Jefferson, in an opinion in writing, presented to President George Washington, on April 28, 1793, “ on the general Question, Whether the U. S. have a right to renounce their treaties with France, or to hold them suspended till the government of that country shall be established ”, quoted parallel passages from this work, and from the Droit de la nature des gens of Puffendorf and of Wolf, and from the Droit des gens of Vattel.

He prefaced the quotations with remarks on the authors: “ . . . such of them [i.e. those who write treatises of natural law] as happen to have feelings & a reason coincident with those of the wise & honest part of mankind, are respected & quoted as witnesses of what is morally right or wrong in particular cases. Grotius, Puffendorf, Wolf, & Vattel are of this number. where they agree their authority is strong: but where they differ, & they often differ, we must appeal to our own feelings and reason to decide between them.

" The passage in question shall be traced through all these writers, that we may see wherein they concur, & where that concurrence is wanting. it shall be quoted from them in the order in which they wrote, that is to say, from Grotius first, as being the earliest writer, Puffendorf next, then Wolf, & lastly Vattel as latest in time. . . . ”

The passages quoted are arranged in parallal columns, with the references at the head: “ Grotius. 2. 16. 16. Puffendorf. 8. 9. 6. Wolf, 1146. Vattel. 2. 197.” They are all in English, and in that they are literal translations, from the Latin in the case of Grotius, and from French editions of the other authors, and are not taken from any published English edition, it seems possible that Jefferson made his own translations. This is borne out by the fact that he had previously copied the same passages, including also one from Burlamaqui, in their original languages.

The quotations are followed by an examination of the principles: “ The doctrine then of Grotius, Puffendorf & Wolf is that ‘treaties remain obligatory, notwithstanding any change in the form of government, except in the single case where the preservation of that form was the object of the treaty’ . . . Vattel lays down, in fact, the same doctrine . . . but he then adds what they had not said, nor could say ‘but if this change renders the alliance useless , dangerous, or disagreeable , to it, he is free to renounce it” . . . he is in opposition to Grotius, Puffendorf, & Wolf, who admit no such licence against the obligation of treaties, & he is in opposition to the morality of every honest man to whom we may safely appeal to decide whether he feels himself free to renounce a contract the moment it becomes merely useless or disagreeable to him? . . .”

Jefferson’s argument occupies nine and a half closely written pages of his handwriting.

A copy is entered on Jefferson’s undated manuscript catalogue, with the price, 2-12.

Hugo Grotius, 1683-1645, [ i.e. “1583-1645”-- Ed.] Dutch publicist and statesman. The first edition of De jure Belli et Pacis was printed in 1625.