a great inducement to the ministry here to suspend the portion of public
payments, which they have lately suspended. By this operation, they
secure two hundred and three millions of livres, or eight millions and a
half of guineas, in the course of this and the ensuing year, which
will be sufficient for the campaign of the first year: for what is to,
follow, the States General must provide. The interesting question now
is, how the States General shall be composed? There are three opinions.
1. To place the three estates, Clergy, _Noblesse_, and Commons, in three
different Houses. The Clergy would, probably, like this, and some of
the Nobility; but it has no partisans out of those orders. 2. To put the
Clergy and _Noblesse_ into one House, and the Commons into another. The
_Noblesse_ will be generally for this. 3. To put the three orders
into one House, and make the Commons the majority of that House. This
re-unites the greatest number of partisans, and I suspect it is well
patronized in the ministry, who, I am persuaded, are proceeding
_bona fide_, to improve the constitution of their country. As to the
opposition which the English expect from the personal character of the
King, it proves they do not know what his personal character is. He is
the honestest man in his kingdom, and the most regular and economical.
He has no foible which will enlist him against the good of his people;
and whatever constitution will promote this, he will befriend. But he
will not befriend it obstinately: he has given repeated proofs of a
readiness to sacrifice his opinion to the wish of the nation. I believe
he will consider the opinion of the States General, as the best evidence
of what will please and profit the nation, and will conform to it. All
the characters at court may not be of this disposition, and from thence
may, possibly, arise representations, capable of leading the King
astray; but upon a full view of all circumstances, I have sanguine
hopes, that such a constitution will be established here, as will
regenerate the energy of the nation, cover its friends, and make its
enemies tremble. I am, with very great esteem, Dear Sir, your friend and
servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLVIII.--TO JOHN JAY, September 3, 1788
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 3, 1788.
Sir,
By Mrs. Barclay I had the honor of sending you letters of the 3rd, 10th,
and 11th of August; since which, I wrote you of the 20th of the same
month, by a casual conveyance, as is the present.
In my letter of the 20th, I informed you of the act of public bankruptcy
which had taken place here. The effect of this would have been a forced
loan of about one hundred and eighty millions of livres, in the course
of the present and ensuing year. But it did not yield a sufficient
immediate relief. The treasury became literally moneyless, and all
purposes depending on this mover came to a stand. The Archbishop was
hereupon removed, with Monsieur Lambert, the Comptroller General; and
Mr. Necker was called in, as Director General of the finance. To soften
the Archbishop’s dismission, a cardinal’s hat is asked for him from
Rome, and his nephew promised the succession to the Archbishopric of
Sens. The public joy, on this change of administration, was very great
indeed. The people of Paris were amusing themselves with trying and
burning the Archbishop in effigy, and rejoicing on the appointment
of Mr. Necker. The commanding officer of the city-guards undertook
to forbid this, and not being obeyed, he charged the mob with fixed
bayonets, killed two or three, and wounded many: this stopped their
rejoicings for that day; but enraged at being thus obstructed in
amusements wherein they had committed no disorder whatever, they
collected in great numbers the next day, attacked the guards in various
places, burnt ten or twelve guard-houses, killed two or three of the
guards, and had about six or eight of their own number killed. The
city was hereupon put under martial law, and after a while, the tumult
subsided, and peace was restored. The public stocks rose ten per cent,
on the day of Mr. Necker’s appointment: he was immediately offered
considerable sums of money, and has been able so far to wave the benefit
of the act of bankruptcy, as to pay in cash all demands, except the
_remboursements des capitaux_. For these, and for a sure supply of
other wants, he will depend on the States General, and will hasten their
meetings, as is thought. No other change has yet taken place in the
administration. The minister of war, however, must certainly follow his
brother, and some think, and all wish, that Monsieur de Lamoignon, the
_Garde des Sceaux_, may go out also. The administration of justice is
still suspended. The whole kingdom seems tranquil at this moment.
Abroad, no event worth noting has taken place since my last. The court
of Denmark has not declared it will do any thing more, than furnish the
stipulated aid to Russia. The King of Prussia has as yet made no move,
which may decide whether he will engage in the war, nor has England sent
any squadron into the Baltic. As the season for action is considerably
passed over, it is become more doubtful, whether any other power will
enter the lists till the next campaign; this will give time for stopping
the further progress of the war, if they really wish to stop it. Two
camps of twenty-five thousand men each are forming in this country on
its northern limits. The Prince of Conde has the command of one, and the
Duke de Broglio of the other.
I trouble you with the enclosed letter from a Henry Watson, claiming
prize monies, as having served under Admiral Paul Jones, which I suppose
should go to the treasury, or war-office.
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 CLIX.--TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY, Sep. 6, 1788
TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY.
Paris, September 6, 1788.
Gentlemen,
Your favor of July the 3rd came to hand some days ago, and that of July
the 22nd in the afternoon of yesterday. Knowing that a Mr. Vannet was to
leave Paris this morning to go to Virginia in a vessel bound from Havre
to Potomac, I have engaged him to receive the papers which are the
subject of those letters, to take care of them from thence to Havre,
and on the voyage; and when he shall have arrived in Potomac, instead
of going directly to Richmond, as he intended, he will proceed with them
himself to New York. I shall pay here all expenses to their delivery at
the ship’s side in America, freight included: unless, perhaps, he may
find it necessary to put another covering over them, if he should not
be able to get them into the cabin; in this case, you will have to
reimburse him for that. I engage to him that you shall pay him their
transportation from the ship’s side to New York, and his own reasonable
expenses from the place of his landing to New York, and back to the
place of landing. As he takes that journey for this object only, it
would be reasonable that you give him some gratuity for his time and
trouble, and I suppose it would be accepted by him; but I have made no
agreement for this. The papers are contained in a large box and a trunk.
They were sent here by Mr. Ast, during my absence in Holland. When they
arrived at the gates of Paris, the officers of the customs opened the
trunk, to see whether it contained dutiable articles; but finding only
books and papers, they concluded the contents of the box to be of the
same nature, and did not open that. You receive it, therefore, as it
came from the hands of Mr. Ast. A small trunk, which came as a third
package from Mr. Ast, and which has never been opened, I have put into
the great trunk, without displacing, or ever having touched a single
paper, except as far as was necessary to make room for that. I shall
have the whole corded and plumbed by the Custom-house here, not only to
prevent their being opened at the Custom-houses on the road, and at the
port of exportation, but to prove to you, whether they shall have been
opened by any body else after going out of my hands. If the stamped
leads are entire, and the cords uncut, when you receive them, you will
be sure they have not been opened; they will be wrapt in oil-cloth here
to guard them against the damps of the sea; and, as I mentioned
before, Mr. Vannet will put them under another covering, if he finds it
necessary, at Havre.
At the same time with your last letter, I received from the office of
Foreign Affairs the ratification by Congress of the loan of 1788, for
another million of guilders. As the necessity of this loan resulted
from the estimate made by Mr. Adams and myself, which estimate was laid
before Congress, I suppose their ratification of the loan implies that
of the estimate. One article of this was for the redemption of our
captives at Algiers. Though your letter says nothing on this subject,
I am in hopes you have sent orders to the commissioners of the loans
at Amsterdam to furnish, as soon as they shall have it, what may be
necessary for this pressing call. So also for the foreign officers. If
the ratification of the loan has been made by Congress, with a view
to fulfil the objects of the estimate, a general order from you to the
commissioners of the loans at Amsterdam, to pay the monies from time to
time, according to that estimate, or to such other as you shall furnish
them with, might save the trouble of particular orders on every single
occasion, and the disappointments arising from the delay or miscarriage
of such orders: but it is for you to decide on this.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect,
Gentlemen, your most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLX.--TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN,
TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN.
Paris, September 11, 1788.
Sir,
In the course of the last war, the house of Schweighaeuser and Dobree of
Nantes, and Puchilberg of L’Orient, presented to Dr. Franklin a demand
against the United States of America. He, being acquainted with the
circumstances of the demand, and knowing it to be unfounded, refused
to pay it. They thereupon procured seizure, by judiciary authority, of
certain arms and other military stores which we had purchased in this
country, and had deposited for embarkation at Nantes: and these
stores have remained in that position ever since. Congress have lately
instructed me to put an end to this matter. Unwilling to trouble your
Excellency, whenever it can be avoided, I proposed to the parties to
have the question decided by arbitrators, to be chosen by us jointly.
They have refused it, as you will see by their answers to my letters,
copies of both which I have the honor to enclose you. I presume it to
be well settled in practice, that the property of one sovereign is not
permitted to be seized within the dominions of another; and that this
practice is founded not only in mutual respect, but in mutual utility.
To what the contrary practice would lead, is evident in the present
case, wherein military stores have been stopped, in the course of a war,
in which our greatest difficulties proceeded from the want of military
stores. In their letter, too, they make a merit of not having seized
one of our ships of war, and certainly the principle which admits the
seizure of arms, would admit that of a whole fleet, and would often
furnish an enemy the easiest means of defeating an expedition. The
parties obliging me, then, to have recourse to your Excellency on this
occasion, I am under the necessity of asking an order from you for the
immediate delivery of the stores and other property of the United States
at Nantes, detained by the house of Schweighaeuser and Dobree, and that
of Puchilberg, or by either of them, under a pretence of a judicial
seizure.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and
esteem, your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXI.--TO M. DE REYNEVAL, September 16, 1788
TO M. DE REYNEVAL.
Sir,
Paris, September 16, 1788.
I have the honor now to enclose you my observations on the alteration
proposed in the consular convention. There remain only three articles of
those heretofore in question between us, to which I am unable to
agree; that is to say, the second, proposing still to retain personal
immunities for the consuls, and others attached to their office; the
eighth, proposing that the navigation code of each nation shall be
established in the territories of the other; and the ninth, insisting
that the ship’s roll shall be conclusive evidence that a person belongs
to the ship.
There are several new matters introduced into the draught: some of these
are agreed to; others cannot be admitted, as being contrary to the
same principles which had obliged me to disagree to some of the former
articles. The greatest part of the eleventh, and the whole of the
twelfth new articles, are in this predicament. They propose, that no
person shall be arrested on board a merchant vessel, for any cause, but
in presence of the consul; that no such vessel shall be visited, but
in his presence; and that when the officers of justice have reason to
believe that a criminal has taken refuge on board a vessel of war, the
captain’s word shall be conclusive evidence that he is not there.
To the objections which I had the honor of stating in my letter to his
Excellency, the Count de Montmorin, I have now that of adding some other
observations, of which I request your perusal. I enclose with them a
draught, on the basis of the one you were pleased to give me, altered so
as to reconcile it to the spirit of our laws.
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 CLXII.--TO THE MARQUIS DE LA ROUERIE, September 16,1788
TO THE MARQUIS DE LA ROUERIE.
Paris, September 16,1788.
Sir,
On receiving the first letters which you did me the honor to write to me
on the arrears due to you from the United States, I informed you that
I had nothing to do in the money department; that the subject of your
letters belonged altogether to the treasury board, and to Mr. Grand,
their banker here, to the former of whom I forwarded your letters. As
I felt an anxiety, however, that the foreign officers should be paid, I
took the liberty of pressing the treasury board, from time to time, to
exert themselves for that effect; and I availed myself of an opportunity
which occurred last spring, of setting on foot measures, which, with
their approbation, might furnish the means of effecting this payment.
So far my information to you went, and I added a supposition, that the
treasury board would probably give orders on the subject, in the course
of the month of July. But I made you no promise; it would have been
strange if I had; nor does my office, nor any thing I have ever said
or done, subject me to the demand of immediate payment, which you are
pleased to make on me, nor call on me for any declaration or answer,
positive or negative.
Finding that my interference, which was friendly only, and avowed to be
inofficial, has given occasion to your letter of yesterday, in a style
which I did not expect, and to which I can have no motive for
further exposing myself, I must take the liberty of desiring that the
correspondence between us on this subject may cease. I presume that the
certificate given you points out the person, here or elsewhere, to whom
your applications are to be made, and that he will inform you when he
receives orders on your subject.
I am, Sir, your humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXIII.--TO WILLIAM SHORT, September 20, 1788
TO WILLIAM SHORT.
Paris, September 20, 1788.
Dear Sir,
The evening of your departure, a letter came by the way of London and
New York, addressed to you, and probably from Virginia. I think you
wished your American letters to remain here; I shall therefore keep it.
The passport now enclosed came the day after your departure; so also
did a mass of American letters for me, as low down as August the 10th.
I shall give you their substance. The convention of Virginia annexed
to their ratification of the new constitution a copy of the State
declaration of rights, not by way of condition, but to announce
their attachment to them. They added also propositions for specific
alterations of the constitution. Among these was one for rendering the
President incapable of serving more than eight years, in any term of
sixteen. New York has followed the example of Virginia, expressing the
substance of her bill of rights (that is, Virginia’s), and proposing
amendments: these last differ much from those of Virginia; but they
concur as to the President, only proposing that he shall be incapable
of being elected more than twice. But I own I should like better than
either of these, what Luther Martin tells us was repeatedly voted and
adhered to by the federal convention, and only altered about twelve days
before their rising, when some members had gone off; to wit, that he
should be elected for seven years, and incapable for ever after. But New
York has taken another step, which gives uneasiness; she has written a
circular letter to all the legislatures, asking their concurrence in
an immediate convention for making amendments. No news yet from North
Carolina. Electors are to be chosen the first Wednesday in January;
the President to be elected the first Wednesday in February; the new
legislature to meet the third week in March:--the place is not yet
decided on. Philadelphia was first proposed, and had six and a half
votes; the half vote was Delaware, one of whose members wanted to take
a vote on Wilmington; then Baltimore was proposed and carried, and
afterwards rescinded: so that the matter stood open as ever on the 10th
of August; but it was allowed the dispute lay only between New York and
Philadelphia, and rather thought in favor of the last. The Rhode Island
Delegates had retired from Congress. Dr. Franklin was dangerously ill
of the gout and stone on the 21st of July. My letters of August the 10th
not mentioning him, I hope he was recovered. Warville, &c. were arrived.
Congress had referred the decision, as to the independence of Kentucky,
to the new government. Brown ascribes this to the jealousy of the
northern States, who want Vermont to be received at the same time,
in order to preserve a balance of interests in Congress. He was just
setting out for Kentucky, disgusted, yet disposed to persuade to an
acquiescence, though doubting they would immediately separate from the
Union. The principal obstacle to this, he thought, would be the Indian
war.
The following is a quotation from a letter from Virginia, dated July the
12th. ‘P------n, though much impaired in health, and in every respect in
the decline of life, showed as much zeal to carry the new constitution,
as if he had been a young man; perhaps more than he discovered in the
commencement of the late revolution,in his opposition to Great Britain.
W------e acted as chairman to the committee of the whole, and of course
took but little part in the debate; but was for the adoption, relying
on subsequent amendments. B------r said nothing, but was for it. The
G------r exhibited a curious spectacle to view. Having refused to sign
the paper, every body supposed him against it; but he afterwards had
written a letter, and having taken a part, which might be called rather
vehement than active, he was constantly laboring to show, that his
present conduct was consistent with that letter, and that letter with
his refusal to sign. M--d--n took the principal share in the debate for
it; in which, together with the aid I have already mentioned, he was
somewhat assisted by I--nn--s, Lee, M------l, C------n, and G. N------s.
M--s--n, H------y, and Gr------n were the principal supporters of the
opposition. The discussion, as might be expected, where the parties
were so nearly on a balance, was conducted generally with great order,
propriety, and respect of either party to the other.’
The assembly of Virginia, hurried to their harvests, would not enter
into a discussion of the district bill, but suspended it to the next
session. E. Winston is appointed a judge, vice Gabriel Jones, resigned.
R. Goode and Andrew Moore, Counsellors, vice B. Starke, dead, and Joseph
Egglestone, resigned. It is said Wilson, of Philadelphia, is talked of
to succeed Mr. A. in London. _Quære?_
The dispute about Virgil’s tomb and the laurel, seems to be at length
settled, by the testimony of two travellers, given separately, and
without a communication with each other. These both say, that attempting
to pluck off a branch of the laurel, it followed their hand, being, in
fact, nothing more than a plant or bough recently cut, and stuck in the
ground for the occasion. The Cicerone acknowledged the roguery, and said
they practised it with almost every traveller, to get money. You will,
of course, tug well at the laurel which shall be shown you, to see if
this be the true solution.
The President Dupaty is dead. Monsieur de Barentin, _prémier president
de la cour des aides_, is appointed _Garde des Sceaux_. The stocks are
rather lower than when you left this. Present me in the most friendly
terms to Messrs. Shippen and Rutledge. I rely on your communicating to
them the news, and, therefore, on their pardoning me for not repeating
it in separate letters to them. You can satisfy them how necessary this
economy of my time and labor is. This goes to Geneva _poste restante_. I
shall not write again till you tell me where to write to.
Accept very sincere assurances of the affection, with which I am, Dear
Sir, your friend and servant,
Th; Jefferson.
LETTER CLXIV.--TO JOHN JAY, September 24,1788
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, September 24,1788.
Sir,
Understanding that the vessel is not yet sailed from Havre, which is
to carry my letters of the 3rd and 5th instant, I am in hopes you will
receive the present with them. The Russian accounts of their victories
on the Black Sea must have been greatly exaggerated. According to these,
the Captain Pacha’s fleet was annihilated; yet themselves have lately
brought him on the stage again, with fifteen ships of the line, in order
to obtain another victory over him. I believe the truth to be, that he
has suffered some checks, of what magnitude it is impossible to say,
where one side alone is heard, and that he is still master of that sea.
He has relieved Oczakow, which still holds out; Choczim also is still
untaken, and the Emperor’s situation is apprehended to be bad. He spun
his army into a long cord, to cover several hundred miles of frontier,
which put it in the power of the Turks to attack with their whole force
wherever they pleased. Laudon, now called to head the imperial army, is
endeavoring to collect it; but in the mean time the campaign is drawing
to a close, and has been worse than fruitless. The resistance of Russia
to Sweden has been successful in every point by sea and land, This, with
the interference of Denmark, and the discontent of the Swedish nation;
at the breach of their constitution, by the King’s undertaking an
offensive war without the consent of the Senate, has obliged him to
withdraw his attacks by land, and to express a willingness for peace;
one third of his officers have refused to serve. England and Prussia
have offered their mediation between Sweden and Russia, in such
equivocal terms, as to leave themselves at liberty to say it was an
offer, or was not, just as it shall suit them. Denmark is asking the
counter-offer of mediation from this court. If England and Prussia make
a peace effectually in the north (which it is absolutely in their power
to do), it will be a proof they do not intend to enter into the war;
if they do not impose a peace, I should suspect they mean to engage
themselves; as one can hardly suppose they would let the war go on in
its present form, wherein Sweden must be crushed between Russia and
Denmark.
The _Garde des Sceaux_, M. de Lamoignon, was dismissed the 14th instant,
and M. de Barentin is appointed in his room. The deputies of Bretagne
are released from the Bastile, and M. d’Epermesnil and M. Sabatier
recalled from their confinement. The parliament is not yet reinstated;
but it is confidently said it will be this week. The stocks continue
low, and the treasury under a hard struggle to keep the government in
motion. It is believed the meeting of the States General will be as
early as January, perhaps December. I have received a duplicate of the
ratification of the loan of 1788, by Congress, and a duplicate of a
letter of July the 22nd, from the treasury board, on another subject,
but none on that of the captives, or foreign officers. I suppose
some cause of delay must have intervened between the ratification of
Congress, and the consequent orders of the treasury board.
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 CLXV.--TO M. DE REYNEVAL, October 1, 1788
TO M. DE REYNEVAL.
Paris, October 1, 1788
Sir,