South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-07-21
Jenerson's Opinions
of European SOVereigns.

Thomas Jenerson's Opinions
of European SOVereIgns.
In a letter to John Jay, Jefferson
thus describes the Prince of Wales,
after ward George ~:
ale has not a SINGLE element of
mathematics, of natural o. moral
philosophy, or OF any other science
on earth, nor has the society he has
Kept been such as to supply the
void of education. 1t has been
of the lowest, the most illIterale
and profIgate persons of the king
dom, without choice of rank or
mind, and with whom the subjects
of conversation are only horses,
drinkIng-matcbes, bawdy-houses,
and in terms the most vulgar. The
young nobility who begin by asso-
ciating with HIM soon leave him,
6isgnstcd by the insupportable pro-
iigacy of bis society; ald Mr.. Fox,
who bias been supposed his favor
lite, and not overnIee in the choice
of company, would never keep his
company habitually. In fact, he
never associated with a man of
sense. He has not a single idea of
justice, morality, religion, or OF the
rights of men, or any anxiety for
the opinion of the world. He car
rIes that Indifference for fame so
far that he probably would not be
hur. if he were to lose his throne,
provided he could be assured of
having always meat, horses, and
women"
Many years later he thus gives
his impressions of the characters of
the reignIng sovereigns of Europe:
awhile in Europe I often amused
myself with contemplating tho
characters Of the then reIgnlng SOW
erelgns Of Europe. Louis XVI.
was a fool, of my own knowledge,
ard despite ofthe answers made for
him at his trial. The King of
Spain was a fool; and of Naples, the
same. They passed their lives In
hunting, and dispatched two cour-
iers a week n thousand miles to
let each know what game they had
killed the preceding days. The
King of Sardinia was a feol. All
these were Bourbons. The Queen
of Portugal, a Braganza, was an
idiot by nature; ard SO was the
King of Denmark. Their sons, as
regents, ~evercIsed the powers of
government. The King of Prussia,
successor to the great Frederick,
was a mere hog IN body as well as
II mind. Gustavus of Sweden and
Joseph of Austria Were really cra>
"; and George of England. you
know, was in q straight waist coat.
There remained, then, none but old
Catharine, who lad been too lately
picked up to have lost her com
mon sense. In this state Bona,
parte found Europe; and it was this
state of lts rulers which lost it with
scarce a struggle. These animals
had become without mind and
powerless; and so will every her.
editary moRarch be after a few
generations. Alexander, the grand
son of Catherine, is as yet an ex-
eeption. He is able to hold his
own. But he Is only of the third
generation. His race IL not yet
worn cat. And so endeth the
book of kings, from all ofwhom the
Lord deliver u.s."
The following, written to John
Adams in 1924, presents Jefferson's
mature estimate of the character of
Napoleon:
81 have just finished reading
O'Meara's tBonaparte.' 1t places
him on a higher scale of under
standing than L had allotted him.
I had thought him the greatest of
all military captains but an indif-
ferent statesman, ard mIsled by
unworthy passions. The flashes,
however, which escaped from him
in these conversations with O'Mea~
"a prove a mind of great expan-
sion, although not of distinct de-
velopment and reasoning. He sell
yes results with rapidity and PEN
etratIon, but never explains logic
ally the process of reasoning by
which he arrives at them. This
book, too, makes us forget his afro
cities for a moment in commisera-
ton of his sufferings. 1 will not
say chat the authorities of the
world, charged with the care of
their country and people, had not
a right to conine him fer lite, as a
lion or tiger, on the principal of
self-preservation. There was no
safety to nations while he was per-
mltted to roam at large. But the
putting him to death IN cold blood,
by lingering tortures of mind, by
vexatlons, insults, and deprivations,
was a degree of inhumanity to
which the ~poisonings and the as
destinations of the school of Borgla
and den Of Marat never attained.
The book proves, also, that nature
had denied him the moral sense,
the first excellence Orwell organized
man. If he could seriously and
repeatedly affirm that he had rais-
ed himself to power without ever
having committed a crime, it prov
ed that he wanted totally the sense
of right and wrong."-From
"Thomas Jefferson and his Family"
by A. h. Guernsey, IN Hdrper's
Magazine for August.