gainst the hated system with a torrent of facts,--sometimes
battering it with a hard, cold logic,--sometimes piercing it with deadly
queries and suggestions,--and sometimes, with his blazing hate of all
oppression, biting and burning through every pro-slavery theory.

But in taking up the "Notes," we must understand the relation of
Jefferson's way of thinking to his way of working. In his thinking, the
slave system was evidently a violation of the whole body of good
principles, for he calls it an "_evil_";--a violation of morality, for he
calls it an "_enormity_";--a violation of justice, for he calls it a
"_wrong_";--a violation of republican pretensions, for he calls it a
"_hideous blot_";--a violation of the healthy action of our institutions,
for he calls it a "_disease_";--a violation of our whole public happiness,
for he calls it a "_curse_." But his way of working was more calm and
cool,--often displeasing those whose plans of action are formed far from
any direct entanglement in the slave system.

This union of fervent thought and cool action has, of course, brought upon
Jefferson the invectives of two great classes. One class have looked
merely at his thinking, and have distrusted him as a dreamer. To these he
is a dealer in oracles, at second-hand, from Voltaire and Diderot. The
other class have studied his plans of practical philanthropy, with all his
shrewd researches and homely discussions in agriculture, finance,
mechanics, and architecture, and have ridiculed him as a tinker. To such
Jefferson seems a grandmotherly sort of person,--riding about in a gig
arranged to register the length of his rides,--walking about in boots
arranged to register the length of his walks,--weatherwise, and profound
in dealing with smoky chimneys and sheep-breeding.

But whether men have cavilled at him for a dreamer or laughed at him for a
tinker, they have been mainly foolish, for they have cavilled and laughed
at the very combination which made him powerful. In no other American have
been so happily blended highest skill in theory and highest strength in
practice.

The remarks, in the "Notes on Virginia," on the colored race are clear and
fair. He studied carefully and stated fully all that could be learned in
his time. On the whole, his examination greatly encourages those who hope
good things for that race. But one distinction must be made. As to those
profound views of the character and destiny of the race which come on