Thomas Jefferson Papers

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 (DAB description begins Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, New York, 1928–36, 20 vols. description ends ). His reference to the president’s speech is to Washington’s fourth annual message to Congress, delivered 6 Nov. 1792 (Fitzpatrick, Writings description begins John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, Washington, D.C., 1931–44, 39 vols. description ends , xxxii, 205–12).

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    Jefferson Papers
    Title
    To Thomas Jefferson from Oliver Ellsworth, 4 December 1792
    Author
    Ellsworth, Oliver
    Recipient
    Jefferson, Thomas
    Date
    4 December 1792

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To Thomas Jefferson from Oliver Ellsworth, 4 December 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-24-02-0684. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 24, 1 June–31 December 1792, ed. John Catanzariti. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, p. 698.]