Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Ursuline Sisters upon purchasing Louisiana

[St_Francis]

His letter (handwritten)

The letter says:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana.

The principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you, sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.

Whatever the diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under.

Be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.

I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect.

Altho Jefferson seems to not have been religious himself, he does seem to have appreciated the way religion in others helped them to be good people, and I like the way he mentions “furthering the *wholesome *purposes of society”–my emphasis.

 

[dmar198]

His letter (handwritten)

The letter says:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana.

The principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you, sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.

Whatever the diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under.

Be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.

I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect.

Altho Jefferson seems to not have been religious himself, he does seem to have appreciated the way religion in others helped them to be good people, and I like the way he mentions “furthering the *wholesome *purposes of society”–my emphasis.

I want to highlight one particularly relevant passage:

“The principles of the Constitution and the government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that [your rights] will be preserved to you sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.”

The point about governing themselves by their own rules is important. From it, we can learn that he didn’t envision a government that would command a religious organization to violate its religious principles or overrule its rules of self-governance – something the government needs to remember today in light of things like the HHS mandate and same-sex so-called “marriage” laws.

 

[Contarini]

His letter (handwritten)

The letter says:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana.

The principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you, sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.

Whatever the diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under.

Be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.

I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect.

Altho Jefferson seems to not have been religious himself, he does seem to have appreciated the way religion in others helped them to be good people, and I like the way he mentions “furthering the *wholesome *purposes of society”–my emphasis.

Depends on what you mean by “religious.” I suppose today he would be “spiritual but not religious.” I think he would have said that he was religious but didn’t like clergy and institutions and dogmas, which amounts to the same thing. But you’re right that he respected the social value even of forms of religious of which he might personally disapprove, like Catholicism.

Edwin

 

[oldcelt]

His letter (handwritten)

The letter says:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana.

The principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you, sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.

Whatever the diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under.

Be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.

I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect.

Altho Jefferson seems to not have been religious himself, he does seem to have appreciated the way religion in others helped them to be good people, and I like the way he mentions **“furthering the *wholesome ***purposes of society”–my emphasis.

Jefferson in one of his more pragmatic moments recognizing that religion has always been an effective (to varying degrees) tool in controlling the masses or “furthering the wholesome purposes of society.”

 

[estesbob]

His letter (handwritten)

The letter says:
I have received, holy sisters, the letter you have written me wherein you express anxiety for the property vested in your institution by the former governments of Louisiana.

The principles of the constitution and government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved to you, sacred and inviolate, and that your institution will be permitted to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.

Whatever the diversity of shade may appear in the religious opinions of our fellow citizens, the charitable objects of your institution cannot be indifferent to any; and its furtherance of the wholesome purposes of society, by training up its younger members in the way they should go, cannot fail to ensure it the patronage of the government it is under.

Be assured it will meet all the protection which my office can give it.

I salute you, holy sisters, with friendship and respect.

Altho Jefferson seems to not have been religious himself, he does seem to have appreciated the way religion in others helped them to be good people, and I like the way he mentions “furthering the *wholesome *purposes of society”–my emphasis.

Ps : Of course if you don’t provide contraception the Govt will shut you down