hand. My last to you was of the 11th of August. Soon after that date I
got my right wrist dislocated, which has till now deprived me of the use
of that hand; and even now I can use it but slowly, and with pain. The
revisal of the Congressional intelligence contained in your letters,
makes me regret the loss of it on your departure. I feel, too, the
want of a person there to whose discretion I can trust confidential
communications, and on whose friendship I can rely against the unjust
designs of malevolence. I have no reason to suppose I have enemies in
Congress; yet it is too possible, to be without that fear. Some
symptoms make me suspect, that my proceedings to redress the abusive
administration of tobacco by the Farmers General have indisposed towards
me a powerful person in Philadelphia, who was profiting from that abuse.
An expression in the enclosed letter of M. de Calonne, would seem to
imply, that I had asked the abolition of Mr. Morris’s contract. I never
did. On the contrary, I always observed to them, that it would be unjust
to annul that contract. I was led to this, by principles both of justice
and interest. Of interest, because that contract would keep up the price
of tobacco here to thirty-four, thirty-six, and thirty-eight livres,
from which it will fall when it shall no longer have that support.
However, I have done what was right, and I will not so far wound my
privilege of doing that, without regard to any man’s interest, as to
enter into any explanations of this paragraph with him. Yet I esteem him
highly, and suppose that hitherto he had esteemed me. You will see by
Calonne’s letter, that we are doing what we can to get the trade of the
United States put on a good footing. I am now about setting out on
a journey to the south of France, one object of which is to try the
mineral waters there for the restoration of my hand; but another is,
to visit all the seaports where we have trade, and to hunt up all the
inconveniences under which it labors, in order to get them rectified.
I shall visit, and carefully examine too, the canal of Languedoc. On
my return, which will be early in the spring, I shall send you several
_livraisons_ of the _Encyclopédie_, and the plan of your house. I wish
to Heaven, you may continue in the disposition to fix it in Albemarle.
Short will establish himself there, and perhaps Madison may be tempted
to do so. This will be society enough, and it will be the great
sweetener of our lives. Without society, and a society to our taste,
men are never contented. The one here supposed, we can regulate to our
minds, and we may extend our regulations to the sumptuary department,
so as to set a good example to a country which needs it, and to preserve
our own happiness clear of embarrassment. You wish not to engage in the
drudgery of the bar. You have two asylums from that. Either to accept
a seat in the Council, or in the judiciary department. The latter,
however, would require a little previous drudgery at the bar, to qualify
you to discharge your duty with satisfaction to yourself. Neither of
these would be inconsistent with a continued residence in Albemarle. It
is but twelve hours drive in a sulky from Charlottesville to Richmond,
keeping a fresh horse always at the half-way, which would be a small
annual expense. I am in hopes, that Mrs. M. will have in her domestic
cares occupation and pleasure sufficient to fill her time, and insure
her against the _tedium vitæ_: that she will find, that the distractions
of a town, and the waste of life under these, can bear no comparison
with the tranquil happiness of domestic life. If her own experience has
not yet taught her this truth, she has in its favor the testimony of
one, who has gone through the various scenes of business, of bustle, of
office, of rambling, and of quiet retirement, and who can assure her,
that the latter is the only point upon which the mind can settle at
rest. Though not clear of inquietudes, because no earthly situation
is so, they are fewer in number, and mixed with more objects of
contentment, than in any other mode of life. But I must not philosophize
too much with her, lest I give her too serious apprehensions of a
friendship I shall impose on her. I am with very great esteem, Dear Sir,
your sincere friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXXV.--TO MR. CARMICHAEL, December 26,1786
TO MR. CARMICHAEL.
Paris, December 26,1786.
Dear Sir,
A note from me of the 22nd of September apprized you it would be some
time before I should be able to answer your letters. I did not then
expect it would have been so long.
I enclose herein a resolution of Congress recalling Mr. Lambe, which I
will beg the favor of you to have delivered him. I have written to Mr.
Adams on the subject of directing him to settle with Mr. Barclay, and
attend his answer. In the mean time, I am not without hopes Mr. Barclay
has done the business. I send also a note desiring Mr. Lambe to deliver
you his cipher: and a copy of a letter from the minister of finance here
to me, announcing several regulations in favor of our commerce.
My Notes on Virginia, having been hastily written, need abundance of
corrections. Two or three of these are so material, that I am reprinting
a few leaves to substitute for the old. As soon as these shall be ready,
I will beg your acceptance of a copy. I shall be proud to be permitted
to send a copy also to the Count de Campomanes, as a tribute to his
science and his virtues. You will find in them, that the Natural Bridge
has found an admirer in me also. I should be happy to make with you the
tour of the curiosities you will find therein mentioned. That kind of
pleasure surpasses much, in my estimation, whatever I find on this side
the Atlantic. I sometimes think of building a little hermitage at the
Natural Bridge (for it is my property), and of passing there a part of
the year at least.
I have received American papers to the 1st of November. Some tumultuous
meetings of the people have taken place in the eastern States; i.e. one
in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut, and one in New Hampshire. Their
principal demand was a respite in the judiciary proceedings. No injury
was done, however, in a single instance, to the person or property
of any one, nor did the tumult continue twenty-four hours in any one
instance. In Massachusetts this was owing to the discretion which the
malcontents still preserved; in Connecticut and New Hampshire the body
of the people rose in support of government, and obliged the malcontents
to go to their homes. In the last mentioned State they seized about
forty, who were in jail for trial. It is believed this incident will
strengthen our government. Those people are not entirely without excuse.
Before the war these States depended on their whale-oil and fish.
The former was consumed in England, and much of the latter in the
Mediterranean. The heavy duties on American whale-oil, now required in
England, exclude it from that market: and the Algerines exclude them
from bringing their fish into the Mediterranean. France is opening
her ports for their oil, but in the mean while their ancient debts are
pressing them, and they have nothing to pay with. The Massachusetts
Assembly, too, in their zeal for paying their public debt, had laid
a tax too heavy to be paid, in the circumstances of their State. The
Indians seem disposed, too, to make war on us. These complicated causes
determined Congress to increase their forces to two thousand men. The
latter was the sole object avowed, yet the former entered for something
into the measure. However, I am satisfied the good sense of the people
is the strongest army our governments can ever have, and that it will
not fail them. The commercial convention at Annapolis was not full
enough to do business. They found, too, their appointments too narrow,
being confined to the article of commerce. They have proposed a meeting
at Philadelphia in May, and that it may be authorized to propose
amendments of whatever is defective in the federal constitution.
When I was in England, I formed a portable copying press, on the
principles of the large one they make there, for copying letters. I had
a model made there, and it has answered perfectly. A workman here has
made several from that model. The itinerant temper of your court will, I
think, render one of these useful to you. You must, therefore, do me the
favor to accept of one. I have it now in readiness, and shall send it
by the way of Bayonne, to the care of Mr. Alexander there, unless Don
Miguel de Lardi-zabal can carry it with him.
My hand admonishes me it is time to stop, and that I must defer writing
to Mr. Barclay till to-morrow.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the highest esteem and
respect,
Dear Sir, your most obedient
and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXXVI.--TO MR. VAUGHAN, December 29, 1786
TO MR. VAUGHAN.
Paris, December 29, 1786.
Sir,
When I had the honor of seeing you in London, you were so kind as to
permit me to trouble you, sometimes with my letters, and particularly
on the subject of mathematical or philosophical instruments. Such a
correspondence will be too agreeable to me, and at the same time too
useful, not to avail myself of your permission. It has been an opinion
pretty generally received among philosophers, that the atmosphere of
America is more humid than that of Europe. Monsieur de Buffon makes this
hypothesis one of the two pillars whereon he builds his system of the
degeneracy of animals in America. Having had occasion to controvert this
opinion of his, as to the degeneracy of animals there, I expressed a
doubt of the fact assumed, that our climates are more moist. I did not
know of any experiments, which might authorize a denial of it. Speaking
afterwards on the subject with Dr. Franklin, he mentioned to me the
observations he had made on a case of magnets, made for him by Mr.
Nairne in London. Of these you will see a detail in the second volume of
the American Philosophical Transactions, in a letter from Dr. Franklin
to Mr. Nairne, wherein he recommends to him to take up the principle
therein explained, and endeavor to make an hygrometer, which, taking
slowly the temperature of the atmosphere, shall give its mean degree of
moisture, and enable us thus to make with more certainty a comparison
between the humidities of different climates. May I presume to trouble
you with an inquiry of Mr. Nairne, whether he has executed the
Doctor’s idea; and if he has, to get him to make for me a couple of
the instruments he may have contrived. They should be made of the same
piece, and under like circumstances, that sending one to America, I may
rely on its indications there, compared with those of the one I shall
retain here. Being in want of a set of magnets also, I would be glad
if he would at the same time send me a set, the case of which should be
made as Dr. Franklin describes his to have been, so that I may repeat
his experiment. Colonel Smith will do me the favor to receive these
things from Mr. Nairne, and to pay him for them.
I think Mr. Rittenhouse never published an invention of his in this
way, which was a very good one. It was of an hygrometer, which, like
the common ones, was to give the actual moisture of the air. He has
two slips of mahogany about five inches long, three fourths of an inch
broad, and one tenth of an inch thick, the one having the grain running
lengthwise, and the other crosswise. These are glued together by their
faces, so as to form a piece five inches long, three fourths of an inch
broad, and one third of an inch thick, which is stuck by its lower end
into a little plinth of wood, presenting their edge to the view. The
fibres of the wood you know are dilated, but not lengthened by moisture.
The slip, therefore, whose grain is lengthwise, becomes a standard,
retaining always the same precise length. That which has its grain
crosswise, dilates with moisture, and contracts for the want of it.
If the right hand piece be the cross-grained one, when the air is very
moist, it lengthens, and forces its companion to form a kind of interior
annulus of a circle on the left. When the air is dry, it contracts,
draws its companion to the right, and becomes itself the interior
annulus. In order to show this dilation and contraction, an index is
fixed on the upper end of the two slips; a plate of metal or wood is
fastened to the front of the plinth, so as to cover the two slips from
the eye. A slit, being nearly the portion of a circle, is cut in this
plate, so that the shank of the index may play freely through its whole
range. On the edge of the slit is a graduation. The objection to this
instrument is, that it is not fit for comparative observations, because
no two pieces of wood being of the same texture exactly, no two will
yield exactly alike to the same agent. However, it is less objectionable
on this account, than most of the substances used. Mr. Rittenhouse had
a thought of trying ivory: but I do not know whether he executed it. All
these substances not only vary from one another at the same time, but
from themselves at different times. All of them, however, have some
peculiar advantages, and I think this, on the whole, appeared preferable
to any other I had ever seen. Not knowing whether you had heard of this
instrument, and supposing it would amuse you, I have taken the liberty
of detailing it to you.
I beg you to be assured of the sentiments of perfect esteem and respect
with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient
and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXXVII.--TO JOHN JAY, December 31, 1786
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, December 31, 1786
Sir,
I had the honor of addressing you on the 12th of the last month; since
which your favor of October the 12th has been received, enclosing a copy
of the resolution of Congress for recalling Mr. Lambe. My letter by Mr.
Randall informed you, that we had put an end to his powers, and required
him to repair to Congress. I lately received a letter from him, dated
Alicant, October the 10th, of which I have the honor to enclose you a
copy: by which you will perceive, that the circumstance of ill health,
either true or false, is urged for his not obeying our call. I shall
immediately forward the order of Congress. I am not without fear, that
some misapplication of the public money may enter into the causes of
his declining to return. The moment that I saw a symptom of this in
his conduct, as it was a circumstance which did not admit the delay
of consulting Mr. Adams, I wrote to Mr. Carmichael, to stop any monies
which he might have in the hands of his banker. I am still unable to
judge whether he is guilty of this or not, as by the arrangements with
Mr. Adams, who alone had done business with the bankers of the United
States, in Holland, Mr. Lambe’s drafts were to be made on him, and
I know not what their amount has been. His drafts could not have been
negotiated, if made on us both, at places so distant. Perhaps it may be
thought, that the appointment of Mr. Lambe was censurable in the moment
in which it was made. It is a piece of justice, therefore, which I owe
to Mr. Adams, to declare that the proposition went first from me to him.
I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy of my letter to Mr. Adams,
of September the 24th, 1785, in which that proposition was made. It
expresses the motives operating on my mind in that moment, as well as
the cautions I thought it necessary to take. To these must be added the
difficulty of finding an American in Europe fit for the business, and
willing to undertake it. I knew afterwards, that Dr. Bancroft (who is
named in the letter) could not, on account of his own affairs, have
accepted even a primary appointment. I think it evident, that no
appointment could have succeeded without a much greater sum of money.
I am happy to find that Mr. Barclay’s mission has been attended with
complete success. For this we are indebted, unquestionably, to the
influence and good offices of the court of Madrid. Colonel Franks, the
bearer of this, will have the honor to put into your hands the original
of the treaty, with other papers accompanying it. It will appear
by these, that Mr. Barclay has conducted himself with a degree of
intelligence and of good faith which reflects the highest honor on him.
A copy of a letter from Captain O’Bryan to Mr. Carmichael is also
herewith enclosed. The information it contains will throw farther light
on the affairs of Algiers. His observations on the difficulties which
arise from the distance of Mr. Adams and myself from that place, and
from one another, and the delays occasioned by this circumstance, are
certainly just. If Congress should propose to revive the negotiations,
they will judge whether it will not be more expedient to send a person
to Algiers, who can be trusted with full powers: and also whether a
mission to Constantinople may not be previously necessary. Before I quit
this subject, I must correct an error in the letter of Captain O’Bryan.
Mr. Lambe was not limited, as he says, to one hundred, but to two
hundred dollars apiece for our prisoners. This was the price which had
been just paid for a large number of French prisoners, and this was our
guide.
I have the honor to be, with the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir,
your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXXVIII.--TO SAMUEL OSGOOD, January 5, 1787
TO SAMUEL OSGOOD.
Paris, January 5, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I am desired to forward to you the enclosed queries, and to ask the
favor of you to give such an answer to them, as may not give you too
much trouble. Those which stand foremost on the paper, can be addressed
only to your complaisance; but the last may possibly be interesting to
your department, and to the United States. I mean those which suggest
the possibility of borrowing money in Europe, the principal of which
shall be ultimately payable in land, and in the mean time, a good
interest. You know best whether the suggestion can be turned to any
profit, and whether it will be worth while to introduce any proposition
to Congress thereon. Among the possible shapes into which a matter of
this kind may be formed, the following is one. Let us suppose the public
lands to be worth a dollar, hard money, the acre. If we should ask of a
monied man a loan of one hundred dollars, payable with one hundred
acres of land at the end of ten years, and in the mean time, carrying
an interest of five per cent., this would be more disadvantageous to the
lender than a common loan, payable ultimately in cash. But if we should
say, we will deliver you the one hundred acres of land immediately,
which is in fact an immediate payment of the principal, and will
nevertheless pay your interest of five per cent., for ten years, this
offers a superior advantage, and might tempt money-holders. But what
should we in fact receive, in this way, for our lands? Thirty-seven
dollars and one fourth, being left in Europe, on an interest of five per
cent., would pay annually the interest of the one hundred dollars for
ten years. There would remain then only sixty-two dollars and three
quarters, for the one hundred acres of land; that is to say, about
two thirds of its price. Congress can best determine, whether any
circumstances in our situation, should induce us to get rid of any of
our debts in that way. I beg you to understand, that I have named rates
of interest, term of payment and price of land, merely to state the
case, and without the least knowledge that a loan could be obtained on
these terms. It remains to inform you, from whom this suggestion comes.
The person from whom I receive it, is a Monsieur Claviere, connected
with the monied men of Amsterdam. He is, on behalf of a company there,
actually treating with the Comptroller General here, for the purchase of
our debt to this country, at a considerable discount. Whether he has an
idea of offering a loan to us, on terms such as I have above spoken of,
I know not; nor do I know that he is authorized to make the suggestion
he has made. If the thing should be deemed worthy the attention of
Congress, they can only consider it as a possibility, and take measures
to avail themselves of it, if the possibility turns out in their favor,
and not to be disappointed if it does not. Claviere’s proposition not
being formal enough for me to make an official communication of it, you
will make what use of it you see best.
I am, with very sincere esteem and attachment, Dear Sir, your most
obedient
and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER XXXIX.--TO JOHN JAY, January 9, 1787
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, January 9, 1787.
Sir,
My last, of December the 31st, acknowledged the receipt of yours of
October the 12th, as the present does those of October the 3rd, 9th, and
27th, together with the resolution of Congress of October the 16th,
on the claim of Schweighaeuser. I will proceed in this business on
the return of Mr. Barclay, who being fully acquainted with all the
circumstances, will be enabled to give me that information, the want of
which might lead me to do wrong on the one side or the other.
Information of the signature of the treaty with Morocco has been long on
its passage to you. I will beg leave to recur to dates, that you may see
that no part of it has been derived from me. The first notice I had
of it, was in a letter from Mr. Barclay, dated, Daralbeyda, August the
11th. I received this on the 13th of September. No secure conveyance
offered till the 26th of the same month, being thirteen days after
my receipt of it. In my letter of that date, which went by the way of
London, I had the honor to enclose you a copy of Mr. Barclay’s letter.
The conveyance of the treaty itself is suffering a delay here at
present, which all my anxiety cannot prevent. Colonel Franks’ baggage,
which came by water from Cadiz to Rouen, has been long and hourly
expected. The moment it arrives, he will set out to London, to have
duplicates of the treaty signed by Mr. Adams, and from thence he will
proceed to New York.
The Chevalier del Pinto, who treated with us on behalf of Portugal,
being resident at London, I have presumed that causes of the delay of
that treaty had been made known to Mr. Adams, and by him communicated
to you. I will write to him by Colonel Franks, in order that you may be
answered on that subject.
The publication of the enclosed extract from my letter of May the 27th,
1786, will, I fear, have very mischievous effects. It will tend to
draw on the Count de Vergennes the formidable phalanx of the Farms; to
prevent his committing himself to me in any conversation which he does
not mean for the public papers; to inspire the same diffidence into all
other ministers, with whom I might have to transact business; to defeat
the little hope, if any hope existed, of getting rid of the Farm on the
article of tobacco; and to damp that freedom of, communication which
the resolution of Congress of May the 3rd, 1784, was intended to
re-establish. Observing by the proceedings of Congress, that they are
about to establish a coinage, I think it my duty to inform them, that a
Swiss, of the name of Drost, established here, has invented a method of
striking the two faces and the edge of a coin, at one stroke. By this,
and other simplifications of the process of coinage, he is enabled to
coin from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand pieces a day, with
the assistance of only two persons, the pieces of metal being first
prepared. I send you by Colonel Franks three coins of gold, silver, and
copper, which you will perceive to be perfect medals: and I can assure
you, from having seen him coin many, that every piece is as perfect as
these. There has certainly never yet been seen any coin, in any country,
comparable to this. The best workmen in this way acknowledge that his
is like a new art. Coin should always be made in the highest perfection
possible, because it is a great guard against the danger of false
coinage. This man would be willing to furnish his implements to
Congress, and if they please, he will go over and instruct a person to
carry on the work: nor do I believe he would ask any thing unreasonable.
It would be very desirable, that in the institution of a new coinage,
we could set out on so perfect a plan as this, and the more so, as while
the work is so exquisitely done, it is done cheaper.
I will certainly do the best I can for the reformation of the consular
convention, being persuaded that our States would be very unwilling to
conform their laws either to the convention, or to the scheme. But it
is too difficult and too delicate, to form sanguine hopes. However, that
there may be room to reduce the convention, as much as circumstances
will admit, will it not be expedient for Congress to give me powers,
in which there shall be no reference to the scheme? The powers sent
me, oblige me to produce that scheme, and certainly, the moment it is
produced, they will not abate a tittle from it. If they recollect the
scheme, and insist on it, we can but conclude it; but if they have
forgotten it (which may be), and are willing to reconsider the whole
subject, perhaps we may get rid of something the more of it. As the
delay is not injurious to us, because the convention, whenever and
however made, is to put us in a worse state than we are in now, I shall
venture to defer saying a word on the subject, till I can hear from
you in answer to this. The full powers may be sufficiently guarded, by
private instructions to me, not to go beyond the former scheme. This
delay may be well enough ascribed (whenever I shall have received new
powers) to a journey, I had before apprized the minister that I should
be obliged to take, to some mineral waters in the south of France, to
see if by their aid I may recover the use of my right hand, of which a
dislocation about four months ago, threatens to deprive me in a great
measure. The surgeons have long insisted on this measure. I shall return
by Bordeaux, Nantes, and L’Orient, to get the necessary information for
finishing our commercial regulations here. Permit me, however, to ask,
as immediately as possible, an answer, either affirmative or negative,
as Congress shall think best, and to ascribe the delay on which I
venture, to my desire to do what is for the best.
I send you a copy of the late marine regulations of this country. There
are things in it, which may become interesting to us. Particularly,
what relates to the establishment of a marine militia, and their
classification.
You will have seen in the public papers, that the King has called an
Assembly of the Notables of this country. This has not been done for one
hundred and sixty years past. Of course, it calls up all the attention
of the people. The objects of this Assembly are not named: several are
conjectured. The tolerating the Protestant religion; removing all the
internal Custom-houses to the frontier; equalizing the _gabelles_ on
salt through the kingdom; the sale of the King’s domains, to raise
money; or, finally, the effecting this necessary end by some other
means, are talked of. But, in truth, nothing is known about it. This
government practises secrecy so systematically, that it never publishes
its purposes or its proceedings, sooner or more extensively than
necessary. I send you a pamphlet, which, giving an account of the last
_Assemblée des Notable_, may give an idea of what the present will be.
A great desire prevails here of encouraging manufactures. The famous
Boulton and Watt, who are at the head of the plated manufactures
of Birmingham, the steam mills of London, copying presses and other
mechanical works, have been here. It is said, also, that Wedgewood has
been here, who is famous for his steel manufactories, and an earthen
ware in the antique style; but as to this last person, I am not certain.
It cannot, I believe be doubted, but that they came at the request
of government, and that they will be induced to establish similar
manufactures here.
The transferring hither those manufactures, which contribute so much to
draw our commerce to England, will have a great tendency to strengthen
our connections with this country, and loosen them with that.