good work, a very good one, published here soon by
Mr. Mazzei who has been many years a resident of
Virginia, is well informed, and possessed of a mascu-
line understanding. I should rather have said it will
be published in Holland, for I believe it cannot be
printed here. I should be happy indeed in an oppor-
tunity of visiting Holland ; but I know not when it
will occur. In the mean time it would give me great
pleasure to see you here. I think you would find
both pleasure & use in such a trip. I feel a sincere
interest in the fate of your country, and am disposed
to wish well to either party only as I can see in their
measures a tendency to bring on an amelioration of
the condition of the people, an increase in the mass
of happiness. But this is a subject for conversation.
My paper warns me that it is time to assure you of
the esteem & respect with which I have the honour
to be Dear Sir your most obedient humble servant.
288 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
TO MRS. PARADISE. J. MSS.
PARIS, Aug. 27, 1786.
DEAR MADAM, I am honored with your letter of
the 1 5th inst. by Mr. Voss. I concur with you in
opinion that it is for Mr. Paradise's interest to go as
soon as possible to America and also to turn all his
debts into one, which may be to Mr. Gist or any
other : upon condition that the person giving him
this credit shall be satisfied to receive annually his
interest in money, and shall not require consignments
of tobacco. This is the usual condition of the to-
bacco merchants. No other law can be more oppres-
sive to the mind or fortune, and long experience
has proved to us that there never was an instance
of a man's getting out of debt who was once in the
hands of a tobacco merchant & bound to consign his
tobacco to him. It is the most delusive of all snares.
The merchant feeds the inclination of his customer
to be credited till he gets the burthen of debt so
increased that he cannot throw it off at once, he then
begins to give him less for his tobacco & ends with
giving him what he pleases for it, which is always so
little that though the demands of the customer for nec-
essaries be reduced ever so low in order to get him-
self out of debt, the merchant lowers his price in the
same proportion so as always to keep such a balance
against his customer as will oblige him to continue
his consignments of tobacco. Tobacco always sells
better in Virginia than in the hands of a London
merchant. The confidence which you have been
pleased to place in me induces me to take the liberty
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 289
of advising you to submit to any thing rather than to
an obligation to ship your tobacco. A mortgage of
property, the most usurious interest, or any thing
else will be preferable to this. If Mr. Paradise can
get no single money lender to pay his debts, perhaps
those to whom he owes might be willing to wait, on
his placing in the hands of trustees in London whom
they should approve, certain parts of his property,
the profits of which should suffice to pay them within
a reasonable time. Mr. Voss gives me hopes of
seeing Mr. Paradise here. I shall not fail to give
him such information as my knowledge of the country
to which he is going may render useful : nor of avail-
ing myself of every occasion of rendering him, your-
self & family every service in my power, having the
honour to be with sentiments of the most perfect
esteem & respect, Madam, &c.
TO THOMAS MANN RANDOLPH, JR. J. MSS.
PARIS, Aug. 27, 1786.
DEAR SIR, I am honoured with your favour of
the 1 6th instant, and desirous, without delay, of mani-
festing my wishes to be useful to you I shall
venture to you some thoughts on the course of your
studies, which must be submitted to the better choice
with which you are surrounded. A longer race
through life may have entitled me to seize some
truths which have not yet been presented to your
observation & more intimate knowledge of the coun-
try in which you are to live & of the circumstances
VOL. IV. IQ.
290 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
in which you will be placed, may enable me to point
your attention to the branches of science which will
administer the most to your happiness there. The
foundations which you have laid in languages and math-
ematics are proper for every superstructure. The
former exercises our memory while that and no other
faculty is yet matured & prevents our acquiring hab-
its of idleness. The latter gives exercise to our
reason, as soon as that has acquired a certain degree
of strength, and stores the mind with truths which
are useful in other branches of science. At this
moment then a second order of preparation is to
commence. I shall propose to you that it be exten-
sive, comprehending Astronomy, Natural Philosophy
(or Physics), Natural History, Anatomy, Botany &
Chemistry. No inquisitive mind will be content to
be ignorant of any of these branches. But I would
advise you to be contented with a course of lectures
in most of them, without attempting to make your-
self master of the whole. This is more than any
genius joined to any length of life is equal to. You
will find among them some one study to which your
mind will more particularly attach itself. This then
I would pursue & propose to attain eminence in.
Your own country furnishes the most aliment for
Natural History, Botany & Physics & as you ex-
press a fondness for the former you might make it
your principal object, endeavoring however to make
yourself more acquainted with the two latter than with
other branches likely to be less useful. In fact you
will find botany offering it's charms to you at every
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 291
step during summer & Physics in every season. All
these branches of science will be better attained by
attending courses of lectures in them. You are now
in a place where the best courses upon earth are
within your reach and being delivered in your native
language you lose no part of their benefit. Such
an opportunity you will never again have. I would
therefore strongly press on you to fix no other limit
to your stay in Edinborough than your having got
thro this whole course. The omission of any one
part of it will be an affliction & loss to you as long as
you live. Beside the comfort of knowledge, every
science is auxiliary to every other. While you are
attending these courses you can proceed by yourself
in a regular series of historical reading. It would be
a waste of time to attend a professor of this. It is to
be acquired from books and if you pursue it by your-
self you can accommodate it to your other reading so
as to fill up those chasms of time not otherwise ap-
propriated. There are portions of the day too when
the mind should be eased, particularly after dinner it
should be applied to lighter occupation : history is of
this kind. It exercises principally the memory. Re-
flection also indeed is necessary but not generally in
a laborious degree. To conduct yourself in this
branch of science you have only to consider what
seras of it merit a grasp & what a particular atten-
tion, & in each sera also to distinguish between the
countries the knowledge of whose history will be use-
ful & those where it suffices only to be not altogether
ignorant. Having laid down your plan as to the
292 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
branches of history you would pursue, the order of
time will be your sufficient guide. After what you
have read in antient history I should suppose Millot's
digest would be useful & sufficient. The histories
of Greece and Rome are worthy a good degree of at-
tention, they should be read in the original authors.
The transition from antient to modern history will
be best effected by reading Gibbon's. Then a gen-
eral history of the principal states of Europe, but
particular ones of England. Here too the original
writers are to be preferred. Kennet published a con-
siderable collection of these in 3 vols. folio, but there
are some others not in his collection well worth being
read. After the history of England that of America
will claim your attention. Here too original authors
& not compilers are best. An author who writes of
his own times or of times near his own presents in
his own ideas & manner the best picture of the mo-
ment of which he writes. History need not be hur-
ried but may give way to the other sciences because
history can be pursued after you shall have left your
present situation as well as while you remain in it.
When you shall have got thro this second order of
preparation the study of the law is to be begun.
This like history is to be acquired from books. All
the aid you will want will be a catalogue of the books
to be read & the order in which they are to be read.
It being absolutely indifferent in what place you carry
on this reading I should propose your doing it in
France. The advantages of this will be that you
will at the same time acquire the habit of speaking
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 293
French which is the object of a year or two. You
may be giving attention to such of the fine arts as
your turn may lead you to & you will be forming an
acquaintance with the individuals & characters of a
nation with whom we must long remain in the clos-
est intimacy & to whom we are bound by the strong
ties of gratitude and policy. A nation in short of
the most amiable dispositions on earth, the whole
mass of which is penetrated with an affection for us.
You might before you return to your own country
make a visit to Italy also.
I should have performed the office of but half a
friend were I to confine myself to the improvement
of the mind only. Knowledge indeed is a desirable,
a lovely possession, but I do not scruple to say that
health is more so. It is of little consequence to store
the mind with science if the body be permitted to be-
come debilitated. If the body be feeble, the mind
will not be strong the sovereign invigorator of the
body is exercise, and of all exercises walking is
best. A horse gives but a kind of half exercise, and
a carriage is no better than a cradle. No one
knows, till he tries, how easily a habit of walking is
acquired. A person who never walked three miles
will in the course of a month become able to walk
15 or 20 without fatigue. I have known some
great walkers & had particular accounts of many
more : and I never knew or heard of one who
was not healthy & long lived. This species of
exercise therefore is much to be advised. Should
you be disposed to try it, as your health has been
294 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
feeble, it will be necessary for you to begin with
a little, & to increase it by degrees. For the same
reason you must probably at first ascribe to it the
hours most precious for study, I mean those about
the middle of the day. But when you shall find
yourself strong you may venture to take your walks
in the evening after the digestion of the dinner is
pretty well over. This is making a compromise be-
tween health & study. The latter would be too
much interrupted were you to take from it the early
hours of the day and habit will soon render the even-
ing's exercise as salutary as that of the morning. I
speak this from my own experience having, from an
attachment to study, very early in life, made this ar-
rangement of my time, having ever observed it, &
still observing it, & always with perfect success. Not
less than two hours a day should be devoted to ex-
ercise, and the weather should be little regarded. A
person not sick will not be injured by getting wet.
It is but taking a cold bath which never gives a cold
to any one. Brute animals are the most healthy, &
they are exposed to all weather and, of men, those
are healthiest who are the most exposed. The recipe
of those two descriptions of beings is simple diet, ex-
ercise and the open air, be it's state what it will ; and
we may venture to say that this recipe will give health
& vigor to every other description. By this time I
am sure you will think I have sermonized enough. I
have given you indeed a lengthy lecture. I have
been led through it by my zeal to serve you ; if in the
whole you find one useful counsel, that will be my
1 786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 295
reward, & a sufficient one. Few persons in your own
country have started from as advantageous ground as
that whereon you will be placed. Nature and for-
tune have been liberal to you. Every thing honour-
able or profitable there is placed within your own
reach, and will depend on your own efforts. If these
are exerted with assiduity, and guided by unswerving
honesty, your success is infallible : and that it may be
as great as you wish is the sincere desire of Dear Sir,
your most affectionate humble servant.
P. S. Be so good as to present me affectionately
to your brother & cousin.
TO JOHN ADAMS. j. MSS.
PARIS, Aug. 27, 1786.
DEAR SIR, Your favour of July 31. was lately de-
livered me. The papers inform me you are at the
Hague, and, incertain what stay you may make there
I send this by Mr. Voss who is returned to London
by the way of Amsterdam. I inclose you the last letters
from Mr. Barclay & Mr. Carmichael by which we may
hope our Peace with Morocco is signed, thanks to the
good offices of a nation which is honest if it is not
wise. This event with the naval cruises of Portugal
will I hope quiet the Atlantic for us. I am informed
by authority to be depended on, that insurance is made
at L'Orient, on American vessels sailing under their
own flag, against every event at the price usually
paid for risks of the sea alone. Still however the
most important of our Marts, the Mediterranean, is
296 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
shut. I wrote you a proposition to accept Mr. Bar-
clay's offer of going to Algiers. I have no hope of
it's making peace ; but it may add to our infor-
mation, abate the ardor of those pyrates against
us, and shut the mouths of those who might im-
pute our success at Morocco & failure at Algiers to
a judicious appointment to the one place & an in-
judicious one at the other. Let me hear from you
as soon as possible on this & if you accede to it
send me all the necessary papers ready signed. I in-
close you the article " Etats Unis" of one of the
volumes of the Encyclopedic, lately published. The
author, M. de Meusnier, was introduced to me by the
D. de la Rochefoucault. He asked of me information
on the subject of our states, & left with me a number
of queries to answer. Knowing the importance of set-
ting to rights a book so universally diffused & which
will go down to late ages, I answered his queries
as fully as I was able, went into a great many
calculations for him, and offered to give further ex-
planations when necessary. He then put his work into
my hands. I read it, and was led by that into a still
greater number of details by way of correcting what
he had at first written, which was indeed a mass of
errors and misconceptions from beginning to end. I
returned him his work & dry details, but he did not
communicate it to me after he had corrected it. It
has therefore come out with many errors which I
would have advised him to correct, & the rather as he
was very well disposed. He has still left in a great
deal of the Abbe Raynal, that is to say a great deal
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 297
of falsehood, and he has stated other things on bad
information. I am sorry I had not another correction
of it. He has paid me for my trouble in the true coin
of the country, most unmerciful compliment. This,
with his other errors I should surely have struck out
had he sent me the work, as I expected, before it
went to the press. I find in fact that he is happiest
of whom the world sais least, good or bad. I think
if I had had a little more warning, my desire to see
Holland, as well as to meet again Mrs. Adams &
yourself, would have tempted me to take a flying trip
there. I wish you may be tempted to take Paris in
your return. You will find many very happy to see
you here, & none more so than, Dear Sir, your friend
and servant.
TO EZRA STILES. J. MSS.
PARIS, Sep. i, 1786.
SIR, I am honoured with your letter of May 8.
That which you mention to have written in the winter
preceding never came to hand. I return you my
thanks for the communications relative to the West-
ern country. When we reflect how long we have in
habited those parts of America which lie between
the Alleghaney & the ocean, that no monument has
ever been found in them which indicated the use of
iron among its' aboriginal inhabitants, that they were
as far advanced in arts, at least, as the inhabitants on
the other side the Alleghaney, a good degree of in-
fidelity may be excused as to the new discoveries
298 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
which suppose regular fortifications of brickwork to
have been in use among the Indians on the waters of
the Ohio. Intrenchments of earth they might indeed
make : but brick is more difficult. The art of making
it may have preceded the use of iron, but it would
suppose a greater degree of industry than men in the
hunter state usually possess. I should like to know
whether General Parsons himself saw actual bricks
among the remains of fortification. I suppose the
settlement of our continent is of the most remote
antiquity. The similitude between its' inhabitants &
those of Eastern parts of Asia renders it probable
that ours are descended from them or they from ours.
The latter is my opinion, founded on this single fact.
Among the red inhabitants of Asia there are but a
few languages radically different, but among our In-
dians the number of languages is infinite which are so
radically different as to exhibit at present no appear-
ance of their having been derived from a common
source. The time necessary for the generation of so
many languages must be immense. A countryman of
yours, a Mr. Lediard, who was with Capt. Cook on
his last voiage, proposes either to go to Kams-
chatka, cross from thence to the Western side of
America, and penetrate through the Continent to our
side of it, or to go to Kentucke, & thence penetrate
Westwardly to the South sea, the vent from hence
lately to London, where if he finds a passage to
Kamschatka or the Western coast of America he
would avail himself of it : otherwise he proposes to
return to our side of America to attempt that route.
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 299
I think him well calculated for such an enterprise, &
wish he may undertake it. Another countryman of
yours Mr. Trumbul has paid us a visit here & brought
with him two pictures which are the admiration of the
Connoisseurs. His natural talents for this art seem
almost unparalleled. I send you the 5th & 6th vols.
of the Bibliotheque physico ecconomie erroneously let-
tered as the 7th & 8th, which are not yet come out.
I inclose with them the article " Etats Unis" of the
new Encyclopedic. This article is recently published,
& a few copies have been printed separate. For
this twelvemonth past little new & excellent has ap-
peared either in literature or the arts. An Abbe"
Rochon has applied the metal called platina to the
telescope instead of the mixed metal of which the
specula were formerly composed. It is insusceptible
of rust, as gold is, and he thinks it's reflective power
equal to that of the mixed metal. He has observed
a very curious effect of the natural chrystals, &
especially of those of Iceland ; which is that lenses
made of them have two distinct focuses, and present
you the object distinctly at two different distances.
This I have seen myself. A new method of copying
has been invented here. I called on the inventor, &
he presented me a plate of copper, a pen & ink. I
wrote a note on the plate, and in about three quarters
of an hour he brought me an hundred copies, as per-
fect as the imagination can conceive. Had I written
my name, he could have put it to so many bonds, so
that I should have acknoleged the Signature to be my
own. The copying of paintings in England is very
300 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
conceivable. Any number may be taken, which shall
give you the true lineaments & colouring of the
original without injuring that. This is so like crea-
tion, that had I not seen it, I should have doubted it.
The death of the K. of Prussia, which happened on
the 1 7th inst. will probably employ the pens, if not
the swords of politicians. We had exchanged the
ratifications of our treaty with him. The articles of
this which were intended to prevent or miticate wars,
by lessening their aliment are so much applauded in
Europe that I think the example will be followed. I
have the honour to be with very sincere esteem, Dear
Sir, your most obedt. humble servant.
ANSWERS TO THE QUERIES OF M. SOULES. 1
I am unable to say what was the number of Americans engaged
in the affair of Bunker's Hill. I am able however to set right a
gross falsehood of Andrews. He says that the Americans there
1 Fran9ois Soules wrote a work entitled Hisloire des troubles de FAmMque et
Anglaise (Paris 1787), the MSS. or proof-sheets of which he submitted to Jeffer-
son, who made the above comments. In sending them to the author he wrote
him :
" PARIS Septemb. isth, 1786.
" SIR, Before the receipt of your favor of the nth inst. I had written the
inclosed short notes on such parts of your work as I have been yet able to go
over. You will perceive that the corrections are very trifling. Such as they
are I will continue them, & forward them to you from time to time as I get
along. I will endeavour also to answer such of the queries you propose in your
letter as my memory will enable me to do with certainty. Some of them I
shall be unable to answer, having left in America all my notes, memorandums,
&c., which might have enabled me to give you the information you desire. I
have the honour to be with the utmost esteem & respect, sir, Your most obedient
humble servt."
1786] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 301
engaged were constantly relieved by fresh hands. This is entirely
untrue. Bunker Hill, or rather Breed's hill, whereon the action
was, is a peninsular joined to the main land by a neck of land
almost level with the water, a few paces wide, & between one &
two hundred toises long. On one side of this neck lay a vessel
of war, & on the other several gun boats. The body of our army
was on the main land ; & only a detachment had been sent into
the peninsular. When the enemy determined to make the attack,
they sent the vessel of war & gun boats to take the position be-
fore mentioned to cut off all reinforcements, which they effectu-
ally did. Not so much as a company could venture into the
relief of the men engaged, who therefore fought thro' the whole
action & at length were obliged to retire across the neck thro' the
cross fire of the vessels before mentioned. Single persons passed
along the neck during the engagement, particularly General
Putnam.
On the fall of Montgomery & his aids at Quebec, there were
present Colo. Campbell & Major Dubois. Campbell, tho' having
the rank of Colo, was only of the staff ; Dubois was of the line.
The usage of all nations therefore authorized the latter to take
the command. But it was a case for which Congress had not yet
provided. Campbell availed himself of this, & believing, on the
sight of blood, that all was lost, ordered a retreat.
The speech to the Indians, in Andrews page 357 is a little
altered & abridged. You will find the genuine one in the Journal
of Congress of July 1775.
I do not distinctly enough recollect the anecdote of the Old
man's company related by Andrews, to affirm it in all it's parts. I
think I recollect in general that there was such a company.
The questions relative to General Thomas I could only have
answered indistinctly from my own memory : but fortunately
there came to Paris a few days ago, & will yet continue there a
few days, a Colonel Blackden, an American officer of good under-
standing & of truth, & who was at the latter part of the affair of
Quebec. He was at the surprise of Ticonderoga by Allen, &
continued with the army until 1781. I have spoken with him on
this subject, and find he possesses treasures of details which will
be precious to M. Soules. Any day that M. Soule"s will do me
302 THE WRITINGS OF [1786
the honour to come & take a famille soupe with me (after the i6th
inst.) if he will give me notice in the morning, I will ask Colo.