Томас Джефферсон
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 2 (of 9)
TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE TREASURY
Paris, September 6, 1788.
Gentlemen,—Your favor of July the 3d, came to hand some days ago, and that of July the 22d, in the afternoon of yesterday. Knowing that a Mr. Vannet was to leave Paris this morning, to go to Virginia in a vessel bound from Havre to Potomac, I have engaged him to receive the papers which are the subject of those letters; to take care of them from thence to Havre, and on the voyage; and when he shall have arrived in the Potomac, instead of going directly to Richmond, as he intended, he will proceed with them himself, to New York. I shall pay here, all expenses to their delivery at the ship's side in America, freight included: unless, perhaps, he may find it necessary to put another covering over them, if he should not be able to get them into the cabin; in this case, you will have to reimburse him for that. I engage to him, that you shall pay him their transportation from the ship's side to New York, and his own reasonable expenses from the place of his landing to New York, and back to the place of landing. As he takes that journey for this object only, it would be reasonable that you give him some gratuity for his time and trouble, and I suppose it would be accepted by him; but I have made no agreement for this. The papers are contained in a large box, and a trunk. They were sent here by Mr. Ast during my absence in Holland. When they arrived at the gates of Paris, the officers of the customs opened the trunk, to see whether it contained dutiable articles; but finding only books and papers, they concluded the contents of the box to be of the same nature, and did not open that. You receive it, therefore, as it came from the hands of Mr. Ast. A small trunk, which came as a third package from Mr. Ast, and which has never been opened, I have put into the great trunk, without displacing, or ever having touched a single paper, except as far as was necessary, to make room for that. I shall have the whole corded and plumbed by the Custom house here, not only to prevent their being opened at the Custom houses on the road, and at the port of exportation, but to prove to you, whether they shall have been opened by anybody else, after going out of my hands. If the stamped leads are entire, and the cords uncut, when you receive them, you will be sure they have not been opened; they will be wrapt in oil cloth here, to guard them against the damps of the sea, and as I mentioned before, Mr. Vannet will put them under another covering, if he finds it necessary, at Havre.
At the same time with your last letter, I received from the office of Foreign Affairs, the ratification by Congress of the loan of 1788, for another million of guilders. As the necessity of this loan resulted from the estimate made by Mr. Adams and myself, which estimate was laid before Congress, I suppose their ratification of the loan, implies that of the estimate. One article of this was for the redemption of our captives at Algiers. Though your letter says nothing on this subject, I am in hopes you have sent orders to the commissioners of the loans at Amsterdam, to furnish, as soon as they shall have it, what may be necessary for this pressing call. So also for the foreign officers. If the ratification of the loan has been made by Congress, with a view to fulfil the objects of the estimate, a general order from you to the commissioners of the loans at Amsterdam, to pay the moneys from time to time, according to that estimate, or to such other as you shall furnish them with, might save the trouble of particular orders on every single occasion, and the disappointments arising from the delay or miscarriage of such orders; but it is for you to decide on this.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect, Gentlemen, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO MR. RUTLEDGE
Paris, September 9, 1788.
Dear Sir,—I have duly received your favors of August 30th and September 4th. The animal, whose skin you saw here, is called the Moose. Monsieur de Buffon had well known it by name; but he has supposed it to be the same as the Rennedeer of Lapland, in his history. Being satisfied myself that it was a different animal, I asked the favor of General Sullivan to have one killed for me, and to send me the skin and skeleton. This is what you saw, it is found only eastward of the Hudson river. M. de Buffon describes the Renne to be about three feet high, and truly, the Moose you saw here was seven feet high, and there are some of them ten feet high. The experiment was expensive to me, having cost me hunting, curing, and transporting, sixty guineas. The animal whose enormous bones are found on the Ohio, is supposed by M. de Buffon and M. Daubenton to have been an Elephant. Dr. Hunter demonstrated it not to have been an Elephant. Similar bones are found in Siberia, where it is called the Mammoth. The Indians of America say it still exists very far north in our continent. I suppose there is no such thing at Geneva as a copy of my notes on Virginia, or you might see the subject treated there somewhat at length, as also some short notice of the Moose. I am glad to hear you have been so happy as to become acquainted with M. de Saussure. He is certainly one of the best philosophers of the present age. Cautious in not letting his assent run before his evidence, he possesses the wisdom which so few possess of preferring ignorance to error. The contrary disposition in those who call themselves philosophers in this country classes them in fact with the writers of romance. You have heard that Virginia has acceded to the new Constitution. New York has done the same by a majority of five. No news from North Carolina. Congress were proceeding early in July to put the new government into motion, probably it will be December or January before the new Legislature is assembled. Were I to trouble Mr. Shippen with a letter, I could only repeat the same things over again. Be so good as to say this to him, to deliver him the enclosed letter with my friendly compliments, and to accept yourself assurances of the esteem with which I am, dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
TO MR. CUTTING
Paris, September 9, 1788.
Dear Sir,—Your favor of the 6th instant is just come to hand. To answer your quotations from the English papers by reversing every proposition, would be to give you the literal truth, but it would be tedious. To lump it by saying every tittle is false, would be just but unsatisfactory. I will take the middle course, and give you a summary of political information as far as possessed here on tolerably sure grounds. On the Baltic nothing of note since the first great action. That was pretty equal in loss, but rather favorable to the Russians in appearance, because they kept the field while the Swedes retired into port. Since that the Swedes have had a sixty-four gun ship, the Gustavus Adolphus, run ashore and burnt, and the crew captured by the Russians. Their fleet is rather confined within port, I believe we may say blocked up, by Admiral Greigh. On land there has been nothing but a petite guerre. The Swedes have failed in every enterprise. There is considerable discontent in the Swedish Senate and nation, because the King, contrary to their constitution, has commenced an offensive war without consulting the Senate. On the Black Sea nothing has happened since the first victory obtained by the Prince of Nassau and Paul Jones, and the second and third by the Prince of Nassau. The Captain Pacha has thrown himself into Oczakow, made a sortie, and considerably discomfitted the Russians. The particulars not known; but the siege continues. The Emperor's army has suffered much by sickness and desertion, but more by imbecility. He has certainly let a campaign pass over without doing anything. Denmark has notified Sweden and the other courts that she will furnish the stipulated aid to Russia. England and Prussia have offered their mediation, and Denmark is endeavoring to counterpoise their interference by getting this court to offer to join in the mediation. The ministerial revolution here is the Archbishop of Sens, and Mr. Lambert, gone out, and Mr. Neckar come in, in lieu of the last; nobody will succeed the former, that is to say there will be no premier. Probably M. de Brienne, minister of war, will go out, as his brother is out; and it may be doubted whether M. de Lamorignon will not also go. He is Garde de Sceaux, as you know; there is no present appearance of any other change. A bed of justice will be held within a few days to revoke all that was done in that of the 8th of May, and to recall the parliaments. The States General will be called in January, probably. The two camps of twenty-five thousand men each, in the north of France, are now assembling. They are commanded by the Prince of Condé and Duke de Broglio. This is the sum of affairs as far as can be affirmed with certainty. If anything remarkable still turns up before your departure, I will do myself the pleasure of writing to you. I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
TO THE COUNT DE MONTMORIN
Paris, September 11, 1788.
Sir,—In the course of the last war, the house of Schweighauser and Dobrée, of Nantes, and Puchilberg of L'Orient, presented to Dr. Franklin a demand against the United States of America. He, being acquainted with the circumstances of the demand, and knowing it to be unfounded, refused to pay it. They thereupon procured seizure, by judiciary authority, of certain arms and other military stores which we had purchased in this country, and had deposited for embarkation at Nantes; and these stores have remained in that position ever since. Congress have lately instructed me to put an end to this matter. Unwilling to trouble your Excellency, whenever it can be avoided, I proposed to the parties to have the question decided by abitrators, to be chosen by us jointly. They have refused it, as you will see by their answers to my letters, copies of both which I have the honor to enclose you. I presume it to be well settled in practice, that the property of one sovereign is not permitted to be seized within the dominions of another; and that this practice is founded not only in mutual respect, but in mutual utility. To what the contrary practice would lead, is evident in the present case, wherein military stores have been stopped, in the course of a war, in which our greatest difficulties proceeded from the want of military stores. In their letter too, they make a merit of not having seized one of our ships of war, and certainly, the principle which admits the seizure of arms, would admit that of a whole fleet, and would often furnish an enemy the easiest means of defeating an expedition. The parties obliging me, then, to have recourse to your Excellency on this occasion, I am under the necessity of asking an order from you, for the immediate delivery of the stores and other property of the United States, at Nantes, detained by the house of Schweighauser and Dobrée, and that of Puchilberg, or by either of them, under a pretence of a judicial seizure.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect respect and esteem, your Excellency's most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO M. DE REYNEVAL
Paris, September 16, 1788.
Sir,—I have the honor now to enclose you my observations on the alteration proposed in the consular convention. There remain only three articles of those heretofore in question between us, to which I am unable to agree; that is to say, the second, proposing still to retain personal immunities for the consuls, and others attached to their office; the eighth, proposing that the navigation code of each nation, shall be established in the territories of the other; and the ninth, insisting that the ship's roll shall be conclusive evidence, that a person belongs to the ship.
There are several new matters introduced into the draught; some of these are agreed to; others cannot be admitted, as being contrary to the same principles which had obliged me to disagree to some of the former articles. The greatest part of the eleventh, and the whole of the twelfth new articles, are in this predicament. They propose, that no person shall be arrested on board a merchant vessel, for any cause, but in presence of the consul; that no such vessel shall be visited, but in his presence; and that when the officers of justice have reason to believe that a criminal has taken refuge on board a vessel of war, the captain's word shall be conclusive evidence that he is not there.
To the objections which I had the honor of stating in my letter to his Excellency, the Count de Montmorin, I have now that of adding some other observations, of which I request your perusal. I enclose with them a draught, on the basis of the one you were pleased to give me, altered so as to reconcile it to the spirit of our laws.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.
TO THE MARQUIS DE LA ROUERIE
Paris, September 16, 1788.
Sir,—On receiving the first letters which you did me the honor to write to me, on the arrears due to you from the United States, I informed you that I had nothing to do in the money department; that the subject of your letters belonged altogether to the treasury board, and to Mr. Grand, their banker here, to the former of whom I forwarded your letters. As I felt an anxiety, however, that the foreign officers should be paid, I took the liberty of pressing the treasury board, from time to time, to exert themselves for that effect; and I availed myself of an opportunity which occurred last spring, of setting on foot measures, which, with their approbation, might furnish the means of effecting this payment. So far my information to you went, and I added a supposition, that the treasury board would probably give orders on the subject, in the course of the month of July. But I made you no promise; it would have been strange if I had; nor does my office, nor anything I have ever said or done, subject me to the demand of immediate payment, which you are pleased to make on me, nor call on me for any declaration or answer, positive or negative.
Finding that my interference, which was friendly only, and avowed to be inofficial, has given occasion to your letter of yesterday, in a style which I did not expect, and to which I can have no motive for further exposing myself, I must take the liberty of desiring that the correspondence between us on this subject, may cease. I presume that the certificate given you, points out the person, here or elsewhere, to whom your applications are to be made, and that he will inform you when he receives orders on your subject. I am, Sir, your humble servant.
TO WILLIAM SHORT
Paris, September 20, 1788.
Dear Sir,—The evening of your departure, a letter came by the way of London and New York, addressed to you, and probably from Virginia. I think you wished your American letters to remain here; I shall therefore keep it. The passport now enclosed, came the day after your departure; so also did a mass of American letters for me, as low down as August the 10th. I shall give you their substance. The convention of Virginia annexed to their ratification of the new Constitution a copy of the State declaration of rights, not by way of condition, but to announce their attachment to them. They added, also, propositions for specific alterations of the Constitution. Among these was one for rendering the President incapable of serving more than eight years, in any term of sixteen. New York has followed the example of Virginia, expressing the substance of her bill of rights, (that is Virginia's,) and proposing amendments: these last differ much from those of Virginia; but they concur as to the President, only proposing that he shall be incapable of being elected more than twice. But I own I should like better than either of these what Luther Martin tells us was repeatedly voted and adhered to by the federal convention, and only altered about twelve days before their rising, when some members had gone off; to wit, that he should be elected for seven years, and incapable for ever after. But New York has taken another step, which gives uneasiness; she has written a circular letter to all the legislatures, asking their concurrence in an immediate convention for making amendments. No news yet from North Carolina. Electors are to be chosen the first Wednesday in January; the President to be elected the first Wednesday in February; the new legislature to meet the first week in March: the place is not yet decided on. Philadelphia was first proposed, and had six and a half votes; the half vote was Delaware, one of whose members wanted to take a vote on Wilmington; then Baltimore was proposed and carried, and afterwards rescinded, so that the matter stood open as ever on the 10th of August; but it was allowed the dispute lay only between New York and Philadelphia, and rather thought in favor of the last. The Rhode Island delegates had retired from Congress. Dr. Franklin was dangerously ill of the gout and stone on the 21st of July. My letters of August the 10th not mentioning him, I hope he was recovered. Warville, &c. were arrived. Congress had referred the decision, as to the independence of Kentucky, to the new government. Brown ascribes this to the jealousy of the northern States, who want Vermont to be received at the same time, in order to preserve a balance of interests in Congress. He was just setting out for Kentucky, disgusted, yet disposed to persuade to an acquiescence, though doubting they would immediately separate from the Union. The principal obstacle to this, he thought, would be the Indian war.
The following is a quotation from a letter from Virginia, dated July the 12th. "P–n, though much impaired in health, and in every respect in the decline of life, showed as much zeal to carry the new Constitution as if he had been a young man; perhaps more than he discovered, in the commencement of the late revolution, in his opposition to Great Britain. W–e acted as chairman to the committee of the whole, and, of course, took but little part in the debate; but was for the adoption, relying on subsequent amendments. B–r said nothing, but was for it. The G–r exhibited a curious spectacle to view. Having refused to sign the paper, everybody supposed him against it; but he afterwards had written a letter, and having taken a part, which might be called rather vehement than active, he was constantly laboring to show that his present conduct was consistent with that letter, and that letter with his refusal to sign. M—d—n took the principal share in the debate for it; in which, together with the aid I have already mentioned, he was somewhat assisted by I—nn—s, Lee, M–l, C–n and G. N–s. M—s—n. H–y and Gr–n, were the principal supporters of the opposition. The discussion, as might be expected, where the parties were so nearly on a balance, was conducted generally with great order, propriety and respect of either party to the other."
The assembly of Virginia, hurried to their harvests, would not enter into a discussion of the district bill, but suspended it to the next session. E. Winston is appointed a judge, vice Gabriel Jones resigned. R. Goode and Andrew Moore, Counsellors, vice B. Starke dead, and Joseph Egglestone resigned. It is said Wilson, of Philadelphia, is talked of, to succeed Mr. A. in London. Quære?
The dispute about Virgil's tomb and the laurel, seems to be at length settled by the testimony of two travellers, given separately, and without a communication with each other. These both say, that attempting to pluck off a branch of the laurel, it followed their hand, being, in fact, nothing more than a plant or bough, recently cut and stuck in the ground for the occasion. The Cicerone acknowledged the roguery, and said they practised it with almost every traveller to get money. You will, of course, tug well at the laurel which shall be shown you, to see if this be the true solution.
The President Dupaty is dead. Monsieur de Barentin, premier president de la cour des aides, is appointed Garde des Sceaux. The stocks are rather lower than when you left this. Present me in the most friendly terms to Messrs. Shippen and Rutledge. I rely on your communicating to them the news, and therefore on their pardoning me for not repeating it in separate letters to them. You can satisfy them how necessary this economy of my time and labor is. This goes to Geneva, poste restante. I shall not write again till you tell me where to write to.
Accept very sincere assurances of the affection with which I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant.
