The Assembly proceeds slowly in the forming their constitution. The original vice of their numbers causes this, as well as a tumultuous manner of doing business. They have voted that the elections of the legislature shall be biennial; that it shall be of a single body; but they have not yet decided what shall be its number, or whether they shall be all in one room, or in two, (which they call a division into sections). They have determined that the King shall have asuspensive and iterative veto; that is, that after negativing a law, it cannot be presented again till after a new election. If he negatives it then, it cannot be presented a third time till after another new election. If it be then presented, he is obliged to pass it. This is perhaps justly considered as a more useful negative than an absolute one, which a King would be afraid to use. Mr. Neckar's influence with the Assembly is nothing at all. Having written to them, by order of the King, on the subject of the veto, before it was decided, they refused to let his letter be read. Again, lately, when they desired the sanction of the King to their proceedings of the fourth of August, he wrote in the King's name a letter to them, remonstrating against an immediate sanction to the whole; but they persisted, and the sanction was given. His disgust at this want of influence, together with the great difficulties of his situation, make it believed that he is desirous of resigning. The public stocks were extremely low the day before yesterday. Thecaisse d'escompteat three thousand six hundred and forty, and the loan of one hundred and twenty-five millions, of 1784, was at fifteen per cent. loss. Yesterday they rose a little.
The sloth of the Assembly (unavoidable from their number)has done the most sensible injury to the public cause. The patience of a people who have less of that quality than any other nation in the world, is worn thread-bare. Time has been given to the aristocrats to recover from their panic, to cabal, to sow dissensions in the Assembly, and distrust out of it. It has been a misfortune, that the King and aristocracy together have not been able to make a sufficient resistance, to hoop the patriots in a compact body. Having no common enemy of such force as to render their union necessary, they have suffered themselves to divide. The assembly now consists of four distinct parties. 1. The aristocrats, comprehending the higher members of the clergy, military, nobility, and the parliaments of the whole kingdom. This forms a head without a body. 2. The moderate royalists, who wish for a constitution nearly similar to that of England. 3. The republicans, who are willing to let their first magistracy be hereditary, but to make it very subordinate to the legislature, and to have that legislature consist of a single chamber. 4. The faction of Orleans. The second and third descriptions are composed of honest, well-meaning men, differing in opinion only, but both wishing the establishment of as great a degree of liberty as can be preserved. They are considered together as constituting the patriotic part of the Assembly, and they are supported by the soldiery of the army, the soldiery of the clergy, that is to say, the Curés and monks, the dissenters, and part of the nobility which is small, and the substantial Bourgeoise of the whole nation. The part of these collected in the cities, have formed themselves into municipal bodies, have chosen municipal representatives, and have organized an armed corps, considerably more numerous in the whole than the regular army. They have also the ministry, such as it is, and as yet, the King. Were the second and third parties, or rather these sections of the same party, to separate entirely, this great mass of power and wealth would be split, nobody knows how. But I do not think they will separate; because they have the same honest views; because, each being confident of the rectitude of the other, there is no rancor between them; because they retain the desire of coalescing. Inorder to effect this, they not long ago proposed a conference, and desired it might be at my house, which gave me an opportunity of judging of their views. They discussed together their points of difference for six hours, and in the course of discussion agreed on mutual sacrifices. The effect of this agreement has been considerably defeated by the subsequent proceedings of the Assembly, but I do not know that it has been through any infidelity of the leaders to the compromise they had agreed on. Another powerful bond of union between these two parties, is our friend the Marquis de La Fayette. He left the Assembly while they as yet formed but one party. His attachment to both is equal, and he labors incessantly to keep them together. Should he be obliged to take part against either, it will be against that which shall first pass the Rubicon of reconciliation with the other. I should hope, in this event, that his weight would be sufficient to turn the scale decidedly in favor of the other. His command of the armed militia of Paris (thirty thousand in number, and comprehending the French guards who are five thousand regulars), and his influence with the municipality, would secure their city; and though the armed militia and municipalities of the other cities are in nowise subordinate to those of Paris, yet they look up to them with respect, and look particularly to the Marquis de La Fayette, as leading always to the rights of the people. This turn of things is so probable, that I do not think either section of the patriots will venture on any act, which will place themselves in opposition to him.
This being the face of things, troubled as you will perceive, civil war is much talked of and expected; and this talk and expectation has a tendency to beget it. What are the events which may produce it? 1. The want of bread, were it to produce a commencement of disorder, might ally itself to more permanent causes of discontent, and thus continue the effect beyond its first cause. The scarcity of bread, which continues very great amidst a plenty of corn, is an enigma which can be solved only by observing, that the furnishing the city is in the new municipality, not yet masters of their trade. 2. A public bankruptcy. Greatnumbers of the lower as well as higher classes of the citizens, depend for subsistence on their property in the public funds. 3. The absconding of the King from Versailles. This has for some time been apprehended as possible. In consequence of this apprehension, a person whose information would have weight, wrote to the Count de Montmorin, adjuring him to prevent it by every possible means, and assuring him that the flight of the King would be the signal of a St. Barthelemi against the aristocrats in Paris, and perhaps through the kingdom. M. de Montmorin showed the letter to the Queen, who assured him solemnly that no such thing was in contemplation. His showing it to the Queen, proves he entertained the same mistrust with the public. It may be asked, what is the Queen disposed to do in the present situation of things? Whatever rage, pride and fear can dictate in a breast which never knew the presence of one moral restraint.
Upon the whole, I do not see it as yet probable that any actual commotion will take place; and if it does take place, I have strong confidence that the patriotic party will hold together, and their party in the nation be what I have described it. In this case, there would be against them the aristocracy and the faction of Orleans. This consists, at this time, of only the Catalines of the Assembly, and some of the lowest description of the mob. Its force,within the kingdom, must depend on how much of this last kind of people it can debauch with money from its present bias to the right cause. This bias is as strong as any one can be, in a class which must accept its bread from him who will give it. Its resourcesout of the kingdomare not known. Without doubt, England will give money to produce and to feed the fire which should consume this country; but it is not probable she will engage in open war for that. If foreign troops should be furnished, it would be most probably by the King of Prussia, who seems to offer himself as the bull-dog of tyranny to all his neighbors. He might, too, be disturbed by the contagion of the same principles gaining his own subjects, as they have done those of the Austrian Netherlands, Liege, Cologne, andHesse Cassel. The army of the latter Prince, joining with his subjects, are said to have possessed themselves of the treasures he had amassed by hiring troops to conquer us, and by other iniquities. Fifty-four millions of livres is the sum mentioned. But all these means, external and internal, must prove inadequate to their ultimate object, if the nation be united as it is at present. Expecting within a few days to leave Paris, and that this is my last letter on public subjects, I have indulged myself in giving you a general view of things, as they appear to me at the time of my leaving them. Mr. Short will have the honor of continuing the narration, and of correcting it, where circumstances unknown or unforeseen may give a different turn to events.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
Paris, September 26, 1789.
Sir,—I had the honor of waiting on you at Versailles the day before yesterday, in order to present my respects on my departure to America. I was unlucky in the moment, as it was one in which you were gone out.
I wished to have put into your hands, at the same time, the enclosed state of the British northern fishery for the years 1788 and 1789, by which you will see that they have lost in one year one-third of that fishery, the effect, almost solely, of theArretwhich shut the ports of France to their oils.
I wished also to know, whether, while in America, I could be useful towards encouraging supplies of provision to be brought to this country the ensuing year. I am persuaded a considerable relief to the city of Paris might be obtained, by permitting the importation of salted provisions from the United States. Our salted beef particularly (which, since the war, we have learned to prepare in the Irish manner, so as to be as good as the best of that country), could be sold out to the people of Paris for the half of what they pay for fresh meat. It would seem then, thatthe laborer paying but half the usual price for his meat, might pay the full price of his bread, and so relieve government from its loss on that article. The interest of thegabelleshas been an objection hitherto, to the importation of salted provisions. But that objection is lessened by the reduction of the price of salt, and done away entirely by the desire of the present government to consider the ease and happiness of the people as the first object. In every country as fully peopled as France, it would seem good policy to encourage the employment of its lands in the cultivation of corn, rather than in pasturage, and consequently to encourage the use of all kinds of salted provisions, because they can be imported from other countries. It may be apprehended, that the Parisian, habituated to fresh provision, would not use salted. Then he would not buy them, and of course they would not be brought, so that no harm can be done by the permission. On the contrary, if the people of Paris should readily adopt the use of salted provisions, the good would result which is before mentioned. Salt meat is not as good as fresh for soups, but it gives a higher flavor to the vegetables boiled with it. The experience of a great part of America, which is fed almost entirely on it, proves it to be as wholesome as fresh meat. The sea scurvy, ascribed by some to the use of salt meat, is equally unknown in America as in Europe. It is the want of vegetables at sea which produces the scurvy. I have thus hastily mentioned reasons and objections, to save you the time and trouble of recollecting them. To you, Sir, it suffices, barely to mention them. Mr. Short,Chargé des Affairesfor the United States, will have the honor of delivering you this, and of giving you any further details which you may be pleased to require.
I shall hope, on my return in the spring, to find your health re-established, and your mind relieved, by a perfect settlement of the affairs of the nation; and with my felicitations on those accounts, to express to you those sentiments of profound respect and attachment with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
Havre, September 30, 1789.
Dear Sir,—No convenient ship having offered from any port of France, I have engaged one from London to take me up at Cowes, and am so far on my way thither. She will land me at Norfolk, and as I do not know any service that would be rendered by my repairing immediately to New York, I propose, in order to economise time, to go directly to my own house, get through the business which calls me there, and then repair to New York, where I shall be ready to re-embark for Europe. But should there be any occasion for government to receive any information I can give, immediately on my arrival, I will go to New York on receiving your orders at Richmond. They may probably be there before me, as this goes by Mr. Trumbull, bound directly for New York.
I enclose you herewith the proceedings of the National Assembly on Saturday last, wherein you will perceive that the committee had approved the plan of Mr. Neckar. I can add from other sure information received here, that the Assembly adopted it the same evening. This plan may possibly keep their payments alive till their new government gets into motion; though I do not think it very certain. The public stocks lowered so exceedingly the last days of my stay at Paris, that I wrote to our bankers at Amsterdam, to desire they would retain till further orders the thirty thousand guilders, or so much of it as had not yet come on. And as to what might be already coming on, I recommended to Mr. Short to go and take the acceptance himself, and keep the bill in his own hands till the time of payment. He will by that time see what is best to be done with the money.
In taking leave of Monsieur de Montmorin, I asked him whether their West India ports would continue open to us awhile. He said they would be immediately declared open till February, and we may be sure they will be so till the next harvest. He agreed with me, that there would be two or three months' provision for the whole kingdom wanting for the ensuing year. Theconsumption of bread for the whole kingdom, is two millions of livres tournois a day. The people pay the real price of their bread everywhere, except at Paris and Versailles. There the price is suffered to vary very little as to them, and government pays the difference. It has been supposed that this difference for some time past, has cost a million a week. I thought the occasion favorable to propose to Monsieur de Montmorin the free admission of our salted provisions, observing to him particularly that our salted beef from the Eastern States could be dealt out to the people of Paris for five or six sols the pound, which is but half the common price they pay for fresh beef; that the Parisian paying less for his meat, might pay more for his bread, and so relieve government from its enormous loss on that article. His idea of this resource seemed unfavorable. We talked over the objections of the supposed unhealthiness of that food, its tendency to produce scurvy, the chance of its taking with a people habituated to fresh meat, their comparative qualities of rendering vegetables eatable, and the interests of the gabelles. He concluded with saying the experiment might be tried, and with desiring me to speak with Mr. Neckar. I went to Mr. Neckar, but he had gone to the National Assembly. On my return to Paris, therefore, I wrote to him on the subject, going over the objections which Monsieur de Montmorin had started. Mr. Short was to carry the letter himself, and to pursue the subject.
Having observed that our commerce to Havre is considerably on the increase, and that most of our vessels coming there, and especially those from the eastward, are obliged to make a voyage round to the neighborhood of the Loire and Garonne for salt, a voyage attended with expense, delay, and more risk, I have obtained from the Farmers General, that they shall be supplied from their magazines at Honfleur, opposite to Havre, at a mercantile price. They fix it at present at sixty livres themuid, which comes to about fifteen sous, or seven and a half pence sterling our bushel; but it will vary as the price varies at the place from which they bring it. As this will be a great relief to such of our vessels coming to Havre, as might wish to take back salt, it may perhapsbe proper to notify it to our merchants. I enclose herewith Mr. Neckar's discourse to the Assembly, which was not printed till I left Paris; and have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
Chesterfield, December 15, 1789.
Sir,—I have received at this place the honor of your letters of October the 13th and November the 30th, and am truly flattered by your nomination of me to the very dignified office of Secretary of State; for which, permit me here to return you my humble thanks. Could any circumstance seduce me to overlook the disproportion between its duties and my talents, it would be the encouragement of your choice. But when I contemplate the extent of that office, embracing as it does the principal mass of domestic administration, together with the foreign, I cannot be insensible of my inequality to it; and I should enter on it with gloomy forebodings from the criticisms and censures of a public, just indeed in their intentions, but sometimes misinformed and misled, and always too respectable to be neglected. I cannot but foresee the possibility that this may end disagreeably for me, who, having no motive to public service but the public satisfaction, would certainly retire the moment that satisfaction should appear to languish. On the other hand, I feel a degree of familiarity with the duties of my present office, as far at least as I am capable of understanding its duties. The ground I have already passed over, enables me to see my way into that which is before me. The change of government too, taking place in a countrywhere it is exercised, seems to open a possibility of procuring from the new rulers, some new advantages in commerce, which may be agreeable to our countrymen. So that as far as my fears, my hopes, or my inclinations might enter into this question, I confess they would not lead me to prefer a change.
But it is not for an individual to choose his post. You are to marshal us as may best be for the public good; and it is only in the case of its being indifferent to you, that I would avail myself of the option you have so kindly offered in your letter. If you think it better to transfer me to another post, my inclination must be no obstacle; nor shall it be, if there is any desire to suppress the office I now hold, or to reduce its grade. In either of these cases, be so good only as to signify to me by another line your ultimate wish, and I shall conform to it cordially. If it should be to remain at New York, my chief comfort will be to work under your eye, my only shelter the authority of your name, and the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and implicitly executed by me. Whatever you may be pleased to decide, I do not see that the matters which have called me hither, will permit me to shorten the stay I originally asked; that is to say, to set out on my journey northward till the month of March. As early as possible in that month, I shall have the honor of paying my respects to you in New York. In the meantime, I have that of tendering you the homage of those sentiments of respectful attachment with which I am, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
Monticello, January 27, 1790.
Dear Sir,—I had hoped that during my stay here I could have had the pleasure of seeing you in Bedford, but I find it will be too short for that. Besides views of business in that country, I had wished again to visit that greatest of our curiosities, the Natural Bridge, and did not know but you might have the same desire. I do not know yet how I am to be disposed of, whetherkept at New York, or sent back to Europe. If the former, one of my happinesses would be the possibility of seeing you there; for I understand you are a candidate for the representation of your district in Congress. I cannot be with you to give you my vote, nor do I know who are to be the competitors, but I am sure I shall be contented with such a representative as you will make; because I know you are too honest a patriot not to wish to see our country prosper by any means, though they be not exactly those you would have preferred; and that you are too well informed a politician, too good a judge of men, not to know, that the ground of liberty is to be gained by inches, that we must be contented to secure what we can get, from time to time, and eternally press forward for what is yet to get. It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good. Wishing you every prosperity in this, and in all your other undertakings (for I am sure from my knowledge of you they will always be just), I am, with sincere esteem and respect, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
Monticello, February 14, 1790.
Sir,—I have duly received the letter of the 21st of January with which you have honored me, and no longer hesitate to undertake the office to which you are pleased to call me. Your desire that I should come on as quickly as possible, is a sufficient reason for me to postpone every matter of business, however pressing, which admits postponement. Still, it will be the close of the ensuing week before I can get away, and then I shall have to go by the way of Richmond, which will lengthen my road. I shall not fail, however, to go on with all the despatch possible, nor to satisfy you, I hope, when I shall have the honor of seeing you in New York, that the circumstances which prevent my immediate departure, are not under my control. I have now that of being, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and attachment, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
Monticello, February 14, 1790.
Dear Sir,—I am honored with your favor of December 12, and thank you for your friendly congratulations on my return to my native country, as well as for the interest you are pleased to express in the appointment with which I have been honored. I have thought it my duty to undertake it, though with no prepossessions in favor of my talents for executing it to the satisfaction of the public. With respect to the young gentlemen in the office of foreign affairs, their possession and your recommendation are the strongest titles. But I suppose the ordinance establishing my office, allows but one assistant; and I should be wanting in candor to you and them, were I not to tell you that another candidate has been proposed to me, on ground that cannot but command respect. I know neither him nor them, and my hope is, that, as but one can be named, the object is too small to occasion either mortification or disappointment to either. I am sure I shall feel more pain at not being able to avail myself of the assistance but of one of the gentlemen, than they will at the betaking themselves to some better pursuit. I ask it of your friendship, my dear Sir, to make them sensible of my situation, and to accept yourself assurances of the sincere esteem and respect with which I have the honor to be, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
Alexandria, March 11, 1790.
Sir,—Accept my sincere thanks for yourself and the worthy citizens of Alexandria, for their kind congratulations on my return to my native country.
I am happy they have felt benefits from the encouragement of our commerce, which have been given by an allied nation. But truth and candor oblige me, at the same time, to declare, you areindebted for these encouragements solely to the friendly dispositions of that nation, which has shown itself ready on every occasion to adopt all arrangements which might strengthen our ties of mutual interest and friendship.
Convinced that the republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind, my prayers and efforts shall be cordially distributed to the support of that we have so happily established. It is indeed an animating thought, that while we are securing the rights of ourselves and our posterity, we are pointing out the way to struggling nations, who wish like us to emerge from their tyrannies also. Heaven help their struggles, and lead them, as it has done us, triumphantly through them.
Accept, Sir, for yourself and the citizens of Alexandria, the homage of my thanks for their civilities, and the assurance of those sentiments of respect and attachment with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, March 28, 1790.
Dear Sir,—I arrived here on the 21st instant, after as laborious a journey of a fortnight from Richmond as I ever went through; resting only one day at Alexandria, and another at Baltimore. I found my carriage and horses at Alexandria, but a snow of eighteen inches deep falling the same night, I saw the impossibility of getting on in my own carriage, so left it there, to be sent to me by water, and had my horses led on to this place, taking my passage in the stage, though relieving myself a little sometimes by mounting my horse. The roads through the whole way were so bad that we could never go more than three miles an hour, sometimes not more than two, and in the night but one. My first object was to look out a house in the Broadway, if possible, as being the centre of my business. Finding none there vacant for the present, I have taken a small one inMaiden Lane, which may give me time to look about me. Much business had been put by for my arrival, so that I found myself all at once involved under an accumulation of it. When this shall be got through, I will be able to judge whether the ordinary business of my department will leave me any leisure. I fear there will be little.
Letters from Paris to the 25th of December, inform me that the revolution there was still advancing with a steady pace. There had been two riots since my departure. The one on the 5th and 6th of October, which occasioned the royal family to remove to Paris, in which nine or ten of the Gardes de Corps fell, and among these a Chevalier de Daricourt, brother of Madame de La Dillatte, and of Mademoiselle Daricourt —— friend. The second was on the 21st of the same month, in which a baker had been hung by the mob. On this occasion, the government (i. e.the National Assembly) proclaimed Martial Law in Paris, and had two of the ringleaders of the mob seized, tried, and hung, which was effected without any movement on the part of the people. Others were still to be tried. The troubles in Brabant becomes serious. The insurgents have routed the regular troops in every rencounter.
Congress is principally occupied by the treasury report. The assumption of the State debts has been voted affirmatively in the first instance, but it is not certain it will hold its ground through all the changes of the bill when it shall be brought in. I have recommended Mr. D. R. to the President for the office he desired, in case of a vacancy. It seemed, however, as if the President had had no intimation before, that a vacancy was expected.
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Yours affectionately.
New York, March 31, 1790.
Sir,—I have considered your application for sea letters for the ship Eliza, and examined into the precedents which you supposedmight influence the determination. The resolution of Congress, which imposes this duty on the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, provides expressly, "that it be made to appear to him by oath or affirmation, orby such other evidence as shall by him be deemed satisfactory, that the vessel is commanded by officers, citizens of the United States." Your affidavit satisfies me that one of the officers is a citizen of the United States; but you are unacquainted with the others and without evidence as to them, and even without a presumption that they are citizens, except so far as arises on the circumstances of the captain's being an American, and the ship sailing from an American port. Now, I cannot in my conscience say, that this isevidence of the fact, satisfactory to my mind. The precedents of relaxation by Mr. Jay, were all between the date of the resolution of Congress (February the 12th, 1788) and his public advertisement, announcing the evidence which must be produced. Since this last, the proceedings have been uniform and exact. Having perfect confidence in your good faith, and therefore without a suspicion of any fraud intended in the present case, I could have wished sincerely to grant the sea letter; but besides the letter of the law which ties me down, the public security against a partial dispensation of justice, depends on its being dispensed by certain rules. The slightest deviation in one circumstance, becomes a precedent for another, that for a third, and so on, without bounds. A relaxation in a case where it is certain no fraud is intended, is laid hold of by others, afterwards, to cover fraud. I hope, therefore, you will be sensible of the necessity of my adhering to the rules which have been published and practised by my predecessor; and that I am with great respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 1, 1790.
I have duly received the letter wherein you are so good as to notify to me the honor done me by the American Academy ofArts and Sciences, in electing me one of their members, together with the diploma therein enclosed; and I beg leave through you, Sir, to return to the Academy the homage of my thanks for their favor, and to express to them the grateful sense I have of it. I only regret the small prospect I have of being useful to them, engaged as I continually am in occupations less pleasing to me, and which would be better performed by others. Unacquainted with the duties which the election into your Academy imposes on me, I can only express my desire of fulfilling them on their being made to me.
Mr. Read has explained to me his drawings and models. They prove that he merits the character you are pleased to give of him. He waits at present the passage of a law for securing to inventors the benefit of their own ingenuity. I have the honor to be, with the most respectful esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 2, 1790.
Behold me, my dear friend, elected Secretary of State, instead of returning to the far more agreeable position which placed me in the daily participation of your friendship. I found the appointment in the newspapers the day of my arrival in Virginia. I had indeed been asked while in France, whether I would accept of any appointment at home, and I had answered that, not meaning to remain long where I was, I meant it to be the last office I should ever act in. Unfortunately this letter had not arrived at the time of arranging the new Government. I expressed freely to the President my desire to return. He left me free, but still showing his own desire. This, and the concern of others, more general than I had a right to expect, induced, after three months parleying, to sacrifice my own inclinations. I have been here, then, ten days harnessed in new gear. Wherever I am, or ever shall be, I shall be sincere in my friendship to youand to your nation. I think with others, that nations are to be governed with regard to their own interests, but I am convinced that it is their interest, in the long run, to be grateful, faithful to their engagements, even in the worst of circumstances, and honorable and generous always. If I had not known that the head of our government was in these sentiments, and that his national and private ethics were the same, I would never have been where I am. I am sorry to tell you his health is less firm than it used to be. However, there is nothing in it to give alarm. The opposition to our new Constitution has almost totally disappeared. Some few indeed had gone such lengths in their declarations of hostility, that they feel it awkward perhaps to come over; but the amendments proposed by Congress, have brought over almost all their followers. If the President can be preserved a few years till habits of authority and obedience can be established generally, we have nothing to fear. The little vaut-rien, Rhode Island, will come over with a little more time. Our last news from Paris is of the 8th of January. So far it seemed that your revolution had got along with a steady peace; meeting indeed occasional difficulties and dangers, but we are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a feather-bed. I have never feared for the ultimate result, though I have feared for you personally. Indeed, I hope you will never see such another 5th or 6th of October. Take care of yourself, my dear friend, for though I think your nation would in any event work out her salvation, I am persuaded, were she to lose you, it would cost her oceans of blood, and years of confusion and anarchy. Kiss and bless your dear children for me. Learn them to be as you are, a cement between our two nations. I write to Madame de La Fayette, so have only to add assurances of the respect of your affectionate friend and humble servant.
New York, April 2, 1790.
I had the happiness, my dear friend, to arrive in Virginia, after a voyage of twenty-six days only, of the finest autumn weatherit was possible to have; the wind having never blown harder than we would have desired it. On my arrival I found my name in the newspapers announced as Secretary of State. I made light of it, supposing I had only to say "No," and there would be an end of it. It turned out, however, otherwise. For though I was left free to return to France, if I insisted on it, yet I found it better in the end to sacrifice my own inclinations to those of others. After holding off, therefore, near three months, I acquiesced. I did not write to you while this question was in suspense, because I was in constant hope of being able to say to you certainly that I should return. Instead of that, I am now to say certainly the contrary, and instead of greeting you personally in Paris, I am to write you a letter of adieu. Accept, then, my dear Madam, my cordial adieu, and my grateful thanks for all the civilities and kindnesses I have received from you. They have been greatly more than I had a right to expect, and they have excited in me a warmth of esteem which it was imprudent in me to have given way to for a person whom I was one day to be separated from. Since it is so, continue towards me those friendly sentiments I have always flattered myself you entertained; let me hear from you sometimes, assured that I shall always feel a warm interest in your happiness. Your letter of November 25 afflicts me; but I hope that a revolution so pregnant with the general happiness of the nation, will not in the end injure the interests of persons who are so friendly to the general good of mankind as yourself and M. de Corny. Present to him my most affectionate esteem, and ask a place for me in his recollection.
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Your affectionate friend and humble servant.
New York, April 2, 1790.
Being called by our Government to assist in its domestic administration, instead of paying my respects to you in person as Ihad hoped, I am to write you a letter of adieu. Accept, I pray you, Madam, my grateful acknowledgments for the manifold kindnesses by which you added so much to the happiness of my stay in Paris. I have found here a philosophic revolution, philosophically effected. Yours, though a little more turbulent, has, I hope by this time, issued in success and peace. Nobody prays for it more sincerely than I do, and nobody will do more to cherish a union with a nation, dear to us through many ties, and now more approximated by the change in its government.
I found our friend Doctor Franklin in his bed—cheerful and free from pain, but still in his bed. He took a lively interest in the details I gave him of your revolution. I observed his face often flushed in the course of it. He is much emaciated. Monsieur de Crevecoeur is well, but a little apprehensive that the spirit of reforming and economizing may reach his office. A good man will suffer if it does. Permit me, Madame la Comtesse, to place here my sincere respects to Monsieur le Comte Houdetot and to Monsieur de St. Lambert. The philosophy of the latter will have been greatly gratified to see a regeneration of the condition of man in Europe so happily begun in his own country. Repeating to you, Madam, my sense of your goodness to me, and my wishes to prove it on every occasion, adding my sincere prayers that Heaven may bless you with many years of life and health, I pray you to accept here the homage of those sentiments of respect and attachment with which I have the honor to be, Madame la Comtesse, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 2, 1790.
I had hoped, Madame la Duchesse, to have again had the pleasure of paying my respects to you in Paris, but the wish of our Government that I should take a share in its administration, has become a law to me. Could I have persuaded myself that public offices were made for private convenience, I should undoubtedlyhave preferred a continuance in that which placed me nearer to you; but believing, on the contrary, that a good citizen should take his stand where the public authority marshals him, I have acquiesced. Among the circumstances which will reconcile me to my new position, are the opportunities it will give me of cementing the friendship between our two nations. Be assured, that to do this is the first wish of my heart. I have but one system of ethics for men and for nations—to be grateful, to be faithful to all engagements under all circumstances, to be open and generous, promoting in the long run even the interests of both; and I am sure it promotes their happiness. The change in your government will approximate us to one another. You have had some checks, some horrors since I left you; but the way to Heaven, you know, has always been said to be strewed with thorns. Why your nation have had fewer than any other on earth, I do not know, unless it be that it is the best on earth. I assure you, Madam, moreover, that I consider yourself personally as with the foremost of your nation in every virtue. It is not flattery, my heart knows not that; it is a homage to sacred truth, it is a tribute I pay with cordiality to a character in which I saw but one error; it was that of treating me with a degree of favor I did not merit. Be assured I shall always retain a lively sense of your goodness to me, which was a circumstance of principal happiness to me during my stay in Paris. I hope that by this time you have seen that my prognostications of a successful issue to your revolution, have been verified. I feared for you during a short interval; but after the declaration of the army, though there might be episodes of distress, the denouements was out of doubt. Heaven send that the glorious example of your country may be but the beginning of the history of European liberty, and that you may live many years in health and happiness to see at length that Heaven did not make man in its wrath. Accept the homage of those sentiments of sincere and respectful esteem with which I have the honor to be, Madame la Duchesse, your most affectionate and obedient humble servant.
New York, April 3, 1790.
Dear Sir,—A call to take a part in the domestic administration of our Government, obliges me to abandon the expectation of paying my respects to you in person, in Paris. Though removed to a greater distance in future, and deprived of the pleasure and advantages of your conversation and society, which contributed so much to render my residence in Paris agreeable, I shall not be the less anxious for your health and happiness, and for the prosperous issue of the great revolution in which you have taken so zealous and distinguished a part. By this time I hope it is happily concluded, and that the new constitution, after receiving the finishing hand from the National Assembly, is now putting into regular motion by the convocation of a new legislature. I find my countrymen as anxious for your success as they ought to be; and thinking with the National Assembly in all points except that of a single house of legislation. They think their own experience has so decidedly proved the necessity of two Houses to prevent the tyranny of one, that they fear that this single error will shipwreck your new constitution. I am myself persuaded that theory and practice are not at variance in this instance, and that you will find it necessary hereafter to add another branch. But I presume you provide a facility of amending your constitution, and perhaps the necessity may be altogether removed by a council of revision well constituted.
Accept, Sir, my sincere thanks for all your kindnesses, permit me to place here those which I owe to Madame La Duchesse de La Rochefoucault, and which I render with the greatest cordiality. Were her system of ethics and of government the system of every one, we should have no occasion for government at all. I hope you will both live long years of health and happiness to see in full ripeness the fruit of your own revolution, and also that which seems blossoming in other parts of Europe. Accept, both, the homage of that affectionate and respectful attachment with which I have the honor to be your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 6, 1790.
Sir,—The President of the United States having thought proper to assign to me other functions than those of their Minister Plenipotentiary near the King, I have the honor of addressing to your Excellency my letters of recall, and of beseeching you to be so good as to present them, with the homage of my respectful adieus, to his Majesty.
It is with great satisfaction that I find myself authorized to conclude, as I had begun my mission, with assurances of the attachment of our government to the King and his people, and of its desire to preserve and strengthen the harmony and good understanding, which has hitherto so happily subsisted between the two nations.
Give me leave to place here, also, my acknowledgments to your Excellency, personally, for the facilities you have been pleased always to give in the negotiation of the several matters I have had occasion to treat with you, during my residence at your court. They were ever such as to evince, that the friendly dispositions towards our republic which you manifested even from its birth, were still found consistent with that patriotism of which you have continued to give such constant and disinterested proofs. May this union of interests forever be the patriot's creed in both countries. Accept my sincere prayers that the King, with life and health, may be long blessed with so faithful and able a servant, and you with a Prince, the model of royal excellence; and permit me to retain to my latest hours, those sentiments of affectionate respect and attachment, with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 11, 1790.
Sir,—A vessel being about to sail from this port for Cadiz, I avail myself of it to inform you, that under the appointment ofthe President of the United States, I have entered on the duties of Secretary of State, comprehending the department of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Jay's letter of October the 2d, acknowledged the receipt of the last of yours which have come to hand. Since that date he wrote you on the 7th of December, enclosing a letter for Mr. Chiappe.
The receipt of his letter of September the 9th, 1788, having never been acknowledged, the contents of which were important and an answer wished for, I send you herewith a duplicate, lest it should have miscarried.
You will also receive herewith, a letter of credence for yourself, to be delivered to the Count de Florida Blanca, after putting thereon the proper address, with which I am unacquainted. A copy of it is enclosed for your information.
I beg leave to recommend the case of Don Blas Gonzalez to your good offices with the court of Spain, enclosing you the documents necessary for its illustration. You will perceive, that two vessels were sent from Boston in the year 1787, on a voyage of discovery and commercial experiment in general, but more particularly to try a fur trade with the Russian settlements, on the northwest coast of our continent, of which such wonders had been published in Captain Cook's voyages, that it excited similar expeditions from other countries also; and that the American vessels were expressly forbidden to touch at any Spanish port, but in cases of extreme distress. Accordingly, through the whole of their voyage through the extensive latitudes held by that crown, they never put into any port but in a single instance. In passing near the island of Juan Fernandez, one of them was damaged by a storm, her rudder broken, her masts disabled, and herself separated from her companion. She put into the island to refit, and at the same time, to wood and water, of which she began to be in want. Don Blas Gonzalez, after examining her, and finding she had nothing on board but provisions and charts, and that her distress was real, permitted her to stay a few days, to refit and take in fresh supplies of wood and water. For thisact of common hospitality, he was immediately deprived of his government, unheard, by superior order, and remains still under disgrace. We pretend not to know the regulations of the Spanish government, as to the admission of foreign vessels into the ports of their colonies; but the generous character of the nation is a security to us, that their regulations can, in no instance, run counter to the laws of nature; and among the first of her laws, is that which bids us to succor those in distress. For an obedience to this law, Don Blas appears to have suffered; and we are satisfied, it is because his case has not been able to penetrate to his Majesty's ministers, at least in its true colors. We would not choose to be committed by a formal solicitation, but we would wish you to avail yourself of any good opportunity of introducing the truth to the ear of the minister, and of satisfying him, that a redress of this hardship on the Governor, would be received here with pleasure, as a proof of respect to those laws of hospitality which we would certainly observe in a like case, as a mark of attention towards us, and of justice to an individual for whose sufferings we cannot but feel.
With the present letter, you will receive the public and other papers, as usual, and I shall thank you in return, for a regular communication of the best gazettes published in Madrid.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 23, 1790.
Dear Sir,—You may remember that we were together at the Hotel de La Monnoye, to see Mr. Drost strike coins in his new manner, and that you were so kind as to speak with him afterwards on the subject of his coming to America. We are now in a condition to establish a mint, and should be desirous of engaging him in it. I suppose him to be at present in the service of Watts and Bolton, the latter of whom you may remember to havebeen present with us at the Monnoye. I know no means of communicating our dispositions to Drost so effectually as through your friendly agency, and therefore take the liberty of asking you to write to him, to know what emoluments he receives from Watts and Bolton, and whether he would be willing to come to us for the same? If he will, you may give him an expectation, but without an absolute engagement, that we will call for him immediately, and that with himself, we may probably take and pay him for all the implements of coinage he may have, suited to our purpose. If he asks higher terms, he will naturally tell you so, and what they are; and we must reserve a right to consider of them. In either case, I will ask your answer as soon as possible. I need not observe to you, that this negotiation should be known to nobody but yourself, Drost and Mr. Short. The good old Dr. Franklin, so long the ornament of our country, and I may say, of the world, has at length closed his eminent career. He died on the 17th instant, of an imposthume of his lungs, which having suppurated and burst, he had not strength to throw off the matter, and was suffocated by it. His illness from this imposthume was of sixteen days. Congress wear mourning for him, by a resolve of their body.
I beg you to present my friendly respects to Madame Grand, the elder and younger, and to your son, and believe me to be, with sentiments of great esteem and attachment, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 30, 1790.
Sir,—When in the course of your legation to the United States, your affairs rendered it necessary that you should absent yourself awhile from that station, we flattered ourselves with the hope that that absence was not final. It turned out, in event, that the interests of your sovereign called for your talents and the exercise of your functions, in another quarter. You werepleased to announce this to the former Congress through their Secretary for Foreign Affairs, at a time when that body was closing its administration, in order to hand it over to a government then preparing on a different model. This government is now formed, organized, and in action; and it considers among its earliest duties, and assuredly among its most cordial, to testify to you the regret which the people and government of the United States felt at your removal from among them; a very general and sincere regret, and tempered only by the consolation of your personal advancement, which accompanied it. You will receive, Sir, by order of the President of the United States, as soon as they can be prepared, a medal and chain of gold, of which he desires your acceptance, in token of their esteem, and of the sensibility with which they will ever recall your legation to their memory.
But as this compliment may hereafter be rendered to other missions, from which yours was distinguished by eminent circumstances, the President of the United States wishes to pay you the distinguished tribute of an express acknowledgment of your services, and our sense of them. You came to us, Sir, through all the perils which encompassed us on all sides. You found us struggling and suffering under difficulties, as singular and trying as our situation was new and unprecedented. Your magnanimous nation had taken side with us in the conflict, and yourself became the centre of our common councils, the link which connected our common operations. In that position you labored without ceasing, till all our labors were crowned with glory to your nation, freedom to ours, and benefit to both. During the whole, we had constant evidence of your zeal, your abilities, and your good faith. We desire to convey this testimony of it home to your own breast, and to that of your sovereign, our best and greatest friend; and this I do, Sir, in the name, and by the express instruction of the President of the United States.
I feel how flattering it is to me, Sir, to be the organ of the public sense on this occasion, and to be justified by that office,in adding to theirs, the homage of those sentiments of respect and esteem with which I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, April 30, 1790.
Dear Sir,—My last letter to you was of the 6th instant, acknowledging the receipt of your favors of the 2d and 6th of January. Since that, Mr. Jay has put into my hands yours of the 12th of January, and I have received your note of February the 10th, accompanying some newspapers.
Mine of the 6th covered the President's letter to the King for my recall, and my letters of leave for myself and of credence to you, for the Count de Montmorin, with copies of them for your information. Duplicates of all these accompany the present; and an original commission for you as chargé des affaires, signed by the President. At the date of my former letters, I had not had time to examine with minuteness the proper form of credentials under our new Constitution: I governed myself, therefore, by foreign precedents, according to which a chargé des affaires is furnished with only a letter of credence from one minister of Foreign Affairs to the other. Further researches have shown me, that under our new Constitution, all commissions (or papers amounting to that) must be signed by the President. You will judge whether any explanation on this subject to M. de Montmorin be necessary. I enclose you also the copy of a letter written to the Marquis de La Luzerne, to be communicated to the Count de Montmorin, and by him to the King, if he thinks proper.
It has become necessary to determine on a present proper to be given to diplomatic characters on their taking leave of us; and it is concluded that a medal and chain of gold will be the most convenient. I have, therefore, to ask the favor of you to order the dies to be engraved with all the despatch practicable. The medal must be of thirty lines diameter, with a loop on the edgeto receive the chain. On one side, must be the arms of the United States, of which I send you a written description, and several impressions in wax to render that more intelligible; round them, as a legend, must be "The United States of America." The device of the other side we do not decide on. One suggestion has been a Columbia (a fine female figure) delivering the emblems of peace and commerce to a Mercury, with a legend "Peace and Commerce" circumscribed, and the date of our republic, to wit, 4th July, MDCCLXXVI., subscribed as an exergum; but having little confidence in our own ideas in an art not familiar here, they are only suggested to you, to be altered, or altogether postponed to such better device as you may approve on consulting with those who are in the habit and study of medals. Duvivier and Dupré seem to be the best workmen; perhaps the last is the best of the two.
The public papers which accompany this, will give you fully the news of this quarter.
I am, with great and sincere esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
New York, May 30, 1790.
Dear Sir,—I at length find myself, though not quite well, yet sufficiently so to resume business in a moderate degree. I have, therefore, to answer your two favors of April 23 and May 3, and in the first place to thank you for your attention to the Paccan, Gloucester and European walnuts, which will be great acquisitions at Monticello. I will still ask your attention to Mr. Foster's boring machines, lest he should go away suddenly, and the opportunity of getting it be lost. I enquired of Mr. Hamilton the quantity of coal imported; but he tells me there are not returns as yet sufficient to ascertain it; but as soon as there shall be I shall be informed. I am told there is a considerable prejudice against our coal in these Northern States. I do not know whenceit proceeds; perhaps from the want of attention to the different species, and an ignorant application of them to cross purposes. I have not begun my meteorological diary, because I have not yet removed to the house I have taken. I remove to-morrow; but as far as I can judge from its aspects, there will not be one position to be had for the thermometer free from the influence of the sun both morning and evening. However, as I go into it only till I can get a better, I shall hope ere long to find a less objectionable situation. You know that during my short stay at Monticello I kept a diary of the weather. Mr. Madison has just received one comprehending the same period, kept at his father's at Orange. The hours of observation were the same, and he has the fullest confidence in the accuracy of the observer. All the morning observations in Orange are lower than those of Monticello, from one to, I believe, fifteen or sixteen degrees; the afternoon observations are near as much higher as those of Monticello. Nor will the variations permit us to ascribe them to any supposed irregularities in either tube; because, in that case, at the same point the variation would always be the same, which it is not. You have often been sensible that in the afternoon, or rather evening, the air has become warmer in ascending the mountain. The same is true in the morning. This might account for a higher station of the mercury in the morning observations at Monticello. Again, when the air is equally dry in the lower and higher situations, which may be supposed the case in the warmest part of the day, the mercury should be lower on the latter, because, all other circumstances the same, the nearer the common surface the warmer the air. So that on a mountain it ought really to be warmer in the morning and cooler in the heat of the day than on the common plain, but not in so great a degree as these observations indicate. As soon as I am well enough I intend to examine them more accurately. Your resolution to apply to the study of the law, is wise in my opinion, and at the same time to mix with it a good degree of attention to the farm. The one will relieve the other. The study of the law is useful in a variety of points of view. It qualifies a manto be useful to himself, to his neighbors, and to the public. It is the most certain stepping-stone to preferment in the political line. In political economy, I think Smith's Wealth of Nations the best book extant; in the science of government, Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws is generally recommended. It contains, indeed, a great number of political truths; but also an equal number of heresies: so that the reader must be constantly on his guard. There has been lately published a letter of Helvetius, who was the intimate friend of Montesquieu, and whom he consulted before the publication of his book. Helvetius advised him not to publish it; and in this letter to a friend he gives us a solution for the mixture of truth and error found in this book. He says Montesquieu was a man of immense reading; that he had commonplaced all his reading, and that his object was to throw the whole contents of his commonplace book into systematical order, and to show his ingenuity by reconciling the contradictory facts it presents. Locke's little book on Government, is perfect as far as it goes. Descending from theory to practice there is no better book than the Federalist. Burgh's Political Disquisitions are good also, especially after reading De Lome. Several of Hume's Political Essays are good. There are some excellent books of theory written by Turgot and the economists of France. For parliamentary knowledge, the Lex Parliamentaria is the best book. On my return to Virginia in the fall, I cannot help hoping some practicable plan may be devised for your settling in Albemarle, should your inclination lead you to it. Nothing could contribute so much to my happiness were it at the same time consistent with yours. You might get into the Assembly for that county as soon as you should please.
A motion has been made in the Senate to remove the Federal Government to Philadelphia. There was a trial of strength on a question for a week's postponement. On that it was found there would be eleven for the removal, and thirteen against it. The motion was therefore withdrawn and made in the other house, where it is still depending, and of very uncertain event. The question of the assumption is again brought on. Theparties were so nearly equal on the former trial that it is very possible, that with some modifications, it may yet prevail. The tonnage bill will probably pass, and must, I believe, produce salutary effects. It is a mark of energy in our government, in a case, I believe, where it cannot be parried. The French revolution still goes on well, though the danger of a suspension of payments is very imminent. Their appeal to the inhabitants of their colonies to say on what footing they wish to be placed, will end, I hope, in our free admissions into their islands with our produce. This precedent must have consequences. It is impossible the world should continue long insensible to so evident a truth as that the right to have commerce and intercourse with our neighbors, is a natural right. To suppress this neighborly intercourse is an exercise of force, which we shall have a just right to remove when the superior force. Dear Sir, your affectionate friend.
New York, June 6, 1790.
Dear Sir,—Having written to you so lately as the 27th of May, by M. de Crevecoeur, I have little new to communicate. My headache still continues in a slight degree, but I am able to do business. To-morrow I go on a sailing party of three or four days with the President. I am in hopes of being relieved entirely by the sickness I shall probably encounter. The President is perfectly re-established, and looks better than before his illness. The question of removal to Philadelphia was carried in the House of Representatives by 38, against 22. It is thought the Senate will be equally divided, and consequently that the decision will rest on the Vice-President, who will be himself divided between his own decided inclinations to stay here, and the unpopularity of being the sole obstacle to what appears the wish of so great a majority of the people expressed by proportional representation. Rhode Island has at length acceded to the Union by a majority of two voices only, in their convention. Her Senatorswill be here in about ten days or a fortnight. The opposers of removal in the Senate try to draw out time till their arrival. Therefore, they have connected the resolution of the lower House with a bill originated with them to fix a permanent residence, and have referred both to the same committee. Deaths are, Colonel Bland at this place, and old Colonel Corbin in Virginia. The naming a minister for Paris, awaits the progress of a bill before the legislature. They will probably adjourn to the 1st of December, as soon as they have got through the money business. The funding bill is passed, by which the President is authorized to borrow money for transferring our foreign debt. But the ways and means bill being not yet passed, the loan cannot be commenced till the appropriations of revenue are made, which is to give credit to the loan.
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Remember me to all my friends, and be assured of the sincere esteem of, dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant.
New York, June 13, 1790.
Dear Sir,—I have deferred acknowledging the receipt of your favor of March 16th, expecting daily that the business of the Consulships would have been finished. But this was delayed by the President's illness, and a very long one of my own, so that it is not till within these two or three days that it has been settled. That of Bordeaux is given to Mr. Fenwick, according to your desire. The commission is making out and will be signed to-morrow or next day.
I intended fully to have had the pleasure of seeing you at Gunstan Hall on my way here, but the roads being so bad that I was obliged to leave my own carriage to get along as it could, and to take my passage in the stage. I could not deviate from the stage road. I should have been happy in a conversation with you on the subject of our new government, of which, though I approve of the mass, I would wish to see some amendments, further than those which have been proposed, and fixing it moresurely on a republican basis. I have great hopes that pressing forward with constancy to these amendments, they will be obtained before the want of them will do any harm. To secure the ground we gain, and gain what more we can, is, I think, the wisest course. I think much has been gained by the late constitution; for the former was terminating in anarchy, as necessarily consequent to inefficiency. The House of Representatives have voted to remove to Baltimore, by a majority of 53, against 6. This was not the effect of choice, but of confusion into which they had been brought by the event of other questions, and their being hampered with the rules of the House. It is not certain what will be the vote of the Senate. Some hope an opening will be given to convert it into a vote of the temporary seat at Philadelphia, and the permanent one at Georgetown. The question of assumption will be brought on again, and its event is doubtful. Perhaps its opponents would be wiser to be less confident in their success, and to compromise by agreeing to assume the State debts still due to individuals, on condition of assuming to the States at the same time what they have paid to individuals, so as to put the States in the shoes of those of their creditors whom they have paid off. Great objections lie to this, but not so great as to an assumption of the unpaid debts only. My duties preventing me from mingling in these questions, I do not pretend to be very competent to their decision. In general, I think it necessary to give as well as take in a government like ours. I have some hope of visiting Virginia in the fall, in which case I shall still flatter myself with the pleasure of seeing you; in the meantime, I am, with unchanged esteem and respect, my dear Sir, your most obedient friend and servant.