it, and those of Leyden to the 22nd of July, at which time their
distribution in this country was prohibited. How long the prohibition
may continue, I cannot tell. As far as I can judge, it is the only paper
in Europe worth reading. Since the suppression of the packet-boats, I
have never been able to find a safe conveyance for a letter to you, till
the present by Mrs. Barclay. Whenever a confidential person shall be
going from hence to London, I shall send my letters for you to the
care of Mr. Trumbull, who will look out for safe conveyances. This will
render the epochs of my writing very irregular. There is a proposition
under consideration, for establishing packet-boats on a more economical
plan, from Havre to Boston; but its success is uncertain, and still
more, its duration.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CL.--TO COLONEL MONROE, August 9, 1788
TO COLONEL MONROE.
Paris, August 9, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you, I have to thank your for your favors of July the
27th, 1787, and April the 10th, 1788, and the details they contained;
and in return, will give you now the leading circumstances of this
continent.
*****
This nation is at present under great internal agitation. The authority
of the crown on one part, and that of the parliaments on the other, are
fairly at issue. Good men take part with neither, but have raised an
opposition, the object of which is to obtain a fixed and temperate
constitution. There was a moment when this opposition ran so high, as to
endanger an appeal to arms, in which case, perhaps, it would have been
crushed. The moderation of government has avoided this, and they are
yielding daily one right after another to the nation. They have given
them Provincial Assemblies, which will be very perfect representations
of the nation, and stand somewhat in the place of our State Assemblies;
they have reformed the criminal law; acknowledged the King cannot lay a
new tax, without the consent of the States General; and they will call
the States General the next year. The object of this body, when met,
will be a bill of rights, a civil list, a national assembly meeting at
certain epochs, and some other matters of that kind. So that I think
it probable this country will, within two or three years, be in the
enjoyment of a tolerably free constitution, and that without its having
cost them a drop of blood; for none has yet been spilt, though the
English papers have set the whole nation to cutting throats.
Be assured of those sentiments of esteem and attachment, with which I
am, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLI.--TO MONSIEUR DE CREVE-CŒUR, August 9, 1788
TO MONSIEUR DE CREVE-CŒUR.
Paris, August 9, 1788.
Dear Sir,
While our second revolution is just brought to a happy end with you,
yours here is but cleverly under way. For some days I was really
melancholy with the apprehension, that arms would be appealed to, and
the opposition crushed in its first efforts. But things seem now to wear
a better aspect. While the opposition keeps at its highest wholesome
point, government, unwilling to draw the sword, is not forced to do it.
The contest here is exactly what it was in Holland: a contest between
the monarchical and aristocratical parts of the government for a
monopoly of despotism over the people. The aristocracy in Holland,
seeing that their common prey was likely to escape out of their
clutches, chose rather to retain its former portion, and therefore
coalesced with the single head. The people remained victims. Here,
I think, it will take a happier turn. The parliamentary part of the
aristocracy is alone firmly united. The _Noblesse_ and Clergy, but
especially the former, are divided partly between the parliamentary and
the despotic party, and partly united with the real patriots, who
are endeavoring to gain for the nation what they can, both from the
parliamentary and the single despotism. I think I am not mistaken in
believing, that the King and some of his ministers are well affected to
this band; and surely, that they will make great cessions to the
people, rather than small ones to the parliament. They are, accordingly,
yielding daily to the national reclamations, and will probably end in
according a well-tempered constitution. They promise the States General
for the next year, and I have good information that an Arrêt will appear
the day after to-morrow, announcing them for May, 1789. How they will be
composed, and what they will do, cannot be foreseen. Their convocation,
however, will tranquillize the public mind, in a great degree, till
their meeting. There are, however, two intervening difficulties. 1.
Justice cannot till then continue completely suspended, as it now is.
The parliament will not resume their functions, but in their entire
body. The _bailliages_ are afraid to accept of them. What will be done?
2. There are well-founded fears of a bankruptcy before the month of May.
In the mean time, the war is spreading from nation to nation. Sweden
has commenced hostilities against Russia; Denmark is showing its teeth
against Sweden; Prussia against Denmark; and England too deeply engaged
in playing the back game, to avoid coming forward, and dragging this
country and Spain in with her. But even war will not prevent the
assembly of the States General, because it cannot be carried on without
them. War, however, is not the most favorable moment for divesting the
monarchy of power. On the contrary, it is the moment when the energy of
a single hand shows itself in the most seducing form.
A very considerable portion of this country has been desolated by a
hail. I considered the newspaper accounts of hailstones of ten pounds
weight as exaggerations. But in a conversation with the Duke de la
Rochefoucault the other day, he assured me, that though he could not
say he had seen such himself, yet he considered the fact as perfectly
established. Great contributions, public and private, are making for the
sufferers. But they will be like the drop of water from the finger of
Lazarus. There is no remedy for the present evil, nor way to prevent
future ones, but to bring the people to such a state of ease, as not to
be ruined by the loss of a single crop. This hail may be considered as
the _coup de grace_ to an expiring victim. In the arts there is nothing
new discovered since you left us, which is worth communicating. Mr.
Paine’s iron bridge was exhibited here with great approbation. An
idea has been encouraged of executing it in three arches at the King’s
garden. But it will probably not be done.
I am, with sentiments of perfect esteem and attachment, Dear Sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLII.--TO JOHN JAY, August 10, 1788
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 10, 1788.
Sir,
I have waited till the last moment of Mrs. Barclay’s departure, to write
you the occurrences since my letter of the 3rd instant. We have received
the Swedish account of an engagement between their fleet and the
Russian, on the Baltic, wherein they say they took one, and burned
another Russian vessel, with the loss of one on their side, and that the
victory remained with them. They say, at the same time, that their fleet
returned into port, and the Russians kept the sea; we must, therefore,
suspend our opinion till we get the Russian version of this engagement.
The Swedish manifesto was handed about to-day at Versailles, by the
Swedish ambassador, in manuscript. The King complains that Russia has
been ever endeavoring to sow divisions in his kingdom, in order to
re-establish the ancient constitution; that he has long borne it,
through a love of peace, but finds it no longer bearable: that still,
however, he will make peace on these conditions; 1. That the Empress
punishes her minister for the note he gave in to the court of Stockholm;
2. that she restore Crimea to the Turks; and 3. that she repay to him
all the expenses of his armament. The Russian force, in vessels of war
on the Black Sea, are five frigates, and three ships of the line; but
those of the line are shut up in port, and cannot come out till Oczakow
shall be taken. This fleet is commanded by Paul Jones, with the rank of
rear-admiral. The Prince of Nassau commands the galleys and gun-boats.
It is now ascertained, that the States General will assemble the next
year, and probably in the month of May. Tippoo Saib’s ambassadors had
their reception to-day at Versailles with unusual pomp. The presence was
so numerous, that little could be caught of what they said to the king,
and he answered to them: from what little I could hear, nothing more
passed than mutual assurances of good will. The name of the Marechal
de Richelieu is sufficiently remarkable in history, to justify
my mentioning his death, which happened two days ago; he was aged
ninety-two years.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLIII.--TO JOHN JAY, August 11, 1788
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 11, 1788.
Sir,
In my letter of the last night, written in the moment of Mrs. Barclay’s
departure, I had the honor of mentioning to you, that it was now pretty
certain that the States General would be assembled in the next year,
and probably in the month of May. This morning an _Arrêt_ is published,
announcing that their meeting is fixed on the first day of May next, of
which I enclose you a copy by post, in hopes it will get to Bordeaux in
time for Mrs. Barclay. This _Arrêt_ ought to have a great effect towards
tranquillizing the nation. There are still, however, two circumstances
which must continue to perplex the administration. The first is, the
want of money, occasioned not only by the difficulty of filling up the
loan of the next year, but by the withholding the ordinary supplies of
taxes, which is said to have taken place in some instances: this
gives apprehension of a bankruptcy under some form or other, and has
occasioned the stocks to fall, in the most alarming manner. The second
circumstance is, that justice, both civil and criminal, continues
suspended. The parliament will not resume their functions, but with
their whole body, and the greater part of the _bailliages_ declined
acting; the present _Arrêt_ announces a perseverance in this plan. I
have information from Algiers, of the 5th of June, that the plague is
raging there, with great violence; that one of our captives was dead of
it, and another ill, so that we have there, in all, now, only fifteen or
sixteen; that the captives are more exposed to its ravages, than
others; that the great redemptions by the Spaniards, Portuguese, and
Neapolitans, and the havoc made by the plague, had now left not more
than four hundred slaves in Algiers; so that their redemption was become
not only exorbitant, but almost inadmissible; that common sailors were
held at four hundred pounds sterling, and that our fifteen or sixteen
could probably not be redeemed for less than from twenty-five to thirty
thousand dollars. An Algerine cruiser, having twenty-eight captives of
Genoa aboard, was lately chased ashore, by two Neapolitan vessels: the
crew and captives got safe ashore, and the latter, of course, recovered
their freedom. The Algerine crew was well treated, and would be sent
back by the French. But the government of Algiers demands of France,
sixty thousand sequins, or twenty-seven thousand pounds sterling, for
the captives escaped; that is, nearly one thousand pounds each. The
greater part of the regency were for an immediate declaration of war
against France; but the Dey urged the heavy war the Turks were at
present engaged in; that it would be better not to draw another power
on them, at present; that they would decline renewing the treaty of
one hundred years, which expired two years ago, so as to be free to act
hereafter; but, for the present, they ought to accept payment for the
captives, as a satisfaction. They accordingly declared to the French
consul, that they would put him, and all his countrymen there, into
irons, unless the sixty thousand sequins were paid: the consul told
them, his instructions were, positively, that they should not be paid.
In this situation stood matters between that pettifogging nest of
robbers and this great kingdom, which will finish, probably, by
crouching under them, and paying the sixty thousand sequins. From the
personal characters of the present administration, I should have hoped,
under any other situation than the present, they might have ventured to
quit the beaten track of politics hitherto pursued, in which the honor
of their nation has been calculated at nought, and to join in a league
for keeping up a perpetual cruise against these pirates, which, though a
slow operation, would be a sure one for destroying all their vessels and
seamen, and turning the rest of them to agriculture. But a desire of not
bringing upon themselves another difficulty, will probably induce the
ministers to do as their predecessors have done.
August 12. The enclosed paper of this morning gives some particulars
of the action between the Russians and Swedes, the manifesto of the
Empress, and the declaration of the court of Versailles, as to the
affair of Trincomale.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of perfect esteem and respect,
Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLIV.--TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL, August 12, 1788
TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, August 12, 1788.
Dear Sir,
Since my last to you, I have been honored with yours of the 18th and
29th of May, and 5th of June. My latest American intelligence is of the
24th of June, when nine certainly, and probably ten States, had accepted
the new constitution, and there was no doubt of the eleventh (North
Carolina), because there was no opposition there. In New York, two
thirds of the State were against it, and certainly if they had been
called to the decision, in any other stage of the business, they
would have rejected it; but before they put it to the vote, they would
certainly have heard that eleven States had joined in it, and they
would find it safer to go with those eleven, than put themselves into
opposition, with Rhode Island only. Though I am much pleased with this
successful issue of the new constitution, yet I am more so, to find that
one of its principal defects (the want of a declaration of rights) will
pretty certainly be remedied. I suppose this, because I see that
both people and conventions, in almost every State, have concurred in
demanding it. Another defect, the perpetual re-eligibility of the
same President, will probably not be cured, during the life of General
Washington. His merit has blinded our countrymen to the danger of making
so important an officer re-eligible. I presume there will not be a vote
against him, in the United States. It is more doubtful, who will be
Vice-President. The age of Dr. Franklin, and the doubt whether he would
accept it, are the only circumstances that admit a question, but that he
would be the man. After these two characters of first magnitude, there
are so many which present themselves equally, on the second line, that
we cannot see which of them will be singled out. John Adams, Hancock,
Jay, Madison, Rutledge, will be all voted for. Congress has acceded to
the prayer of Kentucky to become an independent member of the Union. A
committee was occupied in settling the plan of receiving them, and their
government is to commence on the 1st day of January next.
You are, I dare say, pleased, as I am, with the promotion of our
countryman, Paul Jones. He commanded the right wing, in the first
engagement between the Russian and Turkish galleys; his absence from
the second, proves his superiority over the Captain Pacha, as he did not
choose to bring his ships into the shoals in which the Pacha ventured,
and lost those entrusted to him. I consider this officer as the
principal hope of our future efforts on the ocean. You will have heard
of the action between the Swedes and Russians, on the Baltic; as yet,
we have only the Swedish version of it. I apprehend this war must catch
from nation to nation, till it becomes general.
With respect to the internal affairs of this country, I hope they will
be finally well arranged, and without having cost a drop of blood.
Looking on as a by-stander, no otherwise interested, than as
entertaining a sincere love for the nation in general, and a wish to see
their happiness promoted, keeping myself clear of the particular
views and passions of individuals, I applaud extremely the patriotic
proceedings of the present ministry. Provincial Assemblies established,
the States General called, the right of taxing the nation without their
consent abandoned, _corvées_ abolished, torture abolished, the
criminal code reformed, are facts which will do eternal honor to their
administration, in history. But were I their historian, I should not
equally applaud their total abandonment of their foreign affairs. A
bolder front in the beginning, would have prevented the first loss, and
consequently, all the others. Holland, Prussia, Turkey, and Sweden, lost
without the acquisition of a single new ally, are painful reflections
for the friends of France. They may, indeed, have in their places the
two empires, and perhaps Denmark; in which case, physically speaking,
they will stand on as good ground as before, but not on as good moral
ground. Perhaps, seeing more of the internal working of the machine,
they saw, more than we do, the physical impossibility of having money
to carry on a war. Their justification must depend on this, and their
atonement, on the internal good they are doing to their country; this
makes me completely their friend.
I am, with great esteem and attachment, Dear Sir, you friend and
servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLV.--TO M. CATHALAN, August 13,1788
TO M. CATHALAN.
Paris, August 13,1788.
Sir,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your two favors, of June, and
July the 11th, and to thank you for the political intelligence they
contained, which is always interesting to me. I will ask a continuance
of them, and especially that you inform me, from time to time, of the
movements in the ports of Marseilles and Toulon, which may seem to
indicate peace or war. These are the most certain presages possible; and
being conveyed to me from all the ports, they will always enable me to
judge of the intentions or expectations of the ministry, and to notify
you of the result of the intelligence from all the ports, that you may
communicate it to the American commerce.
I have the pleasure to inform you, that the new constitution proposed to
the United States, has been established by the votes of nine States.
It is happy for us to get this operation over before the war kindled in
Europe could affect us, as by rendering us more respectable, we shall be
more probably permitted, by all parties, to remain neutral.
I take the liberty of putting under your cover a letter for Mr. Bernard,
containing some seeds, and another to Giuseppe Chiappe, our consul
at Mogadore. I thank you for your settlement of the price of the
_Observations Météorologiques_, and I have repaid the sixty livres to
Sir John Lambert, in your name. When the nursery man, whom you have been
so good as to employ to prepare the olives and olive plants, to be sent
to Charleston, shall be executing that commission, I shall be glad if
he will, at the same time, prepare a few plants only, of the following
kinds. Figs, the best kind for drying, and the best kind for eating
fresh, raisins, the best kind for drying, prugnolles, cork trees,
pistaches, capers. I desire only a few plants of each of these, that
they may not take too much of the place of the olives, which is our
great object, and the sole one we have at heart. If you will be so good
as to give the nursery man this order immediately, it will save you the
necessity of recurring to my letter, when the season comes.
I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Sir, your most
obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLVI.--TO JOHN JAY, August 20,1788
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, August 20,1788.
Sir,
I had the honor to write to you on the 3rd, 10th, and 11th instant, with
a postscript of the 12th; all of which went by Mrs. Barclay. Since that
date, we have received an account of a third victory obtained by the
Russians over the Turks, on the Black Sea, in which the Prince of
Nassau, with his galleys, destroyed two frigates, three smaller vessels,
and six galleys. The Turkish power on that sea is represented, by their
enemies, as now annihilated. There is reason to believe, however, that
this is not literally true, and that aided by the supplies furnished by
the English, they are making extraordinary efforts to re-establish
their marine. The Russian minister here has shown the official report of
Admiral Greigh, on the combat of July the 17th, in which he claims the
victory, and urges in proof of it, that he kept the field of battle.
This report is said to have been written on it. As this paper, together
with the report of the Swedish admiral, is printed in the Leyden gazette
of the 15th instant, I enclose it to you. The court of Denmark has
declared, it will furnish Russia the aid stipulated in their treaty: and
it is not doubted they will go beyond this, and become principals in the
war. The next probable moves are, that the King of Prussia will succor
Sweden; and Poland, Russia, by land: and a possible consequence is, that
England may send a squadron into the Baltic, to restore equilibrium in
that sea. In my letter of the 11th, I observed to you, that this country
would have two difficulties to struggle with, till the meeting of their
States General, and that one of these was the want of money: this has,
in fact, overborne all their resources, and the day before yesterday,
they published an _Arrêt_, suspending all reimbursements of capital, and
reducing the payments of the principal mass of demands for interest,
to twelve sous in the livre; the remaining eight sous to be paid with
certificates. I enclose you a newspaper with the _Arrêt_. In this paper
you will see the exchange of yesterday, and I have inserted that of
the day before, to show you the fall. The consternation is, as yet, too
great to let us judge of the issue. It will probably ripen the public
mind to the necessity of a change in their constitution, and to the
substituting the collected wisdom of the whole, in place of a single
will, by which they have been hitherto governed. It is a remarkable
proof of the total incompetency of a single head to govern a nation
well, when, with a revenue of six hundred millions, they are led to a
declared bankruptcy, and to stop the wheels of government, even in its
most essential movements, for want of money.
I send the present letter by a private conveyance to a sea-port, in
hopes a conveyance may be found by some merchant vessel.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLVII.--TO MR. CUTTING, August 23, 1788
TO MR. CUTTING.
Paris, August 23, 1788.
Dear Sir,
I have duly received your favors of the 3rd, 8th, 14th, and 15th
instant, and have now the honor of enclosing you a letter of
introduction to Doctor Ramsay.