THE WRITINGS OF







THOMAS JEFFERSON











Definitive Edition







CONTAINING HIS



                         



AUTOBIOGRAPHY, NOTES ON VIRGINIA, PARLIAMENTARY



MANUAL, OFFICIAL PAPERS MESSAGES AND ADDRESSES, AND OTHER



WRITINGS, OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE, NOW COLLECTED AND







PUBLISHED IN THEIR ENTIRETY FOR THE FIRST TIME



 INCLUDING







ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, DEPOSITED IN THE DEPARTMENT



OF STATE AND PUBLISHED IN 1853 BY ORDER OF THE



JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS



AND



A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL INDEX







ALBERT ELLERY BERGH



EDITOR







VOL. VIII.







ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF 



THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION



OF THE UNITED STATES



 WASHINGTON, D. C.



1907 













COPYRIGHT , 1905,







BY 



THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 













THE STATUTE FOR ESTABLISHING



RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.























Jefferson was a political philosophe r, and thought far in advance of his time.

And yet he differed in one essential particular from the philosophe rs who do

not live to see the triumph of their ideas. He proclaimed great living truths,

and then he applied those truths to the questions with which he had to deal.

Some have contented themselves with laying down abstract principles, and have

not sought to give them vitality in the present day; but Jefferson not only saw

the future but he saw the present, and we have this great advantage in the

study of the principles of Jefferson, that he gave us those principles embodied

in legislation. I have 'been more and more surprised as I have studied the

questions with which we have to deal, to find that there is no subject with

which our people grapple to-day that he did not consider in principle. Take the

questions that are subjects of controvers y and you will find that he stated

principles and applied principles at that time that apply to the questions at

this time ; and to-day we do not have to go beyond his writings to find 













11     The Statute for Establishin g







principles that will solve aright the problems of today. He saw great

fundamenta l truths, self-eviden t truths, if you please; and I am coming to

believe that there are not only self-eviden t truths 'but that all truth is

self-eviden t-that the best service that a man can render to a truth is to

state it so that it can be understood . Jefferson had the power of statement,

and he stated the truths so that they could be understood . I do not mean to

speak lightly of the work of Jefferson in purchasing the Louisiana territory,

but if that territory had not been bought then it would have been bought

afterward, for it was there, and it was necessary that it should become United

States territory. I cannot believe that the purchase of that land-dull,

inanimate matter-can be compared with the proclamatio n of immortal truth. I

place far above any purchase of acres or square miles, the utterance of those

truths upon which human liberty must rest. Philosophy is above geography.

Jefferson rightly measured his own work when he looked back over a long and

eventful life, and, ignoring the foot-hills of honor, saw only the mountain-p

eaks of service. He gave to us proof that the Bible is right when it fixes

service as the measure of greatness. You will remember that when there was a

controvers y as to which should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and the

question was brought to the Master, He said: " Let him who would be chiefest

among you be the servant of all. '' 













           Religious Freedom         iii







  So Jefferson, when he looked back over his life, saw, not the things that he

had received, but the things that he had given to the world ; not the things

men had done for him, but the things he had done for mankind.







  I have been asked to write about the Statute for Establishin g Religious

Freedom, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, and enacted by the State of Virginia in

1786, about eight years after it was drafted. Let me quote you the statute:







  "That the General Assembly do enact that no man shall be compelled to

frequent, or support, any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever , nor

shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor

shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but

that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their

opinions in matters of religion and that the same shall in no wise diminish,

enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. ''







  The concisenes s of Jefferson's style is well illustrated in this statute.

Read it over. There is not a superfluou s word, and yet there is enough to

guard religious liberty. It is not strange that this doctrine, so well set

forth by Jefferson more than a century ago, is now a part of the Constitutio n

and Bill of Rights of every State of this Union. Not only is that to-day the

law of this land, but it is spreading throughout the world. It was only a short

time ago that the Czar of Russia issued a decree in which he acknowledg ed the

right of all the subjects of his 













iv    The Statute for Establishin g







empire to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience s, and

I believe that when we come to measure the relative importance of things, the

importance of an act like that, the very foundation upon which we build

religious liberty-the importance of an act like that which, gradually

spreading, has become the creed of eighty millions of people, and is ultimately

to become the creed of all the world-whe n we come to consider the vast

importance of a thing like that, how can we compare lands or earthly possession

s with it?







  In the preamble to this statute Jefferson set forth the main reasons urged by

those who believed in religious freedom. Let me call attention to some of the

more important ones. He said, in the first place, that to attempt to compel

people to accept a religious doctrine, by act of law, was to make, not

Christians but hypocrites. That was one of the reasons, and it was a strong

one. He said, too, that there was no earthly judge who was competent to sit in

a case and try a man for his religious opinions, for the judgment of the court,

he said, would not be a judgment of law, but would be the personal opinion of

the judge. What could be more true? No man who has religious convictions

himself bears them so lightly that he can lay them aside and act as a judge

when another man's religious convictions are involved. Then he suggested- and I

think that I am justified in elaborating upon this suggestion a moment-tha t

religion does not need the support 













           Religious freedom        v







of governmen t to enable it to overcome error. Let me give the exact words of

his report, for I cannot change them without doing injury to them:







 "' And finally that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that

she is the proper and sufficient antagonist of error, and has nothing to fear

from the conflict unless, by human interpositio n, disarmed of her natural

weapons-fr ee argument and debate ; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is

permitted freely to contradict them."







 Tell me that Jefferson lacked reverence for religion ! He rather lacks

reverence who believes that religion is unable to defend herself in a contest

with error. He places a low estimate upon the strength o£ religion, who thinks

that the wisdom of God must be supplement ed by the £force of man's puny arm.







Jefferson paid a tribute to the power o£ truth when he said that truth was able

to overcome error in the open field ; and it was this sublime confidence in the

triumph of truth that distinguish ed him from many of the other great men of

his time. In fact, of all the men who have lived upon this earth I know of no

man who has surpassed Jefferson in his confidence in the ultimate triumph ·of

truth; and upon what can people build if not upon faith in truth? Take from man

his belief in the triumph of that which is right and he builds upon the sand.

Give to man an abiding faith in the triumph of that which is true, and you give

him the foundation of a moral character that can withstand all reverses. 













vi    The Statute for Establishin g







  It was this belief in the triumph of truth that made Jefferson favor free

discussion, not only in religion but in everything ; and one of the virtues of

Jefferson was that he was consistent in applying his principles wherever they

could be applied. I am not one of those who believe that Jefferson was

inconsisten t when he advocated the Louisiana purchase. He was in doubt whether

the language of the Constitution, unamended , was such as to authorize the

purchase of this territory; but never for a moment did he think that there was

anything in the Constitutio n, in its letter or its spirit, to confine the

United States to the original States. When he bought the territory his first

thought was to ask for an amendment to the Constitutio n that would expressly

ratify the act. But when the question was discussed it was found that his act

was so universally approved that it was not considered necessary even to ask

for an amendment. I do not believe that the purchase was inconsisten t with his

principles or utterances. I repeat, that one of the virtues of Jefferson was

that he was consistent in applying his principles, no matter where those

principles led him.







The same doctrine that he applied to Religion he applied to the Press, and I

suppose no American certainly no one who lived before the time of Andrew

Jackson-ev er had more reason than Jefferson to find fault with the untrue

utterances of the Press. Yet, so great was his faith in the triumph of the 













           Religious Freedom         vii







truth, and so willing was he to have error presented if truth could only be

left -free to combat it, that he was opposed to censorship of the Press, and I

believe he gave expression to the strongest eulogy of the Press that any

statesman has ever uttered, when he said that if he must choose between a

governmen t without newspaper s, and newspaper s without a governmen t, he

would prefer to risk the newspaper s without a governmen t. That is, he said

that public opinion would measurably correct things if public opinion was left

free; but that a governmen t with out the free expression of public opinion

would soon become a despotism.







  In the preamble to the Statute for Religious Freedom Jefferson put first that

which I want to speak of last. It was that the regulation of the opinions of

men on religious questions by law was contrary to the laws of God and to the

plans of God. He pointed out that God had it in His power to control man's mind

and body, but that He did not see fit to coerce the mind or the body into

obedience to even the divine will; and that if God Himself was not willing to

use coercion to force man to accept certain religious views, man uninspired and

liable to error ought not to use the means that Jehovah would not employ y.

Jefferson realized that our religion was a religion of love and not a religion

of force.







  There has recently been published a little book called The Jeffersonia n

Bible, and in the fore part of that book there is a letter, written by

Jefferson in 























           Religious Freedom         vii







truth, and so willing was he to have error presented if truth could only be

left free to combat it, that he was opposed to censorship of the Press, and I

believe he gave expression to the strongest eulogy of the Press that any

statesman has ever uttered, when he said that if he must choose between a

governmen t without newspaper s, and newspaper s without a governmen t, he

would prefer to risk the newspaper s without a governmen t. That is, he said

that public opinion would measurably correct things if public opinion was left

free; but that a governmen t with out the free expression of public opinion

would soon become a despotism.







  In the preamble to the Statute for Religious Freedom Jefferson put first that

which I want to speak of last. It was that the regulation of the opinions of

men on religious questions by law was contrary to the laws of God and to the

plans of God. He pointed out that God had it in His power to control man's mind

and body, but that He did not see fit to coerce the mind or the body into

obedience to even the divine will; and that if God Himself was not willing to

use coercion to force man to accept certain religious views, man uninspired and

liable to error ought not to use the means that Jehovah would not employ y.

Jefferson realized that our religion was a religion of love and not a religion

of force.







  There has recently been published a little book called The Jeffersonia n

Bible, and in the fore part







of that book there is a letter, written by Jefferson in 









viii                                                The Statute for Establishin

g







reply to an inquiry, in which he states his estimate of the teachings of Christ

as compared with the philosophie s of other religious teachers, and he pointed

out the superiority of the philosophy of the Nazarene, in that, while other

philosophie s dealt with man 's conduct, Christ 's philosophy purified the

fountain at its source-clea nsed the heart.







  He recognized that our religion is a religion of the heart, that it is

propagated from heart to heart; and he recognized, too, that the heart controls

human life. Jefferson was great in his intellect. I know of no mind that our

Nation has produced that could express itself with more clearness, or with more

logic; but I believe that there was in Jefferson that which was greater than

his head. It was his heart. Greater than his intellect was his love for all

mankind.







  It has been said that it marks an epoch in history when God lets loose a

thinker in the world. God let loose a thinker when Jefferson was born. Carlyle

says that thought is stronger than artillery parks; that thought moulds the

world like soft clay; that it writes and unwrites laws, makes and unmakes

parliaments -and that back of every great thought is love; that love is the

ruling force in the world. I believe it is true. I believe that Jefferson's

greatness rests more upon his love of human kind than upon his intellect-gr eat

as was his intellect, and that he was great because his heart was big enough to

embrace the world. And the people loved him 







            Religious Freedom        ix







" because he first loved them. '' He wanted our religion to rest on the basis

of love and not on the basis of force ; and when we get down to the foundation

of our governmen t, and the foundation of our religion, we find that they alike

rest on the doctrine of human brotherhoo d-on the doctrine "`that all men are

created equal, " " that they are endowed by their creator with certain

inalienable rights, ' 'rights that governmen t did not give, rights that

governmen t cannot take away; that the object of governmen t is to secure to

the individual the enjoyment of his inalienable rights, and that governmen ts

derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. But all of these

things rest upon that conception of human brotherhoo d which one cannot have

unless he has the love that is back of every great thought. I believe that,

when Jefferson assisted in establishin g religious freedom, he assisted in

giving to our governmen t its strongest support. Chain the conscience, bind the

heart, and you cannot have for the support of our form of governmen t the

strength and the enthusiasm it deserves. But let conscience be free to commune

with its God, let the heart be free to send forth its love, and the conscience

and the heart will be the best defenders of a governmen t resting upon the

consent of the governed.







  I believe that Jefferson gave a complete theory of governmen t when he gave

us the doctrine of the Declaration of Independe nce, and he gave us the 













 x      The Statute for Establishin g







two great supports of free governmen t when he gave us universal education and

an unfettered conscience. I am glad that the Jefferson Memorial Association is

going to erect a monument to his memory. I say going to erect it, because I

cannot believe that the American people need more than an opportunit y to

contribute to insure their contributio n. I want this monument to be in keeping

with the services of the man. I want it to stand as high as the monuments

erected to warriors. I want it to testify to the world that the heroes of peace

are as great as the heroes of war; that those who save human life are as great

as those who take it, even though they take it in defense of a righteous cause.

I want this monument to testify that a man can live for his country as well as

die for his country.







  But, anxious as I am that the Memorial Association shall erect a monument

worthy of Jefferson, I thank God that Jefferson's memory needs no marble or

bronze to perpetuate it. Erect your monument as high as you can, make it of

material as enduring as you may, time will finally destroy it; the years will

come and go, and at last that monument will disappear; but there is in the

hearts of the people a monument that time cannot touch, and this monument,

growing as the world grows, increasing as civilization increases, is a greater

monument than the hand of man can rear. And as people measure the influence of

Jefferson upon the destinies of the human race, they will be 













           Religious Freedom         xi







convinced that the Bible is true when it says that "it is more blessed to give

than to receive, '' for he gave the largest measure of service that man ever

gave to man.







































                                              Jefferson at Forty-eight



Reproduce d from the Original Painting by Charles Wilson Peale, in the

Collection



of Independe nce Hall, Philadelphia.  Painted while Jefferson was Secretary of

State (1790-1792)



















































































































CONTENTS.











                                                                               

                                   PAGE



THE STATUTE FOR ESTABLISH ING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.



 By Hon. William Jennings Bryan                        i







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED



STATES (1789-1826)                            1-446







To the President of the United States (George



Washington ), December 15, 1789                        1



To the Rev. Charles Clay, Jan. 27, 1790                        3



To the President of the United States, Feb. 14,1790                4 



To John Jay, Feb.14,1790                        5



To John Jay, Feb.14,1790                        5



To William Hunter, Mayor of Alexandria, March,1790                 6



To Thomas Mann Randolph, March 28,1790                        7



To George Joy, March 31 , 1790                        9



To Doctor Willard, April 1, 1 790                        11



To the Marquis de La Fayette, April 2, 1790                        11



To Madame de Corny, April 2, 1790                        13



To Madame la Comtesse D'Houdetot, April 2,  1790                15



To Madame la Duchesse D'Auville, April z, 1790                16



To the Duke de La Rochefouca ult, April 3 ,1790                18



To the Count de Montmorin, April 6, 1790                        19



To William Carmichael, April 11 1790                        21



To Ferdinand Grand, April 23, 1790                        23



To the Marquis de La Luzerrie, April 30, 1790                        25



To William Short, April 30, 1790                        27



To Thomas Mann Randolph, May 30, 1790                        29













xiv           Contents







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES (1789-1826) -Continued .



 To William Short, June 6, 1790                        33



 To Colonel George Mason, June 13, 1790                        35



 To David Rittenhous e, June 14, 1790                        37



 To David Rittenhous e, June 20, 1790                        38



 To James Monroe, June 20, 1790                        42.



To John Coffin Jones, June 23, 1790                        45



To C. W. F. Dumas, June 23, 1790                        46



To Robert Leslie, June 27,1790                        48



To Benjamin Vaughan, June 27, 1790                        49 



To Dr. George Gilmer, June 27, 1790                        52 



To Elias Boudinot June 29, 1790                        54 



To David Rittenhous e, June 30, 1790                        55



To William Short, July 1,1790                        56



To Colonel Nicholas Lewis, July 4, 1790                        57



To Edward Rutledge, Esq., July 4,1790                        59



To C. W. F. Dumas, July 13, 1790                        62



To Dr. George Gilmer, July 25,1790                        63



To William Short, July 26, 1790                        65



To William Carmichael, August 2, 1790                        70 



To Louis de Pinto, August 7, 1790                        73



To Joshua Johnson, August 7, 1790                        76 



To William Short, August '10, 1790                        78



To Colonel David Humphreys , August 11, 1790                82



To Gouverneu r Morris, August 12, 1790                        84



To the Attorneys of the United States for the 



Several Districts, August 12, 1790                        86



To Thomas Mann Randolph, August 14,1790                        88



To Governor John Hancock, August 24,1790                        89 



Circular to the Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the 



United States, August 26, 1790                        91



To William Short, August 26, 1790                        94



 To the Secretary of War (Henry Knox), August  26,1790                99 













               Contents             xv







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES  (1789- 1826)-Continued.  

                                                                    PAGE 



To Monsieur La Forest, August 30, 1790                        101 



To John Bondfield, August 31, 1790                        103 



To José Ignacio de Viar, October 27, 1790                        104 



To the President of the United States, October 27,1790                104 



To Frederick Kinloch, November 26, 1790                        106 



To Gouverneu r Morris, November 26, 1790                        107



 To Count de Moustier, December 3, 1790                        109



 To Noah Webster, at Hartford, Dec.4, 1790                        111



 To Gouverneu r Morris, December I 7, I 1790                        115



 To Joshua Johnson, December 17,  1790                        117



 To Joshua Johnson, Dec. 23, 1790                        120 



To Alexander Hamilton, December 29, 1790                        121



 To William Short, Jan. 23, 1790                        122



 To Colonel George Mason, February 4, 1790                        123



 To Charles Hellstedt, Swedish Consul, Feb. 14,                126



 To Ebenezer Hazard, Feb. 18, 1791                        127



 To ----- ,------- Feb. 19, 1791                        128



 To Governor John Hancock, Feb.20, 1791                        131



 To Monsieur de Pinto, Feb. 21, 1791                        132



 To Philip Freneau, Feb.28, 1791                        133 



To the Count de Moustier, March 2, 1790                        134



 To Harry Innes, March 7, 1790                        135



 To the President of the National Assembly of France, March 8, 1790            

   137 



To Governor Quesada (Governor of Florida), March 10, 1790                138



To the Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton), March 12, 1790       

139



To Major Peter Charles L'Enfant, March -, 1791                140



To William Carmichael, March 12, 1791                        141



To William Short, March 12, 1790                        143 













xvi            Contents







LETTERS  WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED 



STATES (1789-1826)-Continued                                                   

                               PAGE To Colonel James Innes, March 13, 1791     

          145 



To William Short, March 15, 1791                        146



To William Short, March 19, 1791                        149



To Dr. Caspar Wistar, March 20, 1791                        151



To Alexander Martin (Governor of North Carolina), Mar. 26, 1790               

152 



To the President of the United States, March 27, 1790                153 



To William Lewis, March 31, 1791                        156



To the President of the United States,·April 2, 1790                157



To Major Peter Charles L'Enfant, April lo, 1790                162



To the President of the United States, April 10, 1791                163 



Extract of a letter from William Short to Thomas



Jefferson, Secretary of State, dated Amsterdam, January 24, 1790               

166 



To William Carmichael, April II, 1791                        174



To Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, April 15, 1791                177



To the President of the United States, April 17, 1791                178



To the President of the United States, April 24, 1791                182



To William Short, April 25, 1791                        185



To the President of the United States, May I, 1791                189 



To the Attorney of the District of Kentucky, May 7, 1791                191



To the President of the United States, May 8, 1791                192



To Jeremiah Wadsworth, May 11, 1791                        195 



To C. W. F. Dumas, May 13, 1791                        196



To Thomas Barclay, May 13, 1791                        199 













 Xvii              Contents







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES (1789-1826) -Continued .  

                                                                        PAGE



Letter from the President to the Emperor of Morocco,



 referred to in the letter to Mr. Barclay                        202



To Thomas Mann Randolph, June 5, 1791                        204



To Colonel James Monroe, July Io, 1791                        206



 To Colonel David Humphreys , July 13, 1791                        209



 To John Adams, July 17,, 1791                        212



 To Gouverneu r Morris, July 26, 1791                        215



 To William Short, July 28, 1791                        216



 To Thomas Paine, July 29, 1791                        223



 To the President of the United States, July 31,1791                225



 To General Henry Knox, August Io, 1791                        226



 To Colonel John Harvie, August 14, 1791                        228 



To William Carmichael, August 24, 1791                        229



 To Sir John Sinclair, August 24, 1791                        230



 To Edward Rutledge, August 25, 1791                        232



 To Messrs. Johnson, Stuart and Carroll, August 28, 1791                234 



To William Short, August 29,.1791                        236



To Monsieur de La Motte, August 30, 1791                        238



To Gouverneu r Morris, August 30, 1791                        240



To Benjamin Banneker, August 30, 1791                        241



To John Adams, August 30, 1791                        242



To Admiral Paul Jones, August 31, 1791                        245



To Monsieur de Ternant, Minister Plenipotentiary 



of France, September I, 1791                        246 



To Thomas Newton, September 8, 1791                        247



 To George Hammond, Oct.26, 1791                        249



 To James Madison, Nov. I, 1791                        250 



To the President of the United States,  Nov.6, 1791                251



 To Major Thomas Pinckney, Nov.6, 1791                        252



 To the President of the United States, Nov.7, 1791                253 









xviii           Contents







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES             ( 1789-

1826)-Continued                                                                

             PAGE 



To Messrs. Johnson, Stuart and Carroll, Nov: 21, 1791                256 



To Andrew Ellicott, Nov.2 1, 1791                        257



 To William Short, Nov.24, 1791                        257



 To Colonel David Humphreys , Nov.29, 1791                        264



 To Daniel Smith, Nov. 29, 1791                        266



 To the Attorney General (Edmund Randolph), Dec.5, 1791                266



 The Memorial of the British Minister                        267 



To A. McAlister, Dec. 22, 1791                        274



 To Archibald Stuart, Dec.23, 1791                        275



 To the President of the United States, Dec.23, 1791                278



 To the President of the United States,.Jan. ..4, 1791                282



 To William Short, Jan.5, 1791                        283



 To Thomas Pinckney, Jan. 17, 1791                        285



 To William Short, Jan. 23, 1791                        286 



To Gouverneu r Morris, Jan. 23, 1791                        290



 To Monsieur de Montmorin, Jan.23, 1792                        294



 To Don José de Jaudenes and Don José Ignacio de Viar, Jan.25, 1792        295 



To William Short, Jan. 28, 1791                        296 



To Colonel Alexander Hamilton, February -, 1791                298



 To the British Minister (George Hammond), Feb. 2, 1791                299



 To the President of the United States, Feb.4, 1791                300



 To the President of the United States, Feb.7, 1791                304 



To the British Minister .(George Hammond),. February 25, 1791               

306 

















xix                                    Contents







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING To THE UNITED STATES (1789-1826) -Continued .  

                                                                          PAGE 



To Messrs. Johnson, Carroll and Stuart, March 6, 1792                 307



To Gouverneu r Morris, M arch 10, 1792                        310



To William Carmichael and William Short, March 18, 1791                313



To William Short, March 18,1792                        314



To William Short, March 18, 1792                        315



To José Ignacio de Viar and José de Jaudenes; March 23, 1792                

318



To Colonel Pickering, March 28,1792



To George Hammond, March 31,1792                        320



To Charles Pinckney (Governor of South Carolina), April 1, 1792               

321 



To the Commission ers of Washington , April 9, 1792                322



To Colonel Nicholas Lewis, April 12,1792                        324 



To the President of the United States, April 1792                325



To William Carmichael and William Short, April 4, 1792                326



To Gouverneu r Morris, April 28,1792                        334



To the President of the United States, May 16, 1792                337



To José Ignacio de Viar and José de Jaudenes, May 17, 1791                338



To the President of the United States, May 18, 1792                340



To the President of the United States, May 23, 1791                341



Circular to the American Consuls, May 31,1792                350 



To John Paul Jones, June 1, 1792                        353



To James Madison, June 4, 1792                        364 



To Thomas Barclay, June 11,1792                        366 













xx              Contents







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED STATES (1789-1826) -Continued .



 To Thomas Pinckney, June 11, 1792                        368



 To Thomas Pinckney, June 11,1792                        374 



To Thomas Pinckney, June 14, 1791                        375 



To Gouverneu r Morris, June 16, 1792                        378



 To the Marquis de La Fayette, June 16, 1792                        380



 To Joel Barlow, June 20, 1792                        382



 To Peter Carr, June 22, 1791                        383



 To F. P. Van Berckel, July 2,1792                        385



 To His Excellency the Governor of Georgia (Edward Telfair),



 July 3,1792                                387



 To José Ignacio de Viar and José de Jaudenes, July 9,1792                388



 To Colonel David Humphreys , July 12,1792                        389



 To General Henry Lee (Governor of Virginia), August 13,1792                390



 To Charles Godfrey Paleske, August 19, 1792                        391



 To the Minister Plenipotent iary of France (Jean de Ternant),Aug. 27, 1792    

   393



 To the President of the United States, Sept. 9, 1791                394 



To Archibald Stuart, Sept. 9,1792                        409 



To Charles Clay, Sept.11, 1792                        410 



To Edmund Randolph, Sept.17, 1792



To the President of the United States, Sept. 18, 1792                412



 To Charles C. Pinckney, Oct.8,1792                        412



 To Thomas Pinckney, Oct.12,1792                        414 



To William Carmichael and William Short, Oct. 14,1792                416



 To Gouverneur Morris, Oct.15, 1792                        419



 To Jean de Ternant, Oct. 16,1792                        421



 To José Ignacio de Viar and José de Jaudenes,



 Commission ers of Spain, Nov.1, 1792                        422



 To the President of the United States, Nov. 2, 1792                423 













               Contents             xxi







 LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER RETURNING TO THE UNITED



STATES (1789-1826) -Continued                                                  

              Page.







To William Carmichael and William Short, Nov. 3,1792                425



To the President of the United States, Nov. 3, 1792                427



To the Mayor, Municipal Officers and Procureur



of the Community of Marseilles, Nov. 6,1792                        433



To Colonel David Humphreys , Nov. 6, 1792                        434



To Gouverneu r Morris, Nov. 7, 1792                        436



To Colonel David Humphreys , Nov. 8,1792                        438



To T. M. Randolph, Jr., Nov. 16, 1792                        439



To Jean de Ternant, Nov. 20, 1792                        440



To Thomas Pinckney, Dec. 3, 1792                        443



To Dr. George Gilmer, Dec. 11, 1792                        444



To John Francis Mercer, Dec. 19, 1792                        445





































JEFFERSON 'S WORKS.







LETTERS WRITTEN AFTER HIS RETURN



TO THE UNITED STATES.



1789-1826.



________







TO THE PRESIDENT .







CHESTERFIELD, December 15, 1789.







SIR,-I have received at this place the honor of your letters of October the

13th and November the 30th, and am truly flattered by your nomination of me to

the very dignified office of Secretary of State; for which, permit me here to

return you my humble thanks. Could any circumstan ce seduce me to overlook the

disproporti on between its duties and my talents, it would be the encourage

ment of your choice. But when I contemplat e the extent of that office,

embracing as it does the principal mass of domestic administrat ion, together

with the foreign, I cannot be insensible of my inequality to it ; and I should

enter on it with gloomy foreboding s from the criticisms and censures of a

public, just indeed in their intentions,. but sometimes







  VOL. VIII-I 













  2         Jefferson's Works







misinforme d and misled, and always too respectable to be neglected. I cannot

but foresee the possibility that this may end disagreeabl y for me, who, having

no motive to public service but the public satisfaction , would certainly

retire the moment that satisfaction should appear to languish. On the other

hand, I feel a degree of familiarity with the duties of my present office, as

far at least as I am capable of understand ing its duties. The ground I have

already passed over, enables me to see my way into that which is before me. The

change of governmen t too, taking place in a country where it is exercised,

seems to open a possibility of procuring from the new rulers, some new

advantages in commerce, which may be agreeable to our countryme n. So that as

far as my fears, my hopes, or my inclinations might enter into this question, I

confess they would not lead me to prefer a change.







  But it is not for an individual to choose his post. You are to marshal us as

may best be for the public good ; and it is only in the case of its being

indifferent to you, that I would avail myself of the option you have so kindly

offered in your letter. If you think it better to transfer me to another post,

my inclination must be no obstacle; nor shall it be, if there is any desire to

suppress the office I now hold, or to reduce its grade. In either of these

cases, be so good only as to signify to me by another line your ultimate wish,

and I shall conform to it cordially. If it should be to remain at New York, my 













             Correspond ence           3







chief comfort will be to work under your eye, my only shelter the authority of

your name, and the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and implicitly

executed by me. Whatever you may be pleased to decide, I do not see that the

matters which have called me hither, will permit me to shorten the stay I

originally asked; that is to say, to set out on my journey northward till the

month of March. As early as possible in that month, I shall have the honor of

paying my respects to you in New York. In the meantime, I have that of

tendering you the homage of those sentiments of respectful attachment with

which I am, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















         TO THE REV. CHARLES CLAY.







             MONTICELL O, January 27, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I had hoped that during my stay here I could have had the pleasure

of seeing you in Bedford, but I find it will be too short for that. Besides

views of business in that country, I had wished again to visit that greatest of

our curiosities, the Natural Bridge, and did not know but you might have the

same desire. I do not know yet how I am to be disposed of, whether kept at New

York, or sent back to Europe. If the former, one of my happiness would be the

possibility of seeing you there ; for I understand you are a candidate for the

representa tion of your district in Congress. 













    4            Jefferson's Works







I cannot be with you to give you my vote, nor do I know who are to be the

competitors , but I am sure I shall be contented with such a representa tive as

you will make ; because I know you are too honest a patriot not to wish to see

our country prosper by any means, though they be not exactly those you would

have preferred; and that you are too well informed a politician, too good a

judge of men, not to know, that the ground of liberty is to be gained by

inches, that we must be contented to secure what we can get, from time to time,

and eternally press forward for what is yet to get. It takes time to persuade

men to do even what is for their own good. Wishing you every prosperity in

this, and in all your other undertakin gs (for I am sure from my knowledge of

you they Will always be just), I am, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir,

your friend and servant.























    TO · PRESIDENT WASHINGTO N.







            MONTICELL O, February 14, 1790.







  SIR,-I have duly received the letter of the 21st of January With which you

have honored me, and. no longer hesitate to undertake the office to which you

are pleased to call me. Your desire e that I should come on as quickly as

possible, is a sufficient reason for me to postpone every matter of business,

however pressing, which admits postponeme nt. Still, it will. be the close of

the ensuing week before I can 













             Correspond ence           5







get away, and then I shall have to go by the way of Richmond, which will

lengthen my road. I shall not fail, however, to go on with all the despatch

possible, nor to satisfy you, I hope, when I shall have the honor of seeing you

in New York, that the circumstan ces which prevent my immediate departure, are

not under my control. I have now that of being, with sentiments of the most

perfect respect and attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble

servant.















   TO JOHN JAY, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED







           STATES.







            MONTICELL O, February 14, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I am honored with your favor of December 12, and thank you for your

friendly congratulat ions on my return to my native country, as well as for the

interest you are pleased to express in the appointmen t with which I have been

honored. I have thought it my duty to undertake it, though with no prepossess

ions in favor of my talents for executing it to the satisfaction of the public.

With respect to the young gentlemen in the office of foreign affairs, their

possession and your recommend ation are the strongest titles. But I suppose the

ordinance establishin g my office, allows but one assistant ; and I should be

wanting in candor to you and them, were I not to tell you that another

candidate has been proposed to me, on ground that can













  6          Jefferson's Works







not but command respect. I know neither him nor them, and my hope is, that, as

but one can be named, the object is too small to occasion either mortificatio n

or disappoint ment to either. I am sure I shall feel more pain at not being

able to avail myself of the assistance but of one of the gentlemen, than they

will at the betaking themselves to some better pursuit. I ask it of your

friendship, my dear Sir, to make them sensible of my situation, and to accept

yourself assurances of the sincere esteem and respect with which I have the

honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















  TO WM. HUNTER, ESQ., MAYOR OF ALEXANDRI A.







              ALEXANDRI A, March I I, I 790.







  SIR,-Accep t my sincere thanks for yourself and the worthy citizens of

Alexandria, for their kind congratulat ions on my return to my native country.







  I am happy they have felt benefits from the encourage ment of our commerce,

which have been given by an allied nation. But truth and candor oblige me, at

the same time, to declare, .you are indebted for these encourage ments solely

to the friendly disposition s of that nation, which has shown itself ready on

every occasion to adopt all arrangeme nts which might strengthen our ties of

mutual interest and friendship.







  Convinced that the republican is the only form 













            Correspond ence            7







of governmen t which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of

mankind, my prayers and efforts shall be cordially distributed to the support

of that we have so happily established . It is indeed an animating thought,

that while we are securing the rights of ourselves and our posterity, we are

pointing out the way to struggling nations, who wish like us to emerge from

their tyrannies also. Heaven help their struggles, and lead them, as it has

done us, triumphant ly through them.







  Accept, Sir, for yourself and the citizens of Alexandria, the homage of my

thanks for their civilities, and the assurance of those sentiments of respect

and attachment with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















            TO T. M. RANDOLPH.







               New York, March 28, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I arrived here on the 21st instant, after as laborious a journey of

a fortnight from Richmond as I ever went through ; resting only one day at

Alexandria, and another at Baltimore. I found my carriage and horses at

Alexandria, but a snow of eighteen inches deep falling the same night, I saw

the impossibilit y of getting on in my own carriage, so left it there, to be

sent to me by water, and had my horses led on to this place, taking my passage

in the stage, though relieving myself a little sometimes by mounting my horse.

The roads through 













8            Jefferson's Works







the whole way were so bad that we could never go more than three miles an hour,

sometimes not more than two, and in the night but one. My first object was to

look out a house in the Broadway, if possible, as being the centre of my

business. Finding none there vacant for the present, I have taken a small one

in Maiden Lane, which may give me time to look about me. Much business had been

put by for my arrival, so that I found myself all at once involved under an

accumulatio n of it. When this shall be got through, I will be able to judge

whether the ordinary business of my department will leave me any leisure. I

fear there will be little.







  Letters from Paris to the 25th of December; inform me that the revolution

there was still advancing with a steady pace. There had been two riots since my

departure. The one on the 5th and 6th of October, which occasioned the royal

family to remove to Paris, in which nine or ten of the Gardes de Corps fell,

and among these a Chevalier de Daricourt, brother of Madame de La Dillatte, and

of Mademoisell e Daricourt friend. The second was on the 21st of the same

month, in which a baker had been hung by the mob. On this occasion, the

governmen t (I. e. the National Assembly) proclaimed Martial Law in Paris, and

had two of the ringleaders of the mob seized, tried, and hung, which was

effected without any movement on the part of the people. Others were still to

be tried. The troubles in Brabant become serious. The insurgents













  9           Correspond ence







gents have routed the regular troops in every rencounter .







  Congress is principally occupied by the treasury report. The assumption of

the State debts has been voted affirmativel y in the first instance, but it is

not certain it will hold its ground through all the changes of the bill when it

shall be brought in. I have recommend ed Mr. D. R. to the President for the

office he desired, in case of a vacancy. It seemed, however, as if the

President had had no intimation before, that a vacancy was expected. ** * * *  

Yours affectionat ely.















             TO GEORGE JOY.







              NEW York, March 31, 1790.







  SIR,-I have considered your application for sea letters for the ship Eliza,

and examined into the precedents which you supposed might influence the

determinati on. The resolution of Congress, which imposes this duty on the

Secretary for Foreign Affairs, provides expressly, "that it be made to appear

to him by oath or affirmation, or by such other evidence as shall by him be

deemed satisfactor y, that the vessel is commanded by officers, citizens of the

United States. '' Your affidavit satisfies me that one of the officers is a

citizen of the United States; but you are unacquaint ed with the others and

without evidence as to them, and even without a presumptio n that they are

citizens, except so far 













10          Jefferson's Works .







as arises on the circumstan ces of the captain's being an American, and the

ship sailing from an American port. Now, I cannot in my conscience say, that

this is evidence of the fact, satisfactor y to my mind. The precedents of

relaxation by Mr. Jay, were all between the date of the resolution of Congress

(February the 12th, 1788) and his public advertisem ent, announcing the

evidence which must be produced. Since this last, the proceeding s have

been·unifo rm and exact. Having perfect confidence in your good faith, and

therefore without a suspicion of any fraud intended in the present case, I

could have wished sincerely to grant the sea letter; but besides the letter of

the law which ties me down, the public security against a partial dispensatio n

of justice, depends on its being dispensed by certain rules. The slightest

deviation in one circumstan ce, becomes a precedent for another, that for a

third, and so on, without bounds. A relaxation in a case where it is certain no

fraud is intended, is laid hold of by others, afterwards, to cover fraud. I

hope, therefore, you will be sensible of the necessity of my adhering to the

rules which have been published and practiced by my predecesso r ; and that I

am with great respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.











11            Correspond ence











      TO DOCTOR WILLARD.







                NEW York, April 1, 1790.







  I have duly received the letter wherein you are so good as to notify to me

the honor done me by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in electing me

one of their members, together with the diploma therein enclosed; and I beg

leave through you, Sir, to return to the Academy the homage of my thanks for

their favor, and to express to them the grateful sense I have of it. I only

regret the small prospect I have of being useful to them, engaged as I

continually am in occupation s less pleasing to me, and which would be better

performed by others. Unacquaint ed with the duties which the election into your

Academy imposes on me, I can only express my desire of fulfilling them on their

being made to me.







  Mr. Read has explained to me his drawings and models. They prove that he

merits the character you are pleased to give of him. He waits at present the

passage of a law for securing to inventors the benefit of their own ingenuity.

I have the honor to be, with the most respectful esteem, Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















       TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE .







                NEW York, April 2, 1790.







  Behold me, my dear friend, elected Secretary of State, instead of returning

to the far more agreeable 













I 2          Jefferson's Works







position which placed me in the daily participatio n of your friendship. I

found the appointmen t in the newspaper s the day of my arrival in Virginia. I

had indeed been asked while in France, whether I would accept of any appointmen

t at home, and I had answered that, not meaning to remain long where I was, I

meant it to be the last office I should ever act in. Unfortunat ely this letter

had not arrived at the time of arranging the new Governmen t. I expressed

freely to the President my desire to return. He left me free, but still showing

his own desire. This, and the concern of others, more general than I had a

right to expect, induced, after three months parleying, to sacrifice my own

inclinations . I have been here, then, ten days harnessed in new gear. Wherever

I am, or ever shall be, I shall be sincere in my friendship to you and to your

nation. I think with others, that nations are to be governed with regard to

their own interests, but I am convinced that it is their interest, in the long

run, to be grateful, faithful to their engagemen ts, even in the worst of

circumstan ces, and honorable and generous always. If I had not known that the

head of our governmen t was in these sentiments, and that his national and

private ethics were the same, I would never have been where I am. I am sorry to

tell you his health is less firm than it used to be. However, there is nothing

in it to give alarm. The opposition to our new Constitutio n has almost totally

disappeare d. Some few indeed had gone such lengths in 













  13                    Correspond ence







their declaration s of hostility; that they feel it awkward perhaps to come

over; but the amendment s proposed by Congress, have brought over almost all

their followers. If the President can be preserved a few years till habits of

authority and obedience can be established generally, we have nothing to fear.

The little vautrien, Rhode Island, will come over with a little more time. Our

last news from Paris is of the 8th of January. So far it seemed that your

revolution had got along with a steady peace ; meeting indeed occasional

difficulties and dangers, but we are not to expect to be translated from

despotism to liberty in a feather-be d. I have never feared for the ultimate

result, though I have feared for you personally. Indeed, I hope you will never

see such another 5th or 6th of October. Take care of yourself, my dear friend,

for though I think your nation would in any event work out her salvation, I am

persuaded, were she to lose you, it would cost her oceans of blood, and years

of confusion and anarchy. Kiss and bless your dear children for me. Learn them

to be as you are, a cement between our two nations. I write to Madame de

LaFayette, so have only to add assurances of the respect of your affectionat e

friend and humble servant.















             MADAME DE CORNY.







                 NEW York, April 2, 1790.



  I had the happiness, my dear friend, to arrive in Virginia, after a voyage of

twenty-six days only, of 













14            Jefferson's Works







the finest autumn weather it was possible to have; the wind having never blown

harder than we would have desired it. On my arrival I found my name in the

newspaper s announced as Secretary of State. I made light of it, supposing I

had only to say " No, " and there would be an end of it. It turned out,

however, otherwise. For though I was left free to return to France, if I

insisted on it, yet I found it better in the end to sacrifice my own

inclinations to those of others. After holding off, therefore, near three

months, I acquiesced. I did not write to you while this question was in

suspense, because I was in constant hope of being able to say to you certainly

that I should return. Instead of that, I am now to say certainly the contrary,

and instead of greeting you personally in Paris, I am to write you a letter of

adieu. Accept, then, my dear Madam, my cordial adieu, and my grateful thanks

for all the civilities and kindnesses I have received from you. They have been

greatly more than I had a right to expect, and they have excited in me a warmth

of esteem which it was imprudent in me to have given way to for a person whom I

was one day to be separated from. Since it is so, continue towards me those

friendly sentiments I have always flattered myself you entertained ; let me

hear from you sometimes, assured that I shall always feel a warm interest in

your happiness. Your letter of November 25 afflicts me; but I hope that a

revolution so pregnant with the general happiness of the nation, will not in

the 













            Correspond ence           15







end injure the interests of persons who are so friendly to the general good of

mankind as yourself and M. de Corny. Present to him my most affectionat e

esteem, and ask a place for me in his recollection . * * Your affectionat e

friend and humble servant.







      MADAME LA COMTESSE D'HOUDET OT.







                NEW York, April 2, 1790.







  Being called by our Governmen t to assist in its domestic administrat ion,

instead of paying my respects to you in person as I had hoped, I am to write

you a letter of adieu. Accept, I pray you, Madam, my grateful acknowledg ments

for the manifold kindnesses by which you added so much to the happiness of my

stay in Paris. I have found here a philosophic revolution, philosophic ally

effected. Yours, though a little more turbulent, has, I hope by this time,

issued in success and peace. Nobody prays for it more sincerely than I do, and

nobody will do more to cherish a union with a nation, dear to us through many

ties, and now more approximat ed by the change in its governmen t.







  I found our friend Doctor Franklin in his bed cheerful and free from pain,

but still in his bed. He took a lively interest in the details I gave him of

your revolution. I observed his face often flushed in the course of it. He is

much emaciated. Monsieur de Crevecoeur is well, but a little apprehensi ve that

the spirit of reforming and economizing may reach his 













16                Jefferson's Works







office. A good man will suffer if it does. Permit me, Madame la Comtesse, to

place here my sincere respects to Monsieur le Comte Houdetot and to Monsieur de

St. Lambert. The philosophy of the latter will have been greatly gratified to

see a regeneratio n of the condition of man in Europe so happily begun in his

own country. Repeating to you, Madam, my sense of your goodness to me, and my

wishes to prove it on every occasion, adding my sincere prayers that Heaven may

bless you with many years of life and health, I pray you to accept here the

homage of those sentiments of respect and attachment with which I have the

honor to be, Madame la Comtesse, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















     TO MADAME LA DUCHESSE D'AUVILLE .







                  NEW York, April 2, 1790.







  I had hoped, Madame la Duchesse, to have again had the pleasure of paying my

respects to you in Paris, but the wish of our Governmen t that I should take a

share in its administrat ion, has become a law to me. Could I have persuaded

myself that public offices were made for private convenienc e, I should

undoubtedl y have preferred a continuanc e in that which placed me nearer to

you ; but believing, on the contrary, that a good citizen should take his stand

where the public authority marshals him, I have acquiesced. Among the

circumstan ces which will reconcile me to my new position, are the opportuniti

es













                                   Correspond ence          17







ties it will give me of cementing the friendship between our two nations. Be

assured, that to do this is the first wish of my heart. I have but one system

of ethics for men and for nations-to be grateful, to be faithful to all

engagemen ts under all circumstan ces, to be open and generous, promoting in

the long run even the interests of both ; and I am sure it promotes their

happiness. The change in your governmen t w ill approximat e us to one another.

You have had some checks, some horrors since I left you; but the way to Heaven,

you know, has always been said to be strewed with thorns. Why your nation have

had fewer than any other on earth, I do not know, unless it be that it is the

best on earth. I assure you, Madam, moreover, that·I consider yourself

personally as with the foremost of your nation in every virtue. It is not

flattery, my heart knows not that  it is a homage to sacred truth, it is a

tribute I pay with cordiality to a character in which I saw but one error; it

was that of treating me with a degree of favor I did not merit. Be assured I

shall always retain a lively sense of your goodness to me, which was a

circumstan ce of principal happiness to me during my stay in Paris. I hope that

by this time you have seen that my prognostic ations of a successful issue to

your revolution, have been verified. I feared for you during a short interval;

but after the declaration of the army, though there might be episodes of

distress, the denouemen ts was out of doubt. Heaven send that the glorious

example of







   VOL. VIII-2 













18                                   Jefferson's Works







your country may be but the beginning of the history of European liberty, and

that you may live many years in health and happiness to see at length that

Heaven did not make man in its wrath. Accept the homage of those sentiments of

sincere and respectful esteem with which I have the honor to be, Madame la

Duchesse, your most affectionat e and obedient humble servant.











     TO THE DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOU CAULT.







                 NEW York, April 3, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-A call to take a part in the domestic administrat ion of our

Governmen t, obliges me to abandon the expectation of paying my respects to you

in person, in Paris. Though removed to a greater distance in future, and

deprived of the pleasure and advantages of your conversatio n and society,

which contribute d so much to render my residence in Paris agreeable, I shall

not be the less anxious for your health and happiness, and for the prosperous

issue· of the great revolution in which you have taken so zealous and

distinguish ed a part. By this time I hope it is happily concluded, and that

the new constitutio n, after receiving the finishing hand from the National

Assembly, is now putting into regular motion by the convocatio n of a new

legislature. I find my countryme n as anxious for your success as they ought to

be; and thinking with the National Assembly in all points except that of a

single house 













            Correspond ence           19







of legislation. They think their own experience has so decidedly proved the

necessity of two Houses to prevent the tyranny of one, that they fear that this

single error will shipwreck your new constitutio n. I am myself persuaded that

theory and practice are not at variance in this instance, and that you will

find it necessary hereafter to add another branch. But I presume you provide a

facility of amending your constitutio n, and perhaps the necessity may be

altogether removed by a council of revision well constituted .







  Accept, Sir, my sincere thanks for all your kindnesses , permit me to place

here those which I owe to Madame la Duchesse de La Rochefouca ult, and which I

render with the greatest cordiality. Were her system of ethics and of governmen

t the system of every one, we should have no occasion for governmen t at all. I

hope you will both live long years of health and happiness to see in full

ripeness the fruit of your own revolution, and also that which. seems

blossoming in other parts of Europe. Accept, both, the homage of that

affectionat e and respectful attachment with which I have the honor to be your

most obedient, and most humble servant.















        TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN .







                 NEW York, April 6, 1790.







  SIR,-The President of the United States having thought proper to assign to me

other functions than those of their Minister PLENIPOTE NTIARY near the King, 













20          Jefferson's Works







I have the honor of addressing to your Excellency my letters of recall, and of

beseeching you to be so good as to present them, with the homage of my

respectful adieus, to his Majesty.







  It is with great satisfaction that I find myself authorized to conclude, as I

had begun my mission, with assurances of the attachment of our governmen t to

the King and his people, and of its desire to preserve and strengthen the

harmony and good understand ing, which has hitherto so happily subsisted

between the two nations.







  Give me leave to place here, also, my acknowledg ments to your Excellency,

personally, for the facilities you have been pleased always to give in the

negotiation of the several matters I have had occasion to treat with you,

during my residence at your court. They were ever such as to evince, that the

friendly disposition s towards our republic which you manifested even from its

birth, were still found consistent with that patriotism of which you have

continued to give such constant and disinterest ed proofs. May this union of

interests forever be the patriot's creed in both countries. Accept my sincere

prayers that the King, with life and health, may be long blessed with so

faithful and able a servant, and you with a Prince, the model of royal

excellence; and permit me to retain to my latest hours, those sentiments of

affectionat e respect and attachment, with which I have the honor to be, your

Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant. 













             Correspond ence                                          21











     TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.







          New York, April 11, 1790.







  SIR,-A vessel being about to sail from this port for Cadiz, I avail myself of

it to inform you, that under the appointmen t of the President of the United

States, I have entered on the duties of Secretary of State, comprehen ding the

department of Foreign Affairs.







  Mr. Jay's letter of October the 2d, acknowledg ed the receipt of the last of

yours which have come to hand. Since that date he wrote you on the 7th of

December, enclosing a letter for Mr. Chiappe.







  The receipt of his letter of September the 9th, 1788, having never been

acknowledg ed, the contents of which were important and an answer wished for, I

send you herewith a duplicate, lest it should have miscarried.







  You will also receive herewith, a letter of credence for yourself, to be

delivered to the Count de Florida Blanca, after putting thereon the proper

address, with which I am unacquaint ed. A copy of it I: enclosed for your

information .







I beg leave to recommend the case of Don Blas Gonzalez to your good offices

with the court of Spain, enclosing you the documents necessary for its

illustration . You will perceive, that two vessels were sent from Boston in the

year 1787, on a voyage of discovery and commercial experiment in general, but

more particularl y to try a fur trade with the 













22          Jefferson's Works







Russian settlements , on the northwest coast of our continent, of which such

wonders had been published in Captain Cook's voyages, that it excited similar

expeditions from other countries also; and that the American vessels were

expressly forbidden to touch at any Spanish port, but in cases of extreme

distress. Accordingl y, through the whole of their voyage through the extensive

latitudes held by that crown, they never put into any port but in a single

instance. In passing near the island of Juan Fernandez, one of them was damaged

by a storm, her rudder broken, her masts disabled, and herself separated from

her companion. She put into the island to refit, and at the same time, to wood

and water, of which she began to be in want. Don Blas Gonzalez, after examining

her, and finding she had nothing on board but provisions and charts, and that

her distress was real, permitted her to stay a few days, to refit and take in

fresh supplies of wood and water. For this act of common hospitality, he was

immediately deprived of his governmen t, unheard, by superior order, and

remains still under disgrace. We pretend not to know the regulations of the

Spanish governmen t, as to the admission of foreign vessels into the ports of

their colonies; but the generous character of the nation is a security to us,

that their regulations can, in no instance, run counter to the laws of nature;

and among the first of her laws, is that which bids us to succor those in

distress. For an obedience to this law, Don Blas appears to have 













            Correspond ence           23







suffered; and we are satisfied, it is because his case has not been able to

penetrate to his Majesty's ministers, at least in its true colors. We would not

choose to be committed by a formal solicitation, but we would wish you to avail

yourself of any good opportunit y of introducin g the truth to the ear of the

minister, and of satisfying him, that a redress of this hardship on the

Governor, would be received here with pleasure, as a proof of respect to those

laws of hospitality which we would certainly observe in a like case, as a mark

of attention towards us, and of justice to an individual for whose sufferings

we cannot but feel.







  With the present letter, you will receive the public and other papers, as

usual, and I shall thank you in return, for a regular communicat ion of the

best gazettes published in Madrid.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem, Sir, your

most obedient, and most humble servant.















               TO MR. GRAND.







                 NEW York, April 23, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-You may remember that we were together at the Hotel de La Monnoye,

to see Mr. Drost strike coins in his new manner, and that you were so kind as

to speak with him afterwards on the subject of his coming to America. We are

now in a condition to establish a mint, and should be desire













   24         Jefferson's Works







ous of engaging him in it. I suppose him to be at present in the service of

Watts and Bolton, the latter of whom you may remember to have been present with

us at the Monnoye. I know no means of communicat ing our disposition s to Drost

so effectually as through your friendly agency, and therefore take the liberty

of asking you .to write to him, to know what emoluments he receives from Watts

and Bolton, and whether he would be willing to come to us for the same ? If he

will, you may give him an expectation , but without an absolute engagemen t,

that we will call for him immediately , and that with himself, we may probably

take and pay him for all the implements of coinage he may have, suited to our

purpose. If he asks higher terms, he will naturally tell you so, and what they

are; and we must reserve a right to consider of them. In either case, I will

ask your answer as soon as possible. I need not observe to you, that this

negotiation should be known to nobody but yourself, Drost and Mr. Short. The

good old Dr. Franklin, so long the ornament of our country, and I may say, of

the world, has at length closed his eminent career. He died on the 17th

instant, of an imposthume of his lungs, which having suppurated and burst, he

had not strength to throw off the matter, and was suffocated by it. His illness

from this imposthume was of sixteen days. Congress wear mourning for him, by a

resolve of their body.







  I beg you to present my friendly respects to 













           Correspond ence            25







Madame Grand, the elder and younger, and to your son, and believe me to be,

with sentiments of great esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your most obedient,

and most humble servant.















      TO THE MARQUIS DE LA LUZERNE.







               NEW York, April 30, 1790.







  SIR,-When in the course of your legation to the United States, your affairs

rendered it necessary that you should absent yourself awhile from that station,

we flattered ourselves with the hope that that absence was not final. It turned

out, in event, that the interests of your sovereign called for your talents and

the exercise of your functions, in another quarter. You were pleased to

announce this to the former Congress through their Secretary for Foreign

Affairs, at a time when that body was closing its administrat ion, in order to

hand it over to a governmen t then preparing on a different model. This

governmen t is now formed, organized, and in action ; and it considers among

its earliest duties, and assuredly among its most cordial, to testify to you

the regret which the people and governmen t of the United States felt at your

removal from among them ; a very general and sincere regret, and tempered only

by the consolation of your personal advanceme nt, which accompanie d it. You

will receive, Sir, by order of the President of the United States, as soon as

they can be prepared, a medal and chain of gold, 













26          Jefferson's Works







of which he desires your acceptance, in token of their esteem, and of the

sensibility with which they will ever recall your legation to their memory.







  But as this compliment may hereafter be rendered to other missions, from

which yours was distinguish ed by eminent circumstan ces, the President of the

United States wishes to pay you the distinguish ed tribute of an express

acknowledg ment of your services, and our sense of them. You came to us, Sir,

through all the perils which encompasse d us on all sides. You found us

struggling and suffering under difficulties, as singular and trying as our

situation was new and unprecede nted. Your magnanimo us nation had taken side

with us in the conflict, and yourself became the centre of our common councils,

the link which connected our common operations. In that position you labored

without ceasing, till all our labors were crowned with glory to your nation,

freedom to ours, and benefit to both. During the whole, we had constant

evidence of your zeal, your abilities, and your good faith. We desire to convey

this testimony of it home to your own breast, and to that of your sovereign,

our best and greatest friend; and this I do, Sir, in the name, and by the

express instruction of the President of the United States.







  I feel how flattering it is to me, Sir, to be the organ of the public sense

on this occasion, and to be justified by that office, in adding to theirs, the

homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem with which 













             Correspond ence           27







I have the honor to be, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble

servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







                NEW York, April 30, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-My last letter to you was of the 6th instant, acknowledg ing the

receipt of your favors of the 2d and 6th of January. Since that, Mr. Jay has

put into my hands yours of the 12th of January, and I have received your note

of February the 10th, accompanyi ng some newspaper s.







  Mine of the 6th covered the President's letter to the King for my recall, and

my letters of leave for myself and of credence to you, for the Count de

Montmorin, with copies of them for your information . Duplicates of all these

accompany the present; and an original commission for you as chargé des

affaires, signed by the President. At the date of my former letters, I had not

had time to examine with minuteness the proper form of credentials under our

new Constitutio n: I governed myself, therefore, by foreign precedents ,

according to which a chargé des affaires is furnished with only a letter of·

credence from one Minister of Foreign Affairs to the other. Further researches

have shown me, that under our new Constitutio n, all commission s (or papers

amounting to that) must be signed by the President. You will judge whether any

explanation on this subject to M. de Montmorin be necessary. 













 28                                   Jefferson's Works







I enclose you also the copy of a letter written to the Marquis de La Luzerne,

to be communicat ed to the Count de Montmorin, and by him to the King, if he

thinks proper. , It has become necessary to determine on a present proper to be

given to diplomatic characters on their taking leave of us ; and it is

concluded that a medal and chain of gold will be the most convenient. I have,

therefore, to ask the favor of you to order the dies to be engraved with all

the despatch practicable . The medal must be of thirty lines diameter, with a

loop on the edge to receive the chain. On one side, must be the arms of the

United States, of which I send you a written description , and several

impression s in wax to render that more intelligible; round them, as a legend,

must be "The United States of America. '' The device of the other side we do

not decide on. One suggestion has been a Columbia (a fine female figure)

delivering the emblems of peace and commerce to a Mercury, with a legend "

Peace and Commerce '' circumscri bed, and the date of our republic, to wit, 4th

July, MDCCLXXVI . , subscribed as an exergum ; but having little confidence in

our own ideas in an art not familiar here, they are only suggested to you, to

be altered, or altogether postponed to such better device as you may approve,

on consulting with those who are in the habit and study of medals. Duvivier and

Dupré seem to be the best workmen ; perhaps the last is the best of the two. 













29             Correspond ence







  The public papers which accompany this, will give you fully the news of this

quar ter.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















       TO MR. THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH.







                New YORK, May 30, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I at length find myself, though not quite well, yet sufficiently so

to resume business in a moderate degree. I have, therefore, to answer your two

favors of April 23 and May 3, and in the first place to thank you for your

attention to the Paccan, Gloucester and European walnuts, which will be great

acquisition s at Monticello. I will still ask your attention to Mr. Foster's

boring machines, lest he should go away suddenly, and the opportunit y of

getting it be lost. I enquired of M Ir. Hamilton the quantity of coal imported

; but he tells me there are not returns as yet sufficient to ascertain it; but

as soon as there shall be I shall be informed. I am told there is a considerabl

e prejudice against our coal in these Northern States. I do not know whence it

proceeds ; perhaps from the want of attention to the different species, and an

ignorant application of them to cross purposes. I have not begun my meteorologi

cal diary, because I have not yet removed to the house I have taken. I remove

to-morrow; but as far as I can judge from its aspects, there will not be one

position to be had for the thermomete r 













   30                                            Jefferson's Works







free from the influence of the sun both morning and evening. However, as I go

into it only till I can get a better, I shall hope ere long to find a less

objectionab le situation. You know that during my short stay at Monticello I

kept a diary of the weather. Mr. Madison has just received one comprehen ding

the same period, kept at his father's at Orange. The hours of observatio n were

the same, and he has the fullest confidence in the accuracy of the observer.

All the morning observatio ns in Orange are lower than those of Monticello,

from one to, I believe, fifteen or sixteen degrees; the afternoon observatio ns

are near as much higher as those of Monticello. Nor will the variations permit

us to ascribe them to any supposed irregulariti es in either tube; because, in

that case, at the same point the variation would always be the same, which it

is not. You have often been sensible that in the afternoon, or rather evening,

the air has become warmer in ascending the mountain. .The same is true in the

morning. This might account for a higher station of the mercury in the morning

observatio ns at Monticello. Again, when the air is equally dry in the lower

and higher situations, which may be supposed the case in the warmest part of

the day, the mercury should be lower on the latter, because, all other

circumstances the same, the nearer the common surface the warmer the air. So

that on a mountain it ought really to be warmer in the morning and cooler in

the heat of the day than on the common plain, but not in so great 













 31            Correspond ence







a degree as these observatio ns indicate. As soon as I am well enough I intend

to examine them more accurately. Your resolution to apply to the study of the

law, is wise in my opinion, and at the same time to mix with it a good degree

of attention to the farm. The one will relieve the other. The study of the law

is useful in a variety of points of view. It qualifies a man to be useful to

himself, to his neighbors, and to the public. It is the most certain stepping-s

tone to preferment in the political line. In political economy, I think Smith's

Wealth of Nations the best book extant; in the science of governmen t,

Montesquie u's Spirit of Laws is generally recommend ed. It contains, indeed, a

great number of political truths; but also an equal number of heresies: so that

the reader must be constantly on his guard. There has been lately published a

letter of Helvetius, who was the intimate friend of Montesquie u, and whom he

consulted before the publication of his book. Helvetius advised him not to

publish it ; and in this letter to a friend he gives us a solution for the

mixture of truth and error found in this book. He says Montesquie u was a man

of immense reading; that he had commonplac e all his reading, and that his

object was to throw the whole contents of his commonplac e book into

systematica l order, and to show his ingenuity by reconciling the contradicto

ry facts it presents. Locke's little book on Governmen t, is perfect as far as

it goes. Descending from theory to practice there is no better book 













32            Jefferson's Works







than the Federalist. Burgh's Political Disquisitio ns are good also, especially

after reading De Lome. Several of Hume's Political Essays are good. There are

some excellent books of theory written by Turgot and the economists of France.

For parliamenta ry knowledge, the Lex Parliamenta ria is the best book. On my

return to Virginia in the fall, I cannot help hoping some practicable plan may

be devised for your settling in Albemarle, should your inclination lead you to

it. Nothing could contribute so much to my happiness were it at the same time

consistent with yours. You might get into the Assembly for that county as soon

as you should please.







  A motion has been made in the Senate to remove the Federal Governmen t to

Philadelphi a. There was a trial of strength on a question for a week's

postponeme nt. On that it was found there would be eleven for the removal, and

thirteen against it. The motion was therefore withdrawn and made in the other

house, where it is still depending, and of very uncertain event. The question

of the assumption is again brought on. The parties were so nearly equal on the

former trial that it is very possible, that with some modificatio ns, it may

yet prevail. The tonnage bill will probably pass, and must, I believe, produce

salutary effects. It is a mark of energy in our governmen t, in a case, I

believe, where it cannot be parried. The French revolution still goes on well,

though the danger of a suspension of payments is very imminent. Their appeal to

the 













            Correspond ence           33







inhabitants of their colonies to say on what footing they wish to be placed,

will end, I hope, in our free admissions into their islands with our produce.

This precedent must have consequenc es. It is impossible the world should

continue long insensible to so evident a truth as that the right to have

commerce and intercourse with our neighbors, is a natural right. To suppress

this neighborly intercourse is an exercise of force, which we shall have a just

right to remove when the superior force. Dear Sir, your affectionat e friend.











       TO WILLIAM SHORT.







                NEW York, June 6, 1790.







DEAR SIR,-Havin g written to you so lately as the 2 7th of May, by M. de

Crevecoeur , I have little new to communicat e. My headache still continues in

a slight degree, but I am able to do business. To-morrow I go on a sailing

party of three or four days with the President. I am in hopes of being relieved

entirely by the sickness I shall probably encounter. The President is perfectly

re-establis hed, and looks better than before his illness. The question of

removal to Philadelphi a was carried in the House of Representa tives by 38,

against 22. It is thought the Senate will be equally divided, and consequent ly

that the decision will rest on the Vice-Presid ent, who will be himself divided

between his own decided







  VOL. VIII-3 













34          Jefferson's Works







inclinations to stay here, and the unpopulari ty of being the sole obstacle to

what appears the wish of so great a majority of the people expressed by

proportion al representa tion. Rhode Island has at length acceded to the Union

by a majority of two voices only, in their convention. Her Senators will be

here in about ten days or a fortnight. The opposers of removal in the Senate

try to draw out time till their arrival. Therefore, they have connected the

resolution of the lower House with a bill originated with them to fix a

permanent residence, and have referred both to the same committee. Deaths are,

Colonel Bland at this place, and old Colonel Corbin in Virginia. The naming a

minister for Paris, awaits the progress of a bill before the legislature. They

will probably adjourn to the 1st of December, as soon as they have got through

the money business. The funding bill is passed, by which the President is

authorized to borrow money for transferrin g our foreign debt. But the ways and

means bill being not yet passed, the loan cannot be commenced till the

appropriati ons of revenue are made, which is to give credit to the loan. * *







Remember me to all my friends, and be assured of the sincere esteem of, dear

Sir, your affectionat e friend and servant. 













             Correspond ence          35















         TO COLONEL GEORGE MASON.







                NEW York, June 13, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I have deferred acknowledg ing the receipt of your favor of March

16th, expecting daily that the business of the Consulship s would have been

finished. But this was delayed by the President's illness, and a very long one

of my own, so that it is not till within these two or three days that it has

been settled. That of Bordeaux is given to Mr. Fenwick, according to your

desire. The commission is making out and will be signed to-morrow or next day.







  I intended fully to have had the pleasure of seeing you at Gunstan Hall on my

way here, but the roads being so bad that I was obliged to leave my own

carriage to get along as it could, and to take my passage in the stage. I could

not deviate from the stage road. I should have been happy in a conversation

with you on the subject of our new governmen t, of which, though I approve of

the mass, I would wish to see some amendment s, further than those which have

been proposed, and fixing it more surely on a republican basis. I have great

hopes that pressing forward with constancy to these amendment s, they will be

obtained before the want of them will do any harm. To secure the ground we

gain, and gain what more we can, is, I think, the wisest course. I think much

has been gained by the late constitutio n ; for the former was terminating in

anarchy, as necessarily consequent to inefficienc y. The House of Repre--













36                  Jefferson's Works







sentatives have voted to remove to Baltimore, by a majority of 53, against 6.

This was not the effect of choice, but of confusion into which they had been

brought by the event of other questions, and their being hampered with the

rules of the House. It is not certain what will be the vote of the Senate. Some

hope an opening will be given to convert it into a vote of the temporary seat

at Philadelphi a, and the permanent one at Georgetown . The question of

assumption will be brought on again, and its event is doubtful. Perhaps its

opponents would be wiser to be less confident in their success, and to

compromise by agreeing to assume the State debts still due to individuals , on

condition of assuming to the States at the same time what they have paid to

individuals , so as to put the States in the shoes of those of their creditors

whom they have paid off. Great objections lie to this, but not so great as to

an assumption of the unpaid debts only. My duties preventing me from mingling

in these questions, I do not pretend to be very competent to their decision. In

general, I think it necessary to give as well as take in a governmen t like

ours. I have some hope of visiting Virginia in the fall, in which case I shall

still flatter myself with the pleasure of seeing you; in the meantime, I am,

with unchanged esteem and respect, my dear Sir, your most obedient friend and

servant, 













             Correspond ence          37







           TO DAVID RITTENHOU SE.







                NEW York, June 14, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I enclosed you the day before yesterday a rough draught of the

report I had prepared on the subject of weights and measures. I have this

morning received from Mr. Short a proposition made by the Bishop of Autun to

the National Assembly of France, on the same subject, which I enclose you, and

will beg the favor of you to return it by post after you shall have perused it.

He mentions that the latitude of 45°, as being a middle term between the

equator and pole, had been proposed as the general standard for measures, and

he makes the proposition anew, and desires it may be made to England. As this

degree of latitude is our·northe rn boundary, as it may form a link between us

and Europe, and as the degree which shall otherwise give the standard is not

otherwise very material, I have thought of proposing it in my report instead of

the 38th degree. I have in consequenc e gone over my calculation s again upon

the ground of a pendulum of 36.-8.428.(S ir Isaac Newton's calculation for 45°)

39·14912 inches giving a rod of 58.72368 inches and reformed the tables (last

page of the report), of which reformation I send you a copy. The alterations in

the body of the work may be easily made from this. The Bishop says the pendulum

has been calculated for 45 ° to be 3 6. -8. 5 2. this 1/10 of a line less than

Sir Isaac Newton's, and the Bishop accord













38          Jefferson's Works







ingly adds, that there may be in this calculation an error of 1/10 of a line.







  I had taken no notice of the precaution of making the experiment of the

pendulum on the sea shore, because the highest mountain in the United States

would not add I-5000 part to the length of the earth's radius, nor I-128 of an

inch to the length of the pendulum ; the highest part of the Andes indeed might

add about I-1000 to the earth's radius, and I-25 of an inch to the pendulum; as

it has been thought worth mention, I will insert it also.







  Your letter of April 20th, was duly attended to by me, but I fancy the

successor had been decided on before it was known to the public that there

would be a vacancy.







  I am, with great esteem, my dear Sir, your sincere friend and humble servant.















           TO DAVID RITTENHOU SE.







                New YORK, June 20, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I enclosed you on the I 7th the alterations I had made in my report

in consequenc e of the Bishop cf Autun's proposition , which had come to my

hands two days before. On the 18th, I received from Mr. Cutter in London a

packet of newspaper s, among which were the two enclosed, containing the speech

in Parliament of Sir John Riggs Miller, on the subject of weights and measures.

I observe, he states the estimate of 39. 2 I. for the length of the 













            Correspond ence           39







pendulum as confessedl y erroneous. I had adopted it from memory only, and

before I had been able to get a single book of any kind, in the first part of

the report, wherein I endeavor to ascertain and fix invariably the system of

measures and weights now in use with us. But before I proceeded to the second

part, proposing a thorough reform, and reducing the whole to the decimal ratio,

I had been able to procure here a copy of the Principia, and so to recur to the

fountain head for Sir I. Newton's calculation s and then added the note, which

you will find page 3 of the report, doubting what could have been the

foundation of the common imputation of the estimate of 3 g. 2 to Sir I. Newton,

and stating the grounds of that of 3 g. I 6 8 2 for the latitude of 51 ° 3 I '

of 39·1285 for 38°, which I had at first adopted, and 39.1682 for 45°, which I

took on receiving the Bishop of Autun's proposition . I have now thought I

might venture to take for granted, that the estimate of 39.2 is as erroneous as

I had supposed it, and therefore to expunge it from the first branch of the

report, and substitute in its stead 39.1682; and to change a passage under the

head of " Measures of length'' into the following form :







" They furnish no means to persons at a distance of knowing what this standard

is. This, however, is supplied by the evidence of the second pendulum, which,

according to the authority before quoted, being 3 g. I 6 8 z I. for the

latitude of London, and consequent ly the second rod for the same latitude 













  40                       Jefferson's Works







being 5 8. 7 5 2 3, we are first to find by actual trial the rod for 45°, and

to add to that 287/10000 of an inch, or rather 3/10 of a line (which in

practice will endanger less error than an attempt at so minute a fraction as

10,000th parts of an inch), this will give us the true measure of 58 3/4

English inches. Or, to shorten the operation, and yet obtain the result we

seek, let the standard rod of 45° be divided into 5871/5 equal parts, and let

each of these parts be declared a line, and ten lines an inch," etc.







  I propose also to strike out the note (page 3) before mentioned, and to

substitute the following in its place :







" The length of the pendulum has been differently estimated by different

persons. Knowing no reason to respect any of them more than Sir Isaac Newton

for skill, care, or candor, I had adopted his estimate of 39. 149 I. for our

northern limit of 45°, before I saw the different proposition s of the Bishop

of Autun, and Sir John Riggs Miller. The first of these gentlemen quotes

Mairan's calculation for 48° 50', the latitude of Paris, to wit, 504 : 257 : :

72 : to a 4th proportion al, which will be 3 6. 71428 = 3 9. 1923 inches. The

difference between the pendulum for 48° 50' and 45°, as calculated by Sir I.

Newton, is .0112 I.: so that the pendulum for 45° would be estimated, according

to the Bishop of Autun, at 39. I g 2 3-. O I I 2 = 3 g. I 8 I I. Sir John    

Rlggs     Miller proposes 39.126, being Graham's determinati on for 5 I ° 3 I

', the latitude of London. The difference between the Pendulum for 51° 31', and

45° by Sir 













  41           Correspond ence







I. Newton, is. .019 I. , so that the pendulum for 4 5 ° should be estimated

according to Sir J. R. Miller, at 3 g. I 2 6-. o 1 g = 3 g. I o 7 I. Now,

dividing our respect between these two results, by taking their mean, to wit,

39'1812 39'107 = 3 9 · z 44, we find ourselves almost exactly with Sir I.

Newton, whose estimate of 39.149 we had already adopted. ''







I propose also to reform a passage under the head of Weights, in the first

branch of the report, to stand thus :







" Let it then be established , that an ounce is the weight of a cube of rain

water of one-tenth of a foot, or rather, that it is the thousandth part of the

weight of a cubic foot of rain water weighed in the standard temperatur e, ''

etc.







  All which I submit to your judgment, and I will ask you particularl y to

examine the numbers .0112 and .019, as I have no help here to find them

otherwise than by approximati on. I have wished much, but in vain, Emerson's

and Ferguson's books here. In short, I never was cut off from the resources of

my own books and papers at so unlucky a moment. There is a Count Andriani, of

Milan, here, who says there is a work on the subject of weights and measures

published by Trisi of Milan. Perhaps you may have it at Philadelphi a, and be

able to send it to me. Were it not for my confidence in your assistance, I

should not have ventured to take up this business till I received my books.







  I am, my dear Sir, with great and sincere esteem, your friend and servant. 













    42        Jefferson's Works







       TO JAMES MONROE.







                NEW York, June 20, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-An attack of a periodical headache, which, though violent for a few

days only, yet kept me long in a lingering state, has hitherto prevented my

sooner acknowledg ing the receipt of your favor of May 26. I hope the

uneasiness of Mrs. Monroe and yourself has been removed by the re-establis

hment of your daughter. We have been in hopes of seeing her here, and fear at

length some change in her arrangeme nts for that purpose.







  Congress has been long embarrasse d by two of the most irritating questions

that ever can be raised among them : I, the funding the public debt, and 2, the

fixing on a more central residence. After exhausting their arguments and

patience on these subjects, they have for some time been resting on their oars,

unable to get along as to these businesses, and indisposed to attend to

anything else, till they are settled. And, in fine, it has become probable,

that unless they can be reconciled by some plan of compromise , there will be

no funding bill agreed to, our credit (raised by late prospects to be the first

on the exchange at Amsterdam, where our paper is above par) will burst and

vanish, and the States separate, to take care every one of itself. This

prospect appears probable to some well-inform ed and well-dispos ed minds.

Endeavors are, therefore, using to bring about a disposition to some 













             Correspond ence         43







mutual sacrifices. The assumption of State debts has appeared as revolting to

several States as their non-assum ption to others. It is proposed to strip the

proposition of the injustice it would have done by leaving the States who have

redeemed much of their debts on no better footing than those who have. redeemed

none ; on the contrary, it is recommend ed to assume a fixed sum, allotting a

portion of it to every State in proportion to its census. Consequent ly, every

State will receive exactly what they will have to pay, or they will be

exonerated so far by the general governmen t's taking their creditors off their

hands. There will be no injustice then. But there will be the objection still,

that Congress must then lay taxes for those debts which would have been much

better laid and collected by the State governmen ts. And this is the objection

on which the accommodat ion now hangs with the non-assumption ers, many of whom

committed themselves in their advocation of the new Constitutio n, by arguments

drawn from the improbabili ty that Congress would ever lay taxes where the

States could do it separately. These gentlemen feel the reproaches which will

be leveled at them personally. I have been, and still am of their opinion, that

Congress should always prefer letting the States raise money in their own way,

where it can be done. But in the present instance, I see the necessity of

yielding to the cries of the creditors in certain parts o£ the Union; for the

sake of union, and to save us from 













  44         Jefferson's Works







the greatest of all calamities, the total extinction of our credit in Europe.

On the other hand, it is proposed to pass an act fixing the temporary residence

of twelve or fifteen years at Philadelphi a, and that at the end of that time,

it shall stand ipso facto, and without further declaration transferre d to

Georgetown . In this way, there will be something to displease and something to

soothe every part of the Union but New York, which must be contented with what

she has had. If this plan of compromise does not take place, I fear one

infinitely worse, an unqualified assumption and the perpetual residence on the

Delaware. The Pennsylvan ia and Virginia delegates have conducted themselves

honorably and unexceptio nably, on the question of residence. Without

descending to talk about bargains, they have seen that their true interests lay

in not listening to insidious proposition s, made to divide and defect them,

and we have seen them at times voting against their respective wishes rather

than separate.







  In France, the revolution goes on surely but slowly. On the rest of the

continent, a league is formed between Prussia, Poland, Sweden, and Turkey, and

openly patronized by England and Holland, against the two empires, one of which

is convulsed by internal divisions. But the last packet brings still more

interesting news. The day before the mail came away, a message was sent to the

two Houses by the King, complainin g of the capture of two British ships at

Nootka Sound by the Spaniards, 













           Correspond ence            45







under pretense of an exclusive right to that coast, that the King had demanded

satisfaction , and in the meantime was arming, to enforce it. The Houses

unanimousl y promised support, and it was evident they would accept nothing

short of an extensive renunciatio n from Spain as to her American pretension s.

Perhaps she is determined to be satisfied with nothing but war, dismember ment

of the Spanish empire, and annihilatio n of her fleet. Nor does her countenanc

e towards us clear up at all.







I flatter myself with being in Virginia in the autumn. The particular time

depends upon too many contingenci es to be now fixed. I shall hope the pleasure

of seeing yourself and Mrs. Monroe either in Albemarle or wherever our route

may cross each other. Present me affectionat ely to her and to my good

neighbors generally, and be assured of the great and sincere esteem of, dear

Sir, your affectionat e friend and humble servant.















        TO MR. JOHN COFFIN. JONES.







                New YORK, June 23, 1790.







SIR,-I duly received your favor of May 1st, and communicat ed to the President

the part relative to Mr. Laneguy, who would have been disposed to pay all

possible respect to your recommend ation. The first rule on that subject was to

appoint a native Consul wherever a good one would accept of it ; but where no

native could be found, the person in pos













 46           Jefferson's Works







session was confirmed. Dr. Franklin had appointed a Mr. Cathalan as agent,

early in the war, a very substantial merchant of Marseilles. He and his son

have paid great attention to our concerns there, had much trouble, and no

emolument from it. It was thought unjust to remove him without cause. The

commission is given to the son, as being otherwise well qualified, and

particularl y as understand ing well our language and usages, acquired by a

residence in England. A bill which may be called the true navigation act for

the United States, is before Congress, and will probably pass. I hope it will

lay the foundation of a due share of navigation for us. I am, with great

esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















              TO MR. DUMAS.







                NEW York, June 23, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I arrived at this place the latter end of March, and undertook the

office to which the President had been pleased to appoint me, of Secretary of

State, which comprehen ds that of Foreign Affairs. Before I had got through the

most pressing matters which had been accumulati ng, a long illness came upon

me, and put it out of my power for many weeks to acknowledg e the receipt of

your letters.







    *    *   *   *   *    *   *   *







We are much pleased to learn the credit of our paper at Amsterdam. We consider

it as of the first 













            Correspond ence           47







importance, to possess the first credit there, and to use it little. Our

distance from the wars of Europe, and our disposition to take no part in them,

will, we hope, enable us to keep clear of the debts which they occasion to

other powers. It will be well for yourself and our bankers to keep in mind

always, that a great distinction is made here, between our foreign and domestic

paper. As to the foreign, Congress is considered as the representa tive of one

party only, and I think I can say with truth, that there is not one single

individual in the United States, either in or out of office, who supposes they

can ever do anything which might impair their foreign contracts. But with

respect to domestic paper, it is thought that Congress, being the representa

tive of both parties, may shape their contracts so as to render them

practicable , only seeing that substantial justice be done. This distinction

will explain to you their proceeding s on the subject of their debts. The

funding their foreign debts, according to express contract, passed without a

debate and without a dissenting voice. The modeling and funding the domestic

debt, occasions great debates, and great difficulty. The bill of ways and means

was lately thrown out, because an excise was interwoven into its texture; and

another ordered to be brought in, which will be clear of that. The assumption

of the debts contracted by the States to individuals , for services rendered

the Union, is a measure which divides Congress greatly. Some think that the

States could much 













 48            Jefferson's Works







more convenientl y levy taxes themselves to pay off these, and thus save

Congress from the odium of imposing too heavy burthens in their name. This

appears to have been the sentiment of the majority hitherto. But it is possible

that modificatio ns may be proposed, which may bring the measure yet into an

acceptable form. We shall receive with gratitude the copy of Rymer's Federa,

which you are so good as to propose for the use of our offices here.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















              'TO MR. LESLIE.







                 New YORK, June 27, 1790.







SIR,-I find among the letters to Mr. Jay, one on the subject of the vibrating

rod thought of by you for a standard of measure ; and I have received from Mr.

Madison a manuscript pamphlet of yours on the same subject. Congress having

referred to me to propose a plan of invariable measures, I have considered

maturely your proposition , and am abundantly satisfied of its utility; so that

if I can have your leave, I mean to propose in my report to adopt the rod in

preference to the pendulum, mentioning expressly that we are indebted to you

for the idea. Should they concur with me in opinion, it is possible that in

carrying it into execution we may have occasion to engage your assistance in

the proper adjustment of it, as well on account of your abilities in that 













  49                 Correspond ence







line generally, as for the peculiar interest you would feel in the success of

the experiment. Mr. Cox's letter to Mr. Jay seems to imply that you had

communicat ed your idea that I might avail myself of it in the subject referred

to me. But I think it justice to ask your express permission, and that you will

be so good as to give me an answer by return of post. I am, Sir, your most

obedient humble servant.















          TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN.







               NEW York, June 27, 1790.







DEAR SIR,-Your favor of March 27th came duly to hand on the 12th instant, as

did your very valuable present, the dry rice, brought from the Moluccas, by

Lieut. Blight. I immediately sent a few seeds to Virginia, where I am in hopes

there would still be force of summer sufficient to mature it. I reserve a

little for next spring, besides sowing some in pots, from which I have now

twenty-thr ee young plants, just come up. I fear, however, there is not summer

enough remaining here to ripen them, without the uncertain aid of a hot house.

Upon your encourage ment, I think I shall venture to write to Mr. Hinton Este,

of Jamaica, on the subject. You will have known that we had lost Dr. Franklin

before your letter came to hand; consequent ly, the relation of Lieut. Blight's

adventure, which you were so kind as to send, rests with me.







Though large countries within our Union are



vol.. VIII-4 













 50          Jefferson's Works







covered with the sugar maple, as heavily as can be conceived, and that this

tree yields a sugar equal to the best from the cane, yields it in great

quantity, with no other labor than what the women and girls can bestow, who

attend to the drawing off and boiling the liquor, and the trees when skillfully

tapped will last a great number of years, yet the ease with which we had

formerly got cane sugar, had prevented our attending to this resource. Late

difficulties in the sugar trade have excited attention to our sugar trees, and

it seems fully believed by judicious persons, that we cannot only supply our

own demand, but make for exportation . I will send you a sample of it, if I can

find a conveyance without passing it through the expensive one of the post.

What a blessing to substitute a sugar which requires only the labor of

children, for that which is said to render the slavery of the blacks necessary.







  An act of Congress authorizing the issuing of patents for new discoveries has

given a spring to invention beyond my conception. Being an instrument in

granting the patents, I am acquainted with their discoveries . Many of them

indeed are trifling, but there are some of great consequenc e, which have been

proved by practice, and others which, if they stand the same proof, will

produce great effect. Yesterday the man who built the famous bridge from Boston

to Charlestow n, was with me, asking a patent for a pile engine of his own

constructio n. He communicat ed to me another fact, of which he makes











  51           Correspond ence







no secret, and it is important. He was formerly concerned in ship building, but

for thirty years past has been a bridge builder. He had early in life observed,

on examining worm-eaten ships, that the worms never eat within the seams where

the corking chisel enters, and the oil, etc. He had observed that the whaling

vessels would be eaten to a honey-com b, except a little above and below water,

where the whale is brought in contact with the vessel, and lies beating against

it till it is cut up. A plank lying under water at a mill of his had been

obliged to be removed annually, because eaten up by the worms in the course of

the year. At length a plank was accidentall y put down which for some purpose

had been thoroughly impregnate d with oil. It remained seven years without

being affected. Hence he took the idea of impregnati ng the timbers of his

bridges thoroughly with oil, by heating the timber as deeply as possible, and

doing it well in that state with the liver oil of the codfish. He has practiced

this for thirty years, and there is no instance of the worm attacking his

timbers, while those in neighborin g places are immediately destroyed. He has

used the liver oil of the cod, because very thick, and therefore, as he

supposes, more permanent in its effect. He supposes some other oils might do,

but cannot speak of them experiment ally. He says there will be no difficulty

in heating the planks of a ship after they are put on, as well as before ; but

I do not recollect his mentioning ever to have tried it in the case of a ship. 













52           Jefferson's Works







   I am fixed here by ,the desire of my countryme n; consequent ly less in the

way of communicat ions in letters and the arts than I used to be. The

continuanc e of your communicat ions in that way will now be received with

double thankfulne ss.







We are told you are going to war. Peace and profit will, I hope, be our lot. A

high price and sure market for our production s, and no want of carrying

business will, I hope, enable my countryme n to pay of both their private and

public debts.







  I am; with sentiments of sincere esteem, dear Sir, your sincere friend and

servant.















              TO DR. GILMER.







                 NEW York, June 27, 1790.







  DEAR DOCTOR,-I have duly received your favor of May 21st, and thank you for

the details it contains. Congressio nal proceeding s go on rather heavily. The

question for assuming the State debts, has created greater animosities than I

ever yet saw take place on any occasion. There are three ways in which it may

yet terminate. I. A rejection of the measure, which will prevent their funding

any part of the public debt, and will be something very like a dissolution of

the governmen t. 2. A bargain between the eastern members, who have it so much

at heart, and the middle members, who are indifferent about it, to adopt those

debts without any modificatio n, on condition of removing the seat of 













 53            Correspond ence







governmen t to Philadelphi a or Baltimore. 3. An adoption of them with this

modificatio n, that the whole sum to be assumed shall be divided among the

States in proportion to their census; so that each shall receive as much as

they are to pay; and perhaps this might bring about so much good humor as to

induce them to give the temporary seat of governmen t to Philadelphi a, and

then to Georgetown permanentl y. It is evident that this last is the least bad

of all the turns the thing can take. The only objection to it will be, that

Congress will then have to lay and collect taxes to pay these debts, which

could much better have been laid and collected by the State governmen ts. This,

though an evil, is a less one than any of the others in which it may issue, and

will probably give us the seat of Governmen t at a day not very distant, which

will vivify our agriculture and commerce by circulating through our State an

additional sum every year of half a million of dollars. When the last packet

left England, there was great appearance of an immediate rupture with Spain.

Should that take place, France will become a party. I hope peace and profit

will be our share. Present my best respects to Mrs. Gilmer, and my enquiring

neighbors.







  I am, dear Doctor, your affectionat e friend and servant. 













54          Jefferson's Works















             TO MR. BOUDINOT.







                NEW York, June 29, 1790.







SIR,-As it is desirable we should receive from our Consuls an exact report of

all our vessels with their cargoes which go to the countries of their

residence, such fees appear necessary as may induce them to be watchful that

every such vessel is noted. At the same time, the fee should not be so large as

to induce them to connive at foreign vessels reporting themselves as American,

merely to give them the fee ; five and ten dollars appear to me well proportion

ed.







  While I was in Europe I found there was a great want of some legal mode of

taking and authenticat ing instrument s and evidence in general, to be sent to

this country ; such as depositions , affidavits, copies of wills, records,

deeds, powers of attorney, etc. I thought it would be proper, as soon as we

should have Consuls established, to make their authenticat ions under the seal

of their office, good evidence in our courts. I take the liberty of submitting

to you whether a clause for these purposes might not be properly placed in this

bill. I assure you the occasions for it are extremely frequent.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble

servant. 













            Correspond ence           55















         TO DAVID RITTENHOU SE.







               NEW York, June 30, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of the 25th came to hand last night, for which I give

you many thanks. The conversion of 36.7142 8 pouces into 39. 1923 inches, was

an error in division, and consequent ly the mean taken between that and

Graham's computatio n is wrong. It has rendered it necessary for me to suppress

the note on that subject, and to put it into the form now enclosed. In this I

state the reason for adopting II-3 pouces as the equivalent of the English

foot. It is so stated by D'Alembert in the Encycloped ia, and retained in the

new Encycloped ia. To have changed it for II-3. I I Mashelynci' s measure,

would have obliged me to have formed all my calculation s anew, which would

have exposed me to new errors of calculation; and added to the trouble and

delay it would have occasioned, did not seem worth while for so small a

fraction as II-100 of a line, or the I 2 2 7th of a foot. I suppose, too, that

the operation concerting between the French and English will soon furnish us

with a new and more certain equation of their feet. I still like the rod rather

than the pendulum, because I do not know a single objection to it which does

not lie to the pendulum, because it is clear of some objections to which that

is liable, but most of all, because I-5 of the second rod is much nearer the

present foot than I-3 of the second pendulum. After all, should the French and

English adopt 













   56                          Jefferson's Works







the pendulum, we shall be free to do so also. I state on the enclosed paper a

very loose answer to the 5th objection, which is the only one I can give. Can

you suggest something more precise ? As there is an idea that Congress will

rise about the middle of July, I shall only await the answer you will be so

good as. to make to this, and then give in my report. This day, I fancy, will

determine whether we are to be removed to Philadelphi a or not; for though it

will still be put to the question several times before its ultimate passage,

yet I think if this day's vote of the Senate is favorable, it will pass safely

through all the subsequent stages. It would have been a great comfort to me to

have been near you during the preparatio n of this business of weights and

measures. lt is much easier to avoid errors by having good information at

first, than to unravel and correct them after they are committed. I recommend

to Congress the deferring to proceed on the report till the next session, and

reserve to myself an opening to add any new matter which may occur in the

meantime.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your affectionat e friend and

servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







                 NEW York, July I, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-A bill has passed two readings in the Senate for removing the seat

of governmen t to Phil













            Correspond ence                             5 7







adelphia, there to remain ten years, and then to be established permanentl y in

Georgetown . It is to receive its third reading to-day, and it depends on a

single vote, yet I believe we may count surely that it will pass that house. As

it originated there, it will then have to pass the lower house ; where,

however, I believe it is very secure of a majority. I apprehend this news must

reach you too late to send my baggage to Philadelphi a instead of this place;

however, to take the chance of any unexpected delay which may have attended its

departure, I drop you this line by a vessel sailing this morning to Dunkirk, to

pray you (if my baggage is not already embarked, or so engaged for its passage

as not to admit a change of destination ), that you will have it sent to

Philadelphi a directly. The having to send it from one port to another in the

United States, costs as much nearly as the freight across the Atlantic, besides

the custom-hou se difficulties. I think it better to wait an opportunit y from

thence to Philadelphi a, should there not be an immediate one, than that it

should make a double voyage. No time to add anything else, but that all is

well. Adieu. Yours affectionat ely.















             TO COL. N. LEWIS.







                  NEW York, July 4, 1790·







DEAR SIR,-I wrote you last on the 13th of June. The Senate have passed the bill

for fixing the resi--













            Jefferson's Works                                        58







dence of Congress at Philadelphi a for ten years, and then permanentl y at

Georgetown ; it has been read once or twice in the House of Representa tives,

and will be ultimately decided on the day after to-morrow. I believe it will

pass there by a considerabl e majority. I imagine we shall remove from hence

early in September, which will consequent ly be the time for my paying a short

visit to Monticello. There is reason to expect a rupture has taken place

between Spain and England. If so, it will involve France, and so render the

present war of Europe almost universal there. I hope they will ail see it their

interest to let us make bread for them in peace, and to give us a good price

for it. We have every moral certainty that wheat will be high for years to

come. I cannot, therefore, my dear Sir, omit. to press, for myself, the going

into that culture as much as you think practicable . In Albemarle, I presume we

may lay aside tobacco entirely ; and in Bedford, the more we can lay it aside

the happier I shall be. I believe it cannot there be entirely discontinue d,

for want of open lands. I will also be obliged to you to give such orders for

preparing for the next year's crop in the plantation given to Mr. Randolph, as

you would for me, were it to remain in my hands. I know he will be glad to have

as much wheat sowed as possible. While good crops of grain, and a good price

for them, will prepare a good income, if we can avoid paying that away to the

stores, all will be well. For this purpose, it is vastly desirable to be

getting under 













             Correspond ence         59







way with our domestic cultivation and manufactur e of hemp, flax, cotton and

wool for the negroes. If we may decide from past experience, we may safely say

that war and domestic manufactur e are more gainful than peace and store

supplies. The present price of wheat here is a dollar a bushel.







  Present my best esteem to Mrs. Lewis and your family. I am, dear Sir, your

affectionat e friend and humble servant.











         TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE, ESQ.







                 New YORK, July 4, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of April 28 came to hand May I I, and found me under a

severe indispositio n, which kept me from all business more than a month, and

still permits me to apply but very sparingly. That of June 20 was delivered me

two days ago by young Mr. Middleton, whom I was very glad to see, as I am

everybody and everything which comes from you. It will give me great pleasure

to be of any use to him, on his father's account as well as yours.







  In yours of April 28 you mention Dr. Turnbull's opinion that force alone can

do our business with the Algerines. I am glad to have the concurrenc e of so

good an authority on that point. I am clear myself that nothing but a perpetual

cruise against them, or at least for eight months of the year, and for several

years, can put an end to their piracies ; and I believe that a confederac y of

the nations not in treaty with 













60                                     Jefferson's Works







them can be effected, so as to make that perpetual cruise, or our share of it,

a very light thing, as soon as we shall have money to answer even a light thing

; and I am in hopes this may shortly be the case. I participate fully of your

indignation at the trammels imposed on our commerce with Great Britain. Some

attempts have been made in Congress, and others are still making to meet their

restriction s by effectual restriction on our part. It was proposed to double

the foreign tonnage for a certain time, and after that to prohibit the

exportation of our commoditie s in the vessels of nations not in treaty with

us. This has been rejected. It is now proposed to prohibit any nation from

bringing or carrying in their vessels what may not be brought or carried in

ours from or to the same ports ; also to prohibit those from bringing to us

anything not of their own produce, who prohibit us from carrying to them

anything but our own produce. It is thought, however, that this cannot be

carried. The fear is that it would irritate Great Britain were we to feel any

irritation ourselves. You will see by the debates of Congress that there are

good men and bold men, and sensible men, who publicly avow these sentiments.

Your observatio ns on the expediency of making short treaties, are most sound.

Our situation is too changing and too improving to render an unchangea ble

treaty expedient for us. But what are these enquiries on the part of the

British minister which leads you to think he means to treat? May they not look

to some other 













  61                                Correspond ence







object? I suspect they do; and can no otherwise reconcile all circumstan ces. 1

would thank you for a communicat ion of any facts on this subject.







Some questions have lately agitated the minds of Congress more than the friends

of union on catholic principles would have wished. The general assumption of

State debts has been as warmly demanded by some States, as warmly rejected by

others. I hope still that this question may be so divested of the injustice

imputed to it as to be compromise d. The question of residence, you know, was

always a heating one. A bill has passed the Senate for fixing this at

Philadelphi a ten years, and then at Georgetown ; and it is rather probable it

will pass the lower house. That question then will be put to sleep for ten

years ; and this and the funding business being once out of the way, I hope

nothing else may be able to call up local principles. If the war between Spain

and England takes place, I think France will inevitably be involved in it. In

that case I hope the new world will fatten on the follies of the old. If we can

but establish the armed neutrality for ourselves, we must become the carriers

for all parties as far as we can raise vessels.







The President had a hair-bread th escape; but he is now perfectly re-establis

hed, and looks much better than before he was sick. I expect daily to see your

nephew, Mr. J. Rutledge, arrive here, as he wrote me by the May packet that he

would come in that of June. He is a very hopeful young man, 













62                                                      Jefferson's Works







sensible, well-inform ed, prudent and cool. Our southern sun has been accused

of sometimes sublimating the temper too highly. I wish all could think as

coolly, but as soundly and firmly as you do. Adieu, my dear friend. Yours

affectionat ely.















              TO MR. DUMAS.







                 NEW York, July 13, 1790.







  SIR,-I wrote you last on the 23d of June, since which I have received yours

of March the 24th to the 30th.







    * * * * * * * *







Congress are still engaged in their funding bills. The foreign debts did not

admit of any difference of opinion. They were settled by a single and unanimous

vote; but the domestic debt, requiring modificatio ns and settlements , these

produce great difference of opinion, and consequent ly retard the passage of

the funding bill. The States had individuall y contracted considerable debts

for their particular defence, in addition to what was done by, Congress. Some

of the States have so exerted themselves since the war, as to have paid off

near the half of their individual debts. Others have done nothing. The State

creditors urge, that these debts were as much for general purposes as those

contracted by Congress, and insist that Congress shall assume and pay such of

them as have not been yet paid by their own States. The States who have exerted

themselves 













  63                        Correspond ence







most, find that, notwithsta nding the great payments they have made, they shall

by this assumption , still have nearly as much to pay as if they had never paid

anything. They are therefore opposed to it. I am in hopes a compromise will be

effected by a proportion al assumption , which may reach a great part of the

debts, and leave still a part of them to be paid by those States who have paid

few or none of their creditors. This being once settled, Congress will probably

adjourn, and meet again in December, at Philadelphi a. The appearance of war

between our two neighbors, Spain and England, would render a longer adjournme

nt inexpedient .







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.







              TO DR. GILMER.







                 NEW York, July 25, 1790.







  DEAR DOCTOR,-I wrote you last on the 27th of June. Since that we have had

great appearance s of an explosion between Spain and England. Circumstan ces

still indicate war. The strongest fact against it is that a British ambassador

is actually gone to Madrid. If there be war, France will probably embark in it.

I do not think it can disturb her revolution, that is so far advanced as to be

out of danger. Be these things as they may, there will be war enough to ensure

us great prices for wheat for years to come, and if we are wise we shall become















64            Jefferson's Works







wealthy. McGillivray , and about thirty Creek chiefs, are here. We are in hopes

this visit will ensure the continuanc e of peace with them. The assumption in a

proportion ate form is likely to pass. The sum to be assumed is twenty-one

millions. Of this three and a half millions are allotted to Virginia, being the

exact sum it is supposed she will have to contribute of the whole assumption ,

and sufficient also to cover the whole of her remaining domestic debt. Being

therefore to receive exactly what she is to pay, she will neither lose nor gain

by the measure. The principal objection now is, that all the debts, general and

State, will be to be raised by tax on imposts, which will thus be over

burthened; whereas had the States been left to pay the debts themselves, they

could have done it by taxes on land and other property, which would thus have

lightened the burthen on commerce. However, the measure was so vehemently

called for by the State creditors in some parts of the Union, that it seems to

be one of those cases where some sacrifice of opinion is necessary for the sake

of peace. Congress will probably rise between the 6th and 13th of August. The

President will soon after that go t.o Mount Vernon, and I shall take advantage

of the interregnu m to see my neighbors in Albemarle, and to meet my family

there. I suppose it will be the 1st of September before I can set out from this

place, and shall take that occasion of having my affairs removed hence to

Philadelphi a. Present me affectionat ely to Mrs. Gilmer and all my 













            Correspond ence           65







friends. Adieu, dear Doctor, your sincere friend and humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







                New YORK, July 26, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-My public letters to you have been of the 28th of March, the 6th

and 30th of April. Yours, which remain to be acknowledg ed, are of March the

9th, 17th, 29th, April the 4th, 12th, 23d, and May the 1st; being from No. 2I

to 28 inclusive, except No.23, which had come to hand before. I will state to

you the dates of all your letters received by me, with the times they have been

received, and length of their passage.







    *   *    *   *   *   *   *    *







You will perceive that they average eleven weeks and a half; that the quickest

are of nine weeks, and the longest are of near eighteen weeks coming. Our

information through the English papers, is of about five or six weeks, and we

generally remain as long afterwards in anxious suspense, till the receipt of

your letters may enable us to decide what articles of those papers have been

true. As these come principally by the English packet, I will take the liberty

of asking you to write always by that packet, giving a full detail of such

events as may be communicat ed through that channel ; and indeed most may. If

your letters leave Paris nine or ten days before the sailing of the packet, we

shall be able to decide,







   VOL. VIII-5 













66         Jefferson's Works







on the moment, on the facts, true or false, with which she comes charged. For

communicat ions of a secret nature, you will avail yourself of other conveyance

s, and you will be enabled to judge which are best, by the preceding statement.

News from Europe is very interesting at this moment, when it is so doubtful

whether a war will take place between our two neighbors.







  Congress have passed an act for establishing the seat of governmen t at

Georgetown , from the year 1800, and in the meantime, to remove to Philadelphi

a. It is to that place, therefore, that your future letters had better be

addressed. They have still before them the bill for funding the public debts.

That has been hitherto delayed by a question, whether the debts contracted by

the particular States for general purposes, should, at once, be assumed by the

General Governmen t. A developmen t of circumstan ces, and more mature

consideration, seem to have produced some change of opinion on the subject.

When it was first proposed, a majority was against it. There is reason to

believe, by the complexion of some later votes, that the majority will now be

for assuming these debts to a fixed amount. Twenty-on e millions of dollars are

proposed. As soon as this point is settled, the funding bill will pass, and

Congress will adjourn. That adjournme nt will probably be between the 6th and

13th of August. They expect it sooner. I shall then be enabled to inform you,

ultimately, on the subject 













            Correspond ence           67







of the French debt, the negotiation s for the payment of which will be referred

to the executive, and will not be retarded by them an unnecessar y moment. A

bill has passed, authorizing the President to raise the salary of a chargé des

affaires to four thousand five hundred dollars, from the first day of July

last. I am authorized by him to inform you, that yours will accordingl y be at

that rate, and that you will be allowed for gazettes, translating or printing

papers where that shall be necessary, postage, couriers, and necessary aids to

poor American sailors, in addition to the salary, and no charge of any other

description , except where you may be directed to incur it expressly. I have

thought it would be most agreeable to you to give you precise information ,

that you may be in no doubt in what manner to state your accounts. Be pleased

to settle your account down to the 1st of July last, and state the balance then

due which will be to be paid out of the former fund. From that day downwards ,

a new account must be opened, because a new fund is appropriat ed to it, from

that time. The expenses for the medals, directed in my letter of April the

30th, must enter into the new account. As I presume the die will be finished by

the time you receive this, I have to desire you will have a medal of gold

struck for the Marquis de La Luzerne, and have put to it a chain of three

hundred and sixty-five links, each link containing gold to the value of two

dollars and a half, or thirteen livres and ten sous. The links to be of plain

wire, 













  68             Jefferson's Works







so that their workmansh ip may cost as it were nothing. The whole will make a

present of little more than one thousand dollars, including the medal and

chain. As soon as done, be pleased to forward them. by a safe hand to the

Marquis de La Luzerne, in the name of the President of the United States,

informing him that it is the one spoken of in my letter to him of April the

30th, 1790. Say nothing to anybody of the value of the present, because that

will not always be the same, in all cases. Be so good as to have a second medal

of gold struck in the same die, and to send this second, together with the

dies, to Philadelphi a, by the first safe person who shall be passing; no chain

to be sent with this.







  We are impatient to learn the progress and prospect of the Algerine business.

Do not let it languish a moment, nor leave us a moment uninformed of anything

relative to it. It is in truth a tender business, and more felt as such in

this, than in any other country. The suppressio n of the farms of tobacco, and

the free importation of our salted provisions, will merit all your attention.

They are both of them objects of first-rate importance.







  The following appointmen ts of consuls have taken place.







    *   *   *    *   *   *   *    *







Their jurisdictio ns, in general, extend to all places within the same

allegiance, which are nearer to them than to the residence of any other consul

or vice-consul, As yet, only their commission s have been 













 69                Correspond ence







made out. General instruction s await the passage of a bill now depending. Mr.

La Forest, at this place, remarked our appointmen t of consuls in the French

islands. In the first project of a convention proposed on the part of France,

the expression s reached expressly to the kingdom of France only: I objected to

this in writing, as being narrower than the twenty-nin th article of the treaty

of amity, which was the basis of the consular convention, and which had granted

the appointmen t of consuls and vice-consuls, in their respective  States and

port,  generally, and without restriction. On this, the word " France '' was

struck out, and the " dominions of the M. C. K." inserted everywher e. See the

fifth,  ninth, twelfth, thirteenth and fifteenth articles particularl y, of the

copy of the draughts of 1784 and I 788, as I had them printed side by side. The

object of this alteration was, the appointmen t of consuls in the free ports

allowed us in the French West Indies, where our commerce has greater need of

protection than anywhere. I mention these things that you may be prepared,

should anything be said to you on the subject. I am persuaded the appointmen t

will contribute eminently to the preservatio n of harmony between us. These

consuls will be able to prevent the misunderst andings which arise frequently

now between the officers there and our traders, and which are doubtless much

exaggerate d and misreprese nted to us by the latter. ' I duly received the

copy you were so kind as to 













70          Jefferson's Works







send me of the Bishop of Autun's proposition , on the subject of weights and

measures. It happened to arrive in the moment I was about giving in to Congress

a report on the same subject, which they had referred to me. In consequenc e of

the Bishop of Autun's proposition , I made an alteration in my report,

substitutin g forty-five degrees instead of thirty-eigh t degrees, which I had

at first proposed as a standard latitude. I send you a copy of my report for

the Bishop, and another for M. Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of.

Sciences. By taking the second pendulum or rod of the same latitude, for the

basis of our measures, it will at least furnish a common measure to which both

our systems will refer, provided our experiment s on the pendulum or rod of

forty-five degrees should yield exactly the same result with theirs.







The newspaper s, as usual, will accompany the present, which is to go by Mr.

Barrett.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your most

obedient and most humble servant.















          TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.







               NEW York, August 2, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-This letter will be delivered to you by Colonel Humphreys , whose

character is so well known to you as to need no recommend ations from me. The

present appearance s of war between our 













71            Correspond ence







two neighbors Spain and England, cannot but excite all our attention. The part

we are to act is uncertain. and will be difficult. The unsettled state of our

dispute with Spain, may give a turn to it very different from what we would

wish. As it is important that you should be fully apprized of our way of

thinking on this subject, I have sketched, in the enclosed paper, general heads

of considerati on arising from present circumstan ces. These will be readily

developed by your own reflections, and in conversatio ns with Colonel Humphreys

; who, possessing the sentiments of the executive on this subject, being well

acquainted with the circumstan ces of the Western country in particular, and of

the state of our affairs in general, comes to Madrid expressly for the purpose

of giving you a thorough communicat ion of them. He will, therefore, remain

there as many days or weeks as may be necessary for this purpose. With this

information , written and oral, you will be enabled to meet the minister in

conversatio ns on the subject of the navigation of the Mississippi, to which we

wish you to lead his attention immediately . Impress him thoroughly with the

necessity of an early, and even an immediate settlement of this matter, and of

a return to the field of negotiation for this purpose ; and though it must be

done delicately, yet he must be made to understand unequivoca lly, that a

resumption of the negotiation is not desired on our part, unless he can

determine, in the first opening of it, to yield the immediate and full enjoy













72          Jefferson's Works







ment of that navigation. (I say nothing of the claims of Spain to our territory

north of the thirty first degree, and east of the Mississippi. They never

merited the respect of an answer; and you know it has been admitted at Madrid,

that they were not to be maintained. ) It may be asked, what need of

negotiation , if the navigation is to be ceded at all events? You know that the

navigation cannot be practiced without a port, where the sea and river vessels

may meet and exchange loads, and where those employed about them may be safe

and unmolested . The right to use a thing, comprehen ds a right to the means

necessary to its use, and without which it would be useless. The fixing on a

proper port, and the degree of freedom it is to enjoy in its operations, will

require negotiation , and be governed by events. There is danger, indeed, that

even the unavoidabl e delay of sending a negotiator here, may render the

mission too late for the preservatio n of peace. It is impossible to answer for

the forbearanc e of our western citizens. We endeavor to quiet them with the

expectation of an attainment of their rights by peaceable means. But should

they, in a moment of impatience, hazard others, there is no saying how far we

may be led; for neither themselves nor their rights will ever be abandoned by

us.







  You will be pleased to observe, that we press these matters warmly and

firmly, under this idea, that the war between Spain and Great Britain will be

begun before you receive this ; and such a moment must not 













             Correspond ence           73







be lost. But should an accommodat ion take place, we retain, indeed, the same

object and the same resolutions unalterably ; but your discretion will suggest,

that in that event, they must be pressed more softly, and that patience and

persuasion must temper your conference s, till either these may prevail, or

some other circumstan ce turn up, which may enable us to use other means for

the attainment of an object which we are determined , in the end, to obtain at

every risk.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















           TO MONSIEUR DE PINTO.







                NEW York, August 7, 1790.







  SIR,-Under cover of the acquaintan ce I had the honor of contracting with

you, during the negotiation s we transacted together in London, I take the

liberty of addressing you the present letter. The friendly disposition s you

were then pleased to express towards this country, which were sincerely and

reciprocall y felt on my part towards yours, flatter me with the hope you will

assist in maturing a subject for their common good. As yet, we have not the

information necessary to present it to you formally, as the minister of her

most faithful Majesty. I beg, therefore, that this letter may be considered as

between two individual friends of their respective countries, preliminary to a

formal proposition , and meant to give an acceptable shape to that. 













74          Jefferson's Works







 It is unnecessar y, with your Excellency, to go through the history of our

first experiment in governmen t; the result of which was, a want of such tone

in the governing powers, as might effect the good of those committed to their

care. The nation become sensible of this, have changed its organizatio n, made

a better distributio n of its powers, and given to them more energy and

independen ce. The new governmen t has now, for some time, been under way ; and

so far, gives a confidence that it will answer its purposes. Abuses under the

old forms, have led us to lay the basis of the new, in a rigorous economy of

the public contributio ns. This principle will show itself in our diplomatic

establishme nts ; and the rather, as at such a distance from Europe, and with

such an ocean between us, we hope to meddle little in its quarrels or

combinatio ns. Its peace and its commerce are what we shall court; and to

cultivate these, we propose to place at the courts of Europe most interesting

to us, diplomatic characters of economical grade, and shall be glad to receive

like ones in exchange. The important commerce carried on between your country

and ours, and the proofs of friendly disposition towards us which her Majesty

has manifested, induce us to wish for such an exchange with her, to express our

sensibility at the intimations heretofore received of her readiness to meet our

wish in this point, and our regret at the delay which has proceeded from the

circumstan ces before touched on. The grade to be exchanged is 













            Correspond ence           75







the present question, and that on which I ask a friendly and informal

consultatio n with you. That of chargé des affaires, is the one we would

prefer. It is that we employ at the court of Madrid. But it has been said, that

by the etiquette of your court, that grade cannot be received there under a

favorable countenanc e. Something like this existed at the court of Madrid. But

his most Catholic Majesty, in consideration of our peculiar circumstan ces,

dispensed with a general rule in our favor and in our particular case; and our

charge des affaires there,  enjoys at court the privileges, the respect and

favor due to a friendly nation, to a nation whom distance and difference of

circumstan ces liberate, in some degree, from an etiquette, to which it is a

stranger at home as well as abroad. The representa tive of her Majesty here,

under whatever name mutual convenience may designate him, shall be received in

the plentitude of friendship and favor. May we not ask a reciprocal treatment

of ours with you? The nations of Europe have already seen the necessity of

distinguish ing America from Europe, even in their treaties; and a difference

of commerce, of governmen t, of condition and character, must every day evince,

more and more, the impracticab ility of involving them under common

regulations. Nor ought a difference of arrangeme nt with respect to us, to

excite claims from others whose circumstan ces bear no similitude to ours.







  I beg leave to submit these considerati ons to your 













76          Jefferson's Works







Excellency' s wisdom and goodness. You will see them to be. such as could not

be offered formally. They must shield themselves under the protection of those

sentiments of veneration and esteem with which your character heretofore

inspired me, and which I flattered myself were not merely indifferent to you.

Be so good as to honor with a conference hereon, the bearer, Colonel Humphreys

(who was known to you in London), a gentleman who has long been of the

President's family, and whose worth has acquired so much of our confidence,

that whatever shall be .arranged with him, on this subject, may be considered

as settled. Presuming on a continuanc e of her Majesty's disposition s, accept

this private assurance that a proper person shall be appointed in due form to

reside with you, as soon as we shall know the result of your deliberatio ns

with Colonel Humphreys , whom I beg leave to present to your notice; adding the

homage of those sentiments of respect and attachment with which I have the

honor to be, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.















            TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.







               NEW York, August 7; 1790.







  SIR,-The President of the United States, desirous of availing his country of

the talents of its best citizens in their respective lines, has thought proper

to nominate you consul for the United States, at the 













  77           Correspond ence







port of London. The extent of our commercial and political connection s with

that country, marks the importance of the trust he confides to you, and the

more, as we have no .diplomatic character at that court. I shall say more to

you in a future letter on the extent of the consular functions, which are, in

general, to be confined to the superinten dence and patronage of commerce and

navigation ; but in your position, we must desire somewhat more. Political

intelligence from that country is interesting to us in a high degree. We must,

therefore, ask you to furnish us with this as far as you shall be able; to send

us moreover the gazette of the court, Woodfall's parliamenta ry paper,

Debrett's parliamenta ry register ; and to serve sometimes as a centre for our

correspond ences with other parts of Europe; by receiving and forwarding

letters sent to your care. It is desirable that we be annually informed of the

extent to which the British fisheries are carried on within each year, stating

the number and tonnage of the vessels, and the number of men employed in the

respective fisheries, to wit, the northern and southern whale fisheries, and

the cod fishery. I have as yet no statement of them for the year 1789, with

which, therefore, I will thank you to begin. While the press of seamen

continues, our seamen in ports nearer to you than to Liverpool, (where Mr.

Maury is consul,) will need your protection. The liberation of those impressed

should be desired of the proper authority, with due firmness, yet always in

temperate and 













    78        Jefferson's Works







respectful terms, in which way, indeed, all application s to governmen t should

be made.







The public papers herein desired may come regularly, once a month, by the

British packet, and intermediat ely, by any vessels bound directly either to

Philadelphi a or New York. All expenses incurred for papers and postage, shall

be paid at such intervals as you choose, either here, on your order, or by bill

on London, whenever you transmit to me an account.







  There was a bill brought into the legislature for the establishme nt of some

regulations in the consular offices ; but it is postponed to the next session.

That bill proposed some particular fees for particular services. They were,

however, so small, as to be no object. As there will be little or no legal

emolument annexed to the office of consul, it is, of course, not expected that

it shall render any expense incumbent on him.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







               NEW York, August Io, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-This letter, with the very confidentia l papers it encloses, will

be delivered to you by Mr. Barrett with his own hands. If there be no war

between Spain and England, they need be known to yourself alone. But if that

war be begun, or whenever it shall begin, we wish you to communicat e them to

the Marquis de La Fayette, on whose assist













 79                                Correspond ence







ance we know we can count in matters which interest both our countries. He and

you will consider how far the contents of these papers may be communicat ed to

the Count de Montmorin, and his influence be asked with the court of Madrid.

France will be called into the war, as an ally, and not on any pretense of the

quarrel being in any degree her own. She may reasonably require then, that

Spain should do everything which depends on her, to lessen the number of her

enemies. She cannot doubt that we shall be of that number, if she does not

yield our right to the common use of the Mississippi, and the means of using

and securing it. You will observe, we state in general the necessity, not only

of our having a port near the mouth of the river, (without which we could make

no use of the navigation at all) but of its being so well separated from the

territories of Spain and her jurisdictio n, as not to engender daily disputes

and broils between us. It is certain, that if Spain were to retain any

jurisdictio n over our entrep6t, her officers would abuse that jurisdictio n,

and our people would abuse their privileges in it. Both parties must foresee

this, and that it will end in war. Hence the necessity of a well-define d

separation. Nature has decided what shall be the geography of that in the end,

whatever it might be in the beginning, by cutting off from the adjacent

countries of Florida and Louisiana, and enclosing between two of its channels,

a long and narrow slip of land, called the Island of New Orleans. 'The idea 













80            Jefferson's Works







of ceding this, could not be hazarded to Spain, in the first step; it would be

too disagreeabl e at first view ; because this island, with its town,

constitutes , at present, their principal settlement in that part of their

dominions, containing about ten thousand white inhabitants of every age and

sex. Reason and events, however, may, by little and little, familiarize them to

it. That we have a right to some spot as an entrepot for our commerce, may be

at once affirmed. The expediency , too, may be expressed, of so locating it as

to cut off the source of future quarrels and wars. A disinterest ed eye,

looking on a map, will remark how convenientl y this tongue of land is formed

for the purpose; the Iberville and Amit channel offering a good boundary and

convenient outlet, on the one side, for Florida, and the main channel an

equally good boundary and outlet, on the other side, for Louisiana; while the

slip of land between, is almost entirely morass or sandbank; the whole of it

lower than the water of the river, in its highest floods, and only its western

margin (which is the highest ground) secured by banks and inhabited. I suppose

this idea too much even for the Count de Montmorin at first, and that,

therefore, you will find it prudent to urge, and get him to recommend to the

Spanish court, only in general terms, "`a port near the mouth of the river,

with a circumjace nt territory sufficient for its support, well defined, and

extra-terri torial to Spain," leaving the idea to future growth. 













    81                     Correspond ence







 I enclose you the copy of a paper distributed by the Spanish commandan t on

the west side of the Mississippi, which may justify us to M. de Montmorin, for

pushing this matter to an immediate conclusion. It cannot be expected we shall

give Spain time, to be used by her for dismemberi ng us.







  It is proper to apprise you of a circumstan ce, which may show the expediency

of being in some degree on your guard, even in your communicat ions to the

court of France. It is believed here, that the Count de Moustier, during his

residence with us, conceived the project of again engaging France in a colony

upon our continent, and that he directed his views to some of the country on

the Mississippi, and obtained and communicat ed a good deal of matter on the

subject to his court. He saw the immediate advantage of selling some yards of

French cloths and silks to the inhabitants of New Orleans. But he did not take

into account what it would cost France to nurse and protect a colony there,

till it should be able to join its neighbors, or to stand by itself; and then

what it would cost her to get rid of it. I hardly suspect that the court of

France could be seduced by so partial a view of the subject as was presented to

them, and I suspect it the less, since the National Assembly has constitutio

nally excluded conquest from the object of their governmen t. It may be added,

too that the place being ours, their yards of cloth and silk







would be as freely sold as if it were theirs.







  You will perceive by this letter, and the papers it















VOL. VIII-6 













  82           Jefferson's Works







encloses, what part of the ideas of Count d'Estain correspond with our views.

The answer to him must be a compound of civility and reserve, expressing our

thankfulne ss for his attentions, that we consider them as proofs of the

continuanc e of his friendly disposition s, and that though it might be out of

our system to implicate ourselves in transatlant ic guarantees , yet other

parts of his plans are capable of being improved to the common benefit of the

parties. Be so good as to say to him something of this kind verbally, and so as

that the matter may be ended as between him and us.







  On the whole, in the event of war, it is left to the judgment of the Marquis

de La Fayette and yourself, how far you will develop the ideas now communicat

ed to the Count de Montmorin, and how far you will suffer them to be developed

to the Spanish court.







  I enclose you a pamphlet by Hutchins for your further information on the

subject of the Mississippi ; and am, with sentiments of perfect esteem and

attachment, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























  TO COLONEL DAVID HUMPHREY S.







              NEW York, August II, 1790.







SIR,-The President having thought proper to confide several special matters in

Europe to your care, it will be expedient that you take your passage 













83            Correspond ence







in the first convenient vessel bound to the port of London.







  When there, you will be pleased to deliver to Mr. G. Morris and to Mr.

Johnson, the letters and papers you will have in charge for them, to communicat

e to us from thence any interesting public intelligence you may be able to

obtain, and then to take as early a passage as possible to Lisbon.







  At Lisbon, you will deliver the letter with which you are charged for the

Chevalier Pinto, putting on it the address proper to his present situation. You

know the contents of this letter, and will make it the subject of such

conference s with him, as may be necessary to obtain our point of establishin g

there the diplomatic grade which alone coincides with our system, and of

insuring its reception and treatment with the requisite respect. Communicat e

to us the result of your conference s, and then proceed to Madrid.







  There you will deliver the letters and papers which you have in charge for

Mr. Carmichael, the contents of all which are known to you. Be so good as to

multiply, as much as possible, your conference s with him, in order to possess

him fully of the special matters sketched out in those papers, and of the state

of our affairs in general.







  Your stay there will be as long as its object may require, only taking care

to return to Lisbon by the time you may reasonably expect that our answers to

your letters, to be written from Lisbon, may reach 











84                                 Jefferson's Works



 that place.  This cannot be earlier than the first or second week of January. 

These answers will convey to you the President's further pleasure.







     Through the whole of this business, it will be best that you avoid all

suspicion of being on any public business. This need be known only to the

Chevalier Pinto and Mr. Carmichael. The former need not know of your journey to

Madrid, or if it be necessary, he may be made to understand that it is a

journey of curiosity, to fill up the interval between writing your letters and

receiving the answers. To every other person, it will be best that you appear

as a private traveller.







  The President of the United States allows you from this date, at the rate of

two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars a year, for your services and

expenses, and moreover, what you may incur for the postage of letters ; until

he shall otherwise order.















         TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS. .







              NEW York, August 12, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-Your letter of May the 29th to the President of the United States,

has been duly received. You have placed their proposition of exchanging a

minister on proper ground. It must certainly come from them, and come in

unequivoca l form. With those who respect their own dignity so much, ours must

not be counted at naught. On 













 85                                  Correspond ence







their own proposal formally, to exchange a minister, we sent them one. They

have taken no notice of that, and talk of agreeing to exchange one now, as if

the idea were new. Besides, what they are saying to you, they are talking to us

through Quebec; but so informally, that they may disavow it when they please.

It would only oblige them to make the fortune of the poor Major, whom they

would pretend to sacrifice. Through him, they talk of a minister, a treaty of

commerce and alliance. If the object of the latter be honorable, it is useless

; if dishonorab le, inadmissibl e. These tamperings prove they view a war as

very possible ; and some symptoms indicate designs against the Spanish

possession s adjoining us. The consequenc es of their acquiring all the country

on our frontier, from the St. Croix to the St. Mary's , are too obvious to you

to need developmen t. You will readily see the dangers which would then environ

us. We wish you, therefore, to intimate to them that we cannot be indifferent

to enterprises of this kind. That we should contemplat e a change of neighbors

with extreme uneasiness; and that a due balance on our borders is not less

desirable to us, than a balance of power in Europe has always appeared to them.

We wish to be neutral, and we will be so, if they will execute the treaty

fairly, and attempt no conquests adjoining us. The first condition is just; the

second imposes no hardship on them. They cannot complain that the other

dominions of Spain would be so narrow as not to leave them room enough 













   86          Jefferson's Works







for conquest. If the war takes place, we would really wish to be quieted on

these two points, offering in return an honorable neutrality. More than this; ·

they are not to expect. It will be proper that these ideas be conveyed in

delicate and friendly terms; but that they be conveyed, if the war takes place;

for it is in that case alone, and not till it be begun, that we should wish our

disposition s to be known. But in no case, need they think of our accepting any

equivalent for the posts.







  I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















TO THE ATTORNIES OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS, THOSE OF MAINE

AND KENTUCKY EXCEPTED.







               NEW York, August 12, 1790.







  SIR,-It is desirable that governmen t should be informed what proceedings

have taken place in the several States since the treaty with Great Britain,

which may be considered by that nation as infractions of the treaty, and

consequent ly that we should be furnished with copies of all acts, orders,

proclamatio ns, and decisions, legislative, executive, or judiciary, which may

have affected the debts or other property, or the persons, of British subjects

or American refugees. The proceeding s subsequent to the treaty, will sometimes

call for those also which, 













            Correspond ence           87







took place during the war. No person is more able than yourself, Sir, to

furnish us with a list of the proceeding s of this kind which have taken place

within your State, nor is there any one on whom we may with more propriety rely

for it, as well as to take the trouble of furnishing us with exact copies of

them. Should you be so kind as to state any facts or circumstan ces which may

enter into the justificatio n or explanation of any of these proceeding s, they

will be thankfully received; and it is wished the whole may come to hand

between this and the last of October.







  While I am troubling you with this commission, I am obliged to add a second,

which being undertaken at this time, will abridge the labor of the first. It is

found indispensa ble that we be possessed here of a complete collection of all

the printed laws and ordinances, ancient and modern, of. every State of the

Union. I must ask the favor cf you, Sir, to have such a collection made for us,

so far as relates to your State. The volumes of this collection which, being

more modern, may be more readily found, I will ask the favor of you to send

immediately by whatever conveyance you think safest and best; those more rarely

to be had, you will be so good as to forward from time to time, as you can get

them. For your reimbursem ent, be pleased to draw on me, only expressing in

your draught that it is for " the laws of your State, purchased and forwarded

for the United States: " or, if it should be more convenient 













88          Jefferson's Works







to you, I will at any time send you an order from the treasury for your

reimbursem ent on the collection most convenient to you. This shall be as you

please.







  Your zeal for the general service needs not to be excited by information ,

that it is with the special approbatio n of the President of the United States

that I address you on this occasion.







  I have the honor to be, with great regard, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant























            TO MR. RANDOLPH.







              NEW York, August, 14, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-I am setting out on a trip to Rhode Island with the President

to-morrow, by water. We shall be absent five or six days, and of course his

departure hence to the southward will be that much later than he intended; and

my departure, which must be after his, a little delayed. Still I hope to reach

Monticello by the 15th of September, or from that to the 20th. We have just

concluded a treaty with the Creeks, which is important, as drawing a line

between them and Georgia,: and enabling the governmen t to do, as it will do,

justice against either party offending. Congress separated the day before

yesterday, having in the latter part of their session re-acquire d the harmony

which had always distinguish ed their proceeding s, till the two disagreeabl e

subjects of the assumption and residence were intro













89             Correspond ence







duced. These really threatened, at one time, a separation of the legislature

sine die. They saw the necessity of suspending almost all business for some

time; and, when they resumed it, of some mutual sacrifices of opinion. It is

not foreseen that anything so generative of dissension can arise again, and

therefore the friends of the governmen t hope that, this difficulty once

surmounte d in the States, everything will work well. I am principally afraid

that commerce will be. overloaded by the assumption , believing that it would

be better that property should be duly taxed.. Present me affectionat ely to my

dear daughters, and believe me to be sincerely yours.















           TO GOVERNOR HANCOCK.







               NEW York, August 24, 1790.







  SIR,-The representa tives of the United States have been pleased to refer to

me the representa tion from. the general court of Massachuse tts, on the

subject of the whale and cod· fisheries, which had been transmitted by your

Excellency, with an instruction to examine the matter thereof, and report my

opinion thereupon to the next session of Congress. To prepare such a report as

may convey to them the information necessary to lead to an adequate remedy, it

is indispensa ble. that I obtain a statement of the fisheries, comprehen ding

such. a period before and since the war, as may show the extent to which they 













90            Jefferson's Works







were and are carried on. With such a statement under their view, Congress may

be able, by comparing the circumstan ces which existed when the fisheries

flourished, with those which exist at this moment of their decline, to discover

the cause of that decline, and provide either a remedy for it, or something

which may countervail its effect. This information can be obtained nowhere but

in the State over which your Excellency presides, and under no other auspices

so likely to produce it. May I; therefore, take the liberty of soliciting your

Excellency to charge with the collecting and furnishing me this information ,

some person or persons who may be competent to the object. Taking a point of

commencem ent at a proper interval before the year of greatest prosperity,

there should be stated in a table, year by year, under different columns, as

follows :







I. The number of vessels fitted out each year for the cod-fisher y. 2. Their

tonnage. 3. The number of seamen employed. q.. The quantity of fish taken ; I,

of superior quality ; z, of inferior. 5. The quantity of each kind exported ;

I, to Europe, and to what countries there ; 2, to other, and what parts of

America. 6. The average prices at the markets; I, of Europe; z, of America.

With respect to the whale fishery, after the three first articles, the

following should be substituted . 4. Whether to the northern or southern

fishery. 5. The quantity of oil taken ; I, of the spermaceti whale ; z, of the

other kinds. 6. To what market each kind was sent. 7. 













    91                         Correspond ence







The average prices of each. As the ports from which the equipments were made,

could not be stated in the same table convenientl y, they might form a separate

one. It would be very material that I should receive this information by the

first of November, as I might be able to bestow a more undisturbe d attention

to the subject before than after the meeting of Congress, and it would be

better to present it to them at the beginning, than towards the close of a

session.







The peculiar degree of interest with which this subject must affect the State

of Massachuse tts, the impossibilit y of obtaining necessary information from

any other quarter, and the slender means I should have of acquiring it from

thence, without the aid of your Excellency, will, I hope, be a sufficient

apology for the trouble I take the liberty of giving you ; and I am happy in

every occasion of repeating assurances of the respect and attachment with which

I have the honor to be, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble

servant.















 Circular of the Consuls and Vice-Consu ls of the







         United States.







              NEW York, August 26, 1790.







SIR,-I expected ere this, to have been able to send you an act of Congress,

prescribin g some special duties and regulations for the exercise of the con













  92          Jefferson's Works







sular offices of the United States; but Congress not having been able to mature

the act sufficiently , it lies over to their next session. In the meanwhile, I

beg leave to draw your attention to some matters of information , which it is

interesting to receive.







I must beg the favor of you to communicat e to me every six months, a report of

the vessels of the United States which enter at the ports of your district,

specifying the name and burthen of each vessel, of what description she is, (to

wit, ship, snow, brig, etc.,) the names of the master and owners, and number of

seamen, the port of the United States from which she cleared, places touched

at, her cargo outward and inward, and the owners thereof, the port to which she

is bound, and times of arrival and departure; the whole arranged in a table

under different columns, and the reports closing on the last days of June and

December.







We wish you to use your endeavors that no vessel enter as an American in the

ports of your district, which shall not be truly such, and that none be sold

under that name, which are not really of the United States.







That you give to me, from time to time, information of all military preparatio

ns, and other indications of war which may take place in your ports ; and when

a war shall appear imminent, that you notify thereof the merchants and vessels

of the United States within your district, that they may be duly on their

guard; and in general, that you com 













             Correspond ence          93







municate to me such political and commercial intelligence , as you may think

interesting to the United States.







The consuls and vice-consul s of the United States are free to wear the uniform

of their navy, if they choose to do so. This is a deep blue coat with red

facings, lining and cuffs, the cuffs slashed and a standing collar ; a red

waistcoat (laced or not at the election of the wearer) and blue breeches;

yellow buttons with a foul anchor, and black cockades and small swords.







  Be pleased to observe, that the vice-consul of one district is not at all

subordinat e to the consul of another. They are equally independen t of each

other.







  The ground of distinction between these two officers is this. Our governmen t

thinks, that to whatever there may be either of honor or profit resulting from

the consular office, native citizens are first entitled, where such, of proper

character, will undertake the duties; but where none such offer, a vice-consul

is appointed of any other nation. Should a proper native come forward at any

future time, he will be named consul; but this nomination will not revoke the

commission of vice-consul ; it will only suspend his functions during the

continuanc e of the consul within the limits of his jurisdictio n, and on his

departure therefrom, it is meant that the vice-consular authority shall revive

of course, without the necessity of a re-appoint ment, 













94                                 Jefferson's Works







  It is understood , that consuls and vice-consul s have authority of course,

to appoint their own agents in the several ports of their district, and that it

is with themselves alone those agents are to correspond .







  It will be best not fatigue the governmen t in which you reside, or those in

authority under it, with application s in unimportan t cases. Husband. their

good disposition s for occasions of some moment, and let all representa tions

to them be couched in the most temperate and friendly terms, never indulging in

any case Whatever, a single expression which may irritate.







  I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























       TO WILLIAM SHORT.







              NEW York, August 26, 1790.







  DEAR SIR,-My last letters to you have been of the 26th of July, and 10th

instant. Yours of May the 16th, No. 31, has come to hand.







  I enclose you sundry papers, by which you will perceive, that the expression

in the eleventh article of our treaty of amity and commerce with France, viz. "

that the subjects of the United States shall not be reputed Aubaines in France,

and consequent ly shall be exempted from the Droit d'Aubaine, or other similar

duty, under what name soever, '' has been construed so rigorously to the

letter, as to consider 













           Correspond ence            95







us as Aubaines in the colonies of France. Our intercourse with those colonies

is so great, that frequent and important losses will accrue to individuals , if

this constructio n be continued. The death of the master or supercargo of a

vessel, rendered a more common event by the unhealthin ess of the climate,

throws all the property which was either his, or under his care, into contest.

I presume that the enlightened Assembly now engaged in reforming the remains of

feudal abuse among them, will not leave so inhospitabl e an one as the Droit

d'Aubaine existing in France, or any of its dominions. If this may be hoped, it

will be better that you should not trouble the minister with any application

for its abolition in the colonies as to us. This would be erecting into a

special favor to us, the extinction of a general abuse, which will, I presume,

extinguish of itself. Only be so good as to see, that in abolishing this odious

law in France, its abolition in the colonies also, be not omitted by mere

oversight; but if, contrary to expectation s, this fragment of barbarism be

suffered to remain, then it will become necessary that you bring forward the

enclosed case, and press a liberal and just exposition of our treaty, so as to

relieve our citizens from this species of risk and ruin hereafter. Supposing

the matter to rest on the eleventh article only, it is inconceiva ble, that he,

who with respect to his personal goods is as a native citizen in the mother

country, should be deemed a foreigner in its colonies. Accordingl y, you 













96            Jefferson's Works







will perceive by the opinions of Dr. Franklin and Dr. Lee, two of our ministers

who negotiated and signed the treaty, that they considered that rights

stipulated for us in France, were meant to exist in all the dominions of

France.







  Considerin g this question under the second article of the treaty also, we

are exempted from the Droit d'Aubaine in all the dominions of France; for by

that article, no particular favor is to be granted to any other nation, which

shall not immediately become common to the other party. Now, by the forty-fourt

h article of the treaty between France and England, which was subsequent to

ours, it is stipulated, " que dans tout ce qui concerne-l es succession s des

biens mobiliers-l es sujets des deux hautes parties contractant es auront dans

les Etats respectifs les memes privileges, libertes et droits, que la nation la

plus favorisee. '' This gave to the English the general abolition of the Droit

d'Aubaine







                                 , enjoyed by the Hollanders under the first

article of their treaty with France, of July the 23d, 1773, which is in these

words. " Les sujets des E. G. des P. U. des pays-bas ne seront point assujettis

au Droit d'Aubaine dans les Etats de S. M. T. C." This favor then, being

granted to the English subsequent to our treaty, we become entitled to it of

course by the article in question. I have it not in my power at this moment, to

turn to the treaty between France and Russia, which was also posterior to ours.

If by that, the Russians are ex













    97               Correspond ence







empted from the Droit d'Aubaine, "dans les Etats de S. M. T. C. '' it is a

ground the more for our claiming the exemption. To these, you will be pleased

to add such other considerati ons of reason, friendship, hospitality and

reciprocity , as will readily occur to yourself.







  About two or three weeks ago, a Mr. Campbell called on me, and introduced

himself by observing that his situation was an awkward one, that he had come

from Denmark with an assurance of being employed here in a public character,

that he was actually in service, though unannounc ed. He repeated conversatio

ns which had passed between Count Bernstorff and him, and asked me when a

minister would be appointed to that court, or a character sent to negotiate a

treaty of commerce; he had not the scrip of a pen to authenticat e himself,

however informally. I told him our governmen t had not yet had time to settle a

plan of foreign arrangeme nts ; that with respect to Denmark particularl y, I

might safely express to him those sentiments of friendship which our governmen

t entertained for that country, and assurances that the King's subjects would

always meet with favor and protection here; anc? in general, I said to him

those things which being true, might be said to anybody. You can perhaps learn

something of him from the Baron de Blome, If he be an unauthoriz ed man, it

would be well it should be known here, as the respect which our citizens might

entertain, and the credit







   VOL. VIII-7 













 98           Jefferson's Works







they might give to any person supposed to be honored by the King's appointmen

t, might lead them into embarrass ment.







  You know the situation of the new loan of three millions of florins going on

at Amsterdam. About one half of this is destined for an immediate payment to

France; but advantage may be gained by judiciously timing the payment. The

French colonies will doubtless claim in their new constitutio n, a right to

receive the necessaries of life from whomever will deliver them cheapest; to

wit, grain, flour, live stock, salted fish, and other salted provisions. It

would be well that you should confer with their deputies, guardedly, and urge

them to this demand, if they need urging. The justice of the National Assembly

will probably dispose them to grant it, and the clamors of the Bordeaux

merchants may be silenced by the clamors and arms of the colonies. It may

co-operate with the influence of the colonies, if favorable disposition s

towards us can be excited in the moment of discussing this point. It will

therefore be left to you to say when the payment shall be made, in confidence

that you will so time it, as to forward this great object; and when you make

this payment, you may increase its effect, by adding assurances to the

minister, that measures have been taken which will enable us to pay up, within

a very short time, all arrears of principal and interest now due; and further,

that Congress has fully authorized our governmen t to go on and pay even the

balance 













            Correspond ence           99







not yet due, which we mean to do, if that money can be borrowed on reasonable

terms; and that favorable arrangeme nts of commerce between us and their

colonies, might dispose us to effect that payment with less regard to terms.

You will, of course, find excuses for not paying the money which is ready and

put under your orders, till you see that the moment has arrived when the

emotions it may excite, may give a decisive cast to the demands of the

colonies.







The newspaper s, as usual, will accompany the present.







I have the honor to be, with great esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















        TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.







              NEW York, August 26, 1790.







DEAR SIR,-On the hasty view which the shortness of time permits me to take of

the treaty of Hopewell, the act of cession of North Carolina and the act of

acceptance by Congress, I hazard the following sentiments                      

            .







Were the treaty of Hopewell, and the act of acceptance of Congress to stand in

any point in direct opposition to each other, I should consider the act of

acceptance as void in that point ; because the treaty is a law made by two

parties, and not revocable by one of them either acting alone or in conjunctio

n with a third party. If we consider the acceptance as a 













 100          Jefferson' s Works







legislative act of Congress, it is the act of one party only ; if we consider

it as a treaty between Congress and North Carolina, it is but a subsequent

treaty with another power, and cannot make void a preceding one with a

different power.







  But I see no such opposition between these two instrument s. The Cherokees

were entitled to the sole occupation of the lands within the limits guaranteed

to them. The State of North Carolina, according to the jus gentium established

for America by universal usage, had only a right of pre-emptio n of these lands

against all other nations: It could convey, then, to its citizens only this

right of pre-emptio n, and the right of occupation could not be united to it

till obtained by the United States from the Cherokees. The act of cession of

North Carolina only preserves the rights of its citizens in the same state as

they would have been, had that act never been passed. It does not make

imperfect titles perfect; but only prevents their being made worse. Congress,

by their act, accept on these conditions. The claimants of North Carolina,

then, and also the Cherokees, are exactly where they would have been, had

neither the act of cession, nor that of acceptance, been ever made; that is,

the latter possess the right of occupation, and the former the right of

preemption .







  Though these deductions seem clear enough, yet the question would be a

disagreeabl e one between the general governmen t, a particular governmen t,







            Correspond ence







and individuals , and it would seem very desirable to draw all the claims of

pre-emptio n within a certain limit, by commuting for those out of it, and then

to purchase of the Cherokees the right of occupation.







I have the honor to be, my dear Sir, yours respectfull y and affectionat ely.















  TO MONSIEUR LA FOREST, CONSUL OF FRANCE.







              NEW York, August 30, 1790.







  SIR,-I asked the favor of the Secretary of the Treasury to consider the

fourth article of the consular convention, and to let me know whether he should

conclude that consuls not exercising commerce, were exempt from paying duties

on things imported for their own use. I furnished him no explanation whatever,

of what had passed on the subject at the time of forming the convention,

because I thought it should be decided on the words of the convention, as they

are offered to all the world, and that it would only be where these are

equivocal, that explanation s might be adduced from other circumstan ces. He

considered the naked words of the article, and delivered me as his opinion,

that, according to these, the first paragraph, "The consuls, and



 vice-consul s, etc., as the natives are, subjected all their property, in

whatever form and under whatever circumstan ces it existed, to the same duties

and taxes to which the property of other individuals is liable, and exempts

them only from taxes on their persons, as poll taxes, head rates for the poor,

for town 













102          Jefferson's Works







charges, etc. ; and that the second paragraph, " Those of the said consuls,

etc., or other merchants, " subjected such of them as exercised commerce, even

to the same personal taxes as other merchants are : that the second paragraph

is an abridgment of the first, not an enlargemen t of it; and that the

exemption of those, not merchants, which seemed implied in the words of the

second paragraph, could not be admitted against the contrary meaning, directly

and unequivoca lly expressed in the first.







  Such, Sir, was his opinion, and it is exactly conformabl e to what the

negotiators had in view in forming this article. I have turned to the papers

which passed on that occasion, and I find that the first paragraph was proposed

in the first project given in by myself, by which the distinction between taxes

on their property and taxes on their persons, is clearly enounced, and was

agreed to; but as our merchants exercising commerce in France, would have

enjoyed a much greater benefit from the personal exemption, than those of

France do here, M. de Reyneval, in his first counter-pr oject, inserted the

second paragraph, to which I agreed. So that the object was, in the first

paragraph, to put consuls, not being merchants, on the same footing with

citizens, not being merchants ;. and in the second, to put consuls, merchants,

on the same footing with citizens, merchants.







  This, Sir, we suppose to be the sense of the convention, which has become a

part of the law of the 













103            Correspond ence







land, and the law, you know, in this country, is not under the control of the

executive, either in its meaning or course. We must reserve, therefore, for

more favorable occasions, our disposition s to render the situation of the

consuls of his Majesty as easy as possible, by indulgence s depending more on

us; and of proving the sentiments of esteem and attachment to yourself

personally, with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















       TO MR. BONDFIELD .







              New York, August 31, I 790.







DEAR SIR,-You will have understood perhaps that in the appointmen t of consuls,

which has taken place, another than yourself has been named for Bordeaux. I

feel it a duty to explain this matter to you, lest it should give you an

uneasiness as to the cause. No nomination occasioned more difficulty, nor hung

longer suspended. But the senate refused in every instance, where there was a

native citizen in any port, to consent to the nomination of any other. While

this explains the reason of your not having been appointed, I trust it will

also excuse those with whom the appointmen t rested. With respect to myself

particularl y, I beg you to be assured that I shall be happy in every occasion

of being useful to you, and of proving to you the sentiments of esteem and

attachment with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir; your most obedient, and

most humble servant. 













104         Jefferson's Works















         TO MR. VIAR.







            MONTICELL O, OCTOBER 27, 1790.







SIR,-I am honored here by the receipt of your favor of the 7th instant,

covering a letter to me from the governor of East Florida, wherein he informs

me that he has received the King's orders, not to permit, under any pretext,

that persons held in slavery in the United States introduce themselves as free,

into the province of East Florida. I am happy that this grievance, which had

been a subject of great complaint from the citizens of Georgia, is to be

removed, and that we have therein a proof as well of the general principles of

justice which form the basis of his Majesty's character and administrat ion, as

of his disposition to meet us in the cultivation of that mutual friendship and

union of interests which would be the happiness of both countries, and is the

sincere wish of ours.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and

esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







             MONTICELL O, October 27, 1790,







SIR,-I had intended to set out about this time for Philadelphi a, but the

desire of having Mr. Madison's company, who cannot return for some days yet,

and 













            Correspond ence          105







believing that nothing important requires my presence at Philadelphi a as yet,

induce me to postpone my departure to the 8th of the ensuing month, so that it

will be about the 12th before I can have the honor of waiting on you at Mount

Vernon, to take your commands. In the meantime, the papers enclosed will

communicat e to you everything which has occurred to me since I saw you, and

worthy notice. Our affair with Algiers seems to call for some new decision ;

and something will be to be done with the new Emperor of Morocco. Mr. Madison

and myself have endeavored to press on some members of the assembly the

expediency of their undertakin g to build two good private dwelling houses a

year, for ten years in the new city, to be rented or sold for the benefit of

the State. Should they do this, and Maryland as much, it will be one means of

ensuring the removal of governmen t thither. Candidates for the Senate are said

to be the Speaker, Colonel Harrison, Colonel H. Lee, and Mr. Walker; but it is

the opinion of many that Colonel Monroe will be impressed into the service. He

has agreed; it seems, with a good deal of reluctance, to say he will serve if

chosen. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













106         Jefferson's Works















    TO FREDERICK KINLOCH, ESQ.







          PHILADELP HIA,· November 26, 1790.







DEAR SIR,-Your favor of April 26th, 1789, did not come to my hands till the 4th

of the last month, when it found me on my way to Virginia. It should not

otherwise have been so long unanswere d. I am certainly flattered by the

approbatio n you are so good as to express of the Notes on Virginia. The

passage relative to the English, which has excited disagreeabl e sensations in

your mind, is accounted for by observing that it was written during the war,

while they were committing depredatio ns in my own country and on my own

property never practiced by a civilized nation. Perhaps their conduct and

disposition s since the war have not been as well calculated as they might have

been to excite more favorable disposition s on our part. Still, as a political

man, they shall never find any passion in me either for or against them.

Whenever their avarice of commerce will let them meet us fairly half way, I

should meet them with satisfaction , because it would be for our benefit; but I

mistake their character if they do this under present circumstan ces.







  The rumors of war seem to pass away. Such an event might have produced to us

some advantages ; but it might also have exposed us to dangers; and on the

whole I think a general peace more desirable. Be so good as to present my

respects to Mrs. Kinloch, and to be assured of the esteem and respect with 













            Correspond ence          107







which I am, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















          TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS,







          PHILADELP HIA, November 26, 1790.







  DEAR SIR;-I have yet to acknowledg e the receipt of your two favors of April

I o and July 7. By the latter it would seem as if you had written an

intermediat e one, which has never come to hand ; and the letter of July 7

itself, was not received till the 14th of October, while I was in Virginia,

from which I am but just returned. The President is not yet returned, though

expected tomorrow. The Declaration and Counter-De claration established with us

a full expectation that peace would be continued; perhaps this is still the

most rational opinion, though the English papers continue to talk of preparatio

ns for war. That such an event would have ensured good prices for our produce,

and so far have been advantageo us, is probable; but it would have exposed us

to risks also, which are better deferred, for some years at least. It is not to

be expected that our system of finance has met your approbatio n in all its

parts. It has excited even here great opposition ; and more especially that

part of it which transferre d the State debts to the general governmen t The

States of Virginia and North Carolina are peculiarly dissatisfied with this

measure. I believe, however, that it is harped on by many to mask their dis













  108          Jefferson's Works







affection to the governmen t on other grounds. Its great foe in Virginia is an

implacable one. He avows it himself, but does not avow all his motives for it.

The measures and tone of the governmen t threaten abortion to some of his

speculation s ; most particularl y to that of the Yazoo territory. But it is

too well nerved to be overawed by individual opposition. It is proposed to

provide additional funds, to meet the additional debt, by a tax on spirituous

liquors, foreign and home-made, so that the whole interest will be paid by

taxes on consumptio n. If a sufficiency can now be raised in this way to pay

the interest at present, its increase by the increase of population (suppose

five per cent. per annum), will alone sink the principal within a few years,

operating, as it will, in the way of compound interest. Add to this what may be

done by throwing in the aid of western lands and other articles as a sinking

fund, and our prospect is really a bright one.







A pretty important expedition has been undertaken against the Indians north of

the Ohio. As yet we have no news of its success. The late elections of members

of Congress have changed about a third or fourth of them. It is imagined the

session of Congress, which is to begin within ten days, will end on the 3d of

March, with the federal year; as a continuanc e over that day would oblige them

to call forward the new members. The admission of Vermont and Kentucky into

Congress, will be decided 













  109          Correspond ence







on in this session. I have the honor to be, with very great esteem, dear Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant.















          TO COUNT DE MOUSTIER.







           PHILADELP HIA, December 3, I 790.







  DEAR SIR,-I am afraid I have suffered in your opinion from the delay of

acknowledg ing the receipt of your several letters, into which I have been led

by unavoidable circumstan ces. The truth is that since my arrival in America

(now exactly a twelvemont h), I have been able to pass not one-third of that

time at the seat of governmen t, one half of which was lost by an illness,

during which I was incapable of doing anything, and the residue so engaged by

accumulate d business as to oblige me to suspend my private correspond ences. I

beg you to be assured that yours is valued by me too much to have been

suspended under any other circumstan ces. I am just now returned from Virginia

to this place, where the members of governmen t are now assembling to begin its

administrat ion here, and I avail myself of the first moments to recall myself

to your recollection . Fortune seems to have arranged among her destinies that

I should never continue for any time with a person whose manners and principles

had excited my warm attachment. While I resided in France, you resided in

America. While. I was crossing over to America, you were crossing back to

France ; when 













110       Jefferson's Works







I am come to reside with our governmen t, your residence is transferre d to

Berlin. Of all this, Fortune is the mistress; but she cannot change my

affections, nor lessen the regrets I feel at their perpetual disappoint ment. I

am sincerely sorry at the delays which the settlement of your constitutio n has

experience d. I suppose they have been rendered unavoidabl e by difficulties,

and hope all will end well. They have certainly prolonged the risk to which the

new work was exposed from without as well as within. I think it would be better

to wind it up as quickly as possible, to consider it as a mere experiment to be

amended hereafter, when time and trial shall show where it is imperfect. Our

second experiment is going on happily ; and so far we have no reason to wish

for changes, except by adding those principles which several of the States

thought were necessary as a further security for their liberties. All of these,

as proposed by Congress, will certainly be adopted, except the second, which is

doubtful, and the first, which is rejected. The powers of the governmen t for

the collection of taxes, are found to be perfect, so far as they have been

tried. This has been as yet only by duties on consumptio n. As these fall

principally on the rich, it is a general desire to make them contribute the

whole money we want, if possible. And we have a hope that they will furnish

enough for the expenses of governmen t and the interest of our whole public

debt, foreign and domestic. If they do this for the present, their increase,

from 













  111          Correspond ence







the increase of population and consumptio n, (which is at the rate of five per

centum per annum,) will sink the capital in thirteen or fourteen years, as it

will operate in the way of compound interest. Independe nt of this prospect,

which is itself a good one, we make the produce of our land office, and some

other articles, a sinking fund for the principal. We are now going on with a

census of our inhabitants . It will not be completed till the next summer; but

such progress is already made as to show our numbers will very considerabl y

exceed the former estimates. I shall be happy to hear of your health and

welfare everywher e, and that you will continue persuaded of the sentiments of

respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















      TO MR. NOAH WEBSTER, AT HARTFORD.







           PHILADELP HIA, December 4, I 790.



  SIR,-Your favor of October 4 came to my hands on the 20th of November.

Application was made a day or two after to Mr. Dobson for the copies of your

Essays, Which were received, and one of them lodged in the office. For that

intended for myself, be pleased to accept my thanks. I return you the order on

Mr. Allen, that on Dobson having been made use of instead of it. I submit to

your considerati on whether it might not be advisable to record a second time

your right to the Grammatica l Insti-- 













 112          Jefferson's Works







tutes, in order to bring the lodging of the copy in my office within the six

months, made a condition in the law ? I have not at this moment an opportunit y

of turning to the law to see if that may be done; but I suppose it possible

that the failure to fulfil the legal condition on the first record might excite

objections against the validity of that.







  In mentioning me in your Essays, and canvassing my opinions, you have done

what every man has a right to do, and it is for the good of society that that

right should be freely exercised. No republic has more zeal than that of

letters, and I am the last in principles, as I am the least in pretension s, to

any dictatorshi p in it. Had I other disposition s, the philosophic al and

dispassiona te spirit with which you have expressed your own opinions in

opposition to mine, would still have commanded my approbatio n. A desire of

being set right in your opinion, which I respect too much not to entertain that

desire, induces me to hazard to you the following observatio ns. It had become

an universal and almost uncontrove rted position in the several States, that

the purposes of society do not require a surrender of all our rights to our

ordinary governors; that there are certain portions of right not necessary to

enable them to carry on an effective governmen t, and which experience has

neverthele ss proved they will be constantly encroaching on, if submitted to

them; that there are also certain fences which experience has proved peculiarly

efficacious against wrong, and 













            Correspond ence          113







rarely obstructive of right, which yet the governing powers have ever shown a

disposition to weaken and remove. Of the first kind, for instance, is freedom

of religion; of the second, trial by jury, habeas corpus laws, free presses.

These were the settled opinions of all the States,-of that of Virginia, of

which I was writing, as well as of the others. The others had, in consequenc e,

delineated these unceded portions of right, and these fences against wrong,

which they meant to exempt from the power of their governors, in instrument s

called declaration s of rights and constitutio ns; and as they did this by

convention s, which they appointed for the express purpose of reserving these

rights, and of delegating others to their ordinary legislative, executive and

judiciary bodies, none of the reserved rights can be touched without resorting

to the people to appoint another convention for the express purpose of

permitting it. Where the constitutio ns then have been so formed by convention

s named for this express purpose, they are fixed and unalterable but by a

convention or other body to be specially authorized; and they have been so

formed by, I believe, all the States, except Virginia. That State concurs in

all these opinions, but has run into the wonderful error that her constitutio

n, though made by the ordinary legislature, cannot yet be altered by the

ordinary legislature. I had, therefore, no occasion to prove to them the

expediency of a constitutio n alterable only by a special convention.

Accordingl y, I have not in my







   VOL. VIII-S 













 114           Jefferson's Works







notes advocated that opinion, though it was and is mine, as it was and is

theirs. I take that position as admitted by them, and only proceed to adduce

arguments to prove that they were mistaken in supposing their constitutio n

could not be altered by the common legislature. Among other arguments I urge

that the convention which formed the constitutio n, had been chosen merely for

ordinary legislation; that they had no higher power than every subsequent

legislature was to have ; that all their acts are consequent ly repealable by

subsequent legislature s; that their own practice at a subsequent session

proved they were of this opinion themselves; that the opinion and practice of

several subsequent legislature s had been the same, and so conclude "that their

constitutio n is alterable by the common legislature. '' Yet these arguments

urged to prove that their constitutio n is alterable, you cite as if urged to

prove that it ought not to be alterable, and you combat them on that ground. An

argument which is good to prove one thing, may become ridiculous when exhibited

as intended to prove another thing. I will beg the favor of you to look over

again the passage in my notes, and am persuaded you will be sensible that you

have misapprehe nded the object of my arguments, and therefore have combated

them on a ground for which they were not intended. My only object in this is

the rectificatio n of your own opinion of me, which I repeat that I respect too

much to neglect. I have certainly no view of enter













             Correspond ence         115







ing into the contest, whether it be expedient to delegate unlimited powers to

our ordinary governors ? my opinion is against that expediency ; but my

occupation s do not permit me to undertake to vindicate all my opinions, nor

have they importance enough to merit it. It cannot, however, but weaken my

confidence in them, when I find them opposed to yours, there being no one who

respects the latter more than, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble

servant.















          TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







          PHILADELP HIA, December 17, 1790.







  Since mine to you of August the 12th, yours of July the 3d, August the 16th,

and September the 18th, have come to hand. They suffice to remove all doubts

which might have been entertained as to the real intentions of the British

cabinet, on the several matters confided to you. The view of governmen t in

troubling you with this business was, either to remove from between the two

nations all causes of difference, by a fair and friendly adjustment , if such

was the intention of the other party, or to place it beyond a doubt that such

was not their intention. In result, it is clear enough that further application

s would tend to delay, rather than advance our object. It is therefore the

pleasure of the President, that no orders be made ; and that in whatever state

this letter may find the business, in that state it be left. I 













I 16        Jefferson's Works







have it in charge, at the same time, to assure you that your conduct in these

communicat ions with the British ministers, has met the President's entire

approbatio n, and to convey to you his acknowledg ments for your services.







As an attendance on this business must, at times, have interfered with your

private pursuits, and subjected you also to additional expenses, I have the

honor to enclose you a draft on our bankers in Holland, for a thousand dollars,

as an indemnifica tion for those sacrifices.







My letter of August the 12th, desired a certain other communicat ion to be made

to the same court if a war should have actually commenced. If the event has not

already called for it, it is considered as inexpedient to be made at all.







You will of course have the goodness to inform us of whatever may have passed

further, since the date of your last.







  In conveying to you this testimony of approbatio n from the President of the

United States, I am happy in an occasion of repeating assurances of the

sentiments of perfect esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be,

dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













           Correspond ence          117















       TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.







          PHILADELP HIA, December 17, 1790.







  SIR,-Thoug h not yet informed of the receipt of my letter, covering your

commission as consul for the United States, in the port of London, yet knowing

that the ship has arrived by which it went, I take for granted the letter and

commission have gone safe to hand, and that you have been called into the

frequent exercise of your office for the relief of our seamen, upon whom such

multiplied acts of violence have been committed in England, by press-gang s,

pretending to take them for British subjects, not only without evidence, but

against evidence. By what means may be procured for our seamen, while in

British ports, that security for their persons which the laws of hospitality

require, and which the British nation will surely not refuse, remains to be

settled. In the meantime, there is one of these cases, wherein so wilful and so

flagrant a violation has been committed by a British officer, on the person of

one of our citizens, as requires that it be laid before his governmen t, in

friendly and firm reliance of satisfaction for the injury, and of assurance for

the future, that the citizens of the United States, entering the ports of Great

Britain, in pursuit of a lawful commerce, shall be protected by the laws of

hospitality in usage among nations.







  It is represente d to the President of the United States, that Hugh Purdie, a

native of Williamsbur g, 













I 18            Jefferson's Works







in Virginia, was, in the month of July last, seized in London by a party of

men, calling themselves press officers, and pretending authority from their

governmen t so to do, notwithsta nding his declaration s and the evidence he

offered of his being a native citizen of the United States ; and that he was

transferre d on board the Crescent, a British ship of war, commanded by a

Captain Young. Passing over the intermediat e violence exercised on him,

because not peculiar to his case (so many other American citizens having

suffered the same), I proceed to the particular one which distinguish es the

present representa tion. Satisfactor y evidence having been produced by Mr.

John Brown Cutting, a citizen of the United States, to the Lords of the

Admiralty, that Hugh Purdie was a native citizen of the same States, they, in

their justice, issued orders to the Lord Howe, their Admiral, for his

discharge. In the meantime, the Lord Howe had sailed with the fleet of which

the Crescent was. But, on the 2 7th of August, he wrote to the board of

admiralty, that he had received their orders for the discharge of Hugh Purdie,

and had directed it accordingl y. Notwithsta nding these orders, the receipt of

which at sea Captain Young acknowledg es, notwithsta nding Captain Young's

confessed knowledge, that Hugh Purdie was a citizen of the United States, from

whence it resulted that his being carried on board the Crescent and so long

detained there, had been an act of wrong, which called for expiatory conduct

and attentions, 













  119           Correspond ence







rather than new injuries on his part towards the sufferer, instead of

dischargin g him according to the orders he had received, on his arrival in

port, which was on the 14th of September, he, on the I5th, confined him in

irons for several hours, then had him bound and scourged in presence of the

ship's crew, under a threat to the executioner that if he did not do his duty

well, he should take the place of the sufferer. At length he discharged him on

the 17th, without the means of subsistenc e for a single day. To establish

these facts, I enclose you copies of papers communicat ed to me by Mr. Cutting,

who laid the case of Purdie before the board of admiralty, and who can

corroborat e them by his personal evidence. He can especially verify the letter

of Captain Young, were it necessary to verify a paper, the original of which is

under the command of his Majesty's ministers, and this paper is so material, as

to supersede of itself all other testimony, confessing the orders to discharge

Purdie, that yet he had whipped him, and that it was impossible, without giving

up all sense of discipline, to avoid whipping a free American citizen. We have

such confidence in the justice of the British governmen t, in their friendly

regard to these States, in their respect for the honor and good understand ing

of the two countries, compromitt ed by this act of their officer, as not to

doubt their due notice of him, indemnifica tion to the sufferer, and a friendly

assurance to these States that effectual measures shall be adopted in 













I 20         Jefferson's Works







future, to protect the persons of their citizens while in British ports.







  By the express command of the President of the United States, you are to lay

this case, and our sense of it, before his Britannic Majesty's minister for

Foreign Affairs, to urge it on his particular notice by all the motives which

it calls up, and to communicat e to me the result.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, your most obedient humble servant.















            TO JOSHUA JOHNSON.







           PHILADELP HIA, December 23, 1790.







DEAR SIR,-The vexations of our seamen and their sufferings under the press-gang

s of England, have become so serious, as to oblige our governmen t to take

serious notice of it. The particular case has been selected where the insult to

the United States has been the most barefaced, the most deliberatel y

intentional, and the proof the most complete. The enclosed letter to you is on

that subject, and has been written on the supposition that you would show the

original to the Duke of Leeds, and give him a copy of it, but as of your own

movement, and not as if officially instructed so to do. You will be pleased to

follow up this matter as closely as decency will permit, pressing it in firm

but respectful terms, on all occasions. We think it essential that Captain

Young's case may be an example to others. 













             Correspond ence          I 2 I







The enclosed letters are important. Be so good as to have them conveyed by the

surest means possible.







  I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble

servant.















          TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON.







                       December 29, I 790.







  Thomas Jefferson presents his respectful compliment s to the Secretary of the

Treasury, and his condolence s on the accident of the other evening, which he

hopes has produced no serious loss.







  He encloses to the Secretary of the Treasury a report of a committee of the

National Assembly of France, on the subject of Billon, containing more

particular information as to that species of coin than he had before met with.

If the metal be so mixed as to make it of I-5 of the intrinsic value of the

standard silver coin of the United States, the cent of billon will be a little

smaller than the present I6ths of dollars, and consequent ly be more convenient

than a copper cent. This he submits to the better judgment of the Secretary of

the Treasury, and hopes he will consider the liberty taken as an advance

towards unreserved communicat ions for reciprocal benefit. 













122           Jefferson's Works















         TO MR. SHORT.







            PHILADELP HIA, January 23, 1791.







  SIR,-The 3d and subsequent amendment s to the constitutio n have beeln agreed

to by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvan ia,

Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and. South Carolina. The first by New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North and South

Carolina, and the second by only New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and the two

Carolinas. The other States, viz. Massachuse tts, Connecticu t, Virginia and

Georgia, have not decided on them. Vermont has acceded to the new Constitutio n

of the United States, and is coming forward to ask admission into Congress.

Kentucky has asked the same, and a bill for the purpose has passed the Senate,

and is now before the Representa tives, where it will meet with no difficulty.

But they have only asked admission for the year 1792.







  The census had made considerabl e progress, but will not be completed till

midsummer. It is judged at present that our numbers will be between four and

five millions. Virginia it is supposed will be between 7 and 800,000







  You will perceive by the papers that the object of our Indian expedition has

been so imperfectly obtaincd, as to call for another the ensuing year. By the

present conveyance you will probably receive a proclalnati on, locating thc

federal territory so as to 













             Correspond ence          1 23







comprehen d Georgetown . It will appear within a day or two. We must still

pursue the redemption of our c'aptives through the same channel, till some

better means can be devised. The money, however, which is in Mr. Grand's hands,

will be the subject of a letter to you from the Secretary of the Treasury, as

soon as he can have an act of Congress authorizing the application of it to the

debt of the foreign officers.







  The most important matters now before Congress are proposition s to establish

a bank, to establish a land office and excise. The latter measure, though

severely modified, is very unpopular in the middle arid southern States.







  Fenno's and l Davies' papers will accompany this. These contain all the laws

of the last session, and therefore it is thought better to defer sending them

to you in a body, till a third edition appears, which is proposed to be

printed, as this will be more convenientl y conveyed as well as handled.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















             TO COLONEL MASON.







             PHILADELP HIA, February 4, 1791







  DEAIR SIR,-I am to make you my acknowledg ments for your favor of January

Ioth, and the information from France which it contained. It confirmed what I

had heard more loosely before, and accounts still more recent are to the same

effect. I 













I24        Jefferson's Works







look with great anxiety for the firm establishme nt of the new governmen t in

France, being perfectly convinced that if it takes place there, it will spread

sooner or later all over Europe. On the contrary, a check there would retard

the revival of liberty in other countries. I consider the establishme nt and

success of their governmen t as necessary to stay up our own, and to prevent it

from falling back to that kind of. a half-way house, the English constitutio n.

It cannot be denied that we have among us a sect who believe that to contain

whatever is perfect in human institutions ; that the members of this sect have,

many of. them, names and offices whi.ch stand high in the estimation of our

countryme n. I still rely that the great mass of our community is untainted

with these heresies, as is its head. On this I build my hope that we have not

labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men can be

governed by reason. You have excited my curiosity in saying " there is a

particular circumstan ce, l.ittle attended to, which is continually sapping the

republicani sm of the United States. '' What is it ? What is said in our

country of the fiscal arrangeme nts now going on ? I really fear their efect

when I consider the present temper of the southern States. Whether these

measures be right or wrong abstractedl y, more attention should be paid to the

general opinion. However, all will pass-the excise will pass-the bank will

pass. The onl.y corrective of what is corrupt in our present form of governmen

t will be the 













            Correspond ence          125







augmentati on of the numbers in the lower House, so as to get a more

agricultura l representa tion, which may put that interest above that of the

stock-jobb ers.







  I had no occasion to sound Mr. Madison on your fears expressed in your

letter. I knew before, as possessing his sentiments fully on that subject, that

his value for you was undi.minish ed. I have always heard him say that though

you and he appeared to difer in your systems, yet you were in truth n.earer

together than most persons who were classed under the same appellation. You may

quiet yourself in the assurance of possessing his compl.ete esteem. I have been

endeavorin g to obtain some li.ttle distinction for our useful customers, the

French. But there is a, particular interest opposed to it, whi.ch I fear will

prove too strong. We shall soon see. I will send y ou a copy of a report I have

given in, as soon as it is printed.. I know there is one part of it contrary to

your sentiments; yet I am not sure you will not become sensible that a change

should be slowly preparing. Certainly, whenever I pass your road, I shall do

myself the pleasure of turning into it. Our last year's experiment, however, is

much in favor of that by Newgate.







  I am, with great respect and esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant. 













I26        Jefferson's Works















TO CHARLES HELLSTEDT , SWEDISH CONSUL.







           PHILADELP HIA, February I4, 1771.







 SIR,-I now return you the papers you were pleased to put into my hands, when

you expressed. to me your dissatisfact ion that our court of admiralty had

taken cognizance of a complaint of some Swedish sailors against their captain

for cruelty. If there was error in this proceeding , the law allows an appeal

from that to the Supreme Court; but the appeal must be made in the forms of the

law, which have nothing difficult in them. You were certainly free to conduct

the appeal yourself, without employing an advocate, but then you must do it in

the usual form. Courts nf justice, all over the world, are held by the laws to

proceed according to certain forms, which the good of the suitors themselves

requires they should not be permitted to depart from.







  I have further to observe to you, Sir, that this question lies altogether

with the courts of justice; that the Constitutio n of the United States having

divided the powers of governmen t into three branches, legislative, executive,

and judiciary, and deposited. each with a separate body of magistracy,

forbidding either to interfere in the department of the other, the executive

are not at liberty to intermeddl e in the present question. It must be

ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. If you think proper to carry it into

that, you may be secure of the strictest justice from them, Partialities they

are not at liberty to 













 127            Correspond ence







show. But, for whatever may come before the executive, relative to your nation,

I can assure you of every favor which may depend on their disposition s to

cultivate harmony and a good understand ing with it.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.























         TO MR. HAZARD.







            PHILADELPHIA, February 18, 1791.







  SIR,-I return you the two volumes of records, with thanks for the opportunit

y of looking into them. They are curious monuments of the infancy of our

country. I learn with great satisfaction that you are about eommitting to the

press the valuable historical and State papers you have been so long

collecting. Time and accident are committing daily havoc on the originals

deposited in our public offices. `The late war has done the work of centuries

in this business. The last cannot be recovered, but let us save what remains;

not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in

consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a nlultiplicati on of copies,

as shall place them beyond the reach of accident. This being the tendency of

your undertakin g, be assured there is no one who wishes it more success than,

Sir, your most obedient, and nmost humble servant 













I28        Jefferson's Works















          TO







           PHILADELP HIA, Febuary I9, 1771.







DEAR SIR,-I feel both the wish and the duty to communicat e, in compliance with

your request, whatever, within my knowledge, might render justice to the memory

of our great countryma n, Dr. Franklin, in which Philosophy has to deplore one

of its principal luminaries extinguishe d. But my opportuniti es of knowing the

interesting facts of his life, have not been equal to my desire of making them

known. I could indeed relate a number of those bon mots, with which he used to

charm every society, as having heard many of them. But these are not your

object. Particulars of greater dignity happened not to occur during his stay of

nine months, after my arrival in France.







A little before that, Argand had invented his celebrated lamp, in which the

flame is spread into a hollow cylinder, and thus brought into contact with the

air within as well as without. Doctor Franklin had been on the point of the

same discovery. The idea had occurred to him; but he had tried a bull-rush as a

wick, which did not succeed. His occupation s did not permit him to repeat and

extend his trials to the introductio n of a larger column of air than could

pass through the stem of a bull-rush.







The animal magnetism too of the maniac Mesmer, had just received its death

wound from his hand in







1 Address illegible. 













   129         Correspond ence







conjunctio n with his brethren of the learned committee appointed to unveil

that compound of fraud and folly. But after this, nothing very interesting was

before the public, either in philosophy or politics, during his stay; and he

was principally occupied in winding up his affairs there.







  I can only therefore testify in general, that there appearedto me more

respect and veneration attached to the character of Doctor Franklin in France,

than to that of any other person in the same country, foreign or native. I had

opportuniti es of knowing particularl y how far these sentiments were felt by

the foreign ambassador s and ministers at the court of Vexsailles. The fable of

his capture by the Alger:nes, propagated by the English newspaper s, excited no

uneasiness; as it was seen at once to be a dish cooked up to the palate of

their readers. But nothing could exceed the anxiety of his diplomatic brethren,

on a subsequent report of his death, which, though premature, bore some marks

of authenticit y.







  I found the ministers of France equally impressed with the talents and

integrity of Dr. Franklin. The Count de Vergennes particularl y gave me

repeated and unequivoca l demonstrat ions of his entire confidence in him.







  When he left Passy, it seemed as if the village had lost its patriarch. On

taking leave of the court, which he did by letter, the King ordered him to be

handsomely compliment ed, and furnished him with







    vol.. vIII-9 













 130            Jefferson's Works







a litter and mules of his own, the only kind of conveyance the state of his

health could bear.







  No greater proof of his estimation in France can be given than the late

letters of condolence on his death, from the National Assembly of that country,

and the community of Paris, to the President of the United States and to

Congress, and their public mourning on that event. It is, I believe, the first

instance of that homage having been paid by a public body of one nation to a

private citizen of another.







  His death was an affliction which was to happen to us at some time or other.

We have reason to be thankful he was so long spared; that the most useful life

should be the longest also; that it was protracted so far beyond the ordinary

span allotted to man, as to avail us of his wisdom in the establishme nt of our

own freedom, and to bless him with a view of its dawn in the east, where they

seemed, till now, to have learned everything , but how to be free.







  The succession to Dr. Franklin, at the court of Franee, was an excellent

school of humility. On bei.ng presented to any one as the minister of America,

the commonplac e question used in such cases was "c'est vous, Mohsieur, qui

remplace le Docteur Franklin?" "it is you, Sir, who replace Doctor Franklin ?

'' I generally answered, " no one can replace him, Sir : I am only his

successor. ''







These small offerings to the memory of our great and dear friend, whom time

will be making greater while it is spunging us from its records, must be 













            Correspond ence          131







accepted by you, Sir, in that spirit of love and veneration for him, in which

they are made; and not according to their insignifica nce in the eyes of a

world, who did not want this mite to fill up the measure of his worth.







  I pray you to accept, in addition, assurances of the sincere esteem and

respect with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















    TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR HANCOCK.







           PHILADELP HIA, February 20, 1771.







  SIR,-With many thanks for the papers and information you were pleased to have

procured for me on the important subject of the fisheries, I do myself the

honor of now enclosing you a copy of my report to the House of Representa

tives. From the disposition I see prevailing in the principal mass of the

Southern members to take measures which may secure to us the principal markets

for the produce of the fisheries, and for rescuing our carrying trade from a

nation not disposed to make just returns for it, I am in hopes something

effectual will be done this session, if these principles are solidly supported

by the members from your part of the Union, of which I trust there is no cause

to doubt. Should nothing be done, I cannot say what consequenc es will follow,

nor calculate their extent. May I take the liberty of presenting through you,

Sir, another 













I32       Jefferson's Works







copy of the report to the committee who were pleased to lend their assistance

in the collection of materials; to show them that I have not failed to present

their testimony in that view which might tend to procure a proper interferenc e

in this interesting branch of business.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and

attachment, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.











          TO MONSIEUR DE PINTO.







           PHILADELP HIA, FBbrLlary 2I, 1791.







  SIR,-I have duly received the letter of November the 3oth, which your

Excellency did me the honor to write, informing me that her most faithful

Majesty had appointed Mr. Freire her minister resident with us, and stating the

difficulty of meeting us in the exchange of a charge des affaires, the grade

proposed on our part. It is foreseen, that a departure from our system in this

instance, will materially affect our arrangeme nts with other nations ; but the

President of the United States has resolved to give her Majesty this proof of

his desire to concur in whatever may best tend to promote that harmony and

perfect friendship so interesting to both countries. He has, therefore,

appointed Colonel Humphreys to be minister resident for the United States, at

the court of her Majesty. This gentleman has long been of the President's own

family, and enjoys his particu













            Correspond ence          133







lar confidence. I make no doubt he will so conduct himself as to give perfect

satisfaction to her Majesty and yourself, and I therefore recommend him to your

friendly attention and respect. Mr. Freire will have every title to the same

from us, and will assuredly receive it. It is always with pleasure, that I

repeat the homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem with which I have

the honor to be, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.















            TO PHILIP FRENEAU.







            PHILADELP HIA, February 28, 1791.







  SIR,-The clerkship for foreign languages in my office is vacant. The salary,

indeed, is very low, being but two hundred and fifty dollars a year ; but also,

it gives so little to do, as not to interfere with any other calling the person

may choose, which would not absent him from the seat of governmen t. I was told

a few days ago, that it might perhaps be convenient to you to accept it. If so,

it is at your service. It requires no other qualificatio n than a moderate

knowledge of the French. Should anything better. turn up within my department

that might suit you, I should be very happy to be able to bestow it so well.

Should you conclude to accept the present, you may consider it as engaged to

you, only be so good as to drop me a line informing me of your resolution. I

am, with great esteem, Sir, your very humble servant. 













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   TO THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER.







              PHILADELP HIA, March 2, 1791.







 SIR,-I have received your favor of November 6th, wherein you inform me that

the King has thought proper, by a new mission to the court of Berlin, to put an

end to your functions as his minister plenipotent iary with the United States.

The President, in a letter to the King, has expressed his sense of your merit,

and his entire approbatio n of your conduct while here, and has charged me to

convey to yourself the same sentiments on his part.







Had you returned to your station with us, you would have received new and

continued marks of the esteem inspired by the general worth of your character,

as well by the particular disposition s you manifested towards this country.







Amidst the regrets excited by so early a loss of you, it will be a consolation

, if your new situation shall contribute to advance your own happiness.







As a testimony of these sentiments, we ask your acceptance of a medal and chain

of gold, with which Mr. Short is instructed to present you on the part of the

United States.







To this general tribute, permit me to add my own, with sincere wishes for your

constant happiness, and assurances of the respect and esteem with which I have

the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.







            Correspondence          135















       TO HARRY INNES.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 7, 1791.







 DEaR SIR,-Your favor of July 8, came to my hands November 3o. The infrequenc y

of conveyance s, is an apology for this late answer. I receive with pleasure

this recognition and renewal of your former acquaintan ce, and shall be happy

to continue it by an exchange of epistolary communicat ions. Yours to me will

be always welcome. Your first gives me information in the line of Natural

History, and the second (not yet received) promises political news. The first

is my passion, the last my duty, and therefore both desirable. I believe

entirely with you, that the remains of fortificatio ns found in the Western

country, have been the works of the natives. Nothing I have ever yet heard o£,

proved the existence of a nation here who knew the use of iron. I have never

heard even of burnt bricks, though they might be made without iron. The statue

you have been so kind as to send me, and for which I beg you to accept my

thanks, would, because of the hardness of the stone, be a better proof of the

use of iron, than I ever yet saw ; but as it is a solitary fact, and possible

to have been made with implements of stone, and great patience, for which the

Indians are remarkable , I consider it to have been so made. It is certainly

the best piece of workmansh ip I ever saw from their hands. If the artist did

not intend it, he has very happily hit on the repre













136          Jefferson's Works







sentation of a woman in the first moments of parturition .







  Mr. Brown, the bearer of this, will give you the Congressio nal news; some

good, some so so, like everything else in this world. Our endeavors the last

year to punish your enemies have had an unfortunat e issue. The federal council

has yet to learn by experience, which experience has long ago taught us in

Virginia, that rank and file fighting will not do against Indians. I hope this

year's experiment will be made in a more auspicious form. Will it not be

possible for you to bring General Clark forward ? I know the greatness of his

mind, and am the more mortified at the cause which obscures it. Had not this

unhappily taken place, there was nothing he might not have hoped: could it be

surmounte d, his lost ground might yet be recovered. No man alive rated him

higher than I did, and would again, were he to become again what I knew him. We

are made to hope he is engaged in writing the account of his expeditions north

of Ohio. They will be valuable morsels of history, and will justify to the

world those who have told them how great he was.







  Mr. Brown will tell you also that we are not inattentive to the interests of

your navigation. Nothing short of actual rupture is omitted. What its effect

will be, we cannot yet foretell ; but we should not stop even here, were a

favorable conjunctur e to arise. The move we have now made must bring the

matter to issue. I can assure you of the most deter













             Correspond ence          137







mined zeal of our chief magistrate in this business, and I trust mine will not

be doubted so far as it can be of any avail. The nail will be driven as far as

it will go peaceably, and farther the moment that circumstan ces become

favorable. I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.















TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF







            FRANCE.







              PHILADELP HIA, March 8, 1791.







  SIR,-I have it in charge from the President of the United States of America,

to communicat e to the National Assembly of France, the peculiar sensibility of

Gongress to the tribute paid to the memory of Benjamin Franklin, by the

enlightene d and free representa tives of a great nation, in their decree of

the I Ith of June, I 7go.







  That the loss of such a citizen should be lamented by us, among whom he

lived, whom he so long and eminently served, and who feel their country

advanced and honored by his birth, life and labors, was to be expected. But it

remained for the National Assembly of France, to set the first example of the

representa tive of one nation, doing homage, by a public act, to the private

citizen of another, and by withdrawin g arbitrary lines of separation, to

reduce into our fraternity the good and the great, wherever they have lived or

died.







  That these separations may disappear between us 













 138           Jefferson's Works







in all times and circumstan ces, and that the union of sentiment which mingles

our sorrows on this occasion, may continue long to cement the friendship and

the interests of our two nations, is our constant prayer. With no one is it

more sincere than with him, who, in being charged with the honor of conveying a

public sentiment, is permitted that of exp·essing the homage of profound

respect and vereration with which he is, Sir, your most obedient, an i most

humble servant.















          TO GOVERNOR QUESADA.







              PHILADELP HIA, March Io, 1791.







SIR,-We have received with great satisfaction , notification of the orders of

his Catholic Majesty, not to permit that persons, held in slavery within the

United States, introduce themselves as free persons into the Province of

Florida. The known justice of his Majesty and his Governmen t, was a certain

dependenc e to us, that such would be his will. The assurances your Excellency

has been pleased to give us of your friendly disposition s, leave us no doubt

you will have faithfully executed a regulation so essential to harmony and good

neighborho od. As a consequenc e of the same principles of justice and

friendship, we trust that your Excellency will permit, and aid the recovery of

persons of the same description , who have heretofore taken refuge within your

Governmen t. The bearer hereof is authorized to 













            Correspond ence          139







wait on your Excellency to confer on this subject, and to concur in su.ch

arrangeme nts as you shall approve for the recovery of such fugitives.







  I beg you to be assured that no occasion shall be neglected of proving our

disposition s to reciprocate these principles of justice and friendship, with

the subjects of his Catholic Majesty, and that you will be pleased to accept

the homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem, withwhich I have the

honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON, SECRETARY OF THE







                TREASURY.







              PHILADELP HIA, March I 2, 1771.







  DEAR SIR,-The President has thought proper to appoint Colonel David Humphreys

, minister resident for the United States, at the court of Lisbon, with a

salary of four thousand five hundred dollars a year, and an outfit equal to a.

year's salary. Besides this by a standing regulation, he will be allowed his

disburseme nts for gazettes transmitted here, translating and printing paper,

where that shall be necessary, postage, couriers, and necessary aids to poor

American sailors. An opportunit y occurring, by a vessel sailing for Lisbon

within a few days, to send him his commission, I shall be obliged to you to

enable me to convey to him at the same time the means of receiving his outfit

in the first instance, and his salary and disburseme nts above described, in

quarterly payments afterwards, 













  140          Jefferson's Works







  An act of Congress having authorized the President to take measures for

procuring a recognition of our treaty from the new Emperor of Morocco,

arrangeme nts for that purpose have been decided. The act allows twenty

thousand dollars for this object, but not more than thirteen thousand dollars

will be called for in the first instance, if at all, and these, or the means of

drawing for them, not till six weeks hence. I thought it proper, however, to

apprise you of the call at the earliest day possible, and while the President

is here, and to ask your attention to it. I have the honor to be, with

sentiments of the most perfect respect and esteem, dear Sir, your most

obedient; and most humble servant.















            TO MAJOR L,ENFANT.







                         March -, 1791.







  SIR,-You are desired to proceed to Georgetown , where you will find Mr.

Ellicot employed in making a survey and map of the federal territory. The

special object of asking your aid is to have drawings of the particular grounds

most likely to be approved for the site of the federal town and buildings. You

will therefore be pleased to begin on the eastern branch, and proceed from

thence upwards, laying down the hills, valleys, morasses, and waters between

that, the Potomac, the Tyber, and the road leading from Georgetown to the

eastern branch, and connecting the whole with certain fixed points of the map 













    141        Correspond ence







Mr. Ellicot is preparing. Some idea of the height of the hills above the base

on which they stand, would be desirable. For necessary assistance and expenses,

be pleased to apply to the Mayor of Georgetown , who is written to on this

subject. I will beg the favor of you to mark to me your progress about twice a

week, by letter, say every Wednesday and Saturday evening, that I may be able

in proper time to draw your attention to some other objects, which I have not

at this moment sufficient information to define. I am, with great esteem, Sir,

your most obedient humble servant.















          TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.







             PHILADELP HIA, MarCh I2, 1791.







SIR,-I enclose you a statement of the case of Joseph St. Marie, a citizen of

the United States of America, whose clerk, Mr. Swimmer, was, in the latter part

of the year I 7 8 7, seized on the eastern side of the Mississippi, in latitude

34° 4o', together with his goods, of the value of nineteen hundred and eighty

dollars, by a party of Spanish soldiers. They justified themselves under the

order of a Mr. Valliere, their oficer, who avowed authority from the Governor

of l New Orleans, requiring him to seize and confiscate all property found on

either side of the Mississippi below the mouth of tlhe Ohio. The matter being

then carried by St. Marie before the Governor of New Orleans, instead of

correcting the injury, he avowed 













  142          Jefferson's Works







the act and its principle, and pretended orders from his court for this and

more. We have so much confidence, however, in the moderation and friendship of

the court of Madrid, that we are more ready to ascribe this outrage to officers

acting at a distance, than to orders from a just sovereign. We have hitherto

considered the delivery of the post of the Natchez, on the part of Spain, as

only awaiting the result of those arrangeme nts which have been under amicable

discussion between us; but the remaining in possession of a post which is so

near our limit of thirty-one degrees, as to admit some color of doubt whether

it be on our side or theirs, is one thing; while it is a very different one, to

launch two hundred and fifty miles further, and seize the persons and property

of our citizens; and that too, in the very moment that a friendly accommodat

ion of all diferences, is under discussion. Our respect for their candor and

good faith does not permit us to doubt, that proper notice will be taken of the

presumptio n of their officer, who has thus put to hazard the peace of both

nations, and we particularl y expect that indemnifica tion will be made to the

individual injured. On this you are desired to insist in the most friendly

terms, but with that earnestnes s and perseveran ce which the complexion of

this wrong requires. The papers enclosed will explain the reasons of the delay

which has intervened. It is but lately they have been put into the hands of our

governmen t. 













            Correspond ence          143







 We cannot omit this occasion of urging on the court of Madrid, the necessity

of hastening a final acknowledg ment of our right to navigaite the Mississippi;

a right which has been long suspended in exercise, with extreme inconvenie nce

on our part, merely with a desire of reconciling Spain to what it is impossible

for us to relinquish. An accident at this day, like that now complained of,

would put further parley beyond our power; yet to such accidents we are every

day exposed by the irregulariti es of their officers, and the impatience of our

citizens. Should any spark kindle these disposition s of our borderers into a

flame, we are involved beyond recall by the eternal principles of justice to

our citizens, which we will never abandon. In such an event, Spain cannot

possibly gain, and what may she not lose?







  The boldness of this act of the Governor of New Orleans, and of his avowal of

it, renders it essential to us to understand the court of Spain on this

subject. You will, therefore, avail yourself of the earliest occasion of

obtaining their sentiments, and of communicat ing them to us.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







             PHILADELP HIA, March I2, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-Tlhe enclosed papers will explain to you a case which imminently

endangers the peace of 













   144         Jefferson's Works







the United States with Spain. It is not, indeed, of recent date, but it has

been recently laid before governmen t, and is of so bold a feature as to render

dangerous to our rights a further acquiescen ce in their suspension . The

middle ground held by France between us and Spain, both in friendship and

interest, requires that we should communicat e with her with the fullest

confidence on this occasion. I therefore enclose you a copy of my letter to Mr.

Carmichael, and of the papers it refers to, to be communicat ed to Monsieur de

Montmorin, whose efficacious interferenc e with the court of Madrid you are

desired to ask. We rely with great confidence on his friendship, justice and

influence.







  A cession of the navigation of the Mississippi, with such privileges as to

make it useful, and free from future chicane, can be no longer dispensed with

on our part ; and perhaps while I am writing, something may have already

happened to cut off this appeal.to friendly accommodat ion. To what consequenc

es such an event woulcl lead, cannot be calculated. To such, very possibly, as

we should lament, without being able to control. Your earnestnes s with

Monsieur de Montmorin, and with the court of Spain, cannot be more pressing

than the present situation and temper of this country requires. The case of St.

Marie happens to be the incident presenting itself in the moment, when the

general question must otherwise have been brought forward. We rely, on this

occasion, on the good offices of the 













            Correspond ence          145







Marquis de La Fayette, whom you are desired to interest in it.







  I am, with sincere and great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















            TO COLONEL INNES.







             PHILADELP HIA, March I3, 1791.







  DEAR SIR-    *   *    *   *   *   *







     , What is said with you of the most prominent proceeding s of the last

Congress? The disapproba tion of the assumption with you leads us naturally to

attend to your reception of laws for carrying it into effect, which have been

thought to present themselves in an unfavorabl e view. What will be thought of

measures taken to force Great Britain by a navigation act, to come forward in

fair treaty, and let us substantial ly into her islands, as a price for the

advantages of navigation and commerce which she now derives from us? This is

interesting to our agriculture, provided the means adopted be sufficiently

gradual. I wish you would come forward to the federal legislature and give your

assistance on a larger scale than that on which you are acting at present. I am

satisfied you could render essential service; and I have such confidence in the

purity of your republicani sm, that I know your efforts would go in a right

direction. Zeal and talents added to the republican scale will do no harm in

Congress. It is fortunate that our first executive







   VOL. VIII-10 













I46       Jefferson's Works







magistrate is purely and zealously republican. We cannot expect all his

successors to be so, and theref.ore should avail ourselves the present day to

establish principles and examples which may fence us against future heresies

preached now, to be practised hereafter. I repeat my wish that I could see you

come into the federal councils ; no man living joining more confidence in your

principles and talents to higher personal esteem than, dear Sir, your most

obedient humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







             PHILADELP HIA, MarCh I5, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-In mine of January the 23d, I acknowledg ed the receipt of your

letters from No. 29 to 48 inclusive, except 3I, 44, 45, 46. Since that I have

received Nos. 45 and 5o ; the former in three months and seven days, the latter

in two months and seventeen days, by the English packet, which had an uncommonl

y long passage. Nos. 3I, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, are still missing. They have

probably come through merchant vessels and merchants, who will let them lie on

their counters two or three months before they will forward them. I wrote you

on the 8th and I zth instant, by a private hand, on particular subjects. I am

not certain whether this will be in time to go by the same conveyance . In

yours of December 23d, you suppose we receive regularly the journals of the

National Assembly from your secre













            Correspond ence         147







tary at Paris, but we have never received anything from him. Nothing has been

addressed to him, his name being unknown to us.







  It gives great satisfaction that the Arret du Conseil of December, 1787,

stands a chance of being saved. It is, in truth, the sheet-anch or of our

connection with France, which will be much loosened when that is lost. This

Arret saved, a free importation of salted meats into France, and of provisions

of all kinds into her colonies, will bind our interests to that country more

than to all the world besides. It has been proposed in Congress to pass a

navigation act, which will deeply strike at that of Great Britain. I send you a

copy of it. It is probable the same proposition will be made at the next

Congress, as a first step, and for one more extensive at a later period. It is

thought the first will be carried ; the latter will be more doubtful. Would it

not be worth while to have the bill now enclosed, translated, printed and

circulated among the members of the National Assembly? If you think so, have it

done at the public expense, with any little comment you may think necessary,

concealing the quarter from whence it is distributed ; or take any other method

you think better, to see whether that Assembly will not pass a similar act. I

shall send copies of it to Mr. Carmichael, at Madrid, and to Colonel Humphreys

, appointed resident at Lisbon, with a desire for them to suggest similar acts

there. The measure is just, perfectly innocent as to all other nations, and

will effectually defeat the navi













148            Jefferson's Works







gation act of Great Britain, and reduce her power on the ocean within safer

limits.







  The time of the late Congress having expired on the 3d instant, they then

separated of necessity. Much important matter was necessarily laid over; this

navigation act among others. The land law was put off, and nothing farther done

with the mint than to direct workmen to be engaged. The new Congress will meet

on the 4th Monday in October. Their laws shall be sent you by the first

opportunit y after they shall be printed. You will receive herewith those of

their second session. We know that Massachuse tts has agreed to the amendment s

to the Constitutio n, except (as is said) the first, second, and twelfth

articles. The others, therefore, are now in force. The articles excepted will

depend on the other legislature s. The late expedition against the northern

Indians having been ineffectual, more serious operations against them will be

undertaken as soon as the season admits. The President is just now setting out

on a tour to the southern States, from whence he will not return till June. The

British packet being the quickest mode of conveyance , I shall avail myself of

that, as well as of the French packet, to write to you. Are the letters which

now pass through the French post offices opened, as they were under the former

governmen t? This is important for me to know.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant. 













 149           Correspond ence







 P. S. I omitted to draw your attention to an additional duty of one cent per

gallon on rum, by name. This was intended as some discriminat ion between

England and France. It would have been higher, but for the fear of afecting the

revenues in a contrary direction.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







              PHILADELP HIA, March Ig, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-Your letter of November the 6th, No. 46, by Mr. Osmont, came to

hand yesterday, and I have just time, before the departure of Mr. Terrasson,

the bearer of my letter of the I5th instant, and · despatches accompanyi ng it,

to acknowledg e the receipt, and inform you that it has been laid before the

President. On considerati on of the circumstan ces stated in the second page of

your letter, he is of opinion, that it is expedient to press at this moment a

settlement of our difference with Spain. You are therefore desired, instead of

confining your application for the interferenc e of the court of France, to the

simple case of St. Marie, mentioned in my letter of the I2th, to ask it on the

broad bottom of general necessity, that our right of navigating the Mississippi

be at length ceded by the court of Madrid, and be ceded in such form, as to

render the exercise of it effcacious and free from chicane. This cannot be

without an entrep6t in some convenient port of the river, where the river and

sea craft may 













150         Jefferson's Works







meet and exchange loads, without any control from the laws of the Spanish

governmen t. This subject was so fully developed to you in my letter of August

the 10th, 1790, that I shall at present only refer to that. We wish you to

communicat e this matter fully to the Marquis de La Fayette, to ask his

influence and assistance, assuring him that a settlement of this matter is

become indispensa ble to us; any further delay exposing our peace, both at home

and abroad, to accidents, the result of which are incalculabl e, and must no

longer be hazarded. His friendly interpositio n on this occasion, as well as

that of his nation, will be most sensibly felt by us. To his discretion,

therefore, and yours, we confide this matter, trusting that you will so conduct

it as to obtain our right in an efficacious form, and at the same time to

preserve to us the friendship of France and Spain, the latter of which we value

much, and the former infinitely.







  Mr. Carmichael is instru.cted to press this matter at Madrid; yet if the

Marquis and yourself think it could be better effected at Paris, with the Count

de Nunnez, it is left to you to endeavor to try it there. Indeed, we believe it

would be more likely to be settled there, than at Madrid or here. Observe

always, that to accept the navigation of the river without an entrepot would be

perfectly useless, and that an entrepot, if trammelled, would be a certain

instrument for bringing on war instead of preventing it:







I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant 













            Correspond ence          151















       TO DR. WISTAR.







            PHILADELP HIA, March 20, 1771.







 SIR,-I am thankful for the trouble which yourself and Dr. Hutchinson have

taken, and are still willing to take, on the subject of Mr. Isaacs' discovery.

However his method may turn out, this advantage will certainly result from it,

that having drawn the public attention to the subject, it may be Inade the

occasion of disseminating among the masters of vessels a knowledge of the fact,

that fresh water may be obtained from salt water by a common distillation, and

in abundance. Though Lind's, Irvine's,an d McQueer's experiment s should

suffice to satisfy them of this, yet it may fix their faith more firmly, if we

can say to them that we have tried these experiment s ourselves, and can vouch

for their effect. If Mr. Isaacs can increase that effect, so much the better;

it will be a new flower in the American wreath. He is poor, and complains that

his delay here is very distressing to him. Therefore, I propose to-morrow for

the experiment, and will ask the favor of you to fix any hour that may best

suit the convenienc e of Dr. Hutchinson and yourself, from five in the morning

to twelve at night, all being equal to me. Only be good as to notify it in time

for me to give notice to Mr. Isaacs. Will it not save time, if the great still

can be set a-going at the same time with the small ones? He protests against

any unfavorabl e conclusions from a small experiment, because never 













152         Jefferson's Works







having tried his method in a small way, he does not know how to proportion his

mixture. I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















     TO HIS EXCELLENC Y GOVERNOR MARTIN.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 26, 1791.







  SIR,-Havin g in charge to lay before Congress a general statement of all the

lands subject to their disposal, it becomes necessary for me, so far as

respects the proceeding s of North Carolina, to draw on a map the line which

forms the Eastern boundary of the cession of that State to Congress, and then

to specify all the private claims within the cession, which form exceptions to

their general right of granting the ceded territory. Three classes of these

exceptions have been stated to me. First, the returns from Armstrong' s office.

Second, the claims of the officers of the North Carolina line of the lands

reserved for them on the Cumberlan d. Third, a grant of twenty-fiv e thousand

acres to General Greene. I find myself under the necessity of troubling your

Excellency to enable me to lay down with precision this dividing line, and then

a precise specificatio n and location of the three classes of exceptions before

mentioned, and also, any other exceptions which you may know of. Besides that

these things can be knowni only from your offices, I am induced to ask you to

take the trouble from an assur













             Correspond ence          153







ance that you will be glad to assist in furnishing any information which may

prevent the citizens of your State from being involved in litigations by a sale

to others of lands to which they may have a just claim, and whzch would not be

so sold, if their claims could be previously known. As I propose to set about

this statement immediately , I shall consider it as a great personal obligation

if the measures which your Excellency may be pleased to take for my assistance,

can be immediately executed, and the result communicat ed to me. I have the

honor to be, with great esteem and respect, your Excellency' s most obedient,

and most humble servant.















    TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 27, 1791,







SIR,-I have been again to see Mr. Barclay on the subject of his mission, and to

hasten him. I. communicat ed to him the draught of his instruction s, and he

made an observatio n which may render a small change expedient. You know it has

been concluded that he should go without any defined character, in order to

save expense. He observed that if his character was undefined they would

consider him as an ambassador , and expect proportion al liberalities, and he

thought it best to fix his character to that of consul, which was the lowest

that could be employed. Thinking that there is wei.ght in his opinion, I have

the honor to enclose you a blank 













154       Jefferson's Works







commission for him as consul, and another letter to the Emperor, no otherwise

different from that you signed, but as having a clause of credence in it. If

you approve of this change, you will be so good as to sign these papers and

retur them; otherwise, the letter before signed will still suffice.







  I enclose yolu a Massachuse tts paper, whereby you will see that some acts of

foree have taken place on our easter boundary. Probably that State will send us

authentic information of them. The want of an accurate map of the Bay of

Passamaqu oddy renders it difficult to form a satisfactor y opinion on the

point in contest. I write to-day to Rufus Putnam to send me his survey referred

to in his letters. There is a xeport that some acts of force have taken place

on the northern boundary of New York, and are now under the considerati on of

the governmen t of that State. The impossibilit y of bringing the court of

London to an adjustment of any difference whatever, renders our situation

perplexing. Should any application s from the States or tlheir citizens be so

urgent as to xequire something to be said before your return, my opinion would

be that they should be desired to make no new settlements on our part, nor

suffer any to be made on the part of the British, within the disputed

territory; and if any attempt should be made to remove them from the

settlements already made, that they are to repel force by force, and ask aid of

the neighborin g militia to do this and no more. I see no other safe way of

forcing the 













             Correspond ence          155







British governmen t to come forward themselves and demand an amicable

settlement. If this idea meets your approbatio n, it may prevent a misconstru

ction by the British, of what may happen, should I have this idea suggested in

a proper manner to Colonel Beckwith.







The experiment s which have been tried of distilling sea-water with Isaacs'

mixture, and also without  it, have been rather in favor of the distillation

without any mixture.







  A bill was yesterday ordered to be brought into the House of Representa tives

here, for granting a sum of money for building a Federal Hall, house for the

President, etc.







  You knew of Mr. R. Morris' purchase of Gorham and Phelps of 1,300,000 acres

of land of the State of Massachuse tts, at 5d. an acre. It is said that he has

sold 1,200,000 acres of these in Europe, through the agency of V. Franklin, who

it seems went on this business conjointly with that of printing his grandfathe

r's works. Mi-. Morris, under the name of Ogden, and perhaps in partnershi p

with hizn, has bought the residue of the lands held in the same country by

Massachuse tts, for £ 100,000 The Indian titleof the former purchase has been

extinguishe d by Gorham, but that of the latter is not. Perhaps it cannot be.

In that case a similarity of interest will produce an alliance with the Yazoo

companies. Perhaps a sale may be made in Europe to purchasers ignorant of the

Indian right. 













   156         Jefferson's Works







  I shall be happy to hear that no accident has happened to you in the bad

roads you have passed, and that you are better prepared for those to come by

lowering the hang of your carriage, and exchanging the coachman for two

postilions, circumstan ces which I confess to you appeared to me essential for

your safety, for which no one on earth more sincerely prays, both from public

and private regard, than he who has the honor to be, with sentiments of the

most profound respect, Sir, your niost obedient, and most humble servant.















               TO MR. LEWIS.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 31, 1791.







  The recess of Congress permits me now to resume the subject of my letter of

August 12th, and to acknowledg e the receipt of your favors of September 14th,

November 25th, and January ist. With respect to British debts and property it

was thought possible then that they might come forward and discuss tlhe

interests and questions existing between the two nations, and as we know they

would assail us on the subject of the treaty, without our previously knowing

the particular State or States whose proceeding s they would make the ground of

complaint, we wished to be in a state of preparatio n on every point. I am

therefore to thank you particularl y for having fiirnished us the justificatio

ns of this Commonwea lth in your letter of January Ist. With 













            Correspond cnce          157







respect to the more general object of my letter, that of making a very complete

collection of all the laws in force, or which were ever in force in the several

States, we are now as to this State possessed of those from 1776 to 1790. I

must still avail myself of your kind undertakin g in your letters of September

14th and November 25th, to contiriue your attention to this acquisition till we

can have the whole. Indeed, if you would order any bookseller to procure them

according to such list as you should give him, it might greatly lessen your

trouble, and he could deliver them himself at my office and receive there his

pay. Whenever you shall be so good as to notify me of the cost of those alreadv

furnished, it shall be immediately reimbursed . I am sure you are sensible of

the necessity- of possessing at the seat of the General Governmen t, a complete

collection of all the laws of all the States, and hope you will perceive there

were no persons so likely to make the collection judiciously as the Attorneys

for the Districts, which must be the apology for the trouble which has been

given you on this subject by him who has the honor to be, with great esteem and

respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







              PHILADELP HIA, Aprll 2, 1771.







I had the honor of addressing you on the 27th ult., since which letters are

i-eceived of January 24th, 













158        Jefferson's Works







from Mr. Carmichael, and of January 3d and I5th, Madrid, and February 6th, and

12th, Lisbon, from Colonel Humphreys . As these are interesting , and may tend

to settle suspense of mind to a certain degree, I shall trouble you with

qtuotations from some parts and the substance of others.







  Colonel H. says, " I learn from other good authority, as well as from Mr.

Carmichael, that all the representa tions of Gardoqui (wlien minister in

America), tended to excite a belief that the most respectable and influential

people throughout the United States did not wish to have the navigation of the

Mississippi opened for years to come, from an apprehensi on such an event would

weaken the governmen t, and impoverish the Atlantic States by emigrations . It

was even pretended that none but a handful of settlers on the Western waters,

and a few inhabitants of the Southern States would acquiesce in the measure."

This is the state of mind to which they have reverted since the crisis with

England is passed, for during that, the Count de Florida Blanca 'threw out

general assertions that we should have no reason to complain of their conduct

with respect to the Mississippi, which gave rise to the report its navigation

was opened. The following passages will be astonishing to you who recollect

that there was not a syllable in your letters to Mr. G. M., which looked in the

most distant manncr to Spain. Mr. Carmichael says, "something , however, might

have been done in a moment of projects and apprehensi on, had not a 













             Correspond ence          159







certain negotiation carried on, on our part, at Loindon, transpired, and which

I think was knowri here rather from British policy, than from the vigilance of

the Marquis del Campo. Entirely unacquaint ed with this manoeuvre, although in

correspond ence with the person employed, I was suspected to be in the secret.

This suspicion banished confidence, which returns by slow degrees. This

circumstance induced me to drop entirely my correspond ence with G. M. To

continue it would have done harm, and certainly could do no good. I have seen

extracts of the President's letter communicat ed to the Duke of Leeds, perhaps

mutilated or forged to serve here the views of the British cabinet. I do not

yet despair of obtaining copies of those letters through the same channel that

I procured the first account of the demands of G. B. and the signature of the

late convention. " Colonel Humphreys says, "the minister had intimations from

del Campo of the conference s between Mr. Morris and the Duke of Leeds, which

occasioned him to say with warmth to Mr. Carmichael, `now is your time to make

a treaty with England.' Fitzherbert availed himself of these conference s to

create apprehensi ons that the Americans would aid his nation in case of war.

'' Your genuine letter could have made no impression. The British court then

must have forged one, to suit their purpose, and I think it will not be amiss

to send a genuine copy to Carmichael, to place our faith on its just ground.

The principal hope of doing anything 













160        Jefferson's Works







now, is founded either on an expected removal of the Count de F. B. from the

ministry, in which case persons will be employed who are more friendly to

America, or to the bursting out of that fire which both gentlemen think but

superficiall y covered. Mr. Carmichael justifies himself by the interceptio n

of his letters. He has shown the originals.to Colonel H. He concludes his

present letter with these words, "relying on the good opinion of me, that you

have been pleased to express on many occasions, I entreat you to engage the

President to permit me to return tn niy native country." Colonel Humphreys , on

the stibjects of his jtistificatio n and return says, (after speaking of the

persons likely to come into power,) " Mr. Carmichael being on terms of intimacy

with the characters here, is certainly capable of effecting Inore at this court

than any other American. He is heartily desirous of accomplishi ng the object

in view at all events, and fully determined to return to America in twelve or

eighteen months at farthest. He has expressed that intention repeatedly. To be

innvested with full powers, perhaps he would be able to do something before his

departure from the continent." In his letter of January 15th, he says, " Mr.

Carmichael' s ideas are just: ·his exertions will be powerful and unremittin g

to obtain the accomplish ment of our desires befcre his departure from this

country. The task will now be difficult if not impracticab le." In that of

Februairy 6th, he says, " Mr. Carmicliael is much mortified that so many of 













            Correspond ence          161







his despatches have miscarried. By the original documents, which I have seen in

his hands, I am convinced he has been extremely assiduous and successful in

procuring early arid authentic intelligence . It is difficult for a person at a

distance to form an adequate judgment of the embarrass ments to which a public

man, situated as he was, is subjected, in inaking written communicat ions, from

such an inland place, and under such a jealous governmen t. He appears

disgusted with the country and the mode of life he is compelled to lead. He

desires ardently to return to his native land; but he wishes to distinguish

himself first by rendering some essential service to it if possible. ''







Governor Quesada, by order of his court, is inviting foreigners to go and

settle in Florida. This is meant for our people. Debtors take advantage of it,

and go off with their property. Our citizens have a right to go where they

please. It is the business of the States to ta.ke measures to stop them till

their debts are paid. This done, I wish a hundred thousand of our inhabitants

would accept the invitation. It will be thie means of delivering to us

peaceably what may otherwise cost us a war. In the meantime, we may complain of

this seduction of our inhabitants just enough to make them believe we think it

very wise policy for them, and confirm them in it. This is myidea of it. I have

the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and attachment,







Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















VOL. VIII-I I 













 162           Jefferson's Works







            TO MAJOR L,ENFANT.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 10, 1791.







  SIR,-I am favored with your letter of the 4th instant, and in compliance with

your request, I have examined my papers, and found the plans of Frankfort-

on-the-May ne, Carlsruhe, Amsterdam, Strasburg, Paris, Orleans, Boz-de.aux,

Lyons, Montpelier, Marseilles, Turin, and Milan, which I send in a roll by the

post. They are on large and accurate scales, having been procured by me while

in those respective cities myself. As they are connected with the notes I made

in my travels, and often necessary to explain them to myself, I wil.l beg your

care of them, and to return them when no longer useful to you, leaving you

absoliztely free to keep them as long as useful. I am happy that the President

has left the planning of the town in such good hands, and have no doubt it will

be done to general satisfaction . Considerin g that the grounds to be reserved

for the public are to be paid for by the acre, I tliink very liberal

reservation s should be made for them ; and if this be about the Tyber and on

the back of the towzi, it will be of rio injury to the commerce of the place,

which will undoubtedl y establish itself on the deep waters towards the eastern

branch and mouth of Rock Creek ; the water about the mouth of the Tyber not

being of any depth. Those connected with the goverment will prefer fixing

themselves near the public grounds in the centre, which will also be convenient















            Correspond ence          163







to be resorted to as walks from the lower and upper town. Having communicat ed

to the President, before he went away, such general ideas on the subject of the

town as occurred to me, I make no doubt that, in explaining hiinself to you on

the subject, he has interwoven with his own ideas, such of mine as he approved.

For fear of repeating therefore what he did not approve, and having more

confidence in the unbiassed state of his mind, than in my own, I avoided

interfering with what he may have expressed to you. Whenever it is proposed to

prepare plans for the Capitol, I should prefer the adoption of some one of the

models of antiquity, which have had the appr obation of thousands of years ;

and for the President's house, I should prefer the celebrated fronts of modern

buildings, which have already received the approbatio n of all good judges.

Such are the Galerie du Loizire, the Gardes meubles, and two fronts of the

Hotel de Salm. But of this it is yet time enough to consider. In the meantime I

am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















     TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 10, 1771.







  I had the honor of addressing you on the 2d instant, which I presume would

overtake you at Richmond. The presen.t, I imagine, will not overtake you till

you get to Wilmington. Since my last, I have been 













 164           Jefferson's Works







honored with your two letters of March 3Ist, and two othcrs of April 4th, one

of which was circular. A copy of this I sent to the Vice-Presid ent, and as

Colonel Hamilton has asked a consultatio n on a letter of Mr. Short's, we shall

have a meeting with the Vice-Presid ent to-morrow. I will then ask their advice

also on the communicat ion to Colonel Beckwith, relative to the supplies to the

Indians. Finding, within a day or two after my letter to you of March 27th,

that Putnam was gone to the westward, I detained my letter to him, and applied

to General Knox, from whom I obtained some information on the Eastern boundary.

No official information of the affair of Moose Island is received here. Perhaps

it is on the road to you. Nor do we hear anything more of the disturbanc e said

to have arisen on the borders of New York. I have asked the favor of my friend

Mr. Madison to think on the subject of the consular commission to Mr. Barclay,

so far as we have done so and conferred together as yet. We are both of opinion

it may be used; but we shall think and confer further. I presume your only

doubt arose on the constitutio nal powers to " supply vacancies '' during the

recess of Congress. There was an omission also (which might strike your mind),

of the limitation of the commission " till the end of the next session of

Congress. '' As the Constitutio n limits them, this clause is always useless;

however, as it does no harm, it has been usually inserted in the commission s.

But zn the case of Mr. Barclay, 













            Correspond ence          165







such a clause would require a very awkward explanation to the Emperor of

Morocco ; and as Mr. Barclay is acquainted with the constitutio nal determinati

on of his commission, it was thought better to omit the useless expression of

it. The acquisition of ground at Georgetown is really noble. Considerin g that

only £25 an acre is to be paid for any grounds taken for the public, and the

streets not to be counted, which will in fact reduce it to about £19 an acre, I

think very liberal reserves should be made for the public. Your proclamatio n

came to hand the night of the 5th. Dunlap's and Bache's papers for the morning

of the 6th being already filled, I could only get it into Brown's evening paper

of the 6th. On the 7th, the bill for the federal buildings passed the

Representa tives here by 42 to Io, but it was rejected yesterday by 9 to 6 in

the Senate, or to speak more exactly, it was postponed till the next session.

In the meantime, spirited proceeding s at Georgetown will probably, under the

continuanc e of your patronage, . prevent the revival of the bill. I received

last night from Major L'Enfant a request to furnish him any plans of towns I

could, for his examination . I accordiiigl y send him, by this post, plans of

Frankfort- on-the-May ne, Carlsruhe, Amsterdam, Strasburg, Paris, Orleans,

Bordeaux, Lyons, Montpelier, Marseilles, Turin, and Milan, on large and

accurate scales, which I procured while in those towns respectivel y. They are

none of them, however, comparable to the old Babylon, revived in Philadel













      166        Jefferson's Works







  phia, and exemplified . While in Europe, I selected



about a dozen or two of the handsomest fronts of



pri rate buildings, of which I have the plates. Per-



haps it might decide the taste of the new town, were



these to be engraved here, and distributed gratis



among the inhabitants of Georgetown . The expense



would be trifling.



  I enclose you extracts from a letter of Mr. Short's



of January 24th. One of January 28th has since come to hand, containing nothing

but a translation of the letter, said to have been written by the Emperor to

the King of France, but which he suspects to be a forgery, a forged bull of the

Pope having lately appeared in the same way. He says very serious differences

have ai-isen between the Minister of Prussia, at Liege, and the imperial

commandin g officer there.







  I also enclose the debates of the Pennsylvan ia assembly on the bill for the

federal buildings, and the bill itself; and have the honor to be, with

sentiments of the most perfect respect and attachment Sir your most obedient,

and most humble servant. Extract of a letter from William Short to Thomas

Jefferson, Secretary of State, dated Amsterdam







January 24, 1791.







" No loan is yet opened; as far as I can judge it will be found proper to

postpone it two or three weeks longer, for reasons mentioned in my former

letters, which are of general application, and in this 













            Correspond ence          167







instance particularl y for the greater certainty of a success that may enhance

the credit of the United States.







  " The Reporter of the Committee of Domaines has at length presented the

opinion of that committee respecting the Decree on the Droit d'Aubaine to the

assembly. He had unfortunat ely connected it with the business of the

Succession s, so that an adjournme nt was insisted on in order that the Report

might be discussed. It was referred to four different committees. I had put the

Marquis de La Fayette fully in possession of this subject, and wrote to him

again respecting it, immediately on being informed of the turn it had taken.

The Secretary, whom I left in Paris, writes me that they are now trying to get

the Diplomatic Committee to ask for a division of this report, and to obtain a

decree explanator y merely as to the Droit d'Aubaine. In the present ill-humor

and jealousy which prevail with respect to colonies, it is difficult to say

what they will do-but we may be sure that M. de Montmorin will use his

exertions to effect what we desire. I apprehend delay, however, which no

application can prevent, and I always had doubts myself with respect to the

success of this business, notwithsta nding the opinion of the Reporter and

Committee of Domaines. I mentioned forinerly on what those doubts were

fotinded.







  " Sincc the Report of the Committee of Impositions , macdc in the month of

December, of which you 













168         Jefferson's Works







will have seen an extract in the Journals of the Assembly, and of which I

enclosed you a copy in my last, nothing more has been said on tobacco, except

by a member of the Committee of Finance. You will have seen that the Committee

of Imposition propose to abandon tobacco as an article of revenue. The member

of the Committee of Finance, on the contrary, insisted on it; another member of

the same committee, however, insisted on his informing the assembly that what

he said was his private opinion, and not that of the Committee of Finance.

Nobody, as I have frequently repeated, can say with certainty, when the

assembly will take up any subject, nor what they will decide on it. Their

sentiments with respect to tobacco, have experience d a manifest alteration

since the first report of the Committee of Imposition respecting it. It is

probable now that it will be made an article of free commerce, with a duty on

entering the kingdom. But should the Farm be continued, still some modificatio

n may be expected at present in favor of their commercial connection s with the

United States. I forgot to mention above, that I had received through Mr.

Donald your letter of November 25 respecting this article.







`" The Commercial Committee have formed a new tariff, which is now under press,

as they write me, to be presented to the assembly. They not only admit American

oils in their plan, but put the duties lower than under the Arret du Conseil.

It is yet for the assembly to decide on it. I have already informed 













169             Correspond ence







you of the stages through which this business has been carried, and the manner

in which it has been done. I hope the means will be approved of; and the United

States will have reason to be satisfied with the result. The delay is

inevitable from the nature and proceeding s of the assembly. That is the cause,

also, of the uncertaint y and variation in the opinions which I have communicat

ed to you from time to time on these subjects.







  " The resistance of a considerabl e part of the clergy to a decree of the

assembly for their civil orgariizatio n, and particularl y for changing the

limits of the dioceses, and the violent measures adopted by the assembly

respecting this resistance, or rather noncomplia nce, has been matter of

uneasiness for some time. By a decree of the assembly all those of the clergy

who, by a given day, had not taken an oath to maintain the civil organization

of that body, were to be deprived of their ecclesiastic al functions, and their

successors immediately appointed agreeably to the new mode of election. That

day rigorously has passed, and only two bishops of the assembly have taken the

oath. Of the curates of Paris a majority, also, had refused; but among those

subscribed were some of the principal, and particularl v the curate of St.

Eustache, the King's confessor, who it is said, was converted by the King

himself, who takes every possible means of preventing what might occasion

disorder, and who, from his uniform conduct, merits better treatment than he

sometimes 













 170                                Jefferson's Works







receives. By a constructio n of the decree some delay is obtained for its

execution. In the meantime two of the refusing bishops have entered into

negotiation . They desire to find some decent means of retracting their refusal

; hitherto they have waited for the consent of the Pope, to obtain which they

had selnt an express to Rome. His answer has not yet been received, but it is

known by private letters that he is disposed to accommodat e at present, though

he would not hear of it at first. I know not yet what efect this will produce

on the people in the provinces. In the capital, their love of the Revolution so

far surpasses every other passion, that all the exertions of the Garde

Nationale have been necessary to prevent their entering the churches and

hanging the refusing curates. They will manifest their disposition s less

violently, perhaps, in the provinces, but in general the spirit of the

Revolution will certainly predominat e, even if the clergy succeed to convince

them that it is contrary to the spirit of religion.







  "The funds have risen to an uncommon height owing to the considerabl e

reimbursem ents made by the emission of assignats. These do not depreciate as

might have been expected. On the whole, if there were any probability of the

assembly's confining themselves merely to the business of organizing the

governmen t, so as to put an end to their session and call a new legislature,

the Revoltition might be considered as really in a successful state 













 171             Correspond ence







  but the Report of the Central Committee, which you



will have received, prescribes such a superabun dance of matter as necessary to

be deliberated on and settled by the present assembly, that its end as well as

the term of the completion of the constitutio n can be reduced to no

calculation. All that seems to me certain is, that the Revolution will in one

way or another end by giving a free governmen t to France. This event might be

hastened much by the assembly, if they would. My former letters will have

informed you how little I think it is to be hoped from them, and for what

reasons.







  "The Russians, as has been expected for .some time, have taken Ismailow. They

stormed it, and put the whole garrison to the sword on the 22d of December.

This was probably to strike terror into the Turks, in order to aid the separate

negotiation which it is known Prince Potemkin is endeavoring to effect with the

Grand Visier. The object is to engage the Porte to accept peace without the

mediation of other powers. On the other hand, Prussia is active both in

negotiation and military demonstrat ion to counteract this project. Preparatio

ns are making for sending a large army into Livonia in the spring, which has

induced the Empress to calloff some of the heavy troops from those employed

against the Turks. England, also, keeps an augmented navy in commission. It

seems not doubted that the design is to send a fleet into the Baltic as soon as

the season will permit it. It is said, also, 













172        Jefferson's Works







that the three mediating powers are negotiating with Denmark, to engage that

country to be at least indifferent as to the entrance of this fleet and that

there are grounds for hopes of success. Some think, also, that there are

indications which render it probable that Spain will join in the mediation for

obtaining peace for the Turks. I have no reason to suppose it other than that

arising from the desire which Spain must naturally have to see peace restored

to that power. It is supposed if she joins in the mediation it will be merely

for that object, and not from any disposition to favor generally the system of

the mediating powers. Where so many and such opposite principles enter into

account, it would be temerity to conjecture the particular results, without

being behind the curtain; and even there probably the schemes are not yet fully

ascertained . Every day must necessarily throw new lights on this complicated

state of affairs, in proportion as the state of negotiation is more advanced.







  "I think it probable myself, that peace will be effected one way or another

in the course of the year. The present favorable situation of the Russian army,

tlie dispersed and dishearten ed situation of the Ottoman, the succor promised

by Prussia, so long deferred, the little hope of immediate relief from the

geographic al position of that power, the ardent desire of Russia to effect a

peace without mediation, and the sacrifices she is disposed to make to effect

it; all znduce me to believe that it will be brought about 













            Correspond ence          173







in that way. If, however, the Porte, from a wellfounde d confidence in the

active interferenc e of the mediating powers, should decide still to hold out,

then it seems that the Empress will be induced to come to terms rather than

enter the lists with new and powerful enemies, from whom she would have much to

fear, particularl y by sea. Still I find seveiral who think, from the character

of the Empress, that she will resist, and try the event of a campaign rather

than sacrifice so much success and so much glory in having a peace dictated to

her. Her resources at home are without end from her niode of calling them into

action, and her credit, even here, stands high; certainly much higher than it

should do. It is supposed, also, that in this extremity she would be seconded

by the Emperor, notwithsta nding his pacific turn. He would be authorized by

treaty to do this, and his present situation would enable him; the disturbanc

es in the various parts of his dominions having been all settled. In Brabant,

particularl y, his authority is more firmly settled than if he had come to it

by inheritance only, since he enjoys it also by a kind of conquest.







  " It is the system of the English Cabinet which is considered here as the

most unaccounta ble. The commerce of that eountry is at present in the most

prosperous situation, since the balance is in their favor with every part of

Europe. They have more to gain by peace and more to apprehend from war, than

any other power, and yet they seem deter













174         Jefferson's Works







mined to risk it. The advantages of their commerce in the Baltic, are certain;

those in the Levant, eventual; still they seem determined to sacrifice one, at

least for a time, in order to grasp at the other. On the whole, it is regarded

as one of those sacrifices of commerce to politics, which France has so often

given examples of. Time will show whether Mr. Pitt, or those who condemn him,

are in the right."











          TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.







              PHILADELP HIA, Apiril 11, 1791.







  SIR,-I wrote you on the 12th of March, and again on the 17th of the same

month ; since which, I have received your favor of January the 24th, wherein

you refer to copies of two letters, also to a paper No. I, supposed to be

enclosed in that letter ; but there was nothing enclosed. You speak particularl

y of several other letters formerly forwarded, but not a single one was ever

received of later date than May the 6th, 1789 ; and this of January 24th, is

all we possess from you since that date. I enclose you a list of letters

addressed to you on various subjects, and to which answers were and are

naturally expected; and send you again eopies of the papers in the case of the

Dover Cutter, vc=hich has been the subject of so many of those letters, and is

the subject of the constant solicitation of the parties here. A final decision

on that application, therefore, is earnestly desired. When you consider the

repeated 













            Correspond ence          175







references of matters to you from hence, and the total suppressio n of whatever

you have written in answer, you will not be surprised if it had excited a great

degree of uneasiness. We had inquired whether private conveyance s did not

occur, from time to tizne, from Madrid to Cadiz, where we have vessels almost

constantly, and we were assured that such conveyance s were frequent. On the

whole, Sir, you will be sensible, that tznder the jealous governmen t with

which you reside, the conveyance of intelligence requires as much managemen t

as the obtaining it; and I ani in hopes that in future, you will be on your

guard against those infidelities in that line, under which yoti and we have so

much suffered.







The President is absent on a journey through the sotzthern States, from which

he will not return till the end of June; consequent ly, I could not sooner

notify him of your desire to return; but even then, I will take the liberty of

saying nothing to him on the subject till I hear further from you. The

suppressio n of your correspond ence has, in a considerabl e degree, withdrawn

you from the public sight. I sincerely wish that before your return, you could

do something to attract their attention and favor, and render your return

pleasing to yourself and profitable to them, by inf,roducin .g you to new

proofs of their cozifidence . My two last letters to you furnish occasions;

tliat of a co-operatio n against the Britisli navigation act, and the arrangeme

nt of 













176        Jefferson's Works







our afairs on the Mississippi. The former, if it can be effected, will form a

remarkable and memorable epoch in the history and freedom of the ocean. Mr.

Short will press it at Paris, and Colonel Humphreys at Lisbon. The latter will

show most at first ; and as to it, be so good as to observe always, that the

right of navigating the Mississippi is considered as so palpable, that the

recovery of it will produce no other sensation than that of a gross injustice

removed. The extent and freedom of the port for facilitating the use of it, is

what will excite the attention and gratificatio n of the public. Colonel

Humphreys writes me, that all Mr. Gardoqui's communicat ions, while here,

tended to impress the court of Madrid with the idea, that the navigation of the

Mississippi was only demanded on our part to quiet our western settlers, and

that it was not sincerely desired by the maritime States. This is a most fatal

error; and miist be completely eradicated and speedily, or Mr. Gardoqui will

prove to have been a bad peacemaker . It is true, there were characters whose

stations entitled them to credit, and who, from geographic al prejudices, did

not themselves wish the navigation of the Mississippi to be restored to us, and

who believe, perhaps, as is common with mankind, that their opinion was the

general opinion. But the sentiments of the great mass of the Union were

decidedly otherwise then, and the very persons to whom Mr. Gardoqui alluded,

have now conie over to the opiliion heartily, that the 













             Correspond ence          177







navigation of the Mississippi, in full and unrestrain ed freedom, is indispensa

bly necessary, and must be obtained by any means it may call for. It will be

most unfortunat e, indeed, if we cannot convince Spain that we make this demand

in earnest, but by acts which will render that conviction too late to prevent

evil.







  Not knowing how better to convey to you the laws and the gazettes, than by

committing them to the patronage of Colonel Humphreys , I now send through that

channel the laws of the second and tliird sessions of Congress, and the

newspaper s.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















     TO CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTO N.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 15, 1771.







  DEAR SIR,-I received last night your favor of the 10th, with Mr. Brown's

receipt, and thank you for the trouble you have been so kind as to take in this

business.







  Our news from the westward is disagreeabl e. Constant murders committing by

the Indians, and their combinatio n threatens to be more and more extensive. I

hope we shall give them a thorough drubbing this summer, and then change our

tomahawk into a golden chain of fricn.dship . The most economical as well as

most huinane conduct towards them is to bribc them ilnto peace, and to retain

them







   VOL. VIII- I 2 













178         Jefferson's Works







in peace by eternal bribes. The expedition this year= would have served for

presents on the most liberal scale for one hundred years; nor shall we

otherwise ever get rid of an army, or of our debt. The least rag of Indian

depredatio n will be an excuse to raise troops for those who love to have

troops, and for those who think that a public debt is a good thing. Adieu, my

dear Sir. Yours affectionat ely.











   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







              PHILADELP HIA, Aprll 17, 1791







SIR,-I had the honor of addressing you on the 2d, which I supposed would find

you at Richmond, and again on the Ioth, which I thought would overtake you at

Willnington . The present will probably find you at Charleston.







  According to what I rrientioned in my letter of the Ioth, the Vice-Presid

ent, Secretaries of the Treasury and War, and myself, met on the Ilth. Colonel

Hamilton presented a letter from Mr. Short, in which he mentioned that the

month of February being one of the periodical imonths in Amsterdam, when, from

the receipt of interest and refunding of capitals, there is much money coniing

in there, and free to be disposed of, he had put off the opening his loan till

then, that it might fill the more rapidly, a circumstan ce which would excite

the presumptio n of our credit; tlhat he had every reason to hope it would be

filled before it would be possible for him, after his then 













            Correspond ence          179







communicat ion of the conditions, to receive your approbatio n of them, and

orders to open a second; which, however, should be awaited, according to his

instruction s; but he pressed the expediting the order, that the stoppage of

the current in our favor might be as short as possible. We saw that if, under

present circumstan ces, your orders should be awaited, it would add a month to

the delay, and we were satisfied, were you present, you would approve the

conditions, and order a second loan to be opened. We unanimousl y, therefore,

advised an immediate order, on condition the terms of the second loan should

not be worse than those of the first.







  General Knox expressed an apprehensi on that the Six Nations might be induced

to join our enemies, there being some suspicious circumstan ces; and he wished

to send Colonel Pickering to confirm them in their neutrality. This, he

observed, would occasion an expense of about two thousand dollars, as the

Indians were never to be met empty handed. We thought the nmission advisable.

As to myself, I hope we shall give the Indians a thorough drubbing this summer,

and I should think it better afterwards to take up the plan of liberal and

repeated presents to them. This would be much the cheapest in the end, and

would save all the blood which is now spilt : in time, too, it would produce a

spirit of peace and friendship between us. The expense of a single expedition

would last very long for presents. I mentioned to the gentlemen, the idea of

suggesting 













180         Jefferson's Works







through Golonel Beckwith our knowledge of the conduct of the British officers

in furnishing the Indians with arms and ammunition , and our dissatisfact ion.

Colonel Hamilton said that Beckwith had been with him on the subject, and had

assured him they had given them nothing more than the annual presents, and at

the annual period. It was thought proper, however, that he should be made

sensible that this had attracted the notice of governmen t. I thought it the

more material, lest, having been himself the frst to speak of it, he might

suppose his excuses satisfactor y, and that therefore they might repeat the

annual present this year. As Beckwith lodges in the same house with Mr.

Madison, I have desired the latter to filid some occasion of representi ng to

Beckwith that, though an annual present of arms and ammunition be a.n innocent

thing in tinie of peace, it is not so in time of war ; that it is contrary to

the laws of neutrality for a neutral power to furnish military implements to

either party at war, and that if their subjects should do it on private

account, such furniture might be seized as contraband : to reason with him on

the subject, as from himself, but so as to let him see that governmen t thought

as himself did.







  You knew, I think, before you left us; that the British Parliament had a bill

before them for allowing wheat, imported in British bottoms, to be warehouse d

rent free. In order further to circumscri be the carrying business of the

United States, they now 













181             Correspond ence







refuse to consider as an American bottom any vessel not built here. By this

constructio n, they take from us the right of defining, by our own laws, what

vessels shall be deemed ours and naturalized here; and in the event of a war,

in which we should be neutral, they put it out of our power to benefit

ourselves of our neutrality, by increasing suddenly by purchase and

naturalizati on our means of carriage. If we are permitted to do this by

building only, the war will be over before we can be prepared to take advantage

of it. Tliis has been decided by the Lords Commission ers of the Treasury, in

the case of one Green, a merchant of New York ; from whom I have received a

regular complaint on the subject. I enclose you the copy of a note from Mr.

King to Colonel Hamilton, on the subject of the appointmen t of a British

minister to come here. I suspect it, however, to be without foundation.







  Colonel Eveleigh died yesterday. Supposing it possible you might desire to

appoint his successor as soon as you could decide on one, I enclose you a blank

commission ; which, when you shall be pleased to fill it up and sign, can be

returned for the seal and counter-si gnature. I enclose you a letter from Mr.

Coxe to yourself, on the subject of this appointmen t, and so much of one to

nme as related to the same, having torn off a leaf of compliment to lighten and

lessen my enclosures to you. Should distributiv e justice give preference to a

successor of the same state with the deceased, I take the liberty of suggest













182         Jefferson's Works







ing to you Mr. Hayward, of South Carolina, whom I think you told me you did not

know, and of whom you are now on the spot of inquiry. I enclose you also a

continuatio n of the Pennsylvan ia debates on the bill for federal buildings.

After the postponeme nt by the Senate, it was intended to bring on the

reconsider ation of that vote ; but the hurry at winding up their session

prevented it. They have not chosen a federal Senator.







  I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect and sincere

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







              PHILADELP HIA, Aprll 24, 1791.







  SIR,-I had the honor of addressing you on the 17th. Since which I have

received yours of the 13th. I enclose you extracts from letters received from

Mr. Short. In one of the 7th of February, Mr. Short informs me that he has

received a letter from M. de Montmorin, announcing to him that the King has

named Ternant his minister here. The questions on our tobacco and oil have

taken unfavorabl e turns. The former will pay fifty livres the thousand weight

less, when carried in French than foreign bottoms. Oil is to pay twelve livres

a kental, which amounts to a prohibition of the common oils, the only kind

carried there. Tobacco will not feel the effect of these measures till time

will be given to bring it to 













            Correspond ence          183







rights. They had only twenty thousand hogsheads in the kingdom in November

last, and they consume two thousand hogsheads a month, so that they must

immediately come forward and make great purchases, and not having as yet

vessels of their own to carry it, they must pay the extra duties on ours. I

have been puzzled about the delays required by Mr. Barclay's affairs. He gives

me reason to be tolerably assured, that he will go i.n the first vessel which

shall sail aftei the la.st day of May. There is no vessel at present whose

destination would suit. Believing that even with this, we shall get the

business done sooner than through any other channel, I have thought it best not

to change the plan. The last Leydcn gazettes give us what would have been the

first object of the British arms, had the rupture with Spain taken place.







  You know that Adimiral Cornish had sailed on an unknown destination . before

the Convention was received in Lolidon. Immediatel y on its receipt, they sent

an express after him to Madeira, in hopes of finding him theire. He was gone,

and had so short a passage, that in twenty-thr ee days he had arrived in

Barbadoes, the general rendezvous . All the troops of the islands were

collecting there, and General Matthews was on his way from Antigua to take

command of the land operations, when he met with the packet-boa t which carried

the counterord ers. Trinidad was the object of the expedition. M Iatthews

returned to Antigua, and Cornish is arrived 













184       Jefferson's Works







in England. This island, at the mouth of the Oronoko, is admirably suited for a

lodgment from which all the country up that river, and all the northern coast

of South America, Spanish, French, Dutch and Portuguese , may be suddenly

assailed.







  Colonel Pickering is now here, and will set out in two or three days to meet

the Indians, as mentioned in my last. The intimation to Colonel Beckwith has

been given by Mr. Madison. He met it on very different grounds from that on

which he had placed it with Colonel Hammilton. He pretended ignorance and even

disbelief of the fact ; when told that it was out of doubt, he said he was

positively sure the distributio n of arms had been without the knowledge and

against the orders of Lord Dorchester, and of the governmen t. He endeavored to

induce a formal communicat ion from me. When he found that could not be

effected, he let Mr. Madison perceive that he thought, however informal his

character, he had not been sufficiently noticed ; said he was in New York

before I came into office, and that though he had not been regularly turned

over to me, yet I knew his character. In fine, he promised to write to. Lord

Dorchester the general information we had received, and our sense of it ; and

he saw that his former apologies to Colonel Hamilton had not been satisfactor y

to the governmen t. Nothing further from Moose Island, ·nor the posts on the

northern border of New York, nor anything of the last week from the western

country. 













      185       Correspond ence







  Arthur Campbell has been here. He is the enemy of P. Henry. He says the Yazoo

bargain is like to drop with the consent of the purchasers . He explains it

thus: They expected to pay for the lands in public paper at par, which they had

bought at half a crown a pound. Since the rise in the value of the public

paper, they have gained as much on that as they would have done by investing it

in the Yazoo lands; perhaps more, as it puts a large sum of specie at their

command, which they can turn to better account. They are, therefore, likely to

acquiesce under the determinati on of the gov ernment of Georgia to consider

the contract as forfeited by non-payme nt.







  I direct this letter to be forwarded from Charleston to Camden. The next will

be from Petersburg to Taylor's Ferry; and after that, I shall direct to you at

Mount Vernon.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most affectionat e respect and

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























       TO WILLIAM SHORT.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 25, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-My late letters to you have been of the 8th, 12th,  15th, and 19th

of March, yours received and acknowledg ed are as follows.







         *   *   *   *   *    *   * 













   186         Jefferson's Works







  I consider the consular convention as securing clearly our right to appoint

consuls in the French colonies. The words "Etats du roi," unquestion ably

extend to all his dominions. If they had been merely synonymou s with ` ` la

France, '' why was the alteration made? When I proposed that alteration, I

explained my reasons, and it cannot be supposed I wold sufer a change of

language but for some matter of substance. Again, in the translation, it is

"dominions of France." This translation was submitted to M. de Montmorin and M.

de Reyneval, with a request that they would note any deviation in it from the

original, or otherwise it would be considered as faithful. No part was objected

to. M. de Reyneval says, we must decide by the instrument itself, and not by

the explanation s which took place. It is a rule, where expression s are

susceptible of two meanings, to recur to other explanation s. Good faith is in

favor of this recurrence . However, in the present case, the expression does

not admit of two constructio ns; it is co-extensiv e with the dominions of the

King. I insist on this, only as a reservation of our right, and not with a view

to exercise it, if it shall be inconvenie nt and disagreeabl e to the governmen

t of France. Only two appointmen ts have as yet been made (Mr. Skipwith at

Martinique and Guadaloupe , and Mr. Bourne in St. Dominique), and they shall be

instructed not to ask a regular Exequatur. We certainly wish to press nothing

on our friends which shall be inconven.ie nt. I shall hope 













            Correspond ence          187







that M. de Montmorin will order such attentions to be shown to those gentlemen

as the patronage of commerce may call for, and may not be inconvenie nt to the

governmen t. These gentlemen are most pointedly instructed not to intermeddl e,

by word or deed, with political matters.







My letter of August, 1790, to Mr. Carmichacl, was delivered to hini by Colonel

Humphreys .







The report you mention of the prospect of our captives at Algiers being

liberated, has not taken its rise from any authoritati ve source. Unfortunat

ely for tis, there have been so many persons, who (from friendly or charitable

motives, or to recommend themselves ) have busied themselves about this

redemption , as to excite great expectation s in the captors, and render our

countryme n in fact irredeemab le. We have not a single operation on foot for

that purpose, but wliat you know of, and the more all voluntary interpositio ns

are discourage d the better for our unhappy friends whom they are meant to

serve.







You know how strongly we desire to pay off our whole debt to France, and that

for this purpose we will use our credit as far as it will hold good. You know,

also, what may be the probability of our being able to borrow the whole sum.

Under these disposition s and prospects, it would grieve us extremely to see

our debt pass into the hands of speculators , and be subjected ourselves to the

chicaneries and vexations (C)f private avariee. We desire you, 













 188        Jefferson's Works







therefore, to dissuade the governmen t, as far as you can prudently, from

listening to any overtures of that kind, and as to the speculators themselves,

whether native or foreign, to inform them, without reserve, that our governmen

t condemns their projects, and reserves to itself the right of paying no where

but into the treasury of France, according to their contract.







  I enclose you a copy of Mr. Grand's note to me, stating the conditions on

which Drost would come, and also a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury,

expressing his ideas as to those terms, with which I agree. We leave to your

agency the engaging and sending Mr. Drost as soon as possible, and to your

discretion to fix the terms, rendering the allowance for expenses certain,

which his first proposition leaves uncertain. Subsistenc e here costs about

onethird of what it does in Paris, to a housekeepe r. In a lodging house, the

highest price for a room and board is a dollar a day, for the master, and half

that for the servant. These facts may enable you to settle the article of

expenses reasonably. If Mr. Drost undertakes assaying, I should much rather

confide it to him, than to any other person who can be sent. It is the most

confidentia l operationin the whole business of coining. We should expect him

to instruct a native in it. I think, too, he should be obliged to continue

longer than a year, if it should be necessary for qualifying others to continue

his operations. It is not important that he be here till 













189            Correspond ence







November or Decenmber, but extremely desirable then. He may come as much sooner

as he pleases.







We address to M. la Motte a small box for you, containing a complete set of the

journals of the ancient Congress, the acts of the last session of the federal

legislature, and a continuatio n of the newspaper s. I am, with great and

sincere esteem, dear Sir, your affectionat e friend and humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







               PHILADELP HIA, May 1, 1771.







  SIR,-I had the honor of addressing you on the 24th ult., which I presume you

will have received at Camden. The present is ordered to go from Petersburg to

Taylor's Ferry. I think it better my letters should be even some days ahead of

you, knowing that if they ever get into your rear they will never overtake you.

I write to-day, indeed, merely as the watchman cries, to prove himself awake,

and that all is well, for the last week has scarcely furnished anything foreign

or domestic, worthy your notice. Truxton is arrived from the East Indies, and

confirms the check by Tippoo Saib, on the detachment of Colonel Floyd, which

consisted of between three and four thousand men. The latter lost most of his

baggage and artillery, and retreated under the pursuit of the enemy. The loss

of men is pretended by their own papers to have been two or three hundred only.

But the loss and 













  190          Jefferson's Works







character of the off.cers killed, makes me suspect that the situation has been

such as to force the best officers to expose themselves the most, and

consequent ly that more men must have fallen. The main body with General

Meadows at their head are pretended to be going on boldly. Yet, Lord Cornwallis

is going to take the field in person. This shows that affairs are in such a

situation as to give anxiety. Upon the whole, the account received through

Paris papers proves true, notwithsta nding the minister had deiclared to the

House of Commons, in his place, that the public accounts were without

foundation, and that nothing amiss had happened.







  Our loan in Amsterdam for two and a half million of florins filled in two

hours and a half after it was opeined.







  The Vice-Presid ent leiaves us to-morrow. We are told that Mr. Morris gets

£70,000 sterling for the lands he has sold.







  A Mr. Noble has been here, from the country where they are busied with the

sugar-mapl e tree. He thinks Mr. Cooper will bring three thousand pounds worth

to market this season, and gives the most flattering calculation s of what may

be done in that way. He informs me of another most satisfactor y fact, that

less profit is made by converting the juice into spirit than into sugar. He

gave me specimens of the spirit, which is exactly whiskey.







  I have arrived at Baltimore from Marseilles forty olive trees of the best

kind from Marseilles, and a box 













    191        Correspond ence







of seed, the latter to raise stocks, and the former, cuttings to engraft on the

stocks. I am ordering them on instantly to Charleston, where, if they arrive in

the course of this month, they will be in time. Another cargo is on its way

from Bordeaux, so that I hope to secure the commencem ent of this culture, and

from the best species. Sugar and oil will be no mean addition to the articles

of our culturc. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect and esteem,

Sir, your most.obedie nt, and most humble servant.















TO THE. ATTORNEY OF THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY.







               PHILADELP HIA, May 7, 1771.







  SIR,-A certain James O'Fallon is, as we are informed, undertakin g to raise,

organize and commission an army, of his own authority, and independen t of that

of the governmen t, the object of which is, to go and possess themselves of

lands wliich have never yet been granted by any authority, which the governmen

t admits to be legal, and with an avowed design to hold them by force against

any power, foreign or domestic. As this will inevitably commit our whole nation

in war with the Indian nations, and perhaps others, it cannot be permitted that

all the inhabitants of the United States shall be involved in the calamities of

war, and the blood of thousands of them be poured out, merely that a few

adventurer s may possess themselves of lands; nor 













192         Jefferson's Works







can a well ordered governmen t tolerate such an assumption of its sovereignt y

by unauthoriz ed individuals . I send you herein the Attorney General's opinion

of what may legally be done, with a desire that you proceed against the said

O'Fallon according to law. It is not the wish, to extend the prosecutio n to

other individuals , who may have given thoughtles sly into his unlawful

proceeding . I enclose you a proclamatio n to this effect. But they may be

assured, that if this undertakin g be prosecuted , the whole force of the

United States will be displayed to punish the transgressi on. I enclose you one

of







 ,    , O Fallon s commission s, si ed, as is said, by himself.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble

servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







               PHILADELP HIA, May S, 1791.







  SIR,-The last week does not furnish one single public event worthy communicat

ing to You ; so that I have only to say " all is well." Paine's answer to

Burke's pamphlet begins to produce some squibs in our public papers. In Fenno's

paper they are Burkites, in the others, Painites. One of Fenno's was evidently

from the author of the discourses on Davila. I am afraid the indiscretio n of a

printer has com-







mitted me with my friend, Mr. Adams, for whom, as one of the most honest and

disinterested men alive, 













            Correspond ence          193







I have a cordial esteem, increased by long habits of concurrenc e in opinion in

the days of his republicani sm ; and even since his apostasy to hereditary

monarchy and nobility, though we differ, we differ as friends should do.

Beckley had the only copy of Paine's pamphlet, and lent it to me, desiring when

I should have read it, that I would send it to a Mr. J. B. Smith, who had asked

it for his brother to reprint it. Being an utter stranger to J. B. Sinith, both

by sight and character, I wrote a note to explain to him why I (a stranger to

him) selnt him a pamphlet, to wit, that Mr. Beckley had desired i.t ; and to

take off a little of the dryness of the note, I added that I was glad to find

it was to be reprinted, that something would, at length, be publicly said

against the political heresies which had lately sprung up among us, and that I

did not doubt our citizens would rally again round the standard of common

sense. That I had in my view the discourses on Davila, which have filled

Fenno's papers, for a twelvemont h, without contradicti on, is certain, but

nothing was ever further from my thoughts than to become myself the contradicto

r before the public. To my great astonishme nt, however, when the pamphlet came

out, the printer had prefixed my note to it, without having given me the most

distant hint of it. Mr. Adams will unquestion ably take to himself the charge

of political heresy, as conscious of his own views of drawing the present

governmen t to the form of the English constitutio n, and, I fear, will

consider me as meaning to injure







    VOL. VIII-I3 













   194         Jefferson's Works







him in the public eye. I learn that some Anglo-men have censured it in another

point of view, as 'a sanction of Paine's principles tends to give offence to

the British governmen t. Their real fear, however, is that this popular and

republican pamphlet, taking wonderfull y, is likely at a single stroke, to wipe

out all the unconstitut ional doctrines which their bell· wether Davila has

been preaching for a twelvemont h. I certainly never made a secret of my being

anti-monar chical, and anti-aristo cratical; but I am sincerely mortified to be

thus brought forward on the public stage, where to remain, to advance or to

retire, will be equally against my love of silence and quiet, and my abhorrence

of dispute. I do not know whether you recollect that the records of Virginia

were destroyed by the British in the year 1781. Particularl y the transaction s

of the revolution before that time. I am collecting here all the letters I

wrote to Congress while I was in the administrat ion there, and this being

done, I shall then extend my views to my predecesso rs, in order to replace the

whole in the public offices in Virginia. I think that during my administrat

ion, say between June 1, 1779, and June 1, 1781, I had the honor of writing

frequent letters to you on public affairs, which perhaps, may be among your

papers at Mount Vernon. Would it be consistent with any general resolution you

have formed as to your papers, to let my letters of the above period come here

to be copied, in order to make them a part of the records I am endeavorin g 













            Correspond ence          195







to restore for the State ? or would their selection be too troublesom e? if

not, I would beg the loan.of them, under an assurance that they shall be taken

the utmost care of, and safely returned to their present deposit.







The quiet and regular movement of our political affairs leaves nothing to add

but constant prayers for your health and welfare, and assurances of the sincere

respect and attachment of, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE HONORAI3L E JEREMIAH WADSWORT H.







              PHILADELP HIA, May 11, 1791.







  SIR,-I have duly received your favor of April 20. The exemption from the

Droit d'Aubaine in the French West Indies, has been for some time past a

subject of attention. As tlie National Assembly were abolishing it in France

for all nations, I desired our Chargé des Affaires there to see that the decree

should be extended to all the dominions of France. His letters assure me that

it will be done, so as to remove this grievance hereafter. With respect to the

past, I believe it has been judiciously determined in France that the exemption

given by our treaty did not extend to their foreign possession s. Should Mr.

Johnston, however, be disposed to try this matter, it will be requisite for him

to obtain from Port-au-Pr ince an authenticat ed record of the proceeding s in

his case. It would seem, also, that those 













196        Jefferson's Works







in the case of the gentleman of Curracoa, might be useful. These should be

transmitted to some person in Paris to solicit the governmen t for him. Though

it is not permitted that our Charge des Affaires there, or anywhere, should act

as the private agent or solicitor for any individual, yet he will lend his aid

and influence wherever it may be just and useful, by official application s. I

have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















              TO MR. DUMAS.







               PHILADELP HIA, May 13, 1771.







  SIR,-You will readily conceive that the union of domestic with the foreign

affairs under the department of State, brings on the head of this department

such incessant calls, not admitting delay, as oblige hiimi to postpone whatever

will bear postponing ; hence, though it is important that I should continue to

receive, from time to time, regular information from you of whatever occiirs

within your notice, interesting to the United States, yet it is not in mv power

to acknowledg e the receipt of your letters regularly as they come. I mention

this circumstan ce that you may ascribe the delay of acknowledg ment to the

real cause, and that it may not produce any relaxation on your part in making

all those corximunic ations which it is important should be received, and which

govern our proceeding s, though it is not in my power to note it to you

specially. 













             Correspond ence          197







  In general, our affairs are proceeding in a train of unparallele d

prosperity. This arises from the real improveme nts of our governmen t, from

the unbounded confidence reposed in it by the people, their zeal to support it,

and their conviction that a solid Union is the best rock of their safety, from

the favorable seasons which for some years past have co-operate d with a

fertile soil and a genial climate to increase the production s of agri.cultur

e, and from the growth of industr y, economy and domestic manufactur es ; so

that I believe I Inay say with truth, that there is not a nation under the sun

enjoying more present prosperity, nor with more in prospect. The Indians on our

frontier, indeed, still continue to cut off straggling individuals or families

falling in their way. An expedition against them the last summer was less

successful than thcre was reason to expect. We lost in it about one hundred

men. T he operations of the present summer will more probably bring them to

peace, which is all we desire of them, it having been a leading object of our

present Governmen t to guaranty them in their present possession s, and to

protect their persons with the same fidelity which is extended to its own

citizens. We ask nothing of them but that they.will accept our peace,

friendship and services ; and we hope soon to make them sensible of this, iii

spite of the incitements against us, which they have been so much the dupes of.

This is the general state of our affairs at present, as faithfully as I am able

to give it. 













   198        Jefferson's Works







 I am to acknowledg e the receipt of your favors of April 2, May 8, 17, 26 ;

July 10, 14 ; September 7, 30; October 19, November 23, December 6 and 11. I

now receive the Leyden Gazette with great regularity by the British packet, and

thank you for your attention to this, with a request that it may be continued.







There is no doubt it would be desirable for us to receive our intelligence from

Europe through a channel of our own ; but the expense of an establishme nt of

packet-boa ts would be beyond the value of the object for us, considerin g that

our connection with Europe is less political than commercial, and that

information of the latter kind may come safely through any channel. In fact, if

we attend to the whole amount of our civil list, we shall find that the expense

of packet-boa ts would make a very sensible addition to it. The idea,

therefore, though good, must be suspended yet awhile.







Accept my thanks on the part of the Governmen t for the copy of Rymer you have

been so good as to send us, and which is duly received, and be assured of the

sincere esteem and attachment with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant. 













            Correspond ence          199















      TO THOMAS BARCLAY.







              PHILADELP HIA, May 13, 1791.







  SIR,-You are appointed by the President of the United States, to go to the

court of Morocco, for the purpose of obtaining from the new Emperor, a

recognition of our treaty with his father. As it is thought best that you

should go in some definite character, that of consul has been adopted, and you

consequent ly receive a commission as consul for the United States, in the

dominions of the Emperor of Morocco, which, having been issued during the

recess of the Senate, will, of course, expire at the end of their next session.

It has been thought best, however, not to insert this limitation in the

commission, as being unnecessar y; and it might, perhaps, embarrass. Before the

end of the next session of the Senate, it is expected the objects of your

mission will be accomplish ed.







Lisbon being the most convenient port of correspond ence between us and

Morocco, sufficient authority will be given to Colonel Humphreys , resident of

the United States at that place, over funds in Amsterdam, for the objects of

your mission. On him, therefore, you will draw for the sums herein allowed, or

such parts of them as shall be necessary. To that port, too, you had better

proceed in the first vessel which shall be going there, as it is expected you

will get a ready passage from thence to Morocco.







On your arrival at Morocco, sound your ground, 













200         Jefferson's Works







and know how things stand at present. Your former voyage there, having put you

in possession of the characters through whom this may be done, who may best be

used for approaclhi ng the Emperor and effecting your purpose, you are left to

use your own knowledge to the best advantage.







  The object being merely to obtain an acknowledg ment of the treaty, we rely

that you will be able to do this, giving very moderate presents. As the amount

of these will be drawn into precedent, on future similar repetitions of them,

it becomes important. Our distance, our seclusion from the ancient world, its

politics and usages, our agricultura l occupation s and habits, our poverty,

and lastly, our determinati on to prefer war in all cases, to tribute under any

form, and to any people whatever, will furnish you with topics for opposing and

refusing high or dishonoring pretension s; to which may be added, the

advantages their people will derive from our commerce, and their sovereign,

from the duties laid on whatever we extract from that country.







Keep us regularly informed of your proceeding s and progress, by writing by

every possible occasion, detailing to us particularl y your conference s,

either private or public, and the persons with whom they are held.







We think that Francisco Chiappe has merited well of the United States, by his

care of their peace and interests. He has sent an account of di.sbursem ents

for us, amounting to tliree liundred and ninety-fou r 













    201         Correspond ence







dollars. Do not recognize the account, because we are unwilling, by doing that,

to give him a color for presenting larger ones hereafter, for expenses which it

is impossible for us to scrutinize or control. Let him understand , that our

laws oppose the application of public money so informally ; but in your

presents, treat him handsomely , so as not only to cover this demand, but go

beyond it with a liberality which may fix him deeply in our interests. The

place he holds near the Emperor, renders his frielidship peculiarly important.

Let us have nothing further to do with his brothers, or any other person. The

money which would make one good friend, divided among several, vcwill produce

no attachment.







  The Emperor has intimated that he expects an ambassador from us. Let him

understand , that this may be a custom of the old world, but it is not ours ;

that we never sent an ambassador to any nation.







  You are to be allowed, from the day of your departure till your return, one

hundred and sixtysix dollars and sixty-six cents and two-thirds, a month, for

your time and expenses, adding thereto your passage money and sea stores going

and coming.







  Remain in your post till the Ist of April next, and as much longer as shall

be necessary to accomplish the objects of your mission, unless you should

receive instruction s from hence to the contrary.







  With your commission, you will receive a letter 













202         Jefferson's Works







to the Emperor of Morocco, a cypher, and a letter to Colonel Humphreys .



  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.



 A private instruction which Mr. Barclay is to cnrry



in his memory, and not on paper, lest it should come



into improper hands.







 We rely that you will obtain the friendship of the new Emperor, and his

assurances that the treaty shall be faithfully observed, with as little expense

as possible. But the sum of ten thousand dollars is fixed as the limit which

all your donations together are not to exceed.







May 13, 1791.







[Letter from the President to the Emperor of Morocco,



referred to in the letter to Mr. Barclay.]







  GREAT AND MAGNANIMO US FRIEND,-Se parated by an immense ocean from the more

ancient nations of the earth, and little connected with their politics or

proceeding s, we are late in learning the events which take place among them,

and later in conveying to them our sentiments thereon.







  The death of the late Emperor, your father and our friend, of glorious

m.emory, is one of those events which, though distant, attracts our notice and

concern. Receive, great and good friend, my sincere sympathy with you on that

loss; and permit me, at







             Correspond ence          203







the same time, to express the satisfaction with which I learn the accession of

so worthy a successor to the imperial throne of Morocco, and to offer you the

homage of my sincere congratulat ions. May the days of your Majesty's life be

manv and glorious, and may they ever mark the era during which a great people

shall have been most prosperous and happy, under the best and happiest of

sovereigns !







  The late Emperor, very soon after the establishme nt of our infant nation,

manifested his royal regard and amity to us by many friendly and generous acts,

and, particularl y, by the protection of our citizens in their commerce with

his subjects. And as a further instance of his desire to promote our prosperity

and intercourse with his realms. he entered into a treaty of amity and commerce

with us, for himself and his successors, to continue fifty years. The justice

and magnanimit y of your Majesty, leave us full confidence that the treaty will

meet your royal patronage also ; and it will give me great satisfaction to be

assured, that the citizens of the United States of America may expect from your

imperial Majesty, the same protection and kindness, which the example of your

illustrious father has taught tliem to expect from those who occupy the throne

of Morocco, and to have your royal word, that they may count on a due

observance of the treaty- which cements the two nations in friendship.







  This will be delivered to your Majesty, by our faithful citizen, Thomas

Barclay, whom I name 













204                       Jefferson's Works







consul for these United States in the dominions of your Majesty, and who, to

the integrity and knowledge qualifying him for that office, unites the peculiar

advantage of having been the agent, through whom our treaty with the late

Emperor was received. I pray your Majesty to protect him in the exercise of his

functions for the patronage of the commerce between our two countries, and of

those who carry it on.







  May that God, whom we both adore, bless your imperial Majesty with long life,

health and success, and have you always, great and magnanimo us friend, under

his holy keeping.







  Written at Philadelphi a, the thirty-first day of March, in the fifteenth

year of our sovereignt y and independen ce, from your good and faithful friend.















        TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH. 1







 BENNINGTO N, in Vermont, June 5, 1771.







  DEAR SIR,-Mr. Madison and myself are so far on the tour we had projected. We

have visited, in the course of it, the principal scenes of General Burgoyne's

misfortune s, to wit, the grounds at Stillwater, where the action of that name

was fought, and particularl y the breastwork s, which cost so much blood. to

both parties, the encampmen ts at Saratoga and ground where the British piled

their arms, and the field. of the battle of Bennington , about nine







' No address. 













205             Correspond ence







miles from this place. We have also visited Forts William, Henry and George,

Ticonderog a, Crown Point, etc., which have been scenes of blood from a very

early part of our history. We were more pleased, however, with the botanical

objects which continually presented themselves. Those either unknown or rare in

Virginia, were the sugar maple in vast abundance. The silver fir, white pine,

pitch pine, spruce pine, a shrub with decumbent stem which they call juniper,

an aralea, very different from the nudiflora, with very large clusters of

flowers, more thickl.y set on the branches, of a deeper red, and high

pink-fragr ance. It is the richest shrub I have seen. The honey-suc kle of the

gardens growing wild on the banks of Lake George, the paper-birc h, an aspen

with a velvet leaf, a shrub-willo w with downy catkins, a wild gooseberry , the

wild cherry with single fruit, (not tlie bunch cherry,) strawberries in

abundance. From the highlands to the lakes it is a limestone country. It is in

vast quantities on the eastern sides of the lakes, but none on the western

sides. The Sandy Hill Falls and Wing's Falls, two very remarkable cataracts of

the Hudson, of about thirty-five feet or forty feet each, between Fort Edward

and Fort George, are of limestone, in horizontal strata. Those of the Cohoes,

on the west side of the Hudson, and of seventy feet height, we thought not of

limestone. We have met with a small red squirrel., of the color of our

fox-squirre l, with a black stripe on each side, 













206            Jefferson's Works







weighing about six ounces generally, and in such abundance on Lake Champlain

particularl y, as that twenty odd were killed at the house we lodged in,

opposite Crown Point, the morning we arrived there, without going ten yards

from the door. We killed three crossing the lakes, one of them just as he was

getting ashore, where it was three miles wide, and where, with the high wind

then blowing, he must have made it five or six miles.



  I think I asked the favor of you to send for Anthony in the season for

inoculation, as well as to do what is necessary in the orchard, as to pursue

the objeet of inoculating all the spontaneou s cherry trees in the fields with

good fruit.







  We have now got over about four hundred miles of our tour, and have still

about four hundred and fifty more to go over. Arriving here on the Saturday

evening, and the laws of the State not permitting us to travel on the Sunday,

has given me time to write to you from hence. I expect to be at Philadelphi a

by the 20th or 21st. I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, yours

affectionat ely.















           TO COLONEL MONROE.







              PHILADELP HIA, July 10, 1771,







DEAR SIR,-Your favor of June 17, has been duly received. I am endeavorin g to

get for you the lodgings Langdon had. But the landlord is doubtful whether he

will let tlhem at all. If he will not, I will 













             Correspond ence         207







endeavor to do the best I can. I can accommodat e you myself with a stable and

coach-hous e, without any expense, as I happen to have two on hand ; and

indeed, in my new one, I have had stalls enough prepared for six horses, which

are two more than I keep. Of my success in procuring roonis, I shall bring you

news myself, though as yet the time of my visit to Albemarle is unfixed. Mr.

Madison will both go and come with me. He is at present at New York. His

journey with me to the lakes placed him in better health than I have seen him ;

but the late heats have brought on some bilious disposition s.







  The papers which I send Mr. Randolph weekly, and which I presume you see,

will have shown you what a dust Paine's pamphlet has kicked up here. My last to

Mr. Randolph will have given an explanation as to myself, which I had not time

to give when i sent you the pamphlet. A writer, under the name of Publicola, in

attacking all Paine's principles, is very desirous of involving me in the same

censure with the author. I certainly merit the same, for I profess the same

principles ; but it is equally certain I never meant to have entered as a

volunteer into the cause. My occupation s do not permit it. Some persons here

are insinuating that I am Brutus, that I am Agricola, that I am Philodemus ,

etc., etc. I am none of them, being decided not to write a word on the subject,

unless any printed imputation should call for a printed disavowal, to which I

should put my name. A Boston paper has declared that Mr. 













208        Jefferson's Works







Adams "has no more concern in the publication of the writings of Publicola,

than the author of the ` Rights of Man' himself. '' If the equivoque here were

not intended, the disavowal is not entirely credited, because not from Mr.

Adams himself, and because the style and sentiments raise so strong a

presumptio n. Besides, to produce any effect he must disavow Davila and the

Defence of the American Constitutions. A host of writers have risen in favor of

Paine, and prove that in this quarter, at least, the spirit of republicani sm

is sound. The contrary spirit of the high officers of governmen t is more

understood than I expected. Colonel Hamilton avowing that he never made a

secret of his principles, yet taxes the imprudence of Mr. Adams in having

stirred the question, and agrees that "his business is done." Jay, covering the

same principles under the veil of silence, is rising steadily on the ruins of

his friends. The bank filled and overflowed in the moment it was opened.

Instead of twenty thousand shares, twenty-fou r thousand were offered, and a

great many unpresente d, who had not suspected that so mucli haste was

necessary. Thus it is that we shall be paying thirteen per cent. per annum for

eight millians of paper money, instead of having that eirculation of gold and

silver for nothing. Experience has proved to us that a dollar of silver

disappears for every dollar of paper emitted; and, for the paper emitted from

the bank, seven per cent. profits will be reccived by the subscriber s for it

as 













 209            Correspond ence







bank paper, (according to the last division of profits by the Philadelphi a

bank,) and six per cent. on the public paper of which it is the representa

tive. Nor is there any reason to believe, that either the six millions of

paper, or the two millions of specie deposited, will not be suffered to be

withdrawn, and the paper thrown into circulation. The cash deposited by

strangers for safe keeping will probably suffice for cash demands. Very few

subscriber s have offered from Virginia or North Carolina, which gives

uneasiness to H. It is impossible to say where the appetite for gambling will

stop. The land office, the federal town, certain schemes of manufactur e, are

all likely to bei converted into aliment for that rage ; but tliis subject is

too copious for a letter, and must be reserved for conversatio n. The respite

from occupation which my journey procured, has entirely removed my headaches.

Kiiss and bless Mrs. Monroe and Eliza, for, dear Sir, yours affectionat ely.















           TO COLONEL HUMPHREY S.







               PHILADELP HIA, July 13, 1791.







  SIR,-Mr. Barclay having been detained longer than was expected, you will

receive this as well as my letter of May the 13th from him. Since the date of

that, I have received your No. I5, March the 31st, No. 16, April the 8th, No.

17, April the 30th, No. 18, May the 3d, and No. 20, May the 21st



  You are not unacquaint ed with the situation of







    VOI,. VIII-14 













2 10         Jefferson's Works







our captives at Algiers. Measures were taken, and were long depending, for

their redemption . During the time of their dependenc e, we thought it would

forward our success to take no notice of the captives. They were maintained by

the Spanish consul, from whom application s for reimbursem ent, through Mr.

Carmichael, often came: no answer of any kind was ever given. A certainty now

that our measures for their redemption will not succeed, renders it unnecessar

y for us to be so reserved on the subject, and to continue to wear the

appearance of neglecting them. Though the governmen t might have agreed to

ransom at the lowest price admitted with any nation (as, for instance, that of

the French order of Merci), they will not give anything like the price which

has been lately declared to be the lowest by the captors. It remains, then, for

us to see what other means are practicable for their recovery. In the meantime,

it is our desire that the disburseme nts hitherto made for their subsistenc e,

by the Spanish consul or others, be paid off, and that their future comfortable

subsistenc e be provided for. As to past disburseme nts, I must beg the favor

of you to write to Mr. Carmichael, that you are authorized to pay them off,

pray him to let you know their amount, and to whom payments are due. With

respect to future provision for the captives, i must put it into your hands.

The impossibilit y of getting letters to or from Mr. Carmichael, renders it

improper for us to use that channel. As to the footing on which they are to be

sub













            Correspond ence          211







sisted, the ration and clothing of a soldier would have been a good measure,

were it possible to apply it to articles of food and clothing so extremely

different as those used at Algiers. The allowance heretofore made them by the

Spanish consul might perhaps furnish a better rule, as we have it from

themselves, that they were then comfortabl y subsisted. Should you be led to

correspond with them at all, it had better be with Captain O'Bryan, who is a

sensible man, and wliose conduct since he has been there, has been particularl

y meritorious . It will be better for you to avoid saying anything which may

either increase or lessen their hopes of ransom. I write to our bankers, to

answer your drafts for these purposes, and enclose you a duplicate to be

forwarded with your first draft. The prisoners are fourteen in number ; their

names and qualities as follows : Richard O'Bryan and Isaac Stephens, captains;

Andrew Montgomer y and Alexander Forsyth, mates; Jacob Tessanier, a French

passenger; William Patterson, Philip Sloan, Peleg Lorin, John Robertson, James

Hall, James Cathcart, George Smith, John Gregory, James Hermel, seamen. They

have been twentyone or twenty-two .







  We are in hourly expectation of hearing the event of General Scott's

irruption into the Indian country  , at the head of between seven and eight

hundred mounted infantry. Perhaps it may yet be known in time to communicat e

to you by this opportunit y. Our bank was filled with subscriptio ns the moment















  2 I 2      Jefferson's Works







it was opened. Eight millions of dollars were the whole permitted to be

subscribed , of which two millions were deposited in cash, the residue to be

public paper. Every other symptom is equally favorable to our credit.







  The President has returned from his southern tour in good health. You will

receive herewith the newspaper s up to the present date. I have the honor to

be, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















              TO JOHN ADAMS.







               PHILADELP HIA, Ju1y 17, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-I have a dozen times taken up my pen to write to you, and as often

laid it down again, suspended between opposing considerati ons. I determine,

however, to write from a conviction that truth, between candid minds, can never

do harm. The first of Paine's pamphlets on the rights of man, which came to

hand here, belonged to Mr. Beckley. He lent it to Mr. Madison, who lent it to

me; and while I was reading it, Mr. Beckley called on me for it, and, as I had

not finished it, he desired me, as soon as I should have done so, to send it to

Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, whose brother meant to reprint it. I finished reading

it, and, as I had no acquaintan ce with Mr. Jonathan B. Smith, propriety

required that I should explain to him why I, a stranger to him, sent him the

pamphlet. I accordingl y wrote a note of compli













            Correspond ence          213







ment, informing him that I did it at the desire of Mr. Beckley, and, to take of

a little of the dryness of the note, I added that I was glad it was to be

reprinted here, and that something was to be publicly said against the

political heresies which had sprung up among us, etc. I thought so little of

this note, that I did not even keep a copy of it ; nor ever heard a tittle more

of it, till, the week following, I was thunderstr uck with seeing it come out

at the head of the pamphlet. I hoped, however, it would not attract notice. But

I found, on my return from a journey of a month, that a writer came forward,

under the signature of Publicola, attacking not only the author and principles

of tlie pamphlet, but myself as its sponsor, by naine. Soon after came hosts of

other writers, defending the pamphlet, and attacking you, by name, as the

writer of Publicola. Thus were our names thrown on the public stage as public

antagonists . That you and I differ in our ideas of the best form of goverment,

is well known to us both; but we have differed as friends should do, respecting

the purity of each other's motives, and confining our difference of opinion to

private conversatio n. And I can declare with truth, in the presence of the

Almighty, that nothing was further from my intention or expectation than to

have either my own or your name brought before the public on this occasion. The

friendship and confidence which has so long existed between us, required this

explanation from me, and I know you too well to fear any miscon













214        Jefferson's Works







struction of the motives of it. Some people here, who would wish me to be, or

to be thought, guilty of improprieti es, have suggested that I was Agricola,

that I was Brutus, etc., etc. I never did in my life, either by myself or by

any other, have a sentence of mine inserted in a newspaper without putting my

name to it; and I believe I never shall.







  While the Empress is refusing peace under a mediation, unless Ocrakow and its

territory be ceded to her, she is offering peace on the perfect statu quo to

the Porte, if theywill conclude itwithout a mediation. France has struck a

severe blow at our navigation, by a difference of duty on tobacco carried in

our and their ships, and by taking from foreign-bui lt ships the capability of

naturalizati on. She has placed our whale oil on rather a better footing than

ever, by consolidati ng the duties into a single one of six livres. They

amounted before to some sous over that sum. I am told (I know not how truly),

that England has prohibited our spermaceti oil altogether, and will prohibit

our wheat till the price there is fifty-two shillings the quarter, which it

almost never is. We expect hourly to hear the true event of General Scott 's

expedition. Reports give favorable hopes of it. Be so good as to present my

respectful compliment s to Mrs. Adams, and to accept assurances of the

sentiments of sincere esteem and respect with which I am, dear Sir, your £riend

and servant. 













            Correspond ence          215















     TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







              PHILADELP HIA, July 26, 1771.







  DEaR SIR,-Your favors of February the 26th, and March the I6th, have been

duly received. The conference s which you held last with the British minister

needed no apology. At the time of writing my letter desiring that communicat

ions with them might cease, it was supposed possible that some might take place

before it would be received. They proved to be such as not to vary the opinion

formed, and, indeed, the result of the whole is what was to have been expected

from known circumstan ces. Yet the essay was perhaps necessary to justify, as

well as induce, the measures proper for the protection of our commerce. The

first remittance of a thousand dollars to you, was made without the aid of any

facts which could enable the governmen t to judge, what sum might be an

indemnification for the interferenc e of the business referred to you, with

your private pursuits. Your letter of February the 26th furnishing grounds for

correcting the first judgment, I now enclose you a bill on our bankers in

Holland for another sum of a thousand dollars. In the original remittance, as

in this supplement to it, there has been no view but to do what is right

between the public and those who serve them.







  Though no authentic account is yet received, we learn through private

channels that General Scott has returned from a successful expedition against

the 













2 I6            Jefferson's Works







Indians; having killed about thirty warriors, taken fifty odd women and

children prisoners, and destroyed two or three villages, without the loss of a

man, except three, drowned by accident. A similar expedition was to follow

immediately after the first, while preparatio ns are making for measures of

more permanent efiect; so that we hope this summer to bring the Indians to

accept of a just and general peace, on which nothing will be asked of them but

their peace.







  The crops of wheat in the United States are rather abundant, and the quality

good. Those of tobacco are not promising as yet. I have heard nothing of the

rice crops.







  I am, with very great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble

servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







               PHILADELP HIA, July 28, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-Since my last I have received letters from you as follows :







*    *   *   *   *i *    *    *







Mine to you, unacknowle dged, were of March the Sth, I2th, I5th, Igth, April

the 25th, and May the Ioth. Your two last letters mention the length of time

you have been without intelligence , having then received mine of January the

23d only. You will perceive by the above, that six letters of a later date were

on their way to you. The receipt of these, with 













            Correspond ence          217







the newspaper s, journals, laws, and other printed papers accoinpany ing them,

will have relieved your anxiety, by answering several articles of your former

letters, and opening to you some new and important matters. I scarcely ever

miss the opportunit y of a private vessel going from hence or New York to any

port of France, without writing to you and sending you the newspaper s, etc. In

the winter, occasions are very rare, this port, particularl y, being blocked up

with ice. 'The reason of so long an interval between thc last and present

letter, has been the journey of a month, which tlhat informed you I was about

to take. 'This is the first vessel which has offered since my return; she is

bound to Havre, and will carry the newspaper s as usual.







  The difference of sixty-two livres ten sols the hogshead, established by the

National Assembly on tobacco brought in their and our ships, is such an act of

hostility against our navigation, as was not to have been expected from the

friendship of that nation. It is as new in its nature as extravagan t in its

degree ; since it is unexampled , that any nation has endeavored to wrest from

another the carriage of its own produce, except in the case of their colonies.

The British navigation act, so much and so justly complained of, leaves to all

nations the carriage of their own commoditie s free. 'lhis measure, too, is

calculated expressly to take our own carriage from us and givc the equivalent

to other nations : for it is well known, that the shipping of France is-not

equal 













218         Jefferson's Works







to the carriage of their, whole commerce; but the freight in other branches of

navigation being on an equal footing with only forty livres the hogshead, in

ours, and this new arrangeme nt giving them sixtytwo livres ten sols the

hogshead, in addition to their freight, that is to say, one hundred and two

livres ten sols, instead of forty livres, their vessels will leave every other

branch of business to fill up this. They will consequent ly leave a void in

those other branches. which will be occupied by English, Dutch, and Swedes, on

the spot. They complain of our tonnage duty ; but it is because it is not

understood . In the ports of France, we pay fees for anchorage, buoys and

beacons, fees to measurers, weighers, and gaugers, and in some countries, for

light-house s. We have thought it better that the public here should pay all

these, and reimburse itself by a consolidation of them into one fee, proportion

ed to the tonnage of the vessel, and therefore called by that name. They

complain that the foreign tonnage is higher than the domestic. If this

complaint had come from the English, it would not have been wonderful, because

the foreign tonnage operates really as a tax on their commerce, which, under

this name, is found to pay sixteen dollars and fifty cents for every dollar

paid by France. It was not conceived, that the latter would have complained of

a measure calculated to operate so unequally on her rival, and I still suppose

she would not complain, if the thing were well understood . The refusing to our

vessels the faculty of 













            Correspond ence          219







becoming national bottoms, on sale to their citizens, was never before done by

any nation but England. I cannot help hoping that these were wanderings of a

moment, founded in misinformat ion, which reflection will have corrected before

you receive this.







Whenever jealousies are expressed as to any supposed views of ours, on the

dominion of the West Indies, you cannot go farther than the truth, in asserting

we have none. If there be one principle more derply rooted than any other in

the mind of every American, it is, that we should have nothing to do with

conquest. As to commerce, indeed, we have strong sensatiolis. In casting our

eyes over the earth, we see no instancc of a nation forbidden, as we are, by

foreign powers, to deal with neighbors, and obliged, with them, to carry into

another hemisphere , the mutual supplies necessary to relieve mutual wants.

This is not merely a question between the foreign power and our neighbor. We

are interested in it equally with the latter, and nothing but moderation, at

least with respect to us, can render us indifferent to its continuanc e. An

exchange of surplusses and wants between neighbor nations, is both a right and

a duty under the moral law, and measures against right should be mollified in

their exercise, if it be wished to lengthen them to the greatest term possible.

Circumstances sometimes require, that rights the most unquestion able should be

advanced with delicacy. It would seem that the one now spoken of, would need

only a men













220         Jefferson's Works







tion, to be assented to by any unprejudic ed mind: but with respect to America,

Europeans in general, have been too long in the habit of confoundin g force

with right. The Marquis de La Fayette stands in such a relation between the two

countries, that I should think him perfectly capable of seeing what is just as

to both. Perhaps on some occasion of free conversatio n, you might find an

opportunit y of impressing these truths on his mind, and that from him, they

might be let out at a proper' moment as matters meriting consi.derat ion and

weight, when they shall be engaged in the work of forming a constitutio n for

our neighbors. In policy, if not in justice, they should be disposed to avoid

oppression, which, falling on us, as well as on their colonies, might tempt us

to act together.1







The element of measure adopted by the National Assembly excludes, ipso facto,

every nation on earth from a communion of measure with them; for they

acknowledg e themselves, that a due portion for admeasure ment of a meridian

crossing the forty-fifth degree of latitude, and terminating at both ends in

the same level, can be found in no other country on earth but theirs. It would

follow then, that other nations must trust to their admeasure ment, or send

persons into their country to make it themselves, not only in the first

instance, but whenever afterwards they may wish to verify their measures. In-







 ' This paragrap)I was in cyphei-, but ain explication of it preserved with the

copy. 













            Correspond ence          221







stead of concurring , then, in a measure which, like the pendulum, may be found

in every point of the forty-fifth degree, and through both hemisphere s, and

consequent ly in all the countries of the earth lying under that parallel,

either northern or southern, they adopt one which can be found but in a single

point of the northern parallel, and consequent ly only in one country, and that

country is theirs.







  I left with you a statement of the case of Schweigha user and Dobrée, with

the original vouchers on which it depends. From these you will have known, that

being authorized by Congress to settle this matter, I began by offering to them

an arbitration before honest and judicious men of a neutral riation. They

declined this, and had the modesty to propose an arbitration before merchants

of their own town. I gave them warning then, that as the offer on the part of a

sovereign nation to submit to a private arbitration was an unusual condescend

ence, if they did not accept it then, it would not be repeated, and that the

United States would judge the case for themselves hereafter. They continued to

declilie it, and the case now stands thus. The territorial judge of France has

undertakcn to call the United States to his jurisdictio n, and has arrested

their property, in order to enforce appearance , and possess himself of a

matter whereon to found a decree; but no court can have jurisdictio n over a

sovereign nation. This position was agr eed to ; but it was urged, that some

act of Mr. Barclay's had admitted the jurisdictio n: 













222         Jefferson's Works







It was denied that there had been any such act by Mr. Barclay, and disavowed,

if there was one, as without authority from the United States, the property on

which the arrest was made, having been purchased by Dr. Franklin, and remaining

in his possession till taken out of it by the arrest. On this disavowal, it was

agreed that there could be no further contest, and I received assurance that

the property should be withdrawn from the possession of the court by an

evocation of the cause before the King's Council, on which, without other

proceeding s, it should be delivered to the United States. Application s were

repeated as often as dignity or even decency would permit; but it was never

done. Thus the matter rests, and thus it is meant it should rest. No answer of

any kind is to be given to Schweigha user and Dobrée. If they think proper to

apply to their sovereign, I presume there will be a communicat inn either

through you or their representa tive here, and we shall have no difficulty to

show the character of the treatment we have experience d.







  I will observe for your information , that the sustenance of our captives at

Algiers is committed to Colonel Humphreys .







  You will be so kind as to remember, that your public account from the Ist day

of July, 1790, to the last of June, 1771, inclusive, is desired before the

meeting of Congress, that I may be able to lay before them the general account

of the foreign fund for that







year. 













  223          Correspond ence







 General Scott has returned from a successful expedition against the northern

Indians, having killed thirty-two warriors, taken fifty-eight women and

children prisoners, and destroyed three towns and villages, with a great deal

of cor n in grain and growth. A similar expedition was to follow immediately ,

while preparatio n is making for measures of more permanent effect; so that we

may reasonably hope the Indians will be induced to accept of peace which is all

we desire.







Our funds have risen nearly to par. The eight millions for the bank was

subscribed as fast as it could be written, and that stock is now above par. Our

crops of wheat have been rather abundant, and of excellent quality. Those of

tobacco are not very promising as yet. The census is not yet completed, but

from what we hear, we may expect our whole numbers will be nearer four than

three millions. I enclose a sketch of the numbers as far as we yet know them.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your sincere friend and

servant.















            TO THOMAS PAINE.







              PHILADELP HIA, July 29, 1771.







  DEAR SIR,-Your favor of Sept. 28th, 1790, did not come to my hands till Feb.

I Ith, and I have not answered it sooner because it said yov would be here in

the spring. That expectation being past, I now 













224         Jefferson's Works







acknowledg e the receipt. Indeed I am glad you did not come away till you had

written your " Rights of Man. '' That has been much read here with avidity and

pleasure. A writer under the signature of Publicola has attacked it. A host of

champions entered the arena immediately in your defence. The discussion excited

the public attention, recalled it to the " Defence of the Ameirican constitutio

ns " and the "Discourse s on Davila," which it had kindly passed over without

cen.sure in the moment, and very gelieral expression s of their sense have been

now clrawn forth ; and I thank God that tliey appear firm in their republicani

sm, notwithsta nding the contrary hopes and assertions of a sect here, high in

name but small in numbers. These had flattered themselves that the silence of

tlie people under the " Defence " and " Davila " was a symptom of their

conversion to the doctrine of kiiig, lords, and commons. They are checked at

least by your pamphlet, and the people confirmed in their good old faith.







  Your observatio ns on the subject of a copper coinage has satisfied my niind

on that subject, which I confess had wavererl before between difficulties. As a

different plan is tinder considerati on of Congress, and will be taken up at

their meeting, I think to watch the proper moment, and publish your observatio

ns (except tlie notes which contain facts relative to particiular persons,

which I presume you would dislike to see published, and which are not necessary

to establish the main object), adding your name, 













            Correspond ence          225







because it will attract attention and give weight to the publication . As this

cannot take place under four months, there is time for you to forbid me, if it

should be disagreeabl e to you to have the observatio ns published, which,

however, I hope it will not be.







  General Scott has just returned from a successful expedition against the

Indians, having killed thirty-two warriors, and taken fifty-eight women and

children, and burnt several towns. I hope they will now consent to peace, which

is all we ask. Our funds are near par ; the crops of wheat remarkably fine ;

and a great degree of general prosperity arising from four years successive of

plentiful crops, a great diffusion of domestic manufactur e, a return to

economy, and a reasonable faith in the new governmen t. I shall be happy to

hear from you, and still more to see you, being with great, and sincere esteem,

dear Sir, your friend and servant.











    TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







               PHILADELP HIA, July 30, 1791.







   SIR,-I have the honor to enclose for your perusal, a letter which I have

prepared for Mr. Short.







   The ill humor into which the French colonies are getting, and the little

dependenc e on the troops sent thither, may produce a hesitation in the

National Assembly as to the conditions they will impose in their constitution.

In a moment of hesitation, small matters may influence their decision. They may

see















VOL. VIII-I5 













226             Jefferson's Works 







the impolicy of insisting on particular conditions, which, operating as

grievances onus, as well as on their colonists, might produce a concert of

action. I have thought it would not be amiss to trust to Mr. Short the

sentiments in the cyphered part of the letter, leaving him to govern himself by

circumstan ces, whether to let them leak out at all or not, and whether so as

that it may be known or remain unknown that they come from us. A perfect

knowledge of his judgment and discretion leaves me entirely satisfied, that

they will be not used, or so used as events shall render proper. But if you

think that the possibility that harm may be done, overweiglis the chance of

good, I would expunge them, as, in cases of doubt, it is better to say too

little than too much.







  I have the honor to be, with the most perfect respect anci attachment, Sir,

yoiur most obedient, and most humble servant.











            TO GENERAL Knox







            PHILADELP HIA, August 10, 1771,







DEAR SIR,-I have now the honor to return you the petition of Mr. Moultrie on

behalf of the South Carolina Yazoo company. Without noticing that some of the

highest functions of sovereignt y are assumed in the very papers which he

annexes as his justificatio n, I am of opinion that governmen t should firmly

maintain this ground; that the Indians have 













            Correspond ence         227







a right to the occupation of their lands, independen t of the States within

whose cliartered lines they happen to be; that until they cede them by treaty

or other transaction equivalent to a treaty, no act of a State can give a right

to such lands; that neither under the present constitutio n, nor the ancient

confederati on, had any State or person a right to treat with the Indians,

without the consent of the General Governmen t; that that consent has never

been given to any treaty for the cession of the lands in question; that the

governmen t is determined to exert all its energy for the patronage and

protection of the rights of the Indi.ans, and the preservatio n of peace

between the United States and them ; and that if any settlements are made on

lands not ceded by them, without the previous consent of the United States, the

governmen t will think itself bound, not only to declare to the Indians that

such settlements are without the authority or protection of the United States,

but to remove them also by the public force.







  It is in compliance with your request, my dear Sir, that I submit these ideas

to you, to whom it belongs to give place to them, or such others as your better

judgment shall prefer, in answer to Mr. Moultrie.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most sincere and respectful

esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













228       Jefferson's Works















      TO COLONEL HARVIE.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 14, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-Being charged with the preparatio n of a statement to Congress of

all their lands north of the Ohio, it becomes necessary for me to know what

quantity of lands was assigned to the Virginia Continental line on the south

side of the Ohio, say on the Cumberlan d, in satisfaction of their claims of

bounty lands against the Continent. If I can by any means come at this

quantity, by deducting it from the sum total of bounty lands given to all the

lines, which sum total I know, the residue will be exactly what the army is

entitled to on the north side of the Ohio. I am in hopes your office can

furnish me with this information , and am to ask the favor of you to have it

inquired into. All I wish is the sum total in lots located by the Virginia

Continental line south of the Ohio I suppose your office cannot inform me what

was located for the same line north of the Ohio, and therefore I do not ask it.

The fees of office for these researches, be so good as to inform me of, and

they shall be remitted you. As your answer cannot be here before my departure

for Virginia, I shall be glad to receive it there. If your office cannot

furnish the information , and you know where it may be obtained, I shall

consider it as a singular favor, if you will be so good as to put it for me at

once into its right channel. I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your sincere

friend and humble servant. 













    229        Correspond ence















     TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 24, 1771.







  SIR,-Your letter of January 24, is still the only one received from you

within the period so often mentioned. Mine to you of the present year have been

of March I 2 and I 7, April I I, May I 6, and June 23. I have lately preferred

sending my letters for you to Colonel Humlphrey s, in hopes he might find means

of conveying them to you. The subjects of those of the 12th and 17th of March

are still pressed on you, and especially the first, the great object of which

cannot be delayed without consequenc es which both nations should deprecate.







  Mr. Iandenes arrived here some time ago, and has been received as joint

commission er with Mr. Viar. The concurring interests of Spain and this country

certainly require the presence of able and discreet ministers.







  The crop of wheat of the present year has surpassed all expectation as to

quantity, and is of fine quality. Other articles of agriculture will differ

more by an extraordina ry drought.







  I enclose you a copy of our census, which, so far as it is written in black

ink, is founded on actual returns, what is in red ink being conjecture d, but

very near the truth. Making very small allowance for omissions, Which we know

to have been very great, we may safely say we are above four millions. 













    230         Jefferson's Works







  Our first expedition against the Indians, under General Scott, has been

completely successful; he having killed thirty odd, taken fifty odd, and burnt

their towns. A second expedition against them has commenced, and we expect

daily the result.







  The public credit continues firm. The domestic debt funded at six per cent.,

is twelve and a half per cent. above par. A spirit, however, of gambling in our

public paper has seized on too many of our citizens, and we fear it will check

our commerce, arts, manufactur es, and agriculture , unless stopped.







  Newspaper s for you accompany this, addressed to the care of Colonel

Humphreys .







  I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient







                                  , and most humble servant.















            TO SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.







             PHILADELP HIA, August 24, 1791.







DEAR SIR,-I am to acknowledg e the receipt of your two favors of December 25

and May 14, with the pamphlets which accompanie d them, and to return you my

thanks for them. The Corn Law, I perceive, has not passed in the form you

expected. My wishes on that subject were nearer yours than you imagined. We

both in fact desired the same thing for different reasons, respecting the

interests of our respective countries, and therefore justifiable in both. You

wished the bill so moulded as to encourage strongly your national agriculture .

The 













      231      Correspond ence







clause for warehousin g foreign corn tended to lessen the confidence of the

farmer in the demand for his corn. I wished the clause omitted, that our corn

might pass directly to the country of the consumer, and save us the loss of an

intermediat e deposit, which it can illy bear. That no commercial arrangeme nts

between Great Britain and the United States have taken place, as you wish

should be done, cannot be imputed to us. The proposition has surely been often

enough made, perhaps too often. It is a happy circumstan ce in human affairs,

that evils which are not cured in one way will cure themselves in some other.







  We are now under the first impression of the news of the King's flight from

Paris, and his re-capture. It would be unfortunat e were it in the power of any

one man to defeat the issue of so beautiful a revolution. I hope and trust it

is not, and that, for the good of suffering humanity all over the earth, that

revolution will be established and spread through the whole world.







  I shall always be happy, my dear Sir, to hear of your health and happiness,

being with sentiments of the most cordial esteem and respect, dear Sir, your

most obedient humble servant. 













         232                        Jefferson's Works







          TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE, ESQ.







              PHILADELP HIA, August 25, 1791.







  My DEAR SIR,-I have received your favor of the 7th, by Mr. Harper, and that

also by Mr. Butler. I thank you for both, and shall duly respect both. I find

by the last that, not your letter on the subject of British commerce, but mine

in answer to it, has miscarried. Yours was dated June 20, 17, was received July

2, and answered July 4. I send you a copy of the answer, which will read now

like an old almanac; but it will show you I am incapable of neglecting anything

which comes from you. The measures therein spoken of as in contemplati on, for

the purpose of bringing Great Britain to reason, vanished in a reference of the

subject to nme to repcrt on our commerce and navigation generally, to the next

session of Congress. I have little hope that the result will be anything more

than to turn the left cheek to him who has smitten the right. We have to

encounter not only the prejudices in favor of England, but those against the

Eastern States, whose ships, in the opinion of some, will overrun our land. I

have been sorry to see that your State has been over-jealou s of the measures

proposed on this subject, and which really tend to relieve them from the

effects of British broils. I wish you may be able to convert Mr. Barnwell,

because you think him worth converting. Whether you do or not our opinion of

him will make me solicitous for his 













            Correspond ence          233







acquaintan ce, because I love the good, and respect freedom of opinion. What do

you think of this scrippomon y? Ships are lying idle at the wharfs, buildings

are stopped, capitals wi.thdrawn from conimerce, manufactur es, arts, and

agriculture to be employed in gambling, and the tide of public prosperity

almost unparallele d in any country is arrested in its course, and suppressed

by the rage of getting rich in a day. No mortal can tell where this will stop;

for the spirit of gaming, when once it has seized a subject, is incurable. The

tailor who has made thousands in one day, though he has lost them the next, can

never again be content with the slow and moderate earnings of his needle.

Nothing can exceed the public felicity, if our papers are to be believed,

because our papers are under the orders of our scripmen. I imagine, however, we

shall hear that all the cash has quitted the extremities of the nation, and

accumulate d here. That produce and property fall to half price there, and the

same things rise to double price here. That the cash accumulate d and stagnated

here, as soon as the bank paper gets out, will find its vent into foreign

countries, and instead of this solid medium, which we might have kept for

nothing, we shall have a paper one, for the use of which we are to pay these

gamesters fifteen per cent. per annum, as they say.







  Would to God yourself, General Pinckney and Major Pinckney, would come

forward and aid us 













234          Jefferson's Works







with your efforts. You are all known, respected, wished for; but you refuse

yourselves to everything . What is to become of us, my dear friend, if the vine

and the fig tree withdraw, and leave us to the bramble and thorn?







  You will have heard before this reaches you, of the peril into which the

French revolution is brought by the flight of their King. Such are the fruits

of that form of governmen t, which heaps importance on idiots, and of which the

Tories of the present day are trying to preach into our favor. I still hope the

French revolution will issue happily. I feel that the permanenc e of our own,

leans in some degree on that; and that a failure there would be a powerful

argument to prove there must be a failure here. We have been told that a

British minister would be sent out to us this summer. I suspect this depends on

the event of peace or war. In the latter case, they will probably send one; but

they have Iio serious view of treating or fulfilling treaties. Adieu, my dear

Sir. Yours affectionat ely.















   TO MESSRS. JOHNSON, STUART, AND CARROLL.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 25, 1771.







  GENTLEME N,-YOur jOint letter Of the 2d instant to the President, as also Mr.

Carroll's separate letters of the 5th and I5th, have been duly received. Major

L'Enfant also having arrived here and laid his plan 













 235           Correspond ence







of the Federal City before the President, he was pleased to desire a conference

of certain persons, in his presence, on these several subjects. It is the

opinion of the President, in consequenc e thereof, that an immediate meeting of

the Commission ers at Georgetown is requisite; that certain measures may be

decided on, and put into a course of preparatio n for a commencem ent of sale

on the 17th of October, as advertised. As Mr. Madison and myself, who were

present at the conference, propose to pass through Georgetown on our way to

Virginia, the President supposes that our attendance at the meeting of the

Commission ers might be of service to them, as we could conimunica te to them

the sentiments develoPed at the conference s here and approved by the

President, under whatever point of view they inay have occasion to know them.

The circumstan ces of time aiid distance oblige me to take the liberty of

proposing the day of meeting, and to say that we will be in Georgetown on the

evening of the 7th or morning of the 8th of the next month, in time to attend

any meeting of the Commission ers on that day, and in hopes they may be able,

in the course of it, to make all the use of us they may think proper, so that

we may pursue our journey the next day. To that meeting, therefore, the answers

to the several letters before mentioned are referred.







This letter is addressed to Mr. Carroll only, with a requisition to the

Postmaster at Georgetown to 













   236             Jefferson's Works







send it to him by express, under the hope that it will, by expresses to the

other gentlemen, take timely measures for the proposed meeting on the 8th.







I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest respect and esteem,

Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 30,1791.







DEAR SIR,-I am to acknowledg e the receipt of your No. 67, June the 6th, No.

68, June the 10th, No.69, June the 22d, No. 70, June the 26th, No. 71, June the

29th ; the three last by the British packet. My last to you was of July the

28th, by a vessel bound to Havre. This goes to the same port, because

accompanie d by newspaper s. It will be the last I shall write you these two

months, as I am to set out for Virginia the next week. I now enclose you a copy

of my letter of March the Izth, to Mr. Carmichael, which you say was not in

that of the same date to you. There was no paper to accompany it but St.

Marie's which you say you received. I enclose you also a copy of our census,

written in black ink, so far as we have actual returns, and supplied by

conjecture in red ink, where we have no returns; but the conjecture s are known

to be very near the truth. Making very small allowance for omissions, which we

know to have been very great, we are certainly above four millions, probably

about four millions one hundred thousand. 













            Correspond ence          237







 There is a vessel now lying at Philadelphi a, advertising to receive emigrants

to Louisiana, gratis, on account of the Spanish governmen t. Be so good as to

mention this to M. de Montmorin, who will be a judge what we must feel under so

impudent a transaction .







  You observe, that if Drost does not come, you have not been authorized to

engage another coiner. If he does not come, there will probably be one engaged

here. If he comes, I should think him a safe hand to send the diplomatic dye

by, as also all the dyes of our medal, which may be used here for striking off

what shall be wanting hereafter. But I would not have them trusted at sea, but

from April to October inclusive. Should you not send them by Drost, Havre will

be the best route. I have not spoken with the Secretary of the Treasury yet, on

the subject of the presses, but believe you may safely consider two presses as

sufficient for us, and agree for no more without a further request.







  The decree of the National Assembly, relative to tobacco carried in French or

American ships, is likely to have such an effect in our ports, as to render it

impossible to conjecture what may or may not be done. It is impossible to let

it go on without a vigorous correction. If that should be administere d on our

part, it will produce irritation on both sides, and lessen that disposition

which we feel cordially to concur in a treaty, which shall melt the two nations

as to commercial matters into one, as nearly 













 238          Jefferson's Works







as possible. It is extremely desirable, that the National Assembly should

themselves correct the decree, by a repeal founded on the expectation of an

arrangeme nt.







We have, as yet, no news of the event of our second expedition against the

Indians.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.















          TO MONSIEUR LA MOTTE.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 30, 1791.







SIR,-I am now to acknowledg e the receipt of your favors of February the 9th,

March the 25th, and April the 24th; as also of the several packages of wine,

carriages, etc., which came safe to hand, and for your care of which be pleased

to accept my thanks.







I am sensible of the difficulties to which our consuls are exposed by the

application s of sailors, calling themselves Americans. Though the difference

of dialect between the Irish and Scotch, and the Americans, is sensible to the

ear of a native, it is not to that of a foreigner, however well he understand s

the language; and between the American and English (unless of particular

provinces) there is no difference sensible even to a native. Among hundreds of

application s to me, at Paris, nine-tentli s were Irish, whom I readily

discovered. The residue, I think, were English·; and I believe not a single 













  239                    Correspond ence







instance of a Scotchman or American. The sobriety and order of the two last,

preserve them from want. You will find it necessary, therefore, to be extremely

on your guard against these application s. The bill of expenses for Huls is

much beyond those aids which I should think myself authorized to have advanced

habitually, until the law shall make express provision for that purpose. I

must, therefore, recommend to you, to hazard only small sums in future, until

our legislature shall lay down more precise rules for my governmen t.







  The difference of duty on tobacco carried to France in Fr ench and American

bottoms, has excited great uneasiness. We presume the National Assembly must

have been hurried into the measure, without being allowed time to reflect on

its consequenc es. A moment's considerati on must convince anybody, that no

nation upon earth ever submitted to so enormous an assault on the transportat

ion of their own produce. Retaliation, to be equal, will have the air of

extreme severity and hostility. Such would be an additional tonnage of twelve

livres ten sous the ton burthen, on all French ships entering our ports. Yet

this would but exactly balance an additional duty of six livres five sous the

hogshead of tobacco, brought in Avmerican ships entering in the ports of

France. I hope, either that the National Assembly will repeal the measure, or

the proposed treaty be so hastened, as to get this matter out of the way before

it shall be necessary for the ensuing 













240         Jefferson's Works







legislature to act on it. Their measure, and our retaliation on it, which is

unavoidabl e, will very illy prepare the minds of both parties for a liberal

treaty. My confidence in the friendly disposition s of the National Assembly,

and in the sincerity of what they have expressed on the subject, induce me to

impute it to surprise altogether, and to hope it will be repealed before time

shall be given to take it up here.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble

servant.















          TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 30, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-My letter of July the 26th covered my first of exchange for a

thousand dollars, and though that went by so sure an opportunit y as to leave

little doubt of its receipt, yet, for greater security, I enclose a second.







  The tranquillity of our country leaves us nothing to relate, which may

interest a mind surrounde d by such buoyant scenes as yours. No matter; I will

still tell you the charming though homespun news, that our crops of wheat have

been abundant and of superior quality; that very great though partial drought

has destroyed the crops of hay to the north, and corn to the south; that the

late rains may recover the tobacco to a middling crop, and that the fields of

rice are promising. 













       241          Correspond ence







 I informed you in my last, of the success of our first expedition against the

Indians. A second has gone against them, the result of which is not yet known.

Our public credit is good, but the abundance of paper has produced a spirit of

gambling in the funds, which has laid up our ships at the wharves, as too slow

instrument s of profit, and has even disarmed the hand of the tailor of his

needle and thimble. They say the evil will cure itself. I wish it may; but I

have rarely seen a gamester cured, even by the disasters of his vocation. Some

new indications of the ideas with which the British cabinet are coming into

treaty, confirm your opinions, which I know to be right, but the Anglomany of

some would not permit them to accede to.







  Adieu, my dear Sir. Your affectionat e humble servant.















          TO BENJAMIN BANNEKER.







             PHILADELP HIA, August 30, 1791.







  SIR,-I thank you sincerely for your letter of the Igth instant, and for the

Almanac it contained. Nobody wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you

exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of

the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing

merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and

America. I can add







   VOL. VIII-I6 













242           Jefferson's Works







with truth, that nobody wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for

raising the condition both of their body and mind to what it ought to be, as

fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstan ces

which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your

Almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences at

Paris, and member of the Philanthro pic Society, because I considered it as a

document to which your color had a right for their justificatio n against the

doubts which have been entertained of them. I am, with great esteem, Sir, your

most obedient humble servant.















             TO JOHN ADAMS.







            PHILADELP HIA, AuguSt 30, 1791.







  Mv DEAR SIR,-I received some time ago your favor of July 2 g, and was happy

to find that you saw in its true point of view the way in which I had been

drawn into the scene, which must have been so disagreeabl e to you. The

importance which you still seem to allow to my note, and the effect you suppose

it to have had, though unintention al in me, induces me to show you that it

really had no efect. Paine's pamphlet, with my note, was published here about

the second week in May. l Not a word ever appeared in the public papers here on

the subject for znore than a montlh; and I am certain 













           Correspond ence           243







not a word on the subject would ever have been said, had not a writer, under

the name of Publicola, at length undertaken to attack Mr. Paine's principles,

which were the principles of the citizens of the United States. Instantly a

host of writers attacked Publicola in support of those principles. He had

thought proper to misconstru e a figurative expression in my note; and these

writers so far noticed me as to piace the expression in its true light. But

this was only an incidental skirmish preliminary to the general engagemen t,

and they would not have thought me worth naming, had not he thought proper to

bring me on the scene. His antagonists , very criminally, in my opinion,

presumed you to be Publicola, and on that presumptio n hazarded a personal

attack on you. No person saw with more uneasiness than I did, this unjustifiab

le assault; and the more so, when I saw it continued after the printer had

declared you were not the author. But you will perceive from all this, my dear

Sir, that my note contribute d nothing to the production of these disagreeabl e

pieces. As long as Paine's pamphlet stood on its own feet and on my note, it

was unnoticed. As soon as Publicola attacked Paine, swarms appeared in his

defence. To Publicola, then, and not in the least d.egree to my note, this

whole contest is to be ascribed and all its consequenc es.







  You speak of the execrable paragraph in the Connecticu t papers. This, it is

true, appeared before 













      244            Jefferson's Works







Publicola; but it had no more relation to Paine's pamphlet and my note, than to

the Alcoran. I am satisfied the writer of it had never seen either; for when I

passed through Connecticu t about the middle of June, not a copy had ever been

seen by anybody, either in Hartford or New Haven, nor probably in that whole

State; and that paragraph was so notoriously the reverse of the disinterest

edness of character which you are known to possess by everybody who knows your

name, that I never heard a person speak of the paragraph, but with an

indignation in your behalf which did you entire justice. This paragraph, then,

certainly did not flow from my note, any more than the publication s which

Publicola produced. Indeed it was impossible that my note should occasion your

name to be brought into question; for so far from naming you, I had not even in

view any writing which I might suppose to be yours, and the opinions I alluded

to were principally those I had heard in common conversatio n from a sect

aiming at the subversion of the present governmen t to bring in their favorite

form of a king, lords and commons.







  Thus I hope, my dear Sir, that you will see me to have been as ignorant in

effect as I was in intention. I was brought before the public without my own

consent, and from the first moment of seeing the effect of the real aggression

in this business to keep me before the public, I determined that nothing should

induce me to put pen to paper in the contro-







            Correspond ence          245







versy. The business is now over, and I hope its effects are over, and that our

friendship will never be suffered to be committed, whatever use others may

think proper to make of our names.







  The event of the King's flight from Paris and his recapture, will have struck

you with its importance. It appears, I think, that the nation is firm within,

and it only remains to see whether there will be any movement from without. I

confess I have not changed my confidence in the favorable issue of that

revolution, because it has always rested on my own ocular evidence of the

unanimity of the nation, and wisdom of the patriotic party in the National

Assembly. The last advices render it probable that the Emperor will recommenc e

hostilities against the Porte. It remains to see whether England and Prussia

will take a part. Present me to Mrs. Adams with all the affections I feel for

her, and be assured of those devoted to yourself by, my dear Sir, your sincere

friend and servant.















          TO ADMIRAL PAUL JONES.







            PHILADELP HIA, August 31, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-I am to acknowledg e the receipt of your favor of March 20th, with

the several papers it enclosed, which were duly communicat ed to the President.

No proof was necessary to satisfy us here of your good conduct everywher e. In

answer to your request to obtain and transmit the proper 













246         Jefferson's Works







authority of the United States for your retaining the order of St. Anne,

conferred on you by the Empress, I can only say that the Executive of our

Governmen t are not authorized either to grant or refuse the permission you

ask, and consequent ly cannot take on themselves to do it. Whether the

Legislature would undertake to do it or not, I cannot say. In general, there is

an aversion to meddle with anything of that kind here. And the event would be

so doubtful that the Executive would not commit themselves by making the

proposition to the Legislature .







  Our new Constitutio n works well, and gives general satisfaction . Public

credit is high. We have made a successful expedition against the Indians this

summer, and another is gone against them, and we hope will induce them to

peace. A census of our numbers, taken this summer, gives us reason to believe

we are about four millions of all ages and sexes. A state of tranquil

prosperity furnishing no particular and interesting events to communicat e to

you, I have only to add assurances of the constant esteem and attachment of,

dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant.







 TO MONSIEUR DE TERNANT, MINISTER PLENIPOTE N-







        TIARY OF FRANCE.







           PHILADELP HIA, September 1, 1791.







  SIR,I have communicat ed to the President what passed between us the other

day, on the subject of 













     247                 Correspond ence







the payments made to France by the United States in the assignats of that

country, since they have lost their par with gold and silver; and after

conference s, by his instruction , with the Secretary of the Treasury, I am

authorized to assure you, that the Governmen t of the United States have no

idea of paying their debt in a depreciate d medium, and that in the final

liquidation of the payments which shall have been made, due regard will be had

to an equitable allowance £or the circumstan ce of depreciatio n.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and

respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















           TO THOMAS NEWTON.







           GEORGETO WN, September 8, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-I was in the moment of my departure from Philadelphi a, for

Virginia, when I received your favor, inquiring ·how far the law of nations is

to govern in proceeding s respecting foreign consuls.







The law of nations does not of itsel£ extend to consuls at all. They are not of

the diplomatic class of characters, to which alone that law extends of right.

Convention , indeed, may give it to them, and sometimes has done so; but in

that case, the convention can be produced. In ours with France, it is expressly

declared that consuls shall not have the privileges of that law, and we have no

convention with any other nation. 













    248        Jefferson's Works







  Congress have had before them a bill on the subject of consuls, but have not

as yet passed it. Their code then furnishes no law to govern these cases.







  Consequent ly, they are to be decided by the State laws alone. Some of these,

I know, have given certain privileges to consuls; and I think those of Virginia

did at one time. Of the extent and continuanc e of those laws, you are a better

judge than I am.



  Independe ntly of law, consuls are to be considered as distinguish ed

foreigners, dignified by a commission from their sovereign, and specially

recommend ed by him to the respect of the nation with whom they reside. They

are subject to the laws of the land, indeed, precisely as other foreigners are,

a convention, where there is one, making a part of the laws of the land : but

if at any time, their conduct should render it necessary to assert the

authority of the laws over them, the rigor of those laws should be tempered by

our respect for their sovereign, as far as the case will admit. This 'moderate

and respectful treatment towards foreign consuls, it is my duty to recommend

and press on our citizens, because I ask it for their good towards our own

consuls, from the people with whom they reside. .







  In what I have said, I beg leave to be understood as laying down general

principles only, and not as applying them to the facts which may have arisen.

Before such application, those facts should be heard from all whom they

interest. You, who have so 













   249          Correspond ence







heard them, will be able to make the application yourself, and that, not only

in the present, but in future cases.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem, your most obedient humble servant.















           TO GEORGE HAMMOND







                        October 26, 1791







Mr. Jefferson has the honor of presenting his compliment s to Mr. Hammond, of

expressing his regrets that he happened to be from home when Mr. Hammond did

him the honor of calling on him, and was equally unlucky in not finding him at

home when he waited on him on Monday. Being informed by Mr. Bond, that Mr.

Hammond is charged with a public mission to the governmen t of the United

States, relative to which some previous explanation s might be proper, Mr.

Jefferson has the honor to assure Mr. Hammond, he shall be ready to receive any

communicat ions and enter into explanations, formally or informally, as Mr.

Hammond shall either choose, and at any time suitable to him. He recollects

with pleasure his acquaintan ce with Mr. Hammond in Paris, and shall be happy

in every opportunit y of rendering him such offices and attentions as may be

acceptable to him. 













250        Jefferson's Works















       TO JAMES MADISON.







                      November 1, 1791 ·







In my report on Howe's case, where I state that it should go to the President,

it will become a question with the House whether they shall refer it to the

President themselves, or give it back to the petitioner, and let him so address

it, as he ought to have done at first. I think the latter proper, 1, because it

is a case belonging purely to the Executive ; 2, the legislature should never

show itself in a matter with a foreign nation, but where the case is very

serious and they mean to commit the nation on its issue;







because if they indulge individuals in handing through the legislature their

application s to the Executive, all applicants will be glad to avail themselves

of the weight of so powerful a solicitor. Similar attempts have been repeatedly

made by individuals to get the President to hand in their petitions to the

legislature, which he has constantly refused. It seems proper that every person

should address himself directly to the department to which the Constitutio n

has allotted his case ; and that the proper answer to such from any other

department is, " that it is .not to us that the Constitutio n has assigned the

transaction of this business. '' I suggest these things to you, that they may

appear to you to be right this kind of business may in the first instance be

turned into its proper channel. 













              Correspond ence



251











TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







                        November 6,







SIR,-I have the honor to enclose you the draught of a letter to Governor

Pinckney, and to observe, that I suppose it to be proper that there should, on

fit occasions, be a direct correspond ence between the President of the United

States and the Governors of the States; and that it will probably be grateful

to them to receive from the President, answers to the letters they address to

him. The correspond ence with them on ordinary business, may still be kept up

by the Secretary of State, in his own name.







  I enclose also a letter to Major Pinckney, with a blank to be filled up, when

you shall have made up your mind on it. I have conferred with Mr. M. on the

idea of the commission ers of the federal town proceeding to make private sales

of the lots, and he thinks it advisable. I cannot but repeat, that if the

surveyors will begin on the river, laying off the lots from Rock Creek to the

Eastern Branch, and go on abreast, in that way, from the river towards the back

part of the town, they may pass the avenue from the President's house to the

capitol, before the spring; and as soon as they shall have passed it, a public

sale may take place, without injustice to either the Georgetown or Carrollsbur

g interest. Will not the present afford you a proper 













         252                   Jefferson's Works







occasion of assuring the commission ers, that you leave everything respecting L

'Enfant to them ?



I have the honor to be, with the most sincere respect, Sir, your most obedient

humble servant.















        TO MAJOR THOMAS PINCKNEY.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 6, 1791.







SIR,-The mission of a Minister Plenipotent iary to the court of London being

now to take place, the President of the United States is desirous of availing

the public of your services in that office. I have it in charge, therefore,

from him, to ask whether it will be agreeable that he should nominate you for

that purpose to the Senate. We know that higher motives will alone influence

your mind in the acceptance of this charge. Yet it is proper, at the same time,

to inform you, that as a provision for your expenses in the exercise of it, an

outfit of nine thousand dollars is allowed, and an annual salary to the same

amount, payable quarterly. On receiving your permission, the necessary orders

for these sums, together with your credentials , shall be forwarded to you, and

it would be expected that you should proceed on the mission as soon as you can

have made those arrangeme nts for your private affairs, which such an absence

may render indispensa ble. Let me only ask the favor of you to give me an

immediate answer, and by duplicate, by sea and post, that we may have the

benefit of both 













             Correspond ence          253







chances for receiving it as early as possible. Though I have not the honor of a

personal acquaintan ce with you, yet I beg you to be assured, that I feel all

that anxiety for your entrance on this important mission, which a thorough

conviction of your fitness for it can inspire; and that in its relations with

my office, I shall always endeavor to render it as agreeable to you as

possible.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest respect and esteem,

Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







           PHILADELP HIA, NOVEMBER 7, 1791.







  SIR,-I have duly considered the letter you were pleased to refer to me, of

the 18th of August, from his Excellency Governor Pinckney to yourself, together

with the draught of one proposed to be written by him to the Governor of

Florida, claiming the re-delivery of certain fugitives from justice, who have

been received in that country. The inconvenie nces of such a receptacle for

debtors and malefactors in the neighborho od of the southern States, are

obvious and great, and I wish the remedy were as certain and short as the

latter seems to suppose.







  The delivery of fugitives from one country to another, as practised by

several nations, is in consequenc e of convention s settled between them, defin













254           Jefferson's Works







ing precisely the cases wherein such deliveries shall take place. I know that

such. convention s exist between France and Spain, France and Sardinia, France

and Germany, 'France and the United Netherland s; between the several

sovereigns constitutin g the Germanic body, and, I believe, very generally

between co-termino us States on the continent of Europe. England has no such

convention with any nation, and their laws have given no power to their

executive to surrender fugitives of any description ; they are, accordingl y,

constantly refused, and hence England has been the asylum of the Paolis, the La

Mottes, the Calonnes, in short, of the most atrocious offenders as well as the

most innocent victims, who have been able to get there.







  The laws of the United States, like those of England, receive every fugitive,

and no authority has been given to our executives to deliver them up. In. the

case of Longchamp , a subject of France, a formal demand was made by the

minister of France, and was refused. He had, indeed, committed an offence

within the United States; but he was not demanded as a criminal but as a

subject.







  The French Governmen t has shown great anxiety to have such a convention with

the United States, as might authorize them to command their subjects coming

here; they got a clause in the consular convention signed by Dr. Franklin and

the Count de Vergennes, giving their consuls a right to take and send back

captains of vessels, mariners and passen













             Correspond ence          255







gers. Congress saw the extent of the word passengers , and refused to ratify

the convention; a new one was therefore formed, omitting that word. In fact,

however desirable it be that the perpetrato rs of crimes, acknowledg ed to be

such by all mankind, should be delivered up to punishment , yet it is extremely

difficult to draw the line between those and acts rendered criminal by

tyrannical laws only; hence the first step always, is a convention defining the

cases where a surrender shall take place.







  If, then, the United States could not deliver up to Governor Quesada, a

fugitive from the laws of his country, we cannot claim as a right the delivery

of fugitives from us; and it is worthy considerati on, whether the demand

proposed to be made in Governor Pinckney's letter, should it be complied with

by the other party, might not commit us disagreeabl y, perhaps dishonorab ly in

event; for I do not think we can take for granted, that the legislature of the

United States will establish a convention for the mutual delivery of fugitives;

and without a reasonable certainty that they will, I think we ought not to give

Governor Quesada any grounds to expect, that in a similar case, we would

re-deliver fugitives from his governmen t.







  I have the honor to be, with the most profound respect and attachment, Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













  256         Jefferson's Works















TO MESSRS. JOHNSON, STEWART AND CARROLL.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 21, 1791.







  GENTLEME N.-A Mr. Blodget has a scheme in contemplati on for purchasing and

building a whole street in the new city, and any one of them which you may

think best. The magnitude of the proposition occasioned it to be little

attended to in the beginning. However, great as it is, it is believed by good

judges to be practicable . It may not be amiss, therefore, to be ready for it.

The street most desirable to be built up at once, we suppose to be a broad one,

(the avenue,) leading from the President's house to the Capitol. To prepare the

squares adjoining to that, on both sides, in the first place, can do no harm;

because, if Mr. Blodget's scheme does not take effect, still it is a part of a

work done, which was to be done; if his scheme takes effect, you will



be in readiness for him, which would be desirable. The President, therefore,

desires me to suggest to you the beginning at once on that avenue, and when all

the squares on that shall be laid off, they may go on laying off the rest of

the squares between that and the river, from Georgetown to the eastern branch,

according to an idea he has suggested to you in a letter not long since. This,

however, is but a suggestion for the good of the undertakin g, on which you

will decide as you think proper. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your most

obedient, and most humble servant. 













            Correspond ence          257















        TO MR. ELLICOTT.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 21,  1791.







  DEAR SIR,-It is excessively desirable that an extensive sale of lots in

Washington should take place as soon as possible. It has been recommitte d to

the commission ers to have all the squares adjacent to the avenue from the

President's house to the Capitol, on both sides, and from thence to the river,

through the whole breadth of the ground between Rock Creek and Eastern Branch,

first laid of; the object of the present is to ask your private opinion of the

earliest time at which this portion of the work can be completed, which I will

beg the favor of you to communicat e to me by letter. In order that the sale

may not be delayed by the engraving, it is hoped that by communicat ing what is

executed from time to time, the engraver may nearly keep pace with you.







  I am, with great esteem, DEAR Sir, your most obedient servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 24, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-My last to you was of August the 29th, acknowledg ing the receipt

of your Nos. 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and informing you I was about setting out to

Virginia, and should not again write to you till my return. Only one vessel has

sailed from







   VOL. VIII-17 













258        Jefferson's Works







hence to Havre since my return, and my notice of her departure was so short,

that I could not avail myself of it. Your Nos. 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, came here

during my absence, and 79, 80, were received October the 28th. The Nos. 76 and

77 seem to be missing.







You mention that Drost wishes the devices of our money to be sent to him, that

he may engrave them there. This cannot be done, because not yet decided on. The

devices will be fixed by the law which shall establish the mint. M. de Ternant

tells me he has no instruction s to propose to us the negotiation of a

commercial treaty, and that he does not expect any. I wish it were possible to

draw that negotiation to this place. In your letter of July the 24th, is the

following paragraph: " It is published in the English newspaper s, that war is

inevitable between the United States and Spain, and that preparatio ns are

making for it on both sides. M. de Montmorin asked me how the business stood at

present, and seemed somewhat surprised at my telling him, that I knew nothing

later than what I had formerly mentioned to him. I have, in more than one

instance, experience d the inconvenie nce of being without information . In

this, it is disagreeabl e, as it may have the appearance with M. de Montmorin,

of my having something to conceal from him, which not being the case, it would

be wrong that he should be allowed to take up such an idea. I observed, that I

did not suppose there 













            Correspond ence         259







was any new circumstan ce, as you had not informed me of it." Your observatio n

was certainly just. It would be an Augean task for me to go through the London

newspaper s, and formally contradict all their lies, even those relating to

America. On our side, there having been certainly no preparatio ns for war

against Spain; nor have I heard of any on their part, but ivc the Lovcdon

newspaper s. As to the progress of the negotiation , I know nothing of it but

from you; having never had a letter from Mr. Carmichael on the subject. Our

best newspaper s are sent you from my office with scrupulous exactness, by

every vessel sailing to Havre or any other convenient port of France. On these

I rely for giving you information of all the facts possessed by the public; and

as to those not possessed by them, I think there has been not a single instance

of my leaving you uninformed of anv of them which related to the matters under

your charge. In Freneau's paper of the 21st instant, you will see a small essay

on population and emigration, which I think it would be well if the news

writers of Paris would translate and insert in their papers. The sentiments are

too just not to make impression.







  Some proceeding s of the assembly of St. Domingo have lately taken place,

which it is necessary for me to state to you exactly, that you may be able to

do the same to M. de Montmorin. When the insurrectio n of their Negroes assumed

a very threatenin g appearance , the Assembly sent a deputy here 













260        Jefferson's Works







to ask assistance of military stores and provisions. He addressed himself to M.

de Ternant, who (the President being then in Virginia, as I was also) applied

to the Secretaries of the Treasury and War. They furnished one thousand stand

of arms, other military stores, and placed forty thousand dollars in the

treasury, subject to the order of M. de Ternant, to be laid out in provisions,

or otherwise, as he should think best. He sent the arms and other military

stores; but the want of provisions did not seem so instantaneo us as to render

it necessary, in his opinion, to send any at that time. Before the vessel

arrived in St. Domingo, the Assembly, further urged by the appearance of

danger, sent two deputies more, with larger demands, viz., eight thousand

fusils and bayonets, two thousand mousquator s, three thousand pistols, three

thousand sabres, twenty-fou r thousand barrels of flour, four hundred thousand

livres worth of Indian meal, rice, peas, and hay, and a large quantity of

plank, etc. to repair the buildings destroyed. They applied to M. de Ternant,

and then with his consent to me; he and I having previously had a conversatio n

on the subject. They proposed to me, first, that we should supply those wants

from the money we owed France ; or secondly, from the bills of exchange which

they were authorized to draw on a particular fund in France; or thirdly, that

we would guarantee their bills, in which case they could dispose of them to

merchants, and buy the necessaries them













             Correspond ence         261







selves. I convinced them the two latter alternative s were beyond the powers of

the executive, and the first could only be done with the consent of the

minister of France. In the course of our conversatio n, I expressed to them our

sincere attachment to France and all its dominions, and most especially to them

who were our neighbors, and whose interests had some common points of union

with ours in matters of commerce; that we wished, therefore, to render them

every service they needed, but that we could not do it in any way disagreeabl e

to France ; that they must be sensible, that M. de Ternant might apprehend that

jealousy would be excited by their addressing themselves directly to foreign

powers, and therefore, that a concert with him in their application s to us,

was essential. The subject of independen ce, and their views towards it having

been stated in the public papers, this led our conversatio n to it; and I must

say, they appeared as far from these views as any persons on earth. I expressed

to them freely my opinion, that such an object was neither desirable on their

part, nor attainable; that, as to ourselves, there was one case which would be

peculiarly alarming to us, to wit, were there a danger of their falling under

any other power; that we conceived it to be strongly our interests, that they

should retain their connection with the mother country; that we had a common

interest with them, in furnishing them the necessaries of life in exchange for

sugar and coffee for our 













262        Jefferson's Works







own consumptio n, but that I thought we might rely on the justice of the mother

country towards them, for their obtaining this privilege; and on the whole, let

them see that nothing was to be done, but with the consent of the minister of

France. I am convinced myself that their views and their application to us are

perfectly innocent ;. however, M. de Ternant, and still more, M. de La Forest,

are jealous. The deputies, on the other hand, think that M. de Ternant is not

sensible enough of their wants. They delivered me sealed letters to the

President and ta Congress. That to the President contained only a picture of

their distresses, and application for relief. That to Congress, I know no

otherwise than through the public papers. The Senate read it, and sent it to

the Representa tives, who read it, and have taken no other notice of it. The

line of conduct I pursue is, to persuade these gentlemen to be contented with

such moderate supplies, from time to time, as will keep them from real

distress, and to wait with patience for what would be a surplus, till M. de

Ternant can receive instruction s from France, which he has reason to expect

within a few weeks ; and I encourage the latter gentleman even to go beyond

their absolute wants of the moment, so far as to keep them in good humor. He is

accordingl y proposing to lay out ten thousand dollars for them, for the

present It would be ridiculous in the present case, to talk about forms. There

are situations when form must 













            Correspond ence          263







be dispensed with. A man attacked by assassins will call for help to those

nearest him, and will not think himself bound to silence till a magistrate may

come to his aid. It would be unwise in the highest degree, that the colonists

should be disgusted with either France or us; for it might then be made to

depend on the moderation of another power, whether what appears a chimera might

not become a reality. I have thought it necessary to go thus fully into this

transaction , and particularl y as to the sentiments I have expressed to them,

that you may be enabled to place our proceeding s in their true light.







  Our Indian expeditions have proved successful. As yet, however, they have not

led to peace. Mr. Hammond has lately arrived here as Minister Plenipotent iary

from the court of London, and we propose to name one to that court in return.

Congress will probably establish the ratio of representa tion by a bill now

before them, at one representa tive for every thirty thousand inhabitants .

Besides the newspaper s, as usual, you will receive herewith the census lately

taken, by towns and counties as well as by States.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, DEAR Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant. 













264         Jefferson's Works















      TO COLONEL HUMPHREY S.







          PHILADELP HIA, NOVEMBER 29, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-My last to you was of August 23, acknowledg ing the receipt of your

Nos. 19, 21, and 22. Since that, I have received from 23 to 33 inclusive. In

mine, I informed you I was about setting out for Virginia, and consequent ly

should not write to you till my return. This opportunit y, by Captain Wicks, is

the first since my return.







  The party which had gone, at the date of my last, against the Indians north

of the Ohio, were commanded by General Wilkinson, and were as successful as the

first, having killed and taken about eighty persons, burnt some towns, and

lost, I believe, not a man. As yet, however, it has not produced peace. A very

formidable insurrectio n of the Negroes in French St. Domingo has taken place.

From thirty to fifty thousand are said to be in arms. They have sent here for

aids of military stores and provisions, which we furnish just as far as the

French minister here approves. Mr. Hammond is arrived here as Minister

Plenipotent iary from Great Britain, and we are about sending one to that court

from hence. The census, particularl y as to each part of every State, is now in

the press; if done in time for this conveyance , it shall be forwarded. The

legislature have before them a bill for allowing one representative for every

thirty thousand persons, which has passed the Represen













   265            Correspond ence







tatives, and is now with the Senate. Some late inquiries into the state of our

domestic manufactor ies give a very flattering result. Their extent is great

and growing through all the States. Some manufactor ies on a large scale are

under contemplati on. As to the article of Etrennes inquired after in one of

your letters, it was under considerati on in the first instance, when it was

submitted to the President, to decide on the articles of account which should

be allowed the foreign ministers in addition to their salary; and this article

was excluded, as everything was meant to be which was not in the particular

enumeratio n I gave you. With respect to foreign newspaper s, I receive those

of Amsterdam, France, and London so regularly, and so early, that I will not

trouble you for any of them ; but I will thank you for those of Lisbon and

Madrid, and in your letters to give me all the information you can of Spanish

affairs, as I have never yet received but one letter from Mr. Carmichael, which

you I believe brought from Madrid. You will receive with this a pamphlet by Mr.

Coxe in answer to Lord Sheffield, Freneau and Fenn's papers. I am, with great

and sincere esteem, DEAR Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













  266          Jefferson's Works















      TO DANIEL SMITH, ESQ.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 29, 1771·







SIR,-I have to acknowledg e the receipt of your favors of September I and

October 4, together with the report of the Executive proceeding s in the

South-West ern governmen t from March 1 to July 26.







  In answer to that part of yours of September 1, on the subject of a seal for

the use of that governmen t, I think it extremely proper and necessary, and

that one should be provided at public expense.







  The opposition made by Governor Blount and yourself to all attempts by

citizens of the United States to settle within the Indian lines without

authority from the General Governmen t, is approved, and should be continued.







  There being a prospect that Congress, who have now the Post Office bill

before them, will establish a post from Richmond to Stanton, and continue it

thence towards the South-West governmen t a good distance, if not nearly to it,

our future·cor respondenc e will be more easy, quick, and certain: I am, with

great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















         TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.







           PHILADELP HIA, December 5, 1771.







  DEAR SIR,-The enclosed memorial from the British minister, on the case of

Thomas Pagan, con













   267          Correspond ence







taining a complaint of injustice in the dispensatio ns of law by the courts of

Massachuse tts, to a British subject, the President approves of my referring it

to you, to report thereon your opinion of the proceeding s, and whether

anything, and what, can or ought to be done by the governmen t in consequenc e

thereof.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, DEAR Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.







     The Memorial of the British Minister.







  The undersigne d, his Britannic Majesty's Minister Plenipotent iary to the

United States of America, has the honor of laying before the Secretary of

State, the following brief abstract of the case of Thomas Pagan, a subject of

his Britannic Majesty, now confined in. the prison of Boston, under an

execution issued against him out of the supreme judicial court of Massachuse

tts Bay. To this abstract, the undcrsigne d has taken the liberty of annexing

some observatio ns, which naturally arise out of the statement of the

transaction , and which may perhaps tend to throw some small degree of light on

the general merits of the case.







  In the late war, Thomas Pagan was agent for, and part owner of a privateer

called the Industry, which, on the 25th of March, 1783, off Cape Ann, captured

a brigantine called the Thomas, belonging to Mr. Stephen Hooper, of Newport.

The brigantine and cargo were libelled in the court of vice-admir alty 













268         Jefferson's Works







in Nova Scotia, and that court ordered the prize to be restored. An appeal was,

however, moved for by the captors, and regularly prosecuted in England before

the Lords of Appeals for prize causes, who, in February, 1790, reversed the

decree of the viceadmiral ty court of Nova Scotia, and condemned the brigantine

and cargo as good and lawful prize.







  In December, 1788, a judgment was obtained by Stephen Hooper in the court of

common pleas for the county of Essex, in Massachuse tts, against Thomas Pagan,

for three thousand five hundred pounds lawful money, for money had and received

to the plaintiff's use. An appeal was brought thereon in May, 1789, to the

supreme judicial court of the commonwea lth of Massachuse tts, held at Ipswich,

for the county of Essex, and on the 16th of June, 1789, a verdict was found for

Mr. Hooper, and damages were assessed at three thousand and nine pounds two

shillings and ten pence, which sum is " for the vessel called the brigantine

Thomas, her cargo and every article foun.d on board. '' After this verdict, and

before entering the judgment, Mr. Pagan moved for a new trial, suggesting that

the verdict was against law; because the merits of the case originated in a

question, whether a certain brigantine called the Thomas, with her cargo, taken

on the high seas by a private ship of war called the Industry, was prize or no

prize, and that the court had no authority to give judgment in a cause where

the point of a resulting or implied promise arose 













              Correspond ence        269







upon a question of this sort. The supreme judicial court refused this motion

for a new trial, because it appeared to the court, that in order to a legal

decision it is not necessary to inquire whether this prize and her cargo were

prize or no prize, and because the case did not, in their opinion, involve a

question relative to any matter or thing necessarily consequent upon the

capture thereof: it was therefore considered by the court, that Hooper should

receive of Pagan three thousand and nine pounds two shillings and ten pence

lawful money, damages; and taxed costs, sixteen pounds two shillings and ten

pence. From this judgment, Pagan claimed an appeal to the supreme judicial

court of the United States of America, for these reasons: that the judgment was

given in an action brought by Hooper, who is, and at the time of commencin g

the action was, a citizen of the commonwea lth of Massachuse tts, one of the

United States, against Pagan, who, at the time when the action was commenced,

was, and ever sincc has been, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing

in and inhabiting his province of New Brunswick. This claim of an appeal was

not allowed,, because it was considered by the court, that this court was the

supreme judicial court of the commonwea lth of Massachuse tts, from whose

judgment there is no appeal; and further, because there does not exist any such

court within the United States of America as that to which Pagan has claimed an

appeal from the judgment of this 













270          Jefferson's Works







court. Thereupon, execution issued against Pagan on the gth of October,178 9,

and he has been confinea in Boston prison ever since.







  It is to be observed, that in August, 1789, Mr. Pagan petitioned the supreme

judicial court of Massachuse tts for a new trial, and after hearing the

arguments of counsel, a new trial was refused. On the 1st of January, 1791, his

Britannic Majesty's consul at Boston applied for redress on behalf of Mr.

Pagan, to the Governor of Massachuse tts Bay, who, in his letter of the 28th of

January, 1791, was pleased to recommend this matter to the serious attention of

the Senate and House of Representa tives of th.at State. On the 14th of

February, 1791, the British consul memorialize d the Senate and House of

Representa tives on this subject. On the 22d of February, a committee of both

Houses reported a resolution, that the memorial of the consul and message from

the Governor, with all the papers, be referred to the considerati on of the

justices of the supreme judicial court, who were directed, as far as may be, to

examine into and consider the circumstan ces of the case, and if they found

that by the force and effect allowed by the law of nations to foreign admiralty

jurisdictio ns, etc., Hooper ought not to have recovered judgment against

Pagan, the court was authorized to grant a review of the action. On the 13th of

June, 1 791, the British consul again represente d to the Senate and House of

Representa tives, that the justices of the supreme judicial 













   270          Correspond ence







court had not been pleased to signify their decision on this subject, referred

to them by the resolution of the 22d of February. This representa tion was

considered by a committee of the Senate and of the House of Representa tives,

who conclud.ed that one of them should make inquiry of some of the judges to

know their determinati on, and upon being informed that the judges intended to

give their opinion, with their reasons, in writing, the committee would not

proceed any further in the business. On the 27th of June, 1791, Mr. Pagan's

counsel moved the justices of the supreme judicial court for their opinion in

the case of Hooper and Pagan, referred to their considerati on by the resolve

of the General Court, founded on the British consul's memorial. Chief Justice

and Justice Dana being absent, Justice Paine delivered it as the unanimous

opinion of the judges absent as well as present, that Pagan was not entitled to

a new trial for any of the causes mentioned in the said resolve, and added,

"that the court intended to put their opinions upon paper, and to file them in

the cause: that the sickness of two of the court had hitherto prevented it, but

that it would soon be done. ''







It is somewhat remarkable , that the supreme judicial court of Massachuse tts

Bay, should allege that this case did not necessarily involve a question

relative to prize or no prize, when the very jury to whom the court referred

the decision of the case established the fact; their verdict was for three 













   272        Jefferson's Works







thousand and nine pounds two shillings and ten pence, damages, which sum is for

the vessel called the brigantine Thomas, her cargo, and everything found on

board. Hence it is evident, that the case did involve a question of prize or no

prize, and having received a formal decision by the only court competent to

take cognizance thereof, (viz. the high court of appeals for prize causes in

England,) everything that at all related to the property in question, or to the

legality of the capture, was thereby finally determined . The legality of the

capture being confirmed by the high court of appeals in England, cannot

consistentl y with the principles of the law of nations be discussed in a

foreign court of law, or at least, if a foreign court of common law is, by any

local regulations , deemed competent to interfere in matters rclating to

captures, the decisions of admiralty courts or courts of appeal, should be

received and taken as conclusive evidence of the legality or illegality of

captures. By such decisions, property is either adjudged to the captors or

restored to the owners; if adjudged to the captors, they obtain a permanent

property in the captured goods acquired by the rights of war, and this

principle originates in the wisdom of nations, and is calculated to prevent

endless litigation.







The proceeding s of the supreme judicial court of Massachuse tts Bay, are in

direct violation of the rules and usages that have been universally practised

among nations in the determinati on of the 













   273         Correspond ence







validity of captures, and of all collateral questions that may have reference

thereto. The General Court of Massachuse tts Bay, among other things, kept this

point in view, when they referred the case of Mr. Pagan to the considerati on

of the justices of the supreme judicial court, and authorized the court to

grant a review of the action, if it should be found that by the force and

effect allowed by the law of nations to foreign admiralty jurisdictio ns, Mr.

Hooper ought not to have recovered judgment against Mr. Pagan. But the supreme

judicial court have not only evaded this material considerati on, upon which

the whole question incontestab ly turns, but have assumed a fact in direct

contradicti on to the truth of the case, viz. that the case did not involve a

question of prize or no prize. Moreover, they have denied Mr. Pagan the benefit

of appeal to that court which is competent to decide on the force of treaties,

and which court, by the Constitutio n of the United States, is declared to

possess appellate jurisdictio n both as to law and fact, in all cases of

controvers y between citizens of the United States and subjects of foreign

countries, to which class this case is peculiarly and strictly to be referred.







  From the foregoing abstract of the case of Thomas Pagan, it appears that he

is now detained in prison, in Boston, in consequenc e of a judgment given by a

court which is not competent to decide upon his case, or which, if competent,

refused to admit the only evidence that ought to have given jurisdictio n,







   VOL. VIII-IS 













     274      Jefferson's Works







and that he is denied the means of appealing to the highest court of judicature

known in these States, which exists in the very organizatio n of the

Constitutio n of the United States, and is declared to possess appellate

jurisdictio n in all cases of a nature similar to this.







  For these reasons, the undersigne d begs leave respectfull y to submit the

whole matter to the considerati on of the Secretary of State, and to request

him to take such measures as may appear to him the best adapted for the purpose

of obtaining for the said Thomas Pagan, such speedy and effectual redress as

his case may seem to require.







                      GEORGE HAMMOND.







  PHILADELP HIA, November 26, 1791.















            TO MR. MALISTER.







          PHILADELP HIA, December 22, 1791.







  SIR,-I am favored with yours of the Ist of November, and recollect with

pleasure our acquaintan ce in Virginia. With respect to the schools of Europe,

my mind is perfectly made up, and on full enquiry. The best in the world is

Edinburgh. Latterly, too, the spirit of republicani sm has become that of the

students in general, and of the younger professors; so on that account also it

is eligible for an American. On the continent of Europe, no place is comparable

to Geneva. The sciences are there more modernized than anywhere else. There,

too, the spirit of 













            Correspond ence         275







republicani sm is strong with the body of the inhabitants : but that of

aristocracy is strong also with a particular class; so that it is of some

consequenc e to attend to the class of society in which a youth is made to

move. It is a cheap place. Of all these particulars Mr. Kinloch and Mr. Huger,

of South Carolina, can give you the best account, as they were educated there,

and the latter is lately from thence: I have the honor to be, with great

esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















           TO ARCHIBALD STUART.







          PHILADELP HIA, December 23, 1791.







  DEAR SIR,-I received duly your favor of October 22, and should have answered

it by the gentleman who delivered it, but that he left town before I knew of

it.







That it is really important to provide a constitutio n for our State cannot be

doubted: as little can it be doubted that the ordinance called by that name has

important defects. But before we attempt it, we should endeavor to be as

certain as is practicable that in the attempt we should not make bad worse. I

have understood that Mr. Henry has always been opposed to this undertakin g;

and I confess that I consider his talents and infuencc such as that, were it

decided that we should call a convention for the purpose of amending, I should

fear he might induce that cunvention either to fix 













276         Jefferson's Works







the thing as at present, or change it for the worse. Would it not therefore be

well that means should be adopted for coming at his ideas of the changes he

would agree to, and for communicat ing to him those which we should propose?

Perhaps he might fird ours not so distant from his, but that some mutual

sacrifices might bring them together.







  I shall hazard my own ideas to you as hastily as my business obliges me. I

wish to preserve the line drawn by the federal constitutio n between the

general and particular governmen ts as it stands at present, and to take every

prudent means of preventing either from stepping over it. Though the experiment

has not yet had a long enough course to show us from which quarter encroachme

nts are most to be feared, yet it is easy to foresee, from the nature of

things, that the encroachme nts of the State governmen ts will tend to an

excess of liberty which will correct itself, (as in the late instance,) while

those of the General Governmen t will tend to monarchy, which will fortify

itself from day to day, instead of working its own cure, as all experience

shows. I would rather be exposed to the inconvenie nces attending too much

liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it. Then it is important to

strengthen the State governmen ts; and as this cannot be done by any change in

the federal constitutio n, (for the preservatio n of that is all we need

contend for,) it must be done by the States themselves, erecting such barriers

at the 













            Correspond ence          277







constitutio nal line as cannot be surmounte d either by themselves or by the

General Governmen t. The only barrier in their power is a wise governmen t. A

weak one will lose ground in every contest. To obtain a wise and an able

governmen t, I consider the following changes as important. Render the

legislature a desirable station by lessening the number of representa tives

(say to 100) and lengthenin g somewhat their term, and porportion them equally

among the electors. Adopt also a better mode of appointing senators. Render the

Executive a more desirable post to men of abilities by making it more

independen t of the legislature. To wit, let him be chosen by other electors,

for a longer time, and ineligible forever after. Responsibil ity is a

tremendous engine in a free governmen t. Let him feel the whole weight of it

then, by taking away the shelter of his executive council. Experience both ways

has already established the superiority of this measure. Render the judiciary

respectable by every possible means, to wit, firm tenure in office, competent

salaries, and reduction of their numbers. Men of high learning and abilitieis

are few in every country; and by taking in those who are not so, the able part

of the body have their hands tied by the unable. This branch of the governmen t

will have the weight of the conflict on their hands, because they will be the

last appeal of reason. These are my general ideas of amendment s; but,

preserving the ends, I should be flexible and conci.liator y 













278                        Jefferson's Works







as to the means. You ask whether Mr. Madison and myself could attend on a

convention which should be called ? Mr. Madison 's engagemen ts as a member of

Congress will probably be from October to March or April in every year. Mine

are constant while I hold my office, and my attendance would be very unimportan

t. Were it otherwise, my office should not stand in the way of it. I am, with

great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.























TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







           PHILADELP HIA, December 23, 1771.







  SIR,-As the conditions of our commerce with the French and British dominions

are important, and a moment seems to be approachin g when it may be useful that

both should be accurately understood , I have thrown a representa tion of them

into the form of a table, showing at one view how the principal articles

interesting to our agriculture and navigation, stand in the European and

American dominions of these two powers. As to so much of it as respects France,

I have cited under every article the law on which it depends; which laws, from

1784 downwards , are in my possession.







  Port charges are so different, according to the size of the vessel and the

dexterity of the captain, that an examination of a greater number of port bills

might, perhaps, produce a different result. 













            Correspond ence          279







can only say, that that expressed in the table is fairly drawn from such bills

as I could readily get access to, and that I have no reason to suppose it

varies much from the truth, nor on which side the variation would lie. Still, I

cannot make myself responsible for this article. The authorities cited will

vouch the rest.







  I have the honor to be, with the most perfect respect and attachment, Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant. 















































































































































280         Jefferson's Works







Footing of the Commerce of the United States with France and England,  and  

with the French  and   English American Colonies.











                  France                 Great Britain & Ireland



Wheat        Free (a)         Prohibited till it is 6s. 4d. the bushel



Rice        Free (a)        7s. 4d. Sterling the kental



Salted fish         8 livres the kental (b)         Prohibited



Salted beef         5 livres the kental (c)         Prohibited



Salted pork        5 livres the kental in some 



        ports.Prohi bited in others(d)         44s. 9d. The kental



Furs        Free (a)        15 to 20 percent



Indigo        5 livres the kental ©         Free



Whale Oil        7 liveres and 10 sous the 



        barrel of 520 lbs (a)        £18 3s. the ton



Tar, pitch, turpentine         2 ½ percent. 5 sous the



        kental, by new tariff.         11d. 11s. 2s. 3d.  B.



Ships        Free for naturalizati on (a)         Prohibited naturalizati on







Port charges (b)         Bordeaux, 23 the ton         London    76



        Havre,       14 the ton         Liverpool 61        Average 18       

Bristol        1.43



                Hull            1.57



                Average 1.09 dols.







Exports to. (f)        1,384,246 D.        6,888,970 D.



Imports from.(f)         155,136 D.         13,965464 D.



Freighted in their 



  vessels. (f)        9,842 tons        119,194 tons



Freighted in our



   vessels. (f)        19,173 tons        39,171 tons







__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

____







        French America         English America







Wheat, flour, & c         Prohibited by a general law.



        Free by suspension s from



        time to time. (g)         Free, by proclamatio n



Rice        1 per cent (c)         Free, by proclamatio n



Salted fish         1 per cent. X 3 livres 



        kental. (h)         Prohibited



Salted beet         1 per cent X 3 livres



        kental. (e)        Prohibited



Port Charges         Cape Franc       .96         Jamaica     .76



        Port au Prince   .40        Antigua     .22



        Martinique        .18         Barbadoes .42



             Average .55        St. Kitts     .43



                Dominique .21



                    Average   .44







Exports to:         3,284,656 D.        2,357,583 D.



Imports from:         1,913,212 D.        1,319,964 D.



Freighted in their vessesls         3,959 tons         107,759 tons



Freighted in our vessels         97,236 tons         Prohibited







__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

_______







                                













            Correspond ence          281







 The following articles being on an equal footing in both countries, are thrown

together.







            France         Great Britain and Ireland







Tobacco         Free of duty, but under



        monopoly         1s. 3d. the lb.



Wood        Free (a)        Free



Pot and pearl ash.         Free (a)         Free



Flax seed         Free (a)         Free







__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

_____







        French America         English America







Corn, Indian        1 percent©         Free, by proclamatio n



Wood        1 per cent©        Free, by proclamatio n.



Salted Pork         Prohibited ©         Prohibited



Horses and mules        Free©         Free, by proclamatio n.



Live provisions        1 per cent©         Free, by proclamatio n



Tar, pitch, turpentine         1 per cent©        Free, by proclamatio n







Imports allowed         Rum, molasses generally,          Rum, molasses, sugar,

coffee,



        sugar, and all other          cocoa nuts, ginger, pimento,



        commoditie s till         by proclamatio n.



        Aug. 1, 1794







 __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

______ 











Notes.







        (a) By arret of December the 29th, 1787        (b) By Arret of 1763



        © By Arret of August the 30th, 1784         (d) By Arret of 1788



        (e) By Arret of 1760



        (f)   Taken from the Custom House returns of the United States.



        (g) There is a general law of France prohibiting foreign flour in their

islands, with a suspending power to their Governors, in cases of necessity.  An

Arret of May the 9th, 1789, by their Governor, makes it free till August, 1794;

and in fact it is generally free there.



        (h)   The Arret of September the 18th, 1785, gave a premium of ten

livres the kental, on fish brought in their own bottoms, for five years, so

that the law expired September the 18th, 1790.  Another Arret, passed a week

after, laid a duty of five livres the kental, on fish brought in foreign

vessels , to raise money for the premium before mentioned.  The last Arret was

not limited in time; yet seems to be understood only commensur ate with the

other.  Accordingl y, and Arret of May the 9th, 1789, has made fish in foreign

bottoms liable to three livres the kental only till August the 1st, 1794.



        (I)   The port charges are estimated from bills collected from the

merchants of Philadelphi a. They are different in different ports of the same

country, and different in the same ports on vessels of different sizes.  Where

I had several bills of the same port, I averaged them together.  The dollar is

rated at 4s. 4 ½ d. sterling in England at 6s. 8d. In the British West Indies,

and five livres twelve sous in France, and at eight livres five sous in the

French West Indies.



         Several articles stated to be free in France, do in fact pay

one-eights of a per cent, which was retained merely to oblige an entry to be

made in their Custom House books.  In like manner, several of the articles

stated to be free in England, do, in fact, pay a light duty.  The English

duties are taken from the book of rates.



        (k) The exports to Great Britain and Ireland are ..................

.................. .....$6,888,9 78 50



How much they consume, I know not.  They certainly re-export the following:







Grain, the whole since the law of the last parliament         $1,093,885



Tobacco, five-sixths, according to Sheffield's tables         2,295,411



Rice, five-sevenths, according to same         552,750



Indigo, one-third, according to same         315,887



Furs, probably one half         17,950



Ginseng, the whole         32,424



Mahogany( not from our production s should also be deducted)          16,724



Wine (not from our production s should also be deducted)         4,425



                                                                               

                        __________ __________ __



                                                                               

                                                        4,329,456 00



Remainder, including their consumptio n and the unknown re-                    

           2,559,522 50



exportation s certainly known, then, are five-eights of the whole.













































282        Jefferson's Works















     TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTO N.







            PHILADELP HIA, January 4, 1772.







  SIR,-Havin g been in conversatio n to-day with Monsieur Payan, one of the St.

Domingo deputies, I took occasion to inquire of him the footing on which our

commerce there stands at present, and particularl y whether the colonial Arret

of 1789, permitting a fr ee importation of our flour till 1793, was still in

force. He answered, that that Arretwas revoked in France on the clamors of the

merchants there; and with a like permission to carry flour to the three usual

ports, and he thinks tobring away coffee and sugar, was immediately renewed by

the Governor. Whether this has been regularly kept up by renewed Arrets, during

the present troubles, he cannot say, but is sure that in practice it has never

been discontinue d, and that not by contraband , but openly and legally, as is

understood. The public application to us to send flour there, is a proof of it.

Instead, therefore, of resting this permission on a colonial A rret till 1793,

it should be rested on temporary Arrets renewed from time to time, as

heretofore. This correction of the notes I took the liberty of laying before

you, with the table containing a comparativ e view of our commerce with France

and England, I thought it my duty to make.







  I have the honor to be, with the most perfect respect and attachment, Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













      283                       Correspond ence















         TO MR. SHORT.







            PHILADELP HIA, January 5, 1772.







  DEalR SIR,-My last to you was of November 24th, since which I have received

yours, Nos. 76, 77, and 81 to 87 inclusive. Your letter of October 6th, with

your account to June, 1791, is not yet arrived, nor the box mentioned in your

number 84. The memorial of the crew of the Indian shall be sent to the Governor

of South Carolina. In a former letter I informed you that two balanciers would

suffice for us, which will have served as an answer to that part of your late

letters on the same subject. With respect to the Assayer, it will be better to

defer taking any measures till the bill establishin g a mint, which is now

before the legislature, shall have passed.







  We have been in expectation for some time that some overture would have been

made to us from the Court of France, on the subject of the treaty of commeree

recommend ed by the National Assembly to be entered into between the two

nations. The executive of ours are perfectly disposed to meet such overtures,

and to concur in giving them effect on the most liberal principles. This

sentiment you may freely express to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. ·







We receive with deep regret daily information of the progress of insurrectio n

and devastation in St. Domingo. Nothing indicates as yet that the 













     284                    Jefferson's Works







evil is at its height, and the materials, as yet untouched, but open to

conflagrati on, are immense. The newspaper s heretofore sent you, and those now

sent, will have informed you of a very bloody action we have had with the

Northern Indians, in which our army was defeated. This imposes the necessity of

stronger preparatio ns than were before thought requisite.







  Some communications from the Court of Madrid having been lately, for the

first time, made to us, these shall be the subject of a separate letter.







  You mention some failures in the receipt of the journals of Congress and

other public papers. I trust always to Mr. Remson to make them up from time to

time, and I can answer for his punctuality . I send you his statement of those

which have been sent, so that the failure has probably arisen from the

inexactitud e of those to whom they have been confided. At present we watch for

vessels bound to Havre whereby to send them. You will receive some by the Feune

Eole, which sails from hence to that port next week. I am not certain whether

this letter will go by the same conveyance , or by the English packet. I am,

with the highest esteem and attachment, your affectionat e humble servant. 













             Correspond ence          285















       TO THOMAS PINCKNEY,







            PHILADELP HIA, January 17, 1792,







SIR,-Your favors of November the 29th, 30th, and December the 1st, came duly to

hand, and gave sincere pleasure, by announcing your disposition to accept the

appointmen t to London. The nomination s to Paris and the Hague having been

detained till yours could be made, they were all immediately sent in to the

Senate, to wit, yourself for London, Mr. G- Morris for Paris, Mr. Short for the

Hague. Some members of the Senate, apprehendi ng they had a right of determinin

g on the expediency of foreign missions, as well as on the persons named  took

that occasion of bringing forward the discussion of that question, by which the

nomination s were delayed two or three weeks. I am happy to be able to assure

you, that not a single personal motive with respect to yourself entered into

the objections to these appointmen ts. On the contrary, I believe that your

nomination gave general satisfaction . Your commission will be immediately made

out, but as the opportuniti es of conveyance at this season are precarious, and

you propose coming to this place, I think it better to retain it.







  As to the delay proposed in your letter, it was to be expected: indeed, a

winter passage from Charleston to this place, or across the Atlantic, is so

disagreeabl e, that if either that circumstance or the arrangeme nt of your

affairs should render it in the 













286        Jefferson's Works







smallest degree eligible to you, to remain at home till the temperate season

comes on, stay till after the vernal equinox; there will be no inconvenie nce

to the public attending it. On the contrary, as we are just opening certain

negotiation s with the British minister here, which have not yet assumed any

determinat e complexion, a delay till that time will enable us to form some

judgment of the issue they may take, and to know exactly in what way your

cooperation at the place of your destination , may aid us. On this and other

accounts, it will be highly useful that you take this place in your way, where,

or at New York, you will always be sure of finding a convenient passage to

England.







I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your

most obedient, and most humble servant.















            TO WILLIAM SHORT.







           PHILADELP HIA, January 23, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-I have the pleasure to inform you, that the President of the United

States has appointed you minister resident for the United States at the Hague,

which was approved by the Senate on the 16th instant. This new mark of the

President's confidence will be the more pleasing to you, as it imports an

approbatio n of your former conduct, whereon be pleased to accept my

congratulat ions. Yotu will receive herewith, a letter from myself to 













      287       Correspond ence







Monsieur de Montmorin, closing your former mission, your new commission,

letters of credence from the President for the States General and Stadtholde r,

sealed, and copies of them open for your own satisfaction . You will keep the

cypher we have heretofore used.







  Your past experience in the same line, renders it unnecessar y for me to

particulari ze your duties on closing your present, or conducting your future

mission. Harmony with our friends being our object, you are sensible how much

it will be promoted by attention to the manner as well as the matter of your

communicat ions with the governmen t of the United Netherland s. I feel myself

particularl y bound to recommend, as the most important of your charges, the

patronage of our commerce and the extension of its privileges, both in the

United Netherland s and their colonies, but most especially the latter.



  The allowance to a minister resident of the United States, is four thousand

five hundred dollars a year, for all his personal services and other expenses,

a year's salary for his outfit, and a quarter's salary for his return. It is

understood that the personal services and other expenses here meant, do not

extend to the cost of gazettes and pamphlets transmitted to the Secretary of

State's offiice, to translating or printing necessary papers, postage,

couriers, and necessary aids to poor American sailors. These additional

charges, therefore, may be inserted in your accounts ; but no other of any

description , unless where they 













  288         Jefferson's Works







are expressly directed to be incurred. The salary of your new grade being the

same as of your former one, and your services continued, though the scene of

them is changed, there will be no intermissio n of salary; the new one

beginning where the former cnds, and ending when you shall receive notice of

your permission to return. For the same reason there can be but one allowance

of outfit and return, the former to take place now, the latter only on your

final return. The funds appropriat ed to the support of the foreign establishme

nt, do not admit the allowance of a secretary to a mini.ster resident. I have

thought it best to state these things to you minutely, that you may be relieved

from all doubt as to the matter of your accounts. I will beg leave to add a

most earnest request, that on the 1st day of July next, and on the same day

annually afterwards, you make out your account to that day, and send it by the

first vessel, and by duplicates. In this I must be very urgent and particular ;

because at the meeting of the ensuing Congress always, it is expected that I

prepare for them a statement of the disburseme nts from this fund, from July to

June inclusive. I shall give orders by the first opportunit y, to our bankers

in Amsterdam, to answer your drafts for the allowances herein before mentioned,

recruiting them at the same time by an adequate remitment; as I expect that by

the time you receive this, they will not have remaining on hand of this fund,

more than seven or eight thousand dollars. 













   289          Correspond ence







 You shall receive from me, from time to time, the laws and journals of

Congress, gazettes and other interesting papers: for whatever information is in

possession of the public, I shall leave you generally to the gazettes, and only

undertake to communicat e by letter, such, relative to the business of your

mission, as the gazetteers cannot give. From you I shall ask, once or twice a

month regularly, a communication of interesting occurrence s in Holland, of the

general affairs of Europe, and the regular transmissio n of the Leyden gazette

by every British packet, in the way it now comes, which proves to be very

regular. Send also such other publication s as may be important enough to be

read by one who can spare little time to read anything, or which may contain

matter proper to be turned to, on interesting subjects and occasions. The

English packet is the most certain channel for such epistolary communicat ions

as are not very secret, and by those packets I would wish always to receive a

letter from you, by way of corrective to the farrago of news they generally

bring. Intermediat e letters, secret communicat ions, gazettes, and other

printed papers, had better come by private vessels from Amsterdam; which

channel I shall use generally for my letters, and always for gazettes and other

printed papers.







  The President has also joined you in a special and temporary commission with

Mr. Carmichael to repair to Madrid, and there negotiate certain matters

respecting the navigation of the Mississippi, and other







   VOL. VIII-I9 













   290                     Jefferson's Works







points of common interest between Spain and us. As some time will be necessary

to make out the instruction s and transcripts necessary in this business, they

can only be forwarded by some future occasion; but they shall be soon

forwarded, as we wish not to lose a moment in advancing negotiation s so

essential to our peace. For this reason, I must urge you to repair to the Hague

at the earliest day the settlement of your affairs at Paris will admit, that

your reception may be over, and the idea of your being established there

strengthen ed, before you r eceive the new orders.







  I have the honor to be, with sincere respect and esteezn, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.























    TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







           PHILADELP HIA, January 23, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-I have the pleasure to inform you, that the President of the United

States has appointed you Minister Plenipotent iary for the United States, at

the court of France, which was approved by the Senate on the I 2 th instant ;

on which be pleased to accept my congratulat ions. You will receive here-with

your commission, a letter of credence for the King, sealed, and a copy of it

open for your own satisfaction , as also a cypher, to be used on proper

occasions in the correspond ence between us. 













   291         Correspond ence







 To you, it would be more than unnecessar y for me to undertake a general

delineation of the functions of the offce to which you are appointed. I shall

therefore only express our desire, that they be constantly exercised in that

spirit of sincere friendship and attachment which we bear to the French nation

; and that in all transaction s with the minister, his good disposition s be

conciliated by whatever in language or attentions may tend to that efect. With

respect to their governmen t, we are under no call to express opinions which

might please or offend any party, and therefore it will be best to avoid them

on all occasions, public or private. Could any circumstan ces require

unavoidabl y such expression s, they would naturally be in conformity with the

sentiments of the great mass of our countryme n, who, having first, in modern

times, taken the ground of governmen t founded on the will of the people,

cannot but be delighted on seeing so distinguish ed and so esteemed a nation

arrive on the same ground, and plant their standard by our side.







  I feel myself particularl y bound to recommend, as the most important of your

charges, the patronage of our commerce, and the extension of its privileges,

both in France and her colonies, but most especially the latter. Our consuls in

France are under general instruction s to correspond with the minister of the

United States at Paris; from them you may often receive interesting information

. Joseph Fenwick is consul at Bordeaux, and Burwell 













292         Jefferson's Works







Carnes at Nantz ; Monsieur de la Motte vice consul at Havre, and Monsieur

Cathalan at Marseilles.







  An act of Congress, of July the 1st, 1790, has limited the allowance of a

minister plenipotent iary to nine thousand dollars a year for aIl his personal

services and other expenses, a year's salary for his outfit, and a quarter's

salary for his return. It is understood that the personal services and other

expenses here meant, do not extend to the cost of gazettes and pamphlets

transmitted to the Secretary of State's office, to translating or printing

necessary papers, postage, couriers, and necessary aids to poor American

sailors. These additional charges, therefore, may be inserted in your accounts

; but no other of any description , unless where they are expressly directed to

be incurred. By an ancient rule of Congress, your salary will commence from the

day you receive this letter, if you be then at Paris, or from the day you set

out for Paris from any other place at which it may find you; it ceases on

receiving notice or permission to return, after which the additional quarter's

allowance takes place. You are free to name your own private secretary, who

will receive from the public a salary of thirteen hundred and fifty dollars a

year, without allowance for any extras. I have thought it best to state these

things to you minutely, that you may be relieved from all doubt as to the

matter of your accounts. I will beg leave to acdci a most earnest request, that

on the 1st day of July next, and on the same day annually afterwards 













             Correspond ence          293







you make out your account to that day, and send it by the first vessel, and by

duplicates. In this I must be very urgent and particular, because at the

meeting of the ensuing Congress always, it is expected that I prepare for them

a statement of the disburseme nts from this fund, from July to June inclusive.

I shall give orders by the first opportunit y to our bankers in Amsterdam, to

answer your drafts for the allowances herein before mentioned, recruiting them

at the same time by an adequate remitment, as I expect that by the time you

receive this, they will not have remaining on hand of this fund more than seven

or eight thousand dollars.







  You shall receive from me, from time to time, the laws and journals of

Congress, gazettes and other interesting papers; for whatever information is in

possession of the public, I shall leave you generally to the gazettes, and only

undertake to communicate by letter, such, relative to the business of your

mission, as the gazettes cannot give.







  From you I shall ask, once or twice a month regularly, a communicat ion of

interesting occurrence s in France, of the general affairs of Europe, and

transmissio n of the Leyden gazette, the journal logographe , and the best

paper of Paris for their colonial affairs, with such other publication s as may

be important enough to be read by one who can spare little time to read

anything, or which may contain matter proper to be turned to, on interesting

subjects and occasions. The English packet is the most certain 













    294               Jefferson's Works







channel for such epistolary communicat ions as are not very secret, and by

those packets I would wish always to receive a letter from you by way of

corrective to the farrago of news they generally bring. Intermediat e letters,

secret communicat ions, gazettes and other printed papers, had better come

through the channel of Monsieur de la Motte at Havre, to whom I shall also

generally address my letters to you, and always the gazettes and other printed

papers.







  Mr. Short will receive by the same conveyance , his appointmen t as minister

resident at the Hague.







  I have the honor to be, with great esteem and respect, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















         TO MONSIEUR DE MONTMORIN .







            PHILADELP HIA, January 23, 17g2.







  SIR,-The President of the United States having destined Mr. Short to another

employment, he is instructed to take leave of the court of France. The perfect

knowledge I have of his understand ing and disposition s, gives me full

confidence that he has so conducted himself during his residence near them, as

to merit their approbatio n ; and that he will mark his departure with those

respectful attentions and assurances which will give them entire satisfaction .

Above all things, I hope that every exercise of his functions has been

consistent with the sincerity of 













            Correspond ence         295







the friendship we bea,r to the King and nation, and that you will be persuaded,

that no one is more cordial in that sentiment than he who has the honor to be,

with the most profound respect and attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















TO DON JOSEPH JAUDENES, AND DON JOSEPH VIAR.







           PHILADELP HIA, January 25, 17g2.







  GENTLEME N,-Don Joseph Jaudenes having communicat ed to me verbally that his

Catholic Majesty had been apprised of our solicitude to have some arrangeme nts

made respecting our free navigation of the Mi.ssissippi , and a port thereon

convenient for the deposit of merchandis e of export and import for lading and

unlading the sea and river vessels, and that his Majesty would be ready to

enter into treaty thereon directly with us, whensoeve r we should send to

Madrid a proper and acceptable person authorized to treat on our part, I laid

the communicat ion before the President of the United States. I am authorized

by him to assure you that our Governmen t has nothing more at heart than to

meet the friendly advances of his Catholic Majesty with cordiality, and to

concur in such arrangeme nts on the subject proposed, as may tend best to

secure peace and friendship between the two nations on a permanent footing. The

President has, therefore, with the approbatio n of the Senate, appointed Mr.

Short, our present minister resident at the Hague, to proceed to Madrid as a 













 296                  Jefferson's Works







joint commission er with Mr. Carmichael, with full powers to treat on the

subject before mentioned, and I have no doubt that these gentlemen will so

conduct themselves as to give entire satisfaction . Mr. Short's business at the

Hague will occasion a short delay of his departure from that place for Madrid,

but he will be duly urged to make it as short as possible.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and

respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























       TO WILLIAM SHORT.







           PHILADELP HIA, Jantuary 28, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-My last private letter to you was of November 25th, your last

received was of September 29th. Though the present will be very confidentia l,

and will go, I do not know how, I cannot take time to cypher it all. What has

lately occurred here will convince you I have been right in not raising your

expectation s as to an appointmen t. The President proposed at first the

nomination of Mr. T. Pinckney to the court of London, but would not name him

till we could have an assurance from him that he would accept, nor did he

indicate what the other appointmen ts would be till Mr. Pinckney's answer came.

Then he nominated to the Senate Mr. Morris, M. P. for France, Pinckney, M. P.

for London, and yourself 













            Correspond ence          297







M. R. for the Hague. The first of these appointmen ts was extremely unpopular,

and so little relished by several of the Senate, that every effort was used to

negative it. Those whose personal objections to Mr. Morris overrulcd their

deference to the President, finding·the mselves a minority, joined with another

small party who are against all foreign appointmen ts, and endeavored with them

to put down the whole system rather than let this article pass. This plan was

defeated, and Mr. Morris passed by a vote of 16 against II. When your

nomination came on, it was consented to, by 15 against 11, every man of the

latter, however, rising and declaring, that as to yourself they had no personal

objection, but only meant by their vote to declare their opinion against

keeping any person at the Hague. Those who voted in the negative were not

exactly the same in both cases. When the biennial bill furnishing money for the

support of the foreign establishme nt shall come up at the next session, to be

continued, the same contest will arise again, and I think it very possible that

if the opponents of Mr. Morris cannot remove him otherwise, they will join

again with those who are against the whole establishme nt, and try to

discontinue the whole. If they fail in this, I still see no security in their

continuing the mission to the Hague; because to do this they must enlarge the

fund from forty to fifty thousand dollars. The President afterwards proceeded

to join you to Carmichael on a special mission to Spain, to which there 













   298        Jefferson's Works







was no opposition, except from three gentlemen who were against opening the

Mississippi.







  I am, with sincere attachment, dear Sir, your affectionat e friend and

servant.











      TO COLONEL ALEXANDER HAMILTON.







                      February -, 1792.







  DEAR SIR,-I return you the report on the mint, which I have read over with a

great deal of satisfaction . I concur with you in thinking that the unit must

stand on both metals, that the alloy should be the same in both, also in the

proportion you establish between the value of the two metals. As to the

question on whom the expense of coinage is to fall, I have been so little able

to make up an opinion satisfactor y to myself, as to be ready to concur in

either decision. With respect to the dollar, it must be admitted by all the

world, that there is great uncertaint y in the meaning of the term, and

therefore all the world will have justified Congress for their first act of

removing the uncertaint y by declaring what they understand by the term, but

the uncertaint y once removed, exists no longer, and I very much doubt a right

now to change the value, and especially to lessen it. It would lead to so easy

a mode of paying of their debts. Besides, the parties injured by this reduction

of the value would have so much matter to urge in support of the first point of

fixation. Should it be thought, however, that Con













            Correspond ence          299







gress may reduce the value of the dollar, I should be for adopting for our

unit, instead of the dollar, either one ounce of pure silver, or one ounce of

standard silver, so as to keep the unit of money a part of the system of

measures, weights and coins. I hazard these thoughts to you extempore and am,

dear Sir, respectfull y and affectionat ely.















 TO THE BRITISH MINISTER (GEORGE HAMMOND).







           PHILADELP HIA, February 2, 1772.







  SIR,-On the receipt of your letter of the 14th of December, I communicat ed

it to the President of the United States, and under the sanction of his

authority, the principal members of the executive department made it their duty

to make known in conversatio ns generally, the explicit disclaimer, in the name

of your court, which you had been pleased to give us, that the governmen t of

Canada had supported or encouraged the hostilities of our Indian neighbors in

the western country. Your favor of January the 30th, to the same purpose, has

been, in like manner, communicat ed to the President, and I am authorized to

assure you, that he is duly sensible of this additional proof of the

disposition of the court of London, to confine the proceeding s of their

officers in our vicinage within the limits of friendship and good neighborho

od, and that a conduct so friendly and just, will furnish us a motive the more

for those 













300           Jefferson's Works







duties and good offices which neighbor nations owe each other.







You have seen too much, Sir, of the conduct of the press in countries where it

is free, to consider the gazettes as evidence of the sentiments of any part of

the governmen t; you have seen them bestow on the governmen t itself, in all

its parts, its full share of inculpation . Of the sentiments of our governmen t

on the subject of your letter, I cannot give you better evidence than the

statement of the causes of the Indian war, made by the Secretary of War on the

26th of the last month, by order of the President, and inserted in the public

papers. No interferenc e on the part of your nation is therein stated among the

causes of the war. I am happy, however, in the hope, that a due execution of

the treaty will shortly silence those expression s of public feeling by

removing their cause. I have the honor to be, with great respect and esteem,

Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.















       PHILADELP HIA, February 4, 1772.







  SIR,-The late appointmen t of a minister resident to the Hague, has brought

under considerati on the condition of Mr. Dumas, and the question, whether he

is, or is not, at present in the service of the United States?



            Correspond ence          301







 Mr. Dumas, very early in the war, was employed first by Dr. Franklin,

afterwards by Mr. Adams, to transact the affairs of the United States in

Holland. Congress never passed any express vote of confirmatio n, but they

opened a direct correspond ence with Mr. Dumas, sent him orders to be executed,

confirmed and augmented his salary, made that augmentati on retrospecti ve,

directed him to take up his residence in their hotel at the Hague, and passed

such other votes from time to time as established him de facto their agent at

the Hague. On the change in the organizatio n of our governmen t in 1 7 8 9, no

commission nor new appointmen t took place with respect to him, though it did

in most other cases; yet the correspond ence with him from the office of

Foreign Afairs has been continued, and he has regularly received his salary. A

doubt has been suggested, whether this be legal. I have myself no doubt but

what it is legal. I consider the source of authority with us to be the Nation.

Their will, declared through its proper organ, is valid, till revoked by their

will declared through its proper organ again also. Between 1776 and 1789, the

proper organ for pronouncin g their will, whether legislative or executive, was

a Congress formed in a particular manner. Since 178g it is a Congress formed in

a different manner, for laws, and a President, elected in a particular way, for

making appointmen ts and doing other executive acts. The laws and appointmen ts

of the ancient Congress were as valid 













     302       Jefferson's Works







and permanent in their nature, as the laws of the new Congress, or appointmen

ts of the new Executive ; these laws and appointmen ts, in both cases deriving

equally their source from the will of the nation ; and when a question arises,

whether any particular law or appointmen t is still in force, we are to

examine, not whether it was pronounce d by the ancient or present organ, but

whether it has been at any time revoked by the authority of the nation,

expressed by the organ competent at the time. The nation, by the act of their

federal convention, established some new principles and some new organizatio ns

of the governmen t. This was a valid declaration of their will, and ipso facto

revoked some laws bcfore passed, and discontinue d some officers and offices

before appointed. Wherever, by this instrument, an old office was suspended by

a new one, a newi appointmen t became necessary; but where the new Constitutio

n did not demolish an office, either expressly or virtually, nor the President

remove the officer, both the office and officer remained. This was the case of

several; in many of them, indeed, an excess of caution dictated the superadditi

on of a new appointmen t; but where there was no such superadditi on, as in the

instance of Mr. Dumas, both the office and officer still remained: for the will

of the nation, validly pronounce d by the proper organ of the day, had

constituted him their agent, and that will has not, through any of its

successive organs, revoked its appointmen t. I think, there













             Correspond ence          303







fore, there is no room to doubt its continuanc e, and that the receipt of

salary by him has been lawful.







  However, I would not wish to take on myself alone the decision of a question

so important, whether considered in a legal or constitutio nal view ; and

therefore submit it to you, Sir, whether it is not a proper question whereon to

take the opinion of the Attorney General ?







  Another question then arises, Ought Mr. Dumas to be discontinue d? I am of

opinion he ought not.







  1. Not at this time ; because Mr. Short 's mission to Madrid will occasion an

immediate vacancy at the Hague again; and because, by the time that will be

over, his appointmen t at the Hague must be discontinue d altogether, unless

Congress should enlarge the foreign fund.







  2. Not at any time; because, when, after the peace, Mr. Dumas' agency became

of less importance, Congress, under various viewis of his sacrifices and

services, manifested that their continuanc e of him was in considerati on of

these, and of his advanced years and infirm state, which render it impossible

for him to launch into a new line of gaining a livelihood; and they thought the

continuanc e of moderate competence to him for moderate services, was more

honorable to the United States than to abandon him in the face o£ Europe, after

and under such circumstan ces.



  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the mostpirofo und respect and

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













  304          Jefferson's Works















TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







            PHILADELP HIA, February 7, 1772.







  SIR,-An account presented to me by Mr. John B. Cutting, for expenditur es

incurred by him in liberating the seamen of the United States in British ports,

during the impressmen ts, which took place under that governmen t in the year

1790, obliges me to recall some former transaction s to your mind.



  You will be pleased to recollect the numerous instances of complaint or

information to us, about that time, of the violence committed on our seafaring

citizens in British ports, by their press-gang s and officers, and that, not

having even a consul there at that time, it was thought fortunate that a

private citizen, who happened to be on the spot, stepped forward for their

protection; that it was obvious that these exertions on his part must be

attended with expense, and that a particular demand of fifty pounds sterling

for this purpose coming incidentall y to my knowledge, it was immediately

remitted to Mr. Cut ting, with a request to account for it in convenient time.

He now presents an account of all his expenditur es in this business, which I

have the honor to communicat e herewith. According to this, the oppression

extends to a much greater number of our citizens, and their relief is more

costly, than had been contemplat ed. It will be necessary to lay the account

before the Legislature ; because, the expenses being of a description which had

not occurred before, 













             Correspond ence          305







no appropriati on heretofore made would authorize payment at the treasury ;

because, too, the nature of the transaction s may in some instances require,

justly, that the ordinary rules of evidence, which the Auditor is bound to

apply to ordinary cases, should suffer relaxations, which he probably will not

think himself authorized to admit, without the orders of the Legislature .







  The practice in Great Britain of impressing seamen whenever war is apprehend

ed, will fall more heavily on ours than on those of any other foreign nation,

on account of the sameness of language. Our minister at that court, therefore,

will, on these occasions, be under the necessity of interfering for their

protection, in a way which will call for expense. It is desirable that these

expenses should be reduced to certain rules, as far as the nature of the case

will admit, and the sooner they are so reduced the better. This may be done,

however, on surer grounds after the governmen t of Great Britain shall have

entered with us into those arrangeme nts on this particular subject which the

seriousnes s of the case calls for on our part, and its difficulty may admit on

theirs. This done, it will be desirable that legislative rules be framed which

may equally guide and justify the proceeding s of our minister, or other agent,

at that court, and at the same time extend to our seafaring citizens the

protection of which they have so much need.







  Mr. Cutting being on thc spot, will himself furnish







voL. vIII-20 













     306       Jefferson's Works







the explanation s and documents of his case, either to the legislature or a

committee of it, or to the Auditor, as he shall be required.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and

respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























TO THE BRITISH MINISTER (GEORGE HAMMOND).







           PHILADELP HIA, February 25, 1772.







  SIR,-I have now the honor to enclose you the answer of the Attorney General

to a letter I wrote him on the subject of yours of the 18th instant.







  It appears that the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States are open

to the application of Mr. Pagan for a writ of error to revise his case. This

writ is to be granted, indeed, or refused, at the discretion of the judge; but

the discretion of a judge is governed by the rules of law ; if these be in

favor of Mr. Pagan's application, his case will be reviewed in the Supreme

Court, and the decision against him corrected, if wrong; if these be against

his application, he will then be at the end of the ordinary course of law, at

which term alone it is usual for nations to take up the cause of an individual,

and to inquire whether their judges have refused him justice. At present,

therefore, I am not able to say more, than that the judges of the Supreme Court

of the United States will receive Mr. Pagan's application for a writ 













            Correspond ence          307







of error to revise the judgment given against him by the inferior court, and

that there can be no doubt they will do on that application what shall be

right.







  I have the honor to be, with the highest esteem, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.























TO MESSRS. JOHNSON, CARROLL, AND STEWART.







              PHILADELP HIA, March 6, 1772.







  GENTLEME N,-It having been found impracticab le to employ Major L'Enfant

about the federal city, in that degree of subordinati on which was lawful and

proper, he has been notified that his services are at an end. It is now proper

that he should receive the reward of his past services; and the wish that he

should have no just cause of discontent, suggests that it should be liberal.

The President thinks of two thousand five hundred, or three thousand dollars:

but leaves the determinati on to you. Ellicott is to go on, the week after the

next, to finish laying off the plan on the ground, and surveying and platting

the district. I have remonstrat ed with him on the excess of five dollars a day

and his expenses, and he has proposed striking of the latter ; but this also is

left to you, and to make the allowance retrospecti ve. He is fully apprised

that he is entirely under your orders, and there will be no person employed but

under your orders. The enemies of this enterprise will take advantage of the

retirement of 













 308         Jefferson's Works







L'Enfant, to trumpet an abortion of the whole. This will require double

exertions, to be counteract ed. I enclose you the project of a loan which is

agreed on, if you approve it. Your answer will be immediately expected, and is

kept entirely secret, till the subscriptio ns are actually opened. With this

money, in aid of your other funds, the works may be pushed with such spirit as

to evince to the world that they will not be relaxed.







The immediate employment of a superinten dent, of activity and intelligence

equal to the nature of his functions and the public expectation s, becomes

important. You will, doubtless, also consider it as necessary to advertise

imrriediatel y for plans of the Capitol and President's house. The sketch of an

advertisem ent for the plan of a Capitol, which Mr. Johnson had sent to the

President, is now returned with some alterations, and one also for a

President's house. Both of them are subject to your pleasure, and when

accommodat ed to that, if you will return them, they shall be advertised here

and elsewhere. The President thinks it of primary importance to press the

providing as great quantities of brick, stone, lime, plank, timber, etc., this

year as possible. It will occur to you that the stone should be got by a

skilful hand. Knowing what will be your funds, you will be able to decide which

of the following works had better be undertaken for the present year:







The cellars of both houses.







The foundation s of one, or both. 













             Correspond ence        309







  Bridge over Rock Creek, and the post road brought over it.







Canal.







Wharves.







The afair of Mr. Carroll, of Duddington 's house seems to call for settlement.

The President thinks the most just course would be, to rebuild the house in the

same degree, using the same materials as far as they will go, and supplying

what are destroyed or rendered unfit; so that the effect will be in fact, only

the removal of the house within his lot, and in a position square with the

streets. Do you not think it would be expedient to take measures for importing

a number of Germans and Highlander s? This need not be to such an extent as to

prevent the employment of eastern laborers, which is eligible for particular

reasons. If you approve of the importation of Germans and have a good channel

for it, you will use it, of course. If you have no channel, I can help you to

one. Though Roberdeau's conduct has been really blamable, yet we suppose the

principal object of the arrest was to remove him off the ground. As the

prosecutio n of him to judgment might give room to misreprese ntation of the

motives; perhaps you may think it not amiss to discontinue the proceeding s.

You will receive herewith a packet of papers, among which are several projects

and esti~ mates which have been given in by diferent:pe rson and which are

handed on to you, not as by any means carrying with them any degree of

approbatio n; but 













310       Jefferson's Works







merely, that if you find anything good in them, you may convert it to some

account. Some of these contain the views of L'Enfant.







  I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Gentlemen,

your most obedient, and most humble servant.















          TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







             PHILADELP HIA, March lo, 17(92.







  DEAR SIR,-My letter of January the 23d, put under cover to Mr. Johnson in

London, and sent by a passenger in the British packet of February, will have

conveyed to you your appointmen t as Minister Plenipotent iary of the United

States, at the court of France. By the Pennsylvan ia, Captain Harding, bound to

Havre de Grace, and plying pretty regularly between this place and that, you

will receive the present letter, with the laws of the United States, journals

of Congress, and gazettes to this day, addressed to the care of M. de la Motte.

You will also receive a letter from the President to the King of France, in

answer to his announcing the acceptance of the Constitutio n, which came to

hand only a week ago. A copy of this letter is sent for your own use. You will

be pleased to deliver the sealed one, (to the minister, I presume, according to

the ancient etiquette of the court,) accompanyi ng it with the assurances of

friendship, which the occasion may permit you to express, and which are

cordially felt











       Correspond ence          311







by the President and the great body of our nation. We wish no occasion to be

omitted of impressing the National Assembly with this truth. We had expected,

ere this, that in consequenc e of the recommend ation of their predecesso rs,

some overtures would have been made to us orl the subject of a treaty of

commerce. An authentic copy of the recommend ation was delivered, but nothing

said about carrying it into effect. Perhaps they expect that we should declare

our readiness to meet them on the ground of treaty. If they do, we have no

hesitation to declare it. In the meantime, if the present communicat ions

roduce any sensation, perhaps it may furnish a good occasion to endeavor to

have matters re-placed in statu quo, by repealing the late innovations as to

our ships, tobacco and whale oil. It is right that things should be on their

ancient footing, at opening the treaty. M. Ternant has applied here for four

thousand dollars for the succor of the French colonies. The Secretary of the

Treasury has reason to believe, that the late loan at Antwerp has paid up all

our arrearages to France, both of principal and interest, and consequent ly,

that there is no part of our debt exigible at this time. However, the

Legislature having authorized the President to proceed in borrowing to pay off

the residue, provided it can be done to the advantage of the United States, it

is thought the law will be satisfied with avoidincg loss to the United States.

This has obliged the Secretary of the Treasury to 













312        Jefferson's Works







require some conditions, which may remove from us that loss which we encountere

d, from an unfavorabl e exchange, to pay what was exigible, and transfer it to

France as to payments not exigible. These shall be fully detailed to you when

settled. In the meantime, the money will be furnished as far as it can be done.

Indeed, our wishes are cordial for the re-establis hment of peace and commerce

in those colonies, and to give such proofs of our good faith both to them and

the mother country, as to suppress all that jealousy which might oppose itself

to the free exchange of our mutual production s, so essential to the prosperity

of those colonies, and to the preservatio n of our agricultura l interest. This

is our true interest and our true object, and we have no reason to conceal

views so justifiable, though the expression of them may require that the

occasions be prop.er and the terms chosen with delicacy. The gazettes will

inform you of the proceeding s of Congress, the laws passed and proposed, and

generally speaking, of all public transaction s. You will perceive that the

Indian war calls for sensible exertions. It would have been a trifle had we

only avowed enemies to contend with. The British court have disavowed all aid

to the Indians. Whatever may have been their orders in that direction, the

Indians are fully and notoriously supplied by their agents with everything

necessary to carry on the war. Time will show how all this is to end. Besides

the laws, journals and newspaper s, before mentioned, 













            Correspond ence          313







you will receive herewith the State constitutio ns, the census and almanac, and

an answer to Lord Sheffiield on ourcommer ce. A cypher is ready for you, but

cannot be sent till we can find a trusty passenger going to Paris.







  I am, with great respect and esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.







  Since writing the preceding, the two Houses have come to resolutions on the

King's letter, which arc enclosed in the President's , and copies of them

accompany this for your use.















     TO MESSRS. CARMICHAE L AND SHORT.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 18, 1772.







  G E N T L E M E N, - The President having thought proper to appoint you joint

commission ers plenipotent iary, on the part of the United States, to treat

with the court of Madrid on the subjects of the navigation of the Mississippi,

arrangements on our limits, and commerce, you will herewith receive your

commission; as also observatio ns on these several subjects, reported to the

President and approved by him, which will therefore serve as instruction s for

you. These expressing minutely the sense of our governmen t and what they wish

to have done, it is unnecessar y for me to do more here than desire you to

pursue these objects unremittin gly, and endeavor to bring them to an issue in

the course of the ensuing 













    314                       Jefferson's Works        







summer. It is desirable that you should keep an exact journal of what shall

pass between yourselves and the court or their negotiator, and communicat e it

from time to time to me, that your progress and prospects may be known. You

will be the best judges whether to send your letters by Lisbon, Cadiz, or what

other route ; but we shall be anxious to hear from you as often as possible. If

no safe conveyance occurs from Madrid to Lisbon, and your matter should be of

importance suffficient to justify the expense, a courier must be sent; but do

not incur the expense unless it be to answer some good end.







  I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Gentlemen, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















          TO WILLIAM SHORT, ESQ.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 18, 1772.







  SIR,-You will receive herewith a commission appointing Mr. Carmichael and

yourself joint commission ers plenipotent iary for treating on the subject

therein expressed with the Court of Madrid; to which place it is necessary of

course that you repair The instruction s and other papers accompanyi ng the

commission, (and of which no duplicate is hazarcded, ) leave nothing to be

added here but to express the desire that this object be pursued immediately .

It is hoped that in consequenc e of my former letter you will have made the

necessary arrangeme nts for 













            Correspond ence          315







an immediate departure on your receipt of this. You will of course apprise the

Court at the Hague in the most respectful and friendly manner, that matters of

high moment committed to you, oblige you to a temporary absence. You will then

be pleased to proceed by such route as you think best to Madrid, taking care to

furnish yourself from the representa tive of Spain at the Hague, or Paris, with

such letters or passports as may ensure your papers from being taken out of

your possession, or searched. You will judge from existing circumstan ces

whether, when you approach the limits of Spain, it may not be prudent for you

to ascertain previously that you will be permitted to pass unsearched . When

arrived at Madrid, the other papers before mentioned mark out the line to be

pursued. I am, with great and sincere esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.



















       TO W ILLIAM SHORT.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 18, 1772.







  My DEAR SIR,-I shall not repeat in this private dispatch anything said in the

public ones sent herewith. I have avoided saying in them what you are to do,

when the business you go on shall be finished or become desperate, because I

hope to hear what you wish. It is decided that Carmichael will be permitted to

come away at that precise epoch, so you need have no delicacy on that subject,

if you chose 













316            Jefferson's Works







to remain there in your present grade. I become more and more satisfied that

the Legislature will refuse the money for continuing any diplomatic character

at the Hague. I hope you will consider success in the object you go on, as the

most important one of your life: that you will meditate the matter day and

night, and make yourself thoroughly master of it, in every possible form they

may force you to discuss it. A former letter has apprised you of my private

intentions at the close of the present federal cycle. My successor and his

disposition s are equally unknown. The administrat ion may change then in other

of its parts. It is essential that this business be completed before any idea

of these things get abroad. Otherwise Spain may delay in hopes of a change of

consuls here. It will be a great comfort to leave this business safely and

amicably settled, which has so long and immediately threatened our peace.

Gardoqui will probably be the negotiator on their part. No attentions should be

spared towards him, or the Count Florida Blanca. Let what will be said or done,

preserve your sang froid immovably, and to every obstacle, oppose patience,

perseveran ce, and soothing language. Pardon my sermonizin g; it proceeds from

the interest I feel in this business, and in your success. It will be w·ell

that you examine vrith the most minute attention all the circumstan ces which

may enable you to judge and communicat e to us whether the situation of Spain

admits her to go to war. 













            Correspond ence          317







  The failure of some stock gamblers and some other circumstan ces, have

brought the public paper low. The 6 per cents have fallen from a 6 to a 21 1/4,

and bank stock from 115 or 120 to 73 or 74, within two or three weeks. This

nefarious business is becoming more and more the public detestation , and

cannot fail, when the knowledge of it shall be sufficiently extended, to tumble

its authors headlong from their heights. Money is leaving the remoter parts of

the Union, and flowing to this place to purchase paper; and here, a paper

medium supplying its place, it is shipped off in exchange for luxuries. The

value of property is necessarily falling in the places left bare of money. In

Virginia, for instance, property has fallen 25 per cent. in the last twelve

months. I wish to God you had some person who could dispose of your paper at a

judicious moment for you, and invest it in good lands. I would do anything my

duty would permit, but were I to advise your agent (who is himself a stock

dealer) to sell out yours at this or that moment, it would be used as a signal

to guide speculation s. There can never be a fear but that the paper which

represents the public debt will be ever sacredly good. The public faith is

boundfor this, and no change of system will ever bepermitte d to touch this ;

but no other paper stands on ground, equally sure. I am glad therefore that

yours is all of this kind.



  Some bishop of Spain, who was for some time in Mexico, found there copies of

Cortez's correspond ence, 













  318        Jefferson's Works







and on his retur to Spain, published them. I have made many eforts to get this

book, but in vain. I must beg of you to procure it for me while there. It is

not many years since it was published. I am, with constant and sincere

attachment, dear Sir, your affectionat e friend and servant.















    TO MESSRS. DE VIAR AND DE JAUDENES.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 23, 1772.



  GENTLEME N,-I have the honor to inform you that a commission has been issued

to Mr. Carmichael and Mr. Short, as commission ers plenipotent iary for the

United States, to confer, treat, and negotiate with any person or persons duly

authorized by his Catholic Majesty, of and concerning the navigation of the

river Mississippi, and such other matters relative to the confines of their

territories, and the intercourse to be had thereon, as the mutual interests and

general harmony of neighborin g and friendly nations require should be

precisely adjusted and regulated, and of and concerning the general commerce

between the United States and the kingdom and dominions of his Catholic

Majesty; and to conclude and sign a treaty or treaties, convention or

convention s thereon, saving as usual the right of ratification , which

commission is already on its way to Mr. Short, whom it will find at the Hague,

and who is desired immediately to proceed to Madrid. I expect his routc will be

by Bordeaux, and thence 













             Correspond ence        319







across the Pyrenees by the usual road. Might I hope your application to your

court to send a passport and proper orders to their officers, where he must

first enter the kingdom, to protect his passage into and through the kingdom,

in order to prevent loss of time, which would be incurred by his waiting there

till he could ask and receive a passport from Madrid? With the sincerest wishes

that the matters not yet settled between the two countries may be so adjusted

as to give a free course to that conduct on both sides which an unity of

interest evidently prescribes, and with sentiments of perfect esteem and

respect for yourselves, I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, your most obedient,

and most humble servant.















           TO COLONEL PICKERING.







             PHILAPELP HIA, March 2S, 1772.







  SIR,-The President has desired me to confer with you on the proposition I

made the other day, of endeavorin g to move the posts at the rate of one

hundred miles a day. It is believed to be practicable here, because it is

practised in every other country. The difference of expense alone appeazed to

produce doubts with you on the subject. If you have no engagemen t for dinner

to-day, and will do me the favor to come and dine with me, we will be entirely

alone, and it will give us time to go over the matter and weigh it thoroughly .

I will, in that case, ask 













  320                 Jefferson's Works







the favor of you to furnish yourself with such notes as may ascertain the

present expense of the posts, for one day in the week, to Boston and Richmond,

and enable us to calculate the savings which may be made by availing ourselves

of the stages. Be pleased to observe that the stages travel all the day. There

seems nothing necessary for us then, but to hand the mail along through the

night till it may fall in with another stage the next day, if motives of

economy should oblige us to be thus attentive to small savings. If a little

latitude of expense can be allowed, I should be for only using the stages the

first day, and then have our riders. I am anxious that the thing should be

begun by way of experiment, for a short distance, because I believe it will so

increase the income of the post-office as to show we may go through with it. I

shall hope to see you at three o'clock.







  I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.















           TO GEORGE HAMMOND.







             PHILADELP HIA, March 31, 1792,







SIR,-I received yesterday your favor of the day before, and immediately laid it

before the President of the United States. I have it in charge from him to

express to you the perfect satisfaction which these assurances on the part of

your court have given him, that Bowles, who is the subject of them, is an unau









            Correspond ence          321







thorized impostor. The promptitud e of their disavowal of what their candor had

forbidden him to credit, is a new proof of their friendly disposition s, and a

fresh incitement to us to cherish correspond ing sentiments. To these we are

led both by interest and inclination, and I am authorized to assure you that no

occasion will be omitted on our part, of manifesting their sincerity. I have

the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant















          TO GOVERNOR PINCKNEY.







               PHILADELP HIA, April 1, 1792.







  SIR,-Your letter of January the 8th to the President of the United States,

having been referred to me, I have given the subject of it as mature

considerati on as I am able. Two neighborin g and free governmen ts, with laws

equally mild and just, would find no difficulty in forming a convention for the

interchang e of fugitive criminals. Nor would two neighborin g despotic

governmen ts, with laws of equal severity. The latter wish that no door should

be opened to their subjects flying from the oppression of their laws. The fact

is, that most of the governmen ts on the continent of Europe have such

convention s; but England, the only free one till lately, has never yet

consented either to enter into a convention for this purpose, or to give up a

fugitive. The diffi-







VOL. VIII-2 I











322         Jefferson's Works







culty between a free governmen t and a despotic one, is indeed great. I have

the honor to enclose to your Excellency a sketch of the considerati ons which

occurred to me on the subject, and which I laid before the President. He has,

in consequenc e, instructed me to prepare a project of a convention, to be

proposed to the court of Madrid, which I have accordingl y done, and now

enclose a copy of it. I wish it may appear to you satisfactor y. Against

property we may hope it would be effectual; whilst it leaves a door open to

life and liberty except in a single unquestion able case. Messrs. Carmichael

and Short will be instructed to make this one of the subjects of their

negotiation with the court of Spain.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and

respect, your Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.















    TO THE COMMISS10 NERS OF WASHINGTO N.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 9, 1772.







  GENTLEME N,-In a former letter I enclosed you an idea of Mr. Lee's for an

immediate appropriati on of a number of lots to raise a sum of money for

erecting a national monument in the city of Washington . It was scarcely to be

doubted but that you would avoid appropriati ons for matters of ornament till a

sufficient sum should be secured out of the proceeds of your sales to

accomplish the public buildings, bridges and other such objects as are

essential. Mr. 













            Correspond ence          323







Caracchi, the artist, who had proposed to execute the monument, has had hopes

that a subscriptio n set on foot for that purpose, would have sufficed to

effect it. That hope is now over, and he is about to return to Europe. He is

unquestion ably an artist of the first class. He has had the advantage of

taking the model of the President's person in plaster, equal to every wish in

resemblanc e and spirit. It is pretty certain that the equestrian statue of the

President can never be executed by an equal workman, who has had equal

advantages , and the question is whether a prudent caution will permit you to

enter into any engagemen t now, taking time enough before the term of payment

to have accomplish ed the more material objects of the public buildings, etc.

He says to execute the equestrian statue, with the cost of the materials, in

marble, will be worth 20,000 guineas; that he would begin it on his return, if

four or five years hence you can engage to pay him20,000 dollars, and the same

sum annually afterwards, till the whole is paid, before which time the statue

shall be ready. It is rather probable that within some time Congress would take

it off your hands, in compliance with an ancient vote of that body. The

questions for your considerati ons are, whether, supposing no difficulty as to

the means, you think such a work might be undertaken by you? Whether you can

have so much confidence in the productive ness of your funds as to engage for a

residuum of this amount, all more necessary objects being first securcd; and

that this 













  324          Jefferson's Works







may be within the time before proposed? and, in fine, which will prepondera te

in your minds, the hazard of undertakin g this now, or that of losing the aid

of this artist? The nature of this proposition will satisfy you that it has not

been communicat ed to the President, and of course would not be, unless a

previous acceptance on your part, should render it necessary to obtain his

sanction. Your answer is necessary for the satisfaction of Mr. Caracchi, at

whose instance I submit the proposal to you, and who, I believe, will only wait

here the return of that answer. I have the honor to be, with the most perfect

esteem, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.























   TO COLONEL NICHOLAS LEWIS.







              PHILADELP HIA, Aprll I2, 1772.







  DEAIR SIR,-Unrem itting business must be my apology, as it is really the true

one, for my having been longer without w r iting to you than my affections

dictated. I am never a day without wishing myself with you, and more and more

as the fine sunshine comes on, which was made for all the world but me.

Congress will rise about the 2 Ist. They have passed the Representa tion bill

at one for thirty-thre e thousand, which gives to Virginia nineteen members.

They have voted an army of five thousand men, and the President has given the

command to General Wayne, with four brigadiers, to wit, Morgan, Brooks, 













             Correspond ence          325







Willet and Wilkinson. Congress is now engaged on the ways and means of raising

money to pay this army. A further assumption of State debt has been proposed by

the Secretary of the Treasury, which has been rejected by a small majority; but

the chickens of the treasury have so many contrivanc es, and are so indefatigab

le within doors and without, that we all fear they will get it in yet some way

or other. As the doctrine is that a public debt is a public blessing, so they

think a perpetual one is a perpetual blessing, and therefore wish to make it so

large that we can never pay it off. Your friend and servant.















    TO THE I'RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







               PHILADELP HIA, Aprll I3, 1772.







  SIR,-I have the honorto lay before you a communicat ion from Mr. Hammond,

Minister Plenipotent iary of his Britannic Majesty, covering a clause of a

statute of that country relative to its commerce with us, and notifying a

determinati onto carry it into execution henceforwa rd. Conceiving that the

determinati on announced could not be really meant as extensively as the words

import, I asked and received an explanation from the minister, as expressed in

the letter and answer herein enclosed; and on considerati on of all circumstan

ces, I cannot but confide in the opinion expressed by him, that its sole object

is to exclude foreign vessels from the 













326         Jefferson's Works







Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The want of proportion between the motives

expressed and the measure, its magnitude and consequenc es, total silence as to

the proclamatio n on which the intercourse between the two countries has

hitherto hung, and of which, in this broad sense, it would be a revocation, and

the recent manifestati ons of the disposition of that governmen t to concur

with this in mutual offices of friendship and good will, support his

constructio n. The minister, moreover, assured me verbally, that he would

immediately write to his court for an explanation , and in the meantime, is of

opinion that the usual intercourse of commerce between the two countries

(Jersey and Guernsey excepted) need not be suspended.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most profound respect and

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.











       TO MESSRS. CARMICHAE L AND SHORT.







              PHILADELP HIA, April 24, 1772.







  GENTLEME N,-My letter of March the 18th, conveyed to you full powers for

treating with Spain on the subjects therein expressed. Since that, our

attention has been drawn to the case of fugitive debtors and criminals, whereon

it is always well that coterminou s States should understand one another, as

far as their ideas on the rightful powers of government can be made to go

together. Where they sepa













           Correspond ence           327







late, the cases may be left unprovided for. The enclosed paper, approved by the

President, will explazn to you how far we can go, in an agreement with Spain

for her terratories bordering on us; and the plan of a convention is there

stated. You are desired to propose the matter to that court., and establish

with them so much of it a.s they approve, filling up the blank for the manner

of the demand by us and compliance with them, in such a way, as their laws and

the organizatio n of their goverment may require. But recollect that they bound

on us between two and three thousand miles, and consequent ly, that they should

authorize a delivery by some description of officers to be found on every

inhabitable part of their border. We have thought it best to agree, specially,

the manner of proceeding in our country, on a demand of theirs, because the

convention will in that way execute itself, without the necessity of a new law

for the purpose. Your general powers being comprehen sive enough to take in

this subject, no new ones are issued.







  I have the honor to be, with great respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient,

and most humble servant.







  [The annexed are the papers referred to in the preceding.)







 Project of a convention with the Spanish provinces.















Any person having committed murder or malice prepense, not of the nature of

treason, within the 













328         Jefferson's Works







United States or the Spanish provinces adjoining thereto, and fleeing from the

justice of the country, shall be delivered up by the governmen t where he shall

be found, to that from which he fled, whenever demanded by the same.







  The manner of the demand by the Spanish goverrnme nt, and of the compliance

by that of the United States, shall be as follows. The person authorized by the

Spanish governmen t where the murder was committed, to pursue the fugitive, may

apply to any justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, or to the

district judge of the place where the fugitive is, exhibiting proof on oath

that a murder has been committed by the said fugitive within the said governmen

t, who shall thereon issue his warrant to the marshal or deputy marshal of the

same place, to arrest the fugitive and have him before the said district judge;

or the said pursuer may apply to such marshal or deputy marshal directly, who,

on exhibition of proof as aforesaid, shall thereupon arrest the fugitive, and

carry him before the said district judge ; and when before him in either way,

he shall within not less than days, nor more than , hold a special court of

inquiry, causing a grand jury to be summoned thereto, and charging them to

inquire whether the fugitive hath committed a murder, not of the nature of

treason, within the province demanding him, and on their finding a true bill,

the judge shall order the officer in whose custody the fugitive is, to deliver

him over to the person authorized as 













            Correspond ence          329







aforesaid to receive him, and shall give such further authorities to aid the

said person in safe keeping and conveying the said fugitive to the limits of

the United States, as shall be necessary and within his powers; and his powers

shall expressly extend to command the aid of posse of every district through

which the said fugitive is to be carried. And the said justices, judges and

other officers, shall use in the premises the same process and proceeding s,

mutatis mutandis, and govern themselves by the same principles and rules of

law, as in cases of murder committed on the high seas.







  And the manner of demand by the United States and of compliance by the

Spanish governmen t, shall be as follows. The person authorized by a justice of

the Supreme Court of the United States, or by the district judge where the

murder was committed, to pursue the fugitive, may apply to







Evidence on oath, though written and ex parte, shall have the same weight with

the judge and grand jury in the preceding cases, as if the same had been given

before them orally and in presence of the prisoner.







The courts of justice of the said States and provinces, shall be reciprocall y

open for the demand and recovery of debts due to any person inhabiting the one,

from any person fled therefrom and found in the other, in like manner as they

are open to their own citizens; likewise, for the recovery of the property, or

the value thereof, carried away from any 













   330         Jefferson's Works







person inhabiting the one, by any person fled therefrom and found in the other,

which carrying away shall give a right of civil action, whether the fugitive

came to the original possession lawfully or unlawfully, even feloniously;

likewise, for the recovery of damages sustained by any forgery committed by

such fugitive. And the same provision shall hold in favor of the representa

tives of the original creditor or sufferer, and against the representa tives of

the original debtor, carrier away or forger ; also, in favor of either

governmen t or of corporation s, as of natural persons. But in no case, shall

the person of the defendant be imprisoned for the debt, though the process,

whether original, mesne, or final, be for the form sake directed against his

person. If the time between the flight and the commencem ent of the action

exceed not years, it shall be counted but as one day under any act of

limitations.







  This convention shall continue in force years from the exchange of

ratification s, and shall not extend to anything happening previous to such

exchange.







Heads of considerati on on the establishme nt of con-







ventions between the United States and their neigh-







bors, for the mutual delivery of fugitives from







justice.







  Has a nation a right to punish a person who has not ofended itself? Writers

on the law of nature agree that it has not. That, on the contrary, exiles 













             Correspond ence          331







and fugitives are, to it, as other strangers, and have a right of residence,

unless their presence would be noxious ; e. g. infectious persons. One writer

extends the exception to atrocious criminals, too imminently dangerous to

society ; namely, to pirates, murderers, andincendi aries. Vattel, L. I. 5.

233·







The punishment of piracy being provided for by our laws, need not be so by

convention.







  Murder. Agreed that this is one of the extreme crimes justifying a denial of

habitation, arrest and re-delivery . It should be carefully restrained by

definition to homicide of malice prepense, and not of the nature of treason.







  Incendiarie s, or those guilty of arson. This crime is so rare as not to call

for extraordina ry provision by a convention. The only rightful subject then of

arrest and delivery, for which we have need, is murder. Ought we to wish to

strain the natural right of arresting and re-deliveri ng fugitives to other

cases ?







  The punishment of all real crimes is certainly desirable, as a security to

society; the security is greater in proportion as the chances of avoiding

punishment are less. But does the fugitive from his country avoi.d punishment ?

He incurs exile, not voluntary, but under a moral necessity as strong as

physical. Exile, in some countries, has been the highest punishment allowed by

the laws. To most xninds it is next to death; to many beyond it. The fugitive

indeed is not of the latter ; he must estimate it somewhat less than death. It

may be said that t0 some, as foreigners, it is no punishment . 













 332          Jefferson's Works







  Answer. These cases are few. Laws are to be made for the mass of cases.







  The object of a convention then, in other cases, would be, that the fugitive

might not avoid the difference between exile and the legal punishment of the

case. Now in what case would this difference be so important, as to overweigh

even the single inconvenie nce of multiplying compacts?







  . Treason. This, when real, merits the highest punishment . But most codes

extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one's country.

They do not distinguish between acts against the governmen t and acts against

the oppression s of the governmen t; the latter are virtues; yet they have

furnished more victims to the executioner than the former ; because real

treasons ar e rare ; oppression s frequent. The unsuccessf ul strugglers

against tyranny, have been the chief martyrs of treason laws in all countries.







  Reformatio n of governmen t with our neighbors, being as much wanted now as

reformation of religion is, or ever was anywhere, we should not wish then, to

give up to the executioner , the patriot who fails, and flees to us. Treasons

then, taking the simulated with the real, are sufficiently punished by exile.







  a. Crimes against property; the punishment in most countries, immensely

disproporti onate to the crime.







  In England and probably in Canada, to steal a horse is death, the first

offence; to steal above the 













            Correspond ence          333







value of twelve pence is death, the second ofience. All excess of punishment is

a crime. To remit a fugitive to excessive punishment is to be accessary to the

crime. Ought we to wish for the obligation, or the right to do it? Better, on

the whole, to consider these crimes as sufficiently punished by the exile.







  There is one crime, however, against property, pressed by its consequenc es

into more particular notice, to wit :



Forgery, whether of coin or paperi; and whether paper of puibliic or private

obligation. But the fugitive for forgery is punished by exile and confiscatio n

of the property he leaves ; to which add by convention, a civil action against

the property he carries or acquires, to the amount of the special damage done

by his forgery.







The carrying away of the property of another, may also be reasonably made to

found a civiil action. A convention then may include forgery and the carrying

away the property of others, under the head of,







3. Flight fromi debts.







To remit the fugitive in this case, would be to remit him in every case. For in

the present state of things, it is next to impossible not to owe something. But

I see neither injustice nor inconvenie nce in permitting the fugitive to be

sued in our courts. The laws of some countries punishing the unfortunat e

debtor by perpetual imprisonme nt, he is right to liberate himself by flight,

and it would be wrong to re-impriso n him in the country to which he fiies. 













334         Jefferson's Works







Let all process, therefore, be confined to his property.







Murder, not amounting to treason, being the only case in which the fugitive is

to be delivered :







On what evidence, and by whomi, shall he be delivered ?







In this country, let any justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, or

other judge of the district where the fugitive is found, use the same

proceeding s as for a murder committed on the high seas, until the fiinding of

the " true biill '' by the grand jury ; but evidence on oath from the country

demanding him, though in writing and ex parte, should have the same effect as

if delivered orally at the examination .







A true bill being found by the grand jury, let the officer in whose custody the

fugitive is, deliver him to the person charged to demand and receive him.







In the British provinces adjoining us the same proceedings will do.







In the Spanish provinces, a proceeding adapted to the course of their laws

should be agreed on.







March a a, 1792 ga.















          TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







             PHILADELP HIA, Aprll 28, 1772.







DEAR SIR; My last letter to you was of the 10th of March. The preceding one of

January the 23d, had conveyed to you your appointmen t as Minister 













            Correspond ence          335







Plenipotent iary to the court of France. The present will, I hope, find you

there. I now enclose you the correspond ence between the Secretary of the

Treasury and minister of France, on the subject of the moneys furnished to the

distressed of their colonies. You will perceive that the minister chose to

leave the adjustment of the terms to be settled at Paris, between yourself and

the King's ministers. This you will therefore be pleased to do on this

principle ; that we wish to avoid any loss by the mode of payment, but would

not choose to make a gain which should throw loss on them. But the letters of

the Secretary of the Treasury will sufficiently explain the desire of the

governmen t, and be a sufficient guide to you.







I now enclose you the act passed by Congress for facilitating the execution of

the consular convention with France. In a bill which has passed the House of

Representa tives for raising moneys for the support of the Indian war, while

the duties on every other species of wine are raised from one to threefourt hs

more than they were, the best wines of France will pay little more than the

worst of any other country, to wit, between six and seven cents a bottle; and

where this exceeds forty per cent. on their cost, they will pay but the forty

per cent. I consider this latter provision as likely to introduce in abundance

the cheaper wines of France, and the more so, as the tax on ardent spirits is

considerabl y raised. I hope that these manifestati ons of friendly 













336         Jefferson's Works







disposition s towards that country, will induce them to repeal the very

obnoxious laws respecting our commerce, which were passed by the preceding

National Assembly. The present session of Congress will pass over, without any

other notice of them than the friendly preference s before mentioned. But if

these should not produce a retaliation of good on their part, a retaliation of

evil must follow on ours. It will be impossible to defer longer than the next

session of Congress, some counter regulations for the protection of our

navigation and commerce. I must entreat you therefore, to avail yourself of

every occasion of friendly remonstran ce on this subject. If they wish an equal

and cordial treaty with us, we are ready to enter into it. We would wish that

this could be the scene of negotiation , from considerati ons suggested by the

nature of our governmen t, which will readily occur to you. Congress will rise

on this day sen'night. I enclose you a letter from Mrs. Greene, who asks your

aid in getting her son forwarded by the Diligence to London, on his way to

America. The letter will explain to you the mode and the means, and the

parentage and genius of the young gentleman will insure your aid to him. As

this goes by the French packet, I send no newspaper s, laws, or other articles

of that kind, the postage of which would be high.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant. 













            Correspond ence        337















TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







             PHILADELP HIA, May I6, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-The day after your departure, I received from a Mr. Green, a merchant

now at New York, through a third person, the following communicat ion: "that he

had had very late advices from Spain, by way of the Spanish islands, to this

effect, that war with France was inevitable, that troops were marching from all

quarters of the kingdom to the frontiers, and that fifty sail of the line had

been commission ed. '' This was permitted to be mentioned to me, but, for

particular reasons, to no other persons. I suppose the particular reasons were

some mercantile speculation founded on the intelligence ; perhaps it may be to

buy up all our flour. We have London news from the Ist of April, and nothing of

this is mentioned. I have a letter from Colonel Humphreys of March I 8, which

says nothing of it. I am in hopes, therefore, the only effect will be to get us

a good price for our flour or fish; this being our look out, while the success

of the speculation is that of the adventurer . You will recollect that we had

learned the death of the Emperor of Morocco, after a battle in which he was

victorious. The brother opposed to him, it seems, was killed in the same

action, and the one-Muley Islema







-who had been so long in the sanctuary, is proclaimed Emperor. He was the best

character of the three, and is likely to be peaceable. This infor-







VOL. VIl1-2 2 













    338         Jefferson's Works







mation is from Colonel Humphreys . The Queen of Portugal is still in the same

state. Wyllys does not pronounce her curable, though he says there is nothing

which indicates the contrary. He has removed from her all her former

physicians. Mr. Madison has favored me with some corrections for my letter to

Mr. H. It is now in the hands of the Attorney General, and shall then be

submitted to Colonel Hamilton. I find that these examination s will retard the

delivery of it considerabl y. However, delay is preferable to error. Mr.

Pinckney is engaged in going over such papers of my office as may put him in

possession of whatever has passed between us and the court he is going to. I

have one hundred olive trees, and some caper plants, arrived here from

Marseilles, which I am sending on to Charleston, where, Mr. Pinckney tells me,

they have already that number living of those I had before sent them. I have

the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and attachment,

dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















     TO MESSRS. DE VIAR AND DE JAUDENES.







               PHILADELP HIA, May 17, 1792·







GENTLEME N,-We lately received from Mr. Leagrove, our Indian agent for the

Southern Department , a letter, of which the enclosed is an extract







                                  , whereby it appeared that a party of the

Creek Indians, under thc influence of the adventurer 













            Correspond ence          339







Bowles, had meditated some depredatio ns on the Spanish settlements , from

which they had been diverted by a friend of our agent, but that their

disposition to do injury was, perhaps, not quite extinguishe d. Sensible how

much it is in the power of neighbor nations to contribute to mutual happiness

and prosperity, by faithfully using their good offices wherever they can

procure the peace and advantage of each other, and feeling a union of interest

with Spain in whatever regards the adjacent possession s, we have not hesitated

to give geineral irstruction s to our agent in thait department to cultivate in

the Indians the same friendly disposition s towards the Spanish settlements as

towards ourselves, and to promote their peace and interest in every case with

the same zeal as our own.







  I have the honor to enclose you one of those orders, to congratulat e you on

the intelligence that the leader, who gave occasion to this particular

interpositio n, is no longer in a situation to threaten further danger, and to

assure you that, as far as shall depend on us, we will, on every future

occasion, sincerely use what influence we may have with the Indians to

discounten ance and prevent every measure they may meditate against the peace

or prosperity of your subjects.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the rnost perfect esteem and

respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













340            Jefferson's Works















TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







               PHILADELP HIA, May IS, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-Since I wrote you the day before yesterday, I have received a

letter of March 25, from Colonel Humphreys , informing me that the Queen of

Portugal was considerabl y better, as also mentioning the death of the Emperor

of Germany. What effect this last event will have on the affairs of Europe,

cannot be foreseen, the charaeter of the successor being absolutely unknown. He

is twentyfour years of age. One would conjecture that, if he has any

disposition s to war, he would think a little time necessary to get his

election passed in form, to see if the troubles within his dominions quieted by

his father, would be likely to break out or not, etc., and that this would hold

him back one campaign. Still; this event renders peace less certain, as the

character of his father was so decidedly pacific, that one might count on that.

There seems to have been a magnificent story current in London for the three or

four last days of March, of the capture of Seringapat am and Tippoo Saib, great

slaughter, etc. ; but, on the Ist of April, the date of the latest paper which

the vessel brings (she is from Glasgow), it had died away to a hum raised by

stock jobbers, who wanted to sell out. It did in fact raise East India stock

two or three per cent. Still it was not fallen into entire discredit, as

appears by some paragraphs , and consequent ly cannot be decidedly pronounce d

untrue. 













            Correspond ence         341







Perhaps the contradicti on of it was the counter hum of those who wanted to buy

in.







I have the honor to be, with great and sincere respect and attachment, dear

Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







              PHILADELP HIA, May 23, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-I have determined to make the subject of a letter what for some time

past has been a subject of inquietude to my mind, without having found a good

occasion of disburthen ing itself to you in conversatio n, during the busy

scenes which occupied you here. Perhaps, too, you may be able in your present

situation, or on the road, to give it more time and reflection than you could

do here at any moment.







  When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring from the governmen t,

though I felt all the magnitude of the event, I was in a considerabl e degree

silent. I knew that, to such a mind as yours, persuasion was idle and

impertinent ; that before forming your decision you had weighed all the reasons

for and against the measure, had made up your mind on full view of them, and

that there could be little hope of changing the result. Pursuing my

reflections, too, I knew we were some day to try to walk alone, and if the

essay should be made while you should be alive and looking on, we 













    342        Jefferson's Works







should derive confidence from that circumstan ce, and resource, if it failed.

The public mind, too, was calm and confident, and therefore in a favorable

state for making the experiment. Had no change of circumstan ces intervened, I

should not, with any hopes of success, have now ventured to propose to you a

change of purpose. But the public mind is no longer confident and serene; and

that from cau:,es in which you are no ways personally mixed. Though these

causes have been hackneyed in the public papers in detail, it may not be amiss,

in order to calculate the effect they are capable of producing, to take a view

of them in the mass, giving to each the form, real or imaginary, under which

they have been presented.







  It has been urged, then, that a public debt, greater than we can possibly

pay, before other causes of adding new debt to it will occur, has been

artificially created by adding together the whole amount of the debtor and

creditor sides of accounts, instead of only taking their balances, which could

have been paid of in a short time : that this accumulatio n. of debt has taken

forever out of our power those easy sources of revenue which, applied to the

ordinary necessities and exigencies of governmen t, would have answered them

habitually, and covered us from habitual murmuring s against taxes and

tax-gather ers, reserving extraordina ry calls for those extraordina ry

occasions which would animate the people tn meet them: that though the calls 













             Correspond ence          343







money have been no greater than we must expect generally, for the same or

equivalent exigencies, yet we are already obliged to strain the impost till it

produces clamor, and will produce evasion and war on our own citizens to

collect it, and even to resort to an excise law of odious character with the

people, partial in its operation, unproducti ve unless enforced by arbitrary

and vexatious means, and committing the authority of the governmen t in parts

where resistance is most probable and coercion least practicable . They cite

proposition s in Congress, and suspect other projects on foot still to increase

the mass of debt. They say, that by borrowing at two-thirds of the interest, we

might have paid off the principal in two-thirds of the time ; but that from

this we are precluded by its being made irredeemab le but in small portions and

long terms; that this irredeemab le quality was given it for the avowed purpose

of inviting its transfer to foreign countries. They predict that this transfer

of the principal, when completed, will occasion an exportation of three

millions of dollars annually for the interest, a drain of coin, of which, as

there has been no examples, no calculation can be made of its consequenc es:

that the banishment of our coin will be complicated by the creation of ten

millions of paper money, in the form of bank bills now issuing into

circulation. They think the ten or twelve per cent. annual profit paid to the

lenders of this paper medium taken out of the pockets of the people, 













344          Jefferson's Works







who would have had without interest the coin it is banishing: that all the

capital employed in paper speculation is barren and useless, producing, like

that on a gaming table, no accession to itself, and is withdrawn from commerce

and agriculture , where it would have produced addition to the common mass:

that it nourishes in our citizens habits of vice and idleness, instead of

industry and morality: that it has furnished effectual means of corrupting such

a portion of the legislature as turns the balance between the honest voters,

whichever way it is directed: that this corrupt squadron, deciding the voice of

the legislature, have manifested their disposition s to get rid of the

limitations imposed by the Constitutio n on the general legislature,

limitations, on the faith of which, the States acceded to that instrument: that

the ultimate object of all this is to prepare the way for a change from the

present republican form of governmen t to that of a monarchy, of which the

English Constitutio n is to be the model: that this was contemplat ed by the

convention is no secret, because its partisans have made more of it. To effect

it then was impracticab le, but they are still eager after their object, and

are predisposi ng everything for its ultimate attainment. So many of them have

got into the Legislature , that, aided by the corrupt squadron of paper

dealers, who are at their devotion, they make a majority in both houses. The

republican party, who wish to preserve the governmen t in its 













    345             Correspond ence







present form, are fewer in number; they are fewer even when joined by the two,

three, or half dozen anti-federa lists, who, though they dare not avow it, are

still opposed to any General Governmen t; but, being less so to a republican

than a monarchica l one, they naturally join those whom they think pursuing the

lesser evil.







Of all the mischiefs objected to the system of measures before mentioned, none

is so afflicting and fatal to every honest hope, as the corruption of the

Legislature . As it was the earliest of these measures, it became the

instrument for producing the risk, and will be the instrument for producing in

future a king, lords and commons, or whatever else those who direct it may

choose. Withdrawn such a distance from the eye of their constituent s, and

these so dispersed as to be inaccessibl e to public information , and

particularl y to that of the conduct of their own representatives, they will

form the most corrupt governmen t on earth, if the means of their corruption be

not prevented. The only hope of safety hangs now on the numerous representa

tion which is to come forward the ensuing year. Some of the new members will

be, probably, either in principle or interest, with the present majority; but

it is expected that the great mass will form an accession to the republican

party. They will not be able to undo all which the two preceding Legislatures,

and especially the first, have done. Public faith and right will oppose this.

But some parts 













  346          Jefferson's Works







of the system may be rightfully reformed, a liberation from the rest unremittin

gly. pursued as fast as right will permit, and the door shut in future against

similar commitment s of the nation. Should the next Legislature take this

course, it will draw upon them the whole monarchica l and paper interest; but

the latter, I think, will not go all lengths with the former, because creditors

will never, of their own accord, fly of entirely from their debtors; therefore,

this is the alternative least likely to produce convulsion. But should the

majority of the new members be still in the same principles with the present,

and show that we have nothing to expect but a continuanc e of the same

practices, it is not easy to conjecture what would be the result, nor what

means would be resorted to for correction of the evil. True wisdom would direct

that they should be temperate and peaceable; but the division of sentiment and

interest happens unfortunat ely to be so geographic al, that no mortal can say

that what is most wise and temperate would prevail against what is most easy

and obvious? I can scarcely contemplat e a more incalculabl e evil than the

breaking of the Union into two or more parts. Yet when we consider the mass

which opposed the original coalescence ; when we consider that it lay chiefly

in the Southern quarter; that the Legislature have availed themselves of no

occasion of allaying it, but on the contrary, whenever Northern ancl Southcrn

prejudi.ces have come into conflict, 













 347            Correspond ence







the latter have been sacrificed and the former soothed; that the owners of the

debt are in the Southern, and the holders of it in the Northern div ision ;

that the anti-federa l champions are now strengthen ed in argument by the

fulfillment of their predictions ; that this has been brought about by the

monarchica l federalists themselves, who, having been for the new governmen t

merely as a stepping stone to monarchy, have themselves adopted the very

constructio ns of the Constitutio n, of which, when advocating its acceptance

before the tribunal of the people, they declared it unsuscepti ble; that the

republican federalists who espoused the same governmen t for its intrinsic

merits, are disarmed of their weapons ; that which they denied as prophecy,

having now become true history, who can be sure that these things may not

proselyte the small number which was wanting to place the majority on the other

side? And this is the event at which I tremble, and to prevent which I consider

your continuing at the head of affairs as of the last importance. The

confidence of the whole Union is centred in you. Your being at the helm will be

more than an answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and lead the

people in any quarter, into violence and secession. North and South will hang

together if they have you to hang on; and if the first correction of a numerous

representa tion should fail in its efect, your presence will give time for

trying others, not inconsistcn t with the union and peace of the States. 













   348         Jefferson's Works







  I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which your present office lays

your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for domestic life. But there is

sometimes an eminence of character on which society have such peculiar claims

as to control the predilectio ns of the individual for a particular walk of

happiness, and restrain him to that alone arising from the present and future

benediction s of mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law imposed

on you by providence in forming your character, and fashioning the events on

which it was to operate; and it is to motives like these, and not to personal

anxieties of mine or others who have no right to call on you for sacrifices,

that I appeal, and urge a revisal of it, on the ground of change in the aspect

of things. Should an honest majority result from the new and enlarged

representa tion; should those acquiesce whose principles or interest they may

control, your wishes for retirement would be gratified with less danger, as

soon as that shall be manifest, without awaitin.g the completion of the second

period of four years. One or two sessions will determine the crisis; and I

cannot but hope that you can resolve to add more to the many years you have

already sacrificed to the good of mankind.







The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive of continuanc e in office may

enter into this solicitation on my part, obliges me to declare that no such

motive exists. It is a thing of mere indifferenc e 













  349           Correspond ence          349







to the public whether I retain or relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with

the first periodical renovation of the governmen t. I know my own measure too

well to suppose that my services contribute anything to the public confidence,

or the public utility. Multitudes can fill the office in which you have been

pleased to place me, as much to their advantage and satisfaction . I have,

therefore, no motive to consult but my own inclination, which is bent

irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of my family, my farm and my books. I

should repose among them, it is true, in far greater security, if I were to

know that you remained at the watch; and I hope it will be so. To the

inducement s urged from a view of our domestic affairs, I will add a bare

mention, of what indeed need only to be mentioned, that weighty motives for

your continuanc e are to be found in our foreign affairs. I think it probable

that both the Spanish and English negotiation s, if not completed before your

purpose is known, will be suspended from the moment it is known, and that the

latter nation will then use double diligence in fomenting the Indian War. With

my wishes for the future, I shall at the same time express my gratitude for the

past, at least my portion in it; and beg permission to follow you, whether in

public or private life, with those sentiments of sincere attachment and

respect, with which I am un.alterabl y, dear Sir ; your affectionat e friend

and humble servant. 













350        Jefferson's Works















 CIRCULAR TO THE AMERICAN CONSULS.







               PHILADELP HIA, May 3I, 1772.







SIR,-Congr ess having closed their session on the 8th instant, I have now the

honor to forward you a copy of the laws passed thereat. One of these, chapter

twenty-fou r, will require your particular attention, as it contains such

regulations relative to the consular office, as it has been thought proper to

establish legislativel y.







  With respect to the security required by the sixth section, I would prefer

persons residing within the United States, where the party can procure such to

be his security. In this case, his own bond duly executed may be sent to me,

and his sureties here may enter into a separate bond. Where the party cannot

convenientl y find sureties within the United States, my distance and want of

means of knowing their sufficiency , oblige me to refer him to the minister or

chargé des affaires of the United States, within the same governmen t, if there

be one, and if not, then to the minister of the United States, resident at

Paris. The securities which they shall approve, will be admitted as good. In

like manner, the account for their disburseme nts, authorized by this law (and

no other can be allowed), are to be settled at stated periods with the minister

or chargé within their residence, if there be one, if none, then with the

minister of the United States at Paris. The person who settles the account is

authorized 













             Correspond ence          351







to pay it. Our consuls in America are not meant to be included in these

directions as to securityshi p and the settlement of their accounts, as their

situation gives them a more convenient communicat ion with me. It is also

recommend ed to the consuls to keep an ordinary correspond ence with the

minister or chargé to whom they are thus referred; but it would be also useful,

if they could forward directly to me, from time to time, the prices current of

their place, and any other circumstan ce which it might be interesting to make

known to our merchants without delay.







The prices of our funds have undergone some variations within the last three

months. The six per cents were pushed by gambling adventurer s up to twenty-six

and a half, or twenty-sev en and a half shillings the pound. A bankruptc y

having taken place among these, and considerabl y affected the more respectable

part of the paper holders, a greater quantity of paper was thrown suddenly on

the market than there was demand or money to take up. The prices fell to

nineteen shillings. This crisis has passed, and they are getting up towards

their value. Though the price of public paper is considered as the barometer of

the public credit, it is truly so only as to the general average of prices. The

real credit of the United States depends on their ability, and the immutabilit

y of their will to pay their debts. These were as evident when their paper fell

to nineteen shillings, as when it was at twenty-sev en 













352        Jefferson's Works







shillings. The momentary variation was like that in the price of corn, or any

other commodity, the result of a momentary disproporti on between the demand

and supply.







The unsuccessf ul issue of our expedition against the savages the last year, is

not unknown to you. More adequate preparatio ns are making for the present

year, and in the meantime, some of the tribes have accepted peace, and others

have expressed a readiness to do the same.







Another plentiful year has been added to those which had preceded it, and the

present bids fair to be equally so. A prosperity built on the basis of

agriculture is that which is most desirable to us, because to the efforts of

labor it adds the efforts of a greater proportion of soil. The checks, however,

which the commercial regulations of Europe have given to the sale of our

produce, have produced a very considerable degree of domestic manufactur e,

which, so far as it is of the household kind, will doubtless continue, and sn

far as it is more public, will depend on the continuanc e or discontinua nce of

the European policy.







I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant. 













            Correspond ence           353















      TO JOHN PAUL JONES.







               PHILADELP HIA, June I, 1792.







  SIR,-The President of the United States having thought proper to appoint you

commission er for treating with the Dey and governmen t of Algiers, on the

subjects of peace and ransom of our captives, I have the honor to enclose you

the commission, of which Mr. Thomas Pinckney, now on his way to London as our

Minister Plenipotent iary there, will be the bearer. Supposing that there

exists a disposition to thwart our negotiation s with the Algerines, and that

this would be very practicable , we have thought it advisable that the

knowledge of this appointmen t should rest with the President, Mr. Pinckney and

myself; for which reason you will perceive, that the commission s are all in my

own handwritin g. For the same reason, entire secrecy is recommend ed to you,

and that you so cover from the public your departure and destination , as that

they may not be conjecture d or noticed; and at the same time, that you set out

after as short delay as your affairs will possibly permit.







  In order to enable you to enter on this business with full information , it

will be necessary to give you a history of what has passed.







  On the 25th of July, 1785, the schooner Maria, Captain Stevens, belonging to

a Mr. Foster, of Boston, was taken off Cape St.· Vincents, by an Algerine

cruiser; and five days afterwards, the ship







    VOL. VIII-23 













354          Jefferson's Works







Dauphin, Captain U'Bryan, belonging to Messrs. Irwins, of Philadelphi a, was

taken by another, about fifty leagues westward of Lisbon. These vessels, with

their cargoes and crews, twenty-one persons in number, were carried into

Algiers. Mr. John Lambe, appointed agent for treating of peace between the

United States and the governmen t of Algiers, was ready to set out from France

on that business, when Mr. Adams and myself heard of these two captures. The

ransom of prisoners being a case not existing when our powers were prepared, no

provi.sion had been made for it. We thought, however, we ought to endeavor to

ransom our countryme n, without waiting for orders ; but at the same time, that

acting without authority, we should keep within the lowest price which had been

given by any other nation. We therefore gave a supplement ary instruction to

Mr. Lambe to ransom our captives, if it could be done for two hundred dollars a

man, as we knew that three hundred French captives had been just ransomecl. by

the Mathurins, at a price very little above this sum. He proceeded to Algiers ;

but his mission proved fruitless. He wrote us word from thence, that the Dey

asked fifty-nine thousand four hundred. and ninety-six dollars for the

twenty-one captives, and that it was not probable he would abate much from that

price. But he never intimated an idea of agreeing to give it. As he has never

settled the accounts of his mission, no further inf(C)rmati on has been

received. It has 













             Correspond ence         355







been said that he entered into a positive stipulation with the Dey, to pay for

the prisoners the price above mentioned, or something near it; and that he came

away with an assurance to return with the money. We cannot believe the fact

true; and if it were, we disavow it totally, as far beyond his powers We have

never disavowed it formally, because it has never come to our knowledge with

any degree of certainty.



  In February, 1787, I wrote to Congr ess to ask leave to employ the Mathurins

of France in ransoming our captives ; and on the 19th of September, I received

their orders to do so, and to call for the money from our bankers at Amsterdam,

as soon as it could be furnished. It was long before they could furnish the

money, and as soon as they notified that they could, the business was put into

train by the General of the Mathurins, not with the appearance of acting for

the United States, or with their knowledge, but merely on the usual ground of

charity. This expedient was rendered abortive by the revolution of France, the

derangeme nt of ecclesiastic al orders there and the revocation of church

property, before any proposition , perhaps, had been made in form by the

Mathurins to the Dey of Algiers. I have some reason to believe that Mr.

Eustace, while in Spain, endeavored to engage the court of Spain to employ

their Mathurins in this business ; but whether they actually moved in it or

not, I have never learned. 













356        Jefferson's Works







  We have also been told, that a Mr. Simpson of Gibraltar, by the direction of

the Messrs. Bulkeleys of Lisbon, contracted for the ransom of our prisoners

(then reduced by death and ransom to fourteen) at thirty-four thousand seven

hundred and ninetytwo dollars. By whose orders they did it, we could never

learn. ' I have suspected it was some association in London, which, finding the

prices far above their conception, did not go through with their purpose, which

probably had been merely a philanthro pic one. Be this as it may, it was

without our authority or knowledge.







  Again, Mr. Cathalan, our consul at Marseilles, without any instruction from

the governmen t, and actuated merely, as we presume, by willingness to do

something agreeable, set on foot another negotiation for their redemption ;

which ended in nothing.







  These several volunteer interferenc es, though undertaken with good

intentions, run directly counter to our plan ; which was, .to avoid the

appearance of any purpose on our part ever to ransom our captives, and by that

semblance of neglect, to reduce the demands of the Algerines to such a price,

as might make it hereafter less their interest to pursue our citizens than any

others. On the contrary, they have supposed all these proposition s directly or

indirectly came from us; they inferred from thence the greatest anxiety on our

part, where we had been endeavorin g to make them suppose there was none; kept

up their demands for our 













           Correspond ence           357







captives at the highest prices ever paid by any nation; and thus these

charitable, though unauthoriz ed interpositio ns, have had the double effect of

strengthen ing the chains they were meant to break, and making us at last set a

much higher rate of ransom for our citizens, present and future, than we

probably should have obtained, if we had been left alone to do our own work in

our own way. Thus stands this business then at present. A formal bargain, as I

am informed, being registered in the books of the former Dey, on the part of

the Bulkeleys of Lisbon, which the'y suppose to.be obligatory on us, but which

is to be utterly disavowed, as having never been authorized by us, nor its

source even known to us.







  In 179o, this subject was laid before Congress fully, and at the late

session, moneys have been provided, and authority given to proceed to the

ransom of our captive citizens at Algiers, provided it shall not exceed a given

sum, and provided also, a peace shall be previously negotiated within certain

limits of expense. And in consequenc e of these proceeding s, your mission .has

been decided on by the President.







  Since, then, no ransom is to take place without a peace, you will of course

take up first the negotiation of peace; or, if you find it better that peace

and ransom should be treated of together, you will take care that no agreement

for the latter be concluded, unless the former be established before or in the

same instant. 













358       Jefferson's Works







 As to the conditions, it is understood that no peace can be made with that

governmen t, but for a larger sum of money to be paid at once for the whole

time of its duration, or for a smaller one to be annually paid. The former plan

we entirely refuse, and adopt the latter. We have also understood that peace

might be bought cheaper with naval stores than with money; but we will not

furnish them with naval stores, because we thizik it not right to furnish them

means which we know they will employ to do wrong, and because there might be no

economy in it as to ourselves, in the end, as it would increase the expenses of

that coercion which we may in future be obliged to practise towards them. The

only question then, is, what sum of money will we agree to pay them annually,

for peace? By a letter from Captain O'Bryan, a copy of which you will receive

herewith, .we have his opinion that a peace could be purchased with money, for

sixty thousand pounds sterling, or with naval stores, for one hundred thousand

dollars. An annual payment equivalent to the first, would be three thousand

pounds sterling, or thirteen thousand and five hundred dollars, the interest of

the sum in gross. If we could obtain it for as small a sum as the second, in

money, the annual payment equivalent to it would be five thousand dollars. In

another part of the same letter, Captain O'Bryan says, "if maritime stores and

two light cruisers be given, and a tribute paid in maritime stores every two 













            Correspond ence          359







years, amounting to twelve thousand dollars in America," a peace can be had.

The gift of stores and cruisers here supposed, converted into an annual

equivalent, may be stated at nine thousand dollars, and adding to it half the

biennial sum, would make fifteen thousand dollars, to be annually paid. You

will, of course, use your best endeavors to get it at the lowest sum

practicable ; whereupon I shall only say, that we shoulcl be pleased with ten

thousand dollars, contented with fifteen thousand, think twenty thousand a very

hard bargain, yet go as far as twenty-fiv e thousand, if it be impossible to

get it for less ; but not a copper further, this being fixed by law as the

utmost limit. These are meant as annual sums. If you can put off the first

annual payment to the end of the first year, you may employ any sum not

exceeding that, in presents to be paid down ; but if the first payment is to be

made in hand, that and the presents cannot by law exceed twentyfive thousand

dollars.







  And here we meet a difficulty, arising from the small degree of information

we have respecting the Barbary States. Tunis is said to be tributary to

Algiers. But whether the effect of this be, that peace being made with Algicrs,

is of course with the Tunisians without separate treaty, or separate price, is

what we know not. If it be possible to have it placed on this footing, so much

the better. In any event, it will be necessary to stipulate with Algiers, that

her influence be interposed as strongly as pos













   360         Jefferson's Works







sible with Tunis, whenever we shall proceed to treat with the latter; which

cannot be till information of the event of your negotiation , and another

session of Congress.







As to the articles and form of the treaty in general, our treaty with Morocco

was so well digested that I enclose you a copy of that, to be the model with

Algiers, as nearly as it can be obtained, only inserting the clause with

respect to Tunis.







  The ransom of the captives is next to be considered. They are now thirteen in

number; to wit, Richard O'Bryan and Isaac Stevens, captains, Andrew Montgomer y

and Alexander Forsyth, mates, Jacob Tessanier, a French passenger, William

Patterson, Philip Sloan, Peleg Lorin, James Hall, James Cathcart, George Smith,

John Gregory, James Hermit, seamen. It has been a fixed principle with

Congress, to establish the rate of ransom of American captives with the Barbary

States at as low a point as possible, that it may not be the interest of those

States to go in quest of our citizens in preference to those of other

countries. Had it not been for the danger it would have brought on the residue

of our seamen, by exciting the cupidity of those rovers against them, our

citizens now in Algiers would have been long ago redeemed, without regard to

price. The mere money for this particular redemption neither has been, nor is,

an object with anybody here. It is from the same regard to the safety of our

seamen at large, that they have now restrained us from 













            Correspond ence          361







any ransom unaccompa nied with peace. This being secured, we are led to consent

to terms of ransom, to which, otherwise, our governmen t never would have

consented; that is to say, to the terms stated by Captain O'Bryan in the

following passage of the same letter: "By giving the minister of the marine

(the present Dey's favorite) the sum of one thousand sequins, I would stake my

life that we would be ransomed for thirteen thousand sequins, and all expenses

included. '' Extravagan t as this sum is, we will, under the security of peace

in future, go so far; not doubting, at the same time, that you will obtain it

as much lower as possible, and not indeed without a hope that a lower ransom

will be practicable , from the assurances given us in other letters from

Captain O'Bryan, that prices are likely to be abated by the present Dey, and

particularl y with us, towards whom he has been represente d as well disposed.

You will consider this sum, therefore, say twenty-sev en thousand dollars, as

your ultimate limit, including ransom, duties, and gratificatio ns of every

kind.







  As soon as the ransom is completed, you will be pleased to have the captives

well clothed and sent home at the expense of the United States, with as much

economy as will consist with their reasonable comfort. It is thought best, that

Mr. Pinckney, our minister at London, should be the confidentia l channel of

communicat ion between us. He is enabled to answer your drafts for money within















362        Jefferson's Works







the limits before expressed; and as this will be by re-drawing on Amsterdam,

you must settle with him the number of days after sight, at which your bills

shall be payable in London, so as to give him time, in the meanwhile, to draw

the money from Amsterdam.







  We shall be anxious to know as soon and as often as possible, your prospects

in these negotiation s. You will receive herewith a cypher, which will enable

you to make them with safety. London and Lisbon (where Colonel Humphreys will

forward my letters) will be the safest and best ports of communicat ion. I also

enclose two separate commission s, for the objects of peace and ransom. To

these is added a commission to you as consul for the United States, at Algiers,

on the possibility that it might be useful for you to remain there till the

ratification of the treaties shall be returned from hence; though you are not

to delay till their return the sending the captives home, nor the necessary

payments of money within the limits before prescribed. Should you be willing to

remain there, even after the completion of the business, as consul for the

United States, you will be free to do so, giving me notice, that no other

nomination may be made. These commission s, being issued. during the recess of

the Senate, are in force, by the Constitutio n, only till the next session of

the Senate. But their renewal then is so much a matter of course and of

necessity, that you may consider that as 













            Correspond ence          363







certain, and proceed without any interruptio n. I have not mentioned this in

the commission s, because it is in all cases surplusage , and because it might

be difficult of explanation to those to whom you are addressed.







  The allowance for all your expenses and time (exclusive of the ransom, price

of peace, duties, presents, maintenanc e and transportat ion of the captives)

is at the rate of two thousand dollars a year, to commence from the day on

which you shall set out for Algiers, from whatever place you may take your

departure. The particular objects of peace and ransom once out of the way, the

two thousand dollars annually are to go in satisfaction of time, services, and

expenses of every kind, whether you act as consul or commission er.







  As the duration of this peace cannot be counted on with certainty, and we

look forward to the necessity of coercion by cruises on their coast, to be kept

up during the whole of their cruising season, you will be pleased to inforin

yourself, as minutely as possible, of every circumstan ce which may influence

or guide us in undertakin g and conducting such an operation, making your

communicat ions by safe opportuniti es.







  I must recommend to your particular notice, Captain O'Bryan, one of the

captives, from whom we have received a great deal of useful information . The

zeal which he has displayed under the trying circumstan ces of his present

situation, has been 













   364        Jefferson's Works







very distinguish ed. You will find him intimately acquainted with the manner in

which, and characters with whom business is to be done there, and perhaps he

may be an useful instrument to you, especially in the outset of your undertakin

g, which will, require the utmost caution and the best information . He will be

able to give you the characters of the European consuls there, though you will,

probably, not think it prudent to repose confidence in any of them.







  Should you be able successfull y to accomplish the objects of your mission in

time to convey notice of it to us as early as possible during the next session

of Congress, which meets in the beginning of November and rises the 4th of

March, it would have a very pleasant effect.







  I am, with great esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















            TO JAMES MADISON.







               FHILADELP HIA, June 4, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-I wrote you on the 1st inst., which I will call No. 1, and number

my letters in future that you may know when any are missing. Mr. Hammond has

given me an answer in writing, saying, he must send my letter to his court and

wait their instruction s. On this I desired a personal interview, that we might

consider the matter togethcr in a familiar way. He came accordingl y 













            Correspond ence          365







yesterday, and took a solo dinner with me, during which our conversatio n was

full, unreserved , and of a nature to inspire mutual confidence. The result was

that he acknowledg ed explicitly that his country had hitherto heard one side

of the question only, and that from prejudiced persons, that it was now for the

first time discussed, that it was placed on entirely new ground, his court

having no idea of a charge of first infractions on them, and a justificatio n

on that ground of what had been done by our States, that this made it quite a

new case to which no instruction s he had could apply. He found, from my

expression s, that I had entertained an idea of his being able to give an order

to the Governor of Canada to deliver up the posts, and smiled at the idea; and

it was evident from his conversatio n that it had not at all entered into the

expectation s of his court that they were to deliver up the posts. He did not

say so expressly, but he said that they considered the retaining of the posts

as a very imperfect compensati on for the losses their subjects had sustained;

under the cover of the clause of the treaty which admits them to the navigation

of the Mississippi, and the evident mistake of the negotiators in supposing

that a line due west from the Lake of the Woods would strike the Mississippi,

he supposes an explanator y convention necessary, and showed a desire that such

a slice of our Northweste rn Territory might be cut off for them as would admit

them to the navigation 













 366             Jefferson's Works







and profit of the Mississippi, etc., etc. He expects he can have his final

instruction s by the meeting of Congress. I have not yet had the conversatio n

mentioned in my last. Do you remember that you were to leave me a list of

names? Pray send them to me. My only view is that, if the P. asks me for a list

of particulars , I may enumerate names to him, without naming my authority, and

show him that I had not been speaking merely at random. If we do not have our

conversatio n before, I can make a comparativ e table of the debts and numbers

of all modern nations. I will show him how high we stand indebted by the poll

in that table. I omitted Hammond's admission that the debt from the Potomac

North might be considered as liquidated, that that of Virginia was now the only

great object, and cause of anxiety, amounting to two millions sterling. Adieu.

Yours affectionat ely.















        TO THOMAS BARCLAY, ESQUIRE.







              PHILADELP HIA, June II, 1772.







SIR,-Congr ess having furnished me with means for procuring peace, and

ransoming our captive citizens from the governmen t of Algiers, I have thought

it best, while you are engaged at Morocco, to appoint Admiral Jones to proceed

to Algiers, and therefore have sent him a commission for establishin g peace,

another for the ransom of our captives, and a third to act there as consul for

the 













  367          Correspond ence







United States, and full instruction s are given in a letter from the Secretary

of State to him, o£ all which papers, Mr. Pinckney, now proceeding to London as

our Minister IPlenipoten tiary there, is the bearer, as he is also o£ this

letter. It is some tizne, however, since we have heard of Admiral Jones, and as

in the event of any accident to him, it might occasion an injurious delay, were

the business to await new commission s from hence, I have thought it best in

such an event, that Mr. Pinckney should fozrward to you all the papers

addressed to Admiral Jones, with this letter, signed by myself, giving you

authority on receipt of those papers, to consider them addressed to you, and to

proceed under them in every respect as if your name stood in each of them in

the place of that of John Paul Jones. You will of course finish the business of

your mission to Morocco with all the dispatch practicable , and then proceed to

Algiers on that hereby confided to you, where this letter, with the commission

s addressed to Admiral Jones, and an explanation of circumstan ces, will

doubtless procure you credit as acting in the name and on the behalf of the

United States, and more especially when you shall efficaciousl y prove your

authority by the fact of making on the spot, the payments you shall stipulate.

With full confidence in the prudence and integrity with which you will fulfill

the objects of the present mission, I give to this letter the effect of a

commission and full powers, by hereunto 













   368        Jefferson's Works







subscribin g my name, this eleventh day of June, one thousand seven hundred and

ninety-two.















           TO THOMAS PINCKNEY.







              PHILADELP HIA, Jllne II, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-I have already had the honor of delivering to you your commission

as Minister Plenipotent iary of the United States at the court of London, and

have now that of enclosing your letter of credence to the King, sealed, and a

copy of it open for your own information . Mr. Adams, your predecesso r, seemed

to understand , on his being presented to that court, that a letter was

expected for the Queen also. You will be pleased to inform yourself whether the

custom of that court requires this from us: and to enable you to comply with

it, if it should, I enclose a letter sealed for the Queen, and a copy of it

open for your own information . Should its delivery not be requisite you will

be so good as to return it, as we do not wish to set a precedent which may bind

us hereafter to a single unnecessar y ceremony. To you, Sir, it will be

unnecessar y to undertake a general delineation of the duties of the office to

which you are appointed. I shall therefore only express a desire that they be

constantly exercised in that spirit of sincere friendship which we bear to the

English nation, and that in all transaction s with the minister, his good

disposition s be conciliated by whatever in language 













            Correspond ence          369







or attentions may tend to that effect. With respect to their governmen t, or

policy, as concerning themselves or other nations, we wish not to intermeddl e

in word or deed, and that it be not understood that our governmen t permits

itself to entertain either a will or opinion on the subject.







  I particularl y recommend to you, as the most important of your charges, the

patronage of our commerce, and its liberation from embarrass ments in all the

British dominions; but most especially in the West Indies. Our consuls in Great

Britain and Ireland are under general instruction s to correspond with you, as

you will perceive by a copy of a circular letter lately written to them, and

now enclosed. From them you may often receive interesting information . Mr.

Joshua Johnson is consul for us at London, James Maury, at Liverpool, Elias

Vanderhors t, at Bristol, Thomas Auldjo, vice-consul at Pool (resident at

Cowes), and William Knox, consul at Dublin. The jurisdictio n of each is

exclusive and independen t and extends to all places within the same allegiance

nearer to him than to the residence of any other consul or viceconsul of the

United States. The settlement of their accounts from time to time, and the

payment of them, are referred to you, and in this, the act respecting consuls

and any other laws made, or to be made, are to be your guide. Charges which

these do not authorize, you will be pleased not to allow. These accounts are to

be settled up to the







   VOL. VIII-24 













  370          Jefferson's Works







frst day of July in every year, and to be transmitted to the Secretary of

State.







  The peculiar custom in England, of impressing seamen on every appearance of

war, will occasionall y expose our seamen to peculiar oppression s and

vexations. These will require your most active exertions and protection, which

we know cannot be effectual without incurring considerabl e expense; and as no

law has as yet provided for this, we think it fairer to take the risk of it on

the executive than to leave it on your shoulders. You will, therefore, with all

due economy, and on the best vouchers the nature of the case will admit, meet

those expenses, transmittin g an account of them to the Secretary of State, to

be communicat ed to the Legislature . It will be expedient that you take proper

opportuniti es in the meantime, of conferring with the minister on this

subject, in order to form some arrangeme nt for the protection of our seamen on

those occasions. We entirely reject themode which was the subject of a

conversatio n between Mr. Morris and him, which was, that our seamen should

always carry about them certificates of their citizenship. This is a condition

never yet submitted to by any nation, one with which seamen would never have

the precaution to comply; the casualties of their calling would expose them to

the constant destruction or loss of this paper evidence, and thus, the British

government would be armed with legal authority to impress the whole of 













    371        Correspond ence







our seamen. The simplest rule will be, that the vessel being American, shall be

evidence that the seamen on board her are such. If they apprehend that our

vessels might thus become asylums for the fugitives of their own nation from

impress-ga ngs, the number of men to be protected by a vessel may be limited by

her tonnage, and one or two officers only be permitted to enter the vessel in

order to examine the numbers on board; but no pressgang should be allowed ever

to go on board an American vessel, till after it shall be found that there are

more than their stipulated number on board, nor till after the master shall

have refused to deliver the supernume raries (to be named by himself) to the

press-offic er who has come on board for that purpose; and even then, the

American consul should be called in. In order to urge a settlement of this

point, before a new occasion may arise, it may not be amiss to draw their

attention to the peculiar irritation excited on the last occasion, and the

difficulty of avoiding our making immediate reprisals on their seamen here. You

will be so good as to communicat e to me what shall pass on this subject, and

it may be made an article of convention, to be entered into either there or

here.







  You will receive herewith a copy of the journals of the ancient Congress, and

of the laws, journals and reports of the present. Those for the future, with

gazettes and other interesting papers, shall be sent you from time to time; and

I shall leave 













372        Jiefferson' s Works







you generally to the gazettes, for whatever information is in possession of the

public, and shall especially undertake to communicat e by letter, such only

relative to the business of your mission as the gazetteers cannot give. From

you I aski, once or twice a month, a communicat ion of interesting occurrence s

in England, of the general afiairs of Europe, the court gazette, the best paper

in the interest of the ministry and the best of the opposition party, most

particularl y, that one of each which shall give the best account of the

debates of parliament, the parliamenta ry register annually, and such other

political publication s as may be important enough to be read by one who can

spare little time to read anything, or which may contain matter proper to be

kept and turned to, on interesting subjects and occasions. The English packet

is the most certain channel for such epistolary communicat ions as are not very

secret, and intermediat e occasions by private vessels may be resorted to for

secret, communicat ions, and for such as would come too expensivel y burthened

with postage, by the packets. You are furnished with a cypher for greater

secrecy of communicat ion. To the papers before mentioned, I must desire you to

add the Leyden gazette, paper by paper as it comes out, by the first vessel

sailing after its receipt.







  I enclose you the papers in the case of a Mr. Wilson, ruined by the capture

of his vessel, after the term limited by the armistice. They will 













             Correspond ence         373







inform you of the circumstan ces of his case, and where you may find him

personally, and I xecommend his case to your particular representa tions to the

British court. It is possible that other similar cases may be transmitted to

you. You have already received some letters of Mr. Adams' explanation s of the

principles of the armistice, and of what had passed between him and the British

minister on the subject.







  Mr. Greene, of Rhode Island, will deliver you his papers, and I am to desire

that you may patronize his claims so far as shall be just and right, leaving to

himself and his agent to follow up the minute details of solicitation, and

coming forward yourself only when there shall be proper occasion for you to do

so in the name of your nation.







  Mr. Cutting has a claim against the governmen t, vouchers for which he is to

procure from England. As you are acquainted with the circumstances of it, I

have only to desire that you wiill satisfy yourself as to the facts relative

thereto, the evidence of which cannot be transmitted , and that you will

communicat e the same to me, that justice may be done between the public and

the claimant.







  We shall have occasion to ask your assistance in procuring a workman or two

for our mint; but this shall be the subject of a separate letter, after I shall

have received more particular explanation s from the director of the mint.



I have the honor to be, with great and sincere 













374            Jefferson's Works







esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















           TO THOMAS PINCKNEY.







              PHILADELP HIA, June I I, I 792.







  SIR,-The letter I have addressed to Admiral Jones, of which you have had the

perusal, has informed you of the mission with which the President has thought

proper to charge him at Algiers, and how far your agency is desired for

conveying to him the several papers, for receiving and paying his drafts to the

amount therein permitted, by re-drawing yourself on our bankers in Amsterdam

who are instructed to honor your bills, and by acting as a channel of

correspond ence between us. It has been some time, however, since we have heard

of Admiral Jones. Should any accident have happened to his life, or should you

be unable to learn where he is, or should distance, refusal to act, or any

other circumstan ce deprive us of his services on this occasion, or be likely

to produce too great a delay, oi which you are to be the judge, you will then

be pleased to send all the papers confided to you for him, to Mr. Thomas

Barclay, our consul at Morocco, with the letter addressed to him, which is

delivered you open, and by which you will perceive that he is, in that event,

substituted to every intent and purpose in the place of Admiral Jones. You will

be pleased not to pass any of the papers 













             Correspond ence          3 7 5







confided to you on this business, through any post office.                     

      .







  I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Sir, your most

obedient humble servant.















            TO THOMAS PINCKNEY.







               PHILADELP HIA, June I4, 1772.







  SIIR,-The United States being now about to establish a mint, it becomes

necessary to ask your assistance in procuring persons to carry on some parts of

it; and to enable you to give it, you must be apprised of some facts.







  Congress, some time ago, authorized the President to take measures for

procuring some artists from any place where they were to be had. It was known

that a Mr. Drost, a Swiss, had made an improveme nt in the method of coining,

and some specimens of his coinage were exhibited here, which were superior to

anything we had ever seen. Mr. Short was, therefore, authorized to engage Drost

to come over, to erect the proper machinery, and instruct persons to go on with

the coinage; and as he supposed this would require about a year, we agreed to

give him a thousand louis a year and his expenses. The agreement was made, two

coining mills, or screws, were ordered by him; but in the end, he declined

coming. We have reason to believe he was drawn off by the English East India

Company, and that he is now at work for them in 













  376          Jefferson's Works







England. Mr. Bolton had also made a proposition to coin for us in England,

which was declined. Since this, the act has been passed for establishin g our

mint, which authorizes, among other things, the employment of an assayer at

fifteen hundred dollars a year, a chief coiner at the same, and an engraver at

twelve hundred dollars. But it admits of the employment of one person, both as

engraver and chief coiner; this we expect may be done, as we presume that any

engraver who has been used to work for a coinage, must be well enough

acquainted with all the operations of coinage to direct them; and it is an

economy worth attention, if we can have the services performed by one officer

instead of two, in which case, it is proposed to give him the salary of the

chief coiner, that is to say, fifteen hundred dollars a year. I have,

therefore, to request that you will endeavor, on your arrival in Europe, to

engage and send us an assayer of approved skill and wcll-attest ed integrity,

and a chief coiner and engraver, in one person, if possible, acquainted with

all the improveme nts in coining, and particularl y those of Drost and Bolton.

Their salaries may commence from the day of their sailing for America. If Drost

be in England, I think he will feel himself under some obligation to aid you in

procuring persons. How far Bolton will do it, seems uncertain. You will,

doubtless, make what you can of the good disposition s of either of these or

any other person. Should you find it imprac













             Correspond ence          377







ticable to procure an engraver capable of performing the functions of chief

coiner also, we must be content that you engage separate characters. Let these

persons bring with them all the implements necessary for carrying on the

business, except such as you shall think too bulky and easily made here. It

would be proper, therefore, that they should consult you as to the necessary

implements and their prices, that they may act under your control. The method

of your paying for these implements and making reasonable advances to the

workmen, shall be the subject of another letter, after the President shall have

decided thereon. It should be a part of the agreement of these people, that

they will faithfully instruct all persons in their art, whom we shall put under

them for that purpose. Your contract with them, may be made for any term not

exceeding four years.



  I have the honor to be, with great and much esteem, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.







  P. S. · Should you not be able to procure persons of eminent qualificatio ns

for their business, in England, it will be proper to open a correspond ence

with Mr. Morris on the subject, and see whether he cannot get such from France.

Next to the obtaining the ablest artists, a very important circumstan ce is to

send them to us as soon as possible. 













378          Jefferson's Works















      TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS.







               PHILADELP HIA, June I6, I 792.







  DEaR SIR,-My last to you was of March the z8th. Yours of April the 6th and

Ioth came to hand three days ago.







  With respect to the particular objects of commerce susceptible of being

placed on a better footing, on which you ask my ideas, they will show

themselves by the enclosed table of the situation of our commerce with France

and England. That with France is stated as it stood at the time I left that

country, when the only objects whereon change was still desirable, were those

of salted provisions, tobacco and tar, pitch and turpentine. The first was in

negotiation when I came away, and was pursued by Mr. Short with prospects of

success, till their general tariff so unexpected ly deranged our commerce with

them as to other articles. Our commerce with their West Indies had never

admitted amelioratio n during my stay in France. The temper of that period did

not allow even the essay, and it was as much as we could do to hold the ground

given us by the Marshal de Castries' Arret, admitting us to their colonies with

salted provisions, etc. As to both these branches of commerce, to wit, with

France and her colonies, we have hoped they would pursue their own proposition

of arranging them by treaty, and that we could draw that treaty to this place.

There is no other where the dependenc e 













             Correspond ence          379







of their colonies on our States for their prosperity is so obvious as here, nor

where their negotiator would feel it so much. But it would be imprudent to

leave to the uncertain issue of such a treaty, the re-establis hment of our

commerce with France on the footing on which it was in the beginning of their

revolution. That treaty may be long on the anvil; in the meantime, we cannot

consent to the late innovations , without taking measures to do justice to our

own navigation. This object, therefore, is particularl y recommend ed to you,

while you will also be availing yourself of every opportunit y which may arise,

of benefiting our commerce in any other part. I am in hopes you will have found

the moment favorable on your arrival in France, when Monsieur Claviere was in

the ministry, and the disposition s of the National Assembly favorable to the

ministers. Your cypher has not been sent hitherto, because it required a most

confidentia l channel of conveyance . It is now committed to Mr. Pinckney, who

also carries the gazettes, laws, and other public papers for you. We have been

long without any vessel going to Havre. Some of the Indian tribes have acceded

to terms of peace. The greater part, however, still hold off, and oblige us to

pursue more vigorous measures for war. I enclose you an extract from a circular

letter to our consuls, by which you will perceive that those in countries where

we have no diplomatic representa tive are desired to settle their accounts

annually 













  380         Jefferson's Works







with the minister of the United States at Paris. This business, I must desire

you to undertake. The act concerning consuls will be your guide, and I shall be

glad that the first of July be the day to which their accounts shall be

annually settled and paid, and that they may be forwarded as soon after that as

possible to the office of the Secretary of State, to enter into the general

account of his department , which it is necessary he should make up always

before the meeting of Congress.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.







  P. S. I have said nothing of our whale oil, because I believe it is on a

better footing since the tariff than before.















        TO MONSIEUR DE LA FAYETTE.







              PHILADELP HIA, June I6, I 792.







Behold you, then, my dear friend, at the head of a great army establishin g the

liberties of your country against a foreign enemy. May heaven favor your cause,

and make you the channel through which it may pour its favors. While you are

estimating the monster Aristocracy , and pulling out the teeth and fangs of its

associate, Monarchy, a contrary tendency is discovered in some here. A sect has

shown itself among us, who declare they espoused our new Constitutio n not as a

good and 













            Correspond ence          381



sufficient thing in itself, but only as a step to an English constitutio n, the

only thing good and sufficient in itself, in their eye. It is happy for us that

these are preachers without followers, and that our people are firm and

constant in their republican purity. You will wonder to be told that it is from

the eastward chiefly that these champions for a king, lords, and commons, come.

They get some important associates from New York, and are puffed up by a tribe

of Agioteurs which have been hatched in a bed of corruption made up after the

model of their beloved England. Too many of these stock-jobb ers and king-jobbe

rs have come into our Legislature , or rather too many of our Legislature have

become stock-jobb ers and king jobbers. However, the voice of the people is

beginning to make itself heard, and will probably cleanse their seats at the

ensuing election. The machinatio ns of our old enemies are such as to keep us

still at bay with our Indian neighbors. What are you doing for your colonies?

They will be lost, if not more effectually succored. Indeed, no future efforts

you can make will ever be able to reduce the blacks. All that can be done, in

my opinion, will be to compound with them, as has been done formerly in

Jamaica. We have been less zealous in aiding them, lest your governmen t should

feel any jealousy on our account. But, in. truth, we as sincerely wish their

restoration and their connection with you, as you do yourselves. 













382       Jefferson's Works







We are satisfied that neither your justice nor their distresses will ever again

permit their being forced to seek at dear and distant markets those first

necessaries of life which they may have at cheaper markets, placed by nature at

their door, and formed by her for their support. What is become of Madame de

Tessy and Madame de Tott? I have not heard of them since they went to

Switzerlan d. I think they would have done better to have come and reposed

under the poplars of Virginia. Pour into their bosoms the warmest efusions of

my friendship, and tell them they will be warm and constant unto death. Accept

of them also for Madame de La Fayette, and your dear children; but I am

forgetting that you are in the field of war, and they I hope in those of peace.

Adieu, my dear friend. God bless you all. Yours affectionat ely.















             TO JOEL BARLOW.







              PHILADELPHIA, June 20, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-Thoug h I am in hopes you are now on the ocean home-boun d, yet I

cannot omit the chance of my thanks reaching you, for your "Conspirac y of

Kings" and advice to the privileged orders, the second part of which I am in

hopes is out by this time. Be assured that your endeavors to bring the

trans-Atlan tic world into the road of reason, are not without their effect

here. Some here are disposed to move retrograde,



































  Interior of Independe nce Hall



 Reproduce d from an Old Engraving Historic Independe nce Hall is an unpretenti

ous brick building on Chestnut Street, Philadelphi a erect5ed in the years

1729-1734.  The Continental Congress met there in June 1775, and appointed

Washington Commander in Chief of the American Army. The Declaration of

Independe nce was adopted there by Congress July 4 1776. The building is now

used chiefly as a museum to preserve Revolutiona ry and other historical

relics, among which may be found furniture letters swords, wearing-ap parel,

etc., once belonging to Washington , Lafayette Franklin, Hancock, Jefferson and

their compatriou ts.  It is the home of the "Liberty Bell" and the authenticf

portraits of the heroes of the Revolution.























        Correspond ence         383







 and to take their stand in the rear of Europe, now advancing to the high

ground of natural right; but of all this your friend Mr. Baldwin gives you

information , and doubtless paints to you the indignation with which the

heresies of some people here fill us.







  This will be conveyed by Mr. Pinckney, an honest, sensible man, and good

republican. He goes our Minister Plenipotent iary to London. He will arrive at

an interesting moment in Europe. God send that all the nations who join in

attacking the liberties of France may end in the attainment of their own. I

still hope this will not find you in Europe, and therefore add nothing more

than assurances of afectionate esteem from, dear Sir, your sincere friend and

servant.















              TO PETER CARR.







              PHILADELP HIA, June 22, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-I received in due time your favor of May 28, with the notes it

contained on the subject of Waste. Your view of the subject, as far as it goes,

is perfectly proper. Perhaps, on such a question in this country, where the

husbandry is so different, it might be necessary to go further, and inquire

whether any difference of this kind should produce a difference in the law. The

main objects of the law of waste in England are, 1st, to prevent any disguise

of the lands which might lessen the 













384       Jefferson's Works







revisioner' s evidence of title, such as the change of pasture into arable; ad,

to prevent any deteriorati on of it, as the cutting down forest, which in

England is an injury. So careful is the law there against permitting a

deteriorati on of the land, that though it will permit such improveme nts in

the same line, as manuring arable lands, leading water into pasture lands,

etc., yet it will not permit improveme nts ivc a different line, such as

erecting buildings, converting pasture into arable, etc., lest this should lead

to a deteriorati on. Hence we might argue in Virginia, that though the cutting

down of forest in Virginia is, in our husbandry, rather an improveme nt

generally, yet it is not so always, and therefore it is safer never to admit

it. Consequent ly, there is no reason for adopting different rules of waste

here from those established in England.







  Your objection to Lord Kaims, that he is too metaphysic al, is just, and it

is the chief objection to which his writings are liable. It is to be observed

also, that though he has given us what should be the system of equity, yet it

is not the one actually established , at least not in all its parts. The

English Chancellors have gone on from one thing to another without any

comprehen sive or systematic view of the whole field of equity, and therefore

thev have sometimes run into inconsisten cies and contradicti ons.







  Never fear the want of business. A man who 













             Correspond ence,         385







qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment in it. The

foundation you will have laid in legal reading, will enable you to take a

higher ground than most of your competitors , and even ignorant men can see who

it is that is not one of themselves. Go on then with courage, and you will be

sure of success; for which be assured no one wishes more ardently, nor has more

sincere sentiments of friendship towards you, than, dear Sir, your affectionat

e friend.























       TO MR. VAN BERCIiEL.







                PHILADELP HIA, Ju11y 2, 1772.







  SIR,-It was with extreme concern that I learned from your letter of June the

25th, that a violation of the protection due to you as the representa tive of

your nation had been committed, bv an officer of this State entering your house

and serving therein a process on one of your servants. There could be no

question but that this was a breach of privilege; the only one was, how it was

to be punished. To ascertain this, I referred your letter to the Attorney

General, whose answer I have the honor to enclose you. By this you will

perceive, that from the circumstan ce of your servant's not being registered in

the Secretary of State's office, we cannot avail ourselves of the more certain

and effectual proceeding which had been provided by an act of Congress







   voL. vIII-25 













 386                 Jefferson's Works







for punishing infractions of the law of nations, that act having thought proper

to confine the benefit of its provisions to such domestics only, as should have

been registered. We are to proceed, therefore, as if that act had never been

made, and the Attorney General's letter indicates two modes of proceeding . 1.

By a warrant before a single magistrate, to recover the money paid by the

servant under a process declared void by law. Herein the servant must be the

actor, and the governmen t not intermeddl e at all. The smallness of the sum to

be re-demand ed will place this cause in the class of those in which no appeal

to the higher tribunal is permitted, even in the case of manifest error, so

that if the magistrate should err, the governmen t has no means of correcting

the error. a. The second mode of proceeding would be, to indict the officer in

the Supreme Court of the United States; with whom it would rest to punish him

at their discretion, in proportion to the injury done and the malice from which

it proceeded; and it would end in punishment alone, and not in a restitution of

the money. In this mode of proceeding , the governmen t of the United States is

actor, taking the managemen t of the cause into its own hands, and giving you

no other trouble than that of bearing witness to such material facts as may not

be otherwise supported. You will be so good as to decide in which of these two

ways you would choose the proceeding should be; if the latter, I will immedi













            Correspond ence          387







ately take measures for having the offiender prosecuted according to law.







I have the honor to be, with sentiments of respect, Sir, your most obedient,

and most humble servant.















, TO HIS EXCELLENC Y THE GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA.







               PHILADELP HIA, July 3, 1792.







  SIR,-I have the honor to enclose to your Excellency, the copy of a letter I

have received from his Catholic Majesty's representa tives here, in consequenc

e of a complaint from the Governor of Florida, that three inhabitants of the

State of Georgia, to wit, Thomas Harrison, David Rees, and William Ewin, had

entered the Spanish territory and brought from thence five negro slaves, the

property of John Blackwood, a Spanish subject, without his consent, in

violation of the rights of that State and the peace of the two countries. I had

formerly had the honor of sending you a copy of the convention entered into

between the said Governor and Mr. Leagrove, on the part of the United States

for the mutual restitution of fugitive slaves. I now take the liberty of

requesting your Excellency to inform me what is done, or likely to be done with

you for the satisfaction of the Spanish governmen t in this instance. Nobody

knows better than your Excellency the importance of restraining individuals

from committing the peace and honor of the two nations, and I am persuaded that

nothing will be 













 388       Jefferson's Works







wanting on your part to satisfy the just expectation s of the governmen t of

Florida on the present occasion. I have the honor to be, with great respect,

your Excellency' s most obedient; and most humble servant.















     TO MESSRS. DE VIAR AND JAUDENES.







               PHILADELP HIA, July 9, 1772.







  GENTLEME N,-InfOrma tion has been received that the governmen t of West

Florida has established an agent within the territory of the United States,

belonging to the Creek Indians, and it is even pretended that that agent has

excited those Indians to oppose the making a boundary between their district

and that of the citizens of the United States. The latter is so inconsisten t

with the disposition s to friendship and good neighborho od which Spain has

always expressed towards us, with that concert of interest which would be so

advantageo us to the two nations, and which we are disposed sincerely to

promote, that we find n.o difficulty in supposing it erroneous. The sending an

agent within our limits we presume has been done without the authority or

knowledge of your Governmen t. It has certainly been the usage, where one

nation has wished to employ agents of any kind within the limits of another, to

obtain the permission of that other, and even to regulate by convention and on

principles of reciprocity , the functions to be exer













            Correspond ence.         389







cised by such agents. It is not to a nation whose dominions are circumstan ced

as those of Spain in our neighborho od, that we need develop the inconvenie

nces of permitting .reciprocall y the unlicensed mission of agents into the

territories of each other. I am persuaded nothing more is necessary than to

bring the fact under the notice of your Governmen t in order to its being

rectified, which is the object of my addressing you on this occasion; with

every assurance that. you will make the proper communicat ions on the subject

to your court. I have the honor to be, with sentiments o£ perfect esteem and

respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















       TO COLONEL DAVID HUMPHREY S.







              PHILADELP HIA, July I2, 1772.







 DEAR SIR,-We have been very long indeed without any vessel going from this

port to Lisbon. This is the reason why I have been so long without acknowledg

ing the receipt of your letters. Your Nos. from 45 to 53 inclusive are

received, except No. 52, not yet come to hand. The President set out yesterday

for Virginia, and I shall follow him to-morrow. During my absence the public

papers will be forwarded to you by every opportunit y by Mr. Taylor, with whom

this letter is left, as we know of no present opportunit y of forwarding it.

The State of Vermont has lately taken some decisive 













390         Jefferson's Works







step to extend its jurisdictio n nearer to the British ports than has hitherto

been done. This has produced a complaint from Mr. Hammond. We shall endeavor to

keep things quiet, in hopes of voluntary justice from them. We shall probably

have no campaign this year against the Indians. There are some hopes they will

accept of peace, and the rather as we have never asked anything in return for

it. We really wish not to hurt them. I need not repeat occurrence s which you

will see in the gazettes. I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your

most obedient, and most humble servant.















      TO HIS EXCELLENC Y GOVERNOR LEE.







              MONTICELL O, August I3, 1772.







SIR,-It was not till yesterday that I was honored with the receipt of yours of

July 23d, or it should have been sooner answered. I am of opinion that all

communicat ions between nations should pass through the channels of their

Executives. However, in the instance of condolence on the death of Dr.

Franklin, the letter from our General Governmen t was addressed to the

President of the National Assembly; so was a letter from the Legislature of

Pennsylvan ia, containing congratulat ions on the achievemen t of liberty to

the French nation. ' I have not heard that, in either instance, their Executive

took it amiss that they were not made the 













            Correspond ence          391







channel of communicat ion. Perhaps, therefore, this method may at present be

the safest, as it is not quite certain that the sentiments of their executive

and legislative are exactly the same on the subject on which you have to

address them. I cannot better justify the honor of your consultatio n than by

thus giving you my ideas without reserve, and beg you to be assured of the

sentiments of respect and esteem, with which I have the honor .to be, your

Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.















              TO MR. PALESKE.







              MONTICELL O, August I9, 1772.







  SIR,-I have received at this place your favor of the 9th instant, wherein you

request, that agreeably to the treaty of commerce between the United States and

his Prussian Majesty, his consul general be acknowledg ed as belonging to a

most favored nation; that the privileges and immunities due to a consul general

of the most favored nation be granted to his consul general, and that

commission ers be appointed to regulate, by particular convention, the

functions of the consuls and vice-consul s of the respective nations.







  Treaties of the United States duly made and ratified, as is that with his

Prussian Majesty, constitute a part of the law of the land, and need only

promulgati on to oblige all persons to obey them, 













392         Jefferson's Works







and to entitle all to those privileges which such treaties confer. That

promulgati on having taken place, no other aet is necessary or proper on the

part of our governmen t, according to our rules of proceeding , to give effect

to the treaty. This treaty, however, has not specified the privileges or

functions of consuls; it has only provided that these ` ` shall be regulated by

particular agreement. '' To the proposition to proceed as speedily as pos.sible

to regulate these functions by a convention, my absence from the seat of

governmen t does not allow me to give a definitive answer. I know, in general,

that it would be agreeable to our governmen t, on account of the recent changes

in its form, to suspend for awhile the contracting specific engagemen ts with.

foreign nations, until something more shall be seen of the direction it will

take, and of its mode of operation, in order that our engagemen ts may be so

moulded to that, as to insure the exact performanc e of them which we are

desirous ever to observe. Should this be the sentiment of our governmen t on

the present occasion, the friendship of his Prussian Majesty is a sufficient

reliance to us for that delay which our affairs might require for the present ;

and the rather, as his vessels are not yet in the habit of seeking our ports,

and for the few cases which may occur for some time, our own laws, copied

mostly in this respect from those of a very commercial nation, have made the

most material of those provisions which could be admitted into a 













            Correspond ence         393







special convention for the protection of vessels, their crews and cargoes,

coming hither. We shall on this, however, and every other occasion, do

everything we can to manifest our friendship to his Prussian Majesty and our

desire to promote commercial intercourse with his subjects; and of this, we

hope, he will be fully assured.







  I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.























TO THE MINISTER PLENIPOTE NTIARY OF FRANCE.







                        August 27, 1 7 92







  SIR,-Your letter of the 2d instant, informing me that the Legislative body,

on the proposition of the King of the Fren.ch, had declared war against the

King of Hungary and Bohemia, has been duly received, and is laid before the

'President of the United States; and I am authorized to convey to you the

expression of the sincere concern we feel on learning that the French nation,

to whose friendship and interests we have the strongest attachment, are now to

encounter the evils of war. We offer our prayers to Heaven that its duration

may be short, and its course marked with as few as may be of those calamities

which render the condition of war so afflicting to humanity, and we add

assurances that, during its course, we shall continue in the same friendly

disposition s, and render all those 













394       Jefferson's Works







good offices which shall be consistent with the duties of a neutral nation.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and

respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







            MONTICELL O, September 9, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-I received on the 2d instant the letter of August a3d, which you

did me the honor to write me; but the immediate return of our post, contrary to

his custom, prevented my answer by that occasion. The proceeding s of Spain,

mentioned in your letter, are really of a complexion to excite uneasiness, and

a suspicion that their friendly overtures about the Mississippi, have been

merely to lull us while they should be strengthen ing their holds on that

river. Mr. Carmichael' s silence has been long my astonishme nt; and however it

might have justified something very different from a new appointmen t, yet the

public interest certainly called for his junction with Mr. Short, as it is

impossible but that his knowledge of the ground of negotiation , of persons and

characters, must be useful and even necessary to the success of the mission.

That Spain and Great Britain may understand one another on our frontiers is

very possible; for however opposite their interests or disposition may be in

the affairs of Europe, yet while these do not call 













            Correspond ence          395







them into opposite action, they may concur as against us. I consider their

keeping an agent in the Indian country as a circumstan ce which requires

serious interferenc e on our part; and I submit to your decision whether it

does not furnish a proper occasion to us to send an additional instruction to

Messrs. Carmichael and Short to insist on a mutual and formal stipulation to

forbear employing agents or pensioning any persons within each other's limits;

and if this be refused, to propose the contrary stipulation, to wit, that each

party may freely keep agents within the Indian territories of the other, in

which case we might soon sicken them of the license.







  I now take the liberty of proceeding to that part of your letter wherein you

notice the internal dissensions which have taken place within our governmen t,

and their disagreeabl e eftect on its movements. That such dissensions have

taken place is certain, and even among those who are nearest to you in the

administrat ion. To no one have they given deeper concern than myself; to no

one equal mortificatio n at being myself a part of them. Though I take to

myself no more than my share of the general observatio ns of your letter, yet I

am so desirous ever that you should know the whole truth, and believe no more

than the truth, that I am glad to seize every occasion of developing to you

whatever I do or think relative to the governmen t ; and shall, therefore, ask

permission to be more lengthy now 













 396           Jefferson's Works







than the occasion particulari y calis for, or could otherwise perhaps justify.







  When I embarked in the governmen t, it was with a determinati on to

intermeddl e not at all with the Legislature , and as little as possible with

my codepartme nts. The first and only instance of variance from the former part

of my resolution, I was duped into by the Secretary of the Treasury, and made a

tool for forwarding his schemes, not then sufficiently understood by me; and of

all the errors of my political life, this has occasioned me the deepest regret.

It has ever been my purpose to explain this to you, when, from being actors on

the scene, we shall have become unintereste d spectators only. The second part

of my resolution has been religiously observed with the War Department ; and as

to that of the Treasury, has never been further swerved from than by the mere

enunciation of my sentiments in conversation, and chiefly arnong those who,

expressing the same sentiments, drew mine from me. If it has been supposed that

I have ever intrigued among the members of the Legislature to defeat the plans

of the Secretary of the Treasury, it is contrary to all truth. As I never had

the desire to infiuence the members, so neither had I any other means than my

friendships , which I valued too highly to risk by usurpation on their freedom

of judgment, and the conscientio us pursuit of their own sense of duty. That I

have utterly, in my private conversatio ns, disapprove d of the 













       397                        Correspond ence.







system of the Secretary of the Treasury, I acknowledg e and avow; and this was

not merely a speculative difference. His system flowed from principles adverse

to liberty, and was calculated to undermine and demolish the Republic, by

creating an influence of his department over the members of the Legislature . I

saw this influence actually produced, and its first fruits to be the

establishme nt of the great outlines of his project by the votes of the very

personswh o, having swallowed his bait, were laying themselves out to profit by

his plans ; and that had these persons withdrawn, as those interested in a

question ever should, the vote of the disinterest ed majority was clearly the

reverse of what they made it. These were no longer the votes then of the

representa tives of the people, but of deserters from the rights and interests

of the people; and it was impossible to consider their decisions, which had

nothing in view but to enrich themselves, as the measures of the fair majority,

which ought always to be respected. If, what was actually doing, begat

uneasiness in those who wished for virtuous governmen t, what was further

proposed was not less threatenin g to the friends of the Constitutio n. For, in

a report on the subject of manufactur es, (still to be acted on,) it was

expressly assumed that the General Governmen t has a right to exercise all

powers which may be for the general welfare, that is to say, all the legitimate

powers of governmen t; since no governmen t has a legitimate right to do 













     398       Jefferson's Works







what is not for the welfare of the governed. There was, indeed, a sham

limitation of the universalit y of this power to cases where money is to be

employed. But about what is it that money cannot be employed ? Thus the object

of these plans, taken together, is to draw all the powers of governmen t into

the hands of the general Legislature , to establish means for corrupting a

sufficient corps in that Legislature to divide the honest votes, and prepondera

te, by their own, the scale which suited, and to have the corps under the

command of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the purpose of subverting , step

by step, the principles of the Constitutio n which he has so often declared to

be a thing of nothing, which must be changed. Such views might have justified

something more than mere expression s of dissent, beyond which, neverthele ss I

never went. Has abstinence from the department , committed to me, been equally

observed by him? To say nothing of other interferenc es equally known, in the

case of the two nations, with which we have the most intimate connection s,

France and England, my system was to give some satisfactor y distinction s to

the former, of little cost to us, in return for the solid advantages yielded us

by them; and to have met the English with some restriction s which might induce

them to abate their severities against our commerce. I have always supposed

this coincided with your sentiments. Yet the Secretary of the Treasury. by his

cabals with members of the Legis. 













            Correspond ence         399







lature, and by high-toned declamation s on other occasions, has forced down his

own system, which was exactly the reverse. He undertook, of his own authority,

the conference s with the ministers of those two nations, and was, on every

consultatio n, provided with some report of a conversatio n with the one or the

other of them, adapted to his views. These views, thus made to prevail, their

execution fell, of course, to me; and I can safely appealto you, who have seen

all my letters and proceeding s, whether I have not carried them into execution

as sincerely as if they had been my own, though I ever considered them as

inconsisten t with the honor and interest of our country. That they have been

inconsisten t with our interest is but too fatally proved by the stab to our

navigation given by the French. So that if the question be by whose fault is it

that Colonel Hamilton and myself have not drawn together ? the answer will

depend on that to two other questions, whose principles of administrat ion best

justify, by their purity, conscientio us adherence? and which of us has,

notwithsta nding, stepped farthest into the control of the department of the

other?







To this justificatio n of opinions, expressed in the way of conversatio n,

against the views of Colonel Hamilton, I beg leave to add some notice of his

late charges against me in Fenno's Gazette; for neither the style, matter, nor

venom of the pieces alluded to, can leave a doubt of their author. Spell













     400       Jefferson's Works







ing my name and character at full length to the public, while he conceals his

own under the signature of "An American," he charges me, 1st. With having

written letters from Europe to my friends to oppose the present Constitutio n,

while depending. ad. With a desire of not paying the public debt. 3d. With

setting up a paper to decry and slander the governmen t. 1st. The first charge

is most false. No man in the United States, I suppose, approved of every tittle

in the Constitutio n: no one, I believe, approved more of it than I did, and

more of it was certainly disapprove d by my accuser than by me, and of its

parts most vitally republican. Of this the few letters I wrote on the subject

(not half a dozerl I believe) will be a proof; and for my own satisfaction and

justificatio n, I must tax you with the reading of them when I return. to where

they are. You will there see that my objection to the Constitutio n was, that

it wanted a bill of rights securing freedom of religion, freedom of the press,

freedom from standing armies, trial by jury, and a constant habeas corpus act.

Colonel Hamilton's was, that it wanted a king and house of lords. The sense of

America has approved my objection and added the bill of rights, not the king

and lords. I also thought a longer term of service, insusceptib le of renewal,

would have made a President more independen t. My country has thought

otherwise, I have acquiesced implicitly. He wishes the General Governmen t

should have power to make laws 













  401          Correspond ence







binding the States in,all cases whatsoever . Our country has thought otherwise

: has he acquiesced ? Notwithsta nding my wish for a bill of rights, my letters

strongly urged the adoption of the Constitutio n, by nine States at least, to

secure the good it contained. I at first thought that the best method of

securing the bill of rights would be for four States to hold off till such a

bill should be agreed to. But the moment I saw Mr. Hancock's proposition to

pass the Constitutio n as it stood, and give perpetual instruction s to the

representa tives of every State to insist on a bill of rights, I acknowledg ed

the superiority of his plan, and advocated universal adoption. zd. The second

charge is equally untrue. My whole correspond ence while in France, and every

word, letter and aet on the subject, since my return, prove that no man is more

ardently intent to see the public debt soon and sacredly paid off than I am.

This exactly marks the difference between Colonel Hamilton's views and mine,

that I would wish the debt paid tomorrow; he wishes it never to be paid, but

always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt and manage the Legislature . 3d. I

have never enquired what number of sons, relatives and friends of Senators,

Representa tives, printers or other useful partisans Colonel Hamilton has

provided for among the hundred clerks of his department , the thousand

excisemen, at his nod, and spread over the Union; nor could ever have imagined

that the man who







   VOL. VIII-26 













  402          Jefferson's Works







has the shuffling of millions backwards and forwards from paper into money and

money into paper, from Europe to America, and America to Europe, the dealing

out of treasury secrets among his friends in what time and measure he pleases,

and who never slips an occasion of making friends with his means, that such an

one, I say, would have brought forward a charge against me for having appointed

the poet, Freneau, translating clerk to my office, with a salary of 25o dollars

a year. That fact stands thus. While the governmen t was at New York I was

applied to on behalf of Freneau to know if there was any place within my

department to which he could be appointed. I answered there were but four

clerkships, all of which I found full, and continued without any change. When

we removed to Philadelphi a, Mr. Pintard, the translating clerk, did not choose

to remove with us. His office then became vacant. I was again applied to there

for Freneau, and had no hesitation to promise the clerkship for him. I cannot

recollect whether it was at the same time, or afterwards, that I was told he

had a thought of setting up a newspaper there. But whether then, or afterwards,

I considered it a circumstan ce of some value, as it might enable me to do,

what I had long wished to have done, that is, to have the material parts of the

Leyden Gazette brought under your eye, and that of the public, in order to

possess yourself and them of a juster view of the affairs of Europe than could 













            Correspond ence          4o3







be obtained from any other public source. This I had ineffectuall y attempted

through the press of Mr. Fenno, while in New York, selecting and translating

passages myself at first, then having it done by Mr. Pintard, the translating

clerk, but they found their way too slowly into Mr. Fenno's papers. Mr. Bache

essayed it for me in Philadelphi a, but his being a daily paper, did not

circulate sufficiently in the other States. He even tried, at my request, the

plan of a weekly paper of recapitulati on from his daily paper, in hopes that

that might go into the other States, but in this too we failed. Freneau, as

translating clerk, and the printer of a periodical paper likely to circulate

through the States (uniting in one person the parts of Pintard and Fenno),

revived my hopes that the thing could at length be effected. On the establishme

nt of his paper, therefore, I furnished him with the Leyden Gazette, with an

expression of my wish that he could always translate and publish the material

intelligence they contained, and have continued to furnish them from time to

time, as regularly as I received them. But as to any other direction or

indication of my wish how his press should be conducted, what sort of

intelligence he should give, what essays encour· age, I can protest, in the

presence of heaven, that I never did by myself, or any other, or indirectly,

say a syllable, nor attempt any kind of influence. I can further protest, in

the same awful presence, that I never did by myself, or any other, directly 













 404           Jefferson's Wiorks







or indirectly, write, dictate or procure any one sentence or sentiment to b·e

inserted in his, or any other gazette, to which my name was not affixed or that

of my office. I surely need not except here a thing so foreign to the present

subject as a little paragraph about our Algerine captives, which I put once

into Fenno's paper. Freneau's proposition to publish a paper, having been about

the time that the writings of Publicola, and the discourses on Davila, had a

good deal excited the public attention, I took for granted from Freneau's

character, which had been marked as that of a good whig, that he would give

free place to pieces written against the aristocratic al and monarchica l

principles these papers had inculcated. This having been in my mind, it is

likely enough I may have expressed it in conversatio n with others, though I do

not recollect that I did. To Freneau I think I could not, because I had still

seen him but once, and that was at a public table, at breakfast, at Mrs.

Elsworth's, as I passed through New York the last year. And I can safely

declare that my expectation s looked only to the chastiseme nt of the

aristocratic al and monarchica l writers, and not to any criticisms on the

proceeding s of governmen t. Colonel Hamilton can see no motive for any

appointmen t, but that of making a convenient partisan. But you, Sir, who have

received from me recommend ations of a Rittenhouse, Barlow, Paine, will believe

that talents and science are sufficient motives 













             Correspond ence         4o5







with me in appointmen ts to which they are fitted; and that Freneau, as a man

of genius, might find a preference in my eye to be a translating clerk, and

make good title to the little aids I could give him as the editor of a gazette,

by procuring subscriptio ns to his paper, as I did some before it appeared, and

as I have with pleasure done for the labors of other men of genius. I hold it

to be one of the distinguish ing excellences of elective over hereditary

succession s, that the talents which nature has provided in sufficient

proportion, should be selected by the society for the governmen t of their

afairs, rather than that this should be transmitted through the loins of knaves

and fools, passing from the debauches of the table to those of the bed. Colonel

Hamilton, alias "Plain Facts," says, that Freneau's salary began before he

resided in Philadelphi a. I do not know what quibble he may have in reserve on

the word "residence." He may mean to include under that idea the removal of his

family ; for I believe he removed himself, before his family did, to

Philadelphi a. But no act of mine gave commencem ent to his salary before he so

far took up his abode in Philadelphi a, as to be sufficiently in readiness for

the duties of the office. As to the merits or demerits of his paper, they

certainly concern me not. He and Fenno are rivals for the public favor. The one

courts them by flattery, the other by censure, and I believe it will be

admitted that the one has been as servile, as the other severe, 













 406          Jefferson's Works







But is not the dignity, and even decency of governmen t committed, when one of

its principal ministers enlists himself as an anonymous writer or paragraphi st

for either the one or the other of them? No governmen t ought to be without

censors; and where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtuous, it need

not fear the fair operation of attack and defence. Nature has given to man no

other means of sifting out the truth, either in religion, law, or politics. I

think it as honorable to the governmen t neither to know, nor notice, its

sycophants or censors, as it would be undignified and criminal to pamper the

former and persecute the latter. So much for the past, a word now of the

future.







When I came into this office, it was with a resolution to retire from it as

soon as I could with decency. It pretty early appeared to me that the proper

moment would be the first of those epochs at which the Constitutio n seems to

have contemplat ed a periodical change or renewal of the public servants. In

this I was confirmed by your resolution respecting the same period; from which,

however, I am happy in hoping you have departed. I look to that period with the

longing of a waveworn mariner, who has at length 'the land in view, and shall

count the days and hours which stilllie between me and it. In the meanwhile, my

main object will be to wind up the business of my office, avoiding as much as

possible all new enterprise. With the affairs of the Legislature , as I nevex

did 













        407                               Correspond ence



 intermeddl e, so I certainly shall not now begin. I am more desirous to

predispose everything for the repose to which I am withdrawin g, than expose it

to be disturbed by newspaper contests. If these, however, cannot be avoided

altogether, yet a regard for your quiet will be a sufficient motive for my

deferring it till I become merely a private citizen, when the propriety or

impropriet y of what I may say or do, may fall on myself alone. I may then,

too, avoid the charge of misapplyin g that time which now, belonging to those

who employ me, should be wholly devoted to their service. If my own

justificatio n, or the interests of the republic shall require it, I reserve to

myself the right of then appealing to my country, subscribin g my name to

whatever I write, and using with freedom and truth the facts and names

necessary to place the cause in its just form before that tribunal. To a

thorough disregard of the honors and emoluments







of office, I join as great a value for the esteem of my



countryme n, and conscious of having merited it by



an integrity which cannot be reproached , and by



an enthusiasti c devotion to their rights and liberty,



I will not suffer my retirement to be clouded by the



slanders of a man whose history, from the moment



at which history can stoop to notice him, is a tissue



of machinatio ns against the liberty of the country



which has not only received and given him bread,



but heaped its honors on his head. Still, however,



I repeat the hope that it will not be necessary to 













     408       Jefferson's Works







make such an appeal. Though little known to the people of America, I believe,

that as far as I am known, it is not as an enemy to the Republic, nor an

intriguer against it, nor a waster of its revenue, nor prostitutor of it to the

purposes of corruption, as the ` ` American '' represents me ; and I confide

that yourself are satisfied that as to dissensions in the newspaper s, not a

syllable of them has ever proceeded from me, and that no cabals or intrigues of

mine have produced those in the Legislature , and I hope I may promise both to

you and myself, that none will receive aliment from me during 'the short space

I have to remain in office, which will find ample employment in closing the

present business of the department .







  Observing that letters written at Mount Vernon on the Monday, and arriving at

Richmond on the Wednesday, reach me on Saturday, I have now the honor to

mention that the zzd instant will be the last of our post days that I shall be

here, and consequent ly that no letter from you after the 17th, will find me

here. Soon after that I shall have the honor of receiving at Mount Vernon your

orders for Philadelphi a, and of there also delivering you the little matter

which occurs to 'me as proper for the opening of Congress, exclusive of what

has been recommend ed in former speeches, and not yet acted on. In the meantime

and ever I am, with great and sincere affection and respect, dear Sir, your

most obedient, and most humble servant. 













409                   Correspond ence















    TO ARCHIBALD STUART, ESQ.







            MONTICELL O, 58pt8mber 9, 1772.







  DEAR SiR,=I wrote you a long letter from Philadelphi a early in the summer,

which would not have been worth recurring to, but that I therein asked the

favor of you to sound Mr. Henry on the subject you had written to me on, to

wit, the amendment of our Constitutio n, and to find whether he would not

approve of the specific amendment s therein mentioned, in which case the

business would be easy. If you have had any conversatio n with him on the

subject, I will thank you for the result. As I propose to return from my

present ofice at the close of the ensuing session of Congress, and to fix

myself once more at home, I begin to feel a more immediate interest in having

the Constitutio n of our country fixed, and in such a form as will ensure a

somewhat greater certainty to our laws, liberty and property, the first and

last of which are now pretty much afloat, and the second not out of the reach

of every enterprise. I set out for Philadelphi a about the zoth, and would,

therefore, be happy to hear from you before that. I am, with great and sincere

esteem, dear Sir, your constant friend and servant. 













410                              Jefferson's Works















             TO CHARLES CLAY.







           MONTICELL O, September II, 1772.







DEaR SIR,-Your favor of August 8th, came duly to hand, and I should with

pleasure have done what you therein desired, as I ever should what would serve

or oblige you; but from a very early moment of my life I determined never to

intermeddl e with elections of the people, and have invariably adhered to this

determinati on. In my own county, where there have been so many elections in

which my inclinations were enlisted, I yet never interfered. I could the less

do it in the present instance, your people so very distant from me, utterly

unknown to me, and to whom I am also unknown; and above all, I a stranger, to

presume to recommend one who is well known to them. The people could not but

put this question to me, " who are you, pray ? '' In writing the letter to you

on the former occasion, I went further than I had ever before done, but that

was addressed to yourself to whom I had a right to write, and not to persons

either unknown to me, or very capable of judging for themselves. I have so much

reliance on your friendship and candor as not to doubt you will approve of my

sentiments on this occasion, and be satisfied they flow from considerati ons

respecting myself only, and not you to whom I am happy on every occasion of

testifying my esteem. I hope to see you in Bedford about May next, and am with 













411            Correspond ence







great attachment, dear Sir, your friend and servant.















    TO EDMUND RANDOLPH, ESQ.







           MoNTICELL o, September 17, 1792.







  Mv DEAR SIR,-The last post brought me your favor of the z6th of August; but

it brought me at the same time so much business to be answered by return of

post, and which did not admit of delay, that I was obliged to postpone the

acknowledgment of yours. I thank you sincerely for what respects myself. Though

I see the pen of the Secretary of the Treasury plainly in the attack on me,

yet, since he has not chosen to put his name to it, I am not free to notice it

as his. I have preserved through life a resolution, set in a very early part of

it, never to write in a public paper without subscribin g my; name, and to

engage openly an adversary who does not let himself be seen, is staking all

against nothing. The indecency, too, of newspaper squabbling between two public

ministers, besides my own sense of it, has drawn something like an injunction

from another quarter. Every fact alleged under the signature of " An American

'' as to myself, is false, and can be proved so; and perhaps will be one day.

But for the present, lying and scribbling must be free to those mean enough to

deal in them, and in the dark. I should have been setting out to Philadelphi a

within a day or two ; but the addition of a grandson and indisposition of my

daughter, will probably 













    412        Jefferson's Works







detain me here a week longer. My best respects to Mrs. Randolph, and am, with

great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your affectionat e friend and servant.















TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







           MONTICELL O, September IS, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-YOur eXpreSS 15 this moment arrived with the Proclamatio n on the

proceeding s against the laws for raising a revenue on distilled spirits, and I

return it herein enclosed with my signature. I think if, instead of the words

"to render laws dictated by weighty reasons of public exigency and policy as

acceptable as possible, '' it stood ` ` to render the laws as acceptable as

possible, '' it would be better. I see no other particular expression s which

need alteration. I am sincerely sorry to learn that such proceeding s have

taken place; and I hope the Proclamatio n will lead the persons concerned into

a regular line of application which may end either in an amendment of the law,

if it needs it, or in their conviction that it is right. Your most obedient,

and most humble servant.















          TO C. C. PINCKNEY, ESQ.







            PHILADELP HIA, OCtOber 8 1772.







SIR,-I found on my return here three days ago, your favor of April 6th, and am

happy to learn from it that the Agricultura l Society has adopted 













    413         Correspond ence







the plan of employing a person at Marseilles to raise and send olive trees to

them a;nnually. Their success in Souzth Carolina cannot be doubted, and their

value is great. Olive grounds in France rent higher by the acre than those of

any other growth in the kingdom, which proves they yield the greatest nett

produce. Marseilles is the proper place for your nurseryma n to be fixed,

because it is the neighborho od of the best olives; and Mr. Cathalan the

properest person to whom we can commit the whole superinten dence, because he

is our consul, is concerned in our commerce, eager to extend it, is a good man,

a wealthy one, and has offered his services repeatedly in this business. He was

brought up in a counting-h ouse in London, is connected there, and therefore I

think that the most convenient place on which to enable him to draw for the

expenditur es. This may be either by an annual letter o£ credit to him on some

house there for any sum not exceeding fifty guineas, or a standing letter of

credit for that annual sum till your further orders. I would advise that he

should never be suffered to be in advance for the society, that there may be no

motive for his being cool in the business. If you think proper to write to Mr.

Cathalan merely to open the correspond ence with him, enclosing him a letter of

credit, and referring him to me for the mode of conducting the enterprise, I

will enclose it to him with proper instruction s as to the mode. My reason for

this caution is that from my knowl













414       Jefferson's Works







edge of circumstan ces, and from what has already passed between him and me, I

can fix him at once as to a moderate scale of expense which I know to be

suffcient, and which he might transcend under the idea that this is a public

enterprise, supported by powerful and wealthy gentlemen. A copy of my letter

shall be sent to you, so that you may make any alterations in the plan which

may be agreeable to your ideas of the business, in the course of your future

correspond ence with Mr. Cathalan; and I shall at all future times be ready to

do anything further in my power to promote the object. I am happy that while I

was in the olive country I enquired for and procured the best book on the

subject of the olive tree, which I now deliver to Mr. Smith for the use of the

society. I suspect that the excrescenc e on your olive trees, described in your

letter, is what they call the leprosy, which prevails among these plants I

believe in every country. I have the honor to be, with great respect and

esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















           TO THOMAS PINCKNEY.







           PHILADELP HIA, OCtOber I2, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-Your favor of August the 7th came to hand on the bth instant, and

gave me the first certain information of your safe arrival. Mr. Otto being

about to sail for London, furnishes me with an opportunit y of sending the

newspaper s for yourself 













  415           Correspond ence







and Mr. Barclay, and I avail myself of it chiefly for this purpose, as my late

return from Virginia and the vacation of Congress furnishes little new and

important for your information , With respect to the Indian war, the summer has

been chiefly employed on our part in endeavorin g to persuade them to peace, in

an abstinence from all offensive operations, in order to give those endeavors a

fairer chance, and in preparation for activity the ensuing season, if they

fail. I believe we may say these endeavors have all failed, or probably will do

so. The year has been rather a favorable one for our agriculture . The crops of

small grain were generally good. Early frosts have a good deal shortened those

of tobacco and Indian corn, yet not so as to endanger distress. From the south

my information is less certain, but from that quarter you will be informed

through other channels. I have a pleasure in noting this circumstan ce to you,

because the difference between a plentiful and a scanty crop more than

counterpoi ses the expenses of any campaign. Five or six plentiful years

successivel y, as we have had, have most sensibly ameliorated the condition of

our country, and uniform laws of commerce, introduced by our new governmen t,

have enabled us to draw the whole benefits of our agriculture .







  I enclose you the copy of a letter from Messrs. Blow and Milhaddo, merchants

of Virginia, complainin g of the taking away of their sailors on the 













 416           Jefferson's Works







coast of Africa, by the commander of a British armed vessel. So many instances

of this kind have happened, that it is quite necessary that their governmen t

should explain themselves on the subject, and be led to disavow and punish such

conduct. I leave to your discretion to endeavor to obtain this satisfaction by

such friendly discussions as may be most likely to produce the desired effect,

and secure to our commerce that protection against British violence which it

has never experience d from any other nation. No law forbids the seaman pf any

country to engage in time of peace on board a foreign vessel; no law authorizes

such seaman to break his contract, nor the armed vessels of his nation to

interpose force for his rescue. I shall be happy to hear soon that Mr. B. has

gone on the service on which he was ordered.







  I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















      TO MESSRS. CARMICHAE L AND SHORT.







            PHILADELP HIA, OCtOber I4, 1772,







GENTLEME N,-Since my letters of March the 18th and April the 24th (which have

been retarded so unfortunat ely), another subject of conference and convention

with Spain has occurred. You know that the frontiers of her provinces, as well

as of our States, are inhabited by Indians holding justly the 













    417         Correspond ence







right of occupation, and leaving to Spain and to us only the claim of excluding

other nations from among them, and of becoming ourselves the purchasers of such

portions of land, from time to time, as they may choose to sell. We have

thought, that the dictates of interest as well as humanity, enjoined mutual

endeavors with those Indians to live in peace with both nations, and we have

scrupulous ly observed that conduct. 0ur agent with the Indians bordering on

the territories of Spain, has a standing instruction to use his best endeavors

to prevent them from committing acts of hostility against the Spanish

settlements . But whatever mayhave been the conduct or orders of the governmen

t of Spain, that of their officers in our neighborho od has been indisputabl y

unfriendly and hostile to us. The papers enclosed will demonstrat e this to

you. That the Baron de Carondelet, their chief Governor at New Orleans, has

excited the Indians to war on us, that he has furnished them with abundance of

arms and ammunition , and promised them whatever more shall be necessary, I

have from the mouth of him who had it from his own mouth. In short, that he is

the sole source of a great and serious war now burst out upon us, and from

Indians who, we know, were in peaceable disposition s towards us till prevailed

on by him to commence the war, there remains scarcely room to doubt. It has

become necessary that we understand the real policy of Spain in this point. You

will, therefore, be pleased







   VOL. VIII-27 













 418          Jefferson's Works







to extract from the enclosed papers such facts as you think proper to be

communicat ed to that court, and enter into friendly but serious expostulati

ons on the conduct of their offiicers; for we have equal evidence against the

commandan ts of other posts in Wfiest Florida, though they being subordinat e

to Carondelet, we name him as the source. If they disavow his conduct, we must

naturally look to their treatment of him'as the sole evidence of their

sincerity. But we must look further. It is a general rule, that no nation has a

right to keep an agent within the limits of another, without the consent of

that other, and we are satisfied it would be best for both Spain and us, to

abstain from having agents or other persons in our employ or pay among the

savages inhabiting our respective territories, whether as subjects or

independen 't. You are, therefore, desired to propose and press a stipulation

to that effect. Should they absolutely decline it, it may be proper to let them

perceive that as the right of keeping agents exists on both sides or on

neither, it will rest with us to reciprocate their own measures. We confidently

hope that these proceeding s are unauthoriz ed by the governmen t of Spain, and

in this hope, we continue in the disposition s formerly expressed to you, of

living on terms of the best friendship and harmony with that country, of making

their interests in our neighborho od our own, and of giving them every proof of

this, except the abandonme nt of those essential rights which you are

instructed to insist on. 













            Correspond ence          419







 I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Gentlemen, your most

obedient, and most humble servant.















        TO GOUVERNE UR MORRIS, ESQ.







            PHILADELP HIA, OCtOber I5, 1772.







  SIR,-I have duly received your favor·of July 1o, No. 4, but no other number

preceding or subsequent . I fear, therefore, that some miscarriage has taken

place. The present goes to Bordeaux, undercover to Mr. Fenwick, who, I hope,

will be able to give it a safe conveyance to you. I observe that you say in

your letter, that' "tlie marine department is to treat with you for supplies to

St. Domingo." I presume you mean ` ` supplies of moncey, '' and not that our

governmen t is to furnish supplies of provisions, specifically , or employ

others to do it; this being a business into which they could not enter. The

payment of money here, to be employed by their own agents in purchasing the

produce of our soil, is a desirable thing. We are informed by the public

papers, that the late constitutio n of France, formally notified to us, is

suspended, and a new convention called. During the time of this suspension ,

and while no legitimate governmen t exists, we apprehend we cannot continue the

payments of our debt to France, because there is no person authorized to

receive it and to give us an unobjectio nable acquittal. You are, therefore,

desired to 













    420       Jefferson's Works







consider the payment as suspended, until further orders. Should circumstan ces

oblige you to mention this (which it is better to avoid if you can), do it with

such solid reasons as will occur to yourself, and accompany it with the most fr

iendly declaration s that the suspension does not proceed from any wish in us

to delay the payment, the contrary being our wish, nor from any desire to

embarrass or oppose the settlement of their governmen t in that way in which

their nation shall desire it; but from our anxiety to pay this debt justly and

honorably, and to the persons really authorized by the nation (to whom we owe

it) to receive it for their use. Nor shall this suspension be continued one

moment after we can see our way clear out of the difficulty into which their

situation has thrown us. That they may speedily obtain liberty, peace, and

tranquillity , is our sincere prayer.







  The present summer is employed by us in endeavors to persuade the Indians to

peace, and to prepare for the ensuing campaign, if our endeavors for peace

should fail. That they will fail, we have reason to expect, and consequent ly

that the expenses of our armament are to continue for some time. Another

plentiful year added to the several others which we have successivel y had, is

some consolation under these expenses. Very early frosts, indeed, have somewhat

shortened the production s of the autumn.







  I have the honor to be, with great respect and 













  421          Correspond ence







esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















         TO MONSIEUR DE TERNANT.







           PHILADELP HIA, OCtOber I6, I'7g2.          I







SIR,-I am to acknowledg e the receipt of your letter of the gth instant,

proposing a stipulation for the abolition of the practice of privateerin g in

times of war. The benevolenc e of this proposition is worthy of the nation from

which it comes, and our sentiments on it have been declared in the treaty to

which you are pleased to refer, as well as in some others which have been

proposed. There are in those treaties some other principles which would

probably meet the approbatio n of your governmen t, as flowing from the same

desire to lessen the occasions and the calamities of war. On all of these, as

well as on those amendment s to our treaty of commerce which might better its

conditions with both nations, and which the National Assembly of France has

likewise brought into view on a former occasion, we are ready to enter into

negotiation with you, only proposing to take the whole into considerati on at

once. And while contemplati ng provisions which look to the event of war, we

are happy in feeling a conviction that it is yet at a great distance from us,

and in believing that the sentiments of sincere friendship which we bear to the

nation of France are reciprocate d on their part. Of these our disposition s, 













   422                  Jefferson's Works







be so good as to assure them on this and all other occasions; and to accept

yourself those sentiments of esteem and respect with which I have the honor to

be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant







      TO MESSRS. VIAR AND JAUDENES,                  COMMISSIO NERS







                OF SPAIN.







           PHILADELP HIA, NOVember I, 1772.







GENTLEME N,-I have nOW to acknowledg e the receipt of your favor of October the

29th, which I have duly laid before the President of the United States; and in

answer thereto, I cannot but observe that some parts of its contents were truly

unexpected . On what foundation it can be supposed that we have menaced the

Creek nation with destruction during the present autumn, or at any other time,

is entirely inconceiva ble. Our endeavors, on the contrary, to keep them at

peace, have been earnest, perseverin g and notorious, and no expense has been

spared which might attain that object. With the same views to peace, we have

suspended, now more than a twelvemont h, the marking a boundary between them

and us, which had been fairly, freely and solemnly established with the chiefs

whom they had deputed to treat with us on that subject; we have suspended it, I

say, in the constant hope that taking time to consider it in the councils of

their nation, and recognizin g the justice 













423             Correspond cnce







and reciprocity of its conditions, they would at length freely concur in

carrying it into execution. We agree with you, that the interests which either

of us have in the proceeding s of the other with this nation of Indians, is a

proper subject of discussion at the negotiation s to be opened at Madrid, and

shall accordingl y give the same in charge to our commission ers there. In the

meantime, we shall continue sincerely to cultivate the peace and prosperity of

all the parties, being constant in the opinion, that this conduct, reciprocall

y observed, will most increase the happiness of all.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of great esteem and respect,

Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







           PHILADELP HIA, November 2, 1792







SIR,-The letter of October the zgth, from Messrs. Viar and Jaudenes, not

expressing the principle on which their governmen t interests itself between

the United States and the Creeks, I thought it of importance to have it

ascertained . I therefore called on those gentlemen, and entered into

explanation s with them. They assured me, in our conversatio n, that supposing

all question of boundary to be out of the case, they did not imagine their

governmen t would think themselves authorized to take under their protection,

any nations of Indians 













      424      Jefferson's Works







living within limits confessed to be ours; and they presumed that any

interferenc e of theirs, with respect to the Creeks, could only arise out

of.the question of disputed territory, now existing between us; that, on this

account, some part of our treaty with the Creeks had given dissatisfact ion.

They said, however, that they were speaking from their own sentiments only,

having no instruction s which would authorize them to decla,re those of their

court; but that they expected an answer to their letters covering mine of July

the 9th, (erroneousl y cited by them as of the 11th, ) from which they would

probably know the sentiments of their court. They accorded entirely in the

opinion, that it would be better that the two nations should mutually endeavor

to preserve each the peace of the other, as. well as their own, with the

neighborin g tribes of Indians.







  I shall avail myself of the opportunit y by a vessel which is to sail in a

few days, of sending proper information and instruction s to our commission ers

on the subject of the late, as well as of the future, interferenc es of the

Spanish officers to our prejudice with the Indians, and for the establishme nt

of common rules of conduct for the two nations.







  I have the honor to be, with the most. perfect respect and attachment, Sir,

your most obedient, and most humble servant.













            Correspond ence          425















TO MESSRS. CARMICHAE L AND SHORT.







          PHILADELP HIA, November 3, 1772.







GENTLEME N,-I wrote you on the 14th of last month; since which some other

incidents and documents have occurred, bearing relation to the subject. of that

letter. I therefore now enclose you a duplicate of that letter.







Copy of a letter from the Governor of Georgia, with the deposition it covered

of a Mr. Hull, and an original passport, signed by Olivier, wherein he styles

himself commissary for his Catholic Majesty with the Creeks.







Copy of a letter from Messrs. Viar and Jaudenes to myself, dated October the

agth, with that of the extract of a letter of September the aq.th, from the

Baron de Carondelet to them.







Copy of my answer of No. I, to them, and copy of a letter from myself to the

President, stating a conversatio n with those gentlemen.







From those papers you will find that we have been constantly endeavorin g, by

every possible means, to keep peace with the Creeks; that in order to do this,

we have even suspended and still suspend the running a fair boundary between

them and us, as agreed on by themselves, and having for its object the precise

definition of their and our lands, so as to preventenc roachment on either

side, and that we have constantly endeavored to keep them at peace with the

Spanish settlements also ; that Spain 













     426       Jefferson's Work







on the contrary, or at least the officers of her governmen ts, since the

arrival of the Baron de Carondelet, have undertaken to keep an agent among the

Creeks, have excited them and the other southern Indians to commence a war

against us, have furnished them with arms and ammunition for the express

purpose of carrying on that war, and prevented the Creeks from running the

boundary which would have removed the cause of difference from between us.

Messrs. Viar and Jaudenes explain the ground of interferenc e on the fact of

the Spanish claim to that territory, and on an article in our treaty with the

Creeks, putting themselves under our protection. But besides that you already

know the nullity of their pretended claim to the territory, they had themselves

set the example of endeavorin g to strengthen that claim by the treaty

mentioned in the letter of the Baron de Carondelet, and by the employment of an

agent among them. The establishme nt of our boundary, committed to you, will,

of course, remove the grounds of all future pretence to interfere with the

Indians within our territory, and it was to such only that the treaty of New

York stipulated protection; for we take for granted, that Spain will be ready

to agree to the principle that neither party has a right to stipulate

protection or interferenc e with the Indian nations inhabiting the territory of

the other. But it is extremely material also, with sincerity and good faith, to

patronize the peace of each other with the neigh













  427           Correspond ence







boring savages. We are quite disposed to believe that the late wicked

excitements to war, have proceeded from tlie Baron de Carondelet himself,

without any authority from his court. But if so, have we not reason to expect

the removal of such an officer from our neighborho od, as an evidence of the

disavowal of his proceeding s? He has produced against us a serious war. He

says in his letter, indeed, that he has suspended it. But this he has not done,

nor possibly can he do it. The Indians are more easily engaged in a war than

withdrawn from it. They have made the attack in force on our frontiers, whether

with or without his consent, and will oblige us to a severe punishment of their

aggression. We trust that you will be able to settle principles of a friendly

concert between us and Spain, with respect to the neighborin g Indians; and if

not, that you will endeavor to apprize us of what we may expect, that we may no

longer be tied up by principles, which, in that case, would be inconsisten t

with duty and self-preser vation







I have the honor to be, with sentiments of perfect esteem and respect,

Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















   TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.







           PHILADELP HIA, November 3, 1792.







  SIR,-In order to enable you to lay before Congress the account required by

law of the application 













  428          Jefferson's Works







of the moneys appropriat ed to foreign purposes through the agency of the

Department of State, I have now the honor to transmit to you the two

statements, Nos.1 and a, herein enclosed, comprehen ding the period of two

years preceding the 1st day of July last.







  The first statement is of the sums paid from the Treasury under the act

allowing the annual fund of $40,000 for the purpose of foreign intercourse , as

also under the acts of March 3, 1791,c. 16, and May, 1792, c. 4 1, 5, 3,

allowing other sums for special purposes. By this it will appear, that, except

the sum of $5oo paid to Colonel Humphreys on his departure, the rest has all

been received in bills of exchange, which identical bills have been immediately

remitted to Europe, either to those to whom they were due for services, or to

the bankers of the United States in Amsterdam, to be paid out by them to

persons performing services abroad. This general view has been given in order

to transfer the debt of these sums from the Department of State to those to

whom they have been delivered.







  But in order to give to Congress a view of the specific application of these

moneys, the particular accounts rendered by those who have received them, have

been analyzed, and the payments made to them have been reduced under general

heads, so as to show at one view the amount of the sums which each has received

for every distinct, species of service or disburseme nt, as wel1 as their

several totals. This is 













  429          Correspond ence







the statement No. a, and it respects the annual fund of $40,000 only, the

special funds of the acts of 1791 and 1792, having been not yet so far

administere d as to admit of any statement.







I had presented to the Auditor the statement No. 1, with the vouchers, and also

the special accounts rendered by the several persons who have received these

moneys, but, on considerati on, he thought himself not authorized, by any law,

to proceed to their examination . I am, therefore, to hope, Sir, that authority

may be given to the Auditor, or some other person, to examine the general

account and vouchers of the Department of State, as well as to raise special

accounts against the persons into whose hands the moneys pass, and to settle

the same from time to time on behalf of the public.







  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and

attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















  Dr.            THE DEPARTME NT OF STATE IN ACCOUNT WITH TfIE U. S.



















        1790 Aug.        ³To a warrant from the Treasury under the Act        ³

       



        14        ³foreign intercourse (1790, July 1        ³        $   500



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



        Dec. 20        ³To the Treasurer's Exchange on                         

³        



                ³X           $        ³        



                ³   Will. B. Staph. & Hub. under do.       2475.0          ³   

    



        1791 Mar.        ³=   1000        ³        40,000



        19        ³To Do                                                    ³  

     13,000



        May 7        ³        557-10 = 233.33               ³        



        1792 Jan.        ³To Do                                                

   ³        40,000



        27        ³                             99,000=        ³        



                ³To do. Under Act of March 3,1791, c. 16                   ³   

    



                ³      32,175=        ³        50,000



                ³To do under Act of foreign         ³        



        June 30        ³intercourse                                            

  ³        $143,500



                ³ 95,947-10 = 38766.67        ³        



                ³        ³        



                ³                                                          ³   

    



                ³        99,000 = 40000        ³        



                ³To do. under the Act of 1792, May 8,c, 41, 5, 3            ³  

     



                ³    123,750        ³        





























           Jefferson's Works











430



Cr.







        1790 Aug. 14         By paid Col. Humphre's on his mission to Madrid, 



                 (as by his receipt)        $     500







        Dec. 17         By remittance to Mr. G. Morris, (as by his letter,



                 Feb. 26, 91), the bill per contra for      2475 = $1000



                 By do. To J. B. Cutting, (as by papers given in to 



                 Congress,) the bill per contra for      577-10= $233 1/3







        1791 Mar. 19         By do. To Will V. Staphorsts & Hub., (as by their

account,



                 June 10, 91,) the bill per contra for                 99,000 =

        40,0000







        May 13         By do. To do. Subject to Humphreys & Barclay, 



                 (as by their receipt,) the bill per contra for       32,175 = 

      13,000







        1792 Jan. 23         By do. To do., (as by their account, April 10,

92), 



                 the bill per contra for                           95,947 =

38,766 2/3



                                                                               

                    99,000 = 40,000        40,000







        July 3         By do. to do. Subject to J. Pinckney for purposes of Act



                 May 8, 92, the bill per contra for                  123,750   

    50,000







                         $143,5000















Analyses of the Expenses of the United States for their intercourse with

Foreign Nations from July 1, 1790, to July 1, 91, and from July 1, 91, to July

1, 92, taken from the accounts of Messrs.  Short, Humphreys , Morris, Pinckney,

Willinks, Van Staphorsts, Hubbard, given to the auditor.















        1790, July1 -1791, July1        ³        Outfi        ³        Salar   

    ³        Secret        ³        Posta        ³        Contingencie        ³

       Total



                ³        t        ³        y        ³        ary        ³      

 ge        ³        s, viz.,        ³        Dollars



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        Gazettes,        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        etc., to        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        dept. Of        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        state        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        printing,        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        poor seamen,        ³        



                ³                ³                ³                ³           

    ³        etc.        ³        



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Ordinary,        ³                ³                ³                ³          

     ³                ³        5,103.10



 Mr. Short        ³                ³        4500.        ³        281.74       

³        72.4        ³        248.96        ³        6,102.73



 Col. Humphreys        ³        4500.        ³        1602.73        ³         

      ³                ³                ³        3,927.94



 Mr. Carmichael        ³                ³                ³                ³    

           ³                ³        1,505.44



 Mr. Dumas        ³                ³                ³                ³         

      ³                ³        



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



                                ³                ³                ³            

   ³                ³                ³        16,639.21



            Total        ³                ³                ³                ³  

             ³                ³        



        



Extraordin ary,



        Mission to London         2000.



        Mission to Amsterdam on the subject of loans        986.18



        Mission to Madrid         1195.89



        Mr. Cutting special services to American seamen         233.33        

4,415.40







       



                                                Total                 21,054.61

















Correspond ence 431











        1791, July 1 - 1792, July        ³        Outfit        ³        Salary

       ³                ³        Postag        ³        Contin-        ³       

Total



        1        ³                ³                ³                ³        e 

      ³        gencies        ³        Dollars



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Ordinary,        ³                ³                ³                ³          

     ³                ³        



 Mr. Short        ³        4500.        ³        4500.        ³               

³        68.82        ³                ³        9,068.82



 Col. Humphreys        ³                ³        4500.        ³               

³        171.        ³                ³        4,671



 Mr. Carmichael        ³                ³                ³                ³    

           ³                ³        4,512.20



 Mr. Dumas        ³                ³                ³                ³         

      ³                ³        1,528.32



 Mr. Morris        ³        9000.        ³        1500.        ³               

³                ³                ³        10,500.



 Mr. Pinckney        ³        9000.        ³        1800.        ³             

  ³                ³                ³        10,800.



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



        ³                ³                ³                ³                ³  

             ³        41,080.34







 Extraordin ary,



        Mission to Amsterdam on subject of loans         444.43



        Mission to Madrid         320.



        Dyes for dedals as presents to foreign ministers taking leave,



        and medals         1586.32         2,350.75



          



                                                                     Total     

           43,431.09











 Thomas Jefferson having had the honor at different times heretofore of giving

to the President conjectural estimate of expenses of our foreign establishme

nt, has that of now laying before him, in page 1 of the enclosed paper, a

statement of the whole amount of the foreign fund from the commencem ent to the

expiration of the act, which will be on the 3d March next, with the actual

expenses to the 1st of July last, and the conjectural ones from thence through

the remaining eight months, and the balance which will probably remain.







  Page 2; shows the probable annual expense of our present establishme nt, and

its excess above the funds allowed, and in another column the reduced

establish-







; ment necessary and most proper to bring it within the limits of the funds

supposing it should be continued.







  NOVEMBER 5, 1772. 













432                                Jefferson's Works







Estimate of the funds of $40,000 for foreign intercourse



and its application.







1790, July 1, to 1791, July 1, a year's appropriati on         $40,000.00



1791, July1, to 1792, July 1, a year's appropriati on        40,000.00



1792, July 1, to 1793, March 3d, being 8 1-10 months         27000.00



                                                                               

                                                          $107,000







1790, July 1, to 1791, July 1, actual expenses incurred         $21,054.00



1791, July 1, to 1792, July 2, actual expenses incurred         43,431.09



1792, July 1, to 1793, March 3d, the probable expenses may be about        

26,300.00



Surplus unexpende d will be about         16,214.91



                                                                               

                                                           $107,000



November 5, 1792















Estimate of the ordinary expense of the different diplomatic grades annually.



        A Minister Plenipotiary.        ³        A Resident.        ³       

Agent.



                ³                ³        



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



Outfit 1-7 of        ³Outfit 1-7o        ³



$9,000......1,285.71        ³f$4,500............642.85        ³



Salary...........................        ³Salary.............................  

     ³Salary..................1,



9,000.        ³.4,500.        ³300



Secretary.......................1,35       

³.......................................        ³Extras.....................



0.        ³...............        ³350



Extras...............................35       

³Extras.............................        ³



0.        ³.....350.        ³



Return 1-7 of        ³Returns 1-7 of        ³



$2,250........321.42        ³$1,125..........160.71        ³



ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ



                                   ³                                ³          

         



      $12,307.13                   ³      $5,653.56        ³      $1.650 



Medals to foreign ministers, suppose 5 to be kept here and changed once in 7

years, will be about $654.06 annually.



































































































To Support The Present Establishment, Would Require







For Paris, Minister Plenipot'y        $12,307.13



        London        12,307.13



        Madrid, Resident        5,653.56



        Lisbon        5,653.56



        Hague        5653.56



        Medals to foreign ministers        654.06







                                                                   $42,229.54







November 5, 1792

















A Reduction of the Establishment to Bring It Within the Limits of $40,000







For Paris, Minister Plenipot'y        $12,307.13



        London        12,307.13



        Madrid, a Resident        5,653.56



        Lisbon        5,653.56



        Hague, an Agent        1,650.



        Medals to ministers        654.06







                                                                    $40,000.00









GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE,-According to the directions of the law, I now lay

before you a statement of the administration of the funds appropriated to

certain foreign purposes, together with a letter from the Secretary of State,

explaining the same.







  NOVEMBER 5, 1772. 













             Correspondence          433







 TO THE MAYOR, MUNICIPAL OFFICERS AND PROCUREUR







  OF THE COMMUNITY OF MARSEILLES.







           PHILADELPHIA, November 6, I 792.







  GENTLEMEN,-Your letter of the 24th of August, is just now received by the

President of the United States, and I have it in charge from him to communicate

to you the particular satisfaction he feels at the expressions of fraternity

towards our nation therein contained, to assure you that he desires sineerely

the most speedy relief to France from her general difficulties, and will be

happy to be instrumental in removing the special ones of the city of Marseilles

in particular, by encouraging supplies of wheat and flour to be sent thither.

Our harvest having been plentiful, our xnerchants would of course feel

sufficient inducements, in the assurances you give of a ready sale and good

price,were it not for the apprehensions of the Barbary cruisers. Certain

arrangements for a Convoy, and the time, place, and manner of getting under its

protection, would remove these apprehensions ; but it may be doubtful whether

these can be notified to them in time to prepare their adventures. The.y shall

certainly, however, be informed of the wants of your city, and the inducements

to go to it, and on this, and all other occasions, I beg leave to recommend our

commerce to the patronage of your municipality, and to tender to you the homage

of those sentiments of respect and attachment, withwhich I have the honor to

be,







voL. v1II-a8 













   434        Jefferson's Works







Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.















       TO COLONEL DAVID HUMPHREYS.







          PHILADELPHIA, November 6, 1772.







 DEAR SIR,-We have never known so long an interval during which there has not

been a single vessel going to Lisbon. Hence it is that I am so late in

acknowledging the receipt of your letters from No. 54 to 58 inclusive, and that

I am obliged to do it by the way of London, and consequently cannot send you

the newspapers as usual.







The summer has been chiefly passed in endeavoring to bring the north-western

Indians to peace, and in preparing for a vigorous operation against them the

ensuing summer, if peace should not be made. As yet no symptoms of it appear on

their part. In the meantime there is danger of a war being kindled up on our

south-western frontiers by the Indians in that quarter, excited, as we have

reason to believe, by some Spanish officers. We trust that it has not been with

the authority of their government.







To ' counterbalance these evils, we have had the blessing of another plentiful

harvest of the principal grains. Tobacco and Indian corn have sufiered from the

early frosts. We have very earnest demands for supplies of grain from

Marseilles; but the Algerine cruisers are an impediment. Would it be

practicable for you, without awaiting a general treaty, to obtain 













            Correspondence          435







permission for our flour to be carried to Portugal? nothing is more

demonstrable than that this restriction is highly injurious to Portugal as well

as to us.







Congress assembled yesterday, the President will meet them to-day, and I will

enclose you a copy of his speech whereby you will see the chief objects which

will be under their consideration during the present session. Your newspapers

shall be sent by the very first vessel bound to Lisbon directly. I am, with

sentiments of great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.







  P. S. November 7. After writing this letter, your No. 59 came to hand. It

seems then that, so far from giving new liberties to our corn trade, Portugal

contemplates the prohibition of it, by giving that trade exclusively to Naples.

What would she say should we give her wine-trade exclusive to France and Spain.

It is well known that far the greatest portion of the wine we consume, is from

Portugal and its dependencies, and it must be foreseen that from the natural

increase of population in these States, the demand will become equal to the

uttermost abilities of Portugal to supply, even when her last foot of land

shall be put into culture. Can a wise statesman seriously think of risking such

a prospect as this ? To me it seems incredible ; and if the fact be so, I have

no doubt you will interpose your opposition with the minister, developing to

him all the consequences which such a measure 













     436      Jefferson's Works







would have on the happiness of the two nations. He should reflect that nothing

but habit has produced in this country a preference of their wines over the

superior wines of France, and that if once that habit is interrupted by an

absolute prohibition it will never be recovered.















          TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.







          PHILADELPHIA, November 7, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-My last to you was of the 15th of October ; since which I have

received your Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. Though mine went by a conveyance directly

to Bordeaux, and may therefore probably get safe to you, yet I think it proper,

lest it should miscarry, to repeat to you the following paragraph from it.







    *   *   *    *   *   *   *    *







I am perfectly sensible that your situation must, ere this reaches you, have

been delicate and difficult; and though the occasion is probably over, and your

part taken of necessity, so that instructions now would be too late, yet I

think it just to express our sentiments on the subject, as a sanction of what

you have probably done. Whenever the scene became personally dangerous to you,

it was proper you should leave it, as well from personal as public motives. But

what degree of danger should be awaited, to what distance or place you should

retire, are circumstances which must rest with your own discretion, 













           Correspondence          437







it being impossible to prescribe them from hence. With what kind of government

you may do business, is another question. It accords with our principles to

acknowledge any government to be rightful, which is formed by the will of the

nation substantially declared. The late government was of this kind, and was

accordingly acknowledged by all the branches of ours. So, any alteration of it

which shall be made by the will of the nation substantially declared, will

doubtless be acknowledged in like manner. With such a government every kind of

business may be done. But there are some matters which, I conceive, might be

transacted with a government de facto; such, for instance, as the reforming the

unfriendly restrictions on our commerce and navigation. Such cases you will

readily distinguish as they occur. With respect to this particular reformation

of their regulations, we cannot be too pressing for its attainment, as every

day's continuance gives it additional firmness, and endangers its taking root

in their habits and constitution; and, indeed, I think they should be told, as

soon as they are in a condition to act, that if they do not revoke the late

innovations, we must lay additional and equivalent burthens on French ships, by

name. Your conduct in the case of M. de Bonne Carrere, is approved entirely. We

think it of great consequence to the friendship of the two nations, to have a

minister here in whose dispositions we have confidence Congxess assembled the

day before yester













438         Jefferson's Works







day. I enclose you a paper containing the Presiident's speech, whereby you will

see the chief objects of the present session. Your difficulties as to the

settlements of our accounts with France and as to the payment of the foreign

officers, will have been rcmoved bv the letter of the Secretary of the

Treasury, of which, for fear it should have miscarried, I now enclose you a

duplicate. Should a conveyance for the present letter ofier to any port of

France directly, your newspapers will accompany it. Otherwise, I shall send it

through Mr. Pinckney, and retain the newspapers as usual, for a direct

conveyance.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most

humble servant.















        TO COLONEL DAVID HUMPHREYS.







           PHILADELPHIA, November 8, 1772.







DEAR SIR,-You were not unapprised of the reluctance with which I came into my

present office, and I came into it with a determination to quit it as soon as

decency would permit. Nor was it long before I fixed on the termination of our

first federal cycle of four years as the proper moment. That moment is now

approaching, and is to me as land was to Columbus in his first American voyage.

The object of this private letter is to desire that your future public letters

may be addressed to the Secretary of State by title and not by name, until you

know who he will be, as otherwise your letters 













            Correspondence          439







arriving here after the 3d of March, would incur the expense, delay, and risk

of travelling six hundred miles by post after their arrival here. I may perhaps

take the liberty of sometimes troubling you with a line from my retirement, and

shall be ever happy to hear from you, and to give you every proof of the

sincere esteem and respect, with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your

afectionate friend and servant.







  P. S. We yesterday received information of the conclusion of peace with the

Wabash and Illinois Indians. This forms a broad separation between the northern

and southern war-tribes.















           TO T. M. RANDOLPH, JR.







           PHILADELPHIA, November 16, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-Congress have not yet entered into any important business. An

attempt has been made to give further extent to the influence of the Executive

over the Legislature, by permitting the heads of departments to attend the

House and explain their measures viva voce. But it was negatived by a majority

of 35 to 11, which gives us some hope of the increase of the republican vote.

However, no trying question enables us yet to judge, nor indeed is there reason

to expect from this Congress many instances of conversion, though some will

probably have been effected by the expression of the public 













     440          Jefferson's Works







sentiment in the late election. For, as far as we have heard, the event has

been generally in favor of republican, and against the aristocratical

candidates. In this State the election has been triumphantly carried by the

republicans ; their antagonists having got but a out of 11 members, and the

vote of this State can generally tur the balance. Freneau's paper is getting

into Massachusetts, under the patronage of Hancock; and Samuel Adams, and Mr.

Ames, the colossus of the monocrats and paper men, will either be left out or

hard run. The people of that State are republican : but hitherto they have

heard nothing but the hymns and la uds chanted by Fenno. My love to my dear

Martha, and am, dear Sir, yours affectionately.















          TO MONSIEUR DE TERNANT.







          PHILADELPHIA, November 20, 1772.







  SIR,-Your letter on the subject of further supplies to the colony of St.

Domingo, has been duly received and considered. When the distresses of that

colony first broke forth, we thought we could not better evidence our

friendship to that and to the mother country also, than to step in to its

relief, on your application, without waiting a formal authorization from the

National Assembly. As the case was unforeseen, so it was unprovided for on

their part, and we did what we doubted not they would have desired us to do,

had there been time to make 













            Correspondence          44I







the application, and what we presumed they would sanction as soon as known to

them. We have now been going on more than a twelvemonth, in making advances for

the relief of the colony, without having, as yet, received any such sanction;

for the decree of four millions of livres in aid of the colony, besides the

circuitous and informal manner by which we became acquainted with it, describes

and applies to operations very different from those which have actually taken

place. The wants of the colony appear likely to continue, and their reliance on

our supplies to become habitual. We feel every disposition to continue our

efforts for administering to those wants ; but that cautious attention to forms

which would have been unfriendly in the first moment becomes a duty to

ourselves, when the business assumes the appearance of long continuance, and

respectful also to the National Assembly itself, who have a right to prescribe

the line of an interference so materially interesting to the mother country and

the colony.







  By the estimate you were pleased to deliver me, we perceive that there will

be wanting, to carry the colony through the month of December, between thirty

and forty thousand dollars, in addition to the sums before engaged to you. I am

authorized to inform you, that the sum of forty thousand dollars shall be paid

to your orders at the treasury of the United States, and to assure you, that we

feel no abatement in our dispositions to contribute these 













    442       Jefferson's Works







aids from time to time, as they shall be wanting, for the necessary subsistence

of the colony ; but the want of express approbation from the national

Legislature; must ere long produce a presumption that they contemplate perhaps

other modes of relieving the colony, and dictate to us the propriety of doing

only what they shall have regularly and previously sanctioned. Their decree

before mentioned, contemplates purchases made in the United States only. In

this they might probably have in view, as well to keep the business of

providing supplies under a single direction, as that these supplies should be

bought where they can be had cheapest, and where the same sum will consequently

effect the greatest measure of relief to the colony. It is our wish, as

undoubtedly it must be yours, that the moneys we furnish be applied strictly in

the line they prescribe. We understand, however, that there are in the hands of

our citizens, some bills drawn by the administration of the colony, for

articles of subsistence delivered there. It seems just, that such of them

should be paid as were received before bona fide notice that that mode of

supply was not bottomed on the funds furnished to you by the United States, and

we recommend them to you accordingly.







I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect,

Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant. 













             Correspondence          443















      TO THOMAS PINCIiNEY.







           PHILADELPHIA, December 3, 1772,







DEaIR SIR,-I do not write you a public letter by the packet because there is

really no subject for it. The elections for Congress have produced a decided

majority in favor of the republican interest. They complain, you know, that the

influence and patronage of the Executive is to become so great as to govern the

Legislature. They endeavored a few days ago to take away one means of influence

by condemning references to the heads of department. They failed by a majority

of five votes. They were more successful in their endeavor to prevent the

introduction of a new means of influence, that of admitting the heads of

department to deliberate occasionally in the House in explanation of their

measures. The proposition for their admission was rejected by a pretty general

vote. I think we may consider the tide of this government as now at the

fullest, and that it will, from the commencement of the next session of

Congress, retire and subside into the true principles of the Constitution. An

alarm has been endeavored to be sounded as if the republican interest was

indisposed to the payment of the public debt. Besides the general object of the

calumny, it was meant to answer the special one of electioneering. Its

falsehood was so notorious that it produced little efect. They endeavored with

as little success to conjure up the ghost of anti-federal













  444          Jefferson's Works







ism, and to have it believed that this and republicanism were the same, and

that both were Jacobinism. But those who felt themselves republicans and

federalists too, were little moved by this artifice ; so that the result of the

election has been promising. The occasion of electing a Vice-President has been

seized as a proper one for expressing the public sense on the doctrines of the

monocrats. There will be a strong vote against Mr. Adams, but the strength of

his personalworth and his services will, I think, prevail over the demerit of

his political creed.







  I am, with great and sincere esteem, my dear Sir, your most obedient, and

most humble servant.















          TO DR. GEORGE GILMER.







          PHILADELPHIA, December 15, 1772.







  DEAR DocToR,-I received only two days ago your favor of October 9, by Mr.

Everett. He is now under the small-pox. I am rejoiced with the account he gives

me of the invigoration of your system, and am anxious for your persevering in

any course of regimen which may long preserve you to us. We have just received

the glorious news of the Prussian army bei.ng obliged to retreat, and hope it

will be followed by some proper catastrophe on them. This news has given wry

faces to our monocrats here, but sincere joy to the great body of the citizens.

It arrived only in. the afternoon of yesterday, and the bells were rung and

some illuminations took place 













            Correspondence         445







in the evening. A proposition has been made to Congress to begin sinking the

public debt by a tax on pleasure horses ; that is to say, on all horses not

employed for the draught or farm. It is said there is not a horse of that

description eastward of New York. And as to call this a direct tax would oblige

them to proportion it among the States according to the census, they choose to

class it among the indirect taxes. We have a glimmering hope of peace from the

northern Indians, but from those of the south there is danger of war. Wheat is

at a dollar and a fifth here. Do not sell yours till the market ' begins to

fall. You may lose a penny or two in the bushel then, but might lose a shilling

or two now. Present me affectionately to Mrs. Gilmer. Yours sincerely.















          TO JOHN FRANCIS MERCER.







           PHILADELPHIA, December 19, 1772.







  DEAR SIR,-I received yesterday your favor of the 13th. I had been waiting two

or three days in expectation of vessels said to be in the river, and by which

we hope more particular accounts of the late affairs in France. It has turned

out that there were no such vessels arriving as had been pretended. However I

think we may safely rely that the Duke of Brunswick has retreated, and it is

certainly possible enough that between famine, disease, and a country abounding

with defiles, he may sufer some 













     446      Jefferson's Works







considerable catastrophe. The monocrats here still afect to disbelieve all

this, while the republicans are rejoicing and taking to themselves the name of

Jacobins, which two months ago was fixed on them by way of stigma. The votes

for Vice-President, as far as hitherto known, stand thus:







                                 ADAMS.   CLINTON. NewHampshire..... ....... ..

    6 Massachusetts................    16 Rhode Island..... .... . . . .

Connecticut... ....... . . ... NewYork... . ......... .... .             12

Pennsylvania............... Delaware.. .. .. .............   3

Maryland.................        8 Virginia... . ......... .... .            21







 Bankrupt bill is brought on with some very threatening features. to landed and

farming men, who are in danger of being drawn into its vortex. It assumes the

right of seizingand selling lands, and so cuts the knotty question of the

Constitution whether the General Government may direct the transmission of land

by descent or otherwise. The post-office is not within my department, but that

of the treasury. I note duly what you say of Mr. Skinner, but I don't believe

any bill on weights and measures will be passed. Adieu. Yours afectionately.