considerable ; that the 2d formed the body of the
freemen : the 3d equal to the two first : the 4th to
all the preceding : & as to the 5th he could form no
idea of their proportion. Indeed it appeared to me
that his conjectures as to the others were on loose
grounds. He said he knew from good information
there were 300.000 inhabitants in the city of Mexico.
I was still more cautious with him than with the
Brazilian, mentioning it as my private opinion (un-
authorized to say a word on the subject otherwise)
that a successful revolution was still at a distance
with them ; that I feared they must begin by enlight-
ening & emancipating the minds of their people ; that
as to us, if Spain should give us advantageous terms
of commerce, & remove other difficulties, it was not
probable that we should relinquish certain & present
advantages tho' smaller, to incertain & future ones,
however great. I was led into this caution by
observing that this gentleman was intimate at the
Spanish Ambassador's. & that he was then at Paris,
employed by Spain to settle her boundaries with
France on the Pyrenees. He had much the air of
candour, but that can be borrowed ; so that I was not
able to decide about him in my own mind.

Led by a unity of subject, & a desire to give Con-



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 385

gress as general a view of the dispositions of our
Southern countrymen as my information enables me,
I will add an article which, old & insulated, I did
not think important enough to mention at the time I
received it. You will remember, Sir, that during the
late war, the British papers often gave details of a
rebellion in Peru. The character of those papers
discredited the information. But the truth was that
the insurrections were so general, that the event was
long on the poise. Had Commodore Johnson, then
expected on that coast, touched & landed there 2,000
men, the dominion of Spain in that country was at
an end. They only wanted a point of union which
this body would have constituted. Not having this,
they acted without concert, & were at length subdued
separately. This conflagration was quenched in
blood, 200,000 souls on both sides having perished ;
but the remaining matter is very capable of combus-
tion. I have this information from a person who
was on the spot at the time, and whose good faith,
understanding, and means of information leave no
doubt of the facts. He observed however that the
numbers above supposed to have perished, were on
such conjectures only as he could collect.

I trouble Congress with these details, because,
however distant we may be both in condition & dis-
positions, from taking an active part in any commo-
tions in that country, nature has placed it too near us
to make it's movements altogether indifferent to our
interests or to our curiosity.

I hear of another Arret of this court increasing

vol. iv 25



386 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

the duties on foreign stockfish, & the premiums on
their own, imported into their islands ; but not having
yet seen it I can say nothing certain on it. I am in
hopes the effect of this policy will be defeated by the
practice which I am told takes place on the banks of
Newfoundland of putting our fish into the French
fishing-boats & the parties sharing the premium,
instead of ours paying the duty.

I am in hopes Mr. Short will be able to send you the
medals of General Gates, by this packet. I await a gen-
eral instruction as to these medals. The academies
of Europe will be much pleased to receive each a set.

I propose to set out the day after to morrow for
Bordeaux (by the canal of Languedoc) Nantes,
L'Orient & Paris.

I have the honour to be with sentiments of the most
perfect esteem & respect, Sir, your most obedient &
most humble servant.



TO MARTHA JEFFERSON. 1

MARSEILLES, May sth, 1787.

MY DEAR PATSEY, I got back to Aix the day be-
fore yesterday, and found there your letter of the gih
of April from which I presume you to be well,
though you do not say so. In order to exercise your
geography, I will give you a detail of my journey.
You must therefore take your map and trace out the
following places : Dijon, Lyons, Pont St. Esprit,
Nismes, Aries, St. Remis, Aix, Marseilles, Toulon,

1 From S. N. Randolph's Domestic Life of T. Jejferson, 120.



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 387

Hieres, Frejus, Antibes, Nice, Col de Tende, Coni,
Turin, Vercelli, Milan, Pavia, Tortona, Novi, Genoa,
by sea to Albenga, by land to Monaco, Nice, Antibes,
Frejus, Brignolles, Aix, and Marseilles. The day
after morrow, I set out hence for Aix, Avignon, Pont
du Card, Nismes, Montpellier, Narbonne, along the
canal of Languedoc to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Roche-
fort, Rochelle, Nantes, L'Orient, Nantes, Tours,
Orleans, and Paris where I shall arrive about the
middle of June, after having travelled something up-
wards of a thousand leagues.

From Genoa to Aix was very fatiguing ; the first
two days having been at sea, and mortally sick two
more clambering the cliffs of the Apennines, some-
times on foot, sometimes on a mule, according as the
path was more or less difficult and two others travel-
ling through the night as well as day without sleep.
I am not yet rested, and shall therefore shortly give
you rest by closing my letter, after mentioning that I
have received a letter from your sister, which though a
year old gave me great pleasure. I inclose for your per-
usal, as I think it will be pleasure for you also. But
take care of it, and return it to me when I shall get back
to Paris, for, trifling as it seems, it is precious to me.

When I left Paris I wrote to London to desire that
your harpsicord might be sent during the months of
April and May, so that I am in hopes it will arrive a
little before I shall, and give me an opportunity of
judging whether you have got the better of that want
of industry which I began to fear would be the rock
on which you would split. Determine never to be idle.



3 88 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

No person will have occasion to complain of the want
of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how
much may be done if we are always doing. And that
you may always be doing good, my dear, is the ardent
prayer of, yours affectionately.



TO MARTHA JEFFERSON. 1

May 2ist, 1787.

I write you, my dear Patsey, from the canal of
Languedoc, on which I am at present sailing, as I
have been for a week past, cloudless skies above,
limpid waters below, and on each hand a row of night-
ingales in full chorus. This delightful bird had given
me a rich treat before, at the fountain of Vaucluse.
After visiting the tomb of Laura at Avignon, I went
to see this fountain a noble one of itself, and rendered
famous forever by the songs of Petrarch, who lived
near it. I arrived there somewhat fatigued and sat
down by the fountain to repose myself. It gushes, of
the size of a river, from a secluded valley of the
mountains, the ruins of Petrarch's chateau being
perched on a rock two hundred feet perpendicular
above. To add to the enchantment of the scene,
every tree and bush was filled with nightingales in full
song. I think you told me that you had not yet
noticed this bird. As you have trees in the garden
of the convent, there might be nightingales in them,
and this is the season of their song. Endeavor, my
dear, to make yourself acquainted with the music of

'From S. N. Randolph's Domestic Life of T. Jefferson, 122.



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 389

this bird, that when you return to your own country,
you may be able to estimate its merit in comparison
with that of the mocking-bird. The latter has the
advantage of singing through a great part of the year,
whereas the nightingale sings about five or six weeks
in the spring, and a still shorter term, and with a
more feeble voice, in the fall.

I expect to be at Paris about the middle of the next
month. By that time we may begin to expect our
dear Polly. It will be a circumstance of inexpressi-
ble comfort to me to have you both with me once
more. The object most interesting to me for the
residue of my life, will be to see you both developing
daily those principles of virtue and goodness, which
will make you valuable to others and happy in
ourselves, and acquiring those talents and that degree
of science which will guard you at all times against
ennui, the most dangerous poison of life. A mind
always employed is always happy. This is the true
secret, the grand recipe, for felicity. The idle are
only the wretched. In a world which furnishes so
many employments which are so useful, so many
which are amusing, it is our own fault if we ever
know what ennui is, or if we are ever driven to the
miserable resources of gaming, which corrupts our
dispositions, and teaching us a habit of hostility
against all mankind. We are now entering the port
of Toulouse, where I quit my bark, and of course
must conclude my letter. Be good and be industri-
ous, and you will be what I shall most love in the
world. Adieu, my dear child. Yours affectionately.



390 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

TO JAMES MADISON. j. MSS.

PARIS June 20, 1787.

DEAR SIR I wrote you last on the 3Oth of Jan. with
a postscript of Feb. 5. Having set out the last day of
that month to try the waters of Aix, and been journey-
ing since till the loth inst. I have been unable to con-
tinue my correspondence with you. In the meantime
I have received your several favors of Feb. 15, Mar.
1 8 19, & Apr. the 23. The last arrived here about
the 25th of May, while those of Mar. 18 & 19, tho'
written five weeks earlier arrived three weeks later.
I mention this to shew you how incertain is the con-
veyance thro' England.

The idea of separating the executive business of
the confederacy from Congress, as the judiciary is
already in some degree, is just & necessary. I had
frequently pressed on the members individually, while
in Congress the doing this by a resolution of Congress
for appointing an Executive committee to act during
the sessions of Congress, as the Committee of the
states was to act during their vacations. But the
referring to this Committee all executive business as
it should present itself, would require a more perse-
vering self denial than I suppose Congress to possess.
It will be much better to make that separation by a
federal act. The negative proposed to be given them
on all the acts of the several legislatures is now for
the first time suggested to my mind. Primd facie I
do not like it. It fails in an essential character that
the hole & the patch should be commensurate. But
this proposes to mend a small hole by covering the



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 391

whole garment. Not more than one out of 100 state
acts concern the confederacy. This proposition then
in order to give them i. degree of power which they
ought to have, gives them 99. more which they ought
not to have, upon a presumption that they will not
exercise the 99. But upon every act there will be a
preliminary question Does this act concern the con-
federacy ? And was there ever a proposition so plain
as to pass Congress without a debate ? Their deci-
sions are almost always wise ; they are like pure metal.
But you know of how much dross this is the result.
Would not an appeal from the state judicatures to a
federal court in all cases where the act of Confedera-
tion controlled the question, be as effectual a remedy,
& exactly commensurate to the defect ? A British
creditor, e.g., sues for his debt in Virginia ; the de-
fendant pleads an act of the state excluding him from
their courts ; the plaintiff urges the Confederation &
the treaty made under that, as controlling the state
law ; the judges are weak enough to decide according
to the views of their legislature. An appeal to a
federal court sets all to rights. It will be said that
this court may encroach on the jurisdiction of the
state courts. It may. But there will be a power, to
wit, Congress, to watch & restrain them. But place
the same authority in Congress itself, and there will
be no power above them to perform the same office.
They will restrain within due bounds a jurisdiction
exercised by others much more rigorously than if
exercised by themselves. I am uneasy at seeing that
the sale of our Western lands is not yet commenced.



392 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

That precious fund for the immediate extinction of
our debt will I fear be suffered to slip thro' our fingers.
Every delay exposes it to events which no human
foresight can guard against. When we consider the
temper of the people of that country, derived from the
circumstances which surround them, we must suppose
their separation impossible, at every moment. If they
can be retained till their governments become settled
& wise, they will remain with us always, and be a
precious part of our strength & of our virtue. Biit
this affair of the Mississippi, by shewing that Con-
gress is capable of hesitating on a question, which pro-
poses a clear sacrifice of the western to the maritime
States, will with difficulty be obliterated. The propo-
sition of my going to Madrid, to try to recover there
the ground which has been lost at New York, by the
concession of the vote of seven States, I should think
desperate. With respect to myself, weighing the
pleasure of the journey & bare possibility of success,
in one scale, and the strong probability oi failure and
the public disappointment directed on me, in the other,
the latter preponderates. Add to this that jealousy
might be excited in the breast of a person, who could
find occasions of making me uneasy.

The late changes in the ministry here excite con-
siderable hopes. I think viz. gain in them all. I am
particularly happy at the re-entry of Malesherbes into
the Council. His knolege, his integrity render his
value inappreciable, and the greater to me, because
while he had no views of office, we had established
together the most unreserved intimacy. So far



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 393

too / am pleased with Montmorin. His honesty
proceeds from the heart as well as the head, and
therefore may be more surely counted on. The
King loves business, economy, order, & justice, and
wishes sincerely the good of his people ; but he is
irascible, rude, very limited in his understanding, and
religious, bordering only on bigotry. He has no
mistress, loves his queen, and is too much governed by
her. She is capricious like her brother, and governed
by him ; devoted to pleasure and expense ; and not
remarkable for any other vices or virtues. Unhappily
the King shews a propensity for the pleasures of the
table, that for drink has increased lately, or at least it
is become more known. For European news in gen-
eral, I will refer you to my letter to Mr. Jay. Is it
not possible that the occurrences in Holland may
excite a desire in many of fleeing that country & trans-
ferring their effects out of it may make an opening
for shifting into their hands the debts due to this
country, to its officers and Farmers ? It would be
surely eligible. I believe Dumas, if put on the
watch, might alone suffice ; but surely, if Mr. Adams
should go when the moment offers. Dumas has
been in the habit of sending his letters open to me, to
be forwarded to Mr. Jay. During my absence they
passed through Mr. Short's hands who made extracts
from them by which I see he has been recommending
himself and me for the money negotiations in Holland.
It might be thought perhaps that / have encouraged
him in this. Be assured my dear Sir, that no such
idea ever entered my head. On the contrary it is a



394 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

business which would be the most disagreeable to me
of all others, & for which / am the most unfit person
living. I do not understand bargaining, nor possess the
dexterity requisite to them. On the other hand Mr.
Adams, whom I expressly and sincerely recommend,
stands already on ground for that business, which /
could not gain in years. Pray set me to rights in the
minds of those who may have supposed me privy to
this proposition. En passant, I will observe with
respect to Mr. Dumas, that the death of the Count
de Vergennes places Congress more at their ease,
how to dispose of him. Our credit has been ill
treated here in public debate, and our debt deemed
apocryphal. We should try to transfer this debt else-
where, & leave nothing capable of exciting ill
thoughts between us. I shall mention in my letter
to Mr. Jay a disagreeable affair in which Mr. Barclay
has been thrown into, at Bordeaux. An honester
man cannot be found, nor a slower, nor more inde-
cisive one. His affairs, too, are so embarrassed and
desperate, that the public reputation is every moment
in danger of being compromised with him. He is
perfectly amiable & honest, with all his embarrass
ments.

By the next packet I shall be able to send you
some books as also your watch & pedometer. The
two last are not yet done. To search for books and
forward them to Havre will require more time than
I had between my return & the departure of this
packet. You did perfectly right as to the paiment
by the Mr. Fitzhughs. Having been a witness here-



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 395

tofore to the divisions in Congress on the subject of
their foreign ministers, it would be a weakness in me
to suppose none with respect to myself, or to count
with any confidence on the renewal of my commis-
sion, which expires on the roth day of March next :
and the more so as, instead of requiring the disap-
probation of 7. states as formerly, that of one
suffices for a recall when Congress consists of only 7.
states, 2. when of 8. &c which I suppose to be habitu-
ally their numbers at present. Whenever I leave
this place, it will be necessary to begin my arrange-
ments 6. months before my departure ; and these,
once fairly begun and under way, and my mind set
homewards, a change of purpose could hardly take
place. If it should be the desire of Congress that I
should continue still longer, I could wish to know it
at farthest by the packet which will sail from New
York in September. Because were I to put off
longer the quitting my house, selling my furniture &c.
I should not have time left to wind up my affairs ;
and having once quitted, and sold off my furniture, I
could not think of establishing myself here again.
I take the liberty of mentioning this matter to you
not with a desire to change the purpose of Congress,
but to know it in time. I have never fixed in my
own mind the epoch of my return so far as shall
depend on myself, but I never supposed it very
distant. Probably I shall not risk a second vote on
this subject. Such trifling things may draw on one
the displeasure of one or two states & thus submit
me to the disgrace of a recall.



396 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

I thank you for the Paccan nuts which accom-
panied your letter of March. Could you procure
me a copy of the bill for proportioning crimes &
punishments in the form in which it was ultimately
rejected by the house of delegates ? Young Mr.
Bannister desired me to send him regularly the
Mercure de France. I will ask leave to do this thro'
you, & that you will adopt such method of forward-
ing them to him as will save him from being sub-
mitted to postage which they would not be worth.
As a compensation for your trouble you will be free
to keep them till you shall have read them.



TO JOHN ADAMS. j. MSS.

PARIS July i, 1787.

DEAR SIR I returned about three weeks ago from
a very useless voyage, useless, I mean, as to the ob-
ject which first suggested it, that of trying the effect
of the mineral waters of Aix en Provence on my
hand. I tried these because recommended among six
or eight others as equally beneficial, & because they
would place me at the beginning of a tour to the sea-
ports of Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes & L'Orient
which I had long meditated, in hopes that a knol-
ege of the places & persons concerned in our com-
merce & the information to be got from them might
enable me sometimes to be useful. I had expected
to satisfy myself at Marseilles of the causes of the
difference of quality between the rice of Carolina &
that of Piedmont which is brought in quantities to



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 397

Marseilles. Not being able to do it I made an ex-
cursion of three weeks into the rice country beyond
the Alps, going through it from Vercelli to Pavia,
about 60 miles. I found the difference to be not in
the management as had been supposed both here &
in Carolina, but in the species of rice, & I hope to
enable them in Carolina to begin the cultivation of
the Piedmont rice & carry it on hand in hand with
their own that they may supply both qualities, which
is absolutely necessary at this market. I had before
endeavored to lead the depot of rice from Cowes to
Honfleur, and hope to get it received there on such
terms as may draw that branch of commerce from
England to this country. It is an object of 250.000
guineas a year. While passing thro' the towns of
Turin, Milan & Genoa, I satisfied myself of the prac-
ticability of introducing our whale oil for their con-
sumption & I suppose it would be equally so in the
other great cities of that country. I was sorry that I
was not authorized to set the matter on foot. The
merchants with whom I chose to ask conferences, met
me freely, and communicated fully, knowing I was in
a public character. I could however only prepare a
disposition to meet our oil merchants. On the arti-
cle of tobacco I was more in possession of my ground,
and put matters into a train for inducing their gov-
ernment to draw their tobaccos directly from the U.
S. & not as heretofore from Gr. B. I am now occu-
pied with the new ministry here to put the concluding
hand to the new regulations for our commerce with
this country, announced in the letter of M. de Ca-



398 THE WRITINGS OF [1787

lonnes which I sent you last fall. I am in hopes in
addition to those, to obtain a suppression of the
duties on Tar, pitch, & turpentine, and an extension
of the privileges of American whale oil, to their fish
oils in general. I find that the quantity of Codfish
oil brought to L'Orient is considerable. This being
got off hand (which will be in a few days) the chican-
eries & vexations of the farmers on the article of to-
bacco, and their elusions of the order of Bernis, call
for the next attention. I have reason to hope good
dispositions in the new ministry towards our com-
merce with this country. Besides endeavoring on all
occasions to multiply the points of contact & connec-
tion with this country, which I consider as our surest
mainstay under every event, I have had it much at
heart to remove from between us every subject of
misunderstanding or irritation. Our debts to the
King, to the officers, & to the farmers are of this
description. The having complied with no part of
our engagements in these draws on us a great deal of
censure, & occasioned a language in the Assemblee
des Notables very likely to produce dissatisfaction
between us. Dumas being on the spot in Holland, I
had asked of him sometime ago, in confidence, his
opinion on the practicability of transferring these
debts from France to Holland, & communicated his
answer to Congress, pressing them to get you to go
over to Holland & try to effect their business. Your
knolege of the ground & former successes occa-
sioned me to take this liberty without consulting you,
because I was sure you would not weigh your per-



1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 399

sonal trouble against public good. I have had no
answer from Congress ; but hearing of your journey
to Holland have hoped that some money operation
had led you there. If it related to the debts of this
country I would ask a communication of what you
think yourself at liberty to communicate, as it might
change the form of my answers to the eternal appli-
cations I receive. The debt to the officers of France
carries an interest of about 2000 guineas, so we may
suppose its principle is between 30 & 40.000. This
makes more noise against us than all our other debts
put together. * * *



OBSERVATIONS ON THE LETTER OF MONSIEUR DE CA-

LONNES TO MONSIEUR JEFFERSON, DATED FON-

TAINEBLEAU, OCTOB. 22, 1786.

[July 5, 1787.]

A committee was appointed, in the course of the last year to
take a view of the subjects of commerce which might be brought
from the United States of America, in exchange for those of
France, and to consider what advantages and facilities might be