wrong, I become uneasy for you. Your principles are decidedly with the
_Tiers-Etat_, and your instructions against them. A complaisance to the
latter on some occasions, and an adherence to the former on others, may
give an appearance of trimming between the two parties, which may lose
you both. You will, in the end, go over wholly to the _Tiers-Etat_,
because it will be impossible for you to live in a constant sacrifice of
your own sentiments to the prejudices of the _Noblesse_. But you would
be received by the _Tiers-Etat_, at any future day, coldly, and without
confidence. This appears to me the moment to take at once that honest
and manly stand with them, which your own principles dictate. This will
win their hearts for ever, be approved by the world, which marks and
honors you as the man of the people, and will be an eternal consolation
to yourself. The _Noblesse_, and especially the _Noblesse of Auvergne_,
will always prefer men who will do their dirty work for them. You are
not made for that. They will therefore soon drop you, and the people, in
that case, will perhaps not take you up. Suppose a scission should take
place. The Priests and Nobles will secede, the nation will remain in
place, and, with the King, will do its own business. If violence should
be attempted, where will you be? You cannot then take side with the
people in opposition to your own vote, that very vote which will have
helped to produce the scission. Still less can you array yourself
against the people. That is impossible. Your instructions are indeed
a difficulty. But to state this at its worst, it is only a single
difficulty, which a single effort surmounts. Your instructions can never
embarrass you a second time, whereas an acquiescence under them will
re-produce greater difficulties every day, and without end. Besides, a
thousand circumstances offer as many justifications of your departure
from your instructions. Will it be impossible to persuade all parties,
that (as for good legislation two Houses are necessary) the placing
the privileged classes together in one House, and the unprivileged in
another, would be better for both than a scission? I own I think it
would. People can never agree without some sacrifices; and it appears
but a moderate sacrifice in each party, to meet on this middle ground.
The attempt to bring this about might satisfy your instructions, and a
failure in it would justify your siding with the people, even to those
who think instructions are laws of conduct. Forgive me, my dear friend,
if my anxiety for you makes me talk of things I know nothing about.
You must not consider this as advice. I know you and myself too well
to presume to offer advice. Receive it merely as the expression of my
uneasiness, and the effusion of that sincere friendship, with which I
am, my dear Sir, yours affectionately,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXCVII.--TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL, May 8, 1789
TO WILLIAM CARMICHAEL.
Paris, May 8, 1789.
Dear Sir,
Your favor of January the 26th, to March the 27th, is duly received, and
I thank you for the interesting papers it contained. The answer of
Don Ulloa, however, on the subject of the canal through the American
isthmus, was not among them, though mentioned to be so. If you have
omitted it through accident, I shall thank you for it at some future
occasion, as I wish much to understand that subject thoroughly. Our
American information comes down to the 16th of March. There had not yet
been members enough assembled of the new Congress, to open the tickets.
They expected to do it in a day or two. In the mean time, it was said
from all the States, that their vote had been unanimous for General
Washington, and a good majority in favor of Mr. Adams, who is certainly,
therefore, Vice-President. The new government would be supported by very
cordial and very general dispositions in its favor from the people. I
have not yet seen a list of the new Congress. This delay in the meeting
of the new government has delayed the determination on my petition for
leave of absence. However, I expect to receive it every day, and am in
readiness to sail the instant I receive it, so that this is probably
the last letter I shall write you hence, till my return. While there,
I shall avail government of the useful information I have received from
you, and shall not fail to profit of any good occasion which may occur,
to show the difference between your real situation, and what it ought to
be. I consider Paris and Madrid as the two only points, at which Europe
and America should touch closely, and that a connection at these points
should be fostered.
We have had in this city a very considerable riot, in which about one
hundred people have been probably killed. It was the most unprovoked,
and is therefore, justly, the most unpitied catastrophe of that kind
I ever knew. Nor did the wretches know what they wanted, except to do
mischief. It seems to have had no particular connection with the great
national question now in agitation. The want of bread is very seriously
dreaded through the whole kingdom. Between twenty and thirty ship-loads
of wheat and flour has already arrived from the United States, and there
will be about the same quantity of rice sent from Charleston to this
country directly, of which about half has arrived. I presume that,
between wheat and rice, one hundred ship-loads may be counted on in the
whole from us. Paris consumes about a ship-load a day, (say two hundred
and fifty tons.) The total supply of the West Indies, for this year,
rests with us, and there is almost a famine in Canada and Nova Scotia.
The States General were opened the day before yesterday. Viewing it as
an opera, it was imposing; as a scene of business, the King’s speech was
exactly what it should have been, and very well delivered; not a word
of the Chancellor’s was heard by any body, so that, as yet, I have never
heard a single guess at what it was about. Mr. Necker’s was as good as
such a number of details would permit it to be. The picture of their
resources was consoling, and generally plausible. I could have wished
him to have dwelt more on those great constitutional reformations, which
his _Rapport au Roy_ had prepared us to expect. But they observe, that
these points are proper for the speech of the Chancellor. We are in
hopes, therefore, they were in that speech, which, like the Revelations
of St. John, were no revelations at all. The _Noblesse_, on coming
together, show that they are not as much reformed in their principles
as we had hoped they would be. In fact, there is real danger of their
totally refusing to vote by persons. Some found hopes on the lower
clergy, which constitute four-fifths of the deputies of that order. If
they do not turn the balance in favor of the _Tiers-Etat_, there is
real danger of a scission. But I shall not consider even that event
as rendering things desperate. If the King will do business with the
_Tiers-Etat_, which constitutes the nation, it may be well done without
Priests or Nobles. From the best information I can obtain, the King
of England’s madness has terminated in an imbecility, which may very
possibly be of long continuance. He is going with his Queen to Germany.
England chained to rest, the other parts of Europe may recover or retain
tranquillity.
I have the honor to be, with great and sincere esteem, Dear Sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson..
LETTER CXCVIII.--TO JOHN JAY, May 9, 1789
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, May 9, 1789.
Sir,
Since my letter of March the 1st, by the way of Havre, and those of
March the 12th and 15th, by the way of London, no opportunity of writing
has occurred, till the present to London.
There are no symptoms of accommodation between the Turks and two
empires, nor between Russia and Sweden. The Emperor was, on the 16th of
the last month, expected to die, certainly; he was, however, a little
better when the last news came away, so that hopes were entertained of
him; but it is agreed that he cannot get the better of his complaints
ultimately, so that his life is not at all counted on. The Danes
profess, as yet, to do no more against Sweden than furnish their
stipulated aid. The agitation of Poland is still violent, though
somewhat moderated by the late change in the demeanor of the King of
Prussia. He is much less thrasonic than he was. This is imputed to the
turn which the English politics may be rationally expected to take. It
is very difficult to get at the true state of the British King j but
from the best information we can get, his madness has gone off, but he
is left in a state of imbecility and melancholy. They are going to carry
him to Hanover, to see whether such a journey may relieve him. The Queen
accompanies him. If England. should, by this accident, be reduced to
inactivity, the southern countries of Europe may escape the present
war. Upon the whole, the prospect for the present year, if no unforeseen
accident happens, is certain peace for the powers not already engaged,
a probability that Denmark will not become a principal, and a mere
possibility that Sweden and Russia may be accommodated. The interior
disputes of Sweden are so exactly detailed in the Leyden gazette, that I
have nothing to add on that subject.
The revolution of this country has advanced thus far without
encountering any thing which deserves to be called a difficulty. There
have been riots in a few instances, in three or four different places,
in which there may have been a dozen or twenty lives lost. The exact
truth is not be got at. A few days ago, a much more serious riot took
place in this city, in which it became necessary for the troops to
engage in regular action with the mob, and probably about one hundred of
the latter were killed. Accounts vary from twenty to two hundred. They
were the most abandoned banditti of Paris, and never was a riot more
unprovoked and unpitied. They began, under a pretence that a paper
manufacturer had proposed in an assembly, to reduce their wages to
fifteen sous a day. They rifled his house, destroyed every thing in his
magazines and shops, and were only stopped in their career of mischief,
by the carnage above mentioned. Neither this nor any other of the riots,
have had a professed connection with the great national reformation
going on. They are such as have happened every year since I have been
here, and as will continue to be produced by common incidents. The
States General were opened on the 4th instant, by a speech from the
throne, one by the _Garde des Sceaux_, and one from Mr. Necker. I hope
they will be printed in time to send you herewith: lest they should not,
I will observe, that that of Mr, Necker stated the real and ordinary
deficit to be fifty-six millions, and that he showed that this could
be made up without a new tax, by economies and bonifications which he
specified. Several articles of the latter are liable to the objection,
that they are proposed on branches of the revenue, of which the nation
has demanded a suppression. He tripped too lightly over the great
articles of constitutional reformation, these being not as clearly
announced in this discourse as they were in his _Rapport au Roy_, which
I sent you some time ago. On the whole, his discourse has not satisfied
the patriotic party. It is now, for the first time, that their
revolution is likely to receive a serious check, and begins to wear a
fearful appearance. The progress of light and liberality in the order
of the _Noblesse_ has equalled expectation in Paris only, and its
vicinities. The great mass of deputies of that order, which come from
the country, show that the habits of tyranny over the people, are
deeply rooted in them. They will consent, indeed, to equal taxation; but
five-sixths of that chamber are thought to be, decidedly, for voting
by orders; so that, had this great preliminary question rested on this
body, which formed heretofore the sole hope, that hope would have been
completely disappointed. Some aid, however, comes in from a quarter
whence none was expected. It was imagined the ecclesiastical elections
would have been generally in favor of the higher clergy; on the
contrary, the lower clergy have obtained five-sixths of these
deputations. These are the sons of peasants, who have done all the
drudgery of the service, for ten, twenty, and thirty guineas a year, and
whose oppressions and penury, contrasted with the pride and luxury of
the higher clergy, have rendered them perfectly disposed to humble the
latter. They have done it, in many instances, with a boldness they were
thought insusceptible of. Great hopes have been formed, that these would
concur with the _Tiers-Etat_, in voting by persons. In fact, about half
of them seem as yet so disposed; but the bishops are intriguing, and
drawing them over with the address which has ever marked ecclesiastical
intrigue. The deputies of the _Tiers-Etat_ seem, almost to a man,
inflexibly determined against the vote by orders. This is the state of
parties, as well as can be judged from conversation only, during the
fortnight they have been now together. But as no business has been yet
begun, no votes as yet taken, this calculation cannot be considered
as sure. A middle proposition is talked of, to form the two privileged
orders into one chamber. It is thought more possible to bring them
into it, than the _Tiers-Etat_. Another proposition is, to distinguish
questions, referring those of certain descriptions to a vote by persons,
others to a vote by orders. This seems to admit of endless altercation,
and the _Tiers-Etat_ manifest no respect for that, or any other
modification whatever. Were this single question accommodated, I am of
opinion, there would not occur the least difficulty in the great and
essential points of constitutional reformation. But on this preliminary
question the parties are so irreconcilable, that it is impossible to
foresee what issue it will have. The _Tiers-Etat_, as constituting the
nation, may propose to do the business of the nation, either with or
without the minorities in the Houses of Clergy and Nobles, which side
with them. In that case, if the King should agree to it, the majorities
in those two Houses would secede, and might resist the tax-gatherers.
This would bring on a civil war. On the other hand, the privileged
orders, offering to submit to equal taxation, may propose to the King
to continue the government in its former train, resuming to himself
the power of taxation. Here, the tax-gatherers might be resisted by
the people. In fine, it is but too possible, that between parties so
animated, the King may incline the balance as he pleases. Happy that he
is an honest, unambitious man, who desires neither money nor power for
himself; and that his most operative minister, though he has appeared to
trim a little, is still, in the main, a friend to public liberty.
I mentioned to you in a former letter, the construction which
our bankers at Amsterdam had put on the resolution of Congress,
appropriating the last Dutch loan, by which the money for our captives
would not be furnished till the end of the year 1790. Orders from the
board of treasury have now settled this question. The interest of
the next month is to be first paid, and after that, the money for the
captives and foreign officers is to be furnished, before any other
payment of interest. This insures it when the next February interest
becomes payable. My representations to them, on account of the contracts
I had entered into for making the medals, have produced from them the
money for that object, which is lodged in the hands of Mr. Grand.
Mr. Necker, in his discourse, proposes among his bonifications of
revenue, the suppression of our two free ports of Bayonne and L’Orient,
which, he says, occasion a loss of six hundred thousand livres annually,
to the crown, by contraband. (The speech being not yet printed, I state
this only as it struck my ear when he delivered it. If I have mistaken
it, I beg you to receive this as my apology, and to consider what
follows, as written on that idea only.) I have never been able to see
that these free ports were worth one copper to us. To Bayonne our trade
never went, and it is leaving L’Orient. Besides, the right of _entrepot_
is a perfect substitute for the right of free port. The latter is a
little less troublesome only, to the merchants and captains. I should
think, therefore, that a thing so useless to us and prejudicial to them
might be relinquished by us, on the common principles of friendship.
I know the merchants of these ports will make a clamor, because the
franchise covers their contraband with all the world. Has Monsieur
de Moustier said any thing to you on this subject? It has never been
mentioned to me. If not mentioned in either way, it is rather an
indecent proceeding, considering that this right of free port is founded
in treaty. I shall ask of M. de Montmorin, on the first occasion,
whether he has communicated this to you through his minister; and if he
has not, I will endeavor to notice the infraction to him in such manner,
as neither to reclaim nor abandon the right of free port, but leave our
government free to do either.
The gazettes of France and Leyden, as usual, will accompany this. I am
in hourly expectation of receiving from you my leave of absence, and
keep my affairs so arranged, that I can leave Paris within eight days
after receiving the permission.
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 CXCIX.--TO GENERAL WASHINGTON, May 10, 1780
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
Paris, May 10, 1780,
Sir,
I am now to acknowledge, the honor of your two letters of November the
27th and February the 13th, both of which have come to hand since my
last to you of December the 4th and 5th. The details you are so good as
to give me on the subject of the navigation of the waters of the Potomac
and Ohio, are very pleasing to me, as I consider the union of those two
rivers, as among the strongest links of connection between the eastern
and western sides of our confederacy. It will, moreover, add to the
commerce of Virginia, in particular, all the upper parts of the Ohio and
its waters. Another vast object, and of much less difficulty, is to add
also, all the country on the lakes and their waters. This would enlarge
our field immensely, and would certainly be effected by an union of
the upper waters of the Ohio and lake Erie. The Big Beaver and Cayahoga
offer the most direct line, and according to information I received from
General Hand, and which I had the honor of writing you in the year 1783,
the streams in that neighborhood head in lagoons, and the country is
flat. With respect to the doubts which you say are entertained by
some, whether the upper waters of Potomac can be rendered capable of
navigation, on account of the falls and rugged banks, they are answered,
by observing, that it is reduced to a maxim, that whenever there is
water enough to float a batteau, there may be navigation for a batteau.
Canals and locks may be necessary, and they are expensive; but I
hardly know what expense would be too great for the object in question.
Probably, negotiation with the Indians, perhaps even settlement, must
precede the execution of the Cayahoga canal. The States of Maryland
and Virginia should make a common object of it. The navigation, again,
between Elizabeth River and the Sound is of vast importance, and in
my opinion, it is much better that these should be done at public than
private expense.
Though we have not heard of the actual opening of the new Congress,
and consequently, have not official information of your election as
President of the United States, yet, as there never could be a doubt
entertained of it, permit me to express here my felicitations, not
to yourself, but to my country. Nobody who has tried both public and
private life, can doubt but that you were much happier on the banks of
the Potomac than you will be at New York. But there was nobody so well
qualified as yourself, to put our new machine into a regular course of
action; nobody, the authority of whose name could have so effectually
crushed opposition at home, and produced respect abroad. I am sensible
of the immensity of the sacrifice on your part. Your measure of fame was
full to the brim; and therefore, you have nothing to gain. But there are
cases wherein it is a duty to risk all against nothing, and I believe
this was exactly the case. We may presume, too, according to every rule
of probability, that after doing a great deal of good, you will be found
to have lost nothing but private repose.
In a letter to Mr. Jay, of the 19th of November, I asked a leave of
absence to carry my children back to their own country, and to settle
various matters of a private nature, which were left unsettled, because
I had no idea of being absent so long. I expected that letter would have
been received in time to be decided on by the government then existing.
I know now that it would arrive when there was no Congress, and
consequently, that if must have awaited your arrival at New York. I hope
you found the request not an unreasonable one. I am excessively anxious
to receive the permission without delay, that I may be able to get back
before the winter sets in. Nothing can be so dreadful to me, as to be
shivering at sea for two or three months, in a winter passage. Besides,
there has never been a moment at which the presence of a minister here
could be so well dispensed with, from certainty of no war this summer,
and that the government will be so totally absorbed in domestic
arrangements, as to attend to nothing exterior. Mr. Jay will, of course,
communicate to you some ciphered letters lately written, and one of
this date. My public letter to him contains all the interesting public
details. I enclose with the present, some extracts of a letter from Mr.
Paine, which he desired me to communicate: your knowledge of the writer
will justify my giving you the trouble of these communications, which
their interesting nature and his respectability will jointly recommend
to notice. I am in great pain for the Marquis de la Fayette. His
principles, you know, are clearly with the people; but having been
elected for the _Noblesse_ of Auvergne, they have laid him under express
instructions to vote for the decision by orders and not persons. This
would ruin him with the _Tiers-Etat_, and it is not possible he could
continue long to give satisfaction to the _Noblesse_. I have not
hesitated to press on him to burn his instructions, and follow his
conscience as the only sure clue, which will eternally guide a man clear
of all doubts and inconsistencies. If he cannot effect a conciliatory
plan, he will surely take his stand manfully at once with the
_Tiers-Etat_. He will in that case be what he pleases with them, and
I am in hopes that base is now too solid to render it dangerous to be
mounted on it. In hopes of being able, in the course of the summer, to
pay my respects to you personally in New York, I have the honor to be,
with sentiments of the most perfect respect and attachment, Sir, your
most obedient and most humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
[Extract of the letter from Thomas Paine, referred to in the
preceding, to General Washington.]
‘London, March the 12th, 1789. I do not think it is worth while for
Congress to appoint any minister at this court. The greater distance
Congress observes on this point, the better. It will be all money thrown
away to go to any expense about it, at least during the present reign. I
know the nation well, and the line of acquaintance I am in enables me
to judge better on this matter than any other American can judge,
especially at a distance. I believe I am not so much in the good
graces of the Marquis of Lansdowne as I used to be. I do not answer his
purpose. He was always talking of a sort of re-connection of England
and America, and my coldness and reserve on this subject checked
communication. I believe he would be a good minister for England, with
respect to a better agreement with France.’