To Thomas Jefferson from Oliver Ellsworth, 4 December 1792
From Oliver Ellsworth
Decr. 4th. 1792
Sir
A committee of the Senate on the judicial department, would be happy to receive from you, on Thursday morning next, at 10 oClock, in the Committee room if that time and place should be convenient for you, information relative to that part of the President’s speech at the opening of the session which alludes to “aggressions by our citizens on the territory of other nations and other infractions of the law of Nations.” I have the honor to be, with great respect Sir, your obedient humble Servant
Oliver Ellsworth
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Mr. Secretary of State”; endorsed by TJ as received 4 Dec. 1792 and so recorded in SJL.
For TJ’s views on infractions of the law of nations, see Opinion on Offenders against the Law of Nations, 3 Dec. 1792, and Clause for Bill on Offenders against the Law of Nations, [3 Dec. 1792]. Oliver Ellsworth (1745–1807), at this time a senator from Connecticut, was appointed Chief Justice of the United States in 1796 and served until 1800 ( ). His reference to the president’s speech is to Washington’s fourth annual message to Congress, delivered 6 Nov. 1792 ( , xxxii, 205–12).