THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON



  Definitive Edition



CONTAININ G HIS



AUTOBIOGR APHY, NOTES ON VIRGINIA, PARLIAMEN TARY 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 MANUSCRIP TS, DEPOSITED IN THE DEPARTME NT OF STATE AND
PUBLISHED IN 1853 BY ORDER OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS WITH NUMEROUS
ILLUSTRAT IONS



AND



A COMPREHE NSIVE ANALYTICA L INDEX



ALBERT ELLERY BERGH

EDITOR

VOL. VII.











ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICE OF

THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATI ON

OF THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, D. C.

1907 






COPYRIGHT , 1905,



BY THE THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL



ASSOCIATI ON 






JEFFERSON 'S SERVICE TO CIVILIZATI ON



DURING



 THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLIC.( 1)







At the present time; when we are preparing to celebrate the centennial
anniversar y of the peaceable acquisition of the Louisiana territory, the
splendid service to the nation rendered by Thomas Jefferson as President of the
Republic is rightly commandin g the attention of thoughtful patriots; for the
peaceable acquisition of this vast domain was rendered possible largely through
his foresight and broadvisio ned statesmans hip. He did not create the
opportunit y, but he so prepared for the contingenc y that when the opportunit
y arose the representa tives of the Republic were on the spot to act with the
courage and despatch necessary. And this service to the United States was but
one of many noble achievemen ts that marked his eight years as Chief Executive.
Yet, important as was his work in the Presidentia l chair, it is overshado wed
by his inestimable service to civilization prior to and during the establishin
g of the Republic.



Thomas Jefferson possessed in a larger degree than any other leading
constructiv e statesman in active



(1) Originally published in The Arena of May, 1903. 






ii    Jefferson's Service to Civilization



political life during the foundation period of our Republic the ideals and
aspirations of the noblest thinkers and most devoted friends of free governmen
t of the present time. He more than any other President of the last century
stood for the four cardinal. and essential demands of a civilization dominated
by the genius of justice, progress, and fraternity: (1) equal rights for all
and special privileges for none; (2) liberty of conscience, freedom of speech,
and a free press; (3) peace and amity between men and nations; (4) universal
education. Moreover, he more than any leading New World statesman of a hundred
years ago embodied the noblest concept of the spirit of democracy that up to
his day had appeared above the horizon of civilization.



  Thomas Jefferson was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, April 2, 1743· From
his fifth year until he was sixteen he enjoyed the instruction of the ablest
tutors in the vicinity of his home. When sixteen years of age he entered
William and Mary College, at Williamsbur g, and two years later was graduated
from that institution. Though only eighteen years of age, he was remarkably
proficient in Greek, Latin, and French, in higher mathematic s, natural
science, and history, and was thoroughly conversant with the masterpiec es of
literature, ancient and modern.



  Determinin g on law as a profession, he entered the office of George Wythe,
one of the ablest and most high-minde d attorneys and jurists of the time. It
is an interesting fact that this profound legal scholar 






iii                During Founding of the Republic 



prepared three young men for the bar who were destined to rank among the most
illustrious public servants of the Republic-T homas Jefferson, Chief Justice
Marshall, and Henry Clay.



  In the early days it was no difficult task to obtain admittance to the
Virginia bar. Patrick Henry, with no special previous training, passed muster
after only six weeks' study. But Jefferson was born with the instincts of a
true scholar. No superficial knowledge or half-way recognition of facts
satisfied him. He must sound the depths and seek the fountain-h ead for a
thorough knowledge of the origin of statutes.



  For five years Jefferson studied law-studie d it exhaustivel y, after the
manner of a scientific student who is not content until he has traced laws to
their origin and has become conversant with the conditions obtaining when great
rulings were made or precedents established .



  In 1768 Jefferson was elected to represent Albemarle County in the Virginia
House of Burgesses, a position to which he was chosen at every successive
election until the House was closed by the Revolution. His legislative
experience during the first session was very brief; for three days after the
formal opening of the House the members of the legislature, in response to an
appeal from Massachuse tts to resist by all constitutio nal means the attempt
of England to collect duties on certain articles of import, passed resolutions
declaring 






iv                            Jefferson's Service to Civilization



against taxation without representa tion, affirming the right of the colonies
to confer and co-operate in efforts to redress their grievances, and denouncing
as "an inexpressib le complexity of wrong"' the act providing that accused
persons should be sent from their country for trial.



  For the passing of this outspoken act the royal governor dissolved the House,
whereupon the legislators repaired to the historic Raleigh Tavern, at
Williamsbur g, and resolved to buy no more English goods that could possibly be
dispensed with, and to urge their countryme n to do the same. Among the
eighty-eig ht members who signed this compact were Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington , Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Richard Henry Lee.



  Rapidly and darkly grew the clouds that threatened war. The excitement over
the investigati on being conducted by the authorities for the Crown over the
burning of the "Gaspee" in the waters of Rhode Island had reached fever heat in
March, 1773, when a company of as rare souls as ever risked life in defense of
a principle assembled in Raleigh Tavern. All were members of the House of
Burgesses; all were young men; and Thomas Jefferson was there, as he was from
the first a leading spirit in the Revolutiona ry meetings. These daring young
statesmen framed a resolution with great care, so as not to alarm the timid
members, but which was destined to bear momentous results. It provided for the
appointmen t of a Committee of Correspond ence and 






    During Founding of the Republic                                       v



Inquiry for the disseminati on of intelligence between the colonies. It was to
be a standing committee of eleven. To prevent miscarriage and allay apprehensi
on the resolution was offered-"F or the purpose of quieting the minds of His
Majesty's faithful servants in this colony, which had been much disturbed by
various rumors and reports of proceeding s tending to deprive them of their
ancient legal and constitutio nal rights. 



Other colonies were urged to appoint similar committees. The resolution was
promptly passed, and the committee appointed contained such earnest young
patriots as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Peyton Randolph, and Richard Henry
Lee.



This bold action was followed by the dissolution of the House, but the
committee remained at the capital and carefully prepared a circular letter,
addressed to all the colonies, in which the purpose of the committee was fully
explained and an urgent invitation was put forth to each colony immediately to
appoint a similar committee, to the end that the thirteen dependenci es might
be kept in. close touch and promptly informed of every overt act taken.



Not only did the colonies promptly respond, but ere long almost every county,
settlement, and village had its committee. Their work was indispensa ble. At
one time they were the soul and strength of·the rising tide of opposition, the
hope of liberty, and the bond of union that emboldened men and colonies to
speak and strike in a way that would not have beer 






     During Founding of the Republic                   vii



pressing importance is the immediate rousing of the whole population of
Virginia to the peril that confronts the American dependenci es.



  It was finally decided to attempt to pass an order through the House of
Burgesses setting apart June 1st as a day for fasting, prayer, and humiliation,
to be observed in all the churches. It required tact and skill to prepare a
resolution that could be passed, as the nearer the hour drew for the cloud-burs
t the more timid became the older and more conservati ve members. In after
years, when referring to this important meeting, Jefferson wrote: "We cooked up
a resolution, somewhat modernizin g the Puritan phrases, appointing the first
day of June for a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, to implore Heaven to
avert from us the evils of civil war and to inspire us with firmness in support
of our Rights, and to turn the hearts of the King and Parliament to moderation
and justice."



The young men who prepared this resolution were famed more for skill with the
violin and grace in dancing than for piety and prayer; and Jefferson well
understood that if he or any of his youthful confrères were to offer the
resolution, with its pious preamble smelling so strongly of the  "godly'' days
when Oliver Cromwell and his Ironsides ever had a prayer on their lips, a psalm
in their throats, or a sacred text on their tongues, it would, or at least
might, call forth the ridicule of the opposition and in the end defeat the
measure. So a pious elderly 






viii              Jefferson's Service to Civilization



member was sought out, and he agreed tn offer the resolution, which was
promptly passed.



Again the royal governor dissolved the House. The members met the next day at
the Raleigh Tavern, where they directed the Committee of Correspond ence to
propose an American Congress of Deputies for all the colonies. Next they voted
to meet in August to elect the Virginia members to the proposed congress, and
they boldly declared that an attack on one colony was an attack on all.



With this action Virginia may be said to have passed the Rubicon.



  Immediatel y after the adjournme nt of the meeting the members set out to
their various bailiwicks, where they enthused the clergymen of the colony with
their own patriotism and so aroused the people that by the first of June the
great fast day led to the crystallizin g of the revolutiona ry sentiment of the
colony, just as the leaders had predicted it would. Never before, and rarely
since, have the clergy been so brave and outspoken. "The cause of liberty is
the cause of God!'' exclaimed one minister; and this was the sentiment echoed
from ocean to mountain. In after years Jefferson wrote of this memorable
occasion: "The effect of the day was like a shock of electricity, arousing
every man and placing him erect and solidly on his center."



Between the dissolution of the House of Burgesses and the meeting of the
members to appoint delegates to the proposed American Congress, Jefferson had 






ix                                               During Founding of the
Republic



been busily engaged in a somewhat exhaustive and remarkably bold and brilliant
presentatio n of the cause of the colonies, embodied as an outline for a series
of instruction s to be given to the Virginia delegates for their introductio n
at the general congress. Unfortunat ely, when he was en route for Williamsbur g
he was taken suddenly ill and was thus prevented from attending the meeting.
Copies of this brief of his for the colonies were, however, forwarded by him to
the president of the House, and by him laid before the members. The legislature
regarded the argument as rather too radical for the time, though it exerted
great influence on those who read the manuscript ; and the members ordered that
it be published in pamphlet form and circulated for the good of the cause under
the title of "A Summary View of the Rights of America.'' In it the fearless
young statesman boldly contended-



  "That the relation between Great Britain and these colonies was exactly the
same as that of England and Scotland after the accession of James and before
the Union, and the same as her present relation with Hanover, having the same
executive chief but no other necessary political connection; and that our
emigration of Danes and Saxons gave to the present authorities of the Mother
Country over England."



  The publication of this pamphlet produced a tremendous impression wherever it
was read. It was eagerly sought for on every hand and ran through several
editions. There can be no doubt that, coming at the time it did, it exerted a
very positive. 






x                                   Jefferson's Service to Civilization



and far-reachin g influence in favor of a bold and firm stand against English
aggression.



  Copies soon found their way into England. The Liberals hailed it with
delight. Some one, it is said to have been Burke, after making some
interpolatio ns., republishe d it to aid the cause of the Opposition. There
also several editions were exhausted. "This paper," observes the Honorable John
Bigelow "placed Jefferson among the leaders if not at the head of the
revolutiona ry movement in America. The Declaration of Independe nce, two years
later, was but a perfected transcript of the 'Summary View.'''                 
           



From the date of the publishing of this pamphlet Jefferson was the master
spirit in the Virginia convention and was as a matter of course selected as a
representa tive from Virginia to the general congress that had been called to
meet in Philadelphi a.



  Shortly after arriving in Philadelphi a, Jefferson was assigned committee
work when important memorials and replies were to be prepared. His superior
education, his knowledge of law, of the precedents of history and of problems
relating to political progress, and his happy faculty for presenting a cause in
a strong and convincing manner, rendered his services invaluable.



After the Battle of Lexington even the most timid of the representa tives came
to share the opinions of Mr. Jefferson embodied in his "Summary View." Then it
was seen that he had not only clearly per






     During Founding of the Republic                                           
                   xi



ceived the coming storm, but he had voiced with marvelous clearness and
felicity the opinions and position of America. Consequent ly, when the
memorable committee was appointed to draft the Declaration of Independe nce,
consisting of Franklin, Adams, Sherman, Livingston, and Jefferson, the latter
was selected to draw up the momentous paper. This he promptly did, and after
some slight and inconseque ntial modificatio ns it was adopted by the House and
signed on July 4th, 1776.



  In speaking of the historical importance that circumstan ces have given to
this great document, Mr. Bigelow observes that-



  "It seemed to be the weapon that dismembere d a great empire and that gave
birth to a nation of unbounded possibilitie s. It gave guaranties for the fame
of its author which are possessed by no other production of an American pen.
For more than a century it has been read to assembled multitudes in every
considerabl e town in the United States on the anniversar y of its adoption;
and its style and sentiments have been the model for every people which since
that time has sought to assert for itself the right of self-gover nment."



  For two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independe nce
Jefferson labored incessantly further to aid in the organizatio n of the
governmen t and in the preparatio n for the struggle being waged. At length he
felt he could be better spared to the cause of freedom from the general
congress than from the legislature in his own State, where matters of great
moment were to be met. Accordingl y, he 






xii                               Jefferson's Service to Civilization



resigned his seat in congress and repaired to Virginia.



This step was taken because he was profoundly impressed with the importance of
Virginia aiding in setting the pace for civilization in the New World in regard
to just laws that should supplant the old, cumbersom e, and unjust statutes
that had prevailed. He wished to wipe out many relics of barbarism, and he knew
he possessed much influence that might at that time prove of genuine service to
civilization.



  "When I left Congress in 1776,'' he tells us in his Autobiogra phy, "it was
in the persuasion that our whole code must be reviewed and adapted to our
republican form of governmen t, and, now that we had no negatives of councils,
governors, and kings to restrain us from doing right, that it be corrected in
all its parts with a single eye to reason and the good of those for whose
governmen t it was framed.''



Arriving at the seat of governmen t, he was at once recognized as the leader
and the very life of the progressiv e or reform element; while around him
ranged four or five of as noble-mind ed men as Virginia has given the world.
But in the great reform battle in the legislature, as well as the leader of the
committee for the revision of all laws of Virginia, Jefferson was from first to
last the master spirit. This is not saying that nearly all the splendid reforms
he sought to compass were enacted at this time, or even during the ten or
twelve succeeding years, when the magnificent work outlined by Jeffer






    During Founding of the Republic                                            
 xiii



son so far as possible was pushed forward by his most able disciple, James
Madison: That could not be expected when a statesman fully one hundred years in
advance of his age labored with men who were the products of generation s of
monarchic rule and whose whole lives had been passed under ancient and
oftentimes cruel and barbarousl y unjust laws.



  But the work he accomplish ed and the measures outlined by him and enacted
within the next few years would alone entitle him to a high place among the
great benefactor s of the New World, though his bold championsh ip of the cause
of justice raised a storm of opposition from conservati ves and upholders of
the old order that continued in a measure for more than thirty years.



  "Never, perhaps," observes Mr. Parton, "since the earliest historic times has
one mind so incorporate d itself with a country's laws and institutions as
Jefferson with those of new-born Virginia. ''



His first victory was won in a hard-fough t battle for the abolition of the
laws of entail. Many of the great old Virginia houses regarded with dismay the
success of this bold innovator in sweeping from the statutes this time-honor ed
and deeply cherished injustice.



  Next came a still more severe contest-the battle against a State Church and
for freedom of thought in religious matters. The Established Church of England
had long been supported by the people, and now this powerful church organizatio
n, almost 






xiv                                                  Jefferson's Service to
Civilization



its whole clergy, and the majority of its wealthiest members were arrayed
against Jefferson and his intrepid band. Yet the spirit of the hour and the
masterly arguments of the broad-mind ed reformer overturned intrenched
injustice, though bulwarked by prejudice, precedent, and convention alism. At
first the victory was but 'partial, but the arguments marshaled by Jefferson
and the fearless pushing forward of the work by Madison and others of his
enthusiasti c disciples soon accomplish ed the great reform.



  Another hoary but cherished injustice was swept away after a stubborn contest
in the abolition of primogenit ure and in the enactment of a law requiring
equal partition of inheritance s. Here again convention alism and conservatis m
made a desperate but unavailing stand.



  His noble plan for popular education showed that he more than any other
philosophic statesman of his time understood the basic fact that free governmen
t can only live in the presence of an enlightene d people. His elaborate and
carefully wrought out plan for popular education was worthy of a great thinker
whose appreciatio n of the importance of enlightenm ent was only second to his
passion for justice.



He proposed that common schools should be established in the counties of the
State, one school to every one hundred householde rs. They were to be supported
by the State. Every ten schools were to 






    During Founding of the Republic                       xv



have a director or overseer. The State was also to be divided into twenty
grammar-s chool districts, in each of which a grammar-s chool building, with
suitable accommodat ions for bed and board, was to be erected on public land.
These, like the common schools, were to be supported by the public, and here
English grammar, Greek, Latin, higher mathematic s, and other studies were to
be taught. Those scholars who industrious ly pursued their studies and
successfull y passed their examination s were to be permitted to attend for
several years, while those failing to reach a certain percentage were to be
dropped out at the end of each year. Each year also one especially competent
pupil was to be selected from each grammar school, thus making twenty in all
from the State, and sent to William and Mary College, where they were to be
given their tuition, board, lodging, and clothing during the three years
required for the full course in that institution.



  Jefferson knew that the wealth of the colony was at that time insufficient to
enable it to board, clothe, and school all the children, but by his proposed
plan every child would have the opportunit y to obtain a common-sc hool
education, and many a grammar school training; while each year the State would
be enriched by twenty youths whose previous education had indicated that they
were intellectual ly the flower of the youth of the State, equipped with the
best college education the community afforded. It will be observed also that
this plan would have estab






xvi                                 Jefferson's Service to Civilization



lished the precedent of the State assuming as her proper function, not merely
the intellectual education of the children, but the supplying, so far as her
resources would permit, of food, clothing, and shelter for the young while they
were acquiring the knowledge he felt to be absolutely essential to the
permanent triumph of true democracy. This may have been socialistic in spirit
and tendency, but it certainly was wise and evinced far-seeing statesmans hip.



  The plan of education as outlined by Mr. Jefferson included the founding of a
State public library and the establishin g of William and Mary College as a
State university. He had the drafting of the entire educational plan, but in
this work George Wythe and Edward Pendleton concurred.



  In 17 79 Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia. The infant State thus
far had for the most part escaped the ravages of war and had lavishly sent men
and means to strengthen and aid General Washington ; and later, after Jefferson
became Governor, when the more southern colonies were attacked, she sent men
and munitions to aid in the Carolinas, and when, drained of men and resources,
the enemy descended upon her defenseless shores, Richmond was captured and
ravished by Arnold. The legislature adjourned to Charlottesv ille, but being
pursued they disbanded. Jefferson narrowly escaped capture.



  The lack of aggressive defense on the part of 






    During Founding of the Republic                  xvii



Governor Jefferson was seized upon by his enemies all over the State, whose
animosity had been aroused by his great reform acts, as something reprehensi
ble. But here, as at other times, Jefferson's actions were prompted by the
highest motives of patriotism. The success of Washington and of the whole
nation was of far more importance than the making of a doubtful stand against
the British in Virginia; and, when it was found that Jefferson had merely acted
in harmony with Washington 's desires, the next legislature passed a strong
resolution of confidence and approved his services as Governor.



  In 1784 Mr. Jefferson was appointed by Congress minister plenipotent iary to
act with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in negotiating treaties with European
nations, and in 1785 he was appointed Minister to France, to succeed Dr.
Franklin, a position he held until 1789, dischargin g his duties in an
eminently satisfactor y manner. He succeeded in securing important modificatio
ns of the French tariff in the interests of American commerce, and also became
a great favorite with the abler and more progressiv e and republican thinkers
of France. Daniel Webster in referring to Jefferson's ministry at Paris said:
"No court in Europe had at that time a representa tive in Paris commandin g or
enjoying higher regard for political knowledge or for general attainment than
the Minister of this infant Republic. ''



It was while he was absent in France that his



   YOL. VII-B 






xviii                                        Jefferson's Service to
Civilization



friend, James Madison, forwarded to him a draft of the Constitutio n. Jefferson
was amazed and alarmed at its defects. There was no bill of rights properly
safeguardi ng the liberties of the citizens or the States; no precaution s
against that deadly menace to a republic-a large standing army; no provisions
against the curse of monopoly. Freedom of conscience and speech was not
granted, and the right of habeas corpus was not made secure. Furthermor e,
there was no provision against Presidents succeeding themselves indefinitely .
The absence of these things was well calculated to disquiet a statesman whose
prevision was so keen and whose .mind was so richly stored with the warnings of
history. Neverthele ss he appreciate d the perilous condition the country was
in without a constitutio n; so he reluctantly gave his support to the
instrument, relying on amendment s to remedy its dangerous defects.



  'When Washington entered upon his duties as first President of the infant
Republic, Jefferson was urged to take the portfolio of State, which he very
reluctantly accepted. Shortly after the assumption of this portfolio began that
struggle o£ giants .for supremacy in the nation, representi ng two opposing and
mutually exclusive ideals of governmen t, which became the chief source of
bitterness in the Cabinet of the first President. The apostle of privilege,
class rule, and centralizati on and the apostle of democracy soon found
themselves differing at almost every 






    During Founding of the Republic                                       xix



point, because their fundamenta l conception s of governmen t were entirely
unlike.



Alexander Hamilton, a man of splendid intellectual abilities, of imperious
will, and of aristocratic tastes, as ambitious for military glory as he was
autocratic in temper, was under the spell of the limited monarchy idea. He was
in spirit, taste, and temper monarchic or imperialistic, and his contempt for
the masses-or the "mob," as the early Federalists were pleased to term the
people-was as sincere as was his deep-roote d distrust of them. The fact that
he was sincere in these conclusions made him doubly dangerous. With him the old
Tory citizens went heart and soul. They desired to make the best of what they
considered the unhappy outcome of the war. With him naturally was ranged a
large proportion of the wealthier citizens, as he was the special champion of
the property class. He also attracted the shrewd financiers, who saw in his
schemes golden opportuniti es for the acquisition. of the special privileges
and subsidies that would enrich the few, not infrequentl y at the expense of
the many; while even more dangerous than all else to the cause of republicani
sm was the great number of high-minde d patriots whose whole previous reading,
training, and prejudices inclined them to Hamilton's view of class superiority
and of the right of persons of property or means to arrogate rights denied
their poorer brethren.



  These theories were altogether abhorrent to Jef






xx                                                 Jefferson's Service to
Civilization



ferson. He was too much of a philosophe r, well versed in history and human
life, to imagine that there could be any security or safety such as Hamilton
imagined would. exist under a firmly established property-h olding class
governmen t. He knew, as every deeply thoughtful and philosophic student of
history knows, that a ruling class, be it ever so wise and humane at the
beginning, soon comes to legislate for its own interests and against those of
the masses. He knew full well that the splendid new theory of governmen t-that
of liberty, justice, and fraternity for all the people-wou ld rapidly resolve
itself into an iridescent dream if the governmen t became subservien t or in
any way limited to a privileged class, or was left to the administrat ion of
individuals not directly accountabl e to all the people.



  Hamilton, though he had fought manfully for the adoption of the Constitutio
n, was never satisfied with that instrument, because of its republican
character. He had wished to make the offices of President and Senators
dependent on good behavior, with provisions for removal only by impeachme nt,
which would virtually mean life tenure. He desired that no one but members of
the propertied class should be allowed to vote for Senators, and that all State
Governors should be appointed by the President. Other autocratic provisions
were also desired. In a word, he wished to model our governmen t as nearly as
the American people would permit after the fashion of the limited monarchy of
Great Britain, 






    During Founding of the Republic                                xix



point, because their fundamenta l conception s of governmen t were entirely
unlike.



Alexander Hamilton, a man of splendid intellectual abilities, of imperious
will, and of aristocratic tastes, as ambitious for military glory as he was
autocratic in temper, was under the spell of the limited monarchy idea. He was
in spirit, taste, and temper monarchic or imperialisti c, and his contempt for
the masses-or the "mob," as the early Federalists were pleased to term the
people-was as sincere as was his deep-roote d distrust of them. The fact that
he was sincere in these conclusions made him doubly dangerous. With him the old
Tory citizens went heart and soul. They desired to make the best of what they
considered the unhappy outcome of the war. With him naturally was ranged a
large proportion of the wealthier citizens, as he was the special champion of
the property class. He also attracted the shrewd financiers, who saw in his
schemes golden opportuniti es for the acquisition. of the special privileges
and subsidies that would enrich the few, not infrequentl y at the expense of
the many; while even more dangerous than all else to the cause of republicani
sm was the great number of high-minde d patriots whose whole previous reading,
training, and prejudices inclined them to Hamilton's view of class superiority
and of the right of persons of property or means to arrogate rights denied
their poorer brethren.



  These theories were altogether abhorrent to Jef






    During Founding of the Republic                              xxi



as he regarded that as the most admirable of governmen ts. Hamilton's lack of
confidence in his fellowmen, his sympathy with caste, aristocracy , and wealth,
and the fact that his eyes were ever riveted on the past rather than the
future, made him timid and fearful of any governmen t not bulwarked by
precedent and well-establi shed examples.



  On the other hand, Jefferson was a man of faith and conviction. He believed
in the divinity of humanity. He had perfect confidence in the people, if equal
and exact justice were guaranteed to every unit in the State. He knew that
kingscraft, priestcraft, feudalism, aristocracy , autocracy, and in a word all
rulership of classes, had been oppressive, unjust, and unfavorabl e to the
highest developmen t of manhood and the rapid progress of civilization; and he
believed that the path of safety lay along the line of freedom, fraternity,
justice, and equality of rights and opportuniti es. Hence, though he was as
dissatisfied with the Constitutio n as was Hamilton, it was for reasons
diametricall y opposed to those of the apostle of privilege, classes, and
imperialisti c ideals.



  Hence, the struggle of the Titans for principles that each held to be
essential to the permanenc e of the new nation grew so fierce that Jefferson's
life in the Cabinet was made the most miserable period in his long public
carexer. So bitter at length became this contexst that Jcfferson resigned his
position, not wishing longer to serve in a Cabinet whose discord 






xxii                                Jefferson's Service to Civilization



he felt would itself prove disastrous to the best interests of the State. He
did not retire, however, until he had aroused the masses to the extreme peril
to republicani sm arising from the determined attitude of Hamilton and his
party of privilege and reactionary tendencies. As Jefferson had hoped to remedy
the defects of the Constitutio n by amendment s, Hamilton was determined to
make the governmen t stronger than the Constitutio n, and thus step by step
gain through aggressive centralizati on, through precedents and the ever-growi
ng power of class interests, the ends that he so devoutly desired at the outset
and that Jefferson knew would be subversive of the fundamenta l principles of
free governmen t. The masterly opposition of the greatest exponent of faith in
the people against the determined champion of class rule and imperialism
checked Hamilton's victorious course ere its baleful influence had dominated
the governmen t.



  Important as was his brave and determined course in uniting the fortunes of
Virginia with those of Massachuse tts when the latter colony was the special
object of monarchic tyranny; helpful as were his efforts in securing the
Standing Committee of Correspond ence for the colonies; immensely valuable as
was his ` ` Summary View '' to the cause of American freedom; essentially
glorious as were his voicing of the New World protest and proclamatio n in the
Declaration of Independe nce; great and far-reachin g for good as was his work
as the pre-eminen t leader 






    During Founding of the Republic                                            
       xxiii



in aggressive statesmans hip in Virginia, which eventuated in religious
freedom, the abolition of entail and primogenit ure, and the provision for the
equal division of inheritance s; splendid as were his program for popular
education and his plan for the abolition of slavery and the colonizatio n of
the negroes-all these services are overshado wed and eclipsed by his brave,
masterly, and victorious stand for freedom against monarchic, reactionary , and
class interests. This may, indeed, be said to be the supreme service he
rendered in the founding of the greatest of modern nations; for his genius,
courage, single-hear tedness, patriotism, and loyalty to the lodestone of
liberty and just governmen t, guaranteei ng equality of opportunit y and rights
to all citizens, served to beat back the baleful influences that in the light
of history and the nature of society could only in the end have proved fatal to
free governmen t.



  The owls and bats of reaction were put to flight, as were also the harpies of
privilege and the cormorants of class interests, while the principles of free
governmen t were so clearly established in the imagination of the people that
the high priest of the English system and the apostle of classes lost his sway
over the nation. Mr. Jefferson, on the other hand, not only became the great
leader and interpreter of democracy and the people's choice for Chief Executive
for eight years, but the highest office in the Republic passed from him to Mr.
Madison, his 






xxiv                                   Jefferson's Service to Civilization



 best-belov ed and most devoted disciple, who in turn yielded it to another of
Mr. Jefferson's friends and followers. And thus the reign of popular governmen
t and robust Americanis m became so firmly established that until after the
assassinati on of Abraham Lincoln-an other apostle of freedom and champion of
the common people-the Republic was the greatest moral world power of any age or
time.







Richard Henry Lee's Resolution



 (June 7, 1776)



Photo-engr aving from the Original Draft in Independe nce Hall, Philadelphi a.



  This resolution was presented to the Continental Congress a month before the
Declaration of Independe nce was read.  In fact, this was the motion passed by
Congress that gave Jefferson the task of writing his famous State Document. 
Richard Henry Lee's speech on introducin g this bold measure was one of the
most brilliant examples of eloquence ever heard.  The Resolution reads:



Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and
independen t States;

that they ar absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all
political connection s between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought
to be totally dissolved.



That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming
foreign alliances.



That a plan of confederati on be prepared and transmitted to the respective
Colonies for their considerati on and approbatio n



Resolved, That is the opinion of this Committee that the first resolution be
postponed to this day three weeks and that in the meantime [least any time
should be lost in case the Congress agree to this resolution] a committee be
appointed to prepare a Declaration to the effect of the said first resolution.







CONTENTS.





                                                                               
                                    PAGE

JEFFERSON 'S SERVICE TO CIVILIZATI ON  DURING  THE 

 FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLIC.        By B. O.    FLOWER, 

Editor of The Arena......... .................. ..................
..........................                  i        

LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE (1754-1789) .............             1-483

 To John Jay,  May 4,
1788.............................................................              
 1

To Monsieur Terrasson, May 7, 1788.............................................
               6 

To C. W. F. Dumas, May 15, 1788................................................
               7

To the Board of Treasury, May 16, 1788.......................................  
             9

To the Count de Moustier, May 17,  1788....................................    
           12

To John Jay, May 23,
1788..........................................................               
15

To John Brown, May 23,
1788.....................................................                23

To William Carmichael, May 27, 1788.........................................   
            23 

To John Jay, May 27,
1788........................................................                31

To Colonel Carrington, May 27, 1788........................................    
           36 

To James Madison, May 28, 1788.............................................    
           39

To Peter Carr, May 28, 1788....................................................
               43

To the Comte de Bernstorff, June 19, 1788................................      
         44

To Thomas Digges, June 19, 1788.............................................   
            47

To John Rutledge, Jr., January 19, 1788...................................     
                  50

To T. Lee Shippen, June 19, 1788..........................................     
                  52

To the Count de Montmorin, June 20, 1788...........................            
           54

To the Count de Montmorin, June 28, 1788.............................          
             62

To Captain Dircks, July 2, 1788..............................................  
                     63

To T. Lee Shippen, Esq., July 13,1788..................................        
               64

To Doctor William Gordon, July 16, 1788.............................           
            66

To R. Izard, July 17, 1788...................................................  
                     70

To Rev. James Madison, of William and Mary College, July 19, 1788.             
  73 






xxvi           Contents



LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE-Continued........................       page 

To Edward Rutledge, July 18, 1788.....................................         
              79

To John Brown Cutting, July 24, 1788.................................          
             82

To Charles Bellini, July 25,1788..........................................     
                  88

To John Brown Cutting, July 28, 1788................................           
            90

To Andrew Limozin, July 30, 1788....................................           
            92

To James Madison, July 31, 1788......................................          
             93

To Colonel W. S. Smith, August 2, 1788............................             
          99 

To John Adams, August 2, 1788........................................          
             101 

To John Jay, August 3, 1788...............................................     
                  105

To Colonel James Monroe, August 9, 1788........................                
       112 

To Hector St. John de Creve-Coeu r, August 9, 1788..        .....              
         113

To John Bannister, Jr., August 9, 1788..............................           
            116

To the Count de Moustier, August 9, 1788........................               
        117 

To John Jay, August 10, 1788..........................................         
              119 

To John Jay, August 11, 1788.........................................          
             121

To William Carmichael, August 12, 1788........................                 
      124

To John Rutledge, Jr., August 12, 1788..........................               
        127

To John Jay, August 20, 1788.......................................            
           128

To John Brown Cutting, August 23, 1788.....................                    
           130

To John Jay, September 3, 1788.... .............................               
                132 

To the Commission ers of the Treasury, September 6, 1788..........             
      134 

To John Rutledge, Jr., September 9, 1788...................                    
           137 

To John Brown Cutting, September 9, 1788................                       
        139 

To the Count de Montmorin, September 11, 1788.......                           
    141 

To Gerard de Reyneval, September 16, 1788..............                        
       142 

To the Marquis Armand de La Rourie, September 16, 1788.........                
   143 

To William Short, September 20, 1788.......................                    
           145 

To John Jay, September 24, 1788.............................                   
            149 

To T. Lee Shippen, September 29, 1788...................                       
        151 

To Gerard de Reyneval, October 1, 1788..................                       
        154 

To John Brown Cutting, October 2, 1788.................                        
       155 






               Contents           xxvii



LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE-Continued.                                     
                                                                               
             Pages

To the Count de Montmorin, October 23, 1788.........                           
    156 

To William Short, November 2, 1788.........................                    
           159 

To John Brown Cutting, November 3, 1788................                        
       161 

To C. W. F. Dumas, November 3, 1788...................                         
      163 

To John Jay, November 14, 1788.............................                    
           164 

To James Madison, November 18, 1788..................                          
     183 

To Alexander Donald, November 18, 1788... ...........                          
     187 

To John Jay, November 19, 1788............................                     
          189 

To John Jay, November 29, 1788............................                     
          221 

To General George Washington , December 4, 1788                               
223 

To John Adams, December 5, 1788. .......................                       
        231 

To William Short, December 8, 1788.......................                      
         235 

To Doctor James Currie, December 20, 1788.........                             
  238 

To Thomas Paine, December 23, 1788...................                          
     241 

To Thomas Paine, December 23, 1788..................                           
    245 

To William Carmichael, December 25, 1788...........                            
   247 

To Dr. Richard Price, January 8, 1789.. ................                       
        252 

To John Jay, January 11, 1789..............................                    
           259 

To James Madison, January 12, 1789...................                          
     267 

To John Jay, January 14,  1789,..........................                      
         270 

To John Adams, January 14, 1789........................                        
       272 

To Madame Necker, January 24, 1789.................                            
   275 

To John Jay, February 4, 1789..............................                    
           279 

To William Short, February 4, 1789......................                       
        282 

To Monsieur De Villedeuil, February 10, 1789......                             
  284

To William Short, February 28, 1789 ..................                         
      286 

To Dr. Edward Bancroft, March 2, 1789.............                             
  289 

To T. Lee Shippen, March 11, 1789 ...................                          
     291 

To John Jay, March 12, 1789..............................                      
         293

To Francis Hopkinson, March 13, 1789.................                          
     299 

To Count de Moustier, March 13, 1789................                           
    303 

To Madame de Brehan, March 14, 1789................                            
   307

To James Madison, March 15, 1789 ....................                          
     309

To Thomas Paine, March 17, 1789.......................                         
      315






xxviii         Contents



LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE-Continued.                          PAGE 

To Colonel David Humphreys , March 18, 1789 ..........                       
319

To Doctor Joseph Willard, March 24, 1789.................                      
         325 

To J. Sarsfield, April 3, 1789.......................................          
                     329 

To Marquis de La Fayette, May 6, 1789......................                    
           333 

To William Carmichael, May 8, 1789...........................                  
             335 

To Lewis Littlepage, May 8, 1789... ...........................                
               338 

To John Jay, May 9, 1789..........................................             
                  340 

To General George Washington , May 10, 1789...........                       
347 

To James Madison, May 11, 1789..............................                   
            353 

To John Jay, May 12, 1789.......................................               
                356 

To Monsieur de Pontiere, May 17, 1789 ...................                      
         358 

To Benjamin Vaughan, May 17, 1789........................                      
         359 

To Thomas Paine, May 19, 1789..............................                    
           361 

To Doctor Richard Price, May 19, 1789....................                      
         364 

To Hector St. John de Creve-Coeu r, May 20, 1789..                             
  367. 

To Marquis de La Fayette, June 3, 1789...................                      
         370 

To Monsieur de St. Etienne, June 3, 1789.................                      
         370 

To Marquis de La Fayette, June 12, 1789................                        
       374 

To John Jay, June 17, 1789....................................                 
              375 

To James Madison, June 18, 1789.........................                       
        386 

To John Jay, June 24, 1789...................................                  
             390 

To John Jay, June 29, 1789...................................                  
             397 

To Marquis de La Fayette, July 6, 1789................                         
      400 

To Marquis de La Fayette, July 7, 1789..................                       
        400 

To Jacques Necker, July 8, 1789...........................                     
          401 

To Count de Montmorin, July 8, 1789...................                         
      402 

To Marquis de La Fayette, July 9, 1789................                         
      403 

To Marquis de La Fayette, July 10, 1789...............                         
      404 

To Thomas Paine, July 11, 1789. .........................                      
         404 

To John Mason, July 16, 1789............................                       
        408 

To John Jay, July 19, 1789................................                     
          409 

To Monsieur L'Abbè Arnoud, July 19, 1789........                               
422 

To James Madison, July 22, 1789.......................                         
      424 

To John Jay, July 23, 1789.................................                    
           428 






                Contents            xxix



 LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE-Continued                              PAGE



To John Jay, July 29, 1789...................................                  
             429

To William Carmichael, August 9, 1789................

To John Jay, August 27, 1789..............................                     
           436

To James Madison, August 28, 1789.....................                         
      444

To James Madison, September 6, 1789................                            
   454

To Doctor Gem, September, 1789........................                         
      462

To Edward Rutledge, September 18, 1789.............                            
   463

To John Jay, September 19, 1789.........................                       
        467

To Jacques Necker, September 26, 1789..............                            
   478

To John Jay, September 30, 1789.........................                       
        480














JEFFERSON 'S WORKS.



LETTERS WRITTEN WHILE IN EUROPE.



1784-1789.







        TO JOHN JAY.



        PARIS, May 4, 1788.



SIR,-I had the honor of addressing you in two. letters of the 13th and 16th of
March, from Amsterdam, and have since received Mr. Ramson's of February the
20th. I staid at Amsterdam about ten or twelve days after the departure of Mr.
Adams, in hopes of seeing the million of the last year filled up. This,
however, could not be accomplish ed on the spot. But the prospect was so good
as to have dissipated all fears; and since my return here, I learn (not
officially from our bankers but) through a good channel, that they have
received near four hundred thousand florins, since the date of the statement I
sent you, in my letter of March the 16th; and I presume we need not fear the
completion of that loan, which will provide for all our purposes of the year
1788, as stated in that paper. I hope, therefore, to receive from the treasury
orders in conformity



   VOL. VII- I 






   2         Jefferson's Works



thereto, that I may be able to proceed to the redemption of our captives. A
provision for the purposes of the years, 1789 and 1790, as stated in the same
paper, will depend on the ratification by Congress of Mr. Adams' bonds of this
year, for another million of florins. But there arises a new call from this
governmen t, for its interest at least. Their silence, hitherto, has made it be
believed in general, that they consented to the non-payme nt of our interest to
them, in order to accommodat e us. You will perceive in the seventy-fif th and
seventy-si xth pages of the compte rendu, which I have the honor to send you,
that they call for this interest, and will publish whether it be paid or not;
and by No. 25, page eighty-one, that they count on its regular receipt, for the
purposes of the year. These calls, for the first days of January, 1789 and
1790, will amount to about a million and a half of florins more; and if to be
raised by loan, it must be for two millions, as well to cover the expenses of
the loan, as that loans are not opened for fractions of millions. This
publication seems to render a provision for this interest as necessary, as for
that of Amsterdam.



  I had taken measures to have it believed at Algiers, that our governmen t
withdrew its attention from our captives there. This was to prepare their
captors for the ransoming them at a reasonable price. I find, however, that
Captain O'Bryan is apprized that I have received some authority on this
subject. He writes me a cruel letter, supposing me the obstacle 






             Correspond ence



to their redemption . Their own interest requires that I should leave them to
think thus hardly of me. Were the views of governmen t communicat ed to them,
they could not keep their own secret, and such a price would be demanded for
them, as Congress, probably, would think ought not to be given, lest it should
be the cause of involving thousands of others of their citizens in the same
condition. The moment I have money, the business shall be set in motion.



  By a letter from Joseph Chiappe, our agent at Mogadore, I am notified of a
declaration of the Emperor of Morocco, that if the States General of the United
Netherland s do not, before the month of May, send him an ambassador , to let
him know whether it is war or peace between them, he will send one to them with
five frigates; and that if their disposition s be unfavorabl e, their frigates
shall proceed to America to make prizes on the Dutch, and to sell them there.
It seems to depend on the Dutch, therefore, whether the Barbary powers shall
learn the way to our coasts, and whether we shall have to decide the question
of the legality of selling in our ports, vessels taken from them. I informed
you, in a former letter, of the declaration made by the court of Spain to that
of London, relative to its naval armament, and also of the declaration of the
Count de Montmorin to the Russian minister here, on the same subject. I have
good information , that the court of Spain has itself made a similar and formal







4            Jefferson's Works



declaration to the minister of Russia, at Madrid. So that Russia is satisfied
she is not the object. I doubt whether the English are equally satisfied as to
themselves. The season has hitherto prevented any remarkable operation between
the Turks and the two empires. The war, however, will probably go on, and the
season now admits of more important events. The Empress has engaged Commodore
Paul Jones in her service. He is to have the rank of rear admiral, with a
separate command, and it is understood that he is in no case to be commanded .
He will probably be opposed to the Captain Pacha on the Black Sea. He received
this invitation at Copenhage n, and as the season for commencin g the campaign
was too near to admit time for him to ask and await the permission of Congress,
he accepted the offer, only stipulating, that he should be always free to
return to the orders of Congress whenever called for, and that he should not be
expected to bear arms against France. He conceived that the experience he
should gain, would enable him to be more useful to the United States, should
they ever have occasion for him. It has been understood , that Congress had it
in contemplati on to give him the grade of rear admiral, from the date of the
action of the Serapis, and it is supposed, that such a mark of their approbatio
n, would have a favorable influence on his fortune in the north. Copies of the
letters which passed between him and the Danish Minister are herewith
transmitted . I shall immediately represent to Count 






            Correspond ence            5



Bernstorff, that the demand for our prizes can have no. connection with a
treaty of commerce; that there is no reason why the claims of our seamen should
await so distant and uncertain an event; and press the settlement of this
claim.



  This country still pursues its line of peace. The ministry seem now all
united in it; some from a belief of their inability to carry on a war; others
from a desire to arrange their internal affairs, and improve their constitutio
n. The differences between the King and parliaments , threaten a serious issue.
Many symptoms indicate that the governmen t has in contemplati on some act of
high-hande d authority. An extra number of printers have, for several days,
been employed, the apartment wherein they are at work being surrounde d by a
body of guards, who permit nobody either to come out or go in. The commander s
of the provinces, civil and military, have been ordered to be at their stations
on a certain day of the ensuing week. They are accordingl y gone; so that the
will of the King is probably to be announced through the whole kingdom, on the
same day. The parliament of Paris, apprehendi ng that some innovation is to be
attempted, which may take from them the opportunit y of deciding on it after it
shall be made known, came last night to the resolution, of which I have the
honor to enclose you a manuscript copy. This you will perceive to be, in
effect, a declaration of rights. I am obliged to close here the present letter,
lest I should miss the oppor-






  6                 Jefferson's Works



tunity of conveying it by a passenger who is to_ call for it. Should the delay
of .the packet admit any continuatio n of these details, they shall be the
subject of another letter, to be forwarded by post. The gazettes of Leyden and
France accompany this. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most
perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.







          TO MONSIEUR TERRASSON .



                      PARIS, May 7, 1788.



 SIR,-I have read with attention the papers on the subject of the canal of the
Santee and Cooper rivers, and shall be glad to do anything I can to promote it.
But I confess I have small expectation s for the following reason: General
Washington sent me a copy of the Virginia act for opening the Potomac. As that
canal was to unite the commerce of the whole western country almost, with the
eastern, it presented a great view. The General detailed the advantages of it,
and it had the weight of his name, and was known to be under his immediate
direction. It was pushed here among the monied men to obtain subscriptio ns,
but not a single one could be obtained. The stockjobbi ng in this city offered
greater advantages than to buy shares in the canal. I tried whether they would
lend money on the security of the canal, but they answered they could get as
good an interest by lending to their own governmen t, with 






 7                Correspond ence



a douceur in the outset, and would have their money under their own eye, more
at their command, and more sure as to the payment of interest. However, if you
find any opening, and can point out to me how I may be useful in promoting it,
I shall do it with infinite pleasure. I have the honor to be, with sentiments
of the most perfect esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.





 

               TO M. DUMAS.



                     PARIS, May 15, 1788.



 SIR,-My first moments after any return having been necessarily occupied by
letters which had come during my absence, and which required immediate answers,
I have not till now been able to resume my correspond ence with you, and to
inform you of my safe arrival here after a very agreeable tour through Germany.
Our news from America comes down to the l4th of March. At that time the state
of the new constitutio n was thus: It had been accepted in Massachuse tts by

        ³        187        ³        aye        ³        against        ³      
 168        ³        noe

        ³                ³        s        ³                ³                ³ 
      s

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

Connecticut        ³        148        ³        "        ³        "        ³   
    40        ³        "

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

Pennsylvan        ³        46        ³        "        ³        "        ³     
  23        ³        "

ia        ³                ³                ³                ³                ³
       

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

Delaware        ³        22        ³        "        ³        "        ³       
00        ³        "

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

New Jersey        ³        39        ³        "        ³        "        ³     
  00        ³        "

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

Georgia        ³        33        ³        "        ³        "        ³       
00        ³        "

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ

Total        ³        475        ³                ³                ³        231
       ³        





    8        Jefferson's Works



 The Convention s of the other States were to meet as follows :



   Maryland... ................ . .        April 21.



  SouthCaroli na ..................         May 12.



  Virginia....................... .        May 26.



  NewYork.... ..............:...        June17.



  NorthCaroli na ..................         July-



NewHampsh ire............. ....         June-



Rhode Island had not called a Convention .



  I have received a letter from General Washington , wherein he gives it as his
opinion, that Virginia will accede to it. Mr. Madison inclines to the same
opinion. In fact, if Maryland and South Carolina should have adopted it, as
there is great reason to believe, the motives will become very cogent on
Virginia for accepting also. She will see that eight States have already
concurred, that New Hampshire and North Carolina will probably concur, that the
opposition to be made by Virginia and New York would have little efect, and
joined with Rhode Island would even be opprobriou s. So that probably she will
follow the example set by Massachuse tts of accepting the constitutio n
unconditio nally, and instructing her delegates to join with those of
Massachuse tts in urging future amendment. In this case the matter will be
fixed by nine States at the close of this month, or beginning of the next, and
we may have the news by the last of June. It is very possible that the
President and new Congress may 






             Correspond ence          9



be sitting at New York in the month of September. I have no other material news
from America. Here all seems peace without and war within. A great deal of good
is offered to the nation, but some think there is more evil in the form of the
offer. 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 HONORABLE THE BOARD OF TREASURY.



                     PARIS, May 16, 1788.



GENTLEME N,-In a letter of March 29th, which I had the honor of addressing you
from Amsterdam, I stated to you what had passed till that date relative to our
money affairs in England, and I enclosed you an estimate of these, which looks
forward to the end of the year 1790. I mentioned to you also, that the prospect
of filling up the loan of the last million was at that moment good, so that I
thought you might be at ease as to the payment of the June interest. I have now
the pleasure to enclose you a letter from our bankers of the 8th instant,
wherein they inform me they have sold bonds enough to pay the June interest and
have a surplus sufficient to replace the moneys lent from the Virginia fund,
and by Mr. Grand. These advances were but momentary accommodat ions, made under
the mistaken idea that the money was in Amsterdam ready to replace them, and it
was not in idea to inscribe them on the roll of the 






10         Jefferson's Works



debts of the United States, to take their turn of payment. You will therefore,
I hope, think me justifiable in having them replaced immediately , as there is
money enough now for that purpose, over and above the June interest. The
balance due to Gateau is for one of the medals I had your orders to have made,
and has been due upwards of a twelvemont h. Mr. Short's salary I suppose
included under your general order that the diplomatic calls shall be regularly
paid by our bankers. So far then, I shall venture to draw immediately , perhaps
also for the little balance due to Ast, whose distresses call loudly for
assistance. He has been obliged to carry his clothes to the pawnbroke rs to
raise money for his subsistenc e. All the other articles of the estimate will
await your orders, which you will therefore be pleased to give as you think
proper. The foreign officers had proposed a meeting, the object of which was,
as I heard, to address Congress in terms which would have been very disagreeabl
e, and at the same time to present a petition to the King, claiming his
interpositio n. This would have made a great deal of noise, and produced very
disagreeabl e effects. This was a few days before I went to Amsterdam. I saw
Colonel Gouvion the day before I set out, and desired him to quiet them till my
return, explaining to him that one of the objects of my journey would be to
enable you to pay them. I have since my return, informed them of the prospect
of payment, and that your orders for that purpose may be hoped by the



   11         Correspond ence



month of June. A letter from O'Brian, at Algiers, shows me that he has had an
intimation of my being authorized to redeem them, and imputes the delay to me.
I have endeavored , on the contrary, to have it believed at Algiers, that the
public will not interest itself in their redemption , having been assured by
the General of the religious order who is to act for us, that if the Dey has
the least expectation s that the public will interfere, he will hold them at
such prices as this order has never given, and cannot consent to give, because
of the precedent, and that in this case we shall lose the benefit of their
agency. Under these circumstan ces it would be cruelty to the captives to let
them know we are proceeding to their redemption . They could not keep their own
secret, and the indiscretio n of any one of them might forever blast the
prospect of their redemption . For I suppose it to be uncontrove rtible that a
regard to the safety and liberty of our seamen and citizens in general forbids
us to give such prices for those in captivity as will draw on our vessels
peculiarly the pursuit of those sea-dogs. It is for the good of the captives
themselves, therefore, that we submit to be thought hardly of by them; but no
time should be lost unnecessar ily in proceeding to their redemption ; nor
shall a moment be lost after I shall be authorized by your order to receive the
money. You perceive that by the extract from the letter of the bankers which I
have the honor to enclose you, they expect to place speedily the rest of the
bonds. I think I 






12          Jefferson's Works



may venture to assure you they can do it at' any moment if they are pushed. You
know the misunderst andings which exist between these two houses. These are the
cause of their not always saying as much as they might venture to say, with
truth. There is an error in the estimate I sent you, which must be explained. I
omitted, when I set out from Paris, to ask Mr. Short for a state of the balance
due him, and had always been ignorant of it, as the account remained between
him and Mr. Grand. When making the estimate at Amsterdam, therefore, I was
obliged to conjecture what that balance was, which I did from a very slight and
mistaken circumstan ce as I now find. The balance due him, instead of being
about 5000l., as I had guessed, is 13,146l. 6, as you will see by his account
now enclosed.



  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.







         TO THE COUNT DE MOUSTIER.



                     PARIS, May 17, 1788.



  DEAR SIR,-I have at length an opportunit y of acknowledg ing the receipt of
your favors of February, and March the 14th, and congratulat ing you on your
resurrectio n from the dead, among whom you had been confidently entombed by
the newsdealer s of Paris. I am sorry that your first impres






            Correspond ence           13



sions have been disturbed by matters of etiquette, where surely they should
least have been expected to occur. These disputes are the most insusceptib le
of determinati on, because they have no foundation in reason. Arbitrary and
senseless in their nature, they are arbitrarily decided by every nation for
itself. These decisions are meant to prevent disputes, but they produce ten
where they prevent one. It would have been better, therefore, in a new country,
to have excluded etiquette altogether; or if it must be admitted in some form
or other, to have made it depend on some circumstan ce founded in nature, such
as the age or station of the parties. However, you have got over all this, and,
I am in hopes, have been able to make up a society suited to your own
disposition s. Your situation will doubtless be improved by the adoption of the
new constitutio n, which I hope will have taken place before you receive this.
I see in this instrument, a great deal of good. The consolidati on of our
governmen t, a just representa tion, an administrat ion of some permanenc e,
and other features of great value, will be gained by it. There are, indeed,
some faults, which revolted me a good deal in the first moment; but we must be
contented to travel on towards perfection, step by step. We must be contented
with the ground which this constitutio n will gain for us, and hope that a
favorable moment will come for correcting what is amiss in it. I view in the
same light, the innovations making here. The new organizatio n of the judiciary







        14           Jefferson's Works



       department is undoubtedl y for the better. The reformation of the
criminal code, is an immense step  taken towards good. The composition of the
Plenary court is, indeed, vicious in the extreme; but the  basis of that court
may be retained, and its composition changed. Make of it a representa tive of
the people, by composing it of members sent from the Provincial Assemblies, and
it becomes a valuable member of the constitutio n. But it is said, the court
will not consent to do this; the court, however, has consented to call the
States General, who will con-

  sider the Plenary court but as a canvas for them to  work on. The public mind
is manifestly advancing on the abusive prerogativ es of their governors, and
bearing them down. No force in the governmen t can withstand this, in the long
run. Courtiers had  rather give up power than pleasures; they will barter, 
therefore, the usurped prerogativ es of the King, for

  the money of the people. This is the agent by which  modern nations will
recover their rights. I sincerely wish that in this country, they may be
contented  with a peaceable and passive opposition. At this  moment, we are not
sure of this, though as yet it is difficult to say what form the opposition ill
take. It is a comfortable circumstan ce, that their neighborin g enemy is under
the administrat ion of a minister disposed to keep the peace. Engage in war who
will,

 may my country long continue your peaceful residence, and merit your good
offices with that nation, whose affections it is their duty and interest to
culti







15             Correspond ence



vate. Accept these and all other the good wishes of him, who has the honor to
be, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most
humble servant.







                TO JOHN JAY.

                      PARIS, May 23, 1788.



  SIR,-When I wrote my letter of the 4th instant, I had no reason to doubt that
a packet would have sailed on the 10th, according to the established order. The
passengers had all, except one, gone down to Havre in this expectation .
However, none have sailed, and perhaps none will sail, as I think the
suppressio n of the packets is one of the economies in contemplati on. An
American merchant, concerned in the commerce of the whale oil, proposed to
government to despatch his ships from Havre and Boston at stated periods, and
to take on board the French courier and mail, and the proposition has been well
enough received. I avail myself of a merchant vessel going from Havre, to write
the present.



  In my letter of the 4th, I stated to you the symptoms which indicated that
governmen t had some great stroke of authority in contemplati on. That night,
they sent guards to seize Monsieur d'Epremeni l and Monsieur Goisland, two
members of parliament, in their houses. They escaped, and took sanctuary in the
Palais (or parliament house). The parliament assembled itself extraordina rily,
sum






16            Jefferson's Works



moned the Dukes and Peers specially, and came to the resolution of the 5th,
which they sent to Versailles by deputies, determined not to leave the palace
till they received an answer. In the course of that night, a battalion of
guards surrounde d the house. The two members were taken by the officers from
among their fellows, and sent off to prison, the one to Lyons, the other
(d'Epremen il), the most obnoxious, to an island in the Mediterran ean. The
parliament then separated. On the 8th, a bed of justice was held at Versailles,
wherein were enregistere d the six ordinances which had been passed in Council,
on the 1st of May, and which I now send you. They were in like manner
enregistere d in beds of justice, on the same day, in nearly all the
parliaments of the kingdom. By these ordinances; I, the criminal law is
reformed, by abolishing examination on the sellette, which, like our holding up
the hand at the bar, remained a stigma on the party, though innocent; by
substitutin g an oath, instead of torture, on the question prèalable, which is
used after condemnati on, to make the prisoner discover his accomplices ; (the
torture abolished in 1789, was on the question prèparatoir e, previous to
judgment, in order to make the prisoner accuse himself;) by allowing counsel to
the prisoner for his defence; obliging the judges to specify in their judgments
the offence for which he is condemned; and respiting execution a month, except
in the case of sedition. This reformation is unquestion ably good, and within 






           Correspond ence            17



the ordinary legislative powers of the crown. That it should remain to be made
at this day, proves that the monarch is the last person in his kingdom, who
yields to the progress of philanthro py and civilization. 2. The organizatio n
of the whole judiciary department is changed, by the institution of subordinat
e jurisdictio ns, the taking from the parliaments the cognizance of all causes
of less value than twenty thousand lives, reducing their numbers to about a
fourth, and suppressin g a number of special courts. Even this would be a great
improveme nt, if it did not imply that the King is the only person in this
nation who has any rights or any power. 3. The right of registering the laws is
taken from the parliaments , and transferre d to a Plenary court, created by
the King. This last is the. measure most obnoxious to all persons. Though the
members are to be for life, yet a great proportion of them are from description
s of men always candidates for the royal favor in other lines. As yet, the
general consternati on has not sufficiently passed over, to say whether the
matter will end here. I send you some papers, which indicate symptoms of
resistance. These are, the resolution of the Noblesse of Brittany, the
declaration of the Advocate General of Provence, which is said to express the
spirit of that province; and the Arret of the Chatelet, which is the hustings
court of the city of Paris. Their refusal to act under the new character
assigned them, and the suspension of their principal functions, are very
embarrassi ng.



   VOL. VII-2 






 18          Jefferson's Works



The clamors this will excite, and the disorders it may admit, will be loud, and
near to the royal ear and person. The parliamenta ry fragments permitted to
remain, have already, some of them, refused, and probably all will refuse, to
act under that form. The Assembly of the clergy, which happens to be sitting,
have addressed the King to call the States General immediately . Of the Dukes
and Peers (thirty-eig ht in number), nearly half are either minors or superannu
ated; two-thirds of the acting part seem disposed to avoid taking a part; the
rest, about eight or nine, have refused, by letters to the King, to act in the
new courts. A proposition excited among the Dukes and Peers, to assemble and
address the King for a modificatio n of the Plenary court, seems to show that
the governmen t would be willing to compromise on that head. It has been
prevented by the Dukes and Peers in opposition, because they suppose that no
modificatio n to be made by the governmen t will give to that body the form
they desire, which is that of a representa tive of the nation. They foresee
that if the governmen t is forced to this, they will call them, as nearly as
they can, in the ancient forms; in which case, less good will be to be expected
from them. But they hope they may be got to concur in a declaration of rights,
at least, so that the nation may be acknowledg ed to have some fundamenta l
rights, not alterable by their ordinary legislature, and that this may form a
groundwor k for future improveme nts. These seem to be the 






 19           Correspond ence



views of the most enlightene d and disinterest ed characters of the opposition.
But they may be frustrated by the nation's making no cry at all, or by a hasty
and premature appeal to arms. There is neither head nor body in the nation to
promise a successful opposition to two hundred thousand regular troops. Some
think the army could not be depended on by the governmen t; but the breaking
men to military discipline, is breaking their spirits to principles of passive
obedience. A firm, but quiet opposition will be the most likely to succeed.
Whatever turn this crisis takes, a revolution in their constitutio n seems
inevitable, unless foreign war supervene, to suspend the present contest. And a
foreign war they will avoid, if possible, from an inability to get money. The
loan of one hundred and twenty millions, of the present year, is filled up by
such subscriptio ns as may be relied on. But that of eighty millions, proposed
for the next year, cannot be filled up in the actual situation of things.



  The Austrians have been successful in an attack upon Schabatz, intended as a
preliminary to that of Belgrade. In that on Dubitza, another town in the
neighborho od of Belgrade, they have been repulsed, and, as is suspected, with
considerabl e loss. It is still supposed the Russian fleet will go into the
Mediterran ean, though it will be much retarded by the refusal of the English
governmen t, to permit its sailors to engage in the voyage. Sweden and Denmark
are arming from eight to twelve ships of the 






20          Jefferson's Works



line each. The English and Dutch treaties you will find in the Leyden gazettes
of May the 9th and 13th. That between England and Prussia is supposed to be
stationary. Monsieur de St. Priest, the ambassador from this court to the
Hague, has either gone, or is on the point of going. The Emperor of Morocco has
declared war against England. I enclose you his orders in our favor on that
occasion. England sends a squadron to the Mediterran ean for the protection of
her commerce; and she is reinforcing her possession s in the two Indies. France
is expecting the arrival of an embassy from Tippoo Saib, is sending some
regiments to the West Indies, and a fleet of evolution into the Atlantic. Seven
ships of the line and several frigates sailed from Cadiz on the 22nd of April,
destined to perform evolutions off the western islands, as the Spaniards say,.
but really to their American possession s, as is suspected. Thus the several
powers are, by little and little, taking the position of war, without an
immediate intention of waging it. But that the present ill humor will finally
end in war, is doubted by nobody.



  In my letter of February 5th, I had the honor of informing you of the
discontent produced by our Arret of December the 29th, among the merchants of
this country, and of the deputation s from the chambers of commerce to the
minister on that subject. The articles attacked were the privileges on the sale
of our ships, and the entrepot for codfish. The former I knew to be valuable ;
the latter I supposed 






            Correspond ence           21



not so; because during the whole of the time we have had our free ports in this
kingdom, we have never used them for the smuggling of fish. I concluded,
therefore, the ports of entrepot would not be used for that purpose. I saw that
the ministers would sacrifice something to quiet the merchants, and was glad to
save the valuable article relative to our ships, by abandoning the useless one
for our codfish. It was settled, therefore, in our conference s, that an Arret
should be passed, abridging the former one only as to the entrepot of codfish.
I was in Holland when the Arret came out; and did not get a copy of it till
yesterday. Surprised to find that fish oil was thereby also excluded from the
entrepot, I have been to-day to make some inquiry into the cause; and from what
I can learn, I conclude it must have been a mere error in the clerk who formed
the Arret, and:at it escaped attention on. its passage. The entrepot of whale
oil was not objected to by a single deputy at the conference s, and the
excluding it is contrary to the spirit of encourage ment the ministers have
shown a disposition to give. I trust, therefore, I may get it altered on the
first occasion which occurs, and I believe one will soon occur. In the meantime
we do not store a single drop for reexportati on, as all which comes here is
needed for the consumptio n of this country; which will alone, according to
appearance s, become so considerabl e as to require all we can produce.



  By a letter of the 8th instant, from our bankers, 






22          Jefferson's Works



I learn that they had disposed of bonds enough to pay our June interest, and to
replace the temporary advances made by Mr: Grand, and from a fund placed here
by the State of Virginia. I have desired them, accordingl y, to replace these
moneys, which had been lent for the moment only, and in confidence of immediate
repayment. They add that the payment of the June interest and the news from
America, will, as they trust, enable them to place the remaining bonds of the
last year's million. I suppose, indeed, that there is no doubt of it, and that
none would have been expressed, if those two houses could draw better together
than they do. In the meantime, I hope the treasury board will send an order for
so much as may be necessary for executing the purposes of Congress, as to our
captives at Algiers.



  I send you herewith a Memoire of Monsieur Caseaux, whose name is familiar on
the journals of Congress. He prepared it to be delivered to the King, but I
believe he will think better, and not deliver it. The gazettes of France and
Leyden accompany this. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and
most humble servant.



  P. S. May 27, 1788. I have kept my letter open to the moment of Mr.
Warville's departure, (he being the bearer of it,) that I might add any new
incidents that should occur. The refusal of the Chatelet and Grande Chambre of
Paris to act in the new character assigned them, continues. Many of the grandes







 23            Correspond ence



bailliages accept, some conditionall y, some fully. This will facilitate
greatly the measures of governmen t, and may possibly give them a favorable
issue. The parliament of Thoulouse, considerin g the edicts as nullities, went
on with their business. They have been exiled in consequenc e. Monsieur de St.
Priest left Paris for the Hague, on the 23rd. I mention this fact, because it
denotes the acquiescen ce of 'this government in the late revolution there. A
second division of a Spanish fleet will put to sea soon. Its destination not
declared. Sweden is arming to a greater extent than was at first supposed. From
twelve to sixteen sail of the line are spoken of, on good grounds. Denmark, for
her own security, must arm in proportion to this.







              TO JOHN BROWN.



         PARIS, May 26, 1788.



  DEAR SIR,-It was with great pleasure I saw your name on the roll of
Delegates, but I did not know you had actually come on to New York, till Mr.
Paradise informed me of it. Your removal from Carolina to Kentucky, was not an
indifferent event to me. I wish to see that country in the hands of people well
disposed, who know the value of the connection

between that and the maritime States, and who wish to cultivate it. I consider
their happiness as bound up together, and that every measure should be taken,
which may draw the bands of union tighter. It will 






 24           Jefferson's Works



be an efficacious one to receive them into Congress, as I perceive they are
about to desire. If to this be added an honest and disinterest ed conduct in
Congress, as to everything relating to them, we may hope for a perfect harmony.
The navigation of the Mississippi was, perhaps, the strongest trial to which
the justice of the federal governmen t could be put. If ever they thought wrong
about it, I trust they have got to rights. I should think it proper for the
western country to defer pushing their right to that navigation to extremity,
as long as they can do without it tolerably; but that the moment it becomes
absolutely necessary for them, it will become the duty of the maritime States
to push it to every extremity, to which they would their own right of
navigating the Chesapeake , the Delaware, the Hudson, or any other water. A
time .of peace will not be the surest for obtaining this object. Those,
therefore, who have influence in the new country, would act wisely to endeavor
to keep things quiet till the western parts of Europe shall be engaged in war.
Notwithsta nding the aversion of the courts of London and Versailles to war, it
is not certain that some incident may not engage them in it. England, France,
Spain, Russia, Sweden and Denmark will all have fleets at sea, or ready to put
to sea immediately . Who can answer for the prudence of all their officers? War
is their interest. Even their courts are pacific from impotence only, not from
disposition. I wish to heaven that our new govern






            Correspond ence           25



ment may see the importance of putting themselves immediately into a
respectable position. To make provision for the speedy payment of their foreign
debts, will be the first operation necessary. This will give them credit. A
concomitan t one should be magazines and manufactur es of arms. This country is
at present in a crisis of very uncertain issue. I am in hopes it will be a
favorable one to the rights and happiness of the people; and that this will
take place quietly. Small changes in the late regulations will render them
wholly good. The campaign opens between the Turks and the two empires, with an
aspect rather favorable to the former. The Russians seem not yet thawed from
the winter's torpitude. They have no army yet in motion; and the Emperor has
been worsted in two-thirds of the small actions which they have had as yet. He
is said to be rather retiring. I do not think, however, that the success of the
Turks in the partisan affairs which have taken place, can authorize us to
presume that they will be superior also in great decisions. Their want of
discipline and skill in military manoeuvre s, is of little consequenc e in
small engagemen ts, and of great in larger ones. Their grand army was at
Adrianople by the last accounts, and to get from thence to Belgrade, will
require a month. It will be that time at least, then, before we can have any
very interesting news from them. In the meantime the plague rages at Constantin
ople to a terrible degree. I cannot think but that it would be desir






 26           Jefferson's Works



able to all commercial nations, to have that nation and all its dependenci es
driven from the sea-coast into the interior parts of Asia and Africa. What a
field would thus be restored to commerce! The finest parts of the old world are
now dead, in a great degree, to commerce, to arts, to science and to society.
Greece, Syria, Egypt and the northern coast of Africa, constituted the whole
world almost, for the Romans, and to us they are scarcely known, scarcely
accessible at all. The present summer will enable us to judge what turn this
contest will take. I am greatly anxious to hear that nine States accept our new
constitutio n. We must be contented to accept of its good, and to cure what is
evil in it hereafter. It seems necessary for our happiness at home; I am sure
it is so for our respectabil ity abroad. I shall, at all times, be glad to hear
from you, from New York, from Kentucky, or whatever region of the earth you
inhabit; being with sentiments of very sincere esteem and attachment, dear Sir,
your friend and servant.







          TO WILLIAM CARMICHAE L.



                    PARIS, May 27, 1788.



DEAR SIR,-Your favors of April the 14th and 29th, and May the 8th, have lately
come to hand. That of January the 29th, by Monsieur de Molinedo, had been left
here during my absence on a journey to Amsterdam. That gentleman had gone, as I
pre






   27          Correspond ence



sume, before my return, from my being unable to learn anything of him.



  * * * * * * * * *



With respect to the Isthmus of Panama, I am assured by Burgoyne, (who would not
choose to be named, however,) that a survey was made, that a canal appeared
very practicable , and that the idea was suppressed for political reasons
altogether. He has seen and minutely examined the report. This report is to me
a vast desideratu m, for reasons political and philosophic al. I cannot help
suspecting the Spanish squadron to be gone to South America, and that some
disturbanc es have been excited there by the British. The court of Madrid may
suppose we would not see this with an unwilling eye. This may be true as to the
uninformed part of our people; but those who look into futurity farther than
the present moment or age, and who combine well what is, with what is to be,
must see that our interests, well understood , and our wishes are, that Spain
shall (not forever, but) very long retain her possession s in that quarter; and
that her views and ours must, in a good degree, and for a long time, concur. It
is said in our gazettes, that the Spaniards have sunk one of our boats on the
Mississippi, and that our people retaliated on one of theirs. But my letters
not mentioning this fact has made me hope it is not true, in which hope your
letter confirms me. There are now one hundred thousand inhabitants in Kentucky.
They have accepted the offer of independen ce, on 






  28          Jefferson's Works



the terms proposed by Virginia, and they have decided that their independen t
governmen t shall begin on the first day of the next year. In the meantime,
they claim admittance into Congress. Georgia has ceded her western territory to
the United States, to take place with the commencem ent of the new federal
governmen t. I do not know the boundaries . There has been some dispute of
etiquette with the new French minister, which has disgusted him.



  The following is a state of the progress and prospects of the new plan of
governmen t. * *    *



The conduct of Massachuse tts has been noble. She accepted the constitutio n,
but voted that it should stand as a perpetual instruction to her Delegates, to
endeavor to obtain such and such reformation s; and the minority, though very
strong both in numbers and abilities, declared viritim and seriatim, that
acknowledg ing the principle that the majority must give the law, they would
now support the new constitutio n with their tongues, and with their blood, if
necessary. I was much pleased with many and essential parts of this instrument,
from the beginning. But I thought I saw in it many faults, great and small.
What I have read and reflected has brought me over from several of my
objections of the first moment, and to acquiesce under some others. Two only
remain, of essential considerati on, to wit, the want of a bill of rights, and
the expunging the principle of necessary rotation in the offices of Pres






 29           Correspond ence



ident and Senator. At first, I wished that when nine States should have
accepted the constitutio n, so as to insure us what is good in it, the other
four might hold off till the want of the bill of rights, at least, might be
supplied. But I am now convinced that the plan of Massachuse tts is the best,
that is, to accept, and to amend afterwards. If the States which were to decide
after her, should all do the same, it is impossible but they must obtain the
essential amendment s. It will be more difficult, if we lose this instrument,
to recover what is good in it, than to correct what is bad, after we shall have
adopted it. It has, therefore, my hearty prayers, and I wait with anxiety for
news of the votes of Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia. There is no doubt
that General Washington will accept the presidents hip; though he is silent on
the subject. He would not be chosen to the Virginia convention. A riot has
taken place in New York, which I will state to you from an eye witness. It has
long been a practice with the surgeons of that city, to steal from the grave
bodies recently buried. A citizen had lost his wife: he went the first or
second evening after her burial, to pay 'a visit to her grave. He found that it
had been disturbed, and suspected from what quarter. He found means to be
admitted to the anatomical lecture of that day, and on his entering the room,
saw the body of his wife, naked and under dissection. He raised the people
immediately . The body, in the meantime, was secreted. They entered 






30            Jefferson's Works



into, and searched the houses of the physicians whom they most suspected, but
found nothing. One of them, however, more guilty or more timid than the rest,
took asylum in the prison. The mob considered this an acknowledg ment of guilt.
They attacked the prison. The Governor ordered militia to protect the culprit,
and suppress the mob. The militia, thinking the mob had just provocatio n,
refused to turn out. Hereupon the people of more reflection, thinking it more
dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of
law, than that he should escape, armed themselves, and went to protect the
physician. They were received by the mob with a volley of stones; which wounded
several of them. They hereupon fired on the mob, and killed four. By this time,
they received a reinforcem ent of other citizens of the militia horse, the
appearance of which, in the critical moment, dispersed the mob. So ended this
chapter of history, which I have detailed to you, because it may be represente
d as a political riot, when politics had nothing to do with it. Mr. Jay and
Baron Steuben were both grievously wounded in the head by stones. The former
still kept his bed, and the latter his room, when the packet sailed, which was
the 24th of April. I am, with sentiments of great esteem and respect, dear Sir,
your most obedient, and most humble servant. 






    31                Correspond ence







         TO JOHN JAY.



         (Private.) PARIS, May 27, 1788.



  DEAR SIR,-The change which is likely to take place in the form of our
governmen t, seems to render it proper that during the existence of the present
governmen t, an article should be mentioned which concerns me personally.
Uncertain, however, how far Congress may have decided to do business when. so
near the close of their administrat ion; less capable than those on the spot of
foreseeing the character of the new governmen t; and not fully confiding in my
own judgment, where it is so liable to be seduced by feeling, I take the
liberty of asking your friendly counsel and that of my friend Mr. Madison, and
of referring the matter to your judgments and discretion.



  Mr. Barclay, when in Europe, was authorized to settle all the European
accounts of the United States: he settled those of Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams,
and it was intended between us, that he should settle mine. But as what may be
done at any time is often put off to the last, this settlement had been made to
give way to others, and that of Beaumarch ais being pressed on Mr. Barclay
before his departure to Morocco, and having long retarded his departure, it was
agreed that my affair should await his return from that mission; you know the
circumstan ces which prevented his return to Paris after that mission was
finished. My account is, therefore, unsettled, but I 






32         Jefferson's Works



have no anxiety on any article of it, except one, that is, the outfit. This
consists of 1, clothes; 2, carriage and horses; 3, household furniture. When
Congress made their first appointmen ts of ministers to be resident in Europe,
I have understood (for I was not then in Congress) that they allowed them all
their expenses, and a fixed sum over and above for their time. Among their
expenses, was necessarily · understood their outfit. Afterwards , they thought
proper to give them fixed salaries of eleven thousand one hundred and eleven
dollars and one ninth, a year; and again, by a resolution of May the 6th and
8th, 1784, the "salaries" of their ministers at foreign courts were reduced to
nine thousand dollars, to take place on the 1st of August ensuing. On the 7th
of May, I was appointed, in addition to Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin, for the
negotiation of treaties of commerce; but this appointment being temporary, for
two years only, and not as of a resident minister, the article of outfit did
not come into question. I asked an advance of six months' salary, that I might
be in cash to meet the first expenses; which was ordered. The year following, I
was appointed to succeed Dr. Franklin at this court. This was the first
appointmen t of a minister resident, since the original ones, under which all
expenses were to be paid. So much of the ancient regulation, as respected
annual expenses had been altered to a sum certain; so much of it, as respected
first expenses, or outfit, remained unaltered; and I might, there






             Correspond ence                           33



fore, expect, that the actual expenses for outfit were to be paid. When I
prepared my account for settlement with Mr. Barclay, I began a detail of the
articles of clothing, carriage, horses, and household furniture. I found that
they were numerous, minute, and incapable, from their nature, of being vouched;
and often entered in my memorandu m book under a general head only, so that I
could not specify them. I found they would exceed a year's salary. Supposing,
therefore, that mine being the first case, Congress would make a precedent of
it, and prefer a sum fixed for the outfit as well as the salary, I have charged
it in my account at a year's salary; presuming there can be no question that an
outfit is a reasonable charge. It is the usage here (and I suppose at all
courts), that a minister resident, shall establish his house in the first
instant. If this is to be done out of his salary, he will be a twelvemont h, at
least, without a copper to live on. It is the universal practice, therefore, of
all nations, to allow the outfit as a separate article from the salary. I have
inquired here into the usual amount of it. I find that, sometimes, the
sovereign pays the actual cost. This is particularl y the case of the Sardinian
Ambassado r now coming here, who is to provide a service of plate, and every
article of furniture and other matters of first expense, to be paid for by his
court. In other instances, they give a service of plate, and a fixed sum for
all other articles, which fixed sum is in no case lower than a year's salary.



  VOL. VII-3 






34          Jefferson's Works



 I desire no service of plate, having no ambition for splendor. My furniture,
carriage and apparel, are all plain, yet they have cost me more than a year's
salary. I suppose that in every country and in every condition of life, a
year's expense would be found a moderate measure for the furniture of a man's
house. It is not more certain to me, that the sun will rise to-morrow, than
that our governmen t must allow the outfit, on their future appointmen t of
foreign ministers; and it would be hard on me, so to stand between the
discontinua nce of a former rule, and institution of a future one, as to have
the benefit of neither. I know, I have so long known the character of our
federal head, in its present form, that I have the most unlimited confidence in
the justice of its decisions. I think I am so far known to many of the present
Congress, as that I may be cleared of all views of making money out of any
public employment , or desiring anything beyond actual and decent expenses,
proportion ed to the station in which they have been pleased to place me, and
to the respect they would wish to see attached to it. It would seem right, that
they should decide the claims of those who have acted under their administrat
ion, and their pretermissi on of any article, might amount to a disallowanc e
of it, in the opinion of the new governmen t. It would be painful to me, to
meet .that governmen t with a claim under this kind of cloud, and to pass it in
review before their several Houses of legislation, and boards of administrat
ion, 






            Correspond ence                                         35



to whom I shall be unknown; and, being for money actually expended, it would be
too inconvenie nt to me to relinquish it in silence. I anxiously ask it,
therefore, to be decided on by Congress before they go out of office, if it be
not out of the line of proceeding they may have chalked out for themselves. If
it be against their inclination to determine it, would it be agreeable to them
to refer it to the new governmen t, by some resolution, which should show they
have not meant to disallow it, by passing it over? Not knowing the circumstan
ces under which Congress may exist and act at the moment you shall receive
this, I am unable to judge what should be done on this subject. It is therefore
that I ask the aid of your friendship and that of Mr. Madison, that you will do
for me in this regard, what you think it is right should be done, and what it
would be right for me to do, were I on the spot, or were I apprised of all
existing circumstan ces. Indeed, were you two to think my claim an improper
one, I would wish it to be suppressed , as I have so much confidence in your
judgment, that I should suspect my own in any case, where it varied from yours,
and more especially, in one where it is liable to be warped by feeling. Give me
leave, then, to ask your consultatio n with Mr. Madison on this subject; and to
assure you that whatever you are so good as to do herein, will be perfectly
approved, and considered as a great obligation conferred on him, who has the
honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and attachment, dear
Sir, your friend and servant. 






36          Jefferson's Works







     TO COLONEL CARRINGTO N.



                     PARIS, May 27, 1788.



DEAR SIR,-I have received with great pleasure your friendly letter of April
24th. It has come to hand after I had written my letters for the present
conveyance , and just in time to add this to them. I learn with great pleasure
the progress of the new Constitutio n. Indeed I have presumed it would gain on
the public mind, as I confess it has on my own. At first, though I saw that the
great mass and groundwor k was good, I disliked many appendage s. Reflection
and discussion have cleared off most of these. You have satisfied me as to the
query I had put to you about the right of direct taxation. My first wish was
that nine States would adopt it in order to ensure what was good in it, and
that the others might, by holding off, produce the necessary amendment s. But
the plan of Massachuse tts is far preferable, and will, I hope, be followed by
those who are yet to decide. There are two amendment s only which I am anxious
for: I. A bill of rights, which it is so much the interest of all to have, that
I conceive it must be yielded. The 1st amendment proposed by Massachuse tts
will in some degree answer this end, but not so well. It will do too much in
some instances, and too little in others. It will cripple the Federal Governmen
t in some cases where it ought to be free, and not restrain in some others
where restraint would be right. The 2d 






            Correspond ence          37



amendment which appears to me essential is the restoring the principle of
necessary rotation, particularl y to the Senate and Presidency : but most of
all to the last. Re-eligibili ty makes him an officer for life, and the
disasters inseparable from an elective monarchy, render it preferable if we
cannot tread back that step, that we should go forward and take refuge in an
hereditary one. Of the correction of this article, however, I entertain no
present hope, because I find it has scarcely excited an objection in America.
And if it does not take place erelong, it assuredly never will. The natural
progress of things is for liberty to yield and governmen t to gain ground. As
yet our spirits are free. Our jealousy is only put to sleep by the unlimited
confidence we all repose in the person to whom we all look as our president.
After him inferior characters may perhaps succeed, and awaken us to the danger
which his merit has led us into. For the present, however, the general adoption
is to be prayed for, and I wait with great anxiety for the news from Maryland
and South Carolina, which have decided before this, and with that Virginia, now
in session, may give the ninth vote of approbatio n. There could then be no
doubt of North Carolina, New York, and New Hampshire. But what do you propose
to do with Rhode Island as long as there is hope we should give her time? I
cannot conceive but that she will come to rights in the long run. Force, in
whatever form, would be a dangerous precedent. 






38          Jefferson's Works '



 There are rumors that the Austrian army is obliged to retire a little; that
the Spanish squadron is gone to South America; that the English have excited a
rebellion there; and some others equally unauthenti cated. I do not mention
them in my letter to Mr. Jay, because they are unauthenti cated. The bankruptci
es in London have re-commen ced with new force. There is no saying where this
fire will end, perhaps in the general conflagrati on of all their paper. If not
now, it must erelong. With only twenty millions of coin, and three or four
hundred millions of circulating paper, public and private, nothing is necessary
but a general panic, produced either by failures, invasion, or any other cause,
and the whole visionary fabric vanishes into air, and shows that paper is
poverty, that it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself. One hundred
years ago, they had twenty odd millions of coin. Since that they have brought
in from Holland by borrowing forty millions more, yet they have but twenty
millions left, and they talk of being rich, and of having the balance of trade
in their favor. Paul Jones is invited into the Empress' service, with the rank
of Rear Admiral, and to have a separate command. I wish it correspond ed with
the views of Congress to give him that rank from the taking of the Serapis. I
look to this officer as our great future dependenc e on the sea, where alone we
should think of ever having a force. He is young enough to see the day when we
shall be more populous than the whole British domin






            Correspond ence           39



ions, and able to fight them ship to ship. We should procure him, then, every
possible opportunit y of acquiring experience.



  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem, dear Sir,
your friend and servant.







       TO JAMES MADISON(1)



                PARIS, May 28, 1788.



  DEAR SIR,-The enclosed letter for Mr. Jay, being of a private nature, I have
thought it better to put it under your cover, lest it might be opened by some
of his clerks, in the case of his absence. But I enclose a press copy of it for
yourself, as you will perceive the subject of it referred to you, as well as to
him. I ask your aid in it so far as you think right, and to have done what you
think right. If you will now be so good as to cast your eye over the copy
enclosed, what follows the present sentence, will be some details, supplement
ary to that only, necessary for your information , but not proper for me to
state to Mr. Jay.



  378,227,124 7. though appointed a minister resident at the court of 514. he
never was 663. in that character. He was continually passing from 1042. to 514.
and 514. to 1042. so that he had no occasion



  (1)It will be seen that a few words of this letter are in cypher. It is
published, however, as written, because enough of it is literal to interest the
reader, to whom also, a specimen of the cypher used by the Author, may not be
unacceptab le.






 40                                     Jefferson's Works



to establish a household at either. Accordingl y, he stayed principally in
furnished lodgings. Of all our ministers, he had the least occasion for an
outfit, and I suppose, spent almost nothing on that article. He was of a
disposition, too, to restrain himself within any limits of expense whatever,
and it suited his recluse turn, which is, to avoid society. Should he judge of
what others should do, by what he did, it would be an improper criterion. He
was in Europe as a voyageur only, and it was while the salary was five hundred
guineas more than at present.



  145.1267.10 46.7. he came over when, instead of outfit and salary, all
expenses were paid. Of rigorous honesty, and careless of appearance s, he lived
for a considerabl e time, as an economical private individual. After he was
fixed at 812.141. and the salary at a sum certain, he continued his economical
style, till out of the difference between his expenses and his salary, he could
purchase furniture for his house. This was the easier, as the salary was at two
thousand five hundred guineas then. He was obliged too, to be passing between
1042. and 812.141. so as to avoid any regular current of expenses. When he
established himself, his pecuniary affairs were under the direction of
964.814.7.10 1.994. one of the most estimable characters on earth, and the most
attentive and honorable economists. Neither had a wish to lay up a copper, but
both wished to make both ends meet. I suspected, however, from an expression
dropped in conversatio n, that they were



           





41             Correspond ence



not able to do this, and that a deficit in their accounts appeared in their
winding up. If this conjecture be true, it is a proof that the salary, so far
from admitting savings, is unequal to a very plain style of life; for such was
theirs. I presume Congress will be asked to allow it, and it is evident to me,
from what I saw while in 1093. that it ought to be done, as they did not expend
a shilling which should have been avoided. Would it be more eligible to set the
example of making good a deficit, or to give him an outfit, which will cover
it? The impossibilit y of living on the sum allowed, respectabl y, was the true
cause of his insisting on his recall.



  821. 267.1292. He came over while all expenses were paid. He rented a house
with standing furiture, such as tables, chairs, presses, etc., and bought all
other necessaries . The latter were charged in his account, the former was
included in the article of house-rent , and paid during the whole time of his
stay here; and as the established rate of hire for furniture, is from thirty to
forty per cent. per annum, the standing furniture must have been paid for three
times over, during the eight years he stayed here. His salary was two thousand
five hundred guineas. When Congress reduced it to less than two thousand, he
refused to accede to it, asked his recall, and insisted that whenever they
chose to alter the conditions on which he came out, if he did not approve of
it, they ought to replace him in America on the old conditions. He lived
plainly, but as 








            Jefferson's Works                       42



decently as his salary would allow. He saved nothing, but avoided debt. He knew
he could not do this on the reduced salary, and therefore asked his recall with
decision.



To 935.145. succeeded. He had established a certain style of living. The same
was expected from 1214. and there were five hundred guineas a year less, to do
it on. It has been aimed at, however, as far as was practicable . This rendered
it constantly necessary to step neither to the right nor to the left, to incur
any expense which could possibly be avoided, and it called for an almost
womanly attention to the details of the household, equally perplexing,
disgusting, and inconsisten t with business. You will be sensible, that in this
situation, no savings could be made for reimbursin g the half year's salary,
ordered to be advanced under the former commission, and more than as much
again, which was unavoidabl y so applied without order, for the purchase of the
outfit. The reason of the thing, the usage of all nations, the usage of our
own, by paying all expenses of preceding ministers, which gave them the outfit,
as far as their circumstan ces appeared to them to render it necessary, have
made me take for granted all along, that it would not be refused to me; nor
should I have mentioned it now, but that the administrat ion is passing into
other hands, and more complicated forms. It would be disagreeabl e to me, to be
presented to them in the first instance, as a suitor. Men come into business 






            Correspond ence                      43



at first, with visionary principles. It is practice alone, which can correct
and conform them to the actual current of affairs. In the meantime, those to
whom their errors were first applied, have been their victims. The governmen t
may take up the project of appointing foreign ministers without outfits, and
they may ruin two or three individuals , before they find that article is just
as indispensa ble as the salary. They must then fall into the current of
general usage, which has become general, only because experience has
established its necessity. Upon the whole, be so good as to reflect on it, and
to do, not what your friendship to me, but your opinion of what is right shall
dictate. Accept, in all cases, assurances of the sincere esteem and respect
with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.







             TO PETER CARR.



                    PARIS, May 28, 1788.

  DEAR PETER,-Th e preceding letter(1) was written at its date, and I supposed
you in possession of it, when your letters of December the 10th, 1787, and
March the 18th, 1788, told me otherwise. Still, I supposed it on its way to
you, when a few days ago, having occasion to look among some papers in the
drawer, where my letters are usually put away, till an opportunit y of sending
them occurs, I found that this letter had slipped among them, so that it had



 (1)For the letter referred to, see ante, vol. VI. p. 256.






44          Jefferson's Works



never been forwarded. I am sorry for it, on account of the remarks relative to
the Spanish language only. Apply to that, with all the assiduity you can. That
language and the English covering nearly the whole face of America, they should
be well known to every inhabitant, who means to look beyond the limits of his
farm. I like well the distributio n of your time, mentioned in your letter of
March the I 8th; and the counsels of Mr. Wythe, so kindly extended to you,
leave it necessary for me to add nothing of that kind: Be assiduous in
learning, take much exercise for your health, and practice much virtue. Health,
learning and virtue, will insure your happiness; they will give you a quiet
conscience, private esteem and public honor. Beyond these, we want nothing but
physical necessaries , and they are easily obtained. My daughters are well, and
join me in love to yourself, your mother, brothers and sisters. I am, with very
sincere esteem, dear Peter, your affectionat e friend.







        TO THE COMTE DE BERNSTORF F.



                     PARIS, June 19, 1788.



  I had the honor of addressing your Excellency, by Admiral Paul Jones, on the
21st of January, on the subject of the prizes taken under his command during
the late war, and sent into Bergen. I communicat ed, at the same time, a copy
of the powers which the Congress o£ the United States of America 






            Correspond ence           45



had been pleased to confide to me therein, having previously shown the original
to the Baron Blome, envoy extraordina ry of his Majesty, the King of Denmark,
at this court; and I furnished, at the same time, to Admiral Paul Jones, such
authority as I was empowered to delegate, for the arrangeme nt of this affair.
That officer has transmitted me a copy of your Excellency' s letter to him, of
the 4th of April, wherein you are pleased to observe, that the want of full
powers on his part was an invincible obstacle to the definitive discussion of
this claim with him, and to express your disposition s to institute a
settlement at this place. Always assured of the justice and honor of the court
of Denmark, and encouraged by the particular readiness of your Excellency to
settle and remove this difficulty from between the two nations, I take the
liberty of recalling your attention to it. The place of negotiation proposed by
your Excellency, meets no objection from us, and it removes, at the same time,
that which the want of full powers in Admiral Paul Jones, had produced in your
mind. These full powers, Congress have been pleased to honor me with. The
arrangeme nt taken between. the person to be charged with your full powers, and
myself, will be final and conclusive. You are pleased to express a willingness
to treat at the same time, on the subjects of amity and commerce. The powers
formerly communicat ed on our part, were given to Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin, and
myself, for a limited term only. That 






            Jefferson's Works                    46



term has expired, and the other two gentlemen returned to America; so that no
person is commission ed at this moment, to renew those conference s. I may
safely, however, assure your Excellency, that the same friendly disposition s
still continue, and the same desire of facilitating and encouragin g a commerce
between the two nations, which produced the former appointmen t. But our nation
is, at this time, proposing a change in the organizatio n of its governmen t.
For this change to be agreed to by all the members of the Union, the new
administrat ion chosen and brought into activity, their domestic matters
arranged, which will require their first attention, their foreign system
afterwards decided on and carried into full execution, will require very
considerabl e length of time. To place under the same delay, the private claims
which I have the honor to present to your Excellency, would be hard on the
persons interested; because these claims have no connection with the system of
commercial connection, which may be established between the two nations, nor
with the particular form of our administrat ion. The justice due to them is
complete, and the present administrat ion as competent to final settlement as
any future one will be, should a future change take place. These individuals
have already lingered nine years, in expectation of their hard and perilous
earnings. Time lessens their numbers continually , disperses their representa
tives, weakens the evidence of their right, and renders more and 






            Correspond ence           47



more impracticab le, his majesty's disposition s to repair the private injury,
to which public circumstan ces constraine d him. These considerati ons, the
just and honorable intentions of your Excellency, and the assurances you give
us in your letter, that no delay is wished on your part, give me strong hopes
that we may speedily obtain that final arrangeme nt, which express instruction
s render it my duty to urge. I have the honor, therefore, of agreeing with your
Excellency, that the settlement of this matter, formerly begun at Paris, shall
be continued there; and to ask that you will be pleased to give powers and
instruction s for this purpose, to such persons as you shall think proper, and
in such full form as may prevent those delays, to which the distance between
Copenhage n and Paris might otherwise expose us.



  I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most profound respect, your
Excellency' s most obedient, and most humble servant.







           TO MR. THOMAS DIGGES.



                     PARIS, June 19, 1788.



  SIR,-I have duly received your favor of May 12, as well as that of the person
who desires information on the state of cotton manufactur es in America, and
for his interest and safety I beg leave to address to you the answer to his
queries.



  In general, it is impossible that manufactur es should succeed in America,
from the high price of 






            Jefferson's Works                      48



labor. This is occasioned by the great demand of labor for agriculture . A
manufactur er going from Europe will turn to labor of other kinds if he finds
more to be got by it, and he finds some employment so profitable, that he can
soon lay up money enough to buy fifty acres of land, to the culture of which he
is irresistibly tempted by the independen ce in which that places him, and the
desire of having a wife and family around him. If any manufactur es can succeed
there, it will be that of cotton. I must observe for his information that this
plant grows nowhere in the United States northward of the Potomac, and not in
quantity till you get southward as far as York and James Rivers. I know nothing
of the manufactur e which is said to be set up at Richmond. It must have taken
place since 1783, when I left Virginia. In that State (for it is the only one I
am enabled to speak of with certainty) there is no manufactur e of wire or of
cotton cards; or if any, it is not worth notice. No manufactur e of stocking-w
eaving, consequent ly none for making the machine; none of cotton clothing of
any kind whatever for sale; though in almost every family some is manufactur ed
for the use of the family, which is always good in quality, and often tolerably
fine. In the same way they make excellent stockings of cotton, weaving it in
like manner, carried on principally in the family way: among the poor, the wife
weaves generally; and the rich either have a weaver among their servants or
employ their poor neighbors. Cotton cost in Virginia 






             Correspond ence                 49



from 12d. to 18d. sterling the pound before the war, probably it is a little
raised since. Richmond is as good a place for a manufactor y as any in that
State, and perhaps the best as to its resources for this business. Cotton
clothing is very much the taste of the country. A manufactur er, on his
landing, should apply to the well-inform ed farmers and gentlemen of the
country. Their information will be more disinterest ed than that of merchants,
and they can better put him into the way of disposing of his workmen in the
cheapest manner till he has time to look about him and decide how and where he
will establish himself. Such is the hospitality in that country, and their
disposition to assist strangers, that he may boldly go to any good house he
sees, and make the inquiry he needs. He will be sure to be kindly received,
honestly informed, and accommodat ed in an hospitable way, without any other
introductio n than an information who he is and what are his views. It is not
the policy of the governmen t in that country to give any aid to works of any
kind. They let things take their natural course without help or impediment ,
which is generally the best policy. More particularl y as to myself, I must say
that I have not the authority nor the means of assisting any persons in their
passage to that country. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of perfect
esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.











VOL.. VII-4 






            Jefferson's Works                    50







         TO MR. RUTLEDGE.



                  PARIS, January 19, 1788,



DEAR SIR,-Havin g om