To Thomas Jefferson from John Lithgow, 23 May 1807

Sir	Pittsburg May– [on or before May 23, 1807]

on the Subject of migration contained in the Commonwealth I request your Attention as a Statesman; This question will soon be, whether we ought to spread ourselves over a wide country by migration, or apply ourselves to manufactures which condenses the population and keeps the people at home.

It is thought by some here, that You have been deceived by your confidential Agent, who depended more on rumour and party passion than on Actual Observation. be that as it may, it is certain that the impartial the dispassionate, the Philosopher and the future historian will condemn Wilkinson: and I should be sorry if any honest man should be implicated with him as his abbetter, approver or coadjutor.—Claiborne has long been considered as a weak though honest man.—Wilkinson always was a tyrant—a Catalline—an intriguer without the talents for intrigue—

I am your humble friend

J. Lithgow

DLC: Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

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