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>I have an ongoing dispute with a quasi-anarchist friends of mine(I do not >mind claiming friendship after all they are harmless really) who claim that >Thomas Jefferson did in fact write the following: >"When the revolution resumes, the lawyers and judges will be shot first." >Did he really? Thanks for whatever peace of mind comes out of this. If he >did, exactly what context was this in? It is always speculative trying to prove a negative, but I feel quite confident in saying that Thomas Jefferson did not say that. I have carefully gone over the 20 volume Memorial Edition of his writings, and I am quite sure it is not in there. It is not his style, and the content does not agree with his positions or his way of thinking, in my opinion. For example, the phrase "When the revolution resumes" makes no conceptual sense. Revolutions do not "resume"; every revolution is a newly instigated event. When Jefferson spoke of the Revolution of 1800 (the redirection of government upon the election of his presidential administration), he wrote: "The revolution of 1800... was as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of 1776 was in its form; not effected indeed by the sword, as that, but by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people." -- Thomas Jefferson to Spencer Roane, 1819. ME 15:212 Notice he said nothing about the "resuming" of the revolution of 1776, nor would it make sense for him to do so. Even the parody of communism, "Come der revolution, ve vill all...." assumes a unique event. It is never, "When the revolution resumes, we will..." Moreover, Jefferson himself was a lawyer. Although he did not have a very high opinion of some lawyers, as when he wrote: "It is well known that on every question the lawyers are about equally divided, and were we to act but in cases where no contrary opinion of a lawyer can be had, we should never act." -- Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1808. ME 12:168. Nevertheless, he would never have made such a reckless statement as "the lawyers and judges will be shot first." Such a statement is not likely to come from a meticulous thinker and brilliant master of the English language like Thomas Jefferson. Finally, if your friend or anyone else ever comes up with a Jefferson quotation that sounds suspicious, ask him the name of the document or to whom the letter was written wherein the quotation is found, and its date. If they are unable to supply that basic information, it is doubtful that the quote is authentic. By now, all the authentic quotations from Jefferson have that identification. Although a person probably does not have that information in his head, it is not too difficult to obtain it if the quote is genuine.