peace, either by the Declaration of Independence, or an office or an act
of Assembly, then it remained in General Oglethorpe at the epoch of the
peace and it will be insisted, no doubt, that, by the sixth article of
the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, which
forbids future confiscations, General Oglethorpe acquired a capacity of
holding and of conveying his lands. He has conveyed them to his wife.
But, she being an alien, it will be decided by the laws of the land,
whether she took them for her own use, or for the use of the State. For
it is a general principle of our law, that conveyances to aliens pass
the lands to the State; and it may be urged, that though, by the treaty
of peace, General Oglethorpe could convey, yet that treaty did not mean
to give him a greater privilege of conveyance, than natives hold, to
wit, a privilege of transferring the property to persons incapable, by
law, of taking it. However, this would be a question between the State
of Georgia and the widow of General Oglethorpe, in the decision of which
the Chevalier de Mezieres is not interested, because, whether she takes
the land by the will, for her own use, or for that of the State, it is
equally prevented from descending to him: there is neither a conveyance
to him, nor a succession _ab intestato_ devolving on him, which are the
cases provided for by our treaty with France. To sum up the matter in
a few words; if the lands had passed to the State before the epoch of
peace, the heirs of General Oglethorpe cannot say they have descended
on them, and if they remained in the General at that epoch, the treaty
saving them to him, he could convey them away from his heirs, and he has
conveyed them to his widow, either for her own use, or for that of the
State.
Seeing no event, in which, according to the facts stated to me, the
treaty could be applied to this case, or could give any right, whatever,
to the heirs of General Oglethorpe, I advised the Chevalier de Mezieres
not to urge his pretensions on the footing of right, nor under the
treaty, but to petition the Assembly of Georgia for a grant of these
lands. If, in the question between the State and the widow of General
Oglethorpe, it should be decided that they were the property of the
State, I expected from their generosity, and the friendly dispositions
in America towards the subjects of France, that they would be favorable
to the Chevalier de Mezieres. There is nothing in the preceding
observations, which would not have applied against the heir of General
Ogiethorpe, had he been a native citizen of Georgia, as it now applies
against him, being a subject of France. The treaty has placed the
subjects of France on a footing with natives, as to conveyances and
descent of property. There was no occasion for the assemblies to pass
laws on this subject; the treaty being a law, as I conceive, superior to
those of particular Assemblies, and repealing them where they stand in
the way of its operations.
The supposition that the treaty was disregarded on our part, in the
instance of the acts of Assembly of Massachusetts and New Hampshire,
which made a distinction between natives and foreigners, as to the
duties to be paid on commerce, was taken notice of in the letter of
November the 20th, which I had the honor of addressing to the Count de
Vergennes. And while I express my hopes, that, on a revision of these
subjects, nothing will be found in them derogatory from either the
letter or spirit of our treaty, I will add assurances that the United
States will not be behind hand, in going beyond both, when occasions
shall ever offer of manifesting their sincere attachment to this
country.
I will pass on to the observation, that our commercial regulations
are difficult and repugnant to the French merchants. To detail these
regulations minutely, as they exist in every State, would be beyond my
information. A general view of them, however, will suffice because the
States differ little in their several regulations. On the arrival of a
ship in America, her cargo must be reported at the proper office. The
duties on it are to be paid. These are commonly from two and a half to
five per cent, on its value. On many articles, the value of which is
tolerably uniform, the precise sum is fixed by law. A tariff of these is
presented to the importer, and he can see what he has to pay, as well as
the officer. For other articles, the duty is such a per cent, on their
value. That value is either shown by the invoice, or by the oath of the
importer. This operation being once over, and it is a very short one,
the goods are considered as entered, and may then pass through the whole
thirteen States, without their being ever more subject to a question,
unless they be re-shipped. Exportation is still more simple: because,
as we prohibit the exportation of nothing, and very rarely lay a duty
on any article of export, the State is little interested in examining
outward bound vessels. The captain asks a clearance for his own
purposes. As to the operations of internal commerce, such as matters of
exchange, of buying, selling, bartering, &c, our laws are the same as
the English. If they have been altered in any instance, it has been
to render them more simple. Lastly, as to the tardiness of the
administration of justice with us, it would be equally tedious and
impracticable for me to give a precise account of it in every State. But
I think it probable, that it is much on the same footing through all
the States, and that an account of it in any one of them, may found a
general presumption of it in the others. Being best acquainted with its
administration in Virginia, I shall confine myself to that. Before the
Revolution, a judgment could not be obtained under eight years, in the
supreme court, where the suit was in the department of the common law,
which department embraces about nine tenths of the subjects of legal
contestation. In that of the chancery, from twelve to twenty years were
requisite. This did not proceed from any vice in the laws, but from the
indolence of the judges appointed by the King: and these judges holding
their offices during his will only, he could have reformed the evil at
any time. This reformation was among the first works of the legislature,
after our independence. A judgment can now be obtained in the supreme
court, in one year, at the common law, and in about three years, in the
chancery. But more particularly to protect the commerce of France, which
at that moment was considerable with us, a law was passed, giving
all suits wherein a foreigner was a party, a privilege to be tried
immediately, on the return of his process, without waiting till those
of natives, which stand before them, shall have been decided on. Out of
this act, however, the British stand excluded by a subsequent one. This,
with its causes, must be explained. The British army, after ravaging
the State of Virginia, had sent off a very great number of slaves to New
York. By the seventh article of the treaty of peace, they stipulated
not to carry away any of these. Notwithstanding this, it was known, when
they were evacuating New York, that they were carrying away the slaves.
General Washington made an official demand of Sir Guy Carleton, that he
should cease to send them away. He answered, that these people had come
to them under promise of the King’s protection, and that that promise
should be fulfilled, in preference to the stipulation in the treaty. The
State of Virginia, to which nearly the whole of these slaves belonged,
passed a law to forbid the recovery of debts due to British subjects.
They declared, at the same time, they would repeal the law, if Congress
were of opinion they ought to do it. But, desirous that their citizens
should be discharging their debts, they afterwards permitted British
creditors to prosecute their suits, and to receive their debts in seven
equal and annual payments; relying that the demand for the slaves would
either be admitted or denied, in time to lay their hands on some of
the latter payments for reimbursement. The immensity of this debt was
another reason for forbidding such a mass of property to be offered for
sale under execution at once, as, from the small quantity of circulating
money, it must have sold for little or nothing, whereby the creditor
would have failed to receive his money, and the debtor would have lost
his whole estate, without being discharged of his debt. This is the
history of the delay of justice in that country, in the case of British
creditors. As to all others, its administration is as speedy as justice
itself will admit. I presume it is equally so in all the other States,
and can add, that it is administered in them all with a purity and
integrity, of which few countries afford an example.
I cannot take leave, altogether, of the subjects of this conversation,
without recalling the attention of the Count de Vergennes to what had
been its principal drift. This was to endeavor to bring about a direct
exchange between France and the United States, (without the intervention
of a third nation) of those productions, with which each could furnish
the other. We can furnish to France (because we have heretofore
furnished to England) of whale-oil and spermaceti, of furs and peltry,
of ships and naval stores, and of potash, to the amount of fifteen
millions of livres; and the quantities will admit of increase. Of our
tobacco, France consumes the value of ten millions more. Twenty-five
millions of livres, then, mark the extent of that commerce of exchange,
which is, at present, practicable between us. We want, in return,
productions and manufactures, not money. If the duties on our produce
are light, and the sale free, we shall undoubtedly bring it here, and
lay out the proceeds on the spot, in the productions and manufactures
which we want. The merchants of France will, on their part, become
active in the same business. We shall no more think, when we shall have
sold our produce here, of making an useless voyage to another country,
to lay out the money, than we think, at present, when we have sold it
elsewhere, of coming here to lay out the money. The conclusion is, that
there are commodities which form a basis of exchange, to the extent of a
million of guineas annually: it is for the wisdom of those in power, to
contrive that the exchange shall be made.
Having put this paper into the hands of Monsieur Reyneval, we entered
into conversation again, on the subject of the Farms, which were now
understood to be approaching to a conclusion. He told me, that he was
decidedly of opinion, that the interest of the State required the Farm
of tobacco to be discontinued, and that he had, accordingly, given every
aid to my proposition, which lay within his sphere: that the Count de
Vergennes was very clearly of the same opinion, and had supported
it strongly with reasons of his own, when he transmitted it to the
Comptroller General; but that the Comptroller, in the discussions of
this subject which had taken place, besides the objections which the
Count de Vergennes had repeated to me, and which are before mentioned,
had added, that the contract with the Farmers General was now so far
advanced, that the article of tobacco could not be withdrawn from it,
without unraveling the whole transaction. Having understood, that,
in this contract, there was always reserved to the crown, a right to
discontinue it at any moment, making just reimbursements to the Farmers,
I asked M. Reyneval, if the contract should be concluded in its present
form, whether it might still be practicable to have it discontinued, as
to the article of tobacco, at some future moment. He said it might be
possible.
Upon the whole, the true obstacle to this proposition has penetrated,
in various ways, through the veil which covers it. The influence of the
Farmers General has been heretofore found sufficient to shake a minister
in his office. Monsieur de Calonne’s continuance or dismission has been
thought, for some time, to be on a poise. Were he to shift this great
weight, therefore, out of his own scale into that of his adversaries,
it would decide their preponderance. The joint interests of France and
America would be an insufficient counterpoise in his favor.
It will be observed, that these efforts to improve the commerce of the
United States have been confined to that branch only, which respects
France itself, and that nothing passed on the subject of our commerce
with the West Indies, except an incidental conversation as to our fish.
The reason of this was no want of a due sense of its importance. Of that
I am thoroughly sensible. But efforts in favor of this branch would, at
present, be desperate. To nations with which we have not yet treated,
and who have possessions in America, we may offer a free vent of their
manufactures in the United States, for a full, or a modified admittance
into those possessions. But to France, we are obliged to give that
freedom for a different compensation; to wit, for her aid in effecting
our independence. It is difficult, therefore, to say what we have now to
offer her, for an admission into her West Indies. Doubtless it has its
price. But the question is, what this would be, and whether worth our
while to give it. Were we to propose to give to each other’s citizens
all the rights of natives, they would, of course, count what they should
gain by this enlargement of right, and examine whether it would be worth
to them, as much as their monopoly of their West India commerce. If not,
that commercial freedom which we wish to preserve, and which, indeed, is
so valuable, leaves us little else to offer. An expression in my letter
to the Count de Vergennes, of November the 20th, wherein I hinted, that
both nations might, perhaps, come into the opinion, that the condition
of natives might be a better ground of intercourse for their citizens,
than that of the most favored nation, was intended to furnish an
opportunity to the minister, of parleying on that subject, if he was so
disposed, and to myself, of seeing whereabouts they would begin, that
I might communicate it to Congress, and leave them to judge of the
expediency of pursuing the subject. But no overtures have followed;
for I have no right to consider, as coming from the minister, certain
questions which were, very soon after, proposed to me by an individual.
It sufficiently accounts for these questions, that that individual
had written a memorial on the subject, for the consideration of the
minister, and might wish to know what we would be willing to do.
The idea that I should answer such questions to him, is equally
unaccountable, whether we suppose them originating with himself, or
coming from the minister. In fact, I must suppose them to be his own;
and I transmit them, only that Congress my see what one Frenchman,
at least, thinks on the subject. If we can obtain from Great Britain
reasonable conditions of commerce (which, in my idea, must for ever
include an admission into her islands), the freest ground between these
two nations would seem to be the best. But if we can obtain no equal
terms from her, perhaps Congress might think it prudent, as Holland has
done, to connect us unequivocally with France. Holland has purchased the
protection of France. The price she pays is, aid in time of war. It is
interesting for us to purchase a free commerce with the French islands.
But whether it is best to pay for it, by aids in war, or by privileges
in commerce; or not to purchase it at all, is the question.
LETTER CXLVII.--TO T. HOPKINSON, January 3, 1786
TO T. HOPKINSON.
Paris, January 3, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I wrote you last on the 25th of September. Since that I have received
yours of October the 25th, enclosing a duplicate of the last invented
tongue for the harpsichord. The letter enclosing another of them, and
accompanied by newspapers, which you mention in that of October the
25th, has never come to hand. I will embrace the first opportunity of
sending you the crayons. Perhaps they may come with this, which I think
to deliver to Mr. Bingham, who leaves us on Saturday, for London. If, on
consulting him, I find the conveyance from London uncertain, you shall
receive them by a Mr. Barrett, who goes from hence for New York, next
month. You have not authorized me to try to avail you of the new tongue.
Indeed, the ill success of my endeavors with the last does not promise
much with this. However, I shall try. Houdon only stopped a moment, to
deliver me your letter, so that I have not yet had an opportunity of
asking his opinion of the improvement. I am glad you are pleased with
his work. He is among the foremost, or, perhaps, the foremost artist in
the world.
Turning to your _Encyclopédie, Arts et Metiers_, tome 3, part 1, page
393, you will find mentioned an instrument, invented by a Monsieur
Renaudin, for determining the true time of the musical movements, largo,
adagio, &c. I went to see it. He showed me his first invention; the
price of the machine was twenty-five guineas: then his second, which
he had been able to make for about half that sum. Both of these had
a mainspring and a balance-wheel, for their mover and regulator. The
strokes are made by a small hammer. He then showed me his last, which is
moved by a weight and regulated by a pendulum, and which cost only-two
guineas and a half. It presents, in front, a dial-plate like that of
a clock, on which are arranged, in a circle, the words _largo, adagio,
andante, allegro, presto_. The circle is moreover divided into fifty-two
equal degrees. _Largo_ is at 1, _adagio_ at 11, _andante_ at 22,
_allegro_ at 36, and _presto_ at 46. Turning the index to any one of
these, the pendulum (which is a string, with a ball hanging to it)
shortens or lengthens, so that one of its vibrations gives you a crochet
for that movement. This instrument has been examined by the academy of
music here, who were so well satisfied of its utility, that they have
ordered all music which shall be printed here, in future, to have the
movements numbered in correspondence with this plexi-chronometer. I need
not tell you that the numbers between two movements, as between 22 and
36, give the quicker or slower degrees of the movements, such as the
quick _andante_, or moderate _allegro_. The instrument is useful, but
still it may be greatly simplified. I got him to make me one, and having
fixed a pendulum vibrating seconds, I tried by that the vibrations of
his pendulum, according to the several movements. I find the pendulum
regulated to Largo
[Illustration: The Plexi-Chronometer, page391]
Every one, therefore, may make a chronometer adapted to his instrument.
For a harpsichord, the following occurs to me:
In the wall of your chamber, over the instrument, drive five little
brads, as, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, in the following manner. Take a string with
a bob to it, of such length, as, that hung on No. 1, it shall vibrate
fifty-two times in a minute. Then proceed by trial to drive No. 2, at
such a distance, that drawing the loop of the string to that, the part
remaining between 1 and the bob, shall vibrate sixty times in a minute.
Fix the third for seventy vibrations, &c.; the cord always hanging over
No. 1, as the centre of vibration. A person playing on the violin may
fix this on his music-stand. A pendulum thrown into vibration will
continue in motion long enough to give you the time of your piece. I
have been thus particular, on the supposition that you would fix one of
these simple things for yourself.
You have heard often of the metal called platina, to be found only in
South America. It is insusceptible of rust, as gold and silver are, none
of the acids affecting it, excepting the _aqua regia_. It also admits
of as perfect a polish as the metal hitherto used for the specula of
telescopes. These two properties had suggested to the Spaniards the
substitution of it for that use. But the mines being closed up by the
government, it is difficult to get the metal. The experiment has been
lately tried here by the Abbe Rochon (whom I formerly mentioned to
Mr. Rittenhouse, as having discovered that lenses of certain natural
crystals have two different and uncombined magnifying powers), and he
thinks the polish as high as that of the metal heretofore used, and
that it will never be injured by the air, a touch of the finger, &c. I
examined it in a dull day, which did not admit a fair judgment of the
strength of its reflection.
Good qualities are sometimes misfortunes. I will prove it from your
own experience. You are punctual; and almost the only one of my
correspondents on whom I can firmly rely, for the execution of
commissions which combine a little trouble with more attention. I am
very sorry however that I have three commissions to charge you with,
which will give you more than a little trouble. Two of them are for
Monsieur de Buffon. Many, many years ago, Cadwallader Golden wrote a
very small pamphlet on the subjects of attraction and impulsion, a copy
of which he sent to Monsieur de Buffon. He was so charmed with it, that
he put it into the hands of a friend to translate, who lost it. It has
ever since weighed on his mind, and he has made repeated trials to have
it found in England. But in vain. He applied to me. I am in hopes, if
you will write a line to the booksellers of Philadelphia to rummage
their shops, that some of them may find it. Or, perhaps, some of the
careful old people of Pennsylvania or New Jersey may have preserved a
copy. In the King’s cabinet of Natural History, of which Monsieur de
Buffon has the superintendence, I observed that they had neither our
grouse nor our pheasant. These, I know, may be bought in the market of
Philadelphia, on any day while they are in season. Pray buy the male and
female of each, and employ some apothecary’s boys to prepare them, and
pack them. Methods may be seen in the preliminary discourse to the first
volume of Birds, in the _Encyclopédie_, or in the Natural History of
Buffon, where he describes the King’s cabinet. And this done, you will
be so good as to send them to me. The third commission is more distant.
It is to precure me two or three hundred paccan nuts from the western
country. I expect they can always be got at Pittsburgh and am in hopes,
that by yourself or your friends, some attentive person there may be
engaged to send them to you. They should come as fresh as possible,
and come best, I believe, in a box of sand. Of this, Barham could best
advise you. I imagine vessels are always coming from Philadelphia to
France. If there be a choice of ports, Havre would be the best. I must
beg you to direct them to the care of the American consul or agent at
the port, to be sent by the Diligence or Fourgon. A thousand apologies
would not suffice for this trouble, if I meant to pay you in apologies
only. But I sincerely ask, and will punctually execute, the appointment
of your _chargé des affaires_ in Europe generally. From the smallest
to the highest commission, I will execute with zeal and punctually, in
buying, or doing any thing you wish, on this side the water. And you may
judge from the preceding specimen, that I shall not be behind hand
in the trouble I shall impose on you. Make a note of all the expenses
attending my commissions, and favor me with it every now and then, and
I will replace them. My daughter is well, and retains an affectionate
remembrance of her ancient patroness, your mother, as well as of your
lady and family. She joins me in wishing to them, and to Mr. and Mrs.
Rittenhouse and family, every happiness. Accept, yourself, assurances of
the esteem with which I am, Dear Sir,
your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
P.S. What is become of the Lunarium for the King?
LETTER CXLVIII.--TO GENERAL WASHINGTON, January 4, 1786
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
Paris, January 4, 1786.
Dear Sir,
I have been honored with your letter of September the 26th, which was
delivered me by Mr. Houdon, who is safely returned. He has brought with
him the mould of the face only, having left the other parts of his work
with his workmen to come by some other conveyance. Doctor Franklin, who
was joined with me in the superintendence of this just monument, having
left us before what is called the costume of the statue was decided on,
I cannot so well satisfy myself, and I am persuaded I should not so well
satisfy the world, as by consulting your own wish or inclination as
to this article. Permit me, therefore, to ask you whether there is any
particular dress, or any particular attitude, which you would rather
wish to be adopted. I shall take a singular pleasure in having your own
idea executed, if you will be so good as to make it known to me.
I thank you for the trouble you have taken in answering my inquiries on
the subject of Bushnel’s machine. Colonel Humphreys could only give me
a general idea of it from the effects proposed, rather than the means
contrived to produce them.