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FEDERAL EDITION
Limited to 1000 signed and numbered sets,
The Collector's Edition of the Writings of Thomas
Jefferson is limited to six hundred signed and nums
bered sets, of which this is
Number J^Jik
We guarantee that no limited, numbered edition,
other than the Federal, shall be printed from these
plates.
The written number must correspond with the
perforated number at the top of this page.
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The Works of
Thomas Jefferson
Collected and Edited
by
Paul Leicester Ford
Volume VIII
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
Gbe lKntcfeert>ocftec press
1904
Ube Tftniclterbocftet iptees, View got*
CONTENTS OF VOLUME VIII
PAGE
Itinerary and Chronology xix
1793
To the President of the United States, August
22D ......... 3
Letter of National Assembly — Commercial treaty —
Course for President.
To the United States Minister to France, August
23D 4
Letter asking recall of Genet — Commercial treaty with
France.
Cabinet Opinions on Recall of Genet, August 23D 5
To James Madison, August 25TH .... 7
Genet's publication of correspondence — Public support
of President — Plans of Washington and Jefferson.
Cabinet Opinion on Privateers and Prizes, August
3 ist 8
To James Madison, September ist . . . .11
Proceedings of French consul — British instructions as
to provisions — Retaliatory measures — Genet — Adams's
writings — ' ' Franklin ' ' — Fever — Threshing-machine —
Markets — "Franklin's" publication.
To the United States Attorney for Massachusetts,
September 2d -14
Proceedings of French consul — Legal steps.
To Thomas Mann Randolph, September 2d .16
Fever — Threshing-machine — Servants — French news .
To the British Minister, September 5TH ... 18
Compensation for captures.
Cabinet Decisions, September 7TH .... 22
iv Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
To the United States Minister to Great Britain,
September 7TH ....... 24
"Additional instructions" of Great Britain — Law of
nations as to provisions — ^Protest.
Circular to the French Consuls, September 7TH . 31
To James Madison, September 8th .... 32
' ' Helvidius " — " Franklin ' ' — Slavery — Genet 's conduct
— Fever — Hamilton's sickness and courage — Jefferson's
course — Misfortunes of Republicanism — Indians.
To the French Minister, September oth ... 34
Prizes — Custody — Proceedings of consuls — President's
orders.
To the British Minister, September oth ... 37
French squadron at New York — Neutral rights — Ad-
miralty jurisdiction.
To St. George Tucker, September ioth ... 41
Slander — Return to friends.
To the French Minister, September 12TH . . 41
Delivery of French citizens.
To John Ross, September 13TH 44
Application for loan.
To the President of the United States, September
15™ 45
Letters — Departure for Virginia — Fever.
To the French Minister, September 15TH . . 46
Notification of request for recall — Consuls.
To James Madison, September 15TH .... 48
Deaths by fever — Arrangements as to duties.
To the British Minister, September 22D ... 48
"Additional instructions " — Discrimination.
A Statement, October -So
Genet's threat to appeal.
To the President of the United States, October 3D, 52
Letters — Genet's retention of prizes — Sea limit —
Genet's claims for exemption from duties.
To the President of the United States, October
i7th 55
Plans — Calling of Congress — Place of meeting.
Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
To Thomas Mann Randolph, November 2d . . 56
Travels— Meeting of Congress — Fever — Freneau's Ga-
zette— Overseer.
To James Madison, November 2d .... 58
Travels — Philadelphia — Calling of Congress — Place of
meeting — Germantown — Successor — Genet's letters and
proceedings.
To the French Minister, November 8th ... 60
Sea limit.
To the British Minister, November 8th ... 62
Sea limit.
To Martha Jefferson Randolph, November ioth . 63
Fever — French affairs — Freneau's Gazette.
To the British Minister, November 14TH . . 64
Case of the Roehampton — Rules as to captures — The
Industry.
To Eli Whitney, November i6th .... 70
Cotton gin.
To John Kean, November i6th 71
Request for loan.
To James Madison, November 17TH .... 72
Lodgings at Germantown — President's course — Fever
— Wayne's march — Genet's proceedings.
To the French Minister, November 22D ... 73
Address for commissions.
Cabinet Decisions, November 23D .... 74
To Archibald Stuart, November 24TH ... 76
Sheep — Potatoes — Toulon — Adjournment of Congress.
To Mrs. Church, November 27TH .... 78
Lafayette — Friends.
Draft of President's Message, November . . 79
To the French Minister, November 30TH . . 83
French consuls— St. Domingo emigrants — Contraband
of war — Arms.
To the President of the United States, December
2D 85
Letters to Morris — Message — Confidential papers.
Cabinet Decisions, December 7th .... 88
vi Contents of Volume VIII
PACE
To the French Minister, December 9TH ... 89
Consular appointments — Commissions — Official address.
To the President of the United States, December
iith 92
Interview with Genet as to Morris.
To Mr. Church, December iith .... 94
Lafayette.
To the British Minister, December 15TH . 95
Infraction of Treaty — Negroes — Posts — Fur Trade —
Property — St. Croix River.
Report on the Privileges and Restrictions on the
Commerce of the United States in Foreign
Countries ........ 98
To the Attorney-General, December i8th . . 119
Genet's request for libel prosecutions.
Opinion on Neutral Trade, December 20TH . .120
To Martha Jefferson Randolph, December 22D . 124
Arrangements for departure — Foreign Affairs — Con-
gress.
To the British Minister, December 26th . . 125
Case of the Hope — General rules — Damages.
Supplementary Report on Commerce, December
30TH 127
To Dr. Enoch Edwards, December 30TH . . 134
New Congress — Genet's proceedings — Retirement —
English machinations.
To the French Minister, December 31ST . . . 135
Refusal to transmit papers to Congress.
To the President of the United States, December
3ist 136
Resignation.
1794
To Archibald Stuart, January 26th . .137
Sheep — Madison's ' ' propositions. ' '
To Edmund Randolph, February 3D . . . 137
Letters — Only political interference — Small-pox at
Redmond.
Contents of Volume VIII vii
PAGE
To James Madison, February 15TH .... 139
Absence of news.
To James Monroe, March iith 139
Small-pox — Winter — Wheat.
To James Madison, April 3D 141
Madison's "propositions" — Smith's speeches — Hamil-
ton— Jefferson's report on commerce — Hostility to Great
Britain — French islands — Navy — Corruption of Congress.
To James Monroe, April 24TH 143
War spirit — Special mission to Great Britain — Hamil-
ton.
To John Adams, April 25TH 144
Thanks for book — Happiness in private life — Rights of
generations — Insults of Great Britain.
To John Taylor, May ist 145
Drilling machine — Degradation of lands — Rotation of
crops — Pamphlet.
To Tench Coxe, May ist 147
French affairs — Hatred of aliens — War — Non-inter-
course— Cooper and Priestly — Wheat.
To George Washington, May 14TH .... 148
Manure — Farming — British government.
To James Madison, May 15TH 150
Non-importation bill — Senate — Taylor's pamphlet —
Books — Fruit — Weather.
To the Secretary of State, September 7TH . . 152
Declining appointment to France — Carmichael.
To Wilson Cary Nicholas, November 22D . . 153
Proposition of D'lvernois — Removal of Academy of
Geneva to Virginia.
To William Branch Giles, December 17TH . . 155
Attack on democratic societies — Tide against Con-
stitution— Westerners.
To James Madison, December 28th .... 156
Thanks to Jay — Attack on democratic societies — Cin-
cinnati— Aristocracy — Excise law — Whiskey rebellion —
President's speech — Presidency.
Notes for a Constitution 159
viii Contents of Volume VIII
1795
PAGE
To James Madison, February 5TH . . . .162
Weather — Walker's election — Wilson Nicholas's elec-
tion and speculation — Tax on carriages.
To M. D'Ivernois, February 6th .... 163
Proposition to remove University of Geneva to Virginia
— Republics — Present governments.
To James Brown, April i8th 166
Debt — Nailery — Tobacco. .
To Archibald Stuart, April i8th .... 168
Duplicate books — Avoids meeting Patrick Henry.
To James Madison, April 27TH 169
Madison for President — Jefferson as a candidate — Agri-
tural plans — Meeting with Henry.
To William Branch Giles, April 27TH . . .■ 172
French successes — Love of farming.
To De Meusnier, April 29TH . . . . . 173
Knowledge and approval of French republicans —
United States as an asylum — Lack of wealthy class in
America — Nail-making — Work.
To James Monroe, May 26th 176
Hamilton an imitator of Pitt — Democratic societies —
Western insurrection — Use of Washington's name — Jay's
treaty — Private affairs — House for Monroe — Booksellers
and books — Former French friends — Agricultural advice
— Virginia social news.
To Tench Coxe, June ist 182
Book of Coxe's — French successes — Extension of lib-
erty— Destruction of crops.
To James Madison, August 3D 183
/ Hamilton supports treaty — Stoned — Richmond against
treaty.
To Mann Page, August 30TH 184
/ Visit declined — Education — Men not rogues — Jay
/ treaty.
To James Monroe, September 6th .... 186
Monroe's farm — Derieux — Commissions in France — T.
M. Randolph's health — Political changes — Jay's treaty —
Hamilton — Adams — News.
Contents of Volume VIII ix
PA OB
To Tench Coxe, September ioth . . . .189
Richmond disapproves of treaty — Camillus — News-
papers— Letters.
To Henry Tazewell, September 13TH . . 190
^_s^^ Jay treaty — Advisability of treaties at all.
To James Madison, September 21ST .... 191
^ - Volume on Jay treaty — Curtis — Camillus — Hamilton
the Colossus of Federalism — Begs answer from Madison.
To Rev. James Madison, October 28th . . . 194
Fontainebleau — Condition of French laborers — Owner-
ship of lands — Rights of property — State policy toward
property owners.
To James Madison, November 26th .... 197
Proceedings in Virginia Assembly on treaty — Marshall
— Power of House of Representatives over treaties — Ran-
dolph's vindication.
To Edward Rutledge, November 30TH . . . 199
,_/ Visit from son — Tour of political duty — Jay treaty —
Orange trees.
To William Branch Giles, December 3 ist . . 201
^^--Virginia Assembly's vote on treaty — Randolph's view
on treaties and his political character — Political indepen-
dence— Washington's answer to Representatives — Rejec-
tion of Rutledge — Recall of Monroe.
Notes on Professor Ebeling's Letter of July 30,
'95 205
Character of authorities — Their knowledge of the South
— Newspapers — Tories — Parties in United States — News-
papers— Books on America.
1796
To Archibald Stuart, January 3D . . .212
Nails.
To George Wythe, January i6th .... 214
Virginia laws — Jefferson's collection.
To John Adams, February 28th .... 218
D'lvernois's book — Multiple executive — Former gov-
ernments— Accounts as Minister.
x Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
To James Monroe, March 2d 220
Jay treaty — Randolph — Rutledge — New appointments
— Public finances — Canals — Monroe's lands — Virginia
news.
To James Madison, March 6th 223
United States finances — Gallatin — Pensions — Credit on
nail rod — Spanish treaty — National post-roads.
To William B. Giles, March ioth .... 227
Speech of Lieb — Similarity of Tory measures — Im-
pressments— Local news.
To James Monroe, March 21ST 229
Monroe's lands — Jay treaty in House of Representa-
tives— Treaty power.
To James Madison, March 27TH ..... 230
Gallatin's speech — Treaty power — Washington.
To James Madison, April 17TH 232
Proceedings in Federal convention — Relation of House
of Representatives to treaties.
To Phillip Mazzei, April 24TH 235
Money — Embarrassed Virginians — Aspect of politics —
Apostates — Virginian social news.
Contract, May 12TH 242
Mortgage of slaves.
To James Monroe, June 12TH 243
Derieux — Building — Influence of Washington — Public
finances — Prices — Lands.
To George Washington, June ioth . . 245
Publication of Cabinet paper — Madison — H. Lee's slan-
ders— Opinion on Little Sarah — Farm news.
To Jonathan Williams, July 3D .... 249
Observations on mountains — Mould-board — Attacks
on Franklin.
To James Monroe, July ioth 251
Letters — Return of Monroe — Liancourt — Congressional
campaign — Influence of Washington — News — Patrick
Henry — Pinckney.
To Colonel John Stuart, November ioth . . 253
Big bones.
Contents of Volume VIII xi
PAGE
To James Madison, December 17TH .... 254
Presidency — Adams vs. Pinckney — Election — Condi-
tion of United States — Weather.
To Edward Rutledge, December 27TH . . . 256
Abuse — Results of election — Dislike of politics — Rut-
ledge's conduct.
To John Adams, December 28th .... 259
Results of election — Hamilton's trickiness — Adams's
opportunity.
1797
To James Madison, January ist .... 262..
Election — Vice-presidency — Letter to Adams — Calen-
der's book — Man as an animal.
To Archibald Stuart, January 4TH .... 265
Course of Republican party towards Washington —
Adams detached from Hamilton — Election.
To James Madison, January 8th .... 268
Prospects of war — Washington's good fortune — Crops
— Weather.
To James Madison, January i6th .... 269
Vice-presidency — Vermont elections — People's choice.
To Henry Tazewell, January i6th .... 270
Election — Forms.
To James Madison, January 22D .... 271
Journey to Philadelphia — Adams and Jefferson — Part
in new administration— Relations with France — Bound-
ary dispute with Maryland — Relations with Pennsyl-
vania.
To George Wythe, January 22D . . . . 274
Parliamentary practice.
To John Langdon, January 2 2D . .... 275
Vice- presidency.
To Doctor John Edwards, January 22D . . . 276
Defence of Monroe — Conduct toward Great Britain.
To Doctor Benjamin Rush, January 22D . . . 277
Eulogium on Rittenhouse — Escape from Presidency —
Big bones.
xii Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
To James Madison, January 30TH .... 279
Letter to Adams — Opinion of Adams — Oath of office.
To James Sullivan, February qth .... 280
Vice-presidency — Political divisions — Influence of
Washington — Samuel Adams.
To Elbridge Gerry, May 13TH 283
Election to Vice-presidency — Relations with Adams —
Foreign relations — Policy of Federalists — American iso-
lation.
To James Madison, May i8th 288
Pinckney's despatches — President's speech — Removal
of Beckley — Political change in New England — Conduct
of France — Reply of Senate.
To Thomas Pinckney, May 29TH .... 291
Change in politics — Threatening condition — Louisiana
— Commercial wars — Recall of Monroe.
To Horatio Gates, May 30TH 294
Erskine's pamphlet — Servile copying of England —
Congressional replies to President.
To James Madison, June ist ..... 295
Senate reply to President — Navy — Congressional and
diplomatic news.
To Peregrine Fitzhugh, June 4TH .... 298
Address to President — Newspapers — Republican ma-
jority— Taxation — Attack of Luther Martin — Grand ju-
ries.
To French Strother, June 8th 302
Prospects of war — Navy — Acts of France.
To James Madison, June 8th 304
Address — Navy and Army — Arming of merchantmen
— French victories — Republican majority — West India
trade.
To John Moody, June 13TH 305
Proceedings of Congress — Depredations of French.
To James Madison, June 1 sth 306
European affairs — Army — Calling of Congress — News-
papers— Navy and fortification.
Contents of Volume VIII xiii
PAGE
To Aaron Burr, June 17TH 309
Outline of politics — Adams's speech — Danger from
Prance — Change in New York politics — Eastern States —
Wearied.
To Elbridge Gerry, June 21ST 313
Nomination of Gerry as Minister — Peace with France
— Acceptance of mission.
To James Madison, June 22D . . . 315
Defeat of army bill — Useless convocation of Congress
— Mission to Prance.
To Edward Rutledge, June 24TH . . . .316
French spoliations — War preparations — European
news — Arming— Political ill-feeling.
To Edmund Randolph, June 27TH .... 319
Foreign news — Gerry's appointment.
To James Madison, June 29TH 320
Adjournment — Congressional proceedings — Monroe's
arrival.
To James Madison, July 24TH 321
Visit from Madison — Hamilton vs. Callender.
Petition to Virginia House of Delegates, August . 322
To James Madison, August 3D 331
Letter to Mazzei — Petition in re grand juries.
To St. George Tucker, August 28th . . . 334
Slavery — St. Domingo — Taxation.
To Colonel Arthur Campbell, September ist . 336
Federalist policy — Lenity to Tories — The people repub-
lican.
To John Francis Mercer, September sth . . 338
Monroe — Grand juries.
To James Monroe, September 7TH .... 339
Grand juries — Right of citizen — State vs. national gov-
ernment— Cabell's case.
To Alexander White, September ioth . . . 341
Slanders about Jefferson — Removal of government to
Washington — New roads.
To James Monroe, October 25TH .... 344
Monroe's book.
xiv Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
To John Wayles Eppes, December 21ST . . . 346
English victory over Dutch — Taxes — Paris Envoys —
French Admiralty proceedings — Monroe's book — Char-
coal.
To John Taylor, December 23D .... 348
Taxes — Navy and armed merchantmen — Blount's im-
peachment— French news — Fauchet's pamphlet — For-
eign coins.
To James Monroe, December 27TH .... 349
Monroe's book — Fauchet's pamphlet — Arming of mer-
chantmen— Stamp tax — French view — Foreign coins —
Lafayette — Elections — Removal of Tench Coxe.
1798
To John Page, January ist ..... 352
Martin's attack — Logan's speech — Letter from Talley-
rand.
To Mann Page, January 2d 353
Martin's attack — Foreign coins.
To James Madison, January 3D 355
Weather — Bankruptcies — Prices — Congressional pro-
ceedings— Election — Impeachment of Blount — Scipio —
Foreign news.
To James Madison, January 25TH .... 358
Envoys to France — Majority in Congress — Impeach-
ment of Blount — Spanish negotiations — Amendments to
Constitution — Prices.
To Henry Tazewell, January 27TH .... 361
Impeachment.
To James Madison, February 8th .... 362
Monroe's book — Scipio — Impeachment of Blount —
Arming of merchantmen.
To James Monroe, February 8th .... 364
Virginia Assembly — Monroe's book — Scipio — Legal
practice — Blount's impeachment.
To Hugh Williamson, February 1 ith . . . 367
Navigation act.
Contents of Volume VIII xv
PAGE
To James Madison, February 15TH .... 368
Question of arming — Dayton — Lyons — Impeachment
— Ball on Washington's birthday — Commerce.
To Horatio Gates, February 21ST .... 371
Kosciusko — Lack of news from France — Duel between
France and England — Commercial measures of Great
Britain.
To James Madison, February 22D . . . . 373
Commercial news — Exclusion of America from ocean —
Impeachment — Adams's views of Senate.
To Peregrine Fitzhugh, February 23D . . . 375
Attacks on Jefferson in papers — Lack of French news
— State governments.
To James Madison, March 2d 378
Foreign news — Washington's birthday — Stamp act.
To James Monroe, March 8th 380
Word from envoys to France — French decree — Foreign
intercourse — Elections — Monroe's plans.
To James Madison, March 15TH 383
French commercial decree — Cabinet changes — Nom-
ination of J. Q. Adams.
To James Madison, March 2 ist 386
Merchants — X. Y. Z. message — Congressional changes
— Proposed consultation of constituents — Monarchy or
separation of Union.
To James Monroe, March 2ist 388
Insane message — Course of action for Republicans.
To Dr. Samuel Brown, March 25TH .... 390
Martin's attack — General Clark.
To James Madison, March 29TH 391
Action in Congress — War or peace — Rumor of English
treaty — Navy — Quakers partisans of England — New
capital.
To Edmund Pendleton, April 2d 394
Private accounts with Short — Effect of war on govern-
ment securities — Likelihood of war with France — Change
in Eastern States — Prospect of Republican success.
xvi Contents of Volume VIII
FAGB
To James Madison, April sth 397
Secrecy of letters — Appropriation for capital — Pinck-
ney adherents — Marcellus — Publication of X. Y. Z. papers.
To James Monroe, April sth 399
Advice as to personal course — Attacks on Monroe —
Failure of Morris — Libel against Jefferson — Probable ac-
tion as to France.
To James Madison, April 6th 401
Communications from envoys — Analysis of them — No
cause for war.
To James Madison, April 12TH 404
Communications from envoys — Public astonishment —
Asks Madison to write analysis — Meeting of merchants —
Spriggs resolution — War measures — Taxes — Adjourn-
ment.
To Peter Carr, April 1 2th 405
X. Y. Z. negotiation — Innocence of French Directory
— Spriggs resolution — Policy of peace party — No reason
for war — Eastern States.
To James Monroe, April 19TH 407
Influence of X. Y. Z. despatches — War petitions — Ex-
penses— Mississippi territory — Monroe's accounts.
To James Madison, April 19TH 409
Revolt of public opinion — War measures — Land tax —
Innes — Congressional power — Madison's election to Vir-
ginia legislature.
To James Madison, April 26TH 411'
Naval bill — Absence of Virginia congressmen — Alien
and sedition bills — Newspapers — Senatorial manoeuvre
in New York — Revolt of public opinion.
To James Madison, May 3D 413
War spirit — Replies of President — Citizen and alien
bills — Provisional army — Departure of French — New
York politics — Writings of Hamilton — Mississippi terri-
tory— Adams on sedition bill.
To James Lewis, Jr., May 9TH 416
Logan's speech — Martin's attack — War fever.
To James Madison, May ioth 417
Alien bill — Taxes — Burr's information — Cockade riot.
Contents of Volume VIII xvii
PAGE
To James Madison, May 17TH 419
Vote on alien bill — Provisional army — Cockade riot —
Eastern politics — Public deception — Public addresses —
Congress — French captures — Prices.
To Aaron Burr, May 20TH 421
Currie's claims on Morris — Burwell's ditto.
To James Monroe, May 21ST 423
Provisional army bill — Alien bill — Land tax — Sedition
bill — Departure of French — Attack on Monroe — Election
as a vindication.
To James Madison, May 31ST 427
Correction — Capture of French vessels — Alien bill —
Treaties — Land tax — Adjournment — Departure of
French — Marshall's poem — Dupont.
To John Taylor, June ist 430
Secession of Virginia and North Carolina — Present con-
dition—Influences tending to produce change — Secession
as a theory — New England perverse.
To James Madison, June 7TH 433
Alien bill — Sedition bill — Other bills — Taxes — Ameri-
can envoys to France — Resolutions against France.
To Archibald Stuart, June 8th .... 436
Movements of envoys to France — Gerry — French con-
duct— Nails.
To James Madison, June 21ST 439
Arrival of Marshall — Gerry — Marshall's reception —
Logan — Harper's folly — Libels — Adjournment — Message.
To Samuel Smith, August 22D 443
Newspaper squib — Consultation with Bache, Leib, and
Reynolds — Not a partisan of France — Newspaper writing.
To A. H. Rowan, September 26th .... 447
System of alarm — Influence of England — Virginia not
deluded. /
To Wilson Cary Nicholas, October sth . . . 449
Trust in Breckenridge — Kentucky resolutions — Poli-
tics of North Carolina — Consultation of Madison.
To Stephen Thompson Mason, October 1 ith . . 449
Callender — X. Y. Z. fever abating — Action of state
legislatures — Federalist projects — Tenants.
xviii Contents of Volume VIII
PAGE
Petition on Election of Jurors, October . .451
To James Madison, October 26th .... 456
Petition in re jurors — Kentucky resolutions.
To James Madison, November 17TH .... 456 y
Mechanics — Kentucky resolutions — Nails.
Drafts of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, No-
vember . . 458
To John Taylor, November 26th .... 479 J
Farming — Risk of letter writing — Unsoundness of Vir-
ginia— Taxes a cure — Excessive expense the policy of the
Federalists — Amendment to prevent borrowing — Alien
and sedition laws — Petition in re juries. /
To Wilson Cary Nicholas, November 29TH . . 483 ^
Change in resolutions.
ITINERARY AND CHRONOLOGY
OF
THOMAS JEFFERSON
1 793-i 798
1793. — Aug. 23. At Philadelphia.
Drafts Cabinet Opinion on Genet's Recall.
Cabinet discusses Treaty with France.
31. Drafts Cabinet Opinion on Privateers and
Prizes.
Fever breaks out in Philadelphia.
Sept. 7. Drafts Cabinet Decisions.
13. Attempts to borrow money.
15. Informs Genet of application for his recall.
17. Leaves Philadelphia.
22. At Monticello.
Oct. 25. Leaves Monticello.
Nov. 1. At Germantown.
8. Cabinet meeting on Genet's conduct.
13. Writes Hammond concerning Treaty.
16. Borrows money.
18.-21. Cabinet meeting on Message.
23. Drafts Cabinet Decisions.
Drafts President's Message.
28. Cabinet meeting on Genet.
Dec. 2. Congress assembles.
1. Drafts Cabinet Decisions.
16. Reports to Congress on Commerce.
20. Opinion on Neutral Trade.
30. Makes Supplementary Report on Commerce.
31. Resigns Secretaryship of State.
1794. — Jan. 5. Leaves Philadelphia.
16. Arrives at Monticello.
XX
Itinerary and Chronology
1795-
1796
1794. — Sept. Has attack of rheumatism.
Offered foreign mission.
? Writes Notes on a Constitution.
At Monticello.
Establishes nailery.
Granddaughter Eleanor dies.
Writes "Notes" for Ebeling.
Invents mould-board for plough.
Writes letter to Mazzei.
Executes mortgage to Van Staphorst & Hub-
bard.
Begins remodelling house at Monticello.
Visited by Rochefoucauld-Liancourt.
Elected Vice-President.
Elected President of Philosophical Society.
Refuses to serve on Boundary Commission.
Mazzei Letter printed in Florence.
Mazzei Letter printed in Paris.
Electoral Ballot counted by Congress.
Leaves Monticello.
At Georgetown.
Arrives at Philadelphia.
Calls on Adams.
Sworn in as Vice-President.
Offered French Mission.
Dines with Washington.
Leaves Philadelphia.
Arrives at Monticello.
Leaves Monticello.
Arrives at Philadelphia.
Mazzei Letter printed in America.
Attacked by Luther Martin in Newspapers.
Leaves Philadelphia.
Arrives at Monticello.
Drafts Petition concerning Grand- Juries.
Maria Jefferson marries John Waylies Eppes.
Leaves Monticello.
Visits Madison at Montpelier.
Arrives at Philadelphia.
Dines with Adams.
X. Y. Z. Message.
X. Y. Z. Dispatches transmitted to Congress.
June 27. Leaves Philadelphia.
28. At Baltimore.
July 26?
Dec.
Apr. 24
May 12
June
Nov. 4.
1797— Jan.
1.
25-
Feb. 8.
20.
24.
Mar. 2.
3-
4-
6.
12.
20.
May. 5.
11.
14.
June
July 6.
11.
Aug.
Oct. 13.
Dec. 4.
6.
12.
-Feb. is.
19.
Apr. 3.
1798.-
Itinerary and Chronology xxi
1798. — July 1. At Fredericksburg.
6. Alien Bill passed.
9. At Monticello.
14. Sedition Bill passed.
Oct. Writes Essay on Study of Anglo-Saxon.
Drafts Petition on Juries.
Drafts Kentucky Resolutions.
Nov. 14. Kentucky Legislature adopts resolutions.
Revises Madison's Virginian Resolutions.
Dec. 18. Leaves Monticello.
25. Arrives at Philadelphia.
CORRESPONDENCE
AND
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
1793-1798
VOL. VHI.— I.
CORRESPONDENCE
AND
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
1793-1798
TO THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES
D. S. MSS.
Aug, 22. 1793.
Th. Jefferson has the honor to inclose to the Pres-
ident the letter of the National Assembly to him of
Dec. 22. 92. It's most distinct object seems to have
been to thank the US. for their succours to St. Do-
mingo. It glances blindly however at commercial
arrangements, and on the 19* of Feb. the same as-
sembly passed the decree putting our commerce in
their dominions on the footing of natives & directing
their Executive Council to treat with us on the sub-
ject. On this the following questions arise.
1. Would the President chuse to answer the letter,
acknoleging it's receipt, thanking them in turn for
the favors to our commerce, and promising to consult
the constitutional powers (the Senate) on the subject
of the treaty proposed?
2. Would he rather chuse to make no reply to the
3
4 The Writings of [1793
letter, but that Mr. Morris be instructed to negociate
a renewal of Mr. Genet's powers to treat to his
successor?
3. Or would he chuse that nothing be said on the
subject to any body?
If the President would in his judgment be for a
treaty on the principles of the decree, or any modi-
fication of them, the i? or 2? measure will be to be
adopted.
If he is against a treaty on those principles or any
modification of them, the 3? measure seems to be the
proper one.
3?0 THE U. S. MINISTER TO FRANCE j. mss.
(gouverneur morris)
Philadelphia, August 23, 1793.
Dear Sir, — The letter of the 16th instant, with
its documents accompanying this, will sufficiently
inform you of the transactions, which have taken
place between Mr. Genet, the minister of France,
and the Government here, and of the painful neces-
sity they have brought on, of desiring his recall.
The letter has been prepared, in the view of being
itself, with its documents, laid before the Executive
of the French Government. You will, therefore, be
pleased to lay it before them, doing everything which
can be done on your part, to procure it a friendly
and dispassionate reception and consideration. The
President would indeed think it greatly unfortunate,
were they to take it in any other light ; and, there-
fore, charges you, very particularly, with the case of
presenting this proceeding in the most soothing
1793] Thomas Jefferson 5
view, and as the result of an unavoidable necessity
on his part.
Mr. Genet, soon after his arrival, communicated
the decree of the National Convention of February
19, 1793, authorizing their Executive to propose a
treaty with us on liberal principles, such as might
strengthen the bonds of good will, which unite the
two nations; and informed us in a letter of May 23,
that he was authorized to treat accordingly. The
Senate being then in recess, and not to meet again
till fall, I apprized Mr. Genet that the participation
in matters of treaty, given by the Constitution to that
branch of our Government, would, of course, delay
any definitive answer to his friendly proposition.
As he was sensible of this circumstance, the matter
has been understood to lie over, till the meeting of
Senate. You will be pleased, therefore, to explain
to the Executive of France this delay, which has
prevented, as yet, our formal accession to their
proposition to treat ; to assure them, that the Presi-
dent will meet them, with the most friendly dis-
positions, on the grounds of treaty proposed by the
Nationial Convention, as soon as he can do it in the
forms of the Constitution; and you will, of course,
suggest for this purpose, that the powers of Mr.
Genet be renewed to his successor.
CABINET OPINIONS ON RECALL OF GENET j. mss.
Aug. 23d, 1793.
At a meeting of the Heads of Departments and the
Attorney General at the President's, on the 1st and
6 The Writings of [1793
2d of August, 1793, on a review of the whole of Mr.
Genet's correspondence and conduct, it was unani-
mously agreed, that a letter should be written to the
Minister of the United States at Paris, stating the
same to him, resuming the points of difference which
had arisen between the government of the United
States and Mr. Genet, assigning the reasons for the
opinions of the former, and desiring the recall of the
latter; and that this letter, with those which have
passed between Mr. Genet and the Secretary of
State, and other necessary documents, shall be laid
by Mr. Morris, before the Executive of the French
government.
At a meeting of the same at the President's, Aug-
ust 15th, the rough draft of the said letter, having
been prepared by the Secretary of State, was read
for consideration, and it was agreed that the Secre-
tary of the Treasury should take measures for obtain-
ing a vessel, either by hire or purchase, to be sent
to France express with the dispatches when ready.
At a meeting of the same at the President's, Aug-
ust 20th, said letter was read and corrected by
paragraphs, and finally agreed to.
At a meeting of the same at the President's, Aug-
ust 23d, it was agreed that the proceeding letter
should bear the date of the last document which is
to accompany it, to wit, August 16th; and unan-
imously approved, and to bear date this day.
Sealed and signed this 23d day of August, 1793.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 7
TO JAMES MADISON mad.mss.
Aug. 25. 93-
You will perceive by the enclosed papers that
Genet has thrown down the gauntlet to the President
by the publication of his letter & my answer, and is
himself forcing that appeal to the public, & risking
that disgust, which I had so much wished should
have been avoided. The indications from different
parts of the continent are already sufficient to shew
that the mass of the republican interest has no hesi-
tation to disapprove of this intermeddling by a
foreigner, & the more readily as his object was evi-
dently, contrary to his professions, to force us into
the war. I am not certain whether some of the more
furious republicans may not schismatize with him.
The following arrangements are established.
Sept. 10. the Pr. sets out for Mt. Vernon, & will
be here again the 30th. Oct. 5th or a little sooner I
set out to be absent 6. weeks, by agreement. Con-
sequently I shall be here again about Nov. 17. to
remain to Dec. 31. I break up my house the last of
Septemb. Shall leave my carriage & horses in
Virginia & return in the stage, not to have the
embarrassment of ploughing them through the mud
in January. I shall take private lodgings on my
return. — Billy who is just going on a nautical ex-
pedition to Charlestown, called on me yesterday to
desire I would send you the enclosed account which
he said was necessary for you to debit those for
whom the articles were. Adieu.
8 The Writings of [1793
CABINET OPINION ON PRIVATEERS AND PRIZES w. mss.
Aug. 31, 1793.
At a meeting of the Heads of departments & At-
torney General at the President's on the 31st day of
Aug. 1793.
A letter from Mr. Gore to Mr. Lear, dated Boston
Aug. 24. was read, stating that the Roland, a priva-
teer fitted out at Boston, & furnished with a com-
mission under the government of France, had sent a
prize into that port, which being arrested by the
Marshal of the district by process from a court of
justice, was rescued from his possession by M. du
Plaine Consul of France, with an armed force from
one of the ships of his nation, it is the opinion that
the Attorney of the district be instructed to institute
such prosecution as the laws will authorize against
the said du Plaine ; and to furnish to the government
of the U. S. authentic evidence of the facts before
mentioned, whereon if it shall appear that the rescue
was made by the sd. du Plaine, or his order, it is the
opinion that his Exequetur should be revoked. —
Also that the Attorney of the district be desired to
furnish copies of his applications or other corre-
spondence with the Governor of Massachusetts rela-
tive to the several privateers & prizes which have
been the subjects of his letters to Mr. Lear.
A letter from Mr. Maury Consul for the U. S. at
Liverpool dated July 4. 1793. was read, covering an
inauthenticated copy of certain additional instruc-
tions from the court of St. James's to the com-
manders of their ships of war, dated June 8. 1793.
permitting them to stop the vessels of neutral nations
1793] Thomas Jefferson 9
laden with corn, flour or meal & bound to any port
of France, & to send them into British ports, from
whence they are not to be permitted to proceed to
the port of any country not in amity with Gr. Britain.
Whereupon it is the opinion that Mr. Pinckney be
provisionally instructed to make representations to
the British ministry on the sd. instruction as con-
trary to the rights of neutral nations and to urge a
revocation of the same and full indemnification to
any individuals, citizens of these states, who may
in the mean time suffer loss in consequence of the
sd. instruction. Also that explanations be desired
by Mr. Pinckney of the reasons of the distinction
made in the 2d. Article of the sd. instructions be-
tween the vessels of Denmark & Sweden & those of
the U. S. attempting to enter blockaded ports.
Information having been also received thro' the
public papers of a decree passed by the National
assembly of France revoking the principle of free
ships making free goods & enemy ships enemy goods,
and making it lawful to seize neutral vessels bound
with provisions to another country & to carry them
into the ports of France, there to be landed & paid
for, & also of another decree excepting the vessels of
the U. S. from the operation of the preceding de-
crees, it is the opinion that Mr. Morris be provision-
ally instructed, in case the first mentioned decrees
have passed & not the exceptions, to make repre-
sentations thereon to the French government as
contrary to the treaty existing between the two
countries & the decree relative to provisions contrary
also to the law of nations & to require a revocation
io The Writings of [1793
thereof and full indemnification to any citizen
of these states who may in the mean time have
suffered loss therefrom, and also in case the sd. de-
crees & the exceptions were both passed that then
a like indemnification be made for losses intervening
between the dates of the sd. decrees & exceptions.1
A Letter from the Governor of Georgia of the
13 instant covering the proceedings of a Council
of War relatively to an expedition against certain
towns of the Creek Nation was communicated for
consideration.
It is the opinion that the Governor of Georgia be
informed that the President disapproves the measure
as unauthorised by law as contrary to the present
state of affairs and to the instructions heretofore
given and expects that it will not be proceeded in,
that requiring the previous consideration of Con-
gress it will be submitted to them at their ensuing
session, if circumstances shall not then render it un-
necessary or improper: that the Governor of South
Carolina be also informed that the co-operation de-
sired of him by the Governor of Georgia is not to be
afforded, and that the Agent for procuring supplies
of provisions for the service of the United States in
Georgia be instructed, that no provisions are to be
furnished on their account for the purpose of the
said expedition.
1 This is in the handwriting of Jefferson up to this point, thence to
the end it is in Hamilton's writing. In Hamilton's Works of Hamilton
the whole is claimed to have been drafted by him.
1793] Thomas Jefferson n
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Sep. i, 93.
My last was of the 25th, since that I have received
yours of the 20th, and Col. M's of the 2 1st. Nothing
further has passed with mr. Genet, but one of his
Consuls has committed a pretty serious deed at
Boston, by going with an armed force taken from a
French frigate in the harbor, and rescuing a vessel
out of the hands of the marshal who had arrested her
by process from a court of justice. In another in-
stance he kept off the marshal by an armed force
from serving a process on a vessel. He is ordered
consequently to be arrested himself prosecuted &
punished for the rescue, and his Exequatur will be
revoked. — You will see in the newspapers the attack
made on our commerce by the British king in his
additional instructions of June 8. Tho' we have only
newspaper information of it, provisional instructions
are going to mr. Pinckney to require a revocation of
them and indemnification for all losses which indi-
viduals sustain by them in the meantime. Of the
revocation I have not the least expectation. I shall
therefore be for laying the whole business (respecting
both nations) before Congress. While I think it im-
possible they should not approve of what has been
done disagreeable to the friendly nation, it will be in
their power to soothe them by strong commercial
retaliations against the hostile one. Pinching their
commerce will be just against themselves, advan-
tageous to us, and conciliatory towards our friends of
the hard necessities into which their agent has driven
us. His conduct has given room for the enemies of
12 The Writings of [1793
liberty & of France, to come forward in a stile of
acrimony against that nation which they never would
have dared to have done. The disapprobation of the
agent mingles with the reprehension of his nation &
gives a toleration to that which it never had before.
He has still some defenders in Freneau, & Greenleaf 's
papers, who they are I know not: for even Hutche-
son & Dallas give him up. I enclose you a Boston
paper, which will give you a specimen of what all the
papers are now filled with. You will recognize mr.
A under the signature of Camillus. He writes in
every week's paper now, & generally under different
signatures. This is the first in which he has omitted
some furious incartade against me. Hutcheson says
that Genet has totally overturned the republican
interest in Philadelphia. However, the people going
right themselves if they always see their republican
advocates with them, an accidental meeting with the
monocrats will not be a coalescence. — You will see
much said & again said, about G.'s threat to appeal
to the people. I can assure you it is a fact. — \ re-
ceived yesterday the MS. you mentioned to me from
F n. I have only got a dozen pages into it, and
never was more charmed with anything. Profound
arguments presented in the simplest point of view
entitle him really to his antient signature. In the
papers received from you I have seen nothing which
ought to be changed, except a part of one sentence
not necessary for it's object, & running foul of some-
thing of which you were not apprized. A malignant
fever has been generated in the filth of Water street
which gives great alarm. About 70. people had died
1793] Thomas Jefferson 13
of it two days ago, & as many more were ill of it. It
has now got into most parts of the city & is consider-
ably infectious. At first 3. out of 4. died, now about
1. out of 3. It comes on with a pain in the head, sick
stomach, then a little chill, fever, black vomiting and
stools, and death from the 2d to the 8th day. Every-
body who can, is flying from the city, and the panic
of the country people is likely to add famine to the
disease. Tho' becoming less mortal, it is still spread-
ing, and the heat of the weather is very unpropitious.
I have withdrawn my daughter from the city, but am
obliged to go to it every day myself. — My threshing
machine is arrived at New York. Mr. Pinckney
writes me word that the original from which this
model is copied threshes 150. bushels of wheat in 8.
hours, with 6. horses and 5. men. It may be moved
either by water or horses. Fortunately the work-
man who made it (a millwright) is come in the same
vessel to settle in America. I have written to per-
suade him to go on immediately to Richmd, offering
him the use of my model to exhibit, and to give him
letters to get him into immediate employ in making
them. I expect an answer before I write to you
again. I understand that the model is made mostly
in brass, & in the simple form in which it was first
ordered, to be worked by horses. It was to have
cost 5. guineas, but Mr. Pinckney having afterwards
directed it to be accommodated to water movement
also, it has made it more complicated, and costs 13.
guineas. It will thresh any grain from the Windsor
bean down to the smallest. Adieu.
P.S. The market was the last winter from 25. to
H The Writings of [1793
50 per cent higher than it was in the winter preced-
ing. It is now got to from 50. to 100. per cent
higher. I think by the winter it will be generally 100
per cent on the prices of 1790. European goods are
also much risen. Of course you must expect a rise
in the boarding houses compounded of these two. In
the mean time the produce of the farmer, say wheat,
rice, tobacco has not risen a copper. The redun-
dancy of paper then in the cities is palpably a tax
on the distant farmer.
P.S. Sep. 2. I have made great progress into the
Ms. and still with the same pleasure. I have no
doubt it must produce great effect. But that this
may be the greatest possible, it's coming out should
be timed to the best advantage. It should come
out just so many days before the meeting of Congress
as will prevent suspicions of it's coming with them,
yet so as to be a new thing when they arrive, ready
to get into their hands while yet unoccupied, before
the panic of the culprit shall be over, or any measures
for defeating it's first effect may be taken. I will
direct it to appear a fortnight before their meeting
unless you order otherwise. It might as well be
thrown into a churchyard, as come out now.
TO THE U. S. ATTORNEY FOR MASSACHUSETTS j.mss.
(CHRISTOPHER GORE)
Philadelphia, Sepr 2, 1793.
Sir, — The President is informed through the chan-
nel of a letter from yourself to mr. Lear, that M. du
Plaine, Consul of France at Boston, has lately, with
1793] Thomas Jefferson 15
an armed force, seized & rescued a vessel from the
officer of a court of justice, by process from which she
was under arrest in his custody: and that he has in
like manner, with an armed force, opposed & pre-
vented the officer, charged with process from a court
against another vessel, from serving that process.
This daring violation of the laws requires the more
attention, as it is by a foreigner clothed with a public
character, arrogating an unfounded right to Admir-
alty jurisdiction, and probably meaning to assert it
by this act of force. You know that by the law of
nations, Consuls are not diplomatic characters, and
have no immunities whatever against the laws of the
land. To put this altogether out of dispute, a clause
was inserted in our Consular Convention with France,
making them amenable to the laws of the land, as
other inhabitants. Consequently, M. du Plaine is
liable to arrest, imprisonment, & other punishments,
even capital, as other foreign subjects resident here.
The President therefore desires that you will im-
mediately institute such a prosecution against him,
as the laws will warrant. If there be any doubt as
to the character of his offence, whether of a higher
or lower grade, it will be best to prosecute for that
which will admit the least doubt, because an ac-
quittal, though it might be founded merely on the
opinion that the grade of offence with which he is
charged is higher than his act would support, yet it
might be construed by the uninformed to be a
judiciary decision against his amenability to the law,
or perhaps in favor of the jurisdiction these consuls
are assuming. The process therefore, should be of
16 The Writings of [1793
the surest kind, and all the proceedings well grounded.
In particular, if an arrest, as is probable, be the first
step, it should be so managed as to leave room
neither for escape nor rescue. It should be attended
with every mark of respect, consistent with safe cus-
tody, and his confinement as mild & comfortable
also, as that would permit. These are the dis-
tinctions to which a Consul is entitled, that is to say, 1
of a particular decorum of deportment towards him,
indicative of respect to the sovereign whose officer
he is.
The President also desires you will immediately
obtain the best evidence it shall be in your power to
procure, under oath or affirmation, of the transaction
stated in your letter, and that in this, you consider
yourself as acting as much on behalf of M. du Plaine
as the public, the candid truth of the case being ex-
actly that which is desired, as it may be the founda-
tion of an act, the justice of which should be beyond
all question. This evidence I shall be glad to receive
within as few days, or even hours, of delay as possible.
I am also instructed to ask the favor of you to
communicate copies of any memorials, representa-
tions or other written correspondence which may
have passed between the Governor & yourself, with
respect to the privateers & prizes which have been
the subject of your letters to mr. Lear.
TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH j. mss.
Philadelphia, September 2, 1793.
Dear Sir, — I wrote to you on the 26th ult., since
which I have received yours of the 14th ult. Maria
1793] Thomas Jefferson 17
is well, and is with me on the Schuylkill. A malig-
nant fever has been generated in the filth of the docks
of Philadelphia which has given great alarm. It is
considerably infectious. At 1st 3. out of 4. died, at
present not more than one out of three. Several
days ago (my latest information), about 70. had died
and about that number were ill of it. It is called
commonly a yellow fever, but by the physicians
Typhus gravior. Begins with a pain in the head,
sickness in the stomach, with a slight rigor, fever,
black vomitings and faeces, and death from the 2nd
to the 8th day. At first it was confined to Water
street, but is now in many parts of the city. It is
still spreading, tho' become less mortal. Everybody,
who can, is flying from the city, and the country
people, being afraid to come to the market, there is
fear of a want of supplies. Tho' there is some degree
of danger, yet, as is usual, there is much more alarm
than danger; and knowing it to be usual also to
magnify these accounts in proportion to distance, I
have given you the particulars, that you may know
exactly, what the case is. — My threshing machine
is arrived at New York, and will be here this week.
Mr. Pinckney writes me that the model from which
my model is taken, gets out 150. bushels of wheat in
8. hours with 6. horses and 5. men. It will thresh
any grain from the Windsor-bean to the milled, and
may be moved by horses or water: It happens that
the workman who made it (a millwright) is come
over in the same vessel. I have written to advise
him to go to Virginia, and commence building these
machines, offering him the use of my model to ex-
1 8 The Writings of [1793
hibit in Richmond if he chuses, in order to get him-
self into work. — Your letter of the 14th does not
mention the receipt of any of mine on the subject of
sending on the horse. Still however presuming
some of them will have got to hand [illegible] Tarquin
so that he will arrive at Georgetown the day after
to-morrow. He has orders to wait there a week if
necessary. — The character you give Giovannini is a
just one. He is sober, industrious and honest. He
lived with me as a gardener some time before I went
to Europe, however I shall find it necessary to have
a gardener constantly at his business, and think to
teach a negro at once. Our last accounts from
France are of a very mixed complexion. The com-
bined armies had made no progress, the insurgents
of Brittany had obtained a signal victory, and had
afterwards been more signally defeated, but not sup-
pressed.— My love to my dear Martha and am dear
Sir yours affectionately and constantly.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER1 j. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
Philadelphia, September 5, 1793.
Sir, — I am honored with yours of August 30th.
Mine of the 7th of that month assured you that
1 Sent to the President with the following undated letter:
"Th: Jefferson has the honor to enclose to the President his letter of
Aug. 7. to mr. Hammond, which was confined to the special cases of
the three vessels therein named. The object of mr. Hammond's letter
of Aug. 30. is to obtain from the government a declaration that the
principle of those special cases shall be extended to all captures made
within our waters or by the proscribed vessels, whether before or after
the 7th of Aug. and to establish, as a general rule, restitution, or com-
1793] Thomas Jefferson 19
measures were taking for excluding, from all further
asylum in our ports, vessels armed in them to cruise
on nations with which we are at peace, and for the
restoration of the prizes, the Lovely Lass, Prince
William Henry, and the Jane of Dublin, and that
should the measures for restitution fail in their ef-
fect, the President considers it as incumbent on the
United States, to make compensation for the vessels.
We are bound by our treaties with three of the
belligerent nations, by all the means in our power to
protect and defend their vessels and effects in our
ports or waters, or in the Seas near our shores, and
to recover and restore the same to the right owners,
when taken from them. If all the means in our
power are used, and fail in their effect, we are not
bound, by our treaties with those nations, to make
compensation.
Though we have no similar Treaty with Great
Britain, it was the opinion of the President that we
should use towards that nation the same rule which,
under this article, was to govern us with the other
nations ; and even to extend it to captures made on
the high Seas and brought into our ports, if done by
vessels which had been armed within them.
Having, for particular reasons, forborne to use all
the measures in our power for the restitution of the
pensation. The forming a general rule requires great caution. Th: J
in preparing a draught of an answer to mr. Hammond, has endeavoured
to establish what he thinks the true grounds on which a general rule
should be formed. But, if the President approves of it, he would wish
to send the draught to the Secretaries of the Treasury and war, and
Atty Genl. for their consideration and amendments, or to meet the
subject, when an answer to the latter part of the letter might also be
agreed on."
20 The Writings of [1793
three vessels mentioned in my letter of August 7th,
the President thought it incumbent on the United
States to make compensation for them ; and though
nothing was said in that letter of other vessels taken
under like circumstances, and brought in after the
5th of June and before the date of that letter, yet, where
the same forbearance had taken place, it was and is
his opinion that compensation would be equally due.
As to prizes made under the same circumstances,
and brought in after the date of that letter, the President
determined that all the means in our power should
be used for their restitution. If these fail us, as we
should not be bound by our treaties to make com-
pensation to the other powers, in the analogous
case, he did not mean to give an opinion that it ought
to be done to Great Britain. But still, if any cases
shall arise subsequent to that date, the circumstances
of which shall place them on similar ground with
those before it, the President would think compensa-
tion equally incumbent on the United States.
Instructions are given to the Governors of the
different States, to use all the means in their power
for restoring prizes of this last description, found
within their ports. Though they will, of course take
measures to be informed of them, and the General
Government has given them the aid of the Custom
House officers for this purpose, yet you will be
sensible of the importance of multiplying the chan-
nels of their information as far as shall depend on
yourself or any person under your direction, in order
that the governors may use the means in their
power, for making restitution. Without knowledge
1793] Thomas Jefferson 21
of the capture, they cannot restore it. It will always
be best to give the notice to them directly: but any
information which you shall be pleased to send to
me also, at any time, shall be forwarded to them as
quickly as the distance will permit.
Hence you will perceive, Sir, that the President
contemplates restitution or compensation, in the
cases before the seventh of august, and, after that
date, restitution, if it can be effected by any means
in our power: and that it will be important that you
should substantiate the fact that such prizes are in
our ports or waters.
Your list of the privateers illicitly armed in our
ports, is, I believe, correct.
With respect to losses by detention, waste, spolia-
tion, sustained by vessels taken as before mentioned
between the dates of June 5 and Aug 7, it is pro-
posed, as a provisional measure, that the collector of
the customs of the district, and the British consul, or
any other person you please, shall appoint persons
to establish the value of the vessel and cargo, at the
times of her capture and of her arrival in the port
into which she is brought, according to their value
in that port. If this shall be agreeable to you, and
you will be pleased to signify it to me, with the names
of the prizes understood to be of this description, in-
structions will be given accordingly, to the collectors
of the customs where the respective vessels are.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir,
your most obedient, and most humble servant.
22 The Writings of [1793
CABINET? DECISIONS w. mss.
Sept. 7. 1793.
At a meeting at the President's Sep. 7. 1793.
A circular letter from the Secretary of state to the
Consuls & Vice Consuls of France, informing them
that their Exequaturs will be revoked if they repeat
certain proceedings, also one to Mr. Genet covering
a copy of the letter of the Secretary of State to Mr.
Gouverneur Morris desiring the recall of Mr. Genet,
were read & approved.
A letter from the Govern? of Georgia to the Sec?' of
state dated Aug. 21. 1793. was read communicating
the demand by the Vice Consul of France in Georgia
of certain individuals under prosecution in a court of
justice. It is the opinion that he be answered that
the law must take it's course.
A memorial from Mr. Hammond dated Sep. 6.
complaining of the capture of the British brig the
William Tell by the French brig le Cerf, within the
limits of the protection of the U. S. and the refusal
of the French Minister & Consul to have the prize
delivered into the hands of a Marshal charged with
process from a court to arrest her, was read. It is
the opinion that a letter be written to Mr. Genet
calling for evidence in the cases of the vessels here-
tofore reclaimed & not yet finally decided on, & which
were permitted to remain in the hands of the French
Consuls in the mean time, informing him that the
letter of June 25. was not intended to authorize op-
position to the officers, or orders, of courts respecting
vessels taken within the limits of our protection,
that therefore the brig William Tell ought to be de-
1793] Thomas Jefferson 23
livered into the hands of the officer charged to arrest
her, and that in the event of the court's deciding that
it has no jurisdiction of the case, as in that of the
ship William whereon the letter of June 25. was
written, she may again be replaced in the Consul's
hands till the Executive shall have decided thereon.
A letter from L* Gov? Wood dated Aug. 29. stating
that the French vessel the Orion was arrived in Nor-
folk & had brought in the Sans Culottes as a prize,
and doubting whether from the particular circum-
stances of this prize she came within the general
orders heretofore given. It is the opinion that the
situation of the Sans Culottes is the same in respect
to England & France as any other French vessel not
fitted in our ports, and therefore that the Orion is
within the 17* article of our treaty, & the rules
heretofore given on that subject.
A memorial from Mr. Hammond dated Sep. 4.
was read complaining of the long stay of the French
fleet in New York, that a regular succession of them
appears to be appointed for cruizing on the coasts,
that a jurisdiction over prizes is exercised by the
French Consuls, and desiring to be informed whether
it be the intention of the Executve to permit this
indefinitely. It is the opinion that Mr. Hammond
be informed that effectual measures are taken to put
an end to the exercise of admiralty jurisdiction by
the French Consuls, that the French have by treaty
a right to come into our ports with their prizes, ex-
clusively, that they have also a right by treaty to
enter our ports for any urgent necessity, that this
right is exclusive as to privateers but not so as to
24 The Writings of [1793
public vessels of war and has therefore not been
denied to British ships of war nor has the Executive
as yet prescribed to either any limits to the time
they may remain in their ports.
A letter from Mr. Bordman at Boston dated
Sep. 4. was read complaining of the capture of the
schooner Flora an American vessel by the Roland,
one of the illicit privateers. It is the opn. he must
seek redress in the courts of law.
The draught of a letter to Mr. Pinckney on the
additional instructions of the court of St. James's
dated June 8. 93. was read and approved.
A Question was proposed by the President Whether
we ought not to enquire from Mr. Hammond if he is
prepared to give an answer on the subject of the in-
execution of the treaty? It is the opinion that it
will be better to await the arrival of the next packet,
then to make the application to Mr. Hammond, and
if he be not prepared to answer, that Mr. Pinckney
be instructed to remonstrate on the subject to the
British court.
Th: Jefferson. H. Knox. Edm. Randolph.
TO THE U. S. MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN j. mss.
(THOMAS PINCKNEY)
Philadelphia, Sept. 7, 1793.
Sir, — We have received, through a channel which
cannot be considered as authentic, the copy of a
paper styled "Additional instructions to the com-
manders of his Majesty's ships of war and priva-
teers," &c. dated at St. James's, June 8, 1793. If
1793] Thomas Jefferson 25
this paper be authentic, I have little doubt but that
you have taken measures to forward it to me. But
as your communications of it may miscarry, and
time, in the meanwhile, be lost, it has been thought
better that it should be supposed authentic; that,
on that supposition, I should notice to you its very
exceptionable nature, and the necessity of obtaining
explanations on the subject from the British Govern-
ment ; desiring, at the same time, that you will con-
sider this letter as provisionally written only, and as
if never written, in the event that the paper, which
is the occasion of it, be not genuine.
The first article of it permits all vessels, laden
wholly or in part with corn, flour or meal, bound to
any port in France, to be stopped, and sent into any
British port, to be purchased by that Government,
or to be released only on the condition of security
given by the master, that he will proceed to dispose
of his cargo in the ports of some country in amity
with his Majesty.
This article is so manifestly contrary to the law
of nations, that nothing more would seem necessary,
than to observe that it is so. Reason and usage have
established, that when two nations go to war, those
who choose to live in peace retain their natural right
to pursue their agriculture, manufactures, and other
ordinary vocations; to carry the produce of their
industry for exchange to all nations, belligerent or
neutral, as usual; to go and come freely, without
injury or molestation; and, in short, that the war
among others shall be, for them, as if it did not exist.
One restriction on those mutual rights has been
26 The Writings of [1793
submitted to by nations at peace; that is to say,
that of not furnishing to either party implements
merely of war, for the annoyance of the other, or
anything whatever to a place blockaded by its
enemy. What these implements of war are, has
been so often agreed, and is so well understood, as
to leave little question about them at this day.
There does not exist, perhaps, a nation in our com-
mon hemisphere which has not made a particular
enumeration of them, in some or all of their treaties,
under the name of contraband. It suffices for the
present occasion to say, that corn, flour, and meal,
are not of the class of contraband, and consequently
remain articles of free commerce. A culture, which,
like that of the soil, gives employment to such a pro-
portion of mankind, could never be suspended by
the whole earth, or interrupted for them, whenever
any two nations should think proper to go to war.
The state of war, then, existing between Great
Britain and France, furnishes no legitimate right
either to interrupt the agriculture of the United
States, or the peaceable exchange of its produce with
all nations; and consequently the assumption of it
will be as lawful hereafter as now, in peace as in war.
No ground acknowledged by the common reason of
mankind, authorizes this act now, and unacknow-
ledged ground may be taken at any time and all
times. We see, then, a practice begun, to which no
time, no circumstances, prescribe any limits, and
which strikes at the root of our agriculture, that
branch of industry which gives food, clothing, and
comfort, to the great mass of the inhabitants of
1793] Thomas Jefferson 27
these States. If any nation whatever has a right
to shut up, to our produce, all the ports of the earth,
except her own, and those of her friends, she may-
shut up these also, and so confine us within our own
limits. No nation can subscribe to such pretensions ;
no nation can agree at the mere will or interest of
another, to have its peaceable industry suspended,
and its citizens reduced to idleness and want. The
loss of our produce, destined for foreign markets,
or that loss which would result from an arbitrary
restraint of our markets, is a tax too serious for us
to acquiesce in. It is not enough for a nation to
say, we and our friends will buy your produce. We
have a right to answer, that it suits us better to sell
to their enemies as well as their friends. Our ships
do not go to France to return empty; they go to
exchange the surplus of our produce, which we can
spare, for surpluses of other kinds, which they can
spare, and we want; which they can furnish on
better terms, and more to our mind, than Great
Britain or her friends. We have a right to judge
for ourselves what market best suits us, and they
have none to forbid to us the enjoyment of the
necessaries and comforts which we may obtain from
any other independent country.
This act, too, tends directly to draw us from that
state of peace, in which we are wishing to remain.
It is an essential character of neutrality, to furnish
no aids (not stipulated by treaty) to one party,
which we are not equally ready to furnish to the
other. If we permit corn to be sent to Great Britain
and her friends, we are equally bound to permit
28 The Writings of [1793
it to France. To restrain it, would be a partiality
which might lead to war with France, and, between
restraining it ourselves, and permitting her enemies
to restrain it unrightfully, is no difference. She would
consider this as a mere pretext, of which she would
not be the dupe ; and on what honorable ground could
we otherwise explain it? Thus we should see our-
selves plunged, by this unauthorized act of Great
Britain into a war with which we meddle not, and
which we wish to avoid, if justice to all parties, and
from all parties, will enable us to avoid it. In the
case where we found ourselves obliged, by treaty, to
withhold from the enemies of France the right of
arming in our ports, we thought ourselves in justice
bound to withhold the same right from France also,
and we did it. Were we to withhold from her sup-
plies of provisions, we should, in like manner, be
bound to withhold them from her enemies also, and
thus shut to ourselves all the ports of Europe, where
corn is in demand, or make ourselves parties in the
war. This is a dilemma, which Great Britain has
no right to force upon us, and for which no pretext
can be found in any part of our conduct. She may,
indeed, feel the desire of starving an enemy nation ;
but she can have no right of doing it at our loss, nor
of making us the instrument of it.
The President, therefore, desires that you will
immediately enter into explanations on this subject
with the British Government. Lay before them,
in friendly and temperate terms, all the demon-
strations of the injury done us by this act, and
endeavor to obtain a revocation of it, and full in-
1793] Thomas Jefferson 29
demnification to any citizens of these States, who
may have suffered by it in the mean time. Accom-
pany your representations with every assurance of
our earnest desire to live on terms of the best friend-
ship and harmony with them, and to found our
expectation of justice on their part on a strict
observance of it on ours.
It is with concern, however, I am obliged to ob-
serve, that so marked has been the inattention of
the British court to every application which has
been made to them on any subject, by this Govern-
ment, (not a single answer, I believe, having ever
been given to one of them, except in the act of
exchanging a minister) that it may become unavoid-
able, in certain cases, where an answer of some sort
is necessary, to consider their silence as an answer;
perhaps this is their intention. Still, however, de-
sirous of furnishing no color of offence, we do not
wish you to name to them any terms for giving an
answer. Urge one as much as you can without
commitment, and on the first day of December be
so good as so give us information of the state in
which this matter is, that it may be received during
the session of Congress.
The second article of the same instruction allows
the armed vessels of Great Britain to seize, for con-
demnation, all vessels on their first attempt to enter
a blockaded port, except those of Denmark and
Sweden, which are to be prevented only, but not
seized on their first attempt. Of the nations in-
habiting the shores of the Atlantic ocean, and prac-
tising its navigation, Denmark, Sweden, and the
30 The Writings of [1793
United States, alone are neutral. To declare, then,
all neutral vessels (for as to the vessels of the belliger-
ent Powers, no order was necessary) to be legal
prize, which shall attempt to enter a blockaded port,
except those of Denmark and Sweden, is exactly to
declare that the vessels of the United States shall be
lawful prize, and those of Denmark and Sweden
shall not. It is of little consequence that the article
has avoided naming the United States, since it has
a description applicable to them, and to them alone,
while it exempts the others from its operation, by
name. You will be pleased to ask an explanation
of this distinction, and you will be able to say in
discussing its justice, that in every circumstance we
treat Great Britain on the footing of the most
favored nation, where our treaties do not preclude
us, and that even these are just as favorable to her
as hers are to us. Possible she may be bound by
treaty to admit this exception in favor of Denmark
and Sweden, but she cannot be bound by treaty to
withhold it from us; and if it be withheld merely
because not established with us by treaty, what
might not we, on the same ground, have withheld
from Great Britain, during the short course of the
present war, as well as the peace which has preceded
it.
Whether these explanations with the British
Government shall be verbal or in writing, is left to
yourself. Verbal communications are very insecure,
for it is only necessary to deny them or to change
their terms, in order to do away their effect at any
time; those in writing have many and obvious
1793] Thomas Jefferson 31
advantages, and ought to be preferred, unless there
be obstacles of which we are unapprised.
CIRCULAR TO THE FRENCH CONSULS j. mss.
Philadelphia, September j, 1793.
Sir, — Finding by the protests of several of the
consuls of France, by their advertisements in the
public papers, and other proceedings, and by other
sufficient testimony, that they claim, and are ex-
ercising, within the United States, a general admir-
alty jurisdiction, and in particular, assume to try
the validity of prizes, and to give sentence thereon,
as judges of admiralty; and moreover, that they
are undertaking to give commissions within the
United States, and to enlist, or encourage the en-
listment of men, natives or inhabitants of these
States, to commit hostilities on nations with whom
the United States are at peace, in direct opposition
to the laws of the land: I have it in charge, from the
President of the United States, to give notice to all
the consuls and vice consuls of France, in the United
States, as I hereby do to you, that if any of them
shall commit any of the acts before mentioned, or
assume any jurisdiction not expressly given by the
convention between France and the United States,
the exequatur of the consul so transgressing will be
immediately revoked, and his person be submitted
to such prosecutions and punishments as the laws
may prescribe for the case.
32 The Writings of [1793
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Sept. 8, 1793.
I have received and am charmed with No. V. I
thought the introduction an useful lesson to others
as I found it to myself, for I had really, by constantly
hearing the sound, been led into a pretty free use of
it myself. I struck out the passage you desired in
the last page. I struck out also the words "and
neutrality" in the following passage "taking the pro-
clamation in its proper sense as reminding all con-
cerned that as the U S were at peace, the laws of
peace and neutrality were still obligatory," also a
paragraph of 4. lines that a minister from France was
hourly expected when the proclamation issued.
There was one here at the time, — the other did not
arrive in 6. weeks. To have waited that time should
have given full course to the evil.
I went through Franklin with enchantment; &
what peculiarly pleased me was that there was not a
sentence from which it could be conjectured whether
it came from N. S, E. or west. At last a whole page
of Virginia flashed on me. It was in the section on
the state of parties, and was an apology for the con-
tinuance of slavery among us. However this cir-
cumstance may be justly palliated, it had nothing to
do with the state of parties, with the bank, encum-
bered a good cause with a questionable argument;
many readers who would have gone heart & hand
with the author so far would have flown off in a
tangent from that paragraph. I struck it out.
Justify this if you please to those concerned, and if
it cannot be done, say so, & it may still be re-estab-
1793I Thomas Jefferson 33
lished. I mentioned to you in my last that a Fr.
Consul at Boston had rescued a vessel out of the
hands of a Marshal by military force. Genet has
at New York forbidden a marshal to arrest a vessel,
and given orders to the French squadron to protect
her by force. Was there ever an instance before
of a diplomatic man overawing & obstructing the
course of the law in a country by an armed force?
The yellow fever increases. The week before last
about 3. a day died. This last week about 1 1 . a day
have died; consequently, from known data about 33.
a day are taken, and there are about 330. patients
under it. They are much scattered through the
town, and it is the opinion of the physicians that
there is no possibility of stopping it. They agree
that it is a nondescript disease, and no two agree in
any one part of their process of cure. The Presidt
goes off the day after tomorrow, as he had always
intended. Knox then takes flight. Hamilton is ill
of the fever, as is said. He had two physicians out
at his house the night before last. His family think
him in danger, & he puts himself so by his excessive
alarm. He had been miserable several days before
from a firm persuasion he should catch it. A man
as timid as he is on the water, as timid on horseback,
as timid in sickness, would be a phenomenon if his
courage of which he has the reputation in military
occasions were genuine. His friends, who have not
seen him, suspect it is only an autumnal fever he has.
I would really go away, because I think there is
rational danger, but that I had before announced
that I should not go till the beginning of October, &
vol. mi. — 3.
34 The Writings of [1793
I do not like to exhibit the appearance of panic.
Besides that I think there might serious ills proceed
from there being not a single member of the admin-
istration in place. Poor Hutcheson dined with me
on Friday was sennight, was taken that night on his
return home, & died the day before yesterday. It
is difficult to say whether the republican interest has
suffered more by his death or Genet's extravagance.
I sometimes cannot help seriously believing the latter
to be a Dumourier, endeavouring to draw us into the
war against France as Dumourier, while a minister,
drew on her the war of the empire. — The Indians
have refused to meet our commissioners unless they
would make the Ohio a boundary by preliminary
condn. Consequently they are on their return & we
may suppose Wayne in movement. — Since my last
which was of the 1st your's of the 2 2d Aug. & 2d.
Sep. are received. Adieu.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Philadelphia, September 9, 1793.
Sir, — In my letter of June 25th, on the subject of
the ship William, and generally of vessels suggested
to be taken within the limits of the protection of the
United States, by the armed vessels of your nation,
I undertook to assure you, it would be more agreeable
to the President, that such vessels should be de-
tained, under the orders of yourself, or the consuls
of France, than by a military guard, until the
Government of the United States should be able to
i?93l Thomas Jefferson 35
inquire into and decide on the fact. In two separate
letters, of the 29th of the same month, I had the
honor to inform you of the claims, lodged with the
Executive, for the same ship William and the brig
Fanny; to enclose you the evidence on which they
were founded, and to desire that, if you found it
just, you would order the vessels to be delivered to
the owners ; or if overweighed, in your judgment, by
any contradictory evidence which you might have
or acquire, you would do me the favor to communi-
cate that evidence, and that the consuls of France
might retain the vessels in their custody, in the
meantime, until the Executive of the United States
should consider and decide finally on the subject.
When that mode of proceeding was consented to
for your satisfaction, it was by no means imagined
it would have occasioned such delays of justice to
the individuals interested. The President is still
without information, either that the vessels are re-
stored, or that you have any evidence to offer as to
the place of capture. I am, therefore, sir, to repeat
the request of early information on the subject, in
order, that, if any injury has been done those inter-
ested, it may be no longer aggravated by delay.
The intention of the letter of June 25th having
been to permit such vessels to remain in the custody
of the consuls, instead of that of a military guard,
(which in the case of the ship William, appeared to
have been disagreeable to you) the indulgence was
of course, to be understood as going only to cases
where the Executive might take or keep possession
with a military guard, and not to interfere with the
36 The Writings of [1793
authority of the courts of justice, in any case wherein
they should undertake to act. My letter of June
29th, accordingly, in the same case of the ship
William, informed you, that no power in this country
could take a vessel out of the custody of the courts,
and that it was only because they decided not to
take cognizance of that case, that it resulted to the
Executive to interfere in it.
Consequently, this alone put it in their power to
leave the vessel in the hands of the consul. The
courts of justice exercise the sovereignty of this
country, in judiciary matters, are supreme in these,
and liable neither to control nor opposition from any
other branch of the government. We learn, how-
ever, from the enclosed paper, that the consul of
New York, in the first instance, and yourself in a
subsequent one, forbade an officer of justice to serve
the process with which he was charged from his
court, on the British brig William Tell, taken by a
French armed vessel, within a mile of our shores, as
has been deposed on oath and brought into New
York, and that you had even given orders to the
French squadron there to protect the vessel against
any person who should attempt to take her from
their custody. If this opposition were founded, as
is there suggested, on the indulgence of the letters
before cited, it was extending that to a case not
within their purview; and even had it been precisely
the case to which they were to be applied, is it
possible to imagine you might assert it, within the
body of the country, by force of arms.
I forbear to make the observations which such a
1793] Thomas Jefferson 37
measure must suggest, and cannot but believe, that
a moment's reflection will evince to you the depth
of the error committed in this opposition to an
officer of justice, and in the means proposed to be
resorted to in support of it.
I am therefore charged to declare to you ex-
pressly, that the President expects and requires,
that the officer of justice be not obstructed, in freely
and peaceably serving the process of his court ; and
that, in the mean time, the vessel and her cargo
be not suffered to depart, till the judiciary, if it
will undertake it, or himself, if not, shall decide
whether the seizure has been within the limits of
our protection.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER * J. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
Philadelphia September 9, 1793.
Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your two memorials, of the fourth and sixth in-
stant, which have been duly laid before the President
of the United States.
You cannot be uninformed of the circumstances
which have occasioned the French squadron, now
in New York, to seek asylum in the ports of the
United States. Driven from those where they were
on duty, by the superiority of the adverse party, in
the civil war which has so unhappily afflicted the
1 A letter of the same tenor, but omitting the last paragraph, was
sent to the Dutch Minister.
38 The Writings of [1793
colonies of France, filled with the wretched fugitives,
from the same scenes of distress and desolation,
without water or provisions for the shortest voyage,
their vessels scarcely in a condition to keep the sea
at all, they were forced to seek the nearest ports in
which they could be received, and supplied with
necessaries. That they have ever been out again
to cruise, is a fact we have never heard, and which
we believe to be impossible, from the information re-
ceived of their wants, and other impediments to
active service. This case has been noted specially,
to show that no inconvenience could have been pro-
duced to the trade of the other belligerent Powers,
by the presence of this fleet in our harbors. I shall
now proceed to more general ground.
France, England, and all other nations, have a
right to cruise on our coasts — a right, not derived
from our permission, but from the law of nature. To
render this more advantageous, France has secured
to herself, by treaty with us, (as she has done also,
by a treaty with Great Britain, in the event of a war
with us, or any other nation,) two special rights:
1st. Admission for her prizes and privateers into our
ports. This by the seventeenth and twenty-second
articles, is secured to her exclusively of her enemies,
as is done for her in the like case by Great Britain,
were her present war with us, instead of Great
Britain. 2d. Admission for her public vessels of war
into our ports, in cases of stress of weather, pirates,
enemies, or other urgent necessity, to refresh, victual,
repair, &c. This is not exclusive: as we are bound
by treaty to receive the public armed vessels of
1793] Thomas Jefferson 39
France, and we are not bound to exclude those of
her enemies, the Executive had never denied the
same right of asylum in our ports, to the public
armed vessels of your nation. They, as well as the
French, are free to come into them, in all cases of
weather, pirates, enemies, or other urgent necessity,
and to refresh, victual, repair, &c. And so many
are these urgent necessities, to vessels far from their
own ports, that we have thought inquiries into the
nature as well as the degree of their necessities which
drove them hither, as endless as they would be fruit-
less; and, therefore, have not made them. And the
rather because there is a third right, secured to
neither by treaty, but due to both, on the principles
of hospitality between friendly nations — that of
coming into our ports, not under the pressure of
urgent necessity, but whenever their comfort or con-
venience induced them. On this ground, also, the
two nations are on a footing.
As it has never been conceived, that either would
detain their ships of war in our ports, when they were
in a condition for action, we have never conceived it
necessary to prescribe any limits to the time of their
stay. Nor can it be viewed as an injury to either
party, to let their enemies lie idle in our ports from
year's end to year's end, if they choose it. Thus,
then the public ships of war of both nations enjoy
a perfect equality in our ports : 1st. In cases of urgent
necessity; 2d, in cases of comfort or convenience;
and, 3d, in the time they choose to continue. And
all a friendly Power can ask from another is, to ex-
tend to her the same indulgence which she extends
4o The Writings of [1793
to other friendly Powers. And though the admis-
sion of the prizes and privateers of France is exclu-
sive, yet it is the effect of treaty, made long ago for
valuable considerations, not with a view to the
present circumstances, nor against any nation in
particular, but all in general, and may, therefore, be
faithfully observed, without offence to any; and we
mean faithfully to observe it. The same exclusive
article has been stipulated, as was before observed,
by Great Britain, in her treaty with France; and,
indeed, is to be found in the treaties between most
nations.
With respect to the usurpation of admiralty juris-
diction by the consuls of France, within these States,
the honor and right of the States themselves were
sufficient motives for the Executive to take measures
to prevent its continuance, as soon as they were ap-
prized of it. They have been led, by particular con-
siderations, to await the effect of these measures,
believing they would be sufficient; but finding, at
length, they were not, such others have been lately
taken, as can no longer fail to suppress this irregu-
larity completely.
The President is duly sensible of the character of
the act of opposition made to the service of legal
process on the brig William Tell; and he presumes,
the representations made on that subject to the
minister of France, will have the effect of opening a
free access to the officer of justice, when he shall
again present himself with the precept of his court.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 41
TO ST. GEORGE TUCKER j. mss.
Philadelphia, September 10, 1793.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of June 14 came to hand
some time ago, and nothing but a load of business
has prevented my sooner acknoleging it. No per-
son on earth heard with more sincere regret the tales
which were the subject of it, nobody lamented more
the torture thro' which their victim must have
passed. For myself, when placed under the necessity
of deciding in a case where on the one hand is a
young and worthy person, all the circumstances of
whose education and position in life pronounce her
virtuous and innocent, and on the other the prone-
ness of the world to sow and spread slander, there
is no hesitation in my mind. I needed no evidence
therefore on this question, and could at any time
have conscientiously appeared as one of her com-
purgators,— what an ocean is life! And how our
barks get separated in beating through it! One of
the greatest comforts of the retirement to which I
shall soon withdraw will be its rejoining me to my
earliest and best friends, and acquaintance. I shall
hope to be in your way in some of your tacks, and to
be able to assure you personally of the sincere re-
spect and esteem with which I am, dear sir, your
friend and servant.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Philadelphia, September 12, 1793.
Sir, — I have the honor of your letter of the 6th
inst. and can assure you with real truth of the readi-
42 The Writings of [1793
ness and zeal with which the Executive will concur
in preventing, within the limits of the United States,
any preparation of hostilities against France or her
colonies, as far as this can be effected by the exten-
sion of that portion of the public power, with which
they are invested by the laws. Your letter requests
the arrest and delivery of Tanguy, Galbaud, Con-
science, and Bonne, escaped from the ship Jupiter,
and from the punishment of crime committed against
the republic of France; and also that necessary
measures be taken to prevent the carrying into ex-
ecution certain plots formed by them and others
against their country. These two requisitions stand
on different ground. The laws of this country take
no notice of crimes committed out of their jurisdic-
tion. The most atrocious offender, coming within
their pale, is received by them as an innocent man,
and they have authorized no one to seize or deliver
him. The evil of protecting malefactors of every
dye is sensibly felt here, as in other countries; but
until a reformation of the criminal codes of most
nations, to deliver fugitives from them, would be to
become their accomplices; the former therefore is
viewed as the lesser evil. When the consular con-
vention with France was under consideration, this
subject was attended to ; but we could agree to go no
further than is done in the 9th article of that instru-
ment, when we agree mutually to deliver up "cap-
tains, officers, mariners, sailors, and all other persons
being part of the crews of vessels" &c. Unless,
therefore, the persons before named be part of the
crew of some vessel of the French nation, no person
i793l Thomas Jefferson 43
in this country is authorized to deliver them up;
but, on the contrary, they are under the protection
of the laws. If they are part of the crew of a vessel,
they are to be delivered up ; but then it happens that
the district judge of each State is, by the law of
Congress, made the competent person to execute this
article of the convention, and consequently each
within his own State, and no one over all the States ;
so that as criminals they cannot be given up, and if
they be of the crew of a vessel, the act of Congress
has not given authority to any one officer to send his
process through all the States of the Union. The
other branch of your request is more completely pro-
vided for by the laws, which authorize coercions as
to expeditions formed in the territory of the United
States against nations with whom they are at peace.
If, therefore, you will be pleased to give me such in-
formation as to persons and places as may indicate
to what points the vigilance of the officers is to be
directed, proper measures will be immediately taken
for preventing every attempt to make any hostile
expedition from these States against any of the
dominions of France. The stronger the proofs you
can produce and the more pointed as to persons, the
stronger will be the means of coercion which the
laws will allow to be used.
I have not yet laid this matter before the Presi-
dent, who is absent from the seat of government;
but to save delay, which might be injurious, I have
taken the liberty, as the case is plain, to give you
this provisory answer. I shall immediately com-
municate it to the President, and if he shall direct
44 The Writings of [1793
anything in addition or alteration, it shall be the
subject of another letter. In the mean time, I may
venture to let this be considered as a ground for your
proceeding.
TO JOHN ROSS * j. mss.
Schuylkill, September 13, 1793.
Dear Sir, — As all the world is flying, I think to fly
too in two or three days, but I am money-bound. I
shall have 215. dollars free out of moneys to be re-
ceived for me at the Treasury between two and three
weeks hence. But, to pay some matters to people in
want, and to carry me home also I have occasion for
100. Doll. more. Having never had any money con-
nection at Philadelphia, I take the liberty of applying
to you rather than to any other person, to enable me
to receive immediately the amount of the enclosed
order on mr. Bankson (one of my clerks who is to
receive the money at the treasury for me) and of my
own note for 100. D. which I cannot get by discount
from the bank till Wednesday next, and my wish is
to go on Sunday or Monday. I expect to be absent
7. weeks, but for fear any accident might delay me a
few days, I have left the date of my note blank to be
filled on the day it shall be lodged in the bank, that I
may be the less hurried by this circumstance in my
return. I will assuredly see that it be taken up in
time. If you can, for this paper, furnish me a check
on the bank or its amount otherwise, you will enable
my wheels to get into motion, which otherwise stand
1 Cashier of the United States Bank.
r793] Thomas Jefferson 45
still. I have the honor to be with great esteem and
respect dear sir your most obedient servant.
TO THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES j. mss.
Schuylkill, September 15, 1793.
Dear Sir, — I have duly received your 2. favors
from Chester and Elkton, and have now the honor
to enclose you an address from the town and vicinity
of Petersburg, which in a letter from mr. Peachey I
was desired to deliver you.
I also enclose you a letter from mr. Genet on the
subject of Galbaud, and his conspiracies, with my
answer sent to him. My hurry of business has pre-
vented my translating the former, but if it cannot
be done in your family, I shall be in time to do it
myself.
I enclose also mr. Hammond's reply to my letter
of ye 9th. mr. Pinckney's letter of July 5. mr. Ham-
mond's letter of Sep. 12. communicating the English
instructions for the seizure of corn, and the answer
I propose to send him if approved by you. I expect
also to receive from the office a blank commission
for the collector of Annapolis in time to enclose it
herein.
Having found on my going to town, the day you
left it, that I had but one clerk left, and that busi-
ness could not be carried on, I determined to set out
for Virginia as soon as I could clear my own letter
files. I have now got through it so as to leave not a
single letter unanswered, or anything undone, which
46 The Writings of [1793
is in a state to be done, and expect to set out to-
morrow or next day. I shall hope to be at Mount
Vernon on the 5th day to take your orders. The fever
here is still diffusing itself, it is not quite as fatal.
Colo. Hamilton and mrs. Hamilton are recovered.
The consul Dupont is dead of it. So is Wright.
The consul Hauterive has sent me an answer to my
circular letter, as proud as could have been expected,
and not very like a desisting from the acts forbidden.
As I shall probably be with you as soon as this
letter, I shall add nothing further than assurances of
the high respect and esteem with which I have the
honor to be sincerely dear sir your most obedient and
humble servant.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
[September 15, 1793.]
Sir, — The correspondence which has taken place
between the Executive and yourself, & the acts
which you have thought proper to do, & to counten-
ance, in opposition to the laws of the land, have
rendered it necessary in the opinion of the President
to lay a faithful statement of them before the govern-
ment of France, to explain to them the reasons &
the necessity which have dictated our measures, to
renew the assurances of that sincere friendship which
has suffered no intermission during the course of
these proceedings, and to express our extreme
anxiety that none may be produced on their part.
This has accordingly been directed to be done by
the Min. Pleny. of the U S at Paris, in a letter a copy
i793l Thomas Jefferson 47
of which I now enclose to you; and, in order to
bring to an end what cannot be permitted to con-
tinue, there could be no hesitation to declare in it the
necessity of their having a representative here dis-
posed to respect the laws and authorities of the
country, & to do the best for their interest which
these would permit. An anxious regard for those
interests, and a desire that they may not suffer, will
induce the executive in the meantime to receive
your communications in writing, & to admit the con-
tinuance of your functions so long as they shall be
restrained within the limits of the law as heretofore
announced to you, or shall be of the tenor usually
observed towards independent nations by the repre-
sentative of a friendly power residing with them.
The President thought it respectful to your nation
as well as yourself to leave to yourself the restraining
certain proceedings of the Consuls of France within
the U S, which you were informed were contrary to
the laws of the land, & therefore not to be permitted.
He has seen with regret however that you have been
far from restraining these proceedings, & that the
duty has devolved on him of suppressing them by
the authority of the country. I enclose to you the
copy of a letter written to the several Consuls &
Vice-consuls of France, warning them that this will
be done if any repetition of these acts shall render it
necessary. To the Consul of France at Boston, no
such letter has been written. A more serious fact
is charged on him, which if proved as there is reason
to expect, will render the revocation of his Exequatur
an act of immediate duty.
48 The Writings of [1793
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Schuylkill, Sep. 15.
I have to acknolege yours of Aug. 27. & Sep. 2.
The fever in town is become less mortal, but extends.
Dupont the Fr. Consul is dead of it. So is Wright
the painter. His wife also. Lieper is said to be
dead, but that is not certain. J. Barclay ill. Ham.
and his wife recovered. Willing on the recovery.
The banks are not shut up, as I had been falsely in-
formed when I wrote you last. I have some expecta-
tion to set out tomorrow, and shall make it eight days
to your house ; but it is very possible I may yet be
detained here two or three days. The arrangement
on which I had consented to remain another quarter
was that the President was to be absent three weeks,
and after that I was to be absent 6. weeks. This
got me rid of 9. weeks of the 13. and the remaining
4. Congress would be setting. My view in this was
precisely to avoid being at any more councils as
much as possible, that I might not be committed in
anything further. This fever by driving me off
sooner, will bring me back sooner, & so far counter-
act my view. — But I need not take the trouble of
writing on this subject, as I shall see you as early as
you will get this letter. Adieu.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER j. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
September 22, 1793.
Sir, — I have yet to acknowledge the receipt of
your favor of the 1 2th instant, covering an additional
instruction to the commanders of British armed
1793] Thomas Jefferson 49
vessels, and explaining its principles; and I receive
it readily as a proof of your willingness to anticipate
our inquiries on subjects interesting to us. Cer-
tainly none was ever more so than the instruction in
question, as it strikes at the root of our agriculture,
and at the means of obtaining for our citizens in
general, the numerous articles of necessity and com-
fort which they do not make for themselves, but
have hitherto procured from other nations by ex-
change. The paper has been before communicated
to the President, but instructions immediately sent
to our minister at London, to make proper repre-
sentations on the subject, in the effect of which we
have all that confidence which the justice of the
British Government is calculated to inspire. That
"all provisions are to be considered as contraband
in the case where the depriving an enemy of these
supplies is one of the means intended to be employed,"
or in any case but that of a place actually blockaded,
is a position entirely new. However, the discussion
having been transferred to another place, I forbear
to enter into it here.
We had conjectured, but did not before entirely
know, that the distinction which the instruction
makes between Denmark and Sweden on the one
hand, and the United States on the other, in the
case of vessels bound to ports blockaded, was on the
principle explained by you, that what was yielded
to those countries by treaty, it is not unfriendly to
refuse to us, because not yielded to us by treaty. I
shall not contest the right of the principle, as a right
to its reciprocity necessarily results to us.
VOL. VIII. — 4.
50 The Writings of [1793
A STATEMENT * j. mss.
[Oct. 1793.]
A Question whether Mr. G. has threats to appeal
from the Pr. to the people of the US. has excited
considble. attention from the public has been thot
worthy of call? forth the evidence of the highest
officers of the govmt. to bear testimony to it, & to
justify the disclosure of the secret private consulta-
tions of the Exve. The performce. of an official
duty having implicated me in the transaction, I have
made mc necessarily made me a party in the opera-
tion having connected me with the matter in ques-
tion I have been vouched in affirmation of the
charge. It is with much regret that I enter for
anything in so disagreeable an altercn. but con-
sider? it's present ground, silence on my part might
beget surmises which would not be just. I had
conversons. on the Sunday the 7^ of July with Mr.
Genet and Mr. Dallas as has been stated in the public
papers. I had a private consultn with the Seer? of
the Treasury & was on the next Monday to decide
what sh^be done in the event of the L. S's attempting
to depart and it was then I made my communication
to them. The Pr. ret^ on the Wednesday, & on that
day I committed the same communications to writ-
ing in a Report to him a full detail of what has passed.
I did this when the transactions were fully in my
mind, & particular circumstances of the moment
conversations led me to detail with more minuteness
than usual every circumstance which I could recol-
1 Evidently prepared for the press, but never used. It refers to the
paper printed in vol. i., p. 282.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 51
4eet thought worthy any the least notice, t-did
this when it was impossible to I could not foresee then
foresee that the question altercation which has now
arisen to nor consequently give to the statem? any
hue which might reflect 011 thai, and under no other
view than that of aspect respecting it. My only
object was to giveing to the Pr. a circumstantial &
faithful relation of what he had a right to know.
And I did it with with a sacred regard to truth. I
have since heard the same transactions matters
spoken of on different occn. & by different persons,
that my memory I c4 not trust to my insomuch that
I should fear to attempt from memory alone for to
distinguish at this time what I have heard from one
person & on what occasion & what from another,
what on one occn. or what on another. I think it
therefore safest to give the whole statement, report,
without attempting of a the suppression of a tittle
of it. There are. As it contains many things is-4t
which relate not at all to the present question, ~&
some which it will be obvious it might be imagined
that to be made public. — Had these been omitted
Were these however now omitted it m? have been
thought that tho' the parts given forth were in the
very words of the report & consequently not stated
with a view to the present case, yet that it has it
might be imagined that their suppression the aspect
of what would remain might be sensibly affected by
it. been. I chuse then to throw my self on the in-
dulgencies of those who may need it, rather than to
incur their suspicions, and therefore give a verbal
copy of the whole report as follows.
52 The Writings of [1793
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
D. S. MSS.
MONTICELLO Oct. 3. 1793.
Dear Sir, — I have the honor to inclose herewith
the following papers:
1. A Note from Mr. Coxe which covered a letter
from Nassau.
2. A letter from George Nicholas which covered his
commission, returned.
3. A letter from Mr. Gore, relating to Mr. Duplaine,
& the communications between him & Gov?
Hancock, which I asked at the desire of the
Secretary at war, & which are for him.
4. A letter from Mr. Genet of Sep. 14. which, being
merely an answer to one of mine, requires no
reply.
5. A letter from Mr. Genet of Sep. 13.
This is an answer to the written and verbal ap-
plications made to him on the subject of the William
& the Fanny. After being in his hands between two
& three months, the Consul at Philadelphia is still
too busy to furnish the information I had desired.
He is since dead, which of course furnishes a new
excuse for delay. This indicates clearly enough
that Mr. Genet does not mean to deliver them up.
However he adds that the information would be
useless until we settle what is to be deemed the extent
of the limits of our protection. As this has never yet
been decided, I am not able to answer him until you
shall be pleased to determine what shall be proposed
on that subject. I think myself that these limits
!793] Thomas Jefferson 53
are of great consequence, & would not hesitate the
sacrifice of money to obtain them large. I would
say, for instance, to Great Britain, "we will pay you
for such of these vessels as you chuse; only requiring
in return that the distance of their capture from
shore shall, as between us, be ever considered as
within our limits: now say for yourself, which of
these vessels you will accept payment for." With
France it might not be so easy to purchase distance
by pecuniary sacrifices: but if by giving up all
further reclamation of the vessels in their hands,
they could be led to fix the same limits (say 3.
leagues) I should think it an advantageous purchase,
besides ridding us of an article of account which they
may dispute. I doubt on the whole whether any
thing further can be effectually done on this subject
until your return to the seat of government, or to
the place where you will fix for the time.
Mr. Genet's answer with respect to his opposing
the service of process on a vessel is singularly
equivocal. I rather conjecture he means to with-
draw the opposition, and I am in hopes my letter to
Mr. Hammond will have produced another effort by
the Marshal which will have succeeded. Should
this not be the case, if military constraint cannot be
used without endangering military opposition, this
vessel also may become a subject of indemnifica-
tion.
Mr. Bankson writes me word that Genl. Moylan's
residence being off the Post road, he had been
obliged to send an express to him, which was not
yet returned. Besides the duplicate dispatches for
54 The Writings of I>793
Gouvern? Morris, I had left in his hands letters for
all our foreign Ministers & Consuls. He writes me
that the Communications with Philadelphia had been
so much intercepted that he had not yet obtained
conveyances.
The death of Wright will require a new nomination
of an engraver. If it be left to Mr. Rittenhouse, I
think he would prefer Scott.
Just before I left Philada. I received from Mr.
Genet a claim of exemption from tonnage for their
vessels which quitted the Cape in distress & made
the first ports in the U. S. & particularly as to those
which came to Baltimore, the tonnage of which
amounted to a large sum. As you were come away,
I thought it would shorten the business to send his
claim in a letter addressed to the Secretary of the
Treasury, but (as he was sick) under cover to Mr.
Wolcott, in hopes they would make a report thereon
to you for your consideration. The necessity of
these abridgments of formalities in our present dis-
tant situations requires that I should particularly
suggest to you the expediency of desiring Genl.
Knox to communicate to the foreign ministers him-
self directly any matters relative to the interposi-
tions of his department through the governors. For
him to send these to me from Boston to this place
merely that I may send them back to the min-
isters at Philadelphia or New York, might be an
injurious delay of business.
I shall hope to have the honor of a line from you
whenever you shall have fixed on the time and place
at which you shall decide to reassemble us.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 55
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES j. mss.
MONTICELLO Oct. IJ. 1793.
Dear Sir, — I was the day before yesterday
honored with your favor of the 7th inst. by post and
yesterday I received that of the nth by express
from Colo. Carrington. I will take care to be at
Germantown by the 1st of the month. As the
ploughing thro the roads of the month of January
would be disagreeable with my own horses, I shall
send them back from Fredericksburg, for which place
I will set out to-morrow (Friday) sennight, in order
to take the stage from thence of Monday the 28th.
This of course will deprive me of the honor of waiting
on you at Mount Vernon, but perhaps I may have
that of seeing you on the road.
I have carefully considered the question Whether
the President may call Congress to any other place
than that to which they have adjourned themselves,
and think he cannot have such a right unless it has
been given him by the constitution or the laws, &
that neither of these has given it. The only circum-
stance which he can alter, as to their meeting, is that
of time by calling them at an earlier day than that to
which they stand adjourned, but no power to change
the place is given. Mr. Madison happened to come
here yesterday after the receipt of your letter. I
proposed the question to him, and he thinks there
was particular caution intended & used in the diction
of the Constitution to avoid giving the President any
power over the place of meeting; lest he should
exercise it with local partialities.
With respect to the Executive, the Residence law
56 The Writings of [1793
has fixed our offices at Philadelphia till the year
1800, & therefore it seems necessary that we should
get as near them as we may with safety.
As to the place of meeting for the legislature, were
we authorized to decide that question I should think
it right to have it in some place in Pensylvania, in
consideration of the principles of the Residence bill,
& that we might furnish no pretext to that state to
infringe them hereafter. I am quite unacquainted
with Reading, & it's means of accommodation. It's
situation is perhaps as little objectionable as that of
Lancaster, & less so than Trenton or perhaps Wil-
mington. However I think we have nothing to do
with the question, & that Congress must meet in
Philadelphia even if it be in the open fields, to ad-
journ themselves to some other place. — I am ex-
tremely afraid something has happened to mr.
Bankson, on whom I relied for continuance at my
office. For two posts past I have not received any
letter from him, nor dispatches of any kind. This
involves new fears for the duplicates of those to mr.
Morris. I have the honor &c.
P.S. Mr. Randolph's, and mr. Trumbul's letters
are returned.
TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH j. mss.
Germantown, Nov. 2. 93.
After having experienced on my journey the ex-
tremes of heat, cold, dust & rain, I arrived here
yesterday. I found at Baltimore that the stages run
no further North, and being from that circumstance
\
1793] Thomas Jefferson 57
thrown into the hands of the harpies who prey upon
travellers, was pretty well fleeced to get here. I
think from Fredericksburg here with a single servant
cost me upwards of seventy dollars. Before this
change in the weather the fever had very much
abated in Philadelphia, & at this time it has almost
entirely disappeared, in so much that the inhabitants
are very many of them returning into the city. This
is very necessary for our accommodation here, as this
place is so full that I have been able to obtain a bed
in a corner of the public room of a tavern only, and
that as a great favor, the other alternative being to
sleep on the floor in my cloak before the fire. In
this state I am awaiting till some of the Philadel-
phians may take courage to go into the city, and
make a vacancy here. Nothing will be done by the
President as to the meeting of Congress. It is im-
agined that knowing he is here, they will rendezvous
here, and after settling informally to what place they
will remove, they will go into the fields of the city
and pass a regular vote. The pure blacks have been
found insusceptible of the infection. The mixed
blood hEis taken it. What is more singular is that
tho hundreds have been taken with the disease out of
Philadelphia, have died of it after being well at-
tended, yet not a single instance has occurred of any-
body's catching it out of Philadelphia. The question
for the session of Congress will lie between Philadel-
phia, New York & Lancaster. — Freneau's paper is
discontinued. I fear it is the want of money. He
promises to resume it before the meeting of Con-
gress. I wish the subscribers in our neighborhood
58 The Writings of [1793
would send on their money. My love to my dear
daughters & am with sincere esteem Dear Sir Yours
affectionately.
P.S. Mr. Hollingsworth at the head of Elk thinks
he can immediately send me on a good overseer in
the place of Rogers. I authorized him to allow
exactly the same as to Biddle. Consequently on his
arrival I must get you to give him orders on Watson
& Colo. Bell for the same necessaries which I had
furnished to Biddle.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Germantown, Nov. 2, 1793.
I overtook the President at Baltimore, & we ar-
rived here yesterday, myself fleeced of seventy odd
dollars to get from Fredericksburg here, the stages
running no further than Baltimore. I mention this
to put yourself & Monroe on your guard. The fever
in Phila. has so much abated as to have almost dis-
appeared. The inhabitants are about returning. It
has been determined that the President shall not in-
terfere with the meeting of Congress. R. H. & K.
were of opinion he had a right to call them to any
place but that the occasion did not call for it. I
think the President inclined to the opinion. I pro-
posed a proclmn. notifying that the Executive busi-
ness would be done here till further notice, which I
believe will be agreed. H. R. Lewis, Rawle &c, all
concur in the necessity that Congress should meet in
Phila., & vote there their own adjournment, if it shall
1793] Thomas Jefferson 59
then be necessary to change the place. The question
will be between N Y & Lancaster. The Pensylva.
members are very anxious for the latter, & will at-
tend punctually to support it, as well as to support
Muhlenburg, & oppose the appointment of Smith
(S. C.) speaker, which is intended by the Northern
members. According to present appearances this
place cannot lodge a single person more. As a
great favor I have got a bed in the corner of the
public room of a tavern: and must continue till
some of the Philadelphians make a vacancy by re-
moving into the city. Then we must give him from
4. to 6. or 8. dollars a week for cuddies without a
bed, and sometimes without a chair or table. There
is not a single lodging house in the place. Ross &
Willing are alive. Hancock is dead. Johnson of
Maryld has refused. I Ru. L. and Mel.2 in contempla-
tion. The last least. — You will have seen Genet's
letters to Moultrie & to myself. Of the last I know
nothing but from the public papers ; and he published
Moultrie's letter & his answer the moment he wrote
it. You will see that his inveteracy against the
President leads him to meditate the embroiling him
with Congress. They say he is going to be married
to a daughter of Clinton's. If so, he is afraid to
return to France. Hamilton is ill, & suspicious he
has taken the fever again by returning to his house.
He of course could not attend here to-day. But the
Pr had showed me his letter on the right of calling
Congress to another place. Adieu.
1 For Secretary of State.
* Ruftledge], Lpvingston], and McL[urg].
60 The Writings of [1793
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Germantown, November 8, 1793.
Sir, — I have now to acknowledge and answer your
letter of September 13, wherein you desire that we
may define the extent of the line of territorial pro-
tection on the coasts of the United States, observing
that Governments and jurisconsults have different
views on this subject.
It is certain that, heretofore, they have been much
divided in opinion as to the distance from their sea
coasts, to which they might reasonably claim a right
of prohibiting the commitment of hostilities. The
greatest distance, to which any respectable assent
among nations has been at any time given, has been
the extent of the human sight, estimated at upwards
of twenty miles, and the smallest distance, I believe,
claimed by any nation whatever, is the utmost range
of a cannon ball, usually stated at one sea league.
Some intermediate distances have also been insisted
on, and that of three sea-leagues has some authority
in its favour. The character of our coasts, remark-
able in considerable parts of it for admitting no
vessels of size to pass near the shores, would entitle
us, in reason, to as broad a margin of protected
navigation, as any nation whatever. Not proposing,
however, at this time, and without a respectful and
friendly communication with the Powers interested
in this navigation, to fix on the distance to which we
may ultimately insist on the right of protection, the
President gives instructions to the officers, acting
under this authority, to consider those heretofore
x793] Thomas Jefferson 61
given them as restrained for the present to the dis-
tance of one sea-league, or three geographical miles
from the sea-shore. This distance can admit of no
opposition as it is recognized by treaties between
some of the Powers with whom we are connected in
commerce and navigation, and is as little or less than
is claimed by any of them on their own coasts.
Future occasions will be taken to enter into ex-
planations with them, as to the ulterior extent to
which we may reasonably carry our jurisdiction.
For that of the rivers and bays of the United States,
the laws of the several States are understood to have
made provision, and they are, moreover, as being
landlocked, within the body of the United States.
Examining by this rule, the case of the British
brig Fanny, taken on the 8th of May last, it appears
from the evidence, that the capture was made four
or five miles from the land, and consequently with-
out the line provisionally adopted by the President
as before mentioned.1
1 In Jefferson's draft of this letter is found at the end a paragraph
queried and struck out, as follows:
"With respect to the British ship William taken on the 3d of May
last, the testimony as to the place of seizure varies from 2 to 5, miles
from the sea shore. The information of a certain Peter Dalton stated
in the paper inclosed in your letter of Oct. 19. extends the distance
from 14. to 16. miles. But his evidence not having been given before
a magistrate legally qualified to place him under the solemnity of an
oath & bound to cross examine him, I am to desire that his evidence,
if it is to be insisted on may be taken in legal form, and forwarded for
the consideration of the President."
62 The Writings of [1793
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER i. mss.
(george hammond)
Germantown Nov. 8. 1793.
Sir, — The President of the United States thinking
that before it shall be finally decided to what dis-
tance from our sea shores the territorial protection
of the United States shall be exercised, it will be
proper to enter into friendly conferences & explana-
tions with the powers chiefly interested in the navi-
gation of the seas on our coast, and relying that
convenient occasions may be taken for these here-
after, finds it necessary in the mean time, to fix
provisionally on some distance for the present gov-
ernment of these questions. You are sensible that
very different opinions & claims have been heretofore
advanced on this subject. The greatest distance to
which any respectable assent among nations has
been at any time given, has been the extent of the
human sight, estimated at upwards of 20. miles, and
the smallest distance I believe, claimed by any nation
whatever is the utmost range of a cannon ball,
usually stated at one sea -league. Some intermediate
distances have also been insisted on, and that of three
sea leagues has some authority in its favor. The
character of our coast, remarkable in considerable
parts of it for admitting no vessels of size to pass
near the shores, would entitle us in reason to as
broad a margin of protected navigation as any nation
whatever. Reserving however the ultimate extent
of this for future deliberation the President gives
instructions to the officers acting under his authority
to consider those heretofore given them as restrained
1793] Thomas Jefferson 63
for the present to the distance of one sea-league or
three geographical miles from the sea shore. This
distance can admit of no opposition as it is recog-
nized by treaties between some of the powers with
whom we are connected in commerce and navigation,
and is as little or less than is claimed by any of them
on their own coasts. For the jurisdiction of the
rivers and bays of the United States the laws of the
several states are understood to have made provision,
and they are moreover as being landlocked, within
the body of the United States.
Examining by this rule the case of the British
brig Fanny, taken on the 8th of May last, it appears
from the evidence that the capture was made four
or five miles from the land, and consequently with-
out the line provisionally adopted by the President
as before mentioned.1
TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH j. mss.
Germantown Nov. io. 1793
I wrote, my dear Martha, by last week's post to
mr. Randolph. Yesterday I received his of Oct. 31.
The fever in Philadelphia has almost entirely disap-
peared. The Physicians say they have no new infec-
tions since the great rains which have fallen. Some
previous ones are still to die or recover, and so close
this tragedy. I think however the Executive will
1 An identical letter, omitting the last paragraph, was sent to Van
Berckel and Viar & Jaudenes. On the draft, Jefferson has written:
"These two drafts were shown to the Atty Genl. & approved without
alterations. The fair copies were shown to Colo. Hamilton & Genl.
Knox before dinner at Bocken's inn, Germantown & approved."
64 The Writings of [1793
remain here till the meeting of Congress, merely to
furnish a rallying point to them. The refugee in-
habitants are very generally returning into the city.
Mr. T. Shippen & his lady are here. He is very
slowly getting better. Still confined to the house.
She well & very burly. I told her of her sister's pre-
tentions to the fever & ague at Blenheim. She com-
plained of receiving no letter. Tell this to Mrs.
Carter, making it the subject of a visit express, which
will be an act of good neighbourhood. — The affairs
of France are at present gloomy. Toulon has sur-
rendered to England & Spain. So has Grandanse
and the country round about in St. Domingo. The
English however have received a check before Dun-
kirk, probably a smart one, tho' the particulars are
not yet certainly known. I send Freneau's papers.
He has discontinued them, but promises to resume
again. I fear this cannot be till he has collected his
arrearages. My best regards to mr. Randolph.
Accept my warmest love for yourself & Maria, com-
pliments to Miss Jane, kisses to the children, friendly
affections to all. Adieu.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER j. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
Germantown, November 14th, 1793.
Sir, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 7th instant, on the subject of the British
ship Roehampton, taken and sent into Baltimore by
the French privateer the Industry, an armed schooner
1793] Thomas Jefferson 65
of St. Domingo, which is suggested to have aug-
mented her force at Baltimore before the capture.
On this circumstance a demand is grounded that the
prize she has made shall be restored.
Before I proceed to the matters of fact in this case,
I will take the liberty of calling your attention to the
rules which are to govern it. These are, I. That
restitution of prizes has been made by the Executive
of the United States only in the two cases, 1, of cap-
ture within their jurisdiction, by armed vessels,
originally constituted such without the limits of the
United States; or 2d, of capture, either within or
without their jurisdiction, by armed vessels, origin-
ally constituted such within the limits of the United
States, which last have been called proscribed vessels.
II. That all military equipments within the ports
of the United States are forbidden to the vessels of
the belligerent powers, even where they have been
constituted vessels of war before their arrival in our
ports; and where such equipments have been made
before detection, they are ordered to be suppressed
when detected, and the vessel reduced to her original
condition. But if they escape detection altogether,
depart and make prizes, the Executive has not under-
taken to restore the prizes.
With due care, it can scarcely happen that military
equipments of any magnitude shall escape discovery.
Those which are small may sometimes, perhaps,
escape, but to pursue these so far as to decide that
the smallest circumstance of military equipment to
a vessel in our ports shall invalidate her prizes
through all time, would be a measure of incalcuable
Vol.. VIII. — 5.
66 The Writings of [1793
consequences. And since our interference must be
governed by some general rule, and between great
and small equipments no practicable line of distinc-
tion can be drawn, it will be attended with less evil on
the whole to rely on the efficacy of the means of pre-
vention, that they will reach with certainty equip-
ments of any magnitude, and the great mass of those
of smaller importance also ; and if some should in the
event, escape all our vigilance, to consider these as
of the number of cases which will at times baffle the
restraints of the wisest and best-guarded rules which
human foresight can devise. And I think we may
safely rely that since the regulations which got into
a course of execution about the middle of August
last, it is scarcely possible that equipments of any
importance should escape discovery.
These principles shewing that no demand of resti-
tution holds on the ground of a mere military altera-
tion or an augmentation of force, I will consider your
letter only as a complaint that the orders of the Presi-
dent prohibiting these, have not had their effect in
the case of the Industry, and enquire whether if
this be so, it has happened either from neglect or
connivance in those charged with the execution of
these orders. For this we must resort to facts which
shall be taken from the evidence furnished by your-
self and the British vice-consul at Baltimore, and
from that which shall accompany this letter.
About the beginning of August the Industry is said
to have arrived at Baltimore with the French fleet
from St. Domingo ; the particular state of her arma-
ment on her arrival is lately questioned, but it is not
1793] Thomas Jefferson 67
questioned that she was an armed vessel of some de-
gree. The Executive having received an intimation
that two vessels were equipping themselves at Balti-
more for a cruise, a letter was on the 6th of Augt
addressed by the Secretary of War to the Governor
of Maryland, desiring an inquiry into the fact. In
his absence the Executive Council of Maryland
charged one of their own body, the honorable Mr.
Killy, with the inquiry. He proceeded to Balti-
more, and after two days' examination found no
vessel answering the description of that which was
the object of his inquiry. He then engaged the
British vice-consul in the search, who was not able,
any more than himself, to discover any such vessels.
Captain Killy, however, observing a schooner, which
appeared to have been making some equipments for
a cruise, to have added to her guns, and made some
alteration in her waist, thought these circumstances
merited examination, though the rules of August
had not yet appeared. Finding that his inquiries
excited suspicion, and fearing the vessel might be
withdrawn, he had her seized, and proceeded in
investigation. He found that she was the schooner
Industry, Captain Carver, from St. Domingo: that
she had been an armed vessel for three years before
her coming here, and as late as April last had
mounted 16 guns; that she now mounted only 12,
and he could not learn that she had procured any of
these, or done anything else, essential to her as a
privateer, at Baltimore. He therefore discharged
her, and on the 23d of August the Executive Council
made the report to the Secretary of war, of which I
68 The Writings of [1793
enclose you a copy. About a fortnight after this
(Sep. 6) you added to a letter on other business a
short paragraph, saying that you had "lately re-
ceived information that a vessel named the Industry
had, within the last 5 or 6 weeks, been armed, manned
and equipped in the port of Baltimore." The pro-
ceedings before mentioned having been in another
department, were not then known to me. I there-
fore could only communicate this paragraph to the
proper department. The separation of the Execu-
tive within a few weeks after, prevented any ex-
planations on this subject, and without them it was
not in my power to either controvert or admit the
information you had received. Under these cir-
cumstances I think you must be sensible, Sir, that
your conclusion from my silence, that I regarded the
fact as proved, was not a very necessary one.
New inquiries at that time could not have pre-
vented the departure of the privateer, or the capture
of the Roehampton; for the privateer had then been
out some time. The Roehampton was already taken,
and was arriving at Baltimore, which she did about
the day of the date of your letter. After her arrival,
new witnesses had come forward to prove that the
Industry had, made some military equipments at
Baltimore before her cruise. The affidavits taken
by the British vice-consul, are dated about 9 or 10
days after the date of your letter and arrival of the
Roehampton, and we have only to lament that those
witnesses had not given their information to the
vice-consul when Mr. Killy engaged his aid in the
enquiries he was making, and when it would have
1793] Thomas Jefferson 69
had the effect of our detaining the privateer till she
should have reduced herself to the condition in which
she was when she arrived in our ports, if she had
really added anything to her then force. But sup-
posing the testimony just and full (tho taken ex
parte, and not under the legal sanction of an oath,)
yet the Governor's refusal to restore the prize was
perfectly proper, for, as has been before observed,
restitution has never been made by the Executive,
nor can be made on a mere clandestine alteration or
augmentation of military equipments, which was all
that the new testimony tended to prove.
Notwithstanding, however, that the President
thought the information obtained on the former
occasion had cleared this privateer from any well-
grounded cause of arrest, yet that which you have
now offered opens the possibility that the former was
defective. He has therefore desired new inquiry to
be made before a magistrate legally authorized to
administer an oath, and indifferent to both parties;
and should the result be that the vessel did really
make any military equipments in our ports, instruc-
tions will be given to reduce her to her original con-
dition, whenever she shall again come into our ports.
On the whole, Sir, I hope you will perceive that
on the first intimation thro their own channel, and
without waiting for information on your part, that a
vessel was making military equipments at Baltimore,
the Executive took the best measures for inquiring
into the fact, in order to prevent or suppress such
equipments; that an officer of high respectability
was charged with the inquiry, and that he made it
7o The Writings of [1793
with great diligence himself, and engaged similar
inquiries on the part of your vice-consul; that
neither of them could find that the privateer had
made such equipments, or, of course, that there was
any ground for reducing or detaining her; that at
the date of your letter of Sep. 6, (the first intimation
received from you,) the privateer was departed, had
taken her prize, and that prize was arriving in port ;
that the new evidence taken 10 days after that ar-
rival can produce no other effect than the institution
of a new inquiry, and a reduction of the force of the
privateer, should she appear to have made any mili-
tary alterations or augmentation, on her return into
our ports, and that in no part of this proceeding is
there the smallest ground for imputing either negli-
gence or connivance to any of the officers who have
acted in it.
TO ELI WHITNEY j. mss.
Germantown, Nov. 16. 1793.
Sir, — Your favor of Oct. 15. inclosing a drawing
of your cotton gin, was received on the 6th inst.
The only requisite of the law now uncomplied with
is the forwarding a model, which being received your
patent may be made out & delivered to your order
immediately.
As the state of Virginia, of which I am, carries
on household manufactures of cotton to a great ex-
tent, as I also do myself, and one of our great embar-
rassments is the clearing the cotton of the seed,
I feel a considerable interest in the success of your
1793] Thomas Jefferson 71
invention, for family use. Permit me therefore to
ask information from you on these points. Has the
machine been thoroughly tried in the ginning of cot-
ton, or is it as yet but a machine of theory? What
quantity of cotton has it cleaned on an average of
several days, & worked by hand, & by how many
hands? What will be the cost of one of them made
to be worked by hand? Favorable answers to these
questions would induce me to engage one of them to
be forwarded to Richmond for me. Wishing to hear
from you on the subject I am &c.
P.S. Is this the machine advertised the last year
by Pearce at the Patterson manufactory?
TO JOHN KEAN T
Germantown, Nov. i6, 1793.
Th. Jefferson presents his compliments to mr. Kean
& congratulates him sincerely on his and mrs. Kean's
having escaped the dangers of the season.
Thinking it possible that the members of Congress
(retaining the horrors of the yellow fever which pre-
vail at a distance) may remove to Lancaster, & on so
short notice as to prevent Th. J. from settling his
affairs in Philadelphia, he thinks it best to do that
while he has time, & for that purpose it would be
convenient for him to command his salary of the
present quarter. He therefore begs the favor of mr.
Kean to put the note which accompanies this into
1 An officer in the Bank of the United States. From the original im
the possession of the editor.
72 The Writings of [1793
the proper channel for discount ; and if he will be so
kind when it is decided on, as to send a line of infor-
mation for Th. J. to his office on Market street he
will be much obliged to him.
Will the form of this note render an order from
mr. Taylor requisite to authorise Th. J. to receive
the money?
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Germantown, Nov. 17, 1793.
Dear Sir, — I have got good lodgings for Monroe
& yourself, that is to say, a good room with a fire-
place & two beds, in a pleasant & convenient posi-
tion, with a quiet family. They will breakfast you,
but you must mess in a tavern ; there is a good one
across the street. This is the way in which all must
do, and all I think will not be able to get even half
beds. The President will remain here I believe till
the meeting of Congress, merely to form a point of
union for them before they can have acquired infor-
mation & courage. For at present there does not
exist a single subject in the disorder, no new infection
having taken place since the great rains the ist of
the month, & those before infected being dead or
recovered. There is no doubt you will sit in Phila-
delphia, & therefore I have not given Monroe's letter
to Sechel. I do not write to him, because I know
not whether he is at present moving by sea or by
land, & if by the latter, I presume you can communi-
cate to him. — Wayne has had a convoy of 22. wag-
ons of provisions, and 70. men cut off 15. miles in his
J793] Thomas Jefferson 73
rear by the Indians. 6. of the men were found on
the spot scalped, the rest supposed taken. He had
nearly reached Fort Hamilton. R. has given notice
that he means to resign. Genet by more & more
denials of powers to the President and ascribing
them to Congress, is evidently endeavoring to sow
tares between them, & at any event to curry favor
with the latter to whom he means to turn his appeal,
finding it was not likely to be well received with the
people. Accept both of you my sincere affection.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Germantown, November 22, 1793.
Sir, — In my letter of October 2, I took the liberty
of noticing to you, that the commission of consul to
M. Dannery ought to have been addressed to the
President of the United States. He being the only
channel of communication between this country and
foreign nations, it is from him alone that foreign
nations or their agents are to learn what is or has
been the will of the nation; and whatever he com-
municates as such, they have a right, and are bound
to consider as the expression of the nation, and no
foreign agent can be allowed to question it, to inter-
pose between him and any other branch of Govern-
ment, under the pretext of either's transgressing
their functions, nor to make himself the umpire and
final judge between them. I am, therefore, sir, not
authorized to enter into any discussions with you on
the meaning of our constitution in any part of it, or
74 The Writings of [1793
to prove to you, that it has ascribed to him alone
the admission or interdiction of foreign agents. I
inform you of the fact by authority from the Presi-
dent. I had observed to you that we were persuaded,
that, in the case of the consul Dannery, the error in
the address had proceeded from no intention in the
Executive Council of France to question the func-
tions of the President, and therefore no difficulty was
made in issuing the commission. We are still under
the same persuasion. But in your letter of the 14th
instant, you personally question the authority of the
President, and, in consequence of that, have not ad-
dressed to him the commissions of Messrs. Pennevert
and Chervi, making a point of this formality on your
part; it becomes necessary to make a point of it on
ours also ; and I am therefore charged to return you
those commissions, and to inform you that, bound
to enforce respect to the order of things established
by our constitution, the President will issue no exe-
quatur to any consul or vice consul, not directed to
him in the usual form, after the party from whom it
comes, has been apprized that such should be the
address.
CABINET DECISIONS w. mss.
[Nov. 23. 1793.]
At sundry meetings of the heads of departments
& Attorney General from the ist to the 21s.* of Nov.
1793. at the President's several matters were agreed
upon as stated in the following letters from the
Secretary of State, to wit.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 75
Nov. 8. Circular letter to the representatives of
France, Gr. Brit. Spain & the U. Netherlands, fixing
provisorily the extent of our jurisdiction into the
sea at a sea-league.
10. Circular d° to the district attornies, notifying
the same, & committing to them the taking deposi-
tions in those cases.
Same date. Circular to the foreign representa-
tives, notifying how depositions are to be taken in
those cases.
The substance of the preceding letters were agreed
to by all, & the rough draughts were submitted to
them & approved.
Nov. 14. To Mr. Hammond, that the U. S. are
not bound to restore the Roehampton. This was
agreed by all, the rough draught was submitted to
& approved by Col? Hamilton & Mr. Randolph.
Gen? Knox was absent on a visit to Trenton.
10. Letters to Mr. Genet & Hammond, & the 14.
to Mr. Hollingsworth for taking depositions in the
cases of the Coningham & Pilgrim.
15. D? to Genet, Hammond & Mr. Rawle for
deposns. in the case of the William.
14. D? to Hollingsworth to ascertain whether
Mr. Moissonier had passed sentence on the Roe-
hampton & Pilgrim.
These last menf? letters of the io*?1 14* & 1 5*h were
as to their substance agreed on by all, the draughts
were only communicated to Mr. Randolph and ap-
proved by him.
Nov. 13. To Mr. Hammond, enquiring when we
shall have an answer on the inexecution of the
76 The Writings of [1793
treaty. The substance agreed by all. The letter
was sent off without communication, none of the
gentlemen being at Germantown.
22. To Mr. Genet, returning the commissions of
Pennevert & Chervi because not addressed to the
Presiden.
Same date. To d° enquiring whether the Lovely
Lass, Prince William Henry & Jane of Dublin have
been given up, and if not, requiring that they be now
restored to owners.
These were agreed to by all as to their matter, and
the letters themselves were submitted before they
were sent to the President, the Secretary of War &
the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury
absent.
Same date. To Mr. Gore for authentic evidence
of Dannery's protest on the President's revocation
of Duplaine's Exequatur. The substance agreed to
by all. The letter sent off before communication.
TO ARCHIBALD STUART *
Germantown Nov. 24. 1793.
Dear Sir, — When I had the pleasure of seeing
you at Monticello you mentioned to me that sheep
could be procured at or about Staunton, good &
cheap, and were kind enough to offer your aid in
procuring them. Reflecting on this subject, I find
it will be much better to buy & drive them now,
1 From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
J793] Thomas Jefferson 77
before they have young ones, & before the snow sets
in, than to wait till the spring. I therefore take the
liberty of enclosing you a 40. Doll, bank post note,
which I will beg the favor of you to lay out for me in
sheep, taking time between the purchase & delivery,
to give notice to Mr. Randolph at Monticello to have
them sent for, the letter to be directed to him, or in
his absence to Samuel Biddle overseer at Monticello.
Your endorsement on the post note will transfer &
make it payable to bearer, and consequently will be
cash to anybody at Staunton or Richmond who
wishes to remit to Philadelphia ; or the custom house
officer at Richmond will always be glad to give cash
for it. What apology must I make for so free a call
on you? And what thanks & apology for the, use I
made of your friendly offer as to the potatoes? But
I am again a new beginner in the world, & it is usual
for old settlers to help young ones. France is tri-
umphant in the North. Her rebellion also sub-
sides. The affair of Toulon is against her as yet;
but I suspect it is not over, — the yellow fever is
entirely vanished in Philadelphia, & all the inhab-
itants returned to it. The President remains here
merely to form a point of union for the members of
Congress, who may arrive uninformed of the safety
of Philadelphia; but nobody doubts that they will
immediately go from hence to sit in Philadelphia.
I shall be within striking distance of you by the 1 5th
of January. Accept assurances of my respect &
affection.
78 The Writings of [1793
TO MRS. CHURCH *
Germantown, Nov. 27th, 1793.
I have received, my good friend, your kind letter
of August 19th, with the extract from that of Lafay-
ette, for whom my heart has been constantly bleed-
ing. The influence of the United States has been
put into action, as far as it could be either with
decency or effect. But I fear that distance and
difference of principle give little hold to General
Washington on the jailers of Lafayette. However,
his friends may be assured that our zeal has not been
inactive. Your letter gives me the first information
that our dear friend Madame de Corny has been, as
to her fortune, among the victims of the times. Sad
times, indeed! and much lamented victim! I know
no country where the remains of a fortune could
place her so much at her ease as this, and where
public esteem is so attached to worth, regardless of
wealth; but our manners, and the state of our
society here, are so different from those to which her
habits have been formed, that she would lose more
perhaps in that scale. And Madame Cosway in a
convent! I knew that to much goodness of heart
she joined enthusiasm and religion; but I thought
that very enthusiasm would have prevented her from
shutting up her adoration of the God of the universe
within the walls of a cloister; that she would rather
have sought the mountain-top. How happy should
I be that it were mine that you, she, and Madame
de Corny would seek. You say, indeed, that you
are coming to America, but I know that means New
1 Prom S. N. Randolph's Domestic Life of Jefferson, page 224.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 79
York. In the meantime I am going to Virginia. I
have at length become able to fix that to the be-
ginning of the new year. I am then to be liberated
from the hated occupations of politics, and to re-
main in the bosom of my family, my farm, and my
books. I have my house to build, my fields to farm,
and to watch for the happiness of those who labor
for mine. I have one daughter married to a man of
science, sense, virtue, and competence; in whom
indeed I have nothing more to wish. They live
with me. If the other shall be as fortunate, in due
process of time I shall imagine myself as blessed as
the most blessed of the patriarchs. Nothing could
then withdraw my thoughts a moment from home
but the recollection of my friends abroad. I often
put the question, whether yourself and Kitty will
ever come to see your friends at Monticello? but it
is my affection and not my experience of things
which has leave to answer, and I am determined to
believe the answer because in that belief I find I
sleep sounder and wake more cheerful. En attendant,
God bless you.
Accept the homage of my sincere and constant
affection.
DRAFT OP PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE1 j. mss.
[Nov., 1793.]
Gentlemen of the Senate:
As the present situation of the several nations of
Europe, & especially of those with which the US.
*" Th: Jefferson presents his respects to the President & incloses him
some letters just received.
"Mr. Pinckney's and Mr. Morris's information relative to the doing
80 The Writings of [1793
have important relations, cannot but render the
state of things between them & us matter of inter-
esting enquiry to the legislature, & may indeed give
rise to deliberations to which they alone are com-
petent, I have thought it my duty to communicate to
them certain correspondences which have taken place.
The Representative & Executive bodies of France
have manifested generally a friendly attachment to
this country, have given advantages to our com-
merce & navigation, and have made overtures for
placing these advantages on permanent ground. A
decree however of the national assembly, subjecting
vessels laden with provisions to be carried into their
ports, & making enemy goods lawful prize in the
vessel of a friend, contrary to our treaty, tho' re-
voked at one time as to the US. has been since ex-
tended to their vessels also, as we learn very recently
to the has been recently represented stated to us.
Representations made on this subject will be im-
mediately given in charge to our minister there, by-
our minister, others will be immediately given him in
special charge, & the result shall be communicated
to the legislature.1
& undoing the decrees of the National assembly, in the case of the ship
Laurence and some other expressions in Mr. Morris's letter seem to
render it proper to lower the expression in the message purporting the
just & ready redress of wrongs on the high sea afforded by that govern-
ment, which Th: J. will accordingly attend to.
"Nov. 30, 1793."
1 Before this paragraph was altered, in accordance with the pre-
ceding letter, it read as follows: "The several Representative &
Executive bodies in France have uniformly manifested the most
friendly attachment to this country, have shewn particular favor to
our commerce & navigation and as far as yet appears, have given just
and ready redress of the wrongs to our citizens & their property ir-
regularly taken on the high seas, & carried into their ports."
1793] Thomas Jefferson 81
It is with extreme concern I have to inform you
that the proceedings of the person whom they have
unfortunately appointed their Minister Plenip? here
have breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of the
nation which sent him. Their tendency on the con-
trary has been to involve us in a war abroad, & dis-
cord & anarchy at home. So far as his acts, or those
of his agents, have threatened our immediate com-
mitment in the war, or flagrant insult to the authority
of the laws, their effect has been counteracted by
the ordinary cognisance of the laws, & by an exer-
tion of the powers confided to me. Where their
danger was not imminent, they have been borne
with, from sentiments of regard to his nation, from
a sense of their friendship towards us, from a convic-
tion that they would not suffer us to remain long
exposed to the action of a person who has so little
respected our mutual dispositions, and, I will add,
from a firm reliance on the firmness of my fellow-
citizens in their principles of peace and order. In
the meantime I have respected and pursued the
stipulations of our treaties, according to what I
judged their true sense; and have withheld no act
of friendship which their affairs have called for
from us, & which justice to others left us free to
perform. — I have gone further, rather than employ
force for the restitution of certain vessels which
I deemed the US. bound to restore. I thought
it more advisable to satisfy the parties by avow-
ing it to be my opinion, that if restitution were not
made, it would be incumbent on the US. to make
compensation. The papers now communicated
VOL. VIII. — 6.
82 The Writings of [1793
will more particularly apprize you of these trans-
actions.
The vexations and spoliations understood to have
been committed, on our vessels and commerce, by
the cruizers & officers of some of the belligerent
powers, appeared to require attention. The proofs
of these however not having been brought forward,
the description of citizens supposed to have suffered
were notified, that on furnishing them to the Execu-
tive, due measures would be taken to obtain redress
of the past, & more effectual provisions against the
future. Should such documents be furnished, proper
representations will be made thereon, with a just
reliance on a redress proportioned to the exigency
of the case.
The undertaking to restrain generally our com-
merce of corn & other provisions to their own ports
& those of their friends by an express order of the
British government, has been the subject of the com-
munications representations now communicated.
These were forwarded to our minister at their court ;
and we may expect final information thereon in time
to make the same known to the legislature during
their present session.
The British government having undertaken, by
orders to the Commanders of their armed vessels, to
restrain generally our commerce in corn & other
provisions to their own Ports & those of their friends,
the instructions now communicated were immedi-
ately forwarded to our minister at that court. In
the mean time some discussions on the' subject took
place between him & them. These are also laid
1793] Thomas Jefferson 83
before you; & I may expect to learn the result of
his special instructions in time to make it known to
the legislature during their present session.
Very early after the arrival of a British minister
here, mutual explanations on the inexecution of the
treaty of peace were entered into between the Sccrc
tary of State and with that minister. These are
now laid before you for your information.
On the subjects of mutual interest between this
country & Spain, negociations & conferences are now
depending. The public good requiring that the
present state of these should be made known to the
legislature in confidence only, they shall be the sub-
ject of a separate & subsequent communication.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER
(edmond charles genet)
Philadelphia, Nov. 30, 1793.
Sir, — I have laid before the President of the
United States your letter of Nov. 25, and have now
the honor to inform you, that most of its objects,
being beyond the powers of the Executive, they can
only manifest their dispositions by acting on those
which are within their powers. Instructions are
accordingly sent to the district attorneys of the
United States, residing within States wherein French
consuls are established, requiring them to inform
the consuls of the nature of the provisions made by
the laws for preventing, as well as punishing, in-
juries to their persons, and to advise and assist them
84 The Writings of [1793
in calling these provisions into activity, whenever
the occasions for them shall arise.
It is not permitted by the law to prohibit the de-
parture of the emigrants to St. Domingo, according
to the wish you now express, any more than it was
to force them away, according to that expressed by
you in a former letter. Our country is open to all
men, to come and go peaceably, when they choose;
and your letter does not mention that these emi-
grants meant to depart armed and equipped for
war. Lest, however, this should be attempted, the
Governors of the States of Pennsylvania and Mary-
land are requested to have particular attention paid
to the vessels, named in your letter, and to see that
no military expedition be covered or permitted
under color of the right which the passengers have
to depart from these States.
Provisions not being classed among the articles
of contraband in time of war, it is possible that
American vessels may have carried them to the
ports of Jeremie and La Mole, as they do to other
dominions of the belligerent Powers; but, if they
have carried arms, also, these, as being contraband,
might certainly have been stopped and confiscated.
In the letter of May 15, to Mr. Ternant, I men-
tioned, that, in answer to the complaints of the
British minister against the exportation of arms
from the United States, it had been observed, that
the manufacture of arms was the occupation and
livelihood of some of our citizens; that it ought
not to be expected that a war among other nations
should produce such an internal derangement of the
1793] Thomas Jefferson 85
occupations of a nation at peace, as the suppression
of a manufacture which is the support of some of its
citizens ; but that, if they should export these arms to
nations at war, they would be abandoned to the seiz-
ure and confiscation which the law of nations author-
ized to be made of them on the high seas. This letter
was handed to you, and you were pleased, in yours
of May 27, expressly to approve of the answer which
had been given. On this occasion, therefore, we have
only to declare, that the same conduct will be ob-
served which was announced on that.
The proposition to permit all our vessels destined
for any port in the French West India islands should
be stopped, unless furnished with passports from
yourself, is so far beyond the powers of the Execu-
tive, that it will be unnecessary to enumerate the
objections to which it should be liable.
TO THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES j. mss.
December 2, 1793.
Th: Jefferson, with his respects to the President,
has the honor to send him the letters & orders re-
ferred to in mr. Morris's letter, except that of the
8th of April, which must be a mistake for some other
date, as the records of the office perfectly establish
that no letters were written to him in the months of
March & April but those of Mar. 12. & 15. & Apr.
20. & 26. now enclosed. The enigma of Mr. Merlino
is inexplicable by anything in his possession.
He encloses the message respecting France &
86 The Writings of [1793
Great Britain. He first wrote it fair as it was agreed
the other evening at the President's. He then drew
a line with a pen through the passages he proposes
to alter, in consequence of subsequent information
(but so lightly as to leave the passages still legible
for the President) and interlined the alterations he
proposes. The overtures mentioned in the first altera-
tion, are in consequence of its having been agreed
that they should be mentioned in general terms only
to the two houses. The numerous alterations made
the other evening in the clause respecting our corn
trade, with the hasty amendments proposed in the
moment had so much broken the tissue of the para-
graph as to render it necessary to new mould it.
In doing this, care has been taken to use the same
words as nearly as possible, and also to insert a
slight reference to mr. Pinckney's proceedings.
On a severe review of the question, whether the
British communication should carry any such mark
of being confidential as to prevent the legislature
from publishing them, he is clearly of opinion they
ought not. Will they be kept secret if secrecy be
enjoined? certainly not, & all the offence will be
given (if it be possible any should be given) which
would follow their complete publication. If they
could be kept secret, from whom would it be? from
our own constituents only, for Great Britain is
possessed of every tittle. Why, then, keep it secret
from them? no ground of support of the Execu-
tive will ever be so sure as a complete knolege of
their proceedings by the people; and it is only in
cases where the public good would be injured, and
1793] Thomas Jefferson 87
because it would be injured, that proceedings should
be secret. In such cases it is the duty of the Execu-
tive to sacrifice their personal interests (which would
be promoted by publicity) to the public interest. If
the negotiations with England are at an end, if not
given to the public now, when are they to be given?
& what moment can be so interesting? If anything
amiss should happen from the concealment, where
will the blame originate at least? It may be said,
indeed, that the President puts it in the power of
the legislature to communicate these proceedings to
their constituents; but is it more their duty to com-
municate them to their constituents, than it is the
President's to communicate them to his constituents?
and if they were desirous of communicating them,
ought the President to restrain them by making the
communication confidential? I think no harm can
be done by the publication, because it is impossible
England, after doing us an injury, should declare war
against us merely because we tell our constituents of
it : and I think good may be done, because while it
puts it in the power of the legislature to adopt
peaceable measures of doing ourselves justice, it pre-
pares the minds of our constituents to go cheerfully
into an acquiescence under these measures, by im-
pressing them with a thorough & enlightened con-
viction that they are founded in right. The motive
too of proving to the people the impartiality of the
Executive between the two nations of France and
England urges strongly that while they are to see
the disagreeable things which have been going on
as to France we should not conceal from them what
88 The Writings of [1793
has been passing with England, and induce a belief
that nothing has been doing.
CABINET DECISIONS J. mss.
December 7, 1793.
At a meeting of the Heads of Departments and
Attorney-General at the President's, on the 7th of
December, 1793.
Mr. Genet's letter of Dec. 3, questioning the right
of requiring the address of consular commissions to
the President, was read. It is the opinion that the
address may be either to the United States or to the
President of the United States, but that one of these
should be insisted on.
A letter of James King was read, dated Philadel-
phia, Nov. 25, 1793, complaining of the capture of
his schooner Nancy by a British privateer and
carried into New Providence, and that the court
there has thrown the onus probandi on the owners,
to show that the vessel and cargo are American
property. It is the opinion that Mr. King be in-
formed, that it is a general rule that the government
should not interpose individually, till a final denial
of justice has taken place in the courts of the country
where the wrong is done; but that, a considerable
degree of information being shortly expected relative
to these cases, his will be further considered and
attended to at that time.
The Secretary of State informed the President
that he had received a number of applications from
Mr. Genet, on behalf of the refugees of St. Domingo,
1793] Thomas Jefferson 89
who have been subjected to tonnage on their vessels
and duties on their property, on taking asylum in
the ports of this country, into which they were
forced by the misfortunes of that colony. It is the
opinion that the Secretary of State may put the
petitions into the hands of a member of the legisla-
ture in his private capacity, to be presented to the
legislature.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER j. mss.
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Philadelphia, December 9, 1793.
Sir, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 3d instant, which has been duly laid
before the President.
We are very far from admitting your principle, that
the government on either side has no other right, on
the presentation of a consular commission, than to
certify that, having examined it, they find it accord-
ing to rule. The governments of both nations have
a right, and that of yours has exercised it as to us,
of considering the character of the person appointed ;
the place for which he is appointed, and other
material circumstances; and of taking precautions
as to his conduct, if necessary; and this does not
defeat the general object of the convention, which,
in stipulating that consuls shall be permitted on both
sides, could not mean to supersede reasonable ob-
jections to particular persons, who might at the
moment be obnoxious to the nation to which they
were sent, or whose conduct might render them so
90 The Writings of [1793
at any time after. In fact, every foreign agent de-
pends on the double will of the two governments, of
that which sends him, and of that which is to permit
the exercise of his functions within their territory;
and when either of these wills is refused or with-
drawn, his authority to act within that territory
becomes incomplete. By what member of the
government the right of giving or withdrawing per-
mission is to be exercised here, is a question on
which no foreign agent can be permitted to make
himself the umpire. It is sufficient for him, under
our government, that he is informed of it by the
executive.
On an examination of the commissions from your
nation, among our records, I find that before the
late change in the form of our government, foreign
agents were addressed sometimes to the United
States, and sometimes to the Congress of the United
States, that body being then the executive as well
as legislative. Thus the commissions of Messrs.
L'Etombe, Holker, D'annemoures, Marbois, Creve-
cceur, and Chateauf ort, have all this clause : ' ' Prions
et requerons nos tres chers et grands amis et allies,
les Etats Unis de l'Amerique septentrionale, leurs
gouverneurs, et autres officiers, &c. de laisser jouir,
&c. le dit sieur, &c. de la charge de notre consul," &c.
On the change in the form of our government, foreign
nations, not undertaking to decide to what member
of the new government their agents should be ad-
dressed, ceased to do it to Congress, and adopted the
general address to the United States, before cited.
This was done by the government of your own
1793] Thomas Jefferson 91
nation, as appears by the commissions of Messrs.
Mangourit and La Forest, which have in them the
clause before cited. So your own commission was,
not as M. Gerard's and Luzerne's had been, "a nos
tres chers, &c. le President et membres du Congres
general des Etats Unis," &c, but "a nos tres chers,
&c. les Etats Unis de l'Amerique," &c. Under this
general address, the proper member of the govern-
ment was included, and could take it up. When,
therefore, it was seen in the commission of Messrs.
Dupont and Hauterive, that your executive had re-
turned to the ancient address to Congress, it was
conceived to be an inattention, insomuch that I do
not recollect (and I do not think it material enough
to inquire) whether I noticed it to you either ver-
bally or by letter. When that of M. Dannery was
presented with the like address, being obliged to
notice to you an inaccuracy of another kind, I then
mentioned that of the address, not calling it an
innovation, but expressing my satisfaction, which is
still entire, that it was not from any design in your
Executive Council. The Exequatur was therefore
sent. That they will not consider our notice of it
as an innovation, we are perfectly secure. No
government can disregard formalities more than
ours. But when formalities are attacked with a
view to change principles, and to introduce an entire
independence of foreign agents on the nation with
whom they reside, it becomes material to defend
formalities. They would be no longer trifles, if they
could, in defiance of the national will, continue a
foreign agent among us whatever might be his course
92 The Writings of [1793
of action. Continuing, therefore, the refusal to re-
ceive any commission from yourself, addressed to an
improper member of the government, you are left
free to use either the general one to the United
States, as in the commissions of Messrs. Mangourit
and La Forest, before cited, or the special one, to the
President of the United States.
I have the honor to be, with respect, Sir, your
most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES j. mss.
December n, 1793.
The President doubtless recollects the communi-
cations of mr. Ternant expressing the dissatisfaction
of the Executive council of France with mr. Morris,
our minister there, which, however mr. Ternant de-
sired might be considered as informal: that Col°
Smith also mentioned that dissatisfaction, & that
mr. Le Brun told him he would charge mr. Genet
expressly with their representations on this subject ;
& that all further consideration thereon lay over
therefore for mr. Genet's representations.
Mr. Genet, some time after his arrival (I cannot
now recollect how long, but I think it was a month
or more) coming to my house in the country one
evening, joined me in a walk near the river. Our
conversation was on various topics, & not at all of
an official complexion. As we were returning to the
house being then I suppose on some subject relative
to his country (tho' I really do not recall to mind
1793] Thomas Jefferson 93
what it was), he turned about to me, just in the
passage of the gate, & said, "but I must tell you we
all depend on you to send us a good minister there,
with whom we may do business confidentially, in the
place of mr. Morris." These are perhaps not the
identical words, yet I believe they are nearly so; I
am sure they are the substance, & he scarcely em-
ployed more in the expression. It was unexpected
& to avoid the necessity of an extempore answer,
I instantly said something resuming the preceding
thread of conversation, which went on, & no more
was said about mr. Morris. From this, I took it for
granted he meant now to come forward formally
with complaints against mr. Morris, as we had been
given to expect, & therefore I mentioned nothing of
this little expression to the President. Time slipped
along, I expecting his complaints, & he not making
them. It was undoubtedly his office to bring for-
ward his own business himself, & not at all mine, to
hasten or call for it ; & if it was not my duty, I could
not be without reasons for not taking it on myself
officiously. He at length went to New York, to wit,
about the of without having done anything
formally on this subject. I now became uneasy lest
he should consider the little sentence he had uttered
to me as effectually, tho' not regularly, a complaint.
But the more I reflected on the subject, the more
impossible it seemed that he could have viewed it as
such; & the rather, because, if he had, he would
naturally have asked from time to time, "Well, what
are you doing with my complaint against mr. Mor-
ris?" or some question equivalent. But he never
94 The Writings of [1793
did. It is possible I may, at other times have heard
him speak unfavorably of mr. Morris, tho' I do not
recollect any particular occasion, but I am sure he
never made to me any proposition to have him re-
called. I believe I mentioned this matter to mr.
Randolph before I left Philadelphia: I know I did
after my return; but I did not to the President till
the receipt of mr. Genet's letter of Sep. 30, which
from some unaccountable delay of the post never
came to me in Virginia, tho' I remained there till
Oct. 25. (and received there three subsequent mails),
and it never reached me in Philadelphia till Dec. 2.
The preceding is the state of this matter, as nearly
as I can recollect it at this time, & I am sure it is not
materially inaccurate in any point.
TO MR. CHURCH j. mss.
Philadelphia Dec n, 1793.
Sir, — The President has received your letter of
Aug. 16. with its enclosures. It was with deep con-
cern that he learnt the unhappy fortunes of M. de la
Fayette, and that he still learns his continuance un-
der them. His friendship for him could not fail to
impress him with the desire of relieving him, and he
was sure that in endeavoring to do this, he should
gratify the sincere attachments of his fellow citizens.
He has accordingly employed such means as ap-
peared the most likely to effect his purpose; tho'
under the existing circumstances, he could not be
sanguine in their obtaining very immediately the
1793] Thomas Jefferson 95
desired effect. Conscious, however, that his anxie-
ties for the sufferer flow from no motives unfriendly
to those who feel an interest in his confinement, he
indulges their continuance, & will not relinquish the
hope that the reasons for this severity will at length
yield to those of a more benign character.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER. j. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
Philadelphia, December 15, 1793.
Sir, — I am to acknowledge the honor of your
letter of November 30th, and to express the satis-
faction with which we learn, that you are instructed
to discuss with us the measures, which reason and
practicability may dictate for giving effect to the
stipulations of our treaty, yet remaining to be exe-
cuted. I can assure you, on the part of the United
States, of every disposition to lessen difficulties, by
passing over whatever is of smaller concern, and
insisting on those matters only, which either justice
to individuals or public policy render indispensable ;
and in order to simplify our discussions, by defining
precisely their objects, I have the honor to propose
that we shall begin by specifying, on each side, the
particular acts which each considers to have been
done by the other, in contravention of the treaty. I
shall set the example.
The provisional and definitive treaties, in their
7th article, stipulated that his "Britannic Majesty
should, with all convenient speed, and without caus-
ing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes,
96 The Writings of [1793
or other property, of the American inhabitants, with-
draw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets, from the said
United States, and from every port, place, and har-
bor, within the same."
But the British garrisons were not withdrawn with
all convenient speed, nor have ever yet been with-
drawn from Machilimackinac, on Lake Michigan;
Detroit, on the strait of Lakes Erie and Huron ; Fort
Erie, on Lake Erie; Niagara, Oswego, on Lake On-
tario; Oswegatchie, on the river St. Lawrence; Point
Au-fer, and Dutchman's Point, on Lake Champlain.
2d. The British officers have undertaken to ex-
ercise a jurisdiction over the country and inhabitants
in the vicinities of those forts ; and
3d. They have excluded the citizens of the United
States from navigating, even on our side of the
middle line of the rivers and lakes established as a
boundary between the two nations.
By these proceedings, we have been intercepted
entirely from the commerce of furs with the Indian
nations, to the northward — a commerce which had
ever been of great importance to the United States,
not only for its intrinsic value, but as it was the
means of cherishing peace with those Indians, and
of superseding the necessity of that expensive warfare
we have been obliged to carry on with them, during
the time that these posts have been in other hands.
On withdrawing the troops from New York, 1st.
A large embarkation of negroes, of the property of
the inhabitants of the United States, took place be-
fore the commissioners on our part, for inspecting
and superintending embarkations, had arrived there,
I793] Thomas Jefferson 97
and without any account ever rendered thereof.
2d. Near three thousand others were publicly carried
away by the avowed order of the British command-
ing officer, and under the view, and against the
remonstrances of our commissioners. 3d. A very
great number were carried off in private vessels, if
not by the express permission, yet certainly without
opposition on the part of the commanding officer,
who alone had the means of preventing it, and with-
out admitting the inspection of the American com-
missioners; and 4th. Of other species of property
carried away, the commanding officer permitted no
examination at all. In support of these facts, I
have the honor to enclose you documents, a list of
which will be subjoined, and in addition to them, I
beg leave to refer to a roll signed by the joint com-
missioners, and delivered to your commanding officer
for transmission to his court, containing a description
of the negroes publicly carried away by his order as
before mentioned, with a copy of which you have
doubtless been furnished.
A difference of opinion, too, having arisen as to
the river intended by the plenipotentiaries to be the
boundary between us and the dominions of Great
Britain, and by them called the St. Croix, which
name, it seems, is given to two different rivers, the
ascertaining of this point becomes a matter of present
urgency; it has heretofore been the subject of appli-
cation from us to the Government of Great Britain.
There are other smaller matters between the two
nations, which remain to be adjusted, but I think it
would be better to refer these for settlement through
VOL. VIII. — 7.
98 The Writings of [1793
the ordinary channel of our ministers, than to embar-
rass the present important discussions with them;
they can never be obstacles to friendship and harmony.
Permit me now, sir, to ask from you a specification
of the particular acts, which, being considered by his
Britannic Majesty as a non-compliance on our part
with the engagement contained in the 4th, 5th, and
6th articles of the treaty, induced him to suspend
the execution of the 7th, and render a separate dis-
cussion of them inadmissible. And accept assur-
ances, &c.
REPORT ON THE PRIVILEGES AND RESTRICTIONS ON
THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES IN FOR-
EIGN COUNTRIES *
The Secretary of State, to whom was referred by the
House of Representatives, the report of a com-
mittee on the written message of the President of
the United States, of the 14th of February, 1791,
with instructions to report to Congress the nature
and extent of the privileges and restrictions of the
commercial intercourse of the United States with
foreign nations, and the measures which he should
think proper to be adopted for the improvement of
the commerce and navigation of the same, has had
the same under consideration, and thereupon
makes the following Report:
The countries with which the United States
have their chief commercial intercourse are Spain,
* Transmitted to Congress in the following letter:
[December 16, 1793.]
"Sir, — According to the pleasure of the House of Representatives,
expressed in their resolution of February 23, 1791, I now lay before
1793] Thomas Jefferson 99
Portugal, France, Great Britain, the United Nether-
lands, Denmark, and Sweden, and their American
them a report on the privileges and restrictions on the commerce of the
United States in foreign countries. In order to keep the subject
within those bounds which I supposed to be under the contemplation
of the House, I have restrained my statements to those countries only
with which we carry on a commerce of some importance, and to those
articles also of our produce which are of sensible weight in the scale of
our exports ; and even these articles are sometimes grouped together,
according to the degree of favor or restriction with which they are
received in each country, and that degree expressed in general terms
without detailing the exact duty levied on each article. To have gone
•fully into these minutias, would have been to copy the tariffs and books
of rates of the different countries, and to have hidden, under a mass of
details, those general and important truths, the extraction of which, in
a simple form, I conceived would best answer the inquiries of the
House, by condensing material information within those limits of
time and attention, which this portion of their duties may justly claim.
The plan, indeed, of minute details which have been impracticable
with some countries, for want of information.
"Since preparing this report, which was put into its present form
in time to have been given in to the last session of Congress alterations
of the conditions of our commerce with some foreign nations have
taken place — some of them independent of war; some arising out of it.
"France has proposed to enter into a new treaty of commerce with
us, on liberal principles ; and has, in the meantime, relaxed some of the
restraints mentioned in the report. Spain has, by an ordinance of
June last, established New Orleans, Pensacola, and St. Augustine into
free ports, for the vessels of friendly nations having treaties of commerce
with her, provided they touch for a permit at Corcubion in Gallicia,
or at Alicant; and our rice is, by the same ordinance, excluded from
that country. The circumstances of war have necessarily given us
freer access to the West Indian islands, whilst they have also drawn on
our navigation vexations and depredations of a most serious nature.
"To have endeavored to describe all these, would have been as im-
practicable as useless, since the scenes would have been shifting while
under description. I therefore think it best to leave the report as it
was formed, being adapted to a particular point of time, when things
were in their settled order, that is to say, to the summer of 1792. I
have the honor to be, &c.
"To the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of
America,"
See VII., pp. 234, 240, 243, and 246.
IOO
The Writings of
[1793
possessions; and the articles of export, which consti-
tute the basis of that commerce, with their respective
amounts, are,
Breadstuff, that is to say, bread grains
t
meals, and bread, to the annual
amount of $7,649,887
Tobacco
4.349-567
Rice
1,753.796
Wood ....
1.263,534
Salted fish ....
941,696
Pot and pearl ash .
839.093
Salted meats
599.130
Indigo
537,379
Horses and mules .
339.753
Whale oil .
252,591
Flax seed
236,072
Tar, pitch and turpentine
217,177
Live provisions
137.743
Ships ....
Foreign goods
620,274
To descend to articles of smaller value than these,
would lead into a minuteness of detail neither neces-
sary nor useful to the present object.
The proportions of our exports, which go to the
nations before mentioned, and to their dominions,
respectively, are as follows:
To Spain and its dominions .
Portugal and its dominions .
France and its dominions
Great Britain and its dominions
$2,005,907
1,283,462
4,698,735
9,363,416
1793]
Thomas Jefferson
IOI
The United Netherlands and their do-
minions $1,963,880
Denmark and its dominions . . . 224,415
Sweden and its dominions . . . 47,240
Our imports from the same countries, are,
Spain and its dominions . . . 335,110
Portugal and its dominions . . . 595,763
France and its dominions . . . 2,068,348
Great Britain and its dominions . . 15,285,428
United Netherlands and their dominions . 1 , 1 7 2 ,692
Denmark and its dominions . . . 351,364
Sweden and its dominions . . . 14,325
These imports consist mostly of articles on which
industry has been exhausted.
Our navigation, depending on the same commerce,
will appear by the following statement of the ton-
nage of our own vessels, entering in our ports, from
those several nations and their possessions, in one
year; that is to say, from October, 1789^0 Septem-
ber, 1790, inclusive, as follows:
Tons.
Spain .
19,695
Portugal
• 23,576
France .
116,410
Great Britain
. 43.580
United Netherlands .
. 58,858
Denmark .
• 14,655
Sweden
750
Of our commercial objects, Spain receives favor-
ably our breadstuff, salted fish, wood, ships, tar,
102 The Writings of [1793
pitch, and turpentine. On our meals, however, as
well as on those of other foreign countries, when re-
exported to their colonies, they have lately imposed
duties of from half-a-dollar to two dollars the barrel,
the duties being so proportioned to the current price
of their own flour, as that both together are to make
the constant sum of nine dollars per barrel.
They do not discourage our rice, pot and pearl ash,
salted provisions, or whale oil; but these articles,
being in small demand at their markets, are carried
thither but in a small degree. Their demand for
rice, however, is increasing. Neither tobacco nor
indigo are received there. Our commerce is per-
mitted with their Canary islands under the same
conditions.
Themselves, and their colonies, are the actual con-
sumers of what they receive from us.
Our navigation is free with the kingdom of Spain ;
foreign goods being received there in our ships on
the same conditions as if carried in their own, or
in the vessels of the country of which such goods
are the manufacture or produce. ,,•, .
Portugal receives favorably our grain and bread,
salted fish, and other salted provisions, wood, tar,
pitch and turpentine.
For flax-seed, pot and pearl ash, though not dis-
couraged, there is little demand.
Our ships pay 20 per cent, on being sold to their
subjects, and are then free-bottoms.
Foreign goods (except those of the East Indies) are
received on the same footing in our vessels as in their
own, or any others; that is to say, on general duties
i793l Thomas Jefferson 103
of from 20 to 28 per cent., and, consequently, our
navigation is unobstructed by them. Tobacco, rice,
and meals, are prohibited. _
Themselves and their colonies consume what they
receive from us.
These regulations extend to the Azores, Madeira,
and the Cape de Verd islands, except that in these,
meals and rice are received freely.
France receives favorably our bread-stuffs, rice,
wood, pot and pearl ashes.
A duty of 5 sous the quintal, or nearly 4^ cents,
is paid on our tar, pitch, and turpentine. Our whale
oils pay 6 livres the quintal, and are the only foreign
whale oils admitted. Our indigo pays 5 livres the
quintal, their own 2^; but a difference of quality,
still more than a difference of duty, prevents its
seeking that market.
Salted beef is received freely for re-exportation;
but if for home consumption, it pays five livres the
quintal. Other salted provisions pay that duty in
all cases, and salted fish is made lately to pay the
prohibitory one of twenty livres the quintal.
Our ships are free to carry thither all foreign goods
which may be carried in their own or any other ves-
sels, except tobaccoes not of our own growth; and
they participate with theirs, the exclusive carriage
of our whale oils and tobaccoes.
During their former government, our tobacco was
under a monopoly, but paid no duties ; and our ships
were freely sold in their ports and converted into
national bottoms. The first national assembly took
from our ships this privilege. They emancipated
io4 The Writings of [1793
tobacco from its monopoly, but subjected it to duties
of eighteen livres, fifteen sous the quintal, carried in
their own vessels, and five livres carried in ours — a
difference more than equal to the freight of the
article.
They and their colonies consume what they re-
ceive from us.
Great Britain receives our pot and pearl ashes free,
whilst those of other nations pay a duty of two shil-
lings and three pence the quintal. There is an equal
distinction in favor of our bar iron ; of which article,
however, we do not produce enough for our own use.
Woods are free from us, whilst they pay some small
duty from other countries. Indigo and flax-seed are
free from all countries. Our tar and pitch pay
eleven pence, sterling, the barrel. From other alien
countries they pay about a penny and a third
more.
Our tobacco, for their own consumption, pays one
shilling and three pence, sterling, the pound, custom
and excise, besides heavy expenses of collection ; and
rice, in the same case, pays seven shillings and four
pence, sterling, the hundred weight; which render-
ing it too dear, as an article of common food, it is
consequently used in very small quantity.
Our salted fish and other salted provisions, except
bacon, are prohibited. Bacon and whale oils are
under prohibitory duties, so are our grains, meals,
and bread, as to internal consumption, unless in
times of such scarcity as may raise the price of wheat
to fifty shillings, sterling, the quarter, and other
grains and meals in proportion.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 105
Our ships, though purchased and navigated by
their own subjects, are not permitted to be used,
even in their trade with us.
While the vessels of other nations are secured by
standing laws, which cannot be altered but by the
concurrent will of the three branches of the British
legislature, in carrying thither any produce or manu-
facture of the country to which they belong, which
may be lawfully carried in any vessels, ours, with
the same prohibition of what is foreign, are further
prohibited by a standing law (12 Car. 2, 18, sect. 3),
from carrying thither all and any of our own domes-
tic productions and manufactures. A subsequent
act, indeed, has authorized their executive to per-
mit the carriage of our own productions in our own
bottoms, at its sole discretion; and the permission
has been given from year to year by proclamation,
but subject every moment to be withdrawn on that
single will; in which event, our vessels having any-
thing on board, stand interdicted from the entry of
all British ports. The disadvantage of a tenure
which may be so suddenly discontinued, was ex-
perienced by our merchants on a late occasion,1
when an official notification that this law would be
strictly enforced, gave them just apprehensions for
the fate of their vessels and cargoes despatched or
destined for the ports of Great Britain. The minis-
ter of that court, indeed, frankly expressed his per-
sonal convictions that the words of the order went
farther than was intended, and so he afterwards
officially informed us; but the embarrassments of
1 April 12, 1792. — T. J.
106 The Writings of ^793
the moment were real and great, and the possibility
of their renewal lays our commerce to that country
under the same species of discouragement as to
other countries, where it is regulated by a single
legislator; and the distinction is too remarkable not
to be noticed, that our navigation is excluded from
the security of fixed laws, while that security is given
to the navigation of others.
Our vessels pay in their ports one shilling and nine
pence, sterling, per ton, light and trinity dues, more
than is paid by British ships, except in the port of
London, where they pay the same as British.
The greater part of what they receive from us, is
re-exported to other countries, under the useless
charges of an intermediate deposit, and double
voyage. From tables published in England, and
composed, as is said, from the books of their custom-
houses, it appears, that of the indigo imported there
in the years 1773, '4, '5, one-third was re-exported;
and from a document of authority, we learn, that of
the rice and tobacco imported there before the war,
four-fifths were re-exported. We are assured, in-
deed, that the quantities sent thither for re-exporta-
tion since the war, are considerably diminished, yet
less so than reason and national interest would dic-
tate. The whole of our grain is re-exported when
wheat is below fifty shillings the quarter, and other
grains in proportion.
The United Netherlands prohibit our pickled beef
and pork, meals and bread of all sorts, and lay a
prohibitory duty on spirits distilled from grain.
All other of our productions are received on varied
1793] Thomas Jefferson 107
duties, which may be reckoned, on a medium, at
about three per cent.
They consume but a small proportion of what they
receive. The residue is partly forwarded for con-
sumption in the inland parts of Europe, and partly
re-shipped to other maritime countries. On the
latter portion they intercept between us and the
consumer, so much of the value as is absorbed in
the charges attending an intermediate deposit.
Foreign goods, except some East India articles,
are received in vessels of any nation.
Our ships may be sold and neutralized there, with
exceptions of one or two privileges, which somewhat
lessen their value.
Denmark lays considerable duties on our tobacco
and rice, carried in their own vessels, and half as
much more, if carried in ours ; but the exact amount
of these duties is not perfectly known here. They
lay such duties as amount to prohibitions on our
indigo and corn.
Sweden receives favorably our grains and meals,
salted provisions, indigo, and whale oil.
They subject our rice to duties of sixteen mills the
pound weight, carried in their own vessels, and of
forty per cent, additional on that, or twenty -two
and four-tenths mills, carried in ours or any others.
Being thus rendered too dear as an article of common
food, little of it is consumed with them. They con-
sume some of our tobaccoes, which they take circuit-
ously through Great Britain, levying heavy duties
on them also ; their duties of entry, town duties, and
excise, being 4.34 dollars the hundred weight, if
108 The Writings of [1793
carried in their own vessels, and of forty per cent, on
that additional, if carried in our own or any other
vessels.
They prohibit altogether our bread, fish, pot and
pearl ashes, flax-seed, tar, pitch, and turpentine,
wood (except oak timber and masts), and all foreign
manufactures.
Under so many restrictions and prohibitions, our
navigation with them is reduced to almost nothing.
With our neighbors, an order of things much
harder presents itself.
Spain and Portugal refuse, to all those parts of
America which they govern, all direct intercourse
with any people but themselves. The commodities
in mutual demand between them and their neigh-
bors, must be carried to be exchanged in some port
of the dominant country, and the transportation
between that and the subject state, must be in a
domestic bottom.
France, by a standing law, permits her West India
possessions to receive directly our vegetables, live
provisions, horses, wood, tar, pitch, turpentine, rice,
and maize, and prohibits our other bread stuff ; but
a suspension of this prohibition having been left to
the colonial legislatures, in times of scarcity, it was
formerly suspended occasionally, but latterly with-
out interruption.
Our fish and salted provisions (except pork) are
received in their islands under a duty of three
colonial livres the quintal, and our vessels are as
free as their own to carry our commodities thither,
and to bring away rum and molasses.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 109
Great Britain admits in her islands our vegetables,
live provisions, horses, wood, tar, pitch, and turpen-
tine, rice and bread stuff, by a proclamation of her
executive, limited always to the term of a year, but
hitherto renewed from year to year. She prohibits
our salted fish and other salted provisions. She
does not permit our vessels to carry thither our own
produce. Her vessels alone may take it from us,
and bring in exchange rum, molasses, sugar, coffee,
cocoa-nuts, ginger, and pimento. There are, indeed,
some freedoms in the island of Dominica, but, under
such circumstances, as to be little used by us. In
the British continental colonies, and in Newfound-
land, all our productions are prohibited, and our
vessels forbidden to enter their ports. Their govern-
ors, however, in times of distress, have power to
permit a temporary importation of certain articles
in their own bottoms, but not in ours.
Our citizens cannot reside as merchants or factors
within any of the British plantations, this being ex-
pressly prohibited by the same statute of 12 Car. 2,
c. 18, commonly called the navigation act.
In the Danish American possessions a duty of 5
per cent, is levied on our corn, corn meal, rice,
tobacco, wood, salted fish, indigo, horses, mules and
live stock, and of 10 per cent, on our flour, salted
pork and beef, tar, pitch and turpentine.
In the American islands of the United Netherlands
and Sweden, our vessels and produce are received,
subject to duties, not so heavy as to have been com-
plained of; but they are heavier in the Dutch pos-
sessions on the continent.
no The Writings of [1793
To sum up these restrictions, so far as they are
important :
First. In Europe —
Our bread stuff is at most times under prohibitory-
duties in England, and considerably dutied on re-
exportation from Spain to her colonies.
Our tobaccoes are heavily dutied in England,
Sweden and France, and prohibited in Spain and
Portugal.
Our rice is heavily dutied in England and Sweden,
and prohibited in Portugal.
Our fish and salted provisions are prohibited in
England, and under prohibitory duties in France.
Our whale oils are prohibited in England and
Portugal.
And our vessels are denied naturalization in Eng-
land, and of late in France.
Second. In the West Indies —
All intercourse is prohibited with the possessions
of Spain and Portugal.
Our salted provisions and fish are prohibited by
England.
Our salted pork and bread stuff (except maize)
are received under temporary laws only, in the
dominions of France, and our salted fish pays there
a weighty duty.
Third. In the article of navigation —
Our own carriage of our own tobacco is heavily
dutied in Sweden, and lately in France.
We can carry no article, not of our own production,
to the British ports in Europe. Nor even our own
produce to her American possessions.
1793] Thomas Jefferson in
Such being the restrictions on the commerce and
navigation of the United States ; the question is, in
what way they may best be removed, modified or
counteracted?
As to commerce, two methods occur, i. By
friendly arrangements with the several nations with
whom these restrictions exist; Or, 2. By the separate
act of our own legislatures for countervailing their
effects.
There can be no doubt but that of these two, friendly
arrangements is the most eligible. Instead of em-
barrassing commerce under piles of regulating laws,
duties, and prohibitions, could it be relieved from
all its shackles in all parts of the world, could every
country be employed in producing that which nature
has best fitted it to produce, and each be free to ex-
change with others mutual surplusses for mutual
wants, the greatest mass possible would then be pro-
duced of those things which contribute to human
life and human happiness ; the numbers of mankind
would be increased, and their condition bettered.
Would even a single nation begin with the United
States this system of free commerce, it would be
advisable to begin it with that nation ; since it is one
by one only that it can be extended to all. Where
the circumstances of either party render it expedient
to levy a revenue, by way of impost, on commerce,
its freedom might be modified, in that particular, by
mutual and equivalent measures, preserving it entire
in all others.
Some nations, not yet ripe for free commerce in all
its extent, might still be willing to mollify its re-
ii2 The Writings of [1793
strictions and regulations for us, in proportion to the
advantages which an intercourse with us might offer.
Particularly they may concur with us in reciprocating
the duties to be levied on each side, or in compensat-
ing any excess of duty by equivalent advantages of
another nature. Our commerce is certainly of a
character to entitle it to favor in most countries.
The commodities we offer are either necessaries of
life, or materials for manufacture, or convenient
subjects of revenue; and we take in exchange, either
manufactures, when they have received the last
finish of art and industry, or mere luxuries. Such
customers may reasonably expect welcome and
friendly treatment at every market. Customers,
too, whose demands, increasing with their wealth
and population, must very shortly give full employ-
ment to the whole industry of any nation whatever,
in any line of supply they may get into the habit of
calling for from it.
But should any nation, contrary to our wishes,
suppose it may better find its advantage by con-
tinuing its system of prohibitions, duties and regu-
lations, it behooves us to protect our citizens, their
commerce and navigation, by counter prohibitions,
duties and regulations, also. Free commerce and
navigation are not to be given in exchange for re-
strictions and vexations ; nor are they likely to pro-
duce a relaxation of them.
Our navigation involves still higher considerations.
As a branch of industry, it is valuable, but as a re-
source of defence, essential.
Its value, as a branch of industry, is enhanced by
1793] Thomas Jefferson 113
the dependence of so many other branches on it.
In times of general peace it multiplies competitors
for employment in transportation, and so keeps that
at its proper level; and in times of war, that is to
say, when those nations who may be our principal
carriers, shall be at war with each other, if we have
not within ourselves the means of transportation,
our produce must be exported in belligerent vessels,
at the increased expence of war-freight and insur-
ance, and the articles which will not bear that, must
perish on our hands.
But it is as a resource of defence that our naviga-
tion will admit neither negligence nor forbearance.
The position and circumstances of the United States
leave them nothing to fear on their land-board,
and nothing to desire beyond their present rights.
But on their seaboard, they are open to injury,
and they have there, too, a commerce which must
be protected. This can only be done by possess-
ing a respectable body of citizen-seamen, and of
artists and establishments in readiness for ship-
building.
Were the ocean, which is the common property of
all, open to the industry of all, so that every person
and vessel should be free to take employment wher-
ever it could be found, the United States would
certainly not set the example of appropriating to
themselves, exclusively, any portion of the common
stock of occupation. They would rely on the enter-
prise and activity of their citizens for a due participa-
tion of the benefits of the seafaring business, and for
keeping the marine class of citizens equal to their
VOL. VIII. — 8.
ii4 The Writings of [1793
object. But if particular nations grasp at undue
shares, and, more especially, if they seize on the
means of the United States, to convert them into
aliment for their own strength, and withdraw them
entirely from the support of those to whom they
belong, defensive and protecting measures become
necessary on the part of the nation whose marine
resources are thus invaded; or it will be disarmed
of its defence; its productions will lie at the mercy
of the nation which has possessed itself exclusively of
the means of carrying them, and its politics may
be influenced by those who command its commerce.
The carriage of our own commodities, if once estab-
lished in another channel, cannot be resumed in the
moment we may desire. If we lose the seamen and
artists whom it now occupies, we lose the present
means of marine defence, and time will be requisite
to raise up others, when disgrace or losses shall bring
home to our feelings the error of having abandoned
them. The materials for maintaining our due share
of navigation, are ours in abundance. And, as to
the mode of using them, we have only to adopt
the principles of those who put us on the defens-
ive, or others equivalent and better fitted to our
circumstances.
The following principles, being founded in re-
ciprocity, appear perfectly just, and to offer no
cause of complaint to any nation.
1. Where a nation imposes high duties on our pro-
ductions, or prohibits them altogether, it may be
proper for us to do the same by theirs; first burden-
ing or excluding those productions which they bring
1793] Thomas Jefferson 115
here, in. competition with our own of the same kind ;
selecting next, such manufactures as we take from
them in greatest quantity, and which, at the same
time, we could the soonest furnish to ourselves, or
obtain from other countries; imposing on them
duties lighter at first, but heavier and heavier after-
wards, as other channels of supply open. Such
duties having the effect of indirect encouragement
to domestic manufactures of the same kind, may
induce the manufacturer to come himself into these
States, where cheaper subsistence, equal laws, and
a vent of his wares, free of duty, may insure him the
highest profits from his skill and industry. And
here, it would be in the power of the State govern-
ments to co-operate essentially, by opening the re-
sources of encouragement which are under their
control, extending them liberally to artists in those
particular branches of manufacture for which their
soil, climate, population and other circumstances
have matured them, and fostering the precious
efforts and progress of household manufacture, by
some patronage suited to the nature of its objects,
guided by the local informations they possess, and
guarded against abuse by their presence and atten-
tions. The oppressions on our agriculture, in foreign
ports, would thus be made the occasion of relieving
it from a dependence on the councils and conduct of
others, and of promoting arts, manufactures and
population at home.
2. Where a nation refuses permission to our mer-
chants and factors to reside within certain parts of
their dominions, we may, if it should be thought
u6 The Writings of ^793
expedient, refuse residence to theirs in any and every
part of ours, or modify their transactions.
3. Where a nation refuses to receive in our vessels
any productions but our own, we may refuse to
receive, in theirs, any but their own productions.
The first and second clauses of the bill reported
by the committee, are well formed to effect this
object.
4. Where a nation refuses to consider any vessel
as ours which has not been built within our terri-
tories, we should refuse to consider as theirs, any
vessel not built within their territories.
5. Where a nation refuses to our vessels the car-
riage even of our own productions, to certain coun-
tries under their domination, we might refuse to
theirs of every description, the carriage of the same
productions to the same countries. But as justice
and good neighborhood would dictate that those who
have no part in imposing the restriction on us,
should not be the victims of measures adopted to
defeat its effect, it may be proper to confine the
restrictions to vessels owned or navigated by any
subjects of the same dominant power, other than
the inhabitants of the country to which the said
productions are to be carried. And to prevent all
inconvenience to the said inhabitants, and to our
own, by too sudden a check on the means of
transportation, we may continue to admit the ves-
sels marked for future exclusion, on an advanced
tonnage, and for such length of time only, as
may be supposed necessary to provide against that
inconvenience.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 117
The establishment of some of these principles
by Great Britain, alone, has already lost to us
in our commerce with that country and its pos-
sessions, between eight and nine hundred vessels
of near 40,000 tons burden, according to state-
ments from official materials, in which they have
confidence. This involves a proportional loss of
seamen, shipwrights, and ship-building, and is too
serious a loss to admit forbearance of some effectual
remedy.
It is true we must expect some inconvenience in
practice from the establishment of discriminating
duties. But in this, as in so many other cases, we
are left to choose between two evils. These incon-
veniences are nothing when weighed against the loss
of wealth and loss of force, which will follow our
perseverance in the plan of indiscrimination. When
once it shall be perceived that we are either in the
system or in the habit of giving equal advantages to
those who extinguish our commerce and navigation
by duties and prohibitions, as to those who treat
both with liberality and justice, liberality and justice
will be converted by all into duties and prohibitions.
It is not to the moderation and justice of others we
are to trust for fair and equal access to market with
our productions, or for our due share in the trans-
portation of them; but to our own means of inde-
pendence, and the firm will to use them. Nor do
the inconveniences of discrimination merit considera-
tion. Not one of the nations before mentioned,
perhaps not a commercial nation on earth, is with-
out them. In our case one distinction alone will
n8 The Writings of ^793
suffice: that is to say, between nations who favor
our productions and navigation, and those who do
not favor them. One set of moderate duties, say
the present duties, for the first, and a fixed advance
on these as to some articles, and prohibitions as to
others, for the last.
Still, it must be repeated that friendly arrange-
ments are preferable with all who will come into
them; and that we should carry into such arrange-
ments all the liberality and spirit of accommodation
which the nature of the case will admit.
France has, of her own accord, proposed nego-
tiations for improving, by a new treaty on fair
and equal principles, the commercial relations of the
two countries. But her internal disturbances have
hitherto prevented the prosecution of them to effect,
though we have had repeated assurances of a con-
tinuance of the disposition.
Proposals of friendly arrangement have been made
on our part, by the present government, to that of
Great Britain, as the message states; but, being
already on as good a footing in law, and a better in
fact, than the most favored nation, they have not,
as yet, discovered any disposition to have it meddled
with.
We have no reason to conclude that friendly ar-
rangements would be declined by the other nations,
with whom we have such commercial intercourse as
may render them important. In the meanwhile it
would rest with the wisdom of Congress to determine
whether, as to those nations, they will not surcease
ex parte regulations, on the reasonable presumption
1793] Thomas Jefferson 119
that they will concur in doing whatever justice and
moderation dictate should be done.
TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL j. mss.
(EDMUND RANDOLPH)
Philadelphia, Dec. 18. 1793
Sir, — The Minister Plenipotentiary of France has
inclosed to me the copy of a letter of the 16th inst.
which he addressed to you, stating that some libellous
publications had been made against him by mr. Jay,
chief Justice of the U. S. & mr. King, one of the
Senators for the state of New York, & desiring that
they might be prosecuted. This letter has been laid
before the President, according to the request of
the Minister, & the President, never doubting your
readiness on all occasions to perform the functions
of your office, yet thinks it incumbent on him to
recommend it specially on the present occasion, as
it concerns a public character peculiarly entitled to
the protection of the laws. On the other hand, as
our citizens ought not be to vexed with groundless
prosecutions, duty to them requires it to be added,
that if you judge the prosecution in question to be
of that nature, you consider this recommendation
as not extending to it; it's only object being to
engage you to proceed in this case according to
the duties of your office, the laws of the land &
the privileges of the parties concerned. I have the
honor &c.
120 The Writings of [1793
OPINION ON NEUTRAL TRADE
Dec. 20th, 1793.
Explanation of the origin of the principle that "free
bottoms make free goods "
A doubt being entertained whether the use of the
word modern, as applied to the law of nations in the
President's proclamation, be not inconsistent with
ground afterwards taken in a letter to Genet, I will
state the matter while it is fresh in my mind, —
beginning it from an early period.
It cannot be denied that according to the general
law of nations, the goods of an enemy are lawful
prize in the bottom of a friend, and the goods of a
friend privileged in the bottom of an enemy; or in
other words, that the goods follow the owner. The
inconvenience of this principle in subjecting neutral
vessels to vexatious searches at sea, has for more
than a century rendered it usual for nations to sub-
stitute a conventional principle that the goods shall
follow the bottom, instead of the natural one before
mentioned. France has done it in all her treaties ;
so I believe had Spain, before the American Revo-
lution. Britain had not done it. When that war
had involved those powers, Russia, foreseeing that
her commerce would be much harassed by the
British ships, engaged Denmark, Sweden, and Por-
tugal to arm, and to declare that the conventional
principle should be observed by the powers at war,
towards neutrals, and that they would make common
cause against the party who should violate it; de-
claring expressly, at the same time, that that Con-
1793] Thomas Jefferson 121
vention should be in force only during the war then
existing. Holland acceded to the Convention, and
Britain instantly attacked her. But the other
neutral powers did not think proper to comply with
their stipulation of making common cause. France
declared at once that she would conform to the con-
ventional principle. This in fact imposed no new
obligation on her, for she was already bound by
her treaties with all those powers to observe that
principle. Spain made the same declaration. Con-
gress gave similar orders to their vessels; but Con-
gress afterwards gave instructions to their ministers
abroad not to engage them in any future combina-
tion of powers for the general enforcement of the
conventional principle that goods should follow the
bottom, as this might at some time or other engage
them in a war for other nations ; but to introduce the
principle separately with every nation by the treaties
they were authorized to make with each. It had
been already done with France and Holland, and it
was afterwards done with Prussia, and made a
regular part in every treaty they proposed to others.
After the war, Great Britain established it between
herself and France. When she engaged in the
present war with France, it was thought extremely
desirable for us to get this principle admitted by her,
and hoping that as she had acceded to it in one in-
stance, she might be induced to admit it as a prin-
ciple now settled by the common consent of nations,
(for every nation, belligerent or neutral, had stipu-
lated it on one or more occasions,) that she might be
induced to consider it as now become a conventional
122 The Writings of [1793
law of nations, I proposed to insert the word modern
in the proclamation, to open upon her the idea that
we should require the acquiescence in that principle
as the condition of our remaining in peace. It was
thought desirable by the other gentlemen; but hav-
ing no expectation of any effect from it, they ac-
quiesced in the insertion of the word, merely to
gratify me. I had another view, which I did not
mention to them, because I apprehended it would
occasion the loss of the word.
By the ancient law of nations, e. g. in the time of
the Romans, the furnishing a limited aid of troops,
though stipulated, was deemed a cause of war. In
latter times, it is admitted not to be a cause of war.
This is one of the improvements in the law of na-
tions. I thought we might conclude, by parity of
reasoning, that the guaranteeing a limited portion
of territory, in a stipulated case might not, by the
modern law of nations, be a cause of war. I there-
fore meant by the introduction of that word, to lay
the foundation of the execution of our guarantee, by
way of negotiation with England. The word was,
therefore, introduced, and a strong letter was written
to Mr. Pinckney to observe to Great Britain that we
were bound by our treaties with, the other belligerent
powers to observe certain principles during this war:
that we were willing to observe the same principles
towards her; and indeed, that we considered it as
essential to proceed by the same rule to all, and to
propose to her to select those articles concerning our
conduct in a case of our neutrality from any one of our
treaties which she pleased; or that we would take
1793] Thomas Jefferson 123
those from her own treaty with France, and make a
temporary Convention of them for the term of the
present war; and he was instructed to press this
strongly. I told Genet that we had done this; but
instead of giving us time to work our principles into
effect by negotiation, he immediately took occasion
in a letter, to threaten that if we did not resent the
conduct of the British in taking French property in
American bottoms and protect their goods by ef-
fectual measures (meaning by arms), he would give
direction that the principle of our treaty of goods
following the bottom should be disregarded. He
was, at the same time, in the habit of keeping our
goods taken in British bottoms ; so that they were
to take the gaining alternative of each principle, and
give us the losing one. It became necessary to op-
pose this in the answer to his letter, and it was im-
possible to do it soundly, but by placing it on its
own ground, to wit: that the law of nations estab-
lished as a general rule that goods should follow the
owner, and that the making them follow the vessel
was an exception depending on special conventions
only in those cases where the Convention had been
made: that the exception had been established by
us in our treaties with France, Holland, and Prussia,
and that we should endeavor to extend it to Eng-
land, Spain, and other powers; but that till it was
done, we had no right to make war for the enforce-
ment of it. He thus obliged us to abandon in the
first moment the ground we were endeavoring to
gain, that is to say, his ground against England and
Spain, and to take the very ground of England and
124 The Writings of [1793
Spain against him. This was my private reason for
proposing the term modern in the proclamation ; that
it might reserve us a ground to obtain the very-
things he wanted. But the world, who knew no-
thing of these private reasons, were to understand
by the expression the modern law of nations, that
law with all the improvements and mollifications of
it which an advancement of civilization in modern
times had introduced. It does not mean strictly
anything which is not a part of the law of nations in
modern times, and therefore could not be inconsistent
with the ground taken in the letter of Genet, which was
that of the law of nations, and by no means could be
equivalent to a declaration by the President of the
specific principle, that goods should follow the bottom.
TO MARTHA JEFFERSON RANDOLPH j. mss.
Philadelphia, Dec. 22. 1793.
My dear Martha. — In my letter of this day fort-
night to mr. Randolph, and that of this day week to
Maria, I mentioned my wish that my horses might
meet me at Fredericksburg, on the 12th of January.
I now repeat it, lest those letters should miscarry.
The President made yesterday, what I hope will be
the last set at me to continue ; but in this I am now
immovable, by any considerations whatever. My
books & remains of furniture embark tomorrow for
Richmond. These will be as much in bulk as what
went before. I think to address them to Colo.
Gamble. As I retained the longest here the things
most necessary, they are of course those I shall want
1793] Thomas Jefferson 125
soonest when I get home. Therefore I would wish
them, after their arrival to be carried up in preference
to the packages formerly sent. The Nos- most want-
ing will begin at 67. I hope that by the next post I
shall be able to send mr. Randolph a printed copy of
our correspondence with mr. Genet & mr. Ham-
mond, as communicated to Congress. They are now
in the press. Our affairs with England & Spain have
a turbid appearance. The letting loose the Algerines
on us, which has been contrived by England, has
produced peculiar irritation. I think Congress will
indemnify themselves by high duties on all articles of
British importation. If this should produce war tho'
not wished for, it seems not to be feared. My best
affections to mr Randolph, Maria. & our friends with
you. Kisses to the little ones. Adieu my dear
Martha. Yours with all love.
TO THE BRITISH MINISTER j. mss.
(GEORGE HAMMOND)
Philadelphia Deer. 26. 1793.
Sir, — Your letter of the 23rd instant, desiring an
ascertainment, in the mode pointed out in my letter
of Septr. 5. of the losses occasioned by waste, spolia-
tion, and detention, of the Sloop Hope, taken on the
10th of August, by the privateer la Citoyen Genet,
brought into this port the 14th and restored on the
20th in consequence of the orders of this Govern-
ment, has been laid before the President.
I have observed to you in the letter of Sept. 5. that
we were bound by Treaties with three of the belliger-
ent powers, to protect their vessels on our coast &
126 The Writings, of [1793
waters, by all the means in our power: that if these
means were sincerely used in any case, and should
fail in their effect, we should not be bound to make
compensation to those nations. Though these means
should be effectual, and restitution of the vessel be
made; yet if any unnecessary delay, or other de-
fault in using them should have been the cause of a
considerable degree of waste or spoliation, we should
probably, think we ought to make it good: but
whether the claim be for compensation of a vessel not
restored, or for spoliation before her restitution, it
must be founded on some default in the Government.
Though we have no treaty with Great Britain, we
are in fact in the course of extending the same treat-
ment to her, as to nations with which we are in
treaty : and we extend the effect of our stipulations
beyond our coasts & waters, as to vessels taken and
brought into our ports, by those which have been
illicitly armed in them. But still the foundation of
claim from hazard of them, must be some palpable
default on the part of our Government. Now none
such is alledged in the case of the sloop Hope. She
appears to have been delivered within 6 days after
her arrival in port, a shorter term than we can
possibly count upon in general. Perhaps too the
term may have been still shorter between notice to
the proper officer and restitution; for the time of
notice is not mentioned. This then, not being a case
where compensation seems justly demandable from
us, the President thinks it unnecessary to give any
order for ascertaining the degree of injury sustained.
I have stated to the President, the desire you ex-
1793] Thomas Jefferson 127
pressed to me in conversation, that the orders pro-
posed to be given for ascertaining damages, in the
special cases described in my letter of Sep. 5., should
be rendered general, so that a valuation might be
obtained by the officers of the Customs, whenever
applied to by a Consul, without the delay of sending
for the orders of the Executive in every special case.
The President is desirous not only that justice shall
be done, but that it shall be done in all cases without
delay. He therefore, will have such general orders
given to the collector of the customs in every state.
But you must be pleased to understand that the
valuation in such case, is to be a mere provisory
measure, not producing any presumption whatever
that the case is one of those whereon compensation
is due, but that the question whether it is due or
not shall remain as free and uninfluenced as if the
valuation had never been made. I have the honor
to be &c.
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON COMMERCE
[Dec. 30. 1793.]
The Secretary of State, to whom the President of the
United States referred the resolution of the House
of Representatives of December 24, 1793, desiring
the substance of all such laws, decrees, or ordin-
ances, respecting commerce in any of the countries
with which the United States have commercial
intercourse, as have been received by the Secretary
of State, and not already stated to the House in
his report of the 16th instant, reports:
That he has had an official communication of a
Decree rendered by the National Assembly of France
i28 The Writings of [1793
on the 26th day of March last, of which the following
is a translation:
DECREE
"Exempting from all duties the subsistences and
other objects of supply in the Colonies, relative to
the United States, pronounced in the sitting of the
26th of March, 1793, 2d year of the French Republic.
"The National Convention, willing to prevent by
precise dispositions, the difficulties that might arise
relatively to the execution of its decree of the 19th
February last, concerning the United States of
America — to grant favors to this ally-nation, and to
treat it, in its commercial relations with the Colonies
of France, in the same manner as the vessels of the
Republic — decree as follows :
"Art. 1. From the day of the publication of the
present decree in the French-American Colonies, the
vessels of the United States, of the burdens of sixty
tons at the least, laden only with meals and sub-
sistences, as well as the objects of supply announced
in article 2, of the arre't of 30th August, 1784, as also
lard, butter, salted salmon, and candies shall be
admitted into the ports of said Colonies exempt from
all duties. The same exemption shall extend to the
French vessels laden with the same articles, and
coming from a foreign port.
"Art. 2. The captains of vessels of the United
States, who, having brought into the French Ameri-
can Colonies the objects comprised in the above
article, wish to return to the territory of the said
States, may lade in the said Colonies, independent
1793] Thomas Jefferson 129
of sirups, rum, taffias, and French merchandises, a
quantity of coffee equivalent to the one -fiftieth of
the tonnage of every vessel, as also a quantity of
sugar equal to one-tenth, on conforming to the fol-
lowing articles:
"Art. 3. Every captain of an American vessel,
who wishes to make returns to the United States of
coffee and sugar of the French Colonies, shall make
it appear that his vessel entered therein with at least
two-thirds of her cargo, according to article 1. For
this purpose, he shall be obliged to transmit, within
twenty-four hours after his arrival, to the custom-
house of the place he may land at, a certificate of the
marine agents, establishing the guage of his vessel
and the effective tonnage of her cargo. The heads
of the said custom-houses shall assure themselves
that the exportation of the sugars and coffee does
not exceed the proportion fixed by the second article
of the present decree.
"Art. 4. The captains of vessels of the United
States of America shall not pay, on going from the
islands, as well as those of the Republic, but a duty
of 5 livres per quintal of indigo, 10 livres per thousand
weight of cotton, 5 livres per thousand weight of
coffee, s livres per thousand weight of brown and
clayed sugars, and 50 sols per thousand weight of
raw sugar. Every other merchandise shall be ex-
empt from duty on going out of the Colonies.
"Art. 5. The sugars and coffee which shall be
laden shall pay at the custom-houses which are es-
tablished in the colonies, or that shall be established,
in addition to the duties above fixed, those imposed
VOL. VIII. — 9.
130 The Writings of [1793
by the law of 19th March, 1 791, on the sugars and
coffee imported from the said Colonies to France,
and conformably to the same law.
"Art. 6. The captains of vessels of the United
States, who wish to lade merchandises of the said
Colonies, for the ports of France, shall furnish the
custom-house at the place of departure with the
bonds required of the masters of French vessels by
the second article of the law of 10th July, 1791, to
secure the unlading of these merchandises in the
ports of the Republic.
"Art. 7. The vessels of the nations with whom
the French Republic is not at war may carry to the
French American Colonies all the objects designated
by the present decree. They may also bring, into
the ports of the Republic only, all the productions
of the said Colonies, on the conditions announced in
the said decree, as well as that of 19th of February.
"Copy conformable to the original,
"Genet."
That he has not received officially any copy of the
decree said to have been rendered by the same As-
sembly on the 27th day of July last, subjecting the
vessels of the United States laden with provisions to
be carried, against their will, into the ports of France,
and those having enemy goods on board to have
such goods taken out as legal prize.
That an ordinance has been passed by the Govern-
ment of Spain, on the 9th day of June last, the sub-
stance of which has been officially communicated to
him in the following words, to wit:
1793] Thomas Jefferson 131
"Extract of an Ordinance that the inhabitants of
Louisiana, being deprived of their commerce with
France, (on account of the war,) as allowed by the
ordinance of January, 1782, &c, His Majesty con-
sidering that they and the inhabitants of the Floridas
cannot subsist without the means of disposing of
their productions and of acquiring those necessary
for their own consumption; for that purpose, and
to increase the national commerce — the commerce
of those provinces and their agriculture — has directed
the following articles to be provisionally observed :
"The inhabitants of the above-mentioned pro-
vinces to be allowed to commerce freely both in
Europe and America with all friendly nations who
have treaties of commerce with Spain; New Orleans,
Pensacola, and St. Augustine, to be ports for that
purpose. No exception as to the articles to be sent
or to be received. Every vessel, however, to be
subjected to touch at Corcubion, in Gallicia, or
Alicant, and to take a permit there, without which,
the entry not to be allowed in the ports above
mentioned.
"The articles of this commerce, carried on thus
directly between those provinces and foreign nations
to pay a duty of fifteen per cent, importation, ex-
cept negroes, who may be imported free of duty.
The productions and silver exported to purchase
those negroes to pay the six per. cent, exportation
duty. The exportation of silver to be allowed for
this purpose only.
"The commerce between Spain and those pro-
vinces to remain free. Spaniards to be allowed to
132 The Writings of [1793
observe the same rules and to fit out from the same
ports (in vessels wholly belonging to them, without
connexion with foreigners) for those provinces as
for the other Spanish Colonies.
"To remove all obstacles to this commerce, all
sorts of merchandise destined for Louisiana and the
Floridas (even those whose admission is prohibited
for other places) may be entered in the ports of
Spain, and, in like manner, tobacco and all other
prohibited articles may be imported into Spain from
these provinces, to be re-exported to foreign countries.
"To improve this commerce and encourage the
agriculture of those provinces the importation of
foreign rice into the ports of Spain is prohibited, and
a like preference shall be given to the other produc-
tions of these provinces, when they shall suffice for
the consumption of Spain.
"All articles exported from Spain to these pro-
vinces shall be free of duty on exportation, and such
as being foreign, shall have paid duty on importation
into Spain, shall have it restored to exporters.
"These foreign articles, thus exported, to pay a
duty of three per. cent, on entry into those provinces.
Those which are not foreign to be free of duty.
"The articles exported from those provinces to
Spain to be free of duty, whether consumed in Spain
or re-exported to foreign countries.
"Those Spanish vessels which, having gone from
Spain to those provinces, should desire to bring back
productions from thence directly to the foreign ports
of Europe, may do it on paying a duty of exportation
of three per. cent.
1793] Thomas Jefferson 133
"All vessels, both Spanish and foreign, sailing to
those provinces, to be prohibited from touching at
any other port in His Majesty's American Dominions.
"No vessel to be fitted out from New Orleans,
Pensacola, or St. Augustine for any of the Spanish
islands or other Dominions in America, except for
some urgent cause, in which only the respective
Governors to give a permission, but without allow-
ing any other articles to be embarked than the pro-
ductions of those provinces.
"All foreign vessels purchased by His Majesty's
subjects, and destined for this commerce, to be ex-
empted from those duties to which they are at
present subjected, they proving that they are abso-
lute and sole proprietors thereof."
He takes this occasion to note an act of the British
Parliament of the 28 George III., chap. 6, which,
though passed before the epoch to which his report
aforesaid related, had escaped his researches. The
effect of it was to convert the proclamations regulat-
ing our direct intercourse with their West Indian
Islands into a standing law, and so far to remove
the unfavorable distinction between us and foreign
nations, stated in the report, leaving it, however, in
full force as to our circuitous intercourse with the
same islands, and as to our general intercourse,
direct and circuitous, with Great Britain and all her
other Dominions.
134 The Writings of [1793
TO DR. ENOCH EDWARDS j. mss.
Philadelphia, Deer. 30, 1793.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of
your two favors of July 30th. & Aug. 16. and thank
you for the information they contained. We have
now assembled a new Congress, being a fuller &
more equal representation of the people, and likely I
think, to approach nearer to the sentiments of the
people in the demonstration of their own. They
have the advantage of a very full communication
from the Executive of the ground on which we stand
with foreign nations. Some very unpleasant trans-
actions have taken place here with Mr. Genet, of
which the world will judge, as the correspondence
is now in the press; as is also that with mr. Ham-
mond on our points of difference with his nation.
Of these you will doubtless receive copies. Had
they been out yet, I should have had the pleasure of
sending them to you; but to-morrow I resign my
office, and two days after set out for Virginia where
I hope to spend the remainder of my days in occu-
pations infinitely more pleasing than those to which
I have sacrificed 18. years of the prime of my life; I
might rather say 24. of them. — Our campaign
against the Indians has been lost by an unsuccessful
effort to effect peace by treaty, which they pro-
tracted till the season for action was over. The
attack brought on us from the Algerines is a ray
from the same centre. I believe we shall endeavor
to do ourselves justice in a peaceable and rightful
way. We wish to have nothing to do in the present
war; but if it is to be forced upon us, I am happy to
1793] Thomas Jefferson 135
see in the countenances of all but our paper men a
mind ready made up to meet it, unwillingly, indeed,
but perfectly without fear. No nation has strove
more than we have done to merit the peace of all by
the most rigorous impartiality to all. — Sr John
Sinclair's queries shall be answered from my retire-
ment. I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most
obedient servant.
TO THE FRENCH MINISTER
(EDMOND CHARLES GENET)
Philadelphia, Deer. 31, 1793.
Sir, — I have laid before the President of the
United States your letter of the 20th instant, ac-
companying translations of the instructions given
you by the Executive Council of France to be dis-
tributed among the members of Congress, desiring
that the President will lay them officially before both
houses, and proposing to transmit successively other
papers, to be laid before them in like manner: and I
have it in charge to observe, that your functions as
the missionary of a foreign nation here, are confined
to the transactions of the affairs of your nation with
the Executive of the United States, that the com-
munications, which are to pass between the Execu-
tive and Legislative branches, cannot be a subject
for your interference, and that the President must
be left to judge for himself what matters his duty
or the public good may require him to propose to
the deliberations of Congress. I have therefore the
136 The Writings of [1793
honor of returning you the copies sent for distribu-
tion, and of being, with great respect, Sir, your most
obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES j. mss.
Philadelphia, Dec. 31, 1793.
Dear Sir, — Having had the honor of communi-
cating to you in my letter of the last of July, my pur-
pose of retiring from the office of Secretary of State
at the end of the month of September, you were
pleased for particular reasons, to wish it's postpone-
ment to the close of the year. That term being now
arrived, & my propensities to retirement daily more
& more irresistible, I now take the liberty of resign-
ing the office into your hands. Be pleased to accept
with it my sincere thanks for all the indulgences
which you have been so good as to exercise towards
me in the discharge of it's duties. Conscious that
my need of them has been great, I have still ever
found them greater, without any other claim on my
part than a firm pursuit of what has appeared to me
to be right, and a thorough disdain of all means
which were not as open & honorable, as their object
was pure. I carry into my retirement a lively sense
of your goodness, & shall continue gratefully to re-
member it. With very sincere prayers for your life,
health and tranquility, I pray you to accept the
homage of the great & constant respect & attach-
ment with which I have the honor to be Dear Sir
your most obedient &c.
*794] Thomas Jefferson 137
TO ARCHIBALD STUART T
Monticello Jan. 26. 1794.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 2 2d has been duly-
received, and, in consequence of it, my manager Mr.
Biddle now sets out for the sheep, as the approach of
yearning season leaves no time to spare as to them.
I could have wished to have made one trip serve for
them & the potatoes, but I am advised that the latter
would be in danger of freezing on the road. I must
therefore, as to them wait for milder weather. I
arrived at home on the 1 5th inst. When I left Phila-
delphia there was a great dearth of foreign news.
Since my arrival here there are rumors favorable to
France; but I know nothing particular. The Fed-
eral house of Representatives had given some pleas-
ing expectations of their dispositions, by one or two
leading votes. However, Mr. Madison's proposi-
tions, set for the 13^ inst. would be a better proof of
the character of the majority. I think the next
week's post may bring us some vote or votes on them
which may indicate what we are to expect. — Now
settled at home as a farmer I shall hope you will
never pass without calling, and that you will make
this your head quarters whenever you visit the
neighborhood. Accept sincere assurances of my
friendship & respect.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH j. mss.
Monticello, Feb. 3, 1794.
Dear Sir, — I have to thank you for the transmis-
sion of the letters from Genl Gates, La Motte, &
T From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical Society.
138 The Writings of [1794
Hauterive. I perceive by the latter, that the par-
tisans of the one or the other principle (perhaps of
both) have thought my name a convenient cover for
declarations of their own sentiments. What those
are to which Hauterive alludes, I know not, having
never seen a newspaper since I left Philadelphia (ex-
cept those of Richmond) and no circumstances
authorize him to expect that I should inquire into
them, or answer him. I think it is Montaigne who
has said, that ignorance is the softest pillow on which
a man can rest his head. I am sure it is true as to
everything political, and shall endeavor to estrange
myself to everything of that character. I indulge
myself on one political topic only, that is, in declaring
to my countrymen the shameless corruption of a por-
tion of the representatives to the i** & 2? Congresses
and their. implicit devotion to the treasury. I think
I do good in this, because it may produce exertions
to reform the evil, on the success of which the form
of the government is to depend. * * *
At Richmond, our market, no property of any form,
would command money even before the interruption
of business by the smallpox. Produce might be
bartered at a low price for goods at a high one. One
house alone bought wheat at all, & that on credit. I
take this to be the habitual state of the markets on
James river, to which shortlived exceptions have
existed when some particular cash commission for
purchases has been received from abroad. I know
not how it is on the other rivers, & therefore say
nothing as to them.
This is the first letter I have written to Philadel-
1794] Thomas Jefferson 139
phia since my arrival at home, & yours the only ones
I have received.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Monticello, Feb. 15, 1794.
Dear Sir, — We are here in a state of great quiet,
having no public news to agitate us. I have never
seen a Philadelphia paper since I left that place, nor
learnt anything of later date except some successes
of the French the account of which seemed to have
come by our vessel from Havre. It was said yester-
day at our court that Genet was to be recalled: how-
ever nobody could tell how the information came.
We have been told that mr. Smith's speech & your's
also on your propositions have got into Davis's
papers, but none of them have reached us. I could
not have supposed, when at Philadelphia, that so
little of what was passing there could be known even
at Kentucky, as is the case here. Judging from this
of the rest of the Union, it is evident to me that the
people are not in a condition either to approve or
disapprove of their government, nor consequently
influence it. * * *
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
Monticello Mar. n, 1794.
Dear Sir, — The small pox at Richmond has cut
off the communication by post to or through that
place. I should have thought it duty to have
removed his office a little way out of town, that the
140 The Writings of [1794
communication might not have been interrupted, in-
stead of that it is said the inhabitants of the country-
are to be prosecuted because they thought it better
to refuse a passage to his postriders than take the
smallpox from them. Straggling travellers who
have ventured into Rich™d now and then leave a
newspaper with Col? Bell. Two days ago we got
that with the debates on the postponement of mr.
Madison's propositions. I have never received a
letter from Philadelphia since I left it except a line
or two from E. R. There is much enquiry for the
printed correspondence with Hammond, of which
no copy had come to Richmond some days ago. We
have heard of one at Staunton.
Our winter was mild till the middle of January, but
since the 22? of that month (when my observations
begun) it has been 23. mornings out of 49. below the
freezing point, and once as low as 140. It has also
been very wet. Once a snow of 6. I. which lay 5.
days, and lately a snow of 4. I. which laid on the
plains 4. days. There have been very few ploughing
days since the middle of January, so that the farmers
were never backwarder in their preparations. Wheat
we are told is from 5/6 to 6/ at Richmond, but
whether cash can be got for it I have not heard. At
Milton it is 4/6 payable in goods only at from 50. to
100. per cent above the Philadelphia prices, which
renders the wheat worth in fact half a dollar. I do
not believe that 1000 bushels of wheat could be sold
at Milton & Charlottesville for 1/ a bushel cash.
Such is the present scarcity of cash here, & the
general wretched situation of commerce in this coun-
1794] Thomas Jefferson 141
try. We are told that the market for wheat at
Richmond will cease on the departure of the French
fleet. * * *
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticeiao, Apr. 3, 1794.
Dear Sir, — Our post having ceased to ride ever
since the inoculation began in Richmond, till now, I
received three days ago, & all together, your friendly
favors of March the 2d. 9. 12. 14. and Colo. Mon-
roe's of Mar. the 3. & 16. I have been particularly
gratified by the receipt of the papers containing yours
& Smith's discussion of your regulating propositions.
These debates had not been seen here but in a very
short & mutilated form. I am at no loss to ascribe
Smith's speech to it's true father. Every tittle of
it is Hamilton's except the introduction. There is
scarcely anything there which I have not heard from
him in our various private tho' official discussions.
The very turn of the arguments is the same, and
others will see as well as myself that the style is
Hamilton's. The sophistry is too fine, too ingenious,
even to have been comprehended by Smith, much
less devised by him. His reply shews he did not
understand his first speech, as its general inferiority
proves it's legitimacy, as evidently as it does the
bastardy of the original. You know we had under-
stood that Hamilton had prepared a counter report,
& that some of his humble servants in the Senate
were to move a reference to him in order to produce
it. But I suppose they thought it would have a
better effect if fired off in the H. of Representatives.
142 The Writings of [1794
I find the 'Report, however, so fully justified, that the
anxieties with which I left it are perfectly quieted.
In this quarter, all espouse your propositions with
ardor, & without a dissenting voice. The rumor of
a declaration of war has given an opportunity of
seeing, that the people here, tho' attentive to the
loss of value of their produce in such an event, yet
find in it a gratification of some other passions, &
particularly of their ancient hatred to Gr. Britain.
Still, I hope it will not come to that: but that the
proposition will be carried, and justice be done our-
selves in a peaceable way. As to the guarantee of
the French islands, whatever doubts may be enter-
tained of the moment at which we ought to interpose,
yet I have no doubt but that we ought to interpose
at a proper time, and declare both to England &
France that these islands are to rest with France,
and that we will make a common cause with the
latter for that object. — As to the naval armament,
the land armament, & the Marine fortifications which
are in question with you, I have no doubt they will
all be carried. Not that the monocrats & paper
men in Congress want war; but they want armies
& debts: and tho' we may hope that the sound part
of Congress is now so augmented as to insure a
majority in cases of general interest merely, yet I
have always observed that in questions of expense,
where members may hope either for offices or jobs
for themselves or their friends, some few will be
debauched, & that is sufficient to turn the decision
where a majority is, at most, but small. I have
never seen a Philadelphia paper since I left it, till
1794] Thomas Jefferson 143
those you enclosed me; and I feel myself so thor-
oughly weaned from the interest I took in the pro-
ceedings there, while there, that I have never had a
wish to see one, and believe that I never shall take
another newspaper • of any sort. I find my mind
totally absorbed in my rural occupations. * * *
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Monticello Apr. 24. 94.
I wrote to Mr. Madison on the 3? inst. Since that
I have received his of Mar. 24. 26. 31. & Apr. 14. and
yours of Mar. 26. 31 & Apr. 2. which had been accu-
mulating in the post office of Richmond. The spirit
of war has grown much stronger in this part of the
country, as I can judge of myself, and in other parts
along the mountains from N. E. to S. W. as I have
had opportunities of learning by enquiry. Some
few very quiet people, not suffering themselves to
be inflamed as others are by kicks & cuffs Gt. Britain
has been giving us, express a wish to remain in peace.
But the mass of thinking men seem to be of opinion
that we have borne as much as to invite eternal in-
sults in future should not a very spirited conduct be
now assumed. For myself, I wish for peace, if it can
be preserved, salv§ fide et honore. I learn by your
letters & mr. Madison's that a special mission to
England is meditated, & H. the missionary. A more
degrading measure could not have been proposed:
and why is Pinckney to be recalled ? For it is impos-
sible he should remain there after such a testimony
that he is not confided in. I suppose they think him
144 The Writings of [1794
not thorough fraud enough: I suspect too the mis-
sion, besides the object of placing the aristocracy of
this country under the patronage of that government,
has in view that of withdrawing H. from the disgrace
& the public execrations which sooner or later must
fall on the man who partly by erecting fictitious
debt, partly by volunteering in the payment of the
debts of others, who could have paid them so much
more conveniently themselves, has alienated for ever
all our ordinary & easy resources, & will oblige us
hereafter to extraordinary ones for every little con-
tingency out of the common line : and who has lately
brought the P. forward with manifestations that the
business of the treasury had got beyond the limits
of his comprehension : — Let us turn to more pleasing
themes.
TO JOHN ADAMS j. mss.
Monticello, Apr. 25, 1794.
Dear Sir, — I am to thank you for the book you
were so good as to transmit me, as well as the letter
covering it, and your felicitations on my present
quiet. The difference of my present & past situation
is such as to leave me nothing to regret, but that my
retirement has been postponed four years too long.
The principles on which I calculate the value of life,
are entirely in favor of my present course. I return
to farming with an ardor which I scarcely knew in
my youth, and which has got the better entirely of
my love of study. Instead of writing 10. or 12.
letters a day, which I have been in the habit of doing
1794] Thomas Jefferson H5
as a thing of course, I put off answering my letters
now, farmer-like, till a rainy day, & then find it
sometimes postponed by other necessary occupa-
tions. The case of the Pays de Vaud is new to me.
The claims of both parties are on grounds which, I
fancy, we have taught the world to set little store by.
The rights of one generation will scarcely be con-
sidered hereafter as depending on the paper trans-
actions of another. My countrymen are groaning
under the insults of Gr Britain. I hope some means
will turn up of reconciling our faith & honor with
peace. I confess to you I have seen enough of one
war never to wish to see another. With wishes of
every degree of happiness to you, both public & pri-
vate, and with my best respects to mrs. Adams, I
am, your affectionate & humble servant.
TO JOHN TAYLOR j. mss.
Monticello May i, 1794.
Dear Sir, — In my new occupation of a farmer I
find a good drilling machine indispensably necessary.
I remember your recommendation of one invented
by one of your neighbors; & your recommendation
suffices to satisfy me with it. I must therefore beg
of you to desire one to be made for me, & if you will
give me some idea of it's bulk, & whether it could
travel here on it's own legs, I will decide whether to
send express for it, or get it sent around by Rich-
mond. Mention at the same time the price of it & I
will have it put in your hands. — I remember I showed
you, for your advice, a plan of a rotation of crops
VOL. VIII. — 10.
146 The Writings of [1794
which I had contemplated to introduce into my own
lands. On a more minute examination of my lands
than I had before been able to take since my return
from Europe, I find their degradation by ill-usage
much beyond what I had expected, & at the same
time much more open land than I had calculated on.
One of these circumstances forces a milder course of
cropping on me, & the other enables me to adopt it.
I drop therefore two crops in my rotation, & instead
of 5. crops in 8. years take 3. in 6. years, in the fol-
lowing order. 1. wheat. 2. corn & potatoes in the
strongest moiety, potatoes alone or peas alone in the
other moiety according to it's strength. 3. wheat or
rye. 4. clover. 5. clover. 6. folding & buckwheat
dressing. In such of my fields as are too much worn
for clover, I propose to try S^oin, which I know will
grow in the poorest land, bring plentiful crops, & is a
great ameliorator. It is for this chiefly I want the
drilling machine as well as for Lucerne. My neigh-
bors to whom I had distributed some seed of the
Succory critybus, bro't from France by Young, &
sent to the President, are much pleased with it. I
am trying a patch of it this year. — This drops from
the tip of Lazarus' finger to cool your tongue. I
have thought even father Abraham would approve.
He refused it to Dives in the common hall, but in
yours he could not do it. Pray let me have a copy
of the pamphlet published on the subject of the bank.
Not even the title of it has ever been seen by my
neighbors. My best affections to the sound part of
our representation in both houses, which I calculate
to be ic-/2oth. Adieu. Your's affectionately.
1794] Thomas Jefferson H7
TO TENCH COXE J. mss.
Monticello, May i, 1794.
Dear Sir, — Your several favors of Feb. 22, 27, &
March 16. which had been accumulating in Richmond
during the prevalence of the small pox in that place,
were lately brought to me, on the permission given
the post to resume his communication. I am par-
ticularly to thank you for your favor in forwarding
the Bee. Your letters give a comfortable view of
French affairs, and later events seem to confirm it.
Over the foreign powers I am convinced they will
triumph completely, & I cannot but hope that that
triumph, & the consequent disgrace of the invading
tyrants, is destined, in the order of events, to kindle
the wrath of the people of Europe against those who
have dared to embroil them in such wickedness, and
to bring at length, kings, nobles, & priests to the
scaffolds which they have been so long deluging with
human blood. I am still warm whenever I think of
these scoundrels, tho I do it as seldom as I can, pre-
ferring infinitely to contemplate the tranquil growth
of my lucerne & potatoes. I have so completely
withdrawn myself from these spectacles of usurpa-
tion & misrule, that I do not take a single newspaper,
nor read one a month ; & I feel myself infinitely the
happier for it. We are alarmed here with the ap-
prehensions of war; and sincerely anxious that it
may be avoided; but not at the expense either of
our faith or honor. It seems much the general
opinion here, that the latter has been too much
wounded not to require reparation, & to seek it even
in war, if that be necessary. As to myself, I love
148 The Writings of [1794
peace, and I am anxious that we should give the
world still another useful lesson, by showing to them
other modes of punishing injuries than by war, which
is as much a punishment to the punisher as to the
sufferer. I love, therefore, mr. Clarke's proposition
of cutting off all communication with the nation
which has conducted itself so atrociously. This, you
will say, may bring on war. If it does, we will meet it
like men ; but it may not bring on war, & then the
experiment will have been a happy one. I believe
this war would be vastly more unanimously approved
than any one we ever were engaged in ; because the
aggressions have been so wanton & bare-faced, and
so unquestionably against our desire. — I am sorry
mr. Cooper & Priestly did not take a more general
survey of our country before they fixed themselves.
I think they might have promoted their own advan-
tage by it, and have aided the introduction of our im-
provement where it is more wanting. The prospect
of wheat for the ensuing year is a bad one. This is
all the sort of news you can expect from me. From
you I shall be glad to hear all sort of news, & par-
ticularly any improvements in the arts applicable to
husbandry or household manufacture.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON j. mss.
Monticello, May 14, 1794.
Dear Sir, — I am honored with your favor of Apr.
24. and received, at the same time, mr. Bertrand's
agricultural Prospectus. ;Tho' he mentions my
1794] Thomas Jefferson 149
having seen him at a particular place, yet I remem-
ber nothing of it, and observing that he intimates an
application for lands in America, I conceive his letter
meant for me as Secretary of state, & therefore I now
send it to the Secretary of state. He has given only
the heads of his demonstrations, so that nothing can
be conjectured of their details. Ld Kaims once pro-
posed an essence of dung, one pint of which should
manure an acre. If he or mr. Bertrand coulci have
rendered it so portable, I should have been 'one of
those who would have been greatly obliged to them.
I find on a more minute examination of my lands
than the short visits heretofore made to them per-
mitted, that a 10. years' abandonment of them to the
unprincipled ravages of overseers, has brought on a
degree of degradation far beyond what I had ex-
pected. As this obliges me to adopt a milder course
of cropping, so I find that they have enabled me to
do it, by having opened a great deal of lands during
my absence. I have therefore determined on a
division of my farms into 6. fields, to be put under
this rotation: 1st. year, wheat; 2d., corn, potatoes,
peas; 3d., rye or wheat, according to circumstances;
4th. & 5th., clover where the fields will bring it, &
buckwheat dressings where they will not; 6th, fold-
ing, and buckwheat dressings. But it will take me
from 3. to. 6. years to get this plan underway. I
am not yet satisfied that my acquisition of overseers
from the head of Elk has been a happy one, or that
much will be done this year towards rescuing my
plantation from their wretched condition. Time,
patience & perseverance must be the remedy; and
150 The Writings of [1794
the maxim of your letter, "slow & sure," is not less
a good one in agriculture than in politics. I sincerely
wish it may extricate us from the event of a war, if
this can be done saving our faith and our rights. My
opinion of the British government is, that nothing
will force them to do justice but the loud voice of
their people, & that this can never be excited but by
distressing their commerce. But I cherish tran-
quillity too much, to suffer political things to enter
my mind at all. I do not forget that I owe you a
letter for mr. Young; but I am waiting to get full
information. With every wish for your health &
happiness, & my most friendly respects for mrs.
Washington, I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your
most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Monticello, May 15. 1794.
Dear Sir, — I wrote you on the 3d. of April, and
since that have received yours of Mar. 24. 26. 31.
Apr. 14. & 28. and yesterday I received Colo Mon-
roe's of the 4th. inst, informing me of the failure of
the Non-importation Bill in the Senate. This body
was intended as a check on the will of the Representa-
tives when too hasty. They are not only that, but
completely so on the will of the people also ; and in
my opinion are heaping coals of fire, not only on their
persons, but on their body, as a branch of the legisla-
ture. I have never known a measure more universally
desired by the people than the passage of that bill.
It is not from my own observation of the wishes of
1794] Thomas Jefferson 151
the people that I would decide what they are, but
from that of the gentlemen of the bar, who move
much with them, & by their intercommunications
with each other, have, under their view, a greater
portion of the country than any other description of
men. It seems that the opinion is fairly launched
into public that they should be placed under the con-
trol of a more frequent recurrence to the will of their
constituents. This seems requisite to compleat the
experiment, whether they do more harm or good?
I wrote lately to mr. Taylor for the pamphlet on the
bank. Since that I have seen the "Definition of
parties," and must pray you to bring it for me. It
is one of those things which merits to be preserved.
— The safe arrival of my books at Richmond, & some
of them at home, has relieved me from anxiety, &
will not be indifferent to you. It turns out that our
fruit has not been as entirely killed as was at first
apprehended; some latter blossoms have yielded a
small supply of this precious refreshment. I was
so improvident as never to have examined at Phila-
delphia whether negro cotton & oznahrigs can be
had there; if you do not already possess the infor-
mation, pray obtain it before you come away. Our
spring has, on the whole, been seasonable; & the
wheat has much recovered as it's thinness would
permit; but the crop must still be a miserable one.
There would not have been seed made but for the
extraordinary rains of the last month. Our highest
heat as yet has been 83. this was on the 4th. inst.
That Blake should not have arrived at the date of
your letter surprises me ; pray inquire into that fact
152 The Writings of [1794
before you leave Philadelphia. According to Colo
Monroe's letter this will find you on the point of
departure. I hope we shall see you here soon after
your return. Remember me affectionately to Colo
& mrs. Monroe, and accept the sincere esteem of,
dear Sir, your sincere friend and servant.
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE j. mss.
(EDMUND RANDOLPH)
Monticeixo, Sep 7, 1794.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of Aug 28. finds me in bed,
under a paroxysm of the Rheumatism which has now
kept me for ten days in constant torment, & presents
no hope of abatement. But the express & the nature
of the case requiring immediate answer, I write to
you under this situation. No circumstances, my
dear Sir, will ever more tempt me to engage in any-
thing public. I thought myself perfectly fixed in
this determination when I left Philadelphia, but
every day & hour since has added to it's inflexibility.
It is a great pleasure to me to retain the esteem &
approbation of the President, and forms the only
ground of any reluctance at being unable to comply
with every wish of his. Pray convey these senti-
ments, & a thousand more to him, which my situa-
tion does not permit me to go into. But however
suffering by the addition of every single word to this
letter, I must add a solemn declaration that neither
Mr. J.1 nor mr. ever mentioned to me one word
1 Probably an allusion to Jaudenes and Viar, the Commissioners from
Spain.
1794] Thomas Jefferson 153
of any want of decorum in mr. Carmichael, nor any-
thing stronger or more special than stated in my
notes of the conversation. Excuse my brevity, my
dear Sir, and accept assurances of the sincere esteem
& respect with which I have the honor to be, your
affectionate friend and servant.
TO WILSON CARY NICHOLAS j. mss.
MONTICELLO, NOV. 22, 1794.
Dear Sir, — I take the liberty of enclosing for
your perusal & consideration a proposal from a mr.
D'lvernois, a Genevan, of considerable distinction
for science and patriotism, & that, too, of the repub-
lican kind, tho you will see that he does not carry it
so far as our friends of the National Assembly of
France. While I was at Paris, I knew him as an
exile from his democratic principles, the aristocracy
having then the upper hand in Geneva. He is now
obnoxious to the democratic party. The sum of his
proposition is to translate the academy of Geneva in
a body to this country. You know well that the
colleges of Edinburgh & Geneva, as seminaries of
science, are considered as the two eyes of Europe;
While Great Britain & America give the preference
to the former, all other countries give it to the latter.
I am fully sensible that two powerful obstacles are
in the way of this proposition, ist. The expense:
2dly. The communication of science in foreign lan-
guages; that is to say, in French or Latin; but I
have been so long absent from my own country as to
154 The Writings of [1794
be an incompetent judge either of the force of the
objections, or of the dispositions of those who are to
decide on them. The respectability of mr. D'lver-
nois' character, & that, too, of the proposition, re-
quire an answer from me, and that it should be given
on due inquiry. He desires secrecy to a certain
degree for the reasons which he explains. What I
have to request of you, my dear Sir, is, that you will
be so good as to consider his proposition, to consult
on it's expediency and practicability with such
gentlemen of the Assembly as you think best, & take
such other measures as you shall find eligible to dis-
cover what would be the sense of that body, were the
proposition to be hazarded to them. If yourself &
friends approve of it, and think there is hope that the
Assembly would do so, your zeal for the good of our
country in general, & the promotion of science, as an
instrument towards that, will, of course, induce you
and them to bring it forward in such a way as you
shall judge best. If, on the contrary, you disapprove
of it yourselves, or think it would be desperate with
the Assembly, be so good as to return it to me with
such information as I may hand forward to mr.
D'lvernois, to put him out of suspense. Keep the
matter by all means out of the public papers, and
particularly, if you please, do not couple my name
with the proposition if brought forward, because it is
much my wish to be in nowise implicated in public
affairs. It is necessary for me to appeal to all my
titles for giving you this trouble, whether founded
in representation, patriotism or friendship. The last,
however, as the broadest, is that on which I wish to
1794] Thomas Jefferson 155
rely, being with sentiments of very cordial esteem,
dear Sir, your sincere friend and humble servant.
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES J. mss.
Monticello Dec. 17, 94.
Dear Sir, — I have made mr Bannisters' affair the
subject of a separate letter, containing a full explana-
tion of it, because by giving in the letter it will give
you no other trouble. I will only add here, what
would have been too urging if expressed there that if
any thing be said of early paiment, I would rather
be allowed to draw on any one there for the money
than have it sent here.
The attempt which has been made to restrain the
liberty of our citizens meeting together, interchange-
ing sentiments on what subjects they please, & stat-
ing their sentiments in the public papers, has come
upon us a full century earlier than I expected. To
demand the censors of public measures to be given
up for punishment is to renew the demand of the
wolves in the fable that the sheep should give up
their dogs as hostages of the peace & confidence es-
tablished between them. The tide against our
constitution is unquestionably strong, but it will
turn. Every thing tells me so, and every day
verifies the prediction. Hold on then like a good &
faithful seaman till our brother-sailors can rouse
from their intoxication & right the vessel. — Make
friends with the trans-Alleganians. They are gone
if you do not. Do not let false pride make a tea-act
of your excise-law. Adieu. Yours affectionately.
156 The Writings of [1794
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticello, Dec. 28, 1794.
Dear Sir, — I have kept mr. Jay's letter a post or
two, with an intention of considering attentively the
observation it contains; but I have really now so
little stomach for anything of that kind, that I have
not resolution enough even to endeavor to under-
stand the observations. I therefore return the
letter, not to delay your answer to it, and beg you
in answering for yourself to assure him of my respects
and thankful acceptance of Chalmers' Treaties,
which I do not possess, and if you possess yourself
of the scope of his reasoning, make any answer to it
you please for me. If it had been on the rotation of
my crops, I would have answered myself, lengthily
perhaps, put certainly con gusto.
The denunciation of the democratic societies is
one of the extraordinary acts of boldness of which
we have seen so many from the fraction of monocrats.
It is wonderful indeed, that the President should
have permitted himself to be the organ of such an
attack on the freedom of discussion, the freedom of
writing, printing & publishing. It must be a matter
of rare curiosity to get at the modifications of these
rights proposed by them, and to see what line their
ingenuity would draw between democratical societies,
whose avowed object is the nourishment of the re-
publican principles of our constitution, and the so-
ciety of the Cincinnati, a self -created one, carving out
for itself hereditary distinctions, lowering over our
Constitution eternally, meeting together in all parts
of the Union, periodically, with closed doors, ac-
1794] Thomas Jefferson 157
cumulating a capital in their separate treasury,
corresponding secretly & regularly, & of which
society the very persons denouncing the democrats
are themselves the fathers, founders, & high officers.
Their sight must be perfectly dazzled by the glitter-
ing of crowns & coronets, not to see the extravagance
of the proposition to suppress the friends of general
freedom, while those who wish to confine that free-
dom to the few, are permitted to go on in their
principles & practices. I here put out of sight the
persons whose misbehavior has been taken advan-
tage of to slander the friends of popular rights ; and
I am happy to observe, that as far as the circle of
my observation & information extends, everybody
has lost sight of them, and views the abstract at-
tempt on their natural & constitutional rights in all
it's nakedness. I have never heard, or heard of, a
single expression or opinion which did not condemn
it as an inexcusable aggression. And with respect
to the transactions against the excise law, it appears
to me that you are all swept away in the torrent of
governmental opinions, or that we do not know what
these transactions have been. We know of none
which, according to the definitions of the law, have
been anything more than riotous. There was in-
deed a meeting to consult about a separation. But
to consult on a question does not amount to a deter-
mination of that question in the affirmative, still
less to the acting on such a determination; but we
shall see, I suppose, what the court lawyers, &
courtly judges, & would-be ambassadors will make
of it. The excise law is an infernal one. The first
158 The Writings of [1794
error was to admit it by the Constitution; the 2d.,
to act on that admission; the 3d & last will be, to
make it the instrument of dismembering the Union,
& setting us all afloat to chuse which part of it we
will adhere to. The information of our militia, re-
turned from the Westward, is uniform, that tho the
people there let them pass quietly, they were objects
of their laughter, not of their fear; that 1000 men
could have cut off their whole force in a thousand
places of the Alleganey; that their detestation of
the excise law is universal, and has now associated
to it a detestation of the government; & that
separation which perhaps was a very distant &
problematical event, is now near, & certain, & de-
termined in the mind of every man. I expected to
have seen some justification of arming one part of
the society against another ; of declaring a civil war
the moment before the meeting of that body which
has the sole right of declaring war; of being so
patient of the kicks & scoffs of our enemies, & rising
at a feather against our friends ; of adding a million
to the public debt & deriding us with recommenda-
tions to pay it if we can Sec, &c. But the part of the
speech which was to be taken as a justification of
the armament, reminded me of parson Saunder's
demonstration why minus into minus make plus.
After a parcel of shreds of stuff from ^Esop's fables,
and Tom Thumb, he jumps all at once into his Ergo,
minus multiplied into minus make plus. Just so
the 15,000 men enter after the fables, in the speech.
— However, the time is coming when we shall fetch
up the leeway of our vessel. The changes in your
1794] Thomas Jefferson 159
house, I see, are going on for the better, and even the
Augean herd over your heads are slowly purging off
their impurities. Hold on then, my dear friend,
that we may not shipwreck in the meanwhile. I
do not see, in the minds of those with whom I con-
verse, a greater affliction than the fear of your retire-
ment; but this must not be, unless to a more
splendid & a more efficacious post. There I should
rejoice to see you; I hope I may say, I shall re-
joice to see you. I have long had much in my
mind to say to you on that subject. But double
delicacies have kept me silent. I ought perhaps to
say, while I would not give up my own retirement
for the empire of the universe, how I can justify
wishing one whose happiness I have so much at
heart as yours, to take the front of the battle which
is fighting for my security. This would be easy
enough to be done, but not at the heel of a lengthy
epistle. * * *
NOTES FOR A CONSTITUTION « j. mss.
Every male citizen of the commonwealth liable
to taxes or to militia duty in any county shall have
a right to vote for representatives for that county to
the legislature. The legislature shall provide that
returns be made to themselves periodically of the
qualified voters in every county, by their name and
qualification.2 The legislalme shall consist of not
1 These rough notes are without date, but the paper is watermarked
1794.
2 On the margin is written the following:
"The legislature to provide for having periodical returns to them of
the qualified electors of every county, to wit, every man of full age
160 The Writings of [1794
le3S than 150 nor more that 300 rcprcoontativoo, and
from the whole number of qualified voters in the
commonwealth such an Unit of representation shall
from time to time be taken as will keep the number
of representatives within the limits of 150 and 300
allowing to every county. Every county shall send
a representative for every Unit & fraction exceeding
of more than half an Unit as actually votc3 at the
election 30 as not to exceed the number of repre-
sentatives last allowed to it by the legislature it
contains.
Every elector may vote for as many representa-
tives as were allowed apportioned by the legislature
to his county at the last establishment of the Unit.
But to many representatives no person actually
receiving fewer votes than the Unit shall be deemed
elected, except that where more than half and loss
than the whole unit vote. But so many only shall
be deemed elected as there are Units actually voting
on that particular election, adding one for any
fraction of votes exceeding the half Unit. Nor
shall more be deemed elected than the number
last apportioned. If a county has not a half unit of
who pays taxes to govrnt. or is of militia. From the whole number of
qualified electors in the state, an Unit of representation to be obtained,
and every county to send a representative for every Unit or fraction
exceeding an half Unit which actually votes at the election. If a
county has not an half Unit, add its votes to another.
"The Unit to be taken from time to time that the Legislature may
consist of not less than 150 nor more than 300.
"The legislature to be divided weekly by lot into 2 chambers, so that
the representatives of every county may be as equally divided between
the chambers as integral odd numbers will admit.
"The two chambers to proceed as distinct branches of the Legisla-
ture."
1794] Thomas Jefferson 161
votes, the legislature shall incorporate its votes with
those of some adjoining county.
Older electors presenting themselves shall be re-
ceived to vote before younger one, & the legislature
shall provide for the secure and convenient claim
and exercise of this privilege of age.
The legislature shall consist of the representatives
to be chosen as before provided. Their acts shall
not be affected by any excess or defect of numbers
taking place between two periodical settlements of
the Unit.
The legislature shall form one house only for the
verification of their credentials, or for what relates
to their privileges. For all other business they
shall be separated by lot into two chambers, which
shall be called [a & w] on the first day of their session
in every week ; which separation shall be effected by
presenting to the representatives from each county
separately a number of lots equal to their own num-
ber, if it be an even one or to the next even number
above, if their number be odd, one half of which lots
shall be distinctively marked for the one chamber
& the other half for the other, & each number shall
be, for that week, of the chamber whose lot he draws.
Members not present at the first drawing for the
week shall draw on their first attendance after.
Each chamber shall appoint a speaker for the
session & the two speakers it shall be weekly decided
by lot between the two speakers, of which chamber
each shall be for the ensuing week ; and the chamber
to which he is allotted shall have one the less in the
lots presented to his colleagues for that week. Print-
VOL. VIII. — II.
1 62 The Writings of [*795
ing presses shall be free except as to false facts pub-
lished maliciously either to injure the reputation of
another, whether followed by pecuniary damage or
not, or to expose him to the punishment of the law.
The legislature shall have power to establish by
law the disqualification of representatives or other
officers.
TO JAMES MADISON J. mss.
Monticello, Feb. 5, 95.
Dear Sir, — * * * We have had about 4. weeks of
winter weather, rather hard for our climate — many
little snows which did not lay 24. hours & one 9. 1,
deep which remained several days. We have had
but few thawing days during the time. — It is gener-
ally feared here that your collegue F. Walker will
be in great danger of losing his election. His com-
petitor is indefatigable attending courts &c, and
wherever he is, there is a general drunkenness ob-
served, tho' we do not know that it proceeds from
his purse. — Wilson Nicholas is attacked also in his
election. The ground on which the attack is made
is that he is a speculator. The explanations which
this has produced, prove it a serious crime in the
eyes of the people. But as far as I hear he is only
investing the profits of a first & only speculation. —
Almost every carriage-owner has been taken in for
a double tax: information through the newspapers
not being actual, tho' legal, in a country where they
are little read. This circumstance has made almost
every man, so taken in, a personal enemy to the tax.
I escaped the penalty only by sending an express
1795] Thomas Jefferson 163
over the country to search out the officer the day
before the forfeiture would have been incurred. —
We presume you will return to Orange after the
close of the session & hope the pleasure of seeing
mrs. Madison & yourself here. I have past my
winter almost alone, mr & mrs Randolph being at
Varina. Present my best respects to mrs Madison,
& accept them affectionately yourself.
TO M. D'lVERNOIS j. mss.
Monticello, in Virginia, Feb. 6, 1795.
Dear Sir, — Your several favors on the affairs of
Geneva found me here, in the month of December
last. It is now more than a year that I have with-
drawn myself from public affairs, which I never liked
in my life, but was drawn into by emergencies which
threatened our country with slavery, but ended in
establishing it free. I have returned, with infinite
appetite, to the enjoyment of my farm, my family &
my books, and had determined to meddle in nothing
beyond their limits. Your proposition, however, for
transplanting the college of Geneva to my own coun-
try, was too analogous to all my attachments to
science, & freedom, the first-born daughter of science,
not to excite a lively interest in my mind, and the
essays which were necessary to try it's practicability.
This depended altogether on the opinions & dispo-
sitions of our State legislature, which was then in
session. I immediately communicated your papers
to a member of the legislature, whose abilities & zeal
pointed him out as proper for it, urging him to sound
1 64 The Writings of [1795
as many of the leading members of the legislature as
he could, & if he found their opinions favorable, to
bring forward the proposition ; but if he should find
it desperate, not to hazard it; because I thought it
best not to commit the honor either of our State or
of your college, by an useless act of eclat. It was
not till within these three days that I have had an
interview with him, and an account of his proceed-
ings. He communicated the papers to a great num-
ber of the members, and discussed them maturely,
but privately, with them. They were generally
well-disposed to the proposition, and some of them
warmly ; however, there was no difference of opinion
in the conclusion, that it could not be effected. The
reasons which they thought would with certainty
prevail against it, were 1. that our youth, not
familiarized but with their mother tongue, were not
prepared to receive instructions in any other; 2d.
that the expence of the institution would excite un-
easiness in their constituents, & endanger it's per-
manence; & 3. that it's extent was disproportioned
to the narrow state of the population with us.
Whatever might be urged on these several subjects,
yet as the decision rested with others, there remained
to us only to regret that circumstances were such, or
were thought to be such, as to disappoint your &
our wishes. I should have seen with peculiar satis-
faction the establishment of such a mass of science
in my country, and should probably have been
tempted to approach myself to it, by procuring a
residence in it's neighborhood, at those seasons of
the year at least when the operations of agriculture
1 795] Thomas Jefferson 165
are less active and interesting. I sincerely lament
the circumstances which have suggested this emigra-
tion. I had hoped that Geneva was familiarized to
such a degree of liberty, that they might without
difficulty or danger fill up the measure to its maxi-
mum; a term, which, though in the insulated man,
bounded only by his natural powers, must, in society,
be so far restricted as to protect himself against the
evil passions of his associates, & consequently, them
against him. I suspect that the doctrine, that small
States alone are fitted to be republics, will be ex-
ploded by experience, with some other brilliant fal-
lacies accredited by Montesquieu & other political
writers. Perhaps it will be found, that to obtain a
just republic (and it is to secure our just rights that
we resort to government at all) it must be so exten-
sive as that local egoisms may never reach it's greater
part; that on every particular question, a majority
may be found in it's councils free from particular
interests, and giving, therefore, an uniform preval-
ence to the principles of justice. The smaller the
societies, the more violent & more convulsive their
schisms. We have chanced to live in an age which
will probably be distinguished in history, for it's
experiments in government on a larger scale than
has yet taken place. But we shall not live to see
the result. The grosser absurdities, such as heredi-
tary magistracies, we shall see exploded in our day,
long experience having already pronounced con-
demnation against them. But what is to be the
substitute? This our children or grand children will
answer. We may be satisfied with the certain
1 66 The Writings of [179s
knowledge that none can ever be tried, so stupid,
so unrighteous, so oppressive, so destructive of
every end for which honest men enter into govern-
ment, as that which their forefathers had estab-
lished, & their fathers alone venture to tumble
headlong from the stations they have so long abused.
It is unfortunate, that the efforts of mankind to
recover the freedom of which they have been so long
deprived, will be accompanied with violence, with
errors, & even with crimes. But while we weep over
the means, we must pray for the end. — But I have
been insensibly led by the general complexion of the
times, from the particular case of Geneva, to those
to which it bears no similitude. Of that we hope
good things. Its inhabitants must be too much en-
lightened, too well experienced in the blessings of
freedom and undisturbed industry, to tolerate long
a contrary state of things. I shall be happy to hear
that their government perfects itself, and leaves room
for the honest, the industrious & wise ; in which case,
your own talents, & those of the persons for whom
you have interested yourself, will, I am sure, find
welcome & distinction. My good wishes will always
attend you, as a consequence of the esteem & regard
with which I am, Dear Sir, your most obedient &
most humble servant.
TO JAMES BROWN *
Monticello Apl 18. 95.
Dear Sir, — I received a few days ago your kind
favor of Mar 14. The object of my letter had been
1 From a copy courteously furnished by Col. C. C. Jones, of Augusta.Ga.
1 795] Thomas Jefferson 167
not at all a retardation of the paiment I had promised
you during the present & ensuing month, but as my
crop of tob° was much short of what was usual, it was
merely to see how far my next best article of produce,
to wit, nails, could take its place with you. I have
had 9 hammers at work for you for some time past.
We have of nails on hand & credits to go to your
benefit about £80. and some time in the next month
shall have enough for the balance. If I cannot sell
them for cash here, I will send them to Richmond to
be converted into cash there so as to be in time for
my engagement.
1382 In the margin are the weights of my tob° (only
1362 12 hhds) now in Richmond, averaging 13 13
1 138. lbs. I am offered here 4/ above the present
1 196. market price. But you shall certainly have
1360. a preference on equal terms to any other
1426 purchaser. As I shall not go to Richmond
1 240 myself, I must ask you by letter your highest
1294 price. You know I have an established
1386 privilege of being considerably above the
1348 market. I must tell you at the same time
1280 that the quality of the last year's crop is
1346 inferior, but still mine preserving its com-
parative superiority, stands on its usual
15.758. ground with respect to others. Let me have
your ultimatum, if you please, by the post after next,
say that which leaves Richmond the 3d of May, till
which time I will reserve myself here.
1 68 The Writings of [179s
TO ARCHIBALD STUART '
MONTICELLO Apl. 18. 95
Dear Sir — I did not receive your favor of the 7*
till the 17th inst. consequently you had then passed on
to New London. I could not learn that your brother
was in the neighborhood. I inclose you a copy of
an advertisement I had thought some time ago of
putting in the public papers, but did not do it. You
will see by that the books I have to dispose of. The
last two or three lines of it are not for you, for you
may take such of the books as you chuse, and what
time of paiment you please. If you meet with any
body who will take the whole of the residue I shall be
glad of it. I have stated that at the price I offer
the whole would be at about 6 Doll average a volume.
But if they are separated, being of very unequal
values, their respective prices can be proportioned to
that sum total, by Worral's catalogue. Hargrave's
Coke Littleton for instance cost as much as any 3 or 4
of the other volumes — When I spoke of meeting you
on your way to the Bedford court, I did not know
that our own district court was exactly at the same
time at which I was obliged to attend. This put it
out of my power to be in Bedford this month. — With
respect to the gentleman whom we expected to see
there, satisfy him if you please that there is no re-
main of disagreeable sentiment towards him on my
part.2 I was once sincerely affectioned towards him
and it accords with my philosophy to encourage the
tranquillizing passions. Adieu.
1 From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
- Patrick Henry.
i79S] Thomas Jefferson 169
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticello, Apr 27, 1795.
Dear Sir, — Your letter of Mar 23. came to hand
the 7th of April, and notwithstanding the urgent
reasons for answering a part of it immediately, yet as
it mentioned that you would leave Philadelphia with-
in a few days, I feared that the answer might pass
you on the road. A letter from Philadelphia by the
last post having announced to me your leaving that
place the day preceding it's date, I am in hopes this
will find you in Orange. In mine, to which yours
of Mar 23. was an answer, I expressed my hope of
the only change of position I ever wished to see you
make, and I expressed it with entire sincerity, be-
cause there is not another person in the U S. who be-
ing placed at the helm of our affairs, my mind would
be so completely at rest for the fortune of our politi-
cal bark. The wish too was pure, & unmixed with
anything respecting myself personally. For as to
myself, the subject had been thoroughly weighed &
decided on, & my retirement from office had been
meant from all office high or low, without exception.
I can say, too, with truth, that the subject had not
been presented to my mind by any vanity of my
own. I know myself & my fellow citizens too well
to have ever thought of it. But the idea was forced
upon me by continual insinuations in the public
papers, while I was in office. As all these came from
a hostile quarter, I knew that their object was to
poison the public mind as to my motives, when they
were not able to charge me with facts. But the idea
being once presented to me, my own quiet required
i'jo The Writings of [179s
that I should face it & examine it. I did so thor-
oughly, & had no difficulty to see that every reason
which had determined me to retire from the office
I then held, operated more strongly against that
which was insinuated to be my object. I decided
then on those general grounds which could alone be
present to my mind at the time, that is to say,
reputation, tranquillity, labor ; for as to public duty,
it could not be a topic of consideration in my case.
If these general considerations were sufficient to
ground a firm resolution never to permit myself to
think of the office, or to be thought of for it, the
special ones which have supervened on my retire-
ment, still more insuperably bar the door to it. My
health is entirely broken down within the last
eight months; my age requires that I should place
my affairs in a clear state ; these are sound if taken
care of, but capable of considerable dangers if longer
neglected; and above all things, the delights I feel
in the society of my family, and the agricultural
pursuits in which I am so eagerly engaged. The
little spice of ambition which I had in my younger
days has long since evaporated, and I set still less
store by a posthumous than present name. In
stating to you the heads of reasons which have pro-
duced my determination, I do not mean an opening
for future discussion, or that I may be reasoned out
of it. The question is forever closed with me; my
sole object is to avail myself of the first opening ever
given me from a friendly quarter; (and I could not
with decency do it before), of preventing any division
or loss of votes, which might be fatal to the Repub-
1795] Thomas Jefferson 171
lican interest. If that has any chance of prevailing,
it must be by avoiding the loss of a single vote, and
by concentrating all its strength on one object. Who
this should be, is a question I can more freely discuss
with anybody than yourself. In this I painfully
feel the loss of Monroe. Had he been here, I should
have been at no loss for a channel through which to
make myself understood; if I have been misunder-
stood by anybody through the instrumentality of
mr. Fenno & his abettors. — I long to see you. I am
proceeding in my agricultural plans with a slow but
sure step. To get under full way will require 4. or
5. years. But patience & perseverence will ac-
complish it. My little essay in red clover, the last
year, has had the most encouraging success. I
sowed then about 40. acres. I have sowed this year
about 120. which the rain now falling comes very
opportunely on. From 160. to 200. acres, will be my
yearly sowing. The seed-box described in the agri-
cultural transactions of New York, reduces the ex-
pense of seeding from 6/ to 2/3 the acre, and does the
business better than is possible to be done by the
human hand. May we hope a visit from you? If
we may, let it be after the middle of May, by which
time I hope to be returned from Bedford. I had had
a proposition to meet mr. Henry there this month, to
confer on the subject of a convention, to the calling
of which he is now become a convert. The session
of our district court furnished me a just excuse for
the time; but the impropriety of my entering into
consultation on a measure in which I would take no
part, is a permanent one.
172 The Writings of [179s
Present my most respectful compliments to mrs.
Madison, & be assured of the warm attachment of,
Dear Sir, yours affectionately.
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES J. mss.
Monticello, Apr 27, 1795.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 16th came to hand
by the last post. * * * I sincerely congratulate
you on the great prosperities of our two first allies,
the French & Dutch. If I could but see them now
at peace with the rest of their continent, I should have
little doubt of dining with Pichegru in London, next
autumn ; for I believe I should be tempted to leave
my clover for awhile, to go and hail the dawn of
liberty & republicanism in that island. I shall be
rendered very happy by the visit you promise me.
The only thing wanting to make me completely so,
is the more frequent society with my friends. It is
the more wanting, as I am become more firmly fixt
to the glebe. If you visit me as a farmer it must be
as a condisciple: for I am but a learner; an eager
one indeed, but yet desperate, being too old now to
learn a new art. However, I am as much delighted
& occupied with it, as if I was the greatest adept. I
shall talk with you about it from morning till night,
and put you on very short allowance as to political
aliment. Now and then a pious ejaculation for the
French & Dutch republicans, returning with due
despatch to clover, potatoes, wheat, &c. That I may
not lose the pleasure promised me, let it not be till
»795] Thomas Jefferson 173
the middle of May, by which time I shall be re-
turned from a trip I meditate to Bedford. Yours
affectionately.
TO M. DE MEUSNIER1 j. mss.
Monticello, Virginia, Apr. 29, 95.
Dear Sir. — Your favor of Mar. 30. from Phila-
delphia came to my hands a few days ago. That
which you mention to have written from London
has never been received; nor had I been able to
discover what has been your fortune during the
troubles of France after the death of the King.
Being thoroughly persuaded that under all circum-
stances your conduct had been entirely innocent &
friendly to the freedom of your country, I had hopes
that you had not been obliged to quit your own
country. Being myself a warm zealot for the at-
tainment & enjoiment by all mankind of as much
liberty, as each may exercise without injury to the
equal liberty of his fellow citizens, I have lamented
that in France the endeavours to obtain this should
have been attended with the effusion of so much
blood. I was intimate with the leading characters
of the year 1789. So I was with those of the Bris-
sotine party who succeeded them: & have always
been persuaded that their views were upright.
Those who have followed have been less known to
me: but I have been willing to hope that they also
meant the establishment of a free government in
their country, excepting perhaps the party which has
1 See Vol. V., 3.
174 The Writings of [1795
lately been suppressed. The government of those
now at the head of affairs appears to hold out many
indications of good sense, moderation & virtue ; & I
cannot but presume from their character as well as
your own that you would find a perfect safety in the
bosom of your own country. I think it fortunate for
the United States to have become the asylum for so
many virtuous patriots of different denominations:
but their circumstances, with which you were so well
acquainted before, enabled them to be but a bare
asylum, & to offer nothing for them but an entire
freedom to use their own means & faculties as they
please. There is no such thing in this country as
what would be called wealth in Europe. The richest
are but a little at ease, & obliged to pay the most
rigorous attention to their affairs to keep them
together. I do not mean to speak here of the Beau-
jons of America. For we have some of these tho'
happily they are but ephemeral. Our public cecon-
omy also is such as to offer drudgery and subsistence
only to those entrusted with its administration, a
wise & necessary precaution against the degeneracy
of the public servants. In our private pursuits it is
a great advantage that every honest employment is
deemed honorable. I am myself a nail-maker. On
returning home after an absence of ten years, I
found my farms so much deranged that I saw evi-
dently they would be a burden to me instead of a
support till I could regenerate them; & consequently
that it was necessary for me to find some other re-
source in the meantime. I thought for awhile of
taking up the manufacture of pot-ash, which re-
i79S] Thomas Jefferson 175
quires but small advances of money. I concluded
at length however to begin a manufacture of nails,
which needs little or no capital, & I now employ a
dozen little boys from 10. to 16. years of age, over-
looking all the details of their business myself &
drawing from it a profit on which I can get along
till I can put my farms into a course of yielding
profit. My new trade of nail-making is to me in
this country what an additional title of nobility or
the ensigns of a new order are in Europe. In the
commercial line, the grocers business is that which
requires the least capital in this country. The
grocer generally obtains a credit of three months, &
sells for ready money so as to be able to make his
paiments & obtain a new supply. But I think I
have observed that your countrymen who have been
obliged to work out their own fortunes here, have
succeeded best with a small farm. Labour indeed
is dear here, but rents are low & on the whole a
reasonable profit & comfortable subsistence results.
It is at the same time the most tranquil, healthy, &
independent. And since you have been pleased to
ask my opinion as to the best way of employing
yourself till you can draw funds from France or
return there yourself, I do presume that this is the
business which would yield the most happiness &
contentment to one of your philosophic turn. But
at the distance I am from New York, where you
seem disposed to fix yourself, & little acquainted
with the circumstances of that place I am much less
qualified than disposed to suggest to you emploi-
ments analogous to your turn of mind & at the same
176 The Writings of [1795
time to the circumstances of your present situation.
Be assured that it will always give me lively pleasure
to learn that your pursuits, whatever they may be
may lead you to contentment & success, being with
very sincere esteem & respect, dear sir, your most
obedient servant.
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
Monticello May 26, 1795.
Dear Sir, — I have received your favor of Sep. 7th
from Paris, which gave us the only news we have had
from you since your arrival there. On my part it
would be difficult to say why this is the first time I
have written to you. Revising the case myself I am
sensible it has proceeded from that sort of procrasti-
nation which so often takes place when no circum-
stance fixes a business to a particular time. I have
never thought it possible through the whole time
that I should be ten days longer without writing to
you & thus more than a year has run off.
I am too much withdrawn from the scene of poli-
tics to give you anything in that line worth your
notice. The servile copyist of Mr. Pitt, thought he
too must have his alarms, his insurrections and plots
against the Constitution. Hence the incredible fact
that the freedom of association, of conversation, &
of the press, should in the 5th year of our govern-
ment have been attacked under the form of a denun-
ciation of the democratic societies, a measure which
even England, as boldly as she is advancing to the
establishment of an absolute monarchy has not yet
i79S] Thomas Jefferson 177
been bold enough to attempt. Hence too the ex-
ample of employing military force for civil purposes,
when it has been impossible to produce a single fact
of insurrection unless that term be entirely con-
founded with occasional riots, & when the ordinary
process of law had been resisted indeed in a few
special cases but by no means generally, nor had its
effect been duly tried. But it answered the favorite
purposes of strengthening government and increas-
ing public debt; & therefore an insurrection was
announced & proclaimed & armed against, but could
never be found. & all this under the sanction of a
name which has done too much good not to be
sufficient to cover harm also. & what, is equally
astonishing is that by the pomp of reports, procla-
mations, armies &c. the mind of the legislature itself
was so fascinated as never to have asked where,
when, & by whom this insurrection has been pro-
duced ? The original of this scene in another country
was calculated to excite the indignation of those
whom it could not impose on: the mimicry of it here
is too humiliating to excite any feeling but shame.
Our comfort is that the public sense is coming right
on the general principles of republicanism & that its
success in France puts it out of danger here. We
are still uninformed what is Mr. Jay's treaty: but we
see that the British piracies have multiplied upon us
lately more than ever. They had at one time been
suspended. We will quit the subject for our own
business.
The valuation by Mr. Lewis & Mr. Divers which
had been set on foot before your departure, took
VOI,. VIII. — 12.
178 The Writings of [179s
place Sep. 19, 1794- It was £173. currency & ex-
change being then at 40. per cent, it was equivalent
to £123-11-5 sterling. On the 19th of Nov. I drew
on James Maury for £37-10 sterling in favor of Wm.
B. Giles, & shall now immediately draw for the bal-
ance. Mr. Madison & myself examined your different
situations for a house. We did not think it admitted
any sort of question but that that on the east side of
the road, in the wood, was the best. There is a val-
ley not far from it to the southwest & on the western
side of the road which would be a fine situation for
an orchard. Mr. Jones having purchased in Loudon
we shall hardly see him here, & indeed have hardly
seen him. If I can get proper orders from him I will
have the ground above mentioned planted in fruit
trees from my own nursery, where I have made an
extra provision on your account. Indeed I wish you
would determine to save 500. or iooo£ a year from
your present salary, which you ought to do as a com-
pensation for your time, & send us a plan of the
house & let us be building it, drawing on you for a
fixed sum annually till it be done. I would under-
take to employ people in the most economical way,
to superintend them & the work & have the place in
a comfortable state for your reception. If you think
proper to authorize me to do this I shall begin imme-
diately on receiving your permission. I am so con-
fident that you ought to do it & will do it that I have
ventured to send a small claim or two to you as
explained in the two inclosed letters to LaMotte &
Froull6, with an expectation that you will give me
an opportunity of replacing it here to those who
1795] Thomas Jefferson 179
shall be employed for you. Should you however
not conclude to let us do anything for you here, I
would wish you to suppress both these letters.
While speaking of Froullg, Libraire, au quai des
Augustins, I can assure you that after having run a
severe gauntlet under the Paris book-sellers I rested
at last on this old gentleman, whom I found in a long
& intimate course of after dealings to be one of the
most conscientiously honest men I ever had dealings
with. I commend him to you strongly, should you
purchase books. I think LaMotte at Havre a very
good & friendly man, & wish your forming more than
an official intimacy with him. Should you have
occasion for wines from Burgundy, apply to Mons-
Parent Connelie a Beaume, who will furnish you
with the genuine wines you may call for, & at honest
prices. I found him indeed very faithful in a long
course of employment. He can particularly send
you of the best crops of Meursalt & Cotte d'or. For
fine Champagne non mousseux, apply to Monsr.
Dorsai, or to his homme-d'affaires Monsr. Louis if
still in place at his Chateau at Aij near Epernay in
Champagne. While recommending good subjects to
you I must ask you to see for me the following per-
sons, present my affectionate remembrance to them
and let me hear how they have weathered the
storm. These are L'Abbe Ammon, place Vendome,
chez M Daville, an excellent mentor and much
affectioned to the Americans. Monsr. la Vieillard of
Passy whom Dr. Franklin presented to me as the
honestest man in France, & a very honest & friendly
one I found him. Monsr. & Madame Grand at
180 The Writings of [179s
Passy vastly good & friendly people also. Dr. Gem
an old English physician in the Faubourg St. Ger-
mains, who practiced only for his friends & would
take nothing, one of the most sensible & worthy
men I have ever known. But I reckon he has gone
to England. Many others I could name of great
worth but they would be too many, & have perhaps
changed their scene. If Mr. Balbatre the musical
preceptor of my daughters of the Faubourg St.
Honore or its neighborhood can be found, be so good
as to deliver him the affectionate compliments of my
family, & if he can send them anything new & good
in the musical line, I will ask you to pay him for it &
let it be packed with the books from Froull6. These,
if they come at all, must come before the winter, as a
winter pasage is inevitable ruin to books. I have
bought for Mr. Short the land between yours &
Blenheim 1334 acres @ 23/6 ready money. Three
out of seven shares (of 50 as each) of Carter's land
over the mountain will be for sale soon. It is not
known where these lands will lie as the partition is
not yet made. Should anyone join you on the moun-
tain it would be worth your purchase. C0II6 is lately
sold for £375. to a Mr. Catlet, a farmer, whom I do
not know. It is very possible it will be for sale again.
Should you conclude to build a house, you must
decide whether of brick or stone. The latter costs
about one-half of the former, to wit about 8/ a perch
of 25 cubic feet. I hope Mr. Jones will change the
system of corn & wheat alternately on your land till
the fields are entirely worn out, abandoned, & the
new ones treated in the same manner. This is the
1795] Thomas Jefferson 181
way my lands have been ruined. Yours are yet in
a saveable state. But a very little time will put
some of them beyond recovery. The best plan
would be to divide the open grounds into 5. fields,
and tend them in this order. 1. wheat. 2. corn &
potatoes. 3. rye. 4. clover. 5. clover. And then
begin wheat &c. over again. By this means they
would go into corn but once in five years. It would
be still better to have four or five men for a twelve
months to clear the whole body of your tenable
lands at once, that you may at once come into the
use of the whole, & allow more relief to the old, &
an easier service to all of it in general, instead of
wearing out one half while clearing the other by
little & little as we have generally done in this
neighborhood. I am going to have Short's all
cleared in this way. But of all this there can be no
better judge than Mr. Jones. I have divided my
farms into seven fields on this rotation. 1. wheat.
2. peas & potatoes. 3. corn & potatoes. 4. peas
& potatoes till I can get the vetch from Europe.
5. rye. 6. clover. 7. clover. My lands were so
worn that they required this gentle treatment to re-
cover them. Some of yours are as far gone. There
are two or three objects which you should endeavour
to enrich our country with. 1. the Alpine straw-
berry. 2 . The skylark. 3 . The red legged Partridge.
I despair too much of the nightingale to add that.
We should associate Mrs. Monroe to you in these
concerns. Present to her our most affectionate es-
teem, not forgetting Eliza. We are all well except
Mr. Randolph, whose health is very frail indeed. It
1 82 The Writings of [1795
is the more discouraging as there seems to have been
no founded conjecture what is the matter with him.
Your brother is well, but Mrs. Monroe rather sickly.
The death of Dr. Walker is the only event of that
kind which has taken place in our neighborhood since
you left us. Dr. Gilmer still lives. His eldest
daughter is to be married to a Mr. Wirt the day after
to-morrow. Frank Walker has succeeded to the
whole of Dr. Walker's estate, said to be worth
^20,000. Sam Carr married to a daughter of Over-
ton Carr in Maryland & probably will remove there.
His mother (my sister) living at his place a little
above Dr. Gilmer's. My budget is out. Adieu. God
Almighty bless you all.
P. S. If you can send us with Froull6's books a
supply of 20. or 30 lb. of maccaroni, they will be an
agreeable addition to his bill.
TO TENCH COXE j. mss.
Monticello June 1, 1795.
Dear Sir, — I received a few days ago only your
favor of Mar. 20. accompanied by the collection of
your papers lately printed, for which I cordially
thank you. It will enable me to turn with more
convenience to pieces which I consult with pleasure
& instruction.
I congratulate you on the successes of our two
allies. Those of the Hollanders are new and there-
fore pleasing. It proves that there is a god in
heaven, & that he will not slumber without end on
179S\ Thomas Jefferson 183
the iniquities of tyrants, or their Stadtholder. This
ball of liberty, I believe most piously, is now so well
in motion that it will roll round the globe. At least
the enlightened part of it, for light & liberty go to-
gether. It is our glory that we first put it into
motion, & our happiness that being foremost we had
no bad examples to follow. What a tremendous
obstacle to the future attempts at liberty will be the
atrocities of Robespierre! We are enjoying a most
seasonable sowing after a winter which had greatly
injured our small grain. Nothing can give us a
great crop. I doubt if it can be made even a good
one. Our first hay-cutting (clover) begins to-day.
This may mark to you the difference of your seasons
& ours. My clover in common upland fields which
were never manured will yield 1 500 lb. to the acre at
this cutting, which I consider as an encouraging
beginning. I take the liberty of asking your care of
two letters, both of them of importance. I have not
enclosed Monroe's either to our office of foreign
affairs or the Minister of France, because I thought
you might possibly find a safer channel than either.
It requires safety and secrecy. But adopt either of
those channels if you think them the best. I am
with much affection, dear sir, your friend & servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Aug. 3, 95.
You will perceive by the inclosed that Hamilton
has taken up his pen in support of the treaty (return
it to me). He spoke on it's behalf in the meeting at
1 84 The Writings of [179s
New York, and his party carried a decision in favor
of it by a small majority. But the Livingstonians
appealed to stones & clubs & beat him & his party
off the ground. This from a gentleman just from
Philadelphia. Adieu.
P. S. Richmond has decided against the treaty.
It is said that not even Carrington undertakes to
defend it.
TO MANN PAGE J. mss.
MONTICELLO, Attg 30, 1795.
It was not in my power to attend at Fredericks-
burg according to the kind invitation in your letter,
and in that of mr. Ogilvie. The heat of the weather,
the business of the farm, to which I have made my-
self necessary, forbade it; and to give one round
reason for all, mature sanus, I have laid up my
Rosinante in his stall, before his unfitness for the
road shall expose him faultering to the world. But
why did not I answer you in time? Because, in
truth, I am encouraging myself to grow lazy, and I
was sure you would ascribe the delay to anything
sooner than a want of affection or respect to you, for
this was not among the possible causes. In truth,
if anything could ever induce me to sleep another
night out of my own house, it would have been your
friendly invitation and my sollicitude for the subject
of it, the education of our youth. I do most anx-
iously wish to see the highest degrees of education
given to the higher degrees of genius, and to all
degrees of it, so much as may enable them to read
1795] Thomas Jefferson 185
& understand what is going on in the world, and to
keep their part of it going on right: for nothing can
keep it right but their own vigilant & distrustful
superintendence. I do not believe with the Roche-
foucaults & Montaignes, that fourteen out of fifteen
men are rogues: I believe a great abatement from
that proportion may be made in favor of general
honesty. But I have always found that rogues
would be uppermost, and I do not know that the
proportion is too strong for the higher orders, and
for those who, rising above the swinish multitude,
always contrive to nestle themselves into the places
of power & profit. These rogues set out with steal-
ing the people's good opinion, and then steal from
them the right of withdrawing it, by contriving laws
and associations against the power of the people
themselves. Our part of the country is in con-
siderable fermentation, on what they suspect to be a
recent roguery of this kind. They say that while all
hands were below deck mending sails, splicing ropes,
and every one at his own business, & the captain in
his cabbin attending to his log book & chart, a rogue
of a pilot has run them into an enemy's port. But
metaphor apart, there is much dissatisfaction with
mr. Jay & his treaty. For my part, I consider my-
self now but as a passenger, leaving the world, & it's
government to those who are likely to live longer in
it. That you may be among the longest of these, is
my sincere prayer. After begging you to be the
bearer of my compliments & apologies to mr. Ogilvie,
I bid you an affectionate farewell, always wishing to
hear from you.
1 86 The Writings of [1795
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Monticello. Sep. 6, 95.
Dear Sir, — I wrote you on the 26th of May last.
Since that Mr. Jones has been here & Mr. Madison,
and have communicated to me some of your letters.
Mr. Jones is taking good measures for saving and im-
proving your land but of all this he will inform you.
I enclose you a letter for Md* Bellanger, which I leave
open for your perusal as its contents may suggest to
you some service to Derieux. I also inclose you a
letter from him, and a draft on his uncle's executors
for 4000* which we must trouble you to remit in some
way or other without loss if possible: and if it can-
not be received without too sensible a loss, I think it
had better lie. Observe that the money is not to be
remitted to Derieux, as he has conveyed it to Colo.
Gamble & Colo. Bell to satisfy debts. I think it
had better be sent to Colo. Bell, who will pay to
Gamble his part of it. If you receive it, it may be a
convenience and safety to all parties for you to apply
a part of it to answer the little commissions I gave
you for Froull6 & La Motte, and to order me to pay
their amount to Colo. Bell which I will do on sight
of your order. But name the sum I am to pay in
dollars to avoid all questions of depreciation. In
this case I would be willing to extend my commission
to the procuring me some wines from Bordeaux to be
purchased & shipped for me by Mr. Fenwick to Rich-
mond, consigned to Colo. Gamble. I will note the
wines at the foot of my letter. When you shall have
read the letter to Madame Bellanger, be so good as
seal & send it to her. — I trouble you also with a letter
1795] Thomas Jefferson 187
to Madame de Tess6, whom I suppose to be in
Switzerland: pray find a safe conveyance, and re-
ceive for me any letters she may send for me. She
is a person for whom I have great friendship. Mr.
Gautier, banker, successor to Grand, to whom I
enclose another letter can probably inform you how
to address & forward that to Madame de Tesse\ —
Nothing has happened in our neighborhood worth
communication to you. Mr. Randolph's health was
at the lowest ebb, & he determined to go to the
Sweet springs where he still is. His last letter in-
forms me that his amendment is so great as to give
him hopes of an entire recovery. — In political matters
there is always something new. Yet at such a dis-
tance and with such uncertain conveyances it is best
to say little of them. It may be necessary however
to observe to you that in all countries where parties
are strongly marked, as the monocrats and repub-
licans here, there will always be desertions from the
one side to the other: and to caution you therefore
in your correspondence with Dawson,1 who is now
closely connected in speculations as we are told with
Harry Lee. With Steel become a consummate Tory,
and even Innes, who has changed backwards and
forwards two or three times lately. — Mr. Jay's treaty
has at length been made public. So general a burst
of dissatisfaction never before appeared against any
transaction. Those who understand the particular
articles of it, condemn these articles. Those who do
not understand them minutely, condemn it generally
as wearing a hostile face to France. This last is the
1 Italics are cipher numbers in original.
1 88 The Writings of iws
must numerous class, comprehending the whole body
of the people, who have taken a greater interest in
this transaction than they were ever known to do in
any other. It has in my opinion completely de-
molished the monarchial party here. The Chamber
of Commerce in New York, against the body of the
town, the merchants in Philadelphia, against the
body of their town, also, and our town of Alexandria
have come forward in it's support. Some individual
champions also appear. Marshall, Carrington, Har-
vey, Bushrod Washington, Doctor Stewart. A more
powerful one is Hamilton, under the signature of
Camillus. Adams holds his tongue with an address
above his character. We do not know whether the
President has signed it or not. If he has it is much
believed the H. of representatives will oppose it as
constitutionally void, and thus bring on an em-
barrassing and critical state in our government. —
If you should receive Derieux' money and order
the wines, Mr. Fenwick ought to ship them in the
winter months. Present my affectionate respects to
Mrs. Monroe, and accept them yourself. No signa-
ture is necessary.1
P.S. The day after writing the preceding letter,
yours of June 23 & 27 came to hand. I open this
1 "Wines to be procured & shipped by Mr. Fenwick from Bordeaux
if it should be found advantageous to remit mi. Derieux' money in that
way. They will come at my risk.
250 bottles of the best vin rouge ordinaire used at the good tables
of Bordeaux, such as mr. Fenwick sent me before.
125 bottles of Sauterne, old & ready for use.
60 bottles of Fontignan.
60 bottles of white Hermitage of the first quality, old & ready for
use."
1795] Thomas Jefferson 189
therefore to acknowledge the receipt & thank you for
the information given. Soon after that date you will
have received mine of May 26, and perceive by that
& this that I had taken the liberty of asking some
services from you. Yes, the treaty is now known
here, by a bold act of duty in one of our Senators,
and what the sentiments upon it are, our public
papers will tell you, for I take for granted they are
forwarded to you from the Secretary of State's
office. The same post which brought your letter,
brought also advice of the death of Bradford, Atty
Genl., the resignation of E. Randolph (retiring per-
haps from the storm he saw gathering), and of the
resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce of Boston
in opposition to those of the town of Boston in
general. P. Marks is dead within these 24. hours.
His wife had died some months before. I omitted
in my letter to mention that J. Rutledge was ap-
pointed Chief Justice in the room of Mr. Jay, and that
he, Gov!' Pinckney & others of that Southern con-
stellation had pronounced themselves more desper-
ately than any others against the treaty. — Still
deliver the letters to Mad? Bellanger. A true state
of the case, soothing and altering terms may per-
haps produce the execution of her last promise.
TO TENCH COXE j. mss.
Monticello Sep. 10, 95.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of
your favor of July 30. The sentiments therein
expressed on the subject of the treaty coincide
igo The Writings of [179s
perfectly with those of this country, which I believe
were never more unanimous. 4. or 5. individuals
of Richmond, distinguished however by their talents
as by their devotion to all the sacred acts of the
government, & the town of Alexandria constitute
the whole support of that instrument here. Camillus
may according to his custom write an Encyclopedia
on the subject, but it is too obstinate to be twisted
by all his sophisms into a tolerable shape. Having
interdicted to myself the reading of newspapers, &
thinking or saying anything on public matters beyond
what the conversation of my neighbors draws me
into, I leave such delights to those who, more rational
than myself, prefer them to their tranquility, & to
those whose stations keep them in that vortex, &
make them better judges of what is passing around
them. My situation putting it out of my power to
find good conveyances for my foreign letters in these
times of obstruction by sea & by land, I avail myself
of your friendship to get them on: & now take the
liberty of enclosing some. Our foreign ministers
being entitled to charge their postages, & the risque
of separating the 3d. letter, dispenses with apology
on the subject of postage. That to Van Staphorst
covers bills of exchange, the property of Mr. Mazzei
which I am remitting as it is collected.
TO HENRY TAZEWELL j. mss.
Monticello, Sep 13, 1795.
Dear Sir, — I ought much sooner to have ackno-
leged your obliging attention in sending me a copy of
*795l Thomas Jefferson 191
the treaty. It was the first we received in this part
of the country. Tho I have interdicted myself all
serious attention to political matters, yet a very
slight notice of that in question sufficed to decide my
mind against it. I am not satisfied we should not
be better without treaties with any nation. But I
am satisfied we should be better without such as
this. The public dissatisfaction too & dissension
it is likely to produce, are serious evils. I am not
without hopes that the operations on the 12 th article
may render a recurrence to the Senate yet necessary,
and so give to the majority an opportunity of cor-
recting the error into which their exclusion of public
light has led them. I hope also that the recent re-
sults of the English will at length awaken in our
Executive that sense of public honor & spirit, which
they have not lost sight of in their proceedings with
other nations, and will establish the eternal truth that
acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape
war. I am with great esteem, Dear Sir, your most
obedient humble servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticello, Sep 21, 1795.
I received about three weeks ago, a box containing
6. doz. volumes, of 283. pages, 12 mo, with a letter
from Lambert, Beckley's clerk, that they came from
mr. Beckley, & were to be divided between yourself,
J. Walker, & myself. I have sent 2 . doz to J. Walker,
and shall be glad of a conveyance for yours. In the
meantime, I send you by post, the title page, table of
192 The Writings of [179s
contents, and one of the pieces, Curtius,1 lest it should
not have come to you otherwise. It is evidently
written by Hamilton, giving a first & general view
of the subject, that the public mind might be kept
a little in check, till he could resume the subject more
at large from the beginning, under his second signa-
ture of Camillus. The piece called The Features of
the Treaty, I do not send, because you have seen it in
the newspapers. It is said to be written by Coxe,
but I should rather suspect, by Beckley. The
antidote is certainly not strong enough for the poison
of Curtius. If I had not been informed the present
came from Beckley, I should have suspected it from
Jay or Hamilton. I gave a copy or two, by way of
experiment, to honest, sound-hearted men of com-
mon understanding, and they were not able to parry
the sophistry of Curtius. I have ceased therefore,
to give them. Hamilton is really a colossus to the
anti-republican party. Without numbers, he is an
host within himself. They have got themselves
into a defile, where they might be finished ; but too
much security on the republican part will give time
to his talents & indefatigableness to extricate them.
We have had only middling performances to oppose
to him. In truth, when he comes forward, there is
nobody but yourself who can meet him. His ad-
versaries having begun the attack, he has the ad-
vantage of answering them, & remains unanswered
himself. A solid reply might yet completely de-
molish what was too feebly attacked, and has
1 The letters of "Curtius" were written by Noah Webster, except
numbers 6-7, which were from the pen of James Kent.
i795l Thomas Jefferson 193
gathered strength from the weakness of the attack.
The merchants were certainly (except those of them
who are English) as open mouthed at first against
the treaty as any. But the general expression of
indignation has alarmed them for the strength of the
government. They have feared the shock would be
too great, and have chosen to tack about & support
both treaty & government, rather than risk the
government. Thus it is, that Hamilton, Jay, &c,
in the boldest act they ever ventured on to under-
mine the government, have the address to screen
themselves, & direct the hue & cry against those
who wish to drag them into light. A bolder party-
stroke was never struck. For it certainly is an at-
tempt of a party, which finds they have lost their
majority in one branch of the Legislature, to make
a law by the aid of the other branch & of the execu-
tive, under color of a treaty, which shall bind up the
hands of the adverse branch from ever restraining
the commerce of their patron-nation. There appears
a pause at present in the public sentiment, which may
be followed by a revulsion. This is the effect of the
desertion of the merchants, of the President's chiding
answer to Boston & Richmond, of the writings of
Curtius & Camillus, and of the quietism into which
people naturally fall after first sensations are over.
For god's sake take up your pen, and give a funda-
mental reply to Curtius & Camillus.
VOL. VIII.— 13.
194 The Writings of [179s
TO JAMES MADISON1
PONTAINBLEAU Oct. 28. 1 795
Dear Sir, — Seven o'clock, and retired to my fire-
side, I have determined to enter into conversation
with you. This is a village of about 5000 inhabitants
when the court is not here & 20,000 when they are,
occupying a valley thro' which runs a brook and on
each side of it a ridge of small mountains most of
which are naked rock. The King comes here, in the
fall always, to hunt. His court attend him, as do
also the foreign diplomatic corps. But as this is not
indispensably required & my finances do not admit
the expense of a continued residence here, I propose
to come occasionally to attend the King's levees,
returning again to Paris, distant 40 miles. This be-
ing the first trip I set out yesterday morning to take
a view of the place. For this purpose I shaped my
course towards the highest of the mountains in sight,
to the top of which was about a league. As soon as
I had got clear of the town I fell in with a poor
woman walking at the same rate with myself & going
the same course. Wishing to know the condition of
the laboring poor I entered into conversation with
her, which I began by enquiries for the path which
would lead me into the mountain: & thence pro-
ceeded to enquiries into her vocation, condition &
circumstances. She told me she was a day labourer,
at 8. sous or 4d sterling the day ; that she had two
1 The true date of this letter is ten years previous to this, Jefferson
having written 1795 in place of 1785, and owing to this error, it was
not included in its correct place in the present work. As the letter
is of singular interest, the editor has thought it best to include it, even
though out of its proper place.
i79S] Thomas Jefferson 195
children to maintain, & to pay a rent of 30 livres for
her house, (which would consume the hire of 75 days)
that often she could get no emploiment, and of course
was without bread. As we had walked together near
a mile & she had so far served me as a guide, I gave
her, on parting, 24 sous. She burst into tears of a
gratitude which I could perceive was unfeigned be-
cause she was unable to utter a word. She had
probably never before received so great an aid. This
little attendrissement, with the solitude of my walk
led me into a train of reflections on that unequal
division of property which occasions the numberless
instances of wretchedness which I had observed in
this country & is to be observed all over Europe.
The property of this country is absolutely concen-
trated in a very few hands, having revenues of from
half a million of guineas a year downward. These
employ the flower of the country as servants, some of
them having as many as 200 domestics, not labour-
ing. They employ also a great number of manu-
facturers, & tradesmen, & lastly the class of labouring
husbandmen. But after all there comes the most
numerous of all the classes, that is, the poor who can-
not find work. I asked myself what could be the
reason that so many should be permitted to beg who
are willing to work, in a country where there is a
very considerable proportion of uncultivated lands ?
These lands are undisturbed only for the sake of
game. It should seem then that it must be because
of the enormous wealth of the proprietors which
places them above attention to the encrease of their
revenues by permitting these lands to be laboured. I
1 96 The Writings of [1795
am conscious that an equal division of property is im-
practicable. But the consequences of this enormous
inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of
mankind, legislators cannot invent too many de-
vices for subdividing property, only taking care to
let their subdivisions go hand in hand with the
natural affections of the human mind. The descent
of property of every kind therefore to all the children,
or to all the brothers & sisters, or other relations in
equal degree is a politic measure, and a practicable
one. Another means of silently lessening the in-
equality of property is to exempt all from taxation
below a certain point, & to tax the higher portions
of property in geometrical progression as they rise.
Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated
lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws
of property have been so far extended as to violate
natural right. The earth is given as a common stock
for man to labour & live on. If for the encourage-
ment of industry we allow it to be appropriated, we
must take care that other employment be provided
to those excluded from the appropriation. If we
do not the fundamental right to labour the earth
returns to the unemployed. It is too soon yet in our
country to say that every man who cannot find
employment but who can find uncultivated land
shall be at liberty to cultivate it, paying a moderate
rent. But it is not too soon to provide by every
possible means that as few as possible shall be with-
out a little portion of land. The small land holders
are the most precious part of a state. * * *
1795] Thomas Jefferson 197
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Nov. 26, 95.
Your favor from Fredericksburg came safe to hand.
I enclose you the extract of a letter I received from
Mr. R. now in Richmond.1 Tho' you will have been
informed of the fact before this reaches you, yet you
will see more of the subject by having different views
of it presented to you. Though Marshall will be able
to embarras the republican party in the assembly a
good deal, yet upon the whole, his having gone into
it will be of service. He has been hitherto able to do
more mischief acting under the mask of Republican-
ism than he will be able to do after throwing it
plainly off. His lax lounging manners have made
him popular with the bulk of the people of Rich-
mond, & a profound hypocrisy with many thinking
men of our country. But having come forth in the
plenitude of his English principles the latter will
1 "Extract of a Ire. dated Richmd. Nov. 22. 1795.
"Mann Page's motion for a resolution approving the conduct of the
minority in the national senate was warmly agitated three whole days,
Wednesday Thursd. & Friday. It was much less ably defended than
opposed. John Marshal it was once apprehended would make a great
number of converts by an argument which cannot be considered in
any other light than an uncandid artifice. To prevent what would
be a virtual censure of the President's conduct he maintained that the
treaty in all its commercial parts was still under the power of the H. of
R. He contended that it was more in the spirit of the constitution for
it to be rendered nugatory after it received the sanction of the P. &
S. by the H. of R. refusing it their support, than for its existence to be
prevented, for it to be stifled in embryo by their declaring upon ap-
plication from the P. to know their sentiment before he had given it
his signature, that they would withhold that support. He compared
the relation of the Executive to the Legislative department to that
between the states and the Congress under the old confederation.
The old Congress might have given up the right of laying discriminat-
ing duties in favor of any nation by treaty: it would never have
thought of taking beforehand the assent of each state thereto. Yet
198 The Writings of [1795
see that it is high time to make him known. His
doctrine that the whole commercial part of the
treaty (& he might have added the whole uncon-
stitutional part of it) rests in the power of the H. of
R. is certainly the true doctrine; & as the articles
which stipulate what requires the consent of the
three branches of the legislature, must be referred
to the H. of R. for their concurrence, so they, being
free agents, may approve or reject them, either by
a vote declaring that, or by refusing to pass acts.
I should think the former mode the most safe &
honorable. The people in this part of the country
continue very firmly disposed against the treaty. I
imagine the 50. negative votes comprehend the whole
force of the Alexandrian party & the bigots & passive
obedience men of the whole state who have got them-
selves into the legislature. I observe an expression
no one would have pretended to deny the power of the states to lay
such. This doctrine, I believe, is all that is original in his argument.
The sophisms of Camillus, & the nice distinctions of the Examiner
made up the rest. It is clear that it was brought forward for the
purpose of gaining over the unwary & wavering. It has never been
admitted by the writers in favor of the treaty to the northward.
Its author was disappointed however. Upon a division the vote
stood 100 to 50. After the question Charles Lee brought forward a
motion of compliment to the P. It was of most uncommon length
which was undoubtedly intended to puzzle: & the word 'wisdom' in
expressing the confidence of the House in the P. was so artfully in-
troduced that if the fraudulent design had not been detected in time
the vote of the House, as to its effect upon the P. would have been
entirely done away. A resolution so worded as to acquit the P. of
all evil intention, but at the same time silently censuring his error,
was passed by a majority of 33. 89 to 56.
"Some of the warmest of the victorious party talk of bringing
forward a motion for a vote of applause to S. T. Mason. But the
more moderate say their triumph is sufficient, & it is supposed this
will be dropped."
i79s] Thomas Jefferson 199
in Randolph's printed secret intimating that the
President, tho' an honest man himself, may be cir-
cumvented by snares & artifices, & is in fact sur-
rounded by men who wish to clothe the Executive
with more than constitutional powers. This when
public, will make great impression. It is not only a
truth, but a truth levelled to every capacity & will
justify to themselves the most zealous votaries, for
ceasing to repose the unlimited confidence they have
done in the measures which have been pursued.
Communicate the enclosed paper, if you please, to
Mr. Giles. Our autumn is fine. The weather mild
& intermixed with moderate rains at proper inter-
vals. No ice yet, & not much frost. Adieu.
TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE '
MONTICELLO NOV 30. 95.
My Dear Sir, — I received your favor of Oct. 12
by your son, who has been kind enough to visit me
here, and from whose visit I have received all that
pleasure which I do from whatever comes from you,
and especially from a subject so deservedly dear to
you. He found me in a retirement I doat on, living
like an Antediluvian patriarch among my children
& grand children, and tilling my soil. As he had
lately come from Philadelphia, Boston &c he was
able to give me a great deal of information of what
is passing in the world & I pestered him with ques-
tions pretty much as our friends Lynch, Nelson &c
T From the original in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
200 The Writings of [179s
will us when we step across the Styx, for they will
wish to hear what has been passing above ground
since they left us. You hope I have not abandoned
entirely the service of our country. After a five &
twenty years continual employment in it, I trust it
will be thought I have fulfilled my tour, like a
punctual soldier, and may claim my discharge. But
I am glad of the sentiment from you my friend, be-
cause it gives a hope you will practice what you
preach, and come forward in aid of the public vessel.
I will not admit your old excuse, that you are in
public service tho' at home. The campaigns which
are fought in a man's own house are not to be
counted. The present situation of the President,
unable to get the offices filled, really calls with un-
common obligation on those whom nature has fitted
for them. I join with you in thinking the treaty an
execrable thing. But both negotiators must have
understood that as there were articles in it which
could not be carried into execution without the aid
of the legislatures on both sides, that therefore it
must be referred to them, and that these legislatures
being free agents would not give it their support if
they disapproved of it. I trust the popular branch
of our legislature will disapprove of it, and thus rid
us of this infamous act, which is really nothing more
than a treaty of alliance between England & the
Anglomen of this country against the legislature &
people of the United States. — I told your son I had
long had it in contemplation to write to you for
half a dozen sour orange trees, of a proper size for
small boxes, as they abound with you. The only
1795] Thomas Jefferson 201
trouble they would give would be the putting them
into boxes long enough before sending them for them
to take root, & when rooted to put them into some
vessel coming direct to Richmond to the care of mr
Daniel Hylton there. Your son is kind enough to
undertake the commission. With constant & un-
changed affections I am my dear friend.
TO WILLIAM BRANCH GILES l
Monticello Dec. 31. 95.
Dear Sir, — Your favors of Dec. 15. & 20. came to
hand by the last post. I am well pleased with the
manner in which your house has testified their sense
of the treaty. While their refusal to pass the original
clause of the reported answer proved their condemna-
tion of it, the contrivance to let it disappear silently
respected appearances in favor of the President, who
errs as other men do, but errs with integrity. Ran-
dolph seems to have hit upon the true theory of
our constitution, that when a treaty is made, involv-
ing matters confided by the constitution to the three
branches of the legislature conjointly, the repre-
sentatives are as free as the President & Senate were
to consider whether the national interest requires or
forbids their giving the forms & force of law to the
articles over which they have a power. — I thank you
much for the pamphlet — his narrative is so straight
& plain, that even those who did not know him will
acquit him of the charge of bribery; those who knew
1 From a copy courteously furnished by Dr. J. S. H. Fogg, of Boston.
202 The Writings of [179s
him had done it from the first. Tho' he mistakes his
own political character in the aggregate, yet he gives
it to you in the detail. Thus he supposes himself a
man of no party (page 97,) that his opinions not con-
taining any systematic adherence to party, fall some-
times on one side and sometimes on the other, (pa.
58.) Yet he gives you these facts, which shew that
they fall generally on both sides, & are complete in-
consistencies— 1. He never gave an opinion in the
Cabinet against the rights of the people (pa. 97.)
yet he advised the denunciation of the popular
societies. (67.) 2. He would not neglect the over-
tures of a commercial treaty with France (79) yet
he always opposed it while atty-general, and never
seems to have proposed it while Secretary of State.
3. He concurs in resorting to the militia to quell the
pretended insurrection in the west (81.) and pro-
poses an augmentation from 12.500 to 15.000 to
march against men at their ploughs, (pa. 80.) yet
on the 5*-11 of Aug. he is against their marching (83.
101.) and on the 25* of Aug. he is for it. (84.) 4.
He concurs in the measure of a mission extraordinary
to London (as inferred from pa. 58.) but objects to
the men, to wit Hamilton & Jay (58.) 5. He was
against granting commercial powers to Mr. Jay
(58.) yet he besieged the doors of the Senate to pro-
cure their advice to ratify. — 6. He advises the Presi-
dent to a ratification on the merits of the treaty
( — 7.) but to a suspension till the provision order is
repealed. (98.) The fact is that he has generally
given his principles to the one party & his practice to
the other; the oyster to one, the shell to the other.
r795l Thomas Jefferson 203
Unfortunately the shell was generally the lot of his
friends the French and republicans, & the oyster of
their antagonists. Had he been firm to the principles
he professes in the year 1793. the President would
have been kept from a habitual concert with the
British & Antirepublican party, but at that time I do
not know which R. feared most, a British fleet, or
French disorganisers. Whether his conduct is to be
ascribed to a superior view of things, an adherence to
right without regard to party, as he pretends, or to
an anxiety to trim between both, those who know
his character and capacity will decide. Were parties
here divided merely by a greediness for office, as in
England, to take a part with either would be un-
worthy of a reasonable or moral man, but where the
principle of difference is as substantial and as strongly
pronounced as between the republicans & the Mono-
crats of our country, I hold it as honorable to take a
firm & decided part, and as immoral to pursue a
middle line, as between the parties of Honest men, &
Rogues, into which every country is divided.
A copy of the pamphlet came by this post to Char-
lottesville. I suppose we shall be able to judge soon
what kind of impression it is likely to make. It has
been a great treat to me, as it is a continuation of that
Cabinet history with the former part of which I was
intimate. I remark in the reply of the President a
small travestie of the sentiment contained in the
answer of the Representatives. They acknowlege
that he has contributed a great share to the national
happiness by his services. He thanks them for
ascribing to his agency a great share of those benefits.
204 The Writings of [179s
The former keeps in view the co-operation of others
towards the public good, the latter presents to view
his sole agency. At a time when there would have
been less anxiety to publish to the people a strong
approbation from your house, this strengthening of
your expression would not have been noticed. Our
attentions have been so absorbed by the first mani-
festations of the sentiments of your house, that we
have lost sight of our own legislature : insomuch that
I do not know whether they are sitting or not.
The rejection of Mr. Rutledge by the Senate is a
bold thing, because they cannot pretend any objec-
tion to him but his disapprobation of the treaty. It
is of course a declaration that they will receive none
but tories hereafter into any department of the gov-
ernment. I should not wonder if Monroe were to be
recalled under the idea of his being of the partisans
of France, whom the President considers as the parti-
sans of war & confusion in his letter of July 31, and
as disposed to excite them to hostile measures, or at
least to unfriendly sentiments. A most infatuated
blindness to the true character of the sentiments en-
tertained in favor of France. The bottom of my
page warns me that it is time to end my commentaries
on the facts you have furnished me. You would of
course however wish to know the sensations here on
those facts. My friendly respects to Mrs. Madison,
to whom the next week's dose will be directed.
Adieu affectionately.
Dr. Willard.
Dr. Barton
Dr. Ramsay
Mr. Barlow
Mr. Morse.
Mr. Webster.
*795l Thomas Jefferson 205
NOTES ON PROF. EBELING's LETTER OF JULY 30, 95 T
Professor Ebeling mentioning the persons in
America from whom he derives information for his
work, it may be useful for him to know how far he
may rely on their authority.
President Stiles, an excellent man, of very great
learning, but remarkable for his credulity.
All these are men of respectable
characters worthy of confidence as
to any facts they may state, and
rendered, by their good sense,
good judges of them.
Good authorities for whatever
relates to the Eastern states, & per-
haps as far South as the Delaware.
But South of that their information is worse than
none at all, except as far as they quote good author-
ities. They both I believe took a single journey
through the Southern parts, merely to acquire the
right of being considered as eye-witnesses. But to
pass once along a public road thro' a country, & in
one direction only, to put up at it's taverns, and get
into conversation with the idle, drunken individuals
who pass their time lounging in these taverns, is not
the way to know a country, it's inhabitants, or man-
ners. To generalize a whole nation from these speci-
mens is not the sort of information which Professor
Ebeling would wish to compose his work from.
1 Undated, but probably -written late in 1795. Christoph Daniel
Ebeling was at this time preparing his Biography and History of
North America.
206 The Writings of [179s
Fenno's Gazette of the U. S. \ To form a just judg-
Webster's Minerva. j- ment of a country from
Columbian centinel. ) it's newspapers the
character of these papers should be known, in order
that proper allowances & corrections may be used.
This will require a long explanation, without which,
these particular papers would give a foreigner a very-
false view of American affairs.
The people of America, before the revolution-war,
being attached to England, had taken up, without
examination, the English ideas of the superiority of
their constitution over every thing of the kind which
ever had been or ever would be tried. The revolu-
tion forced them to consider the subject for them-
selves, and the result was an universal conversion to
republicanism. Those who did not come over to
this opinion, either left us, & were called Refugees,
or staid with us under the name of tories; & some,
preferring profit to principle took side with us and
floated with the general tide. Our first federal con-
stitution, or confederation as it was called, was
framed in the first moments of our separation from
England, in the highest point of our jealousies of
independance as to her & as to each other. It
formed therefore too weak a bond to produce an
union of action as to foreign nations. This appeared
at once on the establishment of peace, when the
pressure of a common enemy which had hooped us
together during the war, was taken away. Congress
was found to be quite unable to point the action of the
several states to a common object. A general desire
therefore took place of amending the federal con-
i79S] Thomas Jefferson 207
stitution. This was opposed by some of those who
wished for monarchy to wit, the Refugees now re-
turned, the old tories, & the timid whigs who prefer
tranquility to freedom, hoping monarchy might be
the remedy if a state of complete anarchy could be
brought on. A Convention however being decided
on, some of the monocrats got elected, with a hope
of introducing an English constitution, when they
found that the great body of the delegates were
strongly for adhering to republicanism, & for giving
due strength to their government under that form,
they then directed their efforts to the assimilation of
all the parts of the new government to the English
constitution as nearly as was attainable. In this
they were not altogether without success ; insomuch
that the monarchical features of the new constitu-
tion produced a violent opposition to it from the
most zealous republicans in the several states. For
this reason, & because they also thought it carried
the principle of a consolidation of the states farther
than was requisite for the purpose of producing an
union of action as to foreign powers, it is still doubted
by some whether a majority of the people of the
U. S. were not against adopting it. However it was
carried through all the assemblies of the states, tho'
by very small majorities in the largest states. The
inconveniences of an inefficient government, driving
the people as is usual, into the opposite extreme, the
elections to the first Congress run very much in
favor of those who were known to favor a very
strong government. Hence the anti-republicans ap-
peared a considerable majority in both houses of
208 The Writings of [*795
Congress. They pressed forward the plan therefore
of strengthening all the features of the government
which gave it resemblance to an English constitu-
tion, of adopting the English forms & principles of
administration, and of forming like them a monied
interest, by means of a funding system, not calcu-
lated to pay the public debt, but to render it per-
petual, and to make it an engine in the hands of the
executive branch of the government which, added
to the great patronage it possessed in the disposal
of public offices, might enable it to assume by de-
grees a kingly authority. The biennial period of
Congress being too short to betray to the people,
spread over this great continent, this train of things
during the first Congress, little change was made in
the members to the second. But in the mean time
two very distinct parties had formed in Congress;
and before the third election, the people in general
became apprised of the game which was playing for
drawing over them a kind of government which they
never had in contemplation. At the 3d. election
therefore a decided majority of Republicans were
sent to the lower house of Congress; and as infor-
mation spread still farther among the people after
the 4th. election the anti-republicans have become
a weak minority. But the members of the Senate
being changed but once in 6. years, the completion
of that body will be much slower in it's assimilation
to that of the people. This will account for the
differences which may appear in the proceedings &
spirit of the two houses. Still however it is inevitable
that the Senate will at length be formed to the re-
1795] Thomas Jefferson 209
publican model of the people, & the two houses of
the legislature, once brought to act on the true prin-
ciples of the Constitution, backed by the people, will
be able to defeat the plan of sliding us into monarchy,
& to keep the Executive within Republican bounds,
notwithstanding the immense patronage it possesses
in the disposal of public offices, notwithstanding it
has been able to draw into this vortex the judiciary
branch of the government & by their expectancy of
sharing the other offices in the Executive gift to
make them auxiliary to the Executive in all it's
views instead of forming a balance between that &
the legislature as it was originally intended and not-
withstanding the funding phalanx which a respect
for public faith must protect, tho it was engaged by
false brethren. Two parties then do exist within
the U. S. they embrace respectively the following
descriptions of persons.
The Anti-republicans consist of
1 . The old refugees & tories.
2. British merchants residing among us, & com-
posing the main body of our merchants.
3. American merchants trading on British capital.
Another great portion.
4. Speculators & Holders in the banks & public
funds.
5. Officers of the federal government with some
exceptions.
6. Office-hunters, willing to give up principles for
places. A numerous & noisy tribe.
7 . Nervous persons, whose languid fibres have more
analogy with a passive than active state of things.
VOL. VIII. 14.
2io The Writings of [179s
The Republican part of our Union comprehends
1. The entire body of landholders throughout the
United States.
2. The body of labourers, not being landholders,
whether in husbanding or the arts.
The latter is to the aggregate of the former party
probably as 500 to one; but their wealth is not as
disproportionate, tho' it is also greatly superior, and
is in truth the foundation of that of their antagonists.
Trifling as are the numbers of the Anti-republican
party, there are circumstances which give them an
appearance of strength & numbers. They all live
in cities, together, & can act in a body readily & at
all times; they give chief employment to the news-
papers, & therefore have most of them under their
command. The Agricultural interest is dispersed
over a great extent of country, have little means of
intercommunication with each other, and feeling
their own strength & will, are conscious that a single
exertion of these will at any time crush the machina-
tions against their government. As in the com-
merce of human life, there are commodities adapted
to every demand, so there are newspapers adapted to
the Antirepublican palate, and others to the Repub-
lican. Of the former class are the Columbian Cen-
tinel, the Hartford newspaper, Webster's Minerva,
Fenno's Gazette of the U. S., Davies's Richmond
paper &c. Of the latter are Adams's Boston paper,
Greenleaf's of New York, Freneau's of New Jersey,
Bache's of Philadelphia, Pleasant's of Virginia &c.
Pleasant's paper comes out twice a week, Greenleaf's
& Freneau's one a week, Bache's daily. I do not
i79s] Thomas Jefferson 211
know how often Adam's. I shall according to your
desire endeavor to get Pleasant's for you for 1794, &
95. and will have it forwarded through 96 from time
to time to your correspondent at Baltimore.
While on the subject of authorities and informa-
tion, the following works are recommended to Pro-
fessor Ebeling.
Minot's history of the insurrection in Massachusetts
in 1786. 8^°
Mazzei. Recherches historiques et politiques sur
les E. U. de VAmerique. 4 vol. 8™ This is to be
had from Paris. The author is an exact man.
The article 'Etats Unis de l'Amerique' in the
Dictionnaire d'Economie politique et diplomatique, de
VEncyclopedie methodique. This article occupies
about 90. pages, is by De Meusnier, and his materials
were worthy of confidence, except so far as they were
taken from the Abbe Raynal. Against these effu-
sions of an imagination in delirio it is presumed Pro-
fessor Ebeling needs not be put on his guard. The
earlier editions of the Abbe" Raynal's work were
equally bad as to both South & North America. A
gentleman however of perfect information as to
South America, undertook to reform that part of the
work, and his changes & additions were for the most
part adopted by the Abbe" in his latter editions.
But the North-American part remains in it's original
state of worthlessness.
212 The Writings of [1796
TO ARCHIBALD STUART *
Monticeiao, Jan. 3, '96.
Dear Sir, — I troubled you once before on the
subject of my nails, and must trouble you once more,
but hope my present plan will protect you from all
further embarrasment with it. I set out with refus-
ing to retail, expecting the merchants of my neigh-
borhood and the upper country would have given a
preference to my supplies, because delivered here at
the Richmond wholesale prices, and at hand to be
called for in small parcels, so that they need not to
keep large sums invested in that article & lying
dead on their hands. The importing merchants how-
ever decline taking them from a principle of sup-
pressing every effort towards domestic manufacture,
& the merchants who purchase here being much under
the influence of the importers, take their nails from
them with their other goods. I have determined
therefore to establish deposits of my nails to be re-
tailed at Milton, Charlottesville, Staunton, Wor-
mester, & Warren, but first at the three first places,
because I presume my present works, which turn
out a ton a month, will fully furnish them, and two
additional fires which will be at work in a short time,
will raise it to a ton and a half a month, and enable
me to extend my supplies to Wormester & Warren.
I shall retail at Richmond wholesale prices, laying on
5 percent at Milton & Charlottesville for commission
to the retailers, and 10. percent at the other places
T From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
i796l Thomas Jefferson 213
for commission & transportation. My present re-
tailing prices at Staunton would be
Sixes
i2£d
per lb. equal to 7/3^ per M
Eights
I2d
equal to 10/
Tens
n£d
" equal to 12/5^
Twelves
nd
" equal to 14/8
Sixteens
io£d
equal to 17/6
Twenties
IOd
equal to 20/10
It is tolerably certain that the moment my deposit
opens there will be an entire stoppage to the sale of
all imported nails, for a body can retail them in the
upper country at the Richmond wholesale prices, ad-
vanced only s or 10 percent, and as I mean to employ
only one person in each place to retail, it will be of
some advantage to the merchant who will undertake
it, to have the entire monopoly of the nail business,
& so draw to his store every one who wants nails,
besides the commission of 5 percent, which in an
article to be sold for ready money only, and where he
does not employ a farthing of his own capital, I am
advised is a sufficient allowance for commission. I
should expect them to send me a copy of their sales
once a month, and to hold the proceeds ready for my
draughts at stated periods, say monthly. I trouble
you to engage some person whom you can recom-
mend for punctuality, to retail for me. I heard very
favorable accounts of a Mr. Stuart, merch* of Staun-
ton, & should not hesitate to prefer him if he will
undertake it. If not, pray do me the favor to find
some other. I have written you the details, not that
214 The Writings of [1796
you need trouble yourself with explaining them to
any person but that you may put this letter into his
hands. As soon as you will name to me the person
you engage I will send him an assortment of nails
by the first waggons which will take them in. — Will
you be so good as to procure for me a good bearskin,
dressed, with a soft skin & the hair on. Dr. John-
son will on your application be so good as to pay for
it, and take credit on his account with me. My re-
spectful salutations to Mrs. Stuart, and assurances of
attachment to yourself from yours affectionately.
TO GEORGE WYTHE j. mss.
Monticello, January 16, 1796.
In my letter which accompanied the box contain-
ing my collection of Printed laws, I promised to send
you by post a statement of the contents of the box.
On taking up the subject I found it better to take a
more general view of the whole of the laws I possess,
as well Manuscript as printed, as also of those which
I do not possess, and suppose to be no longer extant.
This general view you will have in the enclosed paper,
whereof the articles stated to be printed constitute
the contents of the box I sent you. Those in MS.
were not sent, because not supposed to have been
within your view, and because some of them will not
bear removal, being so rotten, that in turning over a
leaf it sometimes falls into powder. These I pre-
serve by wrapping & sewing them up in oiled cloth,
so that neither air nor moisture can have access to
1796] Thomas Jefferson 215
them. Very early in the course of my researches
into the laws of Virginia, I observed that many of
them were already lost, and many more on the point
of being lost, as existing only in single copies in the
hands of careful or curious individuals, on whose
death they would probably be used for waste paper.
I set myself therefore to work, to collect all which
were then existing, in order that when the day should
come in which the public should advert to the magni-
tude of their loss in these precious monuments of our
property, and our history, a part of their regret
might be spared by information that a portion has
been saved from the wreck, which is worthy of their
attention & preservation. In searching after these
remains, I spared neither time, trouble, nor expense ;
and am of opinion that scarcely any law escaped me,
which was in being as late as the year 1778 in the
middle or Southern parts of the State. In the North-
ern parts, perhaps something might still be found.
In the clerk's office in the antient counties, some of
these MS. copies of the laws may possibly still exist,
which used to be furnished at the public expense to
every county, before the use of the press was intro-
duced; and in the same places, and in the hands of
antient magistrates or of their families, some of the
fugitive sheets of the laws of separate sessions, which
have been usually distributed since the practice com-
menced of printing them. But recurring to what
we actually possess, the question is, what means will
be the most effectual for preserving these remains
from future loss? All the care I can take of them,
will not preserve them from the worm, from the
216 The Writings of [1796
natural decay of the paper, from the accidents of
fire, or those of removal when it is necessary for any
public purposes, as in the case of those now sent
you. Our experience has proved to us that a single
copy, or a few, deposited in MS. in the public offices,
cannot be relied on for any great length of time.
The ravages of fire and of ferocious enemies have
had but too much part in producing the very loss we
are now deploring. How many of the precious works
of antiquity were lost while they were preserved only
in manuscript? Has there ever been one lost since
the art of printing has rendered it practicable to
multiply & disperse copies? This leads us then to
the only means of preserving those remains of our
laws now under consideration, that is, a multiplica-
tion of printed copies. I think therefore that there
should be printed at public expense, an edition of
all the laws ever passed by our legislatures which
can now be found; that a copy should be deposited
in every public library in America, in the principle
public offices within the State, and some perhaps in
the most distinguished public libraries of Europe,
and that the rest should be sold to individuals,
towards reimbursing the expences of the edition.
Nor do I think that this would be a voluminous
work. The MSS. would probably furnish matter
for one printed volume in folio, would comprehend
all the laws from 1624 to 1701, which period in-
cludes Purvis. My collection of Fugitive sheets
forms, as we know, two volumes, and comprehends
all the extant laws from 1734 to 1783 ; and the laws
which can be gleaned up from the Revisals to supply
i796l Thomas Jefferson 217
the chasm between 1701 & 1734, with those from
1783 to the close of the present century, (by which
term the work might be compleated,) would not be
more than the matter of another volume. So that
four volumes in folio, would give every law ever
passed which is now extant ; whereas those who wish
to posses as many of them as can be procured, must
now buy the six folio volumes of Revisals, to wit,
Purvis & those of 1732, 1748, 1768, 1783, & 1794, and
in all of them possess not one half of what they wish.
What would be the expence of the edition I cannot
say, nor how much would be reimbursed by the sales ;
but I am sure it would be moderate, compared with
the rates which the public have hitherto paid for
printing their laws, provided a sufficient latitude be
given as to printers & places. The first step would
be to make out a single copy for the MSS., which
would employ a clerk about a year or something
more, to which expence about a fourth should be
added for the collation of the MSS., which would
employ 3. persons at a time about half a day, or a day
in every week. As I have already spent more time
in making myself acquainted with the contents &
arrangement of these MSS. than any other person
probably ever will, & their condition does not admit
their removal to a distance, I will chearfully under-
take the direction & superintendence of this work,
if it can be done in the neighboring towns of Char-
lottesville or Milton, farther than which I could not
undertake to go from home. For the residue of the
work, my printed volumes might be delivered to the
Printer.
218 The Writings of [1796
I have troubled you with these details, because you
are in the place where they may be used for the pub-
lic service, if they admit of such use, & because the
order of assembly, which you mention, shews they are
sensible of the necessity of preserving such of these
laws as relate to our landed property; and a little
further consideration will perhaps convince them that
it is better to do the whole work once for all, than to
be recurring to it by piece-meal, as particular parts of
it shall be required, & that too perhaps when the
materials shall be lost. You are the best judge of
the weight of these observations, & of the mode of
giving them any effect 1 they may merit. Adieu
affectionately.
TO JOHN ADAMS j. mss.
Monticello Feb. 28. 96.
I am to thank you my dear Sir for forwarding M.
D'lvernois' book on the French Revolution. I re-
ceive everything with respect which comes from him.
But it is on politics, a subject I never loved, & now
hate. I will not promise therefore to read it thor-
oughly. I fear the oligarchical executive of the
French will not do. We have always seen a small
council get into cabals & quarrels, the more bitter &
relentless the fewer they are. We saw this in our
committee of the states ; & that they were from their
bad passions, incapable of doing the business of their
country. I think that for the prompt, clear & con-
sistent action so necessary in an executive, unity of
person is necessary as with us. I am aware of the
1796] Thomas Jefferson 219
objection to this, that the office becoming more im-
portant may bring on serious discord in elections. In
our country I think it will be long first ; not within
our day, & we may safely trust to the wisdom of our
successors the remedies of the evil to arise in theirs.
Both experiments however are not fairly committed
& the result will be seen. Never was a finer convass
presented to work on than our countrymen. All of
them engaged in agriculture or the pursuits of honest
industry independent in their circumstances, enlight-
ened as to their rights & firm in their habits of order
& obedience to the laws. This I hope will be the
age of experiments in government, & that their basis
will be founded in principles of honesty, not of mere
force. We have seen no instance of this since the
days of the Roman republic, nor do we read of any
before that. Either force or corruption has been the
principle of every modern government, unless the
Dutch perhaps be excepted, & I am not well enough
informed to accept them absolutely. If ever the
morals of a people could be made the basis of their
own government it is our case ; & who could propose
to govern such a people by the corruption of a legis-
lature, before he could have one night of quiet sleep
must convince himself that the human soul as well
as body is mortal. I am glad to see that whatever
grounds of apprehension may have appeared of a
wish to govern us otherwise than on principles of
reason & honesty, we are getting the better of them.
I am sure from the honesty of your heart, you join me
in detestation of the corruptions of the English gov-
ernment, & that no man on earth is more incapable
220 The Writings of [1796
than yourself of seeing that copied among us, will-
ingly. I have been among those who have feared
the design to introduce it here, & it has been a strong
reason with me for wishing there was an ocean of
fire between that island and us. But away politics.
I owe a letter to the Auditor on the subject of my
accounts while a foreign minister, & he informs me
yours hang on the same difficulties with mine. Be-
fore the present government there was a usage either
practised on or understood which regulated our
charges. This government has directed the future
by a law. But this is not retrospective, & I cannot
conceive why the treasury cannot settle accounts
under the old Congress on the principles that body
acted on. I shall very shortly write to Mr. Harrison
on this subject & if we cannot have it settled other-
wise I suppose we must apply to the Legislature. In
this I will act in concert with you if you approve of it.
Present my very affectionate respects to Mrs. Adams
& be assured that no one more cordially esteems
your virtues than, dear Sir, your sincere friend &
servant.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Mar. 2. 96.
Dear Sir, — I wrote you two letters in the course
of the last twelve months to wit May 26. & Sep. 6.
95. and have received from you those of Sep. 7. 94.
& June 23. 95. neither of which were late enough to
inform me if either of mine had got to hand. In
those I gave you all the details public & private
1796] Thomas Jefferson 221
which my situation enabled me to do. In the last
I asked the delivery of a note to Frouille' for some
books, particularly the sequel of the Encyclopedia,
come out since he last furnished me. I hope these
have got to hand.
The most remarkable political occurrence with us
has been the treaty with England, of which no man
in the U S. has had the effrontery to affirm that it
was not a very bad one except A. H. under the sig-
nature of Camillus. It's most zealous defenders only
pretended that it was better than war, as if war was
not invited rather than avoided by unfounded de-
mands. I have never known the public pulse beat
so full and in such universal union on any subject
since the declaration of Independance, the House of
representatives of the U. S. has manifested its disap-
probation of the treaty. We are yet to learn whether
they will exercise their constitutional right of refusing
the means which depend on them for carrying it into
execution. Should they be induced to lend their
hand to it it will be hard swallowing with their con-
stituents, but will be swallowed from the habits of
order & obedience to the laws which so much dis-
tinguish our countrymen. The resignation or rather
the removal of R. you will have learnt. His vindica-
tion bears hard on the executive in the opinions of
this quarter, and tho' it clears him in their judgment
of the charge of bribery, it does not give them high
ideas of his wisdom or steadiness. The appointment
of J. Rutledge to be C. J. seems to have been intended
merely to establish a precedent against the descent
of that office by seniority, and to keep five mouths
222 The Writings of [1796
always gaping for one sugar plumb : for it was im-
mediately negatived by the very votes which so
implicitly concur with the will of the executive. I
may consign the appointment of Chase to the bench
to your own knolege of him & reflections. McHenry
secty. at war, Charles Lee Atty Genl, with Pickering
& Wolcott by their devotion to genuine republican-
ism will show to our citizens on what principles alone
they can expect to rise. The office of Secy, of State
was offered to P. H. in order to draw him over & gain
some popularity: but not till there was a moral cer-
tainty that he would not accept it. I presume you
receive the newspapers, & will have seen the amend-
ments to the constitution proposed by the Virginia
Assembly. Their reception by some of the other
assemblies has been such as to call for the sacrifice
of all feeling rather than ruffle the harmony so neces-
sary to the common good. The finances are said to
have been left by the late financier in the utmost
derangement, and his tools are urging the funding
the new debts they have contracted. Thus pos-
terity is to be left to pay the ordinary expenses of
our government in time of peace. As small news
may escape the notice of your other correspondents,
I shall give you what occurs to me. The James river
canal is now conducted into the town of Richmond
& full toll is exacted. 30. Doll, a share more however
are necessary to complete it. The Patowmac &
Norfolk canals are not in such forwardness. Mayo'
bridge, nearly destroyed by a flood, is reestablished.
R. is settled again in Richmond in the business of
the law. — Carter's lands on the back of yours & Mr
J796] Thomas Jefferson 223
Short's have got into the hands of one of the sons,
Ned, who is coming to live on them. The price of
wheat is 13/ here the bushel, & corn 20/ the barrel,
and not to be had indeed at any price. I have been
desirous of planting some fruit trees for you that
they may be growing during your absence. But Mr
Jones's visits to the neighborhood have been so rare
& short that I have not had an opportunity of asking
from him the inclosure & allotment of the piece of
ground which seems proper for it. The season is
now passing. Do not fail to send over the Abricot-
peche. Bartram would receive & plant it, and then
furnish new plants. — Deaths are Zane, & Thos.
Pleasants of 4. Mile Creek. Mr Pendleton is also
said to be all but gone. A remarkable marriage is
that of Capt Alcock with the widow of Dr. Walker.
Your brother and family well. Derieux living in
Goochland under great sufferance, and hoping a
renovation of the aid promised from his aunt. My
sincere affections to Mrs Monroe & to yourself.
Adieu.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Mar. 6, 96.
I wrote you Feb 21, since which I have reed yours
of the same day. Indeed, mine of that date related
only to a single article in yours of Jan 31 & Feb 7.
I do not at all wonder at the condition in which the
finances of the U S are found. Ham's object from
the beginning, was to throw them into forms which
should be utterly undecypherable. I ever said he
224 The Writings of [1796
did not understand their condition himself, nor was
able to give a clear view of the excess of our debts
beyond our credits, nor whether we were diminishing
or increasing the debt. My own opinion was, that
from the commencemt of this government to the
time I ceased to attend to the subject, we had been
increasing our debt about a million of D. annually.
If mr. Gallatin would undertake to reduce this chaos
to order, present us with a clear view of our finances,
& put them into a form as simple as they will admit,
he will merit immortal honor. The accounts of the
U S ought to be, and may be made as simple as those
of a common farmer, and capable of being under-
stood by common farmers.
Disapproving, as I do, of the unjustifiable largess
to the dau'r's of the C de Grasse, I will certainly not
propose to rivet it by a second example on behalf of
M. de Chastellux's son. It will only be done in the
event of such a repetition of the precedent, as will
give every one a right to share in the plunder. It is,
indeed, surprising you have not yet received the Brit-
ish treaty in form. I presume you would never re-
ceive it were not your co-operation on it necessary.
But this will oblige the formal notification of it to you.
I thank you for your information respecting
Lownes. There is one article still necessary to be
known from mr Howell. Lownes began with credit of
90. days from the time of the departure of the nailrod
from Philadelphia (not his delivery of it to the vessel;
for that makes a difference sometimes of many weeks)
but he afterwards reduced it to 60. days. What
would be mr. Howell's credits? I know that credit
1796] Thomas Jefferson 225
in Virginia startle a merchant in Philadelphia; but
I presume that mr. Howell could have confidence
enough in me (tho not personally known to him) to
make a trial, & govern himself afterwards according
to the result, & to the punctuality with which he
would receive his remittances. I wish to know this,
tho I am not yet decided to drop Lownes, on ac-
count of his being a good man, & I like much to be
in the hands of good men. There is great pleasure
in unlimited confidence. My consumption has now
advanced from 3. to 4. tons a quarter. I call for a
quarter's supply at once, so that the last quarter's
supply is always paid for before the next is called
for, or at the very time. — The Spanish treaty will
have some disagreeable features, seeds of chicanery
& eternal broils, instead of peace & friendship. At
a period not long before that, they had been ready
to sign one giving us vastly more than we had ever
contemplated; particularly in our intercourse with
their W. Indies. — I by no means think of declining
the work we have spoken of. On the contrary, I
wish with ardor to begin it, since the change of form
into which I propose to put it: the first ideas had
always oppressed me from a consciousness of my
want both of talents & materials to execute it. But
it will be impossible for a year to come: and I am
not certain whether, even after the present year, I
shall not be obliged to put my farms under such
direction as that I should be considered as not here
as to them, while I should be here as to >my papers.
My salutations to mrs. Madison, friendly esteem to
mr. Giles, Page, &c.
VOL. VIII. — IS.
226 The Writings of [1796
P. S. Have you considered all the consequences
of your proposition respecting post roads ? I view it
as a source of boundless patronage to the executive,
jobbing to members of Congress & their friends,
and a bottomless abyss of public money. You will
begin by only appropriating the surplus of the post
office revenues ; but the other revenues will soon be
called into their aid, and it will be a scene of eternal
scramble among the members, who can get the most
money wasted in their State ; and they will always
get most who are meanest. We have thought,
hitherto, that the roads of a State could not be so
well administered even by the State legislature as by
the magistracy of the county, on the spot. What
will it be when a member of N H is to mark out a
road for Georgia? Does the power to establish post
roads, given you by Congress, mean that you shall
make the roads, or only select from those already
made, those on which there shall be a post? If the
term be equivocal, (& I really do not think it so,)
which is the safest construction? That which per-
mits a majority of Congress to go to cutting down
mountains & bridging of rivers, or the other, which
if too restricted may refer it to the states for amend-
ment, securing still due measure & proportion among '
us, and providing some means of information to the
members of Congress tantamount to that ocular in-
spection, which, even in our county determinations,
the magistrate finds cannot be supplied by any other
evidence? The fortification of harbors were liable
to great objection. But national circumstances fur-
nished some color. In this case there is none. The
1796] Thomas Jefferson 227
roads of America are the best in the world except
those of France & England. But does the state of
our population, the extent of our internal commerce,
the want of sea & river navigation, call for such ex-
pense on roads here, or are our means adequate to
it? Think of all this, and a great deal more which
your good judgment will suggest, and pardon my
freedom.
TO WILLIAM B. GILES j. mss.
Monticbllo, Mar 19, 96.
I know not when I have received greater satisfac-
tion than on reading the speech of Dr. Lieb, in the
Pennsylvania Assembly. He calls himself a new
member. I congratulate honest republicanism on
such an acquisition, and promise myself much from
a career which begins on such elevated ground. We
are in suspense here to see the fate and effect of mr.
Pitt's bill against democratic societies. I wish ex-
tremely to get at the true history of this effort to
suppress freedom of meeting, speaking, writing and
printing. Your acquaintance with Sedgwick will en-
able you to do it. Pray get from him the outlines of
the bill he intended to have brought in for this pur-
pose. This will enable us to judge whether we have
the merit of the invention ; whether we were really
beforehand with the British minister on this subject;
whether he took his hint from our proposition, or
whether the concurrence in the sentiment is merely
the result of the general truth that great men will
think alike and act alike, tho without intercommuni-
228 The Writings of [1796
cation. I am serious in desiring extremely the out-
lines of the bill intended for us. From the debates
on the subject of our seamen, I am afraid as much
harm as good will be done by our endeavors to arm
our seamen against impressments. It is proposed I
observe to register them & give them certificates of
citizenship to protect them from foreign impressment.
But these certificates will be lost in a thousand ways ;
a sailor will neglect to take his certificate ; he is wet
twenty times in a voyage ; if he goes ashore without
it, he is impressed ; if with it, he gets drunk, it is lost,
stolen from him, taken from him, and then the want
of it gives authority to impress, which does not exist
now. After ten years' attention to the subject, I
have never been able to devise anything effectual,
but that the circumstance of an American bottom be
made ipso facto, a protection for a number of seamen
porportioned to her tonnage; to oblige American
captains when called on by foreign officers, to parade
the men on deck, which would show whether they
exceeded their own quota, and allow the foreign offi-
cers to send 2. or 3. persons aboard and hunt for any
suspected to be concealed. This, mr. Pinckney was
instructed to insist upon with Great Britain ; to ac-
cept of nothing short of it ; and, most especially, not
to agree that a certificate of citizenship should be re-
quirable from our seamen ; because it would be made
a ground for the authorized impressment of them. I
am still satisfied that such a protection will place
them in a worse situation than they are at present.
It is true, the British minister has not shown any dis-
position to accede to my proposition: but it was not
1796] Thomas Jefferson 229
totally rejected; and if he still refuses, lay a duty of
1 d. sterling a yard on British oznabrigs, to make a
fund for paying the expenses of the agents you are
obliged to employ to seek out our suffering seamen.
I congratulate you on the arrival of mr. Ames & the
British treaty. The newspapers had said they would
arrive together. We have had a fine winter. Wheat
looks well. Corn is scarce and dear. 22/ here, 30/
in Amherst. Our blossoms are but just opening. I
have begun the demolition of my house, and hope to
get through its re-edification in the course of the
summer. But do not let this discourage you from
calling on us if you wander this way in the sum-
mer. We shall have the eye of a brick-kiln to poke
you into, or an Octagon to air you in. Adieu
affectionately.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Monticello Mar. 21. £6.
Dear Sir, — I wrote you on the 2? inst. and now
take the liberty of troubling you in order to have the
inclosed letter to Mr Gautier safely handed to him.
I will thank you for information that it gets safely to
hand, as it is of considerable importance to him, to
the U S. to the state of Virginia, & to myself, by
conveying to him the final arrangement of the ac-
counts of Grand & Co. with all those parties.
Mr Jones happened fortunately to come into our
neighborhood a few days after the date of my last,
and ordered the proper ground to be inclosed &
reserved for trees for you. My gardener is this day
230 The Writings of [1796
gone to plant such as we had, which will serve for a
beginning. We shall engraft more for you this
spring & plant them the next.
The British treaty has been formally at length
laid before Congress. All America is a tip-toe to see
what the H. of Representatives will decide on it.
We conceive the constitutional doctrine to be that
tho' the P. & Senate have the general power of
making treaties yet whenever they include in a treaty
matters confided by the constitution to the three
branches of legislature, an act of legislation will be
requisite to confirm these articles, and that the H. of
Repr. as one branch of the legislature are perfectly
free to pass the act or to refuse it, governing them-
selves by their own judgment whether it is for the
good of their constituents to let the treaty go into
effect or not. On the precedent now to be set will
depend the future construction of our constitution,
and whether the powers of legislation shall be trans-
ferred from the P. Senate & H. of R. to the P. Senate
& Piarningo or any other Indian, Algerine or other
chief. It is fortunate that the first decision is to
be in a case so palpably atrocious as to have been
predetermined by all America. — The appointm*8- of
Elsworth C. J. and Chace one of the judges is doubt-
less communicated to you. My friendly respects to
mrs Monroe. Adieu affectionately.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Mar. 27, 96.
Yours of the 13th is received. I am enchanted
with mr. Gallatin's speech in Bache's paper of
i796l Thomas Jefferson 231
Mar. 14. It is worthy of being printed at the end of
the Federalist, as the only rational commentary on
the part of the constitution to which it relates. Not
that there may not be objections, and difficult ones,
to it, and which I shall be glad to see his answers to ;
but if they are never answered, they are more easily
to be gulped down than those which lie to the doc-
trines of his opponents, which do in fact annihilate
the whole of the powers given by the constitution to
the legislature. According to the rule established by
usage & common sense, of construing one part of the
instrument by another, the objects on which the P
& S may exclusively act by treaty are much reduced,
but the field on which they may act with the sanction
of the legislature, is large enough; and I see no harm
in rendering their sanction necessary, and not much
harm in annihilating the whole treaty-making power,
except as to making peace. If you decide in favor of
your right to refuse co-operation in any case of treaty,
I should wonder on what occasion it is to be used, if
not on one where the rights, the interest, the honor
& faith of our nation are so grossly sacrificed; where
a faction has entered into a conspiracy with the ene-
mies of their country to chain down the legislature at
the feet of both; where the whole mass of your con-
stituents have condemned this work in the most un-
equivocal manner, and are looking to you as their
last hope to save them from the effects of the avarice
& corruption of the first agent, the revolutionary
machinations of others, and the incomprehensible
acquiescence of the only honest man who has as-
sented to it. I wish that his honesty and his political
232 The Writings of [1796
errors may not furnish a second occasion to exclaim,
"curse on his virtues, the 've undone his country." —
Cold weather, mercury at 26. in the morning. Corn
fallen at Richmond to 20/ — stationary here ; Nicholas
sure of his election; R. Jouett and Jo. Monroe in
competition for the other vote of the county. Affec-
tions to mrs. M. and yourself. Adieu.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Apr. 17, 1796.
Dear Sir, — Yours of the 4th came to hand the
day before yesterday. I have turned to the Conven-
tional history, and enclose you an exact copy of
what is there on the subject you mentioned. I have
also turned to my own papers, & send you some
things extracted from them, which shew that the
recollection of the P has not been accurate when he
supposed his own opinion to have been uniformly
that declared in his answer of Mar 30. The records
of the Senate will vouch for this. * * *
Extract, verbatim, from last page but one & the last
page.
"Mr. King suggested that the journals of the Con-
vention should be either destroyed, or deposited
in the custody of the President. He thought, if
suffered to be made public, a bad use would be made
of them by those who would wish to prevent the
adoption of the constitution.
"Mr. Wilson preferred the 2d expedient. He had
1796] Thomas Jefferson 233
at one time liked the first best; but as false sug-
gestions may be propagated, it should not be made
impossible to contradict them.
"A question was then put on depositing the jour-
nals & other papers of the Convention in the hands
of the President, on which N H, ay, M, ay, Ct, ay,
N J, ay, Penna, ay, Del, ay, Md, no, Virga, ay, N C,
ay, S C, ay, Georgia, ay. This negative of Mary-
land was occasioned by the language of the instruc-
tions to the Deputies of that state, which required
them to report to the state the proceedings of the
Convention.
"The President having asked what the Convention
meant should be done with the journals, &c, whether
copies were to be allowed to the members, if applied
for, it was resolved nem. con. 'that he retain the
journals & other papers subject to the order of the
Congress, if ever formed under the Constitution.'
"The members then proceeded to sign the instru-
ment, &c."
"In the Senate, Feb 1, 1791.
"The commee, to whom was referred that part of
the speech of the Prt of the U S, at the opening of the
session, which relates to the commerce of the Medi-
terranean, & also the letter from the Secy of state,
dated 20 Jan, 1791, with the papers accompanying
the same, reported: whereupon,
"Resolved, that the Senate do advise & consent,
that the Pr of the U S take such measures as he may
think necessary for the redemption of the citizens
of the U S, now in captivity at Algiers, provided the
234 The Writings of [1796
expense shall not exceed 40,000. Dolls, & also, that
measures be taken to confirm the treaty now existing
between the U S and the Emperor of Morocco."
The above is a copy of a resoln of Senate, referred
to me by the Pt, to prepare an answer to, and I find
immediately following this, among my papers, a
press copy, from an original written fairly in my
own hand, ready for the P's signature, & to be given
in to the Senate, the following answer:
"Gent of the Senate, —
"I will proceed to take measures for the ransom
of our citizens in captivity at Algiers, in conform-
ity with your resoln of advice of the 1st inst, so soon
as the moneys necessary shall be appropriated, by
the Legislature, & shall be in readiness.
"The recognition of our treaty with the new Em-
peror of Morocco requires also previous appropria-
tion & provision. The importance of this last to the
liberty & property of our citizens, induces me to urge
it on your earliest attention."
Tho' I have no memm. of the delivery of this to
the Senate, yet I have not the least doubt it was given
in to them, & will be found among their records.
I find among my press copies, the following in my
hand writing :
"The committee to report, that the President does
not think that circumstances will justify, in the
present instance, his entering into absolute engage-
1796] Thomas Jefferson 235
ments for the ransom of our captives in Algiers, nor
calling for money from the treasury, nor raising
it by loan, without previous authority from both
branches of the legislature."
"Apr 9, 1792."
I do not recollect the occasion of the above paper
with certainty ; but I think there was a comme ap-
pointed by the Senate to confer with the P on the
subject of the ransom, and to advise what is there
declined, and that a member of the commee advising
privately with me as to the report they were to make
to the House, I minuted down the above, as the sub-
stance of what I conceived to be the proper report,
after what had passed with the Prt, and gave the
original to the member, preserving the press copy.
I think the member was either mr. Izard or mr.
Butler, and have no doubt such a report will be
found on the files of the Senate.
On the 8th of May following, in consequence of
questions proposed by the Prt to the Senate, they
came to a resolution, on which a mission was founded.
* * *
TO PHILLIP MAZZEI J. mss.
Monticello, Apr. 24, 1796.
My Dear Friend,— Your letter of Oct. 26. 1795.
is just received and gives me the first information
that the bills forwarded for you to V. S. & H. of
Amsterdam on V. Anderson for £39-17-10^ & on
George Barclay for £70-8-6 both of London have
236 The Writings of [1796
been protested. I immediately write to the drawers
to secure the money if still unpaid. I wonder I have
never had a letter from our friends of Amsterdam on
that subject as well as acknoleging the subsequent
remittances. Of these I have apprised you by tripli-
cates, but for fear of miscarriage will just mention
that on Sep. 8. I forwarded them Hodgden's bill on
Robinson Saunderson & Rumney of Whitehaven for
£300. and Jan. 31. that of the same on the same for
£137-16-6 both received from mr. Blair for your
stock sold out. I have now the pleasure to inform
you that Dohrman has settled his account with you,
has allowed the New York damage of 20. per cent
for the protest, & the New York interest of 7. per
cent, and after deducting the partial payments for
which he held receipts the balance was three thousand
& eighty-seven dollars which sum he has paid into
mr. Madison's hands & as he (mr. Madison) is now in
Philadelphia, I have desired him to invest the money
in good bills on Amsterdam & remit them to the V.
Staphorsts & H. whom I consider as possessing your
confidence as they do mine beyond any house in
London. The pyracies of that nation lately ex-
tended from the sea to the debts due from them
to other nations renders theirs an unsafe medium
to do business through. I hope these remittances
will place you at your ease & I will endeavor to exe-
cute your wishes as to the settlement of the other
small matters you mention: tho' from them I expect
little. E. R.1 is bankrupt, or tantamount to it. Our
friend M. P.2 is embarrassed, having lately sold the
1 Edmund Randolph. a Mann Page.
J796] Thomas Jefferson 237
fine lands he lives on, & being superlatively just &
honorable I expect we may get whatever may be in
his hands. Lomax is under greater difficulties with
less means, so that I apprehend you have little more
to expect from this country except the balance which
will remain for Colle after deducting the little matter
due to me, & what will be recovered by Anthony.
This will be decided this summer.
I have written to you by triplicates with every re-
mittance I sent to the V. S. & H. & always recapitu-
lated in each letter the objects of the preceding ones.
I enclosed in two of them some seeds of the squash
as you desired. Send me in return some seeds of
the winter vetch, I mean that kind which is sewn in
autumn & stands thro the cold of winter, furnishing
a crop of green fodder in March. Put a few seeds in
every letter you may write to me. In England only
the spring vetch can be had. Pray fail not in this.
I have it greatly at heart.1
T From this point begins the extract which is known as the "Mazzei
letter." It originally appeared in a Florentine paper, from the Italian
text was translated into French and printed in the Moniteur, and from
that was retranslated into English, first appearing in America in The
Minerva of May 14, 1797, as follows:
"Translated for the Minerva, from the Paris Monitor, of January 25.
"Florence, January 1, 1797.
"From Mr. Jefferson, late Minister of the United States in France,
and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, to a Citizen of
Virginia.
"This letter literally translated is addressed to M. Mazzei, author
of Researches, historical and political, upon the United States of
America, now resident in Tuscany.
'Our political situation is prodigiously changed since you left us.
Instead of that noble love of liberty, and that republican government,
which carried us triumphantly thro the dangers of the war, an Anglo-
238 The Writings of [1796
The aspect of our politics has wonderfully changed
since you left us. In place of that noble love of
liberty, & republican government which carried us
triumphantly thro' the war, an Anglican monarchi-
cal, & aristocratical party has sprung up, whose
Monarchio-Aristocratic party has arisen. Their avowed object is to
impose on us the substance, as they have already given us the form,
of the British government. Nevertheless, the principal body of our
citizens remain faithful to republican principles. All our proprietors
of lands are friendly to those principles, as also the mass of men of
talents. We have against us (republicans) the Executive Power, the
Judiciary Power, (two of the three branches of our government) all
the officers of government, all who are seeking offices, all timid men who
prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty, the British
merchants and the Americans who trade on British capitals, the specu-
lators, persons interested in the bank and the public funds. [Estab-
lishments invented with views of corruption, and to assimilate us to
the British model in its corrupt parts.
' I should give you a fever, if I should name the apostates who have
embraced these heresies; men who were Solomons in council, and
Samsons in combat, but whose hair has been cut off by the whore
England. [In the original, par la catin Angleterre, probably alluding
to the woman's cutting off the hair of Sampson and his loss of strength
thereby.]
'They would wrest from us the liberty which we have obtained by
so much labor and peril; but we shall preserve it. Our mass of
weight and riches is so powerful, that we have nothing to fear from
any attempt against us by force. It is sufficient that we guard our-
selves, and that we break the Lilliputian ties by which they have bound
us, in the first slumbers which succeeded our labors. It suffices that
we arrest the progress of that system of ingratitude and injustice
towards France, from which they would alienate us, to bring us under
British influence, &c.'
"Thus far the letter; to which are subjoined, in the French paper,
the following remarks :
' This interesting letter from one of the most virtuous and enlightened
citizens of the United States, explains the conduct of the Americans
in regard to France. It is certain that of all the neutral and friendly
powers, there is none from which France had a right to expect more
interest and succours than from the United States. She is their true
mother country, since she has assured to them their liberty and inde-
x796] Thomas Jefferson 239
avowed object is to draw over us the substance, as
they have already done the forms, of the British
government. The main body of our citizens, how-
ever, remain true to their republican principles ; the
whole landed interest is republican, and so is a great
pendence. Ungrateful children, instead of abandoning her, they
ought to have armed in her defense. But if imperious circumstances
had prevented them from openly declaring for the Republic of France,
they ought at least to have made demonstrations and excited appre-
hensions in England, that at some moment or other they should de-
clare themselves. This fear alone would have been sufficient to force
the cabinet of London to make peace. It is clear that a war with the
United States would strike a terrible blow at the commerce of the
English, would give them uneasiness for the preservation of then-
possessions on the American continent, and deprive them of the
means of conquering the French and Dutch colonies.
'Equally ungrateful and impolitic, the Congress hastens to en-
courage the English, that they might pursue in tranquility their war
of extermination against France and to invade the Colonies and the
commerce of England.* They sent to London, a minister, Mr. Jay
known by his attachment to England, and his personal relations to
Lord Grenville, and he conducted suddenly a treaty of Commerce
which united them with Great Britain, more than a treaty of alliance.
'Such a treaty, under all the peculiar circumstances, and by the
consequences which it must produce, is an act of hostility against
France. The French government in short has testified the resent-
ment of the French nation, by breaking off communication with an
ungrateful and faithless ally, until she shall return to a more just and
benevolent conduct. Justice and sound policy equally approve this
measure of the French government. There is no doubt it will give
rise, in the United States, to discussions which may afford a triumph
to the party of good republicans, the friends of France.
'Some writers in disapprobation of this wise and necessary measure
of the directory, maintain that in the United States, the French have
for partizans only certain demagogues who aim to overthrow the ex-
isting government. But their imprudent falsehoods convince no one,
and prove only what is too evident, that they use the liberty of the
press, to serve the enemies of France.'
"[The foregoing letter wears all the external marks of authenticity.
* There seems to be a mistake in the original in this passage, or we
mistake the construction. — Translator.
240 The Writings of [1796
mass of talents. Against us are the Executive, the
Judiciary, two out of three branches of the legisla-
ture, all the officers of the government, all who want
to be officers, all timid men who prefer the calm of
despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty, British
merchants & Americans trading on British capitals,
speculators & holders in the banks & public funds,
a contrivance invented for the purposes of corrup-
tion, & for assimilating us in all things to the rotten
as well as the sound parts of the British model. It
would give you a fever were I to name to you the
apostates who have gone over to these heresies, men
who were Samsons in the field & Solomons in the
council, but who have had their heads shorn by the
And yet it seems hardly possible an American could be capable of
writing such a letter. As the letter is circulating in Europe, we deem
it just, if a forgery, to give Mr. Jefferson an opportunity to disavow
it.]"
Upon this publication in America, and Jefferson's failure to re-
pudiate it, he was savagely attacked by the Federal press. He at-
tempted no public explanation or palliation, but to his friends (see
post., letter to Madison, June 3, 1797), he sought to blame the transla-
tion for the stronger expressions, and many years later, in his letter
to Van Buren (June 24, 1824), he tried to explain away the apparent
allusions to Washington, even becoming insincere in his endeavors
to prove that his references did not allude to his former chief. So far
as this point is concerned, it is only necessary to note that the criticism
on Washington in this letter is far less severe than Jefferson was
writing to others in these years, and that Washington himself took
the references so wholly to himself, that from the publication of this
letter he ceased all correspondence and intercourse with his former
secretary. Nor is it probable that Jefferson's attempt to discredit
the public version at the time was so much a repudiation of what
he had written, as it was a political desire to avoid the unpopularity
of being known as the critic of one whom he had himself to acknow-
ledge had such personal popularity "that the people will support him
in whatever he will do or will not do, without appealing to their own
reason or to anything but their feelings toward him."
1796] Thomas Jefferson 241
harlot England. In short, we are likely to preserve
the liberty we have obtained only by unremitting
labors & perils. But we shall preserve them; and
our mass of weight & wealth on the good side is so
great, as to leave no danger that force will ever be
attempted against us. We have only to awake and
snap the Lilliputian cords with which they have
been entangling us during the first sleep which suc-
ceeded our labors. I will forward the testimonial
of the death of mrs. Mazzei, which I can do the more
incontrovertibly as she is buried in my grave yard,
and I pass her grave daily. The formalities of the
proof you require, will occasion delay. John Page
& his son Mann are well. The father remarried to a
lady from N. York. Beverley Randolph e la sua con-
sorte living & well. Their only child married to the
2d of T. M. Randolph. The eldest son you know
married my eldest daughter, is an able learned &
worthy character, but kept down by ill health. They
have two children & still live with me. My younger
daughter well. Colo. Innis is well, & a true republi-
can still as are all those before named. Colo. Monroe
is our M. P. at Paris a most worthy patriot & honest
man. These are the persons you inquire after. I
begin to feel the effects of age. My health has sud-
denly broke down, with symptoms which give me to
believe I shall not have much to encounter of the
tedium vitas. While it remains, however, my heart
will be warm in it's friendships, and among these,
will always foster the affection with which I am,
dear Sir, your friend and servant.
VOL. VIII. — 16.
242 The Writings of [1796
CONTRACT J. mss.
This indenture made on the 12th day of May,
1796, between Thomas Jefferson of Virginia of the
one part and Nicholas and Jacob Vanstaphorst and
Hubbard of Amsterdam, bankers, of the other part,
witnesseth that whereas the sd Thomas is indebted
to them in the two sums of one thousand and four
dollars fifty -four cents, and eight hundred and eighty-
eight dollars sixty seven cents, making together
eighteen hundred ninety three dollars twenty one
cents for so much paid for him by them to the
United States, for the purpose of securing the said
whole sum last mentioned, to them, and in considera-
tion that they will forbear to demand by process in
law one third of the sd sum & interest till July 1797,
one other third & interest till July 1798. and one
other third & interest till July 1799. And for the
further considn. of five shillings to him by them paid
he the sd Thomas hath given granted & conveyed to
the sd Nicholas and Jacob Van Staphorst & Hub-
bard the following slaves, to wit, Ned and Jenny his
wife & Ned, Fanny, Dick, Gill & Scilla their children,
Rachel & Nancy & Abraham her children, old Betty
and Val. residing at the lands of the sd Thomas in
Albermarle called Tufton, and Bagwell & Minerva
his wife and Ursulla, and Mary and Virginia their
children residing on his lands in Albermarle called
Lago, in all seventeen, to have & to hold the sd
slaves to the sd Nicholas & Jacob Van Staphorst &
Hubbard their heirs exrs. & admrs. Provided that
if the sd Thomas shall pay to the sd. Nicholas &
Jacob Van Staphorst & Hubbard one third of the
i796J Thomas Jefferson 243
sd debt & interest before July, 1797. one other third
before July 1798. and one-third before July 1799.
or if they should demand in law earlier paiment then
these presents to be void. In witness whereof the
sd Thomas hath set his hand and seal the day and
year first above written.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
June 12, 1796.
The dreadful misfortune of poor Derieux, who has
lost his house & all it's contents by fire occasions the
present letter to cover one from him to his aunt. I
send it open for your perusal. Be so good as to seal
& send it. I hope she will, if she has not done it
already, send him some relief.
I received only 3. weeks ago your favor of Nov. 18.
It has been 5. months on it's way to me. The reason
for engaging laborers to prepare for your buildings
was then over. They are to be got only about the
new year's day. To this is added that the plan you
promised to send me is not come. It is perhaps not
unfortunate that nothing was begun this year. Corn
@ 25/ to 30/ a barrel would have rendered building
this year extremely dear. It does so to me who had
engaged in it before that circumstance was foreseen.
If your plan arrives, I will consult with Mr. Jones,
and according to the result of our Consultation make
preparations in the winter for the next year's work.
Congress has risen. You will have seen by their
proceedings the truth of what I always observed to
you, that one man outweighs them all in influence
244 The Writings of [1796
over the people who have supported his judgment
against their own & that of their representatives.
Republicanism must lie on it's oars, resign the vessel
to it's pilot, and themselves to the course he thinks
best for them. — I had always conjectured, from such
facts as I could get hold of, that our public debt was
increasing about a million of dollars a year. You
will see by Gallatin's speeches that the thing is
proved. You will see further that we are com-
pleatly saddled & bridled, & that the bank is so
firmly mounted on us that we must go where they
will guide. They openly publish a resolution that
the national property being increased in value they
must by an increase of circulating medium furnish
an adequate representation of it, and by further
additions of active capital promote the enterprises
of our merchants. It is supposed that the paper in
circulation in and around Philadelphia amounts to
20. millions of Doll, and that in the whole union to
100. millions. I think the last too high. All the
imported commodities are raised about 50 per cent,
by the depreciation of the money. Tob? shares the
rise because it has no competition abroad. Wheat
has been extravagantly high from other causes.
When these cease, it must fall to it's antient nominal
price notwithstanding the depreciation of that, be-
cause it must contend at market with foreign wheats.
Lands have risen within the notice of the papers, and
as far out as that can influence. They are not risen
at all here. On the contrary they are lower than
they were 20. years ago. Those I had mentioned
to you, to wit, Carter's & Colle were sold before your
J796] Thomas Jefferson 245
letter came. Colle @ two dollars the acre. Carter's
had been offered me for two French crowns (13/2).
Mechanics here get from a dollar to a dollar & a half
a day, yet are much worse off than at old prices. —
Volney is with me at present. He is on his way to
the Illinois. Some late appointments judiciary &
diplomatic you will have heard and stared at. The
death of R. Jouett is the only small news in our
neighborhood. Our best affections attend Mrs.
Monroe, Eliza & yourself.
TO GEORGE WASHINGTON j. mss.
Monticello, June 19, 1796.
Dear Sir, — In Bache's Aurora, of the 9th inst
which came here by the last post, a paper appears,
which, having been confided, as I presume, to but
few hands, makes it truly wonderful how it should
have got there. I cannot be satisfied as to my own
part, till I relieve my mind by declaring, and I attest
everything sacred & honorable to the declaration,
that it has got there neither thro' me nor the paper
confided to me. This has never been from under my
own lock & key, or out of my own hands. No mortal
ever knew from me, that these questions had been
proposed. Perhaps I ought to except one person,
who possesses all my confidence, as he has possessed
yours. I do not remember, indeed, that I com-
municated it even to him. But as I was in the
habit of unlimited trust & council with him, it is
possible I may have read it to him; no more: for
246 The Writings of [1796
the quire of which it makes a part was never in any
hand but my own, nor was a word ever copied or
taken down from it, by any body. I take on my-
self, without fear, any divulgation on his part. We
both know him incapable of it. From myself, then,
or my paper, this publication has never been de-
rived. I have formerly mentioned to you, that from
a very early period of my life, I had laid it down as
a rule of conduct, never to write a word for the
public papers. From this, I have never departed
in a single instance; & on a late occasion, when all
the world seemed to be writing, besides a rigid
adherence to my own rule, I can say with truth, that
not a line for the press was ever communicated to
me, by any other, except a single petition referred
for my correction ; which I did not correct, however,
though the contrary, as I have heard, was said in a
public place, by one person through error, thro'
malice by another. I learn that this last has thought
it worth his while to try to sow tares between you
& me, by representing me as still engaged in the
bustle of politics, & in turbulence & intrigue against
the government. I never believed for a moment
that this could make any impression on you, or that
your knowledge of me would not overweigh the
slander of an intriguer, dirtily employed in sifting
the conversations of my table, where alone he could
hear of me ; and seeking to atone for his sins against
you by sins against another, who had never done
him any other injury than that of declining his
confidences. Political conversations I really dislike,
& therefore avoid where I can without affectation.
1796] Thomas Jefferson 247
But when urged by others, I have never conceived
that having been in public life requires me to belie
my sentiments, or even to conceal them. When I
am led by conversation to express them, I do it with
the same independence here which I have practiced
everywhere, and which is inseparable from my
nature. But enough of this miserable tergiversator,
who ought indeed either to have been of more truth,
or less trusted by his country.1
While on the subject of papers, permit me to ask
one from you. You remember the difference of
opinion between Hamilton & Knox on the one part,
& myself on the other, on the subject of firing on the
little Sarah, and that we had exchanged opinions &
reasons in writing. On your arrival in Philadelphia
I delivered you a copy of my reasons, in the presence
of Colo. Hamilton. On our withdrawing he told me
he had been so much engaged that he had not been
able to prepare a copy of his & General Knox's for
you, and that if I would send you the one he had
given me, he would replace it in a few days. I im-
mediately sent it to you, wishing you should see both
sides of the subject together. I often after applied
to both the gentlemen but could never obtain
another copy. I have often thought of asking this
one, or a copy of it, back from you, but have not be-
fore written on subjects of this kind to you. Tho I
do not know that it will ever be of the least import-
ance to me, yet one loves to possess arms, tho they
hope never to have occasion for them. They possess
T Here, in the margin of the copy, is written, apparently at a later
date, "General H. Lee."
248 The Writings of [1796
my paper in my own handwriting. It is just I should
possess theirs. The only thing amiss is, that they
should have left me to seek a return of the paper, or
a copy of it, from you.
I put away this disgusting dish of old fragments,
& talk to you of my peas & clover. As to the latter
article, I have great encouragement from the friendly
nature of our soil. I think I have had, both the last
& present year, as good clover from common grounds,
which had brought several crops of wheat & corn
without ever having been manured, as I ever saw on
the lots around Philadelphia. I verily believe that a
yield of 34. acres, sowed on wheat April was twelve-
month, has given me a ton to the acre at it's first
cutting this spring. The stalks extended, measured
3-J- feet long very commonly. Another field, a year
older, & which yielded as well the last year, has
sensibly fallen off this year. My exhausted fields
bring a clover not high enough for hay, but I hope
to make seed from it. Such as these, however, I
shall hereafter put into peas in the broadcast, pro-
posing that one of my sowings of wheat shall be after
two years of clover, & the other after 2. years of peas.
I am trying the white boiling pea of Europe (the Al-
bany pea) this year, till I can get the hog pea of
England, which is the most productive of all. But
the true winter vetch is what we want extremely. I
have tried this year the Caroline drill. It is abso-
lutely perfect. Nothing can be more simple, nor
perform it's office more perfectly for a single row. I
shall try to make one to sow four rows at a time of
wheat or peas, at 12. inches distance. I have one of
i796] Thomas Jefferson 249
the Scotch threshing machines nearly finished. It is
copied exactly from a model mr. Pinckney sent me,
only that I have put the whole works (except the
horse wheel) into a single frame', movable from one
field to another on the two axles of a wagon. It will
be ready in time for the harvest which is coming on,
which will give it a full trial. Our wheat and rye
are generally fine, and the prices talked of bid fair to
indemnify us for the poor crops of the two last years.
I take the liberty of putting under your cover a
letter to the son of the M. de la Fayette, not exactly,
knowing where to direct to him.
With very affectionate compliments to mrs. Wash-
ington, I have the honor to be, with great & sincere
esteem & respect, Dear Sir, your most obedient &
most humble servant.
TO JONATHAN WILLIAMS j. mss.
MONTICELLO, J«ly 3, 1796.
Dear Sir, — I take shame to myself for having so
long left unanswered your valuable favor on the sub-
ject of the mountains. But in truth, I am become
lazy to everything except agriculture. The prepara-
tions for harvest, and the length of the harvest itself,
which is not yet finished, would have excused the de-
lay however, at all times & under all dispositions. I
examined, with great satisfaction, your barometrical
estimate of the heights of our mountains ; and with
the more, as they corroborated conjectures on this
subject which I had made before. My estimates had
made them a little higher than yours (I speak of the
250 The Writings of [1796
blue ridge). Measuring with a very nice instrument
the angle subtended vertically by the highest moun-
tain of the Blue ridge opposite to my own house, a
distance of about 18. miles southwestward, I made
the highest about 2000. f . as well as I remember, for
I can no longer find the notes I made. You make
the south side of the mountain near Rockfish gap,
1722. f. above Woods'. You make the other side of
the mountain 767 f. Mr. Thomas Lewis dec'd, an
accurate man, with a good quadrant, made the north
side of the highest mountain opposite my house
something more (I think) than 1000. f. ; but the
mountain estimated by him & myself is probably
higher than that next Rockfish gap. I do not re-
member from what principles I estimated the peaks
of Otter at 4000. f. ; but some late observations of
Judge Tucker's coincided very nearly with my esti-
mate. Your measures confirm another opinion of
mine, that the blue ridge, on it's south side, is the
highest ridge in our country compared with it's base.
I think your observations on these mountains well
worthy of being published, and hope you will not
scruple to let them be communicated to the world. —
You wish me to present to the Philosophical society
the result of my philosophical researches since my
retirement. But, my good Sir, I have made re-
searches into nothing but what is connected with
agriculture. In this way, I have a little matter to
communicate, and will do it ere long. It is the form
of a mould-board of least resistance. I had some
years ago conceived the principles of it, and I ex-
plained them to mr. Rittenhouse. I have since
1796] Thomas Jefferson 251
reduced the thing to practice, and have reason to
believe the theory fully confirmed. I only wish for
one of those instruments used in England for meas-
uring the force exerted in the draughts of different
ploughs, &c, that I might compare the resistance of
my mould-board with that of others. But these in-
struments are not to be had here. In a letter of this
date to mr. Rittenhouse, I mention a discovery in
animal history, very signal indeed, of which I shall
lay before the society the best account I can, as soon
as I shall have received some other materials which
are collecting for me.
I have seen, with extreme indignation, the blas-
phemies lately vended against the memory of the
father of American philosophy. But his memory
will be preserved and venerated as long as the
thunders of heaven shall be heard or feared.
With good wishes to all of his family, and senti-
ments of great respect & esteem for yourself, I am,
dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
July 10. 96.
Dear Sir, — Your brother received a letter from
you a few days since in which he says you mention
having received but two from me since you left us. I
have not been a very troublesome correspondent to
you, I acknoledge, but have written letters of the
following dates to you, to wit 1794. Mar. 11. Apr. 24.
— 1795. May 26. Sep. 6. — 1796 June 12. In this last
252 The Writings of [1796
I acknoleged the receipt of yours of Nov. 18. and
mentioned that your plan was not yet come to hand,
which with the difficulty & expence of getting la-
borers at this season would prevent beginning your
works till the new year. I have been in daily
expectation of hearing of the arrival of Mr. Short,
having no news from him since his leaving Madrid
for Paris. I am often asked when you will return.
My answer is when Eliza is 14. years old. Longer
than that you will be too wise to stay. Till then I
presume you will retain a post which the public good
requires to be filled by a republican. I put under
your cover some letters from M. de Liancourt. I
wish the present government would permit his re-
turn. He is an honest man, sincerely attached to his
Country, zealous against its enemies, and very de-
sirous of being permitted to live retired in the bosom
of his family. My sincere affection for his connec-
tions at Rocheguyon, and most especially for Madame
D'anville would render it a peculiar felicity to me to
be any ways instrumental in having him restored to
them. I have no means however unless you can
interpose without giving offence. If you can, I
should be much pleased. The Campaign of Congress
is closed, tho' the Anglomen have in the end got
their treaty through, and so far have triumphed over
the cause of republicanism. Yet it has been to them
a dear bought victory. It has given the most
radical shock to their party which it has ever re-
ceived: and there is no doubt they would be glad to
be replaced on the ground they possessed the instant
before Jay's nomination extraordinary. They see that
1796] Thomas Jefferson 253
nothing can support them but the Colossus of the
President's merits with the people, and the moment
he retires, that his successor, if a Monocrat, will be
overborne by the republican sense of his Constitu-
ents, if a republican he will of course give fair play to
that sense, and lead things into the channel of har-
mony between the governors & governed. In the
mean time, patience. — Among your neighbors there
is nothing new. Mr. Rittenhouse is lately dead.
Governor Brook has lost his lady. We have had
the finest harvest ever known in this part of the
country. Both the quantity & quality of our wheat
are extraordinary. We got 1 5/ a bushel for the last
crop, & hope two thirds of that at least for the
present one. — Most assiduous court is paid to P. H.
He has been offered every thing which they knew he
would not accept. Some impression is thought to
be made, but we do not believe it is radical. If they
thought they could count on him they would run
him for V. P. their first object being to produce a
schism in this state.
As it is they will run Mr. Pinckney, in which they
regard his southern position rather than his prin-
ciples. Mr. J. and his advocate Camillus are com-
pleatly treaty-foundered. We all join in love to
Mrs. Monroe & Elvie, and accept for yourself as-
surances of sincere & affectionate friendship. Adieu.
TO COLONEL JOHN STUART j. mss.
MONTICELLO, NOV. IO, 1 796.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of your
last favor, together with the bones of the Great-claw,
254 The Writings of to^
which accompanied it. My anxiety to obtain a thigh
bone is such, that I defer communicating what we
have to the Philosophical society, in the hope of
adding that bone to the collection. We should then
be able to fix the stature of the animal, without
going into conjecture & calculation, as we should
possess a whole limb, from the haunch bone to the
claw inclusive. Whenever you announce to me that
the recovery of a thigh bone is desperate, I shall make
the communication to the Philosophical society. I
think it happy that this incident will make known
to them a person so worthy as yourself to be taken
into their body, and without whose attention to
these extraordinary remains, the world might have
been deprived of the knowledge of them. I cannot,
however, help believing that this animal, as well as
the mammoth, are still existing. The annihilation
of any species of existence, is so unexampled in any
parts of the economy of nature which we see, that we
have a right to conclude, as to the parts we do not
see, that the probabilities against such annihilation
are stronger than those for it. In hopes of hearing
from you, as soon as you can form a conclusion satis-
factory to yourself, that the thigh bone will or will
not be recovered, I remain, with great respect &
esteem, Dear Sir, your most obedient servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticello, Dec. 17, 1796.
Your favor of the 5th came to hand last night. The
first wish of my heart was, that you should have been
1796] Thomas Jefferson 255
proposed for the administration of the government.!
On your declining it, I wish any body rather than!
myself; and there is nothing I so anxiously hope,!
as that my name may come out either second or;
third. These would be indifferent to me ; as the last,
would leave me at home the whole year, & the other
two-thirds of it. I have no expectation that the
Eastern states will suffer themselves to be so much
outwitted, as to be made the tools for bringing in P.
instead of A. I presume they will throw away their
second vote. In this case, it begins to appear possi-
ble, that there may be an equal division where I had
supposed the republican vote would have been con-
siderably minor. It seems also possible, that the
Representatives may be divided. This is a difficulty
from which the constitution has provided no issue.
It is both my duty & inclination, therefore, to relieve
the embarrassment, should it happen; and in that
case, I pray you and authorize you fully, to solicit on
my behalf that mr. Adams may be preferred. He
has always been my senior, from the commencement
of my public life, and the expression of the public will
being equal, this circumstance ought to give him the
preference. And when so many motives will be
operating to induce some of the members to change
their vote, the addition of my wish may have some
effect to preponderate the scale. I am really anxious
to see the speech. It must exhibit a very different
picture of our foreign affairs from that presented in
the adieu, or it will little correspond with my views of
them. I think they never wore so gloomy an aspect
since the year 83. Let those come to the helm who
256 The Writings of [*796
think they can steer clear cf the difficulties. I have
no confidence in myself for the undertaking.
We have had the severest weather ever known in
November. The thermometer was at 1 20 here & in
Goochland, & I suppose generally. It arrested my
buildings very suddenly, when eight days more would
have completed my walls, & permitted us to cover
in. The drought is excessive. From the middle of
October to the middle of December, not rain enough
to lay the dust. A few days ago there fell a small
rain, but the succeeding cold has probably prevented
it from sprouting the grain sown during the drought.
Present me in friendly terms to Messrs. Giles,
Venable, Page. Adieu affectionately.
P. S. I enclose a letter for Volney because I do
not know where to address to him.
Pray send me Gallatin's view of the finances of the
U. S. and Paine's Ire to the President if within the
compass of a conveyance by post.
TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE j. mss.
Monticello, Dec. 27, 1796.
My Dear Sir, — * * * You have seen my name
lately tacked to so much of eulogy & of abuse, that
I dare say you hardly thought it meant your old
acquaintance of '76. In truth, I did not know my-
self under the pens either of my friends or foes. It is
unfortunate for our peace, that unmerited abuse
wounds, while unmerited praise has not the power to
heal. These are hard wages for the services of all the
active & healthy years of one's life. I had retired
1796] Thomas Jefferson 257
after five & twenty years of constant occupation in
public affairs, and total abandonment of my own.
I retired much poorer than when I entered the public
service, and desired nothing but rest & oblivion. My
name, however, was again brought forward, without
concert or expectation on my part ; (on my salvation
I declare it.) I do not as yet know the result, as a
matter of fact; for in my retired canton we have
nothing later from Philadelphia than of the 2d week
of this month. Yet I have never one moment
doubted the result. I knew it was impossible mr.
Adams should lose a vote North of the Delaware, and
that the free and moral agency of the South would
furnish him an abundant supplement. On principles
of public respect I should not have refused; but I
protest before my god, that I shall, from the bottom
of my heart, rejoice at escaping. I know well that
no man will ever bring out of that office the reputa-
tion which carries him into it. The honey moon
would be as short in that case as in any other, & its
moments of extasy would be ransomed by years of
torment & hatred. I shall highly value, indeed, thei
share which I may have had in the late vote, as an
evidence of the share I hold in the esteem of my
countrymen. But in this point of view, a few votes
more or less will be little sensible, and in every other,
the minor will be preferred by me to the major vote.
I have no ambition to govern men ; no passion which
would lead me to delight to ride in a storm. Flumina
amo, sylvasque, inglorius. My attachment to my
home has enabled me to make the calculation with
rigor, perhaps with partiality, to the issue which
VOL. VIII. 17.
258 The Writings of [1796
keeps me there. The newspapers will permit me to
plant my corn, peas, &c., in hills or drills as I please
(and my oranges, by-the-bye, when you send them),
while our Eastern friend will be struggling with the
storm which is gathering over us ; perhaps be ship-
wrecked in it. This is certainly not a moment to
covet the helm.
I have often doubted whether most to praise or to
blame your line of conduct. If you had lent to your
country the excellent talents you possess, on you
would have fallen those torrents of abuse which have
lately been poured forth on me. So far, I praise
the wisdom which has descried & steered clear of
a water-spout ahdad. But now for the blame. There
is a debt of service due from every man to his coun-
try, proportioned to the bounties which nature &
fortune have measured to him. Counters will pay
this from the poor of spirit ; but from you, my friend,
coin was due. There is no bankrupt law in heaven,
by which you may get off with shillings in the pound ;
with rendering to a single State what you owed to
the whole confederacy. I think it was by the Roman
law that a father was denied sepulture, unless his
son would pay his debts. Happy for you & us, that
you have a son whom genius & education have qual-
ified to pay yours. But as you have been a good
father in everything else, be so in this also. Come
forward & pay your own debts. Your friends, the
mr. Pinckneys, have at length undertaken their tour.
My joy at this would be complete if you were in gear
with them. I love to see honest and honorable men
at the helm, men who will not bend their politics to
1796] Thomas Jefferson 259
their purses, nor pursue measures by which they may
profit, & then profit by their measures. An (liable
les Bougres! I am at the end of my curse and bot-
tom of my page, so God bless you and yours. Adieu
affectionately.
TO JOHN ADAMS *
Monticello, Dec. 28, 1796.
Dear Sir, — The public & the papers have been
much occupied lately in placing us in a point of
opposition to each other. I trust with confidence
that less of it has been felt by ourselves personally.
In the retired canton where I am, I learn little of
what is passing: pamphlets I see never: papers but a
few; and the fewer the happier. Our latest intelli-
gence from Philadelphia at present is of the 16th
inst, but tho' at that date your election to the first
magistracy seems not to have been known as a fact,
yet with me it has never been doubted. I knew it
impossible you should lose a vote north of the Dela-
ware, and even if that of Pennsylvania should be
against you in the mass, yet that you would get
enough South of that to place your succession out of
danger. I have never one single moment expected
a different issue; & tho' I know I shall not be be-
lieved, yet it is not the less true that I have never
wished it. My neighbors as my compurgators could
1 From the original in the possession of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet,
of New York.
260 The Writings of [1796
aver that fact, because they see my occupations & my
attachment to them. Indeed it is impossible that
you may be cheated of your succession by a trick
worthy the subtlety of your arch-friend of New York
who has been able to make of your real friends tools
to defeat their and your just wishes. Most probably
he will be disappointed as to you; and my inclina-
tions place me out of his reach. I leave to others the
sublime delights of riding in the storm, better pleased
with sound sleep and a warm birth below, with the
society of neighbors, friends & fellow-laborers of the
earth, than of spies & sycophants. No one then will
congratulate you with purer disinterestedness than
myself. The share indeed which I may have had in
the late vote, I shall still value highly, as an evidence
of the share I have in the esteem of my fellow
citizens. But while in this point of view, a few votes
less would be little sensible, the difference in the
effect of a few more would be very sensible and
oppressive to me. I have no ambition to govern
men. It is a painful and thankless office. Since the
day too on which you signed the treaty of Paris our
horizon was never so overcast. I devoutly wish you
may be' able to shun for us this war by which our
agriculture, commerce & credit will be destroyed. If
you are, the glory will be all your own; and that
your administration may be filled with glory, and
happiness to yourself and advantage to us is the sin-
cere wish of one who tho' in the course of our own
voyage thro' life, various little incidents have hap-
pened or been contrived to separate us, retains still
for you the solid esteem of the moments when we
J796] Thomas Jefferson 261
were working for our independence, and sentiments
of respect & affectionate attachment.'
1 Statement by memory, of a letter I wrote to John Adams ; copy
omitted to be retained.
Monticello, Dec. 28, 1796.
Dear Sir, — The public, & the public papers, have been much oc-
cupied lately in placing us in a point of opposition to each other. I
confidently trust we have felt less of it ourselves. In the retired can-
ton where I live, we know little of what is passing. Pamphlets I see
none: papers very few, & the fewer the happier. Our last informa-
tion from Philada is of the 1 6th inst. At that date the issue of the late
election seems not to have been known as a matter of fact. With me,
however, its issue was never doubted. I knew the impossibility of
your losing a single vote North of the Delaware; and even if you
should lose that of Pennsylva in the mass, you would get enough
South of that to make your election sure. I never for a single moment
expected any other issue ; & tho' I shall not be believed, yet it is not
the less true, that I never wished any other. My neighbors, as my
compurgators, could aver this fact, as seeing my occupations & my
attachment to them. It is possible, indeed, that even you may be
cheated of your succession by a trick worthy the subtlety of your arch
friend of New York, who has been able to make of your real friends
tools for defeating their & your just wishes. Probably, however, he
will be disappointed as to you; and my inclinations put me out of his
reach. I leave to others the sublime delights of riding in the storm,
better pleased with sound sleep & a warmer berth below it, encircled
with the society of my neighbors, friends, & fellow laborers of the
earth, rather than with spies & sycophants. Still, I shall value highly
the share I may have had in the late vote, as a measure of the share
I hold in the esteem of my fellow citizens. In this point of view, a
few votes less are but little sensible, while a few more would have been
in their effect very sensible & oppressive to me. I have no ambition to
govern men. It is a painful and thankless office. And never since
the day you signed the treaty of Paris, has our horizon been so over-
cast. I devoutly wish you may be able to shun for us this war, which
will destroy our agriculture, commerce, & credit. If you do, the
glory will be all your own. And that your administration maybe
filled with glory & happiness to yourself, & advantage to us, is the
sincere prayer of one, who, tho' in the course of our voyage, various
little incidents have happened or been contrived to separate us, yet
retains for you the solid esteem of the times when we were working
for our independence, and sentiments of sincere respect & attachment.
262 The Writings of [1797
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Jan. 1. 97.
Yours of Dec. 19. has come safely. The event of
the election has never been a matter of doubt in my
mind. I knew that the Eastern states were disci-
plined in the schools of their town meetings to sacri-
fice differences of opinion to the great object of
operating in phalanx, & that the more free & moral
agency practiced in the other states would always
make up the supplement of their weight. Indeed
the vote comes much nearer an equality than I had
expected. I know the difficulty of obtaining belief
to one's declarations of a disinclination to honors,
& that it is greatest with those who still remain in
the world. But no arguments were wanting to
reconcile me to a relinquishment of the first office
or acquiescence under the second. As to the first it
was impossible that a more solid unwillingness settled
on full calculation, could have existed in any man's
mind, short of the degree of absolute refusal. The
only view on which I would have gone into it for
awhile was to put our vessel on her republican tack
before she should be thrown too much to leeward of
her true principles. As to the second, it is the only
office in the world about which I am unable to decide
in my own mind whether I had rather have it or not
have it. Pride does not enter into the estimate ; for
I think with the Romans that the general of today
.should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary. I can
J particularly have no feelings which would revolt at
J a secondary position to mr. Adams. I am his junior
I in life, was his junior in Congress, his junior in the
1797] Thomas Jefferson 363
diplomatic line, his junior lately in the civil govern-
ment. Before the receipt of your letter I had written
the enclosed one to him. I had intended it some
time, but had deferred it from time to time under the
discouragement of a despair of making him believe I
could be sincere in it. The papers by the last post
not rendering it necessary to change anything in the
letter I enclose it open for your perusal, not only
that you may possess the actual state of dispositions
between us, but that if anything should render the
delivery of it ineligible in your opinion, you may
return it to me. If mr. Adams can be induced to
administer the government on it's true principles,
& to relinquish his bias to an English constitution,
it is to be considered whether it would not be on the
whole for the public good to come to a good under-
standing with him as to his future elections. He is
perhaps the only sure barrier against Hamilton's
getting in.
Since my last I have received a packet of books &
pamphlets, the choiceness of which testifies that they
come from you. The incidents of Hamilton's insur-
rection is a curious work indeed. The hero of it
exhibits himself in all the attitudes of a dexterous
balance master.
The Political progress is a work of value & of a
singular complexion. The eye of the author seems
to be a natural achromatic, which divests every ob-
ject of the glare of colour. The preceding work
under the same title had the same merit. One is
disgusted indeed with the ulcerated state which it
presents of the human mind: but to cure an ulcer
264 The Writings of [J797
we must go to its bottom: & no writer has ever done
this more radically than this one. The reflections
into which he leads one are not nattering to our
species. In truth I do not recollect in all the animal
kingdom a single species but man which is eternally
& systematically engaged in the destruction of its
own species. What is called civilization seems to
have no other effect on him than to teach him to pur-
sue the principle of helium omnium in omnia on a
larger scale, & in place of the little contests of tribe
against tribe, to engage all the quarters of the earth
in the same work of destruction. When we add to
this that as to the other species of animals, the lions
& tigers are mere lambs compared with man as a
destroyer, we must conclude that it is in man alone
that nature has been able to find a sufficient barrier
against the too great multiplication of other animals
& of man himself, an equilibrating power against
the fecundity of generation. My situation points
my views chiefly to his wars in the physical world:
yours perhaps exhibit him as equally warring in the
moral one. We both, I believe, join in wishing to
see him softened. Adieu.1
1 Statement from memory, of a letter I wrote to James Madison:
copy omitted to be retained.
Monticello, Jan. i, 97.
Yours of Dec. 19 is safely received. I never entertained a doubt of
the event of the election. I knew that the eastern troops were trained
in the schools of their town meetings to sacrifice little differences of
opinion to the solid advantages of operating in phalanx, and that
the more free and moral agency of the other States would fully supply
their deficiency. I had no expectation, indeed, that the vote would
have approached so near an equality. It is difficult to obtain full
credit to declarations of disinclination to honors, and most so with
those who still remain in the world But never was there a more
1797] Thomas Jefferson 265
TO ARCHIBALD STUART '
Monticello, Jan 4, 1797.
Dear Sir, — In answer to your favor of Dec. 31.
& to the question whether adviseable to address the
President on the subject of war against France, I
shall speak explicitly, because I know I may do it
safely to you. Such is the popularity of the Presi-
dent that the people will support him in whatever he
will do or will not do, without appealing to their own
reason or to anything but their feelings toward him.
His mind has been so long used to unlimited ap-
plause that it could not brook contradiction, or even
advice offered unasked. To advise, when asked, he
solid unwillingness, founded on rigorous calculation, formed in the
mind of any man, short of peremptory refusal. No arguments, there-
fore, were necessary to reconcile me to a relinquishment of the first
office, or acceptance of the second. No motive could have induced
me to undertake the first, but that of putting our vessel upon her
republican tack, and preventing her being driven too far to leeward
of her true principles. And the second is the only office in the world
about which I cannot decide in my own mind, whether I had rather
have it or not have it. Pride does not enter into the estimate. For
I think with the Romans of old, that the General of to-day should be
a common soldier to-morrow, if necessary. But as to Mr. Adams,
particularly, I could have no feelings which would revolt at being
placed in a secondary station to him. I am his junior in life, I was.
his junior in Congress, his junior in the diplomatic line, and lately
his junior in our civil government. I had written him the enclosed
letter before the receipt of yours. I had intended it for some time,
but had put it off, from time to time, from the discouragement of
despair to make him believe me sincere. As the information by the
last post does not make it necessary to change anything in the letter,
I enclose it open for your perusal, as well that you may be possessed
of the true state of dispositions between us, as that if there be any
circumstance which might render its delivery ineligible, you may
return it to me. If Mr. Adams could be induced to administer the
government on its true principles, quitting his bias for an English
1 From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
266 The Writings of [1797
is very open. I have long thought therefore it was
best for the republican interest to soothe him by-
flattering where they could approve his measures, &
to be silent where they disapprove, that they may not
render him desperate as to their affections, & entirely
indifferent to their wishes, in short to lie on their
oars while he remains at the helm, and let the bark
drift as his will and a superintending providence
shall direct. By his answer to the House of Repre-
sentatives on the subject of the French war, & also
by private information, it seems he is earnest that
the war should be avoided, & to have the credit of
leaving us in full peace. I think then it is best to
constitution, it would be worthy consideration whether it would not
be for the public good, to come to a good understanding with him as
to his future elections. He is the only sure barrier against Hamilton's
getting in. . . .
The Political Progress is a work of value and of a singular com-
plexion. The author's eye seems to be a natural achromatic, divesting
every object of the glare of color. The former work of the same title
possessed the same kind of merit. They disgust one, indeed, by open-
ing to his view the ulcerated state of the human mind. But to cure
an ulcer you must go to the bottom of it, which no author does more
radically than this. The reflections into which it leads us are not
very flattering to the human species. In the whole animal kingdom
I recollect no family but man, steadily and systematically employed
in the destruction of itself. Nor does what is called civilization pro-
duce any other effect, than to teach him to pursue the principle of the
bellum omnium in omnia on a greater scale, and instead of the little
contest between tribe and tribe, to comprehend all the quarters of
the earth in the same work of destruction. If to this we add, that as
to other animals, the lions and tigers are mere lambs compared with
man as a destroyer, we must conclude that nature has been able to
find in man alone a sufficient barrier against the too great multiplica-
tion of other animals and of man himself, an equilibrating power
against the fecundity of generation. While in making these observa-
tions, my situation points my attention to the welfare of man in the
physical world, yours may perhaps present him as equally warring in
the moral one. Adieu. Yours affectionately.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 267
leave him to his own movements, & not to risk the
ruffling them by what he might deem an improper
interference with the constituted authorities. The
rather too because we do not hear of any movement
in any other quarter concurrent with what you
suggest, & because it would scarcely reach him be-
fore his departure from office. As to the President
elect, there is reason to believe that he (Mr. Adams
I mean) is detached from Hamilton, & there is a
possibility he may swerve from his politics in a
greater or less degree. Should the British faction
attempt to urge him to the war by addresses of sup-
port with life & fortune, as may happen, it would
then be adviseable to counteract their endeavors by
dissuasive addresses. At this moment therefore, at
our distance from the scene of information & in-
fluence, I should think it most adviseable to be silent
till we see what turn the new administration will
take. At the same time I mix so little with the
world, that my opinion merits less attention than
anybody's else, and ought not to be weighed against
your own good judgment. If therefore I have given
it freely, it is because you have desired it, & not be-
cause I think it worth your notice.
My information from Philadelphia confirms the
opinion I gave you as to the event of the election.
Mr. Adams will have a majority of three votes with
respect to myself, & whether Mr. Pinckney will have
a few more or less than him seems uncertain. The
votes of N. H. R. I. and Vermont had not come in,
nor those of Georgia & the two Western states. You
shall receive a gong by the first conveyance. It is
268 The Writings of [1797
but fair reciprocity to give me an opportunity of
gratifying you sometimes, and to prove by accepting
this, that my repeated intrusions on you have not
been too troublesome. It is a great satisfaction to
know that the object will be acceptable to you.
With every wish for your happiness I am Dear Sir
your affectionate friend & servt.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Jan. 8 97.
Yours of Dec. 25 is safely received. I much fear
the issue of the present dispositions of France &
Spain. Whether it be in war or in the suppression
of our commerce it will be very distressing and our
commerce seems to be already sufficiently distressed
through the wrongs of the belligerent nations and
our own follies. It was impossible the bank and
paper-mania should not produce great & extensive
ruin. The President is fortunate to get off just as
the bubble is bursting, leaving others to hold the
bag. Yet, as his departure will mark the moment
when the difficulties begin to work, you will see, that
they will be ascribed to the new administration, and
that he will have his usual good fortune of reaping
credit from the good acts of others, and leaving to
them that of his errors. — We apprehend our wheat
is almost entirely killed: and many people are ex-
pecting to put something else in the ground. I have
so little expectations from mine, that as much as I
am an enemy to tobacco, I shall endeavor to make
some for taxes and clothes. In the morning of the
1797] Thomas Jefferson 269
23d of Dec. my thermometer was 50 below o, &
the 24th it was at o. The last day of Dec. we
had a snow i-J- 1, deep & the 4th of this month one
of 3. I. deep which is still on the ground. Adieu
affectionately.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Monticello Jan. 16. 97.
Dear Sir, — The usual accidents of the winter, ice,
floods, rains, have prevented the Orange post from
coming to Charlottesville the last post-day, so that
we have nothing from Philadelphia the last week. I
see however by the Richmond papers a probability
that the choice of V. P. has fallen on me. I have
written the enclosed letter therefore to Mr. Tazewell
as a private friend, & have left it open for your
perusal. It will explain its own object & I pray you
& Mr. Tazewell to decide in your own discretion how
it may best be used for its object, so as to avoid the
imputation of an indecent forwardness in me.
I observe doubts are still expressed as to the
validity of the Vermont election. Surely in so great
a case, substance & not form should prevail. I can-
not suppose that the Vermont constitution has been
strict in requiring particular forms of expressing the
legislative will. As far as my disclaimer may have
any effect, I pray you to declare it on every occasion
foreseen or not foreseen by me, in favor of the choice
of the people substantially expressed, & to prevent
the phenomenon of a Pseudo-president at so early a
day. Adieu. Yours affectionately.
270 The Writings of [1797
TO HENRY TAZEWELL J. mss.
Monticello, Jan 16, 1797.
Dear Sir,— As far as the public papers are to be
credited, I may suppose that the choice of Vice-
president has fallen on me. On this hypothesis I
trouble you, and only pray, if it be wrong, that you
will consider this letter as not written. I believe
it belongs to the Senate to notify the V P of his
election. I recollect to have heard, that on the first
election of President & Vice President, gentlemen
of considerable office were sent to notify the parties
chosen. But this was the inauguration of our new
government, & ought not to be drawn into example.
At the 2d election, both gentlemen were on the spot
and needed no messengers. On the present occa-
sion, the President will be on the spot, so that what
is now to be done respects myself alone; and con-
sidering that the season of notification will always
present one difficulty, that the distance in the
present case adds a second, not inconsiderable, and
may in future happen to be sometimes much more
considerable, I hope the Senate will adopt that
method of notification, which will always be least
troublesome and most certain. The channel of the
post is certainly the least troublesome, is the most
rapid, &, considering also that it may be sent by
duplicates & triplicates, is unquestionably the most
certain. Inclosed to the postmaster at Charlottes-
ville, with an order to send it by express, no hazard
can endanger the notification. Apprehending, that
should there be a difference of opinion on this sub-
ject in the Senate, my ideas of self-respect might
1797] Thomas Jefferson 271
be supposed by some to require something more
formal & inconvenient, I beg leave to avail myself of
your friendship to declare, if a different proposition
should make it necessary, that I consider the channel
of the post-office as the most eligible in every respect,
& that it is to me the most desirable; which I take
the liberty of expressing, not with a view of en-
croaching on the respect due to that discretion
which the Senate have a right to exercise on the oc-
casion, but to render them the more free in the
exercise of it, by taking off whatsoever weight the
supposition of a contrary desire in me might have in
the mind of any member.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Jan. 22, 97.
Yours of the 8th came to hand yesterday. I was
not aware of any necessity of going on to Philadel-
phia immediately, yet I had determined to do it, as a
mark of respect to the public, and to do away the
doubts which have spread, that I should consider the
second office as beneath my acceptance. The jour-
ney, indeed, for the month of February, is a tre-
mendous undertaking for me, who have not been
seven miles from home since my re-settlement. I
will see you about the rising of Congress; and pre-
sume I need not stay there a week. Your letters
written before the 7th of Feb will still find me here.
My letters inform me that mr. A speaks of me with
great friendship, and with satisfaction in the prospect
of administering the government in concurrence with
272 The Writings of l>797
me.1 I am glad of the first information, because tho
I saw that our antient friendship was affected by a
little leaven, produced partly by his constitution,
partly by the contrivance of others, yet I never felt
a diminution of confidence in his integrity, and re-
tained a solid affection for him. His principles of
government I knew to be changed, but conscien-
tiously changed. As to my participating in the
administration, if by that he meant the executive
cabinet, both duty & inclination will shut that door
to me. I cannot have a wish to see the scenes of 93.
revived as to myself, & to descend daily into the
arena like a gladiator, to suffer martyrdom in every
conflict. As to duty, the constitution will know me
only as the member of a legislative body; and it's
principle is, that of a separation of legislative, execu-
tive & judiciary functions, except in cases specified.
If this principle be not expressed in direct terms,
yet it is clearly the spirit of the constitution, & it
ought to be so commented & acted on by every
friend of free government.
I sincerely deplore the situation of our affairs with
1 Adams wrote to Tristam Dalton on Jan. 19, 1797:
"P. S. Mr. Jefferson's Letters and Declarations are no surprise to
me. We laboured together in high friendship in Congress in 1776 and
have lived and acted together very frequently since that time. His
Talent and Information I know very well, and have ever believed in
his honour, Integrity, his love of Country, and his friends. I may
say to you that his Patronage of Paine and Freneau, and his entangle-
ments with Characters and Politicks which have been pernicious, are
and have long been a Source of Inquietude and anxiety to me, as they
have been to you. But I hope and believe that his advancement and
his Situation in the Senate, an excellent School, will correct him. He
will have too many French friends about him to flatter him: but I
hope we can keep him steady. This is entre nous. J. A."
1797] Thomas Jefferson 273
France. War with them, and consequence alliance
with Great Britain, will completely compass the ob-
ject of the Executive council, from the commence-
ment of the war between France & England ; taken
up by some of them from that moment, by others
more latterly. I still, however, hope it will be
avoided. I do not believe mr. A wishes war with
France; nor do I believe he will truckle to England
as servilely as has been done. If he assumes this
front at once, and shews that he means to attend to
self-respect & national dignity with both the nations,
perhaps the depredations of both on our commerce
may be amicably arrested. I think we should begin
first with those who first begin with us, and, by an
example on them, acquire a right to re-demand the
respect from which the other party has departed. —
I suppose you are informed of the proceeding com-
menced by the legislature of Maryland, to claim the
South branch of the Potomac as their boundary, and
thus of Albemarle, now the central county of the
state, to make a frontier. As it is impossible, upon
any consistent principles, & after such a length of
undisturbed possession, that they can expect to
establish their claim, it can be ascribed to no other
than an intention to irritate & divide ; and there can
be no doubt from what bow the shaft is shot. How-
ever, let us cultivate Pennsylvania, & we need not
fear the universe. The Assembly have named me
among those who are to manage this controversy
But I am so averse to motion & contest, and the
other members are so fully equal to the business,
that I cannot undertake to act in it. I wish you
VOL. VIII. — 18.
274 The Writings of [1797
were added to them. Indeed, I wish & hope you
may consent to be added to our Assembly itself.
There is no post where you can render greater ser-
vices, without going out of your State. Let but
this block stand firm on it's basis, & Pennsylvania do
the same, our Union will be perpetual, & our General
Government kept within the bounds & form of the
constitution. Adieu affectionately.
TO GEORGE WYTHE J. mss.
Monticbllo, Jan. 22. 97.
It seems probable that I will be called on to pre-
side in a legislative chamber. It is now so long since
I have acted in the legislative line, that I am entirely
rusty in the Parliamentary rules of procedure. I
know they have been more studied and are better
known by you than by any man in America, perhaps
by any man living. I am in hopes that while in-
quiring into the subject you made notes on it. If
any such remain in your hands, however informal, in
books or in scraps of paper, and you will be so good
as to trust me with them for a little while, they shall
be most faithfully returned. If they lie in small
compass they might come by post, without regard
to expense. If voluminous, mr. Randolph will be
passing through Richmond on his way from Varina
to this place about the ioth of Feb, and could give
them a safe conveyance. Did the Assembly do
anything for the preservation by publication of the
laws? With great affection, adieu.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 275
TO JOHN LANGDON j. mss.
Monticello, Jan. 22, 1797.
Dear Sir, — Your friendly letter of the 2d inst,
never came to hand till yesterday, & I feel myself
indebted for the solicitude you therein express for
my undertaking the office to which you inform me I
am called. I know not from what source an idea
has spread itself, which I have found to be generally
spread, that I would accept the office of President of
the U S, but not of Vice President. When I retired
from the office I last held, no man in the Union less
expected than I did, ever to have come forward
again; and, whatever has been insinuated to the
contrary, to no man in the Union was the share
which my name bore in the late contest, more un-
expected than it was to me. If I had contemplated
the thing beforehand, & suffered my will to enter
into action at all on it, it would have been in a
direction exactly the reverse of what has been im-
puted to me; but I had no right to a will on the
subject, much less to controul that of the people of
the U S in arranging us according to our capacities.
Least of all could I have any feelings which would
revolt at taking a station secondary to mr. Adams.
I have been secondary to him in every situation in
which we ever acted together in public life for twenty
years past. A contrary position would have been
the novelty, & his the right of revolting at it. Be
assured then, my dear Sir, that if I had had a fibre
in my composition still looking after public office,
it would have been gratified precisely by the very
call you are pleased to announce to me, and no other.
276 The Writings of [1797
But in truth I wish for neither honors nor offices.
I am happier at home than I can be elsewhere.
Since, however, I am called out, an object of great
anxiety to me is that those with whom I am to act,
shutting their minds to the unfounded abuse of
which I have been the subject, will view me with the
same candor with which I shall certainly act. An
acquaintance of many long years ensures to me your
just support, as it does to you the sentiments of sin-
cere respect and attachment with which I am, dear
Sir, your friend and servant.
TO DOCTOR JOHN EDWARDS j. mss.
Monticello, Jan. 22, 97.
Dear Sir, — I was yesterday gratified with the re-
ceipt of your favor of December 15th, which gave me
the first information of your return from Europe.
On the 28th of Oct I received a letter of July 30.
from Colo Monroe, but did not know through what
channel it came. I should be glad to see the De-
fence of his conduct which you possess, tho no paper
of that title is necessary for me. He was appointed
to an office during pleasure merely to get him out
of the Senate, & with an intention to seize the first
pretext for exercising the pleasure of recalling him.
As I shall be at Philadelphia the first week in March,
perhaps I may have an opportunity of seeing the
paper there in mr. Madison's hands. I think with
you it will be best to publish nothing concerning
Colo Monroe till his return, that he may accommo-
date the complexion of his publication to times & cir-
1797] Thomas Jefferson 277
cttmstances. When you left America you had not
a good opinion of the train of our affairs. I dare say
you do not find that they have got into better train.
It will never be easy to convince me that by a firm
yet just conduct in 1 793, we might not have obtained
such a respect for our neutral rights from Great
Britain, as that her violations of them & use of our
means to wage her wars, would not have furnished
any pretence to the other party to do the same.
War with both would have been avoided, commerce
& navigation protected & enlarged. We shall now
either be forced into a war, or have our commerce &
navigation at least totally annihilated, and the
produce of our farms for some years left to rot on our
hands. A little time will unfold these things, and
shew which class of opinions would have been most
friendly to the firmness of our government, & to the
interests to those for whom it was made. I am,
with great respect, dear Sir, your most obedient
servant.
TO DOCTOR BENJAMIN RUSH J. mss.
Monticello, Jan 22, 97.
Dear Sir, — I received yesterday your kind favor
of the 4th instant, and the eulogium it covered on
the subject of our late invaluable friend Rittenhouse,
& I perused it with the avidity & approbation which
the matter & manner of everything from your pen
has long taught me to feel. I thank you too for your
congratulations on the public call on me to undertake
the 2d office in the U S, but still more for the justice
278 The Writings of [1797
you do me in viewing as I do the escape from the
first. I have no wish to meddle again in public af-
fairs, being happier at home than I can be anywhere
else. Still less do I wish to engage in an office where
it would be impossible to satisfy either friends or foes,
and least of all at a moment when the storm is about
to burst, which has been conjuring up for four years
past. If I am to act however, a more tranquil & un-
offending station could not have been found for me,
nor one so analogous to the dispositions of my mind.
It will give me philosophical evenings in the winter,
& rural days in summer. I am indebted to the Philo-
sophical society [for] a communication of some bones
of an animal of the lion kind, but of most exagger-
ated size. What are we to think of a creature whose
claws were 8 Inches long, when those of the lion are
not 1 1-2 I; whose thigh-bone was 6 1-4 I. diameter;
when that of the lion is not 1 1-2 I ? Were not these
things within the jurisdiction of the rule & compass,
and of ocular inspection, credit to them could not
be obtained. I have been disappointed in getting
the femur as yet, but shall bring on the bones I have,
if I can, for the Society, & have the pleasure of
seeing you for a few days in the first week of March.
I wish the usual delays of the publications of the so-
ciety may admit the addition to our new volume, of
this interesting article, which it would be best to have
first announced under the sanction of their authority.
I am, with sincere esteem, dear Sir, your friend and
servant.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 279
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Jan. 30, 97.
Yours of the 1 5th came to hand yesterday. I am
very thankful for the discretion you have exercised
over the letter. That has happened to be the case,
which I knew to be possible, that the honest expres-
sion of my feelings towards mr. A might be rendered
mal-apropos from circumstances existing, & known
at the seat of government, but not seen by me in my
retired situation. Mr. A & myself were cordial
friends from the beginning of the revolution. Since
our return from Europe, some little incidents have
happened, which were capable of affecting a jealous
mind like his. The deviation from that line of
politics on which we have been united, has not made
me less sensible of the rectitude of his heart; and I
wished him to know this, & also another truth, that
I am sincerely pleased at having escaped the late
draught for the helm, and have not a wish which he
stands in the way of. That he should be convinced
of these truths, is important to our mutual satis-
faction, & perhaps to the harmony & good of the
public service. But there was a difficulty in con-
veying them to him, & a possibility that the attempt
might do mischief there or somewhere else ; & I would
not have hazarded the attempt, if you had not been
in place to decide upon it's expediency. It is now
become unnecessary to repeat it by a letter. I have
had occasion to write to Langdon, in answer to one
from him, in which I have said exactly the things
which will be grateful to mr. A. & no more. This I
imagine will be shewn to him. * * *
280 The Writings of [1797
I have turned to the constitution & laws, and find
nothing to warrant the opinion that I might not have
been qualified here, or wherever else I could meet
with a Senator; every member of that body being
authorized to administer the oath, without being con-
fined to time or place, & consequently to make a
record of it, and to deposit it with the records of the
Senate. However, I shall come on, on the principle
which had first determined me, — respect to the pub-
lic. I hope I shall be made a part of no ceremony
whatever. I shall escape into the city as covertly as
possible. If Gov Mifflin should show any symptoms
of ceremony, pray contrive to parry them. We have
now fine mild weather here. The thermometer is
above the point which renders fires necessary. Adieu
affectionately.
TO JAMES SULLIVAN
Monticello, Feb 9, 1797.
Dear Sir, — I have many acknolegements to make
for the friendly anxiety you are pleased to express in
your letter of Jan. 12, for my undertaking the office
to which I have been elected. The idea that I would
accept the office of President, but not that of Vice
President of the U S, had not its origin with me. I
never thought of questioning the free exercise of the
right of my fellow citizens, to marshal those whom
they call into their service according to their fitness,
nor ever presumed that they were not the best judges
of these. Had I indulged a wish in what manner
they should dispose of me, it would precisely have
1797] Thomas Jefferson 281
coincided with what they have done. Neither the
splendor, nor the power, nor the difficulties, nor the
fame or defamation, as may happen, attached to
the first magistracy, have any attractions for me.
The helm of a free government is always arduous, &
never was ours more so, than at a moment when two
friendly people are like to be committed in war by
the ill temper of their administrations. I am so
much attached to my domestic situation, that I
would not have wished to leave it at all. However,
if I am to be called from it, the shortest absences &
most tranquil station suit me best. I value highly,
indeed, the part my fellow citizens gave me in their
late vote, as an evidence of their esteem, & I am
happy in the information you are so kind as to give,
that many in the Eastern quarter entertain the same
sentiment.
Where a constitution, like ours, wears a mixed
aspect of monarchy & republicanism, its citizens will
naturally divide into two classes of sentiment, accord-
ing as their tone of body or mind, their habits, con-
nections & callings, induce them to wish to strengthen
either the monarchial or the republican features of
the constitution. Some will consider it as an elective
monarchy, which had better be made hereditary, &
therefore endeavor to lead towards that all the forms
and principles of its administration. Others will view
it as an energetic republic, turning in all its points on
the pivot of free and frequent elections. The great
body of our native citizens are unquestionably of the
republican sentiment. Foreign education, & foreign
connections of interest, have produced some excep-
282 The Writings of [1797
tions in every part of the Union, North and South,
& perhaps other circumstances in your quarter,
better known to you, may have thrown into the
scale of exceptions a greater number of the rich.
Still there, I believe, and here, I am sure, the great
mass is republican. Nor do any of the forms in
which the public disposition has been pronounced in
the last half dozen years, evince the contrary. All
of them, when traced to their true source, have only
been evidences of the preponderent popularity of
a particularly great character. That influence once
withdrawn, & our countrymen left to the operation
of their own unbiassed good sense, I have no doubt
we shall see a pretty rapid return of general har-
mony, & our citizens moving in phalanx in the paths
of regular liberty, order, and a sacrosanct adherence
to the constitution. Thus I think it will be, if war
with France can be avoided. But if that untoward
event comes athwart us in our present point of
deviation, nobody, I believe, can foresee into what
port it will drive us.
I am always glad of an opportunity of inquiring
after my most antient & respected friend mr. Samuel
Adams. His principles, founded on the immovable
basis of equal right & reason, have continued pure &
unchanged. Permit me to place here my sincere
veneration for him, & wishes for his health & happi-
ness ; & to assure yourself of the sentiments of esteem
& respect with which I am, Dear Sir, your most
obedient & most humble servant.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 283
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY j. mss.
Philadelphia, May 13, 97.
My Dear Friend, — Your favor of the 4th instt
came to hand yesterday. That of the 4th of Apr,
with the one for Monroe, has never been received.
The first, of Mar 27, did not reach me till Apr 21,
when I was within a few days of setting out for this
place, & I put off acknoleging it till I should come
here. I entirely commend your dispositions towards
mr. Adams; knowing his worth as intimately and
esteeming it as much as any one, and acknoleging
the preference of his claims, if any I could have had,
to the high office conferred on him. But in truth, I
had neither claims nor wishes on the subject, tho I
know it will be difficult to obtain belief of this. When
I retired from this place & the office of Secy of state,
it was in the firmest contemplation of never more
returning here. There had indeed been suggestions
in the public papers, that I was looking towards a
succession to the President's chair, but feeling a con-
sciousness of their falsehood, and observing that the
suggestions came from hostile quarters, I considered
them as intended merely to excite public odium
against me. I never in my life exchanged a word
with any person, on the subject, till I found my name
brought forward generally, in competition with that
of mr. Adams. Those with whom I then communi-
cated, could say, if it were necessary, whether I met
the call with desire, or even with a ready acquies-
cence, and whether from the moment of my first
acquiescence, I did not devoutly pray that the very
thing might happen which has happened. The
284 The Writings of [1797
second office of this government is honorable & easy,
the first is but a splendid misery.
You express apprehensions that stratagems will be
used, to produce a misunderstanding between the
President and myself. Tho not a word having this
tendency has ever been hazarded to me by any one,
yet I consider as a certainty that nothing will be left
untried to alienate him from me. These machina-
tions will proceed from the Hamiltons by whom he is
surrounded, and who are only a little less hostile to
him than to me. It cannot but damp the pleasure of
cordiality, when we suspect that it is suspected. I
cannot help fearing, that it is impossible for mr.
Adams to believe that the state of my mind is what
it really is; that he may think I view him as an
obstacle in my way. I have no supernatural power
to impress truth on the mind of another, nor he any
to discover that the estimate which he may form, on
a just view of the human mind as generally con-
stituted, may not be just in its application to a special
constitution. This may be a source of private un-
easiness to us ; I honestly confess that it is so to me
at this time. But neither of us are capable of letting
it have effect on our public duties. Those who may
endeavor to separate us, are probably excited by the
fear that I might have influence on the executive
councils; but when they shall know that I consider
my office as constitutionally confined to legislative
functions, and that I could not take any part what-
ever in executive consultations, even were it pro-
posed, their fears may perhaps subside, & their
object be found not worth a machination.
»797] Thomas Jefferson 285
I do sincerely wish with you, that we could take our
stand on a ground perfectly neutral & independent
towards all nations. It has been my constant ob-
ject thro public life ; and with respect to the English
& French, particularly, I have too often expressed to
the former my wishes, & made to them propositions
verbally & in writing, officially & privately, to official
& private characters, for them to doubt of my views,
if they would be content with equality. Of this they
are in possession of several written & formal proofs,
in my own hand writing. But they have wished a
monopoly of commerce & influence with us ; and they
have in fact obtained it. When we take notice that
theirs is the workshop to which we go for all we
want; that with them centre either immediately or
ultimately all the labors of our hands and lands ; that
to them belongs either openly or secretly the great
mass of our navigation; that even the factorage of
their affairs here, is kept to themselves by factitious
citizenships ; that these foreign & false citizens now
constitute the great body of what are called our mer-
chants, fill our sea ports, are planted in every little
town & district of the interior country, sway every-
thing in the former places by their own votes, & those
of their dependants, in the latter, by their insinua-
tions & the influence of their ledgers; that they are
advancing fast to a monopoly of our banks & public
funds, and thereby placing our public finances under
their control; that they have in their alliance the
most influential characters in & out of office; when
they have shewn that by all these bearings on the
different branches of the government, they can force
286 The Writings of [1797
it to proceed in whatever direction they dictate, and
bend the interests of this country entirely to the will
of another; when all this, I say, is attended to, it is
impossible for us to say we stand on independent
ground, impossible for a free mind not to see & to
groan under the bondage in which it is bound. If
anything after this could excite surprise, it would be
that they have been able so far to throw dust in the
eyes of our own citizens, as to fix on those who wish
merely to recover self-government the charge of sub-
serving one foreign influence, because they resist sub-
mission to another. But they possess our printing
presses, a powerful engine in their government of us.
At this very moment, they would have drawn us into
a war on the side of England, had it not been for the
failure of her bank. Such was their open & loud cry,
& that of their gazettes till this event. After plung-
ing us in all the broils of the European nations, there
would remain but one act to close our tragedy, that
is, to break up our Union ; and even this they have
ventured seriously & solemnly to propose & maintain
by arguments in a Connecticut paper. I have been
happy, however, in believing, from the stifling of this
effort, that that dose was found too strong, & excited
ar much repugnance there as it did horror in other
parts of our country, & that whatever follies we may
be led into as to foreign nations, we shall never give
up our Union, the last anchor of our hope, & that
alone which is to prevent this heavenly country from
becoming an arena of gladiators. Much as I abhor
war, and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind,
and anxiously as I wish to keep out of the broils of
i797l Thomas Jefferson 287
Europe, I would yet go with my brethren into these,
rather than separate from them. But I hope we may
still keep clear of them, notwithstanding our present
thraldom, & that time may be given us to reflect on
the awful crisis we have passed through, and to find
some means of shielding ourselves in future from
foreign influence, political, commercial, or in what-
ever other form it may be attempted. I can scarcely
withhold myself from joining in the wish of Silas
Deane, that there were an ocean of fire between us
& the old world.1
A perfect confidence that you are as much at-
tached to peace & union as myself, that you equally
prize independence of all nations, and the blessings
of self-government, has induced me freely to un-
bosom myself to you, and let you see the light in
which I have viewed what has been passing among
us from the beginning of the war. And I shall be
happy, at all times, in an intercommunication of
sentiments with you, believing that the dispositions
of the different parts of our country have been con-
siderably misrepresented & misunderstood in each
1 The following is the last paragraph in the draft of this letter, after-
wards stricken out and changed as in the print:
"I shall never forget the prediction of the count de Vergennes that
we shall exhibit the singular phaenomenon of a fruit rotten before it is
ripe, nor cease to join in the wish of Silas Deane that there were an
ocean of fire between us & the old world. Indeed my dear friend I
am so disgusted with this entire subjection to a foreign power that
if it were in the end to appear to be the wish of the body of my country-
men to remain in that vassalege I should feel my unfitness to be an
agent in their affairs, and seek in retirement that personal independence
without which this world has nothing I value. I am confident you
set the same store by it which I do: but perhaps your situation may
not give you the same conviction of its existence."
288 The Writings of [1797
part, as to the other, and that nothing but good can
result from an exchange of information & opinions
between those whose circumstances & morals admit
no doubt of the integrity of their views.
I remain, with constant and sincere esteem, Dear
Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, May 18. 97.
I was informed on my arrival here that Govr
Pinckney's dispatches had on their first receipt ex-
cited in the administration a great deal of passion,
that councils were held from day to day, and their
ill temper fixed at length in war; that under this
impression Congress was called : that the tone of the
party in general became high, and so continued till
the news of the failure of the bank of England.
This first gave it a check, & a great one & they have
been cooling down ever since, the most intemperate
only still asking permission to arm the vessels for
their own defence, while the more prudent disap-
prove of putting it in the power of their brethren &
leaving to their discretion to begin the war for us.
The impression was too that the executive had for
some time been repenting that they had called us,
& wished the measure undone. All the members
from North as well as South concurred in attesting
that negociation or any thing rather than war was
the wish of their constituents. What was our sur-
prise then at receiving the speech which will come
1797] Thomas Jefferson 289
to you by this post. I need make no observation to
you on it. I believe there was not a member of
either house, out of the secret, who was not much
disappointed. However some had been prepared.
The spirit of supporting the Executive was im-
mediately given out in the lower house & is working
there. The Senate admits of no fermentation.
Tracy, Laurence & Livermore were appointed to
draw an answer for them, Venable, Freeman, Rut-
ledge, Griswold & for the representatives the
former will be reported to day, & will be in time to
be inclosed: the other not till tomorrow when the
post will be gone. We hope this last will be in
general terms, but this is not certain, a majority as
is believed (of the commitee) being for arming the
merchantmen, finishing the frigates, fortifying har-
bors, & making all other military preparations as an
aid to negociation. How the majority of the house
will be is very doubtful. If all were here, it is
thought it would be decidedly pacific, but all are
not here & will not be here. The division on the
choice of a clerk was 41. for Condy, 40 for Beckley.
Besides the loss of the ablest clerk in the US. & the
outrage committed on the absent members, pre-
vented by the suddenness of the call & their dis-
tance from being here on the 1st day of the session,
it excites a fear that the republican interest has lost
by the new changes. It is said that three from
Virginia separate from their brethren. The hope
however is that as the anti-Republicans take the
high ground of war, and their opponents are for
everything moderate that the most moderate of
VOL. VIII. 19.
290 The Writings of [1797
those who came under contrary dispositions will
join them. Langdon tells me there is a considerable
change working in the minds of the people to the
Eastward: that the idea that they have been de-
ceived begins to gain ground, and that were the
elections to be now made their result would be
considerably different. This however is doubted &
denied by others. France has asked of Holland to
send away our Minister from them & to treat our
Commerce on the plan of their late decree. The
Batavian government answered after due considera-
tion that their commerce with us was now their chief
commerce, that their money was in our funds, that if
they broke off correspondence with us they should be
without resources for themselves, for their own public
& for France, & therefore declined doing it. France
acquiesced. I have this from the President who had
it from his son still at Hague. I presume that France
has made the same application to Spain. For /
know that Spain has memorialized our Executive
against the effect of the British treaty, as to the
articles concerning neutral bottoms, contraband,
and the Missisipi, has been pressing for an answer &
has not yet been able to obtain one. It does not
seem candid to have kept out of sight in the speech
this discontent of Spain which is strongly and
seriously pronounced & to have thereby left it to be
imagined that France is the only power of whom
we are in danger. — The failure of the bank of Eng-
land, & the fear of having a paper tender there, has
stopped buying bills of exchange Specie is raked
up from all quarters, & remitted for paiments at a
1797] Thomas Jefferson 291
disadvantage from risks &c. of 20. per cent. The
bankruptcies here have been immense. I heard a
sensible man well acquainted with them conjecture
that the aggregate of the clear losses on all these
added together in all the states would be not less
than 10. millions of Dollars, a heavy tax indeed, to
which are to be added the Maritime spoliations, and
this tax falling on only a particular description of
Citizens. — Bills of lading are arrived to a merchant
for goods shipped from Bordeaux for this place in
a vessel in which Monroe is coming passenger. We
hope hourly therefore to receive him. — Innes is
arrived & that board going to work.
May 19. the answer of the Senate is reported by
the Commitee. It is perfectly an echo and full as
high toned as the speech. Amendments may & will
be attempted but cannot be carried. — Note to me the
day you receive this that I may know whether I con-
jecture rightly what is our true post day here.
TO THOMAS PINCKNEY j. mss.
Philadelphia, May 29, 1797.
Dear Sir, — I received from you, before I left
England, a letter enclosing one from the Prince of
Parma. As I learnt soon after that you were shortly
to return to America, I concluded to join my ackno-
legments of it to my congratulations on your arrival ;
& both have been delayed by a blameable spirit of
procrastination, forever suggesting to our indolence
that we need not do to-day what may be done to-
morrow. Accept these now in all the sincerity of
292 The Writings of [1797
my heart. It is but lately I have answered the
Prince's letter. It required some time to establish
arrangements which might effect his purpose, & I
wished also to forward a particular article or two of
curiosity. You have found on your return a higher
style of political difference than you had left here.
I fear this is inseparable from the different constitu-
tions of the human mind, & that degree of freedom
which permits unrestrained expression. Political
dissension is doubtless a less evil than the lethargy
of despotism, but still it is a great evil, and it would
be as worthy the efforts of the patriot as of the
philosopher, to exclude it's influence, if possible,
from social life. The good are rare enough at best.
There is no reason to subdivide them by artificial
lines. But whether we shall ever be able so far to
perfect the principles of society, as that political
opinions shall, in it's intercourse, be as inoffensive
as those of philosophy, mechanics, or any other, may
well be doubted. Foreign influence is the present
& just object of public hue and cry, &, as often
happens, the most guilty are foremost & loudest in
the cry. If those who are truly independent, can so
trim our vessels as to beat through the waves now
agitating us, they will merit a glory the greater as it
seems less possible. When I contemplate the spirit
which is driving us on here, & that beyond the water
which will view us as but a mouthful the more, I have
little hope of peace. 1 anticipate the burning of
our sea ports, havoc of our frontiers, household
insurgency, with a long train of et ceteras, which is
enough for a man to have met once in his life. The
1797] Thomas Jefferson 293
exchange, which is to give us new neighbors in
Louisiana (probably the present French armies when
disbanded) has opened us to combinations of ene-
mies on that side where we are most vulnerable.
War is not the best engine for us to resort to, nature
has given us one in our commerce, which, if properly
managed, will be a better instrument for obliging
the interested nations of Europe to treat us with
justice. If the commercial regulations had been
adopted which our legislature were at one time pro-
posing, we should at this moment have been standing
on such an eminence of safety & respect as ages can
never recover. But having wandered from that,
our object should now be to get back, with as little
loss as possible, & when peace shall be restored to the
world, endeavor so to form our commercial regula-
tions as that justice from other nations shall be their
mechanical result. I am happy to assure you that
the conduct of Gen? Pinckney has met universal
approbation. It was marked with that coolness,
dignity, & good sense which we expected from him.
I am told that the French government had taken
up an unhappy idea, that Monroe was recalled for
the candor of his conduct in what related to the
British treaty, & Gen? Pinckney was sent as having
other dispositions towards them. I learn further,
that some of their well-informed citizens here are
setting them right as to Gen? Pinckney's dispositions,
so well known to have been just towards them ; & I
sincerely hope, not only that he may be employed as
envoy extraordinary to them, but that their minds
will be better prepared to receive him. I candidly
294 The Writings of [1797
acknolege, however, that I do not think the speech
& addresses of Congress as conciliatory as the pre-
ceding irritations on both sides would have rendered
wise. I shall be happy to hear from you at all
times, to make myself useful to you whenever op-
portunity offers, and to give every proof of the sin-
cerity of the sentiments of esteem & respect with
which I am, Dear Sir, your most obedient and most
humble servant.
TO HORATIO GATES J. mss.
Philadelphia, May 30, 1797.
Dear General, — I thank you for the pamphlet of
Erskine enclosed in your favor of the 9th inst, and
still more for the evidence which your letter affords
me of the health of your mind, and I hope of your
body also. Erskine has been reprinted here, & has
done good. It has refreshed the memory of those
who had been willing to forget how the war between
France and England has been produced; and who,
apeing St. James', called it a defensive war on the
part of England. I wish any events could induce us
to cease to copy such a model, & to assume the dig-
nity of being original. They had their paper system,
stockjobbing, speculations, public debt, moneyed in-
terest, &c, and all this was contrived for us. They
raised their cry against jacobinism and revolutionists,
we against democratic societies & anti-federalists;
their alarmists sounded insurrection, ours marched
an army to look for one, but they could not find it.
I wish the parallel may stop here, and that we may
1797] Thomas Jefferson 295
avoid, instead of imitating, a general bankruptcy
and disastrous war.
Congress, or rather the representatives, have been
a fortnight debating a more or less irritating answer
to the President's speech. The latter was lost yes-
terday, by 48. against 51. or 52. It is believed,
however, that when they come to propose measures
leading directly to war, they will lose some of their
numbers. Those who have no wish but for the
peace of their country, & its independence of all
foreign influence, have a hard struggle indeed, over-
whelmed by a cry as loud & imposing as if it were
true, of being under French influence, & this raised
by a faction composed of English subjects residing
among us, or such as are English in all their relations
& sentiments. However, patience will bring all to
rights, and we shall both live to see the mask taken
from their faces, and our citizens sensible on which
side true liberty & independence are sought. Should
any circumstance draw me further from home, I
shall with great cordiality pay my respects to you
at Rose Hill, & am not without hope of meeting you
here some time.
Here, there, & everywhere else, I am with great
& sincere attachment & respect, your friend and
servant.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Philadelphia, June i, [1797.]
Dear Sir, — I wrote you on the 1 8th of May. The
address of the Senate was soon after that. The first
296 The Writings of [1797
draught was responsive to the speech, & higher toned.
Mr. Henry arrived the day it was reported; the
addressers had not yet their strength around them.
They listened therefore to his objections, recom-
mitted the papers, added him and Tazewell to the
committee, and it was reported with considerable
alterations; but one great attack was made on it,
which was to strike out the clause approving every-
thing heretofore done by the Executive. This
clause was retained by a majority of four. They
received a new accession of members, held a caucus,
took up all the points recommended in the speech,
except the raising money, agreed the lists of every
committee, and on Monday passed the resolutions
& appointed the committees, by an uniform vote of
17 to 11. (Mr. Henry was accidentally absent;
Ross not then come.) Yesterday they put up the
nomination of J. Q. Adams to Berlin, which had been
objected to as extending our diplomatic establish-
ment. It was approved by 18 to 14. (Mr. Tatnall
accidentally absent.) From the proceedings we were
able to see, that 18 on the one side & 10 on the other,
with two wavering votes, will decide every question.
Schuyler is too ill to come this session, & Gunn has
not yet come. Pinckney (the Genl), John Marshall
& Dana are nominated envoys extraordinary to
France. Charles Lee consulted a member from
Virginia to know whether Marshall would be agree-
able. He named you, as more likely to give satisfac-
tion. The answer was, "Nobody of mr. Madison's
way of thinking will be appointed."
The representatives have not yet got through their
1797] Thomas Jefferson 297
address. An amendment of mr. Nicholas', which
you will have seen in the papers, was lost by a divi-
sion of 46 to 52. A clause by mr. Dayton, expressing
a wish that France might be put on an equal footing
with other nations, was inserted by 52. against 47.
This vote is most worthy of notice, because the
moderation & justice of the proposition being un-
questionable, it shews that there are 47. decided to
go all lengths to [illegible] They have received a
new orator from the district of mr. Ames. He is the
son of the Secretary of the Senate. They have an
accession from S C also, that State being exactly
divided. In the H of Repr. I learned the following
facts, which give me real concern. When the British
treaty arrived at Charleston, a meeting, as you
know, was called, and a committee of seventeen
appointed, of whom General Pinckney was one. He
did not attend. They waited for him, sent for him ;
he treated the mission with great hauteur, and dis-
approved of their meddling. In the course of the
subsequent altercations, he declared that his brother,
T. Pinckney, approved of every article in the treaty,
under the existing circumstances, and since that time,
the politics of Charleston have been assuming a
different hue. Young Rutledge joining Smith and
Harper, is an ominous fact as to that whole interest.
Tobacco is at 9. dollars, and flour very dull of
sale. A great stagnation in commerce generally.
During the present bankruptcy in England, the mer-
chants seem disposed to lie on their oars. It is
impossible to conjecture the rising of Congress, as it
will depend on the system they decide on; whether
298 The Writings of [*797
of prepartaion for war, or inaction. In the vote of
46. to 52. Morgan, Macher & Evans were of the
majority, and Clay kept his seat, refusing to vote
with either. In that of 47 to 52, Evans was the only
one of our delegation who voted against putting
France on an equal footing with other nations.
P. M. So far, I had written in the morning. I
now take up my pen to add, that the addresses hav-
ing been reported to the House, it was moved to
disagree to so much of the amendment as went to
the putting France on an equal footing with other
nations, & Morgan and Macher turning tail, (in con-
sequence, as is said, of having been closeted last
night by Charles Lee,) the vote was 49. to 50. So
the principle was saved by a single vote. They then
proposed that compensations for spoliations shall
be a sine qua non, and this will be decided on to-
morrow. Yours affectionately.
TO PEREGRINE FITZHUGH j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 4, 1797.
Dear Sir, — I am favoured with yours of May 19,
& thank you for your intentions as to the corn & the
large white clover which if forwarded to mr. Archi-
bald Stuart at Staunton will find daily means of
conveyance from thence to me. That indeed is the
nearest post road between you & myself by 60.
or 70. miles, the one by Georgetown being very
circuitous.
The representatives have at length got through
their address. As you doubtless receive the news-
1797] Thomas Jefferson 299
papers regularly from hence you will have seen in
them the address, & all the amendments made or
proposed (while mentioning newspapers it is doing
a good office to as distant places as yours & mine to
observe that Bache has begun to publish his Aurora
for his country customers on 3. sheets a week instead
of six. You observe that the 1st & 4th pages are
only of advertisement. The 2d & 3d contain all
the essays & laws. He prints therefore his 2d &
3d. pages of Monday's & Tuesday's papers on op-
posite sides of the same sheet, omitting the 1st &
4th, so that we have the news pages of 2. papers on
one. This costs but 5. instead of 8. dollars & saves
half the postage. Smith begins in July to publish
a weekly paper without advertisements which will
probably be a good one. Cary's paper is an ex-
cellent one & Bradford's compiled by Lloyd per-
haps the best in the city ; but both of these are daily
papers. Thinking this episode on newspapers might
not be unacceptable in a position as distant as yours,
I return to Congress & to politics.) You will per-
ceive by the votes that the Republican majority of
the last congress has been much affected by the
changes of the late election. Still however if all
were here the majority would be on the same side,
though a small one. They will now proceed to con-
sider what is to be done. It is not easy nor safe
to prophecy, but I think the expectation is that they
will not permit the merchant vessels to arm, that
they will leave the militia as it stands for the present
season, vote further sums for going on with the forti-
fications & frigates & prefer borrowing the money
300 The Writings of [1797
of the bank to the taking up the subject of taxation
generally at this inconvenient season. In fact I
consider the calling of Congress so out of season an
experiment of the new administration to see how far
& on what lines they could count on its support.
Nothing new had intervened between the late separ-
ation & the summons, for Pinckney's non-reception
was then known. It is possible from the complexion
of the President's speech that he was disposed or
perhaps advised to proceed on a line which would
endanger the peace of our country: & though the
address is nearly responsive yet it would be too bold
to proceed on so small a majority. The first un-
favorable event, & even the necessary taxes, would
restore preponderance to the side of peace. The
nomination of the envoys for France does not prove
a thorough conversion to the pacific system. Our
greatest security perhaps is in the impossibility of
either borrowing or raising the money which would
be necessary. I am suggesting an idea on the sub-
ject of taxation which might perhaps facilitate much
that business & reconcile all parties. That is to say,
to lay a land tax leviable in 1798 &c. But if by the
last day of 1798 any state bring it's whole quota into
the federal Treasury, the tax shall be suspended one
year for that state. If by the end of the next year
they bring another year's tax, it shall be suspended
a 2d year as to them & so toties quoties forever. If
they fail, the federal collectors will go on of course
to make their collection. In this way those who
prefer excises may raise their quota by excises, &
those who prefer land taxes may raise by land taxes,
i797l Thomas Jefferson 301
either on the federal plan, or on any other of their
own which they like better. This would tend, I
think, to make the general government popular
& to render the state legislatures useful allies &
associates instead of rivals, & to mollify the
harsh tone of government which has been asserted.
I find the idea pleasing to most of those to whom I
have suggested it. It will be objected to by those
who are for a consolidation. You mention the re-
tirement of mr. Ames. You will observe that he
has sent us a successor Mr. H. G. Otis as rhetorical
as himself. You have perhaps seen an attack made
by a Mr. Luther Martin on the facts stated in
the Notes on Virginia relative to Logan, his speech,
the fate of his family & the share Col. Cresap had in
their extermination. I do not desire to enter the
field in the newspapers with Mr. Martin, but if any
injury has been done Col. Cresap in the statement
I have given it shall certainly be corrected whenever
another edition of that work shall be published. I
have given it as I have received it. I think you told
me Cresap had lived in your neighborhood hence I
have imagined you could in the ordinary course of
conversations in the societies there find the real
truth of the whole transaction & the genuine char-
acter and conduct of Cresap. If you will be so good
as to keep this subject in your mind, to avail yourself
of the opportunities of enquiry & evidence which
may occur, & communicate the result to me you will
singularly oblige me. The proceedings in the federal
court of Virginia to overawe the communications
between the people & their representatives excite
302 The Writings of [1797
great indignation. Probably a great fermentation
will be produced by it in that state. Indeed it is the
common cause of the confederacy as it is one of their
courts which has taken the step. The charges of the
federal judges have for a considerable time been in-
viting the grand juries to become inquisitors on the
freedom of speech, of writing & of principle of their
fellow-citizens. Perhaps the grand juries in the
other states as well as in that of Virginia may think
it incumbent in their next presentment to enter
protestations against this perversion of their insti-
tution from a legal to a political engine, & even to
present those concerned in it. The hostile use
which is made of whatever can be laid hold of of
mine, obliges me to caution the friends to whom I
write, never to let my letters go out of their own
hands lest they should get into the newspapers. I
pray you to present my most friendly respects to
your father, & wishes for the continuance of his
health & good faculties, to accept yourself assur-
ances of the esteem with which I am dear sir your
most obedt & most humble servt.
TO FRENCH STROTHER j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 8, 1797.
Dear Sir, — In compliance with the desire you ex-
pressed in the few short moments I had the pleasure
of being with you at Fredericksburg, I shall give you
some account of what is passing here. The Presi-
dent's speech you will have seen; and how far its
i797l Thomas Jefferson 303
aspect was turned towards war. Our opinion here
is that the Executive had that in contemplation, and
were not without expectation that the legislature
might catch the flame. A powerful part of that has
shown a disposition to go all lengths with the Execu-
tive ; and they have been able to persuade some of
more moderate principles to go so far with them as to
join them in a very sturdy address. They have voted
the compleating & manning the three frigates, &
going on with the fortifications. The Senate have
gone much further, they have brought in bills for
buying more armed vessels, sending them & the
frigates out as convoys to our trade, raising more
cavalry, more artillerists, and providing a great
army, to come into actual service only, if necessary.
They have not decided whether they will permit the
merchants to arm. The hope & belief is that the
Representatives will concur in none of these meas-
ures, though their divisions hitherto have been so
equal as to leave us under doubt & apprehension.
The usual majorities have been from 1. to 6. votes,
& these sometimes one way, sometimes the other.
Three of the Virginia members dividing from their
colleagues occasion the whole difficulty. If they de-
cline these measures, we shall rise about the 17th
inst. It appears that the dispositions of the French
government towards us wear a very angry cast in-
deed, and this before Pickering's letter to Pinckney
was known to them. We do not know what effect
that may produce. We expect Paine every day in
a vessel from Havre, & Colo Monroe in one from
Bordeaux. Tobacco keeps up to a high price & will
304 The Writings of [1797
still rise; flour is dull at yh Dollars. I am, with
great esteem, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO JAMES MADISON * J. mss.
Philad. June 8, 97.
Amdmt of address puttg France on equal footing
clogged with demand for spoliation, which tho' right
in principle, may enable Exve to make it sine qua
non, to indulge their own disposns to rupture.
Repr. have voted complete & man frigates, go on
with fortfycns. Will prob pass bill from Senate pro-
hibg exportn arms & ammunition & preventg our
citizens from engaging in armed vessels.
Bills for cavalry — artillery — 9 vessels — provnal
army. Will pass Senate by 18 to 12.
Permittg merchts to arm negativd. in commee
Senate 3 to 2. Bingham's informa that merchts did
not wish it. Some of the Senate for it.
Smith & Harper proposed permit merchts to arm
yesterday.
Buonaparte's late victory & panic of Brit govmt
produced sensible effect here. Before that the party
partly from inclinn partly devotn to Exve. willing to
meet hostilities from France. Now will not force
that nail but doing so much of most innocent things
as may veil the folly or boldness of convening Con-
gress, leave more offensive measures to issue of
negocn or their own next meeting.
Difficult to say if Republicans have majority.
Votes carrd both ways by from 1. to 6. Our 3
"Endorsed: " No copy retained. The above is the sum."
1797] Thomas Jefferson 305
renegadoes make the difference. Clay firm. Never
separated but on the vote mentd in former Ire.
Paine expected. — Nothing of Monroe.
P. M. Represent, have decided 46 to 34. yt W.
India trade shall not arm. Hence augur well of
other resolns. Senate have voted on 2d. reading
the 9. vessels. Cost 60 M. D. each these bills
originating in Senate & going under their sanction
to H. Repr in so vibratory a state, have mischievous
effect. Expect to rise Saturday 17th. I shall
probably be with you 26th or 27 th.
TO JOHN MOODY j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 13. 97.
Sir, — I might sooner have acknoleged the receipt
of your favor of May 15. but I could not sooner have
done it with anything satisfactory on the subject it
concerned. The first opening of the session of Con-
gress was rather inauspicious to those who consider
war as among the greatest calamities to our country.
Private conversation, public discussion, & thorough
calculation, aided by the events of Europe, have
nearly brought everyone to the same sentiment, not
only to wish for a continuance of peace, but to let no
false sense of honor lead us to take a threatening
attitude, which to a nation prompt in its passions &
flushed with victory might produce a blow from
them. I rather believe that Congress will think it
best to do little or nothing for the present to give fair
play to the negotiation proposed, & in the meantime
lie on their oars till their next meeting in November.
VOL. VIII. — 30.
306 The Writings of [1797
Still however both English & French spoliations
continue in a high degree. Perhaps the prospects
in Europe may deaden the activity of the former, &
call home all their resources, but I see nothing to
check the depredations of the French but the natural
effect they begin to produce of starving themselves
by deterring us from venturing to sea with pro-
visions. This is the best general view I am able to
give you of the probable course of things for the
summer so far as they may be interesting to com-
merce. The liberties which the presses take in
mutilating whatever they can get hold of, obliges
me to request every gentleman to whom I write to
take care that nothing from me may be put within
their power.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, June 15, 97. — a.m.
My last was of the 8th inst. I had enclosed you
separately a paper giving you an account of Buona-
parte's last great victory. Since that, we receive
information that the preliminaries of peace were
signed between France & Austria. Mr. Hammond
will have arrived at Vienna too late to influence the
terms. The victories lately obtained by the French
on the Rhine, were as splendid as Buonaparte's.
The mutiny on board the English fleet, tho' allayed
for the present, has impressed that country with
terror. King has written letters to his friends recom-
mending a pacific conduct towards France, ' ' notwith-
standing the continuance of her injustices." Volney
1797] Thomas Jefferson 3°7
is convinced France will not make peace with Eng-
land, because it is such an opportunity for sinking
her as she never had & may not have again. Buona-
parte's army would have to march 700. miles to
Calais. Therefore, it is imagined the armies of the
Rhine will be destined for England. The Senate
yesterday rejected on it's 2d reading their own bill
for raising 4. more companies of light dragoons, by a
vote of 15 to 13. Their cost would have been about
120,000 D a year. To-day the bill for manning the
frigates & buying 9 vessels @ about 60,000 D each,
comes to it's 3d reading. Some flatter us we may
throw it out. The trial will be in time to mention
the issue herein. The bills for preventing our citi-
zens from engaging in armed vessels of either party,
& for prohibitg exportation of arms & ammunition,
have passed both houses. The fortification bill is
before the Representatives still. It is thought by
many that with all the mollifying clauses they can
give it, it may perhaps be thrown out. They have a
separate bill for manning the 3. frigates, but its fate
is uncertain. These are probably the ultimate meas-
ures which will be adopted, if even these be adopted.
The folly of the convocation of Congress at so incon-
venient a season & an expense of 60,000 D, is now
palpable to everybody ; or rather it is palpable that
war was the object, since, that being out of the
question, it is evident there is nothing else. How-
ever, nothing less than the miraculous string of
events which have taken place, to wit, the victories
of the Rhine & Italy, peace with Austria, bank-
ruptcy of England, mutiny in her fleet, and King's
308 The Writings of [1797
writing letters recommending peace, could have
cooled the fury of the British faction. Even all that
will not prevent considerable efforts still in both
houses to shew our teeth to France. We had hoped
to have risen this week. It is now talked of for the
24th, but it is impossible yet to affix a time. I think
I cannot omit being at our court (July 3,) whether
Congress rises or not. If so, I shall be with you on
the Friday or Saturday preceding. I have a couple
of pamphlets for you, (Utrum Horum, & Paine 's
Agrarian Justice,) being the only things since Erskine
which have appeared worth notice. Besides Bache's
paper there are 2. others now accommodated to
country circulation. Gale's (successor of Oswald)
twice a week without advertisements at 4. dollars.
His debates in Congress are the same with Claypole's.
Also Smith proposes to issue a paper once a week,
of news only, and an additional sheet while Congress
shall be in session, price 4. dollars. The best daily
papers now are Bradford's compiled by Lloyd, and
Markland & Cary's: Claypole's you know. Have
you remarked the pieces signed Fabius? they are
written by John Dickinson.
P. M. The bill before the Senate for equipping
the 3 frigates, & buying 9. vessels of not more than
20. guns, has this day passed on it's 3d reading by 16.
against 13. The fortification bill before the repre-
sentatives as amended in commee of the whole,
passed to it's 3d reading by 48. against 41. Adieu
affectionately, with my best respects to Mrs. Madison.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 309
TO AARON BURR j. uss.
Philadelphia, June 17, 1797.
Dear Sir, — The newspapers give so minutely
what is passing in Congress, that nothing of detail
can be wanting for your information. Perhaps,
however, some general view of our situation & pros-
pects, since you left us, may not be unacceptable.
At any rate, it will give me an opportunity of re-
calling myself to your memory, & of evidencing my
esteem for you. You well know how strong a char-
acter of division had been impressed on the Senate
by the British treaty. Common error, common
censure, & common efforts of defence had formed
the treaty majority into a common band, which
feared to separate even on other subjects. Towards
the close of the last Congress, however, it had been
hoped that their ties began to loosen, & their phalanx
to separate a little. This hope was blasted at the
very opening of the present session, by the nature
of the appeal which the President made to the nation ;
the occasion for which had confessedly sprung from
the fatal British treaty. This circumstance rallied
them again to their standard, and hitherto we have
had pretty regular treaty votes on all questions of
principle. And indeed I fear, that as long as the
same individuals remain, so long we shall see traces
of the same division. In the H of Representatives
the republican body has also lost strength. The
non-attendance of 5. or 6. of that description, has
left the majority very equivocal indeed. A few in-
dividuals of no fixed system at all, governed by the
panic or the prowess of the moment, flap as the
310 The Writings of [1797
breeze blows against the republican or the aristo-
cratic bodies, and give to the one or the other a pre-
ponderance entirely accidental. Hence the dissimilar
aspect of the address, & of the proceedings subse-
quent to that. The inflammatory composition of the
speech excited sensations of resentment which had
slept under British injuries, threw the wavering into
the war scale, and produced the war address. Buona-
parte's victories & those on the Rhine, the Austrian
peace, British bankruptcy, mutiny of the seamen,
and mr. King's exhortations to pacific measures,
have cooled them down again, & the scale of peace
preponderates. The threatening propositions there-
fore, founded in the address, are abandoned one by
one, & the cry begins now to be, that we have been
called together to do nothing. The truth is, there
is nothing to do, the idea of war being scouted by the
events of Europe ; but this only proves that war was
the object for which we were called. It proves that
the executive temper was for war; & that the con-
vocation of the Representatives was an experiment
on the temper of the nation, to see if it was in
unison. Efforts at negociation indeed were pro-
mised ; but such a promise was as difficult to withhold,
as easy to render nugatory. If negociation alone
had been meant, that might have been pursued
without so much delay, and without calling the
Representatives ; and if strong & earnest negotiation
had been meant, the additional nomination would
have been of persons strongly & earnestly attached
to the alliance of 1778. War then was intended.
Whether abandoned or not, we must judge from
1797] Thomas Jefferson 311
future indications & events; for the same secrecy
& mystery is affected to be observed by the present,
which marked the former administration. I had
always hoped, that the popularity of the late presi-
dent being once withdrawn from active effect, the
natural feelings of the people towards liberty would
restore the equilibrium between the Executive &
Legislative departments, which had been destroyed
by the superior weight & effect of that popularity ; &
that their natural feelings of moral obligation would
discountenance the ungrateful predilection of the
executive in favor of Great Britain. But unfortun-
ately, the preceding measures had already alienated
the nation who was the object of them, had excited
reaction from them, & this reaction has on the minds
of our citizens an effect which supplies that of the
Washington popularity. This effect was sensible
on some of the late congressional elections, & this
it is which has lessened the republican majority in
Congress. When it will be reinforced, must depend
on events, & these are so incalculable, that I con-
sider the future character of our republic as in the
air; indeed its future fortune will be in the air, if
war is made on us by France, & if Louisiana becomes
a Gallo-American colony.
I have been much pleased to see a dawn of change
in the spirit of your State. The late elections have
indicated something, which, at a distance, we do not
understand. However, what with the English influ-
ence in the lower, and the Patroon influence in the
upper part of your State, I presume little is to be
hoped. If a prospect could be once opened upon us
3i2 The Writings of [1797
of the penetration of truth into the eastern States ; if
the people there, who are unquestionably republi-
cans, could discover that they have been duped into
the support of measures calculated to sap the very
foundations of republicanism, we might still hope for
salvation, and that it would come, as of old, from the
east. But will that region ever awake to the true
state of things? Can the middle, Southern & West-
ern states hold on till they awake ? These are pain-
fid & doubtful questions; and if, in assuring me of
your health, you can give me a comfortable solution
of them, it will relieve a mind devoted to the preser-
vation of our republican government in the true
form & spirit in which it was established, but almost
oppressed with apprehensions that fraud will at
length effect what force could not, & that what
with currents & counter-currents, we shall, in the
end, be driven back to the land from which we
launched 20. years ago. Indeed, my dear Sir, we
have been but a sturdy fish on the hook of a dex-
terous angler, who, letting us flounce till we have
spent our force, brings us up at last.
I am tired of the scene, & this day sen'night shall
change it for one, where, to tranquillity of mind may
be added pursuits of private utility, since none public
are admitted by the state of things.
I am, with great & sincere esteem, dear Sir, your
friend and servant.
P. S. Since writing the above, we have received a
report that the French Directory has proposed a
declaration of war against the U. S. to the Council
of Antients, who have rejected it. Thus we see two
1797] Thomas Jefferson 3*3
nations who love one another affectionately, brought
by the ill temper of their executive administrations,
to the very brink of a necessity to imbrue their hands
in the blood of each other.
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 21, 1797.
My dear Friend, — It was with infinite joy to me,
that you were yesterday announced to the Senate,
as envoy extraordinary, jointly with Genl. Pinckney
& mr. Marshall, to the French republic. It gave me
certain assurance that there would be a preponder-
ance in the mission, sincerely disposed to be at peace
with the French government & nation. Peace is un-
doubtedly at present the first object of our nation.
Interest & honor are also national considerations.
But interest, duly weighed, is in favor of peace even
at the expence of spoliations past & future ; & honor
cannot now be an object. The insults & injuries
committed on us by both the belligerent parties,
from the beginning of 1793 to this day, & still con-
tinuing, cannot now be wiped off by engaging in war
with one of them. As there is great reason to expect
this is the last campaign in Europe, it would certainly
be better for us to rub thro this year, as we have done
through the four preceding ones, and hope that on
the restoration of peace, we may be able to establish
some plan for our foreign connections more likely to
secure our peace, interest & honor, in future. Our
countrymen have divided themselves by such strong
3H The Writings of [1797
affections, to the French & the English, that nothing
will secure us internally but a divorce from both na-
tions; and this must be the object of every real
American, and it's attainment is practicable without
much self-denial. But for this, peace is necessary.
Be assured of this, my dear Sir, that if we engage in
a war during our present passions, & our present
weakness in some quarters, that our Union runs the
greatest risk of not coming out of that war in the
shape in which it enters it. My reliance for our
preservation is in your acceptance of this mission.
I know the tender circumstances which will oppose
themselves to it. But it's duration will be short, and
it's reward long. You have it in your power, by
accepting and determining the character of the mis-
sion, to secure the present peace & eternal union of
your country. If you decline, on motives of private
pain, a substitute may be named who has enlisted his
passions in the present contest, & by the preponder-
ance of his vote in the mission may entail on us
calamities, your share in which, & your feelings, will
outweigh whatever pain a temporary absence from
your family could give you. The sacrifice will be
short, the remorse would be never ending. Let me,
then, my dear Sir, conjure your acceptance, and that
you will, by this act, seal the mission with the con-
fidence of all parties. Your nomination has given a
spring to hope, which was dead before. I leave this
place in three days, and therefore shall not here have
the pleasure of learning your determination. But it
will reach me in my retirement, and enrich the tran-
quillity of that scene. It will add to the proofs
1797] Thomas Jefferson 315
which have convinced me that the man who loves
his country on it's own account, and not merely for
it's trappings of interest or power, can never be
divorced from it, can never refuse to come forward
when he finds that she is engaged in dangers which
he has the means of warding off. Make then an
effort, my friend, to renounce your domestic com-
forts for a few months, and reflect that to be a good
husband and good father at this moment, you must
be also a good citizen. With sincere wishes for your
acceptance & success, I am, with unalterable esteem,
dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.
TO JAMES MADISON J. mss.
Philadelphia, June 22, 97.
The Senate have this day rejected their own bill
for raising a provisional army of 15,000 men. I
think they will reject that for permitting private
vessels to arm. The Representatives have thrown
out the bill of the Senate for raising artillery. They
(Wednesday) put off one forbidding our citizens to
serve in foreign vessels of war till Nov, by a vote of
52. to 44. This day they came to a resolution pro-
posing to the Senate to adjourn on Wednesday, the
28th, by a majority of 4. Thus it is now perfectly
understood that the convocation of Congress is
substantially condemned by their several decisions
that nothing is to be done. I may be with you
somewhat later than I expected, say from the 1st to
the 4th. Preliminaries of peace between Austria &
316 The Writings of [1797
France are signed. Dana has declined the mission
to France. Gerry is appointed in his room, being
supported in Senate by the republican vote ; 6 nays
of the opposite description. No news of Monroe or
Payne. Adieu.
TO EDWARD RUTLEDGE j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 24, 97.
My Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege your two
favors of May 4 & 19, and to thank you for your
attentions to the commissions for the peas & oranges,
which I learn are arrived in Virginia. Your draft I
hope will soon follow on Mr. John Barnes, merchant,
here; who, as I before advised you, is directed to
answer it.
When Congress first met, the assemblage of facts
presented in the President's speech, with the multi-
plied accounts of spoliations by the French West
Indians, appeared by sundry votes on the address, to
incline a majority to put themselves in a posture of
war. Under this influence the address was formed, &
its spirit would probably have been pursued by cor-
responding measures, had the events of Europe been
of an ordinary train. But this has been so extra-
ordinary, that numbers have gone over to those, who,
from the first, feeling with sensibility the French
insults, as they had felt those of England before,
thought now as they thought then, that war meas-
ures should be avoided, & those of peace pursued.
Their favorite engine, on the former occasion, was
commercial regulations, in preference to negociations,
I797l Thomas Jefferson 317
to war preparations & increase of debt. On the
latter, as we have no commerce with France, the
restriction of which could press on them, they wished
for negociation. Those of the opposite sentiment
had, on the former occasion, preferred negociation,
but at the same time voted for great war prepara-
tions, and increase of debt; now also they were for
negociation, war preparations & debt. The parties
have in debate mutually charged each other with
inconsistency, & with being governed by an attach-
ment to this or that of the belligerent nations,
rather than the dictates of reason & pure American-
ism. But, in truth, both have been consistent; the
same men having voted for war measures who did
before, & the same against them now who did before.
The events of Europe coming to us in astonishing &
rapid succession, to wit, the public bankruptcy of
England, Buonaparte's successes, the successes on
the Rhine, the Austrian peace, mutiny of the British
fleet, Irish insurrection, a demand of 43. millions for
the current services of the year, and, above all, the
warning voice, as is said, of Mr. King, to abandon all
thought of connection with Great Britain, that she
is going down irrecoverably, & will sink us also, if
we do not clear ourselves, have brought over several
to the pacific party, so as, at present, to give major-
ities against all threatening measures. They go on
with frigates and fortifications, because they were
going on with them before. They direct 80,000 of
their militia to hold themselves in readiness for ser-
vice. But they reject the propositions to raise
cavalry, artillery, & a provisional army, & to trust
318 The Writings of [1797
private ships with arms in the present combustible
state of things. They believe the present is the last
campaign of Europe, & wish to rub through this
fragment of a year as they have through the four
preceding ones, opposing patience to insult, & interest
to honor. They will, therefore, immediately ad-
journ. This is, indeed, a most humiliating state of
things, but it commenced in 93. Causes have been
adding to causes, & effects accumulating on effects,
from that time to this. We had, in 93, the most
respectable character in the universe. What the
neutral nations think of us now, I know not ; but we
are low indeed with the belligerents. Their kicks
& cuffs prove their contempt. If we weather the
present storm, I hope we shall avail ourselves of the
calm of peace, to place our foreign connections under
a new & different arrangement. We must make
the interest of every nation stand surety for it's
justice, & their own loss to follow injury to us, as
effect follows its cause. As to everything except
commerce, we ought to divorce ourselves from them
all. But this system would require time, temper,
wisdom, & occasional sacrifice of interest; & how
far all of these will be ours, our children may see,
but we shall not. The passions are too high at
present, to be cooled in our day. You & I have
formerly seen warm debates and high political
passions. But gentlemen of different politics would
then speak to each other, & separate the business of
the Senate from that of society. It is not so now.
Men who have been intimate all their lives, cross the
streets to avoid meeting, & turn their heads another
1797] Thomas Jefferson 319
way, lest they should be obliged to touch their hats.
This may do for young men with whom passion is
enjoyment. But it is afflicting to peaceable minds.
Tranquillity is the old man's milk. I go to enjoy it
in a few days, & to exchange the roar & tumult of
bulls & bears, for the prattle of my grand-children &
senile rest. Be these yours, my dear friend, through
long years, with every other blessing, & the at-
tachment of friends as warm & sincere, as yours
affectionately.
TO EDMUND RANDOLPH j. mss.
Philadelphia, June 27, 97.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of your
two favors of may 26. & 29, which came to hand in
due time, and relieved my mind considerably, tho it
was not finally done. During the vacation we may
perhaps be able to hunt up the letters which are
wanting, and get this tornado which has been
threatening us, dissipated.
You have seen the speech & the address, so nothing
need be said on them. The spirit of both has been
so whittled down by Buonaparte's victories, the vic-
tories on the Rhine, the Austrian peace, Irish insur-
gency, English bankruptcy, insubordination of the
fleet, &c, that Congress is rejecting one by one the
measures brought in on the principles of their own
address. But nothing less than such miraculous
events as have been pouring in on us from the first of
our convening could have assuaged the fermentation
produced in men's minds. In consequence of these
320 The Writings of [1797
events, what was the majority at first, is by degrees
become the minority, so that we may say that in the
Representatives moderation will govern. But no-
thing can establish firmly the republican principles of
our government but an establishment of them in Eng-
land. France will be the apostle for this. We very
much fear that Gerry will not accept the mission to
Paris. The delays which have attended this meas-
ure have left a dangerous void in our endeavors to
preserve peace, which can scarcely be reconciled to a
wish to preserve it. I imagine we shall rise from
the 1st to the 3d of July. I am, Dear Sir, your
friend and servant.
P. S. The interruption of letters is becoming so
notorious, that I am forming a resolution of declining
correspondence with my friends through the channels
of the post altogether.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, June 29. 97.
The day of adjournment walks before us like our
shadow. We shall rise on the 3d or 4th of July.
Consequently I shall be with you about the 8th or
9th. The two houses have jointly given up the 9.
small vessels. The Senate have rejected at the 3d
reading their own bill authorizing the President to
lay embargoes. They will probably reject a very un-
equal tax passed by the Repr. on the venders of
wines & spirituous liquors (not in retail) . They have
passed a bill for postponing their next meeting to
the constitutional day; but whether the Repr. will
1797] Thomas Jefferson 321
concur is uncertain. The Repr. are cooking up a
stamp tax which it is thought themselves will reject.
The fate of the bill for private armaments is yet un-
decided in the Senate. The expenses of the session
are estimated at 80.000 Doll. — Monroe & family
arrived here the day before yesterday, well. They
will make a short visit to N. York & then set their
faces homewards. My affectionate respects to Mrs.
Madison, and salutations to yourself. Adieu.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
MONTICELLO, July 24. 97.
In hopes that Mrs. Madison & yourself & Miss
Madison will favor us with a visit when Colo Monroe
calls on you, I write this to inform you that I
have had the Shadwell & Secretary's ford both well
cleaned. If you come the lower road, the Shadwell
ford is the proper one. It is a little deepened but
clear of stone & perfectly safe. If you come the
upper road you will cross at the Secretary's ford,
turning in at the gate on the road soon after you
enter the 3. notched road. The draught up the
mountain that way is steady but uniform. I see
Hamilton has put a short piece into the papers in
answer to Callender's publication, & promises shortly
something more elaborate. I am anxious to see you
here soon, because in about three weeks we shall
begin to unroof our house, when the family will be
obliged to go elsewhere for shelter. My affectionate
respects to the family. Adieu.
vol. viii. — a i.
322 The Writings of [1797
PETITION TO VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES » J. mss.
[Aug. 1797]
To the Speaker and House of Delegates of the Common-
wealth of Virginia, being a Protest against inter-
ference of Judiciary between Representative and
Constituent.
The petition of the subscribers, inhabitants of the
counties of Amherst, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and
Goochland, sheweth:
That by the constitution of this State, established
from its earliest settlement, the people thereof have
professed the right of being governed by laws to
which they have consented by representatives chosen
by themselves immediately: that in order to give
to the will of the people the influence it ought to have,
and the information which may enable them to
exercise it usefully, it was a part of the common law,
adopted as the law of this land, that their repre-
sentatives, in the discharge of their functions, should
be free from the cognizance or coercion of the co-
ordinate branches, Judiciary and Executive; and
that their communications with their constituents
should of right, as of duty also, be free, full, and
unawed by any: that so necessary has this inter-
course been deemed in the country from which they
derive principally their descent and laws, that the
correspondence between the representative and con-
stituent is privileged there to pass free of expense
through the channel of the public post, and that the
proceedings of the legislature have been known to be
1 See letters to Madison, Mercer, and Monroe, post, pp. 331, 338, and
339-
1797] Thomas Jefferson 323
arrested and suspended at times until the Repre-
sentatives could go home to their several counties
and confer with their constituents.
That when, at the epoch of Independence, the
constitution was formed under which we are now
governed as a commonwealth, so high were the
principles of representative government esteemed,
that the legislature was made to consist of two
branches, both of them chosen immediately by
citizens; and that general system of laws was
continued which protected the relations between
the representative and constituent, and guarded the
functions of the former from the control of the
Judiciary and Executive branches.
That when circumstances required that the ancient
confederation of this with the sister States, for the
government of their common concerns, should be
improved into a more regular and effective form of
general government, the same representative prin-
ciple was preserved in the new legislature, one
branch of which was to be chosen directly by the
citizens of each State, and the laws and principles
remained unaltered which privileged the representa-
tive functions, whether to be exercised in the State
or General Government, against the cognizance and
notice of the co-ordinate branches, Executive and
Judiciary; and for its safe and convenient exercise,
the inter-communication of the representative and
constituent has been sanctioned and provided for
through the channel of the public post, at the public
expense.
That at the general partition of this commonwealth
324 The Writings of [1797
into districts, each of which was to choose a repre-
sentative to Congress, the counties of Amherst,
Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Goochland, were laid off
into one district: that at the elections held for the
said district, in the month of April, in the years 1795
and 1797, the electors thereof made choice of Samuel
Jordan Cabell, of the county of Amherst, to be their
representative in the legislature of the general
government; that the said Samuel Jordan Cabell
accepted the office, repaired at the due periods to
the legislature of the General Government, exercised
his functions there as became a worthy member, and
as a good and dutiful representative was in the habit
of corresponding with many of his constituents, and
communicating to us, by way of letter, information
of the public proceedings, of asking and receiving
our opinions and advice, and of contributing, as far
as might be with right, to preserve the transactions
of the general government in unison with the prin-
ciples and sentiments of his constituents : that while
the said Samuel J. Cabell was in the exercise of his
functions as a representative from this district, and
was in the course of that correspondence which his
duty and the will of his constituents imposed on him,
the right of thus communicating with them, deemed
sacred under all the forms in which our government
has hitherto existed, never questioned or infringed
even by Royal judges or governors, was openly and
directly violated at a Circuit court of the General
Government, held at the city of Richmond, for the
district of Virginia, in the month of May of this
present year, 1797: that at the said court, A, B,
1797] Thomas Jefferson 325
&c, some of whom were foreigners, having been
called upon to serve in the office of grand jurors be-
fore the said court, were sworn to the duties of said
office in the usual forms of the law, the known limits
of which duties are to make presentment of those
acts of individuals which the laws have declared to
be crimes or misdemeanors: that departing out of
the legal limits of their said office, and availing them-
selves of the sanction of its cover, wickedly and con-
trary to their fidelity to destroy the rights of the
people of this commonwealth, and the fundamental
principles of representative government, they made
a presentment of the act of the said Samuel J. Cabell,
in writing letters to his constituents in the following
words, to wit: "We, of the grand jury of the United
States, for the district of Virginia, present as a real
evil, the circular letters of several members of the
late Congress, and particularly letters with the
signature of Samuel J. Cabell, endeavoring, at a time
of real public danger, to disseminate unfounded
calumnies against the happy government of the
United States, and thereby to separate the people
therefrom; and to increase or produce a foreign
influence, ruinous to the peace, happiness, and in-
dependence of these United States."
That the grand jury is a part of the Judiciary, not
permanent indeed, but in office, pro hac vice and re-
sponsible as other judges are for their actings and
doings while in office: that for the Judiciary to inter-
pose in the legislative department between the con-
stituent and his representative, to control them in
the exercise of their functions or duties towards each
326 The Writings of [1797
other, to overawe the free correspondence which ex-
ists and ought to exist between them, to dictate what
communications may pass between them, and to
punish all others, to put the representative into
jeopardy of criminal prosecution, of vexation, ex-
pense, and punishment before the Judiciary, if his
communications, public or private, do not exactly
square with their ideas of fact or right, or with their
designs of wrong, is to put the legislative department
under the feet of the Judiciary, is to leave us, indeed,
the shadow, but to take away the substance of repre-
sentation, which requires essentially that the repre-
sentative be as free as his constituents would be,
that the same interchange of sentiment be lawful
between him and them as would be lawful among
themselves were they in the personal transaction of
their own business; is to do away the influence of
the people over the proceedings of their representa-
tives by excluding from their knowledge, by the
terror of punishment, all but such information or
misinformation as may suit their own views ; and is
the more vitally dangerous when it is considered
that grand jurors are selected by officers nominated
and holding their places at the will of the Executive:
that they are exposed to influence from the judges
who are nominated immediately by the Executive,
and who, although holding permanently their com-
missions as judges, yet from the career of additional
office and emolument actually opened to them of
late, whether constitutionally or not, are under all
those motives which interest or ambition inspire,
of courting the favor of that branch from which
1797] Thomas Jefferson 327
appointments flow: that grand juries are frequently
composed in part of by-standers, often foreigners,
of foreign attachments and interests, and little
knowledge of the laws they are most improperly
called to decide on; and finally, is to give to the
Judiciary, and through them to the Executive, a
complete preponderance over the legislature ren-
dering ineffectual that wise and cautious distribution
of powers made by the constitution between the
three branches, and subordinating to the other two
that branch which most immediately depends on the
people themselves, and is responsible to them at
short periods.
That independently of these considerations of a
constitutional nature, the right of free correspond-
ence between citizen and citizen on their joint inter-
ests, public or private, and under whatsoever laws
these interests arise, is a natural right of every
individual citizen, not the gift of municipal law, but
among the objects for the protection of which muni-
cipal laws are instituted: that so far as the attempt
to take away this natural right of free correspondence
is an offence against the privileges of the legislative
house, of which the said Samuel J. Cabell is a mem-
ber, it is left to that house, entrusted with the
preservation of its own privileges, to vindicate its
immunities against the encroachments and usurpa-
tions of a co-ordinate branch; but so far as it is an
infraction of our individual rights as citizens by other
citizens of our own State, the judicature of this
commonwealth is solely competent to its cognizance,
no other possessing any powers of redress : that the
328 The Writings of [1797
commonwealth retains all its judiciary cognisances
not expressly alienated in the grant of powers to the
United States as expressed in their constitution:
that that constitution alienates only those enumer-
ated in itself, or arising under laws or treaties of the
United States made in conformity with its own
tenor: but the right of free correspondence is not
claimed under that constitution or the laws or
treaties derived from it, but as a natural right,
placed originally under the protection of our muni-
cipal laws, and retained under the cognizance of our
own courts.
Your petitioners further observe that though this
crime may not be specifically defined and denomin-
ated by any particular statute, yet it is a crime, and
of the highest and most alarming nature; that the
constitution of this commonwealth, aware it would
sometimes happen that deep and dangerous crimes,
pronounced as such in the heart of every friend to
his country and its free constitution, would often
escape the definitions of the law, and yet ought not
to escape its punishments, fearing at the same time
to entrust such undescribed offences to the discretion
of ordinary juries and judges, has reserved the same
to the cognizance of the body of the commonwealth
acting by their representatives in general assembly,
for which purpose provision is made by the constitu-
tion in the following words, to wit: "The Governor,
when he is out of office, and others offending against
the State, either by mal-administration, corruption,
or other means by which the safety of the State may
be endangered, shall be impeachable by the House of
1797] Thomas Jefferson 329
Delegates. Such impeachment to be prosecuted by
the Attorney General or such other person or per-
sons as the house may appoint in the general court,
according to the laws of the land. If found guilty,
he or they shall be either forever disabled to hold
any office under government, or removed from such
offices pro tempore, or subjected to such pains or
penalties as the law shall direct."
Considering then the House of Delegates as the
standing inquest of the whole commonwealth so
established by the constitution, that its jurisdiction
as such extends over all persons within its limits,
and that no pale, no sanctuary has been erected
against their jurisdiction to protect offenders who
have committed crimes against the laws of the
commonwealth and rights of its citizens: that the
crime committed by the said grand jurors is of that
high and extraordinary character for which the
constitution has provided extraordinary procedure:
that though the violation of right falls in the first
instance on us, your petitioners and the representa-
tive chosen immediately by us, yet in principle and
consequence it extends to all our fellow-citizens,
whose safety is passed away whenever their repre-
sentatives are placed, in the exercise of their func-
tions, under the direction and coercion of either of
the other departments of government, and one of
their most interesting rights is lost when that of a
free communication of sentiment by speaking or
writing is suppressed: We, your petitioners, there-
fore pray that you will be pleased to take your con-
stitutional cognizance of the premises, and institute
33Q The Writings of [1797
such proceedings for impeaching and punishing the
said A, B, &c, as may secure to the citizens of this
commonwealth their constitutional right : that their
representatives shall in the exercise of their functions
be free and independent of the other departments
of government, may guard that full intercourse be-
tween them and their constituents which the nature
of their relations and the laws of the land establish,
may save to them the natural right of communicating
their sentiments to one another by speaking and
writing, and may serve as a terror to others attempt-
ing hereafter to subvert those rights and the funda-
mental principles of our constitution, to exclude the
people from all direct influence over the government
they have established by reducing that branch of
the legislature which they choose directly, to a sub-
ordination under those over whom they have but an
indirect, distant, and feeble control.
And your petitioners further submit to the wisdom
of the two houses of assembly whether the safety of
the citizens of this commonwealth in their persons,
their property, their laws, and government, does not
require that the capacity to act in the important
office of a juror, grand or petty, civil or criminal,
should be restrained in future to native citizens of
the United States, or such as were citizens at the
date of the treaty of peace which closed our revolu-
tionary war, and whether the ignorance of our laws
and natural partiality to the countries of their birth
are not reasonable causes for declaring this to be one
of the rights incommunicable in future to adoptive
citizens.
1797] Thomas Jefferson 33 l
We, therefore, your petitioners, relying with entire
confidence on the wisdom and patriotism of our
representatives in General assembly, clothed pre-
eminently with all the powers of the people which
have not been reserved to themselves, or enumerated
in the grant to the General Government delegated
to maintain all their rights and relations not ex-
pressly and exclusively transferred to other juris-
dictions, and stationed as sentinels to observe with
watchfulness and oppose with firmness all move-
ments tending to destroy the equilibrium of our ex-
cellent but complicated machine of government,
invoke from you that redress of our violated rights
which the freedom and safety of our common
country calls for. We denounce to you a great
crime, wicked in its purpose, and mortal in its con-
sequences unless prevented, committed by citizens
of this commonwealth against the body of their
country. If we have erred in conceiving the redress
provided by the law, we commit the subject to the
superior wisdom of this house to devise and pursue
such proceedings as they shall think best; and we, as
in duty bound, shall ever pray, &c.
TO JAMES MADISON mid. mss.
Monticeixo, Aug 3, 97.
I scribbled you a line on the 24th ult; it missed
of the post, and so went by a private hand. I per-
ceive from yours by mr. Bringhurst, that you had
not received it. In fact, it was only on earnest ex-
332 The Writings of [1797
hortation to come here with Monroe, which I still
hope you will do. In the meantime, I enclose you a
letter from him, and wish your opinion on its principal
subject. The variety of other topics the day I was
with you, kept out of sight the letter to Mazzei im-
puted to me in the papers, the general substance of
which is mine, tho' the diction has been considerably
varied in the course of it's translations from English
into Italian, from Italian into French, & from French
into English. I first met with it at Bladensburg, and
for a moment conceived I must take the field of the
public papers. I could not disavow it wholly, be-
cause the greatest part was mine, in substance tho'
not in form. I could not avow it as it stood, because
the form was not mine, and, in one place, the sub-
stance very materially falsified. This, then, would
render explanations necessary; nay, it would render
proofs of the whole necessary, & draw me at length
into a publication of all (even the secret) transac-
tions of the administration while I was of it; and
embroil me personally with every member of the
Executive, with the Judiciary, and with others still.
I soon decided in my own mind, to be entirely silent.
I consulted with several friends at Philadelphia, who,
every one of them, were clearly against my avowing
or disavowing, & some of them conjured me most
earnestly to let nothing provoke me to it. I cor-
rected, in conversation with them, a substantial mis-
representation in the copy published. The original
has a sentiment like this (for I have it not before me),
"they are endeavoring to submit us to the substance,
as they already have to the forms of the British
1797] Thomas Jefferson 333
government;" meaning by forms, the birth-days,
levees, processions to parliament, inauguration pom-
posities, &c. But the copy published says, "as they
have already submitted us to the form of the British,"
&c, making me express hostility to the form of our
government, that is to say, to the constitution itself.
For this is really the difference of the word form,
used in the singular or plural, in that phrase, in the
English language. Now it would be impossible for
me to explain this publicly, without bringing on a
personal difference between Genl Washington &
myself, which nothing before the publication of this
letter has ever done. It would embroil me also with
all those with whom his character is still popular,
that is to say, nine tenths of the people of the U S ;
and what good would be obtained by my avowing
the letter with the necessary explanations? Very
little indeed, in my opinion, to counterbalance a good
deal of harm. From my silence in this instance, it
can never be inferred that I am afraid to own the
general sentiments of the letter. If I am subject to
either imputation, it is to that of avowing such
sentiments too frankly both in private & public,
often when there is no necessity for it, merely be-
cause I disdain everything like duplicity. Still,
however, I am open to conviction. Think for me
on the occasion, and advise me what to do, and
confer with Colo Monroe on the subject.
Let me entreat you again to come with him; there
are other important things to consult on. One will
be his affair. Another is the subject of the petition
now enclosed you, to be proposed to our district, on
334 The Writings of [1797
the late presentment of our representative by the
grand jury: the idea it brings forward is still con-
fined to my own breast. It has never been men-
tioned to any mortal, because I first wish your
opinion on the expediency of the measure. If you
approve it, I shall propose to P. Carr or some other,
to father it, and to present it to the counties at their
general muster. This will be in time for our As-
sembly. The presentment going in the public
papers just at the moment when Congress was to-
gether, produced a great effect both on it's friends
& foes in that body, very much to the disheartening
& mortification of the latter. I wish this petition,
if approved, to arrive there under the same circum-
stance, to produce the counter-effect so wanting for
their gratification. I could have wished to receive
it from you again at our court on Monday, because
P. Carr & Wilson Nicholas will be there, and might
also be consulted, and commence measures for put-
ting it into motion. If you can return it then, with
your opinion and corrections, it will be of import-
ance. Present me affectionately to mrs. Madison,
& convey to her my entreaties to interpose her good
offices & persuasives with you to bring her here, and
before we uncover our house, which will yet be some
weeks.
Salutations & Adieu.
TO ST. GEORGE TUCKER j. mss.
MONTICEIXO, Aug 28, 97.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of your
two favors of the 2d & 2 2d inst. and to thank you for
1797] Thomas Jefferson 335
the pamphlet covered by the former.1 You know
my subscription to it's doctrines; and to the mode of
emancipation, I am satisfied that that must be a
matter of compromise between the passions, the
prejudices, & the real difficulties which will each have
their weight in that operation. Perhaps the first
chapter of this history, which has begun in St.
Domingo, & the next succeeding ones, which will re-
count how all the whites were driven from all the
other islands, may prepare our minds for a peaceable
accommodation between justice, policy & necessity;
& furnish an answer to the difficult question, whither
shall the colored emigrants go? and the sooner we
put some plan underway, the greater hope there is
that it may be permitted to proceed peaceably to it's
ultimate effect. But if something is not done, & soon
done, we shall be the murderers of our own children.
The 'murmura venturos nautis prodentia ventos' has
already reached us; the revolutionary storm, now
sweeping the globe, will be upon us, and happy if we
make timely provision to give it an easy passage over
our land. From the present state of things in Europe
& America, the day which begins our combustion
must be near at hand; and only a single spark is
wanting to make that day to-morrow. If we had
begun sooner, we might probably have been allowed
a lengthier operation to clear ourselves, but every
day's delay lessens the time we may take for emanci-
pation. Some people derive hope from the aid of
the confederated States. But this is a delusion.
There is but one state in the Union which will aid
1 Dissertation on Slavery.
336 The Writings of [1797
us sincerely, if an insurrection begins, and that one
may, perhaps, have it's own fire to quench at the
same time. The facts stated in yours of the 2 2d,
were not identically known to me, but others like
them were. From the general government no inter-
ference need be expected. Even the merchant and
navigator, the immediate sufferers, are prevented by
various motives from wishing to be redressed. I see
nothing but a State procedure which can vindicate
us from the insult. It is in the power of any single
magistrate, or of the Attorney for the Commonwealth,
to lay hold of the commanding officer, whenever he
comes ashore, for the breach of the peace, and to
proceed against him by indictment. This is so plain
an operation, that no power can prevent it's being
carried through with effect, but the want of will in
the officers of the State. I think that the matter of
finances, which has set the people of Europe to
thinking, is now advanced to that point with us, that
the next step, & it is an unavoidable one, a land tax,
will awaken our constituents, and call for inspection
into past proceedings. I am, with great esteem,
dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO COLONEL ARTHUR CAMPBELL j. mss.
Monticello, Sepr i, 97.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of
your favor of July 4. and to recognize in it the senti-
ments you have ever held, & worthy of the day on
which it is dated. It is true that a party has risen up
1797] Thomas Jefferson 337
among us, or rather has come among us, which is
endeavoring to separate us from all friendly con-
nection with France, to unite our destinies with
those of Great Britain, & to assimilate our govern-
ment to theirs. Our lenity in permitting the return
of the old tories, gave the first body to this party;
they have been increased by large importations of
British merchants and factors, by American mer-
chants dealing on British capital, and by stock
dealers & banking companies, who, by the aid of a
paper system, are enriching themselves to the ruin
of our country, and swaying the government by
their possession of the printing presses, which their
wealth commands, and by other means, not always
honorable to the character of our countrymen.
Hitherto, their influence & their system has been
irresistible, and they have raised up an Executive
power which is too strong for the legislature. But
I flatter myself they have passed their zenith. The
people, while these things were doing, were lulled into
rest and security from a cause which no longer ex-
ists. No prepossessions now will shut their ears to
truth. They begin to see to what port their leaders
were steering during their slumbers, and there is yet
time to haul in, if we can avoid a war with France.
All can be done peaceably, by the people confiding
their choice of Representatives & Senators to persons
attached to republican government & the principles
of 1776, not office-hunters, but farmers, whose in-
terests are entirely agricultural. Such men are the
true representatives of the great American interest,
and are alone to be relied on for expressing the
VOL. VIII. — 22.
338 The Writings of [1797
proper American sentiments. We owe gratitude to
France, justice to England, good will to all, and
subservience to none. All this must be brought
about by the people, using their elective rights with
prudence & self-possession, and not suffering them-
selves to be duped by treacherous emissaries. It
was by the sober sense of our citizens that we were
safely and steadily conducted from monarchy to
republicanism, and it is by the same agency alone we
can be kept from falling back. I am happy in this
occasion of reviving the memory of old things, and
of assuring you of the continuance of the esteem &
respect of, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO JOHN FRANCIS MERCER j. mss.
Monticello, September s> 1797.
* * * We have now with us our friend Monroe.
He is engaged in stating his conduct for the informa-
tion of the public. As yet, however, he has done
little, being too much occupied with re-arranging his
household. His preliminary skirmish with the Secre-
tary of state has, of course, bespoke a suspension of
the public mind, till he can lay his statement before
them. Our Congressional district is fermenting un-
der the presentment of their representative by the
Grand jury: and the question of a Convention for
forming a State Constitution will probably be at-
tended to in these parts. These are the news of our
canton. Those of a more public nature you know
before we do. My best respects to mrs. Mercer, and
1797] Thomas Jefferson 339
assurances to yourself of the affectionate esteem of,
dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
Monticello, Sep 7, 97.
The doubt which you suggest as to our jurisdiction
over the case of the grand jury vs. Cabell, had oc-
curred to me, & naturally occurs on first view of the
question. But I knew, that to send the petition to
the Ho of Represent, in Congress, would make bad
worse; that a majority of that House would pass a
vote of approbation. On examination of the ques-
tion, too, it appeared to me that we could maintain
the authority of our own government over it.
A right of free correspondence between citizen &
citizen, on their joint interests, whether public or
private, & under whatsoever laws these interests
arise, (to wit, of the state, of Congress, of France,
Spain, or Turkey), is a natural right; it is not the
gift of any municipal law, either of England, or of
Virginia, or of Congress ; but in common with all our
other natural rights, is one of the objects for the
protection of which society is formed, & municipal
laws established.
The courts of this commonwealth (and among
them the General court, as a court of impeachment)
are originally competent to the cognizance of all
infractions of the rights of one citizen by another
citizen; and they still retain all their judiciary cog-
nizances not expressly alienated by the federal
constitution.
34© The Writings of [1797
The federal constitution alienates from them all
cases arising, 1st, under that constitution; 2dly,
under the laws of Congress; 3dly, under treaties, &c.
But this right of free correspondence, whether with a
public representative in General assembly, in Con-
gress, in France, in Spain, or with a private one
charged with a pecuniary trust, or with a private
friend the object of our esteem, or any other, has not
been given to us under, 1st, the federal constitution;
2dly, any law of Congress; or 3dly, any treaty; but
as before observed, by nature. It is therefore not
alienated, but remains under the protection of our
courts.
Were the question even doubtful, it is no reason
for abandoning it. The system of the General
government, is to seize all doubtful ground. We
must join in the scramble, or get nothing. Where
first occupancy is to give a right, he who lies still
loses all. Besides, it is not right for those who are
only to act in a preHminary form, to let their own
doubts preclude the judgment of the court of ultimate
decision. We ought to let it go to the Ho of dele-
gates for their consideration, & they, unless the con-
trary be palpable, ought to let it go to the General
court, who are ultimately to decide on it.
It is of immense consequence that the States retain
as complete authority as possible over their own
citizens. The withdrawing themselves under the
shelter of a foreign jurisdiction, is so subversive of
order and so pregnant of abuse, that it may not be
amiss to consider how far a law of pr&munire should
be revived & modified, against all citizens who at-
1797] Thomas Jefferson 341
tempt to carry their causes before any other than the
State courts, in cases where those other courts have
no right to their cognizance. A plea to the juris-
diction of the courts of their State, or a reclamation
of a foreign jurisdiction, if adjudged valid, would be
safe; but if adjudged invalid, would be followed by
the punishment of pramunire for the attempt.
Think further of the preceding part of this letter,
and we will have further conference on it. Adieu.
P. S. Observe, that it is not the breach of mr.
Cabell's privilege which we mean to punish: that
might lie with Congress. It is the wrong done to
the citizens of our district. Congress has no author-
ity to punish that Wrong. They can only take cog-
nizance of it in vindication of their member.
TO ALEXANDER WHITE J. mss.
Monticello, Sept. 10, 97.
Dear Sir, — So many persons have of late found an
interest or a passion gratified by imputing to me say-
ings and writings which I never said or wrote, or by
endeavoring to draw me into newspapers to harass
me personally, that I have found it necessary for my
quiet & my other pursuits to leave them in full pos-
session of the field, and not to take the trouble of
contradicting them in private conversation. If I do
it now, it is out of respect to your application, made
by private letter & not thro' the newspapers, & under
the perfect assurance that what I write to you will
not be permitted to get into a newspaper, while you
are at full liberty to assert it in conversation under
my authority.
342 The Writings of [1797
I never gave an opinion that the Government
would not remove to the federal city. I never enter-
tained that opinion; ' but on the contrary, whenever
asked the question, I have expressed my full confi-
dence that they would remove there. Having had
frequent occasion to declare this sentiment, I have
endeavored to conjecture on what a contrary one
could have been ascribed to me. I remember that in
Georgetown, where I passed a day in February in
conversation with several gentlemen on the prepara-
tions there for receiving the government, an opinion
was expressed by some, & not privately, that there
would be few or no private buildings erected in
Washington this summer, and that the prospect of
their being a sufficient number in time, was not flat-
tering. This they grounded on the fact that the
persons holding lots, from a view to increase their
means of building, had converted their money at low
prices, into Morris & Nicholson's notes, then pos-
sessing a good degree of credit, & that having lost
these by the failure of these gentlemen, they were
much less able to build than they would have been.
I then observed, and I did it with a view to excite
exertion, that if there should not be private houses in
readiness sufficient for the accommodation of Con-
gress & the persons annexed to the Government, it
could not be expected that men should come there to
lodge, like cattle, in the fields, and that it highly be-
hooved those interested in the removal to use every
exertion to provide accommodations. In this opin-
ion, I presume I shall be joined by yourself & every
other. But delivered, as it was, only on the hypo-
x797l Thomas Jefferson 343
thesis of a fact stated by others, it could not authorize
the assertion of an absolute opinion, separated from
the statement of fact on which it was hypothetically
grounded. I have seen no reason to believe that
Congress have changed their purpose with respect to
the removal. Every public indication from them,
& every sentiment I have heard privately expressed
by the members, convinces me they are steady in the
purpose. Being on this subject, I will suggest to
you, what I did privately at Georgetown to a par-
ticular person, in confidence that it should be sug-
gested to the managers, if in event it should happen
that there should not be a sufficiency of private
buildings erected within the proper time, would it
not be better for the commissioners to apply for a
suspension of the removal for one year, than to leave
it to the hazard which a contrary interest might
otherwise bring on it? Of this however you have
yet two summers to consider, and you have the best
knolege of the circumstances on which a judgment
may be formed whether private accommodations will
be provided. As to the public buildings, every one
seems to agree that they will be in readiness.
I have for five or six years been encouraging the
opening a direct road from the Southern part of this
State, leading through this county to Georgetown.
The route proposed is from Georgetown by Colol.
Alexander's, Elk - run Church, Norman's Ford,
Stevensburg, the Racoon Ford, the Marquis's Road,
Martin Key's Ford on the Rivanna, the mouth of
Slate River, the high bridge on Appomattox, Prince
Edward C. H., Charlotte C. H., Cole's ferry on
344 The Writings of [1797
Stanton, Dix's ferry on Dan, Guilford C. H., Salis-
bury, Croswell's ferry on Saluda, Ninety-six, Augusta.
It is believed this road will shorten the distance along
the continent 100. miles. It will be to open anew
only from Georgetown to Prince Edward courthouse.
An actual survey has been made from Stevensburg
to Georgetown, by which that much of the road will
be shortened 20. miles, & be all a dead level. The
difficulty is to get it first through Fairfax & Prince
William. The counties after that will very readily
carry it on. We consider it as opening to us a direct
road to the market of the federal city, for all the beef
& mutton we could raise, for which we have no mar-
ket at present. I am in possession of the survey,
& had thought of getting the Bridge co at George-
town to undertake to get the road carried through
Fairfax & Prince William, either by those counties or
by themselves. But I have some apprehension that
by pointing our road to the bridge, it might get out
of the level country, and be carried over the hills,
which will be but a little above it. This would be
inadmissible. Perhaps you could suggest some
means of our getting over the obstacle of those two
counties. I shall be very happy to concur in any
measure which can effect all our purposes. I am with
esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient servant.
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
MONTICELLO Oct. 2$. 97-
I like your second title better than the first because
it is shorter. I should like the following better than
1797] Thomas Jefferson 345
either: "The Foreign affairs of the U. S. during the
years 1794.5.6. laid before his fellow citizens by J. M.
their late M. P. to the Republic of France." The
reason of my preference is that it implies no inculpa-
tion of the Executive. Such an implication will de-
termine prejudiced men against buying or reading the
book. The following title would be better but for
one reason: "An account of the foreign affairs of
the U. S. during the years 1794.5.6 rendered to his
fellow citizens by J. M. their late M. P. to the Re-
public of France," but that it would raise the old hue
and cry against the attempt to separate the people
from their government. For this reason it might be
questionable whether the words "laid before his fel-
low citizens" in the first title I propose, had not
better be omitted. In that case the words "a view
of" should be premised, so as to make it "a view of
the Foreign affairs of the U. S. during &c. — by J.
M. &c. Decide among them.
I should not be for publishing the long letters from
the Secy of State to Fauchet, & Hammond, because
they were no part of your business & because they
are already printed by the Executive. Perhaps it
would be well to refer in a note to E. R.'s letter to
you that it enclosed such and such letters which may
be seen in such a publication, quoting the pages. I
rather think that to you relative to Fenwick ought to
be published 1. because it is to you. 2. because it
will show how vigorous they were when the English
interests were affected. 3. because it was a malver-
sation in Fenwick if true, & ought to be published for
the honor of the U. S. & warning to other consuls.
346 The Writings of [1797
Skipwith's report might be referred to as already-
printed. As to the question whether a Minister is
that of his country or of G. W. or J. A. I do not
think will need a very formal discussion. A bare
statement of it with a few such strong observations as
will occur currente calamo, will suffice. Still it is
necessary to be stated, to bring indolent readers to
reflection. Appearances might otherwise lead them
astray. Adieu.
TO JOHN WAYLES EPPES J. mss.
Philadelphia Dec. 21. 97.
Presuming that you get the newspapers I shall not
repeat the public news which they detail. The great
victory obtained by the English over the Dutch fleet
is placed beyond doubt. They have taken q. out of
16. As to the proceedings of Congress, they have
passed a bill putting off the commencement of the
Stamp act till July next. The land tax will not be
taken up this session. It is suspected that the ap-
proaching elections have had as much influence in
both these measures, as the condition of the Treasury,
which is said to be better than was expected. Con-
gress therefore have absolutely nothing to do, but to
wait for news from our Parisian envoys. If that is of
a peaceable aspect I know nothing which ought to
keep us long from home. And that it will be of
peaceable aspect there is solid reason to expect, not-
withstanding the newspaper paragraphs of a con-
trary import, fabricated to give a hostile impulse to
Congress. We learn from Norfolk that Barry is
1797] Thomas Jefferson 347
made Judge of Admiralty in the French West Indies,
& has forbidden the capture of any American vessels
except going to rebel ports. This looks as if they
wish to distinguish between real American vessels, &
English ones under American papers. They suppose
& probably that Barry will be able to distinguish
them.
I send according to your desire Paine's letter. In
my next I will enclose another pamphlet on the same
subject. Monroe's book appears this day. It is of
near 500. pages, consequently too large to go by
post. Bache will send on 2. or 300 copies to Rich-
mond. I have put on board Stratton's schooner an
anvil, vice & beek-iron for George, proposing as soon
as he receives them, that Isaac shall take those he has.
We had hoped 2. or 3. days ago that the vessels here
would have got out. But the weather has now set in
so as to render it doubtful whether they are not shut
for the winter. If so, it will be February before these
things get on. You would do well to employ Isaac in
the meantime in preparing coal for his year's work.
He should have about 2000. bushels laid in. Nor
will it be amiss to cord his wood in order to excite him
to an emulation in burning it well. I am in hopes
you or mr. Randolph will prepare for the road con-
tract. It is very interesting to us all. Tell my dear
Maria I received her letter of the 8th from Chestnut
Grove this day. I will write to her next. In the
meantime convey to her the warmest expressions of
my love. Present me affectionately to mr. & mrs.
Eppes & to all the younger ones. Adieu with sincere
affection.
348 The Writings of [1797
P. S. I am entirely at a loss to what post office to
direct your letters. I have conjectured you have
most intercourse with Petersburg.
TO JOHN TAYLOR j. mss.
Philadelphia Dec. 23. 97.
Dear Sir — * * * Our stamp act is put off till
July next. The land tax will also be put off. The
approach of the elections may have had its weight
in both these measures. The affluence of the Treas-
ury has rendered it possible to go on a year longer
without a land tax. The questions about beginning
a Navy & permitting our merchants (alias the Eng-
lish merchants) to arm & begin the war for us, must
of course be discussed, because the speech has
recommended these measures. But I see no reason
to apprehend any change in the opinion of Congress
on these points since the summer session. These
therefore & Blount's impeachment will serve to give
us an appearance of business for sometime. For an
honest truth I believe every man here acknoleges we
have nothing to do: that there is literally nothing
which the public good requires us to act upon. As
we are together, I think myself we ought not to
separate till we hear from our envoys at Paris & I
think we may expect by the last of January not only
to hear from them, but to see what is likely to be the
aspect of our affairs with France. If peaceable, I
know no reason why we should not go home im-
mediately, & economise something on the daily ex-
1797] Thomas Jefferson 349
penses of our session, which in truth are enormous.
The French envoy here tells me he has a letter from
his government mentioning that they expect our
envoys & that they will be well received. A pam-
phlet written by Fauchet is come here. I have not
read it but I understand that the sum of it is that
our Executive are the enemies of France, our citi-
zens generally friendly, but that the mutual interests
of both countries require a continuance of friendly
intercourse between the two republics. A bill ex-
tending for three years the law respecting foreign
coins has passed the representatives with some diffi-
culty & may possibly fail in the Senate. Whether
[illegible] fears for the mint or whether ground [il-
legible] I know not. But if it fails we are left almost
without a coin for legal tenders. As you are in
session it behooves you to see that your laws fixing
the value of foreign coin & making them a tender are
in [illegible] footing. By the constitution Congress
may regulate the value of foreign coin, but if they
do not do it, the old power revives to the state, the
Constitution only forbidding them to make anything
but gold & silver coin a tender in payment of debts.
This construction is admitted here by persons not
disposed to give to the states more powers than they
are entitled to. Adieu. Affectionately.
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
Philadelphia, Dec. 27, 97.
Dear Sir, — I communicated to Mr. M. the evening
I was with him the papers you sent by me for Mr. D.
35° The Writings of [1797
He was clearly of opinion nothing further ought to
be done. D. was decisively of the same opinion.
This being the case then there was no ground for
consulting L. or B. & accordingly nothing has been
said to them. Your book was later coming than was
to have been wished : however it works irresistably.
It would be very gratifying to you to hear the un-
qualified eulogies both on the matter & manner by
all who are not hostile to it from principle. A
pamphlet written by Fauchet (and now reprinting
here) reinforced the views you have presented of the
duplicity of the administration here. The Republi-
can party in the H. of Representatives is stronger
than its antagonistic party in all strong questions.
Today on a question to put off a bill for permitting
private vessels to arm, it was put off to the 1st Mon-
day of Feb. by 40. to 37. & on a motion to reconsider
was confirmed by 44. to 38. We have half a dozen
members absent, who if here would give decisive pre-
ponderance. Two of these are of our state, Giles &
Cabell. The stamp act is put off to July, & the Land
tax will not be touched this session. Before the next
the elections will be over. We have therefore liter-
ally nothing to do, but to await intelligence from our
envoys at Paris, & as soon as we learn that our affairs
there will be of peaceable aspect (as there is reason
to expect) I see nothing which ought to keep us here.
The question about building a navy, to be sure must
be discussed out of respect to the speech: but it will
only be to reject them. A bill has passed the repre-
sentatives giving three years longer currency to
foreign coins. It is in danger in the Senate. The
1797] Thomas Jefferson 351
effect of stopping the currency of gold & silver is to
force bank paper through all the states. However I
presume the state legislatures will exercise their ac-
knoleged right of regulating the value of foreign
coins, when not regulated by Congress, & their ex-
clusive right of declaring them a tender. The Mar-
quis Fayette was expected in the ship John from
Hamburg. She is cast away in this river. 70
passengers were said to be got ashore & the rest still
remaining on the wreck, but we do not know that he
was actually a passenger. Some late elections have
been remarkable. Lloyd of Maryland in the place
of Henry by a majority of 1. against Winder the
Republican candidate. Chipman, Senator of Ver-
mont, by a majority of 1. against J. Smith the
Republican candidate. Tichenor chosen governor of
Vermont by a small majority against the Republican
candidate. Governor Robertson of that state writes
that the people there are fast coming over to a sound
understanding of the state of our affairs. The same
is said of some other of the N. England states. In
this state that spirit rises very steadily. The Re-
publicans have a firm majority of about 6. in the H.
of Representatives here, a circumstance which has
not been seen for some years. Even their Senate is
purifying. The contest for the government will be
between McKean & Ross, & will probably be an ex-
treme hard one. In N. York it will be the same
between Livingston & Jay, who is becoming un-
popular with his own party. We are anxious to see
how the N. York representatives are. The dis-
mission of Tench Coxe from office without any
35 2 The Writings of [1798
reason assigned is considered as one of the bold acts
of the President. Tant mieux. As soon as Fauchet's
pamphlet appears I will send you a copy. Your
book so far has sold rapidly. I received from mr.
Madison paper for 500 D. for you, which will be paid
in the course of a few weeks. I shall desire Barnes
to receive and hold it subject to your order. Present
me respectfully to mrs. Monroe & accept assurances
of my sincere friendship. Adieu.
TO JOHN PAGE j. mss.
Philadelphia Jan. i. 1798.
My dear Page, — You have probably seen or heard
of some very abusive letters addressed to me in the
publick papers by a mr. Martin of Baltimore on the
subject of Logan's speech cited in the Notes on Vir-
ginia. I do not mean to notice mr. Martin or to go
into the newspapers on the subject, but I am still
anxious to inquire into the foundation of that story,
and if I find anything wrong in it it shall be cor-
rected, & what is right supported either in some new
edition of that work or in an Appendix to it. You
& I were so much together about the year 1774, that
I take for granted that whatsoever I heard you heard
also, & therefore that your memory can assist mine
in recollecting the substance of the story, how it
came to us, & who could now be applied to to give
information relative to it. You were more in Ld
Dunmore's & Foy's company than I was, & probably
heard more of it from that family than I did. I
1798] Thomas Jefferson 353
must pray you to rub up your recollection & com-
municate to me as fully as you can what you can
recall to your mind relative to it. & if you can pro-
cure me the evidence, or the recollections of any
other persons on it, it will much oblige me. We
have now been met 7. weeks & have done nothing
except put off the stamp act to July next. Nor
does it seem as if there would be anything to do.
We are waiting for news from France. A letter
from Talleyrand (French Minister of Foreign Affairs)
to mr. Le Tombe consul here, dated the day after
the arrival of our ministers at Paris, says they will
be well received, & that every disposition exists on
the side of France to accommodate their differences
with us. I imagine you will have seen Monroe's
work, as many copies were sent to Richmond by
Bache. We hourly expect Fauchet's pamphlet from
the same press. I will send you a copy. Present
me respectfully to mrs. Page & accept assurances
of the constant friendship of my Dear Sir, Yours
affectionately.
TO MANN PAGE J. mss.
Philadelphia, Jan. 2, 1798.
Dear Sir, — I do not know whether you have seen
some very furious abuse of me in the Baltimore
papers by a mr. Luther Martin, on account of Lo-
gan's speech, published in the Notes dn Virginia.
He supposes both the speech & story made by me
to support an argument against Buffon. I mean not
to enter into a newspaper contest with mr. Martin;
VOL. VIII. — 23.
354 The Writings of [1798
but I wish to collect, as well as the lapse of time will
permit, the evidence on which we received that
story. It was brought to us I remember by Ld
Dunmore & his officers on their return from the ex-
pedition of 1774. I am sure it was from them that
I got it. As you were very much in the same circle
of society in Wmsburg with myself, I am in hopes
your memory will be able to help out mine, and re-
call some facts which have escaped me. I ask it as
a great favor of you to endeavor to recollect, & to
communicate to me all the circumstances you pos-
sibly can relative to this matter, particularly the
authority on which we received it, & the names of
any persons who you think can give me information.
I mean to fix the fact with all possible care and
truth, and either to establish or correct the former
statement in an Appendix to the Notes on Virginia,
or in the first republication of the work.
Congress have done nothing interesting except
postponing the Stamp Act. An act continuing the
currency of the foreign coins 3. years longer has
passed the Representatives, but was lost in the
Senate. We have hopes that our envoys will be re-
ceived decently at Paris, and some compromise
agreed on. There seems to be little appearance of
peace in Europe. Those among us who were so
timid when they apprehended war with England,
are now bold in propositions to arm. I do not think
however that the Representatives will change the
policy pursued by them at their summer session.
The land tax will not be brought forward this year.
Congress of course have no real business to be em-
1798] Thomas Jefferson 355
ployed on. We may expect in a month or six weeks
to hear so far from our commissioners at Paris as to
judge what will be the aspect of our situation with
France. If peaceable, as we hope, I know of nothing
which should keep us together. In my late journey
to this place, I came through Culpeper & Prince
William to Georgetown. When I return, it will be
through the eastern shore (a country I have never
seen), by Norfolk & Petersburg; so that I shall fail
then also of the pleasure of seeing you. Present my
respectful compliments to mrs. Page, and accept
assurances of the sincere esteem of, dear Sir, your
friend and servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
P, Jan, 3, 1798.
Dear Sir, — * * * Our weather has been here,
as with you, cold & dry. The thermometer has been
at 8°. The river closed here the first week of Decem-
ber, which has caught a vast number of vessels
destined for departure. It deadens also the demand
for wheat. The price at New York is 1.75 & of
flour 8.50 to 9. ; tobacco 11. to 12. D. ; there need be
no doubt of greater prices. The bankruptcies here
continue: the prison is full of the most reputable
merchants, & it is understood that the scene has not
yet got to its height. Prices have fallen greatly.
The market is cheaper than it has been for 4. years.
Labor & house rent much reduced. Dry goods
somewhat. It is expected they will fall till they get
356 The Writings of [1798
nearly to old prices. Money scarce beyond all
example.
The Representatives have rejected the President's
proposition for enabling him to prorogue them. A
law is passed putting off the stamp act till July next.
The land tax will not be brought on. The Secretary
of the Treasury says he has money enough. No
doubt these two measures may be taken up more
boldly at the next session, when most of the elections
will be over. It is imagined the stamp act will be
extended or attempted on every possible object. A
bill has passed the Rep to suspend for 3. years the
law arresting the currency of foreign coins. The
Senate propose an amendment, continuing the cur-
rency of the foreign gold only. Very possibly the
bill may be lost. The object of opposing the bill is
to make the French crowns a subject of speculation
(for it seems they fell on the President's proclamation
to a Dollar in most of the states), and to force bank
paper (for want of other medium) through all the
states generally. Tench Coxe is displaced & no rea-
son ever spoken of. It is therefore understood to be
for his activity during the late election. It is said,
that the people from hence quite to the Eastern ex-
tremity are beginning to be sensible that their govern-
ment has been playing a foul game. In Vermont,
Chipman was elected Senator by a majority of one,
against the republican candidate. In Maryland,
Lloyd by a majority of one, against Winder the
republican candidate. Tichenor chosen Governor of
Vermont by a very small majority. The house of
Representatives of this state has become republican
1798] Thomas Jefferson 357
by a firm majority of 6. Two counties, it is said,
have come over generally to the republican side.
It is thought the republicans have also a majority in
the N York H of representatives. Hard elections
are expected there between Jay & Livingston, & here
between Ross & McKean. In the H of Representa-
tives of Congress, the republican interest has at
present, on strong questions, a majority of about
half a dozen, as is conjectured, & there are as many
of their firmest men absent; not one of the anti-
republicans is from his post. The bill for permitting
private vessels to arm, was put off to the 1st Monday
in February by a sudden vote, & a majority of five.
It was considered as an index of their dispositions on
that subject, tho some voted both ways on other
ground. It is most evident, that the anti-republi-
cans wish to get rid of Blount's impeachment. Many
metaphysical niceties are handing about in conver-
sation, to shew that it cannot be sustained. To
show the contrary, it is evident must be the task of
the republicans, or of nobody. Monroe's book is con-
sidered as masterly by all those who are not opposed
in principle, and it is deemed unanswerable. An
answer, however, is commenced in Fenno's paper of
yesterday, under the signature of Scipio. The real
author not yet conjectured.1 As I take these papers
merely to preserve them, I will forward them to you,
as you can easily return them to me on my arrival
at home; for I shall not see you on my way, as I
mean to go by the Eastern Shore & Petersburg.
1 Scipio was Uriah Tracy, and the letters were afterwards collected
in book form.
358 The Writings of [1798
Perhaps the paragraphs in some of these abominable
papers may draw from you now & then a sqtiib. A
pamphlet of Fauchet's appeared yesterday. I send
you a copy under another cover. A handbill is just
arrived here from N Y, where they learn from a
vessel which left Havre about the 9th of Nov, that
the emperor had signed the definitive articles, given
up Mantua, evacuated Mentz, agreed to give passage
to the French troops into Hanover, and that the
Portuguese ambassador had been ordered to quit
Paris, on account of the seizure of fort St. Julian's
by the English, supposed with the connivance of
Portugal. Tho this is ordinary mercantile news, it
looks like truth. The latest official intelligence from
Paris is from Talleyrand Perigord to the French
consul here, (Letombe,) dated Sep 28, saying that
our Envoys were arrived, & would find every dis-
position on the part of his government to accom-
modate with us.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Philadelphia, January 25, 1798.
Dear Sir, — I wrote you last on the 2d inst, on
which day I received yours of Deer 25. I have
not resumed my pen, because there has really been
nothing worth writing about, but what you would
see in the newspapers. There is, as yet, no certainty
what will be the aspect of our affairs with France.
Either the Envoys have not written to the govern-
ment, or their communications are hushed up. This
last is suspected, because so many arrivals have hap-
1798] Thomas Jefferson 359
pened from Bordeaux & Havre. The letters from
American correspondents in France have been always
to Boston ; & the experience we had last summer of
their adroitness in counterfeiting this kind of intelli-
gence, inspires doubts as to their late paragraphs. A
letter is certainly received here by an individual from
Talleyrand, which says our Envoys have been heard,
that their pretensions are high, that possibly no ar-
rangement may take place, but that there will be no
declaration of war by France. It is said that Bour-
nonville has written that he has hopes of an accom-
modation (3. audiences having then, Nov, been had),
and to be himself a member of a new diplomatic mis-
sion to this country. On the whole, I am entirely
suspended as to what is to be expected. The repre-
sentatives have been several days in debate on the
bill for foreign intercourse. A motion has been
made to reduce it to what it was before the extension
of 1 7 9 6 . The debate will probably have good effects ,
in several ways, on the public mind, but the advo-
cates for the reformation expect to lose the question.
They find themselves deceived in the expectation
entertained in the beginning of the session, that they
had a majority. They now think the majority is on
the other side by 2. or 3., and there are moreover 2.
or 3. of them absent. Blount's affair is to come on
next. In the mean time the Senate have before
them a bill for regulating proceedings in impeach-
ment. This will be made the occasion of offering a
clause for the introduction of juries into these trials.
(Compare the paragraph in the constitution which
says, that the trial of all crimes, except in cases of
360 The Writings of [1798
impeachment, shall be by jury, with the VHIth
amendment, which says, that in all criminal prose-
cutions the trial shall be by jury.) There is no ex-
pectation of carrying this; because the division in
the Senate is of 2. to 1., but it will draw forth the
principles of the parties, and concur in accumulating
proofs on which side all the sound principles are to
be found.
Very acrimonious altercations are going on be-
tween the Spanish minister & the Executive, and at
the Natchez something worse than mere altercation.
If hostilities have not begun there, it has not been
for want of endeavors to bring them on by our agents.
Marshall, of Kentucky, this day proposed in Senate
some amendments to the constitution. They were
barely read just as we were adjourning, & not a word
of explanation given. As far as I caught them in my
ear, they went only to modifications of the elections
of President & V President, by authorizing voters to
add the office for which they name each, & giving to
the Senate the decision of a disputed election of
President, & to the Representatives that of Vice
President. But I am apprehensive I caught the
thing imperfectly, & probably incorrectly. Perhaps
this occasion may be taken of proposing again the
Virginia amendments, as also to condemn elections
by the legislatures, themselves to transfer the power
of trying impeachments from the Senate to some
better constituted court, &c, &c.
Good tobo here is 13. doll., flour 8.50, wheat 1.50,
but dull, because only the millers buy. The river,
however, is nearly open, & the merchants will now
1798] Thomas Jefferson 361
come to market & give a spur to the price. But
their competition \ will not be what it has been.
Bankruptcies thicken, & the height of them has
by no means yet come on. It is thought this winter
will be very trying.
Friendly salutations to mrs. Madison. Adieu
affectionately.
January 28. I enclose Marshall's propositions.
They have been this day postponed to the 1st of
June, chiefly by the vote of the anti-republicans,
under the acknoleged fear that other amendments
would be also proposed, and that this is not the
time for agitating the public mind.
TO HENRY TAZEWELL j. mss.
Jan. 27. 98.
As you mentioned that some of your Commee ad-
mitted that the introduction of juries into trials by
impeachment under the VHIth amendment de-
pended on the question Whether an impeachment
for a misdemeanor be a criminal prosecution? I
devoted yesterday evening to the extracting pas-
sages from Law authors showing that in Law-
language the term crime is in common use applied
to misdemeanors, & that impeachments, even when
for misdemeanors only are criminal prosecutions.
These proofs were so numerous that my patience
could go no further than two authors, Blackstone &
Wooddeson. They shew that you may meet that
question without the danger of being contradicted.
362 The Writings of [1798
The constitution closes the proofs by explaining its
own meaning when speaking of impeachments, crimes,
misdemeanors.
The object in supporting this engraftment into
impeachments is to lessen the dangers of the court
of impeachment under its present form & to induce
dispositions in all parties in favor of a better con-
stituted court of impeachment, which I own I con-
sider as an useful thing, if so composed as to be clear
of the spirit of faction. Do not let the enclosed
paper be seen in my handwriting.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Feb. 8, 98.
I wrote you last on the 25th Ult; since which
yours of the 21st has been received. Bache had put
500. copies of Monroe's book on board a vessel,
which was stopped by the early & unexpected freez-
ing of the river. He then tried in vain to get them
carried by fifties at a time, by the stage. The river
is now open here, the vessels have fallen down, and
if they can get through the ice below, the one with
Bache's packet will soon be at Richmond. It is sur-
mised here that Scipio is written by C. Lee. Articles
of impeachment were yesterday given in against
Blount. But many knotty preliminary questions
will arise. Must not a formal law settle the oath of
the Senators, forms of pleadings, process against
person & goods, &c. ? May he not appear by attor-
ney? Must he not be tried by jury? Is a Senator
1798] Thomas Jefferson 363
impeachable? Is an ex-Senator impeachable? You
will readily conceive that these questions, to be
settled by 29. lawyers, are not likely to come to
speedy issue. A very disagreeable question of privi-
lege has suspended all other proceedings for several
days. You will see this in the newspapers. The
question of arming was to have come on, on Monday
last ; that morning, the President sent in an inflam-
matory message about a vessel taken & burnt by a
French privateer, near Charleston. Of this he had
been possessed some time, and it had run through all
the newspapers. It seemed to come in very apropos
for spurring on the disposition to arm. However,
the question is not come on. In the meantime, the
general spirit, even of the merchants, is becoming
adverse to it. New Hampshire & Rhode island are
unanimously against arming ; so is Baltimore. This
place becoming more so. Boston divided & de-
sponding. I know nothing of New York; but I
think there is no danger of the question being
carried, unless something favorable to it is received
from our Envoys. From them we hear nothing.
Yet it seems reasonably believed that the Executive
has heard, & that it is something which would not
promote their views of arming. For every action
of theirs shews they are panting to come to blows.
Walker's bill will be applied to answer a draught of
Colo. Monroe's on Barnes. I have not heard yet
from Bailey. I wrote to you about procuring a
rider for the Fredsbg post. The proposition should
be here by the 14th inst., but I can get it kept open
a little longer. There is no bidder yet but Green,
364 The Writings of [1798
the printer. £100 Virga. will be given. Giles has
arrived.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
[Post marked, Feby 8, 1798]
I received yesterday by mr. Giles yours of Jan. 27,
and am well pleased with the indications of republi-
canism in our assembly. Their law respecting the
printer is a good one. I only wish they would give
the printing of the laws to one & journals to another.
This would secure two, as each portion of the business
would be object enough to the printer, and two places
in their gift would keep within bounds the other
printers also who would be in expectancy of catching
something in case of either vacancy. Bache was
prevented sending 500 copies of your book to Rich-
mond by the freezing of this river after they were
aboard the vessel. He tried in vain to get boxes of
fifties carried on by the stages. However, the river
is now open here, the vessels have fallen down, and
if they find it open below, that with Bache's packets
will soon be in Richmond. It has been said here
that C. Lee was the author of Scipio, but I know of
no authority for it. I had expected Hamilton would
have taken the field, and that in that case you might
have come forward yourself very shortly merely to
strengthen and present in a compact view those
points which you expected yourself they would lay
hold of, particularly the disposition expressed to
acquiesce under their spoiliatory decree. Scipio's
attack is so weak as to make no impression. I
1798] Thomas Jefferson 365
understand that the opposite party admit that there
is nothing in your conduct which can be blamed, ex-
cept the divulging secrets: & this I think might be
answered by a few sentences, discussing the question
whether an Ambassador is the representative of his
country or of the President. Barnes has accepted
your bill. As to the question of your practising the
law in Richmond, I have been too long out of the
way in Virginia to give an opinion on it worth atten-
tion. I have understood the business is very profit-
able, much more so than in my time : and an opening
of great importance must be made by the retirement
of Marshall & Washington, which will be filled by
somebody. I do expect that your farm will not
sufficiently employ your time to shield you from
ennui. Your mind is active, & would suffer if un-
employed. Perhaps it's energies could not be more
justifiably employed than for your own comfort. I
should doubt very much however, whether you
should combine with this the idea of living in Rich-
mond, at least till you see farther before you. I
have always seen that tho' a residence at the seat of
government gave some advantages yet it increased
expences also so seriously as to overbalance the ad-
vantages. I have always seen too that a good stand
in the country intercepted more business than was
shared by the residents of the city. Yours is a good
stand. You need only visit Staunton Cts. some
times to put yourself in the way of seeing clients. —
The articles of impeachment against Blount were
yesterday received by the Senate. Some great
questions will immediately arise. 1. Can they pre-
366 The Writings of [1798
scribe their own oath, the forms of pleadings, issue
process against person or goods by their own orders,
without the formality of a law authorizing it? Has
not the 8th amendment of the constitution rendered
trial by jury necessary? Is a Senator impeachable?
These and other questions promise no very short
issue. The Representatives have a dirty business
now before them on a question of privilege. This
you will see in the public papers. — The question of
arming our vessels was to have come on on Monday
last. Accordingly the President that morning sent
in an inflammatory message about a vessel taken
near Charleston & burned by a French privateer, of
which fact he had been sometime possessed, & it
had been in all the newspapers. It seemed thrown
in on that day precisely to give a spur to the question.
However it did not come on. In the mean time the
spirit of the merchants is going fast over to the safe
side of the question. In New Hampshire and
Rhode Island they are unanimous; in Baltimore
also. In this place becoming more so. In Boston
divided & desponding. Of New York I have no
information. But I think the Proposition will not
be carried, unless something befriending it should
come from our envoys. Nothing transpires yet of
their mission. Yet it cannot be well doubted but
that the Executive must have received information.
Perhaps it is of a nature to damp the spirit for arm-
ing.— Pray tell Colo. Bell (to whom I wrote about
getting a rider for the Fredsbg. post) that the 14th.
inst. is the day by which the proposition should come
in. I can get it kept open a little longer. £100. our
J798] Thomas Jefferson 367
money will be given. My friendly salutations to mrs.
Monroe. Adieu affectionately.
TO HUGH WILLIAMSON j. mss.
Philadelphia Feb. n. 98.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of
your favor of the 2d. inst. I will with great pleasure
sound opinions on the subject you mention & see
whether it can be brought forward with any degree
of strength. I doubt it however & for this reason.
You may recollect that a report which I gave into
Congress in 93. & mr. Madison's propositions of Jan.
94. went directly to establish a navigation act on the
British principle. On the last vote given on this
(which was in Feb. 94.) from the three states of Mas-
sachusetts, Connecticut & Rhode island there were 2.
votes for it & 20. against it; & from the 3. states of
Virginia, Kentuckey, & N. Carolina, wherein not a
single top mast vessel is, I believe owned by a native
citizen, there were 25. votes for & 4. against the
measure. I very much suspect that were the same
proposition now brought forward, the northern vote
would be nearly the same, while the southern one I
am afraid, would be radically varied. The sugges-
tion of their disinterested endeavors for placing our
navigation on an independent footing & forcing on
them the British treaty have not had a tendency to
invite new offers of sacrifice & especially under the
prospect of a new rejection. You observe that the
rejection would change the politics of New England.
368 The Writings of [1798
But it would afford no evidence which they have not
already in the records of Jan. & Feb. 94. However
as I before mentioned I will with pleasure, sound the
dispositions on that subject. If the proposition
should be likely to obtain a reputable vote it may do
good. As to myself I sincerely wish that the whole
Union may accommodate their interests to each
other, & play into their hands mutually as members
of the same family, that the wealth & strength of any
one part should be viewed as the wealth & strength
of the whole. The countervailing act of G. Britain
lately laid before us by the President, offers a just
occasion of looking to our navigation. For the mer-
chants here say that the effect of it will be that they
themselves shall never think of employing an Ameri-
can vessel to carry produce to Gr. Britain after a
peace. Not having as yet any conversation on this
subject I cannot say whether it has excited sensi-
bility either in the north or south. It shall be tried
however. Accept assurances of the sincere esteem
of Dear Sir your friend & servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Feb 15. 98.
I wrote you last on the 8th. We have still not a
word from our Envoys. This long silence (if they
have been silent) proves things are not going on very
roughly. If they have not been silent, it proves
their information, if made public, would check the
disposition to arm. I am nattered myself, from the
1798] Thomas Jefferson 369
progress of the public sentiment against arming, that
the same progress had taken place in the legislature.
But I am assured by those who have better oppor-
tunities of forming a good judgment, that if the ques-
tion against arming is carried at all, it will not be by-
more than a majority of two; & particularly, that
there will not be more than 4. votes against it from
the 5. eastern states, or 5. votes at the utmost. You
will have perceived that Dayton is gone over com-
pleatly. He expects to be appointed Secretary of
war, in the room of M'Henry, who, it is said, will re-
tire. He has been told, as report goes, that they
would not have confidence enough in him to appoint
him. The desire of inspiring them with more, seems
the only way to account for the eclat which he chuses
to give to his conversion. You will have seen the
disgusting proceedings in the case of Lyon: if they
would have accepted even of a commitment to the
Serjeant, it might have been had. But to get rid of
his vote was the most material object. These pro-
ceedings must degrade the General Government, and
lead the people to lean more on their state govern-
ments, which have been sunk under the early popu-
larity of the former. This day, the question of the
jury in cases of impeachment comes on. There is no
doubt how it will go. The general division in the
Senate is 22. and 10.; and under the probable pros-
pect of what it will forever be, I see nothing in the
mode of proceeding by impeachment but the most
formidable weapon for the purposes of a dominant
faction that ever was contrived. It would be the
most effectual one for getting rid of any man whom
VOL. VIII.— 24-
37o The Writings of [1798
they consider as dangerous to their views, and I do
not know that we could count on one-third on an
emergency. It depends then on the H. of Repre-
sentatives, who are the impeachers; & there the
majorities are of 1., 2., or 3 only; & these sometimes
one way & sometimes another : in a question of pure
party they have the majority, and we do not know
what circumstances may turn up to increase that ma-
jority temporarily, if not permanently. I know of no
solid purpose' of punishment which the courts of law
are not equal to, and history shows, that in England,
impeachment has been an engine more of passion
than justice. A great ball is to be given here on the
2 2d, and in other great towns of the Union. This is,
at least, veiy indelicate, & probably excites uneasy
sensations in some. I see in it, however, this useful
deduction, that the birth days which have been kept,
have been, not those of the President, but of the
General. I enclose with the newspapers, the two
acts of parliament passed on the subject of our com-
merce, which are interesting. The merchants here
say, that the effect of the countervailing tonnage on
American vessels, will throw them completely out
of employ as soon as there is peace. The eastern
members say nothing but among themselves. But
it is said that it is working like gravel in their
stomachs. Our only comfort is, that they have
brought it on themselves. My respectful salutation
to mrs. Madison; & to yourself, friendship and adieu.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 371
TO HORATIO GATES j. mss.
Philadelphia, Feb 21, 98.
Dear General, — I received duly your welcome
favor of the 1 5th, and had an opportunity of immedi-
ately delivering the one it enclosed to General Kos-
ciusko. I see him often, and with great pleasure
mixed with commiseration. He is as pure a son of
liberty as I have ever known, and of that liberty
which is to go to all, and not to the few or the rich
alone. We are here under great anxiety to hear
from our Envoys. But I think this is one of the
cases where no news is good news. If the disposi-
tions at Paris threatened war, it is impossible that
our envoys should not find some means of putting us
on our guard, of warning us to begin our prepara-
tions : especially too when so many vessels have come
from ports of France. And if writing were danger-
ous (which cannot be) there are so many of our coun-
trymen at Paris who would bring us their viva voce
communications. Peace then must be probable. I
agree with you, that some of our merchants have been
milking the cow: yet the great mass of them have
become deranged; they are daily falling down by
bankruptcies, and on the whole, the condition of our
commerce far less firm & really prosperous, than it
would have been by the regular operations and steady
advances which a state of peace would have occa-
sioned. Were a war to take place, and throw our
agriculture into equal convulsions with our com-
merce, our business would be done at both ends.
But this I hope will not be. The good news from
the Natchez has cut off the fear of a breach in that
372 The Writings of [1798
quarter, where a crisis was brought on which has
astonished every one. How this mighty duel is to
end between Gr Britain and France, is a momentous
question. The sea which divides them makes it a
game of chance ; but it is narrow, and all the chances
are not on one side. Should they make peace, still
our fate is problematical.
The countervailing acts of Gr Brit, now laid before
Congress, threaten, in the opinion of merchants, the
entire loss of our navigation to England. It makes
a difference, from the present state of things, of 500.
guineas on a vessel of 350 tons. If, as the news-
papers have told us, France has renewed her Arret
of 1789, laying a duty of 7. livres a hundred on all
tobo brought in foreign bottoms (even our own),
and should extend it to rice & other commodities,
we are done, as navigators, to that country also.
In fact, I apprehend that those two great nations
will think it their interest not to permit us to be
navigators. France had thought otherwise, and had
shown an equal desire to encourage our navigation
as her own, while she hoped it's weight would at least
not be thrown into the scale of her enemies. She
sees now that that is not to be relied on, and will
probably use her own means, and those of the nations
under her influence, to exclude us from the ocean.
How far it may lessen our happiness to be rendered
merely agricultural, how far that state is more
friendly to principles of virtue & liberty, are ques-
tions yet to be solved. Kosciusko has been dis-
appointed by the sudden peace between France &
Austria. A ray of hope seemed to gleam on his mind
J798] Thomas Jefferson 373
for a moment, that the extension of the revolutionary
spirit through Italy and Germany, might so have
occupied the remnants of monarchy there, as that
his country might have risen again. I sincerely re-
joice to find that you preserve your health so well.
That you may so go on to the end of the chapter, &
that it may be a long one I sincerely pray. Make my
friendly salutations acceptable to mrs. Gates, &
accept yourself assurances of the great & constant
esteem & respect of, dear Sir, your friend and
servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, February 22, 98.
Yours of the 1 2th is received. I wrote you last on
the 1 5th, but the letter getting misplaced, will only
go by this post. We still hear nothing from our en-
voys. Whether the Executive hear, we know not.
But if war were to be apprehended, it is impossible
our envoys should not find means of putting us on
our guard, or that the Executive should hold back
their information. No news, therefore, is good news.
The countervailing act, which I sent you by the last
post, will, confessedly, put American bottoms out of
employ in our trade with Gr Britain. So say well-
informed merchants. Indeed, it seems probable,
when we consider that hitherto, with the advantage
of our foreign tonnage, our vessels could only share
with the British, and the countervailing duties will,
it is said, make a difference of 500. guineas to our
prejudice on a ship of 350. tons. Still the Eastern
374 The Writings of [1798
men say nothing. Every appearance & considera-
tion render it probable, that on the restoration of
peace, both France & Britain will consider it their
interest to exclude us from the ocean, by such
peaceable means as are in their power. Should this
take place, perhaps it may be thought just & politic
to give to our native capitalists the monopoly of our
internal commerce. This may at once relieve us
from the danger of wars abroad and British thraldom
at home. The news from the Natchez, of the de-
livery of the posts, which you will see in the papers,
is to be relied on. We have escaped a dangerous
crisis there. The great contest between Israel &
Morgan, of which you will see the papers full, is to be
decided this day. It is snowing fast at this time,
and the most sloppy walking I ever saw. This will
be to the disadvantage of the party which has the
most invalids. Whether the event will be known
this evening, I am uncertain. I rather presume not,
& therefore, that you will not learn it till next post.
You will see in the papers, the ground on which the
introduction of the jury into the trial by impeach-
ment was advocated by mr. Tazewell, & the fate
of the question. Reade's motion, which I enclosed
you, will probably be amended & established, so as
to declare a Senator unimpeachable, absolutely ; and
yesterday an opinion was declared, that not only
officers of the State governments, but every private
citizen of the U S, is impeachable. Whether they
will think this the time to make the declaration, I
know not; but if they bring it on, I think there will
be not more than two votes north of the Patowmac
1798] Thomas Jefferson 375
against the universality of the impeaching power.
The system of the Senate may be inferred from
their transactions heretofore, and from the following
declaration made to me personally by their oracle.1
No republic can ever be of any duration, without a
Senate, & a Senate deeply and strongly rooted,
strong enough to bear up against all popular storms
& passions. The only fault in the constitution of
our Senate is, that their term of office is not durable
enough. Hitherto they have done well, but prob-
ably they will be forced to give way in time. I
suppose their having done well hitherto, alluded to
the stand they made on the British treaty. This
declaration may be considered as their text; that
they consider themselves as the bulwarks of the
government, and will be rendering that the more
secure, in proportion as they can assume greater
powers. The foreign intercourse bill is set for
to-day; but the parties are so equal on that in
the H Repr that they seem mutually to fear the
encounter. * * *
TO PEREGRINE FITZHUGH j. mss.
Philadelphia, Feb 23, 1798.
Dear Sir, — I have yet to acknolege your last
favor which I received at Monticello, and therefore
cannot now recur to the date. The perversion of
the expressions of a former letter to you which you
mention to have been made in the newspapers, I
1 On the margin of the press copy Jefferson has noted in pencil "Mr.
Adams."
376 The Writings of [1798
had not till then heard of. Yet the spirit of it was
not new. I have been for some time used as the
property of the newspapers, a fair mark for every
man's dirt. Some, too, have indulged themselves
in this exercise who would not have done it, had they
known me otherwise than thro these impure and
injurious channels. It is hard treatment, and for a
singular kind of offence, that of having obtained by
the labors of a life the indulgent opinions of a part
of one's fellow citizens. However, these moral evils
must be submitted to, like the physical scourges
of tempest, fire, Sec. We are waiting with great
anxiety to hear from our envoys at Paris. But the
very circumstance of silence speaks, I think, plain
enough. If there were danger of war we should
certainly hear from them. It is impossible, if that
were the aspect of their negociations, that they
should not find or make occasion of putting us on
our guard, & of warning us to prepare. I consider
therefore their silence as a proof of peace. Indeed
I had before imagined that when France had thrown
down the gauntlet to England, and was pointing all
her energies to that object, her regard for the sub-
sistence of her islands would keep her from cutting
off our resources from them. I hope, therefore, we
shall rub through the war, without engaging in it our-
selves, and that when in a state of peace our legisla-
ture & executive will endeavor to provide peaceable
means of obliging foreign nations to be just to us,
and of making their injustice recoil on themselves.
The advantages of our commerce to them may be
made the engine for this purpose, provided we shall
1798] Thomas Jefferson 377
be willing to submit to occasional sacrifices, which
will be nothing in comparison with the calamities of
war. Congress has nothing of any importance before
them, except the bill on foreign intercourse, & the
proposition to arm our merchant vessels. These
will be soon decided, and if we then get peaceable
news from our envoys, I know of nothing which
ought to prevent our immediate separation. It had
been expected that we must have laid a land tax this
session. However, it is thought we can get along
another year without it. Some very disagreeable
differences have taken place in Congress. They
cannot fail to lessen the respect of the public for the
general government, and to replace their State
governments in a greater degree of comparative
respectability. I do not think it for the interest of
the general government itself, & still less of the
Union at large, that the State governments should
be so little respected as they have been. However,
I dare say that in time all these as well as their cen-
tral government, like the planets revolving round
their common sun, acting & acted upon according
to their respective weights & distances, will produce
that beautiful equilibrium on which our Constitution
is founded, and which I believe it will exhibit to the
world in a degree of perfection, unexampled but in
the planetary system itself. The enlightened states-
man, therefore, will endeavor to preserve the weight
and influence of every part, as too much given to
any member of it would destroy the general equilib-
rium. The ensuing month will probably be the most
eventful ever yet seen in Modern Europe. It may
378 The Writings of [1798
probably be the season preferred for the projected
invasion of England. It is indeed a game of chances.
The sea which divides the combatants gives to for-
tune as well as to valor it's share of influence on the
enterprise. But all the chances are not on one side.
The subjugation of England would indeed be a
general calamity. But happily it is impossible.
Should it end in her being only republicanized, I
know not on what principle a true republican of our
country could lament it, whether he considers it
as extending the blessings of a purer government
to other portions of mankind, or strengthening the
cause of liberty in our own country by the influence
of that example. I do not indeed wish to see any
nation have a form of government forced on them;
but if it is to be done, I should rejoice at it's being a
freer one. Permit me to place here the tribute of
my regrets for the affecting loss lately sustained
within your walls, and to add that of the esteem &
respect with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and
servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
P, March *, 98.
I wrote you last on the 22; since which I have
received yours without date, but probably of about
the 1 8th or 19th. An arrival to the Eastward brings
us some news, which you see detailed in the papers.
The new partition of Europe is sketched, but how far
authentic we know not. It has some probability in
it's favor. The French appear busy in their prepara-
J798] Thomas Jefferson 379
tions for the invasion of England; nor is there any
appearance of movements on the part of Russia &
Prussia which might divert them from it.
The late birth-night has certainly sown tares
among the exclusive federals, It has winnowed
the grain from the chaff. The sincerely Adamites
did not go. The Washingtonians went religiously,
& took the secession of the others in high dudgeon.
The one sect threaten to desert the levees, the other
the evening parties. The whigs went in number,
to encourage the idea that the birth-nights hitherto
kept had been for the General & not the President,
and of course that time would bring an end to them.
Goodhue, Tracy, Sedgwick, &c, did not attend; but
the three Secretaries & Attorney General did.
We were surprised, the last week, with a symptom
of a disposition to repeal the stamp act. Petitions
for that purpose had come from Rhode island &
Virginia, & had been committed to rest with the
Ways & Means. Mr. Harper, their chairman, in
order to enter on the law for amending it, observed
it would be necessary first to put the petitions for
repeal out of the way, and moved an immediate de-
cision on them. The Rhode islanders begged &
prayed for a postponement ; that not expecting that
that question was to be called up, they were not at
all prepared; but Harper would shew no mercy;
not a moment's delay should be allowed. It was
taken up, and, on a question without debate, de-
termined in favor of the petitions by a majority of
10. Astonished & confounded, when an order to
bring in a bill for repeal was moved, they began in
380 The Writings of [1798
turn to beg for time; 3. weeks, one week, 3. days, 1.
day; not a moment would be yielded. They made
three attempts for adjournment. But the major-
ities appeared to grow. It was decided, by a ma-
jority of 16., that the bill should be brought in. It
was brought in the next day, & on the day after
passed, sent up to the Senate, who instantly sent it
back rejected by a silent vote of 15. to 12. RI&
N Hampshire voted for the repeal in Senate. The
act will therefore go into operation July 1, but
probably without amendments. However, I am
persuaded it will be short-lived. It has already ex-
cited great commotion in Vermont, and grumblings
in Connecticut. But they are so priest-ridden, that
nothing is expected from them, but the most bigoted
passive obedience.
No news yet from our commissioners; but their
silence is admitted to augur peace. There is no talk
yet of the time of adjourning, tho' admitted we have
nothing to do, but what could be done in a fortnight
or three weeks. When the spring opens, and we
hear from our commissioners, we shall probably draw
pretty rapidly to conclusion. A friend of mine here
wishes to get a copy of Mazzei's Recherches his-
toriques et politiques. Where are they? Salutations
& adieu.
Wheat 1.50. flour 8.50 tobo 13.50.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Philadelphia Mar. 8. 98.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of
yours of Feb. 12. 19. & 25. At length the charm is
1798] Thomas Jefferson 381
broke, and letters have been received from our envoys
at Paris. One only of them has been communicated,
of which I enclose you a copy with the documents
accompanying it. The decree therein proposed to be
passed has struck the greatest alarm through the
merchants I have ever yet witnessed. As it has not
been known more than two or three days, it's par-
ticular operations are not yet developed. It will
probably drive our vessels out of the British trade,
because as they will not have the benefit of convoy
they cannot bring a return cargo from Great Britain,
but on much higher insurance than the British vessels
who will have convoy: nor can they carry out pro-
duce but on much higher freight because they will be
to return empty, in which case the British will under-
work them. It seems then as if one effect would be
to increase the British navigation. Unless indeed
our vessels instead of laying themselves up in port,
should go to other markets with their produce & for
return cargoes. However it is not probable this
state of things will last long enough to have any
great effect. The month of April I think will see the
experiment of the invasion, and that will be a short
one. You will see in Bache's paper of this morning
the 5th. number of some pieces written by T. Coxe,
in which this proposed decree is well viewed. How
it will operate on our question about arming, we do
not yet know. Some talk of letters of marque &
reprisal, yet on the whole I rather believe it will
not add to the number of voters for arming. This
measure with the decrees of the British courts that
British subjects adopted here since the peace and
382 The Writings of [1798
carrying on commerce from hence, are still British
subjects, & their cargoes British property, has
shaken these quasi-citizens in their condition. The
French adopt the same principle as to their cargoes
when captured. A privateer lately took near our
coast an E. Indiaman worth 250.000 D. belonging
to one of these lately emigrated houses. Is it worth
our while to go to war to support the contrary doc-
trine? The British principle is clearly against the
law of nations, but which way our interest lies is
also worthy consideration. The influence of this
description of merchants on our government & on
the public opinion is not merely innocent, it's
absence would not weaken our union — the issue
of the question on foreign intercourse has enabled
us to count the strength of the two parties in the
H. of representatives. It is 51. & 55 if all the
members were present. The whigs being a minority
of 4. but in this computation all wavering characters
are given to the other side. Jersey has laid itself
off into districts, which instead of an uniform dele-
gation, will give one chequered as the state is. They
will at their next election send whigs from two
districts. Pennsylvania, at her next election (in
October) will add two more to the whig list. Let
us hope that Morgan & Macher will give place to
whig successors. I do not know that this can be
hoped for from our Eastern shore. This much
I think tolerably certain, besides the natural pro-
gress of public sentiment in other quarters, & the
effect of the events of the time. We do not think
then that the partizans of Republican government
1798] Thomas Jefferson 383
should despair. — They do not yet talk of the time
of adjournment though confessedly they have no-
thing to do. Yet I trust it will be early in the
ensueing month. — How far it may be eligible for
you to engage in the practice of the law I know not.
On the question of your removal to Richmond, I may
doubtless be under bias, when I suppose it's expe-
diency questionable. The expence to be incurred in
the first moments will certainly be great. Could it
be only deferred for a while it would enable you to
judge whether the prospect opened will be worth
that dislocation of your affairs, or whether some
other career may not open on you. Of these things
nobody but yourself can judge. It is a question too
for yourself whether a seat among the judges of the
state would be an object for you. On all these
points your friends can only offer motives for con-
sideration: on which none but yourself can decide
avec connoissance de cause. I really believe that
some employment, more than your farms will fur-
nish, will be necessary to your happiness. You are
young, your mind active, and your health vigorous.
The languor of ennui would, in such a condition of
things, be intolerable. Make my most respectful
salutations to mrs. Monroe, & accept friendly adieux
to yourself.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Mar 15, 98.
I wrote you last on the 2d instt. Your's of the 4th
is now at hand. The public papers will give you the
384 The Writings of [1798
news of Europe. The French decree making the
vessel friendly or enemy, according to the hands by
which the cargo was manufactured, has produced a
great sensation among the merchants here. Its
operation is not yet perhaps well understood; but
probably it will put our shipping out of competition,
because British bottoms, which can come under con-
voy, will alone be trusted with return cargoes.
Our's, losing this benefit, would need a higher freight
out, in which, therefore, they will be underbid by the
British. They must then retire from the competi-
tion. Some no doubt will try other channels of
commerce, and return cargoes from other countries.
This effect would be salutary. A very well-informed
merchant, too, (a Scotsman, entirely in the English
trade,) told me, he thought it would have another
good effect, by checking & withdrawing our over-
extensive commerce & navign (the fruit of our
neutral position) within those bounds to which peace
must necessarily bring them. That this being done
by degrees, will probably prevent those numerous
failures produced generally by a peace coming on
suddenly. Notwithstanding this decree, the senti-
ments of the merchants become more & more cooled
& settled down against arming. Yet it is believed
the Representatives do not cool; and tho' we think
the question against arming will be carried, yet
probably by a majority of only 4. or 5. Their plan
is, to have convoys furnished for our vessels going
to Europe, & smaller vessels for the coasting defence.
On this condition, they will agree to fortify Southern
harbors, and build some galleys. It has been con-
^s] Thomas Jefferson 385
eluded among them, that if war takes place, Wolcott
is to be retained in office, that the Pt must give up
M'Henry, & as to Pickering they are divided, the
Eastern men being determined to retain him, their
middle & Southern brethren wishing to get rid of
him. They have talked of Genl. Pinckney as suc-
cessor to M'Henry. This information is certain.
However, I hope that we shall avoid war, & save
them the trouble of a change of ministry. The P
has nominated J Q Adams Commissioner Plenipoty
to renew the treaty with Sweden. Tazewell made
a great stand against it, on the general ground that
we should let our treaties drop, & remain without
any. He could only get 8. votes against 20. A
trial will be made to-day in another form, which he
thinks will give 10. or 11. against 16. or 17. declaring
the renewal inexpedient. In this case, notwith-
standing the nomination has been confirmed, it is
supposed the P would perhaps not act under it, on
the probability that more than a third would be
against the ratification. I believe, however, that
he would act, & that a third could not be got to op-
pose the ratification. It is acknoleged we have
nothing to do but to decide the question about arm-
ing. Yet not a word is said about adjourning ; and
some even talk of continuing the session perman-
ently; others talk of July & August. An effort,
however, will soon be made for an early adjournment.
My friendly salutations to mrs. Madison ; to your-
self affectionate adieux.
VOL. VIII.— 25
386 The Writings of [1798
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Mar 21, 98.
I wrote you last on the 15th; since that, yours of
the 12th is received. Since that, too, a great change
has taken place in the appearance of our political at-
mosphere. The merchants, as before, continue, a
respectable part of them, to wish to avoid arming.
The French decree operated on them as a sedative,
producing more alarm than resentment; on the
Representatives, differently. It excited indignation
highly in the war party, tho' I do not know that it
had added any new friends to that side of the ques-
tion. We still hoped a majority of about 4.; but
the insane message which you will see in the public
papers has had great effect. Exultation on the one
side, & a certainty of victory; while the other is
petrified with astonishment. Our Evans, tho' his
soul is wrapt up in the sentiments of this message,
yet afraid to give a vote openly for it, is going off
to-morrow, as is said. Those who count, say there
are still 2. members of the other side who will come
over to that of peace. If so, the numbers will be for
war measures, 52., against them 53.; if all are
present except Evans. The question is, what is
to be attempted, supposing we have a majority?
I suggest two things: 1. As the President declares
he has withdrawn the Executive prohibition to arm,
that Congress should pass a Legislative one. If that
should fail in the Senate, it would heap coals of fire
on their head. 2. As to do nothing & to gain time
is everything with us, I propose that they shall come
to a resolution of adjournment, "in order to go home
i798] Thomas Jefferson 387
& consult their constituents on the great crisis of
American affairs now existing." Besides gaining
time enough by this, to allow the descent on England
to have it's effect here as well as there, it will be a
means of exciting the whole body of the people from
the state of inattention in which they are; it will
require every member to call for the sense of his
district by petition or instruction; it will shew the
people with which side of the House their safety as
well as their rights rest, by shewing them which is
for war & which for peace ; & their representatives
will return here invigorated by the avowed support
of the American people. I do not know, however,
whether this will be approved, as there has been little
consultation on the subject. We see a new instance
of the inefficiency of Constitutional guards. We
had relied with great security on that provision,
which requires two-thirds of the Legislature to de-
clare war. But this is completely eluded by a
majority's taking such measures as will be sure to
produce war. I wrote you in my last, that an at-
tempt was to be made on that day in Senate, to de-
clare an inexpediency to renew our treaties. But
the measure is put off under a hope of it's being at-
tempted under better auspices. To return to the
subject of war, it is quite impossible, when we con-
sider all it's existing circumstances, to find any
reason in it's favor resulting from views either of
interest or honor, & plausible enough to impose even
on the weakest mind ; and especially, when it would
be undertaken by a majority of one or two only.
Whatever then be our stock of charity or liberality,
388 The Writings of [1798
we must resort to other views. And those so well
known to have been entertained at Annapolis, &
afterwards at the grand convention, by a particular
set of men, present themselves as those alone which
can account for so extraordinary a degree of im-
petuosity. Perhaps, instead of what was then in
contemplation, a separation of the union, which has
been so much the topic to the Eastward of late, may
be the thing aimed at. I have written so far, two
days before the departure of the post. Should any-
thing more occur to-day or to-morrow, it shall be
added.
22* At night. Nothing more.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Philadelphia Mar. ai. 98.
The public papers will present to you the almost
insane message sent to both houses of Congress 2. or
3. days ago. This has added to the alarm of the
sounder and most respectable part of our merchants.
I mean those who are natives, are solid in their cir-
cumstances & do not need the lottery of war to get
themselves to rights. The effect of the French de-
cree on the representatives had been to render the
war party inveterate & more firm in their purpose
without adding to their numbers. In that state of
things we had hoped to avert war measures by a
majority of 4. At this time, those who court talk of
it's being reduced to a majority of 1. or 2. if a
Majority be with us at all. This is produced by the
1798] Thomas Jefferson 389
weight of the Executive opinion. The first thing
proposed by the whigs will be a call for papers. For
if Congress are to act on the question of war, they
have a right to information. The 2d. to pass a
Legislative prohibition to arm vessels instead of the
Executive one which the President informs them he
has withdrawn. These questions will try the whig
strength, on the ground of war. The 3d. to adjourn
to consult our constituents on the great crisis of
American affairs now existing. This measure ap-
pears to me under a very favorable aspect. It gives
time for the French operations on England to have
their effect here as well as there. It awakens the
people from the slumber over public proceedings in
which they are involved. It obliges every member
to consult his district on the simple question of war
or peace: it shews the people on which side of the
house are the friends of their peace as well as their
rights, & brings back those friends to the next session
supported by the whole American people. I do not
know however whether this last measure will be pro-
posed. The late maneuvres have added another
proof to the inefficiency of constitutional barriers.
We had reposed great confidence in that provision
of the Constitution which requires f of the Legisla-
ture to declare war. Yet it can be entirely eluded
by a majority's taking such measures as will bring
on war. — My last to you was of the 8th inst. The
last reed from you was of Feb. 25.
39Q The Writings of [1798
TO DR. SAMUEL BROWN j. mss.
Philadelphia Mar. 25. 98.
Dear Sir, — You were a witness, before you left
our side of the continent, to the endeavours of the
tory part among us, to write me down as far as they
could find or make materials. " O ! that mine enemy
would write a book! " has been a well known prayer
against an enemy. I had written a book, & it has
furnished matter for abuse for want of something
better. Mr. Martin's polite attack on the subject of
Cresap & Logan, as stated in the Notes on Virginia,
had begun before you left us, it has continued & still
continues ; though after the perusal of the first letter
had shown me what was to be the style of those sub-
sequent, I have avoided reading a single one. A
friend of mine having wished for a general explana-
tion of the foundation of the case of Logan, I wrote
him a letter of which I had a few copies printed, to
give to particular friends for their satisfaction, & on
whom I could rely against the danger of its being
published. I enclose you a copy as well for these
purposes, as that I think it may be in your power to
obtain some information for me. Indeed I suppose
it probable that General Clarke may know something
of the facts relative to Logan or Cresap. I shall be
much obliged to you for any information you can pro-
cure on this subject. You will see by the enclosed in
what way I mean to make use of it. I am told you
are preparing to give us an account of the General,
which for its matter I know, & for its manner I doubt
not, will be highly interesting. I am in hopes in con-
necting with it some account of Kentuckey that your
1798] Thomas Jefferson 391
information & his together will be able to correct &
supply what I had collected relative to it in a very
early day. Indeed it was to Genl. Clarke I was in-
debted for what degree of accuracy there was in most
of my statements. I wish you to attend particularly
to the overflowage of the Mississippi, on which I have
been accused of error. Present me affectionately to
the General, & assure him of my constant remem-
brance & esteem: & accept yourself salutations &
sentiments of sincere attachment from, Dear Sir,
your friend & servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Mar 29, 98.
I wrote you last on the 21st. Your's of the 12th,
therein acknoleged, is the last reed. The measure I
suggested in mine, of adjourning for consultation
with their constituents, was not brought forward;
but on Tuesday 3. resolutions were moved, which you
will see in the public papers. They were offered in
committee, to prevent their being suppressed by the
previous question, & in the commee on the state
of the Union, to put it out of their power, by the
rising of the commee & not sitting again, to get rid
of them. They were taken by surprise, not expect-
ing to be called to vote on such a proposition as
"that it is inexpedient to resort to war against the
French republic." After spending the first day in
seeking on every side some hole to get out at, like
an animal first put into a cage, they gave up that
resource. Yesterday they came forward boldly, and
392 The Writings of [1798
openly combated the proposition. Mr. Harper &
Mr. Pinckney pronounced bitter philippics against
France, selecting such circumstances & aggravations
as to give the worst picture they could present. The
latter, on this, as in the affair of Lyon & Griswold,
went far beyond that moderation he has on other
occasions recommended. We know not how it will
go. Some think the resolution will be lost, some,
that it will be carried ; but neither way, by a majority
of more than 1 . or 2. The decision of the Executive,
of two-thirds of the Senate, & half the house of
representatives, is too much for the other half of that
house. We therefore fear it will be borne down, and
are under the most gloomy apprehensions. In fact,
the question of war & peace depends now on a toss
of cross & pile. If we could but gain this season,
we should be saved. The affairs of Europe would
of themselves relieve us. Besides this, there can be
no doubt that a revolution of opinion in Massachu-
setts & Connecticut is working. Two whig presses
have been set up in each of those States. There has
been for some days a rumor, that a treaty of alliance,
offensive & defensive with G Britain, is arrived.
Some circumstances have occasioned it to be listened
to ; to wit, the arrival of mr. King's Secretary, which
is affirmed, the departure of mr. Liston's secretary,
which I know is to take place on Wednesday next,
the high tone of the executive measures at the last
& present session, calculated to raise things to the
unison of such a compact, and supported so desper-
ately in both houses in opposition to the pacific
wishes of the people, & at the risque of their appro-
i798] Thomas Jefferson 393
bation at the ensuing election. Langdon yesterday,
in debate, mentioned this current report. Tracy,
in reply, declared he knew of no such thing, did not
believe it, nor would be it's advocate. The Senate
are proceeding on the plan communicated in mine
of Mar. 15. They are now passing a bill to purchase
12. vessels of from 14. to 22. guns, which with our
frigates are to be employed as convoys & guarda
costas. They are estimated, when manned & fitted
for sea, at 2. millions. They have past a bill for
buying one or more founderies. They are about
bringing in a bill for regulating private arming, and
the defensive works in our harbors have been pro-
ceeded on some time since.
An attempt has been made to get the Quakers to
come forward with a petition, to aid with the weight
of their body the feeble band of peace. They have,
with some effort, got a petition signed by a few of
their society ; the main body of their society refuse it.
Mc'Lay's peace motion in the assembly of Pennsyl-
vania was rejected with an unanimity of the Quaker
vote, and it seems to be well understood, that their
attachment to England is stronger than to their
principles or their country. The revolution war was
a first proof of this. Mr. White, from the federal
city, is here, soliciting money for the buildings at
Washington. A bill for 200.000 D has passed the
H R, & is before the Senate, where it's fate is en-
tirely uncertain. He is become perfectly satisfied
that mr. A is radically against the government's
being there. Goodhue (his oracle) openly said in
commee, in presence of White, that he knew the
394 The Writings of [1798
government was obliged to go there, but they would
not be obliged to stay there. Mr. A said to White,
that it would be better that the President should
rent a common house there, to live in; that no
President would live in the one now building. This
harmonizes with Goodhue's idea of a short residence.
I write this in the morning, but need not part with
it till night. If anything occurs in the day it shall
be added.
P. M. Nothing material has occurred. Adieu.
TO EDMUND PENDLETON j. mss.
Philadelphia, Apr 2, 98.
Dear Sir, — I have to acknolege the receipt of your
favor of Jany 29. and as the rising of Congress seems
now to be contemplated for about the last of this
month, and it is necessary that I settle mr. Short's
matter with the Treasury before my departure, I take
the liberty of saying a word on that subject. The
sum you are to pay is to go to the credit of a demand
which mr. Short has on the treasury of the U S and
for which they consider mr. Randolph as liable to
them, so that the sum he pays to Short directly
lessens so much the balance to be otherwise settled.
Mr. Short, by a letter received a few days ago, has
directed an immediate employment of the whole
sum in a particular way. I wish your sum settled,
therefore, that I may call on the Treasury for the
exact balance. I should have thought your best
market for stock would have been here, and I am
1798] Thomas Jefferson 395
convinced, the quicker sold the better; for, should
the war measures recommended by the Executive,
& taken up by the legislature, be carried through,
the fall of stock will be very sudden, war being then
more than probable. Mr. Short holds some stock
here, and, should the first of Mr. Sprigg's resolutions,
now under debate in the lower house be rejected, I
shall, within 24. hours from the rejection, sell out the
whole of mr. Short's stock. How that resolution will
be disposed of (to wit, that against the expediency of
war with the French republic), is very doubtful.
Those who count votes vary the issue from a majority
of 4. against the resolution to 2. or 3. majority in it's
favor. So that the scales of peace & war are very
nearly in equilibrio. Should the debate hold many
days, we shall derive aid from the delay. Letters re-
ceived from France by a vessel just arrived, concur in
assuring us, that, as all the French measures bear
equally on the Swedes & Danes as on us, so they
have no more purpose of declaring war against us
than against them. Besides this, a wonderful stir
is commencing in the Eastern states. The dirty
business of Lyon & Griswold was of a nature to fly
through the newspapers, both whig & tory, & to ex-
cite the attention of all classes. It, of course, carried
to their attention, at the same time, the debates out
of which that affair sprung. The subject of these
debates was, whether the representatives of the
people were to have no check on the expenditure of
the public money, & the executive to squander it
at their will, leaving to the Legislature only the
drudgery of furnishing the money. They begin to
396 The Writings of [1798
open their eyes on this to the Eastward & to suspect
they have been hoodwinked. Two or three whig
presses have set up in Massachusetts, & as many
more in Connecticut. The late war message of the
president has added new alarm. Town meetings
have begun in Massachusetts, and are sending on
their petitions & remonstrances by great majorities,
against war-measures, and these meetings are likely
to spread. The present debate, as it gets abroad,
will further show them, that it is their members who
are for war measures. It happens, fortunately, that
these gentlemen are obliged to bring themselves
forward exactly in time for the Eastern elections to
Congress, which come on in the course of the en-
suing summer. We have, therefore, great reason
to expect some favorable changes in the repre-
sentatives from that quarter. The same is counted
on with confidence from Jersey, Pennsylvania, &
Maryland; perhaps one or two also in Virginia; so
that, after the next election, the whigs think them-
selves certain of a very strong majority in the H of
Representatives ; and tho' against the other branches
they can do nothing good, yet they can hinder them
from doing ill. The only source of anxiety, there-
fore, is to avoid war for the present moment. If we
can defeat the measures leading to that during this
session, so as to gain this summer, time will be given,
as well for the public mind to make itself felt, as for
the operations of France to have their effect in Eng-
land as well as here. If, on the contrary war is
forced on, the tory interest continues dominant, and
to them alone must be left, as they alone desire to
1798] Thomas Jefferson 397
ride on the whirlwind, & direct the storm. The
present period, therefore, of two or three weeks, is
the most eventful ever known since that of 1 775. and
will decide whether the principles established by that
contest are to prevail, or give way to those they sub-
verted. Accept the friendly salutations & prayers
for your health & happiness, of, dear Sir, your sincere
and affectionate friend.
P. S. Compliments to Mr. Taylor. I shall write
to him in a few days.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. uss.
Philadelphia, April 5, 98.
I wrote you last on the 29th ult; since which I
have no letter from you. These acknolegments
regularly made and attended to, will shew whether
any of my letters are intercepted, and the impression
of my seal on wax (which shall be constant here-
after) will discover whether they are opened by the
way. The nature of some of my communications
furnishes ground of inquietude for their safe con-
veyance. The bill for the federal buildings labors
hard in Senate, tho', to lessen opposition, the Mary-
land Senator himself proposed to reduce the 200.000
D to one-third of that sum. Sedgwick & Hillhouse
violently opposed it. I conjecture that the votes
will be either 13. for & 15. against it, or 14. & 14.
Every member declares he means to go there, but
tho' charged with an intention to come away again,
not one of them disavowed it. This will engender
incurable distrust. The debate on mr. Sprigg's
398 The Writings of [1798
resolutions has been interrupted by a motion to call
for papers. This was carried by a great majority.
In this case, there appeared a separate squad, to wit,
the Pinckney interest, which is a distinct thing, and
will be seen sometimes to lurch the President. It
is in truth the Hamilton party, whereof P is only
made the stalking horse. The papers have been
sent in & read, & it is now under debate in both
houses, whether they shall be published. I write
in the morning, & if determined in the course of the
day in favor of publication, I will add in the evening
a general idea of their character. Private letters
from France, by a late vessel which sailed from
Havre, Feb 5, assure us that France, classing us in
her measures with the Swedes & Danes, has no more
notion of declaring war against us than them. You
will see a letter in Bache's paper of yesterday, which
came addressed to me. Still the fate of Sprigg's
resolutions seems in perfect equilibrio. You will
see in Fenno two numbers of a paper signed Marcel-
lus. They promise much mischief, and are ascribed,
without any difference of opinion, to Hamilton.
You must, my dear Sir, take up your pen against this
champion. You know the ingenuity of his talents;
& there is not a person but yourself who can foil
him. For heaven's sake, then take up your pen,
and do not desert the public cause altogether.
Thursday evening. The Senate have, to-day,
voted the publication of the communications from
our envoys. The House of Repr. decided against
the publication by a majority of 75 to 24. The
Senate adjourned, over to-morrow (good Friday),
J798] Thomas Jefferson 399
to Saturday morning; but as the papers cannot be
printed within that time, perhaps the vote of the
H of R may induce the Senate to reconsider theirs.
For this reason, I think it my duty to be silent on
them. Adieu.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
Philadelphia, Apr. 5, 98.
I wrote you last on the 21st. of Mar. Since which
yours of the 26th. of March is received. Yesterday
I had a consultation with mr. Dawson on the matter
respecting Skipwith. We have neither of us the
least hesitation, on a view of the ground, to pro-
nounce against your coming forward in it at all.
Your name would be the watchword of party at this
moment, and the question would give opportunities
of slander, personal hatred, and injustice, the effect of
which on the justice of the case cannot be calculated.
Let it therefore come forward in Skipwith 's name,
without your appearing even to know of it. But is
it not a case which the auditor can decide? If it is,
that tribunal must be first resorted to. I do not
think Scipio worth your notice. He has not been
noticed here but by those who were already deter-
mined. Your narrative and letters wherever they are
read produce irresistable conviction, and cannot be
attacked but by a contradiction of facts, on which
they do not venture. Finding you unassailable in
that quarter, I have reason to believe they are pre-
paring a batch of small stuff, such as refusing to
drink Genl. Washington's health, speaking ill of him,
400 The Writings of [1798
& the government, withdrawing civilities from those
attached to him, countenancing Paine to which they
add connivance at the equipment of privateers by-
Americans. I am told some sort of an attack is pre-
paring, founded on the depositions of 2. or 3. Ameri-
cans. We are therefore of opinion here that Dr.
Edward's certificate (which he will give very fully)
should not be published, but reserved to repel these
slanders, adding to it such others as the nature of
them may call for. Mr. Dawson thinks he can easily
settle the disagreeable business with M. The diffi-
culty & delicacy will be with G. He is to open the
matter to them to day and will write to you this
evening. It is really a most afflicting consideration
that it is impossible for a man to act in any office
for the public without encountering a persecution
which even his retirement will not withdraw him
from. At this moment my name is running through
all the city as detected in a criminal correspondence
with the French directory, & fixed upon me by the
documents from our envoys now before the two
houses. The detection of this by the publication of
the papers, should they be published, will not relieve
all the effects of the lie, and should they not be pub-
lished, they may keep it up as long and as success-
fully as they did and do that of my being involved in
Blount's conspiracy. The question for the publica-
tion of the communications from our envoys is now
under consideration in both houses. But if pub-
lished, you cannot get them till another post. The
event of mr. Sprigg's resolutions is extremely doubt-
ful. The first one now under consideration (to wit
1798] Thomas Jefferson 401
that it is not expedient to resort to war) will perhaps
be carried or rejected by a majority of 1. or 2. only.
Consequently it is impossible previously to say how
it will be. All war-measures, debtors of our country
will follow the fortunes of that resolution. Measures
for internal defence will be agreed to. Letters
from France by a vessel which left Havre Feb. 5.
express the greatest certainty that the French
government, classing us in all her measures with
Denmark & Sweden, has no more idea of declaring
war against us than against them. Consequently
it rests with ourselves. Present my best respects to
mrs. Monroe & accept yourself friendly salutations
& adieux.
P. S. I will hereafter seal my letters with wax, &
the same seal. Pay attention if you please to the
state of the impression.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Apr. 6, 98.
So much of the communications from our envoys
has got abroad, & so partially, that there can now be
no ground for reconsideration with the Senate. I
may therefore, consistently with duty, do what every
member of the body is doing. Still, I would rather
you would use the communication with reserve till
you see the whole papers. The first impressions from
them are very disagreeable & confused. Reflection,
however, & analysis resolves them into this. Mr. A's
speech to Congress in May is deemed such a national
VOL. VIII. — 26.
402 The Writings of [1798
affront, that no explanation on other topics can be
entered on till that, as a preliminary, is wiped away
by humiliating disavowals or acknolegments. This
working hard with our envoys, & indeed seeming
impracticable for want of that sort of authority,
submission to a heavy amercement (upwards of a
million sterl.) was, at an after meeting, suggested as
an alternative, which might be admitted if proposed
by us. These overtures had been through informal
agents; and both the alternatives bringing the en-
voys to their ne plus, they resolve to have no more
communication through inofficial characters, but to
address a letter directly to the government, to bring
forward their pretensions. This letter had not yet,
however, been prepared. There were, interwoven
with these overtures some base propositions on the
part of Taleyrand, through one of his agents, to sell
his interest & influence with the Directory towards
smoothing difficulties with them, in consideration
of a large sum (50.000 £ sterl) ; and the arguments
to which his agent resorted to induce compliance
with this demand, were very unworthy of a great
nation, (could they be imputed to them,) and calcu-
lated to excite disgust & indignation in Americans
generally, and alienation in the republicans par-
ticularly, whom they so far mistake, as to presume
an attachment to France and hatred to the Federal
party, & not the love of their country, to be their
first passion. No difficulty was expressed towards
an adjustment of all differences & misunderstand-
ings, or even ultimately a paiment for spoliations,
if the insult from our Executive should be first wiped
1798] Thomas Jefferson 403
away. Observe, that I state all this from only a
single hearing of the papers, & therefore it may not
be rigorously correct. The little slanderous imputa-
tion before mentioned, has been the bait which
hurried the opposite party into this publication.
The first impressions with the people will be disa-
greeable, but the last & permanent one will be, that
the speech in May is now the only obstacle to ac-
commodation, and the real cause of war, if war takes
place. And how much will be added to this by the
speech of November, is yet to be learnt. It is evi-
dent, however, on reflection, that these papers do
not offer one motive the more for our going to war.
Yet such is their effect on the minds of wavering
characters, that I fear, that to wipe off the imputa-
tion of being French partisans, they will go over to
the war measures so furiously pushed by the other
party. It seems, indeed, as if they were afraid they
should not be able to get into war till Great Britain
will be blown up, and the prudence of our country-
men from that circumstance, have influence enough
to prevent it. The most artful misrepresentations
of the contents of these papers were published yes-
terday, & produced such a shock on the republican
mind, as has never been seen since our independence.
We are to dread the effects of this dismay till their
fuller information. Adieu.
P. M. Evening papers have come out since writ-
ing the above. I therefore inclose them. Be so
good as to return Brown's by post, as I keep his set
here. The representatives are still unfaithful.
404 The Writings of [1798
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, Apr. 12, 98.
I wrote you two letters on the 5th inst; since
which I have reed yours of the 2d. I send you, in a
separate package, the instructions to our envoys &
their communications. You will find that my repre-
sentation of their contents from memory, was sub-
stantially just. The public mind appears still in a
state of astonishment. There never was a moment
in which the aid of an able pen was so important
to place things in their just attitude. On this de-
pend the inchoate movement in the Eastern mind,
and the fate of the elections in that quarter, now be-
ginning & to continue through the summer. I would
not propose to you such a task on any ordinary
occasion. But be assured that a well-digested analy-
sis of these papers would now decide the future turn
of things, which are at this moment on the creen.
The merchants here are meeting under the auspices
of Fitzsimmons, to address the President & approve
his propositions. Nothing will be spared on that
side. Sprigg's first resolution against the expediency
of war, proper at the time it was moved, is now post-
poned as improper, because to declare that, after we
have understood it has been proposed to us to buy
peace, would imply an acquiescence under that pro-
position. All, therefore, which the advocates of peace
can now attempt, is to prevent war measures exter-
nally, consenting to every rational measure of internal
defence & preparation. Great expences will be in-
curred; & it will be left to those whose measures
render them necessary, to provide to meet them.
J798] Thomas Jefferson 405
They already talk of stopping all paiments of inter-
est, & of a land tax. These will probably not be
opposed. The only question will be, how to modify
the land tax. On this there may be great diversity
of sentiment. One party will want to make it a new
source of patronage & expence. If this business is
taken up, it will lengthen our session. We had
pretty generally, till now, fixed on the beginning of
May for adjournment. I shall return by my usual
routes, & not by the Eastern shore, on account of
the advance of the season. Friendly salutations to
mrs. Madison & yourself. Adieu.
TO PETER CARR j. mss.
Philadelphia, Apr. 12, 98.
As the instructions to our envoys & their com-
munications have excited a great deal of curiosity,
I enclose you a copy. You will perceive that they
have been assailed by swindlers, whether with or
without the participation of Taleyrand is not very
apparent. The known corruption of his character
renders it very possible he may have intended to
share largely in the 50,000^ demanded. But that
the Directory knew anything of it is neither proved
nor probable. On the contrary, when the Portu-
guese ambassador yielded to like attempts of
swindlers, the conduct of the Directory in imprison-
ing him for an attempt at corruption, as well as their
general conduct really magnanimous, places them
above suspicion. It is pretty evident that mr. A.'s
406 The Writings of [1798
speech is in truth the only obstacle to negociation.
That humiliating disavowals of that are demanded
as a preliminary, or as a commutation for that a
heavy sum of money, about a million sterling. This
obstacle removed, they seem not to object to an
arrangement of all differences, and even to settle
& acknolege themselves debtors for spoliations.
Nor does it seem that negociation is at an end, as
the P's message says, but that it is in it's commence-
ment only. The instructions comply with the wishes
expressed in debate in the May session to place
France on as good footing as England, & not to make
a sine qua non of the indemnification for spoliation;
but they declare the war in which France is engaged
is not a defensive one, they reject the naturalization
of French ships, that is to say the exchange of
naturalization which France had formerly proposed
to us, & which would lay open to us the unrestrained
trade of her West Indies & all her other possessions ;
they declare the 10th article of the British treaty,
against sequestering debts, money in the funds, bank
stock, &c, to be founded in morality, & therefore
of perpetual obligation, & some other heterodoxes.
You will have seen in the newspapers some resolu-
tions proposed by mr. Sprigg, the first of which was,
that it is inexpedient under existing circumstances to
resort to war with France. Whether this could have
been carried before is doubtful, but since it is known
that a sum of money has been demanded, it is thought
this resolution, were it now to be passed, would imply
a willingness to avoid war even by purchasing peace.
It is therefore postponed. The peace party will
1798] Thomas Jefferson 407
agree to all reasonable measures of internal defence,
but oppose all external preparations. Tho' it is evi-
dent that these communications do not present one
motive the more for going to war, yet it may be
doubted whether we are now strong enough to keep
within the defensive line. It is thought the expences
contemplated will render a land tax necessary before
we separate. If so, it will lengthen the session.
The first impressions from these communications
are disagreeable; but their ultimate effect on the
public mind will not be favorable to the war party.
They may have some effect in the first moment in
stopping the movement in the Eastern states, which
were on the creen, & were running into town meet-
ings, yet it is believed this will be momentary only,
and will be over before their elections. Considerable
expectations were formed of changes in the Eastern
delegations favorable to the whig interest. Present
my best respects to mrs. Carr, & accept yourself
assurance of affectionate esteem.
TO JAMES MONROE mon. mss.
April 19. 98.
I wrote you on the 5th. inst. and on the 12th. I
enclosed you a copy of the instructions & communi-
cations from our envoys. In that of the 5th I ac-
knoleged the receipt of your last at hand of Mar.
26. The impressions first made by those communi-
cations continue strong & prejudicial here. They
have enabled the merchants to get a war-petition
408 The Writings of [1798
very extensively signed. They have also carried over
to the war-party most of the waverers in the H. of R.
This circumstance with the departure of 4. Southern
members, & others going, have given a strong ma-
jority to the other party. The expences will prob-
ably bring them up: but in the mean time great &
dangerous follies will have been committed. A salt-
tax, land-tax, & stoppage of interest on the public
debt are the resources spoken of for procuring from
3. to 7. millions of Dollars of preparatory expence.
I think it probable that France, instead of declaring
war, will worry us with decrees. A new one is pro-
posed making neutral armed ships good prize. Such
measures, and the bottom of our purse which we
shall get to even by the expences of preparation, will
still prevent serious war. Bankruptcy is a terrible
foundation to begin a war on, against the conquerors
of the universe. A governor, secretary & 3. judges
are named for the missisipi territory. Of these, two
are agents for the land companies, 2. are bankrupt
speculators, & the other unknown. Your matter
with Morris is well settled. With respect to your ac-
counts mr. Dawson will inclose you the difficulties ob-
jected by the Department of State. Considering how
much better items of an account can be explained
viva voce, how much more impressive personal re-
monstrance is than written, we have imagined you
will think it adviseable to come on yourself, and have
these matters settled, or at least to narrow them
down to a few articles as to which you may take
measures from hence to procure vouchers from
Europe if necessary. But of this you alone are the
1798] Thomas Jefferson 409
competent judge. Present my affectionate saluta-
tions to mrs. Monroe. Friendly adieux to yourself.
P. S. Wheat & flour not saleable at this moment.
Tobacco (old) <2i3. 50 & likely to rise.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Apr. 19. 98.
I wrote you last on the 12* & then acknoleged
your last at hand of the 2^ inst. The sensations
first occasioned by the late publications have been
kept up and increased at this place. A petition from
the merchants & traders & others was so industriously
pushed as to have obtained a very extensive signa-
ture. The same measure is pursuing in New York.
As the election of their governor comes on next
Tuesday, these impressions will just be in time to
affect that. We have no information yet of their
effect to the Eastward. In the meantime petitions
to Congress against arming from the towns of Massa-
chusetts were multiplying. They will no doubt have
been immediately checked. The P.'s answer to the
address of the merchants here you will see in Fenno
of yesterday. It is a pretty strong declaration that
a neutral & pacific conduct on our part is no longer
the existing state of things. The vibraters in the H.
of R. have chiefly gone over to the war party. Still
if our members were all here, it is believed the Naval-
bill would be thrown out. Giles, Clopton, & Cabell
are gone. The debate began yesterday, & tho' the
question will be lost, the effect on the public mind
410 The Writings of [1798
will be victory. For certainly there is nothing new
which may render war more palatable to the people.
On the contrary the war-members themselves are
becoming alarmed at the expences, & whittling down
the estimates to the lowest sums. You will see by
a report of the Secretary at War which I inclose you
that he estimates the expences of preparation at
seven millions of Dollars; which it is proposed to
lower to about 3. millions. If it can be reduced to
this, a stoppage of public interest will suffice & is
the project of some. This idea has already knocked
down the public paper, which can no longer be sold
at all. If the expences should exceed 3. m. they
will undertake a land tax. Indeed a land tax is
the decided resource of many, perhaps of a majority.
There is an idea of some of the Connecticut members
to raise the whole money wanted by a tax on salt;
so much do they dread a land tax. The middle or
last of May is still counted on for adjournment.
Col° Innes is just arrived here, heavily laden with
gout & dropsy. It is scarcely thought he can ever
get home again. The principles likely to be adopted
by that board have thrown the administration into
deep alarm. It is admitted they will be worse than
the English, French, & Algerine depredations added
together. It is even suggested that, if persevered in,
their proceedings will be stopped. These things are
not public. — Your letter, by occasioning my recur-
rence to the constitution, has corrected an error under
which a former one of mine had been written. I had
erroneously conceived that the declaration of war
was among the things confided by the Constitution
1798] Thomas Jefferson 411
to two thirds of the legislature. We are told here
that you are probably elected to the state legislature.
It has given great joy, as we know your presence will
be felt any where, and the times do not admit of
the inactivity of such talents as yours. I hope there-
fore it is true. As much good may be done by a
proper direction of the local force. Present my
friendly salutations to Mrs. Madison & to yourself
affectionately adieu.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. Mss.
Philadelphia, April 26, 1798.
Dear Sir, — * * * The bill for the naval arma-
ment (12 vessels) passed by a majority of about 4 to
3 in the H of R; all restrictions on the objects for
which the vessels should be used were struck out.
The bill for establishing a department of Secretary
of the navy was tried yesterday, on its passage to the
3d reading, & prevailed by 47 against 41. It will
be read the 3d time to-day. The Provisional army
of 20,000. men will meet some difficulty. It would
surely be rejected if our members were all here.
Giles, Clopton, Cabell & Nicholas are gone, & Clay
goes to-morrow. He received here news of the
death of his wife. Parker is completely gone over
to the war party. In this state of things they will
carry what they please. One of the war party, in a
fit of unguarded passion, declared some time ago they
would pass a citizen bill, an alien bill, & a sedition
bill ; accordingly, some days ago, Coit laid a motion
on the table of the H of R for modifying the citizen
412 The Writings of [1798
law. Their threats point at Gallatin, & it is believed
they will endeavor to reach him by this bill. Yester-
day mr. Hillhouse laid on the table of the Senate a
motion for giving power to send away suspected
aliens. This is understood to be meant for Volney &
Collot. But it will not stop there when it gets into
a course of execution. There is now only wanting,
to accomplish the whole declaration before men-
tioned, a sedition bill, which we shall certainly soon
see proposed. The object of that, is the suppression
of the whig presses. Bache's has been particularly
named. That paper & also Cary's totter for want
of subscriptions, We should really exert ourselves
to procure them, for if these papers fall, republi-
canism will be entirely brow beaten. Cary's paper
comes out 3 times a week, @ 5 D. The meeting of
the people which was called at New York, did
nothing. It was found that the majority would be
against the Address. They therefore chose to cir-
culate it individually. The committee of ways &
means have voted a land tax. An additional tax
on salt will certainly be proposed in the House, and
probably prevail to some degree. The stoppage
of interest on the public debt will also, perhaps, be
proposed, but not with effect. In the meantime,
that paper cannot be sold. Hamilton is coming on
as Senator from N. Y. There has been so much
contrivance & combination in that, as to shew there
is some great object in hand. Troup, the district
judge of N Y, resigns towards the close of the
session of their Assembly. The appointment of mr.
Hobart, then Senator, to succeed Troup, is not made
1798] Thomas Jefferson 413
by the President till after the Assembly had risen.
Otherwise, they would have chosen the Senator in
place of Hobart. Jay then names Hamilton, Senator,
but not till a day or two before his own election as
Governor was to come on, lest the unpopularity of
the nomination should be in time to affect his own
election. We shall see in what all this is to end ; but
surely in something. The popular movement in the
eastern states is checked, as we expected, and war
addresses are showering in from New Jersey & the
great trading towns. However, we still trust that a
nearer view of war & a land tax will oblige the great
mass of the people to attend. At present, the war
hawks talk of septembrizing, Deportation, and the
examples for quelling sedition set by the French
Executive. All the firmness of the human mind is
now in a state of requisition. Salutations to mrs.
Madison ; & to yourself, friendship & adieu.
P. M. The bill for the naval department is passed.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, May 3, 98.
I wrote you last on the 26th ; since which yours of
the 2 2d of April is received, acknoleging mine of the
12th; so that all appear to have been received to
that date. The spirit kindled up in the towns is
wonderful. These and N Jersey are pouring in their
addresses, offering life & fortune. Even these ad-
dresses are not the worst things. For indiscreet
declarations and expressions of passion may be
414 The Writings of [1798
pardoned to a multitude acting from the impulse of
the moment. But we cannot expect a foreign nation
to shew that apathy to the answers of the President,
which are more thrasonic than the addresses. What-
ever chance for peace might have been left us after
the publication of the despatches, is compleatly lost
by these answers. Nor is it France alone, but his
own fellow citizens, against whom his threats are
uttered. In Fenno, of yesterday, you will see one,
wherein he says to the address from Newark, "the
delusions & misrepresentations which have misled so
many citizens, must be discountenanced by authority
as well as by the citizens at large;" evidently allud-
ing to those letters from the representatives to their
constituents, which they have been in the habit of
seeking after & publishing; while those sent by the
Tory part of the house to their constituents, are ten
times more numerous, & replete with the most atro-
cious falsehoods & calumnies. What new law they
will propose on this subject, has not yet leaked out.
The citizen bill sleeps. The alien bill, proposed by
the Senate, has not yet been brought in. That pro-
posed by the H of R has been so moderated, that it
will not answer the passionate purposes of the war
gentlemen. Whether, therefore, the Senate will push
their bolder plan, I know not. The provisional army
does not go down so smoothly in the R. as it did in
the Senate. They are whittling away some of it's
choice ingredients; particularly that of transferring
their own constitutional discretion over the raising of
armies to the President. A commtee of the R have
struck out his discretion, and hang the raising of the
1798] Thomas Jefferson 415
men on the contingencies of invasion, insurrection, or
declaration of war. Were all our members here, the
bill would not pass. But it will, probably, as the
House now is. It's expence is differently estimated,
from 5. to 8. millions of dollars a year. Their pur-
poses before voted, require 2. millions above all the
other taxes, which, therefore, are voted to be raised
on lands, houses & slaves. The provisional army
will be additional to this. The threatening appear-
ances from the Alien bills have so alarmed the French
who are among us, that they are going off. A ship,
chartered by themselves for this purpose, will sail
within about a fortnight for France, with as many as
she can carry. Among these I believe will be Volney,
who has in truth been the principal object aimed at
by the law. Notwithstanding the unfavorableness
of the late impressions, it is believed the New York
elections, which are over, will give us two or three
republicans more than we now have. But it is sup-
posed Jay is re-elected. It is said Hamilton declines
coming to the Senate. He very soon stopped his
Marcellus. It was rather the sequel that was feared
than what actually appeared. He comes out on a
different plan in his Titus Manlius, if that be really
his. The appointments to the Missisipi territory
were so abominable that the Senate could not
swallow them. They referred them to a commte to
inquire into characters, and the P withdrew the
nomination & has now named Winthrop Sergeant
Governor, Steele of Augusta in Virginia, Secretary,
Tilton & two of the Judges, the other not yet
named. * * * As there is nothing material now
416 The Writings of [1798
to be proposed, we generally expect to rise in about
three weeks. However, I do not yet venture to
order my horses.
My respectful salutations to mrs. Madison. To
yourself affectionate friendship, & adieu.
Perhaps the Pr's expression before quoted, may
look to the Sedition bill which has been spoken of,
and which may be meant to put the Printing presses
under the Imprimatur of the executive. Bache is
thought a main object of it. Cabot, of Massachu-
setts, is appointed Secretary of the Navy. It is
said Hamilton declines coming to the Senate.
TO JAMES LEWIS, JUNIOR J. mss.
Philadelphia, May 9, 1798.
Dear Sir, — I am much obliged by your friendly
letter of the 4th inst. As soon as I saw the first of
mr. Martin's letters, I turned to the newspapers of
the day, & found Logan's speech, as translated by a
common Indian interpreter. The version I had used,
had been made by Genl Gibson. Finding from mr.
Martin's style, that his object was not merely truth,
but to gratify party passions, I never read another of
his letters. I determined to do my duty by search-
ing into the truth, & publishing it to the world, what-
ever it should be. This I shall do at a proper season.
I am much indebted to many persons, who, without
any acquaintance with me, have voluntarily sent me
information on the subject. Party passions are in-
deed high. Nobody has more reason to know it than
1798] Thomas Jefferson 4*7
myself. I receive daily bitter proofs of it from peo-
ple who never saw me, nor know anything of me but
through Porcupine & Fenno. At this moment all
the passions are boiling over, and one who keeps
himself cool and clear of the contagion, is so far below
the point of ordinary conversation, that he finds him-
self insulated in every society. However, the fever
will not last. War, land tax & stamp tax, are seda-
tives which must calm its ardor. They will bring
on reflection, and that, with information, is all which
our countrymen need, to bring themselves and their
affairs to rights. They are essentially republican.
They retain unadulterated the principles of '75, and
those who are conscious of no change in themselves
have nothing to fear in the long run. It is our duty
still to endeavor to avoid war ; but if it shall actually
take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must
defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without
inquiring whether it was fired from within or without,
we must try to extinguish it. In that, I have no
doubt, we shall act as one man. But if we can ward
off actual war till the crisis of England is over, I shall
hope we may escape it altogether.
I am, with much esteem, dear Sir, your most
obedient humble servant.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
May 10. 98.
* * * No bill has passed since my last. The
alien bill now before the Senate you will see in Bache.
I shall make no comment on it. The first clause was
VOL. VIII. 27.
418 The Writings of [1798
debated through the whole of Tuesday. To judge
from that we cannot expect above 5. or 6. votes
against it. We suppose the lower house will throw
it out & proceed on that which they have prepared.
The bill for the provision of army is under debate.
It will probably pass or be rejected by a very minute
majority. If our members were here it would be re-
jected with ease. The tax on lands, slaves & houses
is proceeding. The questions on that will only be of
modification. The event of the N. York elections is
not yet absolutely known, but it is still believed we
have gained 2. more republicans to Congress. Burr
was here a day or two ago. He says they have got a
decided majority of Whigs in their state H. of R.
He thinks that Connecticut has chosen one Whig, a
mr. Granger, & calculates much on the effect of his
election. An election here of town officers for South-
wark, where it was said the people had entirely gone
over to the tory side, showed them unmoved. The
Whig ticket was carried by ten to one. The informa-
tions are so different as to the effect of the late dis-
patches on the people here that one does not know
what to conclude : but I am of opinion they are little
moved. Some of the young men who addressed the
President on Monday mounted the Black (or Eng-
lish) cockade. The next day numbers of the people
appeared with the tricolored (or French) cockade.
Yesterday being the fast day the black cockade
again appeared, on which the tricolour also showed
itself. A fray ensued, the light horse were called in,
& the city was so filled with confusion from about
6. to 10. o'clock last night that it was dangerous
1798] Thomas Jefferson 4*9
going out. I write in the morning & therefore know
nothing of the particulars as yet, but as I do not
send my letter to the post office till night, I shall
probably be able by that time to add some details.
It is also possible some question may be taken which
may indicate the fate of the provisional army.
There is a report, which comes from Baltimore, of
peace between France & England on terms entirely
dictated by the former. But we do not hear how
it comes, nor pay the least attention to it.
P. M. By the proceedings in Senate today I con-
clude the alien bill will pass 1 7 to . The provisional
army has been under debate in the lower house. A
motion was made to strike out the first section con-
fessedly for the purpose of trying the fate of the bill.
The motion was lost by 44. to 17. Had all the mem-
bers in town been present, & the question in the
house instead of the committee, the vote would have
been 45. against the bill & 46. for it. No further
particulars about the riot appear. * * *
TO JAMES MADISON J. mss.
May 17. 98
My last to you was of the 10th. Since that I have
received yours of the 5th. I immediately sent a note
to Carey to forward his paper to your brother as you
desired. The first vote of any importance on the
alien bill was taken yesterday. It was one agreeing
on the 1 st section, which was carried by 12. to 7. If
all the Senators in town had been present it would
420 The Writings of [1798
have been 17. to 7. The Provisional army gets
along. The Rep. have reduced the 28. to 10. M.
They have struck out the clauses for calling out &
exercising 20,000 militia at a time. The 1st Volun-
teer clause has been carried by a great majority.
But endeavours will be made to render it less de-
structive & less injurious to the militia. I shall
enclose you a copy of the land-tax bill. In the first
moments of the tumult here, mentioned in my last,
the cockade assumed by one party was mistaken to
be the tricolor. It was the old blue & red adopted
in some places in an early part of the revolution
war. However it is laid aside. But the black is
still frequent. I am a little apprehensive Burr will
have miscalculated on Granger's election in Con-
necticut. However it is not yet known here. It
was expected Hillhouse would have been elected
their Lt. Govr. but Treadwell is chosen. We know
nothing more certain yet of the New York elections.
Hamilton declined his appointment as Senator, &
Jay has named North, a quondam aid of Steuben.
All sorts of artifices have been descended to, to
agitate the popular mind. The President received
3. anonymous letters (written probably by some of
the war men) announcing plots to burn the city on
the fast-day. He thought them worth being known,
& great preparations were proposed by the way of
caution, & some were yielded to by the governor.
Many weak people packed their most valuable mov-
ables to be ready for transportation. However the
day passed without justifying the alarms. Other
idle stories have been since circulated, & the popular
1798] Thomas Jefferson 421
mind has not been proof against them. The ad-
dresses & answers go on. Some parts of Maryland
& of this state are following the example of N.
Jersey. The addresses are probably written here;
those which come purely from the country are
merely against the French, those written here are
pointed with acrimony to party. You will observe
one answer in which a most unjustifiable mention
has been made of Monroe, without the least occasion
leading to it from the address. It is now openly
avowed by some of the eastern men that Congress
ought not to separate. And their reasons are
drawn from circumstances which will exist through
the year. I was in hopes that all efforts to render
the sessions of Congress permanent were abandoned.
But a clear profit of 3. or 4. Dollars a day is sufficient
to reconcile some to their absence from home. A
French privateer has lately taken 3. American ves-
sels from York & Phila. bound to England. We
do not know their loading, but it has alarmed the
merchants much. Wheat & flour are scarcely
bought at all. Tobacco, old, of the best quality,
has long been 14. D. My respects to Mrs. Madison
& to the family. Affectionate adieus to yourself.
TO AARON BURR j. mss.
Philadelphia, May 20. 98.
Dear Sir, — When I had the pleasure of seeing you
here, I spoke to you on the case of a friend of mine,
Dr. James Currie, of Richmond, and asked the favor
of you to proceed, in the way then spoken of, to
422 The Writings of [1798
recover against Robert Morris, Dr. Currie's demand,
the papers establishing which you had received. I
have just received a letter from him wishing this
matter to be pressed. I take the liberty therefore
of repeating my request, & that you will be so good
as to send to mr. John Barnes, merchant south 3d
street, who is my agent here a note of your own fee
& of any costs which it may be necessary to advance
& he will answer them now & from time to time on
my account, whether I am here or not. I have not
heard from mr. Burwell : but I know it to be his wish
to have the same proceedings as shall be pursued for
Dr. Currie. Mr. Barnes is his agent for his money
matters at this place, so that his costs you will be so
good as to note separately to him. His name is
Lewis Burwell. He is also of Richmond.
This being merely a letter of business I shall only
add assurances of the esteem & respect with which
I am dear sir your most obedient & most humble
servant.1
1 Other letters to Burr on this subject are as follows:
Philadelphia May 26th. 98.
Dear Sir, — I received yesterday your favor of the 24th. The other
notes delivered by Mr. Burwell to Mr. Ludlow belonged three of them
to Dr Currie, & the rest to himself. To wit
Dr. Currie's Doll
John Nicholson's note to Rob. Morris dated Nov. 18. 94 for 3500' payable in 3 years
do to do Nov. 1 8. 94 3500 do
do to do Nov. 18. 94 4000 do
If TV «. 11.000
Mr. Burwell's
John Nicholson's note to Rob. Morris dated Nov. 20. 94 for 4000 payable in 3 years
do to do Nov. 20. 94 4000 do
d° to do Jan. 15. 95 2500 do
do to do Mar. 1. 95 4000 do
14,500
This last one of Mr. Burwell's was not delivered to mr. Ludlow, but
will be handed to him by mr. Barnes by this day's post. You will
1798] Thomas Jefferson 423
TO JAMES MONROE j. mss.
Philadelphia, May 21, 1798.
Yours of Apr 8 14, & May 4 & 14, have been
received in due time. I have not written to you
since the 19th ult., because I knew you would be out
therefore be pleased to proceed in the name of Dr. James Carrie for
the three first notes, amounting to 11,000 Dollars. You mention that
discretionary powers must be given to some person in N. York in order
that you may be able to associate these gentlemen in a general com-
promise with some others for whom you will obtain judgment in July.
Dr. Currie has given me full powers to act for him, & I hereby give you
full & discretionary powers to do for him whatever you may think for
his interest. I enclose you one of his letters to me sufficiently evi-
dencing his committing the matter to me. Mr. Barnes is authorized by
mr. Burwell to take the same steps for him which I do for Dr. Currie.
He will therefore write to you this day. Dr. Currie has another claim
by judgment recovered here against Griffin & Morris which may be the
subject of a future letter to you. Perhaps, after I shall have seen Mr.
Ingersoll his attorney (now absent from town).
If Congress mean to adjourn at all (which I doubt) I shall stay here
till they adjourn. If they do not, after passing the land tax, I shall
consider it as evidence they mean to make their sessions permanent,
& shall then go home for the season. I am with great & sincere
esteem, Dear Sir, your friend & servant.
Philadelphia, June 16. 98.
Dear Sir, — In my letter of May 26. I mentioned to you that Dr.
Currie had another demand by judgment against John Tayloe Griffin
as principal, & Robert Morris garnishee, which should be the subject
of a future letter to you. I now enclose you a transcript by the record
of the Supreme Court of this state. It seems by this (I have not ex-
amined the record with minute attention) that the court have con-
sidered Robert Morris as holding property of Griffin's to the amount
of £4305 Pensva currency = 11480 Dolls not due, as stated on inter-
rogatory, till Dec. 3. 1800. But that interest at 5 per cent must have
been payable annually, as he confesses judgment for £959-8-8 interest
on that sum to Dec. 3, 95. which was paid to mr. Ingersoll, & a scire
facias issued for the interest of the year 1796 being £215-5 h^ been
issued since. On this last, nothing has been done, as no effects here
can be got at. This interest therefore for the year 1796. & now also
for the year 1797, is due & immediately recoverable as to the principal.
I know not how the laws may be with you: but in Virginia, where we
have courts of Chancery on the principles of that of England, tho' in a
424 The Writings of [1798
on a circuit, and would receive the letters only when
they would be as old almanacs. The bill for the
Provisional army has got through the lower house,
the regulars reduced to 10,000, and the volunteers
unlimited. It was carried by a majority of 1 1 . The
court of law the principal could not be demanded before due, yet the
Chancery, in consideration of the hazard in which it is placed by the
change of circumstances of Rob. Morris would either oblige him to
give security or sequester any property of his which the plaintiff would
point out. If it be so with you, then we may hope that the principal
may be secured so as to be received in 1800, & the interest for 96. &
97. immediately recovered. I will pray you however to have done
for Dr. Currie both as to principal & interest whatever your laws will
authorize for the best. I enclose you a letter from him referring you
to me, & I hereby give you as full powers to act herein as he has given
to me. I leave this place in the morning of the 20th. & would thank
you to be informed what prospect you think there is of these several
matters. If I am gone, the letter will follow & find me at home. I
am with great esteem dear sir your friend & servant.
MONTICBLLO, NOV. 12. 1798.
Dear Sir, — Dr. Currie, on whose behalf I troubled you last summer,
being anxious to learn something of the prospect he may have of re-
covering from Robert Morris, I take the liberty of asking a line directed
to me at this place where I shall still be long enough to receive it. I
should not have troubled you but that you expected early in the
summer to be able to judge what could be done. I am aware at the
same time that the fever at New York may have disturbed all legal
proceedings.
I did not mean to say a word on politics, but it occurs that I have
seen in the New York papers a calumny which I suppose will run
through the union, that I had written by Doctr. Logan letters to
Merlin & Taleyrand. On retiring from the Secretary of state's office,
I determined to drop all correspondence with France, knowing the
base calumnies which would be built on the most innocent correspond-
ence. I have not therefore written a single letter to that country,
within that period except to Mr. Short on his own affairs merely which
are under my direction, and once or twice to Colo. Monroe. By Logan
I did not write even a letter to Mr. Short, nor to any other person
whatever. I thought this notice of the matter due to my friends,
though I do not go into the newspapers with a formal declaration of
it. I am &c.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 425
land-tax is now on the carpet to raise 2. millions of
dollars; yet I think they must at least double it, as
the expenses of the provisional army were not pro-
vided for in it, and will require of itself 4. millions a
year. I presume, therefore, the tax on lands, houses,
& negroes, will be a dollar a head on the population
of each state. There are alien bills, sedition bills,
&c, also before both houses. The severity of their
aspect determines a great number of French to go
off. A ship-load sails on Monday next ; among them
Volney. If no new business is brought on, I think
they may get through the tax bill in 3 weeks. You
will have seen, among numerous addresses & answers,
one from Lancaster in this State, and it's answer.
The latter travelling out of the topics of the address
altogether, to mention you in a most injurious man-
ner. Your feelings have no doubt been much irri-
tated by it, as in truth it had all the characters
necessary to produce irritation. What notice you
should take of it is difficult to say. But there is one
step in which two or three with whom I have spoken
concur with me, that feeble as the hand is from which
this shaft is thrown, yet with a great mass of our
citizens, strangers to the leading traits of the char-
acter from which it came, it will have considerable
effect; & that in order to replace yourself on the
high ground you are entitled to, it is absolutely
necessary you should reappear on the public theatre,
and take an independent stand, from which you
can be seen & known to your fellow citizens. The
He of Repr appears the only place which can answer
this end, as the proceedings of the other house are
426 The Writings of [1798
too obscure. Cabell has said he would give way to
you, whenever you should chuse to come in, and I
really think it would be expedient for yourself as well
as the public, that you should not wait until another
election, but come to the next session. No interval
should be admitted between this last attack of
enmity and your re-appearance with the approving
voice of your constituents, & your taking a com-
manding attitude. I have not before been anxious
for your return to public life, lest it should interfere
with a proper pursuit of your private interests, but
the next session will not at all interfere with your
courts, because it must end Mar 4, and I verily
believe the next election will give us such a majority
in the He of R as to enable the republican party to
shorten the alternate unlimited session, as it is
evident that to shorten the sessions is to lessen the
evils & burthens of the government on our country.
The present session has already cost 200,000 D, be-
sides the wounds it has inflicted on the prosperity of
the Union. I have no doubt Cabell can be induced
to retire immediately, & that a writ may be issued
at once. The very idea of this will strike the public
mind, & raise its confidence in you. If this be done,
I should think it best you should take no notice at
all of the answer to Lancaster. Because, were you
to shew a personal hostility against the answer, it
would deaden the effect of everything you should
say or do in your public place hereafter. All would
be ascribed to an enmity to Mr. A., and you know
with what facility such insinuations enter the minds
of men. I have not seen Dawson since this answer
1798] Thomas Jefferson 427
has appeared, & therefore have not yet learnt his
sentiments on it. My respectful salutations to Mrs.
Monroe; & to yourself, affectionately adieu.
P. S. Always examine the seal before you open
my letters.1
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, May 31, 98.
I wrote to you last on the 24th, since which yours
of the 20th is received. I must begin by correcting
two errors in my last. It was false arithmetic to say,
that two measures therein mentioned to be carried by
majorities of 11., would have failed if the 14. ab-
sentees (wherein a majority of 6 was ours) had been
present. Six coming over from the other side would
have turned the scale, and this was the idea floating
in my mind, which produced the mistake. The 2d
error was in the version of mr. A's expression, which
I stated to you. His real expression was " that he
would not unbrace a single nerve for any treaty
France could offer; such was their entire want of
faith, morality," &c.
The bill from the Senate for capturing French
armed vessels found hovering on our coast was
passed in two days by the lower house, without a
single alteration; and the Ganges, a 20 -gun sloop,
fell down the river instantly to go on a cruise. She
has since been ordered to New York, to convoy a
vessel from that to this port. The Alien bill will be
ready to day, probably, for it's 3d reading in the
1 On outside of letter.
428 The Writings of [1798
Senate. It has been considerably mollified, par-
ticularly by a proviso saving the rights of treaties.
Still, it is a most detestable thing. I was glad, in
yesterday's discussion, to hear it admitted on all
hands, that laws of the U S, subsequent to a treaty,
controul it's operation, and that the legislature is
the only power which can controul a treaty. Both
points are sound beyond doubt. This bill will un-
questionably pass the He of R, the majority there
being decisive, consolidated, and bold enough to do
anything. I have no doubt from the hints dropped,
they will pass a bill to declare the French treaty
void. I question if they will think a declaration of
war prudent, as it might alarm, and all it's effects are
answered by the act authorizing captures. A bill
is brought in for suspending all communication with
the dominions of France, which will no doubt pass.
It is suspected they mean to borrow money of in-
dividuals in London, on the credit of our land tax,
& perhaps the guarantee of Gt Britain. The land
tax was yesterday debated, and a majority of 6.
struck out the 13th. section of the classification of
houses, and taxing them by a different scale from
the lands. Instead of this, is to be proposed a
valuation of the houses & lands together. Macon
yesterday laid a motion on the table for adjourning
on the 14th. Some think they do not mean to ad-
journ; others, that they wait first the return of the
envoys, for whom it is now avowed the brig Sophia
was sent. It is expected she would bring them off
about the middle of this month. They may, there-
fore, be expected here about the 2d week of July.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 429
Whatever be their decision as to adjournment, I
think it probable my next letter will convey orders
for my horses, and that I shall leave this place from
the 20th to the 25th of June; for I have no expecta-
tion they will actually adjourn sooner. Volney &
a ship-load of others sail on Sunday next. Another
ship-load will go off in about 3 weeks. It is natural
to expect they go under irritations calculated to fan
the flame. Not so Volney. He is most thoroughly
impressed with the importance of preventing war,
whether considered with reference to the interests
of the two countries, of the cause of republicanism,
or of man on the broad scale. But an eagerness to
render this prevention impossible, leaves me without
any hope. Some of those who have insisted that
it was long since war on the part of France, are
candid enough to admit that it is now begun on our
part also. I enclose for your perusal a poem on the
alien bill, written by mr. Marshall. I do this, as
well for your amusement, as to get you to take care
of this copy for me till I return; for it will be lost
by lending, if I retain it here, as the publication was
suppressed after the sale of a few copies, of which
I was fortunate enough to get one. Your locks,
hinges, &c, shall be immediately attended to.
My respectful salutations & friendship to mrs.
Madison, to the family, & to yourself. Adieu.
P. S. The President, it is said, has refused an
Exequatur to the Consul General of France, Dupont.
P. P. S. This fact is true. I have it this moment
from Dupont, and he goes off with Volney to France
in two or three days.
430 The Writings of Iw*
TO JOHN TAYLOR i ed. op 1829.
Philadelphia, June t, 1798.
* * * Mr. New showed me your letter on the
subject of the patent, which gave me an opportunity
of observing what you said as to the effect, with you,
of public proceedings, and that it was not unwise
now to estimate the separate mass of Virginia and
North Carolina, with a view to their separate exist-
ence. It is true that we are completely under the
saddle of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and that
they ride us very hard, cruelly insulting our feelings,
as well as exhausting our strength and subsistence.
Their natural friends, the three other eastern States,
join them from a sort of family pride, and they have
the art to divide certain other parts of the Union, so
as to make use of them to govern the whole. This
is not new, it is the old practice of despots ; to use a
part of the people to keep the rest in order. And
those who have once got an ascendancy, and pos-
sessed themselves of all the resources of the nation,
their revenues and offices, have immense means for
retaining their advantage. But our present situa-
1 Since this letter to Taylor was printed, Prof. W. P. Trent has called
my attention to a note by George Tucker, in the Southern Literary
Messenger for May, 1838 (iv. 344), in which the expression imputed to
Taylor that "it is not unwise now to estimate the separate mass of
Virginia and North Carolina" is stated to have been an error due to
the fading of the letter-press copy, the true reading being "it is not
usual now." This correction was made at the suggestion of a de-
scendant of Taylor's, and no proof is produced beyond the mere asser-
tion of Mr. Tucker. What is more, the letter-press copy was one of
those destroyed before the Jefferson papers were purchased by the
government, so it is now impossible to verify the facts. The correc-
tion, however, is so material, that it seems necessary to note the
assertion.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 431
tion is not a natural one. The republicans, through
every part of the Union, say, that it was the irre-
sistible influence and popularity of General Wash-
ington played off by the cunning of Hamilton, which
turned the government over to anti-republican
hands, or turned the republicans chosen by the
people into anti-republicans. He delivered it over
to his successor in this state, and very untoward
events since, improved with great artifice, have
produced on the public mind the impressions we see.
But still I repeat it, this is not the natural state.
Time alone would bring round an order of things
more correspondent to the sentiments of our con-
stituents. But are there no events impending,
which will do it within a few months? The crisis
with England, the public and authentic avowal of
sentiments hostile to the leading principles of our
Constitution, the prospect of a war, in which we
shall stand alone, land tax, stamp tax, increase of
public debt, &c. Be this as it may, in every free
and deliberating society, there must, from the nature
of man, be opposite parties, and violent dissensions
and discords; and one of these, for the most part,
must prevail over the other for a longer or shorter
time. Perhaps this party division is necessary to in-
duce each to watch and delate to the people the
proceedings of the other. But if on a temporary
superiority of the one party, the other is to resort to
a scission of the Union, no federal, government can
ever exist. If to rid ourselves of the present rule
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, we break the
Union, will the evil stop there? Suppose the New
432 The Writings of &798
England States alone cut off, will our nature be
changed? Are we not men still to the south of
that, and with all the passions of men? Immedi-
ately, we shall see a Pennsylvania and a Virginia
party arise in the residuary confederacy, and the
public mind will be distracted with the same party
spirit. What a game too will the one party have
in their hands, by eternally threatening the other
that unless they do so and so, they will join their
northern neighbors. If we reduce our Union to
Virginia and North Carolina, immediately the con-
flict will be established between the representatives
of these two States, and they will end by breaking
into their simple units. Seeing, therefore, that an
association of men who will not quarrel with one
another is a thing which never yet existed, from the
greatest confederacy of nations down to a town
meeting or a vestry; seeing that we must have
somebody to quarrel with, I had rather keep our
New England associates for that purpose, than to
see our bickerings transferred to others. They are
circumscribed within such narrow limits, and their
population so full, that their numbers will ever be the
minority, and they are marked, like the Jews, with
such a perversity of character, as to constitute, from
that circumstance, the natural division of our parties.
A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches
pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people re-
covering their true sight, restoring their government
to its true principles. It is true, that in the mean-
time, we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring
the horrors of a war, and long oppressions of enor-
1798] Thomas Jefferson 433
mous public debt. But who can say what would be
the evils of a scission, and when and where they
would end? Better keep together as we are, haul
off from Europe as soon as we can, and from all at-
tachments to any portions of it; and if they show
their power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it
will be the happiest situation in which we can exist.
If the game runs sometimes against us at home, we
must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall
have an opportunity of winning back the principles
we have lost. For this is a game where principles
are the stake. Better luck, therefore, to us all, and
health, happiness and friendly salutations to your-
self. Adieu.
P. S. It is hardly necessary to caution you to let
nothing of mine get before the public ; a single sen-
tence got hold of by the Porcupines, will suffice to
abuse and persecute me in their papers for months.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia June 7. 98.
I wrote you last on the 31st since which yours of
the 27th of May is received. The alien bill when we
had nearly got through it, on the 2d reading (on a
report from the committee of the whole) was referred
to a special committee, by a vote of it's friends (1 2)
against 1 1 . who thought it could be rejected on the
question for the 3d reading. It is reported again
very much softened, and if the proviso can be added
to it, saving treaties, it will be less objectionable than
VOL. VIII. 28.
434 The Writings of [1798
I thought it possible to have obtained. Still it
would place aliens not protected by treaties [il-
legible] absolute government. They have brought
into the lower house a sedition bill, which among
other enormities, undertakes to make printing cer-
tain matters criminal, tho' one of the amendments
to the Constitution has so expressly taken religion,
printing presses &c. out of their coercion. Indeed
this bill & the alien bill both are so palpably in the
teeth of the Constitution as to shew they mean to
pay no respect to it. The citizen bill passed by the
lower house sleeps in a Committee of the Senate. In
the mean time Callendar, a principal object of it,
has eluded it, by getting himself made a citizen.
Volney is gone. So is Dupont, the rejected consul.
The bill suspending intercourse with the French
dominions will pass the Senate today with a small
amendment. The real object of this bill is to evade
the counter-irritations of the English who under
the late orders for taking all vessels from French
ports, are now taking as many of our vessels as the
French. By forbidding our vessels to go to or from
French ports we remove the pabulum for these
violations of our rights by the English, undertaking
to do the work for them ourselves in another way.
The tax on lands, houses, & slaves is still before the
H. of R. They have determined to have the houses
& lands valued separately though to pay the same
tax ad valorem, but they avow that when they shall
have got at the number & value of houses, they shall
be free hereafter to tax houses separately, as by an
indirect tax. This is to avoid the quotaing of which
1798] Thomas Jefferson 435
they cannot bear the idea. Requeries under a
quotaing law can only shift the burthen from one
part to another of the same state; but relieve them
from the bridle of the quota & all requeries go to the
relief of the states. So odious is the quota to the
N. E. members that many think they will not pass
the bill at all. The question of adjournment was
lost by two votes. Had our members been here it
would have been carried & much mischief prevented.
I think now they will make their session permanent.
I have therefore in my letters of today ordered my
horses to be at Fredsbg on the 24. & shall probably be
with you on the 25th or 26th. I send you further
communications from our envoys. To these I be-
lieve I may add on good grounds that Pinckney is
gone with his family into the south of France for the
health of his daughter, Marshal to Amsterdam (but
whether coming here for instructions or not is a
secret not entrusted to us) & Gerry remains at Paris.
It is rumored & I believe with probability that there
is a schism between Gerry & his colleagues. Per-
haps the directory may make a treaty with Gerry,
if they can get through it before the brig Sophia takes
him off. She sailed the 1st of April. It is evident
from these communications that our envoys had not
the least idea of a war between the two countries;
much less that their dispatches, are the cause of it.
I mentioned to you in my last that I expected they
would bring in a bill to declare the treaty with France
void.' Dwight Foster yesterday brought in resolu-
tions for that purpose, & for authorizing general
reprisals on the French armed vessels: & such is
436 The Writings of [1798
their preponderance by the number & talents of our
absentees withdrawing from us that they will carry
it. Never was any event so important to this
country since it's revolution, as the issue of the in-
vasion of England. With that we shall stand or
fall. Colo. Jones's situation is desperate. Every
day is now expected to be his last. The petition for
the reform of the British parliament enclosed in your
last shall be disposed of as you desire. And1 the first
vessel for Fredericksburg will carry your locks,
hinges, pulleys & glass. My respectful salutations to
Mrs. Madison & the family. Friendship & adieus
to yourself.
TO ARCHIBALD STUART *
Philadelphia. June 8. 98.
Dear Sir, — I inclose you some further communi-
cations from our envoys at Paris. To the informa-
tion contained in these I can add that by the latest
accounts Mr. Pinckney was gone into the south of
France for the health of his family, Mr. Marshall to
Amsterdam, and Mr. Gerry remained at Paris. It
appears that neither themselves nor the French gov-
ernment dreamt of war between the two countries.
It seems also fairly presumable that the douceur of
50,000 Guineas mentioned in the former dispatches
was merely from X. and Y. as not a word is ever said
by Taleyrand to our envoys, nor by them to him on
the subject. It is now thought possible that Gerry
1 From the original in the possession of the Virginia Historical
Society.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 437
may be pursuing the treaty for he was always viewed
with more favor by the French government than his
collegues whom they considered as personally hos-
tile to them. It seems they offered to pay in time
for unjustifiable spoliations, and insist on a present
loan (and it would be much more than an equivalent).
There seems nothing to prevent a conclusion, unless
indeed the bring Sophia should arrive too soon &
bring him away. She sailed from hence the 1st of
April with positive orders to the envoys to come
away. In the meantime, besides accumulating irri-
tations we are proceeding to actual hostilities. You
will have seen in the papers the bills already passed,
and the measures now proposed. Every thing will
be carried which is proposed. Nobody denies but
that France has given just cause of war, but so has
Gr. Britain & she is now capturing our vessels as
much as France, but the question was one merely of
prudence, whether seeing that both powers in order
to injure one another, bear down every thing in their
way, without regard to the rights of others, spoliat-
ing equally Danes, Swedes & Americans, it would not
be more prudent in us to bear with it as the Danes
& Swedes do, curtailing our commerce, and waiting
for the moment of peace, when it is probable both
nations would for their own interest & honour retri-
bute for their wrongs. However the public mind
has been artfully inflamed by publications well
calculated to deceive them & them only and espe-
cially in the towns, and irritations have been multi-
plied so as to shut the door of accomodation, and war
is now inevitable. I imagine that France will do
438 The Writings of [1798
little with us till she has made her peace with Eng-
land, which, whether her invasion succeeds or fails,
must be made this summer and autumn. The game
on both sides is too heavy to be continued. When
she shall turn her arms on us, I imagine it will be
chiefly against our commerce and fisheries. If any
thing is attempted by land it will probably be to
the westward. Our great expence will be in equip-
ping a navy to be lost as fast as equipped, or to be
maintained at an expence which will sink us with
itself, as the like course is sinking Great Britain.
Of the two millions of Dollars now to be raised by a
tax on lands, houses & slaves, Virginia is to furnish
between 3 & 400,000 but this is not more than half
of the actual expence if the provisional army be
raised, nor one tenth of what must be the annual ex-
pences. I see no way in which we can injure France
so as to advance to negociation (as we must do in
the end) on better ground than at present and I
believe it will thus appear to our citizens generally
as soon as the present fervor cools down and there
will be many sedatives to effect this. For the
present however, nothing can be done. Silence and
patience are necessary for a while; and I must pray
you, as to what I now write, to take care it does not
get out of your own hand, nor a breath of it in a
newspaper. I wrote to Mr. Clarke some time ago
mentioning that I had been here for six months ad-
vancing for all the nail rods for my nailery without
the possibility of receiving any thing from it till my
return. That this will render it necessary to receive
immediately on my return whatever sums my cus-
i798l Thomas Jefferson 439
tomers may have in hand for me. I yesterday re-
ceived a letter from him informing me he had left
Staunton, & with our approbation had turned over
my matters to a Mr. John McDowell. As I am not
acquainted with him, nor as yet in correspondence
with him, will you be so good as to mention to him
that I shall have great need of whatever sum he may
have on hand for me, as soon as I return, and should
be very glad if he could lodge it with Col° Bell by
our July court, at which I shall be, or if no convey-
ance occurs he can send me a line by post to Char-
lottesville informing me what sum I can count on.
His future orders for nails I shall be able to attend
to in person. I leave this for Monticello on the 20*
inst. The adjournment of Congress is not yet fixed.
TO JAMES MADISON mad. mss.
Philadelphia, June ai, 98.
Yours of the ioth inst is received. I expected
mine of the 14th would have been my last from
hence, as I had proposed to have set out on the 20th ;
but on the morning of the 19th, we heard of the ar-
rival of Marshall at New York and I concluded to
stay & see whether that circumstance would produce
any new projects. No doubt he there received more
than hints from Hamilton as to the tone required to
be assumed. Yet I apprehend he is not hot enough
for his friends. Livingston came with him from
New York. M told him they had no idea in France
of a war with us. That Taleyrand sent passports to
440 The Writings of [1798
him & Pinckney, but none for Gerry. Upon this,
Gerry staid, without explaining to them the reason.
He wrote, however, to the President by Marshall,
who knew nothing of the contents of the letter. So
that there must have been a previous understanding
between Taleyrand & Gerry. M was received here
with the utmost eclat. The Secretary of state &
many carriages, with all the city cavalry, went to
Frankfort to meet him, and on his arrival here in the
evening, the bells rung till late in the night, & im-
mense crowds were collected to see & make part of
the shew, which was circuitously paraded through
the streets before he was set down at the city tavern.
All this was to secure him to their views, that he
might say nothing which would expose the game they
have been playing. Since his arrival I can hear of
nothing directly from him, while they are disseminat-
ing through the town things, as from him, diametri-
cally opposite to what he said to Livingston. Dr
Logan, about a fortnight ago, sailed for Hamburg.
Tho for a twelvemonth past he had been intending
to go to Europe as soon as he could get money
enough to carry him there, yet when he had accom-
plished this, and fixed a time for going, he very un-
wisely made a mystery of it : so that his disappear-
ance without notice excited conversation. This was
seized by the war hawks, and given out as a secret
mission from the Jacobins here to solicit an army
from France, instruct them as to their landing, &c.
This extravagance produced a real panic among the
citizens; & happening just when Bache published
Taleyrand's letter, Harper, on the 18th, gravely an-
1798] Thomas Jefferson 441
nounced to the He of R, that there existed a traitor-
ous correspondence between the Jacobins here and
the French Directory; that he had got hold of some
threads & clues of it, and would soon be able to
develop the whole. This increased the alarm; their
libelists immediately set to work, directly & in-
directly to implicate whom they pleased. Porcu-
pine gave me a principal share in it, as I am told, for
I never read his papers. This state of things added
to my reasons for not departing at the time I in-
tended. These follies seem to have died away in
some degree already. Perhaps I may renew my pur-
pose by the 25th. Their system is, professedly, to
keep up an alarm. Tracy, at the meeting of the joint
committee for adjournment, declared it necessary for
Congress to stay together to keep up the inflamma-
tion of the public mind; and Otis expressed a
similar sentiment since. However, they will ad-
journ. The opposers of adjournment in Senate,
yesterday agreed to adjourn on the 10th of July.
But I think the 1st of July will be carried. That is
one of the objects which detains myself, as well as
one or two more of the Senate, who had got leave
of absence. I imagine it will be decided to-morrow
or next day. To separate Congress now, will be
withdrawing the fire from under a boiling pot.
Your commissions here are all in readiness, but
no vessel for Fredericksburg has yet occurred.
My respectful salutations to mrs. Madison, & the
family, & cordial friendship to yourself.
P. M. A message to both houses this day from
the Prt, with the following communications.
442 The Writings of [1798
"Mar 23. Pickering's letter to the envoys, direct-
ing them, if they are not actually engaged in nego-
tiation with authorized persons, or not conducted
bona fide, & not merely for procrastination, to break
up & come home, and at any rate to consent to no
loan.
"Apr 3. Talleyrand to Gerry. He supposes the
other two gentlemen, perceiving that their known
principles are an obstacle to negociation, will leave
the republic, and proposing to renew the negotia-
tions with Gerry immediately.
' ' Apr 4. Gerry to Talleyrand. Disclaims a power
to conclude anything separately, can only confer in-
formally & as an unaccredited individual, reserving
to lay everything before the government of the U S
for approbation.
"Apr 14. Gerry to the President. He com-
municates the preceding, and hopes the President
will send other persons instead of his collegues &
himself, if it shall appear that anything can be done."
The President's message says, that as the instruc-
tions were not to consent to any loan, he considers
the negociation as at an end, and that he will never
send another minister to France, until he shall be
assured that he will be received and treated with the
respect due to a great, powerful, free & independent
nation.
A bill is brought into the Senate this day, to de-
clare the treaties with Prance void, prefaced by a list
of grievances in the style of a manifesto. It passed
to the 2d. reading by 14 to 5.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 443
A bill for punishing forgeries of bank paper, passed
to the 3d. reading by 14 to 6. Three of the 14.
(Laurence, Bingham & Read) bank directors.
TO SAMUEL SMITH j. mss.
MONTICELLO, Aug. 22, 98.
Dear Sir, — Your favor of Aug 4 came to hand by
our last post, together with the "extract of a letter
from a gentleman of Philadelphia, dated July 10,"
cut from a newspaper stating some facts which re-
spect me. I shall notice these facts. The writer
says that "the day after the last despatches were
communicated to Congress, Bache, Leib, &c, and
a Dr. Reynolds were closeted with me." If the re-
ceipt of visits in my public room, the door con-
tinuing free to every one who should call at the same
time, may be called closeting, then it is true that I
was closeted with every person who visited me; in
no other sense is it true as to any person. I some-
times received visits from Mr. Bache & Dr. Leib.
I received them always with pleasure, because they
are men of abilities, and of principles the most
friendly to liberty & our present form of government.
Mr. Bache has another claim on my respect, as being
the grandson of Dr. Franklin, the greatest man &
ornament of the age and country in which he lived.
Whether I was visited by Mr. Bache or Dr. Leib the
day after the communication referred to, I do not
remember. I know that all my motions at Phila-
delphia, here, and everywhere, are watched &
444 The Writings of [1798
recorded. Some of these spies, therefore, may
remember better than I do, the dates of these visits.
If they say these two gentlemen visited me on the
day after the communications, as their trade proves
their accuracy, I shall not contradict them, tho' I
affirm that I do not recollect it. However, as to
Dr. Reynolds I can be more particular, because I
never saw him but once, which was on an introduc-
tory visit he was so kind as to pay me. This, I well
remember, was before the communication alluded to,
& that during the short conversation I had with him,
not one word was said on the subject of any of the
communications. Not that I should not have spoken
freely on their subject to Dr. Reynolds, as I should
also have done to the letter writer, or to any other
person who should have introduced the subject. I
know my own principles to be pure, & therefore am
not ashamed of them. On the contrary, I wish them
known, & therefore willingly express them to every
one. They are the same I have acted on from the
year 1775 to this day, and are the same, I am sure,
with those of the great body of the American people.
I only wish the real principles of those who censure
mine were also known. But warring against those
of the people, the delusion of the people is necessary
to the dominant party. I see the extent to which
that delusion has been already carried, and I see
there is no length to which it may not be pushed by
a party in possession of the revenues & the legal
authorities of the U S, for a short time indeed, but
yet long enough to admit much particular mischief.
There is no event, therefore, however atrocious,
1798] Thomas Jefferson 445
which may not be expected. I have contemplated
every event which the Maratists of the day can per-
petrate, and am prepared to meet every one in such
a way, as1^ shall not be derogatory either to the pub-
lic liberty or my own personal honor. The letter
writer says, I am "for peace; but it is only with
France." He has told half the truth. He would
have told the whole, if he had added England. I
am for peace with both countries. I know that both
of them have given, & are daily giving, sufficient
cause of war ; that in defiance of the laws of nations,
they are every day trampling on the rights of all the
neutral powers, whenever they can thereby do the
least injury, either to the other. But, as I view a
peace between France & England the ensuing winter
to be certain, I have thought it would have been bet-
ter for us to continue to bear from France through
the present summer, what we have been bearing both
from her & England these four years, and still con-
tinue to bear from England, and to have required
indemnification in the hour of peace, when I verily
believe it would have been yielded by both. This
seems to be the plan of the other neutral nations;
and whether this, or the commencing war on one of
them, as we have done, would have been wisest, time
& events must decide. But I am quite at a loss
on what ground the letter writer can question the
opinion, that France had no intention of making war
on us, & was willing to treat with Mr. Gerry, when
we have this from Taleyrand's letter, and from the
written and verbal information of our envoys. It is
true then, that, as with England, we might of right
446 The Writings of tI79»
have chosen either peace or war, & have chosen
peace, and prudently in my opinion, so with France,
we might also of right have chosen either peace or
war, & we have chosen war. Whethersthe choice
may be a popular one in the other States, I know
not. Here it certainly is not; & I have no doubt
the whole American people will rally ere long to the
same sentiment, & rejudge those who, at present,
think they have all judgment in their own hands.
These observations will show you, how far the im-
putations in the paragraph sent me approach the
truth. Yet they are not intended for a newspaper.
At a very early period of my life, I determined never
to put a sentence into any newspaper. I have re-
ligiously adhered to the resolution through my life,
and have great reason to be contented with it. Were
I to undertake to answer the calumnies of the news-
papers, it would be more than all my own time, &
that of 20. aids could effect. For while I should be
answering one, twenty new ones would be invented.
I have thought it better to trust to the justice of
my countrymen, that they would judge me by what
they see of my conduct on the stage where they have
placed me, & what they knew of me before the epoch
since which a particular party has supposed it might
answer some view of theirs to vilify me in the public
eye. Some, I know, will not reflect how apocryphal
is the testimony of enemies so palpably betraying
the views with which they give it. But this is an
injury to which duty requires every one to submit
whom the public think proper to call into it's coun-
cils. I thank you, my dear Sir, for the interest you
1798] Thomas Jefferson 447
have taken for me on this occasion. Though I have
made up my mind not to suffer calumny to disturb
my tranquillity, yet I retain all my sensibilities for
the approbation of the good & just. That is, in-
deed, the chief consolation for the hatred of so many,
who, without the least personal knowledge, & on the
sacred evidence of Porcupine & Fenno alone, cover
me with their implacable hatred. The only return
I will ever make them, will be to do them all the
good I can, in spite of their teeth.
I have the pleasure to inform you that all your
friends in this quarter are well, and to assure you of
the sentiments of sincere esteem & respect with which
I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
TO ARCHIBALD HAMILTON ROWAN j. mss.
Monticello, Sep. 26, 98.
Sir, — To avoid the suspicions & curiosity of the
post office, which would have been excited by seeing
your name and mine on the back of a letter, I have
delayed acknoleging the receipt of your favor of July
last, till an occasion to write to an inhabitant of Wil-
mington gives me an opportunity of putting my
letter under cover to him. The system of alarm &
jealousy which has been so powerfully played off in
England, has been mimicked here, not entirely with-
out success. The most long-sighted politician could
not, seven years ago, have imagined that the people
of this wide-extended country could have been en-
veloped in such delusion, and made so much afraid
of themselves and their own power, as to surrender it
448 The Writings of [1798
spontaneously to those who are manoeuvring them
into a form of government, the principal branches of
which may be beyond their control. The commerce
of England, however, has spread its roots over the
whole face of our country. This is a real source of
all the obliquities of the public mind; and I should
have had doubts of the ultimate term they might
attain; but happily, the game, to be worth the play-
ing of those engaged in it, must flush them with
money. The authorized expenses of this year are
beyond those of any year in the late war for inde-
pendence, & they are of a nature to beget great &
constant expenses. The purse of the people is the
real seat of sensibility. It is to be drawn upon
largely, and they will then listen to truths which
could not excite them through any other organ. In
this State, however, the delusion has not prevailed.
They are sufficiently on their guard to have justified
the assurance, that should you chuse it for your
asylum, the laws of the land, administered by up-
right judges, would protect you from any exercise
of power unauthorized by the Constitution of the
United States. The Habeas corpus secures every
man here, alien or citizen, against everything which
is not law, whatever shape it may assume. Should
this, or any other circumstance, draw your footsteps
this way, I shall be happy to be among those who
may have an opportunity of testifying, by every
attention in our power, the sentiments of esteem &
respect which the circumstances of your history
have inspired, and which are peculiarly felt by, Sir,
your most obedient, and most humble servant.
1798] Thomas Jefferson 449
TO WILSON CARY NICHOLAS r j. mss.
MONTICELLO Oct. 5. 98.
Dr. Sir, — I entirely approve of the confidence you
have reposed in mr Brackenridge, as he possesses
mine entirely. I had imagined it better those reso-
lutions should have originated with N. Carolina.
But perhaps the late changes in their representation
may indicate some doubt whether they could have
passed. In that case it is better they should come
from Kentucky. I understand you intend soon to go
as far as mr Madison's. You know of course I have
no secrets from him. I wish him therefore to be con-
sulted as to these resolutions. The post boy waiting
at the door obliges me to finish here with assurances
of the esteem of Dr Sir your friend & servt.
TO STEPHENS THOMPSON MASON j. mss.
MONTICELLO, Oct II, 98.
Dear Sir, — I received lately a letter from mr. Cal-
lendar to which the inclosed is an answer. After
perusing it, be so good to stick a wafer in it and
(after it is dry) deliver it. You will perceive that I
propose to you the trouble of drawing for 50. D. for
mr. Callendar on my correspondent in Richmond,
George Jefferson, merchant. This is to keep his
name out of sight. Make your draught if you please
in some such form as this 'Pay to or order,
(or 'Send me in bank bills by post) 50. Dollars on
1 "See his letter of Oct. 4. 98. to which this is an answer. Copy of a
letter time not permitting a press copy this was immediately written
from recollection & is nearly verbal." — T. J.
vol. vm. — 20.
450 The Writings of kltf
account of Thomas Jefferson according to advice re-
ceived from him &c. ' I shall immediately direct him
to pay such a draught from you, without mentioning
to him the purpose. I have to thank you for your
favor of July 6. from Philadelphia. I did not imme-
diately acknolege it, because I knew you would be
come away. The X. Y. Z. fever has considerably
abated through the country, as I am informed, and
the alien & sedition laws are working hard. I fancy
that some of the State legislatures will take strong
ground on this occasion. For my own part, I con-
sider those laws as merely an experiment on the
American mind, to see how far it will bear an avowed
violation of the constitution. If this goes down we
shall immediately see attempted another act of Con-
gress, declaring that the President shall continue in
office during life, reserving to another occasion the
transfer of the succession to his heirs, and the estab-
lishment of the Senate for life. At least, this may
be the aim of the Oliverians, while Monk & the
Cavaliers (who are perhaps the strongest) may be
playing their game for the restoration of his most
gracious Majesty George the Third. That these
things are in contemplation, I have no doubt; nor
can I be confident of their failure, after the dupery
of which our countrymen have shewn themselves
susceptible.
You promised to endeavor to send me some
tenants. I am waiting for them, having broken up
two excellent farms with 12. fields in them of 40.
acres each, some of which I have sowed with small
grain, Tenants of any size may be accommodated
1798] Thomas Jefferson 451
with the number of fields suited to their force. Only
send me good people, and write me what they are.
Adieu. Yours affectionately.
PETITION ON ELECTION OF JURORS *
[October 1798.]
To the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
Virginia
The Petition of Sundry persons inhabitants of the
county of Albemarle and citizens of the said Com-
monwealth respectfully sheweth.
That though civil govmt. duly framed and ad-
ministered be one of the greatest blessings and most
powerful instruments for procuring safety and hap-
piness to men collected in large societies, yet such is
the proneness of those to whom its powers are
necessarily deputed to pervert them to the attain-
ment of personal wealth and dominion & to the
utter oppression of their fellow-men, that it has
become questionable whether the condition of our
aboriginal neighbors who live without laws or magis-
tracies be not preferable to that of the great mass of
the nations of the earth who feel their laws and
magistrates but in the weight of their burthens.
That the citizens of these U. S. impressed with this
mortifying truth when they deposed the abusive
govmt under which they have lived, founded their
new forms, as well particular as general in that fact
1 See letters to Madison of October 26, 1798, and to John Taylor of
November 26, 1798.
452 The Writings of [1798
and principle, that the people themselves are the
safest deposit of power, and that none therefore
should be trusted to others which they can com-
petently exercise themselves, that their own experi-
ence having proved that the people are competent
to the appointment or election of their agents, that
of their chief executive magistrates was reserved
to be made by themselves or by others chosen by
themselves: as was also the choice of their legisla-
tures whether composed of one or more branches:
that in the judiciary department, sensible that they
were inadequate to questions of law, these were in
ordinary cases confided to permanent judges, re-
serving to juries only extraordinary cases where a
bias in the permanent judge might be suspected,
and where honest ignorance would be safer than
perverted science: and reserving to themselves also
the whole department of fact which constitutes in-
deed the great mass of judiciary litigations: that
the wisdom of these reservations will be apparent
on a recurrence to the history of that country from
which we chiefly emigrated, where the faint glim-
merings of liberty and safety now remaining to the
nation are kept in feeble life by the reserved powers
of the people only. That in the establishment of
the trial by jury, however, a great inconsistence has
been overlooked in this and some others of the
states, or rather has been copied from their original
without due attention : for while the competence of
the people to the appointmt even of the highest
executive and the legislative agents is admitted &
established, and their competence to be themselves
1798] Thomas Jefferson 453
the triers of judiciary facts, the appointment of the
special individuals from among themselves who
shall be such triers of fact has not been left in their
hands, but has been placed by law in officers de-
pendent on the executive or judiciary bodies: that
triers of fact are therefore habitually taken in this
state from among accidental bystanders and too
often composed of foreigners attending on matters of
business and of idle persons collected for purposes
of dissipation, and in cases interesting to the powers
of the public functionaries may be specially selected
from descriptions of persons to be found in every
country, whose ignorance or dependance renders
them pliable to the will and designs of power. That
in others of these states, [and particularly in those
to the eastward of the union,1] this germ of rotted-
ness in the constitution of juries has been carefully
excluded, and their laws have provided with laudable
foresight for the appointment of jurors by selectmen
chosen by the people themselves: and to a like
restitution of principle and salutary precaution
against the abuse of power by the public function-
aries, who never did yet in any country fail to betray
and oppress those for the care of whose affairs they
were appointed, by force if they possessed it, or by
fraud and delusion if they did not, your petitioners
pray the timely attention of their legislature, while
that legislature (and with a heartfelt satisfaction
the petitioners pronounce it) are still honest enough
to wish the preservation of the rights of the people,
and wise enough to circumscribe in time the spread
1 This clause is struck out in MS.
454 The Writings of [1798
of that gangrene which sooner than many are aware
may reach the vitals of our political existence.
And lest it should be supposed that the popular
appointmt of jurors may scarcely be practicable in
a state so exclusive and circumstanced as ours, your
petitioners will undertake to suggest one mode, not
presumg to propose it for the adoption of the
legislature, but firmly relying that their wisdom will
devise a better: they observe then that by a law
already passed for the establishment of schools pro-
vision has been made for laying off every county
into districts or precincts; that this division which
offers so many valuable resources for the purposes of
information, of justice, of order and police, may be
recurred to for the object now in contemplation, and
may be completed for this purpose where it has not
been done for the other, and the inhabitants of every
precinct may meet at a given time and place in
their precinct and in the presence of the constable
or other head officer of the precinct, elect from among
themselves some one to be a juror, that from among
those so chosen in every county some one may be
designated by lot, who shall attend the ensuing
session of the federal court within the state to act as
grand and petty jurors, one of those from every
senatorial district being designated by lot for a grand
juror, and the residue attending to serve as petty
jurors to be in like manner designated by lot in
every particular case: that of the others so chosen
in every county composing a district for the itinerant
courts of this Commonwealth so many may be
taken by lot as shall suffice for grand and petty
17981 Thomas Jefferson 455
juries for the district court next ensuing their elec-
tion ; and the residue so chosen in each county may
attend their own county courts for the same pur-
poses till another election, or if too numerous the
supernumeraries may be discharged by lot: and
that such compensation may be allowed for these
services as without rendering the office an object
worth canvassing may yet protect the juror from
actual loss. That an institution on this outline, or
such better as the wisdom of the Gen. ass. will de-
vise, so modified as to guard it against the intrigue
of parties, the influence of power, or irregularities
of conduct, and further matured from time to time
as experience shall develop its imperfections, may
long preserve the trial by jury, in its pure and
original spirit, as the true tribunal of the people,
for a mitigation in the execution of hard laws when
the power of preventing their passage is lost, and
may afford some protection to persecuted man,
whether alien or citizen, which the aspect of the
times warns we may want.
And your petitioners, waiving the expression of
many important considerations which will offer
themselves readily to the reflection of the general
assembly, pray them to take the premises into deep
and serious consideration and to do therein for their
country what their wisdom shall deem best, and they
as in duty bound shall ever pray &c.
456 The Writings of [1798
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Oct. 26th. 98.
The day after you left us, I sat down and wrote
the petition I mentioned to you. It is not yet cor-
rect enough, & I enclose you a copy to which I pray
your corrections, and to return it by the next post,
that it may be set in motion. On turning to the
judiciary law of the U. S. I find they established the
designation of jurors by lot or otherwise as NOW
practised in the several states; should this prevent, in
the first moment the execution of so much of the
proposed law, as respects the federal courts, the
people will be in possession of the right of electing
jurors as to the state courts, & either Congress will
agree to conform their courts to the same rule, or
they will be loaded with an odium in the eyes of the
people generally which will force the matter through.
I will send you a copy of the other paper by Richard-
son. Do not send for him till Monday sennight, be-
cause that gives us another post-day to warn you of
any unexpected delays in winding up his work here
for the season, which, tho' I do not foresee, may yet
happen. Adieu affectionately.
TO JAMES MADISON j. mss.
Monticello, November 17, 1798.
Mr. Richardson has been detained by several jobs
indespensible to the progress of the carpenters, & to
the securing what is done against winter. When will
Whitten be done with you? or could you by any
1798] Thomas Jefferson 457
means dispense with his services till I set out for
Philadelphia? My floors can only be laid while I am
at home, and I can not get a workman here. Per-
haps you have some other with you or near you who
could go on with your work till his return to you. I
only mention these things that if you have any other
person who could enable you to spare him a few
weeks, I could employ him to much accommodation
till my departure in laying my floors. But in this
consult your own convenience only.
I enclose you a copy of the draught of the Ken-
tucky resolves. I think we should distinctly affirm
all the important principles they contain, so as to
hold to that ground in future, and leave the matter
in such a train as that we may not be committed
absolutely to push the matter to extremities, & yet
may be free to push as far as events will render
prudent. I think to set out so as to arrive in
Philadelphia the Saturday before Christmas. My
friendly respects to mrs. Madison, to your father &
family; health, happiness & adieu to yourself.
40. lbs. of [ ] nails @ i4^d per lb. were sent this
morning, being all we had. They contained (accord-
ing to the count of a single pound) 314 X 40 =
12.560.
458 The Writings of [1798
DRAFTS OP THE KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 17981
J. MSS.
[Nov. 1798]
ROUGH DRAFT FAIR COPY
i. Resolved that the several 1. Resolved, That the several
states composing the U. S. of States composing the United
America did are not united on States of America, are not
the principle of unlimited sub- united on the principle of un-
mission to their general gov- limited submission to their
1 The text in the first column is from the rough draft, and that in
the second from a fair copy. The facsimile is the text actually moved
by Breckenridge, adopted by the Kentucky legislature, and sent to
the other state legislatures.
As early as April 26, 1798 (see ante. p. 411) Jefferson was predicting
and disapproving of possible Alien and Sedition bills, and from that
time his letters express the strongest dislike to those acts. Thoroughly
opposed to disunion (see letter to John Taylor, VII, p. 430) yet be-
lieving these Federalist measures only initial steps towards a dictator-
ship or monarchy, Jefferson cast about him for some means of checking
the project, and finally hit upon the now famous doctrine of nullifica-
tion of Federal statutes by means of resolutions of state legislatures.
No one better realized the hazard of such a doctrine than its inventor,
as is indicated not merely by the guarded phrasing, (done with pur-
pose as is shown by his letters to Madison, Taylor, and Nicholas, post,)
but quite as much by the absolute secrecy with which his share in the
whole attempt was kept for many years.
The resolutions were originally prepared for North Carolina, and
their destination changed for reasons given in the letter to Nicholas,
ante, p. 449.
Jefferson wrote to Madison :
"Monticello, November 17, 1798.
"I enclose you a copy of the draught of the Kentucky resolves. I
think we should distinctly affirm all the important principles they con-
tain, so as to hold to that ground in future, and leave the matter in
such a train as that we may not be committed to push matters to ex-
tremities, & yet may be free to push as far as events will render
prudent."
To Taylor he wrote :
"Monticello, Nov. 26, 1798.
"For the present I should be for resolving the alien & sedition laws
to be against the constitution & merely void, and for addressing the
T
In the Houfe of Reprefenlatives,
NOVEMBER \otli, 1798.
THE HOUSE according to the {landing Order of trie
Day, refolvcd itfelf into a Committee of the Whole
On the flats of the Commonwealth,.
Mr- CALDWELL In the Chair,
And after lbmetime Ipent therein the Speaker returned
the Chair, and Mr. Caldwell reported, that the Com-
mittee had according to order had under conftderation
the Cavemor's Addrefs, and had come to the follow-
ing Resolutions thereupon, which he delivered in
tithe Clerk's table, where they were twice read and
agreed to by the Houfe.
I. T> ESOLVED, that the feveralftates
JX. compelling the United States of
America, are not united on the principle
of unlimited fubmiflion to their General
Government ; but that by compact under
the ftyle and title of a Conftitution, for
the United States and of amendments
thereto, they condituted a General Go-
vernment fttfpecial purpofes, delegated
to that Government certain definite pow-
ers, referving, each {late to itfelf, the re-
fiduary mafs of right to their own felf
Government; and that, whenfoever the
General Government aftumes undelegated
powers, its ads are unauthoritative,. void,
and of no force : That to this compact
each date acceded as a {late, and is an
integral party,, its co-dates forming as to
Itfelf, the other party; That the Govern-
ment created by this compact was not
made the exclufive or final judge of the
extent of the powers delegated to itfelf j
fines that would have made its difcretion,
and not the conftitution, the tneafure of
Its powers ; but that as in all other cafes
of compact araongpartiesliaviug no com-
mon Judge, each party has an equal right
Co judge for itfelf, as well of infractions
as of the mode and. mcafure ef redrefs.
II. Refolred. that the Cunftituiion of
the United States havinrj delegated to
Cocgteft a power Co punifli treafon,. coun-
terfeiting the? lecurities andiicintmnt cola
of the United States, piracieslltiidTifetoniM
committed on the High Seajpand offen-
ces againft the laws of nations'.iand no o*
ther crimes whatever, and it being true
as a general .principle, and one of tht
amendments to the Conditirtion having
alfo declared, " that the powers not tie-
legated to the United States by the Con-
ftitution, nor prohibited by it to the flares,
are referved to the flares refpeftively, or
to the people," therefore alfo the fame
act of Cougrefs pafled on the 14th day of
July, 1798, and entitled " An aft in ad-
dition to the aft entitled an aft for the
punifhment of certain crimes againft the
United States:" as alfo the aft paired by
them on the 27th day of June, 1798, enti-
tled " An aft to punifli frauds committed
on the Bank of the United States" (and
all other, their, afts which afftime to cre-
ate, define, or pnnilh crimes other than
tbofe enumerated in the conftitution) are
altogether void and of no force, and that
the power to create, define, and puniih
fnch other crimes is referved, and of right
appertains folety and exclufively to the
refpective ftates, each within its own
Territory.
III. Refolved, that it is true as a gene-
ral principle, and is alfo exprefsly declare
ed by one of the amendments to the Con-
ftitution that " the powers not delegated
to the United States by the Conftitution,
nor prohibited by it to the ftates, are re-
ferved to the ftates refpeftively or to the
people;" and that no power over the
freedom of religion, freedom of fpeech,
or freedom, of the prefs beinj delegated
to the United States by the Conftitution,
nor prohibited by it to ths ftates, all law
fnl powers reflecting the fame did of
right.remain, and were, referved . to the
{fates,- or to the people : That thus was
manifefted. their determination to retain
to themfelves the right of judging how
farthe licentioufnefs of fpeech and of the
prefs mav be abridged without lefTenfng
their ufefnl freedom, and how far thofu
ab.tifei which cannot' be Xcparated from
*.!ieir life, Ihoilld'be tolerated, rather than
the life be deftroyed i and thus alfo they
guarded againftall abridgement by the
United Stares of the freedom of religious
opinions and exercifes, and retained to
theinTelVeR the right of protecting ihe
fame, as This fiate by a Law pafied on the
general demand of its Citizens, had alrea-
dy protected them from all human ref-
trainc or jnterference : And that in ad-
dition to tills general principle and ex-
prefs declaration, another and more
fpecial provifion has been made by one of
the amendments to the Conftitution which
exprefsly declares, that " Congrefs fllall
make no law refpefting an Eftablilhment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exer-
cife thereof, or abridging the freedom of
fpeech, or of the prefs," thereby guarding
in the fame fentence, and under the fame
■words, the freedom of religion, of (peech,
and of the'prefs, infomuch, that whatever
Violates either, throws down the fandtu-
nry which covers the others, and that li-
bels, falfehoods, and defamation, equally
with herefy and falfe religion, are with-
held from the cognizance of federal tri-
bunals. That, therefore the aft of the
Congrefs of the United States pa/Fct on
the 14th -day of July 1798, entitled "■ An
aft in addition to the aft foe the punifli-
ment of certain Crimes a'gainlt the United
States," which does abridge the freedom'
of the prefs, is not law, but is altogether
void and of no effect.
IV. RefotVed, that alien friends are
Under the jurisdiction and protection of
the taws of the fiate wherein they are;
that no power over them has been dele-
gated to the United States', noi prohibit-
ed to the Individual ftates diftinct from
their power over citizens; and it being
true as a general principle, and one of the
amendments to the Constitution having
alfo declared, that *« the.powers not de-
legntcd to the United States by xha Con-
Ititutioa nor prohibited by it to the dates
are refsrved to the ftates respectively or
totae people," the acTt of the Congrefcof
the Unired States palled on the 22d day
of June, 1798,. entitled" Auait concern-
ing oliens,"' which aflVmcspovrer'over
■ mllen. friends-not delegated by the Confti-
tution, is not law, but is a'kogette* vcM
and of no farce.
v; JUfoIved, that in addition to the.
general principle as well 'as the expreft
declaration, that powers not delegated
are referred, another and. more fpecial
provilien inferted inrhe Conftitution from.
abundant caution has declared," " that
the migration or importation of fuch per-
rons as any of the ftates now exlft'ng fliall,
think proper to admit, fliall not be pro-
hibited by the Congrefs prior to the.year
1808." That this Commonwealth does
admit the migration of alien friends def-
eribed as the fubjecl: of the faid aft con-
cerning aliens; that a prorifion agaln{f
prohibiting-thei? migration, is a provifion
againft all acts equivalent thereto, or it,
would be nugatory,; that to remove them
when/migrated is, eanivalent .to a prabit
bitlon of their migration, and is there-
fore contrary to the faid provifion of the
Conftitution, and void.
VI, Refolved, that the imprisonment
of a perfon tinder the protection of the
Lawj-of this Commonwealth on hisfailure
to obey the Ample order of the Prefident
to depart out of the United States, as is
Undertaken by the faid act entitled " An
act concerning Aliens," is contrary to the
Conftitution, one amendment to which has
provided, that " no perfon (hall be de-
prived of liberty without due procefs of
law " and that another having provided
" that in all criminal profecutlons, th»
secured (hall enjoy the right to a public
.trial by an impartial iwy> to be informed
of the nature and caufeof theaceufation,
vtobe confronted w'uhthewitncfles aeainft
him, to have compulfory procefs for ob-
taining witnefTes in hisfavour, and to have
the affiftance of eounfel for' his defence,*'
the fame act undertaking" to 'authorize
the Prefident to remove a perfon out of
the United States who Is under the pro-
tection of the Law, on his-own fnfpicion,
without accufation, without jury', witb.-
01. public trial, without confrontation
of the witnslTes againft him, without hav.
lug witneiTes in hisr favour, witno»t jje»
fence, without eounfel,-)* contrary to
thefe provifions alfo of the Con(cituii«tr#
it thereiore not bv "but utterlvvoia and
of no force.
That transferring the power of judging
any perron who is under the protection of
rnelaws-fromthe Courts to the Preiident,
of the United States, as is undertaken by
the fame aft concerning Aliens, is againfl
the article of the Conftitution which pro".
*vMes, that " the judicial power of the
United. States ftall Be veiled in Courts,
the Judgea.of which lhall hold their offices
during good, behaviour," and thauhe faid
aft Uvoia.for that reafon alfo ; and it is
further to ho noted, that this transfer of
JndiciaJf power is to that magiflrate of
the General Government who already
poffefles all'the Executive, and a qualified
negative in all the Legislative powers,
VII. RefoWed, that the conftruftion
'applied by the General Government (as is
evinced by .fundry of their proceedings)
to thofe parts of the Conftitution of. the
United. States which delegate to Congrefs
a power lx> layand colleft taxes, duties,
impofts, and excifes; to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defence, and
genera! welfare of the United States, and
to make all laws which, lhall be neceflary
»nd proper for carrying into executionth*
powers veiled, by the Conftitution in. the
Gc-aarnment of the United States, or any*
department thereof, goes to the • definit-
ion of all the limits prefcribed tn their
tower by the Conftuution—Tbat words
rteant by thatinftrument to bc-AibEduarjr
nnfyto the execution of the limited pow-
er*; ought not to be fo conftrued.as.thehtr-.
raves to give unlimited rowers,nora part
fo to be taken, as tn deftroy the whole re-
twine cf the inftrnm-nt .• That the pro-
ceedings of the General Government an-
iev colon* of thefe articles, will be a fit
jttd -neoeflarr fubjefl for revifal. and cor-
jreftloff at ..sn3nre of greater tranquility,'
-while thofe ipeclfied in the precedintf.re-
filutions call.fbrjmmediatc vedrefs.
Via; Refolved, tiaetnelMreceJUiig-Re-J
-rotations be tranfmitteft to the Senators
andL Reprefentatives in CMrgrefs from thrs
Commonwealth, Who are hereby enjoined
to-prefent the feme-to their refpective
JHotifesi andtov.fi: -their belt cndcay.ours
to procure at the next feffion ofCongrets,
a repeal of the a fore Paid unconstitutional
and. obnoxious acts,
IX. Refolved laftly, that the Governor
of. this Commonwealth bejiand is hereby
atithorifed and requested to communicate
the preceding Resolutions to the Legisla-
tures of the feveral States, to allure then!
that this Commonwealth confiders Union
for fpecified National purpofes, and par*
ticularly for thofe fpecified in their late
Federal Compadt, to be friendly to the
peace, happinefsrand profperity of all the
ftates : that faithful to that compact, ac-
cording to the plain intent and meaning
in which it was understood and ac-
ceded to by the feveral parties, it is fin-
cerely anxious for its prefervation : that
it does alfo believe, that to take from the
ftates ail the powers of felf government,
and transfer them to a general and coiifo-
lidated Government, without regard to
the fpecial delegations and refervations
folemnly agreed to in that compafl, is not
fo*r the peace, happiness, or profperity of
thefe ftates: And. that therefore, this Com-
monwealth is determined,' as it doubts not
itsCo-ftates are, taraely-to fubmit to unde-
legated & confequentiyunllmited powers
in no. man or body of men en earth: that if
the afts before fpecified fhnuid ftand,thefe
conclufions would flow from them ; Oat
the General Government may place any
aft they think proper on tfte lift of crimes &
punifliit themfelves/whether enumerated
op: not enumerated by the Conftitiitioit a*
cognizable by.them: thattheymay transfer
its cognisance to-tlie-Prefirteiitoraay other
perfon, who jsay himfclf be the accufer,
counfei, judge, andjury. whcife fufpiciaii
may be the. evidence,' his order the fVnw
tence, his oficerr.be executioner) olid his
breaft the fole record of. tne'tranfa&ion :
thata very:numerousand valuable defcrip-
tion of the inhabitants el thefe ftates. be-
ing by this precedent reduced a» outlaw!
to the aWolute" dociinwn efone man and
the bar air of the Conftitution thusjwept'
juvayfrcm tis all,. no rsmpartnew rcmajne
againit the palSons and the power of Mil'
jority o£ Ccrtgrefs, tn prot'eft from. a like
exportation or other .wore grievous puniui-
Oisut.ihe nwnorityvof the faro* body, the
fi.eirilbrnres, Judftes, Governors, & Coun-
ifeliorsof Ihe ilates, nor their other peacea-
ble inhabitants whcmay venture to reclaim
the conuit'mional rights &Jibertiesof the
-flares & people, or who, fprolher caufcs,
good or bad,inay be obnoxious to the views
ormarUedbyth'efiirpicionsof thePrefident,
or be thought dangerous to his or their
elections or other interelts public, or per-
fonal r that the frisudUfe alien IiasindetJ
been fclccied as the fafeft fubje£t of a
frit experiment! but the citizen will1
loon follow, or rather haa already follow-
ed; tor, already lias a Sedition Aft marked
him, as its prey : that thefe and fuecefltve
v&s of the fame character, unlefs arretted
on' the threlhold, may tend to drive thefe
dates into revolution and blood, and will
Xurnifli new calumnies againft Republican
Governments, and new pretexts for thofe
who wifli it to be believed, that man can-
not be governed but "by a rod of iron :
that it would be a dangerous delufiort were
a confidence in the men of our choice to'
filence our fears for the fafety of our
rights : that confidence is every1 where the
jtavent of defpotifm : free government is
founded in j ealeufy and not in confidence ;
it is jealoiify- and not confidence which
jjrefcribes limited Conflitutions to bind
down thpfe whom we are obliged to trnft
with power : that our Conftitution has
accordingly fixed the limits to which and
no further our confidence may go j and
Jet the houelt advocate of confidence read
fhe Alien and Sedition Acts, and fay if the
Conftitution has not been wife in fixing
limits to the Government it created, and
whether we Should be wife in deltroylng
thofe limits ? Let him fay what the Gov-
ernment is if it be not a tyranny, which
Hie men of our choice have conferred on
ihe Prcfident, and the Vrefident of our
choice has afientcd to and accepted over
the friendly ftrangcrs, to wnom the mild
fpirit of our Country .and tts laws had
pledged hospitality and protection : that
the men of our choice have more refpeft*
ed the bare fufpicions of the1 Prefiden'
thin the Solid • rights of Innocence, the
claims of justification, the Cicred. force of
rrinli, and [he forms & ffcbftanc.e of law and
Justice. In rjlicftionsot' pntver then let no
aiBicbe heard of confidence in ma. a, bin
bind him down from miSiliief by ithec hsim
of the Conflitntion. Tliat this Common-
wealth does therefore call on its Co-dates
for an cxpreflion of their Sentiments on
the afts, concerning Aliens, and for the
punishment of certain crimes herein be-
fore Specified, plainly declaring whether*
thefe ads are or pre not authorifed by the
Federal Compact? And it doubts not that
their fenfe will be fo announced asto prove
their attaenment unaltered to limited Go-
vernment, whether general or particular,
and that the-rights and liberties of their
Go-Gates will bet expofed to no dangers
by remaining; embatked on a common
bottom with their own: That they will
concur with this Commonwealth in con-
fid ering the faid acxs as fo palpably againft
the Conftitution as to amount to an un-
disguised declaration, that the Compact
is not meant to b& the measure of the
powers of the General Government, bat
that it will proceed in the exercife over
thefe dates of all powers whatsoever : That
they will, view this as Seizing the rights
of the Hates and consolidating them in the
hands of the General Government with a
power aflnmed to bind the Rates (not
merely in cafes made federal) but in all
cafes whatfoever, by. laws made, not with,
their content, but by others againft their
confent: That this would be to Surrender
the form of Government we have chofen,
and to live under one deriving .it powers
from its own will, and not from our au-
thority ; and [hat the Co-ftates recurring
to their narnral right in Cafes not made
federal, will concur in declaring thefe
a£U void and. of no force, and will each
unite with this Coramonwealthin requeu-
ing .their repeal at the next faftian of
Congrcfs.
EDMUND BULLOCK, S. H.'R.
JOHN CAMPBELL, S. S. P. T.
Faded the Houfe of Representatives, Nov. loth, 179S.
AtteA,
THOMAS TODD, C. H, R.
IN SENATE, November 13th, 1798, enammouuj
concurred in,
Attcft, b, THKUSTON, Clk. Sen
Appiovcd November 16th, 1798.
JAMES GARRARD. G. K.
«Y THE COYiRNOS,
Harry ioulmin,
Secretary off taua
1798] Thomas Jefferson 459
ernment ; but that by a com- general government ; but that,
pact under the style & title of a by a compact under the style
Constitution for the U. S. and and title of a Constitution for
of Amendments thereto, they the United States, and of
constituted a General govern- amendments thereto, they
ment for special purposes ; constituted a general govern-
delegated to that govern- ment for special purposes, — ■
other States to obtain similar declarations ; and I would not do any-
thing at this moment which should commit us further, but reserve our-
selves to shape our future measures or no measures, by the events
which may happen."
The history of the resolutions Jefferson stated in a letter to John
Cabel Breckenridge :
"Monticello, December n, 1821.
"Dear Sir, — Your letter of December 19th places me under a
dilemma which I cannot solve but by an exposition of the naked truth.
I would have wished this rather to have remained as hitherto, without
inquiry, but your inquiries have a right to be answered. I will do it
as exactly as the great lapse of time and a waning memory will enable
me. I may misremember indifferent circumstances, but can be right
in substance. At the time when the Republicans of our country were
so much alarmed at the proceedings of the Federal ascendancy in Con-
gress, in the Executive and the Judiciary departments, it became a
matter of serious consideration how head could be made against their
enterprises on the Constitution. The leading republicans in Congress
found themselves of no use there, browbeaten as they were by a bold
and overwhelming majority. They concluded to retire from that
field, take a stand in their state legislatures, and endeavor there to
arrest their progress. The Alien and Sedition laws furnished the par-
ticular occasion. The sympathy between Virginia and Kentucky was
more cordial and more intimately confidential than between any other
two States of republican policy. Mr. Madison came into the Virginia
legislature. I was then in the Vice-Presidency, and could not leave
my station; but your father, Colonel W. C. Nicholas, and myself,
happening to be together, the engaging the co-operation of Kentucky
in an energetic protestation against the constitutionality of those laws
became a subject of consultation. Those gentlemen pressed me
strongly to sketch resolutions for that purpose, your father undertak-
ing to introduce them to that legislature, with a solemn assurance,
which I strictly required, that it should not be known from what
quarter they came. I drew and delivered them to him, and in keeping
their origin secret he fulfilled his pledge of honor. Some years after
460 The Writings of [1798
ment certain definite powers, delegated to that government
reserving, each state to itself, certain definite powers, re-
the residuary mass of right to serving, each State to itself,
their own self-government ; the residuary mass of right to
and that whensoever the Gen- their own self-government;
eral government assumes un- and that whensoever the gen-
delegated powers, it's acts are eral government assumes un-
this, Colonel Nicholas asked me if I had any objection to it being
known that I had drawn them. I pointedly enjoined that it should
not. Whether he had unguardedly intimated before to any one I
know not, but I afterwards observed in the papers repeated imputa-
tions of them to me, on which, as has been my practice on all occasions
of imputation, I have observed entire silence. The question, indeed,
has never before been put to me, nor should I answer it to any other
than yourself, seeing no good end to be proposed by it, and the desire
of tranquility inducing with me a wish to be withdrawn from public
notice. Your father's zeal and talents were too well known to desire
any additional distinction from the penning these resolutions. That
circumstance surely was of far less merit than the proposing and
carrying them through the legislature of his state. The only fact in
this statement on which my memory is not distinct, is the time and
occasion of the consultation with your father and Mr. Nicholas. It
took place here I know, but whether any other person was present or
communicated with is my doubt. I think Mr. Madison was either
with us or consulted, but my memory is uncertain as to minor details.
I fear, dear sir, we are now in such another crisis, with this difference
only, that the judiciary branch is alone and singlehanded in the
present assaults on the Constitution; but its assaults are more sure
and deadly, as from an agent seemingly passive and unassuming.
May you and your contemporaries meet them with the same deter-
mination and effect as your father and his did the 'alien and sedition'
laws and preserve inviolate a constitution which, cherished in all its
chastity and purity, will prove in the end a blessing to all the nations
of the earth. With these prayers, accept those for your own happiness
and prosperity."
The resolutions, with those of Virginia of 1798 and 1799, produced
an extensive pamphlet literature at the time, a bibliography of which
is a distinct desideratum, and has since then been the cause of many
publications. The most interesting arguments on the questions in-
volved are those of Story, Calhoun, Van Hoist, and Johnston, and
minute histories of the Kentucky resolutions have been written by
R. T. Durrett {Southern Bivouac, 1, 577, 658, 760), and by E. D.
Warfield (New York: 1887).
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
461
unauthoritative, void & of no
force.
That to this compact each
state acceded as a state, and
is an integral party, it's co-
states forming, as to itself,
the other party.
That the constitutional form
of-~action for this comj
wealth^s-a^party^jkrTrespect
to any othgp--r3acty is by it's
organizea powers &~~SQt^ by
. body.
That the government created
by this compact was not made
the exclusive or final judge of
the extent of the powers dele-
gated to itself, since that
would have made it's discre-
tion, & not the constitution,
the measure of it's powers:
but that, as in all other cases
of compact among powers
having no common judge,
each party has an equal right
to judge for itself, as well of
infractions, as of the mode &
measure of redress.
2. Resolved that, one of the
Amendments to the Constt
tion
law
Sstablishment
delegated powers, its acts are
unauthoritative, void, and of
no force : that to this compact
each State acceded as a State,
and is an integral party, its
co-States forming, as to it-
self, the other party : that the
government created by this
compact was not made the
exclusive or final judge of the
extent of the powers dele-
gated to itself; since that
would have made its dis-
cretion, and not the Con-
stitution, the measure of its
powers; but that, as in all
other cases of compact among
powers having no common
judge, each party has an equal
right to judge for itself, as
well of infractions as of the
mode and measure of redress.
462
The Writings of
[1798
„the Congress of the U.
pass^sd on the 1st day of/July
1798, intituled "Anajytfin ad-
dition to the act intituled an
Act for theN^tmishment of
certain crimes against the U.
S." whion does abridge the
freedojn of speech &\>f the
preas\ is not law, but is alto-
gether void and of no forced
2. Resolved that, the Con-
stitution of the U. S. having
delegated to Congress a power
to punish treason, conterfeit-
ing the securities & current
coin of the U. S. and piracies
& felonies committed on the
high seas and offences against
the law of nations, and no
other crimes whatsoever, and
it being true as a general prin-
ciple, and one of the Amend-
ments to the Constitution
having also declared, that
"the powers not delegated to
the U. S. by the constitu-
tion, nor prohibited by it
to the states, are reserved to
the states respectively, or to
the people, "therefore -ake, the
came act of Congress passed
by Congrooo on the 14th day
of July 1 798, and intituled "an
Act in addition to the act in-
tituled an Act for the punish-
ment of certain crimes against
the U. S." as also the act
2. Resolved, That the Con-
stitution of the United States
having delegated to Congress
a power to punish treason,
counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the United
States, piracies, and felonies
committed on the high seas,
and offences against the law
of nations, and no other
crimes whatsoever ; and it be-
ing true as a general principle,
and one of the amendments
to the Constitution having
also declared, that "the
powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitu-
tion, nor prohibited by it to
the States, are reserved to the
States respectively, or to the
people," therefore the act of
Congress, passed on the 14th
day of July, 1798, and intit-
uled "An Act in addition to
the act intituled An Act for
the punishment of certain
crimes against the United
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
463
passed by them on the
day of June 1798, intituled
" an Act to punish frauds com-
mitted on the bank of the U.
S.," (and all their other acts
which assume to create, de-
fine, or punish crimes, other
than those so enumerated in
the Constitution) are alto-
gether void and of no force
and that the power to create,
define, & punish such other
crimes is reserved, and of
right appurtains solely and
exclusively to the respective
states, each within it's own
territory.
3. Resolved that it is true as
a general principle and is also
expressly declared by one of
the amendments to the consti-
tution that "the powers not
delegated to the U. S. by the
constitution nor prohibited by
it to the states, are reserved
to the states respectively or to
the people : " and that no pow-
er over the freedom of religion,
freedom of speech, or freedom
of the press being delegated to
the U. S. by the constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the
states, all lawful powers re-
specting the same did of right
remain, & were reserved to
the states or the people: that
States," as also the act passed
by them on the — day of
June, 1798, intituled "An Act
to punish frauds committed
on the banks of the United
States," (and all their other
acts which assume to create,
define, or punish crimes, other
than those so enumerated in
the Constitution,) are alto-
gether void, and of no force;
and that the power to create,
define, and punish such other
crimes is reserved, and, of
right, appertains solely and
exclusively to the respective
States each within its own ter-
ritory.
3. Resolved, That it is true as
a general principle, and is also
expressly declared by one of
the amendments to the Con-
stitution,that "the powers not
delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor pro-
hibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respec-
tively, or to the people" ; and
that no power over the free-
dom of religion, freedom of
speech, or freedom of the press
being delegated to the United
States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the
States, all lawful powers re-
specting the same did of right
remain, and were reserved to
464
The Writings of
[1798
thus was manifested their de-
termination to retain to them-
selves the right of judging
how far the licentiousness of
speech and of the press may-
be abridged without lessening
their useful freedom, and how
far these abuses which cannot
be separated from their use
should be tolerated rather
than the use be destroyed;
and thus also they guarded
against all abridgment by the
U. S. of the freedom of reli-
gious opinions and exercises,
& retained to themselves the
right of protecting the same,
as this state by a law passed
on the general demand of it's
citizens had already protected
them from all human restraint
and interference. And that in
addition to this general prin-
ciple & 4fee express declara-
tion, another & more special
provision has been made by
one of the amendments to the
constitution which expressly
declares that "Congress shall
make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise
thereof or abridging the free-
dom of speech of the press' '
thereby guarding in the same
sentence and under the same
words the freedom of religion,
the States or the people : that
thus was manifested their de-
termination to retain to them-
selves the right of judging
how far the licentiousness of
speech and of the press may
be abridged without lessening
their useful freedom, and how
far those abuses which cannot
be separated from their use
should be tolerated, rather
than the use be destroyed.
And thus also they guarded
against all abridgment by the
United States of the freedom
of religious opinions and exer-
cises, and retained to them-
selves the right of protecting
the same, as this State, by a
law passed on the general de-
mand of its citizens, had al-
ready protected them from
all human restraint or inter-
ference. And that in addition
to this general principle and
express declaration, another
and more special provision
has been made by one of the
amendments to the Constitu-
tion, which expressly declares
that " Congress shall make no
law respecting an establish-
ment of religion, or prohibit-
ing the free exercise thereof,
or abridging the freedom of
speech or of the press " : there-
by guarding in the same
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
465
of speech & of the press, inso-
much that whatever violates
one- either throws down the
sanctuary which covers the
others, and that putting with-
eMing- libels, falsehood and de-
famation equally with heresy
& false religion are with-
eld from federal the cognis-
ance of the- federal tribunals,
that therefore the act of the
Congress of the U. S. passed
on the 14th day of July 1798
intituled "an act in addition
to the act intituled an Act
for the punishment of certain
crimes against the U.S." which
does abridge the freedom of
the press is not law, but is al-
together void and of no force.
4. Resolved that Alien-
friends are under the jurisdic-
tion and protection of the
laws of the state wherein they
are, that no power over them
has been delegated to the U.
S. nor prohibited to the in-
dividual states distinct from
their power over citizens: and
it being true as a general prin-
ciple, and one of the Amend-
ments to the constitution
having also declared, that
"the powers not delegated to
VOL. VIII.— JO.
sentence, and under the same
words, the freedom of reli-
gion, of speech, and of the
press: insomuch, that what-
ever violates either, throws
down the sanctuary which
covers the others, and that li-
bels, falsehood, and defama-
tion, equally with heresy and
false religion, are withheld
from the cognizance of federal
tribunals. That, therefore,
the act of Congress of the
United States, passed on the
14th day of July, 1798, intit-
uled "An Act in addition to
the act intituled An Act for
the punishment of certain
crimes against the United
States," which does abridge
the freedom of the press, is
not law, but is altogether
void, and of no force.
4. Resolved, That alien
friends are under the jurisdic-
tion and protection of the
laws of the State wherein they
are : that no power over them
has been delegated to the
United States, nor prohibited
to the individual States, dis-
tinct from their power over
citizens. And it being true as
a general principle, and one
of the amendments to the
Constitution having also de-
clared, that "the powers not
466
The Writings of
[i798
the U. S. by the constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the
States are reserved to the
states respectively, or to the
people," the act of the Con-
gress of the U. S. passed on
the day of July 1798 in-
tituled " an Act concerning
Aliens "which assumes powers
over alien friends not dele-
gated by the constitution is
not law, but is altogether void
& of no force.
5. Resolved that in addition
to the general principle, as
well as the express declara-
tion, that powers not dele-
gated are reserved, another
and more special provision,
inserted in the constitution
from abundant caution, has
declared that "the migration
or importation of such per-
sons as any of the states now
existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the
year 1808, "that this common-
wealth does admit the migra-
tion of Alien friends described
as the subject of the said
act concerning aliens; that a
provision against prohibiting
their migration, is a provision
against all acts equivalent
thereto, or it would be nuga-
delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor pro-
hibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States re-
spectively, or to the people,"
the act of the Congress of the
United States, passed on the
— day of July, 1798, intituled
''An Act concerning aliens,"
which assumes powers over
alien friends, not delegated by
the Constitution, is not law,
but is altogether void, and of
no force.
5. Resolved, That in addition
to the general principle, as
well as the express declara-
tion, that powers not dele-
gated are reserved, another
and more special provision,
inserted in the Constitution
from abundant caution, has
declared that "the migration
or importation of such per-
sons as any of the States now
existing shall think proper to
admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the
year 1808": that this com-
monwealth does admit the
migration of alien friends, de-
scribed as the subject of the
said act concerning aliens:
that a provision against pro-
hibiting their migration, is a
provision against all acts
equivalent thereto, or it would
i798]
Thomas Jefferson
467
tory; that to remove them
when migrated is equivalent
to a prohibition of their mi-
gration, and is therefore con-
trary to the said provision of
the constitution, and void.
6. Resolved that the impris-
onment of a person under the
protection of the laws of this
commonwealth on his failure
to obey the simple order of the
President to depart out of
the U. S. as is undertaken by
the said act intituled "an act
concerning Aliens" is con-
trary to the constitution, one
amendment to which has pro-
vided that "no person shall be
deprived of liberty, without
due process of law" ; and that
another having provided that
" in all criminal cases prosecu-
tions the accused shall enjoy
the right to a public trial, by
an impartial jury, to be in-
formed of the nature & cause
of the accusation to be con-
fronted with the witnesses
against him, to have compul-
sory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor and to
have the assistance of counsel
for his defence" the same act
undertaking to authorise the
President to remove a person
out of the U. S. who is under
the protection of the law, on
be nugatory: that to remove
them when migrated, is equi-
valent to a prohibition of their
migration, and is, therefore,
contrary to the said provision
of the Constitution, and void.
6. Resolved, That the impris-
onment of a person under the
protection of the laws of this
commonwealth, on his failure
to obey the simple order of the
President to depart out of the
United States, as is under-
taken by said act intituled
"An Act concerning aliens,"
is contrary to the Constitu-
tion, one amendment to which
has provided that "no person
shall be deprived of liberty
without due process of law"
and that another having pro-
vided that "in all criminal
prosecutions the accused shall
enjoy the right to public trial
by an impartial jury, to be
informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation, to be
confronted with the witnesses
against him, to have compul-
sory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to
have the assistance of counsel
for his defence," the same act,
undertaking to authorize the
President to remove a person
out of the United States, who
is under the protection of the
468
The Writings of
[1798
his own suspicion without ac-
cusation, without jury, with-
out public trial, without con-
frontation of the witnesses
against him, without hearing
witnesses in his favor, with-
out defence, without counsel,
is contrary to these provisions
also of the constitution, is
therefore not law, but utterly
void and of no force. That
transferring the power of
judging any person who is
under the protection of the
laws from the courts to the
President of the U. S. as is
undertaken by the same act
concerning aliens, is against
the article of the constitution
which provides that " the ju-
dicial power of the U. S. shall
be vested in courts the judges
of which shall hold their of-
fices during good behavior,"
and that the s'd act is void for
that reason also. And it is
further to be noted that this
transfer of judiciary power is
to that magistrate of the gen-
eral government who already
possesses all the Executive
and a negative on all the Leg-
islative proceed.
7. Resolved that the con-
struction applied by the
general government, (as is
evidenced by sundry of their
law, on his own suspicion,
without accusation, without
jury, without public trial,
without confrontation of the
witnesses against him, with-
out hearing witnesses in his
favor, without defence, with-
out counsel, is contrary to the
provision also of the Constitu-
tion, is therefore not law, but
utterly void, and of no force:
that transferring the power of
judging any person, who is
under the protection of the
laws, from the courts to the
President of the United States,
as is undertaken by the same
act concerning aliens, is
against the article of the Con-
stitution which provides that
"the judicial power of the
United States shall be vested
in courts, the judges of which
shall hold their offices during
good behavior" ; and that the
said act is void for that reason
also. And it is further to be
noted, that this transfer of
judiciary power is to that mag-
istrate of the general govern-
ment who already possesses all
the Executive, and a negative
on all Legislative powers.
7. Resolved, That the con-
struction applied by the
General Government (as is
evidenced by sundry of their
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
469
proceedings) to those parts of
the constitution of the U. S.
which delegate to Congress a
power " to lay & collect taxes,
duties, imposts, & excises, to
pay the debt and provide for
the common defence and wel-
fare of the U. S." and " to
make all laws which shall be
necessary & proper for carry-
ing into execution the powers
vested by the constitution in
the government of the U. S.
or in any department or offi-
cers thereof," goes to the de-
struction of all the limits
prescribed to their power by
the constitution; that words
meant by that instrument to
be subsidiary only to the exe-
cution of limited powers,
ought not to be so construed
as themselves to give unlim-
ited powers nor a part to be so
taken as to destroy the whole
residue of the instrument.
That the proceedings of the
general government under
colour of these articles, will be
a fit and necessary subject of
revisal & correction at a time
of greater tranquillity, while
those specified, in the preced-
ing resolutions, call for im-
mediate redress.
proceedings) to those parts of
the Constitution of the Unit-
ed States which delegate to
Congress a power "to lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts,
and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common
defence and general welfare
of the United States," and
"to make all laws which shall
be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the
powers vested by the Consti-
tution in the government of
the United States, or in any
department or officer there-
of," goes to the destruction of
all limits prescribed to their
power by the Constitution:
that words meant by the in-
strument to be subsidiary
only to the execution of lim-
ited powers, ought not to be
so construed as themselves to
give unlimited powers, nor a
part to be so taken as to de-
stroy the whole residue of
that instrument: that the
proceedings of the General
Government under color of
these articles, will be a fit and
necessary subject of revisal
and correction, at a time
of greater tranquillity, while
those specified in the preced-
ing resolutions call for im-
mediate redress.
47o
The Writings of
[i798
8. Resolved that a commit-
tee of conference & corre-
spondence be appointed who
shall have in charge to com-
municate the preceding reso-
lutions to the legislatures of
the several states, to assure
them that this commonwealth
continues in the same esteem
for their friendship and union
which it has manifested from
that moment at which a com-
mon danger first suggested a
common union: that it con-
siders union, for specified na-
tional purposes, and particu-
larly for those specified in
their late federal compact, to
be friendly to the peace, hap-
piness and prosperity of all
the states: that faithful to
that compact, according to
the plain intent & meaning in
which it was understood &
acceded to by the several par-
ties, it is sincerely anxious for
it's preservation. That it
does also believe that to take
from the states all the powers
of self-government, & trans-
fer them to a general & con-
solidated government, with-
out regard to the special
delegations and reservations
solemnly agreed to in that
compact, is not for the peace,
happiness or prosperity of
8th. Resolved, That a com-
mittee of conference and cor-
respondence be appointed,
who shall have in charge to
communicate the preceding
resolutions to the Legisla-
tures of the several States ; to
assure them that this com-
monwealth continues in the
same esteem of their friend-
ship and union which it has
manifested from that moment
at which a common danger
first suggested a common
union: that it considers union,
for specified national pur-
poses, and particularly to
those specified in the late fed-
eral compact, to be friendly
to the peace, happiness, and
prosperity of all the States:
that faithful to that compact,
according to the plain intent
and meaning in which it was
understood and acceded to by
the several parties, it is sin-
cerely anxious for its pres-
ervation: that it does also
believe, that to take from
the States all the powers of
self-government and transfer
them to a general and con-
solidated government, with-
out regard to the special
delegations and reservations
solemnly agreed to in that
compact, is not for the peace,
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
47i
these states: and that there-
fore this commonwealth is de-
termined, as it doubts not it's
co-states are, to submit to un-
delegated & consequently un-
limited powers in no man, or
body of men on earth: that it
ought not that in cases of an
abuse of the delegated pow-
ers, the members of the gen-
eral government being chosen
by the people, a change by
the people would be the con-
stitutional remedy ; but where
powers are assumed which
have not been delegated, a
nullification of the act is the
rightful remedy: that every
state has a natural right in
cases not within the compact
(casus non fosderis) to nullify
of their own authority, all as-
sumptions of power by others
within their limits, that with-
out this right they would be
under the dominion, absolute
and unlimited, of whosoever
might exercise this right of
judgment for them: that nev-
ertheless this commonwealth
from motives of regard & re-
spect for it's co-states has
wished to communicate with
them on the subject ; that with
them alone it is proper to
communicate, they alone be-
ing parties to the compact, &
happiness, or prosperity of
these States; and that there-
fore this commonwealth is de-
termined, as it doubts not its
co-States are, to submit to
undelegated, and consequent-
ly unlimited powers in no
man, orabody of men on earth :
that in cases of an abuse of
the delegated powers, the
members of the general gov-
ernment, being chosen by the
people, a change by the peo-
ple would be the constitution-
al remedy; but, where powers
are assumed which have not
been delegated, a nullification
of the act is the rightful rem-
edy: that every State has a
natural right in cases not
within the compact, (casus
non foederis,) to nullify of
their own authority all as-
sumptions of power by others
within their limits: that with-
out this right they would be
under the dominion, absolute
and unlimited, of whosoever
might exercise this right of
judgment for them: that nev-
ertheless, this commonwealth
from motives of regard and
respect for its co-States, has
wished to communicate with
them on the subject: that
with them alone it is proper
to communicate, they alone
472
The Writings of
[i798
solely authorised to judge in
the last resort of the powers
exercised under it; Congress
being not a party, but merely
the creature of the compact &
subject as to it's assumptions
of power to the final judgment
of those by whom & for whose
use itself and it's powers were
all created and modified, that
if those acts before specified
should stand, these conclu-
sions would flow from them;
that the General government
may place any act they think
proper on the list of crimes
and punish it themselves
whether enumerated or not
enumerated by the constitu-
tion as cognizable by them,
that they may transfer its cog-
nisance to the President or
any other person, who may
himself be the accuser, coun-
sel, judge & jury, whose sus-
picions may be the evidence,
his order the sentence, his offi-
cer the executioner, & his
breast the sole record of the
transaction: that a very num-
erous & valuable description
of the inhabitants of these
states being, by this precedent
reduced as Outlaws to the ab-
solute dominion of one man,
and the barrier of the consti-
tution thus swept away for us
being parties to the compact,
and solely authorized to judge
the last resort of the powers
exercised under it, Congress
being not a party, but merely
the creature of the compact,
and subject as to its assump-
tions of power to the final
judgment of those by whom,
and for whose use itself and
its powers were all created
and modified : that if the acts
before specified should stand,
these conclusions would flow
from them; that the general
government may place any
act they think proper on the
list of crimes, and punish it
themselves whether enumer-
ated or not enumerated by
the constitution as cognizable
by them: that they may
transfer its cognizance to the
President, or any other per-
son, who may himself be the
accuser, counsel, judge and
jury, whose suspicions may
be the evidence, his order the
sentence, his officer the execu-
tioner, and his breast the sole
record of the transaction:
that a very numerous and
valuable description of the
inhabitants of these States
being, by this precedent, re-
duced, as outlaws, to the ab-
solute dominion of one man,
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
473
all, no rampart now remains
against the will and the pas-
sions and the power of a ma-
jority in Congress, to protect
from a like exportation or
other more grievous punish-
ment, the minority of the
same body, the legislatures,
judges, & governors, & coun-
sellors of the states nor their
other peaceable inhabitants
who may venture to reclaim
the constitutional rights and
liberties of the states and the
people, or who for other
causes good or bad, may be
obnoxious to the views, or
marked by the suspicions of
the President, or be thought
dangerous to his or their elec-
tions or other interests public
or personal: that the friend-
less alien has indeed been se-
lected as the safest subject of
a first experiment: but the
citizen will soon follow, or
rather has already followed;
for already has a Sedition act
marked him as it's prey: that
these and successive acts of
the same character unless ar-
rested at the threshold neces-
sarily drive these states into
revolution and blood and will
furnish new calumnies against
republican government and
new pretexts for those who
and the barrier of the Con-
stitution thus swept away
from us all, no rampart now
remains against the passions
and the powers of a majority
in Congress to protect from
a like exportation, or other
more grievous punishment
the minority of the same
body, the legislatures, judges,
governors and counsellors of
the States, nor their other
peaceable inhabitants, who
may venture to reclaim the
constitutional rights and lib-
erties of the States and peo-
ple, or who for other causes,
good or bad, may be ob-
noxious to the views, or
marked by the suspicions of
the President, or be thought
dangerous to his or their elec-
tion, or other interests public
or personal: that the friend-
less alien has indeed been
selected as the safest subject
of a first experiment ; but the
citizen will soon follow, or
rather, has already followed,
for already has a sedition act
marked him as its prey: that
these and successive acts of
the same character, unless
arrested at the threshold,
necessarily drive these States
into revolution and blood,
and will furnish new calum-
474
The Writings of
[i798
wish it to be believed that
man cannot be governed but
by a rod of iron that it would
be a dangerous delusion were
a confidence in the men of our
choice to silence our fears for
the safety of our rights: that
confidence is every where the
parent of despotism, free gov-
ernment is foundedin jealousy
and not in confidence, it is
jealousy and not confidence
which prescribes limited con-
stitutions, to bind down those
whom we are obliged to trust
with power that our constitu-
tion has accordingly so fixed
the limits to which and no
further our confidence may
go: and let the honest advo-
cate of confidence read the
Alien and Sedition Acts, and
say if the constitution has not
been wise in fixing limits to
the government it created and
whether we should be wise in
destroying those limits ? Let
him say what the government
is, if it be not a tyranny which
the men of our choice have
conferred on the President
and the President of our
choice has assented to and
accepted over the friendly
strangers to whom the mild
spirit of our country & it's
laws had pledged hospitality
nies against republican gov-
ernment, and new pretexts
for those who wish it to be
believed that man cannot be
governed but by a rod of iron:
that it would be a dangerous
delusion were a confidence in
the men of our choice to si-
lence our fears for the safety
of our rights: that confidence
is everywhere the parent of
despotism — free government
is founded in jealousy, and
not in confidence; it is jeal-
ousy and not confidence
which prescribes limited con-
stitutions, to bind down those
whom we are obliged to trust
with power: that our Consti-
tution has accordingly fixed
the limits to which, and no
further, our confidence may
go; and let the honest advo-
cate of confidence read the
Alien and Sedition acts, and
say if the Constitution has
not been wise in fixing limits
to the government it created,
and whether we should be
wise in destroying those lim-
its. Let him say what the
government is, if it be not a
tyranny, which the men of
our choice have conferred on
our President, and the Presi-
dent of our choice has assent-
ed to, and accepted over the
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
475
& protection: that the men of
our choice have more respect-
ed the bare suspicions of the
President than the solid rights
of innocence, the claims of
justification, the sacred force
of truth and the forms and
substance of law & justice: in
questions of power then let no
more be heard of confidence
in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chains of
the constitution. That this
commonwealth does therefore
call on it's co-states for an ex-
pression of their sentiments
on the acts concerning aliens
and for the punishment of
certain crimes, herein before
specified, plainly declaring
whether these acts are, or are
not, authorised by the federal
compact? And it doubts not
that their sense will be so
enounced as to prove their at-
tachment unaltered to limited
government whether general
or particular; & that the
rights & liberties of their co-
states will be exposed to no
dangers by remaining em-
barked in a common bottom
with their own: But :that
ever confident atother
times ithk^^corjosionwealth
would hajze-^blen^in the de-
HheMrtJejudgment oi~the~-£o-
friendly strangers to whom
the mild spirit of our country
and its laws have pledged
hospitality and protection:
that the men of our choice
have more respected the bare
suspicions of the President,
than the solid right of inno-
cence, the claims of justifica-
tion, the sacred force of truth
and the forms and substance
of law and justice. In ques-
tions of power, then, let no
more be heard of confidence
in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chains
of the Constitution. That
this commonwealth does
therefore call on its co-States
for an expression of their sen-
timents on the acts concern-
ing aliens, and for the pun-
ishment of certain crimes
herein before specified, plain-
ly declaring whether these
acts are or are not authorized
by the federal compact. And
it doubts not that their sense
will be so announced as to
prove their attachment unal-
tered to limited government,
whether general or particular.
And that the rights and liber-
ties of their co-States will be
exposed to no dangers by re-
maining embarked in a com-
mon bottom with their own.
476
The Writings of
[1798
states and that but one opi:
ion would be entertained
the unjustiable character pi
the\acts herein specified, yet
it cannot be insensible that
circumstances do exist, &«hat
passions are at this /time
afloat Which may give k bias
to theuudgment to be pro-
nounced on this subject, that
times of passion are peculiarly
those when precedents of
wrong arewielded to with the
last caution, when/ encroach-
ments of powers atfe most usu-
ally made & principles are
least watchedV That whether
the coincidence/ of the occa-
sion & the encroachment in
the present aase has been
from accideny 01 design, the
right of the commonwealth to
the government of itself in
cases not l\illegiole\ parted
with, is too vitally important
to be yielded from temporary
or secondary considerations:
that a /fixed determination
therefore to retain it, requires
us in candor and without re-
serve to declare & to warn our
co-states that considering^ the
said /acts to be so palpably
agajnst the constitution as\to
amount to an undisguise
declaration that that compact
i|S not meant to be the meas
That they will concur with
this commonwealth in con-
sidering the said acts as so
palpably against the Consti-
tution as to amount to an
undisguised declaration that
that compact is not meant to
be the measure of the powers
of the General Government,
but that it will proceed in the
exercise over these States, of
all powers whatsoever: that
they will view this as seizing
the rights of the States, and
consolidating them in the
hands of the General Govern-
ment, with a power assumed
to bind the States, (not mere-
ly in the cases made federal,
(casus foederis,) but) in all
cases whatsoever, by laws
made, not with their consent,
but by others against their
consent ; that this would be to
surrender the form of govern-
ment we have chosen, and
live under one deriving its
powers from its own will, and
not from our authority; and
that the co-States, recurring
to their natural right in cases
not made federal, will concur
in declaring these acts void,
and of no force, and will each
take measures of its own for
providing that neither these
acts, nor any others of the
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
477
ire of the powers of the gen/
eral government, but that it
is\ to proceed in the exercise
over these states of any & all
powers whatever, considering
this\as seizing the rights of
the \states & consolidating
themVn the hands of the gen-
eral government, with /power
to bind\the states (not/merely
in the \ cases made/ federal
casus foederis but) in/ all cases
whatsoever by laws/not made
with their consent, but by
other states against their con-
sent; considering /all the con-
sequences aa nothing in com-
parison witmtbat of yielding
the form of aovernment we
have chosen 8aoi living under
one [struck ouA deriving it's
powers by frbmUt's own will
and not from our authority,
this commonwealth, as an in-
tegral parw, does in that case
protest against such opinions
and exercises of undelegated
& unauthorised povfer, and
does declare that recuVring to
it's natural right of judging &
acting for itself, it will be con-
strained to take care of itself,
& to provide by measures of
it's/ own that no power Ynot
plainly & intentionally dele-
gated by the constitution rco
tie general government, shall
General Government not
plainly and intentionally au-
thorized by the Constitution,
shall be exercised within their
respective territories.
478 The Writings of [1798
1e"terri-
Iiih common?
that they will concur with
this comm. in considering the
said acts so palpably against
the const, as to amount to an
undisguised declarn. that that
compact is not meant to be
the measure of the powers of
the genl. govmt, but that it
will proceed in the exercise
over these states of all powers
whatsoever, that they will
view this as seizing the right
of the states & consolidating
them in the hands of the genl
govt with power assumed to
bind the states (not merely in
the cases made federal) but in
all cases whatsoever, by laws
made not with their consent
but by others against their
consent, that this would be to
surrender the form of govmt
we have chosen & to live under
one deriving it's powers from
it's own will and not from our
authority that the co-states
recurring to their natural
right in cases not made fed-
eral will concur in declaring
these acts void and of no force
& will each take measures of
it's own providing that neith-
er these acts nor any others
of the government not plainly
& intentionally authorized by
1798]
Thomas Jefferson
479
the country to the genl govmt
shall be exercised within their
respective territories.
9. That the said committee
be authorised to communicate
by writing or personal confer-
ence, at any times or place
whatever, with any person or
persons who may be appoint-
ed by any one or more of the
co-states to correspond or
confer with them : & that they
lay their proceedings before
the next session of assembly:
that the members of the said
committee, while acting with-
in the state, have the same
allowance as the members of
the General assembly, and
while acting without the com-
monwealth, the same as mem-
bers of Congress : and that the
Treasurer be authorized, on
warrants from the Governor,
to advance them monies on
account for the said services.
9th. Resolved, That the said
committee be authorized to
communicate by writing or
personal conferences, at any
times or places whatever, with
any person or persons who
may be appointed by any one
or more co-States to corre-
spond or confer with them;
and that they lay their pro-
ceedings before the next ses-
sion of Assembly.
TO JOHN TAYLOR j. mss.
November 26, 98.
Dear Sir, — We formerly had a debtor & creditor
account of letters on farming ; but the high price of
tobo, which is likely to continue for some short time,
has tempted me to go entirely into that culture, and
in the meantime, my farming schemes are in abeyance,
480 The Writings of [1798
and my farming fields at nurse against the time
of my resuming them. But I owe you a political
letter. Yet the infidelities of the post office and the
circumstances of the times are against my writing
fully & freely, whilst my own dispositions are as
much against mysteries, innuendoes & half-confi-
dences. I know not which mortifies me most, that
I should fear to write what I think, or my country
bear such a state of things. Yet Lyon's judges, and
a jury of all nations, are objects of rational fear.
We agree in all the essential ideas of your letter. We
agree particularly in the necessity of some reform,
and of some better security for civil liberty. But
perhaps we do not see the existing circumstances in
the same point of view. There are many considera-
tion dehors of the State, which will occur to you
without enumeration. I should not apprehend
them, if all was sound within. But there is a most
respectable part of our State who have been en-
veloped in the X. Y. Z. delusion, and who destroy
our unanimity for the present moment. This disease
of the imagination will pass over, because the
patients are essentially republican. Indeed, the
Doctor is now on his way to cure it, in the guise of a
tax gatherer. But give time for the medicine to
work, & for the repetition of stronger doses, which
must be administered. The principle of the present
majority is excessive expense, money enough to fill
all their maws, or it will not be worth the risk of
their supporting. They cannot borrow a dollar in
Europe, or above 2. or 3. millions in America. This
is not the fourth of the expences of this year, un-
J798] Thomas Jefferson 481
provided for. Paper money would be perillous even
to the paper men. Nothing then but excessive
taxation can get us along; and this will carry-
reason & reflection to every man's door, and par-
ticularly in the hour of election. I wish it were
possible to obtain a single amendment to our con-
stitution. I would be willing to depend on that
alone for the reduction of the administration of our
government to the genuine principles of it's con-
stitution ; I mean an additional article, taking from
the federal government the power of borrowing.
I now deny their power of making paper money
or anything else a legal tender. I know that to
pay all proper expences within the year, would, in
case of war, be hard on us. But not so hard as ten
wars instead of one. For wars would be reduced in
that proportion ; besides that the State governments
would be free to lend their credit in borrowing quotas.
For the present, I should be for resolving the alien
& sedition laws to be against the constitution &
merely void, and for addressing the other States to
obtain similar declarations ; and I would not do any-
thing at this moment which should commit us fur-
ther, but reserve ourselves to shape our future
measures or no measures, by the events Which may
happen. It is a singular phenomenon, that while
our State governments are the very best in the world,
without exception or comparison, our general govern-
ment has, in the rapid course of 9. or 10. years, be-
come more arbitrary, and has swallowed more of the
public liberty than even that of England. I enclose
you a column, cut out of a London paper, to show
VOL. VIII.— 31.
482 The Writings of [1798
you that the English, though charmed with our
making their enemies our enemies, yet blush and
weep over our sedition law. But I enclose you
something more important. It is a petition for a
reformation in the manner of appointing our juries,
and a remedy against the jury of all nations, which
is handing about here for signature, and will be pre-
sented to your house. I know it will require but
little ingenuity to make objections to the details of
its execution; but do not be discouraged by small
difficulties; make it as perfect as you can at a first
essay, and depend on amending its defects as they
develop themselves in practice. I hope it will meet
with your approbation & patronage. It is the only
thing which can yield us a little present protection
against the dominion of a faction, while circum-
stances are maturing for bringing & keeping the
government in real unison with the spirit of their
constituents. I am aware that the act of Congress
has directed that juries shall be appointed by lot or
otherwise, as the laws now (at the date of the act) in
force in the several States provide. The New Eng-
land States have always had them elected by their
select men, who are elected by the people. Several
or most of the other States have a large number
appointed (I do not know how) to attend, out of
whom 12. for each cause are taken by lot. This
provision of Congress will render it necessary for our
Senators or Delegates to apply for an amendatory
law, accommodated to that prayed for in the peti-
tion. In the meantime, I would pass the law as if
the amendatory one existed, in reliance, that our
1798] Thomas Jefferson 483
select jurors attending, the federal judge will, under
a sense of right, direct the juries to be taken from
among them. If he does not, or if Congress refuses
to pass the amendatory law, it will serve as eye-
water for their constituents. Health, happiness,
safety & esteem to yourself and my ever-honored &
antient friend, mr. Pendleton. Adieu.
TO WILSON CARY NICHOLAS j. mss.
Nov. 29. 98.
The more I have reflected on the phrase in the
paper you shewed me, the more strongly I think it
should be altered. Suppose you were instead of the
invitation to cooperate in the annulment of the acts,
to make it an invitation " to concur with this com-
monwealth in declaring, as it does hereby declare,
that the said acts are, and were ab initio, null, yoid
and of no force, or effect". I should like it better.
Health, happiness, and Adieu.
END OF VOLUME VIII.
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