It displays the _tact_ of the ostrich, and the _sincerity_ of a
refined Jesuit. What does Mr. Jefferson mean by the declaration that
he had formed a cabinet, of which Mr. Burr was to be a member? What
when he says--_"I lose you from the list?_' Can any man believe that
Mr. Jefferson expected to be elected president, but that Colonel Burr
would be defeated; and that, acting upon such a state of facts, he had
already selected the members of his administration, and that Mr. Burr
was one of them? The supposition is absurd; but, without such a
supposition, what becomes of the truth of Mr. Jefferson's declaration
when he says--"I feel most sensibly the loss we sustain of your aid in
our new administration. _It leaves a chasm in my arrangements_ which
cannot be adequately filled up?" If this letter is carefully read and
analyzed, its object may be comprehended. It was written a few weeks
before the balloting was to take place in Congress. Mr. Jefferson
expresses doubt as to the vote Mr. Burr will receive, but considers it
certain that he will have "four or five votes at least above Mr.
Adams." Four days after this letter he writes in a very different tone
to a friend.



MR. JEFFERSON TO MR. MADISON.

"Washington, December 19, 1800.

"DEAR SIR,

"Mrs. Brown's departure for Virginia enables me to write
confidentially what I would not have ventured by the post at this
prying season. The election in South Carolina has, in some measure,