journey of three or four months; and am always happy in an occasion of
recalling myself to your memory. The most interesting intelligence from
America, is that respecting the late insurrection in Massachusetts. The
cause of this has not been developed to me to my perfect satisfaction.
The most probable is, that those individuals were of the imprudent
number of those who have involved themselves in debt beyond their
abilities to pay, and that a vigorous effort in that government to
compel the payment of private debts, and raise money for public ones,
produced the resistance. I believe you may be assured, than an idea or
desire of returning to any thing like their ancient government, never
entered into their heads. I am not discouraged by this. For thus I
calculate. An insurrection in one of thirteen States, in the course of
eleven years that they have subsisted, amounts to one in any particular
state, in one hundred and forty-three years, say a century and a
half. This would not be near as many as have happened in every other
government that has ever existed. So that we shall have the difference
between a light and a heavy government as clear gain. I have no fear,
but that the result of our experiment will be, that men may be trusted
to govern themselves without a master. Could the contrary of this be
proved, I should conclude, either that there is no God, or that he is a
malevolent being. You have heard of the federal convention, now sitting
at Philadelphia, for the amendment of the Confederation. Eleven States
appointed delegates certainly; it was expected that Connecticut would
also appoint, the moment its Assembly met. Rhode Island had refused. I
expect they will propose several amendments; that that relative to our
commerce will probably be adopted immediately, but that the others must
wait to be adopted, one after another, in proportion as the minds of the
States ripen for them. Dr. Franklin enjoys good health. I shall always
be happy to hear from you, being, with sentiments of very sincere esteem
and respect, Dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXV.--TO B. VAUGHAN, July 2, 1787
TO B. VAUGHAN.
Paris, July 2, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Your favor of February the 16th came to my hands in the moment I was
setting out on a tour through the southern parts of France and northern
of Italy, from which I am but just now returned. I avail myself of the
earliest moment to acknowledge its receipt, and to thank you for the box
of magnets which I found here. Though I do not know certainly by or from
whom they come, I presume they came by Colonel Smith, who was here in my
absence, and from Messrs. Nairne and Blunt, through your good offices. I
think your letter of February the 16th flatters me with the expectation
of another, with observations on the hygrometers I had proposed. I value
what comes from you too much, not to remind you of it. Your favor by Mr.
Garnett also came during my absence. I presume he has left Paris, as
I can hear nothing of him. I have lost the opportunity, therefore,
of seeing his method of resisting friction, as well as of showing, by
attentions to him, respect for yourself and your recommendations. Mr.
Paine (Common Sense) is here on his way to England. He has brought the
model of an iron bridge, with which he supposes a single arch of four
hundred feet may be made. It has not yet arrived in Paris. Among other
projects, with which we begin to abound in America, is one for finding
the longitude by the variation of the magnetic needle. The author
supposes two points, one near each pole, through the northern of which
pass all the magnetic meridians of the northern hemisphere, and through
the southern those of the southern hemisphere. He determines their
present position and periodical revolution. It is said his publication
is plausible. I have not seen it.
What are you going to do with your naval armament on your side the
channel. Perhaps you will ask me, what they are about to do here. A
British navy and Prussian army hanging over Holland on one side, a
French navy and army hanging over it on the other, looks as if they
thought of fighting. Yet I think both parties too wise for that, too
laudably intent on economizing, rather than on further embarrassing
their finances. May they not propose to have a force on the spot to
establish some neutral form of a constitution, which these powers will
cook up among themselves, without consulting the parties for whom it
is intended? The affair of Geneva shows such combinations possible.
Wretched, indeed, is the nation, in whose affairs foreign powers are
once permitted to intermeddle. Lord Wycombe is with us at present. His
good sense, information, and discretion are much beyond his years, and
promise good things for your country.
I beg you to accept assurances of the esteem/and respect, with which
I have the honor to be, Dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble
servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXVI.--TO M. L’ABBE MORELLET, July 2, 1787
TO M. L’ABBE MORELLET.
Paris, July 2, 1787.
I am sorry, my Dear Sir, that your interest should be affected by the
ill behavior of Barrois. But when you consider the facts, you will be
sensible that I could not have indulged his indolence further, without
increasing the injury to a more punctual workman. Stockdale, of London,
had asked leave to print my Notes. I agreed to it; and promised he
should have the plate of the map as soon as it should be corrected,
and the copies struck off for you and myself. He thereupon printed his
edition completely in three weeks. The printer, who was to strike off
two hundred and fifty maps for me, kept the plate but five days. It was
then delivered to Barrois, with notice that it could not be left
longer with him, than should suffice to strike off his number. Repeated
applications for it, by Mr. Short and my servant, were only answered
by repeated promises, and times of delivery fixed, no one of which was
performed. When I returned, he had been possessed of the plate upwards
of two months. I was astonished and confounded, to be told it had not
been sent to Stockdale, and that his edition had been lying dead on his
hands three months. I sent to Barrois the very day of my return, to let
him know, that justice to Stockdale did not permit me to defer sending
him the plate any longer: yet I would wait five days, at the end of
which he must deliver me the plate, whether his maps were done or not. I
received no answer, but waited ten days. I then sent for the plate. The
answer was, he was not at home. I sent again the next day. Answer, he
was not at home. I sent the third day. Not at home. I then ordered the
messenger to go back, and wait till he should come home. This produced
an answer of two lines, _qu’il alloit soigner son ouvrier?_ I wrote him
word in return, to deliver the plate instantly. This I think was on a
Saturday or Sunday. He told the messenger he would let me have it the
Thursday following. I took patience, and sent on the Friday, but telling
the messenger, if he refused to deliver it, to inform him I would be
plagued no more with sending messages, but apply to the police. He then
delivered it, and I sent it off immediately to London. He had kept it
three months, of which three weeks were after my return. I think, Sir,
you will be satisfied that justice to Stockdale, justice to myself,
who had passed my word for sending on the plate, and sensibility to the
shuffling conduct of Barrois, permitted me to act no otherwise. But no
matter. Let his ill behavior make no odds between you and me. It will
affect your interest, and that suffices to determine me to order back
the plate, as soon as Stockdale has done with it. He will not require
more days, than Barrois months. So that it will be here before you can
want it. But it must never go into Barrois’ hands again, nor of any
person depending on him, or under his orders. The workman who struck off
the two hundred and fifty for me, seems to have been diligent enough.
Either he, or any other workman you please of that description, shall
have it, to strike what number you wish. I forgot to observe, in its
proper place, that when I was in the midst of my difficulties, I did
myself the honor of calling on you, as well to have that of asking after
your health on my return, as of asking your assistance to obtain the
plate. Unluckily you were gone to Versailles; so I was obliged to
proceed as well as I could. It is no excuse for Barrois, to say, he
could not get his _imprimeur_ to proceed. He should have applied to
another. But as to you, it shall be set to rights in the manner I
have before stated. Accept my regret that you were in the hands of so
underserving a workman, and one who placed me under the necessity of
interrupting a work which interested you. Be assured, at the same time,
of the sincerity of those sentiments of esteem and respect with which
I have the honor to be, Dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble
servant,
Th: Jefferson.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE LETTER OF MONSIEUR DE CALONNE
[The following observations appear to have been addressed to
the Count de Montmorin, about the 6th of July, 1787.]
Observations on the Letter of Monsieur de Calonne to Monsieur Jefferson,
dated, Fontainbleau, October 22, 1786.
A committee was appointed, in the course of the last year, to take a
view of the subjects of commerce which might be brought from the United
States of America, in exchange for those of France, and to consider what
advantages and facilities might be offered to encourage that commerce.
The letter of Monsieur de Calonne was founded on their report. It was
conclusive as to the articles on which satisfactory information had been
then obtained, and reserved, for future consideration, certain others,
needing further inquiry. It is proposed now to review those unfinished
articles, that they may also be comprehended in the _Arrêt_, and the
regulations on this branch of commerce be rendered complete.
1. The letter promised to diminish the _Droits du Roi et d’amirautè_,
payable by an American vessel entering into a port at France, and to
reduce what should remain into a single duty, which shall be regulated
by the draught of the vessel, or her number of masts. It is doubted
whether it will be expedient to regulate the duty, in either of these
ways. If by the draught,of water, it will fall unequally on us as a
nation; because we build our vessels sharp-bottomed, for swift sailing,
so that they draw more water than those of other nations, of the
same burthen. If by the number of masts, it will fall unequally on
individuals; because we often see ships of one hundred and eighty tons,
and brigs of three hundred and sixty. This, then, would produce an
inequality among individuals, of six to one. The present principle is
the most just, to regulate by the burthen. It is certainly desirable,
that these duties should be reduced to a single one. Their names and
numbers perplex and harass the merchant, more than their amount; subject
him to imposition, and to the suspicion of it when there is none. An
intention of general reformation in this article has been accordingly
announced, with augmentation as to foreigners. We are in hopes, that
this augmentation is not to respect us; because it is proposed as a
measure of reciprocity, whereas, in some of our States, no such duties
exist, and in others they are extremely light; because we have been
made to hope a diminution, instead of augmentation; and because this
distinction cannot draw on France any just claims from other nations;
the _jura gentis amicissima_, conferred by her late treaties, having
reference expressly to the nations of Europe only; and those
conferred by the more ancient ones not being susceptible of any other
interpretation, nor admitting a pretension of reference to a nation
which did not then exist, and which has come into existence under
circumstances distinguishing its commerce from that of all other
nations. Merchandise received from them, takes employment from the
poor of France; ours gives it: theirs is brought in, the last stage of
manufacture; ours in the first: we bring our tobaccos to be manufactured
into snuff, our flax and hemp into linen and cordage, our furs into
hats, skins into saddlery, shoes, and clothing; we take nothing till it
has received the last hand.
2. Fish-oils. The Hanseatic treaty was the basis, on which the
diminution of duty on this article was asked and granted. It is
expressly referred to as such, in the letter of Monsieur de Calonne.
Instead, however, of the expression, _huile et graisse de baleine et
d’autres poisons_, used in that treaty, the letter uses the terms,
‘_huiles de baleine, spermaceti, et tout ce qui est compris sous
ces denominations._’ And the Farmers have availed themselves of this
variation, to refuse the diminution of duty on the oils of the _vache
marine, chien de mer, esturgeon_, and other fish. It is proposed,
therefore, to re-establish in the _Arrêt_, the expression of the
Hanseatic treaty, and to add, from the same treaty, the articles
‘_baleine coupée et fanon de baleine_.’
The letter states these regulations as finally made by the King. The
merchants, on this supposition, entered into speculations. But they
found themselves called on for the old duties, not only on other
fish-oils, but on the whale-oil. Monsieur de Calonne always promised,
that the _Arrêt_ should be retrospective to the date of the letter, so
as to refund to them the duties they had thus been obliged to pay. To
this, attention is prayed in forming the _Arrêt_. His majesty having
been pleased, as an encouragement to the importation of our fish-oils,
to abolish the _Droits de fabrication_, it is presumed that the purpose
announced, of continuing those duties on foreign oils, will not be
extended to us.
3. Rice. The duty on this, is only seven and a half deniers the quintal,
or about one quarter per cent, on its first cost. While this serves to
inform a government of the quantities imported, it cannot discourage
that importation. Nothing further, therefore, is necessary on this
article.
4. _Potasse_. This article is of principal utility to France, in her
bleacheries of linen, glass-works, and soap-works; and the potash of
America, being made of green wood, is known to be the best in the world.
All duty on it was, therefore, abolished by the King. But the city of
Rouen levies on it a duty of twenty sols the quintal, which is very
sensible in its price, brings it dearer to the bleacheries near Paris,
to those of Beauvais, Laval, &c. and to the glass-works, and encourages
them to give a preference to the potash or soude of other nations. This
is a counteraction of the views of the King, expressed in the letter,
which it is hoped will be prevented.
5. Turpentine, tar, and pitch were not decided on, on the former
occasion. Turpentine (_térébenthine_) pays ten sols the quintal, and ten
sols the livre, making fifteen sols the quintal; which is ten per cent,
on its prime cost. Tar (_goudron, braigras_) pays eight livres the
_leth_ of twelve barrels, and ten sols the livre, amounting to twenty
sols the barrel; which is twelve and a half per cent, on its prime cost.
Pitch (_brai sec_) pays ten sols the quintal, and ten sols the livre,
making fifteen sols the quintal; which is twenty per cent, on its prime
cost. Duties of from ten to twenty per cent., on articles of heavy
carriage, prevent their importation. They eat up all the profits of the
merchant, and often subject him to loss. This has been much the case
with respect to turpentine, tar, and pitch, which are principal articles
of remittance for the State of North Carolina. It is hoped, that it
will coincide with the views of government, in making the present
regulations, to suppress the duties on these articles, which, of all
others, can bear them least.
LETTER LXVII.--TO T. M. RANDOLPH, JUNIOR, July 6, 1787
TO T. M. RANDOLPH, JUNIOR.
Paris, July 6, 1787.
Dear Sir,
Your favor of April the 14th came here during my absence on a journey
through the southern parts of France and northern of Italy, from which I
am but lately returned. This cause alone, has prevented your receiving
a more early answer to it. I am glad to find, that among the various
branches of science presenting themselves to your mind, you have fixed
on that of politics as your principal pursuit. Your country will derive
from this a more immediate and sensible benefit. She has much for you
to do. For though we may say with confidence, that the worst of the
American constitutions, is better than the best which ever existed
before, in any other country, and that they are wonderfully perfect for
a first essay, yet every human essay must have defects. It will remain,
therefore, to those now coming on the stage of public affairs, to
perfect what has been so well begun by those, going off it. Mathematics,
Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Anatomy, Chemistry, Botany, will
become amusements for your hours of relaxation, and auxiliaries to your
principal studies. Precious and delightful ones they will be. As soon
as such a foundation is laid in them, as you may build on as you please,
hereafter, I suppose you will proceed to your main objects, Politics,
Law, Rhetoric, and History. As to these, the place where you study them
is absolutely indifferent. I should except Rhetoric, a very essential
member of them, and which I suppose must be taught to advantage where
you are. You would do well, therefore, to attend the public exercises
in this branch also, and to do it with very particular diligence.
This being done, the question arises, where you shall fix yourself for
studying Politics, Law, and History. I should not hesitate to decide
in favor of France, because you will, at the same time, be learning to
speak the language of that country, become absolutely essential under
our present circumstances. The best method of doing this, would be
to fix yourself in some family where there are women and children, in
Passy, Auteuil, or some other of the little towns in reach of Paris. The
principal hours of the day you will attend to your studies, and in those
of relaxation associate with the family. You will learn to speak better
from women and children in three months, than from men in a year. Such a
situation, too, will render more easy a due attention to economy of time
and money. Having pursued your main studies here about two years, and
acquired a facility in speaking French, take a tour of four or five
months through this country and Italy, return then to Virginia, and pass
a year in Williamsburg, under the care of Mr. Wythe; and you will be
ready to enter on the public stage, with superior advantages. I have
proposed to you to carry on the study of the law, with that of politics
and history. Every political measure will, for ever, have an intimate
connection with the laws of the land; and he who knows nothing of these,
will always be perplexed, and often foiled by adversaries having
the advantage of that knowledge over him. Besides, it is a source of
infinite comfort to reflect, that under every change of fortune, we
have a resource in ourselves, from which we may be able to derive an
honorable subsistence. I would, therefore, propose not only the study,
but the practice of the law for some time, to possess yourself of the
habit of public speaking. With respect to modern languages, French, as
I have before observed, is indispensable. Next to this, the Spanish
is most important to an American. Our connection with Spain is already
important, and will become daily more so. Besides this, the ancient part
of American history is written chiefly in Spanish. To a person who would
make a point of reading and speaking French and Spanish, I should
doubt the utility of learning Italian. These three languages, being all
degeneracies from the Latin, resemble one another so much, that I doubt
the probability of keeping in the head a distinct knowledge of them
all. I suppose that he who learns them all, will speak a compound of the
three, and neither perfectly. The journey which I propose to you,
need not be expensive, and would be very useful. With your talents
and industry, with science, and that steadfast honesty which eternally
pursues right, regardless of consequences, you may promise yourself
every thing--but health, without which there is no happiness. An
attention to health, then, should take place of every other object. The
time necessary to secure this by active exercises, should be devoted
to it, in preference to every other pursuit. I know the difficulty with
which a studious man tears himself from his studies, at any given moment
of the day. But his happiness, and that of his family, depend on it.
The most uninformed mind with a healthy body, is happier than the wisest
valetudinarian. I need not tell you, that if I can be useful to you in
any part of this, or any other plan you shall adopt, you will make me
happy by commanding my services.
Will you be so good, Sir, as to return my most respectful thanks for the
diploma with which I am honored by the society instituted with you, for
the encouragement of the study of Natural History. I am afraid it
will never be in my power to contribute any thing to the object of the
institution. Circumstances have thrown me into a very different line of
life; and not choice, as I am happy to find in your case. In the year
1781, while confined to my room by a fall from my horse, I wrote some
Notes, in answer to the inquiries of M. de Marbois, as to the natural
and political state of Virginia. They were hasty and undigested: yet as
some of these touch slightly on some objects of its natural history, I
will take the liberty of asking the society to accept a copy of them.
For the same reason, and because too, they touch on the political
condition of our country, I will beg leave to present you with a copy,
and ask the favor of you to find a conveyance for them, from London to
Edinburgh. They are printed by Stockdale, bookseller, Piccadilly, and
will be ready in three or four weeks from this time. I will direct him
to deliver two copies to your order. Repeating, constantly, the
proffer of my services, I shall only add assurances of the esteem and
attachment, with which I am, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER LXVIII.--TO STEPHEN CATHALAN, JUNIOR, July 21,1787
TO STEPHEN CATHALAN, JUNIOR.
Paris, July 21,1787.
Sir,
I received your favor of May the 9th, just as I was stepping into the
barge on my departure from Cette; which prevented my answering it from
that place. On my arrival here, I thought I would avail myself of the
opportunity of paying your balance, to make a little acquaintance with
Sir John Lambert. One or two unsuccessful attempts to find him at home,
with the intermediate procrastinations well known to men of business,
prevented my seeing him till yesterday, and have led me on to this
moment, through a perpetual remorse of conscience for not writing
to you, and in the constant belief that it would be to morrow and to
morrow. At length, I have seen him, paid him the eighty-five livres
which you have been so kind as to advance for me, and am actually at my
writing table, returning you thanks for this kindness, and to yourself
and the family for the thousand others I received at their hands,
at Marseilles. My journey, after leaving you, wanted nothing but
the company of Madame Cathalan and yourself, to render it perfectly
agreeable. I felt the want of it peculiarly on the _canal de Languedoc_,
where, with society, the mode of travelling would have been charming. I
was much indebted to M. Minaudier, for a good equipment from Agde, and
unceasing attentions to that place; for which I was indebted to your
recommendations as well as to his goodness.