to you my views of the present state and prospect of foreign affairs,
under the confidence that you will use them for your own government and
opinions only, and by no means let them get out as from me. With France
we are in no immediate danger of war. Her future views it is impossible
to estimate. The immediate danger we are in of a rupture with England,
is postponed for this year. This is effected by the embargo, as the
question was simply between that and war. That may go on a certain time,
perhaps through the year, without the loss of their property to our
citizens, but only its remaining unemployed on their hands. A time would
come, however, when war would be preferable to a continuance of the
embargo. Of this Congress may have to decide at their next meeting. In
the mean time, we have good information, that a negotiation for peace
between France and England is commencing through the medium of Austria.
The way for it has been smoothed by a determination expressed by France
(through the Moniteur, which is their government paper), that herself
and her allies will demand from Great Britain no renunciation of her
maritime principles; nor will they renounce theirs. Nothing shall be
said about them in the treaty, and both sides will be left in the next
war to act on their own. No doubt the meaning of this is, that all
the Continental powers of Europe will form themselves into an armed
neutrality, to enforce their own principles. Should peace be made, we
shall have safely rode out the storm in peace and prosperity. If we have
any thing to fear, it will be after that. Nothing should be spared from
this moment in putting our militia into the best condition possible,
and procuring arms. I hope, that this summer, we shall get our whole
sea-ports put into that state of defence, which Congress has thought
proportioned to our circumstances and situation; that is to say, put
_hors d’insulte_ from a maritime attack, by a moderate squadron. If
armies are combined with their fleets, then no resource can be provided,
but to meet them in the field. We propose to raise seven regiments only
for the present year, depending always on our militia for the operations
of the first year of war. On any other plan, we should be obliged always
to keep a large standing army. Congress will adjourn in about three
weeks. I hope Captain McComb is going on well with your defensive works.
We shall be able by mid-summer, to give you a sufficient number of
gun-boats to protect Charleston from any vessels which can cross the
bar; but the militia of the place must be depended on to fill up the
complement of men necessary for action in the moment of an attack, as we
shall man them, in ordinary, but with their navigating crew of eight or
ten good seamen. I salute you with great esteem and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXIX.--TO DOCTOR LEIB, June 23, 1808
TO DOCTOR LEIB.
Washington, June 23, 1808.
Sir,
I have duly received your favor covering a copy of the talk to the
Tammany society, for which I thank you, and particularly for the
favorable sentiments expressed towards myself. Certainly, nothing will
so much sweeten the tranquillity and comfort of retirement, as the
knowledge that I carry with me the good will and approbation of my
republican fellow-citizens, and especially of the individuals in unison
with whom I have so long acted. With respect to the federalists, I
believe we think alike; for when speaking of them, we never mean to
include a worthy portion of our fellow-citizens, who consider themselves
as in duty bound to support the constituted authorities of every branch,
and to reserve their opposition to the period of election. These having
acquired the appellation of federalists, while a federal administration
was in place, have not cared about throwing off their name, but,
adhering to their principle, are the supporters of the present order
of things. The other branch of the federalists, those who are so in
principle as well as in name, disapprove of the republican principles
and features of our constitution, and would, I believe, welcome any
public calamity (war with England excepted) which might lessen the
confidence of our country in those principles and forms. I have
generally considered them rather as subjects for a madhouse. But they
are now playing a game of the most mischievous tendency, without perhaps
being themselves aware of it. They are endeavoring to convince England,
that we suffer more by the embargo than they do, and that, if they will
but hold out a while, we must abandon it. It is true, the time will come
when we must abandon it. But if this is before the repeal of the orders
of council, we must abandon it only for a state of war. The day is not
distant, when that will be preferable to a longer continuance of the
embargo. But we can never remove that, and let our vessels go out and be
taken under these orders, without making reprisal. Yet this is the very
state of things which these federal monarchists are endeavoring to bring
about; and in this it is but too possible they may succeed. But the
fact is, that if we have war with England, it will be solely produced by
their manoeuvres. I think that in two or three months we shall know what
will be the issue. I salute you with esteem and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXX.--TO ROBERT L. LIVINGSTON, October 15, 1808
TO ROBERT L. LIVINGSTON.
Washington, October 15, 1808.
Sir,
Your letter of September the 22nd waited here for my return, and it is
not till now that I have been able to acknowledge it. The explanation
of his principles, given you by the French Emperor, in conversation,
is correct as far as it goes. He does not wish us to go to war with
England, knowing we have no ships to carry on that war. To submit to pay
to England the tribute on our commerce which she demands by her orders
of council, would be to aid her in the war against him, and would give
him just ground to declare war with us. He concludes, therefore,
as every rational man must, that the embargo, the only remaining
alternative, was a wise measure. These are acknowledged principles, and
should circumstances arise, which may offer advantage to our country in
making them public, we shall avail ourselves of them. But as it is not
usual nor agreeable to governments to bring their conversations before
the public, I think it would be well to consider this on your part as
confidential, leaving to the government to retain or make it public,
as the general good may require. Had the Emperor gone further, and said
that he condemned our vessels going voluntarily into his ports in breach
of his municipal laws, we might have admitted it rigorously legal,
though not friendly. But his condemnation of vessels taken on the high
seas by his privateers, and carried involuntarily into his ports, is
justifiable by no law, is piracy, and this is the wrong we complain of
against him.
Supposing that you may be still at Clermont, from whence your letter is
dated, I avail myself of this circumstance to request your presenting my
friendly respects to Chancellor Livingston.
I salute you with esteem and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXXI.--TO DOCTOR JAMES BROWN, October 27, 1808
TO DOCTOR JAMES BROWN.
Washington, October 27, 1808.
Dear Sir,
You will wonder that your letter of June the 3rd should not be
acknowledged till this date. I never received it till September the
12th, and coming soon after to this place, the accumulation of business
I found here has prevented my taking it up till now. That you ever
participated in any plan for a division of the Union, I never for one
moment believed. I knew your Americanism too well. But as the enterprise
against Mexico was of a very different character, I had supposed what I
heard on that subject to be possible. You disavow it; that is enough for
me, and I for ever dismiss the idea. I wish it were possible to extend
my belief of innocence to a very different description of men in New
Orleans; but I think there is sufficient evidence of there being there a
set of foreign adventurers, and native malcontents, who would concur
in any enterprise to separate that country from this. I did wish to
see these people get what they deserved; and under the maxim of the law
itself, that _inter arma silent leges_, that in an encampment expecting
daily attack from a powerful enemy, self-preservation is paramount to
all law, I expected that instead of invoking the forms of the law to
cover traitors, all good citizens would have concurred in securing them.
Should we have ever gained our Revolution, if we had bound our hands by
manacles of the law, not only in the beginning, but in any part of the
revolutionary conflict? There are extreme cases where the laws become
inadequate even to their own preservation, and where the universal
resource is a dictator, or martial law. Was New Orleans in that
situation? Although we knew here that the force destined against it was
suppressed on the Ohio, yet we supposed this unknown at New Orleans at
the time that Burr’s accomplices were calling in the aid of the law to
enable them to perpetrate its suppression, and that it was reasonable,
according to the state of information there, to act on the expectation
of a daily attack. Of this you are the best judge.
Burr is in London, and is giving out to his friends that that government
offers him two millions of dollars the moment he can raise an ensign of
rebellion as big as an handkerchief. Some of his partisans will believe
this, because they wish it. But those who know him best will not believe
it the more because he says it. For myself, even in his most flattering
periods of the conspiracy, I never entertained one moment’s fear. My
long and intimate knowledge of my countrymen satisfied and satisfies me,
that, let there ever be occasion to display the banners of the law,
and the world will see how few and pitiful are those who shall array
themselves in opposition. I as little fear foreign invasion. I have
indeed thought it a duty to be prepared to meet even the most powerful,
that of a Bonaparte, for instance, by the only means competent, that of
a classification of the militia, and placing the junior classes at the
public disposal: but the lesson he receives in Spain extirpates all
apprehensions from my mind. If, in a peninsula, the neck of which is
adjacent to him, and at his command, where he can march any army without
the possibility of interception or obstruction from any foreign power,
he finds it necessary to begin with an army of three hundred thousand
men, to subdue a nation of five millions, brutalized by ignorance, and
enervated by long peace, and should find constant reinforcements of
thousands after thousands necessary to effect at last a conquest as
doubtful as deprecated, what numbers would be necessary against eight
millions of free Americans, spread over such an extent of country
as would wear him down by mere marching, by want of food, autumnal
diseases, &c.? How would they be brought, and how reinforced, across an
ocean of three thousand miles, in possession of a bitter enemy, whose
peace, like the repose of a dog, is never more than momentary? And for
what? For nothing but hard blows. If the Orleanese Creoles would but
contemplate these truths, they would cling to the American Union, soul
and body, as their first affection, and we should be as safe there as
we are every where else. I have no doubt of their attachment to us in
preference of the English.
I salute you with sincere friendship and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXXII.--TO LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR LINCOLN, November 13, 1808
TO LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR LINCOLN.
Washington, November 13, 1808.
Dear Sir,
I enclose you a petition from Nantucket, and refer it for your decision.
Our opinion here is, that that place has been so deeply concerned in
smuggling, that if it wants, it is because it has illegally sent away
what it ought to have retained for its own consumption. Be so good as to
bear in mind that I have asked the favor of you to see that your State
encounters no real want, while, at the same time, where applications are
made merely to cover fraud, no facilities towards that be furnished. I
presume there can be no want in Massachusetts, as yet, as I am informed
that Governor Sullivan’s permits are openly bought and sold here and
in Alexandria, and at other markets. The Congressional campaign is just
opening: three alternatives alone are to be chosen from. 1. Embargo. 2.
War. 3. Submission and tribute. And, wonderful to tell, the last will
not want advocates. The real question, however, will lie between the two
first, on which there is considerable division. As yet the first seems
most to prevail; but opinions are by no means yet settled down. Perhaps
the advocates of the second may, to a formal declaration of war, prefer
general letters of mark and reprisal, because, on a repeal of their
edicts by the belligerent, a revocation of the letters of mark restores
peace without the delay, difficulties, and ceremonies of a treaty. On
this occasion, I think it fair to leave to those who are to act on them,
the decisions they prefer, being to be myself but a spectator. I should
not feel justified in directing measures which those who are to execute
them would disapprove. Our situation is truly difficult. We have been
pressed by the belligerents to the very wall, and all further retreat is
impracticable. I salute you with sincere friendship.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXXIII.--TO THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH, November 24, 1808
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON RANDOLPH.
Washington, November 24, 1808.
My Dear Jefferson,
Your situation, thrown at such a distance from us and alone, cannot but
give us all great anxieties for you. As much has been secured for you,
by your particular position and the acquaintance to which you have been
recommended, as could be done towards shielding you from the dangers
which surround you. But thrown on a wide world, among entire strangers,
without a friend or guardian to advise, so young, too, and with so
little experience of mankind, your dangers are great, and still your
safety must rest on yourself. A determination never to do what is
wrong, prudence, and good humor, will go far towards securing to you the
estimation of the world. When I recollect that at fourteen years of age,
the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely,
without a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me, and
recollect the various sorts of bad company with which I associated from
time to time, I am astonished I did not turn off with some of them, and
become as worthless to society as they were. I had the good fortune to
become acquainted very early with some characters of very high standing,
and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were.
Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr.
Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What course
in it will insure me their approbation? I am certain that this mode
of deciding on my conduct, tended more to its correctness than any
reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing the even and dignified line they
pursued, I could never doubt for a moment which of two courses would
be in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object through
a process of moral reasoning, and with the jaundiced eye of youth, I
should often have erred. From the circumstances of my position, I
was often thrown into the society of horse-racers, card-players,
fox-hunters, scientific and professional men, and of dignified men; and
many a time have I asked myself, in the enthusiastic moment of the
death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue of a question
eloquently argued at the bar, or in the great council of the nation,
well, which of these kinds of reputation should I prefer? That of a
horse-jockey? a fox-hunter? an orator? or the honest advocate of my
country’s rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little
returns into ourselves, this self-catechizing habit, is not trifling,
nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection and steady pursuit of
what is right.
I have mentioned good humor as one of the preservatives of our peace and
tranquillity. It is among the most effectual, and its effect is so well
imitated and aided, artificially, by politeness, that this also becomes
an acquisition of first-rate value. In truth, politeness is artificial
good humor, it covers the natural want of it, and ends by rendering
habitual a substitute nearly equivalent to the real virtue. It is the
practice of sacrificing to those whom we meet in society, all the little
conveniences and preferences which will gratify them, and deprive us of
nothing worth a moment’s consideration; it is the giving a pleasing and
flattering turn to our expressions, which will conciliate others, and
make them pleased with us as well as themselves. How cheap a price for
the good will of another! When this is in return for a rude thing said
by another, it brings him to his senses, it mortifies and corrects
him in the most salutary way, and places him at the feet of your good
nature, in the eyes of the company. But in stating prudential rules for
our government in society I must not omit the important one of never
entering into dispute or argument with another. I never yet saw an
instance of one of two disputants convincing the other by argument. I
have seen many, of their getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one
another. Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasoning,
either in solitude, or weighing within ourselves, dispassionately, what
we hear from others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves. It was
one of the rules, which, above all others, made Doctor Franklin the most
amiable of men in society, ‘never to contradict any body.’ If he was
urged to announce an opinion, he did it rather by asking questions, as
if for information, or by suggesting doubts. When I hear another express
an opinion which is not mine, I say to myself, he has a right to his
opinion, as I to mine; why should I question it? His error does me no
injury, and shall I become a Don Quixote, to bring all men by force of
argument to one opinion? If a fact be misstated, it is probable he is
gratified by a belief of it, and I have no right to deprive him of the
gratification. If he wants information, he will ask it, and then I will
give it in measured terms; but if he still believes his own story, and
shows a desire to dispute the fact with me, I hear him, and say nothing.
It is his affair, not mine, if he prefers error. There are two classes
of disputants most frequently to be met with among us. The first is of
young students, just entered the threshold of science, with a first view
of its outlines, not yet filled up with the details and modifications
which a further progress would bring to their knowledge. The other
consists of the ill-tempered and rude men in society, who have taken up
a passion for politics. (Good humor and politeness never introduce
into mixed society a question on which they foresee there will be a
difference of opinion.) From both of those classes of disputants, my
dear Jefferson, keep aloof, as you would from the infected subjects of
yellow fever or pestilence. Consider yourself, when with them, as among
the patients of Bedlam, needing medical more than moral counsel. Be
a listener only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish with
yourself the habit of silence, especially on politics. In the fevered
state of our country, no good can ever result from any attempt to set
one of these fiery zealots to rights, either in fact or principle. They
are determined as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on
which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry
bull: it is not for a man of sense to dispute the road with such an
animal. You will be more exposed than others to have these animals
shaking their horns at you, because of the relation in which you stand
with me. Full of political venom, and willing to see me and to hate me
as a chief in the antagonist party, your presence will be to them what
the vomit-grass is to the sick dog, a nostrum for producing ejaculation.
Look upon them exactly with that eye, and pity them as objects to whom
you can administer only occasional ease. My character is not within
their power. It is in the hands of my fellow-citizens at large, and will
be consigned to honor or infamy by the verdict of the republican mass of
our country, according to what themselves will have seen, not what
their enemies and mine shall have said. Never, therefore, consider these
puppies in politics as requiring any notice from you, and always show,
that you are not afraid to leave my character to the umpirage of
public opinion. Look steadily to the pursuits which have carried you
to Philadelphia, be very select in the society you attach yourself
to, avoid taverns, drinkers, smokers, idlers, and dissipated persons
generally; for it is with such that broils and contentions arise; and
you will find your path more easy and tranquil. The limits of my paper
warn me that it is time for me to close with my affectionate adieu.
Th: Jefferson.
P. S. Present me affectionately to Mr. Ogilvie, and in doing the same to
Mr. Peale, tell him I am writing with his polygraph, and shall send him
mine the first moment I have leisure enough to pack it. T. J.
LETTER LXXIV.--TO DOCTOR EUSTIS, January 14, 1809
TO DOCTOR EUSTIS.
Washington, January 14, 1809.
Sir,
I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
December the 24th, and of the resolutions of the republican citizens
of Boston, of the 19th of that month. These are worthy of the ancient
character of the sons of Massachusetts, and of the spirit of concord
with her sister States, which, and which alone, carried us successfully
through the revolutionary war, and finally placed us under that national
government, which constitutes the safety of every part, by uniting for
its protection the powers of the whole. The moment for exerting these
united powers, to repel the injuries of the belligerents of Europe,
seems likely to be pressed upon us. They have interdicted our commerce
with nearly the whole world. They have declared it shall be carried on
with such places, in such articles, and in such measure only, as they
shall dictate; thus prostrating all the principles of right, which
have hitherto protected it. After exhausting the cup of forbearance
and conciliation to its dregs, we found it necessary, on behalf of that
commerce, to take time to call it home into a state of safety, to put
the towns and harbors which carry it on into a condition of defence, and
to make further preparation for enforcing the redress of its wrongs, and
restoring it to its rightful freedom. This required a certain measure of
time, which, although not admitting specific limitation, must, from its
avowed objects, have been obvious to all: and the progress actually made
towards the accomplishment of these objects, proves it now to be near
its term.
While thus endeavoring to secure, and preparing to vindicate that
commerce, the absurd opinion has been propagated, that this temporary
and necessary arrangement was to be a permanent system, and was intended
for its destruction. The sentiments expressed in the paper you were so
kind as to enclose me, show that those who have concurred in them, have
judged with more candor the intentions of their government, and
are sufficiently aware of the tendency of the excitements and
misrepresentations which have been practised on this occasion. And such,
I am persuaded, will be the disposition of the citizens of Massachusetts
at large, whenever truth can reach them. Associated with her sister
States in a common government, the fundamental principle of which is,
that the will of the majority is to prevail, sensible, that in the
present difficulty, that will has been governed by no local interests
or jealousies, that to save permanent rights, temporary sacrifices
were necessary, that these have fallen as impartially on all, as in a
situation so peculiar they could be made to do, she will see, in the
existing measures, a legitimate and honest exercise of the will and
wisdom of the whole. And her citizens, faithful to themselves and
their associates, will not, to avoid a transient pressure, yield to the
seductions of enemies to their independence, foreign or domestic, and
take a course equally subversive of their well-being, as of that of
their brethren.
The approbation expressed by the republican citizens of the town of
Boston, of the course pursued by the national government, is truly
consoling to its members: and, encouraged by the declaration of the
continuance of their confidence, and by the assurance of their support,
they will continue to pursue the line of their high duties according
to the best of their understandings, and with undeviating regard to
the good of the whole. Permit me to avail myself of this occasion of
tendering you personally the assurances of my great esteem and respect.
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXXV.--TO COLONEL MONROE, January 28, 1809
TO COLONEL MONROE.
Washington, January 28, 1809.
Dear Sir,