apollo 
Had told me the Muses to follow. 
But they to Parnassus retiring 
And frowning forbade my aspiring, 
Rejected my awkward addresses, 
Bestow'd on my rival caresses, 
Made mirth of my passion for soaring, 
And laugh'd at my anguish and roaring. 
Whilst you mount with wing pegasean 
And triumphint, sing Iö Paean,<ref>Classical Greek cry of exultation or triumph, traditionally addressed to Apollo the healer.</ref> 
With eyes full of envy and surprise, 
The laurel I see becomes your prize. 
My latin and greek not a bawbee<ref>[[wikipedia:Bawbee|Bawbee]]: a Scottish half-penny.</ref> 
I value (Think not I bedaub ye 
With praise, though this seems that way leaning) 
When one of your couplets more meaning 
Fine sense and true humour you fling in, 
Than twenty of mine I can bring in.
<center>A</center>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP15.jpg|thumb|600px|Page fifteen of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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Some mere poetaster call Tully, 
In for a naggering bully; 
Most others a speaker persuasive, 
In reas'ning though sometimes evasive 
Did you, making me his compeer, Sir, 
An irony mean, or a sneer, Sir?
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP16.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed "Poem W.5", page sixteen of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="The Gen'rous Idea Your Last Piece Expresses," by William Ellery===

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The gen'rous Idea your last Peice [''sic''] expresses 
Instead of <s>exal</s> exciting my Ardour, depresses. 
The Muses I know by Experience are Gilts 
And he moves unsafely who moves upon Stilts. 
When my Fancy was young I asked of those Lasses 
To aid my Ascent up the Mount of Parnassus, 
They told me to follow, but as swift as the Wind 
They gained its high Top and left me behind. 
Thus jilted, I labour'd but quickly I found 
My Tread was too clumsy for poetick Ground. 
And wanting their Aid to assist my weak Passes 
I bid an Adieu to the Mount of Parnassus. 
Since that contented with Limitation 
Sometimes I've attempted an humble Translation, 
Inspired with an Ardour deriv'd from gay Bacchus, 
Of an Eclogue of Mars or some Ode of Flaccus. 
Sometimes too when a Genius hath started Ideas 
I've made use of his Hints ut nuper to videa.<ref>"As of late, you see."</ref> 
Like a Babbler ambitious of some little Fame 
I follow when Freeman hath started the Game, 
<s>And</s> But when hunted down poor Puss sinks & dies 
I give up to Freeman his Right to the Prize. 
Let Wythe take the Laurel his Genius demands 
I ask but this Boon to be <s>rank'd</s> class'd with his Friends. 
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP25.jpg|thumb|600px|Manuscript endorsed "WE. Answer / to 5", page twenty-five of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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===Martial, Epigram XII.47, in Wythe's hand===

In his [[George Wythe Courts the Muses#Page 344|1952 article]], Edwin Hemphill suggests that this scrap may have been sent by Wythe in a [[Wythe to Samuel Adams, 1 August 1778|1778 letter to Samuel Adams]], asking him to share an enclosure with William Ellery, whom Wythe had not heard from since leaving Philadelphia in December, 1776.

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In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, 
Thou'rt such a touchy, testy fellow, 
Hast so much mirth, and wit, and splen about thee, 
There is no living with thee, or without thee. 

<blockquote>I remember to have seen this translation of an epigram of [[wikipedia:Martial|Martial]].<ref>A translation matching Wythe's version of [[wikipedia:Martial|Marcus Valerius Martialis']] epigram 12.47, translated by [[Miscellaneous Works, in Verse and Prose, of the Right Honorable Joseph Addison, Esq.|Joseph Addison]], appeared in [[wikipedia:The Spectator (1711)|''The Spectator'']] on [http://books.google.com/books?id=1Gdskp1ey8QC&pg=PA267 May 18, 1711]:

<blockquote>
''Difficilis, facilis, jucundus, acerbus es idem,'' 
''Nec tecum possum vivere, nec sine te.''

''In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow,'' 
''Thou'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow;'' 
''Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee.'' 
''There is no living with thee, nor without thee.''
</blockquote>

An "odd volume" of [[Spectator|''The Spectator'']] is listed in [[Jefferson Inventory|Thomas Jefferon's inventory]] of Wythe's library, among the books given to his son-in-law, [[Thomas Mann Randolph]].</ref>
</blockquote>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP13.jpg|thumb|600px|Page thirteen of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="Those with Whom the Powers of Government Are Entrusted," by George Wythe===

In this mix of prose and verse, Wythe seems to be trying to bring to light some complaint with Congress regarding a late ballot (perhaps with a remonstrance toward their [[Agreement of Secrecy|agreement of secrecy]]), which he entreats the "college of censors" to inquire upon, despite one of the persons involved being as respected as Nestor of Greek mythology (but false as Milton's Belial):

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Those with whom the powers of government are entrusted should be diligently watched; and when they act otherwise than they ought should at least be told of it. Their misdoings indeed cannot in many instances be discovered especially where they

<blockquote>
(a) 'In close recess and secret conclave sit!'<ref>Milton's demonic council in ''[[Paradise Lost]],'' Book I, lines 792-797: "But far within, / And in their own dimensions, like themselves, / The great seraphic lords and cherubim/In close recess and secret conclave sat; / A thousand demigods on golden seats / Frequent and full."</ref>
</blockquote>

But shall loud reports of misrule only astonish us, and vanish in air?

<blockquote>
As thunder rattling though the welkin flies, 
Then rumbling shudd'ring, undulating dies.
</blockquote>

And will the people, disturbed by them for a moment, settle again in halcyon tranquillity?

<blockquote>
As when a rock, by Polyphemus thrown, 
On some still lake falls splashing sinking down 
The floating circles ripple to the main, 
Disperse, and leave the surface smooth again.
</blockquote>

Forbid it, ye college of censors, to whose zeal and vigilance your country is so much indebted. Inquire into a late ballot, and animadvert upon the transaction, and upon those who were concerned in it, as they deserve, with your wanted prudence; although one of the persons may be he

<blockquote>
(a) 'Whose tongue drops manna,<ref>Milton, ''[[Paradise Lost]],'' Book II, lines 112-113: "On the other side uprose / [[wikipedia:Belial|Belial]], in act more graceful and humane. / A fairer person lost not Heaven; he seemed no / For dignity composed, and high exploit,/But all was false and hollow, though ''his tongue'' / ''Dropped manna,'' and could make the worse appear / The better reason, to perplex and dash / Maturest counsels...."</ref> (b) thick as driven snow,<ref>Homer, [[Homerou Iliados|''Iliad'']], Book XII, lines 278-279: Stones are volleyed by the Trojans and Achaeans "[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D277 as flakes of snow fall thick on a winter's day]."</ref> 
(c) 'And from whose tongue words sweet as honey flow.'<ref>Homer's admiration of [[wikipedia:Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]], in the [[Homerou Iliados|''Iliad'']], Book I, line 249: "But Atreides / raged still on the other side, and between them Nestor / the fair-spoken rose up, the lucid speaker of Pylos, / [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D245 ''from whose lips the streams of words ran sweeter than honey.'']"</ref>
</blockquote>
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP17.jpg|thumb|600px|Page nineteen of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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What ballot? and what was amiss in it?

<blockquote>
To the wise, Sirs, a word is enough. 
If, by this aenigmatical stuff, 
You would have me explain what I mean, 
'Tis a false supernum'rary bean.
</blockquote>

(a) Milton 
(b) Homer 
(c) τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή<ref>Wythe translates this line of Homer as "And from whose tongue words sweet as honey flow."</ref>
:::::::::::::Homer.

This was addressed to the committee of <s>safety</s> inspection, and sent to a printer, who would not insert it his paper.

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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP18.jpg|thumb|600px|Page twenty of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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==="A Commissioner, to the People of Philadelphia," by William Ellery===

In this poem, Ellery chastises the conservative position of [[wikipedia:Andrew Allen (Pennsylvania)|Andrew Allen]], delegate from Pennsylvania, for his commonwealth's reluctance to support independence from Great Britain. The first letter of each line spells out "ANDREW ALLEN" (emphasized here).<ref>Imogene Brown, ''American Aristides'' (Rutherford N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1981), 157, 166 n189.</ref> Ellery and Wythe apparently attempted to get the poem published, as there is another copy in Wythe's handwriting with the lines transposed to avoid obvious "libellus famosos" (libel), and a dramatized dialogue with a reluctant printer:

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<center>A Commissioner, to the people of P _ _ _ _ _ a</center>
'''A'''ttend all ye People of ev'ry degree 
'''N'''o longer pretend that your Country you'll free 
'''D'''eclare for your Treasons a hearty Contrition 
'''R'''egard as you tender your lives Admonition 
E're too late to flee from impending Perdition 
'''W'''ho like me to the King Allegiance will swear 
'''A'''nd future Submission to Congress forbear 
'''L'''eave all his old Friends to the Parliaments Fury 
'''L'''et Rebels be hang'd without Judge or Jury 
'''E'''scapes condemnation to gibbet or halter 
'''N'''or needs forfeiture fear unless times should alter.
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP1.jpg|thumb|600px|Page one of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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===Copy of Ellery's "A Commissioner, to the People of Philadelphia," in Wythe's Hand, with dialogue===

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A C . . . . . . . . . . r to the people of P . . . . . . . . . . a 
<blockquote>
Declare for your treasons a hearty contrition 
Who like me to the king allegiance will swear 
Attend all ye people of ev'ry degree 
Nor needs forfeiture fear unless times should alter. 
Regard as you tender your lives admonition 
Leave all his old friends to the parliaments fury 
No longer pretend that your country you'll free 
E're too late to flee from impending perdition 
Let rebels be hang'd up without judge or jury 
And future submission to congress forbear 
Escapes condemnation to gibbet or halter.
</blockquote>
A dialogue between [''manuscript damaged''] who wrote the above 
and a printer who was desired and refused 
to publish it.

H. Not Print it! sir, why? P. Because it is nonsense. 

H. No prudent wight sure will then take offense. 
Words without meaning are quite harmless things. 
Minds <s>of evil</s> conscious of evil truth only stings. 
Most readers besides will skip such stuff over, 
Like advertisements where horses will cover. 

P. A slander perhaps— H. No—that is denied, 
Unless with letters initial supplied. 
Nay, still if the lines remain untransposed, 
Nothing unkind or sarcastic's inclos'd. 

P. What? initials?—Let me see—aye—they make it 
So plain that dunces alone can mistake it. 
If calumny foul, though sweet flowering verse, 
Or elegant prose, our devils disperse,
<center>Fines.</center>
|}
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP19.jpg|thumb|600px|Page nineteen of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
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Fines with vile durance, 'twould cost and expose us 
Worse pains to bear for libellus famosus.<ref>''Libellus famosos:'' libel.</ref> 

H. In these times of license leave off your shrugs, 
Nor prisons nor pillories fear, nor 
Pillories fear not, nor prisons or cropt lugs.<ref>A reference to the colonial punishment of cutting off ears?</ref> 

P: Though pusillanimous call'd or a churl, 
Venture I will not to suffer like Curl.<ref>[[wikipedia:Edmund Curll|Edmund Curll]] (''c.'' 1675 – 1747), whose name was synonymous with "unscrupulous publication and publicity."</ref>
|}
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[[File:PoemsOnWittySubjectsInCongressP20.jpg|thumb|600px|Page twenty of [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle ''Poems on Witty Subjects in Congress,''] from the [https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library's] [https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection.]]]
|}

==See also==
*[[George Wythe Courts the Muses]]
*[[Life of Dr. Benjamin Rush]]
*[[Wythe to Samuel Adams, 1 August 1778]]

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==

* Fowler, William M. ''William Ellery: A Rhode Island Politico and Lord of Admiralty.'' Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973.

==External links==

*[https://archive.org/details/bplscarwm American Revolutionary War Manuscripts at the Boston Public Library,] Internet Archive.
*[https://www.bpl.org/ Boston Public Library,] [https://www.bpl.org/research/special/collections.htm Special Collections.]
*Read these poems in the [https://archive.org/details/poemsonwittysubj00elle Internet Archive].

[[Category: Letters and Papers]]
[[Category: Poetry]]
[[Category: Second Continental Congress]]
[[Category: Slavery]]

Address to the Foreign Mercenaries

2026-04-20T15:32:45Z

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<div style="font-size: 85%;">In 1776, the founding fathers greatly feared the impending threat of "foreign Mercenaries" invading the newly united colonies of America "to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny," along with "Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages" ([[Declaration of Independence]]).</div>
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On Tuesday, May 21, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, received news of the government of Great Britain negotiating with Germanic princes of the Holy Roman Empire to provide troops to assist in quelling an American uprising:

<blockquote>
Sundry letters and papers being received were laid before Congress, and read, viz.

3 letters from General Washington, of the 18, 19 and 20 of May, enclosing sundry letters and papers of intelligence from England, and a copy of the treaties made by his Britannic Majesty with the Duke of Brunswick, for 4,084 of his troops; with the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, for 12,000 of his troops; and with the count of Hanau for 668 of his troops....
</blockquote>

Congress then resolved:

<blockquote>
That the said letters, and papers, be referred to a committee of 5; that the said committee be directed to extract and publish the treaties, and such parts of the intelligence as they think proper; also, to consider of an adequate reward for the person who brought the intelligence; and to prepare an address to the foreign mercenaries who are coming to invade America:

The members chosen, Mr. J[ohn] Adams, Mr. W[illiam] Livingston, Mr. [[Thomas Jefferson|[Thomas] Jefferson]], Mr. R[ichard] H[enry] Lee, and Mr. [Roger] Sherman.<ref>''Journals of the Continental Congress'', ed. Worthington C. Ford, Vol. 4, ''January 1-June 4, 1776'' (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1906), 369-370.</ref>
</blockquote>

It is believed that the third part of the committee's orders—"to prepare an address to the foreign mercenaries"—was given to [[George Wythe]] by Thomas Jefferson, despite Wythe not being a member of the committee. A draft in Wythe's handwriting of just such an address for 'foreign mercenaries' is to be found in Jefferson's papers with the Library of Congress (DLC),<ref>Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606-1827 (5th Series, X), Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.</ref> reproduced in the ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' (1950),<ref>Lyman H. Butterfield, "Psychological Warfare in 1776: The Jefferson-Franklin Plan to Cause Hessian Desertions," ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 94, no. 3, (20 June 1950), 234-235.</ref> and the ''Letters to the Delegates of Congress'' (1979, seen here).<ref>[https://archive.org/details/lettersofdelegat04smit ''Letters to the Delegates of Congress'',] ed. Paul H. Smith, Vol 4., ''May 16-August 15, 1776'', (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1979), 110-112.</ref> The address was never utilized by Congress.

==Draft text, May 1776==
===Page 110===
[[File:WytheAddressToTheForeignMercenaries1776P1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Wythe's draft for an address to foreign soldiers. Image from the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000191 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers,'' variously and incorrectly dated June, 1775, and August 27, 1776.]]
[[File:WytheAddressToTheForeignMercenaries1776P2.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Wythe's draft for an address to foreign soldiers. Image from the [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib000191 Library of Congress,] ''The Thomas Jefferson Papers.'']]
<blockquote>
<center>
'''George Wythe's Draft Address to''' '''the Foreign Mercenaries'''
</center>

<div align="right">[May ?, 1776]1</div>

:The delegates of the thirteen united colonies of America to the officers and soldiers of

It is with no small pleasure, when in this first address we ever made to you we must call you enemies, that we can affirm you to be unprovoked enemies. We have not invaded your country, slaughtered wounded or captivated your parents children or kinsfolk, burned plundered or desolated your towns and villages, wasted your farms and cottages, spoiled you of your goods, or annoyed your trade. On the contrary, all your countrymen who dwell among us, were received as friends, and treated as brethren, participating equally with our selves of all our rights franchises and privileges. We have not aided ambitious princes and potentates in subjugating you. We should glory being instrumental in the deliverance of mankind from bondage and oppression. What then induced you to join in this quarrel with our foes, strangers to you, unconnected with you, and at so great a distance from both you and us? Do you think the cause you are engaged in just on your side? To decide that we might safely appeal to the judicious and impartial—but we have appealed to the righteous judge of all the earth, inspired with humble confidence and well-grounded hopes, that the lord of hosts will fight our battles, whilst we are vindicating that inheritance we own ourselves indebted to his bounty alone for. Were you compelled by your sovereigns to undertake the bloody work of butchering your unoffending fellow-creatures? Disdain the inhuman office, disgraceful to the soldier. Did lust of conquest prompt you? The victory, unattainable by you if heaven war not against us, which we know of no good
</blockquote>

===Page 111===
<blockquote>
good reason you have to expect, or we to dread, shall cost you more than the benefits derived from it will be equivalent to; since it will be disputed by those who are resolved inflexibly to live no longer than they can enjoy the liberty you are hired to rob them of, and who are conscious of a dignity of character, which a contempt of every danger threatening the loss of that blessing seldom fails to accompany. Were you tempted by the prospect of exchanging the land you left for happier regions,—for a land of plenty and abhorrent of despotism? We wish this may be your motive; because we have the means, and want not inclination, to gratify your desires, if they be not hostile, without loss to ourselves, perhaps with less expense, certainly with more honour and with more advantage to you than victory can promise. Numberless germans and other foreigners settled in this country will testify this truth. To give you farther assurance of it, we have resolved,

Mistake not this for an expedient suggested by fear. In military virtue we doubt not americans will prove themselves to be second to none; their numbers exceed you and your confederates; in resources ~ they now do or soon will abound. Neither suppose that we would seduce you to a treacherous defection. If you have been persuaded to believe, that it is your duty, or will be your interest to assist those who prepare, in vain we trust, to destroy us; go on; and, when you shall fall into our hands, and experience less severity of punishment than ruffians, and savages deserve, attribute it to that lenity, which is never separate from magnanimity. But if, exercising your own judgments, you have spirit enough to assert that freedom which all men are born to, associate yourselves with those who desire, and think they are able to secure it, with all the blessings of peace, to you and your posterity.

MS DLC. In the hand of George Wythe.
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
1 Upon receiving copies of several treaties negotiated by George III with various German principalities for some 16,000 troops, Congress on May 21 appointed a committee to publish extracts of the treaties "and to prepare an address to the foreign mercenaries who are coming to invade America." The committee, consisting of John Adams, William Livingston, Richard Henry Lee, Jefferson, and Sherman, quickly distributed extracts of the treaties to various printers for publication but no address to the foreign mercenaries was ever submitted to Congress for action.

On May 29, in anticipation that great exertions would be called for during the forthcoming campaign, a committee consisting of Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Edward Rutledge, and Wythe was appointed to prepare an address "to impress the minds of the people with the necessity of their now stepping forward to save their country, their freedom and property." As in the case of the former committee, no address from this committee was ever reported to Congress.

However, the papers of Thomas Jefferson, DLC, contain two draft addresses in the hand of Wythe, that were undoubtedly prepared as a result of the appoint-</div>
</blockquote>

===Page 112===
<blockquote>
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
ment of these two committees, although Wythe was a member of only the second. Worthington C. Ford, the editor of the ''Journals of the Continental Congress'', published [[Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies|Wythe's address "to the inhabitants of the... colonies"]] in a footnote to the journal entry for May 29, but he mistakenly associated the address "to the foreign mercenaries" with a committee appointed in August to stimulate desertions among the "Hessians" after they had arrived. See JCC, 4:369, 401-2, 5:707-9.<ref>''Journals of the Continental Congress'', ed. Worthington C. Ford, Vol. 5, ''June 5-October 8, 1776'' (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1906), 708-709. Ford's footnote, reproduced below, has the benefit of including Wythe's corrections:

<blockquote>
<div style="font-size: 85%;">
In the Jefferson Papers (5th Series, X) is the following draft of an address, in the writing of George Wythe: The words in brackets were stricken out:

"''The delegates of the thirteen united colonies of America to the officers and soldiers of''

"It is with no small pleasure, when in this first address we ever made to you we must call you enemies, that we can affirm you to be unprovoked enemies. We have not invaded your country, slaughtered wounded or captivated your parents children or kinsfolk, burned plundered or desolated your towns and villages, wasted your farms and cottages, spoiled you of your goods, or annoyed your trade. On the contrary, [<s>many of</s>] all your countrymen who dwell among us, were received as friends, and treated as brethren, participating equally with our selves of all our rights, franchises and privileges. We have not aided ambitious princes and potentates in subjugating you. We should glory [<s>in</s>] being [<s>the</s>] instrumental in [<s>of</s>] the deliverance of mankind from bondage and oppression. What then induced you to join in this quarrel with our foes, strangers to you, unconnected with you, and at so great a distance from both you and us? Do you think the cause you are engaged in just on your side? To decide that we might safely appeal to the judicious and impartial—but we have appealed to the righteous judge of all the earth, inspired with humble [<s>hopes</s>] confidence and well-grounded [<s>confidence</s>] hopes, that the lord of hosts will fight our battles, whilst we are vindicating that inheritance we own ourselves indebted to his bounty alone for. Were you compelled by your sovereigns to undertake the bloody work of butchering your unoffending fellow-creatures? [<s>Cease to obey the</s>] Disdain the inhuman office, disgraceful to the soldier. Did lust of conquest [<s>tempt</s>] prompt you? The victory, unattainable by you if heaven was not against us, which [<s>you have</s>] we know of no good reason you have to expect, or [<s>you</s>] we to dread, shall cost you more than the benefits derived from it will be equivalent to; since it will be disputed by those who are resolved inflexibly to live no longer than they can enjoy the liberty you are hired to rob them of, and who are conscious of a dignity of character, which a contempt of every danger threatening the loss of that blessing seldom fails to accompany. Were you tempted by the prospect of exchanging the land you left for happier regions,—for a land of plenty and abhorrent of despotism? We wish this may be your motive; because we have the means, and want not inclination, to gratify your desires, if they be not hostile, without loss to ourselves, perhaps with [<s>out</s>] less expense, certainly with more honour and with more advantage to you than victory can promise. Numberless germans and other foreigners settled in this country [<s>and thriving under the influence of its mild gove</s>] will testify this truth. To give you farther assurance of it, we have resolved,

"Mistake not this for an expedient suggested by fear. In military virtue we doubt not americans will prove themselves to be second to none; their numbers exceed you and your [<s>associates</s>] confederates; in resources they now do or soon will abound. Neither suppose that we would seduce you to a treacherous defection. If you have been persuaded to believe, that it is your duty, or will be your interest [<s>those</s>] to assist those who prepare, in vain we trust, to destroy us; go on; and, when you shall fall into our hands, and experience less severity of punishment than ruffians, and savages deserve, attribute it to that lenity, which is never separate from magnanimity. But if, exercising your own judgments, you have spirit enough to assert that freedom which all men are born to, associate yourselves with those who desire, and think they are able to secure it, with all the blessings of peace, to you and your posterity."
</div>
</blockquote>
</ref>

The present entry, which seems clearly related to the assignment given to the committee appointed on May 21, is reprinted here in order to place it in the context of the events that inspired it. Although Wythe was not a member of this committee, it seems likely that he drafted it at Jefferson's request, perhaps when the two men were collaborating on the address being prepared by the second committee, a conjecture that would account for the presence of both documents in Jefferson's papers. In any event, since Wythe left Philadelphia for Virginia in mid-June and did not return until September, he could not have been involved in preparing the address to the "Hessians" drafted by Jefferson which Congress adopted on August 27. Finally, the wording of the present address so directly reflects the conditions Congress faced at the end of May it seems highly improbable that Wythe could have drafted it for any purpose other than as a response to Congress' resolution of May 21.
</div>
</blockquote>

==See also==

*[[Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies]]
*[[Address to the Indians]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==

Read this book in the [https://archive.org/details/lettersofdelegat04smit Internet Archive].

[[Category: Letters and Papers]]
[[Category: Second Continental Congress]]