stablishment, to obtain a mastery over so difficult
an art. There is little reason for surprise. Jefferson's training
had been good; he was familiar with the best models; above all,
Nature had given him the qualities which, with the requisite
knowledge, insure literary success,--good sense, good taste, and an
ear sensitive to the melody of prose.

We do not propose to follow Jefferson throughout his political career.
As to his Revolutionary services there is little difference of
opinion. His course during the administrations of Washington and
Adams has given occasion to most of the criticism which he has
encountered. We will direct our attention chiefly to that period of
his life. He appeared then as the leader of a party which was intent
upon carrying certain principles into operation, and for a
comprehension of his conduct an examination of those principles is
necessary.

Mr. Randall would have done a good service, if he had made a brief
analysis of Jefferson's political system. It affords a fine theme
and is much needed, because Jefferson himself left no systematic
exposition of his doctrines. They must be sought for through a large
number of state papers and a voluminous correspondence. Like all
public men, he has been misrepresented both by opponents and
adherents. There is a vague impression abroad that he enunciated
certain liberal theories, that he was an ardent philanthropist, and
that his opinions were those which have prevailed among the modern
French philosophers; but the boundaries of his system do not seem to
be well defined in the public mind. His theory of politics may, with
sufficient accuracy, be said to be embraced in the following
propositions:--First. All men are politically equal. Second. A
representative government upon the basis of universal suffrage is
the direct result of that equality, and the surest means of
preserving it. Third. The sphere of government is limited, and its
action must be confined to that sphere.

The first proposition is contained in the statement which occurs in
the Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal."
This remark has been severely criticized, and we think there has
been much confusion as to its meaning. Jefferson could not have
intended to say that all men are equal in the sense of being alike.
Such an assertion would be absurd. Undoubtedly he recognized, as
every one must, the infinite diversity and disparity of intellectual
and physical qua