servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXVII.--TO JAMES MADISON, December 20, 1787
TO JAMES MADISON.
Paris, December 20, 1787.
Dear Sir,
My last to you was of October the 8th, by the Count de Moustier.
Yours of July the 18th, September the 6th, and October the 24th, were
successively received, yesterday, the day before, and three or four
days before that. I have only had time to read the letters; the printed
papers communicated with them, however interesting, being obliged to lie
over till I finish my despatches for the packet, which despatches must
go from hence the day after to-morrow. I have much to thank you for;
first and most for the ciphered paragraph respecting myself. These
little informations are very material towards forming my own decisions.
I would be glad even to know, when any individual member thinks I have
gone wrong in any instance. If I know myself, it would not excite ill
blood in me, while it would assist to guide my conduct, perhaps to
justify it, and to keep me to my duty, alert. I must thank you too, for
the information in Thomas Burke’s case; though you will have found by a
subsequent letter, that I have asked of you a further investigation of
that matter. It is to gratify the lady who is at the head of the convent
wherein my daughters are, and who, by her attachment and attention to
them, lays me under great obligations, I shall hope, therefore, still
to receive from you the result of all the further inquiries my
second letter had asked. The parcel of rice which you informed me had
miscarried, accompanied my letter to the Delegates of South Carolina.
Mr. Bourgoin was to be the bearer of both, and both were delivered
together into the hands of his relation here, who introduced him to
me, and who, at a subsequent moment, undertook to convey them to Mr.
Bourgoin. This person was an engraver, particularly recommended to
Dr. Franklin and Mr. Hopkinson. Perhaps he may have mislaid the little
parcel of rice among his baggage. I am much pleased, that the sale
of western lands is so successful. I hope they will absorb all the
certificates of our domestic debt speedily, in the first place, and that
then, offered for cash, they will do the same by our foreign ones.
The season admitting only of operations in the cabinet, and these
being in a great measure secret, I have little to fill a letter, I
will therefore make up the deficiency, by adding a few words on the
constitution proposed by our convention.
I like much the general idea of framing a government, which should go on
of itself, peaceably, without needing continual recurrence to the
State legislatures. I like the organization of the government into
legislative, judiciary, and executive. I like the power given the
legislature to levy taxes, and for that reason solely, I approve of the
greater House being chosen by the people directly. For though I think
a House, so chosen, will be very far inferior to the present Congress,
will be very illy qualified to legislate for the Union, for foreign
nations, &c.; yet this evil does not weigh against the good of
preserving inviolate the fundamental principle, that the people are
not to be taxed but by representitives[sp.] chosen immediately by
themselves. I am captivated by the compromise of the opposite claims of
the great and little States, of the latter to equal, and the former to
proportional influence. I am much pleased, too, with the substitution
of the method of voting by persons, instead of that of voting by States:
and I like the negative given to the Executive, conjointly with a third
of either House; though I should have liked it better, had the judiciary
been associated for that purpose, or invested separately with a similar
power. There are other good things of less moment.
I will now tell you what I do not like. First, the omission of a bill of
rights, providing clearly, and without the aid of sophism, for freedom
of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies,
restriction of monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the
_habeas corpus_ laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable
by the laws of the land, and not by the laws of nations. To say, as Mr.
Wilson does, that a bill of rights was not necessary, because all is
reserved in the case of the general government which is not given, while
in the particular ones, all is given which is not reserved, might do
for the audience to which it was addressed: but it is surely a _gratis
dictum_, the reverse of which might just as well be said; and it is
opposed by strong inferences from the body of the instrument, as well as
from the omission of the clause of our present Confederation, which had
made the reservation in express terms. It was hard to conclude, because
there has been a want of uniformity among the States as to the cases
triable by jury, because some have been so incautious as to dispense
with this mode of trial in certain cases, therefore the more prudent
States shall be reduced to the same level of calamity. It would have
been much more just and wise to have concluded the other way, that as
most of the States had preserved with jealousy this sacred palladium of
liberty, those who had wandered, should be brought back to it: and to
have established general right rather than general wrong. For I consider
all the ill as established, which maybe established. I have a right to
nothing, which another has a right to take away; and Congress will have
a right to take away trials by jury in all civil cases. Let me add,
that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every
government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government
should refuse, or rest on inference.
The second feature I dislike, and strongly dislike, is the abandonment,
in every instance, of the principle of rotation in office, and most
particularly in the case of the President. Reason and experience tell
us, that the first magistrate will always be re-elected if he may be
re-elected. He is then an officer for life.
This once observed, it becomes of so much consequence to certain
nations, to have a friend or a foe at the head of our affairs, that they
will interfere with money and with arms. A Galloman, or an Angloman,
will be supported by the nation he befriends. If once elected, and at a
second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend
false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government,
be supported by the States voting for him, especially if they be the
central ones, lying in a compact body themselves, and separating their
opponents; and they will be aided by one nation in Europe, while the
majority are aided by another. The election of a President of America,
some years hence, will be much more interesting to certain nations of
Europe, than ever the election of a King of Poland was. Reflect on all
the instances in history, ancient and modern, of elective monarchies,
and say, if they do not give foundation for my fears; the Roman
Emperors, the Popes while they were of any importance, the German
Emperors till they became hereditary in practice, the Kings of Poland,
the Deys of the Ottoman dependencies. It may be said, that if elections
are to be attended with these disorders, the less frequently they
are repeated the better. But experience says, that to free them from
disorder, they must be rendered less interesting by a necessity of
change. No foreign power, nor domestic party, will waste their blood and
money to elect a person, who must go out at the end of a short period.
The power of removing every fourth year by the vote of the people, is
a power which they will not exercise, and if they were disposed
to exercise it, they would not be permitted. The King of Poland is
removable every day by the diet. But they never remove him. Nor would
Russia, the Emperor, &c. permit them to do it. Smaller objections are,
the appeals on matters of fact as well as law; and the binding all
persons, legislative, executive, and judiciary, by oath, to maintain
that constitution. I do not pretend to decide, what would be the best
method of procuring the establishment of the manifold good things in
this constitution, and of getting rid of the bad. Whether by adopting
it, in hopes of future amendment; or, after it shall have been duly
weighed and canvassed by the people, after seeing the parts they
generally dislike, and those they generally approve, to say to them,
‘We see now what you wish. You are willing to give to your federal
government such and such powers: but you wish, at the same time, to have
such and such fundamental rights secured to you, and certain sources of
convulsion taken away. Be it so. Send together your deputies again. Let
them establish your fundamental rights by a sacrosanct declaration, and
let them pass the parts of the constitution you have approved. These
will give powers to your federal government sufficient for your
happiness.’ This is what might be said, and would probably produce a
speedy, more perfect, and more permanent form of government. At all
events, I hope you will not be discouraged from making other trials, if
the present one should fail. We are never permitted to despair of
the commonwealth. I have thus told you freely what I like, and what I
dislike, merely as a matter of curiosity; for I know it is not in my
power to offer matter of information to your judgment, which has been
formed after hearing and weighing every thing which the wisdom of
man could offer on these subjects. I own, I am not a friend to a very
energetic government. It is always oppressive. It places the governors
indeed more at their ease, at the expense of the people. The late
rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm, than I think it should
have done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen States in the course
of eleven years, is but one for each State in a century and a half. No
country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in
the hands of government prevent insurrections. In England, where the
hand of power is heavier than with us, there are seldom half a dozen
years without an insurrection. In France, Where it is still heavier, but
less despotic, as Montesquieu supposes, than in some other countries,
and where there are always two or three hundred thousand men ready to
crush insurrections, there have been three in the course of the three
years I have been here, in every one of which greater numbers were
engaged than in Massachusetts, and a great deal more blood was spilt. In
Turkey, where the sole nod of the despot is death, insurrections are the
events of every day. Compare again the ferocious depredations of
their insurgents, with the order, the moderation, and the almost
self-extinguishment of ours. And say, finally, whether peace is best
preserved by giving energy to the government, or information to the
people. This last is the most certain and the most legitimate engine of
government. Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them
to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they
will preserve them. And it requires no very high degree of education
to convince them of this. They are the only sure reliance for the
preservation of our liberty. After all, it is my principle that the
will of the majority should prevail. If they approve the proposed
constitution in all its parts, I shall concur in it cheerfully, in
hopes they will amend it, whenever they shall find it works wrong. This
reliance cannot deceive us, as long as we remain virtuous; and I think
we shall be so, as long as agriculture is our principal object, which
will be the case, while there remain vacant lands in any part of
America. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in
Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe, and go to eating
one another as they do there. I have tired you by this time with
disquisitions which you have already heard repeated by others, a
thousand and a thousand times; and, therefore, shall only add assurances
of the esteem and attachment, with which I have the honor to be, Dear
Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
P. S. The instability of our laws is really an immense evil. I think it
would be well to provide in our constitutions, that there shall always
be a twelvemonth between the engrossing a bill and passing it: that it
should then be offered to its passage without changing a word: and that
if circumstances should be thought to require a speedier passage, it
should take two thirds of both Houses, instead of a bare majority.
LETTER CXVIII.--TO E. CARRINGTON, December 21, 1787
TO E. CARRINGTON
Paris, December 21, 1787.
Dear Sir,
I have just received your two favors of October the 23rd and November
the 10th. I am much obliged to you for your hints in the Danish
business. They are the only information I have on that subject, except
the resolution of Congress, and warn me of a rock on which I should most
certainly have split. The vote plainly points out an agent, only leaving
it to my discretion to substitute another. My judgment concurs with that
of Congress as to his fitness. But I shall inquire for the surest banker
at Copenhagen to receive the money, not because I should have had any
doubts, but because I am informed others have them. Against the failure
of a banker, were such an accident, or any similar one to happen, I
cannot be held accountable in a case, where I act without particular
interest. My principal idea in proposing the transfer of the French
debt, was, to obtain on the new loans a much longer day for the
reimbursement of the principal, hoping that the resources of the United
States could have been equal to the article of interest alone. But I
shall endeavor to quiet, as well as I can, those interested. A part of
them will probably sell out at any rate: and one great claimant may be
expected to make a bitter attack on our honor. I am very much pleased
to hear, that our western lands sell so successfully. I turn to this
precious resource, as that which will, in every event, liberate us from
our domestic debt, and perhaps too from our foreign one: and this, much
sooner than I had expected. I do not think any thing could have been
done with them in Europe. Individual speculators and sharpers had duped
so many with their unlocated land-warrants, that every offer would have
been suspected.
As to the new constitution, I find myself nearly a neutral. There is a
great mass of good in it, in a very desirable form; but there is also,
to me, a bitter pill or two. I have written somewhat lengthily to Mr.
Madison on this subject, and will take the liberty to refer you to that
part of my letter to him. I will add one question to what I have said
there. Would it not have been better to assign to Congress exclusively,
the article of imposts for federal purposes, and to have left direct
taxation exclusively to the States? I should suppose the former fund
sufficient for all probable events, aided by the land office.
The form which the affairs of Europe may assume, is not yet decipherable
by those out of the cabinet. The Emperor gives himself, at present,
the airs of a mediator. This is necessary to justify a breach with the
Porte. He has his eye at the same time on Germany, and particularly on
Bavaria, the Elector of which has, for a long time, been hanging over
the grave. Probably, France would now consent to the exchange of the
Austrian Netherlands, to be created into a kingdom for the Duke de
Deux-ponts, against the electorate of Bavaria. This will require a
war. The Empress longs for Turkey, and viewing France as her principal
obstacle, would gladly negotiate her acquiescence. To spur on this, she
is coquetting it with England. The King of Prussia, too, is playing
a double game between France and England. But I suppose the former
incapable of forgiving him, or of ever reposing confidence in him.
Perhaps the spring may unfold to us the final arrangement, which will
take place among the powers of this continent.
I often doubt whether I should trouble Congress or my friends with these
details of European politics. I know they do not excite that interest
in America, of which it is impossible for one to divest himself here. I
know too, that it is a maxim with us, and I think it is a wise one, not
to entangle ourselves with the affairs of Europe. Still, I think,
we should know them. The Turks have practised the same maxim of not
meddling in the complicated wrangles of this continent. But they have
unwisely chosen to be ignorant of them also, and it is this total
ignorance of Europe, its combinations, and its movements, which exposes
them to that annihilation possibly about taking place. While there are
powers in Europe which fear our views, or have views on us, we should
keep an eye on them, their connections, and oppositions, that in a
moment of need, we may avail ourselves of their weakness with respect to
others as well as ourselves, and calculate their designs and movements,
on all the circumstances under which they exist. Though I am persuaded,
therefore, that these details are read by many with great indifference,
yet I think it my duty to enter into them, and to run the risk of giving
too much, rather than too little information.
I have the honor to be, with perfect esteem and respect, Dear Sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
P. S. The resolution of Congress, relative to the prize money received
here, speaks of that money as paid to me. I hope this matter is properly
understood. The treasury board desired me to receive it, and apply it to
such and such federal purposes; and they would pay the dividends of
the claimants in America. This would save the expense of remittance. I
declined, however, receiving the money, and ordered it into the hands
of their banker, who paid it away for the purposes to which they had
destined it. I should be sorry an idea should get abroad, that I had
received the money of those poor fellows, and applied it to other
purposes. I shall, in like manner, order the Danish and Barbary money
into the hands of bankers, carefully avoiding ever to touch a sou of
it, or having any other account to make out than what the banker will
furnish. T. J.
LETTER CXIX.--TO MONSIEUR LIMOZIN, December 22, 1787
TO MONSIEUR LIMOZIN.
Paris, December 22, 1787.
Sir,
I have the honor now to acknowledge the receipt of your favors of the
18th and 19th of November, and two of the 18th of the present month.
I did not write to you immediately on the receipt of the two first,
because the observation they contained were to be acted on here. I
was much obliged to you for them, as I have been frequently before for
others, and you will find that I have profited by them in the _Arrêt_
which is to come out for the regulation of our commerce, wherein most
of the things are provided for, which you have from time to time
recommended. With respect to the article of yellow wax, I think there
is a general clause in the _Arrêt_, which will take it in; but I am not
sure of it. If there be not, it is now too late to get any alteration
made. You shall receive the _Arrêt_ the moment it is communicated to me.
I have examined the case of Captain Thomas, with all the dispositions
possible, to interpose for him. But on mature reflection, I find it is
one of those cases wherein my solicitation would be ill received. The
government of France, to secure to its subjects the carrying trade
between her colonies and the mother country, have made a law, forbidding
any foreign vessels to undertake to carry between them. Notwithstanding
this, an American vessel has undertaken, and has brought a cargo. For me
to ask that this vessel shall be received, would be to ask a repeal of
the law, because there is no more reason for receiving her, than there
will be for receiving the second, third, &c, which shall act against the
same law, nor for receiving an American vessel, more than the vessels of
other nations. Captain Thomas has probably engaged in this business, not
knowing the law; but ignorance of the law is no excuse, in any country.
If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can be always
pretended. Were I to make this application to the Comptroller General,
he might possibly ask me, whether, in a like case, of a French vessel in
America acting through ignorance, against law, we would suspend the law
as to her? I should be obliged honestly to answer, that with us there
is no power which can suspend the law for a moment; and Captain Thomas
knows that this answer would be the truth. The Senegal company seems to
be as much engaged in it as he is. I should suppose his most probable
means of extrication, would be with their assistance, and availing
himself of their privileges, and the apparent authority he has received
from the officers of government there. I am sorry his case is such a
one, as I cannot present to the minister. A jealousy of our taking
away their carrying trade, is the principal reason which obstructs our
admission into their West India islands. It would not be right for me to
strengthen that jealousy.
I have the honor to be, with much esteem, Sir, your most obedient,
humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXX.--TO JOHN JAY, December 31, 1787
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, December 31, 1787.
Sir,
Since the receipt of the letter of Monsieur de Calonne, of October the
22nd, 1786, I have several times had the honor of mentioning to you,
that I was endeavoring to get the substance of that letter reduced into
an _Arrêt_, which, instead of being revocable by a single letter of a
Comptroller General, would require an _Arrêt_ to repeal or alter it, and
of course must be discussed in full Council, and so give time to prevent
it. This has been pressed as much as it could be with prudence. One
cause of delay has been the frequent changes of the Comptroller General;
as we had always our whole work to begin again, with every new one.
Monsieur Lambert’s continuance in office for some months has enabled us,
at length, to get through the business; and I have just received from
him a letter, and the _Arrêt_ duly authenticated; of which I have the
honor to send you a number of printed copies. You will find, that the
several alterations and additions are made, which, on my visit, to the
seaports, I had found to be necessary, and which my letters of June the
21st and August the 6th particularly mentioned to you. Besides these,
we have obtained some new articles of value, for which openings arose
in the course of the negotiation. I say we have done it, because
the Marquis de la Fayette has gone hand in hand with me through this
business, and has been a most invaluable aid. I take the liberty of
making some observations on the articles of the _Arrêt_, severally, for
their explanation, as well as for the information of Congress.