accounts of the United States: he settled those of Dr. Franklin and Mr.
Adams, and it was intended between us, that he should settle mine.
But as what may be done at any time is often put off to the last, this
settlement had been made to give way to others, and that of Beaumarchais
being pressed on Mr. Barclay before his departure for Morocco, and
having long retarded his departure, it was agreed that my affair should
await his return from that mission: you know the circumstances which
prevented his return to Paris after that mission was finished. My
account is therefore unsettled, but I have no anxiety on any article of
it, except one, that is, the outfit. This consists of, 1. clothes; 2.
carriage and horses; 3. household furniture. When Congress made their
first appointments of ministers to be resident in Europe, I have
understood (for I was not then in Congress) that they allowed them all
their expenses, and a fixed sum over and above for their time. Among
their expenses, was necessarily understood their outfit. Afterwards
they thought proper to give them fixed salaries of eleven thousand
one hundred and eleven dollars and one ninth a year; and again, by
a resolution of May the 6th and 8th, 1784, the ‘salaries’ of their
ministers at foreign courts were reduced to nine thousand dollars,
to take place on the 1st of August ensuing. On the 7th of May I
was appointed, in addition to Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin, for the
negotiation of treaties of commerce; but this appointment being
temporary, for two years only, and not as of a resident minister, the
article of outfit did not come into question. I asked an advance of six
months’ salary, that I might be in cash to meet the first expenses; which
was ordered. The year following, I was appointed to succeed Dr. Franklin
at this court. This was the first appointment of a minister resident,
since the original ones, under which all expenses were to be paid. So
much of the ancient regulation, as respected annual expenses, had been
altered to a sum certain; so much of it as respected first expenses,
or outfit, remained unaltered; and I might therefore expect, that the
actual expenses for outfit were to be paid. When I prepared my account
for settlement with Mr. Barclay, I began a detail of the articles of
clothes, carriage, horses, and household furniture. I found that they
were numerous, minute, and incapable, from their nature, of being
vouched; and often entered in my memorandum-book under a general head
only, so that I could not specify them. I found they would exceed a
year’s salary. Supposing, therefore, that, mine being the first case,
Congress would make a precedent of it, and prefer a sum fixed for the
outfit, as well as the salary, I have charged it in my account at a
year’s salary; presuming there can be no question that an outfit is a
reasonable charge. It is the usage here (and I suppose at all courts),
that a minister resident, shall establish his house in the first
instant. If this is to be done out of his salary, he will be a
twelvemonth at least without a copper to live on. It is the universal
practice, therefore, of all nations, to allow the outfit as a separate
article from the salary. I have inquired here into the usual amount of
it. I find that, sometimes, the sovereign pays the actual cost. This is
particularly the case of the Sardinian ambassador now coming here, who
is to provide a service of plate, and every article of furniture, and
other matters of first expense, to be paid for by his court. In other
instances, they give a service of plate, and a fixed sum for all other
articles, which fixed sum is in no case lower than a year’s salary.
I desire no service of plate, having no ambition for splendor. My
furniture, carriage, and apparel are all plain, yet they have cost me
more than a year’s salary. I suppose that in every country, and in every
condition of life, a year’s expense would be found a moderate measure
for the furniture of a man’s house. It is not more certain to me, that
the sun will rise to-morrow, than that our government must allow the
outfit, on their future appointment of foreign ministers; and it would
be hard on me, so to stand between the discontinuance of a former rule,
and institution of a future one, as to have the benefit of neither. I
know, I have so long known the character of our federal head, in its
present form, that I have the most unlimited confidence in the justice
of its decisions. I think I am so far known to many of the present
Congress, as that I may be cleared of all views of making money out of
any public employment, or of desiring any thing beyond actual and decent
expenses, proportioned to the station in which they have been pleased to
place me, and to the respect they would wish to see attached to it. It
would seem right, that they should decide the claims of those who
have acted under their administration, and their pretermission of any
article, might amount to a disallowance of it in the opinion of the new
government. It would be painful to me to meet that government with a
claim under this kind of cloud, and to pass it in review before their
several Houses of legislation, and boards of administration, to whom I
shall be unknown; and being for money actually expended, it would be
too inconvenient to me to relinquish it in silence. I anxiously ask it,
therefore, to be decided on by Congress before they go out of office,
if it be not out of the line of proceeding they may have chalked out for
themselves. If it be against their inclination to determine it, would
it be agreeable to them to refer it to the new government, by some
resolution, which should show they have not meant to disallow it, by
passing it over? Not knowing the circumstances under which Congress may
exist and act at the moment you shall receive this, I am unable to judge
what should be done on this subject. It is therefore that I ask the aid
of your friendship and that of Mr. Madison, that you will do for me
in this regard, what you think it is right should be done, and what it
would be right for me to do, were I on the spot, or were I apprized of
all existing circumstances. Indeed, were you two to think my claim
an improper one, I would wish it to be suppressed, as I have so much
confidence in your judgment, that I should suspect my own in any case
where it varied from yours, and more especially, in one where it
is liable to be warped by feeling. Give me leave, then, to ask your
consultation with Mr. Madison on this subject; and to assure you that
whatever you are so good as to do herein, will be perfectly approved,
and considered as a great obligation conferred on him, who has the honor
to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and attachment, Dear
Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXL.*--TO JAMES MADISON, May 28, 1788
TO JAMES MADISON.
Paris, May 28, 1788.
Dear Sir,
The enclosed letter for Mr. Jay, being of a private nature. I have
thought it better to put it under your cover, lest it might be opened
by some of his clerks, in the case of his absence. But I enclose a press
copy of it for yourself, as you will perceive the subject of it referred
to you, as well as to him. I ask your aid in it so far as you think
right, and to have done what you think right. If you will now be so good
as to cast your eye over the copy enclosed, what follows the present
sentence, will be some details, supplementary to that only, necessary
for your information, but not proper for me to state to Mr. Jay.
[* It will be seen that a few words of this letter are in
cipher. It is published, however, as written, because
enough of it is literal to interest the reader, to whom
also a specimen of the cipher, used by the Author, may
not be unacceptable.]
378.227.1247. though appointed a minister resident at the court of 514.
he never was 663. in that character. He was continually passing from
1042. to 514. and 514. to 1042., so that he had no occasion to establish
a household at either. Accordingly, he staid principally in furnished
lodgings. Of all our ministers, he had the least occasion for an
outfit, and I suppose spent almost nothing on that article. He was of
a disposition, too, to restrain himself within any limits of expense
whatever, and it suited his recluse turn, which is, to avoid society.
Should he judge of what others should do, by what he did, it would be
an improper criterion. He was in Europe as a voyageur only, and it was
while the salary was five hundred guineas more than at present.
145.1267.1046.7. he came over, when, instead of outfit and salary, all
expenses were paid. Of rigorous honesty, and careless of appearances, he
lived for a considerable time as an economical private individual. After
he was fixed at 812.141. and the salary at a sum certain, he continued
his economical style, till, out of the difference between his expenses
and his salary, he could purchase furniture for his house. This was the
easier, as the salary was at two thousand five hundred guineas then.
He was obliged, too, to be passing between 1042. and 812.141. so as to
avoid any regular current of expenses. When he established himself, his
pecuniary affairs were under the direction of 964.814.7.101.994., one
of the most estimable characters on earth, and the most attentive and
honorable economists. Neither had a wish to lay up a copper, but both
wished to make both ends meet. I suspected, however, from an expression
dropped in conversation, that they were not able to do this, and that
a deficit in their accounts appeared in their winding up. If this
conjecture be true, it is a proof that the salary, so far from admitting
savings, is unequal to a very plain style of life; for such was theirs.
I presume Congress will be asked to allow it, and it is evident to me,
from what I saw while in 1093. that it ought to be done, as they did
not expend a shilling which should have been avoided. Would it be more
eligible to set the example of making good a deficit, or to give him
an outfit, which will cover it? The impossibility of living on the sum
allowed, respectably, was the true cause of his insisting on his recall.
821.267.1292. He came over while all expenses were paid. He rented a
house with standing furniture, such as tables, chairs, presses, &c., and
bought all other necessaries. The latter were charged in his account;
the former was included in the article of house-rent, and paid during
the whole time of his stay here; and as the established rate of hire
for furniture is from thirty to forty per cent, per annum, the standing
furniture must have been paid for three times over, during the eight
years he staid here. His salary was two thousand five hundred guineas.
When Congress reduced it to less than two thousand, he refused to accede
to it, asked his recall, and insisted that whenever they chose to alter
the conditions on which he came out, if he did not approve of it, they
ought to replace him in America on the old conditions. He lived plain,
but as decently as his salary would allow. He saved nothing, but avoided
debt. He knew he could not do this on the reduced salary, and therefore
asked his recall with decision.
To 935.145. succeeded. He had established a certain style of living. The
same was expected from 1214. and there were five hundred guineas a
year less to do it on. It has been aimed at, however, as far as was
practicable. This rendered it constantly necessary to step neither to
the right nor to the left, to incur any expense which could possibly be
avoided, and it called for an almost womanly attention to the details
of the household, equally perplexing, disgusting, and inconsistent with
business. You will be sensible, that, in this situation, no savings
could be made for reimbursing the half year’s salary, ordered to be
advanced under the former commission, and more than as much again,
which was unavoidably so applied, without order, for the purchase of the
outfit. The reason of the thing, the usage of all nations, the usage of
our own, by paying all expenses of preceding ministers, which gave them
the outfit, as far as their circumstances appeared to them to render it
necessary, have made me take for granted all along, that it would not
be refused to me: nor should I have mentioned it now, but that the
administration is passing into other hands, and more complicated forms.
It would be disagreeable to me to be presented to them, in the first
instance, as a suitor. Men come into business at first with visionary
principles. It is practice alone, which can correct and conform them
to the actual current of affairs. In the mean time, those to whom their
errors were first applied, have been their victims. The government may
take up the project of appointing foreign ministers without outfits,
and they may ruin two or three individuals, before they find that that
article is just as indispensable as the salary. They must then fall into
the current of general usage, which has become general, only because
experience has established its necessity. Upon the whole, be so good as
to reflect on it, and to do, not what your friendship to me, but your
opinion of what is right, shall dictate.
Accept, in all cases, assurances of the sincere esteem and respect with
which I am, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXLI.--TO PETER CARU, May 23, 1788
TO PETER CARU.
Paris, May 23, 1788.
Dear Peter,
The preceding letter [* For the letter referred to, see ante, LXXIV.]
was written at its date, and I supposed you in possession of it, when
your letters of December the 10th, 1787, and March the 18th, 1788, told
me otherwise. Still I supposed it on its way to you, when a few days
ago, having occasion to look among some papers in the drawer, where
my letters are usually put away, till an opportunity of sending them
occurs, I found that this letter had slipped among them, so that it
had never been forwarded. I am sorry for it, on account of the remarks
relative to the Spanish language only. Apply to that with all the
assiduity you can. That language and the English covering nearly the
whole face of America, they should be well known to every inhabitant,
who means to look beyond the limits of his farm. I like well the
distribution of your time, mentioned in your letter of March the 18th;
and the counsels of Mr. Wythe, so kindly extended to you, leave it
necessary for me to add nothing of that kind. Be assiduous in learning,
take much exercise for your health, and practise much virtue. Health,
learning, and virtue, will insure your happiness; they will give you
a quiet conscience, private esteem, and public honor. Beyond these, we
want nothing but physical necessaries, and they are easily obtained.
My daughters are well, and join me in love to yourself, your mother,
brothers, and sisters.
I am, with very sincere esteem, Dear Peter, your affectionate
friend,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXLII.--TO THE COMTE DE BERNSTORFF, June 19, 1788
TO THE COMTE DE BERNSTORFF.
Paris, June 19, 1788.
I had the honor of addressing your Excellency, by Admiral Paul Jones,
on the 21st of January, on the subject of the prizes taken under his
command during the late war, and sent into Bergen. I communicated at the
same time a copy of the powers which the Congress of the United States
of America had been pleased to confide to me therein, having previously
shown the original to the Baron de Blome, Envoy Extraordinary of his
Majesty, the King of Denmark, at this court; and I furnished, at the
same time, to Admiral Paul Jones, such authority as I was empowered
to delegate, for the arrangement of this affair. That officer has
transmitted me a copy of your Excellency’s letter to him of the 4th of
April, wherein you are pleased to observe, that the want of full powers
on his part was an invincible obstacle to the definitive discussion of
this claim with him, and to express your dispositions to institute a
settlement at this place. Always assured of the justice and honor of
the court of Denmark, and encouraged by the particular readiness of your
Excellency to settle and remove this difficulty from between the two
nations, I take the liberty of recalling your attention to it. The place
of negotiation proposed by your Excellency, meets no objection from us,
and it removes, at the same time, that which the want of full powers in
Admiral Paul Jones had produced in your mind. These full powers Congress
have been pleased to honor me with. The arrangement taken between the
person to be charged with your full powers and myself, will be final
and conclusive. You are pleased to express a willingness to treat at
the same time on the subjects of amity and commerce. The powers formerly
communicated on our part, were given to Mr. Adams, Doctor Franklin, and
myself, for a limited term only. That term has expired, and the other
two gentlemen returned to America; so that no person is commissioned at
this moment to renew those conferences. I may safely, however, assure
your Excellency, that the same friendly dispositions still continue, and
the same desire of facilitating and encouraging a commerce between the
two nations, which produced the former appointment. But our nation is,
at this time, proposing a change in the organization of its government.
For this change to be agreed to by all the members of the Union, the new
administration chosen and brought into activity, their domestic matters
arranged, which will require their first attention, their foreign system
afterwards decided on and carried into full execution, will require very
considerable length of time. To place under the same delay the private
claims which I have the honor to present to your Excellency, would be
hard on the persons interested: because these claims have no connection
with the system of commercial connection, which may be established
between the two nations, nor with the particular form of our
administration. The justice due to them is complete, and the present
administration as competent to final settlement as any future one will
be, should a future change take place. These individuals have already
lingered nine years in expectation of their hard and perilous earnings.
Time lessens their numbers continually, disperses their representatives,
weakens the evidence of their right, and renders more and more
impracticable his Majesty’s dispositions to repair the private injury,
to which public circumstances constrained him. These considerations, the
just and honorable intentions of your Excellency, and the assurances you
give us in your letter, that no delay is wished on your part, give me
strong hopes that we may speedily obtain that final arrangement, which
express instructions render it my duty to urge. I have the honor,
therefore, of agreeing with your Excellency, that the settlement of this
matter, formerly begun at Paris, shall be continued there; and to
ask that you will be pleased to give powers and instructions for this
purpose to such persons as you shall think proper, and in such full form
as may prevent those delays, to which the distance between Copenhagen
and Paris might otherwise expose us.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most profound respect,
your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXLIII.--TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN, June 20, 1788
TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
Paris, June 20, 1788.
Sir,
Having had the honor of mentioning to your Excellency the wish of
Congress, that certain changes should be made in the articles for a
consular convention, which had been sent to them, I have now that,
conformably to the desire you expressed, of giving a general idea of the
alterations to be proposed.
The fourth article gives to the consuls the immunities of the law of
nations. It has been understood, however, that the laws of France do not
admit of this; and that it might be desirable to expunge this article.
In this we are ready to concur, as in every other case, where an article
might call for changes in the established laws, either inconvenient or
disagreeable.
After establishing in favor of consuls, the general immunities of the
law of nations, one consequence of which would have been, that they
could not have been called upon to give testimony in courts of justice,
the fifth article requires, that after the observance of certain
formalities, which imply very high respect, they shall make a
declaration; but _in their own houses_ [_chez eux_] as may be pretended,
if not justly inferred, from the expressions in the article. But our
laws require, indispensably, a personal examination of witnesses in the
presence of the parties, of their counsel, the jury, and judges, each of
whom has a right to ask of them all questions pertinent to the fact.
The first and highest officers of our government are obliged to appear
personally to the order of a court, to give evidence. The court takes
care that they are treated with respect. It is proposed, therefore,
to omit this article for these particular reasons, as well as for the
general one, that the fourth being expunged, this, which was but an
exception to that, falls of course.
The seventh, eighth, tenth, and fourteenth articles extend their
pre-eminences far beyond those, which the laws of nations would have
given. These articles require that the declarations made in the presence
of consuls, and certified by them, shall be received in evidence in all
courts whatever: and, in some instances, give to their certificates a
credibility which excludes all other testimony. The cases are rare, in
which our laws admit written evidence of facts; and such evidence, when
admitted, must have been given in the presence of both parties, and must
contain the answers to all the pertinent questions, which they may have
desired to ask of the witness: and to no evidence, of whatever nature,
written or oral, do our laws give so high credit, as to exclude all
counter-proof. These principles are of such ancient foundation in our
system of jurisprudence, and are so much valued and venerated by our
citizens, that perhaps it would be impossible to execute articles, which
should contravene them, nor is it imagined that these stipulations can
be so interesting to this country, as to balance the inconvenience and
hazard of such an innovation with us. Perhaps it might be found, that
the laws of both countries require a modification of this article; as
it is inconceivable that the certificate of an American consul in
France could be permitted by one of its courts to establish a fact, the
falsehood of which should be notorious to the court itself.
The eighth article gives to the consuls of either nation a jurisdiction,
in certain cases, over foreigners of any other. On a dispute arising in
France, between an American and a Spaniard or an Englishman, it would
not be fair to abandon the Spaniard or Englishman to an American consul.
On the contrary, the territorial judge, as neutral, would seem to be the
most impartial. Probably, therefore, it will be thought convenient for
both parties, to correct this stipulation.
A dispute arising between two subjects of France, the one being in
France and the other in the United States, the regular tribunals of
France would seem entitled to a preference of jurisdiction. Yet the
twelfth article gives it to their consul in America; and to the consul
of the United States in France, in a like case between their citizens.