I knew Thomas Jefferson some years previous to 1800; the precise
time when our acquaintance commenced I do not recollect.
2d and 3d. I was a member of the House of Representatives of the
United States in 1800 and 1801, and know that Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr had an equal number of the votes given by the electors of
president and vice-president of the United States.
4th. Presuming that this question may have reference to conversations
(for I know of no bargains or agreements) which took place at the time
of the balloting, I will relate those which I well recollect to have
had with three gentlemen, separately, of the federal party. On the
Wednesday preceding the termination of the election, Colonel Josiah
Parker asked a conversation with me in private. He said that many
gentlemen were desirous of putting an end to the election; that they
only wanted to know what would be the conduct of Mr. Jefferson in case
he should be elected president, particularly as it related to the
public debt, to commerce, and the navy. I had heard Mr. Jefferson
converse on all those subjects lately, and informed him what, I
understood were the opinions of that gentleman. I lived in the house
with Mr. Jefferson, and, that I might be certain that what I bad said
was correct, I sought and had a conversation that evening with him on
those points, and, I presume, though I do not precisely recollect,
that I communicated to him the conversation which I had with Colonel
Parker.
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