P.S.   As for the statement that TJ advocated changes in the divorce laws
that were "much to the dismay of conservative Christians":  I'm prepared to
have my possible ignorance corrected, but on the face of it this strikes me
as pure hyperbole.  "Conservative Christians" -- a somewhat anachronistic
term -- found plenty to exercise themselves against TJ in the Notes on
Virginia and the Statute for Religious Freedom, and invented plenty more in
the campaigns of 1796 and 1800, but to my knowledge views on divorce were
not among them.  What evidence does your author cite for this statement?

-- Jurretta Heckscher

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:03:06 EDT, Basil Forest <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>While reading The Mormon Question by Sarah Gordon, I came upon the  following
>observation:
>
>"Not only had Jefferson dallied with his slave, Sally, engaging in an
>extralegal and interracial affair, he was hardly respectable on divorce.  
Jefferson
>supported liberal divorce laws, much to the dismay of conservative
>Christians"

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