Missouri Compromise
Holmes supported the Missouri Compromise, and was praised by Thomas Jefferson for his pamphlet "Mr. Holmes's Letter to the People of Maine". In the letter, Jefferson thanks Holmes for a copy of this pamphlet. This pamphlet defends Holmes's position on supporting the Missouri Compromise—the admission of Maine as a free state with the admission of Missouri as a slave state, which was an unpopular position in Maine. This letter is also notable for being the first written attestation of the phrase "to have the wolf by the ear". Jefferson himself rejected the compromise: