Count de Moustier. Yours of July 18. Sep. 6. &
1 A comparison of the present text of this letter, with the often quoted ver-
sion printed in the Washington edition, illustrates the extreme liberties
frequently taken by Jefferson's former editor.
474 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
Oct. 24. have been successively received, yesterday,
the day before & three or four days before that. I
have only had time to read the letters, the printed
papers communicated with them, however interesting,
being obliged to lie over till I finish my dispatches
for the packet, which dispatches must go from hence
the day after tomorrow. I have much to thank you
for. First and most for the cyphered paragraph
respecting myself. These little informations are very
material towards forming my own decisions. I would
be glad even to know when any individual member
thinks I have gone wrong in any instance. If I
know myself it would not excite ill blood in me, while
it would assist to guide my conduct, perhaps to justify
it, and to keep me to my duty, alert. I must thank
you too for the information in Tho s . Burke's case,
tho' you will have found by a subsequent letter that I
have asked of you a further investigation of that mat-
ter. It is to gratify the lady who is at the head of
the Convent wherein my daughters are, & who, by
her attachment & attention to them, lays me under
great obligations. I shall hope therefore still to re-
ceive from you the result of the further enquiries my
second letter had asked. The parcel of rice which
you informed me had miscarried accompanied my
letter to the Delegates of S. Carolina. Mr. Bourgoin
was to be the bearer of both & both were delivered
together into the hands of his relation here who intro-
duced him to me, and who at a subsequent moment
undertook to convey them to Mr. Bourgoin. This
person was an engraver particularly recommended to
1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. . 475
D r . Franklin & Mr. Hopkinson. Perhaps he may
have mislaid the little parcel of rice among his bag-
gage. I am much pleased that the sale of Western
lands is so successful. I hope they will absorb all
the Certificates of our Domestic debt speedily, in the
first place, and that then offered for cash they will
do the same by our foreign one.
The season admitting only of operations in the
Cabinet, and these being in a great measure secret, I
have little to fill a letter. I will therefore make up
the deficiency by adding a few words on the Constitu-
tion proposed by our Convention. I like much the
general idea of framing a government which should
go on of itself peaceably, without needing continual
recurrence to the state legislatures. I like the organi-
zation of the government into Legislative, Judiciary
& Executive. I like the power given the Legislature
to levy taxes, and for that reason solely approve of
the greater house being chosen by the people directly.
For tho' I think a house chosen by them will be very
illy qualified to legislate for the Union, for foreign
nations &c. yet this evil does not weigh against the
good of preserving inviolate the fundamental prin-
ciple that the people are not to be taxed but by
representatives chosen immediately by themselves.
I am captivated by the compromise of the opposite
claims of the great & little states, of the latter to
equal, and the former to proportional influence. I am
much pleased too with the substitution of the method
of voting by persons, instead of that of voting by
states : and I like the negative given to the Executive
476 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
with a third of either house, though I should have
liked it better had the Judiciary been associated for
that purpose, or invested with a similar and separate
power. There are other good things of less moment.
I will now add what I do not like. First the omission
of a bill of rights providing clearly & without the aid
of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom of the
press, protection against standing armies, restriction
against monopolies, the eternal & unremitting force
of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all
matters of fact triable by the laws of the land & not
by the law of nations. To say, as Mr. Wilson does
that a bill of rights was not necessary because all is
reserved in the case of the general government which
is not given, while in the particular ones all is given
/ which is not reserved, might do for the audience to
[ whom it was addressed, but is surely a gratis dictum,
opposed by strong inferences from the body of the
instrument, as well as from the omission of the clause
I of our present confederation which had declared that
{ in express terms. It was a hard conclusion to say
because there has been no uniformity among the
states as to the cases triable by jury, because some
have been so incautious as to abandon this mode of
trial, therefore the more prudent states shall be re-
duced to the same level of calamity. It would have
been much more just & wise to have concluded the
other way that as most of the states had judiciously
preserved this palladium, those who had wandered
should be brought back to it, and to have established
general right instead of general wrong. Let me
1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 477
add that a bill of rights is what the people are
entitled to against every government on earth,
general or particular, & what no just government
should refuse, or rest on inferences. The second
feature I dislike, and greatly dislike, is the abandon-
ment in every instance of the necessity of rotation in
office, and most particularly in the case of the President.
Experience concurs with reason in concluding that
the first magistrate will always be re-elected if the
Constitution permits it. He is then an officer for
life. This once observed, it becomes of so much con-
sequence to certain nations to have a friend or a foe
at the head of our affairs that they will interfere with
money & with arms. A Galloman or an Angloman
will be supported by the nation he befriends. If once
elected, and at a second or third election out voted
by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes,
foul play, hold possession of the reins of govern-
ment, be supported by the States voting for him,
especially if they are the central ones lying in a
compact body themselves & separating their op-
ponents : and they will be aided by one nation of
Europe, while the majority are aided by another.
The election of a President of America some years
hence will be much more interesting to certain nations
of Europe than ever the election of a king of Poland
was. Reflect on all the instances in history antient
& modern, of elective monarchies, and say if they do
not give foundation for my fears. The Roman em-
perors, the popes, while they were of any importance,
the German emperors till they became hereditary in
478 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
practice, the kings of Poland, the Deys of the Otto-
man dependances. It may be said that if elections
are to be attended with these disorders, the seldomer
they are renewed the better. But experience shews
that the only way to prevent disorder is to render
them uninteresting by frequent changes. An incapa-
city to be elected a second time would have been the
only effectual preventative. The power of removing
him every fourth year by the vote of the people is a
power which will not be exercised. The king of
Poland is removeable every day by the Diet, yet he
is never removed. Smaller objections are the Appeal
in fact as well as law, and the binding all persons
Legislative Executive & Judiciary by oath to main-
tain that constitution. I do not pretend to decide
what would be the best method of procuring the
establishment of the manifold good things in this
constitution, and of getting rid of the bad. Whether
by adopting it in hopes of future amendment, or,
after it has been duly weighed & canvassed by the
people, after seeing the parts they generally dislike,
& those they generally approve, to say to them ' We
see now what you wish. Send together your deputies
again, let them frame a constitution for you omitting
what you have condemned, & establishing the powers
you approve. Even these will be a great addition to
the energy of your government.' At all events I hope
you will not be discouraged from other trials, if the
present one should fail of its full effect. I have thus
told you freely what I like & dislike : merely as a
matter of curiosity, for I know your own judgment
1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 479
has been formed on all these points after having
heard everything which could be urged on them. I
own I am not a friend to a very energetic govern-
ment. It is always oppressive. The late rebellion
in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think
it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in
13 states in the course of n years, is but one for
each state in a century & a half. No country should
be so long without one. Nor will any degree of
power in the hands of government prevent insurrec-
tions. France, with all it's despotism, and two or
three hundred thousand men always in arms has had
three insurrections in the three years I have been
here in every one of which greater numbers were
engaged than in Massachusetts & a great deal more
blood was spilt. In Turkey, which Montesquien sup-
poses more despotic, insurrections are the events of
every day. In England, where the hand of power is
lighter than here, but heavier than with us they
happen every half dozen years. Compare again the
ferocious depredations of their insurgents with the
order, the moderation & the almost self extinguish-
ment of ours. After all, it is my principle that the
will of the majority should always prevail. If they
approve the proposed Convention in all it's parts, I
shall concur in it chearfully, in hopes that they will
amend it whenever they shall find it work wrong. I
think our governments will remain virtuous for many
centuries ; as long as they are chiefly agricultural ;
and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands
in any part of America. When they get piled upon
480 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will
become corrupt as in Europe. Above all things I
hope the education of the common people will
be attended to ; convinced that on their good sense
we may rely with the most security for the preserva-
tion of a due degree of liberty. I have tired you by
this time with my disquisitions & will therefore only
add assurances of the sincerity of those sentiments of
esteem & attachment with which I am Dear Sir your
affectionate friend & servant
P. S. The instability of our laws is really an im-
mense evil. I think it would be well to provide in
our constitutions that there shall always be a twelve-
month between the ingrossing a bill & passing it :
that it should then be offered to it's passage without
changing a word : and that if circumstances should
be thought to require a speedier passage, it should
take two thirds of both houses instead of a * bare
majority.
TO EDWARD CARRINGTON. j. M ss.
PARIS, Dec. 21, 1787.
DEAR SIR, I have just received your two favors
of October 23 and that of Nov 10. I am much
obliged to you for your hints in the Danish business.
They are the only information I have on that subject
except the resolution of Congress, & warn me of a
rock on which I should most certainly have split.
The vote plainly points out an Agent, only leaving it
1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 481
to my discretion to substitute another. My judg-
ment concurs with that of Congress as to his fitness.
But I shall enquire for the surest banker at Copen-
hagen to receive the money, not because I should
have had any doubts, but because I am informed
others would have had them. Against the failure of
a banker, were such an accident or any similar one to
happen, I cannot be held accountable in a case where
I act without particular interest. My principal idea
in proposing the transfer of the French debt was to
obtain in the new loans a much longer day for the
reimbursement of the principal, hoping that the re-
sources of the U. S. could have been equal to the
article of interest alone. But I shall endeavor to
quiet, as well as I can, those interested. A part of
them will probably sell at any rate : and one great
claimant may be expected to make a bitter attack on
our honor. I am very much pleased to hear that our
Western lands sell so successfully. I turn to this pre-
cious resource as that which will in every event liber-
ate us from our Domestic debt, and perhaps too from
our foreign one : and this much sooner than I had ex-
pected. I do not think any thing could have been
done with them in Europe. Individual speculators &
sharpers had duped so many with their unlocated land
warrants that every offer would have been suspected.
As to the new Constitution I find myself nearly a
Neutral. There is a great mass of good in it, in a
very desirable form : but there is also to me a bitter
pill or two. I have written somewhat lengthily to
Mr. Madison on this subject and will take the liberty
VOL. IV. 31
482 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
to refer you to that part of my letter to him. I will
add one question to what I have said there. Would
it not have been better to assign to Congress exclu-
sively the article of imposts for federal purposes, &
to have left direct taxation exclusively to the states ?
I should suppose the former fund sufficient for all
probable events, aided by the land office.
The form which the affairs of Europe may assume
is not yet decypherable by those out of the Cabi-
net. The Emperor gives himself at present the air
of a Mediator. This is necessary to justify a breach
with the Porte. He has his eye at the same time on
Germany, and particularly on Bavaria, the elector of
which has for a long time been hanging over the
grave. Probably France would now consent to the
exchange of the Austrian Netherlands to be created
into a kingdom for the Duke de Deuxponts against
the electorate of Bavaria. This will require a war.
The Empress longs for Turkey ; & viewing France
as her principal obstacle would gladly negotiate her
acquiescence. To spur on this she is coquetting it
with England. The king of Prussia too is playing a
double game between France & England. But I sup-
pose the former incapable of forgiving him or of ever
reposing confidence in him. Perhaps the spring may
unfold to us the final arrangement which will take
place among the powers of this continent.
I often doubt whether I should trouble Congress
or my friends with these details of European politicks.
I know they do not excite that interest in America of
which it is impossible for one to divest himself here.
1787] THOMAS JEFFERSON. 483
I know too that it is a maxim with us, and I think it
a wise one, not to entangle ourselves with the affairs
of Europe. Still, I think, we should know them. The
Turks have practiced the same maxim of not medling
in the complicated wrangles of this continent. But
they have unwisely chosen to be ignorant of them
also, and it is this total ignorance of Europe, it's com-
binations & it's movements which exposes them to
that annihilation possibly about taking place. While
there are powers in Europe which fear our views, or
have views on us, we should keep an eye on them,
their connections & oppositions, that in a moment of
need we may avail ourselves of their weakness with
respect to others as well as ourselves, and calculate
their designs & movements on all the circumstances
under which they exist. Tho' I am persuaded there-
fore that these details are read by many with great
indifference, yet I think it my duty to enter into
them, and to run the risk of giving too much, rather
than too little information. I have the honour to be
with perfect esteem & respect, Dear Sir, your most
obedient & most humble servant.
P. S. The resolution of Congress relative to the
prize money received here speaks of that money as
paid to me. I hope this matter is properly under-
stood. The treasury board desired me to receive it,
and apply it to such & such federal purposes ; &
that they would pay the dividends of the claimants in
America. This would save the expense of remittance.
I declined however receiving the money, & ordered it
484 THE WRITINGS OF [1787
into the hands of their banker, who paid it away for
the purposes to which they had destined it. I should
be sorry, an idea should get abroad that I had
received the money of these poor fellows & applied it
to other purposes. I shall in like manner order the
Danish & Barbary money into the hands of bankers,
carefully avoiding ever to touch a sou of it, or having
any other account to make out than what the banker
will furnish.
TO COLONEL FOREST. J.MSS.
PARIS. Dec. 31. 1787.
DEAR SIR, Just before I received your favor ask-
ing my opinion of our new proposed constitution, I
had written my sentiments on the subject fully to my
friend Mr. Madison, they concurred so exactly with
yours that the communication of them could answer
no end but that of showing my readiness to obey you.
I therefore extracted that part from my letter to him,
& have reserved it for a good private conveiance
which has never offered till now by Mr. Parker. Tho
I pretend to make no mystery of my opinion, yet my
distance from the scene gives me too much diffidence
in my views of it to detail them lengthily & publicly.
This diffidence is increased by my high opinion of the
abilities & honesty of the framers of the Constitution,
yet we cannot help thinking for ourselves. I suppose
I see much precious improvement in it, but some
seeds of danger which might have been kept out of
1787]
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
485
sight of the framers by a consciousness of their own
honesty & a presumption that all succeeding rulers
would be as honest as themselves. Make what use
you please of the contents of the paper, but without
quoting its author, who has no pretensions to see
what is hidden from others.
END OF VOLUME IV.
2883
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