1To Thomas Jefferson from William Jones, 23 March 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
Deeply penetrated with the confidence you are pleased to evince in proposing to me the Secretaryship of the Navy, I entreat you to believe that I have weighed with mature deliberation all the considerations which ought to influence my decision in a case so important to the public interest and the honor of the administration To be associated with private worth and exalted talents such as...