"I appeal to every reader of feeling and sentiment whether the fictitious murther of Duncan by Macbeth in Shakespeare does not excite in him as great horror of villainy, as the real one of Henry IV by Ravaillac as related by Davila?" — Thomas Jefferson to Robert Skipwith, 3 August 1771

"I appeal to every reader of feeling and sentiment whether the fictitious murther of Duncan by Macbeth in Shakespeare does not excite in him as great horror of villainy, as the real one of Henry IV by Ravaillac as related by Davila?" — Thomas Jefferson to Robert Skipwith, 3 August 1771

"Mr. Adams's criticism on Davila and Hume is just; that the former is an apology for Catharine of Medicis, and the latter of the Stuarts, to which might be added Robertson’s Mary, queen of Scots. and these odious partialities are much to be lamented: for otherwise they are three of the finest models of historical composition that have been produced since the days of Livy & Tacitus. " — Thomas Jefferson to George Alexander Otis, December 25, 1820

". . . in mr J's opinion one of the most entertaining books he ever read." — Francis C. Gray's Account of a Visit to Monticello, [4-7 Feb. 1815]

"Mr. Adams's criticism on Davila and Hume is just; that the former is an apology for Catharine of Medicis, and the latter of the Stuarts, to which might be added Robertson’s Mary, queen of Scots. and these odious partialities are much to be lamented: for otherwise they are three of the finest models of historical composition that have been produced since the days of Livy & Tacitus. " — Thomas Jefferson to George Alexander Otis, December 25, 1820