John B. Colvin to Thomas Jefferson, 28 February 1810
From John B. Colvin
Washington City, Feb. 28, 1810.
Sir,
I have the honor to forward herewith a copy of a pamphlet, entitled “A Letter to the Honorable John Randolph, by Numa,” which I beg you to accept as a mark of my esteem for your good qualities, and of respect for your political character in particular.
John B. Colvin.
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson, Esquire”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Mar. 1810 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: “Numa,” A Letter to the Honorable John Randolph (n.p., internally dated 21 Feb. 1810; no. 3376).
The enclosed pamphlet endorsed TJ’s political character and the policies put forward by his administration but was primarily a diatribe against John Randolph of Roanoke, whom it described as “a pigmy in politics, whose capacity is declamation, whose energy is passion, whose patriotism is discord, and whose soul is convulsed like the bowels of Vesuvius” (p. 35).